Category: News

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
August 3, 2004
___________________
CLERGY, PARISHIONERS GATHER TO HONOR LATE BISHOP
Funeral services were held for the late Bishop Houssig Bagdasian on
Monday, August 2, 2004, at the St. Mary Church of Livingston, NJ. The
church, where Bishop Bagdasian served as pastor for many years, was
filled with clergymen, family of the bishop, and parishioners.
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), presided over the service, during which
Bishop Vicken Aykazian celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The Primate read a message from His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, in which he expressed his
condolences for the loss and prayed for the eternal rest of Bishop
Bagdasian, the first Armenian-born bishop of the Armenian Church.
Following the badarak, the mourners attended a hokejash, served by the
parish’s Women’s Guild chapter.
Bishop Bagdasian was buried in his hometown of Providence, RI, on
Tuesday, August 3, 2004.
What follows is the eulogy delivered by the Primate during the funeral
service.
* * *
Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it
dies, it bears much fruit.
John 12:24
These words of our Lord are not only true in a literal sense, but also
when they are applied to all circumstances. Human life itself bears
testimony to this. It began with God breathing life into the nostrils
of the first man that He formed out of dust, and gave man the mystical
gift of regenerating the human race with the seed of his loins.
Similarly, behind every great and positive accomplishment in life there
is a grain of wheat, that sparkles in the human mind in the form of an
idea or a dream. If the grain is sown in fertile soil, in time it buds,
blossoms and bears much fruit.
Bishop Houssig’s example, from his childhood to his demise, reminds us
of our Lord’s parable on the grain of wheat. His entire life was
devoted to serving our church and our people. As a pastor, his flock
always held a special place in his heart. He left his mark by planting
the seeds of leadership in people who lead our church today, and in
others who will lead it in coming years.
Born on American soil in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, this
grain of wheat budded in the Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Church of the same
city. He attended the parish schools and began serving in the church as
a choir member and altar boy. This tells us something about the wisdom
and importance of exposing our young boys and girls to our liturgy,
traditions and parish life from the very beginning. Some will hear the
calling from above, while others, who are not given that gift, will
spend their lives in the spiritual sphere of the church, practicing
their faith.
Bishop Houssig was one of those youth who received the calling from
above and hearkened to the Divine voice that led him to Jerusalem, the
center of the Christian faith. There for four years he tolerated the
rigors of seminary life, which were very different than the life he knew
in his parents’ home in Providence. Finally, the grain of wheat that
had budded in Providence and had been transferred to the fertile soil of
the St. James Monastery bloomed, as he was ordained a celibate priest
and accepted into the brotherhood of St. James.
Instead of returning to the United States after his ordination, Bishop
Houssig stayed in Jerusalem and held several responsible positions in
the monastery. As a member of the St. James Brotherhood, he was deeply
involved in guarding the rights of the Armenian Church at the Dominical
sites. This was a great service to our church, since our holdings in
the Holy Land and our custodianship over the central sites of
Christianity make our church and people visible in the international
world. Bishop Houssig was at various times responsible for the
properties of the Armenian Patriarchate. In 1960 he was appointed
Patriarchal Vicar of Israel, and was responsible for the Armenian
community in Israel as well as for the properties of the Armenian
Patriarchate on the Israeli side of the border. During his 11 years of
service in the Holy Land, Bishop Bagdasian helped renovate several
Armenian churches, including St. Nicholas in Jaffa, St. Elijah in Haifa,
and St. Krikor Loosavorich in Jerusalem. In accordance with the words
of the Prophet Isaiah, “[Blessed] is he that has a child in Sion and
household friends in Jerusalem [Isaiah 31:9]”, our entire Diocese and
Bishop Houssig’s family were blessed that an American-born Armenian
priest played such an important role in the Holy Land.
Returning to the United States in 1971, Bishop Houssig was assigned to
the St. Mary Church, then in Irvington, NJ. He led the church in its
move to Livingston in 1974. After the church was destroyed by fire in
1980, Bishop Bagdasian’s leadership was key in helping the parish
faithful pull together to rebuild the church, which was consecrated in
March 1982.
His service to the Diocese was not limited to the St. Mary parish. He
was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese, headed the Diocesan Finance
Committee, and served on several other committees. He had also been a
member of the Diocesan Council. For a short while he was the chancellor
of the Diocesan Center. And he was dedicated to the Armenian homeland,
leading a group of 26 ACYOA members to the region devastated by the 1988
earthquake to help with reconstruction.
In 1991 the General Assembly of the Brotherhood of St. James elected
Bishop Houssig as a member of the Executive Council of the Patriarchate.
He accepted, and returned to Jerusalem. At the request of the Patriarch
and the Brotherhood, he was consecrated a bishop in 1992 by the hand of
Catholicos Vasken I. Through his consecration he became the first
American-born bishop of the Armenian Church. For over five years, the
bishop was in charge of all the properties of the Patriarchate.
Bishop Houssig was a great leader, a dedicated pastor, and above all
else, a kind friend to so many. His dedication to the faith he was
called to serve was strong, as was his love for his flock. He will
surely be missed in Livingston, throughout the Diocese, and in the
worldwide Armenian Church family.
Tomorrow he will be buried in the bosom of the land where he was born.
I pray that his remains, which we consecrated earlier, will be a source
of blessing and inspiration to us all and particularly to the young
generation. May the Lord sow many grains of wheat in the fertile soil
of His church, and may those grains bud and blossom, so that we have
others who will follow Bishop Houssig’s footsteps.
— 8/3/04

ARMENIA THIS WEEK
Monday, August 2, 2004
ARMENIA WARNS BAKU OVER WAR THREATS
In a special statement issued last week, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
warned Azerbaijan that it would face “disastrous consequences” should its
leaders again resort to military force in the Karabakh conflict. The warning
came after President Ilham Aliyev told his diplomatic envoys posted abroad
that should Azerbaijan fail to regain Karabakh through negotiations, it
would “use… the military option.” The Armenian statement further
questioned Azerbaijan’s commitment to ongoing negotiations, with yet another
summit between Aliyev and Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian planned for
September.

Similar threats have been coming from Baku for years and many observers have
began to ignore them. Last week, the Azeri daily Zerkalo cited one unnamed
Western diplomat in Baku as saying “militant calls of your leader are at
odds with the real situation in your army, attitude of your society and
moral parameters of your ruling class.” The source added that the threats
are no longer taken seriously in the West.

But Armenian officials chose to react this time since unlike typical war
rhetoric for domestic consumption, the most recent threat came in what was
supposed to be President Aliyev’s policy speech to the Azeri diplomatic
corps. It also appears that Azerbaijan is beginning to accelerate its
military preparedness. Last month, Aliyev gave an average of a 50 percent
salary raise to the Azeri military and security forces. Azeri officials have
also indicated plans to begin new weapons purchases in Russia, Ukraine and
Pakistan.

Separately, Azerbaijan is beefing up its border security forces, which
received a $19 million aid package from the U.S. last week. The program,
known as the Caspian Guard, focuses on Azeri ability to defend the Caspian
oil infrastructure and on counter-proliferation. But it does appear to have
special operations and air components that could potentially be used against
Armenia, which would in turn violate U.S. law.

The Azeris have also stepped up provocations along the Line of Contact this
year. The Armenian army reported six deaths from enemy fire so far this
year, with Azeris reporting about a dozen. This week, Karabakh forces began
their annual maneuvers, which this year will also test their
inter-operability with forces from Armenia proper. (Sources: Armenia This
Week 7-19, 26; Ekho 7-20, 29; Arminfo 7-23; Azg 7-23; Zerkalo 7-23; Armenian
Foreign Ministry 7-28; U.S. Department of Defense 7-29; RFE/RL 7-30, 8-2)
ARMENIAN ECONOMY CONTINUES TO TOP GROWTH EXPECTATIONS
Armenia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by more than nine percent in the
first half of 2004, the National Statistics Service reported this week.
While below the record-high 2002-2003 growth of 12 and 14 percent
respectively, the increase was well above the six to seven percent
anticipated by the government and international financial institutions
earlier this year.

Significantly, this year’s robust growth comes after completion of
infrastructure projects funded by the U.S.-based Lincy Foundation, as well
as an 11 percent decrease in diamond-processing and jewelry production,
which had been one of the fastest growing sectors in recent years.
Industrial output was up 4.5 percent, driven by growth in generation of
energy (up 17 percent) and mining and metallurgy (up 46 percent). Textiles
production was up 2.2 times, with garment / leather and rubber / plastics
up 1.4 times each. Investments in construction increased by 12 percent, with
agricultural production up 8.5 percent.

In January-June 2004, the volume of Armenian exports grew by over 7 percent
to $340 million and imports by 4 percent to $625 million. Dependence on
outside supplies of energy and fuel, and raw materials imported for
processing in Armenia, kept the trade deficit large. The list of main export
destinations for Armenian goods continued to be topped by Belgium (19
percent of all goods), Israel (12), Russia (11), the United States (10),
Germany (9) and Switzerland (6). Most imports arrived from Russia (18
percent), Belgium (11), the United States (8), Israel (7) and Great Britain
(6).

The Armenian government also reported to be on track with a projected
increase in revenue collection to reach $450 million this year. Combined tax
and customs revenue in the first half of 2004 reached $211 million, up 17
percent year-on-year. Nevertheless, the State Taxation Service chief
estimated that the so-called shadow sector continued to account for 30
percent of economic activity, with an equivalent portion of profits and
incomes remaining officially untaxed. At the end of June 2004 the average
private sector monthly salary was estimated at $100, up 28 percent
year-on-year, while average public sector wages stood at a meager $50,
despite a 46 percent increase. The unemployment rate remained largely
unchanged at 9.3 percent of the adult population. (Sources: Armenia This
Week 2-6, 4-30; Arminfo 7-31, 8-2; Golos Armenii 7-31)

Visit to read Armenia This Week
issues since 1997.
Armenian Assembly of America
Research & Information Office
August 2, 2004
ISSUE BRIEF: ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF IRAQ
On Sunday, August 1, 2004 Iraq’s Christian communities were the targets of
unprecedented violence. Five bombs exploded nearly simultaneously at four
churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul. The bombings claimed the lives of at
least seven people and dozens were wounded. Among the churches targeted was
an Armenian Catholic Church in Baghdad.
Christian Assyrians and Arabs make up the largest Christian groups in Iraq.
Since the Saddam Hussein take-over in the 1970s and due to subsequent
oppression and wars with Iran and the U.S. and coalition forces, many Iraqi
Christians have emigrated. Today, their number is estimated at about 500,000
people out of Iraq’s twenty seven million.
The Armenian presence in Iraq dates back centuries. But the largest group
arrived during and after the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the then Ottoman
Turkey. Today, the number of Armenians has decreased to under 20,000 people,
but a large community infrastructure remains, including some ten churches.
Most Armenians live in Baghdad, with communities in northern Iraq and Basra
in the south.
Below are the major landmarks sustained by the Armenian community in Iraq:

· Built in 1640, the St. Mary’s (Sb. Astvadzadin) Armenian Church is
the oldest in Baghdad. Reconstructed in 1967, it has been closed through
most of last year. It is also known locally as St. Meskenta (Shirin), named
after a 5th century female martyr. During its annual August 15 festival, the
church draws Christians of all denominations.
· Our Lady of the Roses’ Armenian Catholic Church, built in 1884 and
located in Baghdad’s Karrada district, was one of the targets of the August
1 bombing. As a result, three people were injured and the nearby
headquarters of the Armenian Catholic Church office destroyed. The church
itself sustained comparatively less damage. The Armenian Catholics, who also
maintain the newer St. Mary’s Armenian Catholic Church in Baghdad, are led
by His Grace Antoine Atamian.
· The Holy Martyrs’ (Sb. Nahadangats) Armenian Apostolic Church is
located at the Armenian cemetery in Baghdad and is used for observance of
last rights during funerals.
· St. Gregory the Illuminator (Sb. Grigor Lusavorich) Armenian
Apostolic Church in downtown Baghdad’s Younis al-Sabaawi Square was built in
1956. It also houses the Armenian Church headquarters, headed by the Most
Rev. Archbishop Avak Assadourian. Since 2003, the church has been closed for
services as “unsafe.”
· St. Karapet Armenian Apostolic Church, built in 1973 in Baghdad’s
Christian Camp Sarah neighborhood has remained open throughout the war and
continues to function attracting some 1,000 Armenian families from
throughout Baghdad.
· Outside Baghdad, there are functioning Armenian Apostolic Churches
in the southern city of Basrah, home to some 300 Armenian families, and
northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, with 300 and 120 families respectively.
The St. Mary and St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Churches serve the largely
Kurdish-speaking Armenian communities in Zakho and the nearby village of
Avzrug, respectively, which comprise over 200 families.
Since 2003, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Eastern
Diocese of the Armenian Church in the United States have provided modest aid
to the Iraqi Armenian community’s neediest families. Armenians, along with
other Iraqis, have faced a precarious security situation over the past year
and a half. Dozens have become victims of ongoing violence. Until the August
1 attacks, none of the Armenians were targeted because of their faith or
heritage.
Sources:
The Armenian Assembly of America information 8/2/04
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Press Release 8/2/04
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) 7/7/04
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 7/6/04
Atlas Travel & Tourist Agency (Jordan)
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

American Daily, OH
Aug 3 2004
A Just War
By David Huntwork (08/15/2003)
The justifications of the Iraq War should be old news by now but
still the shrill cry of `Where’s the WMD’s?’ continues to reverberate
across the political landscape. Presidential hopeful Howard Dean
threatens to lead the Democratic Party to the brink of political
oblivion by attacking the war and advocates the `cut and run’ policy
if he were to be elected.
The rest of the nine democratic lemmings, as well as many in the
media, have desperately joined the scramble to disavow the war in
spite of the fact that many supported it. While the rest of the
nation has moved on, the Democratic Party is preparing to make the
Iraq war their major issue in the coming presidential election. It is
embarrassing to watch a major political party seek the sissy vote.
In spite of the the buried centrifuges, banned missiles, mobile
biological weapons labs, the testimonies of defectors and captured
officials, captured documents and thousands of gassed Kurds and
Iranians moldering in the grave the there are still those who
question whether Saddam had Weapons of Mass Destruction in the months
and years leading up to the Coalition invasion and the inclination to
use such weapons. I suspect that most are really asking whether the
destruction of the Baath regime and the ousting of Saddam Hussein was
the right thing to do.
It is indisputable that the Iraqi’s developed, possessed, used and
coveted WMD’s , and were planning to develop the nuclear form of them
as soon as United Nations sanctions were lifted. As to whether they
were an undefinable `imminent’ threat is irrelevant and a red herring
argument at best. The real question is whether the Iraq War was a
just war. Was liberating the Iraqi people the moral and right thing
to do and will history regard this as a suitable, just and deserved
ending of the despotic Saddam regime?
History has recorded in stark black and white the tyrants and mass
murder of the last century. The slaughter of Armenians by the Turks,
the insanity of Idi Amin, the apocalyptic terror of Pol Pot, the
ethnic orgy of death in Rwanda, the horrific war against Christians
in the Sudan, and the countless lives sacrificed by Lenin, Stalin,
and Mao on the Red altar of Communism. These are just a few on the
list that reads as a nightmarish record of mans’ inhumanity to man.
Only rarely do tyrants meet the end that they deserve. The world
defeated and destroyed the triple evils of Nazism, fascism and
Japanese militarism but only after the organized slaughter of tens of
millions had run its course.
Saddam and his sons have served as just the latest Middle Eastern
incarnation of such terror, war and death. The thirty years of
Baathist rule in Iraq produced wars, invasions, and attacks on three
neighboring countries, the direct deaths of over a million people,
and ethnic and religious civil wars with the obligatory torture
chambers, execution squads, rape rooms, and chemical attacks on
civilian populations. The laundry list would not be complete without
mentioning the funding, arming and training of terrorist groups of
all political and ideological stripes and the attempted assassination
of a former president of the United States.
Perhaps the most premeditated diabolical act was what occurred after
the imposition of UN sanctions. The Saddam regime embarked upon the
deliberate starvation and medical neglect of the Iraqi people for
political purposes. Tens of billions of illegal petro dollars funded
WMD programs and was hoarded or spent on lavish lifestyles for the
elite as the children of Iraq died from neglect, malnutrition, and
lack of medicine. All played out for the eager lenses of the world
press and the benefit of the pacifists here at home.
In the end it should be a moral outrage that it took this long for a
`coalition of the willing’ to finally end the reign of yet another of
histories monstrosities. When the Iraq War first started what was
heard from the average American was not `why are we doing this?’ but
`what took us so long?’ and `we should have taken him out the first
time’. The blood soaked sand of Iraq deserves better.
The name Saddam will become just another one word term symbolizing
the utter cruelty humanity is capable of inflicting on itself. His
shadow will always be with us and be remembered for its own
particular horrors and the unique terror he brought his victims.
The members of the Axis of Evil, Al-Queda, and their allies have
shown no mercy to their victims and should be shown none in return.
With a little luck some native Kurd will mete out some true justice
and display the head of Saddam on a pole in a village square
somewhere. It would certainly simplify the worries of providing a
`proper Muslim’ burial for a mass murderer and spare the ever so
sensitive sensibilities of the Arab street.
Those that bemoan the use of force against the Saddam regime or mourn
the killing of the `Hussein boys’ share a portion of guilt for the
horrific crimes committed by such criminals. To prevent rape,
mutilation, torture and the shedding of innocent blood, to civilize a
people, to kill a sadist, to liberate a country, to bring peace to a
region wracked by war and help heal an ancient land is a cause that
is noble and worthy of respect. Civilized and free people have a duty
to do what we can to make the world a better, safer and more merciful
place. It is certainly reasonable to prevent rogue ideologies and
psychotic personalities from unleashing their holocaust of terror and
vision of destruction on the rest of us.
When you add it all together; a vicious tyrant, nuclear ambitions,
torture, genocide, sponsorship of terror, user of WMD’s, combined
with a vicious hatred of Israel, America and Western Civilization,
there can be no other conclusion than that the Iraq war was a just
war. Untold thousand of future Saddam victims have President George
Bush and the iron resolve of the American people to thank for their
lives. In the course of history few nations have destroyed tyranny
instead of imposing it and liberated nations instead of enslaving
them. A nation founded in Liberty has given that blessed gift to the
Iraqi people.

David Huntwork is a long time conservative activist and occasional
columnist in Ft. Collins, Colorado where he lives with his wife and
two (soon to be three) young daughters. He strongly believes in the
importance of Faith, Family, and Freedom as the formula of success
for a good life and a healthy nation.

Persian Journal, Iran
Aug 3 2004
Iran, Armenia Keen to Expand Cultural Ties

A visiting high-ranking Armenian delegation reached an agreement on
urban architecture and cultural interaction with officials from
Tehran Municipality Art and Culture Department here on Monday.
During this meeting, Head of Tehran Municipality Art and Culture
Department Esfandiar Rahim Mosha’ie named Iranian Armenians “good
citizens” and said that they had a crucial role in pivotal occasions
such as the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Sacred Defense and
in cultural, political and social affairs, IRNA reported.
Referring to the history of Tehran Municipality in seeking expertise
of other countries in optimizing Tehran architecture, Mosha’ie noted
that he expects close cooperation with Armenian architects along with
art and cultural interaction in the future. For his part, Armenian
Deputy Minister of Culture Gagik Gurjian mentioned the history of
Iran-Armenia cultural and artistic cooperation and appreciated Iran’s
special interest in such collaboration.
Regarding the monument of Zorzor church in West Azarbaijan province
which was previously flooded by water “The ancient church was
restored at a higher altitude through joint efforts of Iranian and
Armenian experts and engineers,” he said, adding that the church is
currently being examined by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “In addition to
architectural cooperation between the two countries, Iran and Armenia
can also cooperate in other fields such as introducing their
religious and spiritual ceremonies,” he concluded.

New York Press, NY
Aug 3 2004
BIG APPLES AND ORANGES
Are L.A. and NYC interchangeable?
By Jennifer Blowdryer
I recently took a quick flight to Burbank Airport from Oakland,
fondly remembering the days of peacetime, back when I was considered
a threat. Once at Gatwick Airport, they actually dismantled one of my
tampons, tipped off perhaps by my traveling outfit of men’s pajamas.
Now I have bright green hair and they don’t even blink. At the
Burbank Airport, “Bow Wow Wow” played as I waited for my luggage, and
I could tell that L.A. was different, despite a recent Los Angeles
Times article bemoaning the fact that NYC and L.A. have become
interchangeable.
I was silent on the airport shuttle, just in case, but the driver
didn’t seem like the type to talk about his screenplay anyway. The
hotel I’d carefully selected was the Coral Sands, a gay cruising spot
known informally as the Crystal Sands. A sign at the desk warned of
the health hazard of staying there, and I did notice a moldy smell
that overpowered the front lawn. It cost about $80 a night for two
beds, and “I’ve Got You Babe” was playing on the oldies station as I
jumped in the empty pool. If I wanted, I could have taken a hustler
to my room – giving the hotel a $10 cut from the hours of midnight to
six – but I was eager to sample the culinary side of the local fare
instead.
I was staying in the part of East Hollywood known as Thai Town, where
a take-out stand called Thai Express had a gigantic hotdog in front.
One of the things I love about L.A. is the architecture. The pad Thai
was bland, but the green curry chicken was good – it’s always kind of
the same anyway. At the local Starbucks, I ran into the comedian Rick
Shapiro.
“I hate it here! I miss New York so much!” he exclaimed, practically
tearing up, before launching into an account of his recent downfall,
reform and dying father.
I took the 217 bus to the Hollywood branch of Zankou Chicken at 5065
Sunset. I’m not crazy about Zankou Chicken’s dreary, greasy ambiance,
but it’s my favorite place for Armenian broiled chicken with hummus
and pickled radishes. (Word is that Al Wazir, an Armenian place on
Hollywood, is even better.) At the Glendale branch, a family member
went berserk and killed three other family members, in an episode
referred to as the Glendale Tragedy, and a resigned sadness is
displayed by the staff.
My friend Russell, who does not get to live in New York City, always
wants to visit Canters, a famous Jewish-style restaurant on Fairfax,
where Barbra Streisand once ate. He is obsessed with the place, where
an exiled East Coaster can get chopped liver and matzo ball soup. I
sampled the Monte Cristo, just because its time has come and gone,
understandably since it consists of fried bread sprinkled with
powdered sugar, containing both sandwich meat and jam. At least
Russell didn’t embarrass me by wearing his Canters t-shirt.
I wanted to find a new L.A. place, so I met my friends Alexis, Terry
and Sandel at Electric Lotus, a nouveau Indian place on Franklin.
Silk fabric was draped over the walls and ceiling, striving for a
sexy atmosphere. The Naan was enormous, the size of an arm, and the
chicken korma ($13) was too light for Indian food. The only good
result of redoing a classic food that is perfectly fine on its own
was the spinach, which was fresh and had tofu instead of cheese.
Alexis pointed out a nearby rock star: “Look, he has big hair, and
his date has big breasts.” I strained to see them through the dense
mood lighting. Across the street was the House of Pies, which was
crowded despite their mediocre fare. “The whole place is based on
pie,” pointed out Terry, who collects bowling balls “And the pie
isn’t really that good. Plus, it has medical lighting!”
Apparently the industry has made everybody sensitive in this way.
Alexis, who had just spent some time in New York, claimed she was
sick every day here due to our bad restaurants. I smarted a little at
this, taking comfort in the fact that she’s probably never gotten a
Vietnamese sandwich on Broome St.
I asked poet Keith Niles, who works at the zoo, to take us to a bar.
We went to the White Horse on Western. There were only four other
people there, and one of them was angry because the jukebox, which
stops at 1995, wouldn’t play his White Snake selection – on purpose, he
believed.
“The key to a good bar is poor management and overpriced drinks,”
Keith explained. He also likes the Tiki-Ti, an old school Tiki bar in
Silver Lake that looks like a shack and charges at least $9 for every
drink. “It weeds out the beer drinkers, and despite all my hijinks
it’s never turned into insanity.”
He also likes Virgil, south of Santa Monica Blvd., but advises
would-be patrons to watch their change, and the Grasshopper on
Fountain and Normandy, a Mexican cocaine bar where he once fell in
love. Nodding my head to the vintage heavy metal, I sipped my soda,
vowing to return to L.A., if not the Coral Sands. I liked the
atmosphere of the place, but this camel-colored blanket that was
tucked in between the polyester bedspread and the sheets was worse
than anything I’ve seen in a squat.
By 2 a.m., men had crawled out of their grubby rooms and were
lounging seductively on the lawn furniture by the pool, eyes sweeping
the area like finely tuned, single-minded radar. o

Taipei Times
Iraq blames al-Zarqawi for bombing
RELIGIOUS ‘WEDGE’: The Jordanian-born militant was trying to force
Christians out of the country, officials said, while a Turkish hostage was
reportedly executed
REUTERS , BAGHDAD
Tuesday, Aug 03, 2004,Page 6
A US soldier stands guard yesterday in front of a Christian Syriac church in
Baghdad which was targeted on Sunday by a suicide car bomb.
PHOTO: AFP
The Iraqi government yesterday blamed al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for
a series of church bombings that killed at least 11 people, saying the aim
was to spark religious strife and drive Christians out of the country.
Muslim leaders condemned the car bombings that were timed for Sunday evening
services in Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul. The attacks were the
first on churches of the minority Christian community since the start of a
15-month insurgency.
“There is no shadow of a doubt that this bears the blueprint of Zarqawi,”
said national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie.
“Zarqawi and his extremists are basically trying to drive a wedge between
Muslims and Christians in Iraq. It’s clear they want to drive Christians out
of the country,” he said.
The Jordanian-born militant has claimed responsibility for a series of major
car bombings in Iraq since former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was ousted
last year as well as the killing of foreign hostages.
An Islamist Web site yesterday showed photographs of what it said was the
killing of a Turkish hostage by a group linked to Zarqawi. But a Somali held
by militants also linked to Zarqawi is to be freed after his Kuwaiti
employer agreed to halt operations in the country, alJazeera television
said.
Rubaie said Iraq’s national security council was to hold an emergency
meeting yesterday to discuss the blasts that hit at least five churches in
the country, including four in Baghdad.
The bomb attacks near the four Baghdad churches killed 10 people and wounded
more than 40, the US military said, adding the blasts occurred within a
30-minute period.
Witnesses and officials had said earlier that as many as 15 people had been
killed, including at least one person killed by a bomb at a church in Mosul.
The US statement gave no details of casualties from Mosul. It said Iraqi
police had found and cleared an explosive device that contained 15 mortar
rounds outside a fifth Baghdad church.
Christians account for about 3 percent of the population of Iraq, where
attempts to provoke conflict have mainly focused on Sunni Muslims and
members of the Shiite Muslim majority, who were oppressed by Saddam.
There are 800,000 Christians in Iraq, most of them in Baghdad. Several
recent attacks have targeted alcohol sellers throughout Iraq, most of whom
are Christians of either the Assyrian, Chaldean or Armenian denominations.
Adnan al-Asadi, a senior member of the Shiite Dawa Islamic party, said
Muslims shared the pain of the Christian community.
“We reject these criminal acts which want to create religious and sectarian
strife in Iraq,” he said.
“We do not differentiate between these acts which are in violation of
religious and Islamic laws because the perpetrators of these acts … are
the same people who strike Iraqi mosques and centers for the internal
security forces,” he said.
Iraqi Human Rights Minister Bakhtiar Amin said the interim government of
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was trying its best to combat the insurgents and
uproot their networks.
“This shows there are no borders to the barbarity of the crimes of these
terrorists,” he said in response to the attacks. “No believer of any
religion would do this.”
Parish priest Bashar Muntihorda, speaking outside a Chaldean church in
Baghdad that was hit, said Christians were devastated.
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Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Aug 3 2004
IRAN EXCHANGE ENERGY WITH CENTRAL ASIAN STATES
[August 03, 2004, 17:51:23]
Azerbaijan Regional Electrical Company (AREC) Managing Director
Fattah Qarabagh announced that Iran has exchanged 922 kilowatts of
electricity with Azerbaijan and Armenia since January 2004, AzerTAj
reported referring to IRNA Agency.
On the sidelines of an induction ceremony for the new managing
director of the Ardabil Power Distribution Company, he told IRNA that
of the above-stated amount of energy that was exchanged, 280 million
KWh were transferred to Azerbaijan and Armenia while the remainder
was delivered to Iran by the two Central Asian states.
“Electricity exchanges take place due to the increased rate of energy
consumption in Iran during summer and the high demand for it in
Azerbaijan and Armenia during winter.
“Energy is currently transferred from the following four points in
northwestern Iran to the specified destinations: from Parsabad to
Imisheli in the Azerbaijan Republic, from Julfa to Ordubad in the
Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan and from Araz dam to Nakhchivan,”
he added.
He noted that a 154-kilovolt-power transmission line had become
operational between the Iranian-Turkish border and Dogubayazit in
Turkey but that for the time being it is closed.

Syrian Arab News Agency
Aug 3 2004
Minister of Economy and Trade arrives in Yerevan

YEREVAN, Aug 3 (SANA)
Minister of Economy and Trade Dr. Ghassan al-Refai Tuesday arrived in
Yerevan heading the Syrian delegation to the 3rd meetings of the
Syrian-Armenian Joint Committee.
The Syrian delegation includes representatives of the Ministries of
Communications, Technology, Housing and Construction, Oil & Mineral
Resources, Tourism and State Planning Committee.
The Armenian side is headed by Armenian Minister of Agriculture David
Lokian.

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Aug 3 2004
KARABAKH ARMENIAN ARMY TO HOLD ANNUAL MANEUVERS
STEPANAKERT, 03.08.04. Nagorno-Karabakh’s armed forces will start on
Tuesday annual exercises which the leadership of the
Armenian-populated disputed region says are aimed at testing and
improving their strength.
In a statement on Monday, the Defense Ministry of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said the ten-day war games will take place
to `ascertain the combat readiness of the Defense Army when it is
brought to a state of highest alert.’ They are also meant to improve
`the process of troops’ inter-operability during defensive and
counter-offensive operations,’ the statement said.
The Karabakh military also said that the exercises are part of its
regular training plan for this year, implying that they are not
related to the recent series of Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks or
clashes along the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan. Officials in
Stepanakert told RFE/RL separately that they will be attended by army
reservists and involve the use of live ammunition by light and heavy
weapons.
Although the precise venue of the drills was not specified, they are
likely to take place near the main Armenian-Azerbaijani line of
contact east of Karabakh. The decade-long regime of ceasefire has
largely held there, but sporadic skirmishes continue to claim lives
on both sides of the frontline.
By Emil Danielyan

ArmenPress
Aug 3 2004
KARABAGH ARMY STARTS ANNUAL WAR GAMES
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 3, ARMENPRESS: The defense ministry of Nagorno
Karabagh said in a statement Monday that the main goal of annual
military exercises that have started today, is to test and improve
the strength of the armed forces and clear up their readiness in a
state of the highest alert.
The Karabakh military officials said the war games are part of the
regular training plan for this year. The exercises will be attended
also by army reservists and involve the use of live ammunition by
light and heavy weapons.