Author: Vanyan Gary

SITUATION IN JAVAKHK CALMS DOWN
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 04 2006
AKHALKALAK, APRIL 4, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. After Gevorg
Gevorgian’s murder on March 9 in Tsalka and events following it the
situation in Javakhk has calmed down. As the A-Info agency informs
referring to the Press Service of the Council of Samtskhe-Javakhk
Armenian NGOs, the Armenians of Javakhk expect the fair verdict of
the Georgian law-enforcement bodies and maybe the region’s calmness
after the recent events is conditioned by this. Now the Javakhk public
has become more alert and tries not to yield to provocations. Thus,
when organizations that did not announce their identity spread rumours
about organizing a rally on March 16 in Akhalkalak, no people came to
the square. They comment upon this in the Council of Samtskhe-Javakhk
Armenian NGOs saying that the March 16 rally in Akhalkalak square
was planned by such forces, the goal of which was to destabilize
the situation.

PRESIDENT OF ICRC TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA ON APRIL 7
Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 4 2006
YEREVAN, April 4. /ARKA/. President of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) Jakob Kellenberger will arrive in Armenia on
April 7th as part of his regional visit. The ICRC office in Armenia
reported that Kellenberger will meet with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan and members of the RA government, and also with leaders of
the Armenian Society of the Red Cross.
Discussion of a number of humanitarian tasks, particularly, issues
of people missing as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
will be held in the frameworks of the visit. Issues of teaching the
international humanitarian law in the structures of armed forces will
be also discussed.
It was said in the office that Kellenberger will arrive in Yerevan
after his visit to Azerbaijan and Georgia, where they will discuss
issues, related to military conflicts in Abkhazia and South Osetia,
and also conditions of prisoners in custody.
On March 3 Kellenberger will pay a 2-day working visit to Baku,
where he will meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev and members of
the government. Then he will visit Georgia and have meetings with
Speaker Nino Burjanadze and Premier Zurab Nogaideli.
Kellengberger also plans to meet with leaders of the Georgian Society
of the Red Cross and the Society of Red Crescent of Azerbaijan.
The ICRC functions in South Caucasus from 1992. As part of its
activities it renders support and assistance to citizens and
communities who suffered from military conflicts and pays visits to
prisoners. The ICRC also sees to prevention of spread of tuberculosis
in jails and application of the international humanitarian law.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
04/04/2006
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) System Of A Down to Launch Washington, DC Campaign for Armenian Genocide Recognition 2) EU Presses Turkey on Military Reform 3) Greek Telecom Giant Plans to Sell ArmenTel 4) Young Armenians against Normalization of Relations with Turkey And Azerbaijan 5) Kurdish Groups Organize Demonstration against Turkey's Brutal Policies 1) System Of A Down to Launch Washington, DC Campaign for Armenian Genocide Recognition LOS ANGELES--Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan of the Grammy Award-winning band System Of A Down will travel to Washington, DC on April 24 for a three-day campaign to urge Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and other Congressional leaders to end their complicity in Turkey's ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide. On the evening of Monday, April 24, starting at 5:00 PM, band members will join with the Armenian National Committee of America and Armenian Youth Federation in leading a grassroots demonstration outside the gates of the Turkish Embassy at 2525 Massachusetts Ave, in Northwest Washington, DC. The Turkish government, through its Embassy in Washington, spends millions of dollars each year to bully, threaten, and blackmail the US government not to recognize the Armenian genocide. The band members will devote Tuesday, April 25 to providing interviews to the political media in Washington, and, in the evening, hosting a Congressional screening of "Screamers," a new documentary by filmmaker Carla Garapedian about the band's worldwide campaign for Armenian genocide recognition. On Wednesday April 26, System will meet with key Members of Congress to urge them to allow a vote on legislation recognizing the Armenian genocide, and at 5:30 PM will participate in the annual Capitol Hill commemoration of the Armenian genocide. This event, now in its 11th year, is regularly attended by over 30 Members of Congress, diplomats, ethnic community leaders, human rights activists, genocide prevention advocates, and Armenian Americans from across the country. Beginning on April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began a centrally planned and systematically executed campaign to annihilate the Armenian people from their ancient homeland. By 1923 over 1.5 million Armenians were killed and hundreds of thousands deported, in what constituted the first genocide of the 20th century. Congressional legislation recognizing this crime (HR 316 / HCR195 / SR320) has broad bipartisan support, but has been blocked from coming to a vote by Congressional leaders, despite the fact that, five years ago, US House Speaker Dennis Hastert promised to allow Members to vote on this human rights measure. In September of last year, Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan from the band traveled to the Speaker's hometown of Batavia, Illinois to lead a rally urging him to allow a vote on the Armenian genocide legislation. During the rally, Tankian delivered a personal and powerfully worded message calling on the Speaker to do the right thing, and stressing that "historical truths should never be denied in a democracy--especially one with such a proud heritage of freedom." Speaker Hastert has it in his power to accomplish one of System's goals--official US recognition of Turkey's destruction of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. By allowing Congress to vote on this legislation, Speaker Hastert can end US denial of this crime and open the doors to justice--to the restoration, reparation, and restitution owed to the victims of genocide. By continuing to block a vote on this legislation, Hastert effectively joins in the denial of this crime against humanity, and the denial of justice to an entire nation. The members of System Of A Down, Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, John Dolmayan, and Shavo Odadjian all personally lost family members and family history to the Armenian genocide. "Because so much of my family history was lost in the Armenian genocide," said Malakian, "my grandfather, who was very young at the time, doesn't know his true age. How many people can say they don't know how old they are?" Tankian, Dolmayan, and Odadjian all identify their grandparents' memories as the only links they have to their respective family histories, as most of their families were obliterated during the Armenian genocide. "It's important for people to be aware of the Armenian genocide," explained Tankian, "and that those actions continue to be covered up by the Turkish government, the US State Department, Turkey's allies in the defense and oil industries, and by our present US Administration. Had the Armenian genocide been acknowledged as a crime against humanity as it was, Hitler might not have thought he could get away with the Jewish Holocaust. History does and will repeat itself, unless we stop that cycle." 2) EU Presses Turkey on Military Reform BRUSSELS (UPI)--The European Union has urged Turkey to beef up efforts to keep its military under civilian control, as the country faces its worst civil unrest in years. Although Turkey, which is a candidate for membership of the Brussels-based club, is rapidly changing to meet the bloc's exacting standards, a senior European Commission official told a conference in Brussels that the "pace of change of Turkey's reform has slowed down in the last year." According to the Defensenews.com Web site, Alessandro Missir De Lusignano said Ankara still had to make the military's budget more transparent and accountable to the Turkish parliament. Another point on Brussels' wish list is to see the military's presence in civil society diluted and the military courts' ability to try civilians abolished. The 25-member bloc has also voiced concern about the violence in the Kurdish part of the country, urging Ankara to protect the minority's cultural rights and fight poverty in the region. Last week, violent riots broke out in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of the country and this week several people have been killed in Istanbul in clashes between Kurds and Turkish security forces. 3) Greek Telecom Giant Plans to Sell ArmenTel YEREVAN (AFP)--Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) said Tuesday it was examining options to sell its 90 percent controlling share in Armenian operator ArmenTel. "Following consultation with the Armenian government, (OTE) has begun a procedure of examining options to sell its 90 percent stake in ArmenTel's share capital," the Greek telecom giant said in a statement. "OTE has decided to focus on the Balkans... ArmenTel is now a healthy company... and there is a rather large interest from Russian companies and funds," said Michalis Tsamaz, managing director of OTE International. HSBC Bank PLC has been selected to advise OTE in the procedure, the company said. Armenia's main telecom operator, ArmenTel in 2005 posted a net income of 45.8 million euros ($55.4 million), an increase of 56.8 percent over the equivalent period in 2004, and had operating revenues of 119.1 million euros. OTE purchased its ArmenTel stake in 1997 at a cost of 120 million euros, Tsamaz said. Partially controlled by the Greek state, the OTE group, which comprises the profitable Cosmote Greek mobile telephony unit and subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania in addition to Armenia, in 2005 posted a net loss of 216.8 million euros. 4) Young Armenians against Normalization of Relations with Turkey And Azerbaijan YEREVAN (Armenpress)--A survey conducted by Sociometer polling center revealed that the overwhelming majority of young Armenians are against normalization of relations with Turkey if this requires giving up Armenians' territorial claims to Turkey and without Turkey's acknowledgment of the 1915 genocide. According to the Sociometer poll, 90 percent of respondents said they were against the improvement of relations with Turkey in that way. The percentage of those who would seek economic and other ties with Turkey before it recognized the Genocide and met other Armenian demands was only 4 percent, while 6 percent were undecided. Also 91 percent said they were against establishment of normal relations with Azerbaijan without the final settlement of the Karabagh issue. Only 2.9 percent said they would welcome it. The survey was conducted in order formulate Armenia's national youth policy. 5) Kurdish Groups Organize Demonstration against Turkey's Brutal Policies (KNC)--Several Kurdish American organizations have organized a demonstration against Turkey's oppressive and brutal policy toward Kurds. The demonstration will take place on Wednesday, April 5 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM in front of Turkish Consulate General of Los Angeles. While Turkey is preparing to join the European Union, it continues to oppress and violate the rights of its Kurdish people. Over the last week, 15 people, three of them children, have been killed in the worst violence Turkey has seen in a decade. The violent protests erupted after the Turkish army killed fourteen Kurdish fighters on March 25 in Mush province of Northern Kurdistan. Many people were also harshly beaten and arrested by the police during the Kurdish New year (Newroz) celebrations. Despite pressure from the EU, the Turkish state persists in its aggressive behavior toward Kurds. Kurdish groups have organized the Los Angeles demonstration to remind the world that the behavior of the Turkish state indicates it is not ready to be part of the democratic and free world. They also pledge their support to the Kurdish people in their peaceful struggle for freedom and democracy in Anatolia. The protest organized by the Kurdish National Congress of North America, Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Kurdish Community Center in Southern California, and Kurdish American Culture Center will take place Wednesday, April 5 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM in front of Turkish Consulate General at 6300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. For more information contact KNC at [email protected]. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.

RAFFI IS UNAWARE OF JIRAYR SEFILYAN’S ACTION
Lragir.am
04 April 06
Several days ago the Organization for the Defense of Liberated
Territories made a statement about launching a movement for deposing
Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan and called other political forces
to join. Later Jirayr Sefilyan was invited to the National Security
Service, another reason was given for the invitation. Particularly,
he was warned that if he did not stop provocative statements in
connection with Samtskhe-Javakheti, he would be deported from Armenia
(Jirayr Sefilyan is not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia). Sefilyan
does not deny that the main reason of the threat is the action of
deposing Serge Sargsyan. However, the opposition is not willing to
react. The Zharangutiun Party, aspiring to lead the opposition, is
not an exception. The reporter of the Lragir.am enquired about the
standpoint of the leader of the Zharangutiun Party.
“Our political party did not consider this question, so I cannot
say anything in the name of our party. I can only say that devotees
like Jirayr Sefilyan must be granted citizenship and not threatened
with deportation. I think that the commander of Shushi and other
devotees are involved in national policies in one way or another, both
with regard to Artsakh and pursuing the rights of the Armenians of
Samtskhe-Javakheti. In my opinion, such figures should be appreciated
and not repelled. I am not aware of the initiative, and the party
does not have a standpoint.”

DEAD INFANT FOUND IN THE DUMP
A1+
[06:47 pm] 31 March, 2006
Today the residents of the Gyumri Ani district found a dead body
of an infant in the dump. According to the witnesses, the body was
wrapped in a plastic bag.
A worker of one of the shops near the dump was the first to see the
child. The resident of the nearby buildings which gathered there
after the woman cried for help also saw the child. According to them,
there was a crowd of people at the moment the child was discovered.
According to the residents, they told the Gyumri police about the
bag. The police workers came to the dump, asked those present several
questions and took away the bag. But the Gyumri police refuted the
information. According to the head of the department, they are not
aware of anything.
“Tsayg” TV Company of Gyumri

Gyumri, Aparan, Vardenis Become Members of World Alliance of the Cities Against Poverty
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
March 31 2006
On March 29, in the City of Valencia of Spain the Fifth Forum of
World Alliance of the Cities Fighting Against Poverty started its
works. Member cities of the alliance, partner cities and associations
of the alliance, members of parliaments and governments, businessmen,
other officials attended the forum. Vardan Barseghyan, Mayor of
Vardenis and Georgy Yeremyan, Deputy Mayor of Aparan are in the
Armenian delegation.
The goal of the forum is to elaborate a municipal action strategy
directed to fighting poverty, based on the experience of the
municipalities during the 1997-2007 World Decade of Poverty
Eradication.
At the plenary session the guarantees of 2005 World Summit of
Millennium Development Goals and the local investments directed
to its implementation were presented. Then the representatives of
municipalities gave speeches telling about the local results of
international decade of poverty eradication and about their experience.
The forum was announced open with participation of representatives
of Spanish Royal House, Municipality of Valencia and Valencia region,
Spanish Government, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and United
Nations Development Program.
At the opening of the forum Artur Baghdasaryan, RA NA President,
delivered a speech:
“We live in an era of intense globalization with different causes
but similar consequences of poverty in different parts of the world.
Globalization is increasingly accompanied by a process of
decentralization and interdependence. It naturally makes us change
our approaches of fighting poverty. In this context local authorities
take on additional importance in combating poverty as the closest
institutions to citizens. At the same time local authorities have
little control over the causes of poverty and I would like to emphasize
the importance of collective action and responsibility in eradicating
poverty.
The Parliaments, national governments, civil society organizations
and international development partners have a clear role to play by
setting adequate legal and policy frameworks, providing guidance,
mobilizing resources, channeling these resources to the targeted
priorities and ensuring broad awareness of this disease. The major
challenge before us is not the lack of understanding of the problems
facing us. It is not definitely the lack of knowledge what needs to
be done in order to get out of poverty. But, rather, it is how to
build a conductive climate, in terms of policy, institutional and
behavioral environment, which will facilitate citizen participation,
investment, growth and development. The rest of the work remains the
domain of, and dependent on, efforts on local level. I am sure this
forum is an exceptional opportunity for the participating cities to
obtain direct information on successful experiments on how to respond
to poverty most efficiently.
This year marks the end of the International Decade of Eradication of
Poverty.Hence, the Valencia forum gives us an opportunity, not only
to remind ourselves of the task before us, but also to keep track of
struggle as we move ahead. This forum provides us with an opportunity
to assess the key outputs of our efforts, reflect on the findings
and exchange ideas and strategies on the way forward. I find it to be
an excellent opportunity for all the participating municipalities to
reflect on the achievements made and the challenges encountered as well
as to deliberate on the best ways of addressing these challenges. It
is an excellent opportunity to build international partnerships and
develop joint programs.
Combating poverty cannot be limited to material and financial
assistance. Human rights violations and bad governance provide
a fertile ground for poverty to grow. Without an avenue of local
participation disadvantaged population cannot affect change and may
find it impossible to improve their living conditions. I believe the
forum is a brilliant opportunity for sharing successful programs and
policies on how to increase citizen participation and transparency
on local level.
As a country in transition Armenia still suffers enormously from
poverty, perhaps, the most formidable enemy to its development.
Already four Armenian cities are members of the World Alliance of
Cities again Poverty. This is the first time Armenian cities are taking
part in such a representative forum of global contacts and it is good
opportunity to exchange information, develop city-to-city cooperation
and broaden their access to the skills, cooperation and support
available to them from different players in the development field.
As President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia,
President of the Parliament of the country having 1700 years of
Christian traditions, I would like to invite all of you to Armenia,
where in October of this year the National Assembly and the European
Union will jointly organize international conference with participation
of European different countries. The conference will be dedicated to
the development of direct cooperation of the cities and will be an
important investment in fighting poverty on local level for finding
solutions.”
Then the works of the forum continued in the working groups.
The most important event of the day for Armenia during the forum
was that among the cities of different countries, Gyumri, Aparan,
Vardenis became members of the World Alliance of Cities Against
Poverty, which will give opportunities for the implementation of
development programmes.

Commemoration of Armenian Genocide
Watertown TAB & Press, MA
March 31 2006
Friday, March 31, 2006
Rep. Rachel Kaprielian, Rep. Peter Koutoujian and Sen. Steven Tolman,
in conjunction with the State House Commemoration Planning Committee,
will host the 91st Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
on Friday, April 21, at 11 a.m., in the chamber of the House of
Representatives at the Massachusetts State House. The ceremony will
be followed by an informal reception in the Great Hall.
Buses will leave for the State House from St. James and St.
Stephen’s churches to transport participants and guests to the State
House. Participants should note that due to current increased security
measures, the process of entering the State House is slower than in
previous years. All visitors will be required to pass through metal
detectors, so extra time may be required to enter the building.
All are welcome to attend.
This year’s keynote address will be given by Dr. Henry Theriault,
associate professor of philosophy and coordinator of the Center for
Study of Human Rights at Worcester State College. His research focuses
on genocide and human rights, with specific emphasis on genocide denial
and its epistemological dimensions; the long-term impact of genocide
and other mass violence and their ethical and political implications;
and mass violence against women. Theriault has presented his work
on the Armenian Genocide around the globe, including California,
Tokyo and Beirut.
For more information, call Kaprielian at 617-722-2400.

GEORGIA PURSUES CAMPAIGN AGAINST ESPIONAGE
Molly Corso 3/31/06
EurasiaNet, NY
March 31 2006
Amid rancorous exchanges between Georgia and Russia, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili is pursuing a campaign to root out
suspected spies operating in Tbilisi.
In televised comments March 28, Saakashvili announced that individuals
spying against the Georgian government would receive amnesty if they
gave themselves up by May 1. Without going into details, he asserted
that “many” foreign agents were currently operating in Georgia.
“If they cooperate with us, I give my personal guarantee to them that
they will be absolutely untouchable regardless of what they have done
until now,” Saakashvili said. “These people should know that we have
a lot of information but we want them to cooperate with their own
country based on our country’s interests.”
Saakashvili comments came just hours after the arrest of Simon
Kiladze — a low-level official in the presidential administration
press service — for allegedly spying for an unnamed foreign
government. According to Vano Merabishvili, the minister of internal
affairs, Kiladze had been engaging in espionage since 2004.
The alleged spy had been “systematically passing to special services of
a foreign country information of a confidential nature on the Georgian
president, the heads of the country’s executive and legislature,
visits by state delegations, their meetings, issues discussed at such
meetings and other information of strategic importance,” Merabishvili
said in comments broadcast by Imedi television. The interior minister
added that Kiladze had received “a minimum of $20,000” in exchange for
information that he provided. In a telephone interview with EurasiaNet,
Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Khizanishvili said officials
Kiladze’s activities had been under investigation for “months,”
but he declined to elaborate, saying the probe into his activities
was ongoing.
Kiladze is one of many moles working inside government agencies,
Saakashvili alleged. “I am afraid this is not the only person in
the governmental structure who is engaged in this kind of activity,”
he said. “We have too much information, which we have been gathering
for a long time.” While the president implied the government already
knows the identities of at least some secret agents, he did not go
into details and did not mention one particular country.
Davit Losabaidze, a project director at the Caucasus Institute for
Peace, Democracy and Development in Tbilisi, suggested that Kiladze’s
arrest was likely connected to several foreign and domestic factors.
On the foreign front, Georgia has been experiencing growing pressure
from Russia, as the two states have argued over the political future
of the separatist South Ossetia territory. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. Domestically, Saakashvili has been facing
growing opposition.
“This [Kiladze’s arrest] is a show of strength,” Losabaidze said. “It
an example [to show] they [Georgian officials] are not going to
back down.”
The latest move in the Georgian-Russian political chess match
occurred March 30, when Moscow banned the importation of wine from
Georgia and Moldova. Russian official alleged that Georgian wines –
a major export commodity for Tbilisi – did not meet Russian safety
standards. Given that Russia is perhaps the most important market for
Georgian wine, Tbilisi reacted furiously to Moscow’s action. Georgian
officials insisted the ban was politically motivated, and said they
would have an independent lab in Switzerland test a wide selection
of the country’s wines to disprove the Russian assertions, the Civil
Georgia web site reported March 31.
In a telephone interview with EurasiaNet, Gela Charkviani,
a presidential spokesperson, declined to comment on whether the
alleged activity of Kiladze or of other supposed spies had undermined
national security, or posed a particular threat to the president’s
safety. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Charkviani
merely reiterated that Kiladze would face treason charges, adding
that no further details would be released until the completion of
the investigation.
Saakashvili has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that Georgia’s
stability was being threatened. On March 9, Saakashvili said an
“ideological war” was being waged against Georgia. “Very influential,
very rich, very important forces are engaged in discrediting Georgia
and in portraying Georgia as unstable, dangerous, unreliable [and]
non-European,” Civil Georgia quoted Saakashvili as saying. The
president and other Georgian leaders later characterized the foiled
mass prison escape in Tbilisi on March 27 as a part of a conspiracy to
destabilize Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
There are indications that the Georgia government remains very
concerned about possible destabilization. On March 31, officials
announced that Saakashvili had postponed a visit to Ukraine that
had been planned to begin on April 4. Officials gave no reason for
the postponement, or indicated when the trip would be rescheduled,
Civil Georgia reported.
Despite the fact that authorities assert they have compiled “firm”
evidence of widespread espionage in Georgia, many local analysts
wondered whether the alleged espionage posed a serious national
security threat.
Uri Simonian, a member of the political information department at
the South Caucasus Institute for Regional Security, voiced skepticism
about Saakashvili’s allegation that dozens of secret agents working
in Georgia. “I didn’t understand when they said there are a lot of
spies that operate here in the open. It is rare that a spy operates
in the open,” he said. Simonian suggested that Saakashvili was using
‘spy’ as a euphemism for critics.
Although Russia has not been openly accused by either authorities or
reports in the Georgian media in connection with Kiladze’s arrest,
Simonian said he immediately assumed that authorities were talking
about Russia, Belarus or Armenia. Simonian, who also works as a
correspondent for the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, noted
that when the president announced “a lot of spies” were working in
the county, he interpreted this as a reference to journalists working
for Russian, Armenian and Belarusian publications. “I think some
concrete steps will be taken against these journalists,” he said.
While he could not cite any specific examples, Simonian claimed that
he and his colleagues have long felt pressure from officials.
Losabaidze, meanwhile, suggested that while Saakashvili’s assertions
should be taken seriously, there also existed an incentive for the
president to play up the potential threat posed by espionage. Over
the past few weeks, several Saakashvili administration domestic
policies have faced extensive criticism. Tbilisi merchants, for one,
have staged protests in opposition to a government policy requiring
most retail businesses to record transactions using cash registers.
[For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. And on March 29,
Georgian media mogul Badri Patarkatshvili attacked the Saakashvili
administration for attempting to stifle independent media coverage of
politics. “It smells like they [officials] want to turn the public’s
attention to another topic,” Losabaidze said.
Editor’s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter and photographer
based in Tbilisi.

CASES OF POISONING OF 9 PUPILS REGISTERED ON MARCH 30 IN NERKIN GETASHEN
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. At about 12:00, on March 30, it was
informed from Martuni city hospital that 9 pupils from secondary
school N1 of the village of Nerkin Getashen were poisoned from
an unknown substance and taken to hospital. According to doctors,
their health condition is satisfactory.
According to the brief survey of RA Territorial Government Ministry
Rescue Service, at about 4:20 pm the same day it was informed from
Vanadzor “Narek” hospital that 8-year-old Mariam Hovhannisian,
a resident of Moskovian street 56 was poisoned from a soup made
from dried mushrooms and was taken to hospital. The child’s health
condition is satisfactory at present.

‘ARMENIAN’ SUES RAILA FOR DEFAMATION
By Judy Ogutu
Standard, Kenya
March 30 2006
Mr Artur Margaryan, an alleged Armenian who has been in the headlines
recently, has sued Langata MP Raila Odinga for alleged defamation.
Artur claims that Raila had defamed him at Press conferences, which
were extensively covered by the media on or about March 3, 8 and 10.
Through his lawyers, Artur claims that the former Roads minister had
published or caused the publication of malicious words to help him
escape from a legal liability to pay a debt he owes him.
At the time the alleged malicious allegations were published, they
said, their client had advanced Raila a loan that was repayable and
was due.
According to Artur, the alleged words were understood to mean he was
a mercenary, drug-dealer, a criminal, unscrupulous and a dishonest
businessman.
The words, the suit papers say, were also calculated to mean he was
a heartless person who would kill for money.
Artur says this was done to engineer his deportation by destroying
his credibility. He claims to have met Raila several times in Dubai
and Kenya.
The applicant, who is represented by Ndonye, Mbugua, Atudo and
Macharia Company Advocates, also sought an order restraining Raila
from publishing, writing or causing to be written defamatory matters
about him.
He also wants the court to award him general damages and the costs of
the suit, and to compel Raila to apologise in local and international
media “in a manner that is sufficiently prominent and commensurate
to the publication of words complained of in the suit.”
His lawyers said Artur was a businessman and director in various
companies “with concerns in more than five countries including Kenya.”
Artur, they said, had interests in real estate, construction, gemstones
and precious minerals and import and export businesses among others.