US PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT TO SPEEDY GARABAGH SOLUTION

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 21 2006

The United States is ready to render all kinds of assistance to reach a
speedy settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict the country
faces with Armenia, a State Department official visiting Baku has said.

"Our principles on the Garabagh conflict are as follows: full support
to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the activity of the
[mediating] OSCE Minsk Group," the US Assistant Secretary of State
for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Barry Lowenkron said.

Addressing students and faculty members at the University of Languages
on Tuesday, he said: "The USA will provide any support, possibly even
exert influence, for the Minsk Group co-chairs to find a mutually
acceptable solution."

Lowenkron said that another important aspect of the problem is the
protection of human rights, in particular, those of Azerbaijanis
displaced as a result of the armed conflict. Azerbaijan continues to
suffer from the lingering dispute, which certainly worries Washington,
he added.

The United States co-chairs the Minsk Group, along with Russia
and France.

Upper Garabagh, which is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, was occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, along with
seven other Azerbaijani districts, after large-scale hostilities that
killed up to 30,000 people and forced a million Azeris out of their
homes. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have
been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.