ARMENIAN MINISTER DOWNPLAYS INCREASE IN AZERI MILITARY BUDGET

ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 11 October: The difference between the military budgets of
Armenia and Azerbaijan can never force Armenia to make concessions,
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan has said asked by journalists
if Armenia was concerned about the sharp increase in the Azerbaijani
military budget and if it was a quantitative approach.

Sarkisyan said that in any case, quantity transforms into quality
at some stage. “But it is not known when and how this will happen,”
he said, adding that it is quite alarming when an enemy, a rival or
a neighbour has a greater military budget.

“But there is also the issue of making effective use of the military
budget. There are also different ways of meeting the army’s needs. I
can cite numerous examples when we and Azerbaijan bought identical
armaments for different prices. We bought it four, five and sometimes
even eight times cheaper. I am not saying this to console someone. Of
course, it would be preferable if we had comparable financial
possibilities,” he said.

Asked about a possible increase in Armenia’s military budget,
Sarkisyan said that no sharp increase in the budget is expected as
the budget is drawn up not proceeding from one’s needs, but on the
basis of GDP. If GDP is high at the end of the year, then naturally,
the budget will increase, he said.

KARABAKH SEPARATISTS DENY AZERI REPORT OF TRUCE VIOLATION

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: The press service of the Defence Ministry of
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] has flatly denied Azerbaijani
media reports about an alleged cease-fire violation two days ago.

The report is wide of the mark and is disinformation, the NKR Defence
Ministry reports.

The Azerbaijani media has quoted the press service of the Azerbaijani
Defence Ministry as saying that no-one was wounded as a result of the
“cease-fire violation”.

RUSSIA KEEN ON RESTORING ABKHAZ SECTION OF RAILWAY, OFFICIAL SAYS IN ARMENIA

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: “Armenia, Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia will
probably set up a consortium for the restoration of the Abkhazian
section of the railway [joining Russia with Armenia via Georgia],
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said in Yerevan today.

Speaking at the Armenian-Russian business forum today, Levitin said
that there were a number of problems in the restoration of the railway
communication in Abkhazia and that time is needed for the effective
resolution of the problem. “We should not forget that this is a 15-year
old problem and it is impossible to solve it in one day,” he said.

Levitin said that a sitting of the Russian-Georgian intergovernmental
commission will be held soon to discuss the issue of restoration of
the Abkhazian section of the railway.

The Russian minister pointed out that a report on a necessary amount
of financing for the restoration of the railway communication on the
Abkhazian territory will be ready in a few day.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, RUSSIAN OFFICIAL DISCUSS TIES

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan received
Aleksandr Tkachev, the governor of Russia’s Krasnodar Territory,
in Yerevan today.

Kocharyan said at the meeting that mutually beneficial relations
between Armenia and Russian regions were a good basis for the
development of interstate relations, the presidential press service
told Mediamax news agency.

Aleksandr Tkachev said that the Armenian community of Krasnodar
Territory was playing a great role in strengthening bilateral
relations. He said that Armenians who live in the Territory were
involved practically in all spheres of life there.

The two men also discussed economic relations between Armenia and
Russia. Kocharyan said that thanks to expanded business relations,
the Russian business’ involvement in Armenia’s economy was increasing.

ARMENIAN, US ENERGY MINISTERS DISCUSS IRAN GAS PIPELINE, REFORMS

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has asked his
Armenian counterpart Armen Movsisyan at which stage the process of
building the Iran-Armenian gas pipeline is.

The meeting between the two countries’ ministers was held in Washington
on 11 October, the Armenian embassy in the USA told Mediamax new
agency today.

During the meeting, Movsisyan expressed his thanks for US assistance
to the Armenian energy sector and spoke about the current situation in
the sphere of energy reforms. Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan
noted the need to provide the republic with alternative sources of
energy until the closure of the Metsamor nuclear power plant.

During the meeting, the Armenian and US energy ministers agreed
to study possibilities of holding an Armenian-US energy investment
forum with the participation of private companies and international
financial organizations.

QUALITY, EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY WERE AND ARE MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE AGENCY

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: Mediamax news agency issued a statement today
concerning the comment made by the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign
Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, yesterday evening, 11 October.

“On October 11, spokesman for Armenian Foreign Ministry Gamlet
Gasparyan stated that the statement ‘ascribed’ by Mediamax to
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Bayburdyan is ‘inconsistent
with reality’. In this regard, we declare that during the six years
of existence, Mediamax has never disseminated information ‘not
corresponding to reality’ and never ‘ascribed’ statements to people
who have not made them. Quality, efficiency and reliability were and
are the main principles of Mediamax news agency and we regret that
the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry has doubted this,”
the statement issued by Mediamax today reads.

ARMENIAN LEADER, EUROPEAN ENVOYS DISCUSS PROSPECTS OF COOPERATION

ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 12 2005

Yerevan, 12 October: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today held
another meeting with the ambassadors Council of Europe member countries
accredited in Armenia.

The Armenian president is planning to visit Brussels and European
organizations next week to discuss prospects of cooperation,
especially the individual action plan within the framework of the
New Neighbourhood Policy, the presidential press service has told
Arminfo new agency.

Noting the importance of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the
president pointed out that it raises relations between Armenia
and the Council of Europe and its member countries to a new level,
opening new opportunities for cooperation.

Kocharyan said that Armenia intends to clarify specific directions
of cooperation with individual states within the framework of the
individual action plan, which would make it possible to work more
effectively.

The parties also exchanged views on the referendum on constitutional
reforms. They agreed that the reforms are great progress and will
make it possible to bring the Armenian constitution into line with
European standards.

The president also answered other questions of interest to the
diplomats.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FM OSKANIAN MEETS WITH VICE-PRESIDENT AND FM OF INDONESIA IN JAKARTA

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2005

JAKARTA, OCTOBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Foreing Minister
Vartan Oskanian’s visit to countries of the South-Eastern Asia and
Pacific Ocean is in process. After Australia, the Foreign Minister
paid an official visit to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia where on
October 12 he had official meetings with the Vice-President and the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of that greatest Islamic country with
the population of 245 mln people. This is the first official visit
of the Foreign Minister and in general of a high-ranking Armenian
delegation to Indonesia.

At the meeting with Pak Hassan Wirajuda, the Foreign Minister of
Indonesia, Oskanian expressed condolence on the occasion of victims
and ravages of Bali bombing hoping that this will never repeat.

During the exchange of ideas promoted then, the sides discussed
possibilities of development of bilateral relations, implementation
of concrete programs especially in the sphere of economy.

Regional problems, particularly ways of settlement of present conflicts
were also touched upon. The Foreign Minister of Indonesia presented
details concerning an agreement signed receintly on settlement of the
Aceh conflict and its further implementation. In his turn, Minister
Oskanian presented his partner of Indonesia the process of settlement
of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, emphasizing that the conflict isn’t
of a religious character but this is only the display of the Nagorno
Karabakh people’s right to self-determination.

In the context of these issues, the sides came to agreement on
continuing cooperation established between the two countries within
the framework of international organizations, particularly the UN.

At the end of the meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs signed
an interstate agreement on avoiding double taxes and a memorandum
of mutual understanding concerning creation of a consulting forum
between the Governments.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Information
and Press Deparment, on the same day, Jusuf Kalla, the Vice-President
of Indonesia received Vartan Oskanian. During the conversation,
the Foreign Minister presented briefly the social-economic state
of Armenia, prospects of development, the most important issues of
foreign policy connected with the security problems and prospects of
development of the region. The Minister expressed Armenia’s readiness
to promote an active bilateral cooperation with Indonesia as well as
one within the framework of international organizations.

On October 13, Minister Oskanian will leave for Singapore where he will
have a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of that country.

LEBANESE SHED FEW TEARS FOR SYRIA’S FEARED ENFORCER
By Lin Noueihed

Reuters AlertNet, UK
Oct 12 2005

BEIRUT, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Abu Hussein could barely conceal his smirk
when he heard that Syria’s dreaded former security chief in Lebanon
was dead.

“This is a blessing because he harmed and betrayed Lebanon and
God punishes the wicked,” chuckled the porter, seated on his stool
outside a residential block in Beirut. “It’s the best news I’ve heard
all year.”

For two decades, Ghazi Kanaan was the chief enforcer of Syrian policy
in neighbouring Lebanon, where he was feared by friend and foe alike.

Many Lebanese learned the hard way not to cross Kanaan’s troops and
“moukhabarat” agents, who never hesitated to use force against those
who got in their way.

Few Lebanese shed a tear over news of the Syrian major-general’s
apparent suicide.

For Bilal Mattar it revives painful memories of his two-day detention
by the Syrians as a teenager during the 1980s.

Mattar, now 28, and his friend had started a fight with a Syrian man
who banned them from playing football near his house.

“They took us and shaved our heads. They tied us up and beat us and
beat us and put cigarettes out on our tongues,” he recalled in the
Beirut electrical goods store he runs.

“You can’t imagine what they did. We virtually crawled out.”

Families of some Lebanese who went missing during the country’s
1975-1990 civil war, say their loved ones remain locked up in Syrian
jails to this day, though Syrian troops and security agents withdrew
from the country amid uproar in April.

Three weeks before he was found dead in his office, U.N.

investigators had questioned Kanaan over the assassination of Lebanese
former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Many Lebanese blame Syria for the Feb. 14 bomb blast that killed
Hariri. Damascus denies any role, but was forced to end its military
and political domination of Lebanon following local protests and
intense global pressure following Hariri’s death.

BEHIND BARS

Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals are already behind bars, awaiting
trial on murder charges. The U.N. probe is expected to present its
findings this month.

“If he wasn’t guilty, why would he have done that. He must have been
expecting bad news from the report,” said Leila Ahmadieh, a housewife
who broke into a grin at the news.

“This is a happy ending after he oppressed so many Lebanese. Everyone
eventually gets what he deserves; Saddam Hussein was the most brutal
criminal of all and look how he ended up.”

Kanaan left Lebanon after a 20-year sojourn in 2002 to head the Syrian
Political Security Directorate, before becoming interior minister
in 2004.

He handed over his headquarters at the Armenian town of Anjar in the
Bekaa Valley and his office in a west Beirut hotel, to his successor
Rustom Ghazali.

By then, Syria’s grip was unchallenged, only to be swept away
dramatically three years later by a Lebanese and international outcry
over Hariri’s death.

“All I can say is: you reap what you sow. Now he is facing God’s
justice,” said Munir Ibrahim, a retired man chatting to friends on
a street in Beirut.

“One shouldn’t speak ill of the dead but suffice to say, I hope he
drags the rest of them behind him, one by one.”

ORHAN PAMUK: NOVELIST

The Globalist, DC
Oct 12 2005

Orhan Pamuk is the author of six novels and the recipient of major
Turkish and international literary awards.

His most recent book, “Snow,” is a fictional account of the political
struggles of a small Turkish town caught between secular modernity
and religious tradition.

He is one of Europe’s most prominent novelists, and his work has been
translated into more than twenty languages. He lives in Istanbul.

Mr. Pamuk was recently charged by the Turkish government with insulting
Turkey’s national identity for his statements relating the massacre
of Armenians and Kurds within Turkey.