Russia argues that it is acting in response to a Georgian attack on the territory, whose separatist government is backed by Moscow.
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As a Quebecker herself since emigrating from Haiti, she knows better than most that separatist sentiment is burning brightly in the province.
The separatist cause is fueled by a sense that natural resources in Baluchistan, Pakistan's poorest province, have long been exploited for the benefit of the rest of the country, without adequate revenue going to the Baluch.
Though martial law was lifted in Aceh in May, having been imposed a year earlier, the separatist Free Aceh Movement is still active.
And a 29-year separatist conflict in Aceh is over indeed, as part of the peace deal, six local parties will for the first time contest the sub-national elections.
In the Senate, Mr. Berlusconi's coalition, which includes his People of Freedom Party and the separatist Northern League, is expected to get 31.3% of the vote in the upper house.
On top of all this is the separatist campaign in Aceh, where killings continue, and religious violence in the Molucca islands, not to mention the battered state of the economy.
Many of the bombings are probably carried out by criminals rather than separatists, though it is hard these days to distinguish between the two: the separatist movement, hopelessly split into factions, is being taken over by mafia-style gangs engaged in racketeering and guerrilla warfare.
In addition to the uprising, his government is fighting a separatist movement in the south and an uprising of Shia Houthi rebels in the north.
Even Quebec's separatist government accepts that the time is not right for another referendum.
Mr Berlusconi's Freedom Alliance is scrapping with the separatist Northern League and with itself.
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Most of these were attributed to separatists groups in France and Spain, such as ETA, which is the Basque national separatist organization.
The Free Aceh Movement, an Indonesian separatist group known as GAM, is among those anxious to avoid association with international terrorist networks.
Yemen has complained to the Council about a seized weapons shipment it says was sent by Iran whom it claims is supporting a southern separatist movement.
With its many local languages and ethnic groups, the country's unity is threatened by various separatist movements, especially in the provinces of Aceh and West Papua.
All of which means that Mr Jospin is suddenly under pressure to defend his plan against accusations, from most of the right and some of the left, that it is not just soft on terrorists but is also unleashing a separatist spirit which, by encouraging the Basques, the Bretons, the Alsatians and others, risks dismembering the republic.
Balochistan is plagued by both a separatist rebellion and sectarian infighting between Sunnis and Shias.
The other big challenge facing the government is the upsurge in Kurdish separatist violence in the south-eastern provinces bordering Iran and Iraq.
It is threatened from below by separatist sentiment in the Celtic fringe.
The rest of the sparsely populated province is marked by the simmering separatist movement, which at times has threatened to spiral out of control.
In this isolated and impoverished area, where people cannot even speak the Indonesian national language, it is not hard to imagine separatist sentiments gaining a foothold again.
Most analysts believe that despite the avowed Islamism of the insurgents this is primarily an ethnic-separatist fight of Malays against Thais, rather than part of any international jihad.
Some of them received weapons training at Afghan camps affiliated with al Qaeda or the Taliban as part of their separatist movement -- the Uighur minority is brutally repressed by the Chinese government -- though they are not considered threats to the U.S. or other Western nations.
It is much to be feared that separatist numerical regimes will be adopted by particular blocks or countries, especially France.
Wahid's administration is already struggling to quell resurgent separatist movements in the resource-rich provinces of Papua and Aceh and to combat a general drift toward lawlessness.
It has faced separatist movements in Mindanao, where the MILF is based, and in Jolo, home to the radical Islamist Abu Sayyaf group, which is reputedly linked to al-Qaeda.
The Soviet central authorities may believe that this additional firepower could come in handy in the event massive repression of separatist republics, striking workers and democratic forces is undertaken.
Correspondents say the area where the attack took place has no Taliban presence and is known to be a hotbed of separatist rebel activity.
The uncertainty gives greater influence to minor players, such as the Madhesi separatist guerrilla leader known as Jwala Singh, who is at present in hiding.
In mainly Romanian-speaking Moldova, Russia maintains a big military base in a separatist enclave called Transdniestria, which abuts Ukraine and is largely populated by Slavs.
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