Daily Nation, Kenya
June 10, 2006
Unveil puzzle on Armenians
Publication Date: 6/10/2006
The Government owes Kenyans a lot of explanations following the
dramatic events that led to the arrest of the controversial Armenian
brothers.
This is the Government that officially assured us that the alleged
mercenaries were honest and genuine investors.
It is the Government that made all manner of accusations against
those raising queries about who the Armenians really were, what they
were doing in this country and why they seemed to enjoy State
protection.
Even when the fellows started acting in an arrogant manner that
should have been embarrassing to their hosts, they remained
untouchable as if confident that they enjoyed protection from the
highest office in the land.
Well, the chickens have come home to roost. The fellows have gone a
bit too far and somebody finally has had the courage to act.
The so-called investors are finally in police custody and now we
expect that the Government will be constrained to take the necessary
measures.
If they have committed any crimes, then they must be made to face the
law. Any move to spirit them out of the country before a full
investigation into their activities will be seen for what it is – a
desperate attempt at a cover-up.
The Government must also answer so many lingering questions. In the
first place, an embarrassing and very scary security breach was
witnessed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
Some individuals refused to open their luggage for inspection by
customs officers and brazenly forced their way out as the police
looked on helplessly.
An airport, especially in these days of terrorist threats, arms
smuggling and drug trafficking, is a high security area. How a few
individuals can send the entire airport security force cowering as
they defiantly drive away calls for a very serious probe.
Who gave them the security clearance to strut like tausi freely
around the most sensitive areas at the airport? Whom did they call to
seek intervention before making their getaway? How did they manage to
leave the airport without being challenged despite all the heavy
security?
There followed a police raid at their Runda residence, where items
were seized. A proper explanation must be provided for the haul of
car number plates – including for GK and diplomatic cars – and other
items found in the house. There was even a GK vehicle parked in the
compound!
The investigations must be thorough and culminate in the two men
being charged in court.
Deporting them before full and proper investigations are concluded
will be a pitiable attempt to prevent the truth from coming out.

The Standard, Kenya
June 10 2006
Expulsion isn’t all; explain this saga

June 8 will be remembered as the day foreigners intoxicated with
impunity tried to put our national security agents to shame – and
failed.
That night, foreigners who had hitherto strutted the length and
breath of our country with incomprehensible arrogance assaulted at
least one security agent and drew guns at others at the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport – a restricted security area – thereby
triggering a terror alert.
The notorious foreigners of dubious origin claiming to be brothers
and investors from Armenia – Artur Margaryan and Artur Sagarsyan –
have many times asserted that no force in the land can touch them, at
least twice dared our Police Commissioner to visit their residence
and face unspecified consequences and once asked our internal
security minister to shut up.
All this time, nothing was done to them even as senior politicians,
led by LDP leader Raila Odinga, claimed that they were mercenaries on
hire. This paper even carried a Page One comment urging action on the
foreigners for asking our minister to shut up.
Shockingly though, that minister defended the foreigners in
Parliament where he said it was not his responsibility to act against
investors merely demanding their money back from their debtors.
While appreciating that someone has finally acted on the Armenian
menace, we wish to emphasise that their deportation is not enough to
put the matter to rest.
First, as we report elsewhere, the foreigners had been issued with
VIP Government passes giving them access to all areas of all our
airports. What was the compelling reason for the Government to issue
such passes to these two foreigners?
Second, after the Government-sponsored raid against the Standard
Group in March, Raila claimed that the two foreigners led the illegal
raid in which the entire raid crew was hooded. The Government has
failed to explain why official security agents had to wear hoods.
That notwithstanding, part of the arsenal police recovered at the
residence of the foreigners yesterday morning were balaclavas similar
to the ones the raiders wore. Is this a coincidence or is there a
link the Government needs to explain?
Third, the deportation of the foreigners before standing trial in
Kenyan courts raises a lot of questions. The foreigners had valid
permits to live and work in Kenya subject to our laws. Is the
Government trying to hide something by hurrying to deport them
without trial?
Fourth, the manner in which this whole saga was handled from the
start stinks to high heaven: Government officials contradicted each
other, and often themselves, over such minor details as the
nationality of the foreigners; the exact nature of their business
here has been kept secret; and the foreigners’ registered business
partners remain tight-lipped on what their business partnerships
entail. Who was protecting these foreigners? And what does that say
about the people tasked with guarding our internal and national
security?
Our position is that the country’s national security has been
seriously compromised. For a modicum of confidence in it to be
restored, the Government – specifically President Mwai Kibaki – must
immediately replace those tasked with its management beginning with
Mr John Njoroge Michuki, the internal security minister, if Michuki
himself fails to see it fit to resign.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IFEX, Canada
Int’l Freedom of Expression eXchange
June 10 2006
Court acquits fifth journalist who criticised conference ban

Français: Un cinquième chroniqueur accusé d’injure aux autorités
judiciaires a été acquitté
Country/Topic: Turkey
Date: 09 June 2006
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Murat Belge
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): acquitted
Urgency: Bulletin
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has hailed an Istanbul court’s
decision on 8 June 2006 to acquit Murat Belge, a columnist with the
daily “Radikal”, of criticising a judicial ban on a conference about
the Armenian genocide, for which he had faced a sentence of up to 10
years in prison.
“Belge’s acquittal is good news for press freedom in Turkey,” the
organisation said. “The judges recognised that his criticism of the
judicial authorities was not a crime. As a result, he has avoided an
extremely severe sentence that would have been a disgrace.”
The court dismissed all the charges against Belge, who criticised the
ban in two articles in September 2005. Similar charges against four
other journalists were dropped in April.
MORE INFORMATION:
For further information, contact Annabelle Arki at RSF, 5, rue
Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 67, fax: +33
1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: [email protected], Internet:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Church Executive Magazine, AZ
June 9 2006
NCC joining world summit of religious leaders
MOSCOW, Russia–The National Council of Churches USA met here with
representatives of six major religious traditions from 28 countries
to plan the World Summit of Religious Leaders that will take place in
Moscow July 3-5 – two weeks prior to the St. Petersburg G8 summit.
The group, convened in late May at the invitation of the
Interreligious Council of Russia, was hosted by the Russian Orthodox
Church in the Moscow Patriarchate. It included Dr. Antonios
Kireopoulos, the NCC USA’s associate general secretary for
international affairs and peace, and representatives of other
Christian faith groups as well as Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist
and Hindu leaders.
“It is very important for the powerful world leaders meeting later
this summer to hear from a broad cross-section of the world’s
religious leaders,” said Dr. Kireopoulos. “We want to make sure the
G8 leaders hear the concerns of religious communities around the
globe,” he said on returning to his New York City office.
The G8 summit is attended by the leaders of the world’s top economic
powers — the U.S., Russia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy
and Japan.
“Ways of overcoming terrorism and extremism” was one of many
potential topics for the summit listed in a communique from the
planning group for the meeting next month. Other challenges they
listed as topics were overcoming poverty, morality in economy,
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, respect for other
religious traditions, human rights and ecological responsibility.
Communicating these concerns to political leaders illustrates the
fundamental role that faith plays in today’s societies.
“The role of religion in public life around the world has always been
important though recognition of its role is only now coming into
focus again,” said Dr. Kireopoulos. “Faith leaders can offer the
moral touchstone for political leaders as they come together to make
their decisions about the stewardship of this planet and all its
peoples,” he said.
The NCC will be represented at the July summit by Bishop Vicken
Aykazian, president-elect of the NCC and a bishop in the Armenian
Orthodox Church and by the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, chair of the
NCC’s Justice and Advocacy Commission. Kinnamon, a St. Louis
resident, member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and
professor of mission, peace and ecumenical studies at Eden
Theological Seminary.
The religious leaders attending the planning meeting came from
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Romania,
Russia, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and
the Vatican.
“There was an incredible spirit of cooperation within this planning
group,” said Dr. Kireopoulos. “It is inspiring to see people of such
varied faiths and backgrounds go beyond their many differences and
come together for a common purpose, the common good of all humankind
and the planet we all inhabit.”
The National Council of Churches is America’s Christian ecumenical
voice, encompassing 35 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and historic
African American and peace churches with nearly 45 million members in
100,000 congregations.
Source: NCC News at
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 9 2006
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR FOCUSED ON UNIVERSITIES STABLE DEVELOPMENT TO
BE HELD FRIDAY IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 9. /ARKA/. International seminar focused on
universities stable development is to be held Friday in Yerevan.
Armenian State Engineering University’s press service says that the
seminar is organized as part of TEMPUS-TACIS JEP project.
The aim of the project is to discuss and amend the University’s
strategic scheme for training its administration members and that for
running its branches in provinces.
Representatives of French, Italian, Maltese and the U.S. universities
are expected to come to Armenia for the seminar.
Representatives of TEMPUS Office in Armenia and Italian and French
embassies in Yerevan will attend the event as well. M.V. -0–

Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 9 2006
CONFERENCE `SEISMICALLY ISOLATED HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS’ TO BE HELD IN
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, June 9. /ARKA/. An international conference `Seismically
isolated high-rise buildings’ is to be held in Yerevan on May 15-17,
2006.
According to the information received from the American University of
Armenia, five meetings, an international exhibition and visits to the
sites of construction of high-rise buildings are to be organized as
part of the conference.
The conference will be held on the initiative of the International
Association Antiseismic technologies.
The conference has been organized by the American University of
Armenia and the Armenian Association of Aseismic Construction. P.T.
-0–

Fresno Bee – June 10, 2006
An old, sad story
Armenian genocide measure bottled up in Congress – again.
(Updated Saturday, June 10, 2006, 5:50 AM)
It’s as regular as clockwork: A bill comes before Congress that would
recognize the massacres by Turkish authorities against Armenians in the
days of World War I as what they were – a genocide.
The Turkish government objects strenuously. The White House and the
State Department pass the word: Don’t upset our Turkish allies. Congress
caves. The genocide remains unofficially recognized by this government
and by Turkey.
It happened again this week. House leaders refused to let a measure come
to the floor for a vote that it surely would have passed. It happens
nearly every year, in every administration, regardless of which party
controls the White House and Congress. It is an offense against the
strong sense of justice that animates Armenian Americans and others. And
it makes no sense.
This is the same valuable Turkish ally, remember, that wouldn’t let
American troops cross their land during the invasion of Iraq. In
hindsight, that didn’t hinder the quick advance of the American-led
coalition that ousted Saddam Hussein, but it could have.
This is also the same valuable Turkish ally that stands as a strong
bulwark against southern expansion by the dreaded Evil Empire of the
Soviet Union – which no longer exists.
This is the same valuable Turkish ally that wants desperately to join
the European Union, but can’t, because the Europeans rightly demand that
Turkey acknowledge the genocide first.
This is getting very old – like the remaining survivors of the
massacres who would like nothing better than some small measure of
justice all these years later.

Germany wins the opening match of the World Cup

ArmRadio.am
10.06.2006 12:33
World Cup 2006 started yesterday in Germany.
Miroslav Klose’s double and brilliant strikes from Philip Lahm and Torsten
Frings lit up the World Cup’s opening match as hosts Germany won in style.
Lahm’s stunning sixth-minute drive from distance put Germany ahead, but
Paulo Wanchope slid home to level.
Klose converted Bernt Schneider’s cross, then followed up his own header to
put the home team 3-1 ahead.
Wanchope produced a smart finish to give Costa Rica hope, but Frings’
sensational 30-yarder sealed victory.
It was the perfect start for Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, whose side
triumphed in the highest-scoring opening match in World Cup history.
The Costa Ricans were quick to demonstrate how generous they were to be at
the back – Danny Fonseca’s slip giving Lahm space to cut inside on the edge
of the box.

A1+
AMALYAN’S EXCUSES WERE GROUNDLESS
[05:42 pm] 09 June, 2006
Grigor Amalyan, the president of the most «independent» Committee of
TV and Radio, insulted the journalists of for their
haste in accusing the Committee of violating the law and not letting
them know about their decisions within ten days, as it should have
been.
It is noteworthy that the material was placed on internet on June 6,
12 days after the competition, that is to say, two days after the
deadline, which means that Amalyan gets nervous in vain. It is better
to observe the law than to accuse others in order to explain away.
Mr. Amalyan told a news conference today that on June 5 he sent a
letter to Paronyan 22, the juridical address of «Meltex» LTD, but
there was no one there. `They talked to the neighbors and on learning
that there is usually no one living in that house they sent the letter
back.’
By the way, we learned from the neighbors that the only letter they
were offered was the one on June 8 (four days after the deadline), but
they were not given it without a seal, that is to say, the neighbors
were supposed to have the seal of `Meltex’ LTD.
Mr. Amalyan (and not only him) knows the address of `A1+’ pretty well
and has sent the previous ten letters to Gr. Lousavorich 15. In answer
to our question Amalyan wondered if `A1+’ was still there. Let us
inform you that the competition pack of `A1+’ had that very address on
its front page, and Mr. Amalyan’s excuses were absolutely groundless.
By the way, while Amalyan was wondering if `A1+’ was still in
Lousavorich 15, the court officers were trying to make `A1+’ leave the
building.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Fall of Mogadishu leaves US policy in ruins
Xan Rice in Asmara, Oliver Burkeman in Washington and Rory Carroll
Saturday June 10, 2006
The Guardian
It was a rout. After months of fighting that left hundreds dead
Mogadishu fell suddenly this week: pick-up trucks with mounted
machine-guns and young warriors scrambled to leave the city.
The victors broadcast a triumphant announcement that the warlords had
been ousted. In their place a relatively disciplined militia promised
order and security after 15 years of mayhem. At a victory rally a
militia leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, made another promise: to create
an Islamic state.
Mogadishu is now largely ruled by the Islamic Courts Union, a powerful
movement that advocates a strict version of sharia law, including
public executions, and has alleged ties to al-Qaida terrorists. The
Horn of Africa, say some analysts, has just acquired its own Taliban.
News of the takeover broke like a thunderclap over Washington.
“This is worse than the worst-case scenarios – the exact opposite of
what the US government strategy, if there was one, would have wanted,”
said Ken Menkhaus, associate professor of political science and
Somalia expert at Davidson College, North Carolina.
It has emerged that the Bush administration bankrolled the warlords,
who are secular, to gain access to al-Qaida suspects and block the
rise of the Islamic militia. CIA operatives based in Nairobi funnelled
$100,000 to $150,000 (£80,000) a month to their proxies, according to
John Prendergast, an International Crisis Group expert on Somalia who
has interviewed warlords. “This was counter-terrorism on the
cheap. This is a backwater place that nobody really wants to get
involved in, so [they] thought, let’s just do this and maybe we’ll get
lucky.”
Instead Washington got burned. Amid recriminations policymakers are
asking how did the fiasco happen, and just how bad is it for US
interests? Somalia has been without effective government since
Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991. Warlords control ports,
airfields and roadblocks, gaining great wealth while offering little
but trouble to the average Somali.
In the vacuum of a failed state Islamic courts were established along
clan lines to dispense justice where no other method existed. With
financial support from local businessmen the courts, popular with
Mogadishu residents for curbing some of the anarchy and providing
basic services, built up a militia capable of taking on the warlords.
In recent years radicals used the courts to promote the idea of an
Islamic state. Cinemas accused of showing immoral western and Indian
films were closed and celebrating new year was made a capital offence.
Assassinations
It is alleged that terrorists became active in the movement. Sheikh
Hassan Dahir Aweys, closely allied to the court leadership, was the
most prominent leader of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, a fundamentalist
group linked to al-Qaidaand blamed for a series of bombings in
Ethiopia and kidnappings and assassinations in Somalia in the 1990s.
There are rumours that Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys could soon take over
the leadership of the courts. If that happens, there is the “very real
potential for serious violence”, according to a Horn of Africa
analyst, as it would pit him directly against President Abdullahi
Yusuf, who is avowedly against Somalia becoming a fundamentalist
state.
An unnamed network run by one of Aweys’s proteges, Aden Hashi Farah
‘Ayro, has been linked to the murder of four western aid workers and
more than a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror
organisations. The courts are allegedly protecting three al-Qaida
members indicted in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania, and possibly the team that staged attacks in Kenya in 2002.
The Bush administration faced a dilemma. It wanted to nab the al-Qaida
suspects but did not dare send US troops back to the scene of Black
Hawk Down, the ill-fated military mission that scarred Bill Clinton’s
presidency.
“The approach – strategy would be too generous a word – was to
strengthen [the warlords’] hand in order to try to eliminate the
threat posed by these individuals,” said Mr Prendergast.
In February a group of warlords formed a coalition called Alliance for
the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism and accused the courts
of harbouring al-Qaida. The courts called the alliance American
puppets. US diplomats in Nairobi who criticised the warlord payments
as shortsighted were ignored and, in one case, reassigned to another
country. The State Department, which favoured a wider policy of
nation-building, was trumped by the CIA and the Pentagon, which wanted
results fast.
“They didn’t realise their limited engagement would actually make
matters worse,” said Mr Prendergast. “It’s ignorance and
impecuniousness that have led us to be in a more difficult and
disadvantageous position than we were.” Alarmed by Washington’s
intervention, the militia escalated its operations in recent months,
culminating in this week’s seizure of the capital.
For the White House it was a humiliating reversal but not necessarily
a catastrophe. From their stronghold of Jowhar the warlords are
regrouping and talking of retaking Mogadishu. Revenue from smuggling
and business interests is likely still to flow, as will weapons from
Ethiopia in defiance of an international embargo.
Conciliatory
The courts would struggle to impose Taliban-type rule on a society
more wedded to clan than Islam. Their victory rally was countered by a
rival hostile demonstration. On Wednesday Sheikh Sharif Ahmed,
chairman of the joint Islamic Courts Union, softened his rhetoric. “We
want to restore peace and stability.
We are ready to meet and talk to anybody for the interest of our
people.” The ICU sent a conciliatory letter to the US and UN and
engaged with Somalia’s interim government, a feeble but potentially
significant player based in the provincial city of Baidoa. The
government is due to send a delegation to Mogadishu this weekend.
The Bush administration has offered an olive branch, of sorts, to
Mogadishu’s new rulers. “In terms of the Islamic courts, our
understanding is that this isn’t a monolithic group, that it is really
an effort on the part of some individuals to try to restore some
semblance of order in Mogadishu,” said a State Department spokesman.
Robert Rotberg, professor at the Kennedy School of Government and
director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict
Resolution, said the US must try to befriend the Islamists. “Most of
us suspect that if there are any real al-Qaida agents there, there are
handfuls, and these guys would turn them in for money in a heartbeat.”
This week’s worst-case scenario, said Professor Menkhaus, could yet
turn out well if the courts offer moderate leadership and participate
in a national unity government acceptable to Ethiopia. “We could get
lemonade from lemons.” However grateful for the relative calm,
Mogadishu’s residents know from experience to brace for something
bitter.
Backstory
Somalia, the product of the merger in 1960 between a former British
protectorate and an Italian colony, has had a violent and unstable
history.In 1970 President Mohamed Siad Barre proclaimed a socialist
state and started close relations with the Soviet Union. Frequent
conflicts with neighbours followed.
When the regime was overthrown in 1991, Barre went into hiding and the
country was carved up by heavily armed warlords. The long-suffering
population, which numbers more than 10 million, was plunged into
further misery when famine ravaged the country. In 1992 US Marines
arrived ahead of UN peacekeepers inan attempt to restore order, but
the “humanitarian intervention” ended in disaster when two US Black
Hawk helicopters were shot down. As warlords celebrated the death of
19 American soldiers the US beat a hasty retreat. Somalian clan elders
and other senior figures appointed Abdulkassim Salat Hassan president
at a conference in 2000, but little progress was made until 2004, when
a new parliament was created with Abdullahi Yusuf installed as
president. The fledgling regime soon stuttered and fighting between
the factions resumed.