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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 30, 00-02-11

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. 4, No. 30, 11 February 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIAN PREMIER REJECTS CALLS FOR PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION
  • [02] ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER TO REMAIN IN DETENTION
  • [03] ARMENIAN OFFICIALS DENY PRO-RUSSIAN BIAS IN ENERGY SYSTEM
  • [04] DETAINED JOURNALIST RELEASED IN AZERBAIJAN
  • [05] TWELFTH CANDIDATE NOMINATED FOR GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL
  • [06] GEORGIA SAYS RUSSIAN PLANES AGAIN VIOLATE ITS AIRSPACE
  • [07] KAZAKHSTAN TO HOLD ELECTIONS FOR REGIONAL GOVERNORS?
  • [08] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTY ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVERSE
  • [09] SOME REGISTERED CANDIDATES NOT TO BE LISTED ON KYRGYZ BALLOT

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS PRAISE DECISION TO EASE SANCTIONS
  • [11] SLAIN YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER BURIED...
  • [12] ...AS SERBIAN DEPUTY PREMIER THREATENS INDEPENDENT
  • [13] SERBIAN TEACHER STRIKE GROWS
  • [14] FRANCE DEFENDS ITS TROOPS' ROLE IN KOSOVA...
  • [15] ...AS REPORT SAYS CONDITIONS FOR MINORITIES REMAINS BAD
  • [16] ANOTHER MASS GRAVE FOUND IN KOSOVA
  • [17] CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BOSNIA
  • [18] CROATIAN PRESIDENT KEEN TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS WITH SLOVENIA
  • [19] SIX BALKAN STATES RESOLVE TO INCREASE TRADE, INFRASTRUCTURE
  • [20] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL IN BUCHAREST
  • [21] BUCHAREST MAYOR LEAVES RULING PARTY
  • [22] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY ASKS EU COMMISSIONER TO CLARIFY
  • [23] MOLDOVAN OFFICIALS QUESTION COUNTRY'S NEUTRALITY
  • [24] BULGARIA APPEALS TO GREECE, TURKEY TO HALT ARMS RACE

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [25] WHY MUSAVAT?

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIAN PREMIER REJECTS CALLS FOR PRESIDENT'S RESIGNATION

    Aram Sargsian said in an interview published in "Hayastani

    Hanrapetutiun" on 10 February that calls for the resignation

    of President Robert Kocharian in the wake of the 27 October

    parliament shootings are understandable, but he added that

    Kocharian should not resign at present because Armenia "is in

    need of stability like never before." Sargsian added that

    "there is no real or deep disagreement as such" between

    himself and the president, but he hinted that tensions

    nonetheless derive from the present distribution of power

    between the president and prime minister. LF

    [02] ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER TO REMAIN IN DETENTION

    At

    the request of Armenia's military prosecutor, Kocharian's

    former adviser Aleksan Harutiunian will be held in pre-trial

    confinement for another two months, according to

    "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 11 February. Harutiunian resigned

    and was taken into custody in December on suspicion of

    involvement in the 27 October Armenian parliament shootings

    (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 and 21 December 1999). LF

    [03] ARMENIAN OFFICIALS DENY PRO-RUSSIAN BIAS IN ENERGY SYSTEM

    PRIVATIZATION

    The World Bank has reportedly expressed

    concern to Armenian Prime Minister Sargsian over rumors that

    Yerevan may give unwarranted preferential treatment to a

    subsidiary of Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom in the ongoing

    tender for privatization of four energy distributing

    enterprises, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 10 February.

    On 8 February, Energy Minister David Zadoyan had denied those

    rumors, pledging the "maximum transparency" in the sell-off.

    He added that the decisive factor would be the level of

    investment that potential buyers are prepared to make in the

    energy sector. In addition to Gazprom, four companies--from

    the U.S., Switzerland, Italy, and Spain--are short-listed. LF

    [04] DETAINED JOURNALIST RELEASED IN AZERBAIJAN

    Elbey Hasanli,

    the "Yeni Musavat" journalist abducted from the newspaper's

    Baku headquarters on 7 February and taken to Nakhichevan, was

    released on 9 February and allowed to return to Baku, Turan

    reported. Hasanli told fellow-reporters the following day

    that he had been pressured to retract a report that Vagif

    Talybov, the brother of the Nakhichevan parliamentary

    speaker, demands a $200 bribe from persons applying for a

    passport. Hasanli said he was taken before a Nakhichevan

    court and sentenced to 15 days' imprisonment for refusing to

    obey police instructions. He was then released and allowed to

    return to the capital. Hasanli said that local leaders of

    other Azerbaijani opposition parties are currently being held

    in detention in Nakhichevan (see also "End Note" below). LF

    [05] TWELFTH CANDIDATE NOMINATED FOR GEORGIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL

    An initiative group representing Georgia's unemployed has

    proposed engineer Gela Gelashvili as a candidate in the 9

    April presidential elections, Caucasus Press reported on 10

    February. LF

    [06] GEORGIA SAYS RUSSIAN PLANES AGAIN VIOLATE ITS AIRSPACE

    Russian military aircraft five times flew 10-15 kilometers

    into Georgian airspace on 10 February, Caucasus Press

    reported, quoting a Georgian Frontier Department official.

    OSCE observers deployed along the Georgian-Chechen border

    reportedly registered the incursions. Two Russian military

    helicopters entered the same sector of Georgia's airspace one

    week earlier (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 February 2000). LF

    [07] KAZAKHSTAN TO HOLD ELECTIONS FOR REGIONAL GOVERNORS?

    The

    cabinet has submitted to the lower chamber of the parliament

    a draft law on the election of regional governors, which

    might take place this summer, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service

    reported on 10 February, quoting unnamed sources within the

    presidential administration. Until now, the appointment of

    governors has been the prerogative of the president. In April

    1999, Nursultan Nazarbaev had argued that popular elections

    to the post of governor could "destabilize the social and

    economic situation" (see "End Note," "RFE/RL Newsline," 13

    April 1999). Azamat movement leader Ghalym Abelseitov said

    his organization is ready to propose candidates for those

    elections, while members of the opposition Republican

    People's Party of Kazakhstan said they might also do so but

    that the identity of those candidates would not be made

    public in advance. LF

    [08] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTY ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVERSE

    ELECTION BAN

    Jypar Jeksheev, who is chairman of the Party of

    the Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan (PDMK), told

    journalists in Bishkek on 10 February that delegates to an

    emergency party congress the previous day appealed to the

    Supreme Court to reverse a district court's 5 February ruling

    barring the party from contesting the 20 February

    parliamentary elections under the proportional system, RFE/RL

    correspondents in the Kyrgyz capital reported. The local

    court had endorsed a complaint by three former members of the

    party who alleged they had been unjustly prevented from

    attending the PDMK's 5 January congress. Jeksheev explained

    that the three were not entitled to attend as they had not

    been selected as delegates by their local party branches. On

    25 January, the Central Electoral Commission registered the

    PDMK as a participant in the poll. LF

    [09] SOME REGISTERED CANDIDATES NOT TO BE LISTED ON KYRGYZ BALLOT

    SHEET?

    Kyrgyz Central Electoral Commission official Tynybek

    Momunaliev said in Bishkek on 10 February that the names of

    only 418 of the 455 candidates originally registered to run

    in single-mandate constituencies will be printed on the

    relevant ballot sheets, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. He

    said the remaining candidates were excluded for reasons he

    declined to specify. Originally, 239 candidates registered to

    contend 45 seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house)

    and 216 for the 45 seats in the People's Assembly (upper

    house). A further 15 seats in the Legislative Assembly will

    be allocated under the party list system. Nine political

    parties and two blocs will contend those seats. LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [10] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADERS PRAISE DECISION TO EASE SANCTIONS

    Serbian opposition leaders said on 10 February that a

    decision by the EU and the U.S. to ease some sanctions

    against Yugoslavia would benefit democratic forces, AP

    reported. Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic said Serbia

    "should not be treated like a crisis area...with forceful

    interventions." He added that ending an air embargo would

    allow the Serbian people to realize that the opposition is

    "the democratic alternative...that we are making life better

    here and (will) take our country out of isolation." A formal

    decision by the EU on easing sanctions is expected on 14

    February. An EU official in Brussels said on 11 February that

    the ban on air links with Yugoslavia will be suspended only

    if member states agree to tighten other sanctions. PB

    [11] SLAIN YUGOSLAV DEFENSE MINISTER BURIED...

    Pavle Bulatovic was

    buried in Gornji Rovci, Montenegro on 10 February at a

    ceremony attended by thousands of people. Yugoslav Premier

    Momir Bulatovic (no relation) and the chief of the general

    staff of the Yugoslav army, Dragoljub Ojdanic, were the

    highest ranking Yugoslav officials in attendance. Bulatovic

    was assassinated in Belgrade on 7 February (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 8 February 2000). PB

    [12] ...AS SERBIAN DEPUTY PREMIER THREATENS INDEPENDENT

    JOURNALISTS

    Vojislav Seselj, who is also the chairman of the

    ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party, said on 10 February

    that independent journalists "working for the Americans" will

    suffer "the worst possible consequences," the radio station

    B2-92 reported. Seselj said in an interview that journalists

    "working for foreign intelligence services are murderers." He

    said that "whoever lives by the sword can die by the sword

    and you should keep this in mind." Seselj named the Belgrade

    dailies "Danas," "Blic," "Glas javnosti," "Novosti," and B2-

    92 as the media organizations he was referring to. PB

    [13] SERBIAN TEACHER STRIKE GROWS

    The teachers' strike, which

    entered its 11th day on 11 February, now includes teachers

    from some 770 elementary and high schools across Serbia, Beta

    reported. The strike, which is in protest at low and unpaid

    salaries and is being led by four teachers' unions, has

    reportedly been joined by 48 percent of teachers in Serbia.

    PB

    [14] FRANCE DEFENDS ITS TROOPS' ROLE IN KOSOVA...

    The French

    Defense Ministry denied reports on 10 February that its

    troops were biased toward Serbs, and it defended their work

    in keeping ethnic Albanians and Serbs apart in Mitrovica,

    Reuters reported. The ministry's spokesman said "there was no

    favoritism by France..., everyone knows the French contingent

    is in the most delicate of positions in Kosovo, in between

    two hostile communities." Western papers recently charged

    that French troops did not properly protect ethnic Albanians

    being attacked by a Serbian mob in Mitrovica and failed to

    take the injured to a French-run hospital. The same day, 140

    British troops were sent to Mitrovica to help qualm the

    violence that has led to the deaths of at least 10 and

    injured dozens in the past week. PB

    [15] ...AS REPORT SAYS CONDITIONS FOR MINORITIES REMAINS BAD

    A

    report by the UNHCR and the OSCE says the situation for

    minorities in Kosova "has not improved" since an earlier

    report was issued in November, Reuters reported on 11

    February. According to this latest assessment, in some places

    the situation has even deteriorated: "Kosovo continues to be

    volatile and potentially dangerous, with ethnicity often

    remaining a determining factor in the risk of falling victim

    to crime." The report calls on political leaders to accept

    more responsibility in creating a tolerant society. PB

    [16] ANOTHER MASS GRAVE FOUND IN KOSOVA

    NATO-led peacekeeping

    forces said on 10 February that a mass grave containing

    between eight and 10 bodies was discovered near the village

    of Mires, about 22 kilometers south of Prishtina, AP

    reported. PB

    [17] CROATIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BOSNIA

    Tonino Picula arrived in

    Sarajevo on 10 February on his first official foreign visit,

    Hina reported. The trip is seen as a gesture by Zagreb that

    improved relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina are a major policy

    goal of the new government. Picula will meet with top Bosnian

    officials as well as with representatives of the

    international community overseeing the implementation of the

    Dayton agreement. Before leaving for Sarajevo, Picula said

    that Premier Ivica Racan will meet with NATO Secretary-

    General Lord Robertson in Brussels on 14 February and apply

    for membership in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. He

    added that Racan will also meet with EU officials to "open a

    new page in our relations." PB

    [18] CROATIAN PRESIDENT KEEN TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS WITH SLOVENIA

    Stipe Mesic said on 10 February that outstanding disputes

    between Slovenia and Croatia must be resolved soon, Hina

    reported. Mesic told Slovenia's POP-TV that "there are

    problems, but they can be solved. They must be solved by this

    generation, and they must be solved during my mandate." Mesic

    said the resolution of disputes with Bosnia and Slovenia are

    of paramount importance for Zagreb to be accepted into the EU

    and NATO. Croatia and Slovenia have yet to resolve a sea-

    border issue and problems over a nuclear power plant located

    in Slovenia near the Croatian border. PB

    [19] SIX BALKAN STATES RESOLVE TO INCREASE TRADE, INFRASTRUCTURE

    Officials from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,

    Croatia, Macedonia, and Romania agreed on 10 February to set

    up a program to encourage free trade and transportation

    across their borders, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The

    EU, the U.S., and the World Bank will give financial aid for

    the upgrading of border crossings, customs administration,

    and enhancing the Internet infrastructure in order to

    increase the flow of information among those countries. The

    program is to be completed by 2003. PB

    [20] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL IN BUCHAREST

    Lord Robertson on 10

    February thanked Romania for its assistance to NATO during

    the Kosova conflict. He met with President Emil

    Constantinescu, Foreign Minister Petre Roman, and other

    officials, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. In response to

    a question from journalists, Robertson said the guarantees

    that NATO extended to Romanian security during the conflict

    in Kosova are no longer applicable since, he commented, there

    is no longer any conflict in which Romania is involved. He

    said NATO members will decide in 2002 on the organization's

    further expansion and that until then candidate states must

    continue economic and military reforms to meet NATO

    standards. MS

    [21] BUCHAREST MAYOR LEAVES RULING PARTY

    Viorel Lis on 10

    February announced he is resigning from the National Peasant

    Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD). He accused the party's

    secretary-general, Remus Opris, of "having taken over the

    party" and of promoting only his supporters. PNTCD Chairman

    Ion Diaconescu said that mayor's decision is based on his

    realization that he will not be nominated as PNTCD candidate

    for this year's local elections, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau

    reported. Romanian media reported on 11 February that Lis may

    be joining the Popular Party, headed by former Premier Radu

    Vasile. On 10 February, PNTCD Senator Gheorghe Pavalascu

    announced he is joining Vasile's party. Meanwhile, Diaconescu

    and Mircea Ionescu-Quintus, leader of the National Liberal

    Party, have agreed that the Democratic Convention of Romania

    will be chaired by two chairmen representing their parties.

    MS

    [22] ROMANIAN OPPOSITION PARTY ASKS EU COMMISSIONER TO CLARIFY

    STATEMENT

    The opposition Party of Social Democracy in

    Romania (PDSR) has asked Guenter Verheugen, EU commissioner

    for enlargement, to clarify a statement he made at a press

    conference in Brussels on 8 February. Verheugen was asked

    whether the EU will react as strongly as it did toward

    Austria if "extremist parties" such as the PDSR or the Slovak

    Movement for a Democratic Slovakia come to power. Without

    mentioning these parties by name, Verheugen responded that

    the EU "does not want to see populist and nationalist

    movements or parties participating in European governments"

    and that this position extends "to candidate countries as

    well." The PDSR responded that the statement may be used by

    its adversaries in the forthcoming elections and has asked

    the commissioner to clarify it, Mediafax and Reuters

    reported. MS

    [23] MOLDOVAN OFFICIALS QUESTION COUNTRY'S NEUTRALITY

    Sergiu

    Burca, head of the Moldovan parliamentary delegation to the

    North Atlantic Parliamentary Assembly, said on 10 February

    that it is "unfortunate" that Moldova has "weak diplomatic

    representations" at NATO and the EU. Moldova has only

    associate status in the NATO assembly. Burca said Moldova's

    neutrality "must not be viewed as dogma" allowed to undermine

    "the general interests of the state," Flux reported on 10

    February. He said other European neutral states are "closely

    cooperating with NATO" and are being "integrated into the

    European collective security system." Vitalia Pavlicenco, a

    member of the delegation headed by Burca, predicted that "the

    moment will come when Moldova will accept to trade its

    neutrality" in order to "become integrated into a zone that

    provides security." She commented that owing to the presence

    of Russian troops, Moldova is "not a genuinely neutral state,

    having remained in the Russian zone of influence." MS

    [24] BULGARIA APPEALS TO GREECE, TURKEY TO HALT ARMS RACE

    Defense

    Minister Boiko Noev said in an interview with AP on 10

    February that Bulgaria "does not welcome" the "arms race

    south of us," and he urged Greece and Turkey to halt that

    race, which "does not pose a threat to Bulgaria because we

    have excellent friendly relations with both [countries]." But

    he commented that the two countries "waste their money" on a

    "military race [that]...will not solve their problems." Noev

    said the problems between the two countries must be solved by

    a political solution and that recent signs that such a

    process is beginning are viewed by Bulgaria "with great hope

    and optimism." MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [25] WHY MUSAVAT?

    by Liz Fuller

    On 7 February, a group of some 100 armed men attacked

    the Baku headquarters of the opposition Musavat Party and the

    newspaper "Yeni Musavat," breaking down the main door,

    smashing windows, and abducting "Yeni Musavat" journalist

    Elbey Hasanli. Police summoned to the building failed to

    intervene. The attackers were identified as inhabitants of

    the village of Nehram in Nakhichevan's Djulfa Raion who were

    reportedly incensed by articles in which Hasanli criticized

    conditions in the exclave. Hasanli was taken to Nakhichevan

    to face court charges but was released late on 9 February.

    The incident was widely condemned by other Azerbaijani

    opposition parties and by human rights groups. Presidential

    administration official Ali Hasanov, while suggesting that he

    considered the villagers' indignation justified, nonetheless

    conceded that the form in which they expressed that protest

    was unacceptable. Baku police have opened a criminal case on

    charges of hooliganism.

    Musavat Party Chairman Isa Gambar blamed the attack on

    the Azerbaijani authorities, claiming that they had known in

    advance that it was planned but had taken no steps to prevent

    it. Other opposition parties, meeting in Baku the following

    day, condemned the violence as "political terrorism" aimed at

    creating artificial tensions and destabilizing the political

    situation.

    At a quick glance, the attack on Musavat could be

    regarded merely as the continuation of a pattern in recent

    years of seemingly arbitrary reprisals against opposition

    political parties and publications. Moreover, Musavat was

    earlier subject to harassment in Nakhichevan: party secretary

    Sulkhaddin Akper was detained last summer in Djulfa Raion and

    fined for insulting the police, and the party's Djulfa branch

    was evicted from its office in November. Three officials from

    the Musavat Party's Nakhichevan branch were arrested in early

    February on charges of slander. On 5 February, a group of 70

    people attacked Musavat Party headquarters in the town of

    Nakhichevan, destroying documents and office equipment.

    However, both the timing of the attack and the fact that

    Musavat, rather than another prominent opposition party, was

    the target may be significant. Last month, Gambar proposed

    that opposition parties should join forces and field a

    combined list of candidates in the parliamentary elections

    due this November. True, other opposition parties reacted

    coolly to the proposal, which some political observers have

    claimed is unrealistic. But in making that proposal, Gambar

    may also have been making a bid for the status of "primus

    inter pares" within the ranks of opposition party leaders.

    The previous claimant to that role, Azerbaijan Popular Front

    Chairman Abulfaz Elchibey, is widely regarded as a spent

    political force, and some commentators have predicted that

    perceived tensions between him and that party's charismatic

    young first deputy chairman, Ali Kerimov, could ultimately

    split the party.

    In addition, Mahir Samedov, a former member of the

    Popular Front's Supreme Council has recently quit the party's

    ranks to found a rival party and has subjected Kerimov to

    blistering criticism in the press. The fact that it was

    Musavat, not the Popular Front, that was subject to attack

    may serve as grist to the mill of those observers who believe

    that Kerimov has been secretly coopted by the current

    Azerbaijani leadership.

    The Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, too, is reportedly

    rent by tensions between its two co-chairmen, Ilyas Ismailov

    and exiled former parliamentary speaker Rasul Guliev.

    Musavat's Gambar thus has grounds to contest a leading

    role in the runup to the November poll. Musavat and the

    Popular Front have each drafted a new election law, while the

    Akhrar Party and the presidential apparatus have prepared

    amendments to the existing law. Akhrar chairman Vagif

    Gadjibeyli told "Zerkalo" in early January that the main

    points of the two alternative draft laws and of his party's

    amendments largely coincide. He noted that a single

    opposition version is likely to be drawn up and submitted for

    approval to the dozen opposition parties aligned in the

    Democratic Congress.

    But Gambar, too, has a potential Achilles's heel, in the

    form of "Yeni Musavat," the main target of this week's

    reprisals. Although it was originally founded by the Musavat

    Party, that newspaper is now a privately funded publication,

    whose editor Rauf Arifogly has described as "working against

    the existing regime" in the hope of expediting

    democratization. The newspaper's approach is, moreover,

    uncompromising: Arifogly told RFE/RL in October 1998 that "we

    write everything we want." Indeed, the outspokenness of "Yeni

    Musavat" and its connections with the Musavat Party could

    continue to prove a liability for the latter.

    A systematic campaign of reprisals against either "Yeni

    Musavat" or other opposition publications could, however,

    negatively affect Azerbaijan's chances of being granted full

    membership in the Council of Europe. The council's decision

    on whether Azerbaijan qualifies for full membership will

    depend primarily on the conduct of the parliamentary

    elections.

    11-02-00


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


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