I can handle crowds – Armenian
By Cyrus Ombati

Standard, Kenya
March 17 2006

The man at the centre of the mercenary saga, Artur Margaryan,
yesterday remained defiant and proud while Kenyans expressed shock
at his defiance.

Margaryan said he expected hostility and was ready to handle it when
he stepped out in public on Thursday afternoon.

He, at the same time, questioned what crime he had committed to
warrant police interrogation.

“I knew some people could shout at me. I thought I could meet the
hostility when I arrived, but I don’t fear anything,” he said.

Margaryan said as a trained soldier he knows how to handle the general
public especially an agitated crowd. “You don’t shout at them. Just
laugh to the end as I did.”

A crowd charged at the foreigner as he left I&M Building on Thursday
forcing police to come to his rescue.

Speaking to journalists outside his compound in Runda estate, Nairobi,
the foreigner said he is in the country legally for investment
purposes to benefit the locals and dared MPs Fred Gumo and Reuben
Ndolo to make good their threats to evict him from his house.

“They should not come after a week. Let them come now and if they
want to fight me I will also fight,” he said.

In the meantime, he is beefing up his personal security. Margaryan
said he is not leaving the country. Instead, he is bringing in more
dogs to guard his compound against intruders.

Yesterday, there was an additional dog at the compound; a white dog
nicknamed “Amigo”, which he described as dangerous. That brings the
number of dogs in the compound to two.

He said four more dogs are on the way to bring the total number to
six and warned people to stay clear of his home.

“If anyone comes here without being invited, he will be mauled and
I don’t care who he is. This is private property,” he said.

The foreigner also denied reports that his passport and that of his
brother were fake. “My passport is legal and if it was illegal I
could be in jail. We do not have a consular or embassy of Armenia
here in Kenya so the claims are false.”

Margaryan later drove out of the compound in the company of his
girlfriend saying he was going to inspect his projects elsewhere in
the city.

On Thursday, he visited The Standard Group offices to clear his name
over the illegal police raid that was staged there.