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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 65, 97-07-02
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 65, 2 July 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] CHERNOMYRDIN DENIES SANCTIONING ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ARMENIA
[02] GEORGIAN COMMANDOS KILLED IN ABKHAZIA
[03] RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS SIGNED
[04] CHECHEN PRESIDENT IN BAKU
[05] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ASSESSES NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTRY
[06] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER REPLACED
[07] TAJIK PRESIDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA
[08] UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DRUG TRADE IN KAZAKSTAN
[09] KAZAK PRESIDENT PRAISES PARLIAMENT
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] CLASH BETWEEN ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER, MONARCHISTS
[11] ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACCUSES SOCIALISTS OF FRAUD
[12] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY ELITE FLEES COUNTRY
[13] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT SAYS REPUBLIKA SRPSKA THOROUGHLY CORRUPT...
[14] ...AND HER OWN PARTY TRIES TO OUST HER
[15] WORLD BANK LOAN TO CROATIA INDEFINITELY POSTPONED
[16] UPDATE FROM FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA
[17] ROMANIA BECOMES MEMBER OF CEFTA
[18] BULGARIA IMPLEMENTS CURRENCY BOARD ON SCHEDULE
[19] SOFIA DENIES WRONG-DOING IN ARMS SMUGGLING CASE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] CHERNOMYRDIN DENIES SANCTIONING ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ARMENIA
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on 1 July told journalists that
neither he nor any other member of the Russian government approved arms
supplies to Armenia, ITAR-TASS reported. "Izvestiya" the same day claimed
to possess documentation proving Chernomyrdin sanctioned arms shipments to
Armenia between 1994-1996 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 July 1997). Russian
government spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov told Interfax that in March the
government had submitted to the Chief Military Prosecutor's office
documentary evidence that it complied with a directive issued by Russian
President Boris Yeltsin on 9 September 1993 to suspend all arms deliveries
to both Armenia and Azerbaijan pending a peaceful solution of the Karabakh
conflict. (At the time, Karabakh Armenian forces had just launched a major
offensive.) Shabdurasulov said the "unauthorized activities of numerous
ministries or officials" are still being investigated.
[02] GEORGIAN COMMANDOS KILLED IN ABKHAZIA
Five members of a Georgian commando unit allegedly subordinate to the
Georgian security service and one Abkhaz soldier were killed in a skirmish
early on 1 July near the border between Abkhazia's Gulripsh Raion and the
rest of Georgia, Interfax reported, quoting an Abkhaz Interior Ministry
official. Also on 1 July, Russian Security Council deputy secretary Boris
Berezovskii proposed "new ideas" about a possible solution of the Abkhaz
conflict during talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi,
according to Reuters.
[03] RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS SIGNED
At the first session of the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental commission
on economic cooperation on 1 July in Yerevan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Valerii Serov and Armenian Premier Robert Kocharyan signed seven agreements,
including one on restructuring Armenia's debt to Russia, Armenian agencies
reported. Serov termed the agreements "pragmatic" and said that Russia
believes economic relations with Armenia should be "mutually supplementary
and mutually beneficial," Noyan Tapan reported. Following parallel talks
with Armenian government officials, Gazprom chairman Rem Vyakhirev said
agreement was reached on resuming Russian gas supplies to Armenia and that
talks on the export of Russian gas to Turkey via Georgia and Armenia are
continuing.
[04] CHECHEN PRESIDENT IN BAKU
Aslan Maskhadov on 1 July was in Baku on a "working visit" for talks with
Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, RFE/RL's Baku bureau reported. The two
presidents refused to speak to journalists after their meeting. Chechen
press spokesman Kazbek Akhmedov said that they had not signed any
agreements. He added that the question of exporting Azerbaijan's Caspian
oil via Chechnya was not discussed but said a trilateral agreement between
the Russian Fuel Ministry, the Chechen oil company Yunko, and the
Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR would be signed in Moscow after the
successful conclusion of Russian-Chechen accords on customs and banking.
Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Movladi Udugov told Interfax on 1 July
that talks with Russian officials in Moscow had yielded consensus on almost
all points of both accords.
[05] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ASSESSES NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTRY
Speaking at a ceremony in late June to mark the anniversary of the National
Security Ministry, Heidar Aliev said that body's primary tasks are to
liberate "occupied territories" and to gather information about Armenia,
according to Turan on 30 June and the "Turkish Daily News" on 1 July. Aliev
said that at least one political party in Azerbaijan is controlled by a
foreign intelligence service. He accused the intelligence services of
Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Georgia of interference in Azerbaijan's internal
affairs. He also called for strengthening control over the country's
borders to prevent drug trafficking via Azerbaijan. "Akhali taoba" on 1
July quoted a senior Azerbaijani frontier official as claiming that Georgia
is illegally selling Armenia part of the crude oil it receives from
Azerbaijan.
[06] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER REPLACED
President Askar Akayev dismissed Roza Otunbayeva as foreign minister on 1
July, according to RFE/RL correspondents in Bishkek. Otunbayeva is replaced
by Muratbek Imanaliyev, who until now was the head of the International
Department of the presidential administration. He served as foreign
minister from 1990-91 and was later ambassador to China. Otunbayeva, who
was previously ambassador to Canada and then the U.S, was named as
ambassador to Great Britain; however, there is no Kyrgyz embassy in London.
According to Interfax, she requested to be relieved of her duties as
foreign minister.
[07] TAJIK PRESIDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA
Imomali Rakhmonov arrived in Saudi Arabia on 30 June at the start of a four-
day visit, according to ITAR-TASS. Rakhmonov and a delegation of Tajik
businessmen and government officials held talks in Jeddah on 1 July with
the chairman of the Islamic Development Bank and the secretary-general of
the League of the Islamic World. Discussions centered on ways to improve
cooperation following the official end of the civil war in Tajikistan.
Rakhmonov met with King Fahd on 2 July to discuss Saudi-Tajik relations.
The Tajik president is also scheduled to visit Mecca to make the "umra" or
little Hajj.
[08] UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DRUG TRADE IN KAZAKSTAN
A UN official monitoring the drug trade in Kazakstan voiced alarm at
increasing drug use in Kazakstan and at the country's role as a transit
point for narcotics heading westward, Reuters reported on 1 July. The
official cited marijuana cultivation as the leading problem in Kazakstan's
fight against the drug trade. He also said Kazakstan has the potential to
become the leading producer of marijuana in the world. Nurlan Abdirov, the
head of Kazakstan's State Drug Control Committee, said marijuana is
currently being cultivated on at least 138,000 hectares of land, mostly in
the Chu Valley region of southeastern Kazakstan. Abdirov pointed out that
law enforcement officials in 1996 confiscated 12 tons of drugs being
shipped westward via Kazakstan. In the first five months of 1997, officials
have already seized more than 17 tons. Abdirov also noted that other drugs
have made their way into Kazakstan, including opium, LSD, and heroin.
[09] KAZAK PRESIDENT PRAISES PARLIAMENT
Nursultan Nazarbayev, addressing the parliament at the close of its second
session, has expressed satisfaction with the progress toward implementing
reforms, according to Interfax. Nazarbayev noted that during the nine-month
session, the parliament adopted more than 150 draft laws. He added that the
overhaul of the civil service has saved the country about 3 billion tenge
($40 million) to date. He cited an Economics and Trade Ministry report
predicting a 0.5% growth in GDP in the first six months of 1997 and 2%
industrial growth. By year's end GDP may have increased by 2%, the
president predicted.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[10] CLASH BETWEEN ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER, MONARCHISTS
Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano and Leka Zogu, the claimant to the throne,
exchanged sharp accusations over the election results on 1 July. Nano
argued in Tirana that only 20% of the electorate may have voted for the
monarchy in the 29 June referendum. Leka, who says that up to 60% voted in
favor of him, charged that Nano is trying to steal his victory, "Gazeta
Shqiptare" reported on 2 July. Leading writer Ismail Kadare said in Paris
that monarchy has no roots in Albania and that people voted for it because
they "hate the governing political class," "Dita Informacion" reported.
Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission announced official preliminary
results for 50 out of the 115 districts. According to this tally, 40% voted
for a constitutional monarchy and 60% for a republic, "Gazeta Shqiptare"
reported on 2 July.
[11] ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACCUSES SOCIALISTS OF FRAUD
Democratic Party chairman Tritan Shehu and presidential spokesman Genci
Pollo, sharply accusing the Socialist Party of having manipulated the
parliamentary elections, have demanded a new vote in the south. The
Democrats' "Rilindja Demokratike" suggested the OSCE was involved in the
fraud. The newspaper claimed on 2 July that Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe mediator Franz Vranitzky thanked the OSCE monitors
for their "understanding for the widespread irregularities." According to
first official parliamentary election figures for 50 electoral districts,
the Socialist Party has won 47.6% of the votes, the Democratic Party 30%,
the monarchist Legality Movement 3.32%, the ethnic Greek Human Rights Party
2.21% and the Democratic Alliance 2.01%, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported.
[12] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY ELITE FLEES COUNTRY
Interior Minister Belul Celo, his deputy Agim Shehu, and presidential guard
commander Xhait Xhaferi left Albania between 30 June and 1 July, "Dita
Informacion" reported. Celo asked Prime Minister Bashkim Fino for a three-
day "vacation," which he intended to spend at his home in Fier. Instead,
however, he reportedly took a plane to Athens. The daily claims that he was
accompanied by other high-ranking Interior Ministry officials. Meanwhile in
Tirana, a prison revolt started when prisoners took four policemen hostage
in the evening of 1 July. Interior Minister Spartak Ngjela suggested that
the prisoners had voted for the Socialists in the hope of being freed. They
staged a revolt when freedom was not forthcoming, "Gazeta Shqiptare"
reported.
[13] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT SAYS REPUBLIKA SRPSKA THOROUGHLY CORRUPT...
Biljana Plavsic said on Banja Luka Television on 1 July that Radovan
Karadzic and his lieutenants conduct widespread illegal trade and that she
intends to expose them and establish the rule of law (see "RFE/RL Newsline,
" 1 July 1997). She said "the consequence of [the corruption] is an
enormous accumulation of wealth by a relatively small number of our
population. Do they think that the rest of the population will be their
slaves?" Plavsic added that federal Yugoslav officials are also involved in
the dealings, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Banja Luka. She stood
by her earlier decision to sack Interior Minister Dragan Kijac and
indicated that she also wants Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic to go. Plavsic
further threatened to dissolve the parliament. She warned that the
international community will abandon the Bosnian Serbs unless they get rid
of their corrupt leaders.
[14] ...AND HER OWN PARTY TRIES TO OUST HER
The leadership of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) met in Pale on 1 July
to launch proceedings aimed at ousting Plavsic. The party told her either
to return to Pale and withdraw her decision against Kijac or else to resign
from the presidency, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Pale. The SDS
leaders said they will ask the parliament to censure Plavsic when that body
meets on 4 July. The Bosnian Serb constitution, however, says that a
president can be ousted only in a popular referendum. Meanwhile in Belgrade,
the pro-Milosevic tabloid daily "Vecernje novosti" charged that Plavsic and
her family have received large amounts of money paid into alleged Swiss
bank accounts by unknown sources in the U.S., BETA said on 2 July.
[15] WORLD BANK LOAN TO CROATIA INDEFINITELY POSTPONED
Following lengthy discussions, World Bank officials agreed on 1 July to a
request by the U.S. to postpone indefinitely a $30 million loan aimed at
improving the investment climate in Croatia, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported from Washington. The U.S. requested the move because of what it
called Croatia's poor record in implementing the Dayton agreement and in
allowing ethnic Serb refugees to return to their homes. Croatia denies the
charges and says that it does not need the loan anyway. Meanwhile in Mostar,
U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard threatened to cut off all aid to the Mostar area
unless local Croats form joint police forces with the Muslims. He also
lambasted the local Croatian police for tolerating widespread trafficking
in drugs, stolen cars, and other goods.
[16] UPDATE FROM FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA
Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski arrived in Belgrade on 2 July
with a high-powered economic delegation. Also in the Serbian capital,
federal Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic said on 1 July that Yugoslavia
will try war criminals itself and that the constitution prohibits
delivering Yugoslav citizens to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal.
Sokolovic denied that the Dayton agreement obliges Belgrade to extradite
indicted persons to the court. Elsewhere, Croatia officially protested to
the Yugoslav authorities after Belgrade basketball fans attacked the
Croatian embassy. Police took half an hour to arrive and stop the vandals,
who moved on the building after Yugoslavia scored a last-minute victory
over Croatia in European championships in Spain. And in Podgorica, the
Montenegrin parliament approved an opposition proposal to require state
officials to disclose their property holdings and for this information to
be published.
[17] ROMANIA BECOMES MEMBER OF CEFTA
Romania officially became a member of the Central European Free Trade
Agreement on 1 July, RFE/RL reported. President Emil Constantinescu has
described CEFTA membership as a kind of rehearsal for joining the EU. He
noted that CEFTA functions in accordance with EU rules and that this will
help ease Romania's bid for EU membership. He also said Romania will be
able to regain access to Eastern and Central European markets because of
its membership in CEFTA. Bucharest signed the necessary accords for CEFTA
membership in April. Meanwhile, Vojka Ravbar, CEFTA's current president and
Slovenia's state secretary for international economic relations, said he
expects membership negotiations with Bulgaria to start later this month.
Other current members of CEFTA include Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland,
and Slovakia. Countries that have expressed interest in joining are Latvia,
Lithuania, Estonia, Macedonia, and Ukraine.
[18] BULGARIA IMPLEMENTS CURRENCY BOARD ON SCHEDULE
Bulgaria on 1 July pegged its currency, the lev, at 1,000 to 1 German mark
as part of a plan agreed with the IMF to bring about fiscal discipline and
ease inflation, RFE/RL reported. The currency board system prevents the
Bulgarian National Bank from lending to the government or refinancing the
country's troubled commercial banks. It also requires that each lev in
circulation be fully backed by hard-currency reserves in the central bank.
Prime Minister Ivan Kostov said the currency board will speed up economic
transition and the goal of eventually joining the EU. Implementation of the
plan by 1 July had been seen in international financial circles as the
first test of Kostov's ability to bring about free market reforms. "Duma,"
the newspaper of the opposition Socialist Party, complained that the
currency board is stripping Bulgaria of its independence.
[19] SOFIA DENIES WRONG-DOING IN ARMS SMUGGLING CASE
A Bulgarian weapons manufacturer and the Trade Ministry in Sofia have
denied any wrong-doing in an alleged attempt by two Lithuanian nationals to
sell surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to undercover U.S. agents. The agents
were posing as arms brokers for a Columbian drug cartel. The ministry
admitted to RFE/RL that a U.S. firm called Phoenix Arms International,
which was represented by one of the arrested men, was given permission to
purchase missiles from Bulgaria's state-owned Armimex in December 1996. The
ministry says the deal did not go through because payments were never made.
Bulgarian authorities say Aleksandr Darichev, who was recently arrested in
Florida by U.S. agents, worked as a representative of Phoenix Arms
International. The ministry also says Darichev's firm presented all the
documentation needed to legalize the purchase.
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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