Emissions market attracts plant engineers
The Nikkei Weekly (Japan)
June 21, 2004
The Kyoto Protocol is inspiring plant engineering firms and general
contractors, although they emit only limited amounts of greenhouse
gases, to launch operations aimed at trading carbon dioxide emission
rights as a new source of revenue.
Japan is expected to find it difficult to achieve its CO2 reduction
target under the Kyoto pact – a 6% cut in overall emissions in fiscal
2008-2012 from 1990 levels. That will likely force companies that emit
large amounts of the greenhouse gas, such as electric power companies,
oil refiners and steelmakers, to obtain emission rights by working
on overseas projects that help to cut emissions abroad. That will
provide a business opportunity for other firms.
JGC Corp. plans to launch operations in China’s Henan Province as
early as 2006 to collect and break down dinitrogen monoxide, which
has 310 times the global warming effect of CO2. The firm has begun
studying business feasibility with the support of New Energy and
Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). It expects to
invest 1-2 billion yen in the operations.
By collecting N2O, a byproduct of nylon materials production, JGC
expects to obtain 2-3 million metric tons of CO2 emission rights
annually, equal to about 0.4% to 0.6% of annual CO2 emissions by
Japan’s industrial sector. The company is also studying operations
to collect CO2 emissions from natural gas fields.
Similarly, Toyo Engineering Corp. plans to launch operations in
Kazakhstan as early as 2005 to collect methane from coal mines to use
for fuel in power generation. The firm expects to secure about 120,000
tons of emission rights annually from the operations. Methane has a
global warming impact 21 times that of CO2. Toyo Engineering plans
to solicit investors for the project, which is expected to cost a
total of about 500 million yen.
General contractors are also considering operations to collect
methane from waste disposal facilities for use as fuel. Shimizu Corp.
plans to launch such operations in Armenia in 2005 and Ukraine in
2008. The company will also pursue these operations in China as soon
as it obtains permission from the government.
Kajima Corp. and Obayashi Corp. are investigating the feasibility of
such operations in Malaysia and Thailand, respectively.
The move by plant engineering firms and general contractors to enter
greenhouse gas emission rights operations underscores how these firms
see global warming as a business opportunity and not solely as an
environmental risk.
JGC and Toyo Engineering established companywide teams about a year
ago to look at potential projects that follow the Kyoto mechanism
allowing industrialized nations to obtain emission rights by helping
developing nations cut their emission volumes.
Because plant engineering firms and general contractors do not operate
factories, their carbon dioxide emission volumes are much lower than
those of electric power companies, oil firms and steelmakers. So
these firms plan to sell the emission rights obtained through overseas
projects to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In turn, the extra
revenue will help boost the profitability of their overseas operations.
The companies are also aiming to get a head start on South Korean and
Chinese rivals by pursuing plant construction projects in developing
countries and former communist bloc nations. This is because under
the Kyoto mechanism, both South Korea and China are categorized as
developing nations, and thus are ineligible to obtain emission rights
by working on projects outside their borders.
Japanese engineering firms and general contractors will focus on
reducing emissions, such as methane and chlorofluorocarbon gas, which
have a much higher global warming impact than CO2. So even if the
firms’ investments are relatively small, they may be able to obtain
a large amount of emission rights when calculated in CO2 equivalents.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON)
June 22, 2004, Tuesday
English Tripoli double
By Malcolm Pein
MICHAEL Adams and Nigel Short completed routine victories in the
first round of the Fide Knockout Championships at Tripoli. England’s
finest both won 2-0, but the real work is to come. Few seeds were
eliminated as the field was reduced from 128 to 64, and the losers
returned home with $6,000, less Fide’s 20 per cent cut.
In round two, Short faces a tough match against Poland’s leading
grandmaster, Michal Krasenkow, ranked 97. Adams will face either
Karen Asrian of Armenia or Evgeny Agrest of Sweden, whose tie went to
a playoff.
The Cornishman is now the second seed in the absence of Alexander
Morozevich. Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria is the highest rated player.
He arrived late for the game after some travel problems but was
allowed to play later.
Twenty one of the 60 matches have gone to a playoff and none of the
favourites has yet been eliminated. The pairings were organised so
that the number one seed faced number 128, two against number 127 and
so on.
The stronger player has won nearly all the time, but Hicham Hamdouchi
of Morocco defeated former Russian champion Alexander Motylev and
Ghaem Maghami of Iran despatched the Armenian Rafael Vaganian 2-0.
Aleksandar Wojtkiewicz put out Kiril Georgiev. Thirteen-year-old
Magnus Carlsen drew twice with former world junior champion Levon
Aronian of Armenia.
SHORT’S Yemeni opponent put up spirited resistance but the knight
sacrifice was never going to work.
N Short – H Kadhi
Fide WCh KO Tripoli (1.2)
French McCutcheon
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Bb4 5 e5 h6 6 Bd2 Bxc3 7 bxc3 Ne4 8
Qg4 g6 9 Bd3 Nxd2 10 Kxd2 c5 11 h4 Bd7 12 Rb1 Bc6 13 h5 g5 14 f4 Nd7
15 Nf3 cxd4 16 cxd4 gxf4 17 Qxf4 Qe7 18 Ke2 0-0-0 19 Qh4 Qf8 20 g4
Rg8 21 g5 hxg5 22 Nxg5 Nxe5 23 dxe5 Qg7 24 Rhg1 Qxe5+ 25 Kd2 d4 26
Rbe1 Qa5+ 27 Ke2 Rd5 28 Nxf7 Re8 29 h6 e5 30 Rg4 Rd7 31 Ng5 e4 32
Nxe4 Bb5 33 Kf1 Bxd3+ 34 cxd3 Kb8 35 Kg1 Rh7 36 Rf1 Reh8 37 Qg3+ 1-0
Kadhi e p p 7 o c p p p p p p n g p p p p o ‘ p * p p p b p f b p p p
p p p p * d
Short
Final position after 37.Qg3+

Russian Interior Minister postpones visit to Armenia
ITAR-TASS News Agency
June 22, 2004 Tuesday 6:51 AM Eastern Time
MOSCOW, June 22 — Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev
has postponed his visit to Armenia because of the developments in
Ingushetia, a representative of the Russian Interior Ministry told
Itar-Tass.
A joint collegium of the Russian and Armenian interior ministries
was planned to meet in Yerevan on June 24-25. It has been decided to
postpone the meeting until early July.
Several groups of militants with a total strength of 150 to 200
attacked a number of facilities in Ingushetia on Monday night. 48
people died and about 60 were wounded in armed clashes with the
militants.

The Washington Times
June 22, 2004
United Press International
Serena wins opening match at Wimbledon
London, England, Jun. 22 (UPI) — Top seed Serena Williams opened
defense of her Wimbledon championship Tuesday with a 6-3-6-1 win over
over Jie Zheng of China
The 23-year-old American won easily despite committing more than
twice as many unforced errors than her opponent.
Rain forced officials to end play for the day with a number of matches
incomplete, including those involving highly seeded Andy Roddick and
Guillermo Coria.
Unseeded Russian Sandra Kleinova eliminated her sixth-seeded
countrywoman, Elena Dementieva, and Virginie Razzano of France knocked
out No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
On the men’s side, fifth-seeded Tim Henman of England defeated Ruben
Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 4-6 7-6 (8-6),6-4, 6-2.
Other men’s winners included ninth-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain,
14th-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, Czech Jiro Novak, Spain’s
Feliciano Lopez, Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, Jan-Michael Gambill of
the United States and Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who beat countryman
Marat Safin.
Women advancing included Russians Nadia Petrova and Elena Bovina,
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, American Meghann Shaughnessy and Marion
Bartoli of France, who ousted Chandra Rubin of the United States.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia coach Stoichita will not be back
The Associated Press
06/22/04 16:33 EDT
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia coach Mihai Stoichita, whose contract
has expired, said Tuesday he would not stay with the team due to
family reasons.
The Romanian coach told the Armenian Soccer Federation of his decision
in a letter just two months before the start of European World Cup
qualifying.
The federation said it is looking for a new coach, but did not
disclose names.
Armenia, which failed to qualify for the European Championship,
will face the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Romania, Finland,
Macedonia and Andorra in Group One of the qualifying competition for
the 2006 World Cup finals.
Armenia’s first match is at Macedonia on Aug. 18.

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate distribution
Congress of Canadian Armenians (CCA)
Taro Alepian
Montreal, CANADA
Tel: 514-336-4387
Fax: 514-336-1969
e-mail: [email protected]
UNITED FRONT ESTABLISHED BY ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN CANADA
Montréal, June 17, 2004 – The Congress of Canadian Armenians (CCA)
was launched yesterday at its inaugural meeting in Montreal. Its aim
is to create a united front in presenting Armenian issues and the
Armenian community to the Canadian public, to carry out significant
projects of general interest to the community, and to provide a forum
where member organizations can coordinate their ctivities.
The Diocese of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church of Canada, many of
the largest Armenian organizations in Montreal and several prominent
individuals are members of the Congress. In time, this will be extended
to other parts of Canada until Armenians in all regions of the country
are represented.
The Congress also intends to cooperate and work closely with other
organizations in carrying out its activities.
For more information contact:
Taro Alepian, chairman
Montreal CANADA
Tel: 514-336-4387
Fax: 514-336-1969
e-mail: [email protected]
or
Haroutiun Arzoumanian, secretary
Montreal CANADA
Tel: 514-337-7290
Fax: 514-334-1241
e-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian professionals network of western diocese
3325 North Glenoaks bld.
Burbank,CA 91504
Contact:Vahe Ashjian
Tel:818-558-7474
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
APN HOSTS ITS FIRST EVENT
On Wednesday, June 16, 2004 APN, the Armenian Professionals Network,
which was established recently under the auspices of the Western
Diocese and is headed by Mr. Vahe Ashjian, held its first event at the
Diocesan Headquarters in Burbank, presided by His Eminence Archbishop
Hovnan Derderian. Present were also Former Mayor of Glendale Mr. Frank
Quintero, and Mr. Greg Martayan, who is running for LA City Council. A
short program outlining the purpose and mission of APN was followed
by an intimate reception.

Georgia should rather strivie for joining CSTO than NATO
Pravda.RU:World
19:20 2004-06-22
Chairman of the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) committee
for CIS affairs and ties with countrymen Andrei Kokoshin believes
that it would be more logical for Georgia to strive for joining the
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) than NATO. The CSTO
incorporates Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan.
“It would be more logical for Georgia to strive for joining the CSTO
since the new Georgian leadership has said many times of late about
its friendly feelings towards Russia, and its recognition of Russia’s
leading role in ensuring security and stability in the region,”
Kokoshin said on Tuesday in an interview with RIA Novosti.
According to him, the CSTO is more modern and flexible organization
than NATO, which was created after the cold war period and therefore
is not burdened by the past events.”
Kokoshin believes that the attempts of Georgian and some other
CIS countries’ representatives to use Russia-NATO cooperation
as an argument in favor of its entering NATO are “groundless and
illogical.” “Russia cooperates with NATO in combating terrorism, in
non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in some other
areas where this cooperation is mutually beneficial and equal. But
this is achieved not always,” Kokoshin explained.
He also pointed out that “Russian and foreign experts differently
assess the effectiveness of such cooperation inside NATO as well,
not to mention its interaction with external partners.”
“The overwhelming majority of State Duma deputies have a negative
attitude to statements made by some Georgian officials about the
plans of its joining NATO,” Kokoshin stressed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Utut holds Akopian in first game
The Jakarta Post
June 23, 2004
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Grand Master (GM) Utut Adianto, the only Indonesian representative in the
world chess championships now underway in Tripoli, Libya, had to be content
with a draw with GM Vladimir Akopian in the first game of the second round
on Monday.
Playing with black pieces, Utut pressed ahead with his attacking game.
In the game, which could be viewed live on the internet, Utut who gained his
championship berth through the Dubai qualifying tournament, won a pawn on
the 29th move.
Although he had to give away his own in the later moves, Utut looked to have
built a promising position with his pawn having a cleared passage in the
a-file.
However, Akopian, the 1999 championship runner-up from Armenia, defended
tenaciously and a draw was agreed after 39 moves.
On the other boards, favorites GM Michael Adams and GM Vassily Ivanchuk were
surprisingly held to draws by Karen Asrian and Pentala Harikrishna, who have
lower ratings than the former two.
Meanwhile, Vaselin Topalov, who has been tagged as the top seed in the
absence of a number of the world elite players, scored a 1-0 win over
Aleksander Delchev. Nigel Short and Alexander Grischuk also beat their
respective opponents.
The second games are to be played on Tuesday to decide which of the
remaining 64 contenders will qualify for the next stage.

Kurd Issue Likely to Fuel Chaos in Future Iraq
Amir Taheri, Arab News
Arab News
June 22 2004
With the end of the 14-month occupation, Iraq is likely to be faced,
once again, with some of the problems it has had ever since it was
put on the map as a nation-state in 1921.
The most complex of these concerns the Kurds whose leaders are playing
a game of bluff and counter bluff in the hope of exacting maximum
advantage in a period of uncertainty.
Both Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, the two most prominent leaders
of the Iraqi Kurds, have dropped hints that they might decide to
“part ways” if their demand for a Kurdish veto on some key national
decisions is not included in the new constitution.
This may or may not be a bluff. But the threat of Kurdish secession
has already met with two different reactions from Iraq’s non-Kurdish
leadership elite.
Some Iraqi Arab leaders are horrified at the thought of the Kurdish
problem dominating the nation’s agenda once again. They are prepared
to do all they reasonably can to satisfy Kurdish demands within a
multi-ethnic pluralist system.
Others, however, manifest some frustration against the Kurds.
“The Kurds have been the source of all our national miseries from
the start,” says one Iraqi Arab leader on condition of anonymity. “We
became involved in several wars because of them. We also had to submit
to dictators because we believed they would prevent the Kurds from
secession. But now that Iraq is free why should we return to the
failed policies of the past just to keep the Kurds under our flag?”
Many Iraqis, and some policy-makers in Washington, see the Kurdish
secession as the worst case scenario for the newly-liberated nation.
Barzani and Talabani, arguably the most experienced politicians in
Iraq today, know this and try to exploit such fears.
A closer look at the reality of the situation, however, would show that
there is little chance for a breakaway Kurdish state in northern Iraq.
There are several reasons for this. To start with Iraqi Kurds do not
constitute a single ethnic entity let alone a “nation” in the accepted
sense of the term.
Iraqi Kurds speak two different, though mutually intelligible,
languages, each of which is divided into several sub-dialects, with
distinct literally and cultural traditions.
Iraqi Kurds are also divided into half a dozen religious communities,
including a number of heterodox creeds.
Some of the people generally labelled “Kurdish” are, in fact
ethnic Lurs and Elamites with their distinct languages, cultures
and histories. At the same time the predominantly Kurdish area is
also home to some non-Kurdish communities, including ethnic Arabs,
Turcomans, Assyrians and Armenians.
To make matters more complicated, at least a third of Iraqi Kurds live
outside the area that might one day become an independent Kurdish
state. (There are more than a million Kurds in greater Baghdad,
for example.) The creation of a breakaway Kurdish state in Iraq
could trigger a process of ethnic cleansing, population exchanges,
and displacements that could plunge the whole region into years
of conflict.
A Kurdish mini-state in northeastern Iraq might not even be viable.
It would be landlocked and will have few natural resources.
Almost all of Iraq’s major oil fields fall outside the area under
discussion. Also, the area’s water resources would be vulnerable to
manipulation from Turkey and Iran where the principal rivers originate.
But what about a greater Kurdistan, encompassing all who describe
themselves as Kurds? After all there are millions of people who,
despite the objective diversity of their languages, histories, and
ways of life, feel themselves to be Kurds.
Such a state, including Kurds in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Armenia and
Azerbaijan as well as Iraq, would have a population of 30 million
in an area the size of France. To create this greater Kurdistan one
would have to reorganize a good part of the Middle East and re-draw
the borders of six states, including the two largest in the region:
Turkey and Iran. Even then the greater Kurdistan would still be a
weak landlocked state with few natural resources, and surrounded by
powers that, if not hostile, would not go out of their ways to help
it get along.
Such a greater Kurdistan would face numerous internal problems also.
To start with it will have to decide which of the four alphabets in
use for writing the various Kurdish languages should be adopted as
the national one.
If the view of the majority is to prevail the alphabet chosen should be
Turkish because almost half of all Kurds live in Turkey. At the same
time, however, the bulk of Kurdish historic, literary, political,
religious and other significant texts are written in the Persian
alphabet, itself an expanded version of the Arabic. And where would
be the capital of the greater Kurdistan?
If history, myth and, to some extent, the number of inhabitants,
are the yardsticks the Iranian cities of Sanandaj and Mahabad would
be strong candidates. And, yet, the city with the largest number
of Kurdish inhabitants is Istanbul, Turkey’s cultural and business
capital which is home to more than 1.6 million ethnic Kurds.
In a greater Kurdistan the intellectual elite would come from Iran and
the business elite from Turkey. Would they then allow Iraqi Kurds to
provide the political elite? That is hardly likely. What is certain,
however, is that in a greater Kurdistan Barzani and Talabani, now big
fish in the smaller Iraqi pond, could end up as small fish in a much
bigger pond.
All that means that Barzani and Talabani have no interest, personal
or otherwise, to provoke the disintegration of Iraq only to end up
as local player in a bigger Kurdish state. Nor do a majority of Iraqi
Kurds have an interest in leaving Iraq now that it has, for the first
time, a real opportunity to build a state in which Kurds can enjoy
full autonomy plus a leading position in national power structures.
The experience of the 3.5 million Iraqi Kurds who have lived a life
of full autonomy thanks to US-led protection since 1991 is a mixed
one. The area was divided into two halves, one led by Barzani the other
by Talabani, showing that even limited unity was hard to achieve in a
corner of Iraq let alone throughout the vast region where the Kurds
live. The two mini-states respectively led by Barzani and Talabani
developed a complex pattern of shifting alliances in which, at times,
one allied itself with Saddam Hussein against the other. The two
mini-states even became involved in numerous battles, including a
full-scale war.
Like pan-Arabism and its promise of unity, Kurdish unification is
easy to talk about but hard to implement even on a small scale.
Barzani and Talabani should stop bluffing about “walking away”. Other
Iraqis, meanwhile, should realize that a shrunken Iraq, that is to
say minus its Kurds, would be a vulnerable mini-state in a dangerous
neighborhood.
The preservation of Iraq’s unity is in the interests of both Kurds
and Arabs. It is also in the best interest of regional peace.
At the start of the 21st century, the Kurds cannot pursue their
legitimate aspirations through the prism of 19th century romantic
nationalism which has mothered so many wars and tragedies all over
the world.
The Kurds, wherever they live, must be able to speak their languages,
develop their culture, practice their religions and generally run
their own affairs as they deem fit. These are inalienable human rights,
and the newly-liberated Iraq may be the only place, at least for the
time being, where the Kurds can exercise those rights.
In other words this is not the time for the Kurds to think of leaving
Iraq nor for other Iraqis to deny the legitimate rights of their
Kurdish brethren.
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