The Australian
The Age, Australia
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Daily Telegraph, Australia
June 22 2004

NATO conference disrupted

>>From correspondents in Baku, Azerbaijan

A NATO conference in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan was
disrupted today when hardline nationalists tried to storm the hotel
where the meeting was taking place.

Police arrested 12 demonstrators, who were protesting against the
presence at the conference of two servicemen from the neighbouring
country of Armenia.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are officially in a state of war after
fighting in the early 1990s over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh.

About 30 demonstrators broke through a police cordon outside the
venue for the meeting, a hotel in the Azeri capital, Baku, and
smashed the glass door of the conference hall, witnesses at the scene
told AFP.

They were prevented from getting into the hall by the hotel’s
security guards and were later detained by police. The meeting was
suspended for five minutes as a result of the disturbance.

Earlier, the protesters had marched through Baku carrying placards
with the slogans: “Armenians Out!” and “The Armenian criminals have
the blood of our people on their hands.”

“We will continue this protest action all day,” said Akif Nagi, who
led the demonstration. “Our aim is to force the Armenians to leave
the conference.”

The conference is being held to prepare for a training exercise of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, called “Cooperative Best
Effort,” which is due to take place in Azerbaijan later this year.

The conference is being attended by delegates from 24 NATO member
states and partner countries, including the two Armenian officers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress