* Minsk Group co-chair's visit in question * The OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chairmen were to visit the region on May 22-23. Some sources have carried reports that the visit will be put off due to the health of Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev. Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry is withholding full information on whether the trip will take place or not. In her interview with Azernews, Azerbaijani Ambassador to France Eleonora Huseynova said she has no details of the visit date. Mention...... полностью

* Milli Maclis to revise Electoral Code * Wednesday's session of Milli Maclis (parliament) started with a minute-lasting commemoration of the 11th anniversary of the occupation of Susa, a picturesque town with choice position in the Upper Qarabag region. * Afterwards deputies proceeded with discussion of the draft Electoral Code, with some MPs voicing negative opinion on relevant remarks by international organisations. * A majority of the speakers came out in favour of the original wording of t...... полностью

* Greek president to attend inauguration of European House * Greek President Konstantinos Stephanapulos will visit Azerbaijan over June 30 - July 1. During the trip, President Stephanapulos will meet his Azerbaijani counterpart Heydar Aliyev and top government officials and sign several agreements on economical cooperation. * The visit program includes participation in the opening ceremony of European House, aimed at regulating the relationships between the European Union (EU) and newly indepen...... 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

* Opera and Ballet Theatre  film * French TV journalist Maksim Mardukhayev arrived in Baku to make a film about the Azerbaijani State Opera and Ballet Theatre. * The theatre's press office told AssA-Irada that Maksim Mardukhayev had shot similar films about more five well-known theatres. * During his last year's visit, Mardukhayev filmed a 52-minute documentary about the plight of refugee and IDP children in Imisli District. The documentary is to be presented in Baku and Imisli as part of...... полностью

* Refineries hike supplies  * Oil refineries in Azerbaijan in January-February 2003 supplied 916,700 tonnes of oil products to the fuel market in January-February 2003, up 15.7 per cent on last years figure, the  State Statistics Committee said in a monthly report. The domestic market has consumed 65 per cent of the total supply, with the remaining 35 per cent slated for export.Azerenerji accounted for 61.8 per cent of supplies to the domestic market, Azernefttachizat (a SOCAR divisi...... полностью

* Moncrief, Petoil quit Azerbaijan... Nation's Energy enters * The US company Moncrief Oil and Turkey's Petoil have quit Azerbaijan, selling all their operations to Canadian oil major Nation's Energy, industry sources told Azernews. * Moncrief Oil as the operator of two onshore projects in Azerbaijan was in charge of development of the Kalamaddin-Misovdag and the Padar-Xarami contract areas. * With Moncrief's withdrawal Nation's Energy has become the operator for both projects. * Michael Palme...... полностью

* Azerbaijan, Iran redouble border patrols * Control of the Iranian-Azerbaijani frontier line has been intensified following the war on Iraq waged by the US-led coalition. * Commander-in-Chief of the Azerbaijani frontier troops, Col-Gen Elcin Quliyev told AssA-Irada that the appropriate measures had been taken to address the likelihood that Iraqis, who fled from the area of hostilities, could cross the Iranian frontier and from there move forward in the northern direction. * Noting that the mea...... полностью

* President opens renovated orthodox church * President Heydar Aliyev, leaders of religious communities in Azerbaijan, and Russian Ambassador Nikolay Ryabov took part on Monday in the opening ceremony of the  cathedral church  of Jen-Mironosets, which has been recently repaired. A message by Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexi II was read out at the ceremony. The message expresses gratitude to the Azerbaijani government for its attention to the church. * Congratulating orthodox ...... полностью

* War delays Sah-Daniz inauguration * Presidents Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Ahmad Nejdet  Sezer of Turkey, and Eduard Shevernadze of Georgia were to participate in the official sanctioning ceremony of the Sah-Daniz project at Gulustan Palace of Baku on March 27. The Georgian embassy in Azerbaijan told AssA-Irada that the event had been rescheduled due to the actions in Iraq and the date of the ceremony to be held in April is being fixed through diplomatic channels. Pressure group to pic...... 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

* America, is it far or near? * They made a lengthy trip across the Atlantic Ocean. They were driven by a fervent desire to explore a country they had read and heard a lot about. Their final destination was Florida, a south-eastern state of the USA, some 6,500 miles from Baku. * Academic exchange programmes are a daily occurrence in Azerbaijan, where students now enjoy the opportunity to experience the pros and cons of education systems abroad, and be exposed to foreign cultures. The Florida-Az...... полностью

* Azeri diva to play Toska on Bolshoi Theatre stage * Soloists of the Azerbaijani State Theatre of Opera and Ballet will perform, for the first time, at the famous Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, Russia. Opera diva Qarina Karimova and Honoured Opera Singer Akram Poladov are expected to play the leading parts, Toska and hangman respectively, in the Toska opera performance on the accompaniment of the Bolshoi Theatre's troupe. * The Azeri theatre officials and Russian Culture Minister Mikhail Shvedkoi ...... полностью

* Agreement to  include Kazakhstan in BTC * At a two-day meeting in Almati about Kazakhstan joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project, a number of legal documents were considered. SOCAR president Natiq Aliyev has said a treaty between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to be signed in six months will take into account all issues, including terms of oil transportation and environmental questions. According to him, in addition to this document, the Azerbaijani and Kazakh governments ...... полностью

10th Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition to be marked with fireworks * The tenth international Caspian oil and gas exhibition and conference incorporating refining and petrochemicals, Caspian Oil & Gas 2003, will take place in Baku on June 3 to 6. * President Aliyev is to inaugurate the grand opening of the show, expected to be attended by the energy ministers of Georgia, Italy, Norway, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and other nations. Afterwards he will take a stroll through the exhibition...... полностью

Opposition willing to discuss new initiatives on Electoral Code The Coordinating Center of the Opposition (CCO) held a meeting at the Civil Solidarity Party's office on Thursday. Following the meeting, the party chairman, MP Sabir Rustamxanli said that party leaders had discussed talks over the draft Electoral Code conducted between government and opposition representatives Sahin Aliyev and Fuad Agayev on March 6 and 11. Commenting on the talks, he said the government retained full control an...... 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

Iraqi embassy to keep the public informed * The Iraqi embassy in Baku will conduct new conferences every two or three days to update the Azerbaijani community on ongoing developments in Iraq. The first conference is due on Wednesday, the embassy has told AssA-Irada.  Reportedly,  the tense situation or breakout of a war will have no affect on the embassy's activities and work regime. Unified CIS border guarding * A decision to set up the united system for guarding borders of the CIS m...... полностью

President returns home * President Heydar Aliyev returned from an official visit to the United States, late at night on March 14. * "Don't worry a bit, I am perfectly healthy and feel very well," he said to the media at Bina airport. * Referring to detailed press reports on the official part of the visit and the treatment he underwent at the Cleveland hospital, the president, however, said he had nothing to add. "Let no one believe, Heydar Aliyev is ill," he said. * He noted that despite being ...... полностью

* Turkish, Georgian presidents coming to launch Sah-Daniz * Presidents Ahmad Necdet Sezer of Turkey and Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia are due on a short visit to Baku, to participate in the official ceremony sanctioning the Sah-Daniz project, at the Gulustan Palace on March 27. A Georgian official told AssA-Irada that the ceremony will start at the residence of President Aliyev, where the three heads of state are to witness the document, and will pass on to a ceremonial party at Gulustan Palac...... полностью