Party leader alleges US coup interest in Azerbaijan

Leader of the New Musavat party Hafiz Haciyev, known for his blistering criticism of the opposition, told a news conference Monday that "the US was interested in making a coup d'etat in Azerbaijan.

He also alleged that the US National Democracy Institute had allocated a million dollars, the German Naumov Foundation 500,000 and Iran 234,000 dollars to the opposition on the 24 August referendum. Saying he had received the information from "reliable sources", Haciyev warned they would picket the NDI in Baku.

Haciyev, president of Azerbaliq (Azeri fish) state concern, served a few years in prison under the Azerbaijan Popular Front rule in 1992-1993 for embezzlement of state property.