MUNICIPALITY REMOVES TRADE HALLS NOT COMPLYING WITH NORMS
Panorama.am
13:58 04/09/06
Karen Gevorgyan, trade and service department head at Yerevan
municipality, told reporters today that 48 shops were removed from
the main avenues of Tigran Mets and Komitas in Yerevan and another
12 were dismantled on Acharyan street. The municipal authorities
required from 73 other shops to modernize.
Gevorgyan also said Yerevan is going to have cattle markets. “Cattle
may be sold in Yerevan but in proper places,” the department head
said. In his words, the municipal authorities have discussed the
issue with the ministry of agriculture. It is expected that four such
markets will be opened.

CONFERENCE ON BIO-ETHICS KICKS OFF IN YEREVAN
Panorama.am
14:05 04/09/06
An international conference on bio-ethical aspects of human rights
in the educational system has kicked off in Yerevan today, organized
by Armenian ombudsman office and National Institute of Bio-ethics
supported by Moscow office of UNESCO.
Armen Harutunyan, human right ombudsman, indicated that bio-ethical
issues have become significant in the light of developments in medical
and biological sciences. “The profession of a doctor is closely related
to ethical norms. All people should have medical treatment, in case
they need it, despite of the size of their purse,” Tatul Hakobyan,
deputy minister of health, stated. The participants said higher
educational establishments should have a course on medical ethics.
Gayane Makaryan, one of the organizers of the conference,
said Azeri experts in bio-ethics did not respond to their
invitation.

ROMANIAN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE TO PAY AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO ARMENIA
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 17:10
September 6 the Minister of National Defense of Romania Teodor Atanasiu
will arrive in Armenia on a tree-day official visit.
September 7 the Minister is scheduled to meet with RA president Robert
Kocharyan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
The same day the Romanian delegation will visit the Genocide museum
and will lay a wreath of flowers at the memorial to the victims of
the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
September 8 visits to the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and Matenadaran
are expected. Later the Romanian delegation will meet with mass
media representatives.

ILLEGAL BUSINESS HARMS NATURE
A1+
[03:56 pm] 04 September, 2006
Armenia which has been importing wood for the last 70 years has
started to export it.
According to the data from the Customs service, Armenian wood is
exported to Iran, Turkey, Spain, France, Germany and even Tanzania. By
the way, in Soviet times Armenia never engaged in wood export.
The total area of forests in Armenia was last calculated in 1991.There
is no exact information about the forests at present. If 25% of the
territory of Armenia used to be covered with forests, now the index
is about 6-8%. In the CIS countries the average amount of forest
per person is 2.7 hectares, whereas in Armenia it makes 0.1 hectares
per person.
According to the order given to the Armenian forestries, the annual
volume of chopping does not exceed 71-75 thousand cubic meters. In
reality the volumes are much higher. According to the investigations
of independent experts, the annual volume of chopping in Armenia is
1 million 250 thousand cubic meters. And the total number of forest
resources in Armenia is about 42 million cubic meters.
By the way, this data was generated years ago. The main species of
trees chopped are oak and walnut.
Annual circulation of building wood is about 8 million USD, and that
of firewood is 10 million USD. “This sum does not even go to the state
budget as the majority comes from illegal chopping. At present only
chopping for sanitary aims are legally allowed. No businessman will
export that wood as it costs nothing. Only the most valuable wood
is exported, like oak, the stores of which are very little in the
whole world.
Factually, we export is almost for nothing, at the expense of the
environment,” says Nazeli Vardanyan, the head of the NGO “Armenian
Forests”.
It is noteworthy that the decision about amnesty in connection with the
15th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Armenia says
that there are several crimes for which amnesty is not granted. Wood
chopping is one of them.

US CONGRESSMEN CONGRATULATE NKR ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 17:45
The flow of congratulations on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of
declaration of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic continues. The message of
US Congressmen Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg says, in particular,
“On September 2, 1991 the people of Nagorno Karabakh expressed its will
to have own independent state. With this declaration the heroic people
of Artsakh expressed its decision to live free. You defended your right
of living free though successfully resisting the military aggression
of Azerbaijan. Many courageous sons and daughters of your nation
sacrificed their lives for the victory of liberty on Artsakhi land.
During the past 15 years the Nagorno Karabakh Republic proved its
commitment to the values of freedom, peace, democracy and human
rights defense.
We have always been with you in your struggle for independence and we
continue to support you in your fair aspiration to reach international
recognition.
We believe that in the future we’ll continue supporting the
reinforcement of NKR security and development and we are looking
forward to the day when the flag of Artsakh will proudly flutter in
the world as a sign of fulfillment of dreams.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FAREWELL TO AGASSI!!!
ArmRadio.am
04.09.2006 16:30
World known tennis player, Armenian in Origin Andre Agassi left the
ended his career. He was one of the five sportsmen to win the four
big tournaments.
Andre Agassi’s 20-year career ended in a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 5-7 defeat
to German qualifier Benjamin Becker at the US Open on Sunday.
The 36-year-old was clearly affected by the chronic back injury,
which hastened his decision to retire.
Backed by a fiercely patriotic crowd, Agassi battled courageously
but Becker’s power proved too much.
The American legend fought back tears as the Arthur Ashe crowd,
along with Becker, rose to applaud him.

THE ONLY HOPE IS THE VICTORY OF NORWAY
A1+
[01:59 pm] 04 September, 2006
The Armenian Youth football team beat the Youth team of Norway 1:0
in the “Hanrapetakan” stadium of Yerevan within the framework of the
European Football Championship 2008.
Before that the Armenians had lost the first match to Bosnia. The
latter are to play with Norway on September 6.
If Norway beat Bosnia 1:0, Armenia will pass on to the next phase. In
case of any other result Armenia will disqualify from the tournament.

THEY KILL PEOPLE IN MOVIES TOO
A1+
[03:08 pm] 04 September, 2006
“Public order is preserved better in Armenia than in a number of
countries which are a lighthouse for Armenia in this respect”, said
Vladimir Pryakhin, the head of the OSCE Yerevan office in an interview
with “A1+”.
How can we say that human rights are protected in Armenia if innocent
people become victims of criminal activities? Asked this question,
Vladimir Pryakhin notes that he is sorry for that, “but not a single
country is insured against such criminal activities, even the most
developed ones”.
RA Ombudsman Armen Haroutyunyan is of the same opinion. Of course
he does not think that the protection of human rights is at the same
level in Armenia as in developed countries. Nevertheless, according
to him, even the citizens of Western countries become victims of
criminal activities.
“Don’t you see what they show in movies?” Armen Haroutyunyan stated.
And still, there is one thing Armen Haroutyunyan is convinced in:
there is still much to be done in the sphere of the protection of
human rights in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GUL HAS POSTPONED HIS VISIT TO ATHENS. HE IS GOING TO WASHINGTON INSTEAD.
Sabah, Turkey
Sept 4 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gul is entering into intensive
diplomacy traffic. On September 13th, Gul will visit France. Gul’s
goal for this trip is to promote relations with France, which has
prepared a draft bill that supports so-called Armenian genocide. On
September 14th, Gul will be on his way to New York to attend the UN
General Assembly. Gul will spend a week in the States then he will
return back to Ankara. In his previous agenda, Gul was planning to
visit Athens on October 2nd. Gul has postponed his trip to Athens and
has decided to go to Washington instead in order to solve the Middle
East and PKK terrorist organization problems.

ITALIAN MARINES LAND IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
By John Kifner The New York Times
International Herald Tribune, France
Sept 4 2006
BEIRUT Hundreds of Italian marines and their armored vehicles landed
in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the first large foreign contingent
of what is to become a reinforced United Nations buffer force on the
border with Israel.
A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force said that about 1,000
Italian troops were expected to be ashore by nightfall, including
a small vanguard that arrived in choppy seas on rubber dinghies and
helicopters Saturday.
With the 250-man French contingent that arrived last week – mainly
engineering troops who set to work repairing bombed-out bridges
and roads – and the 2,000 troops already in place from the previous
peacekeeping contingent, the Italians raise the number of troops on
the ground to roughly 3,250 out of a projected goal of 15,000.
The international force, officially known as the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon, or Unifil, is supposed to help the similar-sized
deployment of the Lebanese Army as the only legitimate armed group in
the area, securing an uneasy cease-fire after a monthlong war between
Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
But under a kind of “don’t flaunt, don’t search” arrangement between
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, the army does not intend to
attempt to disarm Hezbollah.
Neither will the UN forces, officials have said, although they will
have a somewhat tougher mandate – enabling them to use force if
threatened – than the generally ineffective previous Unifil force,
in place since a previous Israeli invasion in 1978.
On armored personnel carriers newly painted with white UN initials,
Italian soldiers wearing blue berets drove through wrecked villages
bedecked with yellow Hezbollah flags, prompting locals to wave and
make victory signs.
Eventually, Italy intends to deploy 2,450 ground troops – the largest
single contingent – in four phases spread over two months and assume
command early next year.
The current French commander of Unifil, Major General Alain Pellegrini,
told reporters in Tyre that the new version of Unifil “is strengthened
with stronger rules of engagement.”
“We have more people, more equipment, and we will have more possibility
to use force to implement our mission,” he said.
But the efforts to fill out the full 15,000-troop deployment is still
hampered by the reluctance of many countries to join in what could
be a dangerous mission.
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, announced that it
would send 1,000 troops after Israel withdrew objections to its
participation. Turkey is also weighing participation, although
Lebanon’s tiny Armenian minority has issued objections because of
massacres of Armenians by Turks in 1915.
Israel has announced that its troops, still on the fringes of
Lebanese territory, had located and blown up several Hezbollah weapons
caches. The United Nations has said that the Israeli forces should
fully withdraw over the border as soon as the international force
reaches 5,000 troops.
“The cease-fire is holding for the moment,” Pellegrini said. “But
it’s fragile. Any incident can escalate.”
Berlin delays deployment
Germany put on hold its planned naval deployment for the UN
peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Sunday, saying it had yet to
receive a formal request from Beirut to take part, Reuters reported
from Berlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the cabinet could not give approval for
the deployment on Monday, as had been expected, since it had not yet
received the request from Lebanon.
She said Germany remained willing to take part in the UN operation,
but wanted its role to be clear.
Germany has said it was prepared to patrol the Lebanese coast to
prevent weapons being delivered to Hezbollah guerrillas, but ruled
out sending ground troops.
“There is still discussion in Lebanon and between Lebanon and the UN
on the request for naval security,” Merkel said on ZDF television.
“We can only decide when we have such a request at the UN and the UN
then asks us,” she said. “And so, out of responsibility toward our
servicemen, we have said we cannot take a cabinet decision tomorrow.”
In addition to supplying naval ships to patrol the coast, Germany
has said it was considering providing support for the Lebanese police
and border guards.
“The German offer remains, but prudence must come before speed here,
and therefore we will consult further with the UN on how a deployment
can be achieved, but only when the conditions are really fulfilled.”
Earlier Sunday, a government spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, said Germany
would deploy troops only under “orderly conditions and with Lebanon’s
clear readiness.”
BEIRUT Hundreds of Italian marines and their armored vehicles landed
in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the first large foreign contingent
of what is to become a reinforced United Nations buffer force on the
border with Israel.
A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force said that about 1,000
Italian troops were expected to be ashore by nightfall, including
a small vanguard that arrived in choppy seas on rubber dinghies and
helicopters Saturday.
With the 250-man French contingent that arrived last week – mainly
engineering troops who set to work repairing bombed-out bridges
and roads – and the 2,000 troops already in place from the previous
peacekeeping contingent, the Italians raise the number of troops on
the ground to roughly 3,250 out of a projected goal of 15,000.
The international force, officially known as the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon, or Unifil, is supposed to help the similar-sized
deployment of the Lebanese Army as the only legitimate armed group in
the area, securing an uneasy cease-fire after a monthlong war between
Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
But under a kind of “don’t flaunt, don’t search” arrangement between
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, the army does not intend to
attempt to disarm Hezbollah.
Neither will the UN forces, officials have said, although they will
have a somewhat tougher mandate – enabling them to use force if
threatened – than the generally ineffective previous Unifil force,
in place since a previous Israeli invasion in 1978.
On armored personnel carriers newly painted with white UN initials,
Italian soldiers wearing blue berets drove through wrecked villages
bedecked with yellow Hezbollah flags, prompting locals to wave and
make victory signs.
Eventually, Italy intends to deploy 2,450 ground troops – the largest
single contingent – in four phases spread over two months and assume
command early next year.
The current French commander of Unifil, Major General Alain Pellegrini,
told reporters in Tyre that the new version of Unifil “is strengthened
with stronger rules of engagement.”
“We have more people, more equipment, and we will have more possibility
to use force to implement our mission,” he said.
But the efforts to fill out the full 15,000-troop deployment is still
hampered by the reluctance of many countries to join in what could
be a dangerous mission.
Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country, announced that it
would send 1,000 troops after Israel withdrew objections to its
participation. Turkey is also weighing participation, although
Lebanon’s tiny Armenian minority has issued objections because of
massacres of Armenians by Turks in 1915.
Israel has announced that its troops, still on the fringes of
Lebanese territory, had located and blown up several Hezbollah weapons
caches. The United Nations has said that the Israeli forces should
fully withdraw over the border as soon as the international force
reaches 5,000 troops.
“The cease-fire is holding for the moment,” Pellegrini said. “But
it’s fragile. Any incident can escalate.”
Berlin delays deployment
Germany put on hold its planned naval deployment for the UN
peacekeeping mission in Lebanon on Sunday, saying it had yet to
receive a formal request from Beirut to take part, Reuters reported
from Berlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the cabinet could not give approval for
the deployment on Monday, as had been expected, since it had not yet
received the request from Lebanon.
She said Germany remained willing to take part in the UN operation,
but wanted its role to be clear.
Germany has said it was prepared to patrol the Lebanese coast to
prevent weapons being delivered to Hezbollah guerrillas, but ruled
out sending ground troops.
“There is still discussion in Lebanon and between Lebanon and the UN
on the request for naval security,” Merkel said on ZDF television.
“We can only decide when we have such a request at the UN and the UN
then asks us,” she said. “And so, out of responsibility toward our
servicemen, we have said we cannot take a cabinet decision tomorrow.”
In addition to supplying naval ships to patrol the coast, Germany
has said it was considering providing support for the Lebanese police
and border guards.
“The German offer remains, but prudence must come before speed here,
and therefore we will consult further with the UN on how a deployment
can be achieved, but only when the conditions are really fulfilled.”
Earlier Sunday, a government spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, said Germany
would deploy troops only under “orderly conditions and with Lebanon’s
clear readiness.”