“The US intelligence is concerned about the situation in the Nagorno Karabakh and the probability of appearing new flashpoints in Eurasia”, said the Director of US National Intelligence James R. Clapper in his report to the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “The unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus and the fragility of some Central Asian states present most likely flashpoints in the Eurasia region.

U.S. intelligence is concerned about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the possible emergence of new terror hot spots in Eurasia, the U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper's report, presented at the hearing in the Senate Committee of U.S. Congress, said, ITAR-TASS reported. 'The unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus and instability in some Central Asian countries are the most possible causes of hot spots in Eurasia', the report said.

France has lost the moral, rather than the legal right to the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group, speaker Oktay Asadov said at a meeting of the Azerbaijani Parliament on Wednesday. "We must determine the legal means of removing France from the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group," he said. "This issue does not depend on our wishes." MPs voiced the initiative to exclude France from the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a sign of protest against the law criminalising the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" adopted by France.

The Session of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (PUIC) held in Palembang (Indonesia) has ended. It calls upon the Member Parliaments to initiate starting from 2012 (20th anniversary of the tragedy) a proper recognition to the genocidal massacre of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces in the town of Khojaly on 26 February 1992, Ambassador Elshad Iskandarov, Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC)'s Secretary General, who took part in the work of the Session said.

Employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited Azerbaijani POW Mammadbagir Akhundzade kept in Nagorno-Karabakh on Jan.30, the ICRC Baku Office Spokesperson Shahla Gahramanova told Trend on Tuesday. He said the ICRC employees delivered a "Red Cross" letter to the POW, and received a "Red Cross" letter from him. The POW's family was informed about the meeting. Junior sergeant of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Mammadbagir Akhundzade (born in 1990) was captivated near the Yukhary Chayli village on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.

“We have very good relations with Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. We often communicate and I consider that we will have a good cooperation with the Azerbaijani officials in the fields of human rights and implementation of democratic reforms. I have high hopes on that”, PACE Chairman Jean Claude Mignon told APA’s European bureau. “The Azerbaijani officials always showed interest to the European norms on human rights. I consider that we can come to common conclusions on this and the other issues”.

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited three Armenian servicemen and five civilians held captive in Azerbaijan, spokesperson for the ICRC Delegation in Azerbaijan Shahla Gahramanova told APA. ICRC representatives delivered four “Red Cross” letters to the captives and received three “Red Cross” letters and three “safe and well” messages from them.

Under the mandate of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, monitoring of the contact line between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in south-west of Giziloba village of Azerbaijan’s Terter region has been conducted. Deputy Chief of Press service of the Defense Ministry, Captain Teymur Abdullayev told APA that no incident occurred during the monitoring.

On January 25, units of Armenian armed forces fired at Azerbaijani Army’s positions from the occupied areas near Bash Gervend village of Azerbaijan’s Agdam region at 11.25-11.30. They also fired at Azerbaijani Army’s position from the occupied areas situated in nameless height of Azerbaijan’s Khojavend region at 22.15-22.20.

Representation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Azerbaijan confirmed the reports on captivity of Azerbaijani soldier by Armenians. Spokeswoman for the ICRC representation in Azerbaijan Shahla Gahramanova told APA that Nagorno Karabakh’s de-facto authorities informed the ICRC office in Khankendi about the captivity of an Azerbaijani soldier. Gahramanova said ICRC officials would visit the soldier as soon as possible.