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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 65, 97-07-02

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 1, No. 65, 2 July 1997


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] CHERNOMYRDIN DENIES SANCTIONING ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ARMENIA
  • [02] GEORGIAN COMMANDOS KILLED IN ABKHAZIA
  • [03] RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS SIGNED
  • [04] CHECHEN PRESIDENT IN BAKU
  • [05] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ASSESSES NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTRY
  • [06] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER REPLACED
  • [07] TAJIK PRESIDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA
  • [08] UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DRUG TRADE IN KAZAKSTAN
  • [09] KAZAK PRESIDENT PRAISES PARLIAMENT

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [10] CLASH BETWEEN ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER, MONARCHISTS
  • [11] ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACCUSES SOCIALISTS OF FRAUD
  • [12] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY ELITE FLEES COUNTRY
  • [13] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT SAYS REPUBLIKA SRPSKA THOROUGHLY CORRUPT...
  • [14] ...AND HER OWN PARTY TRIES TO OUST HER
  • [15] WORLD BANK LOAN TO CROATIA INDEFINITELY POSTPONED
  • [16] UPDATE FROM FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA
  • [17] ROMANIA BECOMES MEMBER OF CEFTA
  • [18] BULGARIA IMPLEMENTS CURRENCY BOARD ON SCHEDULE
  • [19] SOFIA DENIES WRONG-DOING IN ARMS SMUGGLING CASE

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] CHERNOMYRDIN DENIES SANCTIONING ARMS SHIPMENTS TO ARMENIA

    Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin on 1 July told journalists that neither he nor any other member of the Russian government approved arms supplies to Armenia, ITAR-TASS reported. "Izvestiya" the same day claimed to possess documentation proving Chernomyrdin sanctioned arms shipments to Armenia between 1994-1996 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 July 1997). Russian government spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov told Interfax that in March the government had submitted to the Chief Military Prosecutor's office documentary evidence that it complied with a directive issued by Russian President Boris Yeltsin on 9 September 1993 to suspend all arms deliveries to both Armenia and Azerbaijan pending a peaceful solution of the Karabakh conflict. (At the time, Karabakh Armenian forces had just launched a major offensive.) Shabdurasulov said the "unauthorized activities of numerous ministries or officials" are still being investigated.

    [02] GEORGIAN COMMANDOS KILLED IN ABKHAZIA

    Five members of a Georgian commando unit allegedly subordinate to the Georgian security service and one Abkhaz soldier were killed in a skirmish early on 1 July near the border between Abkhazia's Gulripsh Raion and the rest of Georgia, Interfax reported, quoting an Abkhaz Interior Ministry official. Also on 1 July, Russian Security Council deputy secretary Boris Berezovskii proposed "new ideas" about a possible solution of the Abkhaz conflict during talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi, according to Reuters.

    [03] RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC AGREEMENTS SIGNED

    At the first session of the Russian-Armenian intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation on 1 July in Yerevan, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valerii Serov and Armenian Premier Robert Kocharyan signed seven agreements, including one on restructuring Armenia's debt to Russia, Armenian agencies reported. Serov termed the agreements "pragmatic" and said that Russia believes economic relations with Armenia should be "mutually supplementary and mutually beneficial," Noyan Tapan reported. Following parallel talks with Armenian government officials, Gazprom chairman Rem Vyakhirev said agreement was reached on resuming Russian gas supplies to Armenia and that talks on the export of Russian gas to Turkey via Georgia and Armenia are continuing.

    [04] CHECHEN PRESIDENT IN BAKU

    Aslan Maskhadov on 1 July was in Baku on a "working visit" for talks with Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev, RFE/RL's Baku bureau reported. The two presidents refused to speak to journalists after their meeting. Chechen press spokesman Kazbek Akhmedov said that they had not signed any agreements. He added that the question of exporting Azerbaijan's Caspian oil via Chechnya was not discussed but said a trilateral agreement between the Russian Fuel Ministry, the Chechen oil company Yunko, and the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR would be signed in Moscow after the successful conclusion of Russian-Chechen accords on customs and banking. Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Movladi Udugov told Interfax on 1 July that talks with Russian officials in Moscow had yielded consensus on almost all points of both accords.

    [05] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ASSESSES NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTRY

    Speaking at a ceremony in late June to mark the anniversary of the National Security Ministry, Heidar Aliev said that body's primary tasks are to liberate "occupied territories" and to gather information about Armenia, according to Turan on 30 June and the "Turkish Daily News" on 1 July. Aliev said that at least one political party in Azerbaijan is controlled by a foreign intelligence service. He accused the intelligence services of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Georgia of interference in Azerbaijan's internal affairs. He also called for strengthening control over the country's borders to prevent drug trafficking via Azerbaijan. "Akhali taoba" on 1 July quoted a senior Azerbaijani frontier official as claiming that Georgia is illegally selling Armenia part of the crude oil it receives from Azerbaijan.

    [06] KYRGYZ FOREIGN MINISTER REPLACED

    President Askar Akayev dismissed Roza Otunbayeva as foreign minister on 1 July, according to RFE/RL correspondents in Bishkek. Otunbayeva is replaced by Muratbek Imanaliyev, who until now was the head of the International Department of the presidential administration. He served as foreign minister from 1990-91 and was later ambassador to China. Otunbayeva, who was previously ambassador to Canada and then the U.S, was named as ambassador to Great Britain; however, there is no Kyrgyz embassy in London. According to Interfax, she requested to be relieved of her duties as foreign minister.

    [07] TAJIK PRESIDENT IN SAUDI ARABIA

    Imomali Rakhmonov arrived in Saudi Arabia on 30 June at the start of a four- day visit, according to ITAR-TASS. Rakhmonov and a delegation of Tajik businessmen and government officials held talks in Jeddah on 1 July with the chairman of the Islamic Development Bank and the secretary-general of the League of the Islamic World. Discussions centered on ways to improve cooperation following the official end of the civil war in Tajikistan. Rakhmonov met with King Fahd on 2 July to discuss Saudi-Tajik relations. The Tajik president is also scheduled to visit Mecca to make the "umra" or little Hajj.

    [08] UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER DRUG TRADE IN KAZAKSTAN

    A UN official monitoring the drug trade in Kazakstan voiced alarm at increasing drug use in Kazakstan and at the country's role as a transit point for narcotics heading westward, Reuters reported on 1 July. The official cited marijuana cultivation as the leading problem in Kazakstan's fight against the drug trade. He also said Kazakstan has the potential to become the leading producer of marijuana in the world. Nurlan Abdirov, the head of Kazakstan's State Drug Control Committee, said marijuana is currently being cultivated on at least 138,000 hectares of land, mostly in the Chu Valley region of southeastern Kazakstan. Abdirov pointed out that law enforcement officials in 1996 confiscated 12 tons of drugs being shipped westward via Kazakstan. In the first five months of 1997, officials have already seized more than 17 tons. Abdirov also noted that other drugs have made their way into Kazakstan, including opium, LSD, and heroin.

    [09] KAZAK PRESIDENT PRAISES PARLIAMENT

    Nursultan Nazarbayev, addressing the parliament at the close of its second session, has expressed satisfaction with the progress toward implementing reforms, according to Interfax. Nazarbayev noted that during the nine-month session, the parliament adopted more than 150 draft laws. He added that the overhaul of the civil service has saved the country about 3 billion tenge ($40 million) to date. He cited an Economics and Trade Ministry report predicting a 0.5% growth in GDP in the first six months of 1997 and 2% industrial growth. By year's end GDP may have increased by 2%, the president predicted.

    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [10] CLASH BETWEEN ALBANIAN SOCIALIST LEADER, MONARCHISTS

    Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano and Leka Zogu, the claimant to the throne, exchanged sharp accusations over the election results on 1 July. Nano argued in Tirana that only 20% of the electorate may have voted for the monarchy in the 29 June referendum. Leka, who says that up to 60% voted in favor of him, charged that Nano is trying to steal his victory, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported on 2 July. Leading writer Ismail Kadare said in Paris that monarchy has no roots in Albania and that people voted for it because they "hate the governing political class," "Dita Informacion" reported. Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission announced official preliminary results for 50 out of the 115 districts. According to this tally, 40% voted for a constitutional monarchy and 60% for a republic, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported on 2 July.

    [11] ALBANIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY ACCUSES SOCIALISTS OF FRAUD

    Democratic Party chairman Tritan Shehu and presidential spokesman Genci Pollo, sharply accusing the Socialist Party of having manipulated the parliamentary elections, have demanded a new vote in the south. The Democrats' "Rilindja Demokratike" suggested the OSCE was involved in the fraud. The newspaper claimed on 2 July that Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mediator Franz Vranitzky thanked the OSCE monitors for their "understanding for the widespread irregularities." According to first official parliamentary election figures for 50 electoral districts, the Socialist Party has won 47.6% of the votes, the Democratic Party 30%, the monarchist Legality Movement 3.32%, the ethnic Greek Human Rights Party 2.21% and the Democratic Alliance 2.01%, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported.

    [12] ALBANIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY ELITE FLEES COUNTRY

    Interior Minister Belul Celo, his deputy Agim Shehu, and presidential guard commander Xhait Xhaferi left Albania between 30 June and 1 July, "Dita Informacion" reported. Celo asked Prime Minister Bashkim Fino for a three- day "vacation," which he intended to spend at his home in Fier. Instead, however, he reportedly took a plane to Athens. The daily claims that he was accompanied by other high-ranking Interior Ministry officials. Meanwhile in Tirana, a prison revolt started when prisoners took four policemen hostage in the evening of 1 July. Interior Minister Spartak Ngjela suggested that the prisoners had voted for the Socialists in the hope of being freed. They staged a revolt when freedom was not forthcoming, "Gazeta Shqiptare" reported.

    [13] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT SAYS REPUBLIKA SRPSKA THOROUGHLY CORRUPT...

    Biljana Plavsic said on Banja Luka Television on 1 July that Radovan Karadzic and his lieutenants conduct widespread illegal trade and that she intends to expose them and establish the rule of law (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 1 July 1997). She said "the consequence of [the corruption] is an enormous accumulation of wealth by a relatively small number of our population. Do they think that the rest of the population will be their slaves?" Plavsic added that federal Yugoslav officials are also involved in the dealings, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Banja Luka. She stood by her earlier decision to sack Interior Minister Dragan Kijac and indicated that she also wants Prime Minister Gojko Klickovic to go. Plavsic further threatened to dissolve the parliament. She warned that the international community will abandon the Bosnian Serbs unless they get rid of their corrupt leaders.

    [14] ...AND HER OWN PARTY TRIES TO OUST HER

    The leadership of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) met in Pale on 1 July to launch proceedings aimed at ousting Plavsic. The party told her either to return to Pale and withdraw her decision against Kijac or else to resign from the presidency, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Pale. The SDS leaders said they will ask the parliament to censure Plavsic when that body meets on 4 July. The Bosnian Serb constitution, however, says that a president can be ousted only in a popular referendum. Meanwhile in Belgrade, the pro-Milosevic tabloid daily "Vecernje novosti" charged that Plavsic and her family have received large amounts of money paid into alleged Swiss bank accounts by unknown sources in the U.S., BETA said on 2 July.

    [15] WORLD BANK LOAN TO CROATIA INDEFINITELY POSTPONED

    Following lengthy discussions, World Bank officials agreed on 1 July to a request by the U.S. to postpone indefinitely a $30 million loan aimed at improving the investment climate in Croatia, an RFE/RL correspondent reported from Washington. The U.S. requested the move because of what it called Croatia's poor record in implementing the Dayton agreement and in allowing ethnic Serb refugees to return to their homes. Croatia denies the charges and says that it does not need the loan anyway. Meanwhile in Mostar, U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard threatened to cut off all aid to the Mostar area unless local Croats form joint police forces with the Muslims. He also lambasted the local Croatian police for tolerating widespread trafficking in drugs, stolen cars, and other goods.

    [16] UPDATE FROM FEDERAL YUGOSLAVIA

    Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski arrived in Belgrade on 2 July with a high-powered economic delegation. Also in the Serbian capital, federal Interior Minister Zoran Sokolovic said on 1 July that Yugoslavia will try war criminals itself and that the constitution prohibits delivering Yugoslav citizens to the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. Sokolovic denied that the Dayton agreement obliges Belgrade to extradite indicted persons to the court. Elsewhere, Croatia officially protested to the Yugoslav authorities after Belgrade basketball fans attacked the Croatian embassy. Police took half an hour to arrive and stop the vandals, who moved on the building after Yugoslavia scored a last-minute victory over Croatia in European championships in Spain. And in Podgorica, the Montenegrin parliament approved an opposition proposal to require state officials to disclose their property holdings and for this information to be published.

    [17] ROMANIA BECOMES MEMBER OF CEFTA

    Romania officially became a member of the Central European Free Trade Agreement on 1 July, RFE/RL reported. President Emil Constantinescu has described CEFTA membership as a kind of rehearsal for joining the EU. He noted that CEFTA functions in accordance with EU rules and that this will help ease Romania's bid for EU membership. He also said Romania will be able to regain access to Eastern and Central European markets because of its membership in CEFTA. Bucharest signed the necessary accords for CEFTA membership in April. Meanwhile, Vojka Ravbar, CEFTA's current president and Slovenia's state secretary for international economic relations, said he expects membership negotiations with Bulgaria to start later this month. Other current members of CEFTA include Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. Countries that have expressed interest in joining are Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Macedonia, and Ukraine.

    [18] BULGARIA IMPLEMENTS CURRENCY BOARD ON SCHEDULE

    Bulgaria on 1 July pegged its currency, the lev, at 1,000 to 1 German mark as part of a plan agreed with the IMF to bring about fiscal discipline and ease inflation, RFE/RL reported. The currency board system prevents the Bulgarian National Bank from lending to the government or refinancing the country's troubled commercial banks. It also requires that each lev in circulation be fully backed by hard-currency reserves in the central bank. Prime Minister Ivan Kostov said the currency board will speed up economic transition and the goal of eventually joining the EU. Implementation of the plan by 1 July had been seen in international financial circles as the first test of Kostov's ability to bring about free market reforms. "Duma," the newspaper of the opposition Socialist Party, complained that the currency board is stripping Bulgaria of its independence.

    [19] SOFIA DENIES WRONG-DOING IN ARMS SMUGGLING CASE

    A Bulgarian weapons manufacturer and the Trade Ministry in Sofia have denied any wrong-doing in an alleged attempt by two Lithuanian nationals to sell surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to undercover U.S. agents. The agents were posing as arms brokers for a Columbian drug cartel. The ministry admitted to RFE/RL that a U.S. firm called Phoenix Arms International, which was represented by one of the arrested men, was given permission to purchase missiles from Bulgaria's state-owned Armimex in December 1996. The ministry says the deal did not go through because payments were never made. Bulgarian authorities say Aleksandr Darichev, who was recently arrested in Florida by U.S. agents, worked as a representative of Phoenix Arms International. The ministry also says Darichev's firm presented all the documentation needed to legalize the purchase.

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


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