ARMENIA ARRESTS LEBANESE NATIONAL OVER PLANNED COUP

MOSNEWS, Russia
Dec 11 2006

Armenian authorities detained the head of a public organization
accusing him of plotting a coup attempt, the Reuters news reports.

Lebanon citizen Zhirair Sefilian, who heads For Protection of Liberated
Territories organization, was detained on charges of plotting to
overthrow the government of Armenia and sentenced to deportation,
said Armen Agaian, a leading member of Sefilian’s group.

Agaian has refuted the charges.

An anonymous official at the Armenian National Security Service
confirmed that Sefilian had been arrested but refused to elaborate
on the charges against him.

Sefilian is a veteran of the 1988-94 war in the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended when Armenia-backed separatists drove
out Azerbaijan’s government forces.