So far the following twelve candidates have declared themselves to be running for the post of president in the fall elections: Yunus Oguz (National Unity), Elsad Musayev (Great Azerbaijan), Araz Alizada (Social-Democrat), Ali Karimli (People Front Party, reformers), Gudrat Hasanquliyev (PFPA, unifiers), Lala-Sovkat Haciyeva (Liberal), Etibar Mammadov (Party of National Independence), Heydar Aliyev and Ilham Aliyev (Motherland party), Ilyas Ismayilov (Adalat), Isa Qambar (Musavat), Rasul Quliyev ...... полностью

Azerbaijan will sell state-owned shares in mobile phone operators Azercell, a Turkish-Azerbaijani JV, and Bakcell, an Israeli-Azerbaijani JV, by the end of 2003, Minister for Economic Development (MED) Farhad Aliev told journalists on Tuesday. "We are currently assessing the government's stakes in these joint ventures, as we will offer the shares to foreign partners after the evaluation is over. If they refuse, the shares will be put on sale in an investment tender or privatized in another way...... полностью

Representatives of the Azerbaijani Ministries of Economic Development and Foreign Affairs, as well as the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) have taken part in a conference on revival of Iraq with support from the US and British governments held in London. Organized by the US embassy in London and the Organization of UK Trade Partners, the gathering brought together the two countries' state officials, representatives from the coalition states and international organizations, ...... полностью

Coordinator of the Center for Defense of Religious Belief and Freedom of Consciousness Ilqar Ibrahimoglu voiced concern on rise in facts of violation of civil and political rights of women believers at a news conference at the Baku Press Club on Thursday. Over 3,000 complaints have been submitted to the Center over the past 5 years, Mr. Ibrahimoglu said. In particular, the head-geared women face with problems in entrance to universities, official registration in the place of residence, employm...... полностью

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Peter Schieder arranged a news conference following the Bureau meeting on Monday. Avoiding taking a view on the four-year program developed by the newly established coalition in Armenia, stipulating non-return of Upper Qarabag to Azerbaijan under any circumstances, Mr. Schieder said the PACE fall session would hear a report from Rapporteur for Upper Qarabag, British parliamentarian Terry Davis. He also noted that Armenia wou...... полностью

Secret service begins deporting Azeris from border * The Iranian special service bodies began to deport the residents of the East Azerbaijan province along the Azerbaijani-Iranian border last week. In parallel, two military bases of the Iranian Air Forces have been situated on the Khoruzlu mountain surrounding the Ardabil and Parsabad provinces bordering Azerbaijan, the World Azerbaijanis Congress (WAC) has told AssA-Irada. * WAC quoted its representative in Ardabil as reporting that Pashazada ...... полностью

* Iran before a precipice? * Scenes from past signal change in Iran * Students of Tehran University for over a week have gone out into streets to protest against Iran's clerical regime, with most of the teachers joining them. The protesters clashed with the police and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, with several reported killed and injured. Tensions are growing. * Dark clouds hang over Iran like 25 years ago, stimulating the people to protest. People in Iran are unwilling to live under cu...... полностью

Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Vilayat Quliyev received an Afghan delegation led by First Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Rahim Shirzoyu on Friday. Speaking of the fact-finding visit of the Afghan mission, Mr. Quliyev said the development of further bilateral relations is of great importance for the two countries. The Azerbaijani diplomat also stressed the necessity of continuing the cooperation on mutual benefits within the framework of the Islamic Conference Organization (ICO), the Economic C...... полностью

As the end of his tenure as US ambassador draws near, Ross Wilson has been saying his goodbyes in a round of meetings with senior figures in Azerbaijan. At a final news conference at the Nizami Hall of the Hyatt Park Hotel of Baku on Monday, Mr. Wilson recalled that Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev had appreciated his diplomatic activities, awarding him with Azerbaijan's highest state award, Order of Honor, for his outstanding contributions to strengthening of bilateral relations within a ye...... полностью

The Italian government has confirmed the changes to the European Trio, comprising Foreign Ministers of Spain, ex-chairman of the union Ana Palacio Vallelersundi, the current President, Georgios Papandreou of Greece, and the waiting President Franco Frattini of Italy, which is expected to arrive in Baku on an official visit with high-ranking European Union officials Javier Solana and Chris Patten. As Italian Ambassador Ms. Margherite Costa previously told AssA-Irada Italian Deputy Foreign Mini...... полностью

Deployment of NATO forces in Azerbaijan for safeguarding the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan export pipeline has been a topic of heated discussions in the local and Russian media, as well as the international press. The US media, meanwhile, has reported on the earliest removal of the NATO contingent based in Germany. * The Turkish Hurriyyet newspaper quoted the US Wall Street Journal as reporting that the United States is expected to send 15,000  troops to Azerbaijan to ensure the security of oil pipe...... полностью

Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ahad Gazzai denied local and foreign media reports on possible regime change in Iran by the US-lead coalition forces, saying it supports terrorism, as well as manufactures banned chemical and biological weapons. The Ambassador has told Azernews all activities linked with use of nuclear power have been under the control of the international organizations thus far and the process will continue. "Iran has declared its intention to use the nuclear power," Mr. Gaz...... полностью

The US State Department has granted $46m to strengthen the activity of GUUAM, a regional organisation uniting Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Moldova. Commenting on the support, Foreign Minister Vilayat Quliyev told AssA-Irada that the grant money will be mobilised for projects aimed to fight terrorism, smuggling and drug trafficking, as well as to modernise check and frontier posts, etc. Meanwhile, the GUUAM Foreign ministers meeting planned for May 18-20 in Tibilisi has been...... полностью

Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev received a US Defence Ministry's delegation headed by spokeswoman for the Eurasia Group, Ms. Kerry Johnson, on Monday. Welcoming the guests, Minister Abiyev expressed his satisfaction with the intensification of meetings aimed to strengthen Azerbaijan-US bilateral military cooperation. Ms. Kerry Johnson said there is no limitation on US-Azerbaijan bilateral military cooperation, to be developed at an accelerated pace in the future. Afterwards, the parties di...... полностью

"Deployment of 150 Azeri peacekeepers to Iraq will be postponed," Press Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Ramiz Malikov told Azernews on Monday. He said that such cases are peculiar to war and that the trip will occur later. On Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev's official trip to the United States, he noted that the visit remains on the agenda. The delay is due to the lack of any appropriate agreement between Azerbaijan and the Pentagon. It is believed that the defence minister will co...... полностью

"The issue relating to the status of Azerbaijanis living in Russia will be put on discussion at the next meeting of the Azerbaijani-Russian cooperation commission to be held in Moscow during the last ten days of May." The First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, also the commission co-chairman, Abbas Abbassov has told Azernews that the Azerbaijani side wants to sign a special document on the status of Azerbaijani nationals in Russia with a view to ensuring their security, though the Russian go...... полностью

The 80th birthday of President Aliyev was widely celebrated in Azerbaijan despite his absence. Concerts, exibitions and TV programmes were presented up and down the country. * The Predident was inundated with congratulations from world leaders, as well as being honoured by the French and Russian governments. * A major celebration will be held at the Gulustan Palace, Baku shortly with the heads of several countries to participate in the event. * Relevant preparatory works are underway. Repairs ha...... полностью

On the night of May 12, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev returned home from Turkey,  having undergone medical treatment at the Gulhane Military Medical Academy since May 3. * Following the announcement, the press office of the Presidential Administration, did not elaborate on the state of health of the president. However, it was reported that no official reception for President Aliyev was scheduled for Monday, and he will work in accordance with his usual schedule. * Rumours abound that the P...... полностью

A new novel entitled "Xocali Tragedy" has come out in Azerbaijan. Written by Inqlab Valizada and Aliaga Cafarli, the book is based on historical facts, memories of eye-witnesses saved from the 26 February 1992 massacre committed against civilian Azeris by the 'soldiers' of the Russian-Armenian military alliance, and narratives by women, children and the elderly, taken prisoner by Armenian terrorists. With heavy hearts, the authors described atrocities committed by Armenian terrorists against th...... полностью

On March 31 the Azerbaijan people will mark the Day of Genocide. This date has been observed since 1998, when President Aliyev issued an edict "On genocide of Azerbaijanis", the first document to give political and legal assessment to the atrocities perpetrated by Armenians in the name of their "great Armenia" obsession. * On this date in March 1918, a group comprising Bolsheviks and Dashnaks, Armenian nationalist party, under the pretext of a "struggle against counter-revolutionaries", launched...... полностью

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Quliyev regarded congratulation of Robert Kocharian [as the newly elected president of Armenia] by Turkish President Ahmad Necdet Sezer as "at least an incomprehensible action." Speaking about his meeting with the Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Ahmed Unal Cevikgoz, the minister said he requested the Turkish ambassador to bring Baku's stance on the issue to the consideration of Ankara. The Turkish president's congratulatory letter to Kocharian has embarrass...... полностью

"Azerbaijan is ready to take part in the humanitarian rehabilitation of Iraq after the present conflict," reads a press release by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan. Shedding light on the issue, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Quliyev told AssA-Irada that Azerbaijan's contribution will more deal with the period to follow the end of the conflict. The minister believes that if the hostilities are successfully over, the Iraqi people will have much to rebuild, and the process ...... полностью

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has voiced serious concern over the Iraq war in its statement last week. The statement reads: "Azerbaijan is observing the developments in Iraq with deep concern and anxiety. Azerbaijan, which sticks determinedly to the norms and principles of international law, calls on Iraq to fully comply with UN Security Council resolutions (678, 687, 1441). Having become a victim of serious violations of international law norms and principles as a result of the ongoing Arm...... полностью

* WB to allocate $60-m loan for education strategy * Ministry of Education representatives are due to travel to Washington in late March to conducting talks over loaning the Azerbaijani education strategy with the World Bank (WB). Minister for Education Misir Mardanov has told the media that a preliminary agreement on this issue was reached with a WB mission that visited Baku last week and remaining technical aspects would be discussed in Washington. He added the loan totaling $63m would be all...... полностью

Parliament considers gov't report satisfactory * Milli Maclis (parliament) continued to discuss the draft Electoral Code in the first reading on Tuesday. Then, First Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov presented the government's report on its performance over 1997-2002 to the meeting attended by the Prime Minister Artur Rasizada. * After the presentation of the report, MPs started discussions. Iqbal Agazada said it was disrespect to the parliament that the report was made by not Prime Minister ...... полностью

The Co-ordinating Centre of the Opposition held a sanctioned meeting outside the Qalaba cinema on March 16. Speakers said the opposition would not allow for unjust and undemocratic presidential elections in October though endeavours are made to push an abnormal Electoral Code through the parliament. Slogans calling for the government's resignation were also heard for the first time at a rally by the united opposition. Organisers of the action said 15,000-20,000 people were involved in the rally...... полностью

The Culture and Youth and Sports departments of Baku Mayor's office have prepared a series of undertakings on the occasion of Novruz Bayrami, a national holiday meaning exhilaration of nature. Festive arrangements are to take place in all parks and squares of the city on March 18, the last Tuesday on the eve of Novruz, and March 20 to 21. The official celebration is, as usual, scheduled for March 21 at the Ganclik square in front of the Qosa Qala (double) gates into the Old City. Then the venue...... полностью

But some consider Wilson's statement as an attempt to pressure Turkey * The US ambassador in Baku Ross Wilson is continuing his efforts to enlist further support from Azerbaijan in the run-up to possible war with Iraq. * It is in this context his statements, made last week should be understood. In a speech at the Baku Slavic University ambassador Wilson stated that the US is against Iraq border changes, implying that his government will not stand for the establishment of a new independant Kurdis...... полностью

* US humanitarian organizations assist people in conflict affected areas * The US humanitarian activities include thirteen projects with a focus on economic opportunity, community development and primary health care in 500 communities in over 23 cities and districts of the country. * Ahmedabad is a village in the district of Sabirabad, southern Azerbaijan. Its population is slightly more than 2,338 of which 780 are refugees. During the Soviet period the village residents were mostly involved in...... полностью

Don't confuse the world community * A statement carried by the  September issue of the Azerbaijan magazine published in Sweden triggered in me an impression that the author was Armenian or someone who considered Azerbaijan an enemy. Unfortunately, my presumption was not justified. The statement was signed by Malik Malikmahmud oglu Isayev. According to his introduction, he is the press secretary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party Nizami district branch, head of party point #2. In the stateme...... полностью