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ROME POPE TO OFFICIALLY VISIT ARMENIA SEPT 25-27

SEPTEMBER 24. Rome Pope John Paul II is to pay his first official visit to Armenia Sept 25-27. Sept 25 His Holiness will meet with Pres.Kocharyan, will visit the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex perpetuating the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and the Cathedral of St Grikor the Enlightener in Yerevan consecrated Sept 23. Sept 27 John Paul II will visit the Holy See of Echmiadzin to preach openly to 5,000-10,000 people at the Central Cathedral there. His Holiness will also visit Khor-Virap, having an immediate connection with the history of Christianity's being adopted as state religion in Armenia. John Paul II will leave Armenia Sept 27.

STATE INCOMES MINISTRY BROUGHT A LEGAL ACTION AGAINST POLYVINYLACETATE PLANT

SEPTEMBER 24. . Armenia's state incomes ministry has appealed to the first instance court of Yerevan's Shengavit community to declare bankrupt the Polyvinylacetate closed jsc, ARMINFO has learned from the ministry officials, who, however, refused to give the details of the suit. Shengavit court officials also refrained from comments. Meanwhile, Armenia's state property management minister David Vartanyan has told ARMINFO he is extremely indignant about the fact of suing an enterprise which is put up for sale. Moreover, the state property management ministry wasn't even informed of the suit though it has the legal right to know about such proceedings.

YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY CHANGES BARRELS FOR BRANDY

SEPTEMBER 24. The Yerevan brandy company began the fulfillment of the program of renewal of the stock of wood capacitances for keeping brandy alcohol. As the executive director of the Yerevan brandy company Jean Francois Roucou informed journalists, at the end of this year the cooperage shop of the Yerevan brandy company will issue the first barrels. The wood for them has been purchased in the territories of Armenia and in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In Roucou's estimation, the local raw materials with its quality does not yield to French oak. The executive director of the company mentioned that the total number of wood barrels in the plant makes 40,000 and many of them have expired their resource. The first 8,000 barrels have been imported from abroad. The production of the cooperage shop of the YBC allows annually to change 2,000 barrels. In this program the company will annually invest $500,000 each year. According to Roucou, the new barrels are envisioned for not only renewal of the existing wood containers, but also for changing metallic capacitances. The experts of the YBC think that the implementation of the program will bring to raise of quality of brandy alcohols.

USA WILL NOT START RETRIBUTION ACTIONS TILL ROMAN POPE JOHN PAUL II ENDS HIS VISIT TO ARMENIA

SEPTEMBER 24. The USA will not start the retribution actions till the Roman Pope John Paul II ends his visit to Armenia, RFE/RL said referring the sources in Washington. According to the American sources, this agreement was achieved earlier between the USA and Vatican. As it is known, the visit of Roman Pope will take place on 25-27 Sept.

NEW CATHEDRAL CONSECRATED IN YEREVAN

SEPTEMBER 24. A new cathedral of St.Grikor the Enlightener was consecrated in Yerevan Sept 23 within the framework of the festivities dedicated to the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity as official religion in Armenia. The foundation of the cathedral drafted by architect Stepan Kyurkchyan was laid in 1997. It has 1,700 seats for believers, two chapels of St Trdat and St Ashkhen (the Armenian king and queen, who patronized the adoption of Christianity in Armenia), having 150 seats each. The complex's total area is 3,822 sq m. The cathedral is 54 meter high. $16,056,782 was spent to build it. Diaspora philanthropists Luiz Simon Manoukyan, Nazar Nazaryan and Norayr Ter-Gevorkyan sponsored the construction. The consecration ceremony was held by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan, Armenian top officials, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexiy II, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I, the Armenian Patriarchs of Istanbul and Jerusalem, heads of over 20 Armenian dioceses as well as internationally renowned singer Charles Aznavour were present at the ceremony. His Holiness Garegin II led Sept 21 his clergymen to Khor-Virap and Pres.Kocharyan received high-ranking guests the same day to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Armenia's independence. A ceremony of unction was held for the first time in the 21st century in the Holy See of Echmiadzin Sept 22 followed by a liturgy and involving heads of over 20 Armenian dioceses.

TODAY ARMENIA'S PRESIDENT MET WITH WORLD-KNOWN SINGER CHARLES AZNAVOUR

SEPTEMBER 24. Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan today met with the famous French singer of Armenian origin Charles Aznavour. As the presidential press office informed ARMINFO, Robert Kocharyan and Charles Aznavour discussed the social-economic situation in the country. Maestro noted that there are appreciable progresses after his last visit five years ago. The President shortly presented the works on restoration of the zone of the Spitak earthquake. The interlocutors also touched upon the programs, being implemented in the framework of the fund "Aznavour to Armenia". Charles Aznavour shared his further plans with the President of Armenia. It should be noted that at the day of Armenia's independence, on Sept 21, one of the central squares of Yerevan was named after Charles Aznavour.

RINGLEADER OF TERRORISTS WHO KILLED SEVERAL ARMENIAN STATESMEN IN PARLIAMENT POSTPONED DATE OF HIS APPEAL TO PEOPLE

SEPTEMBER 24. Ringleader of the terrorists who killed several Armenian statesmen in the parliament Oct 27 1999 Nairi Unanyan has postponed the date of his appeal to the people. During a court hearing today he said he will make his appeal Oct 1. Unanyan was going to appeal to the nation Sept 24. Unanyan also said he will answer questions of lawyers only till the end of this week because questions often repeat one another and have little to do with the case. Judge Samvel Uzounyan noted that participants in the trial decide themselves what questions to ask and in what a sequence.

"HAYOTS TUN" PARTY ASKS ARMENIAN PROCURATOR GENERAL TO MAKE CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST JUDGE SAMVEL UZUNYAN

SEPTEMBER 24. In its statement expanded today the "Hayots Tun" (Armenian house) Political Organization demands Armenian Procurator General Aram Tamazyan to make a criminal case against the head of the terrorists Nairi Hunanyan and Judge of the Court of the First Instance of the Yerevan Center and Nork-Marash Communities Samvel Uzunyan (as an accomplice). According to the authors of the document, the criminal cases against Nairi Hunanyan and Samvel Uzunyan must be made, if the court allows the head of terrorists to came out with an application to the people. The authors are of the opinion that the cases against the aforementioned judge as well as against Nairi Hunanyan, who killed deputies and the government members in the Armenian parliament on October 27 1999, must be made on the basis of Hunanyan's intention to apply to the people on September 27 and the court's "indulgence" towards the terrorists. Willy-nilly, the trial turned into "hearing of Hunanyan's gibberish, which allows him not only to present his crime as a feat for welfare of the people, but also to insult the people mourning for the death," the statement said. In this connection, the "Hayots Tun" Party called the Procurator General's Office for reconsideration of the question of making a criminal case against Samvel Uzunyan for violating the 98th Clause of the Armenian Constitution (concerning illegality of judge's launching political activities). It should be noted that Hunanyan postponed today the date of his application to the people for October 1.

NO PROGRESS IN QUESTION OF PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT OBSERVED IN ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN RELATIONS VOID

SEPTEMBER 24. No progress in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict is observed in the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations. Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Lord Russel Johnston made this statement today at the opening ceremony of the PACE autumn session in the Strassbourg. He said that the absence of the progress is obvious, in spite of the fact that the leaders of the two countries held meetings 18 times. Russel Johnston is known to have visit Yerevan and Baku within the framework of his visit to the South Caucasus region. However, the PACE head's statements in Armenia and Azerbaijan were extremely contradictory. According to Armenian observers, the Lord's behavior is explained by the fact of CE's being non-informed of details of the Karabakh problem.