OMRI Daily Digest II, No. 147, 31 July 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?

  • [02] TUDJMAN STANDS FIRM ON KRAJINA.

  • [03] MLADIC SAYS CROATS "WILL PAY DEARLY".

  • [04] DID THE DUTCH AID MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS?

  • [05] MAZOWIECKI FEARS FOR THE MISSING.

  • [06] BELGRADE CAUTIOUS ON KRAJINA . . .

  • [07] . . . BUT CONDEMNS CROATIA.

  • [08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PARTY CONFERENCE.

  • [09] BULGARIAN PREMIER ATTACKS PRESIDENT, CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.

  • [10] ALBANIAN TV DIRECTOR SACKED.

  • [11] SECRET MEETING BETWEEN ALBANIAN, SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.

  • [12] GREECE DEMANDS SOLE RIGHT TO STAR OF VERGINA.

  • [13] TURKISH ISLAMISTS PROTEST BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO.

  • [14] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER?"

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 147, Part II, 31 July 1995

    EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE

    [01] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?

    NATO officials have"serious suspicions" that a Czech electronic system that can detect the latest "stealth" aircraft is being used by Bosnian Serb forces, Mlada fronta dnes reported on 31 July, quoting unnamed sources close to NATO headquarters. The daily said suspicions that the "Tamara" detection system was in use grew from the shooting down of an American F-16 fighter over Bosnia-Herzegovina in early June. The Czech Foreign Ministry said no Tamara system has been exported to the former Yugoslavia since the Czech Republic came into existence. The government on 26 July authorized the makers of Tamara, which detects the electronic emissions from a target aircraft's avionics, to export one of the devices. Mlada fronta dnes reported on 29 July that the recipient will be Kyrgyzstan. -- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] TUDJMAN STANDS FIRM ON KRAJINA.

    International media on 31 July reported that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman called a six-point agreement between the Krajina Serb rebels and UN special envoy Yasushi Akashi "unacceptable." The Serbs pledged to stop shelling Bihac and to pull their troops out of Bosnia, although they have previously denied involvement there and although the plan has no timetable. The Serbs would have received some benefits, including a share of aid shipments and a promise that UNCRO would deploy on Mt. Dinara, from which the Croats can shell Knin. Tudjman said instead that UNCRO must be stationed on all of Croatia's frontiers and that "this is particularly urgent because in recent days there have been new shipments of troops and equipment from the [rump] Yugoslav army across the Danube." He added that the Serbs must join serious talks about the reintegration of Krajina into Croatia. This includes reopening pipeline, railway, and highway links as well as guaranteeing the Serbs some autonomy in the Glina and Knin areas and a package of rights as an ethnic minority. Tudjman on 29 July warned the Serbs to negotiate or be reincorporated into Croatia by force. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] MLADIC SAYS CROATS "WILL PAY DEARLY".

    Bosnian Croat and Croatian units on 28 July took Glamoc and the key town of Grahovo, which controls land communications between Knin and Bosnian Serb territory. Serbian refugees have been fleeing to Knin ever since, but UN officials on 31 July did not provide an estimate of how many people have been involved. Figures of about 5,000 refugees were given on 28 July. Krajina and Bosnian Serb leaders subsequently declared heightened states of emergency in their respective areas. Bosnian Serb commander General Ratko Mladic told Tanjug on 30 July that the Croats "will pay dearly" for their conquests. Some commentators noted that his men still control the high ground around the two towns and that the Serbs elsewhere might be tempted to fire rockets at Zagreb or shell the Dalmatian tourist centers. Fighting around Bihac appears to have subsided amid reports that the Croats are consolidating their gains while some Krajina Serb units are leaving to defend Knin. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] DID THE DUTCH AID MASSACRE OF MUSLIMS?

    The daily De Volkskrant on 28July wrote that the Dutch UNPROFOR commander had made a deal with Mladic whereby the Dutch could leave Srebrenica but Muslim men between 17 and 60 would be taken and "debriefed." It now seems certain that many or most of the men from Srebrenica were massacred and that a similar fate met the men from Zepa who did not flee into the woods. The French group Doctors of the World on 30 July said that military-aged men from both "safe areas" had "completely disappeared." The BBC on 29 July reported that Zepa had been looted and burned, while its Muslim civilian negotiator had been "detained" and his military counterpart had "disappeared." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] MAZOWIECKI FEARS FOR THE MISSING.

    The BBC on 29 July quoted former UN human rights envoy Tadeusz Mazowiecki as saying that witnesses told him of having seen decapitated and limbless corpses, while others spoke of Serbian soldiers carrying the heads and limbs of their victims. He said he feared that at least half of those still missing have met grisly deaths. Mazowiecki was speaking in Poland after having resigned his post in protest over the failure of the international community to act against genocide in Srebrenica in Zepa. He pointed out that "cutting off noses is not a civilized action, nor is silent consent." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] BELGRADE CAUTIOUS ON KRAJINA . . .

    Official Belgrade reaction to developments in and around Krajina was muted, international media reported. As Croatian and Bosnian Croat troops moved toward Knin, the Krajina capital currently held by rebel Croat Serbs, Belgrade refrained from offering them direct support, calling instead for a diplomatic resolution to the situation. AFP reported federal rump Yugoslav President Zoran Lilic as saying that the rump Yugoslavia "demands that all warring parties meet immediately around the negotiating table, without pre-conditions." BETA added that Lilic also renewed calls for lifting international sanctions against Belgrade, which, he said, would serve to promote regional peace and frustrate the ambitions of "extremist elements" advocating war. AFP reported that Belgrade failed to back calls by the Krajina Serb mission in Belgrade for a rally to protest what the mission dubbed "Croatian aggression." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] . . . BUT CONDEMNS CROATIA.

    Meanwhile, Belgrade has condemned Croatia for what was described as Zagreb's "aggressive behavior" in Bosnia- Herzegovina, AFP reported. Reuters on 30 July reported that retreating Bosnian Serb forces in the area called for Belgrade's direct intervention on their behalf but received no direct commitment from the Serbian capital. Belgrade, however, appealed for "energetic international political action" to halt Croatian "aggression." -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIAN SOCIALISTS HOLD PARTY CONFERENCE.

    The Bulgarian Socialist Party on 28-29 July held a national party conference in Sofia, Bulgarian newspapers reported on 31 July. The delegates approved the Socialist-led government's policies during its sixth months in office, which, they said, were in keeping with the party's election platform. They also approved the program for the rest of the BSP's term but called for stepped-up efforts in privatization, the energy sector, and fighting crime. Winning the local elections in October was described as the BSP's most important task in the near future. Demokratsiya reported that former party leader Aleksandar Lilov urged that a reshuffle take place in order to improve the cabinet's effectiveness. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] BULGARIAN PREMIER ATTACKS PRESIDENT, CONSTITUTIONAL COURT.

    Zhan Videnov, speaking at the BSP conference, strongly criticized President Zhelyu Zhelev and the Constitutional Court, Reuters reported on 28 July. Videnov said both were obstructing the policies of his government. Zhelev, he commented, "blocks the rule of the Democratic Left [and] behaves more like a candidate [for] opposition leader than . . . a head of state," whereas the Constitutional Court "behaves like an alternative parliament." The Constitutional Court in June backed Zhelev in his row with the BSP over an amendment to the land law, arguing it violated the constitution. Videnov also said that the "confrontation between the institutions of the legislative, judicial, and executive powers [is] typical for countries in transition." -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] ALBANIAN TV DIRECTOR SACKED.

    The Albanian parliament on 28 July dismissed Skender Bucpapa, director of Albanian TV and Radio, as well as other high-ranking officials, BETA reported the same day. The opposition had criticized Bucpapa frequently for bias toward the ruling Democratic Party and for declining to address major political and social problems in Albania. Members of the Democratic Party recently alleged abuse of office by Bucpapa. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [11] SECRET MEETING BETWEEN ALBANIAN, SERBIAN SOCIALISTS.

    The Albanian and Serbian socialist party leaderships on 29 July held a secret meeting in Sofia, BETA reported the next day. No details have been released on either the topics discussed or the outcome of the talks. Representatives of the Albanian Socialists had participated in the Conference of the Balkan Left in Belgrade on 21-22 July, which called for lifting sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [12] GREECE DEMANDS SOLE RIGHT TO STAR OF VERGINA.

    Greece took an unprecedented step in its row with Macedonia over the Star of Vergina, the Athens daily Kyriakiatiki Elevtherotypia reported on 30 July. The Greek government in early July demanded that the UN World Intellectual Property Organization grant Greece the exclusive rights to the symbol, which dates back to the times of ancient Macedonia. Greece regards it is a purely Greek symbol, and strictly opposes its use on the Macedonian flag. -- Stefan Krause, OMRI, Inc.

    [13] TURKISH ISLAMISTS PROTEST BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO.

    More than 50,000 Turks in Konya protested the arms embargo against Bosnia-Herzegovina on 29 July. Shouting "God Is Great," the demonstrators burned U.S. and UN flags and demanded an immediate end to the embargo, Reuters reported the same day. Turkey was one of eight Organization of Islamic Conference states that on 26 July declared the UN embargo "invalid" and gave the West a "last chance" to take concrete action before they defied the arms embargo. Meanwhile, Anatolia, the semi-official news agency, on 25 July reported that Turkey plans to sign a military cooperation accord with Bosnia in early August. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc.

    [14] ARE BOSNIAN SERBS USING CZECH "STEALTH-SPOTTER"?

    NATO officials have"serious suspicions" that a Czech electronic system that can detect the latest "stealth" aircraft is being used by Bosnian Serb forces, Mlada fronta dnes reported on 31 July, quoting unnamed sources close to NATO headquarters. The daily said suspicions that the "Tamara" detection system was in use grew from the shooting down of an American F-16 fighter over Bosnia-Herzegovina in early June. The Czech Foreign Ministry said no Tamara system has been exported to the former Yugoslavia since the Czech Republic came into existence. The government on 26 July authorized the makers of Tamara, which detects the electronic emissions from a target aircraft's avionics, to export one of the devices. Mlada fronta dnes reported on 29 July that the recipient will be Kyrgyzstan. -- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.

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

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