Azerbaijan’s Military Expenditures to Total $700 in 2006
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 1 2006
In 2006 Azerbaijan’s military budget will total $700 million, President
Ilham Aliyev said at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers yesterday.
Mr. Aliyev said this is $100 million more than was previously
allocated in the state budget. The president said that the government
is committed to peacefully resolving the Karabakh conflict, but at
the same time stressed the need to strengthen the country’s defense
potential.

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 28, 1 August 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team
******************************************** ****************
HEADLINES:
* LEBANESE LEGISLATOR REGRETS IRAN AND SYRIA USING HIS COUNTRY
* ‘WE LOVE MARTYRDOM’
* FEELING LEFT OUT IN TEHRAN
* AHMADINEJAD WARNS THAT A MIDDLE EAST STORM IS BREWING
* AHMADINEJAD VISITS TURKMENISTAN AND TAJIKISTAN
* STONING SENTENCES RESUME
* STUDENT ACTIVIST BEGINS HUNGER STRIKE
* LAWYER SENTENCED TO PRISON
* EDITOR’S JAIL SENTENCE LIFTED
* ISFAHAN FACTORY WORKERS ON STRIKE
* SOUTHWESTERN BOMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
* SECURITY MEASURES CONTINUE IN EASTERN IRAN
* NEW CLERICS HEADING FOR EASTERN PROVINCES
* AZERI NEWSPAPER SHUT DOWN IN IRAN
* IRANIAN MILITARY ASKED TO STOP ATTACKS ON PKK
* IRAN CALLS FOR NEW ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS CHANNEL
* AGGRESSIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT BIRD FLU
* BOND ISSUE NEEDED FOR COMPLETION OF TEHRAN AIRPORT
* IRANIAN CONTRACTORS BUSY IN VENEZUELA
* TEHRAN INSISTS THAT INDIA, PAKISTAN PAY MORE FOR GAS
********************************************** **************
LEBANESE LEGISLATOR REGRETS IRAN AND SYRIA USING HIS COUNTRY. Saad
Hariri, leader of the Future Trend bloc in the Lebanese parliament
and the son of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, says
the current conflict in his country is “not Lebanese,” the British
“Al-Hayah” newspaper reported on July 26. The battle, he said, “was
brought to the Lebanese arena by Syria and Iran for the sake of their
interests.” “Israel is our enemy,” Hariri continued, “and we have
fought and resisted before any Arab state and before any Persian
state.” If Syria wants to fight Israel it should open a front on the
Golan Heights, Hariri recommended.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said in a July 20 interview with
“Corrierre della Serra, “Hizballah answers to the political agendas
of Tehran and Damascus.” On the same day, however, Siniora’s
office said he was misquoted and his comments were taken out of
context, AP reported. Druze leader and Lebanese parliamentarian
Walid Jumblatt condemned violations of his country’s sovereignty,
France’s “Liberation” newspaper reported on July 19. He added
that Hizballah’s “entire military infrastructure is the product
of its sponsors, Syria and Iran.” Under these circumstances, he
continued, one cannot believe the Hizballah leadership because it is
being “exploited, manipulated.”
Chibli Mallat, a law professor at Lebanon’s St. Joseph
University and a presidential candidate, commented in “The Daily
Star” on July 14 that “the Syrian and Iranian leaderships have been
stoking the flames in Lebanon to deflect domestic pressures.”
President Emil Lahud met with Iranian Ambassador Mohammad
Reza Sheibani on July 19 in Beirut and expressed gratitude for the
Islamic Republic’s support, the Islamic Republic News Agency
(IRNA) reported. (Bill Samii)
‘WE LOVE MARTYRDOM.’ Groups of Iranian volunteers left Tehran
for Lebanon recently, despite government discouragement and denials
of responsibility. The country’s top clerics, meanwhile, have
been unanimous in their support for Hizballah and in encouraging
financial contributions and other forms of support for the
organization.
“We love martyrdom and are ready to go to Lebanon and
Palestine with our bare hands to help the resistance, be it in relief
work or even martyrdom,” a young man said as he prepared to depart
Tehran for Lebanon on July 26, the official Iranian Al-Alam
television reported.
The man was reportedly part of a group of volunteers
organized by the Pro-Justice Student Movement. The Al-Alam
correspondent noted that the Turkish authorities might not let the
volunteers — “They call themselves living martyrs,” he said — enter
their country on the way to Syria. There were approximately 60
volunteers of all ages, AP reported on July 27, and they will join
200 who preceded them.
Volunteers Stopped At Border
The Pro-Justice Student Movement and another organization,
the Commemoration Headquarters for the Martyrs of Islam’s World
Movement, had announced on July 15 and 16 that they would be sending
volunteers to Lebanon. But General Mohammad Hejazi, commander of the
paramilitary Basij, said dispatching suicide bombers to Lebanon might
be well-intentioned but it does not help Iran or Hizballah. Hejazi
also denied an official connection with the volunteers.
This caravan of volunteers did not get far, as the
authorities stopped them at the Bazargan border crossing near the
eastern Turkish town of Gurbulak on July 28, AP and the Iranian
Students News Agency (ISNA) reported. Spokesman Ali Komeili
explained, “The authorities said we could not pass through the border
as we were wearing a kind of uniform.” The students began a sit-in.
Although these volunteer actions do not have an official
imprimatur, Iran is openly dispatching other forms of aid to Lebanon.
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Moayed Alavian led a delegation to
Beirut on July 21, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
Alavian said Iran will provide medical care and pharmaceuticals and
added that two planeloads of aid have arrived in Damascus and are
being sent to Lebanon.
The fifth consignment of Iranian aid destined for Lebanon
arrived in Damascus on July 23, IRNA reported. The two aircraft
carrying medicine and medical equipment from the Red Crescent Society
came on the heels of four other aid shipments, Iranian Charge
d’Affaires in Syria Ghazanfar Roknabadi said. “This is apart from
our political support for the Islamic resistance movement against the
assault of the Israeli regime,” Roknabadi added. He described the
provision of ambulances and food, and he said more ambulances, food,
and medicine will be sent to Lebanon.
Clerical Encouragement
Iran’s leading clerics are encouraging their countrymen
to support Hizballah financially and in other ways. A joint statement
from four of Iran’s top clerics — Grand Ayatollahs Nasser
Makarem-Shirazi, Mohammad Fazel-Lankarani, Lutfollah Safi-Golpaygani,
and Javad Aqa-yi Tabrizi — said they will allocate a percentage of
the funds they receive to the Lebanese people, Mehr News Agency
reported on July 23. Makarem-Shirazi and Nuri-Hamedani added that
other religious funds could be used to help Palestinians and
Lebanese. Nuri-Hamedani explained: “This would be permitted as a
means of strengthening the oppressed people of Lebanon, the Hizballah
resistance front, as well as the oppressed Palestinians who are
engaged in an Islamic jihad to defend themselves against diabolical
and arrogant powers.”
Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ezzedin Zanjani condemned on July 25
the Israeli activities in Lebanon and Palestine, provincial
television reported. He called on Muslims and Islamic governments to
remain united and to assist “the pious and heroic Lebanese
combatants.” Also in Mashhad on July 25, the Khorasan-i Razavi branch
of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee said it is ready to collect
people’s contributions for the Lebanese and Palestinians.
Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini told officials of the Iranian
national airline in Tehran on July 27 that Israeli actions in Lebanon
and Palestine resemble the crusades, ISNA reported. He said the
United States is allied with European governments in an effort to
destroy Islam. “What they want is not limited to the destruction of
Hizballah,” Amini said. “They want to destroy all Islamic nations and
governments.” Amini denounced countries that cooperate with Israel.
Islamic Culture and Communications Organization head
Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri told the clerical community on July
27 that the Islamic world is waiting for the clergy to provide
Hizballah with “all-out support,” ISNA reported. He said the clerics
must inform people using any means at their disposal, from the
pulpits to the print and broadcast media.
Grand Ayatollah Hussein Nuri-Hamedani complained on July 27
that some Egyptian and Saudi clerics have encouraged “the global
arrogance” with their religious decrees, ISNA reported. Sheikh
Abdullah bin Jabreen, a Saudi Wahhabi, issued a fatwa against
Hizballah and announced it is illegal for Muslims to support or pray
for it, UPI reported on July 21. The governments in Cairo and Riyadh
have called on Syria to limit its support for Hizballah. Now that
Hizballah has stood up to Israel, Nuri-Hamedani said, Muslims must
support the organization.
In The Basement Or In Damascus?
Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham said on
July 24 that the Islamic Republic will not send military personnel to
Lebanon to participate in the current conflict, IRNA reported.
According to U.S. observers, Iranians are already there.
Ambassador Henry Crumpton, the State Department’s coordinator for
counterterrorism, said on July 25, “I am confident that Iranian
operatives are inside Lebanon right now with Hizballah,” Reuters
reported. Crumpton referred to Iran as “the paymaster” that spent
“hundreds of millions of dollars” on arms and other forms of support
for Hizballah.
Iran has greater influence over Hizballah than Syria does,
Crumpton said, but it does not control the group. Iran is “clearly
directing a lot of Hizballah actions,” he said, and “Hizballah asks
their permission to do things, especially if it has broader
international implications.”
If this is an accurate assessment, then it may explain
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani’s
arrival in Damascus late on July 26. Mehr News Agency and Reuters
reported he is to discuss regional developments with Syrian
officials. Larijani also is expected to meet with Hizballah
Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, “Ha’aretz” and “The
Jerusalem Post” reported on July 27, citing Kuwait’s daily
“Al-Seyassah.” Nasrallah reportedly made the hazardous overland trip
to Damascus in civilian — rather than in clerical — clothing.
There also were Israeli reports that Nasrallah was sheltering
in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. The Israeli “Ma’ariv” newspaper
reported on July 26 that according to anonymous intelligence
officials, Nasrallah is hiding in the embassy basement, which has
become his “refuge and operations room.” Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi told reporters in Tehran on July 26 that
there is no truth to this “Israeli lie,” IRNA reported. (Bill Samii)
FEELING LEFT OUT IN TEHRAN. Speaking in Rome on July 26 after a
conference on Lebanon, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “It is
important that we work with the countries of the region to find a
solution, and that should also include Iran and Syria,” RFE/RL
reported. However, neither country was represented at the conference.
Participants were Egypt, France, Italy, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia,
the U.K., the United States, the UN, and the World Bank, Reuters
reported. Also in attendance were Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Greece,
Spain, and Turkey; the EU was represented by Javier Solana and
current EU chair Finland; and the Vatican was there as an observer.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and four cabinet members represented
Lebanon.
Iranian officials predicted that excluding them and the
Syrians would be a mistake. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza
Assefi said, “They should have invited all the countries of the
region, including Syria and Iran, if they want peace,” The Guardian”
reported on July 26. (Bill Samii)
AHMADINEJAD WARNS THAT A MIDDLE EAST STORM IS BREWING. During his
July 25 visit to Dushanbe, Mahmud Ahmadinejad said the Israeli attack
on Lebanon will not yield positive results and could cause bigger
problems, Radio Farda reported. “To attack another country in this
way will not solve anything, instead it will make the problems more
complicated,” he said. “Those who think that by oppressing a nation
they can create a foothold for themselves are making a big mistake.”
He appeared to threaten that the conflict will escalate, saying,
“There is an expression in Persian: ‘He who raises the wind will
get a hurricane.’ And this hurricane is just round the corner in
the Middle East and it will be harsh and destructive for the enemies
of humanity.”
At the Ahvaz city hall on July 25, meanwhile, Ali
Zu’aytir, Hizballah’s representative in Iran, gave a speech
in which he said, “In order to implement its satanic design, the
world arrogance has placed the protection of the Zionist regime’s
interests atop its Middle East agenda,” Khuzestan Provincial
television reported. Zu’aytir said “the Zionists” want to disarm
Hizballah. “In the first place, our [Lebanese] Hizballah intends to
solve the problems which Lebanon is facing and we cannot say if
resistance will end or not,” he added. “We shall resist as long as
our problems with that usurper regime exist.” (Bill Samii)
AHMADINEJAD VISITS TURKMENISTAN AND TAJIKISTAN. Iranian President
Mahmud Ahmadinejad met with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov in
Ashgabat on July 24 for talks centered on the expansion of mutual
cooperation, IRNA reported. Ahmadinejad called ties between the two
countries “very good.” For his part, Niyazov said that the talks were
“successful and fruitful,” ITAR-TASS reported. IRNA reported that
bilateral trade volume was $1.2 billion in 2005 and $600 million in
the first half of 2006.
Ahmadinejad held a second round of talks with Turkmen
President Saparmurat Niyazov in Ashgabat on July 25, turkmenistan.ru
reported. The discussion focused on energy issues, with the two sides
agreeing to form a joint task force to work out proposals in a
month’s time on hydrocarbon shipments. Iran, which is set to buy
8 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan in 2006,
plans to buy 14 billion cubic meters in 2007. During
Ahmadinejad’s visit, the two sides also signed seven cooperation
agreements, MNA reported.
Ahmadinejad met with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov in
Dushanbe on July 25 for talks on bilateral relations and regional
issues, IRNA and RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported. Ministers from
the two countries signed five memoranda of understanding and
cooperation agreements in the course of the visit.
Ahmadinejad and Rakhmonov attended a ceremony on July 26 to
mark the formal opening of the Anzab tunnel, IRNA reported. The
tunnel, which is located 80 kilometers outside Dushanbe, links the
Tajik capital with roads leading north. Ahmadinejad called the tunnel
project a turning point in Iranian-Tajik relations. “The
implementation of this big dream is evidence of the two nations’
desire to boost their relations and start larger development
projects,” Tajik television quoted him as saying. According to IRNA,
Iran provided $21 million in financing for the $40 million project.
At a press conference on July 26 in Dushanbe with his Tajik
counterpart President Rakhmonov, President Ahmadinejad proposed the
establishment of a Persian-language television network for Afghan,
Iranian, and Tajik people, IRNA reported on July 26. Ahmadinejad said
that the Tajik side has “welcomed” the television initiative “so it
should be discussed with Afghan authorities.” Iran currently
broadcasts programs to Afghanistan in both Dari (Afghan Persian) and
in Pashto. It is not clear if the proposed television network would
be in Iranian Persian or it would also include segments in Dari or
Tajik. While Dari is one of the official languages of Afghanistan,
traditionally Afghan authorities have viewed Iranian cultural
influences, including in the field of language, with suspicion.
(Daniel Kimmage, Amin Tarzi)
STONING SENTENCES RESUME. Iranian courts have resumed handing down
stoning sentences for women after a three-and-a-half year lull, Radio
Farda reported on July 27 (see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” 23 December
2002). Ashraf Kalhori, 37, who has already served five years in
prison for adultery and her role in the murder of her husband, has
now been sentenced to death by stoning; the sentence is supposed to
be carried out in two weeks. Kalhori’s lawyer in Tehran, Ms.
Shadi Sadr, told Radio Farda that she has filed an appeal in an
effort to change the verdict through the judicial system. Kalhori has
also written a letter to the chief justice in Tehran, Sadr said,
asking for clemency. Another Tehran lawyer, Farideh Ghayrat, told
Radio Farda that death by stoning is legal under Iran’s penal
code, but that women’s rights lawyers in Iran are questioning
whether it is justified under Islamic law. (Bill Samii)
STUDENT ACTIVIST BEGINS HUNGER STRIKE. Khalil Bahramian, the lawyer
for a student activist who has been imprisoned for almost seven
years, said on July 25 that he is no longer allowed to receive
visitors, ILNA reported. The lawyer said he went to visit his client,
Akbar Mohammadi, at Evin prison on July 24, and the authorities said
because Mohammadi is on a hunger strike visitors are barred.
Bahramian added that Akbar and his brother, Manuchehr, are in poor
health. (Bill Samii)
LAWYER SENTENCED TO PRISON. The Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced
attorney Abdolfattah Soltani to five years in prison and also barred
him from practicing as a lawyer or holding public office for an
additional five years, ILNA reported. Soltani was the attorney for
several people accused of spying on the Iranian nuclear program, and
he was imprisoned for seven months before being released in March.
Soltani told ILNA he was acquitted of espionage but found guilty of
revealing classified documents and of antigovernment propaganda.
(Bill Samii)
EDITOR’S JAIL SENTENCE LIFTED. The Tehran Penal Court initially
sentenced Abdul Rasul Vesal, the former editor of “Iran” newspaper,
to four months in prison for the publication of an offensive cartoon
and fined him another 2 million rials ($225) for publishing false
information, fardanews.com reported on July 17. However, ILNA
reported on July 17 that payment of the fine was in lieu of the
prison sentence. The cartoon allegedly insulted teachers, “Sharq”
reported on July 5. (Bill Samii)
ISFAHAN FACTORY WORKERS ON STRIKE. Employees of a knitting and
weaving factory in Isfahan continued demonstrating for a third day
outside the legislature in Tehran on July 25, ILNA reported. Workers
at the Simin-i No factory say they are owed five months of wages and,
furthermore, management is ignoring them. They say Isfahan
parliamentary representative Hassan Kamran and Tehran’s Alireza
Mahjub are following up on the case. (Bill Samii)
SOUTHWESTERN BOMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH. The Ahvaz Revolutionary
Court on July 25 passed sentences on 19 people for their alleged
involvement in bombings in Khuzestan Province, ILNA reported.
Attorney Javad Tariri, who represented two people, said 10 people
have been sentenced to death for being “at war with God” (mohareb)
and endangering national security. Three others have been sentenced
to internal exile for 10, 15, and 20 years on identical charges.
Another three defendants received five-year sentences for membership
in an illegal group that seeks to undermine national security; one
received five years for carrying explosives; and one received a
one-year sentence for propagating against the system. The 19th
defendant was acquitted, Tariri said.
Many ethnic Arabs live in the southwestern province, which
borders Iraq. In the past, demonstrators in the southwest have
objected to the quantity of Arabic-language broadcasts by state
media, and they have also objected to the overall quality of the
broadcasts. A ceremony marking the increase in Arabic programs on
Khuzestan Province television took place on July 15, the station
reported. Mr. Assefi, the Khuzestan Province TV station’s
manager, said difficulties with the signal in the northern part of
the province have been resolved. He added that station personnel are
serious about improving program quality and are conducting related
audience research. (Bill Samii)
SECURITY MEASURES CONTINUE IN EASTERN IRAN. Colonel Mohammad Javad
Ithna-Ashari said on July 18 that security personnel operating out of
the Fath military base in Sistan va Baluchistan Province have freed
35 hostages and arrested five of their captors, IRNA reported. This
operation broke up a gang responsible for narcotics smuggling and
people-trafficking, in addition to kidnappings, IRNA reported.
The commander of Iran’s national police force, Brigadier
General Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, said in the Luristan Province city
of Khoramabad on July 26 that 40 kilometers of Iran’s eastern
border has been sealed and a total of 400 kilometers will have been
sealed by December, Fars News Agency. He explained that this is being
done through physical impediments as well as through the use of human
resources and electronic and aerial surveillance. Successful border
control will contribute to interdicting narcotics traffickers and
fuel smugglers, he said. Ahmadi-Moghaddam was speaking at the
introduction of the province’s new police chief, who was
identified only as Qassem-Nasri. Outgoing police chief Hojatoleslam
Qassemi was thanked for his 34 years of service. (Bill Samii)
NEW CLERICS HEADING FOR EASTERN PROVINCES. Khorasan Razavi Provincial
Governor-General Mohammad Javad Mohammadzadeh introduced his new
adviser on clerical affairs, Hojatoleslam Seyyed Marvian-Husseini, on
July 17, provincial television reported. Mohammadzadeh said the
clergy’s role in managing the country is “substantial,
fundamental, and irreplaceable.”
The same day, Hojatoleslam Maadi, head of the Friday
Imams’ Policymaking Council for Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan,
and South Khorasan provinces, said the provinces would be getting
more clerics soon, provincial television reported. Maadi said there
would be changes in the Friday Prayers staffs and related offices by
September 23. He added that the three provinces do not have enough
prayer leaders. By March 20, 2008, he continued, North Khorasan will
have 12 instead of six Friday Prayer leaders, South Khorasan will
have 10 instead of six, and Khorasan Razavi will have 50 instead of
the current 38.
Late last year it was reported that the administration of
President Ahmadinejad was spending a great deal of money on religious
institutions, but Friday Prayer leaders answer to the Supreme
Leader’s office and, presumably, that is the entity that pays
their salaries. (Bill Samii)
AZERI NEWSPAPER SHUT DOWN IN IRAN. Tabriz-based “Nada-yi
Azarabadegan” Editor Abolfazl Vesali was sentenced by the East
Azerbaijan Province press court on July 24 to six months in jail and
the newspaper’s license revoked for six months, ILNA reported.
Vesali said he was accused of inciting the public with the materials
he published, and he spent 45 days in jail despite reportedly having
posted bail. The court has already sealed the newspaper’s offices
and taken the furniture, Vesali said, adding that he will appeal the
sentence. Vesali criticized the provincial press union for its
failure to speak out on his behalf. The daily was shut down on June 1
over its reporting in connection with ethnically based riots that
took place in May, ILNA reported on June 2.
Azerbaijan National Independence Party leader Etibar Mammadov
appealed on July 24 to Azeris throughout the world and to the various
political forces within Azerbaijan to join forces in a movement to
support the embattled Azeri minority in Iran, day.az reported. He
argued that an upsurge of protests among Iran’s Azeris, which
began two months ago in response to the publication of cartoons
depicting Azeris as cockroaches creates new and favorable conditions
for the unification of Azerbaijan and “southern Azerbaijan,” as he
described the predominantly Azeri-populated regions of northwestern
Iran. But the online daily zerkalo.az observed on July 25 that
pro-Iranian Islamists in Azerbaijan are likely to seek to undermine
any such broad-based movement, which would in addition enrage Tehran.
(Bill Samii, Liz Fuller)
IRANIAN MILITARY ASKED TO STOP ATTACKS ON PKK. Murat Karayilan, a top
official of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), suffered a leg wound
in an Iranian artillery barrage in northern Iraq in late June, NTV
reported from Istanbul on July 15. Karayilan and other wounded PKK
members were treated at a hospital near Baghdad. The Iranian and
Turkish armed forces have been cooperating on operations against the
PKK and affiliated organizations for several months.
Iranian military attacks against PKK positions in northern
Iraq are displacing noncombatants, Iraqi Kurdistan’s Interior
Minister Uthman al-Haj Mahmud said on 22 July, Al-Sharqiyah
television reported the next day. The official said an Iranian
artillery and rocket barrage forced residents of eight villages to
flee. He called for a resumption of dialogue to resolve problems with
the PKK.
Iran’s ambassador to Ankara, Firuz Dolatabadi, said on
July 24 that the United States and Israel are supporting the PKK,
Istanbul’s NTV reported. Dolatabadi added that Iran and Turkey
are cooperating in the fight against the PKK. The U.S. State
Department lists the PKK (also known as Kongra-Gel) as a “foreign
terrorist organization,” as does Iran. (Bill Samii)
IRAN CALLS FOR NEW ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS CHANNEL. Ali Darabi, the
deputy director for parliamentary and provincial affairs at Iranian
state radio and television, announced in Arak on July 20 that the
Islamic Republic is going to start an English-language television
news channel, Mehr News Agency reported. He explained that Western
media is boycotting the real news on events in Lebanon and Palestine.
He said state radio and television broadcasts on 96 channels in 30
languages. Darabi said the U.S., which he referred to as “the
arrogance,” has hegemonic objectives: “By bringing to power and
toppling its lackeys, the arrogance attempts to hatch utmost plots
against Islam and the revolution, the example of which is the coming
to power of Taliban, Al-Zarqawi and now Al-Muhajir in Iraq which has
doubled the number of Shi’a martyrs in Iraq.” (Bill Samii)
AGGRESSIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT BIRD FLU. Homayun Hamidi, head of the
Veterinary Department in the West Azerbaijan Province city of Maku,
said on July 16 that avian flu has not been detected in the area,
provincial television reported from Urumiyeh, and that preventative
measures are in place. In the first three months of the Iranian year
— which began on March 21 — 70,000 trucks entering the country at
the Bazargan border crossing have been disinfected. Red meat,
chicken, and fishmeal entering Iran from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have been checked at Bazargan as well.
One day earlier, Anushiravan Mohseni-Bandpey, deputy chairman
of the legislature’s Health Committee, said reports of humans
infected with bird flu in Mazandaran and Gulistan provinces have not
been confirmed, Fars News Agency reported. Veterinary officials are
destroying infected birds, he added, and the Health Ministry is
trying to find the source of the infection. Hussein Hassani,
director of Iran’s Veterinary Organization, said on July 15 that
almost 380 birds were tested and none were infected, Fars reported.
He said a three-month operation to destroy migratory birds in the
provinces bordering the Caspian Sea began in June, but added that
there have been no cases of bird flu. (Bill Samii)
BOND ISSUE NEEDED FOR COMPLETION OF TEHRAN AIRPORT. Minister of Roads
and Transport Mohammad Rahmati announced on July 9 that a 500 billion
rial (approximately $57 million) bond issue will be made public to
help fund completion of the Imam Khomeini International Airport, Mehr
News Agency reported. Rahmati added that an investment of 1 trillion
to 11 trillion rials is needed to complete the airport’s first
phase. All international flights can be transferred to the new
airport if the first phase is completed, Rahmati continued.
Construction of the airport began in 1994 and it was to be
completed by 2000, but its inauguration did not take place until
February 2004. Operations were supposed to get under way in May 2004,
but a dispute involving the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps caused
further delays. A limited number of airlines began using the airport
in April 2005; Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport remains in use. (Bill
Samii)
IRANIAN CONTRACTORS BUSY IN VENEZUELA. Deputy Minister of Housing and
Urban Development Manuchehr Khajeh Dalui said on July 12 that Iranian
contractors are building 10,000 residential units in Venezuela and
could build another 30,000, the Mehr News Agency reported. The two
countries are discussing a joint 150,000 unit construction project,
he added. Khajeh Dalui said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has
welcomed Iranian involvement in his country’s construction
sector. (Bill Samii)
TEHRAN INSISTS THAT INDIA, PAKISTAN PAY MORE FOR GAS. Iranian Foreign
Minister Manuchehr Mottaki announced on July 23 in Tehran that there
are “difficulties” in the fulfillment of a contract to supply India
with natural gas, India’s PTI news agency reported. The original
contract — to supply 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
over 25 years — set a maximum price of $3.25 per million British
thermal units (MBTU). Now, Iran reportedly wants $5.1 per mBTU. India
is insisting that Iran meet its commitment, and it is adamant that
the deal will not be renegotiated.
Also on July 23, Iranian Petroleum Minister Kazem
Vaziri-Hamaneh warned that Tehran will not sell gas to India and
Pakistan at the price they are proposing, Fars News Agency reported.
He reportedly added that the agreement has not yet been finalized.
“If the Indian side is not ready to buy our gas at its real price, we
have no obligation to sell it at the price lower than the real one,”
Vaziri-Hamaneh said, adding that India and Pakistan should forget
about the lower price.
Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham said on
July 24 that talks on the sale of Iranian natural gas to India are
continuing, IRNA reported. (Bill Samii)
****************************************** ***************
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
The “RFE/RL Iran Report” is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
Newsline, and other news services. It is distributed every Monday.
Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
For information on reprints, see:
p
Back issues are online at

Eurasia Daily Monitor
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 — Volume 3, Issue 148
GEORGIA DEMONSTRATES POLITICAL, MILITARY SKILL IN KODORI GORGE
by Vladimir Socor
Georgian authorities are beginning to restore normal conditions for
daily life in the upper Kodori Gorge, following the successful law-and-order
operation on July 25-27 that forced the Moscow-manipulated rebel chieftain
Emzar Kvitsiani to flee the area. The upper Kodori Gorge is the only part
of pre-1992 Abkhazia’s territory not controlled by the secessionist
authorities.
Conducted jointly by Georgia’s Internal Affairs and Defense
Ministries, with ministers Vano Merabishvili and Irakli Okruashvili
personally in charge, the operation turned out to be remarkably clean. It
has entailed only one civilian death, two policemen injured, and no known
casualties among Kvitsiani’s followers, a small number of whom have
apparently made their way into Abkhaz-controlled territory. Russian
propaganda clearly failed in its attempt to build up Kvitsiani into a
spokesman for the Svan ethnic group that inhabits the Kodori Gorge.
Most Defense Ministry personnel are already being withdrawn from the
high-altitude gorge in the wake of the successful operation. An Interior
Ministry unit, reinforced by a small military element, is to be permanently
stationed in Kodori in order to provide security for the population and
prevent organized crime. Substantial arms caches have been found and
continue to be discovered on a daily basis. According to intelligence data,
Russian and Abkhaz special services had delivered weapons to Kvitsiani’s
group in March, presumably in preparation for the rebellion he had launched
on July 22 against the Georgian government. At least some of the weapons
apparently originated from Russia’s base at Gudauta in Abkhazia, where the
arms stockpile of the `Baghramian’ Armenian battalion was ostensibly
`robbed’ and its rifles and grenade launchers sent up the gorge to
Kvitsiani’s group.
Kvitsiani and his nephew Bacho Argvliani, who operated criminal
rackets in the area, are being sought for investigation and trial. Russian
television has twice interviewed Kvitsiani at an undisclosed location,
presumably in Abkhazia. He used the interviews to urge Georgian soldiers and
policemen to turn their arms against their commanders, ministers, and the
Georgian president; and he continued urging `Mingrelians’ to rise against
the Georgian government — a line intermittently used in Russian
psychological warfare operations against Georgia since the early 1990s and
that always fell flat. Reverting, moreover, to one of Moscow’s themes
familiar from the two anti-Chechen wars, Kvitsiani alleged in these
interviews that `Arabs’ and `Chechens’ participated in the Georgian
operation and that he also “tore the mask off a Negro,’ presumably proving
American involvement (Russian TV Channel One `Vremya,’ July 27; Imedi TV,
July 30).
Georgian authorities are currently distributing flour, sugar,
vegetable oil, and other staples to Kodori residents as well as 200 lari
($115) in cash per household. The authorities are bringing construction
materials into the gorge for an urgent program to rebuild schools, roads, a
medical clinic, and a disused airfield, as well as restoring bus service to
Kodori from the rest of Georgia.
The Tbilisi-backed legislative assembly and government of the pre-1992
Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia is now moving from Tbilisi to the Kodori
Gorge. It shall be headquartered temporarily in the village of Azhara,
pending the construction of an appropriate building. These pre-1992 bodies
represent Abkhazia’s entire population, including its Georgian population,
which had formed 45% of the total (to 17% Abkhaz) prior to the Russia-aided
mass ethnic cleansing of Georgians. The relocation of these institutions
from Tbilisi to the Kodori Gorge, within the pre-1992 Abkhazia’s territory,
amounts to a strong political signal that Georgia intends to reverse the
outcome of that war, albeit through a political process. Georgia will
probably support the participation of representatives of these two
institutions in some role in the negotiations toward a political resolution
of the conflict.
In Sukhumi, delegations from Russia’s North Caucasus and southern
Russian regions held talks with the secessionist leadership in recent days,
promising to send `thousands of volunteers’ to support Abkhazia in the event
of hostilities with Georgia. They declare that they would in that case reach
Abkhazia and Georgia itself not only or not necessarily through Sukhumi
(which would expose the Russian political authorities’ complicity), but
rather via Kabardino-Balkaria or Karachay-Cherkessia. In that case, however,
the hand of Russia’s secret services would be exposed. Although Tbilisi is
determined not to initiate any such hostilities, Russian military
intelligence may well use its experience at provoking clashes so as to
discredit Georgia.
In the wake of Georgia’s successful operation, President Mikheil
Saakashvili told the nation that a retreat from Kodori or negotiations with
Kvitsiani (as the latter’s handlers were seeking) `would have been the
beginning of the end of Georgian statehood.’ Thanks to the skillful
operation, however, Kvitsiani seems set to join the `brigade of political
corpses’ in a Russian safe haven.
(Rustavi-2 TV, Imedi TV, Kavkas-Press, Apsnypress, Interfax, July
26-31; see EDM, July 25)
–Vladimir Socor

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
August 1, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
SEN. BIDEN DELAYS SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS
COMMITTEE VOTE ON HOAGLAND NOMINATION
— Sen. Kerry Joins in Calling for Delay Until After August Recess
— Senator Allen Supports Call for Delay
WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the Ranking Democrat
on the Foreign Relations Committee, was joined today by Senator
John Kerry (D-MA) in forcing a month-long delay in the Committee’s
vote on the controversial nomination of Richard Hoagland to replace
the current U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The controversy within the Foreign Relations Committee over the
Hoagland nomination began with Senator Biden’s June 23rd letter
asking Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice to respond to a
series of questions, including specific inquiries about reports
that the current Ambassador had been recalled due to his having
“accurately described the Armenian Genocide as genocide.” The
debate over the merits of the nomination heated up during the June
28th confirmation hearing due to the nominee’s evasive and
unresponsive answers to straightforward questions posed by panel
members about U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide. Following the
hearing, Ambassador-designate Hoagland, in a sharp departure from
established Administration practice, responded to a written Senate
inquiry by questioning the genocidal intent of the perpetrators of
the Armenian Genocide, a denial tactic frequently used by the
Turkish government.
As a result of the intervention of Senators Biden and Kerry,
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s nomination will not be considered
by the Committee until the Committee’s next business meeting in
September.
“The ANCA welcomes the leadership of Senators Biden and Kerry in
ensuring that the Foreign Relations Committee has the time to more
carefully consider the implications – for both our foreign policy
and our values as a nation – of confirming a U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia who is on record denying the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian. “We appreciate, as well, the principled
efforts of Senators Allen, Boxer, Chafee, Coleman, Dodd, Feingold,
Kennedy, Reed, Sarbanes, and others to seek an honest explanation
of the firing of Ambassador Evans, to explore the role of the
Turkish government in his recall, and to insist that the
Administration clearly articulate its stand on the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide.”
The panel’s decision comes in the wake of a nationwide campaign by
the ANCA – in Washington, DC and in grassroots communities across
the country – to demand answers concerning the recall of Amb. Evans
and to educate Senators about the adverse impact of sending an
envoy to Armenia that has called into question the genocidal
character of Ottoman Turkey’s systematic destruction of its
Armenian population. The ANCA has mobilized thousands of activists
to share their views with their Senators and Representatives about
the need for an honest explanation of Ambassador Evans’ recall and,
more broadly, the exact outlines of the State Department’s policy
on the Armenian Genocide.
As early as this February, Members of Congress, at the urging of
the ANCA, began pressing the State Department for a full, open, and
official explanation of the firing of the current U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia, over his truthful comment last year on the Armenian
Genocide. Despite a series of Congressional letters and questions
posed during Congressional testimony by Secretary of State Rice and
other senior officials, the Administration failed to provide a
meaningful explanation of its decision to recall Ambassador Evans.
In the shadow of this controversy, Ambassador-designate Hoagland
came before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 28th for
a confirmation hearing, alongside the President’s nominees to
represent the U.S. in Ireland and Switzerland. During this
hearing, Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Norm Coleman (R-MN)
pressed Ambassador-designate Hoagland for answers about U.S. policy
on the Armenian Genocide. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) expressed
serious reservations concerning the circumstances of the nomination
and the Administration’s policy on the Armenian Genocide.
Ambassador-designate Hoagland’s responses during the hearing, and
later to written questions submitted by panel members, were largely
evasive, characterized by repeated – often strained – efforts to
avoid using the term genocide, even while refusing to acknowledge
that he had been instructed not to use this term. The following
day, on June 29th, the panel, and then the full Senate, voted to
confirm nominees for the ambassadors to Ireland and Switzerland,
but chose to not take any action on Hoagland’s nomination.
In the days that followed his confirmation hearing, Ambassador-
designate Hoagland responded to several dozen written questions
concerning U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, the recall of
Ambassador Evans, and the instructions he had received regarding
how to address this matter if confirmed by the Senate. Among his
written responses to a series of questions posed by Senator Barbara
Boxer (D-CA), was a deeply troubling, morally objectionable and
historically inaccurate indication that the Armenian Genocide did
not meet the U.S. definition of genocide because of the absence of
a “specific intent” on the part of the perpetrator. This denial of
the Armenian Genocide – which went far beyond the bounds of the
Administration’s traditional policy – prompted the ANCA to announce
its formal opposition to Richard Hoagland’s nomination on July
18th.
For the official ANCA statement, visit:
leases.php?prid – 6
Soon after, the ANCA determined that, according to Department of
Justice records, the State Department had misled the U.S. Senate
about its communications with the Turkish government concerning the
February 2005 public affirmation of the Armenian Genocide by
Ambassador Evans. In a letter, dated June 28th, written on behalf
of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Biden, the State
Department denied that the Turkish government had even approached
the Administration on this issue. However, official Foreign Agent
Registration Act filings by the Turkish government’s registered
foreign agent, the Livingston Group, document that, in the days
following Ambassador Evans’ February 19, 2005 remarks, one of
Turkey’s agents communicated on at least four different occasions
with State Department officials concerning the envoy’s statement
and his subsequent retraction.
To date, half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including
Senators George Allen (R-VA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer
(D-CA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher
Dodd (D-CT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD), have contacted Secretary Rice or questioned
Ambassador Designate Hoagland directly regarding the Armenian
Genocide. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI),
along with over sixty members of the House have also expressed
serious concerns to the State Department on this matter.
For a comprehensive overview of documents regarding the firing of
Ambassador Evans and the Hoagland controversy, visit:
p

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
August 1, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
BIDEN & KERRY REQUEST HOLDOVER FOR AMBASSADOR DESIGNATE
Senate Vote on Hoagland Delayed Until September
Washington, DC – The nomination of Richard E. Hoagland as America’s
next Ambassador to Armenia was held over by the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee today, following concerns expressed by Ranking
Member Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) to delay
consideration until the Committee’s next business meeting.
The lawmakers communicated their concerns to Committee Chairman
Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN), who announced the holdover. Biden
told Committee Members that “more than one colleague had approached
[him],” suggesting that voting be delayed until the next meeting.
Biden also said that although he does not expect the Administration to
change its position on this issue, he hopes they will find a way to
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Senator George Allen (R-VA), who
questioned Hoagland during his confirmation hearing in June, added
that “there was a Genocide” and that “Ambassador [John] Evans had to
resign for stating the obvious.”
Hoagland is slated to replace Ambassador Evans who tendered his
resignation after serving only two years of what is typically a
three-year assignment. Last year, Evans was rebuked by the State
Department after publicly affirming the Armenian Genocide in the
course of his comments in the U.S. when he said “the Armenian Genocide
was the first genocide of the twentieth century.”
In making his statements, Evans pointed to the International Center
for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), which concluded that the events of
1915 could be properly characterized as Genocide. President Bush
himself has twice referenced the ICTJ study. Additionally, a letter
from the State Department to Biden called it a “significant step
toward reconciliation” (See attached letter).
Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have voiced their
concerns to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over reports that
Ambassador Evans’ premature departure may be due to his public
comments on the Armenian Genocide. To date, the State Department has
provided no additional justification for Evans’ departure other than
to say that all Ambassadors serve at the pleasure of the President and
that allegations that Turkey was involved in pressuring for his early
departure are untrue. In addition to Senators Biden and Kerry, several
other Committee Members, including Sens. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD), George Allen (R-VA), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Russ
Feingold (D-WI) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), have also pressed Hoagland
to clarify U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide and to explain, how,
if confirmed, he plans to speak about the Genocide.
“The Assembly thanks Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
for their leadership on this issue and their steadfast support of
reaffirming the Armenian Genocide,” said Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny. “If the United States wants to play a leading role in the
region to help foster peace and democracy, then it should help Turkey
come to terms with its past and also establish normal relations with
its neighbor, Armenia. Speaking the truth should not be a punishable
offense. The Administration should take the next logical step to its
stated position, which provides a textbook definition of the Armenian
Genocide without using the words and, once and for all, reaffirm this
crime against humanity.”
The Committee has not set a date for voting on the nomination, which
must take place before it goes to the full Senate for approval. In
the meantime, Ambassador Evans remains in Yerevan.
Hoagland has told Committee Members that if approved, he will
faithfully represent the President’s policy, which neither denies nor
properly acknowledges the attempted annihilation of the Armenian
people as Genocide. Hoagland, a career member of the Senior Foreign
Service, currently serves as United States Ambassador to the Republic
of Tajikistan. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Office of
Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State.
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of the Office of Public
Diplomacy in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs.
Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Ambassador Hoagland completed his
graduate degrees at the University of Virginia and earned a
certificate in French from the University of Grenoble, France. Before
joining the Foreign Service in 1985, Ambassador Hoagland taught
English as a foreign language in the then-Zaire (1974-1976) and
African literature at the University of Virginia’s Carter-Woodson
Institute of African and Afro-American Studies.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness
of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.
###
NR#2006-072
Editor ‘s Note: Attached is the full text of the State Department’s
letter to Senator Biden.
United States Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520
June 28, 2006
Dear Senator Biden:
Thank you for your letter of June 23 concerning Ambassador John Evans.
Ambassador Evans recently tendered his resignation as Ambassador to
the Republic of Armenia, but currently remains in charge of our
Embassy in Yerevan. We continue to work closely with him and his
capable team. Please be assured that allegations that the U.S. is
removing Ambassador Evans under pressure from the Government of Turkey
are simply untrue. The Government of Turkey has not approached the
Administration on this issue, and the United States and Turkey engaged
in no diplomatic exchanges related to this matter.
All U.S. Ambassadors, both career and non-career, serve at the
pleasure of the President and as advocates of the President’s
policies. President Bush has expressed his policy regarding the tragic
events of 1915 each year of his Presidency with his personal statement
on Armenian Remembrance Day, April 24. In those statements, the
President has called on all concerned parties to engage in thoughtful
introspection on the forced exile and mass killing of as many as 1.5
million Armenians by Ottoman troops. We share the profound sorrow of
Armenian communities around the world regarding these horrific
events. We believe this tragedy is of such enormous human significance
that its characterization should be determined through heartfelt
dialogue, not through diplomatic or political proclamations.
We are encouraging all concerned parties to advance such dialogue. One
such effort produced the analysis of the International Center for
Transitional Justice (ICTJ). This study of the legal character of the
horrors of 1915 marked a significant step toward reconciliation and
restoration of the spirit of tolerance and cultural richness that has
connected the people of the Caucasus and Anatolia for centuries.
Please let us know if we can be of assistance on this or any other
matter.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey T. Bergner
Assistant Secretary
Legislative Affairs

SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP AGAINST THE VISION OF PERSONAL HAPPINESS
Lragir.am
01 Aug 06
Perhaps the Republican Party has not realized yet what favor it did
to the public by holding an early conference on July 22. Not only did
the Republican Party display its face, but it also revealed the faces
of others. Perhaps this premonition made some political parties reveal
their own faces long before the conference, although it would be more
precise to tell that they hurried to take the step of covering their
own face more safely. Dashnak Alvard Petrosyan announced that over
70 percent of the intellect in the political sphere of Armenia is in
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. The answer of the Republicans
did not make wait long. Certainly, they did not announce that the
godfather of the most intellectual victory of Armenia, the “king of
Torino” Serge Sargsyan is a Republican.
But young Republican Armen Ashotyan announced before the conference of
the Republican Party that let Dashnaktsutiun mind their own business
until the parliamentary election.
It is difficult to tell what business Armen Ashotyan hinted at, but
he is a rather smart young man and he must have known something when
he spoke or at least he had been told what to say. It goes without
saying that responsibility for 70 percent of the intellect is really a
hard job. They require care. Intellect does not grow in the field to
go and pick up. They have hardly come, so one needs to take care of
them. And perhaps the Republican Party knows how difficult it is for
Dashnaktsutiun to take care for its intellectuals, therefore it advises
to mind their own business instead of one aspiration or another. In
order to sponsor intellect one needs to be at least a defense minister,
whereas the only defense minister is in the Republican Party. And to
become convinced of this, the Republicans had invited representatives
of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) to come
and see and get down to minding their own business.
And the Dashnaks went and saw. It is not clear, however, what they
thought. Other’s “good luck” makes remember one’s own problems but
everything is different when this other implies by their behavior
at several ways of getting over problems. For instance, how Dashnaks
can get rid of problems. It is clear: one gets rid of Dashnaktsutiun
and one is free from the problem of the ARF. However, such a simple
solution would not occur to everyone, of course. The intellect is
not good at simple solutions. For this, one needs to be a genius or
lack intellect, at least a little. Certainly, Dashnaktsutiun would
not have a problem of genius if there was at least one genius in our
political sphere. Therefore, the most simple solution of getting rid
of problems would occur to those whom others would prompt.
And it is not accidental that the Republicans prompted Dashnaks about
the problems before the early conference and invited them to the
conference to prompt the simple way of getting rid of problems. They
pointed to the “happiness of the criminal” and forgot about the
“problem of the intellect”. Certainly, only for those who saw
the happiness of the criminal. And among Dashnaks the members of
parliament Armen Rustamyan and Spartak Seyranyan were “lucky” to see
the “happiness of the criminal”. And they even say that witnessing did
its “evil job” and it even occurred to Armen Rustamyan to tell his
party friends and persuade them that the percentage of intellect is
not as important in life as the percentage of votes, which guarantees
seats in the parliament and the government.
And they even say that Rustamyan has already acquired supporters
inside the political party. In other words, he managed to persuade
some people. In case of failure they have the vision of “personal
happiness”, however. In other words, the simplest way of getting rid
of the problem of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
HAKOB BADALYAN

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
08/01/2006
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1. Sen. Biden Delays Senate Foreign Relations Committee Vote On Hoagland Nomination 2. Aram I Says Israel Must Stop Massacre of Lebanese People 3. Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Discuss Peace Process in Paris 1. Sen. Biden Delays Senate Foreign Relations Committee Vote On Hoagland Nomination WASHINGTON--Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the Ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, was joined today by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) in forcing a month-long delay in the Committee's vote on the controversial nomination of Richard Hoagland to replace the current US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans, reported the Armenian National Committee of America. The controversy within the Foreign Relations Committee over the Hoagland nomination began with Senator Biden's June 23rd letter asking Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice to respond to a series of questions, including specific inquiries about reports that the current Ambassador had been recalled due to his having "accurately described the Armenian Genocide as genocide." The debate over the merits of the nomination heated up during the June 28 confirmation hearing due to the nominee's evasive and unresponsive answers to straightforward questions posed by panel members about US policy on the Armenian Genocide. Following the hearing, Ambassador-designate Hoagland, in a sharp departure from established Administration practice, responded to a written Senate inquiry by questioning the genocidal intent of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide, a denial tactic frequently used by the Turkish government. As a result of the intervention of Senators Biden and Kerry, Ambassador-designate Hoagland's nomination will not be considered by the Committee until the Committee's next business meeting in September. "The ANCA welcomes the leadership of Senators Biden and Kerry in ensuring that the Foreign Relations Committee has the time to more carefully consider the implications--for both our foreign policy and our values as a nation--of confirming a US Ambassador to Armenia who is on record denying the Armenian Genocide," said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian. "We appreciate, as well, the principled efforts of Senators Allen, Boxer, Chafee, Coleman, Dodd, Feingold, Kennedy, Reed, Sarbanes, and others to seek an honest explanation of the firing of Ambassador Evans, to explore the role of the Turkish government in his recall, and to insist that the Administration clearly articulate its stand on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide." The panel's decision comes in the wake of a nationwide campaign by the ANCA--in Washington, DC and in grassroots communities across the country--to demand answers concerning the recall of Amb. Evans and to educate Senators about the adverse impact of sending an envoy to Armenia that has called into question the genocidal character of Ottoman Turkey's systematic destruction of its Armenian population. The ANCA has mobilized thousands of activists to share their views with their Senators and Representatives about the need for an honest explanation of Ambassador Evans' recall and, more broadly, the exact outlines of the State Department's policy on the Armenian Genocide. As early as this February, Members of Congress, at the urging of the ANCA, began pressing the State Department for a full, open, and official explanation of the firing of the current US Ambassador to Armenia, over his truthful comment last year on the Armenian Genocide. Despite a series of Congressional letters and questions posed during Congressional testimony by Secretary of State Rice and other senior officials, the Administration failed to provide a meaningful explanation of its decision to recall Ambassador Evans. In the shadow of this controversy, Ambassador-designate Hoagland came before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 28 for a confirmation hearing, alongside the President's nominees to represent the US in Ireland and Switzerland. During this hearing, Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) pressed Ambassador-designate Hoagland for answers about US policy on the Armenian Genocide. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) expressed serious reservations concerning the circumstances of the nomination and the Administration's policy on the Armenian Genocide. Ambassador-designate Hoagland's responses during the hearing, and later to written questions submitted by panel members, were largely evasive, characterized by repeated--often strained--efforts to avoid using the term genocide, even while refusing to acknowledge that he had been instructed not to use this term. The following day, on June 29, the panel, and then the full Senate, voted to confirm nominees for the ambassadors to Ireland and Switzerland, but chose to not take any action on Hoagland's nomination. In the days that followed his confirmation hearing, Ambassador-designate Hoagland responded to several dozen written questions concerning US policy on the Armenian Genocide, the recall of Ambassador Evans, and the instructions he had received regarding how to address this matter if confirmed by the Senate. Among his written responses to a series of questions posed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), was a deeply troubling, morally objectionable and historically inaccurate indication that the Armenian Genocide did not meet the US definition of genocide because of the absence of a "specific intent" on the part of the perpetrator. This denial of the Armenian Genocide--which went far beyond the bounds of the Administration's traditional policy--prompted the ANCA to announce its formal opposition to Richard Hoagland's nomination on July 18. Soon after, the ANCA determined that, according to Department of Justice records, the State Department had misled the US Senate about its communications with the Turkish government concerning the February 2005 public affirmation of the Armenian Genocide by Ambassador Evans. In a letter, dated June 28th, written on behalf of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Senator Biden, the State Department denied that the Turkish government had even approached the Administration on this issue. However, official Foreign Agent Registration Act filings by the Turkish government's registered foreign agent, the Livingston Group, document that, in the days following Ambassador Evans' February 19, 2005 remarks, one of Turkey's agents communicated on at least four different occasions with State Department officials concerning the envoy's statement and his subsequent retraction. To date, half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Senators George Allen (R-VA), Joseph Biden (D-DE), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Russell Feingold (D-WI), John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), have contacted Secretary Rice or questioned Ambassador Designate Hoagland directly regarding the Armenian Genocide. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Jack Reed (D-RI), along with over sixty members of the House have also expressed serious concerns to the State Department on this matter. For a comprehensive overview of documents regarding the firing of Ambassador Evans and the Hoagland controversy, please visit anca.org 2. Aram I Says Israel Must Stop Massacre of Lebanese People ANTELLIAS, LebanonHis Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia tersely condemned the bombing of a building in the southern Lebanese city of Qana, calling it a massacre. "What has happened in Qana, South Lebanon by Israel, is outrageous, inhumane and against all international laws and conventions," the Catholicos said in a statement to the international press. "I simply do not understand how Israel describes as 'a technical error' the shelling with his advanced and sophisticated war machine a building where children, women, sick and disabled people have taken refuge. All sorts of justifications or clarifications provided by Israel are unacceptable in the face of this human tragedy," said Aram I. Speaking about the continuing attacks, Aram I said: "Was the shelling by Israel of a UN observer post in South Lebanon, which took the lives of four UN observers a `technical error'? Was the pounding of civilian cars, ambulances and trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the refugees 'a technical error'? Was the destruction of roads, bridges, electricity supplying centers and infrastructures it 'a technical error'? Was the bombing of building housing hundreds of families 'a technical error'?" Aram I emphatically added that "This war must end. It must stop immediately and without any condition. Innocent people are being killed, families are being destroyed; Lebanon is on the brink of collapse and people are still dealing with diplomacy. One cannot remain indifferent before human slaughter... We must protect human life by all means. The UN and the powers of this world must act firmly on this basis. This is the realistic way of dealing responsibly with this complex and critical situation. First protection of life and only then creation of proper conditions for diplomacy and for the settlement of the conflict. Therefore, I add my voice to the Spiritual Leaders, both Muslem and Christian, of Lebanon, to appeal to the international community, for an immediate cease-fire." 3. Minsk Group Co-Chairs to Discuss Peace Process in Paris BAKU (Armenpress, RFE/RL)--The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will assess the recent visit by US Co-chairman Matthew Bryza to the region during a two-day meeting, which was scheduled to begin to day in Paris, reported Armenpress. Bryza is going to present the results of his regional visit to his French and Russian counterparts, Trend news agency reported Meanwhile, President Ilham Aliyev again rejected any resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that would not put Karabakh under Azeri control ahead of talks with a visiting top US negotiator on Tuesday, reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "Azerbaijan will never--neither today, nor tomorrow and under no circumstances -- agree to Nagorno-Karabakh's secession from Azerbaijan," Aliyev told his cabinet in remarks reported by Azeri newspapers on Tuesday. "The issue of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity can not be a subject of negotiations." Aliyev and his Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov were meeting later in the day with Bryza. "I do not have much to tell you at the moment," the Azeri ANS television quoted Bryza as telling reporters in Baku. "Actually, there is nothing [new] to speak about." Aliyev has repeatedly demanded restoration of Azeri control over Karabakh in recent months amid fading hopes for an Armenian-Azeri agreement which international mediators hoped will be signed this year. However, a framework peace accord proposed by a team of American, French and Russian mediators seems to allow for the possibility of Karabakh's independence or reunification with Armenia. The three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group favor a gradual resolution of the dispute that would culminate in a referendum of self-determination in Karabakh. Bryza confirmed over the weekend that under the terms of the proposed deal, the disputed region's status would be decided by the "people of Karabakh." He indicated that this includes the region's former Azeri residents that were forced to flee their homes during the 1991-94 war. Bryza spoke with RFE/RL in Yerevan after holding talks with President Robert Kocharian and before proceeding to Stepanakert where he met with the leadership of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic president Arkady Ghoukassian told reporters after the meeting that he briefed Bryza on the Stepanakert government's position on the conflict which he said is "somewhat different from the approaches favored by the co-chairs." "I think Mr. Bryza understands that it is impossible to settle the conflict without Karabakh's participation," he said. "Not only he but all the co-chairs realize that." However, Bryza made it clear in his RFE/RL interview that it is the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan that must have the final say in the peace process. He downplayed in that regard the fact that he is apparently the most high-ranking US government official to ever visit Karabakh. "There is no statement of any sort that should be read from my visit to Stepanakert other than that I am going there in my sole capacity as a co-chair so I can understand better what the situation and what the views are of the people that are living in Karabakh," Bryza said. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE SUGGEST ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ARMENIAN-
AZERBAIJANI ORGANIZATION FOR FIRE PREVENTION
Yerevan, July 31. ArmInfo. The issue of fires in the woods on the
Karabakh-Azerbaijan border was discussed during the latest visit of EU
Special Representative in South Caucasus Peter Semneby to the region.
In an interview to ‘Trend’ agency Mr. Semneby said that both the sides
must be interested in a bilateral Armenian-Azerbaijani organization
for fire prevention. He expressed hope that this suggestion will be
considered seriously. To the Special Representative’s opinion this
organization will help to establish contact and trust between the
two sides of the conflict.

HUMANITARIAN AID FROM ARMENIA REACHES LEBANON
Yerevan, July 31. ArmInfo. The humanitarian aid from Armenia reached
Lebanon. The Press Service of RA Foreign Ministry informed that
the aid was taken to Syria and handed to the Supreme Commission for
Humanitarian Aid Issues of Lebanon. The 7,5 tones of humanitarian
aid includes 52 medicines and medical instruments for first aid.

NEW UNDERGOUND STATION TO BE BUILT IN YEREVAN SOON
Yerevan, July 31. ArmInfo. In 2008-2009, the construction of the new
“Achapniak” underground station will be completed in Yerevan. Yervand
Zakharian, Mayor of Yerevan City, said this at today’s press
conference.
He said that the construction of “Achapniak” underground station
began few years ago, but wasn’t completed because of the lack of
financial sources. According to the plans of the previous years,
about $22 million were required for the construction works. In 2007,
new project account documents will be elaborated for the construction
works. As for the transport issues, Zakharian said that in September
2006, new 76 “Bogdan” mini busses will be brought to Yerevan. Besides,
25 new Russian trolley busses will be purchased for the capital. Each
of the trolley busses costs $70 thousand. The Mayor’s Office also
envisages to complete the renovation works of the bus stations,
100 of which will be exploited already in September.
In total, AMD 1,6 billion of work was carried out in the sphere of
the capital’s transport.