Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-27

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article

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

Jun 27, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW

CONTENTS

[01] FOREIGN MEDIA SUPPORT ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

[02] U.S. BOSNIA COORDINATOR MEETS WITH CROATIAN PRESIDENT

[03] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA ARMY OBSERVES MILITARY ASPECT OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

[04] SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA INTERESTED IN GOOD RELATIONS WITH VATICAN

[05] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC ATTENDS PAPANDREOU'S FUNERAL

[06] E.U. MOSTAR ADMINISTRATOR DOES NOT EXPECT FREE, DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS

[07] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES U.S. ENVOY KORNBLUM

[08] KORNBLUM SAYS HE IS SATISFIED WITH RESULTS OF HIS TOUR

[09] CLINTON SAID ALL FOREIGN TROOPS HAVE LEFT BOSNIA

[10] YUGOSLAV LEADERS DEMAND NEW PRESIDENT FOR REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

[11] KUPRES ETHNICALLY CLEANSED BY CROATS

[12] EXPULSION OF SARAJEVO SERBS CONTINUES

[13] MORE AID FOR REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA THIS YEAR, SAID IFCR

[14] CROATIA REJECTS EUROPEAN UNION'S 'REGIONAL APPROACH' IN EX-YUGOSLAVIA

[15] RAILWAY TRAFFIC RESUMES BETWEEN CROATIA, EASTERN SLAVONIA

[16] FATE OF 19 ABDUCTED PASSANGERS IN YUGOSLAVIA REMAINS MYSTERY

[17] BULATOVIC: KARADZIC REFUSES TO COMPLY WITH ACCORDS WHICH HE SIGNED

[18] BULATOVIC-KELLER: ADVANCEMENT IN REALIZATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

[19] BOOK 'HANDKE AND HIS CRITICS' PRESENTED IN BELGRADE

[20] FILIPOVIC ANNOUNCED FORMING OF 'BIG PRO-BOSNIAN COALITION FOR BOSNIA'

[21] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND LONDON CLUB BEGIN SUCCESSFULLY

[22] THE HAGUE PROSECUTOR INDICTS 8 BOSNIA SERBS FOR RAPE

[23] PUBLIC HEARING AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT KARADZIC AND GEN. MLADIC BEGINS IN THE HAGUE

[24] HAGUE TRIBUNAL FILES WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST NINE BOSNIAN CROATS

[25] FOUR KIDNAPPED SERBS STILL IN CROAT JAIL IN MOSTAR

[26] ISRAEL PROTESTS AGAINST TUDJMAN'S INTENTION TO DESECRATE MEMORIAL SITE OF ONE-TIME USTASHI CONCENTRATION CAMP

[27] SERBIA'S PARTIES URGE CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON PEACE DEAL

[28] NEW FOREIGN CURRENCY SAVINGS TO BE GUARANTEED BY FOREIGN BANKS

[01] FOREIGN MEDIA SUPPORT ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

the head of the organization for security and cooperation in europe (osce), flavio cotti, who is swiss foreign minister, announced on tuesday that the first democratic post-war elections in bosnia would be held on septmeber 14.

paris described cotti's decision as brave and necessary.

french president jacques chirac said on wednesday that the elections 'should be held at all costs' and foreign minister herve de charette said that the fate of the dayton agreement depends on this.

french political circles believe that the basic problems are the limiting of the freedom of movement of the population, the return of the refugees and the economic reconstruction of bosnia.

wednesday's paris dailies hailed the yugoslav leadership's demand on tuesday to the leaders of the bosnian serb state republika srpska to immediately elect an acting president of the republic.

the dailies said that 'belgrade openly demands the replacement of the bosnian serb president,' while the manoeuvring in pale, bosnian serb administrative centre, is being described as 'contrary to the implementation of the dayton agreement.'

the swiss media said on wednesday that the scheduling of the elections in bosnia reflects the wishes of the contact group (germany, united states, russia, france, great britain), and primarily the united states.

the swiss dailies and the geneva diplomats view as 'encouraging' belgrade's demand that radovan karadzic is replaced as republika srpska president.

in brussels, institutions in charge of implementing the dayton agreement, described the confirmation of the bosnia elections as a necessity and warned that the peace process is still lagging.

this caution stems from reports by international mediators from the field who said that bosnia has been divided into three entities, rather than two as stipulated by the dayton agreement.

wednesday's la libre belgique said that this could be to the advantage of republika srpska which has a homogenous territory, and not the bosnian federation which has been set up as a joint state of the bosnian muslims and croats and which, the paper said, seems to be definitively splitting up.

la libre belgique said that the last elections in bosnia were held in 1990 when triumphant were politicians responsible for the war in that country. the paper warned that these same leaders, with the exception of karadzic, have good chances of being re-elected.

austrian commentators and analysts criticized on wednesday cotti's scheduling the elections for sept. 14,this date was set by the dayton agreement.

prominent vienna daily die presse said that all warnings about unfavourable conditions for the elections have 'fallen on deaf ears.'

der standard said that important conditions for the elections have not been fulfilled.

the paper said that additional international pressure on all sides on bosnia aims to remove the main obstacles for the elections but that many reasons would remain for scepticism in their final success.

italian press on wednesday gave extensive coverage to a yugoslav leadership's strict warning to the republika srpska leadership to the effect that karadzic should renounce his presidential office.

'the federal republic of yugoslavia made an ultimatum to the bosnian serb leadership that karadzic leaves,' the rome daily la repubblica said.

yugoslavia said that as a guarantor of the implementation of the dayton peace accors, it would take steps against the institutions and persons that hamper the peace process.

[02] U.S. BOSNIA COORDINATOR MEETS WITH CROATIAN PRESIDENT

after the meeting, held at the beginning of his two-day tour of zagreb, belgrade and sarajevo, kornblum said that the implementation of the dayton agreement had entered its key phase.

the next two or three months will be crucial, kornblum said and added that it was especially important that bosnian serbs fully implement the peace agreement.

this means that radovan karadzic must no longer have any influence on republika srpska authorities, kornblum said.

tudjman said croatia believed that the dayton agreement should be decisively implemented.

urging the adoption of a defence law in the bosnian muslim-croat federation, tudjman accused the muslim side of obstructing it.

kornblum told a press conference that he would leave zagreb for belgrade late on wednesday.

[03] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA ARMY OBSERVES MILITARY ASPECT OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

this will be so in future too, gen. milovanovic told a press conference in the western bosnian serb city of banja luka.

he said that the transformation of the republika srpska army and all activities based on the florence agreement on arms control had been carried out.

speaking at the same press conference, assistant commander of the republika srpska army general staff milan gvero opposed the participation of republika srpska officers in party meetings.

he said that this clashed with the republika srpska commitments, because the army had to be non-partisan and professional.

gen. milovanovic said that commander of the republika srpska army chief of staff ratko mladic would probably not come to banja luka to attend republika srpska army day, june 28, 'because he is unjustly accused of war crimes.'

mladic is currently performing his duties of commander, he said.

[04] SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA INTERESTED IN GOOD RELATIONS WITH VATICAN

dragojlovic was speaking with newly appointed pronuncio of the holy see to yugoslavia santos abril y castelo.

the serbian religion ministry quoted dragojlovic as saying that the religious factor had often been an important initiator of conflicts and intolerance, which could be seen in the recent war in the former yugoslavia.

the most important regional confessions are specially responsible for the settlement of this situation, dragojlovic said and added that religious tolerance had been preserved in yugoslavia, deapite the war in its neighbourhood.

the fact that refugees who belong to different religions were assisted in the same way as the serb refugees from the former yugoslavia proves this stand of state organs, dragojlovic said.

the pronuncio agreed that there was a need to understand and overcome the conflict in the region and that religions and churches unite and not separate people, the statement said.

[05] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC ATTENDS PAPANDREOU'S FUNERAL

on arrival in athens, milosevic attended a reception for the statesmen and prominent figures from all over the world given in the grande-bretagne hotel by greek prime minister costas simitis and foreign minister theodoros pangalos.

after the reception, milosevic had a lengthy cordial talk with cyprus president glafkos kliridis.

milosevic met also with german foreign minister klaus kinkel, with whom he discussed questions of importance to the balkan region.

tens of thousands of people gathered in the street outside the metropolitan orthodox cathedral cheered milosevic as he walked up to the church accompanied by the members of the yugoslav delegation, chanting: 'long live milosevic, long live serbia.'

greek television and other electronic media quoted several times during the day milosevic's statement made on arrival in athens that he had come to pay his last respects to and express his deep condolences at the loss of his great friend andreas papandreou.

[06] E.U. MOSTAR ADMINISTRATOR DOES NOT EXPECT FREE, DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS

croatian radio quoted casado, former barselona mayor, as saying that the international police force and the nato-led multinational peace implementation force (ifor) stationed in mostar would be at his disposal, to be used at his discretion in case of incident.

the radio's special correspondent said that the political parties in mostar, the biggest city in southwestern bosnia-herzegovina divided between bosnian muslims and croats, had been campaigning for the elections less than expected.

[07] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVES U.S. ENVOY KORNBLUM

the ensuing talk related to topical questions of the implementation of the peace plan for bosnia-herzegovina, with special stress on the preparation of bosnian elections.

the importance was stressed of implementing the peace accord as the best way of normalising the situation and relations and stabilising peace in the regions affected by civil war.

milosevic and assistant u.s. secretary of state kornblum said they hoped that the calling of the bosnian elections for sept. 14 would make it possible to bring the implementation of the bosnia peace accord to a satisfactory conclusion.

the talk was attended by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic.

[08] KORNBLUM SAYS HE IS SATISFIED WITH RESULTS OF HIS TOUR

john kornblum arrives after visits to zagreb and belgrade where he met with presidents franjo tudjman of croatia and slobodan milosevic of serbia.

kornblum said late on wednesday, after his talks with milosevic, that he was satisfied with the results of his balkan tour so far.

he told reporters that milosevic and he had thoroughly discussed all aspects of the situation in bosnia and added he was convinced that things were moving in the right direction.

i think we have had a good day and that we are making progress, said kornblum.

he will leave from sarajevo to lyon to brief u.s. president bill clinton on the results of his tour. clinton is attending the summit of the group of seven.

[09] CLINTON SAID ALL FOREIGN TROOPS HAVE LEFT BOSNIA

this has cleared the path for the u.s. to start its 'equip and train' program for the muslim army in bosnia.

the state department said recently that only four islamic soldiers remained in bosnia.

this was denied on june 11 by the ground troops commander of the peace implementation force (ifor), british gen. michael walker.

walker told reporters in the sarajevo suburb of ilidza that he had no idea where the state department had received such information. walker quoted figures by ifor to the effect that 100-200 pro-iranian mercenaries remained in bosnia.

previous warnings of mujaheddin fighting on the side of the muslims in bosnia had met with no response until the arrival of ifor, when their presence was assessed as a threat to the troops.

[10] YUGOSLAV LEADERS DEMAND NEW PRESIDENT FOR REPUBLIKA SRPSKA

the leaders also demanded that the dayton peace accords be fully implemented.

the socialist party of republika srpska (sprs) understands fully the necessity and action of the yugoslav leaders, as the guarantor for the dayton accords, said sprs leader zivko radisic.

'no one has the right to threaten the interests of the serb people, regardless of one's individual or collective function or merits,' said radisic, commenting the demand that bosnian serb president radovan karadzic step down from office.

leader of the yugoslav united left for republika srpska mico carevic said he believed that yugoslavia, a signatory to the dayton peace accords and therefore responsible for its implementation, had been under the obligation to intercene much earlier.

carevic extended full support to the leaders of yugoslavia and added that the initiative eased the tense situation and restored the confidence of the serb people in republika srpska.

the non-parliamentary right-wing declined to comment, said politika.

the center coalition bloc would take a stand on the latest developments on friday. the delay is due to problems in the bloc's organization.

[11] KUPRES ETHNICALLY CLEANSED BY CROATS

paris, june 27 (tanjug) - the atmosphere in kupres is agonizing but it was not the atmosphere which forced serbs to flee that town in southern bosnia but an even more agonizing attack by croats in april 1992, the paris daily le figaro said.

in its thursday issue, the daily carried a report on one of the most atrocious war crimes perpetrated by the croat army in bosnia.

le figaro said that out of 10,000 kupres inhabitants, 52 percent were serbs, 38 percent croats and nine percent muslims. today, the kupres area is ethnically pure and inhabited only by croats.

the main part of the article on the kupres tragedy is the dramatic testimony of serbian orthodox priest in kupres zoran perkovic.

'it was a joint offensive by the commandos of the bosnian croat army and the troops of neighbouring croatia. the attack was led by bozo rajic, today's hdz president (franjo tudjman's party) in herceg bosna, the self-proclaimed state of bosnian croats,' the paper quoted perkovic as saying.

on 6 april 1992, croats overran kupres in tanks, destroying everything on their way, the daily said.

serbs could only run for their lives but some were captured. perkovic was among them.

in his lengthy testimony, the orthodox priest said that he was forced to march tens of kilometers in a convoy of captured half-naked serbs, while the bodies of the killed remained on the roads.

the croat commandos forced the exhaust pipes of tractors into the mouths of the captured serbs, who begged for mercy. they would die after 20 minutes of agony. their only sin was the fact that they were serbs. at least 11 serbs were killed in that brutal way, perkovic said.

he said that the captured serbs were taken from one centre to another (in which the detained where tortured) and finally arrived in the infamous lora camp in the croatian port of split.

the french daily said that the camp was not in the war-stricken bosnia but in downtown split, a pittoresque tourist town in croatia, which was internationally recognized at the time.

perkovic's agony ended when he was exchanged for captured commandos of the croatian army. the serbian orthodox church priest has also testified at the u.n. tribunal for war crimes perpetrated in the former yugoslavia.

[12] EXPULSION OF SARAJEVO SERBS CONTINUES

sarajevo, june 27 (tanjug) - 'serbs, what are waiting for' and 'serbs, go while you're still alive' are the latest in the arsenal of graffiti on the walls of serb homes in sarajevo suburbs controlled by the muslim-croat federation since last february.

the messages, appearing overnight, warn the remaining serbs that they may become new targets of plunder, as 200 other serb homes in that part of sarajevo have already been.

the new local hoodlums have practically formed a parallel system of power and imposed terror with the intention to get rid of about 8,000 serbs remaining in the area.

empty serb homes have already become objects of trade. local dealers take between 100 and 500 deutsche marks from srebrenica refugees only to show them abandoned apartments.

about 10,000 srebrenica muslims have already come to sarajevo in this way, while another 15,000 are expected to arrive from eastern bosnia.

independent papers have repeatedly blamed the muslim government for the situation, as it evidently stands behind the whole massive migration.

'here come sda votes (party of democratic action),' observers say ironically, watching the drama of moving out and moving in.

'i feel ashamed for sarajevo,' michael steiner, assistant to the high international representative for bosnia carl bildt, said recently in an interview with the sarajevo paper oslobodjenje.

steiner strongly accused the muslim government in sarajevo of violating human rights of local serbs who remained there after the serbs handed over the five local muniipalities to the other side.

steiner said the existing situation was shameful for the city and wondered why izetbegovic was silent and where had disappeared the pride of multi-ethnical sarajevans.

in ilijas, vogosca and ilidza, mines are being planted in front of serb houses, and all the police does is patrolling and making reports, he said.

scared to death, the few remaining sarajevo serbs are leaving their hometown.

[13] MORE AID FOR REFUGEES IN YUGOSLAVIA THIS YEAR, SAID IFCR

'we are the only international humanitarian organization that persistently maintains there are 410,000 active aid beneficiaries in yugoslavia, though the total number of refugees is much higher,'ayoub told tanjug.

'we revised the plan for this year in may and increased our funds to 35 million german marks, which is half the entire sum allotted for entire former yugoslavia,' he said.

ayoub completes his 2-1/2-year mandate in yugoslavia in a few days and leaves for his new post in geneva.

he said the international committee of the red cross has joined efforts with the ifrc, so we animate doners and lobby together for extending aid to yugoslavia.

'during the 16 years of my work, i never saw a national society such as your red cross that is so efficient,' said ayoub.

he said he was pessimistic of a return soon of refugees to their homes, and added that the current obstacles would remain until after the elections in bosnia, after which winter follows, and no one moves in winter, he said.

the federation, which cooperates successfully with the yugoslav red cross, will continue to ensure funds for taking care of refugees 'wherever they are,' said ayoub.

[14] CROATIA REJECTS EUROPEAN UNION'S 'REGIONAL APPROACH' IN EX-YUGOSLAVIA

zagreb, june 27 (tanjug) - croatia still rejects the strategy of 'regional approach' advocated by the european union for bringing about reconciliation and economic reconstruction of newly-created states in the area of former yugoslavia.

in latest commentaries and reactions, croatian papers and politicians claim that the new eu strategy is an attempt to revive balkan associations and sketch out a new euroslavia.

earlier this week, eu officials once again stated to croatia the eu criteria for cooperation in the former yugoslavia, based on the strategy of regional approach.

european commission special envoy to croatia fulvio paolini met with croatian vice-prime minister ljerka mintas-hodak and stressed that as of now 'regional approach' would serve as a basis in establishing ties between croatia and european integration.

ljerka mintas-hondak expressed croatia's dissatisfaction with such a stand and pointed to advantages of individual approaches, according to a brief statement released after their meeting.

that is croatia's latest reaction to the eu criteria for cooperation with countries in the former yugoslavia.

in early june, croatian president franjo tudjman met in zagreb with eu chairman of ministerial council and italian foreign minister lamberto dini and eu commission president jacques santer. during the meeting, tudjman stated croatia's opposition to the balkan regional approach since, as he said, croatia had no historical, cultural, political links with the balkans.

several days after his visit to zagreb, santer said that tudjman had not fully understood the proposal.

in an interview with the weekly nacional, eu envoy paolini said that the european union was interested in the establishment of economic ties between croatia, serbia, bosnia and macedonia, primarily through free movement of people and commodities.

he said that the european union would not approve the creation of new economic barriers between these states and that it wanted to obtain free movement of commodities from slovenia to greece.

paolini may have denied claims that the european union wants to create a new yugoslavia but croatian officials are still opposed to regional approach and maintain that it is almost an ultimatum to croatia which, as tudjman said, wants to joint central european institutions.

[15] RAILWAY TRAFFIC RESUMES BETWEEN CROATIA, EASTERN SLAVONIA

u.n. administrator in the region jacques klein, who was aboard the first train that arrived in mirkovci, said this was the second important step in the mutual recognition of yugoslavia and croatia, the first being the opening of the belgrade-zagreb motorway.

klein said the resumption of railway traffic should make it possible for people to live normally, and said railway traffic between vinkovci, and sid in yugoslavia, would also resume soon.

the closing of the railway between vinkovci and mirkovci following croatia's forcible secession from the former yugoslavia in 1991 severed the railway traffic between belgrade and zagreb.

[16] FATE OF 19 ABDUCTED PASSANGERS IN YUGOSLAVIA REMAINS MYSTERY

the commission's final report was on thursday submitted to the parliament of that yugoslav republic.

it has been established that a group of 19 serbian and montenegrin inhabitants was abducted from the train at the railway station in the eastern bosnian town of strpci, the commission said. it expressed a reserve, however, as to the final number of the abducted persons.

the multi-party parliament commission, set up at the end of 1993, has addressed a number of institutions in quest of information relevant to the case.

unfortunately, apart from persons representing the families of the abducted people and some parliament members, almost nobody showed readiness to present the needed information, the commission said.

the montenegrin interior ministry has failed to respond to many concrete questions and initiatives, the commission said and requested that the republican government inquire into its work on the case.

it also said it had documents identifying three of the abductors, as well as the names of four other suspected persons.

the commission did not give the names of those persons.

commenting the commission's report, montenegrin president momir bulatovic said that montenegrin bodies had tried to do everything possible under the given circumstance.

'we tried to get a definitive information and, with military operations going on, to at least pay for their release,' he said.

bulatovic expressed regret that the tragedy is used for making attacks on montenegrin authorities and for political disputes.

[17] BULATOVIC: KARADZIC REFUSES TO COMPLY WITH ACCORDS WHICH HE SIGNED

that is why we had to show our resolve that we shall try to discredit him using political means, bulatovic said in an interview which radio free europe will broadcast over the next few days.

bulatovic was asked to say what yugoslavia would do if karadzic continued to refuse to step down.

as you know, yugoslavia has no army or police in republika srpska, so that we cannot apply any measures of repression. we have only political means in our hands and we shall use them, said bulatovic.

karadzic can only go on deluding himself that he is the most popular politician. there are major political figures and strong political forces in republika srpska which could without a doubt and very clearly, with our support, slightly shake him in that belief, bulatovic said.

asked if belgrade and podgorica would extradite three yugoslav citizens, former yugoslav people's army (jna) officers, to the international tribunal for war crimes, bulatovic said the issue was too sensitive to deserve a simple yes or no answer.

however, he said, yugoslavia wants its officers to be tried in a national court, with respect for procedure and hague tribunal representatives at the trial.

bulatovic said a solution to the problem of prevlaka, a strategic premontory on the border between yugoslavia and croatia, was the main precondition for a wider normalization of relations between belgrade and zagreb.

bulatovic said montenegro had returned to croatia all the cultural traesures taken during the fighting around dubrovnik.

speaking about relations within yugoslavia, he said montenegro's strategic option was a modern federation with serbia, but without any enforced solutions.

[18] BULATOVIC-KELLER: ADVANCEMENT IN REALIZATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT

bulatovic and keller said that this has lifted the serious obstacles to the speedy and successful implementation of the civilian component of the dayton agreement and surmounted one of the critical stages of the peace process in bosnia, the montenegrin president's cabinet said.

bulatovic and keller expressed mutual satisfaction over the visible intensification and promotion of political realtions between the federal republic of yugoslavia and france which has created the necessary conditions for the improvement and spreading of cooperation in all other spheres. end rg/bm/mb

[19] BOOK 'HANDKE AND HIS CRITICS' PRESENTED IN BELGRADE

the book contains articles printed in western media in reaction to peter handke's essays 'justice for serbia' published in the munich daily sueddeutsche zeitung in early 1996.

later, the essays were printed in the form of a book entitled 'winter travels along the rivers danube, sava, morava, and drina - justice for serbia' by suhrkamp publishers of frankfurt.

writing about serbia and serbs with understanding and curiousity, but without serbophilic tones, this most prominent austrian writer presented serbs differently than western media had done, which had blaming serbs alone for the wars in croatia and bosnia.

the book contains reactions by western authors, texts by authors from former yugoslav areas, and interviews which handke gave on that subject to dailies all over the world.

speaking about the book, which was published by the news agency tanjug and the grigorije bozovic publishing house, philosopher and publicts ljubomir tadic said 'handke with his essays took his place among those dignified authors who rose up against one-dimensional opinions on the nature of the war in former yugoslavia.'

opposing 'organized public lies, handke showed with arguements that there were no innocent parties in a civil war and pointed out that the west had given up its fundamental principle - to hear the other side as well,' dr. tadic said.

handke recently visited belgrade, where he gave a number of literary evenings and lectures.

he will soon visit france when the prominent printing house, galimar, will publish his 'justice for serbia.'

tanjug announced that the second part of the book of reactions to his essays will soon come out of the press.

[20] FILIPOVIC ANNOUNCED FORMING OF 'BIG PRO-BOSNIAN COALITION FOR BOSNIA'

in a statement to the sarajevo media, filipovic did not say what kind of coalition was in question nor which parties would make up this new pro-bosnia front.

filipovic is the president of a party which will appear within a coalition with the ruling muslim party of democratic action at the elections in mostar, to be held on june 30. end rg/bm/mb

[21] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND LONDON CLUB BEGIN SUCCESSFULLY

ognjenovic said that agreement was made at the first-round talks to separate economic and financial from political questions. he added that this agreement, if maintained, promised that good results might be expected from the talks with london club banks.

the f.r.y. delegation would hold two-day talks with representatives of the london club banks and these would be the first official negotiations with that part of the world financial institutions concerning the regulation of the f.r.y. status on the international market of capital.

[22] THE HAGUE PROSECUTOR INDICTS 8 BOSNIA SERBS FOR RAPE

this was the first 'specific' indictment by the hague court to pertain solely to the crimes of raping.

goldstone indicted dragan gagovic, gojko jankovic, janko janjic, radomir kovac, zoran vukovic, dragan zelenovic, dragoljub kunaric and radovan stankovic for having committed at least 62 crimes of sexual maltreatment against muslim women of all age in the eastern bih town of foca between april and july, 1992, when they were members of paramilitary units.

all these acts accounted for seriouos violatioons of the geneva convention on the protection of civilians in times of war, the indictment said.

[23] PUBLIC HEARING AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT KARADZIC AND GEN. MLADIC BEGINS IN THE HAGUE

the hague, june 27 (tanjug) - a public hearing in the hague against the president of the bosnian serb state republika srpska, radovan karadzic, and bosnian serb army commander, general ratko mladic, began on thursday in criminal tribunal number one.

the criminal tribunal is presided by judge claude jorda, and the other members are elisabeta odio benito from costa rica and fouad riad from egypt, while prosecutor eric ostberg is assisted by mark harmon and terry bowers, both from the united states.

karadzic and gen. mladic were on july 25, 1995 accussed by chief prosecutor richard goldstone of genocide, violating the law of war, crimes against humanity, the illegal confinement of civilians, the bombardment of civilian settlements, the destruction of property and of looting.

separate charges from november 1995 accuse kradzic and mladic of crimes against the muslim population in the summer of 1995 at the time of the battles for srebrenica, town in eastern bosnia which the dayton agreement gave to the bosnian serbs.

at the start of the trial, karadzic's attorney igor pantelic requested to sit in on the court proceedings. judge jorda agreed, but prosecutor ostberg was opposed claiming that this would be a violation of the so-called rule 61 hearing, a mechanism which does not call for the presence of the defending council. although pantelic was present in the courtroom, the proceedings were delayed for two hours, after which pantelic was allowed to remain while the indictments against karadzic and mladic were read out. afterwards he had to sit in the public gallery.

ostberg said that pantelic's presence and the fact that he is representing karadzic, prove that republicka srpska recognizes the authority of the hague tribunal, contrary to practice so far.

the majority of observers in the hague believe that the trial coincides with the fresh pressure on republika srpska ahead of the elections in bosnia.

although the international community has determined that a civil war, with elements of a religious conflict, had been fought in bosnia, and that all three sides had committeed crimes, indicted are only top bosnian serb leaders and just before the elections. this shows that politics has interfered in the work of the court.

the serbs have even supplied proof that bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic had visited camps where serb civilians were tortured and killed, but this has not been brought up in the hague.

furthermore, the gathered documentation on the bombardment of sarajevo fails to mention the massacres at the merkale market and the vase masina street, which served as a media basis for the offensive against the serbs and which were the direct reason for slapping the sanctions and launching nato air riads on bosnian serb positions and facilities.

from the very begining, the investigation of the massacres, in which more than 100 people were killed, was colored by contradictions. later it was determined that the muslims were the perpetrators but all this has been omitted from karadzic's and mladic's court files. end ju/bm/mb

[24] HAGUE TRIBUNAL FILES WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST NINE BOSNIAN CROATS

eight croats were charged with war crimes committed in the lasva river valley, central bosnia, during croat-moslem clashes between may 1992 and may 1993.

the ninth, zoran marinic, was charged under a separate indictment with the murder of four moslems, his neighbours, in busovaca, also in central bosnia.

the eight other croats -- zoran kupreskic, mirjana kupreskic, vlatko kupreskic, vladimir santic, stipe alilovic, drago josipovic, marinko katava and dragan papic -- are charged with tens of murders, torture and illegal confinement of moslem civilians in a number of villages in the lasva river valley.

the indictment against the eight croats said at least 103 moslems, including 33 women and children, were killed in an attack on the village of ahmici alone.

the hague tribunal said in a statement that the indictments had been confirmed last november, but that it had waited for the right time to announce them.

observers in the hague said the announcement had coincided with a public hearing against (bosnian serb) republika srpska president radovan karadzic and r.s. chief of army staff general ratko mladic indicted for war crimes.

[25] FOUR KIDNAPPED SERBS STILL IN CROAT JAIL IN MOSTAR

roberts told his regular news conference he did not know that these serbs had recently been shown on croat television as 'a group of serb saboteurs and terrorists' in uniforms and fully armed.

he said he learned about it from their families which confirmed that they were arrested as civilians. this meant that the croat authorities had violated the provision in the dayton accords which deals with the freedom of movement, roberts added.

asked by tanjug's journalist about tests being performed in the glamoc region with the latest secret weapons, brook answered that htis was not the testing but exercises using the tested weapons on the test ground there, and, as he said, if some one of you did not believe me, we might go there together.

roberts voiced concern over what he called forceful expulsion from homes of six muslim families, while seven more families, between june 21 and 23, abandoned their homes of their free will in vrbanja near banja luka, the biggest city in the republika srpska.

adding that this act had been provoked by serb refugees driven out of their homes in the territory of the muslim-croat federation, roberts conceded that the expulsion might have been carried out in reply to the persecution and maltreatment of sarajevo serbs.

brook also told journalists that the british division in this sector was replaced with a new one -- british, while the sector commander british general michael jackson was replaced by his colleague john kisley.

[26] ISRAEL PROTESTS AGAINST TUDJMAN'S INTENTION TO DESECRATE MEMORIAL SITE OF ONE-TIME USTASHI CONCENTRATION CAMP

actions against such intentions by tudjman have been encouraged in israel.

the ustashi were the world-war-two political-military formations of croatian fascist.

director f the department for eastern europe in the israeli foreign ministry tsvi rav ner proposed to the president of israeli parliament that a public protest be published in all the public information media.

in his letter to the president of the association of jews from the former yugoslavia, which was first to raise the voice against such 'morbid idea' of tudjman, ner said that israel was reserved as to establishing diplomatic relations with croatia because of tudjman's attempts to reduce the number of holocaust victims in croatia, and because of the existent anti-semitic insinuations in that former yugoslav republic.

the association of jews from the former yugoslavia, in trying to avert the desacration of the memories of jewish victims fallen in the balkans' biggest concentration camp, had sent out letters of protest to israeli president ezer weizmann, to the memorial centre of martyrs and heroes of holocaust in jeursalem, to the holocaust museum in washington (at the opening of which tudjman was present), and to the world jewish congress.

director of the jerusalem memorial centre avner shalev and the centre's world administration president dr josef burg have recently sent a protest to the croatina presdent, warning him that it was incomprehensible that a location of murders, genocide and nazi terror be turned into a joint memorial site to the victims and their murderers.

this was not just an attempt at rehabilitating the fascist criminals, but also an unforgivable insult to the memories of victims they had assassinated, said the letter to tudjman.

tudjman's intention was nothing less cynical than the erecting of a super market in front of the camp site at auschwitz, the president of the association yitzhak cabillo emphasized and called to action to avert the desecration of the memories of those fallen at jasenovac.

at jasenovac, croatian fascists killed during world war two around 700,000 serbs, jews and romanies and a number of croatian anti-fascists.

around 40,000 jews lived in croatia before 1941. at least 25,000 jews were assassinated by the ustashi in the death camp at jasenovac.

[27] SERBIA'S PARTIES URGE CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON PEACE DEAL

sps leaders said it was in the interest of the (bosnian serb state) republika srpska (r.s.) and its citizens as well as in the interest of peace in the entire region that the dayton accords be fully implemented.

they backed efforts to this end by yugoslavia and its republics of serbia and montenegro, the sps press section said.

the sps and nd leaderships called monday on the r.s. parliament to appoint acting president of the republika srpska with full powers and put an end to the harming of r.s. citizens' interests.

the new democracy said a more moderate and responsible policy by the r.s. leadership and a higher degree of cooperativeness with the international community were vital for removing obstacles to the implementation of the civilian aspect of the dayton accords.

nd spokesman rebeka srbinovic told a news conference that it was necessary to create conditions for elections in bosnia-herzegovina and for the reconstruction of war-devastated areas in the former yugoslav republic.

srbinovic said it was crucial that elections be held by the set date, september 14, and said she hoped new democratic forces would triumph in the republika srpska.

[28] NEW FOREIGN CURRENCY SAVINGS TO BE GUARANTEED BY FOREIGN BANKS

solving the problem of old foreign currency savings, frozen in yugoslav banks since the spring of 1992, is the main condition for restoring trust in yugoslav banks, said council experts at a meeting on wednesday.

private foreign curreny savings, blocked in yugoslav commercal banks, have been estimated at 4.3 billion dollars.

the economic council accepted the proposal for setting up business investment funds to collect private savings.

the funds are planned to be used as joint investment funds for profitable projects of export-oriented firms. at the beginning, they would mostly be used to increase the operating capital.

Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996

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