Epilogh OMRI Daily Digest II, No.44, 2 March 1995 [**] Ta nea ths hmeras, apo to OMRI: [01] . CROATIA STANDS FIRM ON UNPROFOR. [02] . "SOME OF THE WORST ETHNIC CLEANSING SINCE LAST YEAR." [03] . CONTACT GROUP MEETS MILOSEVIC. [04] . RUMP YUGOSLAV ARMY OFFICIAL SACKED. [05] ** U.S. TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO MACEDONIA? [06] ** PAKISTANI DEFENSE MINISTER IN BOSNIA AND ALBANIA. [Epidiwkei thn beltiwsh twn dimerwn sxesewn me thn Ellada o Mperisa.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OMRI DAILY DIGEST No. 44, Part II, 2 March 1995 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE [01] CROATIA STANDS FIRM ON UNPROFOR. The Croatian Defense and National Security Council met at the Presidential Palace on 1 March, Hina reports. An official statement on President Franjo Tudjman's decision to end UNPROFOR's mandate as of 31 March states: "The Council is determined to stick to the decision . . . The mandate will not be extended. As proof of its determination to achieve a peaceful solution and the reintegration of the occupied areas, Croatia is willing to accept the presence of international monitors on its internationally recognized borders with Serbia and Bosnia. Croatia will not accept a new UNPROFOR, or the deployment of any forces in the disengagement zone in Croatia [that is, along the current battle lines between Croatian and Krajina Serb forces]." Zagreb charges that the UN presence along those lines has served only to protect Serbian conquests. Novi list on 2 March quotes Chief of the General Staff General Janko Bobetko as saying that control of Croatia's borders with Serbia and Bosnia would "solve the crisis" in Zagreb's view. Nasa Borba, however, cites Defense Minister Gojko Susak as arguing that if a new war should break out, "the international community will not react if we work professionally and quickly, as our army is capable of doing." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. [02] "SOME OF THE WORST ETHNIC CLEANSING SINCE LAST YEAR." This is how a UN spokesman on 1 March summed up the expulsion from the Banja Luka area of 679 Muslims and Croats, whose houses were dynamited. Nasa Borba on 2 March reports that the Banja Luka Serbs also arrested six employees of the Muslim charity organization Merhamet. The Serbs had previously detained three other Merhamet workers elsewhere in Bosnia. UN officials on 1 March said that both government and Serbian forces are hindering movement of UN personnel. AFP added that for the first time, the Serbs have issued a blanket ban on all UN refugee agency convoys heading for Sarajevo. In other news, Vecernji list on 2 March reports that a large contingent of Zagreb doctors has arrived in Nova Bila, in central Bosnia. The historic monastery has a hospital that was all but destroyed in the fighting between Croats and Muslims in 1993, during which the Bosnian Croats often complained that Zagreb had abandoned them. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc. [03] CONTACT GROUP MEETS MILOSEVIC. Representatives of the international Contact Group met in Belgrade on 1 March with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. According to international news agencies, the purpose of the latest meeting was to secure Milosevic's backing for a peace plan and to sound out his views on the situation in the former Yugoslavia. Milosevic has been unwilling so far to endorse a plan whereby Belgrade would recognize Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia. According to a Reuters account, Contact Group delegates were tight-lipped after the meeting. Members of the group are slated to hold an emergency meeting in Paris on 2 March. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. [04] RUMP YUGOSLAV ARMY OFFICIAL SACKED. Tanjug on 1 March reported that Col. Ljubodrag Stojadinovic, head of the rump Yugoslav army's propaganda division, was dismissed the same day, following trial by military tribunal on charges of impugning the president and the military. According to Belgrade's independent Radio B 92, Stojadinovic's dismissal may have far-reaching consequences, signaling to other alleged pro- Bosnian Serb nationalists that they, too, may be purged. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc. [05] U.S. TO SEND MORE TROOPS TO MACEDONIA? The U.S. administration is considering sending more troops to Macedonia, the Baltimore Sun reported on 2 March. A senior administration official said 500 to 10,000 additional soldiers could be stationed there. Between 300 and 600 U.S. army soldiers have been part of the 1,100-strong UN peacekeeping force in Macedonia since 1993. National Security Adviser Anthony Lake told reporters on 1 March that sending additional troops to Macedonia is being considered because of the danger of a widening Balkan war. "Macedonia becomes extremely important because of its ethnic mix and because of Greece's interest in Macedonia," Lake was cited as saying. U.S. officials fear that a possible Serbian move against Macedonia may lead to a Balkan war involving neighboring countries. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc. [06] PAKISTANI DEFENSE MINISTER IN BOSNIA AND ALBANIA. Aftab Shaaban Mirani, during his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 March, celebrated the Bajram holiday with the 3,000 Pakistani UNPROFOR soldiers stationed there and met with President Alija Izetbegovic. He is to arrive in Albania on 3 March for a three-day visit, Gazeta Shqiptare reported the previous day. Mirani is scheduled to meet with Defense Minister Safet Zhulali and will also visit Croatia. Meanwhile, Albanian President Sali Berisha said Tirana is ready to improve relations with Greece, despite the recent killing of two illegal Albanian immigrants by Greek border guards, Reuters reported on 1 March. Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias will visit Albania on 13 March. According to Deutsche Welle's Albanian-language service on 1 March, the Greek government is preparing a law to regulate migration from Albania to Greece. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc. [As of 12:00 CET] Compiled by Jan Cleave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------