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OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 45, 4 March 1996
CONTENTS
[1] SERBS BLOCKING FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT NEAR DOBOJ.
[2] BILDT CONCERNED ABOUT KARA-DZIC.
[3] CROATIA GOVERNMENT SAYS BELGRADE HOLDING BACK DATA ON 1,700 KILLED.
[4] BOSNIANS SEND TROOPS TO IRAN FOR TRAINING.
[5] THOUSANDS PROTEST MILOSEVIC REGIME.
[6] ANOTHER ROMANIAN EXTREME NATIONALIST RUNS FOR PRESIDENT.
[7] TIRASPOL MILITARY TRIBUNAL STARTS PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GRACHEV.
[8] BULGARIAN UPDATE.
[9] GREEK DIPLOMATIC UPDATE. NATO
[10] TURKISH CONSERVATIVES FORM COALITION.
[11] MORE ARRESTS AFTER TIRANA BOMBING...
[12] ...WHILE MEDIA REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE.
OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 45, Part II, 4 March 1996
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[1] SERBS BLOCKING FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT NEAR DOBOJ.
Bosnian Serb police and
civilians have been preventing Muslim and even Serbian refugees from
visiting relatives or reclaiming their homes and property in this
strategically important region of northern Bosnia, AFP reported on 4
March. Doboj is the key to controlling the supply corridor linking
Serbia with Banja Luka, but the Dayton accord strictly specifies that
there is to be freedom of movement and that refugees have the right to
go home. Late last month the Serbs increased the number of checkpoints
and began blocking visitors in what seems to be a series of moves
designed to test the limits of IFOR's patience. So far the peacekeepers
have been reluctant to challenge any local forces beyond purely military
matters. They say freedom of movement is the business of the UN's police
force, which has hardly begun to appear on the scene. -- Patrick Moore
[2] BILDT CONCERNED ABOUT KARA-DZIC.
One example of how IFOR has been
reluctant to challenge the Serbs involves Pale's president and indicted
war criminal Radovan Karadzic. He has reportedly gone through IFOR
checkpoints or come close to IFOR troops on numerous occasions, but no
one seems to have been able to identify him or felt they were in a
position to arrest him. The international community's High
Representative in Bosnia, Carl Bildt, said on 3 March that he is
concerned about Karadzic's increased public profile, but added that
Karadzic may not be in charge in Pale. He did not elaborate, Reuters
reported. Meanwhile, the Bosnian Serb leader appealed to Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic to provide help for Serbian refugees who
have fled Sarajevo at Pale's orders in recent weeks. -- Patrick Moore
[3] CROATIA GOVERNMENT SAYS BELGRADE HOLDING BACK DATA ON 1,700 KILLED.
A
Croatian government commission on the missing says that Serbia is hiding
information on about 1,700 persons believed killed during the Serbian
war against Croatia in 1991 and in its aftermath the following year. The
commission is dealing with some 2,800 cases of missing civilians and
soldiers. A joint Croatian-Serbian group will soon begin trying to clear
up these and other cases in keeping with an agreement signed during the
Dayton conference last year. Vecernji list carried the report on 4
March. -- Patrick Moore
[4] BOSNIANS SEND TROOPS TO IRAN FOR TRAINING.
The Bosnian government has
sent troops to Iran for training in a bid to upgrade its military, AFP
quoted The New York Times as reporting on 4 March. NATO officials think
the Bosnian troops will gain marginal military experience there, while
the emphasis will be on their ideological indoctrination, Nasa Borba
quoted the article as saying. While the presence of Bosnian soldiers in
Iran does not violate the Balkan peace accord, it could provoke tensions
between the Bosnian government and the U.S., and between Muslims and
Croats within the Bosnian Federation. Meanwhile, Bosnian Prime Minister
Hasan Mura-tovic, during his visit to Teheran, underlined the importance
of Iran's contribution to the reconstruction of Bosnia, international
agencies reported. Iran has suggested the establishment of a joint
Bosnian-Iranian bank to help create more confidence in joint investments
and private sector activities in the two countries, Reuters reported on
4 March. -- Daria Sito Sucic
U.S. AMBASSADOR IN CROATIA DISPLEASED WITH REPATRIATION PACE. Peter
Galbraith told Vjesnik on 3 March that he is worried about the slow
steps the Croatian administration has been taking in approving requests
by Krajina Serbs to return to Croatia. "It should have been solved in a
couple of minutes, not in seven months," he said. The government's
refugees office said that more than 5,600 of 14,000 applications by
Croatian Serbs to return had been processed, but UNHCR officials noted
that only 2,500 had been approved, AFP reported on 3 March. Meanwhile,
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman told visiting American congressmen
that Croatian Serbs who did not commit war crimes, and are ready to
accept Croatia as their homeland, will be allowed to return, Nasa Borba
reported on 4 March. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[5] THOUSANDS PROTEST MILOSEVIC REGIME.
Beta on 2 March reported that while
the SPS congress was in session (see Top Story), some 20,000 individuals
gathered in the Serbian industrial city of Kragujevac to register their
protest of what was dubbed the authoritarianism of Milosevic's
government. The rally was organized by Serbian opposition parties, which
reportedly regarded the Kragujevac rally as "a dress rehearsal" for the
planned upcoming fifth anniversary of the 9 March Belgrade
demonstrations. Five years ago, an estimated 100, 000 people rallied in
the capital, demanding Milosevic's resignation. Their action triggered
the largest police deployment ever in the city, and two persons were
killed. -- Stan Markotich
[6] ANOTHER ROMANIAN EXTREME NATIONALIST RUNS FOR PRESIDENT.
Senator Ion
Coja was elected on 3 March as the candidate of the Romanian Democratic
Agrarian Party (PDAR) in the presidential elections scheduled for fall
1996. Coja, who is a PDAR vice-chairman, is also vice-chairman of Vatra
Romaneasca (Romanian Cradle), an anti-Hungarian cultural mass-movement.
He is also known for denying that the Iron Guard, Romania's interwar
fascist movement, was guilty of committing any atrocities against the
Jews. Coja joins two other extreme nationalists in the run for the
presidency, Greater Romania Party chairman Corneliu Vadim Tudor and
Socialist Labor Party first vice-chairman, Adrian Paunescu, both of whom
are former Ceausescu "court poets." The PDAR conference held in
Bucharest on 2-3 March also reelected Victor Surdu chairman of the
party, Romanian media report. -- Michael Shafir
[7] TIRASPOL MILITARY TRIBUNAL STARTS PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GRACHEV.
The
military tribunal of the Russian-based forces in the Trans-dniester on 1
March started proceedings against Russian Defense Minister Pavel
Grachev, BASA-press reported on the same day. The tribunal decided to
start the proceedings under the Russian Penal Code, for "failure to
carry out a judicial ruling." Grachev is accused of failing to implement
the court's earlier ruling to reinstate Colonel Mikhail Bergman as
Tiraspol garrison commander. Berg-man, one of the staunchest supporters
of former 14th Army commander General Alexander Lebed, was dismissed as
Tiraspol garrison commander in October 1995. -- Michael Shafir
[8] BULGARIAN UPDATE.
Health Minister Mimi Vitkova confirmed that seven
persons infected with HIV-contaminated blood protein have died, 24 chasa
reported on 4 March. The chief prosecutor on 27 February ordered an
investigation into the case which involves at least 41 persons who were
infected in state-run hospitals. Meanwhile, Bulgarian doctors on 1 March
demonstrated against insufficient funds for the country's health system,
restrictions on private medical practice, and low pay, Reuters reported.
They demanded Vitkova's resignation. The protest in Sofia was organized
by medical trade unions and supported by the opposition. -- Stefan
Krause
[9] GREEK DIPLOMATIC UPDATE.
NATO Secretary General Javier Solana on 2 March
concluded a two-day visit to Athens, AFP reported. He said he will
"continue to work constructively" to resolve the differences between
Greece and Turkey, but gave no details of his talks with Greek Prime
Minister Kostas Simitis and other leading politicians. The same day,
Greece vetoed a 750 million ECU ($940 million) loan to Turkey by the
European Investment Bank. On 1 March, a Greek and a Turkish military
vessel collided near the disputed islet of Imia/Kardak. Both sides
claimed that the incident took place in their territorial waters. Also
on 1 March, the Greek government asked that the Italian and Dutch
military attaches be recalled after they were arrested in January on the
island of Lesbos with notes possibly relating to military installations
there. Italy and the Netherlands recalled the diplomats but denied the
charges. -- Stefan Krause
[10] TURKISH CONSERVATIVES FORM COALITION.
The True Path Party (DYP) and the
Motherland Party (ANAP) on 3 March agreed to form a minority government,
Western agencies reported. The cabinet will be headed by ANAP Chairman
Mesut Yilmaz until the end of 1996, and by DYP leader and outgoing Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller for the following two years. Then Yilmaz takes
over for one more year, followed by an as-yet unnamed DYP politician.
DYP and ANAP together hold 261 of the 550 seats in parliament, but the
Democratic Left Party of former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said it
will support the government in a vote of confidence. The coalition
agreement names as main targets the reduction of inflation and
unemployment. President Suleyman Demirel denied that the military
interfered to keep the Islamist Welfare Party out of the government. --
Stefan Krause
[11] MORE ARRESTS AFTER TIRANA BOMBING...
Police on 1 March arrested two
young men who allegedly resemble the man who parked the car carrying the
bomb which went off in central Tirana on 26 February, international
agencies reported. Meanwhile, Albanian Police General Director Agim
Shehu denied reports that the bomb attack might be linked to the Italian
Mafia. Shehu claimed the attack "has been carried out by left-wing
extremists and the former (communist) Albanian secret police," Reuters
reported. He declined, however, to disclose what evidence investigators
had found. -- Fabian Schmidt
[12] ...WHILE MEDIA REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE.
An Albanian court on 2 March
ordered for the second time the continued detention of Populli Po
journalist Ylli Polovina, who was arrested and accused of inciting
political violence in an article that predicted political terrorism in
Albania. Polovina's relatives and journalists were not allowed to attend
the court hearing. Meanwhile, Reuters and Voice of America journalists
have been interrogated by police following their reporting. Vefa
Holding, whose supermarket burned down in the blast, has denied Reuters
reports saying the firm was involved in arms sales. -- Fabian Schmid
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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