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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 104, 98-06-02
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 2, No. 104, 2 June 1998
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ASSESSES ABKHAZ CRISIS
[02] REPATRIATION IS KEY TO SHEVARDNADZE-ARDZINBA MEETING
[03] SUKHUMI CONSIDERS STATUS ISSUE IRRELEVANT
[04] GEORGIAN GUERRILLAS PLEDGE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING
[05] TWENTY CONVICTED IN AZERBAIJAN COUP TRIAL
[06] TAJIKISTAN FLOODED AGAIN
[07] WAHHABIS TO BE SENTENCED IN TASHKENT
[08] U.S. EXIMBANK SIGNS DEAL WITH UZBEKISTAN
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[09] KOSOVAR REFUGEES STREAM INTO ALBANIA
[10] ALBANIA WANTS ACTION ON KOSOVA
[11] VIOLENCE INTENSIFIES IN KOSOVA
[12] BELGRADE SAYS TALKS ARE ON
[13] U.S. HAILS DJUKANOVIC VICTORY...
[14] ...AS DOES SERBIAN OPPOSITION
[15] SEVEN SENTENCED IN MACEDONIAN PYRAMID TRIAL
[16] CROATIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIANS TO WASHINGTON
[17] BOSNIAN CROATS TO FORM OWN PARTY
[18] HUNGARIAN DEMAND FOR UNIVERSITY MEETS WITH HOSTILITY IN ROMANIA
[19] ROMANIA'S LIBERAL LEADER DENIES INTENTION TO LEAVE ALLIANCE
[20] MOLDOVAN COMMUNISTS URGE UNITY OF LEFT
[C] END NOTE
[21] TRANSDNIESTER 'REFERENDUM' APPROVES JOINING
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ASSESSES ABKHAZ CRISIS
In his weekly radio address on 1 June, Eduard Shevardnadze deplored the
CIS's failure to implement the document on resolving the Abkhaz conflict
endorsed at its April summit. Shevardnadze also criticized the CIS
peacekeeping force for failing to prevent additional Abkhaz forces
infiltrating into the conflict zone. But he said the Abkhaz leadership
takes part of the credit for ensuring that the fighting in Gali did not
escalate into a broader conflict. Shevardnadze said that Georgia's top
priority is now to expedite the repatriation to Gali Raion of the estimated
30,000-40,000 ethnic Georgians forced to flee during the fighting. He
termed this process the "touchstone" for the future development of
Georgia's relations with both Abkhazia and Russia. LF
[02] REPATRIATION IS KEY TO SHEVARDNADZE-ARDZINBA MEETING
Georgian Ambassador to Russia Vazha Lortkipanidze told journalists in
Moscow on 1 June that the repatriation of the ethnic Georgian fugitives to
Gali is a precondition for the proposed meeting between the presidents of
Georgia and Abkhazia, Interfax reported. Lortkipanidze estimated the number
of civilians killed during the fighting last month at "several hundred." He
also suggested that the repatriation of those fugitives must be completed
before Tbilisi agrees to discuss with the Abkhaz leadership the region's
future political status vis- a-vis the central government. He again
rejected Sukhumi's demand for equal status for Abkhazia within a
confederation as the "only thing we cannot concede." LF
[03] SUKHUMI CONSIDERS STATUS ISSUE IRRELEVANT
Meanwhile, Ardzinba's personal envoy, Anri Djergenia, has claimed that
Abkhazia is already an independent country and cannot accept "deferred
political status" within Georgia, Interfax reported. Djergenia also
criticized the CIS peacekeeping force in Gali, which he claimed failed to
intervene to preclude Georgian guerrilla activities. At the same time, he
stressed that Abkhazia "has never supported and does not support" their
withdrawal from Gali. (The Abkhaz parliament adopted a resolution on 14
May calling on Ardzinba to raise that issue with Moscow.) Djergenia said
Abkhazia has "special relations" with Russia and is "firmly oriented toward
cooperation with the Russian Federation." Speaking on Abkhaz television, he
noted that the Abkhaz leadership will try to persuade international
organizations to extract guarantees from Tbilisi that it will not resort to
force against Abkhazia, Caucasus Press reported. Djergenia is to meet with
Lortkipanidze in Moscow on 2 June to discuss the prospects for a meeting
between the two presidents later this month. LF
[04] GEORGIAN GUERRILLAS PLEDGE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING
In an appeal summarized by Caucasus Press on 2 June, leaders of the
guerrilla movement warn that "our motherland is again in danger" and call
on the Georgian people not to "yield to attempts by provocateurs" to sow
discord between the people and the government, on the one hand, and the
guerrillas and the "refugees" on the other. The statement said "there is no
force today that could make us stop while we can still breathe. Georgians
must not lay down their weapons.... Our strength is in our unity. We are
right, and we will win. The Lord help us!" LF
[05] TWENTY CONVICTED IN AZERBAIJAN COUP TRIAL
The Supreme Court on 1 June handed down sentences ranging from four to 14
years in prison to 20 people found guilty of planning a coup in December,
1996, Interfax and Turan reported. Those sentenced include several
associates of former President Ayaz Mutalibov and former Prime Minister
Suret Huseinov, including their press secretaries, Rasim Agaev and Anvar
Gafarli. The Supreme Court also opened criminal proceedings against Yakub
Mamedov, who was acting president of Azerbaijan from March-May 1992,
on charges of failing to notify the authorities of preparations to stage a
coup. LF
[06] TAJIKISTAN FLOODED AGAIN
Heavy rains on 30 and 31 May have left areas in northern, southern and
western Tajikistan flooded, ITAR-TASS reported. The southern area
of Kulyab was especially hard hit, with damage reported to hundreds of
homes and other buildings and with at least 2,000 hectares of cultivated
land under water. President Imomali Rakhmonov has visited the site to
assess damage. Meanwhile, the Kulyab airport is being used for refueling
by aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to areas in Afghanistan struck by the
recent earthquakes. BP
[07] WAHHABIS TO BE SENTENCED IN TASHKENT
The Uzbek prosecutor-general on 1 June demanded that the seven men found
guilty of involvement in the violence in the eastern of Namangan last
December receive between 13- 20 years in jail, Reuters reported. He said
all seven were Wahhabis and that police had found pistol cartridges and
marijuana in their homes. He also suggested they had been in contact with
Islamists in Tajikistan and Pakistan. One of the convicted declared his
innocence and said he had been beaten and kept in a straight-jacket while
awaiting trial. Another eight men are due to appear in court this week on
similar charges. Their trial follows the sentencing of 12 men in Namangan
last month on charges of crimes connected with the events last December. BP
[08] U.S. EXIMBANK SIGNS DEAL WITH UZBEKISTAN
The U.S. Export-Import Bank on 1 June reached an agreement with the Uzbek
National Bank whereby Uzbekistan will receive credits without government
guarantees to develop small and medium-size businesses, ITAR-TASS reported.
Eximbank chairman James Harmon, who is on a three-day visit to Uzbekistan,
said the Central Asian state has promptly repaid its loans and that the
agreement provides the "possibility to expand activities in this dynamic
and stable country." ITAR-TASS estimated that the U.S. bank has lent
Uzbekistan $800 million since 1995. BP
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[09] KOSOVAR REFUGEES STREAM INTO ALBANIA
Albanian government spokesmen on 1 June said that more than 2,000 refugees
arrived in Tropoja that day. The office of the UN High Commission for
Refugees in Tirana announced that it will send 20 tons of food, clothes,
and kitchen utensils to northeastern Albania to help the refugees and
to prepare for a further influx. That region, which borders Kosova, is the
poorest and least accessible of the country. FS
[10] ALBANIA WANTS ACTION ON KOSOVA
The Albanian government issued a statement on 1 June saying the arrival of
refugees is the result of Belgrade's "consistent policy aimed at the ethnic
cleansing of Kosova." The text added that Serbia's policy of attacking
villages, burning houses, and killing people is likely to result in a
"massive massacre." Consequently, "the Albanian government appeals to the
governments of the U.S., EU, the Contact Group countries, and to all
international bodies involved in resolving the Kosova crisis to forcefully
and immediately intervene to stop the ethnic cleansing in Kosova, because
this ethnic cleansing [will likely lead to] a bloody war." A government
spokesman told an RFE/RL correspondent in Tirana on 2 June that by
referring to "intervention," the government means diplomatic pressure on
Belgrade and the stationing of NATO troops along Albania's border with
Serbia. The spokesman added that Tirana has not requested international
military intervention in Kosova. PM
[11] VIOLENCE INTENSIFIES IN KOSOVA
Serbian forces shelled the region of Kosova along the Albanian border on 1
June, and fighting continued in the Decan area, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported from Prishtina. The fighting and destruction since 29 May appear
to be the worst since the Serbian paramilitary police began their crackdown
at the end of February. At least 37 persons, including two Serbian
policemen, have been killed in various parts of Kosova since 29 May. The
Serbian forces have subjected entire ethnic Albanian villages to
"systematic expulsions of the population and destruction," the BBC
reported. Kosovar sources reported the massacre of five men in the village
of Poklek i Ri, near Gllogovc. In Prishtina, several thousand children
joined students and older people in the daily march for independence and an
end to the crackdown. PM
[12] BELGRADE SAYS TALKS ARE ON
A spokesman for Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic said in
Belgrade on 30 May that the next talks between the Serbian and Kosovar
authorities will take place in Prishtina on 5 June, an RFE/RL correspondent
reported from the Serbian capital. The Kosovars postponed the session that
had been slated for 29 May, ostensibly because of Rugova's visit to
Washington (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 May 1998). PM
[13] U.S. HAILS DJUKANOVIC VICTORY...
The Montenegrin Election Commission reported on 1 June that the For A
Better Life coalition led by reformist President Milo Djukanovic won 49.5
percent of the vote in the 31 May parliamentary elections (see "End Note"
below). The Socialist People's Party of Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir
Bulatovic, who supports President Slobodan Milosevic, took 36 percent and
the Liberal Alliance 6 percent. Djukanovic's backers will have an outright
majority of seats in the parliament. A spokesman for OSCE monitors
said that the fairness of the election was a "significant improvement" over
previous polls. In Washington, a State Department spokesman praised the
vote "as a positive step forward in building democracy in the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro. The elections appear
to have proceeded peacefully and in accordance with international
standards." PM
[14] ...AS DOES SERBIAN OPPOSITION
Vesna Pesic, who is president of the Citizens' League of Serbia, said in
Belgrade on 1 June that Djukanovic's victory "marks the first step toward
freeing Yugoslavia from an undemocratic regime. This is the first time that
forces that offer a real way out of the 10-year crisis [of Milosevic's
rule] and destruction of the country have won in free elections,"
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM
[15] SEVEN SENTENCED IN MACEDONIAN PYRAMID TRIAL
A court in Skopje on 1 June sentenced Sonja Nikolovska, the owner of the
failed Bitola-based TAT pyramid scheme company, to eight years in prison.
Prison terms also went to four government finance officials and three TAT
employees. Siljan Micevski, the former mayor of Bitola, received a one-year
suspended sentence, and his wife was fined. Some 23,000 Macedonians in 1996
lost a combined total of $65 million in pyramid schemes, of which TAT was
the largest. PM
[16] CROATIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIANS TO WASHINGTON
William Montgomery, who is U.S. ambassador to Croatia, announced in Zagreb
on 1 June that the State Department has invited the representatives of
several opposition parties to Washington in July. He added that the
governments of many countries invite opposition leaders to visit and that
officials of the governing Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) went to
Washington in 1990, when Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger
invited leaders of 15 Yugoslav opposition parties to the U.S. Spokesmen for
the HDZ protested the decision to invite the opposition leaders when news
of the invitation appeared in the press last month. PM
[17] BOSNIAN CROATS TO FORM OWN PARTY
Kresimir Zubak and other prominent Bosnian Croats have decided to break
with the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ), which recently elected hard-
line Herzegovinian Croat Ante Jelavic as chairman, "Slobodna Dalmacija"
wrote on 2 June. Zubak will shortly announce the formation of a new party,
which, he said, will adhere to the founding principles of the HDZ and
pledge loyalty to Franjo Tudjman. The Croatian president had favored
another candidate over Jelavic. Bosnian Croats live in scattered, often
centuries-old settlements together with Serbs and Muslims. Bosnian
Croats tend to be politically more moderate than the Herzegovinians, who
live in compact areas contiguous to Croatia. PM
[18] HUNGARIAN DEMAND FOR UNIVERSITY MEETS WITH HOSTILITY IN ROMANIA
Minister of Education Andrei Marga on 1 June rejected the Hungarian
Democratic Federation in Romania's (UDMR) demand for a Hungarian-
language university in Cluj, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Marga said
universities "established on ethnic criteria" are likely to provoke an
increase in ethnic tensions. Democratic Convention of Romania chairman Ion
Diaconescu said he is "surprised" by the demand of the UDMR because
coalition members have agreed that a Hungarian-language university will be
set up in another Transylvanian town. He pointed out that a Hungarian
section is already functioning at the Babes-Bolyai university in Cluj.
Democratic Party leader Petre Roman also rejected the demand, saying he
supports "multicultural" universities instead. The opposition Party
of Social Democracy in Romania called on the government to reject the "UDMR
ultimatum." MS
[19] ROMANIA'S LIBERAL LEADER DENIES INTENTION TO LEAVE ALLIANCE
National Liberal Party (PNL) chairman Mircea Ionescu-Quintus on 1 June
denied that his party intends to leave the Democratic Convention of Romania
(CDR). Deputy chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said at a congress of the
PNL's youth organization last weekend that the PNL must "forge its own
separate identity" and "follow the example of the Democratic Party," whose
popularity grew after the most recent coalition crisis. Popescu- Tariceanu
denied that he intended to signal the party's departure from the CDR,
saying he had only "a long-term process" in mind. Diaconescu said he was
"surprised" by Popescu-Tariceanu's statement but added that "if they
want to leave, I cannot stop them." MS
[20] MOLDOVAN COMMUNISTS URGE UNITY OF LEFT
Addressing a plenum of the Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) on 30 May,
chairman Vladimir Voronin called for the unification of leftist political
forces "in the face of the threat posed by national radicals and [pro-
Romanian] unionist forces" in order to defend the "sovereignty of
Moldova," Infotag reported on 1 June. The gathering was attended by
delegates from the Agrarian Democratic Party (PDAM), the Socialist Unity
Bloc, and the Socialist Party, none of which gained parliamentary
representation at the March elections. Voronin said that by allying itself
with the Democratic Convention of Romania, the pro-presidential For a
Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc has "signed its own death warrant."
Citing PCM sources, BASA-press reported that negotiations for a merger of
the PCM , the PDAM, and the two socialist formations are now under way.
MS
[C] END NOTE
[21] TRANSDNIESTER 'REFERENDUM' APPROVES JOINING
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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