Fear-stricken foreigners bid tearful farewell to Lebanon
Gulf Times, Qatar
July 18 2006
BEIRUT: Wiping away tears and hugging loved ones left behind, hundreds
of foreigners were fleeing Lebanon yesterday, under the thumps of
missiles as Israel intensified its military onslaught on the country.
While British and US citizens started to leave by helicopters, France
chartered a ferry which can carry some 1,200 passengers, and other
European, Asian and African nationals were being bussed overland to
neighbouring Syria.
In six days of relentless air, sea and ground attacks, Israel has
tightened its grip on the country by imposing a maritime blockade
and gouging deep craters out of Beirut airport’s runways, shutting
down the facility.
Foreigners heading out of Lebanon feared for their safety as Israeli
forces have targeted the roads to Syria, despite assurances yesterday
from the Jewish state that it was liaising with Washington and the
EU on the evacuation.
In a silence only broken by complaints, foreigners boarded buses
at meeting points across the capital for a six-hour journey to the
Syrian capital from where they will fly home.
For safety reasons, European embassies were co-ordinating joint convoys
for their nationals, who are mostly of Lebanese descent and had spent
the summer holidays to visit family back home.
“I feel we are cowards. We are leaving our dear Lebanese friends
behind. But I have not been in a war zone before, and my family wants
me to go back home,” said Belgian Sigrid Hoste, a teacher who had
been studying Arabic in Lebanon.
“I am really angry at what Israel is doing. It is a disproportionate
attack, and nothing justifies war. Beirut was a buzzing place just
last week, today it is a ghost town. They have no right to do this,”
she said.
“And now, we have to break off our stay in Lebanon, pay $50 for the
bus, something similar for the hotel in Syria, another 300 euros
for the ticket to Belgium,” she complained. “But I will definitely
come back.”
Fellow Belgian Elke de Backer, a translator at a bank in Brussels
who also studies Lebanese Arabic, said: “We are very, very sad for
Lebanon. It was such a great, fun and vibrant place last week.”
“It was such a great summer of mountain outings, beaches and
concerts. We had tickets for this week to watch (Lebanese diva)
Feyrouz in the (Roman) temples of Baalbek,” in eastern Lebanon,
she said. “Now, everything is cancelled.”
At the German embassy meeting point in the Hamra central commercial
neighbourhood, a veiled woman holding a baby in her arm sat on her
luggage on the sidewalk, surrounded by seven other young women and
children.
All of them were crying.
“These are my sisters and their daughters. We are terrified for
our parents who are staying behind, but we have to leave because
our children were terrified by the Israeli air raids last night,”
said Dunia Ramadan, originally from Beirut.
“I do not know if my parents will be alive,” she said, sobbing
quietly as she boarded the bus. Watching them leave, two watchmen
sat in front of a building, nodding their heads quietly.
Garen Kochkerian had been planning to get married in the next few weeks
in Beirut with his German girlfriend, Kristina Schmidt, whom he was
now bidding farewell as she was leaving with the German embassy convoy.
“It is a catastrophe for Lebanon, and for us. Now everything is
changed. She has to leave,” said Kochkerian, a Lebanese Russian of
Armenian origin, holding her hand tightly.

CHOCOLATE PARADISE; MEET A REAL-LIFE WILLY WONKA
Calgary Sun (Alberta)
July 18, 2006 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION
BY RITA DEMONTIS, SUN MEDIA
Toronto
There’s a real-life Willy Wonka in Canada. Her name is Stella
Zhamkochian and she’s at the helm of Gourmet Square, a manufacturer,
wholesaler and distributor of chocolates.
We think her middle initial is C for chocolate — or it should be,
as this Markham, Ont., mother of two’s life is one of recreating this
sweet treat on all levels.
Her company creates an array of sweets prepared in the most innovative
ways. Everything from blueberry-inspired bon-bons to chocolate pizzas
to chocolate-drizzled popcorn, Zhamkochian admits her mind is always
on the go to find a new winner, a new flavour, a new idea.
Her goods are recognizable in some of Canada’s finest hotels and
shops, and she prepares for dozens of companies under their own
private labels.
She even has a tiny retail shop open to the public when she’s not too
busy on the wholesale side of life — “just phone and see if we’re
open that day,” she offers.
A recent visit to her Toronto plant sees Zhamkochian — “I was born in
Armenia and came to Canada at the age of 12” — multi-tasking at an
alarming rate, hairnet sternly in place, white smock neatly pressed,
sending out rapid-fire directions to her tiny staff and making sure
her chocolate operation flows as smoothly as the decadent product
she works with.
Her company’s considered one of the tiniest players in the
confectionary field, yet her volume of work is large, and the plant
is a beehive of activity — add to that the constant, heavenly aroma
that permeates the place, and you might as well be in chocolate heaven.
“I’m always thinking of a different flavour, or taking a standard
flavour to a new level,” says Zhamkochian, who, although the middle of
summer, has Christmas carols playing in her head, as she’s currently
working on a Yuletide line that includes a delicate eggnog-inspired
treat, a mincemeat-laced chocolate, as well as a killer orange
creme brulee.
“I find inspiration in everything, and at the weirdest hours, including
the middle of the night,” says Zhamkochian.
How did she decide on a career in chocolate — especially as she’s
a florist by nature?
“I worked in retail fashion for many years, and then I quit to
have my son,” says Zamkochian, mother of Matthew, 12 and Grace 7,
who incidentally gave their names to her Grace-Matthews Collection,
a new packaging line.
“When Matthew was three, I opened a florist shop and it was quite a
success. I started dabbling in chocolate to offer as an extra, and
when that proved to be more successful, my husband Mario and I took a
gamble and went into the chocolate business full-time seven years ago.”
On any given week, she’s using more than 1,100 kg of chocolate,
sometimes as much as 2,000 kg.
One more thing: How does she stay so slim?
“You work your butt off!” she grins. “Plus, all you really need is
just a taste.”
GRAPHIC: 2 photos by David Lucas, Sun Media 1. DELICATE TOUCH …
Anna Panosian and Flor Abdyan create hand-painted chocolate pears
at Toronto’s Gourmet Square for a wedding. 2. Packed and ready to go
for a private label are blueberry bon-bons.

AZERBAIJAN, UZBEKISTAN AMONG OTHERS SHORTLISTED FOR GOLD IMPORT
Financial Express, India
July 18, 2006 Tuesday
With India being the world’s largest gold consumer, the government is
on the look out for larger supply of the yellow metal. The commerce
ministry has shortlisted some former Soviet Union countries –
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Armenia – besides Venezuela in
South America for the import. “After oil, gold is the second largest
item on our import bill.
So we need to urgently find long-term sources to meet our demand,”
minister of state for commerce, Jairam Ramesh told FE. Azerbaijan
contains gold deposits of about 1,000 tonne, which include reserves
in regions in conflict with neighbouring countries. MMTC and NDMC
have asked Azerbaijan for the geological data on gold deposits there.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has expressed interest in a joint venture
participation with India in gold mining. During the joint working
group meet with Uzbekistan this March,India had also evinced keen
interest in cooperation in exploration of gold, sources said.India
has asked Uzbekistan to nominate their agency to ink an MoU with
MMTC and MNDC. The government is also waiting for the Uzbek report
on techno-economic details to start the mining project, sources said.
The government will also be opening a dialogue with Kazakhstan, which
has approximately 800 mt of gold reserves. Kazakhstan has small gold
fields containing 25 tonne, and medium fields of 25 to 100 tonne, where
about 70 % of its gold is mined. India is making efforts to obtain a
geological data from Kazakhstan in this regard. Gold would figure in
the agenda during the Indo-Armenia joint trade committee meet this
October. The government is keen on striking deals with Venezuela,
which has gold reserves estimated to be over 8,000 tonne. Of this
5,000 tonne are at the surface level and is suitable for open cut
mining. The chairman of MMTC and a government representative had called
on Venezuelan foreign minister during his recent visit to India to
discuss possible cooperation in the gold sector. Following this, MMTC
forwarded a proposal to Venezuela for joint venture in the gold sector.

Howe Islander braves road to Damascus
Kingston Whig-Standard (Ontario)
July 18, 2006 Tuesday
By: Brock Harrison
A 20-year-old Howe Island resident is on her way back home this
morning after a dramatic escape from the war-ravaged nation of Lebanon.
Carmen Abrajian, along with her 23-year-old brother Mark and his
girlfriend, Tala el-Bakri, made a daring broad-daylight getaway from
the eastern Lebanese village of Anjar yesterday afternoon, crossing
the Syrian border to Damascus, where they were expected to board a
plane headed for Toronto.
“They’ve had quite an adventure,” said their stepfather, Stuart
Renfrew, who lives with Carmen and wife Janet Abrajian on Howe
Island. Mark lives in Toronto. “The bombs were dropping way too close
to them. They had to get out.”
The trio had been stranded in Lebanon since Israeli bombs crippled
Beirut’s international airport last Thursday.
The Abrajians, along with el-Bakri and a fourth travel companion,
were in Beirut at the time of Israel’s first strikes, visiting their
grandparents in a nursing home.
They immediately fled to their aunt’s house in Anjar, the mostly
Armenian town of about about 2,500 people roughly 60 kilometres east
of the Lebanese capital, but were separated from their other friend.
It appeared as though Anjar would be a safe haven for the trio until
they could get a flight from Syria.
But as Israeli attacks intensified, bombs began dropping on the
outlying areas of Anjar. Roads going from the popular mountain tourist
town had been taken out, including the main highway to Damascus.
They were stuck playing cards in a dark basement, with a dwindling
supply of food, while falling bombs crept closer to their hideout.
“They were good and scared,” said Renfrew, who communicated with his
stepchildren through e-mail and occasional phone calls.
Being half-Armenian, the Abrajian kids have visited relatives in
Lebanon nearly every summer. As Renfrew put it, “it was just like
sending the kids to granny’s cottage.”
Renfrew and Janet Abrajian, Mark and Carmen’s mother, had exchanged
daily e-mails with the pair prior to the attacks on Beirut, sending
greetings and sharing stories.
“Then we got one from them that said, ‘Turn on the news, this is
getting bad,’ ” Renfrew said.
Prices for commodities like milk and eggs first doubled, then tripled
in Anjar after supply routes were cut off by bombs. Renfrew wired
some money to Mark and Carmen, but they were too far away from a bank
machine to use it.
“The relatives were stuck with three extra mouths to feed,” he said.
Renfrew registered his stranded stepchildren with the department of
foreign affairs so the government would at least know they were in
Lebanon but he said he never heard anything back.
Phone calls to the department were not returned yesterday.
By early yesterday morning, the news that the federal government
was sending ships from Cyprus to Lebanon’s west coast to evacuate
Canadian citizens had not yet reached the Abrajians and would still
not have guaranteed a safe passage out; Damascus is closer to Anjar
than the Mediterranean coast.
Renfrew said this presented his stepchildren with, essentially,
a do-or-die decision – either stay in Anjar and risk death or make
a break for Damascus.
According to Renfrew, the trio were contemplating making the 30-
kilometre trek to Damascus overnight by foot, since the main road to
the Syrian capital had been destroyed, until they secured the services
of a driver who knew the way through mountain back roads.
He and his wife were “on pins and needles” until they got a brief
phone call from Carmen yesterday afternoon, late evening in Syria,
telling him her troupe had made it to the Damascus airport. They
weren’t available by phone yesterday for comment.
“It hasn’t been easy on us these past few days,” Renfrew said.
The violence in Lebanon continues to escalate after Israel began
retaliation attacks last week in response to Hezbollah’s kidnapping
and killing of Israeli soldiers.
The day the Abrajians and el-Bakri made their escape, another 40
people were killed by Israeli strikes.
[email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Fed: Families relieved young dancers are safe
Australian Associated Press Pty. Ltd.
AAP Newsfeed
July 18, 2006 Tuesday 8:28 AM AEST
MELBOURNE July 18
The families of Australian children with an Armenian dance troupe on
tour in the Middle East say they are relieved their loved ones are
among 86 Australians rescued from war-torn Lebanon.
The Sevan Dance Group’s 45 young performers and 36 parents and
supervisors were this morning safe in the Jordan, the federal
government said. The government had organised three buses to pick
up the group and some others from their Beirut hotel. The convoy
headed north along the Mediterranean coast road early last night
(AEST) and crossing the Syrian border to the capital, Damascus.
Parliamentary secretary for Foreign Affairs Teresa Gambaro said
today the group had now arrived in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Silva Vartabebian, whose 18-year-old daughter is part of the dance
troupe, said she had yet to speak to her daughter, but was relieved.
“Very relieved, very relieved,” she told the Seven Network. “It’s a
bad experience, I’m sure it was worse for them. Very anxious waiting
at home. No sleeping, just constantly worrying, talking to parents
all the time, asking if they’d heard anything. “Nothing crossed our
minds that something like this would happen, to this extent anyway.”
She said her daughter originally wasn’t going to go, but a job she had
fell through and there was a last-minute cancellation in the troupe.
Ms Vartabebian said Australian foreign affairs officials had gone to
the Armenian Cultural Centre to reassure parents and update them on
what was taking place. She said she was not sure when they would be
coming home. Tatiana Arabian, whose 15-year-old son and 16-year-old
daughter were also on the tour, said it had been a tense wait.
She said she would not relax until she knew her children were to
catch a flight home. “Since Thursday 2pm it’s been terrible and
… now I can finally say that they are safe, but still I can feel I
might even receive a phone call saying it’s not going as positive as
you are think, so fingers crossed that they will be home as soon as
they reach Jordan,” she told Channel Nine. “Last time I talked to
them, they were in Beirut, in the hotel, they were in a safe place.
“That was two days ago. “My son was quite all right but my daughter,
who is 16, and she was a bit scared because she could hear the bombs
and she said:`The building is shaking, and Mum it’s really scary.
“I said: `You have to hang on there until the embassy will try and
get you all out’.” Ms Arabian said she expected her children home
tomorrow morning.
From: Baghdasarian

Karabakh govt wants engaging in settling Karabakh conflict
ITAR-TASS News Agency
July 18, 2006 Tuesday 09:22 AM EST
by Tigran Liloyan
Peace settlement of the dragged-out conflict in Azerbaijan’s mostly
Armenian-populated region of Karabakh is possible only if authorities
of the unrecognized Karabakh republic take part in the process,
the region’s Foreign Minister, Georgy Petrossian, said here Tuesday.
“We welcome a statement of the G8 on support to mediating efforts
and on the importance of coordinating the major principles of peace
settlement of the conflict,” he said.
“Karabakh has always advocated a peace settlement of its problem
and it is ready to exert efforts for an early possible agreement on
setting up durable peace in the region,” Petrossian indicated,

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 9, No. 26, 18 July 2006
A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team
******************************************** ****************
HEADLINES
* IRAN PLAYING KEY ROLE IN ISRAEL-LEBANON CRISIS
* AHMADINEJAD LAUNCHES VERBAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL
* IRANIAN PILGRIMS DISCOURAGED FROM VISITING IRAQ
* IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS ISSUE STATEMENT
* IRAN TO BE REFERRED TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL
* RUSSIAN MINISTER RULES OUT USE OF FORCE AGAINST IRAN
* VOTING AGE TO RISE
* COUNTERINTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS CREATED TO DEAL WITH BORDER UNREST
* RESURGENCE OF RELIGION-POLITICAL SOCIETY RAISES CONCERNS
* AMERICAN AND IRANIAN SCHOLARS ALLY TO OPPOSE SEIZURE OF ANCIENT PERSIAN TABLETS
****************************************** ******************
IRAN PLAYING KEY ROLE IN ISRAEL-LEBANON CRISIS. As the conflict
initiated by Hizballah’s seizure of two Israeli soldiers and
killing of another eight in a cross-border raid on July 12 continues,
many observers are voicing concern that other regional actors —
notably, Iran and Syria — will be drawn into the conflict.
Iran has warned that it will respond if Israel attacks Syria.
Realistically, however, Iran and Syria have been involved with this
conflict from the outset because they are the main outside sponsors
of Hizballah. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton
alluded to this relationship on July 14 at the UN Security Council in
New York. “No reckoning with Hizballah will be adequate without a
reckoning with its principal state sponsors of terror,” Bolton said.
Within hours of Israeli retaliation for the raid and
commencement of efforts to recover its soldiers, Israeli officials
began assigning some responsibility for the Hizballah attack to Iran.
“There is an axis of terror and hate, created by Iran, Syria,
Hizballah, and Hamas that wants to end any hope for peace,” said
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, according to the Israeli
Foreign Ministry website.
Major General Udi Adam, chief of the Israeli Defense
Forces’ Northern Command, added: “Hizballah, which is a terror
organization, operates from inside Lebanese soil with Iran’s
assistance and financial aid,” Jerusalem’s Channel 2 television
reported. “Iran signed a defense treaty with Syria not too long ago,
which is why they are all one single package.”
“We know for a fact, and you know it too, that Iran supports
these organizations,” Adam asserted, while also assigning some blame
to Lebanon’s government.
Iranian reaction was not immediately forthcoming. President
Mahmud Ahmadinejad had been touring East Azerbaijan Province for
several days, where he gave several speeches excoriating Israel.
“There are also some countries that claim to be democracies and
supporters of freedom and human rights but which keep silent when
this regime [Israel] bombs Lebanon in front of their eyes and
slaughters people in their houses,” Ahmadinejad said in Sarab on July
13, state television reported. “They keep silent and they support
murderers with their silence.” Countries that stay silent will be
viewed as Israel’s “accomplices,” he said, and will be judged
accordingly.
In Tehran the same day, Supreme National Security Council
Secretary Ali Larijani and Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza
Assefi condemned Israeli actions, IRNA reported.
As hostilities entered their second day on July 13, the
Israeli Foreign Ministry voiced concern that its missing soldiers
will be sent to Iran. “We also have specific information that
Hizballah is planning to transfer the kidnapped soldiers to Iran,”
the ministry’s statement said, according to the government’s
press office.
Although Iran has rejected the possibility that the Israelis
will be transferred there, such speculation has historical echoes.
Israeli airman Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986, was
reportedly sent to Iran. It is also believed that William Buckley,
the Central Intelligence Agency’s Beirut chief of station, who
was taken hostage in 1984, was sent to Iran for interrogation. He was
tortured to death.
The same July 13 Israeli government statement added that Iran
is Hizballah’s “main benefactor” and provides “funding, weapons,
and directives.”
“For all practical purposes, Hizballah is merely an arm of
the Tehran jihadist regime,” the Israeli government asserted. The
statement argued that Iranian and Syrian support for groups like
Hizballah, Hamas, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is ideologically
driven, but also serves as a diversion from other international
issues.
Some Iranian connections with Hizballah and Hamas are well
documented. Larijani was in Damascus on July 12 and, according to
KUNA, he met with Hamas leader Khalid Mishaal and leading figures
from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and other groups. He was to
meet with a Hizballah delegation, KUNA added, but the Lebanese could
not come. Representatives from all these groups participated in a
conference in Tehran in April, and they participated in similar
events in Tehran in 2001 and 2002. Furthermore, they met with
Ahmadinejad when he visited Damascus in January 2006, and they
frequently meet with Iranian officials in the Syrian capital and
travel to Iran.
Tehran has never tried to hide its support for these groups,
which it views as legitimate resistance movements, and it has taken
the lead in trying to raise funds for the Hamas-led Palestinian
Authority.
Among all these groups, Tehran’s relationship with
Hizballah is the closest. Iranian officials had a leading role in the
creation of Hizballah in the early 1980s, and the organization’s
ideology is based on the Iranian theocratic system of Vilayat-i
Faqih. Although it has never renounced its platform of creating an
Islamist government similar to Iran’s, Hizballah now operates
within the Lebanese political system, with its members running for
office and serving in the cabinet and the legislature.
A visitor to the Hizballah press office in southern Beirut
will see pictures of the founder of Iran’s Islamic republic,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and of the country’s current supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Travelers in other predominantly
Shi’ite parts of Lebanon will note the numerous posters of these
Iranian clerics as well. Hizballah hospitals and schools continue to
receive funds from Iran’s Martyrs’ Foundation.
The U.S. government, which classifies Hizballah as a
terrorist organization, has asserted that Iran provides Hizballah
with funding and weapons. Press reports from September 2002 note U.S.
claims that Iran provided surface-to-surface rockets to Hizballah,
and there are repeated allegations that Tehran provides Hizballah
with millions of dollars annually. Tehran dismisses such accusations,
saying it supports Hizballah only with moral and political backing.
Hizballah has repeatedly denied, furthermore, that it is
directed by the Iranian government. Most recently, on July 15, Mahmud
Qamati, deputy chairman of the Hizballah Political Council, told
Al-Jazeera: “We would like to confirm today that the Iranians or
Syrians have nothing at all to do with the actions of the resistance
in Lebanon, or with the confrontation of the Israeli aggression.” He
said such allegations are meant to pressure the two countries to
force Hizballah to disarm, as called for by UN Security Council
Resolution 1559.
Israeli sources claimed on July 15 that an Iranian C802
shore-to-ship missile that was operated by Iranians struck an Israeli
navy vessel off the Lebanese coast. The Iranian Embassy in Beirut
denied on the same day that any of the country’s military
personnel are in Lebanon, Al-Alam television and the Lebanese
National News Agency reported. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Hamid Reza Assefi denied on July 16 that Iranian missiles were used.
Iran’s support for Hizballah on Lebanon concerns the
international community. A UN report in April said the cooperation of
Iran and Syria is needed to bring about the disarmament of all
Lebanese militias, and it referred to Hizballah as “the most
significant Lebanese militia.” The subsequent Security Council
Resolution 1680, which was issued in May, cited Syria’s negative
influence on Lebanese affairs and indirectly referred to Iranian
influence.
The relationship between Tehran and Damascus has grown warmer
in recent years, as both Iran and Syria face increasing international
pressure. The two countries have signed military agreements, and
their chief executives have exchanged visits.
Ahmadinejad telephoned President Bashar al-Assad on July 13
and declared that an attack on Syria would be an attack on the
Islamic world and would elicit a response, Hizballah’s Al-Manar
television, Iranian state radio, and SANA reported.
Iranian Friday Prayer leaders’ sermons, the content of
which is determined in Tehran by the 10-member executive board of the
Central Secretariat of the Central Council of Friday Prayer Leaders,
has echoed this theme, as well as support for Hizballah. In Tehran,
Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani encouraged Muslims to back Hamas and
Hizballah, the actions of which he described as “self-defense,” state
radio reported. In the southern city of Ahvaz, Ayatollah
Musavi-Jazayeri said Hizballah has “smashed the myth of [Israeli]
invincibility” and described Hizballah’s actions as “a source of
pride for the world of Islam,” provincial television reported.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in Tehran on July
16 that the most recent events in Lebanon and the Palestine
territories prove that “the presence of the Zionists in the region is
a satanic and cancerous presence and an infected tumor for the entire
world of Islam,” state television reported. (Bill Samii)
AHMADINEJAD LAUNCHES VERBAL ATTACK ON ISRAEL. “The basic and
fundamental problem of the world of Islam is the existence of the
Zionist regime,” President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said in a July 8 speech
in Tehran at a meeting of foreign ministers from countries
neighboring Iraq, state television reported. He said Islamic and
regional states must work to resolve this problem. Ahmadinejad
described Israel as a regional “threat and conspiracy” that was
imposed by the Islamic world’s enemies to cause discord, and he
added that Israel is delaying regional states’ “speedy progress
and development.” “There is no logical reason for the continuation of
the life of this regime [Israel],” Ahmadinejad said, adding, “it is
necessary for all of the regional countries to completely isolate the
Zionist regime.”
Anti-Israel rallies took place after the July 7 Friday
Prayers in many Iranian cities, and in the Fars Province city of
Shiraz the Students’ Justice-Seeking Movement circulated a
petition in which signatories indicated their willingness to go to
Palestine, Fars News Agency reported. The number of signatories is
unknown. Khuzestan Provincial television showed a rally in the city
of Ahvaz at which demonstrators, using both Persian and Arabic,
chanted, “Down with America,” “Down with Israel” and “Palestine,
Palestine.” Video of rallies in the Khuzestan Province towns of
Dasht-i Azadegan, Haftgel, and Shush, was shown, as well. Friday
Prayers leaders discussed Palestinian affairs in their sermons.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said on July 9
that although Iraq was the focus of the July 8-9 conference in Tehran
(see below), events in Palestine necessitated a reaction, state
television reported. Therefore, he said, a separate statement on this
subject was issued.
Mottaki also responded to a question about Iran’s pledge
to fund the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority — many governments are
withholding funding until Hamas renounces violence and recognizes
Israel. “The process of that $50 million contribution is in the phase
of decision-making now,” Mottaki said, Reuters reported. “The payment
that I talked about has not been paid yet.” (Bill Samii)
IRANIAN PILGRIMS DISCOURAGED FROM VISITING IRAQ. Speaking to
reporters in Tehran on July 8, two days after several Iranian
pilgrims lost their lives in an Iraqi suicide bombing, Foreign
Minister Manuchehr Mottaki urged his compatriots to change their
travel plans, IRNA reported. Mottaki said Iranian travelers should
wait until the security situation in Iraq improves. Mottaki added
that some of the pilgrims are already breaking the law: “Some
Iranians still dare to travel to Iraq illegally to visit holy shrines
in that country. Based on regulations in Iraq, they are sentenced to
six months in jail when caught.”
Substitute Tehran Friday Prayer leader Hojatoleslam Ahmad
Khatami told a gathering of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps personnel
on July 11 that, “America is trying to establish a permanent presence
in Iraq by way of provoking ethnic disputes and creating insecurity
inside that country,” the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA)
reported. He added, “Ethnic and tribal clashes are America’s
bread and butter.” To that end,” Khatami claimed, “killing
Shi’ites on a large scale, and Sunnis on a smaller scale, is on
their agenda; by ascribing the killings to acts of revenge by the
Shi’ites, they seek to spread killings and insecurity in Iraq.”
Khatami dismissed accusations of Iranian interference in Iraqi
affairs and said Iran hopes for a secure Iraqi state.
The Mujahedin Army in Iraq claimed in a July 12 Internet
posting that it was responsible for the shelling of the Iranian
Embassy in Baghdad on July 5. The attack is one in a series of recent
attacks on Iranians in Iraq. On July 6, a suicide car bomber targeted
Iranian Shi’ite pilgrims in the city of Al-Kufah, killing 12 and
wounding 39. In June, an Iraqi mob attacked the Iranian consulate in
Al-Basrah, reportedly in protest at an Iranian television program
that depicted local Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Mahmud al-Hassani as an
agent of Israel, police said at the time. (Bill Samii, Kathleen
Ridolfo)
IRAQ’S NEIGHBORS ISSUE STATEMENT. An official statement was
issued after the July 8-9 meeting in Tehran of foreign ministers from
the countries neighboring Iraq (Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi
Arabia, Syria, and Turkey), and also from Egypt, IRNA reported. Also
in attendance were the secretaries-general of the Organization of the
Islamic Conference and of the Arab League, as well as UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special representative for Iraq,
Ashraf Qazi.
Participants in the meeting declared their support for the
Iraqi government and national assembly, and also for the national
reconciliation plan of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The statement
also underlined participants’ concern about the continuing
violence in Iraq, and it called for an end to the presence of foreign
forces in Iraq. Participating countries agreed to open embassies in
Baghdad and otherwise enhance their presence in Iraq. Participants
agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism. The statement stressed the
need for a fair and transparent trial for former President Saddam
Hussein and other Iraqi leaders, IRNA reported. (Bill Samii)
IRAN TO BE REFERRED TO UN SECURITY COUNCIL. The international
community has decided to refer Iran to the United Nations Security
Council because of its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, Radio
Farda reported on July 12, after foreign ministers from the five
permanent members of the UN (China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the
U.S.), Germany, and the European Union met in Paris.
The decision was based on EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana’s report on his recent meetings with Ali Larijani,
secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, according
to the foreign ministers’ joint declaration of July 12. “The
Iranians have given no indication at all that they are ready to
engage seriously on the substance of our proposals,” the declaration
continued, and it mentioned failure to comply with the International
Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) demand for “suspension of all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.” “We have agreed to
seek a United Nations Security Council resolution, which would make
the IAEA-required suspension mandatory,” the declaration added.
“Should Iran refuse to comply, then we will work for the
adoption of measures under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the UN
charter.” Article 41 allows the Security Council to employ measures
other than war — such as economic sanctions, severing diplomatic
relations, or interrupting communications — in order to back its
decisions. Iranian compliance with IAEA and Security Council demands
and commencement of negotiations would preclude any further Security
Council action.
EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy
Javier Solana had delivered the proposal from China, France, Germany,
Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States during an
early-June visit to Tehran.
One day later, Iranian President Ahmadinejad said that the
U.S. aims to “create discord,” state television reported. On the
other hand, “We are all trying to calm the situation and establish a
constructive, fair, and legal dialogue aimed at resolving the
issues.” Ahmadinejad said Iran and the Europeans could resolve the
crisis, and a subject that has been problematic for so many years
cannot be resolved so quickly. He added that Iran only wants time to
consider the international proposal that it received on June 6.
In Tehran on the same day, Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki
also said time is needed to study the international proposal Iran
received, IRNA reported. He warned that haste will harm all the
interested parties.
Tehran had tried to prevent a referral through shuttle
diplomacy. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani
arrived in Rome on July 10 to discuss the nuclear issue with Italian
Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema,
IRNA reported. Later that day, Larijani told Italian television that
the international proposal intended to resolve the nuclear crisis is
ambiguous and must be clarified before Tehran can respond to it, IRNA
reported. Therefore, he continued, a response will not be forthcoming
before the G8 meeting in Russia on July 15-17.
In an interview that appeared in “Corriere della Sera” on
July 11, Larijani said, “We don’t trust some of the European
countries that have played a leading role.” Larijani criticized
British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s “deplorable pronouncements on
Iran that were quite out of place.” Larijani did not cite which of
Blair’s statements he is referring to. He said Italy does not act
this way, and “Your country is our prime trading partner in Europe.”
He encouraged Italy to be more active diplomatically in the nuclear
issue.
Larijani held formal discussions with Solana on July 11,
Radio Farda reported. The talks took place behind closed doors, but
in a subsequent press conference, Solana referred to his upcoming
meeting in Paris with foreign ministers of the countries involved
with the package of incentives offered to Iran. He said, “Tomorrow I
will have a meeting with the ministers of the six countries and they
will report — we will make an analysis of the situation after this
period of time and we will see how to proceed,” Radio Farda reported.
Referring to the July 13 Paris meeting, U.S. national
security adviser Stephen Hadley said on July 10 in Washington that
participants will consider Iran’s response and determine “whether
it is enough to move towards negotiations or whether we need to
reopen a process at the Security Council,” according to the State
Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. (Bill
Samii)
RUSSIAN MINISTER RULES OUT USE OF FORCE AGAINST IRAN. Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in Paris on July 13 that
Russia “excludes any possibility of the UN Security Council
sanctioning the use of force against Iran,” Russian news agencies
reported. Lavrov added, however, that Moscow is “disappointed with
the absence of a positive reaction from Iran” to the recommendations
and proposals worked out recently by the UN Security Council and
Germany on Iran’s nuclear activities. He noted that if Tehran
does not return to negotiations, “the Security Council will consider
steps appropriate to the situation.” Russian and Chinese diplomats
reluctantly agreed with their Western colleagues on July 13 that Iran
has delayed too long in responding to the council’s proposals and
that the matter should be referred back to that body. (Patrick Moore)
VOTING AGE TO RISE. Legislator Kazem Jalali said on July 12 that the
National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has approved a bill
that would increase the voting age, Mehr News Agency reported. The
current voting age is 15, and the bill would raise the minimum age of
voters to 18. However, according to Jalali, this change applies only
to municipal council elections. As elections for councils and for the
Assembly of Experts are scheduled to coincide this year, it is not
clear how smoothly the voting process will go. (Bill Samii)
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS CREATED TO DEAL WITH BORDER UNREST.
Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi said on July 12
that a special counterintelligence headquarters is being created to
handle insecurity in the provinces along Iran’s borders, Fars
News Agency reported. Hashemi-Shahrudi said there is a distinction
between antiregime efforts to stir up ethnic conflict and other
factors that cause public disturbances. The Islamic Republic faces
continuing unrest in the predominantly ethnic Azeri provinces in the
northwest and the Baluchi-inhabited regions bordering Pakistan in the
southeast.
There is trouble in the Kurdish regions that border Iraq and
Turkey, too. Operations by the Iranian and Turkish armed forces
against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) personnel are continuing, Roj
TV from Denmark reported on July 12. The PKK attacked an Iranian
military post in Zeman Griwi village in Kamyaran, while the Iranian
military shelled an area between Kamyaran and Hewraman. Meanwhile,
General Hassan Karami, the police commander in West Azerbaijan
Province, said PKK forces have suffered significant losses recently,
“Kayhan” reported on July 11. He added that many PKK members are
surrendering. (Bill Samii)
RESURGENCE OF RELIGION-POLITICAL SOCIETY RAISES CONCERNS. The recent
announcement by a former Iranian vice president of the arrest of
members of a banned and clandestine religio-political group probably
caught many observers by surprise. The secretive Hojjatieh Society is
unlikely to have many remaining members. And allegations in the past
five years of Hojjatieh activism have generally appeared in
connection with political disputes or to explain sectarian strife.
But statements by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who reportedly is
inclined toward Shi’ite millennialism, have contributed to
speculation that the Hojjatieh Society is making a comeback. Could
that include a run for Iran’s supreme leadership?
Given the opaque nature of Iranian government, the public
might never know just how pervasive the Hojjatieh Society’s
activities really are.
But Former Vice President Abtahi was quoted by the hard-line
daily “Kayhan” on July 5 as saying that several Hojjatieh Society
members were arrested recently. It is difficult to test the veracity
of the claim by Abtahi, who served as vice president for legal and
parliamentary affairs under ex-President Hojatoleslam Mohammad
Khatami. But it renews fears that the secretive Hojjatieh could wield
considerable power in the Iranian establishment.
The Hojjatieh group was formed by a Mashhad-based cleric in
the early 1950s to counter the activities of Bahai missionaries, who
claimed that the long-awaited Twelfth Imam of Shi’ite Islam had
already returned and been superseded by the Bahai faith. That cleric,
Sheikh Mahmud Halabi, recruited volunteers who could debate the
Bahais and who formed the original Hojjatieh Society (formally known
as the Anjoman-i Khayrieyeh-yi Hojjatieh Mahdavieh). But reference
sources say the society expanded its reach and its membership in the
1960s and 1970s.
Hojjatieh members initially opposed the ideas of Islamic
government and rule of the supreme jurisconsult (Vilayat-i Faqih)
espoused by the father of Iran’s revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini. Instead, they favored collective leadership of the
religious community and opposed religious involvement in political
affairs.
But founder Halabi feared a communist takeover after the
1978-79 Islamic revolution. So he urged his followers to abandon
their ideas about collective religious leadership and secular
government in Iran’s watershed referendum in December 1979.
That move reportedly paid off in the form of administrative
appointments in the postrevolutionary government for members, whose
religious credentials have been described as “impeccable” by author
Baqer Moin in his 1999 book, “Khomeini: Life Of The Ayatollah.”
Khomeini and others appear to have grown concerned over
Hojjatieh members’ secrecy, however, and their success. By 1983,
Supreme Leader Khomeini was attacking the Hojjatieh Society and
demanding that they “get rid of factionalism and join the wave that
is carrying the nation forward” or be “broken.” The Hojjatieh Society
announced its official dissolution the same day, according to author
Moin.
Fast-forward more than two decades to a speech just weeks
after President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s August 2005 inauguration.
Outgoing President Khatami is warning of the emergence of an
extremist movement that is raising fears of corruption and claiming
that universities’ curricula are insufficiently Islamic. Khatami
adds that such groups aid foreigners who do not want to see Islamic
states succeed, according to Fars News Agency on August 19.
Reformist commentators quickly pick up on the same theme. A
member of the left-wing Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution
Organization, Hashem Hedayati, says Khatami issued his warning
because extremists are entering the government, “Etemad” reports on
August 21. Hedayati adds that the phenomenon represents a strategic
shift by the Hojjatieh Society, which previously avoided involvement
in political affairs.
Less than a month later, a former interior minister and
parliamentarian who is a prominent member of the pro-reform Militant
Clerics Association (Majma-yi Ruhaniyun-i Mobarez), also warns of a
Hojjatieh revival. Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pur says the
society opposed involvement with politics before the revolution but
subsequently changed tack and displayed a more violent tendency,
“Etemad” reports on September 18. Mohtashami-Pur compares the
Hojjatieh Society with Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group,
Al-Qaeda, and accuses it of “speaking through various podiums,
brandishing a truncheon on a heretic witch-hunt, [and] accusing
[Iranian] youth” of wrongdoing.
Late last year, former Vice President Abtahi noted that many
grassroots religious groups had backed Ahmadinejad’s presidential
run. What stood out most, he said, was that these groups praised the
Twelfth Imam, rather than speaking in political terms, the “Financial
Times” reported on November 9. Abtahi speculated that Ahmadinejad has
“more important goals than politics,” warning that the new head of
state “speaks with the confidence of someone who has received
God’s word.”
Ahmadinejad’s references to the Twelfth Imam in a
September speech at the United Nations brought his affinity for
millennialist views to the world’s attention. Ahmadinejad’s
later observation that he was surrounded by an aura during the
speech, and that the spellbound audience in the General Assembly sat
unblinking, also drew attention to his unorthodox views.
More concretely, there are suggestions that Ahmadinejad has
earmarked millions of dollars in government funds for the Jamkaran
Mosque on the outskirts of Qom, where some Shi’a believe the
Hidden Imam will reappear. Finally, there has been a burgeoning of
Iranian websites that focus on the Hidden Imam.
A reformist legislator, Imad Afruq, cautions to the reformist
“Etemad-i Melli” daily on February 20 that many “pseudo-clerics” who
promote mysticism are distorting Islam and misleading the faithful.
Under these conditions, the lawmaker claimed, the Hojjatieh Society
will find it easy to operate.
At the same time, a Supreme Court judge, Hojatoleslam
Mohammad Sadeq Al-i Ishaq, is quoted by “Etemad” on February 20 as
warning of the persistent danger of reactionaries. He says Ayatollah
Khomeini regretted ever making use of the reactionary clerics, and
accuses the Hojjatieh Society of hiding its true intentions so it can
gain places in the government. The judge argues that society still
exists and that clerics should take the danger seriously.
There have been accusations that Ahmadinejad’s religious
mentor, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, is a member of the
Hojjatieh Society, a claim that he rejected, according to “Hemayat”
newspaper on April 30. The hard-line cleric prompted controversy when
he claimed last year that the Twelfth Imam prayed for
Ahmadinejad’s election, according to “Mardom Salari” on July 21,
2005.
Now, Mesbah-Yazdi’s name has surfaced in connection with
the upcoming election of the Assembly of Experts, which supervises
the Iranian supreme leader’s performance and selects a successor.
Mesbah-Yazdi has been mentioned by some as a possible successor to
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In an effort to preempt
Mesbah-Yazdi’s selection, opponents have criticized him on a
variety of pretexts — including his perceived lack of activism
against the monarchy before Iran’s Islamic revolution.
The outcome of this fall’s Assembly of Experts election
should help gauge the support that Ahmadinejad and his allies have
for placing Mesbah-Yazdi atop Iran’s theocratic system — if that
is indeed their objective. Given the lack of transparency in the
Iranian political process, however, it will be extremely difficult to
get an accurate reading of the Hojjatieh Society’s influence.
(Bill Samii)
AMERICAN AND IRANIAN SCHOLARS ALLY TO OPPOSE SEIZURE OF ANCIENT
PERSIAN TABLETS. Iran has strongly condemned a U.S. court ruling
authorizing the seizure of ancient clay tablets from Iran to
compensate American survivors of a 1997 Jerusalem bombing. Plaintiffs
claim the Iranian state should be made to compensate them because of
its support for Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the deadly
attack. Iranian officials have called on the United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to force
the return of the Persian tablets, which are on loan to Chicago
University. The university has argued in favor of returning the
artifacts to Iran — and has vowed to protect them.
The clay tablets were discovered in the 1930s by American
archeologists in the former capital of the Persian Empire,
Persepolis. They were then sent for study to the University of
Chicago’s Oriental Institute, where researchers say they contain
a trove of information about the Persian Empire 500 years before the
Christian era.
Abbas Alizadeh is a senior researcher at the University of
Chicago and an expert on ancient Iran. He tells RFE/RL that the
2,500-year-old tablets constitute an invaluable part of Iran’s
historical heritage and provide details about the lives of ancient
Persians.
“They are the only documents we have about the Achaemenid
Period that give us valuable information about [Persian] society,
[and the] economy, and how they built Persepolis — for example, that
they didn’t use slaves, [or] that women had almost the same
rights as men,” Alizadeh says. “And many Achaemenid locations that we
are still not aware of are cited there. [The tablets] are very
important, and we cannot put a price on them; they are priceless.”
The tablets have been on loan to Chicago University for seven
decades to allow their study and translation.
But several Americans injured in the bombing of a Jerusalem
mall nine years ago won a court ruling in June that would allow them
to seize and auction off the collection.
Pursuant to a previous decision that ordered Iran to pay the
victims more than $400 million based on its sponsorship of Hamas —
the U.S. court concluded that the university cannot protect
Iran’s ownership rights to the tablets.
That paves the way for the plaintiffs to confiscate them.
Iranian officials did not show up in court — a factor that
weighed heavily against them in the court’s reasoning. But they
protested as soon as news of the verdict emerged.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki threatened to
retaliate if the ruling is implemented and the tablets are seized.
Other officials expressed outrage, too, saying they will
appeal to the International Court of Justice, UNESCO, and other
international bodies.
Iranian embassies around the world condemned the ruling,
which they say violates international norms and regulations.
Last week, Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham
vowed that Iran would not permit its cultural heritage to be seized.
“Through [Iran’s] legal actions and the efforts of all
Iranians abroad, Iran’s cultural heritage will be snatched from
the claws of those who are not committed to any principles,” Elham
said.
About 3,000 Iranians living outside the country have signed a
petition calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to step in to reverse the
ruling. They argue that the Iranian people should not be punished for
“whatever the Islamic regime of Iran is doing in the international
arena.”
Alizadeh warns that implementing the U.S. court’s
decision could put museums at risk “by people who are trying to
profit from tragedies.”
“These tablets belong to a [whole] nation. And any government
in power at any given time — now, in the future, or in the past —
is merely the custodian of these tablets, not the owner,” Alizadeh
says. “Therefore you cannot seize them from the Iranian government —
or you would have to take the people of Iran to court, which is
impossible. But if the court disregarded these arguments and ruled in
favor of the plaintiffs, then all of the world’s museums would be
in danger.”
Iranian Vice President Esfandiar Rahim Moshaei heads
Iran’s Cultural Heritage Organization. He warns that the U.S.
decision could endanger cultural exchanges at scientific centers
around the globe.
Moshaei says he expects cultural and scientific institutions
and organizations to oppose the ruling.
Alizadeh says the case has come as a surprise to many.
“When you speak to those who are involved in these issues,
they can’t believe this case has gone so far,” Alizadeh says.
“And as far as I’ve heard, this case will have no chance in the
next court session.”
The director of the University of Chicago’s Oriental
Institute, Gil Stein, has stated in a letter to Iranian officials
that the institute remains committed to safeguarding the Persepolis
tablets.
Stein called the tablets “every bit as unique and important
as the original document of the Constitution of the United States.”
Reports suggest his institute will appeal last month’s ruling.
On July 10, Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, quoted UNESCO
Director-General Koichiro Matsuura as suggesting that the U.S. court
decision was “illegal.”
Iranian officials have announced that they intend to hire
experienced U.S. legal advice to seek the return of the tablets.
(Golnaz Esfandiari)
************************************* ********************
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

Sunday, July 16, 2006
*****************************************
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), French composer on the ideal tempo for a song: “If the singer is bad – very fast.”
*
If the subject is propaganda, reduce a complex issue to a cliché or slogan: Turks are bad, Armenians good. We are smart, progressive, civilized, everybody else is corrupt, backward, dishonest. We do the right thing, none of our enemies and their partisans are equipped to discriminate right from wrong. We touch the top, they scrape the bottom. God is on our side, the devil is on theirs. Heaven is our destination, hell is theirs.
*
What if some of our most cherished certainties are based on a transparent misrepresentation of reality, in the same way that some of the worst crimes against humanity are committed in the name of a god we only pretend to know and understand, but about whom “we know nothing” (Socrates)?
*
Contradictions and differences of opinion are useful only in a dialogue. Anywhere else they only paralyze the mind and poison the soul.
*
The stated reason is seldom the real reason. If the stated reason is altruistic, search for the unstated selfish reason.
*
When two men speaking in the name of god contradict each other, it only means that either one or both are charlatans, liars, and blasphemers with illusions of grandeur.
#
Monday, July 17, 2006
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SPEAKING WITH A FORKED TONGUE
**************************************************
The chances are, the opposite of what we say contains more truth than what we say.
*
Our Father (but no one else’s) who art in heaven, Halvajian be thy name. Give us this day our pilaf and shish-kebab (and stones to our enemies). Forgive us our trespasses on condition that you don’t expect us to forgive the bastards who trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us straight to the devil, because he makes fewer demands on us.
*
FREEDOM OR DEATH
********************************
Freedom for us, death to everyone else, including our dupes.
*
Behind every heroic slogan, search for the cowards who formulated it. Or, as the Turks are fond of saying, “Among ten men nine are sure to be women.” The Chinese have a similar saying: “Those who make idols don’t believe in them.
*
SHADES OF GRAY
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Chekhov: “There are no good people and no bad people in my plays, only people.”
*
Ronald Harwood explaining why his characters are shades of gray rather than black and white: “If you color your characters in one or the other, you are dealing in propaganda.”
*
SPEAKING OF PROPAGANDA
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In her recently published biography of Magda Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, Anja Klabunde quotes her as having said: “Joseph is the greatest loudmouth phony that has ever lived on German soil.”
#
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
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If I were a man of faith I would keep it a secret lest I offend others of a different persuasion. No one likes to be thought of as an infidel, a heretic, a blasphemer, or a deviationist on his way to the devil.
*
Nietzsche says somewhere “those who speak with a loud voice cannot have subtle thoughts.” Something similar could be said of men of faith.
*
There is no conceivable reason why god and good manners should be mutually exclusive. If you discard good manners in the name of god, what’s to stop anyone from using god as a license to kill?
*
People who value life over death may be relied on to do what’s best in their own interest. But the same cannot be said of men of faith who believe they will be better off dead than alive.
*
All undemocratic ideologies and power structures value conformism, obedience, and subservience above freedom and creativity. All totalitarian regimes tacitly subscribe to the Orwellian slogan “Slavery is Freedom.”
*
If what we believe shapes our character, it would be no exaggeration to say that very often faith creates hoodlums, vandals, and killers.
#
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
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Somewhere Plekhanov observes, “Bourgeois scientists make sure that their theories are not dangerous to God and to Capital.” He should have added: “Communist scientists make sure that their theories do not in any way question the infallibility of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. Closer to home: our pundits and academics today make sure that nothing they say may be remotely critical of our bosses, bishops, and benefactors on whose goodwill they depend for their survival and prosperity. Hence, the proliferation of massacre books in which all the blame is heaped on others.
*
Every power structure generates its own gods and bourgeoisie whose number one concern is number one.
*
Leadership, it has been said, consists in the ability to see “the other side of the hill.” My question is: if our leaders could not foresee the Genocide, what the hell can they foresee?
*
An honest man will never say, “If you want to be right, you must think as I do.” It is the mighty of this world that impose their ideas on others because they sense instinctively that they are wrong and only intimidation will persuade others to agree with them.
*
I read today that when slavery was legal, blacks owned black slaves, and whites owned white slaves. In other words, slavery was integrated.
*
Once upon a time when I was a loudmouth smart-ass know-it-all I couldn’t understand those who took a sudden dislike at me. Now I don’t understand those who liked me.
#

ONE-PARTISAN SYSTEM IS IMPOSED ARMENIA, UNITING OPPOSITION
Lragir.am
18 July 06
The problem is not that the defense minister must be non-partisan
or not. And the problem is not how the army will vote. The army
has always been instructed how to vote, stated the leader of the
National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukyan July 18, commenting on
Serge Sargsyan’s membership to the Republican Party at the Pastark
Club. According to him, the problem is much deeper and bigger for
the country’s future.
“Serge Sargsyan is known to control not only the army, which is known
to everyone, but also the economy and the bulk of financial influx
to Armenia. By joining the political party of Andranik Margaryan,
who controls the rest of funds and economy, a monster is created,
which controls the entire economy,” Vazgen Manukyan says.
According to him, this path leads Armenia to a unipartisan order.
“Unipartisan, when we lived in the Soviet Union, there was only one
political party, but very few people remember that in Poland, Hungary,
Bulgaria, for instance, there were “satellite” parties besides the
Communist Party, but those were fictitious, intended to show to the
world that there are starts of democracy, but in reality there was
only one political party. Now this experience is repeating in Armenia,”
says the leader of the National Democratic Union.
According to him, it is hard to tell what can be set against the
phenomenon which crushes the internal political system and threatens
the future of the state, called Serge Sargsyan – Republican Alliance.
“Power is a pyramid. In the Soviet Union, the entire economy was at
the bottom of the pyramid. In Armenia the bulk of the economy is again
in that pyramid. Now imagine the power pyramid, and the workers of the
pyramid are told that it is favorable for them and they have to become
members of a political party. The power pyramid becomes a solid, strong
political party at once. The opposition does not have the possibility
to build a pyramid and fight the pyramid. Therefore, it is much more
difficult to oppose it in the opposition,” says Vazgen Manukyan.
According to him, it is not accidental that the opposition is
speaking about revolution and a storm. Vazgen Manukyan thinks these
considerations take place because “no other ways of breaking through
the pyramid are visible”.
“I would like, I wish one or two ideological forces appeared in
the opposition (but unfortunately the opposition does not have the
necessary funds), who would run in the election determined to go all
the way to struggle, if not to take power, at least to take a sector
of power to influence further developments,” says Vazgen Manukyan.
The leader of the NDU says it is important that in a newly established
state the first persons take a risk and think about the public
interests besides their own interests. Vazgen Manukyan hints at the
steps taken by leaders of different countries intended to foster
the establishment of political parties, endangering their power but
thinking about the state.
“Jefferson, Adams, Washington acted so in America, Franco did,
Pinochet did. A real head of state must have only one great public
interest besides his personal interest. If our statesmen thought about
the future of the country apart from their personal interests, they
would encourage, foster formation of a normal force against them,”
says Vazgen Manukyan.
He says the opposition is diverse, but there are serious forces,
nevertheless, whose unification would change the state of things.
Vazgen Manukyan cannot discern a tendency of unification of serious
forces yet, but he does not exclude it either. He finds that life
will impose this unification.

Armenian politician criticizes defence minister for joining ruling party
Regnum, Moscow
18 Jul 06
An attempt to monopolize power in the hands of one party is being
made in Armenia, the former Armenian prime minister and leader
of the Armenian Democratic Union, Vazgen Manukyan, said at a news
conference on 18 July. He said that this is proved by the decision
of the secretary of the National Security Council under the Armenian
president, Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, to join the Republican
Party of Armenia.
“Serzh Sarkisyan controls one part of financial flows, while the prime
minister and leader of the Republican Party of Armenia, Andranik
Markaryan, controls the other. The integration of these financial
flows will create a party of monsters,” the former prime minister
said. He added that the concentration of power in the hands of one
party will be dangerous for the country.
Vazgen Manukyan said that the Armenian opposition cannot oppose this
event as it does not have sufficient financial means, our Regnum
correspondent reports. “I and some opposition leaders, particularly,
the former foreign minister, Raffi Ovannesyan, have come up with an
initiative to set up a civil movement,” the MP said. He added that
this movement is being set up not for the 2007 parliamentary election,
but for returning power to the people.
“We have to try if not to come to power, then at least to have a
considerable presence in the government,” Manukyan said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress