ArmenPress
March 30 2004
IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPE-LINE CONSTRUCTION TO START THIS YEAR
YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS: Negotiations on the construction of
Iran-Armenia gas pipe-line are in their final phase, Armenian Energy
Minister Armen Movsisyan said March 29. He noted that Gas Export
National Company will build the Iranian section of the pipe-line
Armenian will build its section. Initial estimates show that some 100
million USD will be spent to build the pipeline on the territory of
Armenia. A little more money is needed to build the pipe-line on the
Iranian side, the minister said.
The final agreement will be signed in April during when Iranian
Minister of Gas and Oil is expected to visit Armenia. The agreement
envisages that the construction will start later this year and is
expected to last 20 months.
The sides have agreed on the volume, price and other technical
issues of gas deliveries. These matters can be discussed after
signing the agreement. However the conditions are acceptable, the
minister noted.
In Armenia a new pipe-line will be built in Agarak-Kajaran. In all
other parts, capacities of old pipe-lines will be strengthened, A.
Movsisyan said.
Gas supplies to third countries was not officially negotiated.
Neither EU nor any other country has allocated financial means for
that. However, interested countries have expressed willingness to
participate in the construction. Presently, several Russian, Chinese,
Italian companies negotiate with the Armenian side.
Speaking on the importance of the pipe-line, the minister noted
that it facilitates the energy security in the country, provides with
stable sources of gas and is an energy guarantee for prospective
investors.
We can’t look at the gas pipe-line as a precondition for the
closure of ANPP, the minister said, as the gas pipe-line is not a
source of alternative energy.

ANSA English Media Service
March 30, 2004
NATO: ALLIANCE REACHES THE BLACK SEA
VIENNA
By Gaetano Stellacci

(ANSA) – VIENNA, March 30 – The enlargement of NATO to 26
states after the accession of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria has moved the
alliance’s eastern border hundreds of kilometres from the Baltic
to the Black Sea.

The thousand kilometre-long line between the 25th and 30th
meridians from the Baltic to the Black Sea, two thirds of which
now wash the shores of NATO physically separates western Europe
from the rest of the Eurasian continent.

Apart from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova on the east,
NATO’s southern borders reach the states of central Asia,
including Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq and Syria. Italy is no
longer the western NATO border, which has moved southeast to
Slovenia. The former Yugoslav states have also shown their
interest in joining the North Atlantic Pact.

The new southern border means a border of poverty both for
NATO and the EU. Unemployment in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova
has reached 70 percent. Problems and despair more often force
people to drug abuse and alcoholism to whuich are added the
recurrence of tuberculosis and the growing problem of the
AIDS/HIV virus.

NATO will become responsible for the air security of the
Baltic states from Tuesday. Belgium has already sent its first
team of four patrol aircraft. Italy has taken over the
protection of the air space of Slovenia, which has remained
without an airforce since its separation from Yugoslavia.

The danger of increased tension with Russia which borders
Lithuania and Estonia will be diffused by NATO and was not a
subject for NATO’s new Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,
despite alarms raised in Moscow.

NATO aircraft are capable of flying the distance between
Estonia and St Petersburg in seven minutes, Russian Defence
Minister Sergei Ivanov said.

Russian leaders seem to dislike even more the enlargement of
the EU which will include Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Hungary and the Baltic states in May, all of them former Soviet
satellites which have retained their economic relations with
Russia after the fall of communism.

Their accession to the common European market will make these
relations with Russia weaker. Economic experts in Moscow believe
this will cause damage worth 150 million euro a year.

Initially the seven new NATO members will contribute about
175,000 soldiers from their regular forces and 3,000 tanks, most
of them obsolete. The seven former communist states, however,
are also the most faithful adherents of the U.S. military
doctrine and when Europe split over the Iraqi crisis all of them
supported Washington. (ANSA)

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part A (Russia)
March 30, 2004, Tuesday
BATTLE FOR BATUMI
SOURCE: Kommersant, March 29, 2004, p. 10
by Gennady Sysoev
In fact, Moscow supported Adzharian authorities in the opposition
between Tbilisi and Batumi. It can be explained not only by Moscow’s
striving for confirmation of the role of guarantor of Adzharian
autonomy and for defense of Russian citizens, who live there. To all
appearances, Adzharia should play a key-role in the counter game,
which Russia tries to carry out in the region in order to resist the
growth of influence of the US.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs determined Russian position
concerning the opposition between Georgian and Adzharian authorities
at the very beginning of the present conflict. “There are some
grounds for supposing that Tbilisi plans to use force. Georgian
authorities should understand that it can have severe and
unpredictable consequences for Georgia. In case of the crisis,
Georgian authorities will bear the whole responsibility for it,” the
official representative of Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.
So, in fact, Moscow began to support Adzharian authorities in the
opposition between Tbilisi and Batumi. Moreover, this position hasn’t
been changed by yesterday’s parliamentary election in Georgia.
Besides, Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze became a regular visitor at
Moscow. He was in Moscow for over a week last November during “the
rose revolution” and warned the Kremlin about guileful plans of new
Georgian authorities concerning Adzharia. Mr. Abashidze tried to
persuade Russia to support Adzharia in the probable armed conflict
between Tbilisi and Batumi during his visit to Moscow.
Moscow defended Adzharia and its leadership not because of its
special affection for the Georgian autonomy, but because of its
strategically important position in the region. Adzharia is the basic
exit to world for Tbilisi. Another way passes through Abkhazia, which
declared its independence, and it is practically inaccessible for
Georgian authorities. In fact, the loss of Adzharia will block the
entry to the Black Sea and connection with turkey for Tbilisi (a
small part of Georgian border near Poti is situated between Abkhazia
and Adzharia and that’s why it is vulnerable). So, Moscow can get a
powerful instrument of influence on Tbilisi if it establishes special
relations with Adzharia and its leader.
However, it isn’t the most important thing for Moscow. The main thing
is that, to all appearances, Adzharia should play a key-role in the
counter-game, which Russia tries to carry on in the region in order
to resist the growth of the influence of the US.
The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline should be
over by the end of next year. It is a thing of key-importance for
Washington in its strategy in the region. The oil pipeline should
become an axis of US military and strategic construction, which
includes Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Some Central Asian republics have already placed their territories at
the disposal of US military bases. As for Georgia, Americans don’t
intend to construct bases there. In any case, their official
representatives say so. However, it isn’t necessary for them. The US
has an opportunity for using Georgian territory for needs of its
armed forces if it is required. At that, one shouldn’t ask Tbilisi
for any special resolution, because the necessary infrastructure and
legislative basis already exists. The US would like to establish an
analogous scheme in Azerbaijan. The negotiations about it are being
carried out.
The strengthening of US military presence in the region is being
accompanied with cutting down of presence of Russia there. In
accordance with Istanbul agreements, Moscow has already removed its
two military bases in Georgia. As for other two bases in Akhalkali
and Batumi, Russia’s Western partners and Georgian authorities remind
Russian President Vladimir Putin of the necessity of their removal.
If this process is carried to its conclusion, Armenia, the key (to be
more precise, the last) ally of Russia in Transcaucasia, will blocked
and cut off from Russia. Moreover, Russian bases in Armenia will lose
their military significance and sense.
In this situation, Moscow should have started a search for any
counter-game. It seems that it found this variant.
When Yuri Luzhkov came to Batumi at the very height of the
opposition, his circle explained the sense of his unexpected visit by
the following fact: Yuri Mikhailovich decided to check how the
agreements about construction of several objects in Adzharia by
Moscow builders were being realized. A lot of people doubted those
explanations than.
Highway Batumi-Akhalkali (Georgia) – Gyumri (Armenia) is among other
objects, which Moscow builders intend to construct in the region. To
all appearances, it should become a shank of the construction, which
Moscow wanted to create as a counterbalance to US one. The highway
would allow Russia to avoid the cutting off of Armenia, provide an
entry to sea for Russia’s ally, cut oil pipe-line Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
and give the opportunity for the control of the latter.
There are Russian military bases in all three key-points of the
highway – in Batumi, Akhalkali and Gyumri. At that, the authorities
in Batumi are Gyumri are absolutely loyal to Moscow and Javakhetia,
an ethnically Armenian region in Georgia with administrative center
Akhalkali, is under the control of Armenia. In case of Tbilisi’s
total control of Adzharia, the strategic significance of highway
Batumi-Akhalkali-Gyumri would lose its sense.
That’s why the result of the struggle for Batumi is very important
for Moscow (however, for the US too). Of course, it isn’t so
important that it could plunge Russia and the US into a new
confrontation. The control of Adzharia will allow the US to construct
its system in the region for a long time. However, it will allow
Russia, at least, to participate in this construction.
Translated by Gregory Malyutin

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
March 30, 2004
Armenia, Iran’s gas pipeline construction talks in final stage
YEREVAN, Mar 30 (Prime-Tass) — The talks between Armenia and Iran
concerning the construction of a natural gas pipeline between the two
countries are now in the final stages, Armenia’s Energy Minister,
Armen Movsisyan told reporters Tuesday.
The final agreement is to be signed during the official visit of
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh to the Armenian capital of
Yerevan, which is scheduled for the next few days, Movsisyan said.
According to Movsisyan, the agreement envisages starting construction
this year and completing it in approximately 2006.
The issue of the pipeline construction has been discussed since 1992
and the agreement between Armenian and Iranian governments concerning
the route of the pipeline was signed in 1995.
A construction agreement for the pipeline was signed in December 2001
during a visit of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan to Iran.
The first stage of the construction envisages laying a 100-kilometer
strand on Iranian territory and a 41-kilometer section in Armenia,
which will move 1.5 million cubic meters of natural gas to Armenia
every day.
The project is estimated at U.S. USD 120 million with the price of
natural gas at USD 84 per 1,000 cubic meters.
The pipeline may also stretch up to the Armenian-Georgian border,
Movsisyan said. In this case its length will amount to 550
kilometers, throughput capacity to 4.5 billion cubic meters per year,
and the cost of the project will reach USD 306 million, he added.
The pipeline construction project was also of interest to Russia,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, EU countries and China.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced
its readiness to finance the project. End

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 30, 2004 Tuesday 9:30 AM Eastern Time
Armenia, Iran to sign gas pipeline agt early April
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
The negotiations with Iran regarding the construction of a gas
pipeline to Armenia reached the final stage, Armenian Energy Minister
Armen Movsesyan said on Tuesday. The sides have already reached
accords on the main technical parameters of the pipeline.
Iranian oil and gas minister is expected to arrive in Yerevan in
early April to sign an agreement on building of a gas pipeline,
Movsesyan said.
According to the minister, the construction, due to begin later this
year, will last 20 months and to be completed in 2006. Either country
will be fully responsible for laying its stretch of the pipeline.
According to preliminary estimates, the Armenian section will cost
100 million U.S. dollars to lay, and the Iranian stretch, slightly
more.
According to the draft agreement, Iran will deliver gas to Armenia in
amounts sufficient only for the country’s domestic consumption,
Movsesyan said.
The question of extending the pipeline farther to carry Iranian gas
to Europe was not considered, contrary to allegations by some mass
media.
The gas pipeline from Iran will ensure continuous gas supply to
Armenia and enhance its energy security. So far Armenia has received
gas by the sole pipeline from Russia.

The San Francisco Chronicle
MARCH 30, 2004, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION
Seattle Rep finds the lyrical heart of Saroyan’s epochal ‘Time of
Your Life’
by Robert Hurwitt
RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE)
The Time of Your Life: Drama. By William Saroyan. Directed by Tina
Landau. (Through April 25. Steppenwolf Theatre Company at American
Conservatory Theater, Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco.
Two hours, 40 minutes. Tickets $20-$73. Call (415) 749-2228 or visit
).
———————————
“In the time of your life, live — so that in that wondrous time you
shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile
to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”
William Saroyan could be pompous to an irritating degree. But that
final commandment from his Credo for “The Time of Your Life” — the
whole text printed on a placard that looms above the action at the
Geary Theater — sums up the glory of Tina Landau’s exquisite
Steppenwolf Theatre Company production.
Life spills from the stage and out across the house. The ugly beauty
of wasted lives and tawdry dreams, the compelling poetry of
commonplace cruelties and kindnesses, missteps, hollow boasts, lies
and tiny leaps of faith fill the theater in an exhilaratingly chaotic
concoction of the real and the theatrical.
Landau’s vibrant revival attracted national attention when it opened
at Chicago’s Steppenwolf in 2002, and it’s easy to see why. Her
remounted version, which opened Sunday at the Geary, is a
co-production between the American Conservatory Theater and Seattle
Repertory (where it played earlier this year) with the same design
team and a cast made up of actors from all three cities.
It’s a vision right out of a 1930s Thomas Hart Benton mural — with
all its intercut shards of scenes vying for attention — but alive
with song, dance, drinking and chatter. Saroyan’s San Francisco
waterfront dive spreads across the stage as both a real location and
a theatrical construct in G.W. Mercier’s stunning set. A giant I-beam
girder extends out from the scaffolds in front of the bare rear wall
to the edge of a balcony. A crane rises from center stage, and box
seats have been turned into a brothel.
There’s action everywhere, starting a half hour before curtain time
and running throughout the play and the intermission — with single
and multiple scenes creatively isolated in Scott Zielinski’s complex,
dynamic lighting. There’s even a mural in progress, a little more to
be filled in at each performance during the run. And there’s music, a
constant accompaniment of period (and not) songs and original music
by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen emanating from the upright piano
and stopping the action for a solo or ensemble number.
Written in six days and dedicated to theater critic George Jean
Nathan (who helped get it produced), “Life” confounded critics and
audiences in ’39 but has remained popular ever since. (It was, as
Saroyan wrote of his first play, a “landmark or turning-point in the
American theater, and it doesn’t matter very much that I was the
first to say so.”)
Its central action is almost an old-fashioned melodrama: Boy loves
girl. Evil villain threatens heroine. True love triumphs. In “Life,”
though, the hero is the goodhearted, simple-minded errand boy Tom
(the beaming, vital Patrick New). His beloved is the sweet, sad,
luckless hooker Kitty Duval (an achingly poignant Mariann Mayberry).
And the villain is the vice squad cop, Blick (Lawrence MacGowan as a
thoroughgoing petty bully).
Saroyan twists the tale by making the central character its guardian
angel, Joe, the barroom philosopher who spends his days drinking as
he tries to understand life, forget his money (all wealth, he
explains, is theft) and help anyone he can. As played by Steppenwolf
co-founder Jeff Perry, he’s a magnetic, gimlet-eyed dreamer, rapt in
faraway musings, awkwardly peremptory and endlessly fascinated by
every lonely soul he meets. He provides an irresistible focal point
that radiates attention on every other character.
That’s essential because the beating heart of Saroyan’s play is its
rich trove of comic and affecting saloon denizens. Every one is
expertly depicted by Landau’s large ensemble in the period-perfect
costumes by James Schuette.
Some are major players: Yasen Peyankov’s crisp, no-nonsense friendly
Nick, the Greek owner; Don Shell’s gentle, sweet-voiced black piano
player; Guy Adkins’ comically eccentric dancer and unfunny would-be
comedian (a role originally played by Gene Kelly); the superb Howard
Witt as the buckskin-clad, gravel-voiced spinner of hilariously
surreal tall tales called Kit Carson.
Others are minor roles that shine in bright cameos: Robert Ernst’s
sonorous, morose Armenian; Andy Murray’s polemical longshoreman; Guy
Van Swearingen’s conscience-stricken cop; Rod Gnapp’s cagey drunk;
the blithely mismatched lovers of the manically smitten, overexcited
Darragh Kennan and cynical-practical Kyra Himmelbaum.
The performances alone would make this a first-rate “Life.” Landau
enhances their effect with the uneasy stillnesses and abrupt
eruptions in her inspired orchestration of the action. She enlarges
and elevates it with the interplay of subsidiary scenes in the
brothel, on the scaffolds or in the street beyond Nick’s bar —
bringing to life Saroyan’s suggested exterior world of street fights,
Salvation Army rallies and a tense dock strike.
Her “Life” is as sweetly humanitarian, bracingly skeptical, richly
comic and poignantly uplifting as Saroyan could wish. But it’s also
an exciting and energizing, multi-splendor affirmation of life.
E-mail Robert Hurwitt at [email protected].
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Barroom philosopher Joe (Jeff Perry, seated)
affectionately touches bartender Nick (Yasen Peyankov) in “The Time
of Your Life.” / Brant Ward / The Chronicle

The Stamford Advocate, Stamford, Conn.
March 30, 2004, Tuesday
Norwalk, Conn., Firm Sells Documentary Mini-Series to Middle East
Broadcaster
By Richard Lee
A Norwalk media company is making inroads into the Middle East with
the sale of “The Genocide Factor,” a four-hour history of religious
and ethnic persecution through the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11,
2001, to the Middle East Broadcasting Centre.
The documentary mini-series, sold by Norwalk-based CABLEready and
produced by Media Entertainment of Tampa, Fla., will premiere next
month on the pan-Arab network Al-Arabiya TV.
The deal follows the January airing of the series on UKTV History in
Great Britain, where time period ratings jumped 21 percent compared
with year-to-date averages.
It also has run on PBS in the United States, Media Park in Spain and
Portugal, and Odyssey in Australia.
“The Genocide Factor,” introduced by actor Jon Voight, features
interviews, historical drawings, paintings, photos and news footage.
Interviews include segments with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel and
former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, as well as
testimonials from survivors of some of the world’s most tragic
religious and ethnic massacres, including those in Armenia, Bosnia,
East Timor, Rwanda, the Ukraine and the Nazi Holocaust.
“In my 25 years of distributing TV shows, I can’t think of any deal
more gratifying to me personally than this one with Al-Arabiya TV,”
said Gary Lico, president and chief executive officer of CABLEready.
“Having ‘The Genocide Factor’ run complete and uncensored on free TV
in the Middle East to a potential audience of more than 130 million
people is truly groundbreaking. Educating viewers worldwide about
these horrors inflicted throughout history can be a great tool toward
ending such acts of violence and hatred.”
Launched by Middle East Broadcasting Centre, which owns MBC TV,
Dubai-based Al-Arabiya is seen in 15 to 20 countries in the Middle
East. When Al-Arabiya went on the air last year, its investors from
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Persian Gulf states promised to provide
objective and quality programming and news content.
“As a company, we have a lot of respect for that,” said Sabrina
Sanchez, director of program marketing for CABLEready. “I’m sure
there will be some negative reaction from audiences, but Al-Arabiya
is pretty good at standing its ground.”
Specializing in news, documentaries and current affairs programs,
Al-Arabiya was organized as a competitor to Qatar-based al-Jazeera
TV. United States officials have criticized both Al-Arabiya’s and
al-Jazeera’s news coverage in Iraq.
Established in 1992, CABLEready has developed as a strong player in
the international market, said Cynthia Turner, publisher of
Stratford-based online television industry trade publication
Cynopsis.com. “Gary has been enormously successful, and he’s
well-respected in the field. In the TV business, your reputation is
everything,” she said. Selling a program on such as serious topic in
the Middle East must have been a challenge, Turner said.
“Nobody will buy a series that nobody wants to see. You can’t
force-feed an audience,” she said.
CABLEready distributes “Inside the Actors Studio,” shown on Bravo in
the United States and airing in more than 100 countries, and
“Forensic Files,” Court TV’s top-rated series, which also has been
shown on NBC. It also has signed a deal with Outdoor Life Network in
Stamford to handle worldwide sales of 595 hours of OLN programs. The
pact covers 1,092 episodes from 41 series and eight specials.
The Norwalk company also will handle sales of future OLN programming
as it becomes available for international distribution. CABLEready
already handles international sales for two other OLN series,
“Mysterious Encounters,” “Samurai Sportsman.”
“It’s the first time that OLN programming has been formally
distributed overseas,” said Sanchez, who next week will attend MIP TV
in Cannes, France, which focuses on the marketing of television
programs.
“We are excited about the international prospects for our
programming,” said Becky Ruthven, senior vice president of affiliate
sales for OLN.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 30, 2004 Tuesday 3:08 PM Eastern Time
Rights activist beaten in Armenia
YEREVAN, Armenia
A representative of a leading human rights organization was beaten by
assailants on Tuesday and blamed the Armenian authorities for the
attack, which left him hospitalized in serious condition.
Mikael Danielyan, the chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Foundation,
was attacked by four assailants who cornered him in an alley near his
home, according to his wife and the International Helsinki Federation
for Human Rights.
Danielyan was knocked to the ground and beaten for about 10 minutes,
the Vienna-based rights group said. It said it was “very concerned
about (the) brutal physical attack” on Danielyan, who was
hospitalized in serious condition.
Danielyan, whose life was not in danger, said from the hospital that
he blames the authorities for the attack, which came shortly after he
criticized President Robert Kocharian in a published interview.
Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests, including nearly daily demonstrations between
the first round of voting in February 2003 and the runoff in early
March.
The opposition alleged widespread violations in both rounds of the
election. Armenia’s Constitutional Court confirmed the results of the
presidential vote but suggested that a referendum be held within a
year to gauge the public’s confidence in the nation’s leaders.
Opposition leaders in the economically struggling former Soviet
republic have pressed for the plebiscite, and have been planning for
renewed protests against the Caucasus Mountain nation’s authorities.

The Washington Times
March 30, 2004
Terror and tolerance
By Jean-Christophe Mounicq
The morning of Jan. 29, upon hearing about the attack on a bus in Jerusalem,
I did not experience the expected emotion. It seemed such a “normal” thing,
and I have not enough tears to shed for people I do not know.
The next day, on Jan. 30, I read an article about one of the victims –
Avraham Belhassen, 26 years old, a young father – and realized that I could
tolerate no more. I can no longer tolerate terrorist folly, Islamist hatred,
the passivity of Muslims, the blindness of the West.
Following the attacks in Madrid, this feeling struck me again. The
reaction of the Spanish people, cringing in fear before the Islamist claim
of responsibility, bothered me even more. I can no longer tolerate such
cowardly Munich-like behavior that leads inevitably to dishonor and war.
The reaction of the European media and political class to the
elimination of Sheikh Yassin – the master of hate and terrorism, and one who
had called for the murder of Jews – pushed me over the edge. I can no longer
tolerate descriptions of the monster responsible for hundreds of deaths and
thousands of wounded as a “spiritual leader,” a poor “paralytic in a
wheelchair.” I can no longer tolerate murderous, barbaric Islamist hatred.
I can no longer tolerate the electoral victories of Islamists in
Algeria, Turkey or France. I can no longer tolerate the indifference of
Muslim leaders and the majority of Muslims to the suffering of non-Muslims.
I can no longer tolerate their affected statements or their perpetual
self-victimization.
I can no longer tolerate the double game of Yasser Arafat, the Saudi
princes or Pakistani leaders. I can no longer tolerate watching Muslims
dance with joy, in the Palestinian territories or in Paris, following
attacks on the World Trade Center or an Israeli bus. I can no longer
tolerate their anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism, anti-Buddhism or
anti-Hinduism.
I can no longer tolerate those who hate liberty but take every advantage
of it. I can no longer tolerate Islamist lack of respect for secularism and
equality, between men and women, Muslims and others. I can no longer
tolerate their lack of respect for the cultures of the very countries that
shelter them. I can no longer tolerate the multiplication of veils on women
in the streets of Paris.
I can no longer tolerate attacks on French officials, abusive complaints
against the police, terrorism against judges, the ban against teaching about
the Holocaust in schools, or the brutalization of male doctors who treat
Muslim women in hospitals. I can no longer tolerate burning cars in
Strasbourg and synagogues in Bondi. I can no longer tolerate catcalls when
the Marseillaise is played during games at the Stadium of France. I can no
longer tolerate the cries of “death to Jews” in their demonstrations or
“death to Christians” written on walls.
I can no longer tolerate concealing the massacres of Christians and Jews
in Islamic countries, Copts in the Middle East, of one-and-a-half million
Orthodox Armenians in Turkey at the beginning of the last century, as well
as a million-and-a-half Christian Sudanese at its end. I can no longer
tolerate Muslim ethnic cleansing in Kosovo or Palestine. I can no longer
tolerate Islamist totalitarianism.
I can no longer tolerate the relativism and masochism of a West
incapable of recalling its own history other than to denounce it. I can no
longer tolerate comparing the Crusades to jihad, when the Crusades were
nothing but a parenthesis in the history of Christianity while jihad is an
integral part of Islam.
I can no longer tolerate the cowardice, weakness and mediocrity of the
majority of Western leaders, or the unwillingness of Westerners to affirm
their own values and the superiority of liberty and democracy over all other
principles and systems. I can no longer tolerate the inability of Europe to
recall its Judeo-Christian heritage.
I can no longer tolerate taxes that the European Union transforms into
subsidies for the Palestinian Authority or that France transforms into arms
for Saddam Hussein. I can no longer tolerate paying the maternity bills for
women ready to sacrifice their infants as suicide bombers or for teaching
children hatred on the West Bank.
I’m going to pray in the memory of Avraham, pray that his death and
those of so many others might finally open the eyes of the cowards in the
West who refuse to face the truth. I’m going to pray for Westerners to
understand that the war on terrorism is in reality a war against Islamism,
and that Islamism is gaining ground among Muslims.
I’m going to pray that moderate Muslims might organize demonstrations
against the terrorists just as Corsicans and Basques have demonstrated
against their own terrorists. Pray that Islam, which is entering its nuclear
era, might become neither conqueror nor warrior, but rather adapt to
modernity before it is too late.
Jean-Christophe Mounicq is a French writer specializing in economics,
world politics and the French political scene. His book “Understanding World
War IV” will be published later this year.

ARKA News Agency
March 30 2004
RA Parliament speaker meets Head of Yerevan Office of USAID
NKR Foreign Minister receives Head of International Program for Mine
Clearing and Neutralization of Unexploded Ammunition
RA government and UNDP sign joint Anti-Trafficking Program
AMD 10 to AMD 200 value all banknotes to be withdrawn from
circulation in Armenia since 1 April
Information on missing persons to be solved on mutual readiness of
Armenia and Azerbaijan
RA MFA continues making steps on release of Armenian pilots arrested
in Equatorial Guinea
RA President signs several laws
Children Music-Sports Festival `Spring Mood’ to take place on April
1-2 in Yerevan
*********************************************************************
RA PARLIAMENT SPEAKER MEETS HEAD OF YEREVAN OFFICE OF USAID
YEREVAN/ March 30. /ARKA/ . Artur Baghdasaryan, the Speaker of RA
Parliament met today with the Head of Yerevan Office of USAID Keith
Simmons. As RA Parliament Public Relations and Press Department told
ARKA, Simmons presented to the Speaker Robin Phillips who is to
change him. Baghdasaryan thanked Simmons for his job in the frames of
project `Armenia. Strengthening of Legislative Environment’. As the
press release says continuation of this project will be discussed.
T.M. -0–
*********************************************************************
NKR FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM FOR MINE
CLEARING AND NEUTRALIZATION OF UNEXPLODED AMMUNITION
YEREVAN. March 30. /ARKA/. Ashot Ghulyan, NKR Foreign Minister
received Mathew Howell, the Head of International Program for Mine
Clearing and Neutralization of Unexploded Ammunition in NKR. As NKR
Foreign Ministry Press Service told ARKA today, Matthew Howell, whose
authorities in NKr expired presented to NKR Foreign Minister the new
head of the program Ed Row. As mentioned by the Minister, the problem
of mine clearing is still actual for NKR even after 10 years of the
ceasefire in the conflict zone. He stressed that NKR authorities are
interested in continuation of the Program activity on mime clearing
of NKr territory, that according to the Minister is very important
for security of the population and economic development of the NKR.As
reported by Howell the implementation of the program will be
continued for other several years, but the term of mine clearing will
be reduced within limits of possibility. T.M. -0-
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RA GOVERNMENT AND UNDP SIGN JOINT ANTI-TRAFFICKING PROGRAM
YEREVAN. March 30. /ARKA/. Today, Vardan Oskanian, RA Minister of
Foreign Affairs and Lise Grande, UN resident Coordinator/UNDP
Resident Representative signed Anti-Trafficking Program with the
objection to fight the human trafficking. As RA Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Press and Information Service told ARKA, the main objection
of this two-year project is to facilitate the development of a
national framework to tackle the problem of human trafficking. The
project includes such components as building the institutional
capacity of the key state agencies, strengthening of control of the
national border, reintegration of the victims of the trafficking into
the society, as well as raising public awareness.
The last survey on trafficking in Armenia was conducted in 2001 by
UNICEF, as result of which there were recorded several cases of
trafficking in human particularly to Turkey and UAE.
The RA Government approved national strategy action plan for
prevention of illegal transpiration and human trafficking from
Armenia for 2004-2006. T.M. -0–
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AMD 10 TO AMD 200 VALUE ALL BANKNOTES TO BE WITHDRAWN FROM
CIRCULATION IN ARMENIA SINCE 1 APRIL
YEREVAN. March 30. /ARKA/. All banknotes with the value AMD 10 to AMD
200 will be withdrawn from circulation since 1 April 2004, as the CBA
press release received by ARKA reads. At the same time, all
aforementioned banknotes will keep their value and are subject to
exchange and will be accepted in all banks, functioning in Armenia,
as well as their affiliates. Simultaneously, as reported by the CBA,
according to the arrangement with Armpost and Yerevan Metro, these
enterprises will accept the aforementioned banknotes withdrawn from
the circulation as a means of payment, including AMD 1000 value
banknote issued in 1994. At the same time, according to the CBA all
other paper banknotes, including AMD 500 issued in 1993 and AMD 5000
issued in 1995 will remain in circulation and are legal means of
payment. T.M. -0–
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INFORMATION ON MISSING PERSONS TO BE SOLVED ON MUTUAL READINESS OF
ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
YEREVAN. March 30. /ARKA/. Searching information on missing persons
from both Armenian and Azerbaijani side should be solved of the basis
of mutual readiness of the parties, Rita Karapetyan, the Member of
Nagrono Karabakh Committee Helsinki Initiative-92 told ARKA. She
mentioned that this problems was discussed in the frames of the first
conference on `Violent or non-voluntary disappearance of people on
the South Caucasus’ held in Tbilisi on 23-27 March 2004. She said
that the forum was attended by the experts of the international
organizations, from the South Caucasus, that shared their experience
and presented a number of recommendations related to the beginning of
the work on searching and exchange of information on the missing from
both Armenian and Azerbaijani sides. As mentioned by Karapetyan, the
regional conference was quite fruitful and mutually useful.
On 23-27 March the first conference on `Violent or non-voluntary
disappearance of people on the South Caucasus’ was held in Tbilisi.
The conference was attended by employees of the Georgian Office of
the Helsinki Group, the UN experts, OSCE and International Committee
of Red Cross, representatives of NGOs from Armenia and Azerbaijan, as
well as representatives of Helsinki Intiative-92 from Nagorno
Karabakh as well as relatives of the missing in the zones of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
The conference developed a strategic plan of the regional movement
`Yellow Tulips’ for 2004 and adopted a number of documents addressed
to the leaders of the South Caucasus and competent people and
specialists. T.M. -0–
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RA MFA CONTINUES MAKING STEPS ON RELEASE OF ARMENIAN PILOTS ARRESTED
IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA
YEREVAN, March 29./ARKA/. RA MFA continues making steps on release of
Armenian pilots arrested in Equatorial Guinea, RA MFA told ARKA. RA
Regular Representative to UN turned to UN Emissary in Equatorial
Guinea on this issue.
According to press release, RA Regular Representatives to UN Human
Rights Commission met in Geneva with the members of Equatorial Guinea
delegation that takes part in the works of the Commission. During the
meeting Armenian party insisted that the authorities of the country
treated Armenian pilots in accordance to the demands of international
convention on human rights.
Besides, Armenian representative turned to International Amnesty
organization and to Supreme Office of International Red Cross in
Geneva. According to RA MFA, representatives of IRC left for Guinea
for study of the condition of the prisoners and provision of
necessary assistance. L.D. –0 –
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RA PRESIDENT SIGNS SEVERAL LAWS
YEREVAN, March 29./ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian signed
several laws, passed by RA NA earlier. President’s press service told
ARKA that Kocharian signed laws on implementations of changes to RA
Land Code and to the law on Land Tax, and novels to the law on
licensing. L.D. –0–
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CHILDREN MUSIC-SPORTS FESTIVAL `SPRING MOOD’ TO TAKE PLACE ON APRIL
1-2 IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, March 29./ARKA/. Children Music-Sports Festival `Spring
Mood’ will take place on April 1-2 in Yerevan, Vice Mayor of Yerevan
Vano Vardanian stated today at the briefing. According to him, the
festival envisages sports games and concert programs. L.D. –0–