Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-05-20
From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>
May 20, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW
CONTENTS
[01] CROATIAN AUTHORITIES ACCUSE SOCCER FANS OF BEING YUGOSLAVIA-MINDED
[02] BELGRADE DAILIES POLITIKA, NOVOSTI ON KARADZIC'S EXIT OUT OF BOSNIAN
SERB POLITICS
[03] FRENCH IFOR MEMBER DIES IN BOSNIA
[04] SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC UNION OF SERBIA - A LEFT-CENTRE PARTY
[05] BRITISH MARCONI RADAR PROJECTS LTD. MAY RETURN TO YUGOSLAV MARKET
[06] MEDIEVEAL CASTLE ON LAKE SKADAR TO BECOME TOURIST COMPLEX
[07] MUGABE: NO OBSTACLES TO YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
[08] NATO ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES BOSNIA, URGES RECONCILIATION
[09] NOVOSTI: DEATH BEFORE VERDICT
[10] BULGARIAN PAPER: CROATIA REMAINS IN COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S WAITING ROOM,
[11] BELGRADE DAILIES POLITIKA, NOVOSTI ON KARADZIC'S EXIT OUT OF BOSNIAN
SERB POLITICS
[12] GALBRAITH URGES PRESERVATION OF JASENOVAC MEMORIAL SITE
[13] SWISS FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN SARAJEVO ON TUESDAY
[14] REFUGEE SITUATION IN TEN MUNICIPALITIES IN BOSNIA
[01] CROATIAN AUTHORITIES ACCUSE SOCCER FANS OF BEING YUGOSLAVIA-MINDED
by savo tomasevic
zagreb, may 20 (tanjug) - the fans of the croatian soccer
champion have not forgiven croatian president franjo tudjman for
renaming the club dinamo into kroacija and booed and hooted at the
official trophy award and jeered at the president.
the ruling croatian democratic union (hdz) said that the soccer
fans were being politically manipulated against the authorities and
described their demand to give the club its old name as a wish to
restore a new form of neo-socialism and even yugoslavia.
the slogans chanted by the soccer fans, whose dissatisfaction is
not only caused by the renaming of the club, are not a good sign for
the hdz ahead of the elections. the party's position is particularly
vulnerable in the capital where it was defeated at local elections.
about 30,000 fans jeered and whistled at tudjman when he
presented the trophy to the 'blue' players last week.
tujdman has repeatedly said that the name of 'dinamo' was a
symbol of the old system and communist rule.
a confrontation between the regime and the blue reached its
climax when the fans began to taunt the president, who almost
regularly attends matches played by the croatian champion.
the ruling party issued a special statement, carried by all
croatian media, ahead of the final match in the championship. the
party said that stadiums had become the scene of political rivalry
between the fans for various political goals.
the statement said it was clearly an attempt to find support
among fans for staging discontent and organizing political
manipulations against the government.
the statement failed to produce any effect on the fans at the
final match and they continued to shout even more loudly and
fervently -- 'dinamo, dinamo'.
after the match, the players did not run to the president's box
but to the other side of the stadium to share their joy with the
fans. the club's director was sacked as a result.
the rijeka daily novi list said that it was easy to dismiss a
director but wondered about ways to dismiss fans.
[02] BELGRADE DAILIES POLITIKA, NOVOSTI ON KARADZIC'S EXIT OUT OF BOSNIAN
SERB POLITICS
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - by transferring a part of his
authorities on dr. biljana plavsic, it seems that the president of
the bosnian serb state republika srpska, radovan karadzic decided to
exit from the political scene by the back door, belgrade daily
vecernje novosti said on monday.
vecernje novosti said that karadzic's move represents an indirect
admission that his remaining in the office of republika srpska
president, since the international community refuses to communicate
with him, seriously threatens the realization of the dayton peace
agreement and the survival ofm the bosnian serb state.
the daily said that the dayton agreement is not subject to
negotiation, but is a series of internationally undertaken
obligations (and rights) which must be fulfilled in the already
determined ways.
the paper said that the dayton peace agreement bans karadzic, and
others accused of war crimes, from running at the forthcoming
elections which are scheduled to be held in late september.
karadzic's political life was to expire in four months, vecernje
novosti said and wondered whether the essential issue remained open.
'one wonders whether the promotion of plavsic for his successor
represents karadzic's attempt to preserve his political position and
maintain his 'hardcore' political platform,' vecernje novosti said.
according to the paper, the dilemma stems from the fact that the
bosnian serb leadership in dayton, were the agreement was initialled,
and in paris, where it was signed, was represented by vice-president
dr. nikola koljevic, 'a more moderate politician than karadzic and
plavsic.'
the removal of koljevic from reubliika srpska's foreign policy
scene could mean that the international community intends to face the
fact that 'the new negotiator' represents 'old positions', vecernje
novosti said. the paper warned that such an outcome of karadzic's
(semi) withdrawal was extremely unfavourable for republika srpska.
'everything the serb people have achieved in the almost four-year
war and what has been made official by the dayton agreement, could
easily be gambled away,' vecernje novosti said.
belgrade daily politika said on monday that karadzic had
withdrawn after fierce conflicts involving prime minister rajko
kasagic.
politika said that the list of karadzic's moves which paved the
way for his departure is long. the paper recalled the mockery over
the unification with the republic of serb krajina (rsk) and the
disputes with bosanska krajina and belgrade, all clearly aimed at
pushing the federal republic of yugoslavia into the war even when
bosnian serb real aims were not threatened.
politika said that numerous estimates are that karadzic had long
since been overshadowed by current republika srpska parliament
speaker momcilo krajisnik and that after the recent events, which
were only a pyrhhic victory, his only option was to withdraw
definitively.
end zn/jpe/mb
[03] FRENCH IFOR MEMBER DIES IN BOSNIA
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - a french sergeant of the
multinational peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia has been
found dead at his workpost on mt. igman near sarajevo, ifor spokesman
guy vinet said on monday.
he did not reveal the name of the officer who was found with a
bullet wound, the agence france-presse news agency said.
an act of violence has been ruled out, vinet said, adding that
investigation was under way to determine whether it was a suicide or
an accident.
this is the third casualty in the french contingent since ifor's
deployment in bosnia on dec. 20.
the french contingent in bosnia-herzegovina has about 7,500 men.
[04] SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC UNION OF SERBIA - A LEFT-CENTRE PARTY
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - belgrade university professor zarko
korac has announced the formation of a left-centre party -- the
social-democratic union of serbia (sdus) -- which he said would be
first of its kind in the yugoslav republic of serbia.
korac told tanjug that a party under the name the social
democratic union (sdu) had already been registered, and added that on
the political scene in serbia there have so far been only abortive
attempts to have such a party formed.
the initiators of the new party, as korac put it, understand the
left in a way it is understood in western europe today.
the european left, korac specified, took over and accepted the
principles of classical liberalism -- the notions such as the civil
state, pluralism, parliamentarianism and human rights, while
simultaneously retaining the liberal economic structure.
korac called for the regionalization of the southern serbian
province of kosovo and metohija (kosmet) and the northern serbian
province of vojvodina.
korac said that those advocating autonomy for vojvodina wanted in
the first place an autonomy in terms of the economy rather than
politics.
if the albanian minority in kosmet had received 'very clear
messages' from the international community that any ideas regarding a
redrawing of boundaries would not be tolerated, then the serbian
authorities would have more resolutely to go into the settling of the
crisis in this southern serbian province, korac emphasized.
in kosmet, with majority ethnic albanian population, a strong
separatist movement has been active for a decade, aiming at the
region's secession from serbia and yugoslavia and its merger with
neighbouring albania.
[05] BRITISH MARCONI RADAR PROJECTS LTD. MAY RETURN TO YUGOSLAV MARKET
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - yugoslav vice premier and economy
minister nikola sainovic discussed the chances for the british
marconi radar projects ltd. returning to the yugoslav market with the
firms's general manager alex hannam on monday.
the british firm cooperated successfully with yugoslav partners
for 25 years in the design and production of traffic regulation
equipment.
hannam was especially interested in the current state of the
yugoslav economy and the possibilities for british and yugoslav
firms' joint access to third markets, an official statement said.
[06] MEDIEVEAL CASTLE ON LAKE SKADAR TO BECOME TOURIST COMPLEX
podgorica, yugoslavia, may 20 (tanjug) - the medieval castle of
zabljak on lake skadar in the yugoslav republic of montenegro, the
seat of the aristocratic family crnojevici in the 15th century, will
become a tourist complex under montenegro's amended regional planning
program by the year 2000.
under the document, tourist facilities with about 300 beds will
be built in the area of lake skadar.
the realization of this concept includes protection of the lake
from pollution, a restoration of objects of old village architecture,
the construction of accommodation facilities and infrastructure
objects.
this extremely attractive area between the towns of godinje,
zabljak and rijeka crnojevica will cater to specialized forms of
tourism -- artist colonies, hunting and fishing, water sports,
specialist excursions.
lake skadar, covering an area of 391 km sq (243 in yugoslavia and
the rest in albania), is the biggest lake in the balkans. it is
well-known for fishing (eel, carp, trout, bleak), and very many
species of marsh birds.
[07] MUGABE: NO OBSTACLES TO YUGOSLAVIA'S RETURN TO NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - zimbabwean president robert mugabe
said in an interview to the belgrade daily vecernje novosti on monday
that there were no obstacles to yugoslavia, as one of the founders of
the movement, returning to the non-aligned movement.
mugabe said there were no obstacles for an initiative to be
launched already at the very next non-aligned summit, even a
ministerial meeting, for yugoslavia rejoining all movement
activities.
mugabe pointed out that the main argument of those who did not
want yugoslavia actively to return to the movement at the latest
non-aligned summit in colombia in october last year had been that the
country was under u.n. sanctions and that its return to the movement
was not possible as long as the sanctions remained.
'we said already at that time that the united nations have
nothing to do with the movement anbd that we alone should make
decisions,' mugabe said.
'now, since sanctions against yugoslavia have fortunately been
suspended, we believe there will be no problem for the return of your
country to the non-aligned movement,' mugabe said in his exclusive
interview to the belgrade daily on the occasion of the 16th
anniversary of his country's independence.
zimbabwe had condemned the imposition of sanctions against
yugoslavia and had voted against that resolution in the u.n. security
council at the time.
mugabe went on to explain that zimbabwe could not have agreed
that a country which had aided all liberation movements in africa's
south be punished and that unjust sanctions be imposed against it.
the traditional friendship, cooperation, and, primarily, support
of yugoslavia to zimbabwe at the time of its struggle for freedom and
independence are the reason why zimbabwe, at one of the most
difficult times for yugoslavia, had voted against sanctions in the
u.n. security council, mugabe said.
'our two countries have a history of friendship, cooperation, and
solidarity and that is why we can freely tell the rest of the world
that we shall always be with yugoslavia,' mugabe said.
'we remember only too well, when we needed a friend at the time
of the signing of the declaration of independence, only a few
countries came to our aid. yugoslavia was one of them and it
supported us to the very end in that struggle,' mugabe said.
[08] NATO ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES BOSNIA, URGES RECONCILIATION
athens, may 20 (tanjug) - nato secretary-general javier solana
said monday at the closing plenary session of the nato assembly that
a reconciliation process, as the only way of achieving peace, was of
the utmost importance for bosnia's future.
stressing that the presence of the nato-led multinational peace
implementation force (ifor) had been of crucial importance for the
implementation of the dayton accords, solana said that the military
aspect of the mission had been carried out satisfactorily so far.
he said that nato's priorities in bosnia by the end of the year
would be to provide full assistance and support to elections, the
success of which would affect the democratic processes in bosnia.
this assistance will include the securing of freedom of movement
and the activities related to the return of refugees, solana said.
[09] NOVOSTI: DEATH BEFORE VERDICT
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - the trial of republika srpska's army
general djordje djukic will continue even after his death, the
belgrade paper vecernje novosti said on monday.
gen. djukic, who was indicted for alleged war crimes in sarajevo
during the four-year civil war in that former yugoslav republic, died
at the military medical academy in belgrade on saturday.
earlier this year, chief prosecutor of the u.n. tribunal richard
goldstone brought gen. djukic before the tribunal but failed to
submit acceptable evidence on his responsibility for flagrant
violation of the international humanitarian law, the paper said,
adding that goldstone did not manage to find any evidence although
his team searched for three months.
the tribunal, which was set up for war crimes perpetrated in the
former yugoslavia, will examine gen. djukic's case on june 3, the
paper said.
novosti said that the tribunal decided on april 24 to reject a
demand by gen. djukic's defence to withdraw the indictment for lack
of evidence and procedural irregularities since his arrest.
on april 24, gen. djukic who had underwent an operation for
cancer some time before, was released from the hague prison in which
he had spent over two months. the tribunal released him because of
his critical health condition, novosti said.
competent bodies in the hague and sarajevo will not decide
whether goldstone had indicted an innocent or guilty man.
the paper said that gen. djukic's family had wanted to avoid that
at all cost. the family did not want the proceedings to be suspended
only because of his death and wanted to avoid a stain on his name.
a patriot who did not understand the reasons for standing trial
in the hague has died. he did not want the tribunal to release him
with the explanation that his indictment would be withdrawn only due
to his bad condition, djukic's lawyer toma fila told novosti.
fila said that gen. djukic had been brought to the hague despite
the fact that he had been a logistics commander and that even the
nuremberg tribunal had not indicted rear commanders for war crimes.
if the hague tribunal wants to clarify his case, it can apply the
regulation under which someone can be tried in absentio, gen.
djukic's lawyer said.
fila's request will be reviewed by the tribunal on monday. if
fila's demand is rejected, the proceedings will be suspended because
of gen. djukic's death.
[10] BULGARIAN PAPER: CROATIA REMAINS IN COUNCIL OF EUROPE'S WAITING ROOM,
sofia, may 20 (tanjug) - croatia will remain in the waiting room
of the council of europe until it proves it is ready for a modern
democracy, bulgarian daily kontinent said on monday.
the daily was commenting on the council of europe ministerial
committee's recent decision to undefinitely postpone croatia's
membership in the council.
the time has come to stop with the practice of accepting new
members through compromises and by out-voting, the daily said.
the daily said that croatia, which sided with hitler's germany in
world war two, should do better to make some progress in a number of
important fields, before all, in cooperating with the international
war crimes tribunal, providing freedom of the press, securing
democratic election in mostar and improving conditions for the return
of serb krajina refugees.
the croatian army expelled about 250,000 serbs from serb krajina
in the august 1995 aggression on the republic of serb krajina.
the daily said that since the council of europe was established
in 1949, such differences between the decisions of its parliamentary
assembly and the ministerial committee had never existed.
after a harsh debate in april, the parliamentary assembly gave
the green light for croatia's membership of the council, but the
ministerial committee recently put a stop to it, the daily said.
[11] BELGRADE DAILIES POLITIKA, NOVOSTI ON KARADZIC'S EXIT OUT OF BOSNIAN
SERB POLITICS
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug) - by transferring a part of his
authorities on dr. biljana plavsic, it seems that the president of
the bosnian serb state republika srpska, radovan karadzic decided to
exit from the political scene by the back door, belgrade daily
vecernje novosti said on monday.
vecernje novosti said that karadzic's move represents an indirect
admission that his remaining in the office of republika srpska
president, since the international community refuses to communicate
with him, seriously threatens the realization of the dayton peace
agreement and the survival ofm the bosnian serb state.
the daily said that the dayton agreement is not subject to
negotiation, but is a series of internationally undertaken
obligations (and rights) which must be fulfilled in the already
determined ways.
the paper said that the dayton peace agreement bans karadzic, and
others accused of war crimes, from running at the forthcoming
elections which are scheduled to be held in late september.
karadzic's political life was to expire in four months, vecernje
novosti said and wondered whether the essential issue remained open.
'one wonders whether the promotion of plavsic for his successor
represents karadzic's attempt to preserve his political position and
maintain his 'hardcore' political platform,' vecernje novosti said.
according to the paper, the dilemma stems from the fact that the
bosnian serb leadership in dayton, were the agreement was initialled,
and in paris, where it was signed, was represented by vice-president
dr. nikola koljevic, 'a more moderate politician than karadzic and
plavsic.'
the removal of koljevic from reubliika srpska's foreign policy
scene could mean that the international community intends to face the
fact that 'the new negotiator' represents 'old positions', vecernje
novosti said. the paper warned that such an outcome of karadzic's
(semi) withdrawal was extremely unfavourable for republika srpska.
'everything the serb people have achieved in the almost four-year
war and what has been made official by the dayton agreement, could
easily be gambled away,' vecernje novosti said.
belgrade daily politika said on monday that karadzic had
withdrawn after fierce conflicts involving prime minister rajko
kasagic.
politika said that the list of karadzic's moves which paved the
way for his departure is long. the paper recalled the mockery over
the unification with the republic of serb krajina (rsk) and the
disputes with bosanska krajina and belgrade, all clearly aimed at
pushing the federal republic of yugoslavia into the war even when
bosnian serb real aims were not threatened.
politika said that numerous estimates are that karadzic had long
since been overshadowed by current republika srpska parliament
speaker momcilo krajisnik and that after the recent events, which
were only a pyrhhic victory, his only option was to withdraw
definitively.
end zn/jpe/mb
[12] GALBRAITH URGES PRESERVATION OF JASENOVAC MEMORIAL SITE
zagreb, may 20 (tanjug) - u.s. ambassador to croatia peter
galbraith told the split daily slobodna dalmacija that jasenovac must
be preserved as a memorial to the victims of evil and that the united
states could not accept the retailoring of history.
croatian president franjo tudjman recently announced that he
would bury the bodies of ustasha, world war ii croatian fascists,
near the bodies of their victims -- about 650,000 serbs and tens of
thousands of jews, gypsies and croatian antifascists.
galbraith said jasenovac had been the site of holocaust where
jews had been exterminated because of their religion, serbs because
of their ethnic origin and croats because of their political
positions.
the holocaust was part of the nazi as well as the ustasha system
that represents the biggest evil that has ever appeared on our
planet, he said.
tudjman's decision has elicited strong reactions in europe.
moreover, u.s. secretary of state warren christopher criticised
tudjman two months ago, pledging to congress that washington would
exert pressure on him to give up his decision.
galbraith described croatian authorities' current campaign
against independent papers as an attempt to stifle independent media.
he also said he hoped the dayton peace accords for
bosnia-herzegovina would be fully implemented, and said the removal
of (bosnian serb) republika srpska president radovan karadzic and
army commander gen. ratko mladic from office was a major step in
enabling the full implementation.
he said it was vital that a person who backed the dayton accords
was in power in the republika srpska.
karadzic relinquished part of his powers to vice-president
biljana plavsic on saturday, which observers interpret as 'the strong
man's' definitive stepping down.
[13] SWISS FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN SARAJEVO ON TUESDAY
geneva, may 20 (tanjug) - swiss foreign minister flavio cotti,
who presides over the organisation for security and cooperation in
europe (osce), will arrive on a one-day visit to sarajevo on tuesday.
cotti will meet with bosnian moslem leader alija izetbegovic and
prime minister hasan muratovic as well as with officials of the
nato-led peace implementation forne (ifor), it was stated in bern on
monday.
talks will focus on elections to be held in bosnia-herzegovina by
september 14 at the latest. osce is in charge of the organisation of
elections.
swiss foreign ministry spokesman franz egle said cotti had met
with bosnian croat officials in mostar and with (bosnian serb)
republika srpska officials in banja luka when he visited the towns on
may 2, but had not met with bosnian moslem officials in sarajevo.
cotti will therefore not meet with republika srpska officials
this time, egle said.
[14] REFUGEE SITUATION IN TEN MUNICIPALITIES IN BOSNIA
belgrade, may 20 (tanjug)- the office of the u.n. high
commissioner for refugees has completed reports on possibilities for
the return of refugees and displaced persons to ten municipalities in
bosnia-herzegovina.
the ten municipalities are brcko, breza, celinac, konjic,
laktasi, livno, olovo, sanski most, visoko and zavidovici.
according to the 1991 census, brcko had a population of 87,000,
of whom 44 percent were muslims and the remainder serbs and croats.
the unhcr report covers only the part of the brcko municipality
which is now in the muslim-croat federation and where close to 60,000
muslims and 4,000 croats live.
the croat community has formed its own municipality, which has a
local police and whose authorities are accountable to the bosnian
croat leadership.
the unhcr provides aid in food for more than 40,000 people in the
part of the brcko area which is in the muslim-croat federation, while
a norwegian humanitarian organization is building there a settlement
for 1,000 displaced persons.
the municipality of breza now has 20,000-odd inhabitants, mostly
muslims and about 500 croats and 236 serbs.
before the war, muslims made up 50 percent of konjic's population
of 43,000, croats 26 percent and serbs 15.2 percent.
konjic has roughly just as many inhabitants now, but only a
hundred or so croats and 14 serbs.
the olovo municipalities had 16,900 inhabitants before the war,
of whom 75 percent were muslims, 19 percent serbs and 4 percent
croats.
olovo now has a population of 15,150, of whom 550 croats and only
45 serbs of the about 3,000 before the war.
local authorities in olovo, where six international humanitarian
organizations are engaged, are calling on refugees who are returning
from abroad to make donations of between 2,000-9,000 german marks.
there are only 800 serbs and 500 croats in the visoko
municipality.
in the zavidovici area, which used to have a population of
57,000, of whom 20 percent serbs, 60 percent muslims and 13 percent
croats, there are now 930 croats and 380 serbs.
contrary to the situation in the muslim-croat federation, where
numerous non-governmental humanitarian organizations are engaged, the
bosnian serb republika srpska receives aid mostly from the unhcr and
the international committee of the red cross.
in the celinac municipality, for instance, where housing
facilities have been devastated, the local red cross, the unhcr and
the icrc are helping the local population of 19,500, mostly displaced
serbs.
laktasi is an even more drastic example of the inequitable
distribution of humanitarian aid.
the municipality had 29,910 inhabitants, predominantly serbs,
before the war and now has nearly 45,000.
nearly 70 percent of laktasi's population fall in the category of
the needy.
the unhcr provides food for 11,800, while aid also comes from the
icrc, oxfam and doctors without frontiers.
serbs used to comprise 42 percent of sanski most's population but
none have been living there since a croat-muslim offensive in the
autumn of last year.
gen. mehmed alagic, former commander of the muslim army's seventh
corps, is the mayor of sanski most.
livno, with 36,000 croats, about 4,500 muslims and 300 serbs,
mostly elder, is now part of the mostar canton.
both muslims and serbs who have returned to the town are
discriminated against when seeking jobs.
manual jobs are mostly reserved for them, while precedence is
given to demobilized croats.
Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996
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