Newsday, NY
March 15 2005

U.S. authorities charge 18 with Russian weapon-smuggling plot

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

March 15, 2005, 10:34 AM EST

NEW YORK — U.S. authorities have charged 18 people with weapons
trafficking, including an alleged scheme to smuggle grenade
launchers, shoulder-fired missiles and other Russian military weapons
into the country.

The arrests resulted from a year-long investigation that used a
confidential informant posing as an arms trafficker selling weapons
to terrorists, according to prosecutors, the FBI and police.

The case took U.S. investigators to South Africa, Armenia and the
Georgian Republic, a federal source, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The informant, an explosives expert, contacted the FBI after he was
approached by a man who said he had access to weapons from the former
Soviet Union and believed the informant could find a willing buyer,
according to another law enforcement source, also speaking to the AP
on condition of anonymity.

Over the following year, the informant purchased eight assault
weapons in locations around the country. Using a digital camera
provided by the informant, members of the ring, which included
Armenians and South Africans, provided pictures of the weapons they
said they had available for sale, the official said.

The pictures, apparently taken somewhere in Armenia, show anti-tank
missiles, a Russian missile launcher and a recoilless anti-tank
rifle, among other weapons, the officials said.

Arrests have been made in New York, Miami and in Los Angeles in
connection with the investigation, the source said.

The defendants also are charged with conspiring to traffic in machine
guns and other assault weapons, and with selling the eight weapons
during the investigation.

Details of the investigation were to be discussed at a late-morning
news conference with officials from the FBI and the New York Police
Department.

AsiaNews.it, Italy
March 15 2005

Rosary for peace, against wall, says a Bethlehem nun

Bethlehem (AsiaNews) – The Elizabethan Sisters working at Bethlehem’s
Baby Caritas Hospital and local Christians have been praying the
rosary in front of Israel’s wall every Thursday. By their example,
they hope to encourage peace between Israelis and Palestinians and at
the same time express their opposition to wall.

Yet, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today unveiled the final
route of the `security barrier’ whose construction he ordered more
than a year ago to stop Palestinians from launching terrorist attacks
into Israel itself. Palestinians oppose this `barrier’ because it
annexes their land and makes their daily movement that more
difficult.

Around Bethlehem wall construction is near completion. It includes
the check-point between Bethlehem itself and Jerusalem, the Jewish
settlement of Ghilo, Rachel’s Tomb, and stands at only 200 metres
from the Baby Caritas Catholic hospital.

Further north, the wall extends eastward to encompass the West Bank
Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

`Since June of last year we meet every week at the wall to pray the
rosary that peace may come between the two peoples and to say no to
the wall,’ said Sister Ileana Benetello, who has been in the Holy
Land for 23 years.

`In the beginning the soldiers gave us a hard time. They would turn
the floodlights on us and keep us under their watchful eye. But now
they don’t bother us any more’.

Near Bethlehem, the wall has taken in several olive groves owned by
Christian Armenian families. It is unclear whether the Israelis have
simply confiscated the land or expropriated it with compensation for
the owners.

Sister Ileana explained that `the wall is almost completed with two
openings, one for people to cross, the other for cargo and customs.’

The Italian nun noted that the number of pilgrims visiting the Holy
Places has been rising recently. She has said that Israel has also
been issuing more work permits to Palestinians, `however, the
situation remains very difficult’.

For many Palestinians in Bethlehem, the wall has also created an
additional moral dilemma. `To make a living, many Palestinians accept
to work on the wall construction,’ Sister Ileana said.

`I am not sure they all realise in what contradiction they are
putting themselves. It is something abominable that cannot go on.
They are building their own prison,’ she added. (LF)

Civil Georgia, Georgia
March 15 2005

Beware of Traps in Georgia-Russia Troop Withdrawal Agreement

By Vladimir Socor / 2005-03-15 19:45:36
Re-posted from the Jamestown Foundation web-site

The Georgian Parliament passed a resolution on March 10 that requires
Russia unconditionally to withdraw its forces from Georgia no later
than January 1, 2006 — unless Moscow reaches agreement with Tbilisi
before May 15, 2005, on a “reasonable timeframe” for the troop
withdrawal.

Georgia will be safer if the troop withdrawal timeframe remains as
defined by the parliamentary resolution, without political conditions
or linkages to other issues. Georgia would, however, run serious
risks if it tries negotiating a political agreement with Russia on
troop withdrawal and allow it to become linked to other issues. In
that case, Moscow would again drag out the negotiations while trying
to pressure or lure Tbilisi into signing an agreement filled with
traps and conditionalities.

Based on 14 years of experience in the Baltic states, Moldova, and
Georgia itself, at least six traps can be expected to be laid by
Moscow into the text of a political agreement with Georgia on troop
withdrawal. Those traps would be designed to negate the goal of
military withdrawal, ensuring a military presence instead.

1. Legalization

Whatever “reasonable timeframe” is ultimately agreed for troop
withdrawal — 3 years as Tbilisi hopes, 7 years as Moscow demands, or
a compromise — Russia wants the presence of its troops to be
legalized for the duration. If this is done, Moscow will have an
incentive to prolong the term upon expiry, and will almost certainly
try to pressure Georgia to accept prolongation de facto. The Baltic
states were aware of this risk when they refused to legalize the
presence of Russian troops on their territories for any “temporary”
or “transitional” period. Legalization by Georgia would: a) undermine
the irreplaceable argument of national sovereignty for the ridding
the country of Russian troops; b) enable Russia, under the CFE Treaty
and in other contexts, to cite “host-country consent” by Georgia; c)
weaken international sympathy and support for Georgia’s ultimate goal
of terminating Russia’s military presence; d) retain, instead of
removing, a potential time-bomb of a political-military nature inside
the country; and e) interfere with Georgia’s national goal of
integration with NATO. Like the Baltic states, Georgia must never
legalize Russia’s military presence for any length of time.

2. Re-Labeling

Russia hopes to retain the Batumi and Akhalkalaki bases and its
Tbilisi general headquarters by re-labeling them “anti-terrorist
centers.” Georgians originally came up with this idea in 2004 in
order to re-start the Russian-blocked negotiations and to provide
Moscow with a face-saving way to withdraw the troops. Tbilisi had
envisaged the formation of one joint Georgian-Russian analytical
anti-terrorist center, under Georgian sovereign control and not
located at any existing military base, to be created in the wake of
the garrisons’ departure, and to include several score of Russian
officers, without troops or armaments. Moscow, however, seized
Tbilisi’s goodwill gesture and turned it against Georgia. Last month,
Moscow proposed to rename the existing bases as “anti-terrorist
centers” and even to augment their garrisons; and when Tbilisi
refused, Moscow publicly blamed Tbilisi for blocking the
negotiations. Georgia may have outsmarted itself with that offer in
the first place. With anti-terrorism an international concern for
many years to come — and, sometimes, a cover for any use of coercion
— it is easy to envisage Russia demanding to retain “anti-terrorist
centers” in Georgia into the future, while propagandizing (as it
already does) that Georgia tolerates “international terrorism.”
Moscow has grossly abused Georgia’s face-saving offer. Three years
ago, Russia re-labeled its Gudauta military base as “peacekeeping”
and retains it to this day, in breach of its 1999 commitment to have
closed down that base by 2001. The lesson from all this to Tbilisi is
that it must require the withdrawal of Russian troops unambiguously,
without the risky and time-wasting complications of tinkering with
their labels. The Baltic states were successful because their
position was never less than straightforward.

3. Ratification

Russia will try to require parliamentary or some other type of
ratification of a troop-withdrawal agreement with Georgia. The
experience of Moldova is instructive on this point. In 1994,
then-prime ministers Viktor Chernomyrdin and Andrei Sangheli signed
an intergovernmental agreement on the withdrawal of Russian troops
from Moldova within three years (by October 1997). A Russian-added
codicil stipulated, however, that implementation would be subject to
“the states’ internal procedures,” not further specified. The Kremlin
promptly interpreted this as requiring parliamentary ratification.
Moldova’s parliament quickly ratified the agreement; but Russia’s
Duma never did. Instead, the Russian government for years thereafter
presented additional conditions just for submitting the agreement to
the Duma for debate, and the Duma piled up additional conditions for
examining the document, with still more conditions for ratifying the
agreement, which it never did. Ultimately, the main condition was
Moldova’s acceptance of Transnistria’s separation with Russian troops
in place. Since 1997, Russia has simply ignored the agreement. With
this experience in mind, Tbilisi must insist on an executive
agreement with Russia on troop withdrawal, fully binding from the
inception, and providing for effective international oversight (other
than by the OSCE) of its implementation.

4. Istanbul Formula

Moscow wants to retain the OSCE Istanbul 1999 formula, because it
does not require the closure of the Batumi and Akhalkalaki bases. It
merely stipulated, “during the year 2000 the sides will complete
negotiations regarding the duration and functioning of the Russian
military bases at Batumi and Akhalkalaki and the Russian military
facilities within Georgia.” This formula must finally be cast aside
because Moscow has breached it — along with many other points of the
OSCE Istanbul 1999 agreements — constantly and massively throughout
these years. The Istanbul formula was patently inadequate in the
first place because it failed to stipulate the goals of base closure
and troop withdrawal regarding Batumi, Akhalkalaki, and other Russian
military installations. Any new agreement with Russia must precisely
stipulate the binding obligation to close the bases and installations
and withdraw the troops.

5. Georgian Obligations

Russia will try to saddle Georgia with obligations to create proper
conditions for the reduction and withdrawal of Russian troops,
facilitate the functioning of bases and movement of personnel, vouch
for a secure environment in the base areas, and so on. Moscow will
formulate some conditions very broadly in order to abuse them later,
but will also advance some very specific conditions that Georgia
might be unable to fulfill in time or at all. Thus, Russia refused to
hand over Gudauta to Georgia — and has since blocked any meaningful
international inspection — on the excuse that Georgia is unable to
provide security in the area, which happens to be controlled by
Russia’s Abkhaz proteges. In Akhalkalaki, Moscow can well orchestrate
demonstrations by local Armenians in favor of retaining the Russian
base, then claim that it could not and would not act against the will
of the local population. Russia has already played this game for
years in Transnistria as an excuse for keeping its troops in place.
With this in mind, Georgia must not accept any obligations that
Russia or some local clients might prevent Tbilisi from fulfilling.
Tbilisi must also decline to guarantee (if only “temporarily”) the
operation of Russian bases. Such an obligation would deprive Georgia
of leverage later on, in the likely event that Moscow tries yet again
to renege on its troop-withdrawal commitments.

6. Linkages

The Kremlin has managed to tie up the military negotiations with the
negotiations on a new interstate political treaty. As a precondition
to a troop-withdrawal agreement, Moscow now demands that the
political treaty rule out the hosting of third-party troops and
military installations on Georgia’s territory, and generally
constrict Georgia’s independent military cooperation with other
countries. As a further precondition to withdrawal of its troops
(other than the “peacekeepers”), Moscow wants the political treaty to
enshrine a special role for Russia in settling the Abkhazia and South
Ossetia conflicts and protecting the [newly-minted] “Russian
citizens” there. Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that
such clauses are necessary in order to persuade the Duma to ratify an
interstate treaty with Georgia, if one is signed. This claim is
implausible in view of the Kremlin’s control of a comfortable
majority in the Duma. For its part, Tbilisi must reject any linkages
between a troop-withdrawal agreement and extraneous political issues.
It can simply offer a commitment that Georgian territory would not be
used by a third party against Russia. However, Georgia’s
international security arrangements and internal constitutional setup
do not belong in a bilateral treaty with Russia. Nor should Georgia
legitimize those “peacekeeping” operations as part of an agreement
with Russia.

At this point, Tbilisi can initiate consultations with the three
Baltic states regarding their experience with political and
logistical arrangements for the withdrawal of Russian forces.

CNN
March 15 2005

U.S. charges 18 in Russian weapons-smuggling plot
>From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) — Eighteen men have been charged with attempting to
smuggle Russian-made military weapons into the United States, U.S.
authorities said.

U.S. Attorney David Kelly announced the arrests Tuesday morning,
saying the men charged had conspired to sell the weapons to
terrorists, though the identity of the buyers was unclear.

The defendants were arrested late Monday and early Tuesday inside the
United States, where they allegedly plotted the illegal sales.

The defendants are charged in a 63-page complaint with conspiring to
traffic in machine guns and other weapons.

The defendants allegedly sold eight automatic weapons to a
confidential informant who posed as an arms trafficker.

The arrests resulted from a yearlong undercover investigation by the
FBI that included wiretaps.

“There is talk on the wire that the clients of the buyer are of
Middle East descent,” said one law enforcement source familiar with
the charges. But the references were “vague,” the source said.

The defendants are predominantly Armenian, Russian, and Georgian. The
group’s alleged ring leader was Arthur Solomonyan, an Armenian.

Ten of the alleged weapons smugglers were arrested in the New York
area, two in Florida, and some in southern California.

They conducted many of their negotiations in English, according to
the law enforcement source.

The attempted sales of shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs)
and rocket-propelled grenades never went beyond the discussion phase,
and those weapons never entered the United States from abroad, the
source said.

The negotiations were for multimillion-dollar sales.

Bloomberg
March 15 2005

New York Probe Uncovers Plot to Sell Missiles, Arms (Update1)

March 15 (Bloomberg) — Eighteen people were charged with plotting to
sell shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons to a
government informant posing as an arms broker for terrorists, with
one offering to supply non-existent uranium for an attack on New
York’s subways, a U.S. prosecutor in New York said today.

The defendants provided photographs of arms for sale, including
grenade launchers and claymore mines, in Armenia, Georgia and other
Eastern European nations, U.S. Attorney David Kelley said in a news
conference.

One of the defendants, an illegal immigrant from Armenia, “suggested
to the confidential informant that he could obtain enriched uranium
for possible use by terrorists in the subway system,” Kelley said.
“There was never, however, any such uranium,” he said.

Seventeen people were arrested in New York, Miami and Los Angeles,
authorities said. Eight assault-style weapons, including AK-47’s and
an Uzi, were purchased during the yearlong investigation, they said.

The informant set up a $2 million sale for shoulder-fired,
heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank weapons, a mortar
launcher and other arms, authorities said.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
March 15 2005

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVES MEMBER OF PACE COMMITTEE
ON LEGAL AFFAIRS AND HUMAN RIGHTS MALCOLM BRUCE
[March 15, 2005, 21:14:35]

President of the republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received at the
Presidential Palace member of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and
Human Rights Malcolm Bruce, March 15.

Noting that Azerbaijan’s cooperation with the Council of Europe
continues to develop successfully, the Head of State described the
recent debates over the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
at Parliamentary Assembly as very positive step forward. The
President expressed confidence that the documents adopted as a result
would play an important role in the problem’s resolution. He
stressed, however, the importance of more active involvement – along
with the OSCE Minsk Group – of other international organizations
including the Council of Europe in the peace process. The Azerbaijani
leader noted that Azerbaijan honors in full measure its commitments
and obligations to the Council of Europe that, according to him,
fosters democratization process in the country and its closer
integration into the European structures.

Member of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Mr.
Malcolm Bruce, for his part, described the final report on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as objective, noting that President Ilham
Aliyev’s speech at the Parliamentary Assembly had played an important
role for adoption of the document. Honoring by Azerbaijan of its
commitments and obligations to the Councils of Europe, as well as the
country’s stance with respect to resolution of the conflict,
according to him, were highly appreciated by the European
parliamentarians.

Mr. Bruce also highly valued the devotion of the Azerbaijani people
to the principles of tolerance. He especially emphasized that
cooperation between the Council of Europe and Azerbaijan is very
useful for both the Organization and the country.

Issues related to political prisoners were also discussed during the
meeting.

Azerbaijan concerned over Canadian investment in Karabakh – envoy

Bilik Dunyasi news agency
15 Mar 05

BAKU

The Azerbaijani parliament and public have expressed an extremely
negative attitude to the activities of a number of Canadian companies,
which run counter to international legal norms, the Azerbaijani
ambassador to Canada, Faxraddin Qurbanov, has told the speaker of the
House of Commons, Peter Milliken.

During the meeting, the Azerbaijani ambassador informed the speaker of
the House of Commons of the Azerbaijani government’s concern about the
intention of the Canadian Buried Hill Energy company to take part in
the development of the Kapaz [Serdar] oil field in the Azerbaijani
sector of the Caspian Sea and the refusal of the company’s
administration to hold negotiations with the embassy.

The diplomat also voiced the Azerbaijani side’s concern over Canadian
companies’ work on the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani
territories. Pointing to the articles published in the influential
newspaper The Globe and Mail, the ambassador said the activities of
Canadian companies, which run counter to international legal norms,
were in the focus of both the Azerbaijani and Canadian press.

Qurbanov added that it was for this reason that the Azerbaijani
parliament had not ratified the Azerbaijani-Canadian agreement on
avoiding double taxation.

The ambassador also said that the further development of bilateral
relations required the opening of a Canadian embassy in Baku.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BP dismisses Azeri pipeline security concern

Zerkalo, Baku
10 Mar 05

Text of C. Bayramova’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Zerkalo on 10
March headlined “The pipeline is safely buried” and subheaded “The
terrorists of the whole world can never reach the country’s main oil
artery”

Are Azerbaijan’s oil “veins” threatened by terror attacks?!
[Azerbaijani] Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sarifov does not seem to have
any doubts about it and does not rule out that they may be committed
by Armenia. The high-ranking official has recently called for tougher
measures to prevent possible terror attacks along the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Baku-Novorossiysk and Baku-Supsa pipelines.

Sarifov, who is also the chairman of the state commission for
emergencies, said that the government did not have logistics and
resources enough to eliminate the consequences of possible acts of
sabotage.

What made the deputy prime minister make a statement of this kind? Has
he observed drawbacks in the work of both the government and the
operators of the mentioned oil projects, which are, in fact, to watch
for the security of the pipelines? Or, is there another reason
involved? Why should not one suppose that the hypothetical threat of
terror attacks may be a successful pretext for stationing NATO troops
near the pipeline? It would open up opportunities to explain the
deployment of US military bases in our country.

“Special security measures to protect the BTC pipeline were devised
well before the implementation of the project and they are being
carried out now,” the head of the press service of BP [Azerbaijan],
Tamam Bayatli, has told Zerkalo. “One of the basic elements of the
security of the BTC, which stretches 1,770 km, is that it is buried
underground, except some terminals on the ground such as: Ceyhan,
Sanqacal, Nasosni [Tagiyev settlement outside Baku] etc. where special
security measures are also arranged.”

Besides, the design of the pipeline is also important. “The thickness
of the pipes, the quality of steel, cementing, the alarm system – all
this is in conformity with advanced international standards for
building pipelines. Moreover, the population in the nearby areas also
acts as a sort of guard together with constant BP supervision. We
regularly conduct appropriate training with those people and are
planning to make them highly qualified security staff after the BTC is
commissioned,” Bayatli said.

Meanwhile, commenting on possible negative occurrences, including
terror attacks near the BTC, our interlocutor said that there are more
attractive places for terrorists than the BTC pipeline, which has been
placed deep underground and “secured”. “It is not easy to find it,”
the head of the BP press service stressed.

Commenting on Sarifov’s statement, political analyst Rasim Musabayov
has not ruled out possible acts of sabotage by Armenia. In other
words, anything may happen given that the Karabakh conflict has not
been resolved yet and both countries are still at war. But the
political analyst said that even the most extremist circles in Armenia
can hardly ever try to attack the BTC pipeline as long as there are no
military operations in place so far, realizing that this will be
directed not much against Azerbaijan, but against the interests of the
great powers and the biggest transnational corporations.

Sarifov’s statement was most probably aimed at extracting extra funds
from the budget and the consortium to carry out security measures, he
said.

“I think that Sarifov expresses his concern on the one hand and wants
to draw additional money to resolve the tasks that have been assigned
to him on the other,” Musabayov stressed. Sarifov in no way aims to
give the “green light” for NATO military forces in Azerbaijan.

“At least because the deputy prime minister himself does not deal with
issues of this kind. It is not in his competence,” our interlocutor
stressed.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 15 2005

`Days of Caucasus friendship’ due in USA

Baku, March 14, AssA-Irada
An international conference entitled `The Days of Caucasus
friendship’ will be held in New York, US on March 18-20.
More than 100 representatives from Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan and
Istanbul have been invited to the event not to be attended by
politicians.
The participants will exchange views on regional problems, including
the current status of the Armenia-Azerbaijan and Armenia-Turkey
relations.*

Zaman, Turkey
March 15 2005

Muslims Converting Christianity of Other Religious Origins
By Istanbul
Published: Tuesday 15, 2005
zaman.com

It was determined that approximately 2,000 people who converted from
Islam to Christianity in the past 88 years were of Armenian, Syrian,
Greek or Jewish origin.

The weekly news magazine Aksiyon in its latest issue drew attention
to a subject that to date has not come to the agenda, “Converted
Christian Turks”. According to the article, thousands of “house
churches” have opened across Anatolia and tens of thousands of
Turkish youths have converted to Christianity.

However, Aksiyon’s article indicated that the reality is very
different. The article indicates that hundreds of Turkish Citizens
who have Turkish names and therefore for many years have been assumed
to be Muslims have recently returned to their former religions and
names. It was noted in the report prepared by Hakan Guven that about
100 people converted to Christianity through marriage.

Among the converted who provided statements for the article are the
relatives of soldiers, politicians and academics.

Some of the political arguments relating to and the actual number of
“Converted Christian Turks” can only be answered by looking at the
official population statistics, and what nationality individual come
from can only be established by researching the population records
through a few generations.

Today, the grandparents of an individual who bears a Turkish-Muslim
name can be from different nationalities. A report that has been in
the media recently is an example of this. The Hurriyet newspaper
reported on February 22 that Ergun Caner who was elected as the
theology dean at Liberty University, known as the castle of
Evangelist Christians, was the son of an imam who immigrated to the
US to spread Islam.

According to the article by Aksiyon, although Caner’s mother Inez
Manica has been considered as Muslim, in reality she is a Swedish
Christian. According to research conducted into those who converted
to Christianity, the conversions mostly take place in Istanbul,
Diyarbakir, Adiyaman, Batman, Sivas, Tunceli, and Malatya.