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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 139, 96-07-19
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 139, 19 July 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] NEW TAJIK CEASEFIRE.
[02] KAZAKHSTAN, MALAYSIA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENTS.
[03] ARMS SMUGGLING IN UZBEKISTAN.
[04] NIYAZOV ENDS IRANIAN VISIT.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] HOLBROOKE GETS DEAL ON KARADZIC...
[06] ...BUT WILL IT STICK?
[07] SERBS DEMAND EXTENSION OF UN MANDATE IN EASTERN SLAVONIA, TUDJMAN REFUSES.
[09] BIG FIRE DAMAGES WESTERN MOSTAR RADIO.
[10] CONTROVERSY IN MONTENEGRIN LEGISLATURE.
[11] BOMB ATTACK ON CROATIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST.
[12] SERBIAN GENERAL APPEARS IN SLOVENIAN COURT.
[13] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT IRKED BY ROYAL VISIT.
[14] COLONEL REINSTATED AS TIRASPOL GARRISON COMMANDER.
[15] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES MEDIA LAW.
[16] FORMER BULGARIAN PREMIER REPLACED AS "TOPENERGY" BOSS.
[17] ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA...
[18] ...WHILE ALBANIAN PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES LOCAL ELECTIONS FOR OCTOBER.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] NEW TAJIK CEASEFIRE.
Representatives of the Tajik government and the United Tajik Opposition
meeting in Turkmenistan have agreed to a ceasefire in the area around Tavil-
Dara, according to RFE/RL and Reuters. The Tajik government dropped its
requirement that opposition forces in central Tajikistan return to the
positions they held prior to February; the new agreement allows both sides'
forces to remain in their current positions. Both sides, however, have
recently claimed that they are in control of the regional capital, Tavil-Dara.
It is unclear which side will be permitted to control the town itself, which
is near the only highway linking the capital Dushanbe with the strategic city
of Khorog. -- Bruce Pannier
[02] KAZAKHSTAN, MALAYSIA SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENTS.
Visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Moahammad and his Kazakhstani
counterpart, Akezhan Kazhegeldin, signed three agreements on economic
cooperation and friendship in Almaty on 19 July, AFP and ITAR-TASS reported.
The agreements call for a cooperation memorandum between the National Bank of
Kazakhstan and the Malaysian Central Bank Negara as well as the establishement
of an air link between Almaty and Kuala Lumpur using Kazakhstan Airways.
Mahathir said he supports Kazakhstan's application for membership in the
ASEAN. A delegation of businessmen accompanying Mahathir are discussing
possible contracts for construction projects in the new Kazakhstani capital
Akmola. -- Bhavna Dave
[03] ARMS SMUGGLING IN UZBEKISTAN.
Uzbek customs officials arrested four soldiers from the CIS peacekeeping
mission in Tajikistan who were attempting to smuggle weapons into Chechnya,
ITAR-TASS reported on 18 July. The soldiers had weapons and ammunition worth
$5,000 which they were reportedly planning to sell to Chechen separatists. The
increase in military weaponry in the region as a result of the Tajik and
Afghan crises has been a concern of the Uzbek government. Last week, Uzbek
President Islam Karimov called for an arms embargo on Afghanistan, asking the
UN Security Council to address the issue, the BBC reported on 17 July. --
Roger Kangas
[04] NIYAZOV ENDS IRANIAN VISIT.
Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov concluded a four-day visit to Iran on 18
July during which he signed an agreement that will allow the Telecommunications
Company of Iran (TCI) to build a 600 km optical fiber cable network through
Turkmenistan, Western and Russian media reported. The network will follow up
on an earlier TCI project that established an identical cable connecting
eastern and western Turkmenistan, Reuters reported. Niyazov and Iranian
President Hashemi Rafsanjani also signed agreements on economic cooperation in
anticipation of an increase in trade following the opening of the Meshed-
Sarakhs rail link in May 1996. The current volume of trade stands at $50
million a year, with the potential value of Iranian projects in Turkmenistan
estimated at $250 million. -- Roger Kangas
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] HOLBROOKE GETS DEAL ON KARADZIC...
U. S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke told CNN on 19 July that he has obtained
an agreement in Belgrade to remove indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic from
Bosnian Serb politics. Following a second and unexpected round of talks
between Holbrooke and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Karadzic signed a
text saying he will withdraw "immediately and permanently [from all] political
activities," including public appearances and interviews as well as state and
party offices. Holbrooke summed up the agreement with the words that
Karadzic's "political career came to an end last night." This opens the way
for Robert Frowick, the OSCE's administrator of the 14 September elections, to
authorize the participation of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) in the vote.
Frowick had threatened to ban the SDS from the ballot if it continued to have
an indicted war criminal as chairman. -- Patrick Moore
[06] ...BUT WILL IT STICK?
Holbrooke also told CNN on 19 July that he has "no guarantee" that the latest
agreement will work. He noted that Karadzic could still exercise considerable
power from behind the scenes in a Bosnian version of what he called the "Pol
Pot problem." He was referring to the fact that the Cambodian mass murderer
withdrew from public life in the late 1970s but continued to control the Khmer
Rouge through hidden channels. Holbrooke might have added that the people with
whom he talked in Belgrade have made and broken agreements time and again. On
the positive side, however, the envoy pointed out that the Serbs are fully
aware of the "very serious consequences" they will face if they break their
word, which presumably means renewed economic sanctions. He also stated that
Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic will soon lead an economic delegation to
Belgrade and that this shows that Serbia is serious about its relations with
Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Patrick Moore
[07] SERBS DEMAND EXTENSION OF UN MANDATE IN EASTERN SLAVONIA, TUDJMAN REFUSES.
Serbs in eastern Slavonia on 18 July sent a letter to the UN Security Council
asking the UN mandate in the area to be extended by one year, Nasa Borba
reported. The mandate is due to expire in January. The letter cited Croatia's
"lack of cooperation" and claimed that Zagreb is seeking to avoid implementing
the accord with the Serbs. But Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, meeting on
17 July with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke, said that extension of the
UN mandate was out of the question. He underscored the importance of holding
elections in the area in December and that these elections take place in
accordance with Croatian laws and the 1991 census.[08]
-- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] BIG FIRE DAMAGES WESTERN MOSTAR RADIO.
A large fire on 18 July caused serious damage to the buildings of local
Croatian radio and television, AFP reported. No one was injured, and the fire
was put out within hours. EU officials suspected no foul play behind the
incident, but a team is investigating. A book shop and an alternative theater
in the same building were also damaged. -- Fabian Schmidt
[10] CONTROVERSY IN MONTENEGRIN LEGISLATURE.
The Montenegrin Assembly on 18 July passed a law delineating 14 electoral
districts for the upcoming ballot in the republic. Before the vote took place,
deputies from three opposition parties--the People's Party, the Liberal
Alliance of Montenegro, and the Social Democratic Party--walked out in protest,
declaring that the division of the country into electoral districts was a ploy
on the part of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists to stay in power,
Nasa Borba reported on 19 July. The three parties have vowed to unite in a
"national salvation coalition" to contest the elections. Meanwhile, Montena-
fax reported that the ballot seems likely to take place on 17 November. --
Stan Markotich
[11] BOMB ATTACK ON CROATIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST.
A group of unidentified persons detonated a bomb close to the island home of
Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human
Rights, during the night from 17-18 July, Beta reported. Cicak and his family
were spending vacation on Brac. Police said the group employed explosive
materials designed for commercial use. The committee issued a statement saying
the bomb was an act of intimidation resulting from the intensive campaign
against the committee carried out by the state-controlled media. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[12] SERBIAN GENERAL APPEARS IN SLOVENIAN COURT.
Milan Aksentijevic, a former Yugoslav army general, appeared in a Ljubljana district court on 18 July to answer questions about his alleged role in leading troops in campaigns against Slovenia during the 1991 war (see ). Aksentijevic's hearing is the first of its kind in independent Slovenia's history. STA reported the court would announce its verdict "within 48 hours." -- Stan Markotich
[13] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT IRKED BY ROYAL VISIT.
The Romanian authorities were irritated by the warm reception extended to Anne
of Bourbon-Parma, former King Michael's spouse, and their eldest daughter,
Princess Margaret, during their visit this week to Romania, local media and
Reuters reported. President Ion Iliescu told a press conference in Bucharest
on 18 July that Romania was a republic and "has no queen." One day earlier,
the government issued a statement saying the behavior of local officials
during the visit was "in total contravention of the country's constitutional
norms." It added that it reserved "the right to sanction, in accordance with
the law, those attitudes, which run counter to the status of civil servants."
Romanian mayors, however, do not have the status of civil servants. The daily
Ziua reported on 18 July that on the last day of their visit, Orthodox
Church Patriarch Teoctist in the southern town of Targoviste received the two
visitors with ceremonies "reserved for reigning monarchs." -- Michael
Shafir
[14] COLONEL REINSTATED AS TIRASPOL GARRISON COMMANDER.
Col. Mikhail Bergman, who was dismissed by former Russian Minister of Defense
Pavel Grachev, has been reinstated as commander of the Tiraspol garrison, BASA-
Press reported on 18 July. The agency quoted Bergman as saying that Igor
Smirnov, "the impostor leader" of the Transdniester breakaway region, "can do
no good for the people since he is held in the clutches" of Security Minister
Vadim Shevtsov, former OMON head in Latvia. Shevtsov, Bergman added, "will
never willingly renounce his powers." -- Michael Shafir
[15] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT PASSES MEDIA LAW.
Following debates over the past six years, the parliament on 18 July passed a
controversial media law, Bulgarian media reported. The law provides for a
National Radio and TV Council to oversee media operations and elect the
directors-general of state radio and TV. Seven members will be appointed by
the parliament and two each by the president and the government. Political
parties, trade unions, religious groups, and non-profit organizations are not
permitted to broadcast their own radio and TV programs, but political parties
in the parliament will have the right to two monthly nationwide five-minute
addresses on state media. TV and radio stations can be run by Bulgarian
citizens, legal entities registered in Bulgaria under the commercial law, city
councils, universities, or foreign broadcasters meeting the requirements of
the new media law. One such requirements is that they incorporate themselves
in Bulgaria. -- Stefan Krause
[16] FORMER BULGARIAN PREMIER REPLACED AS "TOPENERGY" BOSS.
Andrey Lukanov on 18 July was removed as chairman of the board of directors of
the Bulgaro-Russian "Topenergy" company, Pari reported. He is to be replaced
by Iliya Pavlov, head of Multigroup, the biggest private business conglomerate
in Bulgaria. Topenergy was founded in 1995 by Bulgargaz and Russia's Gazprom
to coordinate Russian gas supplies to the Balkans. Lukanov is one of the
most prominent opponents of Bulgarian Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, and his
removal is expected to improve relations between Topenergy and the
Bulgarian government. -- Stefan Krause
[17] ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES NEW ELECTIONS IN ALBANIA...
Lamberto Dini on 18 July urged the Albanian government to repeat May's
disputed parliamentary elections, Reuters reported. Dini told his visiting
Albanian counterpart, Tritan Shehu, that Italy wanted to see "a fully
democratic dynamic in Albanian politics and the opening of a dialogue between
the government and opposition." He added that such talks should "set out the
political and electoral norms to allow a return to conditions of full
democratic and constitutional normality, including the possibility of calling
new elections in a reasonably short time." Dini also wanted to send special
envoy Luigi Vittorio Ferraris to Albania to help in the process, Koha Jone
reported on 19 July. -- Fabian Schmidt
[18] ...WHILE ALBANIAN PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES LOCAL ELECTIONS FOR OCTOBER.
Sali Berisha, following round-table talks with the opposition on 18 July,
announced that local elections will take place on one of the last two Sundays
in October, Reuters reported. Socialist Party deputy leader Servet Pellumbi
confirmed the decision, adding that fair local elections could help restore
Albania's tarnished image. The round table will continue to discuss possible
changes in the local election law. Zeri i Popullit on 19 July published a
list of the Socialist Party's demands with regard to the local elections.
Those include a review of the law on local administration, changes in the
electoral law, the abolition of the disputed "genocide law," guarantees by
police and the secret service not to interfere in the voting process, and
sufficient logistical assistance from the OSCE and the Council of Europe in
organizing the vote. -- 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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