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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 38, 97-02-24
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 38, 24 February 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SENIOR OFFICIAL IN AZERBAIJAN'S RULING PARTY ASSASSINATED.
[02] ARMENIA, IRAN TO CONNECT POWER GRIDS.
[03] NAZARBAYEV'S TIMELY TRIP TO CHINA.
[04] UZBEK ROUNDUP.
[05] TAJIKS REACH ACCORD IN MESHED.
[06] TRILATERAL TALKS IN TEHRAN.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER SLAMS SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
[08] MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN KOSOVO PRISON.
[09] ANOTHER ATTACK ON SFOR IN MOSTAR.
[10] CROATIA URGED TO PROTECT ALL REMAINING SERBS.
[11] TUDJMAN TO SEEK RE-ELECTION AS PRESIDENT.
[12] FRENCH PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.
[13] ROMANIAN NATIONALIST LEADER OUSTED, EXILED KING'S CITIZENSHIP
RESTORED.
[14] BULGARIA'S EURO-LEFT ELECTS LEADERSHIP.
[15] WORLD BANK RECOMMENDATIONS TO BULGARIA.
[16] TURKEY TO EXPEL BULGARIAN TURKS.
[17] PROTESTS CONTINUE IN ALBANIA . . .
[18] . . . WHILE BERISHA LASHES OUT AT FOES.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SENIOR OFFICIAL IN AZERBAIJAN'S RULING PARTY ASSASSINATED.
Ziya Buniyatov, First Deputy Chairman of New Azerbaijan (Yeni Azerbaycan),
was killed on 21 February, Russian and Western media reported. An
orientalist, Bunyatov received the top Soviet decoration, Hero of the
Soviet Union, for his service in World War II. Buniyatov, 75, was a member
of parliament and vice president of the Academy of Sciences. He was shot
twice and stabbed four times in what the authorities have described as a
likely contract murder. Further details have not been released. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[02] ARMENIA, IRAN TO CONNECT POWER GRIDS.
Armenia's Deputy Energy Minister Karen Galustyan said on 22 February that
Iran and Armenia will soon connect their power grids over the Arax river
which separates the two countries, AFP reported. Galustyan said that work
is complete on the Armenian side and is almost finished on the Iranian
side. According to Galustyan, tests of the new link will be carried out in
early March. AFP also quoted the Iranian state news agency as reporting
that, following the recent visit to Yerevan by Vice President Hasan Habibi,
Iran will supply Armenia with 200 megawatts of electricity a day beginning
in late March. -- Emil Danielyan
[03] NAZARBAYEV'S TIMELY TRIP TO CHINA.
Kazakstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev held talks in Beijing with his
Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin on 21 February, international media
reported. The two discussed expanding trade ties and involving Chinese
companies in exploiting and transporting Kazakstan's hydrocarbon reserves.
Earlier media reports that the two would discuss separatist violence in
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Province in early February were denied by
Kazakstani officials reached by RFE/RL on 22 February. Nazarbayev initially
arrived in south China on 12 February for an earlier unannounced holiday
and to receive what was termed preventative medical treatment. He was the
first foreign dignitary to stand beside Zemin after the latter replaced
deceased Chinese supremo Deng Xiaoping. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] UZBEK ROUNDUP.
Uzbek human rights activist and freelance RFE/RL correspondent Albert
Mousin was detained on 24 February by Moscow police at the request of Uzbek
authorities, RFE/RL reported the same day. Moscow police say Mousin is
charged with "intentionally spreading falsehood undermining the state and
society" under article 191 of Uzbekistan's legal code. In other news, Coca-
Cola oE>ned its third plant in Uzbekistan on 21 February, RFE/RL
reported. At the opening of the $10 million plant in Namangan, a company
representative announced plans to build yet another, this time near
Tashkent, at an estimated cost of $55 million. -- Lowell Bezanis
[05] TAJIKS REACH ACCORD IN MESHED.
The 20-21 February talks between the government and United Tajik Opposition
(UTO) in Meshed resulted in an accord on the composition of the new 26-
member National Reconciliation Commission, RFE/RL reported on 21 February.
The 50-50 split they agreed to leaves no place for any so-called Third
Forces as earlier foreseen in UN-sponsored drafts. It appears the sides
registered progress toward a formal power sharing agreement as well: 30% of
all local and republican posts are slated to go to the UTO, RFE/RL
reported. How the remaining 70% is to be divided up remains unclear,
however. In the latest twist, presidential press spokesman Zafar Saidov on
24 February said one of the "Third Forces," the strongman in control of
Tursun Zade and its lucrative aluminum plant, Mahmud Khudaberdiyev, will
participate in the next round of inter-Tajik talks, slated for 26 February
in Moscow. -- Lowell Bezanis
[06] TRILATERAL TALKS IN TEHRAN.
A trilateral economic commission meeting attended by Iran, India, and
Turkmenistan reached agreements on several joint projects, international
media reported on 22 February. Among other plans announced, gas is to be
transferred from Turkmenistan to India, a shipping repair installation
built on the Iran-Turkmen Caspian border, and a textile factory will be
built in Meshed, Iran. The sides also agreed to include Georgia in the
commission. The present commission was established in 1995. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER SLAMS SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
Montenegrin Premier Milo Djukanovic, in an interview with the weekly
Vreme on 21 February, heaped criticism on Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, saying the Serbian president is "incompetent" to lead the
country. "Milosevic is a man whose politics are obsolete, [and he] is
incapable of making a strategic assessment of the challenges facing our
state. It would be politically wrong to keep him in any political position
in Yugoslavia," said Djukanovic. Milosevic, meanwhile, has used state
television to fire back at his critics. One day after the Vreme interview,
one TV commentary dubbed Djukanovic a traitor, saying the Montenegrin
premier is bent on jeopardizing national interests. -- Stan Markotich
[08] MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN KOSOVO PRISON.
The pro-Milosevic Belgrade daily Politika Ekspres reported on 24 February
that the 30 year-old ethnic Albanian Besnik Restelica died in police
custody recently because he hanged himself in his cell. The paper suggested
he feared reprisals from his own people after having confessed to the
involvement in the clandestine Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK). Members of the
Albanian community, however, said the young man had been tortured to death
as part of a tough crackdown on suspected members of the UCK, international
news agencies wrote. Meanwhile, the National Movement for Liberation of
Kosovo (LKCK) has called for an "armed uprising" against Serbia. It also
attacked the ethnic Albanian political establishment for its "pacifist
politics which are in the interest of Serbia and not of their own people,"
AFP wrote. -- Patrick Moore
[09] ANOTHER ATTACK ON SFOR IN MOSTAR.
In an second attack on the NATO-led Stabilization Force within two days,
assailants threw a hand grenade at an Italian armored vehicle in Mostar on
21 February, international agencies reported. Four Italian soldiers
traveling in the vehicle at the time of the attack were unhurt. A NATO
spokesman said the identity of the assailants, who escaped by car, was
unknown. Following the first attack (see OMRI Daily Digest, 21 February
1997), the SFOR commander in Mostar, Gen Yves le Chatelier, said he would
use the 10,000 men under his command to "do whatever is necessary to remove
all forces that threaten us," AFP reported. Meanwhile, Valentin Coric, the
Croatian police chief in Mostar, has said that charges have been filed
against 11 prominent Muslims in connection with Muslim-Croatian clashes in
the city earlier this month. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] CROATIA URGED TO PROTECT ALL REMAINING SERBS.
U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith said that the reintegration of eastern
Slavonia into Croatia will succeed only if Serbs all over Croatia feel
secure, Novi List wrote on 23 February. He said that Croatian Serbs and
Croats alike should be able to return to their homes anywhere in Croatia in
safety. Galbraith also urged the reintroduction of the Serbs into the
political process, which Zagreb has already promised it will do. -- Patrick
Moore
[11] TUDJMAN TO SEEK RE-ELECTION AS PRESIDENT.
The ruling Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) announced at its annual
congress on 23 February that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman will run in
the presidential elections scheduled for later this year, Vecernji list
reported on 24 February. The pro-government daily Vjesnik commented last
week that Tudjman's candidacy demonstrates that the Croatian leader "has
recovered from his illness very well, is in good health, and has reached
his former condition". Tudjman, reported to be ill with cancer, will run
for his third term in office. As founder and leader of the HDZ, he won the
first democratic elections in Croatia some seven years ago. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[12] FRENCH PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA.
Jacques Chirac, during a state visit to Romania on 21-22 February, held
talks with his Romanian counterpart, Emil Constantinescu, Premier Victor
Ciorbea and other senior Romanian officials, including former President Ion
Iliescu, international media reported. Chirac is the first foreign head of
state to pay an official visit to Romania since the victory of democratic
forces in the November 1996 elections. Talks focused on Romania's efforts
to join European and Euro-atlantic structures and how to boost bilateral
trade and French investment in Romania. Chirac repeated his country's
support for Romania's integration into NATO in the first wave of
admissions. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] ROMANIAN NATIONALIST LEADER OUSTED, EXILED KING'S CITIZENSHIP
RESTORED.
The Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) on 22 February ousted its
leader, Gheorghe Funar, blaming him for the party's poor showing in the
November elections, Radio Bucharest reported. Valeriu Tabara, a former
agriculture minister, has been elected interim president until the party's
national convention, scheduled for next month. He said the party will
change its anti-Hungarian nationalist stance. Meanwhile, the Romanian
government has restored the citizenship of former King Mihai and his family,
international media reported on 21 February. In a first reaction, the royal
household said the act was contributing to "national reconciliation" at a
time when "sacrifices are demanded of all Romanians." Mihai, who lives in
Switzerland, has announced he will pay a six-day visit to Romania beginning
28 February. -- Zsolt Mato and Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIA'S EURO-LEFT ELECTS LEADERSHIP.
The 3,000 or so members of the new Euro-Left party have elected a 20-strong
political council and Alexander Tomov as party chairman, Reuters and Duma
reported. Tomov is chairman of the Civic Union of the Republic (GOR), one
of the three groups that belong to Euro-Left. The other two groups are the
Movement for Social Humanism and a group of Bulgarian Socialist Party
deputies opposed to former Premier Zhan Videnov, who recently left the
party. Euro-Left espouses the principles of social democracy and aims at
membership in the Socialist International. It will participate in the
campaign for the April parliamentary elections. -- Maria Koinova
[15] WORLD BANK RECOMMENDATIONS TO BULGARIA.
During his visit in Bulgaria on 23 February, World Bank Director for
Southeastern Europe Kenneth Lay said that speeding up reforms was the only
way to solve the current economic crisis in Bulgaria. He recommended the
liberalization of fuel and grain prices and the lifting of import and
export duties on grain as a way to avert shortages. Lay also said that the
World Bank is ready to grant another loan to help the unemployed after the
closure of unprofitable enterprises. According to 24 Chasa, he also
commented that the government could sell off 100% the Bulgarian
Telecommunications Company if the highest possible price were to be paid. --
Maria Koinova
[16] TURKEY TO EXPEL BULGARIAN TURKS.
Turkey plans to expel an estimated 200,000 Turkish Muslim Bulgarian
citizens who do not have the proper documentation to reside in Turkey,
Western media reported on 21 February. Balkan Muslim emigre groups in
Turkey are asking the Turkish Interior Ministry to review the expulsion
decree, which is due to go into effect on 1 April. -- Lowell Bezanis
[17] PROTESTS CONTINUE IN ALBANIA . . .
At least 5,000 people staged a peaceful, if noisy, protest in the southern
port of Vlora on 23 February, Reuters reported. It was the 19th straight
day of demonstrations there following the collapse of several pyramid
schemes in which many Albanians lost their life savings. The protesters on
21 February rejected an offer by President Sali Berisha to compensate them
with assets from a local salt mine and gas station. The next day, a state
commission announced that investors in the collapsed Gjallica scheme would
get only a fraction of their money back. The pyramid, which had attracted
much money in Vlora, had $145 million in debts but only $28 million in
assets. The protesters also expressed their support for 53 hunger-striking
students, who have blockaded themselves in the university since 20 February
to demand the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Aleksander
Meksi. -- Patrick Moore
[18] . . . WHILE BERISHA LASHES OUT AT FOES.
Berisha has meanwhile continued to give speeches across the country in
connection with his expected re-election to the presidency in March. His
return to office seems a foregone conclusion, since the president is
elected by the parliament, which is controlled by Berisha's Democratic
Party (PD). Speaking in Shkoder on 22 February, he repeated his charge that
"the communists" are trying to foment unrest as a means to retake power. He
earlier slammed 14 members of his own party, including former cabinet
ministers who had joined in the calls for Meksi to resign, the BBC
reported. German media noted that the government has taken an increasingly
shrill tone against Voice of America and Deutsche Welle's coverage of the
disturbances. -- Patrick Moore
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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