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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 167, 96-08-28
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 167, 28 August 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SHEVARDNADZE, CHIBIROV MEET.
[02] AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN.
[03] AZERBAIJAN CREATES ANTI-NARCOTICS COMMISSION.
[04] KILLERS OF TAJIK JOURNALIST RECEIVE DEATH SENTENCE.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BOSNIAN SERBS, CROATS SLAM POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTIONS.
[06] BELGRADE'S RESPONSE TO ELECTION POSTPONEMENT.
[07] BOSNIANS ABROAD START VOTING.
[08] BOSNIAN ANTI-NATIONALISTS STAGE BIG RALLY.
[09] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES NEW TERRITORIAL DIVISION.
[10] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS CALL FOR PRESIDENT'S OUSTER.
[11] NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL APPOINTED IN ROMANIA.
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS TURNED DOWN.
[13] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN AGRARIANS' CRISIS.
[14] COUNCIL OF EUROPE SENDS MISSION TO ALBANIA.
[15] TWO DIE OF POLIO IN ALBANIA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] SHEVARDNADZE, CHIBIROV MEET.
Meeting in Vladikavkaz on 27 August, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze
and the speaker of the parliament of the autonomous region of South Ossetia,
Ludvig Chibirov, again reaffirmed their determination to resolve the issue of
South Ossetia's relations with Tbilisi, ITAR-TASS reported. Specifically, they
agreed on restoring economic cooperation which was halted after the conflict
over South Ossetia's status in 1990-91. The meeting had been jeopardized by an
interview given by Chibirov to Nezavisimaya gazeta on 7 August in which he
expressed confidence that "some day" South Ossetia would unite with the
Republic of North Ossetiya-Alania, which is a subject of the Russian
Federation. -- Liz Fuller
[02] AZERBAIJAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER IN TEHRAN.
Hasan Hasanov, in Tehran on a two-day official visit, assured President Ali
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on 27 August that Azerbaijan wishes to improve its
relations with Iran, which have been clouded by the recent arrests of
Azerbaijani religious activists accused of links with Iranian intelligence,
Reuters reported. Hasanov also met with his Iranian counterpart, Ali Akbar
Velayati, and discussed an upcoming meeting of foreign ministers of Caspian
littoral states which is to propose a new ruling on the division of the
Caspian. Iranian parliament speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri expressed his anger
at negative Azerbaijani media coverage of Iran, according to AFP, quoting
IRNA. -- Liz Fuller
[03] AZERBAIJAN CREATES ANTI-NARCOTICS COMMISSION.
Deputy Prime Minister Iziat Orudzhev has been named to head a state commission
on fighting drug abuse and trafficking, ITAR-TASS reported on 28 August. The
commission was established just before a conference was convened in Baku,
attended by senior UN International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) officials,
devoted to these same issues. Azerbaijani officials participating in the 27
August conference pointed to skyrocketing figures for drug-related crimes, the
cultivation of narcotic plants, and drug seizures in the country. President
Heidar Aliev told the conference that the fight against the spread of drug
addiction is one of the country's priorities; the UNDCP will reportedly
provide Baku with $500,000 to help in the fight. -- Lowell Bezanis
[04] KILLERS OF TAJIK JOURNALIST RECEIVE DEATH SENTENCE.
Abdunabi Boronov and Nurali Janjolov were sentenced to death on 21 August by
Tajikistan's Supreme Court, according to the Tajik opposition's Radio Voice of
Free Tajikistan monitored by the BBC. The two men were found guilty of killing
Tajik journalist and member of parliament Zayniddin Muhiddinov on 13 February
1995, the day after the second round of elections to the Tajik parliament.
Blame for Muhiddinov's murder was attributed to the Tajik opposition which
boycotted the elections; however, according to the radio broadcast, the two
killers were members of the paramilitary Popular Front, which was formed
during the Tajik civil war and helped bring the neo-communist government to
power in 1992. It is the first time in four years that someone has been
convicted for killing a journalist. A total of 40 journalists have been
murdered in that time. -- Bruce Pannier
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BOSNIAN SERBS, CROATS SLAM POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTIONS.
The OSCE's 27 August decision to put off Bosnian municipal elections until
next spring has been sharply criticized by the Republika Srpska's governing
Serbian Democratic Party and Bosnia-Herzegovina's leading Croatian party, the
Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) (see ). The OSCE's
Robert Frowick announced that the vote had been canceled owing to Bosnian
Serbian irregularities in voter registration. The Serbs said that they will
hold their municipal elections along with other voting on 14 September as
scheduled, Nasa Borba reported on 28 August. Frowick told CNN in response
that "one would have to question the validity of the Bosnian Serbs holding
their own elections." The HDZ meanwhile charged the OSCE with giving in to
demands for postponement by the Muslim Party for Democratic Action (SDA),
Reuters noted on 27 August. The U.S. has endorsed the postponement, calling
the move "clear and decisive," CNN reported. -- Patrick Moore
[06] BELGRADE'S RESPONSE TO ELECTION POSTPONEMENT.
Bratislava Morina, head of the Serbian Commission for Refugees, told a press
conference on 27 August that Belgrade has not manipulated Serbian refugees in
order to influence or coerce them into casting ballots in the Republika
Srpska. Morina, speaking only hours after OSCE Bosnian mission head Frowick's
announcement that the elections had been postponed, remarked that the OSCE had
monitored and supervised voter registration, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, rump
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic, speaking from Rome, said he could
see "no reason" why local elections in Bosnia should be postponed. -- Stan
Markotich
[07] BOSNIANS ABROAD START VOTING.
Meanwhile, the 641,010 registered voters living abroad have begun to cast
their ballots, international and regional media reported. Voting is already
under way in Hungary and Turkey, although the SDA charged that the voting in
Turkey began too early. The 220,640 registered refugee voters in Serbia and
Montenegro begin to cast their ballots today, despite the OSCE's ruling that
many of them were registered under fraudulent circumstances. They constitute
the largest single group of Bosnian voters abroad, after those in Croatia (136,
553) and Germany (132,850). -- Patrick Moore
[08] BOSNIAN ANTI-NATIONALISTS STAGE BIG RALLY.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 people on 27 August attended the largest campaign
event staged to date by the Joint List, which represents five important anti-
nationalist parties, AFP reported. The rally took place in Tuzla, which was
the only city in Bosnia-Herzegovina where anti-nationalists controlled
municipal government throughout the war. Several of the five parties are
organized on the basis of a single nationality, but all are pledged to a
multiethnic country. They face formidable obstacles because of the
nationalists' control over most media and local governments as well as the
polarization that took place during the war. -- Patrick Moore
[09] MACEDONIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES NEW TERRITORIAL DIVISION.
The Macedonian government on 26 August approved a draft law providing for the
division of the country into 120 municipalities and communities, Nova
Makedonija and Vecer reported on 28 August. Macedonia is currently divided
into 34 administrative units. A first draft of the new law provided for
111 communities, but changes were made--particularly in those areas with
a substantial ethnic Albanian population--in order to take into account
criticism by ethnic Albanian parties. The parliament is expected to pass the
territorial law at its first session in September as well as the recently
submitted local election law. This will clear the way for local elections
scheduled to be held later this year. -- Stefan Krause
[10] ROMANIAN NATIONALISTS CALL FOR PRESIDENT'S OUSTER.
Gheorghe Funar, leader of the chauvinistic Party of Romanian National Unity,
on 27 August called for President Ion Iliescu to be "suspended from office"
for supporting the basic treaty with Hungary, Radio Bucharest reported. Funar
appealed to all political forces to band together to oust Iliescu, who, he
said, has violated the constitution by accepting the inclusion in the treaty
of Council of Europe Recommendation No. 1201 on ethnic minorities. He also
charged Iliescu with "jeopardizing the future of the Romanian people, of the
national unitary state and of its territorial integrity." Funar described the
treaty as a "secret pact" and an act of "national betrayal." -- Dan
Ionescu
[11] NEW PROSECUTOR-GENERAL APPOINTED IN ROMANIA.
Nicolae Cochinescu has been appointed prosecutor-general, Radio Bucharest
reported on 27 August. Cochinescu replaces Vasile Manea Dragulin, who resigned
the same day following criticism for failing to take action over a banking
scandal. Bucharest dailies described the change as "a total surprise," and
Ziua speculated that it came "under pressure from the political-financial
mafia." The daily added that his appointment is designed to suggest that the
ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) will take a tough stand on
corruption. The PDSR has been keen to polish its image ahead of general and
presidential elections scheduled for 17 November. -- Dan Ionescu
[12] BULGARIAN PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS TURNED DOWN.
The Central Electoral Commission (TsIK) on 27 August refused to register the
presidential and vice presidential candidates of Bulgaria's two largest
political forces, Pari reported. The ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party and
its coalition partners have chosen Foreign Minister Georgi Pirinski and
Culture Minister Ivan Marazov as their candidates. But they failed to gain a
two-thirds majority among members of the TsIK because opposition representatives
on the commission said documentation on how Pirinski acquired Bulgarian
citizenship was inadequate. The united opposition's candidates--Petar Stoyanov
and Todor Kavaldzhiev--were also rejected because documents submitted by
parties backing them were found to contain irregularities. The Socialists and
the opposition both said they will appeal the decisions. They have three days
to do so, and the Supreme Court must then rule within another three days. The
court's decision is final and binding. -- Stefan Krause
[13] UPDATE ON BULGARIAN AGRARIANS' CRISIS.
Supporters of Anastasiya Dimitrova-Mozer, the ousted Bulgarian Agrarian
People's Union (BZNS) leader, claim that the union's statutes were violated in
at least 10 instances during the meeting at which Dimitrova-Mozer was sacked
(see ), Standart reported on 28 August. They have appealed to the Sofia City
Court. Meanwhile, the new party leadership has handed in registration
documents to the court, but it is doubtful whether the party can be registered
as long as the appeal is pending. The leaders of the Union of Democratic
Forces, the People's Union (of which the BZNS is a member), and the ethnic
Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom are refusing to meet with the new
leadership before Dimitrova-Mozer returns from the U.S. Meanwhile, Dimitrova-
Mozer again called for an extraordinary party congress. -- Stefan
Krause
[14] COUNCIL OF EUROPE SENDS MISSION TO ALBANIA.
A fact-finding mission from the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly
arrived in Albania on 27 August, AFP reported. The seven-member delegation,
headed by Britain's Lord Finsberg, is to examine "the progress of the
political dialogue after the violence and irregularities that marked the
legislative elections." The assembly proposed in June that a round table be
organized to foster dialogue between the opposition and the government, but
those talks have so far failed. The opposition charges President Sali Berisha
with failing to ensure the fairness of upcoming local elections. It is also
demanding that the activities of the new permanent electoral commission be
regulated by new legislation rather than a presidential decree. -- Fabian
Schmidt
[15] TWO DIE OF POLIO IN ALBANIA.
Two Albanian teenage girls have died of polio, Reuters reported on 27 August.
They were among 23 cases that have been referred to the capital's specialist
hospital since the beginning of June. A Tirana doctor, however, denied there
was an epidemic and claimed the cases were unrelated. The doctor added that
the disease probably originated from children who had received polio
vaccinations and had then passed on the virus in feces. The virus can enter
the water supply and infect people with weak immune systems who live under
poor sanitary conditions. Some 700,000 Albanian children received polio
vaccinations in April and May. -- Fabian Schmidt
Compiled by Steve Kettle and Jan Cleave
News and information as of 1200 CET
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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