Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-13
From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>
Jun 13, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW
CONTENTS
[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT
[02] GERMAN MINISTER WANTS SMALLER BOSNIA PEACE FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER
[03] TWO BOSNIAN MUSLIMS HANDED OVER TO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
[04] LE FIGARO: MOSTAR CRISES INSURMOUNTABLE FOR EUROPE
[05] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND IMF CONDCUTED IN CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE
[06] MILOSEVIC, BILDT DISCUSS DAYTON PEACE ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION
[07] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS
[08] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA MEETS WITH R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
[09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS: EXTENSION OF MILITARY MISSION IN BOSNIA LIKELY
[10] BILDT OPPOSED TO POSTPONEMENT OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS
[11] YUGOSLAV, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO WEDNESDAY TALK
[12] U.S. OFFERS GUARANTEES TO EASTERN SLAVONIA, BARANIA, WEST SREM
[13] CROATIAN DEMILITARIZATION GOES AS PLANNED -- U.N. SAYS
[14] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER MEETS WITH U.S. PRESIDENT
[15] AUTONOMY SHOULD GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS IN SREM-BARANJA REGION
[16] YUGOSLAV, IMF DELEGATIONS OPEN TALKS IN GENEVA
[17] BELGRADE DAILY: IZETBEGOVIC VISITED PRISON CAMPS FOR SERBS
[18] MOSTAR ELECTIONS TO DETERMINE BOSNIA'S FUTURE
[19] AKASHI SAYS SERBS ARE NOT GUILTY OF MASSACRE AT SARAJEVO MARKETPLACE
[20] OUTER WALL OF SANCTIONS MAJOR OBSTACLE TO YUGOSLAVIA'S DEVELOPMENT
[21] FOUR GLAMOC SERBS ARRESTED BY CROATS, IPTF SPOKESMAN
[22] GERMAN COMMENTATORS CRITICIZE IZETBEGOVIC
[23] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT WANTS TWO BILLION MARKS FROM GERMANY
[24] SERIOUS INTERNAL DISPUTE THREATENS IFOR
[25] ELECTIONS MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS PEACE IN BOSNIA
[26] HAGUE TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB
[27] OPPOSITION CANDIDATES IN MOSTAR INTIMIDATED
[01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT
belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - the yugoslav prime minister
announced the appointment of five new ministers at a government
session in belgrade on wednesday.
a goverment statement said that prime minister kontic had
appointed minister without portfolio tomica raicevic, 53, as finance
minister, and vladimir krivokapic, 56, professor at the police
academy, as justice minister.
rade filipovic, 56, director of the yugoslav electric power
company, is the new economy minister, and agricultural expert tihomir
vrebalov, 72, is minister of agriculture.
radonja minic, 50, so far deputy minister of development, science
and environmental protection, has been appointed minister without
portfolio.
government composition after the wednesday changes:
prime minister: radoje kontic
deputy premiers: jovan zebic
uros klikovac
nikola sainovic
ministers:
foreign affairs: milan milutinovic
defence: pavle bulatovic
internal affairs: vukasin jokanovic
finance: tomica raicevic
justice: vladimir krivokapic
economy: rade filipovic
agriculture: tihomir vrebalov
transport and communications: zoran vujovic
trade: djordje siradovic
labour, health and welfare: miroslav ivanisevic
development, science and the environment: janko radulovic
ministers without portfolio: zoran bingulac
vuk ognjanovic
margit savovic
radonja minic.
[02] GERMAN MINISTER WANTS SMALLER BOSNIA PEACE FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER
bonn, june 12 (tanjug) - german defence minister volker ruehe
said in bonn on wednesday that the size of the nato-led peace force
(ifor) in bosnia should be slashed after september elections.
ruehe repeated the assurance that ifor would be ending its
mission in december as planned, once again refuting speculations
about an extension.
he said that the multinational force would have to remain on full
alert until dec. 19.
as for the german troops serving with ifor, ruehe said that they
would have to stay on in bosnia until january 1997, 'for technical
reasons.'
he said that ifor needed to be reduced because it had carried out
all its military duties stemming from the peace accord in the first
five months of its mission.
nato has various options of using intimidation to prevent the
rekindling of war in former yugoslavia, ruehe said.
[03] TWO BOSNIAN MUSLIMS HANDED OVER TO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - the muslim sarajevo government on
thursday handed over two muslims, hazim delic and esad landza, to the
hague-based criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia, news
agencies reported.
heavily guarded, delic and landzo were transferred from the
prison to sarajevo airport to be taken to the hague.
during the bosnian war, delic was deputy commander of and landzo
guard in the bosnian muslim government prison in the southern bosnian
town of celebici. bosnian serbs, who were held in celebici, accused
delic and landzo of repeated crimes of murder, torture and rape.
during the war, bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic
repeatedly visited the camp in which serbs were tortured and killed.
the proof of the visit was communicated to the tribunal.
[04] LE FIGARO: MOSTAR CRISES INSURMOUNTABLE FOR EUROPE
paris, june 13 (tanjug)- europe has failed to open a pass in the
wall which divides mostar into muslim and croat sections and the
upcoming local elections threaten definitively to divide the city
along ethnic lines, paris' le figaro said thursday.
le figaro said bosnian muslim parties threatened to boycott the
city elections, scheduled for june 30.
mostar remains divided -- each side has its own currency,
administration and police, the daily said.
it presented the view that mostar croats were better organized
thanks to several years of experience in the smuggling of arms, fuel
and other products.
[05] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND IMF CONDCUTED IN CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE
geneva, june 13 (tanjug) - yugoslavia and the international
monetary fund expressed readiness to find solutions to their mutual
interest at the first four round of talks held in geneva on thursday
morning.
the delegations at the talks, conducted in yugoslavia's permanent
mission in geneva, are headed by yugoslav economist oskar kovac and
imf head for southeastern europe emanuel zervudakis.
the morning round of talks was mainly related to the regulation
of legal aspects important for future relations between yugoslavia
and the imf.
in the afternoon talks are expected to broach on yugoslavia's
financial obligations towards the imf, ways of their regulation and
other questions, such as the exchange of informationand other forms
of cooperation.
this round of expert talks is expected to end on friday.
[06] MILOSEVIC, BILDT DISCUSS DAYTON PEACE ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION
belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - serbian president slobodan milosevic
discussed wednesday the dayton peace accords implementation with the
international community's high representative for bosnia carl bildt.
a statement from milosevic's cabinet said that special stress was
laid on the implementation of the civilian and political aspects of
the peace plan.
milosevic and bildt focused on the preparation of upcoming
elections in bosnia and on securing the necessary conditions for
normal life and for economic recovery, the statement said.
in this context, the importance was stressed of international
factors synchronizing their measures and activities for securing full
compliance with the commitments stemming from the peace accords.
the talk was attended by yugoslav foreign minister milan
milutinovic, the statement said.
[07] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS
by vladimir holovka
brussels, june 12 (tanjug)- the florence meeting, which will
review the six-month implementation of the dayton peace accords for
bosnia, is seen at the e.u. headquarters as a good opportunity for
pointing up new paths to lasting peace in the former yugoslavia.
the e.u. foreign ministers agreed in luxembourg monday that the
union make the development of its ties with the countries of the
former yugoslavia conditional on the latter's mutual cooperation and
the development of good-neighbourhood relations among them.
the ministers said cooperation and good-neighbourhood relations
among the countries of the former yugoslavia would be the chief
incentive to a further consolidation of peace in the balkans as a
whole.
e.u. sources say that the union is ready to continue playing a
role in the implementation of the dayton accords and the
consolidation of peace only provided all countries of the former
yugoslavia play a constructive role.
according to the e.u. sources, it is necessary that the countries
of the former yugoslavia normalize mutual relations, establish
economic cooperation using the inherited infrastructures, fully open
their markets and fit into the european democratic processes.
the e.u. has assessed that everything unfolds as planned in the
implementation of the dayton military provisions but that things are
somewhat slow with the implementation of the civilian accords.
all international factors view the implementation of the
reconstruction programme for bosnia-herzegovina as a key element of
the peace process in all of the former yugoslavia.
the pace of the reconstruction process is slower than planned. of
the 1.8 billion dollars pledged at two international conferences of
donors in brussels, confirmations have been received for 1.4 billion,
which is considered sufficient.
however, the european commission is the only one which has
contributed its installment of 340 million ecus, while the remainder
of the money is yet to come.
[08] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA MEETS WITH R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
pale, june 12 (tanjug) - high representative for bosnia carl
bildt met wednesday with speaker of the (bosnian serb) republika
srpska (r.s.) parliament, momcilo krajisnik.
after the meeting, bildt said he had discussed with krajisnik a
large number of issues relating to the implementation of the dayton
peace accords for bosnia-herzegovina, but did not specify the issues.
krajisnik said they had exchanged information ahead of a
conference in florence on thursday on results of the six-month
implementation of the peace agreement.
krajisnik said he hoped that the oucome of the confernce, which
will be attended also by a r.s. delegation, would be successful.
he said he had called on the international community to protect
serbs in sarajevo and prevent vandalism in serb cemeteries in the
area.
the serb districts in sarajevo were placed under control of the
moslem-croat federation under the dayton peace accords. tens of
thousands of serbs have fled sarajevo since.
[09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS: EXTENSION OF MILITARY MISSION IN BOSNIA LIKELY
london, june 12 (tanjug)- the reconstruction of bosnia is not
unfolding as planned, so that it will most likely be necessary to
extend the international military mission after december 1996,
british commentators said wednesday.
commentators said the concurrent views held by the british
parliament's defense committee, the international iplementation force
command in sarajevo and the u.s. administration indicated that the
international community had agreed on an acceptable formula.
according to british analyses, the continued military presence is
necessary to let know the bosnia sides that the international
community is determined to prevent a renewed war and to open
prospects for lasting peace.
according to the british parliamentary committee, the new
military force would be far smaller and would number 20,000 troops at
the most, with britain and france providing the bulk but the u.s.
also participating.
public discussions on the issue are viewed in british diplomatic
circles as a message to the florence conference participants that
there is no alternative to peace in bosnia-herzegovina and that the
dayton peace accords must be fully and consistently implemented.
official sources in london say that elections in
bosnia-herzegovina are the most important step and must be held
despite the existing problems.
the organization for security and cooperation in europe, for its
part, maintains that not all conditions have been created and that
elections need to be put off.
note of the signals sent should be made also by the participants
in the oslo talks on arms control in the former yugoslavia.
the refusal of the muslim-controlled government of
bosnia-herzegovina to sign the proposed arms control agreement is
seen in london as being possibly dictated by war ambitions and an
actual rejection of arms control.
[10] BILDT OPPOSED TO POSTPONEMENT OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS
washington, june 12 (tanjug) - high representative of the
international community for civilian affairs in bosnia-herzegovina
carl bidt on wednesday appealed on all factors in charge of the
planned elections in bosnia not to put them off.
bildt said in an article published by the washington post daily
that those who claimed that the conditions for holding elections in
bosnia were not perfect were right but that they were not in the
least right when they urged postponement because it might jeopardize
the entire daytong agreement and further strengthen the process of
divisions along ethnic lines.
the election of new authorities in bosnia's two entities (the
republika srpska and the muslim-croat federation) and
bosnia-herzegovina as a whole will strengthen peace and initiate the
process of building a common state, which is one of the main
objectives of the dayton peace accords, bildt said.
sources in the u.s. administration also said on wednesday that
the calling of elections in bosnia was imperative and that it was the
only way leading to a common multi-ethnic state.
the elections will make possible that the implementation of peace
documents start in areas of civilian life where it would be
impossible without elections, said william montgomery, the u.s.
president's foreign policy adviser for the balkans.
sources in washington on wednesday expressed confidence that the
organization for security and cooperation in europe, authorized to
call the elections, will do so by the end of the week.
[11] YUGOSLAV, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO WEDNESDAY TALK
belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - yugoslav president zoran lilic and
visiting zimbabwean president robert gabriel mugabe gave high marks
late on wednesday to their belgrade talk held earlier in the day.
meeting the press after the three-hour talk, lilic said that
zimbabwe was the only country to have supported the federal republic
of yugoslavia in its hour of need and the only one to have voted in
the u.n. security council against imposing sanctions on yugoslavia.
speaking about yugoslavia's place in the united nations, lilic
said that yugoslavia had never been excluded from the world
organisation, and that no additional requirements were necessary for
its return.
president mugabe, who arrived in belgrade in the morning, told
reporters in his turn that he fully supported this position and urged
yugoslavia's return to all international organisations.
he said that zimbabwe was against bosnia-herzegovina becoming a
member of the non-aligned movement until the matter of yugoslavia's
status in the movement had been settled.
[12] U.S. OFFERS GUARANTEES TO EASTERN SLAVONIA, BARANIA, WEST SREM
erdut, june 12 (tanjug) - the united states is ready to give
special guarantees to the people in the region of eastern slavonia,
barania and west srem who might wish to stay on in the region,
according to the region's president.
region's president goran hadzic was speaking after meeting on
wednesday with a delegation of the u.s. state department.
hadzic said that his talks with officials of the u.s. foreign and
defence ministries and the white house had convinced him that they
did not share the croatian side's view that the process must end
speedily and at all costs.
this serb-populated region is the only remaining part of the
republic of serb krajina that croatia has not occupied.
representatives of the region's serbs and the zagreb regime
agreed in november 1995 to place the region under international
administration for at least a year and maybe two.
hadzic said that he had drawn the u.s. delegation's attention to
the fact that croatia's amnesty and territorial organisation
legislations clashed directly with some parts of the november 1995
agreement, specifically its article 12.
article 12 of the agreement gives the local serbs the right to
organise municipal councils in eastern slavonia, barania and west
srem.
on behalf of the u.s. delegation, roger crasy, representative of
u.n. administrator jacques klein, expressed satisfaction that the
november 1995 agreement and the u.n. security council's resolution
1,037 were being implemented.
[13] CROATIAN DEMILITARIZATION GOES AS PLANNED -- U.N. SAYS
vukovar, june 12 (tanjug) - a u.n. transitional authority
(untaes) spokesman said wednesday that the demilitarization of the
region of eastern slavonia, barania and west srem was going fine and
would be completed by june 21, as planned.
spokesman philip arnold told reporters in the serb-populated
region's town of vukovar that serb heavy weapons had already been
displaced and that small arms were now being turned in.
arnold added that all barracks and other military facilities
would be placed under untaes control in the next few days.
he said that next on the agenda was forming a joint police force,
launching a pilot-program for the return of refugees and settling the
status of the region's population and the problem of the region's
currency.
on the subject of croatia's amnesty legislation, arnold said that
some questions needed to be clarified and the legislation, which he
said was too generalised, made to conform more to international laws.
he said that talks between the region's u.n. administrator
jacques klein and croatian foreign minister mate granic and president
franjo tudjman in zagreb on wednesday and thursday would focus on
amending the legislation.
asked by croatian reporters if there was a chance that untaes
might oust the current serb authorities once it had finished
demilitarization and turned to civilian affairs, arnold said that
untaes had no direct impact on the election of local authorities.
he praised the cooperation of the serb side, especially in the
past two weeks.
the region, which was the scene of bitter fighting between
croatian secessionists and local serbs in the fall of 1991, was
placed under u.n. transitional administration by an agreement signed
by the rival factions in november 1995.
the implementation of the agreement will be supervised by the
5,000-strong untaes which should administer the region for a maximum
two years.
[14] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER MEETS WITH U.S. PRESIDENT
podgorica, yugoslavia, june 12 (tanjug) - montenegrin premier
milo djukanovic met in los angeles on june 10 with u.s. president
bill clinton, the premier's cabinet said late on wednesday.
according to the statement, djukanovic was paying a working visit
to the united states on the initiative of the u.s.-montenegrin
chamber of commerce in order to give concrete form to agreements
reached during a previous visit.
djukanovic and clinton exchanged views on the implementation of
the peace accord for bosnia-herzregovina and other questions of
topical importance to overall stability in the balkan region, the
statement added.
both sides expressed the conviction that early democratic
elections in bosnia-herzegovina would consolidate peace and create
conditions for a speedier economic and democratic development of the
entire region of former yugoslavia.
the premier of the yugoslav republic of montenegro met also with
u.s. commerce secretary mickey cantor and had successful business
meetings with executives of u.s. corporations interested in appearing
on the montenegrin market, the statement said.
[15] AUTONOMY SHOULD GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS IN SREM-BARANJA REGION
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - local serb authorities in the
srem-baranja region are about to end an autonomy project that will be
presented to several european institutions and officials, primarily
the e.u. leadership and the german foreign minister who proposed the
model, the belgrade daily politika said on thursday.
the daily said autonomy was the best guarantee that srem-baranja
serbs would be safe and equal.
'the demand for serb autonomy in the srem-baranja region results
from a natural survival instinct,' the daily said.
'this would be the optimum model which would satisfy all
principles and preserve the authority of peace mediators,' the daily
said and added that europe's leading political centres are beginning
to realize that a more efficient protection of serbs is necessary.'
the daily said that what had been happening in croatia in the
past few months showed that croatian president franjo tudjman and
croatian authorities were reluctant to give up a settlement of the
crisis in which serbs were given very little guarantees.
the question of guarantees to serbs is the key to overall
croatian-serb relations and regional stability depends on it, the
daily said.
politika said that serbia and srem-baranja serbs urged a peaceful
settlement of serb-croatian relations, with mutual appreciation.
the daily said that in an interview to the german weekly der
spiegel, serbian president slobodan milosevic urged the opening of a
new chapter in relations between belgrade and zagreb, while observing
equality as the most important principle.
during a recent tour of countries that emerged in the territory
of the former yugoslavia, e.u. heads jacques santer and lamberto dini
said that belgrade was the closest to the european union and that
croatia disregarded many universal principles of the union, the daily
said.
serbs in the srem-baranja region cooperate with representatives
of the u.n. transitional administration of eastern slavonia and give
a full contribution to the restoration of communications with
croatia, politika said.
zagreb and those who would make it observe e.u. principles and
human rights of serbs in this part of croatia are to make their move
now, the daily said.
[16] YUGOSLAV, IMF DELEGATIONS OPEN TALKS IN GENEVA
geneva, june 13 (tanjug) - delegations of yugoslavia and the
international monetary fund met at the yugoslav u.n. mission in
geneva early thursday to discuss legal modalities of regulating
yugoslavia's relations with imf.
the yugoslav delegation is headed by oskar kovac, an expert on
economy. the imf delegation is made up of emanuel zervudakis, head of
the imf section for southeastern europe, and tom hagen.
the two-day talks are aimed at finding an optimum solution to the
normalisation of relations.
[17] BELGRADE DAILY: IZETBEGOVIC VISITED PRISON CAMPS FOR SERBS
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - if justice at the hague tribunal is
based on personal responsibility for committed or undeterred crimes,
a belgrade daily asks thursday how to assess visits by the bosnian
muslim leader to camps where serbs were tortured and killed.
there were 404 camps for serbs in bosnia during the war, plus
private prisons, of which refugees have given testimony.
the precise figure of the serbs held in these camps and those who
had been tortured as not been established yet, said the daily.
it said the hague tribunal had been persistently avoiding
izetbegovic in its search for war crimes suspects.
like bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic and bosnian serb army
general ratko mladic, izetbegovic was the 'brain' of the operations
carried out by his armies, para-troops and the mujaheddin forces that
are still present in bosnia, despite demands by the u.s. that they
leave the country, said the daily.
it called to memory the fact that the tribunal's president in
sarajevo antonio cassese threatened a reimposition of sanctions on
the bosnian serbs and belgrade on account of karadzic and mladic,
while holding it logical and desirable to have contacts with
izetbegovic.
the daily wondered why the evidence with which cassese had been
supplied was being completely ignored, such as izetbegovic's tours of
the camps, his associating with bloodthirty torturers and murderers,
of which the tribunal has received evidence, said the daily.
the daily said the tribunal had been given testimonies from
eyewitnesses to several of izetbegovic's visits to the camp celebic,
when zejnel delalic was on of his bodyguards and when he was received
by the camp's commander zdravko mucic.
the tribunal has issued indictments against these two muslims.
the daily said izetbegovic had also visited the camp tarcin, of
which its former prisoners had testified to the yugoslav war crimes
committee.
izetbegovic also visited 'elite muslim forces' who had thrown
serbs dead or alive into the cave kazan. one member, refik colak,
boasted in public of receiving a gift from izetbegovic from vienna, a
12.5 mm sniper, said the daily.
[18] MOSTAR ELECTIONS TO DETERMINE BOSNIA'S FUTURE
by zdravko milanovic
sarajevo, june 13 (tanjug) - it is becoming increasingly evident
that local elections in mostar on june 30 will determine the path
that bosnia-herezgovina will follow in the future.
politicians, commentators and analysts in sarajevo say that if
the current state of affairs in mostar -- its division into the
eastern, moslem and the western, croat section -- is confirmed by the
elections, that could be the beginning of bosnia's disintegration and
its division into three parts expected to follow after september's
general elections.
mayor of the eastern section of mostar safet orucevic has
recently tried to allay the fear of mostar being divided on ethnic
basis after the elections by proposing that mostar parties set up a
coalition.
consequently, the ruling moslem party of democratic action, the
party for bosnia-herzegovina led by haris silajdzic, the liberal
party led by rasim kadic, the liberal-bosniak organisation led by
muhamed filipovic and the serb civic society led by mirko pejanovic
reached agreement to make a list of citizens for a united mostar.
the situation is rather different in the western section of
mostar.
local reporters say that no one appears to be disturbed by the
strong coalition front. the croatian democratic union (hdz), the
croatian party of law and another party with a similar name, will be
the coalition's main rivals in the elections.
a local hdz official recently said the elections would show that
three moslem and three croat municipalities existed in the town. he
said the moslem-croat federation would in the end be made up of croat
and moslem municipalities and cantons.
it is yet to be seen how citizens of mostars will vote. it is
clear however that making it impossible for mostar's serbs to vote in
belgrade and nevesinje, a town in the south of the (bosnian serb)
republika srpska, is to the advantage of those who want the town to
remain divided.
the majority of about 40,000 mostar's serbs have found shelter in
belgrade and nevesinje, fleeing the area as moslems and croats tried
to create an ethnically pure territory.
sarajevo commentators have recently reported that serbs could
determine the fate of mostar and could create a balance between
moslems and croats.
many however do not agree with this estimate, leaving it to serbs
to decide in what way they will vote. european capitals have however
taken care of other citizens of mostar by making it possible for them
to vote there.
mostar's serds have thus been placed in an unfavourable position
largely thanks to the e.u. administration in the town.
at this point, mostar is a divided town where fear rules, and
human rights and freedoms are frequently violated.
the organisation of elections in conditions where no one dares to
cross from one section of the town into the other is a phenomenon
rarely to be witnessed.
[19] AKASHI SAYS SERBS ARE NOT GUILTY OF MASSACRE AT SARAJEVO MARKETPLACE
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - former head of the u.n. mission for
bosnia yasushi akashi has told a german news agency that serbs did
not fire the shell that killed 68 civilians at sarajevo's markale
market in february 1994, the belgrade daily politika said on
wednesday.
the daily quoted a number of reasons which may have induced
akashi, who is presently u.n. undersecretary, to deny that serbs were
guilty of the markale massacre after 26 months.
according to the first, akashi is an honourable man and he could
not live with lies. serbs, who favour traditional values, would
prefer this explanation, the daily said.
another reason may be that the u.n. leadership has assessed that
bosnian muslims have gone too far and that some balance is needed.
however, balance may be the reason for a completely different
statement in future.
yet another reason may be that akashi was trying to restore the
credibility of the united nations with the serbs.
germans have learnt about akashi's statement through the yugoslav
media and some russian papers. as far as the west is concerned, the
statement does not exist and the reaction of cnn, which profited on
the markale story, is not worth mentioning.
akashi's statement will change nothing in the global conception
that serbs are the main culprit, but it can restore the serb trust in
the international community, which is not unimportant ahead of bosnia
elections.
another possibility is that akashi, suspecting that he and u.n.
secretary-general boutros boutros-ghali are running out of time, is
trying to spoil the game of the decision-makers on this issue.
the daily said that even if this was a private matter, the
question whether some other u.n. reports, used as a basis for
important decisions, had been changed so as to harm the serbs, was
raised from a very official position.
this will not influence global relations, but it can be very
important for the moral condition of the nation.
the important thing is that akashi's statement put an end to the
allegation that serbs killed 68 civilians at markale, politika said.
[20] OUTER WALL OF SANCTIONS MAJOR OBSTACLE TO YUGOSLAVIA'S DEVELOPMENT
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - yugoslav prime minister radoje
kontic and zimbabwe's president robert mugabe said in talks here on
thursday that the outer wall of sanctions constituted a major
obstacle to yugoslavia's development.
a government statement released after the talks quoted kontic and
mugabe as saying yugoslavia had not yet been allowed to return to
world political, financial and trade institutions and organisations,
in particular to the united nations and the international monetary
fund.
the statement quoted mugabe as saying this position on the part
of the international community was impermissible and there was no
justification for it.
mugabe said his country would back in all international bodies
yugoslavia's return to and participation on an equal footing in the
international community and would propose the lifting of the
sanctions against yugoslavia or back efforts to this end.
kontic and mugabe focused on issues relating to cooperation
between the two countries. they said there were both conditions for
promotion of cooperation as well as the two countries' wish to
promote it.
they proposed immediate renewing of contracts on economic and in
particular trade cooperation as well as on protecting and spurring
investments, and on scientific and technological cooperation.
kontic and mugabe said it was vital that the activity of the
inter-government commission immediately begin because they said there
was plenty of room for a successful economic cooperation, mainly
through joint investments, joint ventures and transfer of technology.
[21] FOUR GLAMOC SERBS ARRESTED BY CROATS, IPTF SPOKESMAN
banja luka, june 13 (tanjug) - alun roberts, international police
(iptf) spokesman in banja luka said thursday that he had reliable
information that the four serbs who disappeared on june 1 were
arrested by croats.
serbs djordje vuleta, nedeljko jandric, krstan cegaro and mirko
cvokic disappered in the area of glamoc, western bosnia, which falls
under the muslim-croat federation according to the dayton agreement.
iptf representatives contacted the local croatian police four
times and inspected the prison there gaining 'firm evidence that the
above-mentioned serbs had been there from june 1 to 10,' roberts told
reporters in banja luka and said the iptf would insist on their
release.
at the same news conference the spokesman of the regional center
of the organisation for european security and cooperation (osce)
thomas muglierin said that the expelled serbs from croatia would not
be allowed to vote at bosnia's september elections.
un high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) spokesman mons nieberg
expressed concern over the slow establishemnt of the freedom of
movement between the two entities in bosnia-herzegovina and said that
the high commissioner sadako ogato would raise the issue at the
florence meeting opening thursday.
he listed as encouraging the opening of bus lines linking the two
entities as well as the reconstruction of 350 houses in mrkonjic grad
and sipovo, which belong to the bosnian serbs under dayton and which
were extensively damaged last year by the croatian army.
[22] GERMAN COMMENTATORS CRITICIZE IZETBEGOVIC
bonn, june 13 (tanjug) - german papers on thursday criticized
bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic for failing to sign the
agreement on arms cuts in former yugoslavia in oslo on wednesday.
the munich daily sueddeutsche zeitung, explaining that the muslim
leader was responsible that the agreed deadlines in the peace process
were not being respected, said the sarajevo government had refused to
sign the agreement because republika srpska (the bosnian serb entity
in bosnia-herzegovina) had been given equal treatment as all other
signatories.
'the no from sarajevo is a sign that izetbegovic is resisting the
entire peace plan and the schedule of events for its implementation,'
the daily said.
bonn appealed to izetbegovic to sign the agreement, which had
been prepared over many months of talks in vienna, already in the
night between tuesday and wednesday.
kinkel's efforts to persuade izetbegovic were in vain, however,
even though he had been speaking on behalf of the entire contact
group.
[23] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT WANTS TWO BILLION MARKS FROM GERMANY
bonn, june 13 (tanjug) - the sarajevo muslim government has told
germany it would receive the first 100,000 of the over 300,000
bosnian war refugees to be repatriated by the german government only
on condition it receives two billion marks.
an interior ministry spokesman in charge of refugee issues
immediately reacted and rejected the demand, which was signed by
muslim prime minister hasan muratovic.
there is no aay that refugees, who have lived at germany's cost
for years, now get even more money from germany to resume their life
in bosnia, the ministry official said.
bonn decided earlier that the compulsory organized return of the
first group of war refugees from bosnia would start on oct. 1 this
year.
in the past four years, germany spent about 14 billion marks on
maintaining refugees, most of them muslims from bosnia.
[24] SERIOUS INTERNAL DISPUTE THREATENS IFOR
london, june 13 (tanjug) - a dispute threatens to erupt inside
the peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia between britian and
france on the one hand and the united states on the other over
suspicion that u.s. officers supply intelligence to the bosnian
muslim government, the london daily the guardian said thursday.
u.s. officers provide the muslim governmnet with information
collected by the ifor intelligence mission, which jeopardizes the
very function of the peace mission and the agreed unbiased and team
work, the paper said and revealed two of the most recent incidents.
ifor intelligence officers, mostly from britian and france, had
prepared a list of ten iranian agents as part of preparations for
secret actions against foreign islamic fighters, some of whom have
remained in bosnia despite the dayton agreement.
u.s. mediator john kornblum last month handed over the list to
the bosnian muslim government requesting action, the guardian said.
however, no action ensued and the muslim government was left with
a classified document on ifor's activities.
the other example concerns british and french suspicions that
some u.s. officers turn a blind eye to muslim terrorist actions, or
even provide assistance.
an eight-member terrorist group was discovered around zvornik in
eastern bosnia on may 10 and it was later established that senior
u.s. officers in tuzla (northeastern bosnia) had been quite aware of
its activities, the paper said.
after skirmishes with bosnian serb army troops, seven members of
the group sought shelter in a nearby u.s. artillery unit, pretending
to be a group of refugees from srebrenica.
their act, however, lacked in persuasiveness because they were
quite well-fed, well-dressed and equipped with arms in very good
shape, so that the u.s. troops at once handed them over to the
authorities of the republika srpska, the serb entity in bosnia.
the action provoked almost a panic among u.s. officers in tuzla
who knew about the action.
the hungarian media reacted at once, and even the renown london
daily telegraph quoted its u.s. sources as saying that new refugees
from srebrenica had been found and that 'irresponsible ifor' had
handed them over to the bosnian serbs, leaving them at their mercy.
a confidential nato report, quoted by the guardian, said that the
incident near zvornik indicated a coordinated action at a high level
aimed to cover the action of the muslim army.
[25] ELECTIONS MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS PEACE IN BOSNIA
london, june 13 (tanjug)- international community's high
representative for bosnia carl bildt said in an article of his
published in the london times thursday that free and democratic
elections can be held in bosnia, despite many open problems.
according to bildt, elections are not enough, if peace is to
become a reality, and it is necessary to reconstruct the devastated
facilities and economy.
bildt said all sides in bosnia were resorting to manipulations,
and insisted that bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic and general
ratko mladic must step down from the public stage.
the london guardian urged thursday that ifor troops leave the
barracks and protect voters during the elections, but said there was
little readiness for that within the international implementation
force.
[26] HAGUE TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB
belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - hague international tribunal for war
crimes committed in former yugoslavia prosecutor grant niemann has
dropped charges against bosnian serb goran lajic, lawyer miroslav
vasic of the fila belgrade law firm told tanjug on thursday.
niemann dropped the charges on wednesday because of a lack of
evidence. in july 1995, lajic was charged with alleged crimes
committed in the kerater camp near prijedor in northwestern bosnia.
he was arrested in nurnberg in march this year and taken to the hague
in may.
the defense proved that lajic was not in the area of prijedor at
the time the alleged crimes were committed. the tribunal asked for a
series of photographs on account of which nine of 10 summoned
witnesses confirmed lajic had not committed the alleged crimes.
one witness testified he 'probably' saw lajic there, vasic
explained.
after these testimonies, niemann dropped the charges. the
decision is to be confirmed by the hague tribunal court on monday.
[27] OPPOSITION CANDIDATES IN MOSTAR INTIMIDATED
sarajevo, june 13 (tanjug)- candidates of the opposition bloc in
the divided city of mostar started receiving threats and being
intimidated in other ways only a few days after the tickets for the
city elections on june 30 were published.
delegate boro bjelobrk confirmeed the above at a session of the
constituent assembly of the muslim-croat federation thursday.
the constituent assembly is discussing possibilities and
conditions for elections scheduled to be held in bosnia-herzegovina
in mid-september.
the mostar opposition bloc 'united democrats of
bosnia-herzegovina' has said that if the threats and harassment
continue, the elections in mostar will be totally irregular.
the opposition bloc has called on federation authorities and
european institutions urgently to take the necessary security
measures.
the opposition bloc's election rival will be a bloc of five
parties, headed by the ruling muslim democratic action party (sda)
and croatian democratic union (hdz).
Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996
|