Reuters, UK
May 24 2004

CORRECTED – European Golden Shoe leading rankings
Mon 24 May, 2004 16:24

In LONDON item headlined “Soccer-European Golden Shoe leading
rankings”, please read… 9= Ara Akopyan, Banants (Armenia)
…instead of… Ara Hakobyan …corrects spelling of surname.

A corrected repetition of follows.

LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Following are the leading rankings for the
Golden Shoe, awarded to the leading scorer in the European leagues,
after the completion of the major leagues at the weekend.

Thierry Henry is set to become the first Frenchman to win the Golden
Shoe, and the first player from the English premier league to win the
award since Kevin Phillips in 1999/2000.

The final list will not be issued until mid-June when all the
European domestic leagues have been completed. Player, Team Goals
Value Total 1. Thierry Henry, Arsenal (England) 30 2 60 2. Ailton,
Werder Bremen (Germany) 28 2 56 3. Djibril Cisse, AJ Auxerre (France)
26 2 52 4= Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan (Italy) 24 2 48 4= Ronaldo,
Real Madrid (Spain) 24 2 48 6. Mateja Kezman, PSV Eindhoven
(Netherlands) 31 1.5 46.5 7= Roy Makaay, Bayern Munich (Germany) 23 2
46 7= Alberto Gilardino, Parma (Italy) 23 2 46 9= Ara Akopyan,
Banants (Armenia) 45 1 45 9= Henrik Larsson, Celtic (Scotland) 30 1.5
45

Note: A player’s league goals are multiplied depending on the “value”
of their league.

Only the leading five countries in the UEFA rankings are given a
multiple value of 2.

Azeri TV reminds BBC that deadline ends 1 June

ANS TV, Baku
24 May 04

[Presenter; Following a report about two Armenian defectors] Another
comedy is being played with our Azerbaijani colleagues who are working
under the management of an Armenian Mark Grigoryan. But we will talk
about this later.

[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. It is
this day when a deadline given by the ANS management to BBC World
[Service] is ending [ANS rebroadcasts BBC World Service programmes in
Baku]. As we have reported, ANS took this step as a protest against
BBC’s position on Azerbaijan, in particular, against this company’s
morning programmes. Finally, today we managed to learn the regional
executive editor of the Eurasia regional unit, Olexiy Solohubenko’s,
oral response to ANS’s letter of warning. We should say that Mr
Solohubenko expressed a tough reaction to ANS’s step.

[Olexiy Solohubenko in English over Azeri-voice over] I think it
is a very bad mistake on the part of ANS if it really goes to do
it. It is even a bigger mistake as it is made by ANS. This is very
bad for Azerbaijan. I am very much surprised that ANS is going to do
so without proving that BBC is wrong.

[Correspondent] It is interesting that Mr Solohubenko says that ANS is
doing so without proving BBC’s wrong steps. It is surprising because
several letters have been to the BBC management protesting against
BBC’s biased programmes broadcast in the mornings, particularly,
programmes by producer Mark Grigoryan in which he clearly attempts
to distort the existing realities around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict. The letters have more than enough number of proofs and
evidence.

However, Solohubenko is determined to support their positions and
Mark Grigoryan. Incidentally, ANS’s another prediction turned out to
be correct. Mr Solohubenko skilfully used the fact that Azerbaijanis
work under the leadership of Mark Grigoryan.

[Solohubenko] The fact that Mark Grigoryan is an Armenian does
not mean that he is no good. He works with us in a team involving
11 Azerbaijanis. If you have any specific claims concerning Mark
Grigoryan, we are ready to consider them. But given that there is
no other claim apart from the one that he is an Armenian, this is
inadmissible.

[Correspondent] Going further with his explanations, Mr Solohubenko
started informing us on BBC’s international essence. He said that
there are Jews and Arabs and other Africans work there and they all
work there as part of BBC but not as ethnic groups or representatives
of their nations. But ANS CM is trying to highlight this point that
the status of a citizen of an aggressor country and of a citizen of
an occupied country cannot be equal. Their truths are also different.

We also talked about the Muslim-Christian side of the problem. Mr
Solohubenko taught a little lesson for us here as well.

[Olexiy Solohubenko] Muslims and Christians work together here. This
is why we cannot understand the problem you have raised. I regret that
this is happening in the Caucasus, in Azerbaijan which is tolerant
to free media. This is a bad mistake and it is very bad for Azerbaijan.

[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. Which means
that Mark Grigoryan has seven more days on the air. Sevda Hasanova,
ANS.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/24/2004
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1) Intellectuals Again Call for Dialogue
2) Renewed Calls for US-Armenia Tax Treaty
3) Azerbaijan’s FM Says Karabagh Talks Have New Impetus
4) Senate Committee Approves Funding for Genocide Curriculum
5) Blasts Kill Seven in Baghdad, More Killed In Clashes

1) Intellectuals Again Call for Dialogue

YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Armenia’s intellectuals met for the second time in recent
months to discuss the current political climate of the country.
At a roundtable discussion organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(ARF) of Armenia, a government coalition partner, prominent academics and
cultural figures once again emphasized, on Monday, that the only means to find
a possible resolution to current political tensions is for the authorities and
the opposition to engage in political dialogue.
ARF Supreme Body representative Armen Rustamian emphasized that though the
first round of discussions helped alleviate tensions, there is threat of “a
new
wave of confrontation,” and asked those present for their input to avoid yet
another escalation. “We must find the guarantees to provide the necessary
changes,” he urged.
Linguistics University rector Suren Zolian, stressed that both sides must
first and foremost display political will, and pointed to the roundtable as a
practical tool in reviewing the situation, and offering ideas.
The majority of participants voiced their discontent with behavior of both
the
government and opposition, saying that authorities should not expect praises
while 80% of population remains socially underprivileged. They also went on to
say that both sides do not comprehend the silence of the population that
remains hapless and distrusting of both sides. They concluded that Armenia’s
political arena remains flawed because of its Constitution and delays in
amending the document.
“There is stability in the state. But changes must be made in order for the
country to enter its natural course of development,” Rustamian stressed.

2) Renewed Calls for US-Armenia Tax Treaty

–Treaty Needed to Address Growing Bilateral Commerce and Increased Diaspora
Economic Involvement in Armenia

WASHINGTON, DC–In a letter to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and in
correspondence sent to members of Congress, the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) renewed its call for the US government to facilitate the
growing
levels of US-Armenia trade and investment by negotiating a comprehensive tax
treaty with Armenia.
“With the expansion of US-Armenia economic ties, it is more important than
ever that our government negotiate a comprehensive and far-reaching tax treaty
that will strengthen the US-Armenia economic relationship for many decades to
come,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “The Department of the
Treasury should be working closely with the Armenian government and with
American businesses operating in Armenia–including the growing number run by
Diaspora Armenians–to specifically tailor an agreement that addresses the
needs of Americans who divide their careers between the US and Armenia–or who
plan to retire to Armenia–in terms of portability of pensions and healthcare
and a variety of other concerns.”
The US has negotiated tax treaties with over forty nations in order to
clarify
the taxation of transactions, investments, rents, royalties, management
contracts, dividends, interest, and salaries of companies and employees
working
in both countries. The US has recently exchanged instruments of ratification
with three new countries–Ukraine, Luxembourg, and Denmark.
As part of its broader efforts to strengthen US-Armenia bilateral economic
relations, the ANCA has been working for more than four years to encourage the
US to negotiate a tax treaty with Armenia. Other elements of this effort
included helping to secure Armenia’s membership in the World Trade
Organization–which took place in February of last year–and the granting to
Armenia of Permanent Normal Trade Relations Status (PNTR). Several thousand
Armenian Americans have written to the Social Security Administration using
the
ANCA WebFax program to call for a Social Security Agreement that would help US
citizens who work part of the year or plan to retire in Armenia. At the state
level, the ANCA-Western Region spearheaded the creation of the
California-Armenia Trade Office, which is set to open in Yerevan later this
year.
In January of 2002, Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg
(R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) urged then Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, to
help expedite a bilateral tax treaty between the US and Armenia that would
effectively eliminate the “double taxation” of income of citizens working in
both countries. The appeal came on the eve of an inter-agency US Armenia Task
Force meeting, which discussed taxation issues as part of an overall framework
to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

For an overall review of US Tax Treaties

For the full text of most US Tax Treaties:
ind_info/ treaties.html.

For information about Armenia on the website of the US Department of
Commerce:

To learn about USAID’s private sector aid to Armenia:

3) Azerbaijan’s FM Says Karabagh Talks Have New Impetus

(AFP)–Peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve one of Europe’s
longest-running armed conflicts are “intensifying” after a period of
stagnation, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister told AFP in an interview.
Elmar Mamedyarov said that the newly-expanded European Union (EU) was showing
a greater interest in resolving the conflict over the territory of Karabagh, a
factor which he said will have a “positive impact.”
Azerbaijan’s foreign minister was speaking a week after President Ilham
Aliyev, on a visit to EU headquarters in Brussels, urged the organization to
take a more active stand in finding a peaceful solution.
“The negotiations…have recently become more intense after certain
stagnation,”
Mamedyarov, a 44-year-old career diplomat appointed last month, told AFP in
the
interview. “After the European Union received new members, the EU, and Europe
as a whole, has begun to look attentively at our part of Europe,” he said. “I
believe that will have a positive impact on the search for a conflict
resolution.”
He said Azerbaijan’s negotiators were pushing for an interim deal, under
which
Armenia would relinquish its control over the regions around Karabagh in
exchange for the Azeri side loosening its economic blockade on Armenia. This
deal would reduce tension between the two sides, and “create a possibility for
negotiations to go forward in a freer atmosphere to find some sort of
compromise,” Mamedyarov said.
Armenian negotiators have already rejected this proposal but the Azeri
foreign
minister said he would be “persistent.” “Resolving this question is a priority
for us,” Mamedyarov added. “It is very difficult, when you are in the
twenty-first century, you are moving towards Europe, and you have these
displaced persons and you feel under occupation.”

4) Senate Committee Approves Funding for Genocide Curriculum

SACRAMENTO–The Senate Budget Committee on Education, chaired by Senator Jack
Scott (D-Glendale), has approved $250,000 in the 2004-05 state budget for a
model curriculum on human rights and genocide to be distributed to all public
schools in California, which would include studies related to the Armenian
Genocide, the Holocaust, as well as other attempts to destroy or eliminate
ethnic groups around the world.
“To be able to operate in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy, one must
understand the evils that have haunted past generations,” stated Senator
Scott.
“We must open the discussion on human rights so that today’s children become
responsible adults.”
The model human rights and genocide curriculum, approved by the State
Board of
Education, is intended for use at all K-12 public schools and county
offices of
education.

5) Blasts Kill Seven in Baghdad, More Killed In Clashes

BAGHDAD (AFP)–Several blasts rocked Baghdad, killing seven people, including
two Britons, while clashes between US troops and Shiite militiamen left 18
people dead in the populous Sadr City neighborhood.
Four people were killed and two wounded in an explosion that destroyed an
armored civilian vehicle just outside the sprawling complex housing the US-led
coalition that administers Iraq, a military spokesman said Monday.
Two of those killed in the blast were British civilians, according to the
British Foreign Office.
“These deaths are shocking and they show the risks that civilians and others
have to take in order to assist the Iraqis in the necessary task of rebuilding
and reconstructing their country,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told
reporters in Brussels.
Another three people, including a child, also were killed Monday in an
explosion that destroyed their car only minutes before a US convoy drove by,
witnesses said.
Meanwhile, US troops, who have vowed to wipe out Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s
private army, clashed with the militia overnight in a neighborhood of Baghdad
where he has strong support.
Hospital officials said 18 civilians were killed in the Sadr City
neighborhood, but the coalition put the figure at 26 and said all were
militiamen loyal to Sadr.
The military said US soldiers already had killed “an estimated 21” militiamen
over the weekend after coming under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade
fire in Sadr City.
US troops had announced the death of another 32 militiamen Sunday in Kufa,
just a few kilometers (miles) from the holy city of Najaf where Sadr is holed
up to escape arrest in connection with the killing of a rival cleric.
Twenty of those killed were felled during a battle in the compound of a Kufa
mosque, the coalition said.
Sadr’s Mehdi Army has been involved in weeks of clashes with the occupation
forces, mainly in central Iraq, after the coalition closed down his newspaper
and threatened to arrest him.
Some of the fiercest battles were fought in the Shiite holy city of Karbala,
but both sides moved out of the city over the weekend.
Coalition officials have made it clear they are determined to wipe out the
armed militia.
The coalition’s military and civilian spokesmen have also said they feared
violence could surge further as the date for a transfer of power nears.
The Coalition Provisional Authority is scheduled to hand over sovereignty to
an interim Iraqi government on June 30, and US authorities have insisted they
intended to stick to that date despite the violence.
Last week insurgents carried out two attacks against senior Iraqi political
figures, killing the president of the coalition-installed Governing Council,
Ezzedine Salim, in a suicide car bombing on May 17.
A similar attack on Saturday wounded deputy interior minister General Abdel
Jabbari Yussef. Three guards, an unidentified woman and the attacker were
killed in the blast.
Salim’s successor, Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar, said in an interview published Monday
that the coalition must grant “full sovereignty” to the transitional
government, which has yet to be formed.
“We will not agree to less,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The United States and Britain were to submit to the UN Security Council later
Monday the first draft of a resolution to recognize a new Iraqi government and
clear the way for foreign forces to remain in Iraq after the formal end of the
occupation.
“Once we have full sovereignty, we will have the right to decide whether
multinational forces go or stay,” Yawar said.
But he added that the lack of security “means that we will need multinational
forces…which we hope to broaden to include European Union troops and certain
influential Arab countries.”
He also said another two weeks were needed to set up the transitional
government amid intense negotiations involving UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the
Iraqi council and coalition officials.

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Iran Supports Azerbaijan’s Territorial Integrity, Karrazi Says

Baku Today
May 25 2004

Tehran will always stick to its policy of supporting Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kamal Karrazi, said on Sunday,
according to Azertag news agency.

Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the
United Nations and this policy will not be changed, Karrazi said in
a meeting with Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, Khalaf Khalafov.
The Iranian foreign minister also said his country is for a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that it would do its
best so that the conflict is resolved peacefully.

Azerbaijan’s former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh — which
was home to 140,000 ethnic-Armenians and 40,000 Azeris, according to
1989 census, was occupied by Armenian army in 1991-94 war. The latter
also took control of seven Azeri administrative districts, Lachin,
Kelbejar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jebrail, Zengilan and Qubadli, in the war.

Despite a cease-fire agreement reached between the two countries
in May 1994, peace negotiations mediated by OSCE s Minsk group has
failed to find a final settlement to the conflict.

Karrazi also mentioned that the Iranian President Mahammad Khatami
is planning to make an official visit to Azerbaijan soon.

The Rising Cost of Poor Azeri Healthcare
By Chloe Arnold

Moscow Times
May 25 2004

BAKU, Azerbaijan — To look at the row of boutique shops that just
opened round the corner from my house, selling Versace shirts, Armani
suits and Manolo Blahnik shoes at crippling prices, you’d never guess
that Azerbaijan has an infant mortality rate similar to some of the
poorest countries in Africa.

In fact, more babies die in Azerbaijan every year than in any country
in the former Soviet Union, bar Turkmenistan. For every 1,000 children
born here, 74 will die before their first birthday as compared to
just five in Britain, 18 in Russia and 79 in Senegal.

It’s a shocking figure by anyone’s standards, and more than double
the rate of its former Soviet neighbors Georgia and Armenia, with 24
and 30 infant deaths per 1,000 births respectively.

And it doesn’t seem to make sense. The wealth per capita here is
far greater than in many former Soviet states thanks to the flood of
foreign investors eager to get their hands on the country’s oil.

True, it’s not Kuwait, and the government is not rolling in money.
But neither is it sub-Saharan Africa. They should have enough income
from the export of their crude oil to be able to fund a decent public
health service.

So why are the levels of infant mortality so high? One explanation is
Azerbaijan’s refugee population. Hundreds of thousands of people who
fled the war with Armenia in the early 1990s now live in miserable
camps, which are breeding grounds for diseases like malaria.

But there is another reason. According to a report by UNICEF, the
United Nations children’s fund, part of the reason for Azerbaijan’s
high infant mortality rate is “the declining quality and rising cost
of public healthcare services.”

The key phrase here is the “rising cost” of health services. You see,
in Azerbaijan healthcare is supposed to be free. But, of course,
it isn’t. My Azeri friends tell me that if you go to the doctor,
you have to slip him a few crisp notes before he will even let you
into his consulting room.

What this means is that the poorest families can no longer afford to
get proper treatment. Women give birth at home, or they save up to
go to hospital, but cannot pay if there are complications.

Of course, Azerbaijan is famous for its high levels of corruption. In
international surveys of graft it comes out near the top and ranks
along other champions of corruption like Nigeria and Bangladesh.

No one expects bribery and corruption here to disappear — it’s
simply a part of life. But when babies are dying in critically high
numbers because their parents can’t afford to pay for basic treatment,
perhaps the government needs to sit up and take notice.

Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Kaftaro/ Meeting

Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
May 24 2004

The Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro asserted that the
Arab nation is rich with values and culture that call for modernization
and development.

In a meeting with Archbishop Armash Nalindian, Head of the Armenian
Orthodox community, Kaftaro highlighted the national unity and
religious tolerance Syria is witnessing.

Both sides called on the international community and legitimacy to
play an effective role in halting the dangerous violations perpetrated
by the forces of aggression and injustice under complete absence of
the international law.

H. Zein- A. F. ZAHRA

Federer aims to bury the French Open jinx

The Star Online
Monday May 24, 2004

Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Roger Federer will have to take
the hard road if he is bury his embarrassing French Open jinx when
the second Grand Slam event of the season gets underway here today.

The Swiss world number one, widely considered the finest player of
the current generation, has suffered successive first round defeats
on the slow, red clay of Roland Garros in the last two years.

To add to his problems, he could face triple Roland Garros champion
Gustavo Kuerten in the third round here with Argentina’s David
Nalbandian and former world number one Marat Safin of Russia waiting
to pounce later in the draw.

However, with defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero horribly out of
form with a wrist injury and with serious doubts over US Open winner
Andy Roddick’s ability to adapt his booming game to the slow surface,
there may never be a better opportunity for Federer to triumph here.

Ferrero must face former world number two Tommy Haas of Germany in
his first round match.

Federer also has the added psychological advantage of having defeated
another leading rival Guillermo Coria in the final of the Hamburg
Masters, ending the Argentinian’s 31-match unbeaten run on clay in
the process.

“I’m more relaxed now. The last two years, I went to Paris with very
high hopes. I thought that if I had been in the quarter-finals of the
French Open in 2001 and had won Hamburg in 2002, I can do better at
the French,” said Federer whose win in Germany was his fourth of the
year and 15th of his career.

History says otherwise.

In 2002, he was dumped out of the first round here by Morocco’s Hicham
Arazi while last year it was the turn of Peru’s Luis Horna to take
the Swiss player’s scalp in straight sets.

Federer’s best showing here remains his 2001 quarter-final finish
and he is aware that with Ferrero having not played for a month,
it is Coria who remains a major threat.

The 22-year-old Argentinian is a master of clay where he has won
all of his eight titles, the most recent of which was in Monte Carlo
last month.

Reigning US Open champion Roddick also has a lot to prove.

Like Federer, he has lost in the first round here on his last two
visits with his 2003 exit at the hands of Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian
prompting him to enlist Andre Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert to
help him out of his slump.

It certainly had the desired effect with the young American taking
his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September.

Agassi, now 34, remains many people’s sentimental favourite to add
the trophy to his 1999 triumph as he sets out on his 16th French
Open campaign.

But his build-up has not been impressive.

He made a first round exit at St Poelten on Monday at the hands of
world number 339 Nenad Zimonjic in what was his first clay court
outing of the season.

Safin will also be a contender after a miserable 2003 campaign which
was wrecked by injury.

The Russian was a semi-finalist here in 2002 and hammered home his
recovery by making the final of the Australian Open in January. – AFP

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH QATAR AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA

ArmenPress
May 24 2004

YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS: On May 24 Armenian minister of foreign
affairs Vartan Oskanian received Saleh Ibrahim al-Kuari of Qatar,
who also serves as ambassador to Armenia with residence in Tehran,
Iran. The ambassador presented the duplicate of his credentials to
the minister.

According to Armenian foreign ministry press services, the sides
discussed Armenia’s close cooperation with Arab countries and boosting
cooperation with Qatar as well.

The foreign minister informed that Armenia is interested in developing
relation with countries of Persian Gulf and Qatar in particular. These
relations have set on a new level after Armenian president’s visit
to that country.

The sides also conferred regional situation and developments.

ARMENIAN PILOTS ARRESTED IN MALABO NOT GUILTY, DIPLOMAT SAYS

ArmenPress
May 24 2004

YEREVAN, MAY 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian ambassador to Egypt, Sergey
Manaserian and a senior diplomat from Armenian foreign ministry
traveled on May 10 to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea,
where six Armenian nationals had been in custody since March 9
on charges of being involved in a coup, planned to overthrow this
country’s president.

Armenians were among 20 foreigners, arrested in Equatorial Guinea
and all accused of conspiring to overthrow the government of that
country. They are Ashot Karapetian, captain of the AN-12 crew,
second pilot Samvel Darbinian, aeronautical engineer Ashot Simonian,
navigator Samvel Matchkalyan, flight engineer Razmik Khachatrian
and technician-engineer Suren Muradyan According to the Central
Administrative Board of the Civil Aviation of Armenia, the crew worked
for Tiga Air and were running chartered trade flights inside Central
Africa. But authorities in Equatorial Guinea insist that the flight
crew were part of a planned coup to overthrow President Teodoro
Nguema. The Armenian diplomats spent a week in Equatorial Guinea to
learn what their fate might be and discuss possibilities for their
release with local senior officials.

Ambassador Manaserian told Armenpress that the main goal of the visit
was to learn the conditions in which Armenians are being kept and help
their soon release, “as we have a strong belief that they are not
guilty.” The ambassador said messages from president Kocharian and
Catholicos Karekin II had been conveyed to the country’s president
through foreign minister of that country, asking for the release
of Armenians.

Manaserian said they had been given an opportunity to meet with
all six Armenians to see that their physical condition was normal,
they were given food and medical aid. “We were allowed to talk with
them for two hours in Armenian, therefore they had no restrictions
in transferring information to us. The chief of the crew was even
allowed to have a telephone conversation with Yerevan,” Manaserian
said, adding that the pilots reject all charges.

“Judging from our impressions we have come to believe that they were
not involved in the ascribed crime,” Manaserian said. Armenians will
most likely be tried by an Equatorial Guinean court between June
5-20. Manaserian said he believed they will be set free because of
lack of guilt. He said the Armenian delegation will pay another visit
to Equatorial Guinea before the start of the trial.

“They are among the best pilots of all times in Armenia. They are
professional pilots and honest people,” Manaserian said.

Angolans ‘should face EG trial’

news24.com
19/05/2004 20:37 – (SA)

Malabo – Angolans among a group of 15 people accused of plotting a
coup in Equatorial Guinea should face trial in the central African
country, says their ambassador.

“Mercenaries identified as Angolans or South African-Angolans should
answer for their actions to Equatorial Guinean justice,” said envoy
Emilio José de Carvalho late on Tuesday, quoted on state radio.

On March 6, the Equatorial Guinean government announced the arrest
in Malabo of 15 men suspected to be mercenaries, whom they accused
of preparing to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on behalf of an
exiled opposition leader.

The group included Angolans, Armenians and South Africans, some of
Angolan origin.

There was also one German, who died after “an attack of cerebral
malaria”, according to the authorities.

De Carvalho, who lives in Libreville, capital of neighbouring Gabon,
came to Obiang Nguema with a message from Angolan President José
Eduardo dos Santos, said the radio broadcast.

Ruled with an iron rod

“Angola cannot allow some of its citizens to bring death and misery to
other peoples,” said the ambassador, according to the radio report,
which added that the contents of the presidential message were not
disclosed.

The government of Obiang, who has ruled the small tropical country
with an iron grip since 1979, expects Zimbabwe to extradite a further
group of 70 men arrested in Harare on March 7 and accused there of
planning to fly on to take part in the coup.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe earlier this month held talks with
Obiang after which an official said Mugabe had agreed to hand over
the men for trial and a possible death sentence in Equatorial Guinea.

However, there has not been any official statement from the Zimbabwe
government about extradition of the 70 men.

A lawyer for the 70 men, who come from South Africa, Namibia and
Angola but were almost all travelling on South African passports,
on Tuesday announced potential legal action against South Africa’s
government unless it helped the men.

They have asked the government to either seek their extradition to
South Africa or provide assurances that they will not be handed over
for trial in Equatorial Guinea, said the lawyer.

Edited by Iaine Harper