BOSNEWS digest 452 - 01/11/95

From: Davor <[email protected]>

Bosnia-Herzegovina News Directory

CONTENTS

[01] LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON THE DIPLOMATIC FRONT AND ON THE GROUND IN THE BALKANS

The first convoy of civilians to use the main western road out of Sarajevo in three years left the city on Sunday under UNPROFOR escort. U.N. officials reportedly intend to offer Serbian forces free passage through government-held territory around Sarajevo.

Serbian forces in Bosnia shelled the Croatian port of Dubrovnik on Sunday, following the collapse Saturday of talks between Zagreb and Serbian forces occupying eastern Slavonia, the last area of Croatia under Serbian control.

The U.S. announced Saturday that it had supplied the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal with new evidence of atrocities committed by Serbian forces after they captured the U.N.-designated "safe area" of Srebrenica in July. The evidence included additional satellite photos similar to those that the U.S. displayed in the U.N. Security Council in August. Approximately 8,000 Muslims missing from Srebrenica are believed to have been killed by Serbian forces. U.S. intelligence officials reportedly have information indicating direct Serbian involvement, including the use of regular Serbian Army troops, in the attack on Srebrenica. The revelations complicate the Clinton Administration's efforts to portray Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic as a "peace-maker" whose cooperation is necessary for U.S.-based peace talks to succeed. The presidents of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia are scheduled to begin talks on Wednesday at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

Croatia warned Serbian forces that they would retaliate if Dubrovnik is shelled again. Serbian forces in Bosnia shelled Dubrovnik on Sunday.

By a bipartisan vote of 315 to 103 on Monday night, the House of Representatives passed a non-binding, "Sense of the House" resolution that warned President Clinton that he should not presume that Congress will automatically approve of sending U.S. troops to implement a peace plan in Bosnia.

Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic will begin peace talks at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on Wednesday, November 1. Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey said today that Milosevic was ultimately responsible for the massacre of as many as 8,000 Muslims after Serbian forces captured Srebrenica in July, and should not have been invited to the peace talks. The U.N. War Crimes Tribunal announced today that it will hand down indictments for suspected war criminals involved in the Srebrenica massacres before the end of the year.

[02] CROATIA'S GOVERNING PARTY WINS ELECTIONS.

With nearly 80% of the ballots counted, President Franjo Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) has retained its parliamentary majority, Croatian media reported on 30 October. The HDZ secured some 44% of the vote and is thus likely to have between 71 and 75 of the 128 parliamentary seats, including 12 alloted to Croatian voters abroad. But the failure to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority means that Tudjman will be unable to introduce constitutional changes granting the presidency wider powers. Support for the HDZ seems to have waned most in the capital. Hina on 30 October reported that the HDZ won a majority of votes for the Zagreb City Assembly in only three of the city's 17 constituencies, gaining 36.55% of the vote. In the 1993 elections, the HDZ had the support of nearly 43% of voters in Zagreb. * Stan Markotich

[03] U.S. HOUSE VOTES AGAINST SENDING TROOPS TO BOSNIA.

The US House of Representatives on 30 October voted 315 to 103 in favor of a non-binding resolution espressing opposition to the sending of U.S. troops to Bosnia without the consent of Congress, AFP reported the same day. The resolution states that "in the negotiation of any peace agreement between the parties to the conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there should not be a presumption, and it should not be considered to be a prerequisite to the successful conclusion of such a negotiation, that the enforcement of such an agreement will involve deployment of United States Armed Forces...." Reuters on 31 October cites unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the three delegations scheduled to meet in Ohio on 1 November will "not agree to peace...if U.S. troops will not help other NATO members to enforce it." Chief mediator and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke added that the resolution may "weaken the negotiations."

[04] BOSNIAN PRESIDENT REJECTS DIVISION OF BOSNIA.

Alija Izetbegovic has said he is going to the Ohio talks with "moderate optimism." He stressed his delegation will reject a partition of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Reuters reported on 30 October. He also insisted on a united Sarajevo and adequate international forces to ensure the peace process. Aid for reconstruction must be tied to human rights, Izetbegovic argued. Holbrooke pointed out that it "is going to be very, very hard to reach a peace agreement." Serbian President Milosevic, representing the Bosnian Serbs, Croatian President Tudjman, and Izetbegovic will discuss a peace agreement in the presence of representatives of the Contact Group. * Fabian Schmidt

[05] EU FOREIGN MINISTERS AGREE ON RECONSTRUCTION PLAN FORFORMER YUGOSLAVIA.

The foreign ministers of the EU have agreed to provide $2 billion in reconstruction aid for the former Yugoslavia. At a meeting in Luxembourg on 30 October, they adopted a policy paper stating that Bosnia-Herzegovina should remain a single state in its internationally recognized borders and should be composed of two entities-the Muslim-Croatian federation and the Republic of Srpska, Reuters reported the same day. The policy paper also stressed the need for a multi-ethnic society based on the rule of law and with respect for human rights. Aid approval is dependent on an agreement being reached in Ohio. The EU expects the U.S. and the Islamic countries to pay another $2 billion each. * Fabian Schmidt

[06] FIRST CIVILIAN CONVOY IN MORE THAN THREE YEARS REACHES GORAZDE.

The first civilian convoy arrived safely in Gorazde on 30 October, international media reported. The convoy was carrying humanitarian aid. Another civilian convoy is scheduled to run on 1 November. Until now, only UN convoys were able to reach the enclave ocassionally. Meanwhile, the Bosnian government and the Bosnian Serbs have exchanged more than 500 civilian and military prisoners in Koprivna, near Sanski Most, Reuters reported on 30 October. According to the Financial Times on 30 October, the UN reported shelling by Bosnian Serbs near Dubrovnik. * Fabian Schmidt

[07] BULGARIAN BUSINESS GROUP LINKED TO ATTEMPT ON GLIGOROV'S LIFE.

The Greek newspaper Thessaloniki on 30 October published an article alleging that the Bulgarian Multigrup business conglomerate was behind the attempt to kill Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov on 3 October. An article by Spyros Kouzinopoulos, director of the Greek Macedonian Information Agency, says Multigrup is "linked to the mafia and enriches itself through illegal trade with Serbia and [Macedonia] in violation of the embargo against rump Yugoslavia." Macedonian media have also pointed to Multigrup as possibly carrying out the bomb attack. Multigrup Chief Secretary Boyko Draganov said the company will take those responsible for the article to court, 24 chasa reported on 31 October. * Stefan Krause

[08] BERISHA MEETS WORLD BANK PRESIDENT.

Albanian President Sali Berisha on 29 October met with the President of the World Bank James Wolfensohn. Berisha and Wolfensohn discussed development projects, such as the planed motorway from Durres to Istanbul and the economical reform in Albania. Meanwhile, Albania and Russia signed a bilateral treaty on law, Rilindja Demokratike reports on 31 October. In unrelated developments an opinion poll, conducted by the Sociological faculty in Tirana came to the result that 58% of the Albanians believe in an election victory of the right wing parties, including the Democrats, in May, while only 23% are convinced that the left wing parties, including the Socialists, will win. ATSH carried the report on 30 October * Fabian Schmidt

[09] CROATIA AFTER ELECTIONS WITH THE "BLOOD AND SOIL" IDEOLOGY OF THE APARTHEID OF THE BALKANS

In the view of the Society for Threatened Peoples the election victory of Tudjman`s party HDZ is a disaster for the cohabitation of the various ethnic and religious societies in Croatia and Bosnia. With expulsion, ban on returning home and systematic destruction of the property of refugees, Tudjman is trying to create a "Serb-free" Croatia, the president of the Society for Threatened Peoples, Tilman Zuelch, said on Monday. In parts of neighbouring Bosnia occupied by Croatian troops, "etnically pure" Croatian cantons are being implemented according to the South African model of apartheid.

With the reintegration of the Krajina, Tudjman has solved the "Serbian question" in accordance with his "blood and soil" ideology. Many of those who stayed, mostly elderly Serbs, are victims of assassination attempts whilst there is no firm intervention from the Croatian police or army. Almost all the deserted Serbian homes had been looted and destroyed, the harvest destroyed, the livestock slaughtered and even the wells poisoned. The escaped Serbs became refugees. With the decree of 31 August 1995 Tudjman legalized the confiscation of Serbian property.

In the West Bosnian towns of Jajce (formerly 39% Muslim, 35% Croatian, 19 % Serbian and 7% ethnically mixed Bosnians) and Mrkonjicgrad (12% Muslim, 8% Croatian, 77% Serbian and 3% mixed Bosnians) retaken by Croatian troops, the Croats forcefully prevented the return of the Muslim population. At the same time, Croats from other regions were settled in Jajce. In Mrkonjicgrad an internment camp was established for about 500 Muslims who lived in the town and refused to leave during the occupation by Karadzic`s troops. The expulsion of these Muslims is being arranged now.

Finally, Tudjman ordered the prevention of the return of the Muslim population, driven out by Croatian troops to the towns of Mostar, Capljina, Stolac, Zepce, Buzovaca, Ljubuski, Tomislavgrad and Livno. In these towns the Croatian president is preparing to unify the illegal "Republic of Herceg-Bosna" with Croatia. In Mostar, Croatia tried forcefully to maintain the partition of the town and has created a situation which allows less freedom than did Berlin GDR authorities before the political changes of 1989.

As the biggest humiliation of Croatian citizens of Serbian nationality since the foundation of Croatia, the chairman of the Serbian People`s Party in Croatia, Milan Djukic, announced early on Monday to the Society for Threatened Peoples the distribution of special pink-coloured voting permits for the elections. Due to the expulsion of the Krajina Serbs, the 13 parliamentary seats reserved for the Serbian minority were reduced to three. It was illegal that over 300,000 Bosnians of Croatian nationality were permitted to participate in the election but the Krajina Serbs willing to return were not taken into consideration.