ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
September 28, 2006 Thursday

CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF OF ARMENIAN ARMY COMMENTS ON ARREST OF RUSSIAN
OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS IN GEORGIA

Yerevan September 28

Before commenting on the Sept 27 arrest of 4 officers and 11
civilians from Russia (among them 5 Armenians) on suspicion of
espionage, one should find out what actually happened, says the chief
of the General Staff of the Armenian army, Gen. Mikayel Haroutyunyan.

Commenting on the statements by some Georgian officials that the
arrested people acted on the instruction of the Armenian authorities,
Haroutyunyan says that they should first present proofs.

In his turn, the advisor of the Russian Embassy in Armenia Igor
Gromyko says the arrest is one more anti-Russian provocation. He says
that Russian FM Sergey Lavrov has already suggested discussing this
problem at the OSCE and the UN Security Council. "I can’t comment on
the fibs of the young Georgian politicians. Perhaps, somebody is
trying to aggravate Armenian-Russian relations," says Gromyko.