Interfax News Agency, Russia
March 14 2008

U.S. will review aid to Armenia, if democracy is not restored

BAKU

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza has said he
believes that the recent rioting in Armenia was the saddest
post-election event in the former Soviet Union.

In an interview with Azerbaijan’s Lider TV channel aired on Friday,
Bryza said Washington regrets that the tension of the elections in
Armenia developed into unseemly violence and called it a tragedy.

Representatives of all political forces should start restoring the
democratic stage at a round table, he said.

Washington is opposed to violence, Bryza said. If democratic
processes are not revived, the aid assigned to Armenia in the
framework of the Millennium Challenge program will be reviewed, he
said. A letter of warning has been sent to Armenia.

The radical opposition led by former presidential candidate Ter-
Petrosian held rallies and processions in central Yerevan starting on
February 20, in disagreement with the outcome of the February 19
elections won by Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.

On March 1, the protest actions degenerated into rioting and clashes
between protesters and law enforcement officers, leading to eight
people dead and about 180 injured. Armenian President Robert
Kocharian introduced a state of emergency in Yerevan for a period of
20 days.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress