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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 175, 96-09-10
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 175, 10 September 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] IRAN DEMANDS EXTRADITION.
[02] ARMENIANS ABROAD TO VOTE IN ELECTION.
[03] NIYAZOV IN FRANCE.
[04] DRUG SEIZURES IN GORNO-BADAKHSHAN INCREASE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BELGRADE, ZAGREB ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.
[06] TWO EXTREMES OF BOSNIAN SERB POLITICAL SPECTRUM CAMPAIGN IN BRCKO.
[07] BILDT WARNS SERBS THEY CANNOT SECEDE AFTER POLL.
[08] INTERNATIONALLY-SPONSORED INDEPENDENT TELEVISION ON AIR.
[09] LJUBLJANA, ROME SIGN DEFENSE ACCORD.
[10] HISTORIC CROATIAN CITY AND ENVIRONS ROCKED BY QUAKES, TREMORS.
[11] GERMAN PRESIDENT IN MACE-DONIA.
[12] ROMANIAN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN "GOES WEST."
[13] ISRAEL TO MODERNIZE ROMANIAN MiGs.
[14] BULGARIAN "POPULAR UPRISING" ANNIVERSARY GETS MIXED REACTIONS.
[15] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
[16] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] IRAN DEMANDS EXTRADITION.
Iran has demanded the extradition of Piruz Dilenji, chairman of the South
Azerbaijan National Liberation Committee (SANCL), and a number of other
Iranian emigrants living in Azerbaijan, Segodnya reported on 4 September.
Iran has been pressuring Azerbaijan to back up its declared neutrality towards
the nationalist movement in Azeri-populated northern Iran with concrete steps.
Dilenji, who said Azerbaijani officials have warned him that he may be
extradited to Iran, may have to choose between leaving Azerbaijan and halting
his activities. -- Elin Suleymanov
[02] ARMENIANS ABROAD TO VOTE IN ELECTION.
In response to opposition pressure it has been announced that Armenians living
abroad will be allowed to vote. However, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian said the decision to allow Armenian citizens living abroad to
vote in the 22 September presidential election is of political rather than
practical significance, Noyan Tapan reported on 9 September. According to
Khachatour Bezrijian, the chairman of the Central Electoral Committee, about
10,000 Armenians living abroad are expected to vote, although an estimated 800,
000 Armenians are thought to be living abroad. According to Ekspress-
Khronikha on 10 September, the number is so low because only those who
registered with Armenian diplomatic missions can vote. In Russia, for instance,
there are only 172 registered voters. Bezirijian noted that Armenian citizens
residing in Nagorno-Karabakh will have to vote in Armenia. -- Elin
Suleymanov
[03] NIYAZOV IN FRANCE.
Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov arrived in Paris for a three days of
meetings with government officials and executives of companies interested in
investing in Turkmenistan's oil and gas sector, Western agencies reported on 9
September. French President Jacques Chirac told Niyazov he appreciates
Turkmenistan's "will to independence and regional cooperation." The day before
Niyazov's arrival, the French Foreign Ministry announced that Paris would
establish an embassy in Ash-gabat. Several French firms--including Elf oil,
Dassault aerospace, Bouygues construction, and others--are presently operating
in Turk-menistan. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] DRUG SEIZURES IN GORNO-BADAKHSHAN INCREASE.
About 3 metric tons of narcotic substances, including raw opium and heroin,
have been seized in the district of Gorno-Badakhshan since early 1996, ITAR-
TASS reported on 9 September. The agency, citing a top federal border guard
officer in Tajikistan, also reported that two drug processing plants (likely
for converting raw opium into morphine base) are operating in Afghan
Badakhshan at present. If true, the figures cited would represent a
significant increase on the seizures made in 1995, which totaled 1,749 kg
according to a 14 August Segodnya report. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BELGRADE, ZAGREB ESTABLISH FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS.
Croatia and rump Yugoslavia on 9 September established full bilateral
relations with the exchange of diplomatic letters, Nasa Borba reported on 10
September. A Croatian Foreign Ministry statement said both sides have upgraded
their existing liaison offices to embassy status. AFP reported that in Zagreb
the exchange of letters involved Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic and
head of the rump Yugoslav mission Veljko Knezevic, while in Belgrade an
identical ceremony included Deputy Foreign Minister Radoslav Bulajic and the
head of the Croatian mission Zvonimir Markovic. Ambassadors will be named
before year's end, and Croatian state media reported that Damir Zoric, head of
Zagreb's refugee bureau, will represent Zagreb in Belgrade. -- Stan
Markotich
[06] TWO EXTREMES OF BOSNIAN SERB POLITICAL SPECTRUM CAMPAIGN IN BRCKO.
Two parties having completely divergent programs rallied on 9 September in
Brcko, a potential point of a new Bosnian crisis. The relatively moderate
Democratic Patriotic Block of Republika Srpska, led by Banja Luka's former
mayor Predrag Radic, encountered jeers and catcalls when it called for more
democracy. Meanwhile, the ultra-nationalist Radical Party of Republika Srpska
gathered some 10,000 people attracted by the announcement that Vladimir
Zhirinovsky would be one of the speakers; however, Zhirinovsky missed the
rally due to a hold-up at the border with Serbia. Radicals in Brcko said Serbs
should be united into a single state, and were greeted with shouts of "Long
live Greater Serbia," AFP reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] BILDT WARNS SERBS THEY CANNOT SECEDE AFTER POLL.
High Representative for Bosnia Carl Bildt said the Bosnian Serbs will not be
allowed to secede from Bosnia after next weekend's elections, international
and local agencies reported on 9 September. He threatened action against any
party seeking to split from the republic. The secessionist rhetoric that
dominates Serb preelection campaigning led Bosnia's main Muslim leaders on 7
September to ask the international community for guarantees that the
forthcoming election will not result in the country's division, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, at their meeting in Tralee, Ireland on 7 September, EU foreign
ministers decided that troops will remain in Bosnia for at least two more
years, Onasa reported. Bildt backed the idea and urged full implementation of
the constitution agreed to under the Dayton peace accords. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[08] INTERNATIONALLY-SPONSORED INDEPENDENT TELEVISION ON AIR.
Open Broadcast Network began broadcasting on 7 September, after delays caused
by all Bosnian parties' unwillingness to cooperate, AFP reported the next day.
The network -- established by the Office of the High Representative, the
leading civic agency in Bosnia -- is designed to bring together five existing
independent channels in the Bosnian federation. But disagreements over a basic
program concept are already noticeable. Heads of the local television stations
that joined the OBN fear it will become a new organization employing new
journalists, while destroying existing stations, Oslobodjenje reported on 10
September. Meanwhile, Tuzla's mayor Selim Beslagic closed down the town's
local television station for unknown reasons, local media reported. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[09] LJUBLJANA, ROME SIGN DEFENSE ACCORD.
Slovenian Defense Minister Jelko Kacin on 9 September met his Italian
counterpart Beniamino An-dreatta in Bologna to sign a bilateral defense
agreement, AFP reported. According to a statement issued by the Italian
ministry, Ljubljana's signing of the accord was in keeping with its aim of
NATO integration. The Italian side also reiterated its support for Slovenian
efforts to join the international organization. -- Stan Markotich
[10] HISTORIC CROATIAN CITY AND ENVIRONS ROCKED BY QUAKES, TREMORS.
Dubrovnik and environs were again hit on 9 September by a tremor, adding to
damage caused since the first 5 September quake. Then, the town of Ston, some
30 kilometers north of Dubrovnik, was the quake epicenter that measured 5.9 on
the Richter scale. Some estimates say nearly 70 tremors struck the area since.
AFP on 8 September reported that at least 90% of Ston's buildings are damaged,
many seriously, and on 9 September Foreign Minister Mate Granic asked for EU
aid for the Ston area, Hina reported. On 10 September, Zagreb and
surrounding areas experienced quakes. In other news, AFP reported on 7
September that a strategic 500 meter-long bridge across the Sava, linking the
Croatian town of Slavonski Brod with the Serb-held Bosnian town of Srpski Brod
(or Bosanski Brod) was reopened that same day. -- Stan Markotich
[11] GERMAN PRESIDENT IN MACE-DONIA.
Roman Herzog on 9 September arrived on a two-day state visit in Skopje, AFP
and Nova Makedonija reported. Herzog held talks with his Macedonian
counterpart, Kiro Gli-gorov, and Parliament President Tito Petkovski. He
singled out Macedonia's "moderate" policies that led to a peaceful split form
the former Yugoslavia and called its minority policy "exemplary." Herzog will
meet Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski on 10 September. During Herzog's visit,
an agreement on bilateral protection of investments will be signed. Herzog is
the first head of state of an EU member to visit Macedonia. -- Stefan
Krause
[12] ROMANIAN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN "GOES WEST."
An American public relations person will manage incumbent President Ion
Iliescu's electoral campaign for the ballot scheduled in early November,
Romania libera reported on 9 September. George Gorton, who was also involved
in Russian President Boris Yeltsin's successful electoral campaign, has
arrived in Bucharest with a staff of 16 experts. Meanwhile, the executive
chairman of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania, Adrian Nastase, has
accused the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Union, Petre Roman,
of trying to bribe the electorate. Roman made a largely-publicized present of
money (one million lei or some $315) to a couple at whose wedding he was best-
man. -- Michael Shafir
[13] ISRAEL TO MODERNIZE ROMANIAN MiGs.
Radio Bucharest and AFP reported on 8 September that Israel has struck an
agreement to modernize around 100 MiG fighter-bombers for Romania's airforce.
Citing the Tel-Aviv daily Ma'ariv, the report said a prototype of the
modernized plane was shown last week at the Farnborough airshow in Great
Britain. It was furnished with a new avionic system by the Israeli company
Albit, and equipped with Russian air-air missiles usually mounted on MiG-29. --
Michael Shafir
[14] BULGARIAN "POPULAR UPRISING" ANNIVERSARY GETS MIXED REACTIONS.
The 52nd anniversary on 9 September of the insurrection that overthrew the
monarchist regime in 1944 and ultimately led to the establishment of a
Communist regime was marked throughout the country by manifestations of both
supporters and adversaries, Bulgarian newspapers reported. Most papers noted
that this date, like no other, shows the deep division of Bulgarian society.
In Sofia, around 2,000 mostly elderly followers of the ruling Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP) met to mark the event. Zemya -- a paper associated
with the BSP -- called the event "a great day that will forever remain in the
memory of the Bulgarian people." Meanwhile, the opposition held a meeting in
central Sofia commemorating the victims of Communist terror. The opposition
daily Demokratsiya charged that the leftist demonstrations "unmask
the demagogy of the Socialists' tales about change." -- Stefan Krause
[15] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS UPDATE.
President Zhelyu Zhelev and Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) Chairman Ivan
Kostov on 9 September discussed the political situation in light of the
upcoming presidential elections, Kontinent and Standart reported. Zhelev --
who will not run in the October elections -- said the liberal forces will
support the presidential candidate of the united opposition, Petar Stoyanov of
the SDS. Kostov and Zhelev stressed the need for a united opposition. They
said the ongoing economic crisis may complicate the election process and
called on the government to ensure that the elections are free and fair.
Meanwhile, former caretaker Prime Minister Reneta Indzhova announced that she
will run for president as an independent candidate. Zhelev said he had warned
her twice not to run because she lacks the support of "any serious political
force." -- Stefan Krause
[16] ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
The Culture Ministry on 9 September announced that Albania's 15 Islamic
theological schools will be closed down in 1997, Koha Jone reported.
Effective immediately, they are not allowed to admit new students. The
ministry gave no reason. The Muslim community denied a connection to the
recent desecration of an Orthodox church in Voskopoja (see ) and announced
that it will try to have the decision revoked. Otherwise they will continue
tuition in private houses. In other news, the independent trade unions called
a nationwide one-day strike in most sectors for 16 September, Gazeta
Shqiptare reported. They demand general compensation for the liberalization
of bread prices, claiming that a government plan would compensate only 33% of
the population. They also accuse the government of breaching an agreement
providing for compensation of price hikes twice a year. -- Ismije Beshiri and
Stefan Krause Compiled by Victor Gomez and Sharon Fisher News and information
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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