GOV’T ANGERED BY SWEDISH MPS’ VISIT TO OCCUPIED LANDS
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006
A Swedish parliamentary delegation led by the head of Swedish Leftist
Party, Ulla Hoffman, has reportedly visited the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.
The delegation consisting of party members, who arrived in the occupied
land from Armenia, is believed to have met with “vice-speaker” of the
self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh Republic, Rudik Usnunch, on Thursday.
Usnunch thanked the Swedish government for what he described as
recognizing the “genocide of Armenians” and requested his interlocutors
to take steps to recognize the entity as an independent state.
Hoffman said the Leftist Party is taking interest in Armenia and
Upper Garabagh and will be regularly in contact with the self-styled
republic.
The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry has instructed the country’s embassy
in Great Britain to look into the Swedish MPs’ visit. If the report
is confirmed, Baku will officially express its objection to the visit,
the Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizada said.
Such visits to the separatist entity have been paid by foreign
nationals on numerous occasions in the past, drawing fire from Azeri
officials. The visitors included British, Russian, French and US
parliament members, not to mention frequent visits by representatives
of various foreign companies and even popular Russian singers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VISITORS FROM EURASIA TOUR CONCORD PLANT IN SEARCH OF NEW IDEAS, TECHNOLOGIES
By Leo Strupczewski [email protected]
The Delaware County Times, PA
July 6 2006
CONCORD — Five visitors had broken from the tour and joined an
impromptu business meeting. Twenty visitors from Armenia, Moldova,
Georgia and Ukraine toured the Concord Sewage Treatment Plant
Wednesday. The tour was part of an U.S. Department of Commerce program
for mid- and senior-level water resource management and maintenance
engineers and executives from Eurasia.
While Tom Chew, the facility’s managing director, directed the tour,
Karapet Ohanyan was talking with Peter Snow, the training manager
for Godwin Pumps.
It couldn’t have worked out any better for Ohanyan, from Yerevan,
Armenia. He needed a portable water pump, but didn’t want to buy them.
No one in Armenia rents them, Ohanyan said. The same also goes for
Ukraine and Georgia.
“It would be good for both sides if you did rent there,” Ohanyan said
through an interpreter.
Snow, an Aston resident, smiled and pulled Godwin’s national sales
manager Joseph Abbott Jr. into the group.
“The idea is to bring them in, expose them to our technologies,”
Abbott said of the program, called the Special American Business
Internship Training Program. “Maybe stimulate some sort of business
relationships.”
No deal was settled on the spot, but the program was a success.
The 20 visitors have been in the country for four weeks. They’ve
toured facilities throughout the Mid-Atlantic states and met with
manufacturers, along with local, federal government officials and
water treatment plant officials.
They visited Concord because it’s a smaller plant, Abbott said. It’s
also state-of-the-art and clean.
“They run a nice operation,” he said. “I wish they all looked like
this.”
For the facility, hosting a similar program six years ago probably
would not have been possible.
“It would have been difficult at best,” Chew said. “There just wasn’t
any personnel.”
Or space.
Chew said the facility has experienced tremendous growth since 2000.
At the time, there was only one full-time pump operator and two other
part-time employees.
Now, there are six full-time employees and a new garage with office
space. The facility will also break ground on a new pump in August.
All of it is attributed to the population growth in the area. The
facility’s main customer is the Delaware County Prison, but also
serves roughly 2,000 households.
“It’s sort of a chicken and the egg scenario,” Chew said. “Concord
could’ve never grown at the rate it did without the facility.”
But for Ohanyan and the other visitors, the tour was about picking
up some advice and making contacts.
“At the minimum, I will let people know what I’ve learned,” Ohanyan
said. “Everyone here has had lots of patience and interest with us.”

AZERBAIJAN IS IMPORTANT AND RELIABLE PARTNER OF EUROPE – GERMAN FM
Author: R.Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006
Azerbaijan as an exporter of energy resources, as well as a country
which carries transit deliveries of energy products, greatly
contributes in the energy security of Europe. Therefore, Baku is an
important and reliable partner of Europe, said Frank-Walter Steinmeier,
the German Foreign Minister, to a news conference in Berlin. He was
commenting on the results of a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov, Trend reports citing Radio Liberty.
He noted that during the meeting they discussed bilateral cooperation,
in particular, the development of bilateral economic relationships
and integration of Azerbaijan in to the EU and NATO.
The sides also touched upon the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Steinmeier stressed the intensive development of the bilateral
relationships.
The German FM also voiced his hope in the soonest achievement of an
agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union under the New
Neighborhood Program. Mammadyarov noted that work in this direction
will be continued.
Speaking about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Frank-Walter
Steinmeier noted that the unsettlement of the problems complicates the
integration of the region into the EU. The German Foreign Minister
called on the sides to compromises, needed for political resolution
of the conflict.
In his turn the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister noted that over the past
few weeks the goods turnover between the two countries has doubled.
Mammadyarov said that Germany is the biggest economic partner of
Azerbaijan in the West Europe.
In the end Mammadyarov announced that he will stay in Germany till
end of the week to watch the final round of the World Cup championship.

OFFICIAL DOWNPLAYS OSCE GARABAGH EFFORT
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006
An Azeri official has cited a “gap” in the OSCE’s activity with regard
to conflict resolution, saying it has failed to reach settlement to
existing conflicts, including the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan
dispute over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
“The [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group has yet to attain considerable
progress. I therefore don’t agree with statements that it is a more
important and influential organization to settle conflicts,” Deputy
Foreign Minister Vagif Sadikhov told journalists.
Sadikhov said last year the Minsk Group stepped up its activity. The
elections are over both in Azerbaijan and Armenia and the MG co-chairs
are trying to take advantage of this period to attain progress before
the next elections.
“Our position is more justifiable than that of Armenia. The latter
is in a very bad shape and is therefore maneuvering and changing
course all the time. Azerbaijan, however, adheres to a position of
principle. If the accelerated efforts by the co-chairmen simply aim
to pull wool over our eyes, we will not support this,” the deputy
minister said.
Sadikhov said that not only the two presidents but also international
organizations involved in conflict settlement bear responsibility
for the unresolved status of the Garabagh conflict.

FRAMEWORK DEAL SHEER SPECULATION, OFFICIAL SAYS
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has said no “framework
agreement” on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict
is under discussion.
Azimov said it was premature to talk of any final accord at this
stage in the peace process.
“I can say with confidence that there is no such document and talks
are still underway. In general, these statements were quite hasty and
provocative,” the Azerbaijani President’s Upper Garabagh negotiator
said when commenting on a recent statement by the co-chairs of
the mediating OSCE Minsk Group that sparked off a great deal of
speculation.
US co-chair Matthew Bryza has told Radio Liberty that the mediators
submitted a framework accord to the conflicting sides but the latter
have yet to accept it.
“The co-chairs’ statement was aimed to see how the developments
would unfold and to study public opinion. But in any case, it was
inconclusive. By taking some snippets out of the general context we
cannot develop an unbiased view on the gist of the talks and this
only leads to misunderstanding,” Azimov said.
Azimov unequivocally dismissed statements that the Azeri government had
agreed for a referendum to be held in Upper Garabagh in the future. A
referendum could be held only on the entire territory of Azerbaijan
as a nationwide poll in compliance with the constitution.
“The Azerbaijani leadership will never step back from its stance on the
referendum issue. Any speculation to that end is false,” Azimov said.
“The Armenians living in Upper Garabagh were not the only residents
of the region. It was also home to Azerbaijanis. If we are talking
about democracy, the demographic composition of the region must be
restored and the Azerbaijani community must be given the chance to
return to their homes. To make this possible, a peaceful environment
must be ensured, and that requires the withdrawal of Armenian armed
forces. The Armenian side has accepted this logic.”
Mediators ‘clarify’ statement The Minsk Group co-chairmen issued a
statement on Monday to follow up on their report released hot on the
heels of a meeting in Vienna on June 22.
“Taking into account the recent speculation about basic principles
for a negotiated settlement of the Garabagh conflict proposed to both
parties by the Minsk Group co-chairs, it is necessary to make the
following clarification,” said the document released by the French
embassy in Baku.
“The co-chairs reported to the OSCE Permanent Council on the results
of the past months of negotiations between the sides on the Garabagh
conflict. They reported on their intensive mediation activities
over the past seven months aimed at achieving agreement on the basic
principles for a settlement.
“Throughout their mediation efforts, the co-chairs stressed the
confidence of their nations and of the international community that
the dispute can be resolved in no other way than peace.”
The mediation efforts of the intermediaries resulted in the proposal
to Presidents Aliyev and Kocharian of a “set of fair, balanced, and
workable core principles that could pave the way for the two sides
to draft a far-reaching settlement agreement”.
“The principles are based on the redeployment of Armenian troops from
Azerbaijani territories around Upper Garabagh, with special modalities
for Kalbajar and Lachin districts (including a corridor between
Armenia and Upper Garabagh), demilitarization of those territories
and a referendum or population vote (at a date and in a manner to be
decided through further talks) to determine the final legal status
of the region,” the Minsk Group said.
“Suitable pre-conditions would have to be achieved for the vote
to take place in a non-coercive environment in which well-informed
citizens have had ample opportunity to consider their positions after
a vigorous debate in the public arena.”
The mediators indicated that deployment of an international
peacekeeping force and a joint commission for implementation of the
agreement would be established, and international assistance would
be made available for de-mining, reconstruction, and resettlement of
IDPs in the occupied territories and the war-affected regions. The
MG said the sides would renounce the use or threat of use of force,
and international and bilateral security guarantees and assurances
would be put in place.
Touching on the most recent meeting between the two leaders in
Bucharest, the intermediaries said that unfortunately, the two did
not reach agreement on these principles. The co-chairs, however,
continue to believe that the proposals developed through the past
two years of negotiations “hold the best potential for achieving a
just and lasting settlement of the conflict”.
“We strongly believe that it is now time for the two Presidents to
take the initiative for achieving a breakthrough in the settlement
process based on these principles, and stand ready to assist the
parties to conclude an agreement if the presidents indicate that they
are prepared to do so,” the statement said.
“Although no additional meetings between the sides under the auspices
of the co-chairs are planned for the immediate future, they will be
ready to re-engage if the parties decide to pursue the talks with
the political will that has thus far been lacking.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has praised the
intermediaries’ proposals.
“The suggestions are largely acceptable for the Armenian side and
we are ready to continue talks with Azerbaijan,” he said in Yerevan
on Monday.
The minister said they equally benefit both parties to the conflict,
regarding this as “the right way to reach compromise”.
“I believe that Azerbaijan will realize this and take appropriate
steps,” he said.
From: Baghdasarian

SECESSIONIST SPEAKERS MEET DUMA DEPUTIES
Eka Basilaia
The Messenger, Georgia
July 6 2006
Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) condemned a July 4 meeting
of officials of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia
and Transnistria in Moscow, saying Russia has been applying “double
standards.”
Speakers of the parliaments of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria
signed a bilateral agreement on cooperation on July 4, Russian news
agency Rosbalt.ru reported.
“We will sign agreements on cooperation between our legislative
bodies,” Abkhaz parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba stated Monday after
signing the agreement, noting “Cooperation means the exchange of
experience and consultative work.
“Our parliaments have been cooperating effectively for a long time.
These agreements will lay juridical foundations for these contacts,”
Ashuba said.
The agreement highlights the importance of “strong cooperation”
among the unrecognized republics in respect to the things that all
of them have in common.
According to the agreement special commissions will be set up within
the parliaments to promote cooperation. Also the secessionists plan
to organize inter-parliamentary forums and yearly bilateral meetings.
Apart from the de facto officials from the three secessionist
republics, representatives of the Russian Federation’s State Duma
were also in attendance at the event. The vice speaker of the Duma,
Sergei Baburing even expressed his approval of the event.
“All Duma factions support the brother nations. The republics have more
than once proved the consistency of their statehood and showed they
can be a stronghold and a hope for their peoples. Enhancing the links
between their parliaments and the Duma will serve the interests of
politics and people as well,” Baburing stated, according to Rosbalt.ru.
However, the MFA considers their active involvement in the process as a
“regrettable fact” that can be described as “another political farce,”
putting the Georgian-Russian relationships under further tension.
“Their pro-separatist rhetoric raises serious doubts about the Russian
side’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity [which has been]
articulated at various, including the highest levels, but carries
only a declaratory character and has nothing in common with the
actual political course pursued by Russia with respect to Georgia,”
the statement released by the MFA on July 4 stated.
According to the press statement Russia’s use of double standards is
“totally inadmissible in civilized inter-state relations” and could
lead the peace processes into deadlock. All this, the statement
reported, might put under question Russia’s ability to “qualify as
an unbiased mediator in the conflict resolution processes.”
According to the rabidly pro-secessionist Russian news agency
Regnum.ru, which is not noted for its unbiased or well sourced
information, one more conflict region located on the territory of
the former Soviet Union the Nagorno-Karabakh self-proclaimed republic
intends to join the coalition “Community of Democracy and the Rights
of Peoples” established by presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and
Transnistria. The decision was voiced by the president of South Ossetia
Eduard Kokoity at a meeting with the Java district administration, the
news agency reported. This has not been confirmed by Karabakh sources.
The coalition was set up at a meeting on June 14 in Sokhumi, the
meeting ended with signing a joint declaration on common activities
and cooperation. The de facto leaders also issued a statement on the
Russian peacekeeping forces, expressing their high esteem for the
Russian peacekeepers’ activities in the conflict zones and demanding
that they should not be withdrawn. It remains to be seen what benefits
Nagorno-Karabakh would derive from joining this coalition, as there
are no peacekeepers on its territory.

GUL: TURKISH ECONOMY GIVES CONFIDENCE TO THE WORLD
Anatolian Times, Turkey
July 6 2006
WASHINGTON – Turkey showed its economy is strong after recent
fluctuations in markets, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said
on Wednesday.
Speaking to Turkish journalists after his joint news conference with
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Wednesday,
Gul said that U.S. officials told him that Turkey is strong in economic
aspect and gives confidence to the world. The U.S. officials told him
that Turkey was not considered as a loose link in the chain any more,
he added.
Noting that in his meetings in the U.S., the importance of
Turkish-U.S. relations was emphasized, Gul said, “our relations are
much stronger and healthier.”
“We have discussed Iran, Iraq, PKK terrorist organization, Middle
East problem, recent tension between Israel and Palestine, Cyprus,
ending isolations over Turkish Cypriots, drafts about so-called
Armenian genocide, recent contacts in Damascus about Middle East
problem, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline,
Turkey’s economic performance in recent period, Turkey-EU relations and
Turkey’s contributions in regional and international issues,” said Gul.
Regarding visit of Turkish Prime Ministry Advisor Ahmet Davudoglu to
Damascus, Gul said that Turkey launched initiatives to stop tension
in Middle East upon demands, and Davudoglu met Syrian President,
adding that the meeting was positive.
When asked how recent Israeli-Palestinian tension can be solved,
Gul said, “our position is obvious. Everybody should do their best
and a peace process should start. The ministers and kidnapped soldier
should be released and operations in Gaza should be stopped. Thus,
a new milieu can be established. Both societies should accept the
two-state solution.”
Regarding Cyprus issue, Gul said, “this issue necessitates patience.
We are insistent and determined about negotiations. The important
thing is to explain the right cause to everybody. The United States
does not withhold its support about Cyprus issue, and their efforts
will increase.”
Upon another question, Gul said, “Iraq’s territorial integrity,
political unity and stability are common targets of Turkey and the
United States. Also, we have discussed (with Rice) the attitude of
Armenian lobby in the United States. I said everybody should do their
best to prevent adoption of an Armenian draft in the United States.”
Following the news conference, Gul met representatives of Jewish
lobby in the United States.

IRAN POSTPONES TALKS WITH EU
Xinhua, China
July 6 2006
TEHRAN, July 5 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
said on Wednesday that a meeting between Iran’s top nuclear negotiator
Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana over Iran’s
nuclear issue, originally scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed,
the official IRNA news agency reported.
Mottaki made the declaration on the sidelines of a welcoming ceremony
of Armenian President Robert Kocharian who is in Iran ona two-day
official visit..
“There will be no negotiations between Larijani and Solana today,”
the minister was quoted as saying, without giving further details.
Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Solana had been due to explore
whether Iran is ready to respond to a package agreed on by the five
permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany over its
nuclear issue, which demands Iran suspend uranium enrichment in return
for economic and political incentives.
Meanwhile, an EU statement said that Larijani would meet Solana on
Thursday and on July 11.
“I was surprised to hear that Dr. Ali Larijani has decided at the
last minute to postpone his trip to Brussels as previously agreed
with him to take place today,” Solana said in the statement.
“I have just spoken to Dr. Larijani on the phone and we decided to
meet tomorrow in Brussels, then continue the discussions on July 11,”
the statement added.
Western powers have recently mounted pressures on Iran, asking the
country to formally respond by mid July to the six-nation package.
During a Moscow meeting last Thursday, foreign ministers of the Group
of Eight industrialized countries urged Iran to give “a clear and
substantive response” to the package at the upcoming meeting between
Larijani and Solana.
But Larijani said on Monday that he would not give a response to the
package in his meeting with Solana, saying it was not “reasonable”
for the West to demand a suspension of Iran’s nuclear program.
A senior U.S. official said on Monday that Iran must respond to the
offer by July 12 or it would face action by the UN Security Council.
“If Iran has not responded by July 12, then I think the pressure will
be enormous on the Iranians from all the international community,”
said U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
On June 6, Solana presented Iran with the package, which includes
both incentives aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment
and possible sanctions if Iran does not comply. The United States has
accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under a civilian
front, a charge categorically denied by Tehran.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS DISCUSSING IN MOSCOW FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
04.07.2006, 22.02
ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 5 2006
MOSCOW, July 4 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Orthodox Christians clad in
austere dark clothes and distinguished only by the colour of the
headgear, representatives of the Orthodox Caucasian republics Armenia
and Georgia wearing black hoods, which made them look like stern monks,
aged Catholic cardinals in red hats, Buddhists in red-yellow robes,
Muslims in turbans, bearded Judaists in black hats, all gathered in the
prestigious President-hotel in Moscow, attending the religious summit.
They gladly mix during the coffee breaks, except for Muslims and
Judaists who deliberately keep apart.
They behave the same way at the Summit of Religious Leaders in Moscow,
where all agree about the need to fight terrorism and extremism,
but where Muslims and Judaists continue a fierce dispute about the
ways to overcome the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
COOPERATION OF CHURCHES
Over 150 religious leaders from more than 40 countries attend the
World Summit of Religious Leaders. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and
All Russia made the initiative for the meeting and the Inter-religious
Council of Russia organized the summit.
The summit does not aim to decide theological problems. As the
organizers of the summit noted, the point of the matter is not that
of creating a united religion but cooperation that can be promoted
by a system of common moral values of world religions.
Virtually all the speakers stressed that religion and terrorism have
nothing in common. Nevertheless, the Middle East conflict could not
but affect the course of the summit.
PALESTINE-ISRAEL
The aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis prompted an indirect
dialogue between representatives of Judaism and Muslims from Middle
East countries.
Abdullah Maatouq al-Maatouq, the Kuwaiti minister of justice, awqaf
(religious endowments) and Islamic affairs, condemned resolutely
“the killing of peaceful people of Palestine.” “We cannot tolerate
the fact that whole settlements are isolated,” he said.
Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the chief mufti of Syria, said, “Islam
and terrorism do not go together.” He reproached religious leaders
of Europe, saying that they had played “a big parts when the Berlin
Wall was being torn down” and asking them why they keep silent now
that a wall is being erected in Palestine.
Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar said terrorism stems from “the
lack of spirituality that leads to the growth of intolerance and
xenophobia.” He said world terrorism “recruits flunkeys, using
religion, among other things.”
NO CONFRONTATION OF RELIGIONS
“It is important that religious leaders declare here for peace,
against terrorism, but it is no less important that how all these
wishes will be translated into life,” said Chief Rabbi of Central
Asia David Gurevich. “The honest Muslim world,” he said, “should
stop its politicians so that they should not use religion to achieve
annexationist aims.”
Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia sheikh Ravil Gainutdin
made a call in his statement not to allow for a new confrontation
between religions “in conditions when, aside from the danger of the
spread of international terrorism, there emerges the danger of a
split of the world according to religion.”
Gainutdin called on Europe and the world to study the experience of
goodneighbourly relations between Orthodox Christians and Muslims
in Russia.
“We condemn terrorism and extremism in any form, as well as the
attempts to justify them by religion,” he said.
WHILE POPE AND DALAI LAMA DO NOT ATTEND SUMMIT
Contrary to some forecasts, the fact that Pope Benedict XVI and
Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama XIV are not attending the summit
has not clouded its atmosphere.
Pope Benedict XVI addressed a message to the forum, which was read
out on Tuesday by Cardinal Walter Kasper.
The Pope believes this remarkable meeting bespeaks of the common
wish to create civilization and search for a new, more fare order. He
believes it is necessary to establish areas of cooperation to answer
contemporary challenges of the world. As regards various Christian
confessions, the head of the Vatican is convinced that their main
task is to get to know and begin to respect each other.
The Vatican’s delegation to the Moscow summit is the most
representative one. It includes ten most influential Catholic
hierarchs.
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray told Itar-Tass that the summit is highly
important in present-day conditions, that it offers an opportunity
for a dialogue of representatives of all religions and expressed the
joy that the summit has taken place.
Cardinal Walter Kasper believes it is yet early to predict a meeting
between the Pope and Patriarch Alexy.
He told reporters the subject had not been broached either during
the summit or during bilateral contacts. However, any meetings,
this summit, too, may bring the possibility of such an event closer,
he said.
As to the Dalai Lama whose attendance was prevented by Russia’s
unwillingness to spoil relations with China, his absence did not
affect the course of the summit, even though a few days ago Shajin
Lama (the head of the Buddhist organization) of Kalmykia Tolo Tulku
Rinpoche threatened that Russia’s Buddhists would ignore the summit
if the Dalai Lama did not arrive for it.
“The Dalai Lame is the head of Tibetan Buddhists, and Tibet is part
of China, so this is the matter to be addressed to China,” Hamba-lama
Damba Ayusheyev, the head of Russian Buddhists, told ltar-Tass. He
said Russia’s traditional Buddhist Sangha participates in the
Inter-religious Council and was among the organizers of the forum,
so Russian Buddhists could not but take part in the forum.
The summit in itself, Hamba-lama believes, means “above all respect
for Russia and the evidence of the prestige of the Russian Orthodox
Church and other traditional religions of Russia.”
RELIGIOUS UNITED NATIONS AND G8
The participants in the summit on Tuesday discussed how the factor of
religion could influence politicians, also in order to settle armed
conflicts. It is planned to pass a declaration on the basis of the
forum, to bring it to the notice of the participants in the meeting
of the Group of Eight in St Petersburg.
The organizers of the forum believe such functions will possibly be
held regularly before summits of the G8.
“Leaders of world religions gathered in Moscow in order to exert an
effect on the world situation and to influence political leaders
of countries,” Tagir Samatov, the mufti of Western Siberia, told
Itar-Tass.
He said the wish to create a sort of “United Nations of all
confessions” was expressed at the summit.
Yona Metzger, Israel’s chief rabbi, specifically, came out with the
proposal to create a “United Nations for religious communities”.

IRAN READY TO DEVELOP COOPERATION IN ENERGY SECTOR WITH ARMENIA
ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 5 2006
TEHRAN, July 5 (Itar-Tass) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
expressed readiness to develop cooperation with Armenia in the
energy sector.
The president made his statement during Wednesday’s talks with his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian, who is in Tehran on a two-day
working visit.
According to the Iranian president’s press service, Ahmadinejad said
that “the Islamic Republic calls for the development of diversified
relations with Armenia, especially in transport, tourism, culture
and energy fields.”
“In the course of Kocharian’s visit to Iran, six meetings of joint
commissions are due to be held,” the Iranian president said. “A whole
range of agreements on bilateral cooperation in various spheres will
be signed during those meetings.”
Armenia and Iran, whose Armenian ethnic community numbers 150,000
people, actively interact in various spheres, and especially in the
energy sector.
Some of the fresh instances of that cooperation are a gas pipeline
being built from Iran to Armenia, a hydro-power plant on the borderline
Araks River, which is in the phase of project-making now, and a
wind-driven power plant that an Iranian company has built in Armenia.