Asia Pulse
September 14, 2006 Thursday 11:02 AM EST
IRAN TO TRANSFER GAS TO ARMENIA SOON: SPEAKER
Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said on Tuesday that the first
gas pipeline to transfer gas from Iran to Armenia is scheduled to
become operational in the coming months.
A report released by Majlis Media Department said that the speaker
made the remark while speaking to reporters at a joint press
conference with his Armenian counterpart Tigran Torossian.
Addressing reporters, Haddad-Adel said that the progress of the gas
project is supervised by the presidents of Iran and Armenia.
Haddad-Adel said that feasibility studies on the second gas pipeline
is currently underway.
He referred to projects on transfer of energy, development and port
of industrial machinery as strategies aiming to boost trade exchanges
between the two states and urged that tourism and investment by
private sector should also be facilitated.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the speaker said that establishment of
relations with the Central Asian states and Caucasia has been on the
agenda of Iran’s foreign policy over the past 15 years.
“Meanwhile, Iran-Armenia ties have been quite favorable on account of
the good bonds between Iranian Muslims and Armenian minority,” he
said.
Turning to the history of the presence of Armenians in Iran, he said
that they contribute to the construction and development of Iran
along with their Muslim countrymen.
For his part, the chairman of Armenia’s National Assembly pointed to
Iran’s nuclear issue and the relevant developments in the region and
said, “All countries should benefit from equal conditions to access
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. No country should abuse its
facilities to restrict other states.” Torossian stated that the terms
and conditions of international treaties should be implemented
equally for all world countries.
Besides, he referred to Iran-Armenia commonalties and called for
expansion of cooperation between the two states.

RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
September 14, 2006 Thursday
Hate crime suspect turned out to be a police academy student
by Oleg Rubnikovich
The 18-year-old suspect in the racially motivated killing of an
Armenian teenager in the Moscow metro in April was a police academy
cadet, prosecutors said Wednesday. Nikita Senyukov was arrested
Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of Vigen Abramyants,
17, on the platform of Pushkinskaya metro station on April 22. “He
was a fourth-year student of a police academy under the Moscow
police,” said Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the office of the
chief Moscow prosecutor.
Petrenko said Senyukov had admitted to the crime but said he acted in
self-defense after Abramyants attacked him. She said Senyukov would
be charged with murder later this week. If convicted, he faces up to
15 years in prison.
The police academy’s head, Alexei Bezyazychny, said Wednesday that
Senyukov had dropped out of the academy shortly before his arrest. He
said that Senyukov’s father is a retired senior officer from the
Interior Ministry.
Some media reports on Wednesday linked Senyukov to a group of Moscow
students accused of bombing the Cherkizovsky outdoor market in
August, killing 12 people and wounding more than 50 others.
Investigators believe the attack was motivated by hatred for natives
of the Caucasus and Asian countries who trade at the market. Four men
have been detained in connection with the attack. Petrenko, however,
denied any link between the market bombing and the metro attack.

Associated Press Worldstream
September 14, 2006 Thursday 8:16 PM GMT
Armenian authorities arrest 2 suspects in killing of top tax official
Authorities in Armenia have detained two suspects accused of
involvement in the killing of a senior Armenian tax official,
officials said Thursday.
Shagen Ovasepian, head of the operations department of the State Tax
Service, was killed by a bomb that exploded as he was getting into
his car in the Armenian capital on Sept. 6.
Prosecutor General’s office spokeswoman Sona Truzian said Thursday
that the two suspects were detained late Wednesday. She said they
were Armenian citizens, but refused to name them while the probe was
ongoing.
Erkir-media television said citing sources in the prosecutor’s office
that both suspects were officials of the State Tax Service.
Organized crime is widespread in this poor, former Soviet republic,
and gang-related killings are common.
Armenian politics are also tense and occasionally violent. In 1999,
gunmen burst into parliament and killed the prime minister,
parliament speaker and six other officials and lawmakers.

Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
16 Sep 06
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES MEETING WITH AZERI COUNTERPART IN NEW YORK
Yerevan, 16 September: No meeting is planned between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministries in the near future, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists after the annual meeting of
Armenian ambassadors today.
He said that new separate meetings between the ministers and the
[OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs will probably be held. The Azerbaijani
news agency Trend quoted the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry as saying
that a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers is
planned to be held within the framework of the UN General Assembly
session in New York on 25-26 September.
The Armenian minister confirmed that he is planning to visit New
York. “I will go to New York on 24 September. I will make a speech on
25 September. I plan numerous bilateral meetings in New York. A
meeting with the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group is also planned.
But no meeting is planned with [Azerbaijani Foreign Minister] Elmar
Mammadyarov,” Oskanyan said.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 16, 2006 Saturday
NAGORNO-KARABAKH REPUBLIC READY TO DISCUSS KARABAKH PROBLEM IN ANY
FORMATS AND AT ANY INSTANCES
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is ready to discuss the Karabakh
problem in any formats and at any instances, NKR Foreign Minister
Georgy Petrossyan said today after the annual meeting of Armenian
ambassadors to foreign countries.
Concerning GUAM’s initiative for discussing the problem of “frozen
conflicts” at the UN General Assembly, Petrossyan said that the world
is developing: the Karabakh conflict settlement is a hard problem and
can be discussed at any instances. Asked about the possibility of
transfer of the Karabakh peace process from the OSCE to the UN,
Petrossyan said that Karabakh is getting ready for own role in any
format.
Asked if Karabakh is satisfied with how Armenia presents its position
at the peace talks, Petrossyan said that in its time Karabakh was a
military party to the conflict and now as a result of the talks
Armenia has paved the way for it to become a political party. This is
the biggest result of the talks.
Asked about the meeting of ambassadors, Petrossyan said that it was
fruitful. The sides spoke more about problems than about
achievements. He said that in early Sept they in Karabakh also held a
similar meeting.

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan, in Armenian
15 Sep 06
PRESIDENT URGES ARMENIAN DIPLOMATS ABROAD TO BE MORE ACTIVE
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has received representatives of
the Armenian diplomatic corps who are attending the annual conference
of ambassadors in Yerevan.
Noting the importance of such meetings, the president said that they
make it possible to specify the current development of Armenia’s
foreign relations.
[Passage omitted: the president awarded the Armenian ambassadors to
China and Germany for their contribution to Armenia’s foreign policy]
Kocharyan said that the diplomatic corps should take more active
steps to promote the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy. The
president also noted the importance of expanding external economic
ties. At the same time, he said that not all Armenian diplomats
abroad are making full use of the potential of economic cooperation.
Touching on the Armenia-Diaspora forum that will be held in Yerevan
in the next few days, Kocharyan said that a number of important
issues have been put on its agenda and their solution will facilitate
the systematization of work in the future.

Armenian newspaper 168 Zham, Yerevan, in Armenian
16 Sep 06 p 2
ARMENIAN NATIONALIST PARTY MAY BACK FOREIGN MINISTER’S PRESIDENTIAL
AMBITIONS
Text of Arman Galoyan’s report by Armenian newspaper 168 Zham on 16
September headlined “Oskanyan has started his election campaign”
There are rumours about Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan possibly
running for the presidency. The speech made by Oskanyan at the
meeting of the supreme council of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Dashnaktsutyun [ARFD] surprised everybody by its Dashnak
contents. Overall, the foreign minister is currently dealing mainly
with his election campaign rather than Armenia’s foreign policy
problems.
After the meeting of the ARFD supreme council, a representative of
the party, Armen Rustamyan, said that the ARFD will take part in the
forthcoming presidential election with its own candidate, which has
not been decided yet. Rustamyan said that everything will be decided
at the next meeting of the party’s supreme council after the
parliamentary election. That’s to say it cannot be ruled out that if
the ARFD does not gain the expected number of votes, it will sharply
change its position. But Rustamyan said that they are not going to
support Vardan Oskanyan, [Defence Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan or
somebody else. The Dashnaks rule out support for Oskanyan because he
is not a member of the party. But this does not mean that Oskanyan
will always remain non-partisan. Moreover, judging from Oskanyan’s
speech at the meeting of the ARFD supreme council and his attitude
towards the party, it is quite possible that he may join the ARFD
rather than the Prosperous Armenia Party. Asked about possible
support for Oskanyan in the presidential election if he joins the
ARFD, Rustamyan replied that the party’s supreme council will solve
this issue and that Oskanyan has not applied for membership yet. He
added that nothing can be ruled out in politics.
Vardan Oskanyan said that he is not going to join any party and does
not want to comment on his possible presidential ambitions.
In any case, the minister and the representative of the ARFD denied
the rumours about Oskanyan possibly running in the presidential
election. But at the same time, they said that nothing can be ruled
out in politics and everything will be clear after the parliamentary
election in 2007.

Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
16 Sep 06
REFERRAL TO UN TO SLOW DOWN KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS – ARMENIAN MINISTER
Yerevan, 16 September: The initiative of GUAM [Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova] to discuss “frozen” conflicts at the UN
General Assembly is a new challenge for Armenia, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists after the annual meeting of
Armenian ambassadors today.
He said this initiative envisages some qualitative and quantitative
changes in the format of discussions on the problem. “We are not only
dealing with Azerbaijan here, but also with four different countries
which, in turn, have their friends, which expands the circule of
interests,” the Armenian foreign minister said.
He said that this requires more active diplomatic efforts. At the
same time, the minister pointed out that if a resolution is put up
for debate, Armenia will be able to achieve an acceptable
formulation. “But generally speaking, we think that this initiative
diverts attention from the main goal – the Minsk process, and might
even slows it down,” the minister said.
The minister added that there are serious prospects for a positive
result in the Minsk process. “Perhaps, this is the reason. The
pressure on Azerbaijan is growing, and they are trying to divert
attention. According to my impression from the latest meeting, what
the co-chairmen want is to ‘revive’ the document that is on the
negotiating table regarding which we had expressed our positive
opinion. In fact, Azerbaijan’s activity at the UN coincides with the
co-chairmen’s activity to ‘revive’ the document and achieve positive
changes by the end of the year,” the minister pointed out.
“If process is referred to the UN, Karabakh should definitely be
involved in it,” Oskanyan said.
[Passage omitted: Oskanyan spoke about the UN’s work and UN
resolutions on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict]

ANS TV, Baku, in Azeri
16 Sep 06
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER REFUSES TO MEET AZERI COUNTERPART – AZERI TV
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has refused to meet his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov.
In an interview with reporters, Oskanyan said the two ministers were
not planning to meet. The Armenian foreign minister said he viewed
individual meetings with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in the future
as more realistic.
Oskanyan said his failure to meet Mammadyarov was due to the UN
General Assembly putting frozen conflicts in GUAM [a regional
alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova] member states
on its agenda at the request of GUAM.
But Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry has said Baku has no information
about this.
Mammadyarov and Oskanyan were scheduled to meet on 24-25 September.

The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
September 16, 2006 Saturday
The man of pleasure, the aristocrat and the belly-dancer
by Jane Stevenson
The Ruby in her Navel
by Barry Unsworth
336pp, Hamish Hamilton, pounds 17.99
T pounds 15.99 (plus pounds 1.25 p&p) 0870 428 4112
This lushly written novel is set in one of the most extraordinary
cultures ever to have existed, 12th-century Sicily. When the Normans,
those austere Christian descendants of the Vikings, went native in
the Mediterranean, they created a dazzlingly sophisticated hybrid
civilisation. Barry Unsworth’s evocation of this exquisite world of
perfumed silk, mosaics and tinkling fountains is a brilliant example
of the historical novelist’s art. Every detail carries conviction
but, far more importantly, what is going on in Thurstan Beauchamps’s
head is also perfectly realised. He is a product of a world in which
loyalty is a central virtue, knighthood is not a joke and the code of
courtly love still rules. He finds himself poised between two women,
the Norman aristocrat he has worshipped since childhood, and an
independent-minded Armenian belly-dancer; spiritual versus fleshly
love.
Or so he thinks. I do not want to give away the twists and turns of
this eminently well-plotted story, but in the course of the
narrative, all his faiths are tested, including his beliefs about
women. The novel is entirely successful as a romance, or a story
about growing up and growing out of unexamined assumptions. But
beneath the surface, some serious ideas are moving. Thurstan is the
king’s Purveyor of Pleasures. It is his job to find new sources of
entertainment and bring them to Palermo: a job that lends itself to
being combined with espionage and undercover activity. He works under
Yusuf ibn Mansur in the finance department, or diwan of control, for
Norman Sicily is a mixed culture of Normans, Byzantines, Arabs and
Jews.
In the 12th century, Western and Eastern Christendom had a heritage
of mutual suspicion, which arose partly from ideology and politics,
partly from fundamental cultural differences but, beyond that, Norman
Sicily was an experiment in Christian and Muslim coexistence. For
various reasons, Thurstan’s world was an irritant to both Eastern and
Western emperors, an experiment that many people wanted to see fail.
This was the era of the crusades, and King Roger’s realm was a direct
affront to the Christian fundamentalists from the West, who insisted
that Christians and Arabs were inescapably opposed, and any attempt
at dialogue was not only doomed, but damned.
There are lessons here for our own time, but Unsworth is not in the
business of big statements. He addresses the problem of a genuinely
multicultural society with subtlety, and asks the crucial question:
can people whose cultural heritage is completely different ever
really trust one another? Trust, not love, is at the heart of this
novel. Thurstan is trusted by Yusuf, and proud to be so trusted, but
Yusuf’s mind proceeds along different tracks from Thurstan’s; they
understand one another up to a point, but only by a continuous effort
of imagination, and there is much that Thurstan sees only when it is
too late. Content to serve his king, he fails to see the depths of
treachery and bad faith that surround the court at Palermo.
When the novel opens, Thurstan sees the royal household as something
that has risen above the petty strivings of ordinary mortals. To him,
King Roger is a remote and glorious figure. By the time his story
comes to an end, he has looked the king in the eye, and has come to
understand that the strife between nations is larger and more cruel
than that between factions within a society, but not intrinsically
different.
In an attempt to balance his various loyalties, Thurstan is driven to
commit gross injustice and to betray one of the people he holds most
dear. Ultimately, he has no choice but to walk away from everything
he has ever valued – though in the process, he must make another leap
of faith, in an unexpected direction. Love, trust and honour exist,
he finds; but not where he has been taught to look for them.