President Aliyev leaves for Paris

President Aliyev left for Paris Saturday morning on the invitation of his French counterpart Jacques Chirac to hold another range of direct negotiations with Armenian President Kocharian on ways of solution to the Garabagh conflict. As reported earlier, President Aliyev is scheduled to meet with President Kocharian on March 4, while on the next day the two will be joined by President Chirac.

Before departure, President Aliyev told journalists at the airport that he was holding out hopes for the upcoming meetings and pledged to do his utmost to achieve progress in the negotiation process.

Asked of the general support for the military solution in Azerbaijan, the President described such ideas as irresponsible.

According to the head of state, certain people took advantage of the chaos during the Garabagh war and are now keen on restoring that situation.

"It is very easy to unleash a war, but it is difficult to wage a war and achieve the desired peace", he said.

The President censured opposition leaders for failing to forward any conflict settlement proposals.

Asked if he would meet with the Garabagh war handicapped, he said he had not been asked to. "The problem is being attended to by relevant bodies and should not be exaggerated”, the President said.*