Category: News

A1 Plus | 20:13:19 | 12-05-2004 | Politics |
MPS ARGUING ABOUT CITIZENSHIP FOR SEFILYAN
During today’s exchange of answers and questions between Government
and Parliament MP Manuk Gasparyan posed a question over not granting
citizenship to Shushi Battalion Commander Jirayr Sefilyan.
Manuk Gasparyan advised Serj Sargssyan to solicit to grant citizenship
to Karabakhi War hero. Naturally, Sargssyan didn’t respond and
Government Staff Head-Minister Manuk Topuzyan answered the question.
He just informed that Government is not empowered to consider the
issue since only the President solves the problem.
“Do you suggest me to appeal to the President? In that case I
will say the guys who fought to liberate our homeland would better
perish. Sefilyan is not an ordinary man. He has come from abroad,
struggled for his country and achieved a lieutenant colonel rank. He
used to be Shushi Regiment Commander”, Gasparyan said.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know the reasons for refusal. But I don’t think
that citizenship can be rejected baselessly”, Manuk Topuzyan answered.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/11/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) First Couple Begins Official Visit to Lebanon 2) Georgia to Deploy Troops in Ethnic Armenian District Following Clashes 3) More Than 95% of ARF Candidates in Lebanon Elected 4) US General Blames Leadership for Abuse 5) Efforts to Control Sensitive Armenian Exports Discussed in Washington 1) First Couple Begins Official Visit to Lebanon BEIRUT (Combined Sources)--Armenian and Lebanese Presidents Robert Kocharian and Emil Lahoud met on Monday to discuss intensifying their already solid bilateral relations. Officials said the two also reviewed the situation in the Middle East, including Iraq. The Armenian president was due to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Accompanied by Armenian first lady Bella, President Kocharian was greeted by President Lahoud and Lebanese first lady Andrea at Beirut International airport early Monday. A state dinner was held in honor of the Armenian first couple Monday evening, and the two planned to visit historical and cultural sites on Tuesday. Lebanon hosts the Arab world's largest Armenian community, with about 200,000 members. The community has government ministers and parliament members, and is very active in the business sector. Kocharian was scheduled to meet church and other leaders. Kocharian made a first visit to Lebanon in 2000. The Lebanese president, whose mother and wife are of Armenian origin, made a trip to Yerevan in 2002. Hariri also visited Armenia in April, where he signed a series of agreements for bilateral economic and cultural cooperation. 2) Georgia to Deploy Troops in Ethnic Armenian District Following Clashes TSALKA (Combined Sources)--A 150-strong unit of Georgia's Internal Troops are to be deployed in Tsalka District following mass disturbances involving the district's ethnic Armenian and Georgian residents on Sunday. A Prime-News correspondent reported from Tsalka that the president's representative in the Kvemo Kartli Region, Ioseb Mazmishvili, as well as a group of investigators from the regional offices of the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor-General's Office, arrived in Tsalka on Monday to investigate the incident. The Prime-News correspondent has said that the regional administration will stay in Tsalka until order is restored there. A temporary command post to coordinate the activities of law enforcement officers will also be set-up. Mazmishvili told Prime-News that the temporary command post will institute special measures, to include the disarming of residents. A-Info reported that clashes began when some 50 Svans (ethnic Georgian group) ran into the field and began beating the Armenian soccer players after they had made a goal. Most of the victims, schoolchildren, suffered serious injuries. Armenian youth from neighboring villages moved in to help, but before reaching Tsalka, were told that police had managed to stop the fight. Armenian and Svans clashed again in other areas. A-Info also reported that the mainly Georgian local police arbitrarily harassed Armenians, with one policeman opening fire on the car of a young Armenian who had nothing to do with the events. The president's representative in the region has described the situation in the district as tense. Several dozen have been injured; one youth suffered concussion. A group of doctors from Rustavi went to Tsalka on Monday to treat the injured. Mass disturbances involving ethnic Georgians and Armenians have taken place in the Tsalka District before. 3) More Than 95% of ARF Candidates in Lebanon Elected BEIRUT (Aztag)--Of the 90 candidates running for seats in Lebanon's municipal and local elections on the ARF list, 86 were elected, reported the ARF Central Committee of Lebanon. The elections began May 2 and ended May 9. The turnout by Armenian voters was high and highly organized, in sharp contrast to overall voter turnout, according to Lebanese news reports. The ARF's election machinery included 1,500 youth campaign workers, as well as 750 vehicles that transported voters from outlying areas, including the Bekaa Valley and the north, to the heart of Beirut. "We congratulate the ARF's election allies, who recorded major victories throughout Lebanon," read a statement issued by the Central Committee after the elections. "The consolidation of the democratic order, and election campaigns waged on that basis, constitute the starting point for the development of the country…which is predicated on the development of municipalities and their districts. It was with that understanding that the ARF approached the elections at this stage, and was able to achieve the election of 86 persons as municipal council members and district heads," the statement read. The ARF waged the election campaign for the Beirut municipal and district elections from headquarters in Mt. Lebanon. It had seven election headquarters in Bourj Hammoud, seven in Antelias, three in Zalka and Jal-al-Dib, four in Beirut, and one each in Ainjar, Zahle, and Jibeyl. 4) US General Blames Leadership for Abuse WASHINGTON (Reuters)--The abuse of Iraqi prisoners reflected a failure of leadership in the US armed forces, the general who investigated the mistreatment says. But he said on Tuesday that he found no evidence that American soldiers had acted on the direct orders of higher-ups. Asked directly in "your own soldier's language" what had caused the abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, once the feared symbol of Saddam Hussein's dictatorial rule, US Army Major General Antonio Taguba recited a litany of ills. "Failure in leadership, sir, from the brigade commander on down, lack of discipline, no training whatsoever and no supervision. Supervisory omission was rampant," Taguba, the author of a Pentagon report on the abuse, told the latest Senate hearing on the scandal, which has drawn worldwide outrage. But Taguba told the Senate Armed Services Committee he did "not find any evidence of a policy or a direct order given to these soldiers to conduct what they did. I believe that they did it on their own volition." The hearing followed an all-day grilling of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday, at which Rumsfeld apologized for the abuse but said he would not step down simply to appease his political enemies. At the Pentagon's insistence, Under Secretary of Defense Stephen Cambone, who is in charge of intelligence, and other Pentagon officials also appeared with Taguba to testify on the scandal that has sparked international outrage and calls for Rumsfeld's resignation. Coalition military intelligence officers estimated that about 70 percent to 90 percent of the thousands of prisoners detained in Iraq had been "arrested by mistake," according to a report by Red Cross given to the Bush administration last year and leaked this week. The report said the mistreatment of prisoners apparently tolerated by US and other coalition forces in Iraq involved widespread abuse that was "in some cases tantamount to torture." DEMOCRATS IRKED Democrats on the committee were irked that the Pentagon balked at plans for Taguba to testify by himself, calling it an "attempt to dilute Taguba's testimony", a Democratic aide said. "Taguba is known as a straight-talker." Taguba's report and photographs shown around the world of naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts at the prison near Baghdad have shocked Americans and set off an international furor that has posed a serious setback to US efforts to stabilize Iraq. With close US ally Britain battling its own abuse scandal, Amnesty International accused British soldiers in Iraq of killing civilians, including an 8-year-old girl and a wedding guest, who posed no apparent threat. Already, a British judge has ruled that 12 Iraqi families whose loved ones were killed should be given permission to argue that the European Convention on Human Rights applied to their cases. The scandal broke in America as public support for the Iraq war was already declining. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released on Monday found only 44 percent believed the war was worthwhile. In a poll taken a month ago, 50 percent said it was worth going to war in Iraq. A year ago, 73 percent thought the war was worthwhile. President George W. Bush's own approval rating dipped to 46 percent, down from 52 percent a month earlier. SCATTERED VIOLENCE In Iraq scattered violence, underlined the continuing lawlessness. A civilian supply convoy was attacked on the main highway to Baghdad from Jordan and 21 vehicles were destroyed. Three people were killed when a bomb exploded in a crowded market in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, Iraqi police said. And in Najaf, hundreds of Iraqis marched through the streets to demand that militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdraw his fighters from the Shi'ite holy city. It was the biggest and most public display yet of mounting local exasperation with an uprising launched last month by Sadr's Mehdi Army against the US occupation force. Despite the ongoing turmoil, the United States is planning to hand over Saddam Hussein and other top officials of his ousted regime to the Iraqis before it transfers power to an unelected Iraqi government by June 30, according to Iraqi lawyer Salem Chalabi, who is coordinating the trial. "The coalition forces now have more than 100 former regime officials," Chalabi said in Kuwait. "They will be transferred to us before the transfer of power, and they include Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al Majid and Tareq Aziz." In his report, completed in March, Taguba cited the "systematic and illegal abuses of detainees," and said between October and December 2003, "numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses were inflicted on several detainees." While his 53-page report castigated the prison operation, Taguba told the committee he did not see evidence it resulted from a deliberate policy on extracting information from detainees. "I think it was a matter of soldiers with their interaction with military intelligence personnel who were perceived or thought to be competent authority ... influencing their action to set the conditions for successful interrogations," he said. But Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the committee's top Democrat, said "the despicable acts" shown in the report "not only reek of abuse, they reek of an organized effort and methodical preparation for interrogation." Levin said the abuses "were not the spontaneous action of lower ranking enlisted personnel," but "attempts to extract information from prisoners by abusive and degrading methods were planned and suggested by others." Congress is now preparing to see a new set of photographs and a video that Rumsfeld warned may be even more shocking. 5) Efforts to Control Sensitive Armenian Exports Discussed in Washington YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Senior Armenian and US officials met in Washington last week to discuss efforts to prevent possible transfer of sensitive equipment and technology from Armenia to third-world countries, the Foreign Ministry in Yerevan announced on Monday. A ministry statement said the meeting was a part of "periodical consultations" between the two governments relating to exports of goods that could be used in the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It said the Armenian side was represented by officials from several government agencies, including the National Security Service and an exports control body. The statement said their counterparts from the US Department of Commerce praised relevant steps taken by the Armenian authorities, notably a law regulating exports of "goods and technologies of dual use" and their transit through Armenian territory which was passed by the National Assembly last September. The talks seemed to have come about as a result of a May 2002 incident over the transfer of sensitive Armenian technology to neighboring Iran. Washington imposed sanctions on an Armenian businessman who had allegedly sold the technological equipment of a local biochemical firm to an Iranian-linked trading company registered in the United Arab Emirates. The company, based in the central town of Charentsavan, grew special bacteria for the production of lysine, an amino acid added to animal fodder. Scientists say they could also generate other biochemical substances. The businessman, Armen Sarkisian strongly denied having any links with the now defunct firm called Lizin. Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated at the time that Armenia had been cautioned in 2001 of the dangers of exporting of lysine, which can be used for military purposes, but that the Armenian government had no authority to block the deal. The incident prompted the government to tighten export controls on Armenia's border crossings. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian opposition urges authorities to meet Europe’s demands
A1+ web site
11 May 04
11 May: The Justice political bloc today circulated a statement on
the authorities’ actions that run against resolution No 1374 of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE].
1. The authorities have not given up the practice of administrative
detentions. New arrests have been made (in violation of Point 9 of
the PACE resolution).
2. People arrested for participation in rallies have not been set
free immediately. Fourteen Armenian citizens have been arrested for
political motives. One of them – Martin Gazaryan – has been sentenced
to one year in prison.
3. No transparent and trustworthy examination has been started into
their cases to find those responsible for violence and trampling on
human rights (in violation of Point 9 of the PACE resolution).
4. The law on administrative offences has not been amended (in
violation of Point 9 of the PACE resolution).

UN refugee body, Azeri rights champion discuss Armenian fugitives
ANS TV, Baku
11 May 04
[Presenter in studio] The fate of Roman Teryan and Artur Apresyan, two
Armenians who have fled from [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan’s
regime and come to Azerbaijan, was discussed today by the UNHCR
[UN High Commissioner for Refugees] representative in Azerbaijan,
Bohdan Nahaylo, and human rights campaigner Arzu Abdullayeva.
After the meeting, Bohdan Nahaylo said that before taking any steps,
the Commissioner has to receive appeals either from the Azerbaijani
government or the persons in question.
[Video of Bohdan Nahaylo, captioned, talking to camera in English with
Azeri voice-over] The document clarifying our position on the issue
was submitted to relevant state bodies last week. No government body
has applied to us yet so that we could start discussions. We are not
the kind of organization which maintains dialogue with the government
by means of the press or any other institution. We are open to direct
dialogue. We are waiting for open dialogue.

Armenian civic forum condemns authorities’ anti-democratic policy
A1+ web site
11 May 04
11 May: “People in our country face violence every day, rigged
elections have become a norm and we live in an artificial information
blockade,” members of an initiative group, which includes about 40
public organizations, stated at a forum called “For and against civic
will” today.
A member of the Nadezhda [Hope] public organization, Karen Akopyan,
believes that the time has come when every citizen should feel guilty
of the existing situation.
The president of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Avetik Ishkhanyan,
believes that our society currently permits the authorities to drown
the entire people with their illegal actions. The forum’s key aim is
to set up a movement for the protection of human rights.
Today’s forum adopted a statement which said: “Gross human rights
violations in Armenia, deviation from the democratic path and the
authorities’ actions promote the formation of an atmosphere of
lawlessness.”
In their statement, the representatives of the civic society demanded
that all political prisoners be released, bureaucrats who violated
constitutional rights be punished and citizens’ rights to free access
to information be ensured. In this connection, the importance of
providing the A1+ TV company with a frequency was underlined.

Armenian party leader downbeat on government-opposition dialogue
Noyan Tapan news agency
11 May 04
Yerevan, 11 May: “The current political consultations between the
coalition and opposition forces will hardly yield any result, because
the coalition has no elementary powers, which are concentrated in the
hands of President Robert Kocharyan,” Garnik Markaryan, chairman of
the Motherland and Honour Party, said in an interview with a Noyan
Tapan correspondent. He thinks that the president “is using the
coalition forces as a tool for preserving his power”.
Markaryan noted that the political consultations in essense have
substituted the real negotiations conducted between the sides by
the council of elders of the intelligentsia forum. “The fact that
the opposition went for these consultations is another mistake,”
he is sure.
Garnik Markaryan said that if the opposition does not drastically
change its organizational and management methods, it will be difficult
to expect any positive changes in its favour in the domestic political
process.
Apart from this, it is necessary to expand the geography of the
opposition’s activity, keeping Yerevan as the centre of the events
of course: “We must not forget that in Armenia there are also other
huge cities and regional centres”.
As for the possibility of changing the authorities’ behaviour,
connected with Resolution No 1374 of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) on Armenia, Garnik Markaryan stated
that the ruling administration “has no desire to change anything,
and the process of intimidation and persecution is continuing”.

Nakhchivan Airport Is Due To Open
Baku Today
11/05/2004
Azerbaijan State Airlines Concern will hold opening ceremony for
Nakhchivan airport tomorrow. The airport has been under reconstruction
for almost year and half. The reconstruction was scheduled to end
by the end of 2003. The construction work has covered about 350,000
square meters.
Nakhchivan airport stands solely for transport communication
of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan with the rest
of Azerbaijan. Nakhchivan has been in blockade following Karabakh
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Airlines Concern was to announce about the opening of the airport
earlier. Yet the concern’s officials said, they had to postpone a
ceremony because of bad weather conditions.
President Ilham Aliyev is expected to attend the opening ceremony
in Nakhchivan.

PRESS RELEASE
May 11, 2004
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia
2225 R Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20008
Tel: 202-319-1976, x. 348; Fax: 202-319-2982
Email: [email protected]; Web:
Armenia Among Other Countries honored at a White House Ceremony
On May 10, 2004, U.S. President George Bush hosted a ceremony at the
White House to mark the recent selection of 16 countries, including
Armenia, as recipients of Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) funds. The
MCA, a foreign aid distribution mechanism introduced by the Bush
administration, will fund programs submitted by eligible countries
to promote the goals of poverty reduction and economic development.
Ambassadors from 16 countries, including Armenian Ambassador to the
U.S., Dr. Arman Kirakossian were present at the ceremony and had an
opportunity to briefly meet with President Bush. Also present were
Senator Dick Lugar, Representative Tom Lantos, and the members of the
Board of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which administers the
MCA funds. Secretary of State Colin Powell is the ex-officio Chairman
of the Board; the Board includes other senior members of the Cabinet.
In his remarks during the ceremony, President Bush congratulated
the countries selected as potential recipients of MCA funds, noting
that these countries “have taken the first courageous steps toward
greater independence and greater wealth, and greater hopes for the
people you serve.” He also said, “To be eligible for this new money,
nations must root out corruption, respect human rights, and adhere
to the rule of law. They must invest in their people by improving
their health care systems and their schools. They must unleash the
energy and creativity necessary for economic growth by opening up
their markets, removing barriers to entrepreneurship, and reducing
excessive bureaucracy and regulation. The 16 nations represented here
today have done all this and more.”
For more information, visit

Voice of America, DC
May 10 2004
President Bush Welcomes Millennium Challenge Account Recipients
Paula Wolfson
Washington
President Bush is urging more developing countries to adopt economic
and political reforms, saying it will qualify them for increased
American aid. Mr. Bush honored the first sixteen countries to become
eligible for a new aid program that rewards reforms with development
assistance.
Under this newly implemented program, countries that can prove they
are implementing reforms can apply for money from a special aid fund
called the Millennium Challenge Account.
That fund is expected to result in a substantial increase in U-S
foreign assistance in the next few years, and is the focal point of
the administration’s aid policy.
Although creation of the fund was announced by the president two
years ago, the first recipients were announced last week. President
Bush personally congratulated the qualifying countries Monday at a
ceremony attended by their ambassadors to Washington and other
officials.
“The 16 chosen in this round are showing the way, are showing what is
possible, are serving as a bright light in the developing world. You
have taken the first courageous steps toward greater independence and
greater wealth, and greater hopes for the people you serve,” he says.
These countries span the globe – from Armenia to Madagascar…Bolivia
to Sri Lanka. . .Mali to Mongolia. The president said they have
chosen the path of reform, and their people are better off as a
result.
“For example, Madagascar is aggressively fighting corruption. The
Ministry of Justice has suspended a dozen magistrates on suspicion of
corrupt activity. The government is also implementing an ambitious
program of judicial reform. Senegal, Africa’s longest-standing
democracy, has also enacted new anti-corruption laws, and is
implementing new measures to fight money-laundering, he says.
Mr. Bush also cited government reforms to improve health care in
Honduras, and boost both health and education spending in Georgia. He
said these steps prove these countries have the will to do what is
necessary to really combat poverty.
“Reform can bring more aid from America, and it will also bring more
investment and more trade, lessening the need for aid over time.
Reform will be repaid many times over in the relief of poverty, and
rising national wealth and stability for their countries,” he says.
In addition to implementing reforms, countries seeking Millennium
Challenge Grants are required to list their goals for the future and
outline further steps they plan to take to meet the needs of their
people and increase economic growth.

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2004
Contact: David Zenian
E-mail: [email protected]
MCC SELECTS ARMENIA FOR DIRECT GRANT PROGRAM
Washington, DC – Armenia and 15 other countries were recognized by the
United States as “good partners” who can apply for financial assistance
through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) created by the U.S.
government to help select countries of the world, MCC Chief Executive
Officer Paul V. Applegarth said at a news conference last week.
“Being selected as a country eligible for funding through the MCC’s
Millennium Challenge Account means that the United States considers the
selected country a good partner and that it clearly deserves further
encouragement. But this partnership is based on accountability,” Applegarth
told reporters.
“The Armenian Assembly welcomes the U.S. decision which is yet another
window of opportunity for Armenia to reinforce sound political, economic and
social policies that promote economic growth. We congratulate the
government and people of Armenia for winning this global competition for
additional American support,” Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair
Hovnanian said.
In making its determination, the Board of Directors of the MCC considered
both the past and current policy performance of the candidate countries in
the areas of “governing justly, investing in their own people and promoting
economic freedom.”
“It is very encouraging to see that Armenia has cleared the first major
hurdle and is now eligible to apply for funding through the billion dollar
MCC aid program set up by the Bush Administration to support policies that
promote good government. Assuming that Armenia’s proposals are ultimately
funded, this will mark the first direct grant from the U.S. to the
government of Armenia,” Hovnanian said.
The other selected countries are: Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Georgia,
Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua,
Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu.
Applegarth, who was nominated to the post as MCC Chief Executive Officer,
and confirmed by the Senate this week, said:
“Our mission – encouraging and rewarding good policies that produce
sustainable economic growth – holds profound implications for freedom and
security across the globe. Today’s decision demonstrates the clear
commitment of the U.S. to reducing poverty and human suffering. This is a
new approach to foreign aid. We want to encourage partnership, and we want
to promote good government.”
Applegarth said it was now up to the selected countries, including Armenia,
to present their “specific plans and proposals” for further scrutiny and
evaluation before any determination is made on the amount of aid each
country will get.
“Let us not take anything for granted. Being on the list of selected
countries does not mean an automatic qualification for assistance from
Millennium Challenge Account,” he said.
Applegarth said the next and more important step now included a hands-on
evaluation by an MCC technical group to each of the selected countries and
the submission of specific and compact proposals by the countries
themselves.
“The money is in place, and it is up to the selected countries to move fast
and get their specific requests in. But we have to underline one important
factor: We expect accountability and there is no such thing as a perpetual
qualification. Any country could be dropped if it fails to meet
expectations,” Applegarth said.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR#2004-052