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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 44, 97-06-03
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 44, 3 June 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RUSSIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES GEORGIA OF POLITICAL BLACKMAIL
[02] MEMBER OF PEACEKEEPING FORCE SHOOTS COMRADES, COMMITS SUICIDE
[03] AZERBAIJAN CONFIDENT OF SWIFT SOLUTION TO KARABAKH CONFLICT
[04] AZERBAIJANI, GEORGIAN COMMENT ON RUSSIA-NATO ACCORD
[05] UZBEK PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON AFGHANISTAN...
[06] ...MEETS WITH KAZAK PRESIDENT IN ALMATY
[07] BISHKEK DEMONSTRATORS PROTEST COURT DECISION
[08] PRIVATIZATION IN KYRGYZSTAN
[09] TURKMEN ECONOMIC NEWS
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] TWO BOMBS GO OFF IN TIRANA
[11] PRODI PLEDGES MORE SECURITY FOR ALBANIAN VOTE
[12] ALBANIAN MINISTER GOES TO COURT OVER ELECTION LAW
[13] CROATIAN PRESIDENT VISITS EASTERN SLAVONIA
[14] BOSNIAN UPDATE
[15] MORE KOSOVO ALBANIANS GO ON TRIAL
[16] MILOSEVIC TO RUN AFTER ALL?
[17] MOLDOVAN GAGAUZ AUTONOMOUS REGION AUTHORITIES BAN OPPOSITION FORUM
[18] BULGARIAN CUSTOM OFFICERS UNDER INVESTIGATION
[19] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES PARTICIPATION IN SFOR
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] RUSSIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES GEORGIA OF POLITICAL BLACKMAIL
Russian presidential press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembskii on 2 June
condemned as "political blackmail" the resolution adopted by the Georgian
parliament on 30 May laying down conditions for the continued deployment of
a CIS peacekeeping force in Abkhazia, Interfax reported. The resolution
calls for the peacekeepers' withdrawal unless they are redeployed
throughout Abkhazia's Gali Raion by 31 July. The decision on their
redeployment was taken at the March summit of the CIS heads of state.
Yastrzhembskii hinted that Russia might withdraw the force, which is
composed exclusively of Russian troops. Also on 2 June, in his regular
Monday radio broadcast, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze proposed
immediate talks with the Abkhaz leadership on guaranteeing continued
compliance with the existing cease-fire, BS-Press reported. Shevardnadze
said the withdrawal of the peacekeeping force would not preclude Russia's
continued role in mediating a settlement of the conflict.
[02] MEMBER OF PEACEKEEPING FORCE SHOOTS COMRADES, COMMITS SUICIDE
A sergeant serving on a contract basis with the CIS peacekeeping force in
Abkhazia shot dead ten of his fellow servicemen and then committed suicide,
Russian media reported. Shevardnadze issued a statement expressing his
grief at the killings and extending condolences to the families of the
murdered men, according to ITAR-TASS.
[03] AZERBAIJAN CONFIDENT OF SWIFT SOLUTION TO KARABAKH CONFLICT
Interfax on 2 June quoted unnamed Azerbaijani government spokesmen as
predicting that a solution to the Karabakh conflict will be reached this
year on the basis of compromises between Baku and Yerevan. recently
proposed by the three co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group. Those
compromises include the withdrawal of Karabakh Armenian forces from
occupied Azerbaijani territory, international control of the Lachin
corridor linking Karabakh and Armenia, and international control of all
armaments deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh that will be considered part of
Armenia's permitted CFE quota. Following talks in Ankara on 2 June with
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, Foreign Minister Tansu
Ciller said that Turkey supports the OSCE Minsk Group initiative but will
also continue to play its own role in seeking to resolve the conflict, TRT
Television Network reported.
[04] AZERBAIJANI, GEORGIAN COMMENT ON RUSSIA-NATO ACCORD
An unnamed Azerbaijani government spokesman told Interfax on 30 May that
the country's leadership welcomes the signing of the Russia-NATO agreement
because "the calmer the situation in relations between Russia and NATO, the
calmer it is for other countries." Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli
Menagharishvili told journalists the next day that Georgia will not raise
the issue of possible NATO membership "either today or in the near future"
as the country is not ready for it. But he said that Georgia welcomes
cooperation with NATO within the Partnership for Peace program.
Menagharishvili said that full membership in the Council of Europe is
currently more advantageous to Georgia than NATO membership, given the role
the council can play in guaranteeing the stability and economic development
of the Transcaucasus, ITAR-TASS reported.
[05] UZBEK PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON AFGHANISTAN...
Before his departure for Kazakstan on 2 June, Islam Karimov told Tashkent
Radio that measures were taken months ago to prepare for complications
along the Uzbek border with Afghanistan. He said he believed the problems
in Afghanistan would have ended long ago if other countries had not
interfered. In this connection, he singled out foreign sponsors responsible
for arming the various warring factions. He also stressed that when
problems broke out in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif,
Uzbekistan remained neutral. Karimov called for the UN to assume a greater
role in resolving the problems in Afghanistan and for the Taliban to
renounce their aim of establishing "absolute power." In addition, he
blasted the anti-Taliban coalition and the "mercenaries of some field
commanders who have defected to serve new masters for large amounts of
money."
[06] ...MEETS WITH KAZAK PRESIDENT IN ALMATY
In Almaty later the same day, Karimov met with Kazak President Nursultan
Nazarbayev to discuss economic relations and new strategies for boosting
bilateral trade, according to RFE/RL's Almaty bureau. The volume of trade
between Uzbekistan and Kazakstan dropped by about one-third ($293 million)
in 1996, compared with the previous year ($423 million). But at a joint
press conference following their meeting, Afghanistan was the dominant
topic. Karimov again called for countries to stop supporting various armed
factions in Afghanistan by supplying them with arms. Nazarbayev was
supportive but emphasized he did not want his country to get enmeshed in
Afghanistan's problems.
[07] BISHKEK DEMONSTRATORS PROTEST COURT DECISION
Some 300 people assembled outside the government building in the Kyrgyz
capital on 3 June to protest the 23 May decision to imprison two
journalists from the weekly independent newspaper Res Publica for 18 months
and bar two others from practicing journalism for the same period (see
RFE/RL Newsline, 26 May 1997), RFE/RL correspondents in Bishkek reported.
The demonstrators are demanding a meeting with government officials. Three
have announced they will stage a hunger strike in support of the
journalists.
[08] PRIVATIZATION IN KYRGYZSTAN
Shortly before the third wave of privatization, Security Minister Felix
Kulov voiced alarm at moves by finance and investment companies to gain
control of the country's leading enterprises, ITAR-TASS reported on 2 June.
Among the enterprises to be privatized in the third wave are
Kyrgyzenergoholding, Kyrgyztelekom, Kyrgyzgaz, and the state airline
Kyrgyzstan Aba Zholdoru. Kulov said some finance and investment companies
have been buying privatization coupons from citizens who received those
coupons as compensation for unpaid wages. Nearly a quarter of all coupons
are unaccounted for. Kulov says this is because private citizens sold them
to the companies, which will now reap in big profits.
[09] TURKMEN ECONOMIC NEWS
A state interbank council was set up on 2 June to oversee the
reorganization of the banking system, according to ITAR-TASS. Turkmen
President Saparmurat Niyazov said the move was necessary to continue to
push ahead with economic reforms. Also on 2 June, Niyazov signed a decree
requiring some Turkmen industries to be licensed by the government. Those
affected are the meat, dairy, beer and soft drinks, and candy industries.
All companies involved in the production of those goods will need licenses,
regardless of whether they are privately owned or a joint venture using
foreign capital. The aim of the new measure is to ensure quality control.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] TWO BOMBS GO OFF IN TIRANA
Two explosions rocked downtown Tirana on 2 June, Koha Jone reported. The
first bomb went off around midday and destroyed a restaurant run by Lush
Perpali, who is a high official in the Interior Ministry and a member of
the Socialist Party. Some 20 people were injured, including five seriously.
Perpali later told reporters that he suspects the Democratic Party was
behind the blast. He added that the bombers wanted to create an atmosphere
in which elections could be neither free nor fair. Socialist Prime Minister
Bashkim Fino told a press conference that he knew who planted the bomb but
did not give names. A second explosion took place at a bus stop in the
evening, wounding five people, including two seriously.
[11] PRODI PLEDGES MORE SECURITY FOR ALBANIAN VOTE
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said in Tirana on 1 June that the
multinational force in Albania will provide "a security cordon" for the 29
June parliamentary elections, the Albanian Daily News reported. Prodi added
that he has discussed with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan prolonging
Operation Alba's stay. Prodi stated that President Sali Berisha told him he
will ease the curfew, a move that the opposition considers essential if the
elections are to be free and fair. Meanwhile in Rome, the Italian Foreign
Ministry said on 2 June that it is delaying naming a new ambassador to
Tirana, Gazeta Shqiptare writes. The diplomat the ministry planned to
appoint discredited himself in his superiors' eyes by publicly criticizing
the ministry's work. The outgoing Italian ambassador was sacked for
interfering in Albanian domestic politics.
[12] ALBANIAN MINISTER GOES TO COURT OVER ELECTION LAW
Justice Minister Spartak Ngjela from the monarchist Legality Party took a
complaint to the Constitutional Court in Tirana on 2 June. At issue is
calculating the division of 40 seats in the parliament on the basis of
proportional representation. The court promised a ruling later on 3 June,
Gazeta Shqiptare wrote. Meanwhile in Luxembourg, the EU pledged on 2 June
to support the Albanian elections in various ways. These include promoting
free media, monitoring the vote, and training police. The EU also offered
to call an international conference on Albania, a press release said.
[13] CROATIAN PRESIDENT VISITS EASTERN SLAVONIA
Franjo Tudjman went to Beli Manastir on 2 June, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported from there. He met with the newly elected local council, which
includes Serbs. Tudjman appealed for mutual tolerance and "political
courage" and urged his listeners to shun "extremism." The president assured
the Serbs that their rights will be respected when the area returns to
Croatian control in July. He also urged Croatian refugees to be patient
about going home. A small group of Serbian nationalists staged a protest
demonstration against the visit, but leading Serbian politician Vojislav
Stanimirovic called Tudjman's stay "successful and encouraging."
Stanimirovic noted that Tudjman promised all citizens regardless of
nationality the right to go home.
[14] BOSNIAN UPDATE
After one year of talks, Muslim and Croat officials agreed in Mostar on 2
June on a plan to set up six district government councils, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from the Herzegovinian town. In Sarajevo, the OSCE
announced that the Serbs have joined the Muslims and Croats in calling for
an extension of the 16 June voter registration deadline. Only a fraction of
the eligible voters have registered so far. In the port of Ploce, nearly 4,
000 tons of arms began to arrive from the United Arab Emirates for the
federal army as part of the U.S.-led plan to train and equip the mainly
Croatian and Muslim forces. The shipment includes 50 tanks and 41 personnel
carriers. And in Paris, the French Defense Ministry announced that France
and Germany will soon begin helping the Bosnian Serbs and federal
Yugoslavia destroy 150 tanks, 800 artillery pieces, and other weapons in
keeping with limits set in the Dayton agreement.
[15] MORE KOSOVO ALBANIANS GO ON TRIAL
Some 15 Kosovars go on trial on terrorism charges in Pristina on 3 June, an
RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Kosovar capital. In Washington, the
State Department on 2 June protested the recent sentencing of another group
of 20 ethnic Albanians on similar charges. In Belgrade, the daily Blic on 3
June quotes State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns as saying that there
is little chance that the remaining sanctions against federal Yugoslavia
will be lifted soon. He said Yugoslavia "is not a normal country" and
pointed to the problem of Kosovo and to Belgrade's failure to cooperate
with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal.
[16] MILOSEVIC TO RUN AFTER ALL?
In Belgrade, Ljubisa Ristic, the president of the Yugoslav United Left
(JUL), said on 2 June that Serbian elections will take place in the fall
and that the joint candidate of leftist parties will again be President
Slobodan Milosevic. The real leader of JUL is Mirjana Markovic, who is also
Milosevic's wife and who has said that her husband will not run for the
Serbian presidency. Meanwhile in Podgorica, former Montenegrin Trade
Minister Nebojsa Zekovic was arrested on corruption charges, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital.
[17] MOLDOVAN GAGAUZ AUTONOMOUS REGION AUTHORITIES BAN OPPOSITION FORUM
The authorities in Moldova's Gagauz autonomous region banned a gathering of
opposition forces in Comrat on 31 May. The organizers had planned to hold
what they called the "first congress of Gagauzia's civil forces." Topics
for discussion included changing the name of the autonomous region to
"Gagauz Yeri Republic," restoring a "renewed USSR" in line with the "will
of the majority of the population," passing a no-confidence vote in the
region's leadership, and electing a coordination committee of all groups
participating in the forum. Georgi Tabunschik, the region's governor, said
that the gathering had intended to debate issues that are not within its
legal competence and would require holding a referendum at a time when the
law on referenda has not yet been passed, BASA-press reported on 2 June.
[18] BULGARIAN CUSTOM OFFICERS UNDER INVESTIGATION
The Ministry of Interior says an investigation into the assets of custom
officers at the country's border points shows that "a large proportion" of
the "modestly paid" officials live in luxurious conditions. The
investigation into more than 1,000 officials at 49 border-crossing points
revealed that many of them drive new limousines and own expensive homes
with swimming pools. An RFE/RL Sofia correspondent reported on 2 June that
the investigation was carried out as part of the government's crackdown on
corruption and organized crime. Meanwhile, another ministry statement said
hotels, restaurants, night clubs, stores, and casinos at three large Black
Sea resorts were also being investigated.
[19] BULGARIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES PARTICIPATION IN SFOR
The government has approved the participation of military forces in the
multinational UN force in Bosnia-Herzegovina under NATO command, Foreign
Minister Nadezhda Mihailova announced on 2 June. BTA cited her as saying
the executive will ask the parliament to approve Bulgarian participation in
SFOR. The cabinet intends to send a 35-strong engineering platoon to
joining a Dutch contingent under an initial six-month mandate. The decision
follows an exchange of letters between Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and NATO
Secretary-General Javier Solana, who, Mihailova said, lauded Bulgaria's
contribution to peacekeeping in Bosnia-Herzegovina and officially invited
Sofia to participate in the mission.
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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