NEXT ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS BETWEEN FMS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TO BE HELD IN PARIS WITH PARTICIPATION OF CO-CHAIRS
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND, Azerbaijan
June 13 2006
The next round of consultations between the foreign ministers of
Azerbaijan and Armenia – Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanyan –
started on June 13 in Paris, Araz Azimov, the deputy foreign minister
of Azerbaijan and also special representative of Azeri president on
regulation of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, exclusively informed Trend
from Paris.
The meeting of two ministers, held at the Foreign Ministry of France,
started after a business-lunch. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
participate at the consultations. After a lunch, the consultations
will be held both with the participation of mediators and between
the ministers themselves.
Azimov noted that yet it was early to make any commentary on the held
rounds of talks.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS BENEFICIAL TO EXECUTION OF ARMENIA’S COMMITMENTS TO CE
Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 13 2006
YEREVAN, June 13. /ARKA/. The constitutional reforms in Armenia have
proved beneficial to the execution of the country’s commitments to
the Council of Europe (CE). This statement was made at a meeting
between RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and the Ago Group headed
by German Permanent Representative to the CE Rolan Wegener.
In this context the sides exchanged views on the consolidation of
democratic institutes and freedom of press in Armenia.
Ambassador Wegener pointed out the necessity of harmonizing Armenia’s
legislation and Election Code with the reformed Constitution. In
this context, he pointed out the importance of informing the public
of amendments to the laws and of their application.
Minister Oskanyan briefed the guests on the current state of the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, its development and prospects.

AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA VOW TO CONTINUE TALKS
Aida Sultanova
Washington post
June 14 2006
BAKU, Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan and Armenia promised Wednesday to
continue talks over Nagorno-Karabakh despite two failed efforts this
year by the Caucasus nations’ presidents to resolve the status of
the disputed enclave.
The two countries’ foreign ministers, along with international
mediators, met in Paris for four hours of talks Tuesday, a week after
their presidents, Ilham Aliev of Azerbaijan and Robert Kocharian of
Armenia, met in Romania on the sidelines of a Black Sea summit.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said in televised comments that
Tuesday’s meeting was “as always, tense and intensive. … In any
case, the process will continue. The next step will be determined in
the near future.”
Russian and French mediators from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe’s so-called Minsk group also attended Tuesday’s
meeting.
Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians, who have run it and seven contiguous districts since an
uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six years of full-scale war. Sporadic
border clashes regularly break out.

KENYAN PRESIDENT LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO AIRPORT SECURITY BREACH
Airline Industry Information
June 14, 2006
Airline Industry Information-©1997-2006 M2 Communications LTD
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki has launched an inquiry into a security
breach at the country’s main airport last week.
The investigation was reportedly launched a day after the president
suspended the country’s chief police investigator due to the crisis.
The inquiry follows reports in Kenyan media of a man possessing a
government-issued all-access pass to the airport who refused to allow
a search of a bag that belonged to either him or his associate.
According to The Associated Press, the man is said to have pulled a
pistol on customs authorities and left the airport with the bag. The
two men, who had been identified by Kenyan media as Armenian brothers
who were hired as mercenaries by the government, were detained and
deported the following day.
–Boundary_(ID_uzwZU3xER8osGM1CmRnkIw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOR WHAT WARS SHOULD RUSSIA BE PREPARED?
Source: Komsomolskaya Pravda, June 9, 2006, pp. 12, 13
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
THE OPINION OF HIGH-RANKING US OFFICERS AND RUSSIAN GENERALS ABOUT
POSSIBLE MILITARY CONFLICTS IN WHICH RUSSIA MAY BECOME ENTANGLED IN
THE NEAR FUTURE
The newspaper asked Russian generals in what conflicts the Russian
Army may become entangled in the near future.
High-ranking US officers recently posted the scenarios of wars,
which may break out in the near future, on the Internet. (…) The
newspaper examined these forecasts and asked Russian generals in what
conflicts the Russian Army may become entangled in the near future.
(…)
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
The Crimea
It’s not ruled out that Russian and Ukrainian warships will engage
each other in the Black Sea within ten years. Moscow and Kyiv agreed
that the Russian Black Sea fleet will leave Sevastopol in 2017.
However, the Russian Navy does not want to leave the city of Russia’s
glory. It’s possible that Ukraine will join NATO by that time and
organize provocations. Russia will strike back. Armed conflicts are
possible. Turkish, US and UK naval groups will intervene. Russian
seamen will have to leave Sevastopol after negotiations under pressure
from NATO.
Spitsbergen
Norway declared its 200-mile zone around Spitsbergen without
discussing this matter with Russia. Moscow does not acknowledge this
zone. Russian geologists found a substantial gas reserve on the shelf
of the Barents Sea. Norway seeks to explore it. Norwegian warships
already patrol this area. This irritates Russia. The scenario is as
follows: a naval group of the Northern fleet encircles the gas field.
Norway refuses to leave this zone. Russia declares an ultimatum and
opens fire after the timing is over. We hope that the crisis will be
settled diplomatically.
(…)
Trans-Dniester territory
Moldova seeks to gain control over the pro-Russian Trans-Dniester
territory and strengthens its army. The Moldovan Defense Ministry
has already prepared the plan of invasion on the left bank of the
Dniester River. Moldova demands that Russian servicemen (2,000
people) be withdrawn. The Moldovan Army may intervene in the
Trans-Dniester territory. The Russian group of forces will have to
repulse aggression. The conflict will be long because Romania will
support Moldova.
Russian commanders will have open ammunition depots and hand out
weapons to locals. Some Russian citizens will go to the Trans-Dniester
territory to support local troops. It’s hard to predict the outcome. To
all appearances, Moldova will have to retreat. However, UN peacekeepers
will be sent to the Trans-Dniester territory.
Caucasus
Georgian Defense Minister Okruashvili promised to resign if he fails to
seize South Ossetia by January 1, 2007. However, the Georgian Army will
have to deal with Russian peacekeepers in Tskhinvali. It’s obvious that
they will not cast oranges at Georgian soldiers. It’s hardly likely
that Russian troopers will let Saakashvili defeat Abkhazia’s army.
If the Georgian Army decided to attack Ossetia and Abkhazia, Moscow
will probably send weapons to these territories. It’s possible that
volunteers from the Caucasus will support them. The conflict will be
long and unpredictable.
(…)
Operations in Armenia and Tajikistan
Members of the Collective security treaty must provide military aid to
each other in case of a military threat. The Treaty includes Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Two of them
are on the verge of military conflicts. Azerbaijan may resume war on
Armenia because of Nagorny Karabakh. Tajikistan will have to defend
itself from Talibs if the US forces them out from Afghanistan.
Russia will have to support its allies using its bases in Armenia
(6,500 servicemen) and Tajikistan (7,000 servicemen). It’s not ruled
out that fighters deployed at the Kant base in Kyrgyzstan will suppress
Talibs. Talib gangs will hide in the mountains. The conflict may last
for decades.
RUSSIAN GENERALS’ OPINIONS
Major-General Alexander Vladimirov, vice president of the Collegium
of military experts, “We will have to defend our allies.”
The Caucasus will pose the main threat to Russia within the next
10-15 years. Wahhabis become stronger and expand to Dagestan,
Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygeya. A very high crime rate in this region,
gigantic unemployment, drug trafficking and caviar smuggling testify
that Russia will have to use the Army there. A long military campaign
is not ruled out.
It’s possible that Russia will have to use the Army in order to defend
Kazakhstan. The US seeks to expand to this republic. It’s not ruled
out that it will attempt to replace the regime in this country.
We will have to use our military units.
Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the Academy of
Geopolitical Problems, “We will hold Belarus and Ukraine.”
Our enemies seek to create prerequisites for NATO’s invasion in Russia
and the territory of our allies such as Belarus. The West supports
the opposition, which must replace Lukashenko and destabilize the
situation. Russia will have to support the Belarusian government. An
armed conflict with NATO is not ruled out. It’s not ruled out that
Ukraine will split into two or three parts and a civil war will break
out in this country. We will intervene in order to defend Russian
people living in Ukraine.

THE MEETING OF THE HEADS OF THE CENTRAL STAFF OF AZERBAIJAN AND LITHUANIA TOOK PLACE
Translated by Anastasia Zanina
Source: Information agency “Turan” (Baku), 9 June, 2006
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 14 2006
The questions of the development of military cooperation were discussed
today during the meeting in Baku between Head of the Central Staff
of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Second in Command of the Minister
of Defense Nadzhmeddin Sadugov and Head of the Central Staff of the
Armed Forces of Lithuania Vitalius Vaiksnoras. As was reported in
the press-service of the Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, during
the meeting the questions of integration into the European security
structures, the participation in the international peace-management
operations. Besides, there was an exchange of opinions concerning
the military-political situation in the Caucasian and Baltic regions,
including the questions of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and some
other questions, which arouse mutual interest.

WORLD SPENT EUR 886 BILLION ON MILITARY EQUIPMENT LAST YEAR
by Patrick Lannin in Stockholm
The Irish Times
June 13, 2006 Tuesday
Sweden: US spending in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to help push
global military expenditure further up in 2006 after hitting EUR
886 billion last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research
Institute said in its latest yearbook yesterday.
This figure amounts to more than five times Ireland’s gross domestic
product in 2005. The institute reports that the US was responsible
for 48 per cent of total world arms spending in 2005 and had accounted
for most of the year’s 3.5 per cent overall increase.
Several states, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, have used a sharp
rise in oil prices to boost military spending. The biggest increase
worldwide was in the ex-Soviet state of Georgia, which surged by more
than 140 per cent to EUR 115 million.
The US, France and the UK were all involved in overseas operations
while China was carrying out a modernisation of its People’s Liberation
Army. “In these circumstances, there is a strong likelihood that the
current upward trend in world military spending will be sustained in
2006,” the institute added. Britain, France, Japan and China accounted
for 4 to 5 per cent each of world arms spending, which overall equalled
2.5 per cent of world gross domestic product, or EUR 137 per capita. A
process of concentration of spending continued in 2005, it added,
as 15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 84 per cent
of the world total.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia boosted its military spending by EUR 3.6 billion
in 2005 to EUR 20 billion. This increase meant that the Middle East
as a whole showed a rise in defence outlays, which would otherwise
have fallen, the institute said.
Arms spending in Iran also rose in 2005 by around 3.9 per cent to
EUR 5.5 billion.
The institute noted massive arms spending rises in the Caucasus,
with Georgia leading the region with 143 per cent. Azerbaijan came
next with 51 per cent and Armenia with almost 23 per cent.
Sipri said that the official explanation for Georgia’s large rise in
spending was a wish to join Nato, while others argued that Tbilisi
wanted to regain control over the renegade regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia.

COURT TO LOOK INTO POSSIBLE HALLMARKS OF CRIME IN SENATOR’S ACTIONS
ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 13, 2006 Tuesday 09:02 AM EST
Russia’s Supreme Court will consider, on June 16, the issue of whether
there were hallmarks of crime in actions by Federation Council senator
from Kalmykia Levon Chakhmachian, his lawyer Boris Kuznetsov said.
On June 6, acting Prosecutor General Yuri Biryukov asked the Court to
qualify Chakhmachian’s actions which may carry a penalty stipulated
by Part 4 of Article 159 of Russia’s Criminal Code /fraud committed
by an organized group or grand fraud/.
Chief accountant of the Association of Russo-Armenian business
cooperation Igor Arushanov and assistant auditor of the Audit Chamber
Armen Oganesyan were detained in Moscow on June 2 on suspicion of
taking a large bribe.
According to investigators, they demanded 1.5 million dollars from
a businessman for taking out negative information from an audit report.
Levon Chakhmachian happened to be in their office when detectives
seized 300,000 of marked dollar bills.
However, as a FC member, he enjoys immunity, so no procedures were
instituted against him. Arushanov and Oganesyan were arrested.
In accordance with the Criminal Code, judges will meet behind closed
doors to consider the Chakhmachian issue. A prosecutor and the
senator’s lawyer will attend.
Meanwhile, Kalmykia’s parliament decided on June 9 to recall its
representative from the Federation Council. The upper house is expected
to decide on termination of his powers at the next meeting on June 23.
Chakhmakhchian was elected senator of the Federation Council from
Kalmykia in 2004. He occupied the post of Deputy Chairman of the
Committee for problems of local governments.

‘IT’S LIKE BEING A BIRD,’ SAYS FORMER WING WALKER JOHNNY KAZIAN OF KUNA WAS ALSO A STUNTMAN FOR STARS SUCH AS JAMES BROLIN, DAVID HASSELHOFF, ROBERT REDFORD
by Tim Woodward
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News – The Idaho Statesman
June 14, 2006 Wednesday
KUNA — When Johnny Kazian’s son was a little boy, he thought his
father was Batman. “It wasn’t surprising,” Kazian said. “How many
dads wear a leather helmet and goggles to work?” These days, Kazian
and his wife live quietly in a rural area near Kuna. The only clue
to his remarkable career is found on his license plates — Stunt 1.
Kazian made his living as a Hollywood stuntman for nearly 35 years.
He also was a wing walker, credited with saving the death-defying
practice from virtual extinction. Before that he was a tumbler and
before that a trapeze artist. He’s Idaho’s elder statesman of thrills
and spills. A transplanted easterner, he says he “was born where the
cement grows, but now I live in the country. When you travel all over,
you can pick where you like it best. For me, this was it.
Seattle is nice, but it’s too liquid.” An Idaho resident for 32 years,
Kazian grew up in Philadelphia. It was there that his high-flying
lifestyle began, with a casual inquiry and a trapeze. “My father was
an Armenian immigrant who designed rugs,” he said. “He had a friend
who was in the circus. His friend didn’t have a son of his own, and
one day when I was 7 he asked my father if he could train me. I don’t
know any 7-year-old who wouldn’t want to be a trapeze artist.” He did
his first professional show, at Coney Island, N.Y., in 1947. He was
14. “It takes a long time to learn,” he said. “You have to be in great
physical condition, and your timing has to be perfect. If everything
isn’t done at just the right time, you’re going to the net.” Even
falling is an acquired skill. “The net has a sweet spot. You want
to land on your back in the center of the sweet spot. If you don’t
hit it just right, the net’s going to act like a racquet and you’re
the ball.” What’s it like up there? “It’s graceful and beautiful,”
he said. “It’s like being a bird. You’re alone in the air. And once
you learn the timing and balance, it’s not difficult.
I’ve never been afraid of heights, and you develop this little bubble
in your head that tells you whether you’re upside-down, right-side-up
or somewhere in between.” Kazian spent two seasons flying hand to
wrist with the Ringling Brothers Circus. When the Korean War began, his
skills made him a natural candidate for aviation training. He became a
Navy pilot and was flying a seaplane when his wrist was badly broken in
a crash. The break didn’t heal properly, ending any chance of returning
to his job as a trapeze artist. What initially looked like bad luck,
however, proved to be a jackpot. “A friend helped me get a job as a
stuntman in Hollywood. You do a little of everything when you work
in a circus. I’d been a tumbler, as well as a trapeze artist, so I
knew how to fall and hit an air bag. I’d tumble out of movie belfries
dressed as a German officer, get thrown out of jeeps, that sort of
thing.” The pay reflected the risk. “I have an engineering degree
from Temple University, but I could make more money doing stunts,”
Kazian said. “I got $500 just for showing up. I’d get another $500 for
every bump (stunt), more if it was something special. It was fairly
easy to make $2,000 a day.” Every stunt was planned to minimize the
risk. He sketched the trajectories on paper so he’d know exactly when
and where he’d be at the moment of impact and how to execute a fall or
car crash with the least likelihood of hurting himself. “You plan it
so you go to the bank and not the hospital. And when they’re spending
$100,000 a day on camera locations, you’d better know where you’re
coming down. If not, a) they’ve ruined a car, b) they’re not going
to get the shot and c) you’re not going to work again.” He worked
as a stuntman in movies and television programs, doubling for James
Brolin, David Hasselhoff and other actors. But it was wing walking
that brought him his greatest fame. The practice — some would say
madness — of walking on wings of airplanes while they do loops and
rolls was popular during the barnstorming era of the 1920s. With the
more powerful planes that followed, higher speeds made it increasingly
difficult and dangerous. By the time Kazian began experimenting with
it in the late 1950s, wing walking had become a memory. “He’s the
one who reinvented it,” said Illinois aerobatic pilot Dave Dacy,
who worked with Kazian for 10 years. “By the time he came along,
they had planes that landed faster than the old barnstorming planes
cruised. Johnny found a way to bring it back at the higher speeds.” It
took him two years to perfect the techniques. “I learned that if you
make yourself an airfoil at the higher speeds, you’ll be lifted off the
wing,” Kazian explained. “If you curve your back enough, it becomes
a lifting surface and you fly off. The key is to lean forward at the
correct angle into the wind. That keeps you from becoming an airfoil.
I also put pieces of traction tape on the wings in case it rained.
“There’s a lot of communication with the pilot because he’s always
compensating for your weight. It’s a team effort. When his eyes are
as big as his goggles, you don’t push it any farther.” Was it scary
the first time? “No. That’s not bravado, either. I enjoy heights,
and I knew I could do it.” He did it well enough to stand on wings
of planes looping, rolling and flying upside down at speeds in excess
of 200 mph. “He’s the original, the real thing,” Dacy said. “There’s
no net, no nothing. He’s the only one I know of who did it without
ropes or cables except for one other person, and she did it on an
old cropduster that was really slow. Johnny set the standard. He’s
the example of how it ought to be done. He even looks the part.” In
1975, Kazian doubled for actor Robert Redford in the title role for
the wing walking movie, “The Great Waldo Pepper.” Masks were made of
his face and the actor’s; a third had the shape of Kazian’s face on
the inside and Redford’s on the outside. “It was about a quarter of
an inch thick, and they glued it to my face. That way, if I smiled or
my cheeks moved, it looked like it was Redford’s face moving. … He
was a real nice human being and quite a character. He wanted to do
everything. They put a cable on him, and he walked out on the wing.”
Kazian retired from stunt work in 1994. “I found out then that my wife
was worried the whole time and never let on,” he said. “She was afraid
of the phone call telling her I’d fallen.” Mary Kazian admits that the
nature of her husband’s work kept her awake nights. “The traveling
around the country made me as apprehensive as his performing every
weekend,” she said. “I was happy when he decided to retire. I felt he
had the right to relax and spend more time at home doing what he loves
— fishing, boating and hunting.” Ten years after retiring, Kazian
was inducted into the Airshow Hall of Fame, honoring four decades
of work as a wingwalker and stuntman. “Retirement,” in his case, is
relative. He still does some engineering work and occasionally uses
his skills as a stuntman. One example: a 50 mph head-on crash at a
convention of Idaho law enforcement officers. “We used junk cars that
still ran. I took out the rearview mirrors, sun visors, the dashboard
knobs … those are the things that will hurt you. Both I and the
officer driving the other car came out of it without a scratch. We
wore crash helmets and harnesses I attached to the chassis. The
harness goes over both shoulders, which is the way seat belts ought
to be. Seat belts over just one shoulder break your clavicle.”
From: Baghdasarian

RUSSIA CONTINUING WITHDRAWAL OF BASES FROM GEORGIA
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
June 14, 2006 Wednesday 10:16 AM MSK
Akhalkalaki
Fourteen vehicles carrying 78 tonnes of ammunition left the 62nd
Russian military base located in Georgia’s Akhalkalaki for Armenia,
the base’s headquarters told Interfax.
“A convoy of 14 vehicles left the base for the Armenian community
of Gyumri today to supply the 102nd Russian military base stationed
there. The convoy is at the border with Armenia now,” a headquarters
source said.
On Tuesday, three Kamaz trucks carrying 28 tonnes of ammunition also
left Akhalkalaki for Gyumri, he said.
“Another convoy of 15 vehicles will follow the same route tomorrow,”
he said.
Preparations for dispatching one more train carrying military materiel
from Akhalkalaki to Russia are underway, the source said.
“The train should leave on June 20. It will pass through Azerbaijan’s
territory,” he said.
A total of eight trains have withdrawn military materiel from the two
Russian bases in Georgia in 2006. Five of them delivered military
equipment from the 62nd base in Akhalkalaki back to Russia and the
other three from Batumi to Armenia.
The Russian military bases are supposed to be completely withdrawn
from Georgia by the end of 2008.