DEBATES ON ELECTORAL CODE IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Lragir.am
18 July 06
During the consulation conducted by Speaker Tigran Torosyan on July
18 the representatives of parliament factions and groups continued
the debate on the Electoral Code. The Public Relations Department
of the National Assembly reports that during the consultation they
worked out principles of solutions connected with several proposals
of the Commission of Venice. The next debate on the Electoral Code
is on July 21 at 11 o’clock.

Lebanon: the world looks on
· EU criticism of Israel removed
· Statement diluted following British pressure
· Death toll passes 200
Ewen MacAskill and Rory McCarthy in Nahariya, and Patrick Wintour in
St Petersburg
Tuesday July 18, 2006
The Guardian
Western leaders remained paralysed yesterday as Lebanon suffered one
of its bloodiest days since Israel began its bombardment a week ago.
For the second time in 48 hours western governments declined to
intervene as Israeli forces, on the sixth day of aerial attacks,
killed 47 people and wounded at least 53. Hizbullah, the Iranian-backed
militia, also stepped up its attacks, launching 50 rockets against
Israel, the highest number in a single day. The death toll since
Israel began its attack has risen to 210 in Lebanon and 29 in Israel.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, dismissed hopes of a quick
resolution to the conflict last night, vowing his military would
continue operating at full intensity. He said Israel would not stop
until two of its captured soldiers were freed, the Lebanese army
deployed to protect Israel’s northern border and Hizbullah forced
to disarm.
He said both Hizbollah and Hamas, the Palestinian group, were working
with the support of “the axis of evil that stretches from Tehran to
Damascus. When missiles rain on our cities, our response will be to
wage war with greater determination, courage and sacrifice,” he said.
“We don’t seek war or head-on confrontation but if necessary we shall
not flinch from them.”
After the failure of the G8 meeting in St Petersburg at the weekend
to step in, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday also
settled for a bland joint statement that exposed divisions between
European governments.
EU foreign ministers called on Israel not to resort to
“disproportionate action” but criticism of Israel in an original
draft was diluted after pressure from Britain and Germany, Israel’s
closest EU allies.
In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike yesterday afternoon on a
bridge in the port city of Sidon left 10 civilians dead, including
two children. Three Israeli tanks briefly crossed into Lebanon and
Israeli Army Radio, quoting a senior officer, said Israel would
enforce a half-mile “free-fire” zone to bar Hizbullah from the border.
For the second straight day, Hizbullah rockets landed in the
coastal city of Haifa where officials closed the port. A rocket
hit and demolished part of a house, leaving two people injured,
one seriously. Other rockets reached even further south into Israel,
as far as the town of Afula, just above the West Bank.
The British government airlifted 41 Britons stranded in Lebanon
and promised to evacuate others by sea if necessary. The US sent an
aircraft carrier in preparation for an evacuation of thousands of
its 25,000 citizens in Lebanon.
The US and Britain insisted on Sunday at the G8 summit in St Petersburg
that criticism of Israel be removed from a joint communique. Both
appear ready to allow Israel a further few days in which to target
Hizbullah, after which there will be a ceasefire.
A Foreign Office source said: “Everyone is grappling with this but
no one is entirely sure how to deal with it.”
John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, insisted that the UN security
council should delay any action until the UN envoy now in the Middle
East, Vijay Nambiar, returns this week to New York. Mr Nambiar said:
“We hope that we will be able to see our way toward …
a de-escalation of the crisis.”
Tony Blair and Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, called yesterday
for the 2,000-strong UN observer force on the Israel-Lebanon border
to be expanded. Mr Blair said: “The only way we’re going to get
a cessation of hostilities is if we have the deployment of an
international force into that area, that can stop the bombardment
over into Israel, and therefore give Israel a reason to stop its
attacks on Hizbullah.” But the US is lukewarm and Israel described
the proposal as premature.
The French prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, flew to Beirut,
the highest-level international presence since the crisis began. He
called on Israel and Hizbollah to implement an immediate ceasefire
on humanitarian grounds and for the release of the Israeli soldiers.
The Iranian foreign minister, Manoucher Mottaki, said yesterday that
end to the fighting and an exchange of hostages would be acceptable
and fair. Iran is the main backer of Hizbullah, which is holding
the two Israeli soldiers prisoner. After meeting Syrian officials in
Damascus, he said: “A reasonable and just solution must be found to
end this crisis. A ceasefire and then a swap is achievable.”
Exasperation with the international response was expressed last night
by Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister. In an interview with
Channel 4 News he said: “Until now I am very disappointed, but I can
tell you there is still time to make a real decision in the UN. Stop
this massacre that is happening in Lebanon because the more they
inflict casualties the worse it becomes.”
In the wind-up of the St Petersburg summit, Mr Bush and Mr Blair blamed
Iran and Syria for encouraging Hizbullah. In a private conversation
picked up by a microphone, the two men singled out Bashir Assad, the
Syrian president, as the figure stoking violence in the Palestinian
territories and Iraq as well as in Lebanon. They claimed that Mr
Assad was trying to destabilise the region and block the introduction
of democracy.
Parts of the conversation were almost inaudible but a senior British
diplomat confirmed that the two leaders had identified Mr Assad as
the prime culprit and described him sarcastically as a real sweetie
and honey.
–Boundary_(ID_o54eo8rnFKkbT9bI3LrBRg)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Hundreds more Australians to evacuate Lebanon
ABC Online, Australia
July 19 2006
AM – Wednesday, 19 July , 2006 08:00:00
Reporter: Karen Barlow
TONY EASTLEY: The evacuation of foreign nationals out of strife-torn
Lebanon is in full swing, but there are grave fears for Australians
trapped in the south of the country.
Two bus convoys loaded with Australians have now successfully escaped
by road, and another 400 Australians are expected to leave Beirut
today on chartered ferries.
American, French and Canadian nationals are among the thousands of
others all leaving in one of the biggest seaborne evacuation operations
since World War II.
Karen Barlow reports.
KAREN BARLOW: George Atamian is now in the Jordanian capital Amman
after escaping Lebanon on a bus with the Sydney Armenian Dance Troupe.
GEORGE ATAMIAN: It honestly feels pretty good. It feels good in a way
that you know we’re free and we’re safer out here, but at the same
time, I sort of feel pretty bad, ’cause I’ve got a lot of friends
there that I’ve sort of met and some family up there as well and yeah,
I just feel really bad for them, what they have to go through.
KAREN BARLOW: Just over a week ago, the Melburnian was in Germany
enjoying the World Cup finals.
He decided on a whim to travel to Lebanon to visit family and friends;
then the bombardment began.
GEORGE ATAMIAN: That was some scary moments. We actually felt, yeah,
that they were pretty close.
KAREN BARLOW: George Atamian knew members of the Dance Troupe and
decided to stay with them when they bunkered down in their Beirut
hotel.
GEORGE ATAMIAN: The mood around the hotel wasn’t too bad. We sort of
had some hope that the Government would sort of do something and help
us out there and yeah, so I guess fortunate enough to be out now.
GEORGE ATAMIAN: Thousands of other Australians are needing help to
get out of the conflict zone.
More than 7,000 citizens are now registered with the Australia embassy
in Beirut.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, says the Government
is working as hard as it can.
ALEXANDER DOWNER: Look, we one way or another will, I think, be able to
get all the people who want to get out fairly soon, with an exception,
and that is the people in the south who I’m especially worried about.
KAREN BARLOW: A chartered ferry will today arrive off Beirut to take
about 300 Australians to Turkey, and a further 100 Australians will
travel on a Canadian chartered ship.
Priority will be given to families with children, the elderly and
the sick.
Mr Downer says the Government is negotiating with Israel to ensure
a safe passage for exiting foreign nationals.
ALEXANDER DOWNER: We have a good relationship with Israel and they,
I understand, are concerned. Of course they’ve got to do what they
have to do in relation to Hezbollah, and they’re going to continue
to wage war against Hezbollah.
KAREN BARLOW: Alexander Downer says the Government is trying to
charter another ship for Friday and a bigger one for Saturday.
TONY EASTLEY: Karen Barlow.

13 members of a network of car thieves have been arrested
By m.p.
Tue, 18 Jul 2006, 21:26
Typically Spanish, Spain
July 19 2006
The police have arrested 13 members of a criminal network which
specialised in stealing luxury cars on the coast of Valencia and
Alicante, and exporting them to other countries. They also targeted
areas in Madrid and on the Costa del Sol.
Eleven of the people taken into custody are from Armenia, which
is where most of the stolen cars were sent. The other two are from
Bulgaria and Cuba.
Police made five property searches: two in Denia and one in Gandía
in Alicante province, and one each in Oliva and Cullera in Valencia.
They seized 10 luxury cars, a jet ski, stolen registration plates,
blank vehicle documentation, and 7,000 ~@ in cash.
h/article_5440.shtml
–Boundary_(ID_gqLZZOZh5/JB4 ZmJIytnNg)–

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
July 19 2006
Right of Self Defence, Terror and Turkish-American Relations Print
Tuesday , 18 July 2006
View: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Laciner
Palestine lost almost all infrastructures when Hamas militants
kidnapped one Israeli soldier. 1.5 millions have been confined to a
life without electricity, water and job. On the other hand, killed
more than 200 Lebanon people, bombarded cities, airports, destroyed
highways and so many places became a compensation of two kidnapped
Israeli soldiers. Isreal says ~SI am defending my-self.~T At the same
time, the countries like USA, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia
say that Israel have a right to self defence. It is very open that
Tel-Aviv acts such a careless way by gaining the support of the US.
But, does the right of self defence just belong to Israel in the
Middle East? For example, doesn~Rt Turkey have such a right?
Turkey has given terrorism more than 36.000 victims. The PKK is the
bloodiest terrorist organization in the world. It is among the first
places in the lists of terrorist organizations of both the US and the
EU. Besides, it does not have democratically elected-members unlike
the Hamas and Hezbollah. It sustains its name with its massacres. It
has not become possible to destroy this organization in spite of all
efforts of Turkey because of the foreign support to the PKK
terrorism: The main supporters of the organization were Syria, Greece
and Greek Cypriots. The PKK trained its militants in these countries.
The retired or active high ranked soldiers from the Greek Army
trained the militants by personally attending the PKK camps in
Lebanon and Syria. When Abdullah Ocalan was captured, he was carrying
the Greek Cypriot passport. The PKK’s leader was captured in front of
the Greek Embassy in Kenya. Ocalan entered Greece several times and
made high level contacts there. The supprot to terrorism is not
limited just these three countries. The organization also had offices
in Russia, Armenia and several other countries and it collected
extortions and donations, made drug smuggling, kidnapping people,
human trafficing etc. Its de facto current supporter is the US
controlled state Iraq.
The PKK has more than 10 armed camps in Iraq. These camps are located
in the northeast part of the country. In addition to this, the PKK
have direct or indirect offices in many cities of Iraq. Lastly, they
opened an office in Baghdad called ~SOcalan Culture Center~T. Turkey
transferred the information of all these developments with the
documents to the Baghdad Government, to the US authorities and to the
Kurdish authority in the north Iraq. Yet, they have nothing to do
except wasting Turkey~Rs time. The USA says: ~SGo and talk to the
Baghdad, they are governing the Iraq~T. On the other hand the Baghdad
says ~SI have no power in that region, I cannot destroy the PKK bases,
go and talk with the Kurdish Authority in the North Iraq.~T However,
the Kurds in the North Iraq say that ~SMy power is not enough to fight
against this organization~T. But, it is well known fact that Barzani
supports the PKK and Talabani neglects the PKK activities. It is very
open that the PKK opened the offices with condoning of Iraqi Kurds
and the Baghdad administration. It is not true that the USA is not
competent in the country. USA, it is the most powerful element to the
most distant police station in Iraq today. America can make raids
with weapons even to the bedrooms of the houses when it wants to deal
with the Al Queade. But when it is time to take into consideration to
deal with a terrorist organization which is attacking to Turkey the
situation is changing.
Turkey~Rs patience is finishing. The PKK is attacking civil targets in
Turkey under the protection of Iraq and Iraqi Kurds. It kills police
officers and soldiers. The PKK puts bombs to the school buses… And
the USA says ~Swe cannot do anything~T.
It is not possible for Turkey to endure to this game.
Turkey also has a right of self defence and it has to use this right
immediately. The Kandil Mountain and its environment is about to be
bombarded in near future. What is more important is that the groups
who are protecting the PKK in the North Iraq are all in the target.
The US also should know: The main reason of the US troubles in the
region so far is that it became an enemy with anybody in the region,
except the Kurdish tribes. Along the history the only super power
which established its Middle East policy by excluding Arabs, Persians
and the Turks all together is the US, and the failure is very vivid.
If the US needs Turkey in any area, it must give up protecting the
PKK in Iraq. The Turkish people never give tolerance to any super
power which gives tolerance to an organization that kills their
children. If the US is a superpower, it should have the power to
prevent the terrorists to establish terror bases in north Iraq, if
the US is not a superpower, Turkey has enough power to protect its
children from PKK terrorism.
Trn. by Emre Ozkan, USAK
JTW
18 July 2006

Akashas facilitated Armenians activities
By MAXWELL MASAVA, EMMANUEL ONYANGO
Kenya Times, Kenya
July 19 2006
THE name of the Akasha family yesterday featured prominently at the
Kiruki Commission of Inquiry as a witness recounted how its member
helped the Armenian brothers acquire Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)
pin numbers.
Sammy Mutinda, an accountant who helped the Arturs acquire pin
numbers narrated that it was a member of the Akashas who went to his
office in Westlands on behalf of the Artur brothers to request for
the processing of their pin numbers. The request is claimed to have
been lodged sometime in October last year.
He told the Commission that he served the family of Ibrahim Akasha
as an accountant for many years and he had no reason to doubt their
foreign friends who were interested in investing in the country.
According to his testimony, he never met the Arturs and they requested
for the application forms in absentia.
The Akasha family is prominently linked to drug trafficking. The elder
Akasha, Ibrahim, was shot dead in the Netherlands in what was suspected
to be hitmen probably hired by people linked to drug trafficking
deals. His son Kamaldin was also murdered in Mombasa a few years later.
According to the testimony, Akasha went to Mutinda~Rs office situated
in Westlands and introduced the two–Artur Margaryan and Artur
Sargasyan–as his friends and business partners in vehicle spare
parts. He provided two application forms to the Akasha which were
returned after two weeks.
The witness narrated to the commission that it was Akasha who paid
for the application forms after they were returned. The forms had
been fully filled by the applicants.
But surprisingly, the two-week period was not explained as officials
at the Kenya Revenue Authority later narrated that the issuance of
the pin numbers was done in a day. The applications which were done
in October 2005 also indicated that the two brothers had signed the
forms personally, contradicting earlier evidence that they had arrived
in the country in November of the same year.
Before they were deported last month, Artur Margaryan often referred
to one of the Akasha sons as ~Sa big boy with baby brain~T during
press conferences. Some of the vehicles found within the Arturs Runda
residence were said to belong to the Akashas.
Mukinda in his evidence told the commission that he had come to trust
the Akashas and would be invited by the family to advise them on
financial matters and guide their accountant on book keeping. That
was when the family had a garage in Ruaraka.
~SMy lords I never handed the pin numbers to them (Arturs) but to
Akasha who was to forward them,~T said the witness who was being
guided by his lawyer, Jackson Omwenga. He also exonerated himself
from the blame saying KRA must be held responsible for the issuance
of pin numbers.
Mutinda who gave out the forms without seeing the purported investors
said he expected the applicants to fill in details before returning.
He told the commission that he was acting as an agent and would assist
clients acquire pin numbers from any part of the world. The witness
even provided his office address to be used by the Artur brothers at
that time.
~SMy lords am happy to recruit tax payers for the government,~T he
justified his role when pressed by a lawyer, Jane Ondieki, appearing
for the suspended CID Director Joseph Kamau. The lawyer had accused
the witness of being the cause of all problems behind Arturs~R presence
in the country.
However, duplicate application forms which were brought to the
Commission by assisting counsel indicated that the two brothers were
given pin numbers as civil servants. The application forms which
were denounced by Mutinda and KRA officials were said to have been
processed and worked on within a day.
Mutinda claimed that the pin numbers which he assisted the Arturs to
acquire were genuine and denied having seen the duplicate forms that
enabled the deported brothers to have two more fake pin numbers.
Benard Mukenya, an assistant revenue officer in charge of pin number
issuance said the application forms from the Arturs were presented
without proper identification as required. They were said to have
presented two varying applications and in return managed to get two
sets of pin numbers. In the application forwarded by Mutinda, the
Arturs ticked themselves as employees of undislosed companies while
in the fake application, they presented themselves as civil servants.
The Commission was told that the officer who was in charge of issuing
the pin numbers to the Arturs has since resigned from service. Tom
Mboya, the officer who issued the numbers resigned from mid May this
year, according to testimonies.
David Mala, an assistant revenue commissioner at the Domestic Tax
Department told the commission that the numbers they had originally
given to the Artur brothers were not the same as the other two which
had been presented before the commission. However, both forms were
signed by a senior revenue official identified as Andrew Okello.
~SMy lords the forms with civil service numbers do not exist in our
records,~T said Mala as he maintained that KRA records only reflect
a set of pin numbers defining the two brothers as employees.
The brothers had also managed to register double pin numbers for
their companies including Brotherlink International Limited and the
Kensington Holdings Limited.
It also emerged from other witnesses of the day that the Armenian
brothers had lied when they registered companies associated with
them. The two brothers evaded paying stamp duty according to three
witnesses who testified yesterday afternoon.
Ahmed Omar, a chief cashier with National Bank of Kenya disowned a
stamp duty receipt purported to have been paid and received by teller
number 11 at the bank~Rs Hill Branch. Omar said the alleged branch has
no teller number 11 and there was no cashier on that particular day.
The receipt had no signature as required.
Another witness, Mr. Joseph Mwangi, an operations manager at Kenya
Commercial Bank, Moi Avenue branch, said stamp duty for Kensington
Holdings Limited was never paid through the bank as it had been
purported.
In fact City Bank which was portrayed as having received the money
had been closed a month earlier as opposed to the date on KCB receipts.
The bank was closed on December 19, 2005 while the payment was
indicated as having taken place on January 12, 2006.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Nagorno Karabakh foreign ministry: “Solutions can be found only with
participation of legally elected NKR authorities”
Regnum, Russia
July 18 2006
“One may only welcome the statement of the Great Eight countries on
support of mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and on necessity
to coordinate basic principles of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict,” stated Nagorno Karabakh Foreign Minister Georgy
Petrosyan, when commenting on statements made during the G8 summit
in St. Petersburg to REGNUM.
In his words, “Nagorno Karabakh has always advocated peaceful
resolution of the problem and is ready to spare no effort to come to
agreement over establishing long-term peace in the region.
Unfortunately, not everything depends on the mediators.” “Considering
Azerbaijan’s extremely destructive position and its unwillingness to
be in any contact with Nagorno Karabakh it is very difficult to find
an acceptable and fair solution to date,” the minister said.
According to him, the president of the Russian Federation has fairly
noted that Russia is not going to impose any solutions on the parties
to the conflict and that the compromise must be reached by people.
“Taking into account the Russian Federation’s readiness to become
a guarantor of fulfillment of the agreements, we remind once more
that the achievement of solutions, directly concerning the future of
our country and our people, is possible only with participation of
representatives of legally elected authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic, the main and the most suffered party to the conflict,”
Petrosyan said.

Less than 3% of Azerbaijanis buy newspapers daily
Regnum, Russia
July 18 2006
Results of poll on the media market situation were announced today,
July 18, in Baku, REGNUM correspondent reported.
According to the statement of Chairman of the Yeni Nasil (New
Generation) journalist association Arif Aliev, the poll results show
that 71% of respondents do not buy newspapers and magazines, 2.8%
buy newspapers everyday, and 17% buy them once a week. Each daily
newspaper in Azerbaijan enjoys an average of 3.5 readers.
The poll also showed that the most interesting subject for the readers
is the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Percentage of readers interested in
the political parties’ activities is very low.

Nagorno Karabakh: Reason of arsons – deliberate actions of Azerbaijani side
Regnum, Russia
July 18 2006
On July 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh
Republic issued a statement on the wildfires on the Nagorno Karabakh
territory bordering to Azerbaijan. REGNUM introduces the text of
the statement:
“The fires on the Nagorno Karabakh territory bordering with Azerbaijan
have been taking place since early June 2006. The situation is a
subject of serious concern for the Karabakh leadership, since it
poses a threat for the security of the NKR and its population.
A special commission formed by the representatives of the ministries
and departments responsible for security issues has been established
in the NKR to study the circumstances and reveal the reasons of the
fires. The subunits of fire-prevention service, the NKR Department
for Emergency Situations and the leadership of local administrations
and population have been mobilized for the localization of the centers
of the fires and non-admission of fire spreading. A twenty-four-hour
duty has been organized in all the communities to prevent emergency
situations.
However, the situation in the regions that is deteriorating due to
the fires is pregnant with unfavorable long-term consequences for the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic agriculture and food security. The number
and area of the fires at wheat fields on the territories bordering
with Azerbaijan have sharply risen.
As a result of the work of the NKR special commission, the
incontestable data have been received that indicate that the reasons
for the fires were the Azerbaijani party’s intentional hostile
activities. By these actions the official Baku pursues a goal to erode
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic economy and deprive it of the possibility
of progressive development. In order to conceal its intentions, the
Azerbaijani leadership from the very outset has launched a wide-ranging
propaganda both in the local and foreign mass media, trying to lay the
blame on the Karabakh side, which is a continuation of a propaganda
and psychological war against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic people
and is an awkward attempt to screen the act of aggression.
We would like to remind that as early as in 2001, the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic authorities suggested via the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen
on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement a package of measures on
establishing confidence between the conflict parties. In particular,
we offered cooperation in fire prevention on pastures and agricultural
territories in the bordering regions. To our regret, the official
Stepanakert’s initiative was not then supported in Baku and was not
honored with due attention by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen.
Moreover, as early as June 15, 2006, the NKR Ministry of Foreign
Affairs addressed a request to the Office of the OSCE Chairman-in
Office’s Personal Representative to hold a crisis monitoring on
territory bordering with Azerbaijan to estimate the real situation
on the spot and refute the Azerbaijani party’s vain accusations.
We draw the attention of the whole international community and
especially the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to the Stepanakert’s
right, in case Azerbaijan’s hostile activities are not addressed to,
to undertake adequate response measures to ensure the Republic’s
security”.

Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Peru signed Protocol of Cooperation
Baku Today, Azerbaijan
July 18 2006
Sharg 18/07/2006 21:41
Yesterday the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and Peru
signed Protocol of Cooperation. The document was signed by Azeri
foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Umberto Umeres, Peruvian
ambassador to Azerbaijan.
The minister expressed his country’s interest to collaborate with the
countries of Latin America, including Peru. The parties exchanged
opinions about ways of widening cooperation within United Nations,
reforms within this international organization and its efficiency
growth. Touching Nagorno Garabagh conflict theme Mammadyarov called
Peru’s position as a UN Security Council member on the matter very
important.
Umeres, in his turn, stressed his country’s support of territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, solution of this issue on the basis of norms
and principles of international law.
The parties sides also debated issues of bilateral cooperation in
the area of politics, economy, science and education.