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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 169, 96-08-30
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 169, 30 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] CONFUSION OVER GERMAN STANCE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH.
[02] KARIMOV ON HUMAN RIGHTS, OPPOSITION.
[03] BORDER GUARD OFFICERS CONFER.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] CONTROVERSY MOUNTS OVER BOSNIAN VOTE.
[05] NATO HOLDS 65 SERBIAN POLICEMEN AFTER SHOOTINGS.
[06] VOTERS IN SERBIA STAY AWAY FROM POLLING STATIONS.
[07] KORNBLUM MEETS WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
[08] SECRET TALKS BETWEEN KOSOVO ALBANIANS, SERBIAN GOVERNMENT.
[09] LIGHTNING KILLS NINE OUTSIDE MACEDONIAN CHURCH.
[10] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER IN MACEDONIA.
[11] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS TO DISCUSS TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
[12] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC IN ROMANIA.
[13] GROWING TENSION IN EASTERN MOLDOVA.
[14] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
[15] BREAK-THROUGH IN ALBANIAN POLITICAL DEADLOCK?
[16] ALBANIAN MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISTS RANSACK ORTHODOX CHURCH.
[17] GREEK-ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] CONFUSION OVER GERMAN STANCE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH.
The German Embassy in Yerevan on 28 August condemned what it described as the
misinterpretation of statements made by Germany's OSCE Minsk Group
representative, Ambassador Frank Lambach, during an early August meeting with
Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev in Baku, Noyan Tapan reported on 29 August.
On 23 August, the Information Department of the self-proclaimed Republic of
Nagorno-Karabakh (RNK) accused Lambach of exhibiting pro-Azerbaijani bias in
statements he had made about the possible future status of the RNK. The German
Embassy said that Lambach's words had been misquoted and "had evoked fair
criticism" from Armenia, according to Noyan Tapan. Meanwhile, Gerard
Liparitian, special adviser to Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan, met
this week in Germany with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Vafa Gulu-zade, to
discuss the Karabakh issue before flying to Ankara for a two-day working
visit. -- Liz Fuller
[02] KARIMOV ON HUMAN RIGHTS, OPPOSITION.
Speaking to parliament on 29 August, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said his
government is committed to boosting cooperation with international human
rights organizations, Reuters reported the same day. In the speech that marked
the country's fifth year of independence, Karimov praised the republic's
political stability and added that there is a need for political "alternatives"
as long as they are "constructive." -- Lowell Bezanis
[03] BORDER GUARD OFFICERS CONFER.
Senior border guard officers from Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan, and Russia agreed in Moscow on 29 August to take "additional
measures" to defend the Tajik-Afghan border, ITAR-TASS reported the same day.
Russia appears to be strengthening the hand of its border troops in Tajikistan
in order to face down some 1,000 armed Tajik rebels who are reportedly ready
enter Tajikistan from Afghanistan. The presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan
have both voiced their concern over the increase in tension along the border
and have called on the Tajik government and opposition to resolve the
conflict. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] CONTROVERSY MOUNTS OVER BOSNIAN VOTE.
The two largest Muslim parties are still threatening to boycott the 14
September elections, despite the OSCE's agreeing to their demand that the
municipal vote be postponed. The governing Party of Democratic Action and the
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina remain concerned about massive voter
registration fraud by the Serbs, AFP reported on 30 August. The anti-
nationalist Republican Party, led by prominent Croatian politician Stjepan
Kljuic, called for the abolition of the practice of allowing people to
register in any area except where they used to live, Oslobodjenje reported.
Pale's Serbian Democratic Party, however, seems to have decided to ignore the
OSCE ruling and will go ahead with its own municipal ballot on schedule,
Tanjug noted on 29 August. The leading party among the Croats, the Croatian
Democratic Community, has also condemned the OSCE's decision, Onasa reported. -
- Patrick Moore.
[05] NATO HOLDS 65 SERBIAN POLICEMEN AFTER SHOOTINGS.
IFOR troops on 29 August arrested and disarmed a contingent of Bosnian Serb
police in the village of Mahala, near Zvornik. The Serbs had fired on two
dozen elderly and middle-aged Muslims who had returned to rebuild their homes
after four years in exile, the BBC and AFP reported the next day. Ten Muslims
were injured, and some of their fellows pelted the arrested Serbs with stones.
In Zvornik itself, an angry and increasingly drunken crowd surrounded a UN
police office and trapped six people inside while attacking and destroying
several UN vehicles. NATO ground forces commander Gen. Sir Michael Walker then
released the 65 Serbs and the mob in Zvornik dispersed. Walker took the
weapons to Bosnian Serb acting President Biljana Plavsic in Banja Luka. --
Patrick Moore
[06] VOTERS IN SERBIA STAY AWAY FROM POLLING STATIONS.
Refugees registered to vote in the 14 September Bosnian elections have stayed
away from polling stations in Serbia for a second consecutive day, AFP
reported on 29 August. According to official statistics, approximately 85,000
refugees have registered to vote in Serbia. But only one of the four polling
stations in Belgrade reported activity by midday--and that was the arrival of
one voter. It seems that voter apathy, however, is not the reason. Beta
reported that voters were encountering a number of "technical difficulties."
In Leskovac, for example, a number of voters complained they had not received
ballot papers. -- Stan Markotich
[07] KORNBLUM MEETS WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT.
U.S. envoy John Kornblum met for three hours with Slobodan Milosevic on 29
August to discuss the 14 September Bosnian elections. Kornblum said after the
meeting that "we discussed the decision to postpone the municipal elections,
and I made clear it was primarily the manipulation of voter registration by
the Republika Srpska which led to this development," Reuters reported. The
U.S. envoy gave no indication of whether Milosevic would support efforts to
remedy abuses in the electoral process. -- Stan Markotich
[08] SECRET TALKS BETWEEN KOSOVO ALBANIANS, SERBIAN GOVERNMENT.
Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo Fehmi Agani and head of the
Albanian Education Trade Union Agim Hyseni have held secret talks with the
Serbian government on the readmission of ethnic Albanian students to secondary
school, Nasa Borba reported on 30 August. The dialog, which is reported to
have begun under international mediation, may lead to resuming Albanian-
language education for some 300,000 students who have been taught at private
shadow state schools since the abolition of autonomy in Kosovo in 1989. It is
unclear, however, whether any results have yet been achieved. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[09] LIGHTNING KILLS NINE OUTSIDE MACEDONIAN CHURCH.
Nine people were killed and 41 seriously injured on 29 August when lightning
struck outside an Orthodox church in the east Macedonian town of Berovo, Nova
Makedonija reported. Around 10-15,000 people were celebrating Assumption Day
outside the Church of the Holy Virgin when a thunderstorm struck Berovo.
Witnesses said that first aid units found it difficult to access the site
because panic broke out and people blocked the streets. An ambulance driver
said it took him 35 minutes to drive 3 kilometers from the hospital to the
Church. Eyewitnesses also noted that the police failed to properly organize
the rescue of the injured. -- Stefan Krause
[10] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTER IN MACEDONIA.
Hasan Muratovic arrived in Skopje on 29 August for a two-day visit, Nova
Makedonija and AFP reported. He met with his Macedonian counterpart, Branko
Crvenkovski, to discuss political, economic, and trade relations and regional
developments. Both sides expressed their willingness to upgrade relations to
ambassadorial level. Earlier that day, the 900 Bosnian refugees in Macedonia
who are registered for the upcoming Bosnian elections started casting their
ballots. In other news, the Turkish-Macedonian Joint Commission for Economic
Cooperation held its first session on 28-29 August in the Turkish city of
Izmir. The commission decided to give priority to setting up a joint Turkish-
Macedonian bank. -- Stefan Krause
[11] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS TO DISCUSS TREATY WITH HUNGARY.
President Ion Iliescu on 29 August met with leaders of all parliamentary
parties to discuss the Romanian-Hungarian basic treaty, Romanian and Western
media reported. The treaty is due to be signed next month. Most politicians
expressed support for the treaty, but nationalist and neo-communist leaders
reiterated their criticism of the document, which they perceive as a threat to
Romania's territorial integrity. Gheorghe Funar, leader of the chauvinistic
Party of Romanian National Unity, repeated his remark that the treaty is "an
act of national treason." Adrian Paunescu, first deputy chairman of the
Socialist Labor Party, described it as a "capitulation" to Hungarian and
Western pressure. Bela Marko, chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Federation
of Romania, noted that the treaty was offering less than Romania's ethnic
Hungarians had expected. -- Dan Ionescu
[12] MENINGITIS EPIDEMIC IN ROMANIA.
Romania is facing the biggest epidemic of meningitis and meningo-encephalitis
since 1986, Romanian and Western media reported. There are currently 179
registered cases, of which 136 are in Bucharest. Ten people have died since
early August. The Health Ministry advised the population to avoid unfamiliar
sources of water and food. In a separate development, Daniela Bartos, the new
health minister, announced that the budgetary allocation for the health care
system has been increased by 249 billion lei (some $78 million). According to
Bartos, this will allow "moderate investment" in the country's ailing medical
sector. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] GROWING TENSION IN EASTERN MOLDOVA.
The Security Ministry of the self-declared Dniester Moldovan republic has said
it is prepared to "oppose an attack by the enemy," BASA-press reported on 29
August . The statement comes after weeks of tension over the status of the
town of Bendery (Tighina), located on the Western bank of the Dniester river.
The town has both a Moldovan and a Dniester police force. Tom Zenovich, head
of the town's administration, was quoted as saying he did not exclude the
resumption of the armed conflict in the region. He added that the
deteriorating situation was related to the forthcoming presidential elections
in both the Republic of Moldova and the Dniester region. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] BULGARIAN ROUNDUP.
Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov on 29 August said he cannot promise that there
will be no electricity rationing during the winter, Demokratsiya reported.
He noted that if tests at Reactor No. 1 at the Kozloduy nuclear power facility
are not finished soon, the reactor will be unable to go back on line for the
winter season. Ovcharov said electricity prices will probably not be raised by
more than 5-10% before the end of the year. In Sofia, street-lighting will be
turned off until the city pays its 30 million leva ($149,000) debts to the
state electricity company. In other news, the Supreme Court will rule on 2
September against the Central Electoral Commission's refusal to register the
Socialist presidential and vice presidential candidates--Foreign Minister
Georgi Pirinski and Culture Minister Ivan Marazov, Duma reported. According
to Standart, the Socialists are already looking for new candidates. --
Stefan Krause
[15] BREAK-THROUGH IN ALBANIAN POLITICAL DEADLOCK?
The ruling Democrats and the opposition on 29 August agreed that the election
laws need reviewing and that dialogue is essential, Reuters reported. The
talks, organized by the U.S. International Republican Institute, focused on 31
recommendations made by the institute following Albania's disputed
parliamentary elections in May. Topics covered included the role of the media,
election administration, and election-day procedures. There was, however, no
compromise in sight on the composition of the election commissions, a key
issue for upcoming local elections. -- Fabian Schmidt
[16] ALBANIAN MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALISTS RANSACK ORTHODOX CHURCH.
Muslim fundamentalists are suspected of having destroyed large parts of
Voskopoja's 18th-century Saint Nicholas Church, Zeri i Popullit reported on
28 August. In what is the first religious-motivated case of vandalism since
the end of communism, the culprits--reportedly Muslim pupils encouraged by
Arab teachers--destroyed 23 frescoes. Police found inscriptions such as "Allah
Is Great" on the walls. The head of Albania's Muslim community, Hafiz Sabri
Koci, denounced the destruction as an attack against religious tolerance in
Albania. Meanwhile, the Albanian Helsinki Human Rights Committee has sharply
criticized the activities of Arab foundations in Albania, saying they are
offering money to poor families and then manipulating their children in
religious courses, international agencies reported. -- Fabian Schmidt
[17] GREEK-ALBANIAN ROUNDUP.
Theodoros Pangalos arrives in Albania today, Reuters reported. He is scheduled
to attend the inauguration of a Greek consulate in Gjirokastra and to meet
with his Albanian counterpart, Tritan Shehu, and President Sali Berisha in
Vlora. The Albanian government on 26 August agreed to increase the number of
Greek-language classes in secondary[18]
schools. Greek-language elementary schools also opened for this new school
year in three towns. In other news, the Albanian government on 28 August asked
Greece to explain an increasing number of deportations of Albanian immigrants,
Reuters reported. Greece deported about 5,000 Albanians within five days.
Elsewhere, the Albanian Orthodox church has sent a letter to Constantinople
protesting the appointment of ethnic Greek Bishops to Albania as interference
in the Albanian Church's internal affairs, Albania reported on 28 August. --
Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Jan Cleave
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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