Yesterday, the RoA Police issued a communiqué stating that the body of missing American-Armenian businessman Nazaret-Hagop Berberian had been found with traces of physical violence. The body, covered with rocks and dirt, was found in a ditch alongside a stretch of the Yerevan-Sevan Highway.

One can only assume that the police were led to the body by one of the attackers. So far, the police have not divulged any information on this point or how Mr. Berberian's car was spotted parked at the Zvartnots Airport garage. Perhaps security cameras at the airport caught something that was later used as a lead by the police. In the police communiqué it is stated that "due to the ongoing investigation the specifics of the crime and the names of the perpetrators cannot be publicized". Thus usually means that arrests have been made and the names of the perpetrators are known. Names aren't divulged when the suspects have taken flight. As to the motives of Mr. Berberian's murder, we can only point out the following. Experts estimate the value of the hotel being constructed in downtown Yerevan by Mr. Berberian and his associates at $20 million. The site on which the hotel is being built does not totally belong to Mr. Berberian. Mr. Berberian's "Lil-Nar" company only signed a contract with the Yerevan Municipality for 50% of the site. None of Mr. Berberian's immediate family has travelled to Armenia since he went missing on April 25. The family's legal representative will arrive in Yerevan tomorrow. During a phone conversation I had with them they said that they would arrange for an independent post mortem examination of the

body.