EXPERIMENTAL CENSUS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
14 March 05

According to the NKR government decree issued on November 16, 2004, on
March 21-30 an experimental census will be taken in Stepanakert, the
village of Noragyugh, Askeran region and the village of Nerkin
Horatagh, Martakert region. The personal data is confidential and
will not be published.

AA.
14-03-2005

PRESS RELEASE OF NKR MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
14 March 05

On March 9 at the northeastern part of the NKR – Azerbaijani border,
near the settlement of Seysulan, the NKR region of Martakert, the
Azerbaijani armed forces opened gunfire in an attempt to approach the
frontier of the NKR Defence Army. The Karabakh forces answered them
with gunfire. The skirmish resultedin casualties on both sides. The
press service of the NKR Defence Army reminds that despite the calls
of Karabakh, the military authorities of Azerbaijan do not stop
provocative actions which may have a negative impact on the situation
at the border and in the entire region. The NKR authorities informed
the relevant international organizations of the destructive actions of
Azerbaijan and the developments on the line of demarcation.

AA.
14-03-2005

ARMENTEL PARALYZES OPERATION OF ALL BANKOMATS AND POS-TERMINALS OF
NATIONAL PAYMENT SYSTEM

YEREVAN, MARCH 15. ARMINFO. The telecommunications company ArmenTel
started changing 800-conductor cable without warning and thus
paralyzed the operation of all bankomats of Armenia and POS-terminals
of the National payment system ArCa. People may cash in money from the
card account only in the banks. As Director of Armenian Card cjsc
Shahen Hovhannisian told ARMINFO, ArmenTel intends to finish the works
on change of the cable only after two-three days.

According to the last data of Armenian Card cjsc, 54 bankomats and 540
POS-terminals are operating today.

STATEMENTS OF OFFICIALS OF MINISTRY OF HEALTH OF ARMENIA CONTRADICT
STATISTICS OF THEIR OFFICE

YEREVAN, MARCH 15. ARMINFO. No lethal outcomes because of infectious
diseases were registered in maternity hospital of Armenia during the
last ten years, Head of the Department of Protection of Health of
mother and child of Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia
Karine Saribekian informed ARMINFO. She mentioned that no lethal case
because of infectious diseases were registered in hospitals thanks to
new measures on sanitary-epidemiological conditions in the hospitals.

At the same time, according to statistical data of the ministry of
Health provided to ARMINFO, 1,638 cases of infection of newborn
children were registered in hospitals in 2003, 32 of these children
died. 43 children died from infectious diseases in 2002.

THREE KILLED IN ACCIDENT NOT FAR FROM YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 15. ARMINFO. Three people were killed in a car accident
near the village of Ush, on the 13th km if Ashtarak-Aparan highway at
approximately 19:00. The car VAZ21-21 crashed into a lorry, the press
service of the Armenian Police informs. As a result, the two drivers
Karo Melkonyan and Behur Azim (whose nationality was not found out) as
well as a passenger of “Niva” Yervand Avetisyan died. The
circumstances are being studied, investigation is underway.

ARMECONOMBANK GIVES ARCA CARD-HOLDERS OPPORTUNITY TO PAY TAXI-FARE

YEREVAN, MARCH 15. ARMINFO. Armeconombank signed today agreements with
the representatives of “Citi-Cab”, “Ketrin” and “American Taxi”
taxi-services given passengers an opportunity to pay fare by the cards
of ARCA National Payment System. Armeconombank Deputy Executive
Director Arsen Katvalyan informed journalists that at the first stage
only card-holders of ArCA can fulfil cashless payment within the
three-month pilot project. All card-holders of Armenian Card,
including international MasterCards will be given this opportunity
after successful completion of the project.

Katvalyan stressed that this project costs nearly $15.000, $5.000 for
each taxi-service, including technical assistance and training for
services’ employees. He explained that the main POS-terminals will be
set in the dispatching offices of taxi-services and special connecting
facilities will be installed in cars itself.

He noted that number of bank’s card-holders totals 29.700 and they
expected it will amount to 30.000 late March. 92 POS-terminals and 7
cash dispensers are equipped by the bank at present and it is planned
to grow their number by 20 and 2 respectively. The new cash dispensers
will be set as early as in March.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 15, 2005 Tuesday 9:06 AM Eastern Time

World Figure Skating Championships Results

MOSCOW

Results Tuesday from the World Figure Skating Championships at the
Luzhniki Sports Palace (ranking of participants with identical
secores is determined by tie-breaker):

Ice Dance
Compulsory Dance

1. Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov, Russia, 45.97 points.

2. Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, United States, 42.18.

3. Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, Ukraine, 41.30.

4. Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, Bulgaria, 40.81.

5. Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, Canada, 40.51.

6. Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder, France, 40.51.

7. Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski, Israel, 39.13.

8. Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, Russia, 36.26.

9. Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali, Italy, 36.19.

10. Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, Canada, 35.11.

11. Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov, United States, 34.40.

12. Sinead Kerr and John Kerr, Britain, 32.63.

13. Svetlana Kulikova and Vitali Novikov, Russia, 31.21.

14. Kristin Fraser and Igor Lukanin, Azerbaijan, 31.16.

15. Nora Hoffmann and Attila Elek, Hungary, 30.17.

16. Nathlaie Pechalat and Fabien Bourzat, France, 30.00.

17. Nozomi Watanabe and Akiyuki Kido, Japan, 29.20.

18. Anastasia Grebenkina and Vazgen Azrojan, Armenia, 28.53.

19. Natalia Gudina and Alexei Beletski, Israel, 28.40.

20. Yang Fang and Gao Chongbo , China, 27.57.

21. Christina Beier and William Beier, Germany, 27.24.

22. Alexandra Kauc and Michael Zych, Poland, 26.58.

23. Julia Golovina and Oleg Voiko, Ukraine, 25.24.

24. Olga Akimova and Alexander Shakalov, Uzbekistan, 24.25.

25. Laura Munana and Luke Munana, Mexico, 23.95.

26. Alessia Aurelli and Andrea Vaturi, Italy, 23.83.

27. Judith Haunstetter and Arne Hoenlein, Germany, 22.91.

28. Natalie Buck and Trent Nelson-Bond, Australia, 21.85.

29. Daniela Keller and Fabian Keller, Switzerland, 21.05.

30. Anna Galcheniuk and Oleg Krupen, Belarus, 13.36.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
March 15, 2005 Tuesday 5:29 PM GMT

Two Azeri soldiers reported killed in ceasefire breach

BAKU

Two Azeri soldiers were killed Monday in a ceasefire breach along the
tense line dividing Azerbaijan and Armenian-occupied territory, Azeri
television reported Tuesday.

A “shootout resulted in the killing of one soldier by sniper fire
while another was wounded in the shoulder and taken to an hospital
where he died,” ATV said in an evening news bulletin.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a stalemate over the
ethnic Armenian enclave Nagorno Karabakh ever since they ended
large-scale hostilities with an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Armenia controls Karabakh and seven surrounding regions equal to
roughly 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized
territory.

Last year six people lost their lives in ceasefire breaches while an
additional 13 people were killed and 21 injured on landmines around
Karabakh.

ARKA News Agency
March 15 2005

Conference of the Republican Steering Committee in support of Nagorno
Karabakh to be held on March 18 in Yerevan

`ARKA’ News Agency starts issuing quarterly financial-economic
bulletin `Credit Institutions of Armenia’

Official visit of the Speaker of the Representatives Chamber of
Belarus to Armenia to take place on March 16-19

Meeting of the Ministers of Home Affairs of states-members of the
Council of Europe to take place in Warsaw on March 17-18

Presentation of the cycle of books `Library of European Integration’
will take place in Yerevan on March 16

*********************************************************************

CONFERENCE OF THE REPUBLICAN STEERING COMMITTEE IN SUPPORT OF NAGORNO
KARABAKH TO BE HELD ON MARCH 18 IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Conference of the Republican Steering
Committee in Support of Nagorno Karabakh will be held on March 18 in
Yerevan, as stated Aram Sargsyan, the leader of of Democratic Party
of Armenia. According to him, the conference will assess the PACE
resolution on Nagorno Karabakh, and the participants will also adopt
another resolution. Invitations were sent to all interested parties.
L.V. – 0

*********************************************************************

`ARKA’ NEWS AGENCY STARTS ISSUING QUARTERLY FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC
BULLETIN `CREDIT INSTITUTIONS OF ARMENIA’

YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. From March 15, 2005, the `ARKA’ news
agency starts issuing the financial-economic bulletin `Credit
Institutions of Armenia’ (key activity indices). This quarterly
bulletin is based on the officially published financial reports of
credit institutions on their activities.
The bulletin has about 20 pages of charts on various activities of
credit institutions. It has 11 sections: 1. General description of
credit institutions. 2.Assets. 3.Liabilities. 4.Capital.
5.Profits/Losses. 6.Information of money flow. 7.Normative indices of
activities of credit institutions. 8.Capitalization indices. 9.
Profitability index 10.Summary indices of activities of credit
institutions.11.Summary indicators of efficiency of credit
institutions.
The information contained in the bulletin gives the general picture
of the financial position of Armenia’s credit institutions and allows
a comparative analysis of their activities. The product also contains
technical and methodical comments on the tables.
The `ARKA’ news agency launched its activities on May 1, 1996. It
specializes in financial, economic and political information. Since
1999, ARKA has been issuing the quarterly bulletin `Basic indicators
of Armenian banks.’ P.T. -0–

*********************************************************************

OFFICIAL VISIT OF THE SPEAKER OF THE REPRESENTATIVES CHAMBER OF
BELARUS TO ARMENIA TO TAKE PLACE ON MARCH 16-19

YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Official visit of the Speaker of the
Representatives Chamber of Belarus Vladimir Konoplev to Armenia will
take place on March 16-19. According to RA NA Press service
Department, Konoplev will meet his colleague Arthur Baghdasaryan and
members of Interparliamentary commission on Armenian-Belaruc
cooperation. Konoplev will be received also by RA President Robert
Kocharyan, RA Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, Head of the Armenian
Apostolic Church Garegin the Second. In the framework of the visit
Belarus delegation will visit Ararat region of Armenia. A.H. –0–

*********************************************************************

MEETING OF THE MINISTERS OF HOME AFFAIRS OF STATES-MEMBERS OF THE
COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO TAKE PLACE IN WARSAW ON MARCH 17-18

YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. Meeting of the Ministers of Home Affairs
of states-members of the Council of Europe will take place in Warsaw
on March 17-18. According to the Information Office of the Council of
Europe in Armenia, new European standards for combating terrorism and
organized crime will be discussed at the meeting. The parties will
consider the problem of protection witnesses and money laundering, as
well as issues related to terrorism prevention and grave crimes. The
agenda includes also consideration of 2 new conventions on terrorism
prevention.
Armenia became the member of the Council of Europe in January 2001.
A.H. –0–

*********************************************************************

PRESENTATION OF THE CYCLE OF BOOKS `LIBRARY OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION’
WILL TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN ON MARCH 16

YEREVAN, March 15. /ARKA/. On March 16, presentation of the cycle of
books `Library of European Integration’ will take place in Yerevan.
According to ARKA’s Press Service, AEPLAC , the goal of which is
publication of this series of books is increasing authority of
processes in Armenia in the framework of the policy of European
Neighbourhood, as well as active involvement of state officials in
the development processes of national program on cooperation of
Armenia with EU.
Representatives of RA Ministries and Departments will take part in
the arrangement, as well as Deputies of RA NA, personnel of Embassies
and international organizations.
The main mission of AEPLAC in Armenia is providing juridical
consulting services to the RA Government in the framework of the
agreement from July 1, 1999 on partnership and cooperation between
Armenia and EU. A.H.–0–

New York Times
March 15 2005

Arms Network Is Broken Up, Officials Say
By JULIA PRESTON

Published: March 16, 2005

Law enforcement authorities have broken up a network of international
arms smugglers who sold black-market assault rifles in the United
States and were plotting to import military weapons – including
anti-aircraft missiles and antitank guns – from Eastern Europe,
federal and New York City officials announced yesterday.

The arms dealers sold the weapons to a confidential informer working
with the F.B.I. who told them he was buying the arms for Al Qaeda,
said David N. Kelley, the United States attorney in Manhattan, at a
news conference. Mr. Kelley said the dealers were not associated with
any terrorist organization but were selling the weapons to make
money.

The officials charged that the arms ring was led by Artur Solomonyan,
an Armenian, and Christiaan Dewet Spies, a South African, who have
been living illegally in New York. In cellphone conversations
secretly recorded by the F.B.I., the men said they intended to buy
the more sophisticated weapons primarily from the Russian military
but also from sellers linked to the armed forces in Ukraine and
Georgia, Mr. Kelley said.

Although no terrorists were directly involved, the officials said the
case represented a sobering warning that there were dealers in the
illegal international arms market capable of importing battlefield
weapons to the United States and ready to sell them to terrorists.

“These defendants may not have been terrorists themselves, but
they’ve shown a transparent willingness to do anything with anybody
so long as it generates income for their organization,” said Andrew
Arena, a special agent in charge of the Criminal Division of the
F.B.I. in New York.

Mr. Kelley unsealed a federal criminal complaint for weapons
trafficking yesterday against 18 people he said participated in the
arms network. The two accused ringleaders and 15 other defendants
were arrested by the F.B.I. and the local police Monday night and
yesterday morning in roundups in New York City, Los Angeles and
Miami, the officials said. The remaining defendant, identified as
Armand Abramian, 27, was being sought in California.

Mr. Solomonyan, 26, protested that he was not guilty as he was
escorted yesterday into Federal District Court in Manhattan. “I was
trapped in this thing,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on.” Also
named in the complaint was his brother, Levon, 24.

The arrests came after a yearlong investigation in which the
confidential informer secretly recorded hours of conversations with
the defendants, and the F.B.I. taped more than 15,000 calls on seven
telephones, officials said.

During the year, they said, the arms ring sold the informer eight
illegal weapons, mostly military assault rifles, including two
AK-47’s and an Israeli-made Uzi. The dealers delivered three of the
guns in New York City, three in Los Angeles and two in Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., in transactions that were monitored by the F.B.I.

In recent weeks, the defendants made a $2.2 million deal to sell the
informer more powerful, mainly Russian-made weapons, Mr. Kelley said.
They gave the informer photographs of the weapons, which they said
they were holding somewhere in Eastern Europe and were ready to
import by ship to the United States.

The photos, which officials displayed yesterday, included images of
two SA-7b Strella surface-to-air heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles
and a Russian AT-4 Spigot antitank guided missile and launcher.

Early in their discussions, Artur Solomonyan told the informer he
could obtain enriched uranium that could be “used in the subway,” Mr.
Kelley said. But he said the subject was “never followed up,” and
there was no evidence that the arms ring ever trafficked in nuclear
or other weapons of mass destruction. “It never happened,” Mr. Kelley
said.

Mr. Spies, 33, told the informer that he had ties to the Russian
mafia, the complaint says. But none of the defendants are Russian;
they include people from Georgia, Italy and France, as well as
several Americans. Mr. Kelley said that officials suspected they were
buying arms from “rogue folks within Eastern European military
circles” but that it was still not clear whether they were members of
the military or black marketeers.

According to the complaint, the F.B.I. informer began meeting a year
ago with Mr. Spies, whom he had known for several years, and Mr.
Solomonyan.

The arrests began Monday night, when Mr. Solomonyan and Mr. Spies
went to a meeting with the informer in Manhattan, where they had been
told he would give them false immigration green cards so they could
leave the United States to pick up the promised weapons. Instead,
they were met by F.B.I. and New York police agents.