July 19, 2008 - 15:48 AMT
PACE Pesident to arrive in Armenia July 22
Lluis Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), is to make an official visit to Armenia from 22 to 25 July to deepen cooperation between Armenia and the Assembly and to promote implementation of the Assembly's Resolutions 1609 and 1620.

Following on from the recent visit of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr de Puig intends to assess, in particular, the credibility of the enquiry into the events on 1-2 March, and will urgently raise the issue of people detained in connection with these events. Following his recent visit to Azerbaijan, he will also discuss the latest political developments concerning the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the CoE communication unit reports.

Meetings are foreseen with the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, among others, as well as Armenia's Human Rights Defender and the members of the ad hoc committee looking into the causes of the events in March. Mr de Puig will also meet representatives of parties in the parliament, including the Heritage faction, and former President Levon Ter-Petrossian.