AZERBAIJAN TO TIGHTEN PROPAGANDA NOOSE AROUND KARABAKH

Azg/Arm
2 Nov 04

Associated Press: Bin Laden Fought at Least Two Battles for Azeris in
Karabakh War

Vartan Oskanian, minister of foreign affairs of Armenia, stated at the
59th Session of the UN General Assembly on September 29: “Azerbaijan
was the first country to practice genocide within the Soviet Union,
first in using mercenaries and terrorist in the war”.

Oskanian perhaps would not have mentioned of the terrorists but for
the Azerbaijan’s President who condemned Armenia at the General
Assembly of “trading in drugs, weapon and in sheltering terrorists in
Karabakh”.

Ziayfat Askerov, vice-chairman of the Azeri parliament, stated at the
October meeting with the members of the British House of Lords in Baku
that they should look for bin Laden in Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories.

Recently receiving around 100 members of the AGBU, President of
Karabakh Arkady Ghukasian mentioned that Azerbaijan is more actively
involved in lobbying “though it does not have diaspora” than
Armenia. But Armenia and Karabakh keep silent despite the evidence
tracking down Azerbaijan’s ties with international terrorism.

American Associated Press informed on November of 1999 that bin Laden
fought at least two battles against the Armenians in Karabakh war. In
early 90s Baku was trying to paint the Karabakh conflict into
religious colors in order to gain support from international terrorist
organizations.

Baku’s Ekho wrote on September 1 of 2001 that the arrested Al
Qaedamember Jamal Ahmed Fadl, charged with the explosion of American
embassies to Kenyaand Tanzania, claimed that Al Qaeda has been
actively operating in Azerbaijan since 1989.

The Moscow News weekly wrote on September 13 of 2000 that the former
Azeri President Heidar Aliyev hired 1000 mojahedins to fight in
Karabakh in 1993.But before Aliyev’s presidency Chechen terrorists
were fighting againstArmenians.

In an Interview of June 14, 2000, given to Baku’s ANS TV station,
Shamil Basayev said: “Frankly speaking, I personally took the
mojahedins out of Azerbaijan. We arrived there (Karabakh) not for
gains but for jihad”. Basayev also confessed that he was in Karabakh
with his mojahedins several times in 1992and was one of the last
leaving Shushi.

While Azerbaijan condemns Armenia of “producing chemical and
biological weapons on the conquered territories”, Azeri and foreign
printed media claim the opposite. France-Presse news agency
(18/03/99), British Sunday Times (18/07/99) and Baku’s Zerkalo
(22/07/2000) and Ekho (29/08/2001) informed thatAhmad Salam Mabruk,
head of the Azeri branch of Al Qaeda, was arrested while trying to
acquire chemical and biological weapons in Azerbaijan.

Baku is tightening the propaganda noose around Nagorno Karabakh by
throwing groundless accusations from different international
pulpits. Whereas Armenia and Karabakh don’t take time to remind the
international community of Azerbaijan’ s ties with terrorist
organizations.

By Tatoul Hakobian