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RFE/RL Newsline, 03-08-20Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>CONTENTS
[01] MOSCOW CONDEMNS BOMBING OF UN MISSION IN BAGHDADDeputy Foreign Minister Yurii Fedotov called the 19 August car bombing of the UN mission in Baghdad "a barbaric act intended to undermine the already-complicated processes of postwar normalization in Iraq," Russian media reported on 20 August. "The fact that the terrorists targeted UN personnel arouses particular indignation, since [that organization] has directed its efforts to help the Iraqi people overcome the consequences of the recent military conflict," Fedotov said. President Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in connection with the deaths and injuries suffered by UN personnel in the attack. VY[02] WORKING GROUP ON DOUBLING GDP GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS...A working group tasked with devising a plan to achieve the goals of doubling Russia's GDP and reducing poverty as laid out in President Putin's 16 May state-of-the-nation address held its first meeting in Moscow on 19 August, Russian media reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 May 2003). The group is headed by presidential aide Igor Shuvalov (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 2003) and is charged with elaborating a national economic-development agenda that will be presented to the new president who is elected in March 2004. It comprises representatives of 22 organizations including parliamentary factions, business and public organizations, and the federal and regional governments. The Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry are represented. Duma Budget Committee Deputy Chairman Dmitrii Galchenko (People's Deputy) said that the group should first establish the priorities on the basis of which the GDP can be doubled, strana.ru reported. He said that either the country will decide to achieve this growth by continuing to rely on energy exports, or it will emphasize the development of small and medium-sized business, which will increase the country's wealth by making its citizens richer. VY[03] ...AS NATIONALIST LEADER UNVEILS HIS PLAN FOR ACHIEVING ECONOMIC GROWTHDuma Deputy Speaker and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovskii told RosBalt on 13 August that Russia does not have capitalism, but rather "a group of capitalists appointed by the government." Such an economy "is strangling small and medium-sized business," Zhirinovskii said. He predicted that Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskii and other oligarchs including Sibneft CEO Roman Abramovich and Russian Aluminum head Oleg Deripaska will leave Russia and, by doing so, will pave the way for the country's economic revival. Outlining the LDPR's campaign program, Zhirinovskii proposed redirecting the revenues from the exploitation of natural resources to the state budget and introducing a state monopoly on the production and sale of alcohol, tobacco products, and sugar. Doing so would double the federal budget, he said. He added that Russia currently needs policies similar to those of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Peter the Great, and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He said that President Putin seems to be trying to follow this tradition. Zhirinovskii added that although he supports Putin's policies, he will run against him in the March 2004 presidential election in order to advocate "a tougher variant of the same policy." VY[04] ANTIMONOPOLY MINISTRY LIBERALIZES CAPITAL-CONCENTRATION RESTRICTIONSThe Antimonopoly Ministry has announced that it will raise its restrictions on capital concentration during mergers and acquisitions to 20 million minimum monthly salaries ($30 million) "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 18 August, citing Deputy Antimonopoly Minister Sergei Dudkin. The current minimum monthly salary is 450 rubles. The measure is designed to reduce the number of situations requiring ministry approval and to free up ministry resources for monitoring major deals that could really affect fair competition and lead to the formation of monopolies. The ministry will also drop the requirement that it register all companies that control more than 35 percent of their particular markets. Dudkin said that this function is unnecessary and that, moreover, it is impossible to determine accurately what a particular company's market share is because of market dynamics. VY[05] PRO-KREMLIN PARTY SAYS PRIVATE-PROPERTY CONCEPT UNPOPULAR AND SHOULD BE REPLACED...In an interview with "Komsomolskaya pravda" on 19 August, People's Party leader and State Duma Deputy Gennadii Raikov said that the public is rejecting the version of private ownership that has taken shape in Russia. He proposed instead the development of "public ownership," which would be different from state ownership and is sometimes also called municipal ownership. According to Raikov, under the principles of municipal ownership, property and land do not belong to individuals or private companies. Instead, ownership rights are exercised on behalf of the municipal entity by the organs of local self-government. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by ROMIR of 1,500 Russians in early August found that only 14 percent of respondents approve of the government's intention to allow private businesses to participate in the communal-housing and public-utilities sectors, according to "Vedomosti" on 15 August. Forty-one percent want the government to increase state control over enterprises in these sectors, while 73 percent oppose allowing foreign companies to administer municipal infrastructure. JAC[06] ...AS RUSSIAN CAPITALISTS HEAD POSTCOMMUNIST EUROPE...Russian tycoons dominate the list of the 50 richest people of Central and Eastern Europe, according to the Polish news weekly "Wprost," lenta.ru and newsru.com reported on 4 and 6 August. Thirty-one of the people on the list and all of the top eight are Russians. The list is headed by embattled oil giant Yukos head Khodorkovskii, whose net worth is estimated at $8.3 billion. "Wprost" also calculated that the total wealth of all 50 people on the list -- which includes six Ukrainians, five Romanians, four Poles, and two Czechs -- is $73 billion. That is twice the size of the Polish budget, lenta.ru reported. VY[07] ...AND NUMBER OF RICH RUSSIANS INCHES UP, WHILE NUMBER OF POOR PLUMMETSOver the past two years, the number of rich people in Russia has increased by a factor of 2.5, according to annual research conducted by KOMKON, "Izvestiya" reported on 19 August. At the same time, the number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen by 50 percent, while in the regions it has dropped by more than 30 percent. According to sociologists at the firm, the number of people in Moscow who can afford to buy their own apartments has risen from 1 percent to almost 3 percent in 2003. Previously, one in 10 could afford to buy new refrigerators and washing machines, and now the ratio is one in five, according to the daily. However, 38.3 percent of Muscovites spend all of their wages on food and clothing, while the nationwide average is 38.5 percent. This is the only category in which Muscovites and the rest of the country are in sync, according to the daily. JAC[08] DUMA-ELECTION RESULTS TO BE KNOWN WITHIN A DAY OF THE VOTECentral Election Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov that the modernization of the government's automated voting system (GAS-Vybory) will be completed before 1 September, and the results of the 7 December State Duma election will be known as soon as 24 hours after the last ballot is cast, "Vedomosti" reported on 19 August. The modernization of the voting system is being carried out during 2001-04 and will cost 1.8 billion rubles ($59.4 million). Specialists have reportedly been working to ensure that the system is secure and invulnerable to tampering. JAC[09] JOURNALIST/PARTY OFFICIAL SENT TO PRISON FOR LIBEL CONVICTION...German Galkin, deputy editor in chief of "Vechernii Chelyabinsk" and publisher of "Rabochaya gazeta," was sentenced to one year of corrective labor on 15 August after being convicted of criminal libel against a representative of the oblast administration, "Gazeta" reported on 18 August. Galkin is also the local leader of the Liberal Russia party. According to "The Moscow Times" on 19 August, media-rights advocates believe the sentence is unprecedented and "may open the way for a barrage of cases against independent journalists." Galkin was tried in connection with a series of articles that accused oblast officials of misspending budgetary funds and that suggested that Deputy Governor Konstantin Bochkarev has pedophiliac inclinations. The articles, which appeared in "Rabochaya gazeta" in the spring of 2002, did not have bylines, and Galkin denies writing them. Oblast police confiscated the newspaper before it was distributed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 December 2002). Galkin was also attacked and severely beaten just before the criminal case against him was launched, according to "Gazeta." JAC[10] ...AS JUSTICE MINISTRY ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEW GUILD FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTSJustice Minister Yurii Chaika told reporters on 19 August that a Guild of Investigative Journalists has been created in Moscow, strana.ru reported. According to Chaika, this is "the first time in the history of Russia that a structure that will facilitate dialogue between journalists and the authorities has appeared." Union of Journalists Chairman Vsevolod Bogdanov said the new guild will become a genuine meeting place for professionals in the area of journalistic investigations, "allowing them to exchange experience and conduct master classes for 'beginning detectives.'" Investigative journalist Aleksandr Khinstein, who is known for his close ties with law enforcement officials, was elected to head the new guild, and Chaika was named co-chairman of the guild's oversight board, regions.ru reported on 19 August. Meanwhile, no new developments in the investigation of the death of investigative journalist and State Duma Deputy Yurii Shchekochikhin (Yabloko) have been reported. Shchekochikhin died of a suspicious acute allergic reaction on the night of 2-3 July, and a Yabloko spokesperson announced on 4 July that the results of an autopsy would be made public in 10-30 days (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 2003). JAC[11] ANOTHER POLLING FIRM BECOMES PAWN IN ELECTION STRUGGLE?The Public Opinion Foundation has issued a press release denying any connection to a questionnaire bearing the organization's name that has been distributed in Ufa in Bashkortostan, MiK (http://www.iamik.ru) reported on 19 August. According to the release, the foundation has asked local law enforcement officials to investigate the incident, which "has thrown a shadow over the reputation" of the organization. "Such 'dirty tricks' discredit sociology and elections as such," the press release noted. Bashkortostan will hold a presidential election on 7 December 2003. JAC[12] GOVERNOR'S STAFF THINKS HE DESERVES A MEDAL?Representatives of the Managers of the New Era foundation officially denied on 19 August information contained in a Voronezh Oblast administration press release that Governor Vladimir Kulakov has received one of Russia's most prestigious nongovernmental awards, the Order of Peter the Great, Regnum reported. A foundation press spokeswoman said she had never heard of Kulakov before, and the last order was presented to poet Yevgenii Yevtushenko during the celebrations of St. Petersburg's 300th anniversary in May. According to the foundation, no governor has ever received the award. JAC[13] SENIOR CHECHEN POLICE OFFICER KILLEDIbragim Tukhugov, who was deputy commander of Chechnya's special police (OMON), was killed on 19 August when unidentified gunmen opened fire on his car in Grozny, ITAR-TASS reported. LF[14] TUSHINO BOMBING SUSPECT DETAINED IN INGUSHETIAPolice in Ingushetia detained ethnic Chechen Danilkhan Elikhadjiev on 19 August on suspicion of organizing a number of terrorist acts, including the 5 July suicide bombing at a rock concert in the Moscow neighborhood of Tushino in which 16 people died, Interfax and "Rossiiskaya gazeta" reported on 19 and 20 August, respectively. Elikhadjiev's sister, Zulikhan, was one of the two female suicide bombers at Tushino. Police claim to have found an arms cache and incriminating notes at a house in Ingushetia's Nazran Raion where Elikhadjiev was living. LFTRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA [15] SUSPECT RETRACTS TESTIMONY IN ARMENIAN MURDER TRIALJohn Harutiunian, who is on trial in Yerevan together with 12 other defendants accused of the December 2002 murder of Armenian National Television and Radio Director Tigran Naghdalian, retracted on 19 August pretrial testimony in which he admitted knowing who had commissioned the killing, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Harutiunian told the court he did not write the statement saying he was aware that Armen Sargsian, brother of former Prime Ministers Vazgen and Aram Sargsian, had ordered the murder, nor did he read it before signing it. He refused to answer further questions from the judge, who consented to a request by Armen Sargsian's lawyer that a video of Harutiunian's interrogation be shown to the court. Harutiunian is charged with firing the shot that killed Naghdalian. LF[16] THIRD SUSPECT ARRESTED IN KILLING OF ARMENIAN CONSCRIPTSThe office of Armenia's military prosecutor said on 19 August that a third man has been arrested in connection with the 6 August killings of three conscripts in the northern town of Vanadzor, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Two conscripts were detained earlier, and the third man arrested is a civilian who reportedly lives next door to the storage facility where the three men were shot dead (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7, 8, and 12 August 2003). LF[17] AZERBAIJAN ACCUSES ARMENIA OF THWARTING CEASE-FIRE MONITORINGAzerbaijani media on 19 August reported that Armenian forces opened fire that morning on Azerbaijani troops along the Line of Contact near the town of Agdam in Tovuz Raion. According to Turan and Lider TV, as cited by Groong, the shooting prevented a scheduled routine inspection of the front line by Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) personnel. But an ITAR-TASS report of the monitoring exercise by OSCE inspectors on both sides of the Line of Contact made no mention of any such incident. LF[18] ANOTHER REJECTED AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GOES TO COURTElshad Musaev, who is chairman of the unregistered Great Azerbaijan party, told journalists in Baku on 19 August that he has appealed to the Appeals Court a 15 August Central Election Commission (CEC) decision to deny him registration to run in the 15 October presidential election, zerkalo.az reported on 20 August. Musaev said that refusal was unfounded, and attributed the votes cast against him by the five opposition representatives on the CEC to a clandestine agreement between the authorities and the opposition. Musaev described his party as "right-centrist" and focused on defending Azerbaijan's national interests. He said that he will not cooperate with any of the most prominent opposition leaders, as he doubts their sincerity, and that he will not endorse any other opposition presidential candidate. LF[19] FORMER AZERBAIJANI ARMY OFFICERS PROTEST EVICTIONA group of former army officers told journalists in Baku on 19 August that despite two court rulings in their favor, the Defense Ministry has refused to permit them to return to their homes in a settlement on the outskirts of Baku, from which they were evicted by service personnel in March 2002, Turan and zerkalo.az reported on 19 and 20 August, respectively. Some 20 families, numbering 83 people, were forcibly evicted from their homes. The officers have appealed to the Turkish Embassy in Baku to find them temporary accommodations. LF[20] LOCAL AZERBAIJANI OFFICIALS PREVENT CAMPAIGNING ON BEHALF OF OPPOSITION PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATESLocal officials in Agjabed Raion confiscated campaign materials from members of the Adolat Party on 19 August, warning that they have orders not to permit opposition candidate to canvas in Agjabed, Turan reported on 20 August. Adolat Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ilyas Ismailov, a former prosecutor-general, condemned that statement as "a blatant violation of election legislation" that demonstrates the authorities' intention to falsify the outcome of the ballot. In the exclave of Nakhichevan, local government officials have warned shop owners that their licenses to trade will be revoked if they display campaign posters for opposition candidates, Turan reported on 19 August. LF[21] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT FAILS TO DEBATE BUDGET SEQUESTERParliament again failed on 19 August for lack of a quorum to approve the sweeping budget cuts demanded by the International Monetary Fund, Caucasus Press and the website of the independent television station Rustavi-2 reported. Deputy speaker Giga Tsereteli said there was no point in debating the cuts in the absence of Minister of State Avtandil Djorbenadze, who was attending a local festival in western Georgia that day. In Batumi, Aslan Abashidze, chairman of the Supreme Council of the Adjar Autonomous Republic, said on 19 August that deputies from his Union of Revival will not support the proposed cuts, Caucasus Press reported. Revival has 15 deputies of a total of 225. On 20 August, 129 deputies finally began debating the cuts; 20 August is the final deadline for approval, parliament having failed to meet the International Monetary Fund's earlier deadline of 15 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 2003). LF[22] GEORGIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS PROTEST RUSSIAN WARMONGERINGTwo Georgian parliament deputies have taken issue with statements made by Russian State Duma Deputy and International Affairs Committee Chairman Dmitrii Rogozin in a 19 August interview with "Rossiiskaya gazeta," Caucasus Press reported. Rogozin affirmed that Russia has the right to attack Georgia in self-defense given that Georgia provides shelter to "international terrorists" who use its territory as a base for launching terrorist attacks in Russia. Georgian parliament Defense and Security Committee Chairman Irakli Batiashvili responded that terrorism in Russia originates in Chechnya, Caucasus Press reported. He invited Rogozin to visit Georgia to see for himself that there are no longer any Chechen militants encamped in the Pankisi Gorge. Zurab Mukbaniani, who chairs the parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, attributed Rogozin's allegations to his "fertile imagination" and to the incipient campaign for the 7 December Russian State Duma elections. LF[23] KAZAKH PEACEKEEPERS LEAVE FOR IRAQA first group of 14 service personnel from Kazakhstan's KazBat peacekeeping battalion set out for Iraq on 19 August, with the rest of the 27-person contingent departing the following day, Kazinform reported on 20 August. The group -- comprising military engineers, eight officers, and three interpreters -- is scheduled to remain in Iraq for six months, according to reports from khabar.kz and Interfax-Kazakhstan on 19 August. The group is to work on land-mine removal and water extraction. This is Kazakhstan's first peacekeeping mission. BB[24] INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS APPEAL IN SUPPORT OF KYRGYZ OPPOSITION LEADERIn the wake of the Kyrgyz Supreme Court's 15 August decision to uphold a 10-year prison sentence imposed on opposition leader and former Vice President Feliks Kulov, the International League for Human Rights and other international human rights groups have appealed to President Askar Akaev to review Kulov's case, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported on 19 August. The Kyrgyz opposition asserts that the charges against Kulov, including abuse of office and misuse of government funds, were politically motivated, at least partly because Kulov was a credible rival to Akaev for the presidency. Human rights activist Djypar Djeksheev reminded journalists on 19 August, the 12th anniversary of the 1991 Moscow coup by hard-line communists against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, that Kulov played a major role in ensuring Bishkek's security during the coup, when Kyrgyz hard-liners attempted to stage a coup of their own against Akaev. BB[25] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PREPARES FOR WORLD KYRGYZ CONGRESSThe Kyrgyz opposition Movement for the Resignation of (President) Akaev is in the process of preparing for its own national congress and for the Second World Kurultai (Congress) of Kyrgyz, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported on 19 August. The Bishkek branch of the Asaba Party, which is headed by opposition parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov, met on 19 August to choose its delegates to the national congress of the movement, of which Asaba is a constituent part along with several other parties -- Erkindik, Erkin Kyrgyzstan, Jangy Kyrgyzstan, and Respublika -- and a number of nongovernmental organizations. Movement leaders have reported that authorities in Bishkek and other cities have refused to allow the opposition congress to be held there, so organizers plan to hold it in southern Kyrgyzstan's Aksy Raion, where the influence of the authorities is reported to be weak (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 2003). BB[26] FORMER COMMUNIST LEADER CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OF KYRGYZ GOVERNMENTFormer First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kirghizia Turdakun Usubaliev, presently a member of the Kyrgyz parliament, has demanded the resignation of the Kyrgyz government for removing the imposing statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin from Bishkek's central square, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported on 19 August. Usubaliev was quoted as saying that a government that ignores the will of its citizens and the constitution has no right to govern. As part of a face-lift of the government quarter, Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev on 11 August ordered the removal of the statue, which is to be placed in front of the history museum. Kyrgyzstan's Communist Party, an influential and very vocal part of the opposition, immediately protested, but the authorities have ignored its complaints. BB[27] UP TO 100 KYRGYZ CITIZENS BEING FORCED TO WORK OFF DEBTS IN CHINAThe case of three Kyrgyz citizens caught while attempting to cross into Kyrgyzstan from China without documents has drawn attention to the detention of as many as 100 Kyrgyz by Chinese businesspeople, to whom the Kyrgyz reportedly owe money, "Obshchestvennyi reiting" and Deutsche Welle reported on 19 August. According to the three Kyrgyz detained on the border, the debtors are being forced by their Chinese creditors to work as slaves. The three told officials they had to perform heavy labor for periods from seven months to three years. Their passports had been taken away by their creditors. The Kyrgyz border service has told the media that it does not consider the three to be criminals and expects more of the Kyrgyz "slaves" to try to enter Kyrgyzstan the same way. BB[28] TWO AGREEMENTS ON U.S. ASSISTANCE SIGNED IN TAJIKISTANU.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Franklin Huddle has signed two agreements on assistance to Tajikistan, Interfax, and centran.ru reported on 19 August. One agreement involves the award of grants totaling $56,000 to 12 nongovernmental organizations under the embassy's democracy-support program. The total amount of the program for the year is $100,000, some of which is going to independent media and to educational projects, including teaching democratic principles to local administrators. The second agreement involved the delivery of $3.2 million of U.S. food aid to Tajikistan. BB[29] U.S. SENATOR MEETS UZBEK PRESIDENT, DISCUSSES COOPERATIONU.S. Senator Richard Lugar (Republican, Indiana), chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told journalists in Tashkent on 19 August that he has discussed cooperation between the United States and Uzbekistan in health care and in developing agriculture and small business during his meetings with President Islam Karimov and Foreign Minister Sodik Safaev in Samarkand that day, uzreport.com reported on 20 August. Lugar added that $14 million is being given to Uzbek virologists to develop treatments for various infectious diseases, and $10 million has been approved under the Nunn-Lugar program for reducing the threat of the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons. BBCENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE [30] GERMANY PROTESTS EXPULSION OF CITIZEN FROM BELARUSThe German government has protested the recent expulsion from Belarus of Jan Busch, a member of Germany's Young Socialists (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 2003), Belapan reported on 19 August. The Belarusian KGB accused Busch of creating a "threat of instability to civil concord in society by stepping up the activity of unregistered radical organizations." In a statement, the German Embassy in Minsk said, "The incident increases the federal government's apprehensions about the situation regarding democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Belarus." The embassy statement also said the Belarusian authorities' move against Busch was "absolutely inappropriate." Busch told Belapan that the KGB's accusations that he interfered in Belarus's internal affairs are "simply false." JM[31] BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT ENACTS RESTRICTIVE DEMONSTRATION LAW WITH FURTHER CURBSPresident Alyaksandr Lukashenka has signed into law a bill on demonstrations that was passed by the legislature in June (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 June 2003), Belapan reported on 19 August. Opposition politicians have criticized the bill as extremely restrictive (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 2003). The new law allows authorities to ban political parties, trade unions, or other organizations if they are found guilty of even a single violation of the law during rallies. The Belarusian president appeared to make the law even more restrictive by removing some clauses from it. In particular, Lukashenka removed the provision stipulating that the law does not apply to religious events, meetings of legislators with voters, and gatherings organized by the president, members of the National Assembly, and local soviets. JM[32] MINISTER SAYS UKRAINE CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY INTEGRATE WITH CIS, EUUkrainian Minister of Economy and European Integration Valeriy Khoroshkovskyy said on 19 August that the draft accord on the creation of a common economic space comprising Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, which was approved in Astana on 15 August, does not contradict Ukraine's plans to integrate with the European Union, Interfax reported. "If we view the common economic space as a free-trade zone, it will not harm our rapprochement with the European community," Khoroshkovskyy said. He noted that the draft is of a "contradictory character," adding that it is impossible to say right now what the final document will be like. Meanwhile, European Commission spokesman Michael Mann told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service on 18 August that Kyiv's plan to sign an accord on a common economic space with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan casts doubt on the sincerity of Ukraine's desire to integrate further into the European Union. JM[33] DANISH PRIME MINISTER VISITS ESTONIAAnders Fogh Rasmussen made a working visit to Estonia on 18 and 19 August, during which he spoke about the advantages that joining the EU will bring Estonia, BNS reported. In talks with his Estonian counterpart, Juhan Parts, Rasmussen noted that the experience of Denmark shows that this small country did not lose its identity in the EU, but saw its awareness of its national and cultural identity increase. The two premiers agreed it will take Russia a long time to meet the criteria necessary for a visa-free travel regime with the EU. Rasmussen said there is no reason why the EU should interfere with Estonia's citizenship policy, as Russian-speaking residents have the opportunity to become Estonian citizens by following established regulations. Estonia is also observing the criteria of the protection of its minorities, he noted. SG[34] LATVIAN CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES ESTABLISH PARTNERSHIP FOR COOPERATION ABROADFive Latvian construction companies -- Kalnozols Celtnieciba, Latvijas Energoceltnieks, RBS Skals, Re&Re, and Skonto Buve -- have established a joint venture called Latvijas buvnieku strategiska partneriba (Strategic Partnership of Latvia's Construction Companies) to improve their opportunities to win foreign contracts, LETA reported on 19 August. The companies had a total turnover of approximately 90 million lats ($158 million) last year. The new company's board chairman, Valds Birkavs, said the main focus of its future operations will be participation in the reconstruction of Iraq; in EU tenders after Latvia joins the EU in May 2004; and in construction projects in CIS countries, especially Russia and Ukraine. SG[35] LITHUANIA MIGHT REDUCE INTERNATIONAL PEACEKEEPING MISSIONSAfter a meeting with President Rolandas Paksas on 19 August, Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius said Lithuania will soon decide whether to continue or terminate its various international peacekeeping missions, the daily "Lietuvos zinios" reported on 20 August. The country now has 270 soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosova, and an officer participating in the OSCE monitoring mission in Georgia. Linkevicius informed the president about plans to simplify procedures for sending Lithuanian troops to international missions and of meetings held to assess the strategy of the country's participation in such missions and to determine which of the missions are the most important. Presidential spokesman Rosvaldas Gorbaciovas mentioned that "the mission in Kosovo might be terminated, and a decision should be made concerning the mission in Afghanistan." SG[36] POLISH CABINET ADOPTS GUIDELINES FOR NEW MEDIA LAW...The government on 19 August decided that a new media law will be enacted before the country joins the EU on 1 May 2004, Polish media reported. The latest version of the bill will deal exclusively with provisions needed to bring media regulations into line with EU standards. Controversial issues such as setting curbs on cross-media holdings will be decided later in a separate bill. "This is not a minimalist, but a pragmatic move," Culture Minister Waldemar Dabrowski told journalists. The previous version of the bill, which introduced bans on newspaper publishers buying television or radio stations, has been at the heart of Poland's corruption scandal known as Rywingate (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 14 January, 18 February, and 29 April 2003). JM[37] ...AND DRAFT PROGRAM FOR ROMAThe government also adopted on 19 August a draft national program for Poland's Roma for the years 2004-13, PAP reported. The program, which is to focus mainly on education, will also cover health, unemployment, social welfare, and Romany culture. The program is expected to cost some 100 million zlotys ($25.7 million). PAP estimates that there are 25,000-50,000 Roma living in Poland. The 2002 census in Poland registered nearly 13,000 people who declared Romany ethnicity (see "RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report," 25 June 2003). JM[38] U.S. TROOPS TO CONTROL PART OF POLISH STABILIZATION ZONE IN IRAQWashington has decided to retain military control over the northern area of Iraq's Babil Province, a part of the Polish stabilization zone, PAP reported on 19 August, quoting unidentified Polish commanders in Iraq. PAP's source stressed that the boundaries of the Polish stabilization zone will remain unchanged. Earlier the same day, Polish Defense Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak and Deputy Defense Minister Janusz Zemke told Polish media that part of Babil Province, south of Baghdad, will be transferred out of the Polish stabilization zone, since U.S. forces are reportedly interested in keeping it under their direct control. "This is part of one of the five provinces where Americans have their large logistical base, and this is also where, according to their reconnaissance, some terrorist groups operating in Baghdad get particularly strong support," Zemke told Polish Radio. JM[39] CZECH PRESIDENT PROMULGATES CIVIL-SERVICE LEGISLATIONPresident Vaclav Klaus signed into law on 19 August legislation stipulating the rights and duties of the approximately 80,000 state employees, CTK reported. Among other provisions, the civil-service law stipulates that those employees must take an oath of loyalty to the state. They must not have any other source of income. Civil servants will be entitled to five weeks of paid vacation and to receive five months' severance pay if terminated. The legislation, which comes into effect on 1 January 2004, introduces a 16-class pay scale. MS[40] SLOVAK PREMIER WARNS JUNIOR COALITION PARTNER ANO...Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda told journalists on 19 August that his Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) will no longer feel bound by the coalition agreement with the Alliance for a New Citizen (ANO) if that party aligns itself again with the opposition in the next parliamentary session, TASR reported. An ANO-proposed amendment to the abortion law was approved by parliament in July with the support of the opposition. President Rudolf Schuster vetoed the amendment, returning it to legislators for renewed debate. "ANO will have to make up its mind," Dzurinda said. "We will no longer tolerate such excesses." In related news and amid speculation that the People's Union might replace ANO in the ruling coalition, People's Union Chairman Vojtech Tkac met on 19 August with the leaders of the other three parties represented in the center-left coalition. Tkac said after the meeting that they discussed draft laws submitted to parliament, not membership in the ruling coalition or cooperation in the legislature. ANO was not represented at the meeting and, according to ANO parliamentary deputy Jirko Malcharek, was not even informed about it. MS[41] ...DISMISSES REPORTS ON ALLEGED IDENTITY OF MEMBERS OF CONSPIRATORIAL GROUPPrime Minister Dzurinda also told journalists on 19 August that media reports concerning the identity of those he accuses of being members of a group conspiring to smear the SDKU and the Slovak Information Service are "drivel," TASR reported. The daily "Sme" earlier on 19 August cited Robert Kalinak, chairman of the parliament's Defense Committee, as saying that in written testimony submitted to the Prosecutor-General's Office, Dzurinda identified as members of the group Jan Mojzis, who heads the National Security Office (NBU); Jozef Satek, who heads the office's Serious Crimes Investigation Department; Martin Simecka, the editor in chief of "Sme"; Milan Zitny, an RFE/RL journalist; and three unnamed businesspeople. The group is said to have been behind several eavesdropping scandals that affected the ruling coalition this year. Kalinak claimed to have gained the information from sources inside the SDKU. Dzurinda said he "regretted" that the Defense Committee chairman could make such a statement, adding that Kalinak is apparently trying to copy the leader of his party, Smer (Direction) Chairman Robert Fico, who, Dzurinda said, is "becoming more and more of a populist and increasingly speaks drivel" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 August 2003). TV Markiza, which is partly owned by ANO Chairman Pavol Rusko, said on 19 August that Dzurinda has named only two names in his testimony -- Mojzis and businessman Milos Ziak. NBU office head Juraj Puchy said in reaction that Mojzis believes he continues to enjoy Dzurinda's trust and has no plans to resign. MS[42] CONTRADICTORY REPORTS ON SLOVAK COALITION MEETINGFollowing a late evening meeting of the Slovak Coalition Council, TASR reported that "the crisis...in the ruling coalition is not yet over," while CTK said the meeting has "brought about a warming of relations" among the four-party center-right coalition's members. The Czech news agency quoted Premier Dzurinda as saying an accord has been reached to respect the coalition agreement, but no consensus has been reached on the future of the ANO-proposed amendment to the abortion law, on which parliament is to vote again in September (see item above). According to this report, Dzurinda said there is still a chance that ANO would renounce pursuing the amendment with the support of the opposition. ANO Chairman Rusko was cited by CTK as saying his party has "realized that one should never say never." TASR cited Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) Chairman Bela Bugar as saying the ruling coalition has made a significant step toward solving the crisis, but added that Rusko declined to comment on the meeting's outcome. Regarding the Smer threat to resubmit a motion to dismiss Deputy Chairman Pal Csaky (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 August 2003), Dzurinda said the coalition will not let itself be "corroded by the opposition," according to TASR. But CTK said no agreement has been reached on this issue, and cited Dzurinda as saying that Csaky's future will depend on the contents of the forthcoming November European Commission's report on Slovakia's progress toward EU membership and the management of EU funds, of which Csaky is in charge. MS[43] RUSSIAN CONSORTIUM TO RETRIEVE DAMAGED FUEL RODS AT HUNGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANTHungary's nuclear-power plant at Paks will commission the Russian TVEL consortium to recover fuel rods damaged in an accident that occurred at the plant in April, AP reported on 18 August, citing Paks officials (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 May 2003). Karoly Molnar -- chairman of the board of Paksi Atomeromu Rt, the company that runs the plant -- said the consortium was selected in a closed tender with only two bidders. TVEL is expected to complete the recovery and storage of the fuel rods within eight months of gaining the formal approval of Hungary's Nuclear Safety Authority. The estimated cost of the project is $4.55 million. It is not yet known when work will begin. MSSOUTHEASTERN EUROPE [44] KOSOVAR LEADER REJECTS SERBIAN CHARGES...Speaking in Prishtina on 19 August, Agim Ceku -- who is a former Croatian general, former Kosovar guerrilla commander, and now the head of the civilian Kosova Protection Corps (TMK) -- rejected recent charges by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic that the TMK is behind recent unexplained violent incidents in Kosova and the Presevo Valley, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 2003 and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 15 August 2003). Meanwhile, in a Belgrade hospital, one of the teenagers wounded in a recent shooting incident came out of his coma. Among his visitors were Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic and basketball star Vlade Divac. In Helsinki, Harri Holkeri, who is the new head of the UN civilian administration in Kosova (UNMIK), said that he doubts the final status of Kosova will be determined before the end of his one-year mandate (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 1 August 2003). PM[45] ...AS SERBIAN LEADERS CONTINUE TOUGH RHETORICIn Belgrade on 19 August, unnamed Serbian government leaders noted with satisfaction that several foreign ambassadors at the recent UN Security Council session on Kosova referred to the recent incidents as "terrorism," RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 2003, and "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 15 August 2003). For his part, Zivkovic said that the session was the first time in years that Serbian officials and not ethnic Albanian leaders were at the center of attention at the UN, Deutsche Welle's Serbian Service reported. He added that Kosovar politicians are afraid because they know that Belgrade's recent offer to supply international peacekeepers could pave the way for the eventual return of Serbian forces to Kosova. Elsewhere, Rasim Ljajic, who is Serbia and Montenegro's minister for human rights and minority rights, said that the headquarters of the shadowy Albanian National Army (AKSH) is in northern Albania. He added that the "terrorist organization" does not call for setting up a Greater Albania because this is not popular. He did not say where he obtained his information. The AKSH's website openly calls for a Greater Albania (http://www.aksh.info). PM[46] SERBIAN MINISTER QUITSRodoljub Sabic resigned his post as minister of state and local administration on 19 August, dpa reported. Sabic said in Belgrade he is unhappy with what he called the egotistical behavior of the various political parties in the governing coalition. He stressed that his move is a "personal act" and that his small Social Democratic Party (SDP) will remain in the cabinet (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 25 July and 8 and 15 August 2003). PM[47] UNSEASONABLE WEATHER CONTINUES IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIATemperatures in Podgorica reached 41.8 degrees Celsius on 19 August, the highest temperature recorded there on that date since 1949, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. Forest fires, which have been blazing in Montenegro for one week, spread to the Durmitor National Park. Other fires continue to burn along the Croatian coast and in nearby Herzegovina. In Banja Luka, storms caused streets to be blocked by fallen branches or flooded. In Vukovar, the authorities said that the Danube is no longer deep enough for larger vessels to navigate in that area, where water levels have reached their lowest recorded level in 97 years. In recent weeks, the falling level of the Danube in Serbia has exposed the wrecks of many ships sunk by retreating German forces in the closing months of World War II in an effort to stop Soviet ships from pursuing them. Local fishermen salvaged scrap metal that is still good from some of the ships, prompting one man to note that "the Germans built things to last forever" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 August 2003). PM[48] BOSNIAN SERB AUTHORITIES FILE CHARGES AGAINST MUSLIM CLERICThe Republika Srpska's Interior Ministry filed charges on 19 August for inciting ethnic and religious hatred against Hamed Efendic, the mufti of Gorazde, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. At the recent funeral of a Muslim woman who was raped and murdered, the mufti reportedly demanded that "wrongdoers leave the [Muslim] land." The police previously arrested one of the woman's relatives who reportedly confessed to the rape and killing. PM[49] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT BEGINS VISIT TO CHINAPresident Ion Iliescu arrived in Beijing on 19 August on a weeklong visit to China, Romanian Radio reported. Before leaving Bucharest, Iliescu stressed the importance of the flourishing trade between the two countries, which has reached $1 billion. According to AFP, Iliescu is to meet on 20 August with President Hu Jintao. He will also conduct talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and parliamentary speaker Wu Bangguo, and with former President Jiang Zemin, who speaks fluent Romanian, having studied in that country. This is Iliescu's third visit to China since the fall of Romania's communist regime. Iliescu's political fall from grace under the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu is said to have begun as a result of a 1971 visit, when he was youth minister and accompanied Ceausescu to China and North Korea. Ceausescu was apparently impressed by the Maoist, and particularly the North Korean, personality cults, and decided to emulate these models in his country. Iliescu objected, leading to his eventual political disgrace. MS[50] ROMANIA'S DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERSHIP APPROVES NEGOTIATIONS WITH LIBERALSThe Steering College of the Democratic Party unanimously approved on 19 August the continuation of negotiations with the National Liberal Party for forming an alliance ahead of the next parliamentary elections, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Democratic Party Deputy Chairman Sorin Frunzaverde said the two parties are likely to ratify an agreement by the end of September. MS[51] CHISINAU TEACHERS OPPOSE MOLDOVAN GOVERNMENT'S 'INTEGRATED HISTORY' COURSEHistory teachers who attended the annual conference of Chisinau municipality teachers on 19 August spoke up during the meeting against the Moldovan government's plans gradually to replace the teaching of the history of Romanians with a course on "integrated history," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 2003). Eugenia Starcea, who is also a municipal councilor representing the opposition Popular Party Christian Democratic, warned a government representative at the conference that the Moldovan teachers "will know how to act if the need arises." Education Minister Valentin Beniuc sought to reassure the teachers that the course is based on the experience of teaching history in Central and Western European countries, while Deputy Premier Valerian Cristea told the audience that the "integrated history" course does not seek to conceal the [presumably, Dacian-Roman] origins of the people." MS[52] MOLDOVAN INTERIOR MINISTRY LACKS FUNDS TO EXPEL UNDESIRABLE FOREIGNERSIurie Spanu, head of the Interior Ministry's department for combating illegal immigration, told journalists on 19 August that his ministry does not have sufficient funds to expel all foreign citizens who are in breach of the law in Moldova, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Spanu said that out of the 666 such foreigners slated to be expelled during the previous two weeks, only 32 had left Moldova. Most of the foreigners who were found to have committed crimes come from China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caucasus, Spanu said. He added that the ministry is initiating legislation that would make the entry of foreigners in Moldova conditional upon a deposit that could be used to cover the costs of expulsion if the need arises. In related news, ITAR-TASS reported on 19 August that according to the Interior Ministry, one out of every 30 foreigners living in Moldova does not have legal status. MS[53] BULGARIA SUPPORTS LIFTING OF UN SANCTIONS ON LIBYAA Foreign Ministry spokesman said on 19 August that Bulgaria coauthored a British-sponsored draft resolution proposing the lifting of UN sanctions against Libya, bnn reported. The proposal follows a recent Libyan agreement to pay some $2.7 billion to the families of the victims of the 1988 bombing of a PanAm jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. Bulgaria is hoping its move will help secure the release of six Bulgarian medics charged with deliberately infecting about 400 Libyan children with HIV at a Benghazi hospital (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 June and 16 and 23 July 2003). UB[54] ARMS TRADER SLAIN IN BULGARIAOn 19 August, masked gunmen killed Filip "Fatik" Pavlov Naydenov, who was allegedly one of the country's leading traders of illegal arms and drugs, mediapool.bg reported. The gunmen sprayed Naydenov's car with machine-gun fire at a busy traffic intersection in Sofia. Naydenov, 40, and his late father, Saban Fatik, are believed to have run the communist regime's arms exports to embargoed countries. Bulgarian media outlets link Naydenov to controversial businessman Iliya Pavlov, who was shot dead in Sofia on 8 March. The slaying of Naydenov is but the latest in a series of high-profile killings in Bulgaria (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 December 2002 and 6 January and 10 March 2003). UB[55] BULGARIAN FINANCE MINISTER WITHDRAWS RESIGNATIONTwo weeks after his announcement that he will resign from his post as finance minister, Milen Velchev on 20 August reversed his decision, mediapool.bg reported. According to a finance ministry press release, Velchev reconsidered his resignation after consultations with Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski and other government members (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2003). UBSOUTHWESTERN ASIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST [56] NEO-TALIBAN BLAMED FOR KILLING NINE IN AMBUSH IN AFGHAN PROVINCEThe head of Khawar District in Logar Province, the district's security commander, and seven security personnel were killed on 19 August in an ambush blamed on supporters of the ousted Taliban regime and Al-Qaeda, Bakhtar news agency reported. The nine were attacked as they returned after investigating an attack on a home in which two people were killed, also reportedly by neo-Taliban forces, according to Bakhtar and the BBC. The eastern Logar Province, which lies southwest of Kabul, does not border Pakistan. This ambush, if, in fact, carried out by the neo-Taliban, is evidence that the "insurgency is spreading as most of [the neo-Taliban] attacks so far have taken place in the tribal lands bordering Pakistan," the BBC commented on 19 August. An attack on a British aid agency on 18 August in Afghanistan's northern Balkh Province -- which borders Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- was also blamed on the neo-Taliban (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 August 2003). AT[57] AFGHAN GOVERNMENT SAYS PERPETRATORS OF PAKTIKA PROVINCE ATTACK WERE NOT AFGHANSAfghan Transitional Administration spokesman Jawayed Ludin said on 18 August that the armed men who attacked the police headquarters in Paktika Province's Barmal District on the evening of 16-17 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 2003), were not Afghans, Radio Afghanistan reported. Ludin claimed the attackers entered Afghanistan from Pakistan and spoke "Urdu and Arabic," adding that Afghan authorities have detained a number of the alleged perpetrators of the attack. In an interview with Radio Afghanistan on 18 August, Paktika Province security chief General Dawlat Khan claimed the attack was carried out by neo-Taliban forces "supported by Pakistan." He added that the "Pakistanis have created the recent disorder." Pakistan has consistently denied that it is supporting the neo-Taliban, although it has acknowledged that some of the insurgents might be on Pakistani territory near the Afghan-Pakistani border. AT[58] NEW MILITARY COMMANDER IN HERAT PROVINCELieutenant General Baz Mohammad Ahmadi on 19 August officially assumed command of the 4th Military Corps in Herat Province, Radio Afghanistan reported. A spokesperson for Herat Governor Mohammad Ismail Khan said the governor has "no differences" with General Ahmadi and has "asked all officials in the province to cooperate" with him. Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai recently stripped Ismail Khan of his command of military forces in western Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 18 August 2003). Ismail Khan's cooperation with the Kabul-appointed General Ahmadi would be seen as a major victory for Karzai in his effort to suppress the power of warlords and independent military commanders. AT[59] RADIO STATION BEGINS BROADCASTING IN KABULA 24-hour FM station called Radio Kelid began broadcasting in Kabul on 18 August, Afghanistan Television reported. The radio station has a coverage area of about 30 kilometers and will air news, educational, cultural, and sports programs. AT[60] IRANIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CALL FOR EDUCATION MINISTER'S IMPEACHMENTForty-eight parliamentarians have petitioned the legislature's presiding board to impeach Education and Training Minister Morteza Haji-Qaem, IRNA reported on 20 August. The news agency cited the newspaper "Siyasat-i Ruz" as reporting that the petition stems from the parliamentarians' belief that Haji-Qaem's ministry has failed to implement Article 30 of the Iranian Constitution. The article stipulates that citizens are entitled to "free education through secondary school" and that free higher education is to be expanded, according to IRNA. As grounds for the impeachment, the petition also cited Haji-Qaem's poor management of the Education Ministry and a drop in the quality of education. Sixty-one parliamentarians signed the initial petition sent to the presiding board on 30 July. However, 13 legislators withdrew their signatures before the board on 19 August officially announced its receipt of the petition. MES[61] IRANIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN SAYS ONLY A HANDFUL OF STUDENTS REMAIN IN DETENTIONQazvin parliamentary representative Hojatoleslam Mohammad Hassan Abu-Torabi, a member of the parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the cases of those detained as a result of the July student unrest, said on 19 August that only four or five students remain in jail, IRNA reported. These students, he said, are still in detention because their indictments are being considered by the Revolutionary Court, whereas the released students had no such indictments. Abu-Torabi also said judiciary head Ayatollah Mahmud Shahrudi has called for the students to be released as quickly as possible, as ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to Abu-Torabi, the supreme leader responded favorably to a letter calling for leniency toward students who did no "damage to the life and property of people and were not involved in the unrest." Abu-Torabi said Khamenei believes " the students who have committed offenses should be dealt with by the universities rather than the courts." MES[62] DEADLY BOMB BLAST TARGETS UN IN BAGHDAD...A truck-bomb attack outside the United Nation's Baghdad headquarters on 19 August killed at least 17 people, including UN special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, international media reported. It was the worst attack the world body has suffered and marks a setback for the UN mission in Iraq. "We have evidence to suggest it could have been a suicide attack," said the top U.S. law enforcement official in Baghdad, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, Reuters reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast and Al-Jazeera reported on 19 August that it received a statement from the "Islamic resistance" in Iraq disavowing responsibility and condemning the bombing as an attempt to distort the image of Iraqi opposition to occupation. A similar attack on the Jordanian Embassy on 7 August left 17 dead (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 and 11 August 2003). According to a 19 August UN press release, the organization's staff in Iraq totaled 646, with 300 at the organization's Baghdad headquarters. Their primary mission is to coordinate humanitarian relief. DK[63] ...PROMPTING CONDEMNATION, DOUBTS OVER UN'S ROLE IN IRAQWorld leaders have condemned the 19 August bomb attack and UN officials vowed that violence will not drive the world body from Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush on 19 August called the attackers the "enemies of the Iraqi people," adding that "these murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world," a White House statement said. The UN Security Council said in a statement the same day that "such terrorist attacks cannot break the will of the international community to further intensify its efforts to help the people of Iraq." On 20 August, an unidentified UN official was quoted by AFP as saying: "The UN will not evacuate its staff from Baghdad. We will only transfer to Jordan those were are injured or in a state of shock." However, Shashi Tharoor, UN undersecretary-general for public information, told "The New York Times" of 20 August that "there is a reasonable prospect that we will continue, but we will have to review the size of our presence and the way it is deployed." DK[64] KEY REGIME FIGURE APPREHENDED IN IRAQRepresentatives of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) told CNN on 19 August that their forces captured former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan in Mosul on 18 August and delivered him into U.S. custody. Pentagon officials confirmed the information to the network. Although he was only 20th on the U.S. list of the 55 most-wanted figures from the former Iraqi regime, Ramadan was seen as a member of Hussein's inner circle. Ramadan, who joined the then-clandestine Ba'ath Party in 1956, was infamous for his ruthlessness. He held several ministerial posts and is said to have supervised numerous purges. Laith Kubba, senior program officer for the Middle East at the U.S.-based nonprofit National Endowment for Democracy, told Al-Jazeera on 19 August that Ramadan's capture provides an opportunity to put him on trial for war crimes. According to AP, 36 of the 55 wanted regime figures have been captured, 15 are at large, two have been killed, and two have been reported killed. DK[65] VERBAL SPARRING OVER IRAQI GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBER'S PASTPlans by a group of Jordanian parliamentarians to request the extradition of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi have sparked an escalating war of words. Twenty-one Jordanian representatives are working to put together a formal request for Interpol to return Chalabi to Jordan, AFP reported on 18 August. A Jordanian court in 1992 sentenced Chalabi in absentia to 22 years in prison for embezzling $228 million from Petra Bank, which he founded in Amman in 1978. Chalabi, who left Jordan in 1989, has dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated. As head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), Chalabi was the public face of the "Iraqi opposition" in the prewar period, although he has not emerged to play a major role in domestic politics since returning to Iraq. "We will demand the extradition of the criminal [Chalabi]," Jordanian parliamentarian Mahmud Kharabshah told Reuters on 17 August. The INC's "Al-Mu'tamar" newspaper earlier this week wrote that "the fierce campaign Jordan is pursuing against the INC and its leader...has been organized by the Jordanian intelligence services to cover up the criminal activities of successive [Jordanian] governments and their theft of the Iraqi people's money," Britain's "Al-Hayat" reported on 20 August. DK[66] U.S. TROOPS TO CONTROL PART OF POLISH STABILIZATION ZONE IN IRAQWashington has decided to retain military control over the northern area of Iraq's Babil Province, a part of the Polish stabilization zone, PAP reported on 19 August, quoting unidentified Polish commanders in Iraq. PAP's source stressed that the boundaries of the Polish stabilization zone will remain unchanged. Earlier the same day, Polish Defense Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak and Deputy Defense Minister Janusz Zemke told Polish media that part of Babil Province, south of Baghdad, will be transferred out of the Polish stabilization zone, since U.S. forces are reportedly interested in keeping it under their direct control. "This is part of one of the five provinces where Americans have their large logistical base, and this is also where, according to their reconnaissance, some terrorist groups operating in Baghdad get particularly strong support," Zemke told Polish Radio. JMEND NOTE [67] POLISH CABINET'S POPULARITY REMAINS LOW, DESPITE SLIGHT IMPROVEMENTBy Bartosz StefanczykA poll released by the CBOS polling agency on 12 August found that 70 percent of Poles assess the government led by the Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller negatively and only 16 percent positively. Support for the government grew by one percentage point from July, while the number of opponents fell by two percentage points. The poll also found that 19 percent of respondents are pleased with Miller as prime minister, which is four percentage points higher than in July. Simultaneously, 62 percent are displeased with the prime minister, which is six percentage points lower than in July. Thus, one can see a slight improvement in the generally poor ratings of Miller. Surprisingly, the government's popularity did not improve much after the 7-8 June referendum in which 77 percent voted in favor of joining the EU, which purportedly testified to a big government success. However, some observers believe the outcome was largely due to an NGO campaign and to the pope's support of Poland's EU membership, and only secondarily to the government campaign. Miller's popularity remains low even after he won the vote of confidence for his government in the Sejm on 13 June and then was re-elected as leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) for a second term on a platform promising relentless struggle against corruption and a reform of the tax system. There are several reasons for the low popularity of the prime minister. Prior to the October 2001 parliamentary election, the SLD conducted an exhausting three-year campaign of opposing all the actions of the then-ruling Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS). This not only resulted in disappointing some voters about politicians in general, but also created huge expectations for newly elected Prime Minister Miller. Yet, the ensuing mistakes and scandals within the ruling coalition turned off much of the SLD electorate. The first major scandal was the so-called Rywingate affair, in which a well-known film producer, Lew Rywin, tried to solicit a bribe of $17.5 million in July 2002, supposedly on behalf of Miller. The Sejm subsequently set up a special commission to investigate the allegations. Probably the most disastrous thing for the government was not the allegations themselves, but the public hearings of dozens of people connected with Miller. It revealed how business and politics are dependent on each other in Poland, and how cronyism is widespread. Parliamentary speaker Marek Borowski said during the SLD congress in June, "A lot of people have joined the party [SLD] treating it as a kind of starting point for making a career, money, and surrounding themselves with cronies." The second scandal that shook Poland took place in the Health Ministry and the National Health Fund. Health Minister Mariusz Lapinski, his deputy Waldemar Deszczynski, and the head of the fund, Aleksander Nauman, were said to be favoring certain pharmaceutical companies through drug-reimbursement schemes. This led to their dismissal and exclusion from the SLD. Another scandal involving the SLD occurred in Starachowice, where local government officials were warned by SLD lawmaker Andrzej Jagiello of an action against them by Poland's Central Bureau of Investigation. Moreover, Jagiello was informed about the impending action by Deputy Interior Minister Zbigniew Sobotka. The local officials in Starachowice are suspected by the bureau of participating in organized crime. Most recently, according to Supreme Control Chamber deputy chief Krzysztof Szwedowski, the Ministry of Treasury hid or destroyed balance sheets of five state-owned companies. Those documents were used by the Miller administration to prepare a critical opening report on the condition of all the state-owned companies after the 2001 parliamentary election. The case is being investigated. Another popularity "killer" is the continuing poor economic situation in Poland. During the 22 months following the 2001 election, there have been three different finance ministers and no major reforms in the country were conducted. The unemployment rate has stuck at some 18 percent, the tax burden is one of the biggest in Europe, and the pension system is inefficient. The result is a lack of funds for pensioners, health care, education, etc., which spawns social unrest and street protests. This also serves as an encouragement for such populist parties as Self-Defense and the League of Polish Families (LPR), which tend to siphon off some of the SLD's electorate. "Always when there were internal frictions [in the government], the support for the government dropped, it happened so during the first coalition of SLD and the Peasant Party [PSL] and earlier, during the term of the AWS," the weekly "Wprost" commented. On 1 March, Miller threw the PSL out of the government due to such disputes. What's more, he also had to face "internal frictions" between Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko and Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner on how to generate economic recovery. Those frictions resulted in Kolodko's dismissal. The recent CBOS poll shows a slight improvement in Miller's ratings. However, whether this improvement will turn out to be a tendency and not only a statistical registration within the poll's error margin, will largely depend on the country's economic performance and on the results of ongoing investigations into recent corruption and other scandals. Bartosz Stefanczyk is a student of international relations at the Warsaw School of Economics and of history at Warsaw University. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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