RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 40, 00-02-25

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 40, 25 February 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] FORMER KARABAKH DEFENSE MINISTER DENIES PRESIDENTIAL

[02] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS HINDERED IN COVERING TRIAL OF PRISON

[03] OIL EXPORTS FROM AZERBAIJAN VIA RUSSIA RESUMED

[04] RUSSIA WARNS AZERBAIJAN OVER ALLEGED CHECHEN PRESENCE...

[05] ...AS TURKEY REFUSES TO ALLOW CHECHENS TO CROSS BORDER FROM

[06] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS GEORGIA

[07] CORRECTION:

[08] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO

[09] ...ENUMERATES REGIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

[10] KYRGYZSTAN SCHEDULES PARLIAMENTARY RUNOFFS

[11] TURKEY, U.S. SEEK TO PERSUADE TURKMENISTAN OF PIPELINE

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] NATO TO DECIDE ON INCREASING KFOR TROOPS

[13] MITROVICA REPORTED CALM

[14] RED CROSS SAYS NEARLY 3,000 STILL MISSING IN KOSOVA

[15] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CHARGED...

[16] ...WHILE OPPOSITION-RUN TELEVISION STATION FINED

[17] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CRITICIZES IDEA OF POWER TRANSFER

[18] PETRITSCH MEETS WITH CROATIAN PRESIDENT

[19] CROATIAN PARLIAMENT CUTS SALARIES, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS

[20] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS ARMY ALERT

[21] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT IN DANGER OF LOSING MAJORITY

[22] ALBANIA, MONTENEGRO REOPEN BORDER CROSSING

[23] ROMANIAN MINISTER 'APOLOGIZES' TO PRESIDENT CONSTANTINESCU

[24] MAVERICK ROMANIAN SENATOR JOINS OPPOSITION PARTY

[25] TIMISOARA JEWISH COMMUNITY PROTESTS AGAINST ANTI-SEMITIC

[26] GAZPROM HALTS GAS DELIVERIES TO MOLDOVA

[27] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ASKS GHADDAFI TO INTERVENE IN TRIAL

[28] BULGARIA, ROMANIA AGREE ON LOCATION OF NEW DANUBE BRIDGE

[C] END NOTE

[29] CROATIA'S NEW LEADERS LOOK TO FIGHT CORRUPTION AND CRONYISM

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] FORMER KARABAKH DEFENSE MINISTER DENIES PRESIDENTIAL

In a statement issued in Stepanakert on 24

February, General Samvel Babayan denied that he intends to

run for president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh

Republic, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. He added that he

has not yet decided to participate in the enclave's upcoming

parliamentary elections. Babayan's brother Karen, who is

mayor of Stepanakert, had predicted in a recent interview

with the Armenian newspaper "Aravot" that Samvel will one day

become president of Nagorno-Karabakh. Samvel Babayan was

dismissed as defense minister last summer following a

standoff with Karabakh President Arkadii Ghukasian. He was

also ousted as commander in chief of the Nagorno-Karabakh

Defense Army in December (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 August and

17 December 1999). LF

[02] AZERBAIJANI JOURNALISTS HINDERED IN COVERING TRIAL OF PRISON

Journalists from several Azerbaijani newspapers

said at a press briefing in Baku on 24 February that they are

being subjected to pressure and harassment by the Azerbaijani

Ministry of Justice. They said that pressure is part of an

attempt to limit media coverage of the trial of participants

in what the Azerbaijani authorities claim was a mutiny at a

high security jail near Baku in January 1999, Turan reported.

That trial opened in Baku last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

26 January 2000). The journalists attribute the authorities'

reluctance to allow journalists to attend the trial to

discrepancies between the official version of what happened

and claims by prisoners' relatives that the alleged mutiny

was staged in order to facilitate the murder of former

General Vahid Musaev. Musaev was sentenced on charges of

planning in 1995 to assassinate President Heidar Aliev. He

was one of 11 prisoners shot dead by guards during the

alleged insurrection (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 January

1999). LF

[03] OIL EXPORTS FROM AZERBAIJAN VIA RUSSIA RESUMED

Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), the only

international consortium currently exporting oil from the

Azerbaijani section of the Caspian, has resumed transporting

crude through the Baku-Novorossiisk pipeline, Caucasus Press

reported on 24 February. Azerbaijan's state oil company

SOCAR, which previously used that pipeline, stopped doing so

last month in order to conserve domestic crude for use for

heating purposes (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 January 2000).

The AIOC is now exporting 12,000 tons of oil daily via

Novorossiisk in addition to the oil it exports via Georgia's

Black Sea port of Supsa. LF

[04] RUSSIA WARNS AZERBAIJAN OVER ALLEGED CHECHEN PRESENCE...

Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on 24 February

expressing the hope that "the territory of Azerbaijan will

not be used for anti-Russian purposes," ITAR-TASS reported.

The statement was pegged to media reports that injured

Chechen fighters are undergoing medical treatment in Baku

hospitals. Interfax in early January quoted the Chechen

representation in Baku as saying that some 100 civilians

injured during Russian bombing raids in Chechnya were

receiving medical treatment in Azerbaijan. LF

[05] ...AS TURKEY REFUSES TO ALLOW CHECHENS TO CROSS BORDER FROM

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on 24

February that Ankara will provide humanitarian aid for

Chechen refugees in Georgia but will not allow an estimated

300 Chechens now stranded at the Georgian-Turkish border to

enter Turkey, Reuters and Caucasus Press reported. Georgian

Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze, who is currently visiting

Ankara, told the Anatolia News Agency that Turkey refuses to

admit the Chechens as they do not have valid passports or

identification. LF

[06] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS GEORGIA

25 February, Robin Cook met with Georgian President Eduard

Shevardnadze, Minister of State Vazha Lortkipanidze, Foreign

Minister Irakli Menagharishvili, and parliamentary speaker

Zurab Zhvania, ITAR-TASS reported. Cook pledged his support

for Georgia's independence, territorial integrity, and

integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, including NATO,

according to AP. He and Shevardnadze focused on the war in

Chechnya and the situation on the Chechen sector of the

Russian-Georgian border. They also discussed the prospects

for a peaceful solution of the Abkhaz conflict. LF

[07] CORRECTION:

"RFE/RL Newsline" on 24 February incorrectly reported that

USAID and the International Committee of the Red Cross have

signed an agreement on aid for Georgian displaced persons.

That agreement was in fact signed by USAID and the

International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

Societies.

[08] KAZAKHSTAN'S PRESIDENT REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO

Addressing a session of the OSCE Permanent

Council in Vienna on 24 February, Nursultan Nazarbaev

acknowledged the "universal character" of the criteria

applied by the OSCE to compliance with democratic norms, but

at the same time he appealed for "a good understanding" of

the situation in Central Asia, Interfax reported. Nazarbaev

argued that "it is impossible for legal innovations to bridge

the gap between new institutions and old models of behavior

in a short time." The OSCE criticized both the presidential

and the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan last year as

failing to meet international standards. Nazarbaev rejected

that criticism, saying that Kazakhstan will choose its own

approach and timeframe for gradual democratization. LF

[09] ...ENUMERATES REGIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

the OSCE that it is imperative to prevent the "Balkanization"

of Central Asia, Interfax reported. He said the region's

enormous energy potential can be successfully developed only

if existing problems between regional states are resolved.

Nazarbaev said one of the main medium-term problems facing

the Central Asian states is international terrorism and

extremism stemming from Afghanistan, and he appealed for the

assistance of the international community and the OSCE in

combating those threats. It is unclear whether Nazarbaev

addressed the possible interaction between the OSCE and the

Asian regional security forum, which Kazakhstan advocates

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 September 1999). LF

[10] KYRGYZSTAN SCHEDULES PARLIAMENTARY RUNOFFS

voting has been scheduled for 12 March for all but three of

the 90 single-mandate seats in the upper and lower chambers

of the new Kyrgyz parliament, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau

reported on 24 February citing the Central Electoral

Commission. Several opposition candidates have said they will

appeal to the prosecutor-general against what they term

falsification and procedural violations that deprived them of

a first-round win. Also on 24 February, the CEC issued

revised results of the party list voting, raising from five

to six the number of political parties that surmounted the 5

percent minimum required for parliamentary representation.

The sixth party is the pro-presidential My Country. LF

[11] TURKEY, U.S. SEEK TO PERSUADE TURKMENISTAN OF PIPELINE

Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Mithat Balkan and

U.S. special adviser for Caspian energy issues John Wolf held

talks in Ashgabat on 24 February with Turkmenistan's

President Saparmurat Niyazov, Interfax reported. Balkan

delivered personal assurances to Niyazov from Turkish

President Suleyman Demirel that Ankara is committed to the

swift construction of the planned Trans-Caspian pipeline to

export Turkmen gas to Turkey. Niyazov had said last week that

that project would not be viable if Azerbaijan insists on the

use of 50 percent of the pipeline's throughput capacity (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 22 February 2000). In Moscow, Russian Fuel

and Energy Minister Viktor Kalyuzhnyi told journalists on 24

February that he supports the bid by Gazprom to conclude a

rival agreement under which Turkmenistan would export much of

its natural gas via Russia, ITAR-TASS reported. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] NATO TO DECIDE ON INCREASING KFOR TROOPS

Council, NATO's policy-making body, will hold an emergency

meeting on 25 February to discuss the situation in the

Kosovar city of Mitrovica and decide on a request to increase

KFOR troops in the province, Reuters reported. General Wesley

Clark, NATO's supreme commander in Europe, requested the

previous day that 2,000 troops be added to KFOR and sent to

Mitrovica to help the peacekeepers there contain the violence

that has led to several deaths. France has said it will

contribute 700 to the extra contingent. U.S. President Bill

Clinton supports the increase, but Washington has not yet

decided if it will augment KFOR. The U.S. currently has 5,500

troops in Kosova out of KFOR's total 37,400. The UN,

meanwhile, has announced that it will begin resettling ethnic

Albanians in their former homes in the northern part of the

city, which is controlled by Serbs. PB

[13] MITROVICA REPORTED CALM

were reported to be diminishing after KFOR troops announced

they had finished conducting weapons searches in residential

areas, Reuters reported on 25 February. In all, some 50 guns,

ammunition, nine hand-grenades, and one rocket-propelled

grenade were confiscated. Yugoslavia accused the West of

fomenting the unrest, with Yugoslav Deputy Premier Nikola

Sainovic saying "the sequence of events clearly showed that

it was a planned and coordinated scenario." Western officials

charged Belgrade the previous day with instigating the

violence (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000). On 24

February, The UN chief in Kosova, Bernard Kouchner, met with

Oliver Ivanovic, the leader of the Serbian community in

Mitrovica. Ivanovic said after the meeting that he is

prepared to talk with the town's ethnic Albanian leaders. PB

[14] RED CROSS SAYS NEARLY 3,000 STILL MISSING IN KOSOVA

International Red Cross said on 24 February that 2,987 people

are unaccounted for in Kosova, AP reported. The majority are

ethnic Albanians, but the figure includes some 400 Serbs as

well as Roma. Of the total, 1,875 are reported to be held by

Yugoslav forces. PB

[15] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER CHARGED...

of the opposition New Democracy party, was indicted by the

Belgrade public prosecutor on 24 February on charges of

spreading false information, Beta reported. Mihajlovic said

he "publicly expressed my and my party's political stands and

it's up to the citizens and the general public to judge

them." Mihajlovic faces three years in prison if convicted.

He said he expects to be arrested. PB

[16] ...WHILE OPPOSITION-RUN TELEVISION STATION FINED

was fined some $20,000 on 24 February because a guest on a

talk show criticized a police investigation, AP reported. The

news agency Beta said the fine was imposed because a lawyer

from the opposition Serbian Renewal Movement criticized the

police investigation of a car crash last October that left

four people dead (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 October 1999).

Studio B is the official television station of the city of

Belgrade. PB

[17] BOSNIAN SERB LEADER CRITICIZES IDEA OF POWER TRANSFER

Radisic, the Serbian member of the presidency of Bosnia-

Herzegovina, said on 24 February that the idea of

cantonization "would completely undermine the Dayton peace

concept" in Bosnia, Radio Bosnia-Herzegovina reported.

Radisic was responding to comments made by several Bosnian-

Croat officials the previous day that they are willing to

transfer powers of the Muslim-Croatian Federation to a

central government. Radisic said he opposes that idea, adding

that if some institutions in the entities that make up the

federation are "not functioning," it does not mean they

should be abolished. The office of the international

community's high representative and the current chairman of

the Bosnian presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, both said the same

day that they support the proposal. Such a change would mean

the abolition of the Muslim-Croatian Federation and the

Republika Srpska, the two entities that make up Bosnia. PB

[18] PETRITSCH MEETS WITH CROATIAN PRESIDENT

Representative Wolfgang Petritisch met on 24 February with

Stipe Mesic in Zagreb, Croatian Radio reported. Petritsch

said he stressed the importance of implementing key points of

the 1995 Dayton agreement, particularly the return of

refugees. Petritsch said no changes to the agreement can be

made until Dayton is fully implemented. Mesic stressed his

government's commitment to repatriating the refugees but said

Zagreb will need financial aid for this purpose because

"homes must be repaired and economic resources activated." PB

[19] CROATIAN PARLIAMENT CUTS SALARIES, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS

Croatian deputies voted on 24 February to reduce

their salaries and those of other government officials by

some 27 percent, Croatian Radio reported. The cut was lower

than the 40 percent proposed by the cabinet and promised by

the winning coalition during the election campaign. Deputies

will now receive 12,700 kuna ($1,630) a month--about four

times the average salary in Croatia. The president will

receive some $3,000 per month and ministers $2,000. A labor

union said the parliament's first decision showed

"unbelievable selfishness." PB

[20] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS ARMY ALERT

said on 24 February that he was forced to put his armed

forces on higher alert because of "tense movements around

southern Serbia," AFP reported. Trajkovski, who is in Vilnius

on a two-day visit, said Macedonia had to react to changes in

Serbia (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 February 2000). PB

[21] SLOVENIAN GOVERNMENT IN DANGER OF LOSING MAJORITY

February announcement of a merger between the People's Party

and the opposition Christian Democrats is threatening Prime

Minister Janez Drnovsek's coalition government, Radio

Slovenia reported. The People's Party have 19 seats in the

90-seat parliament, and if it went over to the opposition,

the government would have only 30 seats. It has not been

announced when the merger of the two parties will take place.

Some opposition parties, including the Social Democrats, have

said they would support a minority government. PB

[22] ALBANIA, MONTENEGRO REOPEN BORDER CROSSING

Foreign Minister Pellumb Xhufi and his Montenegrin

counterpart, Veselin Sukovic, signed an agreement in Shkoder

on 24 February reopening the only border crossing between the

two countries, at Hani i Hotit--Bozaj, AP reported. Yugoslav

officials closed the crossing three years ago. It was used by

tens of thousands of Kosovar Albanians fleeing Serbian troops

last year. In other news, the World Bank approved a $10

million loan to Tirana for improve the water supply in the

towns of Durres, Fier, Lezhe, and Saranda. PB

[23] ROMANIAN MINISTER 'APOLOGIZES' TO PRESIDENT CONSTANTINESCU

Television on 24 February that he is "retracting" what he

said about President Emil Constantinescu's alleged

involvement in the resignation of Victor Babiuc from the

Democratic Party. He added, however, that he continues to

believe Constantinescu was involved. Basescu also commented

that he should not have said that the National Liberal Party

(PNL) had "stolen" the Senate's chairmanship from the

Democrats, but rather should have said the post was "taken"

from his party, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. The PNL

commented earlier that it would not accept Babiuc's

replacement as defense minister until Basescu had apologized.

Tension between the Democrats and the PNL continues to mount

after PNL National Council Chairman Nicolae Manolescu said on

national television on 24 February that the coalition could

survive without the Democrats and "it might be better if they

left it." MS

[24] MAVERICK ROMANIAN SENATOR JOINS OPPOSITION PARTY

Pruteanu, who was expelled from the National Peasant Party

Christian Democratic (PNTCD) in March 1998 for his opposition

to improving the education rights of the Hungarian minority,

said on 24 February he has joined the opposition Party of

Social Democracy in Romania. Also on 24 February, the PNTCD

suffered yet another defection when deputy Lia Galic resigned

from its ranks. And former Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu

said he is resigning all his positions in the PNTCD but will

remain a party member. MS

[25] TIMISOARA JEWISH COMMUNITY PROTESTS AGAINST ANTI-SEMITIC

Rabbi Ernst Neumann of Timisoara on 24 February

urged the town's local authorities to take legal action

against unidentified individuals who have begun daubing anti-

Semitic graffiti and swastikas on city walls and trams over

the past month, AP reported. He said he believed this

development should be seen against the background of Joerg

Haider's success in the Austrian elections. MS

[26] GAZPROM HALTS GAS DELIVERIES TO MOLDOVA

February made good its threat to cut gas deliveries to

Moldova because of that country's failure to pay its debt

accrued since the beginning of this year (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 23 February 2000), Infotag and ITAR-TASS reported.

On 24 February, the Moldovan government had urged the

population to "stay calm" and pay all utilities bills. MS

[27] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT ASKS GHADDAFI TO INTERVENE IN TRIAL

Muammar Ghaddafi, to intervene on behalf of the six

Bulgarians facing the death penalty in Libya (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 24 February 2000), BTA reported. Stoyanov offered

condolences for the death of children infected with the HIV

virus but said he cannot believe his countrymen are guilty of

having deliberately "caused such a tragedy." He asked

Ghaddafi to "use his influence" to have the 28 February trial

postponed to allow Bulgarian lawyers to familiarize

themselves with the case and defend the accused. Reuters

cited Justice Minister Teodossyi Simeonov as saying he and

Prosecutor-General Nikola Filichev will fly to Libya to offer

legal assistance to the accused. MS

[28] BULGARIA, ROMANIA AGREE ON LOCATION OF NEW DANUBE BRIDGE

on 23 February that the new bridge over the River Danube will

be constructed between Vidin and Calafat. This is the

proposal that Bulgaria has favored since talks began. Sofia

will cover all the costs of the project, Petko Tabakov,

deputy transportation and communications minister, told

Bulgarian Radio, according to BTA. Speaking in Vidin one day

earlier, President Petar Stoyanov said that "many more

bridges" must be built over the river to promote the two

countries' bid to become part of European and NATO

structures. MS

[C] END NOTE

[29] CROATIA'S NEW LEADERS LOOK TO FIGHT CORRUPTION AND CRONYISM

Less that a month has passed since Prime Minister Ivica

Racan's government took office. The ministers are already

living up to their promises to fight corruption and put an

end to the system of cronyism that characterized the rule of

the late President Franjo Tudjman and his Croatian Democratic

Community (HDZ).

Just hours after the new ministers took their oaths,

police arrested outgoing Minister of Tourism Ivan Herak on

embezzlement charges. A week later, police arrested Croatian

businessman Miroslav Kutle, the country's most-famous

"tycoon"--a term Croats have adopted to describe the class of

newly rich entrepreneurs politically connected to the former

regime. In the eyes of many Croats, Kutle is a symbol of the

"robber-baron" style of privatization that has left the

economy in ruins.

is accused of enticing officials at the zdistribution

company Tisak to embezzle more than $6 million from the

company. Tisak holds a virtual monopoly on print media

distribution in Croatia, and with more than $500,000 in gross

sales daily, it is one of the country's few cash-cows. Before

Kutle bought into the company five years ago, Tisak posted

revenues of $2.5 million. Today, the company faces bankruptcy

and $30 million in debts. Most of this money was either

sucked out through embezzlement scams or is debt that Tisak

has had to take over for loans that it backed for Kutle's

companies and on which those companies later defaulted.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. In its heyday,

Kutle's holding company Globus Group owned a controlling

interest in more than 176 companies, and his business empire

was estimated to be worth more than $500 million. Since then,

millions of dollars have disappeared from firms owned by

Globus Group, and most of those firms face bankruptcy today.

Globus Group itself is nearly $500 million in debt.

Kutle's exploits would have been impossible without the

help and protection of high-ranking government officials. The

party and state leadership directly promoted the rise of

Kutle and others like him. In fact, they made this a part of

the official HDZ practice. Tudjman believed that the

country's wealth should be concentrated in the hands of 100

families politically loyal to his party.

Kutle and other "tycoons" used their political

connections and membership in the HDZ to acquire shares in

state-owned companies. In many cases, these purchases of

shares were covered by loans from banks, privatization funds,

and other financial institutions that were also in HDZ hands.

In return, the tycoons helped to fill ruling party

coffers. They also did much of the HDZ's dirty work. During

the early 1990s, "Slobodna Dalmacija" was one of the most

important voices of opposition and hence an irritation to

Tudjman's regime. Under the HDZ's direction, Kutle acquired a

controlling interest in the paper. Independent journalists

and editors were quickly forced to leave, and "Slobodna

Dalmacija" became a regime mouthpiece almost overnight. The

party also helped Kutle acquire a controlling interest in

Tisak in order to keep the distribution of print media in

party hands.

These policies, which wreaked havoc on the country's

economy, prompted the new government to consider carrying out

a revision of the entire privatization process. The tycoons'

irresponsible lending policies also led to a banking crisis

last year that caused the collapse of a dozen banks.

Professor Vladimir Veselica of Zagreb University estimates

that nearly $7 billion have been illegally transferred out of

the country since 1990. Most experts agree that there is very

little chance that even a fraction of these funds will be

recovered.

During the election campaign, the new government

promised to clean up the Augean stables left behind by the

HDZ. It will be interesting to see whether the new

authorities will be willing to prosecute Kutle's political

sponsors in addition to the tycoon himself. For his part,

Kutle has claimed that he was carrying out the orders of

higher authorities. His testimony may implicate several

highly-placed officials from the former government, including

former Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa, former Interior Minister

Ivan Penic, and Ivic Pasalic, who was the late president's

domestic-policy adviser and is the current vice president of

the parliament.

But it will be difficult for the new authorities to

prosecute these people. Many of them enjoy immunity because

they are members of the parliament. They will also argue that

they are being prosecuted for political reasons.

In fact, the new government, which faces a host of

pressing economic and social problems, may not want that

challenge. Some observers believe the new authorities will be

satisfied with Kutle's head and that they will delay or even

forgo prosecuting these cases in the interest of social peace

and political cohesion.

But in the final analysis, the new government may have

no choice but to investigate and prosecute. If the

authorities are truly committed to establishing the rule of

law and ending the system of cronyism that has impoverished

the country, they will have to put political considerations

aside and pursue the Kutle affair and similar cases--no

matter where the trail of guilt may lead.

The author is Zagreb-based writer on Balkan affairs.

25-02-00

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

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