OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 81, 25 April 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL MOVES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS.

  • [02] U.S. WILL KEEP CONTACTS TO SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINALS.

  • [03] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER UNIMPRESSED BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

  • [04] KRAJINA SERBS END BLOCKADE OF HIGHWAY.

  • [05] SERBIAN ROUNDUP

  • [06] ALBANIAN KILLED AT MONTENEGRIN BORDER.

  • [07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE RALLIES.

  • [08] STOLEN JEWISH ART RETURNED TO BUDAPEST MUSEUM.

  • [09] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUCHAREST

  • [10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DENIES ATTEMPTS AT RECOMMUNIZATION.

  • [11] FRENCH NEGOTIATOR WILL NOT BE HEARD AT ALBANIAN TRIAL.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 81, Part II, 25 April 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL MOVES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LEADERS.

    International media reported on 25 April that the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague issued a statement the previous day naming suspected war criminals, including Bosnian Serb civilian leader Radovan Karadzic, his military counterpart, General Ratko Mladic, and former special police chief Mico Stanisic. Charges include genocide, torture, and rape. Chief Justice Richard Goldstone told a press conference that steps toward a formal indictment are now under way. Also named are Bosnian Croat forces for the deliberate murder of innocent Muslim civilians in the Lasva valley in 1992 and 1993. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [02] U.S. WILL KEEP CONTACTS TO SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINALS.

    A State Department spokesman told news agencies on 24 April that Washington welcomes the investigation of war criminals but that it will keep diplomatic channels open to the Bosnian Serb leadership. The 25 April Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung added that UN officials in Bosnia criticized the announcement from The Hague, which they said would make their relations with the Bosnian Serbs more difficult and hurt chances for an extension of the current cease-fire. AFP points out that Bosnian Serb media are ignoring the entire story. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER UNIMPRESSED BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

    Haris Silajdzic has said the closure of Sarajevo airport by Karadzic's men shows that the international community is allowing the Serbs to "humiliate them at will." He said the international community is "extremely impressionable" and its tolerance "unbelievable." Meanwhile a State Department spokesman said that Washington wants UN intervention to reopen the airport. He added that "we are not prepared to let the Serbs dictate the activities of our diplomats," AFP reported on 24 April. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] KRAJINA SERBS END BLOCKADE OF HIGHWAY.

    Croatian Serb rebels have ended their brief attempt to close the Zagreb-Belgrade highway at two points. President Franjo Tudjman's chief of staff, Hrvoje Sarinic, said earlier that Croatian forces would reopen the route if the Serbs did not do so voluntarily. Nasa Borba on 25 April reported that the Krajina Serbs will refuse to allow UN vehicles displaying the new name UNCRO, rather than the former UNPROFOR, to enter their territory. The Serbs reject any suggestion that they remain part of Croatia and are not an independent state. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] SERBIAN ROUNDUP.

    Serbian Patriarch Pavle on 24 April dedicated a new church in the west Serbian city of Valjevo. The patriarch, in his address, alluded to the situation in the former Yugoslavia, noting that true believers have "brotherly love for all and even for enemies who know not what they do." Meanwhile, a new communist party has been founded in the rump Yugoslav republic of Montenegro. Serbia's opposition Democratic Party has sent a delegation to Germany headed by party leader Zoran Djindjic, Nasa Borba reported. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] ALBANIAN KILLED AT MONTENEGRIN BORDER.

    An Albanian has been killed by Yugoslav border guards near a village between Podgorica and Shkoder, Koha Jone reported on 25 April. The 27-year-old Kol Lek Ivanaj was crossing the border to Montenegro on 23 April, together with two other Albanians, when they were stopped by border guards. According to the Albanian Interior Ministry, the three men were trying to reach Albanian territory when the guards shot Ivanaj in the back, seven meters inside rump Yugoslavia. Montenegrin and Albanian experts are expected to investigate the site on 25 April. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS ANNOUNCE RALLIES.

    The ethnic Albanian Democratic People's Party and a group that split away from the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPD) in April 1994 have said they will stage protest rallies on 26 April, Reuters reported on 24 April. The trial of Fadil Sulejmani, director of the self-declared Albanian-language university in Tetovo, is to begin on that date. Sulejmani is charged with instigating mass rebellion at the inauguration of the university in February 1995. The police prevented the university from opening, arguing that it was illegal and provoking clashes in which one Albanian was killed. Sulejmani had earlier warned the authorities not to attack the university, saying that "200,000 Albanians will rise to our defense, and they have guns and grenades." The PPD, the leading ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia, is not officially supporting the rallies. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] STOLEN JEWISH ART RETURNED TO BUDAPEST MUSEUM.

    Gen. Ion Pitulescu, head of the Romanian General Police Inspectorate, on 23 April handed over the remainder of a collection of Jewish art treasures stolen from a Budapest synagogue in December 1993, Radio Bucharest reported. Most of the artifacts were found in Romania and returned in August 1994. According to Hungarian National Police Chief Sandor Pinter, more than 30 gold and silver artworks and religious objects from the 16th to 18th centuries were returned on 23 April alone. Hungarian Jewish leader Gusztav Zoltai said the treasures, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, have to be restored before going on display in the Budapest Jewish Museum later this year. Pitulescu, at a ceremony in Budapest marking the return of the stolen artworks, seized the opportunity to praise cooperation between the Romanian and Hungarian police in general. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] BULGARIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BUCHAREST.

    Georgi Pirinski on 24 April paid a working visit to the Romanian capital, Radio Bucharest reported. He discussed with his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, how to boost bilateral relations and regional cooperation. The two leaders agreed that the top priority was to improve the infrastructure, including roads and border crossing points. Melescanu said after the meeting that the two countries plan to build up to 10 new crossing points across the Danube. He noted that the traffic through the two states has dramatically increased in recent years owing to the situation in the former Yugoslavia. Melescanu also said that Romania and Bulgaria will ask the European Union for assistance to improve travel routes between the two countries. -- Dan Ionescu, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER DENIES ATTEMPTS AT RECOMMUNIZATION.

    Zhan Videnov, addressing the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on 24 April, said there are no attempts to reestablish communist structures in Bulgaria's administration and economy, 24 chasa reported the following day. Videnov warned of the consequences the sanctions against rump Yugoslavia may have for neighboring countries. He said the economic losses caused by the embargo threaten the political stability of these countries, and he called for a gradual lifting of the sanctions. Videnov stressed that Bulgaria will not participate in any military action in the Balkans, even under the auspices of international organizations. Also on 24 April, former Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov told RFE/RL that Videnov's position on Serbia was "scandalous and cynical." He urged the parliament and government "to express [Bulgaria's] will to join NATO." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] FRENCH NEGOTIATOR WILL NOT BE HEARD AT ALBANIAN TRIAL.

    Nicola Arsidi, a French citizen who was hired by the Albanian government in 1991 to negotiate forgiveness of Albania's foreign debts, will not be heard at a trial against former Prime Minister Vilson Ahmeti, former National Bank Governor Ilir Hoti, former Trade Bank Directors Ardian Xhyheri and Agron Saliu, and Trade Bank Deputy Director Agim Tartari. The five officials are charged with misappropriating $1.2 million intended as payment to Arsidi. In all, Arsidi was to have received $1.6 million. Andi Celiku, head of a Tirana court, said all efforts to summon Arsidi and his colleagues have failed, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 23 April. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

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

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