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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 157, 01-08-20
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 5, No. 157, 20 August 2001
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES TO COOPERATE IN BID TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT
[02] TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS TO ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CUT
[03] ARMENIAN MEDIA ASK PARLIAMENT TO EXPEDITE DEBATE ON DRAFT AMENDMENTS
TO MEDIA LAW
[04] AZERBAIJAN, IRAN CLOSER TO RESOLVING DIFFERENCES...
[05] ...OR PERHAPS NOT?
[06] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR THIRD TERM...
[07] ...AMNESTIES PRISONERS
[08] POLICE STATION ATTACKED, MONUMENT DESTROYED IN NORTHERN AZERBAIJAN
[09] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY POSTPONES GEORGIA VISIT
[10] POLICE CHIEF IN GEORGIAN CAPITAL RESIGNS
[11] PROSECUTOR FAILS TO PROVE CHARGES OF TAX EVASION AGAINST FORMER
PREMIER...
[12] ...WHO AGAIN SAYS TRIAL UNFAIR
[13] JAILED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION LEADER RELEASED
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[14] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS PROMISE TO DISARM
[15] NATO COMMANDER ARRIVES IN MACEDONIA
[16] MACEDONIAN RED CROSS LOOKS AT CIVILIAN DISPLACEMENT
[17] GOVERNMENT CRISIS IN SERBIA...
[18] ...AS CONFIDENCE VOTES LOOM
[19] SERBIAN CASH RESERVES UP
[20] CROATIA TO SEEK EXTRADITION OF SERB FROM GERMANY
[21] ALBANIAN PLEDGES ANTICRIME MEASURES
[22] SLOVENIAN MINISTER SLAMS 'CAMPAIGN' AGAINST NATO MEMBERSHIP
[23] ROMANIA PROTESTS STATEMENT BY HUNGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO SOFIA
[24] ROMANIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES SPEAKER HINTS THAT UDMR MIGHT BE OUTLAWED
[25] ROMANIAN DISSIDENT PEASANTISTS ENVISAGE NEW PARTY
[26] FORMER ROMANIAN PRIVATIZATION OFFICIAL RELEASED FROM DETENTION
[27] TRANSDNIESTER PROTESTS RUSSIAN MILITARY SCRAPPING
[28] BULGARIAN PREMIER OUTLINES REFORMS
[29] MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BULGARIA
[C] END NOTE
[30] There is no End Note today.
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES TO COOPERATE IN BID TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT
Leading members of four Armenian opposition parties, including the
Communist Party of Armenia, told RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau on 18 August that
there are "good chances" that they will align with other opposition groups
to seek to impeach President Robert Kocharian. But they added that it is
too early to speak of an antipresidential coalition. Some newspapers have
reported that former President Levon Ter-Petrossian is seeking to engineer
the creation of such a coalition. People's Party of Armenia Chairman Stepan
Demirchian said his party is cooperating with other opposition parties,
including Hanrapetutiun, which is headed by former Prime Minister Aram
Sargsian, and the National Unity Party. Sargsian for his part said he is
holding talks with pro-Russian National Accord Front head Ashot Manucharian
and with the "Officers' Honor" group that comprises some 200 members. LF
[02] TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS TO ARMENIAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT CUT
Armenia's telecommunications monopoly ArmenTel on 16 August cut telephone
lines to Armenia's Medzamor nuclear power in retaliation for the plant's
unpaid 12 million dram ($21,000) phone bill, according to Arminfo on 16
August. One line to the office of the plant's director remains in operation,
AP reported on 17 August. LF
[03] ARMENIAN MEDIA ASK PARLIAMENT TO EXPEDITE DEBATE ON DRAFT AMENDMENTS
TO MEDIA LAW
Some 20 independent Armenian media outlets on 15 August addressed an open
letter to parliament Chairman Armen Khachatrian expressing concern at the
legislature's failure to schedule a debate on draft amendments to Armenia's
media law, Noyan Tapan reported. They noted that the Council of Europe has
called for amendments in the existing law, which was passed in October
2000. In January, the Constitutional Court deemed some of its provisions
anticonstitutional and several media outlets temporarily suspended
broadcasting to protest it (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 January 2001). LF
[04] AZERBAIJAN, IRAN CLOSER TO RESOLVING DIFFERENCES...
The 16 August telephone conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal
Kharrazi and his Azerbaijani counterpart Vilayat Quliev succeeded in
resolving "some differences" arising from the recent clash of interests
between the two countries over the division of their respective sectors of
the Caspian, AP reported on 17 August, quoting IRNA. In response to a
request by Quliev, Kharrazi agreed that his deputy Ali Ahani will travel to
Baku later this month to discuss that issue. Also on 17 August, Interfax
reported that Azerbaijan's National Security Minister Namig Abbasov will
visit Iran before the end of this month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August
2001). LF
[05] ...OR PERHAPS NOT?
On 19 August Kharrazi expressed concern over the announcement the previous
day that a squadron of 10 Turkish military aircraft will participate in a
military parade in Baku on 23-25 August, Turan reported. That parade will
coincide with an official visit to Baku by Turkish Army Chief of General
Staff General Hussein Kivrikoglu. Kharrazi stressed the need to prevent
what he termed the "militarization" of the Caspian Sea. LF
[06] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR THIRD TERM...
Speaking at a 19 August ceremony to mark National Border Guards Day,
President Heidar Aliev said he will contest the next presidential election
in 2003, Interfax and ITAR-TASS reported. A leading member of the ruling
Yeni Azerbaycan Party announced 10 days earlier that the party will propose
Aliev as its candidate in 2003 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 August 2001).
Azerbaijan's Constitution does not at present allow for one individual to
serve more than two consecutive presidential terms. Aliev was first elected
to that post in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. LF
[07] ...AMNESTIES PRISONERS
On 17 August, Aliev signed a decree granting an amnesty to 95 prisoners,
Turan reported. They include seven Karabakh war invalids sentenced last
month for clashes with police during a hunger strike earlier this year (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 19 July 2001), 10 people convicted for their role in
disturbances in the town of Gyanja in the fall of 1994, and 39 people
sentenced for their role in the standoff between army troops and Interior
Ministry OPON forces in March 1995. Former National Security Minister
Nariman Imranov, who was serving a life sentence for abetting the escape in
late 1994 of four prisoners from a National Security Ministry jail, had his
sentence reduced to 15 years imprisonment. LF
[08] POLICE STATION ATTACKED, MONUMENT DESTROYED IN NORTHERN AZERBAIJAN
A group of armed men attacked and seriously wounded five policemen in the
town of Zakatala, in northern Azerbaijan, early on 19 August, Turan
reported. Police have named six suspects in that shooting attack and an
earlier one on 30 July. The six are also believed to be responsible for
planting a bomb that on 17 August totally destroyed a monument in a
neighboring village to Sheikh Shamil, who led the 19th century resistance
to Russian expansionism in Daghestan. LF
[09] U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY POSTPONES GEORGIA VISIT
A visit to Georgia by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld scheduled
for 24-25 September has been postponed until November, ITAR-TASS and Prime
News reported on 18 August. LF
[10] POLICE CHIEF IN GEORGIAN CAPITAL RESIGNS
Soso Alavidze, who has served as Tbilisi police chief since 1997, has
submitted his resignation, Caucasus Press reported on 20 August. Alavidze
was one of several senior officials whom Justice Minister Mikhail
Saakashvili on 8 August publicly accused of corruption. Interior Minister
Kakha Targamadze has named one of his deputies, Major General Kakha
Bakuradze, to succeed Alavidze. LF
[11] PROSECUTOR FAILS TO PROVE CHARGES OF TAX EVASION AGAINST FORMER
PREMIER...
On the third day of the trial in absentia of former Kazakh Prime Minister
Akezhan Kazhegeldin, the prosecution failed to substantiate charges of tax
evasion, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Employees of Halyqtyq Bank
confirmed that in 1997 Kazhegeldin received some $100,000 in royalties paid
into an account with the bank, but added that, counter to the prosecution's
claim, Kazhegeldin belatedly paid the $23,000 tax due on that sum.
Kazhegeldin's lawyer Aleksandr Tabarin asked the prosecution to strike the
charge of tax evasion from the indictment. After tax officials summoned to
give evidence failed to appear to testify, consideration of the tax evasion
charge was postponed until 22 August. LF
[12] ...WHO AGAIN SAYS TRIAL UNFAIR
In a statement released in London and other Western capitals on 17 August,
Kazhegeldin again said that he is innocent of the charges against him,
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported. Kazhegeldin expressed his willingness to
appear before "any impartial court abroad," but said he doubts whether he
would ever receive a fair trial in Kazakhstan as long as Nursultan
Nazarbaev remains president. He suggested that Nazarbaev himself should
face trial in connection with allegations that he received multimillion-
dollar bribes from Western oil companies. LF
[13] JAILED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION LEADER RELEASED
President Askar Akaev on 20 August issued a decree granting "clemency" to
imprisoned opposition Erkindik party leader Topchubek Turgunaliev, RFE/RL's
Bishkek bureau reported. Senior Kyrgyz security officials announced
Turgunaliev's release at a special press conference in Bishkek. Akaev's
decision was reportedly motivated by appeals from Turgunaliev and his wife,
and by Turgunaliev's "advanced age" and deteriorating health (Turgunaliev
is 60; Akaev, 56). Turgunaliev was sentenced in September 2000 to 16 years
imprisonment on charges, which he denies, of masterminding a plot to
assassinate Akaev. The Bishkek City Court reduced that sentence in November
2000 to six years imprisonment (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 September and 27
November 2000). LF
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[14] MACEDONIAN ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS PROMISE TO DISARM
Ali Ahmeti, the political spokesman of the National Liberation Army (UCK),
told a 19 August press conference at the guerrillas' headquarters in
Sipkovica that the UCK will cooperate with NATO and hand over their weapons,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August
2001). Ahmeti added: "We guarantee the safety of NATO troops... We remember
the past [in Macedonia] as something bitter, but we are going to create
conditions for two communities to live in peace. We think that the war is
over. We're talking about democracy." "The Guardian" noted that Ahmeti
"masterminded a campaign that overwhelmed Macedonians in battle and in
diplomacy." "The Times" added that the "UCK press conference contrasted
sharply with the Macedonian strategy that has consisted of little more than
shelling villages while complaining about the lack of Western support."
"The Guardian" noted that the backdrop to the press conference consisted of
the flags of Albania, the EU, NATO, and the U.S., but not of Macedonia. PM
[15] NATO COMMANDER ARRIVES IN MACEDONIA
U.S. General James Ralston, NATO's commander in chief, arrived in Macedonia
on 20 August to assess the stability of the cease-fire, which has generally
held except for some isolated firefights. An unnamed Western diplomat told
Reuters: "Ralston's primary interest will be the durability of the cease-
fire because the political elements of peace are already in place. The
state of the truce will be his judgment call. We feel that last night's
truce violations [in the volatile Tetovo region] were regrettable but will
not be decisive, that they would not stop deployment" (see "RFE/RL Balkan
Report," 17 August 2001). Elsewhere, NATO spokesman Major Barry Johnson
said that the 400-strong NATO advance party is ready to carry out its tasks,
dpa reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 2001). PM
[16] MACEDONIAN RED CROSS LOOKS AT CIVILIAN DISPLACEMENT
Officials of the Macedonian Red Cross said in Skopje on 18 August that some
115,000 Macedonian citizens have been displaced by the current conflict,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Only 62,000 of them have received
the status of displaced persons officially. Most were ethnic Macedonians
from the Tetovo region. PM
[17] GOVERNMENT CRISIS IN SERBIA...
On 17 August, members of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic
Party of Serbia (DSS) quit the cabinet of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran
Djindjic of the Democratic Party (DS), RFE/RL's South Slavic Service
reported. The next day, Dragan Veselinov, the deputy prime minister and the
head of the Vojvodina Coalition, said that unnamed members of Kostunica's
staff are responsible for that move. Veselinov added that the DSS's
decision to leave the cabinet could start the breakup of the already
fragile Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition, an 18-party
grouping that replaced the government of former President Slobodan
Milosevic in Serbia in October 2000. Veselinov stressed that it would be a
tragedy if the DSS and the pro-Milosevic parties toppled Djindjic's
government. PM
[18] ...AS CONFIDENCE VOTES LOOM
On 19 August, Dragan Marsicanin, the speaker of the parliament and vice
president of the DSS, said that his party will call for a vote of
confidence by the DOS steering committee in Djindjic and his cabinet,
RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Former Health Minister Obren
Joksimovic of the DSS said that he hopes that his party will call for a
vote of confidence by the parliament in the government, adding that he
"prays to God" that the government will then fall on the first ballot.
"Politika" reported on 20 August, however, that the DOS will have a
legislative majority even if the DSS leaves the coalition. "Danas"
suggested that the most likely outcome will be either new elections or a
cabinet shakeup. The government crisis follows recent insinuations by
Djindjic and some persons close to him that there could be a link between
Kostunica's office and the recent murder of security official Momir
Gavrilovic (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 2001). Djindjic has also
called for those close to Kostunica to prove their repeated charges that
the government is corrupt or keep silent. PM
[19] SERBIAN CASH RESERVES UP
Mladjan Dinkic, who heads the Yugoslav National Bank, said on 19 August
that the bank's hard-currency reserves stand at $930 million, RFE/RL's
South Slavic Service reported. He noted that the reserves were only $360
million when DOS ousted Milosevic. Dinkic said that it should be clear by
the end of September which banks "will remain and which will be closed." He
also noted that a 1,000 dinar bank note will be introduced before the end
of the year. PM
[20] CROATIA TO SEEK EXTRADITION OF SERB FROM GERMANY
The Croatian government will ask the German authorities to extradite Mile
Grbic, an ethnic Serb from Croatia, dpa reported from Zagreb on 18 August.
Police arrested Grbic in Celle in 2000, acting on an international arrest
warrant issued by Croatia. He is wanted there for allegedly being part of a
group that massacred Croatian civilians in 1991. PM
[21] ALBANIAN PLEDGES ANTICRIME MEASURES
Prime Minister Ilir Meta told a meeting of police chiefs in Vlora that his
government will take additional steps to combat smuggling and organized
crime, dpa reported on 18 August. Measures will include improved training
for police and government prosecutors, tougher punishment for criminals,
and setting up an Office Against Organized Crime to coordinate efforts in
various parts of the country. He stressed that eliminating organized crime
is essential for Albania's stability and its reputation in the eyes of its
neighbors, especially Italy. Meta noted that the flow of illegal migrants
from Albania to Italy is only one-fifth of what it was one year ago. PM
[22] SLOVENIAN MINISTER SLAMS 'CAMPAIGN' AGAINST NATO MEMBERSHIP
The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 20 August that Slovenian
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has criticized those of his countrymen
whose frustration with delays in Slovenia's admission to NATO has led them
to question the need for membership in the alliance. Rupel said in
Ljubljana recently that NATO membership is essential if Slovenia is to
break with its communist past. Discontent with NATO has grown in some
circles in Slovenian politics recently following remarks by NATO Secretary-
General Lord George Robertson that the country is not ready for membership.
The article added that the U.S. ambassador-designate has raised eyebrows by
saying that Slovenia's admission to NATO may be linked to the restitution
of property taken from U.S. citizens of Slovenian origin by the communists
after World War II. PM
[23] ROMANIA PROTESTS STATEMENT BY HUNGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO SOFIA
The Foreign Ministry on 18 August said a statement made by Hungarian
Ambassador to Bulgaria Bela Kolojzni was "surprising" and "contrary to
diplomatic practice," and he instructed the Romanian Embassy in Budapest to
demand "clarifications" from the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Mediafax
reported. Kolojzni last week said on private Bulgarian Darik Radio that
Hungary advises Bulgaria to renounce its decision to work "in tandem" with
Romania in efforts to gain accession to NATO and the EU. That decision was
made during the 14 August visit to Sofia by Romanian Prime Minister Adrian
Nastase (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 August 2001). Kolojzni said that
Hungary's success in accession into NATO was due to its having "marched
alone" on the road to accession and that the same policy is being pursued
by Budapest in its efforts to join the EU. The Romanian Foreign Ministry
also said Kolojzni's statement "contradicts earlier declarations by
Hungarian officials of support for Romanian and Bulgarian efforts for
integration in Euro-Atlantic structures." MS
[24] ROMANIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES SPEAKER HINTS THAT UDMR MIGHT BE OUTLAWED
Chamber of Deputies Speaker Valer Dorneanu on 19 August said that if the
existing legislation on political parties is amended, "it is not to be
ruled out that parties established on ethnic criteria" will no longer be
allowed to function, Romanian Radio reported. Dorneanu said the existence
of ethnic parties is "an anomaly" because national minorities "enjoy the
right of preservation of their own cultural, linguistic, and ethnic
identity" and "cannot demand, in addition, the right to a [separate]
political identity." MS
[25] ROMANIAN DISSIDENT PEASANTISTS ENVISAGE NEW PARTY
The extraordinary congress of the dissident wing in the National Peasant
Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) on 18 August elected Vasile Lupu as
chairman of the PNTCD and declared all decisions taken by Victor Ciorbea's
wing of the party as null and void, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported.
Calin Catalin Chirita was elected the dissident wing's secretary-general.
The congress also decided to set up an "initiative committee" whose task
will be to set up "within three months" a new political formation, which is
to be named the Party of Christian Democracy. Former PNTCD Chairman Andrei
Marga was appointed chairman of the initiative committee. MS
[26] FORMER ROMANIAN PRIVATIZATION OFFICIAL RELEASED FROM DETENTION
Alin Giurgiu, the former executive director of the State Privatization Fund
(FPS), was released from detention on 18 August, AP reported. Giurgiu, a
prominent PNTCD member, was detained more than three months ago.
Prosecutors revoked his arrest warrant after it was established that
Giurgiu suffers from skin cancer. He was detained in connection with
suspicions of having facilitated the privatization of a soft-drink company
that allegedly defrauded the state of 31 billion lei ($2.2 million). Two
other former FPS officials remain in detention under the same suspicion. MS
[27] TRANSDNIESTER PROTESTS RUSSIAN MILITARY SCRAPPING
The "Foreign Ministry" in Tiraspol on 17 August released a statement
protesting against the continued destruction of Russian military equipment
and against the planned new Russian-Moldovan basic treaty, RFE/RL's
Chisinau bureau reported. According to a report by Flux, the Tiraspol
authorities announced they will launch legal procedures against people who
participated in the destruction of the Russian equipment and that those who
are "guilty" have been detained. Prosecutor-General Viktor Zakharov said
legal action has not been launched against the commander of the Russian
contingent, General Yevgenii Yevnevich, "personally." Yevnevich said that
the operations will continue in line with OSCE decisions. An OSCE spokesman
cited by ITAR-TASS said experts from Russia, the OSCE, and the
Transdniester have agreed on the scrapping and that studies are now
underway to review technology used in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands,
and that Russian ammunition scrapping technology has already been reviewed.
MS
[28] BULGARIAN PREMIER OUTLINES REFORMS
In a televised address on 19 August, Prime Minister Simeon Saxecoburggotski
outlined his government's reform program, Reuters and AP reported. He said
taxes for the upper-income brackets will be reduced to encourage
investments and a zero-profit tax on reinvestment will be enacted from the
beginning of 2002. As of 1 October, minimum wages in the public sector will
rise by 17 percent, while child-support benefits will be doubled in 2002. A
state fund will be set up on 1 October 2001 to boost small private
businesses through low-interest loans in poor regions where unemployment is
high. Charges for electricity and heating will be raised by up to 10
percent as of 1 October this year to compensate for rising energy prices
globally and for an artificial price freeze imposed by the previous
government in 1999. Simeon said Bulgaria at present enjoys a good
international image "and we have to make the best of it" by showing "more
solidarity with those who are economically weak and more optimism for the
future of Bulgaria." MS
[29] MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN BULGARIA
Visiting Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva on 18 August said the
agreement signed last week was "a good basis" to end the conflict in her
country, but warned the Albanian rebels that "if they continue to pose a
threat to security of the country, the Macedonian forces will defend that
security," AP reported. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi urged the
international community to make larger investments in infrastructure in the
Balkans in order to stabilize peace in the region. "Lasting peace depends
on the region's prosperity," Pasi told journalists after talks with
Mitreva. President Petar Stoyanov gave assurances to Mitreva that Bulgaria
is prepared to extend aid to Macedonia. MS
[C] END NOTE
[30] There is no End Note today.
20-08-01
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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