SERBIA DELAYING ARMS SALES TO ARMENIA

AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 6, 2007 Tuesday

Armenias planned arms purchases from Serbia a deal that Azeri officials
labeled as the neighboring countrys illegitimate armament defying
international law – have been delayed since mid-January but the first
consignment of weaponry is to be delivered by Friday, reports say. The
deliveries have been put off due to the complex licensing procedures
for the exports of arms, eastbusiness.org website reported. Under
a deal signed with Yerevan last year, Serbias Zastava plant was
to supply the first consignment of ammunition worth $1.7 million to
Armenia by January 10, but the order was not fulfilled due to problems
with documentation.

But after all the arrangements were completed, Serbs pledged to
deliver the arms by February 15. After the consignment is delivered,
Serbian gun-makers and Armenia plan to continue cooperation. Reports
say they plan to ink another arms supply contract worth $900,000.

However, certain issues concerning the deal are yet to agreed,
as none of Serbias ministries in charge have endorsed the needed
papers so far. According to unofficial sources, the problem concerns
Serbias national interests, in particular, the future status of the
Kosovo and Metohia regions, as Serbs beware that selling weapons to
the conflict zone could turn out costly. The issue remains open, as
Serbian ministries of foreign affairs, defense and interior are in
no rush to authorize the second arms deal. The agreement on Serbian
arms deliveries was reached last summer, causing a wave of uproar due
to the Serbian governments position on the issue. Serbian Foreign
Minister Vuk Draskovic criticized the move, and warned that the
arms sales would violate the OSCEs embargo and a UN Security Council
resolution, which bans the sales of weapons to Azerbaijan and Armenia
due to the lingering conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh. Russia,
which has long been Serbias ally, also came out against the deal,
on apparent concerns that it was losing a share of its weaponry
sales market. Moscow stated that the weapons could be used against
Russians or Russia as a whole. But the developments took a different
turn late in December when Serbian President Boris Tadic said he
agrees to Russian arms sales to Armenia. Azerbaijani officials earlier
announced plans to raise the issue of Armenias illegitimate armament
at the spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE.