PanArmenian News
March 14 2005

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER MET WITH LEBANON’S AMBASSADOR TO RA

14.03.2005 07:42

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsian met with
Lebanon’s Ambassador to Armenia Zhebrail Butros Zhaar, RA Defense
Ministry press service reports. The Minister condoled on the
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri. `We
have experienced the consequences of terrorism and perceive the
gravity of your loss. I am convinced that the life of the people will
return to the course of nature’, Serge Sargsian noted. The Lebanese
diplomat thanked the Armenian Minister for the condolences expressed
and noted that the Armenian people lost a big friend in the person of
Rafik Al-Hariri. When commenting on the situation in Lebanon Zhebrail
Butros Zhaar asked Serge Sargsian to discuss the issue of sending a
group of combat engineers to Lebanon. The parties also considered the
issues of regional security.

PanArmenian News
March 14 2005

NATO DELEGATION HEADED BY FORCE PLANNING DIRECTOR FRANK BOLAND
ARRIVED IN YEREVAN TODAY

14.03.2005 05:43

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today the NATO delegation headed by Director of
Force Planning Frank Boland arrived in Yerevan to hold consultations
within the frames of the PfP Planning and Review Process-PARP. NATO
Officer-Coordinator for South Caucasus Romualdas Razuks also serves
on the delegation. The delegation members are expected to meet with
the RA Foreign Ministry officials and discuss the objectives of the
partnership.

PanArmenian News
March 14 2005

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: ARMENIA DID NOT INTERFERE AND WILL NEVER
INTERFERE IN GEORGIA’S DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

14.03.2005 05:22

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `We will agree on the withdrawal of the Russian
military bases from the territory of Georgia in the near future’,
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli stated in the Yerevan
airport of Zvartnots before departure, IA Regnum reports. In his
words, this issue has not been discussed with the Armenian party. In
his turn Armenian Premier Andranik Margarian said that Armenia did
not interfere and will never interfere in the domestic affairs of
Georgia. `The only important thing for us is to know that the
Armenians of Javakhk are provided with jobs and their social problems
are being solved’, he noted.

PanArmenian News
March 14 2005

DURING RECENT TWO DAYS 3 EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

14.03.2005 05:11

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ During the recent two days three earthquakes were
recorded in the South Caucasian region, Arminfo agency reports. On
March 13 morning at the Armenian-Azeri border, 25 km to the south of
the Armenian town of Vardenis earthquake with magnitude of 4 on the
Richter scale took place. The earthquake was felt in a number of
inhabited localities of Armenia – Sotk, Tretak, Azet, Norabak – where
some constructions were slightly damaged. This morning an earthquake,
recorded 65 km to the north-east of the town of Bingel, Turkey, had a
magnitude of 5.5. There is no information on victims yet. Another
earthquake shocked Turkey today 63 km to the north-east from Bingel.
The tremor force was fixed at 5 on the Richter scale.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pyunic – Armenian Association for the Disabled
6606 Cantaloupe Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91405
818.785.3468

NEWS RELEASE

March 11, 2005

Contact: Sarkis Ghazarian
818.785.3468

DISABLED ARMENIAN ATHLETE COMPLETES LA MARATHON

Glendale, CA (March 11) – Pyunic, the Armenian Association for the
Disabled, is proud to announce that Greta Khandzrtyan, an above the
knee double amputee from Armenia, completed the 26-mile wheelchair
division of the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, March 6, 2005 in 3
hours and 19 minutes.

`I am thrilled to have finished my second Los Angeles Marathon and
proud to be able to show that a person can accomplish any goal
regardless of their physical disabilities,’ said Khandzrtyan, 18.

Khandzrtyan’s determination was put to the test upon passing the
5-mile marker. She fell out of her racing wheelchair when her waist
strap came apart. After recovering from the fall, she was assisted
back into her wheelchair by spectators. However, Khandzrtyan was not
able to race at full speed as part of her chair’s wheel frame had
bent.

At the 22nd mile mark, Lorig Sivazlian, a Pyunic-LA member, briefly
joined the race. Upon seeing Khandzrtyan approach, Sivazlian moved
from the sidewalk and ran alongside the racer shouting words of
encouragement. `I received an extra burst of energy by seeing Lorig
and the three other Pyunic supporters,’ add Khandzrtyan.

Founded in 1989 to help the disabled children of the 1988 earthquake
in Armenia, Pyunic is the leading non-governmental organization
shaping public awareness for the disabled. Pyunic provides
humanitarian aid, social services, career training and summer/winter
teaching camps. Pyunic athletes have competed in numerous worldwide
athletic competitions, including the Los Angeles Marathon and both
summer and winter Paralympics since 1994.

For more information about Pyunic, please contact Sarkis Ghazarian at
818.785.3468 or visit

Pyunic, the Armenian Association for the Disabled, is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization dedicated to assisting, supporting and shaping
public awareness for the disabled in the Republic of Armenia.

###

I-Newswire.com (press release)
March 14 2005

The Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery concluded its tenth session on Friday,
11 March.

i-Newswire, 2005-03-14 – During its one-week annual session, the
Board considered 63 applications for project grants and 12
applications for travel grants. It recommended funding 25 projects
in 15 countries to extend humanitarian, legal and financial aid to
individuals whose human rights have been violated as a result of
contemporary forms of slavery.

The Board also recommended travel grants for seven persons to
participate in the deliberations of the Working Group on Contemporary
Forms of Slavery, to be held from 6 to 10 June 2005. These
beneficiaries will speak on contemporary forms of slavery in six
different countries. One of the seven will give first-hand testimony
as a former victim of slavery.

The five Board members, who have been appointed by the
Secretary-General, are: José de Souza Martins ( Brazil ), Prateep
Unsongtham Hata ( Thailand ), Cheikh Saad-Bouh Kamara ( Mauritania ),
Gulnara Shahinian ( Armenia ), and David Weissbrodt ( United States
). Mr. Kamara serves as Chairman.

The Fund was established by the General Assembly in its resolution
46/122 of 17 December 1991.

For further information, please contact the secretariat of the Fund
at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, CH-1211
Geneva 10 – Switzerland, tel.: +41 22 917 93 81/93 14, fax: +41 22
917 90 66, e-mail: [email protected].

If you have questions regarding information in these press release
contact the company listed below. Please do not contact us as we are
unable to assist you with your inquiry. We disclaim any content
contained in this press release.

Moscow Times, Russia
March 15 2005

Armenia to Build Gas Pipeline to Iran

Bloomberg
LONDON — Gazprom’s Armenian venture plans to start within a month
building a natural gas pipeline from Iran to import the fuel to
Armenia, Vremya Novostei reported, citing Karen Karapetyan, the head
of the Armenian unit.

Armrosgazprom, a venture between Armenia’s government and Gazprom,
doesn’t plan to extend the pipeline beyond Armenia into Azerbaijan,
the newspaper reported.

The link is scheduled to be finished by 2007 and will initially pump
1.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Armenia. Shipments will
rise to 2.3 bcm per year from 2019 under a 20-year contract.

The project will need between $200 million and $250 million of
investment, the paper said. Armenia will pay for part of the gas
supplies by exporting electricity to Iran, the paper said.

Iran holds the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves.

ArmenPress
March 14 2005

US EMBASSY TO ARMENIA GRANTS EIGHT VEHICLES TO ARMENIAN BORDER GUARDS

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS: “The Armenian Government has taken
on the challenge of securing its borders, and the U.S. Embassy is
proud to help with this important effort,” U.S. Deputy Chief of
Mission Anthony F. Godfrey said today at an official ceremony to mark
the U.S. Embassy’s (EXBS) Export Control and Related Border Security
Assistance Program grant of eight vehicles to the Armenia’s National
Security Service Border Guards. The vehicles include 3 NIVA’s, 2
LADA’s and 3 Specialized All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s) for off-road
patrolling. Border Guard Troop Commander Vjacheslav Voskanian also
participated in the ceremony at Border Guard Headquarters.
“EXBS is one of the most important assistance programs the U.S.
Embassy is involved in,” DCM Godfrey told journalists at the event,
“Stopping the proliferation of biological and chemical weapons
through proper boarder controls is very important to all countries,
and we are glad to see that Armenia has made it a high priority.”
Asked about assistance levels for this type of program in 2005,
DCM Godfrey responded, “This is not the first border and customs
grant we have undertaken, and it is certainly not the last. We have a
budget of $1.3 million for this year, which will go toward both
equipment transfer and training.”
The Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance Program,
administered by the Department of State and the U.S. Homeland
Security Agency, has been operating in Armenia since 2000. The
Program operates in more than 45 countries, and is designed to
strengthen and secure borders by providing the latest in interdiction
equipment, and by developing the enforcement skills of both the
Border Guards and Customs Service in the fight against worldwide
terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and chemical and biological
warfare.
The EXBS Program for Armenia continues to conduct formal training
seminars both locally and in the United States in order to provide
Border Guards and Customs Inspectors with the advanced techniques of
investigation necessary to identify sophisticated nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons.
Over the last several years the EXBS Assistance Program has
equipped the Border Guards and Customs Services of Armenia with
various types of inspection and detection equipment: a
radio-communication system, several types of border sensors, metal
detectors, vehicles, computer equipment, cargo truck scales, and
X-ray units. Last year, the EXBS Assistance Program initiated several
construction projects to upgrade the Border Guards Port of Entry
checkpoint facility at Bagratashen, Border Guards barracks at the
Gogavan Port of Entry, and both Border Guard and Customs training
facilities in Yerevan.

ArmenPress
March 14 2005

AZERI PRESIDENT SAYS NO ROOM FOR COMPROMISE ON NAGORNO KARABAGH

BAKU, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS: Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev
said Saturday that his country is not ready for any compromise with
Armenia over Nagorno-Karabagh, and reiterated accusations that
Armenia has occupied its lands, which he said “cannot be the subject
of bargaining.”
Aliyev said Azerbaijan will not change its position on the
conflict. “There can be no talk of mutual compromises. That was a
mistaken thesis,” Aliyev told journalists, referring to international
mediators’ statements that compromise is necessary to settle the
dispute.
“The only thing we can do is discuss security guarantees for
ethnic Armenians who would be allowed to live in Nagorno Karabakh if
it were placed under Azerbaijani control,” he said.
“We do not want a new war, we know that it would be a catastrophe,
but everyone should know that we have to be prepared for it. We have
to liberate our lands, we are not going to cede them to anyone and
will restore our territorial integrity at whatever the price is,” he
said.
Aliyev said he would not oppose a new meeting with Armenian
President Robert Kocharian to discuss the dispute, but said that the
countries’ foreign ministers would have to make progress toward a
potential solution before a meeting can be held. Progress is
contingent on Armenia taking a “constructive position,” he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
March 14 2005

SUGAR REFINERY IN SEVAN TO DOUBLE OUTPUT

SEVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS: A sugar-refinery in the town of Sevan
plans to increase the daily output of sugar to 25 tons by the end of
this year. Refinery’s director Armen Arakelian told Armenpress it
produces now around 12 tons of sugar daily. In 2003 its daily output
was only 5 tons.
However, its output meets only 4 percent of domestic demand. For
the time being the plant imports raw material, but it hopes that
farmers in the province would shift to growing sugar-beet soon. The
plant began working in 2003 and employs now 83 people.