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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 205, 01-10-29
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 205, 29 October 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] OPPOSITION DEMO PARTICIPANTS DEMAND ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION
[02] ARMENIA MARKS SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF PARLIAMENT KILLINGS
[03] ARMENIA WILL NOT SEEK NATO MEMBERSHIP
[04] AZERBAIJAN UNVEILS DETAILS OF YET ANOTHER THWARTED COUP ATTEMPT
[05] COUNCIL OF EUROPE LISTS AZERBAIJAN'S POLITICAL PRISONERS
[06] AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT RATIFIES GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENT
[07] RUSSIA SAYS IT HAS WITHDRAWN MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM ABKHAZ BASE
[08] GEORGIA PROTESTS NEW AIRSTRIKES
[09] SITUATION IN ABKHAZIA REMAINS TENSE
[10] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT WILL NOT CALL FOR CIS PEACEKEEPERS' IMMEDIATE
WITHDRAWAL FROM ABKHAZIA
[11] UN REPRESENTATIVE HOLDS TALKS WITH ABKHAZ LEADERSHIP
[12] KAZAKHSTAN POSTPONES PLANNED ASIAN SECURITY SUMMIT
[13] KAZAKH SUES BANK OVER REFUSAL TO USE NATIONAL LANGUAGE
[14] KYRGYZSTAN TRANSFERS CONTROL OF PRISONS TO JUSTICE MINISTRY
[15] TAJIK PRESIDENT MEETS WITH RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION
[16] TAJIKISTAN, UN TO ESTABLISH JOINT CENTER TO COORDINATE AID TO
AFGHANISTAN
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[17] TENSE TIMES CONTINUE IN MACEDONIA
[18] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT MEETS PUTIN IN MOSCOW
[19] INFORMATION CHIEF SLAMS MACEDONIAN-LANGUAGE MEDIA
[20] MACEDONIAN PARTY PRESSES FOR REGISTRATION IN BULGARIA
[21] ARMY RESERVISTS TO SUE MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT
[22] MORE CHARGES AGAINST SERBIA'S EX-STRONGMAN
[23] SERBIAN COURT SENTENCING IN ARKAN SLAYING
[24] SERBIAN GENERAL SLAMS 'IDIOTIC RANTING'
[25] MONTENEGRIN, SERBIAN TALKS END IN STALEMATE
[26] NEW CHIEF FOR MONTENEGRIN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
[27] CROATIAN NEWS AGENCY BECOMES PUBLIC
[28] CROATIAN EX-GENERAL SAYS MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN PLANNED BOSNIAN WAR
[29] NEW NON-NATIONALIST BOSNIAN TV STATION ON THE AIR
[30] BALKAN STATES PLEDGE COOPERATION AGAINST TERRORISM
[31] ROMANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VOWS TO FIGHT TRANSYLVANIA'S
'ENCLAVIZATION'
[32] ROMANIAN WORKERS SUMMON PREMIER TO BRASOV
[33] ROMANIAN REFINERY PRIVATIZED
[34] SUSPECTED HIZBALLAH LEADER TO BE EXPELLED FROM MOLDOVA...
[35] ...DENIES LINKS WITH ORGANIZATION
[36] SEPARATISTS BLOCK MOLDOVAN RAILWAY
[37] BULGARIA CLOSES ANOTHER CHAPTER IN EU NEGOTIATIONS; ROMANIA STAGNATES
[C] END NOTE
[38] There is no End Note today.
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] OPPOSITION DEMO PARTICIPANTS DEMAND ARMENIAN PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION
Thousands of people attended a demonstration in Yerevan on 26 October
convened by the three largest Armenian opposition parties, Noyan Tapan and
RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The organizers estimated turnout at 20,
000, while police said fewer than 7,000 people participated. Addressing
participants, former Yerevan Mayor Albert Bazeyan, one of the leaders of
the Hanrapetutiun party, blamed President Robert Kocharian for what he
termed the "unprecedented crisis" in Armenia and again affirmed the
intention of Hanrapetutiun, together with the People's Party of Armenia and
the National Unity Party, to collect enough signatures among parliament
deputies to convene a debate on Kocharian's impeachment. Bazeyan further
accused the authorities of trying to goad the opposition into taking
anticonstitutional actions, but vowed that the opposition parties will not
rise to that bait. LF
[02] ARMENIA MARKS SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF PARLIAMENT KILLINGS
In separate ceremonies on 27 October, President Kocharian and other members
of the Armenian leadership on the one hand, and opposition representatives
and relatives of the victims on the other, laid wreaths at the graves of
the eight senior officials gunned down in the Armenian parliament two years
earlier, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The two ceremonies were timed
not to coincide. Opposition parties and some of the relatives of the
victims remain convinced that the five gunmen, whose trial began in
February, were acting at Kocharian's behest. LF
[03] ARMENIA WILL NOT SEEK NATO MEMBERSHIP
Armenian Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian told journalists in Tbilisi on 26
October that while his country will continue to cooperate closely with NATO
within the framework of the Partnership for Peace program, it does not
intend to join the Atlantic alliance, ITAR-TASS reported. LF
[04] AZERBAIJAN UNVEILS DETAILS OF YET ANOTHER THWARTED COUP ATTEMPT
Ten people have been arrested in Azerbaijan and arrest warrants have been
issued for six more who plotted to assassinate President Aliev in 1999 with
the aim of seizing power, according to a 27 October statement by
Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry reported by Turan and Interfax. The
ministry identified as the masterminds behind that scheme former Baku City
Prosecutor Mamed Guliev, an associate of former President Ayaz Mutalibov;
and Mahir Djavadov, whose brother Rovshan was gunned down while trying to
surrender after mounting what the Azerbaijani authorities claim was a coup
attempt against Aliev in March 1995. Mahir Djavadov was granted political
asylum in Austria but in late 1998 moved to Iran and has since repeatedly
criticized Aliev (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 12, 23 March
1999). Guliev, who has reportedly acquired Russian citizenship, is said to
be in Moscow, where Mutalibov has lived in exile since his ouster in 1992.
LF
[05] COUNCIL OF EUROPE LISTS AZERBAIJAN'S POLITICAL PRISONERS
The Council of Europe unveiled on 25 October a list of 23 persons jailed in
Azerbaijan whom it considers political prisoners, Turan reported the
following day. Those 23, selected from a list of over 700, include former
Interior Minister Iskander Hamidov; former Defense Minister Rahim Gaziev;
former Premier Suret Huseinov; the leader of the self-proclaimed Talysh-
Mughan Republic, Alikram Gumbatov; and former Gyandja city police chief
Natig Efendiev, who was extradited from Turkey last year (see "RFE/RL
Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 4, 28 January 2000). LF
[06] AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT RATIFIES GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENT
The Azerbaijani parliament ratified on 26 October the agreement signed one
month earlier by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Georgia on the export of
natural gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field via a pipeline from Baku via
Tbilisi to Erzerum (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 October 2001), Turan and
Interfax reported. LF
[07] RUSSIA SAYS IT HAS WITHDRAWN MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM ABKHAZ BASE
Russian media and Abkhaz officials reported on 26 October that the last
remaining materiel from the Gudauta military base in Abkhazia, including
ammunition and a Buk antiaircraft gun complex, were loaded onto trains for
transportation to Russia, Reuters, Caucasus Press, and Russian agencies
reported. Under an agreement signed at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in
November 1999, Moscow had undertaken to withdraw all troops and materiel
and close that base by 1 July 2001, but failed to meet that deadline. Some
600 Russian troops are to remain at the base to guard its airfield and
other facilities. Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba protested the
withdrawal, saying the base is a stabilizing factor, Interfax reported. In
Tbilisi, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kahka Sikharulidze and parliament
Defense and Security Committee Chairman Giorgi Baramidze both called for
international monitoring of the Russian withdrawal, suggesting that the
trains were loaded not with weaponry but with scrap metal, Caucasus Press
reported. LF
[08] GEORGIA PROTESTS NEW AIRSTRIKES
The Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 29 October protesting
the bombing the previous day of villages in the Georgian-controlled sector
of the Kodori gorge by fighter aircraft that entered Georgian airspace from
Russia, Caucasus Press reported. There were no casualties in that attack.
Russian aircraft overflew Georgian territory on four separate occasions
later on 28 October. Several houses in the villages of Tishi and Adzagvar
were set on fire in two bombing raids early on 29 October, but it is not
clear whether there are casualties, according to the Georgian Defense
Ministry, as quoted by Caucasus Press. LF
[09] SITUATION IN ABKHAZIA REMAINS TENSE
Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Givi Agrba told journalists in Sukhum on 26
October that a new group of armed men is gathering in the Georgian sector
of the Kodori gorge, Caucasus Press reported. He said that most of the band
are Georgians, as some of the Chechens who participated in the raid earlier
this month have already escaped to Karachaevo-Cherkessia, while other are
in Tbilisi with their leader Ruslan Gelaev. The Georgian presidential
representative in Kodori, Emzar Kvitsiani, rejected Agrba's statement the
same day as unfounded. Agrba also said that an Abkhaz army post in the
unrecognized republic's southernmost Gali Raion came under fire on 26
October during a raid by guerrillas who penetrated Gali from Georgia. One
Abkhaz serviceman was wounded in that attack. LF
[10] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT WILL NOT CALL FOR CIS PEACEKEEPERS' IMMEDIATE
WITHDRAWAL FROM ABKHAZIA
On 29 October, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told journalists in
Tbilisi he has still not signed the resolution passed by the Georgian
parliament on 11 October calling for the immediate withdrawal of the
Russian peacekeeping force deployed under the CIS aegis along the border
between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia, Caucasus Press reported.
Shevardnadze said he will not raise the issue of the peacekeepers'
withdrawal at the CIS summit next month, but will wait until the UN makes a
commitment to provide a replacement force after the Russian contingent
leaves. LF
[11] UN REPRESENTATIVE HOLDS TALKS WITH ABKHAZ LEADERSHIP
Dieter Boden, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General's
Office, held talks with Abkhaz leaders in Sukhum on 25-26 October. Caucasus
Press and the website strana.ru as quoted by Glasnost-North Caucasus said
those talks focused on a possible resumption of talks between Georgian and
Abkhaz representatives, but Interfax on 26 October quoted Abkhaz Foreign
Minister Shamba as saying the only issue discussed was the situation in the
Kodori gorge. LF
[12] KAZAKHSTAN POSTPONES PLANNED ASIAN SECURITY SUMMIT
The first summit of the 16-member Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Asia, which was scheduled to take place on 8-20 November, has been
postponed until the first half of next year, ITAR-TASS reported on 26
October, quoting a statement by Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 15 September 1999 and 5 February 2001). The statement said that
convening the summit at a time when member states are confronted with the
shared problem of fighting terrorism could narrow down the range of issues
included on the agenda. LF
[13] KAZAKH SUES BANK OVER REFUSAL TO USE NATIONAL LANGUAGE
Qayirbek Tokhtarov, a resident of the city of Aqtobe in northwest
Kazakhstan, has begun legal proceedings against the city branch of the
Turan-Alem bank for failure to respect the state language of Kazakhstan,
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Kazakhstan's Constitution requires that
all organizations should provide information in both Kazakh -- the official
language -- and Russian. Bank employees had refused to provide Tokhtarov
with information in Kazakh. LF
[14] KYRGYZSTAN TRANSFERS CONTROL OF PRISONS TO JUSTICE MINISTRY
Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev signed a decree on 24 October transferring
responsibility for administering the country's 36 penitentiaries from the
Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry, Interfax and RFE/RL's Bishkek
bureau reported on 26 October. At a press conference in Bishkek on 26
October, First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Tanaev estimated the number of
persons imprisoned in Kyrgyzstan at 18,000. He said 60 percent of those
found guilty by courts, or some 2,000-2,500 people, are sentenced to prison
terms each year, and called for reducing the number of prison sentences and
the increased imposition of fines against offenders. LF
[15] TAJIK PRESIDENT MEETS WITH RUSSIAN DUMA DELEGATION
Meeting on 26 October with a visiting delegation of deputies from the
Russian State Duma headed by Duma deputy speaker Vladimir Lukin (Yabloko),
President Imomali Rakhmonov again affirmed that relations with Russia
constitute one of the main priorities of Tajikistan's foreign policy and "a
fundamental condition for the development of the sovereignty and
independence of Tajikistan," ITAR-TASS reported. The two sides discussed
regional security and the situation in Afghanistan and agreed on the need
for permanent close cooperation in the fight against international
terrorism and organized crime. Also on 26 October, Duma Defense Committee
Deputy Chairman Eduard Vorobev said that although Russia will not take part
in the ongoing military operation in Afghanistan, it would render
assistance to Tajikistan under the terms of the CIS Collective Security
Treaty in the event of an attack on Tajikistan by a third country. LF
[16] TAJIKISTAN, UN TO ESTABLISH JOINT CENTER TO COORDINATE AID TO
AFGHANISTAN
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima told
journalists in Dushanbe on 26 October that he has reached agreement with
the Tajik leadership on setting up a joint center for coordinating relief
aid to Afghanistan, AP reported. Oshima said 75 percent of that aid will be
shipped to northern regions of Afghanistan. Oshima discussed with Tajik
Emergency Situations Minister Mirzo Zieev the possibility of transporting
relief aid via Tajikistan's Nizhnii Pyandj region. At a second press
conference the following day, Oshima estimated the number of Afghan
displaced persons in the regions of the country bordering on Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan at 500,000, ITAR-TASS reported. He said at
present some 3 million Afghans are in need of humanitarian aid, but that
figure could reach 7.5 million by the end of the year. LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[17] TENSE TIMES CONTINUE IN MACEDONIA
EU security policy chief Javier Solana succeeded in persuading Macedonian
and ethnic Albanian political leaders to accept a compromise formula for
the preamble to the constitution, Reuters reported from Skopje on 28
October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 October 2001). The new formula refers to
Macedonia as a country of "all citizens,...the Macedonian people, as well
as citizens living within its borders who are part of the Albanian people,"
and others, AP reported. Reuters noted that unnamed Western diplomats fear
that recent claims by hard-line parliament speaker Stojan Andov and others
over the alleged massacre of 12 Macedonians by Albanians in July are a
maneuver to reduce Western pressure over constitutional reforms and a long-
promised amnesty to all guerrillas, except for those indicted by The Hague.
On 29 October, Interior Ministry spokesman Vasko Sutarov said the
authorities have prepared 784 indictments against 224 ethnic Albanians, dpa
reported. Sutarov also referred to continued incidents of gunfire by the
Albanians. Reuters quoted unnamed international monitors as saying that the
gunfire was connected with weddings or other celebrations, or with criminal
activity. PM
[18] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT MEETS PUTIN IN MOSCOW
Boris Trajkovski arrived in the Russian capital on 29 October for talks
with President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Defense
Minister Sergei Ivanov, and other officials, AP and ITAR-TASS reported (see
"RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 July and 28 September 2001). After his meeting
with Putin, Trajkovski said: "The antiterror coalition should not just be
concentrated on Afghanistan but also on Chechnya and Macedonia," dpa
reported. He added, "We would like to feel the results of this coalition
also in our own region," Reuters reported. Putin replied that "Russia backs
your efforts, and the efforts of the international community, to harmonize
the situation in the Balkans as a whole and Macedonia in particular... At
our [August] meeting in Kiev, you talked to me about the situation in
Macedonia and in the Balkans, and you gave me some convincing information
about terrorist activities in the region. Unfortunately today, much of what
you told me has been tragically confirmed." PM
[19] INFORMATION CHIEF SLAMS MACEDONIAN-LANGUAGE MEDIA
At a press conference -- which the Skopje daily "Utrinski vesnik" of 27
October described as "scandalous" -- the ethnic Albanian director of the
Macedonian state Agency for Information, Bebi Bexheti, accused ethnic
Macedonian journalists of partisan and unjust reporting during the
conflict. Bexheti said that most information spread by Macedonian-language
media was provided by sources from the Interior Ministry or by party
leaderships. Bexheti added that Macedonian-language media did little or
nothing to inform the public about the hardships of Albanian refugees,
while the fate of Macedonian displaced persons was widely covered. "Instead
of building bridges to the Albanians, the Macedonian media present the
Albanians as being the reason for all the trouble that happens in this
country. Macedonian journalists do not know anything about Albanian culture
and life," the daily "Vest" cited Bexheti as saying. UB
[20] MACEDONIAN PARTY PRESSES FOR REGISTRATION IN BULGARIA
The nationalist United Macedonian Organization Ilinden (OMO-Ilinden), which
claims to represent the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, will press for
legal registration in Bulgaria, the Skopje weekly "Puls" reported on 26
October. At a press conference held in Skopje, Jordan Kostadinov Ivanov,
the organization's leader, said a recent ruling by the European Court of
Human Rights in Strasbourg obliges the Bulgarian government to recognize
the existence of the Macedonian minority there. Successive Bulgarian
governments so far have denied the existence of a Macedonian minority in
Bulgaria, and most Bulgarians believe that Macedonians are really
Bulgarians. OMO-Ilinden has been banned in Bulgaria, and members of the
organization have been subject to discrimination. UB
[21] ARMY RESERVISTS TO SUE MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT
Some 80 army reservists from the central Macedonian town of Prilep plan to
sue the Macedonian government for damages, the Skopje daily "Vest" reported
on 25 October. As the lawyer of the reservists declared, the reservists
will not ask who is responsible for the material and psychological damages
they suffered when a convoy came under fire from ethnic Albanian rebels
near Karpalak on 8 August. Instead, the lawyer said the reservists will
claim sums of between $45,000 and $113,000, depending on whether the
soldier in question was wounded or not. In the ambush near Karpalak on the
Skopje-Tetovo highway, 10 Macedonian soldiers were killed and four wounded
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 and 9 August 2001). Later, the shadowy Albanian
National Army (ANA) took responsibility for the ambush. UB
[22] MORE CHARGES AGAINST SERBIA'S EX-STRONGMAN
On 29 October, former President Slobodan Milosevic made his third
appearance in court in The Hague since the Serbian authorities extradited
him in June, Reuters reported. Prosecutors read out an indictment that he
led a "joint criminal enterprise" against Croats and other non-Serbs in
Croatia during the 1991-1995 conflict. He has previously been indicted for
war crimes in Kosova. Hague chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte is preparing
to raise charges against Milosevic for war crimes in Bosnia (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 22 October 2001). Milosevic refuses to recognize the authority
of the tribunal and dubs himself a "political prisoner of NATO." He told
the tribunal on 29 October: "I have been accused because...I had the honor
to defend my nation from the criminal aggression that was carried out
against it, and to defend my people from terrorism... I have no intention,
still, to familiarize myself with the contents of something that is totally
fabricated and is far from the truth." PM
[23] SERBIAN COURT SENTENCING IN ARKAN SLAYING
On 26 October, a Belgrade court sentenced Dobrosav Gavric to 20 years in
prison in conjunction with the killing of paramilitary leader and
underworld figure Zeljko Raznatovic -- otherwise known as Arkan -- in early
2000, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. The court sentenced two of
Gavric's associates to 15 years imprisonment each. Many questions still
remain about the slaying, including the possible role of Milosevic and his
top associates in the death of Arkan, whom one Serbian tabloid called "the
man who knew too much." PM
[24] SERBIAN GENERAL SLAMS 'IDIOTIC RANTING'
General Nebojsa Pavkovic, who heads the Yugoslav military's General Staff
and commanded Milosevic's forces in Kosova in 1999, told the official
Tanjug news agency that recent charges by Human Rights Watch of systematic
Serbian war crimes during that conflict are "statements by individuals who
suffer from an inferiority complex," AP reported from Belgrade on 28
October (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 October 2001). Pavkovic called the
report "idiotic ranting,...unfounded gossip, and [calculated remarks]." He
added that the Yugoslav military courts have charged 182 soldiers or
officers in conjunction with "violating the law or international
conventions on war." PM
[25] MONTENEGRIN, SERBIAN TALKS END IN STALEMATE
Talks in Belgrade on 26 October between Montenegrin leaders on one hand and
Serbian and Yugoslav officials on the other ended without any agreement,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 October
2001). Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said that the two sides'
positions are too far apart for agreement and that the Serbs do not accept
his demand for a "union of two independent states." Djukanovic added that
he plans to go ahead with plans for a referendum on independence in the
spring of 2002. For his part, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica cited
"historic, economic, and security reasons" for preserving a single state,
AP reported. PM
[26] NEW CHIEF FOR MONTENEGRIN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS
Delegates to the congress of Montenegro's Social Democratic Party (SDP)
elected Vice President Ranko Krivokapic as the party's new president,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Podgorica on 27 October. The
new vice presidents are Miodrag Ilickovic, Rifat Rastoder, and Ivan
Brajkovic. Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic, who is also vice president of
Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), told the SDP congress
that plans for the referendum on independence are going ahead. After the
congress, Krivokapic said he does not plan major personnel changes,
"Vijesti" reported on 29 October. Krivokapic and the SDP support
independence from Serbia and criticized Milosevic's war in Kosova. PM
[27] CROATIAN NEWS AGENCY BECOMES PUBLIC
The parliament has passed legislation to transform the state-run news
agency Hina into a public institution subject to the same standards and
transparency as are public broadcasting stations in EU countries, Deutsche
Welle's "Monitor" reported on 26 October. Hina was long regarded as the
mouthpiece of the government of the late President Franjo Tudjman. Without
state financial support, a Croatian news agency would have little hope of
surviving. The new legislation gives Hina the chance to stay afloat free of
political meddling. PM
[28] CROATIAN EX-GENERAL SAYS MILOSEVIC, TUDJMAN PLANNED BOSNIAN WAR
Former General Milan Spegelj told the Novi Sad daily "Dnevnik" that
Milosevic and Tudjman agreed on a war and a "humane transfer of
populations" in Bosnia at their meeting in Karadjordjevo in 1991, RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported on 28 October. This and other supposedly
secret meetings of the two leaders have been the subject of much
speculation in the former Yugoslavia and abroad over the past decade. PM
[29] NEW NON-NATIONALIST BOSNIAN TV STATION ON THE AIR
Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina began broadcasting
on two channels on 26 October, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. It
replaces the former Television Bosnia and Herzegovina (see "RFE/RL Newsline,
" 26 October 2001). PM
[30] BALKAN STATES PLEDGE COOPERATION AGAINST TERRORISM
On the second day of their gathering in Bucharest, the nine Balkan
Stability Pact members on 26 October issued a joint declaration condemning
"all acts of terrorism, by whomever they are committed and whatever their
motivation," Mediafax reported. Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia,
Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia agreed to cooperate
against "the scourge of terrorism"; to regularly exchange data on terrorist
organizations; to set up special antiterror police units; and to harmonize
antiterrorist legislation. One day earlier, the Romanian government issued
an emergency ordinance providing for stiff prison sentences to those
engaging in terrorist activities and for those causing alarm in the
population through either threats or hoaxes. Terrorist acts are now
punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and acts of spreading false alarm
can draw sentences of three months to three years in prison. Those found
guilty of disseminating toxic or biological material that can cause illness
to people or animals face prison sentences of between three and 15 years.
MS
[31] ROMANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VOWS TO FIGHT TRANSYLVANIA'S
'ENCLAVIZATION'
While addressing a forum of his ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) in
Cluj on 27 October, Ioan Rus harshly attacked Hungary and the Hungarian
Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR), saying they are cooperating to
bring about the "enclavization" of Harghita and Covasna counties, whose
population is primarily Magyar, Mediafax reported the next day. Rus
presented a document worked out by the PSD local branch on the party's
policies in Transylvania that says Hungary and the UDMR have replaced their
former policy of contesting the "national character" of Romania with a
policy of gradual encroachment on Romanian rights in Transylvania, and one
that encourages "separatist tendencies" by playing up differences between
Transylvania and the rest of the country. He said Romania will not "stand
by" and watch the withering away of its sovereignty, and pledged that the
PSD will act to transform Transylvania into the country's "economic motor."
Rus also called for stemming the increase of Hungarian involvement in the
region's economic affairs. UDMR Cluj leader Konya Hamar Sandor, who was
scheduled to address the forum, refused to do so and left in protest. MS
[32] ROMANIAN WORKERS SUMMON PREMIER TO BRASOV
The trade unions at the Brasov-based Roman SA truckmaker demanded on 28
October that Premier Adrian Nastase urgently come to Brasov to "explain to
workers why the Romanian market is dominated by imports, rather than by
local production," Mediafax reported. The "invitation" followed a statement
made by Nastase on 26 October, in which he said the truckmaker is not
competitive on European markets and must be "thoroughly restructured." The
unions said: "The road to Europe cannot pass over the sufferance, hunger,
and desperation" of Brasov workers, and that if Nastase ignores the
invitation they will consider his posture to be one of "defying" the 8,600
employees of the plant. Nastase is leaving on 29 October for an 11-day tour
of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. MS
[33] ROMANIAN REFINERY PRIVATIZED
The large RAFO Onesti refinery, whose privatization has stumbled several
times in 1997, has been purchased by a Portuguese-Romanian consortium that
paid $7.5 million for a 60 percent stake, Romanian television announced on
26 October. The consortium will assume responsibility for the company's
$300 million debt. MS
[34] SUSPECTED HIZBALLAH LEADER TO BE EXPELLED FROM MOLDOVA...
The recent modification of Moldova's citizenship law was prompted by the
necessity to make possible the expulsion from Moldova of Mahmud Ahmad
Hammud, a ringleader of the Hizballah organization who recently married the
daughter of former parliamentary speaker Dumitru Diacov, Flux reported on
27 October, citing sources from the Intelligence and Security Service. The
parliament changed the law, granting the country's president the right to
withdraw citizenship from those who illegally acquired it. The agency said
that between 1992 and 1997 Hammud was involved in criminal activities in
Romania, particularly in the trafficking of narcotics and women. Between
September 1997 and 31 January 2001, he was Lebanon's honorary consul in
Moldova. On 19 October, President Vladimir Voronin withdrew Hammud's
Moldovan citizenship. The suspected terrorist married Diacov's daughter the
next day. MS
[35] ...DENIES LINKS WITH ORGANIZATION
Hammud told Mediafax in Chisinau on 28 October he never had any links with
Hizballah and that all the allegations against him are untrue. The same day,
the Romanian Intelligence Service said Hammud was under constant
surveillance while he was in Romania, and that the service "prevented him
from establishing a personal relationship with Romanian political officials,
" whom he had tried to contact to involve them in "possible illegal
financing." MS
[36] SEPARATISTS BLOCK MOLDOVAN RAILWAY
President Voronin on 28 October held urgent telephone discussions with his
Russian and Ukrainian counterparts after the separatist authorities in
Bendery-Tighina, near the Ukrainian border, blocked the passage of 350
wagons of fuel and lubricants destined for Chisinau, ITAR-TASS reported.
Voronin told Vladimir Putin and Leonid Kuchma that Moldova will act
"strictly in compliance with current international norms." The blocked
transport also includes ethyl alcohol, chlorine, and other toxic materials
that can pose a threat to the population there. Flux reported that the oil
had been dispatched to Moldova by Russia's LUKoil. MS
[37] BULGARIA CLOSES ANOTHER CHAPTER IN EU NEGOTIATIONS; ROMANIA STAGNATES
Bulgaria on 26 October closed the telecommunications chapter in
negotiations with the EU, bringing its tally to 12 completed chapters out
of the 31 of the acquis communautaire, an RFE/RL correspondent in Brussels
reported. Romania did not close any chapters, remaining at eight (the
fewest among all EU candidates), but opened discussions on two more
chapters. The same day, Bulgaria opened negotiations on the sensitive free
movement of labor chapter. Chief Bulgarian negotiator Meglena Kuneva said
Sofia is likely to agree to the same compromise already accepted by Hungary,
Latvia, and Slovakia, which allows current EU members to close their
borders to labor from candidate countries for up to seven years following
enlargement. MS
[C] END NOTE
[38] There is no End Note today.
29-10-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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