|
|
|
OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 33, 97-02-17
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 33, 17 February 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RULING PARTY LEADER ON ARMENIA'S 1997 BUDGET.
[02] ARMENIA DENIES RECEIVING ILLEGAL ARMS SHIPMENTS FROM RUSSIA.
[03] NATO COMMANDER IN BISHKEK DISCUSSES CENTRASBAT '97.
[04] REACTIONS TO EVENTS ON CHINESE BORDER WITH KAZAKSTAN.
[05] TAJIK HOSTAGE CRISIS WINDING DOWN?
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE IN MOSTAR.
[07] DUBIOUS SETTLEMENT OF THE BRCKO DISPUTE.
[08] MIXED RECEPTION OF BRCKO DECISION.
[09] KLEIN SAYS MOST SERBS WILL STAY IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
[10] SERBIAN POLITICAL OPPOSITION CALLS HALT TO DEMONSTRATIONS.
[11] STUDENTS, TRADE UNIONISTS CONTINUE TO DEMONSTRATE.
[12] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS TORTURE IN KOSOVO.
[13] ROMANIAN COALITION PARTY SPLITS.
[14] MOLDOVA RECALLS AMBASSADOR TO BONN.
[15] BULGARIAN UNION OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES BECOMES PARTY.
[16] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS FACE DISASTER IN APRIL ELECTIONS.
[17] ALBANIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RULING PARTY LEADER ON ARMENIA'S 1997 BUDGET.
The chairman of the ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), Ter-Husik
Lazaryan, said the government's 1997 draft budget has placed the HHSh-led
Hanrapetutyun (Republic) bloc--which holds an overwhelming parliamentary
majority--in a "difficult situation," Noyan Tapan reported on 14 February.
Lazaryan said that several provisions in the proposed budget contradict the
electoral platforms of both the Hanrapetutyun bloc and President Levon Ter-
Petrossyan. He called on the government to "either come up with a new
platform...or stick to the existing one." Lazaryan added that Prime
Minister Armen Sarkisyan has agreed to attend a 17 February meeting of the
bloc's parliamentary faction. He also admitted that the bloc's electoral
promises to establish two electrical power plants in the country are
"impossible to fulfill." -- Emil Danielyan
[02] ARMENIA DENIES RECEIVING ILLEGAL ARMS SHIPMENTS FROM RUSSIA.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry on 15 February issued a statement refuting a
claim made at a press conference in Moscow on 14 February by Russian
Minister for Relations with the CIS Aman Tuleev that over the past year
Russia has illegally supplied Armenia with 270 million rubles ($50,000)
worth of weapons, Noyan Tapan reported. Tuleev said that he had asked
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the secretaries of the
Russian Security and Defense councils, Ivan Rybkin and Yurii Baturin, to
investigate the shipments, but Baturin reportedly told Interfax that he had
received no such request from Tuleev. Moskovskii komsomolets similarly
claimed on 14 February that in 1995-1996 Russia had supplied Armenia with
84 T-72 tanks, 50 armored combat vehicles, and spare parts worth 7 billion
rubles. -- Liz Fuller
[03] NATO COMMANDER IN BISHKEK DISCUSSES CENTRASBAT '97.
A NATO delegation headed by Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan arrived
in Bishkek on 15 February for talks with the defense ministers of
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakstan, and Uzbekistan, RFE/RL reported. The discussions
focused on preparations for military excercises slated to take place in
September to improve interaction between the 1996-established Central Asian
Battalion, Centrasbat, NATO units, and PfP member countries in carrying out
peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] REACTIONS TO EVENTS ON CHINESE BORDER WITH KAZAKSTAN.
Ethnic Uighurs residing in Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey have harshly
condemned Beijing's crack down on violent separatist riots among Uighurs in
China's Xinjiang province in early February, according to Western media.
Three Uighur exile groups based in Kazakstan, the United Association of
Uighurs, the United National Revolutionary Front, and the Organization for
Freedom of Uighuristan, have declared their intention to unite and form the
Uighuristan movement. The groups also said on 14 February that contrary to
official Chinese statements, the riots in Xinjiang have spread from the
city of Yining to Kucha, Shaghiar, and Khotan. Three Uighur protest marches
have taken place in Turkey over the past week, according to Turkish media
reports. On 17 February, some 300 people, mainly ethnic Uighurs, picketed
the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, RFE/RL reported. An estimated 200,000
Uighurs reside in Kazakstan and 50,000 live in Kyrgyzstan. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[05] TAJIK HOSTAGE CRISIS WINDING DOWN?
Face to face talks between Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and
representatives of hostage-taker Bakhrom Sadirov aimed at resolving the
Tajik hostage crisis began in Obi Garm on 17 February, RFE/RL reported the
same day. On 16 February, the crisis appeared to be winding down as the
kidnappers released five hostages: a Swiss UN military observer, a UNHCR
worker of unknown nationality, a Tajik interpreter, and two Russian
journalists. Another of the hostages, Tajik Security Minister Saidamir
Zukhurov, is to be released during the talks. The other five remaining
hostages, including UN workers, are to be released "no matter what the
outcome of the talks," Russian media sources reported. The reports seem to
indicate that future guarantees for the safety of the hostage-takers are
being discussed at Obi Garm. The rebels explained that the reason they had
reneged on the all-for-all deal late last week was that the Tajik
government had only granted free passage from Afghanistan to Tajikistan to
35 of their supporters rather than the 40 they were supposed to have
delivered. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE IN MOSTAR.
Seven explosions rocked the Croat-controlled part of the divided
Herzegovinian city on 14 February in a terror campaign against minority
Muslims, AFP reported citing SFOR. The next morning, two mortar rounds were
fired at the Muslim half of the city but injured no one. Use of mortars
represents a serious escalation of violence in the unstable Muslim-Croat
federation, which has recently been shaken by serious conflicts between the
two peoples. Of 35 Muslim families that were expelled from their homes in
Croat-held west Mostar last week, only 16 have returned with the help of
SFOR and the UN police, a UN spokesman said on 15 February. In other news,
the overnight curfew in the federation was abolished on 14 February after
more than four years, Oslobodjenje reported. But federal Interior
Minister Mehmed Zilic said a curfew will remain in effect in Mostar "until
the tensions calm down." -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] DUBIOUS SETTLEMENT OF THE BRCKO DISPUTE.
International mediator Roberts Owen on 14 February put off a settlement of
the thorny Brcko issue until 15 March 1998 (see OMRI Daily Digest, 14
February 1997), news agencies reported. His interim solution is to leave
the Serbs in charge of the river port while creating the office of
"international supervisor" to monitor the return of Croat and Muslim
refugees and economic reconstruction. It is not clear exactly what powers
this new official will have or how he or she will enforce compliance.
Owen's program guarantees freedom of movement and the right of refugees to
go home, but those provisions are already included in the Dayton agreement
and have been neither respected nor enforced. -- Patrick Moore
[08] MIXED RECEPTION OF BRCKO DECISION.
U.S. special envoy John Kornblum said that Owen's package was "definitely
enough" to prevent fighting from starting again, news agencies reported on
14 February. The international community's High Representative Carl Bildt
warned, however, that "it is sometimes easier to write a thing in a
Washington law firm than to do it on the ground" and added that the
reconstruction of Brcko will cost at least $200 million. The Bosnian Serb
member of the joint Bosnian presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, was skeptical of
Owen's plan, but Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic was more upbeat,
saying the decision opens the way to investment and prosperity. Bosnian
Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic said Owen's announcement "is not justice,
but a step toward justice." Other Muslims and Croats were more optimistic,
saying the plan gives them direct access to what had been Serb-held
territory. In short, persons on both sides of the former front line could
view the glass as half empty or half full. -- Patrick Moore
[09] KLEIN SAYS MOST SERBS WILL STAY IN EASTERN SLAVONIA.
The UN administrator for eastern Slavonia, Jacques Klein, said only about
15,000-20,000 of the 120,000 Croatian Serbs living in eastern Slavonia
would leave for neighboring Serbia, Reuters reported on 16 February.
Eastern Slavonia is the last Serb-held region slated to revert to the
Croatian government's control. "[Those who will leave] are Serb
nationalists who simply cannot live in a Croatian Catholic state -- and
they include war criminals, people with guilty consciences," Klein said.
The UN Transitional Authority in Eastern Slavonia said some 650 Serb
households have left the area since June 1996, 450 of them in the first
half of February alone, following the UN Security Council's backing of the
Croatian government's letter of intent for peaceful reintegration. But more
than 40,000 Serbs have meanwhile obtained Croatian citizenship papers in
order to vote and keep their property and jobs. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] SERBIAN POLITICAL OPPOSITION CALLS HALT TO DEMONSTRATIONS.
Leaders of the Zajedno coalition on 15 February said they will suspend the
marathon mass demonstrations for three weeks to allow the ruling Socialists
time to ease restrictions on state media, international media reported. The
decision followed the government's recognition of opposition wins in the 17
November municipal elections. Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic,
addressing some 10,000 people in downtown Belgrade on 15 February, said:
"Our three goals were getting back our election victory, achieving a
freeing-up of the media, and fair electoral conditions prior to the next
voting. We achieved the first, but not the other two. ... We'll give [the
Socialists] three weeks, until March 9, and see what happens." Zajedno has
said that it will call for renewed demonstrations should the government
continue to conduct itself in bad faith. In other news, on 16 February, UN
human rights envoy Elisabeth Rehn met with Serbian opposition leader Vesna
Pesic and with peaceful protesters beaten by police. -- Stan Markotich
[11] STUDENTS, TRADE UNIONISTS CONTINUE TO DEMONSTRATE.
Student and independent labor leaders have continued with street protests
despite the Zajedno announcement, Nasa Borba reported on 17 February. An
estimated 5,000 students gathered in downtown Belgrade the previous day to
demand the sacking of the pro-government, hard-line rector of Belgrade
university and the indictment of those responsible for the electoral fraud.
Meanwhile, Serbian Premier Mirko Marjanovic has met with the leaders of
state unions, notably those representing elementary and secondary teachers,
over demands for increased pay. But independent labor leaders such as Jagos
Bulatovic have said that the government negotiations will not be binding on
independent teachers, who reserve the right to continue with their protests
and job action, Radio Index reported. -- Stan Markotich
[12] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS TORTURE IN KOSOVO.
Amnesty International on 16 February called for an end to the torture and
abuse of political detainees in Kosovo. The human rights organization
mentioned one case of a prisoner who had recently disappeared in police
custody and said it was "concerned that courts in Kosovo province
frequently have based their verdicts against ethnic Albanians ... on
statements which defendants have retracted in court, claiming they had been
obtained by force." Police say they are holding 66 people accused or
suspected of terrorist attacks in Kosovo this year. Kosovo Albanian
officials said they have a record of 55 held in custody after police
operations against the Kosovo Liberation Army. Several released prisoners
said they had been beaten and tortured with electric shocks. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[13] ROMANIAN COALITION PARTY SPLITS.
A dissenting wing of the National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention (PNL-
CD), which is a member of the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR) and of
the ruling coalition, on 15 February suspended party chairman Nicolae
Cerveni, Romanian television reported. The dissidents oppose a protocol on
unification Cerveni signed with several liberal parties that are not
members of the CDR. They also reproach Cerveni with having failed to
forcefully promote members of the PNL-CD for ministerial posts. In response,
Cerveni said the 14 dissidents will be expelled from the party at a meeting
of its National Council, scheduled for 22 February. Among the dissidents is
Sorin Stanescu, minister of youth and sports. -- Dan Ionescu.
[14] MOLDOVA RECALLS AMBASSADOR TO BONN.
President Petru Lucinschi recalled Moldova's ambassador to Germany, Infotag
reported on 14 February. The decree had already been signed in January but
was only recently published. Ambassador Alexandru Burian was involved in a
conflict with the leadership of the Foreign Ministry in the second half of
1996, when he alleged that there were violations linked to the opening of a
consular office in Frankfurt. Tapes of telephone conversations between the
ambassador and the presidential office in Chisinau were leaked and
broadcast in what some observers considered to be an attempt to embarrass
former President Mircea Snegur. A special commission set up to investigate
the affair recommended sacking Burian but Snegur did not follow the
commission's recommendations. -- Dan Ionescu
[15] BULGARIAN UNION OF DEMOCRATIC FORCES BECOMES PARTY.
The Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), during its ninth National Conference
on 15 and 16 February, decided to turn the SDS into a single party rather
than an alliance of so far 15 member organizations in light of the upcoming
elections and a likely SDS-led government, Kontinent and Duma reported.
The parties making up the SDS will be transformed into associated
organizations within the new party. In addition, SDS Chairman Ivan Kostov
was re-elected by a near-unanimous vote, and an 11-member National
Executive Council was elected to run the SDS. Candidates for the upcoming
parliamentary elections will be elected in U.S.-style primaries. The SDS
will propose common candidates with other opposition parties. -- Stefan
Krause
[16] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS FACE DISASTER IN APRIL ELECTIONS.
A poll published in the Bulgarian Socialist Party's (BSP) daily Duma on
17 February suggests that the Socialists could suffer a humiliating defeat
in the 19 April elections. According to the nationwide poll conducted in
late January, the BSP would garner only 12% as opposed to 43% for the SDS.
The People's Union would get 2%, well under the 4% threshold needed to gain
parliamentary representation. The mainly ethnic-Turkish Movement for Rights
and Freedom would get 4%, and the Bulgarian Business Bloc 7%. Just 7% would
go to all other parties. Some 23% of respondents said they will not vote.
Meanwhile, the BSP Supreme Council elected party leader Georgi Parvanov as
head of the party's election campaign center. Former Interior Minister
Nikolay Kamov, former Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski, and former
parliamentary Economics Commission Chairman Nikola Koychev will be his
deputies. -- Stefan Krause
[17] ALBANIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE.
Sporadic violence and anti-government demonstrations continued throughout
the weekend in Vlora, Fier, and Saranda but were quieter than in previous
weeks, Reuters and AFP reported. No riot police were seen, in a new
strategy by the government not to oppose marches outside the capital. In
Tirana, however, police put on a show of force to prevent a rally called by
the opposition Forum for Democracy on 16 February from taking place.
Meanwhile, Vlora Mayor Gezim Zile called on the government to resign, the
first Democrat leader to do so. President Sali Berisha acknowledged that
the government had committed errors and had warned the public too late
about the dangers of pyramid investment schemes. But he said responsibility
also lies with the investors. He stressed that the state has no intention
of taking the debt on its shoulders. -- 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].
|
