Category: News

KHATAMI PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEMORIAL OF IRAN S FIRST RULING EMPIRE IN TAJIKISTAN
IRNA web site, Tehran,
12 Sep 04
Dushanbe, 12 Sept: Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami here
on Sunday (12 September) paid tribute to a building in memory of the
first king of Iran, Isma’il Samani. The anid Empire established their
rule after ousting the Muslim Arabs who overran the country.
Khatami was accompanied during the official wreath-laying ceremony
by the Chairman of the National Assembly (Upper House) Mahmadsaid
Ubaydulloyev and several other high-ranking officials.
Presidents Khatami and Emomali Rahmonov are due to begin private
talks in a few hours.
Top Iranian and Tajik delegations will be joined by their respective
presidents in talks to be held after the end of the presidents’
private meeting.
It is expected that a number of new documents will be signed during
the talks of the Iranian and Tajik delegations detailing cooperation
in several fields.
The presidents of the two countries will also participate in a joint
press conference after the talks.
Khatami arrived in Tajikistan on Saturday on the last leg of a
three-nation regional tour of Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan.
He is accompanied by the Iranian foreign minister, minister of commerce
and minister of energy.
Khatami was officially welcomed on his arrival at the Tajik
international airport by President Emomali Rahmonov.
He is scheduled to meet the head of the Tajik National Parliament,
prime minister, members of the Tajik intelligentsia and Iranians
residing in the country.
During his four-day visit, Khatami will inspect the Sangtudeh
hydro-electric power plant and the Anzub Tunnel.
Khatami will also deliver a speech at the 8th Summit of the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) scheduled to open here on Tuesday.
At the meeting, Tajikistan will be appointed the next rotating
president of the organization. The current presidency of the
organization is held by Turkey.
The president’s week-long tour is taking place at the official
invitations of presidents Robert Kocharyan of Armenia, Alyksandr
Lukashenka of Belarus and Emomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan.

EXPERTS SAY NEW KAZAKH E-VOTING SYSTEM RULES OUT HACKING, FALSIFYING RESULTS
Khabar Television, Almaty
11 Sep 04
(Presenter) A special group of experts has checked the (Saylau)
electronic voting system. It recommended in Astana today that a state
commission pass a resolution to introduce Saylau.
Scientists and representatives from political parties carried out
the checks and said that hacking into the system and falsifying the
election results were ruled out.
An international association of election observers also received
accreditation from the Central Electoral Commission.
(Correspondent) The checking of the electronic voting system lasted
for a week. The expert group included IT specialists, including from
the National Security Committee, and representatives from political
parties – 16 people in total.
Saylau was first tested for reliability and the possibility of
falsifying the election results. The experts did not find any breaches
and loopholes for hackers.
(Nikolay Borelko, vice-president of the National Information
Technologies joint-stock company, captioned, speaking at a meeting)
One can say with confidence that the electronic voting system is
protected far more reliably from falsifying the results than the
system involving paper ballots.
(Correspondent) It now depends on the state commission whether Saylau
will be used in the forthcoming election to the Majlis (parliament’s
lower chamber scheduled for 19 September). It should pass a resolution
to introduce the new system in the election. Should the innovation
be approved, then the residents of 17 wards (of the country) at most
will be able to vote with the electronic system, the chairwoman of
the Central Electoral Commission (Zagipa Baliyeva) said at another
testing of the system today.
Zagipa Baliyeva said that the Central Electoral Commission was ready
to introduce the Saylau system in all 177 wards. However, the head
of state (President Nursultan Nazarbayev) believes that no more than
10 per cent of voters should vote using the new system, i.e. only
residents of regions which are technically more advanced.
The results of the electronic system will be known about 12 hours
earlier than those of the system involving ballot papers – this is
an advantage of Saylau.
(Zagipa Baliyeva, chairwoman of the Central Electoral Commission,
captioned, interviewed) At 2000 when voting ends (1300-1500 gmt),
a program to calculate the votes is run. At about 2005 or later,
depending how far constituencies are away (from Astana) – at 2030 we
shall know the results.
(Correspondent) Kazakhstan is the first country in the CIS to introduce
the electronic voting system and this explains the heightened attention
of international organizations to our election. Zagipa Baliyeva
handed over a further 140 observer cards today. Representatives from
the association of election observers received accreditation. The
association was set up by NGOs from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia and Ukraine in July 2004.
The Central Electoral Commission has already registered 800 (foreign)
observers.
(Video shows a meeting, people working at computers, lists of mock
candidates, people training in using the electronic system, Baliyeva
around people, Baliyeva speaking, computer screens)

CD REVIEWS: LEICESTER WAKES UP AND SMELLS THE ROSES
BY JOHN REVILL
Birmingham Post
September 11, 2004, Saturday
Kasabian – Kasabian (RCA) pounds 12.99 Once in a while comes a band
which shakes the torpid music scene to its core and creates its own
frame of reference.
Kasabian, although not for want of trying, are not one of those bands.
But this needn’t be a bad thing either, and in a sea of mediocrity
they are definitely stand-outs.
Festivals everywhere this summer were festooned with their flags,
showing a sort of Che Guevara bandit figure, so at least the band
had the marketing right.
Thankfully the music walked the walk, when Kasabian sprung into the
public consciousness earlier this year with the twin bass assault of
Club Foot.
The track, a soaring call to arms in aid of what I’m not quite sure,
sets the tone for the rest of the album, with an atmospheric soundscape
and soaring harmonies.
For while Kasabian may sound like something from Azerbaijan or Armenia,
they are actually from Leicester and owe a great deal to bands from
more northern climes.
Think the lighter moments of The Fall, mix with Stone Roses and add
a little of Primal Scream’s anarchist electro rock period (Xtrmntr),
and you are getting close.
The mighty Club Foot is followed by Processed Beats, which sounds
a little lazy in comparison, strumming merrily along like something
the Roses neglected to put on a b-side.
But Reason is Treason and I.D are back on track again with the
combination of strange keyboard sounds and scaling guitars building
up to euphoric bits.
Apparently Kasabian all live on a farm, although from some of the
rhetoric it is probably a collective farm, albeit a pretty productive
one.
Running Battle is not as fierce as it sounds, and the rest of the
album rumbles along like an impromptu riot or concert waiting to be
stopped by the police.
Apparently two of the band members gave up budding football careers
(Karloff was on the books of Aston Villa) for rock and roll.
That may be pushing it a bit, but with their mix of loud guitars,
harmonies, strange keyboard sounds and samples, they are a lot better
than Leicester City.
The second best debut of the year. HHHH

Campaign begins to ‘buy’ Mann out of prison
By Jane Flanagan in Johannesburg and Philip Sherwell, Chief Foreign Correspondent
Sunday Telegraph/UK
(Filed: 12/09/2004)
A campaign to “buy” Simon Mann out of his Zimbabwean prison cell has
been launched by wealthy friends who fear for the life of the Old
Etonian former SAS officer if he has to serve the seven-year term
handed out in Harare on Friday.
Family and supporters of the British leader of an alleged coup plot in
Equatorial Guinea believe that the appalling conditions in Chikurubi
prison will take a heavy toll on his health.
“We’re also taking as deadly serious the threats against his life
that some of the other defendants have been making,” said a close
friend. The 66 South Africans jailed with him for between 12 and 16
months months blame the 51-year-old scion of the Watney’s brewing
empire for their incarceration.
Friends have told Mann’s heavily-pregnant wife Amanda that they
will try to get him back to the family estate in Hampshire within a
year. His lawyers are not appealing against the sentence for illegally
trying to buy weapons for £100,000 in Harare in March.
Instead, they will approach businessmen and lawyers with access to
President Robert Mugabe to find out how they can secure Mann’s early
return to Britain. “We are determined to get him out of there,”
said the friend.
Although he did not go into details, it is believed that this could
involve business deals with leaders of the near-bankrupt state and
political pressure exerted through influential friends. Mr Mugabe’s
regime has already benefited materially from the arrest of Mann with
the seizure of his Boeing 727, worth about £1.5 million, and $180,000
(£100,000) in cash found on board.
Mann’s sentence was far more severe than his family and friends had
anticipated – even with time off for good behaviour, he is expected
to serve at least four years.
The arrest of his friend and former Cape Town neighbour, Sir Mark
Thatcher, in South Africa last month delivered a big setback to
sensitive behind-the-scenes efforts to secure a deal minimising his
likely sentence.
Sir Mark has denied any link to the plot to overthow President Teodoro
Obiang, the dictator of the small oil-rich west African state.
At his own request, Mann has been held in solitary confinement in a
fetid cell measuring 13ft by 4.5ft since his arrest at Harare airport
on March 7.
Prison guards have broken up a number of scuffles during previous
court appearances when the men had access to Mann. Their conviction
on aviation and immigration charges is likely to make them even more
hostile, as most had expected to be freed at Friday’s hearing.
Conditions inside the prison are squalid in the extreme. The buckets
that double as latrines often remain unemptied for weeks; the cells
lack light or ventilation and are freezing in winter and boil in
summer; lice and mosquitos thrive, feasting on the bodies of prisoners
who sleep on concrete floors without blankets or mattresses.
Inmates normally receive just one meal a day, usually gruel and
vegetables, while the most basic human comforts such as toothpaste,
soap and toilet paper are only available to those who can bribe prison
guards. Beatings are frequent.
These are now the living conditions of a man who should have been
sitting on his 20-acre estate on the Beaulieu river awaiting the
birth of his seventh child this weekend. The pictures of a gaunt
wild-haired Mann arriving for sentencing on Friday showed the impact
that six months inside Chikurubi have already had.
The campaign to free him will be expensive, but Mrs Mann wishes to
avoid selling Inchmery, the family home. Instead, she is understood
to hope that after his release, his memoirs would repay the debts.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph has learnt fresh details of how the ill-fated
plot fell apart in early March. Mann and some of his men were on
standby to fly to Equatorial Guinea to provide a “guard force” for
Severo Moto, the country’s Spanish-based opposition leader, after
what was supposed to be a domestic coup against President Obiang,
according to another Western businessman involved in the plans.
At the time, Dr Moto was waiting at a hotel in the Canary islands
with a group of fellow exiles and a handful of British and South
African business advisers. They were expecting the arrival of two
government ministers from Equatorial Guinea with news that there had
been a rebellion against the Obiang dictatorship. Meanwhile, in Malabo,
the capital of Equatorial Guinea, several leading members of Obiang’s
regime, including close members of his family, were making their own
plans to flee.
However, shortly before the Moto party learnt that Mann had been
arrested, they were also told, without explanation, that the two
ministers could not make it as far as the Canaries. So the Moto party
instead flew to Mali to meet them.
They arrived at the airfield at Bamako, the Malian capital, but again
there was no sign of the ministers, so the group reluctantly returned
to the Canaries.
There they heard even worse news. Not only were Mann and the other
alleged mercenaries in prison in Harare, but a party of 15 South
Africans and Armenians had been arrested in Malabo and accused of
planning the coup. “We realised the plans were still-born,” said a
member of the group. Dr Moto’s King Air jet was flown by Crause Steyl,
a South African pilot and businessmen who has been questioned by
police in Cape Town about Sir Mark Thatcher. Mr Steyl has said that
his company, Air Ambulance Africa, or Triple A Aviation, received
£140,000 from Sir Mark which was then passed to Logo Logistics,
a firm owned by Mann. Sir Mark has said that he believed that the
deal only covered the supply of an air ambulance.
Friends of Mann insist that his first destination after picking up
weapons and his men in Harare was eastern Congo, as he has stated. But
only some of them were to be dropped off there, to guard a mine, while
Mann and the rest would await the expected call to fly to Malabo to
provide security for Dr Moto after a coup.
Indeed, after years of talking about buying his own aircraft to make
just this sort of logistical “bus run” across Africa, he had only
just bought the Boeing 727 that was seized in Harare.
Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld in Malabo

The making of a tragedy
BY A. C. Grayling
The Times (London)
September 11, 2004, Saturday
When the Soviet Union disintegrated amid the confusion of the
anti-Gorbachev coup in 1991, some territories in its southern
regions made successful bids for independence, among them Armenia and
Georgia in the Transcaucasus, and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in central
Asia. Most were latecomers to the Russian fold, being Tsarist conquests
of the 19th century. For the inheritors of the defunct Soviet empire
their independence was deeply unwelcome, because they are rich in
natural resources, chief among them that substance whose toxic pall,
paid for by so many human lives, lies dark across the world: oil.
Exactly seven years before this week of endless Beslan funerals -on
September 9, 1997 -an agreement was signed between Russia and Chechnya
allowing oil to flow to the Russian port of Novorossiisk on the Black
Sea. It officially ended the first Chechen war, and gave the key to
why the conflict had happened. Some commentators claimed at the time
that world thirst for oil had been instrumental in bringing relative
calm not just to Chechnya but also to the whole region. Into this
volatile terrain were pouring hordes of businessmen and criminals,
scarcely distinguishable from each other, eager to profit from Caspian
oil, Turkmenistan gas, Uzbekistan cotton and Kirgiz gold.
Peace had come, the commentators continued, because the region offered
such rich opportunities that war could no longer be tolerated.
To say that this uncontrolled dash for the region’s resources had
brought peace was like saying that a fire had been extinguished
by dousing it with petrol. As American and European interests in
the region burgeoned, Russia strove to maintain its grip on those
parts of the original Soviet possessions which had not escaped into
independence. In particular, the Chechen oil pipeline -the only one
taking Caspian oil to the Black Sea -was vital, so in December 1994
the Russian army responded to Grozny’s efforts at independence by
invading, to assert Moscow’s control over the pipeline and, therefore,
the region’s economy.
The frightful war that followed, its re-ignition in 1999, the
excoriating terrorism that has spiralled from it, might have been
predicted from a single fact alone: the maze of animosities that
history and religion have between them bred, from the old Ottoman
borders in the Transcaucasus to the pass of Jiayuguan at the western
end of China’s Great Wall. It would take an epic to do it justice,
embracing as it must the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians in 1915
-in which over a million and a half were murdered -and then, working
eastwards in space and back through time, to the destroyer Genghis
Khan, who put whole cities to the sword.
For a flavour -a mere taste -of the complexities, note this: the
Georgians are Caucasians and speak a South Caucasian language,
but the Ossetians are Indo-Europeans, descended from the Alans and
related to Persians. The Ossetians practise Islam, Christianity and
paganism, and are involved in territorial disputes with Georgians and
the Ingush. Ossetians are allied with Russia, Georgians are not. Most
Georgians are Orthodox Christians, although some minorities in Georgia
are Muslim.
And so on. This passage comes from an internet letter disputing
a version of Caucasian history in which the collaboration of
Chechens with Hitler against Stalin (Hobson’s choice!) is offered
as justification for Russian attitudes to Chechnya. According to
the letter writer, the author of the anti-Chechen history does not
understand the subtleties of ethnic and religious diversity in the
region. How many outsiders, on this evidence, can? Anyway, the point
is that such diversity, once released from the grip of an overarching
police state, inevitably causes friction and fragmentation. It would
happen without the evil allure of oil, but oil makes everything
vastly worse, because into the local quarrels come dollar-laden
foreigners, buying and bribing in their desperation for the Earth’s
black blood. Control of the pipelines, accordingly, becomes a reason
for mass murder. If oil did not matter, some other prompt for fighting
would be needed; but -just perhaps -none might be found.
All this partly explains the background to the Beslan tragedy. It
does not, for absolutely nothing can, excuse it.

AZERBAIJANI EMBASSY IN GEORGIA REFUSES TO GRANT VISA FOR ARMENIAN OFFICERS
ANS
2004-09-09 18:36
Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia has not replied positively to Armenian
officers â^À^Ù request regarding visa to attend NATO training
in Baku. We donâ^À^Ùt recognize that state and are not going
to grant them visas says Azerbaijani ambassador to Georgia Ramiz
Hasanov. Armenian officers may also get visas from Azerbaijani
embassies in Turkey, Russia and Iran. Ambassador to Russia Ramiz
Rzayev said they have not received any application concerning visa
adding that it was up to foreign ministry to determine whether
to give or not. Form embassy in Turkey we were also recommended
to get in touch with foreign ministry. In his turn chief of press
service of interior ministry Matin Mirza said he had no information
regarding visa granting to Armenian officers. Foreign minister Elmar
Mammadyarov had stated earlier that official had put demands before
NATO not to invite more than three Armenians to the training. We
shall not allow Armenian side to be presented in the training as a
troop or a unit. Mr. Mammadyarov didnâ^À^Ù t exclude Armenians
not to participate in the training either.

Racist Assaults on the Rise After Terror Attacks
By Anatoly Medetsky
The Moscow Times
Monday, September 13, 2004. Page 1.
Staff Writer The recent terrorist attacks caused a spike in assaults
on dark-skinned people from the Caucasus region and elsewhere last
week, human rights activists said.
Decorated former test pilot Magomed Tolboyev said Friday that he was
assaulted by police officers during a document check near the Vykhino
metro station. The officers said he had a Chechen-sounding last name,
he said.
In Yekaterinburg, gangs of young people attacked three Armenian and
Azeri cafes, killing one person and injuring two, police said.
Authorities have blamed the downing of two planes, the explosion
near a Moscow metro station and the Beslan school siege on Chechen,
Ingush and Arab fighters and suicide bombers.
Dark-skinned people have in recent years increasingly been the targets
of racially motivated attacks — attacks that police usually write
off as hooliganism. But the increase over the past week can only be
attributed to the terror attacks, said Alexander Brod, director of
the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.
“Anti-Caucasian sentiments always get stronger after terrorist
acts,” Brod said. “People blame everyone in the Caucasus. This is
the stereotype in people’s minds.
“Unfortunately, the authorities don’t do a good job explaining that
terrorism doesn’t have a nationality,” he said.
Tolboyev, an assistant to State Duma Deputy Viktor Semyonov and a
native of Dagestan, said two police sergeants stopped him to check
his papers Thursday near Vykhino in Moscow’s southern outskirts.
He showed them his Duma ID and told them that he had been decorated
with the title Hero of Russia, which he received for his participation
in the Soviet space shuttle program, Interfax reported.
The officers took the ID. When Tolboyev attempted to get it back,
one of the officers went behind him, put his arm around his neck and
began to strangle him, Tolboyev said.
“My throat still aches, and I haven’t been able to swallow for two
days,” he said, Interfax reported.
Asked by telephone Friday why the officers had confronted him, Tolboyev
said, “I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t like something about me.”
Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin confirmed Sunday that police
had stopped Tolboyev to check his documents. But he said a police
investigation found that Tolboyev had been treated properly considering
his “disobedience, aggression and abuse.” He did not elaborate.
Tolboyev said he was stopped as he was returning from the North
Ossetian administration’s office in Moscow, where he had expressed
his condolences over the school siege.
He said he finally got back his ID.
In the Urals, a group of young people broke furniture in the Azeri
Kaspy cafe in Yekaterinburg on Thursday night and then hurled in
Molotov cocktails, according to news reports. A 52-year-old relative
of the cafe’s owner died in the fire, which gutted the building.
That same night, about 20 young people armed with sticks and chains
broke into an Armenian cafe, Oasis Plus, and beat the Armenian staff,
wounding four. Two were hospitalized with skull and brain injuries,
news reports said.
Attackers tossed Molotov cocktails in another Armenian cafe, the
Shartash, on Thursday night, but the staff was able to douse the
flames before anyone was injured.
In a fourth attack Thursday, unidentified men set fire to the U Davida,
an Armenian cafe in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, a village near Yekaterinburg,
police said. Cafe staff quickly put out the fire.
Yekaterinburg police said they have detained two suspects but dismissed
any possible racial motive in the attacks, calling them hooliganism.
“They are in no way related to Beslan or any ethnic issues,” said
Valery Gorelykh, spokesman for the Sverdlovsk regional police, which
includes the city of Yekaterinburg.
Mikhail Matevosyan, deputy chairman of the regional Armenian
association Ani-Armenia, said he has no doubt that the cafe attacks
were connected to the recent terrorist attacks.
Whenever Chechen rebels score a victory over federal troops in Chechnya
or commit terrorist attacks, groups of young people begin targeting
Caucasus natives, he said.
“They probably think, ‘You hit us there, and we’ll hit you here,'”
he said by telephone from Yekaterinburg.
He ruled out a Armenian-Azeri turf war as a possible reason for
the attacks.
Elsewhere, four young men with close-cropped hair beat to death a North
Korean citizen in Vladivostok the weekend after the school siege ended,
Noviye Izvestia reported. Unidentified assailants painted a swastika
on the gate of a Jewish cemetery in Irkutsk on the night of Sept. 6-7,
the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights said.
From: Baghdasarian

Azerbaijan’s president hopes meeting with Armenian counterpart will clarify
Nagorno-Karabakh process
AP Worldstream
Sep 11, 2004
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said Saturday that he hopes a meeting
next week with his Armenian counterpart will give indications of
whether the sides are making progress in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under
control of ethnic Armenian forces for more than a decade. A cease-fire
was signed in 1994 after Azerbaijani forces were driven out, but
the enclave’s final status has not been resolved and shooting still
breaks out sporadically along the “line of control” that separates
the enclave from the rest of Azerbaijan.
Talks under the auspices of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe have not made visible progress in recent years,
although hopes had risen in 2001 that a settlement was near.
Aliev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian are to meet on Wednesday
at a summit of leaders of former Soviet republics in Kazakhstan’s
capital Astana.
“The meeting in Astana may bring clarity as to what stage we’re at:
coming closer to an agreement or moving in opposite directions,”
Aliev told reporters.
As the Nagorno-Karabakh question drags on, Aliev increasingly has
suggested a resumption of fighting is possible.
“The people should be prepared for freeing the territory by the
military route,” Aliev said Saturday.

OPENING CEREMONY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL NAMED AFTER ZARIFA ALIYEVA IN BARDA
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV ATTENDED THE CEREMONY
Azertag
September 11, 2004
A solemn opening ceremony of the secondary school named after renowned
ophthalmologist, Academician Zarifa Aliyeva was held on September 11
in the city of Barda. President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev
attended the ceremony.
Tens of thousands of the Barda residents gathered near the school
building to meet the Head of State. They greeted President Ilham
Aliyev with warm cheers. A monument to Academician Zarifa Aliyeva
sculpted by Peopleâ^À^Ùs painter of Azerbaijan, Academician Omar
Eldarov had been erected in front of the school building. President
Ilham Aliyev unveiled the monument and laid flowers at its pedestal.
Opening remarks were made by Head of Barda Executive Power Elman
Allahverdiyev.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the ceremony as well.
Greeting the citizens of Barda, the Head of State congratulated them
on the occasion of the opening new school. I am especially happy
that the school build in the ancient Karabakh land bears the name of
outstanding scientist, good doctor, Zarifa Aliyeva, the spouse and
friend of our national leader Heydar Aliyev, and my mother, thank
you so much, he said.
The President noted as well that the newly built school meets
modern requirements, and expressed confidence that children would be
prived here with high-level education. Speaking of the development
of education in the country he mentioned that the budget spends 20%
on solving the problems of and develop this sphere. Over 4500 schools
will be equipped with modern computers and provided with the access
to the Internet that will become a revolution in our education as
compared with other countries of the region, the Head of State said..
Touching upon the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan, President
Ilham Aliyev noted that the state budget increases every year, and
its funds would be mainly spent on solving social problems. Our goal
is to provide better life for our citizens, and I donâ^À^Ùt doubt
we will reach the goal, he said.
The President also dwelt on the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. He
emphasized that although a compromise may play an important role in
resolution of any problem, no compromise, however, is possible in
relation to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
We want the problem to be solved peacefully, we want peace, but we
must be ready to liberate our land by military way at any moment,
the Azerbaijani leader said.
In conclusion, President Ilham Aliyev once again congratulated the
Barda citizens on the school opening and wished them good health
and happiness.

Azeri police disperse yet another anti-Armenian protest
Turan news agency
11 Sep 04
Baku, 11 September: Reinforced police units foiled a protest today
against the arrival of Armenian officers in Baku to attend NATO
exercises [on 13-26 September].
The protest was staged by activists of the Karabakh Liberation
Organization and members of other public and political organizations
and was held in the Avenue of Martyrs. After visiting the Avenue
of Martyrs, the protesters moved towards the Cabinet of Ministers
headquarters but were stopped by the police.
The efforts of police chiefs to persuade the protesters to stop their
action did not yield any results. The pickets started a march chanting
“Karabakh or Death!”.
Law-enforcement officers stopped several protesters and took them into
buses ordering the drivers to take them to the nearest metro stations.
Some of the protesters told journalists that they viewed the police’s
actions as a sign of the authorities’ attitude towards the Karabakh
problem.