"Azerbaijan will re-examine and change its relations with" France, Russia and the United States, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov was quoted by Interfax as saying in Baku.

The U.N. General Assembly Friday adopted a resolution demanding the " immediate, complete and unconditional" withdrawal of all Armenian forces from Azerbaijan's territory, in a vote in which more than 100 countries abstained.

France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which was created in 1992 by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh.

The three countries argued that as mediators they had to remain neutral.

Armenian forces occupied Nagorny Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives and forced about a million people to flee their homes.

Despite his criticism of the abstentions from the U.N. vote, Azimov said Azerbaijan was "pleased" with the resolution as a whole.

"It must be clear to everyone that Azerbaijan can only accept a conflict resolution that is based on the principle of territorial integrity," he said.

Agencies

Güncelleme Tarihi: 16 Mart 2008, 12:34