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Aliev's Son Sworn in As Azerbaijan Leader
The Associated Press
10/31/03 22:50 EST
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Ilham Aliev was inaugurated as Azerbaijan's
new president Friday, succeeding his ailing father as leader of the
oil-rich former Soviet republic.
Aliev, 41, was sworn in during a ceremony at the Respublika Palace
attended by about 2,000 people. His 80-year-old father, Geidar Aliev,
missed the inauguration because he is still too frail to leave the
Cleveland hospital where he has been treated since July.
The elder Aliev ruled Azerbaijan for most of the past 35 years.
Ilham Aliev was elected this month in a vote criticized by Western
observers for alleged ballot-box stuffing and falsified counting. He
said his landslide win meant there was ``no alternative'' to continuing
the policies of his father ``that brought success in all areas.''
Rioting broke out in the capital, Baku, the day after the election,
and one protester was crushed to death.
Ilham Aliev said he planned to develop the ``non-oil sector'' of the
country's economy and strengthen the country's armed forces.
The new president also indicated he might use military force
to resolve a dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave. Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan,
is controlled by Armenia-backed forces that drove out the Azeri army
in the early 1990s.
A cease-fire was signed in 1994, but no agreement has been reached
on the enclave's final status.
The Associated Press
10/31/03 22:50 EST
BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Ilham Aliev was inaugurated as Azerbaijan's
new president Friday, succeeding his ailing father as leader of the
oil-rich former Soviet republic.
Aliev, 41, was sworn in during a ceremony at the Respublika Palace
attended by about 2,000 people. His 80-year-old father, Geidar Aliev,
missed the inauguration because he is still too frail to leave the
Cleveland hospital where he has been treated since July.
The elder Aliev ruled Azerbaijan for most of the past 35 years.
Ilham Aliev was elected this month in a vote criticized by Western
observers for alleged ballot-box stuffing and falsified counting. He
said his landslide win meant there was ``no alternative'' to continuing
the policies of his father ``that brought success in all areas.''
Rioting broke out in the capital, Baku, the day after the election,
and one protester was crushed to death.
Ilham Aliev said he planned to develop the ``non-oil sector'' of the
country's economy and strengthen the country's armed forces.
The new president also indicated he might use military force
to resolve a dispute with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave. Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan,
is controlled by Armenia-backed forces that drove out the Azeri army
in the early 1990s.
A cease-fire was signed in 1994, but no agreement has been reached
on the enclave's final status.