On June 7, 2008 RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan received the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Armenia James Reynolds.

At the beginning of the meeting James Reynolds congratulated Seyran Ohanyan on appointment and wished him fruitful activity.

The Minister thanked the Head of the ICRC delegation, expressing hope that new achievements will be registered during his tenure in office. During the meeting Seyran Ohanyan highly assessed the ICRC mission in Armenia. Turning to the agreement on collection and coordination of data about the missing persons to be signed between the ICRC and the Armenian Committee on hostages, Prisoners of War and Missing Persons, the parties expressed hope that the later will coordinate the cooperation in the field, providing an opportunity to find solutions to these painful issues. Seyran Ohanyan drew Mr. Reynolds’s attention to the 5 Armenian hostages (4 civilians and 1 soldier) in Azerbaijan and asked for his assistance in stopping the tortures against them and exchanging them for the Azerbaijani captive. At the end of the meeting the parties discussed issues related to the current state of bilateral relations and the perspectives of deepening those. RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan assured that Armenia has been and remains committed to the humanitarian principles that form the basis for the activity of the International Committee of the Red Cross.