Armenian community of Beirut safeMay 12, 2008 - 17:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian community of Beirut is safe. The Christian quarters are quiet, Beirut-based Azdak newspaper editor-in-chief Shahan Kankhadaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter."There are soldiers near the Armenian seminary. However, no collisions have been fixed," he said. "The only problem is that the roads to the airport are blocked over heavy traffic. The flights, including Armavia's Yerevan-Beirut novelty, have been cancelled," he said. "Leaders of three Armenian parties reassured Lebanese Armenians that their lives are not in jeopardy. Azdak news service works from early morning till late at night to inform people of the latest developments." On May 7, demonstrators blocked several roads in and around Beirut with burning tyres on Wednesday as part of an anti-government protest backed by Lebanon's Hizbullah-led opposition, witnesses said. The main road leading to the capital's international airport was among routes blocked by the protesters. Sources reported that the protestors tossed a hand grenade on Corniche Mazraa road, injuring three people and two soldiers. The Syrian-backed opposition had urged supporters to back a strike by Lebanon's main labor union, which is demanding higher wages. A similar opposition-sponsored strike on Jan. 23, 2007, led to serious confrontations between the Hizbullah-led opposition and the March 14 majority that almost sparked civil unrest. Thus, security forces were deployed ahead of a march called by union leaders for later on Wednesday. The strike and protests would force Beirut's international airport to suspend flights on Wednesday, officials said. According to them, 32 flights to and from the airport had either been delayed or cancelled. The government accused Hizbullah of violating Lebanon's sovereignty by operating its own communications network and installing spy cameras at Beirut airport. On its part, the Shiite movement said the communications network was part of its security apparatus and had played a major role in its war with Israel in 2006. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |