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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 130, 96-07-08
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 130, 8 July 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] UN OBSERVERS' MANDATE IN ABKHAZIA TO BE EXTENDED?
[02] KAZAKHSTAN, CHINA SIGN JOINT DECLARATION.
[03] KYRGYZ-CHINESE COOPERATION AGREEMENTS.
[04] TAJIK GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION ON FIGHTING IN TAVIL DARA.
[05] TURKMEN, IRANIAN, AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EU DECLARES MOSTAR VOTE VALID.
[07] CANDIDATES FOR BOSNIAN ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED.
[08] WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
[09] ISLAMIC MILITANTS STILL IN BOSNIA?
[10] IFOR FORCES SERBS TO WITHDRAW WEAPONS.
[11] SERBIAN PRESIDENT OPENS LINK TO WORLD.
[12] ETHNIC ALBANIANS PROTEST IN MACEDONIA.
[13] SLOVENIAN PREMIER SUPPORTS FOREIGN OWNERSHIP.
[14] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA.
[15] MOLDOVAN PRIME MINISTER TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
[16] BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN SOFIA.
[17] BULGARIAN CHURCH SPLITS.
[18] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT WANTS NEW GOVERNMENT.
[19] ALBANIA TROOPS TO JOIN IFOR.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] UN OBSERVERS' MANDATE IN ABKHAZIA TO BE EXTENDED?
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has recommended to the Security
Council that the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Abkhazia (UNOMIG),
which is due to expire this month, be renewed until January, 1997, ITAR-TASS
reported on 4 July. The head of the UN mission, Liviu Bota, informed the
secessionist Abkhaz leadership on 5 July that Georgia is ready to renew talks
on future relations between Abkhazia and the leadership in Tbilisi, and handed
over a message on the resumption of talks from Boutros-Ghali's special envoy
for Abkhazia, Eduard Brunner. On 6 July, an OSCE mission called for an
international investigation into grave human rights violations in Abkhazia
including what it termed a campaign of genocide against ethnic Georgians,
Reuters reported. -- Liz Fuller
[02] KAZAKHSTAN, CHINA SIGN JOINT DECLARATION.
China and Kazakhstan signed a joint declaration on bilateral cooperation and
friendship following a three-day official visit by Chinese President Jiang
Zemin, Western, Russian and Chinese media reported on 4 and 5 July. Both
countries pledged to begin the boundary demarcation process in the spirit of
the Shanghai agreement of this April, conclude a treaty on mutual reduction of
border troops, and expand trade. China promised a moratorium on nuclear
testing in September. Russian Radio reported on 5 July that Kazakhstan's
security officials prevented Uighur separatists and anti-nuclear activists
from staging protests. -- Bhavna Dave
[03] KYRGYZ-CHINESE COOPERATION AGREEMENTS.
Before arriving in Almaty, President Jiang Zemin signed a series of agreements
with Kyrgyzstan on 4 July, concluding a two-day visit to Bishkek, Chinese and
Western media reported. Five agreements on bilateral cooperation in civil and
legal affairs, air transport, customs, meteorological technology and banking
were signed. China also offered 3 million yuan ($370,000) aid in goods to
Kyrgyzstan. Both countries have concluded a demarcation of all but one
mountain portion of the state border between the two countries, Xinhua
reported on 4 July. -- Bhavna Dave
[04] TAJIK GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION ON FIGHTING IN TAVIL DARA.
After days of fierce fighting, both sides claim to be in possession of the
strategic city of Tavil Dara, Western and Russian media reported. On 5 July,
Tajik Presidential Spokesman Zafar Saidov acknowledged that not only were
government troops in control of the city, but had moved 2-3 kms eastward. In
addition, at least 10 other villages had been retaken in fighting that resumed
in late June. Ali Akbar Turajonzoda of the National Islamic Movement denied
these claims, noting that the government attack had been repulsed after
sustaining heavy casualties, AFP reported on 6 July. Opposition sources claim
that Tavil Dara, which they have controlled since 12 May, is still firmly in
their possession. Meanwhile, the latest round of inter-Tajik peace talks
resumed on 8 July in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Russian Foreign Minister Yevgenii
Primakov will attend the talks. -- Roger Kangas
[05] TURKMEN, IRANIAN, AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET.
Boris Shikhmuradov, Ali Akbar Velayati, and Vahan Papazyan concluded a two-day
meeting in Ashgabat on 4 July at which they signed several long-term
cooperation accords, Western and Iranian sources reported. At the center of
the agreements is a three-way barter trade that would send Turkmen gas to
Armenia, Armenian rubber and light bulbs to Iran, and "unspecified goods and
services" from Iran to Turkmenistan, with each shipment estimated at $20
million, Reuters reported on 5 July. Equally important is the commitment on
the part of the three foreign ministers to continue working together on issues
of regional concern. The ministers will meet again in six months' time in
Yerevan. -- Roger Kangas
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] EU DECLARES MOSTAR VOTE VALID.
The EU administration on 7 July declared 30 June's elections valid, Reuters
reported. Earlier, the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) had called for a re-
run in Bonn, where there were 26 more votes than voters. East Mostar's Muslim
mayor Safet Orucevic demanded that Bonn's 4,000 votes should count--EU-
appointed city ombudsman Constantine Zepos agreed. The HDZ won almost 26,000
votes in Mostar and the Muslim-dominated List for a United Mostar received
some 22,300 votes. The foreign returns, however, gave about 6,000 votes to the
Muslims, compared to 744 for the HDZ. That tilts the balance of the city
council in favor of the List for a United Mostar, which will gain at least 19
out of 37 seats. The HDZ on 8 July appeared to be blocking the publication of
the election results, holding up the city council's first meeting. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[07] CANDIDATES FOR BOSNIAN ELECTIONS ANNOUNCED.
Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic will not be the
governing Serbian Democratic Party's (SDS) candidate in the September
elections, Nasa Borba reported on 5 July. He will, however, remain SDS head.
The candidate will be Karadzic's loyal deputy Biljana Plavsic, so Karadzic is
expected to retain control of the government of the Republika Srpska. Plavsic,
who just visited Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, will face six
candidates, Nasa Borba reported on 8 July. In the Croat-Muslim federation,
federal President Kresimir Zubak will run on behalf of the Croatian Democratic
Community, while Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic will head the list for
his Party of Democratic Action. -- Patrick Moore
[08] WAR CRIMES UPDATE.
Finnish forensic experts ignored Bosnian Serb police and recovered nine bodies near Srebrenica, the International Herald Tribune reported on 6 July (see ). Investigators from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia began exhuming suspected mass graves in the area on 8 July. They hope to determine whether the Muslim men died in fighting, as the Serbs claim, or were victims of the largest war atrocity in Europe since World War II, as the Bosnian government argues. In the Hague, hearings against Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic are ending. On 6 July, a witness said he saw Mladic at the Srebrenica killings, the BBC reported. -- Patrick Moore
[09] ISLAMIC MILITANTS STILL IN BOSNIA?
The Clinton administration says all foreign Islamic fighters have left Bosnia-
Herzegovina, but on 7 July The Washington Post reported that several hundred
remain. The Dayton agreement says all foreign troops were to leave in January--
but many Iranians and other foreigners remain in central Bosnia. Some obtained
Bosnian citizenship through forced marriages, seized homes and apartments, and
the fighters constitute a paramilitary guard for Izetbegovic's Party of
Democratic Action, the Post reported. The paper linked CIA director John
Deutch's unpublicized visit to Bosnia on 5 July to Washington's concern about
a possible threat to U.S. forces in the wake of the terrorist attack on a U.S.
base in Saudi Arabia. It is not clear if the publicity will affect U.S. plans
to train the Bosnian army, which is contingent on the foreigners' leaving. --
Patrick Moore
[10] IFOR FORCES SERBS TO WITHDRAW WEAPONS.
Bosnian Serb troops removed heavy guns from a NATO-approved collection point
near the Serbs' military headquarters at Han Pijesak on 5 July. IFOR then sent
250 ground troops, plus 20 aircraft and attack helicopters to back up its
demand that the Serbs put back the weapons. The Serbs for the first time
threatened to shoot down IFOR helicopters, AFP reported on 7 July. IFOR's
commander, Adm. Leighton Smith, telephoned Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic. On 6 July, villagers jostled U.S. soldiers, thinking soldiers had
come to arrest Mladic, the BBC reported. Later that day, the Serbs withdrew
their weapons and IFOR left the area. One of the key lessons in the conflict
that the international community often forgets is that firmness and a clear
willingness to use force brings compliance. -- Patrick Moore
[11] SERBIAN PRESIDENT OPENS LINK TO WORLD.
Slobodan Milosevic on 7 July presided over the opening of Yugoslavija 3 (YU 3)-
-rump Yugoslavia's newest satellite ground station--which will enable direct
telecommunications with 15 European countries, Nasa Borba reported. The
facility, which is in Prilike in central Serbia, is equipped with 960
channels. YU 3 will have television links to the Eutelsat and Intelsat
networks, Reuters reported. Construction on YU 3 began in March 1992 with the
help of Japan's NEC, but was suspended within three months because of
international sanctions against Belgrade for its role in prompting the Bosnian
war. -- Stan Markotich
[12] ETHNIC ALBANIANS PROTEST IN MACEDONIA.
More than 10,000 ethnic Albanians rallied in Tetovo on 4 July against the
jailing of Fadil Sulejmani, the dean of Tetovo University, Reuters reported.
Sulejmani is due to begin serving a one-year sentence, convicted for
incitement after demonstrations in 1995. Demonstrators demanded the
university's legalization and its integration into the Macedonian education
system. Meanwhile, Canada recognized Macedonia under its provisional name
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and proposed diplomatic ties. Also, a
NATO delegation arrived in Skopje on 3 July for talks about conditions for
Macedonia's NATO membership. -- Fabian Schmidt
[13] SLOVENIAN PREMIER SUPPORTS FOREIGN OWNERSHIP.
Janez Drnovsek said on 5 July his government would support changes to the
constitution that would enable foreigners to own real estate in Slovenia. He
said the move is necessary "because it is a precondition for Slovenia's full
membership in the EU," Reuters reported. Drnovsek rebuffed suggestions from
conservative opponents who say the constitution should only be changed through
a national referendum. He said a referendum would send a "catastrophic signal"
and could signal that Slovenia is not prepared to abide by EU regulations. In
a separate development, Drnovsek on 5 July proposed a replacement for foreign
minister Zoran Thaler: economics professor Davorin Kracun. -- Stan
Markotich
[14] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT IN REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA.
Ion Iliescu on 5-6 July paid an official visit to neighboring Moldova,
Moldovan and Western media reported. He discussed with his Moldovan
counterpart Mircea Snegur, Premier Andrei Sangheli, and Parliament Chairman
Petru Lucinschi ways to boost bilateral cooperation. On 5 July, Iliescu
addressed the parliament and met with its leaders. A joint communique
mentioned the "strategic goal of economic integration." Western media noticed
that Iliescu avoided reference to any possible unification. Iliescu said any
attempt to "re-shape existing borders" was "unrealistic and unrealizable." The
two sides signed an agreement on judicial assistance. -- Dan Ionescu
[15] MOLDOVAN PRIME MINISTER TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT.
The ruling Agrarian Democratic Party of Moldova (PDAM) on 6 July nominated
Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli as its candidate in the November presidential
elections, Infotag reported. The nomination was announced at the party's third
nationwide congress. Larisa Iachim, a member of the PDAM parliamentary faction,
warned that "left-centrist forces" could find themselves divided between
Sangheli's supporters and those backing Parliament Chairman Petru Lucinschi.
She asked the PDAM to support Lucinschi. But PDAM Chairman Dumitru Motpan
defended Sangheli, saying more division within the faction could lead to early
parliamentary elections--which would not be in the party's interest. -- Dan
Ionescu
[16] BALKAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN SOFIA.
Foreign ministers and other top diplomats of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece,
Romania, Turkey, and rump Yugoslavia, as well as international representatives
met at a two-day conference in Sofia on 6-7 July, Bulgarian and Western media
reported. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia representatives observed.
The Macedonian delegation left before the opening to protest that--on Greece's
insistence--it was to participate under the name Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia. The participants agreed to strengthen economic cooperation, fight
organized crime and terrorism, and enhance security measures. They adopted a
declaration on stability, security, and cooperation in the Balkans. The
Bulgarians stressed that the implementation of the Dayton agreement is a
precondition for regional stability. Albanian Deputy Foreign Minister Arian
Starova said rising tension in Kosovo is a danger to stability. -- Stefan
Krause
[17] BULGARIAN CHURCH SPLITS.
A dissident group within the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on 3 July elected
Metropolitan Pimen as the new patriarch and the next day enthroned him,
Western media reported. That cements the split between followers and
adversaries of Patriarch Maksim, who has headed the officially recognized
church since 1971. Clergy opposed to Maksim's politics of compromise with the
former communist regime accused him of collaborating with the secret police.
They also argue that he was appointed but not elected. Pimen's followers
established a rival synod in 1992. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov called Pimen's
election "deeply anti-Bulgarian" and said the government recognizes Maksim as
the head of the only legitimate Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod said
it will sue Pimen's followers. -- Stefan Krause
[18] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT WANTS NEW GOVERNMENT.
Sali Berisha on 6 July asked Prime Minister Aleksander Meksi to form a new
government, Reuters reported. Meksi was nominated by the Democratic Party,
which won 122 out of 140 parliamentary seats in May's disputed elections.
Meksi said he was considering offering cabinet posts to opposition parties.
Only the Republicans, the Balli Kombetar, and the ethnic Greek human Rights
party--which hold eight seats in the legislature--may join a coalition with
the Democrats, who hold a two-thirds majority. The Socialist Party says it
will boycott the parliament and demands new elections. Democrat leader Tritan
Shehu suggested his party may hold informal talks with the Socialist
leadership. Meanwhile, legislators from OSCE member states are debating a
recommendation that Albania hold new general elections. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[19] ALBANIA TROOPS TO JOIN IFOR.
The defense minister and chief of staff on 5 July inspected an Albanian peace-
keeping company that will soon join IFOR in Bosnia, ATA reported. The company
is to leave for Germany on 8 July for some additional training and then will
become part of the German contingent in IFOR. -- Doug Clarke
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Maura Griffin-Solovar
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 info@omri.cz.
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