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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 150, 96-08-05
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 150, 5 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] WARRANT ISSUED FOR ARREST OF FORMER GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
[02] NEW HARDLINE ABKHAZ FOREIGN MINISTER.
[03] PROTESTS IN YEREVAN.
[04] UZBEK PRESIDENT PROPOSES ARMS EMBARGO ON AFGHANISTAN.
[05] TAJIK SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS.
[06] PASHA'S REMAINS RETURNED TO TURKEY.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] MOSTAR CROATS REJECT EU PROPOSAL ON CITY COUNCIL.
[08] DOES CROATIAN PRESIDENT SUPPORT MOSTAR CROATS OVER CITY COUNCIL ROW?
[09] FEUDING BETWEEN BOSNIAN SERB POLITICAL PARTIES CONTINUES.
[10] HAS A PLAN TO NAB KARADZIC BEEN EXPOSED?
[11] SERBIAN REFUGEES COMMEMORATE "OPERATION STORM."
[12] THREE POLICE STATIONS BOMBED IN KOSOVO.
[13] ROMANIA SLAPS CURRENCY CONTROL ON BUSINESSES.
[14] CONTROVERSIAL GATHERING OF HUNGARIAN CHURCH IN ROMANIA.
[15] RUSSIANS DENY REPORTS THEY ARE INVESTIGATING MOLDOVAN PREMIER.
[16] MONEY-LAUNDERING SCANDAL IN BULGARIA.
[17] WORLD BANK LENDS BULGARIA $30 MILLION TO ASSIST UNEMPLOYED.
[18] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT DECREES CREATION OF PERMANENT ELECTORAL BODY.
[19] GREECE, ALBANIA AND THE ALBANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CHALLENGE CONSTANTINOPLE.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] WARRANT ISSUED FOR ARREST OF FORMER GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.
The Georgian procuracy on 1 August issued a warrant for the arrest of
businessman Murman Omanidze on charges of illicit financial dealings,
according to an Iprinda News Agency reports monitored by the BBC. Omanidze was
the foreign minister in Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government in 1990-91. -- Liz
Fuller
[02] NEW HARDLINE ABKHAZ FOREIGN MINISTER.
Leonid Lakerbaya, who resigned as foreign minister of the breakaway Abkhaz
Republic, has been replaced by Konstantin Ozgan, former first secretary of
Gudauta Raikom and later chairman of the Abkhaz Oblast Soviet, who was accused
by Georgian intellectuals of instigating the July 1989 clashes in Sukhumi
during which 25 people died, according to a 1 August Interfax report monitored
by the BBC. -- Liz Fuller
[03] PROTESTS IN YEREVAN.
Some 1,600 striking workers from the Sipan construction trust demonstrated in
front of the parliament building in Yerevan on 2 August, Noyan Tapan reported.
They claim to be owed 11 months of back wages, and protested their director's
decision to shut down their trade union. The Sipan enterprise is part of the
Defense Ministry and works on military projects. The same day, 1,500 members
of the Communist Party of Armenia gathered to protest the dismantling of the
pedestal in Republic Square on which a Lenin statue formerly stood. The statue
itself was removed several years ago. -- Peter Rutland
[04] UZBEK PRESIDENT PROPOSES ARMS EMBARGO ON AFGHANISTAN.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov has sent an official petition to the UN Security
Council calling for a general arms embargo on Afghanistan, ITAR-TASS reported
on 3 August. Pakistan supports the proposal, and top Pakistani officials are
currently in contact with their Uzbek counterparts to work out the details.
Karimov first suggested such an embargo at the UN in October 1995. -- Roger
Kangas
[05] TAJIK SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS.
The Tajik Security Council on 3 August ratified President Imomali Rakhmonov's
decree on the formation of a commission to coordinate the activities of all
branches of the Tajik military, Radio Rossii reported. The Tajik Defense
Ministry reported that government troops in central Tajikistan are coming
under attack "every day," according to Tajik Radio. A planned meeting between
Rakhmonov and opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri, scheduled for August, may
be delayed. The opposition Radio Voice of Free Tajikistan reported on 30 July
that Nuri is now demanding that Rakhmonov come to the meeting prepared to sign
an agreement on the formation of a coalition government. -- Bruce
Pannier
[06] PASHA'S REMAINS RETURNED TO TURKEY.
The remains of Gen. Enver Pasha were flown from Dushanbe to Istanbul on 3
August and were reinterred with a military ceremony the next day, Turkish and
international media reported. The return was agreed during Tajik President
Imomali Rakhmonov's early May visit to Ankara. Enver Pasha was the leading
member of the triumvirate that effectively ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1908
until its collapse. He later attempted to lead the indigenous Central Asian
anti-Bolshevik guerrilla war--the so-called Bamachi Revolt--and was believed
to have been killed near Baljuvan, Tajikistan, on 4 August 1922 by Red Army
troops. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] MOSTAR CROATS REJECT EU PROPOSAL ON CITY COUNCIL.
Mostar EU administrator Sir Martin Garrod said on 5 August that the Mostar
Croat leadership refused the proposal of the EU Administration to consider
establishing Mostar's city council, Oslobodjenje reported the same day.
Croats wanted the city council to be a "provisional" body until their
complaints over the elections were heard by the Bosnian federation's
constitutional court, but Garrod said that was unacceptable. The EU threatened
to withdraw from Mostar if the Croats continue their boycott. The EU will
announce its future course of action this evening, news agencies reported. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[08] DOES CROATIAN PRESIDENT SUPPORT MOSTAR CROATS OVER CITY COUNCIL ROW?
The mayor of the Croat-part of Mostar, Mijo Brajkovic, said the Mostar Croats
will not give up their terms for establishing a joint city administration, and
they have been supported in their requests by Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman, Novi List reported on 3 August. Meanwhile, Tudjman assured
U.S. President Bill Clinton that Bosnian Croats will cooperate with Muslims
in Mostar, AFP reported on 2 August. State Department spokesman Nicholas
Burns said Tudjman promised that Mostar Croats would respect the elections in
Mostar and they would dismantle their para-state of Herceg-Bosna. Meanwhile,
Tudjman accused some "European circles" of wanting the Dayton peace accord to
fail, and blaming Croatia for it, AFP reported. Tudjman also said the
institutions of Herceg-Bosna could continue until those of the Bosnian
federation came into being. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] FEUDING BETWEEN BOSNIAN SERB POLITICAL PARTIES CONTINUES.
An explosive device was discovered in a hall in Brcko just before a meeting of
the Socialist Party of the Republika Srpska (SPRS), AFP reported on 4 August,
citing Beta news agency. Tanjug called the machine a smoke grenade. The SPRS
is the Bosnian branch of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialist
Party of Serbia and is the main electoral rival of Radovan Karadzic's Serbian
Democratic Party. Provocations such as beatings, bombings, and stonings
against the SPRS have been reported over recent months, and Onasa said on 1
August that additional incidents took place recently in Teslic, Zvornik, Brcko,
and Derventa. Meanwhile, among the Muslims, the governing SDA and the
opposition Joint List continue to trade accusations over a SDA poster that
implies that it is the duty of all Muslims to vote for the SDA. -- Patrick
Moore
[10] HAS A PLAN TO NAB KARADZIC BEEN EXPOSED?
London's Sunday Times reported on 4 August that the U.S. wants to stage a
covert air operation to seize Bosnian Serb civilian leader and indicted war
criminal Radovan Karadzic from his base at Pale, Reuters noted. The paper
quoted British Defense Secretary Michael Portillo as saying, however, that
Britain would refuse to cooperate with such a mission, asking: "how many
British lives is that worth?" He added that "whilst we believe Karadzic must
be brought to justice... our immediate priority is stability in Bosnia-
Herzegovina and the holding of democratic elections next month." Portillo
denied that there is any rift between London and Washington over policy toward
Bosnia, but observers of the conflict know that such differences have long
existed. Croatian sources told OMRI that they believe that the story was
deliberately leaked by London to thwart American plans. -- Patrick
Moore
[11] SERBIAN REFUGEES COMMEMORATE "OPERATION STORM."
An estimated 3,000 Serbs, mostly refugees from Croatia, crammed into
Belgrade's St. Mark's Church on 4 August to hear Patriarch Pavle deliver
prayers in commemoration of the first anniversary of "Operation Storm," the
military exercise by which Croatia reclaimed much of Krajina that was held by
rebel Serbs. The operation was followed by a massive outflow of Serbian
refugees. For his part, Pavle, delivering a message clearly tinged with
political overtones supportive of the insurrection against Croatia and at the
same time critical of Belgrade authorities for not rescuing the Krajina regime,
said "There is no place on earth where the guilty can hide...the truth will
always be revealed," Reuters reported. -- Stan Markotich
[12] THREE POLICE STATIONS BOMBED IN KOSOVO.
Six cars were burned when a local police station in Podujevo caught fire
following a bomb attack on 2 August, international agencies reported. A
municipal building and a Red Cross warehouse were also damaged by the
explosion. A shoot-out reportedly followed the incident. Two other police
stations were simultaneously hit in Krpimej near Podujevo and Pristina. Nobody
was injured in the attacks, AFP reported. Meanwhile, Deutsche Welle's Albanian
language service reported on 5 August that the police force has stepped up its
presence in the region and begun raiding Albanian homes. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] ROMANIA SLAPS CURRENCY CONTROL ON BUSINESSES.
In a measure that Reuters called a "populist move," Romania on 2 August
slapped stringent exchange controls on state companies and banks, stripping
them of hard currency in order to help fund badly needed energy imports. The
government decreed that some 100 state companies must convert earnings from
certain exports at the disadvantageous exchange rate of 3,134 lei to the
dollar, instead of the retail rate of some 3,500 lei. Banks will also be
forced to cheaply sell hard currency holdings that exceed certain limits.
Proceeds will be used to set up a special energy fund, which will also hold
foreign loans and hard currency receipts from privatization. -- Michael
Shafir
[14] CONTROVERSIAL GATHERING OF HUNGARIAN CHURCH IN ROMANIA.
Romanian media reported on 3 August that a controversial international
gathering of the Hungarian Reformed Church began in Oradea on the same day.
Apart from members of the church from Romania, the gathering is attended by
participants from Hungary, the U.S., Australia and other countries. The
authorities have warned the organizers not to allow the event to be turned
into one of "irredentist provocations." But on the same day, Romanian
television reported that a statue of Hungarian princess Zsuzsana Lorantffy,
who in 1657 opened the first Reformed theological school in Oradea, was
erected where a bust of Romanian national poet Mihai Eminescu used to stand.
The bust had been removed by Hungarian authorities after the annexation of
northern Transylvania in 1940. The congress elected Romanian Reformed Church
bishop Laszlo Tokes as chairman of the World Union of Magyar Reformists. On 4
August Tokes denied any "tendency of separation or unification with Hungary,"
but added that it was "natural" for a community that "was once one entity to
wish to become one entity again," Radio Bucharest reported on 5 August. --
Michael Shafir
[15] RUSSIANS DENY REPORTS THEY ARE INVESTIGATING MOLDOVAN PREMIER.
Moscow's Prosecutor's office has denied reports in the Romanian press and in
the Moldovan opposition media that it had opened a criminal investigation
against Moldovan Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli, Infotag reported on 2 August.
The reports had alleged that Sangheli and the leadership of the Dniester
breakaway region had been placed under investigation for mismanaging funds to
be used to pay for energy deliveries from Russia to the Dniester region. The
commander of Russian troops in Tiraspol, Colonel Mikhail Bergman, who was
cited as the source of the reports, told Infotag he had indeed granted an
interview to Romanian reporters, but added that in the interview he only spoke
of the "doubtful business affairs" of the Minister of State Security in
Tiraspol, Vadim Shevtsov. -- Michael Shafir
[16] MONEY-LAUNDERING SCANDAL IN BULGARIA.
Between 31 July and 2 August, five Bulgarians were arrested for illegally
transferring $186 million abroad, RFE/RL reported. Four of the detainees are
employees of Balkanbank, the country's biggest state-owned commercial bank,
and the fifth is a former policeman acting as the representative of an unnamed
Cypriot company which is involved in the apparent money laundering scheme. The
money was apparently sent to Balkanbank's Ruse branch from abroad and then
transferred to a third country. The sum transferred, in what appears to be
Bulgaria's biggest financial scandal since 1989, equals almost one-third of
Bulgaria's foreign currency reserves. -- Stefan Krause
[17] WORLD BANK LENDS BULGARIA $30 MILLION TO ASSIST UNEMPLOYED.
A World Bank representative in Sofia confirmed on 4 August that the bank would
lend Bulgarian $30 million to assist workers left unemployed by structural
reforms agreed to with the bank and the IMF, Pari reported on 5 August. The
loan -- which is for 20 years with a five-year grace period -- will provide
funds for both social assistance and retraining for the estimated 65,000
workers who will lose their jobs. It will help the government by reducing the
social cost of the reforms, and free the banks from having to finance failing
state enterprises, enabling them to lend more extensively to the private
sector. Total World Bank lending to Bulgaria to date is $869 million. --
Michael Wyzan
[18] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT DECREES CREATION OF PERMANENT ELECTORAL BODY.
Albanian President Sali Berisha has decreed the creation of a 17-member
permanent electoral commission, Reuters reported on 3 August. The body is in
charge of organizing, supervising and controlling future ballots. Berisha has
invited political parties to nominate candidates for the body ahead of 20
October's local elections. In its final report on May's controverisal
parliamentary elections, the OSCE recommended the creation of an independent
permanent body to ensure that election irregularities do not occur again and
that neither parties nor the government interfere in the voting process. --
Fabian Schmidt
[19] GREECE, ALBANIA AND THE ALBANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CHALLENGE CONSTANTINOPLE.
The Greek government and Albanian Archbishop Anastasios Giannoulatos agreed
that the appointment of three bishops by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople is not acceptable, Koha Jone reported on 3 August. They were
appointed to the sees of Gjirokaster, Vlora, and Korca, but the Albanian
authorities declared them persona non grata. The Committee for the Protection
and the Independence of the Albanian Orthodox Church argues that according to
the Albanian church's statute, high dignitaries must be Albanian. Giannoulatos,
himself a Greek, is under criticism by Albanians who want him replaced. His
appointment in 1991 led to a factional split of the church, with some Orthodox
communities in central Albania refusing to accept his authority. -- Fabian
Schmidt and Stefan Krause
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Pete Baumgartner
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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