Author: Kharatian Ani

AMBASSADOR OF KOREAN PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC HANDS CREDENTIALS TO PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN
ARMENPRESS

ARMENPRESS
JULY 23

Kim Yong Jae, the newly appointed ambassador of the Korean People’s
Democratic Republic to Armenia (seated in Moscow), handed today his
credentials to President Serzh Sargsyan.

The presidential press service told Armenpress that Serzh
Sargsyan congratulated the ambassador on taking over his new tenure
expressing also hope that during the ambassador’s term in office the
Korean-Armenian relations will be marked by progress.

The two men stated both sides’ willingness to develop mutually
beneficial cooperation in different sectors and use the available
potential to the maximum.

Ambassador Kim Yong Jae said he would centralize his efforts on
expansion of cooperation in different areas. Serzh Sargsyan assured
that the ambassador will receive every possible assistance during
his tenure.

ARMENIAN POLITICIAN: "AZERBAIJAN HAS REACHED DEFINITE PROGRESS IN PRESENTING ARMENIA AS AN AGGRESSOR COUNTRY"

Today.Az
July 23 2008
Azerbaijan

Positions of the sides on the Karabakh conflict are so different that
it is impossible to expect the soonest resolution of the conflict, said
chairman of the Armenian National Democratic Party Shavarsh Kocharyan.

At the same time, he especially noted that the negotiation table has
not the "main subject" – "Nagorno Karabakh".

"The main cause is an active propaganda of Azerbaijan for presenting
Armenia as an aggressor country and in this policy Azerbaijan reached
definite progress", considers Kocharyan.

He noted that Armenia should understand that it faces a propaganda
taking advantage of the absence of clearly formed relations between
Yerevan and Khankendi on the resolution process.

"We do not work for presenting the conflict as one between Karabakh
and Azerbaijan and Armenia as an attracted side", considers the
Armenian politician.

The leader of National-Democratic Party also considers that hostilities
are not interesting to anyone: either Russia, or Europe or the
United States.

"If Azerbaijan was sure that blitz criegs will help attain success
in the armed resolution of the conflict, it will not hesitate for a
moment to implement its intentions", considers Kocharyan.

THE PUBLIC COUNCIL HAS A SERIOUS MISSION
GEVORG HAROUTYUNYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 19, 2008
Armenia

Interview with KHOSROV HAROUTYUNYAN, chairman of the Armenian
Chrstian-Democratic Party and member of the committee coordinating the
organization activities of the Public Council

`Mr. Haroutyunyan, what has your committee managed to do so far?’

`In the course of the past month, the committee carried out its work
with great responsibility. Robert Amirkhanyan, Tovmas Poghosyan, Emil
Gabrielyan and the others have initiated intensive work. In the working
groups consisting of 10-15 members ` citizens and representatives of
public organizations, we discuss all the issues concerning the Public
Council. Those discussions are not only useful but also instructive.

Our principal goal is to take maximum advantage of the situation and
change the fragile achievement into a system. Regardless the future
representatives of the government and the opposition, the
interrelations and ratio between them, the voice of the people should
be heard by the authorities. And the authorities should always feel
that they are the organizers of the process of rendering public
services. And the Public Council has its own role in this process.

The Public Council should be responsible for such functions and
missions that cannot be implemented by other state government bodies.
It may not repeat the activities to
be implemented by other structures.
If some state government body works improperly, it is necessary to
reform it and not set up a new body instead of it. The Public Council
should find out what gaps it may bridge in the state government system
without repeating the functions of any state government body.

Let’s agree that we had a well-organized, strong and determined
opposition in the past. Let’s recall at least what was going on in
1996. However, there was no situation like this because the authorities
were not politically mature then. This is the peculiarity of the
present-day situation. To miss this chance will mean to be badly
mistaken and be too open-handed despite the limited public potentials.

The Public Council must be able to achieve a serious turning point,
eliminate the divide between the authorities and society and make the
voice and concerns of the people heard by the country’s top leadership.
The activities of the Public Council should contribute to the
normalization of the moral-psychological atmosphere of the public. And
this pre-supposes the participation of the citizens in decision-making
processes.

Up to the second half of the 1990’s, we had never had a
non-professional government. The Government had never been in a state
of idleness but the public demands were not satisfied, and the people
were discontent despite the fact that life constantly changed for the
better.

The reason is that the public does not participate in the process of
attaining results. The mechanisms of public participation in the
decision-making processes have been totally eliminated. And when the
public does not have its participation in the process of attaining
results, it becomes indifferent and is unable to evaluate them.

Therefore, the Public Council should have a primary task of introducing
mechanisms of participation and make the major part of society
participants in the decision-making processes. In this way, the Public
Council will contribute to the formation of civil society. We have even
envisaged that the Public Council will submit an annual report
representing the situation with civil society. Such report may be used
by international organizations as an objective assessment.’

`And to what extent is it advisable for the Public Council to be a body
operating under the President?’

`Although the Public Council is the advisory body of the President, it
should be a counterbalance to the presidential staff, the Government
and the National Assembly. In that way, the Public Council will give
the President the opportunity to have alternative approaches to matters
of public concern.

The Public Council should be a body standing above politics; it should
express public opinion and be independent. The voice of society should
reach the highest tribunals through its channels. The matter does not
=0
Aonly consist in voicing the issues but also contributing to their
solution. This work may be effective only in case the country’s top
leadership is aware of the consultations and responsible for bringing
them to life.

The Public Council will not pass decisions or laws. Neither is the
President of the country obliged to comply with its proposals. The
Public Council may advance different proposals to the President,
specifying the attitudes of different members of the council with
regard to different issues.

It’s quite possible that, guided by political considerations and the
political principles of organizing public life, the President may
approve the proposal advanced by 4 rather than 60 percent of the
representatives of the Public Council. However, he will be aware of all
the opinions existing in the public. And if the President does not
approve any of the proposals of the Public Council in case of solving a
specific kind of problem, that fact will give rise to concerns. The
thing is that the Council and a proposal cannot be overlooked.’

`And will the members of the Public Council work on voluntary bases or
their work will be paid?’

`The coordinating committee and the working group unanimously share the
opinion that the Public Council cannot work on paid bases; a member of
the Public Council cannot carry out paid work. This is a public
activity. Each member of the Pub
lic Council should work with the
personal motivation of keeping up his public reputation and raising it
continuously. He/she cannot have material interests.

If the first staff of the Public Council is formed in the right manner,
the successfulness of this body may be guaranteed. If the existing
enthusiasm ends in disappointment, the consequences will be deep, and
there may be unpredictable political developments. The people have
always had expectations’ however, the situation is different now
because there are all the pre-requisites to see such expectations as
accomplished facts. We mustn’t miss this chance.’

ARMENIA INCLUDED IN CAPTIVE NATIONS LIST

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.07.2008 14:47 GMT+04:00

In 1959, the U.S. Congress promulgated a Joint Resolution authorizing
and requesting the President to declare the third week of July as
Captive Nations Week, The Economist reports.

The resolution says,

"Whereas the greatness of the United States is in large part
attributable to its having been able, through the democratic process,
to achieve a harmonious national unit of its people, even though
they stem from the most diverse of racial, religious, and ethnic
backgrounds; and

Whereas this harmonious unification of the diverse elements of our
free society has led the people of the United States to possess a warm
understanding and sympathy for the aspirations of peoples everywhere
and to recognize the natural interdependency of the peoples and
nations of the world; and

Whereas the enslavement of a substantial part of the world’s
population by Communist imperialism makes a mockery of the idea of
peaceful coexistence between nations and constitutes a detriment to
the natural bonds of understanding between the people of the United
States and other peoples; and

Whereas since 1918 the imperialistic and aggressive policies of Russian
communism have resulted in the creation of a vast empire which poses
a die threat to the security of the United States and of all the free
people of the world; and

Whereas the imperialistic policies of Communist Russia have led,
through direct and indirect aggression, to the subjugation of
the national independence of Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Ukraine,
Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Estonia, White Ruthenia, Rumania, East

Germany, Bulgaria, mainland China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
North Korea, Albania, Idel-Ural, Tibet, Cossackia, Turkestan, North
Viet-Nam, and others; and

Whereas these submerged nations look to the United States, as the
citadel of human freedom, for leadership in bringing about their
liberation and independence and in restoring to them the enjoyment of
their Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist, or other religious freedoms,
and of their individual liberties; and

Whereas it is vital to the national security of the United States that
the desire for liberty and independence on the part of the peoples
of these conquered nations should be steadfastly kept alive; and

Whereas the desire for liberty and independence by the overwhelming
majority of the people of these submerged nations constitutes a
powerful deterrent to war and one of the best hopes for a just and
lasting peace; and

Whereas it is fitting that we clearly manifest to such peoples through
an appropriate and official means the historic fact that the people of
the United States share with them their aspirations for the recovery
of their freedom and independence:

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That:

The President of the United States is authorized and requested to
issue a proclamation designating the third week in July 1959 as
"Captive Nations Week" and inviting the people of the United States
to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities. The
President is further authorized and requested to issue a similar
proclamation each year until such time as freedom and independence
shall have been achieved for all the captive nations of the world."

OVER 100 PEOPLE LEAVE ARMENIAN SECURITY SERVICE

Haykakan Zhamanak
July 15 2008
Armenia

It turns out that there are people among employees of the National
Security Service [NSS] of the Republic of Armenia who did not want to
be involved in actions against the people and left the entity during
the events of recent months in Armenia.

According to our sources close to the National Security Service,
the NSS has lost 142 employees since January this year: eight of
them retired, four were dismissed from the entity, and 130 left the
National Security Service voluntarily. Meanwhile, 100 out of the
130 did not conceal why they took this step, that is they refused
to carry out actions which were not part of their professional
responsibilities. Let us remind you that the NSS serves as a repression
tool for the existing regime nowadays, but in fact it has the mission
of ensuring the country’s security.

Le mardi 15 juil 2008

L’Arménie : comme un cognac bien vieilli

Frédérick Lavoie
La Presse
Collaboration spéciale

0080715/CPVOYAGES03/807120719/1016/CPVOYAGES

On ne peut comprendre la force du mont Ararat avant de l’avoir devant soi. En le
côtoyant, l’agnostique en vient presque à croire que seule une main divine a pu
poser sur terre ce sommet éternellement enneigé qui berce à chaque instant la
vie arménienne.

Pour ajouter au mysticisme, le symbole suprême des Arméniens – où selon la Bible
se serait échouée l’Arche de Noé – se trouve entièrement de l’autre côté de la
frontière turque, fermée en raison des mauvaises relations entre les deux pays.
Comme Dieu, les monts sont inaccessibles, mais toujours présents.

Au-delà de l’Ararat mythique, l’Arménie entière charme et surprend. La pauvreté
de son économie, détruite par la dislocation de l’URSS, est inversement
proportionnelle à la volonté de son peuple de bien paraître et de bien
accueillir l’étranger. Ne vous étonnez pas d’être invité à prendre un café dans
la maison d’un inconnu après deux minutes de conversation.

L’Arménie est une terre qui a bien mûri, comme un bon cognac, sa spécialité
alcoolisée. Civilisation ancienne, c’est une terre d’histoire consommée où ont
été semée des milliers d’églises (40 000, dit-on), maintes fois centenaires pour
la plupart.

On parcourt facilement ce pays grand comme la Gaspésie en vieux «marchroutka»,
ces taxibus efficaces et fréquents, quoique peu agréables pour les coeurs
fragiles. Plusieurs des plus beaux sites se trouvent à moins d’une heure de la
capitale Erevan.

À Khor Virap (Sud), la religiosité de l’Ararat prend tout son sens dans ce
paysage de carte postale. C’est à l’emplacement de ce monastère fortifié, perché
sur une colline au pied des majestueuses montagnes, que le roi Trdat III aurait
décidé d’adopter le catholicisme en l’an 318 de notre ère, faisant de l’Arménie
le premier État officiellement chrétien.

Une visite s’impose également à Etchmiadzine, le «Vatican» de l’Église
apostolique arménienne, à une trentaine de kilomètres à l’ouest de la capitale.
Les deux heures et demie que dure la messe du dimanche à la cathédrale passent
tout en douceur dans les majestueuses voix incantatoires des choristes.

Pour les amoureux de quotidienneté étrangère, une promenade sur la courte rue
principale d’Etchmiadzine et au marché central donne une impression inoubliable
de l’Arménie hors capitale et de la chaleur de son peuple.

Ce sont ces images qui restent gravées dans notre mémoire en quittant le pays:
les vendeuses de ptisseries déambulant dans les rues à la recherche de clients,
les petits commerces aux odeurs uniques, les sympathiques marchands de légumes
qui tiennent absolument à être pris en photo, les chauffeurs de taxi qui
discutent sans arrêt faute de passagers…

Les paysages du lac Sevan, au nord d’Erevan, complètent la découverte
naturo-religieuse. Les deux chapelles millénaires qui trônent au sommet des
collines de la péninsule offrent une vue imprenable sur le gigantesque lac à la
couleur changeante, lieu de villégiature préféré des Arméniens.

Erevan

Cette chapelle millénaire qui trône au sommet des collines de la péninsule offre
une vue imprenable sur le gigantesque lac Sevan, lieu de villégiature préféré
des Arméniens.
Photo Frédérick Lavoie

La capitale, l’élégante Erevan, pourrait facilement mériter le titre de «ville
aux mille cafés» ou de «ville rose», puisque plusieurs de ses anciens et
nouveaux édifices ont été construits en blocs de tuf, une pierre granuleuse le
plus souvent de teinte rosée.

Erevan a une ambiance à l’image du peuple arménien, dont le deux tiers sont
disséminés dans les diasporas aux quatre coins de la planète. C’est un
intéressant mélange d’influences américaines, russes, européennes,
moyen-orientales et caucasiennes.

En voyant tous les attraits du pays, on s’étonne de voir si peu de touristes
partir à sa découverte. Il faut dire que le pouvoir soviétique a rendu la
république pratiquement inaccessible durant tout le XXe siècle. La réputation de
«poudrière» de la région du Caucase lui colle aussi à la peau et fait peur.

Pourtant, le danger le plus concret que le voyageur étranger peut ressentir dans
l’Arménie d’aujourd’hui se trouve… sur les routes. À Erevan, le piéton
comprend rapidement que le petit bonhomme vert allumé ne doit pas être
interprété comme un droit de passage acquis, mais comme le moment le plus
opportun pour essayer une traversée entre deux chauffards qui n’ont aucunement
l’intention d’user leurs freins!

MEET THE GOVERNMENT: THE PROFILES OF LEBANON’S NEW MINISTERS

NowLebanon
July 11 2008
Lebanon

Late Friday afternoon, the make-up of Lebanon’s 70th government was
announced to the media from the presidential palace in Baabda. The
cabinet includes both familiar faces and relative unknowns: NOW Lebanon
provides some background on the 30 figures currently capturing the
nation’s attention.

Fouad Siniora, Prime Minister (Sunni, Future affiliated)

Fouad Siniora was born in 1953 and succeeded former Prime Minister
Omar Karami in 2005. Considered a technocrat, he obtained his
business administration degree from the American University of
Beirut and subsequently worked at Citibank, AUB and the Central
Bank before becoming minister of finance in two of Rafik Hariri’s
governments. Siniora held the ministerial post under successive Hariri
governments (1992-1998, 2000-2004). A pro-business, pro-free-trade
politician, Siniora was a close Hariri aide and introduced the VAT
in 2002.

Siniora headed the first administration following the Syrian withdrawal
in 2005 and formed his government amid the political turmoil resulting
from the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Siniora
witnessed two conflicts during his first term: the Hezbollah-Israel
July War of 2006 and the Nahr al-Bared battles in northern Lebanon
in 2007. He is remembered by many for sobbing while appealing to the
international community for help during the July War.

Mohammad Chattah, Minister of Finance (Sunni, Future affiliated)

Dr. Mohammad Chattah was born in Tripoli and has been senior advisor
to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora since his election in 2005. He was
educated in economics at the American University of Beirut and the
University of Texas, where he received his doctorate. He previously
worked at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., and
as vice president of the Bank of Lebanon. He was later appointed as
ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2000 and returned to the
IMF in 2001. Following the assassination of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri, he returned to Lebanon to work under Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora.

Tammam Salam, Minister of Culture (Sunni, Future affiliated)

Former MP Tammam Salam, son of former PM Saeb Salam, was the head of
the Makassed Foundation in the 1980s. A known moderate, he called
for the boycott of the 1992 legislative elections and ran as an
independent in 1996, winning a seat as one of Beirut’s Sunni MPs
on Rafik Hariri’s list. After winning again with Hariri in 1998,
he lost by a landslide in 2000. He has not aligned himself with any
faction since the Cedar Revolution.

Bahia Hariri, Minister of Education (Sunni, Future Movement)

Bahia Hariri was born in Saida in 1952 and is the sister of
assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. She has been an
MP since 1992, elected to the same seat in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and
2005 elections. Hariri worked as a teacher until the late seventies,
before becoming head of the Hariri Foundation. She also heads the
Parliamentary Commission for Education and Culture, is a good will
UNESCO ambassador, a member of the Lebanese American University’s
board of trustees, and head of the Islamic Organization for Higher
Education. She has worked on projects aimed at supporting the
development of the role and status of Arab women and previously
campaigned to pass several laws to protect women. She is the
vice-president of the commission for women at the inter-parliamentary
Arab Union and was one of 1,000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2005.

Khaled Qabbani, Minister of State (Sunni, Future Movement)

Khaled Qabbani, was the minister of education and higher studies in
Prime Minster Fouad Siniora’s first cabinet from July 2005 to July
2008, and justice minster in the cabinet of former Prime Minister
Najib Mikati from April 2005 to July 2005.

Mohammad Safadi, Minister of Economy and Trade (Sunni, Tripoli bloc)

Mohammad Safadi was born in Tripoli in 1944 and spent most of his
career as a businessman. He started his first business in Lebanon
in 1969 and then turned his attention abroad, investing in Saudi
Arabia and Europe. In the 1990s, he established Safadi Group Holding
SAL in Lebanon. The group deals primarily in property development,
banking, aviation, information technology tourism and industry. In
the year 2000, he successfully ran for one of the Sunni parliamentary
seats for Tripoli. He won re-election in 2005 and is a member of the
three-minister Tripoli bloc. Safadi served as minster of public works
and transport in Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s first cabinet.

Ibrahim Shamseddine, Minister of Information (Shia, Independent)

Ibrahim Shamseddine was born in 1959 and is a Shia leader and the son
of Imam Mohammed Mehdi Shamseddine, the former president of the Higher
Shia Counsel. He is also the head of Imam Shamseddine Institute for
Dialogue and a member of the Lebanese Gathering for Dialogue. He is
the president of the Cultural Charity Organization, an NGO that works
on education and development, originally founded by his father. From
1991 to 1996, he was the vice president of the Council for Development
and Reconstruction (CDR). He is married with four children and has a
Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a BA in Political Science
and Public Administration from the American University of Beirut.

Ghazi Aridi, Minister of Transport and Public Works (Druze, PSP)

Ghazi Aridi was born in 1954 in the town of Baisour and is a prominent
figure in the Progressive Socialist Party. Aridi first entered national
politics in 2000 when he won the Druze seat in Beirut’s third electoral
district. During his first term as a parliamentarian, he served as
minister of information in then-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s fourth
cabinet from October 2000 until April 2003, and then became the
minister of culture in Hariri’s fifth cabinet from April 2003 until
October 2004. He was re-elected during parliamentary elections in
2005 and was appointed as minister of information in Fouad Siniora’s
first cabinet. Aridi has been a political advisor to PSP President
Walid Jumblatt since 1991, and held several high-level positions
in the PSP during the 1980s, including assistant secretary general,
central information officer and member of the party’s command council.

Wael Abou Faour, Minister of State (Druze, PSP)

Wael Abou Faour was born in 1972. He was elected MP in 2005 as
part of the Democratic Gathering bloc representing the Western
Bekaa (Rashaya). He is also a senior member of the Progressive
Socialist Party. Abu Faour was a member of the following parliamentary
committees: agriculture and tourism, youth and sports and information
technology. He graduated from the American University of Beirut with
a degree in Public administration.

Nassib Lahoud, Minister of State (Maronite, Qornet Chahwan)

Nassib Lahoud was born in 1944 to former deputy and minister Selim
Lahoud. His cousin is former pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud. As an
engineer, he is the founder and partner of the regional construction
company Lahoud Engineering Co. Ltd. He used to be Lebanon’s ambassador
to the US after working to pass the Taif Accord and has been an MP
representing the North Metn since 1991. In 2001 he joined the Qornet
Shehwan Gathering and co-founded the Democratic Renewal Movement. He
is considered a moderate when it comes to Lebanese-Syrian relations
but is part of the March 14 alliance.

Elie Marouni, Minister of Tourism (Marointe, Kataeb)

Elie Marouni is the Kataeb party president for the Zahle district. He
was part of the Future Movement’s list for the Bekaa Zahle constituency
in 2005 but lost. Marouni’s brother, Nasri, was killed along with
Kataeb party member Selim Assi in April when Joseph Zouki, an Elie
Skaff loyalist, opened fire on a celebration for the opening of a
party office in Zahle.

Tony Karam, Minister of the Environment (Maronite, LF)

Tony Karam was born in Hadath in 1956. He received his elementary
education at the Sacred Hearts School and his elementary and secondary
education at the St. Joseph Institute, Aintoura. He graduated from the
University of St. Joseph, Faculty of Medicine in 1985. He has been a
member of the Lebanese Forces since its founding, and he was active in
the medical field. He established a number of medical institutions. He
is currently a member of the LF executive committee. He is married to
Danielle Mattar and has two children: Mark Henry (18) and Tania (15).

Ibrahim Najjar, Minister of Justice (Orthodox, LF)

Ibrahim Najjar is from the North Lebanon village of Amioun in the Koura
district, is close to the Lebanese Forces and was formerly a Kataeb
party official. He was head of the Kataeb’s Koura district bureau
from 1973 to 1978. Najjar is also a law professor at Université
Saint Joseph.

Tarek Mitri, Minister of Information (Orthodox, Independent)

Tarek Mitri was born in 1950 and has played a significant role in
advocating freedom of expression in Lebanon. Most recently, Mitri
successfully pushed for lifting the ban on the film adaptation of
Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Mitri was environment and administrative
development minister in 2005 and is currently culture minister. He
has a doctorate from the University of Paris and has been a professor
in several international institutions. He has extensive experience
promoting Christian-Muslim relations and has published on the subject.

Raymond Audi, Minister of the Displaced (Catholic, Independent)

Raymond Audi is the chairman of the board and general manager of Bank
Audi SAL – Audi Saradar Group, Lebanon. Born in Saida in 1932, Audi
has been director of the bank since its inception in 1962 and has been
its chairperson since 1998. He is also chairman of the bank’s Corporate
Governance and Remuneration Committee. Audi founded Bank Audi with his
brothers, father and a Kuwaiti businessman, an institution that is now
widely recognized both locally and regionally. He is also president of
the Association of Banks and has received numerous awards, among them,
the Euromoney Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development
of Financial Services in the Middle East, and an honorary doctorate
from the Lebanese American University.

Jean Ogassapian, Minister of State (Armenian, Tashnaq)

Jean Ogassapian was born in 1954, is a Beirut MP and is the outgoing
minister of state for administrative development. He studied in
Lebanon, Jordan, France, Germany and the US. He is a ranking colonel in
the Lebanese Armed Forces and was the head of the president’s security
team from 1990 to 1999. He was the assistant to the commander of the
presidential guard from 1998 until 2000. He is a Future Bloc member and
was previously a minister of state in PM Fouad Siniora’s 2005 cabinet.

Fawzi Salloukh, Minister of Foreign Affairs (Shia, Amal)

Fawzi Salloukh was born in 1931 in Qumatiyya, Aley. Salloukh was
appointed minister of foreign affairs and emigrants in Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora’s cabinet in July 2005 and resigned in November 2006
along with five other opposition figures. He graduated from the
American University of Beirut in 1954 with a degree in political
science. He is a career diplomat and served as ambassador to Sierra
Leone (1964-1971), Nigeria (1978-1985), Algeria (1985-1987), Austria
(1990-1994) and Belgium (1994-1995). Before taking up his ministerial
position, Salloukh was the secretary general of the Islamic University
from 1998 to 2005. He is married to Hind Basma and has three children.

Ghazi Zeaiter, Ministery of Industry (Shia, Amal)

Ghazi Zeaiter was born in 1949. He was elected as an MP in 2005,
representing Baalbek-Hermel and served on the administration and
justice and finance and budget committees. Originally a lawyer, he
is a member of the Nahib Berri’s Liberation and Development Bloc. He
was previously elected as an MP in 1996. In 1998, he was the minister
of defense.

Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh, Minister of Health (Shia, Amal)

Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh is a member of the Amal Movement and no
stranger to his current ministry. He held the post in Prime Minister
Fouad Siniora’s first cabinet from July 2005 until he resigned with
five other ministers in November 2006, and before that he served in
this role in former PM Najib Mikati’s cabinet from April 2005 until
July 2005, and in former PM Omar Karami’s cabinet from October 2004 to
April 2005. Khalifeh is a doctor and has served as head of the general
surgery department at the American University of Beirut Medical Center
and secretary of the Lebanese Association for Organ Donors.

Mohammad Fneish, Minister of Labor (Shia, Hezbollah)

Mohammad Fneish was born in the South Lebanon town of Maaroub in
1953. He is a member of Hezbollah and entered national politics in
1992 when elected as a member of parliament representing Bint Jbeil. A
member of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, Fneish was re-elected
for that seat in 1996 and 2000. In 2005 he was elected to represent
Tyre and appointed minister of energy and water. Fneish was one of the
six ministers who resigned from the cabinet in November 2006. Before
entering politics, he worked as a teacher. Fneish is married with
seven children.

Ali Qanso, Minister of State (Shia, SSNP)

Ali Qanso was born in 1948 and spent the early years of his career
as a teacher. Qanso is a strong supporter of Syria and has served
as the president of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP). He
served as minister of labor in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s
fourth cabinet from October 2000 to April 2003. Hezbollah nominated
Qanso for the current cabinet, and it sparked a controversy when,
on Wednesday, July 9, then-Prime Minster designate Fouad Siniora
"vetoed" his name. On Friday, July 11, Saad Hariri announced that
he told Siniora to withdraw his objection and within two hours,
the cabinet was announced.

Talal Arslan, Minister of Youth and Sports (Druze, Lebanese Democratic
Party)

Talal Arslan was born in the coastal town of Choueifat in 1963. Arslan
hails from the Yazbak clan, which has long jockeyed for power in
Lebanon with the other prominent Druze clan, the Jumblatts. He is
married with two children and studied political science and economy
in the U.S. before receiving a master’s degree from AUB. Arslan heads
the Lebanese Democratic Party which he founded in 2001 and has been
involved in politics since 1988. In 1992, 1996 and 2000 he was elected
to represent the Baabda-Aley district in Parliament but lost to rival
Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party in 2005. Arslan has
also served several times as a cabinet minister in the governments
of former prime ministers Omar Karami and Rafik al-Hariri. He was
minister of tourism between 1990 and 1992, minister of emigrants
from 1996 to 1998, minister of state from 2000 to 2004 and minister
of the displaced from 2004 to 2005. Arslan is staunchly pro-Syrian.

Mario Aoun, Minister of Social Affairs (Maronite, FPM)

Mario Aoun was born in Damour in 1951 and is a political advisor
with the Free Patriotic Movement. He graduated from the University
of Bordeaux with a medical degree in endocrinology and metabolic
illnesses in 1982. Aoun worked as both chief of service at the Lebanese
Hospital in Jeitawi and on the staff of St. Charles Hospital in 2004,
and was the Free Patriotic Movement’s coordinator in Damour. He was
elected the first FPM head of the Lebanese Order of Physicians that
same year. The FPM lost control of the Order of Physicians in 2007,
when March 14’s list won. Aoun also ran for the Maronite seat in the
Chouf district in 2005, losing to Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, who
ran on Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt’s list. Aoun
went to Doha with the FPM contingent in mid May of 2008.

Gebran Bassil, Minister of Telecommunications (Maronite, FPM)

Gebran Bassil is the political relations officer of Michel Aoun’s Free
Patriotic Movement and a close Aoun aide as well as his son-in-law. In
2005 he unsuccessfully ran for the Maronite parliamentary seat in
Batroun. He is a long-time FPM activist and was particularly active
during the 1990s while Aoun was in exile in Paris. Bassil is a likely
candidate for becoming the deputy president of the FPM, the party’s
second-highest position, which is allegedly creating tension within
the party. Bassil was instrumental in negotiating the memorandum of
understanding the FPM signed with Hezbollah in February 2006.

Issam Abu Jamra, Deputy Prime Minister (Orthodox, FPM)

Former Major General Issam Abou Jamra was born in the South Lebanon
town of Al-Kfeir in 1937 and has been an important official in the Free
Patriotic Movement since the movement was founded. Abou Jamra joined
the Lebanese army in 1956. He graduated from the military academy
in 1959 as an artillery officer, served as secretary of the army,
commander in chief, commander of the second artillery battalion,
commander of the second brigade, commander of the seventh brigade,
inspector general of the defense ministry, and attended military
courses in France and the US. Abou Jamra also received a law degree in
1984. He served in General Michel Aoun’s military cabinet in 1988-89
as deputy premier and head of six ministries, after which he was exiled
to France with Aoun in 1990. He returned with him as well in 2005.

Elie Skaff, Minister of Agriculture (Catholic, Popular Bloc)

Elias Skaff is from the Bekaa and a member of the Aoun-aligned Popular
Bloc. He was industry minister in Rafik Hariri’s fifth cabinet from
2003 through October 2004 and was minister of agriculture in Omar
Karami’s cabinet from 2004 to 2005. He has represented Zahle as an MP
since 1992 and was the deputy during the April 2008 scandal when two
of his bloc’s supporters shot up a Kataeb party headquarters ceremony,
killing two before escaping. He denied giving the perpetrators cover.

Alain Tabourian, Minister of Energy (Armenian, Tashnaq)

Alain Tabourian was born in Beirut in 1964. Tabourian is the son of
former MP Andre Tabourian and is a graduate of Harvard University. He
previously served as minister in governments led by Omar Karami and
Najib Mikati.

Ziad Baroud, Minister of Interior (Maronite, President’s quota)

Ziad Baroud is a lawyer and human rights activist. He is a lecturer
at St. Joseph University, where he received his masters in law in
1992. Baroud’s areas of specialty are public and administrative,
civil, educational, and syndicate law. He also works as a consultant
with the United Nations Development Program, offering advice on local
governance and decentralization, and is the retainer legal counselor
for the World Bank’s office in Beirut. Baroud served as secretary
general of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections and was
a member of the National Council for a New Electoral Law, which wrote
a draft law in 2006. He disagreed with the law’s mandate to divide
the mohafaza of Mount Lebanon into two constituencies and lodged a
formal objection, which was submitted to parliament along with the law.

Elias al-Murr, Minister of Defense (Orthodox, President’s quota)

Elias al-Murr was born in the Metn town of Bteghrine in 1962, son of
political heavyweight Michel al-Murr. He studied law in Switzerland
and worked as a lawyer in Beirut, Paris and Geneva. Murr also serves
as chairman for over 20 corporations in Lebanon and abroad. He married
Carine Lahoud, daughter of former President Emile Lahoud. The two
have three children and are now divorced. Murr entered government in
2000 as interior minister after Rafik al-Hariri and his allies won
big in parliamentary elections and Hariri demanded Murr’s father
resign the post. Murr maintained that position until 2005 when he
became both defense minister and deputy prime minister. Murr and his
father were long-time supporters of Syria and closely tied to former
President Lahoud. He survived an assassination attempt on July 11,
2005, in the northern town of Naccache. Murr’s father has been moving
closer to the March 14 coalition in recent months, and he formally
left Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc in April 2008.

Youssef Taqla, Minister of State (Catholic, President’s quota)

A lawyer by profession, Taqla, who hails from Zouk Mikael, is
the grandson of Selim Taqla, a prominent figure in the Lebanese
independence movement, and son of banker and eight-time minister of
foreign affairs Philippe Taqla.

–Boundary_(ID_IH7iDl8GwHl+S64X1q5PtQ)–

ARF ‘DASHNAKTSUTYUN’: FACT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CANNOT BECOME SUBJECT OF DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND TURKISH PRESIDENTS

ArmInfo
2008-07-11 14:19:00

ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" is sure that the fact of the Armenian Genocide
cannot become a subject of discussions between the presidents of
Armenia and Turkey, member of ARFD Bureau Aghvan Vardanyan told
journalist today in the National press-club when commenting on the
latest statements of RA President Serzh Sargsyan on readiness for a
wide dialogue with Turkey, including on the Genocide issue.

As A. Vardanyan said, ‘99% of the world Armenians will never agree
to discuss the fact of the Genocide’. At the same time he said he
considers Yerevan-Ankara negotiations quite possible, however, he is
sure that the fact of the Armenian Genocide cannot be open to question,
‘as the Armenian Genocide is the issue of the past, present and the
future’. A. Vardanyan thinks that just Turkey is the country which
puts obstacles to establishment and development of diplomatic relations
between the two countries, which carries out the republic’s blockade,
strongly denies the fact of the Genocide and keeps on blackening
Armenia in the eyes of the world community.

‘I think it is abnormal when CE member- country with such a heavy
ballast as Turkey strives for EU. I do not understand how Abdullah
Gul intends to arrive in Yerevan and attend a football match between
the national teams of Armenia and Turkey’, A. Vardanyan resumed.

PanARMENIAN.Net

CIS countries are Russia’s main partners in arms traffic
10.07.2008 14:54 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ CIS countries are Russia’s main partners in arms
traffic, said Konstantin Biryulin, deputy director of federal service
for military and technical cooperation.

`We established good relations with many post soviet countries,
including Belarus, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan,’ he said. `We supply
these countries with weapons they need dependently on circumstances.’

`Many CIS member states showed interest in the exhibition that opened
in Nizhny Tagil. The delegation from Armenia is a novice here. We
exchanged views on military and technical cooperation between our
states,’ Biryulin said, RIA Novosti reports.

A1+

CONCLUSIONS OF MEDIA DIVERSITY IN ARMENIA
[05:04 pm] 10 July, 2008

On July 8, 2008 in Yerevan a conference was held on `Media Diversity
in Armenia’, organized by the Council of Europe, OSCE and Yerevan
Press Club. The conference participants, representatives of media,
professional associations, official structures and political parties
of Armenia, international organizations and diplomatic missions
discussed the urgent issues of the media of the country: the
priorities of media legislation reformation; the role of broadcasting
regulation in ensuring diversity of opinion; the tasks of media
owners, professional communities and journalists to attain real
pluralism in the news sphere.

The problems that were manifest recently in the work of the media,
primarily the broadcasters, were reflected in many documents on
national and international levels. In the ruling of the RA
Constitutional Court of March 8, 2008 it was noted that in the course
of presidential elections, held on February 19, 2008, `effective
control of pre-election promotion was left out of the RA CEC
attention’. As regards the body that regulates the broadcast media
activities, the ruling of the Constitutional Court said that `National
Commission on Television and Radio was formalistic in terms of
complying with the law. As a result of this the media coverage
displayed not only bias, but also, in some cases, violations of legal
and ethical norms’.

The extraordinary report of the RA Human Rights Defender Armen
Harutyunyan, published on April 25, 2008 and titled `On Presidential
Elections of February 19, 2008 and Post-Election Situation’ described,
among other issues, the situation of free expression and media in
Armenia. Addressing the pre-election processes, the ombudsman stressed
the "strongly critical nature’ of the coverage the TV companies gave
to one of the presidential candidates. While after the official launch
of the pre-election campaign the consequent political bias was
mitigated, yet `this did not influence the situation
qualitatively’. While presenting the post-election situation, the RA
Human Rights Defender characterized the coverage of the opposition
rallies by the TV companies as `openly negative’. The TV companies
continued presenting the viewpoint of only the pro-governmental
politicians. During the emergency rule (March 1-20, 2008) `factual
censorship was implemented’, the report by Armen Harutyunyan said,
although it is prohibited by Article 4 of the RA Law `On Mass
Communication’ and was not stipulated by the restrictions provided for
by the Decree of the RA President on Imposing Emergency Rule. As a
result, `the publication of several national newspapers was prohibited
for their content’, web sites were also blocked. In the opinion of
Armen Harutyunyan, the restrictions imposed by the Decree did not
contribute to relieving the tension in the society, either: `A most
vivid example of such unacceptable coverage was demonstrated by the
First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, which not only
neglected this provision of the Decree, but also once again made a
grave infringement of the requirement of Article 28 of the RA Law `On
Television and Radio’: `The prevalence of a political stance in the
programs broadcast (…) on public television (…) is
prohibited’. The RA Human Rights Defender proposed a number of
measures to overcome the situation in place, including: `To ensure
freedom of expression; create conditions to ensure diversity of
opinion and impartiality in electronic media. In this regard, the
reformation of the broadcasting legislation will have much
significance. It is also necessary to guarantee the equal
participation of the representatives of power and opposition in the
formation of the bodies, regulating and controlling the activities of
TV and radio companies.’ The documents above stress the need for
practical steps to strengthen media freedom and diversity in
Armenia. This issue was also raised in the two recent PACE
resolutions. On April 17, 2008 the PACE approved Resolution 1609
(2008) `The Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Armenia’. In
Paragraph 8 of its Resolution PACE recalled the commitments of Armenia
to the Council of Europe and once again urged the Armenian authorities
to make a number of reforms. In particular, Paragraph 8.3 of the
Resolution says: `The independence from any political interest of both
National Commission on Television and Radio and the Council of Public
Television and Radio must be guaranteed. In addition, the composition
of these bodies should be revised in order to ensure that they are
truly representative of Armenian society.The recommendations made by
the Venice Commission and Council of Europe experts in this respect
must finally be taken into account. The Assembly reiterates that apart
from reforming the legislation, the authorities must take steps to
ensure freedom and pluralism of the public television and radio on a
day-to-day basis. Also, the harassment by the tax authorities of
opposition electronic and printed media outlets must be stopped.’ On
June 25, 2008 Resolution 1620 (2008) `The Implementation by Armenia of
Assembly Resolution 1609 (2008)’ was adopted, quoting the four main
requirements of the Resolution 1609 (2008) of April 17, 2008, also
that `to initiate an open and serious dialogue between all political
forces in Armenia’ with regard to a number of issues, including
freedom and pluralism of the media (Paragraph 1.4 of Resolution
1620). Paragraph 6 of Resolution 1620 (2008) says: `The Assembly
recalls that there is a need for a pluralistic electronic media
environment in Armenia and, referring to the decision of the European
Court of Human Rights concerning the denial of broadcasting license to
`A1+’, calls on the licensing authority to now ensure an open, fair
and transparent licensing procedure, in line with the guidelines,
adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on
March 26, 2008 and with the case law of the European Court of Human
Rights.’ As it was mentioned by the experts in the conference `Media
Diversity in Armenia’, those problems were hardly a surprise. They
were a consequence of inconsistent reforms and insufficient attention
to the recommendations of local and foreign experts, representatives
of reputable international organizations. On July 26, 2006 the OSCE
Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti released a
report on the state of media freedom in Armenia, also presenting
recommendations on the improvement of media freedom situation in the
country. Noting that limited pluralism in the broadcasting sector was
a major problem, as a first step to improve the state of broadcasting
Miklos Haraszti recommended that `legislative changes provided for by
the Constitutional amendment should be prepared by the Government,
discussed in a public forum with members of civil society, and passed
in Parliament as soon as possible, certainly before the Parliamentary
elections in 2007. However, legislative changes should not be limited
to a `half Presidential – half Parliamentary’ board. The composition
of all boards should represent the political and social diversity of
the country, and should include NGOs and professional
associations’. As to public service broadcasting, in the opinion of
the OSCE Representative, the members of its regulatory body – the
Council of Public TV and Radio Company – `should not be selected by
one political force or by political forces alone’.The selection
criteria, the report stresses, should reflect transparency and ensure
both a high level of professionalism and pluralism of reflected
views. In order to fulfill the tasks of a genuine public service
broadcaster, the Council should carry out continuous monitoring of
access of different parties to air time and coverage of their
activities, the results of which should be made public. Among the
recommendations on private broadcasting the report noted the need for
such amendments of the Law `On Television and Radio’ that would be
clear about broadcast licensing competition procedures: `The selection
criteria must include the interests of pluralism; the licensing
process must become more transparent, using more quantifiable, thus
publicly controllable benchmarks. ‘Despite the anti-monopoly provision
in the broadcast Law stipulating that `each physical or legal entity
can be licensed only for one Television and Radio Company’, in Armenia
there are people who own several broadcasting companies, which, in
their turn, share the same buildings and staff members. `This means
that there aren’t any guarantees for pluralism in ownership, which, in
any society, is the foundation for a pluralistic access to
information’, Miklos Haraszti stressed in his report. The conference
discussions showed that there is an urgent need for reforms to improve
media plurality. In particular there was a unanimous opinion that the
law and practice of broadcast media regulation needs to be brought in
line with Council of Europe standards. The agenda of this and other
necessary reforms has already been defined over the past years in the
above mentioned documents and commonly accepted assessment of media
situation in Armenia. The fulfillment of this agenda will enable
Armenia to comply with the requirements of PACE Resolutions 1609
(2008) and 1620 (2008) in time for the January 2009 session. To ensure
success of this process there is a need for an open and serious
dialogue which involves the country’s authorities, international and
local experts, civil society and all political forces.