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  • ASBAREZ Online [08-02-2006]

    ASBAREZ ONLINE
    TOP STORIES
    08/02/2006
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    1. Christian and Muslim Leaders Appeal for Immediate Cease-Fire
    2. Homenetmen Pan-Armenian Jamboree Begins in Armenia
    3. Armenian Community In Rostov Condemns Church Desecration
    4. Minsk Group Co-Chairmen Meet in Paris
    5. Extent Of 'Victory' In Kodori Offensive Unclear

    1. Christian and Muslim Leaders Appeal for Immediate Cease-Fire

    ANTELLIAS, Lebanon--His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great See of
    Cilicia
    Tuesday joined Lebanon's spiritual leaders to call for an immediate cease fire
    and urge the international community to monitor the crisis more seriously.
    The conference, which was held in Bekerkeh region of Lebanon, was attended by
    Christian and Muslim leaders and carefully examined the current military
    crisis
    afflicting Lebanon.
    "This is the true Lebanon; this togetherness of Muslim and Christian
    Spiritual
    leaders concretely manifest the real image of Lebanon. This very meeting by
    itself is a living message. It is a message of the crucial importance of
    coexistence; it is a message of peace with justice; it is a message of
    compassion tolerance and mutual respect. In fact, violence is not the way to
    solve problems. Dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise based on justice
    and peace for all, is the most efficient way of dealing with complex issues
    and
    situations," Aram I told the press after the conference.
    "Together with one voice in our joint declaration we appealed for immediate
    cease-fire and cessation of all hostilities. We expressed our full support to
    all actions and initiatives taken by the government of Lebanon. We emphasized
    the importance of the expansion of the state's authority over all the
    territories of Lebanon. It is our firm expectation that international
    community
    and particularly the United Nations will act decisively to stop violence and
    help Lebanon to recover itself," added the Catholicos.


    2. Homenetmen Pan-Armenian Jamboree Begins in Armenia

    BIURAKAN, Armenia--More than 650 scouts representing 16 countries gathered
    at a
    campsite Monday for the opening of the 8th pan-Armenian scouting jamboree
    organized by Homenetmen.
    Present at the opening ceremonies for were chairman of the Armenian
    Revolutionary Federation Bureau Hrand Markarian, Primate of the Argadzotn
    Diocese Rev. Torgom Donikian, members of the Homenetmen Central Executive and
    other guests.
    At the beginning of the inaugural, representatives from each country
    participated in a flag ceremony where the flags of each guest country was
    raised. This was followed by the raising of the Armenian tri-color and the
    Homenetmen flag.
    This impressive ceremony was followed by a message delivered by Lucine
    Kazezian who spoke on behalf of the Homenetmen Lebanon Regional Executive,
    expressing disappointment that its members were unable to participate in this
    event due to the continuous bombing of the country by Israel.
    Kazezian explained that despite months of preparation and excitement, the
    scouts from Lebanon were unable to attend, adding that while they were not
    physically present at the jamboree each and every scout in Lebanon was there
    with heart and soul.
    Hratch Shmavonian, chairman of the Homenetmen Armenia (HASK) Regional
    Executive welcomed all the participants and expressed hope that this jamboree
    will, once again, become an opportunity to create new memories.
    Following remarks by jamboree director Alec Khatchatryan, who underscored the
    important role of gatherings such as the jamboree in the lives of young
    Armenians, ARF Bureau chairman Markarian welcomed the participants.
    In his remarks, Markarian stressed that the mission of the Homenetmen and the
    ARF did not differ from one another, stressing that the Homenetmen has an
    important mission in Armenia as the nation continues to become strong country.
    By comparing Homenetmen to a volunteer army, Markarian underscored the
    important role the organization plays throughout the world in bringing
    together
    Armenians and especially the Armenian youth.
    On behalf of the Homenetmen Central Executive, Garbis Kabasakalian
    highlighted
    the significance of being able to convene the jamboree in Armenia as the most
    natural setting for the organization since its mission of bringing Armenians
    together is fully realized when its scouts gather in the homeland.
    After the convocation by Primate Donikian, the jamboree officially began,
    with
    the participating scouts each beginning to take part in the various
    activities.
    The jamboree will conclude on Wednesday, August 9, at which time the
    participants will tour Armenia.


    3. Armenian Community In Rostov Condemns Church Desecration

    ROSTOV, Ukraine (Armenpress)--Armenian intellectuals and community leaders
    Wednesday condemned the desecration of Holy Cross Armenian Church in Rostov,
    Ukraine and an attempt to burn down the Russian-Armenian friendship situated
    inside the church.
    Unknown assailants Monday reportedly desecrated the temple and tried to burn
    it. Failing to enter the church they broke and burnt the windows and sprayed
    the slogans "white justice has come" and "Russia is for Russians" on the
    church
    walls.
    A meeting was held Tuesday at the Armenian Consulate General in the Southern
    Russian, during which Consul General Ararat Gomtsian condemned the act of
    vandalism and read a message directed to the town and provincial authorities,
    as well as to law-enforcement bodies. The message demands that the persons
    responsible for this be found and punished.
    The Russian-Armenian Yerkramas newspaper reported that the director of the
    Rostov regional monuments protection agency Alexander Kozhin said "the
    desecration of historic monuments is terrible." He added that the Holy Cross
    Church was the only architectural monument in Rostov that date back to the
    18th
    century.


    4. Minsk Group Co-Chairmen Meet in Paris

    PARIS--The US, French and Russian Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minks Group were
    joined by the special representative to the chairman in office of the OSCE
    Wednesday to discuss the Karabakh peace process, following the recent by
    the US
    Co-chair Matthew Bryza to the region.
    Bryza briefed his Russian and French counterparts Yuri Merzlyakov and Bernard
    Fassier Yuri, as well as the OSCE Chairman in Office representative Andrzej
    Kasprzyk about his recent visit to Yerevan, Stepanakert and Baku.
    Sources close to the discussion stated that the Minsk Group leaders are
    expected to recommend a meeting between Armenian foreign minister Vartan
    Oskanian and his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammedyarov to be held in Prague.
    In Yerevan, director of political affairs for the Armenian Revolutionary
    Federation Giro Manoyan told the Hayots Ashkhar daily that Bryza's visit to
    the
    Nagorno-Karabakh Republic could be viewed as an indication that the Minsk
    Group
    was considering to bring back Stepanakert into the negotiating process.
    Manoyan told the newspaper that before agreeing to a future referendum of
    independence in Karabakh, the Armenian side must make sure that Azerbaijan
    would not be able to thwart the vote or reject its results.
    "If the parties agree to hold a referendum clarifying Karabakh's status three
    or five years after signing an accord, it must be made clear that in case of a
    failure to hold it for any reason Karabakh will automatically become a part of
    Armenia," he says.
    Meanwhile, the human rights group Refugees for International Law, in a
    letter,
    appealed to the OSCE Co-chairmen to include the issue of Armenian refugees
    displaced by Azeri ethnic cleansing efforts in Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan
    within the ongoing negotiations.
    In the letter, the organization pointed out that the status of the 500,000
    Armenian refugees from the Baku and Sumgait pogroms in the late 1980's and
    early 1990's, as well from ethnic cleansing operations in Nakhichevan at that
    time needed to be a part of the Minsk Group peace process agenda.
    "From the legal point of view the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is the only legal
    successor of Soviet Azerbaijan. We believe a partial resolution of the issue
    would be if Karabakh citizenship were granted to the Armenian refugees in
    territories outside Karabakh boundaries but within its jurisdiction today,"
    stressed the human rights organization's appeal.
    Similar letters have been sent to leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan by
    the same group.


    5. Extent Of 'Victory' In Kodori Offensive Unclear

    PRAGUE (RFE/RL)--Georgian officials have sought to present last week's
    incursion into the Kodori Gorge as a major territorial gain. But such claims
    gloss over the Georgian failure to apprehend former Kodori Governor Emzar
    Kvitsiani, whose defiance of the Georgian authorities served as the catalyst
    for what Tbilisi claims was simply a police operation.
    Speaking on national television on July 28, Georgian President Mikheil
    Saakashvili said that Georgia now "directly controls a very important
    strategic
    part of the territory of Abkhazia," and will "establish Georgian jurisdiction
    and constitutional order in the heart" of that breakaway region.
    "We have a good army in Georgia. They are really good boys...but the
    commander...is an idiot. He knows nothing about military strategy." --
    Kvitsiani
    Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili said the same day that
    "practically the whole of the gorge is under the control of the police."
    Such claims are, however, an exaggeration, insofar as Georgia has merely
    extended its control over the upper reaches of the gorge -- formerly a
    no-man's-land controlled by Kvitsiani's Monadire (Hunter) militia -- as far as
    the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.
    Kristian Bzhania, a spokesman for Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh, derided
    the
    Georgian claims, telling regnum.ru that "we have another word for what
    Saakashvili calls the heart."
    Bagapsh himself warned when the Georgian forces first entered Kodori that he
    would mobilize his army if the Georgian contingent actually advanced onto
    Abkhaz territory.
    Saakashvili and Okruashvili praised the conduct of the Kodori operation,
    which
    was supervised by Okruashvili and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili
    personally as both army and Interior Ministry troops took part. (Okruashvili
    subsequently clarified the division of responsibilities between the Defense
    and
    the Interior ministries, saying that the latter carried out the operation and
    the armed forces merely provided "logistical support," according to "Novye
    Izvestia," as cited on August 1 by apsny.ru.)
    Former Governor Emzar Kvitsiani (InterPressNews, undated)US military
    personnel
    in Georgia described the Georgian troops' performance to one Washington
    analyst
    as less than stellar, noting that morale among the Georgian servicemen was not
    good and that at one point the operation was halted due to "inclement weather
    conditions."
    The Russian newspaper "Vedomosti" on July 28 likewise quoted unnamed
    "experts"
    as saying the Georgian military is not yet professional enough to conduct
    large-scale operations.
    Former Kodori Governor Kvitsiani, who managed to evade the advancing Georgian
    troops and whose current whereabouts are unknown, was particularly
    scathing. He
    said in video footage broadcast on July 30 by the independent Georgian
    television channel Imedi that claims that his fighters were surrounded were
    "laughable."
    Kvitsiani claimed that the Georgian troops "do not know the area and cannot
    read maps.... We have a good army in Georgia. They are really good boys...but
    the commander...is an idiot. He knows nothing about military strategy."
    Russian experts have pointed out that even if, as Abkhaz presidential
    envoy to
    Gali Raion Ruslan Kishmaria has alleged, Georgia is deploying more troops to
    the upper reaches of the Kodori Gorge with the aim of advancing into the lower
    reaches and attacking Sukhum, the Abkhaz capital, such an offensive is fraught
    with risk.
    "Izvestia" on August 1 quoted an unnamed Russian general as saying that
    "starting a campaign in Kodori in summer would be suicidal." He pointed out
    that the mountains are covered in foliage, providing the enemy with excellent
    cover, and that it would be virtually impossible to use armor or heavy
    artillery. A Russian military analyst similarly noted that at one point the
    gorge narrows to the point that two platoons of Abkhaz special forces could
    easily block any further Georgian advance.
    Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister Valeri Chechelashvili said on July 31,
    however, that Tbilisi has no intention of using Kodori as a bridgehead to
    advance further into Abkhazia. And Abkhaz President Bagapsh apparently sees no
    danger of such an advance at this point.
    Bagapsh told volunteers from the North Caucasus on August 1 that there is no
    need at this juncture to mobilize the entire male population of Abkhazia,
    Caucasus Press reported, although he added that "there are people within the
    Georgian government whose ambitions are so high they are incapable of rational
    decisions."
    But Abkhaz Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sultan Sosnaliyev told
    Interfax
    on August 1 that Tbilisi is secretly replacing the Interior Ministry troops
    deployed to Kodori with regular military personnel -- a claim that has not
    been
    verified.
    The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement on July 31 demanding the
    immediate withdrawal of all Georgian forces from Kodori. That statement warned
    that the Georgian authorities' actions risk fueling tensions and provoking an
    unanticipated "confrontation."
    Meanwhile, Okruashvili responded on July 31 to Russian Defense Minister
    Sergei
    Ivanov's demand for international monitoring of the Georgian troops in Kodori
    by saying Tbilisi would consent only after international military experts have
    been allowed to inspect the former Russian military base in Gudauta,
    Abkhazia.
    Under an agreement signed in November 1999, Moscow undertook to withdraw its
    troops and materiel from that base by July 1, 2001, but the Georgian
    government
    claims that some Russian personnel are still there. Whether Okruashvili is
    trying to buy time in order to prepare for a new offensive is as yet unclear.


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    (c) 2006 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved.

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    From: Baghdasarian
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