Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-03-27

Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory

From: ddc@nyquist.bellcore.com (D.D. Chukurov)

Yugoslav Daily Survey

27 March 1996

CONTENTS

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - IMF

[01] PLATFORM SET FOR YUGOSLAVIA-IMF TALKS

[02] AVRAMOVIC CALLS FOR UNFREEZING YUGOSLAV ACCOUNTS IN U.S. BANKS

[B] YUGOSLAVIA - SOUTH AFRICA

[03] DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION

[C] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[04] KASAGIC CONFERS WITH SMITH

[05] DEMARCATION IN BRCKO AREA IMPORTANT FOR SERBS

[06] SERBS, CROATS AGREE ON RELEASE OF PRISONERS IN BOSNIA, CROATIA

[07] RS ASKS REHN TO RESOLVE ISSUE OF MISSING PERSONS AND PRISONERS

[08] A THIRD BANJALUKA'S POPULATION ARE REFUGEES

[A] YUGOSLAVIA - IMF

[01] PLATFORM SET FOR YUGOSLAVIA-IMF TALKS

Ahead of his heading a Yugoslav delegation to Paris for talks with the IMF and the World Bank March 27 - April 3, Avramovic underscored that Yugoslavia's accepting this quota marked the beginning of negotiations on the renewal of its relations with the world's leading financial institutions.

He said that the Federal Government had ironed out the differences regarding a platform for talks with the IMF, while the Yugoslav delegation's goal was 'to have the repayment of debts postponed and to obtain money.'

Avramovic stressed that Yugoslavia was not in a situation to agree to repay debts until after it solved its other outstanding problems and normalized relations with international financial institutions.

[02] AVRAMOVIC CALLS FOR UNFREEZING YUGOSLAV ACCOUNTS IN U.S. BANKS

Avramovic made the call Monday during talks with a visiting delegation of leading U.S. banks and other financial institutions. The U.S. delegation said that the issue would be resolved once the former Yugoslav republics settled their relations.

U.S. banking officials showed understanding for Yugoslavia's problem of lack of working capital needed for financing domestic production and exports and for development. The delegation said that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should speedily be reintegrated into the International Monetary Fund, the statement said.

Avramovic informed his guests that Yugoslavia had overcome its deepest crisis by implementing a programme of economic recovery and said that it was now implementing the second phase of the programme aimed at opening the country's economy, increasing exports, allocating resources and removing administrative controls.

[B] YUGOSLAVIA - SOUTH AFRICA

[03] DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION

Bulajic welcomed the development of bilateral relations in political, diplomatic and economic fields agreed during the visit, Yugoslav Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In addition to promoting diplomatic relations, Yugoslav Foreign Ministry and South African delegation also agreed to simplify the procedure for issuing visas and signed agreements on trade, economic cooperation, scientific and technical cooperation and transports.

South African delegation headed by the Deputy Director General in the Foreign Ministry Teboho Denis Mafole arrived in Belgrade Sunday at the invitation of Yugoslav Foreign Ministry.

[C] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[04] KASAGIC CONFERS WITH SMITH

After the meeting, Smith said that IFOR would act in line with the Dayton accord and patrol roads and areas in which weapons are stored and troops stationed.

Their talks also dealt with the safety of expert civilian agencies working in establishing truth on alleged mass grave sites in the territory of the Republika Srpska. Kasagic told journalists that he had urged Smith that the issue of alleged mass grave sites be resolved in entire Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia and that the work be done by expert teams in order to establish truth.

[05] DEMARCATION IN BRCKO AREA IMPORTANT FOR SERBS

Kasagic discussed the delicate issue of the corridor in northern Bosnia, which should connect the eastern and western part of the Serb entity, with U.N. Special Envoy Iqbal Riza at Pale Tuesday.

The Dayton accord stipulates that the issue of the corridor near the northern Bosnian town of Brcko should be settled by international arbitration.

The Special Envoy of the U.N. Secretary-General said that the issue of Brcko was delicate but that he was confident that neither side wanted to resume war. Riza also said that tensions which can trigger off conflicts would exist until the creation of maintainable political structures.

[06] SERBS, CROATS AGREE ON RELEASE OF PRISONERS IN BOSNIA, CROATIA

Krajisnik and Zubak, who met Tuesday at Pale, to confer about the implementation of the Moscow accord on the release of prisoners - made it clear that a 48-hour deadline for setting the prisoners free pertained also to those held in Croatia.

Pursuant to the accord reached at the Contact Group ministerial meeting in Moscow on Saturday, the three Bosnian parties should free all prisoners by March 30.

Krajisnik said that the Pale accord on Tuesday actually started the implementation of what was agreed to this effect by the Foreign Ministers of the R.S. and Croatia, Aleksa Buha and Mate Granic.

On Monday, the Bosnian Croat force released ten R.S. Army members, while it still held 41 more Serbs in detention.

The R.S. authorities still hold 28 prisoners of war.

As the R.S. authorities estimate, around 90 Serbs now are in jails in Croatia.

The Bosnian Muslim authorities on the night between Saturday and Sunday released 109 Serbs and were still holding 25 Serb prisoners.

[07] RS ASKS REHN TO RESOLVE ISSUE OF MISSING PERSONS AND PRISONERS

The President of the R.S. State Commission for Prisoner Exchange, Dragan Bulajic, said during a meeting with Rehn at Pale, that non-registration of prisoners of war was a flagrant violation of human rights.

Bulajic said that nothing was known about the fate of 2,000 Serbs reported missing after the Croat-Muslim aggression against Serb territories in western Bosnia last autumn but that there were indications that about 200 R.S. Army soldiers were held in prisons in Croatia.

[08] A THIRD BANJALUKA'S POPULATION ARE REFUGEES

There are 23,096 refugee households with 73,719 members in the Banjaluka area, according to a refugee census a conducted in Republika Srpska from March 1 to 8. .