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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 152, 96-08-07
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 152, 7 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES REGISTER.
[02] GEORGIAN MILITARY HIGHWAY REOPENS.
[03] KAZAKHSTANI RELATIONS WITH IRAN, CHINA
[04] PRISON RIOT IN TURKMENISTAN.
[05] GOVERNORS SACKED IN AKHAL, TASHAUZ.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] MOSTAR CROATS, MUSLIMS REACH AGREEMENT OVER POWER SHARING.
[07] TUDJMAN AND MILOSEVIC MEET IN ATHENS.
[08] INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES CRITICIZE ZAGREB ON REFUGEE ISSUE . . .
[09] . . . WHILE CROATIAN SERBS SAY THEIR LOT IS "TRAGIC AND UNCERTAIN."
[10] OSCE PUTS BOSNIAN SERB PARTY ON NOTICE OVER KARADZIC.
[11] BOSNIAN UPDATE.
[12] REHN IN MONTENEGRO.
[13] ARKAN HOLDS PARADE IN KOSOVO.
[14] ROMANIAN IFOR SOLDIER WOUNDED IN BOSNIA.
[15] MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION PARTIES THROW SUPPORT BEHIND INCUMBENT.
[16] MOLDOVAN COMMUNIST LEADER FAVORS ABOLITION OF PRESIDENCY.
[17] BULGARIAN CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS MILITARY COUP NOT IMMINENT.
[18] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS CONTINUE FEUD.
[19] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEFS APPEALS TURNED DOWN BY TIRANA COURT.
[20] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION REFUSES NEW ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES REGISTER.
Seven of the nine putative candidates for the presidential race submitted
their final nomination petitions by the deadline on 2 August , Noyan tapan
reported on 5 August . The Central Electoral Committee will now verify that
each candidate has submitted 25,000 valid signatures. Levon Ter-Petrossyan
collected 39,882 signatures and Sergei Badalyan of the Armenian Communist
Party 36,751. Two candidates withdrew from the race, whose first round will
take place on 23 September. Rafael Hambartsoumyan failed to raise the required
deposit of 2,000,000 drams ($5000), while businessman Yurii Mkrtchyan
complained that lack of time prevented him from collecting the signatures. --
Peter Rutland
[02] GEORGIAN MILITARY HIGHWAY REOPENS.
The main road link between Russia and the Transcaucasus reopened on 5 August
after being closed for one week, ITAR TASS reported. Heavy rains on 28 July
swept away bridges and several sections of the highway, marooning dozens of
travellers, NTV reported on 30 July. The cost of the damage is estimated at $8
million. -- Peter Rutland
[03] KAZAKHSTANI RELATIONS WITH IRAN, CHINA
Talks between Almaty and Tehran on moving 2 million metric tons of Kazakhstani
crude oil across the Caspian Sea to Iranian ports have stalled, ITAR-TASS
reported on 6 August. Unidentified sources in the Kazakhstani government said
the talks, underway for two years, broke down when Iran refused to partially
cover Kazakhstan's expenses for transporting the crude across the sea. In
other news, the Sino-Kazakhstani border survey commission reached an agreement
in Beijing on 5 August that will permit them to begin demarcating their mutual
border, according to a Xinhua report monitored by the BBC. -- Lowell
Bezanis
[04] PRISON RIOT IN TURKMENISTAN.
Three prisoners were killed and seven wounded on 4 August when Turkmen
authorities put down a prison riot in Mary Vilayet, Reuters reported on 6
August. Details on the riots are sketchy, but the day after the mutiny,
Turkmen Deputy Interior Minister Altibai Charyez, national prison head
Amansakhat Chungaev, and other officials were sacked. Turkmenistan's prison
system is reportedly riddled with corruption and conditions in overcrowded
prisons are squalid. In August 1995, 27 mutinous prisoners were reportedly
killed in a maximum security prison in Ashgabat. -- Lowell Bezanis
[05] GOVERNORS SACKED IN AKHAL, TASHAUZ.
Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov has dismissed the provincial governors of
Akhal and Tashauz Vilayet, according to a 3 August Turkmen Press report
monitored by the BBC. The republic's harvest of 480,000 metric tons of grain
for this year rather than the anticipated 1,000,000 tons appears to be the
cause of their dismissal. During a 2 August cabinet meeting where the "very
serious shortcomings and errors" associated with the harvest were discussed,
Niyazov also abolished the ex-officio status of deputy prime minister granted
to all regional heads. In other news, Turkmen and Russian border guards in the
republic have intercepted 500 "trespassers" and confiscated 900 kg of drugs so
far this year, Radio Rossii reported on 5 August. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] MOSTAR CROATS, MUSLIMS REACH AGREEMENT OVER POWER SHARING.
The deadlock over the administration of the divided city of Mostar was
resolved on 6 August after the Bosnian Croats agreed to end a boycott of the
city council that was elected in local elections last month, Western and local
agencies reported. After several days of EU-mediated marathon talks, the two
sides agreed to form a local government based on the results of the elections,
but noting the Croat complaints of alleged voting irregularities and sending
them to the Bosnian federation's Constitutional Court. Under the accord, the
first session of the joint city assembly will be held on 8 August to elect a
new mayor and deputy mayor. Because the governor of the Neretva canton will be
a Muslim, the Mostar mayor will be a Croat. Muslims and Croats agreed to
accept the Joint Action EU plan on the transfer of responsibilities from the
EU administrator to the local mayor and deputy mayor. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[07] TUDJMAN AND MILOSEVIC MEET IN ATHENS.
The presidents of Croatia and Serbia, Franjo Tudjman and Slobodan Milosevic,
met in Athens on 7 August in their first official bilateral meeting without
international mediation since Croatia declared its independence in 1991, AFP
reported. The closed-door meeting was arranged by Greek Prime Minister Kostas
Simitis at the request of the two countries, Greek officials said. According
to Greek diplomats, no formal agenda was set, but Simitis said Tudjman and
Milosevic will discuss "problems concerning their two countries." He said he
hopes the meeting will "contribute to the cooperation of all the peoples in
the region." According to the BBC on 7 August, Tudjman and Milosevic are not
expected to discuss the broader regional situation, specifically questions
related to Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Stefan Krause
[08] INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES CRITICIZE ZAGREB ON REFUGEE ISSUE . . .
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond criticized
Croatia on 6 August for preventing the Serb refugees to return and allowing
those who came back to be harassed and intimidated, AFP reported. Redmond said
that such a "sad situation" sends a "clear signal to refugees" not to go back.
According to the UNHCR, some 175,000 Serb refugees fled to rump Yugoslavia
following the Croatian offensive in the Krajina region in August 1995. Some 10,
000 remained in Croatia, having reportedly been harassed and intimidated, and
only "a handful" returned. Meanwhile, the International Red Cross on 2 August
pointed out that the violence and ill-treatment of Serbs in Croatia had been
occurring regularly since the beginning of this year, AFP reported. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[09] . . . WHILE CROATIAN SERBS SAY THEIR LOT IS "TRAGIC AND UNCERTAIN."
The Association of Serbs from the Republic of Serb Krajina and the Republic
of Croatia, in Belgrade on 5 August, issued a public declaration calling for
a restoration of their rights, Tanjug reported the same day. According to
their declaration, "the current humanitarian, economic and political situation
of those who were expelled or escaped is tragic and uncertain." Among
their demands was that The Hague should investigate and indict those guilty
of "crimes against Serbian people" and that "autonomy" should be granted in
the "ethnic Serb areas" of Croatia. Following their armed insurrection against
the Croatian government in 1991, Croatian Serb leaders in Croatia used calls
for "autonomy" as a way of signaling their intent to join in a political union
with a greater Serbia under Belgrade's jurisdiction. -- Stan Markotich
[10] OSCE PUTS BOSNIAN SERB PARTY ON NOTICE OVER KARADZIC.
The OSCE's supervisor of the 14 September Bosnian elections, Robert Frowick,
told Bosnian Serb Foreign Minister and leader of the governing Serbian
Democratic Party (SDS) Aleksa Buha that indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic
must remain out of politics. Frowick said that frequent references to Karadzic
by SDS speakers at rallies, his appearance in party advertisements, and the
display of Karadzic posters at SDS meetings and on private homes is a
violation of the spirit of last month's agreement. Onasa on 6 August quoted
Frowick as telling Buha the previous day that the OSCE will not take any
action against the SDS for now but will "press [the party] to get it right."
The two men agreed that nothing can be done about posters on private homes but
that the SDS can control the other problems. -- Patrick Moore
[11] BOSNIAN UPDATE.
Italian IFOR troops inspected a Serbian weapons depot they had found by accident in Markovici, Oslobodjenje and AFP reported on 6 August (see ). The size of the cache is now put at 2,000 tons, which is double the original estimate. IFOR spokesman Maj. Brett Boudreau said no steps will be taken until NATO is absolutely sure that the depot is unauthorized. In Sarajevo, the OSCE announced that 191,779 Bosnian refugees abroad have signed up to vote in the September elections. The largest group is 73,228 people in Germany, followed by 23,912 in rump Yugoslavia and smaller numbers elsewhere from Sweden and Switzerland to Japan and New Caledonia. Finally, the Bosnian government unemployment office said that the job situation has reached a "critical point," with 850,000 people across Bosnia-Herzegovina seeking work, Oslobodjenje noted. -- Patrick Moore
[12] REHN IN MONTENEGRO.
Elisabeth Rehn, UN special human rights envoy, arrived in the rump Yugoslavia
republic on 6 August for a series of meetings, including President Momir
Bulatovic and the interior and justice ministers, AFP reported. Rehn is also
to meet with rights groups, and the local branch of the Helsinki Committee to
present the envoy with some 40 reports detailing the condition of human rights
in the republic. In other news, Nasa Borba on 7 August reported that less
than a quarter, or 2,934 out of about 13,500 Bosnian refugees and displaced
persons in Montenegro have registered or signaled an intent to vote in the 14
September elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina. -- Stan Markotich
[13] ARKAN HOLDS PARADE IN KOSOVO.
Serb paramilitary leader and indicted felon and accused war criminal Zeljko
"Arkan" Raznjatovic held a parade with his paramilitary group, the Arkan
Tigers, in Pristina and Podujevo, QIK reported on 5 August. The visit followed
the bombing of three police stations in those cities on 2 August and
apparently was intended to intimidate the Albanian population there. Nobody
has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] ROMANIAN IFOR SOLDIER WOUNDED IN BOSNIA.
A Romanian soldier serving with the NATO IFOR forces in Bosnia was wounded as
his vehicle slipped on mud into a mined area, an RFE/RL correspondent in
Bucharest reported on 6 August. The incident took place near Maglaj and the
soldier was airlifted to a German field hospital near Split. The Romanian
defense ministry said the soldier underwent surgery and is under observation. -
- Michael Shafir
[15] MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION PARTIES THROW SUPPORT BEHIND INCUMBENT.
Two major opposition formations, the Popular Front Christian Democratic (FPCD)
and the Alliance of Democratic Forces (AFD), on 5 August decided to back
incumbent President Mircea Snegur in the presidential race scheduled for mid-
November, Moldovan agencies reported. In separate statements, they said that
the candidate of the Moldovan Agrarian Democratic Party, Prime Minister
Andrei Sangheli, intends to lead Moldova "irreversibly" into the CIS
political-military structures and "restore the Soviet empire." They also state
that Snegur will "start actions meant to integrate Moldova into NATO
structures." The FPCD, which promotes reunification with Romania, said it will
render assistance to Snegur to include in the pending friendship treaty with
Romania "economic integration" of the two countries, the condemnation of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, and including in the constitution provisions geared
at eliminating "primitive Moldovanism." Reuters reported that an aide to
Mircea Snegur, Victor Josu, said the president plans to strike an alliance
with the Popular Front Christian Democratic Party (FPCD) but will resist any
moves by the FPCD to promote unification with Romania. Josu said Snegur
"insists on full Moldovan independence" and his alliance with the FPCD is
confined to the electoral campaign alone. -- Michael Shafir
[16] MOLDOVAN COMMUNIST LEADER FAVORS ABOLITION OF PRESIDENCY.
In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Vladimir Voronin said he believes
the next president of the country, to be elected in November, must also be its
last. The Moldovan Communist Party (PCM) leader said that upon his election,
the president should dissolve the parliament and abolish "the institution
visibly imposed on Moldova from outside," BASA-Press reported on 6 August. --
Michael Shafir
[17] BULGARIAN CHIEF OF STAFF SAYS MILITARY COUP NOT IMMINENT.
Col.-Gen. Tsvetan Totomirov on 7 August told Standart that "as long as I am
chief of general staff, the army will fulfill its duties . . . and will not be
involved in solving domestic political problems." Totomirov responded to
rumors that a military coup is possible in the fall if social and economic
problems lead to unrest. He said people using the word coup do not realize
that the problems created by a coup are bigger and more dangerous than the
ones it solves. Prime Minister Zhan Videnov reportedly held a secret meeting
with high military in July to find out whether they would support him in the
case of a military coup. Under the Bulgarian Constitution, the president is
the commander-in chief of the armed forces. -- Stefan Krause
[18] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS CONTINUE FEUD.
Prime Minister Zhan Videnov, in an open letter on 6 August to Duma Editor-in-
chief Stefan Prodev, asked whether Andrey Raychev and Andrey Bundzhulov should
be expelled from the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP). The two are leading
members of the Association for a Social Democracy (OSD), a faction within the
BSP which in July had asked for Videnov's replacement as prime minister and
BSP chairman. Videnov accused Raychev of waging a campaign against him and the
BSP in the weekly magazine Sega, which Raychev publishes. In other news,
tests began on 5 August at Reactor no. 1 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant
to determine the strength of the reactor's metal core, AFP reported. Reactor
no. 1 was shut down on 15 May, but the other five reactors at Kozloduy are
still running. -- Stefan Krause
[19] ALBANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEFS APPEALS TURNED DOWN BY TIRANA COURT.
A Tirana court on 6 August turned down the appeals of the Tirana and
Durres Communist party chiefs Pirro Kondi and Qirjako Mihali. The two were
sentenced to 17 years in prison on 12 June for sending dissidents into
internal exile. The court, however, reduced the 15-year term of Shkoder party
chief Sulejman Bushati to a suspended five-year term, Reuters reported. --
Fabian Schmidt
[20] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION REFUSES NEW ELECTORAL COMMISSION.
Nine opposition parties on 6 August issued a declaration saying that they
would not participate in an electoral commission that was decreed by President
Sali Berisha on 3 August. The parties claimed that such an electoral
commission would not be based on a proper legal framework that would define
its functions and control mechanisms, Gazeta Shqiptare reported on 7 August.
The opposition now demands a political dialogue in the form of a round-table
to solve the dispute. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Pete Baumgartner
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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