YEREVAN BLAMING GEORGIA IN "INTERNET BLOCKADE"

The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 14, 2006

Rezonansi reports that for the last few days internet availability in
Armenia has been unreliable. Armenia blames Georgia in this, as the
only cable that connects Armenia to global computer networks passes
through Georgia.

The issue was discussed at the government session in Yerevan, although
any decisions are not yet publicly known. Tbilisi officials state it
is absurd to blame Georgia for an "internet blockade."

According to the paper, the private owner of the cable is a Georgian
company, Fobt-Net, has itself been seriously damaged from this. The
Armenian network operator Armentel said that first the cable was
damaged near Kutaisi on August 4, which cut off Armenia from the
internet for six hours. This was followed by further damage of
the cable running along the Black Sea seabed, which disconnected
Armenia from the internet for three days. On August 8, Armentel’s
press secretary Asmik Chutlian stated that the internet connection
was restored with the help of reserve sources and satellite feeds,
though the repair works would take more than ten days. However, the
next day the connection was again broken off somewhere in Georgian,
according to Chutilian.

The issue was taken seriously by Armenian President Robert Kocharian,
who himself took part in the discussion of the problem.

The paper writes that the manager of Fobt-Net, Viktor Nanobashvili,
suggested that a passing ship could have been one of the causes of
damage to the Black Sea portion of the cable.

"I cannot say exactly that it was a ship’s fault, but I can assure
everyone that the investigation will be carried out to reveal the
reasons of the damage," he said.

"The statements blaming Georgia have been made earlier as well,
although it is not fair to politicize the issue as if Georgian
government is to blame for what happened," Nanoboashvili stated.