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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 37, 21 February 1996
CONTENTS
[1] SARAJEVO SERBS STAYING PUT?
[2] MOSTAR REUNIFICATION UNDER WAY.
[3] BOSNIAN SERB BOYCOTT TO CONTINUE.
[4] BOSNIANS DEPORT THREE IRANIANS.
[5] INSUFFICIENT AID FOR BOSNIA.
[6] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA RESTORES TIES WITH VATICAN.
[7] BELGRADE PROPOSES AMNESTY.
[8] KRAJINA UPDATE.
[9] NEW UNPREDEP COMMANDER NAMED.
[10] LABOR PROTESTS IN ROMANIA.
[11] ROMANIAN COURT FREES FORMER BANK BOSS SUSPECTED OF FRAUD.
[12] TWO BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS ARRESTED.
[13] ALBANIAN JOURNALISTS DEMAND TO MEET PRESIDENT.
[14] GREEK-TURKISH UPDATE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 37, Part II, 21 February 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] SARAJEVO SERBS STAYING PUT?
CNN on 21 February reported less than fullsuccess for the Pale leadership's forced exodus of Serbs from the five
Sarajevo suburbs slated to pass to government control. Despite
assurances from Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic that the Serbs
could stay put and statements by the mayor of Ilidza that the Pale
leadership was trying "to make 80,000 people homeless," Pale launched a
three-day forced migration on 20 February. Nasa Borba said the deadline
will be extended to 19 March "because of snowstorms." The leaders, who
coined the term "ethnic cleansing," were trying to consolidate their
hold on territories by moving their own people from their homes in
Sarajevo to the conquered regions. Reuters said the committee formed by
Pale to organize the enterprise had ordered people to leave but that it
failed to provide adequate transportation and left "hundreds of panicky
Serbs" stuck without vehicles in a snowstorm and protesting outside the
offices of the mayor of Vogosca. -- Patrick Moore
[2] MOSTAR REUNIFICATION UNDER WAY. U.S.
Secretary of State Warren
Christopher on 20 February said that "the news this morning is good from
Mostar. The city has been reunited." AFP added that he was referring to
the setting up of a joint police force, despite some scuffles. The move
follows a compromise reached in Rome on 18 February whereby the Croats
won a demand on setting up only a small central district and the Muslims
obtained their wish for immediate freedom of movement. Bosnian President
Alija Izetbegovic, however, said he is not satisfied with the pace of
the reunification and that he fears more delays down the road. The
Sarajevo daily Vecernje novine on 21 February quoted Croatian Interior
Minister Ivan Jarnjak as stressing the importance of freedom of
movement. -- Patrick Moore
[3] BOSNIAN SERB BOYCOTT TO CONTINUE.
Maj.-Gen. Zdravko Tolimir, deputy
Bosnian Serb army commander, said on 20 February that his forces will
continue to boycott contacts with IFOR until two of his officers held in
The Hague on war crimes charges are released, SRNA and international
media reported. Tolimar was speaking after a meeting in Pale with Lt.-
Gen. Sir Michael Walker, commander of IFOR ground forces. Tolimar said
he had failed to attend the meeting with his IFOR, Croatian, and Muslim
counterparts on 19 February aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier George
Washington because of bad weather and insufficient notice. -- Michael
Mihalka
[4] BOSNIANS DEPORT THREE IRANIANS.
The Bosnian government on 20 February
deported three Iranians detained last week following a raid of a
suspected terrorist safe house, international media reported. A U.S.
State Department spokesman warned that the continued presence of
"foreign fighters" in Bosnia threatened further U.S. military aid. He
cited IFOR estimates that up to 300 fighters remain in the country.
Meanwhile, Bosnian Croat police detained nine unarmed Iranians in
central Bosnia and asked IFOR to take them into custody. A Bosnian Croat
official said the Iranians were not mujahedeen, but the Bosnian
government had failed to inform the Bosnian Croat authorities of the
Iranians' itinerary. Hina quoted the Iranians as saying they were in
Bosnia to perform in concerts. -- Michael Mihalka
[5] INSUFFICIENT AID FOR BOSNIA.
The EU on 20 February said the
reconstruction effort in Bosnia is threatened by donors' failure to
deliver on their pledges of aid. Although more than $700 million was
promised for vital reconstruction work in the first three months of
1996, only $62.5 million has arrived so far. Reportedly, that entire sum
comes from the EU. The U.S., Japan, the Islamic countries, and the World
Bank have so far not lived up to their promises, international media
reported. Meanwhile, U.S. President Bill Clinton said he would ask
Congress for $820 million in aid for Bosnia. -- Michael Mihalka
[6] RUMP YUGOSLAVIA RESTORES TIES WITH VATICAN.
Tanjug on 20 February
reported that Belgrade has restored full diplomatic relations with the
Vatican. Dojcilo Maslovarica was named rump Yugoslav ambassador to the
Vatican, a post that has been vacant for some three years. The
announcement marks a decisive change in Belgrade's perception of the
Vatican, which during the wars in the former Yugoslavia was vilified by
Belgrade as one of the world centers of anti-Serb conspiracy. -- Stan
Markotich
[7] BELGRADE PROPOSES AMNESTY.
The federal government of the rump Yugoslavia
has proposed legislation granting an amnesty to all fighting-age men who
avoided military service during the wars throughout the former
Yugoslavia, Nasa Borba on 21 February reports. The amnesty legislation
has to be approved by the federal parliament. Some estimates suggest
that up to 200,000 people from the rump Yugoslavia opted not to fight in
the regional wars. -- Stan Markotich
[8] KRAJINA UPDATE.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia will begin hearings on the case of Krajina Serb leader Milan
Martic, who has been indicted for war crimes because of a rocket attack
on Zagreb, Nasa Borba reported on 21 February. The Hague-based court has
also received documents from the Bosnian government charging rump
Yugoslavia with genocide. Novi list wrote that some 14,000 Krajina Serbs
have appealed to Croatia to be allowed to go home. Some 2,000
applications have already been approved. The organized return of Croats
who fled western Slavonia during the Serbian occupation has begun and is
slated to end by early May. -- Patrick Moore
[9] NEW UNPREDEP COMMANDER NAMED.
Swedish Brig.-Gen. Bo Lennart Wranker on
20 February was named commander of the UN Preventive Deployment Force in
Macedonia, AFP reported the same day. He will begin his duties on 1
March. The same day, Wranker was received by Macedonian Defense Minister
Blagoj Handziski, who briefed him on the country's defense system, Nova
Makedonija reported. -- Stefan Krause
[10] LABOR PROTESTS IN ROMANIA.
Tens of thousands of workers in Bucharest and
other Romanian towns on 20 February took part in demonstrations and
other protest actions to demand job protection and state support for
ailing companies, local and international media reported on the same
day. The Democratic Convention of Romania introduced in the parliament a
motion against the government of Nicolae Vacaroiu claiming the cabinet
has shown an "irresponsible lack of interest" in ensuring energy
resources. The motion has to be debated within six days but is not a no-
confidence vote. The energy crisis has forced many companies to
temporarily lay off workers with partial pay. Workers in Romania's arms
industry in five towns protested against receiving reduced wages due to
the crisis faced by this sector. The industry has lost many of its
foreign customers in recent years. -- Michael Shafir
[11] ROMANIAN COURT FREES FORMER BANK BOSS SUSPECTED OF FRAUD.
Marcel Ivan,
former head of the Credit Bank who was re-arrested after serving a one-
year sentence, has been freed by a Bucharest court, Romanian TV and
Reuters on 20 February reported. Ivan's lawyer told Reuters that the
court decided his arrest was "inappropriate" due to "lack of evidence to
sustain the suspicions of fraud and forgery." The Prosecutor-General's
office can appeal against the ruling within three days. -- Michael
Shafir
[12] TWO BULGARIAN JOURNALISTS ARRESTED.
Dimitar Shtirkov and Valentin
Hadzhiev, correspondents for Trud and 24 chasa in the town of Smolyan,
have been arrested and charged with libel, Pari reported on 21 February.
Regional Prosecutor Slavcho Kardzhev ordered their arrest after they
reported that the Devin district prosecutor was dismissed from the
Smolyan police force because of corruption. The Interior Ministry said
he was dismissed for damaging the police's prestige rather than for
corruption. Bulgarian newspapers and journalists' organizations of all
political stripes strongly condemned the arrests. Stefan Prodev, editor-
in-chief of the Bulgarian Socialist Party's daily Duma, called the
arrests a "scandal...impairing the freedom of the journalistic
profession." Under Bulgarian law, arrests are allowed only if a suspect
tries to escape. -- Stefan Krause
[13] ALBANIAN JOURNALISTS DEMAND TO MEET PRESIDENT.
The Albanian Association
of Professional Journalists on 20 February organized a meeting with the
chief editors of the 14 newspapers threatened with closure following
Finance Minister Dylber Vrioni's order that the publishing house
Demokracia stop printing those publications. The journalists demanded a
meeting with President Sali Berisha, pointing out that Vrioni should
take the matter to court if he suspects the publications of tax evasion.
A government spokesman has denied that Vrioni gave such an order, but
both international agencies and Koha Jone on 21 February maintain the
contrary is true. Vrioni demands that the papers retroactively pay a 15%
turnover tax from the day of registration. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] GREEK-TURKISH UPDATE.
Inal Batu, Turkish deputy undersecretary
responsible for Greek-Turkish affairs, told the Greek media on 20
February he was "happy" the crisis over the disputed Aegean islet of
Imia/Kardak has abated. He linked its escalation to a breach in the
"silent diplomacy" practiced by both sides before the mayor of Kalymnos
hoisted the Greek flag on the islet. Noting that both Turkey and Greece
do not want to take the case to the International Court of Justice, he
proposed that a legal experts committee be established to help resolve
the dispute. Meanwhile, Athens has protested to Turkey over the holding
of a camel wrestling match in the ancient city of Ephesus last month,
the BBC reported on 21 February. Greece considers Ephesus to be part of
Hellenic civilization and has at times protested what it regards as the
inappropriate use of such historical sites. -- 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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