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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 162, 00-08-23

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

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 162, 23 August 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] PEOPLE'S PARTY OF ARMENIA WILL NOT JOIN OPPOSITION
  • [02] ARMENIA SEEKS TO STEM PRISON TB RATE
  • [03] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER DIES
  • [04] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN HIJACK CASE
  • [05] MORE KILLINGS IN ABKHAZIA
  • [06] KAZAKH CABINET SETS ECONOMIC TARGETS
  • [07] KAZAKH PRESIDENT ASSESSES THREAT FROM UZBEK MILITANTS
  • [08] KYRGYZ PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES QUERY LEGALITY OF LANGUAGE EXAM
  • [09] CORRECTION
  • [10] SPORADIC FIGHTING CONTINUES ON KYRGYZ BORDERS WITH TAJIKISTAN, UZBEKISTAN
  • [11] UZBEK PRESIDENT WARNS THAT FIGHT WITH MILITANTS WILL BE DIFICULT

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [12] KOSOVA PEACEKEEPERS HOLD ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS
  • [13] EU CONCERNED ABOUT VIOLENCE IN KOSOVA
  • [14] YUGOSLAV DIPLOMAT BLAMES U.S. FOR KOSOVA PROBLEMS
  • [15] KOSOVARS KILLED IN INCIDENT WITH ARAB KFOR
  • [16] MONTENEGRIN MILOSEVIC BACKER HAILS GOVERNMENT PLEDGE ON ELECTIONS
  • [17] SERBIAN COURT CHARGES SEVEN WITH 'TERRORISM'
  • [18] BOSNIAN SERB REFUGEE MINISTER QUITS
  • [19] DODIK MEETS BOSNIAN SERB PENSIONERS
  • [20] BOSNIA ANNOUNCES JOINT OLYMPIC TEAM
  • [21] BOSNIAN UNIVERSITY BECOMING POLITICAL FOOTBALL?
  • [22] STANDOFF IN CROATIAN COALITION TALKS
  • [23] UNHCR CONCERNED OVER ARRESTS OF SERBS IN CROATIA
  • [24] LAST-MINUTE SESSIONS SLATED FOR SLOVENIAN PARLIAMENT
  • [25] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT COALITION SETS DATE OF ELECTIONS
  • [26] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT DISMISSES RUMORS THAT GOVERNMENT WILL BE SACKED
  • [27] EIGHT YUGOSLAVS EXPELLED FROM BULGARIA
  • [28] BULGARIA'S CONTROVERSIAL NUCLEAR REACTORS TO BE UPGRADED

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [29] There is no end note today.

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] PEOPLE'S PARTY OF ARMENIA WILL NOT JOIN OPPOSITION

    Stepan Demirchian, leader of the People's Party of Armenia (HZhK), denied on 22 August that he aims to become parliamentary speaker or that his party will align with the nationalist opposition Right and Accord bloc (see "RFE./RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 31, 3 August 2000). "The HZhK is a cooperative force willing to negotiate [with other parties] over certain principles and concrete issues. But we don't intend to run from one bloc to another," he told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau. Demirchian nonetheless criticized as "unacceptable" the sacking from the government of several deputy ministers close to the HZhK (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 2000). The HZhK, which was founded by Demirchian's father, Karen, is aligned in the majority Miasnutiun parliamentary bloc with the Republican Party of Armenia of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian but has repeatedly criticized the government's economic policy. LF

    [02] ARMENIA SEEKS TO STEM PRISON TB RATE

    Armenia's Ministries of Health, Justice, and Internal Affairs signed an agreement in Yerevan on 22 August with the International Committee of the Red Cross whereby the latter will provide approximately $1 million toward measures aimed at lowering the incidence of tuberculosis in Armenian jails, Noyan Tapan reported. According to a regional ICRC official, 240 prisoners or 4 percent of the prison population suffer from the disease. Snark on 19 August cited a figure of 350 prisoners suffering from tuberculosis, who, it claimed, were not receiving any medical treatment. The same news agency also reported that deaths in Armenian jails during the first six months of this year reached an all-time high of 54. LF

    [03] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION LEADER DIES

    Azerbaijan Popular Front chairman Abulfaz Elchibey, who was Azerbaijan's president from June 1992 to June 1993, died of prostate cancer in Ankara on 22 August at the age of 62. His body was flown back to Baku the same day, and a state funeral will take place on 23 August. Other leading Azerbaijani politicians, including President Heidar Aliev and opposition Musavat Party chairman Isa Gambar, as well as the governments of Turkey and the U.S. paid tribute to Elchibey's patriotism and his role in securing Azerbaijan's independence. Liberal Party of Azerbaijan Chairwoman Lala Shovket Gadjieva described him as "Azerbaijan's Mahatma Gandhi," Turan reported. LF

    [04] AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN HIJACK CASE

    Police searched the Baku apartment of Rauf Arifoglu, the radical editor of the opposition newspaper "Yeni Musavat," on 22 August and claimed to have found a pistol, Turan reported. Arifoglu, who told his colleagues the police had planted the weapon themselves, was arrested, apparently on suspicion of involvement in the failed 18 August attempt by Musavat party member Mehti Huseynli to hijack an Azerbaijani Airlines plane (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 and 22 August 2000). Huseynli had called Arifoglu on his mobile phone to dictate a list of demands to the Azerbaijan authorities. On 23 August, the heads of 14 media outlets issued a statement calling for Arifoglu's immediate unconditional release, Turan reported. They said they will call a three-day strike of all journalists if that demand is not met. LF

    [05] MORE KILLINGS IN ABKHAZIA

    Three people died on 22 August and two were injured when unidentified attackers fired a grenade at their car in Ochamchire Raion, Caucasus Press reported. An Abkhaz security official blamed the attack on Georgian guerrillas. Four days earlier, an Abkhaz customs official was shot dead near the village of Chuburkhindji in Gali Raion in the zone patrolled by the CIS peacekeeping force. LF

    [06] KAZAKH CABINET SETS ECONOMIC TARGETS

    Economics Minister Zhaksybek Kulekeev told a cabinet session in Astana on 22 August that GDP is expected to grow 32 percent by 2005, with industrial production increasing 42.5 percent and investment 75.2 percent, Interfax reported. Over the same period, Kulekeev said, inflation will be brought down from the 8.5 percent anticipated this year to 3.6 percent and the budget deficit will be reduced to no more than 1.3 percent of GDP from approximately 3 percent this year and a planned 2.2 percent in 2001. Kulekeev said a new tax code will be adopted that will increase revenues to 22-25.9 percent of GDP. He forecast a 50 percent rise in exports to $13.3 billion by 2005. LF

    [07] KAZAKH PRESIDENT ASSESSES THREAT FROM UZBEK MILITANTS

    Nursultan Nazarbaev told journalists in Almaty on 22 August that he perceives no immediate direct threat to Kazakhstan's security from the fighting in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan between government troops and by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan militants, Reuters and Interfax reported. But Nazarbaev added that increased vigilance and security precautions are imperative in order to thwart any attempt to impose "obscurantism" on Kazakhstan. Nazarbaev suggested, as he had done during the 18 August informal CIS summit in Crimea, that the presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan should appeal for military assistance within the framework of the CIS Collective Security Treaty. LF

    [08] KYRGYZ PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES QUERY LEGALITY OF LANGUAGE EXAM

    Nine Kyrgyz presidential nominees have appealed to the country's Constitutional Court to rule on whether the mandatory tests in written and spoken Kyrgyz for presidential candidates are lawful, parliamentary deputy and presidential nominee Dooronbek Sadyrbaev told RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau on 22 August. The candidates proposed by Kyrgyzstan's two Communist Parties both failed that test last week, although one of them, Iskhak Masaliev, hails from Osh Oblast, where Kyrgyz is far more widely spoken than in the capital, according to "Vremya-MN" on 17 August. Also on 22 August, the linguistic committee of the Central Electoral Commission postponed incumbent President Askar Akaev's language proficiency tests until 23 August. Akaev has not yet formally announced that he plans to run for another presidential term in the 29 October poll. LF

    [09] CORRECTION

    "RFE/RL Newsline" incorrectly reported on 22 August that 17 candidates have registered to contend the 29 October Kyrgyz presidential poll. In fact, 18 persons have declared their intention to participate in that ballot, but none has formally registered his candidacy to date.

    [10] SPORADIC FIGHTING CONTINUES ON KYRGYZ BORDERS WITH TAJIKISTAN, UZBEKISTAN

    Kyrgyz forces repelled an attempt by Islamic militants to enter Kyrgyz territory near the Rabat and Kur-Bakaa border posts early on 22 August, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported, quoting a Kyrgyz Interior Ministry official. He said intermittent exchanges of fire continued during the day. The previous day, a group of some 15 Islamic militants entered Uzbek territory from Kyrgyzstan near the Bostanlyk border post some 100 kilometers east of Tashkent, where they clashed with Uzbek government troops, killing at least two and taking several more hostage, Interfax and AFP reported. People vacationing at holiday camps in the vicinity have been evacuated. Local officials in Kyrgyzstan's Djalalabad Oblast, the only Kyrgyz oblast that borders on Tashkent Oblast, said there have been no clashes along that stretch of the border for one or two days. A Tajik border official told ITAR-TASS on 22 August that no movements of armed groups have been registered recently on either the Tajik-Kyrgyz or Tajik- Uzbek border. LF

    [11] UZBEK PRESIDENT WARNS THAT FIGHT WITH MILITANTS WILL BE DIFICULT

    Islam Karimov said on 22 August after visiting the Surkhandarya Oblast, the scene of the first militant incursion earlier this month, that the military failed initially to assess the complexity of the situation, and consequently Uzbek forces incurred "unjustified" losses, Interfax reported. He said that the militants "continue to offer resistance" and must be systematically tracked down and destroyed. An Uzbek Defense Ministry official had said last week that the operation to eliminate the militants was all but over (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 2000). Unnamed Russian military sources told Interfax in Moscow on 21 August that the fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are taking advantage of the failure by the armed forces of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan to coordinate their military response to the incursions. Those sources repeated allegations by the Russian media last week that the militants are receiving support from former members of the United Tajik Opposition. LF

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [12] KOSOVA PEACEKEEPERS HOLD ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS

    U.S. KFOR troops recently detained four ethnic Albanian fighters of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja, and Bujanovac near the Kosovar settlement of Novo Selo, Reuters reported on 22 August. The four are suspects in the recent disappearance of two Serbs in the area. A KFOR spokesman said in Prishtina that one of the suspects is Shefket Musliu, who is reportedly the commander of the illegal guerrilla group. The guerrillas say that they are protecting the ethnic Albanians of southwestern Serbia from the security forces of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Critics charge that the guerrillas hope to provoke a conflict between NATO and Belgrade. NATO has repeatedly said that KFOR's mandate is limited to Kosova and does not extend to the Presevo valley. PM

    [13] EU CONCERNED ABOUT VIOLENCE IN KOSOVA

    The EU said in a statement in Paris on 22 August that it is concerned about the growing violence in Kosova in the runup to the 15 October local elections. The statement added that the international community will make every effort to ensure that the vote takes place in a safe and peaceful atmosphere, free from pressure from political "extremists," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In Vienna, the OSCE protested the Belgrade regime's decision to bar the organization's monitors from the 24 September Yugoslav and local elections. PM

    [14] YUGOSLAV DIPLOMAT BLAMES U.S. FOR KOSOVA PROBLEMS

    Vladislav Jovanovic, who is Belgrade's chief diplomatic representative at the UN, said on 22 August: "It is high time for the international community to face the reality, to admit that both [the UN's Kosova] mandate and [Security Council] Resolution 1244 were non-implemented-- even betrayed- -and that the real control of [chief administrator] Dr. [Bernard] Kouchner and [the civilian administration] UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo [is not in the hands of] the United Nations Security Council, but one outside power, the United States," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. He also likened UNMIK's recent takeover of the derelict Trepca mine complex to a "bank holdup." Jovanovic and other Belgrade diplomats periodically make such anti- Western statements in an effort to return Kosova to direct Serbian control. PM

    [15] KOSOVARS KILLED IN INCIDENT WITH ARAB KFOR

    A soldier from the United Arab Emirates shot and killed two allegedly aggressive ethnic Albanians at a checkpoint near Svinjare on 22 August. U.A.E. KFOR officials said in a statement that "one of our soldiers warned [the two] for the first time according to the rules of combat agreed by KFOR, but they did not heed his warning and continued their attacks" on the peacekeepers. The U.A.E. soldier then shot in what the statement called self-defense. PM

    [16] MONTENEGRIN MILOSEVIC BACKER HAILS GOVERNMENT PLEDGE ON ELECTIONS

    Predrag Bulatovic, who is vice president of the pro-Milosevic Socialist People's Party, said in Niksic on 22 August that his party is pleased with recent statements by the government that it will not seek to obstruct the 24 September federal elections, Montena-fax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 18 August 2000). Bulatovic added, however, that his party is prepared to work with the Federal Election Commission to set up polling places if the government goes back on its word. PM

    [17] SERBIAN COURT CHARGES SEVEN WITH 'TERRORISM'

    A court in Uzice charged Ignjatije Popovic, Djordje Maksimovic, Djura Dragovic, Zivko Abasevic, Radoje Erakovic, Branko Zivkovic, and Milan Popovic with "terrorism" for their alleged roles in the abduction of an indicted Bosnian Serb war criminal from Serbia to Bosnia in September 1998, Reuters reported on 22 August. In the runup to the 24 September elections, the Milosevic regime has conducted a series of propaganda campaigns to suggest that Serbia is plagued by domestic and external foes. PM

    [18] BOSNIAN SERB REFUGEE MINISTER QUITS

    Republika Srpska Minister for Refugees Miladin Dragicevic resigned in Banja Luka on 22 August, citing what he called "pressure" on him by representatives of the international community. He wrote Prime Minister Milorad Dodik that "there has been tremendous pressure lately by the international community, numerous associations, and [unspecified] individuals on the ministry and on me, personally, regarding the implementation of property laws," Reuters reported. Officials of the international community are adamant that property stolen or occupied during ethnic cleansing campaigns in the 1992-1995 conflict must be returned to its original owners. This is especially the case regarding housing, the return of which is a central issue for the return of refugees to their former communities. PM

    [19] DODIK MEETS BOSNIAN SERB PENSIONERS

    Dodik met on 22 August with a delegation of retired persons who are protesting recent cuts in their monthly pensions, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM

    [20] BOSNIA ANNOUNCES JOINT OLYMPIC TEAM

    Officials of the Bosnian Olympic Committee announced in Sarajevo on 22 August that Bosnia will send a team of nine Muslim, Serbian, and Croatian athletes to the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in September. Five of the athletes come from the mainly Muslim and Croatian federation, and four from the Republika Srpska. Bosnia will have four competitors in track and field, one in judo, two in shooting, and two in swimming. Bosnian Serb political leaders blocked previous attempts to field a multi- ethnic team. The Olympics have had a special meaning for many Bosnians since Sarajevo successfully hosted the 1984 winter games. PM

    [21] BOSNIAN UNIVERSITY BECOMING POLITICAL FOOTBALL?

    Sarajevo University Rector Nedzad Mulabegovic told "Dnevni avaz" of 23 August that the Bosnian police have twice sought recently to remove records from the university without a warrant. He said that the police arrived following remarks by legislator Rifat Skrijelj that the university has suspiciously large sums of money. Mulabegovic denied that the university is involved in any criminal wrongdoing, suggesting that the legislator's remarks can be interpreted as campaigning ahead of the 11 November parliamentary elections. PM

    [22] STANDOFF IN CROATIAN COALITION TALKS

    After a meeting in Zagreb on 22 August between the six government parties, Prime Minister Ivica Racan said that he stands by his earlier statements that he knows nothing about alleged investigations by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal into the past of General Petar Stipetic, who heads the General Staff, "Novi List" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 2000). Social Liberal leader Drazen Budisa, who had said that Racan and President Stipe Mesic know much about the investigations, declined to speak to the press. Mate Granic, who heads the moderate opposition party Democratic Center, said that the recent tensions between Budisa and his coalition partners suggest the government will not be able to remain in office until the end of its term. Granic stressed that he and his party are prepared to join what he called a government of national unity to replace the present coalition. A commentary in the Rijeka-based daily suggested that the tensions within the coalition have served to strengthen the position of Mesic. PM

    [23] UNHCR CONCERNED OVER ARRESTS OF SERBS IN CROATIA

    A spokeswoman for the UNHCR said in Belgrade on 22 August that her office is concerned by the Croatian authorities' recent arrest of three Serbs returning to their former homes. She said that the three had all received permission from the Croatian authorities to return, and that the authorities had said that only persons not suspected of any crime would be approved. "Arrests made after this clearance process is a contradiction, and we fear that this [will] undermine and threaten the credibility of the return procedure that we have now," Reuters quoted her as saying. PM

    [24] LAST-MINUTE SESSIONS SLATED FOR SLOVENIAN PARLIAMENT

    The parliament will meet in two sessions before 15 September, when the campaign for the 15 October legislative elections begins. The first session will take place on 29 August, "Delo" reported on 23 August. On the agenda is unfinished business from the previous session, including numerous bills aiming at bringing Slovenian legislation in line with EU norms. Political power in Slovenia is centered on the parliament. PM

    [25] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT COALITION SETS DATE OF ELECTIONS

    At a 22 August meeting, Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu and government coalition leaders set 26 November as the date of parliamentary and presidential elections, Mediafax news agency reported. Coalition leaders also agreed to shorten the electoral campaign from 60 to 45 days. National Peasant Party Christian Democratic chairman Ion Diaconescu said the shorter campaign was aimed at reducing expenses and preventing "exaggerated political feuding." National Liberal Party Chairman and Senate Chairman Mircea Ionescu-Quintus added that the parliament will thus gain 15 days to work on approving important legislation. ZsM

    [26] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT DISMISSES RUMORS THAT GOVERNMENT WILL BE SACKED

    Petru Lucinschi said reports in the press that either the government will resign or he will sack it are "rubbish," Infotag reported on 22 August. Lucinschi said on national television the previous day that it would be "reckless to stir up such a large-scale crisis." He said the parliament and the government must "find a common language" and work together. Lucinschi added that he supports holding a national referendum on whether the country should have a parliamentary or presidential style of government. He added that the parliament's decision to introduce a parliamentary form of government "is an erroneous step." He said "only the Moldovan people, to which the supreme power in the country belongs, have the right to solve this most important problem." PB

    [27] EIGHT YUGOSLAVS EXPELLED FROM BULGARIA

    Bulgaria's National Security Service on 22 August ordered the expulsion of eight Yugoslav citizens for conduct threatening the national security and interests of Bulgaria, Reuters reported. In a statement, the Interior Ministry in Sofia said Milivoje Radulovic will be banned from the country for 10 years; the other seven received five-year bans. The expulsions come after last week's banning of five other foreign businessmen (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 21 August 2000). Georgi Ganev, an analyst at the Center for Liberal Strategies, an independent think-tank, said "it is important for Bulgaria to start paying more attention to the origin of capital entering the country and the quality of investments, rather than quantity." PB

    [28] BULGARIA'S CONTROVERSIAL NUCLEAR REACTORS TO BE UPGRADED

    Yonko Gledachev, the deputy director at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, said on 22 August that two reactors at the controversial plant will be given a security upgrade, BTA reported. Gledachev said the new equipment will help prevent the leakage of radioactive substances and will be operational at the end of 2001. He said the upgrades will be made on the two newest reactors, whose lifespan does not expire for another 10-12 years. The other two reactors are to be permanently shut down by 2002 owing to security concerns raised primarily by the EU. PB

    [C] END NOTE

    [29] There is no end note today.

    23-08-00

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


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