OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 75, 14 April 1995
CONTENTS
[01] BOSNIAN FIGHTING CONTINUES.
[02] DUBROVNIK SHELLED.
[03] DID THE RUSSIAN GENERAL BACK THE SERBS?
[04] MACEDONIA, GREECE HALT SERBIA-BOUND CONTRABAND.
[05] MACEDONIA, TURKEY SIGN ACCORD.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 75, Part II, 14 April 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[01] BOSNIAN FIGHTING CONTINUES.
International media on 13 and 14 April
reported that fighting in several areas around Bosnia-Herzegovina shows
little sign of abating. Croatia's Hina, citing Sarajevo Radio, reported
that Serbs from Croatia's Krajina area, supported by rebel Bosnian
Muslim troops, resumed their assaults on Bosnian government forces near
Velika Kladusa, in northwestern Bosnia. Western news agencies described
the fighting in that region as fierce. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba reported
that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who has seemingly been
feuding with Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic, has publicly praised
Milosevic for his recent unwillingness to extend recognition to Bosnia-
Herzegovina. Reuters reported that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic
has advised government forces to brace for war when the cease-fire
expires on 30 April. Finally, Nasa Borba also reported that on their
recent visit to Belgrade, members of the international Contact Group met
not only with government officials but with members of Serbia's
opposition parties. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[02] DUBROVNIK SHELLED.
Croatian media reported that on 13 April Croatia's
Adriatic city of Dubrovnik and its surrounding area were the target of
artillery shelling. One person was killed, and at least three wounded.
Croatian authorities have blamed "Bosnian Serb paramilitaries" for the
attacks, and Reuters observes that Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic
has sent "a protest letter to the UN Security Council saying the
Croatian army had not retaliated but would if the Serbs attacked again."
Dubrovnik is situated some 10 kilometers from Bosnian Serb-held
territory. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[03] DID THE RUSSIAN GENERAL BACK THE SERBS?
Reuters on 13 April quotesWestern sources in Zagreb as confirming that Maj. Gen. Alexander
Perelyakin was ousted following allegations of corruption and favoring
the Serbian side. Perelyakin was fired as commander of Belgian and
Russian peacekeepers in Serb-held Croatian territories on 11 April. But
Russian Foreign Ministry sources continue to flatly deny that Perel-
yakin was biased in favor of the Serbs and insist there is no concrete
evidence to substantiate the contrary, Interfax reports. For its part
the Russian daily Izvestiya cited Russian Foreign Ministry officials as
saying that Perel-yakin's ouster was calculated to drive the Russian
peacekeepers from the former Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[04] MACEDONIA, GREECE HALT SERBIA-BOUND CONTRABAND.
International media on
13 April reported that Macedonia and Greece, in separate incidents,
seized oil drilling equipment that UN sources say was bound for Serbia.
AFP reports that Greek officials detained shipments of 1,866 tons of
equipment, believed to have been sent by the Canadian group Triton from
Iran. Meanwhile, Macedonian authorities seized 13 truck-loads of
equipment at Gev-gelija, near Macedonia's border with Greece. -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[05] MACEDONIA, TURKEY SIGN ACCORD.
Macedonian Minister of Defense Blagoj
Handziski and his Turkish counterpart, Mehmet Gol-han, on 13 April
signed a military cooperation accord, international media reported.
Under the terms of the agreement, both countries are obliged to exchange
military and technological data. An already existing accord between the
two nations permits Macedonian officers to train in Turkey. -- Stan
Markotich
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