Category: News

Le Monde, France
04 août 2004
« Une catastrophe pour les rapports entre Occident et Orient » ;
IRAK Joseph Yacoub, professeur de science politique à l’Université
catholique de Lyon
Propos recueillis par Henri Tincq
LIVRE
TITRE: Menaces sur les chrétiens d’Irak
AUTEUR: Joseph Yacoub
Vous avez publié en mars 2003 Menaces sur les chrétiens d’Irak
(édition CLD-Témoignage chrétien). Quelle est pour vous la
signification des attentats qui ont pris pour cible la communauté
chrétienne de ce pays ?
C’est la première fois que des lieux de culte, représentant
l’ensemble des Eglises – chaldéenne, syriaque, arménienne,
nestorienne, etc. -, sont touchés et au même moment. Et ce dans les
trois villes les plus symboliques de l’Irak chrétien : Bagdad, lieu
de concentration de tous les patriarcats, Mossoul et Kirkouk, qui
sont parmi les plus vieilles villes chrétiennes du monde.
Des attaques aussi bien organisées et concertées ont une fonction
idéologique précise : réduire l’influence chrétienne, fût-elle
limitée, dans les instances de gouvernement et de préparation des
élections, briser le renouveau liturgique, culturel, intellectuel des
Eglises. Je ne citerai que l’exemple de la revue Al-fiqr Al-Masihi
(La Pensée chrétienne), qui compte déjà 10 000 acheteurs, dont un
quart de musulmans !
A qui attribuez-vous la responsabilité de telles attaques ?
J’exclus que les auteurs viennent des mouvements nationalistes
irakiens. Ils ne peuvent être issus que des rangs de musulmans
fanatiques, pour qui il ne doit plus y avoir de chrétiens sur cette
terre et qui veulent accroître l’amalgame entre chrétiens d’Irak et
chrétiens d’Occident, au premier rang desquels les Américains.
Il s’agit de faire monter les tensions entre les différentes
communautés, de dresser les musulmans contre les chrétiens,
d’éliminer l’influence chrétienne sur l’échiquier politique, dans le
paysage social et culturel irakien, de les pousser encore un peu plus
à l’exode.
Quelle est l’ampleur de cet exode chrétien ?
Sous Saddam Hussein, on a exagéré le poids des chrétiens. Le
dictateur les tolérait, mais guère plus que les autres confessions.
Leur activité était limitée à un cadre strictement religieux et
contrôlée par le régime baas. Dès qu’ils dépassaient ce cadre, les
chrétiens étaient persécutés. 350 000 ont quitté l’Irak depuis 1961,
c’est-à-dire depuis la révolte kurde. Ils ont commencé à émigrer du
Nord vers les villes, puis sont descendus encore un peu plus à
Bagdad, pour prendre ensuite le chemin de l’exil. Ils étaient un
million en 1961. Ils vivent aujourd’hui à Detroit (70 000), à
Chicago, etc. L’émigration s’est faite plus massive encore à partir
de l’embargo du début des années 1990, qui a fait fuir 250 000
chrétiens. Ce mouvement s’est ralenti depuis la chute de Saddam
Hussein, mais l’exode a repris depuis mars en raison du chaos.
Cet exode est grave. Le chrétien d’Irak revendique ses racines dans
l’Assyrie et la Babylone anciennes. L’Irak est sa terre. Ce n’est pas
un étranger ni un converti des missions jésuites ou protestantes. Il
est chrétien depuis deux mille ans, c’est-à-dire depuis
l’évangélisation par l’apôtre Thomas de la Mésopotamie. Les premières
églises dans le Nord à Mossoul datent du IIe siècle.
Cette chrétienté est fière. Sa présence est bien antérieure à celle
de l’islam. Elle a toujours participé à la vie politique et
culturelle du pays, traduit la littérature grecque, servi de pont
entre l’Orient et l’Occident. Ce sont les chrétiens qui traduisaient
en Irak les oeuvres de l’Occident et ce sont eux qui faisaient
connaître en Occident la richesse de la littérature arabe, chrétienne
ou musulmane. Oui, ces derniers attentats sont une catastrophe pour
les rapports entre Occident et Orient, entre islam et christianisme.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger
August 3, 2004
Russia funds reconstruction of railway in Abkhazia
Russia is to fund the reconstruction of the Abkhazian portion of the railway
from Psou to Sukhumi, the information agency Apsnipress reports. This
follows an agreement reached between the government of the unrecognized
republic of Abkhazia and the authorities of the North Caucasus railway. Over
20 sleeper-wagons and special equipment have been delivered by the Russian
railway to Abkhazia to begin work on the project.
Meanwhile, after a recent meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian, Georgian PM Zurab Zhvania declared that the renewal of railway
communications between the South Caucasus and Russia via Abkhazia is
dependent on the safe return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SENATOR BURNS AGREES TO COSPONSOR GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
— Montana Republican Becomes 40th Senate
Supporter of Human Rights Measure
WASHINGTON, DC – Montana Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) agreed this
week to cosponsor the Genocide Resolution, S.Res.164, bringing the
number of U.S. Senators supporting this human rights measure to
forty, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
“I am proud to join with 39 of my Senate colleagues in support of
S.Res.164,” said Senator Burns in a statement to the ANCA. “This
legislation stresses the importance of remembering and learning the
lessons of past crimes against humanity, including the Armenian
Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides,
in an effort to stop future atrocities. Silence in the face of
genocide only encourages those who would commit such atrocities in
the future – a legacy which we cannot afford to pass on to our
children.”
“Armenian Americans, in Montana and across the United States, join
in thanking Senator Burns for his principled stand in defense of
the fundamental right of all people to live free from the terrors
of genocide,” said ANCA-Western Region Executive Director Ardashes
Kassakhian, who traveled to Montana in late July to meet with
members of the state’s Congressional delegation, along with local
community activist Yedvart Tchakerian. “We have been very
encouraged, in recent months, by the increasing effectiveness of
our grassroots outreach in the Northern Plain states, with Senators
from Montana and both North and South Dakota supporting the
Genocide Resolution, and the governors of Idaho, Nebraska, and
Montana issuing proclamations commemorating the Armenian Genocide.”
The Genocide Resolution marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S.
implementation of the Genocide Convention and reaffirms the
commitment of the American people to this landmark treaty. It
specifically cites the importance of applying the lessons of past
genocides in order to make the world safe from future genocides.
Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) introduced this
measure in June of last year. Its companion measure in the U.S.
House, H.Res.193, led by Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA),
Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs
Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), was adopted
unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee last May and currently
has 111 cosponsors. On July 15th, the U.S. House passed an
amendment, authored by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), which
prohibited the government of Turkey from using U.S. foreign aid
dollars to lobby against the Genocide Resolution.
Support for the Genocide Resolution has been widespread outside of
Congress as well, with a diverse coalition of over 100 ethnic,
religious, civil and human rights organizations calling for its
passage, including American Values, National Organization of Women,
Sons of Italy, NAACP, Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and the National
Council of La Raza.
For information about Senator Burns, who serves on the powerful
Senate Appropriations Committee, visit:

Hamilton Spectator (Ontario, Canada)
August 3, 2004 Tuesday Final Edition
Finding richness in a new land; Canadians from the former Soviet
state of Azerbaijan are contributing here while respecting their past
Special to The Hamilton Spectator
by Nazila Isgandarova
Bitter territorial wars, people forced from their homes and made to
be refugees, and a passionate struggle for democracy. These are the
wounds of Azerbaijan.
Strong black oil, Caspian caviar and a history that is vibrant with
beauty and intellect. This is what Akbar Majidov thinks of as the
pearls of Azeri society. The bitter and sweet of Azerbaijan is what
Majidov and his Hamilton friends like to talk about when they get
together.
Majidov lives in Hamilton with his wife and two young sons. He is
originally from Karabakh, a western region of Azerbaijan, a former
Soviet state that hugs the Caspian Sea, sandwiched between Armenia to
the west, Russia to the north and Iran to the south. He is a member
of the Union of Azerbaijan Journalists.
Recently, Majidov and his friends formed a new organization, the
Azerbaijan Cultural and Education Centre, which operates in Hamilton
and Toronto.
The members of the centre hold meetings every Saturday in parks and
the homes of members.
There are about 1,000 people from Azerbaijan in Hamilton and the
Greater Toronto Area.
Majidov likes the cultural meetings. He says they help him learn the
language and build communication with other members of society. He
tries to contribute to Canadian society through facilitating the
strength and skills of the members of the Azeri community. He is also
an active volunteer in the Turkish community by representing their
newspapers Sunrise and Zaman in Hamilton.
Azerbaijan has a largely Muslim population. There are many problems.
This country is split and has not resolved a conflict with Armenia
over land issues. There are close to one million refugees.
Several Canadian Azeri organizations have recently split over
internal differences and shut down. But many members of the Hamilton
and Toronto Azeri community have united with the education centre.
Zeynalabdin Zeynalov, Ibrahim Aliev, Ilham Babayev and Sahib Hesenov
are senior members of the Azerbaijan Cultural and Education Centre.
It’s easy to feel their enthusiasm for what is happening.
Much of the area’s small Azeri population lives in Toronto. Majidov
says he likes Hamilton because it’s a city that makes him feel
welcome.
He is proud that the area community celebrated Azerbaijan’s
independence day May 30 in Dundas at Webster’s Falls.
Majidov says the Azerbaijan community has made many contributions to
Canadian society. Many prominent names are well-known in the field of
technology, medicine and science. Among them Dr. Reza Moridi, the
2001 recipient of Canadian Nuclear Society’s Education and
Communication Award, Dr. Ilham Akhundov, professor in McMaster
University and Yusif Savalan, the beloved musician of the Azeri
community in Canada.
But the centre stands on the shoulders of lay people such as
Zeynalabidin Zeynalov, Ibrahim Aliyev, Zemine Zaynalova, Munira
Babayeva and her husband, Ilham Babayev, Sanan Abbasov and his wife,
Gulebetin Abbasov.
Zeynalov and Aliyev are the inspiration for members. Zeynalov was
trained as an economist and he manages the centre’s affairs. Most of
the time he opens his apartment to members for the weekly meetings.
After every meeting his wife, Zemine, invites the participants to
share delicious Azeri food.
Majidov said one of his goals is to raise awareness about the
relationship between Azerbaijan and Canada. He said he hopes Canada
will support the development of civil society in Azerbaijan.
* Nazila Isgandarova is originally from Azerbaijan and converted to
Islam when she was 23. She is a member of the Union of Azerbaijan
Journalists and has worked as a journalist since 1995. She is writing
a thesis on Koranic translations in Azerbaijan. She is an interpreter
at Settlement Integration Services Organization and the North
Hamilton Community Health Centre. She speaks, reads and writes in
Azeri, Turkish, English, Russian and Arabic.
* Usman Khan is a freelance photographer based in Stoney Creek and
has worked for domestic newspapers and foreign wire services in
Pakistan before emigrating to Canada.
GRAPHIC: Photo: Usman Khan, Special to the Spectator; Akbar Majidov,
president of the Azerbaijan Cultural and Educational Centre, speaks
to members at a gathering recently. The pearls of Azeri culture are
black oil, beauty, intellect and Caspian Sea caviar, he says.

PAP Polish Press Agency
PAP News Wire
August 2, 2004 Monday
International Shakespeare Festival underway in Gdansk
Gdansk
Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” a production
by Janusz Wisniewski in Teatr Nowy from Poznan inaugurated the
8th International Shakespeare Festival held in Gdansk from July
31 to August 8. The production was awarded the Golden Yorick
for the previous season.
The festival, organised by the Theatrum Gedanense
Foundation is recognised as one of the biggest event of this kind in
Europe.This year’s programme envisages productions by 12 theatres
from eight countries, Armenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Russia,
Romania and the USA, and Poland.
Three projects are realised during the festival thanks to
support of the European Commission: the European Shakespeare,
Shakespeare on the Baltic, and the Russian Shakespeare.
Theatre critic Andrzej Zurowski, the Theatrum Gedanense
artistic adviser and author of several books on Shakespeare
recommends especially the production of “Titus Andronicus” by Theater
an der Ruhr of Germany, directed by Roberto Ciulli of Milan,
and “Romeo and Juliet” by Russian theatre Luna with an all-men
cast.
The festival is accompanied by workshops, an international
conference on Shakespeare, panel discussions and exhibitions.

United Press International
August 3, 2004 Tuesday 11:18 AM Eastern Time
Analysis: Attacks defy the Prophet’s wish
By UWE SIEMON-NETTO
GENEVA, Switzerland, Aug. 3 (UPI)
The lethal attacks on five churches in Iraq violated the stated will
of the prophet Mohammed, who in the 7th century issued a “Firman” –
or letter of protection — for Assyrian Christians.
Assyrians make up the majority of the 700,000 Christians in
present-day Iraq. Mohammed was so impressed with their ancestors’
knowledge of medicine and the sciences that he decreed for them to be
left in peace, according to Albert Yelda, formerly the Christian
representative in the leadership of the London-based Iraqi National
Congress.
The Firman disappeared without trace in 1847, Yelda told United Press
International. Assyrians believe that the then-Turkish rulers
destroyed this document before setting out to kill 30,000 Christians.
Joseph Yacoub, a political science professor at the Catholic
University of Lyon, France, fears that the coordinated car bombings
of churches may accomplish what Mohammed had tried to prevent. “There
exists a definite risk that the Christian presence will be reduced to
a level of insignificance,” he told the French newspaper, Le Figaro.
“So far there had just been attacks on Christian individuals,” this
leading expert on Middle Eastern Christianity continued. “But now the
bombers have taken on the entire community. Their message is clear:
This is Muslim territory; it does not belong to you.”
Thus one of the most remarkable set of Christians is once again
threatened with extinction. The Assyrians, of whom there are 1.5
million worldwide, are descendants of one of the oldest civilizations
– Mesopotamia. Almost three millennia ago, they excelled in
astronomy, jurisprudence, the arts, architecture, medicine and the
natural sciences.
Assyrians were the first nation to adopt Christianity as their state
religion in 179 A.D., more than a century before Armenia. They claim
to have been the first to build churches and to translate the New
Testament from Greek into their vernacular – Aramaic, the language of
Christ.
In the 8th century, not long after Mohammed’s death, Assyrians were
the first to send missionaries to China, Mongolia and even Japan.
They were Nestorians, heretics in the eyes of the rest of the church
because they followed the teachings of Nestorius, a 5th-century
bishop of Constantinople who taught that the Virgin Mary was not the
“theodokos,” or mother of God, but simply the mother of Jesus Christ.
This fine point of theology has long ceased to stand in the way of
Christian unity in Iraq. In the 16th century, a major segment of the
Nestorian church united with Rome while retaining its ancient
liturgy. They are now called the Chaldean Church to which most
Assyrian Christians belong.
The remaining Nestorians are on excellent of terms with the
Chaldeans, while maintaining different traditions. Their liturgy is
extremely “high;” yet their incense-filled sanctuaries appear as
stark as synagogues or Reformed churches.
There is no iconostasis – a partition or screen decorated with icons
separating the sanctuary from the rest of the church. There are no
graven images. A simple cross above the altar is the only adornment
of a Nestorian church. Nestorians call their priests “rabi;” like
orthodox Jews they eschew mixed marriages.
While the Assyrians lived in peace for much of the first 11 centuries
since the Muslim conquest of their homeland, martyrdom has been their
fate for the past 150 years.
The massacre of 30,000 Christians in 1847 was succeeded by another in
1896. In 1915 the Turks slaughtered not only over one million
Armenians but also 250,000 Assyrians, a fact seldom mentioned when
the first holocaust of the 20th century is being discussed.
There are still some old men alive in Iraq who were forcible
converted to Islam in their childhood but remained Christians in
their hearts, fasting during Lent and making merry at Christmas,
Easter and Pentecost.
During Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, the Assysians’ persecution was
in a sense more of a cultural than a religious nature. “Tyrants hate
minorities,” said Yelda. Hence Saddam had hundreds of Assyrian
villages razed, including one 2nd-century church. He also banned the
Assyrians’ cultural clubs where they had kept their literary language
alive.
But in Saddam’s days, too, Muslim mobs terrorized Iraqi Christians,
beheading on Aug. 15, 2002 a Chaldean nun, Sister Cecilia Hanna,
whose monastery they had stormed.
Like their cousins, the Jews, Assyrians are now scattered around the
world. Almost 300,000 went to America, primarily the Chicago area.
Others live in Jordan, Australia, France, Germany and the United
Kingdom.
It is with a heavy heart that Pope John Paul II reacted to the news
of the murderous attacks on Iraq’s churches by stressing his
closeness to the marvelous and venerable Christian culture, which is
at the point of oblivion.
The pontiff appealed to those believing in one God to show mercy.
Instead, Iraq’s Christians are being murdered — in the name of that
merciful God.

Courier Mail (Queensland, Australia)
August 3, 2004 Tuesday
Can do crew
by Alison Cotes
ARMENIAN cake is not what I usually eat for breakfast, but as it came
out of the oven the scent of toffee and warm nutmeg reached my nose,
and I knew it was exactly what I needed to follow Jim’s savoury mince
on thick buttered toast ($9.50).
This was delicious, although I did have a long discussion with the
waiter at the Oxford Street Deli about what a variable, rather than
classic, dish this was, and how my mother’s savoury mince was made
with thick gravy, chopped tomato and Worcestershire sauce.
The eponymous Jim puts chopped carrots and sweet corn in his, and
uses thin rather than thick gravy, but at least it doesn’t have peas
in it, and once I’d swallowed my prejudices, I liked it a lot.
The armenian cake was something else, with its crunchy
toffee-textured bottom and moist dark body. Llyn Miller told me that
you mix the butter, sugar and some flour on the bottom of the tin,
then pour the wet mixture on top and let it become its own kind of
upside-down cake.
The deli has recently changed owners, so perhaps it was a little
unfair of me to review it on the fifth day of its re-opening, but
even though there were a few hiccups concerning short-staffing and
running out of some popular dishes, the new team has ensured the food
is better than ever.
Take the service, for example. New owner Charles O’Reilly comes out
to greet every customer (and no, he didn’t know who I was), smiles at
people walking past, makes sure you don’t wait more than 30 seconds
for a menu.
And the food, most of which Miller makes on the premises, offers
bright combinations which work well.
Another breakfast dish, for example, is sweet corn loaf with grilled
mushrooms, crisp pancetta and tomato jam from Jimbour — $7.50 for a
delicious low fat meal. There’s also a bacon, egg and potato pie
served with tomato jam, and french-toasted banana bread with
strawberries (both $7.95), as well as the usual Big Breakfast
($12.75/$8.50), with a Personal Training breakfast of three eggs,
steak, bacon, sausages, tomatoes and mushrooms for $16. You’d need a
big lie-down after that one.
Panini and wraps start at $8.50 — try the ham, spinach and onion
marmalade or the balsamic beef and chutney; and the light meals
include some items from the breakfast menu, including that brilliant
grilled sweet-corn bread with the addition of mixed greens and $1.
There’s a subtle tart of goats cheese, potato and rosemary ($9.50);
some house-made soup of roasted tomatoes, thick and chunky with lots
of smoky flavours served with fresh baguette ($6.50); and toasted
turkish bread with three dips — fetta and wild rocket, eggplant and
pumpkin, and olive tapenade ($7.95).
For lunch another day we shared a $15 platter of hummus, the same
light and tangy olive tapenade, dukkah from Jimbour House, grilled
turkish bread and what was supposed to be whole roasted garlic but
turned out to be a roasted pickled onion because they’d run out of
garlic. That bit didn’t work, so before you order make sure that it
is garlic you’ll be getting — and if you want extra bread, ask in
advance, for we found the four slices weren’t enough to mop up all
the Njoi olive oil and dips.
Another tempting platter for the same price is made up of duck pate,
Jindi camembert, Pyengana cheddar, lavash bread, nuts and tomato jam,
which might be a bit heavy on the protein, so would need some side
salads to lighten it a bit — choose some from the display fridge ($5
each, or three for $9).
Pudding? Of course, because it was again house-made. My mate’s
coconut creme caramel was a welcome variation of the classic version,
while my individual rhubarb and apple crumble, though a generous
dishful, had too much apple in proportion to the rhubarb, and the
crumble top hadn’t been cooked quite long enough.
For children, for $3 there’s fairy bread, vegemite or peanut butter
sandwiches, small fries with tomato sauce, puffy dogs, savoury mince
on toast and fresh fruit salad, with a “kiddychino” thrown in.
OXFORD STREET DELI
Address: 161 Oxford St, Bulimba
Phone: 3399 6222
Hours: open daily, 7am-7pm Sun-Wed, 7am-11pm Thurs-Sat
Liquor status: BYO, corkage $2.50 a person
Prices: breakfast from $6.50 to $16, light meals to $14.95, desserts
and puds $8, children’s meals $3, coffee $3
Owner: Charles O’Reilly
Chef: Llyn Miller
Parking: on-street, but difficult
Wheelchair access: yes
Other: all credit cards except Diners; table service; 15 per cent
surcharge public holidays; air conditioned; shared toilets; noise
level low, ambient piped music
The score
Food: 16
Service: 17
Ambience: 13
Value for money: 16
About the score: 0-5 don’t bother; 6-9 needs serious improvement;
10-12 reasonable; 13-14 good; 15-17 very good; 18-19 exceptional; 20
perfection
From: Baghdasarian

Associated Press Worldstream
August 3, 2004 Tuesday 4:30 PM Eastern Time
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave holds military exercises
YEREVAN, Armenia
Forces in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh enclave on Tuesday began an
annual military exercise designed to test their combat-readiness, a
military official said. The exercise came amid concerns that war
could erupt again in the region a decade after a cease-fire.
A spokesman for the military in the mostly ethnic Armenian enclave,
which has been de facto independent since Azerbaijan’s forces were
driven out in 1994, said live ammunition would be used in the 10-day
exercise involving regular troops and reservists. He said it was also
aimed at improving coordination in “defensive battles and
counterattacks.”
Nagorno-Karabakh is under control of an internationally unrecognized
ethnic Armenian government, and its forces also hold several sectors
of Azerbaijan outside of Nagorno-Karabakh itself. Sporadic firing
takes place across the demilitarized zone that separates the forces.
With no settlement in sight 10 years after a cease-fire ended a war
that killed some 30,000 people and drove about a million from their
homes, there are fears a new armed conflict could erupt. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliev has expressed frustration with the stagnation
and has raised the prospects of military action.

Agence France Presse — Spanish
August 2, 2004 Monday
Primer secuestrado turco ejecutado, energica condena a atentados
anticristianos
BAGDAD
Turquia anuncio este lunes la muerte de uno de sus ciudadanos,
ejecutado por sus secuestradores en Irak, mientras que las
autoridades religiosas iraquies y el papa Juan Pablo II hicieron
llamados para unirse contra la violencia, al dia siguiente de los
sangrientos atentados anticristianos.
Por primera vez, un turco que era rehen de un grupo armado en Irak
fue ejecutado por sus secuestradores, anuncio este lunes a la AFP un
empleado de la embajada de Turquia en Bagdad.
De otro lado, en la ciudad santa de Nayaf (centro de Irak), las
fuerzas estadounidenses rodearon brevemente este lunes por la noche
la casa del jefe radical chiita Moqtada Sadr, cuyos fieles se
enfrentaron con las tropas extranjeras en pleno barrio, causando la
muerte a una mujer e hiriendo a tres personas, segun el director del
hospital Hakim, Jawad Kazem.
Un video difundido por la cadena de informacion turca NTV muestra a
Murat Yuce, de unos 20 anos, que se presenta en turco, indicando que
es oriundo de Corum (norte de Turquia), delante de tres hombres
armados encapuchados antes de ejecutarlo disparandole tres balazos en
la cabeza, segun el canal.
Dos camioneros turcos tambien fueron tomados como rehenes en Irak por
un grupo armado que amenaza con ejecutarlos si la empresa que los
emplea no se retira de Irak. Otro fue reportado desaparecido, su
familia anuncio el domingo haber perdido el contacto con el hace un
mes.
Como consecuencia de estos hechos, la Asociacion de transportistas
internacionales (UND), que afirma representar a 873 de las 900
empresas turcas especializadas en transporte internacional, anuncio
en un comunicado la interrupcion inmediata de las entregas a las
unidades militares estadounidenses en Irak.
En la crisis de los rehenes extranjeros en Irak, seguia reinando la
incertidumbre sobre la suerte de siete camioneros -tres indios, tres
kenianos y un egipcio – capturados el 21 de julio, dado que
diferentes fuentes dieron informaciones contradictorias sobre su
suerte.
Pero, segun la television Al Jazira de Qatar, un rehen somali va a
ser liberado proximamente.
En total, unos veinte extranjeros han sido secuestrados o estan
desaparecidos en Irak. El lunes, el Comite de Ulemas musulmanes
(sunitas) iraquies insto a “liberar todos los rehenes” secuestrados
en Irak que no tengan vinculos con las fuerzas de ocupacion y que no
hayan atacado al pueblo iraqui.
En otro ambito, varias autoridades religiosas condenaron los
atentados anticristianos que dejaron al menos 10 muertos y 50 heridos
el domingo en Bagdad y Mosul, en el norte, y exhortaron a la union
entre las diferentes comunidades.
“Debemos colaborar, cristianos y musulmanes, por el bien de Irak pues
somos una sola familia”, declaro monsenor Emmanuel Delly a la AFP,
precisando que este llamado estaria contenido en un mensaje que
prepara para enviar al gobierno interino iraqui.
La figura emblematica de los chiitas iraquies, el gran ayatola Ali
Sistani, llamo a “trabajar todos juntos, el gobierno y el pueblo,
para poner fin a los ataques contra los iraquies”.
Horas antes de que su casa de Nayaf fuera rodeada por las fuerzas
estadounidenses, el jefe radical chiita Moqtada Sadr tambien lanzo un
mensaje a traves de un portavoz, condenando estos atentados, “que no
hacen mas que crear divisiones en el seno del pueblo iraqui”.
Por su lado, el Comite de los Ulemas sunitas acuso a “las partes
extranjeras” de estar detras de los atentados “que intentan dividir
el pueblo iraqui y quieren que el caos perdure dentro del interes de
los ocupantes” de Irak.
El papa Juan Pablo II condeno el lunes “las agresiones injustas”
contra los lugares de culto cristianos en Irak, en un mensaje al
patriarca iraqui de los catolicos caldeos, Emmanuel Delly III.
Francia tambien condeno energicamente estos ataques, mientras que el
presidente armenio Robert Kotcharian se manifesto “profundamente
preocupado” por estos atentados, de los cuales uno golpeo una iglesia
armenia.
Los Hermanos Musulmanes estimaron que estos ataques no hacian mas que
“deformar la imagen de la resistencia” iraqui, segun el guia supremo
Mohammed Mehdi Akef, que puso en duda el papel de los servicios
secretos israelies, una tesis que tambien manejo el canciller libanes
Jean Obeid.
En el terreno, un miembro de la guardia nacional iraqui resulto
muerto y tres heridos el lunes en una emboscada al sur de Bagdad,
anuncio un funcionario de esta organizacion.
Pakistan anuncio el lunes que no enviaria tropas a Irak.
El portavoz del ministerio paquistani de relaciones Exteriores,
Masood Jan, indico que la ONU habia consultado a su pais sobre el
envio de militares para garantizar la seguridad de las misiones de la
ONU si eventualmente volvia a instalarse en Bagdad. Pero “no
enviaremos tropas en las circunstancias actuales”, dijo tajante el
ministro.
En el plano diplomatico, Kuwait e Irak acordaron restablecer sus
relaciones, suspendidas hace 14 anos, despues de la invasion del
emirato por las tropas del antiguo regimen iraqui, segun un
comunicado conjunto publicado el lunes en Kuwait.
bur-chp/plh/pb/af

Ha’aretz
Aug 4 2004
Armenian art on the walls of Jerusalem

By Irit Rosenblum

A huge mural made of Armenian tiles featuring the sea, animals,
plants, trees and Noah’s ark will be dedicated next week at 14 Koresh
St., in the heart of Jerusalem. The 4-meter by 6-meter (13-foot by
19.5-foot) mural was designed and made using a unique technique by
Miri Balian, who volunteered her talents to the city. The Balian
family is one of the three Armenian ceramic art families –
Karakashian, Ohannessian and Balian – who settled in Jerusalem in
1919 and have been hand-crafting artistic ceramic tiles in Jerusalem
ever since. Tile murals by Balian can also be viewed in the portico
of the president’s house, in the Malha Mall and in Beit Gavriel in
Tzemach, on the shores of Lake Kinneret. Her works have been
displayed at exhibitions in Washington and in the Eretz Yisrael
Museum in Tel Aviv. The mural was installed by the East Jerusalem
Development Company and financed by the Jerusalem municipality and
the Tourism Ministry.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress