PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

September 13, 2004
___________________

ACYOA’S ASP TRIP CONNECTS YOUNG AMERICANS WITH ARMENIAN HERITAGE

While other travelers were reading magazines or watching the on-board
movie, members of one group of young passengers were practicing phrases
to help them communicate with Armenian children.

Those 26 young Armenian Americans were headed to their homeland as
participants in the Armenia Service Program (ASP), organized by the
Armenian Church Youth Organization of America (ACYOA). They traveled to
Armenia not just to see the sites, but also serve as counselors at Camp
Siranoosh, a summer camp for needy children in the Yeghegnazdor region
of Armenia.

NEW FRIENDS FOR LIFE

The ASP participants worked with 95 campers, who were divided into five
groups. Activities rotated through arts and crafts, English lessons,
sports, dancing, and religion taught by the ASP group leader Fr.
Haigazoun Najarian of the St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Church of Wynnewood,
PA.

“We were the ones who taught them English, but they taught us a million
new ways to say ‘I love you’,” said Anoush Froundjian from the Holy
Martyrs Church of Bayside, NY.

It isn’t just the kids that make Camp Siranoosh so unique. It is
situated in a remote area of Armenia, far from the nearest city and even
a distance from the nearest tiny village. It is a beautiful place that
encourages self-reflection.

“Of all the wonderful moments I had at Camp Siranoush, breathing in the
fresh air and seeing the panoramic view of the mountains will forever be
in my mind,” said Anjelle Rudowicz, of the Sts. Joachim and Anne Church
of Palos Heights, IL.

Bonds quickly formed between the young campers and their new American
buddies. After two weeks at camp, the last day was filled with emotion
— hugs and kisses, followed by tears. E-mails and addresses were
exchanged, and promises were made to keep in touch and visit again soon.

“These kids are no longer just my friends; they are my brothers and
sisters,” said Levon Sukiasian from New York City.

Sad to see their counselors leave, the children also offered up gifts of
appreciation. And while they were small tokens, they were large in the
hearts of the children.

“The kids at camp were incredible. They had nothing and yet they wanted
to give us everything,” said Laura Kasparian from the Sts. Sahag and
Mesrob Church of Providence, RI. “I will always remember their smiles,
their energy, and their enthusiasm.”

FIRST TIME IN ARMENIA

The 2004 ASP trip was filled to capacity. Many were making their first
trip to Armenia, so for them the visit was moving enough, without all
the unique sightseeing experiences and the love of the children at the
camp.

“Who knew it was possible to fall in love with a place the second you
get off the plane? That was the case for me,” said first-time Armenia
visitor Sarine Zenian of the St. Mary Church of Washington, DC.

The participants saw historic and cultural sites throughout Armenia.
>>From ancient churches to modern theaters, they got a taste of Armenian
culture. They were touched by visiting the historic sites of their
faith. During a celebration of the Divine Liturgy at Khor Virab, they
climbed down into St. Gregory’s Pit.

“One thing I will never forget about my trip to Armenia is when I
climbed down into the pit,” said Harry Kezelian, of the St. John Church
of Southfield, MI. “Standing where St. Gregory once stood, to see with
my own eyes the place where the fate of the Armenian nation was
determined, a place without which we would not be here today as Armenian
Christians, was for me a moving experience.

“It’s strange to think that such a humble hole in the ground has so much
history. But then it’s fitting for our Christian religion, a humble
faith by nature. Just as a Jerusalem pilgrimage is important for all
Christians, a trip to Khor Virab is important for all Armenian
Christians to experience. What a strengthening of faith it is to stand
where St. Gregory lived for 13 years in order to give our people the
‘Good News’.”

Along with seeing important places in their homeland, they connected
with the people of Armenia. They had imaginary tea parties with the
young children at Yerevan’s Children’s Reception Center run by the Fund
for Armenian Relief (FAR). They joked and took pictures with waiters
while marveling at the rich taste of the fruits and vegetables of
Armenia.

“You don’t just go and visit Armenia, you go and experience Armenia,”
said Arese Soghomonian from the St. Sahag and St. Mesrob Church in
Wynnewood, PA.

MEETING WITH THE CATHOLICOS

One highly anticipated part of the trip was a visit to the Mother See of
Holy Etchmiadzin and a meeting with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. The ASP group was given a
special tour of some of the beautiful works of art and artifacts in the
collection of the Mother See, before being escorted in to meet the
Catholicos. The meeting is just one of the unique opportunities the ASP
trip provides its participants each year.

“We had several opportunities on this trip, such as working with the
kids at Camp Siranoush and meeting Vehapar, that we would not have had
on any other trip,” said Alex Sarkesian from the St. John Church of
Southfield, MI.

After introductions, the participants had an opportunity to ask
questions, covering a wide variety of topics, and discuss many issues
with the Catholicos. As they left the meeting, the participants had
smiles on their faces and memories of an intimate conversation with
their Vehapar to share with loved ones at home.

“This trip to Armenia surpassed all of my expectations. It has ignited
a spark within me that will last a lifetime,” reflected Michael
Ohanesian of New York City.

“The ASP trip was a life-changing experience. This trip is, by far, one
of the best choices I’ve ever made,” said Jonathan Banks of Southfield,
MI. “I developed a very close relationship with each participant. I
can’t imagine having this experience without them. I also look forward
to attending church and sharing my experiences with the members of my
parish.”

The ACYOA website has an online journal from this year’s ASP
participants. Visit it by going to

This year’s ASP trip was booked full and the Diocese provided $7,800
divided among all the participants to help cover their costs. If you
would like more information on next year’s trip, contact ACYOA Executive
Secretary Nancy Basmajian by e-mailing [email protected] or
calling (212) 686-0710.

— 9/13/04

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): While serving as a counselor at Camp Siranoosh, a
participant in the 2004 Armenia Service Program (ASP), teaches a camper
how to play the guitar.

PHOTO CAPTION (2): Campers at Camp Siranoosh in Armenia show off
bookmarks they made with the help of ASP participants, who traveled to
Armenia on the ACYOA-organized trip from June 24 to July 15, 2004.

PHOTO CAPTION (3): Fr. Haigazoun Najarian of the St. Sahag and St.
Mesrob Church of Wynnewood, PA, who led the 2004 ASP trip, leads a Bible
study during the group’s two-week stay at Camp Siranoosh in the
Yeghegnazdor region of Armenia.

PHOTO CAPTION (4): Participants in the ACYOA-organized ASP trip meet
with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, one of the highlights of their stay in Armenia from June 24
to July 15, 2004.

# # #

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
_________________________________________ ____________________
RFE/RL Iran Report
Vol. 7, No. 31, 13 September 2004

A Review of Developments in Iran Prepared by the Regional Specialists
of RFE/RL’s Newsline Team

************************************************************
HEADLINES:
* BAHA’IS SOUND THE ALARM ON ABUSES IN IRAN
* IS THE HOJJATIEH SOCIETY MAKING A COMEBACK?
* POLL SUGGESTS IRANIANS NOT INTERESTED IN NEWS
* IRAN TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE
* SYRIA’S LEBANESE OCCUPATION GETS IRANIAN THUMBS-UP
* INTELLIGENCE MINISTER DEFENDS LEBANESE HIZBALLAH
* IRAQIS LOOK AT THEIR EASTERN NEIGHBOR
* AL-SADR’S IRANIAN CONNECTION QUESTIONED
* RUMSFELD SAYS IRAN ‘NOT PART OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD’
* KHATAMI SIGNS SEVEN AGREEMENTS IN ARMENIA…
* …AND HEADS TO BELARUS
* SOME IRANIAN OFFICIALS QUESTION VALUE OF NUCLEAR AGREEMENTS
* ISRAEL CALLS FOR PRESSURE ON IRAN
* SKEPTICAL REACTION TO TEHRAN’S NEW NUCLEAR PROMISES
************************************************************

BAHA’IS SOUND THE ALARM ON ABUSES IN IRAN. The National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States asserts, in an
advertisement in “The New York Times” of 12 September, that the
Iranian government has persecuted the 300,000 members of the
religious minority for the last quarter century, the Baha’i World
News Service reported (; see
the advertisement at ). The
advertisement compares the Iranian theocracy’s actions with those
of the Taliban when it destroyed the ancient rock statues of Buddha
at Bamian, Afghanistan.
The Iranian government’s most recent attack on the
Baha’i faith is the destruction in June of the Tehran house of
Mirza Abbas Nuri, father of Baha’i founder Mirza Hussein Ali Nuri
(also known as Bahaullah). A 13 September press release from the
Baha’i community notes that, earlier in the year, Iranian
authorities destroyed the gravesite in Babol of Mullah Mohammad-Ali
Barfurushi, a prominent Baha’i known as Quddus. Bani Dugal, a
Baha’i representative, described these developments as “part of a
concerted plan on the part of the Iranian government to gradually
extinguish the Baha’i Faith as a cultural force and cohesive
entity.” (Bill Samii)

IS THE HOJJATIEH SOCIETY MAKING A COMEBACK? Friday Prayer leaders
throughout Iran warned their congregations in early July of renewed
activities on the part of the Hojjatieh Society — a strongly
anti-Baha’i movement that has long been regarded as a potent, if
secretive threat to the ruling elites (both imperial and clerical)
that have run Iran since the Hojjatieh Society was created in the
middle of the last century. In Shahrud, Ayatollah Abbas Amini said
that Hojjatieh activists are recruiting new members in the city’s
mosques, Radio Farda reported on 11 July.
The Hojjatieh Mahdavieh Society was established in 1953 by a
preacher from Mashhad, Sheikh Mahmud Halabi, who supported Prime
Minister Mohammad Mussadiq. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi allowed the
society to pursue its anti-Baha’i activities after Mussadiq’s
August 1953 ouster, in exchange for the clerical community’s
support for his renewed reign. Society member Mohammad Taqi
Falsafi’s anti-Baha’i sermons were broadcast by state radio,
for example, and Tehran’s Military-Governor Teimour Bakhtiar took
a pick-ax to the Baha’i temple in Tehran in May 1955. Around that
time, Halabi persuaded the Marja-yi Taqlid (source of emulation)
Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Tabatabai Borujerdi to issue a fatwa
banning transactions with Baha’is, according to Baqer Moin’s
“Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah” (1999).
After that, the Hojjatieh Society entered a period of
relative inactivity, although the same cannot be said of Falsafi. The
shah’s court minister, Assadollah Alam, wrote in his diaries that
in 1963 Falsafi preached against the shah’s reform program and,
after a June 1963 riot, Alam had Falsafi imprisoned (Assadollah Alam,
“The Shah and I,” Alinaghi Alikhani, ed. [1991]).
There is more to the Hojjatieh Society than its
anti-Baha’i beliefs, however, although the depths of those
beliefs say a great deal about the society. While Baha’i leader
Mirza Hussein Ali Nuri (1817-1892) — who declared himself a prophet
known as Bahaullah (most Muslims view Muhammad as the final prophet
in Islam) — disputed the existence of a hidden imam, Hojjatieh
members believe that true Islamic government must await the return of
the hidden imam, or Mahdi, who is currently in occultation. For much
the same reasons, the Hojjatieh Society opposed Ayatollah
Khomeini’s theory of Islamic government and Vilayat-i Faqih (rule
of the supreme jurisconsult). It favors collective leadership of the
religious community, and opposes religious involvement in political
affairs.
The Hojjatieh Society enjoyed a revival after the 1978-1979
Islamic revolution; fearing a communist takeover, Sheikh Mahmud
Halabi urged his followers to vote in favor of Vilayat-i Faqih in the
December 1979 referendum on the country’s form of government.
Moin writes that the society was well organized at the time and its
members had “impeccable religious credentials,” so they were able to
fill administrative gaps left by revolutionary purges, as was
particularly the case in the educational sector. Some cabinet members
allegedly had Hojjatieh links as well.
Prominent clerics of the revolutionary era who were Hojjatieh
members or sympathizers included Ahmad Azari-Qomi, Ali-Akbar
Parvaresh, Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani, Abolqasem Khazali, and Ali
Akbar Nateq-Nuri, according to Mehdi Moslem’s “Factional Politics
in Post-Khomeini Iran” (2002). None of them acknowledged their
relationship with the society, however, maintaining more open ties
with the Islamic Coalition Association (now the Islamic Coalition
Party) and with the bazaar sector.
Within a few years this situation changed. Concern arose
about the society’s secretiveness, as did resentment of its
members’ success. An increasingly intolerant Khomeini, Moin
writes, attacked the society and what it stood for. He said in a 12
July 1983 speech: “Those who believe we should allow sins to increase
until the Twelfth Imam reappears should modify and reconsider their
position…. If you believe in your country [then] get rid of this
factionalism and join the wave that is carrying the nation forward,
otherwise it will break you.” The Hojjatieh Society announced its
dissolution on the same day, according to Moin.
The formal end of the Hojjatieh Society did not necessarily
mean the end to its role in politics. Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri, for
example, became the speaker of the fifth parliament and currently
serves on the Expediency Council and as an adviser to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ali-Akbar Parvaresh served as deputy speaker
of parliament and education minister. Ayatollah Ahmad
Azari-Qomi-Bigdeli served as public prosecutor, represented Khomeini
during a parliamentary review of the constitution, represented Qom in
the legislature, served on the Assembly of Experts, and headed the
Resalat Foundation (the regime eventually put him under house arrest
for questioning the system of Vilayat-i Faqih and questioning the
qualifications of Supreme Leader Khamenei; he died in 1999).
Warnings of renewed Hojjatieh Society activism appeared again
in 2002. Minister of Intelligence and Security Hojatoleslam Ali
Yunesi told a press conference that a group of people in Qom was
arrested on charges of supporting the society and trying to fuel
religious discord, and their books and pamphlets were confiscated,
“Toseh” reported on 27 August 2002. Rudsar and Amlash parliamentary
representative Davud Hasanzadegan-Rudsari said a little later that
the revived Hojjatieh Society is “exacerbating the Shi’a-Sunni
conflict,” “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on 1 September 2002. Hasanzadegan
described the society as “the embodiment of obscurantism.”
An editorial in the 1 September 2002 issue of the
conservative “Kayhan” newspaper took a very different tack when
discussing reports of renewed political activity by the Hojjatieh
Society. It claimed there are many similarities between the reformist
2nd of Khordad grouping and the Hojjatieh Society. Both advocate the
separation of politics and religion; just as the society opposes
creation of an Islamic government, the reformists are “trying to
separate the Islamic from the republic and then gradually turn the
Islamic system into a secular system of government.” Society members
and reformists enjoy luxury and wealth, according to the editorial,
and they both opposed Vilayat-i Faqih.
The editorial went on to claim that both groups accept all
sorts of sin and social corruption. “The only difference is that
association members say we should not fight vice so that it spreads
and the Mahdi will emerge, while certain reformers say that the
democratic principle demands that the people be left alone to do as
they please, even if it means loose morals and social corruption.”
The Hojjatieh Society, mainly because it opposes Marxism, is
pro-Western, according to the editorial, as is the 2nd of Khordad
grouping.
The Hojjatieh Society was also mentioned occasionally in
2003. Government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said on 8 January
that Hojjatieh Society members who infiltrate the government would be
dealt with in the same way as other citizens, “Iran Daily” reported
the next day. Assembly of Experts member Hojatoleslam Hashem
Hashemzadeh-Harisi said in the same newspaper that the infiltration
of the government by such “radicals” threatens the Islamic system and
undermines national solidarity. On the sidelines of the 9 March
legislative session, Tehran representative Ali Shakuri-Rad allegedly
said that the Hojjatieh Society should be licensed as a political
party, “Resalat” reported on 10 March (“Towseh” put this into context
on 10 March, when it reported that Shakuri-Rad was comparing his
political opponents to the Hojjatieh Society).
“Aftab-i Yazd” on 7 October 2003 criticized an unnamed cleric
for defending the Hojjatieh Society. This cleric reportedly claimed
that Ayatollah Khomeini was deceived into criticizing the Hojjatieh
Society.
Sectarian conflicts reemerged in spring 2004 (see “RFE/RL
Iran Report,” 6 September 2004), which some sources linked to the
Hojjatieh Society. Rasul Montajabnia wrote in a commentary for
“Nasim-i Saba” on 4 May that members or supporters of the society
have stopped their fight against the Baha’i faith and have turned
their attention to creating divisions between Shi’a and Sunni
Muslims. Montajabnia repeated this concern in the 12 May
“Hambastegi.”
Hussein Shariatmadari, director of the “Kayhan” newspaper,
said, “The Hojjatieh Society has always been active as a creeping
current,” “Aftab-i Yazd” reported on 31 May 2004. Turning to its
renewed activism, Shariatmadari warned, “In these days all the
currents that suggest a secular establishment are the supporters of
this society.”
Ayatollah Abolqasem Khazali, who served on the Guardians
Council, defended the Hojjatieh Society in the 18 May 2004 “Aftab-i
Yazd.” He said that stories of its renewed activism are “completely a
lie.” “I know these people [society members] very well. They are not
working. They would have worked if they had known it was good for
Islam. Therefore it is a complete lie when they say they have become
active again.”
It is difficult to verify if the Hojjatieh Society really has
become more active as an organization or if recent warnings about it
relate to something completely different and this is another case of
governmental scapegoating.
Members of the Hojjatieh Society, according to Radio Farda,
are followers of the Iranian-born but Al-Najaf-based Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani
;dd=11&yy04#top. Such a
claim has not been reported elsewhere, but it is not impossible and
goes some way in explaining official Iranian concern. The Iranian
regime bases much of its legitimacy on its religious credentials and
connection with Qom. The Qom howzeh would fear the transfer of
prominence to the Al-Najaf howzeh. As suggested by an editorial in
the 8 June “Farhang-i Ashti,” Al-Najaf is the “new Islamic Vatican”
and it rivals Qom. Mashhad — birthplace of the Hojjatieh Society —
also rivals Qom, especially because, according to the editorial, it
views Islamic rule with “deep suspicion.” The editorial explains:
“Qom looks to merge religion and politics, while Mashhad thinks of
separating the two.”
A potential link to the Hojjatieh Society is not the only
cause of concern on the part of the Iranian government about
Ayatollah al-Sistani. Like the Hojjatieh Society, al-Sistani does not
advocate Vilayat-i Faqih. The government’s concern about a
religio-political organization that questions the basis of its
theocratic system is therefore understandable. The society’s
anti-Baha’i message may not find much of an audience in modern
Iran, and the right-wing tendencies of prominent members may not jibe
with overall public sentiment. Its opposition to the system, however,
may very well strike a chord with an unhappy public. (Bill Samii)

POLL SUGGESTS IRANIANS NOT INTERESTED IN NEWS. A recent nationwide
poll by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) suggests that the
majority of Iranians do not follow the news very closely. In an ISNA
report on the poll’s results on 8 September, 82 percent of those
surveyed listen to less than one hour of radio daily and 59.9 percent
watch only one hour of television daily, while 12.2 percent watch
less than 30 minutes of satellite television daily and 25.5 percent
watch up to one hour of satellite television a day. Concerning
newspaper readership, 38.8 percent of respondents said that they do
not read newspapers at all, while 24.7 percent read a newspaper for
less than 30 minutes a day. Internet use is also remarkably low, with
81 percent not having any access at all to the Internet and 74
percent not having a computer at home. Of those who do have Internet
access, according to the poll, 42.1 percent use it less than 30
minutes a day. (Bill Samii)

IRAN TO LAUNCH WEATHER SATELLITE. Scientific and Industrial Research
Center chief Mohammad Fathi said on 2 September that Iran will launch
its first satellite by May 2005, Reuters reported, citing Iranian
state television. Fathi said the domestically made Mesbah satellite
would be used for meteorology and geology.
A few days later, an Israeli satellite intended to provide
real-time information on Iran’s missile program crashed just
minutes after its launch. The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on 6
September that the launch of its Ofek-6 satellite failed,
Jerusalem’s Channel 2 television and the website run by “Yediot
Aharonot” () reported. One of its four
directional engines malfunctioned and the rocket and payload crashed
into the Mediterranean Sea. Ofek-6 was intended to replace Ofek-5,
according to “Ha’aretz.” Ofek-5 will function for a few more
years, and an anonymous source close to the project estimates that
another replacement satellite can be put in place in time if the
necessary funds are available. The failure of the Ofek-6 cost
approximately $50 million.
Iranian Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics
Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on 7 September that Iran is willing to
demonstrate its Shihab-3 missile “in the presence of observers,” IRNA
reported. Iran test-fired the missile on 11 August (see “RFE/RL Iran
Report,” 17 August 2004). Shamkhani went on to say that Iran
continuously upgrades its defensive capabilities as part of its
policy of deterrence. “Being powerful does not necessarily mean
war-mongering, neither do the roads of peace lead to concession,”
Shamkhani said (Bill Samii).

SYRIA’S LEBANESE OCCUPATION GETS IRANIAN THUMBS-UP. President
Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami telephoned his Lebanese counterpart,
Emile Lahud, on 7 September to congratulate him on the extension of
his presidency for another three years, the Lebanese National News
Agency (LNNA) reported. The previous day, a Hizballah delegation that
included the chief of Hizballah’s Political Council, Al-Sayyid
Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyid, Mustafa al-Hajj Ali, Khadir Nur-al-Din,
Hassan Hadraj, Ghalib Abu-Zaynab, Muhammad Salih, Mustafa al-Dirani,
Hassan Izz-al-Din, Mahmud Qamati and Wafiq Safa, visited Lahud to
convey Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s congratulations, LNNA
reported.
These sentiments are not universal, as the extension of
Lahud’s six-year presidential term is the result of a
constitutional amendment pushed by Syria. The Lebanese parliament
voted by 96 to 29 for the amendment on 3 September.
Four cabinet members resigned in protest on 7 September, news
agencies reported.
The UN Security Council adopted on 2 September a resolution
that called for free elections in Lebanon “conducted according to
Lebanese constitutional rules devised without foreign interference or
influence;” in other words, calling for an end to Syrian interference
in Lebanese affairs. The UN resolution also calls for the withdrawal
of foreign forces from the country and the disarmament of militias,
in what is seen as a reference to Hizballah. Syria’s ambassador
to the UN, Fayssal Mekdad, retorted, “Syria is not a foreign force in
Lebanon, it is there at the request of the Lebanese government.”
There are 15,000-20,000 Syrian troops in Lebanon. (Bill Samii)

INTELLIGENCE MINISTER DEFENDS LEBANESE HIZBALLAH. While Tehran
continues to deny involvement with international terrorism, observers
in Israel suggest the opposite may be the case.
Iran’s Minister of Intelligence and Security Hojatoleslam
Ali Yunesi reiterated, in a 31 August press conference, the official
Iranian position that Lebanese Hizballah is a liberation movement,
IRNA and ISNA reported. The U.S. State Department classifies
Hizballah as a foreign terrorist organization. Responding to a
question about U.S. claims that Iran supports terrorism, Yunesi said,
“If they mean Iran’s support for Hizballah, they should know that
the Hizballah is a legal group which was created to fight Israel. It
is a defense organization which was established in order to defend
the Lebanese people and land,” ISNA reported. Yunesi added that this
is why many states in the region support Hizballah.
The State Department also asserts that Iran supports the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, two other groups labeled as
foreign terrorist organizations that are active in Israel. According
to Yunesi, however, “We do not consider the Intifada [uprising] of
the Palestinian people as a terrorist movement,” IRNA reported. “It
is the very right of the Palestinians people to defend themselves and
all Muslim countries support them.”
Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qasim appeared to
confirm the importance of Iran to his organization during a late-July
ceremony in the town of Tulin, when he said “We must stand side by
side against the Israeli enemy, because Lebanon’s strength is
part of Syria’s strength, and Iran’s support and
[Hizballah’s] support for Palestine are an honor for us,”
“Al-Mustaqbal” reported on 26 July.
Anonymous sources in the Israeli defense establishment said
that Iranian involvement in terrorism in the occupied territories has
increased, Voice of Israel reported on 1 August. These activities
mostly are run through Hizballah in Lebanon and, according to the
Voice of Israel reporter, “During the past two years Hizballah has
tripled or even quadrupled the scope of its operations in the
territories.”
A commentary in the 27 July issue of “The Jerusalem Post”
stated that the threat to Israel from rockets provided to Hizballah
by Iran and Syria has grown, both in range and quantity. Iran is
supplying an array of rockets by air and sea and overland from Syria,
while both countries are providing logistical support and training as
well.
Israeli Defense Forces intelligence chief Major-General
Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash said on 2 September, “we are dealing with a
threat on the northern front. That also means Hizballah and Iran, as
well as Syria,” “Maariv” reported on 3 September. He continued, “I
call this [threat] a bag of mixed sanctions — economic, political.
and military.”
Israel’s ability to directly target Hizballah is limited,
according to “Yediot Aharonot” on 3 September. “However, Israel can
influence Hizballah by exerting pressure on the organization’s
patrons,” which were identified earlier as Iran and Syria. The
Israel-Palestinian conflict benefits Iran because it diverts the Arab
world’s attention and permits Iranian activism in the Persian
Gulf and Iraq. Because Israel’s ability to influence Iran is
limited, it should target Syria. (Bill Samii)

IRAQIS LOOK AT THEIR EASTERN NEIGHBOR. Interim Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister Barham Salih, during a visit to Tehran, said on 31 August
that Iran and Iraq agree that the two countries’ political
decision to have good relations should be “converted into a working
plan,” Al-Arabiyah television reported. He added, “Instability in
Iraq will have adverse consequences for the entire region.”
Salih, Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib, and Minister of
State for Provinces Wail Abd al-Latif met with Supreme National
Security Council Secretary Hojatoleslam Hassan Rohani on 30 August,
IRNA reported. Rohani noted that the security of Iran and of Iraq is
linked, and Iraq’s security has a regional impact. Salih
reassured his host, “We will not allow any threat to be posed against
Iran,” and he added that coalition forces would not be allowed to
stay in Iraq any longer than necessary.
The Iraqis met with Interior Minister Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari
on 29 August, IRNA reported the next day. Citing an Interior Ministry
press release, IRNA reported, “The officials of both sides should
notice that the enemies are frightened with [sic] the close ties
between the two neighboring countries and their peaceful
coexistence.” Their discussions reportedly addressed pilgrimage
traffic, the establishment of border markets, trade fairs, investment
in border provinces, and cooperation in counternarcotics.
Salih said afterwards that the discussions in Iran were frank
and cordial, “Al-Shira” reported on 4 September. Allegations of
Iranian involvement in Iraqi unrest continue to trouble the two
countries’ budding relationship. Salih told “Al-Shira,” “We will
not allow the country to turn into an arena for settling accounts
between Iran and the United States, for example.” He added, in what
could be a reassurance to Iran, “We will not allow our country to
turn into a launching pad for strikes at the interests of our
neighbors.” He said coalition forces are in Iraq to help establish
security and stability, and those who want the coalition to leave
must help the Iraqi government maintain security.
Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Ja’fari is said
to have addressed this issue during his late-August trip to Iran. He
was reportedly very forthright in a meeting with an unnamed Supreme
National Security Council official and an unnamed adviser to the
supreme leader, and he criticized Iranian military and security
units’ “blatant interference,” Alireza Nurizadeh writes in the 4
September “Al-Sharq al-Awsat.” Al-Ja’fari added that the charge
d’affaires, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, is being watched closely by Iraqi
security services, as was Qods Corps officer Khalil Naimi. Shot dead
in Baghdad on 15 April by unknown assailants, Naimi was identified
officially as the cultural and press attache at the Iranian embassy
(see “RFE/RL Iran Report,” 19 April 2004). Al-Ja’fari told the
Iranians that Qomi should avoid doing things that would get him
expelled.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi discussed these
allegations on 29 August, Italy’s “Corriere della Sera” reported
on 30 August. He said, “We ask that they respect our sovereignty and
do not interfere in our internal affairs.” Allawi said that although
Iraq is weak now, it has the potential to be rich and strong, so calm
is in everybody’s interest. Addressing the possibility of his
visiting Iran, a subject referred to frequently in the Iranian media,
Allawi said, “If the conditions were there, I myself could soon go to
Tehran.”
Salah al-Shaikhly, the Iraqi ambassador to the United
Kingdom, said on 2 September that Baghdad has good relations with the
governments in Tehran and Riyadh, “Haaretz” reported on 3 September.
Al-Shaikhly made his assertion in response to questions about his
colleagues’ accusations of Iranian interference in Iraqi affairs.
The problem relates to autonomous actors in these countries, he said.
“The problem is that these structures [central governments] do not
have control over the fanatical zealots that send forces across the
border to Iraq,” al-Shaikhly said. He explained that Baghdad has
asked the central governments in Saudi Arabia and Iran to take
action. He said, “We approached the two governments and asked them to
deal with this, as they are better equipped than we are to do so.”
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim Sha’lan al-Khuza’i said
on 3 September that some of Iraq’s neighbors are fueling unrest
there and, when pressed, he said, “Yes, it is Iran. I have said it
before…. and I say Iran, Iran, Iran,” AP reported. He said Iran is
promoting violence in his country as a way to “settle its scores”
with the United States, AP reported. (Bill Samii)

AL-SADR’S IRANIAN CONNECTION QUESTIONED. Two recent reports
suggest that some of the Iranian support for Iraqi cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr may be drying up.
Ansar al-Sunnah leader Abu Abdallah al-Hassan bin Mahmud
criticized Iran in an interview published in the 21-27 August issue
of the Beirut political weekly “Al-Muharrir” (for a description of
the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, see “RFE/RL Iraq Report,” 4 June 2004). He
said bombings that target Iraqi citizens are carried out by
organizations representing Iran, because the Persians bear a grudge
dating from the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. Abu al-Hassan accused the
Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, al-Da’wah
al-Islamiya, and the Islamic Action Organization of being Iranian
products. Abu al-Hassan claimed that Iranian intelligence operatives
killed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)
leader Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim because he turned against his Iranian
patrons by promoting a democratic federal Iraq rather than a
Shi’a theocracy.
The Iranians, furthermore, want the “fatwa headquarters”
transferred from Al-Najaf to Qom, Abu al-Hassan said. Iran’s
objective in Iraq is to spread Shi’a Islam, create an Islamic
government, have the Shi’a rule the country, buy land, and
“obliterate the Iraqi identity.” He added that Iran wants to control
the shrines, introduce prostitution networks, sell drugs, and create
sectarian strife.
Abu al-Hassan added, in his interview in “Al-Muharrir,” that
his organization works with Muqtada al-Sadr’s Imam Al-Mahdi Army.
This cooperation is based on a note from al-Sadr’s father,
Mohammad Sadiq al-Sadr, that said if he is martyred his sons should
“follow the fatwas of Al-Sayyid [Kazem] al-Haeri and Sheikh Dr. Ahmad
al-Kubaisi. You must unite with the Sunnis.” Subsequently, the Ansar
al-Sunnah and the Imam Al-Mahdi Army exchanged personnel. “Therefore,
the relationship can be described as intimate,” Abu al-Hassan said.
Al-Haeri is an Iraqi cleric based in Qom who issued a fatwa
in April 2003 declaring that al-Sadr is his deputy in Iraq (see
“RFE/RL Iran Report,” 28 April 2003).
Since then, the 68-year-old al-Haeri has renounced his
relationship with al-Sadr. “Mr. al-Sadr used to be our
representative…but that was on condition of obedience to and
coordination with our office in Al-Najaf,” al-Haeri said in comments
posted on his website, AP reported on 5 September. Al-Sadr “does not
coordinate with our office, so his agency became void,” according to
the website, which added that al-Sadr “does not seek our advice in
his stances, so we cannot endorse what he does.” According to a 5
September report in “The New York Times,” al-Haeri withdrew his
support for al-Sadr after Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani informed senior
clerics in Qom that the Imam al-Mahdi Army caused some of the battle
damage at the Imam Ali shrine in Al-Najaf. (Bill Samii)

RUMSFELD SAYS IRAN ‘NOT PART OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD.’ “Iran
is a country that is not part of the civilized world in terms of its
behavior,” U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a 7
September interview that was published in “The Washington Times” one
day later. Rumsfeld was discussing the provision of money and
personnel from Iran to the continuing insurgency in Iraq, although he
conceded that it is not clear who in Iran is behind this. Rumsfeld
said, “By ‘they,’ I’m not going to say which element of
the government or whether it’s even known to the government.” He
continued, “But money has come in from Iran. People have come in from
Iran. And it’s a very difficult thing to stop.” Rumsfeld also
criticized the international community’s lax approach towards
Iran. He said, “And when you have countries of the world that are not
willing to participate in an organized effort to try to persuade a
country to behave in a civilized way, it encourages them simply to
continue on its merry way.” (Bill Samii)

KHATAMI SIGNS SEVEN AGREEMENTS IN ARMENIA… President Hojatoleslam
Mohammad Khatami arrived in Yerevan on 8 September for a two-day
visit, news agencies reported. Khatami was accompanied by Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Energy Minister Habibullah Bitaraf, Economic
Affairs and Finance Minister Safdar Husseini, and Commerce Minister
Mohammad Shariatmadari. The two sides signed agreements on bilateral
cooperation, and on cooperation in the energy, culture, and customs
fields, Armenian public television and Arminfo reported.
The energy agreements include one on financing a gas pipeline
from Megri to Kadzharan in southern Armenia, and another on
construction of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. The formal agreement
on the pipeline was signed in May (see “RFE/RL Newsline,” 14 May
2004), and Armenia’s ambassador to Tehran, Gegham Gharibjanian,
told RFE/RL in early September that work on the Iranian section of
the pipeline is already underway. Work on the Armenia section will
begin by the end of October, Gharibjanian told Interfax on 9
September.
Khatami and his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian,
issued a joint statement emphasizing their belief that the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute should be settled peacefully and that they
had agreed on counterterrorism and counternarcotics issues. Khatami
visited the Blue Mosque in Yerevan and addressed the Armenian
legislature.
During a 9 September meeting with students and staff at
Yerevan State University, Khatami dismissed the possibility of his
country’s East Azerbaijan Province merging with the Republic of
Azerbaijan, Mediamax reported. Khatami said that Iranian-Azeris are
active in Iranian economic and political affairs, as well as culture
and science. Irredentist groups in Azerbaijan cite suppression of
co-ethnics in Iran and call for unification.
On the same day, Khatami met with Iranians who live in
Armenia, IRNA reported. Khatami noted Armenians’ ability to
protect their ethnic identity through 70 years of Soviet rule and
added that ethnic Armenians are active in many aspects of Iranian
life. (Bill Samii)

…AND HEADS TO BELARUS. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka of Belarus
officially greeted President Mohammad Khatami on 10 September, IRNA
reported. Khatami arrived in Minsk on 9 September. On the same day,
he told Iranians living in Belarus that trade is an important means
of communication, adding that trade exhibitions can strengthen
Iran-Belarus bilateral ties, IRNA reported.
Iranian Ambassador to Minsk Mohammad Musa Hashemi-Golpayegani
said on 9 September that the two sides signed agreements on
agriculture, trade, bilateral relations, culture, sports, and
customs, ITAR-TASS and Interfax reported. Khatami is scheduled to
leave for Dushanbe on 11 September. (Bill Samii)

SOME IRANIAN OFFICIALS QUESTION VALUE OF NUCLEAR AGREEMENTS. While
top Iranian officials voice Tehran’s support for and commitment
to the country’s nuclear-treaty obligations, they also stress the
related advantage of a dialogue with Europe. There are, however,
occasional voices of dissent.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said on 5
September that Iran remains committed to its suspension of uranium
enrichment, IRNA reported. The Europeans should understand that
manufacturing parts for use in uranium enrichment centrifuges is a
completely different matter, he said.
Iranian government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said on 6
September that Tehran is committed to discussing its nuclear program
with the EU, Radio Farda reported. Ramezanzadeh said Iran expects the
Europeans to fulfill commitments they made when the British, French,
and German foreign ministers visited Tehran in October 2003 (see
“RFE/RL Iran Report,” 27 October 2003; for the full text of the
agreement, see

2003.shtml). Ramezanzadeh said Iran is committed to the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty’s Additional Protocol, and it expects
other countries to fulfill their commitments. The International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors is scheduled to meet
on 13 September, and the most recent IAEA report indicates that
Iranian cooperation with the agency has improved (see “RFE/RL Iran
Report,” 6 September 2004).
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Hojatoleslam
Hassan Rohani discussed the nuclear issue and bilateral trade matters
with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Foreign Minister
Bernard Bot on 6 September, Radio Farda reported. The Netherlands
currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. Rohani told Iranian
state television afterwards that the two sides discussed 10 topics,
including Iran-EU relations and the nuclear program. Rohani stressed
that Iran will not forsake its right to pursue peaceful nuclear
activities, and he emphasized that questions on this subject can be
resolved through dialogue. Rohani added that Iran expects the
Europeans to fulfill their October 2003 commitments (see above), IRNA
reported.
Some Iranian officials, on the other hand, question the
benefit of Iran’s stated commitment to the NPT and the additional
protocol. Dr. Rezai, identified by ISNA as an “international affairs
expert at our country’s Atomic Energy Organization,” said on 6
September that any obligations imposed by the NPT and the additional
protocol limit state sovereignty. For that reason, Rezai continued,
“we cannot, generally speaking, argue that our country will derive
any benefits from accepting international treaties such as the NPT or
the protocol.”
Iran’s difficulties with the IAEA, Rezai continued, are
political rather than technical or scientific. For that reason, he
said, Iranian officials must find a political solution to the
problem. Rezai went on to say that some Iranians believe the country
should adhere to its revolutionary principles in addressing the
issue, but “a rather expansive definition of our foreign policy
principles” has “limited the freedom of action of our country’s
diplomats.”
Tehran parliamentary representative Elham Aminzadeh and
Islamabad-i Gharb representative Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh said in
the 5 September “Kayhan” that Iran cannot be forced to sign an
agreement. Rashid Jalali from Karaj and Hussein Nejabat from Tehran
said the legislature would approve accession to the additional
protocol if doing so does not undermine Iran’s national
interests. Nejabat added, “If joining the additional protocol is to
be accompanied with international pressure and force and if our
interests are ignored and if it is used as a lever of pressure to
keep us away from our real interests, there is no reason why we
should approve it.” (Bill Samii)

ISRAEL CALLS FOR PRESSURE ON IRAN. Radio Farda reports that Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a 7 September interview with “The
Jerusalem Post” that the international community’s efforts to
keep nuclear weapons out of Iranian hands are inadequate. It is not
too late to stop Iran, he said, but the issue should be referred to
the United Nations Security Council.
“There is no doubt” that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons
capability, Sharon said. “That is their intention, and they are doing
it by deception and subterfuge, using this cover or that. This is
completely clear.” Sharon said the danger is that Israel can be
reached by Iran’s 1,300-kilometer range Shihab-3 missile, and
Iran is working on another missile with a 2,500-kilometer range.
(Bill Samii)

SKEPTICAL REACTION TO TEHRAN’S NEW NUCLEAR PROMISES. During talks
in Vienna with International Atomic Energy Agency director-general
Muhammad el-Baradei, Iranian Supreme National Security Council
Secretary Hojatoleslam Hassan Rohani pledged to suspend all uranium
enrichment activities, the “Financial Times” reported on 8 September.
This pledge includes a freeze on producing, testing, and assembling
uranium enrichment centrifuges.
Iran first pledged to suspend enrichment activities in
October 2003 but, according to the most recent IAEA report, had
intended to convert 37 tons of nearly raw uranium (yellowcake) into
uranium hexafluoride, which can be enriched in centrifuges (see
“RFE/RL Iran Report,” 27 October 2003 and 6 September 2004). The
latest Iranian offer is reportedly dependent on the Europeans’
commitment to an earlier pledge of an economic payoff for Iran. An
anonymous “European diplomat,” however, told the “Financial Times”
that Europe wants Tehran to extend its pledge to include suspension
of the preparation of materials that could be enriched in
centrifuges.
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher seemed to be
skeptical about Iran’s offer to the IAEA, according to a
transcript of the State Department’s Daily Press Briefing for 7
September (). Boucher
told the press, “You don’t have to look back too far to find
Iranian officials saying that they were going to suspend production
of centrifuge and use of centrifuges, and then to find them saying
that no, they were going to go ahead anyway.”
Boucher went on to connect the Iranian actions with the IAEA
meeting planned for 13 September. He said, “One might conclude that
some of these cycles (of unfulfilled promises) have to do with the
imminence of IAEA board meetings — that we hear that they’re
going to do this, that, or the other before a board meeting and then,
somewhat afterwards, not necessarily too long, we find out that they
either did not or would not or will not do those things.”
Bush administration officials said on 8 September that some
of its allies are resisting the U.S. campaign to get Iran to abandon
its nuclear weapons pursuits, “The New York Times” reported on 9
September. The White House has tried to have the matter referred to
the Security Council five times already, U.S. Undersecretary of State
for Arms Control John Bolton said, and it will try again at the 13
September IAEA meeting.
Europe seems increasingly frustrated with Iran, but it is
willing to keep waiting. An anonymous British official said on 8
September that France, Germany, and the United Kingdom decided during
a meeting in the Netherlands that Iran must suspend all its
nuclear-weapon related activities by November or face sanctions, “The
Guardian” reported on 9 September. The official said, “Iran needs to
meet its commitments. We would like it to meet its commitments before
then, but if it doesn’t, Iran needs to know and it needs to know
now, that there is going to be a decision point in November and at
that point a very serious option…is referral to the United Nations
Security Council.” The official added that negotiations with Iran
cannot go on “forever.” (Bill Samii)

*********************************************************
Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.

The “RFE/RL Iran Report” is a weekly prepared by A. William Samii on
the basis of materials from RFE/RL broadcast services, RFE/RL
Newsline, and other news services. It is distributed every Monday.

Direct comments to A. William Samii at [email protected].
For information on reprints, see:

Back issues are online at

Russia imposes transport restrictions on Georgia

Kavkasia-Press news agency
11 Sep 04

Tbilisi, 11 September: Russia has imposed a transport blockade
on Georgia. Kavkasia-Press learnt from Georgia’s Civil Aviation
Administration and Department of Road Transport that they received
letters to that effect from Russia’s aviation and transport
administrations.

A fax sent by the Russian aviation administration says that, since
Georgian airlines accumulated 3m dollars of debts owed to the Russian
aviation administration, Georgian aircraft will no longer be allowed
to enter Russia’s airspace from 1 October 2004.

The Georgian Civil Aviation Administration said that the 3m dollars
was a debt owed by some Georgian airlines that ceased to exist three
years ago. Therefore, the administration described Russia’s decision
to close its airspace for Georgia as a move aimed at complicating
bilateral relations.

As regards motorways, from now on Georgian bus companies will not be
able to operate services to Russia. The Russian side said the reason
was breaches of contracts and irregular journeys.

The Georgian side says that both letters are vague and allegations
listed in them are groundless.

Georgian experts think that Russia is trying to put pressure on
Georgia. They said it was a surprising move against the background of
Russia’s resumption of railway link to [breakaway Abkhazia’s capital]
Sukhumi. Some of the experts think Russia may be trying to compel
Georgia to agree to resumption of railway link to Armenia through
Abkhazia.

>From Beslan to Yerevan: Russia’s tragedy touches Armenia
By Julia Hakobyan, ArmenianNow Reporter

Armenianow.com
Sept 10, 2004

The gruesome details that have emerged in the aftermath of last week’s
terrorist act in Russia have revealed that 33 Armenians were among
hostages held for three days in that school gymnasium in Beslan,
Russia.

Nine Armenians, including five children, are among at least 335 who
were killed. Survivors are now in hospital in Beslan, Moscow and
other Russian cities.

About 200 Armenians in Yerevan offered blood for Beslan victims Like
other world-wide sympathizers, reports of children being shot in
the back as they fled what should be a child’s sanctuary but instead
became a life-lasting chamber of horror, shocked Armenian sympathizers.

Monday classes throughout Armenia’s capital (the hostages were taken
on the first day of school) began with tributes to the victims.

“The events in Beslan were very painful for all of us, neither pupils
nor teachers in our school could concentrate on lessons,” says Anahit
Lazarian, a teacher at School N118. “Everyone tried to put himself
in the position of hostages. We started our lessons on Monday and
Tuesday- the days of mourning in Russia with a minute of silence. We
join to all families in Beslan in their grief for killed relatives.”

President Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
other top government officials signed a book of condolences at the
Russian embassy. The Vice-Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Tigran
Torosyan said that the tragedy in Beslan showed that moral values
have eroded.

“We faced a new way of brutality that had not yet reached children,”
he said.

An Armenian airliner was the third, behind Norway and Italy, to
deliver relief supplies, and the Ministry of Health has extended an
invitation for victims to be brought to Yerevan for treatment.

“We have sent one box of plasma and 21 boxes of medication to Beslan,
including those for anti-shock and antipyretic treatment,” says Hayk
Darbinyan, the Deputy Minister of the Armenian Health Ministry. “Now
we are preparing to send another consignment, including more medical
goods and clothes.”

Meanwhile, at the Armenian Center of Hematology, residents queued to
donate blood for the Beslan victims. Yuri Karapetyan, vice director
of the clinic, says that more than 200 people applied to become donors.

“Most of them are parents, also there are many people from
law-enforcement bodies,” Karapetyan says. “We examine the
cardiovascular system, the blood pressure, and other health
parameters. So far we accept blood from 120 people, but we are going
to send more assistance to Beslan and welcome all those who want to
help the victims.”

Arpine Nalbandyan, a student of Armenian Medical College and young
mother was among the first to become a donor.

“As a medical student I know that those hostages who received severe
burns from the bombs- blasts will need long treatment and they will
need great amounts of blood. I think what every person should do now
for the sake of humanity is to be a donor, because now we can nothing
else for them,” says the future nurse.

A memorial at the Russian embassy included toys, candy, water The
event has also sparked international debate over who the terrorists
really represent. A $10 million reward has been put up for information
concerning the whereabouts of key Chechen rebel leaders. And Russian
President Vladimir Putin has responded to criticism from the west,
with his own chastisement of its handling of its “War on Terror”.

Alexander Iskandaryan, Vice-Director of the Swiss based Caucasus
Media Institute in Yerevan joined other analysts in criticizing
Russian anti-terrorist policy and calls their present steps against
terrorism ineffective.

“On the one hand it is clear the world has not yet found a successful
and final way on fighting terrorism which Russia can apply. But on
the other hand the Beslan tragedy showed that Russia is not even a
step ahead after the series of the terrorist acts in the last years,”
he said.

“As a person I want to believe that the Beslan tragedy will never be
repeated in Russia. But as an expert I will have to say that by the
measures Russia takes now it will not prevent more terrorist actions.”

The political scientist lays part of the blame on corruption in
Russia, where, he says, it would be easy for terrorists to buy off law
enforcement. “However, honest and professional agents are not enough
to stop terrorism,” Iskandaryan said. “The war between the Kremlin and
Chechnya over the past decade destroyed the region. Today in Chechnya
there is a generation of people who know nothing except war and know
nothing except killing and are ready to die, with bomb-belts.”

While analysts opine and officials make offers and public gestures of
solidarity, it is a make-shift memorial outside the embassy that most
shows the depth of thought that the tragedy in Beslan has stirred here.

Along with candles and flowers, toys have been placed at the memorial,
in a tribute to the dead children, at least 156. And with the toys and
candles and flowers, bottles of water are there, a poignant reaction
to reports that the hostages were denied drink for three days in
a sweltering and packed gymnasium, while home-made bombs hung over
their heads.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KHATAMI PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEMORIAL OF IRAN S FIRST RULING EMPIRE IN TAJIKISTAN

IRNA web site, Tehran,
12 Sep 04

Dushanbe, 12 Sept: Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami here
on Sunday (12 September) paid tribute to a building in memory of the
first king of Iran, Isma’il Samani. The anid Empire established their
rule after ousting the Muslim Arabs who overran the country.

Khatami was accompanied during the official wreath-laying ceremony
by the Chairman of the National Assembly (Upper House) Mahmadsaid
Ubaydulloyev and several other high-ranking officials.

Presidents Khatami and Emomali Rahmonov are due to begin private
talks in a few hours.

Top Iranian and Tajik delegations will be joined by their respective
presidents in talks to be held after the end of the presidents’
private meeting.

It is expected that a number of new documents will be signed during
the talks of the Iranian and Tajik delegations detailing cooperation
in several fields.

The presidents of the two countries will also participate in a joint
press conference after the talks.

Khatami arrived in Tajikistan on Saturday on the last leg of a
three-nation regional tour of Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan.

He is accompanied by the Iranian foreign minister, minister of commerce
and minister of energy.

Khatami was officially welcomed on his arrival at the Tajik
international airport by President Emomali Rahmonov.

He is scheduled to meet the head of the Tajik National Parliament,
prime minister, members of the Tajik intelligentsia and Iranians
residing in the country.

During his four-day visit, Khatami will inspect the Sangtudeh
hydro-electric power plant and the Anzub Tunnel.

Khatami will also deliver a speech at the 8th Summit of the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) scheduled to open here on Tuesday.

At the meeting, Tajikistan will be appointed the next rotating
president of the organization. The current presidency of the
organization is held by Turkey.

The president’s week-long tour is taking place at the official
invitations of presidents Robert Kocharyan of Armenia, Alyksandr
Lukashenka of Belarus and Emomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan.

EXPERTS SAY NEW KAZAKH E-VOTING SYSTEM RULES OUT HACKING, FALSIFYING RESULTS

Khabar Television, Almaty
11 Sep 04

(Presenter) A special group of experts has checked the (Saylau)
electronic voting system. It recommended in Astana today that a state
commission pass a resolution to introduce Saylau.

Scientists and representatives from political parties carried out
the checks and said that hacking into the system and falsifying the
election results were ruled out.

An international association of election observers also received
accreditation from the Central Electoral Commission.

(Correspondent) The checking of the electronic voting system lasted
for a week. The expert group included IT specialists, including from
the National Security Committee, and representatives from political
parties – 16 people in total.

Saylau was first tested for reliability and the possibility of
falsifying the election results. The experts did not find any breaches
and loopholes for hackers.

(Nikolay Borelko, vice-president of the National Information
Technologies joint-stock company, captioned, speaking at a meeting)
One can say with confidence that the electronic voting system is
protected far more reliably from falsifying the results than the
system involving paper ballots.

(Correspondent) It now depends on the state commission whether Saylau
will be used in the forthcoming election to the Majlis (parliament’s
lower chamber scheduled for 19 September). It should pass a resolution
to introduce the new system in the election. Should the innovation
be approved, then the residents of 17 wards (of the country) at most
will be able to vote with the electronic system, the chairwoman of
the Central Electoral Commission (Zagipa Baliyeva) said at another
testing of the system today.

Zagipa Baliyeva said that the Central Electoral Commission was ready
to introduce the Saylau system in all 177 wards. However, the head
of state (President Nursultan Nazarbayev) believes that no more than
10 per cent of voters should vote using the new system, i.e. only
residents of regions which are technically more advanced.

The results of the electronic system will be known about 12 hours
earlier than those of the system involving ballot papers – this is
an advantage of Saylau.

(Zagipa Baliyeva, chairwoman of the Central Electoral Commission,
captioned, interviewed) At 2000 when voting ends (1300-1500 gmt),
a program to calculate the votes is run. At about 2005 or later,
depending how far constituencies are away (from Astana) – at 2030 we
shall know the results.

(Correspondent) Kazakhstan is the first country in the CIS to introduce
the electronic voting system and this explains the heightened attention
of international organizations to our election. Zagipa Baliyeva
handed over a further 140 observer cards today. Representatives from
the association of election observers received accreditation. The
association was set up by NGOs from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan,
Armenia and Ukraine in July 2004.

The Central Electoral Commission has already registered 800 (foreign)
observers.

(Video shows a meeting, people working at computers, lists of mock
candidates, people training in using the electronic system, Baliyeva
around people, Baliyeva speaking, computer screens)

CD REVIEWS: LEICESTER WAKES UP AND SMELLS THE ROSES
BY JOHN REVILL

Birmingham Post
September 11, 2004, Saturday

Kasabian – Kasabian (RCA) pounds 12.99 Once in a while comes a band
which shakes the torpid music scene to its core and creates its own
frame of reference.

Kasabian, although not for want of trying, are not one of those bands.

But this needn’t be a bad thing either, and in a sea of mediocrity
they are definitely stand-outs.

Festivals everywhere this summer were festooned with their flags,
showing a sort of Che Guevara bandit figure, so at least the band
had the marketing right.

Thankfully the music walked the walk, when Kasabian sprung into the
public consciousness earlier this year with the twin bass assault of
Club Foot.

The track, a soaring call to arms in aid of what I’m not quite sure,
sets the tone for the rest of the album, with an atmospheric soundscape
and soaring harmonies.

For while Kasabian may sound like something from Azerbaijan or Armenia,
they are actually from Leicester and owe a great deal to bands from
more northern climes.

Think the lighter moments of The Fall, mix with Stone Roses and add
a little of Primal Scream’s anarchist electro rock period (Xtrmntr),
and you are getting close.

The mighty Club Foot is followed by Processed Beats, which sounds
a little lazy in comparison, strumming merrily along like something
the Roses neglected to put on a b-side.

But Reason is Treason and I.D are back on track again with the
combination of strange keyboard sounds and scaling guitars building
up to euphoric bits.

Apparently Kasabian all live on a farm, although from some of the
rhetoric it is probably a collective farm, albeit a pretty productive
one.

Running Battle is not as fierce as it sounds, and the rest of the
album rumbles along like an impromptu riot or concert waiting to be
stopped by the police.

Apparently two of the band members gave up budding football careers
(Karloff was on the books of Aston Villa) for rock and roll.

That may be pushing it a bit, but with their mix of loud guitars,
harmonies, strange keyboard sounds and samples, they are a lot better
than Leicester City.

The second best debut of the year. HHHH

Campaign begins to ‘buy’ Mann out of prison
By Jane Flanagan in Johannesburg and Philip Sherwell, Chief Foreign Correspondent

Sunday Telegraph/UK
(Filed: 12/09/2004)

A campaign to “buy” Simon Mann out of his Zimbabwean prison cell has
been launched by wealthy friends who fear for the life of the Old
Etonian former SAS officer if he has to serve the seven-year term
handed out in Harare on Friday.

Family and supporters of the British leader of an alleged coup plot in
Equatorial Guinea believe that the appalling conditions in Chikurubi
prison will take a heavy toll on his health.

“We’re also taking as deadly serious the threats against his life
that some of the other defendants have been making,” said a close
friend. The 66 South Africans jailed with him for between 12 and 16
months months blame the 51-year-old scion of the Watney’s brewing
empire for their incarceration.

Friends have told Mann’s heavily-pregnant wife Amanda that they
will try to get him back to the family estate in Hampshire within a
year. His lawyers are not appealing against the sentence for illegally
trying to buy weapons for £100,000 in Harare in March.

Instead, they will approach businessmen and lawyers with access to
President Robert Mugabe to find out how they can secure Mann’s early
return to Britain. “We are determined to get him out of there,”
said the friend.

Although he did not go into details, it is believed that this could
involve business deals with leaders of the near-bankrupt state and
political pressure exerted through influential friends. Mr Mugabe’s
regime has already benefited materially from the arrest of Mann with
the seizure of his Boeing 727, worth about £1.5 million, and $180,000
(£100,000) in cash found on board.

Mann’s sentence was far more severe than his family and friends had
anticipated – even with time off for good behaviour, he is expected
to serve at least four years.

The arrest of his friend and former Cape Town neighbour, Sir Mark
Thatcher, in South Africa last month delivered a big setback to
sensitive behind-the-scenes efforts to secure a deal minimising his
likely sentence.

Sir Mark has denied any link to the plot to overthow President Teodoro
Obiang, the dictator of the small oil-rich west African state.

At his own request, Mann has been held in solitary confinement in a
fetid cell measuring 13ft by 4.5ft since his arrest at Harare airport
on March 7.

Prison guards have broken up a number of scuffles during previous
court appearances when the men had access to Mann. Their conviction
on aviation and immigration charges is likely to make them even more
hostile, as most had expected to be freed at Friday’s hearing.

Conditions inside the prison are squalid in the extreme. The buckets
that double as latrines often remain unemptied for weeks; the cells
lack light or ventilation and are freezing in winter and boil in
summer; lice and mosquitos thrive, feasting on the bodies of prisoners
who sleep on concrete floors without blankets or mattresses.

Inmates normally receive just one meal a day, usually gruel and
vegetables, while the most basic human comforts such as toothpaste,
soap and toilet paper are only available to those who can bribe prison
guards. Beatings are frequent.

These are now the living conditions of a man who should have been
sitting on his 20-acre estate on the Beaulieu river awaiting the
birth of his seventh child this weekend. The pictures of a gaunt
wild-haired Mann arriving for sentencing on Friday showed the impact
that six months inside Chikurubi have already had.

The campaign to free him will be expensive, but Mrs Mann wishes to
avoid selling Inchmery, the family home. Instead, she is understood
to hope that after his release, his memoirs would repay the debts.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph has learnt fresh details of how the ill-fated
plot fell apart in early March. Mann and some of his men were on
standby to fly to Equatorial Guinea to provide a “guard force” for
Severo Moto, the country’s Spanish-based opposition leader, after
what was supposed to be a domestic coup against President Obiang,
according to another Western businessman involved in the plans.

At the time, Dr Moto was waiting at a hotel in the Canary islands
with a group of fellow exiles and a handful of British and South
African business advisers. They were expecting the arrival of two
government ministers from Equatorial Guinea with news that there had
been a rebellion against the Obiang dictatorship. Meanwhile, in Malabo,
the capital of Equatorial Guinea, several leading members of Obiang’s
regime, including close members of his family, were making their own
plans to flee.

However, shortly before the Moto party learnt that Mann had been
arrested, they were also told, without explanation, that the two
ministers could not make it as far as the Canaries. So the Moto party
instead flew to Mali to meet them.

They arrived at the airfield at Bamako, the Malian capital, but again
there was no sign of the ministers, so the group reluctantly returned
to the Canaries.

There they heard even worse news. Not only were Mann and the other
alleged mercenaries in prison in Harare, but a party of 15 South
Africans and Armenians had been arrested in Malabo and accused of
planning the coup. “We realised the plans were still-born,” said a
member of the group. Dr Moto’s King Air jet was flown by Crause Steyl,
a South African pilot and businessmen who has been questioned by
police in Cape Town about Sir Mark Thatcher. Mr Steyl has said that
his company, Air Ambulance Africa, or Triple A Aviation, received
£140,000 from Sir Mark which was then passed to Logo Logistics,
a firm owned by Mann. Sir Mark has said that he believed that the
deal only covered the supply of an air ambulance.

Friends of Mann insist that his first destination after picking up
weapons and his men in Harare was eastern Congo, as he has stated. But
only some of them were to be dropped off there, to guard a mine, while
Mann and the rest would await the expected call to fly to Malabo to
provide security for Dr Moto after a coup.

Indeed, after years of talking about buying his own aircraft to make
just this sort of logistical “bus run” across Africa, he had only
just bought the Boeing 727 that was seized in Harare.

Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld in Malabo

The making of a tragedy
BY A. C. Grayling

The Times (London)
September 11, 2004, Saturday

When the Soviet Union disintegrated amid the confusion of the
anti-Gorbachev coup in 1991, some territories in its southern
regions made successful bids for independence, among them Armenia and
Georgia in the Transcaucasus, and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in central
Asia. Most were latecomers to the Russian fold, being Tsarist conquests
of the 19th century. For the inheritors of the defunct Soviet empire
their independence was deeply unwelcome, because they are rich in
natural resources, chief among them that substance whose toxic pall,
paid for by so many human lives, lies dark across the world: oil.

Exactly seven years before this week of endless Beslan funerals -on
September 9, 1997 -an agreement was signed between Russia and Chechnya
allowing oil to flow to the Russian port of Novorossiisk on the Black
Sea. It officially ended the first Chechen war, and gave the key to
why the conflict had happened. Some commentators claimed at the time
that world thirst for oil had been instrumental in bringing relative
calm not just to Chechnya but also to the whole region. Into this
volatile terrain were pouring hordes of businessmen and criminals,
scarcely distinguishable from each other, eager to profit from Caspian
oil, Turkmenistan gas, Uzbekistan cotton and Kirgiz gold.

Peace had come, the commentators continued, because the region offered
such rich opportunities that war could no longer be tolerated.

To say that this uncontrolled dash for the region’s resources had
brought peace was like saying that a fire had been extinguished
by dousing it with petrol. As American and European interests in
the region burgeoned, Russia strove to maintain its grip on those
parts of the original Soviet possessions which had not escaped into
independence. In particular, the Chechen oil pipeline -the only one
taking Caspian oil to the Black Sea -was vital, so in December 1994
the Russian army responded to Grozny’s efforts at independence by
invading, to assert Moscow’s control over the pipeline and, therefore,
the region’s economy.

The frightful war that followed, its re-ignition in 1999, the
excoriating terrorism that has spiralled from it, might have been
predicted from a single fact alone: the maze of animosities that
history and religion have between them bred, from the old Ottoman
borders in the Transcaucasus to the pass of Jiayuguan at the western
end of China’s Great Wall. It would take an epic to do it justice,
embracing as it must the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians in 1915
-in which over a million and a half were murdered -and then, working
eastwards in space and back through time, to the destroyer Genghis
Khan, who put whole cities to the sword.

For a flavour -a mere taste -of the complexities, note this: the
Georgians are Caucasians and speak a South Caucasian language,
but the Ossetians are Indo-Europeans, descended from the Alans and
related to Persians. The Ossetians practise Islam, Christianity and
paganism, and are involved in territorial disputes with Georgians and
the Ingush. Ossetians are allied with Russia, Georgians are not. Most
Georgians are Orthodox Christians, although some minorities in Georgia
are Muslim.

And so on. This passage comes from an internet letter disputing
a version of Caucasian history in which the collaboration of
Chechens with Hitler against Stalin (Hobson’s choice!) is offered
as justification for Russian attitudes to Chechnya. According to
the letter writer, the author of the anti-Chechen history does not
understand the subtleties of ethnic and religious diversity in the
region. How many outsiders, on this evidence, can? Anyway, the point
is that such diversity, once released from the grip of an overarching
police state, inevitably causes friction and fragmentation. It would
happen without the evil allure of oil, but oil makes everything
vastly worse, because into the local quarrels come dollar-laden
foreigners, buying and bribing in their desperation for the Earth’s
black blood. Control of the pipelines, accordingly, becomes a reason
for mass murder. If oil did not matter, some other prompt for fighting
would be needed; but -just perhaps -none might be found.

All this partly explains the background to the Beslan tragedy. It
does not, for absolutely nothing can, excuse it.

AZERBAIJANI EMBASSY IN GEORGIA REFUSES TO GRANT VISA FOR ARMENIAN OFFICERS

ANS
2004-09-09 18:36

Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia has not replied positively to Armenian
officers â^À^Ù request regarding visa to attend NATO training
in Baku. We donâ^À^Ùt recognize that state and are not going
to grant them visas says Azerbaijani ambassador to Georgia Ramiz
Hasanov. Armenian officers may also get visas from Azerbaijani
embassies in Turkey, Russia and Iran. Ambassador to Russia Ramiz
Rzayev said they have not received any application concerning visa
adding that it was up to foreign ministry to determine whether
to give or not. Form embassy in Turkey we were also recommended
to get in touch with foreign ministry. In his turn chief of press
service of interior ministry Matin Mirza said he had no information
regarding visa granting to Armenian officers. Foreign minister Elmar
Mammadyarov had stated earlier that official had put demands before
NATO not to invite more than three Armenians to the training. We
shall not allow Armenian side to be presented in the training as a
troop or a unit. Mr. Mammadyarov didnâ^À^Ù t exclude Armenians
not to participate in the training either.