NGO FORUM TO DISCUSS GARABAGH

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 18 2006

Baku, April 17, AssA-Irada
The National NGO Forum, an umbrella organization for over 400
non-governmental organizations, will hold a regular congress on
April 26, members of the Congress Organizing Committee told a news
conference on Monday.

The forum was set up by 95 NGOs in 1999. A member of the organizing
committee, Farasat Gurbanov, said the congress would be attended by
over 200 organizations. President of the NGO Forum Azay Guliyev and
others are expected to make presentations at the event. According
to Gurbanov, three people have already been nominated to take over
presidency from Guliyev at the congress.

The chairman of the Board of the Forum, Aydin Karimov, said the meeting
would also discuss prospects for resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh problem. He said the congress would adopt
an appeal to international organizations over the Garabagh issue.

The Forum has established a commission to deal with the conflict. The
chairman of the commission, Nasimi Garabagli, has said discussions
would also be held around Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov who has
recently been sentenced to life in prison by a Hungarian court. A
statement will be adopted demanding that the officer’s rights be
protected.