Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov, a former Communist leader forced to resign by nationalists in March, returned to power Thursday with a vote of the republic's Parliament, reports from Baku said.
The Parliament also canceled new presidential elections that had been scheduled for June 7, the Russian news agencies Tass and Interfax said.Mutalibov had been forced to resign under pressure from the nationalist Popular Front bloc in Parliament after criticism that he was too moderate in his handling of the virtual war with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
But his replacement, acting President Yakub Mamedov, has had little luck in ending the conflict and came under criticism himself after Armenian forces took the last Azerbaijani stronghold in the disputed region last week.