RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 57, 00-03-21

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 57, 21 March 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TIGHTENS CONTROL ON SECURITY BODIES

[02] ARMENIA GREETS EASING OF U.S. SANCTIONS ON IRAN

[03] AZERBAIJAN POPULAR FRONT DEPUTY CHAIRMAN RESIGNS

[04] POLITICAL PRISONERS IN GEORGIA THREATEN COLLECTIVE SUICIDE

[05] BISHKEK PROTESTERS ADDRESS DEMANDS TO KYRGYZ LEADERSHIP

[06] PROTESTS AGAINST KYRGYZ POLL OUTCOME CONTINUE

[07] TAJIKISTAN CLAMPS DOWN ON VIOLENCE

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URGES GREATER EFFORT FOR

[09] PROTESTS AGAINST TV, RADIO CLOSURE CONTINUE

[10] ANOTHER MOBSTER GUNNED DOWN IN BELGRADE

[11] RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRESENTS KOSOVA PEACE PLAN

[12] BOSNIAN SERBS GO ON TRIAL FOR RAPE CAMPS

[13] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL SEES PROGRESS IN BOSNIA

[14] UN ENVOY DECRIES SITUATION IN KOSOVA

[15] KOSOVAR ALBANIAN LEADER PLEDGES TO HALT VIOLENCE

[16] ZAGREB SENDS WAR CRIMES SUSPECT TO THE HAGUE

[17] SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN PRESIDENTS HOLD TALKS

[18] ROMANIAN PREMIER SUBMITS TO EU MEDIUM-TERM ECONOMIC STRATEGY

[19] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION DENIES 'HOT LINE' TO KREMLIN ALLEGATIONS

[20] ROMANIAN PARTIES PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS

[21] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT AGAINST GOVERNMENT RESIGNATION

[22] BULGARIAN PREMIER SAYS KOSOVA VISIT WAS 'PREVENTIVE

[C] END NOTE

[23] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S MACHIAVELLIAN RIPOSTE

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TIGHTENS CONTROL ON SECURITY BODIES

signed in August 1999 by then Premier Vazgen Sargsian giving

the prime minister the exclusive right to make key

appointments in the Ministries of Defense, Interior, and

National Security, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported.

Kocharian ruled that the resolution is anti-constitutional

and that it is the prerogative of the head of state to name

the officials in question (see also "End Note" below). LF

[02] ARMENIA GREETS EASING OF U.S. SANCTIONS ON IRAN

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ara Papyan on 20 March expressed

approval of U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's

announcement three days earlier that Washington will lift the

ban imposed in 1979 on the imports of certain categories of

goods from Iran, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Papyan

said that U.S. moves aimed at effecting a rapprochement with

Tehran reflect Armenia's national interests and will

contribute to peace and stability in the South Caucasus. LF

[03] AZERBAIJAN POPULAR FRONT DEPUTY CHAIRMAN RESIGNS

Pashaev, a former Azerbaijani army colonel and one of four

deputy chairmen of the Azerbaijan Popular Front, tendered his

resignation at a session of the party's Supreme Council on 18

March, accusing its chairman, former President Abulfaz

Elchibey, of regional favoritism, RFE/RL's Baku bureau

reported on 21 March. Observers have long been aware of

tensions within the Popular Front between the "radical

romantics," led by Elchibey, and the mostly young reformers,

headed by first deputy chairman Ali Kerimov (see "RFE/RL

Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 51, 23 December 1999). In a

recent interview with the daily "Zerkalo," Kerimov admitted

that "differences of opinion" exist within the party but

denied any antagonism or confrontation within its ranks.

Asked to comment on Pashaev's resignation, Kerimov told

RFE/RL that he respects Pashaev as a sincere individual. LF

[04] POLITICAL PRISONERS IN GEORGIA THREATEN COLLECTIVE SUICIDE

suicide on 9 April--the date of the Georgian presidential

elections--if the authorities do not meet their demands for

an amnesty of all political prisoners and the dropping of all

outstanding criminal cases against members and supporters of

the administration of former President Zviad Gamsakhurdia,

Caucasus Press reported on 20 March. The four men and five

other prisoners began a hunger-strike in early February in

support of those demands. LF

[05] BISHKEK PROTESTERS ADDRESS DEMANDS TO KYRGYZ LEADERSHIP

200 people who have been staging a picket in central Bishkek

for the past six days to protest the outcome of the 12 March

parliamentary runoff elections have appealed to the country's

top leaders on 20 March, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported.

The appeal, addressed to President Askar Akaev, Central

Electoral Commission Chairman Sulaiman Imanbaev and

Prosecutor-General Asanbek Sharshenaliev, lists seven

demands: to halt the persecution of picket participants; to

annul the runoff elections in Kara-Buura constituency, where

opposition Ar-Namys party chairman Feliks Kulov was defeated;

to revoke the court ruling barring opposition EL (Bei

Bechara) Party Chairman Daniyar Usenov from contesting the

runoff and all other court rulings against opposition

candidates; to permit opposition candidate Omurbek Subanaliev

to participate in the runoff; to release detained Ar-Namys

party member Emil Aliev; and to identify and punish all

officials responsible for falsifying the poll outcome. LF

[06] PROTESTS AGAINST KYRGYZ POLL OUTCOME CONTINUE

people picketed the local administration in Kara-Buura on 20

March, as the ongoing protest against Kulov's failure to win

election entered its ninth day, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau

reported. Representatives of the OSCE office in Bishkek met

with the protesters the same day. Also on 20 March, a local

official in Talas Oblast admitted to villagers that district

administration head Ilimbek Murzaliev had paid 5,500 soms

(approximately $120) to members of the Kara-Buura election

commission to ensure Kulov's defeat. A second official had

paid voters 100 soms apiece to vote for Kulov's rival Alybai

Sultanov. Some 200 residents of the town of Balykchy arrived

in Bishkek on 20 March to present a letter to President Akaev

demanding that opposition candidate Subanaliev be permitted

to contend the runoff in Issyk-Kul constituency. Some 4,000

people signed that demand. LF

[07] TAJIKISTAN CLAMPS DOWN ON VIOLENCE

Ministry has launched a new anti-violence campaign, banning

the wearing of camouflage uniforms by persons not entitled to

do so and the use of cars with tinted glass windows, Russian

media reported. Both phenomena feature regularly in reports

of armed clashes in Dushanbe and elsewhere. Officials who are

regularly accompanied by bodyguards have been warned that

their motorcades may be halted by police and the identity of

the bodyguards verified. Despite the new restrictions,

unidentified men in military uniform opened fire on 20 March

in central Dushanbe on a school bus carrying the children of

Russian troops stationed in the country, Interfax reported.

One child was injured in the attack. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT URGES GREATER EFFORT FOR

Romano Prodi said in Brussels on 21 March that the

EU needs "radical new plans" and a "heavy-duty political

commitment" in order to bring lasting peace to the Balkans,

Reuters reported. Prodi, writing in the "International Herald

Tribune," said "the resources are available and the projects

are ready. To delay action would be to let the region down

and bring shame on ourselves." Prodi said clearing the River

Danube to reopen the waterway to barges would be a good

start. He added that failure would lead to "a fresh wave of

refugees." NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia began nearly

one year ago, on 24 March 1999. PB

[09] PROTESTS AGAINST TV, RADIO CLOSURE CONTINUE

people rallied in the central town of Kraljevo on 20 March to

protest the removal of a transmitter from Kraljevo Radio-TV

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 March 2000), dpa reported. The

authorities' confiscation of the transmitter from Mount Goc

has reduced the station's broadcast range by 60 percent. PB

[10] ANOTHER MOBSTER GUNNED DOWN IN BELGRADE

paramilitary leader Branislav "Dugi" Lainovic was shot and

killed in Belgrade on 20 March, Beta reported. The assassin

fled the scene. Lainovic, who allegedly had ties to organized

crime in Novi Sad, was the last commander of the Srpska

Garda, which operated during the early part of the war with

Croatia. The first two commanders of the Garda have also been

assassinated. PB

[11] RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER PRESENTS KOSOVA PEACE PLAN

on state television on 20 March, Igor Ivanov said that Moscow

believes that a solution to the Kosova problem must conform

to four principles, ITAR-TASS reported. First, Yugoslavia's

sovereignty and territorial integrity must be maintained.

Second, the relationship between Kosova and Yugoslavia must

be defined. Third, the borders between Yugoslavia and Albania

and Macedonia must be blocked "reliably" to prevent the

influx of weapons. And fourth, conditions must be created for

the return of refugees. PG

[12] BOSNIAN SERBS GO ON TRIAL FOR RAPE CAMPS

Bosnian Serbs charged with mass rape began at The Hague on 20

March, dpa reported. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovac, and

Milorad Vukovic are accused of crimes against humanity and

violations of the rules of war, in particular, the use of

rape as a weapon during the Bosnian war. The prosecution said

dozens of Muslim women and girls in and around the town of

Foca were imprisoned and then raped and tortured. The accused

were commanding officers of army units during the Bosnian

war. They have all plead not guilty. Many victims--their

identities kept secret to protect them against possible

reprisals--will testify in the case. In other tribunal news,

a spokesman for the war crimes court said on 21 March that

the tribunal may expand indictments against Yugoslav

President Slobodan Milosevic to include charges of genocide

and sex delicts for crimes that occurred in Kosova. PB

[13] UN SECRETARY-GENERAL SEES PROGRESS IN BOSNIA

in a report that there has been "steady progress" in the

restructuring of the police force in Bosnia-Herzegovina, an

RFE/RL UN correspondent reported on 20 March. The report says

that the UN mission in Bosnia has begun initiatives to

balance the ethnic composition of local police forces and to

improve cooperation between the different entities there. But

Annan said obstruction to many reforms continued, including

the implementation of a single state border service. He also

criticized Bosnian Croat officials for not integrating the

Interior Ministry and police in the divided city. The full

report is available at:

. PB

[14] UN ENVOY DECRIES SITUATION IN KOSOVA

UN's special human rights investigator for the Balkans, said

on 20 March that Kosova is "in chaos" and that the province

is "a paradise for different mafias," Reuters reported.

Dienstbier, who had just concluded a 10-day tour of

Yugoslavia, said "there are very different private structures

of power" in Kosova. He said the situation there "is the

result of a mistaken policy of the international

community...bombing Yugoslavia without knowing what will be

next." Dienstbier slammed Belgrade for its crackdown on

independent media and said "we all have to fight for freedom

of the media...without which this society can only stagnate

further." He also called for the release of ethnic Albanian

activist Flora Brovina, who was recently sentenced to 12

years in jail for "anti-state activities." PB

[15] KOSOVAR ALBANIAN LEADER PLEDGES TO HALT VIOLENCE

Albanian leader Hashim Thaci said on 20 March that he will

use his influence to try to end the tense situation in the

Presevo Valley of southern Serbia, AP reported. Thaci said

"we should do everything we can to overcome this difficult

situation." Armed ethnic Albanians are heading to the area

across the Kosova border to protect ethnic Albanians from

alleged Serbian repression. Thaci blamed Yugoslav President

Milosevic for the simmering tensions in the area. He added

that he will "do everything...to stop the armed

confrontations there." PB

[16] ZAGREB SENDS WAR CRIMES SUSPECT TO THE HAGUE

Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic said that alleged Bosnian

Croat war crimes suspect Mladen "Tuta" Naletilic was flown to

The Hague on 21 March aboard a specially-equipped plane, AP

reported. Naletilic's extradition has been delayed for

various reasons for more than two years. He was indicted on

17 counts of war crimes for alleged crimes committed against

Muslims in southwestern Bosnia in 1993-1994. PB

[17] SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN PRESIDENTS HOLD TALKS

President Milan Kucan and his Croatian counterpart, Stipe

Mesic, agreed after talks in Ljubljana on 20 March that

bilateral disputes can be solved, Hina reported. Mesic, on

his first trip since becoming president, said "all

outstanding issues are solvable with just a little stronger

will on both sides." Kucan said that the democratic changes

that have occurred in Croatia since the death of former

President Franjo Tudjman will help facilitate the resolution

of several issues, but he added that some problems "are very

difficult." The two countries disagree over part of their

common border and dispute the frontier in Piran Bay. They

also disagree over the management of the Krsko nuclear power

plant in Slovenia, which is owned by both countries but run

by Slovenia. PB

[18] ROMANIAN PREMIER SUBMITS TO EU MEDIUM-TERM ECONOMIC STRATEGY

term economic strategy for joining the EU. On returning to

Bucharest from Brussels, Isarescu said the strategy was well

received but now "we must prove we can also apply it with

perseverance." Foreign Minister Petre Roman is presenting the

strategy on 21 March to the Romanian EU Association

Committee. Roman told Reuters on 20 March that his country

will ask for EU funding to close down mines in the north of

the country that are considered ecologically unsafe,

including those that recently caused spills into the region's

river system. MS

[19] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION DENIES 'HOT LINE' TO KREMLIN ALLEGATIONS

proposal that a parliamentary commission investigate whether

a "hot line" existed from 1993 to 1995 between the

presidential palace--at that time occupied by then President

Ion Iliescu--and the Kremlin. The PDSR says parties belonging

to the ruling coalition and the media supporting those

parties are attempting to discredit the PDSR by circulating a

story published one week earlier by Russia's "Zavtra," which

the PDSR described as "anti-Semitic and xenophobe." Iliescu

said on Romanian Television that the "hot-line" between

members of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon had been discontinued

in 1990. In other news, the PDSR said it is "cutting any

links" with Romanian Television, following the appointment of

Alexandru Lazarescu, a member of the television's

administrative council, as executive director. Lazarescu was

nominated to the council by President Emil Constantinescu. MS

[20] ROMANIAN PARTIES PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS

on 18 March that one of the main objectives of the PDSR in

the forthcoming election campaign is to "end the monopoly of

the Right" in Transylvania," Mediafax reported. Social

Democratic Party Chairman Alexandru Athanasiu said the PSDR

will open discussions with the Democrats on signing a new

protocol for the Social Democratic Union, an alliance that

has not functioned since the 1996 elections. The Party of

Romanian National Unity on 18 March designated party chairman

Valeriu Tabara as its presidential candidate, while the

extra-parliamentary Socialist Labor Party chose deputy

chairman Ion Sasu as its presidential candidate. Former

Premier Victor Ciorbea's Christian Democratic National

Alliance has appointed Corneliu Turianu as deputy chairman

and says it will probably merge with Nicolae Cerveni's

Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Monarchist Party. MS

[21] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT AGAINST GOVERNMENT RESIGNATION

to reports that Dumitru Braghis's cabinet might submit its

resignation if the parliament fails to approve the

privatization of the wine and tobacco industries, as agreed

with the IMF, presidential spokesman Anatol Golea said on 20

March that Petru Lucinschi believes the government's

resignation would be "the worst of all [possible] options"

for Moldova. Golea said Lucinschi hopes the legislature will

approve the legislation on privatization, not least since

several parties now in opposition "have privatization

inscribed in their programs," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau

reported. A meeting of the Central Committee of the Party of

Moldovan Communists decided on 18 March that the party, a

member of the ruling coalition, will not vote for the

privatization of those sectors "under any circumstances,"

Infotag reported. MS

[22] BULGARIAN PREMIER SAYS KOSOVA VISIT WAS 'PREVENTIVE

Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, returning from Kosova

on 19 March, said his visit was an attempt at conducting

"preventive diplomacy" and reducing emerging national

security risks," BTA reported. Kostov met with ethnic

Albanian leaders Ibrahim Rugova and Hashim Thaci, as well as

with Serbian leader Momcilo Trajkovic and Orthodox Bishop

Artemije. He said more and more "Kosova factors" perceive

Bulgaria as a major contributor to the search for a stable

and lasting peace. But he added that he is "not optimistic,"

noting that instead of "accepting responsibility," both Serbs

and Albanians in the region are "opting for pompous phrases."

The Bulgarian media have criticized the visit and what is

being perceived as Kostov's attempt to play the role of

mediator. MS

[C] END NOTE

[23] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S MACHIAVELLIAN RIPOSTE

Those who had predicted the imminent end of Robert

Kocharian's political career proved to be mistaken last week

when the Armenian president wrong-footed his opponents in the

government with sweeping changes in the army command, a move

that will likely have political ramifications. Kocharian's

decision to promote senior army commanders affiliated with

the Yerkrapah Union of veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh war,

an influential organization that has challenged him for the

last five months, seemed strange and illogical at first

glance. After all, Yerkrapah is the main muscle of Prime

Minister Aram Sarkisian and his allies in the ongoing power

struggle with the head of state.

But as most Armenian observers discovered, it was a

well-calculated political maneuver that appears to have

staved off a threat to Kocharian's presidency, at least in

the short run. All the signs are that in return for higher

posts, Yerkrapah generals pledged not to get involved in the

periodical disputes between Kocharian and Sarkisian, who is

backed by the majority Miasnutyun (Unity) bloc in the

parliament. The local press has been more categorical,

concluding that the senior war veterans were simply paid off.

The changes in army command will by no means end the

turmoil that has plagued Armenia's leadership since the 27

October shootings in the parliament, in which former Prime

Minister Vazgen Sarkisian (Aram's brother), parliamentary

speaker Karen Demirchian, and six other officials were shot

dead. But it may restore the balance of power between

president, the executive, and the legislature, which is vital

for their normal functioning.

Comrades-in-arms of the former prime minister,

particularly Yerkrapah leaders, were shocked and infuriated

by his brutal murder. In their search for the possible

masterminds of that crime, they began mistrusting other

political groups.

As someone who could presumably benefit from the death

of the two charismatic leaders, Kocharian also aroused

Yerkrapah members' suspicions, which, however, were not

expressed openly. Calls for the president's resignation were

first made by some Yerkrapah figures in November and were

echoed by other members of the current premier's inner

circle. Although neither the union nor Sarkisian and

Miasnutyun added their voices to those calls, their relations

with the president have been strained. The arrest in December

of a presidential aide on charges of complicity in the

killings fueled speculation that military prosecutors

conducting the inquiry might eventually implicate other

figures close to Kocharian and possibly even the president

himself.

The two rival camps have upped the stakes in the last

few months, to the point where one side would have to yield.

And Kocharian did not enjoy an advantageous position, to say

the least. Thus, the appointment of Yerkrapah's chairman,

General Manvel Grigorian, as deputy minister on 14 March was

a big surprise. Another prominent Yerkrapah figure, Colonel

Seyran Saroyan, became commander of an army corps and was

promoted by Kocharian to the rank of general.

More significant is the fact that Sarkisian was not

informed of the appointments beforehand. The prime minister

was furious that even his Yerkrapah loyalists had kept him in

the dark. Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian also

learned about the reshuffle as a fait accompli. This led

observers to suggest that Generals Grigorian and Saroyan

vowed that in exchange for their promotion, they would

prevent Yerkrapah from undermining the president's authority.

Although they have reassured Sarkisian of their continued

support, their promotion must have come at a price, those

observers reason.

Kocharian's move was made as he faced an ultimatum from

Miasnutyun. On 3 March, the Miasnutyun bloc, whose members

include Sarkisian, demanded the resignation of the chief of

the presidential staff and the pro-Kocharian director of

Armenian National Television for their alleged campaign to

discredit prosecutors investigating the parliament killings.

Tensions have run high ever since. Foreign Minister Vartan

Oskanian told the parliament on 8 March that internationally

mediated talks to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have

stalled owing to the political situation in Armenia.

But Miasnutyun's demands would be meaningless if they

were not supported by Yerkrapah. "President Kocharian has

once again showed that he is far more cunning and skillful in

political intrigues than the forces confronting him,"

according to an editorial in the daily "Aravot" last week. As

well as naming four new deputy defense ministers, Kocharian

sacked three vice-ministers, one of whom was a Yerkrapah

member. The reshuffle, it appears, was also meant to warn the

military against involvement in politics, and it may prompt

all Kocharian's opponents, and Miasnutyun in particular, to

temper their anti-presidential sentiments. But boosting

Yerkrapah's positions in the upper echelons of the armed

forces while expecting the union to remain neutral is a

calculated risk.

Meanwhile, another Yerevan daily, "Hayots Ashkhar,"

wrote that the main reason for "the Yerkrapah generals'

loyalty to Kocharian" is that the prosecutors have no

evidence to link him with the 27 October assassinations.

Indeed, Armenia's chief military prosecutor, Gagik

Jahangirian, failed to make anticipated embarrassing

revelations at a recent news conference. But full political

stabilization is unlikely before the investigation into the

27 October shootings is over. At present, it is still early

to say what the results of that probe will be and how they

will be received.

The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Yerevan.

21-03-00

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

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