Nairi Hunanian, the leader of the five gunmen currently on trial for the 27 October 1999 murder in the Armenian parliament of eight senior officials, told the court on 4 May that there is no truth to persistent speculation that the shootings were masterminded by other more influential persons. Hunanian said that he had originally planned to seize the parliament without bloodshed and force the resignation of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian and the formation of a new cabinet, but came to the conclusion in August 1999 that terror was the only way to improve the situation in Armenia, which he compared to the "antinational nightmare" that preceded the demise of the First Republic in 1920. (RFE/RL) ARMENIAN PREMIER MEETS WITH RELEASED ASALA MEMBER 7 May Meeting in Yerevan on 4 May with Varoujan Garabedian, a former member of ASALA (the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia), Prime Minister Andranik Markarian expressed his "joy" at Garabedian's release from a French jail where he served almost 18 years of a life sentence for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the Turkish Airlines Office at Orly airport. Garabedian, who was born in Syria, was released on the condition that he be expelled to Armenia. The French daily "Liberation" reported at the time of Garabedian's release last month that Yerevan Mayor Robert Nazarian had pledged to provide him with employment and accommodation. (RFE/RL) ARMENIA, RUSSIA INAUGURATE NEW JOINT AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM 7 May Russian air force commander General Anatolii Kornukov and Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian presided on 4 May over the first joint air patrols by Russian and Armenian military aircraft. Speaking at a ceremony in Gyumri to mark the occasion, Kornukov stressed that the joint antiaircraft units, which are equipped with S-300 air defense missiles, "do not threaten anyone" and are purely defensive in nature. Sarkisian for his part said they "will considerably increase Armenia's security." (RFE/RL) MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMAN MEETS WITH AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT 7 May Carey Cavanaugh, the U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, met in Baku on 5 May with President Heidar Aliev to discuss preparations for the planned meeting in Geneva. Speaking in London on 4 May, Cavanaugh noted "a dramatic acceleration of both the speed and intensity" of the talks aimed at resolving the Karabakh conflict. He said the outlines of the draft settlement are already clear and that "most" of it is now on paper. He added that "we have seen a lot of signs" that both presidents are preparing public opinion for a settlement based on "serious compromise." Cavanaugh also praised Russia's role within the Minsk Group, saying that Moscow no longer seeks to profit from continued instability in the South Caucasus. (RFE/RL) TOP SECURITY OFFICIALS RESHUFFLED IN KAZAKHSTAN 7 May Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev issued a decree on 4 May appointing National Security Council Secretary Marat Tazhin to head that agency. Tazhin, who is a civilian, replaces Alnur Musaev, who was named to head the presidential bodyguard service. Reuters quoted Nazarbaev's press secretary, Asylbek Visenbaev, as saying the president attached particular importance to naming a civilian to head the council. Minister of Culture, Information, and Social Concord Altynbek Sarsenbaev was named to succeed Tazhin as National Security Council secretary. (RFE/RL) KAZAKHSTAN PROPOSES BILATERAL CASPIAN AGREEMENT WITH AZERBAIJAN 7 May Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov has proposed to Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan should sign a bilateral agreement demarcating their respective sectors of the Caspian Sea bed and subsoil along a median line that may later be modified. Idrisov recalled that Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan agreed in 1997 to adhere to the existing borders based on the median line until the five Caspian littoral states reach a consensus on the legal status of the sea, but that such a consensus still requires "additional efforts and time." (RFE/RL) TAJIK OPPOSITION PARTY PROTESTS OFFICIAL REPRESSION 7 May The leadership of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) has issued a statement accusing the Tajik leadership of persecuting and arresting its supporters under the guise of a crackdown on the banned radical Islamist Hizb-ut-Tahrir party. The IRPT warned that such reprisals risk undermining the ongoing peace process and destabilizing the political situation in Tajikistan. (RFE/RL) TALIBAN RECAPTURE YAKAWLANG 5 May The Taliban on Saturday recaptured Yakawlang town in the central Bamyan province of Afghanistan According to Afghan sources, the town fell to Taliban early Saturday morning after an over night attack Reports quoted Taliban officials as saying that 45 United Front.troops and eight Taliban were killed in the attacks Yakawlang changed hands for several times in the recent past between the Hizb-e-Wahdat and Taliban. The United Nations and international aid agencies had earlier alleged that Taliban killed over three hundred innocent civilians when they captured the town late last year. Taliban launched their fresh offensives against their opponents in Bamyan province, last week. The United Front on Friday conceded losing of several positions to Taliban. (IRNA)