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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 97, 96-05-20

Open Media Research Institute: Daily Digest Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>

Vol. 2, No. 97, 20 May 1996


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING MANDATE IN ABKHAZIA EXTENDED.
  • [02] GEORGIAN COMMUNISTS UNITE.
  • [03] RUSSIAN-AZERBAIJANI BORDER AGREEMENT.
  • [04] CONFUSION CONTINUES IN TAJIKISTAN.

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [05] IS KARADZIC STEPPING DOWN?
  • [06] HARD-LINER ENDORSED AS BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER.
  • [07] BOSNIAN SERBS PLAY FOR TIME.
  • [08] SERBS FACE HURDLES IN GOING HOME TO SARAJEVO.
  • [09] BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL DIES IN BELGRADE.
  • [10] POPE'S VISIT TO SLOVENIA.
  • [11] BULGARIA'S "BLACK FRIDAY."
  • [12] ALBANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN GREECE.
  • [13] ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER CAMPAIGNS FROM JAIL CELL.

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPING MANDATE IN ABKHAZIA EXTENDED.

    Participants in the CIS summit in Moscow on 17 May endorsed the agreement taken on 16 May by CIS foreign ministers to extend for a further two months the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping troops currently deployed along the border between the breakaway republic of Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, Western agencies reported. The Georgian parliament has for months demanded, without success, that the peacekeepers' mandate be broadened to enable them to defend ethnic Georgian refugees who wish to return to their homes in Abkhazia. -- Liz Fuller

    [02] GEORGIAN COMMUNISTS UNITE.

    The Stalinist Communist Party of Georgia decided on 18 May to unite with the Georgian Communist Party, led by Ivane Tsiklauri, and part of the United Communist Party, led by Panteleimon Giorgadze, Iprinda news agency reported same day. The Stalinist party's plenary session also decided that its leader, Grigol Oniani, would work as acting first secretary of the new party's central committee until its first congress, scheduled for 6 September. -- Irakli Tsereteli

    [03] RUSSIAN-AZERBAIJANI BORDER AGREEMENT.

    President Yeltsin and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Heidar Aliev, signed an agreement in Moscow on 17 May aimed at strengthening border controls between Dagestan and Azerbaijan, AFP reported, citing Interfax. The agreement covers information exchanges; joint measures to fight terrorism, arms and drug trafficking, and illegal immigration into Russia; and the joint training of border troops. It is not clear whether the agreement provides for the deployment Russian troops on Azerbaijani territory. -- Liz Fuller

    [04] CONFUSION CONTINUES IN TAJIKISTAN.

    Sixty-four government soldiers are reported to have been killed during heavy fighting near the town of Komsomolabad in the Tavil-Dara region on 15-16 May, according to NTV. Tajik Interior Ministry troops and members of the CIS peacekeeping force have set up checkpoints on the road from Komsomolabad to Dushanbe. Meanwhile, the demonstrations in the northern Tajik cities of Khojent, Ura-Tyube, Shakhristan, and Isfana appear to have ended, RFE/RL reported on 18 May. The protesters demanded the equal distribution of humanitarian aid, an adequate supply of food, and the removal of local government officials. About 75 officials in the north are reported to have been replaced already. In other news, AFP reported on 19 May that the Tajik opposition has agreed to extend the ceasefire that was due to expire on 26 May. -- Bruce Pannier

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [05] IS KARADZIC STEPPING DOWN?

    Bosnian Serb leader and indicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic announced this weekend that he was giving up some of his duties as Bosnian Serb president to concentrate on such domestic issues as refugees and the economy, international and local agencies reported on 19 May. Karadzic delegated some of his powers, including contacts with the international community, to Vice President Biljana Plavsic, a hard-liner known as the "Iron Lady of the Bosnian Serbs." While the rump Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported that Karadzic has stepped down as Bosnian Serb president, the Bosnian Serb agency SRNA reported that he has only delegated some of his functions. Meanwhile, the international community's High Representative for Bosnia Carl Bildt visited Pale on 19 May to clarify controversial reports on Karadzic's resignation. He noted that Karadzic appeared to be withdrawing from "public life," AFP reported. -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [06] HARD-LINER ENDORSED AS BOSNIAN SERB PREMIER.

    The Bosnian Serb parliament on 18 May endorsed Karadzic's dismissal of Rajko Kasagic, the moderate Bosnian Serb prime minister supported by the international community (see OMRI Daily Digest, and ). Deputies also approved his replacement by Gojko Klickovic, a hard-liner who oversaw the exodus earlier this year of the Sarajevo Serbs, which was marred by massive looting and arson, AFP reported on 18 May. In his first statement to reporters, Klickovic opposed setting up a single Bosnian state, which is stipulated in the Dayton peace accord. AFP on 19 May quoted him as saying that "integration within Bosnia is out of the question." Klickovic also said that the Bosnian Serb people will "never allow" Karadzic to be sent for trial to The Hague- based war crimes tribunal because "there is no reason for him to go there." -- Daria Sito Sucic

    [07] BOSNIAN SERBS PLAY FOR TIME.

    The scenes of the past weekend were familiar to those who have long followed the Bosnian conflict: an international negotiator met in a series of sessions with Bosnian Serb leaders, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, and then the Bosnian Serbs again. He never received a direct answer to his main demand--in this case, that Karadzic be dumped as president--but rather a series of promises that seemed to go at least part way to achieving that end. Bildt was told, among other things, that Karadzic would "be neither seen nor heard," that a referendum would be held, and that Plavsic would take over his international obligations. Karadzic, however, has no foreign duties because no representative from abroad is supposed to meet with the indicted war criminal. The Dayton agreement, moreover, says clearly that he has no political future and that Milosevic is obliged to help hunt him down and bring him to justice. Much of Bosnian opinion regards the latest moves from Pale as "cosmetic," Oslobodjenje reported on 20 May. -- Patrick Moore

    [08] SERBS FACE HURDLES IN GOING HOME TO SARAJEVO.

    The anti-nationalist Serbian Civic Council (SGV), which remained loyal to the Bosnian government throughout the war, says that several legal difficulties stand in the way of Serbs wanting to live in Sarajevo again. Many of these people were among the 60,000 who were pressured by the Bosnian Serb authorities into abandoning their flats and houses earlier this year but who now want to go back after spending months in makeshift camps. The SGV says that they have difficulty in obtaining Bosnian passports and that their flats have been occupied by Muslim refugees from Srebrenica and Zepa, Onasa noted on 18 May. A group of independent intellectuals charged that all three sides are practicing "silent ethnic cleansing" and point to Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and both parts of Mostar as examples, Oslobodjenje noted on 20 May. Elsewhere, the SGV joined Muslim parties in criticizing the current election rules for Mostar, saying that they make it impossible for 90% of the Serbs from there to vote because refugees are barred from the ballot. -- Patrick Moore

    [09] BOSNIAN SERB GENERAL DIES IN BELGRADE.

    Bosnian Serb Gen. Djordje Djukic died in Belgrade's military medical academy on 18 May. According to a statement issued by the Bosnian Serb military authorities, Djukic died after "being ill and exhausted by the trial in The Hague," Reuters reported. He was 62 years old and had appeared before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on charges relating to his role in the 43-month siege of Sarajevo. The general, who had pleaded not guilty, was released by The Hague on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to his family in Belgrade. A doctors' report concluded that Djukic's terminal pancreatic cancer had reached an advanced stage. Djukic, a logistics officer, was captured by the Bosnian government on 30 January 1996. -- Stan Markotich

    [10] POPE'S VISIT TO SLOVENIA.

    John Paul II concluded his first-ever visit to Slovenia on 19 May by celebrating Mass in Maribor with an estimated 120,000 worshippers. The previous day, he celebrated his 76th birthday in the nation's capital. Slovenian political leaders thanked the pontiff for supporting Slovenia's independence, noting that the Vatican was among the first states to recognize Slovenia as an independent country. Finally, John Paul donated $50,000 to the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia to enable it to assist refugees from the wars throughout the former Yugoslavia, international media reported on 18 May. -- Stan Markotich

    [11] BULGARIA'S "BLACK FRIDAY."

    Bulgaria's ongoing financial and economic crisis peaked yet again on 17 May when two banks were placed under the Bulgarian National Bank's administration, Bulgarian media reported. BNB Governor Lyubomir Filipov announced that the First Private Bank and the state-controlled Mineral Bank were being "placed under special supervision owing to the real possibility of insolvency." Meanwhile, local media reported that consumers triggered a panic on what was dubbed "Black Friday," trying to withdraw all assets from the defunct banks. The following day, Kontinent reported that following the banks' insolvency, a major restructuring of the banking system cannot be avoided. Premier Zhan Videnov, speaking on state TV and radio, pledged financial reforms and asked for "backing from the whole of society." The government has already drawn up a plan for economic reform, including the closure of some 64 unprofitable firms. -- Stan Markotich

    [12] ALBANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN GREECE.

    Safet Zhulali arrived in Athens on 19 May for talks with his Greek counterpart, Gerassimos Arsenis, and President Kostis Stephanopoulos, AFP reported. The talks are to focus on military cooperation within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace. Zhulali will also visit Greek military facilities. Meanwhile, hundreds of Albanian immigrants began returning from Greece to vote in the 26 May elections; their number is expected to increase by the thousands. The Greek police have supplied them with special border-crossing permits, and travel agencies have increased the number of buses traveling to Albania and reduced fares. Some 250,000 Albanian immigrants are currently working in Greece. Finally, Albania and Greece on 17 May signed a framework agreement on legalizing the status of the mostly illegal immigrants. It will take effect in September, after four Greek-language schools have opened in southern Albania. -- Fabian Schmidt

    [13] ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER CAMPAIGNS FROM JAIL CELL.

    Albanian Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano has sent a letter to Albanian dailies urging voters to oust the Democratic Party in the elections, Reuters reported on 19 May. Nano said the Socialists will guarantee "liberty and security." He accused President Sali Berisha of abusing his powers and of running a "banana republic." Nano still has three years to serve for misappropriating funds, but the Socialists say he is a political prisoner. Meanwhile the Democratic Party organized a pop music and fashion show spectacle for 30,000 people at a Tirana stadium on 19 May. The same day, the road to Shkoder was blocked for hours by demonstrators hoping to prevent Socialist leaders from going there, but none of those leaders showed up. -- Fabian Schmidt

    Compiled by Victor Gomez and Jan Cleave
    News and information as of 1200 CET


    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.


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