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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 236, 96-12-09

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Vol. 2, No. 236, 9 December 1996


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] TENGIZ PIPELINE DEAL FINALIZED.
  • [02] DEMONSTRATION IN KAZAKSTAN.
  • [03] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER'S PLANE FORCED DOWN.
  • [04] RUSSIAN BORDER TROOP COMMANDER IN ARMENIA.
  • [05] RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ TALKS.

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [06] SERBIAN COURT BACKS MILOSEVIC.
  • [07] PROTESTS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT SERBIA.
  • [08] KRAJISNIK SAYS BOSNIAN SERBS CANNOT ACCEPT LOSS OF BRCKO.
  • [09] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN BLASTS ENEMIES . . .
  • [10] . . . AND DECORATES INDICTED WAR CRIMINAL.
  • [11] DONORS PLEDGE OVER $30 MILLION FOR EASTERN SLAVONIA.
  • [12] SLOVENES REJECT ELECTORAL REFORM.
  • [13] ROMANIAN PARTIES SIGN RULING COALITION ACCORD.
  • [14] DNIESTER MEDIATORS WELCOME LISBON DOCUMENT.
  • [15] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR NATIONAL CONSENSUS.
  • [16] MOSQUE IN BULGARIA DAMAGED IN EXPLOSION.

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] TENGIZ PIPELINE DEAL FINALIZED.

    Meeting in Moscow on 6 December, participants in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium signed an agreement finalizing their respective stakes in the project, AFP reported. Fifty per cent of the project will be divided between the governments of Russia (24%), Kazakstan (19%), and Oman (7%); the remaining 50% will be divided between Lukoil (12.5%), Rosneft (7.5%), Chevron (15%), Mobil (7.5%), Italy's Agip (2%) British Gas (2%), Kazakstan's Munaigas (1.75%) and the U.S. firm Oryx (1.75%). Construction of the pipeline, which will initially transport 28 million tons of oil annually from Kazakstan's Tengiz field to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, will begin in 1997 and take an estimated two years at a cost of $1,500 million, according to Russia's deputy minister for oil and energy, Anatolii Shatalov. The pipeline will be operated by Russia's Transneft. -- Liz Fuller

    [02] DEMONSTRATION IN KAZAKSTAN.

    Over 3,000 people gathered in front of the Academy of Sciences in Almaty on 8 December to protest living conditions, international media reported. Signs with the words "Salaries," "Pensions," "Free Press," and " Democracy" were burned and symbolically placed in small caskets. People shouted slogans such as "Nazarbayev (the Kazakstani president), you are our Hitler, " "President Nazarbayev's credit with the people is finished" and most alarmingly, "Remember what happened to Najibullah" alluding to the former Afghan leader who was dragged from the UN compound in Kabul, killed, and hung in public. There are chronic energy shortages in the country and wage and pension arrears, by some accounts, stand at $500 million. -- Bruce Pannier

    [03] TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER'S PLANE FORCED DOWN.

    A plane taking United Tajik Opposition (UTO) leader Said Abdullo Nuri to his scheduled 9 December meeting with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov in northern Afghanistan was forced down by aircraft of the Taliban movement, Russian and Western sources reported. Taliban sources say Nuri is a "guest" and they will allow him to continue on to the meeting point in Kunduz. Rakhmonov, in Dushanbe, is waiting for word of Nuri's arrival at Kunduz before leaving for the meeting. Fighting inside Tajikistan is at its worst since the civil war of 1992. Government forces are reported to be assaulting Komsomolabad (135 km east of Dushanbe), which fell to the opposition in October. Fighting is also reported in the Tavil-Dara area (200 km east of Dushanbe) and in the village of Chinor (60 km east of Dushanbe) near the Nurek hydro-electric plant. -- Bruce Pannier

    [04] RUSSIAN BORDER TROOP COMMANDER IN ARMENIA.

    Gen. Andrei Nikolaev completed a one-day visit to Armenia after holding a long private meeting with President Levon Ter-Petrossyan, ITAR-TASS and RFE/RL reported on 8 December. Nikolaev said that the Armenian leadership supports the presence of Russian troops on its borders with Turkey and Iran, and that he is satisfied with the results of the visit. According to Nikolaev, Ter-Petrossyan called for "additional measures" to strengthen the CIS's external borders. Nikolaev ruled out the possibility of a withdrawal of the Russian border troops from Georgia, arguing that all the problems with the latter "have been settled" during his recent visit to that country, Noyan Tapan reported on 6 December. -- Emil Danielyan

    [05] RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN-ABKHAZ TALKS.

    Russian, Georgian, and Abkhaz representatives agreed at talks in Moscow on 4-7 December to continue work on a draft document on the foundations for regulating the conflict, confidence-building, and the repatriation of ethnic Georgian refugees, ITAR-TASS reported. Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili met in Moscow on 6 December with his Russian counterpart Yevgenii Primakov to discuss various aspects of bilateral relations, including the division of the Black Sea fleet, Russia's military bases in Georgia, joint patrolling of the Georgian-Turkish frontier, and the Abkhaz conflict, Russian media reported. At a subsequent press conference Primakov announced that ethnic Georgian refugees from Abkhazia will begin returning to their homes in January. During several days of simultaneous talks in Moscow, Georgian Interior Minister Shota Kviraya solicited the assistance of his Russian counterpart Anatolii Kulikov in preventing the creation of an Islamic Republic in the Caucasus that would include Abkhazia, according to NTV. -- Liz Fuller

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [06] SERBIAN COURT BACKS MILOSEVIC.

    Amid continuing daily mass protests across Serbia, the Serbian Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Belgrade's electoral commission to have the 17 November local election results -- in which the Zajedno opposition coalition won a majority -- recognized, Beta reported on 8 December. The court ruling has effectively upheld a third round of balloting that awarded the ruling Socialists 66 of 110 seats in the Belgrade municipal assembly. Electoral commission head Radovan Lazarevic has taken up a further appeal with the federal supreme court, the federal public prosecutor and the republic's public prosecutor. -- Stan Markotich

    [07] PROTESTS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT SERBIA.

    On 8 December the demonstration in Nis attracted some 50,000 participants, many of whom smashed television sets in protest of the regime's biased media coverage, Reuters reported. Opposition leaders have also told the international press that police harassment and arrest of peaceful demonstrators continues, with at least 40 persons having been apprehended so far. For his part, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, in the face of growing demands for both a recognition of opposition victories in local polling and calls for his own resignation, tore up a draft memorandum on press freedom presented by a member of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Finally, Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar Tijanic formally tendered his resignation on 6 December, Tanjug reported. -- Stan Markotich

    [08] KRAJISNIK SAYS BOSNIAN SERBS CANNOT ACCEPT LOSS OF BRCKO.

    The Serb representative of Bosnia's three-member presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, said the key Bosnian town of Brcko must be made an integral part of the Bosnian-Serb entity, AFP reported on 7 December. Krajisnik said he is opposed to any move that would put the town under international administration. Brcko is claimed by both Muslims and Serbs. The town had a Muslim majority before the war. Today, Brcko is the only link between the eastern an western parts of Serb-held territory in northern Bosnia. Under the Dayton peace accord, control of Brcko should be decided by an arbitration commission by 14 December, but Serb Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic said the Serbs would pull out and ignore the ruling of the commission because they distrust its chairman, Roberts Owen. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [09] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN BLASTS ENEMIES . . .

    President Franjo Tudjman again warned that those who complain about human rights and media freedom in Croatia are really seeking to subvert the Croatian state, Slobodna Dalmacija reported on 8 December. He said these critics are enemies of Croatian independence or "communist remnants." In a tirade to the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ), he especially blasted the Open Society Institute, which supports independent media like the Feral Tribune and some NGOs; prominent critics like Ivo Banac, Chris Cviic, Slavko Goldstein, and Vlado Gotovac; and the BBC, VOA, and Radio 101, as well as the only independent daily, Novi List. Tudjman warned that these enemies "have spread their tentacles throughout our society." -- Patrick Moore

    [10] . . . AND DECORATES INDICTED WAR CRIMINAL.

    The next day, Tudjman presented a number of military medals, including one to Gen. Tihomir Blaskic for his role in retaking the Knin region in 1995, Reuters said. Blaskic's wife accepted the award, since he is voluntarily appearing before the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on charges of having committed atrocities against Muslims. Tudjman's statement and presentation of the medal are classic examples of his insensitivity to foreign and domestic public opinion, which has long earned him the nickname "Mr. Own- goal." They also reflect his understanding of democracy and the uneasiness of the regime amid recent unrest and reports that Tudjman has cancer. -- Patrick Moore

    [11] DONORS PLEDGE OVER $30 MILLION FOR EASTERN SLAVONIA.

    The UN said on 6 December that international donors have pledged over $30 million to help rebuild the last Serb-held part of Croatia, Eastern Slavonia, international and local media reported. Organizers of the donors' conference in Zagreb originally hoped to raise $1.2 billion. But Derek Boothby, deputy to Jacques Klein, head of the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, said the money promised was a "very good start," according to AFP. Boothby said that foreign money would encourage the Serbs to stay and the Croats to return. Meanwhile, top local Serb representative Vojislav Stanimirovic said the Serbs want to have their own county in Croatia, where they would be a majority, Novi List reported on 7 December. Under Croatian law, the region would be split into two counties. Stanimirovic called for a referendum on the region's administrative status, AFP reported on 6 December. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [12] SLOVENES REJECT ELECTORAL REFORM.

    Preliminary returns from a nationwide ballot held in Slovenia on 8 December show the vote was met with apathy and tacit support for the status quo, STA reported. According to returns, only an estimated 35% of the electorate voted and none of the three proposed packages for fundamental changes in the national voting system received the requisite minimum 50% to become binding. Final results are expected on 12 December. -- Stan Markotich

    [13] ROMANIAN PARTIES SIGN RULING COALITION ACCORD.

    On 6 December, the victorious parties in the November general elections signed a coalition accord aimed at giving parliamentary support to the new government, Romanian media reported. Leaders of the Democratic Convention of Romania, the Social Democratic Union, and the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) signed the document in President Emil Constantinescu's presence. The coalition thus holds a majority 287 of the parliament's 486 seats. According to Constantinescu, the "solid parliamentary majority" resulting from the accord will back "a strong government set up to solve Romania's big problems." UDMR Chairman Bela Marko described his party's participation in the government as "natural" in view of the support it gave to democratic forces. Designated Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea will seek parliamentary approval for his cabinet on 10 December. -- Zsolt Mato

    [14] DNIESTER MEDIATORS WELCOME LISBON DOCUMENT.

    The mediators brokering a settlement in the Dniester conflict welcomed on 6 December the stance of the OSCE Lisbon Summit on the issue, Infotag reported. At a briefing in Chisinau, the three mediators -- Donald Johnson, head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, and special presidential envoys Yurii Karlov of Russia and Evgenii Levitsky of Ukraine -- praised the section devoted to Moldova in the Lisbon document. The document expressed concern over the lack of progress in implementing the October 1994 Moldovan-Russian agreement on the withdrawal of Russian troops from eastern Moldova. It also reiterated OSCE's commitment to assist in achieving a final solution to the dispute. The mediators stressed that the key to settlement lies in granting a special status to the Dniester region within a sovereign and independent Moldova. -- Dan Ionescu

    [15] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR NATIONAL CONSENSUS.

    Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) Chairman Ivan Kostov said on 8 December that the opposition will support the establishment of a currency board if an agreement with the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party for calling early elections and changing the Bulgarian National Bank's Executive Board can be reached, Pari and Duma reported. However, Kostov's proposal must first receive the backing of the extraordinary SDS National Coordinating Council meeting on 9 December. The council must also decide on Kostov's other idea - - to turn the SDS into a single party before early elections. Over the weekend, 3 parties already backed him, while 6 others rejected the idea, albeit "ambiguously." -- Maria Koinova

    [16] MOSQUE IN BULGARIA DAMAGED IN EXPLOSION.

    An explosive device went off in the Great Mosque in Kazanlak on 6 December, causing damage but no injuries, Duma and Novinar reported. Motives and perpetrators remain unknown. A bomb had been discovered and defused in the same mosque earlier this year, while mosques in Varna and Shumen were targets of arsonists in 1996. In other news, the EU said Bulgaria can restart the controversial reactor No. 1 at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant but should close the whole plant down as soon as it finds alternative forms of energy, Reuters reported. EU and Bulgarian experts said tests showed that "the material of the pressure vessel ... allows the [reactor's] safe operation." -- Stefan Krause

    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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