Russian Election 2008

News from Georgia, Ossetia, Abkhazia

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:13:00 +0000

Go to: http://ossetia-abkhazia.blogspot.com/ for the latest news from Georgia, Ossetia, and Abkhazia. You will read reports straight from the region, translated by people there who will tell you what is really going on!Galina and Medea

March 2, 2008: Dmitrii Anatolevich Medevedev Elected President of Russia

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:40:00 +0000

March 2, 2008: Dmitrii Anatolevich Medevedev was elected President of Russia!

Kosovo: Independence, Instability, Violence

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:51:00 +0000

February 22, 2008: Serbian President Boris Tadic called for an emergency meeting of the national security in the aftermath of violence following Kosovo’s declaration of independence. The United States, Britain, France and Germany have formally recognized Kosovo.

In northern Kosovo, a traditional Serbian stronghold, demonstrators waved Serbian flags.

Serbian police said one person died and more than 150 people were injured in unrest which erupted after a state-sponsored rally. Nearly 200 people were arrested and 90 shops ransacked, police said in a statement.

Nearly 200,000 demonstrated in downtown Belgrade against Kosovo independence. Rioters stormed the U.S. Embassy and set fire to offices and security checkpoints on the sidewalk in front of the building.

The tensions have exposed the deep rift within the country's unstable coalition government, prompting speculation that nationalist anger over Kosovo was providing support to those who want to move Serbia away from the European Union and closer to its traditional ally Russia.

Independence for Kosovo?

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:43:00 +0000

The debate over independence for Kosovo is likely to contribute to the return of the Cold War in Europe. Separating Kosovo from Serbia is certain to renew disputes between Russia and the West over issues including missile defense and NATO membership for the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

Kosovo is sacred to Serbs, who call it the cradle of their statehood and religion. The province is also special to the Kremlin, for reasons beyond the roots Russia shares with Slavic, Orthodox Christian Serbia.

To many, Kosovo is a symbol of Russia's weakness in the post-Soviet era. Despite its fury over the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, Moscow recognized a peace deal that put the mostly ethnic Albanian province under the control of the U.N. and the Western alliance.

Putin has built part of his popularity by restoring Russian pride, working to regain global influence and demonstrating increasing assertiveness toward the West.

An independence declaration could come as early as this week, and Moscow says it has developed a secret plan for responding to it. Meanwhile, Russians are warning that Western recognition will set a dangerous precedent, legitimizing independence claims from separatists across Europe: Scots, Basques, Turkish Cypriots, and others . A report on a government-supported English-language Russian satellite TV channel even threw Vermont secessionists into the mix!

More seriously, Moscow has implied that it could hit back by recognizing the independence claims of Abkhazia and South Ossetia: two provinces with Russian support in Georgia, whose pro-Western government plays a key role in the struggle for influence pitting Russia against the U.S. and European Union.

Such a move coulkd mean a war with Georgia, further deterioration of relations with the West, and a boost for various separatists inside Russia. In the short run, its response will probably be limited to steps such as blocking U.N. recognition of Kosovo, while portraying itself as a protector of international law and the United States as a reckless global bully.

Putin seems less interested in Serbia as a potential military ally than as an outpost of Russia's growing European energy empire. Kremlin support on Kosovo has already helped it land deals for a gas pipeline and control of Serbia's state oil company, furthering its efforts to increase Europe's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and distribution.

RIP Bobby Fischer

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:11:00 +0000

January 18, 2008: US Grandmaster Bobby Fischer died in Reykjavik, Iceland at the age of 64.

Fischer became world champion after a legendary game against Soviet player Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972.

After winning the world title, he did not play another chess match for 20 years.

In 1992, he played a rematch against Boris Spassky in Serbia, in violation of UN sanctions.

As a result, he could have faced a ten year sentence if he ever returned to the United States.

He lived in Hungary,the Philippines, and Japan.

He was arrested at Tokyo's Narita airport in 2004 for travelling on a passport that had been revoked by the US government.

After spending months in Japanese custody, he was granted citizenship by Iceland in tribute to his making the island famous in 1972.

Opposition to Georgian Election Results

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 20:10:00 +0000

TBILISI, Georgia, January 13, 2007: Tens of thousands of opposition protesters in rallied against presidential poll winner Mikhail Saakashvili on Sunday alleging vote fraud.

Opposition leader Levan Gachechiladze called for a second round of elections. Gachechiladze came second in the January 5 vote to the incumbent Saakashvili, who was the outright winner in the first round with 53.47 percent, according to final results issued by the Central Elections Commission earlier on Sunday.

The opposition has accused the authorities of rigging the vote in favour of Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer who led a popular revolt in 2003 but whose popularity has waned because of continued high levels of poverty.

Salome Zurabishvili, another opposition leader and a former foreign minister, called on foreign leaders to boycott Saakashvili's inauguration ceremony. Opposition leaders billed the rally as a show of force against Saakashvili, who was first elected with a sweeping majority in January 2004 in this former Soviet republic.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the main election monitoring group, said that despite some irregularities, the election had largely met democratic standards. The Central Election Commission said the courts were considering a number of complaints regarding the election, and that so far more than 33,000 votes had been declared invalid due to irregularities.

The presidential election was called a year early in response to violent unrest in November, which dented Saakashvili's image as a democratic reformer in this strategic corner of the former Soviet Union. US-backed Saakashvili now has a new five-year mandate to pursue radical reforms to transform Georgia's economy. He is also wants Georgia to join NATO and the European Union.

A flamboyant and multilingual politician, Saakashvili has won plaudits for pulling Georgia out of years of economic chaos and political instability. But, while the opposition backs his pro-Western course, it accuses him of authoritarian tendencies and forgetting impoverished Georgians who have been left behind in free-market reforms. Addressing those complaints, Saakashvili told reporters on Saturday that he aims to eliminate poverty. He added that he wanted to improve relations with neighboring Russia.

Angered by Tbilisi's overtures to the West and its NATO ambitions, Moscow has imposed economic sanctions on Georgia. It also supports armed rebels controlling the Georgian separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

RIP: Benazir Bhutto

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:43:00 +0000

It is unfortunate that the 2007 holidays will be remembered for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Memory Eternal.

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 15:20:00 +0000

Best wishes from Galina Ivanova and Medea Novashkhadze!

Progress at Bushehr

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:19:00 +0000

December 17, 2007: Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to the Iranian nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.

Iran contends its plant is strictly for civilian purposes, but the project concerns the United States and contend that the plant could be used to build nuclear weapons.

The American position was weakened earlier this month with the release of a new U.S. intelligence report that concluded Iran had halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 and had not resumed it through at least the middle of this year.

Even though Russia has opposed the imposition of further sanctions on Iran, it also repeatedly has urged Tehran to cooperate with efforts to resolve concerns over the nuclear program.

Last week, officials at Atomstroyexport, the Russian contractor for Bushehr, raised the prospect of creating a Russian-Iranian joint venture that would provide greater security at the facility. This could be an indication that Russia wants to ensure that enriched uranium at the plant is not stolen or diverted. Depleted fuel rods also could be reprocessed into plutonium.

Kasparov: Checkmate?

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:39:00 +0000

Garry Kasparov, Putin critic and former world chess champion will not run in Russia's March 2008 presidential elections.

Kasparov was jailed for five days after a rally in Moscow last month.

After the Russian Parliamentary elections held in December 2007, President Vladimir Putin said that he supported Dimitri Medvedev to become Russia's next president.

Medvedev reciprocated, asking that Putin be his prime minister.

As Prime Minister, Putin would retain substantial power without violating or changing the constitution, which prohibits presidents from serving more than two consecutive terms.

Prime Minister Putin?

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:17:00 +0000

Dmitrii Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin’s designated successor, called for Putin to become prime minister after the March 2 election.

The Russian Constitution prohibits Putin for running for a third consecutive term, but Putin clearly wants to retain a powerful role once he steps down.

Medvedev's proposal provides such a role, especially if the constitution were amended to increase the prime minister's powers.

This is well within the realm of possibility as the pro-Putin faction in the newly elected Duma has enough votes to amend the Constitution.

Medvedev's support for Putin's policies and his proposal that he become prime minister caused some to ask whether he would be a genuinely independent president or essentially a figurehead, doing Putin's bidding.

Both Medvedev and Putin worked under St. Petersburg's Mayor Anatolii Sobchak in the early 1990s. After Putin became prime minister in 1999, he summoned Medvedev to Moscow to become deputy chief of staff of the Cabinet. He was appointed to head the board of state natural gas giant Gazprom in 2002 and became full presidential chief of staff in 2003.

The Russian Position on NATO

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:56:00 +0000

Russia will not increase its military presence along its western border as long as NATO refrains from a military buildup.

Russia said that in mid-December of 2007 it will stop its obligations under a key European treaty limiting the deployment of tanks, aircraft and other heavy weapons.

Officials said they did so not as a threat, but to persuade NATO nations to ratify a 1999 update of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty that is more acceptable to Moscow.

Russia says the 1990 treaty has become hopelessly out of date as Europe's geopolitical boundaries have shifted following the collapse of communism. They claim that since several former Warsaw Pact members have joined NATO, deployments in western Russia have been restricted.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern over NATO's eastward expansion and deployments close to Russia, particularly U.S. plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russian Parliamentary Election: Final Results

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Here are the final results of the Russian election (name of party, percentage of vote, number of seats):

United Russia 64.1 315
Communist Party of the Russian Federation 11.6 57
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia 8.2 40
Fair Russia 7.8 38
Agrarian Party of Russia 2.3 0
Russian Democratic Party "Yabloko" 1.6 0
Civilian Power 1.1 0
Union of Right Forces 1.0 0
Patriots of Russia 0.9 0
Russian Social Justice Party 0.2 0
Democratic Party of Russia 0.1 0
Invalid ballot papers 0.1 –
Total 100 450

Russian Parliamentary Election: Preliminary Results

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:37:00 +0000

December 2, 2007: An exit poll showed that President Vladimir Putin's United Russia (Единая Россия: Edinaya Rossiya) party was winning with 61 percent of the vote in today's parliamentary election.

Russia's liberal, pro-Western parties are not expected to obtain the seven percent minimum required for representation in the Duma.

It is likely that pro-Kremlin parties would have enough seats in parliament to change the constitution.

The West's main election monitoring body, the ODIHR, did not monitor the election, claiming visas had not been issued in time, a claim refuted by Russian officials.

Russian Parliamentary Election: December 2nd, 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:52:00 +0000

Legislative elections will be held in the Russian Federation on December 2, 2007. All of the 450 seats in the State Duma (Gosudarstvennaya Duma), the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia will be chosen.

On October 1, 2007, Putin announced he would run in first place on the United Russia (Единая Россия: Edinaya Rossiya) list and that he might consider becoming Prime Minister after the elections.

United Russia is the largest and most popular party in Russia.

Other pro-Kremlin parties einclude the new Fair Russia party led by Sergei Mironov and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, which have also been favorable towards President Putin's policies.

The largest opposition party is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The liberal democratic opposition is to be represented by the free-market Union of Right Forces, the more socially minded Yabloko, and Civilian Power representing right liberal ideology.

Chechnya will hold a constitutional referendum on the same date.

Iran: Accusers, Supporters, and Leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:16:00 +0000

U.S. officials have accused Iran of many things: Developing nuclear weapons. Sponsoring terrorism. Killing Americans in Iraq. Planning Israel's destruction.

Does the U.S. have evidence?

In the buildup to the Iraq war, the Bush administration made allegations against Saddam Hussein. Polls showed that Americans believed these allegations, which were later shown to be wrong.

The United States and Iran have been enemies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a time of mullahs returning from exile, demonstrating students, and American hostages.

For almost two decades, Iran pursued a secret nuclear program.

Iran claims its program is for civilian power generation only. The U.S. says it is for a bomb.

Many other countries agree that Iran's actions to date, such as its enrichment of uranium and its continued secrecy suggest it has seeks to develop nuclear weapons. Other nations, including Russia and China, urge Iran to be more open, and call for compromises on all sides.

A new national intelligence estimate, originally due last spring, was delayed by the need to evaluate new information, the U.S. national intelligence director, Mike McConnell, said recently. But most analysts say that new information is mostly just Iran's political developments and recent U.N. findings on enrichment, already public.

Very little is known about Iran would do with a bomb, if it had one.

Most countries develop nuclear weapons as a way to gain regional power and influence, as was the case with India and Pakistan.

The real power in Iran is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's top religious and political authority whose views remain shrouded in mystery. He has backed Ahmadinejad and is deeply conservative.

There are numerous signs Iranians dislike their current government. Iran's young, well‑educated population objects to many aspects of the current authoritarian regime. The country has an inefficient economy, exacerbated by Ahmadinejad's blunders.

Khamenei lacks the stern, spellbinding charisma that bound the first revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, so strongly to his people.

Kasparov Arrested and Sentenced

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 23:41:00 +0000

On November 24, 2007, former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was arrested and sentenced to five days in prison after he helped lead a protest against President Vladimir Putin.

Kasparov is one of President Vladimir Putin's harshest critics. He was charged with organizing a demonstration without permission, chanting anti-government slogans, and resisting arrest, court documents said.

There is growing concern in the West over the state of democracy in Russia. Western critics claim that Putin is restricting freedom. Putin accuses the West of meddling in Russian politics.

Kasparov and dozens of other demonstrators were detained after the rally which drew several thousand people.

Kasparov's coalition includes radicals, democrats and Soviet-era dissidents. It has attracted significant media coverage but generated little public support.

Robert Kocharyan

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 15:57:00 +0000

Robert Sedraki Kocharyan is the second president of the third republic of Armenia.

Kocharyan was born in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh on August 31, 1954.

Kocharyan was drawn to politics after joining a movement to cede Nagorno‑Karabakh from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR. His influential political style helped him rise through the ranks of Soviet politics and by 1989, he emerged as a deputy of Armenia's Supreme Soviet.

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict escalated into a full scale war. In August 1992, Kocharyan became Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). On May 12, a ceasefire was proclaimed. Kocharyan was elected NKR's first President on December 24 by the decision of the NKR Supreme Soviet.

On March 20, 1997, Kocharyan left his post as President of the NKR when he was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia. In February 1998, Armenian President Levon Ter Petrossian was forced to step down due to his support of concessions to Azerbaijan in the resolution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. These concessions were not popular with Armenians, who viewed them as detrimental their security.

After Ter Petrossian's resignation, Kocharyan was elected Armenia's second President on March 30, 1998.

As President, Kocharyan continued to work for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Nagorno‑Karabakh with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev.

Russia and China -v- US and EU Over Iranian Nuclear Program

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:29:00 +0000

On November 23, 2007 Iran stated Western nations’ efforts to impose seeking harsher U.N. sanctions against it could halt its steps to clarify nuclear activity to U.N. inspectors.

Earlier in the week, U.N. nuclear watchdog stated that believed that Iran was making good progress towards resolving key objectives by the end of the year, only to be told not enough had been done to secure the trust of the West.

The Western accusation against Iran it is secretly trying to build atomic bombs. Iran's clarifications on centrifuge research were consistent with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) intelligence.

Iran also continued to defy demands by the United Nations Security Council to suspend enrichment work.

The so-called "EU-3 Powers" of Britain, France and Germany told IAEA governors that further delays were not acceptable.

They and the United States said Iran had failed to show full disclosure and suspend enrichment gain a reprieve from further sanctions. Russia and China did not join the Western camp in supporting further Security Council action. Russia, moreover, has referred to Iran’s cooperation so far as having been constructive.

The two key issues involve traces of highly enriched -- or bomb-grade -- uranium that inspectors found at research sites, and intelligence on links between uranium processing, explosives tests, and an apparent design for a missile warhead.

Putin: Demands Of and Threats Against

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:01:00 +0000

Marina Litvinenko, widow of Alexander Litvinenko, is seeking a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that the Russian state was complicit in poisoning the former security agent with radioactive polonium.

Louise Christian, Litvinenko’s lawyer claimed she had obtained expert evidence that the polonium had come from Russia's Avangard plant, a state facility surrounded by tight security.

The former KGB security officer became a Kremlin critic in exile, and was poisoned by polonium slipped to him in a cup of tea. He spent three weeks dying in agony in London.

Britain wants to prosecute another ex-KGB man, Andrei Lugovoi, for the murder. Russia strongly denies state involvement in the killing and refuses to hand over Lugovoi because its constitution bars it from extraditing its own nationals.

Exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovskii, a friend of Litvinenko and Kremlin opponent whom Russia has tried unsuccessfully to extradite from Britain has stated that he believes British authorities know the source of the polonium.

Berezovskii said Putin had violated the constitution and therefore his ouster was legitimate and forecasts a possible uprising like Ukraine's Orange Revolution between elections in December and March.

He said such an uprising could come after parliamentary elections on December 2 and before presidential polls three months later.

Democratic movements staged the Orange Revolution in the former Soviet republic of Ukraine in 2004, a popular uprising that brought pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko to power.

Berezovskii, who faces a number of charges in Russia, was a key Kremlin insider in the 1990s, but left Russia after coming into conflict with Putin and was granted political asylum in Britain in 2003.

Ukrainian Government Resigns

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:14:00 +0000

On November 23, 2007 Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych presented his government's resignation at the first session of a new parliament on Friday, in the aftermath of the September elections.

Yanukovych's declaration, as required by the Ukrainian constitution, came after the swearing in of all 450 new parliamentary deputies. Earlier, Yanukovych expressed hope that his Party of Regions would be included in a new governing coalition.

Analysts say an "orange" coalition of President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-Self Defence party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc will most likely be the result.

Ukraine held elections at the end of September in an effort to resolve months of dispute between the pro-Western Yushchenko, and the more pro-Russian Yanukovych. Yushchenko has called for the Party of Regions to be included in the new government.

OSCE: No Monitors for Russian Election

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:32:00 +0000

Vladimir Churov, head of the Russian Central Election Commission is not disappointed with the the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE ODIHR) not to send observers to the upcoming Russian Parliamentary elections.

Churov said that the appropriate invitations had been made in time, and that the decision was most likely political in nature.

US "Thanksgiving Proposal" to Russia: Missiles, Treaties, and Troops

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:52:00 +0000

On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, the United States submitted a proposal to Russia for cooperation on missile defense in eastern Europe against a supposed threat from Iran.

The U.S. also submitted a proposal to Russia that would hopefully prevent Russia’s withdrawal from a key European arms control treaty.

Officials on both sides have declined to release copies of the documents. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to discuss them early next week in advance of Middle Eastern peace talks.

The documents describe U.S. plans to develop a radar system in the Czech Republic and to deploy missile interceptors in Poland, and also address Russia’s plans to suspend participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE).

The U.S. claims that the missile defense system would counter the threat of Iranian missiles that could be aimed at Europe or U.S. territory. Russia, on the other hand, contends the U.S.-proposed system also could be used against Russian missiles, which would make it a threat to its nuclear deterrence.

A key component of the missile system proposal is a delay in the activation of the U.S. missile interceptors until it can be shown that Iranian ballistic missiles pose a threat to Europe.

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the sharing of a Russian-leased early warning radar in Azerbaijan with the United States. The proposal for delaying the activation of the interceptors has apparently been favorably received by Russian negotiators who also insist that the offer include a binding treaty that would detail specific terms for activation. The United States would likely object to such a demand.

The CFE imposes limits on the deployment of tanks, aircraft and heavy conventional weapons across Europe. Negotiators agreed to revise the treaty in 1999, but the United States and other NATO members have not ratified it. The U.S. position is that Russia must fulfill obligations to withdraw forces from Georgia and from Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester region before the CFE issue can be addressed. Russia insists that there should be no such link.

Putin Decries Western Meddling in Russian Elections

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:36:00 +0000

Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked opponents and has accused the West of meddling in Russian politics.

Putin's attack on his opponents came as he seeks to secure a high turnout and strong support for the United Russia (Ednaya Rossiya) party.

Many see this as a way for Putin to retain power after the March 2008 presidential election. Putin’s statements appeared to refer to opposition rallies planned for the coming weekend in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

He did not name specific nations or political parties, but offered a general criticism of his liberal, pro-business and Communist opponents, calling to mind the economic and political uncertainty that plagued Russia before and after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union as well the revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia that led to the installation of pro-Western regimes.

A clear victory for the United Russia party would give Putin a popular mandate and a loyal parliament to limit his succesor's influence and possibly lay the groundwork for his return to the presidency in 2012 or sooner.

This week’s stadium rally was a mixture of a soccer game and a Soviet-style rally.

Many of Putin’s supporters have demanded constitutional changes that would permit him to stay on as president. He has promised to step down as the constitution currently required, but has also indicated he will seek to retain influence and has not eliminated the possibility of presidential bid in 2012.

Iran + Russia + Venezuela = Dissent at OPEC Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Galina Ivanova) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:41:00 +0000

On November 18, 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have expressed interest in converting their cash reserves into a currency other than the rapidly depreciating U.S. dollar.

The meeting was held in the Saudi capital Riyadh, with heads of states and delegates from 13 of the world's biggest oil-producing nations, was the third full OPEC summit since the organization was created in 1960.

Ahmadinejad's comments at the rare OPEC summit meeting also highlighted the growing challenge that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, faces from Iran and its ally Venezuela within OPEC.

Oil is priced in U.S. dollars on the world market, and the currency's depreciation is a significant source of concern to oil produces as it has played a role in the increase in crude prices and the decrease in the value of their dollar reserves.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah had tried make the environmental impact of the oil industry on the environment the topic of the summit, but faced continual interference from both Iran and Venezuela.

Iran and Venezuela proposed trading oil in a basket of currencies to replace the historic link to the dollar, but they had not been able to generate support from enough fellow OPEC members. Many OPEC members, such as Saudi Arabia, are U.S. allies.

Both Iran and Venezuela are currently at odds with the U.S., and their proposal may have political, as well as economic motivations. Iran is in a dispute with Washington over its nuclear program, and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is an open critic of U.S. President George Bush. U.S. sanctions on Iran have made it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for the country to do business in dollars.

A day earlier, Saudi Arabia opposed a move by Iran on Friday to have OPEC include concerns over the falling dollar included in the summit's closing statement after the weekend meeting. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister even warned that even talking publicly about the currency's decline could further hurt its value. But by Sunday, it appeared that Saudi Arabia had compromised.

Though the final declaration delivered Sunday did not specifically mention concern over the weak dollar, the organization directed its finance ministers to study the issue. Iran went a step further and said OPEC will form a committee to study the dollar's impact on oil prices and investigate the ramifications of a currency basket.

Algeria's Oil Minister, Chakib Khelil, said he would urge Russia, the second-biggest oil supplier, to join OPEC when he became president of the organization.

Russia attends OPEC meetings as an observer nation.

Khelil will become OPEC president on January 1, 2008.