RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 3, No. 154, 99-08-10

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 3, No. 154, 10 August 1999

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER OFFERS TO MEDIATE IN KARABAKH

[02] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH U.S. CONGRESSMEN

[03] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION TO DEMAND AMENDMENTS TO LOCAL ELECTION

[04] RUSSIA DENIES BOMBING GEORGIAN VILLAGE

[05] CENTRAL ASIAN OFFICIALS UNFAZED BY STEPASHIN DISMISSAL

[06] KAZAKH PRESIDENT DISMISSES DEFENSE MINISTER

[07] SQUATTERS STAGE PROTEST IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL

[08] TAJIK MILITANTS TAKE KYRGYZ OFFICIALS HOSTAGE

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] SERBS, ALBANIANS FAIL TO AGREE ON MITROVICA SETTLEMENT...

[10] ...WHILE TENSIONS CONTINUE

[11] THACI SLAMS FRENCH KFOR...

[12] ...OPPOSES APPLYING YUGOSLAV LAWS

[13] SERBIAN OPPOSITION MEETS WITH PATRIARCH

[14] SERBIAN OPPOSITION HAILS MEETING...

[15] ...WHILE REGIME CRITICIZES IT

[16] GENERAL PERISIC FOUNDS POLITICAL MOVEMENT

[17] CACAK MAYOR: OUST GOVERNMENT THAT 'HATES THE PEOPLE'

[18] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT THREATENS LOCAL BROADCASTERS

[19] SANDZAK RIVALS SPAR OVER PROGRAMS

[20] MILOSEVIC MEETS POPLASEN

[21] BELGRADE REPLACES UN ENVOY

[22] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON 31 OCTOBER

[23] ALBANIAN PREMIER WANTS BETTER COOPERATION WITH LOCAL MAYORS

[24] ROMANIA AUCTIONS ITEMS BELONGING TO CEAUSESCUS

[25] FIFA ASKS ROMANIA TO PROBE OFFICIAL'S ALLEGED ANTI-SEMITIC

[26] MOLDOVA, U.S. HOLD JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE

[27] BULGARIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF DENIES CODES STOLEN FROM U.S.

[C] END NOTE

[28] MONTENEGRO SETS TERMS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER OFFERS TO MEDIATE IN KARABAKH

On a one-day visit to Yerevan on 9 August, Kamal

Kharrazi met with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and

with his Armenian counterpart, Vartan Oskanian, to discuss

bilateral political and economic relations and regional

problems, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Kharrazi told

journalists after the talks that he and Oskanian agree that

expanding bilateral relations may serve to promote stability

in the South Caucasus. He reaffirmed Tehran's readiness to

facilitate a dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijani

leaderships on resolving the Karabakh conflict. Acknowledging

that offer to promote dialogue, Oskanian said that the OSCE

(of which Iran is not a member) will remain the main mediator

the conflict. According to Oskanian, the two sides also

discussed ways of underwriting construction of the planned

$120 million gas pipeline from Iran to Armenia. LF

[02] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH U.S. CONGRESSMEN

Kocharian and Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian met separately

in Yerevan on 9 August with a visiting group of five U.S.

Congressmen, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The talks

reportedly focused on U.S.-Armenian relations and regional

issues, including the Karabakh conflict. Kocharian noted that

over the past 18 months (that is, since he became acting

president in February 1998) Armenia's foreign policy has

become more dynamic but that activity seeks to mitigate

rather than to exploit conflicts of interest in the South

Caucasus. Both Kocharian and Sargsian expressed optimism that

the former's meeting last month in Geneva with Azerbaijani

President Heidar Aliev could herald a breakthrough in the

deadlocked Karabakh peace process. Kocharian left Yerevan

later on 9 August for a 10-day vacation at an undisclosed

location, Noyan Tapan reported. LF

[03] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION TO DEMAND AMENDMENTS TO LOCAL ELECTION

The Movement for Electoral Reforms and Democratic

Elections (MERDE) has presented to the presidential apparatus

a list of proposed amendments to the law on municipal

elections, Turan reported on 9 August. Those proposals

include increasing the number of persons to be elected to

local government bodies at all levels, electing 50 percent of

those officials under the proportional and 50 percent under

the majoritarian system, and banning the presence of police

officials within 100 meters of polling stations. MERDE has

also created a three-strong committee to negotiate on those

proposals with the presidential administration. The elections

are scheduled for 12 December. LF

[04] RUSSIA DENIES BOMBING GEORGIAN VILLAGE

Guards said on 9 August that a Russian SU-25 aircraft dropped

several bombs on the village of Zemo Omalo in eastern Georgia

injuring three people. The village is close to Georgia's

border with Chechnya and Dagestan. A spokesman for the

Russian Air Force General Staff denied those reports, adding

that Russian fighters are not conducting operations in

Dagestan's airspace and thus could not inadvertently overfly

Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. Georgian Minister of State

Vazha Lortkipanidze telephoned acting Russian Premier

Vladimir Putin to complain about the incident. Putin

expressed regret and promised to investigate the incident.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has likewise requested

clarification from President Yeltsin of the bombing. In June,

Moscow rejected Georgian claims that its fighters had

violated Georgian airspace (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 and 28

June 1999). LF

[05] CENTRAL ASIAN OFFICIALS UNFAZED BY STEPASHIN DISMISSAL

staff expressed confidence on 9 August that Sergei

Stepashin's dismissal and the appointment of Vladimir Putin

as acting Russian premier will not negatively affect their

countries' relations with Russia, according to Interfax. A

Kazakh official said it is too early for an official

statement, but he expressed the personal opinion that there

will be no changes in Russia's policy towards Kazakhstan.

Unnamed Kyrgyz officials said they are confident Russia's

next government will promote bilateral economic and political

relations. Tajik presidential press secretary Zafar Saidov

termed Stepashin's firing "a purely internal Russian affair,"

adding that Tajikistan's leadership is confident that the

dismissal will in no way affect the "alliance and strategic

partnership" developing between Russia and Tajikistan. LF

[06] KAZAKH PRESIDENT DISMISSES DEFENSE MINISTER

meeting of Kazakhstan's Security Council on 9 August,

Nursultan Nazarbaev issued a decree dismissing that body's

chairman Nurtai Abykaev, Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbaev,

and an unspecified number of lower-level defense and security

officials for their handling of the sale of six

decommissioned MiG-21 fighter aircraft, Interfax and AP

reported. Azerbaijani authorities impounded the fighters when

the Russian transport aircraft exporting them to the Czech

Republic landed in Baku. The fighters were subsequently

returned to Kazakhstan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 March and

21 April 1999). Nazarbaev subsequently named Chief of General

Staff Bakhytzhan Yertaev acting defense minister and promoted

Security Council Deputy Chairman Alnur Musaev to head the

council. LF

[07] SQUATTERS STAGE PROTEST IN KYRGYZ CAPITAL

homeless young people gathered along the administrative

border between Bishkek and Chu Oblast on 9 August to demand

permission from the city authorities to build their own homes

on waste ground on the city outskirts, RFE/RL's bureau in the

Kyrgyz capital reported. Bishkek Deputy Mayor Abdraim Kulbaev

told RFE/RL following a similar demonstration by some 500

squatters on 6-7 August in the south of Bishkek that the

protesters' demands are illegal. Meeting with homeless young

people in June, President Askar Akaev promised to form a

government commission to consider their demand to create a

new parliamentary constituency whose deputy would represent

their interests (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 June 1999). LF

[08] TAJIK MILITANTS TAKE KYRGYZ OFFICIALS HOSTAGE

some 21 guerrillas who had entered southern Kyrgyzstan from

Tajikistan in late July took hostage four Kyrgyz officials

sent to negotiate with them, Interfax and RFE/RL's Bishkek

bureau reported. Bolot Dzhanuzakov, who heads the defense

department within the Kyrgyz presidential administration,

told journalists on 9 August that the guerillas, who are

armed with submachine-guns and grenade-launchers, are

demanding safe passage to Uzbekistan. Kyrgyz Security

Ministry official Talant Razzakov told RFE/RL on 6 August

that the guerrillas are part of the religious extremist

forces of Jumabai Namangani, an ethnic Uzbek field commander

based in Tajikistan who opposes Uzbekistan's President Islam

Karimov. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[09] SERBS, ALBANIANS FAIL TO AGREE ON MITROVICA SETTLEMENT...

communities of Mitrovica, meeting on 9 August under the

mediation of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and KFOR,

failed to agree on ensuring freedom of movement (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 9 August 1999). Ethnic Albanian Mayor Bajram

Rexhepi told Reuters after the meeting: "Our plan was to

return the population in 15 days [but the] Serbs said the

deadline should be September 2000." A Serbian representative,

however, said that "there is a good will in both sides. I

don't know if we are going to sign an agreement, but both

sides had some concrete suggestions." FS

[10] ...WHILE TENSIONS CONTINUE

soldier in clashes on 9 August in Mitrovica. The clashes

occurred as French troops kept the city's main bridge closed

and installed a roadblock with barbed wire and armored

vehicles, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service correspondent

reported. The bridge links the ethnic Albanian-dominated

south of the city with the Serbian-dominated northern part.

In an effort to relieve tensions, Mary-Pat Silveira, who is

the UN's deputy chief representative for north Kosova,

addressed hundreds of protesters. She tried in vain to

explain to the crowd that the international community is

trying to solve the problem through negotiations. Later that

day, local Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) commander Rahman Rama

asked the people to end their protests. FS

[11] THACI SLAMS FRENCH KFOR...

RFE/RL's South Slavic Service on 9 August that "according to

all international agreements, the territory of Kosova is

[undivided]...but the partition of Mitrovica is nonetheless a

reality today. We cannot accept such a reality. The [ethnic]

Albanians have every right to try to cross the bridge..., to

go back to their houses, and to reunite with their families."

Thaci charged the French KFOR forces with behaving in an

"undemocratic and arrogant" manner by blocking the city's

bridge. He also alleged that there are still Serbian police

and paramilitary forces in northern Mitrovica in violation of

the June peace agreement. In Washington, State Department

spokesman James Rubin defended the French position. He argued

that "at present, there would be a serious risk of large-

scale violence if the Albanians were allowed to cross the

bridge." FS

[12] ...OPPOSES APPLYING YUGOSLAV LAWS

criticized UNMIK's plan to apply laws that were in force in

Kosova on 24 March 1999, when NATO began its bombing

campaign. He said that such laws prevailed under a decade of

repressive direct rule and added that "you cannot establish a

democratic society with undemocratic laws." Thaci also

criticized KFOR for briefly detaining UCK Chief of the

General Staff Agim Ceku and the UCK-backed provisional

government's Minister of Public Order Rexhep Selimi last week

for carrying guns illegally or without the required

documentation. Meanwhile, Ceku met with KFOR commander

General Sir Mike Jackson in Prishtina to discuss the ongoing

demilitarization of the UCK. FS

[13] SERBIAN OPPOSITION MEETS WITH PATRIARCH

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic met with Serbian

Orthodox Patriarch Pavle at his Belgrade residence on 9

August to discuss their plans for peaceful democratic change.

Differences remain between several leaders on some key

points, most notably over the nature of a transitional

government, Belgrade's "Danas" reported. Those present

included the Serbian Renewal Movement's Vuk Draskovic and the

Democratic Party's Zoran Djindjic. It was the first known

face-to-face meeting of the two powerful rivals since early

1997. Mladjan Dinkic of the G-17 group of independent

economists said that the Orthodox Church has "blessed" his

group's Stability Pact for a peaceful transition to a

democratically elected government, the Frankfurt-based

Serbian daily "Vesti" reported. The leaders agreed to take

part at a Belgrade rally that the G-17 has called for 19

August. The Church leadership is expected to decide on its

position on the rally on 10 August. The Holy Synod has

previously called on Milosevic to resign (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 16 June 1999). PM

[14] SERBIAN OPPOSITION HAILS MEETING...

Alliance for Change said that the 9 August meeting at the

Patriarch's residence demonstrated the opposition's "symbolic

unity," "Vesti" reported. Batic stressed that this display of

unity showed a "new and brighter face of Serbia" to both

domestic and foreign publics. Both Draskovic and Djindjic

said that the Church has a key role in promoting political

change. PM

[15] ...WHILE REGIME CRITICIZES IT

and Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj warned the Church

not to give its blessing to "those seeking to take power by

force." He charged that those unnamed individuals want to

involve the Church in their efforts aimed at launching a

civil war, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from

Belgrade on 9 August. The state-run Tanjug news agency said

that the opposition leaders are in effect calling on the

Church to "violate the constitution," which calls for the

separation of Church and state. PM

[16] GENERAL PERISIC FOUNDS POLITICAL MOVEMENT

Momcilo Perisic has formed a Movement for Democratic Serbia,

"Vesti" reported on 10 August (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 10

August 1999). Its guiding principles are democratic change

and the ouster of Milosevic. Perisic is expected to issue a

more detailed program in the course of the week. He stressed

that his movement is not a political party and is open to

members of other political groups. Its founding membership

stands at 50. On 9 August, Perisic held separate meetings

with Patriarch Pavle and with representatives of the Otpor

(Resistance) students' movement. He did not take part in the

meeting of opposition leaders with the Patriarch. PM

[17] CACAK MAYOR: OUST GOVERNMENT THAT 'HATES THE PEOPLE'

Serbian opposition held rallies in Ruma, Mionica, and Valjevo

on 9 August. In Mionica, Cacak Mayor Velimir Ilic urged his

listeners to oust the "political riffraff who are running

Serbia and to replace those [leaders] who hate their own

people," "Vesti" reported. He chided unnamed politicians who,

he said, try in vain to steer a middle course between

Milosevic and his opponents. Observers note that this is

probably a reference to Draskovic, who wants a transitional

government that includes Milosevic's supporters as well as

his opponents. PM

[18] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT THREATENS LOCAL BROADCASTERS

Telecommunications Ministry informed local television and

radio stations on 9 August that they will lose their licenses

if they do not pay their back taxes within seven days,

RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Observers note that

many local stations are controlled by the opposition. PM

[19] SANDZAK RIVALS SPAR OVER PROGRAMS

National Council has approved a Memorandum on Autonomy for

the Sandzak region, which straddles the border between Serbia

and Montenegro. The plan calls for six districts in Serbia

and five in Montenegro to form the autonomous region that

will be part of the Yugoslav federation, the "Frankfurter

Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 10 August. Rasim Ljajic, who

is Ugljanin's political rival, criticized the plan, "Vesti"

reported. Ljajic charged that Ugljanin has, in effect,

"stabbed [Montenegrin President Milo] Djukanovic in the back"

by announcing the program before Belgrade and Podgorica have

discussed Djukanovic's plan for redefining relations between

the two republics (see "End Note" below). Ljajic said that

his rival's program is in keeping with Milosevic's position

that Yugoslavia must remain a united country. PM

[20] MILOSEVIC MEETS POPLASEN

political issues with Republika Srpska President Nikola

Poplasen in Belgrade on 9 August, RFE/RL's South Slavic

Service reported. Earlier, the international community's

Carlos Westendorp had removed Poplasen from office for non-

compliance with several provisions of the Dayton peace

agreement. Poplasen refuses to accept Westendorp's decision.

PM

[21] BELGRADE REPLACES UN ENVOY

said in a statement on 9 August that Stanimir Vukicevic has

replaced Nebojsa Vujovic as Belgrade's chief diplomat at the

UN. Vujovic left his post for "reasons of health," the

statement added. He was the Foreign Ministry's chief

spokesman abroad during the recent NATO air campaign against

Serbia. PM

[22] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ON 31 OCTOBER

August that the first round of the upcoming presidential

elections will take place on 31 October and the second round

on 14 November. The election campaign will start on 1

October. Klimovski said: "I expect that the...elections will

take place in a fair and democratic atmosphere." None of the

major parties has yet announced its candidate to replace Kiro

Gligorov, who has been president since 1991 and who is barred

by the constitution from running for office for a third time.

FS

[23] ALBANIAN PREMIER WANTS BETTER COOPERATION WITH LOCAL MAYORS

throughout the country that "we have to understand once and

for all that we are all sitting in the same boat and have the

same route in front of us. This is true regardless of the

coloring of the government and regardless of the name of the

captain." Majko urged the mayors, most of whom belong to the

Democratic Party, to overcome differences with his Socialist-

led central government, an RFE/RL South Slavic Service

correspondent reported. Majko stressed that misunderstandings

between the central government and local government officials

have led to a lack of coordination and that many mayors have

not made use of funds offered by the central government or

international donors as a result. He also thanked the mayors

for their efforts to cope with the refugee crisis during the

Kosova conflict. FS

[24] ROMANIA AUCTIONS ITEMS BELONGING TO CEAUSESCUS

items belonging to Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, who were

executed in December 1989, are being auctioned off in

Bucharest, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The auction

began on 9 August and will continue until end of the week.

The authorities launched the auction on the eve of the solar

eclipse, hoping that the influx of tourists (the eclipse can

be best watched in Romania) will help raise at least

$300,000. Among the items sold on the first day of the

auction were a black Buick limousine presented by U.S.

President Richard Nixon to Nicolae Ceausescu, which fetched

$15,000, and a wooden chess set which chess champion Anatolii

Karpov gave as a present to the Romanian president shortly

before to latter's execution. Reuters said that the bid for

the latter item, which went for $2,368, was rumored to have

been made on behalf of the Russian Embassy. MS

[25] FIFA ASKS ROMANIA TO PROBE OFFICIAL'S ALLEGED ANTI-SEMITIC

Michael Zen Ruffinen, secretary-general of the

International Soccer Federation (FIFA), has written to the

Romanian Soccer Federation (FRF) demanding that a probe be

launched into the alleged anti-Semitic activities of FRF

deputy chairman Dumitru Dragomir, Mediafax and AP reported on

9 August. Dragomir, a communist-era police officer, is the

owner of the weekly "Atac la persoana," which frequently

publishes anti-Semitic articles. One of the weekly's

journalists is on trial for having published several articles

of an overtly anti-Semitic nature (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9

and 10 September 1998). MS

[26] MOLDOVA, U.S. HOLD JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE

exercise involving military police from North Carolina and a

motorized rifle Moldovan brigade began on 9 August in

Bulboaca, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The exercise,

called Blue-Shield 99, is focusing on peace-keeping

operations. MS

[27] BULGARIAN INTELLIGENCE CHIEF DENIES CODES STOLEN FROM U.S.

Angel Katsarov, chief of military intelligence, has

said that reports about stolen military data from the

Bulgarian Embassy in Washington are "nonsense," BTA reported

on 8 August, citing the daily "Trud." The Bulgarian press

recently began reporting on the alleged theft last month of a

computer from the office of the military attache in

Washington, General Stoyan Tsonkov. Tsonkov refused to make

any comment to "Trud." The opposition daily "Duma" on 8

August wrote that during the Cold War, "this act of

carelessness would have been punished with death or a prison

sentence.... Times have changed now and General Tsonkov may

even be promoted." MS

[C] END NOTE

[28] MONTENEGRO SETS TERMS

The Montenegrin authorities have laid down tough terms

for continuing a joint state with Serbia. The regime of

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is unlikely to accept

those terms, but democrats in Serbia might find them

attractive.

On 5 August, the Montenegrin government approved a

detailed plan that would abolish the Yugoslav federation and

recast Podgorica-Belgrade relations as a loose association

(zajednica) of two equal and sovereign "member states." The

Montenegrin parliament is slated to approve the measure soon.

It is unclear whether the government intends the

proposal as a basis for negotiations with Belgrade or as a

take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Top Montenegrin officials

said recently that they will hold a referendum on

independence if the Serbian authorities do not respond to the

proposal by late September.

The plan calls for establishing an "Association of

Montenegro and Serbia" with a unicameral legislature.

Montenegro and Serbia would have equal representation, while

legislators would be subordinate to the parliament of their

own member state.

The positions of president and prime minister would

rotate between Montenegrin and Serbian officials. The

president would be from one member state and the prime

minister from the other, while both would belong to the

governing political party or coalition in their own state.

"Bureaucratic" administrative structures would be small.

There would be a maximum of six ministries with small staffs.

Each republic would, in effect, have its own foreign policy

and army, which would be loosely coordinated with those of

the other.

The two sides would have to agree to joint foreign and

economic policy goals aimed at integration into Euro-Atlantic

structures. Each republic would have economic independence

and the right to introduce its own currency. Any joint

currency would be freely convertible and would be backed by a

currency board and protected by strict legal safeguards. Each

republic has a veto on joint decisions, including the

election of the joint president and a declaration of war.

There would be a constitutional court to rule on the

validity of legislation passed by the association's

legislature. Montenegro and Serbia would have equal

representation on the bench.

The text, in fact, reads more like a dull legal document

than a declaration of political principles. Podgorica's

intent was to make very sure that its rights and privileges

are carefully protected and that it would no longer be

Serbia's junior partner.

Nor would this be a new Yugoslav federation to which

constituent "republics" would be subordinated. Power clearly

would rest with the two member states. The joint state would

exist solely to further the specific interests of each member

and not as an end in itself. It would not be called

Yugoslavia.

The basic political principles are that the association

would be based on democratic values, the rule of law, and

human rights. Economic policy would rest on the pillars of a

market economy, free trade, and a convertible currency. There

are several references to developing ties with the EU and

integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. There are no

references, however, to the proposed union of Serbia, Russia,

and Belarus, which the Belgrade hard-liners have so warmly

embraced.

The Belgrade regime is, in any event, unlikely to accept

the Montenegrin proposal, which would greatly limit the

powers that Milosevic enjoys within the current federal

structure. On 8 August, Ratko Krsmanovic, who is a top

official of the pro-Milosevic United Yugoslav Left, called

the plan "an attempt to destroy our country and to provoke

conflicts. It would create a situation for foreign

intervention." The Radicals' Vojislav Seselj has blasted it

as "illegal secession."

It could be argued that any Serbian politician would

have difficulty endorsing a plan that gives Montenegro's

approximately 600,000 inhabitants political weight equal to

that of the roughly 7 million people living in Serbia

(excluding Kosova). But initial reactions suggest that many

members of the democratic Serbian opposition--such as the

Democrats' Zoran Djindjic and Vladan Batic of the Alliance

for Change--have responded positively to the Montenegrin

proposal, seeing it as a step toward the democratization of

Serbia.

If the Milosevic regime remains silent on the

Montenegrin proposal or rejects it outright, Montenegro is

likely to declare independence. But if Serbia in the coming

months acquires a democratic leadership that is willing to

accept Podgorica's principles, the outcome could be a

democratic state with a sound and growing economy. In such a

case, might not the association become attractive to some of

its neighbors, such as Macedonia or Bosnia--or even Albania

or Kosova?

10-08-99

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

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