MOSNEWS, Russia
July 27 2005

Moscow Woman Awarded $1,500 After Killing Would-Be Rapist

A Russian nationalist group, the Movement against Illegal
Immigration, has awarded Moscow woman Alexandra Ivannikova more than
$1,500 after she killed an ethnic Armenian who attempted to rape her,
the Izvestia newspaper reported Wednesday.

`This 50,000 ruble award was a noble outburst of the soul, which we
would have felt awkward refusing,’ Ivannikova’s husband Oleg, who
admitted receiving the money, was quoted by Izvestia as saying.

The money was raised by the movement’s supporters. The Movement
against Illegal Immigration states there are too many ethnic
minorities from the Caucasus region living in Russia, `who do not
respect Slavs enough.’ The group suggests that society should fight
this trend.

This is not the first reward Ivannikova has received. The Golden
Palace Moscow casino gave her a trip to the country of her choice, as
a prize for her `civil responsibility’.

Alexandra Ivannikova, 30, received a two-year suspended sentence
after killing ethnic Armenian Sergey Bagdasaryan, who she said had
tried to rape her in his taxi. The case received wide coverage in the
local press and among the general public, while the victim’s
ethnicity brought nationalist parties to Ivannikova’s side.

Prosecutors later asked for the sentence to be annulled, and she was
fully acquitted.

MehrNews.com, Iran
July 27 2005

Apostles’ successor’s bones discovered in Iran’s St. Stephanus Church

TEHRAN, July 27 (MNA) — Shahriar Adl, the director of the team
documenting three Iranian churches for registration on UNESCO’s World
Heritage List, said on Wednesday that they have discovered the bones
of one of the successors of the Apostles of Jesus in one of the
ceilings of the St. Stephanus Church, which is located near Marand in
East Azarbaijan.

Some historical sources, such as the travelogue of Frenchmen Jean
Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689), some photos kept at Tehran’s Golestan
Palace, and the photos taken by Ali Khan Vali, the governor of
northern Azarbaijan during the reign of the Qajar king Nasser ad-Din
Shah and kept in the Adl family archives, indicate that the bones of
Saint Stephanus (Saint Stephen), who acted as a direct successor to
Saint Peter, Saint Matthew, and the Prophet Daniel, are being kept in
the St. Stephanus Church.

`The East Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department sent a
letter to the Prelacy of Iran after the team discovered the bones,
asking their representative to attend the process of gathering the
bones from the site last Sunday,’ Adl said.

The team has also discovered several pieces of board from the boxes
containing the bones, yellow and beige clothes, seeds of frankincense
and some pieces of wax, and ocher beside the bones.

The bones have been examined by a team of anthropologists of the
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (CHTO).

`The bones have been damaged because of the bad condition of the
place. Thus, we could only determine that they are the bones of a
single body but the individual bones can not be distinguished,’ said
team member Farzad Foruzanfar.

The complete skeleton belongs to a man about 50 years old with a
strong body, he added.

The bones have been transferred to the Prelacy of Azarbaijan in
Tabriz because restoration work is currently underway in the church,
but they will be returned after the renovation is complete.

`The bones will be returned to be kept in a specific place during a
special religious ceremony,’ East Azarbaijan Cultural Heritage and
Tourism Department Director Ali-Akbar Taqizadeh said.

Hayk Ajimian, an Armenian scholar and historian, recorded that the
church was originally built in the ninth century CE, but repeated
earthquakes in Azarbaijan severely damaged the original structure.
The church was renovated during the reign of the Safavid king Shah
Abbas (1588-1629).

The general structure of the St. Stephanus Church mostly resembles
Armenian and Georgian architecture and the inside of the building is
adorned with beautiful paintings by Honatanian, a renowned Armenian
artist.

The CHTO plans to submit an application to UNESCO to register the St.
Stephanus Church as well as the St. Thaddeus and Zorzor churches in
West Azarbajian on the World Heritage List.

Common Dreams (press release), ME
July 27 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JULY 27, 2005
10:28 AM CONTACT: Public Citizen
Taylor Lincoln (202) 454-5197
Angela Bradbery (202) 588-7741

Members of Congress Increasingly Use Revolving Door to Launch
Lucrative Lobbying Careers

43 Percent of Lawmakers Who Left Office Since 1998 Have Become
Lobbyists, Public Citizen Analysis Shows

WASHINGTON – July 27 – Forty-three percent of members of Congress who
left office since 1998 and were eligible to lobby have become
lobbyists, indicating that Congress has increasingly become a way
station on the path to the lucrative influence-peddling industry,
according to a new Public Citizen report released today.

The report, Congressional Revolving Doors: The Journey from Congress
to K Street, examines in depth the case of one former member who has
done particularly well after going through the revolving door. Just
days after he left Congress in 1999 amid allegations of an
extramarital affair, former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) opened a
lobbying shop. In the first year he pulled in $1.1 million, even
though he was restricted from personally lobbying his former
colleagues for a year. (Former members often skirt the lobby
prohibition rules by supervising other lobbyists for the first year
after leaving Congress.) The next year, after the cooling-off period
was lifted, his firm’s lobbying revenues more than quadrupled to $4.8
million.

The report, based on hundreds of lobbyist registration documents as
well as industry and news media reports, is available at
, a new Public Citizen Web site launched
today and designed to track the influence of special interests in
Washington. The Web site contains a searchable database of former
federal officials and staff who have passed through the revolving
door, Public Citizen investigative reports on lobbying battles waged
by industry, detailed summaries of influence-peddling laws and
recommendations for reforming the system.

“People used to run for Congress to serve the greater good and help
the public,” said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. “Now
Congress has become a way station to wealth. Members use it for job
training and networking so they can leave office and cash in on the
connections they forged as elected officials. No wonder the public is
cynical about whose interests lawmakers are protecting in Washington.
Lobbying has become the top career choice for departing members of
Congress.”

According to the report:

Forty-three percent of the 198 members who have left Congress since
1998 and were eligible to lobby have become registered lobbyists.
Fifty percent of eligible departing members of the U.S. Senate have
become lobbyists (18 of 36) while 42 percent of eligible departing
members of the U.S. House of Representatives have become lobbyists
(68 of 162).
Almost 52 percent of the Republican members of Congress who left
Capitol Hill since 1998 registered to lobby (58 of 112) compared to
33 percent of the departing Democrats (28 of 86). This could reflect
the fact that after George W. Bush became president, Washington
became a hostile place for lobbyists whose contacts were Democratic.
As part of the “K Street Project” pushed by Republicans, including
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), lobbying firms that hired
former Democratic members of Congress were to be denied access and
business by the Republican majority.
Of the 2000 departing class, the ratio was even more lopsided when
Republicans won the White House and retained control of Congress.
More than 62 percent of Republicans (23 of 37) who left that year
became lobbyists, compared to only 15 percent of Democrats (2 of 13).

Livingston exemplifies how a member-turned-lobbyist interacts with
his former colleagues. In six years, Livingston built his business
into the 12th largest non-law lobbying firm in Washington and took in
almost $40 million from 1999 through 2004, records show. Among his
clients are Turkey, Morocco and the Cayman Islands, which
collectively paid his firm $11 million from 2000 to 2004, with $9
million of that coming from Turkey.

Livingston delivered; he helped ensure that a $1 billion supplemental
appropriation for Turkey remained intact through the legislative
process, despite that country’s refusal to allow U.S. troops to use
its soil as a staging area for the Iraq invasion. He also helped kill
an amendment that would have formally recognized the Armenian
genocide that occurred between 1915 and 1923. Turkey has always
opposed this recognition.

Livingston, his wife Bonnie and his two political action committees
(PACs) also contributed $503,449 to various candidates or their PACs
from 2000 through 2004. Some of that money went to people Livingston
later lobbied.

“The revolving door is spinning faster than ever,” said Frank
Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. “When
nearly half the lawmakers in Congress use their position to move into
a job that pays so handsomely, it’s time to change the system.”

In light of the findings, Public Citizen recommends the following
reforms:

Extend the former members’ cooling-off period (the time during which
they are not allowed to lobby) to two years and include the
supervision of lobbyists as a prohibited activity.
Require members of Congress to disclose their employment negotiations
while they are in office if they pose a conflict of interest, similar
to the requirement for the executive branch.
Repeal the privileges that give former members of Congress special
access to former colleagues (access to the House and Senate floor and
to members-only gymnasiums and restaurants) if they register to
lobby.
Prohibit registered lobbyists from making, soliciting or arranging
campaign contributions to elected officials in the branches of
government they lobby (Congress, the executive branch or both).

Islam Online, Qatar
July 27 2005

Palestinians Slam New Jewish Homes in Al-Quds

A Palestinian woman reacts after her family house was demolished by
Israeli authorities in Al-Quds. (Reuters)

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 27, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) –
Palestinians lambasted Wednesday, July 27, an Israeli decision to
build 21 homes and a synagogue for Jews in the heart of the Muslim
Quarter in Al-Quds’s Old City, saying it is a part of an Israeli
scheme to judaize the entire city.

`This is pouring fuel on the fire. We ask the international community
to intervene immediately and stop such actions,’ senior Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters.

He said the plan would spark new friction between Jews and Arabs in
the historical city.

The Old City is surrounded by walls and consists of four quarters:
Jewish, Christian, Armenian, and Muslim, which is the largest part.

There are around 230,000 Palestinians living in Al-Quds, home to
Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.

The status of the holy city has long been one of the thorniest issues
of the Arab-Israeli conflict as Jews claim that their alleged Haykal
(Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif used to be
the first qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers).

Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then
declared its annexation, in a move not recognized by the world
community or UN resolutions.

Approval

The Israeli municipality in the occupied city gave Tuesday
preliminary approval for the construction, according to Israeli
Maariv daily.

The project, however, needs to be approved by the Interior and
Housing Ministries before construction can begin.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli Housing Ministry said the plan was
initiated by the previous housing minister and was not in the
ministry’s budget for 2005.

An ultranationalist Jewish organisation has been buying property in
the Muslim Quarter in recent years for Jewish families, according to
Reuters.

The Israeli cabinet approved Sunday, July 10, a revised route of the
controversial West Bank separation wall, leaving around a quarter of
the Palestinian residents in Al-Quds cut off from the rest of the
holy city.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s highest
legal body, has ruled that the 700-kilometer (435-mile) barrier
violated international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made no secret of his
intention to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank ,
especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds.

Most Palestinians say they welcome any Israeli withdrawal from their
homeland, but understandably express fears Sharon was trying to trade
tiny Gaza for much of the occupied West Bank , where 240,000 settlers
live surrounded by 2.4 million Palestinians.

Jenin Raid

Yussef Haseef, a 15-year-old bystander, was killed during the Israeli
raid in Jenin. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, a Palestinian teenager was killed and nine people wounded,
two of them Israeli soldiers, when Israeli occupation troops stormed
the northern West Bank city of Jenin earlier Wednesday.

Around 30 armored vehicles and four bulldozers entered Jenin as
troops surrounded the home of a leading member of the Islamic Jihad
resistance movement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Yussef Haseef, a 15-year-old bystander, was shot during the clashes
and rushed to hospital in the nearby city of Nablus where he died,
medics said.

Medical sources had said two of eight wounded Palestinians were in a
serious condition.

Israeli troops launched the operation to detain Hamzi Sami, a leading
member of Jihad’s armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades.

Haseef’s death brought the total toll to 4,809 since the Palestinian
Intifada began in September 2000, according to an AFP count. The vast
majority of the casualties have been Palestinians.

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
July 27 2005

U.S. Hopes For Breakthrough At Armenian-Azeri Summit

By Emil Danielyan

Next month’s meeting in Russia between the presidents of Armenia and
Azerbaijan could mark a `turning point’ in the long-running
international efforts to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a
high-ranking U.S. official said on Wednesday.

`There will be a meeting in August of both presidents and it can
potentially be a turning point,’ U.S. Undersecretary of State for
Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky told reporters in Baku. `We certainly
would want to hope and see it go in a positive direction that does
lay a foundation for resolution.’

U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-chairing the Minsk Group of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed similar
hopes and expectations as they wrapped up their last tour of the
conflict zone on July 15. They confirmed reports of substantial
progress made by the conflicting parties in recent months, saying
that a peace deal could be cut by the end of this year.

`I understand that the discussions that have taken place thus far
have moved in a very constructive and positive direction,’ Dobriansky
said. `Our interlocutors who are directly involved with this issue …
have indicated that they are cautiously optimistic.’

The U.S. official was speaking during a visit to Baku shortly before
meeting with President Ilham Aliev. Azerbaijan’s official Azertac
news agency did not mention Karabakh among the issues which it said
were discussed by Aliev and Dobriansky.

Aliev and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian are scheduled to
meet in the Russian city of Kazan on August 29 on the sidelines of a
summit of ex-Soviet states. Their encounter will be preceded by a
meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers.

Details of the peace accord currently discussed at the peace talks
have still not been officially made public. Some Armenian officials
have said privately that at the heart of it is the idea of a
referendum on Karabakh’s status that would take place after the
liberation of Armenian-occupied territories in Azerbaijan proper. But
Azerbaijani officials implicitly deny this.

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 27 2005

Human rights activists say discrimination in Georgia increasing

TBLISI, July 27 (RIA Novosti) – Discrimination against minorities in
Georgia is commonplace, according to new report called “Ethnic
Minorities in Georgia”, prepared recently by the International
Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), an organization based in France.

The report says minorities are migrating from Georgia to other
countries, and calls for special programs to be introduced for
teaching the Georgian language, without which ethnic minorities are
vulnerable to discrimination.

A research group has been comparing populations of ethnic minorities
in Georgia between 1989 and 2005, said Ucha Nanuashvili, head of
Georgian NGO Human Rights Information and Documentation Center.

In 1989, there were 308,000 Azerbaijanis living in Georgia vs.
284,000 today, 437,000 Armenians vs. 249,000, 341,000 Russians vs.
68,000, 52,000 Ukrainians vs. 7,000, and 15,000 Greeks vs. 15,000,
Nanuashvili said at a press conference Wednesday, citing the report.

The FIDH has become concerned with Georgia due to the number of
citizens leaving the country and seeking asylum in western European
countries.

Nanuashvili said the Georgian government has assumed responsibility
for ratifying the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities. The FIDH report has already been sent to all relevant
state departments.

The human rights campaigner says that based on the report’s findings,
a national strategy should be developed to solve the problem.

Armenian-Azeri talks at “very sensitive stage” – British envoy

Arminfo
27 Jul 05

YEREVAN

The process of negotiations between the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents over the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is currently at a very
sensitive stage, the British ambassador to Armenia, Thorda
Abbott-Watt, has said in an interview with the Armenia television
channel.

The ambassador said that it would be reasonable “if others were a
little patient and waited for some time”.

A considerable role in the negotiating process is played by the
co-chairmen of the [OSCE] Minsk Group.

“Great Britain is not a party to the negotiations and it would be
wrong if I made any comments on their progress,” she said. However,
Thorda Abbott-Watt noted that Great Britain hopes the conflict will be
resolved soon because it hampers regional development. She added that
both sides have to make compromises to achieve a breakthrough.

The ambassador went on to say that she will not visit Nagornyy
Karabakh as British ambassador since “that would mean that Great
Britain recognizes the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic as part of Armenia”.

She added that she hopes to visit Nagornyy Karabakh in the future.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian foreign minister, IAEA head discuss nuclear plant security

Arminfo
27 Jul 05

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today received the
director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA],
Muhammad al-Baradi’i, who is paying a two-day visit to Armenia.

The sides discussed problems Armenia is facing in the energy sphere
and prospects for developing this sector of the economy.

After stressing the importance of cooperation between Armenia and the
IAEA, the sides discussed security issues, ways of boosting the
effectiveness of the Armenian nuclear power plant and the use of
alternative sources of energy.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri TV accuses US Congress of Armenian bias

Lider TV, Baku
24 Jul 05

You are probably aware of how it has been found out that the man who
threw a grenade at [US President George] Bush [in Tbilisi] is an
Armenian, Vladimir Arutyunyan. This was done with the help of pictures
taken by a US satellite.

Having heard this, every single Azerbaijani may wonder – how come that
US satellites can identify someone with a grenade in his hand among
hundreds of thousands of people, but cannot take pictures of Armenian
occupation of our lands? Is it that difficult for those satellites to
see and take pictures of thousands of Armenians resettled on the
occupied lands? Why does this country not describe Armenia as an
aggressor and tell it to withdraw from the lands that do not belong to
it?

This week, the US Congress adopted a resolution on democratic and fair
elections in Azerbaijan with 416 votes for and one vote against. Good.
This is how the election should be held. We will probably benefit from
this more than anybody else will. But why do those congressmen,
including those who propose to bomb Mecca, not adopt a similar
resolution on the withdrawal of the Armenian aggressors from our
lands? This is happening despite the fact that according to the
results of a survey conducted last month among 1,200 people by the
USA’s International Republican Institute, precisely 93 per cent of the
Azerbaijanis believe that the country’s major problem is the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict.

After Nagornyy Karabakh, they are mostly concerned about unemployment
and inflation. Other very topical issues that worry the population are
also connected exclusively with their economic situation. Democratic
elections and freedom of speech are, from this point of view, on the
last, i.e. the 10th position. If so, why should a resolution be
adopted on the issue that is on the 10th position and not on the issue
that is on the first position?

Certainly, Azerbaijanis are not illiterate. Thank God, at least in
terms of education we are not lagging behind the Americans
yet. Precisely these double standards eventually lead to the fact that
while the majority of the forces in the country, including the
government, see Azerbaijan’s future in integration into the West, the
results of the opinion poll conducted by the International Republican
Institute show that the Azerbaijani population gives more preference
to relations with Russia in the country’s foreign policy. These
constitute 39 per cent of the respondents. The total number of the
respondents who give preference to the USA and the EU is three per
cent lower, i.e. 36 per cent.

Should it be like this? Certainly, not. This reality, frankly
speaking, meets neither our national nor US state interests.

Christian fundamentalists like Congressman [Tom] Tancredo and other
congressmen who make their decisions under pressure from the Armenian
lobby are to blame. As a result of their activities, this week the USA
made a decision to allocate twice as much assistance to Armenia than
to Azerbaijan next year. However, both the incident that involved
Arutyunyan and dozens of other facts demonstrate that it is precisely
the Armenians who hamper the USA’s efforts to strengthen its positions
in the South Caucasus. [Passage omitted: Yerevan denied Arutyunyan’s
grenade produced in Armenia; on activity of Armenian lobby in Georgia]

Iranian minister says military attaches should pursue defence diplomacy

IRNA web site
27 Jul 05

Tehran, 27 July, IRNA: Defence Minister Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani
said at an biannual gathering of “Iranian military attaches in foreign
countries” that the military attaches are responsible for pursuing the
country’s defence diplomacy.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Defence Ministry,
he said military and strategic issues require constant follow up by
competent persons.

Referring to the achievements made over the past eight year by the
Defence Ministry, he said the ministry has defence cooperation in the
fields of software and hardware with over 70 countries around the
globe such as in Europe, Africa and Asia.

During the period the ministry has signed defence pacts with Russia,
Iraq, Kuwait, India, Pakistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Ivory
Coast, Austria, Senegal, Belarussia and South Africa, he said.

Benefiting from defence diplomacy and the role of mass media, the
ministry has taken concrete strides in promoting policies of detente,
trust-building, transparency and accountability, he underlined.

The military attaches should shoulder responsibilities to boost
defence relations, export of military items in line with the foreign
policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress