FOUR ARMENIANS FROM YEZID MINORITY SET FIRE TO THEMSELVES

Agence France Presse — English
December 7, 2006 Thursday 3:18 PM GMT

Three teenage boys and their grandmother set fire to themselves
Thursday outside the president’s residence during a protest by members
of Armenia’s Yezid minority, the head of the community, Aziz Tamoyan,
told AFP.

The four, who were rushed to hospital in a critical condition, were
protesting along with other residents from their village over the
murder of the teenagers’ father on November 6.

Villagers have accused the police and judicial authorities of bias
after releasing the head of a neighbouring village, who they claim
was one of seven men who beat to death the 42-year-old man from
their village.

Some 42,000 Yezid people live in Armenia, or around one percent of
the population.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress