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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 3, No. 43, 97-03-03
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 3, No. 43, 3 March 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] AIOC FUNDS BAKU-SUPSA PIPELINE.
[02] CENTRAL ASIAN HEADS OF STATE DISCUSS ARAL SEA . . .
[03] . . . AND WARN OF TALIBAN SPRING OFFENSIVE.
[04] TAJIK UPDATE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN ALBANIA.
[06] VIOLENCE REACHES ALBANIAN PRESIDENT'S DOORSTEP.
[07] EASTERN SLAVONIAN SERBS ARE MOVING TO SERBIA, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
[08] BOSNIAN CROATS REJECT UN REPORT ON MOSTAR INCIDENT.
[09] YUGOSLAVIA AND REPUBLIKA SRPSKA SIGN SPECIAL TIES.
[10] IS MILOSEVIC PLAYING HIS OLD TRICKS AGAIN?
[11] KING MIHAI IN ROMANIA.
[12] POLICE SHAKE-UP CONTINUES IN ROMANIA.
[13] MOLDOVA, UKRAINE TO SET UP CUSTOMS UNION.
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN PRAGUE.
[15] BULGARIAN PREMIER COMMENTS ON HIS FRENCH VISIT.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] AIOC FUNDS BAKU-SUPSA PIPELINE.
The Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) will spend $315
million on the construction of a pipeline from Baku to Supsa on the
Georgian Black Sea coast, Russian and Western media reported on 28
February. Construction is to begin immediately and is scheduled to be
completed by December 1998. The pipeline will carry an estimated 115,000
barrels a day of so-called early oil. Early oil is supposed to start
flowing through the "northern route" to the Russian port of Novorossiisk in
1997. -- Lowell Bezanis
[02] CENTRAL ASIAN HEADS OF STATE DISCUSS ARAL SEA . . .
The presidents of all five Central Asian States met in Almaty on 28
February to discuss the desiccation of the Aral Sea, RFE/RL reported the
same day. Following the summit, Kazakstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev
said the World Bank will spend $2.5 million on a pilot project to help
persons living near the sea. Each republic will allocate 0.3% of its
national income to the International Aral Sea Salvation Fund. Uzbek
President Islam Karimov is to head the fund over the next three years. It
was also agreed in Almaty to urge the UN to proclaim 1998 the year of
environmental protection in Central Asia. -- Lowell Bezanis
[03] . . . AND WARN OF TALIBAN SPRING OFFENSIVE.
The Central Asian presidents also discussed Afghanistan, although
Nazarbayev stressed "no special decision" was taken. They expressed concern
over developments there, while Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and his
Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, went further, saying they feared a
Taliban spring offensive that could destabilize Central Asia, international
media reported. Karimov was quoted by AFP as saying the Uzbek military has
been put on alert. The five leaders also unanimously urged all interested
countries to support their concept of a nuclear weapon-free Central Asia,
Russian media reported on 28 February. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] TAJIK UPDATE.
Tajik government and United Tajik Opposition (UTO) representatives remain
"far apart" on key military problems, Russian media reported on 2 March.
The key sticking point in the Moscow talks is the size of the opposition
forces to be integrated with those of the Tajik government. The UTO wants
platoons and companies integrated, while the government wants groups of
only 5-10 men. Meanwhile, owing to a lack of ammunition and food, fighting
between UTO and pro-Sadirov forces in the Ramid Gorge seems to have
temporarily ceased, RFE/RL reported. The Tajik Foreign Ministry has
protested to Russia over what it called the anti-Tajik campaign waged by
the Russian media, ITAR-TASS reported on 1 March. Dushanbe called on Moscow
to curb the campaign of "purposeful disinformation." Finally, the death
toll from the typhoid fever outbreak in Tajikistan has risen to over 80,
Reuters reported on 28 February. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED IN ALBANIA.
The Albanian government declared a state of emergency on 2 March in
response to the violence that erupted throughout the country after 28
February, when protests against the collapse of several get-rich-quick
pyramid schemes turned violent. At least 14 people have been killed, and an
estimated 150 were injured, international media reported. The hardest hit
region was the southern part of the country, and shooting broke out in
several cities as protesters continued their calls for the resignation of
President Sali Berisha and his government and early elections. Rampaging
protesters ransacked symbols of authority, plundered arms depots, and
publicly destroyed police property. According to some eyewitness reports,
local civilian police offered little resistance, themselves possibly big
losers in pyramid scheme investments. -- Stan Markotich
[06] VIOLENCE REACHES ALBANIAN PRESIDENT'S DOORSTEP.
Sali Berisha's summer residence in Vlora was the site of mass looting over
the weekend, CNN reported on 3 March. An announcement that the government
of Premier Alexander Meksi would tender its resignation failed to calm the
public ire. And in the latest development, AFP, citing local reports, said
on 3 March that the country's parliament has ordered "armed rebels" to
surrender their weapons by 2 p.m. CET that same day or face reprisals from
the country's security forces. The decision follows the 2 March declaration
of a state of emergency and also includes a provision for press censorship.
-- Stan Markotich
[07] EASTERN SLAVONIAN SERBS ARE MOVING TO SERBIA, REPUBLIKA SRPSKA.
The UN spokeswoman in Belgrade, Susan Manuel, said on 28 February that more
than 1,800 Serb families have reportedly left eastern Slavonia for Serbia
in February, AFP reported. The Association of Serb refugees in Banja Luka
said that around 800 eastern Slavonian Serbs moved to the Bosnian Serb
entity last month, Oslobodjenje reported on 3 March. Most were Croatian
Serbs who fled to eastern Slavonia from other parts of Croatia. They are
now settling in the Brcko area in northern Bosnia, which is a matter of
dispute between Bosnian Serbs and the Croat-Muslim federation. Meanwhile,
Serb officials in eastern Slavonia said they will hold a referendum on 6
April over the Croatian government's plans to divide the territory into two
administrative districts once it returns to Zagreb's control, AFP reported.
-- Daria Sito Sucic
[08] BOSNIAN CROATS REJECT UN REPORT ON MOSTAR INCIDENT.
The Mostar branch of the ruling Croatian Democratic Party (HDZ) in Bosnia-
Herzegovina on 2 March rejected the UN police report on violent Muslim-
Croat clashes earlier this month, saying it was "incomplete, one-sided and
tendentious," Oslobodjenje reported. Mostar Croat authorities also
repeated that they will not arrest the three police officers named by the
UN as suspects in the 10 February shooting of unarmed Muslims, AFP
reported. According to Colum Murphy, a spokesman for the High
Representative's office, one of the suspects is missing. Mostar Croat
claims to have detained 19 other suspects in the Mostar incident. But no
international official has seen any of the allegedly arrested criminals.
Meanwhile, Croatia said it had arrested a second suspected gangster leader
from Mostar, Vinko Martinovic, following last week's arrest of former
Bosnian Croat warlord Mladen "Tuta" Naletilic. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[09] YUGOSLAVIA AND REPUBLIKA SRPSKA SIGN SPECIAL TIES.
The president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Zoran Lilic, and the
Serb member of Bosnia's three-man presidency, Momcilo Krajisnik, signed a
pact on 28 February establishing "special ties" between Belgrade and Pale,
local and international media reported. Under the agreement, the two
parties are to establish a joint council in charge of economic cooperation
and creating a single market. The council will also deal with regional
security, crossing of state borders, citizenship, and coordinating foreign
policy. The agreement said the two parties will not allow a third party to
use their territories to conduct acts of aggression against the other.
Bosnia's presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic strongly criticized the pact
and accused Krajisnik of overstepping his authority by signing it.
Izetbegovic said the agreement shows the Belgrade regime "has not given up
its claims on Bosnia-Herzegovina," AFP reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] IS MILOSEVIC PLAYING HIS OLD TRICKS AGAIN?
On 28 February the board of the independent weekly NIN voted to oust its
editor in chief, Dusan Velickovic, local independent media reported. NIN,
which broke with the pro-regime Politika publishing house in 1994, and
whose market share has been rising steadily, may be the latest target in a
government offensive to reassert its control over the media. Velickovic has
remarked "my replacement reminds me of the stealing of votes in the last
[17 November] local elections." Finally in other news, over 1,000
instructors, professors, and researchers formed an alternative
administration of higher education on 2 March in Belgrade, the latest step
in their campaign for academic freedom. -- Stan Markotich
[11] KING MIHAI IN ROMANIA.
Visibly overwhelmed by emotion, King Mihai, who was forced to abdicate in
1947, on 28 February began a six-day visit to his country one week after
his Romanian citizenship was restored. At the airport he was handed his new
passport in the presence of several government members who welcomed him
"privately." International media reported that the crowds welcoming the
former monarch were substantially smaller than those during his 1992 visit.
On 1 March he was received by Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea, whom he told
the occasion was "not merely a visit, but a return home." The former
monarch said that the government's economic measures were painful but
absolutely necessary. On 2 March he attended a church service conducted by
Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist. A spokesman for the king said he intended to
move back to Romania but he must "enjoy all the advantages that he had had
in the past." For that purpose, talks are underway with the authorities on
providing him with a residence. -- Michael Shafir
[12] POLICE SHAKE-UP CONTINUES IN ROMANIA.
Some 20 generals and other high police officers were replaced on 28
February following the dismissal of Gen. Costica Voicu as head of police
the previous day, Romanian media reported on 1 March. In an interview for
Romanian national television on 28 February, Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu
said the changes were needed because the officers had failed to properly
fight corruption and organized crime. He said not all the officers replaced
were considered incompetent -- some will be serving in other posts -- but
all had obviously failed in their primary task. -- Michael Shafir
[13] MOLDOVA, UKRAINE TO SET UP CUSTOMS UNION.
The joint Moldovan-Ukrainian commission on economic and commercial
cooperation agreed at its 27-28 February meeting in Chisinau to draft a
list of "principles" for setting up a customs union between the two states
at an unspecified date in the future. Moldovan agencies reported on 28
February that the document also deals with the avoidance of double taxation
and with facilities for transiting goods. The commission also approved a
number of accords for cooperation on border-zone settlements, joint
controls at the border crossings, as well as a protocol on Moldovan
property in Ukraine. The documents will be signed during President Leonid
Kuchma's visit to Moldova on 11-12 March. -- Michael Shafir
[14] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT IN PRAGUE.
Petar Stoyanov on 28 February met his Czech counterpart Vaclav Havel in the
latter's first official function since undergoing a lung cancer operation
in December, international media reported. Referring to the Czech
Republic's economic reforms, Stoyanov said "Your success is an inspiration
for us." During his two lectures later that day Stoyanov said that the
country's interim government will break with the communist past and will
deepen the structural reforms to "the point of no return." Concerning the
government's statement that Bulgaria is determined to join NATO, Stoyanov
pointed out that despite Bulgarians' very "deep emotional relationship"
with Russians, Bulgaria's policy will be decided in Sofia and in no other
capital in the world. -- Maria Koinova
[15] BULGARIAN PREMIER COMMENTS ON HIS FRENCH VISIT.
Upon his return from France, Interim Premier Stefan Sofiyanski told
reporters on 2 March that he has won a commitment from Paris to support
Bulgaria's request for rescheduling its debt to the Paris Club of
government creditors, AFP reported. Sofiyanski also added that he had asked
the Paris Club to roll over about $50 million owed this year, saying
Bulgaria's payments had been timely until recently, but that the current
economic crisis has prevented it from meeting the latest deadlines.
Sofiyanski added that French Premier Alain Juppe said he would help
Bulgaria win new credits with the Paris Club and the International Monetary
Fund. -- Stan Markotich
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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