TO RENT OFFICE FOR NATO
Lragir.am
24 Aug 06
The government of Armenia, which immediately finds place for cafes and
other public places, has been unable to find office space in the past
few months for the information center of NATO. This has been considered
since last autumn when Robert Simons, the special representative of
the Secretary General of NATO. It took the government of Armenia about
a year to settle the problem of office of the information center.On
August 24 the executive decided to allocate 3 m 200 thousand drams
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the reserve fund to open the
Information Center of NATO in Yerevan to cover office expenses in
September-december 2006.

OFFICIALS AND DIPLOMATS VISIT RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN ARMENIA TO EXPRESS THEIR CONDOLENCES
ARMENPRESS
Aug 24 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, ARMENPRESS: Representatives of Armenian executive
and legislative powers, diplomats from USA, France, Germany, Italy,
Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Iran, Bulgaria, Romania, Syria, Turkmenistan
visited today Russian embassy in Armenia and put down their condolences
in the mourning book opened there today in connection with the crash
of the Russian airplane.
“We express our deep sorrow to the relatives of the victims of the
plane crash. They must feel that on this difficult moment they are
not alone,” Georgian temporary charge d’affaires in Armenia Georgi
Saganelidze told Armenpress.
Official from the embassy said that many people visited today the
embassy and expressed their grief and brought flowers.

ARMENIANS OF SOUTHERN RUSSIA TO HELP COMPATRIOTS IN LEBANON
AZG Armenian Daily
25/08/2006
Bishop Movses Movsisian, head of the Armenian Diocese in Southern
Russia, called for helping the Lebanese-Armenians and all Christians
of Lebanon, Yerkramas newspaper of Russian-Armenians reports. This
appeal to the flock of the Armenian Church states that the war brought
great suffering to all Lebanese people and that Catholicos of All
Armenian Karekin II has blessed all fund-raising initiatives to help
this people.

FAR ORGANIZES CAMPING OF CHILDREN FROM GYUMRI AND AVAN
AZG Armenian Daily
25/08/2006
Thanks to the initiative of Ken Maranian who arrived in Armenia in the
group of the Fund for Armenian Relief’s youth group and donations from
Texas’s Armenian community, 140 children from Gyumri spent a camping
holiday in a forest near Gyumri. Having restored the camping movement,
FAR organizes camping for children in different regions of Armenia.
Another group of 10 children from socially vulnerable families of Avan
borough is now enjoying its rest at “Lusaber” camp in Hanqavan. In
a few days they will enter the new academic year with bright memories.

2D ARMENIA-DIASPORA ECONOMIC FORUM WITH AROUND 1000 PARTICIPANTS
AZG Armenian Daily
25/08/2006
The 2d Armenia-Diaspora economic forum slated on September 20 will
have up to 1000 participants against 800 in 2003 Noyan Tapan news
agency quoted Tigran Davtian, deputy minister of economic development,
as saying. He explains the rising number of participants by the growth
of Armenia’s economic indices and investment attraction. Davtian says
that equal number of businessmen from Armenia and Diaspora has applied
for participation. It is expected that non-Armenian businessmen will
also take part mainly in the IT section. Besides, representatives
of international economic organizations, including ones that do not
operate in Armenia, will also take part in the forum.
The Pan-Armenian Expo “The Economy of Armenia During 15 Years of
Independence” exhibition will be held on September 22-25.

PROTEST ACTIONS WERE HELD IN SWEDEN AND CANADA IN RELATION WITH ANNIVERSARY OF OCCUPATION OF JABRAIL AND FIZULI
Author: S.Ilhamgizi
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 23, 2006
In relation with the 13th anniversary of occupation of Jabrail and
Fizuli districts of Azerbaijan, the Political Movements “Azerbaijan
way” held a protest action on August 23 in Stockholm (Sweden) and
Feyerbakh (Canada), Trend reports.
The action in Stockholm was held in the square of “Sergelstrob”.
During the actions, the photos of territories occupied by Armenians
and historical monuments destroyed by Armenians were demonstrated.
During the actions that were held under slogan “There is no Azerbaijan
without Karabakh”, it was required to fulfill four resolutions of
UNO and recognize Armenia as an occupant country.

AZERBAIJANI AND JORDANIAN GOVERNMENTS CONCLUDE FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON BILATERAL COOPERATION
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 23, 2006
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov today received the
delegation led by Abdullah Al-Khatib, Foreign Minister of the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan.
The Ministry press service told the APA the discussions focused on
the opportunities of expanding cooperation between the two countries
in political, economic and other fields. The Jordanian delegation
was informed about the large-scale energy and transport projects
implemented in Azerbaijan.
Minister Mammadyarov also touched on Armenian aggression against
Azerbaijani territories, ethnic cleansing policy in these lands and one
million Azerbaijanis becoming refugees and internally displaced persons
as a result of Armenian occupation. He informed about the step-by-step
solution of the Armenia- Azerbaijan conflict within the Prague process.
The sides also exchanged views on the Middle East peace process,
Israel-Lebanon conflict and implementation of the UN Security Council
Resolution on this issue. Jordanian Foreign Minister expressed his
country’s position regarding the Middle East peace process.
In the end of the meeting, Azerbaijani and Jordanian governments
concluded a framework agreement on bilateral cooperation.

ARMENIAN SAND, LAKE SEVAN & KORF COME TOGETHER
International Korfball Federation, Belgium
Aug. 22, 2006
Armenian korfballers met recently to trial-out a national beach
korfball tournament.
The first Armenian korfball tournament to take place on sand was held
on August 15, on the shores of the picturesque lake Sevan.
Despite a large number of the korfball community engaged in summer
holiday pursuits, the interest in the tournament was outstanding. In
total 8 teams lined up for this inaugural event consisting of 2
veteran line-ups, 2 senior selections and 4 youth teams. For most of
the players this was their first taste of the sand and korf cocktail
and for the newly inducted it was hard for them to come to grips
with playing on this energy-sapping surface. The only players with
experience in playing on sand were the veteran players, who were able
to use their prior experience to good effect.
Participating teams were split into two pools, one senior grade pool
and a second youth grade pool. Though the two senior teams (players of
the national team) were favourites to duke it out for title honours
the veterans showed that they are still able to foot it with their
senior counterparts.
After the official tournament an unplanned game between senior and
veteran selections took place. This encounter proved to be the most
interesting game of the day, a struggle of two generations. It also
provided an excellent learning opportunity for the younger players.
Beside the beach korfball matches there were water-korfball games
and the participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves engaging in a
combination of gameplay and social activities set for the day.
The KFA hopes to organise an international beach korfball tournament
in the same place next year.

EXPERT: DIVISION OF KOSOVO PRECEDENT AND KARABAKH’S CHOICE
Viktor Yakubyan – expert on South Caucasus
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 22, 2006
While Lebanon is healing its wounds, the UN is knocking together
an international peacekeeping force for deployment in the south of
that country. In its turn, the international community is trying to
understand the reason for so tough an operation against Lebanon –
a campaign that has nearly wiped that country off the world map. Was
it actually the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers?
Well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh says that Israel’s war
against Hezbollah was “an experiment.” He has carried out his own
investigation and has found out that the plan to invade Lebanon was
drafted long before the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Hersh says
that the whole campaign was nothing but a test of strength before
attacking Iran. Referring to US administration sources, Hersh says
that the Israelis were supposed to test in practice the forms and
methods the Americans are planning to apply against Iran.
There are also some reports that the Pentagon is going to deploy
an interceptor-missile base in Europe. It will be the first US
anti-missile defense land base outside the US territory. Besides,
the US is planning to enlarge its presence in the South Caucasus. To
two radar stations in Azerbaijan, they may add similar facilities on
the Armenian-Iranian border – in Kapan ad Meghri (Armenia).
US block facilities are being actively built in Georgia too.
The process of base and buffer zone deployment in the South Caucasus
got especially active after the NATO Summit in Istanbul and after
the US President proclaimed the EUCOM Transformation plan in the
summer 2004. Under the guise of strengthening the security system in
the Caspian Sea basin (the zone of strategic influence of Iran and
Russia), the US is also unfolding the “Caspian Border Initiative”
program involving Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. In the meantime, the US,
NATO and the EU are showing quite an unprecedented interest in the
“frozen” post-Soviet conflicts.
They in the West believe that those conflicts destabilize the situation
on the new – very close to Russia – NATO and EU borders. In this light,
the West may well be seeking to debar Russia from the peace processes
in the Caucasus and Transdnestr and to finalize them the way it wants,
based on the support of its regional partners from GUAM (Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova). During a recent meeting in Baku GUAM
representatives confirmed their plans to form own peacekeeping troops.
It is exactly in this context that the Georgian government is trying
to fulfill the instruction of its parliament to ensure the withdrawal
of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while the
parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are showing unprecedented
constructivism. Drastically differing on all the key points of the
Karabakh agenda, Yerevan and Baku are coming to an agreement on one
thing: peacekeeping forces will be deployed in the conflict zone. In
this light, we would like to compare the efficiency of the Russian
peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr with
the NATO mission in Kosovo. To remind, in Nagorno-Karabakh cease fire
has been preserved for over a decade already due to balance of forces.
Doctor of History Miroslav Jovanovic says that from June 1999 to March
2006 the NATO “peacekeeping operation” in Kosovo gave the following
results: 927 Serbs killed, 230,000 expelled, 156 Orthodox churches
and cathedrals and several thousands of Serbian houses destroyed,
almost 7,000 attacks on Serbian civilians (an average of 1,000 a year
or 3 a day). During this period, 8,000 Serbs got papers for returning
to Kosovo, but only 1,800 returned.
To compare, from 1992 until recently Russia’s peacekeeping operation
in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone was regarded as unique –
no single soldier, not mentioning civilian, was killed in the zone
throughout the period. Only 4 peacekeepers and 1 civilian were blown
up by mines. After the advent of Mikhail Saakashvili in Georgia in 2004
and the deployment of Georgian special purpose troops in the zone, the
situation got much worse. 4 employees of the South Ossetian Interior
Ministry were killed near the Georgian village of Tamarasheni in May
2004. In July-August 2004 Georgian troops attempted a breakthrough in
the Javi region. They shelled Tskhinvali killing three civilians. One
of them was a child.
Serviceman Gennady Sanakoyev was wounded then. He was later killed
(Georgian Ex Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgy Khaindrava
says Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili is to blame
for this murder). Two Ossetian peacekeepers were killed in 2005. 4
Georgians (3 Khachapuridze brothers and their friend) and 11-year-old
Geno Petriashvili were kidnapped last year. With the help of the
peacekeepers, the Ossetian police disclosed all these crimes and
blamed the Georgian side.
Tskhinvali was shelled once again in 2005 during the celebration of
the Day of Independence of the Republic of South Ossetia. 10 people
were wounded, of them two were children. This year the Georgian side
attacked the Ossetian village of Khelchua. One Ossetian was killed,
but before that he had shot two attackers. In May 2006 Georgian special
purpose men captured 60 Ossetians. They beat them and let free. The
secretary of the South Ossetian Security Council Oleg Alborov was
killed in a terrorist act in July 2006. One more terrorist act a week
later killed two teenagers.
Quite strangely the explosions in Tskhinvali were followed by two
terrorist acts in Tiraspol (Tskhinvali). 10 were killed and 25 wounded.
Experts are unanimous that the authors of the terrorist acts sought
to destabilize the peaceful life in the zones guarded by Russian
peacekeepers with a view to create an illusion of poor control –
something that would allow them to lay claims against the peacekeepers.
Russia’s peacekeeping operation on Dniestr started 14 years ago and is
regarded as one of the best in the world. Initially, there were 3,100
peacekeepers but in the following years their number was reduced to
385. From the very first day, the peacekeepers started active demining
of the region (first of all, the areas near Benderi and Dubossari). The
United Headquarters of the Collective Peacekeeping Forces report that
in the past 14 years they have cleared 12,000 explosives. During the
first years after the conflict 1992, the peacekeepers seized lots
of arms: 100 tommy guns and pistols, over 30 hand grenade launchers,
almost 1,200 grenades, 132,000 units of ammunition.
The peacekeepers’ responsibility zone (Security Zone) has become a
kind of dividing line between the conflicting parties. The situation
in Benderi was especially complicated, that’s why that town was
proclaimed a high-security zone. In 1992-2001 it was under curfew.
The Collective Peacekeeping Forces have military commandant’s offices
in Benderi and Dubossari. They control the situation on a daily
basis. There were single cases of death among civilians from the
start of Russia’s peacekeeping in Transdnestr up to the terrorist
acts in Tiraspol.
The CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces were deployed in the
Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone on June 21 1994 in line with the
May 14 1994 Cease Fire and Disengagement Agreement. 112 Russian
peacekeepers and very few civilians have been killed in the region
since then. Permanent tensions are observed in the mostly-Georgian
Gali region of Abkhazia. Skirmishes and kidnappings are due mostly
to the activities of various groups engaged in walnut and citrus
business. The number of provocations has been growing in the last
years. The Georgian side has repeatedly seized goods and cargoes,
including food, intended for the peacekeeping forces.
The situation there got remarkably more tensed after a Georgian police
contingent under the command of Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili
was deployed in the upper part of Kodori Gorge. Shortly the region will
be monitored. Georgia objects to Russia’s involvement in this process.
Thus, obviously, only certain political motives can force one to say
that Russia’s peacekeeping mission in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and
Transdnestr is inefficient. It is clear that Russia is being gradually
forced out of these formats to give place to wider American-European
maneuvering. It is also clear that the West’s attempts to “unfreeze”
the post-Soviet conflicts may lead to calamities comparable
to the tragedy in Kosovo. That’s exactly why they are trying to
internationalize the conflicts by carrying out an actively propaganda
that the unrecognized republics are instability zones.
If in Abkhazia and South Ossetia the international community will
find it very hard – and almost impossible in the near future – to
push the Russian peacekeepers away, in Nagorno Karabakh they have no
such obstacle.
Here it is for the conflicting parties to choose between the Kosovo
and Abkhazian “peacemaking precedents.”
It is noteworthy that during his first meetings in Pristina the
new head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo Joachim
Rucker said that his priority is to get the Kosovo status finalized
by the end of this year. To remind, the US OSCE MG co-chair Matthew
Bryza is as confident in making the same forecast for the Karabakh
conflict. Well, while Rucker is hurrying to legalize the Kosovo
“peacemaking precedent,” the Americans are hurrying to prevent
Nagorno-Karabakh from using the Kosovo “legal precedent.” Here the
rapture of the Kosovo Albanian leaders will be probably as strong as
the pride of the Armenian leaders for the uniqueness of the Karabakh
factor.
As regards the US, it will gain strategic dominance inside the
Russia-Iran-Turkey triangle – dominance that will give it checks and
balances in the whole regional architecture of security.

FLYWEIGHT TITLIST DARCHINYAN TO FIGHT DONAIRE ON OCT. 7
By Dan Rafael
ESPN
Aug. 21, 2006
Flyweight titlist Vic Darchinyan, the power puncher extraordinaire,
will make his fifth defense against Glenn Donaire on Oct. 7, promoter
Gary Shaw told ESPN.com Monday night.
Darchinyan
The fight will be the co-featured bout on the Showtime-televised card
headlined by the previously announced rubber match between lightweight
world champion Diego “Chico” Corrales (40-3, 33 KOs) and Joel Casamayor
(33-3-1, 20 KOs).
A formal news conference announcing the card is scheduled for Wednesday
at host site Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs), a 30-year-old Armenian based in Australia,
had expected to face Argentina’s Omar Narvaez in a title unification
match.
After agreeing to the fight, Narvaez backed out, angering Shaw,
who recently went to Argentina to make the deal. The title fight
was contingent upon Narvaez defeating mandatory challenger Rexon
Flores on Aug. 5. However, after Narvaez won a lopsided decision,
Shaw said he received an e-mail from a Narvaez representative saying
that there had been a change of plans and that Narvaez would instead
stay in Argentina for a different fight in the fall.
The 26-year-old Donaire (16-2-1, 9 KOs) is 3-0-1 since suffering a
surprising first-round TKO loss to Z Gorres on the Erik Morales-Manny
Pacquiao I undercard on March 19, 2005, in Las Vegas.
“Glenn took the Gorres fight on short notice, and I don’t think that
it is indicative of who Glenn is,” Shaw said. “He is a very skilled
fighter, but I recognize that Vic Darchinyan throws bricks and there
is not anyone he can’t take out with one punch. Glenn will have
to fight smart and box, and shoot his shots down the middle to be
competitive. If he does that, Vic will be in for a very tough fight.”
Shaw said that while Darchinyan is disappointed about not being able
to lure another champion into the ring, he is excited about facing
Donaire, a native of the Philippines living in California.
“When I called him [in Australia] to talk to him about the fight,
all he asked me was, ‘Will this guy give me competition, because all
I want are competitive fights,'” Shaw said. “Vic wants to fight the
other champions, but we can’t make them fight Vic. We will still
try to fight Narvaez and the other champions, [Lorenzo] Parra and
the champion from Thailand [Pongsaklek Wonjongkam]. In the meantime,
Donaire and Vic will make a good fight.”
Darchinyan and Donaire fought on the same card March 3 in Chumash,
Calif. Darchinyan stopped Diosdado Gabi in the eighth round to retain
his title. Donaire was held to a majority draw in a six-round fight
against Jose Albuquerque.
Donaire watched Darchinyan fight in the main event and told his
manager, Cameron Dunkin, that he wanted to fight Darchinyan.
“He had asked for this fight,” Dunkin said. “Darchinyan is a tough,
hard-punching guy. We have a lot of respect for him. But my guy
can really fight and he has been waiting for this opportunity for a
long time, and he’s not going to blow it. He’s really excited about
the fight.”
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.