THE TRACES OF THE OCTOBER SHOOTINGS ARE BEING REMOVED FROM INSIDE THE BUILDING OF THE ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net - 15.08.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The traces of the terrorist act are being removed from inside the Armenian parliament, where on October, 1999 the prime minister and the chairman of the parliament of the country were shot dead.

The repairs will cost the government $76,000, and the work will be completed within the next two weeks. As the Armenian service of the RFERL reports, the repair was also made possible by the completion last June of the criminal investigation into the parliament killings. The damaged parts inside the building were for months studied by ballistics experts.

Hayk Kotanian, chief of the parliament staff whose father - MP Mikael Kotanyan, was among officials shot dead by the gunmen, said the governments funds are also being spent on the construction of a new checkpoint outside the entrance to the parliament building, equipped by metal detectors.

The parliament building in Yerevan will be the venue for the session next November of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Armenia currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the Assembly. --0--