Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-01

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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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