Category: News

Dutch authorities arrest alleged Kurdish rebels at training camp
by TOBY STERLING; Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
November 12, 2004 Friday 3:06 PM Eastern Time
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Dutch authorities rounded up 38 suspected
members of a Kurdish rebel group in nationwide raids Friday, including
“trainees” allegedly being prepared at a rural campground for terrorist
attacks in Turkey, officials said Friday.
Authorities said the detainees are members of the former Kurdish
Workers’ Party, or PKK, which seeks to carve out an independent
Kurdish state in the mountains of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
The group, which recently renamed itself KONGRA-GEL, has been branded
a terrorist organization by the European Union.
“In the investigation it emerged that at the campground more than 20
people received training for armed fighting for the PKK in Turkey,
among other means by committing terrorist attacks,” a statement by
prosecutors said. “Trainees were taught special war tactics.”
There were also indications that “a number of the trainees were
destined for Armenia,” it said.
More than 200 police were involved in the second major operation
in the Netherlands in a week, after special forces used tear gas
Wednesday to end a standoff with alleged Islamic radicals in The
Hague. Prosecutors said the two operations were not related.
Prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin said the suspected Kurdish rebels
had been under observation for several months and that “the course
was nearly finished.”
“We wanted to prevent the group from leaving the country and putting
to use the knowledge they had gained,” he said.
In Friday’s raid of the alleged paramilitary training camp in the
far south of the Netherlands, police seized night vision goggles,
packages of clothing intended to be sent abroad, instruction materials,
fake passports and identity cards. Twenty-nine suspects were arrested.
“Apparently there’s been a training center there for a long time,
and that’s why it was decided to step in,” Jan van Homelen, mayor of
the nearby town of Boxtel said on national television.
Nine others were arrested in separate raids in The Hague, Rotterdam,
Eindhoven, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, and the town of Capelle aan
den Ijssel.
The rebels ended a five-year unilateral cease-fire in June and
have carried out a number of attacks recently, most in Turkey’s
predominantly Kurdish southeast.
The group has been on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations since
April, and Dutch prosecutors said those arrested Friday will likely
be charged as members.
Other detainees allegedly arranged money transfers, passports to PKK
members in Turkey and Armenia, and aided communication between rebel
fighters, prosecutors said.
The suspects, whose names were not released, were 33 men and five
women.
Van Homelen said the suspects did not appear to have used weapons or
explosives in their training, which he described as “more theoretical.”
Prosecutors said the suspects said they were Kurdish but they were
all considered Turkish nationals by the Dutch state.
No names were released.
On Monday, The Hague’s district court blocked the extradition of
alleged PKK leader Nuriye Kesbir to Turkey for her suspected role
in a series of bombings in the 1990s. The Justice Ministry said it
would appeal the decision.

ARMENIA AGREES TO RESUME THE PRAGUE TALKS ON THE SETTLEMENT IN KARABAKH
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
November 12, 2004, Friday
Armenia is ready to resume the Prague talks on the settlement in
Karabakh and lead them until the complete settlement, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told in an interview with radio
Liberty. In his words, considerable results were achieved at the
first round of talks in Prague. “We’ll be able to enhance the results
at the second round of the Prague Talks,” the minister said and added
that Armenia has already given its accord to launch the second round
of talks. Oskanyan thus denied statements by the official Baku that
Armenia asked that the talks be postponed so that it could think its
stance over. Commenting on the issue concerning the occupied
territories in the UN, Oskanyan called this “a serious mistake of
Azerbaijani diplomacy.” In his words, Azerbaijan doesn’t have to hope
that the Prague Talks could be conducted simultaneously with the
discussions in the UN. “We either work in the framework of the Minsk
OSCE Group or official Baku deals with the leaders of Nagorny
Karabakh,” Oskanyan said.

Xinhua News Agency.
November 12, 2004 Friday 7:00 AM EST
Ice dancing results of Cup of China figure skating
BEIJING
Following are the ice dancing results from Cup of China figure
skating competition, the fourth- leg of the ISU Grand Prix series in
Beijing on Friday:
Ice Dancing after original dance:
1. Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto, United States, 105.00
2. Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski, Israel, 100.84
3. Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon, Canada, 100.36
4. Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin, Russia, 86.92
5. Kristin Fraser/Igor Lukanin, Azerbaijan, 76.48
6. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabien Bourzat, France, 73.86
7. Nora Hoffmann/Attila Elek, Hungary, 73.63
8. Anastasia Grebenkina/Vazgen Azrojan, Armenia, 67.69

ARKA News Agency
Nov 12 2004
ISC-Star Company does not plan to stop its activity at
telecommunication market of Armenia
Today Armenian IP telephony companies hold protest action near
armenian Parliament building
Estonian President to arrive in Armenia with official visit on
November 13-16
The exhibition of Armenian goods and services to be held in Tbilisi
on March 16-18, 2005
Armenian Government allocates AMD 40 mln for providing accommodation
to 66 families in village of Lernadzor of Syunik marz
*********************************************************************
ISC-STAR COMPANY DOES NOT PLAN TO STOP ITS ACTIVITY AT
TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET OF ARMENIA
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. ISC-Star Company does not plan to stop
its activity at telecommunication market of Armenia, press service of
the company told ARKA. According to the statement of the company,
ISC-Star plans to realize its projects using high professional
potential of personnel and acting in the frames of RA Constitution
and international law. “We don’t participate in political games and
do not have any geopolitical or party orientation. We were dealing,
are dealing and will be dealing only with business”, press release
states.
Note ISC Star planned to submit application for participation in the
tender for provision of mobile communication services.
On Nov 4, 2004 RA Government recognized K-Telecom the winner in the
contest for provision of mobile communication.
Armenian-Russian JV ISC Star was registered in Armenia on September
24, 2001. The founders of the JV are both juridical entities and
individuals from some foreign countries, including Russia (Komin LLC
and LanRusinvest OJSC), as well as the residents of RA. The unified
system of Star (ISC Star) includes over 100 nets of IP communication
and paging all over the world. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
TODAY ARMENIAN IP TELEPHONY COMPANIES HOLD PROTEST ACTION NEAR
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Today Armenian IP telephony companies
held action protest near the building of RA Parliament.
Representatives of about 200 IP telephony companies demanded audience
by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Arthur Baghdasaryan for
delivering him an open letter signed by circa 10 thou Armenian
citizens. As Armenak Khachatryan, Representative of organizational
committee of IP telephony companies, Director of Deltacom told ARKA,
the protesters demand that the Parliament reviewed license of
ArmenTel, which was granted IP telephony monopoly. The
representatives of the organizational committee were received by
Tigran Torosyan, the RA NA Vice-Speaker, who promised to pass the
letter over to the Speaker and to intercede for their meeting with RA
Prime-Minister. The IP telephony companies plan to hold a rally on
Liberty Square, if approved by the Municipality.
To remind, the Armenian IP telephony companies started a one-day
strike in protest against granting ArmenTel with IP telephony
monopoly. 95% of companies on IP market take part in the strike.
On November 3, RA Government made a decision on making amendments to
the licence of ArmenTel Telecommunications Company. According to the
amendments, ArmenTel is deprived of its monopoly right to provide
GSM-services and portable satellite communications services. Also,
the company is deprived of its monopoly right to Internet traffic in
Armenia. At the same time, the company is given monopoly right to
IP-telephony, which will bring to closing down 250 companies
operating in that sphere. L.V. –0–
*********************************************************************
ESTONIAN PRESIDENT TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA WITH OFFICIAL VISIT ON
NOVEMBER 13-16
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. On November 13-16 Estonian President
Arnold Ruutel and his spouse will arrive in Armenia with official
visit. As Armenian President Press Service told ARKA, the main
purpose of the visit is fostering of development of inter-state
relations, deepening of bilateral cooperation, defining of further
economic interrelations as well as discussion of a number of issues
of mutual interest. On November 15 the presidents will have
tete-a-tete conversation after which the bilateral negotiations will
be continued in enlarged format.
During his visit Arnold Ruutel will meet the Armenian Speaker Arthur
Baghdasaryan, and PM Andranik Magarian. As it is mentioned in the
press release, the Estonian President will meet Catholicos of All
Armenians His Holiness Garegin II in Holy See of Echmiadzin as well
as will lay a wreath to the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide of
1915. During Ruutel’s official visit there will be held
Armenian-Estonian business forum. The Estonian President also will
meet lecturers and students of the Yerevan State University. He also
will visit historical sites of Armenia. On November 16, the
delegation headed by Estonian president will leave Armenia. T.M. –0–
*********************************************************************
THE EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN GOODS AND SERVICES TO BE HELD IN TBILISI
ON MARCH 16-18, 2005
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. On March 16-18, 2005, the first
exhibition of Armenian goods and services “Armenia today EXPO 2005”
will be held in Tbilisi. According to LOGOS EXPO Center, products of
food, machine-tool, stone-working, chemical industries and products
of electrical technice and electronics industry, building materials,
paints and varnishes of Armenian production, services in the sphere
of cargo and passengers transportation will be exhibited. The main
goal of the exhibition is to advance export of Armenian products,
establish mutually advantageous business cooperation with Georgian
business circles and promoting the established relations.
According to the press-release, the area under the exposition will
make 450 square meters, and 38 companies already are willing to
participate in it as of November 10, 2004.
LOGOS EXPO Center is acknowledged for organizing the exhibition with
the general support of RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development
and the official support of RA MFA and the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia. A.H.—0–
*********************************************************************
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES AMD 40 MLN FOR PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION
TO 66 FAMILIES IN VILLAGE OF LERNADZOR OF SYUNIK MARZ
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Armenian Government allocates AMD 40
mln for providing accommodation to 66 families in village of
Lernadzor of Syunik marz. As Armenian Government Public and Press
Relations Department told ARKA, the Armenian Finance and Economy
Ministry is instructed to allocate the envisaged by the budget lump
sums to deposit accounts of the agent banks of the mentioned
families. As the press release mentions that non-refundable financial
assistance will be directed at implementation of construction or
purchase of accommodation. (1 AMD – 503.47). T.M. –0–
*********************************************************************
–Boundary_(ID_F30XQCSxhZ6w+527tuRS6w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ecumenical News International, Switzerland
Nov 12 2004
Christians mourn Arafat’s loss to Palestinians; see risk, opportunity
Michele Green
Ramallah, West Bank (ENI). Christian leaders in the Holy Land have
expressed sorrow at the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and
said they would be present at his funeral in Cairo and burial in
Ramallah.
In reactions from around the world, some church leaders noted that
Arafat’s death presented both opportunity and risk to the peace
process in the region.
Hailing Arafat as the man who put the Palestinian people on the world
map, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the most senior Roman Catholic
cleric in the region, said his death due to an unknown illness at a
hospital in France on Thursday “was a great loss to the Palestinian
people”.
“He succeeded in the recognition of the rights of the Palestinian
people so today everyone, all the governments even Israel, is
convinced that one day a Palestinian state must be created for the
Palestinian people,” said Sabbah, the first Palestinian to head the
Catholic Church in the Holy Land.
He said Arafat had tried to help Palestinian Christians by attending
Christmas services at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and
also by taking political measures to assist the stature of the
dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican secretary of state, said: “The
holy father [Pope John Paul II] prays to the prince of peace that the
star of harmony will soon shine on the Holy Land and that the two
peoples dwelling therein may live reconciled among themselves as two
independent and sovereign.”
Anglican Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal from St George’s Cathedral in East
Jerusalem, said, “The death of Yasser Arafat is a great loss
certainly to the Palestinian people but also to all who are after
peace with justice.” He noted, “We as members of the Christian
community feel the same loss if not more because of his real concern
for the Palestinian Christians, institutions and holy places.”
Bishop Arris from the office of the Armenian Patriarch in Jerusalem
said the Armenian community had always respected Arafat as the
elected leader of the Palestinian people. “He has always been a good
listener to the Christian requests and seemed to be the voice of
moderation in this regard,” he said.
Members of all the local churches said they would send high level
delegates to Arafat’s military-style funeral in Cairo and burial at
his battered compound in Ramallah on 13 November.
“Yasser Arafat was a man who will be remembered in radically
different and often contradictory ways,” said Lutheran World
Federation President Bishop Mark Hanson and General Secretary Rev.
Ishmael Noko in a joint statement.
“For many, he was the personification of the Palestinian struggle for
self-determination and independence, a freedom-fighter, an heroic
leader, a father figure,” they said. “For others he was an implacable
foe, an obstacle to peace. For Palestinian Christians, he was a
strong supporter of their religious rights and freedoms, and always
attentive to their place and their importance in the Holy Land.”
The Lutheran leaders said although the consequences of Arafat’s death
were unpredictable, it presented “opportunity as well as risk”. They
called on the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to grasp the
opportunity to renew active commitment to dialogue instead of
violence.
They also called on the US government and the other members of the
Quartet – the United Nations, European Union and Russia – involved in
shaping an international policy towards resolution of the
Israel-Palestine conflict, to re-engage in the search for peace.
Peter Weiderud, director of the World Council of Churches’ commission
on international affairs said: “In solidarity with the Palestinian
people, the World Council of Churches will continue to work for human
rights, sustainable livelihoods, medical care and basic freedoms, in
the days and years that lie ahead and until there is peace.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Mother Jones, CA
Nov 12 2004
“Success” in Fallujah?
On Thursday, as the military entered what it called “Phase Two” of
the battle in Fallujah, U.S. commanders were careful to stress that
they were far from victory in Iraq. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, warned Americans: “If anybody thinks
that Fallujah is going to be the end of the insurgency in Iraq, that
was never the objective, never our intention, and even never our
hope.” Marine Capt. John Griffin sounded a similarly cautious note:
“Claiming the city is secure doesn’t mean that all the resistance is
gone, it just means that we have secured the area and have control.”
By all accounts, their caution was well-advised. Even as the military
could boast that it had taken half the city and killed over 600
insurgents, larger strategic setbacks were making themselves known.
Reports were coming in that most of the key foreign
fighters—including public terrorist #1 Abu Musab Zarqawi—had fled the
city. Insurgents were opening up a second front in Mosul, and attacks
were mounting in Baghdad, Tikrit, Karbala, Baquba, Baiji, Haz, and
elsewhere. Az-Zaman reported that hundreds of Sunni Arabs in Tikrit
and Huwaijah took to the streets to protest the incursion into
Fallujah.
On the political front, the only major Sunni party that had been
committed to the electoral process, the Iraqi Islamic Party, is now
threatening to sit out the January elections. A Sunni boycott of the
elections would deprive the elected National Assembly of much-needed
legitimacy, and risk throwing the country into sectarian war.
Already, Shiite leaders are tacitly condoning this Fallujah
assault—in stark contrast to the April incursion—perhaps counting on
larger gains in the elected government should the Sunnis be
disenfranchised.
The question, then, is how the U.S. will know whether it is winning
this conflict, in both the short and the long term. The Financial
Times today asked military experts to opine on the chances of success
in Fallujah. A consensus emerges that the U.S. should be able to take
the city: The Marines, after all, have been conducting urban war
games since the late 1990s and they’re extremely well-trained for
this sort of scenario. Holding the city, however, is another
matter—and the track record here is bleak. The last insurgent
stronghold that was retaken by the U.S., Samarra, is now slipping
back into chaos. One British military official says, “[T]he jury is
still out on whether Samarra was a success.” Peter Khalil, formerly
of the CPA, notes that “[m]ilitary forces, by their very nature, are
not trained specifically to hold cities like that.” A more high
profile and effective counter-insurgency strategy would likely
require more troops, experts say. But no troops are on the way, and
Iraqi troops have not yet shown themselves up for the task.
As for the question of “What comes after Fallujah?”, several recent
reports have indicated that foreign fighters may be moving to Mosul,
a major city in northern Iraq that has been steadily deteriorating
over the past few weeks. Mosul’s population is six times that of
Fallujah, and it is already a source of ethnic tension. As with
Kirkuk, many Kurds were driven out of the city during the 1990s,
replaced by an influx of strongly pro-Saddam Sunnis. The Kurds would
love to take Mosul, and its oil fields, back—the U.S. had to force
Kurdish peshmerga troops out of the city in the early days of the
war. There are also large numbers of Turkomen, Christians, Armenians,
Shiiites, and Yezidis living in the city. If there’s any place where
the insurgents could provoke serious ethnic violence, Mosul is it.
Meanwhile, a former Republican National Guard commander has been
bragging that the “resistance” controls over 16 cities in Iraq, as
well as some key suburbs of Baghdad. If this is true—a big
“if”—Fallujah could be only the start of a wider war.
U.S. commanders are hoping it won’t come to that. The new Pentagon
strategy for Iraq counts on a win in Fallujah to act as a “tipping
point” that isolates the foreign fighters and lure disgruntled Sunni
fighter back into the political process. As one senior official
involved in drafting the Pentagon’s new Iraq strategy told the
Washington Post: “The aim is to drive a wedge between the Sunni Arab
rejectionists and the incorrigibles. Many in the rejectionist group
feel disenfranchised and are being intimidated. They need to be
relieved of that yoke and engaged, while the extremists need to be
isolated, captured or killed.”
But for this strategy to work, the U.S. will need far better
intelligence on the insurgency itself. The track record here is also
bleak. On Monday, Michael Schuer, the former chief of the C.I.A.’s
Osama bin Laden unit, noted that “we still don’t know how big [al
Qaeda] is. We still, today, don’t know the order of battle of Al
Qaeda.” The same goes for U.S. intelligence on the Iraqi
insurgency—estimates on its strength vary widely, as do reports on
the murky role that foreign terrorists like Abu Musab Zarqawi play in
the movement. (No one has even been able to figure out how many legs
Zarqawi has.) Without better intelligence, no one can know what the
metrics for military success really are.
That leaves elections as the great hope for Iraq. On the positive
side, preparations for January elections are going better than
expected. Voter registration is proceeding on schedule, and the
European Union has recently pledged increased financial and
logistical assistance for the elections. UN officials are now
expressing cautious optimism that the elections will proceed as
planned.
Yet Iraq’s political future lays very much in doubt, now that major
Sunni political parties are threatening to boycott the election. As
Sunnis steer away from the political process, Shiite Iraqis, who make
up 60 percent of the population, are looking to consolidate their own
electoral gains. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the pre-eminent Shiite
cleric in Iraq, is organizing a unified party list that should garner
most of the Shia vote. What will be important is whether or not the
Shiites, who make up 60 percent of the population, will benefit from
high voter turnout and win more than 75 percent of the seats in the
Assembly. If so, the Shiites in the elected National Assembly would
be able to modify the nation’s constitution at will, as sociology
professor Andrew Arato has noted in his study of the constitutional
process.
All of the Shiite parties support a strong centralized government and
plan to institute Islamic law as the law of the land. They may differ
on details—Sistani, for instance, thinks the religious clergy should
stay out of politics, while Moqtada al-Sadr envisions an Iran-style
theocracy—but they agree on the big picture, and will likely come up
with a unified vision for the future of Iraq. But heavy-handed Shiite
domination could incite the Sunnis to continue their insurgency; even
worse, it could drive Kurdish leaders in the North to demand
independence, and take it by force if they need to. While civil war
is no certainty, its probability increases by the day.
It will be difficult to tell what comes of Fallujah. The U.S. and the
Iraqi interim government will need to hold and rebuild the city, a
process that could take months. It will be more difficult still to
determine whether the insurgency has actually been quelled—there have
been temporary lulls in violence in the past, and the Pentagon has
often mistakenly believed that it had vanquished the insurgents.
Thereafter, the U.S. will need to draw the Sunnis back into the
political process—the same Sunnis who have had their homes bombed,
cities leveled, and families displaced. Thus far, there have been
virtually no signs of long-term success, and hence we have no way of
knowing for sure what the future of Iraq will look like.
– Bradford Plumer
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NATO Chief Affirms Expansion Of Security Force In West Of Country
By Nikola Krastev
Radio Free Europe, Czech republic
Nov 12 2004
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has affirmed that the
alliance plans to expand its operations into western Afghanistan in
advance of the next round of elections. Yesterday, de Hoop Scheffer
told the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent policy
institute, that extra NATO battalions will be committed to help
safeguard parliamentary elections due to be held in the spring. There
are currently about 9,000 NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, most of
them in the Kabul area. De Hoop Scheffer did not say how many new
forces would be committed to the country.
New York, 12 November 2004 (RFE/RL) — NATO Secretary-General Jaap de
Hoop Scheffer said yesterday that the current situation in
Afghanistan makes it logistically viable for the alliance to expand
its operations there.
“We have lived up to our promises, and at the moment the signs are
good that NATO is going to expand ISAF — the International Security
Assistance Force — into the west of Afghanistan,” de Hoop Scheffer
said. “We have covered the north now with a number of so-called
Provincial Reconstruction Teams. We will now go west, setting up what
we call a ‘forward support base’ in Herat, and then we want to move
counterclockwise to the south and the southeast of Afghanistan, as
well.”
De Hoop Scheffer said that NATO’s forces in the country have, in
general, been received well by the Afghan people. Asked why NATO,
originally created to provide security for Western Europe, is now
operating in Afghanistan, the secretary-general said the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001 brought about a major shift in NATO
policy.
“What is NATO doing in Afghanistan? Defending values at the Hindu
Kush in the present day international climate,” Scheffer said. “We
have to fight terrorism wherever it emerges. If we don’t do it at the
Hindu Kush, it will end up at our doorstep. In other words, this
perception gap in the long run must be closed and must be healed —
that is, for NATO’s future, of the utmost importance.”
Another priority for NATO in Afghanistan, he said, will be providing
additional security during parliamentary elections, scheduled for
April. The secretary-general said that extra NATO battalions will be
committed.
De Hoop Scheffer described NATO’s operations in Afghanistan as a
“moderate success.” But he warned that without deeper involvement by
the international community in the fight against drug production and
drug trafficking in Afghanistan, NATO’s ability to ensure the
country’s stability will be limited.
Referring to Afghanistan’s neighbors, de Hoop Scheffer underlined the
strategic role the Central Asian states play in the fight against
terrorism. Having just returned from a trip to Central Asia and the
Caucasus, de Hoop Scheffer said he envisions closer cooperation with
these states.
“We need, by the way, Central Asian nations, and the Caucasian
nations [to] play an important role in supporting the ISAF operation
because we need the lines of communication — to say in military
terms — [and] transit agreements with the Central Asians, to see
that we can adequately run the ISAF operation in Afghanistan,”
Scheffer said.
De Hoop Scheffer said Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia have all
expressed interest in closer cooperation with NATO in its Partnership
for Peace program.
“They all want to extend their partnership with NATO. Even Armenia
has now applied for the so-called Individual Partnership Action
Program, which means that we are going to develop a tailored,
Armenia-tailored partnership program with that country, with
Yerevan,” Scheffer said. “That goes for the Central Asian nations, as
well. So that partnership is developing very well.”
De Hoop Scheffer stressed that Turkey is playing a particularly
active role in the Partnership for Peace program.

NBC4.TV, CA
Nov 12 2004
Fugitive Wanted For Road Rage Slaying In Custody
Man Arrested In Armenia
LOS ANGELES — Authorities say that a fugitive wanted for allegedly
running down a man in a road-rage slaying in Universal City, Calif.,
in 2000 is in custody in downtown Los Angeles Friday morning following
his arrest in Armenia.
Shahen Keshishian, 32, was wanted for the murder of freelance film
editor Michael Craven, 44, of Canoga Park, Calif., on the southbound
Hollywood Freeway on April 29, 2000.
Authorities said the arrest in Armenia on Saturday climaxed an effort
by the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Glendale Police
Department.

Family fights to stay in U.S.
By GARY HARMON
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO
Nov 12 2004
The Daily Sentinel
Residents from two tiny western Colorado towns are trying desperately
to slow the federal government in time to prevent the deportation of
a family that friends said personify American values.
Four members of the Sargsyan family of Armenia are in custody in the
Denver Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Members of the
senior class at Ridgway High School plan to demonstrate Saturday
in front of the center for their classmate, Hayk. More than 1,500
people have signed a petition asking for agencies of the Department
of Homeland Security to slow, and reverse, the deportation of the
Sargsyans.
In addition to Hayk, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took into
custody his brother, Gevorg, sister Meri and father, Ruben.
The four were taken into custody last week after a hearing in which
they anticipated being able to post bail.
In the center of the swirl of events is Nvart Indinyan, the eldest
daughter of the family, who for the moment is free.
“They looked so good in their suits and ties and white shirts,”
Nvart said. Bail was denied, though, and her relatives were swept
away to custody.
“They won’t even let me see them,” Nvart said.
Also at stake for Nvart is her opportunity to remain in the United
States and care for her 8-year-old son, Joseph.
“They’re good people,” said Sherman Williams, a former Ridgway town
marshal. “It just breaks my heart to see what’s going on. I don’t
know what’s going on with the federal government. (The Sargsyans’)
have good religion, good family values.”
They’ve also seen a run of unfortunate events.
One attorney they hired to handle their cases was disbarred for his
mishandling of it, another simply couldn’t keep up with the volume
of work associated with their tangled web of family cases.
Now, the Sargsyans are hoping a third attorney will be able to file
a suit that will stop everything and allow them to work out their
problems.
For that, though, they need money.
Kelvin B. Kent of Ouray said town residents have outdone themselves
to raise cash for the family.
The Sargsyans, Kent said, are “innocent victims of other people’s
misdoings.”
Those misdeeds, Nvart said, began in 1994 when she met and married
an American in Armenia in 1994 and moved to America.
Her new husband, however, left behind a string of broken promises
and took with him thousands of dollars from people for whom he said
he could obtain visas to the United States.
Her family was hounded for the money in Armenia and she prevailed on
her husband to bring her kin to America, which he did, on student
visas. She was on a business visa as an associate of her husband,
she said.
Her husband refused to obtain permanent papers for her or the family.
Soon after her family arrived, Nvart sued for divorce and started a
long custody struggle.
Her ex-husband disappeared and she believes him to be in Germany
“doing harm to someone else,” she said.
Nvart remarried five years ago and her husband, Lloyd “Max” Noland,
moved to adopt his new wife’s brothers to protect them from the
possibility of deportation, she said.
Immigration officials, however, has refused to recognize the adoption,
citing Nvart’s own entry into the United States as a ruse — a charge
she denies and points to another immigration judge’s ruling that
there was no fraud in her own case.
In any case, she said, it shouldn’t matter because Noland is a citizen.
The last she heard from her brothers, their photographs had been taken,
she said.
“That’s a bad sign” because people about to be sent out of the country
are photographed, she said.
Her father’s condition while in custody is unknown, she said, while
officials have sent a psychologist in to visit with Meri, Nvart said.
Her mother, Susan, is awaiting more court rulings.
The family’s legal wranglings have cost tens of thousands of dollars
earned on double shifts, holding down two jobs and other work,
she said.
“The community has raised more than $11,000, but we now urgently need
a minimum of $16,000 to pay the last two legal bills and provide a
retainer for the next stage” of filing suit, Kent said.
Donations can be made to the Sargsyan Legal Fund, P.O. Box 774,
Ridgway 81432, he said.
Nvart said she fears that she will be deported and her ex-husband
will get custody of her son — an American citizen.
He doesn’t understand the reasons for her constant trips to Denver,
the sudden absence of close family members, she said.
“I don’t have these answers for my son.”
–Boundary_(ID_Y54FnZhTZIW1sh0vToD9MA)–

Global Population Implosion
The New American
Nov 12 2004
“For decades, much has been written about the world’s exploding
population,” noted an October 7 Christian Science Monitor report.
“But 60 countries, about a third of all nations, have fertility rates
today below 2.1 children per woman, the number necessary to maintain
a stable population. Half of those nations have levels of 1.5 or
less. In Armenia, Italy, South Korea, and Japan, average fertility
levels are now close to one child per woman. Barring unforeseen change,
at least 43 of those nations will have smaller populations in 2050
than they do today.”
“This baby dearth has potentially weighty economic consequences for
governments worried about everything from economic vitality to funding
future pension programs and healthcare,” continues the Monitor. “That’s
why many of them have been taking measures designed to encourage their
citizens to multiply.” France is offering mothers a birth subsidy of
800 euros per baby; Italy offers mothers of second children a bonus
of 1,000 euros.
South Korea has been offering tax incentives for families with young
children. Japanese prefectures (roughly the equivalent of state
governments) have been organizing hiking trips, cruises, and other
singles events with an avidity that would make the stereotypical
Yenta proud. In Japan, notes the paper, singles “are often called
‘parasites’ because, when they retire, they have no children paying
into the national pension system or helping out otherwise.”
Such efforts to address the birth dearth, like previous efforts to
combat the “population explosion,” illustrate that most governments
continue to regard children as a social resource to be managed by
the state.