Armenian Defence Ministry denies tanks repaired in Georgia

Arminfo
2 Feb 05

YEREVAN

Armenian tanks are not being repaired at the Tbilisi tank repairing
plant, Col Seyran Shakhsuvaryan, press secretary of the Armenian
Defence Ministry, has told our Arminfo correspondent.

In an article headlined “A military scandal is brewing between Georgia
and Azerbaijan” in the Baku-based newspaper Zerkalo, the author
maintains that Armenian tanks are being repaired at that plant.

“If Tbilisi continues repairing Armenian tanks, this issue will be
discussed at a parliament session,” the article points out.

[Passage omitted: Details of the Zerkalo article]

OSCE mission interviews locals on their life in Karabakh – Armenian TV

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
2 Feb 05

[Presenter] The OSCE fact-finding mission has thanked the Nagornyy
Karabakh authorities for helping their mission. However, the
co-chairmen of the [OSCE] Minsk Group and the members of the
fact-finding mission are not pleased with their visit because the
facts that have been discovered and the documents presented to them in
Baku are not identical. Stepanakert [Xankandi] has repeatedly stated
that it has nothing to hide. This group, which is looking for people
who have settled there, covered a long distance to meet them.

The members of the mission visited Dadivank, one of the medieval
Armenian temples in Kalbacar District, and lit a candle
there. Incidentally, we should point that the US co-chairman of the
Minsk Group, Steven Mann, has already returned from Stepanakert and
left for Washington. The members of the mission visited Agdam without
Mann and saw for themselves that there is no state-run settlement
programme there.

[Correspondent over video of Agdam District and OSCE mission] The OSCE
fact-finding mission has visited Agdam District and several
residential areas around it. The convoy of vehicles first pulled over
near the Agdam mosque. The members of the mission looked at the
surrounding territory from the minaret of the mosque. It was difficult
to say what the mission was looking for in the rubble. They met a few
people who are barely surviving in Agdam. Saying that the
participation of non-authorized personnel was hampering their work,
the experts expressed their desire to talk to residents privately.

[Local resident Levon Arutyunyan] They asked where I was during the
conflict. I said I was in Armenia and then I came here. Then they
[the OSCE mission] wondered about our life here.

[Correspondent] The area where the Arutyunyan family are living at the
moment is called Nor Maraga. The residents of two villages of the
Leninavan state farm, which was one of the biggest and richest state
farms of Karabakh, settled here after they were forced to leave their
place of residence in 1992.

[Local resident Susanna Markosyan] We left our homes, came here and
now live in their flattened houses. Let them return our houses so that
we can go back and live there.

[Unidentified local resident] I am not receiving help from anywhere,
but they think we are getting help.

[Correspondent] The former Maraga residents told the experts about the
atrocities of the Azerbaijani OMON [Special Purpose Police Detachment]
in their village in April 1992. They said that 200 civilians were
brutally killed. A total of 194 people were taken captive and more
than 30 civilians were wounded. Only 400 of Maraga’s 5,000 residents
have settled in this liberated territory. The remaining Maraga
residents went to other countries like the residents of other villages
forced out of Azerbaijan. The members of the fact-finding mission
encountered the same situation in other settlements controlled by
Karabakh.

The head of the mission, Emily Margarethe Haber, answered journalists’
questions after that.

[Haber] I think that all conditions have been created for us to
accomplish our mission.

[Correspondent] Narine Agabalyan and Benik Garakhanyan, “Haylur”,
Stepanakert.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

International mission fails to find settlers in Karabakh – Armenian paper

Azg, Yerevan
2 Feb 05

Text of Tatul Akopyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Azg on 2 February
headlined “OSCE monitoring mission on banks of Araz” and subheaded
“They are looking for settlers in these territories”

A retired Italian diplomat, (?Mario Sika), has told us that he and the
other members of the [OSCE] monitoring mission do not want journalist
to approach them when they talked to locals. Sika used to be the
assistant of Mario Raffaelli, the first chairman of the OSCE Minsk
Group, and unlike other diplomats, he visited the NKR [Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic] at the time when Azerbaijan had occupied 48 per
cent of its area.

There has been no case of hindering the activities of the monitoring
mission, as Europeans and an American, who have covered dozens of
kilometres inspecting the region, have met only a shepherd, a farmer
and a few people passing the road.

On 2 February, Yuriy Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, the OSCE Minsk
Group co-chairs, spent the whole day on the left bank of the Araz
River in Cabrayil and Fuzuli districts that formerly belonged to
Azerbaijan. Steven Mann, the US co-chair, returned to Washington after
having visited Karvachar [Kalbacar].

Ms Emily Haber, head of the monitoring mission, in response to our
question whether the Karabakh authorities supported their activities
or created any technical obstacles to hinder the mission’s work, said
that everything was wonderful and that they visited any area they
wished.

“Ms Haber, may I write in our newspaper that the Karabakh authorities
have created all the required conditions for your activities?” I asked
the German lady who kept smiling all the time. “Yes, you may write
that,” she said. This seems to be the only comment I managed to
get. Neither Ms Haber nor the members of the mission nor the OSCE
co-chairs answered other questions. “No comment. It is a technical not
a political mission,” Ms Haber said, though they had promised earlier
that they would have a press spokesman.

Obviously, the monitoring mission arrived in the NKR from Baku through
Yerevan “armed” with maps. The members of the mission are looking for
settlers in different places, but they fail to find them. In Cabrayil
and Fuzuli they did not find a single inhabited house. The situation
differed in Karvachar, where residents of Shaumyan [Goranboy],
Getashen [Caykand] and Mardakert [Agdara] occupied by Azerbaijan
settled after their houses and possessions were seized in 1991-92.

After finishing the monitoring, the OSCE mission will prepare a report
for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. They have to find out whether
Armenia and the NKR are conducting an official policy of settlement in
areas outside Nagornyy Karabakh’s administrative border.

A Minsk Group co-chair has said in a conversation with us that
processes like this do not contribute to the settlement of the
Karabakh issue but to some extent distract attention from the essence
of the conflict. Asked about whether they are going to carry out
monitoring [of the part] of Shaumyan, Getashen and Mardakert occupied
by Azerbaijan, a member of the mission said that this could not be
ruled out if Armenia applied to the UN in this regard.

In 1991, the Azerbaijani authorities settled people in over 100,000
houses. Armenians used to live in those houses and were forced to
leave their permanent place of residence.

The OSCE monitoring mission and the Minsk Group co-chairs are expected
to continue inspecting the left bank of Araz in Zangilan District that
formerly belonged to Azerbaijan.

Karabakh official accuses Azerbaijan of hampering confidence building

Arminfo, Yerevan
2 Feb 05

STEPANAKERT

Three of the four prisoners of war, Aristakes Martirosyan, Gevorg
Khlgatyan and Egiya Unanyan, who were recently handed over to the
Armenian side by Azerbaijan, are contract servicemen of the Nagornyy
Karabakh defence army, not residents of Karabakh, Viktor Kocharyan,
chairman of the state commission of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
[NKR] for prisoners of war, hostages and missing persons, has told our
Arminfo correspondent in Stepanakert.

Viktor Kocharyan said that they lost their way while on duty on 26
November 2004 and found themselves on enemy territory, where they were
captured by the Azerbaijani army. On the day of the incident, the
state commission asked the head of the Stepanakert office of the
International Committee of the Red Cross, (?Mireille Pinard), to help
find out about the fate of the prisoners of war and take measures to
free them. The verbal reply of the office head showed that she had no
information about this issue. He said this was not the first time that
the Azerbaijani authorities had not informed the representative office
of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan about
Armenian captives.

“As for the NKR state commission for prisoners of war, hostages and
missing persons, in these cases, it immediately notifies the local
representative office of the International Committee of the Red Cross
and takes joint measures to return them home,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry was well aware that the
Armenian servicemen had been taken captive, the chairman of the state
commission stressed. Under a preliminary agreement, it should have
handed them over to the Armenian side in the village of Bas Qarvand
[in Agdam District] on 31 December. He said that representatives of
the Armenian side vainly spent five hours at the appointed place,
waiting for the Azerbaijani side to turn up.

“The prisoners of war were handed over only on 28 January, and there
was no machine gun fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani armed
forces, as the Azerbaijani media reported,” Viktor Kocharyan
said. This is not the only piece of disinformation disseminated by the
Azerbaijani media, he said. He pointed out that the Azerbaijani media
had disseminated information saying that “the Armenian prisoners of
war had allegedly confessed that corruption is reigning in the
Armenian army”. “The NKR state commission for prisoners of war,
hostages and missing persons has reliable information about thriving
corruption in the Azerbaijani army,” Viktor Kocharyan said. He
stressed that the latest defections of Azerbaijani servicemen to the
Armenian side took place, according to the defectors themselves,
because their commanders had been treating them cruelly and the
military conscription offices had been extorting large sums of money
from them.

Viktor Kocharyan stressed that such anti-Armenian reports in the
Azerbaijani media, which are far from reality, do not further the
building of confidence between the conflicting sides and may
complicate cooperation in discovering and handing over prisoners of
war, hostages and missing persons.

Associated Press Worldstream
February 2, 2005 Wednesday 12:11 PM Eastern Time

Russian, Azerbaijani officials hail bilateral ties

by AIDA SULTANOVA; Associated Press Writer

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday repeated Moscow’s backing for
international mediators’ efforts to resolve a decade-old conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over a disputed enclave.

Speaking during a trip to this Caspian Sea nation, Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov pledged that Moscow would continue working with other
mediators to resolve the impasse over Nagorno-Karabakh – a largely
ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that has been controlled by
ethnic Armenian forces for more than a decade.

“We hope that this process will lead to an agreement,” Lavrov said
after talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a six-year war that killed some 30,000
people and drove a million from their homes, before ending in a shaky
cease fire in 1994.

Repeated efforts to negotiate a resolution to the conflict have
failed, and tensions between the two former Soviet countries remain
hostile. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has
actively been trying to broker a final deal.

During the 1990s, Azerbaijan often accused Russia of backing Armenia,
but relations between Moscow and Baku have improved in recent years.

Mammadyarov said Russian-Azerbaijani ties were developing in a
“stable and very intensive way, particularly over the last year.”

“We highly assess the strategic partnership with Azerbaijan,” Lavrov
said.

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich nation on the Caspian Sea that borders Russia
in the volatile Caucasus Mountains region, has sought to cultivate
relations with the United States and other Western nations to balance
Moscow’s influence in the region.

The U.S. administration sees the Caspian region as key to reducing
dependence on Middle East oil, and it has strongly backed a US$3.6
billion ([euro]2.8 billion) pipeline that will pump Caspian Sea oil
through Georgia to Turkey’s Mediterranean coast for export to Western
markets.

Asked about Azerbaijan’s efforts to develop closer ties with NATO,
Lavrov said that Russia had no complaints and added that Moscow also
had friendly ties with the alliance.

“Azerbaijan is a sovereign state, and like any sovereign state is
free to choose its foreign policy partners,” Lavrov said.

IRNA, Iran
February 2, 2005 Wednesday 12:10 PM EST

Iran excluded from military training in UK

Tehran

Iran has continued to be excluded from 137 countries that have
received military training in the UK in the past three years,
according to official data.

In a written reply to parliament published Wednesday, Defence
Minister Ivior Caplin detailed more than 12,000 overseas military
personnel receiving training at UK establishment since 2002,
including countries involved in conflicts and wars.

The list excluded Iran but included many from countries subjected to
UK arms sanctions, like Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, , Azerbaijan,
Bosnia, China, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Libya,
Sierra Leone, Sudan and Yugoslavia.

Among the Persian Gulf region, Caplin detailed that 108 students from
Bahrain had receiving training at UK military establishments, 1,021
from Kuwait, 518 from Oman, 176 from Qatar, 271 from Saudi Arabia and
546 from the United Arab Emirates.

Iran`s other neighbours included 7 from Afghanistan, 5 from Armenia,
8 from Azerbaijan, 30 from Iraq, 148 from Pakistan, 110 from Turkey
and 1 from Turkmenistan.

The effective ban on Iran receiving military training caused
particular controversy during Iraq`s 1980-88 imposed war, when it was
revealed that the UK was training Iraqi pilots but not offering the
same facilities to Iran.

Britain`s sanctions regime against Iran has also been found to be
uniquely based on a national arms embargo, unlike the overwhelming
majority of others that are imposed by international or regional
organizations.

Coalition nations look ahead to exit

Chicago Tribune
Tue Feb 1, 2005

By Stephen J. Hedges, Washington Bureau

Now that Iraq’s election has passed, several of the 28 nations in the
American-led military coalition intend to withdraw their troops, citing
the costs–in lives and money–of operating for nearly two years inside
Iraq.

Before the election, some nations had declared it was time to reduce
their commitments and rely on the Iraqis to play a larger security role.
Now others will be watching closely to see whether the temporary
government elected Sunday can make the improvements in stability that
would allow more coalition nations to draw down their forces.

The Netherlands, for example, will withdraw all but about 300 of its
1,500 troops beginning March 15, allowing time after the election to
lend support.

“Our Ministry of Defense clearly stated that the Netherlands considered
the mission done there,” said Rear Adm. Michiel Hijmans, the Dutch
defense attache in Washington. “We’ve been there 20 months now, and it’s
fairly difficult to continue with this operation.”

Not all of those withdrawing or cutting back say explicitly the decision
was related to the vote. And coalition members aren’t the only countries
viewing the postelection period as a time for reassessment.

Two key opponents of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, France and Germany,
expressed support Monday for the election, and French President Jacques
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder discussed Iraq in
telephone calls with President Bush (news – web sites).

According to a French spokesman, Chirac told Bush that the conduct of
the election was “satisfactory” and that it was “an important step in
the political reconstruction of Iraq.”

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer praised Iraqis for going to the
polls and said, “The challenge of putting Iraq on a stable democratic
footing is one we must all take on together.”

Neither country, however, gave any indication they were willing to send
troops to Iraq.

Meanwhile, some coalition nations are packing up, either because they
believe the crucial work has been done or because of domestic political
considerations. Ukraine has begun plans to withdraw its 1,600 troops, a
move backed by the new president, Viktor Yushchenko, whose campaign
included a promise to bring the troops home.

In December, 300 Hungarian soldiers left; they had intended to stay
through the election but were ordered home early by Hungary’s parliament.

Poland, which maintained an important military presence in hot spots
south of Baghdad, has decided to cut its force to 1,700 troops from
2,400, and government officials have suggested that more withdrawals
could occur. Thirteen Polish soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

“Late last year our government decided to reconsider the number of
soldiers in Iraq, and again after the elections, depending on the
situation,” said Marek Purowski, Poland’s press attache in Washington.
“The idea is that the Iraqi force and the new elected government should
take over.”

Even Britain, America’s most steadfast ally in Iraq, is looking forward
to a time when its 9,000 troops can leave. British Prime Minister Tony
Blair (news – web sites) told the Financial Times newspaper recently
that he is willing to discuss “timelines” for the withdrawal of British
troops, most of whom work in the more peaceful south.

“Remember, 14 out of the 18 provinces in Iraq are relatively peaceful
and stable,” Blair told the newspaper. “Both ourselves and the Iraqis
want us to leave as soon as possible. The question is: What is `as soon
as possible’? And the answer to that is: When the Iraqi forces have the
capability to do the job.”

The Bush administration often has cited the international coalition of
troops in Iraq as proof of the broad support for the U.S. mission there.
About 152,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Iraq along with
about 25,000 other foreign soldiers, according to a spokesman for the
U.S. military command in Baghdad. Nations involved in the coalition
include Australia, El Salvador (news – web sites), Estonia, Bulgaria,
Portugal and South Korea (news – web sites).

While nations in the coalition have sometimes changed, administration
officials say it has remained a steady force whose presence is
determined by conditions in Iraq, not a timetable.

Any withdrawal is “mission-driven,” said State Department spokesman
Steve Pike. “It may go faster, it may go slower, but it’s going to be
driven, at least from our point of view, by what we do, by what’s
possible, by results.”

For other coalition nations, though, there may be more than the mission
to consider. Hijmans noted that the Netherlands also has 500 troops in
the Balkans, 4,500 committed to a NATO (news – web sites) response force
and 750 assigned to operations in Afghanistan (news – web sites). Two
Dutch soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

“We have to leave because we’re also involved in a lot of operations all
over the world,” Hijmans said. “We’re a small force, and we’re really
stretched.”

John Pike, a military analyst at Globalsecurity.org, said many of the
U.S. partners in Iraq who signed on to help after the Iraq invasion in
2003 did not expect operations to last this long.

“I think a lot of these people figured that it was going to be a limited
tour of duty,” Pike said. “I think they’ve figured they’ve done their
duty, they’ve taken their turn and now that they’ve had elections, let
the Iraqis do it themselves.”

The departures could be significant for the U.S. troops and other forces
remaining in Iraq. They could complicate the task of combating an
anti-American insurgency that has demonstrated the ability to strike
everywhere in the country.

Many of the foreign troops have been intensely involved in training
Iraqi security forces. Their work now will have to be taken up by
remaining U.S. and other foreign forces. Britain, for instance, plans to
shift about 600 soldiers already in Iraq to take up the training of
Iraqi security forces that was being carried out by about 1,100 Dutch
troops. It also will dispatch about 200 fresh troops to Iraq.

“The UK remains committed, like the U.S. remains committed, committed
until the country is stabilized,” said Sam Keayes, a spokesman for
Britain’s Ministry of Defense. “We will remain there at the request of
the government of Iraq.”

As for the Iraqi government, officials have been reluctant to discuss
the departure of foreign forces until more government troops are
trained, an elected government is in place and insurgent-driven violence
is reduced.

Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke recently of a “condition-based”
rather than a “calendar-based” withdrawal of U.S. and other foreign forces.

During a pre-election briefing in Baghdad last Friday, Barham Saleh,
Iraq’s deputy prime minister for national security affairs, said the
size of the foreign force in Iraq is directly related to the level of
violence by Iraqi insurgents.

“We will be in need for international support for some time to come,
because on one hand, we’re dealing with a security threat from
terrorism, but at the same time we’re talking about a tough
neighborhood,” Saleh said.

“The overall security environment of Iraq would require continued
international engagement,” he added. “My hope is that after the
elections and the formation of an elected Iraqi government the security
dynamic will change, and more reliance will be placed on indigenous
Iraqi forces.”

– – –

Coalition ranks thinning

Following Sunday’s elections in Iraq, some nations in the U.S.-led
coalition could reassess their troop commitments.

Total coalition forces: 177,300
U.S.: 152,000
Non-U.S.: 25,300
NON-U.S. FORCES BREAKDOWN
Troops in Iraq as of January
Britain 9,000
S. Korea 3,600
Italy 3,085
Poland* 2,400
Ukraine* 1,600
Netherlands* 1,500
Romania 700
Japan 550
Denmark 496
Bulgaria 485
Others 1,884
*Has announced plans to withdraw some or all troops
Countries that have withdrawn troops
Dominican Republic
Honduras
Hungary
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Philippines
Spain
Thailand
Others, in order of troop strength, are: Australia, El Salvador,
Georgia, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Portugal, Latvia, Czech Republic,
Lithuania, Slovakia, Albania, Estonia, Armenia, Tonga, Macedonia,
Kazakhstan, Moldova and Norway.

Note: Some totals approximate

Sources: GlobalSecurity.org, Tribune reporting, U.S. State Department.

;u=/chitribts/20050201/ts_chicagotrib/coalitionnationslookaheadtoexit

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
February 2, 2005, Wednesday

LAVROV’S VISIT IRKED BAKU

SOURCE: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, January 31, 2005, p. 3

by: Sokhbet Mamedov, Elkhan Shaginoglu

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Azerbaijan expected on
February 1 is the focus of attention. Some Baku newspapers announced
that Lavrov would insist that Azerbaijan join the Organization of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty. The report alarmed national patriots
who immediately screamed treason on the part of the authorities and
began talking of the danger to sovereignty. Most analysts took the
reports with a certain grain of salt. Zardusht Alizade, a prominent
Azerbaijani political scientist, told journalists that Lavrov was too
old a hand at diplomacy to bring up so delicate a subject
(particularly since Armenia was a member of the Organization of the
CIS Collective Security Treaty).

A source in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry says that Lavrov is
coming to discuss preparations for the Russian-Azerbaijani summit
scheduled for the second half of February when President Ilham Aliyev
will visit Moscow. Lavrov and his opposite number Elmar Mamedjarov
will also discuss economic problems, the matter of the legal status
of the Caspian Sea, and preparations for the second Caspian Summit.
Special attention will be paid to join efforts against international
terrorism; an audience with Aliyev is scheduled as well.

Commenting on Aliyev’s forthcoming visit to Moscow, opposition media
outlets maintain that the relations between the two countries are
based on economic concessions on the part of Azerbaijan more than on
any political support from Russia.

Karabakh settlement remains the stumbling stone in the
Russian-Azerbaijani relations. According to what information this
newspaper has compiled, Moscow will be asked to abandon its role of a
neutral mediator and talk to its strategic ally Armenia.
Well-informed sources also say that Lavrov will be asked to explain
the latest statements made by Yuri Merzlyakov, Russian Chairman of
the OSCE Minsk Group, which Baku found to be clearly pro-Armenian (as
far as Merzlyakov is concerned, Karabakh is a warring party also).
Armenian origin of the Russian foreign minister may have played its
role in the public outcry in Azerbaijan too.

Some Azerbaijani experts are of the opinion that unless Lavrov
reaches an agreement with Baku on central issues, Moscow may lose
initiatives in dealing with the problems Azerbaijan regards as vital.
This loss of initiative will make the United States and EU major
players in the southern part of the Caucasus. Should Moscow decide to
meet Azerbaijan halfway, Baku is prepared to consider its interests,
intensify economic contacts, and broaden direct contacts between
regions of Russia and Azerbaijan.

Translated by A. Ignatkin

Moreland Leader (Australia)
January 31, 2005 Monday

The beat of love goes on

by Rick Edwards

IVAN Khatchoyan’s love affair with drums started as a five-year-old
and is as strong as ever 30 years later.

The Fawkner man is drumming in one of Melbourne’s hottest groove,
jazz and hip hop bands True Live and is enjoying every minute.

“We just started out jamming but once we got all the players we have
now, we thought we have something good here,” Khatchoyan said.

“We have chemistry and, being the drummer, that’s what I vibe on . .
. it’s top priority for me.

“If I don’t enjoy musically what someone is doing or them personally,
it’s do-able but it’s not ideal.”

Khatchoyan, who hails from an Armenian background, nominated Stewart
Copeland (ex-Police) and Jack De Johnette (ex-Miles Davis group) as
his favourite drummers.

“I tend to crank it I really like high-energy fun,” he said.

“I am pretty energetic and creative. I am always learning I’m happy
to keep learning.”

Apart from playing drums, 34-year-old Khatchoyan is a music teacher
and producer.

“I tend to produce at home during the day and do gigs at night,” he
said.

“I love producing just as much as playing drums.”

True Live’s debut album is expected to be released mid-2005.

Khatchoyan said the band’s brand of hip hop differed from the style
coming from the US.

“It’s got elements of it but they are not obvious . . . we try to
make it as booty as possible so you can move to it and dance,” he
said. “It’s kind of mixing it up with good musicality, a bit more on
the jazz side.”

* True Live plays the Melbourne Afrobeats Festival, a free all-day
event at Birrarung Marr on Saturday, February 5.

The Hindu, India
February 2, 2005

VEDA’S JOURNEY

by Divya Sreedharan

Till not so long ago, Veda was a happy member of a herd. The
six-year-old female elephant is now alone. Its handlers say it must
get used to being on its own.

Veda will, if the Central Government goes ahead with its plans, soon
be sent to Armenia’s Yerevan Zoo. The gift is meant to symbolise the
friendship between the two countries.

According to wildlife activists, however, such diplomacy can harm
wildlife conservation. Local non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
have been against the transfer. They say sending a mammal from
tropical climate to a country where winter temperatures dip below
14<degree> C is cruel.

Now, Veda is fast becoming a celebrity. The London-based Born Free
Foundation (BFF) founded by the actress, Virginia McKenna, and the
actor, Bill Travers, has joined the debate. According to a report
from London, the BFF has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
intervention to stop Veda’s transfer. The BFF chief executive
officer, Bill Travers, said: “There are many other ways to improve
relations between New Delhi and Yerevan, which will not involve the
potential suffering and possible demise of animals.” McKenna, who
acted in Born Free, is “deeply disheartened that the custom of using
animals as diplomatic gifts still continues.”

Under the Indian Wildlife Act, 1972, “gifting, rearing and keeping of
Indian wildlife” is illegal.

That has, however, not deterred such gifts from being made. Peacocks,
blackbucks, spotted deer and pythons have been given away, NGOs say.

Last month, activists here took out a protest march to highlight
Veda’s case. They have also started a signature campaign.

For now, Veda is being conditioned to get used to a country and a
climate that nature never meant it to live in.