Congressman Rep. Waxman Condemned Pardon for Safarov

A member of the U.S. Congress from the Republican Party Henry Waxman issued a statement condemning the pardon of Ramil Safarov. "I am deeply disturbed by the President of Azerbaijan's decision to pardon Ramil Safarov, an Azerbaijani military lieutenant who gruesomely murdered Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan while the two soldiers were participating in the 2004 NATO Partnership for Peace program in Hungary. 

It is an appalling demonstration of the Azerbaijani government's continued refusal to reconcile with Armenia and its unwillingness to uphold the rule of law," he stated. 

Meanwhile, this issue was raised again at a State Department briefing. Deputy Press Secretary Ventrell was asked: "And also on that, what does all of this mean for Nagorno-Karabakh, which was looking as if you might be coming to some type of resolution? Now it appears that that really won't happen. In fact, it's probably a lot worse."  The representative of the State Department said: "We're going to continue to maintain contacts with both Armenia and Azerbaijan to peacefully resolve the conflict and reduce tensions. And we really condemn any action that fuels regional tensions, and that's why we were so deeply disappointed by Hungary's decision to transfer him to Azerbaijan."

When asked whether the President of Azerbaijan is trying to stir up problems, Ventrell said he had not seen Aliyev's comments on the matter, but the situation inspires serious trouble. -02D-