Author: Khondkarian Raffi

MARINE ALES AND SHUSHAN PETROSIAN RELEASE NEW CD
YEREVAN, August 12 (Noyan Tapan). The presentation of the new CD of
the author’s song entitled “Mtorumner” (“Thoughts”) of Marine Ales
will be held on August 18. It is performed by Shushan Petrosian. “We
decided that two women can create songs that are passed through
themselves. Music and words are mine, soul and voice are Shushan’s,”
Marine Ales said during the August 11 press conference. 14 songs are
recorded on the new CD, 9 of them are created specially for Shushan.
“These songs are devoted to the closest people,” she mentioned. Her
creative plans are bounded up first of all with Armenia, where she
comes from the US every year to work with the Armenian performers. She
expressed hope that already formed creative group will work on her new
songs. Marine Ales doesn’t consider herself as a professional. “I
can’t compose by order. I compose because it is part of my life,” she
says. Nevertheless she has already obtained the recognition of the
general public with her “Stone Rain” single devoted to the 11
September 2001 tragic events in the US.

ArmenPress
Aug 11 2004
MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMs MAY BE CANCELLED
BAKU, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS: The meeting between Armenian and
Azeri foreign ministers slated in Prague may be cancelled. Azeri
Olaylar quotes Azeri foreign ministry sources saying, “it is
conditioned by the military exercises and municipality elections in
Nagorno Karabakh.” Azeri foreign minister states that though Armenian
side supports peaceful regulation of the conflict through
negotiations “it acts just on the contrary.”

ACCORDING TO PRELIMINARY DATA, SECOND TOUR OF ELECTIONS OF STEPANAKERT
MAYOR TO TAKE PLACE
STEPANAKERT, August 9 (Noyan Tapan). The elections of local
self-government bodies finished in about 240 NKR communities.
According to preliminary data, the 2nd tour of elections of
Stepanakert Mayor will take place. According to unofficial data, from
5 nominated candidates Pavel Najarian and Edvard Aghabekian got 2.8%
and 34.5% of votes, respectively. To recap, the National Labor Union
public-political pro-governmental organization made and official
statement supporting the first candidate and the Artsakh Central
Committee of ARF supported the second candidature.

TWO-DIGIT GDP GROWTH WILL BE REGISTERED IN ARMENIA IN 2004
YEREVAN, AUGUST 6. ARMINFO. On the results of 2004 two-digit growth of
the economy in Armenia will be registered. Minister of trade and
Economic Development of Armenia Karen Chshmaritian made such a
forecast today.
According to him, there are all the preconditions for that, and during
the first half of 2004 the GDP of Armenia increased by 9.2%. The major
part of GDP is provided due to the real sector of the economy,. He
mentioned that trend of the growth of the share of industry was marked
int he structure of GDP. It should be noted it is planned to ensure 7%
GDP growth in 2004.

Azeri-Armenian talks may be reviewed due to Karabakh exercises – minister
ANS TV, Baku
6 Aug 04
Azerbaijan might review the expedience of conducting talks with
Armenia, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has said.
According to him, this is linked to illegal staff exercises by
official Yerevan in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and the
preparations for the 8 August local government elections in Nagornyy
Karabakh. If Armenia continues to take the same path, then this will
prevent negotiations, Mammadyarov said.

Azeri-Iranian summit brings no joy for BP
By Rufat Abbasov
BAKU, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Iran and Azerbaijan signed gas and electricity
swap deals on Thursday, but the leaders of the two Caspian Sea states
did not give details how they planned to solve problems of disputed
oilfields once tapped by BP.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, whose long-awaited visit to
Azerbaijan had been repeatedly postponed over the past few years, and
his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev signed a total of 10 social,
cultural and economic agreements in Baku.
“The implementation of these agreements will create thousands of new
jobs in Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said after the signing ceremony.
One of the key deals signed between the two states involves gas swaps,
which will start with small volumes in 2005 and rise to 350 million
cubic metres (mcm) of gas a year by 2009.
The swaps will allow Azerbaijan to supply its remote Nakhichevan
province via the Iranian territory.
Baku cannot supply the region directly as it is separated from the
rest of the country by the territory of Armenia, still formally at war
with Azerbaijan.
Azeri state oil and gas company SOCAR will sell 80 mcm of gas in the
last quarter of 2005, awaiting the launch in 2006 of the large
Shakh-Deniz offshore gas field, led by BP and Norway’s Statoil.
SOCAR is involved in the giant project, which will be exporting the
bulk of gas to Turkey, but the state firm wants to use its share of
output for domestic needs.
It will be sending 200 mcm to Iran from 2006, 250 mcm in 2007, 300 mcm
in 2008 and 350 mcm in 2009. Iran will in exchange supply its own
volumes to Nakhichevan, keeping 15 percent of volumes as a service
commission.
Tehran also agreed to lend Baku $75 million to build new equipment and
facilitate trade in electricity.
BP FIELDS NOT DISCUSSED
Khatami, who will stay in Azerbaijan until Saturday, said the two
states were keen to resolve all disagreements.
“There is no problem which cannot be solved by talks,” Interfax news
agency quoted him as saying.
But the two leaders failed to mention the issue of disputed Caspian
oilfields, while the head of SOCAR Natik Aliyev told Reuters the issue
was not discussed during the summit.
In July 2001, Iranian gunships and a military aircraft chased off two
of BP’s oil exploration ships from a disputed Caspian Sea sector.
BP suspended exploration work around its Araz-Alov-Sharg oil
concession, which experts say may contain significant reserves. Iran
calls the block Alborz.
The division of the Caspian between the five littoral states — Iran,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan — remains unresolved
despite protracted talks.
Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have agreed on how to divide the sea
in their sectors, but Iran and Turkmenistan are still reluctant to
agree with the proposed division principles.
08/05/04 14:21 ET

Azer News
Aug 5 2004
BTC construction halt in Georgia politically motivated

Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in Georgia’s
Borzhomi gorge did not resume on Monday, as initially planned.
Georgia’s Environmental Protection Ministry said following a meeting
of the Azeri-Georgian
inter-government commission that the operations will resume only
after a permission is granted by the country’s Security Council.
Azerbaijani first deputy prime minister Abid Sharifov, SOCAR
president Natig Aliyev, BP Azerbaijan president David Woodward, and
BTC Co General Director Michael Townshend are currently in Tbilisi to
hold talks on the matter.
Georgian environment experts say that a special approach in laying
pipes should be used on the 17-km-long section of the pipeline going
through the Borzhomi gorge, as this is necessary to preserve flora,
fauna and mineral springs in the area. Construction operations were
suspended for two weeks by the Georgian Environmental Protection
Ministry on July 22 to carry out a test due to environmental safety
violations, after minister Tamara Lebanidze raised the issue. A week
later, the Georgian Ministry received additional documents from
investors related to ensuring safety procedures, Lebanidze said. “The
documents we have received are under scrutiny and will be made public
later”, she said. The terms of the permit for construction
operations, which envisioned tightening security in the Borzhomi
gorge, were not observed and the operations were subsequently halted,
Lebanidze said. Earlier BTC Co General Director Michael Townshend
said that BP, the project operator, is taking all necessary steps to
ensure compliance with safety policy procedures both during
construction operations and in view of its future operation. “We are
ready to provide all kinds of assistance to the Georgian government
in monitoring safety procedures”, Townshend said. The overall length
of the pipeline going through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey is 1,743
km. Construction of the pipeline with annual capacity of 50 million
tons is scheduled to complete late this year.
USA pledges to secure BTC
Elizabeth Jones, the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and
Eurasia, who recently visited Tbilisi, assured Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili that construction of the Georgian section of the
BTC pipeline will continue and that the current route will not be
altered. Jones told journalists following the meeting that the halt
in BTC construction operations in Georgia was in focus during her
meetings with the country’s government officials. Jones regarded the
BTC as a very important project and said its construction should not
be suspended. She noted that Georgian officials maintained that
security procedures were not observed in the Borzhomi region, a
resort area, during the operations. The US official assured the
Georgian side that security procedures will be observed.
Armenian residents demand compensations
Armenian residents of the Tabaskuri village in Georgia’s Zalga region
have demanded compensations due to the laying of the BTC pipeline
through this territory. During a public action on July 27, they
announced that if the compensations are not paid, they will resort to
a protest action of a larger scale. A BP expert said on condition of
anonymity that the pipeline stretches through Tabaskuri village and
that compensations were paid to owners of affected land before the
construction operations commenced. Ethnic Armenians claim that the
construction of the BTC pipeline may allegedly lead to landslides in
the future. But even a one meter-deep trench will not cause any
landslides.
Saakashvili seeks US pressure on Russia
The BTC construction in the Borzhomi gorge was suspended on an
instruction of the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, says the
Political Innovations and Technology Center director Mubariz
Ahmadoglu. He said that by suspending the operations Saakashvili is
trying to get the USA to step up pressure on Russia over the South
Osetia conflict. The Georgian leader is not capable of resolving the
problem on his own and is therefore seeking assistance from the USA
and other countries, Ahmadoglu said. Although the international
community supports Tbilisi by recognizing Georgia’s sovereignty, the
Georgian leader is not satisfied with this. Saakashvili would like to
see the USA put pressure on Russia to achieve a resolution of the
problem in Georgia’s favor. Ahmadoglu said that since the USA is not
willing to oppose Russia over the South Osetia problem, Saakashvili
issued an instruction to halt the construction operations. He went on
to say that although the construction was suspended for two weeks
under the pretext of environmental concerns, no environmental tests
have been carried out yet. The Azerbaijani first deputy prime
minister Abid Sharifov, SOCAR president Natig Aliyev and BP
Azerbaijan president David Woodward have recently left for Tbilisi.
At about the same time, the Georgian President left for Ajaria, and
then to Paris and therefore avoided a meeting with Azerbaijani
government officials. On August 4 he is scheduled to leave for the
USA. Saakashvili’s unexpected visit to the USA is related to the halt
in the BTC construction, Ahmadoglu added.

Le Monde
03 août 2004
Un choc pour le Vatican et les Eglises d’Orient ;
INTERNATIONAL La communauté chrétienne en Irak a été frappée par
plusieurs attentats en l’espace d’une heure
« C’est terrible et très préoccupant », a déclaré le Père Ciro
Benedetti, porte-parole adjoint du pape, dimanche 1er août, après les
attaques contre des églises en Irak. « C’est la première fois que des
chrétiens sont pris pour cible », a-t-il ajouté, et il faut y voir «
le signe d’une volonté d’accroître la tension, alors que l’Eglise
catholique a toujours été en première ligne pour la paix ».
Les responsables chrétiens du Moyen-Orient, membres du Conseil
oecuménique des Eglises (Genève), réunis à Kuala Lumpur (Malaisie),
ont aussi condamné ces attentats. C’est le cas notamment des
dirigeants des Eglises arménienne et syrienne, endeuillées dimanche
en Irak. Mgr Nareg Alemezian a lancé un appel à la coopération entre
musulmans et chrétiens pour la solidarité et la paix. Pour le Syrien
Gregorios Ibrahim, « le nombre des chrétiens qui diminue en Irak est
une chose terrible. C’est la réplique de ce qui se passe déjà en
Turquie, en Iran, en Palestine. Nous perdons notre peuple ».

El Pais
August 1, 2004
Irak se islamiza dia a dia
ENVIADA ESPECIAL
Bagdad
No se ha atado el hiyab y se le cae con frecuencia. “Lo llevo desde
principios de ano. A mi marido no le gusta pero vengo a mi trabajo
andando y me insultaban por la calle”, afirma con una sonrisa
complice Zina Nuri, subdirectora de un instituto femenino de Al
Karrada, un centrico barrio de Bagdad. Nuri, de 44 anos y profesora
de deporte, esta convencida de que la ola de islamizacion que vive
Irak es temporal. En su instituto, la mayoria de las 750 alumnas son
chiies, pero tambien hay sunies y cristianas de la iglesia armenia,
que estudian su religion en su propio idioma. “Nunca hubo problemas”,
dice Nuri. “Muchas alumnas son, como yo, de familias mixtas de chiies
y sunies”.
Zuhair no piensa lo mismo. El es cristiano y las amenazas le han
obligado a cerrar su licoreria, abierta en la decada de los setenta
del pasado siglo, a pocas manzanas de ese instituto. En los paises de
mayoria islamica son los cristianos los autorizados a vender alcohol.
Los hermanos Behnan, de 45 anos, y Sabi, de 47, aun resisten en la
calle siguiente, pero la mayoria de la baldas de la tienda estan
vacias y solo hay alcoholes de baja calidad.
“Tenemos miedo. Hemos estado cerrados cinco dias y acabamos de
reabrir para acabar las existencias. No nos han amenazado
personalmente, pero basta con leer los periodicos”, dice Behnan
mostrando la primera pagina del diario Al Sabaj, en la que aparece la
foto de una licoreria destrozada por una bomba. “En las ultimas
semanas han reventado 15 establecimientos de venta de alcohol. Con
esta inseguridad no podemos continuar”.
Nadie sabe quienes son, pero la larga mano de los radicales deja un
rastro de temor en la sociedad iraqui que, sin apenas darse cuenta,
se va plegando a sus exigencias. Como Zina, buena parte de las
mujeres de Bagdad ha adoptado un codigo de vestimenta que no le gusta
pero que, tal vez, han impuesto los tiempos. O tal vez, simplemente,
como dice Mohamed de sus hermanas, “se han cubierto por si acaso”.
Por lo mismo, permanecen cerradas desde el derrocamiento del regimen
de Sadam Husein las dos fabricas de cerveza nacional.
“La explosion de religiosidad que vemos actualmente es producto de la
libertad. Los chiies de Irak han estado mucho tiempo reprimidos y
ahora se sienten libres”, asegura Balkis Yoade, catedratica de
Ciencias Politicas y Sociales en la Universidad de Bagdad. Irak tiene
25 millones de habitantes de los que el 58% son arabes chiies, pero,
desde su independencia del imperio britanico (1932), ha sido
gobernado por la minoria arabe suni, que apenas supone el 18% de la
poblacion. Yoade senala que, pese a que en los ultimos anos Sadam
Husein trato de jugar la carta religiosa y dio una mayor
permisividad, el regimen “mantuvo soterrada una religiosidad que
ahora se siente a flor de piel”.
De familia mixta suni-chii, Balkis, de 51 anos, sigue con la cabeza
descubierta. “Por ahi no paso. La que pasara sera la moda de
cubrirse. Yo hasta fumo en clase, y defendere siempre que la fe se
lleva dentro”.
“Irak no es Iran y aqui la mayoria de la poblacion, incluida yo
misma, esta en contra del establecimiento de una republica islamica,
pero es evidente que en el nuevo Irak la religion tiene un importante
papel que jugar”, afirma el ayatola Husain al Muayad, que volvio a
Irak hace un ano despues de 21 de exilio y formacion en Iran. Al
Muayad sostiene que Europa, en tanto que tiene una sociedad abierta y
multietnica, debe implicarse mas en Irak.
Por el contrario, Abdeljalil Daud, de 32 anos, iman de una pequena
mezquita en Al Karrada, confia en que las elecciones del ano proximo
sean el primer paso hacia el establecimiento de la sharia (ley
islamica). Daud afirma que los problemas que Irak sufre hoy en dia
provienen de que su fe ha sido debil. “Solo el fortalecimiento del
islam salvara a Irak”, afirma este iman suni.
El escaso millon de cristianos iraquies -la mayoria de la iglesia
Catolica Romana Caldea y el resto divididos entre catolicos armenios,
sirios ortodoxos, asirios y algunos protestantes- se sentia mas
seguro con el regimen anterior. Centenares de ellos se fueron antes
de la caida de Sadam a Jordania, Siria y Libano, a la espera de que
se aclarase lo que ven como un futuro negro, y siguen sin decidir su
vuelta, afirma el obispo Andreas, en la iglesia de la Asuncion de la
Virgen Maria.
Con falda chanel y camiseta ajustada, Tamara Chalabi luce una
frondosa melena rubia y esta convencida de que la actual corriente de
islamizacion obedece al empobrecimiento de la sociedad iraqui y al
profundo choque que supuso la caida del regimen. “La gente se
encontro sin referencia y se volco en la religion, que era lo que
tenia mas cerca y mas facil. Cualquier prohibicion en ese sentido
seria contraproducente. Cuando la economia mejore y las mujeres
vuelvan a tener dinero para comprarse maquillaje se acabaran los
velos”, dice esta historiadora de 30 anos, hija del politico Ahmed
Chalabi.
Preocupados por la falta de seguridad, de electricidad, de agua o de
vivienda -hay decenas de miles de familias de okupas en instalaciones
militares, del servicio secreto y en las casas de los que huyeron
antes de caer el regimen-, los iraquies parecen no darse cuenta de
las concesiones hechas a la ortodoxia islamica. “Muchos de los
atentados que ahora ocurren preparan la gran batalla por el futuro de
Irak, que se librara en el plano ideologico, entre laicos y
religiosos”, sentencia Mayid al Shammeri, coronel de la Fuerza Aerea
hasta su dimision en 1991 y actual jefe de ingenieros del equipo de
reconstruccion de la Coalicion.
Solo la clase media alta iraqui parece darse cuenta de adonde lleva
la actual corriente. “Me da miedo que nos podamos mover del
nacionalismo al islamismo”, dice Al Shammeri, que se declara
sorprendido por la “virulencia” de la ola de islamizacion. “A mi hija
de 18 anos ya le han advertido en la Universidad de que se cubra el
pelo y la pequena quiere ir a la piscina, pero cada dia son menos las
que permiten el bano sin restricciones”.
Bajo el aplastante sol del mediodia, los estudiantes universitarios
que se han apuntado a los cursos de verano dejan las aulas que ocupan
dos veces por semana. Muzara Eiden, de 24 anos y estudiante de
Periodismo, se considera un hombre abierto, lo que no impide que
piense que en Irak no se debe vender alcohol y que la mujer debe de
ir cubierta.
Eptisan, de 30 anos, y Lemia, de 25, realizan tambien un curso de
verano de Historia en la Universidad de Bagdad. Ambas llevan hiyab,
pero a Eptisan se le ve un poco el pelo y va maquillada. Ambas se
declaran simpatizantes del partido islamista moderado Al Dawa, pero
cuando se les pregunta sobre si quieren que Irak sea una republica
islamica, Eptisan se pone nerviosa como si hubiera visto una culebra
y dice un rotundo “no”, mientras que Lemia lo rechaza sin
dramatismos.
Despues de tres guerras -contra Iran, entre 1980 y 1988; la del
Golfo, en 1991, y la pasada, en 2003- y un largo y penoso embargo de
13 anos, algunos barrios de Bagdad parecen sumidos en la Edad Media.
En ese mundo de tinieblas que ha traido la falta de electricidad, el
mensaje del radical chii Muqtada al Sader penetra con fluidez. Tras
la pantalla de modernidad de la calle Haifa, que hacia esquina con la
casa del dictador, se extiende tambien un mundo de miserias sunies,
caldo de cultivo de los radicales islamicos y de los que han sido
expulsados del sistema por sus estrechos vinculos con el regimen
anterior.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITV.com, UK
Aug 2 2004
Al-Qaeda blamed for Iraq church attacks
7.05AM, Mon Aug 2 2004
Al-Qaeda is being blamed for the bombing of four churches in Baghdad
which killed at least ten worshippers.
More than 40 others were injured in the co-ordinated attacks which
the Iraqi government said were an attempt to force Christians out of
the country.
The Vatican condemned the blasts – the first attacks on churches
during the 15-month insurgency – echoing concerns among Iraqis that
they aimed to inflame religious tensions.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomber drove into the car park
of a Chaldean church in southern Baghdad before detonating his
vehicle, killing at least ten people as worshippers left the
building.
The US military has warned that guerrillas opposed to the presence of
more 160,000 foreign troops may try to deepen divisions between the
country’s diverse religious communities in their campaign to
destabilise Iraq.
Vatican deputy spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini said: “It is
terrible and worrying because it is the first time that Christian
churches are being targeted in Iraq.”
An explosion at the Armenian church in Baghdad shattered stained
glass windows and hurled chunks of hot metal. Another bomb exploded
15 minutes later at a nearby Assyrian church.
US Colonel Mike Murray of the 1st Cavalry Division said at least 50
people had been wounded at the church, some seriously.
In Mosul, officials said at least one person was killed in a blast at
a church and 15 wounded.