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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 203, 18 October 1995
CONTENTS
[1] BOSNIAN SERBS REOPEN CONCENTRATION CAMP--FOR THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
[2] GANIC SAYS SERBS WILL RECEIVE LESS TERRITORY.
[3] BOSNIAN SERB "PATRIOTIC FRONT" DEMANDS PURGE.
[4] INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATORS IN BELGRADE.
[5] TUDJMAN REELECTED PARTY LEADER.
[6] MONTENEGRIN-ALBANIAN FLOUR SMUGGLING.
[7] STUDENTS PROTEST IN BUCHAREST.
[8] ROMANIA MARE ATTACKS SECRET SERVICE CHIEF.
[9] MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT BACKS INITIATIVE FOR POLITICAL FORUM.
[10] BULGARIA TO PROMOTE SILKWORM INDUSTRY.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 203, Part II, 18 October 1995
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] BOSNIAN SERBS REOPEN CONCENTRATION CAMP--FOR THEIR OWN PEOPLE.
The
Guardian on 17 October reported that the notorious Omarska prison camp
complex is full again, this time with Serbian refugees. As when Muslim
and Croat inmates were held in 1992, there is little food or shelter,
the guards are abusive, and men are beaten and taken away--this time to
be press-ganged. Refugees said they were robbed by paramilitaries
commanded by the internationally wanted war criminal Zeljko Raznatovic
"Arkan." The British daily echoed the refugees' sentiments in noting
that "the Arkanovci have proved themselves to be far more efficient
looters than fighters." -- Patrick Moore
[2] GANIC SAYS SERBS WILL RECEIVE LESS TERRITORY.
Slobodna Dalmacija on 18
October reported that Prijedor is half empty as its Serbian inhabitants
flee before advancing allied forces. It added that Croatian soldiers in
Mrkonjic Grad have discovered the corpses of six Muslims whom Serbian
soldiers used as human shields. Nasa Borba quoted Bosnian Vice President
Ejup Ganic as saying that the Serbs will no longer be able to claim 49%
of the republic's territory in view of their recent losses on the
battlefield. Reuters on 17 October noted that the U.S. has selected the
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio, as the site for
the planned peace talks involving the presidents of Serbia, Bosnia, and
Croatia. American officials claimed it was difficult to find equal
accommodations elsewhere for three heads of state. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN SERB "PATRIOTIC FRONT" DEMANDS PURGE.
Bosnian Serb opposition
parties have joined to form the Patriotic Front, Nasa Borba reported on
18 October. Calling the recent sacking of four generals and the prime
minister "cosmetic," they demanded that "the main guilty parties" be
fired and that there be "radical changes" in the leadership. In a letter
to civilian leader Radovan Karadzic, they did not specify exactly whom
they meant. Reuters said the Bosnian Serb military leadership has
rejected the firing of the four generals and blamed the civilian
authorities for the recent monumental losses. A statement issued in
Belgrade pointed to "the failures of state policy and especially [the
civilians'] incapability to assert the results of our struggle at the
international level, [including] determining the borders of the
Republika Srpska." SRNA noted that Bosnian Serbs have appealed to
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to "protect the Republika Srpska
and its people." -- Patrick Moore
[4] INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATORS IN BELGRADE.
International media on 18 October
report that U.S. representative Richard Holbrooke, EU envoy Carl Bildt,
and Russian negotiator Igor Ivanov are in Belgrade. According to
Reuters, the purpose of their visit is "to brief Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic on the accelerating Bosnia peace process." -- Stan
Markotich
[5] TUDJMAN REELECTED PARTY LEADER.
Hina on 15 October said Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman was reelected president of the governing
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) at the party's third congress. He
ran unopposed and took 1,199 out of 1,247 votes. Mate Granic, Gojko
Susak, Jadranka Kosor, Ivic Pasalic, and Franjo Greguric were elected
vice presidents. Tudjman stressed that the party must shun extremes, but
the common denominator among his deputies appears to be personal loyalty
rather than any ideological position. The Croatian Peasant Party (HSS)
also held its convention, which was addressed by leaders of some other
opposition parties, including the Liberals and the Independent
Democrats. They stressed that Croatia must not become a one-party state.
The HSS is challenging the HDZ for the 12 seats reserved for Croats
living abroad. -- Patrick Moore
[6] MONTENEGRIN-ALBANIAN FLOUR SMUGGLING.
Shkoder police and customs
officials on 16 October confiscated 200 tons of flour from Montenegro
bound for Albania, Gazeta Shqiptare reported. The smugglers were
arrested in a village near the checkpoint between Shkoder and Ulcinj.
The Albanian daily said smuggling flour from the rump Yugoslavia has
begun because of the low price of flour in Vojvodina and on the Kosovo
plains. Elsewhere, Montena-fax on 16 October ran a report alleging that
Montenegrin authorities initially failed to disclose information on, and
later tried to play down, the sinking of a tanker carrying 30 tons of
bitumen in the Bay of Hoti in Lake Shkoder on 24 September. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[7] STUDENTS PROTEST IN BUCHAREST.
Thousands of students on 17 October
marched in downtown Bucharest to protest plans to implement new
university fees, Radio Bucharest reported the same day. The rally
followed strikes over the past few days at universities in the provinces
protesting the new charges, which range from $100 to $2,300, depending
on which courses are taken. The students are also calling for amendments
to a controversial education law recently adopted by the parliament and
demanding that the internal affairs minister be summoned to the
parliament to account for the actions of policemen at previous student
demonstrations. Several opposition parties, including the Liberal Party
'93, have expressed support for the students. -- Dan Ionescu
[8] ROMANIA MARE ATTACKS SECRET SERVICE CHIEF.
In its latest issue, the
weekly of the chauvinistic Greater Romania Party (PRM) has published a
letter, allegedly written by a group of senior SRI officers, accusing
Virgil Magureanu, head of the Romanian Intelligence service (SRI), of
"gross interference in politics" and of appointing his close associates
to top positions within the service, Mediafax reported on 17 October.
The accusations were made in the form of 15 questions to Magureanu. The
anonymous authors of the letter threatened to published "irrefutable
proof" supporting their charges should the SRI chose to ignore the
criticism and leave the questions unanswered. Romania Mare in June
published a similar letter from 300 army officers accusing President Ion
Iliescu of having "liquidated" the Romanian army under pressure from
NATO. -- Dan Ionescu
[9] MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT BACKS INITIATIVE FOR POLITICAL FORUM.
The Moldovan
government on 17 October said it supported an initiative by the Social
Progress Party (PPS) to hold a round-table conference of all political
forces in the country, Infotag reported. The president, prime minister,
and parliamentary chairman are also invited to attend the conference,
whose aim is to overcome Moldova's current political crisis. The PPS was
founded this summer by a splinter group from the ruling Agrarian
Democratic Party of Moldova. It is considered the brainchild of
parliamentary chairman Petru Lucinschi, a former Central Committee
secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. -- Dan Ionescu
[10] BULGARIA TO PROMOTE SILKWORM INDUSTRY.
Reuters on 17 October reported
that Bulgarian officials plan to deal in part with the problems of
unemployment and economic demands imposed by the "needy and landless" by
encouraging such people to take part in the revival of the country's
ancient silkworm industry. The idea is to revive a tradition that can be
"a major means of earning a livelihood in various regions," Social
Minister Mincho Koralski said. Meanwhile, Bulgarian media on 17 October
reported that the first six-kilometer-long section of Sofia's
underground rail system made a trial run on 17 October. This part of the
system is slated to begin operating in early 1996. -- Stan Markotich
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
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