AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA ARMING FOR FIGHT

United Press International
Nov 15 2007

BRUSSELS, Nov. 15 (UPI) — A new report by the International Crisis
group calls for a halt to the recent military buildup by both
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

In the report titled "Nagorno-Karabakh: Risking War" the Crisis Group
urged the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to end what critics
are calling an arms race and instead negotiate a settlement for the
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"The international community needs to take the threat of war within
a few years seriously," Magdalena Frichova, Crisis Group Caucasus
project director, said in the report. "The risk of armed conflict is
growing, and the dangers of complacency are enormous."

The report argues that oil money has afforded Azerbaijan the means
to upgrade its armed forces and Armenia’s relatively strong economy
has resulted in its increased military expenditures.

In the 1990s the two countries engaged in war over the Nagorno-Karabakh
causing the deaths of 22,000 to 25,000 people and more than 1 million
refugees.

"The international community needs to press hard for peace," said
Sabine Freizer, Crisis Group Europe program director. "Conditionality
should be used with financial aid instruments, and active diplomacy
should focus both sides on the costs of continued stalemate and
confrontation, which far outweigh those of an early compromise."