ARMENIAN FORCES KILL AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER NEAR KARABAKH: OFFICIAL

Agence France Presse — English
September 14, 2007 Friday 10:21 AM GMT

Armenian forces have killed an Azerbaijani soldier near the disputed
region of Nagorny Karabakh, the Azerbaijani defence ministry said
Friday.

Sergeant Mushvig Pashayev, 31, was killed when Armenian forces opened
fire on Azerbaijani positions on Thursday, violating a ceasefire,
defence ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev said.

Azerbaijan said last week that three Armenian and two Azerbaijani
soldiers had been killed in fighting near the region, but Armenian
separatist officials denied the claim.

Armenian forces seized control of Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan
in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives
and forced about a million people on both sides to flee their homes.

The two sides signed a ceasefire in 1994 but the two countries have
cut direct economic and transport links and failed to negotiate a
settlement on the region’s status.

Armenian and Azerbaijani forces are spread across a ceasefire line in
and around Nagorny Karabakh, often facing each other at close range,
and shootings are common.