Category: News

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

AAP NEWSFEED
August 12, 2004, Thursday 9:52 AM Eastern Time
Chakhoyan hard to find; weightlifting hard to understand
By Glenn Cullen
ATHENS
Sergo Chakhoyan can be a difficult man to find.
The great hope of Australian weightlifting at the Olympics has been
locked away training in Armenia for much of the year in the hope he
can win his adopted country its first gold medal at a Games since
Dean Lukin in 1984.
In the 85kg division he will be challenged by hometown favourite and
triple Olympic gold medallist Pyrros Dimas and a handful of other
competitors for the top prize but must be considered a show given his
No.1 ranking and third place at last year’s world championships.
Chakhoyan’s mobile phone in Armenia is typically answered by his
brother, or Australian coach Luke Borreggine.
The 34-year-old, who arrives in Athens on Saturday for competition on
August 21, is invariably training, eating or sleeping.
Such is the life of a weightlifter.
The Australian Olympic Committee had some trouble getting hold of him
too.
Chakhoyan, who received a two-year suspension for the use of
stanozolol after winning the Goodwill Games with a world
record-breaking lift in 2001, has been in Armenia all year.
AOC president John Coates said there “were some issues concerning the
provision of his whereabouts information” during his three and a half
month absence.
His place on the Australian Olympic team was withheld until results
of a drugs test on July 8 was made known.
He returned a negative result and was nominated as Australia’s sole
men’s weightlifting representative.
But events before his testing also raised questions about
weightlifting in Australia.
Apparently available for May’s Oceania Championships Chakhoyan was
not selected and remained in Armenia.
Without the world No.1 and another top lifter in Alex Karapetyn,
Australia lost the overall title to Nauru – population about 12,000 –
and in the process sacrificed its second men’s spot at the Olympics.
The bungle exasperated many in weightlifting circles but
accountability or definitive reasons for the mistake have yet to be
made public.
Sam Coffa, president of the Australian Weightlifting Federation since
1983 said the issue was “sorted out” internally but said no-one was
sanctioned from the AWF.
“What happened in Fiji wasn’t entirely the fault of the coaches,
managers, whatever,” said Coffa.
“It’s not an individual’s fault, rather our own stupidity with our
selection criteria.”
For former national executive director and Los Angeles Olympics
silver medallist Robert Kabbas it’s a lot more than that.
“It’s the biggest blunder I can recall here and people want to see
someone pay for that blunder,” Kabbas said.
“There’s a lot of frustration and anger within the Australian
weightlifting community for that very reason.”
Despite simmering discontent with his former employer, Kabbas – who
said he left the AWF a year ago because of his “limited influence on
the sport” – said drug taking is not institutionalised in the sport.
“I guess it’s human nature to think that way,” said Kabbas who was
surprised by Chakhoyan’s 2001 positive.
“But I don’t think (drug taking) is institutionalised or a regime or
program that exists within the sport here, if it did you would
probably have less people testing positive.
“I genuinely believe (his non-selection for the Oceania
Championships) was just a stupid mistake.”
For his part, Chakhoyan is no Robinson Crusoe when it comes to
weightlifters and drugs in Australia.
Between 1990 and June 2004 there were 19 positive tests in Australia
and a further four lifters who refused to submit to testing and were
subsequently banned.
The figure ranks it only behind cycling in terms of positive tests
from a sport in Australia during that period.
There have been three positive tests of Australians and two failures
to comply in the last 12 months, including the bizarre incident of
Caroline Pileggi, who was originally nominated as Australia’s sole
women’s representative for Athens.
Pileggi received a two-year ban after running away from testers while
training for the Olympics in Fiji in May.
It was at a gym run by Coffa’s brother Paul.
If the tests from Australians this year were accrued in international
competition and not domestically, the International Weightlifting
Federation – of which Coffa is vice president – would have had the
power to suspend Australia from all competition for a period of up to
two years.
Coffa says, he’s just pleased that people are getting picked up if
they are taking drugs.
“It’s a concern but one positive means one less cheat,” he said.
Ultimately Kabbas just sees a sport he is passionate about, in
decline.
“I think the weightlifting scene over the last few years has been
less than ideal,” Kabbas said.
“The late 70s and 80s were seen as the golden period of Australian
weightlifting and while that may be flattering for those of us who
lifted during that period it’s not a comforting thought to know that
the golden age of your sport was some 20 years ago.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Xinhua News Agency – Spanish
August 12, 2004 Thursday 5:01 PM EST
Azerbaiyán busca ayuda de EEUU para recuperar control en áreas
perdidas con Armenia
MOSCU
Azerbaiyán está buscando la ayuda de Estados Unidos para recuperar el
control de Nagorno-Karabakh y de siete distritos vecinos que perdió
en un sangriento conflicto con Armenia en los 1990’s.
Al hablar hoy en una conferencia de prensa durante la visita a
Azerbaiyán del secretario de Defensa de EEUU, Donald Rumsfeld, el
ministro de Defensa azerbaiyano, Safar Abiyev, dijo que su país pidió
a EEUU apoyar su objetivo de recuperar el control de Nagorno-
Karabakh, un enclave poblado por armenios que se separó luego de la
desintegración de la ex Unión Soviética.
Dijo que Baku quiere que EEUU “pida a Armenia que retire sus fuerzas
de ocupación de tierra azerbaiyana”, según la agencia de noticias
Interfax.
Rumsfeld dijo que EEUU apoyó la integridad territorial de Azerbaiyán
y que espera que el conflicto sea resuelto y que Azerbaiyán mantenga
su integridad territorial.
Agregó que Washington contribuyó a desarrollar relaciones con
Azerbaiyán –un país rico en petróleo– que debe comenzar a enviar
petróleo el proximo año a occidente mediante un oleoducto que
atraviesa Georgia y Turquía.
El presidente azerbaiyano, Ilham Aliyev, dijo a Rumsfeld que
Azerbaiyán está dispuesta a fortalecer las relaciones bilaterales con
EEUU en todas las áreas.
“Nuestra cooperación se está volviendo más fuerte y creo que
continuaremos fortaleciéndo las relaciones en el futuro”, dijo Aliyev
según Interfax.
“Le damos gran importancia a las relaciones con Estados Unidos”,
señaló.
Rumsfeld, que llegó a Baku luego de una visita de un día a
Afganistán, agradeció a Azerbaiyán su apoyo en la lucha contra el
terrorismo y su ayuda a los esfuerzos de estabilización en Irak y
Afganistán.
Alrededor de 150 tropas de Azerbaiyán están laborando en el sur de
Irak como parte de la fuerza internacional en ese país.
Rumsfeld dijo en la conferencia de prensa que los programas nucleares
iraquíes son una amenaza para la región y el mundo entero. También
dijo que había discutido su preocupación acerca del programa nuclear
de Irán con Aliyev, que recientemente recibió la visita del
presidente iraní, Mohammad Khatami.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

San Antonio Express-News (Texas)
August 11, 2004, Wednesday , METRO
Cry for help over atrocities in Sudan must not be ignored
by Cary Clack
Forty years ago, the name of Kitty Genovese became synonymous with
looking the other way while someone suffered.
In the early morning hours of March 13, 1964, in a middle-class
neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, Catherine
“Kitty” Genovese was attacked three times in 32 minutes. The
assailant stalked, raped and stabbed her to death.
During the attacks, Genovese screamed, “Please help me! Please help
me!”
A subsequent police investigation revealed that at least 38 people,
in the comfort of their homes, saw or heard the attacks, but no one
came to Genovese’s aid. The one call to the police came after the
murderer had completed his crimes.
Many times, people don’t act in a time of crisis or don’t do anything
to save lives because they’re unaware of the problem. When they are
aware and still do nothing, it can be attributed to physical or moral
cowardice, sheer callousness or the bystander effect, where people
see someone in need but assume someone else will intervene to help.
Doing nothing and assuming someone else will assume responsibility is
a reason why so many crimes flourish in communities throughout this
nation.
Doing nothing and assuming someone else will assume responsibility is
a reason why millions of people in countries around the world suffer
with little hope that they will be emancipated from their pain.
In the 20th century and these infant years of the 21st, there have
been many regions of the world that were the Kitty Genoveses of the
international community; places where cries of “Please help me!
Please help me!” went unheeded or were answered inexcusably late by
nations in a position to help.
Whether the Armenian genocide in 1915-1916, the Holocaust of World
War II, Bosnia during the 1990s or the slaughter in Rwanda in 1994,
reaction to the worst of brutalities was slow.
This column space is rarely filled with topics of foreign affairs but
replace the word “foreign” with “human” and it’s appropriate.
What is happening in Darfur, in the western region of the Sudan, has
been called by the United Nations and human rights organizations the
greatest humanitarian crisis of our time and merits at least a few
words of attention.
The word “genocide” has been aptly used to describe the plight of
black Africans at the hands of Arab militias, the “Janjaweed,” who
are supported by the Sudan’s monstrous blood-soaked government.
More than a million people have been driven off their lands, women
and girls are routinely raped, more than 30,000 have died and the
U.S. Agency for International Development says that hunger and
disease will kill an additional 300,000 before the year is done.
A U.N. resolution gives the government until Aug. 30 to disarm the
militias. A Human Rights Watch report out today says the Sudanese
government’s pledge to stop the atrocities isn’t credible.
People in this and other nations can do what besieged Sudanese
farmers cannot, and that’s to appeal to their elected representatives
to do something and to contribute to agencies providing food and
medicine.
A people’s pain, no matter how close or far away, can’t be ignored.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Defense & Foreign Affairs Daily
August 12, 2004 Thursday
Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia Prepare for Revived Azerbaijan Military
Pressures
As an indication of the growing expectation that the new Azerbaijan
Government of Pres. Ilham liyev was likely to soon begin escalating
its confrontation against the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,
the autonomous enclave on August 10, 2004, ended a week of military
exercises by the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces. There were concerns
in both Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia that a visit to Baku by US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on August 11, 2004, would be seen
by Azeri officials as encouragement for Pres. liyev, who is
embattled, politically, following his assumption of power on the
death of his father, Pres. Heydar lirza oglu liyev, in 2003.
The closing of the three-stage military maneuvers in Nagorno-Karabakh
was, significantly, observed by Nagorno-Karabakh officials and a
delegation of senior Armenian military officers led by Armenian
Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian. Commenting on the exercises,
Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Col.-Gen. Mikhail Harutiunian
“positively assessed” the readiness and capability of the Karabakh
armed forces. Sarkisian said the neighboring Armenian Army served as
a guarantor of the security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh”,
but added that there was no real threat of a military conflict in the
near future and stressing that “the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh and
Armenia have declared more than once that the Armenian side does not
intend to resume military operations”.
The implication of the statement, however, was that the Azerbaijan
Government did intend to resume such operations. In the past,
however, Karabakh forces had proven decisively superior to the
Azeris.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld met with Azerbaijani Pres.
liyev and Defense Minister Safar Abiev on August 11, 2004, during a
one-day visit to Baku. Although details of the Rumsfeld visit were
not made public, he was expected to discuss plans for an expanded US
military mission in the country and review the deployment of
Azerbaijani troops in Iraq. Azerbaijani press reports also indicate
that Sec. Rumsfeld would discuss the recent visit to Baku by Iranian
Pres. Hojet ol-Eslam Mohammad Khatami. Rumsfeld previously visited
Baku in December 2003.

ARKA News Agency
Aug 12 2004
RA Foreign Minister receives the head of the U.S. delegation in OSCE
NKR NA gets ready for the first plenary session in September
*********************************************************************
RA FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES THE HEAD OF THE U.S. DELEGATION IN OSCE
YEREVAN, August 12. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
received the Head of the U.S. Delegation in OSCE, the Ambassador
Steven Manikes, RA MFA told ARKA. The parties discussed the activity
of OSCE structures and departments, OSCE Yerevan Office and wide
spectrum of issues related to regional security. The parties also
discussed Karabakh conflict, developments in settlements and
perspectives. Both parties expressed hope that Armenia-OSCE
cooperation will continue and expand. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
NKR NA GETS READY FOR THE FIRST PLENARY SESSION IN SEPTEMBER
STEPANAKERT, August 12. /ARKA/. NKR NA Vice Speaker Moushegh
Ohanjianian held a session with the participation of the
representatives of NA Standing Committees and the responsible staff
of the administration services. According to NKR NA Press Service
Department, the subject of the session was the program of NA 9th
session legislative activity, as well as preparatory work to the
first plenary session in September. The Chairmen of Standing
Committees informed about the completion stage of the bills being
developed. Corresponding recommendations and orders were given. A.H.
-0–

Diario Vasco, España
Sábado, 7 de agosto de 2004
FESTIVALES DE NAVARRA
Música armenia y teatro español

El grupo de folk armenio The Armenian Navy Band finaliza hoy el ciclo
de conciertos de Festivales de Navarra, que en su última jornada
incluye también la puesta en escena de la obra Dioses o bestias y la
clausura de la muestra fotográfica del recientemente fallecido Henri
Cartier Bresson. La clausura musical estará a cargo de Arto
Tuncboyaciyan y la Armenian Navy Band. EFE
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US DEFENCE CHIEF SAYS IRAQ ELECTIONS DISCUSSED IN BAKU
Lider TV, Baku
12 Aug 04
(Presenter, over video of Rumsfeld at news conference at Baku’s Heydar
Aliyev airport) US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to
Azerbaijan has ended.
At a news conference a short while ago Rumsfeld spoke about the
purpose of his visit to Baku. He said that the USA was in talks with
allied countries in connection with the upcoming presidential
elections in Iraq. Rumsfeld said that he had discussed this subject
during his Baku talks as well.
As for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Rumsfeld
hoped that this problem would be resolved within the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 12 2004
FOREIGN MINISTERS OF RUSSIA AND AZERBAIJAN TO FOCUS ON ANTI-TERROR
FIGHT
[August 12, 2004, 14:46:27]
AzerTAj Moscow-based correspondent reports that deputy official
representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Boris Malakhov advised
of the main topic for the negotiations to be held in the course of
the visit to the Russian capital by Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov expected on 17-19 August.
B. Malakhov noted the Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Sergey Lavrov
would pay particular attention to the problems of terrorism.
Considering that Russian and Azerbaijan have common stance concerning
the intensification of the com-bat against international terrorism,
the Minister are going to coordinate both counties’ approaches to
further close interaction – practical steps in the fight against all
forms of terrorism, he said.
According to the diplomat, the parties will also exchange views on
issues related to regional and international situation, ways of
reinforcing the central role of the United Nations in the
international arena and intensification of interaction within the
Commonwealth.
Other topics to be touched upon during the talks are deepening the
cooperation of the Russian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers both in
the Caucasus and international arena, coordination of their actions
at the international organizations, implementation of the long-term
program of interstate cooperation in humanitarian sphere adopted in
February 2004, Caspian legal status and conducting the second Caspian
Summit, and finally, settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, B.
Malakhov said.

RELATIVES OF MEMBER OF NATIONAL-DEMOCRATIC UNION LAVRENTY KIRAKOSIAN
DO NOT MAKE DECISION ON APPEALING VERDICT OF APPEALS COURT ON HIS
SENTENCING TO 1.5-YEAR IMPRISONMENT
YEREVAN, August 12 (Noyan Tapan). Relatives of Lavrenty Kirakosian,
convicted head of the Baghramian structure of the National-Democratic
Union, haven’t made a decision yet on appealing the verdict of the
Appeals Court on his sentencing to 1.5-year imprisonment. They
reported to NT’s correspondent that they will make a final decision
after consulting with Kirakosian’s lawyer. To recap, on August 10, the
Appeals Court on Criminal and Military Cases presided over by judge
Sevak Hambartsumian didn’t change the verdict of the court of the
first instance of the Armavir region. According to the verdict,
Lavrenty Kirakosian was recognized guilty in the illegal circulation
of drugs and psychotropic matters in especially great amount. The
appeal was submitted by Kirakosian and his lawyer Vardan Zurnachian.
They didn’t agree with the accusation, confirming that the “case is
fabricated” on political causes, and the drug of 59.3 grams discovered
in Kirakosian’s apartment was there “not without the interference” of
policemen. Defendant Lavrenty Kirakosian has been under arrest since
April 21. On August 21, it will be four months since his arrest and he
will get an opportunity to be liberated after 1/3 of the term of his
imprisonment goes by.