Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Russian sailors owe release on bail to collective effort-Abramian

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Russian sailors owe release on bail to collective effort-Abramian

    Russian sailors owe release on bail to collective effort-Abramian
    By Tamara Frolkina

    ITAR-TASS News Agency
    August 4, 2005 Thursday 12:32 PM Eastern Time

    MOSCOW, August 4 -- The release of Russian sailors from a Nigerian
    prison on bail is largely a result of collective efforts by diplomats
    and political and public figures, UNESCO's goodwill ambassador Ara
    Abramian has told Tass in an interview.

    "I was very glad to hear the news about the Nigerian court's decision
    to release our sailors against the Russian embassy's guarantees. That
    success is a product of our joint efforts," he said.

    As UNESCO's goodwill ambassador, Abramian took an active part in the
    humanitarian campaign for easing the plight of Russian sailors kept
    in a tight security prison in Nigeria.

    The African pride oil tanker belonging to a Greek company, whose crew
    included fifteen Russian sailors, was detained in the autumn of 2003
    in neutral waters off Nigeria on the suspicion of oil smuggling. The
    tanker's crew was arrested.

    There have been repeated calls on the Nigerian leadership for easing
    the Russian sailors' conditions from the Patriarch of Moscow and all
    Russia Alexy II, State Duma members and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    State Duma international affairs committee Konstantin Kosachyov said
    last month, "We have approached UNESCO's goodwill ambassador Ara
    Abramian, with whom we have a good relationship, with a request for
    joining the efforts to settle the situation," Kosachyov said. "He
    readily agreed."

    Abramian then told the media that as UNESCO's goodwill ambassador
    he was prepared for taking part in the humanitarian action to help
    ease the conditions of Russian sailors, but that was a very delicate
    matter. He explained that he would be able to work for a solution,
    if there was a formal request from the Russian Foreign Ministry and
    the mandate for using his international contacts for negotiations
    with the Nigerian leadership.

    "This is precisely the line of action we chose to follow with the
    Armenian government to secure the release of Armenian pilots from
    jail in Equatorial Guinea," Abramian said.
Working...
X