Azerbaijani Official Accuses Opposition of Plotting Coup

CRI, China
Aug 15 2005

2005-8-16 2:36:24 CRIENGLISH.com

Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov accused the opposition
Monday of planning to stage a coup, saying any such attempt will
be foiled.

The prosecutor general warned the opposition that “the Azerbaijani
authorities are strong enough and any such unconstitutional attempts
will be thwarted by legal means.”

Tensions in the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation are running high ahead
of the November parliamentary elections.

Former president Ayaz Mutalibov and former parliamentary speaker Rasul
Guliyev, both of whom are living abroad, have announced plans to run
in the elections.

Garalov said Mutalibov and Guliyev will be arrested if they return
to Azerbaijan.

Mutalibov, who took the helm of Azerbaijan after the country gained
independence in the early 1990s, is accused of grave crimes that
include losing Azerbaijani territories to Armenia in the armed conflict
over the disputed, mostly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Guliyev, who now heads the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, faces
large-scale misappropriation charges.