Author: Emil Lazarian

Khatami:Occupiers are the true “axis of evil”
Minsk, Sept 11, IRNA — The visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
here Friday afternoon said that countries that prevent others from
living in peace in their homelands and which flagrantly support or
commit terrorist acts are the real “axis of evil”.
President Khatami, who arrived for an official visit in Belarus on
Thursday evening, made the remark at a meeting with the Chairman of the
House of Representatives of the Belarus National Assembly Vadim Popov.
Referring to the Tehran-Minsk cooperation to fight practices labeled
as “axis of evil” and terrorism in its different forms worldwide,
President Khatami said he believes that injustice and discrimination
were some of the reasons which led others to commit terrorism.
“Those who illegally occupy land belonging to others against
international norms and those who fuel chaos and extremism worldwide
are the main components of the axis of evil,” said the president
arguing that they try to deviate world public opinion from their own
crimes by trying to find scapegoats.
The president further noted that Tehran and Minsk share common
grievances and are both opposed to any form of occupation, war,
factional fighting or disagreements which encourage more acts of evil
throughout the world.
He added that the two countries should put their weight behind nations
fighting to have their say in their own destinies as well as those
who seek justice and defend peace and security in this world. Noting
that all countries of the region had a stake in the continued peace
and security in a “sensitive region like the Middle East,” President
Khatami further noted that “crises and tensions in the region only
serve the illegitimate interests of outsiders.” “The people of Iraq
are now suffering because of the mistakes and failures of outsiders
would came to their country on their own selfish agenda and who should
bear the cost of their mistakes,” said President Khatami.
“However,” he noted, “the current problems in Iraq have shown that
the occupation can no longer continue and the use of force has come
to an end.”
President Khatami further referred to the good relations between the
Iranian and Belarussian parliaments in recent years, in particular,
and expressed hope the road to progress and development for Tehran
and Minsk would be short.
Popov, in return, said that the visit of President Khatami to Belarus
constituted a “turning point” for bilateral relations, adding that the
new documents for mutual cooperation signed by the two sides during
his visit would lead to enhanced bilateral political and economic
cooperation in the future.
Comparing Minsk with Tehran,” the chairman said the two “oppose
unilateralism and believe that countries which destructively label
others as being part of an “axis of evil” are out to impose their
own interests on these countries.”
President Khatami is in Minsk on the second leg of a three-nation
regional tour which started on Wednesday with a visit to Armenia.
He will conclude his tour with a visit to Tajikistan.
The president`s week-long tour is taking place upon the official
invitations of President Robert Kocharian of Armenia, Aleksandr
Lukashenka of Belarus and Emomali Rakhmonov of Tajikistan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Cradle of civilisation
The Independent – United Kingdom
Sep 11, 2004
Tony Wheeler
The Paykan car swerved in to the roadside. A portly gentleman levered
himself out from the driver’s seat and steamed towards me, like
the Titanic on a pressing engagement with an iceberg. I was in Iran
and I was about to be kidnapped. “I am a guide, I speak English,”
announced Ahmad Pourseyedi as he grabbed my arm. “Come, we will go
to the Fin Gardens.”
There was no arguing. The fact that I had only arrived in Kashan half
an hour earlier and was on my way to dinner merely enabled me to put
off the inevitable for 12 hours. The next morning I belonged to Ahmad,
in fact I had become part of his family. At each of the beautiful
traditional homes for which Kashan will, one day, be justifiably
famous, the ticket- seller was expected, no, commanded, to offer me
the family discount.
It was a typically Iranian encounter. I cannot remember the last
country I visited where there was such an overwhelming urge to make
you feel welcome, to roll out the Persian carpet, to include you in
the family gathering.
So this is what life is like on the Axis of Evil. I had driven through
Iran 32 years earlier, during the Shah’s reign, when Iran was firmly
part of Washington’s Axis of Good. “That was a golden era,” said
Mohamad, the tourist guide I’d encountered at the stunning restaurant
in the old Hammam- e Vakil in Shiraz, when I told him about my trip
in the 1970s. “There were problems, but we had so much more freedom
in those days.”
Not quite, I thought, thinking of the dreaded Savak, the Shah’s secret
police who were every bit as fearsome as Iran’s religious police
are today. “After every revolution there are winners and losers,”
mused Mansoor, back in the capital. “The Shah thought Iran ended at
Tehran. He neglected the country and the villages. People outside
Tehran are much better off now. Look out on the street,” he indicated,
pointing at the tumultuous traffic that boiled all around us. “You
see plenty of women driving, don’t you? That wouldn’t have happened
in the Shah’s era.”
I’d started my short tour of Iran aboard a new Iran Air Airbus which
zipped me south to Shiraz. The ticket for the London-Paris segment
of the journey cost pounds 15. When the poet Omar Khayyam wrote,
“a loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou”, he was probably dreaming
about a jug of Shiraz. Sadly, although Shiraz, that dark peppery
red, is popular worldwide, you won’t find any Shiraz in Shiraz
today. Or anywhere else in the strictly teetotal Islamic Republic
of Iran. Fortunately I had sampled some Shiraz Shiraz way back on my
first visit, in the back of a VW Kombi van at a campsite in Isfahan.
Iran’s favourite wine may be off the list, but Omar Khayyam was never
Iran’s favourite poet in the first place. His popularity in the West –
all that “moving finger moving on” verse – is in part due to Edward
FitzGerald, who put a lot of effort into translating and promoting
him. Back home, his reputation rests on his mastery of mathematics
rather than his prowess with prose.
Saidi and Hafez, both of whom are buried in Shiraz, are the big
names in a country where poetry is still important. Hafez’s tomb
stands in a beautiful garden and features a popular tea house where
you can sit around, puff on a qalyan (water pipe), sip chay (tea)
and quote the master. Much of life takes place around a teapot. I
trace my 30-year love-affair with the drink straight back to my first
visit to Turkey and Iran in the 1970s. Tea had always been a stewed,
milked and sugared affair until I discovered it could come in tiny
glasses and, while sugar was on offer, it wasn’t essential.
Shiraz has a fine old fort, some interesting mosques and mausoleums
and the Bagh-e Eram (“Garden of Paradise”). But the real attraction
is 30 miles away, where the ancient ruins of Persepolis perch on a
plateau below a cliff face. Darius I (the Great) started building
his showpiece city in 512 BC. Its glory days ended in 330BC when
Alexander the Great invaded Persia, sacked the city and burnt it down.
Historians are uncertain whether the demolition of Persepolis was
the unfortunate result of a drunken party that got out of hand, or
deliberate revenge for the destruction of Athens 150 years earlier
by Xerxes, Darius I’s successor. Today things move faster: it took
less than two years from the attack on the Twin Towers to the trashing
of Baghdad. Alexander may have been slower in exacting revenge, but
he was also somewhat more organised than the modern-day invaders of
the Middle East. He cleared Persepolis before it was burnt – signs at
the site note that emptying its treasury took 3,000 camels and mules
to cart off the “12,000 talents” of silver. It’s the bas-reliefs
that really tell the Persepolis story, and the impressive Apadana
Stairway has the best of them. The 23 subject nations who turned up
to show their respects march in bas-relief line with gifts such as
a lioness and two cubs (from the Elamite delegation), a humped bull
(from the Gandarians of the Kabul Valley, the people who carved out
the Bamiyan buddhas), bags of gold (from the Indians of the Sind; even
then gold was important in India) and a giraffe and elephant tusks
(from the Ethiopians).
I’d intended to take a bus the 275 miles to Yazd the next day, but
Hassan, my Persepolis taxi driver, had been such a friendly guide that
I decided to splurge pounds 35 for air-conditioned comfort in the 40C
heat. We cruised off with his Chris de Burgh tape providing a wholly
inappropriate soundtrack and his nine-year-old daughter along for the
ride. Yazd’s Zoroastrian fire temple and towers of silence (where,
once upon a time, vultures would pick over dead bodies) provide a
reminder of this Islamic republic’s religious past. Yazd is also
a centre for underground irrigation channels known as qanat. The
city’s water channels may be hidden from view, but examples of
its other traditional architectural features are very evident. Any
worthwhile old home is topped by what looks like a cross between a
stylish chimney and a lookout tower. These badgirs (“wind towers”)
are cunningly designed to catch the breeze and funnel it down over a
pool of water in the house, providing a surprisingly effective form
of natural air conditioning. From Yazd I took a bus – air-conditioned,
comfortable and cheap (less than pounds 1.50) – for the 200-mile trip
to Isfahan. This city alone could justify any trip to Iran. It’s hard
to decide whether the prime attraction is the magnificent sweep of the
Emam Khomeini Square, with its perimeter of shopping arcades and its
breathtaking blue-tiled mosques, or the gentle curve of the Zayandeh
River with its multi-arched bridges and fringe of parks. I wandered
down one side of the river, pausing at a teahouse built into the Chubi
bridge. I then stopped for tea again just downriver from the Si-o-Seh
(“Bridge of 33 Arches”). Finally I walked back to the main square for
yet more tea, this time in a shop perched beside the bazaar entrance
gate at the north end of the square.
By the time I reached the south end, heading towards the restaurant
I’d chosen for dinner, the sun was down and the floodlit blue tiles
of the huge Emam Mosque had an eye-catching glow. A carpet dealer
intercepted me and after a short sales pitch switched to tour guide,
suggesting I should have another look at the mosque. “If you have
seen it in daylight you will find it quite different now that night
has fallen,” he says.
Unfortunately, a guard stops me. “It’s prayer time,” he says. “You
cannot go in.” Immediately an animated discussion started up with the
men sitting around him. Within minutes he relents. “They all say you
must see the mosque by night,” he explains. “If you keep over to one
side you will not disturb anybody. Go ahead.”
The next morning there are the shaking minarets to quake at, an
amazing pigeon house sited in the middle of a roundabout, and the
extravagant frescoes of the Vank Cathedral to admire before I head
off to Kashan. The cathedral is one of a group of Armenian churches
in the affluent Jolfa area, with its elegant cafes and glossy shops.
En route to Kashan there’s another diversion, this time to Abyaneh. The
old village’s twisting lanes and mud architecture has brought it
Unesco recognition, but as yet few tourists. If it were in France
or Spain every other house would be a cafe or craft shop. Here
there’s a solitary counter selling a handful of souvenirs. Between
the village and Kashan I had a brief encounter with that other Iran,
the one that features in the press much more often than beautiful
hotels and friendly people. “It’s a nuclear research centre,” my
guide explains as we pass anti-aircraft gun emplacements beside the
road and half-buried buildings.
Ahmad, my Kashan kidnapper, drops me off at the bus station after
checking what time my lift departs Tehran. I’d even been round to
his house where his wife brought us lunch while we took a break
during the midday heat. I’d enjoyed cruising around Kashan in his
Paykan car, “arrow” in Persian. Thirty years ago, in what seems like
a previous lifetime, I was a young engineer with the Rootes Group
car manufacturers in Coventry. I worked on the old Hillman Hunter,
a project known in-house as “Arrow”. They’re still the most popular
vehicles in Iran.
SURVIVAL KIT
GETTING THERE
British Airways (0870 850 9850; ) and Iran Air (020-7493
8618; ) fly to Tehran from Heathrow; Mahan Airlines
(0121 554 1555; ) flies from Birmingham. Fares
are around pounds 390.
STAYING THERE
In Tehran, the Atlas Hotel (00 98 21 88 00 408) has double rooms from
315,000 Iranian rials (pounds 20). Hotels are cheaper in other cities;
in Yazd you can stay in a restored traditional courtyard house for
around 160,000 Iranian rials (pounds 10).
RED TAPE
British passport holders require a visa to visit Iran as a tourist. The
Embassy of Iran (0906 302 0600; ) provides
these for pounds 54. Applications (both online and through the post)
take around one month to process. Before you can apply for a visa,
you must first have authorisation from an agent, details of which are
provided by the Embassy or Travcour (020-7223 5295; ),
the visa and passport service. For this you must send two passport
photos, a photocopy of your passport and details of your itinerary.

Iran offers to assist in settling Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Interfax
Sept 9 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax) – Iran is ready to assist in settling the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told
the Armenian parliament on Wednesday.
Khatami is in Yerevan on a two-day official visit.
“Iran is interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus and
is prepared to assist in settling all conflicts in this region,”
Khatami said, adding that Iran is also interested in a peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
Khatami also spoke about democracy and democratization in different
parts of the world. He said that while speaking about democracy in a
“non-Western region” one should take the principles and norms of this
region into account. Democracy in such instances should be interpreted
more broadly, he said.
Iran had been voicing its readiness to assist in the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict earlier, as well. Teheran believes that
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should not lead to
the introduction of military contingents from countries outside the
South Caucasus into the region.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Khatamiterms universities as centers of thoughts
IRNA, Iran
Sept 9 2004
Yerevan, Sept 9, IRNA — President Mohammad Khatami here Thursday said
universities are the centers of thoughts and champions of dialogue
among civilizations.
“I am happy (the initiative of) dialogue among civilizations has been
welcomed by university professors and students,” Khatami said after
delivering a speech at Yerevan State University.
Human beings faced war, grudge, terror and two world wars over the
past century and terrorism also was expanded in the world, he added.
He noted that dialogue among civilizations seeks the rule of justice
in the world and direct human life towards peace.
The UN General Assembly accepted the initiative in 2001 without
opposition, he said, adding reputable centers have been established
in this regard.
“Although the idea of dialogue among civilizations was put forward in
2001, the anti-peace forces showed reactions including the September
11 events which warmongers filled the world with war and occupation
under the pretext of campaign against terrorism. “But human conscience
is against such actions,” Khatami said. He stressed that Armenia is
among suitable countries to promote dialogue among civilizations.

President Aliyev holds private meeting with OSCE MG French co-chair
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2004
Baku, September 8, AssA-Irada — President Ilham Aliyev visiting
France held a private meeting with Henry Jacolin, the French co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group on Wednesday.
Following the meeting Aliyev had a 45-minute talk with Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov.
Declining to elaborate on the meeting, Mammadyarov said the fact
that whether there is progress in talks will be determined after
the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents to be held in
Astana shortly.
The same day, President Aliyev met with Christian Poncelet, Chairman
of the French Senate, on Wednesday. The parties focused on the Upper
Garabagh conflict and discussed economic and political relations
between the two countries.
Later in the day, President Aliyev attended the opening of an
exhibition of works by Azerbaijani artists organized for the first
time at the museum of the French Senate.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Iranian, Armenian cultures, civilizations enjoy strong bonds: Khatami
IRNA, Iran
Sept 9 2004
Yerevan, Sept 9, IRNA — Visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami
here Thursday said that the Iranian and Armenians cultures and
civilizations have had strong bonds from the dawn of history.
Addressing Armenian scientists, intellectuals, scholars, and
university professors at the State University of Yerevan, he said
Iranians and Armenians have always acted as pillars of civilization
in the Iranian plateau.
“One of the very interesting facts about our common past is that
even the differences in religious creeds, that usually cause serious
cleavage among the people of the same regions, have not been able
to break the bonds of friendship between the peoples of ancient Iran
and Armenia.”
Even during the modern period of nation-state formation, when border
disputes between the old empires and the new states lead to various
forms of territorial and non-territorial disputes, not only there
were no discords between Iran and Armenia, but also the ties between
the two countries grew much stronger than ever before, the Iranian
president noted.
As to Iran-Armenia scientific, industrial, political and cultural
cooperation, he said Armenia and Armenians played a great part in
the constitutional revolution of Iran and profoundly supported that
national cause of the Iranians.
The Armenians played an important part in the development and victory
of the Islamic Revolution and in the establishment of the Islamic
Republic by engaging in an epic and memorable struggle in its support,
he added.
The establishment and further development of many new educational,
scientific, and industrial institutions in Iran is indebted to the
worthy measures taken by the people of Armenia, he said adding that
the share of the Armenians in opening up the prospects of modern
development and progress to Iran is of very great significance.
Among Iranians, Armenians are well-known for their honesty, gentleness,
integrity, and love of freedom, he said adding, “Our Armenian
compatriots have always been a party to all our joys and sorrows.”
These have been the root cause of the positive attitude that the
Iranians have towards Armenians, the president said noting, “This
great asset can be utilized by our thinkers and scholars to develop
our better and greater common future.”
Elsewhere in his speech President Khatami underlined the need to
establish a constructive pattern and to create a greater conceptual
understanding between the two nations.
In the process of carrying out Dialogue among Civilizations,
reaching a mutual understanding is of far greater significance
than coming to a common decision and a common viewpoint, he added.
The prerequisite for achieving a mutual understanding of course is
nothing but expanding mutual contacts, the president said adding that
contact is the prerequisite for the materialization of dialogues.
President Khatami further expressed his pleasure for witnessing that
the scientific and cultural relations between Armenia and Iran have
taken the form of a very orderly dialogue, and that certain aspects
of each civilization and culture have become subject of discussion and
the means of establishing further cooperation. The special attention
paid by Armenian universities to the teaching of the Persian language,
and the outstanding participation of Iranian professors and students
in the educational environments in Armenia is a manifestation of
the determination of both nations to expand bilateral relations,
he reiterated.
“We should have no doubt whatsoever that this expansion of relations
will lead to the establishment of a deeper mutual understanding and to
the safeguarding of the historical assets which the two civilizations
have inherited,” the president concluded.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Egyptian Treasure Are Showcased at Lowell, Mass., store
zawya
LOWELL, Mass., Sep 08, 2004 (The Sun – Knight Ridder/Tribune
Business News via COMTEX) — Mohammed “Moody” Eltobgi was an Egyptian
businessman for many years. So when he came to the United States in
1995 and worked in restaurants, he yearned to run his own business.
He combined a love for handcrafted goods and business knowledge to
open Moody’s Buried Treasures at 66 Merrimack St.
He imports hand-blown, hand-painted glass, hand-carved alabaster and
a hand-painted brass plates, all made by craftsmen in his native Egypt.
When visiting his homeland, he makes a point to seek out craftsmen
in villages who can no longer afford to work in places like Cairo.
“I love art, I love to see these people working,” he said. “They are
going out of business because of machine shops.” Eltobgi can buy many
of these goods cheaply, but prices vary. A hand-painted perfume bottle
is $5. Earrings are $4. An alabaster candelabra is $45. A handmade
belly-dancing costume is $300.
He also carries Avon products at the request of customers who
frequented the former business located at the address, the Lil’
Avon Boutique.
He runs the store with his wife, MaryGayle. The couple lives in Lowell.
“All my life I’ve been in business, and I believe we will get bigger,”
he said.
Eltobgi plans another trip soon to add to his inventory, possibly to
Romania or Armenia, on his continued search for handmade goods.
By Rebecca Lipchitz
To see more of The Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
(c) 2004, The Sun, Lowell, Mass. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at
(800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or
e-mail [email protected].

THE EU/UNDP-FUNDED ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM ASSISTS JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS OF ARMENIA
ArmenPress
Sept 9 2004
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: On 9 September 2004 in the building
of the Court of Cassation of Armenia, the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) held an official ceremony
to hand-over drug prevention equipment procured within the framework
of the South Caucasus Anti-Drug (SCAD) Program to judiciary in the
Republic of Armenia.
Nearly USD 35,000 worth of equipment was delivered to courts in each
of the country’s eleven regions. Equipment was also transferred to the
Court of Appeal, Court of Cassation and the Office of the Prosecutor
General. The new equipment will enhance the efficiency of the judges
and prosecutors dealing with drug control issues.
The overall objective of the SCAD Programme is to reduce drug
trafficking from and through the three South Caucasian countries
– Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – to EU member states. For this
purpose, the SCAD Programme has provided technical assistance to the
Police, Ministry of Justice, State Customs Committee, Ministry of
Health of Armenia and many local non-governmental organisations (NGO).
Ms. Lise Grande, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative, said: “Cooperation between UNDP, the EU and the
Armenian judicial system to prevent drug trafficking and abuse in
the country dates back to 2001, when the first phase of the SCAD
Programme was launched. Since then, important progress has been made.
The transfer of equipment today is aimed at building on the success
of the Programme by helping to further improve the efficiency of
anti-trafficking activities. The SCAD Programme is particularly
important because it promotes regional cooperation between the three
countries of the South Caucasus.”
Since 2001, the EU and UNDP have provided EUR 608,000 to the SCAD
Programme in Armenia. The Programme covers seven concrete objectives:
reinforcement and harmonisation of national drug control legislation;
drug control at the airport; strengthening of police intelligence
system; strengthening of land border interdiction capacities;
reinforcement of drug abuse monitoring systems; development of an
NGO network to deal with drug issues; prevention of drug abuse at
early stages.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

More intl humanitarian aid comes to Beslan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 8, 2004 Wednesday
MOSCOW, September 8 — Humanitarian supplies from all parts of the
world continue to arrive in the North Ossetian town of Beslan.
An An-12 plane brought from Azerbaijan five tonnes of medicines,
Russia’s Emergencies Ministry told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
Two hundred kilograms of donor blood were delivered from Armenia.
Some 50 tonnes of relief supplies have been brought to Beslan over
the past three days. These include medicines, IT and burn-treatment
equipment and X-ray units, the Ministry said.
Planes with humanitarian supplies from Norway and Greece are expected
to land at the Beslan airport within the next few hours, spokesman
for North Caucasian regional border department Sergei Livantsov said.
Bishop Feofan of Stavropol and Vladikavkas called upon the clergy
and secular authorities to build a temple, on whose walls the names
of the Beslan victims should be inscribed.
The bishop arrived in Beslan on the first day of the hostage taking
drama and has remained there since, officiating at funerals.
Regional lawmakers donated their one-day wage to the victims’
relatives. They urged their colleagues from local self-rule bodies
to follow suit.

Azeri, French leaders discuss Karabakh, “excellent level” of cooperation
Turan news agency
8 Sep 04
Baku, 8 September: A one-to-one meeting between French President
Jacques Chirac and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, was
held yesterday evening [7 September]. The sides discussed the active
development of bilateral political and economic ties. Chirac said that
contacts between the two countries were at an “excellent level”. To
confirm this, he added that France was Azerbaijan’s third largest
foreign trade partner.
The meeting also addressed issues related to Azerbaijan’s integration
into the EU. The sides particularly spoke about Azerbaijan’s
involvement in the EU’s New Neighbourhood Programme.
The meeting also focused on regional problems and the Karabakh
settlement. Chirac said that Paris supported the continuation of
peace talks on the conflict settlement. As a co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group, France will continue making efforts in this sphere.