OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 147, 31 July 1995
CONTENTS
[01] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?
[02] TUDJMAN STANDS FIRM ON KRAJINA.
[03] MLADIC SAYS CROATS "WILL PAY DEARLY".
[04] DID THE DUTCH AID MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS?
[05] MAZOWIECKI FEARS FOR THE MISSING.
[06] BELGRADE CAUTIOUS ON KRAJINA . . .
[07] . . . BUT CONDEMNS CROATIA.
[08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PARTY CONFERENCE.
[09] BULGARIAN PREMIER ATTACKS PRESIDENT, CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.
[10] ALBANIAN TV DIRECTOR SACKED.
[11] SECRET MEETING BETWEEN ALBANIAN, SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.
[12] GREECE DEMANDS SOLE RIGHT TO STAR OF VERGINA.
[13] TURKISH ISLAMISTS PROTEST BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO.
[14] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER?"
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 147, Part II, 31 July 1995
EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE
[01] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?
NATO officials have"serious suspicions" that a Czech electronic system that can detect the
latest "stealth" aircraft is being used by Bosnian Serb forces, Mlada
fronta dnes reported on 31 July, quoting unnamed sources close to NATO
headquarters. The daily said suspicions that the "Tamara" detection
system was in use grew from the shooting down of an American F-16
fighter over Bosnia-Herzegovina in early June. The Czech Foreign
Ministry said no Tamara system has been exported to the former
Yugoslavia since the Czech Republic came into existence. The government
on 26 July authorized the makers of Tamara, which detects the electronic
emissions from a target aircraft's avionics, to export one of the
devices. Mlada fronta dnes reported on 29 July that the recipient will
be Kyrgyzstan. -- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[02] TUDJMAN STANDS FIRM ON KRAJINA.
International media on 31 July reported
that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman called a six-point agreement
between the Krajina Serb rebels and UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi
"unacceptable." The Serbs pledged to stop shelling Bihac and to pull
their troops out of Bosnia, although they have previously denied
involvement there and although the plan has no timetable. The Serbs
would have received some benefits, including a share of aid shipments
and a promise that UNCRO would deploy on Mt. Dinara, from which the
Croats can shell Knin. Tudjman said instead that UNCRO must be stationed
on all of Croatia's frontiers and that "this is particularly urgent
because in recent days there have been new shipments of troops and
equipment from the [rump] Yugoslav army across the Danube." He added
that the Serbs must join serious talks about the reintegration of
Krajina into Croatia. This includes reopening pipeline, railway, and
highway links as well as guaranteeing the Serbs some autonomy in the
Glina and Knin areas and a package of rights as an ethnic minority.
Tudjman on 29 July warned the Serbs to negotiate or be reincorporated
into Croatia by force. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[03] MLADIC SAYS CROATS "WILL PAY DEARLY".
Bosnian Croat and Croatian units
on 28 July took Glamoc and the key town of Grahovo, which controls land
communications between Knin and Bosnian Serb territory. Serbian refugees
have been fleeing to Knin ever since, but UN officials on 31 July did
not provide an estimate of how many people have been involved. Figures
of about 5,000 refugees were given on 28 July. Krajina and Bosnian Serb
leaders subsequently declared heightened states of emergency in their
respective areas. Bosnian Serb commander General Ratko Mladic told
Tanjug on 30 July that the Croats "will pay dearly" for their conquests.
Some commentators noted that his men still control the high ground
around the two towns and that the Serbs elsewhere might be tempted to
fire rockets at Zagreb or shell the Dalmatian tourist centers. Fighting
around Bihac appears to have subsided amid reports that the Croats are
consolidating their gains while some Krajina Serb units are leaving to
defend Knin. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[04] DID THE DUTCH AID MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS?
The daily De Volkskrant on 28July wrote that the Dutch UNPROFOR commander had made a deal with Mladic
whereby the Dutch could leave Srebrenica but Muslim men between 17 and
60 would be taken and "debriefed." It now seems certain that many or
most of the men from Srebrenica were massacred and that a similar fate
met the men from Zepa who did not flee into the woods. The French group
Doctors of the World on 30 July said that military-aged men from both
"safe areas" had "completely disappeared." The BBC on 29 July reported
that Zepa had been looted and burned, while its Muslim civilian
negotiator had been "detained" and his military counterpart had
"disappeared." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[05] MAZOWIECKI FEARS FOR THE MISSING.
The BBC on 29 July quoted former UN
human rights envoy Tadeusz Mazowiecki as saying that witnesses told him
of having seen decapitated and limbless corpses, while others spoke of
Serbian soldiers carrying the heads and limbs of their victims. He said
he feared that at least half of those still missing have met grisly
deaths. Mazowiecki was speaking in Poland after having resigned his post
in protest over the failure of the international community to act
against genocide in Srebrenica in Zepa. He pointed out that "cutting off
noses is not a civilized action, nor is silent consent." -- Patrick
Moore, OMRI, Inc.
[06] BELGRADE CAUTIOUS ON KRAJINA . . .
Official Belgrade reaction to
developments in and around Krajina was muted, international media
reported. As Croatian and Bosnian Croat troops moved toward Knin, the
Krajina capital currently held by rebel Croat Serbs, Belgrade refrained
from offering them direct support, calling instead for a diplomatic
resolution to the situation. AFP reported federal rump Yugoslav
President Zoran Lilic as saying that the rump Yugoslavia "demands that
all warring parties meet immediately around the negotiating table,
without pre-conditions." BETA added that Lilic also renewed calls for
lifting international sanctions against Belgrade, which, he said, would
serve to promote regional peace and frustrate the ambitions of
"extremist elements" advocating war. AFP reported that Belgrade failed
to back calls by the Krajina Serb mission in Belgrade for a rally to
protest what the mission dubbed "Croatian aggression." -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[07] . . . BUT CONDEMNS CROATIA.
Meanwhile, Belgrade has condemned Croatia
for what was described as Zagreb's "aggressive behavior" in Bosnia-
Herzegovina, AFP reported. Reuters on 30 July reported that retreating
Bosnian Serb forces in the area called for Belgrade's direct
intervention on their behalf but received no direct commitment from the
Serbian capital. Belgrade, however, appealed for "energetic
international political action" to halt Croatian "aggression." -- Stan
Markotich, OMRI, Inc.
[08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PARTY CONFERENCE.
The Bulgarian Socialist
Party on 28-29 July held a national party conference in Sofia, Bulgarian
newspapers reported on 31 July. The delegates approved the Socialist-led
government's policies during its sixth months in office, which, they
said, were in keeping with the party's election platform. They also
approved the program for the rest of the BSP's term but called for
stepped-up efforts in privatization, the energy sector, and fighting
crime. Winning the local elections in October was described as the BSP's
most important task in the near future. Demokratsiya reported that
former party leader Aleksandar Lilov urged that a reshuffle take place
in order to improve the cabinet's effectiveness. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI,
Inc.
[09] BULGARIAN PREMIER ATTACKS PRESIDENT, CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.
Zhan Videnov,
speaking at the BSP conference, strongly criticized President Zhelyu
Zhelev and the Constitutional Court, Reuters reported on 28 July.
Videnov said both were obstructing the policies of his government.
Zhelev, he commented, "blocks the rule of the Democratic Left [and]
behaves more like a candidate [for] opposition leader than . . . a head
of state," whereas the Constitutional Court "behaves like an alternative
parliament." The Constitutional Court in June backed Zhelev in his row
with the BSP over an amendment to the land law, arguing it violated the
constitution. Videnov also said that the "confrontation between the
institutions of the legislative, judicial, and executive powers [is]
typical for countries in transition." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[10] ALBANIAN TV DIRECTOR SACKED.
The Albanian parliament on 28 July
dismissed Skender Bucpapa, director of Albanian TV and Radio, as well as
other high-ranking officials, BETA reported the same day. The opposition
had criticized Bucpapa frequently for bias toward the ruling Democratic
Party and for declining to address major political and social problems
in Albania. Members of the Democratic Party recently alleged abuse of
office by Bucpapa. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[11] SECRET MEETING BETWEEN ALBANIAN, SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.
The Albanian and
Serbian socialist party leaderships on 29 July held a secret meeting in
Sofia, BETA reported the next day. No details have been released on
either the topics discussed or the outcome of the talks. Representatives
of the Albanian Socialists had participated in the Conference of the
Balkan Left in Belgrade on 21-22 July, which called for lifting
sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[12] GREECE DEMANDS SOLE RIGHT TO STAR OF VERGINA.
Greece took an
unprecedented step in its row with Macedonia over the Star of Vergina,
the Athens daily Kyriakiatiki Elevtherotypia reported on 30 July. The
Greek government in early July demanded that the UN World Intellectual
Property Organization grant Greece the exclusive rights to the symbol,
which dates back to the times of ancient Macedonia. Greece regards it is
a purely Greek symbol, and strictly opposes its use on the Macedonian
flag. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.
[13] TURKISH ISLAMISTS PROTEST BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO.
More than 50,000 Turks
in Konya protested the arms embargo against Bosnia-Herzegovina on 29
July. Shouting "God Is Great," the demonstrators burned U.S. and UN
flags and demanded an immediate end to the embargo, Reuters reported the
same day. Turkey was one of eight Organization of Islamic Conference
states that on 26 July declared the UN embargo "invalid" and gave the
West a "last chance" to take concrete action before they defied the arms
embargo. Meanwhile, Anatolia, the semi-official news agency, on 25 July
reported that Turkey plans to sign a military cooperation accord with
Bosnia in early August. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.
[14] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?
NATO officials have"serious suspicions" that a Czech electronic system that can detect the
latest "stealth" aircraft is being used by Bosnian Serb forces, Mlada
fronta dnes reported on 31 July, quoting unnamed sources close to NATO
headquarters. The daily said suspicions that the "Tamara" detection
system was in use grew from the shooting down of an American F-16
fighter over Bosnia-Herzegovina in early June. The Czech Foreign
Ministry said no Tamara system has been exported to the former
Yugoslavia since the Czech Republic came into existence. The government
on 26 July authorized the makers of Tamara, which detects the electronic
emissions from a target aircraft's avionics, to export one of the
devices. Mlada fronta dnes reported on 29 July that the recipient will
be Kyrgyzstan. -- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.
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