Interfax, Russia
July 10 2009

OSCE recognizes decline in fatalities in Karabakh conflict zone

BAKU July 10

The number of casualties on the separation line in the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict zone has declined significantly in recent times,
personal envoy of the OSCE chairman-in- office Andrzej Kasprzyk said
at a Thursday briefing in Baku.

This means that talks are at a stage where no one wants to undermine
the emerging peace process, he said.

Meanwhile, Russian cochairman of the OSCE Minsk group Yury Merzlyakov
spoke of the importance of withdrawing snipers from the separation
line by both sides of the conflict.

"The cochairmen are interested in the full observance of the ceasefire
agreement while the biggest losses today are caused by snipers. We
believe that their withdrawal would be an important
confidence-building measure between the sides," he said.

The ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was introduced in May
1994. The OSCE regularly monitors the separation line.

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