ARMENIAN-SOUTH KOREAN TIES DISCUSSED
ArmenPress
Nov 25 2004
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS: Deputy foreign affairs minister Tatul
Margarian received today the Moscow-seated South Korean ambassador to
Armenia, Chon Te Ikin, who is in Yerevan on the occasion of the opening
of the South Korea’s consulate and an Armenian-Korean business forum.
The foreign ministry said the two men discussed a wide scope of issues
and looked into ways for boosting bilateral trade. Margarian was
quoted as saying that Armenia is interested in developing diverse ties
with South Korea. He added that the consulate will promote further
development of contacts between the two countries.
The ambassador said Armenia will have a good chance to present itself
at a next year seminar in South Korea that will be dedicated to the
South Caucasus.

Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
Nov 25 2004
Mofti-Islamic Unity
Mofti of the Syrian city of Aleppo meets Clergy
Beirut, Nov. 2 5 (SANA)-
Mofti of the Syrian city of Aleppo , Sheikh Ahmad Hassoun has
expressed the Syrian Clergymen care for the unity among the Islamic
countries.
Following two meetings held yesterday in Beirut by the gathering of
the Moslem and Armenian Catholicos /Aram I/, scholars, Sheikh Hassoun
stressed the cohesion between Syria and Lebanon , calling the Arab
countries to unify ranks and become as one body.
He saw that the relation between Syria and Lebanon is a relation of
one destiny and joint history, stressing that relation between the
Syrian people and the Armenian people is historical and deeply
–rooted.
A.N.Idelbi
–Boundary_(ID_/B4wjiPBxLGVWeT2EWQjJQ)–

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Nov 25 2004
ARMENIANS GET MOBILE PHONE CHOICE
ArmenTel loses mobile phone monopoly as government ushers in
Karabakh-related company.
By Naira Melkumyan in Yerevan
Following years of wrangling with the Greek company that owns 90 per
cent of Armenia’s telecommunications monopoly ArmenTel, the government
has finally moved to allow competition.
However, although the arrival of newcomer on Armenia’s poorly developed
telecoms market may herald improved services, some are questioning
the selection process.
The tender was won by K-Telecom, a firm affiliated to Karabakh-Telecom
which is the sole telecoms operator in Nagorny Karabakh, the
Armenian-held territory still claimed by Azerbaijan.
The Armenian government, which owns a residual 10 per cent of ArmenTel
shares, last week signed a truce with the majority owner OTE, ending
four months of often-difficult negotiations over its licence.
The agreement means ArmenTel’s licence will be changed so that it
loses exclusive rights to provide GSM, satellite, and mobile radio
communications services, as well as internet access. But it will retain
sole rights to internet telephony and the use of fibreoptic cables.
The decision follows growing dissatisfaction over the performance of
the telecoms network.
OTE has been in control of ArmenTel since 1998, having paid 142
million US dollars for a 90 per cent stake and what amounted to a
15-year monopoly over communications.
This year, the government tried to change the company’s license with
a view to removing its monopoly, arguing that ArmenTel was not meeting
its investment obligations – an accusation the firm has rejected. The
latest deal means the firm has lost its monopoly in most areas.
However, the way the government moved swiftly to select a competitor
has proved controversial.
Parliamentary deputy Victor Dallakyan says that in an “unprecedented”
move, the government set up a commission to award the GSM licence,
which took just one day to pick K-Telecom in a rushed tender process.
Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan told journalists that the commission
had the power to change the tender rules in exceptional cases.
Many observers disagree. Dallakyan believes the commission violated
various rules, such as the need to advertise the tender in the press,
and to seek and review bids.
Other companies were said to be in the running, but the communications
ministry insists that K-Telecom was the only one that actually applied.
Even members of the ruling coalition are confused by the process.
“We are not against K-Telecom being chosen as a second operator,
but the government should explain. so that we know whether there was
another choice,” Levon Lazarian, head of the pro-government party
Dashnaktsutyun’s faction, told IWPR.
Government representatives say that the decision to go for K-Telecom
was more political than commercial.
“This government decision was strategic and political, not a choice
in favour of the best operator,” justice minister David Arutyunyan
told journalists. “By giving K-Telecom the license, we are helping the
people of Karabakh overcome their isolation. Maintaining the existing
quality of communications is extremely necessary for security reasons.”
Arutyunyan implied that K-Telecom’s parent firm in Karabakh would
benefit from the deal, and get round the Azerbaijani government’s
objections to the unrecognised Karabakh state being allowed to have
GSM communications with the outside world.
Some politicians think the government should have gone further and
deprived ArmenTel of its license altogether.
According to National Democrat bloc leader Arshak Sadoyan, the
government should have implemented a January 1999 ruling by Armenia’s
constitutional court that ArmenTel should lose its monopoly within
five years.
Ovsep Khurshudyan, an economic expert at the Centre for National
and Strategic Studies, believes that one reason why this did not
happen is that OTE has been pursuing a case against Armenia at the
International Court of Arbitration in London, in a dispute in which
each side accuses the other of breaching the ArmenTel contract.
If OTE win, the Armenian government would have had to pay 300 million
dollars in damages. But the latest agreement with ArmenTel appears
to end claims by either side.
“It is clear that the steps that were taken to deprive ArmenTel of
its monopoly were populist in nature, while the real negotiating
process was taking place behind the scenes,” said Khurshudyan.
ArmenTel has largely abstained from commenting on the deal, but a
spokesman told IWPR that the company was not against competition,
as it has its own client base.
Naira Melkumyan is an independent journalist in Yerevan.

The Herald (Glasgow)
November 25, 2004
Jan Garbarek;Norse with pedigree
nu Rob Adams
Thu Nov 25, 8pm,
Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, £ 16-£ 22.50, 0131 228 1155
With his instantly recognisable, clear, keening tone, Norwegian
saxophonist Jan Garbarek is widely regarded as the most significant
European jazz musician since the great gipsy guitarist Django
Reinhardt.
It was an American hero, though, in the shape of trumpeter Don
Cherry, who encouraged him to develop a style of jazz incorporating
his native folk music.
Like Cherry, Garbarek has bonded with musicians from all over the
world, finding a common language with Brazilian guitarist Egberto
Gismonti, Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain and Armenian violist Kim
Kashkashian.
In 1993 he reached a massive new audience with the surprise hit
collection of medieval plain chants, Officium, recorded with the
Hilliard Ensemble.
As he approaches the end of another world tour with his long-time
road band, featuring bassist Eberhard Weber, percussionist Marilyn
Mazur and pianist Rainer Brueninghaus, Garbarek will be showcasing
material from his latest album, In Praise of Dreams.
Key master: Garbarek is viewed as Europe’s most significant jazz
musician.
–Boundary_(ID_gtD3QCgLNhdIhi2BFYawlg)–

RUSSIA: CHANGING PALM LINES COULD CHANGE FORTUNES
ANSA English Media Service
November 24, 2004
MOSCOW
(ANSA) – MOSCOW, November 24 – Palmists in various civilisations
and societies have read palms for millenniums trying to identify
characters and read fortunes but now a group of Russian scientists
claim characters and fortunes of people can be manipulated by changing
the lines on the palm with electromagnetic impulses.
Armenian professor in mathematics Karen Mkhitarian, Moscow university
professor Yuri Galatovsky and computer programmer Valeriy Ilyukhin
announced an invention which would be a real turning point in the
history of humanity, if it is true.
The three claim they had found a new technique, chronosemantics, for
correction of the strange world which we all grasp in our firsts. The
discovery could be likened to the thoughts of the tutelary deity of
the disintegrated USSR, Karl Marx, to German philosophy – it is not
enough to settle oneself with contemplative interpretation of the
world, the world should be changed.
The three Russian scientists have not clear ideas yet on the life
line but had important success intervening with therapeutic aim on
the whole surface of the palm.
The new technique was called chronosemantics, or interpretation
of time, not chirosemantics because the starting point is the skin
ramifications on the hand which reflect the actions and secrets of
an “internal clock” of each person, Mkhitarian told the Moskovsky
Komsomolets daily. The lines and signs which are so dear to palmistry
are only “temporal stages” of an existential trajectory, Mkhitarian
said.
With electromagnetic impulses the inventors of the new technique
reportedly cured some grave cases. A 19-year-old girl Lena had serious
asthma and could not even go to school. After the intervention,
she leads a normal life and studies abroad. Sergei had a history of
chronic illnesses and was not even recruited in the army but with
Mkhitarian’s help he is now a cadet in the military academy. Boris
was cured by a stubborn psoriasis.
The team of scientists changed the polarity of some lines on the
patients’ palms from negative to positive with something between
medicine and cybernetics to correct the “internal clock” modifying
the dimensions of the “personal time”.
Mkhitarian believes drug-addiction, one of the worst scourges in
post-Soviet Russia, is written on a specific spot on the palm and is
theoretically curable with the new method.
Apart from various diseases and ailments, chronosemantics is
reportedly capable of neutralising fear of flying and other phobias
which determine, sometimes crucially, a person’s character.
The ultimate objective is obviously the intervention on the three
most important lines, the life line, the heart line which governs
emotions and the head line governing intelligence and memory so as to
give each person the desired fate and happiness. Asked whether that
was possible, Mkhitarian answered it was possible from man’s point
of view, if not from God’s point of view. (ANSA).

Manly Daily (Australia)
November 25, 2004 Thursday
‘Suspicious’ case empty
POLICE blocked off Pittwater Rd at North Manly yesterday morning
and evacuated a house after a black suitcase was found outside the
Armenian prelacy.
Northern Beaches crime manager Inspector Luke Arthurs said the suitcase
was treated as suspicious.
Police officers inspected the suitcase and found it was empty.

Covenant hailed as a landmark
Townsville Bulletin/Townsville Sun (Australia)
November 25, 2004 Thursday
AUSTRALIAN churches signed a covenant during the Fifth National Forum
of the National of Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).
The forum was held in Adelaide last month.
Church leaders have hailed the covenant as one of the most
significant events in Australia’s ecumenical history.
“It’s an international benchmark,” NCCA president, Rev James Haire of
the Uniting Church said.
“No one else I believe, anywhere in the world, has been able to
produce anything quite as comprehensive as this. It is true that the
US is working towards something similar — but that doesn’t include
the Catholics.”
The invitation to the churches in Australia to engage in a process of
covenanting together at the national level has been grounded in the
conviction that ecumenical commitment is fundamental to the integrity
of the Church’s mission.
The process since 1996 has been an invitation to the churches, at the
national level, to take specific steps towards a more visible
expression of unity, to move towards a deeper experience of communion
(koinonia).
Bishop Michael Putney was present in Adelaide for the Forum of the
National Council of Churches.
Archbishop Carroll, president of the Australia Catholic Bishops
Conference, signed the covenant on behalf of the Catholic Church.
The first part of the covenanting document includes a Declaration of
Intent by the member churches.
It reaffirms their commitment to one another as partners on the
ecumenical journey and another to engage in an ongoing process of
growing together not knowing what visible form, unity, which is God’s
will and gift, may take.
The signatories to the covenant are: the Anglican Church of
Australia; Anticohian Orthodox Church; Armenian Apostolic Church;
Assyrian Church of the East; Churches of Christ in Australia;
Congregation Federation of Australia; Coptic Orthodox Church of
Australia, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia; Lutheran Church
of Australia; Religious Society of Friends; Roman Catholic Church in
Australia, Romania Orthodox Church; the Salvation Army; Syrian
Orthodox Church and Uniting Church in Australia.
Different churches then agreed to more specific parts of the
covenant.
The Catholic Church agreed:
* To explore initiatives for sharing physical resources such as
buildings
* To explore with other Christian communities issues and strategies
for mission so that the possibility of common mission is recognised
as a priority
* To seek, to develop clear and sensitive guidelines dealing with
how Christian churches together can best meet the needs of people in
local (especially rural) situations
* To recognise the Sacrament of Baptism administered in the other
Christian churches and to promote the use to the common certificate
of baptism.

Kazakh, Armenia presidents congratulate Yanukovich on victory
ITAR-TASS News Agency
November 25, 2004 Thursday 1:04 PM Eastern Time
KIEV, November 25 — The presidents of Kazakhstan and Armenia,
Nursultan Nazarbayev and Robert Kocharyan, congratulated Viktor
Yanukovich on winning the presidential election in Ukraine, the press
service of the incumbent prime minister reports.
Nazarbayev’s congratulatory message says: “My cordial congratulations
upon your election to the supreme post in Ukraine. Your victory
bespeaks of the choice of the Ukrainian people in favour of the
nation’s unity, the democratic path of development and the economic
progress. People in Kazakhstan attach particular importance to the
further development of many-faceted ties with fraternal Ukraine and
the strengthening of cooperation in all areas of mutual interest”.
Kazakhstan’s president expressed the confidence that “the relations
of mutual understanding and confidence between our countries will be
developed further” during Yanukovich’s presidency.
The Armenian president in his congratulatory message expressed the
confidence that “friendship and mutual understanding between Armenia
and Ukraine will continue developing successfully and deepening to the
benefit of our states and peoples”. Kocharyan wished health and success
to Yanukovich and well-being and prosperity to the Ukrainian people.

Armenian opposition parties oppose plans to send troops to Iraq
Associated Press Worldstream
November 25, 2004 Thursday 3:34 PM Eastern Time
YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia’s opposition parties said Thursday they
would interrupt their boycott of parliamentary sessions to oppose a
government plan to send troops to Iraq during its expected discussion
in parliament.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian pledged 50 troops in September,
but the final decision on sending troops is to be made by the
Constitutional Court and parliament.
The Constitutional Court is expected to rule within the next few
days. In case of the Court’s positive conclusion, it will be up to
parliament to decide whether to dispatch a team of bomb disposal
experts, doctors and transport specialist to Iraq.
Deputy leader of the opposition National Unity party, Aleksan
Karapetian, said Thursday that by sending troops to Iraq, Armenia
would endanger the 25,000-person Armenian community living in the
Middle Eastern country.
Leader of the Justice opposition alliance Viktor Dallakian said
they would break their boycott of parliament sessions and would
“categorically” oppose sending Armenian soldiers to Iraq.
Two dozen opposition deputies have been boycotting parliamentary
sessions since February to protest last year’s re-election of
Kocharian, a vote the opposition charges was marred by widespread
irregularities.
Pro-government parties make up a majority in the 131-member
parliament. However, the leader of one of the pro-government factions,
Galust Saakian, also expressed opposition on Thursday to the plan to
commit troops to Iraq. He said the idea would not be backed by the
Armenian people.
The former Soviet republic has sought to portray the decision to send
troops to Iraq as a way to boost ties with Europe.

Defense minister: Azerbaijan committed to fighting terrorism
Associated Press Worldstream
November 25, 2004 Thursday 12:41 PM Eastern Time
BAKU, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijan is stepping up the fight against
terrorism by tracking down terrorist organizations and their sponsors,
the country’s defense minister said Thursday.
During the past six years, authorities have exposed six branches
of charity foundations believed to be financing terrorists, Defense
Minister Ramil Usubov said at a NATO Parliamentary Assembly seminar.
The organizations have been shut and 43 people associated with them
have been expelled from the country, Usubov added.
Meanwhile, in the last five years, authorities have detained 30 people
connected with the Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Army of the Caucasus
terrorist organizations, he said. Twenty members of rebel groups have
been tried in courts.
Usubov also said that Azerbaijan has detained and extradited to Russia
14 rebels believed to have organized various terrorist attacks.
He stressed that one of Azerbaijan’s main problems was illegal
migration, which fuels drugs and weapons trafficking, as well as
human trafficking and the smuggling of goods across borders.
The three-day seminar was supposed to have been attended by two
Armenian lawmakers, but they failed to show up at the last minute.
The Armenian deputies decided not to attend because their letter to the
heads of the Azerbaijani parliament and NATO Parliamentary Assembly
with a request to guarantee security of the Armenian deputies had
been left unanswered, said Mger Shakhgeldian, head of the Armenian
parliament’s commission for defense matters.
Previous visits to Baku by Armenian officials resulted in protests
staged by activists of Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnic Armenian enclave
disputed by both countries.
Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan is a NATO member, but both former
Soviet republics participate in NATO’s Partnership for Peace program.