Azeri interior minister says radicals plan to use force during polls

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
27 Jul 05

[Presenter Namiq Aliyev] Interior Minister Ramil Usubov has said that
with the aim of carrying out an armed provocation, the radical
opposition is already trying to form a false opinion that the
[November 2005 parliamentary] election will not be held
democratically. In this connection, the law-enforcement bodies are
taking measures against those who intend to smuggle weapons into
Azerbaijan,.

[Correspondent] The radical opposition wishes to disrupt the stability
in Azerbaijan in the run-up to the election and there are operative
reports that the opposition is drawing up a special plan, Interior
Minister Ramil Usubov said. He added that the radical opposition is
already trying to form a public opinion that the election will not be
held democratically.

[Usubov interviewed by journalists, captioned] According to reports we
received – although these reports are not precise, they are
operational reports – some radical opposition bodies are planning to
use violence against the state and the state bodies during or after
the election, and to claim that human rights violations. We have such
reports and we are working on them.

[Correspondent] However, the minister said that the radical opposition
will not be allowed to acquire weapons illegally. He said the State
Border Service, National Security Ministry and Ministry of Internal
Affairs are continuing efforts to prevent the smuggling of weapons
into Azerbaijan.

[Passage omitted: Usubov comments on the exodus of Azeris from Armenia
in the late 1980s saying they did not have a good leader then]