OMRI Daily Digest I,II, No. 162, 21 August 1995

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

CONTENTS

  • [01] RUSSIA PRESSES FOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON YUGOSLAVIA.

  • [02] MILITARY SITUATION REMAINS TENSE IN CROATIA AND BOSNIA.

  • [03] REPORTS OF "COMPELLING EVIDENCE" OF SREBRENICA MASSACRE.

  • [04] MORE ON ETHNIC CLEANSING IN BANJA LUKA.

  • [05] KRAJINA UPDATE.

  • [06] U.S. OFFICIALS DIE IN BOSNIAN ROAD ACCIDENT.

  • [07] MILOSEVIC, PAPOULIAS TALK PEACE.

  • [08] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ON CHANGES IN MILITARY.

  • [09] KOSOVAR LEADERS VISIT MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS.

  • [10] ALBANIAN-MONTENEGRIN BORDER INCIDENT.

    •

    OMRI DAILY DIGEST

    No. 162, Part I,II, 21 August 1995

    RUSSIA

    [01] RUSSIA PRESSES FOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON YUGOSLAVIA.

    Russia hopes to organize a conference of all the warring parties in the Yugoslav conflict this October, a high-ranking Russian diplomat told Interfax on 19 August. The conference, which would also include representatives of the international Contact Group, could use the most recent U.S. peace proposals as a starting point, according to the diplomat. He added that Moscow could be the site of the conference and, if it were successful, international sanctions against rump Yugoslavia could be lifted. On 18 August, an anonymous source at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Trade told AFP that Russia would soon sign several economic cooperation agreements with rump Yugoslavia, although it is unclear if their terms would violate the UN sanctions. Other sources said the agreements concern oil and a joint gas pipeline construction project. Earlier cooperation agreements signed by Moscow and Belgrade will not enter into force until sanctions are lifted. -- Scott Parrish, OMRI, Inc.

    SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [02] MILITARY SITUATION REMAINS TENSE IN CROATIA AND BOSNIA.

    The BBC on 20 August quoted UN officials as saying that some 10,000 Croatian soldiers backed by tanks, artillery, and rockets had assembled in the Dubrovnik area. The Croats exchanged salvos with the Serbs in the surrounding heights as a prelude to what is widely expected to be a Croatian assault to end the threat to Dubrovnik. AFP noted that Serbs shelled Osijek in eastern Slavonia, killing one and injuring six. Bosnian Serb artillery also hit the UN-declared "safe area" of Gorazde, killing three children. Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey sharply criticized the UN for not ordering air strikes in response, VOA reported on 21 August. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [03] REPORTS OF "COMPELLING EVIDENCE" OF SREBRENICA MASSACRE.

    A journalist from the Christian Science Monitor managed to get into the Srebrenica area, where he found "compelling evidence" that the Serbs had massacred Muslims. The BBC quoted him on 19 August as saying that he found human bones near the reported mass grave site, as well as empty ammunition boxes. The UN, for its part, has said that only between 1,000 and 2,000 people remain unaccounted for from Srebrenica, claiming that the Bosnian government had originally given a far too high estimate of the total population. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [04] MORE ON ETHNIC CLEANSING IN BANJA LUKA.

    The Bosnian Serbs continue to expel Muslims and Croats from the Banja Luka area on short notice, allowing them to take only what they can carry and making them pay a $1,200 fee in German marks. The bishop of Banja Luka wrote to Croatia's Cardinal Franjo Kuharic that "among many others, even my own old mother was victimized when a local official grabbed her and pulled a knife over her neck, saying he would 'slay her with pleasure' (as the bishop's mother) unless she cleared out of her house within 15 minutes." During the night between 8 and 9 August a grenade was hurled at the New Nazareth convent in the village of Budzak." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [05] KRAJINA UPDATE.

    Croatia's Operation Storm two weeks ago put an effective end to the "Republic of Serbian Krajina," but Politika wrote on 21 August that recriminations continue among its erstwhile leaders over the blame for the quick demise of Serbian forces . This defeat was all the more amazing in light of a report carried by Vecernji list and AFP on 20 August on the massive stockpiles of Serbian weapons found by the Croats at Dvor, Sveti Rok, Knin, and Petrova Gora. One Western expert called the arsenal "unbelievable," and the Croatian commander said that the Serbs could have waged war "for several years" with it. The BBC on 21 August reported that representatives of a Western human rights group charged the Croats with burning, looting and systematic executions following the fall of Krajina. The Croatian high command denied the charges, stating that there were only individual graves and that the dead were identified where this was possible, including Bosnian Serb soldiers killed in the brief fighting. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [06] U.S. OFFICIALS DIE IN BOSNIAN ROAD ACCIDENT.

    International media reported on 20 August that four British soldiers were killed when their Lynx helicopter fell into the Adriatic. The previous day three members of a five-man U.S. interagency team died when their armored personnel carrier fell down a steep tree-lined ravine on Mt. Igman and its gas tank exploded. The fatalities included Robert Frasure, who was Washington's chief "ideas man" on the former Yugoslavia. President Bill Clinton said that the U.S. would continue its diplomatic efforts in the region. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic sent his condolences, adding that the diplomats should have been talking to the Serbs instead of going to Sarajevo. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole said that the Serbs were indirectly responsible for the deaths, since they barred the main access roads to the diplomats, VOA reported. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.

    [07] MILOSEVIC, PAPOULIAS TALK PEACE.

    Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias met in Belgrade with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic on 18 August, Tanjug reported on the same day. The two men reportedly shared "concurrent" views on the peace process in the Balkan region, and Tanjug noted they both agreed on "the need to spur all-encompassing efforts to step up the peace process and definitively create conditions for an end to the military confrontation in the former Yugoslavia." Papoulias, speaking on Greek Radio, observed that Athens always "supported the lifting of sanctions against the new Yugoslavia because one cannot impose sanctions against people who fight for peace, and President Milosevic has been among the leaders favoring a peaceful solution." Belgrade's new foreign minister, Milan Milutinovic, also attended the meeting. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [08] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ON CHANGES IN MILITARY.

    An aide to Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev told BTA on 19 August that the president did not approve in advance recent changes in the Bulgarian military made by the defense ministry. According to the aide's statement, "President Zhelyu Zhelev will not allow any politically-motivated reshuffles of the top brass of the army or structural changes that may harm the national security of Bulgaria." Meanwhile, Zhelev's chief of staff added that "the press has recently suggested the proposals had been harmonized with the president, or even sponsored by his Military Office. These are attempts at flagrant manipulation of public opinion and army officers." These statements come in the wake of changes at the top level of the military, announced by the government on 11 August, but even then in part questioned by Zhelev's office (See OMRI Daily Digest, 14 August 1995). -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.

    [09] KOSOVAR LEADERS VISIT MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS.

    The leader of the Democratic League of Montenegro, Mehmet Bardhi, met with the deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Fehmi Agani, and other Kosovar and Albanian party politicians, Montena-fax reported on 19 August. Bardhi, who is also the mayor of Ulcinj, discussed with his guests possibilities of cooperation between the ethnic Albanian political parties in former Yugoslavia and Albania. The politicians jointly denounced plans to settle refugees from Krajina to Kosovo. Meanwhile, Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova accused the Serbian authorities of placing the refugees "into ethnically pure Albanian communities" and called it "a political rather than humanitarian activity." So far, Serbian authorities have placed 2,350 refugees in Kosovo, but they expect to relocate a total of 16,000. Prime Minister Bujar Bukoshi warned on 18 August that the relocation of refugees could lead to war and added: "We Albanians won't be slaughtered like the Bosnians. We will defend ourselves," international agencies reported. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    [10] ALBANIAN-MONTENEGRIN BORDER INCIDENT.

    A 26 year-old Albanian was wounded on 18 August by rump Yugoslav border guards, Montena-fax reported the following day. The man reportedly went about 100 meters into Montenegrin territory to sell cloth. The incident will be brought up by Albania on the first meeting of a newly created joint rump Yugoslav-Albanian border commission. It was the second such incident this month at that part of the border. Meanwhile, about 100 trucks were jammed for hours at the Albanian-Greek border because the official stamp used by Albanian customs wore out, Reuters reported on 18 August. Tourists reportedly were allowed through with unstamped documents. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.

    This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in Prague, Czech Republic.
    For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz

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