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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 114, 98-06-17Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 114, 17 June 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] TAJIK PRESIDENT, OPPOSITION LEADER MEETEmomali Rakhmonov met with United Tajik Opposition leader Said Abdullo Nuri for three hours on 17 June to discuss opposition representation in the new coalition government, ITAR-TASS reported. They also discussed the recent law banning religious parties, which the opposition argues violates last year's peace agreement. A trilateral conciliation commission established by Rakhmonov to review that law is due to publicize its findings on 17 June. LF[02] RESULTS OF TURKMENISTAN CASPIAN TENDER ANNOUNCEDThe U.S. petroleum company Mobil and the Anglo-Chinese consortium Kern Energy-Texuna have won Turkmenistan's first international tender for the rights to exploit the country's offshore Caspian oil deposits, Russian agencies reported on 16 June. They must now draft production sharing agreements, which are to be submitted to President Saparmurad Niyazov within three months. Mobil has acquired the rights to the Serdar deposit, which has estimated reserves of 150-200 million metric tons of oil. Ownership of that deposit is claimed by Azerbaijan. Kern Energy-Texuna will develop the smaller Gaplan oil and gas field. Also on 16 June, Niyazov signed an agreement with a U.S. company on cooperation in developing and reconstructing water purification and desalination facilities, ITAR-TASS reported. LF[03] BARSKOON EVACUEES BEGIN RETURNING HOMEA local official in the Kyrgyz district of Issyk-Kul told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 16 June that residents of the Barskoon village evacuated following the 20 May spill of sodium cyanide into the Barskoon River have started to return to their homes. Some 5,000 residents from the village were evacuated from 4-9 June. Three people have died from sodium cyanide poisoning, more than 2,500 have been poisoned, and some 800 have been hospitalized. LF[04] MOSQUES IN KYRGYZSTAN TO BE REGISTEREDKyrgyzstan's Deputy Mufti Lugmar Aji told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 16 June that all mosques are to be registered with the country's Muslim Board. He noted that there are currently some 1,500 mosques in Kyrgyzstan, some of which have been built at the initiative of private individuals. LF[05] KAZAKH PENSIONERS GO TO COURTTwo Almaty pensioners have lost a law suit against the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, RFE/RL's Almaty bureau reported on 17 June. The two pensioners had demanded that the ministry implement a 1992 presidential directive index-linking pensions to inflation. Pensions have remained unchanged for the past four years, at 2,800 tenges ($35) per month. An Almaty city court judge rejected the pensioners' suit but ordered the ministry to implement future presidential decrees promptly. LF[06] AIDES TO AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER ARRESTEDTwo aides to former Azerbaijan President Abulfaz Elchibey were arrested in Baku on 14 June and a foreign-made pistol confiscated from one of them, Turan reported. Elchibey's Azerbaijan Popular Front has denounced the arrests as politically motivated. Neither man has yet been charged. LF.[07] ADJAR LEADERSHIP TO FORM ALLIANCE WITH COMMUNISTS?Adjar Supreme Council chairman Aslan Abashidze told journalists on 16 June that he is prepared to form an alliance with the United Communist Party of Georgia, headed by Panteleimon Giorgadze, Caucasus Press reported. Abashidze also said that he may suspend some laws adopted by the Georgian parliament. LF[08] FORMER SOUTH OSSETIAN LEADER AMNESTIEDAlan Chochiev, former head of the radical South Ossetian Popular Front and from 1992-1994 first deputy chairman of the region's Supreme Council, was released from prison on 16 June, ITAR-TASS reported. Chochiev was sentenced in July 1996 to five years in jail on charges of large-scale embezzlement. A committee created in his defense appealed to the South Ossetian authorities earlier this year for clemency, claiming that the evidence against him was fabricated, according to the 8 April "Nezavisimaya gazeta." LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] MILOSEVIC HEDGES ON TROOP WITHDRAWALYugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said in a joint declaration with his Russian counterpart, Boris Yeltsin, in Moscow on 16 June that Serbian "security forces will cut back their presence outside bases [in Kosova] in accordance with the cessation of terrorist activities." He also pledged to allow the return of refugees and freedom of movement for diplomats and humanitarian organizations. Milosevic added that he is willing to negotiate with Kosovar leaders and agreed not to use repression against civilians. At a press conference following his meeting with Yeltsin, Milosevic denied that his forces are conducting ethnic cleansing or have carried out attacks on civilians. Yeltsin described his talks with the Yugoslav leader, which lasted longer than scheduled, as "not easy." He also told Milosevic that "we do not forget that we are Slavic states and friends." PM[10] ALBRIGHT SAYS MILOSEVIC MUST END VIOLENCE...Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in Washington on 16 June that Milosevic's promises in Moscow constitute "some progress" but "do not meet the primary points that the Contact Group" has repeatedly raised. She stressed that the international community still insists that Milosevic end the violence in Kosova and withdraw his security forces, but, she said, "that has not happened." She commented that "what is going on there is unacceptable," adding that "action needs to be taken." Albright stressed that the international community is united in its views and that NATO will go ahead preparing contingency plans for intervention. She noted that Washington "condemns acts of violence by all sides, including the Kosova Liberation Army." PM[11] ...AS DOES PENTAGONSecretary of Defense William Cohen said in Washington on 16 June that "if there is a continuation of the killing [in Kosova], I think there will be a very strong tendency to reach a consensus [within NATO] quickly, rather than engaging in an endless debate." A Pentagon spokesman said that the issues of terrorist activity and the withdrawal of Serbian forces should not be linked and that Milosevic was trying to create "a loophole" by doing so in the Moscow declaration. A White House spokesman said that "there is no justification for continuation of the brutal campaign of violence by Serbian security forces, and the withdrawal of Serbian security forces is fundamental." He added that Milosevic's promises nonetheless constitute a "step in the right direction." PM[12] KOSOVARS UNIMPRESSED WITH MOSCOW DECLARATIONKosovar spokesmen said in Prishtina on 16 June that Milosevic is "trying to buy time" by making promises in Moscow. They added that his offer of talks is without significance because the Kosovars refuse to meet with Serbian negotiators as long as the repression continues. A spokesman for shadow- state President Ibrahim Rugova said the following day that "before Milosevic makes easy promises that he is for dialogue..., he has to withdraw special units from Kosova and stop the ethnic cleansing." The spokesman added that the Kosovars are "very interested" in dialogue but added that they believe "that only NATO intervention can create conditions for serious talks between Prishtina and Belgrade." Elsewhere, "The Guardian" reported on 16 June that elite British SAS units have arrived in Macedonia to help guide NATO aircraft to their targets should the Atlantic alliance intervene against Serbia. PM[13] UCK CALLS RUGOVA "AN OBSTACLE"A spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) told the BBC Television on 17 June that Rugova, who rejects violence, is a "defeatist" and "an obstacle to Kosova's independence." He added that Belgrade must withdraw its troops from Kosova and release political prisoners as a precondition for talks. The spokesman added that the UCK is fighting for a "pluralistic and democratic Kosova." FS[14] ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHARGES SERBIA WITH GENOCIDEPaskal Milo told a UN conference in Rome on 16 June that Serbia is conducting "genocidal massacres" and pursuing "an institutionalized policy of genocide [and] of state terrorism realized through the military, paramilitary, and police machinery against [Kosovar] Albanians." He added that Kosovars are "becoming the victims of a policy of ethnic cleansing" and stressed that armed resistance by the Albanian population against this policy "can never be identified with so-called terrorism." The Rome conference focused on plans to establish a permanent International Criminal Court to try war crimes. FS[15] ATTACKS ON KOSOVAR REFUGEESSerbian forces in the border area between Kosova and Albania fired on refugees trying to flee to Albania, killing at least one person, CNN reported on 17 June. A spokesman for the OSCE added that his organization is concerned that many refugees may be trapped inside Kosova because few people arrived in Albania on the morning of 17 June. The previous day, Serbian troops shot and killed an Albanian citizen inside Albanian territory, the Albanian Interior Ministry said in a statement. Refugees crossing into northeastern Albania said that Serbian military helicopters on 15 June opened fire on them with heavy machine guns and grenades. The Kosovars added that one of the helicopters bore the insignia of the Red Cross and attacked a group of refugees in the mountains of Kosova, killing at least two people. Meanwhile in Tirana, spokesmen for the Albanian Air Force said that maneuvers will take place on 19 June at the capital's airport. FS[16] ARE THERE CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN KOSOVA?Daan Everts, who is the OSCE ambassador to Albania, told the Dutch TV station "Nova" that he has received a "cruel report" from refugees that Serbian police have put an unspecified number of Kosovars in concentration camps, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" wrote on 17 June. He added that the report has not been independently confirmed but stressed that it "rang alarm bells" and that an investigation is urgently needed. Elsewhere, Euronews Television reported on 17 June that Serbian police have started rounding up Kosovar males. The broadcast likened the practice to Serbian policies during the Bosnian conflict. FS[17] MUSLIM ELECTED IN BANJA LUKAThe Republika Srpska parliament on 16 June elected Socialist Petar Djokic speaker and Safet Bico of the Party of Democratic Action his deputy. They replace hard-line Serbian nationalists, whom the parliament removed from office earlier the same day (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 June 1998). Bico told the Sarajevo daily "Oslobodjenje" that he recognizes it was difficult for many Serbian deputies to vote for a Muslim and thanked them for doing so. He added that his election constitutes "a step forward for democracy and toward European standards of human rights in the Republika Srpska." In Sarajevo, spokesmen for the new moderate Bosnian Croat political party, led by Kresimir Zubak, said that the organization will be called the New Croatian Initiative, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[18] CROATIAN POLICE KILLED IN BORDER INCIDENTUnidentified persons crossing into Croatia from Serbia east of Osijek killed two members of a regular Croatian police patrol, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on 16 June. In Zagreb, several thousand teachers demonstrated against the government's education policies. The office of the Zagreb Archbishopric said in a statement that the Roman Catholic Church opposes both the strike and the government's decision to end the school year early, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[19] TENSIONS CONTINUE OVER HUNGARIAN-LANGUAGE UNIVERSITY IN ROMANIAThe parliamentary group of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR) on 16 June decided to submit to the parliament on 26 June a draft law that would set up a Hungarian language state university in Transylvania However, also on 16 June, four members of the group presented a bill establishing the university, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. UDMR chairman Bela Marko said the decision two days earlier of the Cluj Babes Bolyai University Senate to oppose the government's decision to set up a faculty for Hungarian language and literature was "an enormous gaffe" that strengthened the demand for a separate university for the Hungarian minority. Marko said the UDMR will leave the coalition if the ruling parties do not respect agreements that were made when the coalition was formed. MS[20] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMEN WANT NEW BASIC TREATYMeeting in St. Petersburg on 16 June, Moldovan parliamentary chairman Dumitru Diacov, State Duma chairman Gennadii Seleznev, and Federation Council chairman Yegor Stroev agreed that a new basic treaty between the two countries must be drafted to replace the 1990 treaty, which has not been ratified by the Duma. Seleznev and Stroev told Diacov that the latter document is "historically outdated" and includes provisions that are now "disputable". The Transdniester separatists say the treaty is invalid because it does not take into consideration the "reality" of their statehood. Diacov proposed that the countries' Foreign Ministries start negotiations on striking "outdated provisions" from the document. Meanwhile, Gazprom has made good its threat to reduce gas deliveries to Moldova by 50 percent following Moldova's failure to pay its debt, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. MS[C] END NOTE[21] KOSOVA FROM TIRANA'S PERSPECTIVEby Fabian SchmidtBesides facing an influx of thousands of Kosovar refugees, Albania is confronted with a security threat from outside that could significantly undermine its stability, deepen internal divisions, and trigger new unrest. This threat is particularly acute after last year's riots in Albania. As anarchy spread throughout the country, large parts of the population destroyed all manner of government property, soldiers deserted and brought the army to near collapse, and arms depots were looted. When Albania's new Socialist Party-dominated government took office in summer 1997, it had to rebuild administrative structures, in particular the police force and customs, and launch reforms to strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law. One priority was to accelerate economic development, largely by improving ties with Albania's Balkan neighbors. Part of the new strategy was to seek to develop a dialog with then Serbian, now Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Before a summit of Balkan leaders in Crete last November, Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano announced he would like to discuss with Milosevic the possibility of closer cooperation between the two countries, adding that the Kosova problem should be addressed in a productive "European spirit." But during the summit, it became clear that Milosevic was ready neither for a rapprochement with Albania nor to make use of Tirana's new approach to try to solve the "Kosova problem" in a peaceful manner. Indeed, subsequent developments suggest that Nano made a political mistake. Even though he was praised by Western countries for his courage, the Crete summit backfired in three ways. First, the vast majority of the Kosova Albanians saw his efforts at improving ties with Belgrade as treason and as an attempt to sell out Kosova for minor economic interests. Second, this perception was strengthened by the domestic Albanian opposition, which claimed Tirana was betraying national interests. The opposition, led by former President Sali Berisha, also charged that it was unrealistic for the government to think Milosevic could be regarded as a serious negotiating partner. And third, Milosevic took Nano's policy as a sign of Tirana's weakness and opted for confrontation rather than reconciliation. Less than two months after the Crete summit, Belgrade used force to crack down on student demonstrations in Prishtina, sending a clear sign to Tirana that its policy of reconciliation had failed. This accelerated the spiral of violence that had slowly emerged over the previous eight years. At the same time, the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) stepped up its activities, realizing that the peaceful policy of Kosova shadow state of President Ibrahim Rugova was all but bankrupt and that Tirana had now officially turned its back on Prishtina's demand for independence. Berisha had supported that demand during his presidency from 1992 to 1997. Belgrade, for its part, used the UCK's increased activities as an excuse to accelerate its policy of confrontation and to start a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Drenica region in February. The following month, the Kosova shadow state held elections, which the Kosova Albanian opposition criticized as undemocratic, giving the UCK another argument against Rugova's political legitimacy. With the growing fragmentation among Kosovars, Milosevic felt confident enough to start his latest campaign of ethnic cleansing. As a result, there are currently about 45,000 displaced persons in Kosova, some 13,000 Kosovar refugees in Albania, and another 9, 000 or so in Montenegro. Tirana now finds itself in a difficult situation. On the one hand, it is sticking to its position of favoring a peaceful solution through dialogue between Prishtina and Belgrade. On the other, it is faced with a conflict that has already transformed its northern, mountainous region into a hinterland for foreign guerrillas. The Albanian government knows full well that its military will be unable to control the country's northern border to prevent the UCK from using Albania as a base. Similarly, it has failed to establish the rule of law in the north. That remote region is notorious for blood feuds, and many observers have compared it to the Wild West in 19th century America. But armed resistance to Serbia is "self- defense against a genocidal war," Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo commented on 16 June. The government is now seeking to contain the situation in the north by establishing police controls on the roads leading to the region and by clamping down on arms smuggling inside Albania. At the same time, it has built large refugee camps in the inaccessible northern region, rather than bringing the refugees to the lowland plains, which are easier to supply with food and temporary accommodation and from where the refugees could head to destinations of their own choosing. For the time being, that policy is keeping most refugees outside the cities of central Albania. It also gives many Albanians the impression that Kosova is still far away, although Albanian citizens have been quick to respond to appeals from a pro-Berisha radio station for donations of food and money to help the refugees. But the policy could nonetheless backfire. Concentrating Kosovars, who are already critical of Tirana's policies toward Milosevic, in the north, whose population tends to be pro-Berisha and anti-Socialist, could lead to a radicalization of northern Albanians. Many of those living in Albania's north have relatives in Kosova, including UCK fighters. 17-06-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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