NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL TO VISIT ARMENIA

United Press International – UPI Asia

Sept 5 2012

BRUSSELS, Sept. 5 (UPI) — NATO announced that Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is to visit Armenia to meet the country’s
president and defense officials.

Rasmussen was to arrive in Yerevan to meet Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan. In a statement from his Twitter account, the
secretary-general said his plane returned Wednesday to Brussels
because of technical reasons.

“Despite the delay, I am looking forward to visit(ing) the Caucasus
Thursday and Friday,” the message stated.

Rasmussen is to meet Thursday with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian
and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.

His scheduled arrival follows concerns that a decision by Azerbaijan to
pardon a military official accused of killing an Armenian counterpart
in Budapest could reignite regional tensions.

Azeri officer Ramil Safarov was serving a life term in prison for the
death of an Armenian soldier Gurgen Makarian in 2004. Both men were in
the country taking English-language courses established there by NATO.

The Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed
“deep concern” over the pardon. Safarov received a hero’s welcome
upon his return to Azerbaijan, getting a promotion in rank and pay
lost since his arrest.

Skirmishes broke out between Azeri and Armenian forces in June over
the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both sides have gone to
war over the territory, which is recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress