Author: Boshkezenian Garik

THANKS TO ARA ABRAHAMIAN PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA PROMISES TO RELEASE RUSSIAN SAILORS
By Ruzan Poghosian
AZG Armenian Daily #153, 30/08/2005
Diaspora
It is almost a month that the Nigerian authorities fail to complete
the case of legal transportation of 12 Russian sailors. Izvestia
newspaper informed Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria, promised
to settle the issue of the Russian soldiers after the request of Ara
Abrahamian, Chairman of the Union of the Armenians of Russia. After
the long lasting trial, he will appeal to Russia with the suggestion
to exchange the sailors with the Nigerian prisoners in Russia.
Izvestia stated that, according to the official data, there are 28
Nigerians in the Russian prisons, imprisoned for trading drags. The
Russian sailors were arrested in 2003, accused of oil smuggling. But,
in fact, they can’t be responsible for the actions of the owner of
“The African Pride” ship. Nevertheless, the sailors were arrested
and kept in the Nigerian “Kiri Kiri” old-regime prison. Though, the
Lagos Federal Court satisfied the mediation of the Russian lawyer to
transfer the sailors on August 4, the local authorities still postpone
the legal arrangement of the verdict, which hinders the release of
the Russian citizens.
Russian Embassy to Nigeria informed that all the officials are on
vacations now and they can’t accumulate all the required signatures
to make the document legal.
At the same time, President Obasanjo stated quite unexpectedly that
the Russian sailors will be released immediately after the trial. He
said that “he will either take political steps or make other efforts to
exchange the prisoners.” Izvestia informed that the Obasanjo promised
that after the request of Ara Abrahamian.
“I already have a good experience in negotiating with the heads of
African states. Quite recently, I was engaged in the case of releasing
the 6 Armenian soldiers from the prisons of the Equatorial Guinea. The
deputies of RF State Duma and Foreign Ministry turned to me with
the request to help the sailors out. Being Good Will Ambassador
of UN, I applied to President of Nigeria, requesting to display
kindness to the sailors and release them, even if the court finds him
guilty. Mr. President said that he can’t interfere with the affairs
of the judicial system. At the same time, he assured that after the
announcement of the verdict, in 20 days, the sailors will be either
granted amnesty or be exchanged with the Nigerian citizens in the
Russian prisons,” Ara Abrahamian said in the interview to “Izvestia.”
According to Izvestia, the 28 Nigerian citizens are kept in the
Mordova special prison for foreign citizens, where normal living
conditions are created for them. Some of the prisoners learn Russian
with pleasure to settle down in Russia in the future.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

France, Belgium publish lists of ‘QunsafeR’ airlines
(AFP)
Agence France Presse
Aug 29 2005
PARIS – Acting in response to a series of civil aviation disasters,
both France and Belgium published on Monday a list of airlines banned
from their airspace for safety reasons.
France said it had banned five passenger carriers, and Belgium nine
cargo companies.
The action had the full support of the European Commission, which is
trying to implement an EU-wide list of suspect airlines that pools
safety information from all 25 member states.
The announcement of the name-and-shame policy follows a string of
fatal accidents this month, including a crash on August 16 that killed
160 people in Venezuela, almost all of them French tourists from the
Caribbean island of Martinique.
Fatal crashes have also occurred this month near Athens and off the
coast of Sicily.
The initiative brings France and Belgium into line with Britain,
Switzerland and the United States, where authorities have either
identified banned airlines or named countries where civil aviation
regulations are deemed to be inadequate.
But some in the industry have criticised the proposal, saying the only
way to improve security is to increase inspections and put pressure
on foreign civil aviation authorities to enforce more stringent
safety regulations.
Many tour operators in France were skeptical about the blacklists,
noting that many of the companies were unknown, and had never even
asked to fly to France.
“This list is a mistake because it leads one to believe that companies
not on the list are not risky, which is false,” said Jean-Pierre Mas,
president of Afat-Voyages.
“Furthermore, no carrier that has had an accident since 2004 is on
the French list,” added Mas.
Maxime Coffin, director of security and control at DGAC, France’s
civil aviation authority, said he accepted that the list was “not a
universal response or a panacea” to security fears after five aviation
disasters in the last month.
“Putting companies on a list is not enough to avoid all accidents,”
said Coffin, but by being more transparent, we are improving the
information available to passengers and its a way for each state to
strengthen control over its airlines.”
Coffin said the lists would also accelerate Europe-wide efforts to
monitor the issue.
Of the combined 14 airlines banned by France and Belgium, seven
are African.
The publication of the lists prompted an admission from African Air
safety regulator ASECNA, that the continent had a dearth of expertise
in the area of airline safety.
“This lack of expertise concerns the technical and commercial viability
of carriers and it’s the same for every country in Africa,” said
Amadou Ousmane, head of ASECNA, which includes 17 mainly francophone
African countries and France and is based in Dakar.
Ousmane said he believed the publication of the lists was a good thing,
commenting that air accidents in Africa occur because companies get
around the safety inspections and regulations.
“It will let the public know that it’s not safe to take any old
company,” he said.
For Thai carrier Phuket Airlines, which recently had one of its planes
impounded at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport amid a row
over maintenance and service fees, the publication of the French list,
on which it figures, was the latest blow.
“We don’t know what is the reason and what is the meaning to
justify that we are unsafe,” said airline vice-president Chawanit
Chiamcharoenvut.
“But we have to accept their decision… and improve our safety and
maintenance.”
The list of outlawed carriers, which appear on the web sites of the
French and Belgian civil aviation authorities, are as follows.
France: Air Koryo from North Korea; Air Saint-Thomas from the United
States; International Air Service from Liberia; Air Mozambique
(LAM) along with affiliated carrier Transairways; and Phuket Airways
of Thailand, which had not previously been named by the transport
ministry.
Belgium: Africa Lines (Central African Republic); Air Memphis (Egypt);
Air Van Airlines (Armenia); Central Air Express (Democratic Republic of
the Congo); ICTTPW (Libya); International Air Tours Limited (Nigeria);
Johnsons Air Limited (Ghana); Silverback Cargo Freighters (Rwanda);
and South Airlines (Ukraine).

Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia)
August 26, 2005 Friday
Vic at brutal;
best: Fenech
JEFF Fenech yesterday rated Vic Darchinyan’s ruthless demolition of
challenger Jair Jiminez as the best performance of the world champion
flyweight’s career.
The Fenech camp is also confident Darchinyan’s mandatory defence
against Irishman Damaen Kelly will be held in Australia.
Darchinyan’s manager Robert Joske said the IBF had set an October 27
deadline for the fight with the 32-year-old Belfast-based boxer.
The 29-year-old champion improved his professional record to 24-0 by
taking just five rounds to demoralise Colombian Jiminez, the
ninth-ranked contender.
Trainer Fenech, who convinced Darchinyan to relocate to Australia
after representing Armenia at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, described
Wednesday night’s effort from his IBF and IBO champion as perfect.
“He was great, I just thought people don’t realise how good his
opponent was, and just how easy he handled him,” said Fenech.
“He made the guy do everything that he wanted. That’s a show of real
class.
“I was very worried. I thought it was going to be our toughest fight.
“I think it was his best one by far, especially because of the guy
that he fought. He didn’t rush. A lot of times he was behind the jab
and he brought him on to punches instead of doing what he always
does.”
After taking a two-week holiday in Armenia, which he has not visited
since winning the IBF title last December, Darchinyan will resume
training for his fight with Kelly, who has a 21-2 professional
record.
With the top two spots vacant, third ranked Kelly is the highest
ranked contender. Kelly was the initial choice of opponent for
Wednesday night’s fight, but couldn’t agree terms with promoter
William Takataka.
“I tried to bring him over here but he wanted too much money,” said
Takataka.

Armenian deputy speaker against extraordinary election
Mediamax news agency
26 Aug 05

YEREVAN
The deputy speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Tigran Torosyan,
today spoke out against the Armenian opposition’s proposal to hold an
extraordinary parliamentary election after the constitutional
referendum, which will probably be held in late November.
Torosyan said this at a session of the parliamentary commission on
Armenia’s integration into Europe in Yerevan today.
Torosyan said that the next parliamentary elections are planned to be
held in the middle of 2007 and we should make efforts to hold a
transparent, fair and honest election.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 26 2005
Azerbaijan’s Population to exceed 11 Million By 2050
The population of Azerbaijan will increase to 11.6 million from the
present figure of over 8 million by 2050, says a report of the
Washington-based research organization.
The population will increase in other countries of the Commonwealth
of Independent States as well. The figure will reach 3.3 million in
Armenia, 8.3 million in Kyrgyzstan, 10.9 million in Tajikistan, 7.4
million in Turkmenistan and 38.4 million in Uzbekistan, Population
Reference Bureau said in a report.
The population will go down to 33.4 million in the Ukraine, 8.5
million in Belarus, 3.6 million in Georgia and 3.3 million in
Moldova. The figure in Kazakhstan is expected to remain unchanged at
15 million over the next 45 years.
Among CIS states, Tajikistan is a country with most young people, as
40% of people are below 15. Ukraine has the most `old’ people, as 16%
are over 65. Children below 15 make up 15% of this country’s
population, the organization’s experts say.
Turkmenistan and Russia are the only countries in CIS with life
expectancy below 60 among men, as the figures make up 58 and 59
respectively. The highest figure, 70 years, is observed in
Azerbaijan, the report said.
The highest average life expectancy among women in CIS states, 75
years, is observed in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus and Georgia. The
figure is 66 and 67 in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan respectively.
The Population Reference Bureau experts also estimated that the world
population grows 80 million every year, with 99% of the growth made
up by poor countries.
India will be the most populated country by 2050, with 1.628 billion
people, compared to 1.437 billion in China. The United States and
Indonesia will keep their places in the list with the population of
420 million and 308 million respectively.
The report also said that the world population will make up 7.95
billion in 2025 and 9.26 billion in 2050.

TALKS ON $400M TRANSPORT PROJECT POSTPONED
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Aug 25 2005
The discussions on a major regional railway project have been
postponed again. The meeting of Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish
transport ministers initially planned for August 24 will take place
early in September instead due to their busy schedule, according to
the Azerbaijan railway spokesman Nadir Azmammadov.
“The new date for the meeting is currently being determined”, he
said. The $400 million project envisions building a 98-km railway line
(68 km in Turkey and 30 in Georgia). Joining the Azeri and Georgian
railways with the Turkish section will allow the movement of trains not
only between Azerbaijan and Georgia but also to Western Europe though
Bulgaria, or in the southward direction toward Syria, Iraq and Jordan.
The project represents political importance for Azerbaijan as well.
Its implementation leaves Armenia out of regional transport projects,
and operation of the Gumri, Armenia-Gars, Turkey railway section will
be out of the question. This railway section is currently not in
use due to Turkey’s demands on Armenia’s pullout from the occupied
Azeri territories. Moreover, the construction of a Gars-Nakhchivan
railway line in the future is possible as well. The most challenging
part of the project is funding the railway by Georgia, which, unlike
Azerbaijan, is experiencing financial constraints.