US MEDIATOR TO VISIT AZERBAIJAN

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 18 2006

The US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Garabagh) conflict is due to arrive
in Baku from the Armenian capital this weekend, according to the
spokeswoman for the US embassy in Armenia, Elizabeth Santos.

Steven Mann’s visit was earlier scheduled for Tuesday and the reasons
for the postponement are not disclosed.

Santos said that prior to the visit, Mann is expected to meet with
the Russian mediator Yuri Merzlyakov. He will leave for Yerevan on
Thursday and further visit Azerbaijan.

While in Armenia, Mann is scheduled to meet with President Robert
Kocharian and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian. He may hold a news
briefing in conclusion of the discussions, the diplomat said.

Armenia earlier claimed that the US mediator’s visit to the region
would be confined to his meetings in Azerbaijan.

This will be the second visit by Mann to the region since the fruitless
round of talks between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian
in Rambouillet, France in February. He paid his last visit to Baku
jointly with the US Department of State Assistant Secretary for
European and Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried, on March 13.