Azernews.Az

BAKU – An Armenian saboteur seized in Azerbaijan last month in an attempt by an intelligence group to cross the border committed suicide in his prison cell in the early hours on Tuesday, military authorities in Baku said.

Manvel Saribekyan hanged himself after tying his shirt and a bed-sheet, an examination of his dead body revealed, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry and Military Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

A forensic expertise did not show any signs of injuries or violence on Saribekyan’s corpse.

Saribekyan was nabbed near the north-western part of the frontline on September 11. The other three intruders attempting to infiltrate managed to escape. During a questioning he testified that the Armenian servicemen had planned to commit sabotage.

Saribekyan told the Baku-based ANS TV channel that the Armenian servicemen had been trained for two months to stage an explosion at a school in Azerbaijan on orders from the Armenian secret service.

"There were seven or eight young men like me there. We were drilled on how to shoot, use hand grenades and stage explosions. Then four of us were taken to a forest referred to as Shamsaddin. From there, we were to head to the Zamanly village [in Azerbaijan’s Gadabay region], blow up the school and come back."

Azerbaijani analyst Mubariz Ahmadoghlu has told AssA-Irada that Armenia, which turned terror into a part of its policy, has perpetrated numerous terror acts in Azerbaijan which claimed thousands of lives. Following the Soviet collapse in 1991, Armenia has employed experienced murderers and international terrorists to commit its terror operations in the Azerbaijani territory, and is training terrorists in special camps. Now, one of these persons, a saboteur who was ordered to blow up an Azerbaijani school, has fallen victim of Armenian terror himself.

"Saribekyan knew all too well that if he had been returned [to Armenia], he would have faced severe punishment. And his chances to be transferred to a third country were equal to nil, because no country would ever accept a terrorist. Thus, an Armenian terrorist has become the next victim of Armenian terror."

In 1989-94 alone, Armenia perpetrated over 50 acts of terror against Azerbaijan, killing over 2,000 people by staging explosions on buses, trains, planes, and the subway.

Six Armenian servicemen and five civilians are held in Azerbaijan. All of them escaped their home country and voluntarily crossed into Azerbaijan. These persons are enjoying mild treatment and are unwilling to go home, saying they would travel to a third country instead.

Armenia holds two Azerbaijani prisoners, one hostage and two dead bodies.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces continue to occupy over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been largely fruitless so far. Sporadic clashes on the frontline continue.