AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Feb 3 2005

PACE resolution sparks differing reactions

The approval of Atkinson’s report on Upper Garabagh by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has drawn
differing opinions from the parties interested in settling the
conflict. President

Ilham Aliyev gave a positive assessment of the PACE resolution on
Upper Garabagh, regarding it as a victory of Azerbaijan’s diplomacy.
The opposition also welcomed the document in general.
Yuri Merzlyakov, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG), told
Radio Liberty that he disagrees with a provision of the resolution
criticizing the lack of activity on the part of the MG.
“They call on us to step up activity, although we are often more
active than the parties to the conflict. However, we are not
responsible for resolving the problem instead of the conflicting
sides”.

The PACE resolution also says that if the OSCE MG-mediated talks are
unsuccessful, Azerbaijan and Armenia may take the matter to the
International Court of Justice. Merzlyakov pointed out that this
action would probably be avoided as both countries are aware that the
issue may be interpreted differently by the court. “Therefore, the
conflict should be resolved not through legal but political means,”
he said.
The Russian co-chair continued that the problem will not be resolved
this year and only a certain amount of progress is likely to be
achieved.
“The parties are interested in resolving the problem, but no
agreements have been reached thus far.”
Merzlyakov also expressed some unpalatable views for Azerbaijan. “I
believe that Upper Garabagh is a party to the conflict, as the
ceasefire, concluded by Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994, along with
the two countries, was signed by the ‘defense minister’ of Upper
Garabagh.”
The United States has also criticized the reproach voiced against the
OSCE MG co-chairs.
The US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish said that the OSCE MG
has carried out extensive work this year.
“Several meetings were held between the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents, as well as the two countries’ foreign ministers,
illustrating the efficiency of the OSCE MG activity”, he said.
Touching upon the passed PACE resolution on Garabagh, the ambassador
commented that in his opinion it is of a “declarative” nature.
In reply to a question as to whether the US will continue to provide
aid to Armenia, which was recognized as the aggressor by PACE,
Harnish said that Washington has always pursued a consistent policy.
“From this standpoint, the aid being provided is aimed at achieving
peace in the region.”
“We have not and will not recognize the self-proclaimed Upper
Garabagh republic. The US recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity. We welcome the attempts by the parties to settle the
conflict in peace and are witnessing progress in this area.”
The ambassador stated that Russia is playing both a negative and a
positive role with regards to the resolution of the Upper Garabagh
conflict, along with many other conflicts in the former Soviet Union.
Russia’s role in the Garabagh conflict is undeniable, he said.
Harnish added that the conflict settlement is not dependent only on
the US and Russia.
“The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents need to step up efforts in
this area”, he said.
The French co-chair of the OSCE MG, Bernard Fassier, said that the
PACE resolution on Garabagh states the stance of this organization,
which is one of the beacons of democracy in Europe. Fassier said that
other international organizations should state their position on the
Garabagh conflict as well.
The co-chair added that statements implying that the OSCE Minsk Group
is not engaged in any serious work are erroneous.

Conflicting views
Political forces in Armenia have issued conflicting opinions on the
issue.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry, via its spokesman, Hamlet Kasparian,
said that the PACE rapporteur David Atkinson’s report on the Garabagh
conflict, although it included some positive parts, was generally
incomplete.
Kasparian said the PACE resolution covers the results of the conflict
but not the reasons behind it.
“Yerevan believes that changes were made to the resolution in a
biased manner. On the initiative of the Turkish representative at the
PACE Political Committee, one of Armenia’s proposals, which was
earlier agreed upon with Atkinson, was not approved. The resolution
is not mandatory but advisory and declarative,” Kasparian said. He
said that peace talks will continue within the OSCE Minsk Group and
the positive and negative provisions of the resolution are unlikely
to affect the negotiating process.
Chairman of the Armenian parliament commission on foreign relations,
Armen Rustamian said the PACE resolution includes all the ‘dangerous’
provisions that Azerbaijan can take advantage of in the future.
“The resolution contains such terms as ‘occupied territories’ and
‘separatists’, and Azerbaijan will certainly take the opportunity of
using them against Armenia.”
Rustamian expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will start imposing an
ultimatum not only on Armenia, but also on the international
community soon, as adopting the mentioned resolution gives Azerbaijan
a legal right to retrieve its territories.
Head of the Armenian delegation at PACE, Tigran Tarasian, stated that
Armenia is satisfied with the PACE resolution. He viewed favourably
the fact that certain parliamentary members brought up the issue of
self-determination of Upper Garabagh.
Nonetheless, Armenian opposition termed the document as an absolute
diplomatic defeat of Yerevan, and essentially as an ultimatum put
forth to Armenia by the international community.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 3 2005

Deputy FM denies reports on alleged talks over exchange of lands

BAKU

Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has denied recent reports saying
that the issue on exchange of lands was discussed during the meetings
of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and foreign ministers.
Certain progress has been achieved in talks on settling the Upper
Garabagh conflict over the recent years, Azimov told journalists on
Wednesday.
The dialogue conducted by the parties to the conflict, mainly
concerns liberation of occupied lands, return of refugees to their
homes and restoration of communication links between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, he said.
Azimov added that it is impossible to exchange views on serious
political affairs until all these issues are resolved.’*

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 3 2005

OSCE fact-finding mission visits Zangilan

Baku, February 2, AssA-Irada
The OSCE fact-finding mission, conducting monitoring in the occupied
Azerbaijani territories, visited the Zangilan District on Wednesday,
Armenian media said. According to the mission’s schedule, however, it
was expected to conduct monitoring in the Gubadly District.
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists that no changes
have been made to the mission’s schedule and that Baku considers
Armenian press reports biased.
On Tuesday, the mission visited the Jabrayil, Fuzuli and Lachin.
The mission will conduct monitoring for a week, spending a day in
each of the seven Azerbaijani districts. Afterwards, it will prepare
a relevant report within the following ten days and submit it to the
OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna.*

Who are the happiest people in the world?

Mail & Guardian Online (Africa)
02 February 2005

Copenhagen, Denmark — People in Denmark, Malta and Switzerland are the
happiest in the world according to a new survey, the Berlingske Tidende
newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The trio topped a list of 90 countries where people have been polled
about how they “enjoy their life as a whole”.

The listings in The World Database of Happiness were based on research
conducted for the past 20 years by Professor Ruut Veenhoven at Erasmus
University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The top trio scored eight on a scale of zero to 10. They were shadowed
by Iceland and Ireland with 7,8, while Ghana’s score of 7,7 put it ahead
of Canada, Guatemala, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Sweden with 7,6.

Ghana’s result may, however, be slightly inflated due to uncertainty
about sampling, and a more accurate score would likely be about six,
Veenhoven said on the database’s website.

Trends in Denmark suggested an increase in life satisfaction, bucking
trends in Switzerland and Malta where it is decreasing.

The Nordic country meets five main criteria for a society that
experiences well-being. It is a high-income country, democratic,
well-governed with a low level of corruption, has a large degree of
personal freedom and is tolerant, Veenhoven said in remarks reported by
the Danish newspaper.

Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Zimbabwe and Tanzania were at the bottom of
the list with Tanzania scoring a lowly 3,2.

More than 2 400 general population surveys conducted from 1946 to 2004
in 90 nations were included in the database. — Sapa-DPA

On the net:
The World Database of Happiness

;articleid=196678

Georgia PM dies in apparent gas leak

Zhvania helped topple corruption-tainted regime in 2003

The Associated Press
Feb. 3, 2005

TBILISI, Georgia – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who helped
lead the revolution that toppled the corruption-tainted regime of
Eduard Shevardnadze, was killed early Thursday by an apparent natural
gas leak, the ex-Soviet republic’s interior minister said.

Zhvania, 41, was at a friend’s apartment when the leak occurred,
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live broadcast on
Rustavi-2 television.

`It is an accident,’ Merabishvili said. `We can say that poisoning by
gas took place.’

‘It all happened suddenly’ Security guards broke through a window
early Thursday when they heard no signs of life inside several hours
after the prime minister arrived, Merabishvili said. Zhvania had
entered the apartment at about midnight and the guards broke in
between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.

His host, Raul Usupov, deputy governor of Georgia’s Kvemo-Kartli
region, also died.

An Iranian-made gas-powered heating stove was in the main room of the
mezzanine-floor apartment, where a table was set up with a backgammon
set lying open. Zhvania was in a chair; Usupov’s body was found in
the kitchen.

`It all happened suddenly,’ Merabishvili said.

Central heating is scarce in Georgia and many people use gas or wood
stoves in their homes.

Lead role in opposing Shevardnadze A longtime politician, Zhvania was
part of the opposition to former Georgian President Eduard
Shevardnadze and played a prominent role in protests that led to
Shevardnadze’s ouster after allegedly fraudulent elections in November
2003.

President Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the protests, named Zhvania
prime minister following his landslide election in January
2004. Zhvania was considered a moderate to counterbalance to the more
impetuous president, and he was one of the key government figures
trying to negotiate settlements with Georgia’s separatist regions.

Zhvania was born in the capital Tbilisi on Dec. 9, 1963. A graduate of
the biology department at Tbilisi State University, he led the Green
of Georgia party in 1988-93 and served in the parliament beginning in
1992.

He became parliamentary speaker in 1995 and led the moderate United
Democrats opposition party, and for several years he and Saakashvili
were rivals for leadership of the opposition.

Like Saakashvili, Zhvania was a one-time ally of Shevardnadze. After
breaking with Shevardnadze, however, Zhvania followed a more
conciliatory path than Saakashvili, and he was considered a more
moderate politician who sought consensus rather than conflict.

Zhvania is survived by his wife and three children.

Separatist official says Armenians settled in Karabakh Azeri citizens

ANS TV, Baku
1 Feb 05

[Presenter] The head of the information department of the separatist
Nagornyy Karabakh regime, Aleksandr Grigoryan, has made an unexpected
statement while the OSCE mission is looking into whether Armenians are
being re-settled in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories. The
representative of the separatist regime described a large group of
Armenians living in these areas as Azerbaijani citizens and Karabakh
as a subject of talks. To recap, Xankandi [Stepanakert] has been
talking so far only about districts around Nagornyy Karabakh.

[Correspondent, over video of destroyed buildings in Karabakh] The
visit to the region by the OSCE fact-finding mission to look into the
illegal settlement of Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories
continues. The mission visited Kalbacar District yesterday [31
January] and Cabrayil District today [1 February], the head of the
information department of the separatist Nagornyy Karabakh regime,
Aleksandr Grigoryan, told ANS. The mission is still keeping under
wraps the information it obtained.

[Grigoryan, by phone in Russian with Azeri voice-over] The monitoring
group has not yet made any statements. It said that it was mainly
there to observe and listen. We hope it will give a news conference
after the monitoring.

[Correspondent] Grigoryan also said that the separatist regime had no
programme of Armenian settlement in the occupied territories. Then we
recalled that the chief of the department for refugees, migration and
re-settlement of the self-proclaimed regime, Serzh Amirkhanyan, had
spoken about the existence of such a programme. After this, Grigoryan
stepped back.

[Grigoryan, by phone] Are you saying that conditions should not be
created for people to live in Stepanakert, Askaran or some other
districts of Nagornyy Karabakh? This kind of approach is wrong. The
territories are the subject of talks. Armenians mainly from Baku,
Sumqayit and Kirovabad [old name of Ganca] are being settled in houses
here. They are Azerbaijani citizens as well, but of Armenian origin.

[Passage omitted: details of the fact-finding mission head’s interview
with the Armenian media]

[Correspondent] Azada Balayeva, ANS.

Apparent Gas Leak Kills Georgian Premier

Associated Press
February 4, 2005

By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer

TBILISI, Georgia – Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who helped
lead the revolution that toppled the corruption-tainted regime of
Eduard Shevardnadze, was killed Thursday by an apparent natural gas
leak, the ex-Soviet republic’s interior minister said.

Zhvania, 41, was at a friend’s apartment when the leak occurred,
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live television
broadcast.

“It is an accident,” Merabishvili said. “We can say that poisoning by
gas took place.”

Security guards broke through a window early Thursday when they heard
no signs of life inside the apartment several hours after the prime
minister arrived, Merabishvili said. Zhvania’s host, Zurab Usupov,
deputy governor of Georgia’s Kvemo-Kartli region, also died.

An Iranian-made gas-powered heating stove was in the main room of the
mezzanine-floor apartment, where a table was set up with a backgammon
set lying open. Zhvania was in a chair; Usupov’s body was found in
the kitchen. Security guards tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the
prime minister, Merabishvili said.

“It all happened suddenly,” he said.

Central heating is scarce in Georgia, and many people use gas or wood
stoves in their homes.

President Mikhail Saakashvili convened an emergency Cabinet meeting
following Zhavania’s death. It began with a moment of silence.

“In Zurab Zhvania, Georgia has lost a great patriot, who devoted his
entire life to serving the motherland. Zurab’s death is a great blow
to Georgia and to me personally. I lost a very close friend, a
reliable adviser and a great ally,” Saakashvili said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (news – web sites) sent a telegram of
condolence to Saakashvili, which said that Zhvania “was well known in
Russia as a supporter of the development of friendly, good-neighborly
relations between the Russian and Georgian peoples.”

A longtime politician, Zhvania was part of the opposition to former
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and played a prominent role in
protests that led to Shevardnadze’s ouster after allegedly fraudulent
elections in November 2003.

Saakashvili, who led the protests, named Zhvania prime minister
following his landslide election in January 2004. Zhvania was
considered a moderate to counterbalance the more impetuous president,
and he was one of the key government figures trying to negotiate
settlements with Georgia’s separatist regions.

Zhvania was born in the capital Tbilisi on Dec. 9, 1963. A graduate of
the biology department at Tbilisi State University, he led the Green
of Georgia party in 1988-93 and served in the parliament beginning in
1992.

He became parliamentary speaker in 1995 and led the moderate United
Democrats opposition party, and for several years he and Saakashvili
were rivals for leadership of the opposition.

Like Saakashvili, Zhvania was a one-time ally of Shevardnadze. After
breaking with Shevardnadze, however, Zhvania followed a more
conciliatory path than Saakashvili, and he was considered a more
moderate politician who sought consensus rather than conflict.

Zhvania is survived by his wife and three children.

;u=/ap/20050203/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_prime_minister

RFE/RL: Georgian Prime Minister Dies
Thursday, 03 February 2005

3 February 2005 — Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania has died by
an apparent gas leak.

Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live broadcast on
Georgian television that Zhvania had been found dead by police in an
apartment in Tbilisi this morning along with an unnamed friend.

It was not immediately clear if Zhvania was in his own apartment or
elsewhere, or whether he died as a result of foul play.

Zhvania, who was 41, was appointed prime minister by President Mikheil
Saakashvili following his election victory in January 2004.

(Reuters/AP/AFP)

OSCE mission visits four districts held by Karabakh

Mediamax news agency
2 Feb 05

YEREVAN

“The OSCE mission is satisfied with the working conditions provided by
the Nagornyy Karabakh authorities,” the head of the OSCE fact-finding
mission, Emily Margarethe Haber, said in Agdam District, which the
mission visited today.

Emily Haber declined to comment on the results of monitoring, saying
that the mission has not yet completed its activity.

The OSCE fact-finding mission, which includes experts from Russia, the
USA, France, Finland, Italy, Sweden and Germany, has already been to
four out of the seven districts controlled by the Nagornyy Karabakh
defence army. These are Kalbacar, Cabrayil, Fuzuli and Agdam.

Russian minister unaware of OSCE mediator’s stance on Karabakh

ANS Radio, Baku
2 Feb 05

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who is on an official visit to
Azerbaijan has said that he is unaware of the position of the Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, who considers
the Nagornyy Karabakh separatist regime to be a party to the
conflict. The minister is going to hold meetings today to discuss the
Caspian Sea legal status and the fight against global terrorism.

[Passage omitted: other details of the visit’s schedule]