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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 158, 96-08-15
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 158, 15 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE ON ABKHAZ PEACEKEEPER MANDATE.
[02] SOUTH OSSETIAN POLITICIAN SENTENCED.
[03] AZERBAIJANI STATE OIL COMPANY REASSURES RUSSIA.
[04] UZBEKISTAN'S AIRPORTS TO BE UPGRADED.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] MUSLIMS, CROATS ELECT MOSTAR MAYOR.
[06] "IFOR LETS MLADIC OFF THE HOOK."
[07] YET ANOTHER BOSNIAN SUMMIT.
[08] BOSNIAN SERBS BAN OSCE ELECTION RADIO PROGRAM.
[09] RUMP YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 3 NOVEMBER.
[10] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.
[11] SOFIA, BELGRADE INAUGURATE OPTIC PHONE CABLE.
[12] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
[13] OPPOSITION THREATENS TO BOYCOTT ALBANIAN ELECTIONS . . .
[14] . . . WHILE INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE INVITES PARTIES FOR TALKS.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MORE ON ABKHAZ PEACEKEEPER MANDATE.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin said that Georgia and
Abkhazia have agreed to extend and somewhat amend the mandate of the Russian-
dominated CIS peacekeepers in Abkhazia, ITAR-TASS reported on 14 August. The
extension is expected to be approved at a meeting of CIS heads of state in two
weeks time. The 8 August vote of the Russian Federation Council to extend the
mandate was not legally sufficient without the consent of the two parties and
the CIS presidents, contrary to earlier media reports. The fourth anniversary
of the onset of hostilities between the breakaway region of Abkhazia and
Georgia passed on 14 August. ITAR-TASS, citing a recently released Georgian
Defense Ministry report, noted that 3,365 Georgian soldiers died in the
fighting, plus an estimated 5,000 Abkhaz fighters. Eleven journalists (six
Georgian, three Abkhaz, and two Russians) were killed during the conflict. --
Lowell Bezanis
[02] SOUTH OSSETIAN POLITICIAN SENTENCED.
A court in Tskhinvali has sentenced the former deputy chairman of the South
Ossetian parliament, Alan Chochiev, to five years imprisonment, according to a
13 August ITAR-TASS report monitored by the BBC. He was found guilty of abuse
of office and the embezzlement of state funds. From 1989-1994, Chochiev was
the chairman of Adamon Nykhas (Voice of the People), the leading public and
political organization in South Ossetia, and he held senior posts in the
regional administrative apparatus from 1990-1994. -- Lowell Bezanis
[03] AZERBAIJANI STATE OIL COMPANY REASSURES RUSSIA.
SOCCAR President Natik Aliev said on 14 August that his company considers the
Russian port of Novorossiisk as the best point for transporting early oil,
ITAR-TASS reported. The comment comes just two days after Aliev was quoted as
saying that Azerbaijan would try to accelerate the construction of a pipeline
running from Baku to the Georgian port of Supsa if the war in Chechnya
continues to escalate. He now predicts that preparations for moving the oil to
Russia will be completed soon and that the oil will begin to flow "on the
first day of next year." The Turkish press has interpreted Aliev's original
remarks as a demonstration of his willingness to "change" horses in mid-
stream. Aliev is the son of Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[04] UZBEKISTAN'S AIRPORTS TO BE UPGRADED.
International sources are to contribute nearly $200 million to upgrade the
airports in Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Urgench, ITAR-TASS reported on
14 August. According to the head of Uzbekistan's national airline company,
Arslan Ruzmetov, the reconstruction will make it possible for the airports to
handle up to 500 flights a day. The Tashkent Airport is currently being
renovated at a cost of $49 million, while Japan has pledged $146 million to
upgrade the other three. -- Roger Kangas
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] MUSLIMS, CROATS ELECT MOSTAR MAYOR.
At the first joint session of the new Mostar City Council on 14 August, Croats
and Muslims elected Ivica Prskalo, a Croat, as mayor of Mostar, international
media reported. Safet Orucevic, former mayor of the Muslim-held part of Mostar,
was elected his deputy. The Croats had tried to postpone the session until 19
August, but Sir Martin Garrod, the EU's special envoy for Mostar, rejected
that proposal. The agenda of the first session provided only for the election
of a new mayor and his deputy, but the Croats also wanted to re-elect the city
council president. Hamdija Jahic, a Muslim who had been elected to that post
at an earlier city council session boycotted by the Croats, said electing a
new president was "out of the question," Oslobodjenje reported. As a
compromise, Vjekoslav Kordic, a Croat, was elected council deputy president. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[06] "IFOR LETS MLADIC OFF THE HOOK."
NATO peacekeepers avoided a possible meeting with Bosnian Serb commander Gen.
Ratko Mladic rather than be forced to arrest the indicted war criminal, the
Berlin daily taz reported on 15 August. IFOR admitted the previous day that
its inspectors had left the Bosnian Serb military headquarters at Han Pijesak
on 10 August not because the Serbs denied them access, as IFOR originally said,
but because the inspectors wanted to avoid "a close encounter" with Mladic,
Nasa Borba noted on 15 August (see ). The Serbs had told the NATO
visitors that they could see what they wanted to only with Mladic as their
guide, but IFOR said it would not accept any conditions. The peacekeepers are
obliged to arrest indicted war criminals if they come across them, but IFOR
has turned a blind eye to Mladic and his civilian counterpart, Radovan
Karadzic, on numerous occasions in the past. An IFOR spokesman said that their
group of seven officers armed with pistols thought it would "not have been
prudent" to risk a confrontation with Mladic's 300 heavily armed body guards. -
- Patrick Moore
[07] YET ANOTHER BOSNIAN SUMMIT.
U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher met in Geneva on 14 August with
Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic and his Serbian and Croatian counterparts,
Slobodan Milosevic and Franjo Tudjman. As was the case at similar past
gatherings, all parties agreed to implement their previous promises and
agreements, many of which have gone unkept. Christopher gave a pep-talk on the
importance of the 14 September elections, and the three presidents agreed that
they must be "successful," Nasa Borba and Oslobodjenje reported. Tudjman
promised that the Herzegovinian Croat para-state of Herceg-Bosna will be
dissolved by 31 August, in response to U.S. and Muslim demands. That entity
should have already been consigned to history under previous agreements, and
it may well continue to survive in some form or other. Tudjman also said that
Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic will go to Belgrade on 23 August to sign
an agreement normalizing relations, the BBC added. -- Patrick Moore
[08] BOSNIAN SERBS BAN OSCE ELECTION RADIO PROGRAM.
The Bosnian Serb Ministry of Transport and Communications on 12 August banned
the Free Election Radio Network (FERN) from broadcasting its election radio
program via the Lisina transmitter, Onasa reported on 14 August. FERN is
sponsored by the OSCE. Explaining its decision, the ministry said an
"inspection revealed the transmitter was being used without the permission of
the respective Republika Srpska ministry." A Bosnian Serb official told FERN
and the OSCE that they cannot file a complaint but that they can file a
lawsuit with the Republika Srpska Supreme Court. The ban came amid
negotiations between FERN and IFOR on the former's using its transmitters to
improve reception of the program in the eastern part of the Republika Srpska.
In addition to journalists from abroad, FERN employs local journalists from
both Bosnia-Herzegovina entities. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] RUMP YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED FOR 3 NOVEMBER.
Federal President Zoran Lilic has announced that elections to the 138-seat
lower house will be held on 3 November, Nasa Borba reported on 15 August.
Montenegrin republican elections will take place the same day. Elections to
the upper house, composed of 20 Montenegrin and 20 Serbian deputies, must be
held within 30 days of the ballot for the lower house. Serbian parliamentary
elections have not yet been scheduled. Lilic said that "the main reason why we
are scheduling elections now is to allow ample space and time for all parties
and individuals...to offer our citizens the best they have in their programs,"
Reuters reported. Opposition parties are expected to form coalitions for the
ballot. -- Fabian Schmidt
[10] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.
Kiro Gligorov has been nominated for the 1996 Nobel peace prize, Western
agencies reported on 14 August, citing the Skopje daily Dnevnik. Gligorov
was nominated by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Public and
International Affairs Professor William N. Dunn of the University of
Pittsburgh. Gligorov was elected president of newly independent Macedonia in
1991 by the parliament and was re-elected by popular vote in October 1994. He
is widely credited for leading his country to independence while avoiding the
conflict and bloodshed witnessed in other former Yugoslav republics. -- Stefan
Krause
[11] SOFIA, BELGRADE INAUGURATE OPTIC PHONE CABLE.
Bulgaria and rump Yugoslavia (SRJ) on 14 August launched an optic
telecommunications link expected to boost trans-European communications,
Reuters reported. The line linking Sofia and the Serbian town of Nis was
opened by the prime ministers of Bulgaria and rump Yugoslavia, Zhan Videnov
and Radoje Kontic, in Kalotina, on the border between Bulgaria and the SRJ.
The construction of the link took six months. Officials said it is the
shortest such link between Western Europe and Asia and the first between the
two Balkan countries. The line can handle some 7,600 calls simultaneously and
is expected to meet demands for the next 10 years. The overlay system was
produced by Germany's Siemens and the cable by Greece's Telecable. -- Stefan
Krause
[12] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
Electricity cutoffs may be introduced in September, Standart reported on 15
August, citing sources within the National Electricity Company (NEK). The
reason is lack of money to buy nuclear fuel and coal and for the reconstruction
of power plants. Cutoffs can be averted only if the NEK, the government, and
the Bulgarian National Bank agree on a loan for the company. In other news,
former Tsar Simeon's first interview since he visited Bulgaria two months ago
was published in the Italian magazine Espresso on 15 August. Simeon
confirmed his intention to seek an important political role in Bulgaria but
did not say whether he will actively work for the restoration of the monarchy.
He said his role will be "to create a climate of consensus that would allow
everyone to work together." -- Stefan Krause
[13] OPPOSITION THREATENS TO BOYCOTT ALBANIAN ELECTIONS . . .
Socialist deputy leader Servet Pellumbi has threatened to boycott the election
commission and the 20 October local elections, arguing that the composition of
the new election commission is similar to the one that oversaw Albania's
disputed parliamentary elections in May. Pellumbi said "we cannot take part in
a commission where the balance of power is not seven to seven but 10 to seven
in favor of the ruling party," AFP reported. If the opposition fails to name
its candidates for the commission by 6 October, the seats will be given to
the ethnic Greek Party for Human Rights and Freedoms, the National Front, the
Party for National Unity or the Legality Movement--all of whom have already
been asked to name possible candidates, the publication Albania reported
on 14 August. The opposition has called for new round-table talks with
the Democrats. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] . . . WHILE INTERNATIONAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE INVITES PARTIES FOR TALKS.
The International Republican Institute has invited the ruling and opposition
parties as well as international experts to a working conference on the
Albanian elections, ATSH reported on 14 August. The meeting will be held in
Tirana from 27-29 August and attended by Council of Europe and OSCE
representatives. Its aim is to discuss how free and fair elections can be
ensured. -- 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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