Author: Kajoyan Gevork

AZERI FM TO COORDINATE ANTI-ARMENIAN EFFORTS

YEREVAN, MARCH 17. ARMINFO. Azeri Foreign Ministry has decided to
coordinate the anti-Armenian efforts, reports 525th newspaper (Baku).

It has approved a consolidated plan of action for 2005 scheduling
activities in strategic directions.

“The plan is to counteract to Armenia’s aggression against Armenia and
to liquidate its heavy consequences by setting new tasks in the
international security, military, political, economic, humanitarian
and legal sectors of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy,” says the newspaper.

The plan has already been sent to Azeri FM departments and foreign
embassies for execution.

NEW COMPOUND OF HOLOCAUST MUSEUM OPENS IN JERUSALEM

Azg/arm
17 March 05

The edifice of the Yad Vashem Museum is built in the way that the
visitor can feel the atmosphere of those days. “Our approach is too
personal. We put the person, the personality in the center and we tell
everything through his eyes, mouth and feelings, “Avner Shalom, head
of the Jerusalem Yad Vashem Museum, said.

Over 40 representatives of many countries participated in the opening
ceremony of the museum that is rich in impressive photos and
exhibits. Moshe Katsav, President of Israel, and Sylvan Shalom,
foreign minister of Israel, welcomed the guests by the entrance of the
museum. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, was among the guests, too.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 16 2005

Two more Azeri soldiers die in hospital

Baku, March 15, AssA-Irada
Two more Azerbaijani soldiers died in hospital on Tuesday, the ANS TV
reported.
Fikrat Aliyev and Asgar Ismayilov, both 18, received grave wounds in
an attempt to prevent an attack by Armenian military units close to
Mirashelli village of Aghdam District on Monday.
Three military men are reported to have been killed on the Armenian
side.*

New York Post
March 16, 2005

FEDS SMASH MISSILE PLOT

By CARL CAMPANILE, MURRAY WEISS and ANDY GELLER

March 16, 2005 — The feds charged a band of New York arms merchants
yesterday in a chilling million-dollar plot to smuggle thousands of Russian
weapons into the United States – including shoulder-fired missiles capable
of shooting down airliners.

The 17 arrests followed a two-year-long sting in which a patriotic FBI
informant who is a South African munitions expert posed as an arms buyer
with ties to al Qaeda.

“Are you interested in buying weapons?” the arms sellers asked, claiming
they had ties to the Russian mob and rogue members of the Russian military.

“Yes,” the informant replied.

“Are your friends dark-skinned?” the men asked, referring to radical
Muslims.

“Yes,” the informant replied again.

The informant asked for 10 to 20 weapons. The sellers offered to supply
2,000 for at least $2 million.

A law-enforcement official described the informant as a “pure hero” who only
wanted to do the right thing for his adoptive country.

“He risked his life every day,” the official said.

As the months passed, the men sold eight machine guns and assault weapons to
the informant.

They also schemed to smuggle Russian weapons into the country, including
rocket-propelled grenade launchers and Strela SA-7b surface-to-air
shoulder-launched missiles.

According to Jane’s, the respected defense authority, the missiles were used
in the Vietnam and Arab-Israeli wars, resulting in the downing of dozens of
aircraft.

Their simplicity “has also resulted in the widespread distribution of the
weapon to various guerrilla and terrorist groups throughout the world,”
Jane’s said.

The ringleaders, Artur Solomonyan, 26, an Armenian who lives in Brooklyn,
and Christiaan Dewet Spies, 33, a South African, were busted in a Battery
Park City hotel as they prepared to leave for Eastern Europe to carry out
the shipment of the arms, authorities said.

They face up to 30 years behind bars if convicted.

The case “has disrupted a potential overseas pipeline for dangerous military
weaponry to come into the hands of civilians or even terrorists,” said U.S.
Attorney David Kelley.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly agreed, saying, “This case posted a big
‘Keep Out’ sign for arms traffickers everywhere. They’re not welcome,
especially not in New York.”

Kelley said that during the sting, Solomonyan made some outrageous claims.

For example, in one phone conversation, he told the informant that he could
obtain “enriched uranium” and suggested that it could be “used in the subway
system” like a dirty bomb.

But the prosecutor said the claim was more “puffery” than real.

“There was no such uranium. There was never any follow-up. He never
mentioned it again. It was one passing conversation,” he said.

The probe began in early 2003 when the informant, a South African
businessman, met Solomonyan in Texas and was offered weapons.

Earlier, the man had worked for two years for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms helping to bust gun runners in Miami.

After the offer, he immediately went to the ATF office in Dallas and the
investigation was under way. When the ATF realized that national-security
issues were involved, it brought in the FBI.

The probe took investigators to Armenia, South Africa and the former Soviet
republic of Georgia.

It included wiretaps on seven phones in which more than 15,000 calls were
intercepted.

The arms merchants and FBI informant talked about weapons in code – calling
weapons “real estate” and rocket-propelled grenade launchers “fliers.”

At one point, Solomonyan is caught on a phone intercept telling a
co-conspirator in Armenia that weapons would be shipped from Georgia to
Leninaka, a city in Armenia.

He also wanted his uncle in Armenia to help with the operation, the
complaint said.

In a July 8, 2004, conversation with his brother, Solomonyan allegedly said
he would “clip” or keep one of the weapons for himself.

A criminal complaint says the arms merchants sold the informant eight
semi-automatic weapons.

Three were dropped off at a storage facility in lower Manhattan, three in
Los Angeles and two in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the complaint said.

Then, in late February, the men gave the informant digital photos of 17
military weapons they planned to bring into the United States, the complaint
says.

The pictures, which FBI technicians determined had been taken that month,
showed anti-tank missiles, a Russian missile launcher and an anti-tank
rifle.

Solomonyan and Spies were busted Monday night when they met with the
informant at the Embassy Suites hotel in Battery Park City to finalize
details before leaving for Eastern Europe.

Sources said Solomonyan wanted a green card so he could leave and enter the
United States.

He, Spies and three other men were charged with plotting to import the
weapons. The other 13, including Solomonyan’s brother, Levon, 24, who lives
in Los Angeles, were charged with selling the eight assault rifles.

Seventeen of the 18 people charged were in custody yesterday. Two were
arrested in Miami, five in Los Angeles and the rest in New York. One was
still at large.

The FBI is working with Armenian and Russian authorities to secure the
weapons and to arrest the responsible parties abroad.

Solomonyan, who speaks Russian, is in the United States on a valid student
visa, his lawyers said.

“It’s his first arrest. He plans a vigorous defense of the charges,” said
lawyer Louis Fasulo.

Solomonyan lives in Brooklyn and has a girlfriend, said his other lawyer,
Aaron Goldsmith.

The complaint said the informant met Solomonyan and Spies at a Brooklyn spa,
chatting in the sauna and then in the hot tub.

Solomonyan maintained he had contacts with ex-Chechen military members,
ex-KGB members and rogue members of the Russian military who could smuggle
him weapons.

Spies bragged that he had “connections to the Russian mafia in New York and
Los Angeles and was involved in business with these Russian mafia figures,”
the complaint said.

Investigators tapped the cellphones of Solomonyan and Spies, learning that
the service was billed to All Seasons Caterers on East 28th Street in
Brooklyn.

But the probers found no catering hall when they checked the address.

Reuters, UK
March 15 2005

U.S. Arrests 17 in Plot to Smuggle Weapons
Tue Mar 15, 2005 02:55 PM ET

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. authorities have arrested 17 people in a
FBI sting operation on charges of planning to smuggle Russian
military arms, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and
shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

The arrests came after a year-long wiretap investigation that used a
confidential FBI informant posing as an arms trafficker looking for
weapons to sell to terrorists, including al-Qaeda, the U.S.
Attorney’s office said on Tuesday.

“It appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry
through contacts they had developed in Eastern European military
circles,” prosecutor David Kelley said.

Arrests were made on Monday night and Tuesday morning in Los Angeles,
Miami and New York, court officials said. One more person is wanted
on charges was still at large, they said.

The complaint filed in Manhattan’s federal court cited alleged
Armenian ringleader Artur Solomonyan, 26, and South African
Christiaan Dewet Spies, 33, and three others for conspiring to
transport destructive devices.

Thirteen others were charged with supplying Solomonyan and Spies
machine guns and other assault weapons, which were then sold to the
informant.

“Today’s case represents the termination of illegal activity by
several arms traffickers … and has disrupted a potential overseas
pipeline for dangerous military weaponry to come into the hands of
civilians or even terrorists,” Kelley said.

“We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the
weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.”

The scheme included attempts to smuggle rocket-propelled grenade
launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, which experts
have warned attackers might use to down a plane.

Kelley said there was discussion between the informant and the
traffickers about bringing in enriched uranium, but there was no
evidence in more than 15,000 recorded conversations that they could
actually supply it.

Solomonyan and Spies each face a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Russia set to foil “velvet revolutions” in post-Soviet states – Azeri expert

Ekspress, Baku
11 Mar 05

Text of Alakbar Raufoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on
11 March entitled “CIS-US summit might be held in Moscow” and
subheaded “Independent pundit Mubariz Ahmadoglu thinks Russia is
carrying out anti-revolutionary measures in post-Soviet countries”

“The recent frequent cease-fire violations on the contact line of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces are linked with Armenia’s plan
to have international peacekeepers deployed in the region,” Mubariz
Ahmadoglu, an independent pundit and the chairman of the Centre for
Political Innovation and Technology [CPIT], told yesterday’s [10
March] monthly press conference devoted to public and political events
in the South Caucasus.

He described the recent pace of the Karabakh talks as “successful for
Azerbaijan”. “Armenians are unhappy about the current state of the
settlement of the problem. Therefore, they intend to alter the
situation on the contact line of the armed forces and distract
attention from reaching real peace,” Ahmadoglu said. He thinks that
Yerevan wants Russian peacekeepers to be deployed on the front-line.

At the same time, the political analyst thinks that more people are
now backing a quick resolution to the Karabakh problem. This is
stemming from the fact that Armenia “has lost its positions” in the
peace process. “Now the majority of people in Armenia are looking for
ways to come out of the settlement process with minimum losses.”

Commenting on the [US President George] Bush – [Russian President
Vladimir] Putin meeting [in Bratislava on 24 February], the head of
the CPIT said that contrary to expectations, the reason for Bush not
to have cornered the Russian president was that the US leader agreed
to visit Moscow on 9 May to attend the festivities to mark the 60th
anniversary of the victory over fascism.

“According to reports from official and unofficial sources, a US-CIS
meeting might take place in Moscow in May to discuss issues in detail
there,” the political expert said.

He underlined the recent “positive tendencies” in the US policy
towards the CIS. Thus, Washington already “understands its rivals in
the regions where its specific interest lies”.

In turn, Russia is aspiring to cooperation with opposition forces to
prevent “velvet revolutions” in post-Soviet areas. “Moscow has already
kicked off specific measures in this regard.” Ahmadoglu believes that
Russia is implementing “secret plans” in CIS countries through its
NGOs. “The Movement for Azerbaijan [led by the leader of the Movement
for Azerbaijan and the Solidarity and Trust election alliance, Ilqar
Qasimov] is precisely the NGO that is carrying out this mission in
Azerbaijan.

The pundit believes that Moscow intends to establish contacts with
Azerbaijani political forces through this organization, and in turn,
opposition parties understand this and are cautious.

Azeri leader rules out compromise on Karabakh

Azerbaijani TV Channel One, Baku
12 Mar 05

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said while he favours the idea
of meeting his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharyan to discuss ways
to settle the long-standing dispute over Nagornyy Karabakh, there is
nothing left to discuss.

In an interview with reporters broadcast by Azerbaijani state-run
Channel One TV on 12 March Aliyev said: “I have already met Kocharyan
several times and discussed almost all issues. The sides have made
their positions clear. There has been no change in our position. And
there can be none.”

President Aliyev also rejected the idea of mutual compromises to
resolve the conflict.

“What kind of a compromise should we make? What have we taken away
from them and what should we give them back now? So, mutual
concessions are out of the question. It is a wrong idea that [the
conflict] should be resolved through mutual compromises,” Aliyev said.

The Azerbaijani president said the only thing his government could do
was to guarantee the security of the Karabakh Armenians, as well as
the Azerbaijanis who would return there.

“We can work on this. This is something that we can
discuss. Otherwise, we have nothing to concede,” Aliyev said.

President Aliyev said a meeting with Kocharyan could be scheduled
depending on meetings between the two countries’ foreign ministers,
Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan and Vardan Oskanyan of Armenia.

“The presidents can meet if there is progress in these negotiations,
if Armenia demonstrates a constructive position and finally realizes
that the issue can be resolved only in line with the norms of
international law and if the meetings between the foreign ministers
yield any result,” Aliyev said.

INQ7.net

Agassi continues mastery over hard-serving Arthurs

Posted 03:57pm (Mla time) Mar 13, 2005
Agence France-Presse

Get INQ7 breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send
INQ7 BREAKING to 386.

INDIAN WELLS, California–Eight-time major winner Andre Agassi beat Wayne
Arthurs in a second round match at the Indian Wells WTA/ATP Masters Series
event, ending Arthurs’ run of 109 undefeated service games.
Agassi broke Arthurs’ serve four times and once again showed why he is the
best returner on the planet, rolling to a 6-4, 6-1 victory in the
4.8-million dollar hardcourt event.

“I had to walk that fine line of being aggressive but not taking too many
chances,” Agassi said. “It was a bit breezy and maybe he couldn’t serve as
close to the lines as he wanted.”

The 34-year-old Agassi and Arthurs, 33, are the oldest players in the men’s
draw and one of the most intriguing matchups.

Heading into Indian Wells, Arthurs’ blistering serve looked to be
unbreakable but Agassi is considered one of the best service returners in
the game.

Oddly, the last time they met Agassi halted Arthurs’ streak of 111 games
without dropping his serve in the fourth round at Wimbledon in
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1999. It is considered to be the longest recorded service streak on the ATP
Tour.

Arthurs won his first ATP singles title in Scottsdale two weeks ago and
helped Australia defeat Austria in Davis Cup last week.

He had nine double faults and made 20 unforced errors in the 61-minute match
in front of 10,000 at the main stadium.

Agassi won the Indian Wells title in 2001, beating Pete Sampras 7-6 (7/5),
7-5, 6-1. He was runner-up in 1995 and 1990.

Andy Roddick narrowly avoided getting upset by 45th-ranked Fernando Verdasco
of Spain winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) in Roddick’s tournament-opening match.

“He was playing better than I was, and I was just trying to hang on,”
Roddick said.

Third seeded American Roddick stumbled into the third round by beating
Verdasco in a tiebreaker after they split the first two sets.

“It was nice to get that mini-break and consolidate it,” Roddick said. “That
is the name of the game in tiebreakers is consolidating mini-breaks. It
makes a huge difference with that three-point swing.”

Roddick looked at times like he was still hung over from America’s
surprising loss to Croatia in Davis Cup action last week.

“When you come off something really disappointing, you want to come back and
get involved in something really positive right away.

“Maybe it was good to have a tough match and really have to dig to get
through it,” said Roddick, who has 16 career singles titles.

Roddick, who has never made it past the quarter-finals in Indian Wells, led
the ATP in aces fired in 2004 with 1,017 and posted the fastest serve
recorded at 155mph in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup.

He will square off in the next round against Czech Jiri Novak, who beat
Belgium’s Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4.

Englishman Tim Henman was also given a scare in his opening match, coming
from behind to beat France’s Arnaud Clement 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

The two-time Indian Wells finalist lost 6-3, 6-3 to Roger Federer in last
year’s championship match. He also reached the final in 2002.

“It was a struggle to find my rhythm and all aspects of my game,” said the
30-year-old Henman, a classy serve and volleyer.

Armenian Sargis Sargsian earned the nickname “Ironman Sarg” during the 2004
US Open after a pair of back-to-back four-hour plus matches.

But on Saturday he lasted just 48 minutes on the court, losing 6-0, 6-0 to
German Nicolas Kiefer.

It was just the second time on the tour this year a player has been unable
to win at least one game in a match.

In other men’s matches, David Nalbandian dominated fellow Argentine Juan
Monaco 6-2, 6-1, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan defeated Agustin Calleri, of
Argentina, 7-5, 6-4 and Fernando Gonzalez outslugged Brit Greg Rusedski 7-6
(7/4), 7-6 (7/5).

In the women’s draw, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova hit two aces and
hammered 15 winners to beat Angela Haynes 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round.

The 17-year-old Russian, who has already won two WTA titles this year, had
six backhand winners to Haynes’ none in the 67-minute match.

The women’s field at the 4.8-million dollar event is wide open this year
with world number one Lindsay Davenport, France’s Amelie Mauresmo, third
seed Sharapova, US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and unseeded Belgian Kim
Clijsters all a threat for the title.

Top seed Davenport won easily over Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatancheva 6-3,
6-2.

The turning point of the Sharapova match came when the Russian broke Haynes
in the sixth game of the second set to go up 4-2.

“The first match is never easy. You don’t know what to expect,” Sharapova
said.

“I don’t play against too many girls ranked ahead of me because I am number
three in the world, so they have nothing to lose.”

In other women’s matches, France’s Nathalie Dechy weathered a second set
stumble to beat countrywoman Emilie Loit 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and No 6 seed Nadia
Petrova, of Russia, routed Antonella Serra Zanetti, of Italy, 6-0, 6-1.

Also advancing to the third round were No 13 seed Daniela Hantuchova, No 19
seed Fabiola Zuluaga and No 25 Dinara Safina.

Turkish poll shows support for US president at below 1 per cent

TRT 1 television, Ankara
11 Mar 05

The view that anti-Americanism is spreading in Turkey has been on the
agenda lately. Even if the voices coming from the US side say the
opposite, a survey conducted by the International Strategic Research
Organization reveals that a majority of the Turkish people define the
United States as an ally. The survey also shows that the Turkish
people’s views on the United States are directly related to the
policies of the US administration.

The survey was conducted on 1,250 persons in four large cities of
Turkey from 10 February to 1 March. The questions were on Turkish-US
relations. Accordingly, 74 per cent of those polled said Turkey and
the United States were allies, and only 6 per cent considered the
United States an enemy. Some 74 per cent listed the existence of the
terrorist PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] in northern Iraq as the
primary problem between Turkey and the United States. Nine per cent
said the US policy regarding the Kurds was the primary problem, and 3
per cent said the Armenian question was the main problem.

Fifty-eight per cent of those polled said they were not enemies of
the United States, while 16 per cent said they were. Some 12 per cent
said they were partial enemies of the United States, which raises to
28 per cent the ratio of those who felt hostility towards the United
States. Fourteen per cent replied that they did not know.

What lies beneath this growing anti-Americanism? A large majority of
the Turkish people do not approve of the policies of George Bush.
Less than one per cent support Bush. On the other hand, 49 per cent
said that they used to support Clinton’s policies when he was
president. This shows that the Turkish people’s views on the United
States are directly related to the US administrations’ policies.

Russian lawmaker urges retaliation against Georgia in base dispute

Associated Press Worldstream
March 11, 2005 Friday 6:19 AM Eastern Time

MOSCOW,

A Russian lawmaker on Friday called for retaliation against Georgia
if the former Soviet republic tries to force the closure of the two
remaining Russian military bases in the Caucasus Mountains country.

Georgian lawmakers voted Thursday to call on their government to set
an ultimatum to agree on a timetable for the bases’ closure by May 15.

The non-binding motion said that if Moscow does not comply, the Batumi
and Akhalkalaki bases should be forced out by Georgia refusing to
issue visas to Russian military personnel and limiting the movement
of troops, vehicles and equipment in the country.

Russian lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin told the Russian daily Nezavisimaya
Gazeta that Moscow should raise its prices for gas and oil deliveries
to Georgia in retaliation.

“If our military are refused visas or are the target of provocation,
then I don’t see any reason to continue to supply Georgia with energy
at prices far below world levels,” Zatulin said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Georgia’s parliament of sabotaging
negotiations over the bases’ future.

The parliamentary resolution raised the stakes in a long-simmering
dispute between the two countries, which according to Russia’s
Kommersant daily is connected to Russian fears that its military
presence in neighboring Armenia could be at risk if it pulls out
of Georgia.

Armenia, Moscow’s closest ally in the Caucasus, does not border on
Russia, which needs to transit Georgian territory to move its troops
and equipment to its Armenian military base.

“The problem of the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Georgia
is not just a bitter spat about the timetable for the pullout and
compensation. This dispute has much more serious ramifications. It
is about Russia hanging onto or losing its presence and influence in
the Transcaucasus,” Kommersant said in an opinion column.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said the
Georgian lawmakers were only making the negotiating process more
difficult.

“When active contacts are underway and when both the Russian and
Georgian sides are preparing concrete proposals, we believe that
discussing this question and legislative bodies raising this issue
is counterproductive and will hinder the talks,” he told reporters.