NEW CLUES ON ALLEGED MERCENARIES
Story By Nation Team
Daily Nation, Kenya
ntententry.asp?category_id=1&newsid=68955
Marc h 13 2006
Two Mombasa businessmen might provide the key to unravel the mystery
behind the alleged mercenaries in the country.
Investigations point to possibilities that the two alleged mercenaries
pitched camp in Mombasa when they first came into the country.
Yesterday, our sister publication, the Sunday Nation, revealed that
the men Langata MP Raila Odinga claims are mercenaries working for
the Government are two Armenian “businessmen”.
Travel documents in our possession indicate the two men – aged 33 and
36 – arrived in the country early this year from Dubai, but have also
visited Kenya in the past on unknown missions.
The revelation comes amidst calls by a cross-section of leaders for
the Government to clarify whether there were foreign mercenaries in
the country, or not.
Yesterday, it emerged that when the alleged mercenaries arrived in
January to stay, they were granted a two-year category H permit,
which is for professionals or foreign investors.
They paid Sh60,000 each and posted a bond of a similar amount for
the permits.
Mr Odinga displayed faded photocopies of the passports of the two
foreigners on Friday, saying they were Armenians and not Russians as
earlier claimed.
The Nation sought to establish if the passport details could be
confirmed by the Interpol, but was informed that the global unit on
police operations didn’t have their particulars.
Local police have maintained they had not received such travel
documents and could not, therefore, establish the whereabouts of the
alleged mercenaries.
It is now emerging that on several occasions when they visited Kenya
in the past from their base in Dubai, they were indeed doing business
with the Mombasa businessmen.
They were initially involved in sugar importation, among other
ventures with one of the businessmen before they fell out for what
sources say were unclear circumstances.
It is while they were working with the businessmen that they were
introduced to powerful people in the country, who made it possible
for them to go about their businesses without any hindrance.
Such contacts would later become useful when they fell out with one
of the businessmen.
We have further established that the lower part of a gate to the
house where the alleged mercenaries were staying in Runda and which
provided space through which the Nation took pictures of the house
has been sealed completely.
Except for a gardener who rarely gets out of the compound, the place
is now completely deserted.
At the same time, Nairobi Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’
Nzeki called for immediate investigations into claims that foreign
mercenaries were operating in the country.
He said the claims were serious and Kenyans were entitled to an
explanation.
“That is a very serious accusation. Let the Government come out clear
on this,” he said.
The Archbishop added that it was important for the Government to
tell the people how the alleged mercenaries came into the country,
as well as who brought them here.
Addressing journalists at the Holy Family Basilica where he led special
prayers for the country and its leadership, Archbishop Ndingi said
the Government owed Kenyans an explanation on whether the claims were
true or not true.
He further called on Mr Odinga to provide all the information he has
on the case to enable the police to conduct investigations.
As the archbishop spoke, Mr Odinga made fresh claims that the alleged
mercenaries had spent a night at a Nairobi residence of a prominent
personality, who has high connections in Government. They then moved
to a camp for one of the uniformed forces.
Without elaborating, Mr Odinga said the gang looked for the alternative
site after he disclosed their hideouts and revealed their identity
to the police.
“The mercenaries were moved to a house belonging to a prominent Narc
personality after I disclosed their hideout and gave their identity
to the police,” he said.
They were now being guarded by the dreaded General Service Unit,
making it difficult for them to be investigated.
He said the first assignment for the hit squad was to raid the
Standard and KTN offices and were now being prepared to eliminate
ODM luminaries.
However, Mr Odinga warned that such attempts were bound to fail
because Kenyans were watching keenly the events unfolding the country.
“I don’t fear these people because we know the Government is desperate
after failing to live up to the expectations its leaders promised
Kenyans in the last General Election,” he said.
And former Environment minister and one of the ODM’s leading lights,
Mr Kalonzo Musyoka said the security of Kenyans was paramount and asked
the Government to “thoroughly” investigate the claims by Mr Raila.
“We can’t take such allegations lightly. It is now the duty of the
Government to get on top of things and dispel public anxiety,” he said.
Mr Odinga warned President Kibaki that his days were numbered because
he was defending corrupt individuals in his Government.
He faulted the President for turning a deaf ear on the wishes of
Kenyans to sack corrupt ministers who had defied the law.
“It was wrong for President Kibaki to openly declare that Michuki
was there to stay even after he publicly defied the law and raided
private property,” he said.
Mr Odinga made the new claims at various stops on his way to the
burial of his cousin, Jennifer Akinyi Matara, at Ogango village in
Nyamira District.
At the funeral Mr Odinga accused the Government of practising
tribalism.
He cited the recent sacking of Dr Patrick Orege, Naftali Mogere,
Prof Ratemo Michieka, Jasper Oduor, James Ongwae and Zachary Ogongo,
among others, who were all from Nyanza.
Mr Mogere, who had been sacked as the managing trustee of the National
Social Security Fund, was last week appointed the managing director
of the National Cereals and Produce Board.
Mr Odinga said Kenyans were keenly monitoring how the Government
was selectively tackling corruption in the country, saying unless
it handled the matter as required, the voters would hit back at the
polls next year.

REPORTERS FINALLY ALLOWED INTO POSH HOUSE
Daily Nation , Kenya
March 14 2006
Journalists were finally let into the posh house in an upmarket
Nairobi estate which Langata MP said was hosting mercenaries.
After holding a press conference at the Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport (JKIA) and denying they were mercenaries two Armenian
brothers – Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargsyan – allowed reporters
into the house in Runda estate where Langata MP Raila Odinga claimed
mercenaries were living.
One of the brothers, Mr Artur Margaryan, took journalists on a tour
of the expensively furnished house and fielded questions as he walked
them out of the compound.
A gap below the gate from which the Press had taken pictures last
week was sealed.
Except for a gardener and a meek black dog that was not chained and
which did not bark, the place was deserted.
Mr Margaryan was driven into the compound in a red Mitsubishi saloon
by a woman of Caucasian descent whom he said was his bodyguard, some
minutes before 2pm. He was expensively dressed and had gold chains
and rings.
He requested journalists not to take pictures of the car for security
reasons. The same message had been communicated to the journalists by a
man who introduced himself as his lawyer. He declined to give his name.
Last Thursday, the red car trailed the Nation team throughout the
time we were at the estate following the story.
On entering the house, the first thing that attracts one’s eyes is
a big coloured portrait drawing of the woman introduced as a bodyguard.
The sitting room was expensively furnished with leather sofa sets
and a single coffee table with an ash tray.
Electronic goods unpacked – including refrigerators, several
flat-screen TVs and disks – were scattered on the ground floor of
the house giving the impression that the occupants had just moved
into the house.
The kitchen was well stocked with maize flour, vegetables, and
soft drinks.
Mr Margaryan said the food was for the gardener, whom he pays Sh
20,000 a month.
When reporters entered the compound it was Mr Margaryan who opened
the door to the main house with keys from his pockets. The gardener
only opened the gate.
He insisted that he and his brother, with whom he addressed a press
conference at the airport, were “clean businessmen” who came into
the country through the Democratic Republic of Congo last year.
He says they liked the country and its people which prompted them to
set up businesses here.
Asked what kind of business they were engaged in, Mr Margaryan said
they were into real estate and importation of cars and electronics.
He admitted he was Armenian and together with his brother had served
in the military as it was mandatory for everybody to serve on attaining
18 years of age.
Mr Margaryan said his brother travels to Armenia from his base in
Dubai frequently as he was interested in the presidential seat held
by his uncle.
The Armenian claimed he had been in the Runda house for the past five
days and was negotiating to buy it.
It is at this point that the landlord asked him to clear his name
first before they could negotiate further.
He further repeated claims he gave Mr Odinga a US$1.5 million loan
(just over Sh100 million) in cash at a Nairobi hotel.
Asked whether there was any agreement on the terms of payments,
Mr Margaryan said it was not the first time he had given such huge
amounts of money without such a contract.
Contacted later, a lawyer for the landlord said the man had only
negotiated lease of the house and not its sale.
He said it was Mr Margaryan who signed the lease at an estate agency.
The lease is drawn between the landlord and Brotherlink International.

GARABAGH MEDIATORS TO MEET IN ISTANBUL MARCH 20
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 13 2006
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
The OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh are due to hold their next
meeting in Istanbul on March 20. The schedule of the Minsk Group
co-chairs’ visit to the region will depend on the positions and
readiness of the conflicting sides, says a joint statement of
the intermediaries who have completed their three-day meeting in
Washington.
“We call on the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities to make efforts
to prepare their people not for war, but peace. We urge both sides to
be guided by the developed principles in order to settle the conflict
in 2006.”
The mediators said that despite the unsuccessful outcome of the latest
round of presidential talks in France, they continue to believe that a
number of pre-conditions are fostering a conducive basis to solve the
long-standing dispute this year, Radio Liberty quoted the mediators
as saying.
The discussions held by the two leaders in the French town of
Rambouillet in February turned out fruitless, as the parties failed
to iron out issues of principle, which was followed by mutual threats.
The next meeting of the Azeri and Armenian presidents may take place
during a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States leaders in
Minsk in September, according to the head of the President’s Office
international relations department, Novruz Mammadov.

US ENVOY WARNS OF GARABAGH CONFLICT THREAT
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on March 13 2006
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh is
“real and dangerous”, the US ambassador in Baku Reno Harnish has said.
Harnish said the two countries’ leaders and the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs brokering settlement to the dispute should be active to
achieve a resolution.
“The recent ceasefire violations show that this is not a frozen,
but a real and dangerous conflict. I believe the presidents, foreign
ministers as well as the MG co-chairs should take courageous steps
to find a peaceful solution to the problem,” the diplomat added.

GARABAGH HIGH ON US OFFICIAL’S VISIT AGENDA
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on March 13 2006
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict is expected to
be high on the agenda of the visit to Azerbaijan by the US Department
of State Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel
Fried, who will visit Baku next week. Also to be discussed during the
visit are the results of the latest consultations of the mediating
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen held in Washington.
“The co-chairs decided after the latest meeting that they should meet
and review the results of the discussion. As you know, the situation is
quite complicated and requires frequent coordination,” Deputy Foreign
Minister and the Azerbaijani President’s Upper Garabagh negotiator,
Araz Azimov, has said. He said it was natural for the co-chairmen
not to have disclosed any information to the press.
“You never know how information will be interpreted and what course
events will take. I think the co-chairmen’s steps are justifiable.
They want to consult the parties to the conflict after the Washington
meeting,” Azimov added.

ARMENIA BLAMES CEASEFIRE BREACHES ON TOUGH AZERI RHETORIC
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on March 13 2006
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
Armenia blames the recent violations of ceasefire on the frontline
on Azeri officials’ tough statements, which included warnings that
the country may resort to military action to solve over a decade-long
dispute over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
Armenian deputy defense minister Artur Agabekian maintained that the
national army soldiers being inspired by President Ilham Aliyev’s
statements have been allegedly subjecting Armenians to intense
shooting.
“The reasons for ceasefire breaches by Azeri military men is official
Baku’s statements,” he said, claiming that this disrupts the “relative
stability” observed before.
The Armenian official recalled that since a ceasefire was reached in1
1994, it has been repeatedly infringed upon on the frontline and this
mainly happens when the sides “alter their positions”.
Agabekian said the sides [troops] “have drawn closer to each other”
in the past years, and as a result, any mistake leads to human
casualties. He also noted that the war has claimed lives.
“Every Armenian soldier knows that he should always be prepared for
military action,” Agabekian added.

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL UNRUFFLED BY AZERI DEFENSE BUDGET
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on March 13 2006
Baku, March 10, AssA-Irada
Armenia is not afraid of war and is not particularly concerned at
the fact that Azerbaijan’s military budget is expanding, its Defense
Minister Serzh Sarkisian has said. He said Armenia was prepared for
any scenario.
“As for Azerbaijan’s growing military capability, this does not
exactly mean that Baku will draw any benefit from that,” Sarkisian
said. The defense minister said the Armenian armed forces were
currently in a very good position and regarded this as one of the
key factors behind what he called “Armenia’s military supremacy”
over Azerbaijan. He indicated that the millions of dollars expected
to start flowing into the Azerbaijani state budget [oil revenues]
would not make a big difference on the military front.
“If combat-readiness was measured by the size of military budgets,
the world’s key oil exporters would have the strongest armies. This
is not the case.”
Sarkisian also said the deployment of international peacekeepers in
the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict zone was unlikely in the near
future because the parties to the conflict have to reach agreement
before that can happen.

ARMENIAN EMBASSY IN LEBANON TO DO WHATEVER NECESSARY TO MAKE BILATERAL TIES CLOSER
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 13 2006
YEREVAN, March 13. /ARKA/. Armenian Embassy in Lebanon will make
every effort for making bilateral ties closer, Armenian Ambassador
to Lebanon Ter-Ghevondyan said Friday at the ceremony of handing
credentials to Lebanese President Emil Lahood.
Ter-Ghevondyan expressed gratitude to Lebanese authorities for their
special attitude toward Armenia and Armenian people.
President Lahood, in turn, highly estimated centuries-long
Armenian-Lebanese ties. He stressed that warm relations between two
nations will become a strong ground for developing partnership at
all levels.

CE SECRETARY GENERAL SENDS FOLLOW-UP LETTER ABOUT SECRET PRISONS TO ARMENIA
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 13 2006
YEREVAN, March 13. /ARKA/. Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Terry Davis has written to Armenia as a follow-up to his inquiry in
the context of the alleged CIA secret prisons and rendition flights
in Europe. According to the CE Yerevan office, Davis has written
to the Foreign Ministers of 37 of the 46 Council of Europe member
states asking to complete or clarify their replies in response to
his initial request of 21 November 2005. According to the press
release, letters were also send to the following countries: Andorra,
Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,
the Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United
Kingdom. The deadline for the replies to the follow-up letters has
been set for 7 April.

ARMENIAN WOMEN MUST BE MORE ACTIVE IN COUNTRY’S POLITICAL LIFE, NA VICE-SPEAKER SAYS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 13 2006
YEREVAN, March 13. /ARKA/. Armenian women must be more actively
involved in the country’s political life, Vice-Speaker of the RA
Parliament Vahan Hovhanesyan stated at a conference “Women’s role in
the formation of civil society.”
According to him, Armenian women must enjoy freedom ensured by our
society and actively join political parties. “Armenia’s legislation
grants women full right to take part in the country’s political life,
but many of them are not yet psychologically ready to exercise this
right,” Hovhanesyan said.
He also pointed out the importance of more women becoming
parliamentarians. He added that the reason why the number of women
parliamentarians is not large is the parliamentary election system
in Armenia.
“Many women find it difficult to run for Parliament by the
single-mandate election system, because election campaigns require huge
funds. Nor can they run for Parliament by the party-ticket system,
because in this case they must be members of political parties,”
Hovhanesyan said.
Only seven women are presently members of the Armenian Parliament:
Alvard Petrosyan (ARF Dashnaktsutyun), Hermine Nahdalyan (Republican
Party), Yehine Bisharyan (Law-Governed Country Party), Hripsime
Avetisyan (United Worker’s Party), as well as Emma Khudabashyan,
Hranush Hakobyan and Armenuhi Hovhannisyan (all without party
affiliation).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress