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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 182, 96-09-19
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 182, 19 September 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ZHANIA'S RESERVATIONS ABOUT RUSSIA.
[02] ARMENIAN ELECTION UPDATE.
[03] RUSSIAN DUMA ON COSSACKS IN KAZAKSTAN.
[04] CIS MINISTERS MEET IN BISHKEK.
[05] NIYAZOV AND THE TURKMEN MEDIA.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] IZETBEGOVIC WINS BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY.
[07] WHAT KIND OF PRESIDENCY?
[08] JOULWAN: LIMITED IFOR REDUCTIONS UNTIL MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.
[09] HAGUE TRIBUNAL REFUSES TO DISMISS CHARGES AGAINST TADIC.
[10] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP SAYS IZETBEGOVIC WON THROUGH "MANIPULATION."
[11] SLOVENIA CHASES ASSETS.
[12] SERBIAN STRIKE NEAR AN IMPASSE?
[13] WWII MASS GRAVE IN MONTENEGRO?
[14] ROMANIAN CABINET MOVES QUICKLY ON TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
[15] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER ON DNIESTER'S LEGAL STATUS.
[16] BOMB BLAST IN CENTRAL SOFIA.
[17] ALBANIAN POLIO OUTBREAK CLAIMS SEVENTH VICTIM.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ZHANIA'S RESERVATIONS ABOUT RUSSIA.
The chairman of Georgia's parliament, Zurab Zhania, has claimed that Russia's
policy toward Abkhazia and South Ossetia seeks "to legalize the separatists'
position" by turning a blind eye to elections the two breakaway regions are
planning in November, ITAR-TASS reported on 18 September. Zhania said the
elections would condone "the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Georgian
population carried out by Abkhaz separatists," and argued that the Russian
peacekeepers in those regions have a responsibility to prevent the elections
from taking place. Zhania once again stressed that Tbilisi was prepared for a
"strategic partnership" with Moscow on condition of Georgia's territorial
integrity. -- Lowell Bezanis
[02] ARMENIAN ELECTION UPDATE.
Three candidates have withdrawn from the 22 September presidential election
and thrown their support behind National Democratic Union leader Vazgen
Manukyan, Western and Russian agencies reported on 17 September. The now four-
way presidential race pits Communist leader Sergei Badalyan and Scientific-
Industrial Civic Union leader Ashot Manucharyan against Manukyan and incumbent
Levon Ter-Petrossyan. Long the clear favorite, Ter-Petrossyan is now widely
perceived to be facing a serious challenge from Manukyan. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[03] RUSSIAN DUMA ON COSSACKS IN KAZAKSTAN.
A sub-committee of the Russian State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs has issued
a protest against what it termed "unceasing persecution of the Russian
population, especially Cossacks, in Kazakstan", ITAR-TASS reported on 18
September. The sub-committee is chaired by Aleksei Lebed, the brother of
Security Council Secretary Aleksandr Lebed. The statement referred to a series
of "preventative arrests" in Kazakstan, including the arrest of three men on
11 September for wearing Cossack uniform in a public meeting in Kaskelen. The
letter argued that Cossacks are being badgered "primarily for adherence to
their primordial habits and ways." This is the second such statement emanating
from the Russian State Duma on this subject in a week. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] CIS MINISTERS MEET IN BISHKEK.
Ministers for CIS affairs from 10 CIS states (excluding Azerbaijan and
Ukraine) met in the Kyrgyz capital to discuss ways to promote economic
integration between CIS member states, ITAR-TASS reported on 19 September.
Russian CIS Minister Aman Tuleev said that "the repayment of the debts by
state-owned packages of shares of industrial enterprises of CIS republics may
become the main mechanism in this respect." Such debt-equity swaps have
already been concluded with Moldova, but are being resisted by Ukraine. --
Peter Rutland
[05] NIYAZOV AND THE TURKMEN MEDIA.
Turkmen authorities have circulated an official statement declaring that
President Saparmurad Niyazov is the founder of all local newspapers published
in the country, according to a 17 September Pravda-5 report. Noting that
Niyazov was earlier officially declared the founder of all the republic's
central press, the report suggested the mass media in Turkmenistan have been
"essentially monopolized." In other news, Turkmenistan's first Islamic
theological school, established by Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, has
opened in Ashgabat, Zaman reported on 18 September. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] IZETBEGOVIC WINS BOSNIAN PRESIDENCY.
The OSCE supervisor of the Bosnian elections, Robert Frowick, announced on 18
September that Alija Izetbegovic of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) won
both the Muslim seat on the three-man presidency and the most votes of any of
those three winners. Izetbegovic took 729,034 votes, while the Serb Momcilo
Krajisnik had 690,373 and the Croat Kresimir Zubak won 342,007, Oslobodjenje
reported. As to their respective challengers, Haris Silajdzic finished with
123,784 votes, Mladen Ivanic with 305,803, and Ivo Kosmic with 38,261. As the
top vote-getter, Izetbegovic will be the first to hold the rotating chair of
the presidency, although some legal confusion remains as to whether he will
have the position for two years or for a shorter term. -- Patrick
Moore
[07] WHAT KIND OF PRESIDENCY?
Getting the three nationalist leaders to work together will be no easy task.
Krajisnik and his Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) are on record as wanting the
destruction of the Bosnian state and the unification of all Serbs in a greater
Serbia. Krajisnik nonetheless said on 18 September that "the fact that we
sought posts in the joint institutions of Bosnia-Herzegovina shows that we are
ready to work there and think that we can secure the rights of the Serb people,
" AFP reported, quoting SRNA. Zubak, whose party formally acknowledges the
Bosnian state but openly favors union with Croatia, said he will work "for the
full implementation of Dayton." Izetbegovic's SDA is the most unambiguous of
the three leading parties in its support for a united Bosnia-Herzegovina, but
the party has a strong Islamic wing that would prefer a small "pure" state to
a multi-ethnic one. In any event, Izetbegovic said: "I want to repeat my
political goal. In short, it is the reunification of the country and justice
in it." -- Patrick Moore
[08] JOULWAN: LIMITED IFOR REDUCTIONS UNTIL MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.
Gen. George Joulwan, NATO's supreme commander, said on 18 September he would
recommend only a limited reduction of the NATO Peace Implementation Force
(IFOR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina until municipal elections are held, AFP reported.
The exact date for the elections has yet to be decided, but Joulwan said they
may be held in November. NATO had previously planned to significantly reduce
the 50,000-strong force after Bosnia's landmark September elections. Joulwan
said it is "premature" to say whether a NATO force will be needed in Bosnia
next year to prevent a new war breaking out. That same day NATO decided to
send a new military command to oversee IFOR's withdrawal from Bosnia. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[09] HAGUE TRIBUNAL REFUSES TO DISMISS CHARGES AGAINST TADIC.
The UN international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia rejected on
17 September the request by defense lawyers to abandon 21 out of 31
charges against Bosnian Serb Dusan Tadic, Nasa Borba reported the next
day. Tadic has been charged with killing 13 Muslims and torturing 18 others
in detention camps and during ethnic cleansing in northwestern Bosnia. In
a request filed in August, Tadic's lawyers argued the prosecution had failed
to prove the charges despite summoning 75 witnesses, and they asked that
the majority of the accusations be dismissed. The court ruled that only in
the final stages of the trial will it be decided whether the charges have
been proved. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] BOSNIAN SERB LEADERSHIP SAYS IZETBEGOVIC WON THROUGH "MANIPULATION."
Republika Srpska Deputy Prime Minister Velibor Ostojic said on 18 September
that Izetbegovic's election as president of Bosnia's collective presidency was
"the result of manipulation," AFP reported. Ostojic said the Serbs had had a
"realistic expectation" that their candidate, Momcilo Krajisnik, would win the
most votes, but he added that the Republika Srpska would stand by the result.
Bosnian Serb television waited more than six hours to announce that
Izetbegovic will be Bosnia's president again. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] SLOVENIA CHASES ASSETS.
Slovenia has petitioned authorities to freeze assets held by nine French banks
registered under the name of the former Yugoslavia. French authorities are
expected to rule sometime "next week" on whether the assets, totaling an
estimated $593 million, will be frozen, AFP reported on 18 September. The
report also noted that Ljubljana "fears that the accounts ... could be seized
by rump Yugoslavia" and demands that the banks "be required to account for
movements of capital since the collapse of the former Yugoslavia." In a
similar development earlier this summer, Ljubljana succeeded in winning a
court order freezing Belgrade's assets in Cyprus, Nasa Borba reported back
on 22 July. -- Stan Markotich
[12] SERBIAN STRIKE NEAR AN IMPASSE?
The strike by arms and auto workers in Kragujevac continued to grab headlines
on 19 September. Nasa Borba reported that while the job action continues,
the arms facility has secured a preliminary agreement with the rump Yugoslav
army on a deal valued at nearly 10 million dinars ($2 million). But protesters
vow their strike will go on until all grievances are met. Whether Serbia's
labor movement will support the strikers, however, is a question. Aleksandar
Ivovic, president of the Union of Metalworkers of Serbia, has publicly
criticized their efforts, saying the Kragujevac protesters are jeopardizing
the company's future and well-being. He added that because many of their
demands, including calls for back pay, have been met, the purpose of continued
action is unclear, Tanjug reported on 17 September. -- Stan Markotich
[13] WWII MASS GRAVE IN MONTENEGRO?
A group of historians working with Kosovar Albanian historian Zekiria Cana
claims to have found a mass grave containing the bodies of about 2,000 ethnic
Albanians near Tivar, international media reported on 19 September. The men
were allegedly killed by Serbs and Montenegrins at the end of World War II.
The historians had been searching for many years for the victims, who
allegedly were among about 5,000 ethnic Albanian members of partisan groups
who were ordered to leave Kosovo in March 1945 on the pretext that they could
join Yugoslav partisan groups. Albanian historians claim that most of them
were killed by Serbian guards during their march from Kosovo through northern
Albania to Montenegro. Cana claims that about 50,000 Albanians in Kosovo were
killed by the Serbian military administration after the war. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[14] ROMANIAN CABINET MOVES QUICKLY ON TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
Romania's government on 18 September started ratification procedures for the
basic treaty with Hungary signed two days before, Radio Bucharest reported.
The cabinet discussed the draft law on the treaty's ratification, which will
be forwarded to parliament soon. Meanwhile, deputies from the ultra-
nationalist Party of Romanian National Unity (PUNR) continued criticizing the
document. On 17 September, PUNR Deputy Chairman Ioan Gavra described the
absence of Hungarian President Arpad Goncz from the signing ceremony as
"another slap in Romania's face." While the treaty was being signed in Romania,
Gavra said, Goncz was at "NATO headquarters [in Brussels], bringing the news
that Hungary now has free access" to the organization. PUNR Chairman Gheorghe
Funar on 18 September formally registered with the authorities as a candidate
in the presidential election scheduled for 3 November. -- Dan Ionescu
[15] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER ON DNIESTER'S LEGAL STATUS.
Moldovan Parliament Chairman Petru Lucinschi said a law on the future legal
status of the breakaway Dniester region has a good chance of being completed
and approved in the first half of 1997, Infotag reported, quoting the London
Sunday Telegraph. According to Lucinschi, the law will require one to two
years for implementation. He added that Moldova "is doomed to conduct a well-
balanced [foreign] policy, since any unilateral orientation to either Romania
or Russia may trigger tension in society." -- Dan Ionescu
[16] BOMB BLAST IN CENTRAL SOFIA.
A homemade bomb exploded near the Rodina Hotel in central Sofia early on 18
September, injuring one person, Bulgarian media reported on 19 September. The
bomb went off in front of a truck loaded with construction materials,
propelling the truck into a tree. This is the second bombing in Sofia's city
center, coming after the explosion near the Palace of Culture two months ago.
Standart suggests underworld feuding may be behind the bombings. -- Maria
Koinova
[17] ALBANIAN POLIO OUTBREAK CLAIMS SEVENTH VICTIM.
The World Health Organization has expressed concern over a recent outbreak of
polio in Albania that has killed seven and infected 59 people, Rilindja
Demokratike reported on 19 September. There are now more polio cases in
Albania than were recorded in all the rest of Europe during 1996. Local media
have connected the outbreak to the vaccination of 350,000 children in April
and May, but according to the WHO, tests have proved that the vaccine was not
the cause of the epidemic. The WHO estimates that about 3.2 million
vaccinations are needed to prevent a further spread of the disease. Currently
Albania has only about 300,000 doses available. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Susan Caskie
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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