The Co-ordinating Centre of the Opposition held a sanctioned meeting outside the Qalaba cinema on March 16. Speakers said the opposition would not allow for unjust and undemocratic presidential elections in October though endeavours are made to push an abnormal Electoral Code through the parliament. Slogans calling for the government's resignation were also heard for the first time at a rally by the united opposition. Organisers of the action said 15,000-20,000 people were involved in the rally...... полностью

The Culture and Youth and Sports departments of Baku Mayor's office have prepared a series of undertakings on the occasion of Novruz Bayrami, a national holiday meaning exhilaration of nature. Festive arrangements are to take place in all parks and squares of the city on March 18, the last Tuesday on the eve of Novruz, and March 20 to 21. The official celebration is, as usual, scheduled for March 21 at the Ganclik square in front of the Qosa Qala (double) gates into the Old City. Then the venue...... полностью

But some consider Wilson's statement as an attempt to pressure Turkey * The US ambassador in Baku Ross Wilson is continuing his efforts to enlist further support from Azerbaijan in the run-up to possible war with Iraq. * It is in this context his statements, made last week should be understood. In a speech at the Baku Slavic University ambassador Wilson stated that the US is against Iraq border changes, implying that his government will not stand for the establishment of a new independant Kurdis...... полностью

* US humanitarian organizations assist people in conflict affected areas * The US humanitarian activities include thirteen projects with a focus on economic opportunity, community development and primary health care in 500 communities in over 23 cities and districts of the country. * Ahmedabad is a village in the district of Sabirabad, southern Azerbaijan. Its population is slightly more than 2,338 of which 780 are refugees. During the Soviet period the village residents were mostly involved in...... полностью

* Book to feature pearl of Azeri architecture * A new book on the Sirvansahlar Palace, which is one of the best examples of  Azerbaijani architecture from 14-15th centuries, is being prepared. Sevda Dadasova, the director of Sirvansahlar palace-museum complex, has told Azernews that the book (it) will provide information about nine monuments included in the complex and feature photos of interesting exhibits there. The book to be entitled Pearl of Azerbaijani architecture - Sirvansahlar, w...... полностью

* President Aliyev played by Polish actor * Tadeus Hook, a Polish actor, was invited to play the part of Heydar Aliyev, president of Azerbaijan, in a historical-feature film currently being made "Black Mark", according to the producer, Vagif Mustafayev. The film is being made in the street running from Olimp, the former sports shop now a furniture salon, up to Salyan barracks quarter. Entry into the filming site is blocked by lorries. The starring company includes local celebrities as well as a...... полностью

* Istiglal sails away to work on Shah Deniz * The Shah Deniz partners announced that on Monday the "Istiglal" semi-submersible drilling rig sailed to start the Stage1 Development pre-drilling programme in the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field area.  This follows the major decision taken by the partners late February to sanction the Stage 1 project. * Earlier the "Aura", a Tidewater Marine International Inc. vessel, under contract to BP Exploration (Caspian Sea) Ltd., towed the flotation ...... полностью

* Azerbaijan, IMF agree economic reform program for 2003 * The International Monetary Fund and the Azerbaijani government have coordinated a program for the main avenues economic reform in 2003, head of the IMF mission and deputy chief of the IMF European II Department John Wakeman-Linn announced at a press conference in Baku. * According to this program, he said, with an eye toward boosting parliamentary control over the activities of the State Petroleum Fund there will be introduced changes a...... полностью

Don't confuse the world community * A statement carried by the  September issue of the Azerbaijan magazine published in Sweden triggered in me an impression that the author was Armenian or someone who considered Azerbaijan an enemy. Unfortunately, my presumption was not justified. The statement was signed by Malik Malikmahmud oglu Isayev. According to his introduction, he is the press secretary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party Nizami district branch, head of party point #2. In the stateme...... полностью

* Speaker to visit UK * A eight-person delegation led by Azerbaijani speaker Murtuz Alasgarov is on an official visit to UK over March 9-14. Milli Maclis (parliament) has informed AssA-Irada that the visit is made at the invitation of the British parliament. Within the framework of the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation is holding a number of meetings with both leaders of both parliamentary houses, as well as top officials in the United Kingdom, improving relations between the parliaments and th...... полностью

French embassy picket * The Muasir Musavat Party's board held its next meeting on March 5. During the meeting it was decided to picket the French embassy in Azerbaijan on March 12 at 15:00 to protest against the French stance in favor of Armenians in the settlement of the Upper Qarabag conflict, the party has informed AssA-Irada. According to the report, in the future, similar events will be organized outside the Russian and US embassies in Azerbaijan as well. Protesters came out in support of...... полностью

* Russia sides up to Azerbaijan before Chechen vote * Russian ambassador in Baku Nikolay Ryabov prioritised the concept of national territorial integrity, referring specifically to the occupied Azerbaijani lands in Upper Karabagh, in statements in the run up to the March 23 Chechen referendum. * Devolution on the table * "Russia is willing to grant maximum independence to Chechnya within Russia", ambassador Nikolay Ryabov told a news conference on the upcoming referendum. * "As a result of the ...... полностью

* EU visit put on hold over Iraqi crises * A European Union (EU) delegation, including Italian, Greek and French deputy foreign ministers and top EU officials Havier Solana and Chris Patten, has postponed its visit scheduled for March 11-12 to Georgia to be followed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. The postponement is due to growing tension around Iraq with the EU leadership needing to participate in important international forums on the matter, including UN Security Council sessions, a spokesman for...... полностью

The Chairman of the Azerbaijan Republic State Committee for Work with Religious Associations (SCWRA), Prof. Rafik Aliyev, visited Great Britain, March 3 to 7, on an official invitation by the chairman of England-Azerbaijan society, Lord Fraizer. Mr. Rafik Aliyev met with the members of the House of Lords, Upper house of the British Parliament on March 5. The meeting entitled "Co-existence of religions in a secular state: positive lessons from Azerbaijan" has been arranged by the Anglo-Azerbaij...... полностью

Referring to opposition remarks on the revised wording of the Electoral Code (EC), vice speaker Ziyafat Asgarov told AssA-Irada "this is an attempt to gain political points." Pointing to praise of the document by international experts, the vice speaker stressed that the ruling circles would try to obtain approval of the newly revised wording, as it stipulates the forming of 21-member electoral commissions, which in turn better mirror the present-day realities in Azerbaijan. The mechanism for the...... полностью

Milli Maclis (parliament) discussed the new draft Electoral Code on March 11. MP Alimammad Nuriyev described judge's involvement in electoral commissions as contravening the Constitution of Azerbaijan, urging continuation of serious dialogue on this question. Other opposition MPs reproached the power because of limited time for discussing such an important document. Meanwhile, MP Eldar Ibrahimov protested at the allocation of only six seats in the Central Electoral Commission for the New Azerbai...... полностью

The first round of talks between the government and opposition to discuss the new Electoral Code, began at Milli Maclis (parliament) on Monday. The media was not allowed into the face-to-face meeting between Sahin Aliyev, head of the Presidential Administration's department on legislation and legal examination issues, who is also one of the authors of the document, and Fuad Agayev, a member of the National Independence Party of Azerbaijan, mandated by the Coordinating Center of the Opposition to...... полностью

* ANAMA demining projects moving ahead * Beginning from July 2002 Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) started demining operations in Khanlar district of Azerbaijan Republic, the location of ex-military bases of Soviet Army. The territories adjoining these bases were mined. According to ANAMA information, 17 people were injured and 1 died as a result of mine incidents in Khanlar district. * In February 2003 ANAMA completed clearance operations in the territory of Topalhasanli vill...... полностью

* German ambassador to open photo exhibition * An individual photo exhibition by Regina Shmeken, a well-known German photographer, is organized at the Qiz Qalasi gallery in Baku on February 24  - March 3. Rare photos taken by the photographer in 1989-2000 are displayed at the exhibition called Di Noye Mitte - New Center. The photos feature developments following the destruction of the Berlin Wall. * Smeken is a photo reporter of the newspaper Zuddoyce Tsaytung. His photos have been awarded man...... полностью

* Azeri-Indian festival * A festival of Azerbaijani-Indian cultural relations will be held on the initiative of the Rashid Behbudov Fund in May in Baku. The fund told AssA-Irada that the event would be organized on the occasion of 50th anniversary of great Azerbaijani singer,  who was known for his friendly relations with India. The musician made his first tour to India in 1952 and upon returning, shared his impressions in the book "In Far India", which is being translated into English. Ac...... полностью

* Unmanned aircraft to protect pipelines * Unmanned aircrafts will protect the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) gas pipelines. The president of the Georgian International Oil Corporation, Georgi Chanturiya, was speaking to journalists. These unmanned planes will be manufactured at the aviation plant in Tbilisi. Chanturiya said that the Georgian, Turkish and Azerbaijani governments are continuing efforts to ensure maximum security for the p...... полностью

* First Int’l Transport conference * The First International Exhibition of Caspian and Black Sea countries, and a conference, I & S Caspian and Black Sea Transport 2003, will be held on February 26-28 in Istanbul. The aim of the project is to support investment on transport section of the Caspian and Black Sea countries and to develop mutually useful cooperation. The project is being organized by such professional exhibition and conference organizing companies as ITC Group Plc. (Great Britain),...... полностью

* C4 security chiefs may meet in March * A meeting of  the Russian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, and Armenian security council secretaries may be held in the first ten days of March, a diplomatic source has informed AssA-Irada. This meeting was initiated by the Russian Security Council Secretary, Vladimir Rushaylo, during his recent official visit to Baku. The issue of  regional security on the eve of possible war against Iraq will be the focus of the Caucasus Four meeting. The security council secre...... полностью

* President changes parliamentary regulations * The law on addenda and changes to internal regulations of Milli Maclis (Azeri parliament) becomes effective on February 22. According to Saturday's official newspapers, the President has already approved the draft law. * The document was discussed during the fall session of parliament. In addition to several editing changes, some MPs opposed reducing parliamentary meetings from once a week to twice a month. This question also interested Andreas Gr...... полностью

* Defense ministers to sign co-op documents * Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov is expected to travel to Azerbaijan over February 25-26. During the visit, two new documents on military-technical cooperation between the two countries will be signed. According to the Russian embassy in Baku, an interaction plan and a treaty on military-technical cooperation between the defense ministries of the two nations for 2003 will be concluded as a result of the visit.  Azerbaijani Defense Minister Saf...... полностью

According to reliable information from Tabriz, the Iranian regime has recently begun to strengthen its military positions bordering Turkey and even more so along the Iranian-Azerbaijani border. Pundits attribute these emergency military measures to possible US war against Iraq, the raising of ethnic problems in South (Iranian) Azerbaijan to the agendas of international organizations and enhanced US and Israeli influence in Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is also claimed that the number Ardabil army...... полностью

A news conference was conducted at the Azerbaijani Ombudsman's office on Wednesday. The Azerbaijani Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman), Elmira Suleymanova said that a statement had been prepared urging perpetrators of the monstrous tragedy to be called to account. It was said that the statement would be sent to the UN Secretary General, the UN Human Rights Commissioner, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Council Secretary General, the European Council Human Rights Commission...... полностью

The Xojali massacre, in which hundreds of Azerbaijani civilians were slaughted by the Armenian military, is being commemorated worldwide, inpsired by the opposition-minded Qarabag Liberation Organization. * On February 25, 1992, Armenian troops supported by Russia's motorized infantry regiment 366 occupied the Xocali district of Azerbaijan and razed it to the ground. As a result, 613 people were murdered horribly, eight families were wiped out, 150 people went missing, some 1,000 civilians were ...... полностью

The visiting top Japanese diplomat said in Baku on Monday that his country would reconsider its position over the Armenian-Azerbaijani Upper Qarabag conflict. * "Japan's present stance on the Armenian-Azerbaijani Upper Qarabag conflict may not satisfy Azerbaijan, that's why we are still determining our position", First Deputy Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano said in an interview with journalists. * The Japanese official noted that he had been fully informed about the conflict within his two-day vis...... полностью

Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, on an official visit to the US at the invitation of President Bush, will meet the US President on Wednesday to discuss issues related to ensuring regional peace and stability, the Iraqi crisis, US economic interests in Azerbaijan, as well as the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Upper Qarabag. * Furthermore, high-ranking US officials, including the vice-president, ministers for defense, finance, commerce, first deputy US secretary of state department, US pre...... полностью