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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 147, 97-10-27Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 1, No. 147, 27 October 1997CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] NEW CONSORTIUM TO BUILD TURKMEN GAS PIPELINEThe Turkmen government and a group of international companies, including Russia's Gazprom, signed an agreement in Ashgabat on 25 October to build an export gas pipeline via Afghanistan to Pakistan. Turkmenistan will have a 10 percent stake in the consortium, the U.S. company Unocal 36.5 percent, Saudi Arabia's Delta 15 percent, and Gazprom 10 percent. The remaining 28.5 percent is shared between several South Korean, Japanese, Pakistani and Indonesian companies, according to Interfax. Construction of the 1,464 kilometer pipeline from Dauletabad, Turkmenistan, to Multan, Pakistan, is estimated at $2 billion and may begin in 1998. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has reached agreement with the various warring factions in Afghanistan on ensuring the security of the pipeline.[02] IS UZBEK MILITARY BACKING TAJIK OPPOSITION?Kasim Babayev, a former senior official from Tajikistan's southern Khatlon region, has told Tajik security forces that elements within the Uzbek military have backed the Tajik opposition, ITAR-TASS reported on 27 October. Babayev specifically mentioned renegade Colonel Khudoiberdiev, adding he believes the Uzbek officers have acted without the knowledge or approval of the country's top leadership. Babayev, an associate of Khudoiberdiev, recently surrendered to the Tajik authorities. Tajik security officials contacted on 27 October by RFE/RL's Dushanbe bureau declined to comment on the ITAR-TASS report.[03] ANOTHER CLASH ON TAJIK-UZBEK BORDEROne man was killed and eight wounded in a 27 October attack by unidentified armed men on a border post in Tursunzade. Additional Tajik border guards have been dispatched to that sector of the Uzbek-Tajik frontier. Meanwhile on 25 October, the repatriation of Tajik refugees from Afghanistan via Uzbekistan got under way, Reuters reported.[04] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT IN TURKEYOn his third official visit to Turkey since 1991, Askar Akayev and his Turkish counterpart, Suleyman Demirel, signed an "eternal friendship" and cooperation treaty on 24 October, the "Turkish Daily News" reported. Four other bilateral cooperation agreements were also signed. Akayev acknowledged Turkey's assistance in implementing reform in Kyrgyzstan and endorsed the secular, free-market "Turkish model." Addressing the Kyrgyz- Turkish Business Council on 24 October, Demirel called for increased Turkish investment in Kyrgyzstan. To date, some 250 Turkish companies have invested a total of $350 million in that country.[05] KAZAKH PROTEST MARCHERS CLASH WITH POLICEPolice on 23-24 October drove back the 2,000 or so workers from Achisay's Polymetal Plant who tried to break through barricades preventing them from crossing the Arys irrigation canal and continuing their protest march to Almaty, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kazakh capital reported. No one was injured. The protesters began their march on 1 October to demand the payment of wage arrears totaling 100 million tenges ($1.35 million). They are now also demanding free parliamentary and presidential elections, according to the 19-26 October issue of "Moskovskie novosti."[06] AZERBAIJAN'S OIL EXPORT PIPELINE COMMISSIONEDOil from Azerbaijan has begun flowing into the Russian Federation through the recently repaired Baku-Grozny-Novorossiisk pipeline, Russian agencies reported on 25 October. Speaking at a ceremony marking the event, Natik Aliev, the president of Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR, said "Today Azerbaijan resumes the export of its own oil to Western markets after a break of 65 years." Several months earlier, SOCAR began filling the Azerbaijani section of the pipeline with oil extracted onshore. The first "early oil" from the Chirag Caspian field being exploited by the Azerbaijan International Operating Committee will begin to flow on 12 November, one week later than previously announced, ANS reported on 24 October, quoting a senior AIOC official.[07] COUNCIL OF EUROPE DELEGATION IN ARMENIAA delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe met in Yerevan on 23-25 October with President Levon Ter-Petrossyan as well as with various political parties and parliamentary deputies, Armenian and Russian agencies reported. The delegation's objective is to assess the domestic political situation and determine whether Armenia fulfills the requirements for full membership in the Council of Europe. Currently, Armenia has "special guest" status in the council. Some Armenian journalists who requested to accompany the delegation on its tour of Yerevan's Nubarashen prison were barred from doing so, "Azg" reported on 24 October.[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[08] MORE STREET PROTESTS SLATED FOR MONTENEGROIn Podgorica on 26 October, the faction of the Democratic Socialist Party loyal to President Momir Bulatovic called for his supporters to stage mass meetings across the country. The previous day, the Constitutional Court rejected Bulatovic's demand that the court invalidate the 19 October presidential elections, which he lost. U.S. and EU officials earlier recognized Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic as the winner of the presidential vote and warned Bulatovic to call off his immediate post-election street protests, which he did on 23 October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 October 1997).[09] DJUKANOVIC SAYS BELGRADE GUILTY FOR OWN ISOLATIONMontenegrin President-elect Milo Djukanovic told "Der Spiegel" of 27 October that the federal Yugoslav government is largely to blame for its own international isolation. Djukanovic charged that Belgrade has so far failed to promote the democratization of Kosovo or to cooperate with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. He said, however, that Montenegro is not interested in leaving Yugoslavia and will do so only if what he called authoritarian tendencies in that country continue to rise or if Belgrade neglects Montenegro's vital interests and does not end the country's international isolation.[10] YUGOSLAV PRIME MINISTER ADMITS MISTAKESRadoje Kontic said in Belgrade on 26 October that Yugoslavia's reintegration into international political and economic structures is proceeding very slowly, BETA reported. Kontic added that political problems are much to blame for that slow pace. He singled out Yugoslavia's failure to resolve the Kosovo issue or to settle the question of the debt of the former Yugoslavia with the other successor states. He also noted that the international community feels that Belgrade is not cooperating sufficiently with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. Kontic argued nonetheless that the international community judges Yugoslavia by tougher standards than it applies to most other countries.[11] OPPOSITION LEADER WANTS ANTI-MILOSEVIC COALITIONZoran Djindjic, the president of Serbia's Democratic Party, said in Bijeljina in the Republika Srpska on 25 October that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's opponents everywhere must unite. Djindjic called for an alliance between himself, Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic-- with whom he met in Bijeljina--and Montenegro's Djukanovic. Djindjic charged that Milosevic is actively backing the hard-line rivals of Plavsic and Djukanovic. Meanwhile in Belgrade, six Serbian parties formed the League of Democratic Parties on 26 October. The league unites representatives of the Hungarian and Muslim minorities, as well as regional parties from Vojvodina, Sandzak, and Sumadija.[12] BOMB DAMAGES SERBIAN CHURCH IN BRCKOUN police spokesmen said in Sarajevo on 27 October that a bomb damaged a Serbian Orthodox church building under construction in the strategic north Bosnian town of Brcko. Police are investigating the incident, in which no one was injured. The church is close to the site of a mosque destroyed by the Serbs in the war.[13] KLEIN THREATENS TOUGH ACTION AGAINST BOSNIAN LEADERSJacques Klein, the international community's second highest representative in Bosnia, said in Sarajevo on 25 October that it might be necessary to "lock up in the National Museum" the leaders of the Croatian, Muslim, and Serbian communities in order to force them to conclude long over-due agreements on joint citizenship, a common currency, and state symbols. Observers noted that Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serbian member of the joint presidency, has been the main obstacle to an agreement. The governing Bosnian Serb party does not believe in a unified Bosnia and would prefer to partition the country.[14] BOSNIAN SERB POLICE LEADER CHANGES SIDESSpokesmen for Plavsic announced in Banja Luka on 25 October that hard-line Deputy Interior Minister Dragomir Jovicic has resigned his post in Pale and defected to Plavsic. The spokesmen said Jovicic decided to change sides when his superiors refused to let him arrest an aide of hard-line leader Radovan Karadzic on smuggling charges.. Plavsic claims that Karadzic's entire power structure is based on crime and corruption.[15] BOSNIAN PENSIONERS STAGE PROTESTThousands of retirees marched in Sarajevo on 25 October to demand an increase in state pensions. The average monthly pension is about $75 and the minimum guaranteed pension is $50, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from the Bosnian capital.[16] CROATIA TO DEFEND INTERESTS IN BOSNIAPresident Franjo Tudjman said in Zagreb on 26 October that Croatia has vital interests in Bosnia and will protect them. He added that those interests include not only the security of the ethnic Croats in that republic but also what he called Croatia's strategic interests. He pledged that the long-delayed agreement between Zagreb and Sarajevo to regulate bilateral relations will be ready soon.[17] SLOVENIA REDEFINES ECONOMIC PRIORITIESEconomics and Development Minister Marjan Sanjur said in Ljubljana on 24 October that his country will concentrate on improving its economic relations with the Balkan countries, including with the other successor states to the former Yugoslavia, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Ljubljana. Observers noted that, since gaining independence in 1991, Slovenia has focused on promoting economic links with the EU.[18] MACEDONIA, ALBANIA BOLSTER SECURITY TIESAlbanian Defense Minister Sabit Brokaj and his Macedonian counterpart, Lazar Kitanovski, signed an agreement in Skopje on 24 October to improve security on their common border. Armed gangs and smugglers have often crossed the frontier since law and order broke down in Albania early this year. On 26 October, the two ministers announced they will soon conclude an accord on military cooperation.[19] CIA HELPS REORGANIZE ALBANIAN SECRET SERVICEAn unspecified number of CIA instructors have arrived in Albania to help reorganize SHIK, the secret service, "Koha Jone" reported on 26 October. SHIK head Fatos Klosi was appointed on 21 August with the mandate to reorganize the highly politicized service. He has since replaced most high- ranking officers (see "RFE/RL Newsline" 22 August). Beginning in November, the CIA specialists will give three-month courses for new SHIK employees to help reorganize the service along Western lines.[20] ROMANIAN PREMIER ON POSSIBLE RESHUFFLEPrime Minister Victor Ciorbea on 25 October said a reshuffle of the government before the end of 1997 "cannot be ruled out," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The next day, President Emil Constantinescu appealed to the "revolutionaries" to end their 18-day hunger strike. Constantinescu said their protest has not been "without echo" and that upcoming parliamentary debates on the amendment to the law granting them benefits are likely to take into consideration the strikers' objections to the draft. But strike leader Dan Iosif said the hunger strike will continue until Ciorbea guarantees their demands will be met.[21] IMF DISSATISFIED WITH ROMANIAN PERFORMANCEIMF chief negotiator for Romania Poul Thompsen says he is "not satisfied" with the pace of economic reforms in Romania, particularly that of privatization, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported on 24 October. Thompsen had just concluded a week-long fact-finding visit to Bucharest. In other news, Adrian Nastase, the deputy chairman of the Party of Social Democracy in Romania, has condemned what he termed the "enforced Magyarization" of Romanians who live in counties where ethnic Hungarians are in a majority, according to the bureau on 26 October.[22] RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN TIRASPOLIgor Sergeev met in Tiraspol on 23 October with the leader of the breakaway Transdniester region, Igor Smirnov, BASA-press reported. Vladimir Atamanyuk, the deputy chairman of the separatists' Supreme Soviet, told the agency two days later that Smirnov and Sergeev discussed "bilateral cooperation" in non-military spheres and reached agreements on "mutual debts," which are to be submitted for Premier Viktor Chernomyrdin's approval. Atamanyuk also said Smirnov agreed that the Russian military equipment in Transdniester must be evacuated from the region, but he stressed this must happen "in line with bilateral accords between Tiraspol and Moscow."[23] SMIRNOV 'EXPLAINS' TRANSDNIESTRIAN POSITIONSmirnov told journalists in Tiraspol on 24 October that the Tiraspol leadership does not accept the compromise document that the experts from both sides recently worked out under Russian mediation (see "RFE/RL Newsline", 10 October 1997). He explained that the document was "imposed" on the two sides by President Yeltsin's special representative Yurii Karlov, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. In an interview with the Transdniester official state television on 24 October, Smirnov accused the leadership in Chisinau of "attempting to use Russia's authority in order to pressure Transdniester."[24] BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT ON RELATIONS WITH RUSSIAThe parliament on 24 October unanimously approved a resolution calling for "friendly, equal, and mutually advantageous relations" with Russia, RFE/RL's Sofia bureau reported. The resolution said Sofia's relations with Moscow must develop in line with Bulgaria's "national interest." It also emphasizes that Bulgaria's "integration in Euro-Atlantic structures" is one of its fundamental foreign-policy aims. The resolution was adopted against the background of growing tension between Bulgaria and Moscow over economic and foreign-policy differences. President Petar Stoyanov thanked the deputies for adopting the document, saying it will strengthen his position during his scheduled talks with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in Moscow on 18-19 December.[C] END NOTE[25] LAVENTS TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS LEGAL SHORTCOMINGS IN LATVIAby Peter Zvagulis and Martins Zvaners The long-awaited Banka Baltija fraud trial in Riga is a useful yardstick for measuring post-communist Latvia's progress in creating a modern judicial system. Unfortunately, by this measure, Latvia clearly has a long way to go.On 13 October, Aleksandrs Lavents went on trial on charges of massive fraud while chief executive officer of the Banka Baltija . The next day, however, Judge Aija Saulite suspended the trial after Lavents fainted in the courtroom and had to be rushed to the hospital. She released him from police custody, ruling that his history of heart ailments meant he should be under only house arrest. Saulite's actions drew sharp protests from Latvian leaders. In a joint statement, Prime Minister Guntars Krasts and Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs condemned her actions and urged that the government review the duties and responsibilities of the country's justices. The Prosecutor- General's Office also criticized the decision and appealed without success for Saulite to return Lavents to police custody. On 16 October, Saulite removed herself from the case, arguing that "pressure from the government, the Prosecutor-General's office and the community" had made it impossible for her to continue to preside over the trial whenever it resumed. But that action did little to halt the political controversy over her decision. Four days later, the opposition parliamentary deputies demanded a non-confidence vote in Justice Minister Rasnacs, a call that was echoed the same day by Latvia's Russian-language newspaper, "SM Segodnya." Saulite may have been driven to her decision less by official statements than by concern for her own safety. Such fears would have been justified. On the day Saulite released Lavents from custody, Josef Kaedar, the former security consultant for Banka Baltija and a former Mossad agent named, was stabbed to death at his home in what investigators regarded as a contract killing. His death was reported in the Latvian press on 15 October--the day before Saulite withdrew from the case.. Saulite may also have concluded that she could be well served by the precedent of judges avoiding tough decisions under what they identified as political pressure. Earlier this year, for example, several local and regional judges refused to take up the case of popular Daugavpils Mayor Aleksejs Vidavskis, who had allegedly been involved in the Communist Party's efforts to block the recovery of Latvian independence. Had those justices confirmed his involvement, Vidavskis would have been ineligible for public office under Latvian law. But their unwillingness to consider the case ultimately forced the prosecutor-general to drop the charges altogether. The chief motivation for Saulite's decision may be the growing power wielded by those involved in organized crime, a phenomenon evident in the Banka Baltija case. When the Banka Baltija collapsed in 1995, one-fifth of Latvia's poorest residents saw their savings disappear and more than $400 million in bank assets were illegally diverted. According to auditors, most of that sum went to the nearly 50 subsidiaries of Finhold Ltd., Lavents's off-shore holding company. Lavents and Banka Baltija arranged large loans to the former state airline, the state electric monopoly, and the state-owned shipping enterprise Bentspils Nafta. Those loans threatened the financial well-being of some of the country's largest companies. They also enriched Lavents's favored partners, including expatriate Latvian Armands Stendzenieks, who is now under arrest in Germany. Moreover, Lavents counted among his closest business associates Moisejs Gurevcs, who was later murdered, Vladimir Leskov, the reputed boss of the Pardaugava organized crime syndicate, and alleged mafia enforcer Boris Raigorodskiy. None of those people or their friends would likely have wanted a trial that might highlight their misdeeds, and both of those still alive would undoubtedly be willing to use forceful measures to prevent such a trial. The Lavents case thus highlights the unfortunate fact that Latvia still does not have a truly independent judiciary. But in contrast to the Soviet- era, the major threat to its independence comes not from the government but from organized criminal groups. Peter Avagulis is director of the RFE/RL Latvian Service. Martins Zvaners is an outreach specialist in RFE/RL's Washington office. 27-10-97 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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