Soviets Grant Armenian a Visa
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WASHINGTON — Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said Friday that a visa had been granted to an Armenian emigrant who halted his motorcade at the State Department to appeal for permission to visit his ailing mother.
Ambarsum Khlgatian, 61, had stationed himself across the street from the building’s diplomatic entrance Thursday carrying a placard that read, “Gorbachev, Let Me Visit My Dying Mother.”
As the motorcade started for the Soviet Embassy, Khlgatian dashed into the street carrying his placard.
Shevardnadze left his limousine to talk to the demonstrator.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,’ ” Khlgatian said afterward. “But he can do nothing. It’s up to the KGB.”
On Friday morning, less than 24 hours after he was stopped, the foreign minister reported that the visa had been granted.
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