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The briefer of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the South Ossetian conflict in August 2008, David Wilshire, presented a package of propositions on closing the Russian-Georgian file, said deputy of the Russian delegation in PACE and first deputy chairman of the Duma committee on foreign affairs, Leonid Slutskiy, ITAR-TASS reports.
Cherkessians hope for support of compatriots from Turkey after liftingof the visa regime
Jan Fisher, the Czech president, thinks that the problem of Karabakh can be resolved only in the framework of the Minsk group of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, News Armenia reports.He said that Armenia should react calmly to the discussions on this question. Serzh Sargsyan, the president of Armenia, said that the attitude of the Czech president to the problem coincides with the position of Armenia.
The Turkish authorities have set the date of a referendum onconstitutional amendments.
Collective Security Treaty Organization will not bring in peacekeepers to Kyrgyzstan to settle the situation, Interfax reports, citing the Secretary-General of the organization Nikolay Bordyuzha.
A US court has found a Taiwanese businessman guilty of illegally supplying Iran with prohibited rocket components, Interfax reports. I Lanchen was arrested on the US island of Guam in the Pacific attempting to ship components to Iran, which is under an embargo.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian embassies in Russia had battle of words,published by the media.Azerbaijani ambassador Polad Biulbiuloglu said at a meeting withveterans on Victory Day that Azerbaijan is determined to restore thecountry's unity, using force if peace negotiations fail.The head ofthe Armenian diplomatic mission in Moscow Oleg Yesayan, reacted byaccusing the Azerbaijani side of warlike declarations and militarism.
Although the sides have not fully come together, progress is being made on a Nagorno-Karabakh resolution, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a press-conference in Ankara after negotiations with Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, RIA Novosti reports. He said that they discuss the issue regularly. The last time it was discussed was in Washington. Medvedev said that they are continuing their efforts to solve the issue. He met President Sargsyan and President Aliyev and carried out joint meetings on the problem,
An unknown assailant attempted to assassinate the Pakistani ambassadorto Iran in Tehran, leaving the diplomat wounded and hospitalized, RIANovosti reports, citing France Press.According to preliminary information, the attacker was a native ofAfghanistan and was arrested by police. There is no information aboutthe diplomat’s condition.
The former head of Russneft Mikhail Gutsiriev, who left Russia in 2007for London, arrived in Ingushetia today, RIA Novosti reports citing asource in the Ingush presidential administration."A charter plane landed in the Ingush airport of Magas," the source said.At the end of April, the Investigative Committee at Russia's InteriorMinistry lifted the last accusation against Gutsiriev- illegalbusiness.
Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has said that he has informationindicating that a terrorist act is planned for the republic on May 9,the 65th anniversary of victory in World War Two, RIA Novosti reports.He added that law-enforcement agencies are taking all necessary stepsto prevent terrorist attacks on Victory Day.
Another meeting on preventive measures and mechanisms of reaction to incidents, that took place in Gali on Wednesday, ended unsuccessfully, the Georgian Interior Minister said. Various issues were unresolved, including simplification of population transport across the border, said the head of the Georgian analytical department at the Interior Ministry, Shota Utiashvili.
Law-enforcement agencies in Russia's North Caucasus republic ofKabardino-Balkaria are searching for 37 members of illegal armedgroups, RIA Novosti said, citing the republic's Interior Ministry.Ten of the wanted figures are on an international wanted list.Many of the militants are being sought in connections with murders andattacks on police.
Leaders of non-governmental organizations in the North CaucasusFederal District (NCFD) are to meet Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
The Russian Foreign Ministry did not receive any official requests from Azerbaijan to allow Turkey to join the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh, RIA Novosti reports citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko.At the same time Nesterenko declared that Russia is open to Iran holding a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran on Nagorno-Karabakh. He noted that this meeting is Iran's only participation in the settlement process.
Restoring diplomatic relations with Russia is possible, the leader ofAlliance in the name of Georgia Irakli Alasania said at a meeting withteaching staff of the Diplomatic Academy, Trend reports.He believes that the main problem for national interests in the regionis Russia. But improving relations will complicate westernintegration, Europe and the USA point out.
Anti-US demonstrations have taken place in Iran in front of the Swissembassy, which represents US interests in Iran, RIA Novosti reports,citing the Iranian information agency Fars.At the start of April, US President Barack Obama declared that Iranand North Korea will be excluded from new US obligations on thelimited use of US nuclear arms for breaching non-proliferationagreements. Iran understood the declaration as a nuclear threat andsent an official complaint to the UN.
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Kanat Sudabayev had telephone conversationswith the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, ElmarMammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian, respectively, a VK correspondentreports, citing the Kazakh press-service.The chairman said in his discussions he was interested in the effortsand participation of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in thesettlement of relations.The sides exchanged opinions about preparations for an informal OSCECouncil of Foreign Ministers in Alma-Ata on 16-17 July and the 2010
Ankara has stated that resolving this conflict is the key to thenormalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia.
The Georgian delegation is leaving for Strasbourg to participate in a PACE session which will be opened on April, 26th. Following the words of the president of the parliament euro-intergration commitee David Darchiashvili, the session will start the next week and will end on April, 30th. At the spring session of PACE Heidi Tagliavini is expected to announce a conclusion on the August war between Russia and Georgia.
