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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 174, 99-09-07Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 174, 7 September 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] KARABAKH LEADERSHIP INSISTS ON PARTICIPATION IN PEACE TALKSArkadii Ghukasian, the president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, was quoted on 6 September as having told a visiting U.S. Congressman that Armenia is not authorized to try to resolve the Karabakh conflict single-handedly in talks with Azerbaijan and that no peace settlement is possible without the participation and approval of Karabakh Armenian officials, RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported. Also on 6 September, Karen Mirzoyan, who is Karabakh's permanent representative in Yerevan, told RFE/RL that the most recent peace proposal by the OSCE Minsk Group should not be substantially amended to accommodate Azerbaijan's objections. Meeting in Yerevan two days earlier with the U.S. ambassador and the U.S. co-chairman of the Minsk Group, Karabakh Foreign Minister Naira Melkumian said that while the precise term used to define the future relations between Azerbaijan and the enclave may be changed, those relations must be based on the principle of equality, according to Noyan Tapan. LF [02] AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT MAY SEEK THIRD TERMPresident HeidarAliev, who is 76, told leading members of his Yeni Azerbaycan party in Baku on 5 September that he feels well and may run for a third presidential term in 2003 "if the people want" him to do so, Turan reported. Aliev was elected president in September 1993 and re-elected in October 1998. Turan said the rationale for his statement is that the present constitution, which allows one individual to serve no more than two consecutive terms as president, was adopted only in November 1995. Aliev also praised Social Security Minister Ali Nagiev, leader of one of two rival factions within Yeni Azerbaycan, and defended the right of his son Ilham to a career in politics. Some observers believe that Ilham Aliev is being groomed for the chairmanship of Yeni Azerbaycan as a first step toward succeeding his father as president (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 34, 26 August 1999). LF [03] AZERBAIJAN'S FORMER PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER DENIES HE WASDETAINED IN U.S.Rasul Guliev told Turan on 6 September that reports by the Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and Prosecutor- General's office that U.S. immigration officials detained him on 3 September are disinformation. Guliev resigned three years ago as parliamentary speaker after harshly criticizing President Aliev's policies. In January 1998, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office and National Security Ministry accused Guliev of conspiring from exile to overthrow President Aliev and of embezzling millions of dollars. Three months later, the Azerbaijani parliament voted to strip him of his deputy's immunity (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 January and 8 April 1998). LF [04] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER'S PARTY SPILTSLira Bayseitova, one of15 former members of the Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan who broke with that party last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 1999), told journalists in Almaty on 6 September that the 15 have now registered a new political party named Respublika-2000, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. The new party has already succeeded in registering branches in five of Kazakhstan's 14 oblasts but will not be able contend the 10 October elections to the lower house of parliament as the 31 August deadline for applying to do so has already elapsed. The Republican People's Party is headed by former Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin. Meanwhile, several would-be parliamentary candidates in Almaty have appealed to a local court to extend the 9 September deadline for registration, claiming that the Central Electoral Commission "deliberately" mislaid documents to create a pretext for failing to do so. LF [05] IS KAZAKHSTAN RETHINKING SALE OF OIL STAKE?Kazakhstan'sPrime Minister Nurlan Balghymbaev told journalists in Astana on 5 September that the planned sale of part of Kazakhstan's 25 percent stake in the U.S.-Kazakh consortium Tengizchevroil "is not an urgent need," Interfax reported. If the sale does go ahead, it will be "transparent" and Kazakhstan will seek a fair price, Balghymbaev added. Several prominent politicians have expressed their opposition to the planned sale, which Balghymbaev announced three weeks ago (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 August and 3 September 1999). On 6 September, Interfax quoted former KazakhOil head Nurlan Qapparov, who was fired for his opposition to the sell-off, as saying that neither KazakhOil nor any other government agency participated in talks on the sale. He said he cannot confirm that Mobil has offered to buy all or part of Kazakhstan's stake in Tengizchevroil at a price of $100 million for each 1 percent share. LF [06] KAZAKHSTAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER DISCLAIMS KNOWLEDGE OF MIGSALESAt a meeting in Tokyo on 6 September with his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, Kasymzhomart Toqaev again said that the government of Kazakhstan had no prior knowledge of the recent delivery to North Korea of some 30 MiG-21 aircraft, ITAR-TASS reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August 1999). He added that Astana has asked North Korea to return the planes. Komura and Toqaev also discussed political and economic ties, and Japan undertook to continue to provide financial aid to Kazakhstan. LF [07] UZBEK MILITANTS READY TO NEGOTIATE WITH KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT...At talks with Human Rights Movement of Kyrgyzstan chairmanTursunbek Akunov, the estimated 400-500 ethnic Uzbek militants who still hold 12 hostages in southern Kyrgyzstan expressed their willingness to take part in negotiations in Batken with Kyrgyz government representatives, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 7 September, citing the presidential press service. Akunov returned to Batken on 7 September after meeting with the guerrillas. LF [08] ...WHICH DOWNPLAYS DANGERThe Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issueda statement on 6 September saying that the Kyrgyz leadership is taking all necessary measures to neutralize the guerrillas and secure the hostages' release, Interfax reported. It called on the UN and OSCE to condemn "attempts by international terrorists" to "force their ideological views upon the people of Kyrgyzstan." Also on 6 September, presidential administration Defense and Security Department head General Bolot Djanuzakov told journalists that the hostage taking does not pose any danger to foreign residents in Kyrgyzstan. But "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 7 September that police in Bishkek are rounding up Afghans and Pakistanis on suspicion of being connected with the guerrillas. Meanwhile, ITAR-TASS reported that four residents of Aravan Raion in southern Kyrgyzstan were arrested on 5 September for possession of extremist Islamic literature. LF [09] TAJIK OPPOSITION PESSIMISTIC OVER CHANCES OF FAIRELECTIONS...Opposition party leaders aligned in the United Tajik Opposition and Communist Party head Shodi Shabdolov met in Dushanbe on 3 September to discuss the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 6 September. At an earlier meeting, those opposition leaders said they fear it may prove impossible to create conditions for free and fair elections, in particular to allow all political parties access to the media and representation on election commissions, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 4 September. LF [10] ...WHILE WOULD-BE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES PRESSUREDFormerPremier Abdumalik Abdulladjonov, who polled over 30 percent of the vote in the 1994 presidential elections, cannot return to Tajikistan to contend the poll as he is charged with masterminding the 1998 insurgency in Leninabad by Mahmud Khudoiberdiev. The Tajik authorities are also pressuring a second presidential hopeful, Congress of Peoples of Tajikistan leader Sayfiddin Turaev. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has applied to the Supreme Court to disband the Agrarian Party and the Adolat va Taraqqiyot Party. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] RUSSIA'S AVDEEV WANTS UN TO REIN IN KFOR ACTIVITIES...Aftermeeting with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic in Belgrade on 6 September Jovanovic, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Avdeev said that "under the slogan of maintaining sovereignty and territorial integrity, some Western countries are recommending solutions violating those principles and UN Resolution 1244 and are practically leading to [Kosova's] secession," Reuters reported, citing Tanjug. Avdeev added that Russia will work with the UN Security Council to try to make certain that KFOR abides by UN guidelines, ITAR-TASS reported. Observers noted that Avdeev was alluding to a recent decision by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to declare the German mark Kosova's currency in place of the Yugoslav dinar (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 3 September 1999). PG/FS [12] ...DEMANDS FULL ABOLITION OF UCK STRUCTURESAvdeev told APon 6 September that "we understand the demilitarization [of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK)] in the full sense of the word.... That is not only the confiscation of armaments, but also the disbandment of UCK structures. Russia feels negatively about all the variants providing for preservation of the army as an organized structure." Avdeev was referring to recent suggestions by NATO member states to transform the UCK into a lightly armed civil defense structure (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 September 1999). FS [13] DRASKOVIC PRAISES RUSSIAN MEDIATION IN RAMBOUILLETSerbianRenewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic told Avdeev in Belgrade on 6 September that Yugoslavia made a mistake by not signing the Rambouillet accord in late February. Draskovic said "our trouble was that [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic failed to demonstrate enough statesmanship during negotiations [on Kosova] in France early this year and did not heed the advice of the Russian representatives in the [international] Contact Group." Observers note, however, that Draskovic was Yugoslav deputy prime minister at the time of the Rambouillet talks and rejected the deployment of NATO troops. Instead, he had suggested the deployment of "a UN force that will disarm the Albanian terrorists together with our forces," BETA reported on 25 February. FS [14] RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS KILL THREE SERBSRussian peacekeepersshot dead three Serbian gunmen in a village near Gjilan on 6 September. The Serbs earlier fired at a passing car, killing one ethnic Albanian and injuring two. When the Russian forces arrived at the scene and tried to arrest the gunmen, the Serbs shot at the peacekeepers, who returned the fire. NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said in Prishtina that "this incident...proves that the Russian troops behave according to the obligations that all KFOR troops have.... We have one KFOR, not two KFORs," Reuters reported. Solana also met with a delegation of ethnic Albanians from Rahovec who are blocking roads to prevent Russian troops from entering their town. A delegation member told an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent that Solana "has been very correct. He said that the question of Rahovec cannot be solved against the will of its citizens." FS [15] FISCHER CALLS ON THACI TO END REVENGE VIOLENCESpeaking inBerlin on 6 September, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer urged the UCK's Hashim Thaci to end revenge killings by ethnic Albanians against members of the Serbian and Roma minorities. Referring to unspecified recent incidents, Thaci replied: "We have distanced ourselves from the events of the last days, and we condemn them.... There can be no acts of revenge against Serbs or Roma.... Our goal is to have democracy in Kosova...and we will complete the transformation of the UCK" from a guerrilla to a peace-time organization, Reuters reported. PM [16] IS SERBIA'S PRESIDENT UNDER HOUSE ARREST?London's "TheGuardian" reported from Belgrade on 7 September that Milan Milutinovic has fallen out of favor with his Yugoslav counterpart, Slobodan Milosevic. The newspaper quoted a spokesman for the New Democracy party as saying that Milutinovic is under house arrest and that "his life is threatened." The spokesman called for an independent commission to determine whether Milutinovic is able to carry out his duties. For several weeks, opposition media have suggested that Milutinovic was in hospital undergoing treatment for high blood pressure or that he was in confinement. Government spokesmen have dismissed the reports. Milutinovic is among the five top Belgrade leaders whom the Hague-based war crimes tribunal indicted in May. PM [17] SERBIAN ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS SENTENCEDA Leskovaccourt sentenced five persons to eight months in prison on 6 September for damaging the home of Zivojin Stefanovic, who is the local chair of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia. The incident took place earlier this summer (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 July 1999). PM [18] ALLIANCE FOR CHANGE SHUNS DRASKOVICVladan Batic, who is thespokesman for the Serbian opposition Alliance for Change, said in Belgrade on 6 September that his group "will no longer have anything to do with" Draskovic. Batic charged that Draskovic seeks to fool voters into thinking that he is part of the opposition when in fact he sides with the regime. Turning to other topics, Batic said that the alliance will hold a "convention" in Novi Sad on 17 September to present its political platform to the public. Four days later, the alliance will launch in Belgrade a series of new protests aimed at creating "a critical mass large enough to bring the whole of Serbia to its feet," Reuters reported. PM [19] DODIK BARS POPLASEN FROM OFFICESThe Republika Srpska'smoderate caretaker Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said in Banja Luka on 7 September that he has barred Nikola Poplasen from using the presidential offices, security guards, phones, and cars. Dodik stressed that the international community's Carlos Westendorp ousted Poplasen as president in March, Reuters reported. Poplasen has refused to accept that decision, which, Dodik argued, has led to instability in the Republika Srpska. PM [20] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA OFFICERS TOLD NOT TO GO ABROADThe BosnianSerb Defense Ministry issued an order on 6 September forbidding its officers to travel outside the Republika Srpska or Yugoslavia lest they be arrested for war crimes and sent to The Hague (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report." 31 August 1999). PM [21] JOINT POLICE START PATROLS IN BRCKOJoint police unitsconsisting of Serbs, Croats, and Muslims began patrols in Brcko on 6 September. An RFE/RL correspondent reported from that town that the appearance of the patrols is one of the first tangible results of the international community's decision to place Brcko under joint rule of the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation and the Republika Srpska. In Tuzla, the organization representing Muslims from Brcko accused Ambassador Robert Farrand, who is the international community's representative for Brcko, of failing to ensure multi-ethnic management of enterprises in Brcko. PM [22] CROATIA TO APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICEJusticeMinister Zvonimir Separovic said in Zagreb on 6 September that his government will ask the Hague-based International Court of Justice to rule whether the war crimes tribunal located in that city has jurisdiction with regard to the two 1995 offensives in which the Croatian army defeated ethnic Serb rebels. The war crimes court has threatened Croatia with sanctions if it does not provide various documents regarding the offensives and the subsequent flight of most of the local Serbian population. The Croatian authorities maintain that the tribunal has no authority to investigate the offensives, which Zagreb considers an internal matter. PM [23] SLOVENIAN TRUCKERS, GOVERNMENT AGREE TO END BLOCKADEFinanceMinister Mitja Gaspari and Janko Razgorsek, who is the minister in charge of matters pertaining to small businesses, said in Ljubljana on 6 September that striking truckers will receive their overdue wages (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 September 1999). The ministers also agreed not to issue any new permits for truckers to transport goods abroad. The truckers apparently dropped their demand for Razgorsek's ouster. Police did not intervene against the strikers, who blocked several of Slovenia's most important roads. PM [24] ALBANIA CRACKS DOWN ON GANGSPublic Order Ministry officialFadil Canaj told dpa on 6 September that Albanian police have broken up 12 organized criminal gangs within the last four weeks, including the most notorious of them. Canaj said that last week police arrested the famous Vlora gang leader Myrteza Caushi--also known as "Zani"--and four of his associates (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 July 1999). Investigators have charged Zani and his gang with the murder of at least 10 people, kidnappings, and several robberies. On 3 September in Durres, police also arrested gang leader Bujar Buzani and two other members of his gang. Buzani is accused of killing six policemen in June 1997 and has also been charged with other killings as well as robberies and rapes. Police have also arrested several gang members in the towns of Berat, Fier, Elbasan, Burrel, and Tropoja who had eluded the authorities since 1997. FS [25] ROMANIAN SHIP OWNERS BLOCK DANUBERomanian ship owners on 6September launched a three-day blockade of the River Danube near Calarasi to protest losses caused by Serbia's diverting traffic on the river and the international community's failure to respond, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Following the destruction of bridges during NATO air strikes, the Serbs diverted traffic to a bypass channel built last century. Nearly 30 Romanian ships, however, remain unable to leave the Novi Sad port. The Serbs say they will not rebuild the bridges since they have not been affected by their destruction. The ship owners also complain that the oil embargo against Yugoslavia has caused them $50 million in losses and that they have had to lay off some 3,400 out of 5,288 employees. Transportation Minister Traian Basescu said the protest is justified, adding that NATO and the EU bear the responsibility and that NATO has forgotten the promises it made to Romania during the crisis. MS [26] GAGAUZ-YERI GOVERNOR LOSES RUN-OFFGeorgii Tabunschik,governor of the Gagauz-Yeri Autonomous Republic, has lost the 5 September run-off, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported the next day. Tabunschik's challenger, Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Dumitru Croitoru, received 61 percent of the vote (see also "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 August 1999). MS [27] BULGARIAN NATIONAL FLAG DESECRATED IN ETHNIC TURKISH REGIONSeveral national flags were desecrated on 5 September, theeve of Bulgaria's national holiday, in the town of Kurdzhali, AP reported the next day, citing BTA. More than half of the town's population belongs to the ethnic Turkish minority. On 6 September, Bulgaria marked the 114th anniversary of the end of Turkish rule. MS [C] END NOTE[28] OLD ROGUES KEEP OLD PROBLEMS ALIVEBy Patrick MooreMilorad Dodik, who is the moderate caretaker prime minister of the Republika Srpska, told "Glas Srpski" last week that those responsible for the past decade's conflicts must leave office if the Balkans are ever to become stable. Dodik argued that "Serbia and the Balkans can find peace only if [Yugoslav President] Slobodan Milosevic, [his Croatian counterpart] Franjo Tudjman, [Bosnian Muslim leader] Alija Izetbegovic, and the Republika Srpska's wartime chiefs leave the political scene.... Milosevic is the main failure of the past 10 years. His policy of destabilization and launching ethnic conflicts has caused significant tensions in the Balkans and in southeastern Europe," Reuters reported. Observers both inside and outside the region have repeatedly noted the problems posed by the continuation in office of those responsible for the wars. In the case of Serbia, Milosevic has remained in power long enough to lead his country into no fewer than four wars. He has lost each and every one of them, as a result of which hundreds of thousands of Serbs have been forced to resettle. Should he manage to ride out the present political crisis, just as he has survived the previous ones, he might be tempted to engage in conflicts with Montenegro, the Sandzak Muslims, or Vojvodina. And should he prove as unsuccessful in those conflicts as he has in the last four, he soon may find himself reduced to governing a territory not much larger than the Ottoman Pashaluk of Belgrade. Something fundamental, moreover, has changed for Milosevic. Until this May, he was courted by international diplomats as the "one man who could make things happen" in the region, the mover-and-shaker who alone could make any peace agreement stick. Or so many thought. In late May, however, the Hague-based war crimes tribunal put an end to all that. The court indicted Milosevic and four of his top lieutenants for war crimes and thereby made them politically unacceptable as international negotiators, at least for countries where the rule of law holds sway. This move may have frustrated or angered those diplomats who would have preferred business-as-usual in Belgrade. The court, however, placed Milosevic beyond the pale of respectability once and for all. The indictment had repercussions within Serbia, too. After Milosevic lost Kosova in June, the long-silent opposition found its voice again. One of their key arguments against him was that under the indictment, he was ineligible to carry out his presidential duties because he could no longer represent the country abroad. The indictment of Milosevic and the other four men, moreover, further served to drive home the message to the Serbian public that their country had become isolated under Milosevic and had no future in the international community as long as he stayed in office. The shadow of The Hague hovers over Tudjman as well. In July, a prosecutor at the tribunal suggested that Tudjman bears responsibility for Croatia's anti-Muslim policies in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1993-1994 conflict. The prosecutor made the remarks at the trial of a Croatian indicted war criminal, who, the prosecutor suggested, was simply Tudjman's "tool." In recent days, the Croatian press has quoted court officials to the effect that the tribunal has not indicted Tudjman. It remains to be seen whether the president will venture to attend the opening session of the UN General Assembly this fall or engage in other foreign travel. Of late, the pressure from The Hague has been felt all the more sharply in Zagreb because the court threatened to bring international sanctions down on Croatia. The tribunal wants that country to extradite Mladen "Tuta" Naletilic for war crimes in Bosnia and to provide documents relating to the flight of perhaps as many as 200,000 Serbs from Croatia in 1995. Official Zagreb--unlike Belgrade--has staked its future on integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and cannot risk major sanctions. But the wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly in Croatia, and it is unclear if and when the government will meet the tribunal's demands. Bosnia presents a somewhat different picture. Few non- Serbs or non-Croats have seriously accused Izetbegovic himself of war crimes. But he is widely regarded at home and abroad as turning a blind eye toward corruption, particularly when those involved are persons who distinguished themselves in the 1992-1995 Muslim war effort. In fact, the close links between the political, military, and criminal structures among the Serbs, Croats, and Muslims are well known. Many observers from the region and abroad have stressed repeatedly that the main reason that precious little of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement has been implemented is that the people responsible for the war continue to hold power. These individuals have no reason to end a system in which each local warlord reigns over his few square kilometers of territory like a medieval potentate. How one might break the power of these individual warlords and the system they have built up is at least as daunting a question as is how to oust Milosevic and the other big fish. 07-09-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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