Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-01
From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>
Jun 1, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW
CONTENTS
[01] ERDEMOVIC PLEADS GUILTY BEFORE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
[02] RECONSTRUCTION OF MONUMENTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
[03] IFOR COMMANDER SEES NO CONDITIONS FOR ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA
[04] MACEDONIA APPOINTS FIRST AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA
[05] U.S. ENVOY CONFERS WITH BOSNIAN MUSLIM LEADER
[06] MILOSEVIC, KORNBLUM CONFER ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS
[07] IFRC UNDERSECRETARY SAYS REPATRIATION EXPECTATIONS WERE NOT FULFILLED
[08] AGREEMENT ON PARTICIPATION OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IN FLORENCE MEETING
[09] PRESIDENT OF GROUP ON FORMER YUGOSLAVIA SUCCESSION VISITS BELGRADE
[10] CROATIAN DEPUTY SEEKS ANNULMENT OF LAW ON AMNESTY OF SERBS
[11] RUSSIAN COLONEL: SERBS WILL BE UNITED
[12] PLAVSIC URGES CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT
[13] INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS FOCUS ON BOSNIA
[14] ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING ATTEMPTS FOILED
[15] WASHINGTON REJECTS ALTERATIONS OF DAYTON SCHEDULE
[16] KORNBLUM MEETS WITH TUDJMAN
[17] FAMILIES OF SERB PRISONERS WRITE TO CLINTON
[18] YUGOSLAVIA EXPECTED TO DEMAND RETURN INTO CENTRAL EUROPEAN INITIATIVE
[19] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION TO ATTEND CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA IN FLORENCE
[01] ERDEMOVIC PLEADS GUILTY BEFORE HAGUE TRIBUNAL
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - drazen erdemovic, 24, pleaded guilty
for crimes against humanity before the hague war crimes tribunal for
the former yugoslavia on friday.
foreign news agencies report that presiding judge claude jorda
said that erdemovic's confession means that the case would proceed
directly to sentencing.
erdemovic, a bosnian croat, was charged of killing numerous
muslims from srebrenica, then muslim enclave in eastern bosnia, in
july 1995 as a member of the bosnian serb army.
erdemovic was arrested in the federal republic of yugoslavia on
march 2, 1996 and was transferred on march 30.
end rt/dd/mb
[02] RECONSTRUCTION OF MONUMENTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - culture ministers of european
countries adopted a plan for the reconstruction of cultural monuments
in former yugoslavia in helsinki on friday.
in former yugoslavia, 2,500 historical monuments were destroyed
since mid-1991 when the war began. the plan will be financed by
several million u.s. dollars secured from different countries.
among the destroyed monuments in multi-ethnic former yugoslavia
are the old bridge at mostar, the ferhat-pasha mosque in banja luka
dating back to the 16th century, and numerous orthodox and catholic
monasteries, the news agency associated press said.
finnish culture minister claes andersson hosted the meeting.
'culture is an integral part of human existence...what we are doing
is trying to make our lives better and richer,' ap quoted her as
saying at a press conference.
the meeting in helsinki was attended by 200 participants.
[03] IFOR COMMANDER SEES NO CONDITIONS FOR ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - the commander of the nato-led peace
force (ifor) in bosnia-herzegovina said on friday that judging from
the present situation, conditions had not been created for holding
the first post-war elections in bosnia-herzegovina.
agence france presse (afp) news agency quoted u.s. admiral
leighton smith as answering in the negative a sarajevo television
reporter's question if the peace accords were being implemented at a
pace that would allow elections to be held in september as scheduled.
smith said that there was no freedom of movement in the country,
which was one of the basic postulates of the dayton peace accords.
under the accords, elections in the (bosnian serb state)
republika srpska and the muslim-croat federation should be organised
by the organisation for security and cooperation in europe (osce).
afp said that the accords envisaged for the repatriation of about
2.4 million refugees who should be allowed to vote in their pre-war
places of residence.
before the war, bosnia-herzegovina had a population of 4.5
million.
[04] MACEDONIA APPOINTS FIRST AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA
skopje, may 31 (tanjug) - macedonian president kiro gligorov
appointed slavko milosavlevski on friday as the country's first
ambassador to the federal republic of yugoslavia.
milosavlevski, professor at skopje university school of law and
prominent publicist and theoretician, was a macedonian functionary in
yugoslavia under tito, until he was removed from office as a
'liberal' in 1971.
yugoslavia and macedonia normalised relations in early april.
macedonia, the southernmost and least developed of former
yugoslavia's six republics, was the only one to secede peacefully
from the former federation pursuant to a decision of its
2-million-strong population in a referendum in september 1991.
[05] U.S. ENVOY CONFERS WITH BOSNIAN MUSLIM LEADER
belgrade, june 1 (tanjug) - u.s. envoy to the balkans john
kornbum met with bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic in sarajevo
on sunday.
the meeting was held ahead of a sunday sunmit in geneva on the
implementation of the dayton agreenent and preparation of elections
in bosnia-herzegovina.
after the meeting with kornblum, who is assistant u.s. secretary
of state for europe, izetbegovic told reporters that the bosnian
muslim government was concerned because the key aspects of the dayton
peace agreement had not been fulfilled three months ahead of
elections, scheduled for september, reuters reported.
'conditions (for elections) don't exist at this moment,'
izetbegovic said and quoted the repatriation of refugees, freedom of
movement, free assembly and arrest of war crimes suspects as the key
conditions for their holding.
after a meeting with croatian president franjo tudjman in zagreb
on saturday, kornblum said that setting the date for elections and
making concrete preparations for their holding were the most
important tasks in bosnia-herzegovina.
kornblum visited belgrade on friday and met with serbian
president slobodan milosevic.
[06] MILOSEVIC, KORNBLUM CONFER ON IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON ACCORDS
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - serbian president slobodan milosevic
received assistant u.s. secretary of state john kornblum in belgrade
on friday.
kornblum, who heads the u.s. team for the implementation of the
dayton accords, arrived in belgrade with his associates.
the talks covered the current course of the implementation of the
bosnia peace plan and measures for the realization of its civilian
and political parts, said a statement released by the office of the
serbian president.
activities on creating the necessary conditions for the holding
of free and democratic elections in bosnia-herzegovina were singled
out as the most important topic.
it was agreed that the peace process was proceeding in a positive
direction and that the implementation of the dayton accords should be
successful. this will be the main topic at the geneva meeting on
sunday, which will be attended by all interested sides, all engaged
international factors, and the united states.
[07] IFRC UNDERSECRETARY SAYS REPATRIATION EXPECTATIONS WERE NOT FULFILLED
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - undersecretary of the international
federation of red cross and red crescent societies margaret wahlstrom
said in belgrade on friday that expectations from the repatriation of
refugees had not been fulfilled.
on the contrary, chances that the majority of refugees will
remain in yugoslavia are increasing, which is why the federation has
to invest additional efforts to secure the necessary assistance funds
from donors, wahlstrom said in a meeting with yugoslav red cross
secretary-general rade dubajic.
wahlstrom said that the situation in the former yugoslavia had
changed after the dayton agreement and that it was necessary to
revise the federation's approach towards humanitarian needs in the
region.
dubajic informed the guest about the slow revival of the yugoslav
economy and the need to secure assistance for more than 600,000
refugees in yugoslavia for a longer period.
[08] AGREEMENT ON PARTICIPATION OF REPUBLIKA SRPSKA IN FLORENCE MEETING
pale, may 31 (tanjug) - (bosnian serb republic) republika srpska
prime minister gojko klickovic said on friday after talks with envoys
of international mediator carl bildt that this serb entity would
participate as a separate delegation with equal treatment at upcoming
meetings on the implementation of the dayton accords.
klickovic conferred with bildt's advisers paul neville johns and
louis selope in the republika srpska capital of pale on preparations
for the meetings in sarajevo on june 6 and in florence on june 13-14.
after the meeting, klickovic said republika srpska would be
represented in florence as a separate delegation and have its name on
the plate where the delegates will be seated.
klickovic specified the florence talks would cover matters of the
repatriation of refugees and the renewal and reconstruction of both
states in bosnia-herzegovina -- republika srpska and the croat-muslim
federation.
[09] PRESIDENT OF GROUP ON FORMER YUGOSLAVIA SUCCESSION VISITS BELGRADE
belgrade, may 31 (tanjug) - president of the working group on
succession to former yugoslavia sir arthur watts had talks in
belgrade on friday with the federal repubic of yugoslavia's
delegation.
the working group has been formed as part of the peace
implementation council, set up at dayton, ohio, usa, in november of
1995.
academician kosta mihailovic, who heads the delegation of the
federal republic of yugoslavia (serbia and montnegro), said that the
friday talks had been substantive and had touched on all aspects of
the problem of succession.
'we explained in great detail the yugoslav position, which is of
importance for the drafting of an informal text which we hope will be
reviewed in early summer,' mihailovic said in a statement for serbian
television prime-time news programme.
[10] CROATIAN DEPUTY SEEKS ANNULMENT OF LAW ON AMNESTY OF SERBS
belgrade, june 1 (tanjug)- member of croatia's parliament milan
djukic, a serb, has requested of the constitutional court to annual a
law on amnesty of serbs in east slavonija, baranja and west srem, the
belgrade politika said saturday.
djukic said in his appeal that the recently passed law on amnesty
of 'perpetrators of crimes in the armed rebellion against croatia'
was 'discriminatory, inhumane, and unconstitutional' and did not
cover all citizens of serb nationality who had lived in croatia.
the selective law makes the return home impossible for the more
than 250,000 serbs expelled by croatia's troops in august last year
from the then republic of serb krajina, djukic said.
according to djukic, the law is a perfidious way of denying
croatian citizenship to serbs, who must provide proof if they are to
get the citizenship but cannot enter croatia.
djukic said in his appeal to the constitutional court of croatia
that the citizens of the same state, who had carried out the same
actions, were not equally treated by law, which he said was
unconstitutional.
the amnesty law is also a violation of the dayton accords, which
require of all signatory-states to annull all legislation with
discriminatory intent, according to djukic.
djukic singled out the discriminatory provision according to
which the law relates strictly to persons who resided in east
slavonija, baranja and west srem until aug. 17, 1990.
he said the provision meant that the law did not pertain to serbs
who had taken refuge in west slavonija, baranja and west srem after
the specified date, fleeing croatia's military attacks on serb
settlements.
[11] RUSSIAN COLONEL: SERBS WILL BE UNITED
belgrade, june 1 (tanjug) - former unprofor chief of staff in the
sarajevo sector russian colonel andrei demurenko said that in the
forseeable future the republika srpska (rs) will merge with serbia,
and the muslim-croat federation with croatia, without much fighting.
demurenko said such a development could be expected in bosnia in
his sarajevo war memoirs published by the widely-circulated russian
paper komsomolskaya pravda. its excerpts were published by the
belgrade daily vecernje novosti.
for the americans bosnia, demurenko said, was just another place
to demonstrate their power.
bosnia was an opportunity for the americans to 'show muscle', he
said. it used to be grenada, then came somalia and now it's bosnia.
that is why such coflicts are kept under control, and maybe even
provoked, the russian colonel said.
demurenko was unprofor chief of staff in the sarajevo sector from
january to december last year. he was the only one who dared say
publicly what was revealed only in president francois mitterrand's
posthumously published memoires: that serbs are not responsible for
the massacre on the sarajevo market place of markale.
the massacre, stagemanaged by the muslims themselves so that they
could blame the serbs, was the pretext for massive nato air strikes
against bosnian serb military and civilian targets.
demurenko said that his commander in sarajevo, french general
bachelet, recently apologised to him in a letter for giving him the
going over for investigating the markale explosion. bachelet wrote
to demurenko that he was right when he said that serbs were not
responsible for the massacre.
demurenko said that the situation in sarajarvo was not as
dramatic as it was presented by the western media.
on the one side in sarajevo people were rationed 150 gm. of bread
and grew potatoes in graveyards, while on the other side night clubs
were full-packed, delicacies could be found in restaurants and men in
luxurious cars drove around beautiful women in fur coats and diamond
jewelry.
the russian colonel said his warmest memories were linked to the
commander of the republika srpska army ratko mladic, whom he
described as an exceptionally talented, learned and energetic
commander.
demurenko said that whenever mladic asked him why russia was so
uncritically treading the steps of the west, he felt ashamed and
could not give him an answer although he knew well that 'state policy
that tends to be dignified cannot be to the liking of all sides'.
[12] PLAVSIC URGES CONSISTENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DAYTON AGREEMENT
belgrade, june 1 (tanjug)- only a consistent, comprehensive and
unbiased implementation of the dayton agreement opens prospects for
peace and equality, acting republika srpska president biljana plavsic
told tanjug on the eve of the geneva meeting.
it is thanks to the efforts of key international factors, of all
formerly warring sides and the great contribution made by the federal
republic of yugoslavia that significant results have been recorded so
far in the implementation of the peace agreement, plavsic said.
she said republika srpska wholeheartedly supported the meeting to
be held in geneva sunday.
the meeting will be attended by u.s. secretary of state warren
christopher, presidents slobodan milosevic of serbia and franjo
tudjman of croatia, bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic, and
officials of the contact group countries.
plavsic said the geneva meeting would undoubtedly be conducive to
the implementation of the peace agreement, in particular the
organizing of elections in bosnia-herzegovina.
a further impulse to the agreement's implementation will be
provided by the upcoming elections, for which preparations are under
way, and republika srpska will act constructively all the way to that
end, plavsic said.
she said it was necessary that all sides display an equal sense
of responsibility and international factors, impartiality and a
principled approach in the treatment of both entities -- republika
srpska and the muslim-croat federation.
republika srpska will do everything for the elections to be held
in line with the envisaged rules, for all necessary conditions to be
created, for the full freedom of the press, movement and assembly of
people, plavsic said.
she said republika srpska had formed electoral commissions in all
municipalities.
[13] INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS FOCUS ON BOSNIA
london, june 1 (tanjug) - meetings of international community's
high representives will focus in the next few days on peace in bosnia
to ensure full and consistent compliance with the dayton accords, it
was said in london saturday.
the first in a series of meetings starts in geneva sunday, where
u.s. secretary of state warren christopher will meet with the
presidents of serbia and of croatia, slobodan milosevic and franjo
tudjman and the leader of bosnian muslims alija izetbegovic.
one day later, nato ministers will review in berlin the
implementation of the dayton accords and agree on further steps of
the western alliance.
two weeks later, bosnia will be one of the main topics of the
regular six-month summit of the european union in florence, and at
the end of june bosnian peace prospects will be reviewed by the
leaders of the most developed countries of the world, know as g 7+1.
the london guardian said the activity demonstrated the resolution
and persistence of the international community, especially of the
united states, that the dayton agreement be impelemented consistently
and signaled new pressures on all bosnian parties to fulfill their
commitments.
the geneva meeting, the paper said, will be devoted to the issue
of the role of the republika srpska (rs) leadership defined in
dayton, to the compliance of the muslim and croat side and to the
preserving the 'fragile' muslim-croat federation.
the london daily pointed especially to the problem of foreign
islamic fighters, the mudjahedeen, some of whom are still in bosnia.
the coming meetings will also discuss the fate of the
mutlinational force (ifor), but a precise decision is not expected.
the international community is more concentrated on the efforts
to hold elections in bosnia as scheduled (september 14) and then to
make decisions about military presence.
britain and france believe the most important thing now is to
implement the dayton accords, and that all other issues can wait.
[14] ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING ATTEMPTS FOILED
belgrade, june 1 (tanjug) - yugoslav army (ya) border guards
prevented friday night three groups of citizens of the republic of
albania (21 in total) from crossing illegally into the republic of
macedonia over the territory of the federal republic of yugoslavia,
the information service of the third army command said.
acting in accordance with the rules of the border service, while
stopping one group, on june 1 at 00:30 hours, that resisted arrest
and attempted to flee, and after repeated warnings, the border guards
opened fire wounding one person.
first aid was rendered on the spot. the wounded person was
transported to a medical center in dragos, but later succombed to the
wounds, the statement said.
as a result of repeated illegal crossings of the yugoslav border
by albanian citizens, state organs will deliver to the albanian side
a warning to prevent such incidents in the future, the information
service of the ya third army said.
[15] WASHINGTON REJECTS ALTERATIONS OF DAYTON SCHEDULE
washington, june 1 (tanjug) - u.s. secretary of state warren
christopher will leave for geneva on satuday in order to participate
in a meeting aimed at maintaining the dynamics and schedule of the
dayton agreement and stressing the key role of the united states in
the balkan peace process.
u.s. administration circles say that this will be the most
important meeting on the implementation of the dayton agreement.
a meeting in geneva on sunday between christopher, serbian
president slobodan milosevic, croatian president franjo tudjman and
bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic is crucial for the civilian
aspect of the dayton agreement, because it should resolve the issue
of the september elections in bosnia.
washington believes that elections, which are regarded as the
pillar of the civian aspect ofhe dayton agreement, were decided
upon in dayton and that the only thing to do in geneva is to dispel
the latest suspicions and hesitations. the postponement of the
elections was requested both here and in bosnia.
u.s. president bill clinton, who believes that the dayton
agreement and balkan peace are one of the priorities and best
achievements of his foreign policy, has recently categorivly stated
that there will be no changes in the dayton schedule, which means
that the elections will not be postponed and deadline for the return
of u.s. troops from bosnia would not be extended.
the u.s. side expects that the geneva meeting will confirm the
schedule, which will be supported by the signatories to the dayton
agreement.
the next move, which the u.s. diplomacy expects and works on, is
to ensure that the organization for security and cooperation in
europe issue a statement to the effect that necessary conditions for
the bosnia elections have been created.
the fact that christopher has not invited any of the 'contact
group' foreign ministers to the meeting is yet another proof that in
the election year, the clinton administration wishes to keep the key
role in settling the situation in bosnia and stabilizing peace in the
balkans.
the contact group ministers will meet in berlin two days later.
sources here say that christopher will inform his contact group
counterparts about the agreement made in geneva and request their
support in the further implementation of the dayton agreement.
the agreement should also show that the contact group still
exists and that its members agree and are coherent.
[16] KORNBLUM MEETS WITH TUDJMAN
zagreb, june 1 (tanjug) - u.s. assistant secretary of state john
kornblum met in zagreb on saturday with croatian president franjo
tudjman after his friday's visit to belgrade.
the talks focused on the implementation of the dayton agreement
and preparations for elections in bosnia, it was announced in zagreb.
kornblum and tudjman also discussed preparations for sunday's
meeting in geneva, which will be attended by the signatories of the
dayton agreement and representatives of the member-states of the
contact group for bosnia.
after talks with tudjman, kornblum said he and tudjman had agreed
that the implementation of the dayton agreement was crucial for peace
in bosnia and that, in that context, it would be essential to
organize elections in the near future.
croatia's stand is that elections in bosnia should be organized
in accordance with the provisions of the dayton agreement, including
its deadlines.
the croatian president said he was satisfied with the hitherto
progress of the peace process in eastern slavonia, baranja and
western srem, but adding that serb officials in the region 'make
problems to provisional administrator, u.s. general jacques klein.'
croatia expects some conclusions to be reached in geneva on
sunday to 'allow unimpeded progress toward a peaceful reintegration
of eastern slavonia, baranja and western srem,' tudjman said.
[17] FAMILIES OF SERB PRISONERS WRITE TO CLINTON
banjaluka, june 1 (tanjug) - the association of families of
(bosnian serb) republika srpska (rs) prisoners of war sent a letter
saturday to u.s. presaident bill clinton pleading for his help in the
release of their family members, stressing that their association was
'fighting for the release of all prisoners-muslims, croats and serbs.
the letter said that the association was 'non-party,
non-political, non-governmental' with over 20,000 members and is
pleading for the release from prisons in the muslim-croat federation
and the republic of croatia of 1,300 serb soldiers and several
thousand civilians.
5#3 )35534 -)'9 2-4,3d 5#-5 5#3 4307?)8: 9! :49-58-, that took an
active part in the war againt rs, is holding in its prisons several
hundred serbs'.
'we hope you will force the parties signatories to observe the
dayton agreement, which is your moral obligation', said the letter
sent to clinton by the association of families of rs imprisoned
soldiers.
[18] YUGOSLAVIA EXPECTED TO DEMAND RETURN INTO CENTRAL EUROPEAN INITIATIVE
vienna, june 1 (tanjug) - should fr yugoslavia (fry) present a
demand to return to membership in the centraleuropean initiative
(cei), the response will be positive, austrian foreign minister
wolfgang schuessel said in his capacity of cei chairman.
schuessel said at the end of a two-day session of foreign
ministers of cei that the return of yugoslavia into membership was
not on the agenda of the meeting, but the issue was raised anyway,
and most of the countries expressed a positive opinion.
the final document pointed to the need for a constructive
attitude of fry in the process of normalization of bilateral
relations with bosnia and herzegovina and croatia, as an essential
condition for its full integhration into the international community.
the ministers greeted the agreement on the normalization of
relations and the promotion of cooperation between fry and macedonia
from april 8 this year.
cei, which represents a forum for political and economic
cooperation was created in november 1989 by austria, italy, hungary
and former fry.
schuessel said the main result of the meeting was the admission
of five associate members as full members - albania, bulgaria,
belarus, romania and ukraine.
cei members are also austria, bosnia and herzegovina, croatia,
slovenia, macedonia, slovakia, czech republic, italy, poland and
hungary.
the cei session reviewed also the participation and contribution
of the institution to the economic recovery of russia. schuessel said
that 20 million dollars were collected at the meeting for financing
projects in bosnia.
schuessel said that elections in bosnia should be held as
scheduled (mid-september) but that they must be free and fair, and
that refugees must be guaranteed security and the right to return.
[19] BOSNIAN SERB DELEGATION TO ATTEND CONFERENCE ON BOSNIA IN FLORENCE
rome, june 1 (tanjug) - a delegation of the (bosnian serb)
republika srpska will attend a ministerial conference on bosnia in
florence on june 13-14, the italian foreign ministry said in a
statement.
an agreement on the bosnian serbs' participation at the
conference was reached in friday's talks in pale with an italian
envoy, representing the european union's presiding country, and an
adviser to international high representative in charge of civilian
affairs in bosnia carl bildt, the statement said.
it did not specify who were the bosnian serb officials
participating in the talk.
the ministerial conference in florence is expected to sum up the
six-month achievements in implementing the bosnian peace plan in the
military and civilian area.
Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996
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