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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 93, 96-05-14
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 93, 14 May 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MUTALIBOV NOT TO BE EXTRADITED.
[02] TAJIK GOVERNMENT CLAIMS TO HAVE HALTED REBEL ADVANCE.
[03] DEMONSTRATIONS IN NORTH TAJIKISTAN.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] WHO ARE THE SEVEN MYSTERIOUS BOSNIAN MUSLIMS?
[05] ROW OVER ELECTION TIMING IN BOSNIA.
[06] UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES WARNS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IS RESTRICTED.
[07] RUMP YUGOSLAV BANK GOVERNOR SURVIVES CONFIDENCE VOTE . . .
[08] . . . BUT FOR HOW LONG?
[09] SERBIA DOES NOT ALLOW RETURN OF DEAD REFUGEES' BODIES.
[10] BRITISH DIPLOMAT CALLS FOR KOSOVO TALKS.
[11] ILLEGAL PHONE-TAPPING SCANDAL IN ROMANIA.
[12] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS OPPOSITION MOTION.
[13] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST PARTY PLENUM SUPPORTS STRUCTURAL REFORM.
[14] UPDATE ON BULGARIA'S FINANCIAL CRISIS.
[15] AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ALBANIA'S EUROPEAN
INTEGRATION.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] MUTALIBOV NOT TO BE EXTRADITED.
Former Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov was released from custody in
Moscow on 13 May after one month of detention, Russian media reported. The
Azerbaijani authorities' request that he be extradited to face charges of
organizing mass disorder and attempting to seize power in Azerbaijan has been
rejected by the Russian Procurator-General's Office due to a lack of
sufficient evidence. -- Liz Fuller
[02] TAJIK GOVERNMENT CLAIMS TO HAVE HALTED REBEL ADVANCE.
The Tajik government says that its troops have stopped the advance of
opposition forces in the Tavil-Dara area, ITAR-TASS and Reuters reported. In
this latest round of attacks, the rebel forces were able to capture the town
of Tavil-Dara itself, which was confirmed by sources within the Tajik
government, according to the ITAR-TASS report. The same report claims that the
Tajik government is "fully resolved to regain their positions and dislodge
opposition militants" from the area. Russian soldiers of the 201st Motorized
Battalion have been put on high alert, but this action may be due to
statements from the commander of the Russian border guards, Pavel Tarasenko,
who told NTV on 13 May that between 2,500-3,000 opposition fighters have
recently massed along border areas with Afghanistan. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] DEMONSTRATIONS IN NORTH TAJIKISTAN.
At least 6,000 people in Northern Tajikistan rallied on 13 May demanding
better living conditions, RFE/RL reported. The demonstration was begun the
previous day by about 250 people. The crowd is demanding more reliable
supplies of food, equal distribution of humanitarian aid and recognition of
the Khojent region as a free economic zone. The most recent reports make no
mention of any violence. ITAR-TASS reports that similar rallies were held in
Tursun Zade and Kurgan-Tyube in April but the number of people involved was
only in the dozens. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[04] WHO ARE THE SEVEN MYSTERIOUS BOSNIAN MUSLIMS?
A scandal is emerging over a U.S. IFOR officer's decision last week to hand
over to Bosnian Serb police a group of seven uniformed and armed Muslims. The
men surrendered to the Americans near Zvornik, on the Bosnian border with
Serbia, shortly after IFOR heard explosions in the area, Reuters reported on
13 May. The officer said he turned the men over to the Serb police because
they appeared to be civilians despite their dress, their weapons were in
violation of the Dayton agreement, and they were caught on Bosnian Serb
territory. U.S. Maj. Gen. William Nash reportedly disagreed with his
subordinate's action and tried unsuccessfully to retake the men from the
Serbs. Bosnian officials suggested that the men escaped the fall of Srebrenica
last summer and had been hiding out in caves ever since, but IFOR doubted this
saying the seven men looked too well fed and groomed. The Bosnian government
says the Muslim men are not its soldiers and has played down the incident, but
AFP reported that Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic has demanded that IFOR
free the men. -- Patrick Moore
[05] ROW OVER ELECTION TIMING IN BOSNIA.
International community High Representative for Bosnia, Carl Bildt, on 13 May
in Brussels briefed EU foreign ministers on the situation in Mostar following
the boycott of the electoral process by six Bosnian Muslim parties, AFP
reported. Bildt's spokesman in Sarajevo said Bildt "prefers a late election to
a premature one," due to "serious problems" posed by the lack of freedom of
movement. However, EU foreign ministers recommended that the EU administrator
for Mostar, Ricardo Perez Cassado, hold the Mostar elections according to the
Dayton peace accord schedule. Delay of the elections could negatively affect
the peace accord implementation, but a boycott "could create a precedent,"
causing other election boycotts elsewhere in Bosnia, AFP quoted an EU
spokesman in Mostar as saying. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[06] UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES WARNS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IS RESTRICTED.
Sadako Ogata said on 13 May that freedom of movement remains "severely
restricted" in Bosnia, citing Mostar as an example, AFP reported. She also
warned European governments that they would "destabilize the fragile peace" if
they sent home 700,000 Bosnian refugees prematurely, Onasa reported. That same
day, the ministers for refugees of the Republika Srpska, of the Bosnian
Federation, and of Bosnia-Herzegovina, signed a joint declaration saying they
would encourage individuals expelled by ethnic cleansing to visit their homes.
The declaration is based on the 10 principles introduced by UNHCR that
regulate visits of returnees to their pre-war homes, Nasa Borba reported on
14 May. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[07] RUMP YUGOSLAV BANK GOVERNOR SURVIVES CONFIDENCE VOTE . . .
The board of rump Yugoslavia's national bank met on 13 May, but unexpectedly
did not recommend that its governor, Dragoslav Avramovic, be removed from his
post. Reuters on 13 May reported that the board was widely expected to call
for Avramovic's ouster, a move that would presumably have brought the issue
of Avramovic's position up for discussion in the federal parliament and led to
his formal dismissal. Avramovic said in response to the developments: "Either
my information was wrong or they changed their minds." Earlier in the day,
Avramovic told some 4,000 people at a workers' demonstration in Belgrade, that
he suspected the board and federal authorities were coordinating efforts aimed
at his ouster. -- Stan Markotich
[08] . . . BUT FOR HOW LONG?
The rift between Avramovic and the governing authorities has now emerged as
the major topic of open discussion in local media. Avramovic has clashed with
Belgrade over several major issues including his unwillingness to endorse
policies that would result in rampant inflation, his advocacy of rump Yugoslav
membership in international institutions such as the IMF, and his support of
privatization. However, he remains popular with the public, which Nasa Borba
on 14 May suggested may be enough to compel the government to "wait until
June" before attempting to remove him from office. -- Stan Markotich
[09] SERBIA DOES NOT ALLOW RETURN OF DEAD REFUGEES' BODIES.
Serbian border authorities have not allowed the return of six Kosovar
refugee's bodies who drowned on 23 April in the Danube after their boat
capsized near Esztergom, KIC reported. The rump-Yugoslav embassy in Budapest,
which was to arrange the paperwork for the bodies' return, refused to assist
the victims' relatives. A total of 16 refugees were on the boat attempting to
cross from Hungary into Slovakia. Two of the refugees are still missing. --
Fabian Schmidt
[10] BRITISH DIPLOMAT CALLS FOR KOSOVO TALKS.
British Belgrade ambassador Ivor Roberts has called on rump Yugoslavia to
enter talks with the Kosovo shadow state government, AFP reported on 12 May.
Roberts argued that "Belgrade should make the first step . . . because it has
the power and should try to create an atmosphere of confidence." He said that
"the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia cannot be changed
unilaterally," and called on the Albanians to end their boycott of the Serbian
administration and participate in the region's political life. Shadow state
President Ibrahim Rugova meanwhile repeated his demand for international
mediation and pointed out that it is Belgrade's turn to start talks. In other
news, a Serbian policeman and an ethnic Albanian were wounded in a shoot-out
in Pristina on 11 May. Police claim the Albanian was a criminal who opened
fire to escape arrest. -- Fabian Schmidt
[11] ILLEGAL PHONE-TAPPING SCANDAL IN ROMANIA.
At a press conference in Bucharest of the extremist Greater Romania Party
(PRM) on 13 May, a captain on the staff of the Romanian Intelligence Service
(SRI) played illegally taped conversations of politicians and other
personalities of public life, the media reported on 14 May. For some time now,
the PRM leader, Corneliu Vadim Tudor, has been accusing the director of the
SRI of such practices. Vasile Vacaru, chairman of the parliamentary committee
overseeing the activities of the SRI said this was "very grave" and
investigations will immediately be started. Other observers, however, stress
that the captain, Constantin Bucur, declined to say whether Magureanu,
Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, had authorized the taps and
point out that Tudor is surrounded by many discontent former and present SRI
members who might have tapped the conversations themselves in order to
discredit Magureanu. -- Michael Shafir
[12] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS OPPOSITION MOTION.
The Chamber of Deputies on 13 May rejected a motion by the opposition to
debate failures in the government's policies that led the IMF to suspend a
stand-by loan after the Nicolae Vacaroiu cabinet failed to implement the loan
agreement, Radio Bucharest reported the next day. The premier told the chamber
that the "essential purpose" of the memorandum signed with the IMF has been
attained given a "spectacular drop" in inflation and consistent improvement in
the country's foreign currency reserves. -- Michael Shafir
[13] BULGARIAN SOCIALIST PARTY PLENUM SUPPORTS STRUCTURAL REFORM.
A Bulgarian Socialist Party plenum over the weekend voted in favor of
accelerating structural reform, including liquidating 70 enterprises whose
combined losses are 127.5 billion leva ($1.16 billion) and which employ 40,000
people, Pari reported on 13 May. The plenum supported Premier Zhan
Videnov's proposal to privatize the Sodi Devnya chemical works despite the
objections of Minister of Industry Kliment Vuchev. Observers suggest this
means that Videnov is on his way out. Former Premier Andrey Lukanov lauded the
plenum's decisions but remarked that they should have been made six years ago.
The additional 40,000 unemployed will add 1.1% to the unemployment rate, which
Pari currently puts at 12.5%. The plenum supported compensating these
individuals, with the amount to be decided within two weeks. -- Michael
Wyzan
[14] UPDATE ON BULGARIA'S FINANCIAL CRISIS.
Bulgaria's currency, the lev, has lost some 70% of its value since the
beginning of 1995, plunging the country into one of its worst crises since the
fall of the communist regime. Premier Zhan Videnov on 10 May urged the
parliament to pass laws that would shore up the banking system, guarantee
deposits, and affect badly needed privatization measures that the cabinet
enacted on 12 May. Videnov announced that unproductive state-owned factories
would be shut down, with workers receiving cash payment compensations.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian dailies speculate that the economy is on the brink of
hyperinflation. -- Stan Markotich
[15] AUSTRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR ALBANIA'S EUROPEAN
INTEGRATION.
Wolfgang Schuessel said Austria will continue to support Albania's transition
to democracy and efforts for integration into Europe, Republika reported on
11 May. During his one-day visit, Schuessel discussed economic cooperation and
the Kosovo crisis with Albanian President Sali Berisha, Prime Minister
Alexander Meksi, and Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi. Austria's main
investments in Albania include one large hotel in Tirana's center and the
Austrian firm OMV's oil drilling in the region. Austrian aid to Albania in the
past three years amounted to $16 million. Schuessel also called for an
internationally mediated dialogue in Kosovo. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Deborah Michaels
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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