WOUNDED MP STILL IN INTENSIVE CARE
By Hovannes Shoghikian and Astghik Bedevian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Sept 27 2007

A wealthy member of Armenia’s parliament affiliated with the governing
Republican Party (HHK) remained in intensive care in a Moscow hospital
on Thursday one day after being shot and seriously wounded at a
local casino.

Police in the Russian capital, meanwhile, launched a criminal
investigation into what they believe was an attempt on the life of
businessman Tigran Arzakantsian. A senior official at the Moscow
police department, Mikhail Ionkin, told RFE/RL that investigators
have not yet identified the assailants.

Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said its permanent
representative to Russia met with Russian law-enforcement officials
conducting the inquiry and received assurances that "all necessary
measures are being taken to clarify all circumstances of the murder
attempt and identify the guilty individuals."

Arzakantsian, who owns one of Armenia’s largest brandy companies,
was shot at the casino of Moscow’s exclusive Metropol Hotel early
Wednesday in still unclear circumstances. He was rushed to hospital
and underwent surgery that lasted for several hours.

"His condition is evaluated as grave," Viktor Kaznacheyev, chief
doctor at the Sklifosovsky medical center, told RFE/RL. "He remains
in intensive care."

According to Eduard Sharmazanov, an HHK spokesman, Arzakantsian, 41,
regained consciousness and was even able to speak on Thursday.

Both Sharmazanov and a senior HHK lawmaker, Samvel Nikoyan, said they
know few details of the shooting incident but are convinced that the
attackers tried to kill Arzakantsian. In Nikoyan’s words, they were
said to have a distinctly Caucasian appearance and may have therefore
been Armenians.

Arzakantsian, who is reputed to be a keen gambler, had already been
hospitalized after being beaten up at another Moscow casino in March
2006. Reports in the Armenian press attributed the incident to a
gambling dispute, saying that he lost as much as $800,000 on a single
night and failed to pay up. Arzakantsian denied those reports.

The Russian Regnum news agency cited unnamed law-enforcement sources
as saying said that Arzakantsian was a frequent guest at the Metropol
casino, having visited it for 33 times this year alone. His visits
to the National Assembly in Yerevan have been far more rare.