DATE=10/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ARMENIA / HOSTAGES (L) CQ
NUMBER=2-255568
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Armenian gunmen who killed Prime Minister
Vazgen Sarkisian and several prominent lawmakers have
released their hostages and surrendered. Moscow
correspondent Eve Conant reports Armenia's President
has promised the gunmen a fair trial.
TEXT: The gunmen handed over their Kalashnikov
assault rifles and surrendered early Thursday. All
the hostages were unharmed.
A statement read by Armenian President Robert
Kocharian promised the gunmen fair treatment by the
courts and said they would not be subject to violence.
On Wednesday, the gunmen, wearing long coats and
wielding automatic weapons, charged into the
parliament building and opened fire on lawmakers.
Those killed in the shooting spree included Prime
Minister Sarkisian, Parliament Speaker Karen
Demirchian, and several other lawmakers.
Eyewitnesses say the gunmen approached the Prime
Minister, and accused him of "drinking the blood" of
the Armenian people. Mr. Sarkisian was then shot
several times from a distance of about two-meters.
Presidential Secretary Bahe Gabrielyan spoke to V-O-A
by telephone to say President Kocharian must name a
new Prime Minister.
/// Act Gabrielyan ///
There are actually a lot of things to be
accomplished. The Prime Minister is dead, as
are the Speaker of Parliament, and his deputies.
There are a series of actions to be undertaken.
Some by the president, others by the National
Assembly.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Gabrielyan would not explain how it was that armed
gunmen were allowed to enter the parliament building.
/// Second Act Gabrielyan ///
That is something that should be investigated.
We cannot comment on that yet.
/// End Act ///
Local journalists in the chamber at the time of the
shooting said the gunmen called on them to inform the
Armenian people that a coup was underway. But
government officials describe the gunmen as terrorists
with no wide-scale social support.
The leader of the gunmen, a nationalist and former
journalist, Nairi Unanian, told a Yerevan television
station the attack was what he called a "patriotic
action" to save Armenia from political and economic
disintegration. He said the Prime Minister was their
main target and expressed regret that others had been
killed.
/// REST IS OPT TO END ///
Local journalist Gayane Arakellyan, (Chief editor of
Armenia's Independent News Agency "Noyan Sopan") spoke
to V-O-A by telephone and said the gunmen issued a
statement saying they just wanted to scare the
lawmakers.
/// ACT ARAKELLYAN IN RUSSIAN IN FULL AND FADE
UNDER. ///
She says -- the statement read that the Armenian
people had been driven to the edge of poverty and that
they just wanted to raise a voice of protest.
She says the situation in Armenia is calm, and the
killing and hostage crisis came as a surprise.
(SIGNED)
NEB/EC/GE/LTD/RAE
28-Oct-1999 09:38 AM EDT (28-Oct-1999 1338 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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