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Voice of America, 00-02-28

Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>


CONTENTS

  • [01] U-N BALKANS SUMMARY (L-ONLY) BY BRECK ARDERY (UNITED NATIONS)
  • [02] TURKEY / KURDS (L ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)
  • [03] YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY) BY LAUREN COMITEAU (THE HAGUE)
  • [04] I-M-F DISPUTE (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)
  • [05] NORTHERN IRELAND (L-ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (LONDON)
  • [06] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)
  • [07] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

  • [01] U-N BALKANS SUMMARY (L-ONLY) BY BRECK ARDERY (UNITED NATIONS)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259644
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: The United Nations Special Representative for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, said today (Monday) that the search for peace and stability in the region is complicated by the fact that the leaders of Serbia are indicted war criminals. VOA Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations.

    TEXT: Mr. Bildt says the major issue in the Balkans is the conflict between those who favor ethnic and religious integration within their societies, and within the region, and those who favor disintegration. He observed that every step toward disintegration has been associated with violence and massive violations of human rights. But, in a formal report to the U-N Security Council, Mr. Bildt says it is highly unlikely that a regional settlement - based on integration - can occur without the participation of the leaders of the former Yugoslavia. That, he notes, poses a major dilemma for the international community.

    /// BILDT ACT ///

    The fact that the key political and military leaders of what is left of Yugoslavia have been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity means they are de facto excommunicated from any sort of dialogue or diplomatic contact.

    /// END ACT ///

    While a comprehensive regional settlement may have to await a change of leadership in Belgrade, Mr. Bildt says the United Nations is acting now to defuse tensions. Even with the recent ethnic violence in Kosovo, Mr. Bildt says there are some positive signs in the Balkans including political changes in Croatia and, despite difficulties, evidence of progress in Bosnia.

    /// REST OPT ///

    The U-N Special Representative drew attention to the dispute between Serbia and Montenegro, the last two remaining components of the Yugoslav Federation. Mr. Bildt charged that Serbia's President Slobodan Milosevic has grossly violated Montenegro's rights within the federation and that Montenegro is now suffering from double sanctions.

    /// BILDT ACT ///

    From one side they suffer by the sanctions against all of Yugoslavia, blocking their access to the international financial institutions. From the other side they face the de facto sanctions against them from Serbia, forcing them, just to give one example, to rely on expensive food imports from abroad.

    /// END ACT ///

    Mr. Bildt urged the international community to accelerate efforts to help the people of Montenegro. Mr. Bildt urged an ongoing discussion within the U-N Security Council on the search for a regional settlement in the Balkans. He said that only a solid consensus among key nations with interests in the Balkans -- the European countries, Russia and the United States - is likely to bring about a lasting political settlement. (Signed)
    NEB/BA/LSF/TVM 28-Feb-2000 17:23 PM EDT (28-Feb-2000 2223 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [02] TURKEY / KURDS (L ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259631
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: A Turkish court has released three Kurdish mayors who were arrested and jailed for alleged links with Kurdish separatists. As Amberin Zaman reports from Ankara, the three were released to await trial.

    TEXT: Thousands of people gathered outside Diyarbakir's maximum security prison after hearing the news that the three Kurdish mayors were being set free.

    /// OPT ///

    The mayors -- Feridun Celik of Diyarbakir, Selim Ozalp of Siirt, and Feyzullah Karaaslan of Bingol -- were showered with flowers and loudly cheered as they emerged after more than one week of confinement. /// END OPT /// A state security court in Diyarbakir ordered the men released following an appeal from their lawyers. The mayors from the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party were suspended from their duties Friday. Lawyers are demanding they be re-instated until proven guilty as charged. The charges against the mayors include the illegal transfer of money to Kurdish rebels and secret meetings in Europe with a commander of the rebel group P-K-K. The three deny the charges that are said to be based on the testimony of captured P-K-K rebels and sympathizers. The United States and European governments have criticized the arrests, especially at a time when P-K- K leader Abdullah Ocalan has pledged that his men will never again resort to armed violence. He has also renounced his demands for Kurdish independence. Critics describe Ocalan's about-face as an attempt to save his life. A Turkish court sentenced Ocalan to death on treason charges last June. But even the critics agree that no matter what the rebel leader's motivation, the P-K-K leader has created an unprecedented opportunity for peace through his overtures to the Turkish government. Nearly 40-thousand people have died since the P-K-K launched its armed rebellion for an independent Kurdish state. (SIGNED)
    NEB/AZ/JWH/RAE 28-Feb-2000 09:51 AM EDT (28-Feb-2000 1451 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [03] YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY) BY LAUREN COMITEAU (THE HAGUE)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259632
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: Four Bosnian Serbs accused of murder, torture and persecution went on trial today/Monday at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. The men include three commanders of the Omarska prison camp in northwest Bosnia, one of three camps where prosecutors say thousands of Muslims and Croats died in 1992. Lauren Comiteau has more from The Hague.

    TEXT: Prosecutor Grant Niemann says this is a case of ethnic cleansing and persecution on a massive scale. He said it was a well planned and orchestrated campaign of terror by ethnocentric fanatic nationalists loyal to the self-declared Serb Republic.

    /// ACT NIEMANN ///

    It was this puppet entity, dangling from the strings of (Yugoslav President) Slobodan Milosevic that turned its police and military forces upon its own people in a quest to participate in the grand achievement of an ethnically pure, greater Serbia.

    /// END ACT ///

    That kind of savage, brutal and inhumane campaign of terror, says Mr. Niemann, had not been seen in Europe since World War Two. Prosecutor Niemann then went on to show pictures of emaciated men behind the barbed wire of one of the camps - pictures, said Mr. Niemann, that shocked the world when they were first reported eight years ago. Prosecutors say the bulk of the evidence in this case will focus on the three camps, which they called the instruments of the Bosnian Serbs' policy of persecution. The men on trial may not have drawn up the plans, but prosecutors say without them they could not have been achieved. One year after the camps were set up, the Muslim population of the town of Priador was reduced by 90 per cent. The trial is expected to last several months. (Signed)
    NEB/LC/GE/KL 28-Feb-2000 10:26 AM EDT (28-Feb-2000 1526 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [04] I-M-F DISPUTE (L-ONLY) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259642
    INTERNET=YES CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: A significant dispute is emerging between the United States and European Union over Europe's choice of a German finance official to become managing director of the International Monetary Fund. V-O-A's Barry Wood reports the feud intensified Monday when the Clinton administration said it will not support Germany's candidate for the I-M-F job.

    TEXT: Presidential spokesman Joe Lockhart says the United States will not support Caio Koch-Weser for the I-M-F job because he lacks broad support. Mr. Lockhart says President Clinton discussed the situation Saturday in a telephone call with German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

    /// LOCKHART ACT ///

    In that call the president stressed that the importance of the I-M-F managing director's position and the need for a strong candidate of maximum stature who would be able to command strong support from around the world. In that context the president told the chancellor that the United States is not prepared to support the German candidate.

    /// END ACT ///

    Mr. Lockhart called on the European Union to nominate a candidate who can command greater support. By tradition the head of the I-M-F has always been a European while an American heads the World Bank. Despite American opposition, European Union finance ministers Monday unanimously designated Mr. Koch-Weser as their candidate for the I-M-F job. Mr. Koch-Weser last year returned to the number two finance position in the German government after serving over 20 years as an executive in the World Bank. Last week 20 developing countries in Africa voiced their opposition to Mr. Koch-Weser by nominating Stanley Fischer, who holds the number two I-M-F job, to succeed Michel Camdessus who retired as managing director two weeks ago. A third candidate is former Japanese deputy finance minister Eisuke Sakakibara. The 24-nation I-M-F executive board will hold informal discussions on the candidates Wednesday. The process of selecting a successor to Mr. Camdessus has dragged on for three months. The I-M-F is the world's biggest source of short-term loans to countries in financial distress. Privately, the Americans say Mr. Koch-Weser's expertise is in long- term development lending of the kind they want to discourage at the I-M-F. (Signed) NEB/BDW/TVM/gm 28-Feb-2000 16:58 PM EDT (28-Feb-2000 2158 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [05] NORTHERN IRELAND (L-ONLY) BY LAURIE KASSMAN (LONDON)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259637
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: Britain's top official for Northern Ireland has met with Unionist and Republican leaders in an attempt to revive the peace process. The effort follows suspension of Northern Ireland's home rule assembly. Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from London that the mood is far from optimistic.

    TEXT: Unionist leader David Trimble insists the home- rule institutions cannot be re-established until the Irish Republican Army (I-R-A) makes a move toward handing in its weapons. The head of the I-R-A's political wing says the peace process is in tatters. Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams told his party supporters Sunday it is time to shift the focus from repairing the peace process to building the party's electoral strength. That does not bode well for Britain's efforts to get the peace process back on track. Britain's top official for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, met with Mr. Trimble and Mr. Adams to see how that can be done. There was no indication after the Belfast meetings that he had made any progress. It was Mr. Mandelson's first meeting with Gerry Adams since last month's suspension of the home-rule assembly in Belfast. Mr. Adams had tried to prevent the suspension with a last-minute proposal from the I- R-A on weapons disarmament. But Mr. Mandelson said the I-R-A offer needed clarification. His order to suspend the two-month-old home-rule assembly put Northern Ireland once again under direct rule from London. At the time, Mr. Adams accused Mr. Mandelson of caving in to Unionist leader David Trimble, who had threatened to resign from the home-rule assembly if the I-R-A did not start handing over its weapons. Sinn Fein argues the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement only sets next May as the deadline for disarming both loyalist and republican para-militaries. Shortly after the suspension of home-rule powers, the I-R-A stopped talking to the special commission supervising the disarmament process. (SIGNED)
    NEB/LMK/GE/RAE 28-Feb-2000 11:37 AM EDT (28-Feb-2000 1637 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America


    [06] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-259643
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: U-S stock prices were mixed today (Monday), with the "blue-chips" recovering from steep losses last week. VOA correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

    TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back over the 10-thousand mark. It gained 176 points, or one and three-quarters percent, closing at 10- thousand-38. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed 14 points higher. Meanwhile, the technology-weighted NASDAQ composite - which set three record highs last week - closed down two-tenths of one percent. Some analysts believe the stock market is uninspired at this point, with virtually nothing but interest rate concerns driving it.

    /// BEGIN OPT ///

    Market-watcher Larry Wachtel agrees. He also believes the "blue-chips" are on their way back:

    /// WACHTEL ACT ///

    What you're seeing in the Dow is the culmination of a process that's been in effect for quite some time. It's the coming to the end of the downturn. To the degree that the NASDAQ is correcting today doesn't mean that will be on- going. But they all take their turns. I think we're in kind of a stimulus vacuum. You have nothing to look forward to here except Alan Greenspan.

    /// END ACT ///

    /// END OPT ///

    The latest on the U-S economy shows personal income rose seven-tenths of one percent last month. This could lead to more spending in the months ahead - something Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan hopes to dampen by raising interest rates. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U-S economic growth.

    /// REST OPT ///

    Shares of Sotheby's traded higher on a report out of London that the leading auction house will be bought by online auctioneer E-Bay. Neither company would comment on that report. Sotheby's is the subject of a price-fixing probe that led to the resignation last week of its top executives. Software company Oracle has announced another business-to-business strategy. This one involves Sears Roebuck and a French retailer, Carrefours Supermarche. It launches the retail industry's first global business-to-business online purchasing exchange. The new virtual marketplace will allow retailers and suppliers to buy and sell products over the Internet. Just last week, Oracle created an online procurement network for the big three auto-makers - General Motors, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler. (Signed) NEB/EJ/LSF/TVM/KL 28-Feb-2000 17:02 PM EDT (28-Feb-2000 2202 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [07] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

    DATE=2/28/2000
    TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST
    NUMBER=6-11702
    EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
    TELEPHONE=619-3335
    CONTENT=

    INTRO: Editorial writers in the United States are continuing to comment on recent statements from Beijing about eventual reunification -- by force if necessary -- with Taiwan. There are also other editorials on: the increasing violence in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province; the Cuban boy who is the subject of a diplomatic standoff between Cuba and the United States; the acquittal of four New York City police officers in the shooting death of a Guinean immigrant; and the increasing number of U-S children being given personality-modifying drugs. Now, here is _________ with a closer look in today's Editorial Digest.

    TEXT: In Connecticut's capital, the Hartford Courant, is upset by the threat from Beijing that if Taiwan does not begin seriously discussing reunification, China might try to take the island back by force.

    VOICE: In an attempt to influence Taiwan's presidential election, the Chinese government has threatened the use of force if the Taiwanese continue to drag their feet on negotiating reunification ... The threat is serious enough, but its timing makes it doubly so. ... C-I-A Director George Tenet considers the situation in the Taiwan Strait volatile and has warned of a "high potential" for a military crisis between China and Taiwan this year. All the more reason, then, for U-S politicians to cool it on the campaign trail .[with] . pro-Taiwan rhetoric...

    /// OPT ///

    TEXT: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Beijing's rhetoric is dangerous and its timing is even worse.

    VOICE: Catching the United States by surprise, the People's Republic of China issued a crude warning to Taiwan last week. ...the odd thing is that the three leading candidates for the March 18th [Taiwan] election have soft-pedaled the independence issue, and all are in favor of continuing negotiations with the mainland. So this blunt warning is not only uncalled for (as well as going beyond anything previously stated), it also is harmful to China's immediate interests.

    /// END OPT ///

    TEXT: In Texas, the Houston Chronicle warns:

    VOICE: The P-R-C may see the issuance of its threat as a necessary move to influence the outcome of the R- O-C's presidential election, but it cannot bode well for the debate in the U-S Congress on trade relations. ... Altogether it is a serious misreading on the part of Beijing of the democratic process both in the United States and on Taiwan.

    /// OPT ///

    TEXT: Lastly on this topic, the Augusta Chronicle in Maine is even more blunt, saying:

    VOICE: The communist Chinese regime is not only brutal, it's ["also"] none too smart, either. Maybe that explains why it is brutal. ... With the March 18th date for Taiwan's second presidential election fast approaching, Beijing is unleashing a new round of threats ... to force the island nation into immediate talks on reunification. ... But once again the tactic appears to be backfiring. The threats have served only to strengthen the candidacy of strong anti- Communist Chen Shui-bian.

    TEXT: To the Balkans now, and more worry about the escalating fighting between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in and around Mitrovica in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. NATO should not be surprised at the violence, suggests the Orlando Sentinel.

    VOICE: Nastiness is woven into the social fabric of that Yugoslav province, populated mostly by ethnic Albanians. Those folks and Yugoslavia's Serbian majority have written their joint history in the blood of ethnic and religious conflict for hundreds of years. Did the Clinton administration really believe that the situation would improve after the United States and its allies invaded Yugoslavia to end a civil conflict in Kosovo last year? ... If U-S officials believed that, they were off the mark. ... In truth, neither France nor any other country with peacekeepers in Kosovo can hope to solve the province's problems.

    TEXT: The size of the peacekeeping force, the Washington Times says, may not be the whole problem.

    VOICE: Before they increase the size of the disorganized force that is now on the ground -- 30- thousand NATO troops, 7-thousand non-NATO troops and 23-hundred-27 civilian police officers -- they might consider asking what the problem with the current force is. For leaders of world powers to admit to being bested at their game of peacekeeping takes more than a little courage though. ... The current peacekeeping force, both military and civilian police, needs a cohesive, organized strategy that mere numbers won't enhance.

    TEXT: U-S-A Today, published in a Washington, D-C suburb, talks of the plight of thousands of children who are brought into the country illegally by adults and who often end up in jail because of what the papers calls a "Sluggish I-N-S [Immigration and Naturalization Service.]

    VOICE: Hundreds of children are traumatized ... by being ... separated from loved ones and thrown into juvenile correctional facilities or shelters even before the Immigration and Naturalization Service determines if they're fleeing persecution or if they're illegal immigrants who will be sent back to their home countries. ... At a minimum, the children should be housed humanely. ... The U-S can't claim the moral high ground globally when its backyard betrays alarming and cruel neglect.

    TEXT: The Miami Herald is again discussing the prospect of sending additional U-S military aid to Colombia to help solve that country's drug trafficking problems.

    VOICE: Retired U-S General Barry McCaffrey, the nation's so-called drug czar, last week praised Colombia's military for cleaning up its human-rights record. ...General McCaffrey's optimistic support of the Colombian military seems premature, however, standing in contradiction to a recent Human Rights Watch report that accuses specific brigades and commanding ... officers of collaborating with private armies ... committing atrocities against civilians. These private armies - - called paramilitaries - - typically are funded by rich farmers and drug producers. [Colombian President Andres] Pastrana deserves Washington's support in his fight against drug traffickers. They're a scourge to the people of Colombia ... But so are the paramilitaries and the army units that aid them. They certainly deserve equal condemnation.

    TEXT: Several papers are commenting on the acquittal of four New York City police officers who last year shot to death an unarmed immigrant from Guinea, Amadou Diallo, thinking he was a criminal. U-S-A Today says:

    VOICE: Unfortunately, the shooting and the verdict are now fueling another set of harmful expectations ... that officers who use excessive authority or force will get away with it. A rare victory against that view occurred last year, when two New York officers were convicted of a ghastly station torture of a [Haitian immigrant] suspect with a broom handle. ... a terrible balance still exists; between cops (often white) conditioned to expect the worst from the public, and a public (often black or brown) conditioned to expect the worst from cops.

    TEXT: Lastly, the [Bergen County,(Northern) New Jersey] Record is one of several papers voicing concern about a new report that says more and more American doctors are prescribing psychiatric drugs for pre-school age children. The papers wonders:

    VOICE: Are we using drugs, both stimulants and antidepressants, to even out normal fluctuations in pre-schoolers' behavior? "It is not really clear that children this young could meet the diagnostic criteria for either attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or depression, and those are the probable diagnoses given to justify the use of stimulants ... and antidepressants," ... [says the]... lead author of the study on drug use among children published this week.

    TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment from Monday's U-S press.
    NEB/ANG/KL 28-Feb-2000 11:58 AM EDT (28-Feb-2000 1658 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America


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