OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 75, 14 April 1995

From: "Steve Iatrou" <siatrou@cdsp.neu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] BOSNIAN FIGHTING CONTINUES.

  • [02] DUBROVNIK SHELLED.

  • [03] DID THE RUSSIAN GENERAL BACK THE SERBS?

  • [04] MACEDONIA, GREECE HALT SERBIA-BOUND CONTRABAND.

  • [05] MACEDONIA, TURKEY SIGN ACCORD.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 75, Part II, 14 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] BOSNIAN FIGHTING CONTINUES.

    International media on 13 and 14 April reported that fighting in several areas around Bosnia-Herzegovina shows little sign of abating. Croatia's Hina, citing Sarajevo Radio, reported that Serbs from Croatia's Krajina area, supported by rebel Bosnian Muslim troops, resumed their assaults on Bosnian government forces near Velika Kladusa, in northwestern Bosnia. Western news agencies described the fighting in that region as fierce. Meanwhile, Nasa Borba reported that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, who has seemingly been feuding with Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic, has publicly praised Milosevic for his recent unwillingness to extend recognition to Bosnia- Herzegovina. Reuters reported that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic has advised government forces to brace for war when the cease-fire expires on 30 April. Finally, Nasa Borba also reported that on their recent visit to Belgrade, members of the international Contact Group met not only with government officials but with members of Serbia's opposition parties. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] DUBROVNIK SHELLED.

    Croatian media reported that on 13 April Croatia's Adriatic city of Dubrovnik and its surrounding area were the target of artillery shelling. One person was killed, and at least three wounded. Croatian authorities have blamed "Bosnian Serb paramilitaries" for the attacks, and Reuters observes that Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic has sent "a protest letter to the UN Security Council saying the Croatian army had not retaliated but would if the Serbs attacked again." Dubrovnik is situated some 10 kilometers from Bosnian Serb-held territory. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] DID THE RUSSIAN GENERAL BACK THE SERBS?

    Reuters on 13 April quotesWestern sources in Zagreb as confirming that Maj. Gen. Alexander Perelyakin was ousted following allegations of corruption and favoring the Serbian side. Perelyakin was fired as commander of Belgian and Russian peacekeepers in Serb-held Croatian territories on 11 April. But Russian Foreign Ministry sources continue to flatly deny that Perel- yakin was biased in favor of the Serbs and insist there is no concrete evidence to substantiate the contrary, Interfax reports. For its part the Russian daily Izvestiya cited Russian Foreign Ministry officials as saying that Perel-yakin's ouster was calculated to drive the Russian peacekeepers from the former Yugoslavia. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] MACEDONIA, GREECE HALT SERBIA-BOUND CONTRABAND.

    International media on 13 April reported that Macedonia and Greece, in separate incidents, seized oil drilling equipment that UN sources say was bound for Serbia. AFP reports that Greek officials detained shipments of 1,866 tons of equipment, believed to have been sent by the Canadian group Triton from Iran. Meanwhile, Macedonian authorities seized 13 truck-loads of equipment at Gev-gelija, near Macedonia's border with Greece. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] MACEDONIA, TURKEY SIGN ACCORD.

    Macedonian Minister of Defense Blagoj Handziski and his Turkish counterpart, Mehmet Gol-han, on 13 April signed a military cooperation accord, international media reported. Under the terms of the agreement, both countries are obliged to exchange military and technological data. An already existing accord between the two nations permits Macedonian officers to train in Turkey. -- Stan Markotich

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute
    news2html v2.05 run on Tuesday, 16 May 1995 - 13:12:55