Category: News

Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, FL
July 3 2004
For those who have joined the American family, liberty can never be
taken for granted
By John Dolen
Arts & Features Editor
Posted July 4 2004
July Fourth, Independence Day, our day of freedom.
In 1776, it meant Americans were no longer subject to the whims of
kings. Today it means Americans are not subject to central
committees, tyrannical mullahs or dictators.
Many Americans will pay fleeting heed to this as they scurry to
barbecues and beaches today. But for those who’ve come from elsewhere
to our land of freedom, the memories, and sometimes the fears, are
never far behind.
So is the gratitude for being able to pursue happiness without being
pursued.
While the world’s lack of freedom is front-page news — Cuba opposing
a pro baseball player’s family reunion, a journalist being gunned
down in Mexico — for some, freedom is a lot simpler.
For Johnson Ng, 46, publisher of a Florida-wide Chinese newspaper,
freedom can be about the small things.
“Things are common sense here. Say you have a hole in the wall of
your restaurant. OK, so the inspector comes and says, you have two
weeks to repair,” says Ng. “He doesn’t come back three days later and
demand money.”
Ng (pronounced Eng) has traveled throughout Asia and notes that in
many places, money still has to grease palms to get things done, or
not done. An unlikely newsman, Ng studied drama and stagecraft in his
native Hong Kong. Here he has worked as a chef and as a manager for a
bean sprout business in Miami, where he lives.
When Ng became a manager, his father advised him, “Johnson, no matter
how well you work for that business, even after 17 years, you will
still be somebody else’s manager. This is America. You should have
your own business.”
Not long afterward, Ng started the United Chinese News of Florida.
Once he got the weekly going, his wife became editor. Ng also does
photos and reporting.
So he claimed his piece of freedom: “In the U.S., no matter who you
are, you have your own environment that you can survive in, and
grow.”
Robert Taheri is known around Davie for the sage nutritional advice
he gives out at his health food store, Simply Natural, which he
opened 16 years ago.
Taheri was 14 when he left his native Iran with his family for
London, before the revolution that deposed the Shah and launched the
regime of Ayatollah Khomeini.
“Before the revolution you could do pretty much everything, have
businesses, whatever, although you didn’t have freedom of speech 100
per cent,” Taheri says. “Now, everything there is restricted because
of the Islamic rule.”
How about opening up a health foods store? “Ownership is not
guaranteed,” says Taheri, 47. “They can come anytime and take over
the business with different excuses or reasons.”
Taheri should know. He not only monitors Iran today on satellite
channels but also by staying in touch with two of his brothers, both
of whom support democracy in Iran.
His brother Amir has written books about Iran and, according to
Taheri, “has interviewed most of the leaders of the world.” Amir
currently writes for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and
El Figaro, among others.
His brother Ali was editor of one of the two major newspapers in
Tehran. He fled the country after the revolution, when, according to
Taheri, “freedom of the press was immediately demolished.”
Ali later signed on with Radio Free Europe in Prague, Czech Republic,
which counters the heavily censored Islamic radio. Of Ali, Taheri
says: “He is a man of honor telling the truth. He is fighting for the
country, not just for himself.”
Taheri’s wife, Satti, is Armenian. In Iran, certain parts of her
culture had to be suppressed. Says Taheri with a smile, “The
Armenians, they like wine, they have pork, all this is not allowed.”
Making his own transition to the subject of women’s rights in Iran,
Taheri paraphrases the words of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner,
Shirin Abadi, also from his country: “They lose their freedom before
they even go out the door, having to dress the way [the ayatollahs]
want, and you can’t wear makeup.”
The Taheris and their 16-year-old son are U.S. citizens. “The Fourth
is a glorious day for us … doubly thrilling,” Taheri says. “Because
we had freedom and then we lost it in our home country. When you have
it and then lose it, you really know what it is.”
First impression
One immigrant remembers an afternoon more than 40 years ago when, as
a teenager, she was looking forward to a big social that night.
But her parents swept her off “to the other side of the island.” The
next thing she knew she was on a plane, soon landing at the Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood airport.
She remembers being miserable without her friends back in Cuba and
not being able to speak the language of her new country. But soon she
began watching the TV news and teaching herself English “by staring
at the mouths and listening carefully.”
“I was probably more attuned to current events than the average
teenager,” says Diana Wasserman-Rubin of the Broward County
Commission. “The whole civil rights movement, it took me off guard.
That wasn’t what I expected.
“I saw people protesting, and this was my first impression of
freedom.”
It was such a foreign concept: “If you disagreed with someone where I
came from you could not express your disagreement in public.”
Wasserman-Rubin attended schools in Miami Beach and moved to Pembroke
Pines in 1971. Shortly after, she became involved in voter
registration drives.
In the 1980s, she became a member of the South Broward Hospital
District; in the 1990s, the Broward School Board; and she has been on
the Broward County Commission since 2000, where she has served as
mayor in a rotating position.
During that time she has been known as a voice for Hispanics and
blacks.
“If I had similar job in Cuba now I would have some responsibilities
but not the tools to do the job,” the commissioner says. “The Cuban
government is not for the people, not by the people, and people don’t
have a say in who they elect.”
Wasserman-Rubin says she gets emotional on the Fourth of July.
“I’m one of those hokey people who reflects on the meaning of the
holidays, Thanksgiving too,” She says. It reminds me how lucky I am,
to be able to contribute to my adopted country.”
Now the woman who once landed at the strange airport in Fort
Lauderdale serves on the council that runs it.
Wedding massacre
South Florida professor Dominic Mohamed was born and raised in the
Sudan, a country facing a refugee crisis so dire that Colin Powell
and Kofi Annan visited it just days ago in a high-profile effort to
prevent disaster.
The State Department blames Arab militias backed by the government
for the current refugee situation in the west of Sudan, reports The
New York Times, saying the militias “have systematically attacked
hundreds of black African villages in western Sudan and neighboring
Chad.”
Most of his life Mohamed has seen a country at war, between the Arab
Muslim north and the African animists and Christians of the south.
Mohamed’s parents and family were Christian and, tragically, victims
of the conflict.
“Ninety-nine members of my family were killed, children, women and
men, lined up against the wall at a wedding reception,” says Mohamed.
Those who managed to escape the 1965 massacre blame Arab militias,
similar to those that are now waging war on the African Muslim
population in west Sudan.
“They were after the educated and the Christian Africans,” says
Mohamed, who was spared because his flight to the wedding was
canceled due to gas shortages.
Eventually, Mohamed made a new life for himself in the United States
and has been teaching at Florida International University in Miami
for 31 years.
He traces a detailed timeline of civil war and brief truces since
Egypt and Britain ceded control of the Sudan in 1957. It’s a sober
and ongoing story for the 60-year-old professor.
Now with his own family (he married an Ethiopian woman and has three
grown children), Mohamed teaches vocational and technical education.
He stays in touch with the situation in Sudan through Web sites and
letters from those who get out.
He does not take freedom lightly.
“In America, you have unlimited opportunities and you have freedom of
speech,” he says. “You have absolute freedom to choose and practice
any religion you desire, without social or political constraint at
all.”
Raised a Catholic, he is now a Lutheran and worships at the Lord of
Life Lutheran Church in Kendall. When he thinks of Independence Day,
he also thinks of a day 12 years ago.
“When I became an American citizen in 1992, it was the first time I
voted in my whole life,” says Mohamed softly. “I cried in the voting
booth.”
John Dolen can be reached at [email protected] or 954-356-4726.

Palm Beach Post, FL
July 3 2004
Hastings seeks presidential role in European-U.S. body
Larry Lipman, Palm Beach Post Washington Bureau
Sunday, July 4, 2004
WASHINGTON — Rep. Alcee Hastings thinks he can offer an alternative
voice for the United States in its dealings with Europe. Later this
week, he may get the chance.
The six-term congressman from Miramar whose district includes part of
Palm Beach County, is one of the leading candidates to become
president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, a group established in 1991 of
lawmakers from 55 countries. The election will be held Friday at the
assembly’s summer meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
A Democrat who has been at odds with the Bush administration’s
unilateral approach to foreign policy, Hastings said he would not
“rail against the United States” if he becomes the Parliamentary
Assembly president. He would, however, “provide a counterweight to
some of what the Europeans are hearing from this administration.”
For example, Hastings believes the Bush administration has given the
cold shoulder to emerging democracies such as Lithuania in the former
Soviet bloc.
After a half-century under communism, Lithuania and other former
Soviet countries are finding their way into the European community
and adjusting to democracy, “but they’re not going to have an instant
Americana-western style democracy overnight,” Hastings said. “It’s
going to take time.”
Instead of virtually ignoring such emerging democracies, Hastings
said lawmakers from more established democratic countries should work
with their counterparts in Lithuania and elsewhere to strengthen and
support their efforts.
Hastings said he’d like to meet with the president of Belarus to
encourage that country — a presumed haven for unaccounted-for
nuclear weapons and illicit gun-running — to move toward a
democratic government.
“The approach that America takes right now is that Belarus is off the
map,” Hastings said. “We need to understand that they need help, and
it isn’t just criticizing them or standing off that’s going to make
the difference.”
Hastings also believes the United States should take a more accepting
approach to the International Criminal Court, which was established
in 1998 by a treaty known as the Rome Statute. So far, 94 countries
have ratified the treaty. The United States is not one of them.
He said he understands the administration’s concern that “American
soldiers could be tried by people not favorable toward us,” but he
believes exemptions could be made for American military while still
participating in the court.
“It doesn’t look good for us not be be included,” he said.
Has Republican backing
One of the Parliamentary Assembly’s major roles is to promote free
elections. Something Hastings said he would play an active role in
pursuing if he is elected. The assembly president selects delegations
of lawmakers to monitor elections throughout Europe, particularly in
the emerging democracies. The president also appoints delegations to
mediate disputes between countries, such as the conflict Azerbaijan
and Armenia are engaged in over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Hastings, who is one of the assembly’s nine vice presidents elected
to serve for staggered three-year terms, said one of his top
priorities would be to strengthen the relationship between members of
Congress and members of European parliamentary bodies. One way to do
that, he said, would be to have frequent transatlantic conference
calls among lawmakers, rather than having the groups wait for the
four regularly scheduled assembly meetings each year.
“My whole commitment is to strengthen the transatlantic
relationship,” Hastings said.
He also wants to continue the efforts of outgoing assembly President
Bruce George, a British member of Parliament, to establish a
relationship between the organization and the United Nations.
If elected, Hastings would be the first American and the first member
of a country’s ethnic minority to become the assembly president.
Although he is a Democrat, Hastings has the backing of the
Republican-led American delegation. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert
wrote a letter to all assembly members last month urging them to
support Hastings.
“Never one to retreat from a challenge, Alcee Hastings possesses an
instinctive ability to identify solutions and build common ground for
their implementation,” Hastert said in his letter.
Could aid local businesses
Although the job would require him to make at least eight trips to
Europe next year, Hastings said becoming president would make him a
more valuable congressman and could boost South Florida.
Hastings is a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee and
the ranking Democrat on its subcommittee on terrorism and homeland
security. He said the travels to Europe would allow him to discuss
intelligence and security concerns with his European counterparts as
well as American personnel in those countries.
The travels also would give him a chance to identify business
opportunities in developing European countries, which he could pass
on to South Florida companies, he said.
Having an American at the helm will be important next year when the
assembly holds its summer meeting in Washington, the first time ever
in the United States, Hastings said. If he’s elected, he would make
sure that Hastert is invited to address the assembly. He’d also
invite the president of the United States — regardless of whether
that is George Bush, whom Hastings opposes, or John Kerry, whom
Hastings supports.
Although he’s confident about his chances, Hastings is philosophical
about the outcome. He faces at least one declared candidate, Michel
Voisin, a member of the French National Assembly who unsuccessfully
ran in 2002, and possibly a second, Kimmo Kilgunene, a member of the
Finnish Parliament.
“It’s just an honor to be able to compete at that level and… if I
am defeated, aw shucks, I got further than any other American. No
other American has ever sought the office before.”

Malay Mail, Malaysia
July 3 2004
Feature: Giving refugees back their homes and dignity
Meera Murugesan
IF a house is on fire, we don’t send people back into it. Volker
Turk, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, who said that, certainly has a point.
There are about 17.1 million people around the world today whose
`houses’ are `on fire’ but surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of
them still nurse hopes of returning to these homes some day.
It is a myth that refugees want to stay put in their host countries,
said Turk, during a presentation at Wisma UN in Kuala Lumpur, in
conjunction with World Refugee Day on June 20.
`Very often, the most fervent wish of a refugee is to return home,
but they are unable to do so until there is a change in the situation
that drove them out in the first place,’ he said.
This statement is backed by UNHCR figures which, among others,
indicated that three million Afghan refugees have made the move back
home from places like Pakistan and Iran since the situation in
Afghanistan started to improve towards the end of 2001.
Refugees from countries like Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi,
Liberia and Somalia have also decided to return in large numbers.
Last year alone, some 1.1 million refugees around the world returned
home.
But the work of the UNHCR doesn’t stop with `returnees’ making their
way home through voluntary repatriation programmes.
The agency continues its work by monitoring the returnees and looking
into human rights issues that affect them. It focuses on
reconstruction and rehabilitation work as well, to ensure that the
returnees can go home to conditions of safety and dignity.
The UNHCR also assists in rebuilding homes and communities and in the
reconstruction of important structures for living such as wells,
schools, clinics and roads.
Of the more than 21 million people worldwide under the care and
protection of the UNHCR, more than half are children. Children
naturally suffer the most when war breaks out, and some refugee
children may sit in total silence all day, or rock back and forth
endlessly, or throw uncontrollable tantrums.
Their memories are full of terrifying nightmares and, whenever
possible, the UNHCR provides medical and psychological treatment for
these desperate children. Slowly, with loving care and a routine of
lessons and play, many recover to lead normal lives again.
While voluntary repatriation works for some refugees, there will
always be those who can never return or are forced to remain in the
host country for a long period.
For such people, there is the challenge of finding a practical
solution to their problem. Generally, there are two options, one
being resettlement in a third country and the other, the possibility
of integration into the host country itself.
The better solution would be integration into the host community
itself, said Turk, and over the years, the UNHCR has seen some
positive examples of this.
The Armenian Government, for example, has naturalised between 50,000
and 60,000 refugees of Armenian origin who were originally from
Azerbaijan. These people fled their country for Armenia when conflict
broke out between the two countries in 1988.
However, if a solution cannot be found in the host country, then
placing refugees in a third country is usually the method undertaken.
Last year, the UNHCR helped to resettle some 28,000 refugees
worldwide in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia and
a number of European countries.
But for many people today, the image of a refugee is fast becoming
one associated with criminals and illegal migrants, said Turk, and
these perceptions have to be changed if refugees are to receive the
help they deserve.
`I think we have seen more public hostility towards refugees both in
the media and among politicians worldwide,’ he said.
`It is unfortunate that the positive role that refugees can play in a
country is rarely highlighted, nor the inspiring stories of these
individuals. Very often, refugees are resourceful people who have
demonstrated tremendous strength and courage in overcoming obstacles.
What we need to hear are these stories because they help to create an
awareness and an understanding of their plight.’
Over the past five decades, the UNHCR has helped more than 50 million
people uprooted by the turmoil of conflict to find a new home and
start their lives over again.
In honour of every refugee’s dream to return home and live in dignity
and security, this year’s World Refugee Day had the theme: `A Place
To Call Home’.

RosBusinessConsulting, Russia
July 5 2004
Armenian Foreign Minister to visit Moscow
RBC, 05.07.2004, Moscow 09:19:06.Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian is to arrive in Moscow on an official visit today. He
is expected to negotiate a broad range of issues of bilateral
cooperation as well as international and regional problems.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that Russian-Armenian
trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation would be one
of the priority issues to be considered at the talks. Great attention
will be paid to problems of Nagorny Karabakh. Russian and Armenian
diplomats will also discuss issues of coordination of the efforts of
the two countries to improve the situation in the Caucasus. The sides
will consider collaboration within the framework of the CIS, the
Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic
Community (EurAsEC).

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
July 5 2004
LENNMARKER’S REPORT ON NAGORNY KARABAKH TO BE HEARD
[July 05, 2004, 11:25:37]
As stated, the XIII annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
commences on in Great Britain, 5 July.
The session is to hold discussions on the topic `Cooperation and
partnership: combat against new threats of safety’, the Milli Majlis
press service said. The agenda also includes report of OSCE PA
special representative on Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh
conflict Goran Lennmarker.
The said event to be attended by Azerbaijan parliamentarians Sattar
Safarov, Eldar Ibrahimov, Rabiyyet Aslanova, Fattah Heydarov, Sayad
Salahli and head of the MM international relations department Namig
Aliyev, will end on 10 July.

Eurofunding.com, France
July 5 2004
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia included in the European
Neighbourhood Policy.
Commissioner Janez Potoènik will visit Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia on 5-8 July. The visits follow the decision by the Council to
include this countries in the European Neighbourhood Policy.
Commissioner Janez Potoènik will visit Georgia on 5-6 July,
Azerbaijan on 6-7 July and Armenia on 7-8 July. The visits follow the
decision by the Council on 14 June to include the three Southern
Caucasian countries in the European Neighbourhood Policy. Mr Potoènik
will welcome the countries into the European Neighbourhood Policy and
explain the significance of the initiative to his counterparts.
Commissioner Potoènik will meet with the Presidents and the Prime
Ministers of the three countries. He will also hold meetings with
other government members, members of Parliament and opposition
leaders. He will take the opportunity to address wider audiences,
including civil and business societies, on the ENP and its
significance for the Southern Caucasus.
Mr Potoènik will explain the objectives of the ENP initiative to his
counterparts and set out the next steps to be made by the countries
in order to follow-up on the Council decision. The bilateral talks
will also touch on the EU’s relations with these countries more
generally. Mr Potoènik will encourage the partners to put special
emphasis on conflict resolution and prevention and underline the
importance of strengthening regional cooperation.
The visit takes place in the context of the EU’s continuing efforts
to strengthen political relations with the region and to be more
actively involved in conflict prevention, confidence-building
measures and post conflict rehabilitation.
On 14 June the Council decided to include Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia in the European Neighbourhood Policy. At the same time, the
Council endorsed the Commission’s strategy for putting the ENP into
action.
The objective of the European Neighbourhood Policy is to share the
benefits of the EU’s 2004 enlargement with neighbouring countries –
i.e. stability, security and well-being – in a way that is distinct
from EU membership. It is designed to prevent the emergence of new
dividing lines between the enlarged Union and its neighbours and to
offer them an increasingly close relationship with the EU involving a
significant degree of economic integration and a deepening of
political cooperation.
The ENP will also help address one of the strategic objectives the
European Union set in the European Security Strategy in December
2003, that of building security in our neighbourhood.
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia all have Partnership and Cooperation
Agreements in force with the EU. The EU will consider the possibility
of developing jointly agreed Action Plans, as foreseen by the ENP
strategy, with the three countries on the basis of their individual
merits.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Mehr News Agency, Iran
July 5 2004
Hedayat’s “Buried Alive” Published In English and Armenian
TEHRAN July 5 (MNA) — Sadeq Hedayat’s collected stories “Buried
Alive” along with critical essays from the last half a century will
be published in English and Armenian by Varjavand Publications.
Jahangir Hedayat on Sunday said the book includes the original text
and Hedayat’s manuscripts since some changes have appeared in the
writer’s works in recent years.
Hedayat said, “In addition to `Buried Alive’, the book contains a
collection of critical essays written by the critics over the last 50
years.’
He said the English translation of the book was done by a Bryan
Spooner.
Hedayat says publishing translations of the book promotes Iranian
culture in other countries.
Sadeq Hedayat (1903-1951) was the foremost short story writer in
Iran. He was exposed to world literature especially European
literature, and read the works of Kafka, Poe, and Dostoyevsky.
He wrote collections of short stories and a novella, `The Blind Owl,’
which is regarded as Hedayat’s masterpiece and has been translated
into many languages.
Hedayat asphyxiated himself by turning on the gas in a small flat in
Paris.

Hetq Online, Armenia
June 29 2004
Armenian children are neglected in Calcutta
by Aghavni Yeghiazaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan
`We were playing Rugby in the seminary yard and the ball hit me in
the left ear. I felt a stab of pain, and fell into the mud; then the
boys sat me down on the stairs. Then one day when we were playing, my
friend Harutik whispered something in my left ear, I couldn’t hear
it, I couldn’t hear it at all. Then he repeated it in my right ear
and I heard. I realized that I couldn’t hear with my left ear. I told
the doctor. He examined my ear and said that there was nothing wrong
with it. I put medicine into my ear for a few days, and then some
grains of sand came out of it. That was the end of my treatment,’
explains Narek Arshakyan, a student at the charitably-run Armenian
Seminary in Calcutta. Narek was subsequently examined by Doctor
Mirakyan at the Republican Hospital in Yerevan, who told his mother
that it was too late for the hearing in the boy’s left ear to be
restored.

The seminary in Calcutta, India was established in 1821 and is headed
by a director appointed by the Catholicos of All Armenians, at the
suggestion of the Board of Trustees. Since 1999, the seminary has
been headed by Sonya John (who is Armenian by origin). Max Galstown,
a member of the Indian-Armenian community, has been sending letters
to us expressing his anxiety about the situation in the seminary
since last February. He says, `This establishment, with a 180-year
history, has been turned upside-down under Sonya John’s management.’
Another member of the community, a well-respected woman who had
worked at the seminary with Sonya John, sent a letter to the
Catholicos in 2003 describing John’s working style and behavior. She
never received any reply. `Since appointing the director, the
Catholicos has not supervised her work,’ Max Galstown wrote us. He
says Sonya John misappropriates donations from Indian Armenians;
under the pretext of allocating money to the hospital, she
transferred 15 million Rupees to the Communist Party of India (of
which she is a member), 30 million Rupees for the construction of the
Armenian Embassy in New Delhi, and so on. `None of the local
Armenians is involved in the administrative matters of the seminary.
We consider it to be a conspiracy against us, and Echmiadzin is
taking part in it,’ Galstown writes.

Narek’s mother, Susanna Arshakyan, reported her son’s hearing loss to
Deacon Tigran from the information department of the Holy See of St.
Echmiadzin. The deacon promised to inform the Catholicos about it.
`The boy has lost his hearing because of negligence; if he had been
examined and treated in time it wouldn’t have happened. Our children
are disregarded and neglected there,’ Susanna says.
Sixty seminary students came to Armenia in May for a month’s
vacation, and were supposed to return to Calcutta on June 18 th . But
only one student, Elisa Matevosyan, and the families of teachers from
Armenia working there went back. The postponement of the return of
some of the students was explained by illness. It is clear that 80
percent of the students who came home for vacation will not return to
Calcutta.
Narek went to Calcutta in 2001, from the Zatik children’s home. Narek
has two brothers, and his socially vulnerable single mother decided
to send her son away to study. At the dictation of a Church
representative, she wrote that she had given her consent to her son’s
going abroad to study for ten years. She signed another document as
well, but she doesn’t remember what was it. `Whatever I signed, I am
not going to send Narek back. I haven’t abandoned my child, have I?
If they take the child, they are first of all responsible for his
health. Our children were still standing on their own two feet when
they brought them back, but we’ll find out later whether they have
any diseases,’ Narek’s mother says.
All of the children returned to Armenia with medical records
regarding annual checkups and individual diseases. There is a
separate document stating that they don’t have any contagious
diseases and don’t carry any infections. But eight children have
already been diagnosed with malaria, and two of them have been
hospitalized in the Nork Infectious Hospital. `They brought the
disease with them; it is too early for local malaria, this is not a
local malaria,’ says head physician Ara Asoyan.
Narek is not going to continue his studies at the seminary. The Zatik
boarding school no longer has a place for him. His English is better
than his Armenian, and it will be hard for him to go to ordinary
school, not to mention his hearing problem. Susanna’s only hope is
the Church. She believes that the Catholicos cannot remain
indifferent, since Narek studied at a seminary that the Church is
responsible for.
To be continued
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Payvand, Iran
July 5 2004
Iran: Rowhani stresses determination of Caspian legal regime
Tehran, July 5, IRNA — Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security
Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani here Monday stressed the need for
speedy settlement of the legal regime for the Caspian Sea through an
agreement among littoral states.
In a meeting with the head of Russia’s Security Council, Igor Ivanov,
Rowhani said determination of the legal regime of the Caspian Sea
would play an important role in safeguarding regional stability and
security.
He added that NATO’s efforts to be present at the region run counter
to the regional interests and would bring about instability. He
termed security cooperation among Caspian Sea states as very
important.
He said joint meetings between Security Councils of littoral states
would be an effective factor in implementation of collective
cooperation among regional countries in order to safeguard peace,
stability and security.
The SNSC secretary stressed Iran’s commitment to the
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), full cooperation with the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the Safeguard and temporary
implementation of the NPT additional protocol.
“Through This policy Iran is sending most complete and powerful
signals to the international community on peaceful nature of its
nuclear activities, and it provides the best reason for cooperation
of the IAEA Board of Governors with Iran to realize its full rights
to the possession of peaceful nuclear technology,” he said.
Pointing to the expansion of Iran-Russia economic ties, he added high
volume of direct and indirect two-way economic exchanges which have
reached up to two billion dollars, is indicative of an eye-catching
growth. He called however for a balanced exchange trend to guarantee
the stability in economic ties.
Rowhani said successful implementation of Bushehr power plant project
is the symbol of technological relations and called for settlement of
remaining issues and speedy carrying out of the project.
He assessed expansion of cooperation in various transportation fields
and bilateral cooperation in promoting North-South transit in line
with regional interests and asked for providing further facilities of
member states for transit of goods.
Ivanov, who is currently here at the invitation of his Iranian
counterpart, stressed the importance of expanding Tehran-Moscow
political ties in line with the two sides’ national interests at
regional and international levels.
Complicated developments in the world in general and in the region in
particular highlighted the need of strengthening mutual relations to
settle regional crises and establish stability more than ever, he
said.
The Russian official noted that construction of Bushehr power plant
would be completed by 2005 and it would come on line in 2006.
Ivanov expressed satisfaction over the progress made in issues
regarding legal regime of the Caspian Sea, saying “Iran and Russia
can establish joint economic cooperation in Central Asia and the
Caucasus.”
He noted that Iran-Armenia and Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline
projects are among strategic schemes in the region and voiced his
country’s readiness for cooperation to this effect.
Ha praised Iran’s nuclear policies and stressed that Iran’s logical
policies prevented its nuclear case to be referred to the United
Nations Security Council.
The enemies of Iran could not use the issue as a pretext to put the
country under pressure, he was quoted as saying.

Moscow Times
July 6 2004
Azeri Detention Upheld
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — An Azeri appeals court has upheld a lower
court’s decision to jail five activists who disrupted a NATO forum in
Baku last month to protest the involvement of two Armenian officers,
their lawyer said.
The protest, which briefly disrupted the NATO forum, highlighted the
still simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the
disputed Nagorny Karabakh territory.
Akif Nagi, head of the Organization of Karabakh Freedom, and five
other group members pushed through police cordons, broke glass doors
and stormed into a conference hall in Baku’s Europe Hotel on June 22.
The protesters and hotel security guards suffered minor injuries in
the incident in the hotel and the meeting resumed after several
minutes.
They were accused of hooliganism and ordered by the Nasimi Regional
Court in Baku to be held for two months. The appeals court upheld the
ruling Friday, lawyer Elchin Gambarov said.