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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 16, 23 January 1996
CONTENTS
[1] JUSTICE GOLDSTONE IN SARAJEVO.
[2] NATO TO AID WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION.
[3] MURATOVIC RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTS NOMINATION FOR BOSNIAN PREMIERSHIP.
[4] CHRISTOPHER ISSUES WARNING ABOUT PRISONER EXCHANGE.
[5] SERBIA TO CRACK DOWN ON ECONOMIC CRIME?
[6] NEW ZAGREB MAJOR TO BE ELECTED.
[7] CHIRAC FAVORS "PRIVILEGED RELATIONS" WITH ROMANIA.
[8] ROMANIAN EMBASSY GUARDS ROBBED OF GUNS IN MOLDOVA.
[9] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE SIGN STATEMENT ON DNIESTER.
[10] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OPPOSITION LEADER.
[11] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW MINISTERS.
[12] ALBANIAN PRISONERS TO LEAVE GREECE.
[13] ALBANIA TO INVEST $200 MILLION IN ROADS THIS YEAR.
[14] TURKEY TO SEND COMBAT TROOPS TO BOSNIA.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 16, Part II, 23 January 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] JUSTICE GOLDSTONE IN SARAJEVO.
The head of the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Richard Goldstone, visited Sarajevo
on 22 January. He told international media that his team might begin
work in the field in as soon as two weeks. The investigators are
concerned that the Serbs might try to destroy evidence of atrocities in
the meantime, and Reuters said that the Serbs are keeping foreigners out
of the Srebrenica area. Elsewhere, the International Herald Tribune
reported on 23 January that the U.S. intelligence community has been
told to help the tribunal, even if it means investigating charges that
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for war crimes.
Goldstone had earlier criticized the Americans for being slow to provide
evidence, but Washington now seems willing to help. This apparently also
means tracing atrocities to the doorstep of the man who was so central
to Richard Holbrooke's diplomatic efforts last year. -- Patrick Moore
[2] NATO TO AID WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATION.
IFOR commander
U.S. Admiral
Leighton Smith and Richard Goldstone, meeting on 22 January in Sarajevo,
reached an agreement whereby NATO will help investigations into war
crimes in the former Yugoslavia, international agencies reported. NATO
has so far refused to guard suspected mass grave sites in the fear that
it will be taking on missions other than those assigned to it in the
Dayton peace accords. The Washington Post on 23 January reported Smith
as telling Goldstone that "If you don't push me and make me say what I'm
going to do, I'll do a lot." -- Michael Mihalka
[3] MURATOVIC RELUCTANTLY ACCEPTS NOMINATION FOR BOSNIAN PREMIERSHIP.
Bosnian Minister for Relations with IFOR Hasan Muratovic has said he is
accepting the post of Bosnian prime minister, albeit reluctantly. "Mr.
Silajdzic is the man we need, but unfortunately he has refused to be
prime minister," AFP quoted him as saying. Muratovic was nominated for
the premiership at an emergency session of the executive board of the
ruling Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) on 21 January. The next
day, the Bosnian collective Presidency proposed him as new premier.
Muratovic, who is not a member of the SDA , was considered a close
Silajdzic ally. AFP quoted Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic as
telling state television on 21 January that Silajdzic's resignation from
the post of prime minister was based on "caprice." -- Daria Sito Sucic
[4] CHRISTOPHER ISSUES WARNING ABOUT PRISONER EXCHANGE. U.S.
Secretary of
State Warren Christopher on 22 January warned that if the Bosnian
government did not comply with the requirement to release remaining
prisoners of war, it would risk losing training, equipment and
reconstruction aid, international agencies reported. He stressed that
the prisoner release was an "unconditional obligation" for all parties
to the Dayton peace accord and noted that the Bosnian government's
request for further information on other prisoners was "not a legitimate
demand" entitling them "to keep back their prisoners." -- Michael
Mihalka
[5] SERBIA TO CRACK DOWN ON ECONOMIC CRIME?
Serbian Prosecutor-GeneralDragan Petkovic told TV Serbia on 21 January that the "fight against
criminality"--announced by President Milosevic in his 1996 New Year's
address--will focus on economic crimes. Petkovic said that while
international sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia were in force,
economic crimes were not only tolerated but also promoted by the regime.
He added that if there had been no sanctions violators or smugglers,
Serbia's banking and commercial infrastructure would have found it
difficult, if not impossible, to survive. Meanwhile, Politika on 23
January reported Ivica Dacic, spokesman for the ruling Socialist Party
of Serbia, as saying federal and municipal elections will be held in
1996, while elections to the Serbian legislature will not take place
before the end of 1997, when the legislators' current mandates expire.
-- Stan Markotich
[6] NEW ZAGREB MAJOR TO BE ELECTED.
Since Croatian President Franjo Tudjman
rejected to approve election of opposition candidate Goran Granic for a
post of Zagreb major and a head of Zagreb county, nomination of a new
candidate is expected at a session of the City Assembly scheduled for 24
January, Vecernji list reported a day before. President of Social-
Democratic Party (SDP) Ivica Racan announced that united opposition
parties will nominate a new candidate for a post of Zagreb major,
because "it would make no sense to insist on Granic as the only
candidate, and let the ruling Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to
continue to rule in the Croatian capital under an excuse of existing
anarchy," BETA on 23 January quoted him as saying. If opposition would
not nominate a new candidate, the Croatian President alone would have
right to appoint one. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[7] CHIRAC FAVORS "PRIVILEGED RELATIONS" WITH ROMANIA.
France wants to
develop "privileged relations" with Romania, French President Jacques
Chirac was quoted as saying on 22 January by the Bucharest daily
Adevarul. Noting that Romania is the "only Latin country in Eastern
Europe," he pledged to "help it develop along its chosen path." Asked
whether France was "Romania's main advocate" in its bid for EU
membership, Chirac said Romania could rely both on France and on "other
friends who supported it." Chirac's statement came on the eve of a
French-Romanian economic forum in Bucharest. -- Matyas Szabo
[8] ROMANIAN EMBASSY GUARDS ROBBED OF GUNS IN MOLDOVA.
Several armed men
robbed guards of their guns at the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau, Infotag
reported on 22 January. Armed with knives and handguns, the assailants
wounded one of the guards in their night raid on the embassy building.
Police mounted a manhunt but could not find the assailants. Such
incidents have occurred repeatedly in Chisinau, including last year at
the Turkish Embassy, international media reported. -- Matyas Szabo
[9] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA, UKRAINE SIGN STATEMENT ON DNIESTER.
Presidents Mircea
Snegur, Boris Yeltsin, and Leonid Kuchma on 19 January signed a
statement recognizing the Dniester region as a constituent part of
Moldova, BASA-press and Infotag reported on 22 January. The three
leaders stressed the need for a speedy political settlement to the
Dniester conflict in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter,
the Helsinki Final Act, and OSCE, Council of Europe, and CIS documents.
The three states support the signing of a document that would provide
for a special status for the Dniester region within the Republic of
Moldova, whose territorial integrity would be guaranteed. Snegur,
Yeltsin, and Kuchma were attending a CIS summit conference in Moscow. --
Dan Ionescu
[10] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OPPOSITION LEADER.
In a move generally
regarded as improving relations between the Presidency and the
opposition, Zhelyu Zhelev and Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) Chairman
Ivan Kostov met on 22 January, Demokratsiya reported. The two leaders
discussed the political situation after one year of Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP) rule; both insisted that they did not talk about the next
presidential elections. After their meeting, Zhelev said that "if the
crisis deepens, the opposition and I will act together." He added that
he and the SDS have the same views on domestic and foreign policy
issues. Kostov told Standart that the government is "harmful and
dangerous for Bulgaria and it must go." The BSP leadership responded by
issuing a statement accusing Zhelev of "destabilizing the country." --
Stefan Krause
[11] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW MINISTERS.
The National Assembly on 23
January approved Atanas Paparizov of the Bulgarian Socialist Party as
trade minister and Deputy Prime Minister Svetoslav Shivarov of the
Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union "Aleksandar Stamboliyski" as
agriculture minister, Bulgarian media reported. Their candidacies were
approved by 122 votes to two. Most opposition deputies abstained. --
Stefan Krause
[12] ALBANIAN PRISONERS TO LEAVE GREECE.
Some 790 Albanians serving prison
sentences in Greece are to be transferred to Albanian prisons, Gazeta
Shqiptare reported on 23 January. The prisoners, including 14 women and
140 youths aged 14-20, will serve the remainder of their sentences in
Albania. The transfer of the Albanian prisoners was prompted by recent
violent protests by inmates, including many Albanians, over poor
conditions in Greek prisons. The Greek and Albanian Justice Ministries
signed a prisoner exchange agreement on 16 August 1995. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] ALBANIA TO INVEST $200 MILLION IN ROADS THIS YEAR.
Albania plans to
invest some $200 million into the reconstruction of roads in 1996,
international agencies reported on 22 January. A large amount of the
money will be used for a highway between Durres and Tirana and an East-
West corridor linking Durres with Macedonia at the border checkpoint
Qafe e Thanes. Albania has 18,000 kilometers of roads, most of which are
in very bad condition. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] TURKEY TO SEND COMBAT TROOPS TO BOSNIA.
The Turkish General Staff has
issued a statement saying Turkey will reinforce its military unit in
Zenica with combat forces this week, AFP reported on 22 January.
Deployment of a mechanized infantry company, a tank company, an
artillery battery, and a team specialized in eliminating mines will
begin on 23-25 January. The 1,500-strong Turkish unit already deployed
with IFOR will be deployed in Zenica and Tuzla in the U.S. area of
responsibility in central Bosnia. A squadron of 18 Turkish F-16 fighters
deployed in Italy and a frigate in the Adriatic Sea are also allocated
for use by IFOR, the statement said. -- Lowell Bezanis
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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