MAK-NEWS 06/10/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: "M.I.L.S." <mils@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory

CONTENTS

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 6 October 1995

[01] NEW MACEDONIAN FLAG

At yesterday's 27th session of the Macedonian Parliament, 110 parliamentarians voted in favor of the proposal for the new flag of Macedonia, which features a red base, and a gold sun with eight sunrays. Only one delegate voted against this proposal, while four of them abstained.

The flag becomes official immediately after publication today of the decision in the "Sluzben Vesnik", or official Government Gazette, despite regulations which stipulate that such decisions only take effect eight days their publication.

According to A1 TV reports, Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou voiced his satisfaction of the decision as an integral part of the efforts for normalization of relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the session parliamentarians adopted a Declaration which condemns the assassination attempt on President Gligorov, and which holds that it is a terrorist act aimed at the elimination of a remarkable individual and the halting of the course taken by the Macedonian state towards democratization. It was stressed again that there is no force which can prevent Macedonia realizing the path set by the Constitution and other acts.

The Parliament expressed its gratitude to all citizens of Macedonia and to all those both within the country and outside for their clear and unreserved condemnation of the assassination attempt on the President, and also gratitude to the professional medical staff for providing medical assistance to the Macedonian President. Parliament also commented favorably on the positive attitude of the political parties which condemned the act, and in so doing clearly declaring that their policies and activities remain within the framework of the developing democratic processes, and peaceful and lawful functioning of state institutions as permanent civilized values.

The Parliament expects from the relevant authorities an expeditious and efficient investigation to identify the organizers and perpetrators of this disgusting act.

[02] GLIGOROV'S CONDITION

The most recent report on the condition of President Gligorov says that after the most recent medical evaluation, the results are good. Doctors from Ljubljana and London conferred and agreed on appropriate therapy and medication.

The condition of the President is stable, and a significant part of the treatment has been reduced although intensive care continues. Unofficially, it has been revealed that the President has shown some signs of regaining consciousness.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Kiro Gligorov was visited by several state officials.

At around 2 p.m. the President was transferred to the Radiology Institute for another computer scan. A1 TV reported, that journalists are speculating that the President is to be transferred to one of the major world medical centers, and that British Professor L. Saymon, who arrived yesterday in Skopje, is the specialist who shall evaluate whether this is necessary or not. Professor Saymon is an eminent neurosurgeon and former president of the World Association of Neurosurgeons. A medical team from Ljubljana Clinical Center has also arrived in Skopje.

According to a bulletin released by the "France Press" and reported by A1 TV, which referred to anonymous hospital sources, President Gligorov is conscious and none of his vital functions are in danger. If all goes according to plan, according to France Press, the President will be able to leave hospital in several weeks.

On the other hand, the Austrian Press Agency, referring to information obtained from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, reported that the condition of President Gligorov is highly critical, and that he has lost his sight in both eyes, as well as having his right leg amputated. This report however was denied by a government representative in Skopje, as a "ghastly speculation", A1 TV reports.

[03] ''GLIGOROV'S CONDITION MORE CRITICAL THAN REPORTED"

Macedonia media report that, Bulgarian Interior Minister, Ljubomir Nacev, stated that the condition of the Macedonian President is much more critical than reported. He stated that the assassination attempt on Gligorov is the deed of four Macedonian citizens, but refused to gave any further details about this.

A representative of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry rejected all speculations that there is any Bulgarian connection in the assassination attempt on Gligorov.

[04] BRITISH ANTI-TERRORIST TEAM IN SKOPJE

On the invitation of the Macedonian authorities, yesterday in Skopje arrived a five-member team of the London Metropolitan Police, which will assist in the investigation of the assassination attempt on President Gligorov. In an announcement by the British Embassy, it was stated that the members of the team, who are members of the Anti-terrorism Unit, have enormous experience which they will share with their Macedonian counterparts.

[05] MESSAGES AND TELEGRAMS

Yesterday, a large number of get-well messages and telegrams to the President Gligorov were received, which condemned the terrorist act and expressed best wishes for his speedy recovery and eventual return to his duties. Such messages were sent by the following : the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, Pope John Paul II, the President of China, the President of France, the President of Germany, the Prime Minister of Japan, the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Prime Minister of Sweden, the President of Iran, the President of the German Bundestag, the President of the French Senate, the Secretary-General of UNESCO, the President of the International Olympic Committee, the Association of German Writers and many others.

[06] CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS

Macedonian Prime Minister, Branko Crvenkovski, yesterday received a delegation of the Foreign Ministry and other specialists, led by the Assistant Foreign Minister, Ljupco Arsovski, who informed him about the talks held in Athens, October 3-4. These talks were held with a view to finding mutually-acceptable solutions for the free movement of people and goods between the two countries, resulting from the Interim Accord. It was related that the talks were held in a very constructive atmosphere, and several proposals and other possible solutions, which may be a basis for future agreement, came out of the talks. It is expected that the agreement will be signed at the next meeting of the delegations to be held in Skopje next week.

[07] GREEK EVALUATION

The Greek Foreign Ministry provided an evaluation ofr the two-day talks between the delegations of both countries. It was said that the talks were useful and held in an atmosphere of mutual trust. A spokesperson of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Kostas Bikas, in the announcement yesterday, stressed that it is likely that the talks, which were commenced over the past two days, will be concluded next week in Skopje.

The newspaper Ta Nea, according to an A1 TV report, writes that "Athens and Skopje have agreed on 80% of the items for realization of the New York Accord, to the chagrin of those who wish to destabilize the political climate in the Balkans". According to the newspaper, general agreement was reached on the Greek proposal for issuing visas in a special list, as well as documents for goods imported into Macedonia, will continue to bear the name FYROM. There is still no final agreement however on the name to appear on the plate at the front of the Macedonian Liaison Office in Athens, writes Ta Nea, adding that Greece will never accept the title "Republic of Macedonia". There are still other unsolved issues such as, the registration plates on Macedonian cars entering Greece as well as the issue of truck licences.

[08] VMRO-DPMNE REJECTS NEW FLAG

Despite the discrepancies in their political views, the political party VMRO-DPMNE sent best wishes to President Gligorov for a speedy recovery, a public announcement of this party confirmed today. According to the statement, VMRO-DPMNE is astonished by the indifference shown by state authorities over the condition of the President, given the speed with which the negotiations with Greece have continued, without any break, particularly when the institution of the head of state is seemingly endangered.

Temporarily suspending such talks should be a normal practice for any democratic and civilized state. An example of this is the ease with which the Macedonian Parliament unlawfully decided to change the national flag. VMRO-DPMNE has strongly criticized such a move and declares it unacceptable.

[09] MAYOR KEKENOVSKI VISITS ATHENS

Skopje's Mayor Jove Kekenovski is officially visiting Athens. Accepting the invitation of his Athens counterpart, he is participating in the first Conference of the Capital Cities of the countries of Southern Europe. The major theme of the conference is cooperation between the capital cities, and it is being attended by representatives of fourteen different countries.

[10] PRESS CONFERENCE OF ARCHBISHOP MIHAIL

The Head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Father Mihail, yesterday held a press conference , following his return from a one-month visit to the American-Canadian Diocese. He regarded the visit as a very successful one, particularly at its conclusion when a gathering was organized in Detroit, where he was joined by about 10.000 members of Macedonian Church Communities from the USA and Canada. However, Father Mihail pointed that in those countries, our compatriots do not receive a correct view of life in Macedonia. He said that this is deliberately done by "some domestic political parties", and the Macedonian Orthodox Church will not be used as an instrument of any agency nor party to further their cause. The purpose of those political parties, is simply to create discord between Macedonians living there, but he added that among"our compatriots" exists genuine patriotism and close relations with their homeland and the Macdonian Orthodox Church", stated Father Mikhail.

MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

[11] SEARCHING FOR THE UNKNOWN

(Puls, 6 October '95) Despite public eagerness to hear a detailed explanation of the terrible event, and more specific information as to how and why it happened on "bloody Tuesday", no official announcements have been made as yet on this score. However, it is nonetheless expected.The precision shown in the carrying out of the assassination attempt , suggest that not even the smallest mistake can be made in the investigation.

Wrong accusations in respect of some person/s or organization/s would be ensure the complete collapse of the entire security system in the country.

In order to properly analyze the activities of police in the past few days, one needs to consider those few dramatic minutes on Tuesday morning. A period of about two or three minutes is in question - commencing from the time when the President's vehicle turned into Boulevard "Mito Hadzivasilev Jasmin" to the very moment of the explosion. From here on begin the speculations. According to one, when turning from the Boulevard into "Macedonia" Street , the "Mercedes" found itself behind the enigmatic "Zastava 750", which had come from the opposite direction of the Boulevard and turned into "Macedonia" Street in front of the President's vehicle.

Another version claims that when the President's car turned into "Makedonija" Street in front of the City Museum of Skopje, the white "Zastava 750" suddenly appeared in front of the President's car and deliberately started to slow down. There was even speculation that at one moment it stopped, and the chauffeur of the President's car alighted and asked the driver to move out of the way. All those speculations turned out to be false after the official explanation that in that "Zastava 750" were policemen (in civil clothes), and that it had not deliberately slowed down, but that, as some witnesses said, they were the very persons that removed the President from the Mercedes, and afterwards a security detail of the police force travelling in a BMW, transfered the President into their car and,despite having a flat tyre, conveyed him to the hospital. In any case, the passengers of the "Zastava 750" were taken into custody and, as announced yesterday, the investigation in respect of these persons continues..

Apart from the white "Zastava 750", and the key "Citroen - Amy 8", there is another vehicle that has provoked various comments and indeed, contradictory opinions. It is a mysterious "Renault" which appears in several versions as a - "16", "18", "25" model. Media reports state that, about an hour after the assassination attempt, various sources point to the fact that the "Renault", immediately after the explosion, left the scene at high speed. This coincides with police opinions, heard at very scene, that somewhere in the Skopje suburb, Avtokomanda, the 'famous' Renault, bearing Titov Veles registration, was stopped, and inside were "two men with beards dressed in dark suits". This already implies something. However, soon after it was announced that those persons, after being held and questioned at the Fifth District Police Station, were released and apparently were not connected at all with the assassination attempt. We should also mention the statement given by the Director of "Invest Bank", Kiril Mitrovski, regarding the escape of the "Renault", for Nova Makedonija and Vecer, which was then retracted by him the very next day.

The scene of the assassination attempt, as well as neighboring streets, were all sealed off from 10 a.m onwards. First at the scene were police from the First District Police Station, as well as security personnel from the Foreign Ministry. The crime scene was sealed off with tape by 10,15 a.m. At the same time all neighbouring buildings were closed. Persons were allowed entry, but not entitled to leave.. At around noon, the Minister for Internal Affairs Ljubomir Frckovski arrived at the scene. He looked very distressed. After brief consultations with his officers, he returned to his office.

Evidence gathering took several hours. At around 5 p.m., the first official report was provided by police. It was stated that a car-bomb had exploded in a "Citroen-Ami 8" with Kumanovo registration, which had been parked on the left side of the street, directly across from the "Bristol" Hotel, and the explosive (according to first estimations was about 20 kg) had been placed in the trunk of the car. In the car-bomb was also found a bag of sand ( now revealed that in fact there were two of them), whose purpose was to direct the explosion towards the President's car (the explosive force expounded at a 100 degree angle). The activation of the explosive was made by a remote control device. At this point, the President was sitting in the front seat, next to his driver. It was also announced that several persons are being held in custody on the basis of their alleged involvement in the assassination attempt. Several cars, which had been seen behaving suspiciously for several days leading up to the assassination attempt, have also been impounded, and their registration checked. Beside these 'several persons', speculation has been spread amongst journalists. Firstly, estimations as to their number were made - initially, there were two, then four, then three of them. Afterwards, there was no information as to whether they were being held in custody or even arrested. At the same time there were speculations about their identity. One claimed that they were Macedonian citizens, another foreign (to be precise Bulgarian) citizens. The place of arrest was not stipulated - whether it was Skopje, the road to Kumanovo, or to Ohrid, or wherever.

This is the first case of a classic terrorist act in Macedonia, if we exclude the assassination of the Turkish Ambassador in Belgrade by Kurdish terrorists, in 1983, in the former Yugoslavia. Even specialists in MIA admit that their own resources are not sufficiently well trained for the simple reason that there have not been any cases like this to this point in time in practice. For these reasons, they sought and received assistance from explosives and anti-terrorist experts from the USA. The FBI, commenced an investigation in respect of the attempt on the first day.

Yesterday, by invitation of the Macedonian authorities in Skopje, a five-member team from the London "Metropolitan" police arrived to help with the investigation. The members of this team are all from the anti-terrorist unit, and have enormous experience in uncovering the details of these types of terrorist acts. Further, it has been announced that German police specialists will also arrive shortly.

The public took great interest in the press conference held in MIA on Wednesday. According to our evaluation, there were around 50 journalists, reporters and photo-reporters both from within the country and outside, mainly from Greece. It was expected that many unexplained matters and speculations would be resolved. Such expectations were not fulfilled however. The major part of the press conference was dedicated to matters that were already known - where the President's car had been travelling, where the car-bomb was placed, where the explosives were put etc. It was stated that the perpetrators and their possible 'organizers'' had not been identified. Around 150 persons were taken into custody and investigated, but not one of them was arrested and charged. MIA suggests that in the assassination attempt there were at least two persons involved. Concerning speculations that there were indications that an attempt would be made on the life of the President, the MIA denied that there were any such indications.

The most interesting part of the press conference was the statement of the Chief of Staff of the Security Service, Blagoja Nikolovski. After his speech that his unit follows international standards for protecting the highest state officials and that it is highly trained for carrying out its work, a veritable flood of journalist's questions followed, whereby it was evident that he became quite lost and confused. It was revealed for example that the President's car was nor armoured ("do you know that such a car costs 500.000 DM"), that the Mercedes was not preceded by another car of his security detail, as well as that the unit, instead of following procedure, which requires the President to sit in the back seat, followed the President's own wish and allowed him to sit in the front. Despite this,Mr.Nikolovski was not at all convinced by these arguments, and when he heard the remarks about his unit, he asked "And what kind of improper execution of responsibility are you referring to?" The police, though identifying the type of chemical explosive used (ammonium nitrite), refused to announce its origin, i.e. the country that it came from. In answer to the question about failure to change the Presidential route, he answered in the affirmative, which many viewed skeptically, given that the black "Mercedes" can often be seen in "Vodnjanska" Street, not only while in motion, but also while waiting for the "green light" at the intersection.

In the Declaration adopted yesterday by the Macedonian Parliament, it was said that "the responsible authorities are shortly expected to resolve the matter of the assassination attempt on President Gigorov". The Chief of Staff of the Criminal Procedures Department, Kiril Stankovski, said at the press conference that an enormous amount of evidence has been obtained which is still being processed and analyzed. The investigation continues.

(end)

mils news 6 October'95