LEADERS OF SIX EX-SOVIET STATES DISCUSS CUSTOMS UNION, ENERGY MARKET, WTO BIDS
Vladimir Isachenkov
AP Worldstream
Aug 16, 2006
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Wednesday with leaders of five
other ex-Soviet states to discuss creating a customs union and common
energy market, and to coordinate their bids to join the World Trade
Organization.
Leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
joined Putin at his Black Sea residence in the resort of Sochi for
talks focused on adding more substance to the Eurasian Economic
Community _ a grouping that aims to restore economic ties lost after
the 1991 Soviet collapse.
In addition to creating a customs union and a common energy market,
proposals include water energy regulation in Central Asia and setting
up a Eurasian hydroelectric consortium.
The grouping’s long-held cooperation plans have stalled amid
differences over the size of their economies and levels of their
development as Russia maneuvers to re-establish its clout in former
Soviet republics.
At the start of the session, Putin said the group’s members should
coordinate their efforts with their bids to join the World Trade
Organization.
“Our intentions to deepen cooperation in the framework of the Eurasian
Economic Community, including the setting up of a customs union, should
be clearly and precisely coordinated with the pace and details of WTO
accession for each of our nations,” Putin said in televised remarks.
Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have been involved in WTO accession
talks, but for the grouping’s other members, joining the global trade
body has remained a distant perspective.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian was attending the meeting as an
observer, as was Ukraine’s new prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, on
his first trip abroad since being confirmed to the post by parliament
earlier this month.
The Kremlin strongly backed Yanukovych’s fraud-marred 2004 presidential
bid, and his return to the premiership was widely seen as a victory
to Moscow’s interests in Ukraine and a counterbalance to Ukrainian
President Viktor Yushchenko’s efforts to move his nation closer to
the West.
Yanukovych on Tuesday said he and his Russian counterpart, Mikhail
Fradkov, reached a tentative deal on Russian natural gas supplies to
Ukraine next year.
He also reaffirmed his campaign pledge to make Russian the second
state language in Ukraine, but added that his Party of Regions for
that needs a two-third majority in parliament which it doesn’t have.
On Tuesday, Putin met for one-on-one talks with several of the leaders,
including Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The two leaders
signed a series of agreements intended to streamline customs tariffs
and tariffs for transporting Kazakh cargo via Russian railroad lines.

AZERI OFFICIAL ACCUSES INTERNATIONAL MEDIATORS OF BIAS
Azerbaijani news agency APA, Baku
16 Aug 06
Novruz Mammadov, head of the international relations department of
the Azerbaijani presidential administration, has accused the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen and the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, of being partial.
“Unfortunately, the co-chairmen have put themselves outside a neutral
position and international law. This can neither have a strong
impact on the talks, nor can it increase the trust of major powers
in international organizations,” APA news agency quoted Mammadov
as saying.
He was also critical of Andrzej Kasprzyk. Mammadov said that despite
knowing that the Armenians started fires in the occupied territories,
Kasprzyk did not take a fair position. “The position Kasprzyk took
with regard to the fires started by the Armenians on Azerbaijani
territory is wrong,” Mammadov said, according to the news agency.

UKRAINIAN PM MEETS RUSSIAN COUNTERPART TO DISCUSS ECONOMIC TIES
RTR Russia TV, Moscow
16 Aug 06
[Presenter] The second day of the informal summit of the Eurasian
Economic Community began with a meeting between the prime ministers
of Ukraine and Russia [Viktor Yanukovych and Mikhail Fradkov]. For
Viktor Yanukovych, this is his first foreign visit and a very
important one. While [Ukrainian] President [Viktor] Yushchenko is
holidaying in Yalta, Yanukovych in Sochi has no time for the sea. He
is arranging intergovernmental relations, first and foremost, in the
economic field. The two governments have agreed to coordinate efforts
on joining the WTO and set up a joint commission to raise relations
to a new level.
The prime ministers also discussed Russian gas exports to Ukraine. So
far they have agreed to continue the dialogue in a constructive way.
[Fradkov] Much is to be done to invigorate Russian-Ukrainian relations,
accelerate the growth of mutual trade, arrange coordination over
accession to the WTO, continue work on the creation of the Eurasian
joint economic space with the desired effect and put our cooperation
in the fuel and energy sphere on solid market grounds.
[Yanukovych] We intend to achieve positive results. We think that
there are all the necessary conditions and opportunities to continue
work on the joint economic space. We should eliminate the recent
disproportions in Ukrainian-Russian relations.
[Presenter] The formation of a common energy market will be the main
topic of today’s meeting of country leaders. Apart from Russia,
the Eurasian Economic Community comprises Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Their leaders arrived in
Sochi the day before [15 August]. Their Armenian counterpart, Robert
Kocharyan, has joined them. Armenia has the status of an observer in
the organization. For the first time since the organization was created
six years ago, the summit has been held in an informal atmosphere.
Apart from energy, the formation of a customs union will be a key
point on the agenda.

MONEY TRANSFERS RECEIVED FROM ABROAD BY THE HOUSEHOLDS IN ARMENIA IN 2005
Source: Central Bank of Armenia web-site ()
ArmRadio.am
17.08.2006 12:32
The inflow of money transfers from abroad into Armenia via banking
system during 2003-2005 totaled to 580 mln USD annually or about 15.5%
of GDP.
According to some experts’ assessment, the estimation of the total
volume of money transfers (including non-bank transfers) needs to
be adjusted up by 20-30% to account for alternative routes of money
receipts.
It is very important to realize that complete information (covering not
only bank transfers) will significantly contribute to the efficiency
of economic policy implementation. With this in mind, as well as
considering the growth pattern of transfers and the pressure they
exert on the foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA) initiated the conduct of a survey to estimate the total volume
of transfers to Armenia. The survey was carried out by “Alpha-Plus”
consulting company during February-April 2006 and was financed by the
World Bank. The questionnaire was designed by the CBA and reviewed by
Alpha-Plus. The CBA’s External Sector Statistics Division of Statistics
Department has analyzed the data and prepared the final study.
The survey covers three basic dimensions: 2000 households receiving
money transfers, 2000 respondents sending money transfers from Moscow,
and several organizations engaged in providing money transfer services
in Armenia.
The major objective of the survey was to estimate the volume of money
transfers received by the Armenian households in 2005. The transfers
are defined to include not only money sent by relatives, friends
of the recipients, but also transfers of compensations received
by seasonal workers abroad. Other objectives were to disclose the
main routes of money inflow into Armenia, as well as the geographic
coverage, seasonality, sustainability, spending structure, and other
characteristics of money transfers. Remittance senders’ profile and
motives were also studied.
According to the results of the survey, in 2005 the Armenian households
received money transfers in the amount of about 940 mln USD. On average
37% of households are transfer recipients who receive around 1,434
USD per annum. The average transfer size is about 353 USD (which
contrasts to 692 USD in banking transfers).
The seasonal distribution of transfers suggests that the bulk of
money transfers are received in December – about 13% of total (the
respective number according to banks’ reports is 12%). The second
largest volume of transfers is received in August – 9.5% – coinciding
again with the data reported by banks – 10.6%.
78% of money transfers received by the Armenian households is mediated
by banks which is rather high proportion. Most of the respondents
indicated that banking transfers are preferred because they provide
swiftness of transfers and reliability. The second popular mode
of transfers is sending cash through some people or organizations,
which represents 12.5% of total transfers.
Money transfers mostly originate from Russia (72.2% of total),
followed by the USA (14.3%). Other major sources are Germany, Greece,
and Ukraine (5.2% combined). USA-originated money transfers are mostly
made through specialized organizations providing this service.
30.6% of money transfers are sent by seasonal workers, while 69.4%
are sent by non-residents.
Over half of money transferers are employed in construction (36%)
and trade (20%) industries. Other industries include transportation
and communication (mostly drivers) – 4% and other services (auto body
shop workers, programmers, etc.) – 5.6%.
Regarding sustainability of transfer flows, 84.5% of respondents
informed that they believed they would continue receiving money
transfers. 6.2% of respondents could not comment, and 9.3% of
respondents answered that they would stop receiving money from
abroad. For 54% of this latter category the reason is that the money
transferer moves back to Armenia.
For the recipient households the amount of money transfers on average
makes up 47.8% of their income. This proportion holds around the same
for both urban and rural population.
The average income of the recipient households is about 4,500 USD
per annum.
For those living in Yerevan the corresponding amount is 3,400 USD,
for other urban households – 4,900 USD, and for households living
in rural areas – 5,100 USD (per capita income is 71 USD, 71 USD,
and 90 USD respectively).
The average recipient household spends 76% of total money transfers
on current consumption, 6.1% – on education, 1.2% – on the purchase
of real estate, 2.0% on investing in business activity, and saves 1.1%.
The analysis of Moscow respondents’ responses revealed that they
sent to Armenia as much as 27% of their income, which is quite a
high share, indicative of close relationship between the tranferer
and the recipient.
67% of Moscow respondents disclosed that the volume of money transfers
they send will increase over time. 31% of respondents informed that the
amount of transfer and their income are not correlated. This result
corresponds to the fact that many of those sending money to their
parents setup permanent residence in Moscow with their families,
therefore the increase in their income will not affect the amount
transferred, but rather on their own spending behavior. Probably,
that is the reason why the answer “the amount of money transfer will
not change” dominates in the answers of the respondents sending money
to their parents.
The analysis attempted also to reveal the respondents’ ties with
Armenia.
28% of respondents rejected the idea of ever returning to Armenia. 25%
of respondents mentioned that if paid 300-600 USD per month they would
consider coming back home. Another question asking if won 50,000
USD how would this money spent, 36% of respondents indicated their
willingness to return, 12% of respondents would send part of this
money to Armenia, 7% of respondents would buy housing in Armenia.
Below are presented the conclusions on the sustainability based on
the responses to other questions related to this point:
· since, as mentioned above, 72% of money transfers are originated
in Russia, from sustainablility perspective it becomes crucial to
possess updated information on the economic developments of Russia;
· other conclusions which need further testing are: – 78% of total
transfers are regular, 84.1% of Moscow-originated transfers are also
sent periodically allowing to categorize them as sustainable; – 63.6%
of money recipients are sent the transfers more than 3 times per year
evidencing close ties between the transferer and the recipient; – only
a small share of money transfers is saved therefore suggesting their
sustainability. Usually the households tend to save more when they
expect that the transfers will discontinue; – 84.5% of respondents
expected that transfer inflows are sustainable; – the main motive of
transferers is altruism confirming that transfer flows are stable and
continuous; – 90.5% of Moscow respondents also believe that they will
continue sending money; – only 5.6% of recipients receive money from
relatives living abroad for more than 15 years, suggesting strong
ties with the transferers living abroad less than 15 years; – over
75% of recipients receive money from family members, mostly from a
son/daughter or from the head of the family; – 65% of money sent from
Moscow is intended for family members (24%) and parents (41%). As long
as parents are less inclined to leave their home country the money
transfers received by this group may be considered as sustainable.
These conclusions help us to assess the overall sustainability of
money transfers into Armenia based on factors, such as the degree
of economic development, the profiles of money recipients and money
transferers, the proximity between these two groups, as well as the
share of seasonal workers in total number of money transferers and
factors affecting working seasonally abroad.
In summary, this study is the first in Armenia large-scale analysis
in the field due to its coverage and scale. The survey contains very
valuable information policy makers too. It will be complemented by
another survey to be conducted in September-November 2006 in Los
Angeles, USA among money transferers.
The reliability of the study results will certainly increase if more
surveys are conducted on a continual basis at least for a couple of
years to come.
This will allow to estimate and forecast the trends in the volumes
of money transfers in Armenia.
–Boundary_(ID_ZwVnlmsE2Vn8xx0UiV9fLg)–

Sunday, August 13, 2006
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DO YOU DISAGREE WITH ME?
****************************************
Nothing unusual in that. Our bosses, bishops, and their main supporters, our benevolent benefactors disagree with one another all the time. Why shouldn’t we?
*
As a child I believed everything I was told by my elders. As a teenager I believed nothing. As an adult I see very little value in both belief and unbelief, or agreement and disagreement. Disagreement in itself is meaningless. What matters is whose disagreement, or what is the stage of development or arrested development of the person who disagrees. Is he a six-year old who cannot yet think for himself, a sixteen-year old rebel, or a sixty-year old who has not yet outgrown his Peter Pan stage?
*
AM I BORING YOU?
************************************
Nothing unusual in that either. Even my most favorite writers sometimes bore me stiff, but I go on reading them because if I were to skip a paragraph or page or chapter I may miss a line that may change my life. Call it one of the superstitions of the trade.
*
I love Shakespeare. I have learned to recite entire soliloquies from RICHARD III and HAMLET by heart not because I was told to do so by a teacher but because rereading and reading these two plays is to me a perennial source of pleasure. This much said, however, I don’t mind admitting that I have not yet read his complete works and I don’t plan to do so in the near future. And consider Shakespeare’s counterpart in music, J.S. Bach. Everyone loves his Toccata and Fugue in D minor, but only organists know his Toccata and Fugue in F major, probably because the first is an accessible masterpiece and the second sounds like a boring academic exercise.
*
ON BEING HUMAN
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We all make mistakes, except self-appointed Armenian pundits. Being wrong to them would be akin to the collapse of the papacy and the disintegration of Vatican’s moral authority.
*
Do I make mistakes? Since I have made it my business to question the legitimacy of those in power and the nonsense in all dogmatic assertions, I am less vulnerable to that particular charge. But if it will make you feel better, I am willing to reiterate that the subtitle of everything I write could be “I Could Be Wrong.”
*
I mentioned above lines that may change one’s life. Here is a sentence that may change if not your life than some of your fundamental assumptions on Asiatic barbarians versus their European counterparts. Speaking of 17th-century Europe, an American historian writes: “Rape and massacre became the soldiers’ recreation, and revenge was terrible when peasants with pitchforks found themselves in a position to exact it.” (James R. Gaines, EVENING IN THE PALACE OF REASON: BACH MEETS FRDERICK THE GREAT IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT [New York, 2005], page 20.)
#
Monday, August 14, 2006
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Because the Armenian is a bundle of contradictions, Neshan Beshigtashlian once described him as an enigma that resists all solutions. If true, one of these contradictions must be that he thinks he is smart and behaves like a fool.
*
Because I am for solidarity I have becomes an enemy; and because they divide the community they are patriotic activists.
Because I expose the dangers of intolerance and tribalism I am accused of repeating myself, and because they keep preaching dogmas that are of use to no one but themselves, they expect us to believe they are defenders of the faith.
Even as they commit suicide by the death of a thousand cuts they brag about their highly developed instinct of survival.
*
What have they learned from the Genocide except to hate Turks? And because lying comes naturally to them they say they hate no one, they want only justice; and they love justice so much that anyone who disagrees with them is stigmatized as a pro-Turkish revisionist, that is to say, the lowest form of animal life.
*
The virtue they value most is unquestioning obedience and loyalty, which is why they consider dogs superior to men.
Because they can dish it out but can’t take it, they consider dialogue anti-Armenian.
Some day the Pope of Rome and his Muslim counterpart in Mecca may engage in dialogue and reach a consensus of sorts, but I doubt if two Armenians who hold opposite views will ever concede that as human beings they could be wrong.
*
On the day they teach themselves to say “I could be wrong,” I will be out of business.
#
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
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IN THE DEVIL’S KINGDOM
**************************************
In a book from J.S. Bach’s library an underlined passage reads: “If you try to help people they will express their gratitude with a kick, after which they will wipe their shoes on you. Before you try to change the world, try to understand that the world is not disposed to accept your suggestions or follow your directives.”
*
What have I accomplished so far? How many minds have I changed? I cannot even identify myself with Sisyphus – he hoisted a rock, it seems all I have been doing is hoisting a feather. My defeats have been many; my victories few and most of them I now suspect may well have been figments of my imagination. The one or two real victories have left a bitter aftertaste. Were they worth the effort? What if the damage I caused was disproportionate to the injustice that was inflicted on me?
I am not made for conflict and I find all conflict distasteful. But what I find even more distasteful, not to say repellent, is to say “Yes, sir” to fools who pretend to know better.
*
Another passage underlined by Bach reads: “A fool is of no use to himself, and fools are everywhere. We have no choice but to live among them and to work for them. The world as we know it is the devil’s kingdom.” Further down: “If you expect things to go your way, prepare yourself for disappointment, sadness, and heartache.”
*
What if, when in the Lord’s Prayer, we say “Thy kingdom come,” we express an awareness of the fact that the kingdom we live in today is not His but the Devil’s? And what if further down when we say “Do not lead us into temptation,” we go further and identify Him with the Devil?
#
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
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The Middle East is the cradle of civilization and judging by its recent history its ambition now is to be its grave.
*
Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East but a Paris without its Enlightenment, which may suggest that its mindset belongs to the Dark Ages.
*
Where philistines and fanatics are in charge, it’s always the Dark Ages.
*
J.S. Bach had his share of critics and he took them seriously because he was financially dependent on the goodwill and generosity of his philistine employers.
*
Armenians are guilty of “ethocide” (the murder of ethics), according to a Turkish writer, because they ignore Turkish victims. Turks by contrast cannot be said to be guilty of the same crime (ethocide) on the grounds that you cannot ignore something that doesn’t exist.
*
To know only one side of the story is worse than not to know the story.
*
Why read the plays of a phony like Shakespeare? It’s common knowledge that he did not write them. It was another fellow whose name also happened to be Shakespeare.
#

FILM TELLING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 1915 TO BE SHOT
Armenpress
Aug 16 2006
YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS: The shootings of a feature film
about what happened in 1915 in Western Armenia will launch in spring
2007. The film will tell about Alma Johansson who worked in one of
the children’s houses in Western Armenia.
The director of the film Areg Nazarian said it is not about the
genocide but about the personal tragedy of a woman. At the same time,
through it the authors of the film want to thank the foreigners who
supported the Armenians during that difficult period.
The film is based on the biographic notes of Alma Johansson which
are being translated at present from Swedish as well as on the
recollections of her granddaughter who is at present a human rights’
defender at the Council of Europe.
The film will be shot in Armenia, Sweden and Austria and will most
probably be in Swedish.
By the way, according to reliable sources, during the shootings the
film directors will cooperate with professor of Turkish descent from
USA Arizona University Elif Shafak. The film will be presented to
the public in 2008.

COACH OF CHELSI TO TRAIN ARMENIAN NATIONAL TEAM
Panorama.am
15:03 16/08/06
The newly appointed coach of the Armenian national football team, Yan
Porterfield, predicted “good future for the Armenian football.” The
Chairman of the Armenian Football Federation Ruben Hairapetyan
introduced Yan Porterfield to the Armenian community in a press
conference today. Upon the completion of the press conference,
a contract was concluded with Porterfield, Scot by nationality,
until the end of the year 2007. The newly appointed coach of the
Armenian national team served as the chief coach of renowned Chelsi in
1988-1993. He took the same position at the national teams of Zambia,
Zimbabwe, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago.
Porterfield assured that the qualify of performance of the Armenian
national team will improve from game to game. He said he will give
chance both to football veterans and beginners. He also said that he
may invite football players from foreign clubs. The coach will move
to Armenia together with his family and live here until the end of
his contract.

KREMLIN AIDE COMMENTS ON PUTIN EURASIAN SUMMIT MEETINGS AGENDA
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
15 Aug 06
Sochi, 15 August: Russian President Vladimir Putin will have an
opportunity to hold a number of meetings on the sidelines of the
Eurasian Economic Community informal summit which is to begin in Sochi
today, with several leaders, including Ukraine’s new prime minister,
Viktor Yanukovych. This was said today by presidential aide Sergey
Prikhodko.
“Separate talks will be held today with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev,” he said.
Prikhodko noted that in the presence of the two presidents two
agreements will be signed on creating favourable conditions for Russian
and Kazakh cargo transit, and on procedures of paying for cargo in
transit on several stretches of Russia’s and Kazakhstan’s railways.
“It is expected that Vladimir Putin will have lengthy and intensive
meetings with other colleagues, including with the new chairman of the
Ukrainian government, Viktor Yanukovych, who is to arrive in Sochi
today at the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov,”
Prikhodko said.
He explained that Yanukovych has been invited to a number of protocol
events within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community summit.
[ITAR TASS at 1352 gmt said that it is not ruled out that during the
Russian-Ukrainian talks at the level of prime ministers and also during
contacts between the prime ministers and President Putin, Russian gas
delivery to Ukraine will be discussed. The agency quoted an unnamed
Kremlin source as saying that “the Ukrainian side will discuss the
gas issue with Gazprom head Aleksey Miller, and failing that, with
Viktor Khristenko or Mikhail Fradkov”. The source also said that no
detailed talks or indeed any signing of an agreement on gas delivery
to Belarus are being planned for the informal summit.
“It will not be possible to resolve the problem by using political
methods in either case,” the source was quoted as saying.]

LEADERS OF SIX EX-SOVIET STATES MEET IN RUSSIAN BLACK SEA PORT FOR CUSTOMS, ENERGY TALKS
AP Worldstream
Aug 16, 2006
President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of five other ex-Soviet
states gathered on the Black Sea for three days of talks on forming
a customs union and a common energy market.
Leaders from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
joined Putin in the port of Sochi on Tuesday for discussions on
developing that the Eurasian Economic Community _ a grouping that
aims to restore economic ties after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Proposals to be discussed included water energy regulation in Central
Asia and setting up a Eurasian hydroelectric consortium.
Armenia’s leader, Robert Kocharian, was attending the meeting as an
observer, as was Ukraine’s new prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych, on
his first trip abroad since being confirmed to the post by parliament
earlier this month.
Comments by Yanukovych _ whose policies are considered pro-Russian
_ will likely be seen as an indication of whether he will aim to
strengthen cooperation with Russia, even as Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko tries to move his nation closer to the West.
Earlier Tuesday, Putin met for one-on-one talks with several of the
leaders, including Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Putin and Nazarbayev signed a series of agreements intended to
streamline customs tariffs and tariffs for transporting Kazakh cargo
via Russian railroad lines, Russian news agencies reported.

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF ARMENIANS CONCERNED OVER LEBANESE CONFRONTATION CALLS ON ARMENIANS TO PROTEST AGAINST OPERATION OF ISRAEL IN LEBANON
Yerevan, August 15. ArmInfo. “The plans of the USA and Israel to
unleash a large-scale war and involve Iran into it constitute a direct
threat to Armenia, particularly, to the liberated regions of Nagorny
Karabakh, which the USA tries to turn into a springboard to invade
Iran,” say the representatives of the International Committee of the
Armenians Concerned over Lebanese Confrontation at a press conference
in Yerevan, Wednesday.
The developments in Lebanon cannot be called a fight of one nation,
one community, for survival. Such wars aim to break the national
consciousness of peoples, said Secretary of the Committee, Raffi
Papikyan. He said the Committee calls on Armenians world wide to
raise a voice of protest against the military crimes, “in order that
our people or other peoples avoid a situation when there is no one
to rely on.”
Political expert Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan drew the attention of
those present at the fact that only three states rendered technical
support to Israel: USA, Turkey and Azerbaijan. All the Iraeli
equipment worked on fuel that Tel-Aviv received through oil pipeline
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. Israel received all the military supplies from
the USA through Turkish military base Injirlik. L. Melik- Shahnazaryan
assured those present that Israel’s plans were a failure. It is for the
first time that Israelis felt war aftermath in their territory. Mossad,
Israel’s intelligence agency, known as the most perfect special
service in the world, did not notice the colossal work carried out
in Southern Lebanon: the construction of underground tunnels. “The
military spirit of Israel is not like it was three dozens of years
ago. Moreover, the fighting capability of Arab military formations
has been improved,” the political expert said.
The analyst Igor Muradyan said the military operation of Israel in
Lebanon could be caused by the self-reformation of Hezbollah, which
showed the Shiit organization how a fundamental Islamic grouping can
make national-liberation ideas a corner stone, refuse from radical
demands from its country, become an influential parliamentary force.
“Hezbollah, Hamas, Muslim Brothers, turning into parliamentary forces
have become much more dangerous for Israel,” I. Muradyan said.