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Armenia Holds 2 in Attack on Presidential Hopeful

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia's National Security Agency arrested two suspects in the shooting of a presidential candidate, it announced Friday.

Paruir Airikyan, one of eight candidates in the Feb. 18 election, was shot and wounded by an assailant near his home in the Armenian capital a week ago.

The agency said the suspects arrested Thursday confessed to participating in the attack. Investigators are still looking into the motives behind the shooting, the agency said but gave no further details.

The attack on Airikyan has thrown the election campaign into disarray, raising the possibility that the vote could be postponed.

Armenia's Constitution calls for a presidential election to be postponed 15 days if a candidate cannot take part due to circumstances beyond his control.

(AP)

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