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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 89, 96-05-07
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 89, 7 May 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MOSCOW UNWILLING TO HAND OVER MUTALIBOV.
[02] URANIUM SMUGGLERS APPREHENDED IN KAZAKHSTAN.
[03] KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA BANNED IN KAZAKHSTAN?
[04] MORE TERROR IN TAJIKISTAN.
[05] RAKHMONOV IN TURKEY.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] FIRST BOSNIAN WAR CRIMES TRIAL BEGINS.
[07] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC IS BEHIND BOMBINGS.
[08] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.
[09] BELGRADE-ZAGREB HIGHWAY RE-OPENS.
[10] BELGRADE PROPOSES ELECTORAL REFORM.
[11] KOSOVAR LEADER ADVOCATES CONFEDERATION WITH RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
[12] CROATIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ACCUSED OF WORKING FOR COMMUNIST SECRET POLICE.
[13] ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTION UPDATE.
[14] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA RESUME TALKS ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL.
[15] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT APPEALS FOR UNITY ON NATO MEMBERSHIP.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MOSCOW UNWILLING TO HAND OVER MUTALIBOV.
Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General Eldar Hasanov arrived in Moscow on 6 May in the
hope of expediting the extradition to Baku of former president Ayaz Mutalibov,
accused of masterminding two alleged unsuccessful coup attempts, Russian media
reported. Russian Procurator-General Yurii Skuratov told ITAR-TASS that Baku
has not yet provided the necessary evidence against Mutalibov, whose fate must
be decided by 12 May--one month after his detention in Moscow. -- Liz
Fuller
[02] URANIUM SMUGGLERS APPREHENDED IN KAZAKHSTAN.
Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained two men from Ust-Kamenogorsk, who were
in possession of more than 100 kg of low-enriched uranium-235, according to
the 5-11 May edition of Obshchaya gazeta. The two men were connected to the
Ulba holding company, which has previously sold uranium to the U.S. The
authorities recently found 4 kg of uranium, one kilogram of thorium, which can
be converted into uranium-233, and 10 kg of indium, an extremely rare element,
in a car attempting to leave the Ust-Kamenogorsk area. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA BANNED IN KAZAKHSTAN?
The Procurator-General has asked the Supreme Court to ban the Russian weekly
Komsomolskaya pravda from Kazakhstan, ITAR-TASS reported on 7 May. The
justification for the move, according to Kazakhstani officials, is that an 23
April article entitled "Conversations with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn" was a "rude
interference in the internal affairs of an independent government." The
government said that the move was prompted by a group of Kazakhstani writers. -
- Roger Kangas
[04] MORE TERROR IN TAJIKISTAN.
The 65-year-old rector of the Dushanbe Medical School, Yusuf Iskhaki, was
gunned down on 6 May near the capital, according to RFE/RL and AFP. Another
six people were killed in a separate attack on a road some 50 km outside
Dushanbe. There has been an increase in the number of violent attacks in
Tajikistan as the 26 May deadline for the ceasefire agreement to expire
approaches. -- Bruce Pannier
[05] RAKHMONOV IN TURKEY.
Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov arrived in Turkey on 5 May to sign nine
bilateral agreements, such as accords on mutual investment protection and
judicial, sports, tourism, and transport cooperation, Western and Turkish
media reported the same day. Rakhmonov's first visit to Turkey follows Turkish
President Suleyman Demirel's first trip to Tajikistan last September. To date,
Turkey has invested an estimated $150 million in Tajikistan according to AFP.
Turkey's belated expressions of interest in Tajikistan are part of its efforts
to gain credibility in Central Asia and compensate for its earlier stress on
supporting Turkish ethnicity in the region. Rakhmonov also told Demirel that
Dushanbe has definitively identified the exact location of the remains of
General Enver Pasha, the leading member of the triumvirate that effectively
ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1908 until its collapse in World War I. The
remains will be returned to Turkey. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] FIRST BOSNIAN WAR CRIMES TRIAL BEGINS.
The trial of the Bosnian Serb prison worker Dusan Tadic began at the Hague-
based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on 7 May,
international and local media reported. This is the first war crimes trial
since the ones at Nuremberg and Tokyo, and Tadic was the first indicted war
criminal to be arrested and sent to The Hague. The International Herald
Tribune the previous day quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying that
"Tadic is nothing.... It is doubtful that this trial will make much of an
impact." The man in the dock is accused of killing, raping, and torturing, but
he held no major position in either the army, the civilian apparatus, or the
concentration camp system. Many observers doubt that any major war criminals
will ever be brought to justice. -- Patrick Moore
[07] BOSNIAN SERB SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS KARADZIC IS BEHIND BOMBINGS.
The political rifts among the Bosnian Serbs continue to deepen. Dragutin Ilic,
leader of the Socialist Party, which is an ally of Serbian President Slobodan
Milosevic, accused Bosnian Serb civilian leader Radovan Karadzic of being
responsible for a campaign of violence against the opposition. Karadzic
allegedly is to blame for intimidation, bomb attacks, and sabotage in the run-
up to the September elections, Reuters quoted Tanjug as saying on 6 May.
Meanwhile, the power struggle between Karadzic and his loyalists in Pale, on
the one hand, and the Banja Luka leadership, on the other, has intensified,
AFP reported on 7 May. Banja Luka was known to the UN as "the heart of
darkness" during the war because of the Serbs' ruthlessness in conducting
"ethnic cleansing" and in destroying historical mosques. But the leadership
there has since tried to portray itself as a moderate alternative to the men
in Pale. Karadzic controls the police in Banja Luka and has used death threats
and intimidation against local leaders. Finally, the Sarajevo bi-weekly
magazine Slobodna Bosna reported that Karadzic held a secret meeting with
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in Herzegovina last week. -- Patrick Moore
[08] CROATIA CHARGES BOSNIANS WITH TERRORISM.
Croatian Public Prosecutor Drago Marcinel has formally charged five Bosnians
with planning to kill former Bihac pocket kingpin Fikret Abdic, who now lives
in Rijeka, Novi list reported on 6 May. A sixth man, a Croat, is accused of
aiding "international terrorism." The prosecutor said that they were acting on
orders from Bihac state security chief Ejub Ikic and were promised DM 100,000
for the murder. The Bosnian authorities have repeatedly denied the accusations
and suggested that the Croats and Abdic manufactured the incident as a
publicity stunt to promote Abdic's political comeback. -- Patrick
Moore
[09] BELGRADE-ZAGREB HIGHWAY RE-OPENS.
Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic has announced that the main highway
between Belgrade and Zagreb will be re-opened for civilian traffic on 7 May,
Nasa Borba reported. The highway was closed to private vehicles in 1991 when
the war broke out. The re-opening marks the beginning of concrete efforts
aimed at the peaceful reintegration of the Serb-held areas of eastern Slavonia,
Baranja, and western Srijem into Croatia. The Adriatic pipeline is also
expected to be re-opened soon. Meanwhile, the Croatian government on 6 May
adopted a program of peaceful reintegration, Hina reported. It also approved
a law granting an amnesty to rebel Serbs in Eastern Slavonia who committed
criminal offenses other than war crimes. The law is scheduled to take effect
by 15 July. U.S. Gen. Jacques Klein, the UN transitional administrator for
eastern Slavonia, also attended the session and said later that the
reintegration of occupied areas could be expected to be completed by mid-1997.
-- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] BELGRADE PROPOSES ELECTORAL REFORM.
The ruling Socialist Party of Serbia has proposed legislative amendments
increasing the number of federal electoral districts to 27 in Serbia and 12 in
Montenegro and stipulating that each party gain a minimum of 25% of the vote
in a district to qualify for parliamentary representation, Tanjug reported.
Under existing legislation, a party needs to win only 5% of the vote to hold a
seat. Opposition parties allege that the amendments are designed to keep them
out of office and will benefit the SPS and its allies. -- Stan Markotich
[11] KOSOVAR LEADER ADVOCATES CONFEDERATION WITH RUMP YUGOSLAVIA.
Adem Demaci, head of the Kosovo Human Rights Council, has said that it is
"imperative" for the Kosovar leadership to open talks with Serbia and
Montenegro on forming a "confederal Balkan community" in the event that Kosovo
gains independence. He pointed out that the recent outbreak of violence in the
region shows the need for urgent talks, adding that "We have to do all we can
to prevent an escalation [of the conflict]." Demaci also called on the
international community to force Belgrade to the negotiating table. He
rejected the idea of autonomy for Kosovo, AFP reported on 6 May. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[12] CROATIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ACCUSED OF WORKING FOR COMMUNIST SECRET POLICE.
Vjesnik, the official mouthpiece of the ruling Croatian Democratic Community,
has accused human rights activist Ivan Zvonimir Cicak of working for the
former Yugoslav secret police after 1966. The Croatian Journalists Association,
the Croatian PEN Center, and all non-government organizations and media have
protested the accusation. Cicak was imprisoned by the former Yugoslav regime
for alleged Croatian nationalist activities. The Vjesnik article is seen as
part of an ongoing campaign against opposition figures in Croatia. -- Daria
Sito Sucic
[13] ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTION UPDATE.
Opposition leaders have accused the ruling Party of Social Democracy in
Romania of setting up bureaucratic hurdles to prevent opposition candidates
from registering for the 2 June local elections, Romanian media reported.
Ziua quoted a representative of the Liberal Party '93 as saying that some
election officials have illegally demanded police clearance from candidates to
discourage them from taking part in the elections. Harassment and intimidation
of candidates have also been reported. In a separate development, the BBC
rejected accusations by Chamber of Deputies Chairman Adrian Nastase that it is
meddling in the Romanian election campaign by openly favoring the opposition.
Nastase has asked the National Audio-Visual Council, the country's media
watchdog, to investigate BBC reporting practices. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] MOLDOVA, RUSSIA RESUME TALKS ON TROOP WITHDRAWAL.
Talks between Moldova and Russia on the withdrawal of Russian troops in
Moldova's breakaway Dniester region resumed in Chisinau on 6 May, Moldovan and
international agencies reported. Defense and Foreign Ministry officials took
part in the negotiations, which have been deadlocked since February 1995.
Meanwhile, Yurii Karlov, the Russian presidential special envoy to the
Chisinau-Tiraspol talks, told Moldovan President Mircea Snegur that Boris
Yeltsin firmly intends to abide by the 1992 Moldovan-Russian agreement ending
the military conflict in the region. He added that Yeltsin will consider
signing an interim document stipulating the basic principles of a conflict
settlement that provides for Moldova's territorial integrity. -- Matyas
Szabo
[15] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT APPEALS FOR UNITY ON NATO MEMBERSHIP.
Zhelyu Zhelev--speaking at a military parade on 6 May, which is St. George's
Day in Bulgaria--appealed to the public to support the idea of Bulgaria's
joining NATO, Bulgarian media reported. He noted that NATO membership is "one
issue that should not prove divisive" but, on the contrary, should "unite us."
Zhelev also said that NATO membership "would increase our chances of solving
national security problems." The government, led by the Bulgarian Socialist
Party (BSP), seems to be in favor of closer ties to Moscow, which is against
NATO expansion. -- Stan Markotich
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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