Yugoslav Daily Survey 96-08-05

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

CONTENTS

[01] DEMARCHE TO TURKEY OVER ILLEGAL GROUNDING OF JAT PLANE

[02] KARADZIC'S FATE WAS NOT DISCUSSED IN PALE

[03] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DOING UTMOST FOR TIMELY ELECTIONS

[04] KINKEL WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES OF POSSIBLE E.U. WITHDRAWAL FROM MOSTAR

[05] BILDT: CROATIA'S REJECTION OF POLL COULD AFFECT RELATIONS WITH WORLD

[06] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES CROATIA OF CRIMES AGAINST SERBS

[07] CROATIA DOES NOTHING FOR RETURN OF SERBS

[01] DEMARCHE TO TURKEY OVER ILLEGAL GROUNDING OF JAT PLANE

The demarche particularly stressed that this legally groundless and politically-motivated move by the Turkish organs had done material and moral damage to the F.R.Y. and had jeopardized the just started process of normalization of relations and renewal of cooperation between the two countries, the Yugoslav Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced.

Expectations were expressed that the competent Turkish authorities, bearing in view the presented arguments, would once more consider their decision and allow unimpeded return of the JAT plane to the F.R.Y.

On april 7, 1992, JAT leased to the Turkish Bosphorus Airways Company two 737-300 Boeing aircraft on four years. The lease of one plane expired on april 30, and that of another, which was meantime held in Dublin, Ireland, expired May 22, 1996.

After the expiry of the contract, the Turkish Aviation Administration notified the Yugoslav Transport Ministry that the two JAT planes were erased on June 21 from the Turkish Registry of Aircraft.

The Yugoslav organs re-entered on June 22 the planes into the JAT Registry and preparations began for flying the planes back to the F.R.Y.

On July 22, however, the Turkish Transport Ministry officially notified the Yugoslav Transport Ministry that, on the ruling by the Tenth Administrative Court in Ankara, the deletion from Registry was suspended and that the plane was still on the Turkish Registry.

JAT, in its announcement issued in this regard earlier this week, said that this act accounted for the derogations of the two decisions made by the state organs of Turkey and the F.R.Y. about the re-registration of the plane from the Turkish into the yugoslav Registry and recalled that, according to the Chicago Convention, the planes may not have, at one time, two airports of register and be entered into two Registries.

[02] KARADZIC'S FATE WAS NOT DISCUSSED IN PALE

Plavsic said the talks held with Kornblum on the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords had been substantive and concrete.

The Acting Republika Srpska President said the Serb entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina would persevere in consistently implementing the Peace Accords. 'We will persevere in the consistent implementation of the Peace Agreement and its terminology, as the term reintegration of Republika Srpska into Bosnia-Herzegovina is not used anywhere in the Dayton Agreement,' Plavsic said. 'Provided the other side shows good-will, we will participate after the September elections in the joint authorities of the future union,' Plavsic stated.

She told Radio Obrenovac that, 'if the three conflicting sides turn out to have even one point in common it could be a good basis for cooperation.' Plavsic specified that the point in common could be a strong commitment to peace.

She noted that the September elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina would be decisive for the survival of Republika Srpska, which she said would officially be recognized as a State, i.e. an entity with a series of elements of sovereignty.

[03] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA DOING UTMOST FOR TIMELY ELECTIONS

In a statement to the local radio station in the central Serbian town of Kragujevac, Krajisnik warned about possible manipulation with votes of refugees in the many European Countries. Krajisnik said Muslims and Serbs were not in the same position because voting would take place in Embassies of the Muslim-Croat Federation.

'Regardless of this, everything has been done for elections to take place, primarily because the Dayton Accords envisage that sanctions against Yugoslavia will be lifted 10 days after the elections take place,' he said.

'We do not fear the elections because our people have opted to preserve Republika Srpska. The only thing with which the international community is blackmailing us is the issue of Brcko, where elections are trying to be postponed in a way, although there is no justification for this, nor can we agree to it,' Krajisnik said.

Muslims want control over Brcko, although the Dayton Accords envisage only that a special Arbitration Commission determine the line of separation in the wider area of this town located on the bottleneck of the corridor linking Eastern and Western parts of Republika Srpska.

Commenting on the announced economic cooperation between Yugoslavia and the Muslim-Croat Federation, Krajisnik said efforts should be made to normalize economic relations.

[04] KINKEL WARNS OF CONSEQUENCES OF POSSIBLE E.U. WITHDRAWAL FROM MOSTAR

Kinkel urged Granic, over the telephone, to do everything for the crisis in the divided city of Mostar to be resolved, a German Foreign Ministry statement said.

E.U. representatives failed to persuade Mostar Croats late Saturday to accept the results of the local elections and enable the work of the City Council in which Muslims have won a majority. The E.U. had given Bosnian Croats until midnight Saturday to accept the results of the June 30 elections and said it would otherwise withdraw from the city it has administered since 1994.

Kinkel 'welcomed the pledge given by Croatia in Washington that it will dismantle the Bosnian Croat State Herceg-Bosna' and agree to the territory coming under the jurisdiction of the Muslim-Croat Federation, the Bonn Ministry said.

The statement said Granic had told Kinkel that he was in permanent contact with Bosnian Croat leaders and Croat Federation officials.

Granic said he hoped a solution would be found and the elections for the Mostar City Council acknowledged.

[05] BILDT: CROATIA'S REJECTION OF POLL COULD AFFECT RELATIONS WITH WORLD

Bildt said this after Saturday's negotiations with Bosnian Croats failed and the deadline for dropping their boycott of the new City Council and implementing the election results expired on midnight. 'If there is room for last-second diplomacy, this can only be in the form of additional pressure on Zagreb as well as on the Bosnian Croats to fully respect the elections,' said Bildt. There could be no compromise on a fundamental issue like respect for elections, as this would have far worse consequences, said Bildt.

Pressures by the international community on Zagreb and the Bosnian Croats followed the Croats' repudiation of the results of elections held in Mostar. The European Union has threatened to close its two-year mission to reunite and rebuild the city, divided between Croats and Muslims. EU special envoy to Mostar Martin Garod said on Sunday that the decision on the EU withdrawal would most likely be made on Monday.

[06] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ACCUSES CROATIA OF CRIMES AGAINST SERBS

In the August operation and the May operation which preceded, Croatia occupied most of the Republic of Serb Krajina, which was proclaimed in response to Croatia's war of secession from the former Yugoslavia.

Croatian authorities are not permitting Serb refugees to return and are condoning the harassment and abuse of the few remaining Serbs, mostly the elder and ill.

Agency France-Presse quoted the Human Rights Watch report as accusing authorities in Zagreb of being aware of the looting, burning and killing and allowing it to continue with impunity. The report directly accused the Croatian Defense Ministry of complicity.

According to AFP, the Brussels-based Human Rights Watch had issued a statement on Thursday stating that 526 Serbs, of whom 116 civilians, had been killed when Croatian regular army troops attacked Krajina on August 4.

The statement said Croatian troops continued burning Serb villages and killing civilians after operation Storm. The Human Rights Watch said that after the August 4. operation, 150 Serb civilians had been summarily executed and 110 reported missing, and that another 80 Serb civilians had been liquidate from November 1995 to April 1996.

The statement said all persons responsible for human rights violations during the Croatian military operation in Krajina and after should be tried.

[07] CROATIA DOES NOTHING FOR RETURN OF SERBS

Nothing positive happened in Croatia over the past year. On the contrary, Croatia adopted laws under which the property of displaced Serbs was either seized or destroyed. Moreover, Croatia divided up the territory of Krajina and failed to adopt an amnesty law, he said.

Mikelic said that the Committee had prepared a pilot project for the return of Serb population to 13 municipalities in which they had been the majority population according to the 1991 census. About 250,000 Serbs fled these territories in the face of a Croatian aggression last August. He said that the project on the right of Serbs to return and claim their property, included historical documents which prove that the Serbs were a constituent people in Croatia from the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to 1990 when the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) led by Franjo Tudjman came to power.

Mikelic said that the project would be sent to all international humanitarian organizations, Embassies of Western states and all institutions of the international community which may help its realization.

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