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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 136, 96-07-16
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 136, 16 July 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GOVERNMENT FORCES NOT TOTALLY IN CONTROL OF CENTRAL TAJIKISTAN.
[02] UIGHUR ORGANIZATION IN KAZAKHSTAN REPORTS CLASHES IN CHINA.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[03] OSCE GIVES SERBS UNTIL FRIDAY TO SACK KARADZIC . . .
[04] ...AND DISQUALIFIES SEVEN CANDIDATES IN BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
[05] SERBS THREATEN TO RETALIATE AGAINST PEACEKEEPERS.
[06] BELGRADE CRITICIZES BOSNIAN SERBS.
[07] EU APPOINTS NEW MOSTAR ADMINISTRATOR...
[08] ...WHILE CROATIAN MOSTAR MAYOR CRITICIZES GARROD.
[09] UN EXTENDS MANDATE ON PREVLAKA PENINSULA.
[10] SERBIA TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY?
[11] ROMANIAN JOURNALISTS' JAIL SENTENCE SUSPENDED.
[12] IRON GUARD REVIVAL IN ROMANIA.
[13] MOLDOVAN POLITICAL UPDATE.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF DICTATORSHIP.
[15] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT RAISES PENSIONS, MINIMUM WAGE.
[16] ALBANIAN DAILY THREATENED WITH BANKRUPTCY.
[17] MULTINATIONAL MILITARY EXERCISES IN ALBANIA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GOVERNMENT FORCES NOT TOTALLY IN CONTROL OF CENTRAL TAJIKISTAN.
Despite the Tajik government's claim that it has retaken the Tavil-Dara region,
a representative of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) said planes continue
to bomb the region, according to Reuters. Ali Akbar Turajonzoda, speaking
from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, said government planes are attacking the area
almost every day but that the opposition still occupies the town of Tavil-Dara,
which he said has been almost completely destroyed by the attacks. The
UTO representative accused the government of using the latest round of peace
talks in Turkmenistan as a screen for launching new assaults in central
Tajikistan. He added that government forces have lost 700 soldiers in the
attacks and 513 more have been taken prisoner. -- Bruce Pannier
[02] UIGHUR ORGANIZATION IN KAZAKHSTAN REPORTS CLASHES IN CHINA.
The United Nationalist Revolutionary Front (UNRF), a separatist movement of
the Muslim Uighur minority in China, reported that 450 Chinese soldiers and
militiamen have been killed in the Chinese province of Xinjiang since April,
AFP reported on 15 July. The UNRF claims that on 4 July, the day Chinese
President Jiang Zemin was in Kazakhstan, a member of the movement killed 20
Chinese border guards in the Kundjerbad Pass. AFP has reported that a wave of
arrests occurred in Xinjiang following the signing of border treaties between
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in April. -- Bruce
Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[03] OSCE GIVES SERBS UNTIL FRIDAY TO SACK KARADZIC . . .
Robert Frowick, OSCE administrator for the Bosnian elections, has told the
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) that it must find a way to "settle the matter"
of Radovan Karadzic by 19 July, Nasa Borba and Reuters reported on 16 July.
"By definition, if this campaign starts on Friday, you can be sure that things
must be straightened out by that date," he said. Frowick has ruled that
parties may not run in the 14 September elections if they are headed by
indicted war criminals, Onasa added. The SDS recently re-elected Karadzic as
its chairman, which is the most powerful job in the Republika Srpska. --
Patrick Moore
[04] ...AND DISQUALIFIES SEVEN CANDIDATES IN BOSNIAN ELECTIONS.
The international organization has disqualified seven leading candidates of
the ruling Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in Cazin, northern Bosnia, on
the grounds that they were responsible for the incident in which former
Bosnian Premier Haris Silajdzic was injured (see ), Oslobodjenje reported on
15 July. Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia-Herzegovina (SBiH) said this punishment
is too mild and would only encourage those opposed to a democratic climate in
Bosnia. It also accused the Bosnian authorities of failing to remove those who
had organized and committed the attack on Silajdzic. Meanwhile, the Cazin
branch of the SDA criticized the OSCE decision, saying it shows the
organization is biased against the SDA, Onasa reported. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[05] SERBS THREATEN TO RETALIATE AGAINST PEACEKEEPERS.
Bosnian Serb police have said they will take unspecified measures against
international police if the two top indicted war criminals--Karadzic and Gen.
Ratko Mladic--are arrested, AFP reported on 15 July. "The Pale police chief
threatened that if [they] are arrested the population will be mobilized
against the [UN police] and other international organizations," UN spokesman
Alexander Ivanko said. In May 1995, the Serbs took peacekeepers hostage in a
successful attempt to force NATO to end its air strikes. A lack of
decisiveness on the part of the international community in enforcing the
Dayton agreement appears to have encouraged the Serbs to test the limits of
the possible again. There has been a recent upsurge of attacks by the Serbs
against the UN police across Bosnia, Oslobodjenje noted on 16 July. --
Patrick Moore
[06] BELGRADE CRITICIZES BOSNIAN SERBS.
Belgrade's Foreign Ministry has sternly rebuked the Bosnian Serb leadership
following reports that Pale is unsatisfied with conditions for arbitration on
the future of the north Bosnian town of Brcko. Reuters quoted the ministry as
saying the Bosnian Serbs' latest actions are "genuinely hostile to the people
and citizens of the Bosnian Serb republic.... This latest act by the
leadership deserves the strongest possible condemnation." AFP, citing SRNA,
reported on 16 July that the Bosnian Serbs deny intending to withdraw from the
Brcko arbitration talks. Vladimir Popovic, Bosnian Serb representative on the
arbitration commission, said Pale was demanding only that the international
community provide maps of the disputed territory. -- Stan Markotich
[07] EU APPOINTS NEW MOSTAR ADMINISTRATOR...
The EU on 15 July appointed British commander Sir Martin Garrod to replace
Ricardo Perez Casado as Mostar's EU administrator. Perez Casado, who recently
announced his resignation from that post, had been criticized by Croats and
Muslims for being absent from Mostar at crucial times, Reuters reported.
Garrod came to Mostar in June 1994 as a member of an advance EU team. He
announced the official results of the Mostar elections on 13 July. The EU also
agreed to extend its mandate in the city for another six months. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[08] ...WHILE CROATIAN MOSTAR MAYOR CRITICIZES GARROD.
Mijo Brajkovic has criticized Garrod's decision to publish the final election
results despite opposition from the Croatian members of the Electoral
Commission, Slobodna Dalmacija reported on 13 July. The Croats continue to
argue that there were irregularities in the ballots in Bonn and other European
cities, where the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) failed to gain a
majority of the vote. Brajkovic argues that the decision of an EU ombudsman to
declare the Bonn ballot valid is a violation of the electoral law. Brajkovic
said Garrod's announcement of the election results, which paves the way for
the formation of city council was the result of an "occupation." He added that
the HDZ would not participate in such a body. -- Fabian Schmidt
[09] UN EXTENDS MANDATE ON PREVLAKA PENINSULA.
The UN Security Council on 15 July extended for six months the mandate of UN
monitors on Prevlaka, the disputed peninsula on the border between Croatia and
rump Yugoslavia, Nasa Borba reported. The council resolution asks both sides
to continue negotiations on full normalization of relations. In other news,
the Adriatic oil pipeline was opened on 16 July for the first time since
September 1991, Nasa Borba reported. Serbia will be supplied with oil
transported by ship to Croatia's Adriatic ports and then by pipelin through
Croatian territory. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] SERBIA TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY?
Serbian Justice Minister Arandjel Markicevic has said that Serbia plans to
abolish the death penalty, Tanjug reported on 14 July. Speaking during a
discussion sponsored by the official news agency, Markicevic said he envisaged
changes to the criminal code whereby the most heinous capital crimes would be
punishable by a 30-year prison sentence. The minister also commented on
Belgrade's relations with The Hague tribunal, saying that he believed "remarks
about the tribunal being a political rather a than legal institution...are
justified." -- Stan Markotich
[11] ROMANIAN JOURNALISTS' JAIL SENTENCE SUSPENDED.
Romania's chief prosecutor has decided to suspend the jail sentences of two journalists convicted last week for libel pending a re-examination of their case, Radio Bucharest reported on 15 July. The journalists, who work for the Constanta daily Telegraf, had reported on corruption in the city's municipal council (see ). The suspension follows protests by Romanian and international human rights organizations. According to Telegraf, police have been ordered not to carry out the sentence until 30 August. -- Michael Shafir
[12] IRON GUARD REVIVAL IN ROMANIA.
The Legionary Movement--also known as the Iron Guard--has launched a month-
long "summer camp" at the Black Sea resort of Eforie-Sud, the Bucharest daily
Libertatea reported on 16 July The camp is modeled on those organized by the
inter-war fascist movement and claims to be educational, including the study
of the Legionary Movement doctrines. Last year, a similar camp organized at
Padina, in the Carpathian mountains, was strongly criticized by the Romanian
Intelligence Service (SRI) as undermining state security. Journalists and SRI
representatives have been invited to the 1996 camp in order to see that its
activities are not subversive. -- Michael Shafir
[13] MOLDOVAN POLITICAL UPDATE.
The Socialist Party of Moldova (PSM), at its congress in Balti on 13 July,
expelled the leadership of the Chisinau and Ungheni branches, Moldovan media
reported on 15 July. Both leaderships were accused of engaging in activities
that might split the party. Among those expelled is Veronica Abramciuc, who
had been proposed as the party's presidential candidate by the Chisinau
branch. The congress did not name a PSM candidate for the fall presidential
elections, despite including the issue on its agenda. Also on 13 July, the
National Coordinating Council of the Social Democratic Party of Moldova
declined to nominate its own candidate and announced that it will support
instead parliamentary chairman Petru Lucinschi, the candidate of a center-left
electoral bloc not yet set up. -- Michael Shafir
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT WARNS OF DICTATORSHIP.
Zhelyu Zhelev, in an interview with a Western news agency on 15 July, warned
that political and economic chaos might lead to social unrest, Standart
reported. He repeated his call for the president's powers to be increased at
the expense of the parliament. Otherwise, he said, "people will not want a
presidential republic but a dictatorship because they are used to it." He said
he was "not too enthusiastic" about the upcoming presidential elections, since
neither Socialist candidate Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski nor opposition
candidate Petar Stoyanov "have anything reasonable to offer." He said
Stoyanov's victory over him in the primaries was the result of "massive
manipulation" but did not give further details. -- Stefan Krause
[15] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT RAISES PENSIONS, MINIMUM WAGE.
The government has retroactively raised the minimum monthly pension to 2,160
leva ($11.50) as of 1 July, Standart reported on 16 July. This move is to
partially compensate for inflation--consumer prices rose by 20.3% in June
alone. The minimum monthly wage has been increased to 4,000 leva, while public
employees are to receive a 20% increase, although no single hike may exceed 3,
000 leva. The government forecasts that inflation will fall to 3.1% in August
and amount to 100.9% for the year. The trade unions, however, predict at least
200% inflation for 1996. -- Michael Wyzan
[16] ALBANIAN DAILY THREATENED WITH BANKRUPTCY.
With debts exceeding $300,000, Koha Jone is facing closure,
international agencies reported on 16 July. Editor-in-chief Alexander Frangaj,
who owns 40% of shares in the newspaper, resigned on 14 July, accusing
publisher Nikolle Lesi of incompetence. The Demokracija printing house has
refused to print any more issues of Koha Jone until it pays off its debts.
Koha Jone has been a symbol of the independent media since its foundation in
1991 and has frequently been harassed by the authorities. The paper's decline
was expedited by Lesi and Frangaj's using it as a platform for their election
campaign in May.-- Fabian Schmidt
[17] MULTINATIONAL MILITARY EXERCISES IN ALBANIA.
Troops from Albania, the U.S., Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Romania,
Turkey, and Slovenia have begun a joint military exercise code-named "Peaceful
Eagle 96" within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace Program,
Reuters reported. The week-long exercise involves 2,000 troops and is taking
place in the Martanesh mountains east of Tirana. It is the largest
multinational exercise held so far in Albania. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Jan Cleave
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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