RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 150, 99-08-04

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 150, 4 August 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY PROTESTS IRAN'S SUPPORT FOR

[02] AZERBAIJANI POLICE PREVENT PICKET OF U.S. EMBASSY

[03] GEORGIAN MINISTER OF STATE IN MOSCOW

[04] ADZHAR LEADER INCRIMINATED IN GEORGIAN MERCHANT FLEET

[05] MORE REPRISALS AGAINST MEDIA IN KAZAKHSTAN

[06] MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN KAZAKHSTAN DEMAND BACK WAGES

[07] TAJIK OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF DEMILITARIZATION

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] TWO MORE SERBS KILLED IN KOSOVA

[09] KFOR AT CENTER OF CONTROVERSY

[10] KFOR ARRESTS FIVE ETHNIC ALBANIAN MURDER SUSPECTS

[11] RUGOVA PLEDGES PARTICIPATION IN KOSOVA TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL

[12] UNHCR COMPLAINS ABOUT MACEDONIAN CUSTOMS FEES

[13] TAIWAN'S PREMIER VISITS MACEDONIA

[14] PETRITSCH SAYS MILOSEVIC REGIME 'BEYOND HOPE'

[15] SERBIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE

[16] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES THREATEN OPPONENTS WITH LAWSUITS

[17] NEW ELECTION LAW FOR BOSNIA

[18] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTERS AGREE ON DEBT

[19] CONTROVERSY CONTINUES OVER BOSNIAN BORDER AGREEMENT

[20] DODIK BLASTS BOSNIAN TELEVISION LAW

[21] CROATIA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF 'OPERATION STORM'

[22] ROMANIAN STATISTICS SHOW CONTINUED ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

[23] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION TO COORDINATE POLICIES

[24] MOLDOVAN COMMISSION RELEASES CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE PROPOSALS

[C] END NOTE

[25] DJUKANOVIC'S MOSCOW VISIT SEEN AS 'TURNING POINT'

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTRY PROTESTS IRAN'S SUPPORT FOR

Iranian Ambassador Ali Rza Bikdeli was summoned to

the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on 3 August to hear Minister

Tofik Zulfugarov's formal complaint over the continued

presence in Iran of former Interior Ministry special forces

officer Mahir Djavadov, Turan reported. Djavadov fled

Azerbaijan in March 1995 after a standoff between the

Interior Ministry special forces and Azerbaijani army troops,

in which his brother Rovshan was killed. He traveled to Iran

late last year and has repeatedly announced his intention of

taking power in Azerbaijan (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report,"

Vol. 2, No. 12, 23 March 1999). Zulfugarov said that Tehran's

failure to curtail Djavadov's "illegal activities" negatively

affects relations between the two countries. Also on 3

August, Azerbaijani State Foreign Policy Adviser Vafa

Guluzade said that Iran's failure to extradite Djavadov could

lead to the postponement of the planned visit to Iran by

Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3

August 1999). LF

[02] AZERBAIJANI POLICE PREVENT PICKET OF U.S. EMBASSY

4 August thwarted an attempt by political parties aligned in

the Coordinating Council for Karabakh to demonstrate outside

the U.S. embassy in Baku to protest the U.S.'s alleged double

standards in its policy toward Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turan

reported. A similar attempt the previous day by members of

the Liberty Party was also blocked by police. LF

[03] GEORGIAN MINISTER OF STATE IN MOSCOW

in Moscow on 3 August with his Russian counterpart, Sergei

Stepashin, First Deputy Premier Nikolai Aksenenko, Foreign

Minister Igor Ivanov, Russian Security Council Secretary and

Federal Security Service Director Vladimir Putin, and Moscow

Mayor Yurii Luzhkov. The talks reportedly focused on issues

that have increased tensions in bilateral relations,

including the Abkhaz conflict and the future of the four

Russian military bases in Georgia. Lortkipanidze told

journalists on 4 August that he will meet that evening in

Moscow with Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba, Caucasus Press

reported. LF

[04] ADZHAR LEADER INCRIMINATED IN GEORGIAN MERCHANT FLEET

Georgian Prosecutor-General Djamlet Babilashvili

told journalists in Tbilisi on 3 August that several leading

officials from the Adjar Autonomous Republic are responsible

for the near bankruptcy of the Georgian merchant fleet,

Caucasus Press and Interfax reported. Babilashvili accused

Batumi Mayor Aslan Smirba of misappropriating $120,000

belonging to the fleet, adding that a further $250,000 was

illegally transferred from the fleet's London bank account to

a fund controlled by Adjar Supreme Council chairman and

Georgian presidential candidate Aslan Abashidze. Abashidze's

Revival Union is the second largest faction within the

Georgian parliament, and observers believe the five party

alliance that he heads may pose a serious threat to the

ruling Union of Citizens of Georgia in the October

parliamentary elections. Smirba has denied the accusations

against him. The Georgian merchant fleet owes some $100

million to foreign creditors. LF

[05] MORE REPRISALS AGAINST MEDIA IN KAZAKHSTAN

are under way in Almaty against the independent weekly

"Nachnem s ponedelnika," RFE/RL correspondents in the former

capital reported on 4 August. The newspaper's staff are

accused of having published false statements critical of the

Almaty City Court. On 3 August, the Committee to Protect

Journalists wrote to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan

Nazarbaev expressing concern at the harassment by

Kazakhstan's National Security Committee of Bigeldy

Gabdullin, who is editor-in-chief of the independent

newspaper "XXI vek." LF

[06] MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN KAZAKHSTAN DEMAND BACK WAGES

doctors and other medical personnel staged a demonstration in

Almaty on 3 August to demand payment of overdue salaries,

RFE/RL correspondents in the former capital reported. They

also demanded the rescinding of a decision by local

authorities to reduce the number of personnel employed in

local hospitals and clinics. LF

[07] TAJIK OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF DEMILITARIZATION

session of the Tajik Commission for National Reconciliation

on 3 August that the process of disarming opposition fighters

and of their enrolment into the Tajik army or Interior

Ministry forces has been completed, marking the

transformation of the opposition from a military into a

political force. A second senior UTO official, Khabib

Sanginov, stressed that the disarmament process is

irreversible, according to ITAR-TASS. Also on 3 August, the

Commission for National Reconciliation issued an appeal to

all armed bands not subordinate to the UTO to surrender their

arms within three weeks. Under an agreement signed in June by

Nuri and Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov, the Tajik

government is obliged to lift the 1993 ban on opposition

parties and media within one week of the disbanding of the

UTO's military units. Paolo Lembo, who is acting

representative in Tajikistan of the UN secretary-general,

termed the demilitarization of the opposition a further step

toward democratization. He expressed the hope that the

upcoming parliamentary elections will be free and fair. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[08] TWO MORE SERBS KILLED IN KOSOVA

Prishtina on 4 August that peacekeepers have found the bodies

of two Serbs whom unknown persons shot the previous night. At

least two other Serbs died on 2 August as a result of acts of

violence, including a 90 year-old woman. On 3 August, the New

York-based Human Rights Watch and the Budapest-based Roma

Rights Center issued separate reports in which they blamed

the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) for recent violence against

Serbs and Roma. Both reports criticized KFOR for not doing

enough to protect members of Kosova's dwindling Serbian and

Roma minorities. PM

[09] KFOR AT CENTER OF CONTROVERSY

Kosova's leading Serbian Orthodox cleric, told Vienna's "Die

Presse" of 3 August that KFOR must either protect the

province's minorities or leave. He argued that UCK leaders

Hashim Thaci and General Agim Ceku have not sufficiently

"distanced themselves" from the violent incidents against

Serbs. Belgrade's "Danas" on 4 August quoted KFOR commander

General Sir Michael Jackson as saying that no one should be

surprised that Serbs have been the victims of violence in

Kosova. He denied, however, that the violence is systematic

or amounts to "ethnic cleansing." PM

[10] KFOR ARRESTS FIVE ETHNIC ALBANIAN MURDER SUSPECTS

soldiers arrested five Kosova Albanians in Peja on 3 August.

The five are suspected of having taken a Serbian couple

hostage and killing the man after releasing his wife the

previous day. Meanwhile on 3 August in Mitrovica, French KFOR

soldiers arrested 15 Serbs who tried to hinder ethnic

Albanians from returning to their homes in the Serb-held part

of the city. The soldiers also confiscated a machine gun and

a grenade, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. One of those

arrested was a member of Serbian paramilitary forces and was

suspected of having committed atrocities against ethnic

Albanians between March and June. FS

[11] RUGOVA PLEDGES PARTICIPATION IN KOSOVA TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL

promised that his Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) will

participate in the Kosova transitional council along with

other political parties, "Bota Sot" reported. He made the

pledge at a meeting with UN Special Representative Bernard

Kouchner in Prishtina. Rugova urged Kouchner to accelerate

the process of installing the international administration in

Kosova at "all levels" of government. FS

[12] UNHCR COMPLAINS ABOUT MACEDONIAN CUSTOMS FEES

spokesman Chris Janowski told AP that Macedonian officials

demand "exorbitant" customs inspection fees on humanitarian

supplies passing through their territory. Janowski said that

the UNHCR refused to pay the fees, arguing that "we are a

relief agency which is exempt normally from such fees and

taxes.... There is no justification whatsoever to charge

[$348] for the so-called inspection of a UNHCR truck.... The

fee is...totally out of proportion to the service rendered."

There are currently 86 trucks with 3,400 tons of aid and 17

rail cars with 850 tons of timber blocked inside Macedonia.

Macedonia's authorities imposed the fees in July. The dispute

is jeopardizing UN efforts to rush in supplies to Kosova to

rebuild destroyed or damaged houses before the onset of the

winter. Janowski stressed that the UNHCR would face a monthly

bill of $200,000 if it agreed to pay the fees. FS

[13] TAIWAN'S PREMIER VISITS MACEDONIA

Skopje on 3 August at the head of a 160-strong business

delegation, Reuters reported. Siew and his Macedonian

counterpart, Ljubco Georgievski, are scheduled to inaugurate

a tax-free economic zone in Petrovac, near Skopje airport.

Siew told "Nova Makedonija" that "in the long term, our plan

is that Macedonia becomes Taiwan's gateway to southeastern

Europe, even to other European regions.... After the zone is

completed, Taiwanese companies will be the first to invest in

it, and we also expect foreign and local companies to do so."

He stressed that the creation of similar free economic zones

has greatly contributed to Taiwan's economic development.

Macedonia is the only European country that recognizes

Taiwan, apart from the Vatican. FS

[14] PETRITSCH SAYS MILOSEVIC REGIME 'BEYOND HOPE'

diplomat and Balkan expert Wolfgang Petritsch said in

Belgrade on 3 August that he has "given up hope that the

regime [of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic] will be

ready to reform itself and become a partner in the

democratization and stabilization of this region." Petritsch

stressed that Serbia must follow Montenegro's example and

embrace democratization. He urged the international community

not to deny humanitarian aid to the "Serbian people," Reuters

reported. The Frankfurt-based Serbian daily "Vesti" quoted

Petritsch as saying that the Milosevic regime could have

prevented NATO bombing had it been more willing to compromise

at the Rambouillet peace talks in February. Petritsch said

that Serbian delegates at one point offered to admit foreign

troops to Kosova but then withdrew that key concession the

following day. Petritsch ended his mission as Austrian

ambassador to Belgrade and will soon succeed the

international community's Carlos Westendorp in Sarajevo. PM

[15] SERBIAN PROTESTS CONTINUE

anti-Milosevic rally in Vrsac on 3 August, RFE/RL's South

Slavic Service reported. Several hundred people attended

separate rallies in Kragujevac, Valjevo, and Leskovac. In

Belgrade, Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic said

that he accepts the invitation from a group of independent

economists to attend an opposition rally in Belgrade on 19

August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August 1999). Democratic

Party leader Zoran Djindjic previously accepted the

invitation. PM

[16] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES THREATEN OPPONENTS WITH LAWSUITS

opposition Vojvodina Coalition said in a 3 August statement

that the authorities have threatened to launch legal action

against several farmers. The farmers recently told RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service that the minister of agriculture should

resign (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August 1999). In Belgrade,

Aleksandar Nikacevic, who is the new, pro-Milosevic head of

Radio B-92, said he will launch legal proceedings against

Draskovic's Studio B Television. That station recently gave

one of its frequencies to Radio B2-92, which is run by the

independent journalists who formerly staffed B-92 before the

authorities took it over in March. Nikacevic charged that the

creation of B2-92 has led to unspecified financial losses for

his station, Reuters reported. Elsewhere, several senior

Serbian officials and state-run media said that the U.S. is

"trying to conquer Serbia" by placing Milosevic's opponents

in power, AP reported. PM

[17] NEW ELECTION LAW FOR BOSNIA

in Sarajevo on 3 August that a draft election law for Bosnia

is ready. The law aims at breaking the grip of Serbian,

Muslim, and Croatian nationalist parties on the electorate.

The provisions require candidates to win at least some of

their votes both in the Republika Srpska and in the mainly

Croatian and Muslim federation. In addition, voters will no

longer be able to vote for party lists but will have to mark

the names of each candidate individually. PM

[18] BOSNIAN PRIME MINISTERS AGREE ON DEBT

Minister Milorad Dodik and Edhem Bicakcic, who is his

counterpart from the federation, agreed in Banja Luka on 3

August to divide between their respective governments

Bosnia's outstanding debts to the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development. The agreement paves the way

for the release of $170 million in new loans from the bank to

Bosnia, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM

[19] CONTROVERSY CONTINUES OVER BOSNIAN BORDER AGREEMENT

Luka on 3 August that the recent Bosnian-Croatian border

agreement violates the Republika Srpska constitution. He

called for the resignation of the two top ethnic Serbian

officials who approved the agreement (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

3 August 1999). In Sarajevo, a spokesman for Westendorp's

office said that the agreement changes nothing and simply

"reaffirms the legal border." He charged that unnamed Bosnian

Serb leaders are trying to use the issue for their own

political ends. PM

[20] DODIK BLASTS BOSNIAN TELEVISION LAW

on 3 August that the new law establishing a public

broadcasting service for all of Bosnia is "not acceptable" to

the Republika Srpska (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 August 1999).

In Sarajevo, Westendorp's spokesman defended the law, which

he said "is not about politics [but] is about joining the

real world," Reuters reported. PM

[21] CROATIA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF 'OPERATION STORM'

August celebrates a national holiday marking the anniversary

of the 1995 Operation Storm, during which Croatian forces

completed their conquest of the Serbian-held Krajina region.

Justice Minister Zvonimir Separovic said that any persons who

committed war crimes against Serbian civilians during the

offensive are now behind bars, "Vecernji list" reported on 4

August. He added, however, that the government must protect

its "security interests" and will not give the Hague-based

war crimes tribunal the documents about Operation Storm that

it has requested. In Knin, local police officials denied

recent charges by a human rights group that the rights of

returning Serbs are being systematically abused, "Vjesnik"

reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August 1999). Some 200,000

Serbs fled Krajina in the wake of Operation Storm, Belgrade's

"Danas" reported. PM

[22] ROMANIAN STATISTICS SHOW CONTINUED ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

percent, compared with the same period last year, Rompres

reported on 3 August, citing the National Statistics

Commission. The sharpest drop (13 percent) was registered in

the energy and mining sectors. The foreign trade deficit

stood at $831.6 million, compared with $1.1 billion in 1998.

That decrease is mostly due to a drop in imports (18.6

percent), although exports also dropped (8.6 percent). The

inflation rate was 30.8 percent in the first six months of

1999 and 48.2 percent for the past 12 months. Experts on the

commission said that the government's intention to keep

inflation this year at 32-35 percent (recently revised to 40

percent) is unlikely to be met. Unemployment in June 1999

reached 11.3, up 2.4 percent on the level in June 1998. MS

[23] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION TO COORDINATE POLICIES

of five opposition parties on 3 August agreed to set up a

Consultative Coordination Group, which will examine draft

laws presented in the parliament by the ruling coalition and

will strive to adopt a common stand on those legislative

proposals, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Each party

will be represented on the new body by one deputy and one

senator. The formations included in the group are the Party

of Social Democracy in Romania, the Greater Romania Party,

the Party of Romanian National Unity, the Alliance for

Romania, and the Romanian National Party, whose chairman,

Viorel Catarama, initiated the setting up of the group. The

Union of Right Forces and the National Christian Democratic

Alliance declined to take part in the new forum. MS

[24] MOLDOVAN COMMISSION RELEASES CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE PROPOSALS

August published its proposals. In addition to the proposals

made public last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 July 1999),

the commission recommends that the president, rather than the

parliament, have the prerogative of appointing and dismissing

the premier and other ministers, Reuters and RFE/RL's

Chisinau bureau reported. The president would head the

Supreme Council on National Security and appoint the

prosecutor-general and judges. And the head of state would

also have the right to dissolve the parliament if deputies

block a draft law for longer than 60 days. Deputies will be

elected from constituencies under a single-mandate

representation system that will replace that of single-

constituency proportional representation on the basis of

party lists. MS

[C] END NOTE

[25] DJUKANOVIC'S MOSCOW VISIT SEEN AS 'TURNING POINT'

Despite the lack of public comment from top Russian

officials following their talks with Montenegrin President

Milo Djukanovic in Moscow on 2 August, most Russian media are

describing the visit as a "turning point" in the country's

foreign policy.

Djukanovic's official visit was the first time that a

leader who has challenged Yugoslav President Slobodan

Milosevic was warmly received at the top levels in Moscow.

Ahead of the Moscow trip, Djukanovic had repeated

earlier warnings that Montenegro might declare its

independence unless Serbia--its larger partner in the

Yugoslav Federation--introduces substantial reforms leading

to democracy and a market economy.

The Russian daily "Kommersant-Daily" wrote on 3 August

that Djukanovic's visit showed that Russia "intends to forge

links with democratic forces opposing Slobodan Milosevic." It

added that "even more important, [the visit indicates that]

Moscow intends to sever ties with the questionable friends it

inherited from its [Soviet] past."

Djukanovic's talks with Russian Prime Minister Sergei

Stepashin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, and Moscow Mayor

Yurii Luzhkov focused on boosting political and economic ties

between Russia and Montenegro. Russia's Foreign Ministry said

in a statement that both sides agreed "on the need to solve

problems in Yugoslavia through dialogue and the existing

constitutional order."

Luzhkov--a leading presidential candidate in Russia--was

the only Russian politician to comment publicly on

Djukanovic's visit. He spoke in support of Montenegro, saying

that "we must not allow Milosevic's arbitrariness toward

Montenegro. This is the most important thing. It could lead

to a new worsening of the situation." At the same time, the

Moscow major stressed that that he still considers NATO's

bombing campaign against Yugoslavia "an act of aggression."

Stepashin, in footage broadcast by Russian television

networks, only repeated his view that humanitarian aid should

be provided to all Yugoslavia, not just the province of

Kosova and Montenegro. Western countries, including the U.S.,

say Serbia should be excluded from receiving such aid as long

as Milosevic remains in power.

"I think that the position of Russia and of its

president has played an important role in putting an end to

military operations," Stepashin commented. "This is something

that everybody acknowledges and was confirmed also in

Sarajevo [at the 29-30 July Balkans reconstruction summit].

Those who, as a result of the military operations, are now in

a difficult situation, independently of the place where they

live, need the support of international organizations and

also of Russia." During the Balkan reconstruction summit,

however, Stepashin did acknowledge that "the sufferings of

the Yugoslav population were caused not only by the [NATO]

bombings but chiefly by Milosevic's regime."

Djukanovic, for his part, told "Kommersant-Daily" in an

interview published on 3 August that "it is very important

that Moscow recognized Milosevic's responsibility for

Yugoslavia's tragedy. This shattered the illusions of many

Yugoslavs whom Belgrade had convinced that Russia supported

Milosevic and would defend him."

During NATO's 11-week bombing campaign, Russia clearly

supported Milosevic. Most analysts in Moscow say the new

pragmatism in Moscow shows an understanding of changed

circumstances.

Andrei Piantkovskii, director of the Moscow Center for

Strategic Studies, told RFE/RL that "this is not the first

time Russia changed position on an issue. Simply, Russian

officials have finally understood that support for Milosevic

leads nowhere and it is time for a change."

Sergei Rogov, director of the U.S. and Canada Studies

Institute, told "The Moscow Times" that Russia now is

"interested in participating in the Balkan settlement and not

in being associated with anti-Western regimes."

Russian news agencies reported that in the talks with

Djukanovic, emphasis was given to the issue of reconstructing

war-torn Yugoslavia. Russia has promised some $150 million

from its budget to finance fuel and food supplies this year

and to promote Russian companies' efforts to win contracts

for reconstruction in Yugoslavia. Much of the country's

energy infrastructure was built with Soviet and Russian

assistance.

Economy Minister Andrei Shapovalyants said recently that

his ministry will be in charge of controlling the funds and

that a special commission focusing on Russia's participation

in the reconstruction of Yugoslavia will have only a

"consultative character."

"Kommersant-Daily" on 3 August reported that the work of

the special commission--chaired by Stepashin--will likely be

aimed at facilitating the participation of Russian companies

in the rebuilding works. It also quoted controversial

businessman Vladimir Potanin, appointed as Stepashin's deputy

on the commission, as saying that in order to be able to join

the group of Western donor countries, Russia "will have to

convince the West that [by] rebuilding Yugoslavia, it does

not aim at strengthening Milosevic."

The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Moscow.

04-08-99

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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