OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 168, 29 August 1995

From: "Steve Iatrou" <[email protected]>

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [01] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT DEMANDS ACTION.

  • [02] SERBS DENY INVOLVEMENT IN SHELLING . . .

  • [03] . . . BUT UN DOES NOT BELIEVE THEM.

  • [04] BOSNIAN SERBS WELCOME U.S. PEACE PLAN.

  • [05] WHAT DID THE DUTCH KNOW IN SREBRENICA?

  • [06] MORE REFUGEES EXPECTED IN VOJVODINA . . .

  • [07] . . . BUT MINISTER FOR MINORITIES SEES NO DIFFICULTIES.

  • [08] ALBANIA OPPOSES LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.

  • [09] SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL IN ATHENS FOR BALKAN TALKS.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 168, Part II, 29 August 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT DEMANDS ACTION.

    The attack on Sarajevo's Markale market on 28 August left at least 37 dead and 87 wounded, international media reported the following day. Soon after the shelling, Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic said that Bosnia's participation in the peace process should be suspended until NATO clarified its role in protecting Sarajevo as a UN-designated "safe area." Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey stressed that "there must be some credibility restored by the international community in not allowing terrorism to undermine their own peace process [or] their own credibility." President Alija Izetbegovic promised revenge against the Serbs, adding that "as far as the killers are concerned, my message to them is we shall strike back . . . and very soon too." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] SERBS DENY INVOLVEMENT IN SHELLING . . .

    Nasa Borba on 29 August said the entire Bosnian Serb leadership has denied any connection with the Sarajevo attack. As was the case with the previous shelling of the market on 5 February 1994, the Serbs suggested that the government bombarded its own people for devious ends. The Serbian civilian leader, Radovan Karadzic, told SRNA that "the Muslim side, as usual, on the eve of important moments in the negotiations, staged a massacre of its own population to sabotage the peace process." His information minister called it "a classic act of Islamic terrorism." The military commander, General Ratko Mladic, said his men were not responsible. Bosnian Serb Radio claimed that soon after the Markale incident, government forces shelled a Serbian Orthodox church near Sarajevo and killed a member of a wedding party. There has generally been a pattern of the Serbs denying war crimes and accusing the Muslims or Croats of similar things each time the Serbs have done something particularly condemnable. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] . . . BUT UN DOES NOT BELIEVE THEM.

    Few people outside Serbian circles seemed to believe Karadzic and his fellows, however. The UN on 29 August announced that it had "concluded beyond all reasonable doubt" that Bosnian Serb forces fired the 120mm mortar round into an area packed with innocent civilians. It was not immediately clear what action, if any, would follow. Air strikes or use of the Rapid Reaction Force nearby were the two most likely options. The UN statement added that "all options are being reviewed, including the use of air power." Even the usually mild-mannered special envoy, Yasushi Akashi, said there would be "very strong action." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BOSNIAN SERBS WELCOME U.S. PEACE PLAN.

    The International Herald Tribune on 29 August said U.S. mediator Richard Holbrooke was somewhat cautious in his recommendations as to what should be done. Holbrooke, the "architect" of the short-lived policy of direct talks with Pale last winter, is now promoting Washington's latest effort to secure peace by effectively partitioning Bosnia. The Sarajevo government rejects any attempt to destroy the unity of the country. But the Bosnian Serb "legislature," meeting on Mt. Jahorina in the early hours of 29 August, welcomed Holbrooke's efforts for "a durable and just peace." Karadzic applauded the plan, saying earlier on Bosnian Serb Radio that "the American initiative, as far as we know, takes into account a maximum of Serb interests, and I hope our parliament will welcome this offer favorably." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] WHAT DID THE DUTCH KNOW IN SREBRENICA?

    The Bosnian Serb legislators alsoagreed that they and rump Yugoslavia would be represented at future international conferences by a joint delegation. The measure had been suggested by EU mediator Carl Bildt, SRNA said. Meanwhile, Bosnian and Serbian media continued to speculate on persistent but unconfirmed reports that Mladic has tried to arrest Karadzic. The two internationally wanted war criminals have been publicly at odds over a variety of issues related to tactics and power. In Gorazde, British forces completed their withdrawal ahead of schedule, leaving behind only two military observers and a political analyst. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 28 August reported on the continued row in the Netherlands over the behavior of Dutch peacekeepers following the fall of Srebrenica in July. They have been charged with turning a blind eye to massacres of Muslims and other war crimes in order to avoid clashing with the Serbs. The latest reports suggested that the Dutch virtually had to stumble over mounds of corpses as they were leaving the area. AFP said that the Serbs still refuse to allow an independent investigation . -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] MORE REFUGEES EXPECTED IN VOJVODINA . . .

    A peace conference in the Hungarian town of Szeged, attended by nongovernmental representatives from 15 countries, has expressed fears that another 70,000 Krajina Serbs will be settled in Vojvodina, which has large Hungarian, Croatian, and other Central European minorities, Hungarian TV1 reported on 27 August. Meanwhile, Hina on 28 August said that 565 ethnic Croatian refugees arrived in Croatia from Vojvodina on 28 August. The mass expulsion of Croats and Muslims from Banja Luka and other areas in northwestern Bosnia continued on 28 August, Croatian Radio reported. Some 300 people crossed the River Sava from Srbac to Davor, and more refugees are expected to arrive. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] . . . BUT MINISTER FOR MINORITIES SEES NO DIFFICULTIES.

    Margit Savovic, rump Yugoslav minister without portfolio in charge of civil liberties and minority rights, has denied that Serbian refugees in Kosovo and Vojvodina will disturb the ethnic balance there, Tanjug reported on 27 August. Savovic charged "certain countries" with using the refugee crisis to "interfere in Yugoslavia's internal affairs." Vjesnik on 29 August said that paramilitary troops under internationally wanted war- criminal Zeljko Raznjatovic, alias "Arkan," have begun press-ganging refugees in Serbia for deployment in eastern Slavonia. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] ALBANIA OPPOSES LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.

    Albanian Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi, during the visit to Tirana of his Egyptian counterpart, Amr Moussa, has stressed again that sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia should not be lifted unless the Kosovo conflict is resolved. Moussa and Serreqi said their countries have identical views on the crisis in the former Yugoslavia. Moussa added that Egypt considers the settling of Serbian refugees in Kosovo to be an "attempt to alter the demographic structure in Kosovo, [which is] unacceptable," Reuters reported on 28 August. According to BETA, Moussa also met with President Sali Berisha and Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi to discuss Egyptian investments in Albania and other forms of cooperation. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL IN ATHENS FOR BALKAN TALKS.

    White House communication manager George Stephanopoulos arrived in Athens on 28 August, Reuters reported the same day. Stephanopoulos will meet with Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, and the main conservative opposition party leader, Miltiades Evert, on 29 August to discuss the situation in the Balkans. The talks will focus on Greece's differences with neighboring Turkey, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the war in Bosnia. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to [email protected]

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