The planning group comprising 9 OSCE representatives - seven from European countries, and one from Turkey and Georgia each - left Ganja, the country's second largest city, for Goranboy district, 260 km west of Baku, on Monday morning. The experts were previously

"The sides have agreed not to make public details of the agreement", Russian co-chair of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov told local ANS TV channel. But Merzlyakov said this would be possible 'only after an agreement on conflict resolution is coordinated and all the envisioned documents are signed' and it will take up to six months for the peacekeeping forces to start their mission on the frontline.

State Department releases chronology of activities spanning 143 years

The United States has spent more than a billion dollars in the past dozen years on humanitarian land mine removal efforts around the world.

This money has been spent to remove land mines, pay for educational messages on the risks posed by mines, help victims of mine injuries, and fund research and development to improve existing humanitarian mine removal programs.

This morning we have had very a important meeting, starting at 8 a.m., with the three foreign ministers from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia; we discussed regional issues and conflicts in a very good climate of dialogue.

We then had bilateral meetings with each of the three countries and we discussed the following issues:

- bilateral relations between each of the three countries and the EU, with the focus on the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the negotiations on the ENP Action Plans with each individual

"First of all, no elections will be held in either country in 2006. Everyone [both sides] realize that any progress in this area is unlikely during the elections," Azimov told a news briefing.

The deputy foreign minister concurred with the statements by the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) mediators that next year may be crucial for the conflict settlement. The changing geo-political

Gourban's village of Gazakhlar lies two kilometers from the Iranian border and 800 meters from the frontlines of

Russia rejected the obligation it assumed in 1999 to withdraw its troops from the former Soviet Union republics of Georgia and Moldova. The document was to cover the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

The parties have failed to sign the document at the annual meetings of the Ministerial Council, OSCE's central decision-making

The two discussed the possibility of adopting a joint statement assessing the current status of talks on the conflict settlement. The next meeting of Azeri and Armenian presidents as well as the intermediaries' visit to both countries were discussed as