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ARMENIA BECOMES ONE OF LEADING COUNTRIES IN CONDUCTING DIFFERENT FESTIVITIES AND CELEBRATIONS

AUGUST 28.Everything is braking down, but one still can live and have fun. Such a conclusion was made during a press-conference at Armenia's ministry of industry and trade today. This press-conference was held by the deputy minister Ara Petrosyan and the head of pilgrims having arrived today to Yerevan Marun Atala.

According to Petrosyan, Armenia becomes one of the leading counties in conducting different festivities and celebrations. The friendly attitude of the Armenian people towards every tourist who arrived to Armenia plays an important role in it.

Armenia is a country which not only kept Christianity during 17 centuries, but also did not forget the cultural and historical values of the pre-Christian period, the leader of pilgrims Arabs-marronits Father Marun Atala, who arrived to Armenia in connection with the celebration of 1700th anniversary of adoption of Christianity as a state religion expressed this opinion. 24 persons entered the group "Center of researches and education of the East". They are representatives of the intelligentsia of Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus.

According to the organizer of the pilgrimage, the Armenian businessman from Syria Hovsep Ashyan, the tourism is one of the most important directions of development of the cultural relations between Armenia and peoples of the East.

RELIC OF ST.GRIGOR LUSAVORICH TO BE BROUGHT TO YEREVAN CATHEDRAL AT DAYS VISIT OF ROMAN POPE TO ARMENIA

AUGUST 28. At the days of the visit of the head of the Roman Catholic Church the Pope John Paul II to Armenia, scheduled for Sept 25-27 of the current year, the relics of Armenian St.Grigor Lusavorich (Illuminator) will be brought to the Cathedral of st.Grigor Lusavorich in Yerevan.

As the archbishop Hovnan Terterian informed ARMINFO, 5 ceremonial festivities will be held in the course of the visit of the Roman Pope to Armenia. The oecumanical ceremony in the Cathedral of Yerevan, scheduled for Sept 26 will be the peak of them. During the ceremony
the relics of the first Armenian Catholicos st.Grigor Lusavorich, which have been kept in one of the temples of Naples within 500 years, will be placed in the Cathedral of st.Grigor Lusavorich.

At the same day John Paul II will serve a liturgy in the open sacristy of the Holly See of Echmiadzin. Separate liturgy of the Roman Pope will be held in the Cathedral Church. At the last day of his visit, the John Paul II will visit the cloistral complex Khor-Virap and the Memorial complex of memory o victims of the Armenians' genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1923.

In the course of his visit the Roman Pope will also meet with the President of Armenia Robert Kocharian.

ARMENIA TO START OFFICIALLY CELEBRATING 1,700TH ANNIVERSARY OF
CHRISTIANITY IN ARMENIA BEGINNING IN SEPT 20

AUGUST 28. The main celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as state religion in Armenia will start at Yerevan's Vazgen Sargsyan stadium Sept 20.

According to secretary of the office for conducting the celebrations, archbishop Ovnan Terteryan, a delegation of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) headed by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II will set off for the Khor-Virap monastery complex Sept 21. The same day His Holiness will officially receive high foreign guests.

The XXI ceremony of annointing is scheduled to take place in the Holy See of Echmiadzin Sept 22. A solemn liturgy will precede this ceremony. Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I, Patriarchs of Istanbul and Jerusalem. An inter-church ceremony will be held at
Echmiadzin's Cathedral the same day. Heads and representatives of brotherly churches will congratulate Garegin II on the holiday.

The Yerevan St Grikor the Enlightener Cathedral will be officially consecrated Sept 23. This Cathedral has been built specially to this date.

IT IS ALREADY SEVEN DAYS THAT DWELLERS OF KHARBERD LIVE WITHOUT ELECTRICITY

AUGUST 28. Over 10 dwellers of Kharberd made a rally of protest before the building of Armenia's Ministry of power engineering, connected with the switch off of electricity.

According to the participants of the action, it is already seven days
that they are deprived of opportunity to use electricity, which ahs
been turned off connected with non-payments. In all 1,020 subscribers were left without electricity.

At the same time, as to the protestors, their monthly payments for
electricity expire the 100%. The matter is that the showings of
the head meters do not correspond to showings of meters of
subscribers. Within last 2 years this disparity has been grown from
1.5 mln to 180 mln drams. The employees of the Erebuni power network attach this disparity the super-normative losses, but the return of debts they demand from the dwellers of the district, the rally participants mentioned.

CHANGE OF U.S. CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MINSK GROUP CAREY CAVANAUGH WILL NOT AFFECT RATE OF KARABAKH SETTLEMENT, OFFICIAL YEREVAN THINKS

The change of the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group Carey Cavanaugh will not affect the rate of the Karabakh conflict settlement, the press-secretary of Armenia's foreign ministry Dzunik Aghadjanyan told today ARMINFO. It is known that US ambassador in Moldova Rudolf Perina was named as a possible
candidate to replace Cavanaugh.

According to her, there is a mechanism of quick exchange of information among American diplomats and the new co-chair will be soon informed about the situation around the Karabakh conflict. All the more, the press-secretary said, the next regular visit of the co-chairs to the region is scheduled for Oct of the current year what will allow Perina to get acquainted with the situation and meet with the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh. The change of the US co-chair is connected, first of all, with the administrative rotations in Washington, Aghadjanyan thinks.

The press-secretary of Armenia's foreign ministry also noted that
Yerevan appreciates the work performed by Carey Cavanaugh, as well as the activities of all co-chairs of the Minsk group on the current stage of the Karabakh conflict settlement.

LAWYERS, WHO QUESTION NAIRI HOUNANIAN, ARE NOT SUCCEEDED YET TO RESTORE CLEAR PICTURE OF EVENTS, TAKE PLACE IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ON OCT 27, 1999

AUGUST 28.  In the course of today's sitting of the court on the case on terrorist act in Armenian parliament th head of the terrorists Nairi Hounanian answered the questions of the advocate
Edward Aghajanian, the representative of the vice speaker of the
parliament, killed by terrorists.

The questions, on the whole, concerned directly the terrorist act and actions of the participants of the events, taken place on Oct 27, 1999 in the hall of sitting of Armenia's National Assembly. In
particular, the lawyer for a long time tries to find out, how the "distribution of roles" of the five of the terrorists were implemented, who gave them tasks, with what weapon the terrorists were armed, as well as who how shot and whether could, for instance, the uncle of Nairi Hounanian, Vram Galstian, pressure on the head of terrorists and try to keep him from attacking the parliament of the country.

According to Hounanian, during 10 minutes of the terrorist act nobody gave to anybody orders, all took place spontaneously, and then he made arrangements for all the participants of the terroristic group did not undertake any actions without his instructions. Hounanian confessed that nobody could not influence him, though he considers strange opinion, "if it is really an opinion".

The advocate also asked about why have the brothers Hounanians
lost their head before entering the hall sitting. The head of the terrorists cynically answered that "it was the first time, that's why we were nervous, at the second time we shall act more quietly". He also informed that he does not remember, in which direction Derenik Bejanian shot, whether have Edward Grigorian had another weapon besides a gun.

The next question concerned when, where and in what conditions the terrorists understood that they should give up. According to
Hounanian, he personally, realized it one hour later that it is a dead-lock situation and he began to prepare his accomplices to the surrender and if the president Kocharian and the manager of the administration of the president Alexan Harutyunyan were not late for the meeting with the terrorists, the capitulation would have taken place more much earlier. Hounanian noted that the members of his group took the prospect of surrender painfully, particularly
Karen Hounanian, and Nairi had to ask the TV journalist Tigran Nazaryan to calm him down, and Bedjanov even was close to a suicide.

Then the defendant answered the questions of the representative of the interests of Armenak Armenakyan, the lawyer Yeghishe Anryan. The lawyer first tried to make a clear picture of the terrorists' ringleader, asking him even a number of religious questions, to which Hounanian replied with a quotation from the Bible "he who raised the sword will die from a sword", without taking into consideration himself. He answered the question of the lawyer if the terrorists tried to usurp the power, and how it happened that an educated person like Hounanian, committed such an event, the defendant said that he has already answered these questions, and that Garegin Nzhdeh wanted to seize the power with the help of 20 people during the World War II.

The next hearing is scheduled for Aug 30.