Reuters AlertNet, UK
Feb 9 2007
Another Azeri prisoner of war accused of treason
09 Feb 2007 13:58:45 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAKU, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan has accused a second soldier in
two weeks with treason following his return from Armenia where he had
been taken prisoner by Armenian forces.
Azerbaijan is officially in a state of war with neighbouring Armenia.
The two sides patrol a tense ceasefire line around the disputed
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
A military prosecutor’s office spokesman said Eldaniz Nuriyev,
captured by Armenian forces in December 2006, was suspected of having
betrayed his country while in captivity.
The spokesman said Nuriyev was arrested on arrival home. It was
unclear what he had done to betray Azerbaijan.
On Monday, Azeri prosecutors charged with treason another soldier,
Vyusal Garajayev. Both servicemen were returned under the auspices of
the Red Cross.
Armenian officials were not available for comment.
Nuriyev, like the first solider, was captured by ethnic Armenian
separatists who, with Armenian support, control most of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
More than 35,000 people died in a conflict over the mountainous
territory about half the size of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
A ceasefire was agreed in 1994.
The region is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but
nearly all of it, as well as a large swathe of Azeri territory on its
borders, has been controlled by the separatists since the war.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
