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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 177, 01-09-18Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 177, 18 September 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, RUSSIAN PREMIER REVIEW PUTIN'S VISITIn a telephone conversation on 17 September, Robert Kocharian and Mikhail Kasyanov discussed the implementation of agreements signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's 14-15 September visit to Yerevan, ITAR-TASS reported. Kocharian told journalists after attending the opening in Yerevan of a hotel owned by Transport and Communications Minister Andranik Manukian that the benefits of those agreements will be apparent in two-three months, according to Noyan Tapan. LF[02] FORMER ARMENIAN DISSIDENT DETAINED FOR ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF ARMSArmenian police arrested Azat Arshakian, a Soviet-era dissident and one of the founders of the Independence Army, a former paramilitary group now engaged in charitable work, on 14 September following the discovery earlier that day of large quantities of weapons and ammunition at a Yerevan office building belonging to the Independence Army, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 17 September, quoting an unnamed Interior Ministry official. Police said the weaponry included 30 flamethrowers, 230 hand grenades, some 300 mine detonators, and more than 13,500 cartridges. Arshakian has reportedly accepted responsibility for the arms cache, the third to be found over the past 12 months (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 December 2000 and 2 February 2001). LF[03] FORMER ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTING SUSPECT SAYS HE WAS TORTUREDJournalist Nairi Badalian told the Presidential Human Rights Commission on 17 September that the Military Prosecutor's Office subjected him to torture in an attempt to coerce him to give incriminating evidence in the investigation into the October 1999 parliament shootings, Arminfo and Noyan Tapan reported. Specifically, Badalian said he was ordered to give false evidence incriminating President Kocharian's adviser Aleksan Harutiunian. Harutiunian was detained in December 1999 and spent four months in custody before being released for lack of evidence against him (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 December 1999 and 17 April 2000). Badalian was similarly taken into custody after the shootings and held for eight months (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 June 2000). LF[04] AZERBAIJANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENTS CONFERThe decision to postpone Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev's visit to Iran was taken by Aliev and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami during a telephone conversation on 16 September, Turan reported on 17 September, quoting a member of the Azerbaijani presidential administration. The two presidents agreed that the documents to be signed during Aliev's visit require more work, and that they will be revised and submitted to both presidents for their approval, after which a new date for Aliev's visit will be agreed on. The agreements in question cover political, economic, cultural, and legal relations as well as cooperation in the oil sector, transport, agriculture, and health care. LF[05] AZERBAIJANI EDITOR FOUND GUILTY OF INSULTING PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALA district court in Baku on 17 September sentenced Shahbaz Huduoglu, editor of the independent newspaper "Milletin Sesi" (Voice of the Nation) to six months imprisonment for insulting the honor and dignity of presidential administration head Ramiz Mekhtiev, Turan reported. The paper had alleged a liaison between Mekhtiev and a call girl. LF[06] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT QUITS AS CHAIRMAN OF RULING PARTYIn a move that he admitted is overdue, on 17 September Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze announced his resignation from the post of chairman of the ruling Union of Citizens of Georgia (SMK), which was founded as his personal power base in late 1993, Caucasus Press reported on 17 September. Opposition parliament deputies and some within the SMK had long argued that Shevardnadze was violating the constitution by continuing to serve as SMK chairman. His resignation has compounded speculation that the SMK may split into two or more rival factions (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 4, No. 31, 10 September 2001). Parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania admitted on 17 September that Shevardnadze's departure creates a "serious trial" for the SMK, and expressed the hope that the party will swiftly set about cleansing its ranks of corrupt officials. Mkhedrioni leader Djaba Ioseliani suggested that Shevardnadze may transfer his support to the opposition "New Right Wing" (AM) founded by former SMK members who quit that party last year. Several Georgian oligarchs who are close associates of Shevardnadze's son Paata are members of the AM. But AM leader Levan Gachechiladze on 18 September said that faction will not support the president, Caucasus Press reported. LF[07] GEORGIA, UZBEKISTAN ASSESS WHAT ASSISTANCE THEY COULD OFFER U.S...Georgia would be prepared to accede to a request from the U.S. to make its military bases available for use in the event of a retaliatory U.S. strike in the wake of last week's attacks, Caucasus Press on 17 September quoted Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Gela Bezhuashvili as saying. He similarly told Interfax that Tbilisi would offer the U.S. "the maximum assistance," but added that neither Washington nor NATO has yet addressed any such request to the Georgian leadership. In Tashkent, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bakhodyr Umarov told AP that if asked, Uzbekistan would consider allowing the U.S. the use of its military bases to launch strikes against Afghanistan. Last year, President Islam Karimov ruled out allowing Moscow to launch strikes against the Taliban from Uzbek territory (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 May 2000). LF[08] ...AS KYRGYZSTAN WARNS OF SPILLOVER FROM RETALIATORY STRIKESTwo Kyrgyz officials expressed concern on 17 September that retaliatory U.S. strikes against the Taliban could destabilize the situation in Central Asia by triggering a new outflow of refugees. AP quoted Kyrgyz Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Mirbek Koilubaev as saying that Uzbekistan's readiness to make its military facilities available to the U.S. "may bring the conflict zone closer to Central Asia." Major General Ismail Isakov, the chairman of the Kyrgyz parliament's commission on state security, was quoted by Interfax as warning that Washington should refrain from any attacks on Afghanistan until it has hard evidence that the organizers of the 11 September terrorist attacks are in that country. He said that Washington should also consult with Central Asian governments prior to mounting any retaliatory action, and should exclude the possibility that civilians might be harmed in such strikes. He noted that U.S. attacks on Afghanistan would leave fighters from the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan no choice but to flee to one of the Central Asian states. LF[09] INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS TAJIKISTANVisiting Indian Foreign Minister Omar Abdallah met in Dushanbe on 13 September with Tajikistan's President Imomali Rakhmonov, Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov, and Defense Minister Colonel General Sherali Khairulloev, Asia Plus-Blitz reported on 4 September. Abdallah and Rakhmonov discussed expanding cooperation, especially in the pharmaceuticals sector and the training of specialists, and in combating terrorism and drug trafficking. They also discussed the threat posed to regional security by Afghanistan. Abdallah told journalists after those talks that India will give Tajikistan $5 million toward overcoming the impact of this year's drought, and seven tons of medications to treat tuberculosis. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] NATO WARNS OF UNDISCIPLINED MACEDONIAN FORCES...Following the shooting by Macedonian security forces from Zilce into Semsevo near Tetovo, NATO spokesman Mark Laity told Reuters in Skopje on 17 September that the shooting put NATO troops in danger and that the alliance has called on the Macedonian authorities to investigate the incident (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001). The news agency added that "Western diplomats say undisciplined police reservists and associated paramilitaries have harassed ethnic Albanians, including demobilized fighters, at checkpoints and sparked numerous bouts of gunfire." The armed Macedonians appear to be "out of control." PM[11] ...AS DOES ALBANIAN LEADERArben Xhaferi, who heads the Democratic Party of the Albanians (PDSH), told Reuters in Skopje on 17 September that "we don't know to whom [the paramilitaries] answer. It is a dangerous game." Later that day, armed ethnic Albanians set up roadblocks outside Semsevo, saying that they fear an attack by the undisciplined forces. Presidential adviser Nikola Dimitrov told the news agency that the National Security Council will urge that the police in that sensitive area be replaced by army units. The Interior Ministry, which is headed by hard-liner Ljube Boskovski, has nonetheless demanded that NATO remove the checkpoints and threatened to "take necessary measures" if it does not. NATO officials said that their mandate does not extend to such activities. PM[12] NATO WAITS FOR MACEDONIAN REQUESTSeveral news agencies reported from Skopje on 17 September that the Macedonian government has formally requested NATO to deploy a small force to protect monitors after Operation Essential Harvest ends, but NATO spokeswoman Ariane Quentier told RFE/RL the next day that Brussels has not yet received a letter from President Boris Trajkovski to that effect (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001). She added: "We haven't got the complete concerns of what President Trajkovski is going to discuss, but we sort of have an idea that it is going to be something having to do with monitors -- EU and OSCE monitors probably... We are going to ask our military authorities to look into a concept of operations... Whatever is going to be deployed is going to be completely separated from Task Force Harvest... It's probably going to take something between one and two weeks to withdraw from Macedonia [after Essential Harvest], so that will ensure coverage of the area between the time Task Force Harvest pulls out and we get something new." PM[13] MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT CONTINUES DEBATEThe legislature is scheduled to resume discussion in the afternoon of 18 September on a proposed referendum on the constitutional changes set down in the recent Ohrid agreement, dpa reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001). PM[14] RUSSIA'S BALKAN RED HERRINGA prominent U.S. journalist told the BBC on 16 September that Russia's policy in the wake of the 11 September attacks can be described as "opportunist." This was made clear again in Berlin on 18 September by Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow's top diplomat for Balkan affairs. ITAR-TASS reported that he noted "the threat of terrorism and militant extremism, which have graphically manifested themselves for years in the Balkans. Chizhov said that Russia favors an all-round regional approach to settling Balkan problems. This idea prompted the Russian initiative that states in the region should conclude agreements, laying down norms of state relations. Such a document should bar the continued remapping of borders in that part of Europe and help to call a Balkan summit." Observers note that these and similar proposals from Belgrade and elsewhere are aimed at expanding the proposing state's influence in the region and precluding the independence of Kosova or Montenegro (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001, and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 23 March and 31 July 2001). PM[15] MILOSEVIC AIDE LOSES SERBIAN PARLIAMENTARY IMMUNITYThe Serbian parliament voted on 17 September to strip Branislav Ivkovic of his legislative immunity, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He is the faction leader of former President Slobodan Milosevic's Socialists and a former minister for science and technology. The vote on his immunity comes in the wake of charges that he abused his position for personal gain. Predrag Canovic of the Party of Serbian Unity also lost his immunity as a result of a serious private lawsuit. In related news, police officials confirmed in Belgrade that they arrested former Serbian Culture Minister Zeljko Simic on criminal charges two days earlier. Police showed a film in which Simic could be seen robbing a flat. The accused man's lawyer said that his client only "borrowed" the goods in question. PM[16] VOJVODINA FARMERS STAGE PROTESTAn unspecified number of farmers blocked roads and border crossings in Vojvodina on 17 September to protest low purchase prices for their sunflowers and other industrial crops, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Serbian Agriculture Minister Dragan Veselinov told angry farmers in Novi Sad that the Yugoslav federal government is responsible for the prices. The farmers vowed to continue their protests until their grievances are resolved. PM[17] SLOVENIAN MINISTER LAUDS RELATIONS WITH BELGRADESlovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel formally opened his country's embassy in Belgrade on 17 September, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. He said that "Slovenia is a partner, friend, and ally for Yugoslavia." The building is the largest Slovenian embassy in any foreign country. Ljubljana is anxious to recover the markets it had in Serbia before Milosevic forced the dissolution of former Yugoslavia in 1991. PM[18] ARREST IN MONTENEGRO AFTER STUDENT DEATHSPolice in Podgorica said on 17 September that they have arrested an unidentified man who owned a ship that sunk recently off Sveti Stefan, killing three students from Banja Luka and their teacher, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[19] U.S. WANTS CROATIA IN ANTITERRORIST COALITIONThe U.S. government would like Croatian support in its antiterrorist efforts, "Jutarnji list" reported on 18 September, citing a conversation with Ambassador to Croatia Lawrence Rossin. Details are not yet known, the paper added. It also quoted Jozo Krizanovic, who heads the Bosnian joint presidency, as saying that his country plans to tighten up border controls on citizens of Islamic countries. Several articles have appeared in the Croatian press in recent days expressing concern that the EU will tighten up its frontier measures to the detriment of Croatia. PM[20] INDEPENDENTS HOLD BALANCE IN CROATIAN REGIONAL ELECTIONWith a 40 percent voter turnout, citizens of Dubrovnik have given the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) 10 out of 25 seats in the local government, "Jutarnji list" reported on 18 September. Prime Minister Ivica Racan's Social Democrats (SDP) won seven seats, while five went to a three- party coalition that also includes governing parties. The Democratic Center won one seat, while a local independent slate took two. The winners were the HDZ with two seats more than before, and the SDP with a gain of one. PM[21] MOST IMPORTANT CROATIAN FAIR OPENSPresident Stipe Mesic opened the annual Zagreb Fair on 17 September, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Croatia's official partner country this year is Bosnia. Representing the Bosnian joint presidency, Krizanovic said that relations between the two countries are "better than ever." (It is not clear whether he was speaking in Bosnian or Croatian.) Taking part are 1,800 exhibitors from 47 countries. PM[22] GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF BIN LADEN SUPPORT GROUP IN ROMANIARomanian Premier Adrian Nastase said on 17 September his cabinet will investigate whether a group supporting terrorist Osama bin Laden is based in Romania, Mediafax reported. Nastase was responding to an article published the same day by the "Sunday Times" about a 1996 declaration bin Laden made regarding the presence of his support group in 13 countries around the world, including Romania. The premier said the information services are already checking this information. Former Romanian Information Service Director Costin Georgescu on 17 September said in a radio interview that he had no knowledge of the presence of bin Laden's organization in Romania. The Foreign Information Service is to present a report on terrorist groups in Romania to parliament on 18 September. ZsM[23] PRESIDENCY PROTESTS TUDOR'S CHARGESA press release from President Ion Iliescu's office on 17 September called on the Romanian Audio/Visual Council supervising the activity of radio and television stations to analyze the position of a Romanian public radio journalist who earlier that day interviewed extremist Senator Corneliu Vadim Tudor, Romanian media reported. In the interview, Tudor reaffirmed that in 1995 Iliescu approved the training of Hamas members by the Guard and Protection Service (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 September 2001) The press release protested "transforming public radio in an instrument of political fighting, in a pulpit for extremist, xenophobic positions, and for attacks against [Iliescu]." Mediafax reported the same day that the prosecutors will examine Tudor's charges, but warned that if they prove to be false, he will be accused of "spreading false information." ZsM[24] HUNGARIAN CHURCH LEADERS ASK FOR RESTITUTION OF PROPERTIESLeaders of the Hungarian traditional churches in Romania request a meeting with President Iliescu and Premier Nastase to discuss the restitution of church properties, Romanian media reported on 18 September. As a result of their 13 September meeting, the church leaders want to present a draft law on restoring church properties formulated together with specialists from the Democratic Federation of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). The draft law is to be presented to parliament by UDMR parliamentarians. Church leaders are to organize in October in Bucharest an extraordinary international conference on church property restitution. ZsM[25] VORONIN ON MOLDOVA'S EU ACCESSION AMBITIONSMeeting with a European Parliament delegation in Chisinau, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin on 17 September said Moldova is ready to cooperate with all European institutions in order to speed up that country's EU accession process, Flux reported. He said that Moldova's relations with the EU "are becoming better and better," adding that the EU accession projects will soon be implemented. Voronin said, "Moldova shouldn't line up for EU accession," and that "in the heart of Europe there should be no more poor and underdeveloped countries." The Moldovan president also called on the European Commission to open a permanent representation office in Chisinau and to begin negotiations for a free- trade agreement between the EU and Moldova. Premier Vasile Tarlev and parliament Chairman Eugenia Ostapciuc also met with the European Parliament delegation. ZsM[26] SPANISH, BULGARIAN PREMIERS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR U.S. FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISMSpanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar and his Bulgarian counterpart Simeon Saxecoburggotski said in Sofia on 17 September that their countries will align with U.S. efforts to fight international terrorism, AP reported. Aznar said after meeting with Saxecoburggotski that he hopes "the coalition against terrorism will be as broad and strong as possible." He added that "there must be a fairly clear response to terrorists and that is -- they will be pursued and will be punished." Saxecoburggotski urged all countries to join in the coalition against terrorism. He said: "It is about defending our values, our society, and about showing our solidarity when the whole civilization is facing a threat." Aznar was in Bulgaria on a one-day visit as part of a tour of Eastern Europe ahead of Spain's taking over of the EU presidency in January. PB[27] IMF MISSION LEADER IN SOFIAJerald Schiff, the IMF mission leader for Bulgaria, arrived in the country's capital on 17 September for talks with the government, BTA reported. IMF officials have been in Bulgaria for several weeks in preparation for Schiff's arrival. Schiff's talks with the government are the first since Premier Saxecoburggotski was elected in June. PB[C] END NOTE[28] BALKAN MISCHIEF-MAKING IS WISHFUL THINKINGBy Patrick MooreThe outpouring of sympathy and support for the U.S. from across Europe and much of the world in recent days has been both touching and inspiring. As Vienna's "Die Presse" pointed out on 13 September, the tragedy in New York and Washington has enabled many people around the globe to see what is really important in life and what unites them, and at the same time to realize how much of the normal, daily fare of politics is trivial and silly by comparison. The past few days have seen trans-Atlantic solidarity strengthened and months of bickering brushed aside. There is a new tone of cooperation in relations between Washington on the one hand and Moscow and Beijing on the other. Many around the globe have raised their voices to point out that it would be unwise to demonize any one people or religion as a result of the terrorist attacks, adding that the tragedy should serve as an opportunity for taking a fresh look at some long-standing issues affecting America's and the West's relations with Muslim countries. Indeed, throughout the Balkans, messages of sympathy and support have come from all religious communities. The most visible signs of support for America came not only from Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro -- where official days of mourning were proclaimed -- but above all from Kosova, where thousands turned out across the province in public demonstrations of sympathy and offered to donate blood. In Macedonia, both the Macedonian and Albanian communities expressed solidarity through their leaders. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica made his horror and revulsion known, as did many other Serbian politicians. The Yugoslav government offered to help catch the terrorists. But other voices have been heard as well. There are those who remain wedded to 19th-century concepts of nation-states, interests, and balances, even though it should now be clear to all that, in the North Atlantic world at least, we live in a very different and globalized era. Some such observers in several countries have long been preoccupied with reducing the size and scope of U.S. influence. For many, it is a question of national honor and identity, even though it is difficult to say what is truly "national" in much of today's world. For others, their concern is because America represents the greatest threat to their own expansionist ambitions, particularly in Kosova, Macedonia, or other parts of the Balkans. From such quarters one could hear in recent days the view that the latest tragedy will prompt America to leave the Balkans and withdraw into isolation behind a wall of missiles. Some of these individuals predicted the same thing shortly before President George W. Bush took office. They were wrong then and are likely to be proved wrong again, as many commentators have suggested. The administration is clearly on record that it entered into its Balkan commitments together with its valued NATO allies, and that it will leave with them as well. "In together, out together" is the way that Secretary of State Colin Powell has often put it. In short, those who hope that the current tragedy will give them a chance for Balkan mischief-making are most probably engaging in wishful thinking -- at best. The U.S. and its allies will clearly be concerned with the tragedy and its aftermath and lessons in the coming weeks. But that does not mean that they have forgotten about their obligations and commitments in the Balkans or any other part of the world. On the contrary. NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson's latest visit to Skopje underscores this point. In short, in the Balkans as elsewhere, the tragic events of 11 September may well serve to bring home once again to Western leaderships and publics the vital importance of solidarity and commitment. 18-09-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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