MAK-NEWS 09/10/95 (M.I.C.)

From: "M.I.C." <[email protected]>

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, OCTOBER 9, 1995 (MIC)

[01] PRESIDENT GLIGOROV IN A STABLE CONDITION

According to the latest bulletin issued at 18.30 hours last night, the health condition of the President of the Republic of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov is stable, with orderly clinical parameters. Yesterday, ophthalmologic examinations were carried out after a team of ophthalmologists from France came to Skopje and held consultations with the medical team treating the President, on the planned operation of President Gligorov's right eye.

The bulletin of the medical team monitoring the President's health condition following the assassination attempt on October 3 in Skopje, says that the intensive care is continuing.

Considering the President's stable health condition, the medical team has announced that starting from today, the health bulletin will be released once per day.

[02] PHOTO-FIT OF CAR BOMB BUYER RELEASED

The Interior Ministry announced the preliminary details connected with the possible identity of the participants in the assassination attempt on President Gligorov that took place on October 3. As we were told yesterday by Assistant Minister Stojan Trenevski, a photo-fit was made of the buyer of the car bomb "Citroen Ami 8," manufactured in 1975, with licence plates no. KU 240 MB. He described the man as being around 30 years old, medium built, blond, without any specific features, around 170 cm high.

According to Trenevski, the man fitting this description showed up at the used-car market "Fershped" in Skopje on September 24, at 11.00 hours, nine days before the attempted assassination on Gligorov, and bought the car in which the bomb was planted.

In order to shed some light on the activities preceding the assassination attempt on Gligorov, the Interior Ministry sent out a call yesterday to any citizens of the Republic of Macedonia who may have some information regarding the buyer of the car or the movements of the "Ami" in the period from September 24 to October 3, to inform their nearest police station.

"Nova Makedonija" unofficially informs that the owner of the "Citroen Ami 8," who is from Kriva Palanka, made the transaction with the anonymous customer very quickly that day. According to this information, the buyer immediately agreed to the price of 650 DEM, paying enormous interest to the bodywork of the car, explaining that he would use the car for car parts.

However, the did not show the owner of the "Ami" any documents, saying that they would make the transfer of the documents in a couple of days. What intrigues the public the most, (according to unofficial sources) is that this suspect allegedly spoke with a Serbo-Croatian accent, with a Kajkav dialect. This information was neither confirmed, nor denied yesterday.

However, the fact that the buyer of the car was especially interested in its bodyparts is very indicative, since it points to the conclusion that the would-be assassins simply did not want to leave anything to chance.

Unofficial, however, well-informed police sources claim that this vehicle was not chosen accidentally. Namely, "Ami 8" is made of very thin metal, with bodyparts merely screwed together, ensuring a huge blast would be created in the explosion.

[03] RATIFICATION OF INTERIM ACCORD WITH GREECE

The Macedonian Parliament is due to ratify the interim accord today, signed on September 13 in New York by the foreign ministers of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece.

It will come into effect on October 13, the thirtieth day from the signing.

Judging by the debate in the competent Commission, the ratification of this documents, which introduces a new climate in the relations between Macedonia and Greece, should pass without any greater difficulties.

[04] GREEK EXPERT TEAM IN SKOPJE

The Greek expert team led by the chief of the department A-3 in the Foreign Ministry, ambassador Dimitras Kipreos, will arrive in Skopje today to clear up all questions related to the practical realization of the New York Interim Accord.

Ambassador Kipreos will be arriving together with the chief of the section for Macedonia Dimitrios Iliopoulos.

Otherwise, reports say that the Macedonian delegation spoke Macedonian at the recent meeting of the representatives of the two countries, in Athens, with a simultaneous translation.

[05] GREECE: "GLIGOROV'S POSSIBLE SUCCESSORS"

Following the unsuccessful attempted assassination on the Macedonian President Gligorov, the Athens media are focusing on the situation in Macedonia, as well as the character of the President.

Most of the press notes that the Greek politicians have started recognizing that the Macedonian President presents an imperative factor for the peace and stability in the Balkans only after the attempted assassination.

According to the majority Athens newspapers, despite the improvement in Gligorov's health condition, still, he will not be able to return to his duties. "In this political vacuum," today's "To Vima" writes, "the race for the presidential place has started."

The Athens press mentions Stojan Andov as the likely and most serious candidate for President, not excluding Vasil Tupurkovski, Branko Crvenkovski, Ljubomir Frckovski and Blagoja Handziski.

[06] THE ALBANIANS' VOTES ARE WITH PRICE TAGS

"If the car bomb, which injured the Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov leads to new presidential elections, the ethnic Albanians in the country will play a very important role. Full political equality will be their price for giving support to any candidate," Menduh Tachi, vice-president of the Party for Democratic Prosperity of the Albanians stated.

"Whenever the elections are held, the new president will need the votes of the Albanians," Tachi said. "We want Macedonia to be a state of all its citizens, however, at the moment, we are treated as second-rate citizens," he stated in an interview.

Tachi said he felt great relief because not one ethnic group or political party in Macedonia tried to scapegoat the ethnic Albanians for the attack on Gligorov. "That would mean a real destabilization in the country. I feel the attack was an act of political terrorism, incited from abroad," Tachi said.

[07] HELP FOR RENEWAL

The representatives of Macedonia and Romania have announced that both countries have suffered enormous losses due to the conflict in former Yugoslavia, and should therefore receive a part of the financial help intended for the war-torn regions.

"The sanctions have caused our economy more than US$ 5 billion in losses, and we hope that the financial assistance will also expand to Macedonia and the other countries that have suffered losses," minister Ljupcho Trpevski stated at the news conference held after the two-day summit of the Central European Initiative in Warsaw.

[08] MACEDONIA FOR THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF CEI

The Summit of the Central European Initiative, with the participation of the prime ministers of the member states and associated members of the CEI, finished in Warsaw two days ago.

Among the more important decisions made at the Summit was the decision to open a Center for Information and Documentation of the CEI in Trieste, to ensure better coordination of the execution of the CEI projects. The prime ministers of the CEI have decided to authorize their foreign ministers to positively assess the membership applications of Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Romania and Ukraine in the CEI, at the next meeting scheduled for the Spring of 1996 in Vienna, Austria.

The Macedonian delegation at the CEI Summit was led by the minister in the Macedonian Government Ljube Trpeski, who had a number of meetings with the present prime ministers and foreign ministers. Macedonia placed an emphasis on its stances for the further development of the Central European Initiative, as well as its intention to take steps to ensure the membership of the Republic in CEFTA.

All the delegations at the Summit expressed their sympathies and condemnation of the attempted assassination on Kiro Gligorov, as well as wished for his speedy recovery.

[09] NACHEV DEMANDED TO RESIGN

The statements of the Bulgarian Interior Minister Ljubomir Nachev regarding the operations performed on the Macedonian President, their outcome and their possible fatal end, are regarded in Sofia as a serious gaffe, in light of which the minister should submit his resignation, Makpress reports.

Minister Nachev stated for the private radio station "Express" that his statements were based on unofficial information from people who had crossed the border in the meantime, including medical persons.

Reactions in Bulgaria say that minister Nachev and some statements following the assassination attempt on Gligorov, provide the basic source of suspicions that there are Bulgarian links in the assassination attempt.

The fact that minister Nachev immediately offered to cooperate in the capture of the would-be assassins, and his suggestions to tighten control on the border, has been interpreted in the Bulgarian media as a signal of "Bulgarian links."

[10] "NEW YORK TIMES": RELIEF OVER CALMNESS IN THE COUNTRY

"Assassination attempt has increased fears of war," is the heading of the text on Macedonia, which came out in the "New York Times" today, as part of the weekly review of events.

"After the outbreak of the blood-shed in former Yugoslavia, the analysts and the Western capital were convinced that even the smallest spark could start a war in Macedonia," the author of the text Ramond Boner says. "That's why they were shocked, and of course, relieved to hear about the calmness in the country following the attempted assassination on President Kiro Gligorov, who the doctors believe will survive, but will not be able to return to his duties for a longer time year," the "New York Times" writes.

Informing that Parliamentary Speaker Stojan Andov took over as acting president, and that the Macedonian Parliament has made a decision to adopt a new flag, the newspaper adds that teams from the FBI, Scotland Yard and from Germany are currently in the country, trying to discover the would-be assassins. "The list of suspects is long," the "New York Times" writes, mentioning the Macedonian nationalists - angry over the accord with Greece, the ethnic Albanians who are demanding greater autonomy, and the Bulgarians and Serbs.

"The tranquility might not last," the "New York Times" writes at the end, quoting the words of the "Macedonian political analysts who are already talking about a possible eruption if Andov makes a bid to hold on to the presidential position."

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