Month: September 2008

TAMAYA SUSPENDS SHARE TRADING

Melbourne Herald Sun
September 30, 2008 11:51am
Australia

COPPER miner Tamaya Resources has suspended the trading of its shares,
a month after delivering a $141.2 million half-year loss.

Tamaya said today its securities would be "suspended from quotation
immediately at the request of the company following the commencement
of discussions with the company’s secured creditors".

The company said in August that it would require "adequate working
capital" to carry out its ongoing exploration and production, which
Tamaya expected to be provided from its copper operation in Chile.

Tamaya warned, however, that the company’s cash position may become
"constrained" and potential asset sales, "financing and corporate
opportunities" would be considered to address the situation.

Tamaya delivered a $141.2 million loss during the first half of
fiscal 2008, to June 30, after writing down the value of Armenian
and Portuguese gold projects, which are on care and maintenance,
by $147 million.

The company picked up the two projects after it acquired an 86.2 per
cent stake in Iberian Resources Ltd through an unsuccessful takeover.

Tamaya put the Lichkvaz gold project in Armenia on care and maintenance
after deeming it had "not proven to be what was expected" and was
not ready for development in the "foreseeable future".

Shares in Tamaya last traded at 1.4 cents.

WOODBURY UNIVERSITY STEPS UP
By Lyle James Slack

Verdugo Monthly
Sep 30, 2008
CA

Architecture to accommodate an expanding student body

Later this month Woodbury University will inaugurate two new campus
buildings, the school’s first major expansion since it relocated
to Burbank 21 years ago. "The board decided it was time to give the
Business Department some dignity," laughs David Rosen, the university’s
Senior Vice President for Academics, "because these people have really
been nomads on campus — working here, working there."

As it happens, Dr. Rosen’s modest office looks out across the
grassy quad directly at the new home of the School of Business, a
handsome, traditional, red brick and mortar edifice. The two-story,
22,000-square-foot structure does give one major nod to modern
architecture: an impressive glass atrium in one corner of the
building. Inside, students will be able to lounge, watch stock reports
on overhead monitors and surf the Internet on laptops connected
to the atrium’s wireless network. Elsewhere in the new building,
which can accommodate up to 750 students, is a state-of-the-art
video-conferencing room and a 250-seat auditorium.

If Dr. Rosen presses his nose to the window — perhaps going a
little cross-eyed — he might also glimpse a corner of the second
new structure, belonging to the School of Architecture. Tucked into a
corner of the quad, it too is a shade of red but otherwise bares little
resemblance to traditional college architecture. Which is entirely on
purpose. "We hired two different architects," says Woodbury President
Kenneth Nielsen, a slender, silver-haired man who can often be seen
mingling with students attired, invariably, in suit pants, white shirt,
tie and suspenders. "We wanted the architecture studio spaces to be
a little edgier," he says, reflecting perhaps the urban-design focus
of the department.

Nielsen can see the new Architecture building, with its curving,
multi-hued walls of textured concrete blocks, from virtually any
of the half dozen windows in his capacious corner office. "We feel
every Architecture student should have a dedicated studio space from
the moment they come in as freshmen," says Nielsen. " A lot of other
schools don’t do that, but we think it’s important to create a work
environment similar to what they’re going to have when they get out."

The two new buildings — ringing in at a cost of about $24 million —
are the most dramatic results to date of the strategic plan Nielsen
developed with University trustees when he came aboard 12 years ago. In
a larger sense, they represent the warp speed at which Woodbury has
expanded in recent years.

The school was founded in 1884 (making it one of the oldest
institutions of higher learning in the American West) and for the
first 103 years was a business college. Located on North Main Street
in downtown Los Angeles until 1937, it moved then to modest digs in
the Mid-Wilshire district, eventually adding architecture and computer
information systems programs.

Finally in 1987 the University relocated to its current 22-acre
campus, a former Catholic girls’ school on Glenoaks Boulevard, just
west of Buena Vista, and expanded its curriculum to include majors
in psychology, politics and history, animation, fashion design and
communications. Today, with 1500 students, the school also offers
graduate degrees in business administration, architecture and
organizational leadership.

"We grew into all our existing facilities quite rapidly," says
Nielsen. The old chapel was turned into the University library;
the gym was renovated to create 18,000 square-feet of studio space
for the architecture and design departments. The old auditorium was
converted to a dining hall for 300. Another 900 students can dine or
study under umbrella picnic tables scattered around the central quad.

"After we used every nook and cranny," adds Nielsen, "we turned to the
new buildings on our strategic plan that we knew we would need." All
of this growth was spawned by the increase in student enrollment —
roughly 60 percent over the last eight years. Currently the student
body is about one-third non-Hispanic white and one-third Hispanic,
with the final third composed of Asian-Americans, African-Americans
and foreign students, largely from Asia.

But as a group, it is students of Armenian heritage who account for
the most dramatic growth in recent years. Four years ago, when Ani
Okkasian entered as a freshman, "people thought I was a novelty —
‘Oh, how exotic, you’re from Armenia,’" laughs the energetic,
dark-haired coed who served as student body president this past
academic year. Four years later, the Armenian Student Association
has nearly 70 members and Armenian is heard around campus almost as
often as Spanish as a second language.

"You have a culture that’s very family-driven," explains Okkasian,
a communications major who hopes to have a career working for human
rights or around climate change. "Like, my parents don’t understand
why someone would want to move out at 18. They see it as, you stay
in the house till you’re married. So Woodbury’s location is a big
part of it, because most of the Armenian kids come from Burbank,
Glendale or North Hollywood."

After graduating from Glendale High, Okkasian applied to several
large state schools, including California State Long Beach with its
40,000-strong student body. "And then I came here," she says, "and
I got this instant family feel. After I visited a couple of times,
people started knowing my name."

Because Okkasian was the first in her family to attend an American
university, she admits she was a little intimidated by the whole
process. "I knew I would need help, I mean, just basic stuff — how
to set up my schedule to graduate on time. I know if I had gone to
a bigger school, I would have had a much harder time. But when I got
here, it was amazing how much time they took to talk to me."

Roughly 70 percent of Woodbury students are, like Okkasian, the
first in their family to attend college, according to Rosen, the
academic vice president. And that, too, is purposeful, he says, part
of the University’s mission. "The students we serve by and large
are low-income, overwhelmingly minority. So it’s people who have
been at the margins of our society — but who really look like the
people who will be at the center of our society in the next 50 years,
if not before."

AGAINST ITS OWN SOCIETY

DeFacto Agency
2008-09-29
Armenia

Sergey Nasibian

Chairman of the NKR CEC Sergey Nasibian’s answers to the mass media
questions Question: The Azerbaijani mass media state that on October
15 the most boring presidential elections are going to be held
in the whole history of Azerbaijan. In your opinion, what are the
reasons for such statements?Answer: Many people, both in Azerbaijan
and outside the country, understand that the forthcoming elections
can not be free and just, that the candidates are not provided with
equal conditions. And it is not surprising for a republic, where the
son inherits the power from father.

The elections will indeed be one-man-for-one-seat, as there
is no a competent, authority-independent civil society in
Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, the international observers, who do not
want to fix serious deviations from the democratic norms in Azerbaijan,
and who, as a rule, get away with phrases like "everything has passed
within the law", "certain shortcomings have occurred", "these elections
are better than last year’s", etc., unwittingly contribute to this.

Question: According to you, how can the actual boycott of the elections
by the Azeri opposition be explained? According to the Azeri mass
media, one can not feel pre-election activity either among candidates,
or the electorate.

Answer: To my mind, it does not seem strange. Everything proceeds
from the predetermination of the election results. And all the
symptoms of this are obvious. For instance, even the candidates are
selectively given money for their pre-election campaign; high-ranking
officials of the republic, who by law have no right to take part in
the agitation campaign, participated in the agitation meetings of
"Yeni Azerbaijan" dominant party; technical equipment and domestic
appliances of one of the opposition parties have even been stolen… It
is no coincidence, that some oppositional parties have already signed
a joint statement on recognizing the presidential elections illegal,
essentially, because of the fact that the government did not consider
their requests concerning the free expression of their will in media
and guaranteeing publications in electronic media.

At the same time, the boycott of presidential elections by the
Azeri opposition makes their results doubly predictable. British
non-governmental organization LINKS has particularly noted this. In its
report on the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan it mentions that the
decision of the majority of the Azeri opposition leaves little doubt
in the "victory" of the candidate from the dominant party Ilham Aliyev.

Question: On the threshold of presidential elections, the Azeri
mass media also demonstrates noticeable passiveness in covering the
pre-election processes. How can you explain this?

Answer: Perhaps this can be explained by the fact, that the
governmental newspapers are oriented only to covering the dominant
party’s candidate campaign, while the opposition’s newspapers criticize
the government and do not cover the elections. As a rule, independent
editions that give a full-fledged coverage of the elections are
apparently very few in Azerbaijan.

They confess in Azerbaijan, that a society with legal culture, skills
of political activity, experience of competitiveness and a dialogue
with the state, and even institutions, capable of expressing moods
of this or that group of citizens has not been established in the
country yet.

Question: According to you, what consequences will these "boring"
elections in Azerbaijan have on the region, and particularly, what
influence will they have on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement?

Answer: First of all, the non-democratic elections are directed
against the Azerbaijani society, which will be thrown back again for
at least 5 years in advancing the democratic processes and creating
a true democratic society.

It is also understandable that as a result of such elections the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process will not win either. Ã~@
just and overall solution to the problem may be connected mostly
with the democratization of the societies of conflicting sides and
the maturity of the civil society.

–Boundary_(ID_L1A1HIsHmpEpbwBHuIPOhA)–

S’PORE STARTUP MAKES GLOBAL SECURITY CONTEST
By Vivian Yeo

ZDNet Asia
Monday, September 29, 2008 07:36 PM
Asia

SINGAPORE–A local company has secured a spot in the finals of the
Global Security Challenge 2008, an annual competition to identify
promising security startups across the globe.

Singapore’s Hiperware and Armenian company Precision Sensors
Instrumentation, edged out three other semi-finalists in the Asian leg
of the competition held last Friday. The two companies will join four
other finalists from the Americas and Europe on Nov. 13 in London,
to vie for the top prize of US$500,000.

Amey Laud, CEO of Hiperware, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview
Tuesday his company earned a nod to the final as "Hiperware’s
technology addresses a pertinent problem among counter-terrorism
agencies, which is timely reaction and intervention against terrorist
attacks".

"While countries have invested much in surveillance infrastructure,
what is missing is a systematic means to provide a ‘big picture’ from
surveillance feeds and [more] importantly, to do this in a timely
manner, no matter how many feeds need to be processed," he added.

Initiated by the London Business School in 2006, the Global Security
Challenge is a security contest that aims to bring together security
innovators, startups and investors around the world.

A whitepaper from Hiperware describes the company’s offering as a
middle-ware platform built on Java, allowing businesses to develop,
test and deploy software across multiple cores, computers or virtual
machines. The technology allows for software tasks to be divided
or partitioned across a number of computers, CPU-cores or virtual
machines, and coordinates these different tasks to work together.

Hiperware’s technology is targeted at various high-performance
computing (HPC) or real-time processing-type applications, such
as industrial process monitoring, business reporting, business
intelligence, scalable e-commerce, science and research, and defense
and homeland security.

The Singapore startup’s business partners have developed four
applications to run on its platform, including HiperSearch, a real-time
search engine that provides instantaneous monitoring of information
processes, according to a corporate factsheet.

Available as a software-as-a-service model, HiperSearch is targeted at
the J-Sox market in Japan and the BPO (business process outsourcing)
industry in India. It was built to address the needs of organizations
that have significant work around security and compliance.

According to the Global Security Challenge Web site, venture
capitalists forked out a total of US$90 million in funds–between
July and September this year–to support security startups.

The winners and finalists from the previous two Global Security
Challenge contests collectively raised more than US$37 million in
new venture capital, angel investments and grants.

FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY AS VIEWED FROM AZERBAIJAN
Arzu Geybullayeva

Turkish Daily News
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Turkey

Here in Azerbaijan, the press followed President Abdullah Gul’s short
visit to Yerevan for the football game very closely. The comments and
statements made by the government and the opposition regarding this
visit ranged from rational diplomatic "tolerance" to sentimentalism and
harsh criticism. On Sept. 3, a statement appeared in a local online
newspaper today.az by an independent but pro-government member of
parliament, Ms. Ganira Pashayeva: "No Azerbaijani can ever agree with
the Turkish president’s visit to Armenia. This visit hurts us morally".

A similar statement was made by Ibrahim Ibrahimli, deputy chairman
of Musavat party, the leading opposition party, in the party’s local
newspaper, Musavat, on Sept. 8, stating, "Personally I think President
Gul should not have gone to Yerevan … It is possible to approach
Gul’s visit to Yerevan as loyal but only from a political-diplomatic
perspective; from an emotional perspective it is hard to digest,"
he concluded.

The most negative assessments of President Gul’s visit to Armenia
came from the public at large. This was revealed by the poll
conducted by the Ray Monitoring Center between Sept. 5 and 7 and
published at Interfax Azerbaijan online news portal – a branch of the
international news resource Interfax International Information Service
Group. According to the poll, only 9 percent of the respondents were
"positive" or "neutral" toward the visit, while 88 percent assessed
the visit "negatively" (3 percent found it hard to answer). Those
who explained the reason behind their negative approach largely
described it as an "unfriendly step toward Azerbaijan and betrayal
of the national interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan."

Baku reduced tension

However, the Azerbaijani government acted quite reasonably with
a view to reducing the reaction. The Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Elmar Mammadyarov, in his press conference Thursday, Sept. 4 said,
"This is purely Turkey’s internal business and we (Azerbaijan) should
not interfere."

A member of the leading government party, Yeni Azerbaycan Partiyasi,
or YAP, Aydin Mirzazade, in his interview with the local newspaper
Echo, a Russian-language independent newspaper, said it was crucial
to treat Abdullah Gul’s visit to Yerevan as a decision made by the
head of an independent state. Secondly, he explained this move was
the right decision on the part of Turkey due to Turkey’s aim of
creating stability in this region. He also said this visit might
trigger the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and added,
"We (Azerbaijan) must approach this visit with understanding."

On the other hand, there were individuals in Azerbaijan who also
believed the West had an effect on Turkey’s decision. Rasim Agayev,
who is a well-known political analyst, believes that this visit was
a move to boost Turkey’s credentials in the eyes of the West. In
his statement to Echo on Sept. 6, he said, "By doing so (visiting
Armenia), President Gul, presented himself as a democrat and freed
his country’s current administration of the image stamped on Turkey’s
current ruling party being Islamist in nature."

Professor Lala Shovket Hajiyeva, leader of the opposition Azerbaijani
Liberal Party, said in an interview with ESI, "Nations have different
perspectives; despite having historical ties or similar ethnic
roots, it is important to understand this. Yes, Turkey is close
to us culturally and even traditionally but these are emotions;
interests of states are different from such emotional ties. So if
Turkey’s intentions behind its visit to Armenia meant that it will
get it further in its bid to EU accession then it was a very smart
move on its behalf."

Gul’s visit to Baku

President Gul’s visit to Azerbaijan on Sept. 10 to some degree softened
the general atmosphere in the country. Both of the presidents stressed
the importance of the mutual relationship, especially with Turkey’s
proposal for the creation of the Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform. During the meeting between the two presidents issues such as
energy partnership, Gul’s visit to Armenia, and the general political
and strategic situation in the Caucasus following the recent armed
conflicts between Georgia and Russia were discussed.

"Turkey always has been and will be on the side of Azerbaijan", said
Turkish President Gul in his joint press brief with President Ilham
Aliyev. During the briefing, President Gul stressed the importance
of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well.

By far the hardest criticism came from the Musavat newspaper, in
which it said, "President Gul’s visit to Azerbaijan is only seen as a
cover-up for its action (Gul’s visit to Yerevan)." In the same issue
from Sept. 10, an independent local analyst, Elxan Mehdiyev, was quoted
saying, "Gul’s visit to Azerbaijan is staged only to tell us that
Turkey is always by our side. However, I do not think it means much".

The last word is President Ilham Aliyev’s and the relationship between
the AKP and YAP seems strong – dramatic shifts in the relationship
are thus not expected.

OCTOBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS: THE GREATEST CRIME OF THE WAR: THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DURING WORLD WAR I

Tampabay.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
FL

Events

Today-Oct. 19, Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. S,
St. Petersburg. Text-and-image panels portray the mass murder of the
Armenian people in Anatolia (1915-1916).(727) 820-0100 or toll-free
1-800-960-7448. flholocaustmuseum.org.

FUTURE OF EUROPE PASSES THROUGH TURKEY’

Today’s Zaman
30 September 2008, Tuesday
Turkey

This is a very strong statement for an intellectual who happens to be
a former French prime minister when almost 80 percent of his fellow
citizens say a definitive "no" to a possible Turkish membership.

Michel Rocard, former French prime minister (1988-1991) and now
a member of the European Parliament, strongly defends the case for
Turkey’s membership in his new book "Oui a la Turquie" (Yes to Turkey),
published at the beginning of September.

Fighting against the sentiments of his own people, Rocard seems
to be a real statesman with the vision to look beyond time limits,
where he sees the value of Turkey as a full member. In an exclusive
interview with Today’s Zaman in his office at the European Parliament
in Brussels, Rocard first encouraged his fellow Frenchmen and European
politicians to consider while formulating politics what is going on
around Europe and what will happen in the coming decades.

To him, Turkey is indispensable for Europe’s future; that is why he
thinks Turkey’s membership is Europe’s life insurance and that the
future of Europe passes through Turkey. "When I say Turkey’s membership
is the EU’s life insurance, I mean it in terms of peace in the region
and safe and permanent access to a very important part of the world,"
said Rocard. "The phrase is legally excessive, and in politics anything
can happen. But I use the phrase as it will be much easier for the EU
to have security in its southeast, much easier to reach energy regions
and to be involved in diplomatic problems through Turkey’s membership."

Rocard underlined that having Turkey as a member will boost EU
influence in the Middle East given Turkey’s good ties with both Israel
and the Palestinians. "Turkey is also next to the Caucasus, which
has large reserves of oil and natural gas. Providing oil and gas is
one of the priorities in terms of the EU’s strategic security. Turkey
as a member will mean the enlargement of this peaceful and commonly
managed zone, which would help draw the maps of pipelines and getting
closer to Caucasian resources," he said. Integrating Turkey, a country
with a Muslim population, into the EU will also be the best way to
show that Europe rejects "cultivating a suspicion toward the entire
Muslim world," according to the former French premier.

According to Rocard, Turkey’s membership will have huge ramifications
in the Muslim world. "Islam was a fantastic civilization in terms of
science and the life it offered for five centuries, i.e., tolerance,
which we did not have in those times. Since then Islam has given the
impression that it has been blocked and had some difficulty reforming
itself. That is why most Islamic countries apart from Turkey are
dictatorships. Turkey’s membership will call for a change in the
whole Islamic world, it is an enormous affair. Maybe it is against
the current regimes but a huge hope for the Islamic people on the
street. It will not be felt only in Turkey, it will be a basic hope
in most Arab countries, to live better lives, to have democracy,
the rule of law and freedom of thought. Membership in the EU would
be enormously helpful in this sense to help Turkey change and present
herself as a model to Muslims all over the world," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a staunch opponent of Turkey’s
membership in the EU but Rocard said in the interview that the
conservative leader has become less vocal recently as he "is
discovering that accession talks have begun and there is a fair
majority in his Cabinet who support talks with Turkey. He also probably
discovered he is not in a capacity to change the minds of ministers."

According to Rocard, Sarkozy also faces limitations in opposing
Turkey. "I do not know if he will change his mind but I know the
objective conditions within which he can engage in politics. He
could stop accession talks but in the present affairs of the state,
he would not dare. Because then we will have an enormous crisis,
i.e., an internal disagreement within his government and a possible
paralysis of the EU," he explained.

Projected date for entry: 2023

Rocard appeared to welcome the idea of a privileged partnership, which
falls short of full membership, but provided that Turkey also accepts
it. "In a less emotive atmosphere it could be a solution. Maybe even
better for you but till now this idea received a strong rejection
by the Turkish elite and the government. I am ready for it but I
am not ready to support an idea Turks will disagree with strongly,
if not take as an insult," he said.

But the former premier said Turkey should be ready for a process of
deep change to achieve its membership goal since, in its current state,
it is not yet very similar to other EU member countries. He predicted
that 2023 would be an appropriate time for membership. "When I say
2023 I mean we shall not tackle this issue in a hurry, not consider
it an emergency. 2023 is also going to be the 100th anniversary of
the republic so that you can mobilize yourselves for the changes,"
he said. "It is for Turks to say whether 2023 is too distant or
not. You need to introduce huge reforms on human rights, a market
economy, women’s conditions, the treatment of the Armenian, Cypriot
and Kurdish issues. These are all possible but will take time."

He expressed confidence in President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) was "competent, serious and hard-working." He also rejected
suggestions that it has a hidden agenda to turn Turkey into an Islamic
state. "Had they had one, they would not have started accession talks
with the EU in the first place," he said.

WE CAN KEEP GAS IF PRICE IS NOT RIGHT, IRAN TELLS CRESCENT

Gulf Times
30 September, 2008, 12:32
Qatar

TEHRAN: Iran has said it would sell gas to Crescent Petroleum of
the UAE if the price previously agreed was raised but is building
facilities so it could use the fuel at home if not.

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari also told Fars News Agency a
Pakistani team would visit Iran in days for talks on another gas
export project that has been under discussion for years.

Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, has been slow to develop
gas exports despite huge reserves partly because US sanctions have
hindered the building of plants to make liquefied natural gas (LNG)
for shipment. Iran now relies on pipelines.

Asked about the Crescent deal, the minister said:"If the price in this
contract is corrected the export of gas will go through, otherwise
the gas from the Siri region will be transferred via a 32-inch,
270km long pipeline under construction now from Assalouyeh to the
country’s interior."

Siri is an offshore area of the Gulf near the Salman gas field that
will supply Crescent if a deal is agreed. Assalouyeh is capital of
Iran’s gas industry on the Gulf coast.

The Crescent deal was initially signed in 2001 but hydrocarbon prices
have soared since then.

Pricing has also delayed a deal to build a gas pipeline to Pakistan
and on to India, although testy relations between the Pakistani and
Indian governments have also held up talks.

"In the course of the next two days a Pakistani team will come to
Tehran to follow up on negotiations," Nozari said.

"Iran’s proposal in the … pipeline is attaining a formula wherein
the final sale price to Pakistan would be set a year before delivery,"
he added.

Iran exports gas to Turkey and has a deal to sell 3mn cu m of gas
per day to neighbouring Armenia in return for electricity. An Iranian
official said this year the Armenian deal would come into effect in
October but said this depended on Armenia. – Reuters

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, DC – DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
Robert Wood, Deputy Spokesman

Washington
September 29, 2008
DC

Belarusian Elections / Initial Read Short of International Standards
U.S. Wants to Work with Belarusian Government

NORTH KOREA

Assistant Secretary Hill’s Travel to Region /Seoul / Pyongyang /
Beijing / Tokyo Need for a Verification Package Looking to Move the
Six-Party Process Forward

ARMENIA

Secretary Rice Meeting with President of Armenia in New York

ECUADOR

Congratulate Ecuadorian People on Constitutional Referendum

SOMALIA

Ukrainian Shipped Hijacked off the Coast of Somalia

TRANSCRIPT: View Video

10:48 a.m. EDT

MR. WOOD: I don’t have anything for you, so why don’t we go right to
your questions.

Sir.

QUESTION: Could I ask for a reaction on the Belarus elections? Are
you guys planning to recognize —

MR. WOOD: Well, what I have is an initial read and I think we found
them to be well short of international standards. We certainly took
note of the OSCE report. But again, this is an initial take. We
obviously want to work with the Belarusian Government and we’ll be
looking for ways to do that. But again, this is just an initial read,
and hopefully, we’ll have some more details for you a bit later.

QUESTION: Can you go into why you think it’s well short of
international standards?

MR. WOOD: Well, I think, there were some issues with regard to the
vote count. But again, this is, as I said, an initial take. Let us
get back to you with a more fuller readout a little bit later.

QUESTION: What is Assistant Secretary Hill going to do this week?

MR. WOOD: Well, he’s leaving today from New York and he is going
to go to the region. He’ll be meeting with his counterparts in the
Six-Party Talks. He’ll arrive in Seoul tomorrow, Tuesday evening,
where he’ll meet with Kim Sook. Later in the week, he’ll visit
Pyongyang before going to Beijing, where he’ll meet with the Chinese
Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei. He is also scheduled to visit Tokyo
for consultations with the Japanese. I don’t have any more details
on his schedule. Sung Kim will be traveling with him, but that’s all
we have at the moment. So we’ll update you as we can.

QUESTION: So later in the week — you said Pyongyang.

MR. WOOD: Yeah, later in the week.

QUESTION: No specific date.

MR. WOOD: No specific date.

QUESTION: And he’s (inaudible) for Seoul?

MR. WOOD: He’s in New York now. He’ll be leaving for Seoul later today.

QUESTION: And Tokyo follows his trip to Beijing?

MR. WOOD: To Beijing. That’s correct.

QUESTION: And just simply stated, can you tell us why he is making
this trip?

MR. WOOD: Well, obviously, we’re very concerned about some of the
reversal of disablement activities that the North has been in engaged
in. And he obviously wants to consult with his counterparts in the
region out there to see what our next steps are going to be with
regard to a response to what the North is doing. Again, we encourage
the North very strongly to submit that verification regime so that
we can move forward on the other aspects, positive aspects of the
Six-Party framework. And Assistant Secretary Hill will be obviously
out in the region looking for ways to work with our allies to bring
North Korea into compliance with its obligations.

QUESTION: Two things, Robert.

MR. WOOD: Yes.

QUESTION: One, on all the things you just described, I think are all
things that he could have done in New York this past week, or the
Secretary could have done, in other words, consult with your allies
and partners in this process. And I think the thing that is most
interesting to us is that he’s going to Pyongyang. Can you flesh
out at all what he hopes to do in Pyongyang? Is it to get a better
feel for why they have begun to roll back on the denuclearization
steps? Is it to see if there’s some kind of negotiating room on the
nature of the verification mechanism? I mean, what – that’s probably
the aspect that’s most striking about this trip, so if you could try
to address that?

MR. WOOD: You know, I’ll do the best I can on that. The Secretary
obviously believes it’s important for Chris to go out to the region,
particularly to go to Pyongyang to get a sense on the ground as to
what’s going on and obviously to talk with North Korean officials
about why they’ve taken the steps they’ve taken. And obviously,
as I said earlier, to encourage them, once again, to submit this
verification package, which we have said is not an onerous task
that we have asked the North Koreans to undertake. It’s a standard,
you know, verification package that’s been done in other cases in
the international community. And so that’s, in essence, is why the
Secretary wants Chris to go to the region, so that we can get a
firsthand look at what’s going on.

QUESTION: And, just one other related one. Forgive me, I wasn’t here
on Friday, so I don’t know to what extent you addressed this. But
the Post on Friday said it had obtained a copy of – a four-page
copy of – that essentially laid out the verification procedures
that the Bush Administration wanted to see. It quoted David – well,
being a former weapons inspector David Albright as saying that this
was a very extensive one. And The New York Times in an op-ed today
says, I think – excuse me, an internet editorial says that it was so
extensive that only a vanquished – a country vanquished in the war
might submit to the verification measures that the United States is
seeking of North Korea. One, are — was The Washington Post report
correct in terms of the verification document? And two, how would you
– since I assume you would dispute the notion that this was, in fact,
a very intrusive and extensive set of verification measures?

MR. WOOD: Well, for one I’m not going to comment on the Post story
that referred to a document that wasn’t to be made public. But again,
as I said on Friday, I believe it was July 10 – 12 – there was a
heads of delegation meeting in which the verification principles were
agreed to by the parties. And so again, this call from us and from
others in the international community for the North to submit this
verification package is not new and we have made the case over and
over again that this needs to happen before we can take any steps
with regard to delisting.

And as I said, we’re talking about a standard verification
package. This is not onerous. It’s not unusual in terms of trying
to verify activities that may have taken place. So you know, the
North cannot expect that after submitting over 19,000 pages that,
obviously, we, the other parties to the framework – we need to be
able to verify what they’ve submitted. And so again, Chris Hill will
be going to the region, trying to look for ways that we can encourage
the North to live up to its obligations.

Kirit.

QUESTION: Just a follow-up on that: When you say that the Secretary
wants Chris Hill to go and get a sense on the ground in Pyongyang with
what’s going on over there, do you mean to say that you’re trying
to understand who is calling the shots now with the reports or the
indications that Kim Jong Il is sick? And given their turnaround since
that time, is there an effort to find out who is in charge right now?

MR. WOOD: I think the effort is to find out why North Korea has taken
the steps that it’s taken. And we want to see those steps reversed.

And again, Chris is not just going to Pyongyang, although that’s
a very important stop, obviously, on the trip. He is going to meet
with his counterparts in other capitols in the region to talk about
how we can get the North back on the path to what it’s committed to
doing. And so I think it’s more trying to get a sense as to why they
took the steps that they took.

QUESTION: In a general sense, is it fair to say that you know that
it’s partly because of the delisting issue and the verification
issue? That they find it too stringent, the verification? Can you
say that at this point?

MR. WOOD: Well, you know, all I can say is that they haven’t submitted
a verification package. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find out better
why they have not done so. And again, in conversations with his
counterparts, Chris Hill is going to try to see what ways we can
work with our allies in the region to get the North to submit this
verification package.

But again, I want to stress this is not something that’s out of the
norm. It is a standard verification package. The North knows that
it is supposed to present the Six-Party – the other members of the
Six-Party framework with this verification package. And again, Chris
will be making those points when he goes to the region.

QUESTION: Can I follow up with one more on this, Robert?

MR. WOOD: Sure.

QUESTION: You know, the North Koreans are known to be sticklers on
written agreements. I don’t believe that any of the agreements — any
of the written agreements – flowing from the September 2005 agreement
actually explicitly addresses verification or explicitly requires the
North to submit a verification package. I think that the key document
referred to their making a complete and correct declaration, but I
don’t think it said anything of their nuclear programs – but I don’t
think it said anything about submitting a verification package.

And the Singapore agreement – again, an agreement on verification
principles – is different from a specific agreement to, sort of,
produce a package or to accept the package that the United States
has proposed. So from the North Koreans point of view, they may feel
that they gave you a declaration. They may regard it as complete and
correct, and they may not feel obliged to accept your definition of
a verification regime.

MR. WOOD: Well, all I can say is that the North knows exactly what
it has to do. The verification package – they’re quite aware that we
need to have that in place, a verifiable one, so that we can move
forward on other aspects of denuclearization. I can’t tell you why
the North is saying what it’s saying, but let me just again reiterate
the fact that this is not new. The North Koreans know exactly what’s
required of them. And you know, the idea that they couldn’t possibly
– or a verification package is not something that they believe that
they needed to submit. That’s just not the case.

All the other members agree that we need to be able to verify the
declaration that the North submitted. And in order to do that we need
a verification package.

Let me try to – go ahead, Kirit.

QUESTION: This is follow up on Arshad’s question. Is there a – can
you say whether Chris Hill is leaving the U.S. with any sort of idea
or compromise in mind to try to break the logjam?

MR. WOOD: Well, if he is, I’m not going to reveal anything here.

QUESTION: Could you say if he has – I mean, is there something –
he’s had a lot of meetings — the Secretary has, as well — over the
past week in New York. Can you say whether in those conversations –
the consultations with the other four members, whether they’ve been
able to come up with some sort of proposal that they’re going to
present at Pyongyang?

MR. WOOD: Well, again, I’m not going to go into the substance of
any message or proposal that Chris may be carrying to the region,
except to say that we are going – he is going to the region to try
to look for a way to move this process forward. And obviously, Chris
will have some ideas about how to do that. And we’ll just have to
wait and see where we go from there.

Please.

QUESTION: The process has been going precipitously backward for a few
weeks now. And going to the region is pretty much standard operation
for Chris Hill, but going to Pyongyang is not. Is this a — an effort
to try to salvage the process? Because he’s only gone to Pyongyang at
critical moments of the process. Is this an effort to try to salvage
the process right now?

MR. WOOD: Well, we want to get the process back on track. You know, the
fact that the North has taken these steps at reversing disablement is
of concern, major concern to us and the other members of the Six-Party
framework. So obviously, this is an important visit. And as I said,
Assistant Secretary Hill is looking to see what the reasons are that
the North took – or what the reasons are for the North taking these
steps to reverse disablement. So that’s about the best I can say on
that at this moment.

QUESTION: If he comes away empty handed, is that very damaging for
this process?

MR. WOOD: Well, let’s not speculate. Let’s let him get to the region
and have him begin his diplomacy there.

Please.

QUESTION: Thank you. Very recently there was a meeting between Armenian
President and —

MR. WOOD: Can we stay North Korea and then we can come back to that?

Charley.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Just briefly, you said he’s going at the direction
of Secretary Rice. Did he receive an invitation from the North
Koreans? Did he seek an invitation? Is there anything you can give
us about the timing of that?

MR. WOOD: I don’t know the details of that. I just know that
he is going to the region, and he’s going to obviously meet with
representatives of the North Korean Government. But I don’t know the
background of that, Charley, as to —

QUESTION: Do you have any update on the activities in Yongbyon? Like,
do you have any information?

MR. WOOD: No, no new information.

QUESTION: What’s going on?

MR. WOOD: No new information, but again, Chris will be going there and
hopefully will be able to get a better read on what’s happening there.

QUESTION: The (inaudible) are still there?

MR. WOOD: Yes, our monitors are still there.

QUESTION: He’s not going to go to (inaudible) — he’ll stay in
Pyongyang, right?

MR. WOOD: I don’t know. I just know that he’s going to Pyongyang. His
schedule isn’t, you know, finalized yet and there’ll obviously be more
details and we’ll try to fill you in on those as they become available.

QUESTION: Do you know how long he will be – his trip to North Korea?

MR. WOOD: Don’t know. Don’t know. Anything else on North Korea?

QUESTION: Did you —

MR. WOOD: Oh, I’m sorry, was there one more? Okay. Please, go.

QUESTION: I’m sorry. Did you say that – who he’s going to meet in
Pyongyang?

MR. WOOD: No.

QUESTION: You don’t have that information?

MR. WOOD: We don’t have the information.

Okay, sir.

QUESTION: Thank you. Yeah, there was a meeting between President
of Armenia in New York with Condoleezza Rice, the United States
Secretary. I’d like to ask if you can provide any information how
the meeting passed? And maybe we can broaden the topic of how you
estimate U.S.-Armenia relations during the last period, especially
after the Ossetian crisis when there was cooperation between Armenia
and the United States concerning U.S. citizens who were coming from
Georgia to Armenia for – leaving the region? Thank you.

MR. WOOD: Yeah, our cooperation with the Government of Armenia is very
good. I’ll have to refer you to the – our people up in New York for
a more detailed readout of the Secretary’s meeting, because I don’t
have them here. Sorry.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. WOOD: Anything else?

David.

QUESTION: Did you have anything on the Ecuador election that passed,
the constitutional changes that would sort of solidify the position
of the president there?

MR. WOOD: Yeah. We offer our congratulations to the people of Ecuador
on the successful referendum and we reaffirm our commitment to build on
our successful cooperation with Ecuador, consistent with our commitment
to supporting Ecuadorian efforts to strengthen democratic institutions
and the prosperity of its people.

QUESTION: You’re not at all concerned about the provisions there that
would allow the incumbent president to stay in office?

MR. WOOD: Well, again, this referendum is something that was decided
on – or the results of the referendum were decided on by the Ecuadorian
people and it’s a decision for them to make.

Charley, were you going to ask some more? No, okay.

QUESTION: This – the weapons on this Ukrainian ship that was
hijacked by Somali pirates on its way to Sudan, apparently — does
the U.S. interpret this sort of arms shipment as a violation of the
UN arms embargo?

MR. WOOD: Well, right now, I understand the Pentagon has a ship
that’s monitoring the situation out there right now. I don’t have
any other details about it, other than to say that, obviously, we’ve
been concerned about piracy in this part of the world for a very long
time. We’ve had travel warnings in the past about the situation off the
coast there. And – but beyond that, I don’t have anything for you on
that. I’d probably refer you to the Pentagon for more details on that.

QUESTION: Do you have lawyers who are examining whether this was a
violation of the UN —

MR. WOOD: I’m sure people will be looking at those aspects of it. But
right now, they’re obviously trying to resolve a standoff in the area,
first and foremost.

QUESTION: Could you say whether the U.S. is concerned or welcomes
a Russian ship that is also heading towards this, apparently,
hijacked ship?

MR. WOOD: Well, the Russians, I believe, are trying to lend their
support to the ship that was hijacked. So I don’t have anything to
say beyond that on it. They’re obviously concerned about it as we are.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. WOOD: Okay, thank you.

(The briefing was concluded at 11:04 a.m.)

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO LEAVE FOR TBILISI ON SEPTEMBER 30

Noyan Tapan

Se p 29, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 29, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan
will go on an official visit to Georgia on September 30. In Tbilisi he
will have a tete-a-tete talk with Georgian President Mikheil Saakasvili
and meet with the speaker of the Georgian parliament and the interior
minister of the country.

S. Sargsyan will have a meeting with the teaching staff and students
at Tbilisi State University where the title of honorary doctor will
be conferred on him.

According to a press release of the RA presidential press service, S.

Sargsyan will also participate in the opening ceremony of a memorial
stone of Monument to Sayat Nova.