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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 86, 99-05-05
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 3, No. 86, 5 May 1999
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] DETAINED FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER REFUSES TO COOPERATE
[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION URGED TO RETURN TO PARLIAMENT
[03] U.S. SEEKS TO REASSURE GEORGIA OVER ANTIQUITIES
[04] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GREATER MEDIA FREEDOM
[05] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER SUES JUSTICE MINISTRY...
[06] ...CLARIFIES FUTURE PLANS
[07] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS KYRGYZSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN
[08] TWELVE TERRORIST SUSPECTS DETAINED IN KYRGYZSTAN
[09] UN ENVOY DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS WITH TAJIK PRESIDENT
[10] TURKMENISTAN TO OPEN MORE EMBASSIES
[11] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[12] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO FLOOD MACEDONIA
[13] UNHCR TO SEND REFUGEES TO ALBANIA?
[14] UNHCR TO CLOSE KUKES REFUGEE CAMPS
[15] THOUSANDS MORE REFUGEES ARRIVE IN ALBANIA
[16] SERBIAN SHELLS KILL ALBANIAN VILLAGER
[17] NAUMANN SAYS NATO SHOULD HAVE BEEN 'MORE ROBUST'
[18] SHEA: SERBS USING SLAVE LABOR TO BUILD 'MAGINOT LINE'
[19] NATO ATTACKS SERBIAN FORCES...
[20] ...USES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
[21] COHEN: U.S. TO FREE TWO SERBIAN SOLDIERS
[22] MONTENEGRIN BUSINESSMEN TELL MILOSEVIC TO SETTLE OR QUIT
[23] BLAIR ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT
[24] FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ROMANIA COULD JOIN NATO IN THREE YEARS
[25] POPE SENDS MESSAGE TO ROMANIANS
[C] END NOTE
[26] LUCINSCHI WORRIED ABOUT DELAY IN WITHDRAWAL OF
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] DETAINED FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER REFUSES TO COOPERATE
Former Interior Minister Vano Siradeghian is refusing to answer
investigators' questions, claiming his detention threatens the freedom and
fairness of the parliamentary elections scheduled for 30 May, RFE/RL's
Yerevan bureau reported on 4 May. Siradeghian was detained at Yerevan
airport earlier this week on returning to Armenia after a three-month
absence in connection with a series of killings he is suspected to have
ordered in his capacity as interior minister from 1992-1996 (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 4 May 1999). Members of the opposition Armenian Pan-National
Movement (HHSh), of which Siradeghian is chairman, issued a statement on 4
May accusing the Armenian leadership of being unable to guarantee free and
fair elections and of trying to exclude the HHSh from the election
campaign. HHSh leaders also told reporters that they have lodged a protest
with the OSCE election monitoring mission and are considering boycotting
the poll. LF
[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION URGED TO RETURN TO PARLIAMENT
Parliamentary first deputy speaker Arif Ragimzade has met with Yusif
Bagirzade, one of the 17 opposition parliamentary deputies aligned in the
Democratic Bloc, Turan reported on 4 May. Ragimzade urged those deputies to
resume participation in the work of the legislature. The Democratic Bloc is
refusing to take part in parliamentary proceedings until a debate is
convened on the work of the parliament and of speaker Murtuz Alesqerov
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 April and 3 May 1999). Also on 4 May, the
parliament passed in the first reading legislation on municipal councils
and the conduct of municipal elections. LF
[03] U.S. SEEKS TO REASSURE GEORGIA OVER ANTIQUITIES
The president of the International Arts and Education Fund has informed
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze that the fund takes full
responsibility for the Georgian icons and other antiquities to be exhibited
in four U.S. cities later this year, Caucasus Press reported. Georgian
students and clergymen launched a hunger strike in Tbilisi last week to
protest the planned exhibit (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). Some of
the hunger strikers fear the artifacts may be clandestinely sold to private
collectors, while others told RFE/RL's Tbilisi bureau that "God's grace
will abandon Georgia" if the icons and other religious objects are allowed
to leave the country. LF
[04] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT CALLS FOR GREATER MEDIA FREEDOM
In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL correspondents in Astana on 4 May,
Nursultan Nazarbaev said that Kazakhstan needs further democratic reforms,
including the expansion of freedom of speech and the press. One day earlier,
journalists had complained that the new draft media law currently under
discussion would have the opposite effect. Marat Ospanov, chairman of the
lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, similarly told the private
television station "31" that censorship exists in Kazakhstan, although it
is illegal, Interfax reported on 4 May. Ospanov said he himself is subject
to censorship, which he blamed on the owners of unspecified media outlets.
LF
[05] FORMER KAZAKH PREMIER SUES JUSTICE MINISTRY...
A district court in Almaty on 5 May started hearing a case that former
Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin has brought against the Ministry of Justice for
its refusal to register the "Respublika" newspaper, which is published by
Kazhegeldin's Republican People's Party of Kazakhstan, RFE/RL's Almaty
bureau reported. Amirzhan Qosanov, who is a member of the party's
executive board, told journalists that all the necessary documents for the
official registration of "Respublika" were submitted to the Ministry of
Justice last August. LF
[06] ...CLARIFIES FUTURE PLANS
Speaking in London two days earlier, Kazhegeldin said he will not contend
the parliamentary elections to be held in Kazakhstan in October, although
other members of his party may do so, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.
Kazhegeldin hinted that he will not return to Kazakhstan until after the
publication later this year of his new book, "Economic Modeling." LF
[07] SLOVAK GOVERNMENT DELEGATION VISITS KYRGYZSTAN, KAZAKHSTAN
Deputy Foreign Minister Frantisek Dlouhopolcek headed a Slovak government
delegation that visited Bishkek on 3 May and Astana the following day,
RFE/RL correspondents in the two capitals reported. Dlouhopolcek met with
Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Muratbek Imanaliev and representatives of the
presidential administration to discuss inter-governmental cooperation. In
Astana, he and Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev reviewed bilateral
relations, economic and cultural cooperation, and the Kosova conflict. LF
[08] TWELVE TERRORIST SUSPECTS DETAINED IN KYRGYZSTAN
The Ministry of National Security announced in Bishkek on 4 May that 12
people suspected of preparing terrorist acts at railroad and bus terminals
in Bishkek were detained over the previous three days, RFE/RL's Bishkek
bureau reported. Weapons, cartridges, and drugs were reportedly also
seized. An investigation is under way. LF
[09] UN ENVOY DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS WITH TAJIK PRESIDENT
Jan Kubis told journalists after meeting with President Imomali Rakhmonov
on 4 May that he informed the latter about unspecified proposals drafted by
the Contact Group for Tajikistan to expedite the peace process, AP-Blitz
reported. Kubis also condemned opposition commander Mansur Muakalov's
seizure last week of six police officers but expressed approval at the
creation of a government commission to negotiate their release. AP on 30
April had quoted Kubis as blaming those abductions on the Tajik
government's failure to implement agreements granting amnesty to opposition
members. In a letter addressed to the Committee for National Reconciliation,
Muakalov described the kidnappings as "a forced measure" in response to the
"indifference" of the government and United Tajik Opposition leaders. LF
[10] TURKMENISTAN TO OPEN MORE EMBASSIES
President Saparmurat Niyazov has issued a decree on opening embassies in
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Tajikistan,
Interfax reported on 4 May. That move is a follow-up to Turkmenistan's
decision earlier this year to introduce a visa requirement for visitors
from most CIS states (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"18 March 1999). LF
[11] JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS UZBEKISTAN
Masahiko Komura met in Tashkent on 4 May with his Uzbek counterpart,
Abdulaziz Kamilov, President Islam Karimov, and Prime Minister Utkir
Sultanov, Interfax reported. Their talks focused on regional security and
bilateral cooperation. Komura also attended the opening of the first
Japanese International Cooperation Agency office in Central Asia. That
body provides technical assistance in the transition to a market economy,
environmental protection, and the development of transport, communications,
and public health facilities. LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[12] REFUGEES CONTINUE TO FLOOD MACEDONIA
Two trains brought more than 5,000 Kosovars to the Blace border crossing on
4 May. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that in
recent days, refugees have been arriving faster than the UNHCR can process
previous arrivals and send them on to other camps (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4
May 1999). He added that work in Blace has "turned into an exercise of
trying to juggle and shuffle people." A spokeswoman for the UNHCR noted
that some refugees reported that Serbian forces separated young men
from the rest of the expellees at Prishtina train station. She added that
other refugees "showed signs of heavy beatings." According to UNHCR
statistics, there are 110,700 Kosovars in camps in Macedonia and an
additional 93,370 staying in private homes there. PM
[13] UNHCR TO SEND REFUGEES TO ALBANIA?
UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva on 4 May that the UN body will
soon move several thousand refugees from Macedonia to Albania in order to
reduce the overcrowding in Macedonian camps. He added that "taking people
out of Macedonia...is designed to allay fears of the Macedonian government
and keep them on board," Reuters reported. Janowski described sending
Kosovars to Albania as a "last resort," because that country is already
"swamped" with some 400,000 refugees. He noted that refugees who go
from Macedonia to Albania will be volunteers and that they will still be
eligible for transfer to third countries. In Skopje, some 248 Kosovars left
on a flight to Canada. The following day, an additional 453 refugees flew
from Skopje to New Jersey. The two flights are the first taking Kosovars to
new homes in North America. PM
[14] UNHCR TO CLOSE KUKES REFUGEE CAMPS
Ray Wilkinson, who is the UNHCR's spokesman in Tirana, told AP on 4 May
that his agency plans to move a refugee camp from Kukes to another location
in Albania, farther away from the frontier. That camp accommodates some 30,
000 people. Altogether the UNHCR plans to evacuate 100,000 people in
several camps from the northern town. Wilkinson said that the UNHCR
is concerned about security in the border region, where villages are a
frequent target of Serbian artillery. A UN World Food Program spokeswoman
said her agency turned down a request to improve the quality of the basic
food relief it supplies in Kukes, arguing that "we don't want to seduce
[the refugees] or increase the comfort level." Many refugees prefer to stay
in Kukes rather than go elsewhere in Albania in the hope of an early return
to Kosova or of finding relatives among new arrivals. FS
[15] THOUSANDS MORE REFUGEES ARRIVE IN ALBANIA
Some 7,000 additional refugees arrived in Kukes on 4 May. Many told stories
of a new wave of killings and robberies and of men being separated from
women and children in several regions of Kosova in recent days, AP and
Reuters reported. One refugee, who had been hit by a bullet, said he saw 20
to 30 people shot dead in Studime, near Vushtrri. Others said they saw at
least 100 dead bodies along the road in that village. The Kosova Liberation
Army's (UCK) news agency, Kosovapress, also said that Serbian forces killed
about 100 civilians there, adding that the Serbs subsequently dumped
the bodies into a mass grave. FS
[16] SERBIAN SHELLS KILL ALBANIAN VILLAGER
One villager was killed in a Serbian artillery attack at Letaj, in the Has
Mountains, on 4 May, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Tirana.
Elsewhere, Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark told journalists
that NATO is determined to destroy Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's
war machine. He said that NATO takes seriously repeated border violations
by Serbian forces and noted that the Apache helicopters in Albania are
ready to go into battle. He did not give details of the planned operations.
Meanwhile, two U.S. Army pilots were killed north of Tirana when an Apache
helicopter crashed during a training mission. They were the first U.S.
fatalities in the current Balkan campaign. It was the second crash of an
Apache in Albania. FS
[17] NAUMANN SAYS NATO SHOULD HAVE BEEN 'MORE ROBUST'
German General Klaus Naumann, who heads NATO's Military Affairs Committee,
said in his farewell speech in Brussels on 4 May that the Atlantic alliance
would have been more successful in its campaign against Milosevic if it had
used "surprise and overwhelming force" from the very start. Naumann added
that the alliance's credibility will ultimately depend on whether it can
adapt its strategy to make "credible preparations" for a ground war, the
"Financial Times" reported. He noted that it is more difficult for a
coalition of countries, such as NATO, to take firm and decisive action
than it is for a single state to do so. Naumann added that, unless NATO
changes its tactics, it is likely that Milosevic will succeed in his "mass
deportation campaign." Italian Admiral Guido Venturoni succeeds Naumann in
the powerful Brussels military post. PM
[18] SHEA: SERBS USING SLAVE LABOR TO BUILD 'MAGINOT LINE'
NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in Brussels on 4 May that reports from
refugees suggest that Serbian forces have "virtually emptied" Prizren of
its 180,000 inhabitants, including some 50,000 expelled in recent days. He
added that the Serbs are "holding back" many men and using them...as human
shields [and] to build a kind of Maginot Line" [of trenches] around
Prizren." Shea said that the alliance is "very concerned about [the
Kosovars] condition." He also presented a "macabre tally of this chamber of
horrors" since Milosevic launched his crackdown in early 1998: 800,000
Kosovars have fled the province, 650,000 are internally displaced, 100,000
men of military age are missing, and 4,000 men are known to have been
executed. Shea added that NATO has reports of mass killings in some 65
towns and villages and of mass graves in at least seven locations,
Reuters reported. PM
[19] NATO ATTACKS SERBIAN FORCES...
NATO's General Walter Jertz said in Brussels on 4 May that aircraft of the
Atlantic alliance made an "especially strong" attack on the Yugoslav
army's 125th motorized brigade in western Kosova and its 233rd brigade in
the east of the province, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. In
Washington, a Pentagon spokesman noted that a U.S. F-16 fighter shot down a
Yugoslav MiG-29 jet, the sixth plane of that type that NATO has downed
since the air campaign began in late March. In Belgrade, Milosevic
congratulated "the army and police for preventing the biggest aggressor in
the world from capturing an inch of our territory." He added that the
Serbian forces have "prevented incursions by terrorist gangs and fully
destroyed units, headquarters, and infrastructure" of the UCK. PM
[20] ...USES PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
Shea said on 4 May in Brussels that NATO has begun temporarily cutting off
electricity to Serbian communities in an effort to "turn the lights on in
the heads and minds of the Belgrade leadership" and persuade them to seek a
settlement on NATO's terms (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 1999). In Croatia,
state-run television reported that the authorities turned down a request by
the Serbian government to "urgently supply it with electricity." The
broadcast noted that Croatian officials made their reply "following urgent
diplomatic consultations with the U.S. [government] and the NATO high
command.... The Croatian government said that its decision is in accord
with its support for NATO forces." PM
[21] COHEN: U.S. TO FREE TWO SERBIAN SOLDIERS
Secretary of Defense William Cohen said at Spangdahlem Air Base in
Germany on 5 May that he plans to recommend to President Bill Clinton that
he release two Serbian soldiers captured by the UCK in Kosova and being
held by the U.S. in Germany. Clinton is visiting Spangdahlem, where many of
NATO's aircraft for Operation Allied Force are based. He will also visit
Ramstein Air Base, from which many of the humanitarian relief missions
depart for the Balkans. Before leaving Washington for Europe, Clinton
stressed that any peace negotiations with Belgrade must lead to the "safe
and secure" return home of the refugees (see also Part I). PM
[22] MONTENEGRIN BUSINESSMEN TELL MILOSEVIC TO SETTLE OR QUIT
The Montenegrin Chamber of Commerce said in a statement on 4 May in
Podgorica that Milosevic should either negotiate a solution to the crisis
in Kosova soon or resign. The businessmen added that "the country will
collapse completely" if the crisis continues much longer. PM
[23] BLAIR ADDRESSES ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Yugoslav President Milosevic a
"pariah in his own region" and said Romania's stability is threatened by
the Kosova crisis, AP reported on 4 May. Blair thanked legislators for
supporting NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia and said his government
will formally support Romania's accession to the EU. Blair said that
"Milosevic and his hideous racial genocide will be defeated." He said
Serbia could "rejoin the world community" when the "dictatorship is cast
out and real democracy returns." PB
[24] FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ROMANIA COULD JOIN NATO IN THREE YEARS
Alain Richard told his Romanian counterpart, Victor Babiuc, in Paris on 4
May that Romania could become a NATO member by 2002, Romanian Radio
reported. The greatest obstacle to Romania's accession to NATO is the state
of the country's economy, Richard commented. Babiuc said the two also
discussed compensation to Bucharest for the losses it is incurring as a
result of the conflict in Yugoslavia. PB
[25] POPE SENDS MESSAGE TO ROMANIANS
Pope John Paul II sent a message to Romanians ahead of his visit to the
country on 7 May, Mediafax reported. The pope said he will bring "no
sterile polemics over the worldly powers" but the "one and only God." The
visit will be the first by a pope to a mostly Orthodox country. Airport
officials announced the same day that journalists will have to pay special
fees for access to the airport. An official said it will cost "billions of
lei" (hundreds of thousands of dollars) to spruce up the airport for the
papal visit. PB
[C] END NOTE
[26] LUCINSCHI WORRIED ABOUT DELAY IN WITHDRAWAL OF
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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