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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 115, 96-06-13
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 115, 13 June 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN DEPUTY COMMENTS ON CFE QUOTAS.
[02] GOVERNMENT FORCES BOMB TAVIL-DARA.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[03] CLINTON CONTRADICTS PERRY ON IFOR, EXPLAINS NON-ARREST OF WAR CRIMINALS.
[04] BOSNIA'S ELECTION DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED AT END OF JUNE?
[05] BILDT HOPES TO AVOID SANCTIONS AGAINST SERBS.
[06] RED CROSS ISSUES "NO FAULT" CALL ON MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA.
[07] BELGRADE LOOKS TO ZIMBABWE FOR ECONOMIC BOOST.
[08] RUMP YUGOSLAV GENERAL CANCELS PRESS CONFERENCE.
[09] MACEDONIAN, NATO SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT.
[10] BODIUL SKEPTICAL ON TRANSDNIESTRIAN CONFLICT.
[11] BULGARIA THREATENED WITH ISOLATION FROM FINANCIAL MARKETS.
[12] BULGARIAN PREMIER SURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE.
[13] OSCE ISSUES REPORT ABOUT ALBANIAN ELECTIONS.
[14] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION WANTS AUSTRIA TO MEDIATE.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN DEPUTY COMMENTS ON CFE QUOTAS.
The chairman of parliament's Committee for Security and Defense, Revaz Adamia,
denied reports that Georgia may hand over part of its weapons quota under the
CFE treaty to Russia, ITAR-TASS reported on 10 June. He said that the
legislature is unlikely to consider the issue in the near future, adding that
the protocol on the quotas of weapons and military equipment is part of a
bilateral treaty on Russian military bases in Georgia, which will be ratified
only after Georgia restores its territorial integrity. -- Irakli Tsereteli
[02] GOVERNMENT FORCES BOMB TAVIL-DARA.
Tajik government forces backed by Russian aircraft on 11 June attacked the
rebel occupied town of Tavil-Dara in central Tajikistan, AFP and ITAR-TASS
reported. Warplanes struck Tavil-Dara with such ferocity that United Tajik
Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri described the town as "flattened" and
opposition representative Ali Akbar Turajonzoda, speaking from Tehran, claimed
Tavil-Dara "has been practically wiped off the face of the Earth." Government
troops were also reported to be conducting operations in the Kulyab region of
southwestern Tajikistan. Nuri sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros Ghali, saying that all out war could start within the next few days.
No exact casualty figures were given, but reports say that hundreds of people
have died. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[03] CLINTON CONTRADICTS PERRY ON IFOR, EXPLAINS NON-ARREST OF WAR CRIMINALS.
U.S. President Bill Clinton said on 12 June he expects IFOR troops to complete their mission in Bosnia by the end of the year, Deutsche Welle reported the next day. He apparently overruled Secretary of Defense William Perry, who had just said that he could see NATO extending its role into 1997 (see ). Clinton sidestepped a question as to why the peacekeepers have not yet arrested indicted war criminals like Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic: "The IFOR troops can arrest anybody that's been charged with a war crime with whom they come in contact. But they are not charged with, in effect, being the domestic or the international police force and targeting people and going after them." Critics have charged that IFOR has turned a blind eye as war criminals move about freely, apparently even through IFOR checkpoints. -- Patrick Moore
[04] BOSNIA'S ELECTION DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED AT END OF JUNE?
Robert Frowick, the head of the OSCE mission in Sarajevo, said that Swiss
Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Flavio Cotti will announce in late June
whether elections in Bosnia will be held in fall as scheduled by the Dayton
peace accord, AFP reported on 12 June. But the U.S. and major European powers
are pushing for an exact date to be set at the two-day conference that will
start on 13 June in Florence to review compliance with the Dayton Agreement
six months after it was signed, Reuters reported. Frowick said that so far no
party involved in Bosnia has asked for a delay of the elections. Meanwhile,
international organizations, such as the International Crisis Group and Human
Rights Watch, have warned that minimum standards for fair elections are
already being flouted, Nasa Borba reported on 13 June. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[05] BILDT HOPES TO AVOID SANCTIONS AGAINST SERBS.
After a meeting with Bosnian Serb Parliament Speaker Momcilo Krajisnik, High
Representative for Bosnia Carl Bildt said that he hopes and has always hoped
to avoid sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs, AFP reported on 12 June. He was
commenting on the recent call by the head of the international war crimes
tribunal, Antonio Cassese, for sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs. In another
development, Bosnian Serb Premier Gojko Klickovic said Bosnian Serbs will
never support the reintegration of Bosnia-Herzegovina even if the West
punishes them economically, Nasa Borba reported on 13 June. -- Daria Sito
Sucic
[06] RED CROSS ISSUES "NO FAULT" CALL ON MISSING PERSONS IN BOSNIA.
The ICRC says that there are over 12,000 persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina
still described as missing, Reuters and Onasa reported on 12 June. The Muslims
are looking for 10,805 individuals, the Serbs for 1,703, and the Croats 217.
Most are presumed dead, and the ICRC now says it will welcome any information
on the fate of the missing, with no questions asked as to how they happened to
die. The purpose of the new policy is simply to seek confirmation of deaths in
order to put the minds of families at ease. A spokesman added that it is the
business of the war crimes tribunal and not of the Red Cross to determine
guilt and punish murderers. Meanwhile, the Bosnian government has handed over
two indicted war criminals to The Hague. Hazim Delic and Esad Landzo are
wanted for crimes committed in the Celebici concentration camp. -- Patrick
Moore
[07] BELGRADE LOOKS TO ZIMBABWE FOR ECONOMIC BOOST.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrived in Belgrade on 12 June for an
official three-day visit, AFP reported the same day. Mugabe, who has been one
of the few world leaders to openly support rump Yugosalvia's authoritarian
regime and to oppose sanctions against Belgrade, is slated to meet with a host
of officials, including Serbian President Milosevic, Federal President Zoran
Lilic, and Federal Premier Radoje Kontic for talks aimed at reaching agreement
on bolstering bilateral trade. -- Stan Markotich
[08] RUMP YUGOSLAV GENERAL CANCELS PRESS CONFERENCE.
Rump Yugoslavia's commander of the army, General Momcilo Perisic, on 12 June
abruptly canceled an annual press conference commemorating army day, Beta
reported. Perisic hinted that an inability to speak openly and low morale in
the ranks were factors in his decision. "It is far better to say nothing at
all than to say that which is already well known. Besides, what needs to be
said, and what would interest you, would be upsetting," he said. -- Stan
Markotich
[09] MACEDONIAN, NATO SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT.
Foreign Minister Ljubomir Frckovski signed a document on military cooperation
with NATO in Brussels on 12 June, AFP reported. He met with the ambassadors of
the North Atlantic Council member states. Frckovski said the cooperation
agreement was the first step toward Macedonia's aim of full NATO membership.
He said there is "social and political consensus" in Macedonia on joining
NATO. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry concluded a visit to
Macedonia, where he dedicated a military training center and held talks on the
future of UNPROFOR. Addressing the parliament, Perry named cooperation within
NATO's Partnership for Peace program and military transparency as the keys to
stability and peace in the Balkans. President Kiro Gligorov urged the U.S. to
extend its troops' stay in Bosnia lest "the NATO mission fail and renewed
fighting break out." -- Stefan Krause
[10] BODIUL SKEPTICAL ON TRANSDNIESTRIAN CONFLICT.
The former first secretary of the Moldovan Communist Party, Ivan Bodiul, said
in an interview with Nezavisimaya Moldova cited by Infotag on 12 June that
the Moldovan and the Transdniestrian authorities are very far from a solution
to the conflict. Bodiul said there was no solution but union, adding that
Chisinau should offer Tiraspol a transition period. In his opinion, Moldova
should have two, and possibly three, official languages: "Moldovan," Russian,
and Ukrainian. In other news, for the first time a Transdniestrian official
came out in support of President Boris Yeltsin's re-election. Grigori Markutsa,
chairman of the breakaway republic's Supreme Soviet, called on Russian troops
and citizens residing in the region to vote for Yeltsin. But Transdniestrian
leader Igor Smirnov, currently in Moscow, met with Yeltsin's main rival in the
elections, Gennadii Zyuganov. -- Michael Shafir
[11] BULGARIA THREATENED WITH ISOLATION FROM FINANCIAL MARKETS.
The Industrial Bank of Japan (IBJ) has threatened that unless Bulgaria accepts
its responsibility to cover payments due by Mineralbank on 14 June,
Bulgaria's relations with Japan will seriously worsen, Pari reported on 13
June. Finance Minister Dimitar Kostov on 31 May had asserted that the
government was not obliged to cover the $47.6 million owed IBJ by Mineralbank
under a loan taken out in 1989. The Bulgarian National Bank on 31 May applied
to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the 80% state-owned bank, which had
losses of $62.8 million by the end of 1995. Mineralbank owes other Japanese
banks over $100 million. Recently, Belgium's Banque Generale took ECU 5
million from the BNB's account with it in order to cover Mineralbank's overdue
debt to it, and the BNB threatened to take court action against the Belgian
bank in response. -- Michael Wyzan
[12] BULGARIAN PREMIER SURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE.
The government of Zhan Videnov on 13 June easily survived a no-confidence vote
called over its handling of Bulgaria's economic crisis, Bulgarian and Western
media reported. The secret vote was 99 for, and 135 against, with one
abstention. While the government was expected to survive the vote, such a
clear defeat of the motion came as a surprise. The ruling Bulgarian Socialist
Party and its partners hold 125 seats in the 240-member parliament. All
opposition parties had said they would support the no-confidence vote. In
other news, former Tsar Simeon II announced that he will return to Madrid on
16 June after three weeks in Bulgaria. -- Stefan Krause
[13] OSCE ISSUES REPORT ABOUT ALBANIAN ELECTIONS.
An OSCE report released in Vienna on 12 June said there were serious
"irregularities" before and during the 26 May parliamentary elections. The
report says 32 out of 79 articles of Albania's electoral laws were violated
during the campaign and the voting. It also charges Albanian authorities with
failing to cooperate fully with foreign observers, AFP reported. The report
did not call for new elections. President Sali Berisha had earlier decreed a
partial re-run on 16 June, but the OSCE has not yet decided whether to send
monitors. The opposition said it would boycott the partial re-run and demands
complete new elections. -- Fabian Schmidt
[14] ALBANIAN OPPOSITION WANTS AUSTRIA TO MEDIATE.
Albanian opposition parties on 12 June sent a letter to Austrian Chancellor
Franz Vranitzky, asking him to mediate between them and the ruling Democratic
Party in the post-election deadlock. The letter said that "Albania is going
through a critical situation as a result of manipulation and physical violence
during the whole process of the May 26 elections." The letter was signed by
the Social Democratic Party leader Skender Gjinushi and Democratic Alliance
leader Neritan Ceka, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 supporters
of the Socialists demanded new elections at a rally in Tirana on the fifth
anniversary of their party's founding on 12 June. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Victor Gomez and Susan Caskie
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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