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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 244, 96-12-19
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 244, 19 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TRIALS ON POST-ELECTION UNREST IN YEREVAN TO START IN JANUARY.
[02] RUSSIA UPSET OVER ADAMS/KHACHUKAEV MEETING.
[03] ADZHAR SUPREME SOVIET DENIES REPORTS OF STATE OF EMERGENCY IN BATUMI.
[04] NIYAZOV ON NATUAL GAS EXPORTS.
[05] TAJIK OPPOSITION FREES CAPTIVES; MOSCOW TALKS DELAYED.
[06] CORRECTION.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] SERBIAN OPPOSITION SUFFERS A SETBACK?
[08] SERBIAN PRESIDENT STANDS FIRM.
[09] ETHNIC CLEANSING REINFORCED IN BOSNIA.
[10] NEW UN HEAD DEMURS ON UN POLICE FORCE TO CATCH WAR CRIMINALS.
[11] CROATIA THREATENED BY FOREIGN FORCES WHO WANT YUGOSLAVIA?
[12] NEW ROMANIAN LIBERAL ALLIANCE.
[13] ROMANIANS PROTEST APPOINTMENT OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PREFECTS.
[14] RUSSIA, BELARUS, ABKHAZIA SEND OBSERVERS TO TRANSDNIESTRIAN ELECTIONS.
[15] SOUP KITCHENS OPEN IN BULGARIA.
[16] BULGARIAN EMPLOYERS, TRADE UNIONS SIGN ACCORD.
[17] HIGH-RANKING ITALIAN LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS VISIT ALBANIA.
[18] ARAFAT VISITS ALBANIA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TRIALS ON POST-ELECTION UNREST IN YEREVAN TO START IN JANUARY.
An Armenian opposition representative, Vladimir Hakhverdyan, said that the
investigation into the 25 September protests in Yerevan is complete and
that trials will begin in January, Groong reported on 18 December citing
Asbarez-on-line. The protests were triggered by reports of alleged vote-
rigging in the 22 September presidential election. A number of supporters
of the defeated opposition candidate Vazgen Manukyan burst into the
parliament building and took the National Assembly speaker and his deputy
hostage. According to Hakhverdyan, a group of opposition activists arrested
in connection with the unrest, have been charged with inciting mass
disorder and illegally possessing arms. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] RUSSIA UPSET OVER ADAMS/KHACHUKAEV MEETING.
Russia's Ambassador to Baku, Aleksandr Blokhin, told ITAR-TASS on 18
December he was displeased at the reported recent meeting in Baku between
Terry Adams, chairman of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company
(AIOC), and Chechen government official Eduard Khachukaev (See OMRI Daily
Digest for 18 December 1996). Blokhin argued that the export of Caspian
oil via Chechnya to Novorossiisk, which Adams and Khachukaev allegedly
discussed, was regulated under the terms of the existing agreement between
Transneft and the AIOC. A spokesman for Adams confirmed that he had met
with Khachukaev but denied that the two men had discussed transit tariffs. -
- Liz Fuller
[03] ADZHAR SUPREME SOVIET DENIES REPORTS OF STATE OF EMERGENCY IN BATUMI.
On 18 December a spokesman for the Adzhar Supreme Soviet denied press
reports that a state of emergency had been declared in the capital, Batumi,
but said that military vehicles had been moved to the city on 18 December
to take part in maneuvers, according to ITAR-TASS of 18 December.
Nezavisimaya gazeta on 19 December quoted a source within the Georgian
parliament as claiming that all Russian troops stationed in Adzharia had
been placed on full alert in connection with an anticipated attempt to
assassinate Azdhar Supreme Soviet chairman Aslan Abashidze. -- Liz Fuller
[04] NIYAZOV ON NATUAL GAS EXPORTS.
Speaking on state television, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov said on
18 December he is pinning his hopes for an economic revivial on renewed
exports of natural gas to Western Europe, Reuters reported. He said that
gas exports in 1997 will almost double to 40 billion cubic meters and that
half the gas will be shipped to Western Europe via Russia, in accordance
with an agreement with Russia's Gazprom. Last year, Turkmenistan exported
24 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In the late 1980s, Turkmenistan
produced more than 80 billion cubic meters of gas a year. In 1993, Russia
stopped delivering Turkmen natural gas to Europe, leaving the country to
supply cash-strapped CIS countries. -- Lowell Bezanis
[05] TAJIK OPPOSITION FREES CAPTIVES; MOSCOW TALKS DELAYED.
The Tajik opposition on 18 December released 39 hostages captured in recent
fighting, RFE/RL reported. Those freed were described only as "high-
ranking" officials. The move was agreed at a meeting of Tajik President
Imomali Rakhmonov and opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri on 10-11
December. Talks between the two leaders in Moscow scheduled for 19 December
have been pushed back a day as Nuri's departure was delayed by an
opposition meeting in Tehran on 18 December, according to Russian sources.
In a brief interview with Nezavisimaya gazeta on 19 December, Rakhmonov
said that a national reconciliation council must be set up but--a
stipulation of the original cease-fire agreement signed in Tehran in 1994--
but added: "It's not our fault the agreement has not been realized." --
Bruce Pannier
[06] CORRECTION.
In the Freedom House survey covered in the OMRI Daily Digest of 18
December, Kyrgyzstan was classified as "partly free."
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] SERBIAN OPPOSITION SUFFERS A SETBACK?
The electoral commission in the town of Smederevska Palanka on 18 December
ruled that the governing Socialists won the 17 November municipal elections,
Nasa Borba reported the following day. The commission's ruling comes
after a court decision recognizing a Zajedno victory in the town. A similar
court ruling in Serbia's second largest city of Nis which also recognized
opposition victories has not been contested by the local electoral
commission, at least for the moment. Meanwhile, at least 100,000 people
marched in Belgrade on 18 December, with some of the protesters walking
past the Russian Embassy to register their protest and anger at Moscow's
support for the regime. About 30,000 students tried to march to Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic's residence, but they were turned away by
police. -- Stan Markotich
[08] SERBIAN PRESIDENT STANDS FIRM.
In the latest sign that Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is standing
firm in his resolve to not recognize the opposition's victories in the
recent municipal elections, about 2,000 Milosevic loyalists demonstrated in
the village of Sremska Mitrovica, near Belgrade, to show support for the
regime, RTS 1 reported. The demonstrators, almost all elderly, showed their
support for the authorities by unfurling banners reading, "We love you,
Slobo" or "Slobo--Peace and Progress," and injunctions against opposition
demonstrators such as, "Think with your head, not your feet." -- Stan
Markotich
[09] ETHNIC CLEANSING REINFORCED IN BOSNIA.
Three houses belonging to Muslims but located on Croat territory were
dynamited last weekend, the UN police announced on 18 December. UN
spokesman Alexander Ivanko added that the explosions in Capljina brought
the total number of such incidents on Croat territory over the past three
months to 35. Ivanko charged that the authorities should try to prevent
such acts or at least try to catch the guilty parties. He noted, however,
that nobody has been caught to date, AFP reported. Meanwhile, the UNHCR
charged the Bosnian Serb authorities with preventing Muslims from returning
to their homes in the Sipovo area in western Bosnia, near Mrkonjic Grad.
The UN noted that the local Serbs had previously been helpful, and
suggested that the authorities in Pale may have meanwhile issued orders to
block any returns. The Dayton agreement provides for freedom of movement
and the right to go home, but those provisions have scarcely been enforced.
-- Patrick Moore
[10] NEW UN HEAD DEMURS ON UN POLICE FORCE TO CATCH WAR CRIMINALS.
Kofi Annan on 18 December said he doubts the UN International Police Task
Force (IPTF), currently operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina under a limited
mandate, is an adequate force to find and apprehend Bosnian war criminals,
AFP reported. Annan said the governments in the region must be pressed to
cooperate, a position already articulated by NATO. The head of the U.S.
joint chiefs of staff, Gen. John Shalikashvili, has promoted the idea of a
separate international police force to hunt down war criminals, saying the
NATO-led peace force in Bosnia is not trained for "police work" (see OMRI
Daily Digest, 17 December 1996). The still vague proposal suggests that
the new police force might operate under the EU, the UN criminal tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia, or the OSCE. But critics say none of those
organizations have the means or the experience to track down suspects. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[11] CROATIA THREATENED BY FOREIGN FORCES WHO WANT YUGOSLAVIA?
The Croatian Defense and National Security Council on 17 December claimed
that "pressure is still being exerted by those who support the existence of
Yugoslavia at all costs and who are against the creation of an independent
Croatian state," AFP reported. The council, chaired by President Franjo
Tudjman, stressed that those people have plans to push Croatia back into a
Balkan or southeast European "melting pot." Those "foreign scenarios" aim
to stage simultaneous demonstrations in Zagreb, Belgrade, and Sarajevo. In
other news, Tudjman on 16 December replaced four government ministers who
were either considered to be too independent or suspected of corruption.
Senior police officers have pledged support for one of them, former
Interior Minister Ivan Jarnjak, saying he is the only person who would be
capable of handling the chaos that would ensue if Tudjman were to die in
office, AFP on 18 December, quoting the independent weekly Globus. --
Daria Sito Sucic
[12] NEW ROMANIAN LIBERAL ALLIANCE.
The Liberal Party '93, the National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention
(PNL-CD), and the National Liberal Party-Campeanu Group decided on 17
December to set up a new alliance called the National Liberal Union (UNL),
Radio Bucharest reported. Dinu Zamfirescu of the Liberal Party '93 deplored
the fact that the National Liberal Party (PNL) is attempting to "impose
unacceptable conditions" on the unification of liberal formations. PNL
first deputy chairman Viorel Catarama said on 12 December that his party
must have a 60% representation in any future joint Liberal conference that
will decide on the unification of Liberal formations. The Party of Civic
Alliance (PAC) has also rejected Catarama's formula. It is unclear, however,
how the UNL will get its act together, since the PNL-CD is a member of the
Democratic Convention of Romania and the other two parties are not. PNL-CD
vice chairman Alexandru Popovici said on 18 December that any unification
must take place within the CDR.Question marks also loom over the future of
the National Liberal Alliance, set up by the Liberal Party '93 and the PAC
a few months earlier. -- Michael Shafir
[13] ROMANIANS PROTEST APPOINTMENT OF ETHNIC HUNGARIAN PREFECTS.
The leaderships of the Democratic Convention of Romania and the Democratic
Party-National Salvation Front in Harghita county have protested against
the appointment of an ethnic Hungarian to the post of county prefect, Radio
Bucharest reported on 18 December. Ethnic Hungarians form the majority of
the county's residents. The decision to appoint three members of the
Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) as prefects was reached
as a result of discussions among the new governing coalition parties. UDMR
Senator Attila Verestoy told RFE/RL that based on its strength in
parliament, the UDMR was entitled to five prefects but has agreed to have
only three. Adevarul reported that President Emil Constantinescu and
Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea promised ethnic Romanian members of
parliament that they would "be on guard" against "infringements of the
constitution and the country's laws"--an allusion to the UDMR program that
calls for "local, territorial, and personal autonomy." -- Michael Shafir
[14] RUSSIA, BELARUS, ABKHAZIA SEND OBSERVERS TO TRANSDNIESTRIAN ELECTIONS.
Responding to an invitation from the Tiraspol authorities, Russia, Belarus,
and Abkhazia will send observers to the 22 December presidential election
in the breakaway region, local and international media reported on 18
December. The Russian delegation will include members of the State Duma
from Vladimir Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic faction and from the
Communist Party faction. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadii
Tarasov said the presence of the delegation will "not upgrade" the "purely
local character" of the ballot. He said Russia continued to favor the
settling of the dispute by granting the region special status within
Moldova. The head of the OSCE permanent mission in Moldova, Donald Johnson,
said no OSCE observers will be delegated because the organization
"supported and continues to support the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the Republic of Moldova." -- Michael Shafir
[15] SOUP KITCHENS OPEN IN BULGARIA.
The city of Sofia on 18 December opened the capital's first 24 permanent
soup kitchens to serve free meals to the poor, RFE/RL reported. The
kitchens will offer warm soup and bread once a day to around 3,000 people.
Hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians live in increasingly miserable
conditions, with average monthly wages and pensions declining constantly,
the latter to 5,700 leva ($12.3). The previous day, the Polish Red Cross--
following a request from the Bulgarian Red Cross and Red Crescent--arranged
for two cargo planes to send 9 metric tons of food to Bulgaria. Meanwhile,
Demokratsiya on 19 December reported that of the 1.6 million Bulgarians
dependent on central heating, 111,000 have had the heating in their homes
turned off because they cannot afford it. Standart noted that all state-
controlled heating companies will face bankruptcy when the price of Russian
gas goes up in January. -- Stefan Krause
[16] BULGARIAN EMPLOYERS, TRADE UNIONS SIGN ACCORD.
The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (BSK) and the two big trade union
confederations on 18 December signed an accord stipulating that Bulgarians
receive their salaries every third day, if the country is hit by
hyperinflation, or weekly, if monthly inflation reaches 40-50%, Standart
and Kontinent reported. According to experts of the Confederation of
Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, the inflation rate for 1996 is 300%,
and BSK Chairman Bozhidar Danev said inflation is running at 25-27% in
December alone. -- Maria Koinova in Sofia
[17] HIGH-RANKING ITALIAN LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS VISIT ALBANIA.
An Italian delegation led by Deputy Attorney-General Alberto Mariatti left
Albania on 18 December after meeting with various Albanian official bodies
to discuss greater cooperation in fighting organized crime, Rilindja
Demokratike reported. The largest problem both countries face is the
smuggling of arms, drugs, and people. In recent years, Albania and Italy
have drastically raised their level of cooperation and have engaged in more
mutual exchanges of crime-related information. Last week, the Italian and
Albanian interior ministers signed a cooperation agreement in Tirana. --
Fabian Schmidt
[18] ARAFAT VISITS ALBANIA.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrived in Albania on 18 December to meet
with President Sali Berisha to discuss strengthening ties. Arafat expressed
his commitment for the Middle Eastern peace process and thanked Albania for
its consistent support of the Palestinian cause, describing it as a
"brotherly country," international agencies reported. Communist-era Albania
had sided with the Palestine Liberation Organization during its prolonged
armed struggle with Israel. Like most other Communist countries, it refused
to recognize Israel. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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