Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Robert Kocharian Congratulated French Embassy Staff on Bastille Day
PanARMENIAN.Net
14.07.2006 13:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian and first lady
Bella Kocharian visited the French Embassy in Yerevan to congratulate
the diplomatic mission on the national holiday, the Bastille Day. The
RA President remarked that the Year of Armenia in France in 2006 and
the Year of France in Armenia to be held in 2007 prove the high level
of the Armenian-French cooperation. He also added that the Year of
Armenia in France will help the French people to get familiarized
with the centuries-old traditions and culture of Armenians, reported
the RA leader’s press service.

IAC to Furnish Outcomes of A-320 Crash Late July
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.07.2006 16:42 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Late July the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC)
will furnish the final outcomes of A-320 jet crash, IAC chairperson
Tatyana Anodina said. In her words, the investigation of the crash
reaches the final stage. “The IAC possesses the essential data for
objective clarification of the crash causes and no pressure was
exerted upon the committee during the investigation,” she underscored.
To remind, on May 3 night Airbus-320 owned by Armavia national carrier
crashed in the Black Sea 6 km away from Adler airport killing all of
113 people aboard, including 6 children and 8 crewmembers. Among them
were 26 Russian citizens, one Ukrainian and one Georgian citizen,
while the rest were Armenian citizens.

IAC HAS ALL THE NECESSARY FACTS TO MAKE A FINAL CONCLUSION ON THE
ARMAVIA A320 CRASH IN SOCHI
Yerevan, July 12. ArmInfo. ‘Today it can be at last officially stated
that the IAC (International Aviation Committee) has all the necessary
facts to make a final conclusion on the ArmAvia A320 crash in Sochi,
May 3, and complete the preparation of the official report by Russian,
Armenian and French experts,’ said on a press conference in Yerevan
Tatiana Anodina, head of the Committee.
Ms. Anodina also said that all the works on analysis of objective
control and flight modeling are completed and all that remains is to
revise all the materials and bring them into one. By the end of July
2006 all the documents will have been published. She also stated that
the information about the pilots’ talk published by mass media is
incorrect, as the recordings of the talks are never being presented
to the public.
Speaking of her meeting with President of Armenia Robert Kocharian,
T. Anodina said that Armenian Head of State fully realizes the
necessity of making an objective conclusion about the causes of the
catastrophe. Nothing of making agree the decisions and recommendations
with the Government was spoken, as the IAC is an independent structure,
free of any governmental influence.
Ms. Anodina said that immense finance resources were spent to find
out the details of eth catastrophe. Now, the blackbox recorders,
so difficultly lifted from the sea, are completely deciphered. She
said that the last minutes of the flight are modeled and affirmed
the information that the weather conditions at the airport wiftly
changed when landing and were one of the catastrophe’s causes.

NOT FEARING TO BE FLOODED, ARMENIAN PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES
STILL BUILD SERVICE OBJECTS ON SHORE OF LAKE SEVAN
AZG Armenian Daily #131, 14/07/2006
The Interdepartmental government commission shaped by the order of RA
President in end June revealed a number of violations concerning the
construction of service objects near Yerevan-Sevan road, in Tsovagyugh
village, as well as in the Varser and Sevan towns. The Press Service
of RA Government informed ArmInfo that 43 of the 77 constructions were
illegally built near the Lake Sevan. Besides, 32 of the 43 buildings
were situated at the height of 1908 meters, when the level of the
lake has already reached 1899 meters. As a result, 36 buildings were
destroyed. More severe sanctions will be exerted against the private
constructors that ignore the construction norms near the Lake Sevan.

PRESIDENTIAL OVERSIGHT SERVICE REVEALS SERIOUS PRIVATIZATION BREACHES AND FRAUD
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JULY 12, ARMENPRESS: The presidential oversight service
said it is now examining a set of privatization deals on the sale and
auctioning of state-run property and land plots to find out whether
the process was in compliance with Armenian legislation. The oversight
service said the examination is envisaged by its 2006 plan of actions.
Officials from the oversight service said inquiries into the first
instances of state-run property privatization have revealed serious
cases of abuse and fraud, which have caused heavy damages to the state.
The service said, particularly, the money that was paid by individuals
and organizations for the obtained assets, were not transferred to the
state budget by brokers or were transferred in part only. It said in
some instances faked documents were submitted to cadastre offices. The
oversight service said criminal cases were instituted on these cases.

They are on politicians’ payroll, say lawyers
By MAXWELL MASAVA, EMMANUEL ONYANGO
Kenya Times
July 12 2006
Witnesses credibility queried
LAWYERS appearing for individuals adversely mentioned at the Kiruki
commission yesterday claimed that some witnesses were on the payroll
of unnamed politicians to lie to the commission.
Lawyer Gibson Kamau Kuria appearing for Winnie Wangui yesterday
accused two Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials who appeared to
testify yesterday and Tuesday, of having been ‘paid’ by politicians
to appear and lie to the commission.
Kuria said two senior customs officials attached to Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport had created fictitious stories surrounding the
Arturs’ gun drama at the airport to cover up the truth.
He accused Charles Nambale, a senior revenue official and Nelson
Ochieng of having lied to the commission about the Arturs drawing
out guns at the baggage hall.
Similar sentiments were raised at the commission last week when a
lawyer appearing for suspended CID director, Joseph Kamau, accused
another witness as having been ‘hired’ to give evidence.
Jane Ondieki told the commission that Dominic Opar Owiya, the
security manager at Panari hotel was a “witness on hire” and needed
investigations. The commission later launched investigations into
the claims.
Yesterday, Dr Kuria said that witnesses were lying to the commission
and a failure to seriously cross-examine them would lead to hiding
the truth and hurting those who have been adversely mentioned.
Ondieki appearing for the suspended CID director put Nambale to task
over his age.
She challenged the witness to tell the commission why he had lied
about his age to doctors who treated him after the scuffle.
Nambale, who still claimed to be in pains of June 8 scuffle told
the commission that he had erred by putting his age at 49 when he
visited doctors.
His actual age is 52.
He caused laughter at the hearings when he told the commission that
he was poor in mathematics and would revisit the hospitals to rectify
the anomaly.
Ondieki had sought clarification as to why the commission should
trust evidence of a man who had lied to doctors to get medical forms
and P3 forms.
The witness had a difficult time in explaining how he was injured as
the medical reports indicated that he was bruised on the head and
knee, despite his earlier account where he denied ever having been
punched in the face or suffering injuries in the legs. He told the
commission that the Arturs only pointed a finger in his face and he
never fell on the ground to suffer bruises.
However, the senior customs official who appeared a day after his
junior, Nelson Ochieng, caused light moments at the inquiry when kept
on asking for pain killers to contain the pain he now had to contend
with following the confrontation with the Arturs.
He told the commission that he was willing to sue the Artur brothers
over assault if he was to be facilitated with their true names and
pictures.
“My lords commissioners I may apply that you assist me with their
names and pictures to enable me sue them.”
Medical reports from Nairobi Hospital and Nairobi West Hospital where
he had sought treatment showed he had been treated of severe head
bruises, disjointed hip-joint and a sprained right leg, and that he
had since been on psychotherapy and pain killers.
He at one point requested to be served with a pair of Panadol tablets
to reduce recurring pains from the beatings he received from the
Arturs.
Though contradictory, the witness insisted that so severe was the push
from the Armenian that he dislocated his hip joint in an attempt to
resist the push that would have confined him to “the grave.”
Last week, Ondieki claimed that Owiya who had appeared at the
commission to testify on Arturs’ presence at Panari Sky Centre the
same evening, was a known “witness on hire” who had testified in a
murder case involving businessman, Kamlesh Pattni.

Aliyev: Armenia, Azerbaijan far from peace accord
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Posted July 11 2006
Baku, July 10, AssA-Irada
President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan and Armenia are far from
reaching a peace accord.
“The proposals made by the OSCE Minsk Group [mediating settlement
to the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict] show the position of
its co-chairs. But we haven’t agreed them,” Aliyev told Turkey’s
Jumhuriyyat (Republic) newspaper.
“The co-chairs just disclosed some of the proposals in their latest
statements. We didn’t object to this, as we are not interested in
shrouding talks in secrecy,” President Aliyev said, but added that
Azerbaijan agreed to hold talks in private considering Armenia’s
proposals.
The document outlining the core settlement principles issued by the
mediators from the United States, Russia and France caused a great
deal of debate. The statement, made public by the US co-chair, said
there is a “framework agreement” on discussion and disclosed all of
its provisions. The deal covers the withdrawal of Armenian forces from
the occupied Azeri territories, followed by normalizing diplomatic
and economic relations between the two countries, deployment of
peacekeepers in the conflict zone and finally, a vote to determine
the future status of Upper Garabagh.
The head of state said that first of all, Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity must be restored to settle the Garabagh conflict. Any
compromises are out of the question, as the occupied territories must
be liberated and Azeri refugees and IDPs returned home, Aliyev said.
With regard to the future status of Upper Garabagh, the president said
the positions of the two communities of Garabagh should be taken into
account, as both Azerbaijanis and Armenians had lived in Upper Garabagh
before the outbreak of the conflict. The return of Azerbaijanis to
Upper Garabagh is a condition for the solution of the status issue,
he said.
“They must return and re-settle there. Afterwards, both communities
and Azerbaijan – as Upper Garabagh is its integral part- may hold
talks on the status of the region. Time will show how long these
talks will last.” President Aliyev went on to say that the OSCE
mediators and the leadership of Armenia realize that Azerbaijan will
never allow violating its territorial integrity, although Armenia is
trying to put forth unrealistic claims.
“The truth is that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is not a subject
of discussion and Upper Garabagh will never be granted the status of
independence,” Aliyev said.
He said Armenia is currently trying to annex Upper Garabagh, which
is impossible.
“I may want to annex Azerbaijani historic land – the Irevan Khanate
(currently the territory of Yerevan) to Azerbaijan. But this is not
realistic now,” the president said.
Aliyev did not rule out that a new war will be launched if the Garabagh
conflict is not settled in peace.
“We see that the Armenian side is acting insincere in talks. We should
therefore be prepared for all options. Azerbaijan’s increasing economic
potential military power, regional situation and our ever-growing
world image certainly puts us at a prevalent position.
This will be more evident as years go by. Armenia should realize this
and will bear responsibility for any possible consequences.”*

LIBERATED TERRITORIES IN NKR CONSTITUTION
Lragir.am
11 July 06
“Unfortunately, neither official Yerevan nor official Stepanakert treat
the liberated territories duly,” Kiro Manoyan, ARF representative
in charge of political affairs and Hay Dat, stated July 11 at the
Hayeli Club. Expressing the standpoint of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, he said they even propose setting down the dominance of
NKR over these territories in the NKR Constitution. In the meantime,
Yerevan and Stepanakert view these areas as an object of compromise
in the Armenian and Azerbaijani negotiations, states Kiro Manoyan.
The ARF member assures that these territories cannot be conceded,
and Armenia should concede something else. Kiro Manoyan hints at
the agreement of Armenia to hold a new referendum on the status of
Karabakh. According to Kiro Manoyan, it is a compromise, for Karabakh
has already held a referendum and established its will.
Kiro Manoyan says the fault of the Armenian side is that NKR and
Armenia have announced on the level of defense ministers that
they are ready to concede territories. These statements did not
produce any results, says Kiro Manoyan. He says the fact that the
self-determination of NKR is on the table of negotiations may be
considered a result, but “it is highly disputable,” says Kiro Manoyan.

Yerevan has not yet received proposals from Gazprom to acquire Iran-Armenia pipeline
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 10 2006
Source: Trend
Author: À.Mammadov
10.07.2006
(REGNUM) – The Armenian side has not received any proposals from
Gazprom concerning acquiescence of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline,
which construction is now underway; spokeswoman for the Armenian
Energy Ministry Lusine Arutyunyan is quoted as saying by a REGNUM
correspondent. According to her, the ministry received no proposals
and has no talks concerning sale of the pipeline. Commenting on a
recent statement of Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Ryazanov, who said
the company was intending to buy the pipeline, spokeswoman for the
Armenian energy ministry noted, “it was probably an intention by the
company itself.”
It is worth reminding, late June Gazprom deputy CEO announced that
the company intended to buy the Iran-Armenia pipeline. According to
him, putting the pipeline into operation would let secure stable gas
supplies in Armenia. “There are problems with gas transit to Armenia
via Georgia, as Georgia presumes unsanctioned pumping out of gas,”
Ryazanov said, reports Trend.
The Iran-Armenia pipeline is supposed to be put into operation in
the end of this year. The pipeline that connects Iran and Armenia
has a diameter of 700 mm, and its estimated capacity is 1.2 bln cubic
meter of gas per year. The project of constructing the Iran-Armenia
pipeline 141 km long has estimated cost of $120 million.
–Boundary_(ID_tHJUMk5LbeQBr5pvtEDeJw)–

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 7 2006
Creative opportunities of mediators exhausted, leaders of confect
countries should take initiatives – U.S. Amb at OSCE MG
Source: Trend
Author: E.Huseynov
07.07.2006
The statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in a meeting of the
OSCE permanent committee, who stated that they ‘can’t do anything more
in the definition of peaceable principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict’ do not mean a deadlock, U.S. Ambassador Matthew Bryza,
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair told Azerbaijani Service of BBC.
The statement means the creative opportunities of mediators have
exhausted and therefore, there is necessity for initiatives in decision
making by leaders of the confect countries. “It is not a deadlock. It
is the moment in the negotiation process when the co-chairs say the
leaders can take a resolution that they want,” Bryza underscored.
Both leaders possess political will, wish cooperation, but we still
do not know whether they are ready to take final and difficult steps
to summarize the major principles of frame agreement, he said. “Now
it is high time when the leaders should explain their nations the
benefit of the peace plan, show the way for progress with the help
of compromises. This is the way of diplomacy,” the mediator emphasized.
Bryza underlined that thee are fair and encouraging principles.
“These are the best of all proposals put so far. I’d say that we are
too far to peace as never. But I can’t guarantee that the Presidents
using their sovereign rights will accept these proposals or inject
changes, which would satisfy both sides,” he stressed.
According to the co-chair, the statement by the United States on
support to territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and a principle on
self-determination do not contradict each other. “If you pay attention
to the statements by the co-chairs, they refer to both principles. The
most important is to find the contacts between these principles at
the table of talks.