ASBAREZ Online [04-07-2004]

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04/07/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) New Karabagh Envoy for US, Abiyev Ties Unstable Armenia to Renewed War 2) ANCC, Canadian Foreign Ministry Reps Take-up Timely Issues 3) Krakow Armenian Officials Tell Turkey to Keep Distance on Monument Issue 4) Russian Official Injured in Georgia Explosion 5) Fierce Fighting Sweeps Iraqi Cities 1) New Karabagh Envoy for US, Abiyev Ties Unstable Armenia to Renewed War YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The United States will soon appoint a new chief negotiator in the long-running international efforts to resolve the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, official Azeri sources revealed on Wednesday, citing the US ambassador in Baku. Azeri news agencies quoted Ambassador Reno Harnish as telling Defense Minister Safar Abiyev on Tuesday that Steven Mann, Washington’s special representative to the Caspian Sea region, will soon take over as the new US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Harnish said he hopes that the appointment will give new impetus to the stalled Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks. No other details were reported. In his current capacity, Mann has for years focused on the development of Azerbaijan’s and Kazakhstan's Caspian oil and natural reserves by Western multinational companies. He also successfully lobbied on behalf of the US government for the ongoing construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that will pump Azerbaijani and possibly Kazakh oil to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The multibillion-dollar oil projects, seen as reducing the ex-Soviet states’ dependence on Russia, have been a key motive for the close US involvement in the Karabagh peace process. The Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact around Karabagh lies only several dozen kilometers south of the nearest section of the future pipeline. Meeting with the US envoy, the Azerbaijani defense chief accused the Armenian side of trying to “obstruct” the $2.5 billion work on the pipeline. Abiyev also claimed that rising political tensions in Armenia make a renewed war in Karabagh more likely. “Should the government lose control over the domestic situation, a war may break out,” he said. As a defense minister, I see this and warn the public. We must be always ready to defend the territorial integrity of our state.” The US State Department has not yet officially announced Mann’s upcoming appointment. An Armenian diplomatic source suggested that the information provided by Harnish was not meant for publication by the Azeri government. The current US co-chair of the Minsk Group, Rudolf Perina, has held the post since September 2001. Perina and his Russian and French counterparts were due to preside over an important meeting between the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers which was scheduled to take place in Prague late last week. The talks were canceled at Baku’s request. This was followed by the weekend dismissal of Vilayat Guliyev, Azerbaijan’s tough-talking foreign minister. Azerbaijani commentators said Guliyev’s replacement, career diplomat Elmar Mamedyarov, will be more pliant to President Ilham Aliyev. 2) ANCC, Canadian Foreign Ministry Reps Take-up Timely Issues OTTAWA--Representative of Canada’s foreign ministry and Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) met on April 2 at the ministry building in Ottawa. ANCC representatives, Chairman Jirayr Basmadjian, and Toros Dimitian held a two-hour meeting with the ministry’s Director General David Preston, and Peter Curtis who heads Canada’s Armenia relations office. Although ANCC representatives stressed the importance of current government efforts to create dialogue between Canada’s minorities, they nevertheless expressed concern about the timing of move that coincides with the vote in the Canadian House of Commons on the Armenian Genocide. Efforts for potential dialogue--presumably between all minorities--could possibly overshadow the motion on the Armenian Genocide due for a vote in late April. Although the Canadian government opposes the use of the word “genocide,” explained Preston, it also opposes a vote against motion, and will allow each member of its party to rule their conscience on the issue. ANCC representatives detailed the necessity of establishing a Canadian embassy in Armenia, considering the vast Canadian Armenian community. They also covered the political situation in the Caucasus, specifically the absurdity of attempts to regulate the Karabagh conflict without the participation of Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) in negotiations. Though the meeting participants did not agree on all matters, they nevertheless agreed that the talks were constructive and beneficial. Preston and Curtis requested a follow-up meeting in the near future with ANCC representatives. 3) Krakow Armenian Officials Tell Turkey to Keep Distance on Monument Issue YEREVAN (Arminfo)--A Monument to the Victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 has been erected in Krakow, Poland, and will officially be unveiled on April 17. There has been some degree of controversy surrounding the monument, with the Turkish embassy in Poland repeatedly coming out against the use of the word “Genocide” on the Monument. Not surprised by the move, Armenia’s ambassador to Poland Ashot Hovakimyan, said the time will surely come for Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide, and suggested that a monument dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide be erected in Istanbul. Hovakimyan thanked Krakow authorities for their ability to brave the onslaught of protests by Turkish diplomats, and expressed confidence that the incident would not bring about a cooling off of Turkish-Polish relations. “The more Poland knows about Turkey, the better,” Hovakimyan added. The Archimandrite of the Krakow Monastery Tadeush Isakakyan-Zaleski, in an open letter to the Turkish Ambassador, stated that any self-respecting historian could not but confirm the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide, and that disputes around the word “Genocide” are senseless. He also asked the Ambassador to stay out of the issue. 4) Russian Official Injured in Georgia Explosion TBILISI (AP)--The commander of Russian forces in the former Soviet republic of Georgia was injured in a bomb blast Tuesday night, officials said Tuesday. Gen. Alexander Studenikin was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening, Georgian deputy prosecutor Kakha Koberidze said. Koberidze said the blast occurred as the general walked to his home from the Russian troops' headquarters in the capital Tbilisi, on territory under Russian control. He said preliminary information indicates it was set off by remote. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Studenikin was injured in an explosion, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Russia maintains two bases and about 5,000 troops in Georgia as holdovers from the Soviet era when the republic was a key element in the Kremlin's military strategy. It has about 150 tanks, 240 armored vehicles and 140 artillery pieces on the bases. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia withdrew troops from two other bases, and Georgia has been pushing for the withdrawal of the remaining two. Moscow has said the withdrawal could take from seven to 11 years, but Georgia has pressed for complete pullout in three years. The Georgians have been nervous that Moscow might use the bases to support the defiant leader of Ajaria, the Black Sea province which has been reluctant to cede any powers to Georgian central authorities. One of the Russian bases is located in Ajaria. Despite the tensions over the bases, Russia-Georgian relations have shown signs of thawing since Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was elected in January, after Eduard Shevardnadze resigned under pressure of mass public protests. Georgian Security Council secretary Vano Merabishvili said he suspects those developments could be behind the bombing. "I think that this has happened because there's been an improvement in relations recently between Georgia and Russia and our enemies don't like warm relations between our countries," he said. Koberidze said the explosion would be investigated jointly by Georgian and Russian authorities. 5) Fierce Fighting Sweeps Iraqi Cities "OUR RESOLVE IS FIRM; OUR RESOLVE IS UNSHAKABLE AND WE WILL PREVAIL" --WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN SCOTT MCCLELLAN FALLUJA (Reuters)--US-led forces are battling Sunni Muslim guerrillas and a spreading Shi'ite uprising, as Iraqi anger was inflamed by a blast in the grounds of a mosque that witnesses say killed 25 people. In the last three days 35 American and allied soldiers and at least 200 Iraqis have been killed in some of the heaviest fighting since the fall of Saddam Hussein nearly a year ago. The spiraling two-front war, with new flashpoints flaring across the country as backers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr take up arms, is calling into question US plans to transfer sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. US President George W. Bush--campaigning for re-election in November with opinion polls showing plunging support over Iraq--held phone talks with close ally Prime Minister Tony Blair, but officials dismissed any suggestion of a crisis. But some countries with troops in Iraq signaled the situation was growing serious. Ukrainian troops pulled out of the eastern city of Kut after clashes and regrouped at a base camp. Japan said its troops would suspend reconstruction work in Samawa, in the south, because of security concerns. Battles raged between US Marines and guerrillas in the Sunni towns of Falluja and Ramadi west of Baghdad. NEW US "CASUALTIES" A US military spokesman said there were five Marine "casualties" in Falluja on Wednesday, but it was not clear if any had been killed. In Falluja, witnesses said the office of a Muslim organization in the grounds of a mosque was hit by a rocket. Local residents said at least 25 people were killed. A US official at the Pentagon said a bomb had been dropped but "did not hit the mosque--that was made very clear to us". In a small alleyway in the back streets of Ramadi, a dozen Iraqis crouched on the floor of a house, sheltering from gunfire as Marines and masked insurgents fought outside. In a room close by, women and children were crying. Mosques broadcast calls for a holy war against US troops, blasts echoed across the town and black smoke rose from a building blocks away. Twelve Marines were killed on Tuesday in a seven-hour battle in Ramadi--one of the costliest single losses for US forces since the war that toppled Saddam began last March. A US soldier was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Baghdad on Wednesday, bringing to 443 the number of US troops killed in action in Iraq since last year's invasion. Since Sunday, clashes across Iraq have killed 33 US troops, a Ukrainian soldier and a Salvadoran soldier. MAJOR US OPERATION The US military launched a major operation this week to secure Ramadi and Falluja, where four US private security guards were killed last week and their bodies set ablaze and mutilated by a jubilant crowd of Iraqis. North of Baghdad, a US helicopter landed after being hit by gunfire. The US army said there were no casualties. Followers of Sadr have fought running battles with US-led forces in the southern cities of Nassiriya, Amara, Kut, and Kerbala. An aide to Sadr told a news conference some US soldiers had been captured in the fighting. "Some tribes have captured some occupation forces on the streets," Qays al-Khazali told a news conference in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf. US military spokesman, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, said US-led forces would destroy Sadr's Mehdi Army militia and that the cleric would be arrested. "In the central and southern regions of Iraq the coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting operations to destroy the Mehdi Army," he said. The upsurge in violence has prompted critics of Bush to suggest US forces face a Vietnam-style quagmire. Bulgaria summoned ambassadors of the United States, Britain, Spain and Poland to the foreign ministry on Wednesday asking for back-up for 450 Bulgarian soldiers stationed in Kerbala. The base has come under attack several times by Shi'ite militiamen, and a Bulgarian civilian truck driver was killed in an attack on a convoy in southern Iraq on Tuesday. Sadr has appealed to all Iraqis, whatever their religion, to help expel the US-led occupying forces. "This insurrection shows that the Iraqi people are not satisfied with the occupation and they will not accept oppression," he said in a statement on Tuesday. Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Wednesday condemned the way US-led forces were tackling the uprising and called for calm on all sides and an end to violence. Bush has vowed the campaign by Sadr's supporters would not derail Washington's plans. "We will pass sovereignty on June 30," he told a rally in Arkansas on Tuesday. "We're not going to be intimidated by thugs and assassins." A US opinion poll on Monday showed support for Bush's handling of Iraq at a new low of 40 percent, with 44 percent wanting US troops withdrawn. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. 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