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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 85, 99-05-04Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 85, 4 May 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER ARMENIAN INTERIOR MINISTER DETAINEDVano Siradeghian was taken into custody at Yerevan airport on 3 May on returning from a three-month stay abroad, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He had left Armenia on 29 January, three days after parliamentary deputies rejected a demand by Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian to strip him of his parliamentary immunity so that he could be questioned over allegations that while serving as interior minister from 1992- 1996 he ordered several murders. In a second vote on 17 February, deputies acceded to Hovsepian's request. Siradeghian was re-elected chairman of the board of the former majority Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh) at its congress in early March (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 March 1999) and has been nominated by that party as a candidate in the 30 May parliamentary elections. As such, he can be arrested only with the consent of two-thirds of the 13 members of the Central Electoral Commission. LF[02] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT TELEPHONES WITH TURKISH COUNTERPARTHeidar Aliev, who is recuperating from heart bypass surgery in the U.S., held a brief telephone conversation on 2 May with Suleyman Demirel, who wished him a speedy recovery, Turan reported the following day. A presidential press spokesman described Aliev's condition as "good." LF[03] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS AZERBAIJANMasahiko Komura held talks in Baku on 2-3 May with his Azerbaijani counterpart Tofik Zulfugarov and with Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, ITAR- TASS and Turan reported. The Japanese side agreed to extend a 18.3 billion yen (some $160 million) loan toward the ongoing modernization of a key hydroelectric power station on the Apsheron Peninsula and 1 billion yen to renovate the country's road network. Agreement was also reached on the opening of a Japanese embassy in Baku next year. A Japanese spokesman said Tokyo may offer to finance some sections of the TRACECA Asia-Europe transport corridor and is interested in expanding its participation in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector. LF[04] AZERBAIJANI OFFICIAL HINTS AT FURTHER EXPANSION OF GUUAMAzerbaijani State Foreign Policy advisor Vafa Guluzade told Turan on 3 May that Poland and Romania are interested in joining the Georgia-Ukraine- Uzbekistan- Azerbaijan-Moldova alignment in the near future. He added that GUUAM is expected to intensify its activities and hold meetings with the heads of state of countries that have expressed an interest in membership. Talks are under way on the optimum location for the organization's headquarters and the formation of its Secretariat, Guluzade added. In related news, a delegation from the Romanian Defense Ministry and military-industrial complex visited Georgia last week to discuss areas of future cooperation, Caucasus Press reported. LF[05] GEORGIAN STUDENTS PROTEST PLANNED U.S. EXHIBITSSeveral dozen Georgian students and members of the clergy are continuing a hunger strike at several locations in Tbilisi to protest plans to send priceless antique manuscripts and Church treasures on a tour of four U.S. cities this fall, Caucasus Press reported on 3 May. AP had quoted one of the protest participants as predicting that the valuables would be clandestinely sold to private collectors and replaced with fakes. LF[06] KAZAKH JOURNALISTS CRITICIZE DRAFT LAW ON MASS MEDIAMeeting in Almaty on 3 May to mark International Media Day, journalists subjected Kazakhstan's new draft law on mass media to harsh criticism, RFE/RL correspondents in the former capital reported. They charged that unless unspecified drastic amendments are made to that draft, freedom of speech and the press in Kazakhstan will be restricted. It is not known who prepared the draft law, which was published in the press last week but has not been distributed to parliamentary deputies for discussion. LF[07] KYRGYZ, UZBEK TRAIN TRANSIT RESUMES THROUGH KAZAKH TERRITORYThe heads of Kazakhstan's and Uzbekistan's national railroad companies have reached an agreement on the resumption of rail traffic from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan across Kazakh territory, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on 4 May. Kazakhstan had halted rail freight shipments from Kyrgyzstan in mid- April and from Uzbekistan one week later because of unpaid transit debts amounting to $3.8 million and $8 million, respectively (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 April 1999). Those debts will now be repaid by 31 May. LF[08] KYRGYZSTAN'S INDUSTRY UNABLE TO REPAY DOMESTIC, FOREIGN LOANSKyrgzystan's industrial sector owes the government some 403 million soms (about $11 million) in domestic loans and an additional 4.367 billion soms (about $125 million) made available in foreign credits, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 3 May quoting government sources. Two-thirds of the 105 enterprises that received foreign loans during the period 1992-1998 are now on the verge of bankruptcy. LF[09] TAJIK COMMANDER RELEASES ANOTHER HOSTAGEMansur Muakalov, whose fighters seized six Tajik police officers on the night of 27-28 April to demand the release of five of their associates under investigation for murder, handed over a fourth hostage late on 2 May, AP reported from Dushanbe the following day. Talks are continuing on the release of the two remaining captive policemen. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] THOUSANDS OF KOSOVARS REACH MACEDONIASome 9,000 Kosovars arrived at the Blace frontier crossing with Macedonia on 3 May. One-third of them spent the following night in the open while waiting to enter Macedonia and the transit camp at the border. Most of the 9,000 came from Podujeva, north of Prishtina. Aid workers said that the fact that the Serbian authorities deported the Kosovars in an "unprecedented three trains" suggests that the Serbs "are working overtime to clear the area north of Prishtina" of ethnic Albanians, Reuters reported. One refugee said that police separated young men from the rest of the expellees at the Prishtina railway station. Aid workers added that this marks the first time they have heard of such a practice in the capital. Other refugees at Blace said they spent "weeks" living in the mountains. Some of the women were raped by Serbian forces. PM[11] ALBANIA PREPARES TO TAKE 60,000 REFUGEES FROM MACEDONIABritish Lieutenant-General John Reith, who is commander of NATO's humanitarian relief mission in Albania, said in Tirana on 3 May that the alliance plans to build camps for an additional 160,000 Kosovar refugees, including 60,000 from neighboring Macedonia. He added that the Albanian government wants to make "a gesture of intent" to the Macedonian government to show that it is "willing to take people" from Macedonia's overcrowded camps. Reith said that Tirana airport currently handles 80 humanitarian aid flights daily. Meanwhile, aid workers from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees evacuated about 7,000 refugees from Kukes in 15 buses and 75 military vehicles. A UNHCR spokesman said in Tirana that the number of refugees in Albania now exceeds 400,000. Elsewhere, Serbian artillery shells hit an Albanian Television transmitter and a private radio station near Qafe e Prushit in the Has Mountains, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Tirana. FS[12] UCK REJECTS LDK OFFER TO FORM NEW GOVERNMENTJakup Krasniqi, who is the principal spokesman for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), told private Klan TV in Tirana on 3 May that a proposal by officials from Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) to form a new provisional government is "unacceptable," dpa reported. Krasniqi added that "there is already a government of Kosova led by [the UCK's] Hashim Thaci." Also in Tirana, an LDK delegation led by shadow-state Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi held talks with Albanian government officials who are working to bring together the rival Kosovar political forces, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. Meanwhile, Krasniqi told the Ljubljana daily "Delo" of 3 May that "we did not correctly anticipate either the dimensions of war that would ensue from the air strikes or that the Serbs' actions would concentrate on civilians." He added that "we thought that Serbia would mainly concentrate on defending itself from NATO attacks." FS[13] NATO SAYS SERBS MADE 'PROPAGANDA TRICK' OUT OF BUS INCIDENTA spokesman for the Atlantic alliance said in Brussels on 4 May that an attack on a bus near Prizren the previous day was the result of fighting between the UCK and Serbian forces and was not the work of NATO aircraft. He added that "after a comprehensive review of operations, and although several of our aircraft were in the general area, there is no evidence to link our activities with this alleged incident." Shortly after the attack on the bus, which left at least 17 dead, Serbian authorities charged that a NATO bomb hit the vehicle. PM[14] BLAIR HAILS 'JUST WAR'...British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at Macedonia's Stankovic refugee camp on 3 May that "we will do everything we can to make sure that these people, these innocent people, are allowed to go back to their homes, their towns, their villages." Blair stressed that NATO will continue its efforts to stop Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's "appalling policy of ethnic cleansing and racial genocide... . That commitment is total." The prime minister added that "this is not a battle for territory. It is a battle for humanity. It is a just cause." PM[15] ...AS DOES CHIRACFrench President Jacques Chirac said in Paris on 3 May that NATO will continue its efforts against Serbia until Milosevic accepts all of the alliance's demands. Chirac added: "To all of you who have not seen a war, especially the younger generations, I want to tell you that this conflict is exemplary. It is not based on hidden economic or strategic concerns, but on a concept of morality and the honor of nations. To accept the horrors that we have witnessed would mean losing our soul. It would allow an unspeakable gangrene to settle once more on our continent." PM[16] NEW WEAPON SHORT CIRCUITS SERBIAN POWER GRIDThe Atlantic alliance shut down much of Serbia's power supply on 2-3 May by using a new and highly secret "graphite bomb," AFP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 May 1999). The device, about which a Pentagon spokesman declined to comment, explodes above a power station and releases a cloud of graphite dust. The graphite in turn acts as a conductor and short circuits the switching station, causing it to shut itself down. Some equipment is permanently damaged, but the graphite dust can be easily removed. "The Guardian" of 4 May described the effects of the bomb on the electrical network as "having the mechanical equivalent of a series of heart attacks." Allied forces used an earlier version of the weapon to shut down Iraq's power system in the 1991 Gulf War. PM[17] MONTENEGRIN GOVERNMENT NOT INFORMED ABOUT PORT CLOSUREThe government said in a statement on 3 May in Podgorica that it has not been officially informed about the military authorities' decision to close the port of Bar (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 May 1999). Jusuf Kalomperovic, who is minister for shipping and communications, said that he hopes that the navy will revoke its decision to shut down the port. PM[18] TUDJMAN, OPPOSITION MAKE DEAL ON ELECTION LAWIn Zagreb on 3 May, President Franjo Tudjman agreed with opposition leaders Ivica Racan of the Social Democrats and Drazen Budisa of the Croatian Social-Liberal Party to abolish separate electoral lists for Croats living abroad. Members of the Diaspora will continue to have the right to vote and run for office and will receive places on the party lists that appear on ballots throughout Croatia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In recent elections, the existence of separate lists meant in practice that voters in Herzegovina elected a solid bloc of deputies to the Croatian parliament from Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Community. Many Western governments and institutions have criticized Croatia's electoral laws, chiefly on the grounds that the ethnic Croats of Bosnia-Herzegovina are citizens of that country and should not be allowed vote in Croatian elections. It is unclear whether the latest compromise will help pave the way for Croatia's admission to Euro-Atlantic institutions. PM[19] PERRY TO MEDIATE GULF OF PIRAN DISPUTEA spokesman for the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said in Ljubljana on 3 May that Croatian and Slovenian officials will meet the following day in Washington with former Secretary of Defense William Perry. The spokesman added that the governments of the two ex-Yugoslav states asked Perry to mediate their dispute over their maritime border in the Gulf of Piran. Croatia claims that the gulf belongs to it alone. Slovenia wants a corridor through the gulf to enable Slovenian ships and fishing boats to have direct access to the high seas. Since 1991, Zagreb has stuck to its position in the hope of extracting concessions from Ljubljana on other bilateral issues, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Both countries need to resolve the dispute in order to accelerate their integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. PM[20] BLAIR MEETS ROMANIAN PRIME MINISTER IN BUCHARESTBritish Prime Minister Tony Blair said on 4 May that he favors holding a conference on ways to help Balkan countries suffering economically because of the war in Yugoslavia, AP reported. Blair made his comments after a meeting with Premier Radu Vasile. He reportedly told Romanian President Emil Constantinescu that he also favors a reconstruction plan for the Balkans at the conclusion of the war. He said NATO appreciates Bucharest's support during the air campaign. Blair is to address the parliament before returning to Britain. PB[21] NATO COMMANDER PRAISES BULGARIA, SAYS MILOSEVIC LOSING WARU.S. General Wesley Clark, the top NATO commander in Europe, said in Sofia on 3 May that NATO is winning the war against Yugoslavia, AP reported. Clark was in Sofia for talks with Bulgarian leaders in an attempt to rally support for a parliamentary vote on an accord with the alliance granting it access to a limited air corridor over Bulgaria. Clark said after meeting with Premier Ivan Kostov that NATO is "very appreciative of the courageous and very forward-looking approach" of the Bulgarian government. He said Bulgaria is a "very valued, special member of the Partnership for Peace program" and added that NATO will work with Bulgaria to prevent a repetition of the errant missile incident last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 April 1999). The Bulgarian Constitutional Court ruled on 3 May that the accord with NATO does not violate the constitution. More than 1,000 people demonstrated outside the parliament on 4 May as debate on the accord began. PB[22] KOSTOV WARNS OF THREAT REFUGEES POSE TO MACEDONIAPremier Kostov said on 3 May that the tide of Kosovar refugees in Macedonia poses political and economic dangers to that country. In an interview in the daily "Trud," Kostov said destabilization of Macedonia can end "in only two tragic ways." One way would be a split in which an ethnic Albanian part of Macedonia joins Albania and the other part returns to Yugoslavia. The second "tragic" end would be "for Macedonia to die the way Yugoslavia is dying." He referred to Macedonia as a "brother country." PB[C] END NOTE[23] DESTROYING SERBIA IN ORDER TO SAVE ITby Christopher WalkerThe administration of a hard-hitting therapy for a grave illness has the potential to cure but also runs the risk of grievously harming the patient. For Yugoslavia, NATO's therapy of choice--an ever-escalating bombing campaign-- poses the following question: Will this military operation affect Serbian society so that it becomes consumed with resentment and malice toward the international community? Or will the NATO effort purge from Serbia the cancerous behavior that has so plagued the entire Balkan region for the last decade? Now into the second month of its bombing operation, NATO is targeting a wider range of transport and communication links and is increasingly focusing on a range of key industrial sites and economic assets throughout Serbia. While most of the targets at the outset of the campaign were overtly military in nature, it is clear that considerable destruction is now being done to the civilian sector and economic infrastructure in Serbia- -and not only as a result of collateral damage. It is also clear that the Western alliance overestimated the effectiveness of air power as the tool for compelling Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accede to its demands. Unable to get Milosevic to capitulate quickly and unwilling to take the more drastic military steps that would help bring the conflict to a close, the allies are relegated to hammering Serbia from the air. The failure of the Milosevic era speaks for itself. All sectors of Yugoslav society have been infected by the regime's primitive style of governance. A byproduct of the NATO bombing campaign has been an intensification of already existing anti-democratic conditions in Serbia: profiteers who honed their skills during the Croatian and Bosnian wars are now back on familiar, lucrative ground; the country's politics, already extreme by regional standards, have been further polarized; the economy, in shambles dating back several years, is in danger of being gutted entirely; and independent media, which had operated under consistent official pressure, have now been formally taken over and added to the state-run propaganda machinery. At the same time, the effects of Serbia's condition have not been confined within its own borders. On the contrary, Serbia has played the role of regional menace for a full decade now. And as a result, all of its neighbors have suffered. The politics of aggression, as directed from Belgrade, have dragged down the regional economy and contributed greatly to the view of the Balkans as a dark corner in Europe. Serbia's actions have also radicalized to varying degrees the politics of neighboring countries and provinces, including Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Kosova. The dramatic shifts of ethnic populations, largely initiated and orchestrated by the Serbian regime, have wreaked havoc on the regional landscape since the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Recognizing the enormity of the task of enabling democratic habits to take root in Serbia and throughout the Balkans, the NATO alliance is promoting what U.S. President Bill Clinton describes as a post-conflict strategy for reconstruction and renewal. The alliance seems sensitive to the fact that Serbia cannot be left as a festering wound in southeastern Europe after hostilities end. Soliciting Russia's assistance in bringing about a settlement with Milosevic is a delicate issue. Implicit in using Russia's diplomatic channels to Belgrade is Milosevic's remaining in power after a negotiated settlement. One alternative arrangement, albeit almost inconceivable at the moment, would be a Moscow-brokered plan that met key NATO demands, while simultaneously allowing Milosevic an exit from power that would protect his physical safety and not subject him to prosecution as a war criminal. But if Milosevic remains, it is hard to imagine a scenario under which renewal and reform could take root in Yugoslavia. At this point, reconstructing Serbia and reorienting its politics will be difficult enough even if a change in leadership were to take place. Moreover, Milosevic's continued presence would negatively influence the ability of fragile neighboring countries to regain their footing. Thoroughly vanquishing Serbia runs the risk of positioning it as the sick man of Europe for the 21st century. Equally risky would be to conclude the military campaign without reasonable confidence that in the post-conflict period Serbia would change its political habits. A Serbian nation intent on continuing a pattern of belligerence would undermine the entire region's prospects for stability and prosperity. The NATO alliance is putting forward billions of dollars to continue its military effort against Serbia. Many more billions will be necessary for the civilian rebuilding effort after the guns are laid down. The author is a New York-based analyst specializing in East European affairs (intrel@aol.com). 04-05-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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