AZERI OFFICIAL DENIES ANTI-IRAN COALITION EXISTS
Day.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 22 2006
An exclusive interview of Day.az with the head of the press and
information policy department of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry,
Tahir Tagizada.
[Correspondent] Tahir muallim [mode of address], do you think it was
a surprise that senators known for their pro-Armenian position were
elected as leaders of the Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate?
Or was it the expected consequence of the coordinated and methodical
work of the Armenian lobby?
[Tagizada] It is a very hard and thankless thing to comment on the
policies of another state. It is especially so if at issue is the
world’s largest super power which is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan.
Therefore, I think it is incorrect to divide parties into a
ruling and opposition ones on the basis of their attitude to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani Karabakh conflict.
You actually know that the working group for developing Azerbaijani-US
relations comprises congressmen from both the Democratic and Republican
parties.
[Passage omitted: Tagizada says Azerbaijan should rely on the
Azerbaijani community in the USA in its relations with the USA; the
two countries have political and economic cooperation and are allies
in the fight against global terrorism]
[Correspondent] What do Azerbaijan’s national interests dictate in
the sphere of building relations with Iran?
[Tagizada] I have already said that Azerbaijan’s national interests
are invariable and do not depend on which country or international
organizations they are being built with.
But if you mean the talk about the existence of some “anti-Iran
coalition”, it simply does not exist. But even if it did, Azerbaijan
would not join it.
For Azerbaijan, the question here is very clear-cut and definite
– our region, which is strategically important both for building
international relations and for the international security system,
is already so full of conflict that the limit of durability of peace
in our region has already been reached.
Besides, Azerbaijan favours not a military but a diplomatic resolution
of problems, both in the Iranian and the Karabakh issues.
[Correspondent] In the meantime, last weekend [18-19 November]
the Iranian TV channel Sahar aired for an hour calls for a coup in
Azerbaijan. How would you comment on this?
[Tagizada] Unfortunately, I am not yet familiar with what exactly the
Iranian TV channel Sahar broadcast. Therefore, give me time to become
acquainted with this information. Then, I can give them [the calls]
a precise evaluation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER, MINSK GROUP MEDIATORS DISCUSS KARABAKH
Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 22 2006
Baku, 22 November: Two of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, today had consultations
with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov. They discussed
the possibility of organizing a meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents on the sidelines of the CIS summit in Minsk.
After the meeting, the co-chairs refused to comment on the outcome
of the talks for reporters. Asked whether a meeting between Aliyev
and Kocharyan will take place, Yuriy Merzlyakov said that it would be
clear after a meeting between President Ilham Aliyev and the co-chairs.
After the meeting at the Foreign Ministry, Bernard Fassier and Yuriy
Merzlyakov immediately headed for a meeting with the Azerbaijani
president promising to issue a communique on the outcome of the visit.
The US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, did not arrive
in the region because of his “workload”.

ARMENIA TO COOPERATE WITH BOTH NATO, CIS DEFENCE BODY – DEFENCE CHIEF
Public TV, Armenia
Nov 22 2006
[Presenter] A delegation headed by Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
left for Belarus today to attend the sessions of the Defence Ministers
Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] to be
held in Brest on 23 November.
The Armenian delegation will also take part in the gathering of the
Security Council secretaries of the CSTO member states in Minsk on
24-25 November. An agreement on military cooperation in 2007 will be
signed by the Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian defence ministers.
Before departure Serzh Sarkisyan told journalists at the airport that
Armenia is a member of the CSTO and at the same time is implementing
a partnership plan with NATO.
[Serzh Sarkisyan captioned] I have announced that membership in the
CSTO and cooperation with NATO follow from our policies and do not run
counter to each other. It is high time to realize that all military
and political alliances are created for and not against something. NATO
was not established against something, but for Europe’s security.
The Collective Security Treaty was signed not against NATO, but to
ensure security of the CSTO member countries.

OSCE MEDIATORS UPBEAT ON FORTHCOMING MEETING OF ARMENIAN, AZERI LEADERS
Artur Grigoryan, Romik Khachatryan, “Aylur”
Public TV, Armenia
Nov 22 2006
[Presenter] President Robert Kocharyan received the Russian and French
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on 21 November. Yuriy Merzlyakov
and Bernard Fassier today met journalists at the airport before their
departure and talked about the results of the talks.
The co-chairs noted that bellicose statements had become muted recently
and explained why the US co-chairman had not arrived in Yerevan. The
co-chairs have agreed to divide their responsibilities.
[US co-chairman] Matthew Bryza is to meet the president of the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic, Arkadiy Gukasyan, who is currently in the USA.
[Correspondent] The co-chairs said the main result of their visit
was that the Armenian side had agreed to a meeting between [Armenian
President Robert] Kocharyan and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev
in Minsk on 28 November.
[French co-chair Bernard Fassier, captioned, speaking in Russian
with Armenian voice-over] We hope very much that the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents will achieve a rapprochement between the two
countries’ positions on some complex issues.
[Correspondent] The co-chairs know from their own experience that
pre-election periods have limited influence on the talks.
[Russian co-chair Yuriy Merzlyakov, captioned, speaking in Russian
with Armenian voice-over] I do not think that the forthcoming elections
in Armenia will be an exception. The foundations we managed to create
this year will allow for smooth negotiations before the election and
during the election period.
[Correspondent] The mediators are leaving Yerevan for Baku to get
the Azerbaijani side’s agreement to the meeting.

AZERI KILLER SENTENCED FOR ASSAULTING PRISON GUARDS
Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
November 20, 2006 Monday
Budapest, November 20 (MTI) – An Azeri national, currently serving
a life sentence for murder in Hungary, has received another sentence
for assaulting his guards, the Municipal Court of Budapest told MTI
on Monday.
Twenty-nine-year old Ramil Saharov Sahib was accused of attacking
prison guards while in pre-trial detention preceding his trial for
murdering an Armenian student during a NATO Partnership for Peace
course in Budapest two years ago. Sahib then was sentenced to life
imprisonment for pre-mediated murder.
The defendant appealed against the second sentence of eight months
in prison, suspended for two years. The law court is expected to hear
the case in the second instance next spring.

ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS TO MEET AT CIS SUMMIT
Agence France Presse — English
November 22, 2006 Wednesday 9:07 PM GMT
Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan will meet with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev next week in Minsk, on the sidelines of the
summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), OSCE officials
said Wednesday.
“I want to inform you that the Armenian president agreed to a meeting
with his Azerbaijani colleague in Minsk” on November 27-28, the
Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk group on the Karabakh conflict,
Yuri Merzlyakov, told reporters.
“This meeting was being prepared very meticulously and for a long
time. It will no doubt prove another step forward in resolving this
conflict, because this is a third such meeting this year, and there
never was such a full schedule,” Merzlyakov said.
A source in the Azerbaijani presidential administration told AFP that
Aliyev also agreed to meet with Kocharyan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a territorial dispute
over the Nagorny Karabakh ethnic-Armenian enclave since before the
break-up of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan lost control of the territory and seven surrounding regions
during a war in the early 1990s, but Karabakh’s status has yet to
be settled.

POLAND TO HELP TURKEY AND ARMENIA?
PAP Polish Press Agency
November 20, 2006 Monday
The Polish foreign ministry has offered to mediate in talks between
Turkey and Armenia in a move to help establish dialogue between the
two countries to end the two-year-long conflict.
Once the offer is accepted the Polish diplomacy will score a great
success, writes Gazeta Wyborcza Daily on Monday.
Polish diplomats told the daily they would not dare to engage Poland
in solving conflicts in the region of Caucasus and that the idea to
invite Turks and Armenians to Warsaw for a conference was born still
under Foreign Minister Stefan Meller at the start of this year.
According to Piotr Iwaszkiewicz from the foreign ministry eastern
policy department Poland would like to share its experience from the
reconciliation process with Germany as the conflict between Turkey
and Armenia also involves genocide, apart from other ailing problems.
In August the Polish side presented another proposal offering Polish
embassies in respective countries to represent Armenian interests
in Turkey and Turkish interests in Armenia but the proposal has been
left unanswered.

‘WE ARE AFRAID:’ MOST OF BEIRUT SPENDS INDEPENDENCE DAY IN STATE OF SHOCK
By Iman Azzi
Daily Star – Lebanon
Nov 23 2006
BEIRUT: A day filled with quiet mourning and shock replaced planned
festivities to commemorate Independence Day on Wednesday after the
assassination of industry Minister Pierre Gemayel a day earlier. Blue
lines painted on Beirut’s streets in anticipation of a parade were
the only markings that remained of the expected celebrations as
stores stayed closed and people stayed home. The climate more closely
resembled that of a Sunday morning than a weekday afternoon.
“The future is black. Darker than black,” said Pierre Suleiman,
owner of a small chicken restaurant in Hadath.
Few people dared to point fingers after the sixth prominent anti-Syrian
figure was assassinated since February 2005, but all expressed concern
over the future of the country.
Suleiman lived in Paris for five years and doesn’t want to move abroad
again. He doesn’t think it will come to that, but when asked if Prime
Minister Fouad Siniora’s government should resign, he was unsure.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But how come those who used to collaborate
with Syria are still in the government? Syria left and they stayed?
Am I crazy?”
Roger, a Christian shopkeeper in Ain al-Roummaneh, thought the
government should resign but that assassinations were no path to peace.
“Probably [they should resign], because they can’t do anything,”
he said, adding that he didn’t think Gemayel’s assassination would
provoke the country into civil war.
“The assassinations need to stop, though,” he added. “Whoever did it
doesn’t want the country to be fixed.”
Hizbullah, Amal and Free Patriotic Movement flags flew together in
front of stores throughout the Dahiyeh. Hizbullah-funded patrols helped
direct traffic as men sold olives, bread and fruits on the sidewalks.
Rida Assaghir, an employee at a cell-phone store in Dahiyeh, said
everything in the southern suburbs was “normal.”
He admitted that there were fewer cars on the streets but said that
he didn’t see an increase in tension.
“There was tension on the ‘Green Line’ last night but Hizbullah
controlled it,” he added, referring to the former dividing line between
Muslims and Christians in Beirut during the 1975-1990 Civil War.
“Last night, there was a bit of tension. We saw tires burning … on
the television,” Fatima, a mother of five, said while walking with
three of her children in Jammous. “I’m not into politics that much
and I can’t tell you who did it but the current situation is not very
comforting. We are afraid.”
Some drivers in Achrafieh expressed their commitment to Gemayel’s
Phalange on Wednesday, waving the green cedar tree flag of the party
from the car windows.
“Achrafieh, Achrafieh,” a convoy sang as it drove around the
predominantly Christian districts in East Beirut.
“We lost a good man. A great man,” said Asaad as he sipped coffee
outside of a small convenience store in Gemmayzeh.
Most restaurants and bars along Gemmayzeh’s main artery remained
closed Wednesday after closing early on Tuesday.
“We don’t know who killed him but whoever it is, is trying to create
a divide between the government and Hizbullah. Maybe it’s Syria,
or Israel. Who knows?” he added.
A marching band played through the streets of Achrafieh, ending in
front of Phalange headquarters on Wednesday night. The peaceful vigil
gathered nearly 100 people and was organized by the two Armenian
youth parties.

FACTBOX-KEY FACTS ABOUT INVESTOR KIRK KERKORIAN
Reuters, UK
Nov 22 2006
Nov 22 – Investor Kirk Kerkorian said on Wednesday he had reduced
his stake in General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
to 7.4 percent from 9.9 percent, selling $462 million in stock.
On the same day, Kerkorian announced an $825 million tender offer
that could raise his stake in MGM Mirage Inc (MGM.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) to about 62 percent of the hotel and casino operator.
Here are some key facts about Kerkorian:
* Estimated by Forbes magazine to have a fortune of $8.7 billion,
he was born in 1917 in California to Armenian immigrant parents. The
youngest of four children, he dropped out of school and boxed before
joining the Royal Air Force to fly supply planes from Canada to
Britain during World War Two.
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* After the war, Kerkorian bought surplus war planes to fly gamblers
from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. He pocketed his first fortune when
the business, called Trans International Airlines, went public in 1965.
Then he sold it in 1968 to Transamerica Corp. for more than $100
million in cash and stock.
* Kerkorian has a record of trading properties in Las Vegas and
Hollywood, most famously movie studio MGM, which he has owned three
times. He sold MGM to Ted Turner in 1986 and bought it back months
later. He sold MGM in 1990 and bought it for a third time in 1996
before selling it again for $3 billion to a group of investors led
by Sony Corp.
* Kerkorian was the largest investor in automaker Chrysler before its
link-up with Germany’s Daimler-Benz in 1998. In 1996, he had launched
an unsuccessful

DUTCH CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS ON COURSE TO KEEP POWER
By Emma Thomasson
Swissinfo, Switzerland
Nov 22 2006
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch Christian Democrats were on course to
retain power in an election on Wednesday but faced a struggle to form
a government as voters rewarded parties on the far-left and far-right,
preliminary results showed.
Forecasts based on almost a quarter of the votes counted projected
that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s Christian Democrats (CDA)
would win the most seats in the 150-seat parliament, comfortably
ahead of the opposition Labour party.
But the far-left Socialists (SP) soared to third place ahead of the
liberal VVD, Balkenende’s coalition partner, making his job of forming
a strong government much more difficult.
Who joins the next coalition will determine how closely Balkenende
sticks to his business-friendly policies and tough line on immigration,
long a major concern of Dutch voters.
The other big winner was the new party of anti-immigration maverick
Geert Wilders, who says the Netherlands risks being flooded by Muslims
and wants an immediate halt to new migrants.
“The CDA has promised to do nothing, the SP wants to go back to the
70’s and Wilders wants to put a fence around the Netherlands,” said
economics lecturer Bas Jacobs.
“All the parties in the Netherlands that want change lost, and those
parties that don’t want change, gained.”
Dutch politics has become much more unstable since the murder of
anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn in 2002, with three elections
in four years and last year’s rejection of the European constitution,
opposed by both Wilders and the SP.
Neither Balkenende’s current alliance with the VVD liberals nor a
Labour-led coalition with the far-left Socialists and environmentalist
Green Left was on track for a parliamentary majority, making long
coalition talks likely.
“GRAND COALITION”
The CDA and Labour could try to form an uneasy right-left partnership
like the one governing Germany despite likely produce discord over
tax, pensions and immigration policy. But even that combination lacked
the 76 seats needed for a majority.
“Frankly it’s chaos. The real winner is the only party that actually
did not participate, which is the party of the anarchists,” said
Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm from the VVD.
Balkenende, 50, took credit for a strong economic recovery in the
last year that he said was supported by unpopular welfare reforms
which he and Zalm pushed through early in his term.
Labour leader Wouter Bos, 43, who had a bad start to the day when
he turned up to vote without the right papers, accuses Balkenende
of pandering to big business and the wealthy while failing to fight
inequality.
He has pledged to slow corporate tax cuts and lift spending on
childcare and job-creation programmes. Labour has also promised an
amnesty for some who have waited years for asylum.
Balkenende has implemented some of the toughest immigration and
integration laws in Europe since the meteoric rise of Fortuyn in
2002 and the killing of Islam critic and filmmaker Theo van Gogh by
an Islamist militant in 2004.
His government has also said it will ban Muslim women wearing face
veils in public, a demand made by Wilders.
The election, originally scheduled for May 2007, was called after the
centre-right coalition collapsed in June in a row over the government’s
handling of the disputed citizenship of Somali-born Dutch politician
and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Back then, Labour had a strong lead in the opinion polls, but that
evaporated as the economy rebounded and as Balkenende went on the
offensive, portraying Bos as superficial.
Labour had hoped for strong backing from the almost 10 percent of
the electorate of immigrant origin, although Turkish voters were
angered after it dropped an election candidate for not accepting
Ottoman Turkey’s killing of Armenians as genocide.