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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 113, 99-06-10Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 113, 10 June 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ELECTS NEW SPEAKERAs widely anticipated, the new parliament elected former Communist Party First Secretary Karen Demirchian as speaker at its first session on 10 June, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Demirchian and Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian head the Miasnutytun alliance, which has some 65 seats in the 131- deputy parliament. Addressing deputies, President Robert Kocharian said there can be "no alternative" to political and economic reform. He added that he expects "close cooperation" between the legislature and the executive. Demirchian, for his part, said he will strive to "increase substantially" the role of the parliament in policy- making, and he called for "greater transparency' in the work of the government. LF[02] DEFENDANT IN ARMENIAN TRIAL IMPLICATES FORMER INTERIOR MINISTEROnly one of the eight former Armenian police officials accused of belonging to a death squad allegedly set up by former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian has pleaded guilty to that charge, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 9 June. Arshak Shukian confirmed his earlier testimony that he received orders from the alleged gang leader, Armen Ter- Sahakian, in 1992-1993 to assassinate several prominent officials and that he participated in one such murder. Ter-Sahakian and the remaining six accused have pleaded not guilty to the murder charges. Ter-Sahakian said his earlier confession was made under pressure from the Armenian authorities. LF[03] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT RETURNS TO BAKUHeidar Aliev on 9 June flew home to Baku from the Turkish resort of Antalya, where he had spent three weeks recuperating from heart bypass surgery in the U.S. in late April. Before his return, presidential administration officials had announced that he will embark on a grueling schedule of public commitments, including the opening of a new airport complex in Baku on 13 June, a ceremony to mark the 1,300th anniversary of the Turkish epic "Kitebi Dede Korkut" on 14 June, and a summit of Turkic states on 15 June. But Novruz Mamedov, head of the foreign relations department within the presidential administration, told Reuters on 9 June that the Turkic summit has been postponed indefinitely because of Aliev's health. Other members of the presidential administration, however, said the postponement was requested by Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, who visited Aliev in Antalya before the latter's departure. LF[04] ABKHAZ, GEORGIAN TALKS CONCLUDE...The confidence-building talks between Abkhaz and Georgian government delegations ended in Istanbul on 9 June with the signing of a declaration on the resumption of talks by three working groups created under UN auspices in late 1997, Caucasus Press reported. Those talks will address security measures in southern Abkhazia and the exchange of prisoners of war. The two sides agreed to convene another meeting on the repatriation to Abkhazia of displaced persons and measures to ensure their safety. LF[05] ...AS LEADER OF DISPLACED PERSONS URGES NATO INTERVENTIONAddressing the NATO Assembly in Brussels on 9 June, Tamaz Nadareishvili, who is chairman of the so-called Abkhaz parliament in exile and unofficial leader of the Georgians who fled Abkhazia in 1992-1993, called for NATO to launch a peace enforcement operation in Abkhazia with a UN mandate under Article 7 of the UN Charter. He also urged the withdrawal from the border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia of the CIS peacekeeping force currently deployed there and its replacement by an international force. Nadareishvili also said the Russian military base in Gudauta, which he characterized as a "source of destabilization," should be closed. Nadareishvili, who has formed his own political party to contend the Georgian parliamentary elections this fall, is seeking to persuade the international community that Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba should be indicted for genocide and ethnic cleansing. LF[06] KAZAKH PRESIDENT SETS PRIORITIES...Addressing cabinet members and regional governors on 9 June, Nursultan Nazarbaev chastized those officials for infighting, which, he said, is undermining the confidence of foreign investors, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 June 1999). Nazarbaev criticized the government, and Prime Minister Nurlan Balghymbaev personally, for the lack of a coherent program for the next three to five years, and he outlined 10 tasks for ministers and regional leaders, Interfax reported. Also on 9 June, the Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan joined the OTAN party in calling for the government's replacement. The trade unionists noted that real wages have fallen by 25-30 percent in recent months, while food prices have risen sharply. LF[07] ...AS PREMIER, OTHERS ASSESS ECONOMIC DOWNTURNAddressing a conference in Astana on 9 June, Balghymbaev said economic output in the first five months of 1999 was down 4.8 percent compared with the same period last year and foreign trade turnover declined by almost 25 percent, Interfax reported. Balghymbaev also criticized the takeover of many large plants by foreign management, which began under his predecessor, Akezhan Kazhegeldin. He accused unnamed foreign investors of failing to meet tax commitments and to pay wages punctually. National Bank Chairman Qadyrzhan Damitov said that Kazakhstan's money base shrank by 20 percent during the first quarter of the year, while gold and hard currency reserves fell by 18.6 percent to $1.6 billion, Interfax reported. And Yerzhan Utembaev, who is chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, summarized the overall economic situation as "a serious crisis." LF[08] TURKMEN PRESIDENT SETS UP PIPELINE WORKING GROUPSSaparmurat Niyazov on 9 June decreed the formation of two working groups to coordinate talks and the drafting of documents related to the planned construction of gas export pipelines, Interfax reported. One group will deal with the planned Trans-Caspian route via Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey, while the second will continue talks with Japanese and European companies on the construction of a pipeline via Afghanistan to Pakistan. Interfax quoted a senior official from the country's Oil and Gas Ministry as saying that Niyazov's decision indicates that at present Ashgabat does not favor one specific pipeline route over others. LF[09] UZBEK BOMBING SUSPECTS ADMIT TO CHECHEN CONNECTIONAn unspecified number of the 22 men on trial for allegedly staging the 16 February bomb attacks in Tashkent, in which 16 people were killed, have admitted to undergoing training in camps in Chechnya run by Jordanian-born field commander Khattab, Interfax reported. Several other defendants said they underwent preparations for the attack in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Also on 9 June, Interfax reported that 34 men are on trial in the Uzbek city of Fergana on charges of calling for the overthrow of the present Uzbek leadership. The men hoped to establish an Islamic state, Interfax quotes local court officials as saying. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] NATO, SERBIA REACH MILITARY AGREEMENT ON KOSOVANear Kumanovo on 9 June, military representatives of the Atlantic alliance and Serbia reached an agreement on the Serbian military's withdrawal from Kosova. NATO air strikes ceased shortly thereafter, although spokesmen for the alliance in Brussels stressed the strikes have not been officially suspended. According to the agreement, the Serbian military must leave Kosova within 11 days in stages along prescribed routes. NATO had previously demanded that the Serbian forces leave within seven days. In Kumanovo, Yugoslav General Svetozar Marjanovic said that "the war has ended." In Belgrade, crowds appeared in the streets to celebrate. State- run media reported that Yugoslavia had reached an agreement "with the UN." PM[11] NATO WAITING FOR SERBIAN WITHDRAWALSpokesmen for the Atlantic alliance said in Brussels on 10 June that NATO is waiting for verification that Serbian forces have begun to leave Kosova before ordering a "suspension" of air strikes against Yugoslav targets. In Cologne, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said: "We have already seen some empty trucks and vehicles going into [Kosova] and hopefully that's a sign that they are preparing themselves to transport their troops and their equipment out. It looks as if we're in the end game." British General Richard Dannatt said in Skopje that NATO peacekeepers could begin to arrive in Kosova as early as 11 June if NATO confirms the withdrawal. PM[12] U.S. TROOPS ARRIVE IN MACEDONIA FROM ALBANIA"Hundreds" of U.S. troops and an unspecified number of helicopters arrived on 10 June at the NATO military camp at Petrovec, Macedonia, from Albania, Reuters reported. Some 1,700 U.S. troops are expected to arrive in Petrovec by the end of the day. Observers suggest that the troops are going into Kosova via Macedonia rather than directly from Albania because the roads are better and less likely to be mined. PM[13] UNHCR: GET TROOPS IN QUICKLYA spokesman for the UNHCR said in Geneva on 10 June that it is important that NATO troops enter Kosova as soon as possible to prevent further incidents. "If you look at the record of paramilitary forces elsewhere and their recent record [in Kosova], there is a major danger that they will burn and loot before leaving," he said. Other observers noted that a NATO presence is essential to prevent retreating Serbs from killing or injuring remaining Kosovars and to prevent Kosovar civilians and guerrillas from taking revenge on local Serbs. PM[14] UCK PROMISES NOT TO FILL POWER VACUUM IN KOSOVAThe provisional Kosovar government's Deputy Defense Minister Colonel Bislim Zyrapi told Reuters on 10 June that the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) "will hold [its] positions while the Serbian forces withdraw and NATO arrives." He said it will not fan out to fill the vacuum left by retreating Serbian forces. Zyrapi stressed that protecting the local population is the UCK's first priority. He added, however, that he cannot rule out cases of revenge attacks by returning refugees. Zyrapi stressed that the UCK will not disarm until all Serbian forces leave Kosova. He also said that the UCK should continue to exist as a small military force, but he did not elaborate. FS[15] MILOSEVIC SHORING UP POSITION?Yugoslav President Slobodan secretly met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj and other members of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party at an undisclosed location over the weekend, the "Financial Times" reported on 10 June. Milosevic secured the Radicals' pledge to remain in the government, which they had threatened to leave after a dispute with Milosevic over the peace terms for Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June 1999). In Belgrade on 10 June, Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic called on the opposition to launch a campaign for Milosevic to resign. Observers note that the question remains whether Milosevic can remain in power after having started and lost four wars within eight years. PM[16] LAWYERS FILE CHARGES AGAINST NATO IN THE HAGUEIndependent lawyers from Britain, Canada, Greece, and Switzerland representing unspecified peace groups have filed formal charges at the Hague-based war crimes tribunal o against several NATO officials and other Western leaders for "violations of international criminal law in causing civilian death, injury and destruction" in NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia, AP reported on 9 June. Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour met with the lawyers to discuss the case. Tribunal spokesman Paul Risley said that "the prosecutor has asserted jurisdiction over all persons responsible for serious violations of humanitarian law or crimes of war within the territory of former Yugoslavia.... No person is excluded from the authority of the tribunal." FS[17] DJUKANOVIC PLEDGES HELP FOR SERBIAMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said in Cologne, Germany, on 9 June that Milosevic "is a politician who belongs to the past," adding that his polices are "quarrelsome and arrogant." The Montenegrin leader noted that Montenegro "is willing to make an effort to assist Serbia to democratize and to embark upon such an avenue together with us." He added: "I think that prospects for stability in the region can only be achieved if there is a substantial autonomy [in Kosova], within Yugoslavia, which will ensure full guarantees of minority [rights] and democratization within Yugoslavia as a whole." U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Montenegro "a shining example of what is possible" in the former Yugoslavia. PM[18] MONTENEGRINS CHARGE ARMY RESERVISTS WITH OFFENSESIn Podgorica on 9 June, Montenegrin officials gave Colonel Miroslav Samardzic, who is the Yugoslav army's chief prosecutor in Montenegro, a list of 151 criminal charges against an unspecified number of Yugoslav army reservists for offenses they allegedly committed in the mountainous republic. The charges involved unruly behavior, assaults on Montenegrin police, endangering the environment, theft, and unlawful detention. It is unlikely that the military prosecutor will act on the charges, AP reported. PM[19] CROATIAN JOURNALIST ESCAPES DETENTION BY YUGOSLAV ARMYAntun Masle, who is a reporter for the independent weekly "Globus," arrived in Croatia after fleeing from a hospital in Podgorica where he had been held by the Yugoslav army on charges of espionage, "Vjesnik" reported on 10 June. Media reports in Yugoslavia and Croatia suggest that the Montenegrin police may have helped Masle escape, the Zagreb-based daily added. PM[20] FORMER CROATIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF ARRESTED...Police in Zagreb arrested Miroslav Separovic on 9 June for allegedly leaking "state secrets" and other confidential information to the press. The leaks resulted in media reports about the politically motivated fixing of soccer matches by intelligence agents (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 June 1999). Separovic resigned as director of the Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS) in January. He complained of many problems within that organization, Reuters reported. PM[21] ...CAUSING POLITICAL CONTROVERSYRepresentatives of several opposition parties and independent journalists met in Zagreb on 9 June and called for Separovic's release, "Novi List" reported. Separovic told reporters that he believes that Ivic Pasalic, who is President Franjo Tudjman's chief aide, ordered his arrest. Separovic added that Tudjman is aware that Pasalic deliberately made problems for him during his tenure at HIS. Pasalic said that Separovic is himself to blame for his difficulties there as well as for his decision to leave that organization. PM[22] ROMANIAN PREMIER, STRIKERS FAIL TO REACH SOLUTIONPrime Minister Radu Vasile on 9 June met with leaders of unions representing striking teachers, but the two sides agreed only to continue their talks. A union leader said the strikers will not end sanctions until the government fully implements agreements reached last October. Also on 9 June, a planned meeting between Vasile and some members of his cabinet and the leadership of the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) did not take place. The PDSR leadership claimed it had not received "on time" the invitation to attend. Vasile commented that PDSR's failure to attend is a "sign of ill will." The meeting has been rescheduled for 16 June, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[23] HUNGARIAN ETHNIC LEADER CRITICIZES ROMANIAN PRESIDENTHungarian Democratic Federation of Romania Chairman Bela Marko on 9 June said President Emil Constantinescu's recent comment on the significance of a document calling for the autonomy of Transylvania and the Banat and for Romania's federalization was "over-exaggerated" and "smacked of electoral campaigning" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 June 1999). Marko said the document may well exist and have been circulated among Transylvanian intellectual circles, but he pointed out that Romanian and ethnic Hungarian intellectuals who allegedly signed the document have denied doing so. Marko said the ruling coalition must deal with the country's real problems rather than engage in "electoral campaigning," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS[24] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN IN U.S.Dumitru Diacov, who is currently on a visit to the U.S., met on 9 June in Washington with Congress members and Carlos Pascual, director-general for relations with the New Independent States in the National Security Council, Flux reported. The previous day, Diacov informed World Bank officials about legislation initiated by the government on the privatization of the energy and telecommunications sectors, of agriculture and on improving fiscal supervision. On 24 June, the bank's executive board will discuss the agreement on granting a $40 million stand-by loan to Moldova. Diacov asked the members of Congress with whom he met to help Moldova in its effort to implement reforms. In an interview with ITAR-TASS, he said Moldova wants to pursue broad-based cooperation with Russia and remove "all suspicions" that have persisted since 1990. MS[25] BULGARIA CALLS ON YUGOSLAVIA TO RELEASE DETAINED ETHNIC LEADERForeign Ministry spokesman Radko Vlaykov on 9 June told journalists that the ministry has appealed to Yugoslav authorities to show "understanding" and to release from detention Marko Shukarev, leader of the Democratic Union of Bulgarians in Yugoslavia. Shukarev faces court-martial for desertion, having failed to report to the unit in which he was drafted after leave of absence (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 June 1999). On 8 June, meeting with the leader of the Helsinki Committee for the Protection of Bulgarians in Yugoslavia, President Petar Stoyanov called Shukarev's detention "a frivolous act of ill-intent" that could "torpedo the future of joint efforts of Bulgarians, Serbs, and all Balkan people to turn the region into what they wish it to be," BTA reported. MS[C] END NOTE[26] ALBRIGHT BRINGS TOGETHER KOSOVAR LEADERSby Fabian SchmidtU.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has taken a major step toward putting a stop to infighting between three Kosovar leaders. An 8 June meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Cologne brought together Hashim Thaci of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), Ibrahim Rugova of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), and Rexhep Qosja from the United Democratic Movement of Kosova. That meeting, which received little attention in the international media, took place at Albright's urging. Since the Rambouillet talks, Albanian, French, and other European governments have all failed to achieve such a gathering, despite their persistent efforts to persuade the three rivals to overcome their differences. The secretary of state has thus demonstrated that Kosovars, like many Europeans throughout most of this century, have been unable to solve problems among themselves unless the U.S. took the initiative and forced them to agree on a basic democratic platform, thereby demonstrating its supremacy on the international scene. Albright secured a commitment from the three Kosovars to honor the pledges they made at Rambouillet on creating a democratic interim framework for Kosova. The three agreed to coordinate their efforts toward setting up a post-war civilian administration in the province supervised by "a special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan." The draft UN Security Council resolution proposed by the G-8 countries stipulates that the UN is to establish such an administration, but it is likely that the OSCE will be charged with doing the job and will have to work closely with the Kosovars to make that administration a success. Few details of the meeting have been released, and UCK spokesman Sabri Kicmari told RFE/RL only that Albright later met with each of the three leaders separately. It is likely that during those meetings Albright was hammering out details of future cooperation. Late last month, Albright had urged the Kosovars to create a National Security Council, following a suggestion by Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 24 May 1999). That council, made up of a variety of Kosovar political groups, would serve as Kosova's interim legislature until parliamentary elections are held under international supervision and would serve as a check on the provisional government during the interim period. The council may thus bring together the two governments that currently exist-- the provisional government of Prime Minister Thaci and the shadow state government of Bujar Bukoshi of the LDK. This is the second time that the rival Kosovars have agreed to form a broader platform. The first time was during the Rambouillet talks in March, when the Albanian government played a role in having the rivals sit at the negotiating table. In the end, it was the U.S. that helped them formulate a clear and credible vision for a democratic and free future in Kosova. That vision was credible because it included an international protectorate with strong foundations, including heavily armed NATO forces that would guarantee all Kosovar inhabitants the necessary security against both Serbian forces and enemies of the peace settlement within the province. The vision also provided for internationally supervised free elections, in which the rivals would have to compete openly and on equal terms. The main reason Rugova's LDK was so hesitant to join Thaci's government was that the latter had weak democratic credentials and an opaque guerrilla organization. Without assurances from the U.S. and NATO, the LDK was afraid that the UCK, with its military structure, dominant position in the province and limited democratic experience, would eventually become a stumbling block for a truly democratic post-conflict development. But fears were allayed once Western leaders made it clear that Western organizations will take the leading role in setting up Kosova's future police force, which is to be placed under civilian and democratic control. Albright stressed at a press conference after the 8 June meeting that "Kosovo's political leaders will, I hope, cooperate to make Kosova truly democratic." Therefore, a firm commitment by the UCK to disarm and transform itself into a political organization was at the center of her talks with the rival Kosovars, she added. At the same time, a new local police force will probably include former UCK fighters. The Rambouillet accord envisaged that the Kosovar police force will be trained and supervised by the international community. It is, in fact, likely that this will happen soon after the deployment of international forces. Albright explicitly told journalists after the 8 June meeting that "these representatives...told me without any ambiguity that they will meet the key commitments made at Rambouillet.... The [UCK] will demilitarize and enter into a process of transformation." Thaci added that the UCK will "transform itself into a political entity." Rugova, who has twice been elected as shadow state president and has so far refused to recognize Thaci's government, said: "We can do it together." He did not elaborate. And Albright stressed that "the leaders I have met with intend to go forward with vision and courage." Indeed, the three will very soon have to demonstrate the credibility of their vision as well as their ability to set up the necessary state institutions. The challenges facing their administration will be huge. During and after the return of the refugees, they will not be able to meet those challenges unless they unite quickly now and keep to their promises to promote democracy. 10-06-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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