RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 153, 99-08-09

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 153, 9 August 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] CIS TOP OFFICIAL VISITS AZERBAIJAN

[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION POLITICIAN'S TRIAL POSTPONED

[03] SUSPECTS WALK FREE AS KAZAKH LAWYERS CONTINUE STRIKE

[04] KAZAKHSTAN RELEASES DETAINED KYRGYZ

[05] RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VISITS TAJIKISTAN

[06] TAJIK COTTON HARVEST A WASHOUT

[07] TURKMEN GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENTS SIGNED...

[08] ...AS AZERBAIJAN EXPRESSES INTEREST

[09] TURKMENISTAN, UKRAINE AGAIN AT ODDS OVER GAS SUPPLIES

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] ETHNIC ALBANIANS CLASH WITH KFOR IN MITROVICA...

[11] ...CAUSING CONCERN THAT UCK LOST CONTROL OVER HARD-LINERS

[12] INTERNATIONAL POLICE BEGIN WORK IN KOSOVA

[13] RUGOVA WANTS TO REMAIN KOSOVAR PRESIDENT

[14] TRAJKOVIC: MILOSEVIC'S DEPARTURE IS KOSOVA'S HOPE

[15] GJILAN SERBS BOYCOTT UN AUTHORITY

[16] MILOSEVIC BLASTS OPPOSITION

[17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION REMAINS ADAMANT

[18] DRASKOVIC SAYS TRANSITION MUST BE GRADUAL

[19] MOST SERBIAN RESERVISTS END HUNGER STRIKE

[20] CROATIAN ARCHBISHOP IN VOJVODINA

[21] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CALLS FOR REVISING BORDER AGREEMENT

[22] BOSNIAN-CROATIAN BORDER CROSSING OPENS

[23] CROATIA EXTRADITES WAR CRIMES SUSPECT

[24] MACEDONIA, TAIWAN SIGN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS

[25] ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR HAILS U.S. CONGRESS DRAFT RESOLUTION

[26] MINERS' COMMEMORATION STIRS UP ROMANIAN CONTROVERSY

[27] IMF APPROVES TRANCHE DISBURSEMENT FOR MOLDOVA

[28] MOLDOVAN PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARTY DISTANCES ITSELF FROM

[29] LUKOIL BID SELECTED FOR BULGARIAN REFINERY PRIVATIZATION

[C] END NOTE

[30] TILTING THE CHESSBOARD IN MOSCOW

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] CIS TOP OFFICIAL VISITS AZERBAIJAN

Baku on 6-7 August, CIS Executive Secretary Yurii Yarov

discussed the ongoing streamlining of CIS executive

structures with Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, ITAR-TASS

and Turan reported. Yarov said that the creation of alliances

such as GUUAM by CIS member states does not detract from the

viability of the CIS, which, he argued, would be more

effective if its members could agree on creating a CIS free

trade zone. (Turkmenistan in June rejected that proposal).

Turan quoted Yarov as saying that the CIS Executive Committee

wants individual CIS member states to give Russia plenary

powers to negotiate with international organizations, such as

the UN, the IMF, and the World Bank, on behalf of the

presidents of CIS states. LF

[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION POLITICIAN'S TRIAL POSTPONED

trial of Geyrat Party chairman and former presidential

candidate Ashraf Mehtiev has been postponed indefinitely,

Turan reported on 6 August. Mehtiev was charged with

insulting the honor and dignity of President Aliev by

alleging the latter is an ethnic Kurd. Mehtiev's trial opened

in Baku last month but was subsequently adjourned. LF

[03] SUSPECTS WALK FREE AS KAZAKH LAWYERS CONTINUE STRIKE

because of the ongoing strike by Kazakhstan's lawyers, AP

reported on 7 August. Under Kazakhstan's constitution,

suspects can be detained without trial for no longer than six

months. The lawyers' union estimates that in Almaty alone,

more than 100 persons charged with violent crimes have been

released. Lawyers in Kazakhstan launched a strike in early

April to demand that the government pay their back wages for

the previous six months (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 April

1999). LF

[04] KAZAKHSTAN RELEASES DETAINED KYRGYZ

three weeks ago at a holiday home near the Kazakh town of

Taraz were released on 6 August, Human Rights Movement of

Kyrgyzstan chairman Tursunbek Akunov told RFE/RL's Bishkek

bureau the following day. The Kyrgyz were among 78 people who

had gathered to hold common prayers (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

20 July and 6 August 1999). LF

[05] RUSSIAN INTERIOR MINISTER VISITS TAJIKISTAN

working visit to Dushanbe on 6-7 August, Vladimir Rushailo

held talks with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and with

Tajik colleagues on cooperation in combating organized and

economic crime, terrorism, as well as arms- and drug-

trafficking, ITAR-TASS reported. They focused on the

performance of joint working groups created for that purpose

earlier this year. LF

[06] TAJIK COTTON HARVEST A WASHOUT

Sherali Safarov told Interfax on 6 August that this year

Tajikistan is likely to harvest only 380,000 tons of cotton

or just over half the planned target of 600,000 tons. He

blamed the shortfall on shortages of fuel and spare parts for

agricultural machinery and on the torrential rains in Khatlon

Oblast last month. In 1997, Tajikistan harvested 385,000 tons

of cotton. LF

[07] TURKMEN GAS PIPELINE AGREEMENTS SIGNED...

Shell and PSG signed three agreements in Ashgabat on 5 August

on the extraction of Turkmen natural gas and its export via

the planned Trans-Caspian gas pipeline, Interfax reported.

Shell and PSG signed a letter of intent on the implementation

of that project, under which Shell undertook to raise 50

percent of construction costs. Shell also signed an

"agreement of strategic alliance" with the Turkmen government

on exploring and developing gas deposits from which gas can

be exported via the planned pipeline. And PSG signed a

preliminary agreement with the Turkmen government on the

commercial and legal basis for operating the pipeline. LF

[08] ...AS AZERBAIJAN EXPRESSES INTEREST

following day, Azerbaijan state oil company president Natik

Aliev said his country hopes the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline

will transit Azerbaijan and Georgia, ITAR-TASS reported.

Aliev said the pipeline will have an annual capacity of 30

billion cubic meters, and he expressed the hope that

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan will be able to reach an

agreement allowing Azerbaijan to use part of that capacity to

export its own gas. US State Department adviser for the

Caspian John Wolf said in Baku the same day that PSG will

conduct talks on this issue in Baku "soon." LF

[09] TURKMENISTAN, UKRAINE AGAIN AT ODDS OVER GAS SUPPLIES

agreement had been reached during talks with Turkmen

government officials the previous day on resuming supplies of

Turkmen natural gas to Ukraine before the end of this month,

Interfax reported. Turkmenistan halted exports to Ukraine in

late May. But in Ashgabat, the chairman of Turkmenistan's

state gas company, Berdymurat Redjepov, said the same day

that supplies will not be resumed any time soon because

Ukraine has not yet made the required payment in hard

currency for 6 billion cubic meters of gas it received

between January and late May 1999. Forty percent of that debt

was to be paid in hard currency and the remainder in barter

goods, not all of which have been supplied. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[10] ETHNIC ALBANIANS CLASH WITH KFOR IN MITROVICA...

ethnic Albanians clashed with French KFOR soldiers from 7

through 9 August at Mitrovica's central bridge leading into

the Serb-dominated northern part of the city, Reuters

reported. The soldiers were hindering the protesters from

entering that part of the city, fearing bloodshed between

armed ethnic Serbs and Albanians. The protesters punched,

spat, and threw cans at the soldiers. KFOR detained one

ethnic Albanian. A KFOR spokesman said that "these mobs on

the bridge were certainly orchestrated by the Kosova

Liberation Army (UCK) to crank up the pressure on us [to let

them take over northern Mitrovica]. But this would cause

major violence." French troops also arrested four Serbs in

the northern part of Mitrovica for possession of weapons.

Meanwhile, unknown attackers fired a rifle-propelled grenade

from the south into northern Mitrovica, but there were no

injuries or serious damage. FS

[11] ...CAUSING CONCERN THAT UCK LOST CONTROL OVER HARD-LINERS

Mike Jackson told "The Scotsman": "I can't say I'm fully

confident that [the UCK is] in full control [among ethnic

Albanians]. They are going to have to work with their own

people to show that they have a [Kosova] now which is hugely

different from the [Kosova] they had three months ago....

They've got a great deal of what they fought for--O.K. not

independence--but they have a free [Kosova], which is almost

the same thing." Jackson warned: "We may get some difficulty

with fringe hotheads and we will deal with it. But for the

[UCK] to do anything other than conform to the

[demilitarization] undertaking they have assigned

themselves...would be the most foolish thing to do, and I'm

sure they are not going to be that foolish." FS

[12] INTERNATIONAL POLICE BEGIN WORK IN KOSOVA

international policemen formally assumed their duties in

Kosova on 8 August, AP reported. The UN Mission in Kosovo

(UNMIK) plans to deploy a total of 3,100 international

police. So far, Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Germany,

Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and the U.S have all

contributed to the force. Meanwhile, 10 people, including

eight Serbs, were injured in four separate grenade attacks

that day in various parts of Kosova. In Prishtina on 6

August, KFOR raided the house of the UCK's interior minister,

Rexhep Selimi. The peacekeepers found a submachine gun, a

hand grenade, ammunition, and 20 radio frequency scanners,

along with illegal identity cards, marked "Ministry of Public

Order," allowing the holder of the card to make arrests. FS

[13] RUGOVA WANTS TO REMAIN KOSOVAR PRESIDENT

leader Ibrahim Rugova told "Der Spiegel" of 6 August that he

will run in the Kosova presidential elections in 2000. Rugova

was elected as president of the Kosovar shadow state twice in

underground elections, namely in 1992 and 1998. He stressed

that "I remain the president of Kosova and insist on a direct

vote shortly before or after [parliamentary] elections."

Rugova added that "within three years we will hold a

referendum [on independence]. After that the Serbs can only

accept our independence." FS

[14] TRAJKOVIC: MILOSEVIC'S DEPARTURE IS KOSOVA'S HOPE

Trajkovic, who heads Kosova's Serbian Resistance Movement,

said in Belgrade that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic

must leave office if Kosova is to remain multiethnic and part

of Serbia. He stressed that Serbia must become democratic if

the Serbs are to have a future in Kosova, the daily "Danas"

reported on 9 August. Trajkovic said that he will seek the

establishment of five special "cantons" in the province as an

interim solution. Each canton would be multi-ethnic, and

Serbs and ethnic Albanians would share political power. The

five would be centered on the cities of Prishtina, Mitrovica,

Gjilan, Prizren, and Peja. PM

[15] GJILAN SERBS BOYCOTT UN AUTHORITY

and People's Committee" in Gjilan has turned down a request

by the UN's civilian administration to take part in local

government bodies. Committee leaders said that they will not

take part in UN-sponsored bodies until the security situation

for Serbian civilians improves, "Danas" reported on 9 August.

PM

[16] MILOSEVIC BLASTS OPPOSITION

Serbian emigres in Belgrade on 6 August that his opponents

are "corrupt politicians" seeking to destabilize Serbia. He

charged that NATO is using those politicians to achieve "the

aims it failed to do with 22,000 tons of bombs dropped on our

country." On 7 August, Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic

told state-run television that "big powers have their agents

in Yugoslavia." He was apparently referring to the

opposition. PM

[17] SERBIAN OPPOSITION REMAINS ADAMANT

of the leaders of the Alliance for Change, told more than

2,000 protesters in Vrbas on 7 August that Milosevic should

have responded to his critics sooner. The president has "only

now peeked out from his mouse hole to call us traitors. But

who is the traitor after all," Batic added. His remarks

reflect the view of many Serbs that Milosevic betrayed

Serbian interests by provoking and losing a conflict with

NATO. In Zabalj, Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic told

800 people that the only way to oust Milosevic is to continue

to hold meetings in cities and towns across Serbia, the

Frankfurt-based Serbian daily "Vesti" reported. He urged the

people to "take their destiny in their hands [and oust]

"tyrants, thieves, and criminal gangs." PM

[18] DRASKOVIC SAYS TRANSITION MUST BE GRADUAL

Movement leader Vuk Draskovic told RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service on 7 August that Milosevic will leave office only if

there is a "political agreement" between his government and

the opposition leading to the establishment of a transitional

government. Draskovic added, however, that Milosevic's Prime

Minister Momir Bulatovic must resign as soon as possible

because Montenegro does not recognize him. PM

[19] MOST SERBIAN RESERVISTS END HUNGER STRIKE

who heads the local veterans' association in Nis, said on 8

August that out of a group of nine reservists, he is the only

one who will continue the hunger strike for back wages (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 1999). Stankovic noted that the

other men ended their 13-day-old protest on doctors' advice.

He added that he has received no response from other veterans

to his recent call for a joint protest in Belgrade, Reuters

reported. PM

[20] CROATIAN ARCHBISHOP IN VOJVODINA

Bozanic arrived in Subotica on 7 August for a three-day visit

to Vojvodina. He appealed to local Croats to remain in

Subotica, "Jutarnji list" reported. PM

[21] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CALLS FOR REVISING BORDER AGREEMENT

parliament, said in Banja Luka that the recently signed

border delineation agreement between Bosnia and Croatia

should be changed (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 August 1999). He

stressed that the Una River should form the boundary between

the two republics, RFE/RL South Slavic Service reported on 7

August. PM

[22] BOSNIAN-CROATIAN BORDER CROSSING OPENS

the office of the international community's high

representative in Bosnia opened the border crossing near

Ivanica on the Dubrovnik-Trebinje road on 6 August. No local

Croatian officials took part, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

reported. The route linking southern Dalmatia with the

eastern part of the Republika Srpska had been closed for

eight years. PM

[23] CROATIA EXTRADITES WAR CRIMES SUSPECT

placed Vinko "Stela" Martinovic on a flight bound for The

Hague on 9 August. The war crimes tribunal previously

indicted him for crimes committed in Bosnia during the 1992-

1995 war (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 July 1999). The Croatian

authorities' refusal until now to extradite him has been a

source of tension between Zagreb and the tribunal. PM

[24] MACEDONIA, TAIWAN SIGN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS

Macedonian officials signed several economic cooperation

agreements in Skopje on 7 and 8 August, AP reported. Taiwan

will invest $200 million in a tax-free industrial zone near

Skopje. The signing of the agreements came at the end of a

visit by Premier Vincent Siew and a high-ranking Taiwanese

delegation (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 5 August 1999). Macedonian

President Kiro Gligorov, who is opposed to Macedonia's

recognition of Taiwan, refused to meet with Siew. FS

[25] ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR HAILS U.S. CONGRESS DRAFT RESOLUTION

interview with Romanian Television on 6 August, hailed the

draft resolution on Romania that was submitted to the House

of Representatives on 3 August but warned not to

overestimate its significance, which, Geoana said, is

"mainly political." Among other things, the draft says the

U.S. will "support Romania's territorial integrity and will

insist on that integrity being respected by all neighboring

countries" as well as by all political formations in

Romania or in other countries. The draft also recommends

that the U.S. assist Romania in overcoming the costs

incurred by the Kosova war and in rescheduling or writing

off debts to foreign creditors. President Emil

Constantinescu is currently on a private visit to the U.S.

MS

[26] MINERS' COMMEMORATION STIRS UP ROMANIAN CONTROVERSY

President Ion Iliescu, addressing a gathering in Lupeni,

Jiu valley, on 6 August to mark the 70th anniversary of a

miners' strike that was quashed by the army, said that

"unfortunately, history repeats itself," noting that the

current government has again used violence against the

miners. Iliescu called on those present to "hold on" till

he returns to power and repairs the damage caused by the

country's rulers. Alliance for Romania chairman Teodor

Melescanu also attended the gathering, an RFE/RL

correspondent in Lupeni reported. A Ministry of Defense

press release on 7 August said the ministry views the

"presence of certain politicians" at the ceremony as "an

insult to the army." It said the 1929 miners' strike was a

"Comintern provocation" and the army's "energetic

intervention" at the time "re-established peace and the

rule of the law." MS

[27] IMF APPROVES TRANCHE DISBURSEMENT FOR MOLDOVA

executive board on 6 August approved the disbursement of a

$34 million tranche of a $195 million loan approved in

1996, Reuters reported. The board said that the financial

crisis in Russia has had a severe impact on Moldova, and it

praised the steps taken by Ion Sturza's cabinet toward

tightening monetary policy and accelerating privatization

and structural reform. But the board added that it is

"concerned" about the fact that "domestic arrears continue

to mount" and about Moldova's foreign-debt servicing

difficulties. It urged Chisinau to "seek a prompt

negotiated settlement with its creditors." The conditions

for disbursing further tranches include keeping the decline

in GDP below 5 percent this year, not allowing inflation to

exceed 24.2 percent, and ensuring that the budget deficit

is below 3 percent of GDP. MS

[28] MOLDOVAN PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARTY DISTANCES ITSELF FROM

The Executive Bureau of the pro-presidential For

a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova movement has urged

President Petru Lucinschi to renounce the intention to hold

a referendum on changing the country's system to a

presidential one, Infotag and BASA-press reported on 6

August. The bureau said the presidential initiative might

"negatively impact" Moldova's image abroad and that it runs

contrary to "the fundamental European democratic

principles." It also said it is ready to initiate a debate

in the parliament on strengthening the president's

executive prerogatives. MS

[29] LUKOIL BID SELECTED FOR BULGARIAN REFINERY PRIVATIZATION

refinery, the largest in Bulgaria, has been selected by the

Privatization Agency from among several bids, AP and BTA

reported on 6 August. The Russian oil giant has undertaken to

pay $107 million for the stake and to invest a "much larger"

sum in the refinery's modernization. The daily "Demokratsia,"

cited by AP, said the price of the stake could be revised

after LUKoil experts carry out by the end of next month a

detailed examination of the refinery and its equipment. MS

[C] END NOTE

[30] TILTING THE CHESSBOARD IN MOSCOW

Once again, Boris Yeltsin has tilted the political

chessboard in Moscow, giving himself new room for maneuver by

upsetting the calculations of others--at the cost of throwing

the Russian government into turmoil.

Earlier today, the Russian president fired his prime

minister, Sergei Stepashin, along with the entire government,

and replaced him with Vladimir Putin, until now head of

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and a longtime KGB

agent.

In making this change, Yeltsin said that he wants to put

Putin in a position to succeed him as president, thus

highlighting Yeltsin's growing unhappiness with the political

coalitions now being formed against him and hinting at his

approach in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential

elections. Further, this latest move--particularly in the

context of the renewed fighting in the North Caucasus--raises

the possibility that Yeltsin will seek to postpone those

votes by declaring a state of emergency or will try to gain

more influence over the electoral process by putting himself

in a position to do precisely that.

But any short-term gains he may have made in the

overheated politics of Moscow may be swamped both by the

probable reaction of his political opponents and the even

more predictable reaction of international financial markets

and Western governments.

Precisely because most of Yeltsin's opponents are likely

to view his motives as a transparent threat to themselves and

because Yeltsin has used similar tactics in the past,

political leaders in the State Duma and in Russia's regions

are likely to redouble their efforts to gain power at his

expense.

The electoral coalitions that have emerged in the last

few weeks are likely to consolidate rather than crack as a

result of Stepashin's departure and Putin's appointment.

Those involved in such coalitions will doubtless conclude

that Yeltsin's move is directed not only against their

current clout but also their future power in the Russian

state.

That may make the confirmation of Putin more rather than

less difficult. It may also lead to new demands for Yeltsin's

impeachment and possibly trigger other kinds of political

maneuvers against an action that many political figures, not

to mention the Russian public, are likely to view as the

latest indication of Yeltsin's arbitrariness and unfitness

for office. Thus, August is likely to once again prove the

hottest month politically in the Russian capital.

Moreover, this pattern of domestic unhappiness with

Yeltsin's move may be compounded by the reaction of the West.

Both financial markets and international financial

institutions are likely to react negatively to this latest

indication of instability within the upper echelons of the

Russian state.

The reaction of the markets is almost certain to be both

quick and negative, driving down the ruble's exchange rate,

reducing still further the willingness of private firms to

invest there, and thus further exacerbating Russia's economic

difficulties. All those developments will only highlight the

conditions that are behind the growing opposition to Yeltsin

among the Russian people.

The initial reaction of Western governments is likely to

be more cautious. On the one hand, many are likely to view

Yeltsin's latest move the same way they viewed earlier ones

of this kind--as a high risk but as perhaps the necessary

step by someone many have come to view as the only reliable

partner they have in Moscow.

On the other, precisely because Yeltsin has used this

stratagem so often and precisely because it is once again

threatening to destabilize the political situation in Moscow,

ever more voices in Western capitals are likely to begin to

ask questions about Yeltsin's reliability and about relations

with Moscow after Yeltsin.

The latter response is particularly likely because of

Yeltsin's suggestion that he would like to see Putin as his

successor. Some are certain to be concerned by the prospect

of a longtime Soviet spy at the head of the Russian

government, while others will be worried by the possibility

that Yeltsin may suddenly transfer power to Putin as a means

of avoiding a loss in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Each time Yeltsin has tossed the Russian chessboard into

the air in order to maintain power, there have been

suggestions that he has used this strategy once too often.

That is certain to be the case once again this week. And

regardless of whether this is Yeltsin's final August ploy,

the suggestions themselves will cast an ever larger shadow

over Russian politics, the Russian people, and Russia's

relations with the West.

09-08-99

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

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article