OMRI Daily DIgest I, II, No. 138, 18 July 1995

From: "Steve Iatrou" <siatrou@cdsp.neu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] KOZYREV ON BOSNIA.

  • [02] WHERE ARE THE MISSING 15-20,000 MUSLIMS?

  • [03] SERBS CLOSE IN ON ZEPA.

  • [04] BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS UN MUST GO.

  • [05] WASHINGTON, LONDON BLOCK PARIS'S PLAN TO HALT SERBS.

  • [06] FIGHTING CONTINUES AROUND OSIJEK.

  • [07] ARKAN DENIES POLITICKING IN KRAJINA.

  • [08] LARGEST TRIAL EVER ENDS IN KOSOVO.

  • [09] MONTENEGRIN WEEKLY'S ADS CENSORED.

  • [10] BULGARIA, TUNISIA SIGN TRADE AGREEMENT.

  • [11] RUSSIAN ARMS FOR BULGARIAN PROPERTY?

  • [12] U.S.-ALBANIAN MILITARY EXERCISES.

  • [13] BOSNIAN SERB HEALTH MINISTER IN GREECE.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 138, Part I, 18 July 1995

    [01] KOZYREV ON BOSNIA.

    Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said on 17 July that Russia continues to support a political solution to the Bosnian conflict, saying that the Contact Group, the UN Security Council, and other international actors "are far from having exhausted their diplomatic potential in Bosnia," Russian and Western agencies reported. Kozyrev criticized French suggestions that in the wake of recent Bosnian Serb actions, UN peacekeepers must be dramatically reinforced or else withdrawn altogether. He stressed the Russian preference for an alternative policy between those two extremes, and repeated Russian concerns about the possibility of a military escalation of the conflict. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 138, Part II, 18 July 1995

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] WHERE ARE THE MISSING 15-20,000 MUSLIMS?

    The Guardian on 18 July and AFPthe previous day say that some 15-20,000 Muslims from Srebrenica remain missing. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said the Serbs should clarify the fate of the refugees, most of whom are civilian males. She noted that from the onset, Serbian war crimes have been committed systematically as part of a definite strategy. Reuters on 18 July reported that some 4,000 Bosnian government soldiers out of a group of 10,000 survived a Serbian ambush, mine fields, and a 12-hour battle to complete a six-day trek across Serbian territory to reach Tuzla. Refugees described hysteria and suicides among people who feared falling into Serbian hands. But Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's adviser, Jovan Zametica, said that "allegations of torture, murder, rape, and deportation of Muslim civilians are made repeatedly without any independent verification. The truth is that none of these things have happened." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] SERBS CLOSE IN ON ZEPA.

    Bosnian Serb forces have moved to within about 1 kilometer from the center of the "safe area" at Zepa and launched a major mortar attack at mid-morning on 18 July. Nasa Borba said that the Serbs threaten to attack Ukrainian peacekeepers unless NATO stops its overflights. The Ukrainians, Reuters added, are making their weapons inoperative to prevent the Bosnian government soldiers from using them against the Serbs. Government troops last weekend took some of the peacekeepers' weapons in order to defend the UN-declared "safe area" themselves. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] BOSNIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS UN MUST GO.

    The VOA on 18 July quotes Mohamed Sacirbey as saying that the UN's role has come to an end in his embattled republic and that it should go voluntarily or be shown the door. He did not explicitly rule out the UN's remaining under a changed mandate, however. Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic meanwhile offered Bosnian Serbs direct talks on evacuating the sick and wounded from Zepa. Momcilo Krajisnik, the number three man in Karadzic's team, said "we will answer this in an official way." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] WASHINGTON, LONDON BLOCK PARIS'S PLAN TO HALT SERBS.

    A meeting of the international Contact Group's foreign and defense ministers will take place on 21 July in London, following the failure of the British, French, and U.S. military leaders to work out a joint strategy for Bosnia. The International Herald Tribune on 18 July wrote that France wants "a bold military initiative" to stop the Serbs from taking Gorazde and to open a supply road to Sarajevo but that Britain and the U.S. are opposed. AFP noted that the White House fears involvement on the ground but admits it will have to provide some "non-combat" ground forces if U.S. helicopters are used to ferry in British and French units. Washington is also against continuing the cumbersome joint UN-NATO command system, while France wants it kept since Paris does not belong to NATO's command structure. France, meanwhile, has accused the Bosnian government of "sabotaging" the Rapid Reaction Force by attaching too many conditions to its deployment. (See related item in Russian section.) -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] FIGHTING CONTINUES AROUND OSIJEK.

    Serbian forces over the weekend attacked Croatian troops and UN peacekeepers near Osijek, in eastern Slavonia, killing two. Nasa Borba and Croatian media on 18 July reported that the combat is continuing. Osijek is not far from Serbian-held Slavonian territory that Belgrade is believed to want to keep at any cost because of its oil and agriculture. * Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] ARKAN DENIES POLITICKING IN KRAJINA.

    Zeljko Raznatovic, alias Arkan, the internationally wanted war criminal and leader of the notorious paramilitary Tigers, has denied allegations in Nasa Borba on 18 July that his fighters are in Serb-occupied Croatia at the behest of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. In response to suggestions that his forces have intervened in the Republic of Serbian Krajina's political affairs, Arkan observed: "We are no political police, [and] we are here voluntarily and our mission is to defend the Serbian people from genocide . . . not to mix in politics." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] LARGEST TRIAL EVER ENDS IN KOSOVO.

    The trial of 72 ethnic Albanian former policemen ended in Kosovo on 17 July with the sentencing of 69 defendants to between one and eight years in prison, Kosova Daily Report said the same day. The policemen were accused of forming an "Interior Ministry of the Republic of Kosovo" as part of an effort to separate the southern Serbian region from rump Yugoslavia. The trial brings the number of former policemen sentenced on the same charge to 101. The defendants denied the charges, saying they formed an independent police union to protect their rights after 3,500 policemen were fired in 1991. Some 44 ethnic Albanian policemen are still on trial in Prizren, while 32 have been sentenced to prison terms in Pec and Gnjilan. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] MONTENEGRIN WEEKLY'S ADS CENSORED.

    Zoran Jocovic, director-general of Radio and TV Montenegro, has banned the broadcasting of advertisements by the independent Montenegrin weekly Monitor, Montena-fax reported on 14 July. Jocovic reportedly defended the decision on the grounds that the advertisement contains objectionable material. Monitor has suggested that the decision was motivated by political considerations and that Jocovic wants to improve his own political fortunes. This latest move may be a renewed attempt to put the weekly out of commission. The government has already jailed several Monitor journalists (see OMRI Daily Digest, 16 May 1995). -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] BULGARIA, TUNISIA SIGN TRADE AGREEMENT.

    Bulgaria and Tunisia on 15 July signed a trade accord, AFP reported the same day. Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib ben Yahia, the first Arab foreign minister to visit Sofia since 1990, met with Prime Minister Zhan Videnov and Trade Minister Kiril Tsochev to discuss boosting bilateral trade, which fell from an estimated $45 million in 1990 to $10.4 million in 1994 but, according to Tsochev, increased in the first half of 1995. Cultural, scientific, and technical accords were also signed, as well as an agreement between the two countries' foreign ministries. Ben Yahia requested that Bulgarian engineers and doctors go to work in his country. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] RUSSIAN ARMS FOR BULGARIAN PROPERTY?

    Russia is reported to have offeredBulgaria 360 T-72 tanks and 12 MiG-29 jet fighters in return for Bulgarian bonds exchangeable for property, according to 24 Chassa on 17 July. The paper said MiG-MAPO--the Moscow company that builds the MiG- 29--wants to acquire hotels on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and is offering planes worth $500 million. The value of the tanks is still being negotiated. Russia last month agreed to give Bulgaria 100 T-72 tanks and other military equipment to avoid having to destroy them to comply with the European conventional arms treaty. -- Doug Clarke, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] U.S.-ALBANIAN MILITARY EXERCISES.

    As part of the U.S.-Albanian military exercises that will continue until 8 September, a coastal exercise codenamed Sarex 95-2 began on 18 July, Koha Jone reported the same day. Albanian and U.S. military officials claim that the maneuvers have a humanitarian character only. Koha Jone, however, noted that the maneuvers may be regarded as practice for stationing US troops in Bosnia and for possible evacuations from the area. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [13] BOSNIAN SERB HEALTH MINISTER IN GREECE.

    Dragan Kalinic has arrived in Athens to appeal for food and medical resources, AFP reported on 17 July. He said that more than 300 doctors have left hospitals on Bosnian Serb territory and that fuel and food are increasingly rare. In an interview with the Greek daily Elevtheropypia, Kalinic said he favored "a fair division of the territory and the population [in Bosnia] because there is no longer any possibility of Muslims, Croats, and Serbs living together." With regard to the fall of Srebrenica, he said that the enclaves "were safe areas only on paper" and that the "majority of attacks against Serbs took place from them." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a Prague-based nonprofit organization.

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