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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 93, 99-05-14Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 3, No. 93, 14 May 1999CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] FORMER ARMENIAN EDUCATION MINISTER DETAINEDAshot Bleyan, who is currently director of one of Yerevan's largest secondary schools, was detained by two law enforcement officials on 14 May, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. A criminal case opened against Bleyan in March on charges of embezzlement of public funds intended for the purchase of textbooks (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 March 1999). Supporters of Bleyan, who as head of the small Nor ughi (New Path) political party unsuccessfully ran in the 1998 presidential elections, have formed a committee in his defense, which is scheduled to convene a press conference on 14 May. LF[02] AZERBAIJANI WAR VETERAN COMMITS SUICIDEA veteran of the Karabakh war shot himself on 6 May to protest the Azerbaijan parliament's refusal to pass legislation on privileges for war veterans, Turan reported on 13 May, citing "Yeni Musavat." A group of war veterans threatened in April to kill themselves unless the Azerbaijani authorities took measures to improve living conditions in Gyanja, the country's second- largest city (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 April 1999). LF[03] GEORGIA, ST. PETERSBURG SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENTSOn a three-day visit to Tbilisi from 11-13 May, St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev met with President Eduard Shevardnadze, Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze, parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania, and Tbilisi Mayor Ivane Zodelava, ITAR-TASS and Caucasus Press reported. Yakovlev signed separate agreements intended to expand economic, trade, scientific, and cultural cooperation with the Georgian government and with the city of Tbilisi. LF[04] KAZAKH FOREIGN MINISTER COMMENTS ON OSCE CRITICISMQasymzhomart Toqaev told RFE/RL correspondents in Astana on 13 May that Kazakhstan "is searching for its own path toward democracy." Toqaev was alluding to criticism expressed by Gerard Stoudman, chairman of the OCSE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. Speaking in Astana on 11 May, Stoudman had criticized several provisions of Kazakhstan's new election legislation, concluding that the country is "not a democracy" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 May 1999). Toqaev stressed that Kazakhstan "would always greet free dialogue with the OSCE." LF[05] DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS EMERGE IN KAZAKHSTANThe urban population of Kazakhstan fell by 8.4 percent and the rural population by 6.8 percent during the 10 years that have elapsed since the 1989 census, Interfax reported on 13 May, citing the results of this year's census released by the State Statistics Agency. Of the country's current 14.95 million inhabitants, 8.3 million (55.9 percent) live in cities and the remainder in villages. The decrease of more than 1 million in the total population, from 16.2 million in 1989, is largely the result of outmigration of Russians, Ukrainians, and Germans. Ethnic Kazakhs now account for 53.4 percent of the population, compared with 36 percent at the time of the 1979 census. LF[06] KYRGYZ PROTEST EMBEZZLEMENT OF DISASTER RELIEF FUNDSResidents of Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul region blocked roads leading to the Kumtor gold mine from 4-8 May and destroyed two trucks belonging to the Canadian-owned Kumtor Operating Company that is exploiting the deposit, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 13 May. The picketers were protesting the disappearance of some 780,000 soms ($22,000) allocated by the Kumtor Operating Company as compensation for victims of the spill of toxic chemicals into the Barskoon River in May 1998. That accident was caused by a truck owned by the company. Five police and two picketers were hospitalized in clashes when police tried to disperse the picketers, 34 of whom were detained. Other demonstrators then took three local officials hostage and released them only during the night of 9-10 May. after their fellow protestors had been freed. Criminal proceedings have been brought against one of the local officials accused of embezzling the relief funds. LF[07] TAJIK AUTHORITIES COMPLY WITH SOME POINTS OF OPPOSITION ULTIMATUMMeeting with members of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) outside Dushanbe on 12 May, representatives of the Tajik leadership agreed to some of the demands contained in an ultimatum addressed by UTO leader Said Abdullo Nuri to President Imomali Rakhmonov, ITAR-TASS reported. Nuri had written to Rakhmonov on 5 May to demand he approve amendments to the constitution agreed on by the Committee for National Reconciliation. Nuri also demanded an amnesty for 93 imprisoned UTO fighters, the dropping of criminal proceedings against others, and the nomination as defense minister of opposition commander Mirza Zioev, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 13 May. Failure to comply with those demands within 20 days could lead to unspecified "undesirable consequences," Nuri warned. The Tajik government representatives agreed on 12 May only to drop all outstanding criminal charges against UTO members and release its jailed fighters. LF[08] U.S. AGAIN TRIES TO RECONCILE TURKMENISTAN, AZERBAIJANU.S. special envoy for Caspian energy problems Richard Morningstar presented Turkmenistan's President Saparmurad Niyazov on 13 May in Ashgabat with new U.S. proposals aimed at resolving the dispute between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan over ownership of several Caspian sea oil-fields, AP reported. The two countries have been at loggerheads since 1997, when Azerbaijan concluded a contract with two Russian oil companies to exploit the Kyapaz/Serdar deposit. Ashgabat lays claim both to that deposit and part of the Chirag field. The unresolved dispute over the precise borders of the two countries' sectors of the Caspian Sea could hinder implementation of plans to construct a Trans-Caspian gas export pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan. Also on 13 May, Niyazov met in Ashgabat with Yosef Maiman, head of the Israeli Merhav company, which is advising Turkmenistan on that project, Interfax reported. LF[09] UZBEK TERRORISM TRIALS BEGINSevere sentences have been handed down in the first of a series of trials of persons suspected of involvement in the bombings in Tashkent on 16 February, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported on 13 May. Fifteen people were killed and more than 100 injured in those attacks. LF[10] YAROV TOURS CENTRAL ASIAN CAPITALSFollowing his talks with President Nursultan Nazarbaev in Astana on 12 May, CIS Executive Secretary Yurii Yarov met with Kyrgyzstan's President Askar Akaev in Bishkek the same day to discuss the planned CIS free trade zone and reform of the CIS executive bodies, Interfax reported. The following day, Yarov flew to Tashkent and Dushanbe for similar discussions with the Uzbek and Tajik presidents. Uzbekistan's Islam Karimov repeated his previous statements that economic integration within the CIS should take priority over any attempts at closer political integration. Tajikistan's Imomali Rakhmonov termed creation of a free-trade zone "an important short- term goal" that would speed up the integration of CIS member states into the world economic system. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] LARGEST NUMBER OF NATO RAIDS ON SERBIA TO DATEThe Atlantic alliance said in a statement in Brussels on 14 May that "NATO has continued its intensive campaign against Serbian forces [in Kosova], with the highest overall sortie rate in a 24- hour period of the campaign so far, with 679 sorties completed." Targets included tanks, other military vehicles, artillery, and ground troops, particularly in the Prizren and Shtima areas. Reuters noted that the statement did not specify whether all the sorties involved strikes. Two support aircraft usually accompany each plane carrying out an attack. PM[12] NATO SKEPTICAL ABOUT SERBIAN WITHDRAWAL CLAIMSA Serbian army officer said in Prishtina on 13 May that a "large number" of soldiers have begun withdrawing from Kosova. Western journalists reported seeing about 120 troops in a convoy of busses, which the officer said were en route to central Serbia. In Brussels, NATO spokesmen said that the withdrawal is insignificant and possibly a sham. Jamie Shea argued that "it's the easiest thing in the world to put a few tanks on the border, invite a TV crew and say `look, I'm withdrawing,' and as soon as the TV crew goes back to Belgrade, the tanks just go back over the border" into Kosova. In Athens, Yugoslav Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic told journalists that the withdrawal is "proof" that NATO has failed to destroy Serbia's military might, asking "if they have destroyed it, then what is it that we are withdrawing?" PM[13] REFUGEES: POLICE PRESENCE REMAINS STRONGAt Blace, Macedonia, newly arrived refugees said on 13 May that the paramilitary police presence remains large in Kosova and that Serbian shopkeepers refuse to sell food to ethnic Albanians, AP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 April 1999). One refugee added that Serbian forces have "raided food stocks" belonging to the Mother Teresa ethnic Albanian charitable foundation in unspecified places in Kosova. PM[14] NIS MAYOR: MILOSEVIC MUST OUTLINE PLANSZoran Zivkovic, who is mayor of Nis and a member of the opposition Democratic Party of Zoran Djindjic, said on 13 May that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic should "proclaim what is our plan [for Kosova and make public] a list of costs in lives and time" that he is prepared to pay in order to keep control of the province. Meanwhile in Brussels, Shea suggested that Milosevic's recent public admission that Serbian forces have had "many" casualties is "significant" and indicates that Milosevic is "realizing that his army is being melted away" by NATO air strikes (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 May 1999). Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark added that Milosevic has recently made a series of gestures-- including freeing three U.S. soldiers and allowing Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugova to leave Yugoslavia--because "he's losing and he knows it." PM[15] U.K. STRESSES NEED TO 'STOP' MILOSEVICPrime Minister Tony Blair said in Aachen, Germany on 13 May that Milosevic is "determined to wipe a people from the face of his country. We are determined to stop him. And we will." In London, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook noted that "the last two days of [air strikes] have been the most successful [against Serbia] to date." Admiral Sir Ian Garnett, who is Britain's chief of joint operations, said that Serbian troops "show no sign of withdrawing" from Kosova, Reuters reported. He added that the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) is "tenaciously holding out in small pockets" throughout Kosova. Garnett also noted that "Milosevic's troops are showing an increasing tendency to loot and burn their way around the country." PM[16] MILOSEVIC SNUBS ROBINSONMary Robinson, who is the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said in Belgrade on 13 May that "despite my requests, it has not been possible to have a direct meeting with President Milosevic. I was very anxious to meet him, because I have had direct witness myself of the human rights violations suffered by a large number of [ethnic] Albanians." In Bonn, German television journalist Pit Schnitzler said that his Serbian captors interrogated and beat him daily during his imprisonment from mid-April until 11 May as a suspected spy. In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on 14 May that the Serbian authorities have formally charged two Australian aid workers, Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, with espionage. The Australian government and CARE, which employs the two, have denied the charges. PM[17] DJUKANOVIC HAILS NATO AIMS, NOT MEANSMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said in Vienna after meeting with Chancellor Viktor Klima on 13 May that he supports NATO's basic aims against Belgrade but does not favor bombing. Djukanovic stressed that the best way to remove Milosevic from the scene is through new elections in Serbia. Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel had planned to meet Djukanovic in Montenegro, but the Montenegrin authorities recently cancelled the meeting "on security grounds" after "the Serbs had gotten wind" of Schuessel's visit, "Die Presse" reported. PM[18] SWISS-GREEK-RUSSIAN CONVOY ARRIVES IN PRISHTINAThe first Swiss-Greek-Russian humanitarian aid convoy arrived in Prishtina on 13 May, nearly one month after the Swiss government launched a joint aid initiative that includes Russia and Greece. The five trucks carried food and medicine, AP reported. It was unclear whether and how the relief supplies will reach displaced persons inside Kosova. As part of the joint initiative, the first patients received treatment in a mobile hospital staffed by 43 Russian doctors in Prokuple, near Nis, ITAR-TASS reported. Russia's Emergency Ministry has donated the hospital to treat victims of NATO bombings. In Moscow, Russian and Greek officials suggested the setting up of several "humanitarian zones" in various parts of Yugoslavia, in which international relief workers can work at a safe distance from military operations. Meanwhile, the Iranian government held a "solidarity day with the Muslims of Kosova," collecting donations throughout the country for Kosovar refugees, Reuters reported. FS[19] UNHCR COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF ALBANIAN REFUGEE COORDINATIONRay Wilkinson, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tirana, said on 13 May that only 3,300 refugees from Kukes have agreed to leave the northern city for new refugee camps in central and southern Albania. He added that "this is not an overwhelming response," Reuters reported. Wilkinson said that nobody is providing the various aid agencies with information about the new camps, which have been built by NATO troops. Nor, he said, is any central authority coordinating the evacuation efforts. Wilkinson stressed that the UNHCR is "not informed of many bilateral agreements between various [national] armies." The previous day, another 4, 000 refugees arrived in Kukes from central Kosova. About 100,000 out of the estimated 430,000 refugees in Albania are currently in that town. FS[20] ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZES THACI GOVERNMENT...The Albanian parliament on 12 May adopted a resolution recognizing the provisional government of Hashim Thaci, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Tirana the following day. Presidential adviser Mentor Nazarko told RFE/RL that "the provisional government is a temporary institution, created on the basis of an agreement between the main leaders in the military, civil, and political life of Kosova." He added that "the [Kosovars] must regain the same level of unity that they had at the Rambouillet talks." Bilal Sherifi, an official of the provisional government, told RFE/RL that "the Albanian government has recognized the legitimacy of the UCK...and the political agreement between [all Albanian representatives] at the Rambouillet talks on the creation of a provisional government." He added that the previous shadow-state structures have "ceased to function in Kosova...and its people were left without a political leadership." FS[21] ...WHILE OPPOSITION CRITICIZES THAT MOVEOpposition leader Sali Berisha, speaking to RFE/RL on 13 May, criticized the recognition of the provisional government. He argued that the parliament's resolution rejects the legitimacy of the elected shadow-state government of Bujar Bukoshi and its institutions. He also pointed out that the resolution does not refer to Ibrahim Rugova as "president of Kosova." Berisha called on Rugova, Bukoshi, and the shadow-state legislators to declare the resolution invalid. He added that the resolution serves "pro- Serbian" interests and is "anti- Albanian" because it will reinforce the political division of the Kosovars into UCK and shadow-state groups. FS[22] ROMANIA ALLOWS VOA BROADCASTS TO YUGOSLAVIAThe Romanian government has authorized the country's National Radio Communications Company to rebroadcast Serbian-language Voice of America programs to Yugoslavia, Reuters, reported on 13 May. The decision came in response to a request from the U.S. Congress. VOA will use its own equipment for the 24-hour broadcasts, which will cover the entire territory of Yugoslavia. In other news, opposition representatives described the government's decision to link a package of reform bills to a confidence vote as unconstitutional, Rompres reported on 12 May. However, Petre Roman of the Democratic Party said there is no need to make an appeal to the Constitutional Court on the issue. The government is expected to survive any vote of confidence in the legislature. VG[23] MOLDOVAN COURT SAYS SNEGUR VIOLATED CONSTITUTIONThe Moldovan Constitutional Court ruled on 10 May that former President Mircea Snegur violated four articles of the constitution when he appointed the acting mayor of Chisinau and four deputies, BASA-Press reported on 13 May. The court said mayors and local councilors must be elected. Snegur made the appointments in 1995 after two consecutive rounds of elections failed to register the required turnout. Local elections are scheduled in Moldova for 23 May. Meanwhile, Snegur criticized President Petru Lucinschi's recent cabinet appointments (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 May 1999), saying the head of state should have consulted the parliament on the changes, even though the law does not require him to do so, Infotag reported on 13 May. In other news, the IMF announced that it is ready to provide Moldova with a credit line of $70 million before the end of the year, Infotag reported on 13 May. The first disbursement of funds is expected to take place in August. VG[24] BULGARIA SENDS TANKS TO MACEDONIABulgaria has given 31 tanks and 18 artillery pieces to Macedonia as a gift, BTA reported on 12 May. Experts said the tanks were repaired and fully equipped. Bulgarian Defense Minister Georgi Ananiev and his Macedonian counterpart, Nikola Kljusev, will attend a handing-over ceremony at Giueshevo, located on their common border, on 14 May, the Sofia daily "Standart" reported the previous day. Meanwhile, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mikhailova met with British Defense Secretary George Robertson on 12 May to discuss the Kosova conflict as well as the planned post-conflict reconstruction effort for the Balkan region as a whole, BTA reported. In other news, the editor in chief of the daily "Noshten Trud" resigned after an interview with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman published in the newspaper proved to be false, AP reported on 13 May. In that interview, which appeared in the newspaper on 26 April, Tudjman allegedly said that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is a "real chauvinist" who traded "Serbs like cattle." VG[C] END NOTE[25] RUGOVA AND THE KOSOVAR POWER STRUGGLEby Fabian SchmidtFollowing more than a month of apparent captivity in Serbia, Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugova arrived in Rome last week amid a power struggle in Kosova. Kosovar politicians know that they have to build an efficient administration quickly in order to win the war and plan for the future, but past rivalries prevent them from forging unity. The Kosovars were at their most united in March, when a broad- based delegation signed the Rambouillet agreement. That document offered the vision of peace under NATO protection and the prospect of democratic development based on the rule of law--a prospect that had never before seemed so close at hand. In early 1990, the Kosovars had responded to then Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's abolition of their autonomy the previous year by creating a multi-party shadow- state, which was dominated by Rugova's Democratic League of Kosova (LDK). In 1991, the shadow-state organized a referendum on independence, which passed by an overwhelming majority; and the following year, it held underground parliamentary and presidential elections. The LDK won that ballot and Rugova was elected president. The shadow-state's legislature appointed a government led by Bujar Bukoshi, who developed the shadow-state's school and health systems through financial contributions from the Albanian Diaspora. But despite much international sympathy for Rugova's non-violent political strategy, the shadow-state failed to gain international recognition. The Kosovars were left out of the frequent international conferences on the former Yugoslavia, and many ethnic Albanians came to the conclusion that the international community only rewarded those who made war. When the Dayton agreement ended the Bosnian war in 1995 and gave the Serbs their own para-state, many Kosovars saw that belief as confirmed. In early 1996, the activities of the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) first came to public notice. But despite widespread Serbian repression, the UCK did not begin to receive broader popular support until Serbian forces began conducting massacres of civilians in several villages in February 1998. By the summer, Serbian police had driven some 200,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes, some 98,000 of whom fled Kosova. The UCK gained in strength, and the shadow-state politicians had to recognize it as one of Kosova's key players. It also increasingly received attention from the international community, as demonstrated by a well-publicized meeting of U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke with UCK leaders in a Kosovar village in mid-June. The guerrillas' importance received another boost when Serbian forces launched "Operation Horseshoe" in January of this year and drove about 175, 000 people out of their homes, some 75,000 of whom fled Kosova. As a consequence, the UCK became the only force on which Kosovar civilians could hope to rely for protection. The guerrillas' new importance was reflected at the Rambouillet talks, where the Kosovar delegation included Rugova and other LDK representatives but was led by UCK leader Hashim Thaci. That unity proved short-lived, however. Even during the Rambouillet talks, now Yugoslav President Milosevic began his final "ethnic cleansing" campaign as part of "Operation Horseshoe." Anything left of Rugova's shadow- state collapsed in the process. On 31 March, less than a week after the beginning of NATO air strikes, Serbian forces captured Rugova and his family in their house and prevented them from establishing any direct contact with the outside world. In the ensuing weeks, Thaci and other Rambouillet participants created a provisional government that has close links with the UCK, which had set up bases in Albania and remains the only Kosovar institution still operating inside Kosova. Meanwhile, Milosevic used Rugova for several appearances serving propagandist goals, including at a meeting with Russian Patriarch Aleksii II. The Serbian daily "Politika" on 29 April published a declaration allegedly signed by Rugova and Serbian Premier Milan Milutinovic. The text called for direct talks between the Serbian government and Kosovar leaders, leading to wide-ranging autonomy and respect for the territorial integrity of Serbia. The declaration said that in these talks, representatives of the international community may take part only as "guests." Meanwhile, tensions between Bukoshi and Thaci grew. The provisional government demanded that Bukoshi accept its legitimacy, which, in practice, would have obliged him to surrender most of the shadow-state's funds to the UCK. But Bukoshi's sympathizers refused to give in. They pointed out that they also have a guerrilla organization, albeit smaller than the UCK, known as the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kosova (FARK). An attempt in early May by Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko to bring the rivals to the negotiating table failed because of the two sides' refusals to recognize each other. Meanwhile, the UCK's news agency Kosovapress has banned the Swiss-Albanian daily "Bota Sot" from using its news items. The UCK argues that the daily, which is close to Bukoshi, is making a profit by living from news that the UCK's journalists gather under the constant threat of death. Rugova is now at the center of the strife. He has so far failed to explain what happened to him in Serbian captivity and to say whether the declaration in "Politika" is authentic. He has also failed to state unequivocally which of the two rival Kosovar governments he supports. The Albanian parliament's 12 May decision to recognize Thaci's provisional government will increase the pressure on Rugova to make peace with the UCK, which now holds the balance of power among the Kosovars. It will not be an easy task. And the longer he maintains silence on key questions, the more difficult it will become. 14-05-99 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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