EIGHT ARMENIANS SENT BACK HOME
Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Aug. 7, 2006
Illegal immigrants believed to use pose as members of sports clubs to
get visas more easily
The Finnish Guard sent eight Armenian citizens back to their country
on Friday. They had arrived in Finland along with a sports team, and
the Guard says that they had entered Finland on false premises.
The group had been granted visas to take part in the young
people’s Delfin Basket basketball tournament in Tampere.
However, eight of the members were caught on a passenger ship
from Turku to Sweden. Officials suspect that the group were trying to
get to Sweden, and from there, to other parts of Europe.
Seven members of the group were not actually members of the
team, and never showed up in Tampere. They included a mother with two
daughters more than ten years of age, an 11-year-old girl with her
grandmother, and two unaccompanied girls aged 14 and 16.
One of those who was caught and returned was the leader of the
team, who also had the money for the basketball team. The money was
returned to the players who stayed with the tournament.
Esa Korpi of the Southeast Border Guard notes that it is difficult
for citizens of former Soviet countries to get visas to the Schengen
countries, which is why local travel agencies often work together
with sports clubs.
“The visas are arranged through the sports club. Two of the
girls who were sent back said that they had bought their trips
through a local Armenian travel agency.”
The real purpose of the trip remained something of a mystery
for the Border Guard. However, all participants insisted that they
planned to return home.
Korpi says that the Armenian team, which has taken part in several
basketball tournaments, has been under scrutiny for a some time now.
In previous years, some of those who accompanied the team on foreign
travel have later been found in other parts of Europe.
In 2003, during the FIFA Under-17 World Championships in
Finland, 13 players of Sierra Leone’s national football team and
their supervisors applied for asylum while they were in Finland.
In the same tournament, 150 visa applications came from
Nigerian football fans. Finnish officials rejected 130 of them on
suspicion of potential misuse.

FINLAND’S BORDER GUARD APPREHENDS EIGHT ARMENIANS BOUND FOR SWEDEN
Newsroom Finland, Finland
Aug. 7, 2006
The Finnish Border Guard apprehended eight Armenians who were
attempting to travel to Sweden through Finland, provincial daily
Aamulehti reported Sunday. Those apprehended were sent back to Armenia
on Friday.
According to the paper, the Armenians had been granted visas for a
basketball tournament in Tampere. One of the Armenians apprehended
while attempting to take a ferry to Sweden was the leader of the
girls’ basketball team and was carrying the team’s money for the
tournament. The seven other Armenians were not part of the team.
The team leader told the Border Guard the group was simply intending
to pop over into Sweden before returning to Tampere. The Border Guard
suspected the group was heading further south into Europe.

IBERIAN RESOURCES PREPARES FOR PRODUCTION IN ARMENIA AND PORTUGAL
Australian Stock Exchange
August 7, 2006 Monday
Iberian Resources Ltd expects to produce first gold at its Lichkvaz
gold project in Armenia in the coming months, while a pre-feasibility
study on its Montemor gold project in Portugal supports the presence
of a robust gold project.
The Armenian project carries a JORC estimate of 8.86Mt at 3.78g/t Au,
23.9g/t Ag, 0.31 per cent Cu for approximately 1.4 million ounces
of gold equivalent. A scoping study is currently being carried out
to determine if gold production targets can be increased to 150,000
per annum.
Over 25 kilometres of underground development was completed by a
Soviet exploration team over 20 years ago, equating to a saving of
$US25 million ($A32.6 million) in development expenditure.
The company’s Portuguese tenures cover 1,380sqm, or 1.5 per cent of
the country. The Montemor gold project pre-feasibility study forecast
400,000t at more than 4g/t gold per year for an initial four years
at 50,000 ounces per year at a cost of less than $US300 per ounce.
Between the Armenian and Portuguese projects, Iberian Resources’
attributable resource base exceeds 1.75 million ounces of contained
gold equivalent, a 480 per cent increase on the resources base since
the company listed on the ASX on November 17, 2004.
STOCK DASHBOARD: AUGUST 4, 2006
IBERIAN RESOURCES
Closing Price: 61.5c Price change from previous trading day:
+1.65% Relative Strength (6 months percentile rank): 22.4 Market
capitalisation: $43.91 million Turnover volume: 145,116 Volume Index
(1 is average): 0.9 Turnover value: $89,103 Turnover period: 424 days
Value of $1,000 invested 1 year ago: $1,577 Source:

CALIFORNIA LIKELY TO CELEBRATE ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.08.2006 17:04 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As the Republic of Armenia prepares to celebrate
15 years of independence next month, the Assembly today welcomed a
decision by California State Senators Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno)
and Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to introduce a resolution in the
State Senate designating September 21, 2006 as “Armenian Independence
Day.” A similar resolution will also be introduced in the State
Assembly by Majority Leader Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) and Assembly
Member Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton), making California the first
state to mark the anniversary of Armenia’s independence, reported
the Armenian Assembly of America.
Both resolutions recognize September 21, as “A Day of Celebration
of the California-Armenia Relationship,” and encourage the people
of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and
contributions that Californians of Armenian heritage make. The
resolutions also note that California is home to the largest population
of Armenians in the U.S., and state, “those citizens have enriched
California through leadership in the fields of academia, medicine,
business, agriculture, government, and the arts, and are proud
patriotic practitioners of the American citizenship.”

ARMENIA RANKS 79 IN FREE COUNTRIES INDEX
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.08.2006 17:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The 2006 State of World Liberty Index ranks countries
from most to least libertarian by compiling information from four
freedom indices into one single index. The indices used were: The
Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal, the Frasier Institute/Cato
Institute, Freedom House, Reporters without Borders. The countries
were broken into three criteria: individual freedom, economic freedom
and government size/taxation and averaged.
According to the index, the freest region is Europe whole the freest
country is Estonia. “The world is not free,” the experts say. The
world receives a failing score of 56.9% out of 100.
The mangled corpse of the Soviet Union is stretched across the list,
with the Baltic states of Estonia (#1), Lithuania (#16) and Latvia
(#21) all making the top 25 after embracing free market liberalism,
while their neighbor Belarus (#153) and the Asian countries
Turkmenistan (#154) and Uzbekistan (#152) dangle in the bottom
ten. Armenia (#79), Russia (#124), Kazakhstan (#132), Tajikistan (#141)
and Azerbaijan (#137) are also struggling in a post-Soviet world.
North Korea is at the bottom of this list, with a score of 6.2%.

IN AZERBAIJAN TALKS ON PARTICIPANTS OF STATUS REFERENDUM AND PROBABLE SHIFTING OF CO-CHAIRS
AZG Armenian Daily #148, 08/08/2006
Neighbors
“For a successful continuation of democratic process of Karabakh issue
it is necessary that the Azerbaijanis return to Nagorno Karabakh,”
commenting on probability of Azerbaijani population in status
referendum Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mamediarov said. According
to Azerbaijani news agencies, Mamediarov said that “the Azerbaijanis
that were displaced from their native land also belong to the people
of Karabakh and it is necessary that they return there.”
Curiously enough the Azeri FM speaks of the status referendum not
from the position of negation but from a participant’s position.
Special representative of Azerbaijani president on Karabakh issue,
deputy foreign minister Araz Azimov, was quoted by Mediamax agency
as saying that it is not excluded that the OSCE Minsk Group’s Russian
and French co-chairs will also be replaced following the shifting of
the American one.

ON THE WAY OF BUILDING ‘GLOBAL VILLAGE’
AZG Armenian Daily #148, 08/08/2006
Exhibition
On August 4, the Center for Contemporary Experimental Art hosted a
unique exhibition of modern art. Works of artist from Iran, Georgia
and Turkey were displayed at “Art Without Borders” exhibition.
The organizers, founder and art director of CCEA Sonia Palasanian and
co-directors of the Department of Fine Arts Davit Kareyan and Yeva
Khachatrian, say that participation of Azerbaijani artists failed
despite the many tries for the last 3 years.
The exhibition features the works of 25 artists, 6 of whom are from
Armenia, 5 from Georgia and 7 from Iran and Turkey. The range of
exhibits included canvases, videotapes, photographs and installation.
The lavish opening ceremony was hosted by functionaries and foreign
guests. From exhibited artists only a Georgian was present. A
separate room at the CCEA exhibited art works that were that could
not be watched by children and sensitive people. It’s impossible to
put all manifestations of contemporary art into the frames of one
exhibition. The meeting of the Caucasian artists and their neighbors
was a belated but a unique occasion. This was a good place for
the artists to rediscover and understand each other. Diverse and
creative peoples of the region are obliged to live and create by
each other’s side. Though a small step, this exhibition is at the
same time big step to peaceful coexistence on the way of building out
“global village”
Ani Baghdasarian

ALL-ARMENIAN FUND LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAMS
Panorama.am
15:06 07/08/06
The All-Armenian Fund keeps on holding construction tenders on a number
of programs in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The Fund press office
says massive reconstruction and repair of medical clinics will start
in Sisian and Artik soon. Particularly, reconstruction of a hospital
in Sisian, serving 40 000 residents of the town and nearby villages,
will start in early 2007. The tender for the construction, which is
financed by the French branch of the Fund, has finished already.
The best bidder of the tender for Artik program will be announced
soon. A hospital, providing medical services to about 60 000 residents,
will be reconstructed in Artik on the funds donated by the Armenian
community of Great Britain.
Programs are in process in Nagorno Karabakh, too.
Particularly, global programs on revival and development of Martakert
region are implemented.
Construction works have started to ensure water supply to Martakert
and nearby villages Mets Shen and Magavuz.
The construction of 4.865 km section of North-South highway,
Drmbon-Martakert, has also started.
Soon, tenders will be announced for gas supply in the villages
Chldran and Arachadzor as well as for the construction of schools
in villages Verin Khoratakh and Kochokhut, Martakert region, Nagorno
Karabakh./Panorama.am/

CALIFORNIA STATE SENATORS CHARLES POOCHIGIAN AND JOSEPH SIMITIAN TO
INTORDUCE RESOLUTION ON DESIGNATING SEPT 21 AS ARMENIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
Armenpress
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS: California State Senators Charles
Poochigian (R-Fresno) and Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) decided to
introduce a resolution in the State Senate designating September 21,
2006 as “Armenian Independence Day.”
A similar resolution will also be introduced in the State Assembly
by Majority Leader Dario Frommer (D-Glendale) and Assembly Member
Greg Aghazarian (R-Stockton), making California the first state to
mark the anniversary of Armenia’s independence.
Both resolutions recognize September 21, as “A Day of Celebration
of the California-Armenia Relationship,” and encourage the people
of California to recognize the many talents, achievements, and
contributions that Californians of Armenian heritage make.
The resolutions also note that California is home to the largest
population of Armenians in the U.S., and state, “those citizens have
enriched California through leadership in the fields of academia,
medicine, business, agriculture, government, and the arts, and are
proud patriotic practitioners of the American citizenship.”

KOCHARIAN DISCUSSES JUDICIAL REFORMS WITH CHAIRMAN OF COURT OF CASSATION
Armenpress
YEREVAN, AUGUST 7, ARMENPRESS: Armenian President Robert Kocharian
conducted today a working meeting with the chairman of the Court of
Cassation Hovhannes Manukian. The presidential press service informed
Armenpress that during the meeting they discussed issues on judicial
reforms as well as on the legislative package approved by the National
Assembly connected with the judicial system.
After the constitutional reforms a necessity arose to make urgent
legislative changes on making the activity of the Court of Cassation
in accordance with the Constitution. Hovhannes Manukian also informed
the president that in coming week they are going to review all the
cases which are in the Court of Cassation.