According to Civil.ge, the U.S. Embassy in the Republic of Georgia has issued a statement in connection to the arrest of the suspect in the attempted May grenade attack on George Bush in Georgia.

“The U.S. Embassy welcomes the news that the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, through joint efforts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, diligent detective work, and a strong commitment to solving this case, have taken into custody a suspect in the matter of the hand grenade which was thrown into the crowd during President Bush’s speech on Freedom Square on May 10, 2005.

The U.S. Government appreciates the hard work of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the bravery and dedication of Georgian law enforcement that has brought this man into custody. The level of information exchange, liaison, and expertise displayed were truly a model for international law enforcement cooperation. Casting a shadow over this victory however, is the news that a brave and courageous MOIA Officer lost his life in the process of making this arrest. MOIA Officer Zurab Kvlividze died in the line of duty during this adversarial action and we honor his memory and sacrifice. We express our heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.”

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According to Mosnews, the suspect arrested after a shootout with Georgian police in Tbilisi has pleaded guilty and said he would do it again if the opportunity arose. However, given that journalists have not been allowed into the hospital where Harutyunyan is recovering from “light wounds,” I have to admit that such detailed information is not desirable.

Doctors said he was ready to commit another terrorist attack against Bush and his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia’s deputy health minister, Irakly Giorgobiani, was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying. He did say, however, that Arutyunyan’s mental state could have been affected by his injuries.

Instead, I’m waiting for word from the U.S. intelligence services who while not participating in the operation are reported to “have monitored it closely.”

FBI officials have already visited Tbilisi’s Republican Hospital and met the suspect. He killed a policeman in a shootout, wounded another officer and himself received three bullet wounds that are not life-threatening. Within a few hours, Arutyunyan will be sent to a prison hospital. U.S. forces did not take part in the detention operation, but monitored it closely.

The full item can be read online here.

Fioletovo, Lori Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia

Following on from yesterday’s post on the 200th Anniversary of the Molokans in Azerbaijan and a recent post on education for Molokan children in Armenia (written for UNICEF), Molokane.org has posted a link to an article on the Molokans in Azerbaijan.

The first settlement of Russian-Molokans, in Kyzyl village in the Karabakh, appeared in 1832 and consisted of 26 men and 30 women. History reports that they were banished from Russia on charges of “rudeness against the [Russian Orthodox] Churches and the Orthodox faith”. Molokans consider themselves to be Christians who left the Orthodoxy with some problems. In particular, they refused to cross themselves [make a sign of the cross with hand across chest], to use the Cross in worship and do not wear crosses on their body, which is a symbol in Orthodoxy since they are convinced that in fact on the cross Christ himself was taken in an excrutiating tormented death. Also they refused gold ornaments and icons of the Church, and do not accept that any man-made image can be sacred. The importance of faith, in the opinion of Molokans, is a spiritual unification with God. [A person’s] real faith should be shown in everyday actions [affairs] and a humble soul.

Fioletovo, Lori Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia

The full article can be read online here although it is still being translated from the original Russian. Molokane.org also has an english translation of the original 22 July 1805 petiton to the Russian Tsar.

PanArmenian.net have literally just updated their site with extra information on the arrest of the suspect wanted in connection with the failed grenade attack on George W. Bush in Tbilisi on 10 May 2005.

Yesterday a suspect of an attack on George Bush was taken into custody in Georgia. He appeared to be a certain Vladimir Harutyunyan, Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili stated in the course of a news conference. He said the thrower of the grenade was arrested owing to vigilance of citizens, who identified the person they knew owing to an identikit. The operation was held at the Vashlijvari Tbilisi district. Harutyunyan showed armed resistance during the arrest. Chief of the Counterespionage Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIF) of Georgia Zurab Kvlividze was killed in the skirmish. As reported by RIA Novosti, the suspect was wounded as well.

[…]

“The state of Harutyunyan is stable. There is no threat to his life,” MIF Press Service head Guram Donadze told journalists. The Republican Hospital is cordoned off by police. The press is not allowed into the hospital, physicians refuse conversations with journalists by phone. Components of blasting systems were discovered at Harutyunyan’s house, reported the Georgian MIF. Police officers and crime detection specialists continued working in Harutyunyan’s house all night long. Detonators, chemical agents and special facilities for making explosive assemblies were discovered in the suspect’s flat and the cellarage. Besides, according to the MIF sources, during the first contact with policemen, who made an ambush in the house porch, Harutyunyan tried to blow up a grenade, but it slipped out of his hands.

PanArmenian.net is also quick to point out that the suspect, Vladimir Harutyunyan, is not an Armenian citizen which I think is correct given the Russified version of his surname in initial reports. However, there is no doubt that if guilty of the attack, the motivation behind it has a lot to do with geopolitical considerations in the region.

Civil.ge reports that the Vladimir Arutyunyan, suspected of throwing a grenade at the U.S. President George Bush in May is in hospital with light wounds.

Vladimir Arutunian, who is, according to officials, is suspect in the Bush grenade incident, is currently in Tbilisi Republican Hospital and has not yet been interrogated by investigators. Arutunian has three light wounds – none of them posing any serious threat to his health, doctors say. It is expected that Arutunian will be transferred to the prison hospital later today. No criminal charges have been officially been brought against him yet.

Interestingly, nobody I’ve spoken to in Yerevan has heard the news so far. However, I haven’t watched TV today so it will be interesting to find out if the TV news has covered the arrest and if it hasn’t, when it will.

As of 2.30pm Yerevan time, Arminfo and PanArmenian.net haven’t published any of this headline-grabbing news. A1 Plus is, of course, on holiday but after updating their site with news of USAID’s announcement to review its work in Armenia, let’s see what happens later. Mediamax also hasn’t posted any news at all so far.

I think this news has got quite a few people rattled.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) indicates the path of the proposed road through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve, Siunik, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia

The co-founder and president of the Armenian Forests NGO Jeffrey Tufenkian writes for Groong on the success of the environmental coalition that surprisingly managed to prevent the government from building a highway through the Shikahogh Nature Reserve and Mtnadzor Forest in the southern Siunik region of Armenia.

The government would have happily proceeded with this plan to destroy the forest and let others profit from its destruction. However, civil society did not sit idly by.

Being active there with projects to protect endangered Persian Leopards and other endangered animals, World Wildlife Fund was one of the first to respond. On April 25th they contacted other NGOs, and later international organizations and funders seeking support with an alert.

As Tufenkian points out, this victory marked an important precedent for the pro-environment and pro-democracy movement in Armenia and especially represented the one time that civil society worked together. More importantly, activists actually succeeded.

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Civil.ge, one of the best sources of information on Georgia, reports that the Georgian media are already asking questions about the police operation that resulted in a shootout in Tbilisi and the arrest of a man of Armenian origin suspected of throwing a grenade towards where the U.S. President George Bush was addressing a crowd in the Georgian capital.

The daily 24 Saati (24 Hours) says that although the law enforcers are refraining from unveiling details of the case, there are some speculations about what happened in the Vashli-Jvari district of capital city Tbilisi, where the suspect lives.

“As it seems, the operation was unexpected even for the law enforcers. Several days ago [on July 18] the Interior Ministry issued photos of a person who allegedly tossed a grenade. A 150,000 Lari [USD 82,000] reward was announced for the citizen who could help in identifying this person. Reportedly, the police received numerous messages from citizens about the identity of the alleged suspect. The law enforcers started checking each bit of information. Three officials from the counter-terrorism center were dispatched to Vashli-Jvari district just to check one more message of this kind. According to this version, the law enforcers were not even planning a large-scale operation and their goal was just to verify the identity of Vladimer Arutunian,” the 24 Saati reported.

The daily Rezonansi (Resonance) also alleges that the law enforcers received information about Arutunian from one of his neighbors after the Interior Ministry issued the photos. But, according to the newspaper, some neighbors are doubtful about the fact that Arutunian is in fact the person in the picture which was issued by the Interior Ministry.

The paper also reports some details about the 27-year-old Arutunian and quotes several of his neighbors saying that the man lived together with his mother. “He always preferred to be isolated and was a very quiet person. His father died long ago. The family is very poor,” the Rezonansi quotes one of the neighbors.

However, questions still remain as to why an innocent man who lives with his mother would shoot one Georgian policeman dead and wound another. Of course, Hovakim over at Blogrel probably thinks that the Georgians did that to frame an ethnic Armenian. Well, given the hatred between Georgians and Armenians it’s possible. However, I’d wait on an announcement from the U.S. Government before fully understanding what happened and whether this man is innocent or guilty although that’s really for a court to decide. So far, Mosnews has this on what is known about U.S. involvement in the case.

The suspect killed a policeman in a shootout before being detained. He wounded another officer and was himself injured. At the moment he is in hospital under tight security. U.S. forces took no part in the operation, but monitored it closely, Ekho Moskvy reported. The White House is also keeping a close eye on the situation, said press secretary Scott McClellan.

Arutyunov was detained three days after his photographs were published in the Georgian media. The media reports also promised $80,000 to anyone who provided information about the suspect’s location, but it is yet unclear whether anybody received the reward, Ekho Moskvy added.

The Mosnews item can be read here while Civil.ge will probably have more updates as the day goes progresses.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty of course, but it’s amazing to me how Hovakim over at Blogrel can just continue and continue to distort information and try to discredit news sources in an attempt to push the Armenian ultra-nationalist position.

On July 18, the Georgian police issued a photo of a suspect and posted a $82,000 reward. Given the angle, I’d say a million young men in the Caucasus would fit the profile.

Late evening on July 20, the police went in to apprehend Arutyunov. Reports say he was involved in a shoot-out with cops, managed to kill one, and was himself shot. This is suspicious, of course. I hope he doesn’t ‘die’ in custody.

It’s interesting the different readings of his last name. Is it possible that Civil Georgia manipulated the story to make his name more Armenian-sounding?

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CNN reports that the Georgian police have confirmed that the suspect as well as the grenade are Armenian.

On Wednesday night, the head of Georgia’s presidential administration, George Arveladze, told CNN the suspect was Armenian.

Georgian officials have said that the grenade was Armenian.

This is not good news.

CBS reports that Georgian Police have arrested a man they consider responsible for the failed attempt to throw a grenade at the U.S. President George Bush and his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili. A reward of $80,000 had been offered for any information that might lead to the capture of the suspect who was identified from footage shot at the May rally in Tbilisi’s Liberty Square by the Georgian TV station Rustavi-2.

(CBS/AP) Georgian police detained a man Wednesday suspected of throwing a live grenade during a rally at which President Bush spoke in May, the Interior Ministry said. The capture came after a shootout in which one officer was killed and another wounded.

The shootout and detention occurred Wednesday evening in the village of Vashlisdzhvari, outside the capital, Tbilisi, ministry spokesman Guram Donadze told The Associated Press. The suspect fled into the woods but was later detained, Donadze said.

Rustavi-2 television showed pictures of a dark-haired man it described as the suspect being hustled into a car by police officers. It said he was wounded and identified him as Vladimir Arutyunov, in his late 20s.

Anyway, after initial reports that the Soviet-era grenade was modified in Armenia for use in Karabakh, I really hope that “Arutyunov” is not the Russified version of the Armenian surname Arutyunyan but somehow suspect that it is. Civil.ge also covers the news of Arutyunov’s arrest but actually does refer to him as Arutyunyan.

I also really hope he has no connection with the Armenian populated region of Javakheti in Georgia and that the evidence is enough to prove within a shadow of a doubt whether he’s innocent or guilty. But what am I saying? The guy killed a policeman while trying to evade capture.

The BBC also covers the story.

Molokan, Fioletovo, Lori Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian

Blogrel has just posted news that the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has met with representatives of the Molokan community on the occasion of the 200th Anniversary of their faith. Blogrel wonders why President Kocharian hasn’t done the same with the 5,000 Molokans living in Armenia.

Incidentally, I just finished an article focusing mainly on education for Molokan children in Armenia for UNICEF and it would be interesting to know what the situation is like in Azerbaijan.