Author: Tamamian Anna

ARMENIAN PROSECUTOR SAYS FOUR MPS SUPPLIED ARMS TO OPPOSITION PROTESTERS

Public TV
March 4 2008
Armenia

On the initiative of President Robert Kocharyan, the parliament
convened a special session an hour ago[1000 gmt]. The decision was
signed by Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosyan under Article 70 of the
Constitution. At thespecial session the parliament heard out a letter
from the prosecutor-general regarding permission to prosecute andarrest
MPs Hakob Vardan Hakobyan, Miasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun Mikaelyan and
Khachatur Sukiasyan.

[Aghvan Hovsepyan] The evidence received provides a basis according to
which with their public appeals, by incitingviolence, with appeals made
with their direct participation and with various types of assistance,
including gatheringand arming attackers, MPs Miasnik Malkhasyan,
Sasun Mikaelyan, Hakob Hakobyan and Khachatur Sukiasyan were among
thosewho actively participated in organizing mass riots.

This provides sufficient grounds to prosecute them and charge them with
organizing mass disorders aimed at seizingpower on 20 February-2 March
by violating the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. Those [mass
disorders] wereaccompanied by violence, arson attacks, destruction
of and damage to state, public and private property, armedresistance
to representatives of the authorities, by murders using firearms,
explosives and various other objectsadapted to be used as arms. The
aforesaid MPs carried out actions dangerous for the public, as
stipulated by Part 3 ofArticle 225 A and Part 1 of Article 300 of
the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

There is sufficient material which substantiates the need to arrest
the mentioned MPs, including the fact that while being free, they can
hide from the entity which investigates the criminal case and hinder
the pre-trial investigation orthe consideration of the case in court.

This is also proved by the circumstance that MPs Sasun Mikaelyan and
Khachatur Sukiasyan have in fact already beenhiding from the entity
that carries out the criminal investigation, and search measures
taken to track them down inplaces where they may be hiding have not
produced any results so far.

As a result of these measures, an illegal gun of Czech origin was found
as a result of the search conducted in Sasun Mikaelyan’s apartment
on Arshakunyats Avenue on 3 March. Following operational measures,
it proved possible todetect MPs Miasnik Malkhasyan and Hakob Hakobyan
in the act of conducting illegal activities and to arrest them.

However, they still refuse to give any explanations or evidence.

Besides, the legal basis for arresting these MPs is also provided
by the character and extent of the danger of their actions, which
is proven by evidence acquired duringthe preliminary investigation,
including the results of examinations at the site of mass disorders,
confiscated materialevidence, evidence provided by participants in
mass disturbances, people who suffered from them, eye-witnesses,
detailedvideo materials made during the mass disturbances acquired
from numerous sources, which have been incorporated into the case as
evidence, as well as based on the decoding of video materials filmed
during the unauthorized rallies.

On the basis of this and Article 66 of the Constitution, I request
permission to arrest and prosecute MPs MiasnikMalkhasyan, Sasun
Mikaelyan, Hakob Hakobyan and Khachatur Sukiasyan.

"TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN TO TAKE JOINT MILITARY ACTIONS IN KARABAKH"
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
07/03/2008

Karabakh

On March 4, breaking the armistice regime, the Azerbaijani armed
forces started firing on the positions of Nagorno-Karabakh. In result
of the skirmish the Azerbaijani army lost eight servicemen, and two
soldiers of the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh were wounded. As
the Azerbaijani side started the assault with considerable manpower,
armored machinery and artillery, and as the skirmish lasted for more
than 10 hours, the threat of recommencement of the war in Karabakh
was evident.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian explained the incident
by the excitement of the authorities of Azerbaijan with the political
situation inside Armenia. Official Baku tried to put the responsibility
for the incident on the frontier on the Armenian authorities, alleging
that Armenia needed it for distracting the public attention from the
inner political crisis. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also spread false
information that 12 Armenian soldiers were killed and 15 wounded in
the clash.

Wisely neglecting the official statement of Foreign Minister
Oskanian, the major international information sources responded to
the Azerbaijani fiction about 12 Armenian soldiers killed. Anyway,
the problem is not the Azerbaijani lies, which we are used to, but
the real threat of having a new war unleashed in Karabakh.

The latter circumstance had to compel the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly to condemn the aggressor and express concern about the
situation. However the head of the Parliamentary Assembly omitted the
threat of a new war and estimated the ceasefire violation merely as
"an unpleasant incident".

Although vice-spokesman of the US Department of State Tom Casey
expressed concern about the incident, he put no difference between the
aggressor and its "target", and even expressed some king of support
to Azerbaijan.

"The independence of Kosovo is not a precedent and cannot be considered
as one for Nagorno-Karabakh," he added.

It may sound absurd, but the very same thing that slips away
from the attention of NATO and the US, rouses great interest in
Turkey. "Milliet" newspaper not only reporters the Armenian Foreign
Ministry’s official statement, but also considers the possibility that
Azerbaijan was trying to make profit of the situation in Armenia. "in
fact it is not known, which side is responsible for the skirmish,
but it is still possible that Baku was trying to give Armenia a lesson
that way," "Milliet" writes.

"Eni Musafat" comments on the support expressed by NATO and the US
to Azerbaijan. The newspaper, hinting at the rumors about PKK troops
hiding out in Karabakh, suggests that Turkey and Azerbaijan may take
large-scale military actions on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. "Eni
Musafat" alleges that the United States have given their approval,
a Turkish-Azerbaijani military headquarter has been organized and
intelligence works started.

The position of the USA on Armenia and the Armenians is as ambiguous
as that of the European Union. In this case at least the Azerbaijani
mass media seem reliable. In case allegations on Turkish-Azerbaijani
military operations in Karabakh come true, the United States shall
have to empower Turkey to take the initiative on Karabakh conflict
settlement. Taking into consideration that the White House is rather
jealous of any initiative, all these seems hardly possible.

S. SARGSYAN’S APPROACH TO POST ELECTION ACTIVITIES

Panorama.am
16:57 06/03/2008

"I would like to stress once more that happened what we diagnosed some
month ago, but we did not manage to prevent it, thus if we could not
then we are guilty," said the Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan in the
government session.

He said that the results should be carefully discussed and
liquidated. "We had fatal cases, material and image lost in the
international authorities," he said and added that the municipality
of Yerevan and the Ministry of Finance should present the situation
and make some proposals.

The Prime Minister mentioned that a dialogue should be held among
people. The president-elect Prime Minister said that he noticed some
passiveness in carrying out labor duties, particularly connected with
the international organizations, and generally with presenting the
situation in its proper way.

S. Sargsyan notified that Armenian Army proved that it was a stable
institution which met created difficulties. He said that all the
guilty should answer beyond the court, "This is not a promise, this
is a duty which I have to carry out," he said.

PACE REPRESENTATIVES AND MATTHEW BRIZA TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN ON MARCH 6

Noyan Tapan
March 5, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The PACE delegation headed by the
vice president of the PACE John Prescott arrives in Yerevan on March
6. The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, the U.S. co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza comes to Yerevan on the same
day, the acting spokesman for the RA MFA Tigran Balayan stated at
the March 5 briefing.

According to him, the final meeting of the Armenian foreign
minister Vartan Oskanian and the special representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Ambassador Heikki Talvitie took place late March
4. In the words of T. Balayan, Ambassador Talvitie informed in detail
the minister about his meeting with representatives of the opposition.

The acting spokesman for the RA MFA said that the minister and the
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner had a phone conversation
about the situation in Armenia since March 1.

Tigran Balayan said that the skirmish in Mardakert region of Nagorno
Karabakh has ended. At the same time he expressed concern about
exchanges of fire on the contact line of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
and Azerbaijani-Karabakh borders. According to information of the
ministry of defence, the Armenian side had one injured person, while
the Azerbaijani side – eight dead people as a result of deterioration
of the situation in Mardakert region.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FORCES CLASH NEAR BORDER

GulfNews
March 5 2008
United Arab Emirates

Baku: Officials in Azerbaijan and Armenia made conflicting casualty
claims on Wednesday following clashes near the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry accused the Armenian forces of starting
fighting on Tuesday and said three of its servicemen had been killed
and one wounded. Ministry spokesman Eldar Sabiroglu said 12 Armenian
soldiers had been killed and another 15 were wounded during several
hours of clashes.

A military spokesman for ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh,
Senor Asratian, said late on Tuesday that eight Azerbaijani soldiers
had been killed and two of the separatist region’s soldiers wounded
in clashes northeast of the region.

The clashes came as Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliev, issued his
latest suggestion that his country could use force to regain control
over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The region is inside Azerbaijan but has been under ethnic Armenian
control since a 1994 ceasefire ended a six-year war.

VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE POSTPONES VISIT TO ARMENIA

Catholic News Agency
March 3 2008
CO

Vatican City, Mar 3, 2008 / 11:48 am (CNA).- The political situation
in Armenia has become unstable following post-election riots broke
out between opposition leaders and government forces on Sunday. In
lieu of the developments, the Vatican’s Secretary of State decided
on Sunday to postpone his trip to the country.

Cardinal Bertone was due to visit the former Soviet republic March 2-6,
but following the declaration of a state of emergency by President
Robert Kocharian, the trip has been postponed. Hundreds of troops
swarmed into Armenia’s capital on Sunday to enforce a state of
emergency after initial clashes between opposition activists and
government forces left eight people dead and more than 100 injured.

The bloodshed over the results of last month’s presidential election
is the worst political crisis to hit this volatile former Soviet
republic in nearly a decade.

President Robert Kocharian declared the 20-day state of emergency
Saturday night after a day of violence between police and
demonstrators. The protestors claim that elections which took place
on Feb. 19 were fraudulently won by Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian.

ARMENIAN POLICE DISPERSE RALLY IN DOWNTOWN YEREVAN

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 1, 2008 Saturday 11:51 AM MSK
Russia

Armenian police dispersed an unsanctioned rally on Theater Square in
Yerevan early on Saturday, Rossiya television channel has reported.

Police started the operation at 6:00 a.m. local time Saturday,
and they acted "so swiftly and forcefully that the square was fully
cleared of the protesters in 10 to 15 minutes," the TV channel said.

"According to various sources, there had been from 1,500 to 5,000
demonstrators on the square when the police action started.

Fortunately, the operation involved no fatalities or serious injuries,"
it said.

It was reported earlier that supporters of presidential candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who lost the presidential elections to Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan, had pitched a camp in downtown Yerevan several days
ago to demand that the official results of the elections be declared
invalid.

RA GENERAL STAFF CHIEF CALLS ON CITIZENS FOR ORDER

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2008 15:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Guiding by the necessity to establish order in the
republic, Armenian President declared state of emergency on March 1,
reads a statement issued by RA armed forces general staff chief,
colonel general Seyran Ohanyan.

"I call on the citizens to refrain attempts to circumvent the bans
imposed by state of emergency, demonstrate civil consciousness and
understanding. I must warn that any attempt to organize or participate
in an event banned by the emergency rule will be immediately rebuffed
by the army.

"I call not to gather in groups, since the armed forces will have to
report to measures provided by the Constitution," the general staff
chief said.

On March 1, 2008, Armenia’s President declared 2-day state of emergency
in compliance of article 55.6 of the RA Constitution (threat to state
and population security).

ELECTION SEALED BY BLOOD

Kommersant

March 3 2008
Russia

Eight people were killed and 120 to 200 injured past weekend in
Armenia’s capital Erevan during the dispersal of the opposition
demonstration and the following street riots. The government declared
a state of emergency in the city.

The square near the Opera Theater was encircled the police early
Saturday. The officers needed 10 minutes to break up the 10-day sit-in
of the opposition protesting against election of Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisyan to replace Robert Kocharyan as Armenia’s president.

Meanwhile, the people were gathering again near the encircled square,
this time at the Mashtots and Tumanyan crossroad, moving towards
the French Embassy afterwards. They filled all Myasnikyan Square,
where the windows of French Embassy, Italian Embassy, the House of
Moscow and Erevan City Hall look out. The riot police cordoned off
this square in an hour but the mob blocked officers, pushing them to
the City Hall in a phantom victory.

No leader of the opposition was at the square that time. The people
were waiting for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, but he was under the house
arrest, his representatives said.

At least 100,000 closed the ranks at the small square when Nikol
Pashinyan from the opposition showed up to urge the crowd to wait for
Ter-Petrosyan. To no avail though, the former president never appeared
at that square that day. At around 9:00 p.m., a group of officers
attempted to break up protestors from Mashtots Street, but the division
was so small in number that the mere effort looked at least strange.

Having swallowed the first group of riot police, the encouraged
mob opposed the next one. The shots were heard and victorious youth
chased the police to Mashtots and Proshyan crossroad. The violent
riots erupted.

Late at night, Robert Kocharyan declared the state of emergency for
twenty days. The parliament voted nearly unanimously for that decision
at the extraordinary sitting to sanction the army and police to use
force and crush the riots. At 3:00 a.m., Levon Ter-Petrosyan urged
the supporters to leave the square, warning that authorities would
shed blood. A few thousand obeyed nearly simultaneously.

Reinforced by armored vehicles, the riot police cleared the square
from the remaining at 4:30 a.m.

Emergency rule declared in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.03.2008 22:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian declared a
20-day emergency rule in the republic.

Conduction of rallies is forbidden, activities of political parties
frozen. Media is allowed to publish official information only.