BOSNEWS digest 451 - 31/10/95

From: Dzevat Omeragic <dzevat@ee.mcgill.ca>

Bosnia-Herzegovina News Directory

CONTENTS

[01] IZETBEGOVIC'S INTERVIEW FOR "THE NEW YORK TIMES"

New York, Oct 29, 1995 (Press TWRA) - "The New York Times" released the interview with B-H president A. Izetbegovic in the eve of the negotiations of Bosnian president with Tudjman and Milosevic.

Izetbegovic repeated that the West was responsible for protection of B-H integrity, first by making pressure on Croatian president Tudjman who did not stop jeopardizing B-H integrity although Bosnian Croats and Catholic Church supported strengthening of the B-H Federation.

Izetbegovic claims that paramilitary HVO backed by Croatian army, has 2O% of the B-H territory under its control trying to keep that area out of the Sarajevo government supervision. "To some extent, we are allies on the battleground but when they take some area they regard it as their but not our common area", says Izetbegovic stating two examples - Mostar and Jajce. Mostar has been under EU administration for 15 months now but due to Croatian side's obstructions and blockades it has not been reintegrated yet. Croatian forces, after capturing Jajce, forbade return for Bosniak refugees to that town in which Bosniaks were majority population before Serb occupation of the town. Regarding forthcoming negotiations Izetbegovic said that there would not be peace till the criminal leaders R. Karadzic and R. Mladic as well as their associates were not removed. B-H president says that free elections in all parts of Bosnia are crucial for achieving peace with the NATO forces deployment throughout B-H as a prerequisite for that. NATO units are the only guarantee of free movement, freedom of media and unimpeded work and movement of foreign observers. Asked about possible participation of Russian forces in such operation, Izetbegovic says: "Russians should be included in the operation to help president Yeltsin with next elections. The whole world should help Yeltsin to stay in power as, regardless of how much and if he is good or bad, the others are even worse."

[02] THE USA - CROATIA : COOLING RELATIONS

Rijeka, New York, Oct 29, 1995 (Press TWRA)-The US correspondent of the independent Croatian daily "Novi List" published in Rijeka, Vjekoslav Krsnik, referring to the leading US media, and high officials to Washington, writes that political and military power that Croats achieved with the US support begins to cause uneasiness in the State Department and the White House. Relations are deteriorating due to serious crimes committed against Serbs in liberated part of Croatia, haste of Zagreb to liberate the remaining occupied territory militarily, hardly hidden racism of Tudjman's govt. towards Bosniaks and continued and restored attempts to split up and undermine statehood of the neighbouring B-H. The same source informs that Bill Clinton threatened F. Tudjman with sanctions.

[03] ELECTIONS IN CROATIA, SERBS SHELL WIDER AREA OF DUBROVNIK

Zagreb, Oct 29, 1995 (Press TWRA) - Parliamentary elections are held today in Craotia for 127 members of the House of the Representatives of Croatian Parliament (Sabor). Eighty of them are elected proportionally to the votes that party lists gain. A party must have over 5% votes to enter Sabor, two-party coalition over 8% and three or more-party coalition over 11% of votes. In electorial units, in accord with majority system, 28 members are being elected for the Lower House of Sabor. Seven members are elected by national minorities - three by Serbs, one by Hungarians and by Italians and the remaining two will be representatives of Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Austrians, Ukrainians, Ruthenians and Bosniaks who are after Serbs the most numerous minority as well as Albanians, Slovenians and Gypsies who are also numerous minorities without the right to elect their representatives as Croatian govt. (not Constitution) estimates that they are not "authothonous minorities". The other 12 representatives will be elected by "Croatian diaspora", i.e. by Croatian citizens abroad who according to official data from 42 states make population of 36O,OOO, nearly 9O% of them in B-H. The data states that more than 3OO,OOO Croatian citizens live in B-H today, most of them in the self-styled "Croatian Republic of Herzeg Bosnia", although relevant data say that in Bosnia there are not so many Croatian citizens with the right to vote (i.e. of age), especially with citizenship of the Republic of Croatia. Bosnian govt. announced that the right to vote for Croatian parliament have only persons with double citizenship who do not have permanent residence in B-H but Zagreb ignored that view. So, the elections are being held in a few towns under B-H govt. control and all areas of the so-called Herzeg Bosnia. Supervision of the elections is hardly possible, in that area and to control if some of the voters will use their right to vote at some of 77 polling places in the nearby Croatia planned for "Croats from abroad who are in Croatia during the elections."

Croatian opposition comments that by allowing Bosnian Croats to vote at Croatia's parliamentary elections the Government has made two mistakes - continues policy of division of B-H and holds B-H Croats as minority or a diaspora although they originate from B-H and did not move there and although they have the status of the sovereign people and constitutive element, the president of Sabor N. Mihanovic who by the Constitution is president Tudjman's deputy, rejected the comments saying: "It is clear that Croats to B-H are not minority or a diaspora but we had to prejudge firm state-judiciary relations of that area with Croatia". B-H media referred to Mihanovic's statement as confession of the annexation of a part of B-H trying to achieve an accomplished fact.

British papers "The Guardian" criticizing policy of the Croatian president Tudjman cites an important official of Tudjman's party HDZ Tomislav Krusic who explains the voting of Bosnian Croats by including Croats from the area "which before the establishment of B-H in 1945, was a part of Croatia. Krusic refers to Hitler's puppet state of Independent State of Croatia which existed from 1941 to 1945 including B-H. /end/ A.S.

[04] NUMEROUS ACTIVITIES OF THE TRIBUNAL IN THE HAGUE

The Hague, Oct 29, 1995 (Press TWRA) - International Tribunal for crimes committed in ex-Yugoslavia accepted the demand of defence of the suspected Serb war criminal D. Tadic for postponing the trial till next year. Tadic's lawyers explained that by collecting evidence to prove the innocence of their client. Meanwhile, it is found that among the witnesses at the continued trial will be an English writer of the book "Seasons In Hell", Ed Vulliamy a journalist of the British papers "The Guardian" and correspondent of the British "The Observer" and Italian "La Stampa" who lives in Italy, Britain and the USA and has been several times an the front lines and many other areas in ex - Yugoslavia, particularly in B-H in the past few years. Three years ago, he met Dusko Tadic in Serb death camp of Omarska and witnessed his brutal treatment of the captured whose guard commander was D. Tadic. R. Goldstone, the main prosecutor of the Tribunal, announced an investigation and indictment against all those who used media to spread hatred and encouraged crimes. The Croatian independent daily "Novi list" commentator Jelena Lovric, wonders in today's column if that might be the reason for absence of the main Croatian TV correspondent from B-H Smiljko Sagolj who has become notorious for his intolerance towards Bosniaks.

Undefined fate of two to three thousand of Bosniak and Croatian civilians from the Banjaluka region who were taken from their homes by Karadzic's Serbs and missing ever since, is in the focus of the Hague Tribunal attention. Croatian Ambassador to the UN Mario Nobilo demanded urgent measures of the Security Council to be saved of the same fate as the people from Srebrenica.

"The Christian Science Monitor" and "The Washington Post" write about the massacre of the people in Srebrenica as the most severe crime in Europe after WW II. In a few days, Serbs killed several thousand of people supervised by Ratko Mladic personally and the "operation" was in collusion with Belgrade. Beside the facts "the Washington Post" has some stories told by the survivors from Srebrenica - Mevludin Oric, Smail Hodzic, Hurem Suljic, Hasan Mustafic, Zulfo Salihovic, etc. The papers cites defence secretary W. Perry who sees Srebrenica as a drop over a full glass of the western patience. Yet, it seems that Serbs have not learnt the lesson and after the NATO strikes again committed crimes near Banjaluka, writes "The Washington Post".

Belgrade - Serb weekly "Nin" writes that Milosevic will be demanded in Dayton extradition of Mladic and Karadzic first time they step on the ground of Serbia and "Yugoslavia" while in the meantime extradition of Zeljko Raznjatovic Arkan, the leader of the paramilitary terrorist group "Serb Tigers" will be demanded. Milosevic could claim that Mladic and Karadzic are out of his reach but it cannot be said for Arkan who spends most of his time in Serbia though he often visits the occupied part of Croatia and B-H. Arkan does not often travel abroad as Interpol looks for him due to crimes in western Europe. Goldstone is interested in Arkan due to his open involvement in genocide in B-H & Croatia. /end/