GOV’T ANGERED BY SWEDISH MPS’ VISIT TO OCCUPIED LANDS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
July 6 2006

A Swedish parliamentary delegation led by the head of Swedish Leftist
Party, Ulla Hoffman, has reportedly visited the occupied territories
of Azerbaijan.

The delegation consisting of party members, who arrived in the occupied
land from Armenia, is believed to have met with "vice-speaker" of the
self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh Republic, Rudik Usnunch, on Thursday.

Usnunch thanked the Swedish government for what he described as
recognizing the "genocide of Armenians" and requested his interlocutors
to take steps to recognize the entity as an independent state.

Hoffman said the Leftist Party is taking interest in Armenia and
Upper Garabagh and will be regularly in contact with the self-styled
republic.

The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry has instructed the country’s embassy
in Great Britain to look into the Swedish MPs’ visit. If the report
is confirmed, Baku will officially express its objection to the visit,
the Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizada said.

Such visits to the separatist entity have been paid by foreign
nationals on numerous occasions in the past, drawing fire from Azeri
officials. The visitors included British, Russian, French and US
parliament members, not to mention frequent visits by representatives
of various foreign companies and even popular Russian singers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress