Armenia arrests ex-deputy defence minister

YEREVAN: Armenia said on Saturday it had arrested the nation´s former deputy defence minister on suspicion of ties to a "criminal group" accused of plotting to assassinate politicians in the ex-Soviet republic.

Vahan Shirkhanyan, deputy defence minister from 1995-1999, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of "being a member in the criminal group" accused of plotting the assassination of public figures, a National Security Agency statement said.

Last month, the agency said it had "uncovered and neutralised an organised criminal group" which was plotting attacks in the capital Yerevan, targeting political and public figures, citizens and state bodies.

Twenty-one members of the group were arrested on November 25, including alleged ringleader Artur Vartanyan, an Armenian national who has lived in Spain since 1997 and visited Syria "in the past," the agency said.