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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 173, 97-12-05
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 173, 5 December 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] NO PROGRESS IN KARABAKH TALKS
[02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR CHANGES IN BUDGET
[03] MESKHETIANS PROTEST DRAFT LAW ON RIGHTS OF REPRESSED
[04] AJARIAN LEADER SEES GEORGIANS BEHIND DEATH RAY ATTACK
[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT IN TURKMENISTAN
[06] NAZARBAYEV WARNS OPPOSITION PARTY
[07] CHAIRMAN OF KYRGYZ STATE PROPERTY FUND SACKED
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[08] KOSOVO GUERRILLAS CLAIM PLANE DOWNED
[09] ARRESTS FOLLOW EXPLOSION AT SERBIAN FACTORY
[10] SERBIA'S CROATS BACK MILOSEVIC'S CANDIDATE
[11] MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS DEMAND OPEN BORDER
[12] MONTENEGRIN MEDIA CHIEFS RESIGN
[13] PLAVSIC IN SARAJEVO
[14] BOSNIAN POLICE ARREST 40 ALLEGED TERRORISTS
[15] UN TO LEAVE MACEDONIA IN AUGUST
[16] MACEDONIA, ALBANIA SIGN BORDER PACT
[17] UNESCO DECLARES ALBANIAN SITE ENDANGERED
[18] ROMANIA'S NEW FINANCE MINISTER WAS SECURITATE MEMBER
[19] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA
[C] END NOTE
[20] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN CRITICIZES
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] NO PROGRESS IN KARABAKH TALKS
The co-chairmen of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe's
Minsk Group made no progress during talks in Stepanakert on 3-4 December,
RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The Karabakh authorities rejected the
OSCE's principle of a step-by-step approach, which both Armenia and
Azerbaijan have accepted. They also repeated their insistence on a
package deal. PG
[02] ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR CHANGES IN BUDGET
During a 4 December debate on the government's proposed 1998 budget,
various political groups criticized the draft for alleged failing to
promote the "development" of Armenia, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported.
The parliament asked that the cabinet revise the budget and resubmit it on
5 December. The government may seek a vote of confidence as a means of
pushing through its budget proposal. Under the Armenian constitution, the
government can ask for a vote of confidence and, if it wins that vote, the
draft becomes law. PG
[03] MESKHETIANS PROTEST DRAFT LAW ON RIGHTS OF REPRESSED
Representatives of the Muslim Meskhetians who were deported from Georgia in
November 1994 are continuing their protest against a new draft Georgian law
that would give special benefits to Georgian citizens who were repressed in
the past but would not help them because they are not citizens of the
Republic of Georgia. According to a 4 December appeal by the International
Meskhetian Youth Association, the group hopes to meet with President Eduard
Shevardnadze. It also called on international organizations to intercede on
the behalf of the Meskhetians. PG
[04] AJARIAN LEADER SEES GEORGIANS BEHIND DEATH RAY ATTACK
Aslan Abashidze, the outspoken leader of the autonomous Ajarian region in
southern Georgia, said on local television on 4 December that assailants
from Georgia used a special death ray camera to cause him to have a heart
attack last summer. "The camera gave off electromagnetic rays, which led to
my heart attack," Abashidze said. "Without the quick intervention of the
doctors, I would have died." Georgian officials did not comment on his
charges. PG
[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT IN TURKMENISTAN
Shevardnadze, paying a one-day visit to Turkmenistan on 5 December, met
with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov, RFE/RL correspondents in
Ashgabat reported. The two signed eight agreements, including one on
avoiding double taxation and another on industrial cooperation Discussions
also focused on rescheduling Georgia's debt to Turkmenistan for gas
supplies, which totals $464.9 million. BP
[06] NAZARBAYEV WARNS OPPOSITION PARTY
At a 4 December press conference in Almaty, Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev warned the leaders of AZAMAT that a repeat of the 30 November
demonstration in front of the Kazakh parliament building could lead to
criminal charges being filed against them, RFE/RL correspondents reported.
Nazarbayev called such demonstrations illegal, saying it would be up to the
Constitutional Court to make any changes to the 1995 decree banning
unsanctioned rallies. He added that anyone who organizes such meetings
could face between three and five years in jail. BP
[07] CHAIRMAN OF KYRGYZ STATE PROPERTY FUND SACKED
Askar Sarygulov was dismissed by presidential decree on 4 December, ITAR-
TASS reported. His sacking followed a six-month investigation by a special
commission that found the chairman had been "incompetent" in carrying out
his duties and had "lost control" of the fund. The commission also found
that Kyrgyzstan lost 25 million som (some $1.5 million) during Sarygulov's
tenure as chairman of the fund and that 10 percent of state property so far
privatized was sold at below market prices. Seven criminal charges have
been filed against Sarygulov. BP
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[08] KOSOVO GUERRILLAS CLAIM PLANE DOWNED
The clandestine Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) issued a press statement in
Pristina on 4 December claiming responsibility for a recent series of
violent incidents in Serbia's mainly ethnic Albanian province (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 1 December 1997). The statement added that the UCK shot down a
Yugoslav Airlines trainer on 26 November near Pristina airport. Police had
earlier said that a technical problem caused the crash, in which five
people died. Elsewhere in Pristina, Kosovar shadow-state President Ibrahim
Rugova called on the U.S. to take the lead in solving the Kosovo problem.
PM
[09] ARRESTS FOLLOW EXPLOSION AT SERBIAN FACTORY
Police arrested the director and five employees of an explosives factory in
Lucani, near Cacak, on 4 December. An explosion at the plant the previous
day killed four workers and left six more seriously injured. PM
[10] SERBIA'S CROATS BACK MILOSEVIC'S CANDIDATE
Bela Tonkovic, the chairman of the Democratic League of Croats of Vojvodina
(DSHV), told an RFE/RL correspondent in Subotica on 4 December that his
organization endorses Milan Milutinovic in the 7 December Serbian
presidential vote. Tonkovic added that Milutinovic is one of only two
candidates who answered a recent appeal by the DSHV calling for the
normalization of ties between Zagreb and Belgrade. The Kosovo Albanian
leadership, for its part, has announced a boycott of the election on the
grounds that none of the Serbian candidates has addressed Albanian
concerns about Kosovo. The latest polls give ultranationalist Vojislav
Seselj a comfortable lead to over Milutinovic, who is allied with Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic. Seselj won more votes that Milosevic's
candidate, Zoran Lilic, in the 5 October ballot, but that election was
declared invalid because of low turnout. PM
[11] MONTENEGRIN ALBANIANS DEMAND OPEN BORDER
The town council of Ulcinj, near the Albanian frontier, appealed to the
Montenegrin authorities on 5 December to open four border crossings. The
council of the mainly ethnic Albanian town said the move is necessary to
end the region's and Yugoslavia's isolation, BETA news agency reported. The
officials also asked the federal authorities to end visa requirements for
foreigners in order to attract tourists. Montenegrin President-elect Milo
Djukanovic, who was supported by the ethnic Albanians in the 5 October vote,
wants to end Montenegro's isolation in order to revive tourism and
shipping. PM
[12] MONTENEGRIN MEDIA CHIEFS RESIGN
Zoran Jocovic, the director-general of Montenegrin Radio and Television,
and Predrag Bulatovic, the chairman of the board, resigned in Podgorica on
4 December. The two are supporters of outgoing President Momir Bulatovic,
an RFE/RL corresponedent reported from Podgorica. PM
[13] PLAVSIC IN SARAJEVO
Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic on 4 December paid her first
visit to the Bosnian capital since the war began in 1992. She appealed
to German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel and his French counterpart, Hubert
Vedrine, for patience in the implementation of the Dayton agreement. The
two ministers, however, urged Plavsic and the three members of the Bosnian
joint presidency to quickly remove obstacles to implementing the treaty.
They warned that the international community will punish any side deemed to
be obstructing implementation, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from
Sarajevo. PM
[14] BOSNIAN POLICE ARREST 40 ALLEGED TERRORISTS
A spokesman for the UN police force confirmed in Sarajevo on 4 December
that Bosnian police recently arrested some 40 persons in central Bosnian in
an apparent crackdown on Islamic extremists (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3
December 1997). Most of the arrests were made in the Zenica area,
where a number of foreign Islamic fighters settled after the war with
Bosnian wives. The Bosnian government has been under strong pressure from
the international community and from Croatia to arrest the alleged
terrorists, who are blamed for the deaths of returning Croatian refugees
and the destruction of Roman Catholic religious sites. PM
[15] UN TO LEAVE MACEDONIA IN AUGUST
The UN Security Council voted in New York on 4 December to extend the
mandate of the 750 UNPREDEP peacekeepers through August 1998 and to end the
mission at that point. UNPREDEP is the first force in UN history aimed at
preventing conflict from spreading rather than at separating warring
factions. The Macedonian government wants the mainly Scandinavian and U.S.
force kept on indefinitely to help ensure peace in a region plagued by
ethnic tensions and political instability. Russia argues that the military
component of the UN presence in Macedonia should be phased out quickly. PM
[16] MACEDONIA, ALBANIA SIGN BORDER PACT
Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo and his Macedonian counterpart,
Blagoj Handziski, signed six agreements in Tirana on 4 December. Four of
the texts are aimed at strengthening security along their common border,
near which more than 100 incidents have been reported since the beginning
of the year. PM
[17] UNESCO DECLARES ALBANIAN SITE ENDANGERED
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
announced in Naples on 4 December that it has added the ancient Greek site
at Butrint, near the Albanian- Greek border, to its World Heritage in
Danger list. Butrint was looted during the unrest that swept Albania during
the spring. Many archeological sites and museums throughout the country
were looted or vandalized during the anarchy. PM
[18] ROMANIA'S NEW FINANCE MINISTER WAS SECURITATE MEMBER
Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea told journalists on 4 December that Daniel
Daianu was a member of the former Securitate but had nothing to do with the
"political arm" of the communist secret police since he worked for its
foreign intelligence department. Ciorbea said once the parliament passes
the law on access to Securitate files, Daianu's dossier will be re-
examined. Ciorbea praised Daianu for having publicly acknowledged in 1990
that he worked for the Securitate. Ciorbea was speaking to journalists on 4
December, shortly after the parliament approved the reshuffled government,
RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS
[19] MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT IN ROMANIA
Petru Lucinschi and his Romanian counterpart, Emil Constantinescu, attended
a ceremony in Iasi on 4 December marking the opening of a fiber optics
telecommunications line linking their two countries, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported. Lucinschi told reporters that it is "more logical"
for Moldova to press for EU membership than to pursue reunification with
Romania, Reuters reported. According to Mediafax, Lucinschi also said
Moldova is "unhappy" that the basic treaty with Romania has not yet been
concluded. He hinted that former President Ion Iliescu was to blame but
said there are still "problems" at the level of foreign minister.
He added that he and Constantinescu have agreed to "demand that the
[foreign ministers] present us with a report" on how the talks are
progressing by January. MS
[C] END NOTE
[20] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN CRITICIZES
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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