News Digest

President pardons 106
President Aliyev has issued a decree to pardon 106 prisoners, Press Service of the President's Office has told AssA-Irada. Under the decree, 97 people have been released from the outstanding period of their punishment, while the imprisonment period of 9 convicts has been reduced. The amnesty has been applied to those who perpetrated crimes against the independence, statehood and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, attempted state cops in Ganca District in October of 1994, as well as those arrested for attempts in forcibly seizure of power in March of 1995. One prisoner, who was arrested for his part in assassination against President Aliyev in May-August of 1995, was also among the pardoned.

AGO group expected
Council of Europe (CE) Ministerial Committee's AGO group plans to pay an official visit to Baku July 8-12 to monitor implementation of Azerbaijan's commitments to CE, Spokeswoman for CE Baku Office Aytan Sirinova has told Azernews.
According to Sirinova, the AGO will present a report prepared in Baku to a Ministerial Committee's session regarding the level of implementation of CE commitments by Azerbaijan.
The AGO group, which last visited Azerbaijan late in 2002, includes representatives from Italy, Turkey, Greece, Romania, Georgia and the Netherlands.

Lack of funds impedes peacekeepers deployment in Iraq
Commenting on reports on delay in the deployment of 150 Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Iraq, the US ambassador to Azerbaijan Ross Wilson rebuffed the reports, relating the problem to only financial deficiency. "Azerbaijan is one of the countries that are in need of paying expenses to send its militaries to Iraq. Along with other world nations, the United States has also assumed the problem of Azerbaijan. The militaries will leave for Iraq as soon as the problem is settled," said the US envoy, underlining that the Azerbaijani militaries will operate in Iraq under the US command.
Touching upon the scheduled visit of the Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev to Washington, Mr. Wilson said the visit will be realized after the bilateral agreements to be signed as part of the visit are prepared.

Int'l trade fair to be held shortly
An international trade fair, NEFEXPO 2003, will be organized at the sports and Exhibition Complex of Baku on June 26-29. 
Supported by the Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and organized by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) company New Fields Exhibition, the show will display the products by 28 companies. 
A Chamber source has told AssA-Irada the companies of the Indian and Pacific states, exporting own goods via the Emirates, will display their export potential.

Local employees of embassies to pay tax
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Taxes are currently working towards collecting taxes from the highly-paid locals employed in the foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan.   
Chief of the Senior Department of Tax Policy and Strategic Researches  under the Taxes Ministry Akif Musayev has told AssA-Irada the list of local employees working for the embassies has been presented to the Taxes Ministry. Mr. Musayev stressed that tax payments have started, while declining to specify the exact number of tax-payers.

International Bank introduces euro-dollar service
The International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) introduces its clients a new service, Euro-Dollar deposit, the bank has told Azernews. The key term of the service is to place as minimum 1000 US dollars in two separate accounts in the amount of 500 US dollars and 500 euro each. The interest rates are accumulated in two accounts respectively. Interest rates for deposits are calculated as 5, 6 and 7 percent for three-, six- and nine-month period respectively, while they make up 10, 11 and 11.4 percent for terms of one, two and three years accordingly.

Americans to witness beauty of Azerbaijani girls        
A week-long exhibition of photos of Azerbaijani women, ArtLady, will open at the Picture Gallery after Vaciha Samadova, early this July. Supported by the Union of Azerbaijani Artists, the show will exhibit the works by artist and photographer Tahir Mammadov.
Mr. Mammadov has told AssA-Irada the photos will travel to Russia and the United States following the Baku show. "Beauty of Azerbaijani girls will be witnessed in other countries," he underlined.
The photos were displayed Marl, France, last week.