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ARMENIA: BLOOD AND BILE
 When a crime is committed in front of television cameras and dozens of eyewitnesses, and its perpetrators are arrested less than 24 hours later, few would expect it not to be solved. And few Armenians did so when five gunmen turned themselves in after seizing their parliament and spraying it with bullets exactly five years ago. It seemed that there was so much factual evidence that even the most incompetent law-enforcement official would quickly establish the truth about a shocking attack that killed eight senior officials, including Armenia's then-prime minister, Vazgen Sarkisian and the speaker of parliament, Karen Demirchian.Yet precisely what happened inside and outside the parliament building in Yerevan on 27 October 1999 is still a mystery and may never be known. Increasingly, the case resembles the 1963 assassination of U.S. President John Kennedy, many circumstances of which remain unknown to this day. The most important unanswered question in both high-profile killings is who masterminded them. That mystery is particularly acute in Armenia, where President Robert Kocharian is still dogged by allegations that he was personally involved in the shootings despite the absence of compelling evidence against him. Much more at the link, including a convenient jailhouse "suicide" and missing videotape. Posted by: Steve 2004-11-05 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=47930 |