Author: Nargizian David

The Daily Star, Lebanon
May 3 2008

Visiting Moussa holds out hope for new talks with Berri, Hariri

Would-be interlocutors bicker over reason to meet
By Hussein Abdallah
Daily Star staff
Saturday, May 03, 2008

BEIRUT: Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said after meeting
Speaker Nabih Berrion Friday that a meeting between himself, Berri and
parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri was possible.

Moussa, who arrived in Beirut on Thursday to participate in the Arab
Economic Forum, did not specify when such meeting will take place.

He said that all parties were looking forward to achieve a
breakthrough and end the ongoing political crisis.

"Nobody is against dialogue. It is illogical to reject dialogue, but
it is very important for us to see a sort of a road map that starts
with dialogue and ends with the election of a new president," he said.

Moussa denied discussing new ideas with the rival leaders and stressed
that the only initiative on the table was the Arab League’s
three-point initiative.

Speaking at the Arab Economic Forum, Moussa urged lawmakers to elect a
new president as soon as possible.

"The persisting vacancy in the presidency is a very serious issue,"
Moussa said

Meanwhile, sources close to Berri told The Daily Star on Friday that
Hariri’s insistence that dialogue be in the form of talks between the
two of them was the main reason behind him not meeting the speaker
until now.

"Had Hariri wanted to simply meet Berri, the meeting would have
happened in the past few days, but Hariri wants to hold bilateral
talks while the speaker has repeatedly stressed that his call for
dialogue was aimed at holding all-party roundtable talks," the sources
said.

But MP Ammar Houri of Hariri’s Future Movement told The Daily Star on
Friday that Hariri has requested to see Berri and brief him about the
ruling coalition’s position on his dialogue call.

"Hariri is still waiting for Berri’s response. Speaking about Hariri’s
intentions is equivalent to fortune-telling," Houri said.

Also on Friday, Berri met with visiting Qatari Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah al-Attiyah. After the meeting, Attiyah told reporters that
the speaker’s dialogue call was positive, hoping that the rival
leaders would meet soon to resolve the country’s crisis.

Later on Friday, Attiyah met Hariri and discussed with him the latest
developments.

"I wish that Lebanese parties would understand that the country is
passing through a critical period," the Qatari said after meeting
Hariri. "All parties are required to do their best in order to end the
crisis."

However, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit seemed less
optimistic about the chances of achieving a breakthrough soon.

He told BBC television on Friday that progress was unlikely in the
near future.

He urged Syria to push for a settlement in Lebanon while reiterating
Egypt’s readiness to do all that is needed to end the political
impasse.

Meanwhile, MP Michel Murr said after meeting US Charge d’Affaires
Michel Sison on Friday that the US was backing a settlement in
Lebanon.

"The US encourages dialogue between the Lebanese and is not imposing
conditions on us," Murr said.

He also urged opposition MPs to head to Parliament and elect a
president.

"It seems that you are happy with leaving the president’s privileges
in the hand of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government," Murr said,
addressing the opposition. "If you are not happy with Siniora, the
next thing you should do is elect a president."

The Metn lawmaker, who recently separated from Free Patriotic Movement
leader MP Michel Aoun’s parliamentary bloc, said that there should be
no obstacles to electing a president on May 13.

Murr also met Moussa on Friday. Speaking to reporters afterward,
Moussa reiterated that a meeting between Berri and Hariri was very
likely.

The Parliament is scheduled to meet on May 13 to elect a new head of
state.

Eighteen earlier elections sessions were postponed, leaving the
country without a president since last November.

Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad said after meeting US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Friday that a new
Lebanese president should be unconditionally elected on May 13.

"No conditions whatsoever should be attached to the presidential
election," she said. "We are ready to engage in dialogue after and not
before electing a president," she added.

Also on Friday, the Armenian Tashnag Party issued a statement
welcoming Berri’s call for dialogue to help resolve the political
crisis. The statement stressed that the electoral alliance between the
party and Aoun has changed to become a full-fledged political
alliance.

The statement added that the party’s electoral alliance with Murr will
continue despite Murr’s recent separation from Aoun’s parliamentary
bloc. Aoun’s Reform and Change bloc also includes Tashnag.

Late on Thursday, former President Amin Gemayel commented on Berri’s
call for dialogue, stressing that the ruling majority was not against
dialogue given that the proposed talks yield a mechanism for electing
a new president.

In an interview with Al-Arabiyyah satellite news channel, Gemayel
accused the opposition of not wanting to elect the commander of the
Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president.

"In the very beginning, opposition leaders were the first to propose
electing Suleiman as president, but when the March 14 Forces decided
to back the election of Suleiman, the opposition started creating
obstacles to prevent the election," Gemayel said.

ACADEMY OF NATIONAL SCIENCES: NO DISCUSSIONS ON FINANCING

Panorama.am
15:41 02/05/2008

There won’t be any new discussions for financing in the Academy of
National Sciences, said Radik Martirosyan, the president of the ANS.

According to him the current question should be dealt by the science
committee. "Science Committee should deal with this problem. Besides
we’re not going to invent a bicycle. Science is not an aspect where
everyday new things are invented and it is one of the conservative
directions of a person, thus it does not like when changes are too
unceasing," said R. Martirosyan.

Note that a few weeks ago in the annual summit of the ANS, the
scientists raised this question and the president of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan ordered to put this item in the discussion and make final
decision.

FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES LITHUANIA’S AMBASSADOR

ARMENPRESS
April 30, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS: Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian
received today new Lithuanian ambassador to Armenia, Gedrius Apuokas,
who handed to the minister the duplicates of his credentials.

The press division of the ministry quoted the minister as saying
that Armenia is interested in strengthening and deepening relations
with Lithuania.

He added that from that perspective the opening of embassies in both
countries will become an extra impetus.

The minister said also cooperation with Lithuania is useful for
Armenia in terms of its relations with the EU.

The ambassador for his part said Lithuania’s traditional attitude
towards Armenia is warm. He stressed development of multilateral
cooperation with Armenia saying he will focus on economic and cultural
ties between the two countries during his tenure in Armenia.

A VIEW FROM UTOPIA: IMAGINING OBAMA’S FOREIGN POLICY
Victor Davis Hanson

Jewish Press, NY
April 30 2008

We know the critique of present American foreign policy under George
W. Bush – unilateralist and preemptive – and to some extent we know
Sen. Obama’s promised corrective – multilateral and reflective. So
let’s take a serious look at what exactly is wrong with the former,
and how things would substantially improve under the latter.

Let’s start with India. Indians poll pro-American by wide margins,
due no doubt to America’s unnecessary coddling of the world’s largest
democracy. If Sen. Obama acts on his complaints about the outsourcing
of U.S. jobs to India and institutes his anti-NAFTA preferences in
U.S. trade relations, India may finally receive the tough love it’s
been needing.

After all, didn’t President Bush give away the nuclear game with
India? Perhaps a President Obama will back out of existing agreements
in order to ensure that India does not receive advanced nuclear
technology. (In recompense, they’ll have little reason to complain,
relatively speaking: Sen. Obama has suggested the U.S. should
preemptively invade our ally Pakistan in order to hunt down Osama
bin Laden.)

And China – what are we doing wrong there? Its increasing appetite for
world resources means it cares not a whit what happens in the Sudan,
as long as it gets its oil. Some Chinese products, as Sen. Obama
reminds us, are shoddy and sometimes dangerous, no doubt a result of
our indiscriminate free-trade policy. The way China treats Tibetans
and Uyghur Muslims violates canons of human decency.

Will a President Obama protect American jobs, champion human rights,
and ensure fair and safe trade by redefining our relationship with
China, which holds a trillion dollars in U.S. government bonds?

Anti-Americanism runs rampant in Europe. Under an Obama administration,
should we expect friendlier governments than Sarkozy’s France
or Merkel’s Germany? Perhaps Obama might cancel that provocative
missile-defense system in Eastern Europe designed to stop an Iranian
nuclear guided missile.

Or will Sen. Obama try to save American jobs by nullifying contracts
with the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. to provide refueling
tankers to the U.S. Air Force? We can be sure he will embrace the
emissions-reduction targets set in the Kyoto accords; in that way,
he will encourage Europeans to do the same, since their repeated
failures in meeting their promised reductions must surely be laid at
Mr. Bush’s feet. The EU has been waiting for America to show the way.

Then there is Russia. Surely Obama will do something about Putin,
who seemed too cozy with Bush while he hijacked Russian democracy and
used his oil to bully Europe. Perhaps Obama can craft an ingenious
speech that will persuade the Kremlin’s ex-KGB kleptocrats to act
more civilly in the world, especially concerning their trafficking
with the likes of Iran and Syria.

Speaking of the Middle East, how will Obama restore American prestige
there and ameliorate the damage done in the Bush years? Perhaps he
could send Nancy Pelosi back to Syria to engage Mr. Assad? Or ask
the Democratic Congress to condemn Turkey for the Armenian genocide?

Will Obama’s fast-track pullout of Iraq, and his willingness to sit
down, without preconditions, with the mullahs of Iran, assure stability
in the region, and win the confidence of our Arab allies? Sens. Obama
and Clinton have both written epitaphs for the surge: why, then,
continue a failed policy?

Once Americans are out of Iraq by mid-2009, Iraqis themselves,
as Afghans, Cambodians, Somalis, Rwandans, and Yugoslavs have done
before them, can work out their differences on their own. And since we
were always the gratuitous targets that created terrorists ex nihilo,
no doubt Dr. Zawahiri and President Ahmadinejad will move on to other
Great Satans, once they see that those provocative American GIs have
turned tail and fled their neighborhoods.

Since it is self-evident that the absence of another 9/11-like
attack here at home was a fluke – and had nothing to do either with
Guantanamo, the Patriot Act, wiretaps, the destruction of Al Qaeda
bases in Afghanistan, or the annihilation of Wahhabi terrorists in
Iraq – President Obama will be free to shut down all such legally
dubious homeland-security measures. This will reassure Americans and
Europeans that those efforts were both unnecessary and antithetical to
our values. There never was, and won’t be, any danger of another 9/11.

Since NAFTA was a sellout of American workers, President Obama can,
as he seems to promise, withdraw from the association and restore
tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, while ending our xenophobic
paranoia about "secure borders" – especially silly ideas like fences
and walls. There would be no need to extend NAFTA-like accords
to Colombia, and we should also reexamine sweetheart deals with
Middle-Eastern countries like Jordan.

The world between 1992-2000 is the model we are to emulate,
it seems. The world was much safer then before George W. Bush’s
indiscriminate wars and it can be so again. In those golden days,
the U.S. rightly contextualized "random" terrorist acts – making the
proper distinctions between war and "police matters."

Yes, it’s true that thousands of American soldiers died in those
peaceful days – about 7,500 between 1993-2000 – but they did so in
noncombatant-related operations. Back then, our experts appreciated
the hard lines and firewalls that separated Hizbullah from Iran,
Sunni terrorists from Shiite killers, and were always careful not to
overreact and turn mere responses into needless wars.

In extremis, we can employ tried-and-true tools like no-fly zones,
oil-for-food embargoes, UN sanctions, and the occasional cruise
missile, avoiding the mess of President Karzai’s Afghanistan or
President Maliki’s Iraq, and the peripheral blowback involving a
jittery Libya, Syria, and Pakistan’s Dr. A. Q. Khan.

Presently the United States does the world’s heavy lifting under
a Texan who says "nucular." But soon it may well be charmed and
mesmerized by a smooth-talking icon who raises trade barriers,
leaves the Middle East to the Middle East, gets tough on China and
India, relaxes relations with Iran, Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela,
while redefining existing ones with Pakistan – and says to Europe,
"We’re right behind you!"

Let’s hope it will be as pleasant to see the results as it has been
to listen to the utopian rhetoric.

Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution,
the author of several bestselling works of nonfiction including,
most recently, "A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans
Fought the Peloponnesian War," and a regular contributor to National
Review Online, where this essay first appeared.

ARMENIAN COMMEMORATION AT BINGHAMTON SOUTHSIDE PARK
Ed Arzouian

Press & Sun-Bulletin, NY
May 1 2008

On Sunday, April 27, 2008 St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Church
of Binghamton along with the Armenian Community of Broome County
commemorated the 93nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Pictured is the Southside monument to the those 1,500,000 Armenians who
died in the Genocide from 1915-1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks..

Statements were read from: US Senator Hillary Clinton, NYS Senator
Thomas Libous, Congressmen Maurice Hinchey & Arcuri. Present were:
Kevin McCabe, representative from NY Governor David Paterson to read a
resolution, Bob Messinger as representative of US Congressman Michael
Arcuri, Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala, and City of Binghamton
Mayor Matt Ryan.

FOR WILL FOR VICTORY

KarabakhOpen
30-04-2008 11:43:34

Davit Karapetyan, 10 years old, has returned from Tbilisi where the
karate do championships of the Caucasus were held, with a special price
"For Will for Victory". Of 400 participants he got the prize. Davit
Karapetyan says 26 sportsmen from Armenia participate, who won 13
medals, and he won two of three fights. In March Davit participated
in the open championships in Germany where he won a silver medal
and the Cup. Davit Karapetyan is the champion of Karabakh and twice
champion of Armenia. He studies at school N 1, he is an excellent
pupil a champion should be.

MOVE FORWARD ARMENIA, MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE GOD!

Azat Artsakh Daily
Published on April 29, 2008
NKR Republic

Information:

On May 1st the all-Armenian pilgrimage "Move forward Armenia, move
forward towards the God!" will start from st. Edjmiatsin Cathedral
Church to Artsakh. The group of pilgrims consisted of 500 persons,
according to the program, will be in Shushi in the second part of the
day, where a mass meeting will take place with "One nation, one state,
one belief" slogan. The meeting of pilgrams with NKR President Bako
Sahakyan is one of the foreseen arrangements: it will take place on
May 2nd, at 11:00 am, in Palace of Culture and Youth of Stepanakert.

THE STAGES OF EMIGRATION FROM ARMENIA

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 30, 2008
Armenia

International conference under the title "Emigration Tendencies from
Armenia to the Russian Federation: the role of the civil society,
network cooperation and a dialogue between the state and the society"
launched in Yerevan yesterday.

Massive emigration from Armenia started from 1988 and the first huge
flow has been recorded in 1988-1992: this was the first stage of
the massive resettlement. According to the Head of Migration Agency
under the Ministry of the Territorial Governance Gagik Yeganyan the
first stage of the massive emigration was conditioned by certain
extraordinary factors. The first factor was the deportation of 360
thousand Armenians from the territory of Azerbaijan, part of them
left for different post-soviet countries.

Ecological emigrants – who left Armenia after the disastrous earthquake
of 1988. And the third flow – the internal emigrants, deported from
the frontier zones, because of bombings. Those were 72 thousand people.

1992-1995 was the second stage of the massive emigration from Armenia,
which, according to G. Yeganyan, was conditioned by economic, social,
political, and moral-psychological factors, due to the economic
crises in the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Around
800 thousand people left Armenia at the third stage of the massive
emigration, from which 400 thousand people returned. In general,
from 1988 to 1995 1,2 million people left Armenia, that is to say
the 1/3 of the population.

The third stage of massive emigration was from 1995 to
2001, which stands out by the reduction of the volumes of
passenger-circulation. Though certain volumes of emigration were
maintained, linked with the fact that routine-social problems were
replaced by social-psychological, the process of the reunion of the
families took place.

The period of 2001 to 2008 is peculiar with the continual growth of
the passenger-circulation. According to Gagik Yeganyan every year
those volumes used to grow by two-digit number, both the entry and
the departure.

Assessing the situation Gagik Yeganyan underscored that from 1988 to
2003, from 800 thousand to 1 million people, that is to say 28-31
% of the population left Armenia. The key vector of the migration
flow has been directed to the post-soviet countries, mainly Russian
Federation – 75%, European countries – 15%, and the USA – 10%.

Most of the emigrants were aged 20-44, 60% of them were males: "They
were mostly employment emigrants and they didn’t keep entry rules, that
is why their stay in those countries was illegal." Gagik Yeganyan said.

Speaking about the emigration policy in Armenia G. Yeganyan
noticed that the first comprehensive document in this regard was
"The Conception on the State Regulation of the Emigration of the
Population" adopted in 2000.

"For the first time on the state level a policy on emigration was
elaborated, the helpful and the harmful aspects of the emigration were
separated. The document underscored certain versions of promoting
emigration flows deriving from the interests of the state, as well
as the reduction of the negative influence of separate types of
emigration." Head of the Migration Agency underscored.

The conception was reviewed in 2004, when new problems linked with
emigration flow emerged. A new state emigration policy was elaborated,
where 10 priority issues were underscored. The document envisaged
certain goals and means to solve them. But at present, connected
with the adoption of the European Neighborhood Action Plan, there
is a necessity to review this conception, because an imperative of
elaborating a comprehensive national migration program has appeared:
"The new policy must contain the standards accepted in the EU
countries, which implies assisting issues linked with employment
migration. 14 new supremacies are proposed and in June we will
get the assistance of the EU experts for the new national program,
with whom we will elaborate the structure and the contents of the
program. After which working groups will be established, to create
the program, within 1,5-2 years." Gagik Yeganyan underscored.

Speaking about the present state of emigration in Armenia and the
emigration policy G. Yeganyan underscored that the main problem is
linked with the former emigrants who are returning at present. "They
are in an illegal state in different countries, and one day they will
face the problem of deportation. Some people return of their own will
and the state must assist this process. Many Armenians are willing to
return but very small part of these people realize this intention. We
must take measures to assist those who have intentions to return to
their motherland." Gagik Yeganyan said.

WHAT DIALOGUE CAN TAKE PLACE IN SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES?

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 29, 2008
Armenia

How can we have a dialogue with Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his followers,
in case when these people used even April 24 to declare a termless
war to the authorities?

Tigran Torosyan answered this question with a question: "Before
making appeals for a dialogue we must clarify: the topic of the
discussion. This is the most important thing. There is no need to
sit and discuss the weather.

And secondly we have already proposed a dialogue to all the political
powers without any reservations. If some people breach the laws,
don’t accept the decisions of different state bodies including the
Constitutional Court, on what basis should we build this dialogue? What
dialogue can take place in such circumstances?"

SALE OF ARMENIA-GEORGIA-TURKEY REGIONAL TOUR PACKAGES STARTS IN BRITISH MARKET

Noyan Tapan
April 29, 2008

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, NOYAN TAPAN. A British tour operator has started
the sale of tour packages for Armenia-Georgia-Turkey route, NT
correspondent was informed by Alan Saffery, chief expert of the
USAID-financed Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) program.

In his words, British tourists are interested in visiting Armenia by
Armenia-Georgia regional tour packages, which is conditioned by a short
duration of flights (only 5 hours) between the countries. Japanese
tourists may also be interested in purchasing regional tour packages
icluding Armenia.

It was mentioned that sale of regional tour packages, which include
Armenia and other regional countries (except Georgia), in international
market is connected with solution of political problems. For example,
the sale of Iran-Armenia tour packages has encountered problems in
the U.S. market.

In the opinion of Nadia Pasqual, the program’s travel marketing and
communication advisor, 20-30% of Italian tourists visiting Armenia
by tour packages travel to our country by purchasing Armenia-Georgia
regional tour packages. The total duration of their tour packages
is 13-14 days, while those visiting only Armenia spend 8-9 days
here. Armenian and Georgian tour operators cooperate on organization
of several regional tour packages, and during such combined travels,
no tour guide-related problems arise. In order to encourage the sale
of regional tour packages in international markets, Armenian and
Georgian tour operators should particularly make joint efforts to
brisk up marketing activity.