Voice of America, 99-10-11

Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] KOSOVO - WINTER BY LAURIE KASSMAN (CABRA, KOSOVO)

[02] E-U / MINISTERS (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

[03] E-U MINISTERS / SERBIA (S) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

[04] E-U / ISRAEL (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

[05] SAF / E-U (L ONLY) BY ALEX BELIDA (JOHANNESBURG)

[06] IRAN / GERMANY (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (CAIRO)

[07] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

[01] KOSOVO - WINTER BY LAURIE KASSMAN (CABRA, KOSOVO)

INTRO: The international community is racing against the clock to provide shelter for homeless Kosovars as the temperature starts to drop and the cold of winter sets in. The U-N High Commissioner for Refugees - the U-N-H-C-R - estimates that more than 50 thousand houses were totally destroyed by the Serb offensives and during the Nato bombings. Emergency efforts focus on providing at least one dry room until houses can be rebuilt next spring. V-O-A Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from the village of Cabra (Joh bra) in northern Kosovo on what's being done.

TEXT: The mountain village of Zatric (ZAH TRICH), in western Kosovo, was badly shelled during a Serb offensive a year ago, but the walls of most houses there are still standing. So a German aid group is distributing wood, plastic and tools to put up temporary roofs on the sturdier buildings.

U-N-H-C-R spokesman Philippe Lamair says it is not possible to rebuild the estimated 50 thousand destroyed houses of Kosovo before the cold weather sets in. But he says bureaucratic snags and border traffic delayed the program for several months. Now, Mr. Lamair says it's a race against the clock and the weather to provide immediate shelter for nearly 400 thousand homeless Kosovars.

[02] E-U / MINISTERS (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

INTRO: European Union (E-U) foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg, have approved pilot projects to help two opposition-run towns in eastern Serbia meet their energy needs. V-O-A correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Luxembourg that the ministers made the decision despite a boycott of their meeting by many invited opposition figures.

TEXT: It was not the picture the European Union foreign ministers wanted. They invited leading Serbian opposition figures to Luxembourg to unveil a limited lifting of their energy embargo against two opposition-run towns. The towns of Nis and Pirot in eastern Serbia will get oil deliveries for the winter, but leading opposition political figures stayed away. Vuk Obradovic did attend the meeting with the foreign ministers, but in his capacity as head of the Social Democrats, not as a representative of the Alliance for Change, the major opposition group (to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic). Others remained in Belgrade objecting to the ministers' statement as it was drafted and then adopted here. That statement calls for full cooperation with the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is one of those indicted by the Tribunal. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook accuses President Milosevic of intimidating those Serbs who stayed home.

[03] E-U MINISTERS / SERBIA (S) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

INTRO: E-U foreign ministers -- meeting in Luxembourg have approved pilot projects to help two opposition-run towns in Serbia with their energy needs. V-O-A Correspondent Ron Pemstein in Luxembourg reports the foreign ministers took the decision despite a boycott of their meeting by many invited opposition figures.

TEXT: Of the 29 Serbian opposition figures invited to meet E-U foreign ministers, fewer than half made the trip to Luxembourg. The foreign ministers went ahead with their plan to end the E-U oil embargo against two opposition-run towns in eastern Serbia. The two, Nis and Pirot, will receive heavy oil for heating, and diesel oil from the European Union to help them through the winter. If the pilot project is successful and the oil does not leak from the municipalities to the federal or republic governments, the E-U foreign ministers plan to loosen their oil embargo for other opposition-run towns in Serbia. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook put the best face on the Serbian boycott. He accuses Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of intimidating the Serbs who refused to come to Luxembourg. The European Union calls for Serbs to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. The tribunal has already indicted President Milosevic.

[04] E-U / ISRAEL (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (LUXEMBOURG)

INTRO: E-U foreign ministers have met with Israel's Foreign Minister David Levy in Luxembourg. Correspondent Ron Pemstein in Luxembourg reports the Israeli official and the E-U foreign ministers disagree about several matters, including Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

TEXT: The election of Prime Minister Ehud Barak may have eased tensions between the European Union and Israel, but it has not removed European concerns about Jewish settlement building in territories disputed by the Palestinians. Israeli foreign minister David Levy had what was called a friendly luncheon with E-U foreign ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg. He told them the settlement building is legal because the previous government of Benjamin Netanyahu approved it. Finnish Foreign Minister Tarja Harlonen, speaking for the European Union, says the legality of the settlement activity is not the issue.

[05] SAF / E-U (L ONLY) BY ALEX BELIDA (JOHANNESBURG)

INTRO: South Africa and the European Union have signed a far-reaching free-trade agreement after resolving a last-minute dispute over product names. Correspondent Alex Belida reports from Johannesburg.

TEXT: The deal is important for South Africa, lifting tariffs on 90-percent of its exports to member countries of the European Union, as well as tariffs on most future European exports to South Africa. But years of negotiations nearly came unstuck amid last-minute European demands for further guarantees related to South Africa's pledge to phase out the use of such traditional terms as "port" and "sherry" to describe some of its wine and spirit products. European producers have demanded exclusivity in the use of such names, arguing they can be applied only to products from particular areas. South Africa's ambassador to the European Union is quoted as saying his country did not give in to the last-minute European demands, but has agreed to a further dialogue on the issue. South African President Thabo Mbeki welcomed the signing but not until after criticizing the European Union for what he characterized as shameless selfishness. For his part, South African Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin condemned the European Union effort to introduce new conditions on the eve of the signing ceremony as -- disgraceful. The deal is to be implemented starting next year. Current two-way trade between South Africa and the E-U is estimated in value at more than 17-billion dollars a year. (SIGNED)
NEB/BEL/JWH/RAE 11-Oct-1999 11:27 AM EDT (11-Oct-1999 1527 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

[06] IRAN / GERMANY (L) BY SCOTT BOBB (CAIRO)

INTRO: A court in Iran has handed down a verdict in the lengthy trial of a German businessman accused of having improper relations with an Iranian woman. However, the lawyer for the businessman says it does not appear his client will be released any time soon, as we hear from V-O-A Correspondent Scott Bobb at our Middle East Bureau in Cairo.

TEXT: The lawyer for German businessman Helmut Hofer says bureaucratic complications have prevented the release of his client and new allegations mean he could face yet another trial. The lawyer, Nasser Taheri, told reporters in Tehran Monday the Iranian judge had ordered Mr. Hofer to pay a fine of 100 million rials, the equivalent of 35 thousand dollars. This sentence replaced an earlier penalty of 99 lashes and he said his client was prepared to pay the fine. However Mr. Taheri said it now appears Mr. Hofer will stay in jail because of allegations of suspicious contacts, a term often used by Iranian authorities to mean spying. These charges reportedly must be investigated by another court. The German businessman was arrested more than two years ago on charges of engaging in an adulterous relationship with an Iranian student. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but that penalty was overturned last February by a judge who ordered a retrial. The trial is one of several court cases that have strained relations between Iran and Germany, one of Iran's major European trading partners. In 1997, a German court implicated senior members of the Iranian leadership in an attack on a Berlin restaurant five years before in which four Iranian Kurds were killed. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/GE/JP 11-Oct-1999 11:44 AM EDT (11-Oct-1999 1544 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

[07] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

INTRO: Stock prices in the United States were mixed today (Monday) in lackluster trading, although technology stocks were strong and the NASDAQ index closed at a record high. V-O-A Business Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from New York.

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 10- thousand-648, down one point. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed at 13-hundred-34, down one point. But the NASDAQ index closed at a record-high 29- hundred-16, up 29 points. Although many technology stocks were strong, overall trading volume was light. The bond market was closed because of the Columbus Day holiday in the United States, and many stock market traders took the day off as well.

Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article