RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 176, 99-09-09

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 176, 9 September 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN, GREEK, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET

[02] NAGORNO-KARABAKH PARLIAMENT THWARTS ATTEMPT TO LIFT DEPUTY'S

[03] ANOTHER AZERBAIJANI JOURNALIST SENTENCED

[04] AZERBAIJAN'S RULING PARTY EXPELS CRITIC

[05] 13 BLOCS TO CONTEND GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

[06] GEORGIA SEEKS TO CONTAIN ANTHRAX THREAT

[07] KAZAKH OFFICIAL SAYS FORMER PREMIER'S LAWYER WON'T REPRESENT

[08] KAZHEGELDIN CASTS DOUBT ON AUTHENTICITY OF VORONOV

[09] ...PROTESTS REFUSAL TO REGISTER HIM AS PARLIAMENTARY

[10] KYRGYZ OFFICIALS DENY NEGOTIATING WITH GUERRILLAS

[11] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT WANTS RUSSIAN AIR POWER

[12] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES HOSTAGE CRISIS

[13] UZBEK PRESIDENT SAYS GUERRILLAS PART OF 'INTERNATIONAL

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[14] PLANS SHAPE UP FOR KOSOVA CORPS

[15] EX-UCK SOLDIERS URGED TO JOIN CIVILIAN POLICE

[16] SERBS WERE TARGETS OF KOSOVA SHELLING

[17] EBU APPOINTS DIRECTOR OF PRISHTINA RADIO AND TELEVISION

[18] KOUCHNER TO LAUNCH PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTIONS

[19] SERBIAN REFUGEES RESUME MARCH

[20] STUDENT PROTEST IN BELGRADE

[21] SERBIAN PRESIDENT REAPPEARS

[22] BERN: NO EVIDENCE OF MILOSEVIC FORTUNE

[23] PETRIC URGES NATO NOT TO FORGET BOSNIA

[24] IZETBEGOVIC: NO EVICTIONS FOR REFUGEES

[25] BOSNIAN SERBS BOYCOTT MILITARY TALKS

[26] MORTAR SHELLS FALL NEAR RETURNING REFUGEES

[27] CASSESE TO LEAVE HAGUE COURT

[28] CROATIA TO EASE VAT

[29] ALBANIA'S POLLO WANTS TO UNITE OPPOSITION

[30] OSCE SAYS GAGAUZ-YERI ELECTIONS 'FAIR'...

[31] ...WHILE URGING FASTER WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS FROM

[C] END NOTE

[32] KULIKOV SAYS MONEY SCANDAL COULD SPUR DUMA INTO ACTION

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN, GREEK, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET

Yerevan on 8 September for the third annual session of the

trilateral economic cooperation group established in 1997,

Vartan Oskanian, George Papandreou, and Kamal Kharrazi signed

a memorandum of understanding outlining joint projects in the

energy, transport, and other sectors, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau

reported. At a subsequent press conference, all three

ministers expressed satisfaction with the present level of

trilateral cooperation, stressing that it is not directed

against any third party. Papandreou expressed Greece's

interest in participating in the planned $120 million gas

pipeline project from Iran to Armenia. He also suggested that

Iran could participate in the EU's TRACECA program for

developing a network of road and rail links across Asia to

Europe. The ministers discussed regional problems, including

the Karabakh conflict, only at bilateral talks, according to

ITAR-TASS. Armenian President Robert Kocharian met separately

with both Papandreou and Kharrazi on 7 September, Noyan Tapan

reported. LF

[02] NAGORNO-KARABAKH PARLIAMENT THWARTS ATTEMPT TO LIFT DEPUTY'S

Deputies to the parliament of the unrecognized

Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 8 September rejected a request

by the enclave's prosecutor-general to strip Murad Petrosian

of his deputy's immunity, RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent

reported. Petrosian, who formerly headed the parliament's

Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, was charged with

having assaulted a police officer two years ago. He is a

close ally of former Karabakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayan

and, like Babayan, espouses a hard line on how to resolve the

Karabakh conflict. Prosecutor-General Mavrik Ghukasian told

RFE/RL that the parliament "had no legal grounds" to reject

his request and that he will continue to seek Petrosian's

prosecution. LF

[03] ANOTHER AZERBAIJANI JOURNALIST SENTENCED

court on 9 September handed down a one-year suspended

sentence on Irada Huseynova, a journalist for "Bakinskii

bulvard," whose trial resumed on 6 September, Turan reported

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 July 1999). Huseynova was charged

with slander for an article she published in that newspaper

last November referring to Djalal Aliev, the brother of the

Azerbaijani president, as "the gas station king." Djalal

Aliev brought a civil case against Huseynova last year, after

which "Bakinskii bulvard" published an apology. LF

[04] AZERBAIJAN'S RULING PARTY EXPELS CRITIC

leading member of the Yeni Azerbaycan party, told Turan on 8

September that Abbas Mustafaev has been expelled from the

party for activities aimed at causing a split within its

ranks and for leveling groundless accusations against party

and national leaders. Mustafaev, who headed a Baku district

branch of Yeni Azerbaycan, last year accused Labor Minister

and Yeni Azerbaycan deputy chairman Ali Nagiev of corruption.

More recently, he claimed that Nagiev was trying to split

Yeni Azerbaycan in order to found a political party of his

own (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 34, 26 August

1999). Novruzov added that Yeni Azerbaycan will hold a party

congress in October. That congress was originally scheduled

for early summer and then postponed until September. LF

[05] 13 BLOCS TO CONTEND GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

of 13 electoral blocs and 37 political parties have applied

for registration with Georgia's Central Electoral Committee

to contest the 30 October parliamentary elections, according

to Caucasus Press. The deadline for blocs to register was 6

September; individual political parties must do so by 6

October. The electoral alliances include the Batumi-based

Union for Georgian Revival and two Communist/Stalinist blocs.

But the anticipated election alliance between the ruling

Union of Citizens of Georgia and Tamaz Nadareishvili's Party

for the Liberation of Abkhazia has not materialized (see

"RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 33, 19 August 1999). LF

[06] GEORGIA SEEKS TO CONTAIN ANTHRAX THREAT

stringent controls on the transport of meat and dairy

products to Tbilisi in order to combat the spread of a major

outbreak of intestinal anthrax, Caucasus Press reported on 8

September. All cattle and sheep in eastern Georgia are to be

vaccinated against the disease. The first cases of anthrax

were reported in the village of Gachiani in Garadabani Raion,

southeast of Tbilisi, in August. At least 10 people from that

village and the nearby industrial town of Rustavi have been

hospitalized suffering from anthrax. One case has been

reported in Tbilisi. LF

[07] KAZAKH OFFICIAL SAYS FORMER PREMIER'S LAWYER WON'T REPRESENT

At a news conference in Almaty on 8 September

Central Election Commission chairwoman, Zaghipa Balieva

produced what she claimed is an official statement addressed

to the commission by Vitalii Voronov, a lawyer representing

former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin, RFE/RL's bureau in

the former capital reported. In that statement, Voronov said

he intends to sever all connections with both Kazhegeldin and

the Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, which

Kazhegeldin heads. He accused Kazhegeldin of caring more

about his personal ambitions than the real needs of the

country. The leadership of the Republican People's Party held

an emergency session in Almaty later on 8 September to

evaluate Balieva's claims. Khabar-TV, which is headed by

President Nursultan Nazarbaev's daughter, showed footage on 8

September in which Voronov confirmed that he had sent the

statement in question to the Central Electoral Commission. LF

[08] KAZHEGELDIN CASTS DOUBT ON AUTHENTICITY OF VORONOV

In a statement addressed to the leadership of

the Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan on 8 September, a

copy of which was faxed to "RFE/RL Newsline," Kazhegeldin

said that the text of Voronin's alleged statement is worded

in a way that raises suspicions as to whether he is in fact

the author and whether he appended his signature to the

document voluntarily. Kazhegeldin notes that Voronov is bound

by legal contract to represent his interests and should have

informed him before breaking that contract. He further

suggested that Voronov was subjected to either psychological

or physical pressure by the Kazakh authorities. Kazhegeldin

affirms that, with or without Voronov, the Republican

People's Party will continue its struggle for "the people's

right to choose." LF

[09] ...PROTESTS REFUSAL TO REGISTER HIM AS PARLIAMENTARY

In a statement addressed to the Supreme Court of

Kazakhstan on 8 September, a copy of which was made available

to "RFE/RL Newsline," Kazhegeldin deplored the refusal of the

Central Electoral Commission to register him and two leading

members of the Workers' Party as candidates for the 10

October election to the lower house of the parliament. In all

three cases, the Central Electoral Commission based its

refusal on administrative offenses. Madel Ismailov was

sentenced to one year in prison for insulting the honor and

dignity of President Nazarbaev, while Vladimir Chernyshev was

refused registration for having laid flowers at the foot of a

monument to Lenin. Kazhegeldin appealed to the judges to

reverse their decision to enable him to register as a

parliamentary candidate before the 9 September deadline for

doing so expires. LF

[10] KYRGYZ OFFICIALS DENY NEGOTIATING WITH GUERRILLAS

Ministry spokesman both denied on 8 September that Kyrgyz

defense and security officials are conducting talks with the

ethnic Uzbek militants holding 13 hostages in southern

Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported.

But a police official in Osh Oblast told RFE/RL that eight

Kyrgyz officials, led by Colonel Talant Razzakov from the

Security Ministry, arrived in the village of Kan by

helicopter earlier on 8 September to meet with guerrilla

representatives, who failed to show up. Security Council

Secretary Bolot Djanuzakov told journalists in Bishkek on 8

September that talks are being held with the guerrillas, but

exclusively through the mediation of local officials and

NGOs. One Kyrgyz soldier was killed and two wounded on 8

September in an exchange of fire with the guerrillas, ITAR-

TASS reported. LF

[11] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT WANTS RUSSIAN AIR POWER

ORT, Askar Akaev said that Russian air support would be the

most effective weapon against the guerrillas, Interfax

reported on 8 September. Akaev said that the Kyrgyz armed

forces are strong enough to drive the militants back into

Tajikistan but have not attempted to do so in order not to

endanger the lives of the hostages. LF

[12] KYRGYZ PARLIAMENT DEBATES HOSTAGE CRISIS

debate, the Kyrgyz parliament adopted a resolution on the

situation in Osh Oblast on 8 September, Interfax and RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau reported. The contents of that resolution have

not been made public. But the parliament did vote to provide

economic aid to victims of the conflict and to amend budget

spending to provide funds for that purpose and additional

funds for the Defense Ministry. Deputies voted down a

proposal to move the capital from Bishkek to the town of Osh,

according to Interfax. LF

[13] UZBEK PRESIDENT SAYS GUERRILLAS PART OF 'INTERNATIONAL

Addressing foreign diplomats on 7 September,

Islam Karimov said that the hostage-taking in southern

Kyrgyzstan was prepared long in advance and constitutes part

of a major conspiracy orchestrated by Islamic terrorists who

aim to establish an Islamic state in Central Asia, Interfax

reported. "One cannot be complacent and disregard this

threat," Karimov added. On 8 September, Uzbek Defense

Minister Khikmatulla Tursunov said that Tashkent has

tightened control of its borders and placed its armed forces

on alert in response to the hostage-taking. He described the

guerrillas as "criminals" who "do not represent any country

or political party." LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[14] PLANS SHAPE UP FOR KOSOVA CORPS

on 9 September discussed the plan for the transformation of

at least part of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) into a

Kosova Corps (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 September 1999). A

high-ranking NATO official told an RFE/RL South Slavic

Service correspondent that the plan provides for a 3,000-

strong force that will be organized into a "military

structure" in six regions of Kosova and will have 2,000

reservists. Members of the force will wear uniforms but not

carry arms, with the exception of guards or others exercising

functions explicitly assigned to them by KFOR. The corps will

include transport units, rapid reaction forces, medical

units, and units for protection against chemical and

bacteriological weapons. It will be subordinated to UN

Special Representative Bernard Kouchner and maintain

permanent contact with KFOR through liaison officers.

Kouchner will present the plan to UN Secretary-General Kofi

Annan on 9 September. FS

[15] EX-UCK SOLDIERS URGED TO JOIN CIVILIAN POLICE

South Slavic Service correspondent in Brussels quoted a

unnamed NATO official as saying on 8 September that many UCK

soldiers who are not included in the Kosova Corps will be

able to apply for jobs with the civilian police. In addition,

international organizations clearing mines in Kosova have

reserved 190 jobs for former UCK members. Kouchner's UN

Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has also received pledges of 300

university stipends from several different countries for

those UCK soldiers who interrupted their studies when war

broke out. FS

[16] SERBS WERE TARGETS OF KOSOVA SHELLING

recent shelling of Donja Budriga, near Gjilan, were all Serbs

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 1999). U.S. Colonel Steve

Hicks told AP on 8 September that the shells came from an

ethnic Albanian village and struck two Serbian ones. BBC

Television noted the next day that the shells were of Chinese

manufacture and that the UCK has much Chinese-made weaponry.

In Prishtina, a KFOR spokesman noted that ethnic tensions are

on the rise in the Gjilan area, in southeastern Kosova,

following a recent series of incidents. On 9 September, a

KFOR spokesman said that a 65-year-old Serbian woman died in

Prizren after a beating by members of the UCK, AP reported.

PM

[17] EBU APPOINTS DIRECTOR OF PRISHTINA RADIO AND TELEVISION

European Broadcasting Union (EBU), meeting in Geneva on 8

September, appointed Erik Lehmann as the new head of

Prishtina Radio and Television. Lehmann is currently

president of Swiss Public Radio and Television. FS

[18] KOUCHNER TO LAUNCH PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTIONS

the Kosova Transitional Council in Prishtina on 9 September

that he will hold a large meeting of all Kosovar political

parties at the end of September, after the demilitarization

of the UCK is complete. He said that the meeting will be the

first step toward organizing elections next year. The

Transitional Council also set up a commission to seek the

release of more than 2,000 ethnic Albanians from Serbian

prisons. Kouchner later promised about 200 ethnic Albanian

protesters who had gathered outside the UN headquarters that

KFOR will ensure the return of ethnic Albanians to the

Serbian-dominated northern part of Mitrovica in the near

future. Kouchner said that he is optimistic about the

successful demilitarization of the UCK, the reconstruction of

Kosova, and the holding of new elections, saying "I hope--

inshallah--to organize the whole thing." FS

[19] SERBIAN REFUGEES RESUME MARCH

a road leading from Kraljevo to Belgrade, forcing 350

refugees from Kosova to abandon plans to march on the

capital. The refugees wanted to protest what they called the

government's indifference to their plight. They resumed their

march the following day. Local officials recently evicted

them from their quarters in a school building so that fall

classes could begin. AP reported that "the refugees were

offered a windowless, roofless ruin with no electricity or

water as alternative shelter. They refused and embarked

instead on a protest march to Belgrade." Some 20,000 refugees

from Kosova are officially registered in Kraljevo, but there

are perhaps as many as 10,000 unregistered refugees there.

The town lies directly north of Kosova on a main road linking

it to Mitrovica and Prishtina. PM

[20] STUDENT PROTEST IN BELGRADE

students belonging to Otpor (Resistance) demonstrated in

front of the Belgrade military court on 8 September. They

called for an end to legal proceedings against young men who

did not respond to call-up orders during the Kosova conflict

in the first half of 1999, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported. Several Serbian human rights groups say that legal

proceedings have begun against 3,800 youths and that the

number could eventually reach 20,000. PM

[21] SERBIAN PRESIDENT REAPPEARS

Belgrade on 8 September with a delegation from the Zastava

automobile plant. This was his first public appearance for

some time (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 September 1999). The next

day, he met with ousted Bosnian Serb President Nikola

Poplasen. PM

[22] BERN: NO EVIDENCE OF MILOSEVIC FORTUNE

said in a statement on 8 September that its investigators

have found no evidence that Milosevic and other top Serbian

indicted war criminals have deposits in Swiss banks. There

have been reports in foreign and independent Serbian media in

recent years that Milosevic and his allies have deposited

large sums of money in foreign banks. Much of the money is

thought to be in Russia, Cyprus, or Greece. PM

[23] PETRIC URGES NATO NOT TO FORGET BOSNIA

who is the international community's new high representative

in Bosnia, told NATO officials in Brussels on 8 September

that Bosnia will continue to need peacekeepers to provide

basic security. He stressed that he realizes the importance

of Kosova, but at the same time he urged NATO not to deplete

its forces in Bosnia in order to send them to that province.

PM

[24] IZETBEGOVIC: NO EVICTIONS FOR REFUGEES

who is the Muslim member of the Bosnian joint presidency,

told "Dnevni avaz" of 8 September that refugees living in

Sarajevo flats should not obey court orders that they return

those flats to their legal owners. He said that it is

"unacceptable" that people with nowhere to go be told to

leave their current dwellings. Observers note that the

refugees are most likely to be Muslims from rural Bosnia. The

owners of the flats are probably for the most part Serbs or

Croats. PM

[25] BOSNIAN SERBS BOYCOTT MILITARY TALKS

the Standing Committee on Military Matters did not take place

in Sarajevo on 8 September because the delegation from the

Republika Srpska refused to attend. Bosnian Serb officials

told SFOR that they are concerned about their officers'

security (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 September 1999). PM

[26] MORTAR SHELLS FALL NEAR RETURNING REFUGEES

fired several mortar rounds at a building in Kula Fazlagica

near Gacko on 8 September. The building is the temporary home

of 50 Muslims who recently returned to repair their houses

before winter. The Muslims said that they will remain in the

village, despite a series of incidents. Kula Fazlagica is

near the Montenegrin border. It had been mainly Muslim before

the 1992-1995 war, but Serbian forces drove the Muslims out

at an early stage of the conflict. PM

[27] CASSESE TO LEAVE HAGUE COURT

Kirk McDonald wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi

Annan on 8 September that judge Antonio Cassese will leave

the court on 1 February 2000 to return to the University of

Florence. His decision means that the tribunal will lose

three senior figures within a short time of one another.

McDonald and chief prosecutor Louise Arbour will leave before

the end of 1999. PM

[28] CROATIA TO EASE VAT

on 8 September to end value-added tax on some basic

foodstuffs, some medicines, and books. VAT will soon be

raised for unspecified "luxury goods," RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported. Observers note that VAT is highly unpopular

in Croatia, where prices are similar to those in Germany but

the average monthly wage is far lower. Parliamentary

elections are expected by early 2000. PM

[29] ALBANIA'S POLLO WANTS TO UNITE OPPOSITION

the deputy leader of the Democratic Party and a candidate for

party chairman, told an RFE/RL South Slavic Service

correspondent in Tirana on 8 September that he wants to unite

the right-of-center opposition. Pollo said that he intends to

improve cooperation with the Republican Party and stressed

that the political parties on the right must put an end to

political infighting. The Republicans harshly criticized the

Democrats during the unrest in 1997, charging party leader

Sali Berisha with authoritarian behavior. A party congress in

late September will decided the issue of the chairmanship of

the Democratic Party. FS

[30] OSCE SAYS GAGAUZ-YERI ELECTIONS 'FAIR'...

September issued a statement saying that the 5 September run-

off in the Gagauz-Yeri elections for governor and for 25

seats in the People's Assembly was "calm, orderly, free, and

fair." Five OSCE observer teams visited 57 out of the 62

voting stations. The OSCE said the observers drew attention

to some "procedural and technical problems" during voting and

that "several aspects" in the electoral process "are in need

of improvement." MS

[31] ...WHILE URGING FASTER WITHDRAWAL OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS FROM

Ten states, including the U.S., Germany and

France, are ready to extend financial aid for the withdrawal

and destruction of the arsenal of the Russian contingent in

the Transdniester, Romanian Radio reported on 8 September,

citing Moldpres. General Ramon Armosa of the OSCE mission in

the region said that representatives of the 10 states will

arrive in the Transdniester in the fall to evaluate the costs

of the evacuation. He said that Russia proposes a five-year

timetable for the withdrawal but that the OSCE experts

believe the evacuation can take place more quickly. MS

[C] END NOTE

[32] KULIKOV SAYS MONEY SCANDAL COULD SPUR DUMA INTO ACTION

Former Russian Interior Minister Anatolii Kulikov says

investigations into the reported transfer of billions of

dollars to a New York bank could spur the Russian parliament

into approving legislation on money laundering.

Kulikov, who attended a conference in Germany last week

on international crime, said Russian law enforcement agencies

had been pushing for such legislation for six years but had

failed to persuade parliament to act.

U.S. and Russian investigators are checking the transfer

of billions of dollars in Russian money through the Bank of

New York over the past 18 months. There are suspicions that

some of the money may be part of a money-laundering scheme to

conceal the origin of profits made in illegal operations.

"Our opponents claim that if banks had to provide

information on their hard currency operations to the

authorities it would violate the international covenants on

human and civil rights," Kulikov told RFE/RL.

"But we take the United States as an example," he

continued. "The U.S. is a mature democracy, but they do have

a provision in their law which allows the U.S. government to

compel banks to disclose information on some activities that

might seem illegal and on the basis of this legal provision

they can take on even such a powerful institution as the Bank

of New York."

The U.S. began controlling money laundering in 1970 when

Congress passed a law requiring financial institutions to

file reports about any transaction exceeding $10,000 and to

keep those records on file for five years. Later laws imposed

even stricter regulations. Money laundering is now a criminal

offense and banks and financial institutions are required to

report any transaction that they consider suspicious.

Kulikov said he believes the U.S. laws set an example

that should be followed by Russian lawmakers. He said

corruption in Russia is so pervasive that it has serious

consequences for the national economy.

"It influences the level of foreign investment in our

economy," he said. "I know that firms and companies planning

to participate in various economic projects earmark up to 50

percent of their investment to bribe government officials.

This is a very serious problem."

He said firm government action is needed, adding that

the fight against corruption can be effective only with the

political will of the government. "No president or government

in Russia will succeed in economic reform until it resolves

the problem of corruption," he argued.

Kulikov said he still favors the creation of an

independent anti-corruption panel, which he first proposed in

1997 but has never been implemented, despite initial support

from President Boris Yeltsin and then Prime Minister Viktor

Chernomyrdin.

"[The commission] would be subordinate to either the

president or the prime minister," he said. "It would be

independent of all the other law-enforcement agencies.

Otherwise it would be impossible to fight corruption within

these law-enforcement agencies--to act as police of the

police."

Kulikov said that his proposal to President Yeltsin in

late 1997 was made after he received information about money

laundering and financial activities in foreign countries by

some Russian government officials. He said his goal was to

have this money returned to Russia and to create obstacles

for those wanting to move their money out of the country.

According to Kulikov, President Yeltsin agreed that the

commission should be established. He said it was also

supported by Chernomyrdin and by other officials but never

implemented.

Other Russian officials at the crime conference told

RFE/RL that the flight of capital is an important factor in

the Russian economic crisis. They estimated that since 1992

as much as $100-150 billion have been sent abroad by various

means.

Russia has regulations against exporting capital. But

the officials said that in recent years Russians at all

levels have moved capital and assets abroad with relative

impunity. The situation is said to have worsened since the

collapse of the ruble a year ago. Some estimates suggest that

between $1-2 billion slips out of the country every month.

While much of it is considered to be flight of capital from

the Russian economy, some of it is believed to be money

laundering by criminals.

The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Munich,

Germany.

09-09-99

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

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