"As always, we want to believe ... that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev is the guarantor of democracy and security of people in Azerbaijan, and we think that the president will interfere and help clear up this misunderstanding," Agayev said.

Fuad Mustafayev, deputy chief of the main Popular Front opposition party, said the end to ANS broadcasting "resulted from the official policy of ending the right to free speech in Azerbaijan."

A leading Trans-Atlantic security and democracy group, the Organization for Security ad Cooperation in Europe, criticized the actions against ANS. The OSCE is "deeply concerned about the closure," its Baku office head Maurizio Pavesi said it a statement, adding that he was "perplexed" that the decision came into force immediately without allowing for an appeal. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/