V.Ayvazyan Considers The Attacks On Him And Nature Protection Minist

V.AYVAZYAN CONSIDERS THE ATTACKS ON HIM AND NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY TO BE CONDITIONED BY PRE-ELECTORAL SITUATION

Arminfo
2007-04-17 23:00:00

The Armenian Minister of Nature Protection intends to wait out the
forthcoming election and abstain from any comments on the lawsuit with
the Global Gold Corporation (GGC). To remind, in early April, 2007,
this American company engaged in gold mining in Armenia appealed to
the World Bank’s International Center for the Settlement of Investment
Disputes, accusing the Armenian Government of hindering its investment
activity.

Answering ArmInfo correspondent’s question, the minister noted
that he is not going "to deny the rumors about him spread by the
local mass media". He added that he will respond to these rumors and
accusations in the international court. "Some politicized mass media
and the politicians they are controlled by are guided by the logic
of the pre-electoral excitement and really come out with statements
concerning the sphere of use of mineral resources. However, the
matter of these statements doesn’t comply with reality, and their
authors intend to provide themselves with the necessary electorate,"
the minister noted. He added that he is getting ready to uphold
the right to the legitimacy of decisions of state importance in the
International Center for the Settlement of Investment Dispute.

To remind, the Nature Protection Ministry charges GGC with failing to
make investments and to meet the schedule at the Marjan deposit, while
GGC charges the Ministry with refusing to accept its investments and
creating obstacles for its investment activities. Aivazyan threatens
that it will deprive the company of its license, while the company
say that one high-ranking official has asked a $3mln bribe for the
license. According to some mass media, it was Aivazyan. Recently
mass media reported that the Ministry wants to give GGC’s license to
another company.

During the suit GGC’s lawyer Fleuriet Ken Spalding said that they
are going to prove in the arbitration court that the Ministry
began persecuting them after they had refused to pay Aivazyan a
bribe. Aivazyan refutes the charge pointblank.

Hotels will be built in Shushi

Hotels will be built in Shushi

14-04-2007 13:42:54 – KarabakhOpen

In 2008 the construction of the museum of Shushi will start, said the
minister of territorial administration Armo Tsatryan in an interview
with the KarabakhOpen.

The Dhyiak Association of Karabakh Armenians in Moscow will build the
museum. The company is likely to invest 90 million drams and create
8-10 jobs. Dhyak will invest as much in the construction of a hotel
near Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi. Tufenkian Hospitality will
build another hotel in Shushi, and will invest about 450 thousand
dollars in 2007-2010.

Armo Tsatryan says privatization in Shushi is not over. Presently two
bids are under consideration, which are also related to the hotel
business. In answer to the question what efforts the government made
after the prime minister had committed to creating a free economic
zone in Shushi several years ago, Armo Tsatryan said the concept has
been drafted but it has not been discussed yet. `We discussed it with
the board of trustees of the Revival of Shushi Foundation, however the
draft has not been discussed yet,’ said the minister adding that the
money raised during the next telethon will be directed at the
reconstruction of Shushi.

Azerbaijan Won’t Ever Grant Independence To Karabakh – Aliyev

AZERBAIJAN WON’T EVER GRANT INDEPENDENCE TO KARABAKH – ALIYEV

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
April 13 2007

BAKU, April 13 (Itar-Tass) — Azerbaijan will never grant independence
to Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev told the national government
on Friday.

"Karabakh will never join Armenia either," he added.

The Armenian people already have their state – Armenia, Aliyev said.

"If anyone in Karabakh wants self-determination, they can move to
Armenia," he said.

Aliyev disagreed with claims of the alleged plans to keep off Armenia
from regional projects. Armenia has isolated itself with claims to
neighbors and became "an economic and transport dead-end," he said.

"If the Armenian administration offers a constructive attitude,
the Karabakh problem can be resolved," Aliyev said.

He reaffirmed his "clear and invariable position: the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored; the occupied lands must be
freed unconditionally; and refugees must return home."

U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky Joins The Armenian Caucus

U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY JOINS THE ARMENIAN CAUCUS

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 12 2007

Caucus continues to grow rapidly, Schakowsky joins over 140 of her
fellow colleagues, who are a part of this bipartisan committee.

Congresswoman Schakowsky’s district contains the greatest number of
Armenians living in Illinois. Recently, the members of the ANC of
Illinois met with Congresswoman Schakowsky to discuss several issues
of importance of the Armenian American community, including H. Res.

106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution. Ari Killian, Chairman of the ANC
of Illinois stated, "We welcome the Congresswoman’s decision to sign on
to the Armenian Caucus. With the growing number of Armenians living in
her district, we look forward to continuing to build our relationship."

"I am honored to join the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues. Over the last twelve years, the Armenian Caucus has been
instrumental in raising political awareness in this country about the
issues that affect the Armenian people," said U.S. Representative
Jan Schakowsky. "As a new member of the Caucus, I look forward to
working with my colleagues to address the issues and concerns of the
Armenian-American community in my district."

Congresswoman Schakowsky began her political career in the Illinois
Assembly and is currently serving her fifth term in the United States
Congress. She has served as a voice for those who have been affected
by domestic violence. She is the Democratic Chief Deputy Whip and
serves on many committees including Energy and Commerce and was one
of the founding members of the Out-of-Iraq Caucus.

To note, founded in 1995, the Congressional Caucus on Armenian
Issues is a bipartisan forum for the discussion of policies to
foster increased cooperation between the United States and Armenian
governments and to strengthen the enduring bonds between the American
and Armenian peoples. It was founded by Congressmen Frank Pallone
(D-NJ) and John Porter (R-IL) and is currently co-chaired by Rep.

Pallone and Michigan Republican Joe Knollenberg. The bipartisan group
has over 145 members of Congress, including 11 out of the 19 Illinois
representatives.

The Armenian National Committee of Illinois is a part of the
largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns
of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

How UN Members Failed The Rwandan People

HOW UN MEMBERS FAILED THE RWANDAN PEOPLE
By David Kilgour

Embassy Magazine, Canada
April 11 2007

It is fitting that so many of us are commemorating the 13th anniversary
of the Rwandan genocide on the very day when the murder of more than
800,000 Rwandans over the ensuing 100 terrible days began.

If the international community as a whole is finally to cease
re-interpreting our "never again" pledges, made following the
Holocaust, Armenia, the Ukrainian famine, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kosovo
and Rwanda, as "again and again" in new catastrophes such as Darfur,
we must constantly remember what happened to the Rwandan Tutsis
and moderate Hutus, who were abandoned by the UN and rest of the
international community.

I’d like to first focus on the UN role in Rwanda, and the source
is James Traub’s recently published book, The Best Intentions: Kofi
Annan and the UN in an Era of American Power. A journalist for the New
York Times magazine, Traub has had good access to Annan and his staff
since 2003; the book is excellent on numerous topics, including Rwanda.

When Annan, with little experience in peacekeeping, became the UN
under-secretary-general for peacekeeping in early 1993, a number
of crises were already underway. One of them was in Bosnia where
UN peacekeepers proved unable to stop an unspeakable massacre at
Srebrenica and the killing of 37 people in a Sarajevo market. Only NATO
bombing for two weeks without UN Security Council approval persuaded
the Serbs to sign a draft peace agreement. Traub concludes correctly
that the UN "intervened timidly and clumsily" in the Balkans and did
not intervene at all in Rwanda.

Best Intentions describes the events in Rwanda which led to the
catastrophe and then focuses on the Jan. 11, 1994 "most notorious cable
in UN history" from Romeo Dallaire, commander of the UN Assistance
Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to General Maurice Baril, military advisor
to then-UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, about hidden
Interahamwe weapons, which some said could kill up to a thousand Tutsis
in 20 minutes. Annan soon signed the never-to-be-forgotten response,
directing that Dallaire do nothing "until clear guidance is received
from Headquarters"

The author is clearly sympathetic to Annan overall in the book,
but he quotes his subject looking callous, at least when in the
overall context he asked him why he did not refer the cable to the
Security Council: "Obviously we don’t take pieces of cables to the
Security Council." Annan then makes himself look both foolish and
weak when he attempts to convince Traub that his inaction in Rwanda
can be justified by the almost simultaneous problems in Somalia:
"It was probably not a good call."

Traub adds that ultimate responsibility for what later happened in
Rwanda was with secretary general Boutros-Ghali and that he, who
"has never expressed remorse over any of the catastrophes that took
place on his watch, blames the member states (and notes in his memoirs
that throughout January he was ‘away from New York and not in close
touch with the Rwandan situation’). And the key member states blame
the Secretariat for failing to keep them informed. Where did the buck
stop? Nowhere."

An independent inquiry into the UN’s role in Rwanda later concluded
that Annan’s peacekeeping department erred in not bringing Dallaire’s
cable to the Security Council’s attention. Even worse was its failure
subsequently to press Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana to take
action against the militias. At the end of January, when Dallaire
prepared a detailed plan to seize the illegal weapons, he received
yet another cable from Annan, in effect telling him not to move.

Dallaire later described this as "yet another body blow."

When the mass murders and rapes began on April 7, immediately after
Rwandan President Habyarimana’s plane exploded from a missile hit,
Dallaire was then told by Annan that he was not to side with moderate
Hutus in the hope of helping them to stop the genocidaires. Two
days later, compounding this irresolution, Annan told him that
UNAMIR might have to withdraw from Rwanda. The U.S. secretary of
state, Warren Christopher, was soon going along with the Belgian
foreign minister’s request for a complete withdrawal of UNAMIR after
Belgium’s government had withdrawn its 1,300 soldiers immediately
after 10 of them were killed by genocidaires. Traub notes that
the U.S. government was by then fully aware that "the killing was
systematic and widespread." Then-U.S. ambassador to the UN, Madeline
Albright, finally agreed to accept what she termed a "skeletal"
force of 270 led by Dallaire to remain in Rwanda.

According to Traub: "By the end of April, estimates of deaths had
reached as high as half a million, and the newspapers and airwaves
were filled with accounts of unspeakable savagery, and yet the UN
continued to behave as if Rwanda presented a conventional problem
of political reconciliation … Boutros-Ghali did not use the word
‘genocide’ until early May …. The Clinton administration was by then
twisting itself into rhetorical knots to avoid using the word at all
for fear of triggering the provisions of the UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which requires
signatories to ‘prevent and punish’ such crimes."

The slaughter ended only three months later when Paul Kagame and his
Rwandese Patriotic Front soldiers finally took the capital city Kigali,
declared a cease-fire and formed a new government without international
or UN help. In short, the roles of the UN Security Council, the member
governments, the secretary general and Kofi Annan during the genocide
were all but unforgivable to the Rwandan people and many others across
the world who thought that the UN, under its Charter, was supposed
to represent all of its member states equally in peacekeeping crises.

Canada’s Role in Rwanda

Romeo Dallaire published his book, Shake Hands with the Devil, in 2003
and is no doubt familiar to most of you. We can only wish that every
high school and university graduate in our country and everywhere
else had to read it. Some days, one wonders if any of the governments
and diplomats dealing with the ongoing Darfur debacle-which has aptly
been termed "Rwanda in slow motion"-even know that the book exists.

The thesis of Dallaire’s book is that Rwandans and his small group of
UNAMIR peacekeepers were abandoned by the UN and the international
community, including the Canadian and other home governments. He
makes many important points, but I’ll only repeat two of them:

Almost 50 years to the day that his father and father-in-law "helped
to liberate Europe-when the extermination camps were uncovered and
when, in one voice, humanity said, ‘Never Again’-we once again sat
back and permitted this unspeakable horror to occur. We could not
find the political will or the resources to stop it…. It is my
feeling that this recent catastrophe is being forgotten and its
lessons submerged in ignorance and apathy. The genocide in Rwanda
was a failure of humanity that could easily happen again."

Today, on Easter weekend, it seems appropriate to refer to the title of
the book and the concluding note of its preface. Asked if he can still
believe in God after all that he saw in Rwanda, Canada’s national hero
writes: "…there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the
devil…I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a God."

I’d like to conclude with two personal observations.

First, Dallaire has said frequently that he thinks that a few
thousand well-trained peacemakers could have prevented the massacre
in Rwanda. Jean Chretien’s then-new government in 1993 clearly failed
Rwandans, UNAMIR and Dallaire by not sending a decent contingent
of Canadian soldiers with him. As Dallaire notes in the book, it
is expected that the home government of every UN mission commander
will send a respectable number to demonstrate that it is pulling its
weight. How else can other governments be persuaded to send necessary
numbers as well?

Second, in the period 1992-1994, the Canadian Tutsi communities in
Montreal and Ottawa sought repeatedly to raise awareness with the
Mulroney and Chretien governments about what was being prepared
in Rwanda, with no visible success. As a Member of Parliament,
I recall visiting the Pearson building with some of them on two or
three occasions. We’d leave shaking our heads at the indifference
and general ignorance about conditions in Rwanda among supposed
specialists in the Foreign Affairs ministry. After Kagame formed a
new government, I recall that one of his ministers had considerable
difficulty in obtaining a visa to visit Canada.

Sadly, we Canadians-aside from Dallaire, his colleague in Rwanda
Major Brent Beardsley, Dr James Orbinski, who saved "hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of people," says Dallaire, working at the King
Faisal hospital in Kigali throughout the genocide, a group of brave
and dedicated staff of Rwandan nationals at the Canadian mission in
Kigali, and other mostly unknown persons (I recall a Rwandan nun at
settlement on the road to Lake Kivu telling me in 1997 that her life
was spared by a mob coming to kill her because of the bravery of a
Canadian priest who persuaded them to leave) have little to be proud
about over the Rwandan Tutsi genocide. Will we make up for it with
our actions as we face future crises?

The preceding was an edited version of a speech given by former MP
David Kilgour at the Canadian War Museum on April 7.

Expectations Justified But Partially

EXPECTATIONS JUSTIFIED BUT PARTIALLY

A1+
[12:14 pm] 11 April, 2007

As we have already informed you, Armenian sportsman Hovhannnes Davtyan
/60kg/ won a silver medal in the European Judo (EJU) Championship
held in Serbia.

During his interview to A1+ Gagik Aghamalyan, the chief coach of the
Armenian judo team, noted that our hopes were justified by 50 %.

"We hoped that Armen Nazaryan /66 kg/ will also enjoy victory and
bring a medal for the team," he said.

To remind, Armen Nazaryan, became EJU champion in 2005 and
vice-champion in 2006.

Nazaryan’s defeat was determined by the change of his weight
category, the chief coach maintains. "He formerly played in the 60
kg category. He hasn’t got adjusted to the new category yet."

While speaking of Hovhannnes Davtyan’s victory, Gagik Aghamalyan
noted that he could have shown a better result in the finals if he
were psychologically fit.

To note, Anush Hakobyan /52 kg/ and Armen Ispiryan /81kg/ quited the
championship just after the first round as, in Mr. Aghamalyan’s words,
this was their first participation in the European Adult championship.

Shen Concern Starts Issueing Of Second Transfer Of Its Bonded Debt

SHEN CONCERN STARTS ISSUEING OF SECOND TRANSFER OF ITS BONDED DEBT

Arminfo
2007-04-10 13:30:00

The Armenian "Shen Concern" CJSC, being the leader in the production
of building materials in Armenia, starts issueing of the second
transfer of its nominal, non-documentary, discount bonds. As ArmInfo
was told in the "Ecapital Asset Management" Investment Company, being
the underwriter and market-maker of bonds, the volume of the second
transfer will make up 40 mln drams. Four thousand bonds of 10,000
drams at par will be issued. The earnings yield of the Concern’s new
issue will remain at the previous level, that is, 9% of annual.

The bonds’ circulation term is 365 days since the last flotation. The
total par value of the whole bonded debt makes up 160 mln drams to be
floated till June 1 by four equal transfers. The gain from securities’
sale will be directed to refinancing of the Company’s debt . The
first transfer of bonds was issued at the end of December, 2006, and
successfully floated in full volume. The buyers were the "Armswissbank"
and "Ecapital Asset Management". On February 27, the Central Bank of
Armenia carried out REPO-operations with the Concern’s securities.

This is the first case of REPO-contracts of RA CB with non-government
securities. To recall, the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development became the owner of 24% of shares of the "Shen-Concern"
at the end, 2004, for 850,000 Euro. In July, 2006, the EBRD bought 12%
of the Concern’s shares in addition. These are the first investments of
the European Bank in the private industrial enterprise of Armenia. The
rest of shares belong to the Company’s top-managers. To note, the RA
Central Bank conferred a high rating "B" to the "Shen Concern" CJSC.

Armenian Aviation Chief Rejects World Bank Criticism

ARMENIAN AVIATION CHIEF REJECTS WORLD BANK CRITICISM
By Shakeh Avoyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 6 2007

Armenia’s civil aviation authority rejected on Friday a recent World
Bank study which concluded that its protectionist policies not only
restrict air travel but also impede overall economic development.

The study, officially presented late last month, listed civil
aviation among lucrative sectors of the Armenian economy that have
been effectively monopolized by businessmen close to the government.

It said the government is keeping prices of air transport artificially
high in order to benefit the Armavia national airline.

Artyom Movsesian, head of the government’s Civil Aviation Department,
admitted that Armavia is enjoying privileged treatment by the state,
but insisted that that is good for the country. "Why should our
aviation market be controlled by a foreign carrier?" he said. "It’s
better to give [control of the market] to our carriers because they
pay taxes here, while foreign companies don’t."

"This is also a matter of national security. We need to have a national
airline," he said, adding that foreign carriers rarely flew to Armenia
during it war with Azerbaijan and may well do the same in the event
of renewed fighting.

"We have rejected many points made by the World Bank," Movsesian told
a news conference. "We have had numerous meetings with World Bank
officials and presented our financial and economic justifications."

Armavia enjoys the state-guaranteed rights to fly to popular
destinations in the former Soviet Union and Europe, having inherited
most of them from Armenian Airlines, the now bankrupt state-run
carrier. The company, owned by a Russian-Armenian businessmen with
close government ties, has faced greater competition in recent years,
with several Western airlines currently carrying out regular flights
to Yerevan.

However, that has not led to a sizable reduction in air fares which
World Bank experts say remain well above the European per-mile
average. Their study blamed the high fares for the fact that the
volume of freight shipped by air to and from the landlocked country,
blockaded by two of its neighbors, fell by more than two thirds
between 1997 and 2003. It said making air travel and transport more
affordable will be increasingly essential for maintaining Armenia’s
high rates of economic growth.

Howard Berman Sent Letter On Armenian Genocide To U.S. House Of Repr

HOWARD BERMAN SENT LETTER ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.04.2007 18:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian National Committee of America – Western
Region and the East San Fernando Valley ANC Chapter jointly issued a
statement this week praising Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA-28) for
sending a Dear Colleague letter on the Armenian Genocide to all members
of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Berman received an
"A" in the ANCA Congressional Report Card for 2006, the ANCA reports.

The letter to House members included a reference to a recent statement
issued by the respected International Association of Genocide Scholars
that encouraged House member to cosponsor H.Res.106, the Armenian
Genocide Resolution. In his Dear Colleague letter, Congressman Berman
writes, "…it is now time for Turkey to accept the reality of the
Armenian Genocide."

"Our community commends Congressman Berman for his leadership role
in educating Members of Congress on the Armenian Genocide," commented
ANCA-WR Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. "The fact that Congressman
Berman joined with the International Association of Genocide Scholars
in support of H.Res.106 is fresh proof of his longstanding commitment
to this human rights issue so important to tens of thousands of his
constituents in the 28th Congressional District," Kzirian added.

Armenia Celebrating The Day Of Maternity And Beauty

ARMENIA CELEBRATING THE DAY OF MATERNITY AND BEAUTY

ArmRadio.am
07.04.2007 12:25

Today is April 7 – the Day of Maternity and Beauty. The women’s month
that started on March 8 is coming to an end today.

During the first years of independence of the Republic of Armenia April
7 was included in the list of our holidays, taking into consideration
that for already 1 700 years the Armenian Apostolic Church has
celebrated it as the Feast of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary.

Under the high auspices of the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin
II the Feast of the Annunciation was declared the Day of Blessing
of Maternity.