[NYTr] Azerbaijan: CIA Director's Visit Linked To War Plans Against Iran

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

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PanArmenian Net via StopNATO - Oct 9, 2007
http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=23614

CIA Director visited Baku to press for shift 
in Azerbaijan’s position on Iran?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Political analysts in Baku are debating the reasons
for an unannounced late September trip to Azerbaijan by Central
Intelligence Agency Director Gen. Michael Hayden. U.S. diplomats remain
tight-lipped about the visit. Many local experts, however, contend that
Hayden’s talks with Azerbaijani leaders likely concerned Iran,
Azerbaijan’s neighbor to the south.

Gen. Hayden’s one-day visit on September 28, which included a meeting
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Minister of National
Security Eldar Makhmudov, was not publicized in advance, and few
details have since been provided. According to informed sources, the
CIA director arrived in Baku late on the night of September 27. The
Turan news agency has cited "unofficial sources" as saying Hayden
stayed in a private downtown hotel at which special security measures
were taken. He left Baku in the early evening on September 28.

U.S. Embassy spokesperson Jonathan Henick told EurasiaNet that Hayden’s
visit was part of a trip to several countries in the region. Henick
would confirm only that Hayden discussed issues related to regional
security and international terrorism with President Aliyev and National
Security Minister Makhmudov. Azerbaijani officials likewise declined to
elaborate on the nature or specifics of the discussions.

Some Azerbaijani analysts, however, see "the Iranian issue" as the most
pressing reason for the CIA director’s trip. The trip came five days
before an October 3 statement by U.S. President George W. Bush that
Washington was prepared, under certain conditions, to negotiate with
Tehran on the nuclear issue.

"It is obvious that the CIA director would not travel to Baku without a
serious reason for discussions," commented expert Rasim Musabekov. "It
is clear – most likely Iranian issues were discussed."

He did not exclude that Hayden traveled to Baku "to familiarize the
Azerbaijani leadership with some additional intelligence data that may
change Baku’s position over the issue of military operation against
Iran," EurasiaNet reports.

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