Author: Emil Lazarian

SWITZERLAND SUPPORTS EFFORTS CONCENTRATED ON SEEKING DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION TO NK PROBLEM
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006
YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. Switzerland supports efforts concentrated
on seeking diplomatic solution to Karabakh problem, Swiss Foreign
Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said Monday in Yerevan in a joint news
conference with her Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanyan.
In her words, Swiss Government has repeatedly organized meetings
between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Geneva.
In her opinion, Karabakh conflict settlement will lay favorable ground
for restoring Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in Yerevan on June 11 for a three-day
visit. She is set to meet President Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
She will tour Mission Armenia Swiss organization’s offices in Yerevan
and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation as well as to visit
Armenian Genocide Victims Memorial to pay floral tribute to those
killed in Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL RATING TO BE GIVEN TO ARMENIAN ARMECONOMBANK IN AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2006
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 12 2006
YEREVAN, June 12. /ARKA/. International rating is expected to be given
to Armenian Armeconombank in August-September 2006, Armeconombank
Executive Director Ashot Osipyan said Friday at a press conference.
In his words, appropriate agreement has already signed with Moody’s
rating agency. He said it is impossible to join international market
without this rating.
Osipyan also said the bank is believed to receive deposit rating. He
said that it is “very difficult and romantic” to get the same rating
as the republic’s, because, as a rule, economy entities get a rating
one step lower than their countries.
Fitch rating agency gave Armenia “BB-” credit rating on June 5.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS: THE INSIDE STORY
John Kamau And Cyrus Ombati
The East African Standard, Kenya
June 12 2006
The deported Armenians plotted to transform a section of Kenya’s
security forces into a crack commando unit.
Workers hired by the landlord of the house where the Artur brothers
were living in Runda Estate put up the gate that was brought down
by the police on the wee hours of Friday morning when they raided
the residence.
Documents retrieved from the Runda house the alleged Armenian
Artur brothers – Sargarsyan and Margaryan – stayed show they sought
authority to transform a section of Kenya’s security forces into a
high-commando wing.
And it emerged yesterday that the roots of the Armenians’ stay in
Kenya runs deep and points to the involvement of senior and influential
political figures some of whom have gone underground.
The Sunday Standard has also established that it was a former minister
who brought the Armenians into Kenya. But he did not prove reliable
in fixing promised deals after he was dropped from the Cabinet and
they were taken over by a political activist.
Intelligence officials are said to have written a report advising
against offering them the chance to train security agents fearing
that that this could taint the Government’s name.
Separately, from an interview with one of the people the Armenians
worked closely with, the Sunday Standard learnt that the Arturs’ roots
in Kenya run deep and some of their collaborators had gone underground.
Though he couldn’t say what the Armenians’ mission in Kenya was our
interviewee was fearful that the Armenians were part of a larger
underground group operating in the region whose tracks the US Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) could now be after.
The Sunday Standard also established that the two also wanted to
use Kenya as a base to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo where
planned to start a similar “programme” on security issues.
They had flown to the country several times to assess the situation.
We have independently established that it is Langata MP Raila Odinga’s
claims that the two were mercenaries that forced Commissioner of
Police Hussein Ali to appoint a team of detectives to investigate
the mercenary linkage.
And the saga continued to unravel when Margaryan called The Standard
from Dubai and asked the question:
“If I was a gun-runner why was I left to leave Kenya a free man?” He
boasted that he was now relocating to Uganda.
“What is all this lie about me having a gun? How come I got with a gun
into the airport, which is supposed to be a security area? How come
I came out with it? If I did all these things then they found those
things in my house as they say, why am I not in jail?” Artur asked.
The police officers dispatched to their house on Thursday night
after the gun drama stumbled on several proposals and copies of
tender documents.
These would appear to confirm the Armenians, with their collaborators,
plotted to supply the Government with military and police gear.
The papers even showed that they had submitted samples of bulletproof
gear they could easily access to the Government.
An officer who was in the raiding party revealed they found a copy
of a tender application to supply the police with bullet proof vests.
The tender could have been a cover for mass importation of security
gear, a suspicion investigators now believe is supported by the fact
that police found light and heavy bullet-proof vests packed in a box
in one of the rooms.
They also recovered eight guns and 100 rounds of ammunition from
the garden.
A senior security official interviewed said they were still trying
to unmask their mission or possible target of a team that Government
officials initially described as “investors”.
Officials say the proposal to train Kenya’s security forces was made
to the Office of the President shortly before the March 2 raid on
the Standard Group premises.
“They were almost granted the permission to offer their expertise
but this changed after their names were linked to the raids,” said
security sources.
Sources privy to insider information say that the two acted as
“political fixers’ – a term used in the underworld Mafia to describe
individuals who can coax, cajole, threaten, eliminate and carry out
espionage work on behalf of clients and for political reasons.
“They are really terrifying guys and they are many. It is when you
add one and one you get to know them,” a close associate told us
last evening.
“They are always referred to as Armenians but they are most likely
Russian. What I know is that each had five different passports,”
the associate said.
The two had managed to penetrate the security system, as they bulldozed
their way around setting up systems with high and mighty and causing
friction within the system as those who defied them were transferred
to other areas.
Sources say Ali has been a worried man after he independently learnt
that the two were linked to the raids on the Standard Group premises.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA NA PRESIDENT TIGRAN TOROSYAN’S CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO ANDRANIK MARGARYAN, PM OF THE RA
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
June 13 2006
RA NA President Tigran Torosyan addressed congratulatory message to
Andranik Margaryan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on the
occasion of the 55th birthday. It says:
“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
I warmly congratulate you on the occasion of your 55th Birthday.
I wish you happiness and health, success in state-political
activities. I am sure, your activity from now on will also be directed
toward economic development of Armenia and increase of people’s
prosperity, strengthening of the Armenian statehood.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KENYAN PRESIDENT SUSPENDS CHIEF POLICE INVESTIGATOR
Agence France Presse — English
June 12, 2006 Monday 9:10 PM GMT
Nairobi
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Monday suspended the country’s top
police investigator and 11 other government officials involved in
the deportation of two Armenians allegedly linked to his family.
The Presidential Press Service also said Kibaki was setting up a
panel to investigate circumstances surrounding the deportation of
Artur Margariyan and Arthur Sargsian, for allegedly roughing up
customs officials.
Among those suspended were Joseph Kamau, the director of criminal
investigations department, Naomi Cidi, the deputy director of Kenya
Ports Authority (KPA), Winnie Wangui, an assistant secretary in the
water ministry, and five police officers attached at the airport.
On Sunday the president fiercely denied newspaper reports of family
links with Margariyan and Sargsian, suspected government mercenaries
whose extravagant lifestyle had turned them into celebrities in Kenya.
Kibaki threatened to sue the Sunday Nation newspaper for linking a
woman the local media claims is his second wife to the Armenians,
whom the government once defended as legitimate investors, while
opposition politicians said they were “mercenaries”.
The Nation claimed the suspended Wangui, daughter of the woman
identified in local press as Kibaki’s second wife, was seen with
the two Armenians, whose luxury cars and expensive jewelry made
local headlines.
“I have only one family which consists of the First Lady, Mrs. Lucy
Kibaki, daughter Judy Kibaki, sons Jimmy, David, Tony and their wives
and children,” Kibaki said in a televised statement on Sunday.
“I am personally distressed that the Sunday Nation chose to link my
family with the two foreigners who went to church accompanied by a
woman and other people whose names are not mentioned,” Kibaki said.
Kibaki demanded that the Nation “apologize to me and my family for
the blatant lies which attempt to associate my family with the woman
and the two foreigners”.
He added: “I am instructing my family lawyers to take the necessary
legal action to protect the integrity of my family.”
In March, influential lawmaker Raila Odinga started the saga when he
claimed the two were among hooded policemen who raided Standard Group
— the country’s second-largest media house — after it published a
report that Kibaki had held secret talks with his political opponent,
former ally Kalonzo Musyoka.
Before their deportation on Friday, police recovered AK47 rifles,
pistols, bulletproof vests and government vehicle licence plates in
their home in Nairobi.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
A1+
[08:58 pm] 12 June, 2006
Today Robert Kocharyan sent a congratulating message to RA Prime
Minister Andranik Margaryan on his 55th birthday.
The message says, “Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I congratulate you on your
55th birthday. I wish you good health and success in your political
activity for the welfare of the Armenian nation”.
NA President Tigran Torosyan also congratulated the Prime Minister.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IN 2007 YEREVAN WILL HAVE TWO-TIER ROAD
Lragir.am
12 June 06
The general architect of Yerevan Samvel Danielyan stated June 12 that
in a year, in June 2007 a two-tier road junction connecting Koryun,
Heratsu, Khandjyan and Charents streets will be built, reports the
news agency ARKA. According to Samvel Danielyan, it is going to be a
highway without traffic lights and bus stops, with separate sections
for cars and pedestrians. The cost of the project was not told, but
the general architect of the city said the project was put out to
tender. 12 bids were made. According to Samvel Danielyan, the tender
will last till October 2006, and the road works will be carried out
by stages, because traffic in this part of the city is highly dense.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KIBAKI URGED TO SPEAK OUT ON ARMENIANS
Story By Nation Team
Reported by Jeff Otieno, David Mugonyi, Tony Kago, Kennedy Masibo,
Ngumbao Kithi, Tim Kamuzu Banda and Patrick Mayoyo.
Daily Nation, Kenya
June 12 2006
Pressure mounted yesterday on the Government to explain why the
controversial Armenian brothers at the heart of security breaches
and underhand deals were deported without facing criminal charges.
Internal Security minister John Michuki (centre) chats with church
elders after he attended Mass at the Consolata Shrine in Nairobi
yesterday. The minister stated that the Government did the right thing
in deporting the two Armenian brothers. Photo by Stephen Mudiari
Politicians, religious leaders and lawyers said it was wrong for
the Government to spirit out Mr Artur Margaryan and his brother,
Mr Artur Sargsyan, instead of fully investigating their activities
and taking them to court to answer criminal charges.
But President Kibaki distanced himself from reports that his family
was linked to the Armenians.
He said Ms Winnie Wangui, who is linked to the two foreigners, is
not a member of his family.
In a personal statement last night, the President said he was
“distressed” by media reports introducing other people to be members
of his family.
“I am personally distressed that Sunday Nation chose to link my
family with the two foreigners who went to church accompanied by a
woman and other people whose names are not mentioned,” he said in
the brief statement.
The report had indicated that Ms Wangui, a daughter of influential
Narc activist Mary Wambui, and the two brothers went to the Holy
Family recently.
The President demanded an apology from the Sunday Nation and threatened
to take legal action.
He said the Government was investigating activities of the foreigners.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Press Service has issued a statement
denying that the two foreigners had weapons used by Presidential
Escort. The PSS also said no weapons were missing from the Presidential
security unit. There were reports that weapons bearing serial numbers
like those from the Presidential Escort service were found in the
compound of the brothers’ rented house in Runda.
Yesterday, Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Lang’ata MP Raila
Odinga and Assistant minister Koigi Wamwere demanded that the
Government should come clean on the matter.
But Cabinet ministers John Michuki and Martha Karua defended the
Government, saying the decision to declare the two persona non-grata
on Kenyan soil was the right one.
“Action speaks louder than words. We have taken action. What other
language do you want?” Mr Michuki asked after attending morning Mass
at the Consolata church in Westlands, Nairobi.
Asked whether the Government took the action to protect some
influential people in Government in dealings with the two brothers,
Mr Michuki said in Kiswahili: “Mnataka watu wa kuongea ama watu wa
kufanya? (Do you want people who only talk or people who take action?”)
Ms Karua, who spoke in Nakuru, said the Government hurried the
deportation process “and will also carry out thorough investigations
into the matter”. She added: “A foreigner enters the country with
express authority from the Government after being given a visa and
the same can be revoked and the owner deported.”
Questionable character
Archbishop Nzimbi described the presence and eventual deportation of
Mr Margaryan and Mr Sargsyan as undesirable and accused the Government
of giving sanctuary to people of questionable character.
He said it was ironical and disturbing that foreigners could commit
a crime in the country and get away with it, without the Government
explaining the matter to the public.
His Church, he said, was concerned with the way the Government had
handled the two foreigners. “We are unhappy that the security of
Kenyans has been compromised but the responsible ministry has not
sought to explain to the citizens what happened at the airport. We
have only been told by the media that the two brothers were deported,
but without reasons,” Archbishop Nzimbi said in Nakuru.
And, Mr Odinga took the blame to State House, saying President Kibaki
was aware of the activities of the Artur brothers but had failed
to act.
The MP challenged President Kibaki to speak out on the Artur brothers’
saga.
He said it was a security breach for foreigners to threaten Government
officials with guns and create commotion at an international airport.
Mr Odinga, who was the first to blow the whistle on the Artur brothers,
reiterated that the two were up to no good and that they had been
hosted at State House several times.
Speaking on the telephone from Seoul, Korea, Mr Odinga said: “The
President cannot plead ignorance and keep quiet believing people
will excuse him. This is an issue the President should come out
and explain.”
He said a prominent Narc activist, a powerful Cabinet minister and
a senior police officer knew what the Artur brothers were doing in
the country.
The decision to retain Mr Michuki as Internal Security minister,
Mr Odinga added, reflected President Kibaki’s poor way of running
the country.
Mr Michuki, however, did not explain by who and why the Armenians
were given airport security badges to access the highly-guarded Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport.
He also did not explain who licensed the two to carry firearms.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Administration of
Justice and Legal Affairs, Mr Paul Muite, singled out Mr Michuki as
a stumbling block to exposing the truth about the Armenian brothers.
The Kabete MP said during their initial investigations on the The
Standard newspaper raid, Mr Michuki wrote a letter with an intent to
prevent police commissioner Hussein Ali and CID director Joseph Kamau
from appearing before the committee, arguing that he had answered
all the questions needed.
“Michuki put hurdles in the committee’s work when it demanded to
question the police commissioner and CID director,” the MP said.
Former director of public prosecutions, Mr Philip Murgor, asked the
President to set up a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of
the Artur brothers’ saga.
In Mombasa, Immigration assistant minister Annaniah Mwaboza demanded
immediate verification of a container’s contents.
Verify container’s content
Mr Mwaboza said Kenyans want to know what merchandise the two brothers
were bringing into the country, especially after they refused to have
the cargo verified.
Last week, Mr Margaryan went to the port accompanied by several
bodyguards and tried to have the container released to him. But
Customs officials insisted that it must be scanned. He then left in
a huff. But Mr Mwaboza defended the deportation arguing the move was
carried out in the interest of the country.
Other reports indicate that the cargo was under a 24-hour police
watch after attempts by the deported brothers to have the container
cleared from the port without going through the normal processes.
Mvita MP Najib Balala said the decision by the Government to deport
the two Armenian brothers was a cover-up, to save them from arrest
and prosecution.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MAN WHO LOOKS FORWARD TO RETURN OF ARTURS
By Richard Chesos
Standard, Kenya
June 12 2006
With a faraway look, eyes blink sharply before Musau Musyoki raises
his palms to cover his mouth, perhaps an expression of disbelief.
Mr Musau Musyoki, who worked as gardener for the Artur brothers,
in a pensive mood outside the Armenians’ Runda Estate residence.
Then the 25-year-old man, who wishes the deportation of the two
alleged Armenian brothers turned out to be fictitious, tells his
story. He is not eager to discuss the saga.
Dressed in blue jeans, light green shirt and blue sandals, he does
not hide the fact that his life drastically changed for the better
since early February, when Artur Margaryan hired him as gardener at
his luxurious residence in Nairobi’s Runda estate.
“He doubled my (earlier) salary; life has been good,” he says.
“My salary is my secret. But I can tell you he paid twice what my
previous employer was giving me.”
But little can remain a secret for a man who worked for foreigners
who have dominated the Press and police investigations. The amount
quoted by police is higher than that earned by a graduate teacher.
Musyoki, who lives in the servant’s quarter, said the “owner of the
house”, who lives in Spring Valley, had employed him last August as
a caretaker.
He says he had agreed with the “owner” that any new tenant would
employ him to work in the home. The Form Four leaver, a bachelor,
says Margaryan promptly paid him in Kenya shillings every end of
month. He fears no other tenant will pay him such an amount in future.
“But that is life…the owner (of the house) will pay (me).”
And how did he learn of the deportation?
“How do you know about it yet you don’t even have a radio in the
house?” he retorted.
He is the only one left in the house after two guards from Tanzania
were deported on Saturday.
Musyoki, whose name means ‘one who returns’, wishes his employer
would eventually do that – return.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VICTOR DALLAKYAN’S RUSE FAILED
Lragir.am
12 June 06
The meeting of the parliament kicked off June 12 lasted shorter than
the adjournments the parliamentary factions took before the voting.
The cause was Victor Dallakyan, the secretary of the Ardarutiun
Alliance, who had proposed setting up ad-hoc committees to study the
fraud reported during the elections in 2003 and the referendum in
2005. Dallakyan explains this by the necessity to punish falsifiers
to go on to conduct a fair election. The secretary of the alliance
suggests putting the issue to vote to include it in the agenda of
the four-day meeting.
The parliamentary majority naturally disagreed with Victor Dallakyan’s
initiative. Speaker Tigran Torosyan said it is impossible to
discuss the questions in the spring session because it ends on June
14. Besides, the speaker of the National Assembly thinks the ad-hoc
committee of the proposal will not have time to work.
“Yes, we must conduct the parliamentary election in 2007 and all the
future elections in compliance with the international standards,
first of all, for the sake of our country, second, to fulfill
the obligations taken up before the international organizations,”
announce Speaker Torosyan, confessing that the elections in 2003 and
the referendum in 2005 were marred by irregularities and fraud.
Tigran Torosyan proposed to make joint efforts to improve the Electoral
Code to reach fair and free elections instead of politicizing the
question of the ad-hoc committee.
In reply Victor reminded that it is three years since the opposition
proposed studying the question of fraud, and this proposal regularly
crashes into the wall of the majority. Victor Dallakyan naturally
insisted that the issue be included in the agenda. However,
realizing that his initiative will be rejected, Victor Dallakyan
resorted to a ruse immediately before the voting. First he asked for
a 20-minute adjournment, provided for by the bylaws, afterwards he
proposed postponing the voting for 30 days. For a moment the “callow”
parliamentary majority could not realize what happened, and rejected
Victor Dallakyan’s proposal by voting. Afterwards the member of
parliament announced that if the majority rejected his proposal to
set up an ad-hoc committee, the initiative is automatically included
in the agenda. Victor Dallakyan says he proceeds from the bylaws
and a precedent reported during the work of the parliament. Deputy
Speaker Vahan Hovanisyan and Speaker Tigran Torosyan said there is
not such a point in the bylaws and such a precedent, which was to
be refused, of course. Dallakyan announced that it is already on the
agenda because the proposal to postpone was rejected. At that moment
Gurgen Arsenyan interfered, saying that the problem was disputable
and it is necessary to adjourn the session before the voting and
discuss the situation to avoid trouble.
During this adjournment all the leaders of the parliamentary factions
except Artashes Geghamyan discussed the question and decided that
it was a misunderstanding. Vahan Hovanisyan misunderstood Victor
Dallakyan. Hovanisyan announced that he thought Dallakyan proposed
postponing the voting to the bill and set forward this proposal,
which was rejected. Hovanisyan apologized, saying that he was guided by
logic, whereas the bylaws are not always logical. After reporting this
break-up of the bylaws of the parliament and logic Victor Dallakyan’s
rejected Victor Dallakyan’s initiative and went on to discuss the
agenda, when only an hour remained before the end of the working day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress