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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 160, 96-08-19
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 160, 19 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN ABKHAZIA.
[02] GEORGIA DENIES RADIATION LEVELS EXCEED NORM.
[03] NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF KAZAKHSTAN'S GERMANS HAVE LEFT.
[04] "PRECISE AND EFFICIENT" QUELLING OF PRISON RIOT IN MARY.
[05] HOMELESS HOLD DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL.
[06] WHO CONTROLS TAVIL-DARA?
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] 'OPERATION VOLCANO' UNDER WAY AMID SERBIAN CRITICISMS, THREAT.
[08] OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS ATTACKED IN BOSNIA.
[09] BOSNIAN SERBS APOLOGIZE FOR VOTER MANIPULATION.
[10] SERBIAN GENERAL KILLED IN CROATIA.
[11] BELGRADE DELEGATION IN ZAGREB, AND VICE VERSA.
[12] AIR TRAGEDY NEAR BELGRADE.
[13] KOSOVO ALBANIANS WILL BOYCOTT RUMP YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS.
[14] U.S. WELCOMES ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN BASIC TREATY.
[15] MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTER CRITICIZES SNEGUR.
[16] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
[17] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN ABKHAZIA.
BGI on 15 August published a report detailing the strains in relations between
ethnic Armenians and Abkhaz in the breakaway region. A "well informed" source
in Sukhumi said the Armenians of Abkhazia have had to endure killings,
kidnappings, and other harassments. The unconfirmed report also claimed that
the Marshal Bagramyan Armenian battalion has been disbanded, local leaders
have an "unfriendly attitude" toward the Krunk Armenian charity, and that the
Armenian community suffers from economic discrimination. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[02] GEORGIA DENIES RADIATION LEVELS EXCEED NORM.
The Georgian Defense Ministry has denied reports in the Georgian and foreign
press that higher than normal radiation levels have been measured at an
unnamed military base in Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported on 17 August. The agency,
citing "trustworthy sources," noted that a special commission had inspected
the site and decided that the radiation level on the military base posed no
threat to the health and safety of the nearby population. On 15 August,
Moskovsii komsomolets quoted Ramzan Goytemirov, the chairman of the Caucasus
Environmental Council, as saying that the Russian military base at Vaziani is
located near a nuclear waste dump. -- Lowell Bezanis
[03] NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF KAZAKHSTAN'S GERMANS HAVE LEFT.
Some 65% of the German population of Kazakhstan has left the country since
1990, ITAR-TASS reported on 17 August, citing the country's State Committee
for Statistics. There are now about 370,000 ethnic Germans living in
Kazakhstan. The chairman of the Council of Germans of Kazakhstan, Alexander
Dederer, said the Kazakhstani government should attempt to lure some of the
departed Germans back by offering advantageous loans to those who return, and
urged the German government to help Kazakhstan's Germans start up businesses
in the republic. -- Bruce Pannier
[04] "PRECISE AND EFFICIENT" QUELLING OF PRISON RIOT IN MARY.
Neitralnyi Turkmenistan on 7 August carried an official account of the 4
August prison riot in Mary. The article, monitored by the BBC, quoted Interior
and Security ministry sources as saying that inmates on death row carried out
a "daring attack" during a routine inspection of their cells. After taking
some warders hostage and releasing some fellow prisoners, they demanded arms
and a vehicle for escaping. During the rescue operation by a special police
unit one prisoner reportedly committed suicide, two were killed, and seven
were injured. -- Lowell Bezanis
[05] HOMELESS HOLD DEMONSTRATION IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL.
A group of some 200 homeless people held a demonstration in Bishkek's central
square on 15 August, RFE/RL reported. The group, consisting mainly of young
people, demanded that the government create a special commission to help the
country's homeless. Bishkek Mayor Boris Silaev refused to meet with the
demonstrators but First Deputy Prime Minister Abdujapar Tagayev showed up and
promised to help them. The government has set up a project called Ashar to
help the homeless, but a shortage of funding and increasing numbers of
homeless have limited the project's effectiveness. -- Bruce Pannier
[06] WHO CONTROLS TAVIL-DARA?
Tajik opposition leader Ali Akabar Turajonzoda told RFE/RL that opposition
forces managed to re-capture the town of Tavil-Dara on 15 August. The Tajik
Defense Ministry did not confirm this claim but noted that government forces
still control strategic heights around the town. The ministry also alerted UN
representatives that retaliatory measures would be taken to drive opposition
forces out of the area. Asked if these latest events are a threat to the 20
July ceasefire agreement, the UN special envoy to Tajikistan, Gerd Merrem,
replied "the ceasefire has never taken effect in the Tavil-Dara zone." --
Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] 'OPERATION VOLCANO' UNDER WAY AMID SERBIAN CRITICISMS, THREAT.
IFOR troops destroyed the first batch of contraband Bosnian Serb munitions on
19 August, international media reported. The batch, reportedly comprising
several hundred tons of material, was part of an ammunition dump consisting of
"rockets, packets of TNT, small arms ammunition, and about 5,700 cases of anti-
tank and anti-personnel mines" found in a former schoolhouse in Margetici two
weeks ago, Onasa reported on 18 August. Onasa added that the Bosnian Serb
reaction to the destruction was hostile, with the Bosnian Serb army dubbing
the destruction plan, or Operation Volcano, "a very dangerous provocation" and
saying the munitions dump was kept in accordance with the terms of the Dayton
accord. Destroying the rest of the munitions is expected to take nearly a
week. -- Stan Markotich
[08] OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS ATTACKED IN BOSNIA.
The day after three separate explosions occurred in the northwestern Bosnian
city of Cazin, Alexander Ivanko, a UN spokesman, noted on 16 August that
violent harassment of opposition-party supporters continues there, Onasa
reported. Explosive devices were aimed at the homes of three people
campaigning on behalf of opposition candidates in Bosnia's upcoming elections.
No injuries were reported. Ivanko said the International Police Task Force was
encouraging the Cazin police to conduct a full investigation, but one of the
victims said he did not trust the police force, which, he said, had harassed
him. Meanwhile, the Joint List of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a coalition of five
opposition parties, issued a statement complaining that the regional police in
Bihac on 15 August confiscated the coalition's campaign posters and leaflets,
Oslobodjenje reported on 18 August. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] BOSNIAN SERBS APOLOGIZE FOR VOTER MANIPULATION.
The ruling Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) on 17 August issued a public apology
for using humanitarian aid to manipulate voters in the towns of Doboj and
Modrica, Reuters reported. The apology was prompted by the OSCE (see ). In
other news, the international community's high representative for Bosnia, Carl
Bildt, visited Srebrenica and Zvornik. He warned SDS officials there that they
risk disqualification from Bosnia's elections unless Radovan Karadzic posters
disappear, Reuters reported on 18 August. An SDS official in Srebrenica said
the international community can eliminate Karadzic from public life but cannot
forbid people to love him. Srebrenica officials complained to Bildt about such
problems as a shortage of running water and electricity. In response to pleas
for help, Bildt said Bosnian Serb leaders have refused international assistance earmarked for Bosnia-Herzegovina because they want their own independent state. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] SERBIAN GENERAL KILLED IN CROATIA.
Milorad Miscevic, a retired 75-year-old ethnic Serbian general of the former
Yugoslav army, was reportedly killed in Vrebac on 14 August when a mine
planted at his doorstep exploded, AFP reported on 18 August, citing Novi
list. Croatia's Interior Ministry has said it is investigating the incident
but would neither confirm nor deny reports linking Miscevic's death to the
circumstances mentioned by Novi list. AFP also reported that "a number of
sometimes deadly attacks" have been made against mostly elderly Serbs residing
in parts of Croatia that were reclaimed in 1995 from rebel Serbs. -- Stan
Markotich
[11] BELGRADE DELEGATION IN ZAGREB, AND VICE VERSA.
A Foreign Ministry delegation from Belgrade arrived in Zagreb on 16 August.
The delegation, on a two-day visit, was reportedly charged with helping
arrange the "final details" of an agreement that would move Croatia and Serbia-
Montenegro toward a normalization of relations, Hina reported that same day.
On 19 August, Nasa Borba reported that a Foreign Ministry delegation from
Zagreb was to arrive in Belgrade that day to continue talks. These latest
rounds of diplomatic activity follow in the wake of a 7 August summit between
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic,
held near Athens, where both leaders agreed in principle on a normalization of
relations. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic is slated to meet his
Belgrade counterpart, Milan Milutinovic, on 23 August in Belgrade. -- Stan
Markotich
[12] AIR TRAGEDY NEAR BELGRADE.
A Russian transport plane crashed near the Belgrade airport early on 19 August,
reportedly killing all 12 people aboard. One security official said the
plane's cargo was class "B"--that is, consisting of military supplies, Reuters
reported. Witnesses and airport officials said the craft exploded into a giant
fireball before collapsing in a cornfield near the airport. -- Stan
Markotich
[13] KOSOVO ALBANIANS WILL BOYCOTT RUMP YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS.
Kosovar shadow state President Ibrahim Rugova on 16 August said ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo will boycott the 3 November rump Yugoslav elections, AFP
reported. He said the Kosovars "have held [their own elections], and thus the
elected body is legitimate and legal." Meanwhile, Albanian President Sali
Berisha rejected rumors that Albania wants to annex Kosovo. In an interview
with the Austrian daily Die Presse, he said that Albania respects other
countries' borders but would "not tolerate a division of [Kosovo] or any
ethnic-cleansing campaigns." He said he favors negotiations involving Tirana,
Belgrade, and a third party on the Kosovo problem. Berisha said that the
situation of Kosovo's Albanians has deteriorated significantly since the
signing of the Dayton agreement in December 1995. -- Stefan Krause
[14] U.S. WELCOMES ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN BASIC TREATY.
The U.S. State Department on 15 August welcomed the successful negotiation of
a bilateral basic treaty between Romania and Hungary, RFE/RL reported the
following day. The statement described the agreement as a "significant
breakthrough" that demonstrates the two countries' commitment to European
integration. Meanwhile, politicians in Hungary and Romania continued to react
to the event. Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs on 16 August told
representatives of parliamentary parties that Budapest had "made no
concessions" to the Romanian side. A spokesman for Romanian President Ion
Iliescu on 17 August described as "an act of gross disinformation" a statement
released by Gheorghe Funar, the leader of the chauvinistic Party of Romanian
National Unity, warning of dangers posed by the treaty. The extreme-
nationalist Greater Romania Party called for the postponement of the treaty's
signing until after the November presidential and parliamentary elections. --
Dan Ionescu
[15] MOLDOVAN DEFENSE MINISTER CRITICIZES SNEGUR.
Gen. Pavel Creanga renewed accusations that President Mircea Snegur, who is
also the country's supreme commander, was hindering his activity, BASA-press
reported on 17 August. The attack came in an interview published in Pamant si
Oameni (Land and People), the mouthpiece of the ruling Agrarian Democratic
Party of Moldova. Creanga further suggested that the president is trying to
take control of the army through orders that lack any legal basis. According
to Creanga, Snegur's ultimate goal is to provoke a crisis to justify the
proclamation of a state of emergency and the establishment of direct
presidential rule in the Republic of Moldova. Creanga had been dismissed by
Snegur on 15 March for inability to stem corruption at his ministry. The
Constitutional Court, however, reinstated Creanga on 4 April. -- Dan
Ionescu
[16] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
Interior Minister Nikolay Dobrev on 18 August announced new measures against
rising street crime, Standart reported. After a meeting of high-level police
and intelligence officials, Dobrev said video cameras would be put up at
strategic locations in big cities and that new police cars and uniforms would
be introduced. Dobrev said that the fight against crime has thus far been
"ineffective and inadequate." On 17 August, police conducted a major raid in
Sofia, reclaiming eight stolen cars and arresting three suspects. In other
news, the U.S. oil company Amoco announced plans to invest $50 million to
build a network of about 50 filling stations in Bulgaria, Pari reported.
That would make Amoco one of the biggest foreign investors in Bulgaria. The
first Amoco station is scheduled to open in Burgas on 14 September. -- Stefan
Krause
[17] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
Albania's opposition parties on 16 August rejected an offer by the ruling
Democratic Party to participate in round-table talks regarding the upcoming
local elections, international media reported. The Socialist Party and six
other opposition parties in a joint statement objected to the election date
and to President Sali Berisha's decision to create an electoral commission by
decree, without consulting them. The opposition demands a review of the local-
elections law and new parliamentary elections by the end of 1997. In other
news, Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos plans to visit Albania in late
August to discuss improving bilateral relations. Greek Prime Minister Kostas
Simitis will reportedly visit Albania at the end of 1996. Relations greatly
improved after Albania announced the opening of Greek-language schools and
Athens pledged to legalize the status of most of the approximately 300,000
Albanians living in Greece. -- Stefan Krause
Compiled by Tim Rostan and Victor Gomez
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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