Azeri minister warns about "environmental disaster" in Karabakh

Azerbaijani news agency APA
17 Aug 06

Baku, 17 August: "If the fires started by the Armenians on our
occupied land are not countered, this will lead to an environmental
disaster. Azerbaijan has made specific proposals to Armenia regarding
ways to counter the fires," Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has
told journalists, according to APA news agency.

He said that the personal representative of the
OSCE chairman-in-office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, accepts this
position. "Currently, Kasprzyk is in Yerevan and is conducting talks
with Armenia on countering the fires. He will also brief Yerevan
on our proposals. Once he returns from there, we will discuss his
impressions," the minister said.

If the proposals are accepted, then joint work with international
organizations will start in the occupied territories, Mammadyarov
said. "It is still too early to say how the clearance will be carried
out. However, I can say that all relevant agencies will take part in
it," he said.

Armenia is responsible for everything that occurs in the occupied
territories. The issue of responsibility has been reflected in
international conventions, the minister said.

[Passage omitted: Mammadyarov spoke about the new Diplomatic Academy]