The Nation, Kenya
June 30 2006
Passports mix-up in panic to expel Arturs
Story by LUCAS BARASA and MUGUMO MUNENE
Publication Date: 6/30/2006
The Armenian Artur brothers were mistakenly given return air tickets
in the panic to get them kicked out of Kenya, it was revealed
yesterday.
The tickets were about to be handed over with take-off just 30
minutes away, when the error was spotted and the return part of the
tickets was ripped out, the inquiry into the brothers’ activities was
told.
And as a whirlwind of activity went on around them to ensure they got
on the plane in time, Artur Margaryan was allowed to travel on
someone else’s passport – that of a Russian called Gevorkiyan – while
his supposed brother Sargsyan who had no passport was given emergency
travel papers.
Bizarrely, instead of saying he was being expelled, the document
merely stated he was going to Dubai on business which meant Mr
Sargsyan could legally claim he was never deported. And it was
wrongly dated, too: July 9 instead of June 9, the inquiry was told.
Because the paper, known as a Certificate of Emergency Travel, said
Mr Sargsyan was travelling on business and there are still 10 days to
go until July 9, he could in theory use it to return to Kenya, the
inquiry heard.
And in a day of dramatic disclosures, it was also claimed that the
brothers were cleared to work in Kenya by both the Immigration
Department and the National Security Intelligence Service, which
vetted their work permit applications.
The series of revelations rocked the second day of the inquiry into
the two Armenians, described the previous day by Immigration minister
Gideon Konchella as “dubious international criminals.”
Mr Sargsyan’s emergency travel papers showed he was either Armenian
or Russian, the inquiry at Kenyatta International Conference Centre
was told by its second witness, principal immigration officer Joseph
Ndathi.
Asked why the certificate did not read ‘deportation’, Mr Ndathi
replied, “it is a question of language semantics.” He explained: “He
was going to Dubai where he had come from to continue with his
business.”
Asked by assisting counsel Warui Mungai if Mr Sargsyan could claim he
was not deported, Mr Ndathi said, “he will be within his rights to do
so.”
He said it was the deportation orders and the systems put in place to
prevent the Artur brothers from re-entering Kenya that mattered most.
Mr Mungai told Mr Ndathi investigations also showed the Artur
brothers were given return air tickets. Mr Ndathi replied that the
four Kenya Airways tickets – including two for two other people
deported with the brothers – were delivered by lawyer Kamau Mbugua
and two other unidentified people.
“My lords, they were return tickets but the officers scrutinised and
the return coupons were removed. They left with a one-way ticket,”
the immigration officer said.
The tickets were bought using taxpayers money, in spite of the law
allowing the Government to ask wealthy people to pay for their own
travel.
On the deportation date the lawyer, Mr Mbugua also handed Mr Ndathi a
passport in the name of Mr Arthur Gevorkiyan for use by Mr Artur
Margaryan, the taller and bearded brother. It was this passport,
showing Mr Gevorkiyan as a Russian, that Mr Margaryan used to travel
to Dubai.
Mr Ndathi had a hard time explaining to the commission why Mr
Margaryan was allowed to travel using a passport that was not in his
own name. He said that there were only 30 minutes to the flight and
that Kenya Airways had agreed to the arrangement.
“The security of the State should be seen as of greater concern than
a travel document. The passport was also accepted in Dubai,” Mr
Ndathi said.
A photograph in a copy of Mr Margaryan’s passport tabled before the
Commission was different from that in Mr Gevorkiyan’s passport.
He said the certificate of emergency travel were recognised
internationally as one-way travel documents and anyone found re-using
one could be fined.
Mr Mungai: Must the deportee have a passport?
Mr Ndathi: It is one of the documents one must have. If not, we issue
an emergency travel certificate.
Mr Ndathi said the true nationalities of the Artur brothers were
unknown and that his department had relied on information given to
them to conclude they were Armenians. “They have given conflicting
documents and we need to research these people further,” he said.
He said the Arturs had never applied for Kenyan citizenship and that
Kenyan passports recovered from their Runda home were stolen from the
Immigration department in May. Another passport stolen on May 2, was
still missing. He said Kenyan passports could only be granted to
foreigners with entry permits who had been in the country for at
least five years. Records show the Arturs first came to Kenya last
year.
A passport in the name of Artak Sargsyan recovered from the Runda
residence showed the holder was a Kenyan. And although the name was
slightly different from another passport found there, which
identified him as Artur and not Artak, the photographs in the two
passports were the same. Immigration records showed the stolen
passports belonged to Selasio Njeru Mutumuka and Edith Kahaya
Asegere.
Assisting counsel Dorcas Oduor said signatures in the recovered
passports had been taken for forensic examination. Mr Ndathi said
Kenyan passports were susceptible to having the photographs switched.
He blamed problems facing the Immigration department to under
funding, staff shortage and poor technological advancement. He said
the department received little support from the Treasury and relied
on part of its revenue collection, whose total was Sh1.8 billion last
year, for development, operations, and staff pay and allowances.
Its efforts to upgrade its information communication technology were
hampered by the Anglo Leasing scandal, Mr Ndathi said.
It also came to light that the country’s Intelligence and
Immigrations officials fell for suspect official documents presented
by the Armenian brothers.
The commission was told the brothers were cleared by both the
National Security Intelligence Service and the Immigration Department
to conduct business in Kenya. The clearance was given following a
request made by the Immigration department in keeping with their
tradition of having every request for an entry permit checked before
foreigners were allowed into the country.
The Armenians were finally issued with two-year permits on January 23
this year. They were cancelled after the two were deported.

Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 30 2006
RECEPTION IN HONOR OF NKR DELEGATION HELD AT CAPITOL, USA
YEREVAN, June 30. /ARKA/. A reception in the honor of the
Nagorno-Karabakh delegation was held at the Capitol. The reception
was attended by US Congressmen, RA Ambassador to the USA Tatul
Margaryan, NKR Permanent Representative to the USA Vardan Barseghyan,
top officials of the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and Armenian
National Committee of America, US Congress staff members, journalists
and representatives of the Armenian community.
The US Congress members Frank Pallone, Joe Nolenberg, Edward Royce,
Caroline Malone, Adam Shiff and Brad Sherman made speeches at the
reception. They warmly welcomed Speaker of the NKR National Assembly
Ashot Ghulyan and NKR Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan.
Condemning Azerbaijan’s aggressive policy, the US Congressmen
reaffirmed their readiness to contribute to the development of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).
In their turn, the NKR officials conveyed the NKR’s people’s
gratitude the US Congress and to the American people for their
commitment to such eternal values as freedom and democracy as well as
for the humanitarian aid provided to the NKR.
Artsakh knowingly chose the way of freedom and democracy and no
obstacles will make it turn aside from this way, Ghulyan said.
Following the reception the NKR delegation held a meeting with the
Co-Chairmen of the US Congressional Armenia Caucus Frank Pallone and
Joe Nolenberg.
The sides discussed issues related to the current socio-economic
situation in the NKR, the country’s democratic development, US aid to
the NKR and Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CBS 2, CA
June 30 2006
LAPD Looking For Man Who Robbed Van Nuys Bank
(CBS) VAN NUYS, Calif. A man with a two-inch scar on his upper left
cheek robbed a Bank of America in Van Nuys Friday, took about $1,000
and escaped in a taxi cab, police said.
The bandit walked into the bank in the 6500 block of Van Nuys
Boulevard at about 10:20 a.m. and “simulated a handgun” when
demanding cash, Officer Sara Faden of the Los Angeles Police
Department’s Media Relations section said.
He ran out of the bank and jumped into a yellow taxi, Faden said.
No injuries were reported in the holdup.
Police described the suspect as a white, Middle Eastern or possibly
Armenian man whose dark hair is streaked with gray. He is believed to
be 50 to 56 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 170 pounds with
brown eyes.
Police asked anyone with information to call the LAPD’s 24-hour tip
line at 1-877-LAWFULL.

Kent Good Times Dispatch, CT
June 30 2006
Writer to deliver paper on Graves in Mallorca
A work begun long ago will find an outlet this summer when Georgianne
Ensign Kent presents a paper, “Poet to Poet: T.E. Lawrence and the
Riddle of S.A.,” at the Robert Graves Conference in Palma, Mallorca,
in July.

The theme of the conference, sponsored by the Robert Graves Trust, is
“Robert Graves and His Collaborators.”
Ms. Kent, who has made Kent her home since 1991, said she was first
attracted to the story of T. E. Lawrence, the impossibly enigmatic
hero of a World War I “Arabian Nights” adventure, after the film,
“Lawrence of Arabia” was produced in 1962. “I was looking for an idea
for a book,” she said succinctly, adding that she wanted to present
an existential view of the largely medieval Lawrence.
“Existentialism was hot back then, but by the time I finished the
book it was not so hot,” she observed wryly.
Still, researching the book brought her to Dorset, England, a place
she came to love so much she returned there to work on a second book.
The Lawrence project gave her an opportunity to have discourse with
the poet Robert Graves, and it introduced her to the worlds of
archaeology and the Middle East.
Graves, was her first outlet. Born in Wimbledon, England in 1885,
educated at Oxford and equally at home as a writer of fiction,
non-fiction and poetry, he was both friend and biographer to T.E.
Lawrence. It was to Graves that Lawrence turned for criticism of his
dedicatory poem in “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” and it was to Graves
that Ms. Kent turned for insight into her subject.
Ms. Kent’s paper, which details Graves’ rewriting of a verse of
Lawrence’s poem and the mystery of the identity of the person to whom
it was written, will include a correspondence that she conducted with
the English poet.
“Lawrence sent his poem to Graves and asked him if it were poetry or
prose,” Ms. Kent said, adding that Graves gave an equivocal answer.
“He rewrote one of the stanzas and sent it back to Lawrence. It was
very beautiful,” said Ms. Kent. “Of course, that was not what
Lawrence wanted and he didn’t use it.”
Graves apparently retained his reservations about Lawrence’s poetic
abilities. When Ms. Kent later asked him if he considered Lawrence to
be a poet, he replied yes, “not for what he wrote, but for the way he
lived.”
Graves was nevertheless a friend of Lawrence’s and profited from the
association. Lawrence sent him truncated chapters of “Seven Pillars
of Wisdom,” his account of the war in the desert, for Graves to
publish during a period of financial need. And Graves later wrote
“Lawrence and the Arabs,” a successful biography of the warrior.
In return, Graves was protective of his friend’s legacy. When
Lawrence’s sole surviving brother sought to stop the production of
“Ross,” a play that depicted Lawrence as homosexual and sadistic,
Graves joined in the battle.
Ms. Kent eventually dropped the Lawrence book and moved on to other
projects, later publishing three works under her maiden name: “The
Hunt for the Mastodon,” “Great Beginnings: Opening Lines of Great
Novels,” and “Great Endings: Closing Lines of Great Novels.”
It was not until much later, when she was participating in an
archaeological dig in Mallorca, that the path of her life crossed
Graves’ again. “I was on a dig in Mallorca where he lived and I
wanted to see his house,” she related. “It was inhabited by his
widow, but she died before I got there. So I wrote to his oldest son,
William, who said the house was going to become a museum, but that he
would show it to me. I had the amazing good fortune to be shown
Graves’ house by his son.”
During that tour she told William Graves of her correspondence with
his father about Lawrence and he suggested her participation in the
upcoming conference.
Ms. Kent said that the passage of decades required her to go back and
prepare her Lawrence material again. “I did a lot of research,” she
said. “Last year I was in Oxford and did some work at the Bodleian
Library [the main research library at the university].”
The work on her Lawrence paper temporarily put on hold her most
recent project, a biography of her Armenian grandmother, Vartanoosh,
which will be published later this summer.
Here, again, other interests have grown in fields sown by her early
Lawrence research. “Lawrence introduced me to England, to archaeology
and to the Middle East,” she said. “I wouldn’t have gone to the
Middle East when I did or to the places I went, if it were not for
Lawrence.”
The story the Armenians, a culture that suffered genocide during
World War I, and of her family’s emigration to the United States
struck an emotional chord with her. She began to research her family
background, spending a month with her aged grandmother in Florida,
taping her memories of the past.
“My grandmother came to this country in the late 1880s after first
escaping to Beirut,” she recounted. “I stayed with her for a month,
taping her memories-some of which she embroidered. I started with
that, but then I would check the stories on the Internet and many
have turned out to be right. For instance, there were rumors of a
possible massacre in Beirut, so they moved inland to a town called
Zhale. She described how the houses were built one on top of the
other. I found a picture of the town on the Internet and the houses
were exactly as she described them. She was a really dynamic woman.”
Ms. Kent said she will self-publish the book, titled “Vartanoosh,”
and expects its main distribution to be among the extended family.
Ms. Kent studied journalism at Northwestern University, expecting to
pursue a career in magazine writing. She found herself sidetracked
into advertising, however, and spent 25 years-“broken up by decisions
to go write books”-in that field. Eventually she left advertising
altogether and worked for a while in a medical office, a position
that she loved.
“Then I met my husband and moved her in 1991,” she said. While in
Kent she penned her two anthologies of first and last great lines.
She said her current goal is to complete her book on her grandmother.
“I have other ideas [for future works], but nothing that has
crystallized yet,” she said.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 30 2006
Incoming US ambassador to Yerevan doesn’t use word ‘genocide’
TNA with AP / Washington
U.S. senators failed to persuade the nominee for U.S. ambassador to
Yerevan to use word ‘genocide’ while describing events of 1915 at his
confirmation hearings Wednesday in the Senate.
“I have not received any kind of written instruction about this,”
Ambassador-designate Richard E. Hoagland said. “I simply have studied
the president’s policy. I’ve studied the background papers on the
policy. And my responsibility is to support the president.”
While declining to say the word “genocide,” Hoagland, who is
currently the ambassador to Tajikistan, said, “I fully agree that the
events that occurred in 1915 and following were of historic
proportions, as I said, well-documented, horrific, horrifying.”
He quoted Maryland democrat Senator Paul Sarbanes, who read a
statement about the situation, that “hundreds of valleys (were)
devastated, no family untouched. It was historic. It was a tragedy
and everyone fully agrees with that, sir.”
U.S. President George W. Bush, in a presidential message on the 91st
anniversary of April 24, called the events “a terrible chapter of
history” that “remains a source of pain for people in Armenia and for
all those who believe in freedom, tolerance and the dignity and value
of every human life.”
Bush is ordering home their current ambassador in Yerevan, John
Evans, two years into the normally three-year diplomatic term. In
announcing his recall last month, the White House gave no reason and
praised Evans for his service. Last Sunday was his second anniversary
in the Armenian capital. In February 2005 Evans told
Armenian-Americans, “The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of
the 20th century.”
Sixty members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice protesting that Evans was being
punished for his reference to “genocide.” In a separate letter,
Democratic Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts
demanded an explanation from Rice for Evans’ recall.
The events occurred during the expulsion of ethnic Armenians from
eastern Turkey into Syria in 1915 and 1916. Turkish officials have
traditionally maintained that 300,000 people died. Armenian
terrorists, mainly members of the Armenian Secret Army for the
Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), roamed through Europe and the U.S. in
the 1970s and 1980s and claimed more than 60 attacks against Turkish
targets. The army claimed the campaign killed 30 Turkish diplomats
and dependents.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, June 30, 2006
Contact: Maral Habeshian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
Bill Opening California Courts to Recovery of Genocide Era Deposits
Headed to State Assembly after Passage in Senate and Committees
SACRAMENTO – The California State Assembly Judiciary Committee passed
legislation on June 27 that would grant legal rights to Armenian
Genocide survivors and their heirs to recover bank deposits wrongfully
withheld since the Armenian Genocide by giving California courts
jurisdiction over banks operating in the Ottoman Empire. The bill, SB
1524, the “Armenian Genocide Bank and Looted Assets Recovery Act,”
involves the recovery of funds from commercial entities operating in
the region at the time.
Testifying in support of SB 1524 at Tuesday’s hearing, Armenian
National Committee – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Board of Directors
member Souzi Zerounian-Khanzadian told committee members that the
reclamation of the assets can never serve as compensation for the
atrocities endured during the Armenian Genocide. “It is simply a
matter of justice exacted against those banks that took advantage of
the genocide to profiteer in the midst and aftermath of genocide. A
number of these banks continue to do business in California today
either directly or through subsidiaries, therefore we ask you to adopt
SB 1524 to help ensure this small measure of justice,”
Zerounian-Khanzadian stressed.
The bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee with a vote of 6-1
and is expected to go to the floor of the Assembly for vote on August
7, 2006 before going to the Governor. The State Senate has already
passed the bill, which is authored by Senators Jackie
Kanchelian-Speier and Charles “Chuck” Poochigian, and sponsored by
ANCA-WR.
The original Speier-Poochigian bill has been revised, however, due to
a hostile amendment that was introduced and accepted during its
hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 9. That amendment
binds SB 1765, a bill entitling lawsuits to be filed for wrongfully
repatriated Mexican Americans during the 1930s, to SB 1524.
Commenting on the dissimilarities of the two bills,
Zerounian-Khanzadian said that while the ANCA firmly believes in
correcting all historic wrongs, the two distinct pieces of legislation
are unreasonably and unfairly joined in fate, making the passage of
one contingent on the other. “While these two pieces of legislation
are both very significant, they must nevertheless be judged on their
individual merits. They not only address acts that occurred
separately, they also involve different fiscal impacts on the state.”
With an almost 1,000,000 strong Armenian community, California has a
public policy interest in protecting the rights of its Armenian
American constituency, asserted Zerounian-Khanzadian. “Almost every
one of these individuals was impacted by the genocide. For many, their
very presence in California is a direct result of the Armenian
Genocide. They found a haven in California where they could rebuild
their lives after escaping utter turmoil. These survivors have
established their roots in and contributed to the growth of this great
state. These outstanding and ongoing grievances must be addressed.”

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
June 30 2006
Turkish Food Ban Reflects Political Concerns in Armenia
Turkish food has remained popular in Armenia despite the hostile
diplomatic relationship, but it has been banned ostensibly for health
reasons.
By Arpi Harutiunyan in Yerevan (CRS No. 346, 30-June-06)
`Don’t buy Turkish sunflower seeds,’ Nelly told her friend Armine as
they stood in a shop in Yerevan. `I’ve heard they cause sterility.’
`Are you serious? `The Turkish ones are so tasty,’ said Armine, still
wavering. In the end, she reconsidered, `All right, give me two packs
of Armenian seeds.’
Fears that Turkish food products could cause various illnesses and
disorders have grown into a wave of hysteria in Armenia that seems to
be as least politically driven as it is based on real health
concerns.
Officially at least, the sale of Turkish foodstuffs has been illegal
since May, when the Armenian trade and economic development ministry
imposed what it said would be a temporary ban on certifying food
products imported from Turkey.
Some Turkish-made grocery products can still be found in the shops
and markets, but officials say they have either been smuggled into
the country, or brought in legally as part of travellers’ normal
duty-free allowance.
At a political level, the relationship between Armenia and Turkey is
coldly hostile – their shared border is sealed and they have no
diplomatic relations. Ankara cut off all ties with Armenia because of
that country’s role in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan,
with which the Turks enjoy a good relationship based on their common
ethnic background.
Yet for the last 15 years, imported Turkish foodstuffs – transported
via Georgia – have continued to account for a sizeable chunk of
groceries sales in Armenia.
There seems to be little scientific reason to single Turkish
foodstuffs out now, since many of the problems – variable standards
and some cases of contamination – apply to domestic products and
other imports.
Officials in Armenia deny they are singling out Turkish products. But
government officials and consumers’ rights groups have mounted a
concerted campaign culminating in the certification ban and calls for
a boycott.
The state agency for state quality control concluded this year that
some Turkish goods `violated consumers’ rights’ and were at variance
with Armenian law.
Trade ministry spokesperson Anahit Khechoian said the move to bar
Turkish products was prompted mainly by customer complaints about
`suspicious foodstuffs of unknown origin’. But the ministry has also
offered another explanation – that the ban is to prevent the spread
of the deadly bird flu virus.
A non-government organisation called Protection of Consumers’ Rights
claimed to have found that five out of ten food imports they tested –
nine from Turkey and one from Iran – contained harmful ingredients.
In particular, the group said it discovered bacilli in some products
and unacceptable levels of yeast in others.
Biochemist Anahit Davtyan says bacteria get into foodstuffs made in
unhygienic conditions or stored at the wrong temperature, and can
cause dysentery and other infectious diseases including typhoid.
Abgar Yeghoyan, the head of Protection of Consumers’ Rights, made
dark hints that contamination could be introduced deliberately by
Armenia’s enemies.
`Food safety is one element of national security,’ he said. `Given
the region we live in and the laws we have, there’s no guarantee we
won’t be poisoned.’
The head of the trade ministry’s standards office, Robert Dayan,
suggested that the gap left by `questionable’ Turkish imports would
be filled by `high-quality Armenian goods’.
Some consumer advocates, though, say Armenian-made products need
closer inspection as well, since many lack proper labelling and have
quality problems.
`We’ve been talking incessantly about the foodstuff safety problem,
but the first thing we should worry about is the local produce,’ said
Armen Poghosyan, who leads the Consumers’ Association. `If I were to
assess the extent to which food safety is guaranteed on the Armenian
market, I’d say quite seriously that there are virtually no
guarantees.’
In one recent incident in early in June, bottles of an Armenian brand
of mineral water suddenly started exploding one after another in a
Yerevan shop. Customers and sales staff rushed out of the shop to
avoid the flying glass. In this case the problems was traced to
faulty bottle manufacture.
Poghosyan’s association says that a study conducted in November 2005
found that 64 per cent of locally-produced food items lacked proper
information about contents, nutritional value and expiry date.
Rather than deal with wider quality problems, officials may have
found it simpler to blame Turkish imports because of underlying
emotive issues about the country’s politics.
One indication of this was a recent scandal in which it was claimed
that a brand of Turkish chocolate on sale in the shops was actually
being made by a subsidiary based in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan
with which Armenia is still technically in a state of war.
To add insult to injury, an Armenian confectionary producer ran TV
advertisements warning that the offending chocolate bars contained
vegetable fats, rather than milk as stated on the label.
Arpi Harutiunyan is a reporter at Armenianow Weekly.

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
June 30, 2006 Friday 5:36 PM EET
Russia’s Gazprom to buy built section of Iran-Armenia pipe soon
MOSCOW
Russia’s natural gas monopoly Gazprom plans to buy the section of the
Iran-Armenia pipeline that has already been built in the near future
and take part in completing its construction, Gazprom’s Deputy CEO
Alexander Ryazanov told reporters Friday.
The section it plans to buy is estimated to cost U.S. $30 million,
while the entire pipeline is estimated to cost $130 million, Ryazanov
said.
The government of Armenia is currently financing the construction of
the pipeline, Ryazanov said. Gazprom may swap its gas with Iran,
which is expected to supply gas to Armenia via the pipeline, Ryazanov
said.
The throughput capacity of the Iran-Armenia pipeline is expected to
amount to 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas per year. By transporting
gas via the Iran-Armenia pipeline Gazprom will be able to eliminate
its current risks from transporting gas to Armenia via Georgia.
Armenia’s natural gas monopoly ArmRosgazprom, in which Gazprom holds
45%, plans to complete 22.5 kilometers of the first 47-kilometer
section of the Iran-Armenia pipeline before August, the company’s
General Director Karen Karapetyan told reporters on May 22.
The Armenian government also holds 45% in ArmRosgazprom, while
Russian independent gas producer Itera holds 10% in the company.
Last year Gazprom exported 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to
Armenia.
Starting from 2006, Gazprom hiked its gas price for Armenia to $110
per 1,000 cubic meters from $56 per 1,000 cubic meters.
Gazprom used to subsidize gas exports to former Soviet countries but
has recently hiked gas prices for Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan and
Georgia, and seeks to hike its prices for Russia’s long-time, still
subsidized, ally Belarus.

RIA Novosti, Russia
June 30, 2006
Russia says completes 60 criminal cases on WMD technologies
MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s main security service has
completed about 60 cases against Russians, foreigners and firms that
were interested in technologies for the production of weapons of mass
destruction, a senior official said Friday.
“We have completed about 60 cases against 30 Russians, foreign
citizens and firms that were interested in such information or tried
to obtain access to it,” said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the
Federal Security Service’s economic security strategic department.
In particular, Bortnikov said that during a joint Russian-U.S.
security operation, operatives arrested an Iranian-born U.S. citizen
attempting to receive sensitive information about the development of
nuclear weapons.
Also, a joint effort involving security services of Russia, Georgia,
Armenia and the U.S. led to the arrest of a Russian citizen who was
trying to smuggle 160 grams of enriched uranium out of Russia, the
official said.

Thai Press Reports, Thailand
June 30, 2006 Friday
ARMENIA PROPOSES DIRECT FLIGHT WITH THAILAND
Section: General News – On 29 June 2006, Mr. Artur Lazarian,
Honorary Consul of Thailand in Yerevan, Armenia paid a courtesy call
on Dr. Kantathi Suphamongkhon, Foreign Minister, on the occasion of
his visit to Thailand to discuss with Thai authorities concerned ways
and means to make use of the new building of the Royal Thai Consulate
in Yerevan which was recently opened. Mr. Greg Der-Kevorkian,
Honorary Consul of Armenia in Thailand, also attended the meeting.
During the talks, Mr. Lazarian discussed plans for the new building
of the Royal Thai Consulate in Yerevan which may include several
representative offices for Thai companies and spaces for use in
cultural activities. This, noted Dr. Kantathi, would fall under the
same line of the idea of establishing a Thai Center in various
capitals.
Another issue that was discussed between the two sides included the
Armenian proposal for direct flights linking Yerevan and Bangkok. At
the moment, flights originating from Yerevan have to make connections
either in Europe or the Middle East. Thus, with the increasing
numbers of Armenian tourists to Thailand, especially in winter time,
it would make a lot of sense to have the direct connection.
Regarding bilateral exchanges, Mr. Lazarian took the opportunity to
convey to Dr. Kantathi the invitation from the Armenian side for the
Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister to pay an official visit to
Armenia in the near future. Dr. Kantathi showed appreciation for the
invitation, reaffirming that the dates of both visits would be worked
out in due course, however also taking into account the current
political situation.
Dr. Kantathi reaffirmed Thai-Armenia close relations, recalling that
the ‘Thai town’ in Los Angeles, U.S.A. was located in Armenia village
while the former Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations
in New York was housed in an Armenian church.
Mr. Lazarian is on a 3 day-visit to Thailand. He is due to meet with
representatives of Thai Airways, the Thai Trade Representative as
well as officials from the Department of Export Promotion and Chamber
of Commerce the next day to discuss issues relating to the promotion
of trade and economic activities between Thailand and Armenia
further.
(Foreign Affairs Ministry: 29 June 2006)