Author: Andres-Papazian

IRAN, ARMENIA TO COOPERATE IN WATER, RENEWABLE ENERGIES

Fars News Agency
Oct 26 2010
Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Armenia agreed on Tuesday to form a joint
working group to explore way of expanding their mutual cooperation
in grounds of water and renewable energy resources.

The agreement was made in a meeting between Iranian Minister of Energy
Majid Namjou and Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
Armen Movsisian here in Tehran.

During the meeting, the two sides studied mutual cooperation,
and underlined the necessity for the implementation of the recent
agreements on the construction of a third power transfer line and a
new power plant in Armenia.

The two ministers also agreed to form a joint working group to do the
follow-up measures in line with the two countries’ mutual cooperation
in the different sectors. The work group is scheduled to hold meetings
every season.

Based on the agreement, Iran’s energy ministry will construct the
130mw Moqri power plant and a third line for power transfer to Armenia.

The agreement came after Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian
started a two-day state visit to Tehran on Monday to explore avenues
for the further bolstering of bilateral relations between the two
neighboring countries.

During his visit, Sargsian met with senior Iranian officials,
including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and First Vice-President
Mohammad Reza Rahimi.

In both meetings, Sargsian reminded the close relations between Tehran
and Yerevan, and called for the expansion of bilateral ties.

“The two countries have high potentials for joint cooperation, and
the two countries’ ties can bolster in line with the two nations’
interests,” he said at the meeting with the Iranian vice-president
in Tehran on Monday.

From: A. Papazian

COMPUTER VIRUS ‘MASTERMIND’ ARRESTED IN ARMENIA

Agence France Presse
Oct 26 2010

THE HAGUE – Dutch authorities announced Tuesday the arrest in Armenia
of the alleged mastermind behind a computer virus crime group whose
server network was dismantled in the Netherlands a day earlier.

“At the request of the national (Dutch) prosecution service, a
27-year-old Armenian believed to be the brains behind the notorious
Bredolab network, was arrested at the Yerevan international airport
last night,” the prosecution service said in a statement in The Hague.

Investigators said they dismantled a criminal network on Monday that
had used computer servers in the Netherlands to infect at least 30
million computers worldwide with a virus that allows others to obtain
information like bank passwords from infected computers.

The network was capable of infecting three million computers a month
and was sending an estimated 3.6 billion virus e-mails to users daily
by the end of 2009.

A total of 143 computer servers were disconnected in the Netherlands
on Monday, the prosecuting service said.

Since the Netherlands have no extradition agreement with Armenia,
“we are discussing the possibility of the suspect being put on trial
there”, prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin told AFP.

From: A. Papazian

BISHOP WELCOME TO SUBMIT HIS APPLICATION AGAIN, UK EMBASSY STATES

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

British Embassy Yerevan wants to inform that each application to enter
the UK is considered on its individual merits taking into account all
relevant circumstances and in accordance with the immigration rules,
UK Embassy in Armenia informed NEWS.am commenting on refusal to issue
visa to Bishop Mikael Ajapahyan.

“The British Embassy provides clear guidance on what evidence is
required to be submitted in support of an application for a UK visa.

In this case, Mr Ajapahyan failed to provide the original invitation
from the UK and a note from the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
accompany his diplomatic passport. Mr Ajapahyan is welcome to submit
his application again with all the correct supporting documentation,”
the statement reads.

As NEWS.am reported earlier, the British Embassy in Armenia
refused to grant a visa to the leader of the Shirak Diocese of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, Bishop Mikael Ajapahyan. According to
some information, the Armenian bishop not only was refused to be
granted a visa, but was inappropriately offered to leave the embassy,
“Go and work with your people, and do not go to embassies.”

According to the information at NEWS.am’s disposal, Bishop Michael
Ajapahyan was going to visit Britain to attend an international
conference. The Bishop received an invitation via e-mail which
apparently was the reason for the visa refusal.

From: A. Papazian

DUTCH TEAM UP WITH ARMENIA FOR BREDOLAB BOTNET TAKE DOWN
Jeremy Kirk

Computerworld

Oct 26 2010

October 26, 2010 09:19 AM ET.IDG News Service – Armenian authorities
arrested a 27-year-old man on Tuesday on suspicion of running a
large botnet that was dismantled after a unique take-down operation
by Dutch law enforcement and computer security experts on Monday.

Dutch authorities said they seized dozens of servers used to control
the Bredolab botnet, estimated to have infected millions of computers
worldwide.

Bredolab is a type of malicious software program that can steal
login and password details, log keystrokes, and steal any data from
an infected computer. The Dutch High Tech Crime Team, which is part
of the National Crime Squad, began investigating the botnet over the
summer, according to a press release issued on Monday.

The Bredolab botnet was capable of infecting up to 3 million computers
per month. By the end of last year, it was estimated that 3.6 billion
spam e-mails were sent out daily containing the Bredolab malware,
according to the High Tech Crime Team.

The team said it has disconnected and seized 143 servers used for
Bredolab, working with the Dutch Forensic Institute, Govcert.nl,
the Dutch computer emergency response team, and the security vendor
Fox IT. The 143 servers were part of the network run by LeaseWeb,
the largest hosting provider in the Netherlands, and had been hired
through one of LeaseWeb’s resellers.

The Armenian man was tracked down in a joint effort between Fox IT,
which is based in the Netherlands, and Dutch law enforcement. The
man is suspected of renting computers that had been infected with
Bredolab to cybercrime players in other countries, said Ronald Prins,
founder of Fox IT.

For example, a cybercriminal in Spain could rent 100,000 machines
infected with Bredolab, then upload their own specific malicious
software program to those machines, such as the Zeus online banking
malware, Prins said.

The Armenian man had constructed a massive botnet, at one point
infecting up to 29 million computers in countries including Italy,
Spain, South Africa, the U.S. and the U.K. The Dutch police wanted
to disrupt and shut down Bredolab.

“We wanted to take down the botnet,” Prins said. “What we also
wanted to do was make sure the botnet wouldn’t switch over to other
infrastructure under his control.”

The Dutch police decided to use a tactic they have apparently used
before, taking over the computers infected with Bredolab and directing
them to servers not under the control of the Armenian. Fox IT helped
with that by uploading a “good” bot developed by police to those PCs,
Prins said.

The action started about 2 p.m. CET on Monday. Upon opening their Web
browser, people with computers infected with Bredolab are now being
redirected to a website set up by Govcert.nl, the Computer Emergency
Response Team for the Dutch government. The Web page, written in
English, warns people that their computer is infected and includes
instructions for how people can remove Bredolab.

So far, at least 100,000 computers have displayed the Web page, which
also has a link where people can file a complaint about Bredolab. So
far, 55 people have filled out the complaint form, according to the
Dutch National Prosecutor’s Office.

The action by the Dutch authorities represents a bold move, as
infecting anyone’s computer — whether it’s with a “good” bot or a
malicious one — is likely against the law in many countries.

When the Armenian — or whoever controlled Bredolab — noticed that
the botnet was being taken over, a distributed denial-of-service
attack was launched against the infrastructure used by investigators,
Prins said. But it didn’t disrupt the botnet takeover.

“At that point, I don’t think it was clear to him that the police
were actually taking over,” Prins said.

Investigators were able to trace Bredolab’s controller to Armenia,
which resulted in the arrest. Botnet operators are very smart, but
they need to make at least 20 evasive steps in order to stay anonymous,
Prins said.

“We only need one mistake to catch him,” he said.

From: A. Papazian

TURKISH INVESTIGATION SERVICE UNAWARE OF DINK’S ASSASSINATION

Panorama
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Turkish national investigation organization (MIT) sent a written
statement to the court pending the murder case of “Agos” paper’s
editor-in-chief Hrant Dink. The message says that MIT officers advised
Dink to be careful.

“During the meeting with Dink, he was highly recommended to be
careful. Dink was warned that his story about Sabiha Gyoqchen could
raise social panic,” MIT message writes. According to the message
the security officers had no information about Dink’s murder, Turkish
“Haberler” reported.

Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogun
Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. This was shortly after
the premiere of the genocide documentary “Screamers” in which he is
interviewed about Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915
and the case against him under article 301.

From: A. Papazian

‘NO LIMITS IN IRAN-ARMENIA ECONOMIC TIES’

Press TV
Oct 26 2010
Iran

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi (R) meets with
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in Tehran on Monday.Iran says
it welcomes more trade and economy ties with neighboring countries,
calling on Armenia to help speed up work on a major railway deal.

“Iran sets no limitation for promotion of ties and cooperation with
Armenia,” IRNA quoted First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi as
saying on Monday.

The Iranian official described the implementation of an earlier
agreement between the two sides on construction of a railway connecting
Iran to Armenia as “a major step toward mutual progress.”

The remarks were made during a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan in the Iranian capital city of Tehran.

“The railway will establish a major transit network between Iran and
neighboring countries. It will also link Armenia to other neighboring
states through Iran,” he added.

Rahimi praised amicable relations between Iran and Armenia and called
for more efforts to further promote bilateral cooperation.

“Iran is ready to expand its economic, trade and economic ties with
friend and neighboring country of Armenia,” the vice president went
on to say.

He urged the two countries to make efforts to increase the level of
trade exchanges.

“Iran and Armenia can carry out their trade exchanges by the use of
the two countries’ national currency which will increase the value
of their money,” he said.

Rahimi pointed to the recent achievements made by the Islamic
Republic in various fields of science and technology, expressing
Iran’s readiness to share its expertise.

Sargsyan, for his part, said Iran and Armenia enjoy great potential
for promoting joint cooperation in line with the two countries’
national interests.

The Armenian prime minister, heading a politico-economic delegation,
arrived in Tehran on Monday on an official two-day visit to discuss
regional issues with senior Iranian officials.

Sargsyan is scheduled to take part in the joint meeting of Iranian
and Armenian businessmen on Tuesday.

From: A. Papazian

IRAN AND ARMENIA TO EXPAND TIES, IRANIAN VICE PRESIDENT SAYS

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Tehran sees no restrictions for expansion of ties with neighboring
states, including Armenia, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza
Rahimi said on Monday during his meeting with Armenian Premier Tigran
Sargsyan in Tehran.

Iranian top official pointed out acceleration of laying Iran-Armenia
railways, adding that implementation of the agreement will be a big
step towards development of the two states, IRNA reported.

He also noted that Armenia will be linked with other regional states
through railway with Iran, stressing that a big transit network will
be created between Iran and neighboring countries when the railway
is put into operation.

Rahimi stated that Tehran and Yerevan always closely cooperated with
each other, noting friendly ties between Muslims and Armenians in
the Iranian history. Vice President expressed Tehran’s readiness to
stimulate economic and trade relations and share its useful experiences
with Armenia in all fields.

On October 25, Prime Minister Sargsyan arrived in Tehran to discuss
issues of mutual interest with high ranking Iranian officials.

Sargsyan is accompanied by a delegation of Armenian Trade Chamber
that will participate in a joint Iran-Armenia seminar on October 26.

From: A. Papazian

KREMLIN WANTS TO NEUTRALIZE OSCE INITIATIVES ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

news.az
Oct 26 2010
Azerbaijan

Eldar Namazov News.Az interviews Eldar Namazov, political scientist.

Which results can be expected from the meeting of Azerbaijani,
Armenian and Russian presidents in Astrakhan on October 27?

As is known, presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held several meetings
mediated by the Russian president in the past two years.

However, they all were ineffective. Anyway, after each of these
meetings, official Yerevan did not support the Madrid principles
presented by international mediators. In the result, the negotiation
process on the Karabakh settlement is know in the air. In addition,
it should be taken into account that at the latest meeting of
the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, organized by the Russian
president in Saint Petersburg, the Russian side demonstrated an attempt
to drag Armenia out of the difficult state it was in. In addition,
the Russian-proposed principles at the Petersburg meeting did not
coincide with the Madrid principles. However, the Armenian side,
making use of the Petersburg proposals, declared that Yerevan agrees
with the new initiatives of Moscow, while Baku does not support them.

As for the Astrakhan meeting, it mostly comes from the concern,
created in Moscow and Armenia over the situation around the negotiation
process. As is known, Astana will host the OSCE Summit in December
of this year and this organization has already announced that in
the process of this event it will present a road map related to the
resolution of the Karabakh conflict to the parties. Moscow and Yerevan
are much concerned over this initiative, demonstrated by OSCE.

Therefore, one of the main goals of the meeting of presidents in
Astrakhan is the prevention or neutralization of OSCE initiatives.

How can the Road map on Karabakh conflict settlement differ from the
ones earlier proposed by international mediators?

The idea of preparing the roadmap appeared not at random, since
there are significant differences between the basic principles,
offered by international mediators and the roadmap. The technology of
basic principles is built on coordination of all paragraphs with the
conflict parties. Therefore, when official Yerevan rejects to accept
one principle, the whole document is considered uncoordinated. In this
case the mediators cannot attain any progress. However, the roadmap
provides an opportunity to start the peace process, take first steps
in this direction even in the existence of uncoordinated paragraphs.

In this connection, I think the appearance of the idea of preparation
of the road map is natural, since the Prague process, continuing for
already several years, has, in fact, failed and it became impossible
to move forth on the basis of previous principles. It is necessary
to reject the principle “either everything or nothing is agreed”
to move in the peace process.

Which positive results can be expected from the OSCE mission earlier
this month as compared to the previous mission of this organization
in 2005?

The previous mission was short-term, in addition it did not cover
all regions. Therefore, it became impossible to prepare any document,
reflecting the realities. Meanwhile, the current mission visited all
the occupied regions. In addition, the UN commissariat on refugees
have been involved into the current mission. Therefore, it is possible
to suggest that now the OSCE can prepare a comprehensive report.

Will the report of the assessment mission affect the negotiations
around Karabakh?

Naturally, the situation in the occupied lands can attract the world
attention to the resolution of this problem. Thus, this may actualize
the soonest liberation of the occupied lands.

What is the reason of the stiff mutual accusations of the Presidents
of Azerbaijan and Armenia of violating ceasefire on the line of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation?

These two factors show that the negotiations have failed. If diplomatic
negotiations are in the air, then naturally, this will increase
provocations on the contact line and stiffen mutual accusations.

In order to find the way out of the situation, Azerbaijani side is
trying to transfer the resolution to the UN agenda. Can this way be
positive for the problem settlement?

I do not agree that Azerbaijan rejects the mediation mission of the
OSCE Minsk Group and is trying to transfer the problem to UN.

Azerbaijani diplomacy is mostly trying to put a diplomatic pressure
on OSCE through intensification of UN in the Karabakh issue, since
the mandate for OSCE to hold the mediation mission on the Karabakh
conflict was presented by UN. OSCE makes annual reports before the
UN General Assembly. In this connection, it becomes natural if UN,
as the organization, presenting a mandate on the conflict settlement
to OSCE, will interfere with the process over the absence of progress
in the conflict settlement.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA SHOULD RECOGNIZE KARABAKH, IF AZERBAIJAN RESUMES HOSTILITIES, POLITICAL SCIENTIST SAYS

news.am
Oct 26 2010
Armenia

Armenia should recognize NKR independence at some point. However,
we are not at that point yet, political scientist Yervand Bozoyan
told the reporters on October 26.

Armenia will launch the international recognition process of
Nagorno-Karabakh, as it is of great significance for us, the expert
said.

According to Bozoyan, Armenia should recognize Karabakh if Azerbaijan
resumes hostilities.

“Armenia committed a strategic error when it failed to recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994. At the moment such a step will be inadequate
by Armenia.” Bozoyan said.

Referring to Sargsyan-Aliyev-Medvedev meeting in Astrakhan on October
27.,Bozoyan stressed he had no great expectations about the trilateral
meeting. According to him, no breakthrough will be registered in
Karabakh peace process at Astrakhan meeting.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN DELEGATIONS DISPUTE AT INT’L EXHIBITION IN TEHRAN

Trend
Oct 26 2010
Azerbaijan

A scandal occurred between Azerbaijani and Armenian media delegations
at XVII festival and exhibition of the international press and news
agencies in Tehran.

The scandal occurred because members of the Armenian delegation placed
a photo of the historical monument of Nagorno-Karabakh, presented
as a symbol of Artsakh, a flag and a map of the self-proclaimed
“Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” on the stand.

Despite the Azerbaijani delegation’s calls for Armenian journalists to
stop tyranny, Armenians refused from complying with the request. As
a result, members of the Azerbaijani delegation informed organizers
about this.

Armenian journalists urged that the organizers of the exhibition
themselves placed the photo with a historical monument to the stand.

According to the Armenian delegates, they thought that one can attach
a map and a flag of the self-proclaimed “nation” close to the photo.

In turn, the organizers of the exhibition said that the photo was
handed to them by an Armenian delegation in the process of preparation
for the event and immediately gave instructions to remove the photos
which caused a scandal.

The organizers apologized to the Azerbaijani delegation and promised
that such misunderstandings would not occur again.

During the dispute one of Azerbaijani journalists took out a map of
Nagorno-Karabakh from the Armenian stand.

About 175 media outlets from 55 countries and 250 guests are attending
the festival in Tehran. The festival began on October 25. It will run
for 10 days. Trend News Agency is also participating in the festival.

From: A. Papazian