Canadian oil firm sparks Azeri anger
By ALAN FREEMAN

The Globe and Mail

TODAY’S PAPER

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 – Page A11

The decision by a small Alberta oil-exploration firm represented
by former prime minister Jean Chrétien to pursue exploration of
a disputed Caspian Sea oil field has prompted retaliation against
Canada by Azerbaijan’s parliament.

The Azeri National Assembly refused last week to pass a law that
would enforce a treaty signed last year between Canada and Azerbaijan,
aimed at avoiding double taxation and preventing tax evasion.

Reports from Azerbaijan say the legislators were protesting against
the actions of Buried Hill Energy of Calgary. The company was recently
granted rights to explore the Serdar oil field in the Caspian Sea by
the government of Turkmenistan.

Like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan became independent in 1991 after the
breakup of the former Soviet Union. It is one of the world’s most
repressive countries.

Buried Hill, founded by Calgary oilman Roger Haines, was granted the
concession after a visit to Turkmenistan by Mr. Chrétien. He was
representing the firm in his role as counsel to the Calgary law firm
of Bennett Jones.

An official of the Azeri embassy in Ottawa said legislators from both
the ruling party and the opposition were upset by the involvement of
Buried Hill in a part of the inland sea that is disputed territory.

The official said they were also angry about the activities of a
Yukon-registered gold-mining firm, Sterlite Gold Ltd. in another
contested region, this one claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“The MPs decided to delay consideration of the legislation. . . . The
perception in Azerbaijan is that the Canadian government should do
more to stop Buried Hill,” the Azeri official said. He added that
Canadian officials have told him they cannot control the activities
of a private Canadian firm.

Efforts to reach officials of Buried Hill were unsuccessful. An
official of a Toronto law firm representing Sterlite said the company
has no employees in Canada and that its top executives are based
in Armenia.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa said the
Canadian embassy in Ankara, which handles diplomatic relations with
Azerbaijan, had been asked to look into the matter.

The spokeswoman sought to distance the Canadian government from
activities of Buried Hill, insisting that Canada had not been asked to
support its activities and had advised the Calgary firm of the dispute
involving the oil concession. She said Canada takes no position on
the border disagreement involving Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Canada has tax treaties with 92 countries. The pact with Azerbaijan
would limit the rate of withholding tax on dividends, interest and
royalties and is designed to encourage business between the two
countries by avoiding double taxation and evasion.

Oil exploration and production, involving substantial foreign
investment, has driven economic growth to levels near 10 per cent
a year.

–Boundary_(ID_WN47W4RPW7vdu9khvvWK6w)–

REUTERS FOUNDATION
AlertNet

UZBEKISTAN: Focus on southern labour migration

09 Mar 2005 10:41:17 GMT

Source: IRIN

KASHKADARYA, 9 March (IRIN) – Rasul Mirzaev, a former teacher in southern
Uzbekistan, has fond memories of Soviet times. The retired professor recalls
nostalgically the days when most people had a secure job, good working
conditions and stable salaries. But his longing for the past also has a very
personal aspect. His eldest son, Odyl, 42, went to Russia in search of work
in the early 1990s where he reportedly died under mysterious circumstances
in the central Russian province of Perm in May 2003.

Official documents provided to the Mirzaev family said that Odyl drowned in
a lake. But the family does not believe it. “The local gypsies went there
with him,” Rasul continued. “Some of them confirmed that he died as a result
of a beating. The public prosecutor’s office did not investigate the real
reason for my son’s death.”

Sadly, that was not the end of Rasul’s suffering. In 2002, his second son,
Ravshan, 33, also went to Russia. Like thousands of other young men, he
decided to go there in search of work to help his parents.

“I don’t know whether he is in Kazakhstan or in Russia. Since that time I
have received neither a letter nor a message from him. I now have just one
adopted son and I am not going to lose him. I will not let him work in
Russia on any account,” asserted Rasul.

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

“Working in Russia has become common for [many] Uzbek citizens,” Yadgar
Turlibekov, head of the Kashkadarya office of the Human Rights Society of
Uzbekistan (HRSU), a local rights group, told IRIN. “People lost hope of
employment [locally] and thus to be able to provide for their families. Many
Uzbek citizens work in Russia and they do not always return home
successfully.”

Observers cite unemployment and poverty as the driving forces behind labour
migration from southern Uzbekistan to Russia. “We lack jobs,” Bokhodir
Rakhimov, a 33-year-old inhabitant of Karshi, told IRIN. “And if there is
some work here, then salaries are too low. Moreover, they are not paid on
time.”

Perhaps Rasul’s nostalgia is misplaced. According to the provincial
authorities, 37 percent of the province’s 800,000 workforce were jobless in
1991, when Uzbekistan became independent. By October 2004, that figure fell
to 34 percent.

Poverty is gnawing away at once prosperous parts of the republic. The World
Bank estimates that some 28 percent of the whole country’s population – or
about 6.7 million people – are currently unable to meet their basic food
needs. Two-thirds of them live in rural areas.

A member of the Miraki community in the southern Shahrisabz district
asserted that they were now living on the money they earned in Sakha
Republic (Yakutiya), in Russia’s far east. “There is nothing for us to do
here,” one of the locals, who didn’t want to be identified, told IRIN. “We
are building houses in Yakutiya [as wage labourers] and our families cannot
survive without this money.”

Halima Rajabova, deputy chairwoman of the community council, told IRIN that
every family in the 500 family-odd community had a member working in Russia.

“Earlier, livelihoods depended on local earnings and agriculture. But now
there is no work and they cannot feed families by working their individual
plots of land. People have no choice but to leave for Russia,” Rajabova
explained.

“One needs US $100 [monthly] on average in order to provide for a family,”
continued Rajabova. “For instance, I’m paid $15 – barely enough for bread
and butter. What else can we do?”

Such questions are telling. An average monthly salary in southern Uzbekistan
is barely $30 in urban areas and even less, $10, in rural regions. For
example, Rasul, the teacher, receives a pension of about $40 a month, while
his wife’s pension is only $16. Rasul supports seven people, including his
nine-year-old adopted son, the wife of his deceased son and four
grandchildren.

NUMBER OF MIGRANTS

Zoir Eshnaev, head of the local employment department, told IRIN that more
than 12,000 people from the region were working legally in other countries.
“We don’t have any data on the number of illegal labourers in Russia or
other countries, but based on what we hear, that number should be many times
higher.”

Although the precise number of Uzbek labour migrants working in Russia is
not known, the number of such migrants leaving for South Korea, Russia and
Kazakhstan from Central Asia’s most populous nation has reportedly
increased. According to the Uzbek Ministry of Labour, more than 700,000
Uzbek citizens are working in various countries. Some experts suggest that
Russia’s Samara province alone may host up to 24,000 Uzbek migrants.

A recent report by Fiona Hill of the Brookings Institution, a
Washington-based think tank, said that there were approximately 600,000
Uzbek migrant workers, mainly working in Russia and Kazakhstan. But the
Kazakh government itself has suggested that there are at least 500,000
Uzbeks currently working in Kazakhstan alone (with most working in the
southern regions on the Kazakh-Uzbek border and on construction sites in
Kazakhstan’s new capital, Astana).

Some unconfirmed reports claim that their number could be well over a
million. Uzbek migrants abroad send remittances of about $500 million home
annually – a sum equivalent to 5.7 percent of Uzbekistan’s GDP in 2003,
according to some estimates.

MIGRANTS’ PROFILE

Bokhodir Rakhimov is one of thousands of Uzbek labourers in Russia, working
in a town near Moscow as a builder. He told IRIN that they had to keep a low
profile and had no social rights. He came back in March 2004 with a head
injury. He suffered trauma when he fell down a flight of stairs at work.

“I worked in several towns near Moscow,” he said. “They do not let us work
there. If the police arrest us, we will be deported from Russia. According
to Russian law, deported persons are not allowed to enter Russia within the
next six years.”

When Bokhodir was injured, his employers took him to hospital, where he
could not get medical aid because he lacked the necessary money and his
employers refused to pay for him. He was subsequently sent back home.

Most Uzbek migrants work in the construction industry or other sectors,
doing mainly manual jobs. The majority of them are aged between 30 and 45,
mostly staying and working illegally in the country.

According to human rights activists, due to their illegal status, many
labour migrants lack legal and social protection in destination countries,
leaving them vulnerable to exploitation.

Ismat Achilov, deputy head of Karshi city administration, confirmed to IRIN
that many local residents were migrating abroad for job opportunities.
“There are other ways. That is through the labour exchange. They could have
official labour status. But they cannot wait for document preparation and
therefore they chose non-official ways of searching for work in Russia,” he
claimed.

Echoing that view, Eshnaev said this aspect made irregular workers
particularly exposed in recipient countries. “Choosing this [irregular] way
of job seeking, they lose the protection of their legal rights and the
[correct] remuneration of their labour. There are so many people out there
in other regions who work just to feed themselves,” he said.

LABOURERS BOUGHT AND SOLD

Muzaffar Aminov, a resident of the Muzrabad district of southern
Surkhandarya province, left for Russia in June 2004 and returned in
November. Many Uzbek citizens become victims of human trafficking and he was
one of them, he claimed.

“I was sold to a Chechen by Uzbeks. Then he sold me to an Armenian. And each
of them wanted their money back. So, I worked for over five months just to
get my passport back. And I came back without any money,” Muzaffar told
IRIN.

Another resident from the Sherabad district of the province, Uigun Himmat,
went to work in Russia several times. Some of his trips were successful, but
last year he too fell victim to traffickers.

“First I found myself in Kazakhstan,” Uigun told IRIN. “I worked for a
family with three daughters. I had to even wash the underwear of these
girls. Their father often whipped me when he was not happy with my work.”

“Some time later I managed to move to Russia and there they took my passport
away again. Then they resold it to other people and I found myself in the
hands of another master,” Uigun said, adding that he returned home without
any money as his employer paid him just to get back home.

Meanwhile, local rights activists have expressed concern over the problem.
“We conduct monitoring of labour migration,” Mutabar Tajibaev, head of the
Plamennye Serdtsa Club (Flaming Hearts) NGO, based in the eastern Ferghana
province, told IRIN.

“We met many people who worked in Russia. They are resold as goods as soon
as they cross the border. First Uzbeks sell them to Kazakhs, then Kazakhs
sell them to Russians. That is the way. A network of Uzbek slave-trafficking
is created. In the end, when they return home, the Uzbek police detain them
and extort what is left.”

TASHKENT’S NEGLECT OF THE ISSUE

The human rights activist also expressed his dismay over the apathy of Uzbek
authorities. Tashkent complicates the situation by not paying attention to
the protection of its citizens’ rights, Tajibaev maintained.

“We are preparing an appeal to the parliaments of all the countries where
Uzbek citizens work,” said Tajibaev. “That is: Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and some European countries. I think that the international
community has to know that the Uzbek authorities do not care about the
rights of their citizens.”

Talib Yakubov, head of the HRSU, said that the reason for such an approach
by Uzbekistan’s government was its authoritarianism. “When an authoritarian
power governs a people the honour and dignity of citizens come last. It is
because of the policy of the authorities that people leave this country. But
representatives of the authorities do not care.”

Lebanon has a right to sovereignty, says Patriarch Sfeir

7 March, 2005

On the eve of his departure to Washington Patriarch Sfeir demands
respect for United Nations resolutions. Armenian bishops call for a
government of national unity to implement agreements.

Beirut (AsiaNews) â~@~S For Maronite Patriarch Card Nassrallah Sfeir
Syria has an obligation to implement the Taef Agreement and respect
United Nations Resolution 1559, which is based on it. At the same
time, the countryâ~@~Ys Armenian bishops call for the formation of a
government of national unity.

The Patriarch spoke to AsiaNews on the eve of his departure for
Washington. He refused to give an opinion on the speech delivered by
Syrian President Bachar al-Asad, in which a redeployment of Syrian
troops was announced, but reiterated the principle that Lebanon has
the right to â~@~independence, sovereignty and freedom so that its
people might live like other peoplesâ~@~].

Cardinal Sfeir denied having said that his country might reach a
bilateral agreement with Israel. Instead, â~@~Lebanon,â~@~] he said,
â~@~will be last Arab country to sign [a deal] with Israelâ~@~].

Speaking about his coming meeting with US President George W. Bush,
the Patriarch noted that it was at the Presidentâ~@~Ys invitation.

And as for Hezbollah disarming, he insisted that it was not up to him
but to those involved.

Yesterday, Patriarch Sfeir received a delegation from the OPDS
charitable organisation at the Bkerke shrine. The delegation was
headed by Fr Elie Madi, who was accompanied by its general director
Ms Faten Nseir.

They illustrated the results of their organisationâ~@~Ys campaign in
favour of tsunami victims in Asia and told the Patriarch that they
were devolving â~B¬ 20,000 (US$ 27,000) to the cause through the
United Nations.

Armenian bishops, but also Catholic and Orthodox bishops, appealed to
political leaders to form a government of national unity capable of
restarting economic development and respecting agreements, especially
the Taef Agreement.

At the end of their meeting on Saturday at the Orthodox eparchy
(diocese) in Zkak el-Blat (Beirut), the bishops released a statement
on the Lebanese situation. They reiterated that only peace, concord
and dialogue can lead the county out of the current crisis. They
urged all Lebanese and all people of good will to join together to
reach the much desired peace.

Former Foreign Minister Fares Boueiz, who is a member of the
opposition, told AsiaNews that Patriarch Nassrallah Sfeirâ~@~Ys visit
to the United States was an historic event, similar to that of
Patriarch Elias Houeik to France in 1920, which founded Lebanon. He
is convinced that the Patriarchâ~@~Ys visit to Washington will lead
to the birth of a new Lebanon, one that is sovereign, independent and
free from foreign interference. (Y.H)

–Boundary_(ID_5eqsoRVi4TP3WFnxlQxI8w)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger
Wednesday, March 9, 2005, #042 (0816)

Georgian politics in brief:

Politicians and NGOs address electoral code
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) launched a two-day conference on
“Staffing of the elections administration and obligations” on March 1 in the
Marriott Courtyard.
The conference was organized to bring together political parties and NGOs to
discuss amendments to the Georgian electoral code prepared by Parliament’s
judicial committee, which have already been approved by Parliament at their
first hearing, alongside alternative drafts offered by other working groups
and political parties.
The organizers of the conference said they hoped it would assist the
transparency of the legislative process and will improve amendments to the
election code.
Acting chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association Anna Dolidze
explained that although Parliament had adopted the amendments at their first
hearing, “there are other, alternative proposals concerning this issue.”
Evaluating and discussing these alternative viewpoints was the main aim of
the conference, she added.

Noghaideli wins cargo agreement in Baku
Transportation of rail cargo between Azerbaijan to Georgia was renewed on
March 7 as a result of an agreement reached by the two sides while Georgian
Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli was in Baku last week, Black Sea Press.
The talks in Baku referred to the readiness of the Georgian party to provide
written guarantees that no goods received from Azerbaijan will then be
exported to Armenia.
Thorough Azeri inspections of cargo bound for Georgia at the
Georgian-Azerbaijani border to ensure that no cargo was in fact destined for
Armenia has meant hundreds of cargo trucks being held at the border since
November 2004.
Noghaideli discussed this issue while on a two-day visit to Azerbaijan,
during which he also met with Azeri President Ilkham Alyev and other senior
officials to discuss a wide spectrum of issues of bilateral cooperation,
especially in the economic sphere.
Within the frame of the visit Noghaideli also laid a wreath at the grave of
late Azeri president Heidar Alyev.

European Commission rep explains path to action plan
The European Commission is recommending a “significant strengthening” of
relations with Georgia through the development of an Action Plan under the
European Neighborhood Policy. Head of the Delegation of the European
Commission, Ambassador Torben Holtze, told a press conference on March 4
that this recommendation is based on the commission’s Country Report
published on March 2.
“This process has been under preparation for several years already, but has
become active only since last year,” he stated. In June 2004, Georgia along
with Armenia and Azerbaijan was included in the European Neighborhood
Policy.
Last Wednesday the Commission released a 32-page report on Georgia, which
gives a broad summary of the political, social and economic situation in the
country and the state of its bilateral relations with the European Union.
According to Holtze, the Neighborhood Program has much deeper targets than
the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and offers the prospect
of a progressively closer relationship with the European Union, involving a
significant level of economic integration and a deepening of political
cooperation.

Protests result in Adjara TV’s leadership purge
Protests by journalists at the state-run Adjara TV have resulted in a purge
of the station’s senior leadership and the nomination on Saturday of a
one-time opposition candidate for the local legislature as the station’s new
chair.
On March 5 the chair of the autonomous republic’s executive government Levan
Varshalomidze nominated Evgeni Tavdgiridze, a reporter for Radio Liberty, as
the new chair of the station that once served as Aslan Abashidze’ official
mouthpiece.
According to local press reports, he made this decision after consultations
with the public and the NGO representatives.
The newly appointed station chief Tavdgiridze told reporters on Saturday
that nothing is complicated about the situation. “This problem in the TV
station can be solved easily and I am sure that this will happen in a near
future. We should hold negotiations and meet with all the employees of the
TV station,” he said. A local correspondent for the Georgian service of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tavdgiridze promised that he would do his
best to preserve freedom of speech in Adjara through TV.

COORDINATOR OF INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP FOR SEARCH OF MISSING VISITED
AZERI WAR PRISONERS KEPT IN STEPANAKERT

09.03.2005 03:45

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Within the frames of the agreements concluded with
the Nagorno Karabakh leadership coordinator of the working group for
the search of the missing, hostages and liberation of prisoners of
war in the Karabakh conflict zone Albert Voskanian visited Azeri
prisoners of war Khayal Abdullayev, Hikmet Tagiyev and Ruslan
Bakirov kept in Stepanakert. A. Voskanian noted that he inquired
about the psychological and health state of the war prisoners, the
amount and quality of food they receive and so on. â~@~There were no
complaints from their side. They look well and wish to return home. It
is my second attendance of the war prisoners. In accord with my
responsibilities I made the co-chairs and other regional coordinators
aware of the visitâ~@~], Albert Voskanian said. To remind, the Azeri
army soldiers were taken prisoners by the Karabakh defense army when
trying to cross the contact line on February 15.

–Boundary_(ID_3uKHqSdzbRy8//+mZva7rQ)–

AZERBAIJAN CAN BE SACKED FROM EC

A1+
09-03-2005

The PACE spring session can be the last one for Azerbaijan. The
menace of being sacked from EU looms in front of Azerbaijan.
Gyultekin Gajieva, member of the EU Azerbaijani delegation, has said
about it in the Azerbaijani press. According to the delegate, this
kind of development of events is quite possible, as Azerbaijan has
not met the commitments taken upon before the EU.

At present the EU attention is centered at the necessity of creating
an Azerbaijani national television, setting free of all the political
prisoners without exception, eliminating corruption which has reached
terrible volumes, and introducing changes into the â~@~Electoral
Codeâ~@~].

Neither has Azerbaijan achieved any success in the field of human
rights, so the assassination of the famous journalist Elmar Huseynov
can cause a lot of trouble for Azerbaijan. This fact is confessed by
both the Azerbaijani delegates of PACE, and the officials, and the
delegates of the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The fear is enhanced by the fact that the Azerbaijani Government
has no time for amendments. During a month they will not manage to
set free hundreds of political prisoners and to create a national
television. These will be possible in autumn at best. But in the EU
they already hint that the last straw is near.

–Boundary_(ID_SLiHZvuBwolyKB1Ccf4DQg)–

7 admit involvement in cigarette scheme
By Jason Kandel, Staff Writer

dailynews.com
Article Published: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 – 12:00:00 AM PST

Seven Glendale men have pleaded guilty to federal charges of operating
a Russian-Armenian organized crime ring that smuggled nearly $9
million in contraband cigarettes from Virginia to Los Angeles.

The men entered their pleas Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke,
Va. The pleas cap a four-year investigation by federal, state and
local authorities.

“The message is — you cannot defraud state and federal governments
of taxes that are due,” said John Torres, the special agent in charge
of the Los Angeles Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives.

The men include: Vicken Djeredjian, 31; Akop “Jack” Chichyan, 33;
Mnatsakan “Mike” Grigorian, 39; Serob “Serb” Boyadzhyan, 36; Manvel
Iskandaryan, 47; Albert Asatryan, 47; and Azat Stephanyan, 22.

The 55-count indictment accused the men of purchasing more than 9,000
cases of untaxed cigarettes in Virginia worth about $18.6 million. They
then took them to California without paying taxes.

Chichyan and Grigorian pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, and
Djeredjian pleaded guilty to possession and distribution of contraband
cigarettes. The remaining defendants pleaded guilty to possession
and transportation of untaxed cigarettes.

Each face up to five years in federal custody and a fine of between
$5,000 and $250,000. Sentencing is set for June.

Jason Kandel, (818) 713-3664 [email protected]

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: SENSELESS TO SPEAK OF PRESIDENT’S RESIGNATION

09.03.2005 02:54

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ â~@~There is no pressure exerted upon the
President by outer forces presently and such is not expected
in future. Consequently it is senseless to speak about the
Presidentâ~@~Ys resignationâ~@~], Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian stated. When commenting on the possible collapse of the
ruling coalition, the Prime Minister expressed assurance that there
are no preconditions for it, so it is groundless to create artificial
clamor around this issue. A. Margarian noted that during the period
of the coalition activity no single item of the Memorandum has been
violated. At the same time the Premier stressed that independently
of the positions occupied all the coalition parties are responsible
for the parliamentary activities. As for the statements of the ARF
Dashnaktsutyun and Orinats Yerkir parties on the â~@~joining of
authorities and crimeâ~@~], Andranik Margarian offered the parties
to present him the data available â~@~especially regarding such
kind of unions in the ministries and departments headed by them.â~@~]

–Boundary_(ID_BdeoQoWCaf6ntDIXBVLUlg)–

Teledyne Technologies to Present at Investor Conference and Hold
Investor Meetings

Business Wire
Monday March 7, 2005

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–March 7, 2005–Teledyne Technologies
Incorporated (NYSE: TDY) announced that Robert Mehrabian, chairman,
president and chief executive officer, and Jason VanWees, director of
corporate development and investor relations, will make a presentation
at the Raymond James 26th Annual Institutional Investors Conference on
Tuesday, March 8, at 1:05 p.m. (Eastern) at the Hyatt Regency Grand
Cypress in Orlando, Fla. In addition, Robert Mehrabian and/or Jason
VanWees will be holding investor meetings arranged by Needham & Company
on March 9 through March 11 in Boston, Mass. and Philadelphia, Pa.

A live webcast of Teledyne’s conference presentation may be accessed via
the company’s website at or
Copies of Teledyne Technologies’ latest
investor presentation will be publicly available on the company’s
website prior to the scheduled meetings.

Teledyne Technologies is a leading provider of sophisticated electronic
components, instruments and communication products, systems engineering
solutions, aerospace engines and components and on-site gas and power
generation systems. Teledyne Technologies has operations in the United
States, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Canada. For more information,
visit Teledyne Technologies’ website at

Teledyne’s investor relations presentation contains forward-looking
statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, relating to earnings, growth opportunities, acquisitions,
capital expenditures, pension matters, stock option expense and
strategic plans. Actual results could differ materially from these
forward-looking statements. Many factors, including funding,
continuation and award of government programs, changes in demand for
products sold to the semiconductor, communications, commercial aviation
and energy exploration markets, changes in insurance expense, customers’
acceptance of piston engine insurance price increases, continued
liquidity of the company’s customers (including commercial airline
customers) and economic and political conditions, could change the
anticipated results. In addition, stock market fluctuations affect the
value of the company’s pension assets.

Global responses to terrorism and other perceived threats increase
uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements about the
company’s businesses. Various responses to terrorism and perceived
threats could realign government programs, and affect the composition,
funding or timing of the company’s programs. Reinstatement of flight
restrictions would negatively impact the market for general aviation
aircraft piston engines and components.

The company continues to take action to assure compliance with the
internal controls, disclosure controls and other requirements of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. While the company believes its control
systems are effective, there are inherent limitations in all control
systems, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be
detected.

While Teledyne Technologies’ growth strategy includes possible
acquisitions, the company cannot provide any assurance as to when, if or
on what terms any acquisitions will be made. Acquisitions, including the
recent acquisitions of the defense electronics business of Celeritek,
Inc., Reynolds Industries, Incorporated and Isco, Inc., involve various
inherent risks, such as, among others, our ability to integrate acquired
businesses and to achieve identified financial and operating synergies.

Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements is contained in Teledyne Technologies’ periodic filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its 2004 Annual Report
on Form 10-K. The Company assumes no duty to update forward-looking
statements.
Contact:

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated
Investors:
Jason VanWees, 310-893-1642
or
Press:
Robyn E. McGowan, 310-893-1640

Source: Teledyne Technologies Incorporated

KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT DELAY PROFITS NONE OF CONFLICTING PARTIES

YEREVAN, MARCH 7. ARMINFO. The delay in the Karabakh conflict
settlement profits none of the conflicting parties, says former
Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov.

One should not follow the vicious logic – let me be bad but he will be
worse. All the conflicting parties are still suffering – each in its
own way – from the heavy consequences of the conflict this including
unnecessary military expenses, blockade costs, resumed blood shed
risks, economic and democratic setbacks.

The conflict will be settled only when the parties get realistic and
responsible before their peoples for stability in the whole region.
It is pity that many still confuse a bird in the hand with two in
the bush and change real benefits of stable peace and cooperation for
chimeras of bloody revenge. Kazimirov says that Karabakh’s future is
difficult but peaceful.