NewsBlaze, CA
Aug 29 2005
Rice Urges Armenia, Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh Compromise
Secretary of State phones Presidents Kocharian and Aliyev
The United States attaches great importance to the upcoming meeting
of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan and hopes they will make
the compromises necessary in order to reach a settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
That was the message when Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice phoned
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev August 25, according to the U.S. State Department.
The leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States are scheduled
to meet beginning August 26 in Russia’s Volga River city of Kazan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody war from 1990 to 1994, after
the predominantly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh
attempted to break away from Soviet Azerbaijan. An estimated 35,000
people died and tens of thousands of civilians were driven from their
homes before the two countries agreed to a cease-fire in 1994.
In terms of official policy, the United States does not recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent country and supports the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, maintaining that the future
status of Nagorno-Karabakh is a matter of negotiation between the
parties.
The United States also remains committed to finding a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through the Minsk Group
process, which is co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.
In its statement on Rice’s discussions with the two leaders, the
State Department said, `Both leaders were upbeat about the prospects
for making progress.’
`The Secretary stressed to President Aliyev the importance of free
and fair parliamentary elections this November in Azerbaijan, and
noted his important role in this,’ the statement added.
The United States has repeatedly urged Azerbaijan to meet
international standards when it holds its November parliamentary
elections and to implement the recommendations made by an
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observer
mission after the 2003 elections.
As recently as July 2, U.S. representative Christopher Smith,
co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and a Republican from New
Jersey, issued a statement saying he was `very disappointed’ that
Azerbaijan’s parliament had passed an election law that does not
incorporate many key changes recommended by international observers,
especially in the composition of election commissions. (See statement
released by Helsinki Commission.)
The United States has also called on Azerbaijan `to implement fully
the May 11 Presidential Decree calling for the conduct of free and
fair elections.’
In her phone call to Armenian President Kocharian, Rice said she
`hoped Armenia would make progress toward enacting a package of
constitutional reforms now before the parliament,’ the State
Department said.
The government of Armenia submitted revised constitutional reform
amendments to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission in July, and
the United States at that time welcomed the Venice Commission’s
agreement to those amendments.
The proposed reforms would improve separation of powers between
branches of government and increase the independence and freedom of
the media.
The U.S. State Department has a fact sheet available summarizing the
U.S. position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Source: U.S. Department of State

The Guide: PREVIEW music: NEW SINGLES

The Guardian – United Kingdom; Aug 27, 2005
IAN GITTINS
GORILLAZ Dare (Parlophone) A decade on from the bloodiest conflict of
the Britpop wars, it’s absurd to reflect that we even fleetingly
considered the Gallagher brothers creatively superior to Damon
Albarn. Yet the Blur man is largely absent from this latest, excellent
Gorillaz offering, a winningly facetious collage of futuristic
electro-doodles and squelches which is marred only by a post-pub
Mancunian dosser slurring a passable impersonation of Shameless
patriarch Frank Gallagher through the open studio window. Oh no, hang
on, that’s special guest star Shaun Ryder!
* GWEN STEFANI Cool (Interscope) She’s a helium-voiced Valley Girl,
her lyrics and interviews are packed with self-regarding Californian
psychobabble and her ambition makes her look pretty ugly, yet Stefani
has a sure-footed pop sensibility that consistently renders her
confections hugely beguiling. Cooing over the vexed subject of
maintaining a civilised relationship with an ex-lover, Cool is yet
another surprisingly palatable cut from her ludicrously named, sugar
rush of an album, Love Angel Music Baby.
* THE DANDY WARHOLS Smoke It (Parlophone) The Dandy Warhols may be
poised to enjoy a second wind thanks to Dig!, the film about their
arch rivalry with the Brian Jonestown Massacre, next to whom they
resemble Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Here they salvage their own
hard-earned reputation for narcotic excess with a thrilling,
hyperventilating shambles of an Iggy-meets-the-Stones number that
doggedly pursues its misguided train of thought to oblivion and
beyond. Excellent.
* SYSTEM OF A DOWN Question (American Recordings) This ambitious
venture finds the Armenia-via-California thrash rockers striving to
answer the biggest existential questions of them all: what is the
meaning of life, and where do we go when we die? All is made clear as,
over alternately symphonic and thunderous shock-metal, they deliver a
remarkable verdict: “Sweet berries ready for two/Ghosts are no
different than you.” We’ve needed this for years: a Jean-Paul Sartre
you can mosh to.
* PRAS Haven’t Found (Universal) Next to the lustrous Lauryn Hill and
the ubiquitous Wyclef Jean, the relatively anonymous Pras Michel was
perennially doomed to be The Other One of the Fugees. Here, he
attempts to vault back into public affection by appropriating the
skyscraping guitar riff of U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking
For and mumbling over the top about how very ace he is. Diddy would
consider this record lazy and exploitative. Those are not words to use
lightly.

Russian, Belarusian presidents hail economic bloc agreement
NTV Mir, Moscow
27 Aug 05
[Presenter] The stands are full, the horses are at the start line. The
bets have already been placed. The races are beginning in Kazan. The
main race is for the Russian president’s cup and a prize of R5m. Our
special correspondent Sergey Savin joins us live to tell us what is
happening at the racecourse in the capital of Tatarstan and the
results of the meeting of participants in the Single Economic Space
[SES]. [Passage omitted]
How did today’s meeting of the leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus
and Ukraine, the states that are involved in the Single Economic
Space, go? What did the presidents agree on?
[Correspondent] Yes, Aleksey. Before lunch the meeting of the four
leaders, or as they are calling it in Kazan “summit no 2”, took
place. This involved the countries in the Single Economic Space:
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia.
Talk of the mutual benefits from creating the SES began two years ago
and since then work has been fully under way. The presidents described
today’s meeting as extremely constructive. The countries have agreed
that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will sign 29 documents in December
and after 1 January 2005 [as received – ITAR-TASS reports the
documents are to be signed by 1 March 2006] another 15 documents will
be signed. Even Ukraine, which is currently noticeably lagging behind
in the integration process, expressed its willingness to take part in
agreeing and preparing the documents.
Here is what the presidents said:
[Russian President Vladimir Putin] We are working on the basis that
the documents that we have drawn up will come into force as sets of 29
and 44 [documents]. This means that each partner must determine for
itself whether these are beneficial for them or not from an economic
point of view.
Therefore, I am in full agreement with Viktor Andriyovych [Yushchenko,
Ukrainian president] that if society or the parliament in any of our
countries has any kind of doubts, then it is best not to rush. It is
better to carefully consider and weigh up all the pros and cons and
only after this take a decision. Anything other than that will be
perceived as something imposed from the outside, which is always
counterproductive.
On the other hand, if we work towards signing 44 agreements by March
next year, everything will be properly worked out and the market
players and the populations of our countries will see that this will
bring benefits, then this is a different situation.
[Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka] We weren’t able to
suspect that literally two years later the idea of a Single Economic
Space would turn out to be so popular. The policies and the agreements
and documents, which we then began to work on, are today needed as
never before because without them we cannot develop our economies at
such speeds and supply the growth in the trade turnover.
[Correspondent] High-level politics is gradually starting to move out
of the limelight on the stage of events in Kazan. The heads of state
have only official bilateral meetings left. Of these it is perhaps
worth mentioning the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia. They are planning to discuss the settlement of the situation
in Nagornyy Karabakh.

The Register-Guard, Oregon
Aug 28 2005
Saddam’s ouster brought end of religious freedom for many
By Timothy Phelps
Newsday
Published: Sunday, August 28, 2005
BASRA, Iraq – For Yousef Lyon and other Christians in Basra, the
downfall of Saddam Hussein has meant a terrible loss of religious
freedom.
The social club where Lyon and his friends would gather in the
evening to play dominoes, where families danced or listened to live
music on holidays, is closed. Wedding celebrations are held quietly
at home.
“Of course, during the Saddam regime it was better,” said Lyon, 40,
a member of the city’s small Armenian community. “Now we are afraid
from the religious parties that maybe they will throw a bomb at us.”
Not just the Christians, but many of the city’s minorities – from
obscure sects such as the ancient Sabeans to the Sunni Muslims who
used to run Iraq and still predominate in the rest of the Arab world
– live in fear of the hard-line Shia religious parties and their
militias that now rule Iraq’s second-largest city.
advertisement Freedom has been curbed for women, too. Several decades
ago, almost no woman in Basra covered her head. Now, they all do, for
fear of harassment or worse. Women working for foreign firms or
governments, and those considered to have loose morals, have been
marked for death by militants: two Iraqi sisters who worked in the
laundry at the American compound in Basra were assassinated last
year.
Basra is an ancient port city with a proud cosmopolitan history,
where Christians, Jews, Sunni, Shia and many other groups lived in
relative peace for hundreds of years, according to local historians.
The Jews left en masse in the years following the founding of Israel
in 1948. Now, although no one keeps records or statistics, the other
minorities are leaving as well, though many had cried with joy at the
toppling of Saddam.
“Saddam Hussein was a criminal and an oppressor. Everybody knew
that,” said Majid, 45, a Sunni taxi driver who said he was afraid to
be identified further. “These new parties cry for society, but try
to drink the blood of the people.”
Saddam murdered thousands or tens of thousands of Iraqis, most of
them Kurds in the north and Shias in the south. Shias in Basra were
particularly singled out in retribution for their leadership in a
failed rebellion against Hussein in 1991, when U.S. forces refused to
intervene to protect them after the first Persian Gulf War.
But Saddam did not see Christians and other minorities in Iraq as a
threat because of their smaller numbers and because his regime was
secular and not as hostile to other religions or the rights of women
as are some current officials.
“You can’t say no to those people; they will kill you,” Majid said
of the current leaders here. “Even just if you have a different
viewpoint, you will have a problem.”
He said he is trying to sell his house and leave Iraq, but has had
few prospects. “By God, I don’t know,” he said. “I want to leave,
but where should I go?”
Basra is a city of 2 million people, predominantly Shia. An estimated
200,000 to 300,000 Sunnis, and 5,000 or 6,000 Christians, live in the
area.

USA backs constitutional reform in Armenia – envoy
Arminfo
27 Aug 05
YEREVAN
The USA supports the efforts of all participants in the process of
making amendments to the Armenian constitution and calls on all sides
to take part in responsible and constructive discussions of this
issue, the US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, said yesterday.
He said that the constitution is the basic law of any country and
forms a “basis” that ensures the supremacy of the law. The Americans
needed 13 years to create the first version of the US
constitution. Since then, the US constitution has been amended 27
times and this last happened in the early 1990s.
Today in Iraq, creating or amending a constitution is a lengthy and
difficult process that requires a high level of responsibility from
all participants in order for the final document to express the will
of the people and secure the current balance between different
branches of power, the US ambassador said.
[Passage omitted: Expanding on the importance of the constitution] The
international community, including the USA, has always consistently
supported the efforts of the Council of Europe which helps Armenia
create a package of reforms. Today’s constitutional package is a
significant step forward, although its adoption is the prerogative of
the Republic of Armenia, of course, the US ambassador believes. He
expressed the hope that all important measures will be taken to
increase the civil consciousness of society in order for the
well-informed population to be able to express its will in the
forthcoming referendum in November.
“In the run-up to parliamentary discussions set for 29 August, I hope
that members of the National Assembly will realize their level of
responsibility to their compatriots for adopting constitutional
amendments for the good of the Republic of Armenia.” The debates which
will be held on 29 August, as well as the entire subsequent process
will become an indicator of the level of Armenia’s political
development, the US ambassador pointed out.

New deal to make Russia visits easier for Tajiks
Tajik Television first channel, Dushanbe
27 Aug 05
It was earlier reported that Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov had
attended festivities devoted to the 1,000th anniversary of the city of
Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Tatarstan.
The Tajik president, together with other heads of CIS state, attended
a ceremony held at the Musa Dzhalil State Opera and Ballet Theatre in
Tatarstan in the evening on 26 August. As part of the festivities,
Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov met the head of Muslim people in the
city of Kazan today. Then the Tajik president met representatives of
the Tajik diaspora in Tatarstan.
During the meeting Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov said that in line
with agreements reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin, centres
for issuing foreign passports to Tajik citizens would be opened in all
big cities in Russia from 1 September 2005.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov also met Russian President Vladimir
Putin, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Uzbek President Islom
Karimov and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko as part of the
festivities devoted to the 1,000th anniversary of the city of
Kazan. The sides discussed the most important aspects of bilateral
cooperation during the meeting.

Armenian official praises Kazan talks with Azeri leader

Armenian Public TV
27 August 05
The meeting between the armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev, has ended in Kazan. The meeting lasted for
about two hours. The presidents first had a tete-a-tete meeting and
then were joined by the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group and the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office [on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict], Andrzej Kasprzyk.
The Armenian side positively assesses the meeting in Kazan and
considers it to be a positive development in the negotiating process,
the press secretary of the Armenian president, Viktor Sogomonyan, told
Mediamax new agency.
He also said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers will
continue their work on the basis of the agreements reached in Kazan.

No major progress between Azeri, Armenian leaders – minister
ANS TV, Baku
27 Aug 05
[Presenter] The last meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem has been held in Kazan. The presidents first had a
tete-a-tete meeting and then were joined by the co-chairmen of the
OSCE Minsk Group.
During the talks which lasted for about an hour, an exchange of
opinions was also held on some issues agreed upon at a meeting between
the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and
Vardan Oskanyan, in Moscow on 24 August.
Tatarstan’s Kazan-inform news agency says that both Ilham Aliyev and
Robert Kocharyan, as well as the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen,
positively assessed the talks. President Ilham Aliyev’s plane landed
at Heydar Aliyev airport about 30 minutes ago, which marks the end of
his visit to Tatarstan.
In an interview with ANS, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov positively assessed this meeting.
[Mammadyarov] We should now analyse the results. In general, I cannot
say that there has been any major progress or breakthrough. We did not
reach any agreement. But, in general, certainly, talks between the two
presidents are always important and they try to make their positions
correspond each other. I think that we, both Armenia and Azerbaijan,
need a couple of weeks to analyse the thoughts voiced by the two sides
and think what the results may be and whether we are prepared for any
progress or not.
[Passage omitted: Kazan-inform says all official meetings at the CIS
summit have ended]

Azeri, Armenian leaders meet at CIS summit
ANS TV, Baku
27 Aug 05

The latest stage of talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan was held in Kazan, the capital
of [Russia’s] Tatarstan, today. The presidents had a face-to-face
meeting, after which they were joined by the co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group and the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office [on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict], Andrzej
Kasprzyk.
There will be more details about the talks in our next news bulletins.

Russian president may not join Armenian-Azeri leaders’ meeting
Mediamax news agency
27 Aug 05
YEREVAN
The meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev, began in Kazan today. The co-chairmen of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, Bernard Fassier and Steven
Mann, as well as the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers are
taking part in the meeting, a special correspondent of Mediamax
reports from Kazan.
Despite assumptions, there are no signs that Russian President
Vladimir Putin may join his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts.