ArmenPress
March 9 2004
GEORGIA’S PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN ARMENIA MARCH 12
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS: The president of Georgia, Mikhail
Saakashvili, will pay an official two-day visit to Armenia on March
12 at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian’s press office said the Georgian delegation is composed of
foreign, energy, infrastructures and development ministers, members
of the parliament, representatives of the Armenian-populated region
of Javakheti and journalists.
On March 13 the two presidents will have a private conversation
after the official ceremony of welcoming, to be followed by
Georgian-Armenian negotiations. The two presidents will also brief
the journalists on the results of their talks.
During the official visit Saakashvili will meet with Armenian
parliament chairman, prime minister and representatives of the
Georgian community in Armenia. He will be received by the head of the
Armenian Church Catholicos Karekin II. The itinerary of the Georgian
delegation includes also a visit to Genocide Memorial where he will
lay a wreath in commemoration of the victims of the 1915 massacre of
Armenians by Turkish authorities. He will then visit the nearby
Genocide Museum and Institute, then the Matenadaran Institute of Old
Manuscripts. Saakashvili will fly back the same day.

ArmenPress
March 9 2004
IRANIAN DELEGATION EXPLORES WAYS FOR COOPERATION
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS: Members of an Iranian delegation,
led by the deputy governor of Ardabil province, Najafi Azeri, that
arrived in Armenia on March 8 for a three-day visit, were received
today by o Armenian agriculture minister David Lokian to explore
possibilities for establishing cooperation.
Minister David Lokian emphasized that Ardabil is known for its
highly effective agricultural sector, which he said is a good
precondition for establishing a bilateral collaboration in this
sphere. First contacts between the agricultural ministry of Armenia
and the province were established last year during a visit by the
governor of the Iranian province to Armenia. The main issue that was
discussed today was establishment of a potato processing factory. The
Iranian sides looks towards hiring some space in one of Armenian
regions to install its technologies.
Iranian officials are scheduled also to have meetings with
officials of Armenian trade and economic development ministry, they
will visit Armenian commerce and industry chamber and the Armenian
Development Agency. They will also be received by territorial
minister Hovik Abrahamian and the chief of presidential staff
Artashes Tumanian. They then will visit a range of enterprises in
Armenia.

ArmenPress
March 9 2004
REPLACING BANKNOTES WITH COINS NOT TO DEPRECIATE THEIR VALUE
YEREVAN, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenian banknotes with a face value
of 50 and 100 drams, issued in 1993, were withdrawn from circulation
from December 31 2003, while banknotes with 1000 drams face value
ceased to be legal tender from 2004 March 1. Other banknotes with
face value of 10,25, 200 drams, as well as 50 and 100 dram banknotes,
issued in 1998 will be circulated until April 1.
An official of the Armenian central bank said today that all
listed banknotes have not lost their value and can be exchanged at
the central or commercial banks free of charge. He said there is no
deadline for their exchange.
He also said these banknotes are to be accepted by all trading
outlets before the deadline, adding that introduction of coins will
not lead to dram’s depreciation. The 5,000 dram banknotes, issued in
1995 will be withdrawn from circulation in 2004 July 1.
The official, Gevork Tumanian, the head of central bank’s emission
department, said the overall number of faked banknotes, if compared
with other CIS countries, is small in Armenia and their volume does
not pose any danger to the economy. He said the national currency is
faked either by professionals or amateurs, the first using advanced
technologies while the second print them by computers. More than
others is faked a 500 dram banknote. He said no instances of faked
coins were revealed, which he said requires special devices and is
more costly.

ArmenPress
March 9 2004
11 PERCENT OF GEORGIANS THINK ARMENIA A RELIABLE PARTNER
TBILISI, MARCH 9, ARMENPRESS: According to the findings of a
survey, conducted in Georgia by the Gallup International, 66 percent
of respondents think that the US is Georgia’s most reliable partner,
49 percent think it is Russia, however, 65 percent view Russia as a
potential threat.
Twenty-two percent trust the EU, 19 percent Germany, 11 percent
think Armenia is Georgia’s reliable partner and 5 percent look at it
as a threat. Seven percent of respondents consider Turkey as a
reliable partner while 13 percent as a threat. Fifteen percent trust
Azerbaijan and three percent view it as a threat.

Chechenpress web site, Tbilisi, in Russian
9 Mar 04
Armenia foothold for Russian air raids on Chechnya – web site
7 March: Against the backdrop of sluggish talks on the pull-out of
Russian military bases from Georgia, the Kremlin is constantly
reinforcing its military-technical presence in Armenia. This trend
has existed since the time of Gorbachev and Yeltsin and is gaining
momentum under Putin.
Nowadays, the Kremlin’s strongest military-technical grouping in the
South Caucasus is concentrated in Armenia.
The 426th air force unit and the 520th air force commandant’s office
have comfortably settled in Yerevan (Erebuni). It is the same air
force structure that regularly raids Chechnya and easily returns to
the base, remaining out of the sight of international observers. It
is time for observers to pay close attention to this, for raids on
Chechnya from a neighbouring country run counter to all international
accords.
Apart from this, the 127th motorized infantry division, the 124th and
128th motorized infantry regiments, the 992nd artillery regiment, the
116th tank battalion, a separate logistics battalion, the 628th
communications battalion and the 772nd reconnaissance battalion are
deployed in Gyumri (Leninakan).
Even a person who is ignorant of military issues realizes that this
is a powerful force capable of dictating its conditions to the whole
of the South Caucasus.
The aforesaid reconnaissance battalion, which has a wide range of
responsibilities – from collecting information all over the South
Caucasus to planning and carrying out various kinds of provocation,
including inciting interethnic strife – particularly has to be taken
into account. The leader of the Georgian People’s Front Party, Prof
Nodar Natadze, has said unequivocally in this connection that almost
all the Russian military bases are stuffed with special forces for
carrying out sabotage and terrorist attacks. Judging by the recent
events in the South Caucasus, the special forces are quite busy. The
Armenia-based 772nd reconnaissance battalion is just the visible part
of sabotage activities conducted by the military bases and
representative offices of Russian colonizers in the South Caucasus.
If on top of it we put the enormous military-technical “assistance”
under Yeltsin, it will be clear that today Armenia is the major
imperial outpost of the Kremlin in the South Caucasus. In addition,
Armenia has been and remains the foothold for the Russian colonizers’
air strikes on Chechnya.
Paradoxical as it may sound, having evicted all the ethnic Russians
from Armenia, the Armenian authorities have granted the Russian
military pilots the right to shell Chechnya and easily return to
their bases in Armenia.
In this ugly alliance of Armenia and Russia, there is one important
point: by betraying the interests of the Caucasus, the Yerevan
government betrays the interests of Armenia, for it backs the
interests of the enemies of the Caucasus – the Russian colonizers. By
reinforcing the Russian military presence at home, Armenia is risking
to become an outcast in the Caucasus.

Trend news agency, Baku, in Russian
9 Mar 04
Liberation of lands top priority for army – Azeri defence chief

BAKU
“The priority task for the Azerbaijani armed forces today is the
liberation of our lands occupied by the Armenian invaders,”
Azerbaijani Defence Minister Safar Abiyev said today during a meeting
with a delegation of a US air force college.
“There is no alternative to that. It would be good to resolve this
conflict peacefully, on the basis of international law and the
principle of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. If this does not
happen, we will liberate our lands from the enemy using our
potential,” Trend quoted Safar Abiyev as saying during the meeting.
The minister informed the US military of the structure of the
Azerbaijani armed forces, their material and technical logistics and
educational institutions.

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan, in Armenian
9 Mar 04
Armenia, Iran to develop agricultural cooperation

[Presenter over video of meeting] A delegation of Iran’s Ardabil
Province, which is paying a three-day visit to Armenia, will discuss
wide-ranging cooperation with various state and public structures of
our republic.
The delegation led by a deputy governor of Hajaf-Azari Province today
held a working meeting at the Armenian Agriculture Ministry, where
prospects for cooperation in the sphere of agriculture were
discussed. The head of the delegation presented the situation in
Ardabil’s agriculture sphere to the Armenian side. It was mentioned
that several years ago, Iran’s Mugan company implemented a programme
to irrigate 50 hectares of land in Armenia’s Armavir Region. The
sides agreed to sign a memorandum on cooperation during the Armenian
agriculture minister’s visit to Ardabil Province in April.
The Iranian delegation will hold meetings with the leaders of
Armenia’s business circles, with the Armenian co-chairman of the
Armenian-Iranian commission on economic cooperation and with the head
of the Armenian presidential administration, Artashes Tumanyan.

Space TV, Baku, in Azeri
9 Mar 04
Detained Azeri officer tells father Armenians “repeatedly insulted”
him
[Presenter in studio] [Azerbaijani officer suspected of killing
Armenian colleague at a NATO course in Budapest] Ramil Safarov’s
father has met his son. During the meeting, Ramil Safarov said he
killed his Armenian colleague because he was repeatedly insulted.
Ramil Safarov added that as an Azerbaijani whose lands are under
Armenian occupation, he could not have produced the impression of a
helpless man in the eyes of an Armenian officer.
He decided to appeal to the Azerbaijani nation in this regard.

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
9 Mar 04
Armenian bank replaces banknotes with coins

YEREVAN
The Central Bank of Armenia will withdraw 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200-dram
banknotes from circulation from 1 April, the chief of the Central
Bank’s department for emission operations and money reserves, Gevorg
Tumanyan, told a briefing in Yerevan today, according to Mediamax.
Those banknotes can be exchanged for coins at any commercial bank or
at the Central Bank, he said.
New 50, 100, 200 and 500 drams coins have been in circulation since
31 March 2003. There were no cases of forging coins in 2003, Gevorg
Tumanyan said today.

National Post (Canada)
March 8, 2004 Monday National Edition
Canada makes terrorists feel at home, book says: Cold Terror shows
how we became a haven before 9/11
by Mary Vallis
An Armenian immigrant who participated in Canada’s first major
terrorist incident 22 years ago lives in Toronto and plays guitar in
a band, according to a new book probing the country’s terrorist ties.
Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the
World explores how Canada has evolved into an internationally
renowned hub of global terrorism. Written by National Post reporter
Stewart Bell, the book contains exclusive interviews with victims of
terrorist attacks, senior intelligence officials and terrorists
themselves.
In September, 2003, at a nondescript coffee shop in Toronto’s Little
Italy, Mr. Bell met with Haig Gharakhanian, one of three Armenians
convicted of plotting to kill a Turkish diplomat in Ottawa. The man
was nervous because his band’s CD was about to be released, and he
had just met with CSIS to get clearance for his Canadian citizenship,
but spoke with Mr. Bell anyway.
“As we were speaking, the lead singer of his band comes in and sits
down,” Mr. Bell recalled. “You could just see this guy’s eyes
widening as he listens to the guy who’s been his guitar player and
roommate for years explaining his involvement in terrorism.”
Mr. Gharakhanian, who was just 17 years old when he participated in
the attack, spent nine months in prison for his role in the 1982
shooting of Kani Gungor. The diplomat was left paralyzed. Mr.
Gharakhanian, who had Iranian citizenship, helped scout out the
target and delivered a letter to the United Press International’s Los
Angeles office in which the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA) claimed responsibility for the attack.
After he was released on parole, Mr. Gharakhanian applied for refugee
status and successfully fought a deportation order. Mr. Bell uses his
case as one example that illustrates how Canada’s generous
immigration policy has fuelled the country’s links to terrorism.
“He got a very light sentence. He was not deported because the
immigration judges felt sorry for him, and now he’s about to become a
citizen,” Mr. Bell said of Mr. Gharakhanian. “That was our beginning.
We treated a guy who was basically a terrorist sympathetically, and
that set the stage for everything that’s followed… We still see
examples of that every day.”
Mr. Bell’s book, released today, chronicles how Canada became a haven
for some of the world’s most powerful terrorist organizations. It
also features newly uncovered pieces of an internal CSIS report
written in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The report shows that as Jean Chretien stood up in the House of
Commons and proclaimed Canada free of terrorists planning attacks,
CSIS had concluded al-Qaeda had operatives in Canada and could list
them by name.
Mr. Bell argues Canadian politicians do not pay enough attention to
warnings from security and intelligence officials. Politicians have
not taken a strong stand against terrorism in part because they fear
they will alienate some of their core voter support — namely
interest groups who promise to deliver ethnic voting blocks.
Illustrating his point, Mr. Bell refers to an interview he conducted
with the president of the Montreal chapter of the World Tamil
Movement, which has been identified as a front for the Tamil Tigers.
The man explained how a Liberal party candidate attended one of the
group’s events, and how he directed “all of the Sri Lankan votes” in
Montreal to the Liberals during the last federal election.
Mr. Bell explains how acknowledging this country’s ties to terrorism
defies the image many Canadians have of their homeland.
“Canadians like to think of themselves as benevolent world citizens,
peacekeepers in blue berets who bring kindness and calm to troubled
lands,” he writes.
“The cold truth is that, since the early 1980s, Canada has become a
source country of international terrorism. Former prime minister Jean
Chretien used to boast that the United Nations Human Development
Index showed Canada was the best country in the world in which to
live. In the past two decades, it also became the best country in the
world for terrorists to make their home.
“Canada has provided a haven, money, propaganda, weapons and foot
soldiers to the globe’s deadliest religious, ethnic and political
extremist movements, murderous organizations that have brought their
wars with them, turning this country into a base for international
terror.”
Mr. Bell warns Canada is vulnerable to another major attack on its
own soil. “Canada is itself a terror target and has put itself at
greater risk by being nice to terrorists,” he writes. “Terrorists who
feel comfortable enough to raise money and forge passports will not
hesitate to stage attacks here as well.”
GRAPHIC: Black & White Photo: Bruno Sclumberger, Ottawa Citizen; In
Ottawa in 1982, Turkish diplomat Kani Gungor was shot and left
paralyzed in Canada’s first major international terrorist attack. An
Armenian convicted in the ambush has won Canadian citizenship.