Author: Karabekian Emil

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| 19:58:46 | 11-04-2005 | Official |

FRIENDS SINCE 1995

On April 11 in the RA Foreign Ministry the exchange of congratulating
messages between the RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and Bulgarian
Foreign Minister Solomon Pasy took place in connection with the 10th
anniversary of the Friendship and cooperation treaty signed on April 10,
1995.

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, mentioning the importance of the treaty
which became ground for signing more than 40 legislative documents in
different fields of mutual cooperation between Armenia and Bulgaria,
expressed his conviction that the Armenian-Bulgarian cooperation will
continue to develop and include new fields of cooperation which is more
important from the political point of view of the European neighborhood.

Three Azeri soldiers reportedly wounded in Armenian attacks

Space TV, Baku
9 Apr 05

The positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Agdam District came
under fire from the positions of the Armenian armed forces stationed
near Agdam’s occupied villages of Qarvand and Sixlar on 9 April.

Three soldiers of the Azerbaijani army are reported to have been
wounded as a result of the cease-fire violations, Azerbaijan’s Space
TV reported.

The cease-fire violations happened at 0400-0700 gmt, 0900 gmt and
1110 gmt, the TV channel said.

Dignitaries Set to Attend Pope’s Funeral

Associated Press
Friday, April 8, 2005

Dignitaries planning to attend Pope John Paul II’s funeral Friday:

ALBANIA: President Alfred Moisiu, Prime Minister Fatos Nano

ALGERIA: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika

ANGOLA: President Jose Eduardo dos Santos

ARAB LEAGUE: Secretary-General Amr Moussa

ARGENTINA: Vice President Daniel Scioli, Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa

ARMENIA: Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, Catholicos Karekin II

AUSTRALIA: Governor General Michael Jeffery

AUSTRIA: President Heinz Fischer, Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel,
Parliament Speaker Andreas Khol

AZERBAIJAN: Prime Minister Artur Rasizade

BANGLADESH: Food and Disaster Management Minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf

BELGIUM: King Albert II and Queen Paola, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt

BOLIVIA: President Carlos Mesa

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: Chaiman of Presidency Borislav Paravac

BRAZIL: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

BRITAIN: Prince Charles, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Archbishop of
Canterbury Rowan Williams

BULGARIA: President Georgi Parvanov

CANADA: Prime Minister Paul Martin

CHILE: Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker

COLOMBIA: Vice President Francisco Santos and his wife, Maria Victoria.

CONGO: President Joseph Kabila

COSTA RICA: President Abel Pacheco

COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Secretary General Terry Davis, Daniel Rotfeld,
chairman of committee of ministers, Rene van der Linden, chairman of
Parliamentary Assembly, Giovanni di Stasi, chairman council’s body
overseeing local authorities

CROATIA: President Stipe Mesic, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

CUBA: National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, Caridad Diego, head
of religious affairs for Communist Party

CZECH REPUBLIC: President Vaclav Klaus, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda

DENMARK: Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik, Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: First lady Margarita Cedeno, Secretary of Education
Alejandrina German

ECUADOR: President Lucio Gutierrez

EL SALVADOR: Foreign Minister Francisco Lainez, first lady Ana Ligia
Mixco de Saca, Interior Minister Rene Figueroa

EGYPT: Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni

ESTONIA: President Arnold Ruutel, former President Lennart Meri

ETHIOPIA: Abune Paulos, head of the Orthodox church

EUROPEAN UNION: European Parliament President Josep Borrell, European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his wife, Commission Vice
President Franco Frattini, External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Huebner

FINLAND: Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Evangelical Lutheran Archbishop
Jukka Paarma, Russian Orthodox Archbishop Leo

FRANCE: President Jacques Chirac and his wife, Bernadette

GREECE: President Karolos Papoulias, Greek Orthodox Church leader
Archbishop Christodoulos

GERMANY: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President Horst Koehler

GUATEMALA: President Oscar Berger and first lady Wendy de Berger,
Foreign Minister Jorge Briz, Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu

HAITI: Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue

HONDURAS: President Ricardo Maduro

HUNGARY: President Ferenc Madl and his wife, Dalma, Prime Minister
Ferenc Gyurcsany, Parliamentary Speaker Katalin Szili, former Prime
Minister Viktor Orban

INDIA: Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

INDONESIA: Religious Minister Alwi Shihab

IRAN: President Mohammad Khatami

IRELAND: President Mary McAleese, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, Deputy
Prime Minister Mary Harney

ISRAEL: Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Haifa Chief Rabbi Shear-Yishuv Cohen

ITALY: President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

JAPAN: Former Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi

JORDAN: King Abdullah II

KENYA: Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Makwere

KUWAIT: Sheik Jaber Al Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah

LATVIA: President Vaira Vike-Freiberga

LEBANON: President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Omar Karami, Maronite
Christian patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, Armenian Orthodox leader
Catholicos Aram II.

LESOTHO: King Letsie III, Foreign Minister Monyane Moleleki

LIECHTENSTEIN: Prince Hans-Adam II, Princess Marie and Prince Nicholas

LITHUANIA: President Valdas Adamkus

LUXEMBOURG: Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, Prime
Minister Jean-Claude Juncker

MACEDONIA: President Branko Crvenkovski

MEXICO: President Vicente Fox

MONACO: Patrick Leclercq, chief of government

MYANMAR: Ambassador Khin Maung Aye, Archbishop Charles Bo

NATO: Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

NETHERLANDS: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende

NEW ZEALAND: Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright

NICARAGUA: President Enrique Bolanos, Foreign Minister Norman Caldera

NIGERIA: President Olusegun Obasanjo

NORWAY: Queen Sonja, Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik

PAKISTAN: Minister for Religious Affairs Mohammed Ijaz-ul Haq

PANAMA: President Martin Torrijos and his wife, Vivian

PARAGUAY: Foreign Minister Leila Rachid

PHILIPPINES: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

POLAND: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and his wife, Prime Minister
Marek Belka, Foreign Minister Daniel Rotfeld, former President Lech Walesa

PORTUGAL: President Jorge Sampaio and first lady Maria Jose Ritta,
Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral, former President Gen. Antonio
Ramalho Eanes

ROMANIA: President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Calin Popescu
Tariceanu, Metropolitan Daniel of Romanian Orthodox Church

RUSSIA: Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Russian Orthox Church foreign
minister Metropolitan Kirill

RWANDA: Foreign Minister Charles Murigande

SENEGAL: President Abdoulaye Wade

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO: Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic,
Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, Serbian President Boris Tadic,
Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova,
Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Kosov parliament head Nexhat Daci

SLOVAKIA: President Ivan Gasparovic, Parliament Chairman Pavol
Hrusovsky, Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan

SOUTH AFRICA: Deputy President Jacob Zuma, former President Nelson Mandela

SOUTH KOREA: Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan

SPAIN: King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero

SRI LANKA: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse

SWEDEN: King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Prime Minister Goeran Persson

SWITZERLAND: President Samuel Schmid

SYRIA: President Bashar Assad

TANZANIA: Minister for Cooperative Development George Kahama

TAIWAN: President Chen Shui-bian, Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun, imam Ma
Shiao-chi

THAILAND: Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai

TURKEY: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, State Minister Mehmet
Aydin, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Mesrob II

UKRAINE: President Viktor Yushchenko

UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Kofi Annan

UNITED STATES: President Bush and his wife, Laura, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton,
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

URUGUAY: First Lady Maria Auxiliadora Delgado de Vazquez

VENEZUELA: Foreign Relations Minister Ali Rodriguez, Planning Minister
Jorge Giordanni

ZIMBABWE: President Robert Mugabe

DELAYED-ACTION MINE MAY BE LAID IN SEVAN, ECOLOGISTS STATE

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, NOYAN TAPAN. A delayed-action mine – this is how
the environmental community has defined the project of transferring
Ararat gold-mining enterprise to the area of Sevan basin. The Canadian
company Sterlight Gold LTD intends to implement the project through
its Armenian subsidiary. The company held on April 5 public hearings
on the issue. According to chairman of the Union of Greens of Armenia
Hakob Sanasarian, the hearings “should have been stopped at the very
beginning” since the project contradicts most of the environmemtal
laws, first of all, the Law on Lake Sevan. For example, it is laid
out in the law that ore processing activities are forbidden in the
catchment basin of Lake Sevan, whereas the the factory carries out
gold ore processing and dressing activities with the use of such
environmentally dangerous substances as cyanides. The tranfer of
the factory is conditioned by the bad state of the railway from
the mine in Sotk to the Ararat factory, as a result of which ore
transportation is quite costly. The company claims that in case of
such a transfer and the consequent profits it will operate the mine
for about 10 years, creating jobs and promoting the development of the
local community. The company’s assuarances that it will take all the
necessary measures for environmemtal protection did not meet with the
ecologists’ understanding. For exapmle, it is claimed the project of
tailing pits excludes any flows into the lake. Yet it is well known
that over 70% of man-caused accidents in the world are connected to
tailing pits. The explanations provided by the experts maintaining
that the global experience of such enterprises should be adopted were
not accepted by the ecologists who believe that the best experience
lies in observing the law, because the whole Sevan basin may become
a death zone even in case of a single accident.

FIRE EXCHANGE AT CONTACT LINE INITIATED BY AZERIS MOSTLY

06.04.2005 07:54

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As PanARMENIAN.Net reporter came to know from
the department of information and propaganda of the Nagorno Karabakh
Defense Ministry, this night units of the Azeri armed forces fired upon
the positions of the Karabakh defense army. According to the source,
such fire exchange is not an extraordinary phenomenon and similar
incidents take place almost every day. As representatives of the NKR
Defense Ministry noted, the firings are usually conducted by snipers
and cannot be considered as the violation of the cease-fire regime

DELEGATIONS OF NOR ZHAMANAKNER AND ORINATS YERKIR PARTIES DISCUSS
HOME AND FOREIGN POLITICAL ISSUES

YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Home and foreign political issues
were discussed at the April 5 meeting of the delegations of Nor
Zhamanakner (New Times) and Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) parties.
The meeting was held at the central office of Nor Zhamanakner party.
According to the Press Service of the party, the consultation lasted
more than an hour.

Armenia sacks Bernard Casoni as national team coach

AP Worldstream
Apr 05, 2005

National soccer coach Bernard Casoni has been fired, the Armenian
Soccer Federation said Tuesday.

The decision was sealed by Armenia’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss
to the Netherlands last week, said a team spokesman.

Armenia will select a new coach in the next 10 days.

Armenia is equal last in Group One with Andorra with four points.

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN TO UNDERTAKE SOON SIGNING OF SOCIAL CONCORD
AGREEMENT AIMED AT FREE, FAIR AND TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS TO LOCAL
SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 1, the newspaper “New Time”
published an article entitled “Choice of Future or in the Name of
Social Concord” by the RA NA Speaker Artur Baghdasarian. Underlining
the importance of the upcoming elections to the local self-government
bodies in terms of establisment of a democratic Armenia, the NA
Speaker expressed a wish to undertake “an initiative to sign a unique
agreement of social concord aimed at holding free, fair and
transparent elections, which may become an opportunity of social
agreement in order to hold the upcoming elections under conditions of
truly fair competition.” He is confident that his initiative will come
under criticism and be objected and denied by those for whom
“Armenia’s real democratization process and political tolerance are of
no value.” At the same time he is sure that the political and social
organizations, as well as the mass media and citizens who realize the
necessity of social concord will prevail. Noting that “international,
speaking mildly, unfavorable assessments” have been made about all the
elections held in Armenia since 1995, A. Baghdasarian expressed
conviction that “although with some delay, but the time has come to
finalize an important line.” In A. Baghdasarian’s opinion, the
creation of a new system of values that presupposes free elections
requires the manifestation of idealism and courage – “idealism because
the fair election is like a political bluff for many, and courage
because it is necessary for making a breakthrough into tomorrow.”
Otherwise, according to A. Baghdasarian, the domestic political hatred
will continue strengthening its positions in Armenia, “the process of
corrupting and discrediting everyone and everything” will further
develop, while the hope in the country’s future and progress will
faint away with all the inevitable consequences.

ANDRANIK MARGARIAN: REFORMS IN NKR SHOULD BE CONSISTENT WITH THOSE
IMPLEMENTED IN ARMENIA

YEREVAN, APRIL 1, NOYAN TAPAN. At the march 30 sitting of the standing
intergovernmental commission on cooperation between the governments of
the RA and the NKR, the draft program on long-term cooperation between
the two governments was discussed. According to the RA Government
Information and PR Department, the draft had been developed by the
commission’s working group, after which it was submitted to the
respective ministries and departments of the both sides for developing
subprograms for various fields based on the main provisions of the
program. The RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian noted that under the
supervision of the the commission’s two co-chairmen – the RA Minister
of Territorial Administration and Coordination of Infrastructure
Activities and the NKR Prime Minister, consderable work on drafting a
joint action plan was done last year with the aim of coordinating
reforms being implemented in various spheres in the RA and the
NKR. The PM pointed out that no extra resources were allocated from
the RA state budget for the program – all the programs will be funded
from the NKR state budget. A. Margarian stated that the reforms in the
NKR should be consistent with those implemented in Armenia. He
underlined the necessity for developing medium and long-term
expenditure programs for the NKR as well, which will allow to form the
budget of a given year an accordance with the target programs and to
specify to some extent the expenditures and priorities for the next
few years. The NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielian also pointed out
that thanks to voluminous work done by the commission, the ministries
and departments are now prepared to carry out the program activities.

The program envisages such activities as providing assistance to work
out the long-term program on civil service introduction and
development within the framework of NKR state system reforms program,
the agriculture development strategy and activities aimed at its
implementation, the natural resources management and poverty reduction
program, to develop the information technologies industry and attract
foreign investments to the sphere, to introduce a new system of
knowledge evaluation in the general education, to improve the health
care services and implement anti-epidemic programs in the NKR, as well
as to create a community system of social service provision. The
cooperation will also include the development of programs on
protection and restoration of historical and cultural monuments, or
mutual visits of teams and companies, the organization of joint
symposiums, consultations, etc.

Poland, Azerbaijan sign 3 documents

Baku, March 30, AssA-Irada

Poland recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and considers Upper
Garabagh as the integral part of this country, Polish President Alexander
Kwasniewski stated in a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev
on Wednesday.
President Aliyev, who arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday, held private and open
meetings with Kwasniewski on the same day. Economic cooperation, Azerbaijan’s
integration into Euro-Atlantic organizations and participation in anti-terror
operations were discussed.
In conclusion of the meetings, the two countries signed three agreements on
military, customs and economic collaboration.
Following signing of the agreement on military cooperation,
President Aliyev told a joint news conference following the signing ceremony
that he discussed with Kwasniewski the Upper Garabagh conflict, along with
other issues.
The Polish President said he backs a peaceful settlement of the conflict.`
The meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, as well as the two countries
‘ foreign ministers, show that it is possible to solve the conflictin peace,’
he said.
Touching upon Azerbaijan’s participation in the anti-terror coalition,
Kwasniewski said that Azerbaijani peacekeepers, alongside Polish soldiers, are
serving in various regions world over.*