Yerevan suggests conducting meetings of Am/Az border guards

[Madatian Greg]

Interfax
July 30 2004

Yerevan suggests conducting meetings of Armenian, Azerbaijani border
guards

Yerevan. (Interfax) - Yerevan has suggested starting a program of
ensuring personal contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani border
guards under the OSCE aegis, according to a statement of the Armenian
Defense Ministry distributed on Thursday.

The suggestion was made during the monitoring of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border by OSCE representatives on Wednesday.

"Personal contacts may aid the process of establishing peace and
tranquility on the two countries' borders," the statement said.

Currently, the Armenian and Azerbaijani servicemen communicate over
radio.

Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven neighboring
districts in a bloody conflict with Armenia in the 1990s. The UN
Security council has denounced Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani
lands and demanded that it withdraw its forces. The OSCE Minsk Group,
composed of representatives from the U.S., Russia and France, is
working to help settle the conflict.