SOCCER-POLAK DOUBLE LIFTS CZECHS UP TO SECOND PLACE
By Alan Crosby
Reuters
09/07/05 19:44 ET
OLOMOUC, Czech Republic, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Jan Polak scored twice
to lead the Czech Republic to a 4-1 win over Armenia in their World
Cup Group One qualifier on Wednesday.
The Czechs, who have 24 points from 10 games, leapfrogged Romania
(22 points) into second place in the table. Group leaders Netherlands
(25) play hosts to Andorra later on Wednesday.
Marek Heinz opened the scoring for the Czechs in the 47th minute
when his shot from 18 metres took a deflection off Armenia defender
Sargis Hovsepjan.
Polak struck five minutes later when his 25-metre drive took another
ricochet before finding the back of the net.
Milan Baros made it 3-0 when he swept home Jan Koller’s rebound in
the 58th minute before Polak notched his second with 14 minutes left.
Ara Hakobian pulled a goal back for Armenia in the 85th minute.
“We only started to play after the break. In the first half, we were
like Sleeping Beauty,” Czech coach Karel Bruckner told reporters.
The Czechs needed maximum points after a 2-0 defeat by Romania on
Saturday.
“If we could have got ahead, the Czechs would have had a very
difficult task. But after they scored the second goal, it was pretty
well decided,” said Armenia’s Dutch coach Henk Wisman.

ARMENIAN PLANS TO UPGRADE ARMED FORCES IN LINE WITH NATO BY 2015
Armenpress
Sept 7, 2005
RIGA, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: Latvia’s defense minister Ejnar
Repse was quoted by LETA news agency as saying that after Latvia’s
accession to NATO it wants to step up bilateral military cooperation
with Armenia.
His remarks came after he and his visiting Armenian counterpart, Serzh
Sarkisian, signed a cooperation agreement in Riga. Armenian defense
minister was quoted as saying that Armenia plans to upgrade its armed
forces in conformity with NATO standards by 2015. He said Armenia
does not yet meet EU and NATO requirements because of lack of money,
but expressed hope that the country would be able to do so in future.

ARMENIAN CONDUCTORS WINS GRAND PRIX OF INTERNATIONAL CONTEST
Armenpress
Sept 7, 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: A jury of prominent musicians from
the USA, Russia, South Korea, Great Britain and Ukraine awarded the
Grand Prix of the 5-th international contest of conductors dedicated to
Vakhtang Zhvania in Ukrainian Kharkiv to Armenian conductor Harutyun
Arzumanian.
Harutyun Arzumanian who conducts the orchestra of the Armenian
Ballet and Opera Theater was also awarded the prize established for
best conductor of orchestra and won also a prize called ‘Audience
Sympathy’. As the winner of the contest that ran from September 1
to September 6, Harutyun Arzumanian will conduct orchestras of USA,
Korea, Russia, Ukraine and some other countries.
In an interview with Armenpress Harutyun Arzumanian said his victory
came also as a surprise for contest organizers as it was the first
participation of an Armenian conductor in this contest held once in
two years. As part of the contest he had to conduct the orchestra
that performed new work by a modern composer Alkneev for saxophone,
percussions, choir and a soloist.
The contest was organized by James Art American company in an effort to
select best conductors who later will perform on different stages. Out
of 150 contenders only 33 from 21 countries managed to overcome the
first round and 5 qualified for the final round.

LLOYDS TSB TO HELP ARMENIAN BANK MEET WESTERN STANDARDS
Armenpress
Sept 7, 2005
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS: One of the leading commercial banks
of Armenia, Armeconombank and a British Lloyds TSB consulting firm
announced today in Yerevan the start of an institutional reconstruction
and development project for Armenian bank.
Lloyds TSB was selected from 6 consulting firms last March which were
competing for implementation of a technical assistance program for the
bank after EBRD bought 25 percent shares +1 share of Armeconombank. The
program duration is 18 months. After its completion Armeconombank
will boast of having the state-the-art banking technology.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TWO ARMENIANS IN BOMBING CASE GRANTED US CITIZENSHIP – TURKISH PAPER
Hurriyet website, Istanbul
7 Sep 05
Text of report by Turkish daily Hurriyet website on 7 September
subheadings as published
The United States has given American citizenship to two Armenians who
had plotted a bomb attack against the Turkish consulate in Philadelphia
20 years ago because of the “good character that they have demonstrated
since 1992”.
Justification good conduct
US citizenship has been granted to Viken Hovsepian and Viken Vasken
Yacoubian, who had plotted a bomb attack against the Turkish consulate
in Philadelphia, on the grounds of the “exemplary conduct” they have
demonstrated since 1992.
The American Ninth Circuit Appellate Court rejected an appeal
against the granting of US citizenship to the pair, and approved
their citizenship.
Had attacked with dynamite [as published]
Five Armenians, including Hovsepian and Yacoubian, both born in
Lebanon, had been arrested in October of 1982 on grounds of attacking
the Turkish consulate with dynamite. [as published; they had in
fact been arrested prior to any attack, on suspicion of conspiring to
conduct one, and were later convicted of transporting explosives across
a state line.] Hovsepian, who has now received his citizenship, had
been declared “the organizer of the plot, and the most culpable among
the five defendants”. In their 1984 trial, Hovsepian had received a
six-year sentence, while Yacoubian had been sentenced to three years
imprisonment and a thousand hours of community service.
The US citizenship applications of Hovsepian and Yacoubian had been
accepted a while ago, but federal attorneys had appealed by saying that
the pair had made certain false statements in order secure citizenship.
The appellate court, rejecting the appeal, approved the granting of
citizenship to Hovsepian and Yacoubian.
Impressed with background
The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported that US Federal Judge Mariana
Pfaelzer [who had presided at the defendants’ original trial], had
in handing down her [original] decision stated that she had been
“impressed” with the defendants’ backgrounds. Defence attorneys had
interpreted the statement of Pfaelzer, who had not fully specified
in what way she had been impressed, as follows: “I think the judge,
with those words, was referring to familial and sociological factors
that had pushed our defendants into becoming Armenian activists.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Romanian Engineering Unit Returns From Iraq
Rompres news agency
7 Sep 05
Bucharest, 7 September: The servicemen with the Irak IV Romanian
detachment of engineers returned home after accomplishing their
missions to the letter. Their arrival was celebrated at the Engineering
96th Battalion headquarters on Wednesday, 7 September .
In his short speech, Brigadier-General Iulian Parvulescu voiced
satisfaction with the successful accomplishment of the 149 servicemen’s
missions. They carried out some 90 missions in six months. “I am glad
you have returned safe and sound and without losses”, Parvulescu added.
Brigadier-General Ion Palsoiu with the Territorial 1st Army Corps
Command highlighted the Romanian troops’ conduct, professionalism
and dedication, for which reason they were commended.
Commander of the Irak IV detachment Gheorghe Soare said that the troops
under his command carried out missions in support of the Iraqi people,
who were open to cooperation.
He added that the missions consisted of construction and repair works
on roads, the construction of launching pads for helicopters, upkeep
for bridges linking various Iraqi settlements, construction works on
facilities aimed to boost protection of the Camp Echo and Camp Charlie
troops and specific engineering missions for the Iraqi army’s benefit.
Soare stressed that the Romanian engineers joined the ranks of the
Multinational Division Centre-South, alongside servicemen from Armenia,
Bulgaria, Denmark, Poland, the US, Ukraine, Salvador, Slovakia,
Lithuania, Latvia, Mongolia, Norway and Kazakhstan.
The ceremony was also attended by members of the engineers’ families.
The new arrivals were relieved by the Irak V detachment on 4 September,
commanded by Major Dan Cosma.

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER, NEW OSCE SECRETARY-GENERAL DISCUSS KARABAKH
Trend news agency
7 Sep 05
Baku, 7 September, Trend correspondent S. Agayev: Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has discussed ways of settling the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem with the new OSCE secretary-general, Marc Perrin de
Brichambaut, the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry
has said.
The minister spoke about the development of cooperation between
Azerbaijan and the OSCE, the process of democratization and political
and economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan. The two parties
exchanged views on the structure, development and future of OSCE
institutions.
[Passage omitted: Mammadyarov will have several other meetings]

Poland Must Strive to Make Sure Eastern Europe’s Role Is Appreciated by Nato and EU Strategists
Polish News Bulletin
Sep 07, 2005
The following is a summary of an article, featured in Rzeczpospolita,
by Stanislaw Koziej, retired general and expert on military matters.
Poland’s security has recently come to be perceived, writes Koziej,
almost solely in the context of the fight against terrorism and the
proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. It would, however,
be a mistake to focus only on this dimension. The events in Ukraine
and Belarus and Russia’s policy towards Poland have made that clear.
We need to keep monitoring the situation in the East.
The area between the Nato and the EU, on the one hand, and Russia,
on the other, is a strategic region of key significance for global
security. In terms of global opportunities and threats, it is the
second most important, after the Middle East, strategic area in the
world. Here lie the possibilities of building a security system
encompassing Europe and North America. But here too the greatest
threats may arise, including the threat of a nuclear war.
That is because of the presence of the third, besides the Nato and
the EU, actor of European security, ie Russia. Analysts have been
labouring to find an answer to the question about the direction in
which events will likely go in Russia. Will it be a constructive and
active strategic partner in the building of a common security system,
or will it focus chiefly on its transformation from an empire into
a free-market democracy? Will those processes be gradual and quiet,
or should we be expecting dramatic, or even bleak scenarios? – Risk
of Chaos
The lack of immediate answers to such questions defines the nature of
the Nato’s and the EU’s strategic needs in this area. The fundamental
question is whether Russia will be a partner or an adversary. Will
it be possible to build common security with it, or will it remain a
source of instability? The Nato and the EU are declaring they want
to have Russia as a partner. That has fundamental significance for
Poland from the point of view of its security interests. But it takes
two to create a partnership.
Yet Russia has continued perceiving the West, and especially the
Nato, as a suspect partner or a potential opponent. Perhaps it
is only tactics; in practice, Russia has participated, on a scale
consistent with its capacities, in peacekeeping missions. Still,
there is no guarantee that Russia’s strategic political course will
not radicalise itself. The Kremlin’s recent moves in domestic policy
and in policy towards Poland offer little cause for optimism.
The second strategic factor in this area is Ukraine. The existence of
a democratic Ukraine, a favourable development of its partnership with
the West, including the prospect of Nato accession, ensure strategic
equilibrium in Eastern Europe and are consistent with Poland’s
strategic interests. Poland should be supporting the development of
that partnership, as well as supporting Ukraine in its path towards
democracy and prosperity.
Another aspect of the strategic situation in Eastern Europe is
Belarus. In itself, it does not represent any significant strategic
problem for either the Nato or the EU, but it may become a serious
problem for Poland. Its natural gravitation towards Russia may
pass through various phases, but that is a matter of the Belarussian
people’s and state’s sovereign decisions. A potential full integration
with Russia would change little in the strategic sense compared with
the present.
The situation could change if Belarus embarked, like Ukraine, on a
course towards full sovereignty. In such a case, the reaction from
Russia would likely be even more vigorous than with Ukraine. But
that prospect seems rather distant today. Strategically, Russia and
Belarus can be treated as one. – Asian Challenge
A separate challenge for the Nato and the EU is posed by the situation
in the Northern Caucasus post-Soviet states bound with the Nato by
the Partnership for Peace: Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, where
ethnic conflicts have continued to smoulder in Abkhasia, Southern
Osetya, and Karabakh. The same may become true for the Central Asian
republics. The peacekeeping missions carried out there by Russia
under the auspices of the CIS have been ineffective.
The CIS has no future. It lacks strength, dynamism, and, above all,
its members’ political will to work effectively together. The countries
stricken by conflicts will not be able to solve those conflicts by
themselves, so pressure will be growing on international organisations,
especially the Nato, to participate actively in solving them. It
will be hard for the Nato to evade this challenge, and this aspect
should be taken into consideration in the debate on the organisation’s
new strategy.
The Eastern European strategic area represents a whole range of
opportunities, challenges, and threats. Those are opportunities and
challenges related to cooperation in expanding the area of common
security, as well as to the need for becoming involved in the solving
of local conflicts. Poland has to strive actively for those issues
to be taken into account on a permanent basis in the Nato’s and the
EU’s strategic concepts and current security policies.

COURT UPHOLDS CITIZENSHIP FOR ARMENIANS
By Gillian Flaccus
The Associated Press
09/06/05 22:36 EDT
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a
judge did not err in granting U.S. citizenship to two Armenian men
convicted more than 20 years ago of planning to bomb the Turkish
Consulate in Philadelphia.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ends a long
struggle by Viken Hovsepian and Viken Yacoubian, who plotted to bomb
the consulate in retaliation for the mass killings of Armenians during
Ottoman rule in 1915.
The men, who have been out of prison since the early 1990s, now
have doctorates, have renounced violence and are volunteers in the
Armenian-American community, said Mathew Millen, an attorney who
helped handle the immigration portion of their case.
Federal law currently forbids convicted terrorists from becoming
citizens. But anyone convicted of an aggravated felony before November
1990 can be granted citizenship if they have been “of good moral
character” for five years prior to their application, Millen said.
The federal government fought the citizenship application, contending
the men lied on certain portions of their applications. The 9th Circuit
affirmed Tuesday a lower court opinion that the alleged “lies” were
actually misunderstandings or oversights.
“We accept the court’s ruling, as we do with any ruling,” said Thom
Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.
The men were in their early 20s when they and two others were arrested
in 1982 after authorities tape-recorded them planning the bombing.
Hovsepian was sentenced to six years in prison in 1984, while Yacoubian
was sentenced to three years in prison and 1,000 hours of community
service.

AZERI SOLDIER KILLED, CIVILIAN WOUNDED IN ARMENIAN TRUCE VIOLATION – TV
ANS TV Baku
6 Sep 05
An Azerbaijani soldier has been killed and a civilian wounded in
Tapqaraqoyunlu village of the country’s Goranboy District as the
Armenian armed forced violated the cease-fire on the front line,
Azerbaijan’s ANS TV said on 6 September.
The Armenian armed forces subjected the Azerbaijani village to
intensive fire from automatic guns at about 1100 gmt, ANS correspondent
said in a live telephone link-up with the studio. The firing lasted
over two hours and sounds of explosion were heard, he said.