Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-05-13

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From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>

May 13, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS BELGRADE

[02] COMMENTS BY YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ON U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION

[03] CROATIA MANIPULATES MISSING PERSONS LIST, SAYS BELGRADE DAILY

[04] UNHCR WILL MOST LIKELY REVISE PLAN FOR REPATRIATION TO BOSNIA

[05] FOUR YEARS LATER WORLD REMAINS SILENT ABOUT BRUTAL ATTACKS ON FORMER YUGOSLAV ARMY

[06] CHINESE DAILY: BOSNIA WAS A LABORATORY FOR NEW U.S. WEAPONS

[07] SADAKO OGATA: YUGOSLAVIA HAS CARRIED THE BIGGEST HUMANITARIAN LOAD

[08] BOSNIA'S PARTIES SIGN DECLARATION ON REFUGEES' VISITS TO COUNTRY

[09] EMBARGO COVER FOR SECRET ARMING OF OPPONENTS OF SERBS

[10] GERMANY EXTADITES BOSNIA SERB TO HAGUE TRIBUNAL

[11] YUGOSLAVIA URGES EQUAL TREATMENT OF ALL REFUGEES

[12] KONTIC, KLEIN ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF EAST SLAVONIA

[13] JOURNALIST FEDERATION CONDEMNS CROATIA'S ACTION AGAINST WEEKLY

[14] MILOSEVIC, KLEIN DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF ERDUT AGREEMENT

[15] AGREEMENT ON NEED TO RESOLVE REFUGEE PROBLEM

[16] ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN MOSTAR AS SCHEDULED

[17] U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER, YUGOSLAV DELEGATION DISCUSS REPATRIATION

[18] ADMINISTRATOR KLEIN: REAL PROGRESS MADE IN NORMALIZING SITUATION

[19] WORKERS' POSITION IS NOT RESOLVED ON THE STREET

[20] WHITE HOUSE ADMITS ARMS FOR MUSLIMS CAME FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES

[21] PROGRESS IN GRADUAL NORMALIZATION OF YUGOSLAV-CROATIAN RELATIONS

[22] SOLANA, BILDT URGE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN BOSNIA

[23] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT REITERATES IT IS INTERESTED IN TALKS WITH IMF, WB

[24] KARADZIC: NO CRISIS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS ON BOSNIA

[25] REAFFIRMATION OF BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR RETURN OF REFUGEES TO BOSNIA

[26] EUROPEAN UNION MINISTERS DISCUSS IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH YUGOSLAVIA

[27] YUGOSLAVIA'S FOUR-MONTH FOREIGN DEFICIT 477 MILLION DOLLARS

[28] BOOK PUBLISHED WITH TEXTS ON ESSAY JUSTICE FOR SERBIA

[29] MILTARY MISSIONS IN BOSNIA EXCHANGE INFORMATION

[30] TADIC TRIAL IN THE HAGUE TO POLARIZE LAWYERS AND POLITICIANS

[31] BOSNIA PEACE FORCE NOT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF ARRESTED MUSLIMS

[32] BELGRADE STRIKERS, SERBIAN GOVERNMENT REACH AGREEMENT

[33] ORTHODOX COUNTRIES' BOOK FAIR OPENS IN PEC, SOUTHERN SERBIA

[34] CROATIA'S ADMISSON INTO COUNCIL OF EUROPE UNCERTAIN

[01] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT VISITS BELGRADE

the return visit of iliescu will enhance the traditionlly friendly relations between yugoslavia and romania and boost neighborly cooperation, said the statement and added that the visit would contribute to overall cooperation in the balkans.

the statement said the visit would continue dialogue at the top and strengthen the atmosphere of understanding, not only between yugoslavia and romania, but in the region.

lilic and iliescu will sign an accord on friendship, good-neighborly relations and bilateral cooperation.

[02] COMMENTS BY YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ON U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS RESOLUTION

the comments were circulated as an official document at le palais des nations in geneva on april 22, 1996.

'the government of the federal republic of yugoslavia is addressing the 52nd session of the commission on human rights, desirous to emphasize its sustained efforts to honour the commission as the most prestigious united nations body directly involved in the promotion and protection of human rights.

'the federal republic of yugoslavia has manifested its readiness to proceed with a most active and open cooperation with all those sincerely wishing to promote and ensure respect for human rights, as pointed out in the report of ms. elisabeth rehn. however, we must again reiterate our stand concerning the inappropriate and biased draft resolution, primarily in view of the spirit prevailing in it, discerned in the positions it reflects.

'the government of the federal republic of yugoslavia is profoundly concerned with the letter and spirit of the proposed draft resolution on the situation of human rights in bosnia and herzegovina, croatia and the federal republic of yugoslavia, which is far from reflecting and/or even taking into account the actual human rights situation in these territories.

'there is no mention of the positive developments and concrete results accomplished in inplementing the peace agreement. instead of being future-oriented, and making a contribution of its own to the peace efforts (in particular concerning respect and promotion of human rights), the resolution renders support to the forces which oppose reconciliation and building of confidence in these territories, by its resorting to biased, partial and politically motivated conclusions and allegations, in contravention of the 'spirit of dayton'.

'the government of the fry considers it inadmissible that the appraisals made by ms. elisabeth rehn in her reports (a/50/727-s/1995/933 and e/cn.4/1996/63), and heard in the discussions held in the commission on this issue virtually are not taken into account. we deem it necessary that the authors of the resolution give specific explanations, along with the reasoning behind such attitude. since, indirectly, the above-mentioned approach calls into question the need for pursuing activities of special rapporteurs, missions etc., whose task is to provide the commission with particular information.

'the fact that the resolution practically ignores massive, the most severe human rights violations committed against the serbs is an evidence of the extent to which the above approach is totally inappropriate.

'the most severe violations of human rights against serb civilans are being committed ever since croatia's aggression on western slavonia and krajina (in may and august 1995). this fact is not at all mentioned in the draft, despite the united nations official reports (secretary general, security council), as well as special repporteur ms. elisabeth rehn, the unhcr, the icrc and many other nongovernmental organizations. this time again, croatia is protected from the justified international public condemnation by shifting the public attention towards the allegedly 'grave situation' of human rights in the federal republic of yugoslavia.

'referring to alleged efforts aimed at fovouring the rights of minorities, democratic freedoms etc. in the federal republic of yugoslavia, while ignoring mass killings of serb civilians, setting ablaze of serb houses, expelling 400,000 serbs from croatia, evicting them from their dwellings throughout croatia, and bestowing with decorations the croats for the crimes committed on serbs, etc., is sheer cynicism.

'the resolution's double standards and partiality are also visible, on the one hand, by its reference to the unestablished evidence of mass graves in the places where, allegedly, croats and moslems have been buried (srebrenica, zepa, prijedor, sanski most and vukovar), and by its deliberate overlooking the mass graves of serb civilians, discovered in mrkonjic grad (bosnia and herzegovina), krajina, western slavonia (croatia) and elsewhere, on the other. (more to follow on tuesday) st/ms

[03] CROATIA MANIPULATES MISSING PERSONS LIST, SAYS BELGRADE DAILY

the list includes those who 'were killed, who had been returned dead or alive through exchanges, and croatian citizens who fled to yugoslavia from terrors in croatia. these manipulations are calculated to hide monstrous crimes against serbs, and the truth about the suffering of croatians,' said the daily.

after disclosing the list of 14,700 missing persons, croatia launched a strong propaganda campaign against yugoslavia, accusing it of keeping croatians as slaves in mines.

the croatian claims were officially repudiated by humanitarian organizations who visited the sites, which held not a single prisoner.

the daily said the new, reduced, list comprised croatians killed in the war, those whose deaths the authorities were concealing from their families, serbs delivered without trial to the croatian army and police and persons who went missing in croatian-held territories.

these people went missing after the croatian onslaughts on the republic of serb krajina in may and august last year, when more than 250,000 serbs were put to flight.

the daily said 324 croatians, inhabitants of vukovar, disappeared while croatian troops lay seige to the town, until nov. 18. when the town was taken over by troops of the former yugoslav people's army (jna), 279 persons went missing, according to information released by croatia.

vukovar is the biggest town in predominantly serb-populated eastern slavonia, barania and west srem, the only part of krajina not occupied by croatia.

croatia persists in demanding from krajina and yugoslavia 80 of its citizens who went missing - 16 in zagreb, 14 in osijek, 13 in sisak, others in split, karlovac and other towns that were never part of krajina or never controlled by the jna.

number 798 refers to one bogdan grujic who was killed in a car accident and buried in western slavonia, which was never part of the repubic of serb krajina.

number 2,221 refers to one djura slavojevic who was killed by croatian troops and his body handed over to the serb authorities in an earlier exchange.

croatia is also seeking branko and soka blagojevic, who fled ahead of croatian terror to yugoslavia and who do not want to return to croatia, and several persons who disappeared after talks with police in croatian-held towns.

[04] UNHCR WILL MOST LIKELY REVISE PLAN FOR REPATRIATION TO BOSNIA

welcoming the partipants of a one-day meeting of the humanitarian working group for former yugoslavia, ogata said the key obstacle was that the reconstruction of bosnia had not yet begun.

she said the minimum conditions had not been created for the mass return of refugees, and added that the problem was the lack of freedom of movement in the fields, with grave threat from mines, which the unhcr estimates at four million.

the meeting, held at the seat of the united nations, is attended by officials from 55 countries and about 20 international organizations, including a yugoslav delegation headed by minister without portfolion tomica raicevic.

[05] FOUR YEARS LATER WORLD REMAINS SILENT ABOUT BRUTAL ATTACKS ON FORMER YUGOSLAV ARMY

belgrade, may 13 (tanjug) - although four years have passed since an attack on and massacre of former yugoslav people's army (jna) soldiers who were peacefully pulling out of tuzla, the world has neither established the number of victims nor has shown any interest in that or another attack on jna in sarajevo that had preceded it.

the two attacks on jna, unprecedented in the history of the army that was a symbol of the former yugoslavia's unity, largely determined the course of civil war in bosnia-herzegovina that ended after the reaching of peace accords in dayton, ohio, in november 1995.

figures to date by the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska army, show that 172 jna soldiers were killed or burned to death in tuzla, a town in northeastern bosnia, while more than 100 were wounded and about 140 captured.

six jna soldiers were murdered in dobrovoljacka street in sarajevo on may 3, 1992, including an army physician and a woman civilian employed in the army, while about 40 were wounded and about 160 captured.

there is strong documentation on the brutal attack on jna soldiers leaving their barracks in tuzla that shows that the attack had been carefully planned. the withdrawal had been agreed on with selim baslagic, town mayor, and sead avdic, local moslem official.

under a decision by the then belgrade leadership, jna troops were withdrawing from bosnia-herzegovina that had been internationally recognised as a single state some four weeks earlier although, as such, it did not exist a single day.

a large number of states and their heads have admitted later on that the recognition of bosnia-herzegovina was premature and rash.

the deadline by which jna troops were to leave bosnia, which was torn apart by civil war among local moslems, croats and serbs that broke out in early april, was may 19, 1992.

the scenarios for the two attacks were almost identical -- jna troops had first been guaranteed safe conduct and then, when they were in no position to defend themselves, were attacked from all sides.

jna troops withdrawing from sarajevo had been guaranteed safe conduct by ranking moslem authorities as well as by u.n. protection force (unprofor) officials whose troops were to protect the front and the rear of lines of troops.

the attack on soldiers withdrawing from tuzla was still more brutal. the belgrade daily politika ekspres has recently reported that moslems separated the wounded from other soldiers and killed them on the spot, brutally abusing those they had captured.

those who have survived the attack say that moslems killed 17 wounded soldiers with hard objects while pretending to be transporting them by ambulance to hospital. the following day, they handed over their mutilated bodies to jna representatives in pozarevica near tuzla.

the victims, whose bodies were even burned, were buried at the tuzla cemetery or the town dump.

witnesses say that there were between 400 and 500 troops in about 200 vehicles. they were attacked by about 3,000 moslem 'green berets' as soon as they left the barracks.

the 'green berets' were the troops that the sarajevo government set up some six months before bosnia-herzegovina's violent secession from the former yugoslav federation.

the 'green berets' allowed one third of troops to pass, attacking the remaining troops in skojevska street. snipers opened fire on drivers, while the troops that could not defend themselves were the target of barrage fire.

moreover, jna vehicles were showered by molotov cocktails thrown from nearby buildings and blocks of flats, while the troops suffered great losses as fire was opened on them with shoulder grenade launchers.

the local tv station in tuzla provided live coverage of the attack, which was mounted about 6 p.m. local time and which ended about 11 p.m.

according to zoran bogdanovic, who was a traffic warden in tuzla from january to march 18, 1992, an order for the attack was issued by muhamed bajric, the then head of the public security department in the town.

the attack was planned by croat zeljko knez, 48, a former jna lieutenant-colonel.

moslem faruk prezic, director of the tuzla mining institute, organised obstruction of routes along which the troops were to pull out that included laying of wire entanglements and anti-tank mines.

moreover, trenches deep enough to stand in were dug along skojevska street.

evidence related to the two attacks has been systemitised but no legal proceedings have been instituted yet.

ejup ganic, vice-president of the moslem-croat federation who was then as is now bosnian moslem leader alija izetbegovic's deputy, was involved in the dobrovoljacka street attack.

[06] CHINESE DAILY: BOSNIA WAS A LABORATORY FOR NEW U.S. WEAPONS

the official daily of the people's liberation army in harsh tones accused the u.s., which calls for the prevention of weapons for mass destruction, of having used such weapons profusely in bosnia against serb civilian targets.

analyzing in detail the u.s. bombardments within nato's military actions, the daily said the u.s. used the most sophisticated aircraft, high-precision laser-guided rockets, tomahawk cruise missiles, radioactive weapons and poison gases in implementing the carpet bombing of serb regions in bosnia.

in addition to political reasons for achieving peace by employing force, the u.s. was testing the efficacy of the new weapons in the actual conditions of the bosnian war.

the u.s. also practiced this in the gulf war and with the air strikes on libya, said the daily.

'america is the only country that has carried out nuclear and chemical tests on living people after world war ii,' said the daily.

it said that by using the weapons that had been tested on the bosnian serbs, the u.s. was striving toward supremacy and domination over the world.

[07] SADAKO OGATA: YUGOSLAVIA HAS CARRIED THE BIGGEST HUMANITARIAN LOAD

ogata said she was encouraged with yugoslavia's refugees register and added it would be of help to both the yugoslav authorities and the unhcr in estimating and planning relief operations.

there were about 700,000 refugees in yugoslavia, before the commencement of a new refugee register in cooperation with the unhcr in mid-april.

[08] BOSNIA'S PARTIES SIGN DECLARATION ON REFUGEES' VISITS TO COUNTRY

in the presence of u.n. high commissioner for refugees sadako ogata, the declaration was signed by unhcr special envoy soren jesen-petersen, by republika srpska minister ljubisa vladusic, sarajevo moslem government minister nugdin recica and federation minister ante alic.

after the signing of the declaration, vladusic told tanjug that the unhcr principles would enable organised and fully controlled visits.

vladusic said, 'in any case, we expect them (the principles) to prevent attempts at political manipulation and to create conditions for full freedom of movement throughout bosnia-herzegovina.'

he said he expected the declaration to enable exercising the right to immovable property as well as compensation or exchange of the property.

ogata welcomed the signing of the declaration upon which unhcr has been insisting for more than ten months.

serbian refugee commissioner bratislava morina, who is attending a meeting of the working group for humanitarian issues in the former yugoslavia, also welcomed the signing of the declaration.

morina said it was vital that visits by refugees and displaced persons be carried out in a more organised manner, that bosnia's three parties tightly cooperate and that refugees and displaced persons be not politically manipulated.

[09] EMBARGO COVER FOR SECRET ARMING OF OPPONENTS OF SERBS

'the u.n. security council's embargo on yugoslavia could decieve only the innocent,' the bulgarian paper said reacting to the latest reports from the united states on the secret arming of the muslims.

'while the west european alliance sent observers to spy on bulgarian barges on the danube like hyenas, rivers of weapons flowed via the southern turkish corridor,' the paper said.

the daily said that ankara took part in shipping iranian arms to the bosnian muslims, that guns came from all parts of the muslim world, but that no-one wanted to see this.

the 'secret door' for sending iranian weapons to the bosnian muslims was opened in washington, kontinent said and recalled that several parliamentary committees have recently interrogated president bill clinton for tacit agreement on the violation of the embargo.

the bulgarian daily said that as part of the election campaign, the republicans are blaming clinton for allowing iran's presence in the balkans, but his critics would have done the same.

underscoring the double standards of the international community and especially the united states, kontinent recalled that the embargo had caused the bulgarian economy to suffer direct losses exceeding two million dollars.

bulgaria, which had respected the embargo but had also advocated its lifting, has not received a single cent of compensation for losses sustained. end ms/jpe/mb

[10] GERMANY EXTADITES BOSNIA SERB TO HAGUE TRIBUNAL

the german news agency dpa said that lajic was handed over to the hague tribunal after being arrested on march 18 near nuremberg.

lajic allegedly agreed to go to hague, although his family and friends said after his arrest that the german police had made a mistake and that he had never been on duty in keraterum.

following the extradition of dusan tadic, a serb, whose trail has moved into its fifth day in the hague, germany has also sent there muslim zejnel delalic, to be now followed by another serb.

under the german law, only foreigners arrested in german territory can be handed over to the hague tribunal, while this does not apply to german citizens.

thus, the recent trial to two german mercenaries, who fought in bosnia for the croats, were tried for killing their german co-fighter for material gains. end mi/mb/mb

[11] YUGOSLAVIA URGES EQUAL TREATMENT OF ALL REFUGEES

he said that one of the important segments of the dayton agreement was the securing of full freedom of movement in bosnia-herzegovina.

'it is necessary that all former warring sides in bosnia-herzegovina (serbs, croats and muslims) show maximum tolerance and good will and avoid any form of provocation, so that the civilian part of the bosnian agreement could be fully implemented,' raicevic said.

in that context, yugoslavia sees as important a joint declaration signed by representatives of the muslim-croat federation and the (bosnian serb entity) republika srpska before the opening of the meeting in geneva, he said.

the declaration -- in which the signatories accepted ten principles of the united nations high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) concerning refugees' visits to their hometowns in bosnia -- was signed in geneva on monday by ministers of the republika sprska, the muslim government in sarajevo and the muslim-croat federation.

raicevic said that the unhcr had played a highly important role during the civil war in the former yugoslavia but that, unfortunately, the humanitarian crisis was still not over.

stressing yugoslavia's great contribution in reaching and implementing the bosnian peace agreement, the head of the yugoslav delegation said that the initiated process of reconstruction was a necessary precondition for the return of refugees and a decent life of all citizens of bosnia-herzegovina.

yugoslavia fully agrees with the estimates of the international community about the importance of holding elections in bosnia by the end of next september, as planned, he said.

as there are difficulties in organizing the return of of refugees, conditions should be provided that they may vote wherever they happen to live at present, raicevic said.

he said that the humanitarian situation and the position of nearly 700,000 refugees currently living in the federal republic of yugoslavia was very grave.

the yugoslav economy is unable to provide conditions for their adequate integration and care in general because of the disastrous effects of international sanctions, raicevic said.

he said that international humanitarian activities should by no means be halted and that international development institutions should actively participate in programmes for the integration of refugees who wished to stay in yugoslavia.

[12] KONTIC, KLEIN ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF EAST SLAVONIA

the serb region of east slavonia, baranja and west srem is situated between the federal republic of yugoslavia and croatia. a november 1995 agreement placed the region under one-year u.n. administration, with the possibility of one-year extension.

the yugoslav information secretariat said klein had told kontic that international community was ready to invest some funds in the region and that the transitional administration had proposed five projects.

klein told kontic that a number of international organizations were interested in opening offices in the region, which is another factor in securing the implementation of the basic agreement.

kontic stressed the importance of efficient functioning of international factors in restoring confidence, security and cooperation of the region's entire population.

klein informed kontic about activities in the implementation of the basic agreement in the region and thanked yugoslav authorities for their cooperation and assistance.

both sides agreed that regional autonomy was specially important.

kontic and klein agreed that the reopening of the belgrade-zagreb highway and oil pipeline was an important step in the normalization of the serb-croatian relations.

[13] JOURNALIST FEDERATION CONDEMNS CROATIA'S ACTION AGAINST WEEKLY

white told feral tribune, which is printed in the croatian adriatic city of split, that croatian authorities' attitude towards media would be discussed at the ifj annual conference in cyprus this weekend.

white said that charges against feral tribune editor-in-chief viktor ivancic and journalist marinko culic for 'slander and insult' of croatian president franjo tudjman were shocking.

ivancic and culic were charged last week for an item which was said to have tarnished tudjman's name and reputation. the item criticized tudjman's idea to have the remains of victims and their murderers (croatian wwii fascists -- ustashas) burried together on the site of the notorious wwii jasenovac concentration camp.

white said he did not know of any case in which a president or prime minister of a western country had interpreted satire as insult and taken an action against media.

unless croatia stops its actions against media, it can easily become the first state whose acceptance in the council of europe, at a time when it appeared it was over, would be reviewed, said the secretary general of the federation that rallies more than 40,000 journalists from more than one hundred countries.

feral tribune and its editor-in-chief have recently received a council of europe reward for texts against racism. now that he has risen against tudjman's idea, the same journalist will be tried, white said.

the council of europe recognized good-quality journalism in croatia and conferred its award on feral tribune, white said.

the tudjman regime claims it respects european standards and probably the fact that the council of europe has awarded feral tribune, but still continues its campaign of harassing the weekly. this is unbelievable, he said.

the vienna-based international press institute on thursday called on tudjman to stop the campaign against independent media.

[14] MILOSEVIC, KLEIN DISCUSS IMPLEMENTATION OF ERDUT AGREEMENT

according to the agreement signed last november by representatives of croatia and of the serb region of eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem, this region between federal republic of yugoslavia and croatia was placed under one-year international administration which can be extended by another year.

milosevic and klein pointed to the need for creating the necessary conditions for ensuring safety and freedom of the region's citizens, and normal living and working conditions and freedom of movement.

to this effect, it is necessary to achieve successful and continuous cooperation between the administrator and his team and the region's leadership and local authorities, as well as mutual trust, dialogue and efficient realization of all commitments taken by both sides, it was underlined during the meeting.

positive results were achieved so far in stabilizing the situation in the region, it was also noted.

the meeting was attended also by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic and klein's aides.

[15] AGREEMENT ON NEED TO RESOLVE REFUGEE PROBLEM

the participants of the meeting agreed that the early return of displaced persons and refugees to bosnia, without first creating the necessary conditions, would threaten peace there.

the meeting, which is expected to end late this evening, assesed that the mass return of displaced persons and refugees will be neither easy nor quick.

u.n. high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) sadako ogata told the meeting that the transition process from war to peace will clearly be very difficult.

the minister for refugees and displaced persons of the bosnian serb state republika srpska, ljubisa vladusic, informed the meeting that, according to unofficial reports from the census of refugees and displaced persons, of the 130,000 families scaterred throughout republika srpska, only one third said they have the minimum normal living conditions.

vladusic said that republika srpska currently has 67 centres for displaced persons and refugees and that many of these facilities are improvised and provide very bad living conditions.

u.n. high commissioner for human rights jose ayala laso informed the meeting about his recent visits to croatia, bosnia and yugoslavia and specially urged the strict respect of the dayton agreement, the freedom of thought, press, basic human rights, including those of minorities. end zn/mb/mb

[16] ELECTIONS TO BE HELD IN MOSTAR AS SCHEDULED

they said that any delay of the date would only harm the peace process.

the ministers made the decision after hearing reports on the situation in the town subumitted by international high representative for bosnia carl bildt and the new mostar adminsitrator ricardo peres casado.

the two officials gave an unfavourable assessment of events in mostar where necessary conditions have still not been met for full reconciliation of the muslim and croat sides.

it was nevertheless concluded that there would be more danger at the moment in postponing the elections than in holding them in a tense situation.

the ministers appealed for passions to cool down and urged mostar muslims to submit their election lists.

eu sources consider the settlement of the mostar problem as a decisive test for the survival of the muslim-croat federation in bosnia on which is based the entire policy of the international community of a unified bosnia comrpising two entities - the federation and republika srpska (the serb entity).

the muslim-croat federation was formed in march 1994 in washington at the initiative of the united states, following one-year fierce armed conflicts between the federal partners, but has never worked in paractice.

even after the setting up of the federation mostar remained a city divided to its western, croat and eastern muslim parts.

[17] U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER, YUGOSLAV DELEGATION DISCUSS REPATRIATION

obstacles to a mass return of refugees and displaced persons and yugoslavia's plans in the process were discussed at the talks with the yugoslav delegation to a meeting of the working group for humanitarian issues in the former yugoslavia, which is headed by yugoslav minister tomica raicevic.

the two sides also discussed the yugoslav-unhcr cooperation in the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons.

montenegrin commissioner for refugees djordjije scepanovic proposed and ogata agreed that ministers of all states that emerged in the territory of the former yugoslavia and unhcr representatives hold a meeting in yugoslavia by the end of june.

ogata was interested in possibilities for a mass return of refugees who fled to yugoslavia and raicevic said he believed that democratic elections in bosnia-herzegovina might be followed by a mass return.

under the dayton agreement, the first post-war democratic elections in bosnia-herzegovina should be held by the end of september.

[18] ADMINISTRATOR KLEIN: REAL PROGRESS MADE IN NORMALIZING SITUATION

after talks with serbian president slobodan milosevic, administrator klein said that so long as all the interested parties supported the initiated process, and that was the case at present, the plan for the region would be implemented.

he mentioned the reopening of the belgrade-zagreb highway, which passes through the region, as well as the reopening of the oil pipeline and telephone lines with croatia.

he said the most important thing right now was to carry out demilitarization.

klein said he expected the demilitarization to start in a few weeks and that troops from various countries would be deployed in the region to safeguard the local population.

he said he had proposed to the council of europe to open its office in the region, which, in his view, should show the locals that there was an international support behind all activities in the region.

speaking about the reconstruction of the region, klein said that the european union had already offered 40 million ecus and the u.s. government 9.7 million dollars for reconstruction projects.

in keeping with the dayton agreement, representatives of the local serbs and the croatian government agreed at the end of last year that the region be placed under u.n. administration for one year, with the possibility of extending the transitional period for another year.

[19] WORKERS' POSITION IS NOT RESOLVED ON THE STREET

at a press conference banovic appealed for workers and citizens 'to join ranks and invest maximum efforts to launch production, increase employment and in this way improve the workers' material position'.

regarding the workers' strike in nis, in southern serbia, which has been going on for several days and the strike of the workers of the engine and tractor industry (imt), which started on monday banovic said 'lately, whenever the autonomous union reaches an agreement on launching production in a firm, the independent union organises a strike, and there are also cases of sabotaging production.'

he said the independent union's present activities have been supported by certain international trade union associations which have demonised serbia before and urged the introduction of sanctions against it.

banovic said the speakers' platform in front of the imt strikers was not a place for the governor of the national bank of yugoslavia dragoslav avramovic to be and that all those who give promises should show they can keep them.

recalling that workers' discontent with their material and social position was growing banovic said his organisation had chosen to fight through the union and create a working setting for negotiations with state and economic bodies.

[20] WHITE HOUSE ADMITS ARMS FOR MUSLIMS CAME FROM SEVERAL COUNTRIES

washington post wrote that besides iran, arms were shipped to muslims via croatia also by afghanistan, brunei, pakistan, saudi arabia, malaysia, hungary and argentina.

turkey should also be added to the list as it had provided aircraft to carry the weapons.

in investigations so far into the secret armes deliveries to bosnian muslims, the only finding disclosed in washington was that at croatian president franjo tudjman's request, president bill clinton had given his tacit approval in the spring of 1994 to the secret delivery of arms from iran through turkey and croatia to bosnian muslims.

in congressional investigation into the affair, the adminisration last week said this had been done to prevent a military collapse of the muslim-croat federation.

the white house now admits that arms were shipped to muslims as far back as in the autumn of 1992, at the time of the bush administration.

it has also been revealed that both the bush and clinton administrations had abandoned neutrality regarding the civil war in bosnia and sided more than openly with the muslims and croats.

it has also become evident that washington had done this and tolerated arms smuggling while at the same time claiming it was fully abiding by the international embargo on arms deliveries to the warring sides in bosnia in line with the u.s. vote to this effect at the u.n.

[21] PROGRESS IN GRADUAL NORMALIZATION OF YUGOSLAV-CROATIAN RELATIONS

this is evident in the recent opening of an oil pipeline and the belgrade-zagreb highway, jovanovic and simanovic said. the deputy ministers were heading expert teams which in belgrade considered the realization of the agremeents signed in zagreb on march 11 during a visit by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic, a yugoslav foreign ministry statement said.

the sides expressed mutual interest and readiness to promote, by continuing political dialogue and respective efforts, the resolving of other outstanding issues which will set the pace of the realization of the full normalization of relations, the statement said.

special attention was devoted to the manner of resolving the controversial issue of the adriatic premontory of prevlaka on the yugoslav-croatian border. the sides favored talks and the spirit of establishing good-neighbor relations.

this strategically important premonotory, which is the gateway to yugoslavia's biggest bay of boka kotorska, is currently a demilitarized zone where u.n. representatives are deployed.

the yugoslav side on this occasion reiterated it was necessary and imperative to create conditions for the free and unhindered return of all refugee and expelled serbs from croatia.

more than 500,000 serbs fled or were expelled from croatia from 1991 until the end of last summer.

it was agreed at the meeting to continue expert talks on the operative implementation of the reached agreement in the areas of traffic and communications, the articles of the protocol on cooperation between commissions for humanitarian issues and missing persons, and in the area of consulary affairs.

in connection with the recent opening of the belgrade-zagreb highway, experts of the two countries separately considered questions of simplifying the regime of border crossings for citizens of the two countries, in order to secure equal treatment and free passage of people and goods.

yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic received simonovic, the ministry statement said in closing.

[22] SOLANA, BILDT URGE FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN BOSNIA

solana and bildt discussed in brussels cooperation between the military and the civilian sectors on the implementation of the dayton accords for bosnia.

bildt told reporters after the talks that he was happy with the cooperation with the multinational peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia and with the assistance they were providing in the implementation of the civilan part of the dayton accords.

he said that ifor was providing especially important assistance in building bridges and roads, as well as in securing more freedom of movement.

the talks did not touch on the issue of the extradition of war criminals to the international war crimes tribunal in the hague, though bildt pointed at the obligations of the signatories deriving from the dayton accords.

he informed the e.u. council of ministers about the latest developments in the (bosnian serb) republika srpska, emphasizing that the new bosnian serb leadership was creating an evidently positive atmosphere.

[23] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT REITERATES IT IS INTERESTED IN TALKS WITH IMF, WB

in answer to claims by avramovic presented in a report in the belgrade daily nasa borba last weekend, the yugoslav government said it had adopted a decision on may 11 that talks with the international monetary fund (imf) and the world bank (wb) should continue immediately, the yugoslav secretariat of information said.

the yugoslav government claims there were no conflicts between itself and the governor or disagreements over the issue of regulating relations between yugoslavia and the imf and the world bank. this is evident also in the yugoslav government platform on this issue which was adopted on march 22, with the participation of the yugoslav national bank, the statement said.

avramovic, the statement said, had stands identical with those of the yugoslav government, so that 'it is not clear why the governor has obviously changed his mind and why he has in the meantime come into collision with himself.'

rejecting all seven objections to its policy voiced by avramovic, the yugoslav government assessed that these objections were not an expression of essential and principled differences between the government and the governor, 'but a result of certain misunderstandings and (mis)constructions.'

the yugoslav government underscored it was evident that the only essential difference between itself and the governor was in the issue of continuity and succession.

pointing out that this was why it had proposed that political and legal aspects be separated from economic ones, and that this would be a good basis for continuing talks with the imf and world bank, the yugoslav government underscored that continuity and succession were a constitutional category and the most important issue in the speedier reintegration of yugoslavia in the international community.

in closing, the yugoslav government pointed out to avramovic that 'a governor with such a reputation as an expert should have known that, even in so-called highly democratic countries, the government is in charge of internal and foreign policies, of course, in the interest of its citizens, and its people.'

[24] KARADZIC: NO CRISIS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS ON BOSNIA

the military part of the dayton peace accords has been implemented in full with the approval of the republika srpska state and military leadership and that is a basis for peace, karadzic said in an interview to republika srpska television.

we shall implement the dayton accords, nothing less, karadzic said, adding that there was a crisis in the interpretation of the dayton accords.

[25] REAFFIRMATION OF BASIC PRINCIPLES FOR RETURN OF REFUGEES TO BOSNIA

the conclusions of this newly-founded institution, which on feb. 1 this year replaced the international conference on former yugoslavia, underscored that the due implementation of the dayton peace accords on bosnia-herzegovina, primarily the annex on the return of refugees, was the first and most important principle.

the meeting also adopted principles on the voluntariness of return, freedom of movement, bosnia's reconstruction, free democratic elections, and on the extension of stay of refugees in third countries until there are conditions for their return.

the federal republic of yugoslavia, whose delegation to the meeting was headed by minister tomica raicevic, was praised highly for taking care of over 650,000 refugees under very difficult circumstances resulting from the disastrous effects of the u.n. sanctions.

the participants in the meeting assessed that there were not even minimal conditions for a more massive return of displaced persons or refugees to bosnia-herzegovina. they warned that their premature return under such circumstances might pose a threat to peace.

[26] EUROPEAN UNION MINISTERS DISCUSS IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH YUGOSLAVIA

the one-day sssion focused mainly on developments in the former yugoslavia, said a eu statement.

the statement said the eu would examine with international high representative on bosnia carl bildt improving relations with yugoslavia.

the conclusions said the eu desired to improve contact with the leaders of republika srpska who have shown a readiness to implement the dayton peace process, to which the opening of bildt's office in banjaluka will provide fresh impetus.

the ministers agreed that the consolidation of the muslim-croat federation was a key element of the bosnian peace process and appealed to both sides to overcome difficulties.

the problem-plagued federation was formed in march 1994 at washington's initiative.

elections in bosnia, scheduled tentatively for late september, under the terms of the dayton peace agreement, and the return of refugees, are the biggest trials for the peace process in yugoslavia, said the ministers.

they said a planned visit of senior eu officials to states created in the former yugoslavia had been postponed for technical reasons, due to the coming government changes in italy, which presides over the eu until july 1.

the visit is, however, expected to take place in the nearest future, possibly by the end of may or early june.

hastening the visit is a eu conference due in florence on june 13-14 to discuss semi-annual efforts to establish peace in the former yugoslavia.

[27] YUGOSLAVIA'S FOUR-MONTH FOREIGN DEFICIT 477 MILLION DOLLARS

the yugoslav statistics bureau on monday said that italy and germany stood at the top of the list of yugoslavia's trade partners with 153 and 136 million dollars' worth of exchanged commodities respectively.

yugoslavia's imports from the two countries reached 216 million dollars in the first four months.

exports to russia, worth 51 million dollars, were the biggest.

trade with macedonia was the largest of all with the former yugoslav republics, followed by that with slovenia and a very small exchange of commodities with croatia.

trade deficit was 78 million dollars in april, slightly smaller than in march, when it reached 95 million dollars.

the decrease is mostly due to a reduction in imports, from 225 million dollars in march to 209 million dollars in april.

[28] BOOK PUBLISHED WITH TEXTS ON ESSAY JUSTICE FOR SERBIA

in addition to the essay 'justice for serbia -- a winter trip to the rivers danube, sava, morava and drina' by renowned austrian author peter handke, which has prompted extensive media reaction, the book also contains selected reviews, commentaries and criticisms by leading european and world papers.

handke's latest interviews in which he openly defends the truth and justice from media manipulation are printed at the end of the book and represent some kind of an answer to his fervent critics.

handke is not pro-serb oriented, serbian academician ljubomir tadic said in the preface and added that this was imputed to him by 'hatred-inspired critics.'

handke's essay appeals to the consience of intellectuals and journalists, a vast majority of whom became propagators of hatred of serbs, tadic said.

handke only wanted to make people think in order to reach the truth and justice and stop media pillory of an entire people, the preface said.

the texts were selected by zivota ivanovic, editor of tanjug's publishing department.

[29] MILTARY MISSIONS IN BOSNIA EXCHANGE INFORMATION

the meeting was organized in sarajevo by the organization for security and cooperation in europe, the regional osce mission in banja luka, largest town in r.s., said in a statement.

the meeting, held in line with the vienna agreement and confidence-building and cooperation measures, was attended by delegations of r.s. army, bosnia-herzegovina army and croat defense council (hvo).

the meeting was convened on the basis of an agreement reached by the former warring sides following the demobilization of theit forces on april 18, 1996.

[30] TADIC TRIAL IN THE HAGUE TO POLARIZE LAWYERS AND POLITICIANS

the trial, which is the first of its kind after world war two, has attracted the media causing an upheaval and a division among the international public and will in many ways set a precedent in the future development of international law and international relations, the yugoslav international law expert wrote.

'the beginning of the trial indicates that its main theme will be determining the responsiblity for the break-up and war in the former yugoslavia,' simic said.

the indictment, which does not primarily deal with determining tadic's guilt, suggests that the crisis and the war were the result of 'fear of greater serbian hegemony'.

the memorandum of the serbian academy of sciences (sanu), which is used as the main proof of greater serbian pretensions and as an alibi for breaking up the yugoslav federation, was in the center of attention already in the first days of the trial.

the defense on its part opened a debate on the former yugoslav constitution, the right to self-determination and the position of the serb people in croatia and bosnia-herzegovina before the war, obviously trying to prove that serbs in these republics had a legitimate reason to fear for their own safety after the republics seceded from the former yugoslav federation.

the debate can now be expeted to focus on opposite definitions of the conflict: the prosecution will prbably try to prove the thesis of aggression and the defence that it is civil war, simic said.

the international tribunal in the hague will therefore have a difficult task before it to clearly separate the legal from the political aspect of the trial and avoid the danger of allowing it to become a political trial which would lastingly compromise the entire idea of sanctioning those responsible for war crimes, simic said.

the tribunal judges seem to be aware of this and are trying to justify the imbalance in the number of indictments of serbs in relation to other protagonists of the armed conflict (out of 57 indictments 47 are against serbs) by the failure of the serb side to cooperate with the tribunal.

the capacity of the hague lawyers to resist political pressure and keep strictly within the framework of legal norms will be a test not only of their future relations with the serb side but also of the capacity of international law to regain authority which was seriously put in question in different stages of the armed conflict in the former yugoslavia, simic said in conclusion.

[31] BOSNIA PEACE FORCE NOT TO REQUEST RELEASE OF ARRESTED MUSLIMS

the agence france presse news agency quoted an ifor officer who wished to remain anonymous as saying that they had rejected the demand.

the bosnian serb news agency srna said on monday that vice president of the bosnian muslim-croat federation ejup ganic had requested the release of the group in talks with ifor deputy commander gen. jean heinrich.

gen. heinrich informed ganic that an investigation was launched to determine the circumstances of their arrest.

according to srna, ifor explained that during the arrest, the muslim terrorist group was in the bosnian serb territory in violation of the dayton agreement and that it was under the serb police jurisdiction.

srna said that the group, which was arrested in the village of planinci near the eastern bosnian serb town of zvornik on may 10, was armed with explosive devices, firearms and cold steel.

the group told the zvornik public security centre that they had killed four serb civilians from the village of milici on may 2, dragged their bodies into the woods and burried them there.

[32] BELGRADE STRIKERS, SERBIAN GOVERNMENT REACH AGREEMENT

the strikers left the streets of belgrade after the agreement had been reached.

imt workers went on strike on monday and rallied in downtown belgrade, demanding salaries outstanding for the past four months and operation of the factory, one of the biggest in belgrade.

assistant serbian information minister ljiljana jovanovic said that the government and the strikers had agreed that the imt would pay salaries in the next three-four months from capital it earns from production.

she said that the government would meet again with imt workers on friday.

jovanovic said that both the government and workers were against fresh money issue and were urging a thorough investigation of activities regarding the implementation of an accord on resuming production in the metal processing industry. the accord was reached by the government, the chamber of commerce, and the autonomous trade union in march.

meanwhile, workers of the biggest factories in the metal processing and electrical industries in serbia's southeastern city of nis continue a several-day strike, stating similar reasons as their belgrade fellow-workers.

strikers were out in the streets of nis on monday, though their representatives had agreed to call off the strike after the city government had pledged to fulfil most of their demands on sunday.

workers of the biggest trade company in nis -- angropromet -- also went on strike monday.

commenting these strikes, serbian trade and tourism minister srdjan nikolic told a local radio in nis that workers should not seek a solution to their problems in the streets, but in the better competitiveness of their companies.

nikolic said that a market-oriented economy demanded behaviour different from that which had been valid in earlier forms of economy.

[33] ORTHODOX COUNTRIES' BOOK FAIR OPENS IN PEC, SOUTHERN SERBIA

publishers from five orthodox countries -- russia, ukraine, romania, the (bosnian serb) republika srpska and yugoslavia -- will be presenting books at about 30 stands until may 18.

this year's fair is dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the serb hilandar monastery on mt. athos in greece, the 160th anniversary since the first library was established in pec, and the 50th anniversary of the local njegos library.

the best fiction and publicists' works will receive st. sava awards and the patriarch pajsije award will be given to the best publisher.

[34] CROATIA'S ADMISSON INTO COUNCIL OF EUROPE UNCERTAIN

the decision on croatia's admisson must be unanimous, news agencies have quoted sources close to the council's secretary-general as saying.

concern in strasbourg was caused by tudjman's decision to dissolve the zagreb municipal assembly which comprised chiefly opposition representatives and to raise charges against several independent papers in croatia.

the council's parliamentary assembly approved croatia's admission into the council on apr. 24.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

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