UEFA.com
July 29 2004
Longford share hopes of progress
Forty-eight teams will meet today when the second leg of the UEFA Cup
first qualifying round is completed.
Estonian winners
The victors will join Estonia’s FC Levadia Tallinn, who beat Bohemian
FC of the Republic of Ireland 3-1 on aggregate on Tuesday, in the
second and final qualifying round.
Helpful fans
Another Irish side will be hoping for a more successful outcome this
evening. Longford Town FC trail Liechtenstein’s FC Vaduz 1-0 from the
away leg, but their supporters will expect their players to match the
efforts they have put in over the past few days. New seats,
turnstiles and a control room have been installed to bring Flancare
Park up to the UEFA A Licence standard required to host the match.
Injury doubt
Vaduz’s chances will not be helped should Liechtenstein Player of the
Year, Benjamin Fischer, fail to recover from a minor leg injury. “We
have to apply pressure from the start,” said coach Martin Andermatt.
“The Irish will try to score an early goal but we will try to impose
our rhythm.” However, Vaduz midfielder Franz Burgmuller is confident
of progress. “If we play with full speed and concentration we will
make it.”
Pre-season fitness
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Glentoran FC face a tough task at
Finnish club AC Allianssi. With the Irish League only starting on 14
August, Glentoran manager Roy Coyle said a lack of match fitness had
played a big part in the 2-2 first-leg draw in Belfast.
Competitive debut
However, Coyle, who could include former Manchester United FC
defender Pat McGibbon for the first time in a competitive game, said:
“I think we have seen the best of them and we are pretty confident.”
His Allianssi counterpart, Ari Tiittanen, is also in relaxed mood
ahead of the action at Vantaa’s Pohjola stadium. “We are in no rush
to score an early goal. We can be patient. I believe we can win,” he
said.
Visa difficulties
Elsehere, Armenia’s FC MIKA will be without midfielder Tigran
Hovhannisyan, who has been denied a visa for the trip to Hungary
where they will play Budapest Honvéd FC. MIKA coach Suren Barsegyan
is unworried, though, and said of his side’s 1-0 deficit: “We are all
aware that nothing is lost after the first leg. We will get even for
the defeat and have enough to build on.”
First ever win
Despite trailing 2-0 to Ukrainians FC Illychivets Mariupil, another
Armenian club, FC Banants, are determined to restore national pride.
Armenia’s representatives are yet to win a match in this competition,
and Banants coach Hovhannes Zanazanyen said: “We will treat this game
seriously because we need a victory in the UEFA Cup. The time has
come to break the duck.”
Staying behind
Illichivets coach Mykola Pavlov has called up an 18-man squad for the
away leg, leaving several players at home to prepare for a league
fixture against FC Dynamo Kyiv next Monday. He acknowledged that his
team failed to take all their chances last week. “We failed to do
so,” he said, “and the winner will be decided in the second match.”
Farewell game
Finally, Lithuania’s FK Ekranas, 1-0 ahead against F91 Dudelange from
Luxembourg, and hoping for a first-ever aggregate victory in a UEFA
club competition qualifying round, could be saying farewell to
centre-back Egidijus Majus, who is a target for Russian Premier
League leaders FC Zenit St. Peterburg.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION EXTENDS $2MLN LOAN TO
ARMSAVINGSBANK
YEREVAN, July 28 (Noyan Tapan). The International Finanical
Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank will allocate a loan of $2mln. to
Armsavingsbank for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprizes (SME) and
mortgage crediting. The agreement was signed by Ashot Osipian,
Executive Director of Armsavingsbank and Edward Nassim, Director of
the IFC Central and Eastern European Department in Yerevan July
28. A. Osipian told reporters the loan will be allocated in two
tranches to be repaid within five years. $1.5mln. will be used to
extend credits to the SMEs operating in the spheres of industry,
construction, services and trade. The largest size of those loans will
be $150,000 with a due date of payment five years and with annual
interest rates of 14%-20%. The bank will extend mortgage loans both
for the purchase and repair of dwellings. The largest size of the
loans in the first case will be $30,000, in the second case
$15,000. The loans will be extended with a repayment date of up to
five years, and with an annual interest rate of 14%. A. Osipian also
said the Armsavingsbank is currently extending mortgage loans with a
repayment date of four years and with an interest rate of 16%. He gave
assurances that the bank now has a package of 100% healthy mortgage
loans of $900,000. he said the main obstacle to the sphere’s
development is the procedure of working credit technologies which is
being gradually processes. According to Nassim, this deal is the first
investment of IFC in the Armenian banking system. Before that the
corporation invested $5mln. in the Marriott Armenia hotel and another
$2mln. in the ACBA Leasing company. He also said the corporation is
planning to establish a foundation in Armenia with its own funds
though no relevant final decision has yet been made. Edward Nassim
stated IFC studied the Armenian banking system four years ago and
decided it was too early to make investments in it. This deal
testifies that the Armenian banking system has developed and is
trustworthy now. He said mortgage loaning is of great interest for IFC
since it develops both the middle layer of the population and the
construction sphere of the country. Chairman of the RA Central Bank
Tigran Sargssian said the Central Bank welcomes this cooperation.
It will enable the Armsavingsbank to provide new services in large
volumes which will intensify competition in the banking sphere as a
result of which the system will get sronger. Armsavingsbank is the
fourth among the Armenian banks with the volume of its assets
($33.4mln.). The capital of the bank totaled $5.3mln. as of January
1. It has 24 branches and 450 workers. IFC, founded in 1956, is a
member of the World Bank. It aims to fund investments in the private
sector, attract free means in circulation on the international market,
as well as to assist the developing and transition countries. So far,
the corporation has extended loans of over $37bln. from its iwn funds
and over $22bln. from the attracted funds.

LAVRENTY BARSEGHIAN DISPELS INFORMATION ABOUT MEETING WITH TURKISH
SCIENTISTS IN VIENNA PUBLISHED IN “MILLIET”
YEREVAN, July 28 (Noyan Tapan). Information about the Viennese meeting
of Turkish and Armenian scientists who exchanged the documents for and
against the Armenian Genocide and about the presence of Lavrenty
Barsegian, Director of the Genocide Museum, at this meeting doesn’t
completely meet reality. Lavrenty Barseghian reported about it to the
“Marmara” newspaper, emphasizing that he didn’t leave Yerevan and,
hence, didn’t participate in the Viennese meeting. To recap, “Marmara”
reported about the meeting on July 21, referring to the Turkish
“Milliet” newspaper. In reality, according to L. Barseghian, there was
no meeting held as there were no scientists leaving Armenia. Lavrenty
Barseghian reported that he himself sent 85 documents to the Viennese
University. The documents were taken from the archives of Germany and
Austria that were allies of Turkey then. He will send another hundred
documents from the German archives to the Viennese University
soon. But there was no meeting in Vienna, because the Armenian side
doesn’t agree to make the issue “whether the Genocide had taken place
in reality or not” the subject of the discussion. Lavrenty Barseghian
said that they are sorry that they couldn’t take part in the meeting,
but the position of the Armenian side is firm. Lavrenty Barseghian
emphasized in his interview to the “Hayastany Hanrapetutiun”
(“Republic of Armenia”) newspaper that Wolfditer Bihl, a famous
historian, PhD of the Viennese University, was the initiator of the
meeting. He organized so-called Armenian-Turkish platform and
suggested that the Armenian and Turkish scientists should meet in
Vienna, previously presenting the documents regarding the 1915 events.

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:
July 29, 2004
___________________
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR BISHOP BAGDASIAN TO BE HELD AUGUST 10
Longtime Armenian Church leader, Rt. Rev. Bishop Houssig Bagdasian
passed away on Tuesday, July 27, 2004.
A wake will be held at the St. Mary Church in Livingston, NJ, on Sunday,
August 1, 2004 with viewing from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 and the wake service
at 7 p.m.
The Divine Liturgy and last anointment, presided over by Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America (Eastern), will be held at the St. Mary Church at 10 a.m. on
Monday, August 2, 2004.
A hokejash will follow. The St. Mary Church is located at 200 W. Mt.
Pleasant Ave. in Livingston, NJ.
Bishop Bagdasian will be buried in Providence, RI, where he was born in
1934.
“His entire life was devoted to serving our church and our people,”
Archbishop Barsamian said. “As a pastor, his flock always held a
special space in his heart. He left his mark by planting the seeds of
leadership in people who lead our church today and the others who will
in coming years.”
LONGTIME SERVANT OF THE LORD
A graduate of the Seminary of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem,
Bishop Bagdasian was ordained a priest in 1959. In 1960 he was
appointed Patriarchal Vicar of Israel, and was responsible for the
Armenian community in Israel as well as the properties of the Armenian
Patriarchate.
During his 11 years of service in the Holy Land, Bishop Bagdasian helped
renovate several Armenian churches, including St. Nicholas in Jaffa, St.
Elijah in Haifa, and St. Krikor Loosavorich in Jerusalem.
Returning to the United States in 1971, he was assigned to the St. Mary
Church, then in Irvington, NJ. He led the church in its move to
Livingston in 1974. After the church was destroyed by fire in 1980,
Bishop Bagdasian’s leadership was key in helping the parish faithful
pull together to rebuild the church, which was consecrated in March
1982.

His service to the Diocese was not limited to the St. Mary parish. He
was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese and headed the Diocesan
Finance Committee. He had also served as a member of the Diocesan
Council. And he was dedicated to the Armenian homeland, leading a group
of 26 ACYOA members to the region devastated by the 1988 earthquake to
help with reconstruction efforts.
Upon the recommendation of His Beatitude Patriarch Torkom Manoogian,
Bishop Bagdasian was consecrated a bishop in Armenia in September 1992
by His Holiness Vazken I, the late Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians.
“He was a great leader, a dedicated pastor, and above all else, a kind
friend to so many,” Archbishop Barsamian said. “His dedication to the
faith he was called to serve was strong, as was his love for his flock.
He will surely be missed in Livingston, throughout the Diocese, and in
the worldwide Armenian Church family.”
— 7/29/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
www.armenianc}oOuh.org.
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Bishop Houssig Bagdasian

Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
July 29, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY, AGBU INTERNS TAKE PART IN WASHINGTON WEEKEND
Washington, DC – For the second time in three months, the nation’s capital
served as the setting for an event held jointly by the Armenian Assembly of
America and Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) – this time bringing
together the next generation of community leaders to establish a rapport on
issues facing the community.
More than 50 college students of Armenian descent – participants of the
Assembly and AGBU internship programs – came together for a weekend of
activities that culminated in a meeting with Armenian Ambassador Dr. Arman
Kirakossian. Assembly interns welcomed their counterparts from New York
July 23-25, taking them on tours of the city and hosting a Saturday night
barbeque in their honor.
Armenian Assembly Internship Program Manager Alex Karapetian, who organized
the weekend with AGBU internship program co-founder Rita Balian, said “These
students have a shared heritage and genuine interest in the betterment of
our community. The Assembly is honored to facilitate such gatherings that
speak to today’s youth.”
AGBU Intern Program Associate Director Aline Ekmekji underlined the spirit
of camaraderie and importance of networking among Armenian youth. “We were
delighted to accept the invitation to spend a weekend with Assembly interns
and look forward to hosting them in New York next year,” said Ekmekji.
The weekend capped off at the Virginia home of Rita and Vartkess Balian, who
arranged a Sunday brunch for the interns. “You are the future leaders of
our communities and it is a great pleasure to see you gathered here today,”
said Rita Balian, an Assembly Associate Trustee Member.

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of creating a professional and
personal network,” Balian added. “I am very encouraged by the spirit of
cooperation between everyone present here.”
Ambassador Kirakossian, who was among the guests, praised the two
organizations for their role in providing youth “this unique and valuable
opportunity to enhance their knowledge, understanding and involvement in
Armenian and Armenian-American issues.”
The AGBU New York Summer Internship Program, established in 1987, has
benefited more than 550 college students from the U.S. and abroad.
Similarly, the Assembly since 1977 has hosted nearly 800 Armenian-American
college-aged students for an eight-week stint in Washington, DC, combining
summer employment with a full schedule of educational and social activities.
The program was renamed the Terjenian-Thomas Assembly Internship in 2003.
This year’s class, which includes students from the U.S., Canada, England
and Armenia, are interning for congressional offices, government agencies,
think tanks and media outlets.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR#2004-070
Photographs available on the Assembly’s Web site at the following link:
Caption: Armenian Assembly and AGBU interns during the Saturday night
barbecue held at the Georgetown University dormitories.

Caption: AGBU President’s Club Chairperson and Armenian Assembly Associate
Trustee Rita Balian flanked by AGBU Intern Program Associate Director Aline
Ekmekji and Assembly Internship Program Manager Alex Karapetian.
Caption: Ambassador Dr. Arman Kirakossian, center, commended Assembly and
AGBU interns for taking an active interest in issues facing their
communities and homeland.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Communications Officer
Tel: (212) 686-0710; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
July 29, 2004
___________________
Week of July 24 to July 29, 2004
* * *
BISHOP HOUSSIG BAGDASIAN PASSES AWAY
The Rt. Rev. Bishop Houssig Bagdasian, longtime pastor of the St. Mary
Church of Livingston, NJ, passed away on Tuesday (7/27). A wake will be
held from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 on Sunday (8/1). The Divine Liturgy and
last anointing, with Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate, presiding,
will be at the church at 10 a.m. on Monday (8/2). For more on the
arrangements and the life of Bishop Bagdasian, click to our website:
;selmonth=7&sel
year04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 7/29/04)
* * *
ARARAT CENTER OPEN HOUSE A GIANT SUCCESS
More than 650 people turned out on Saturday (7/24) for the open house
and consecration of the Diocese’s new Ararat Center, 30 miles south of
Albany, NY. During the service, soil from Armenia was buried at the
site and an altar stone was consecrated for use during services at the
center. For more information on the open house and consecration, for a
full set of photos, and to learn how people were inspired to support the
center after seeing it, click to our website:
;selmonth=7&sel
year04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 7/27/04)
* * *
PRIMATE HEADS TO THE MIDWEST
Archbishop Barsamian will travel to Chicagoland this weekend. He will
celebrate the Divine Liturgy at the St. James Church of Evanston, IL, at
10:30 a.m. on Sunday (8/1). The church is located at 816 Clark St. in
Evanston, IL.
Later on Sunday, he will spend time with the campers at Midwest Hye
Camp, which runs from Sunday through next Saturday (8/7). You’ll be
able to follow along with updates from the camp by clicking to our
website:
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 7/26/04)
* * *
PRIMATE CONTINUES ECCUMENICAL EFFORTS
The Primate is continuing his ecumenical work by participating in two
events this week in New York City. Tonight he will be a special guest
at the biennial clergy congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
America. He will deliver welcoming remarks in the Grand Banquet Room of
the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
Yesterday (7/28), the Primate delivered the benediction during a
luncheon hosted by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in honor of His
Eminence Peter Cardinal Erdo of Hungry.
For more on these events, click to our website:
;selmonth=7&sel
year04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 7/29/04)
* * *
SEMINAR AT DIOCESE FOCUSES ON ARMENIAN FAITH
This week, 10 parish leaders from throughout the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern) have been in New York City at the Diocesan
Center for a free week-long course titled “Light of Light: The Armenian
and His Faith,” which features prominent historians, psychologists,
sociologists, and linguists discussing a variety of aspects of Armenian
Christianity. For more details on this, click to the Eastern Diocese’s
website:
;selmonth=7&sel
year04
(Source: Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), 7/27/04)
* * *
YOUNG CHOIR MEMBERS HEAD TO ARARAT CENTER
The Association of Armenian Church Choirs of America (AACCA) will hold a
new Junior Choir Leadership Development Program next week — from August
4 to 8 — at the Diocese’s new Ararat Center. The program was designed
to develop future choir directors for our parishes. Twelve outstanding
young students, between 14 and 18 years old, from different parishes
were selected to attend this special program. The Choir Association is
underwriting most of the cost for the session. To learn more about the
AACCA, click to its website. You can find it, and many others, on our
links page:
(Source: AACCA, 7/26/04)
* * *
MAKE OUR FAITH VIBRANT
Support the on-going operations of the Ararat Center, continue education
efforts such as the Light of Light seminar, and provide resources to
strengthen the outreach ministries of the Diocese, such as our college
ministry program and Internet ministry. Your continued support makes
all these efforts successful. You can give online today.
It’s simple, safe, and secure. Just click here to support the efforts
of the Diocese to make the Armenian Church significant in the lives of
every Armenian:
# # #

The Monitor (Kampala)
July 29, 2004
Going to the Bush Not an Option

Kintu Nyago
Kampala
Reform Agenda and the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum’s (Pafo) last
Friday’s Lugogo meeting is a desired pointer to Uganda’s future
political development. As I will endeavour to explain below, our
future politics lies in civil political means defined by our
constitution which, of course, can be progressively amended as
dictated by, non other than, Ugandans.
The current re-alignment within our political elite was mainly
triggered by the 2003 Kyankwanzi Movement National Executive
Committee meeting. This allowed for the lifting of the double
restrictions on political party activity and Presidential terms
limits.
However, removing these double restrictions require constitutional
amendment. This should not have been a problem given the government’s
majority in Parliament. But they are insisting that the entire
electorate be consulted through a referendum, which complicates the
political equation.
Mainly so on the question of lifting term limits, given especially
that though controversial amongst the urban elite, and sections of
the diplomatic community, this issue seems to resonate well with the
rural, more conservative population, who constitute our overwhelming
majority.
Then there is the issue of the 2006 General Elections, where
formidable candidate Y.K Museveni will most likely stand on the NRM-O
ticket, after his side’s securing the amending of Article 105 (2). It
is only prudent for the NRM’s competitors to reorganise now, if they
are to capture the electorate’s imagination and favourably compete.
It is in vogue and politically trendy for many Ugandan leaders to
quickly claim that that they are ‘going to the bush’ in case their
partisan political interests, no matter how trivial, are not catered
for. Although the German military theorist Count Von Clausewitz
explained that war is a continuation of politics by violent means, in
contemporary Uganda ‘going to the bush’ to achieve domestic political
objectives is anachronistic or a thing of the past.
History informs us that successful armed struggles are not merely
outcomes of an individual’s bravery or even mere popular support.
Take the instances of the Mau-Mau in Kenya or the bloody Armenian
struggle in the Turkish Empire. A complex set of objectives and
subjective factors are required for a successful political armed
struggle.
Museveni’s successful guerrilla experience in the Luweero Triangle,
which has motivated a number of young and old to emulate him usually
for the wrong reasons, resulted from three fundamental factors.
Namely correct timing, then Museveni and his inner circle’s prior
experience in insurgency activities, coupled with remarkable
conceptual and organisational abilities.
And also having possessed a hierarchical, disciplined
politico-military structure founded on the Front for National
Salvation that evolved into the NRA/NRM. Museveni also seems to have
had the knack of crafting and maintaining broad political coalitions.
Earlier in the mid 1960’s Commadante Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s failure
in neighbouring eastern Congo, had arisen mainly out of poor timing
that led to operating in a political context where peasant Congolese
and their leaders, shared little of his grand ‘Internationalist anti
Imperialist agenda’. A later attempt, in the late 1960’s, in the
mountains of Bolivia ended to his death.
Two other factors favoured the NRM namely; Uganda’s economy and state
structures collapsed during the removal of the Marshal Amin in 1979,
abated, for sure, by the later misrule. While the little goodies that
existed only went round to the Uganda People’s Congress supporters,
who excluded others elite.
In today’s Uganda, the state has creatively been re-established with
responsive civil structures, the Local Councils, with a stake in the
system. Few, if at all any, LCs would allow their villages or
parishes to be infested with elite having hair brained ‘bush going’
agendas.
This explains the Lord’s Resistance Army’s evil logic of unleashing
terror upon the population and targeting councillors. Indeed why the
rebel groups opted to operate from Congo’s Ituri forest! While the
state’s ‘steel frame’ namely the army and intelligence organisations’
elaborate structures are quite intact and should be ready to take on
extra-constitutional elements with potent ferocity.
The liberalisation of the economy, coupled with sound macro-economic
policies have provided ‘many carrots’ to a cross-section of ever
increasing numbers of Ugandans.
Former Local Government minister, ‘Mister’ Bidandi Ssali, while
managing the Museveni’s 2001 campaign aptly termed it: “Balina
kebekoledde”, a potent slogan! These will not risk all to “go to the
bush”.
Uganda’s future politics lies in civil political expression. Apart
from this being the medium through which our constitutionalism will
be sustainably nurtured, the odds are pretty high for the warmongers.

KurdishMedia, UK
July 29, 2004
IPA concerned about dangers threatening publishers in lead up to
consideration of Turkey’s membership in the EU.
BIA (Geneva) – The International Publishers Association (IPA) is
deeply concerned about the dangers that threaten Turkish publishers
when pursuing their profession.
“We call upon the Turkish authorities to implement the many reforms
that were passed. Implementation is key and must not surrender to
bureaucratic conservatism or any other hurdle,” says Ana-Maria
Cabanellas, President of the IPA.
On 15 July 2004, eight international NGOs met with Enlargement
Commissioner Günter Verheugen in Brussels to discuss the progress
made by Turkey in the field of Human Rights.
The Commission will issue a recommendation this September on whether
EU member states should start membership negotiations with Turkey in
December 2004 or not.
It is indeed in December that Heads of States and Governments will
decide on this. They have already indicated that they would follow
the recommendation issued by the Commission.
The IPA recalled that last year 43 books were banned and 37 writers
and 17 publishers were put on trial. To date in 2004, at least 15
books have been banned in Turkey.
While welcoming the legislative and constitutional changes in Turkey,
the IPA expressed its three main concerns:
1. The legal impediments to the practice of the right to freedom of
expression in Turkey;
2. The current tendency of Turkish Security Courts to harass writers,
journalists and publishers by putting them on trial more and more
often, fining them or just postponing their trials indefinitely;
3. The lack of implementation of legal reforms regarding freedom of
expression.
Lars Grahn, Chairman of IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee, says,
“The six following taboos are obvious hurdles to freedom of
expression and to publishing in Turkey: Position of the Military,
Kurdish Question, Armenian Genocide, Kemalism, Women’s Liberation and
Islamic Law.
“Treating writers, journalists and publishers as potential terrorists
or criminals and judging them in the same courts as drug traffickers
and/or real terrorists is unacceptable.” (YE)
* The IPA press statement was released on July 19, 2004
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ISN, Switzerland
July 29, 2004
The new ‘Great Game’ in Central Asia

Geostrategic considerations, the struggle against terrorism, and
concrete economic interests are among the intertwining strands of a
new ‘Great Game’ in Central Asia, with the US inheriting Britain’s
imperial role and trying to consolidate its post-Cold War sphere of
influence.

By Lutz Kleveman for ISN Security Watch
About two years ago, I visited the US airbase in Bagram, some thirty
miles north of the Afghan capital Kabul. A US Army public affairs
officer, a friendly Texan, gave me a tour of the sprawling camp, set
up after the ouster of the Taliban in December 2001. It was a clear
day, and one Chinook helicopter after the other took off to transport
combat troops into the nearby mountains. As we walked past the
endless rows of tents and men in desert camouflage uniforms, I
spotted a wooden pole carrying two makeshift street signs. They read
“Exxon Street” and “Petro Boulevard’. Slightly embarrassed, the PA
officer explained, “This is the fuel handlers’ workplace. The signs
are obviously a joke, a sort of irony.” As I am sure it was. It just
seemed an uncanny sight as I was researching the potential links
between the “war on terror” and US oil interests in Central Asia.
Strategic struggle for Wild East
I had already traveled thousands of miles from the Caucasus peaks
across the Caspian Sea and the Central Asian plains all the way down
to the Afghan Hindu Kush. On that journey I met with and interviewed
warlords, diplomats, politicians, generals, and oil bosses. They are
all players in a geo-strategic struggle that has become increasingly
intertwined with the war on terror: the “New Great Game”. In this
re-run of the first “Great Game,” the nineteenth-century imperial
rivalry between the British Empire and czarist Russia, powerful
players once again position themselves to control the heart of the
Eurasian landmass, left in a post-Soviet power vacuum. Today the US
has taken over the leading role from the British. Along with the
ever-present Russians, new regional powers such as China, Iran,
Turkey, and Pakistan have entered the arena, and transnational oil
corporations are also pursuing their own interests in a brash, Wild
East style. Since 11 September 2001, the Bush Administration has
undertaken a massive military buildup in Central Asia, deploying
thousands of US troops, not only in Afghanistan but also in the
republics of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia. These first US
combat troops on former Soviet territory have dramatically altered
the geo-strategic power equations in the region, with Washington
trying to seal the Cold War victory against Russia, contain Chinese
influence, and tighten the noose around Iran.
Oil giants covet Caspian riches
Most importantly, however, the Bush Administration is using the “war
on terror” to further US energy interests in Central Asia. The bad
news is that this dramatic geopolitical gamble involving thuggish
dictators and corrupt Saudi oil sheiks is likely to produce only more
terrorists, jeopardizing US prospects of victory. The main spoils in
today’s Great Game are the Caspian energy reserves, principally oil
and gas. On its shores, and at the bottom of the Caspian Sea, lie the
world’s biggest untapped fossil fuel resources. Estimates range from
85 to 190 billion barrels of crude, worth up to US$5 trillion.
According the US Energy Department, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan alone
could sit on more than 130 billion barrels, more than three times the
US reserves. Oil giants such as ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and
British Petroleum have already invested more than US$30 billion in
new production facilities. The aggressive US pursuit of oil interests
in the Caspian did not start with the Bush Administration, but under
Clinton who personally conducted oil and pipeline diplomacy with
Caspian leaders. US industry leaders were impressed. “I cannot think
of a time when we have had a region emerge as suddenly to become as
strategically significant as the Caspian,” declared Dick Cheney in
1998 in a speech to oil industrialists in Washington. Cheney was then
still CEO of the oil-services giant Halliburton. In May 2001 Cheney,
now US Vice President, recommended in the Administration’s seminal
National Energy Policy report that “the President make energy
security a priority of our trade and foreign policy,” singling out
the Caspian Basin as a “rapidly growing new area of supply.”
Chemical dependency
Keen to outdo Clinton’s oil record, the Bush Administration took the
new Great Game into its second round. With potential oil production
of up to 4.7 million barrels per day by 2010, the Caspian region has
become crucial to the US policy of “diversifying energy supply’. The
other major supplier is the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, where both the
Clinton and the Bush administrations have vigorously developed US oil
interests and strengthened ties with corrupt West African regimes.
The strategy of supply diversification is designed to wean the US off
its dependence on the Arab-dominated OPEC cartel, which has been
using its near-monopoly position as leverage against industrialized
countries. As global oil consumption keeps surging and many oil wells
outside the Middle East are nearing depletion, OPEC is in the long
run going to expand its share of the world market even further. At
the same time, the US will have to import more than two-thirds of its
total energy needs by 2010, mostly from the volatile Middle East.
Many people in Washington are particularly uncomfortable with the
growing turmoil in Saudi Arabia, whose terror ties have been exposed
since the 11 September 2001 terror attacks. As the recent bombings
and attacks on oil installations have shown, there is a growing risk
that radical Islamist groups could topple the corrupt Saud dynasty,
only to then stop the flow of oil to “infidels.” The consequences of
8 million barrels of oil – 10 per cent of global production –
disappearing from the world markets overnight would be disastrous.
Even without any such anti-Western revolution, the Saudi petrol is
already, as it were, ideologically contaminated. To supply the
ideological deficit left by lack of democracy, the Saudi ruling elite
relies on the fundamentalist Wahhabi version of Islam – many of whose
preachers see no room for compromise with nations like the US.
Tapping new veins
To escape its Faustian pact with Saudi Arabia, the US has tried to
reduce its dependence on Saudi oil sheiks by seeking to secure access
to the fabulous oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea and the
Caspian. Central Asia, however, is no less volatile than the Middle
East, and oil politics are only making matters worse: Fierce
conflicts have broken out over pipeline routes from the landlocked
Caspian region to high-sea ports. Russia, still regarding itself as
imperial overlord of its former colonies, promotes pipeline routes
across its territory, notably Chechnya, in the North Caucasus. China,
whose dependence on imported oil increases with its rapid
industrialization, wants to build eastbound pipelines from
Kazakhstan. Iran is offering its pipeline network for exports via the
Persian Gulf. By contrast, both the Clinton and Bush administrations
have championed two pipelines that would avoid both Russia and Iran.
One of them, first planned by the US oil company Unocal in the
mid-1990s, would run from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to the
Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Indian Ocean. Several months after
the US-led overthrow of the Taliban regime Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, a former Unocal adviser, signed a treaty with Pakistani
leader Pervez Musharraf and the Turkmen dictator Saparmurat Niazov to
authorize construction of a US$3.2 billion gas pipeline through the
Herat-Kandahar corridor in Afghanistan, with a projected capacity of
about 1 trillion cubic feet of gas per year. A feasibility study is
under way, and a parallel pipeline for oil is also planned for a
later stage. So far, however, continuing warlordism in Afghanistan
has prevented any private investor from coming forward. Construction
has already begun on a gigantic, $3.8 billion oil pipeline from
Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku via neighboring Georgia to Turkey’s
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. British Petroleum Amoco, its main
operator, has invested billions in oil-rich Azerbaijan and can count
on firm political support from the Bush Administration, which
stationed about 500 elite troops in war-torn Georgia in May 2002.
Pipeline perpetuates instability
Controversial for environmental and social reasons, as it is unlikely
to alleviate poverty in the notoriously corrupt transit countries,
the pipeline project also perpetuates instability in the South
Caucasus. With thousands of Russian troops still stationed in Georgia
and Armenia, Moscow has for years sought to deter Western pipeline
investors by fomenting bloody ethnic conflicts near the pipeline
route, in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan and
in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and
Adjaria. Washington’s Great Game opponents in Moscow and Beijing
resent the dramatically growing US influence in their strategic
backyard. Worried that the US presence might encourage internal
unrest in its predominantly Muslim Central Asian province of
Xingjian, China has recently held joint military exercises with
Kyrgyzstan. The Russian government initially tolerated the US
intrusion into its former empire, hoping Washington would in turn
ignore Russian atrocities in Chechnya. However, for the Kremlin, the
much-hyped “new strategic partnership” against terror between the
Kremlin and the White House has always been little more than a
tactical and temporary marriage of convenience to allow Russia’s
battered economy to recover with the help of capital from Western
companies. It is unthinkable for the majority of the Russian
establishment to permanently cede its hegemonic claims on Central
Asia. Russia’s Defense Ministry has repeatedly demanded that the US
pull out of Russia’s backyard within two years. Significantly,
President Putin has signed new security pacts with the Central Asian
rulers and last October personally opened a new Russian military base
in Kyrgyzstan. It is the first base Moscow has set up outside
Russia’s borders since the end of the cold war. Equipped with fighter
jets, it lies only thirty-five miles away from the US airbase.
Strange bedfellows
Besides raising the specter of interstate conflict, the Bush
Administration’s energy imperialism jeopardizes the few successes in
the war on terror. That is because the resentment US policies cause
in Central Asia makes it easier for al Qaida-like organizations to
recruit new fighters. They hate the US because in its search for
antiterrorist allies in the new Great Game, the Bush Administration
has wooed some of the region’s most brutal autocrats, including
Azerbaijan’s Heidar Aliev, Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbaev and
Pakistan’s Musharraf. The most tyrannical of Washington’s new allies
is Islam Karimov, the former Stalinist dictator of Uzbekistan who
allowed US troops to set up a large and permanent military base on
Uzbek soil during the Afghan campaign in late 2001. Ever since, the
Bush Administration has turned a blind eye to the Karimov regime’s
brutal suppression of opposition and Islamic groups. “Such people
must be shot in the head. If necessary, I will shoot them myself,”
Karimov once famously told his rubber-stamp parliament. Although the
US State Department acknowledges that Uzbek security forces use
“torture as a routine investigation technique,” Washington in 2002
gave the Karimov regime US$500 million in aid and rent payments for
the US airbase in Khanabad. Though Uzbek Muslims can be arrested
simply for wearing a long beard, the State Department also quietly
removed Uzbekistan from its annual list of countries where freedom of
religion is under threat. Even though the US this year held back
US$18 million in aid, Powell assured Karimov he was still in their
good books. “Uzbekistan is an important partner of the United States
in the war on terror and we have many shared strategic goals. This
decision does not mean that either our interests in the region or our
desire for continued cooperation with Uzbekistan has changed,” the
State Department said. The current US policy of aiding Central Asian
tyrants for the sake of oil politics repeats the very same mistakes
that gave rise to bin Ladenism in the 1980s and 1990s because their
disgusted subjects increasingly embrace militant Islam and virulent
anti-Americanism. Tellingly, Uzbekistan has recently seen a sharp
increase in terrorist activities, with several bomb attacks shaking
Tashkent in April, including the first-ever suicide bombings in
Central Asia. More than forty people died in gun battles between the
terrorists and security forces.
Alternatives to fossil fuels needed
The 11 September attacks have shown that the US government can no
longer afford to be indifferent toward how badly dictators in the
Middle East and Central Asia treat their people, as long as they keep
the oil flowing. So, while the war on terror may not be all about
oil, certainly in one sense it should be about just that. A bold
policy to reduce the addiction to oil would be a wise strategy to win
the epic struggle against terrorism. In the short term, this means
saving energy through more efficient technologies, necessary anyway
to slow the greenhouse effect and global warming. The Bush
Administration’s old-style energy policies of yet more fossil-fuel
production and waste are continuing in the wrong direction. It is
time to realize that more gas-guzzling Hummers on US highways only
lead to more Humvees (and US soldiers) near oilfields. What is
urgently needed instead – for security reasons – is a sustainable
alternative energy policy. Ultimately, no matter how cleverly the US
plays its cards in the New Great Game in Central Asia and no matter
how many military forces are deployed to protect oilfields and
pipelines, the oil infrastructure might prove too vulnerable to
terrorist attacks to guarantee a stable supply anyway. The Caspian
region may be the next big gas station but, as in the Middle East,
there are already a lot of men running around throwing matches.
Lutz Kleveman ([email protected]) is the author of The New Great
Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia (Atlantic Books, 2003,
).

Moscow Times, Russia
July 30, 2004
Fifty Years of Riffs
British and Russian bands honor a legendary guitar at a free festival
By Sergey Chernov
The Fender Stratocaster — the guitar of choice for all
self-respecting rock stars — celebrates its half-century this year.
And to mark the anniversary, over 20 bands from Britain and St.
Petersburg will take the stage in the Miller Fender Fest, a large
open-air event on Saturday.
The free event on Bolotnaya Ploshchad is one of an international
series of concerts held to mark the guitar’s 50th birthday, and will
showcase four British bands — King Adora, Mystery Juice, Gold Blade,
and Kaiser Chiefs — as well as top Russian acts on a total of five
stages.
The legendary electric guitar was designed by American inventor Leo
Fender in 1954. He was later quoted as saying that it was his attempt
to “design the best instrument in the world, once and for all.” Since
then it has been played by musicians including Eric Clapton, Buddy
Holly, Hank Marvin and Bob Dylan.

For John Robb, singer and guitarist of Manchester punk band Gold
Blade, who will perform on the main stage, the instrument is
associated with one star. “I think of Jimi Hendrix and it makes me
feel really good,” he wrote in an e-mail last week. “He was the
genius who made the Fender Strat great.” Robb chooses a Telecaster
himself, but the band uses Strats on some of their songs.
Meanwhile, another participant, Sergei Voronov of Moscow-based
blues-rock band Crossroadz, strums a guitar once owned by Keith
Richards of the Rolling Stones. While on tour in New York in 1988, a
session drummer introduced Voronov to Richards, according to
Crossroadz’s official biography. The rhythm guitarist invited him to
join him in the studio, and then gave him the 1959 instrument.
While celebrating the famous instrument, the festival does not lay
down a hard-and-fast rule about playing only Fender Stratocasters,
and the music will not focus on the classic rock that is primarily
associated with the Strat, instead ranging from ska to psychobilly
and electronic.
The British participants bring their own highly distinctive sounds.
Mystery Juice, from Edinburgh, plays a psychedelic mixture of blues,
hip-hop and Gaelic fiddle, while Birmingham’s King Adora performs
updated glam rock, complete with the dramatic makeup. The indie-rock
band Kaiser Chiefs, from Leeds, has drawn comparisons with Britain’s
recent music sensation Franz Ferdinand.
The Russian bands, most of whom hail from St. Petersburg, are even
more diverse in style. Markscheider Kunst performs Afro-Cuban style
with Russian lyrics, while Billy’s Band took its original inspiration
from Tom Waits, but has adapted his cabaret rock for domestic
consumption. Deadushki combines electronica and punk, and
Moscow-based Deti Picasso blends rock with Armenian folk.
“The main idea was to represent different acts that use a guitar one
way or another,” the festival’s co-promoter Dmitry Sidorov said last
week. “That may be music of different styles, including those using
electronic and ethnic elements.”
The Miller Fender Fest starts on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Bolotnaya
Ploshchad. Metro Tretyakovskaya. Info at