Author: Khoyetsian Rose

SINCE 7 AUGUST GEORGIAN OIL AND GAS CORPORATION HAS REDUCED GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA WITHOUT WARNING FOR 30%

arminfo
2008-08-11 15:37:00

ArmInfo. Since 7 August Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation has reduced
the volume of natural gas supply to Armenia without warning for
30%. At the same time Gazprom fully ensures the volume of natural
gas supply to South Caucasus, press-secretary of CJSC "ArmRosgazprom"
Shushan Sardaryan told ArmInfo correspondent.

Specialists of Oil and Gas Corporation of Georgia explain the situation
by the fact that at present test is being held at the gas pipeline
with 700 mm diameter of the pipe and this requires gas pressure rising
in the system.

The volumes of natural gas which were not received by Armenia are
being supplied from the underground gas storage.

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
Aug 9 2008

Zeyno Baran: "Situation in South Ossetia has reached the limit, when
Saakashvili was not able to close eyes on the occupation of a part of
his land"

09 August 2008 [12:10] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with Zeyno Baran, director of the program on Eurasian
policy of the Hudson Institute (US).

– What do you think of the events, which occurred in Tskhinvali region
of Georgia on Friday?

– The situation in South Ossetia is quite serious. It is worsened by
the intervention of Russian troops, which clashed with the Georgian
militaries directly.

– Do you think the actions of Russian servicemen in the conflict area
in Georgia are really far from the peacekeeping?

– I think, the groups, supported by Russia (I mean both South Ossetia
and Abkhazia) continue to raise tensions. Decisions in Russia are
taken not only by negotiators with US and EU on external political
problems but also servicemen and security forces. The previous and
current presidents of Russia Putin and Medvedev stated from the very
beginning of their coming to power that they will prevent Georgia’s
NATO accession by all means.

Any provocative actions have been expected primordially in these two
separatist regions of Georgia for some unknown reason, while now the
situation may get out of control, therefore, it is necessary for
Russia to disavow its previous positions and come to the negotiation
table with Georgia, NATO, EU and USA.

– Is further military clash between Georgia and Russia possible?

– Yes, unfortunately, there is now a serious threat of war.

– There is an opinion that Saakashvili could not take such a critical
step as initiative of release of the occupied lands by force, without
White House approval…

– This is a completely wrong opinion. As is known, the diversions in
the conflict area continued through the past weeks and the United
States called on Georgia not to react to these provocations and
continue search of the peaceful way out of the situation. I would like
to note that if not for the US intensive attempt to reconcile the
parties, the events, we are witnessing now, would have occurred even
earlier.

– What do you think Georgian President should do to settle the
established situation?

– The situation has previously been kept under control, but after
escalation of tensions, Saakashvili was already not able to close eyes
on the fact of occupation of a part of his lands.

There is a chance to come to mutual understanding with South Ossetian
representatives. It is necessary for the United States, EU and Russia
to come to a common denominator during discussions on the said problem
in the UN.

– Can the events in South Ossetia influence Nagorno Karabakh conflict
in some way?

– Possible threat to Georgia’s sovereignty will cause damage to the
whole region. Naturally, if the territorial integrity of Georgia is
not ensured (by the way, the United States has always supported
official Tbilisi in this issue), it will undoubtedly affect the
Karabakh problem as well.

/Day.Az/

URL:

Sunday’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 10 2008

Could South Ossetia become Kosovo?

by
SAVAÅ? GENÃ?*

One of the legacies of the Soviet Union is ethnic and border conflicts
it left as it collapsed. The eagerness of the US and Russia to expand
their spheres of influences is behind clashes between South Ossetia
and Georgia as well their pursuit of independence.

Mikheil Saakashvili, who came to power in Georgia with the promise of
preventing ethnic problems and separatist movements after the
country’s Rose Revolution, tried to form an alternative power focus
against separatist movements in South Ossetia after successfully
resolving problems in Georgia’s Ajaria region. The Tbilisi government,
led by a Saakashvili concerned with the probable prevention of his
plans by Moscow and uneasy with the latter’s influence in the region,
arrested several Russian soldiers who were serving in the Russian
peacekeeping force that was part of a multinational force stationed in
the country on the grounds that they did not possess proper visas. He
further announced that these arrested Russian troops would be deported
from South Ossetia following a parliamentary decision. The Saakashvili
administration, which sought to create a new peacekeeping force free
of any Russian contribution, announced that it wanted to station a new
peacekeeping force operating under UN command in the region. The
acceptance of this request could be viewed as the recognition of
Russian domination of Georgia. As is known, South Ossetia, which
declared unilateral independence from Georgia in 1990, was seized by
Georgian troops for the second time yesterday. Following an attack by
Georgian forces on South Ossetia after this decision in January 1991,
bloody clashes took place between the parties. Some 1,000 died in the
conflict and 100,000 people were forced to leave their homes.

The leaders, who realized that the issue will not be resolved through
conflict, decided to sign a cease-fire agreement in July 1992 and form
a joint peacekeeping force with the participation of South Ossetians,
North Ossetians, Georgians and Russians. In June 2002 the Georgian
president announced a new Conciliation Plan with Ossetia and stressed
that they would focus on economic projects for the improvement of the
region. He made several further attempts to restore Georgian influence
in the region and ensure Georgian territorial integrity.

South Ossetians declared independence from Russia two times: after a
referendum held in 1993 and another held in 2001. General elections
were held in 2006 and the South Ossetian people overwhelmingly
supported independence from Georgia with a clear majority of 99
percent of the vote. In the elections, Eduard Kokoity won the
presidency. All these elections and referendums showed that the South
Ossetians wanted independence, also sending a clear message to the
world that they did not want to remain under the control of the
Georgian administration.

Resistance against Ossetian independence

Saakashvili, who refused to recognize the election results and
organized alternate elections after which he formed a pro-Georgian
administrative unit, announced that he recognized Dmitri Sanakoev as
the leader of South Ossetia. The Tbilisi administration, which took
action to create an autonomous unit in South Ossetia under the
leadership of Sanakoev, called on the Kokoity administration to give
up their ambitions for independence and support this entity. With this
move, he showed that he would resist Ossetian aspirations for
independence and rely on resources available to him to prevent
Ossetian independence.

The Ossetian people and Kokoity, who expressed disagreement with this
entity, turned to the UN, the EU and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) for the recognition of South Ossetia after Kosovo
declared independence on Feb. 17, 2008. The South Ossetian parliament,
which asserted that Kosovo’s independence set a precedent, argued that
a decision to declare independence — to be made by ethnic groups —
should have priority over the territorial integrity of the sovereign
state. Lastly, an announcement made by US Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza, who noted
that a regional issue in Karabakh could be resolved by referendum,
raised hopes among South Ossetians for independence while causing
uneasiness and concern in the Georgian administration.

Georgia, whose membership in NATO was prevented by Russia at a NATO
summit in Bucharest in early April 2008 because of its regional issues
with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is seeking to resolve its problems by
relying on its own methods in an attempt to integrate with the
world. The Georgian administration, which is eager to maintain close
ties with the EU and become a NATO member as soon as possible, seeks
to reduce Russian influence by gradually escalating tension in the
region.

The Tbilisi administration, which sought to clamp down on independence
plans by staging a sudden attack in South Ossetia on the night of
Aug. 7, seems to have had its last chance in South Ossetia before the
realization of the possibility of resolving the Karabakh issue through
a referendum. This operation, which will affect the internal politics
of Georgia, does seem to have been resolved by military means by the
Georgian army in the presence of Russians in the region. The Council
of Europe, which demands a cease-fire and an immediate end of violence
by the Georgian army, will try to convince the Georgian government to
resolve the issue based on political methods and means.

The UN should take action to maintain lasting peace between Georgia,
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Turkey may serve as a mediator that will
attract the trust and confidence of the parties in the
conflict. Alternative plans should be developed for a lasting peace
between the parties.

* SavaÅ? Genç is an instructor at Fatih University.
10 August 2008, Sunday

BLOOD IS SPILLED ON JAGGED EDGE OF KREMLIN’S FORMER EMPIRE
Daniel McLaughlin

Irish Times
Aug 9 2008
Ireland

Russia is not only protecting its people in South Ossetia but
confronting Georgia, a former ally now aligned with the US, writes
Daniel McLaughlin

THE FORMER Soviet Union is studded with so-called frozen conflicts,
but none has flared up with the ferocity of South Ossetia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan still argue over Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova has
made little ground trying to woo its separatist region of Transdniestr,
and Georgia is intent on reasserting control over the spectacular,
sub-tropical Black Sea region of Abkhazia.

They, and the dispute over South Ossetia, are the jagged edges that
remained when the Kremlin’s empire peeled apart with relatively
little bloodshed.

In the 1990s, Russia played a game of geopolitical containment in
its backyard, as Boris Yeltsin sought to quell rebellion in Chechnya
while holding the restive Russian Federation together in the teeth
of a communist revival and regular financial turmoil.

However, enriched by record energy prices and emboldened by the
pugnacious Vladimir Putin, Russia has sought to reassert its influence
over what it calls the "near abroad", an area in which it resents
the growing influence of the United States and European Union.

Of Russia’s neighbours, Georgia has become a particular worry to
the Kremlin that Putin passed on to his protege, Dmitry Medvedev,
earlier this year.

Georgia’s US-educated president Mikheil Saakashvili has had the
Pentagon help train his armed forces to bring them closer to the
standard required by Nato, which he hopes to join as soon as possible.

His eagerness to take a chunk of the Kremlin’s former dominions into
Nato has won him major support from Washington and the EU, as has
Georgia’s importance as a transit route for gas and oil heading west
from the Caspian and bypassing Russia.

Saakashvili’s disappointment was immense, then, when Nato refused to
put Georgia formally on the path to membership at this year’s summit,
after Germany and France complained that such a move would anger
energy-rich Russia.

Georgian officials say that those countries’ fear of Moscow’s wrath
emboldened the Kremlin to step up provocations in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, and recent months have witnessed a series of shootings and
bomb blasts which Tbilisi has blamed on Russia and the separatists,
and vice versa.

In its bid to prevent Kosovo’s independence, Moscow threatened to
respond to any such declaration by recognising the sovereignty of
South Ossetia and Abkhazia – even though it is ultimately terrified
of any precedent that could embolden separatists in Russia’s Caucasian
republics, like Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.

"It boils down to Kosovo independence, Nato’s Bucharest summit and
possibly also Russian internal politics and the transfer of power,"
said Svante Cornell, co-director of the Stockholm-based Institute
for Security and Development Policy.

"Irrespective of who triggered this recent action, the general
direction of Russian policy is clear, which is: we are taking control
of these territories, and we’re not even pretending that we’re not."

But among experts on Russia and the Caucasus, there seemed to be no
consensus on why South Ossetia’s slowly thawing frozen conflict had
suddenly become a torrent.

While each side blamed the other for provoking all-out fighting,
some analysts suggested that both Tbilisi and Moscow may have seen
this as a good time to change "facts on the ground" in the Caucasus –
with Georgia hoping Russia would react slowly as Medvedev settles into
the Kremlin, and Russia banking on Washington being distracted by its
presidential election campaign, and the EU fearful of the threat to
Russian fuel supplies.

Other commentators said Saakashvili had little choice but to move
against what Georgian officials call a criminal regime funded by
Russian handouts and the profits of smuggling, and with an ever-growing
arsenal of weaponry from its sponsor to the north.

"At the end of the day, the Georgians realise that time is not on
their side and they could not let South Ossetia and Abkhazia become
even more messy and Russian influence even stronger," said Tomas
Valasek of the Centre for European Reform.

Contraband, arms – and now Russian troops and mercenaries – enter South
Ossetia via the Roki Tunnel, a 3.5km-long pass through the Caucasus
that links the province with Kremlin-controlled North Ossetia. Russian
and South Ossetian peacekeepers do their utmost to prevent their
erstwhile Georgian colleagues and monitors from the Organisation
for Security and Co-operation in Europe from observing what comes
through the tunnel and then makes its way to the separatist capital
of Tskhinvali along a road that has been freshly laid by the Russians.

For many Georgians, the true purpose of this so-called Road of Life
was revealed yesterday, as it carried Kremlin men and armour towards
Tskhinvali, and a waiting Georgian military that has been beefed up
by recent investment, new equipment and US training.

"This could be a prolonged and bloody conflict with an unpredictable
end," said military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. "It’s a hell of a
logistical nightmare to try and take and keep South Ossetia against
a rather fine Georgian military."

GEORGIAN PRESIDENT REQUESTS U.S. SUPPORT IN WAR WITH RUSSIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.08.2008 18:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stated that
Russia started war with Georgia.

"It’s in the interests of the United States to extend a helping hand
to Georgia. Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory,"
Saakashvili said in an interview with CNN.

"Georgia will withdraw its unit from Iraq to give a proper response
to Russian aggression," he said, RBC reports.

For his part, Georgia’s National Security Council head Alexander
Lomaia warned Friday that Moscow and Tbilisi will be in "a state of
war" if reports of Russian tanks, military trucks and troops entering
South Ossetia prove true.

COOPERATION AMONGST TURKISH COMMUNICATION COMPANIES AND KARABAKH SEPARATISTS SUSPENDED

Trend News Agency
Aug 7 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 August / Trend News corr. S.Ilhamgizi / The two
years contract on cooperation between the company Karabakh Telecom,
which has been operating in the Azerbaijani occupied territory in
Nagorno-Karabakh, and Turkish communication company Avea CJSC, was
cancelled. This was reported Trend News from the Turkish Embassy in
Azerbaijan on 7 August.

Recently, the Azerbaijani media has released the information that
Karabakh Telecom has signed contracts with companies from nearly 100
countries including the Turkish Avea company.

For this reason the Turkish Embassy in Azerbaijan asked Avea to clear
the issue. The company informed that the address of the Karabakh
Telecom was registered incorrectly in the contract. The mutual
international roaming service was opened on the base of the contract
signed on 13 March 2005. "However, the incorrect address of the
company Karabakh Telecom was revealed on 5 August 2008. The contract
was cancelled in the same day and the international roaming connection
was closed," is stated in the statement by the Turkish Embassy.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the control over Nagorno- Karabakh (excluding Shusha and
Khojali) to December 1991. Shusha, Khojali and seven regions had
been occupied. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire
agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently
holding peaceful negotiations.

RUSSIA THREATENS NEW DEPLOYMENTS TO OFFSET US MISSILE SHIELD
Andrzej Poczobut

Gazeta Wyborcza
,86871,5562840,Russia _Threatens_New_Deployments_to_Offset_US_Missile.ht ml
Aug 7 2008
Poland

Moscow has again threatened Poland and the Czech Republic. The
Russian ambassador in Minsk warned yesterday Russia would deploy new
missiles and bomber squadrons to Belarus and the Kaliningrad enclave
in response to the two countries’ consent to host elements of the US
missile defence system

‘If the US and Poland ultimately reach an agreement on the installation
of the missile defence system, Russia will need to consider what
steps to undertake and what decisions to make’, Alexander Surikov,
the Russian ambassador to Belarus, said in Minsk yesterday.

According to Mr Surikov, such a response could be for Russia to
deploy to Belarus and the Kaliningrad enclave its ground-ground
Iskander-M missiles with which the Russian armed forces are currently
being equipped. The Iskanders-M in the Kaliningrad enclave would be
aimed at the Polish missile defence base, and those in Belarus – at
the radar base the Czechs have already agreed to host. Russia would
also move strategic bombers to bases in Belarus and around the city
of Kaliningrad.

This time the ambassador reserved that the ‘installation of nuclear
weapons’ was not being considered as an option. This marks a progress,
since a year ago the very same Mr Surikov spoke of Russia’s plans
to deploy such weapons to Belarus in response to the missile defence
project. Later, under pressure from his superiors, he backed out on
those combative pledges.

Russian generals made similar threats as Mr Surikov last year. In
August, Col Gen Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective
Security Treaty Organisation (a military pact of the CIS, with
members including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
and Uzbekistan), said that the US missile defence project should be
responded to with a ‘new international military structure resembling
Soviet military structures’.

The prospect of close military cooperation with Russia suits
Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko, who has reacted equally
angrily to the US plans. Russia operates in Belarus a radiolocation
base called Volga in the town of Gantsevichi, and a navy remote
control centre in Vileika, Mink region.

Mr Lukashenko likes to remind the Russians, ‘You have no manpower
between Moscow and the West except the 65,000-strong, well-equipped
and well-trained Belarussian army’.

And he has benefited from that – two years ago, Russia sold Belarus
the advanced S-300 ground-to-air missile defence systems, which were
deployed with the 115th Air Defence Brigade stationed right near the
Polish border. Mt Lukashenko also hopes for Russia to sell oil and gas
to Belarus at preferential prices as a means of returning the favour.

Mr Lukashenko would gladly hand over to the Russians the former Soviet
strategic bomber base in Machulishchi near Minsk and would like to
have the Iskander-M missiles, whose range of over 400 km would cover
most of Poland’s territory.

But Russian military experts interviewed by Gazeta criticised Mr
Surikov’s ideas.

According to Ruslan Pukhov, Director of the Moscow-based Centre for
Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, Mr Surikov had succumbed to
the tendency, currently fashionable in Russia, for sabre rattling.

‘A couple of days ago we heard about our armed forces returning
to Cuba. Now the bombers and Iskanders to Belarus. We have enough
flight-worthy strategic members to send them from time to time on
ostentatious flights along Nato borders. The Iskanders are few too,
too few to have them in place where they are really needed: near
the border with Georgia and near Nagorno-Karabakh, where tension is
growing between Armenia and Azerbaijan’, said Mr Pukhov.

According to Alexander Khramchin at the Institute for Political
and Military Analysis in Moscow too deploying strategic bombers and
missiles to Belarus would be ‘utter stupidity and mismanagement’.

‘The reasons why the Americans want to build the missile defence in
Poland don’t convince me. But some Russian generals’ and politicians’
propositions are even more amazing’, said Mr Khramchin.

‘As part of standard mutual deterioration procedures, the missile
shield will be put on the list of our missile forces’ targets. This is
not any particularly hostile gesture – after all, the anti-air system
around Moscow is on the list of US targets. We don’t have mid-range
missiles, so either one of the intercontinental missiles stationed in
Russia will be retargeted on the missile shield base, or the military
will designate aircraft with cruise missiles that will be responsible
for destroying the base in case of conflict’, said Mr Khramchin.

ANTIHAIL SERVICE OF ARMENIA BEING EXTENDED AND RE-EQUIPPED

Noyan Tapan

Au g 6, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA ministry of emergency situations
has adopted the slogans "Everything for Human Security" and "There is
Nothing More Important than Human Security", the minister of emergency
situations Mher Shahgaldian stated at the August 6 press conference
on the occasion of the 100th day of his tenure.

The minister said that the main directions of the ministry’s activities
are the development and implementation of a strategy on the sector,
the acquisition of equipment and outfits, and the management and
development of human resources. Some work has already been done
in these directions. In particular, a strategy of protecting the
population from war consequences and in emergency situations was
developed, draft regulations on the rescue service were put into
circulation, and the main provisions of the program on creation of
"1-12" service are being developed. The salaries of rescuers were
raised at the expense of the ministry’s funds. The minister announced
that the 2009 state budget envisages a considerbale sum for raising
salaries of fire-fighting rescuers.

In the words of M. Shahgaldian, work is being done to extend and
re-equip the antihail service. There are currently 30 antihail stations
in Armenia, whereas about a thousand are needed.

Speaking about international cooperation, the minister said that
they cooperate actively with international structures and various
countries. For example, a preliminary agreement was reached with
Japanese Development Agency, which will allocate a grant for
updating and re-equipping the fire-fighting equipment of Yerevan
Department. Besides, it is envisaged to create fast response and
notification centers in Tavush and Lori marzes under an agreement
signed with GTZ organization (Germany).

WHAT DO THE LARGE-SCALE INVESTMENTS TESTIFY TO?
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 25, 2008
Armenia

Last week, some of our compatriots living abroad declared of their
intention to make large-scale investments in Armenia, thus making
a surprise to President Serge Sargsyan on the occasion of the 100th
day of his presidency.

What is such "boom" of statements accounted for? In response to
our questions, ARTAK DAVTYAN, member of the "Republican" faction,
presents his comments.

"Let us first of all note that this is not a charity action. The sums
promised by our compatriots will be investments in the real sector
of our economy.

When does a businessman make investments in economy? When he trusts the
economic policy conducted in the given country. If they had no trust
in the policy and the economic programs declared by the President,
if they had no trust in the reforms implemented in our country, they
wouldn’t have made statements on making investments. This first of
all testifies to the existence of trust: trust in the authorities
and the future of Armenia.

In such circumstances it is quite natural that statements of this
kind were made by our compatriots living abroad. Although most of
them are citizens of the Russian Federation, the representatives of
the business world of the United States have also made statements on
implementing serious=2 0programs in our country.

The conversation is about quite serious sums. I believe the Government,
in particular, the responsible representatives of the Ministry of
Economy, will provide relevant assistance in promoting investments
in the priority spheres of our country on the one hand and achieving
their maximum use and ensuring a certain trade balance in the form
of profit on the other. This will be an additional incentive for
increasing the sums and involving extra resources in future."

"Is it possible for the statements to remain in the air, i.e. not
to be fixed by real investment programs as was the case with Ara
Abraham who, prior to the 2003 elections, promised to invest a sum
of 50 million US Dollars in Armenia and then forgot about it?"

"I don’t think so. Moreover, I rule out the possibility that such
statements may remain ‘in the air’, as you say. And I believe that we
will soon become the eye-witness of the specific steps implemented
in that direction. After all, even though there has recently been a
decrease in the immovable property transactions on account of the pre-
and post-electoral developments, no tendency of decreasing the prices
was observed.

It means that the people – both the citizens of the republic and our
compatriots living abroad who are capable of acquiring that immovable
property, trust both the economic policy implemented in our cou ntry
and the President of the republic."

"What about the activeness of the Diaspora Armenian businessmen who
want to make investments in our country? Won’t this be the best
answer to the challenges of the ‘Millennium Challenges’ program,
something which has become a club for the United States to blackmail
us and interfere in our country’s domestic and foreign policy."

"Being involved in that program was really a serious achievement
for us, and it is certainly desirable for the funding under the
‘Millennium Challenges’ program not to be suspended. In this framework,
it is envisaged to implement very serious programs which have a final
goal to reduce poverty, create infrastructures etc. After all, the
program is aimed at making our country a prosperous state. Since the
‘Millennium Challenges’ has received the approval of the American
Government, it means that our relationship with the United states is
extending, broadening and developing, and this is also important.

But we should certainly bear in mind that the Constitution clearly
defines the Republic of Armenia as a sovereign state, and it is up to
us to determine the borderline beyond which the allocation of financial
means may pose a threat to the sovereignty of our state. That’s to say,
it is also necessary to view the issue on this level.

Naturally, it is not desirable for the Millennium Challenges’ program
to be used as a club for imposing approaches on us and extorting
concessions. I believe the goal that lied upon the basis of the
program from the outset should be devoid of pretexts to the maximum
possible extent. After all, those pretexts pursue certain political
interests which do not always correspond to the political interests
of our country. As to the sovereignty of the state, it should, as a
matter of fact, be a supreme value for us.

The sums indicated by our compatriots already exceed the funding
envisaged under the ‘Millennium Challenges’ program by around 3 times.

It’s a different matter that these are private investments and not
charitable allocations and cannot replace the social programs envisaged
within the frameworks of the ‘Millennium Challenges’ program.

But one thing is obvious. They will, after all, be targeted at the
real sector of the economy, and this in turn implies new job openings,
a higher level of social protection, reduction of unemployment and
eradication of poverty."

"Does it mean that in case of being implemented in an effective
manner, those investments will create a qualitatively new situation,
essentially changing the social-economic conditions of the country?"

"Undoubtedly they will. I am more than sure that those investments
will be brought to life. Of course, here too, we have problems such as
fight against impunity, favoritism and corruption which, as previously
declared, should bear an on-going nature. I am sure the things will
go that way.

But this should also be accompanied by changes in the system, so as any
person may feel them on his/her own back, as they say. That’s to say,
it is necessary to do everything for any minor and average official
and statesman, who ex-officio communicates with an ordinary person
and deals with the solution of the problems of thousands of people,
to realize that his mission is to render services to that person in
an appropriate manner.

In that case everything will settled very quickly.

PAK ‘WILL NOT TOLERATE US INVASION’

press tv
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:51:45

Foreign MinisterShah Mahmood Qureshi Pakistan’s foreign minister says
that his country will not allow the US troops to carry out operations
into its tribal belt near Afghanistan.

"Coming and invading FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas)
would be, I think, not a very sensible thing. It would be very
counter-productive, and the people of Pakistan would react to it very
strongly," Shah Mahmood Qureshi said at International Institute for
Strategic Studies think-tank in central London on Thursday.

"It will not solve any issue. First of all, we are a sovereign country
and… we feel that we have capable troops in Pakistan that can look
after peace and security within our territory," Qureshi added.

"By enhancing our capacity, building our capacity, our troops that
are capable can do a much better job. They understand the people,
the language, the customs and the traditions," he noted.

His comments come amid mounting fears in Pakistan that the United
States is prepared to launch military "hot pursuit" raids into the
troubled Pakistani tribal belt as attacks soar in Afghanistan.

In recent days, news reports said Washington was taking steps to make
it easier to launch covert special missions in Pakistan’s remote
tribal areas, near Afghan border, where al-Qaeda is believed to be
rebuilding its network.