‘SEPARATIST WINS’ N KARABAKH POLL

Story from BBC NEWS:
/6908092.stm
Published: 2007/07/20 11:13:16 GMT

The breakaway ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has elected a
separatist former security chief as president, election officials say.

Bako Sahakyan has reportedly secured 85% of the vote in a landslide
victory.

Nagorno Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, which has dismissed the vote.

Thousands died when Azerbaijan and Armenia fought over the area in
the 1990s.

Mr Sahakyan has said he wants the poll to help Nagorno-Karabakh secure
broader approval for its claim to independence.

No country currently recognises the enclave’s claim.

Kosovo comparison

Turnout in the election was high, the territory’s election commission
said, with 77% of 91,000 registered voters having cast their ballots.

Thursday’s presidential election was the fourth held in the territory
since Azerbaijan lost control of it in 1995.

Mr Sahakyan’s main rival, Masis Mailian, got 12% of the vote, election
officials said.

Both candidates had expressed their support for the territory’s claim
to independence.

The outgoing leader of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkady Gukasyan, had said
the territory had a stronger claim to independence than the Serb
province of Kosovo.

But the UN, which is considering a plan that offers Kosovo
"supervised independence", has rejected any similar settlement for
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan says the separatist Armenian authorities came to power in
Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of ethnic cleansing and that the enclave
must not be allowed to break away.

Armenia insists the region has the right to choose its own destiny.

Years of talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia have failed to deliver
a peace deal.