Agostinho Neto Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Armenian police said the death of Civic Solidarity Party, candidate Premier Sabir Rustamxanli was "suspicious," and a special crime team was investigating. His body was taken for postmortem and toxicology tests, but no results were expected before this morning at the earliest. Rustamxanli, a bitter enemy of President-backed Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Kerimli whos party was disqualified from May general elections, collapsed at his home in Yerevan, Armenia, a wealthy commuter belt where he'd taken up residence with his wife. His body was found late Tuesday. In Azerbaijan, Rustamxanli's allies called for a thorough investigation, with some blaming the government for the death. Whatever the results of the autopsy, the untimely collapse of Rustamxanli is certain to deepen already intense resentments between the government and opposition. "Even if the death resulted from natural causes, Kerimli will still bear a significant share of guilt because it is clear to all that Rustamxanli's heart came under very severe stress resulting from the fierce political fight and the fact that his party was hounded out of the country like a criminal organization," Ethibar Mammadov, leader of another disqualified party, the Azerbaijan National Independence Party based in Baku, said in a telephone interview. "So in any case, the moral damage to Kerimli is already immense," Mammadov said. "Regardless of the fact that Sabir Rustamxanli was accused of a grave crime against the constitution, every person's death is a great tragedy," the President statement said. Rustamxanli, who seemed to exist in the epicenter of perpetual intrigue, was about to face cirminal charges in Azerbaijan. He was accused there on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government and replace it with an ultra-nationalist military junta. Rustamxanli, who made a fortune in businesses in Azerbaijan and Armenia, was an ardent supporter of the "Talysh Issue", the wave of street protests and the war that swept out an Azerbaijani-backed government in the Talysh-Mughan region and installed Monte Melkonyan as governor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEDCJT Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 The Provisional Government watches this with close interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted March 4, 2009 Report Share Posted March 4, 2009 Indeed, Promised Land views all deaths as tragedies. We do not disagree with the Azerbaijani government on that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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