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BAKU: US official says Karabakh conflict no threat to major pipeline

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  • BAKU: US official says Karabakh conflict no threat to major pipeline

    US official says Karabakh conflict no threat to major pipeline - Azeri TV

    ANS TV, Baku
    17 Oct 04

    Presenter Washington wants the continuation of negotiations to resolve
    the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk
    Group, Steven Mann, who is currently on a visit to Azerbaijan, has
    said. He said that the OSCE Minsk Group has no new proposals to the
    conflicting sides.

    Correspondent over video of Mann's interview The special representative
    of the US president for Caspian issues and US co-chairman of the
    OSCE Minks Group, Steven Mann, attended the ceremony of joining the
    Azerbaijani and Georgian sections of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan major
    oil export pipeline. He said that the Nagornyy Karabakh problem did
    not pose a threat to the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
    oil pipeline project. Steven Mann said that the USA was not concerned
    about the security of the pipeline but stressed that it was important
    to always keep this issue in the focus of attention.

    Steven Mann, in Russian fading into Azeri translation We knew all
    along that the oil pipeline project would materialize. Many doubted
    this. I hope that now they have changed their minds. This project
    will be ready in a few months. This is an excellent project for
    Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The USA is proud that it has an
    opportunity to support the project. The security of the pipeline is
    a serious issue. We treat it seriously. Both the consortium and the
    parties should seriously work on this issue.

    Correspondent Asked as to what he, as a mediator, could do to bring
    the parties to the conflict closer together, Steven Mann said that this
    question should be referred to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
    Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. It emerges from the statements
    of Steven Mann, a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, that there are
    no new approaches to the problem.

    Steven Mann The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have held two
    meetings in my presence. Both Washington and the Minsk Group want these
    negotiations to continue and the conflict to be resolved peacefully.

    Correspondent The US co-chairman said that there were no new proposals
    on the settlement of the conflict and added that their work was based
    on the views and ideas of Azerbaijan and Armenia and that new ideas
    should originate from them, end of quote.

    Steven Mann also disclosed the US position on projects alternative to
    Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan. He said that the USA backs the Kazakhstan-China
    project but, as always, protests against the transportation of gas
    via Iran because this runs counter to US policy, end of quote.
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