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Armenian official denies journalist’s accusations

Arminfo
2 Apr 05

YEREVAN

“The attempts by the editor-in-chief of Syunats Yerkir [Country of
Syunik] newspaper, [Samvel Aleksanyan], to accuse me of burning his
car are slander and a bid to gain popularity with journalists,” the
governor of Syunik Region and a member of the Republic Party of
Armenia, Suren Khachatryan, has said.

He said that the editor-in-chief has no evidence proving that the
governor organized the burning of his car. Khachatryan pointed out
that he had ordered the law-enforcement bodies to carry out a thorough
and objective investigation into this case.

“I am going to deal with this swine within the law,” he said.

Khachatryan also noted that such a statement does not help a
journalist build up a positive image. “Moreover, his statement harms
your business (the media is meant)”.

The editor-in-chief, Samvel Aleksanyan’s, Niva jeep was burnt in Goris
on 1 April. He commented on the incident to Arminfo, describing it as
another terrorist act against his newspaper by the governor of Syunik
Region.

[Passage omitted: minor details]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

fightnews.com

Harutyunyan tops Hayashida!

April 2, 2005

By Francisco Salazar at ringside
Photos: Marcus Lopez

For more photos,
visit

Eight months ago, Kahren Harutyunyan left the ring in disillusionment and
disappointment. He was in complete control and on his way to unanimous
decision victory when a cut over his eye caused by a punch prompted a
stoppage and a knockout loss against him.

Friday night saw a complete reversal of that outcome when Harutyunyan
controlled and dominated his way to a 12 round unanimous decision victory
over Tatsuo Hayashida before almost 1,100 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello,
CA. With the victory, Harutyunyan wins the vacant NABO Junior Bantamweight
championship.

The bout headlined a six-bout “Battle of the Rising Stars” card, presented
by All Star Boxing.

It was an almost flawless performance by Harutyunyan, who boxed brilliantly
for the duration of the fight. Harutyunyan set the tempo of the fight by
landing strong combinations and getting in and out of Hayashida’s punching
range.

Harutyunyan scored a knockdown in the third round. Harutyunyan landed a
counter right cross that dropped Hayashida to the canvas. Undeterred,
Hayashida got up and fought on.

Hayashida turned up the pressure in the fifth round. He succeeded in landing
more punches and backing up Harutyunyan. However, it was not enough to
offset Harutyunyan’s offense.

The eighth round was the best in the fight. Harutyunyan put more pressure on
Hayashida and landed more vicious punches than he had in previous rounds.
Hayashida bravely fought back, despite the fact he suffered a cut over his
left eye from a headbutt.

After a right hand staggered Hayashida in the 10th round, Harutyunyan boxed
well until the final bell. Harutyunyan let up on the pressure, but did
enough to score to win the last couple of rounds.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107, 120-107,
and 119-108. Fightnews.com scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107.

Harutyunyan felt blessed with the support he had from family and friends who
were at the fight. It was great sharing a dream of becoming champion. Still,
he has higher aspirations.

“I am working hard to become a world champion,” said Harutyunyan, who has
contributed to Fightnews.com before. “I am a thinking person. I was ready to
go all of the way. I wasn’t content with a decision because I had him down.
I was going for the KO if it was there. But, my main focus was staying with
my game plan throughout the fight.”

Harutyunyan was down after the bout in August, which he was winning against
Gilberto Bolanos. A cut over his eye allegedly caused by a punch prompted
the ringside physician for that fight to stop it with a round to go, giving
Bolanos the victory over Harutyunyan.

Now, he is content. All of that hard work paid off and earned him a title.

“I was winning the Bolanos fight until they stopped it. But, my management
made this fight for me. I became more motivated and I put everything behind
me.”

Harutyunyan, from Glendale, CA by way of Yerevan, Armenia, improves to
12-2-3. Hayashida, from Tokyo, Japan, drops to 17-6-1, 8 KO’s.

In the co-feature, Super Welterweight Santiago Perez outworked Felipe
Santana over six rounds to win a unanimous decision.

Perez was the busier fighter who landed the more effective punches
throughout the fight. Perez was content to allow Santana to come towards
him, thus allowing him to counter Santana.

Santana was busier in the third and landed more punches than in previous
rounds. He was finally able to get in Perez’ range and land straight right
hands.

However, Perez controlled the action in the rest of the fight Santana
suffered a cut in the fifth round, prompting Perez to come straight at
Santana and land more punches in the round.

Perez finished the bout strong as Santana slowed down considerably. Due to
him not being in the ring for years, Santana rarely landed a punch and
allowed for Perez to press the action.

All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Perez. Fightnews.com
scored the bout the same for Perez.

Perez, from El Monte, CA by way of Copala, Guerrero, Mexico, goes to 9-0-1,
2 KO’s. Santana, from Yucatan, Mexico, falls to 2-1.

Super Middleweight Joey Aragon knocked down Chris Moorings once and settled
for a four round unanimous decision.

Aragon used angles throughout the fight to avoid any of Moorings punches.
Aragon would tie up Moorings as he would charge into him.

The stockier Aragon found a home for wide right hands to the head of
Moorings. One of those right hands was an uppercut that landed flush on
Mooring’s chin, dropping him to the canvas in the second round. Moorings got
up immediately and was not visibly shaken.

Moorings, a former kickboxing champion, came out more aggressive in the
third round. Moorings came straight at Aragon, but could not put his punches
together. Aragon still found a home with a right hand, with left hooks.

Moorings landed more punches in the fourth round. Aragon slowed down and was
able to clench whenever he felt Moorings would have had the upper hand.

All three judges had Aragon winning the bout, 40-35, 39-36, and 38-37.
Fightnews.com had Aragon winning 39-36.

Aragon, from Rosemead, CA, improves to 6-2, 2 KO’s. Moorings, from Long
Beach, CA, loses his professional debut.

Welterweight George Moreno scored an upset when he knocked down Francisco
Zepeda twice, the last one for good in the first round of a scheduled six
round bout.

A left hook to the head dropped Zepeda to the canvas. Zepeda got up and
fought back bravely. During an exchange, a right hand by Moreno dropped
Zepeda to the canvas again.

Dazed, Zepeda stood up, but referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the bout at 1:38
of the first round.

Moreno, from Azusa, CA, improves to 3-7, 2 KO’s. Zepeda, from Los Angeles by
way of Michoacan, Mexico, drops to 3-3-2, 1 KO.

In other bouts:
– Super Featherweight Jorge Espinoza knocked out Shane Langford with a left
hook to the head at 18 seconds of the first round. Langford had gotten up
from the knockdown but fell in the arms of referee Tony Crebs. Espinoza,
from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, goes to 3-0, 1 KO. Langford, from Los
Angeles by way of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, drops to 1-7-1.

– In the walkout bout of the evening, Super Welterweight Aaron Martinez won
a four round decision over Salomon Tellez. Martinez, from East Los Angeles,
CA, goes to 2-0. Tellez, from Anaheim, CA, drops to 2-2.

Notes:
– Faces in the crowd: former world champion Bobby Chacon, Middleweight
Sergio Mora (also on NBC’s “Contender”), undefeated fighters Z Gorres and
Rey Bautista.

– All Star Boxing is back at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello on Friday, May
20th with another installment of “Battle of the Rising Stars.” To purchase
tickets, call All Star Boxing at (323) 816-6200.

– Harytyunyan is being trained by Freddie Roach.

– Ring announcer was Jim Fitzgerald.

Questions? Comments? Email Francisco Salazar

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Tribune, India

Sunday, April 3, 2005, Chandigarh, India

Vatican announces new Bishops

Vatican City

Pope John Paul II has appointed two new archbishops and papal ambassadors
and accepted the resignations of three other prelates, the Vatican said
today as the Pope lay on his deathbed.

A Vatican statement said the Pope had approved the new appointments on March
12, before his rapid deterioration.

He named Bishop Manuel Urena Pastor Archbishop of Zaragoza in Spain, and
accepted the resignation of his predecessor, Elias Yanes Alvarez.

The Pope also accepted the resignation of Nerses Der Nersessian as Bishop
for Armenian Catholics in eastern Europe, naming Bishop Nechan Karakeheyan
as his successor and elevating him as Archbishop.

He accepted the resignation of Bishop Vartan Kechichian, the Armenian
coadjutor bishop.

The Vatican said the Pope also appointed Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, formerly
Nuncio in Tanzania, as Nuncio – or Ambassador – to El Salvador and Bishop
Giambattista Diquattro to Panama, elevating him as Archbishop. – AFP

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GOVERNOR OF SYUNIK REGION PROMISES

YEREVAN, APRIL 2. ARMINFO. Governor of Syunik region, a member of the
Republican Party of Armenia Suren Khachatryan told journalists today.

He said that the sufferer had no evidences that the governor had
organized the burning of his car. Khachatryan assured journalists that
he had instructed the law-enforcement bodies to carry out a detailed
and objective investigation on the case. He expressed intention to
deal with the editor-in-chief within the limits of the Law. He also
said that such statements did not contribute to formation of a
positive image of a journalist. he said.

To note on 1 April, in the town of Goris, the car “NIVA” belonging to
the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Syunats Yerkir” Samvel
Aleksanyan caught fire. Aleksanyan informed ARMINFO that the incident
was a regular terrorist act with respect to his newspaper by the
Governor of Syunik region. Judging on the aforementioned, Aleksanyan’s
interview to the newspaper “Novoye Vremya” dated March 12 has probably
become a reason for the burning. After his interview, Aleksanyan has
been repeatedly warned by the governor and even received anonymous
calls at nights. The editor-in-chief thinks that there is no second
person in Goris except Governor Surik Khachatryan able to burn a car.

At the same time Aleksanyan refuses to make any explanation to the
investigation structures of the region stating that the Armenian
Constitution is not effective in the region, that is why any employee
of the regional law-enforcement bodies may occur in the same situation
with the editor-in-chief when displaying objectiveness.

CATHOLICOS ARAM I AND EMIL LAHUD DISCUSS SITUATION IN LEBANON

ANTILIAS, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Catholicos of the Great Cilician House
Aram I and President of Lebanon Emil Lahud discussed a number of
issues concerning the situation in Lebanon on March 25. According to
the press divan of the Great Cilician House, the meetings of Aram I
with the Ambassador of France to Lebanon and the representatives of
the country’s political opposition preceded this meeting.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OMBUDSMAN’S ANNUAL REPORT IS REPRESENTED TO RA PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Larisa Alaverdian, the RA Ombudswoman,
represented to the President of the Republic the 2004 annual report
about her activity and the situation of human rights and main freedoms
in the country. L.Alaverdian will represent it also to the National
Assembly during the autumn sittings. As Noyan Tapan was informed from
the RA Ombudsman’s Staff Information and Public Relations Department,
the estimations, the conclusions and the suggestions, composed in the
report, are based both on the applications received from the
complainers and on the studies and observations made on own
initiative. According to the information, being the first one, this
report has no approve to reflect all possible displays of human rights
violations, especially that a four-month period is very little for
such a wide inclusion. It was also mentioned that the estimations in
the report, in some cases, cannot coincide with estimations of
separate public groups. “However, these estimations come to prove that
the RA, the inheritor of a country having history of thousands of
years, has irretrievably chosen the way of building a democratic,
social and legal country, among the evidence of which is the creation
of the Ombudsman’s Office.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT RESOLUTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN BUNDESTAG POSTPONED

01.04.2005 03:49

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Faction of Social Democrats and Greens submitted to
the Bundestag the proposal to postpone the consideration of the draft
resolution on the Armenian Genocide Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reports.

The coalition of Social Democrats and Greens did not wish to worsen
relations with Turkey on the threshold of Gerhard Schroder’s visit to
Ankara.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PROFITS OF ARMENIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES GROW 49.6% IN 2004

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. Some activization has been registered
in the insurance sphere of the country in 2004 as a result of the
application of the new Law on Insurance. Head of the Department of
Insurance of the RA Ministry of Finance and Economy Ashot Gomtsian
stated at the April 1 press conference that only last year, another 4
companies received licences to carry out insurance activities. As of
January 1, 2005, there were 26 licenced insurance companies in
Armenia, 20 of which operated in accordance with their regulations.

According to A. Gomtsian, the overall authorized capital of the
companies grew 33.4% in 2004 and made about 2 bln 398.8 mln drams
(about 4.5 mln USD) as of January 1, 2005. In the year under review,
the companies’ own capital increased 34.5% to about 2 bln 768.6 mln
drams, while the assets – by 48.8% to about 6 bln 304.8 mln drams. The
insurance reserves and insurance payments grew 48.9% to 1.9 bln drams
and 47.1% to 3.9 bln drams respectively. Insurance compensations
decreased 2.2% to 444.5 mln drams. The profit of the insurance
companies grew 49.6% to 178 mln 473 thousand drams. According to the
department head, with the aim of protecting the interests of the
insured, stricter normatives for the operation of the companies were
established by the new law, in particular, the minimum amount of the
authorized capital was increased. It will make 100 mln drams in 2005,
200 mln drams in 2006, and 500 mln drams in 2008. The speaker
underlined that the introduction of various types of compalsory
insurance is a top priority for developing the sphere. At present the
companies mainly insure against accidents, as well as cargo, property,
plane risks, whereas life insurance is available only at 3-4
companies.

AAA LEADER: US WILL DO WHAT OTHERS HAVE DONE IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

02.04.2005 03:50

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the issue of acknowledgement of the Armenian
Genocide the US will do what other countries have done some time or
later, Armenian Assembly of America Executive Director Ross Vartian
stated, the Milliyet Turkish newspaper reported. `France has
recognized the Genocide, however it did not damage the Turkish-French
relations at all,’ he added. He considered senseless the proposals to
submit the genocide issue for discussion, grounding it with the
historians having discussed it long ago and have come to a certain
conclusion. Answering the question that `genocide is merely the
problem of the Diaspora,’ Ross Vartian noted, `the acknowledgement of
the Genocide is one of priority tasks of Armenia’s foreign policy.

Some 1 million people visit the Memorial of the victims of the
Genocide victims April 24 each year ` this makes 1/3 of the population
of Armenia. We ` the Diaspora representatives ` are not hostile
towards the Turkish people.’ Answering the questions referring to the
territorial integrity of Turkey and the Armenian-Turkish relations,
Ross Vartian did not deny that the acknowledgement of the Genocide
will have certain consequences for Turkey. Simultaneously, he noted,
`however the definition of the consequences of the acknowledgement of
the Genocide does not concert the Diaspora. It is the affair of
Yerevan and Ankara. As of the land demands, the authorities of Armenia
have made an unilateral statement on respecting the territorial
integrity of Turkey.’ `Armenia and Turkey should be able to discuss
all problems available. It is necessary to open the borders. The
acknowledgement of the Genocide is not a precondition to settlement of
the relations between Yerevan and Ankara and it cannot be. The sound
dialogue is important. The Genocide will be recognized when the
Turkish people themselves want it and make the Turkish Government do
it, but not under pressure from the outside. Turkey is being gradually
reconstructed, challenges the history, otherwise Orhan Pamuk! would
ha ve not been able to make a public statement on the murder of 1
million Armenians,’ he stated.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SHEIKS OF ASHIRET TRIBES OF SYRIA: WORLD SHOULD RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

01.04.2005 07:14

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The delegation of sheiks of 12 Ashiret tribal
leaders, who have authority in the Syrian Arab Republic, are in
Armenia to participate in the commemorations of the Armenian
Genocide. In early past century the fathers of the sheiks provided
asylum to the Armenians, who survived the genocide. Today the
delegation members held a news conference, at which they expressed
admiration of the culture, science and the hospitality of the Armenian
people, the Yerkir newspaper reported. The entire world should
recognize the Armenian Genocide, the sheiks noted, adding that every
stone, every inch of our country provide evidence of the Armenian
Genocide victims. The guests also visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial
of the Genocide victims, Yerevan State University, and met with
Armenian officials.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress