Author: Dabaghian Diana

A CLOUD HANGS OVER AIRBUS
>From Charles Bremner in Paris
The Times
May 04, 2006
RUSSIAN officials have identified severe weather as the likely
cause of the crash off Sochi, and an air traffic controller is
under investigation. But the accident may revive questions about
the high-tech design of the Airbus A320 and the crew’s ability to
handle it.
The short-to-medium haul A320 was the first all-electronic
“fly-by-wire” airliner. More than 2,700 have been produced since 1988,
and it has proved one of the world’s safest airliners. Before now,
11 fatal A320 accidents had killed 327. But four fatal crashes in
the first five years of the A320 prompted concern that its flight
management system (FMS) was too sophisticated.
On Tuesday a court in France began hearing criminal charges against
Airbus and transport officials over the crash of an Air Inter (now Air
France) A320 on the approach to Strasbourg in 1992, killing 87. The
crew was officially blamed for entering data into the FMS incorrectly
but relatives of victims are partly blaming its crew interface, which
was later modified by Airbus. In 1993 the A320 design was blamed for
the late deployment of the brakes on a Lufthansa A320 when it ran
off the runway in Warsaw, killing two.
Since the early 1990s, there has been no common thread to incidents
with A320s or the larger Airbus family.
In 2000 pilot error was blamed for a disaster involving a Gulf Air
A320 that killed 143 off Bahrain. That crash was in good night-time
visibility, but it otherwise resembled yesterday’s accident because
the crew were turning back over water after a missed approach. The
relatively inexperienced crew lost their bearings and flew into the
sea. Some aviation experts at the time questioned the role of the
automated system.

BATHYSCAPH CONVEYED FROM MOSCOW TO SOCHI
PanARMENIAN.Net
04.05.2006 00:56 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At 8 p.m. Moscow time another sitting of the
commission for the investigation of the jet crash will be held in
Sochi. As Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan informed,
the details of the crash investigation and process of the search
works will be discussed. Armen Smbatyan said at 4 p.m. Russian
Minister of transport Igor Levtin and Secretary of the Security
Council at the RA President Serge Sargsyan held the first sitting
of the commission. According to the Armenian diplomat, the weather
in Sochi is still very unfavorable; it’s raining heavily. “According
to the preliminary date, the crash occurred over bad meteorological
conditions,” the Amb. said. In his words, bodies of 50 people that
can be identified have been found so far.
“The rescuers are searching for the record box. Since the depth of
the water reaches 500 meters, a bathyscaph was conveyed from Moscow
to Sochi,” Armen Smbatyan said, reported IA Regnum.

ARMENIAN PLANE CRASH RELATIVES IN AGONISING WAIT FOR LOVED ONES
Agence France Presse — English
May 3, 2006 Wednesday 4:25 PM GMT
SOCHI, Russia
Relatives of those who died when an Armenian plane crashed into the
Black Sea on Wednesday stared out from the 13th floor of a support
centre set up in a local hotel, wishing the return of those who
disappeared beneath the waves.
Distraught and with rings under her eyes, Larisa Sarkasyan said she
had come with a friend to the centre at the Hotel Moscow in this
Russian resort town, seeking news of her friend’s daughter, a member
of the cabin crew of the plane that crashed earlier in the day with
the loss of all 113 people on board.
“I’d wanted Mara to take something to Moscow for me, but her mother
told me she’d gone to Sochi instead — it was her first time on that
flight,” Larisa said, recalling the last hours before the death of
the 35-year-old crew member.
“Then, in the night, I found out the plane had crashed. I didn’t dare
to call, but asked my husband to,” she said.
Mara’s 12-year-old son had hardly begun to grasp what had happened.
“He’s still hoping his mother will come back,” Larisa said.
Nearby, psychologists were on hand to offer help, while investigators
questioned relatives of the dead, asking them to describe their
perished loved ones to aid the identification process.
Many relatives had come on a special flight from the Armenian capital,
Yerevan, following the crash of the Airbus A320 operated by Armenia’s
Armavia.
Other relatives gathered at the morgue in this southern town that
for most Russians conjures up images of sun, sand and respite from
harsher climes.
But authorities were for the most part staying tight-lipped.
“Mum called 10 minutes before the expected landing time to say
the plane was about to land — she already had a phone signal,”
said Akop Akopyan, who was there with his father and had lost his
mother, Zara, 49. “Ten minutes later the plane had disappeared from
the radar screens.”
Some relatives tried to extract information from policemen guarding
the morgue.
“My friend had a beauty spot on his left cheek. Have you seen him
among the bodies?” one man asked of a policeman on guard.
Two young women managed to get a policeman to show them a photograph of
one of the dead that he had taken using a camera on his mobile phone,
but it was not the body they sought.
“I’m looking for my boyfriend,” explained one of the women.
With fragments from just 49 bodies recovered by Wednesday evening,
some relatives faced a long and agonising wait, whether standing at
the morgue or staring out to sea from the hotel window.

GARABAGH MEDIATORS TO MEET IN MOSCOW TUESDAY
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 2 2006
Baku, May 1, AssA-Irada
The OSCE mediators from Russia, France and the United States brokering
settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict
will meet in Moscow on Tuesday, television reports said.
This follows the latest unsuccessful round of talks between the two
countries’ leaders in Rambouillet, France in February.
The course of peace talks and the date for the intermediaries’ next
visit to the region will be considered during the discussions, to
be attended by the OSCE chairman’s special envoy Andzhei Kaspshik,
said the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlyakov.
During the talks in Azerbaijan and Armenia, the mediators are
expected to discuss new proposals on the conflict settlement with
the two presidents.

12TH MEETING OF US-ARMENIA TASK FORCE TO START TODAY IN YEREVAN
ArmRadio.am
02.05.2006 10:35
The 12th meeting of the US-Armenia Task Force (USATF) will start
today in Yerevan. The meeting will be chaired by RA Minister of
Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatryan and US Coordinator for Europe
and Eurasia Tom Adams. According to the Press Service of the RA
Ministry of Finance and Economy, it is envisaged to discuss issues
of bilateral interest, present the programs under implementation and
to clarify issues of the programmed measures. Among the issues on the
USATF agenda are measures to encourage Armenia’s economic development,
democratic reforms, the Millennium Challenge Program-related issues,
macroeconomic policy and long-term development promotion programs,
tax and customs sector reforms. Problems of agriculture, judicial
and energy sectors, educational and scientific issues, as well as the
fight against terrorism and other programs of mutual interest will be
addressed during the meeting. The USATF was established in 2000 with
the aim of promoting the cooperation between the two countries and
enhancing the efficiency of assistance programs implemented by the
US government in Armenia. The USATF holds two meetings annually –
in Washington and Yerevan. Over the past decade, the US government
has implemented various development and humanitarian programs of a
total of 1.6 billion dollars in Armenia.

A1+
RAIN «PARTICIPATED» IN THE MARCH
[08:01 pm] 28 April, 2006
At the moment when leader of the «New Times» Party
Aram Karapetyan got out of the car near the
Matenadaran, rain started. Little by little it turned
into hail. But the weather did not bother the
participants of the march which was organized by the
«New Times» Party to scold the power structures for
interfering with the political procedures.
Getting wet through under the rain, without an
umbrella, Aram Karapetyan represented his main demands
to those who had arrived at the area near the
Matenadaran, but the voice of the rain prevented the
people from hearing him. «The power structures have no
right to interfere with politics. We have always said
it», Aram Karapetyan. He also referred to the promise
of being given air, even despite the claim that he
will be deprived of his votes in that case. Aram
Karapetyan announced that he will go to the National
TV Company in the middle of May, even if he loses
votes.
The aim of the meeting was to give a message to the
Police and the National Security Service. The message
condemns the methods used against the peaceful
demonstrators on April 12, 2004, the encroachments
against the New Times Party and the illegal activity
of the power structures.
>From the Matenadaran the participants of the march
walked to the police, accompanied by a number of
policemen. Then they visited the National Security
Service. No one came to meet them, but the message was
accepted.
The participants of the march left the place about 15
minutes later. RAIN «PARTICIPATED» IN THE MARCH
At the moment when leader of the «New Times» Party
Aram Karapetyan got out of the car near the
Matenadaran, rain started. Little by little it turned
into hail. But the weather did not bother the
participants of the march which was organized by the
«New Times» Party to scold the power structures for
interfering with the political procedures.
Getting wet through under the rain, without an
umbrella, Aram Karapetyan represented his main demands
to those who had arrived at the area near the
Matenadaran, but the voice of the rain prevented the
people from hearing him. «The power structures have no
right to interfere with politics. We have always said
it», Aram Karapetyan. He also referred to the promise
of being given air, even despite the claim that he
will be deprived of his votes in that case. Aram
Karapetyan announced that he will go to the National
TV Company in the middle of May, even if he loses
votes.
The aim of the meeting was to give a message to the
Police and the National Security Service. The message
condemns the methods used against the peaceful
demonstrators on April 12, 2004, the encroachments
against the New Times Party and the illegal activity
of the power structures.
>From the Matenadaran the participants of the march
walked to the police, accompanied by a number of
policemen. Then they visited the National Security
Service. No one came to meet them, but the message was
accepted.
The participants of the march left the place about 15
minutes later.

“NOR ZHAMANAKNER” PRESIDENT STATES THAT CLIENT OF ATTACK ON HIS GUARD
IS COUNTRY PRESIDENT

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. “Nor Zhamanakner” (New Times) party
Chairman Aram Karapetian characterizes the April 21 attack on his
guard as a “political brigandage.” As he stated at the April 27
meeting with journalists at the “Pastark” club, such a line of actions
is characteristical to “third-rate” countries and has a goal to
frighten a politician and his surrounding. Unlike other countries,
where the police is used for similar cases, in this case, according to
Karapetian, the elite detachment of the National Security Service was
put in operation. “I would not like to speak about the professionalism
of the people implementing the action, as by it, we’ll give possibility
to real terrorists to understand defects of our anti-terrorism
sphere,” the “Nor Zhamanakner” Chairman mentioned. Karapetian stated
that according to his data, the client of the attack was the political
heads of the country. According to him, after watching the videotape
shot by the National Security Service, President of the country Robert
Kocharian said that “Aram Karapetian is a difficult case.” According
to the latter, such actions of the authorities “are a consequence of
the political agony and may raise only laugh of serious politicians.”
Responding the question if he did not organize the above-mentioned
case, Aram Karapetian mentioned: “If I may buy Serge Sargsian’s decree
and the whole administration of the National Security, then I must
only implement inauguration.” On the occasion of the guard members’
body injuries got as a result of the case the party addressed to the
forensic doctor. The latter demanded to present a corresponding apply
from the Prosecutor’s Office. But they did not manage to get such an
apply from the Erebuni community, Yerevan city as well as RA
Prosecutor’s General Office. The “Nor Zhamankner” party had to shoot
the consequences of the case and send it on laser disk to foreign
embassies.

ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES ANNUAL REPORT ON 2005 STATE BUDGET EXECUTION
Noyan Tapan
Apr 27 2006
YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. At the April 27 sitting, the Armenian
government approved the draft law on approval of the annual report
of the 2005 RA state budget execution, which will be submitted to the
National Assembly in prescribed order. RA Deputy Minister of Finance
and Economy, Chief Treasurer Atom Janjughazian told reporters following
the sitting that under the RA legislation, each year the government
shall submit the annual report on execution of the previous year’s
state budget to the National Assembly until May 1. According to
the 2005 report, GDP made 2 trillion 143.9 billion drams. The real
economic growth made 14% in 2005 on 2004. A 0.2% fall in prices was
registered in late 2005, while the average inflation made 0.6%. In
the year under review, the Armenian dram appreciated by 7.3% compared
with 2004. GDP per capita made 697,421 drams (about 1,550 USD),
which exceeds the previous year’s index by 17.6%. Unemployment made
8.1% or 98 thousand people, which is by 1.5 percentage points lower
than in 2004. According to A. Janjughazian, the state budget revenue
collection index made 99.9%. Revenues accounted for 16.7% of GDP,
which is by 0.9 percentage points higher than in 2004. The budget
revenues grew by 24%, while own revenues – by 25.8%. The expenditure
index was fulfilled by 97.1%, which constitutes a 25% increase on the
previous year. An especially low index was registered with respect
to target programs implemented with financial resources from foreign
sources. Last year, Armenia’s state foreign debt made 1 bln 99.2
mln USD, declining by 7.1% compared with 2004, which, according to
A. Janjughazian, was conditioned by a change in the exchange rates
of the main currencies, which make up the state foreign debt basket,
against the US dollar. The ratio of the state foreign debt to GDP made
22.4%. In 2005, Armenia’s domestic debt amounted to 51.3 bln drams
against 46.4 bln drams in 2004. Short-term state bonds account for
13% of this debt, while medium-term and long-term bonds – for the
remaining part.

ANDREW BOSTOM LECTURE APPEARANCE
The American Thinker, AZ
April 27 2006
Tomorrow night, Friday, our contributor Andrew G. Bostom, author of
the Legacy of Jihad, will be delievering a public lecture at Harvard.
Readers are invited to attend.
Andy will be speaking in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,
with a speech entitled “Jihad in Europe: Past as Prologue?” It will
take place between 5 and 6 PM at the Harvard Semitic Museum, Room
201. The Museum is located at 6 Divinity Avenue.

ARMENIANS OF GEORGIA CALL ON TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE CONDUCTED AGAINST ARMENIANS
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 26 2006
TBILISI, APRIL 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Events dedicated to
the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims continued in Georgia on
April 24. About 150 representatives of Armenian public organizations
of Georgia organized a peaceful mass meeting and lighting of candles
in front of the Embassy of Turkey to Georgia. The demontsrators read
a letter addressed to the Government of Turkey by which they called
the latter to recognize the crime committed againt Armenians. As Noyan
Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information
Department, the liturgy and divine service were celebrated at the
Surb Gevorg Armenian church of Tbilisi. Then a mourning event took
place at the State Armenian Dramatic Theater of Tbilisi where RA
Ambassador to Georgia Hrach Silvanian made the opening speech for
the participants. An ecumenic evening of spiritual songs took place
at the Surb Gevorg Church in the evening, with the participation
of the Georgian Christian sister churches choirs The events in
Tbilisi finished with lighting candles round the Surb Etchmiadzin
church. Events dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims
took place in other regions of Georgia as well. Liturgies and divine
services were celebrated at the Armenian churches of Akhaltskha,
Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda amd Batumi, mourning mass meetings took
place. The mass meeting in Akhalkalak finished by laying a wreath
at the khachkar (cross stone) to the memory of the Genocide victims
placed on one of the hills near the city two years ago. Atom Egoyan’s
“Ararat” film was shown by the Republican TV of Ajaria.