Category: News

Armenian officer killed in border clash with Azerbaijan
SpaceDaily
June 17 2004
YEREVAN (AFP) Jun 16, 2004 — An Armenian officer was killed in a clash
with Azerbaijani forces along this country’s northeastern frontier,
the ministry of defense said Wednesday. Chief of staff Michael
Arutunian said clashes in the area east of Idzhevan, an important
road and rail center, broke out a week ago when Azerbaijani troops
attempted to take a position on a hilltop that would have enabled
them to control a source of water running into Armenia.
There have been repeated such incidents in various frontier regions
since the signing of the cease-fire in 1994 interrupting the war over
the enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which remained in Armenian hands. In
Armenian, the territory is referred to as Artsakh.
Arutunian said several troops on the other side were killed. There
was no statement from the Azerbaijani side.
At least three Azerbaijanis were reported killed in similar clashes
along the frontier last year.

BOXING: LIFE SENTENCE
Glasgow Daily Record, UK
June 17 2004
If Scott had lost his court case it would have been the end of his
boxing career, admits Maloney
By Hugh Keevins
SCOTT HARRISON’S manager Frank Maloney last night admitted he feared
the world featherweight champion might have had his career ended by
a legal judgment rather than a lethal blow.
Maloney was campaigning in the election to choose London’s Lord
Mayor last week but he spent 48 hours of simultaneous worry over his
fighter’s appearance at Hamilton Sheriff Court on a charge of assault.
The manager said: ‘Scott didn’t fully appreciate the extent of the
predicament he was in but his father did. Peter knew and I was only
too well aware that a conviction for assault would automatically be
followed by the British Boxing Board of Control withdrawing Scott’s
licence.
‘The career of the Scottish sportsman I consider to be without peer
as a two-time world champion would have been extinguished overnight.
‘Boxer’s hands are considered to be lethal weapons and, while Scott
told me he was innocent of all charges, I was worried his fate lay
in the hands of one man on the bench.’
Sheriff Rae Small acquitted Harrison and after Maloney had downed
champagne in celebration he advised Scott on how to conduct the
remainder of his professional life.
He said: ‘Scott has told me he wants to fight for another four years.
He wants to retain his world title against William Abelyan on Saturday
night and then go after the big pay days that will undoubtedly follow.
‘But he has to remember that being a world champion cuts you off from
the rest of the world, even if you come from the streets like him.
‘It is hard for boxers to have a social life. When I managed Lennox
Lewis the heavyweight champion of the world would be challenged to
fight by 5ft midgets if hewent out in public.
‘I know of two fighters whose careers came to an end after they were
sent to prison for losing control of their fists.
‘My first inclination was to tell Scott and his dad to go for a
postponement when I realised how close the court appearance would
come to the fight with Abelyan.
‘But it is a measure of the man that the champion wanted to go ahead
with the defence of his title.’
Harrison junior thought the worst that could happen to him would be
a fine from the boxing authorities if found guilty by the courts.
The revelation his career was hanging by a thread only served to
intensify his determination to increase his reputation in the ring
while restoring his public image at the expense of the Armenian this
weekend. Harrison said: ‘I now know when you are in a court of law
you are in another man’s world. My life was in somebody else’s hands.
‘I knew I was innocent when I was sitting in the dock but I was being
confronted by lies and that experience has hardened me.
‘The end of the trial has taken a huge weight off my mind but now
I have to answer the people who were trying to bring me down by
delivering the best performance possible in the ring against Abelyan.
‘My preparation hasn’t been affected by the time spent in court. I
trained in the mornings and went to Hamilton before going back to
the gym.Butnow I’m backon track.’
The test of how much has been taken out of Harrison’s mind and body
will be set by a fighter who claims a year out of the ring will not
have blunted his threat to Harrison.
But the champion said: ‘He insists he couldn’t find anybody to fight
him over the last 12 months but I don’t accept that. I think it’s
a definite draw-back for him that he hasn’t absorbed any punishment
over the last year.
‘I’ve given Frank my list of ambitions for the immediate future. I
want to unify the featherweight titles and then move up a weight
division. And I want to fight for a title in one of Glasgow’s football
grounds one day.
‘In short, I want to be the best in the world onan undisputed basis.’

Armenian Proposals For Extra U.S. To Be Ready ‘Next Month’
By Gevorg Stamboltsian 17/06/2004 03:45
Radio Free Press, Czech Republic
June 17 2004
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian said on Wednesday the Armenian
government will finalize by the end of next month its proposals for
the use of additional U.S. government assistance which it will likely
receive under Washington’s Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
program.
Markarian spoke after chairing the first meeting of an ad hoc
commission of senior government officials which is tasked with
assessing the country’s urgent needs, discussing possible ways of
meeting them with the promised extra U.S. aid and submitting a
relevant plan to the American side.
Under the terms of the MCA, Armenia and 15 other developing nations
selected by the U.S. government last spring must themselves specify
how much money they need and how they would use it. Top executives
from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which runs the scheme
visited Yerevan late last month for the first discussions on the
subject with Armenian officials.
They made it clear that the aid allocation to Armenia is not a
forgone conclusion and will depend on the quality of the proposals.
According to senior U.S. diplomats, it will also be contingent on the
improvement of Yerevan’s “poor” human rights record.
Speaking to journalists, Markarian said that the government would
like to primarily spend the MCA funds on the reconstruction of the
battered infrastructure of the country’s impoverished rural regions
that have hardly benefited from recent years’ economic growth. He
said that would mean rebuilding schools, countryside roads and
irrigation networks. “All of these programs must be in line with our
[12-year] poverty reduction strategy,” he said.
Asked how much the Armenian side expects to get from the MCC, he
said: “It is too early to talk about sums [of money]. But according
to our preliminary estimates, [the government will ask for] between
$500 million and $600 million in the next five years.”
Finance and Economy Minister Vartan Khachatrian came up last week
with an even more ambitious aid target: $700 million, of which $100
million should be made available as early as this year. But he was
more cautious and vague in his comments on Wednesday. “Even [the MCC]
don’t know what will happen,” he said.
Khachatrian reiterated that the government commission in charge of
the MCA is open to proposals from Armenian non-governmental
organizations. He complained that it has received only two aid
projects so far.
Armenia has already received over $1.5 billion in regular U.S.
assistance since independence. It will get at least $78.4 million
worth of further assistance in the course of this year.

Sigh of relief from Harrison
By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
The Scotsman, UK
June 17 2004
A FEELING of helplessness is not something Scott Harrison is familiar
with in his working life. The WBO featherweight champion has attained
his elevated status in his chosen profession by dint of ferocious
determination and the possession of a firm grip on his own destiny.
It came as the rudest of shocks, then, for Harrison to find his whole
career and the financial security of his family hanging on the outcome
of an event over which he had no control whatsoever.
Happily for the 26-year-old Cambuslang boxer, the not-guilty verdict
delivered by Sheriff Ray Little at Hamilton Sheriff Court last Thursday
erased his worries that his plans to become the undisputed world
featherweight champion would come to an abrupt end outside the ring.
Now cleared of the assault charge which hung over his head for almost
a year, Harrison can retrain full focus on his goal of facing the
best in the nine-stone division and unifying the belts to stake his
claim as Scotland’s finest boxer of the modern era.
But as he completed his preparations yesterday at the Phoenix Gym in
Glasgow for Saturday’s defence of his WBO title against No1 contender
William Abelyan, the Scot revealed for the first time the depths of
his concerns as he sat in court last week.
“Although I always knew I was innocent, what happened was not in
my hands,” said Harrison. “You are in someone else’s world when you
are in court and it’s up to the judge to look at the facts and make
the decision.
“It wasn’t nice. When you see people trying to bring you down and
telling lies about you, it makes you angry. If I had been found
guilty of assault, then I knew it would have affected my career,
so it was a big relief.”
It then transpires that not even Harrison was fully aware of just
how much it would have altered the landscape of his life had the
Sheriff’s judgment gone against him.
Frank Maloney, Harrison’s manager, interrupts his fighter to add:
“The British Boxing Board of Control would have taken Scott’s licence
away if he had been found guilty, it was as simple as that.”
Harrison’s normally implacable features change, his eyebrows raised
and a sobering look of realisation spreading across the eyes which
will bore into the face of Abelyan at the Braehead Arena on Saturday.
“I didn’t realise that,” he mutters. “That makes me feel even more
relieved about the decision.”
Maloney, never a man to avoid over-dramatising any situation in the
quest to hype a fight, has no need for exaggeration on this occasion.
“I’ve seen two of my boxers in the past go to prison for assault,”
adds Maloney. “Their fists are regarded as lethal weapons by the
legal profession. Although the whole team knew Scott was innocent of
the charge, you can never anticipate what will happen in the courtroom.
“It was a really nervous 48 hours last week waiting for the verdict.
Scott’s career was on the line, no doubt about it, everything he has
worked for could have gone. I was running for Mayor of London last
Thursday but I felt like breaking off from the campaigning to open
a bottle of champagne when I heard Scott had been cleared.
“It’s been hard for Scott but he now has to learn to surround himself
with a select group of loyal friends and avoid going out to certain
places. Being a world champion brings a lot of responsibility and I
know it can be hard to avoid hassle when you go out.
“There are always idiots who will want to pick a fight with a world
champion. I’ve seen five-foot midgets trying to have a go at Lennox
Lewis. Scott just has to be more careful now.”
Harrison insists the disruption to his training programme last
week has not been enough to dull his readiness to face Abelyan, the
American-Armenian making plenty of noise about how easy it will be
to take the Scot’s belt.
“I don’t give a damn what he says, I’m ready to do a job on him,”
says Harrison. “I’m in great shape and I’m more determined than ever
to put on a show for the fans who have stuck by me. Abelyan’s awkward
but I’ll take it round by round and knock him out eventually.”
Harrison is about to re-enter the place where he is capable of
exercising total control. He does not intend to leave anything in
the hands of the judges on Saturday.

KLO Lashes Out At Chief Azeri Diplomats, Vowing Not To Let In Armenian Officers
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 17 2004
Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) on Wednesday lashed out at
Azerbaijan’s high-ranking foreign ministry officials, as well as some
local human rights activists and celebrities of “falling victim to
Armenian policies.”
KLO accused Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his deputy Araz
Azimov for “making irresponsible and illogical” statements approving
Armenian military officers’ planned visit to Baku to attend a NATO
conference, which is set for June 22.
“By making irresponsible and illogical statements, Mammadyarov and
Azimov demonstrate that are ready to go for concessions on the Karabakh
issue,” a statement by KLO read.
“They invite and express readiness to sit down by a same table with the
Armenian officers who have slaughtered more than 20,000 Azerbaijanis,
occupied our territories and now continue murdering our soldiers
and officers.”
KLO vowed to go for every radical step to stop the Armenian officers’
entering Baku.
The officers were to appeal Azerbaijan’s embassy to Georgia on
Wednesday for entry visas to Azerbaijan. The are going to participate
in June 22 planning conference for NATO’s Corporative Best Effort—2004
exercises scheduled to be held in Azerbaijan in September of this year.
“Karabakh Liberation Organization believes that these people have been
trapped by the Armenian Diaspora and they have become … participants of
a big plot against Azerbaijan … But we will not allow this treacherous
design to be carried out,” the statement added.

Industrial nations tie foreign aid to support for “war on terror”
By Barry Mason
World Socialist
June 17 2004
Christian Aid, the British development charity, recently issued a
report entitled “The Politics of Poverty Aid in the New Cold War.” It
states: “Aid is viewed increasingly as a means of promoting and
safeguarding the donors’ own interests, particularly their security,
rather than addressing the real needs of poor people. Aid, in other
words, is being co-opted to serve in the global ‘War on Terror.’ ”
The report points out: “Already some of the world’s poorest people
are paying for the War on Terror. Programmes designed to help them
have been cut, budgets reallocated and hopes dashed as donor
priorities have switched to addressing the needs of ‘global
security.’ ”
What is beginning to take place is the blurring between military aid
and development aid. This change in orientation is being actively
promoted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), which comprises the world’s leading industrial nations. Its
Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has been reviewing aid policy.
In 2003, it published a paper, “A Development Cooperation Lens on
Terrorism Prevention.” In the paper it commented: “Development
cooperation does have an important role to play in helping to deprive
terrorists of popular support…and donors can reduce support for
terrorism by working towards preventing the conditions that give rise
to violent conflict in general and that convince disaffected groups
to embrace terrorism in particular…. [T]his may have implications
for priorities including budget allocations and levels and
definitions of ODA [Official Development Aid] eligibility criteria.”
Christian Aid explains that behind its opaque language, the OECD is
considering a “seismic shift in its policy.” Following the report, a
DAC workshop was held in Paris in February of this year. Among the
issues discussed was whether aid could be used for military training.
Whilst perhaps not financing armies directly, the workshop discussed
providing training to the trainers of security forces, training to
armed forces—such as helping militias being integrated into regular
forces—and training to the military in how to enforce peace-keeping
and planning missions. There is an ongoing debate over these issues
within the DAC.
In a similar development, European Union ministers meeting in March
of this year agreed that aid donations and trade concessions to
non-EU countries should be linked to security cooperation. Javier
Solana, the EU foreign affairs chief, described it as a “significant
step in the area of counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation.”
The EU bloc is responsible for dispensing US$35 billion a year in aid
donation, of which US$7.9 billion is directly distributed by the
European Commission.
Currently, the EU has separate directorates with responsibility for
foreign policy and overseas aid. It is proposed that in future these
responsibilities will be merged in line with the politicisation of
aid.
Danida, the Danish development agency, has announced a switch in its
policy for the period 2004-2008, allocating money to the Middle East.
It will give US$49 million to an aid and reconstruction package for
Iraq, switching the money from grants to Africa.
Australia is using its official ODA money for various anti-terrorism
measures in Indonesia, the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia.
It will channel AU$120 million (US$83.5 million) of its ODA to Iraq.
The report points out that with an increase of only AU$79 million
(US$55 million) in its ODA budget compared to last year, this will
inevitably result in cuts to other areas.
For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated:
“Since the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September
2001, there has been greater international awareness of the
possibility of poverty [zones] becoming hotbeds of terrorism and the
role of ODA is being reconsidered.”
At the end of 2002, Japan allocated ODA money to the Philippines,
including US$22.6 million to a governance-improvement programme for
the autonomous region of Mindanao in a “package for peace and
security” and nearly US$370 million for a “peace-building and
counter-terrorism programme.”
The report states: “Within the official 2004 ODA budget, the funds
allocated for peace building and conflict prevention have risen
dramatically from 12 billion yen to 16.5 billion yen. Meanwhile,
Japan has cut its total ODA budget from 857.8 billion yen in 2003 to
816.9 billion yen in 2004. Again, the implications are clear.
Targeting the poor is likely to take second place to security
interests.”
In Britain last year, the director of Christian Aid, Daleep Mukarji,
wrote on behalf of five leading aid agencies to Prime Minister Tony
Blair regarding funding commitments to Iraq from the government’s
Department for International Development (DFID). Blair replied that
“funds will not be redirected from other…programmes.”
But the Christian Aid report says that an internal DFID document
entitled “Resource Reallocation” was leaked last October that stated:
“The burden of financing Iraq will have to be borne by the
contingency reserves and reductions in middle-income country budgets.
These plans will mean that a number of our current programmes in
middle-income countries will close.”
DFID will need to find £267 million (US$489 million) over the next
two years from cutting projects to “middle-income” countries.
Projects to provide drinking water in Guyana and to give support to
indigenous Indians in Bolivia are amongst those to be cut, according
to the Christian Aid report.
The British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND), an umbrella group
of British development charities, wrote in a report last year: “This
international focus on security and terrorism is having an impact on
development, not only by drawing political and media attention away
from development concerns, but by influencing aid allocations and the
nature of donor cooperation with developing countries.”
The New York-based think tank, the Centre for Defence Information
(CDI), noted how the United States has realigned its relationship
with countries that were previously ineligible for military aid but
are now seen as vital in the “War on Terror.” These include Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. CDI reports that the US has sold
US$1.2 billion of fighter jets and missiles to Oman and around US$400
million of missiles to Egypt. It is providing large shipments of
military aid to countries identified as fighting terrorist groups.
Indonesia is getting training from the Department of Defence’s new
Counter Terrorism Fellowship Programme. That country was previously
banned from receiving such training following its role in East Timor.
A stark example is the increase in ODA by the US government to
Pakistan following 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan. From a figure of
less than US$100 million per year, it has risen to nearly US$800
million.
In the conclusion to the CDI report, it states: “Having a new
quasi-ideological theme to justify most security assistance is
extremely convenient for the Bush administration. Policy objectives
that could not have been pursued in the pre-September 11 security
environment can now be repackaged and sold as part of the
counter-terrorism effort. In addition, wrapping new security
assistance programs in a counter-terrorism cloak allows the
administration to provide support for repressive regimes and aid to
states verging on, or currently involved in, armed conflict.”
In the recommendations section of the report, Christian Aid states:
“We have shown that dark clouds are already gathering over the ideal
that aid should be exclusively directed towards these that need it
most…. World leaders must ensure that aid is not hijacked by the
imperatives of the War on Terror, as it was by the Cold War.”
The continuing intensification of the drive towards re-colonisation
by the imperialist powers is bringing out the true nature of
international relationships. Christian Aid’s report shows that the
aid programmes of the major powers are not isolated from this
development. In spite of the appeals by Christian Aid, this trend
will not be moderated but will intensify.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
June 17 2004
FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS NEW AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE
[June 17, 2004, 11:48:02]
As was informed to AzerTAj from the press center of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, on June 16, minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met the
newly appointed ambassador of France to Azerbaijan Roland Blatman.
Having congratulated the ambassador with new assignment, Minister of
Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov has emphasized, that highly
estimates expansion of relations between Azerbaijan and France. The
Minister has expressed confidence that the ambassador would actively
use on this post the wide experience in the field of diplomatic
service for development of bilateral links.
The Minister in detail informed the ambassador on the political
situation in Azerbaijan, carried out reforms, protection of human
rights, the work done in the field of settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict.
Ambassador Rolland Blatman, having emphasized, that during the
diplomatic activity will use the best efforts for the further
strengthening and expansion of links between our countries, has
expressed hope for the fair and peaceful settlement of the Nagorny
Karabakh conflict due to joint efforts of the international
community.
Upon termination of the meeting the ambassador has handed over
minister Elmar Mammadyarov a copy of the accrediting letter.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
June 17 2004
US expanding military co-op with ‘regional leader’
The visits by Deputy Commander of the Headquarters of the U.S.
European Command, General Charles Wald and NATO Under Secretary
General, chairman of the Science Committee, Jan Furne to Baku have
drawn much attention in the region. Azerbaijan and Georgia appreciate
these visits, but Iran and
Russia, as well as their ally Armenia, are envious of them. In
particular, General Wald’s friendly meeting with President Aliyev and
his high assessment of Azerbaijan and its incumbent authorities
sparked differing opinions not only in the region but also in
Azerbaijan, especially among the opposition. On Thursday, President
Aliyev received a US delegation headed by General Charles Wald.
President Aliyev said that there has been great progress in the
development of US-Azerbaijani relations.
Regarding his talks at NATO as an important event in Azerbaijan’s
integration into NATO, Aliyev expressed his confidence that future
cooperation with the Alliance would be successful. “Mr. President, I
congratulate you on your successful leadership in the region,” said
General Wald, stressing that the US European Command is eager to
continue cooperation with Azerbaijan in the future. He underlined
that Azerbaijan is a leading and very important country in the
region. Speaking about the particular importance of joint programs,
General Wald said that joint measures are being taken by the two
countries in order to ensure security in the Caspian basin. He noted
that the security of oil pipelines is still on the agenda and that
military exercises and training with the participation of special
groups set up in Washington will be continued for the purpose. This
is the third visit by General Wald, who last came to Baku in April.
The US General said that the aim of his visit was to discuss the
issues related to the security of the Caspian basin and the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. According to some observers, Wald came
to Baku to discuss the stationing of US mobile forces and a military
base in Azerbaijan and observe the pace of the construction of a
military post here.
Strategic interests
Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev, in a meeting with
General Wald said the situation in the South Caucasus is tense and
that part of Azerbaijan’s territory remains under Armenian
occupation.
“The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Upper Garabagh cannot remain
frozen”, Abiyev said and pointed out the importance of recognizing
Armenia as an aggressor. Expressing his adherence to Abiyev’s
opinions, General Wald said: “We are well aware of the developments
ongoing in the region.” he said. Regarding the “Cooperative Best
Effort-2004” training to be held in Azerbaijan as an important event,
the US General stressed that this would bring the country closer to
NATO. He termed Azerbaijan as an influential country in the region
and pointed out the coinciding strategic interests of the US and
Azerbaijan.
US military bases
Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan were indicated in the “Pentagon’s new map”
published by Harvard University as the countries where the United
States is going to station its military bases.Commenting on the
issue, political analyst Vafa Guluzada said that the Pentagon intends
to set up a chain of military bases in the territory of the former
Soviet Union. According to Guluzada, with this infrastructure the
United States wants to turn both the former Soviet Union and the
Middle East into an integrated area. Underlining that the Pentagon
attaches great importance to Azerbaijan, the political analyst said
Georgia has also established military cooperation with the United
States. Guluzada noted that, however, Azerbaijan is a more important
country in the region for its oil and gas resources. ” Taking into
account all the existing factors, one can conclude that the United
States will station its military bases in Azerbaijan at the
appropriate time,” he added.
NATO week starts
NATO week, which started in Baku on June 13, will last through June
19. A delegation headed by NATO Under-Secretary General, chairman of
the Science Committee, Jan Furne arrived in Baku on Sunday for the
event. The delegation includes representatives from twenty-six
countries. Summer classes on “NATO in the changing world” started in
Baku on Monday with the assistance of the Youth Euro-Atlantic
Organization and the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. The purpose of
the event, attended by some 50 Azerbaijanis and foreign nationals, is
to hold discussions among young researchers of the NATO and
Euro-Atlantic security, government officials and foreigners. The
upcoming summit in Istanbul, new prospects, trans-Atlantic relations,
NATO’s eastward expansion, and the situation in the South Caucasus
will be discussed. Seminars, “Scientific research and security
challenges” and “Terrorism and nuclear security” will be held at Baku
State University (BSU) and the Academy of Sciences (AS) respectively.
The AZRENA public Internet center, set up within the AS Information
Technologies Institute under the “Virtual Silk Road” project, will be
inaugurated, followed by a training session for the participants of
the summer classes.
Political questions avoided
NATO Under-Secretary Jan Furne and President of the Academy of
Sciences Mahmud Karimov held a joint news briefing on Monday. Furne
said that although NATO is not engaged in science, it finances a
number of new undertakings in this area. He said the parties will not
work on any specific projects during the NATO event in Baku, but will
exchange experience in the area of chemistry and ways of preventing
catastrophes. Furne avoided all political questions. Karimov said
Azerbaijan attaches a particular importance to developing information
technologies and environmental protection of the Caspian Sea within
its cooperation with the NATO Science Committee. “Besides,
Azerbaijan, as a country subject to terror by Armenia, is working
with NATO on scientific answers to terrorism threats, he said.
Summer classes to promote NATO-Azeri relations
In a meeting with NATO Under-Secretary, science committee chairman
Jan Furne on Sunday, Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev
said that over 300 events are held in Azerbaijan every year under the
auspices of NATO. He said extensive preparations have been carried
out in the country for the upcoming Cooperative Best Effort-2004
training sessions and the Istanbul summit. Furne leading a delegation
of representatives from 26 countries, said the fact that the “Summer
school” week is being held in Baku promotes the multi-faceted
relations between NATO and Azerbaijan. Pointing out the importance of
President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Brussels, he emphasized that
Azerbaijan is one of the only countries to have submitted to NATO the
“Individual Partnership Activity Plan”. Touching upon the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh, Abiyev said that
Armenia has failed to comply with 4 UN resolutions on the immediate
and unconditional withdrawal from Azerbaijani territories adopted
since 1993. “By joining the NATO Partnership for Peace program,
Armenia assumed a commitment to honor the territorial integrity of
all partners and NATO, in turn, should demand it do so. We are
concerned with the fact that Armenia has not been recognized as an
aggressor country by the international community, which is a double
standard”, Abiyev said. Furne replied said that NATO is well aware of
this position and is seeking new ways to improve relations with
Azerbaijan. The parties also exchanged views on the military and
political situation in the region, the extensive economic reforms
underway in Azerbaijan and security issues.

Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
June 17 2004
Congratulations from near and far for grads
Hoover High’s class of 2004 graduates during ceremony on school’s
football field, drawing well-wishes from around the world.
By Gary Moskowitz, News-Press
NORTHWEST GLENDALE — The night before her graduation from Hoover High
School, Chanel Leyva got a long distance call from her boyfriend, who
is stationed with the Marines in Iraq.
Her boyfriend, Joe Martinez, called at 4:30 a.m. in Iraq to
congratulate her and apologize for not being there Wednesday at
Hoover’s 2004 graduation ceremony.
Leyva was among 551 seniors to wear a purple or white cap and gown
and graduate from Hoover this year, officials said.
“My boyfriend is one of the main people I wanted to be here, but he
called from Iraq to say he misses me and that he’s proud of me,”
Leyva said. “Graduating from high school is exciting. There were
struggles here and there, but you have to put yourself into it to get
it done.”
At the ceremony, school officials announced that Glenn Kim was this
year’s valedictorian. Alina Hunanyan, Karineh Parsanian and Anna
Schnitger were the school’s salutatorians.
During her graduation speech, Annis Khani encouraged students to
remember what they learned from their time at Hoover.
“Remain true to who you are,” Annis said. “Don’t measure your worth
by what you have, but by what you have given to others.”
Charisse Brown-Aintablian watched eagerly from the sideline of the
school’s football field to see her son, Samuel Aintablian, receive
his high school diploma.
“This is a very, very proud moment for us,” Brown-Aintablian said.
“My son is from an interracial marriage, Armenian and black, and
that’s a big thing to handle. And I think with so many kids not
graduating at all, all of these kids here graduating are setting a
good example for all the younger kids in the audience. It’s a big
accomplishment to get through high school.”
Jee Kim will head East this fall to attend New York University. He
plans to study aerospace engineering.
“It feels like we are all adults today,” said Kim, 18. “After high
school, it’s like the real world, and nobody’s there to watch over
you anymore. I’ll miss my friends the most.”

Kerkorian takes casino crown
By Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY
USA Today
June 17 2004
Las Vegas has always had its share of dreamers and big shots, but
never one quite like Kirk Kerkorian. As majority stockholder of
MGM Mirage, he would have had every reason to publicly join in the
hoopla Wednesday about Mandalay Resort Group’s acceptance of MGM’s
$4.8 billion cash buyout offer.
The deal makes Kerkorian the mogul among moguls: He’ll control more
Las Vegas hotel rooms than Howard Hughes or Stephen Wynn could ever
assemble. If the deal passes regulatory muster, MGM will become the
world’s largest gaming company. It will lord over 11 casino resorts on
the famed Las Vegas Strip alone, including jewels such as Bellagio,
Mandalay Bay and Luxor along the hottest stretch. Kerkorian’s empire
would extend to 17 other gambling halls in Nevada, elsewhere in the
USA and Australia.
“This is the king of all deals in the gaming business,” says Rod
Petrik, gaming analyst with Legg Mason. “He will be the No. 1 operator
on the Strip, with the best properties.”
Even in triumph, Kerkorian, 87, characteristically stayed out of the
limelight. At an age when most people are retired, Kerkorian struck
his biggest casino deal and declined to be interviewed about it.
That’s in contrast to the flamboyance that has marked Strip tycoons
such as gangster Bugsy Siegel, who opened the Flamingo as the Strip’s
first flashy casino in 1946.
Mandalay’s board approved the deal Tuesday night amid antitrust
concerns. MGM Mirage CEO Terrence Lanni said in an interview that his
board is “very comfortable” with lawyers’ assurances that antitrust
issues won’t be a problem.
MGM is paying $71 a share cash, in a deal that, along with
convertible securities and assumption of debt, is valued at $7.9
billion. Wednesday, MGM shares fell 62 cents to $48.88. Mandalay
dropped 8 cents to $67.80, short of the $71 acquisition price, in
recognition of the year it could take for the deal to close and the
chance that regulators could interfere.
Besides the potential to own half the 75,000 rooms on the Strip,
MGM would acquire about 2 million square feet of meeting space
in the nation’s largest convention city. MGM would also become
better positioned at the high and low ends of the gambling market,
better able to attract $500-a-hand blackjack players and nickel-slot
aficionados alike. That helps spread the risk as Wynn is about to
open a megaresort on the north end of the Strip next year, which
could siphon the most profitable high rollers.
“I’m very excited,” Lanni says. Mandalay “has wonderful properties
and great brands.”
The consolidation comes as greater Las Vegas, one of the nation’s
fastest-growing metropolises, continues to attract new visitors.
The Mandalay acquisition is Kerkorian’s second big casino deal in
four years. In 2000, MGM acquired Wynn’s Mirage Resorts for $4.4
billion. Then, as now, Kerkorian stayed behind the curtain.
He is publicity-shy but not reclusive. The Southern Californian plays a
mean game of tennis, buys a ticket and stands in line for movies and is
known to frequent plush but unflashy restaurants. Like Howard Hughes,
he’s a former pilot who dallied in the movie business. Unlike Hughes,
he hasn’t locked himself in a hotel casino penthouse, grown a long
scraggily beard and shunned all but his closest cronies.
Chasing deals
For him, the elixir of life is love of the deal. The bigger, the
better. Among the builders of modern Las Vegas, “Kerkorian is one
of the most enigmatic and interesting figures,” says Hal Rothman,
a history professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “He is
uncanny in his ability to read the market.”
While others ignored Las Vegas as a garish, sweltering pool of
excess, Kerkorian saw how both the masses and the elite would come to
embrace it. In the course of amassing a $6 billion empire, Kerkorian
has constructed the world’s largest hotel on three occasions: the
International, which later became the Las Vegas Hilton, in 1969;
the MGM Grand, now Bally’s, in 1973; and the present MGM Grand in 1993.
“He’s the smartest man I know,” says Alex Yemenidjian, CEO of Kerkorian
film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. “It takes three minutes for him to
figure out something that takes me three days.”
Yemenidjian, who speaks to Kerkorian by phone daily and plays tennis
with him most weekends, adds: “I don’t know anybody else who has
created more jobs in Las Vegas or been more charitable.”
Kerkorian, No. 65 on Forbes list of billionaires, has, without fanfare,
donated at least $150 million, often to his ancestral homeland
of Armenia.
Through his Tracinda holding company, named after his daughters Tracy
and Linda, he owns 57% of MGM Mirage. He also has large holdings
in DaimlerChrysler, which he is suing for $1 billion for allegedly
defrauding investors in the 1998 merger between the giant automakers.
A verdict is expected in the fall.
He keeps residences in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He’s involved in
his businesses but doesn’t dabble in details. He’s “a very big-picture
person,” Lanni says.
Kerkorian came to know Las Vegas the way most first see it: as a
gambler. The Fresno-born son of an Armenian immigrant, Kerkorian was
a scrappy boxer as a youth and later ferried bombers from Canada to
England during World War II for the Royal Air Force.
In 1947, the year Siegel was shot and the Flamingo started showing
a profit, Kerkorian paid $60,000 for a plane to shuttle movie stars
and high rollers. He built it into a $104 million charter business
that was sold to Transamerica in 1966. He used the profits to build
the International and buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio. He would
buy and sell it three times.
As Kerkorian was about to emerge as a force in Las Vegas, Hughes
was king. Hughes bought some of the biggest casinos of the time,
including the Desert Inn, Sands, Landmark, Frontier, Silver Slipper
and the Castaways. All were puny compared with the room counts of
today’s giants.
Fire dealt setback
Kerkorian had setbacks. The hotel then called the MGM Grand,
predecessor to the one by that name further south on the Strip,
caught fire in 1980, and 81 people died. “After the fire, he …
stayed underground,” says John L. Smith, who has written several
books about Las Vegas and is a columnist for the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. “It is something that bothered him for a long time.”
Kerkorian eventually re-emerged. His new MGM Grand remains Las Vegas’
largest resort, with 5,034 rooms. It was built with a concert hall
and an amusement park for the town’s family-friendly era.
When adding Wynn’s former Mirage Resorts properties, including
Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island, MGM made sure the properties
kept their own personalities. In Mandalay Bay, for instance, Kerkorian
is getting a property known for its hipness.
Kerkorian’s power play comes as Sin City is enjoying a resurgence. It
had more than 12.5 million visitors through April this year, up
7.5% from the first four months of 2003, the Las Vegas Convention
and Visitors Authority says. “If there’s any place to double down,
Nevada is the place to do it,” says analyst Eric Hausler at Susquehanna
Financial.
The Mandalay purchase, like any gamble, has risks. Riverboat
and American Indian gaming are growing, particularly in the key
California market that feeds gamblers to Las Vegas by bus and car.
The number of people arriving by air rose about 15% in the first four
months of 2004, vs. the same period in 2003. Another terrorist attack
could leave MGM/Mandalay dangerously exposed if there’s a plunge in
visitors. “This will be a huge concentration of properties betting
on Las Vegas,” says Dan Ahrens, portfolio manager of the Vice fund,
which is 28% invested in gaming stocks.
Few would bet against Kerkorian even if he’s out of sight. “Kerkorian
is still at the helm here,” says author Smith. “The lion never sleeps.”
Contributing: Matt Krantz, Thor Valdmanis and Darryl Haralson