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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 125, 96-06-27
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 125, 27 June 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] VERDICTS HANDED DOWN IN PARAVAKAR CASE.
[02] PROTESTS OVER ALMATY AIRPORT DEAL WITH LUFTHANSA.
[03] KAZAKHSTAN REPORTS HUGE OFFSHORE OIL RESERVES.
[04] UZBEK PRESIDENT MEETS WITH U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] U.S. SAYS ISLAMIC FIGHTERS ARE GONE FROM BOSNIA.
[06] BOUTROS GHALI BLASTS SEPARATISM IN BOSNIA.
[07] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL TO HEAR CASE AGAINST KARADZIC, MLADIC.
[08] KARADZIC MAKES HIS STEPPING DOWN CONDITIONAL ON RS STATUS.
[09] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT ON BOSNIAN SERB AFFAIRS.
[10] SLOVENIA BECOMES ASSOCIATE WEU MEMBER.
[11] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION PROPOSES NEW MEDIA HEAD.
[12] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT AGAINST JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CONGRESS.
[13] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT SETS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS DAY.
[14] BULGARIA WANTS CLARIFICATION FROM GREECE ON POMAKS.
[15] COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALLS FOR ALBANIAN ROUND TABLE.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] VERDICTS HANDED DOWN IN PARAVAKAR CASE.
An Armenian court on 24 June handed down verdicts of between 2 and 3 years'
imprisonment on four men charged with an attack on presidential candidate
Paruir Hairikyan in the village of Paravakar during the runup to the 1991
presidential elections, Noyan Tapan reported on 26 June. On that occasion,
Hairikyan's car was damaged and he was threatened at gunpoint by men who
demanded that he withdraw his candidacy, some of whom he identified as members
of the personal staff of then parliament chairman Levon Ter-Petrossyan, the
eventual presidential election winner. Hairikyan has been nominated by the
Union for National Self-Determination to stand as a candidate in this
September's presidential elections but is undecided whether to accept the
nomination; he argued on 26 June that the results are predetermined, and that
Ter-Petrossyan will be reelected. -- Liz Fuller
[02] PROTESTS OVER ALMATY AIRPORT DEAL WITH LUFTHANSA.
The Kazakhstani government's decision of 28 May to transfer the administration
of Almaty airport to Lufthansa has led to protests from airport workers and
trade unions, ITAR-TASS reported on 26 June. The Professional Union of
Aviation Workers claim that Lufthansa incurred losses of $132 million so far
this year and is unable to compete with other international airlines.
Kazakhstani authorities say that the renovation of landing fields at the
airport alone will cost $12 million; Lufthansa has offered to invest about $17-
18 million in the next 5 years. -- Bhavna Dave
[03] KAZAKHSTAN REPORTS HUGE OFFSHORE OIL RESERVES.
As a result of seismic explorations of the Caspian Sea continental shelf
conducted by the Caspian Sea Consortium, Kazakhstani authorities estimate
crude oil reserves of 10 billion metric tons and 2 trillion cubic meters of
natural gas, Reuters reported on 26 June. If confirmed, these offshore oil
reserves would be10 times bigger than those of its onshore Tengiz oilfield and
exceed Russia's entire oil reserves of 6.7 billion tons, Reuters added, citing
British Petroleum's (BP) Statistical Review. However, Caspian Sea Consortium
members, such as British Gas, BP, Agip, Mobil, Shell and others say that as no
drilling has taken place yet, the estimated oil deposits are unlikely to
exceed 4 billion tons. -- Bhavna Dave
[04] UZBEK PRESIDENT MEETS WITH U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY.
President Islam Karimov paid his first visit to the Pentagon on 26 June,
meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry. A Pentagon press release
said that the two discussed security issues in Central Asia and "the strong
cooperative relationship between the United States and the Republic of
Uzbekistan." Karimov said Uzbekistan was eager to strengthen its involvement
in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, RFE/RL reported. -- Doug
Clarke
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] U.S. SAYS ISLAMIC FIGHTERS ARE GONE FROM BOSNIA.
Bosnia-Herzegovina has ended its "military and intelligence relationship" with
Iran and there are no "organized" foreign fighters left on government-
controlled territory, the White House announced on 26 June. This opens the way
for a $70 million American program to train and equip the mainly Muslim and
Croatian armed forces. The statement was issued in Lyon, France, in
conjunction with the G-7 conference there, news agencies reported. National
Security Council spokesman Brian Cullin said some former Iranian fighters
remain "in civilian roles, but we see no evidence of any remaining organized
mujahedin units, nor do we believe that any of the individuals remaining are
engaged in military or intelligence activity." Lingering Iranians were a point
of contention between Washington and Sarajevo, which had agreed that all
foreign fighters were to leave Bosnia by January. -- Patrick Moore
[06] BOUTROS GHALI BLASTS SEPARATISM IN BOSNIA.
The UN has issued a report under the name of its secretary general charging
the Bosnian Serbs with consolidating and continuing ethnic cleansing, Reuters
and AFP reported on 26 June. The study cites the resettling of Serbs from
Sarajevo suburbs in the Brcko area of northern Bosnia, the fate of which is to
be determined by international arbitration later this year. Boutros Boutros
Ghali concluded that "it appears that the Republika Srpska remains active in
its efforts aimed at separation, as publicly declared by its present
leadership and reflected by events on the ground." The report added that UN
efforts to improve police work throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina will be
meaningless if local police continue "to discriminate against, harass, and
intimidate citizens who are not of their own ethnicity." He also condemned
Croatia for the killing of Krajina Serbs and the pillaging of their property. -
- Patrick Moore
[07] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL TO HEAR CASE AGAINST KARADZIC, MLADIC.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was to begin
hearing testimony against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko
Mladic on 27 June, AFP reported. The hearing is not a trial in absentia, and
is based on the tribunal's Rule 61, drawn up specifically to deal with cases
in which the accused is hiding behind a state's refusal to hand him over. Two
lists of charges have been drawn up for each of the two accused. The first
concerns the war in Bosnia in general, and the other concerns the "direct
responsibility" of Karadzic and Mladic in the killings that followed the fall
of Srebrenica. At the end of the hearings, the tribunal is expected to issue
an international arrest warrant for the two accused. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[08] KARADZIC MAKES HIS STEPPING DOWN CONDITIONAL ON RS STATUS.
Unconfirmed sources from the Republika Srpska (RS) say that Radovan Karadzic
has already signed his resignation from the post of RS president, but made it
conditional on the RS having a "minimum status as a state" enjoying full
sovereignty within Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nasa Borba reported on 27 June.
However, Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic said on 26 June that
Karadzic will not run in September elections, but will stay on as president
until elections are held, AFP reported. After the vote, Karadzic will remain
only as "president of the Serbian Democratic Party," Nasa Borba quoted
Klickovic as saying. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT ON BOSNIAN SERB AFFAIRS.
Momir Bulatovic went on record saying that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic "may not officially and legally enter Montenegro," Nasa Borba
reported. When told at a 26 June press conference that "some months ago
Karadzic was not apprehended during 'a walkabout of Montenegro,'" Bulatovic
said he had no "official information" about Karadzic's "sojourns in these
parts." Bulatovic described Karadzic as "a very well-protected man ... his
house is guarded by some 500 heavily armed men." He added that he did not
believe the Republika Srpska would collapse if Mladic and Karadzic were to
give up politics and, according to 26 June Montena-fax reports, felt "that not
even the international community insists on [Karadzic] being sent to The Hague,
but only on his removal from political life." -- Stan Markotich
[10] SLOVENIA BECOMES ASSOCIATE WEU MEMBER.
Slovenia has become the tenth country to gain associate partner status in the
Western European Union (WEU), the defense structure of the European Union,
local Slovenian media reported on 25 June. Full WEU membership is contingent
on EU membership. Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek signed an agreement on
Slovenia's EU associate member status on 10 June. -- Stan Markotich
[11] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION PROPOSES NEW MEDIA HEAD.
The parliamentary commission in charge of nominations and appointments to state posts proposed on 26 June that Macedonian Radio and Television (MRT) Director General Melpomeni Korneti be dismissed and Slobodan Trajkovski be appointed in her place, Nova Makedonija reported. The ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) officially blamed Korneti for failing to present a report on MRT's 1995 activities, but the real reason appears to be her affiliation with the Liberal Party (see ). The SDSM's Nako Stojanovski asked whether in any other state the member of a party that had left the government and joined the opposition would stay on. Liberal deputies defended Korneti, who they argued built up a functioning state media despite the lack of a legal framework. -- Stefan Krause
[12] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT AGAINST JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CONGRESS.
An international congress of Jehovah's Witnesses scheduled to take place in
Bucharest on 19-21 July has aroused a storm of protests in Romania, Radio
Bucharest and Western media reported on 25 and 26 June. The government's
General Secretariat declared on 25 June that it considers "thoroughly
inopportune the attempt to improvise such a meeting in Bucharest in July or at
any time in the future." The announcement came in response to a strongly
worded communique issued by Patriarch Teoctist of the Romanian Orthodox Church
on 21 June. Teoctist expressed concern over the planned meeting and accused
the sect of "irresponsibly contributing to growing violence and hatred in the
world." Romanian students announced that they would stage a demonstration in
downtown Bucharest on 31 June to protest what they described as the "satanic
congress." -- Dan Ionescu
[13] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT SETS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS DAY.
The parliament formally selected 17 November as the date for this year's
presidential elections, Infotag reported on 26 June. The election campaign
will officially start on 17 August, three months before the vote. If no
candidate receives a majority of the votes, a run-off between the two best-
placed rivals will be staged on 1 December. Meanwhile, Nicolae Andronic,
deputy chairman of the Party for Revival and Conciliation in Moldova (PRCM),
announced that the party's council had nominated the incumbent President and
PRCM Chairman Mircea Snegur as its candidate in the elections. A formal
announcement will be made at the PRCM's second national congress on 13 July. --
Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIA WANTS CLARIFICATION FROM GREECE ON POMAKS.
The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on 26 June said it had asked the Greek
government to clarify its position on the status of the 35,000 Bulgarian-
speaking Muslims of Western Thrace, Reuters reported. Bulgarian Foreign
Minister Georgi Pirinski called in Greek Ambassador Anastasios Sideris and
demanded an "unequivocal statement" on the matter. Bulgaria regards the Muslim
Pomaks, who live on both sides of the common border, as ethnic Bulgarians.
Greek media in recent months suggested Athens would like to treat the Pomaks
as a separate community, apart from the region's ethnic Turks. Some Greek
politicians suggested that this would not include tuition in Bulgarian, but
textbooks, dictionaries, and grammars of the "Pomak language." They made it
clear that this move is aimed against Turkey, which wants to exert influence
over Greece's Muslim minorities. -- Stefan Krause
[15] COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALLS FOR ALBANIAN ROUND TABLE.
The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on 26 June called for roundtable
talks between all Albanian political groups, Reuters reported. The assembly
issued a resolution assigning responsibility for election irregularities on 26
May to both the opposition and the government. The resolution did not
explicitly demand new elections but said the credibility of democratic
procedures in Albania has been shaken and a new ballot should be planned after
new legislation is enacted. The resolution said "free and fair elections ...
are an essential condition for Council of Europe membership," implying that
failure to comply may lead to suspension. The assembly added that it would
send its own delegation to Tirana to investigate fraud allegations. Meanwhile,
the opposition has called for a protest rally in Tirana on 28 June, Gazeta
Shqiptare reported. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Tom Warner
News and information as of 1200 CET
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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