AZERBAIJAN'S President Heydar Aliyev is a former communist hardliner-turned- democratic hardliner. The country's potential oil wealth has helped him survive the process but he shows no mercy to his enemies. A new election is scheduled for October but human rights activists and domestic opposition claim the development of a democratic state has hardly begun during his reign. An election law approved by parliament is formulated in such a way as virtually to guarantee Aliyev's victory.
The industry's darling dictator
President Heydar Aliyev keeps power in a vice-like grip in Azerbaijan but explorers are dazzled by the country's massive potential offshore reserves
22 August 1998 0:00 GMT
Updated
22 August 1998 0:00 GMT