FIRST DEFENDER DOESN’T SAY “NEVER SAY NEVER”

Panorama.am
14:31 16/03/06

“I’ll do my best in the sphere where I thinks my skills are most
developed. That is the social field,” informed First Human Rights’
Defender Larissa Alaverdyan in reply to the question about her future
activity.

And in the social field she is going to head public organization
“Against Legal Whim”. “I pretend on being included into the programs
To Overcome Poverty or War-calls of Millennium,” informed former
Human Rights Defender, manager executive of the above mentioned PO
Larissa Alaverdyan.

DEFENDER PUTS THE FINAL TOUCHES TO ANNUAL REPORT

Panorama.am
15:10 16/03/06

Former Human Rights Defender Larissa Alaverdyan doesn’t hurry
to publish her report of 2005. “The law gives me opportunity to
wait until March 31. And I’m going to wait for the developments,”
informed President of “Against Legal Whims” Public Organization
Larissa Alaverdyan.

And what is her opinion towards the NA Law saying the Human Rights’
Defender must be resent during the representation of the report and
have a 5-minute speech? “In fact, the article of the law saying that
the Defender reports about his/her activity has been accepted by the
NA in this way.”

Panorama.am wondered whether the first Defender is going to be present
in the NA during her annual reporting. “I cannot see my role in the NA,
what am going to do there,” noticed manager executive of the Public
Organization.

IMAGE OF ARMENIAN OPPOSITION BY ACADEMIC

Panorama.am
16:07 16/03/06

“The leaders of our opposition thinks about getting ready to
the parliamentary elections of 2007 not to get rid of the present
Government but to have seats in the Parliament,” announced academic and
always oppositional Rafael Ghazaryan at the public hearings organized
at “National Civil Enterprise” today.

The experience showed the academic that the oppositional politicians
mostly think about their own interests and repel the common
interests. “Nothing is going to change unless out opposition rises
and matures for the sake of this poor country,” Rafael Ghazaryan
added.

GEOGRAPHICAL MAP UNCHANGEABLE – ARMENIANS AND AZERIS DOOMED TO BE NEIGHBORS

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2006 19:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Permanent political instability in Azerbaijan was
an important factor in the Karabakh war, author of “Black Garden”
book dedicated to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict Thomas de Waal said
in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, during the
critical battles for Shushi and Lachin the Azeri troops left for
Baku to meddle in the internal political disorders. “The greatest
territorial surrenders were Aghdam and Fizuli and they occurred in
1994,” de Waal noted.

At the same time he noted that anyone knows that the geographical
map cannot be changed. “Armenians and Azeris will always have to live
as neighbors and it’s painful to see that the two societies abide by
the slogan “Karabakh is ours and it’s inseparable”.

Neither of the parties is ready for compromise that is why it’s
hard to achieve complete peace,” the journalist said. Thomas de
Waal says the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan is responsible
for it. “The peaceful plan is generally outlined. Karabakh will
de-facto maintain the present status with the corridor to Armenia;
Azerbaijan will receive its lands back and refugees will be allowed
to return… However the settlement process cannot be started without
dialogue and mutual trust,” he underscored.

AZERI OFFICIAL SAYS NO COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA

Armenpress
Mar 16 2006

BAKU, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS: A senior Azerbaijani official downplayed
the importance of three Armenians’ arrival in Baku to participate
in the 2nd preparatory conference for the OSCE 14th economic forum
‘Enhancing Transportation Security in the OSCE Area.’ Deputy prime
minister of Azerbaijan, Abid Sharifov, was quoted by Trend news
agency as saying the presence of three Armenian representatives at the
conference did not indicate that Azerbaijan was ready to cooperate with
‘aggressor country.”

“Armenian and Azeri representatives participate in the OSCE-organized
events in Yerevan, Baku and other countries as members of the
organization, and this cannot be regarded as Azerbaijan’s cooperation
with the aggressor,” he said.

DANIEL FRIED INDICATES U.S. WOULD NOT OBJECT TO CONSTRUCTION OF NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN ARMENIA

Armenpress
Mar 16 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS: US assistant secretary of state,
Daniel Fried indicated during d a news conference in Yerevan today
before wrapping up a brief visit here that the U.S. would not object
to the Armenian government’s ambitious plans to build a new nuclear
power station in place of the Metsamor plant, which is due to be
decommissioned by 2016.

Fried said after recent explosions on the gas pipeline shipping
Russian gas to the South Caucasus the USA and Europe have been paying
a greater attention to the energy security of the region and its
energy diversification to cut its heavy dependence on Russian fuel
supplies. He said Armenia’s desire to built a new nuclear power plant
will be discussed in Washington. According to Armenian energy experts,
construction of a new plant would require at least $1 billion.

Fried also responded to a question about whether U.S. position on
recognizing the 1915 Armenian genocide has changed by saying that
president Bush describes these events in all his April 24 statements
as ‘horrible events and a tragedy.” He then denied media allegations
that US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, would be recalled soon,
allegedly for acknowledging publicly last year that 1915 massacres
of Armenians in the Ottoman empire was genocide.

“Ambassador Evans enjoys the confidence of the State Department
and will continue to serve as US ambassador to Armenia,” he
said.. Ambassador Evans who was also present at the news conference
reiterated what he had said before, “I serve to the pleasure of US
president.” Steven Mann, the US cochairman of the OSCE Minsk group,
accompanying Fried, said Armenia and Azerbaijan were ready to move
forward to end their dispute over Karabakh and the USA was ready to
assist the process. He said the visits to Baku and Armenia were to
learn what should be done next to go on with the talks.

Daniel Fried, accompanied by Senior Advisor for Eurasia Steven Mann,
will depart for Ankara, Turkey on March 16. In Armenia, Assistant
Secretary Fried held meetings with President Robert Kocharian,
Minister of Defense Serzh Sarkisian, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vartan Oskanian, and political leaders from the full spectrum of
local political parties. A number of issues were discussed during the
meetings, including the U.S.-Armenian bilateral relations, democracy,
and Nagorno-Karabakh.

This trip was Ambassador Fried’s second visit to Armenia since his
appointment as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs in May 2005.

NATIVE OF ARMENIA KILLED IN MOSCOW

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2006 18:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 52-year-old entrepreneur of Armenian origin Galoyan
was killed in the east of Moscow. His body was found in an apartment
on March 16 afternoon.

The preliminary examination showed he was smothered.

The prosecutor’s office initiated a criminal case according to Article
195.1 of the RF Criminal Code (murder), reported Lenta.ru.

WORLD INDEX SHOWS AZERBAIJAN BEHIND ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.03.2006 19:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “It must be exactly because of their huge military
budget that they have been working overtime at the border and
repeatedly violating the ceasefire. They must have extra bullets
to spare,” Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said when
asked by H2, the second Armenian Public TV Channel, to comment
on Aliyev’s statements extolling Azerbaijan’s increasing military
capability. “But let’s look at this from a global context. Today,
in the civilized world, peoples and states don’t compete over the
size of their military budget. That’s not what they take pride in
when they compare themselves with their neighbors. Today, the spheres
of competition are elsewhere. And in all those spheres, Armenia is
ahead of Azerbaijan. So far ahead that there is really no room to
compare. Beginning with the UN’s human development index, Armenia is
ahead of Azerbaijan. The international index that gauges Armenia’s
investment climate puts Armenia way ahead of Azerbaijan. They’re not
even a member of the WTO. There is no comparison in level of democratic
development, human rights protections or press freedoms. In indexes
that measure economic freedoms and development, and transparency and
gains in the battle against corruption, Armenia is disproportionately
better than Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that it’s how many years
now that Azerbaijan produces 400,000 barrels of oil, the per capita
income in Azerbaijan still hasn’t reached Armenia’s. It is better that
Azerbaijan tries to reach Armenia’s levels in these fields, than try
to compete and take pride in being ahead with its military capacity,”
the Armenian FM said.

ALIEV THREATENED NOT ONLY THE ARMENIANS

A1+
06:55 pm 16 March, 2006

“My ambition is to make the military budget of Azerbaijan equal to
the state budget of Armenia.

Armenia can never compete with us. The sooner Armenia realises this
fact, the better for the country,” the president of Azerbaijan Ilhalm
Aliev declared today during the Second World Session of the Azeris.

According to the data of “Trend” Agency the military budget of
Azerbaijan is about 600 million dollars.

Ilhalm Aliev also declared in front of the Azeris that Azerbaijan
will observe its position in the peaceful settlement procedure of the
NK conflict, if they find out that Armenia hinders the negotiation
procedure with its non-structural principles. “It is already 12 years
the negotiation procedure goes on, but no results have been reached so
far and nobody knows how long it will last. We are for the peaceful
regulation but when we come across non-structural approaches from
the Armenian side our patience comes to an end. If we find that the
negotiation procedure takes an imitatitive character we shall refuse
our participation,” claimed Ilhalm Aliev.

The latter also promised the Azeris that Aderbaijan will not allow
the separating Nagorni Karabakh in 10 or in 100 years’ time. “There
won’t be any peaceful treaty in case the return of the refugees is
not settled,” declared the president of Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN ‘SECURITY EXPERTS’ HEIGHTEN POLITICAL PASSIONS IN KENYA

Agence France Presse — English
March 16, 2006 Thursday 5:09 PM GMT

Nairobi

Two Armenian brothers operating in Kenya are “security experts”, a
senior government official said Thursday, but opposition politicians
say they mercenaries doing dirty work for the state.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua has described the Armenians as
legitimate investors and influential opposition lawmaker Raila Odinga,
who brought the affair to light, has said they werehired by the state
to carry out secret operations.

Mutua said Artur Sargasyan, 36, and Artur Margayan, 33, were investors
who registered a development and financial consultance firm called
Brother Link International on December 1, 2005, but obtained their
work permits on January 23.

Amid the controversy on what the two actually do, a well-placed top
government official told AFP that they are “security experts,” but
declined to explain their mission in the east African country.

“They are security experts,” the official, who asked to remain unnamed,
told AFP.

Odinga began the saga when he claimed the two were among hooded
policemen who raided Standard Group — the country’s second largest
media house — early this month after it published an report that
President Mwai Kibaki held secret talks with his onetime ally turned
foe Kalonzo Musyoka.

Police officials could not be reached Thursday for comment on the
respective claims.

On Monday, the Armenians, who said they are nephews of Armenia’s
President Robert Kocharyan, gave a press conference in Nairobi
airport’s government VIP Lounge to deny the allegations they were
mercenaries and declare themselves people seeking “business investment
venture in the hotel industry and general trade.”

“I have been greatly troubled by reports … to the effect that I
am a mercenary … These accusations are entirely false hence the
decision to come to Kenya,” Sargasyan told reporters, saying he had
returned from Dubai that day to clear his name.

Yet an official document shown to AFP indicated that the pair were not
on the national carrier Kenya Airways passenger manifest from Dubai.

“This means they have not left Kenya,” since they came, the official
said.

Police have issued no formal statement except recorded ones from
Odinga, a fierce foe of the government of President Mwai Kibaki,
and lawmaker Kalonzo Musyoka, who conceded they have met the pair,
but described them as “dangerous people.”

The Armenians further claim they loaned Odinga 1.5 million dollars but
refused to grant a further three billion shillings (42 million dollars)
“to finance an anticipated no-confidence vote against the president.”

Odinga denies both these claims. He went further and produced copies
of the Armenians’ passports in public, but refused to say where he
got them from.

He and Musyoka are among opposition members of a so-called Orange
Democratic Movement (ODM) that carried out a successful campaign last
year against a government-backed constitution that handed Kibaki a
humiliating defeat in a referendum vote.

“The two individuals have never worked for the government of Kenya
nor undertaken any business with or for the government of Kenya,”
Mutua told press conference here.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress