OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 172, 5 September 1995

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

Open Media Research Institute Directory

CONTENTS

  • [01] UN, NATO SUSPEND BOMBING OF BOSNIAN SERB POSITIONS . . .

  • [02] . . . AND THEN RESUME BOMBING AGAIN.

  • [03] SERBS PRESS ATTACKS ELSEWHERE.

  • [04] DIPLOMATIC UPDATE.

  • [05] RAIDS FOLLOW SHOOT-OUT IN KOSOVO.

  • [06] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS ACCUSATIONS.

  • [07] GREECE, MACEDONIA TO START TALKS.

  • [08] GREEK-ALBANIAN TALKS FAIL.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 172, Part II, 5 September 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [01] UN, NATO SUSPEND BOMBING OF BOSNIAN SERB POSITIONS . . .

    The Atlantic alliance interrupted its air strikes against the Bosnian Serbs on 1 September to see if the Serbs would then comply with key demands. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 4 September said the points included an end to attacks on Sarajevo and other "safe areas," the withdrawal of heavy weapons beyond the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the Bosnian capital, and complete freedom of movement for UN and NGO personnel, including access to the Sarajevo airport. The Serbs had until 11:00 p.m. local time on 4 September to comply. International media on 5 September noted that messages from the Bosnian Serb military and civilian leaderships included unacceptable conditions. General Ratko Mladic also sent a fax indicating that he could not order a withdrawal since that would be a political decision requiring a popular referendum and a vote by the Pale legislature, the BBC reported. -- Patrick Moore

    [02] . . . AND THEN RESUME BOMBING AGAIN.

    A UN spokesman on 5 September said that the Serbs moved only 20-25 heavy weapons out of the exclusion zone. Special envoy Yasushi Akashi noted that this was "limited movement" only and hence not likely to be acceptable, Reuters reported. The BBC added that the Serbs have 200-300 such guns in the area. AFP quoted Akashi as saying that "we need evidence of substantial movement--if not completion--of the withdrawal of all heavy weapons from the exclusion zone." British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told the BBC from Moscow that the Serbs had presented written acceptance of the demands and that "there will be no further need to contemplate air strikes." Reuters reported from Zagreb, however, that NATO had indeed resumed bombing. NATO and UN officials had been concerned that the Serbs would try various ruses to buy time. The International Herald Tribune said that a UN spokesman had warned Mladic that "if he doesn't play ball, he's going to get hit very, very hard." -- Patrick Moore

    [03] SERBS PRESS ATTACKS ELSEWHERE.

    The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on 4 September noted that Bosnian Serb forces continued to attack in northern and western Bosnia. They seemed interested in widening their supply corridor from Serbia and shelled Gradacac, which was held by government and Croatian defenders even during the Muslim-Croatian war of 1993. There were also reports of shelling and sniper fire from Serbian positions in Sarajevo. Slobodna Dalmacija on 5 September noted that 400 shells fell on Lukavac near Tuzla. International media said the previous day that the Serbs had released the five EU monitors who were first reported dead and then held up in Visegrad by Bosnian Serb forces. -- Patrick Moore

    [04] DIPLOMATIC UPDATE.

    International media on 5 September said that Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic feels the current U.S. peace plan has too many "gray areas" to be acceptable. He specifically ruled out any confederation between the Bosnian Serbs and rump Yugoslavia in any future settlement, although he reaffirmed certain rights for the Serbs. He had been speaking in Ankara with U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke, who came from talks in Bonn, Belgrade, Athens, and Skopje. The details of the U.S. plan have yet to be made public, but it is based on the Contact Group project of July 1994 and likewise involves the effective partition of the republic. Holbrooke was nonetheless optimistic about the chances for peace. Top Contact Group political officials will meet in Geneva with Zagreb's, Sarajevo's, and Belgrade's foreign ministers on 8 September. -- Patrick Moore

    [05] RAIDS FOLLOW SHOOT-OUT IN KOSOVO.

    The Serbian police raided more than 60 houses following a shoot-out on 30 August, Kosova Daily Report said on 4 September. According to initial reports, two Serbian policemen were killed and four wounded in an explosion following a shoot-out at a police station near the village of Irzniq. Later sources, however, spoke of two injured and no casualties. Police began raiding houses and arresting people immediately after the shoot-out. Elsewhere, a court in Gnjilan sentenced nine ethnic Albanians to between six months and four years in prison for allegedly planning to forcibly secede from the rump Yugoslavia, BETA reported on 31 August. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [06] ALBANIAN SUPREME COURT JUDGE REJECTS ACCUSATIONS.

    Zef Brozi has rejected accusations that he worked for the communist-era secret service, saying he was never asked to do so. He has asked the Prosecutor's Office to open investigations into journalists for the ruling Democratic Party's newspaper Rilindja Demokratike, which first published the accusations against him. Brozi also claims his office and private telephone have been tapped. In other news, Brozi said Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano's appeal to be released from prison will be reviewed in September. The review was delayed after the court said it needed more time to study the accusations against Nano, who was found guilty of the misappropriation of Italian aid funds, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 2 September. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [07] GREECE, MACEDONIA TO START TALKS.

    Greece and Macedonia agreed to hold direct talks aimed at improving bilateral relations, international agencies reported on 4 September. Dimitris Karaitidis, adviser to the Greek prime minister, said Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias and his Macedonian counterpart, Stevo Crvenkovski, will meet in New York next week for UN-brokered talks. The agreement was confirmed by the U.S. State Department. The announcement came a few hours after talks between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke and Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. U.S. President Bill Clinton called the step a "courageous and visionary decision" and a "major step toward peace and stability in the region." -- Stefan Krause

    [08] GREEK-ALBANIAN TALKS FAIL.

    Talks between Karolos Papoulias and his Albanian counterpart, Alfred Serreqi, failed to produce any results, Reuters reported on 1 September. According to Greek officials, Serreqi left the meeting after 15 minutes, angered by Greek demands to open schools for Albania's ethnic Greek minority. He also failed to attend a scheduled news conference. Greece has demanded three independent Greek schools in southern Albania in return for granting legal seasonal employment to some of the 300,000 or so Albanians illegally living and working in Greece. The agreement was to be signed during Serreqi's visit, but the Greek side wanted "signs of goodwill" from the Albanian foreign minister. -- Stefan Krause

    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 info@omri.cz

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