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