Author: Tigranian Ani

Plea for funds to help boy injured by landmine
by Fiona Tyrrell

The Irish Times
September 13, 2004

A Co Clare man is fronting an appeal to help finance plastic surgery
for a child survivor of a landmine accident in Abkhazia, on the
borders of Russia and Georgia.

Anri Nachkebia (10), lost part of his face, an eye, a hand and a foot
two years ago when he picked up an anti-personnel mine and started
playing with it.

He is having problems breathing through his nose and he needs surgery
to relieve this as well as a prosthetic eye.

Clare-born Mr David McMahon, a programme manager based in Georgia
with the Halo Trust, a non-profit organisation which specialises in
the removal of mines, yesterday appealed for help for Anri.

A native of Newmarket-on-Fergus, Mr McMahon has been working with
Halo since 1999 and has worked on de-mining projects in Cambodia,
Kosovo, Afghanistan and Nagorno Karabak.

It is estimated that some 20,000 mines were planted in Abkhazia during
the 1992-93 war with Georgia.

Mr McMahon came across Anri during a rehabilitation camp for the
child survivors of landmine accidents this summer.

Anri has received a prosthetic leg from the Red Cross but his bones
are growing and he will need another operation on his leg soon,
Mr McMahon said.

“We were all touched by this boy, who had such severe injuries. We
need about $5,000 to send him to Armenia where he can be operated on.”

Staff of Halo Abkhazia plan to contribute $1,000 towards the cost of
the operation. Over 360 people have been killed or injured in mine
accidents since the war ended.

Aside from this, the mines were planted in the most fertile areas
and deny people the fundamental right to use their land, he explained.

“This is the war that the world has forgotten about,” Mr McMahon added.

“Ireland is doing really well at the moment, but there are a lot less
fortunate people living on the periphery of the EU.

“You don’t have to go to Africa to see extreme poverty,” said Mr
McMahon.

Donations can be made to The Anri Fund, Halo Trust, PO Box 7905,
Thornhill, DG3 5WA, United Kingdom.

A donation to the fund can also be made on-line at
“”>

CENN – SEPTEMBER 14, 2004 DAILY DIGEST
Table of Contents:
1. EIR-NOW! Implementing EIR: Please Read
2. Chanturia Discharged from GIOC
3. Energy Regulation Commission Refrains from Commenting on Possible
Corruption in Energy Tariff
4. UEDC Fails to Ensure Round-The Clock Energy Supply in Winter
5. Madneuli Receives Georgia’s First Gold
6. Vitol wins SOCAR Urals Tender
7. Vacancy Announcement — Administrative Assistant

1. EIR-NOW! IMPLEMENTING EIR: PLEASE READ

Dear All,

The Bank/IFC has proposed a meeting with civil society organizations
during the annual meetings. The proposed date would be either September
30 or October 1st. The agenda for the meeting would focus on
implementation issues, including the multistakeholder advisory group,
their process for developing new governance indicators, poverty
indicators and the developing a new energy strategy.

Do groups want to have this meeting? I have proposed that the meeting be
scheduled at a time, which could accommodate others, that may not be in
Washington, but could join by phone.

It would also be useful to take advantage of those of you that do plan
to come to Washington DC for the annual meetings, to have a
debrief/lessons learned discussion and some time together to think about
the next steps for the EIR.

My proposal then is that we have the NGO only strategy session/debrief
on EIR on September 30, and meet with the WBG the next day on October
1st. Does this work for people? Please give some feedback as soon as
possible so that we can confirm these meetings and times on the NGO
calendar.

Finally, Wolfensohn will be having his traditional meeting with NGOs by
videoconference next Tuesday, September 21st. NGOs in the Netherlands,
Brazil, Georgia, Nigeria and Japan will participate.

IF YOU ARE IN ONE OF THOSE COUNTRIES AND CAN PARTICIPATE, PLEASE GET IN
TOUCH WITH YOUR COUNTRY OFFICE AND REQUEST AN INVITATION.

It would be extremely useful if groups could raise implementation
questions with Wolfensohn directly.

For example, since the Bank is notorious for not implementing its
commitments well, it would be important to ask Wolfensohn if the
responsibilities for implementing the different aspects of their EIR
commitments have been delegated and to tell us how the lead points of
contact will be for both the IFC, the Bank and the regions. Also, does
he plan to spell out the plan and commitments to the Regional Vice
Presidents and Country Directors and hold them to implementing it as
well?

Also, what is his timeline for reviewing and revising the energy
strategy so that their energy lending is in line with their stated
mission to deliver energy services to the poor?

Those are some possible questions. Please let me know if you are in one
of those countries and will be able to join the meeting. It would be
very helpful if you could provide a report back to this list- EIR-NOW!:
[email protected]

All for now – please respond about the proposed meetings

E-mail: [email protected]

2. CHANTURIA DISCHARGED FROM GIOC

Source: Messenger, September 13, 2004

The post of president of the Georgian International Oil Corporation is
vacant after President Mikheil Saakashvili fired Gia Chanturia while he
was in Baku discussing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. There are
rumors in the media that the prosecutor’s office may become interested
in Chanturia’s affairs.

Two possible candidates for the presidency of GIOC have been nominated:
the former media tycoon Erosi Kitsmarishvili and the US-based Georgian
Ramaz Berianidze.

Before the Rose Revolution, GIOC president Chanturia was considered to
be not only as a highly successful administrator, but as a possible
candidate succeed then-president Shevardnadze in the 2005 presidential
elections. During the revolution, however, Chanturia remained in
Shevardnadze’s camp, although he did not actively participate against
the Saakashvili-Zvania alliance.

Unlike many Shevardnadze allies, Chanturia was not discharged
immediately after the Rose Revolution, although his office building was
taken from him. The Georgian media suggested that Chanturia’s was able
to remain in his post owing to his personal friendship with current
Azeri president Ilham Aliev.

It is said that they have been friends from their youth and that,
according to newspaper Alia; Chanturia was appointed GIOC president by
Shevardnadze under the recommendation and promotion of the Aliev family.

Nobody can say whether Aliev agreed to Gia Chanturia’s discharge or if
Saakashvili asked him.

According to Alia, Chanturia may be questioned by the general
Prosecutor’s office. But assuming that he manages to avoid any
complications with Georgia law-enforcement bodies, he might be granted a
high position in Azerbaijan by his friend Aliev.

3. ENERGY REGULATION COMMISSION REFRAINS FROM COMMENTING ON POSSIBLE
CORRECTION IN ENERGY TARIFF

Source: Sarke, September 13, 2004

The Right Opposition faction of Parliamentary has raised a question on
the reduction of consumer’s energy tariff following the recent
strengthening of the lari rate. However, the chairman of the National
Energy Regulation Commission Giorgi Tavadze says according to the law,
the gas tariff is liable to changes only if the change of the lari
exchange rate exceeds 5%, while this regulation does not concern the
energy tariff.

4. UEDC FAILS TO ENSURE ROUND-THE CLOCK ENERGY SUPPLY IN WINTER

Georgia United Energy Distributing Company (UEDC) fails to guarantee
round-the-clock electricity supply during the winter season.

The company spokesmen told INTER-PRESS big cities- Rustavi and Kutaisi,
where external installation of the electricity meters is almost
completed, power will be delivered from 06:00-08:00pm in winter, while
electricity supply in villages, where communal meters are installed will
be 8-hour.

“Communal meters will be installed on transformers of each village and
it will indicate the extend of the consumed electricity by the whole
village. Such processes are already completed in the entire zone of the
Imereti region. Communal meters are being installed in the
Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Samtskhe-Javaxeti regions”, the company spokesmen
said.

UEDC is anticipating receiving GEL 1 million grant from the central
budget that will enable the company to install communal meters in
villages.

As for the big cities, where a process of external installation of
meters are underway, the company reports that will try to ensure the
solvent consumers with the permanent electricity supply during the
winter season.

Meanwhile, American managers of the company state that electricity
supply during the winter season will be guaranteed for only solvent
consumers.

5. MADNEULI RECEIVES GEORGIA’S FIRST GOLD

Source: Messenger, September 13, 2004

The Georgian company Madneuli is the first in the history of Georgia to,
in laboratory conditions, pour out an 80gram gold ingot from
gold-containing allow produced by the Georgian-Australian joint venture
Quartzite (kvartsit), Madneuli’s General Director Vasily Tsotadze told
the press.

Alloy produced by Quartzite as a semi-finished has until now been
processed in Britain, Tsotadze said.

In order for Madneuli to begin producing pure gold without the help of
foreign partners, “the enterprise requires re-equipping and
modernization, which specialists say will cost $12 millions,” he said.

“If the government is ‘kind’ in this and an investor is found. The
Madneuli workforce will undertake to produce Georgian gold,” Tsotadze
told.

Economic Development Minister Kakha Bendukidze said in later comments
with the press on Tsotadze’s own statements that state-owned Madneuli
“should be sold and as quickly as possible,” adding “any state-run
enterprise is a wellspring of corruption”.

Madneuli was founded in December of 1994 at the Madneuli mining and
beneficiation combine. The government currently owns 97.3% of the
company’s stock.

6. VITOL WINS SOCAR URALS TENDER

Source: CBN, September 14, 2004

Azeri State Oil Firm SOCAR has awarded a tender for one million barrels
of Russian sour Urals crude for October 18-19 loading from Novorossiysk
to Swiss-based trading house Vitol, a SOCAR official said on September
10, 2004. The official said SOCAR would also tender a second
million-barrel Novorossiysk cargo next week to be loaded during the last
days of October. The previous SOCAR tender, for a million-barrel
end-September Urals cargo, was won last month by trading house Taurus.
SOCAR exports its crude from two Black Sea ports, Novorossiysk in Russia
and Supsa in Georgia. In Russia, SOCAR’s crude is mixed with Russia’s
main crude export blend Urals. From Supsa, SOCAR exports sweet Azeri
light grade as part of the Azeri state’s production sharing deal in a
BP-led Caspian offshore project.

7. VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT — ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

For the purposes of BP operations and under the BP management
supervision, IRA Ltd is seeking to recruit a suitable qualified
individual for the posotion of Administrative Assistant.

Administrative assistant will be a third-party contractor for BP WREP
Operations working under BP management supervision.

Job Description:
The Administrative Assistant will be responsible for:

Provision of administrative and secretarial assistance to the Pipeline
Superintendent and to the Operations Department
Undertaking and coordination of all activities associated with the
provision of translation/interpretation services

Roles&Responsibilities:
Specific responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

o Scheduling, arranging and coordination of meeting, other appointments
and activities for the Pipeline Superintendent and for the Operations
Department
o Interpreting for Pipeline Superintendent and for Operations department
and other visiting executives at meetings with Georgian Ministeries or
other Government Agencies, GIOC, etc.
o Translating all departmental level correspondence, and any BP
sensitive or confidential documents.
o Development and maintenance of an operations personnel tracking system
for day to day location and vacationn scheduling
o Provision of administrative support to the pipeline Superintendent and
operations
o Department, ensuring that all office activities including telephone
screening, preperation of correspondence and documentation, maintenance
of filing systems, etc. are efficiently handeled.
o Maintenance of data bases and tracking systems related to HSE
records,Process Upsets, Safety Inputs including preparing and issuing
associated weekly and monthly reports

Experience&Education:
o The incumbent will have:
o University degree in languages with advance studies in English,
Georgian and Russian
ž Flient English and russian skills
ž 5 years of experience at least in administration and
translation/interpretation at all levels of business and government
ž PC proficiency (Microsoft Word) essential
ž Exposure to government & Public activities is desirable
ž Knowledge of technical terminology used in the oil industry would be
preferable
ž Georgian citizenship is required.

How to Apply / Additional Information:
If you feel you have the required skills and experience to fulfill this
role please submit a copy of your CV and fill in the relevant
application form available at the adress below.

The closing date for receipt of application is Thursday, September 23,
2004

All applications received will be acknowledged but this is no way
implies that candidates will be interviewed and/or offered employment.

HR Department
BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd. Georgia
123A Agmashenebeli Avenue, Tbilisi Georgia

Zell’s Zeal and Kerry’s ‘Defenselessness’
By Paul M. Weyrich

CNSNews.com

CNSNews.com Commentary
September 10, 2004

Senator Zell Miller (D-GA), an ex Marine, is angry that the party he
spent a lifetime helping to build has gone so far to the left that it
is barely recognizable. Miller attacked the Democratic nominee, Senator
John Kerry (D-MA), in terms that no Republican would dare to do.

He gave a litany of the weapons systems that Kerry voted against in
his two decades in the United States Senate.

The Kerry apologists, who were all over the media the morning after
the Miller speech, tried to suggest that when a Senator votes against
a bill containing a weapons system it may be because he has some other
problem with the bill that has nothing to do with the weapons system.

Therefore, you see, Senator Kerry really isn’t against all of those
weapons after all. You have to understand these votes in context,
so they told us.

Nice try. However, my Internet angel Alex Mulkern unearthed a campaign
flyer from Lt. Governor John Kerry’s campaign for the United States
Senate in 1984. It is priceless. In this flyer, Kerry says of the
Reagan defense buildup “the biggest defense buildup since World War
II has not given us a better defense. Americans feel threatened by
the prospect of war.”

Kerry goes on to say, ldblquote…our national priorities become more
and more distorted as the share of our country’s resources devoted
to human needs diminishes.”

Then Kerry suggests there is a better alternative. He lists weapons
system after weapons system that he would cancel and the amount of
money that would be “saved” by canceling them. Among those which
would have been put on the chopping block back in 1984 are as follows:

The MX Missile. Cancel. Savings: $5 Billion. The
B-1 Bomber. Cancel. Savings: $8 Billion Anti-satellite
system. Cancel. Savings: $99 Million Star Wars. Cancel. Savings:
$1.3 Billion Tomahawk Missile. Reduce by 50%. Savings: $294
Million AH-64 Helicopter. Cancel. Savings: $1.4 Billion
Division Air Defense. Cancel. Savings: $638 Million The
Patriot Air Defense Missile. Cancel. Savings: $1.1 Billion
Aegis Air Defense. Cancel. Savings: $400 Million Battleship
reactivation. Cancel. Savings: $453 Million AV 88 vertical
take off and landing plane. Cancel. Savings: $1.0 Billion
F-15 fighter aircraft. Cancel. Savings: $2.3 Billion F-14A
fighter aircraft. Cancel. Savings: $1.0 Billion F-14B fighter
aircraft. Cancel. Savings: $286 Million Phoenix air-to-air
missile. Cancel: Savings: $431 Million Sparrow air-to-air
missile. Cancel. Savings: $264 Million

So there you have it. Did Zell Miller exaggerate? Before John Kerry
was even elected Senator he was calling for the elimination of some
of the most effective weapons systems we have.

Kerry said in this flyer: “If we don’t need the MX and the B-1 or these
other weapons systems, there is no excuse for casting even one vote for
unnecessary weapons of destruction and as your Senator I never will”

He got that right. This was back in 1984. Mikhail Gorbachev had just
come to power. It was Gorbachev and his generals who concluded that
they could not keep up with weapons development in the USA, especially
the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), and that is one of the
reasons that the Soviets threw in the towel.

Imagine, 20 years later, if the Kerry view had prevailed, we would
still be facing a menacing super power known as the Soviet Union. If
the Soviets didn’t have to compete with all of those sophisticated
weapons systems, they would be fighting on to this day. The Baltics
would still be Soviet Republics, as would Ukraine, Armenia and
Georgia. The Berlin Wall would likely still be up. Poland and the
satellite nations would not be free. Get the picture?

Zell Miller, in his litany of weapons systems which Senator Kerry
voted against, said he did by no means exhaust the list. He said
the list went on and on. True enough because in the past couple of
decades we have developed many more systems which Senator Kerry could
be against — weapons systems which have made this nation the only
remaining super power.

I am not one who believes in giving the Pentagon everything it
wishes. The Pentagon is a bureaucratic structure just as much as
Health and Human Services is. There is as much waste and abuse in
the Pentagon as there is in other areas of government.

Had Senator Kerry gone after waste and duplication and other areas
of misfeasance in the Pentagon he might well have served his nation
well. But in opposing every weapons system we have produced since
the middle 1980s, Senator Kerry displays a glaring weakness — one
which is fair game as we get into the serious part of the campaign.

No wonder the Democrats are now trying to say that Senator Miller
is mentally unbalanced. They can’t have voters examine what Kerry
said. If they do they will find the weakness Zell Miller spoke about
and they may well come to the same conclusion the Senator has come to,
namely the protection of his family comes before his political party.

(Paul M. Weyrich is chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.)

Copyright 2004, Free Congress Foundation

Iran’s president reaches agreement with Armenia on gas pipeline

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
September 8, 2004, Wednesday

YEREVAN — Iran and Armenia agreed Wednesday on the construction of a
gas pipeline during Iranian President Mohammed Khatami’s first visit
to Yerevan. The agreement was reached in a meeting between Khatami
and Armenian President Robert Kocharian at which the two leaders
also signed a broad agreement on friendship and cooperation between
their two countries. Armenia, which shares a 50-kilometre-long
border with Iran along its southern tip, is dependent on energy
deliveries from Iran. It is cut off from much of the economic
activity in the region by Turkey to the west and Azerbaijan to the
east. In addition, Khatami told reporters Iran was dedicating great
attention to stability in the Caucasus. The Iranian news agency IRNA
said Khatami referred to historical ties between the two countries
during his meeting with Kocharian and highlighted the role of Iran
and Armenia in the region. He said the two sides’ security, stability
and development are interrelated and for this reason, “We should
broaden our ties more than ever before,” he said, according to IRNA.
Kocharian said relations between Armenia and Iran were very close,
and all opportunities should be seized for broadening of mutual ties.
Iran plays a very significant and unique role in the region, he said,
adding that Yerevan welcomes expansion of cooperation with Tehran.
dpa am fk gj

Azg Armenian Daily
Sept 6 2004

GROUP OF SPECIALISTS FROM EQUATORIAL GUINEA IN ARMENIA TO FIND TRACES
OF ARMENIAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE COUP

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO VISIT POLAND

TWO CIVILIZATIONS MEET

AZERBAIJAN’S “FREE” MASS MEDIA TO BE ALIYEV’S HOSTAGE OF
ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICY

SCIENTISTS TIRED OF GOVERNMENT’S PROMISES

“IF THE SCIENTISTS UNITED THE ISSUE OF OUR BUILDING WOULD HAVE OTHER
SOLUTION”

PETER BALAKIAN VISITS YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

ANOTHER FESTIVAL IN ARMENIA

*********************************************************************

GROUP OF SPECIALISTS FROM EQUATORIAL GUINEA IN ARMENIA TO FIND
TRACES OF ARMENIAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE COUP

The Prosecutor’s Office of Equatorial Guinea sent a group of
specialists to Armenia to examine the implication of Armenian pilots
in a coup against the president of the country Teodoro Obiang Nguema,
France-Presse informs.

Hamlet Gasparian, press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
told Azg Daily that the information is unknown to him. Gasparian said
that the Armenian ambassador to Egypt together with an official from
State Ceremony Department of Armenia returned to Yerevan on Sunday.
They visited the Armenian pilots in the Black Beach prison in Malabo
for the second time.

The France-Presse notes that another group of specialists left for
the South African Republic to question Margaret Thatcher’s son Mark
Thatcher. The later is accused of financing the coup against the
president Nguema and was released on bail of 300 thousand dollars.

The six Armenian pilots and the Russian “Antonov” plane were hired by
a German company. The company’s representative in Malabo Gerhard
Eugen Herz was among the arrested and died in prison apparently of
tortures.

The France-Presse reminds that the Armenian pilots arrived in
Equatorial Guinea in January and had one flight on behalf of a South
African company. The owner of the company Nick du Toit confessed at
the court to a coup that was sponsored by Mark Thatcher.

The trail over the organizers of an assumed coup will continue in
October.

By Tatoul Hakobian

*********************************************************************

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA TO VISIT POLAND

The 7-th of September is the last day of Robert Kocharian’s official
visit to Poland, on invitation of Alexander Kvashnevski, president of
Poland.

President Kocharian was to meet with the president of Poland, the
prime minister and the heads of Seym and the Senate.

The main purpose of the visit was to stimulate development of
intergovernmental ties, outline the economical issues that the two
countries need to consider and also speak of urgent international
issues.

History of Armenian-Polish Relations

Armenia established diplomatic relations with Poland on February 26
of 1992. Today Armenian-Polish relations are dynamically developing.

Armenia considers Poland a strategic partner in the Eastern Europe.
Poland became a EU member on May 1. Poland, with its rich experience
of democratic reforms and European integration, may play an important
role for Armenia on his way to the EU. From this perspective
Armenian-Polish relations need to be developed not only in the
political and economical spheres but also in the sphere of culture.
Official visits of representative of both countries became regular in
the course of time.

1998 – embassy of Armenian opened in Warsaw.

1999 July 13-15 – official visit of Robert Kocharian to Poland. A
business forum was held during the visit. President Kocharian made a
speech in the Center of Eastern Researches in Warsaw.

2001 January 27 – embassy of Poland opened in Yerevan.

2001 November 13-16 – Alexander Kvashnevski’s official visit to
Armenia. Another business forum held in Armenia.

Taking into consideration Poland’s achievements in attracting
overseas investments, Armenia needs learn from Polish experience.
Though the Armenian-Polish relations are not on a very high level
today, the two states have enough potential for partnership.

*********************************************************************

TWO CIVILIZATIONS MEET

A new page in the relations of two great and neighboring
civilizations is going to open on September 8, 2004. The president of
Iran Islamic Republic Mohammad Khatami will visit Armenia on
invitation of the president of Armenia Robert Kocharian. The
president’s visit besides being important for Armenian-Iranian
relations has also a regional and international importance.

The Armenian-Iranian gas pipeline building, hydro-electric powers,
the Qadjaran tunnel construction and many other issues of great
mutual importance will top the agenda.

Who is Mohammad Khatami?

Mohammad Khatami is the 7-th president of Iran Islamic Republic. He
was elected president 8 years ago. Though the enemies of Iran are
constantly declaring that Iranian regime doesn’t protect the
country’s population, 20 million Iranians voted for the follower and
defender of Imam Khomeini’s ideas, Mohammad Khatami.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has turned a new page in many spheres
due to president Khatami’s religious democracy and the policy of
dialogue and tolerance.

While taking political decisions Khatami considers peoples’ rights,
views and demands within the Islamic principles. On the international
arena the president leads the policy of stopping confrontations and
conflicts.

The idea of a dialogue between civilizations drawn forward by Khatami
at the General Assembly of the UN gained an international support.
That’s why the year of 2001 was declared a year of dialogue by the
UN. Khatami’s idea of dialogue is perhaps the best alternate against
the so-called theory of clash of the civilizations.

Mohammad Khatami was elected for the second term receiving the great
majority of the vote. He is one of the great thinkers of his time, an
eminent theorist and author of many books on Islamic philosophy. The
Armenian nation is looking forward to the visit of friendly Iran’s
president.

*********************************************************************

AZERBAIJAN’S “FREE” MASS MEDIA TO BE ALIYEV’S HOSTAGE OF
ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICY

The Azeri mass media protests against the participation of Armenian
officers in the NATO’s “Cooperative Best Effort” exercises taking
place on September 12, 2004, in Baku. The Azeri authorities, i.e.
president Aliyev are backing the protest. The latter is taking every
step to reduce contacts with Armenians to minimum after his father’s
death. One year ago when Ilham Aliyev was the prime minister of
Azerbaijan he urged the Azeri NGOs to put an end to any contact with
Armenians. Anti-Armenian moods gained governmental support during the
last year.

This is not the first anti-Armenian rally of the Azeri government. In
his April visit to Ankara Ilham Aliyev drew forward two main issues:
Turkish-Azeri relations and the Karabakh issue. Here Aliyev appealed
to Turkish authorities not to open the Turkish-Armenian border-gate,
as it will bring the Karabakh issue to a deadlock.

The Azeri mass media was always anti-Armenian after the Karabakh war.
But in 1998-2001 due to Armenian and Azeri NGOs mass media workers
had the chance to visit each other’s countries, a kind of “thaw”
began.

Ilham Aliyev’s appearance as a president of Azerbaijan changed
everything. President Aliyev soon understood that the world community
doesn’t approve of his belligerent statements and fell silent letting
the mass media talk. But the official mass media is still keeping
silent as though everything said and published has nothing to do with
official Baku’s position.

The Armenian servicemen are to leave for Baku on September 12.
Armenian officers were not permitted on board the plane leaving from
Istanbul to Baku in January. The organizer of the exercises, NATO,
didn’t publicly condemn Azeri authorities but hinted that steps like
this are not allowed within its frameworks.

A month later in Budapest during the NATO-organized English classes
an Azeri officer Ramil Safarov murdered his Armenian classmate. The
NATO condemned the heinous deed whereas Azerbaijan made Safarov a
national hero.

The second NATO conference took place in Baku. Two Armenian officers
managed to reach the Azeri capital. The so-called Organization of
Karabakh Liberation tried to penetrate the conference hall and kill
Armenians. Five activists of this organization were sentenced to 2
years imprisonment for making troubles recently.

The mass media aroused a new wave of anti-Armenian hysteria: how can
you arrest the potential Karabakh warriors? Ilham Aliyev noted that
though he finds the sentence too heavy he can do nothing about it as
the court in Azerbaijan is free.

Meanwhile the Armenian officers are getting ready to leave for Baku
to participate in the exercises taking place from September 13 to 26.
The time will show how will the Azeri mass media react to this event.

To conclude, we should say that Azerbaijan declined its participation
in the NATO exercises of 2003 in Yerevan justifying it by the
unsolved Karabakh issue and the occupied territories.

By Tatoul Hakobian

*********************************************************************

SCIENTISTS TIRED OF GOVERNMENT’S PROMISES

“We have to register that this budget is not meant for preservation
of the science, as the authorities declare, but it is slowly killing
the science. This policy can make fatal harm to the Armenian Studies
that should be one of the priority directions of the national policy.
We demand that our authorities should meet the requirements of the
law on science and keep their promises given to the scientists, i.e.
to secure at least minimal conditions for scientific researches,”
says the open letter of the directors of the Institutes of the
Armenian and Social Studies attached to Ra National Academy of
Sciences. The letter is addressed to RA President, Ra National
Assembly and RA Government.

The scientists disappointed from the obvious ignoring attitude of our
statesmen to the Armenian studies gathered at RA Academy to put
forward the issues they are constantly discussing. The meeting was
led by Vladimir Barkhudarian, Deputy Chairman of the Academy.

He explained their decision to take urgent measures by the fact that
our authorities discharge the importance of the Armenian Studies. The
Government raised the average salaries of the scientists from 16
thousand to only 22 thousand AMD, though they promised to raise the
salaries for tenfold.

Academician Vladimir Khojabekian believes that it is not the fault of
RA Education and Science Ministry, they were instructed to liquidate
the Academy of Sciences with time. This instruction was made by
former RA President Levon Ter-Petrosian. While the authorities of the
country, particularly, the country’s president should care for the
science and be responsible for its development.

Ashot Melkonian, director of the History Institute, emphasized that
they complain not only about poor salaries but also about the state
policy concerning the Armenian Studies and the science. “Armenian
Studies are important not only for the scientists but it is a
national issue, and we alarm against the lack of the special position
of the states concerning the matter,” he said.

Nikolai Hovhannisian, Director of the Institute of the Oriental
Studies, emphasized that they are aimed to create a progressive and
developed Armenian state. “It is already out of question that we
can’t create such a state, having conducting such a policy and
approach to the science, that exists in Armenia today. Sometimes we
are blamed that we can’t secure grants for our researches. There is
no country in the world that develops its science based on the
grants, solely. The Armenian Studies isn’t an international science,
but a national one and the state should be responsible for that.”

Aram Kalantarian, Director of the Institutes for the Ancient and
Ethnic Studies, Azat Eghiazarian, Director of the Literature and Arts
Institute, Lavrenti Hovhannisian, deputy Director of the Institute of
Linguistics, also held speeches, expressing their indignation about
the position of the authorities to the Armenian Studies.

By the end of their speeches, Mr. Barkhudarian said that RA
Government decided to raise the salaries of the scientists by 5000
AMD for the candidates of science and 10000 AMD for the Doctors.

RA Government tried to take the first step to sooth the anger of the
scientists, but that wasn’t the key one.

By Ruzan Poghosian

*********************************************************************

“IF THE SCIENTISTS UNITED THE ISSUE OF OUR BUILDING WOULD HAVE OTHER
SOLUTION”

Lavrenti Hovhannisian, Director of the Institute of Linguistics, said
that their complaints and protests against handing the edifice of the
Institutes of Economy and Linguistics attached to RA National
Assembly to Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin yielded no good results. “We
expect that one beautiful day we will be withdrawn from the building.
If we, the scientists united in the issue of our building, it would
have other solution. “He assured as a warning that in future all the
other buildings of RA National Academy of Science will be taken away,
as this practice is likely to grow in future.” He offered the
scientists clear out whether this approach of the authorities is
caused from their ignorance or this is a special approach. “If the
authorities don’t understand this state is based on the Armenian
Studies, we should make them understand. In the first way this
approach can be corrected, but the second case is much more
dangerous,” he said.

By Ruzan Poghosian

*********************************************************************

PETER BALAKIAN VISITS YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Peter Balakian, American-Armenian writer, was invited to visit the
students of Yerevan State University on September 3. Press Service of
the University informed that Levon Ananian, Chairman of RA Union of
Writers, represented the creative life of Peter Balakian, talked of
his pieces. Afterwards, Peter Balakian held a speech. He emphasized
that that was a great pleasure for him to meet with the students. He
thanked the Armenian General Benevolence Union, RA Union of Writers,
as they invited him to Armenia. He was also grateful to the Yerevan
State University for the meeting with the students. Then he
represented his book “Black Dog of Fate”. He touched upon the
generations’ gap occurred after the Genocide.

Radik Martirosian, Rector of Yerevan State University, emphasized the
importance of such meetings and awarded Mr. Balakian YSU Golden
Medal, supreme order of the Yerevan State University. By the end of
the meeting a number of students represented several poems by
Balakian.

By Tamar Minasian

*********************************************************************

ANOTHER FESTIVAL IN ARMENIA

Three festivals were held in Armenia in three months, another 2
international festivals are envisaged to be held in coming two
months. Razmik Abrahamian, head of Art and Folk Art Department of RA
Ministry of Culture, believes that we still need more festivals.

“Golden Apricot”, “One Nation, One Culture,” and “Pomegranate Seed”
festivals can be considered established. At present, we are aimed to
support “Armmono” and “Haifest” international festivals, Razmik
Abrahamian said.

Over 100 artists participated in “Golden Apricot” festival, over 1000
artists were invited to take part in “One Nation, One Culture”.
Though this year only local artists participated “Pomegranate Seed”
youth festival, the organizers assure that next year foreign artists
will be invited to Armenia.

If “One Nation, One Culture” contributed to strengthening the
relations between Armenia and Diaspora, “Armmono” and “Haifest” can
easily become international festivals. Both festivals are carried out
for the second time. “Armmono” will be held on September 14-20 and 30
actors from 14 countries will represent 29 mono-performances. Mariam
Ghazarian, organizer of the festival, assured that the actors were
chosen according to stricter criteria. “Haifest” will be carried out
in October.

“These festivals contribute to the development of theatre and cinema,
as well as to the establishment of mutual acquaintances,” Razmik
Abrahamian said.

By Arevik Badalian

No cuts seen in Iraq multinational force at least through 2005 election
by MONIKA SCISLOWSKA; Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
September 3, 2004 Friday

WARSAW, Poland — The Polish-led multinational force in Iraq will
remain at its current strength of 6,500 at least through elections
planned for January, member nations agreed Friday.

Military officials from the 16 nations also declared a readiness to
“continue the mission on the level of 2004” after January, Gen.
Mieczyslaw Cieniuch, the Polish army deputy chief of staff, said
after a two-day meeting of troop contributors in Warsaw.

“All nations participating so far in the Polish-led force have
confirmed their willingness to continue in it until the Iraqi elections
– at least through January,” he told reporters.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the announcement signaled a reversal of
plans by the Polish government, which has said it plans to cut troop
numbers from 2,400 to between 1,000 and 1,500 in its next rotation,
set for January.

But leaders gave other indications Friday that they might keep Polish
troop levels at 2,400 beyond January.

Prime Minister Marek Belka told Polish radio he is considering a
“dramatically worded” letter from the Iraqi interim Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi asking Poland not to pull out or reduce its troop presence
in January because of the continuing violence in Iraq.

Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said in an interview published
Friday in the Trybuna daily that the Polish contingent’s size will
“depend on the situation in Iraq.”

At the conference, Armenia said it would start contributing troops
to the multinational force, with a contingent of 50 soldiers, Polish
army spokesman Col. Zdzislaw Gnatowski said.

The Armenian contribution will include a transport unit with drivers
and a maintenance team, sappers and three doctors, Cieniuch said.

Cieniuch also said Poland plans to move the force’s headquarters away
from the archaeological site of Babylon and to hand over responsibility
of the neighboring Karbala province to U.S. forces before the end
of January.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 1, 2004, Wednesday

SMOULDERING CONFLICTS FLARE UP

SOURCE: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No 32, August 27 – September
2, 2004, p. 2

by Igor Plugatarev

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE HOT SPOT IN THE CAUCASUS NOWADAYS

President of Russia Vladimir Putin on a “working vocation” in Sochi
made an unplanned trip to Chechnya on the morning of August 22. The
official excuse – the desire to lay a wreath to the tomb of the late
President Akhmad Kadyrov. In the meantime, some analysts saw in the
trip another motive – one analogous to why Putin visited the Caucasus
after the Ingushetian raid on June 22.

Ingushetian scenario in the Chechen manner

On the night of August 22, several mobile groups of Chechen gunmen
attacked some polling stations, police stations, military
commandant’s offices, and checkpoints in Grozny. Clashes were
reported in the environs of Minutka Square and in the Oktyabrsky and
Staropromyslovsky districts. The Regional Operational Headquarters
claims that the federal forces thwarted Aslan Maskhadov’s and Shamil
Basayev’s attempt to destabilize the situation in the republic.
Objective information indicates that it is wishful thinking on the
military’s part.

Statements of the Regional Operational Headquarters aired by Major
General Ilya Shabalkin bear a strong resemblance to the confused
statements of security structures in Ingushetia after June 22. Take
the phrase that “Gunmen were quite weak and did not plan to overrun
any objects” alone. Society regularly hears the assurances that
gunmen “lack the strength”, that they number “500 men at best” in
Chechnya, that they are out of Basayev’s and Maskhadov’s control and
“splinter groups are aimlessly roaming the mountains.” Add roughly
how many activists of illegal armed formations were killed and taken
prisoner by the federal forces, and you will find this figure “500
men at best” multiplied several times. It’s no wonder Shabalkin
offers neither a rough estimate of the gangs participating in the
raid last Sunday, nor their numerical strength. There were at least
200 gunmen involved in the Ingushetian raid in June. Witnesses say
that the ones attacking Grozny did not number any less.

Right after the battles in Grozny, Shabalkin said that “the
possibility of repetition of August 22 is practically impossible”:
gunmen are being hunted down. Many of them already arrested, and
their “attempt to make a lot of noise in Gudermes with a really small
force and this to make a resonance” failed. But serious fighting was
reported again on August 24. Not only in Grozny, but in the nearby
settlements as well. Once again, the policemen and noncombatants
(potential voters) were killed.

It seems that Chechen ringleaders succeeded in pulling off what the
federal forces call “a lot of noise”. As Shabalkin put it, if the
criminals “intended to draw foreign sponsors’ attention”, they
apparently succeeded. There is a lot of noise nowadays, a week before
the election. Even the West took note: the German media, for example,
extensively commented on the events beginning with Putin’s visit to
Chechnya. From this point of view, gunmen pulled off the scenario
they had already succeeded with in Ingushetia on June 22 when they
attacked Nazran, Karabulak, and Ordzhonikidzevskaya. The massacres
there resulted in the deaths of 98 (including 67 servicemen of the
army, Interior Ministry, Federal Security Service, and Border
Service, and the rest were civilians).

Tbilisi’s war cry

Tension on the Georgian-Ossetian border deteriorates while the
hostilities in Chechnya continue.

Moscow responds to Tbilisi’s aggressive statements aggressively too –
with maneuvers.

First and foremost, the matter concerns maneuvers of the 58th Army
with headquarters in Vladikavkaz. It is quartered in North Ossetia,
right near the Georgian borders. Its 429th (Mozdok, North Ossetia)
and 135th (Prokhladny in Kabardino-Balkaria) regiments moved to the
Sernovodsk testing site – the exercise area – on August 23. (By the
day the Djava heights near Tskhinvali were cleared by the Georgians).
That same day, Georgian Defense Minister Georgy Baramidze said that
“these maneuvers on a full scale are an expression of a
non-constructive position on Russia’s part” and that “situation being
what it is, their organization in the vicinity of the conflict area
generates tension.” It goes without saying that the Defense Ministry
of Russia immediately replied that the exercise had been planned last
year and that what Georgia perceived as a “full scale exercise” was
but “ordinary routine” for Russia. In the meantime, this “routine”
exercise was commanded by Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev, 58th
Army Commander (which is strange because routine exercises are
usually run by division COs). It involved over 2,000 servicemen and
almost 100 armored vehicles, and drilled mobilizational and combat
readiness and combat missions. It is also interesting that this
numerical strength and fire power is an approximate equivalent of
what Tbilisi concentrated on the South Ossetian borders – between
2,000 and 3,000 servicemen, 30 tanks, and other armored vehicles.

The Caucasus Military District began flexing its muscles
simultaneously – reservists totaling 5,000 to 6,000 reservists were
called in.

Moreover, it so happened that Russian peacekeepers – in Georgia
itself, right on the border of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict – ran
an exercise at the same time. This exercise too was run by a
lieutenant general, peacekeeping force commander Alexander Yevteev.
The units drilled increase of combat readiness, deployment in the
zone of responsibility, and prevention of armed clashes. All of what
General Svyatoslav Nabzdorov in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict area
is doing in real life, his colleague Yevteev drilled. After South
Ossetia, Georgia is unlikely to try Revolution of the Roses in
Abkhazia, but better safe than sorry. Needless to say, this exercise
was “planned” too.

Add here the Russian-Armenian exercise near Yerevan. It was even more
serious. It involved two regiments (one of them Armenian and the
other a regiment of the 102nd Russian Base) and aviation (MIG-29
fighters and SU-25 ground strafers).

Finding itself in a ring of exercises, Tbilisi sobered up. Hotheads
like Interior Minister Irakly Okruashvili (the man Nabzdorov
regularly condemns for escalation of the conflict) calmed down some.
Okruashvili said, however, that should anything happened, Georgian
troops would be in Tskhinvali within 15 minutes and that “we will
respond with three shots to every one fired at us.” Experts ascribe
it to emotions rather than a true evaluation of his own capacities.
Debates are still under way over who the Georgians fought but it is
clear at this point that Tskhinvali defeated Tbilisi at 1 to 2 ratio.
(Sources in the Interior Ministry of Georgia reported that 20
servicemen and policemen were killed and 54 wounded, while South
Ossetian losses are estimated at about a dozen men.) Ossetians still
know how to fight – ever since the war on Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s army.

In short, there are lots of potential hot spots in the Caucasus.

Baku Today
Aug 31 2004

Akif Nagi Sentenced To 5 Years of Prison

Turan/Baku Today 31/08/2004 10:48

Nasimi court has pronounced its sentence to six members of the
Organization for Liberation of Karabakh (OLK), finding them guilty of
violation of public order, hooliganism and resistance to state
officers.

Judge Famil Nasibov sentenced OLK chairman Akif Nagi to 5 years in
jail; deputy chairman Firudin Mamedov to 3 years in jail; Ilkin
Gurbanov, Mursal Hasanov, Rovshan Fatiyev and Manaf Kerimov to 4
years in jail.

OLK activists and relatives of defendants protested this decision at
the court. They were forced out to the street and dispersed by polce.

On 21 June of this year, a group of OLK members staged a protest
against Armenian officers’ visit for participation in NATO conference
in Baku. During the rally in front of Grand Hotel Europe, OLK members
broke into lobby and conference hall where NATO conference was held.
The doors and windows were broken as the result. Simultaneously,
clashes started between participants in the action and policemen
around the hotel. Six participants in the rally were arrested by
police the next day.

Various political organizations and public activists made numerous
applications to the authorities and the Head of State requesting to
release OLK members, during investigation and trial. OLK is the only
organization in Azerbaijan raising public awareness of issues related
to Karabakh conflict. Th estimated membership in this organization is
more than 10,000.

Daily Trojan Online

Local News
August 31, 2004

Glendale man commits suicide: Vanik Tergalstyan barricaded himself in
a friend’s apartment and shot himself in the chest after the police
used tear gas in an attempt to force him out, the Los Angeles Times
reported.

Tergalstyan was taken to County-USC Medical Center where he was
pronounced dead Monday morning. Police said the man had a criminal
history and was involved in a stalking situation with the women who
occupied the apartment.

The standoff started at 12:30 a.m. Monday near Dorian Street and
Pacific Avenue and continued for eight hours.

Police said they attempted to negotiate with Tergalstyan for six hours,
but he was uncooperative.

About 100 people in a surrounding hotel, apartment building and other
homes were evacuated just after 1 a.m.

The police also evacuated part of Pacific Avenue and the access roads
to the Ventura Freeway for nine hours disrupting morning traffic.

REVISED DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO RA CONSTITUTION DIRECT WAY TO
DICTATORSHIP: SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28. ARMINFO. Revised draft amendments to the RA
Constitution submitted to a nation-wide referendum are a direct way to
dictatorship, the Parliament member of the opposition bloc “Justice”,
Chairman of the National-Democratic Party (NDP) Shavarsh Kocharyan
told a press conference.

According to him, the draft should be compared not even with the
current Constitution, but with the document that was submitted to a
nation-wide referendum on May 25, 2003, and was voted down. The new
draft has 20 distinctive features, four of them being merits and 16
demerits, Sh. Kocharyan said. According to him, “among the merits are:
the accused right to interrogation in the presence of a lawyer, the
abolition of the right to tapping and control of people’s private
correspondence, as well as the stipulation of the right of the RA
National Assembly to Statements.” On the other hand, “the demerits
are: arbitrary restriction of citizens’ rights and freedoms, legal
stipulation of dependence of the entire judicial system of one person
– the President, permission to Parliament members to run business, the
President’s right to dissolve the Parliament if it does not approve
the Government proposed by the President, etc.” The goal of the draft
is maximal enlargement of the President’s power, which are excessive
as it is and further dictatorship, the parliamentarian said.

The did not rule out the possibility of Robert Kocharian’s running for
the third presidency term. “Robert Kocharian said that he did not wish
to run for the third term, but as his powers expire, a political
force, representatives of the intelligentsia and public will be found
that will persuade him into continuing as President. This is the real
goal of the draft amendments that is being indirectly proposed,”
Sh. Kocharyan said. He stressed that the opposition’s return to
Parliament would only means “playing up to” this process. Despite the
journalists’ numerous questions, the parliamentarian avoided answering
the question concerning the opposition’s further actions in this
situation. However, Sh. Kocharyan is well aware of what the people
must do, namely, “struggle, while we will lead this struggle.”