Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-18
From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>
Jun 18, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW
CONTENTS
[01] BILDT CONDEMNS ASSAULT ON FORMER MOSLEM PREMIER SILAJDZIC
[02] LIST OF OPPOSITION CANDIDATES FOR MOSTAR ELECTIONS ACCEPTED
[03] CONVENTIONAL, NUCLEAR WEAPONS SMUGGLED VIA SLOVENIA -- TRIESTE PRESS
[04] BOSNIAN CROATS VIOLATE DAYTON AGREEMENT
[05] YUGOSLAV PAPER: ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT ANOTHER STEP TOWARD STABILITY
[06] YUGOSLAV FACTORY BUILDS ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY REFRIGERATORS
[07] YUGOSLAVIA NEGOTIATES COOPERATION WITH AIRBUS
[08] MONTENEGRO TO BECOME INTERNATIONAL OFF-SHORE CENTRE
[09] SKOPJE, ZAGREB TAKE SIMILAR STANDS ON FORMER YUGOSLAVIA'S SUCCESSORS
[10] UNHCR'S BELGRADE OFFICE ORGANIZES REFUGEES' VISIT TO MOSTAR
[11] RULING BOSNIAN CROAT, MUSLIM PARTIES OPPOSE FEDERATION
[12] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT: FLORENCE CONFERENCE HELPED STRENGTHEN PEACE
PROCESS
[13] FERAL TRIBUNE: TUDJMAN CUTS RIBBON FOR NEW JASENOVAC
[14] WOMEN DEMAND TRUTH ABOUT MISSING SERB FIGHTERS AND CIVILIANS
[15] HAGUE TRIBUNAL DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LAJIC
[16] CROATIAN AMNESTY LAW FOR ABOUT 4,500 SERBS
[17] NEW FORMS OF PERSECUTION, ASSIMILATION OF SERBS IN CROATIA
[18] ONE POLICEMAN KILLED, ANOTHER WOUNDED IN KOSOVO ATTACK
[19] SOROS FUND CONTINUES WORK IN YUGOSLAVIA UNDER NEW NAME
[20] KLICKOVIC, BUHA HOLD TALKS WITH U.N. REPRESENTATIVE
[21] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT ADOPTS LAW ON ELECTION UNITS
[01] BILDT CONDEMNS ASSAULT ON FORMER MOSLEM PREMIER SILAJDZIC
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - high representative for bosnia carl
bildt on monday condemned an assault on former moslem premier haris
silajdzic, calling it outrageous and demanding that the sarajevo
moslem government respond in an adequate manner.
news agencies quoted bildt as saying after meeting with german
defence minister volker ruehe in the croatian port town of split
that, 'we would expect the bosnian government to take strong action
because it is clearly a case of very severe political harassment
prior to the elections that must not be tolerated.'
an unidentified supporter of bosnian moslem leader alija
izetbegovic hit silajdzic on the head with an iron bar during a
campaign rally in cazin, northwestern bosnia, on saturday.
following a break-up with izetbegovic, silajdzic had set up the
party for bosnia-herzegovina.
the nato spokesman in sarajevo criticised the moslem-croat
federation police for failing to protect silajdzic.
opposition parties in sarajevo said monday that the assault on
silajdzic was nothing but a resumption of the clash between his party
and the moslems' ruling party of democratic action.
sarajevo press reported that the incident had deepened the rift
between the two parties believed to be chief rivals in elections that
are to be held by mid-september.
slovene media said the assault on silajdzic, an opposition
leader, pointed to federation authorities' hostility as well as to
them being incapable of admitting a possible defeat in the elections.
slovene television said that, by attacking silajdzic, the party
of democratic action had delivered all those who held different views
a heavy blow.
[02] LIST OF OPPOSITION CANDIDATES FOR MOSTAR ELECTIONS ACCEPTED
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - the e.u. administration in mostar on
monday accepted the nomination of five, mostly pro-muslim opposition,
parties for the local elections.
mostar is a town in southern bosnia-herzegovina which was divided
between muslims and croats after bitter fighting in 1993 into muslim
east mostar and croat west mostar. the two peoples previously
banished about 40,000 serbs from the town.
the town was placed under european union administration in
mid-1994.
'e.u. ombudsman constantin zapos has accepted the nomination of
five opposition parties,' e.u. spokesman in mostar dragan gasic told
the agence france presse news agency in a telephone conversation.
gasic said the five parties were the social democratic party of
bosnia-herzegovina, the croatian peasants' party, the union of
bosnian social-democrats, the muslim-bosniac organization, and the
republican party.
elections in mostar, originally planned for late may and then
postponed after objections from the muslim side, should be held on
june 30.
the croatian democratic union is also taking part in the
elections.
incidents between muslims and croats in mostar have never ceased
and they are increasingly frequent as the elections are getting
closer.
croatian radio said a group of muslim fanatics from east mostar
stoned a franciscan monastery on monday.
muslim radio later said the perpetrators had been arrested but
that tensions were mounting in mostar because of the growing numbers
of incidents.
[03] CONVENTIONAL, NUCLEAR WEAPONS SMUGGLED VIA SLOVENIA -- TRIESTE PRESS
trieste, june 18 (tanjug) - slovenia is part of the so-called
eastern smuggling transversal, operated by the most influential
international networks for smuggling not only conventional but also
nuclear weapons, the trieste press has said.
the press said that partial results of a thorough investigation,
disclosed by the italian civilian and military intelligence services
some time ago, had showed that radioactive material and parts of
nuclear weapons had been smuggled via slovenia.
a tanjug correspondent has learnt that italian high police
officials asked the slovenian interior ministry to assist them in
detecting arms smugglers' routes via slovenia a week ago.
the italian investigation unveiled the involvement of slovenian
defense and interior ministry officials in smuggling arms out of and
via slovenia.
a package of 30 grams of radioactive osmium, which was recently
found in a place near venice, was yet another proof of slovenia's
involvement in the international arms smuggling business since 1991,
namely in smuggling arms for croatia and later for bosnian muslims.
the italian press said that osmium had been deposited in a bank
safe that belonged to a son of slovenian businessman nicolas oman,
who is closely connected with the highest slovenian state officials.
[04] BOSNIAN CROATS VIOLATE DAYTON AGREEMENT
belgrade, june 18 (tanjug) - the defence ministry of the
muslim-croat federation in bosnia-herzegovina on monday said, and
muslim sarajevo radio carried it, that the forming of a new
government of herceg-bosna proved that croatia was violating the
dayton agreement.
the renewed mandate of vladimir soljic on the post of
herceg-bosna defence minister will prevent the formation of joint
institutions of the muslim-croat federation and the adoption of
defence laws as he is also the federation defence minister, the
statement said.
the office of high representative of the international community
for bosnia carl bildt said on monday it would not be contacting with
the newly-formed cabinet of the croat state in bosnia because it was
contrary to the dayton agreement.
prime minister of the pro-muslim government in sarajevo hasan
muratovic described the forming of the new croat cabinet as
separatism and announced a quick action.
the republic of herceg-bosna was proclaimed at the beginning of
conflicts in the former yugoslav republic of bosnia-herzegovina in
1992.
president of the muslim-croat federation kresimir zubak, a croat,
said in an interview with the sarajevo weekly svijet that
herceg-bosna existed and that it would continue to exist as a form of
political and economic organization of the croat people in bosnia.
[05] YUGOSLAV PAPER: ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENT ANOTHER STEP TOWARD STABILITY
novi sad, yugoslavia, june 18 (tanjug) - after a recent failure
in oslo, an arms control agreement for the former yugoslavia was
finally signed at a conference in florence, the novi sad dialy
dnevnik said tuesday.
the agreement primarily aims to establish a military balance in
the region and to restore mutual trust between the former confronted
sides.
dnevnik warned, however, that it is still early for great
optimism and reminded that an u.s. firm from virginia was recently
engaged to arm and train the bosnian muslim-croat army.
under the programme of 'training and equipping' it, which is
financed by the united states, turkey and middle east countries, the
new army will receive u.s. tanks, helicopters, arms and communication
equipment to the total value of about 800 million dollars.
bosnian muslim pirme minister hasan muratovic signed an agreement
on arms reduction in florence on saturday, despite an announcement of
bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic that the muslims would not
settle for anything less than control over the whole of
bosnia-herzegovina.
the peace mentioned by muslim leaders therefore seems to be no
more than peace on paper, dnevnik said.
[06] YUGOSLAV FACTORY BUILDS ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY REFRIGERATORS
cetinje, yugoslavia, june 17 (tanjug) - the yugoslav factory obod
of cetinje began on monday serial production of environmentally
friendly refrigerators using a harmless gas instead of the customary
and harmful freon.
obod director radivoje adzic said that test production of all
types of environmentally friendly refrigerators had been a success
and that obod had the capacity to build 500 refrigerators of this
kind a day.
[07] YUGOSLAVIA NEGOTIATES COOPERATION WITH AIRBUS
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - the european airbus industrie
discussed with the yugoslav chamber of commerce in belgrade on monday
establishing production cooperation with yugoslav manufacturers.
chamber of commerce president mihailo milojevic said that some
yugoslav industries had the necessary technological and personnel
resources to join in airbus production programmes.
there are companies in the federal republic of yugoslavia that
are ready to manufacture components and sub-systems for various types
of airbus aircraft, milojevic said.
the yugoslav industry has the necessary experience in this kind
of jobs, having done similar work for the u.s. and french aviation
industries, he added.
airbus expert team chief in charge of international cooperation
michel lanusse said that the purpose of the visit was to take a close
look at yugoslav factories and choose those that might take part in
industrial cooperation.
lanusse said that airbus's business orientation was to cut
production costs, and added that the idea was to make this strategy
as much as possible suit the company's commercial interests.
it is of special importance to yugoslav industrial production to
join in new development programmes in the world, and cooperation with
airbus is part of this orientation, it was stressed at the chamber of
commerce.
the talk at the chamber of commerce was attended by
representatives of yugoslav firms interested in establishing
production cooperation with airbus.
the airbus delegation's visit to yugoslavia signals the
resumption of talks begun earlier in june with airbus vice president
pierre carpenter, who said at the time that airbus was interested in
long-term cooperation with yugoslav firms.
[08] MONTENEGRO TO BECOME INTERNATIONAL OFF-SHORE CENTRE
belgrade, june 18 (tanjug) - the government of the yugoslav
repubic of montenegro has prepared a bill on special conditions for
foreign companies, which is expected to turn the republic into a kind
of an international off-shore centre and to attract foreign capital,
the montenegrin daily pobjeda said monday.
republican legislation secretary rajko milovic said that the bill
provided for a new system of business operations of foreign legal
entities and individuals in montenegro's zone of free trade, aiming
to revive the economy not only in the republic but in yugoslavia as
as whole.
companies will be founded only by foreigners and operations will
be limited to foreign persons and companies, but those firms will be
able to cooperate with domestic management, consulting and other
non-financial firms, pobjeda said.
under the draft, an off-shore company will not be liable to pay
customs dues or other import taxes for equipment, and will be
guaranteed full security in business, milovic said.
new legal provisions will not be able to reduce in any way the
rights given at the moment of the firm's founding for a period of at
least 15 years, milovic said and added that similar conditions
existed in switzerland, luxemburg, the united states and some other
developed and market-oriented countries.
the creation of a wide zone of free trade is expected to attract
foreign capital, as well as modern technology and know-how, milovic
said, adding that the system would be compatible with the yugoslav
legal and economic systems.
[09] SKOPJE, ZAGREB TAKE SIMILAR STANDS ON FORMER YUGOSLAVIA'S SUCCESSORS
skopje, june 17 (tanjug) - macedonian foreign minister ljubomir
frckovski and his croatian counterpart mate granic said monday their
states held similar positions on the issue of successor states of the
former yugoslavia.
granic told a news conference in skopje that both states were
committed to a resolution of the succession issue on the basis of the
conclusions made by badinter's commission, and to the position that
all former yugoslav republics had equal succession rights.
the commission, named after french lawyer badinter who was its
head, has concluded that the former yugoslavia has disintegrated.
the federal republic of yugoslavia (serbia/montenegro) disagrees
with the commission and has repeatedly stressed that slovenia,
croatia and bosnia-herzegovina have forcibly and macedonia peacefully
seceded from the former yugoslavia and that it itself ensures the
continuity of the former yugoslavia.
granic said croatia was prepared to cooperate with all states in
the region, which he said included the normalisation of relations
with belgrade provided that an agreement on the protection of
minorities be signed and that no conditions be set for it.
yugoslavia also wants to normalise relations with all former
yugoslav republics and, as regards croatia, calls for the resolution
of the issue of the south adriatic promontory of prevlaka, situated
at the mouth of yugoslavia's boka kotorska gulf.
instead of being asked any questions, granic was given a petition
signed by about 40 macedonian journalists calling for the protection
of professional and human rights of their croatian colleagues who are
being tried in zagreb for defamation of president franjo tudjman.
viktor ivancic, editor-in-chief of the split weekly feral
tribune, one of the few independent papers in croatia, and mario
culic, a journalist, are being tried for criticising tudjman's plan
to rebury the remains of croatian fascists ustasha near their victims
at jasenovac, the site of the world war ii death camp where more than
700,000 serbs, jews, gypsies and croatian anti-fascists had perished.
[10] UNHCR'S BELGRADE OFFICE ORGANIZES REFUGEES' VISIT TO MOSTAR
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - ten refugees from the herzegovina
city of mostar on monday left for a visit to mostar, organized by the
belgrade office of the u.n. high commissioner for refugees.
officials of the unhcr's belgrade office told tanjug that the
delegation constisted of nine serbs, including a former mostar mayor,
and one muslim.
according to the officials, the delegation was headed by
president of the association for assisting refugees and displaced
persons in yugoslavia milorad muratovic and unhcr belgrade office
official in charge of repatriation tina andersen.
mostar, which was one of the scenes of worst battles between
muslims and croats, is divided into muslim and croat parts. before
turning against each other, muslims and croats expelled more than
40,000 serbs from the region of mostar.
the delegation of refugees will meet with e.u. administrator of
mostar ricardo perez casado and mayor of the muslim section of mostar
safet orucevic.
they will discuss possible visits by those who found refuge in
yugoslavia, return of serbs, possibilities for compensating those who
do not wish to return for their property and ways of voting in the
coming elections.
the unhcr officials said that the first organized voluntary
returns of refugees who fled bosnia for yugoslavia will be carried
out on tuesday and thursday.
five muslims will return to the eastern bosnian town of gorazde
on tuesday and another 11 muslims will return to sarajevo on thursday
with the unhcr assistance.
[11] RULING BOSNIAN CROAT, MUSLIM PARTIES OPPOSE FEDERATION
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - member of the muslim-controlled
sarajevo government ivo komsic, a croat, on monday accused the ruling
parties in the bosnian muslim-croat federation of using all means to
show that the federation is not possible.
the muslim democratic action party and the croatian democratic
union party have 'accepted the federation as a pressure and not as
their own political wish and need,' komsic told local radio in the
northeastern bosnian muslim-controlled town of tuzla.
komsic said that the croatian democratic union's alternative to
the federation was the relization of the bosnian croat republic of
herceg-bosna and that the democratic action party's alternative was
the creation of a muslim state in central bosnia and the neretva
river valley in southern bosnia-herzegovina, as close to the sea as
possible.
komsic said that both sides in the muslim-croat federation aimed
at preventing the return of refugees and displaced persons.
before they agreed to set up the federation under strong u.s.
pressure in march 1994, bosnian croats and muslims fought each other
for predominance for a year.
according to their own figures, about 230,000 civilians were
expelled on both sides while muslims and croats fought for
predominance over territories in central and southern
bosnia-herzegovina.
[12] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT: FLORENCE CONFERENCE HELPED STRENGTHEN PEACE
PROCESS
belgrade, june 17 (tanjug) - the yugoslav government said on
monday that the ministerial conference on the implementation of the
dayton agreement in florence on june 13-14 represented a further
contribution to the strengthening and affirmation of the peace
process.
adopting a report on a yugoslav delegation's participation in the
conference, the yugoslav government stressed the importance of the
implementation of the dayton agreement, especially of holding free
elections in bosnia-herzegovina according to schedule (in
mid-september) and securing freedom of movement and return of
refugees, the yugoslav information secretariat said in a statement.
the yugoslav government instructed the foreign ministry to
continue its diplomatic activities aimed at promoting peace process
and normalizing relations with the former yugoslav republics.
the office of yugoslav prime minister radoje kontic said on
monday that intensive activities aimed at normalizing the
yugoslav-e.u. relations should continue and instructed the foreign
ministry to set up a inter-departmental group to work on this issue.
adopting a report by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic
on talks with a e.u. delegation in belgrade on june 7-8, the yugoslav
government described the talks as very successful.
at the talks with the e.u. delegation, headed by italian foreign
minister lamberto dini, it was agreeed on further activities in the
implementation of the dayton agreement, the government said.
the statement quoted the yugoslav delegation as saying that the
e.u. platform on strengthening regional cooperation and good
neighbourly relations in the former yugoslavia was based on the
principles of equal treatment of yugoslavia in comparison with the
former yugoslav republics.
the government said that a yugoslav delegation to the june 11
oslo conference, where the adoption of an agreement on subregional
arms control was discussed, had consistently adhered to the
government platform. yugoslav government's remarks to the text of the
agreement were accepted at oslo, the statement said.
[13] FERAL TRIBUNE: TUDJMAN CUTS RIBBON FOR NEW JASENOVAC
zagreb,june 17 (tanjug) - independent split weekly feral tribune
wrote on monday that when tudjman's said in the jasenovac memorial
center last saturday that it is a place to remember the victims of
fascism and communism he symbollically cut the ribbon to the 'new
jasenovac'.
the head of state also carried out a 'drastic ethnic cleasning of
jasenovac' when he said that he came to remember the tragedy of the
croatians in wwii 'forgetting to mention 'the victims of other
peoples, feral commentator marinko culic said.
during the second world war croatian national fascists - the
ustashas killed some 700,000 serbs,jews, gypsies and a smaller number
of croatian anti-fascists in the jasenovac concentration camp.
tudjman has lately repeated his intention to bury together the
victims of jasenovac and their murderers, the ustashas, which has met
with general condemnation in the world.
the commentator of the split paper quoted the president of the
jewish municpality in zagreb ognjen kraus as saying recently that the
reorganisation of jasneovac would be in breach of the european
parliament resolution on the protection of concentration camps as
historic monuments.
feral tribune has already written about tudjman's ideas
ridiculing his intentions to rearrange jasenovac and tailor history.
the editor-in-chief of the paper viktor ivancic and the writer of the
commentary culic are on trial for insulting tudjman.
in contrast to the feral the government-controlled zagereb daily
vjiesnik, said monday that by laying wreaths in jasenovac tudjman
made a gesturere similar to the one made by willy brandt in the
warsaw ghetto.
[14] WOMEN DEMAND TRUTH ABOUT MISSING SERB FIGHTERS AND CIVILIANS
banjaluka, june 17 (tanjug) - a group of fifty women blocked the
regional office of the organisation for security and cooperation in
europe (osce) in banjaluka to draw the international community's
attention to the slow resolution of the issue of the large number of
imprisoned and missing serb fighters and civilians.
the women were prompted by the eight-month uncertainty about the
fate of 1,150 missing serb fighters and 805 civilians following last
year's muslim-croat offensive in northwestern bosnian krajina and
ozren, areas which are part of the muslim-croat federation under the
dayton agreement.
the women announced they would continue the blockade on monday
evening and on tuesday.
mothers and wives of the imprisoned serb fighters appealed to the
international community to exert pressure on all the three sides in
the bosnian conflict to release all imprisoned persons and to learn
the truth about the number of killed fighters and where they were
buried.
the women were addressed at 13:00hrs by the acting head of the
osce office ronald dreyer, who announced the visit of russian
ambassador from sarajevo vladimir ivanov to resolve the problem
the assembly of the association of families of imprisoned and
missing serb fighters and civilians said that the international
community has not carried out the provisons of the dayton agreement
to release all prisoners of war by january 19.
the association also said that exhuming of mass graves in the
territory of the croat-muslim federation was not allowed.
the fact that the list of 11,000 missing persons compiled by the
international committee of the red cross includes only 350 persons
from republika srpska supports the claim that the international
community does not eqaully treat all parties in the conflict.
[15] HAGUE TRIBUNAL DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB LAJIC
brussels, june 17 (tanjug) - president of the criminal council of
the hague tribunal for crimes committed in former yugoslavia, claude
jorda of france, decided on monday that bosnian serb goran lajic,
charged with war crimes, should be released immediately.
jorda released lajic after his hearing, when lajic himself, his
defense attorneys toma fila of belgrade and australian grant niemen,
said it was a case of mistaken identity and that the alleged crimes
had been committed by another person of the same name and about the
same age.
nine of the 10 witnesses who testified, all bosnian muslims,
confirmed that the man in court was not the person who committed the
alleged crimes.
niemen and fila said only one of the 10 witnesses had said he
recognized lajic in photographs shown to them on may 17 during the
investigative proceedings against lajic.
this was sufficient for the prosecution to drop the charges and
judge jorda to set lajic free.
lajic, 30, an economic technician from the biggest bosnian serb
town of banja luka, was arrested in germany on march 18 this year,
after certain bosnians allegedly recgnized him as a guard of the
keraterm camp near the town of prijedor in western bosnia.
the hague tribunal prosecutor raised an indictment against lajic
on july 21, 1995.
following (bosnian serb) republika srpska army gen. djordje
djukic and col. aleksa krsmanovic, lajic is the third bosnian serb to
be released by the hague tribunal. gen. djukic was released for
reasons of ill health and died soon afterwards, and col. krsmanovic
was released for lack of evidence.
judge jorda said the court had justly decided to release lajic on
the grounds of irrefutable proof that it was a case of mistaken
identity.
this throws new light on the trial of dusan tadic, another
bosnian serb.
namely, tadic and his defense attorneys also claim that this is a
case of mistaken identity and that tadic is not the person named in
the indictment.
[16] CROATIAN AMNESTY LAW FOR ABOUT 4,500 SERBS
zagreb, june 17 (tanjug) - croatian officials on monday explained
a controversial amnesty law which will cover all serbs in the serb
area of eastern slavonija, baranja and west srem, except those
accused of war crimes.
this law, which was passed last month, was criticized even by
western diplomats, who said it was vague and inadequate.
croatian vice-premier ivica kostovic and justice minister
miroslav separovic told a press conference in zagreb on monday that
the amnesty law which took effect on may 31 would apply to '4,474
persons in eastern slavonija, baranja and west srem.'
they said the law would not cover persons accused of war crimes.
kostovic and separovic said the government would not take this
issue any further for the time being and that 50 persons had been
found guilty of war crimes in croatia.
they said proceedings were currently under way against a certain
number of persons suspected of having committed war crimes and that
this law would not cover them.
eastern slavonija, baranja and west srem are the eastern part of
the republic of serb krajina, whose western parts were overran by the
croatian army last year. more than 250,000 serbs were banished from
their lands in the process.
the republic of serb krajina was proclaimed by serbs in the
former yugoslav republic of croatia in their ethnic and historical
lands after croatia in 1991 fought a war for secession from the
former yugoslav federation.
[17] NEW FORMS OF PERSECUTION, ASSIMILATION OF SERBS IN CROATIA
belgrade, june 18 (tanjug) - croatia is preparing a new bill that
will make the use of the serbian language punishable by law, the
belgrade daily vecernje novosti said tuesday.
under the draft law on the croatian language, a person who uses
more than five serbian words in one page of text shall be fined or
sentenced to between three months and three years in prison.
the bill, drafted by ivan kramaric, a counsellor at the justice
ministry, proposes that persons using up to five serbian words in
radio, television or public speeches be fined between 1,000 and 5,000
kunas (5.5 kunas are sold to a dollar).
if the bill is adopted, the remaining 150,000 serbs in croatia
will lose their fundamental right -- the right to use their own
language -- and will be subject to complete assimilation.
the position of serbs in croatia seriously deteriorated after
croatia's military offensives on the serb krajina last year, in which
over 300,000 serbs were expelled from their homes, the paper said.
it said that the harassment of serbs began with their first day
at school at the age of seven.
many children try to hide their nationality, or declare
themselves as 'orthodox croats,' the paper said, adding that
catechism was taught to serb children mostly by catholic priests.
there is a growing number of serbs who decide to change their
names, the paper said and gave the example of actor cedo vujic from
zagreb, who shortened his name to edo. this, however, helped him very
little because he is now known as 'mister c,' the paper said.
president of the serb community in croatia borislav arsenijevic
said between five and six serbs request to be given their baptism
certificates from their church authorities in zagreb, which leads to
the conclusion that they massively turn to the catholic religion in
order to fend off problems.
serbs made up one fifth of croatia's population before the
republic's violent secession from the former yugoslav federation, and
they are now estimated not to exceed more than two or three percent.
[18] ONE POLICEMAN KILLED, ANOTHER WOUNDED IN KOSOVO ATTACK
kosovska mitrovica, yugoslavia, june 18 (tanjug) - one policeman
was killed and another seriously wounded in monday's attack on a
traffic police patrol from kosovska mitrovica, a town in serbia's
southern province of kosovo and metohija.
sources in the kosovska mitrovica court told tanjug on tuesday
that the unidentified attackers had hit the police car with four
bullets.
predrag djordjevic (32), the killed policeman, was sitting beside
the driver, while wounded zoran vukojevic (30) was at the wheel when
the patroc came under attack. the latter was immediately transferred
to the pristina surgical clinic and his life is still not out of
danger.
traces found on the spot indicate that at least two attackers had
opened fire from an automatic 7.62-mm weapon and from a 7.9-mm
weapon.
this is the second attack on police patrols in kosovo and
metohija in the past three days.
on sunday evening, policeman goran mitrovic was wounded in an
attack from automatic weapon near pristina, and he is still at the
local hospital.
a strong secessionist movement of ethnic albanians has been
active in the province for the past few decades, aiming to secede it
from serbia and yugoslavia and to join it to neighbouring albania.
the police is the most frequent target of extremist attacks, but
civilian casulties have also been reported.
the executive board of serbia's ruling socialist party and the
youth union in kosovo and metohija said in separate statements on
tuesday that attacks on policemen in podujevo and kosovska mitrovica
jeopardised peace in the province.
the executive board said the attacks undermined all efforts to
restore a lasting peace to the province and create stable conditions
for a peaceful and safe life of all citizens, regardless of their
ethnic or other origin.
the youth union said it was no coincidence that the terrorist
attacks were launched while the international community and yugoslav
authorities were urging dialogue and a peaceful resolution of issues
in kosovo and metohija.
[19] SOROS FUND CONTINUES WORK IN YUGOSLAVIA UNDER NEW NAME
belgrade, june 18 (tanjug) - soros fund continues its programme
for the federal republic of yugoslavia under a new name - fund for
the open society, director of the fund sonja liht told reporters on
tuesday.
the soros fund was registered in yugoslavia under its new name on
june 7.
the founder of the fund is george soros, hungarian-born american
businessman and its director is sonja liht, university professor
from belgrade.
the fund will continue work on former programmes, first of all
its medical programme which has been one of its mainstays in the
fund's three-and-a-half year work and it also plans completely new
activities, liht said.
she said the fund will give priority to aid for collective
refugee centers, cultural and educational prorammes and aid to
magazines.
the fund will proceed with a speedy distribution of medical
supplies and equipment which had been kept in storage over the past
months while medical apparatus which has already been bought and is
waiting for completion of the import procedure will reach the health
institutions a little later, she said.
the former soros fund operated in yugoslavia from june 1991 to
may 1995 when its activities were suspended because its registration
in 1991 in the former yugoslavia had not been legally regulated.
[20] KLICKOVIC, BUHA HOLD TALKS WITH U.N. REPRESENTATIVE
pale, june 18 (tanjug) - prime minister gojko klickovic and
foreign minister aleksa buha of the republika srpska (r.s.) held
talks tuesday with geoffrey bermont, head of the office of the u.n.
special liaison envoy to the r.s., about the further implementation
of the dayton peace accords.
as was made public at pale, the administrative centre of the serb
entity in bosnia and herzegovina (bih), buha voiced content during
the talks with results of the florence conference. he added that the
r.s. would take part in september elections.
buha also expressed dissatisfaction of the serb side regarding
the way it was treated in allocating reconstruction resources.
buha stressed that if the r.s. were further exempted from
reconstruction allocations, it would be compelled to go into
bilateral arrangements with other states and rely upon its own
forces.
[21] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT ADOPTS LAW ON ELECTION UNITS
belgrade, june 18 (tanjug) - the lower house of the yugoslav
parliament adpted at its extrardinary session on tuesday amendments
to the law on election units for election of deputies, changing the
total number of units in the federal republic of yugoslavia to 36
from 10.
under the amended law serbia will have 29 election units instead
of nine and montenegro seven insted of one.
the upper house of parliament adopted the law a month ago.
yugoslav deputy prime minsiter uros klikovac said in the
parliamentary discussion that the law does not change the election
system in the country and does not eliminate the proportional system
as claimed by opposition deputies.
he said the law was a technical regulation and refuted the
opposition's claims that it needed a two-thirds majority to be
adopted.
deputies of four opposition parties - the serbian renewal
movement (spo), the serbian radical party (srs), the democratic party
(ds) and the national party of montenegro (nscg) did not participate
in the parliament discussion.
representatives of the parties said they would ask the yugoslav
constitutional court to assess the constitutionality of the adopted
amendemnts.
they said at a joint press conferene in the yugoslav parliament
that the adopted changes were 'illegal' and that they 'were in breach
of the constitution and law on the election of federl deputies'.
at a separate press conference deputies of radical party
announced they would also initiate the assessement of
constitutionality of the law.
Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996
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