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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 86, 99-05-05

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 86, 5 May 1999


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] DETAINED FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER REFUSES TO COOPERATE
  • [02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION URGED TO RETURN TO PARLIAMENT
  • [03] U.S. SEEKS TO REASSURE GEORGIA OVER ANTIQUITIES
  • [04] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GREATER MEDIA FREEDOM
  • [05] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER SUES JUSTICE MINISTRY...
  • [06] ...CLARIFIES FUTURE PLANS
  • [07] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS KYRGYZSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN
  • [08] TWELVE TERRORIST SUSPECTS DETAINED IN KYRGYZSTAN
  • [09] UN ENVOY DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS WITH TAJIK PRESIDENT
  • [10] TURKMENISTAN TO OPEN MORE EMBASSIES
  • [11] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [12] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO FLOOD MACEDONIA
  • [13] UNHCR TO SEND REFUGEES TO ALBANIA?
  • [14] UNHCR TO CLOSE KUKES REFUGEE CAMPS
  • [15] THOUSANDS MORE REFUGEES ARRIVE IN ALBANIA
  • [16] SERBIAN SHELLS KILL ALBANIAN VILLAGER
  • [17] NAUMANN SAYS NATO SHOULD HAVE BEEN 'MORE ROBUST'
  • [18] SHEA: SERBS USING SLAVE LABOR TO BUILD 'MAGINOT LINE'
  • [19] NATO ATTACKS SERBIAN FORCES...
  • [20] ...USES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
  • [21] COHEN: U.S. TO FREE TWO SERBIAN SOLDIERS
  • [22] MONTENEGRIN BUSINESSMEN TELL MILOSEVIC TO SETTLE OR QUIT
  • [23] BLAIR ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT
  • [24] FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ROMANIA COULD JOIN NATO IN THREE YEARS
  • [25] POPE SENDS MESSAGE TO ROMANIANS

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [26] LUCINSCHI WORRIED ABOUT DELAY IN WITHDRAWAL OF

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] DETAINED FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER REFUSES TO COOPERATE

    Former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian is refusing to answer investigators' questions, claiming his detention threatens the freedom and fairness of the parliamentary elections scheduled for 30 May, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 4 May. Siradeghian was detained at Yerevan airport earlier this week on returning to Armenia after a three-month absence in connection with a series of killings he is suspected to have ordered in his capacity as interior minister from 1992-1996 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). Members of the opposition Armenian Pan-National Movement (HHSh), of which Siradeghian is chairman, issued a statement on 4 May accusing the Armenian leadership of being unable to guarantee free and fair elections and of trying to exclude the HHSh from the election campaign. HHSh leaders also told reporters that they have lodged a protest with the OSCE election monitoring mission and are considering boycotting the poll. LF

    [02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION URGED TO RETURN TO PARLIAMENT

    Parliamentary first deputy speaker Arif Ragimzade has met with Yusif Bagirzade, one of the 17 opposition parliamentary deputies aligned in the Democratic Bloc, Turan reported on 4 May. Ragimzade urged those deputies to resume participation in the work of the legislature. The Democratic Bloc is refusing to take part in parliamentary proceedings until a debate is convened on the work of the parliament and of speaker Murtuz Alesqerov (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 April and 3 May 1999). Also on 4 May, the parliament passed in the first reading legislation on municipal councils and the conduct of municipal elections. LF

    [03] U.S. SEEKS TO REASSURE GEORGIA OVER ANTIQUITIES

    The president of the International Arts and Education Fund has informed Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze that the fund takes full responsibility for the Georgian icons and other antiquities to be exhibited in four U.S. cities later this year, Caucasus Press reported. Georgian students and clergymen launched a hunger strike in Tbilisi last week to protest the planned exhibit (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). Some of the hunger strikers fear the artifacts may be clandestinely sold to private collectors, while others told RFE/RL's Tbilisi bureau that "God's grace will abandon Georgia" if the icons and other religious objects are allowed to leave the country. LF

    [04] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GREATER MEDIA FREEDOM

    In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL correspondents in Astana on 4 May, Nursultan Nazarbaev said that Kazakhstan needs further democratic reforms, including the expansion of freedom of speech and the press. One day earlier, journalists had complained that the new draft media law currently under discussion would have the opposite effect. Marat Ospanov, chairman of the lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, similarly told the private television station "31" that censorship exists in Kazakhstan, although it is illegal, Interfax reported on 4 May. Ospanov said he himself is subject to censorship, which he blamed on the owners of unspecified media outlets. LF

    [05] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER SUES JUSTICE MINISTRY...

    A district court in Almaty on 5 May started hearing a case that former Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin has brought against the Ministry of Justice for its refusal to register the "Respublika" newspaper, which is published by Kazhegeldin's Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Almaty bureau reported. Amirzhan Qosanov, who is a member of the party's executive board, told journalists that all the necessary documents for the official registration of "Respublika" were submitted to the Ministry of Justice last August. LF

    [06] ...CLARIFIES FUTURE PLANS

    Speaking in London two days earlier, Kazhegeldin said he will not contend the parliamentary elections to be held in Kazakhstan in October, although other members of his party may do so, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Kazhegeldin hinted that he will not return to Kazakhstan until after the publication later this year of his new book, "Economic Modeling." LF

    [07] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS KYRGYZSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN

    Deputy Foreign Minister Frantisek Dlouhopolcek headed a Slovak government delegation that visited Bishkek on 3 May and Astana the following day, RFE/RL correspondents in the two capitals reported. Dlouhopolcek met with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliev and representatives of the presidential administration to discuss inter-governmental cooperation. In Astana, he and Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev reviewed bilateral relations, economic and cultural cooperation, and the Kosova conflict. LF

    [08] TWELVE TERRORIST SUSPECTS DETAINED IN KYRGYZSTAN

    The Ministry of National Security announced in Bishkek on 4 May that 12 people suspected of preparing terrorist acts at railroad and bus terminals in Bishkek were detained over the previous three days, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Weapons, cartridges, and drugs were reportedly also seized. An investigation is under way. LF

    [09] UN ENVOY DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS WITH TAJIK PRESIDENT

    Jan Kubis told journalists after meeting with President Imomali Rakhmonov on 4 May that he informed the latter about unspecified proposals drafted by the Contact Group for Tajikistan to expedite the peace process, AP-Blitz reported. Kubis also condemned opposition commander Mansur Muakalov's seizure last week of six police officers but expressed approval at the creation of a government commission to negotiate their release. AP on 30 April had quoted Kubis as blaming those abductions on the Tajik government's failure to implement agreements granting amnesty to opposition members. In a letter addressed to the Committee for National Reconciliation, Muakalov described the kidnappings as "a forced measure" in response to the "indifference" of the government and United Tajik Opposition leaders. LF

    [10] TURKMENISTAN TO OPEN MORE EMBASSIES

    President Saparmurat Niyazov has issued a decree on opening embassies in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Tajikistan, Interfax reported on 4 May. That move is a follow-up to Turkmenistan's decision earlier this year to introduce a visa requirement for visitors from most CIS states (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"18 March 1999). LF

    [11] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN

    Masahiko Komura met in Tashkent on 4 May with his Uzbek counterpart, Abdulaziz Kamilov, President Islam Karimov, and Prime Minister Utkir Sultanov, Interfax reported. Their talks focused on regional security and bilateral cooperation. Komura also attended the opening of the first Japanese International Cooperation Agency office in Central Asia. That body provides technical assistance in the transition to a market economy, environmental protection, and the development of transport, communications, and public health facilities. LF

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [12] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO FLOOD MACEDONIA

    Two trains brought more than 5,000 Kosovars to the Blace border crossing on 4 May. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that in recent days, refugees have been arriving faster than the UNHCR can process previous arrivals and send them on to other camps (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). He added that work in Blace has "turned into an exercise of trying to juggle and shuffle people." A spokeswoman for the UNHCR noted that some refugees reported that Serbian forces separated young men from the rest of the expellees at Prishtina train station. She added that other refugees "showed signs of heavy beatings." According to UNHCR statistics, there are 110,700 Kosovars in camps in Macedonia and an additional 93,370 staying in private homes there. PM

    [13] UNHCR TO SEND REFUGEES TO ALBANIA?

    UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva on 4 May that the UN body will soon move several thousand refugees from Macedonia to Albania in order to reduce the overcrowding in Macedonian camps. He added that "taking people out of Macedonia...is designed to allay fears of the Macedonian government and keep them on board," Reuters reported. Janowski described sending Kosovars to Albania as a "last resort," because that country is already "swamped" with some 400,000 refugees. He noted that refugees who go from Macedonia to Albania will be volunteers and that they will still be eligible for transfer to third countries. In Skopje, some 248 Kosovars left on a flight to Canada. The following day, an additional 453 refugees flew from Skopje to New Jersey. The two flights are the first taking Kosovars to new homes in North America. PM

    [14] UNHCR TO CLOSE KUKES REFUGEE CAMPS

    Ray Wilkinson, who is the UNHCR's spokesman in Tirana, told AP on 4 May that his agency plans to move a refugee camp from Kukes to another location in Albania, farther away from the frontier. That camp accommodates some 30, 000 people. Altogether the UNHCR plans to evacuate 100,000 people in several camps from the northern town. Wilkinson said that the UNHCR is concerned about security in the border region, where villages are a frequent target of Serbian artillery. A UN World Food Program spokeswoman said her agency turned down a request to improve the quality of the basic food relief it supplies in Kukes, arguing that "we don't want to seduce [the refugees] or increase the comfort level." Many refugees prefer to stay in Kukes rather than go elsewhere in Albania in the hope of an early return to Kosova or of finding relatives among new arrivals. FS

    [15] THOUSANDS MORE REFUGEES ARRIVE IN ALBANIA

    Some 7,000 additional refugees arrived in Kukes on 4 May. Many told stories of a new wave of killings and robberies and of men being separated from women and children in several regions of Kosova in recent days, AP and Reuters reported. One refugee, who had been hit by a bullet, said he saw 20 to 30 people shot dead in Studime, near Vushtrri. Others said they saw at least 100 dead bodies along the road in that village. The Kosova Liberation Army's (UCK) news agency, Kosovapress, also said that Serbian forces killed about 100 civilians there, adding that the Serbs subsequently dumped the bodies into a mass grave. FS

    [16] SERBIAN SHELLS KILL ALBANIAN VILLAGER

    One villager was killed in a Serbian artillery attack at Letaj, in the Has Mountains, on 4 May, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Tirana. Elsewhere, Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark told journalists that NATO is determined to destroy Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's war machine. He said that NATO takes seriously repeated border violations by Serbian forces and noted that the Apache helicopters in Albania are ready to go into battle. He did not give details of the planned operations. Meanwhile, two U.S. Army pilots were killed north of Tirana when an Apache helicopter crashed during a training mission. They were the first U.S. fatalities in the current Balkan campaign. It was the second crash of an Apache in Albania. FS

    [17] NAUMANN SAYS NATO SHOULD HAVE BEEN 'MORE ROBUST'

    German General Klaus Naumann, who heads NATO's Military Affairs Committee, said in his farewell speech in Brussels on 4 May that the Atlantic alliance would have been more successful in its campaign against Milosevic if it had used "surprise and overwhelming force" from the very start. Naumann added that the alliance's credibility will ultimately depend on whether it can adapt its strategy to make "credible preparations" for a ground war, the "Financial Times" reported. He noted that it is more difficult for a coalition of countries, such as NATO, to take firm and decisive action than it is for a single state to do so. Naumann added that, unless NATO changes its tactics, it is likely that Milosevic will succeed in his "mass deportation campaign." Italian Admiral Guido Venturoni succeeds Naumann in the powerful Brussels military post. PM

    [18] SHEA: SERBS USING SLAVE LABOR TO BUILD 'MAGINOT LINE'

    NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels on 4 May that reports from refugees suggest that Serbian forces have "virtually emptied" Prizren of its 180,000 inhabitants, including some 50,000 expelled in recent days. He added that the Serbs are "holding back" many men and using them...as human shields [and] to build a kind of Maginot Line" [of trenches] around Prizren." Shea said that the alliance is "very concerned about [the Kosovars] condition." He also presented a "macabre tally of this chamber of horrors" since Milosevic launched his crackdown in early 1998: 800,000 Kosovars have fled the province, 650,000 are internally displaced, 100,000 men of military age are missing, and 4,000 men are known to have been executed. Shea added that NATO has reports of mass killings in some 65 towns and villages and of mass graves in at least seven locations, Reuters reported. PM

    [19] NATO ATTACKS SERBIAN FORCES...

    NATO's General Walter Jertz said in Brussels on 4 May that aircraft of the Atlantic alliance made an "especially strong" attack on the Yugoslav army's 125th motorized brigade in western Kosova and its 233rd brigade in the east of the province, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman noted that a U.S. F-16 fighter shot down a Yugoslav MiG-29 jet, the sixth plane of that type that NATO has downed since the air campaign began in late March. In Belgrade, Milosevic congratulated "the army and police for preventing the biggest aggressor in the world from capturing an inch of our territory." He added that the Serbian forces have "prevented incursions by terrorist gangs and fully destroyed units, headquarters, and infrastructure" of the UCK. PM

    [20] ...USES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE

    Shea said on 4 May in Brussels that NATO has begun temporarily cutting off electricity to Serbian communities in an effort to "turn the lights on in the heads and minds of the Belgrade leadership" and persuade them to seek a settlement on NATO's terms (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). In Croatia, state-run television reported that the authorities turned down a request by the Serbian government to "urgently supply it with electricity." The broadcast noted that Croatian officials made their reply "following urgent diplomatic consultations with the U.S. [government] and the NATO high command.... The Croatian government said that its decision is in accord with its support for NATO forces." PM

    [21] COHEN: U.S. TO FREE TWO SERBIAN SOLDIERS

    Secretary of Defense William Cohen said at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany on 5 May that he plans to recommend to President Bill Clinton that he release two Serbian soldiers captured by the UCK in Kosova and being held by the U.S. in Germany. Clinton is visiting Spangdahlem, where many of NATO's aircraft for Operation Allied Force are based. He will also visit Ramstein Air Base, from which many of the humanitarian relief missions depart for the Balkans. Before leaving Washington for Europe, Clinton stressed that any peace negotiations with Belgrade must lead to the "safe and secure" return home of the refugees (see also Part I). PM

    [22] MONTENEGRIN BUSINESSMEN TELL MILOSEVIC TO SETTLE OR QUIT

    The Montenegrin Chamber of Commerce said in a statement on 4 May in Podgorica that Milosevic should either negotiate a solution to the crisis in Kosova soon or resign. The businessmen added that "the country will collapse completely" if the crisis continues much longer. PM

    [23] BLAIR ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Yugoslav President Milosevic a "pariah in his own region" and said Romania's stability is threatened by the Kosova crisis, AP reported on 4 May. Blair thanked legislators for supporting NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia and said his government will formally support Romania's accession to the EU. Blair said that "Milosevic and his hideous racial genocide will be defeated." He said Serbia could "rejoin the world community" when the "dictatorship is cast out and real democracy returns." PB

    [24] FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ROMANIA COULD JOIN NATO IN THREE YEARS

    Alain Richard told his Romanian counterpart, Victor Babiuc, in Paris on 4 May that Romania could become a NATO member by 2002, Romanian Radio reported. The greatest obstacle to Romania's accession to NATO is the state of the country's economy, Richard commented. Babiuc said the two also discussed compensation to Bucharest for the losses it is incurring as a result of the conflict in Yugoslavia. PB

    [25] POPE SENDS MESSAGE TO ROMANIANS

    Pope John Paul II sent a message to Romanians ahead of his visit to the country on 7 May, Mediafax reported. The pope said he will bring "no sterile polemics over the worldly powers" but the "one and only God." The visit will be the first by a pope to a mostly Orthodox country. Airport officials announced the same day that journalists will have to pay special fees for access to the airport. An official said it will cost "billions of lei" (hundreds of thousands of dollars) to spruce up the airport for the papal visit. PB

    [C] END NOTE

    [26] LUCINSCHI WORRIED ABOUT DELAY IN WITHDRAWAL OF


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


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