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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 151, 00-08-08

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. 4, No. 151, 8 August 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] ARMENIAN STATE NEWS AGENCY STAFF DEMAND PAY ARREARS
  • [02] U.S., EU PRESSURE AZERBAIJAN TO AMEND ELECTION LAWS
  • [03] NATO NOT TO TAKE OVER RUSSIAN AIR BASE IN GEORGIA
  • [04] GEORGIAN OFFICIAL SAYS RED CROSS WORKERS ABDUCTED
  • [05] GEORGIANS, LOCAL GREEK MINORITY CLASH IN TSALKA
  • [06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PROSECUTOR GENERAL ADVOCATES CODE OF
  • [07] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACQUITTED
  • [08] UZBEK FORCES SEEK TO REPEL INCURSION FROM TAJIKISTAN

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [09] SERBIAN UNITED OPPOSITION PICKS KOSTUNICA FOR PRESIDENCY
  • [10] SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY NOMINATES 'THE GRAVEDIGGER'
  • [11] DRASKOVIC FIRM ON DIVIDING SERBIAN OPPOSITION VOTE
  • [12] YUGOSLAV ARMY MOVES WESTERN CAPTIVES TO BELGRADE
  • [13] OSCE BANS STAFF TRAVEL TO MONTENEGRO
  • [14] YUGOSLAV NAVY FREES CROATIAN SHIP
  • [15] AUSTRALIA TO BAR YUGOSLAV ELITE VISITORS
  • [16] IMPRISONED SERBIAN JOURNALIST MOVED TO HOSPITAL
  • [17] MEDICAL CHARITY TO LEAVE PARTS OF KOSOVA
  • [18] PETRITSCH RULES ON BOSNIAN SUCCESSION
  • [19] U.S. 'AFRAID' TO CATCH KARADZIC?
  • [20] NEW CENTER-RIGHT ALLIANCE SET UP IN ROMANIA
  • [21] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS REACT TO STOLOJAN'S CANDIDACY...
  • [22] ...WHILE SECOND POLL SHOWS ILIESCU MIGHT LOSE
  • [23] RUSSIAN, MOLDOVAN TROOPS HOLD JOINT EXERCISE
  • [24] MOLDOVA CUTS RADIO BROADCASTS
  • [25] BULGARIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL VOWS TO PUNISH BUG PLANTERS
  • [26] BULGARIA REJECTS RUSSIAN CRITICISM OF KOSTOV

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [27] SAUDI AID WORKERS BULLDOZE BALKAN MONUMENTS

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] ARMENIAN STATE NEWS AGENCY STAFF DEMAND PAY ARREARS

    Employees of Armenia's state news agency Armenpress staged a

    one-day strike on 7 August to demand back salaries, which

    have not been paid since March, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau

    reported. Of a total 36 million drams ($70,000) earmarked in

    this year's budget for Armenpress, only 8 million drams has

    been made available to date. Eduard Militonian, who heads the

    government department for information and publishing, which

    supervises Armenpress, assured the agency's staff that they

    will be paid on 8 August. LF

    [02] U.S., EU PRESSURE AZERBAIJAN TO AMEND ELECTION LAWS

    Ambassadors from unspecified EU member states have written to

    Azerbaijani President Heidar Aliev urging him to amend the

    country's election legislation in accordance with

    recommendations from the OSCE's Office for Democratic

    Institutions and Human Rights, Turan reported on 8 August.

    The ambassadors warn that failure to do so may jeopardize

    Azerbaijan's Council of Europe membership. "Azadlyg" reported

    on 8 August that the issue of Azerbaijan's acceptance into

    full membership has been removed from the agenda of the

    Council of Europe Council of Ministers' session scheduled for

    2 September. Also on 8 August, presidential administration

    official Ali Hasanov confirmed that U.S. Secretary of State

    Madeleine Albright has also written to Aliev in connection

    with the 5 November parliamentary elections. On 7 August,

    Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliev said that while

    Azerbaijan "respects" the OSCE, it will not yield to pressure

    from that organization to amend its legislation, Turan

    reported. LF

    [03] NATO NOT TO TAKE OVER RUSSIAN AIR BASE IN GEORGIA

    Georgian

    Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili and a senior Defense

    Ministry official on 7 August both rejected as "fantasy" the

    speculation that a NATO delegation that arrived in Tbilisi

    that day planned to inspect the airfield at the Russian

    military base at Vaziani, near Tbilisi, to determine whether

    it is suitable for NATO needs, Caucasus Press reported. In

    compliance with an agreement signed in Istanbul last

    November, Russia began last week withdrawing excess military

    equipment from the Vaziani base in order to comply with the

    quota Russia is allowed under the revised CFE Treaty. LF

    [04] GEORGIAN OFFICIAL SAYS RED CROSS WORKERS ABDUCTED

    Deputy

    Interior Minister Kakha Bakuradze told journalists in Tbilisi

    on 7 August that the three Red Cross workers who disappeared

    on 4 August in the Pankisi gorge were abducted, Caucasus

    Press reported. Bakuradze added that the Georgian authorities

    have a good idea who the abductors are, but did not disclose

    their identity. He added that he is confident that the lives

    of the three officials are not in danger. Also on 7 August,

    the Tbilisi office of the International Red Cross Committee

    said it has suspended all humanitarian operations in the

    Pankisi gorge, where several thousand refugees from Chechnya

    have settled, ITAR-TASS reported. LF

    [05] GEORGIANS, LOCAL GREEK MINORITY CLASH IN TSALKA

    Some 20

    people, including some women and children, were injured in

    fighting on 6 August in the south Georgian district of Tsalka

    between Pontic Greeks and Georgians from Adjaria who tried to

    occupy the abandoned homes of Greeks who had emigrated,

    Caucasus Press and Interfax reported on 7 August (see "RFE/RL

    Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 25, 22 June 2000). The Pontic

    Greeks constitute a majority of the local population. Police

    intervened to halt the skirmish. The local prosecutor has

    opened a criminal investigation into the incident. LF

    [06] KAZAKHSTAN'S PROSECUTOR GENERAL ADVOCATES CODE OF

    JOURNALISTIC ETHICS

    Speaking at a press conference in Astana

    on 5 August, Yurii Khitrin said that a journalistic code of

    honor and ethics is urgently needed, Asia Plus-Blitz reported

    on 7 August. Khitrin said Kazakhstan's media "have become a

    battlefield" for settling scores, and claimed that of 148

    critical articles checked for accuracy, 44 contained

    unfounded charges. Khitrin admitted that his office has

    registered instances in which journalists' or media outlets'

    rights had been violated, and that some government press

    centers refuse on occasion to release information to the

    media. He said that his office will not enforce any

    censorship of the media in Kazakhstan. LF

    [07] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN ACQUITTED

    Presiding judge

    Nurlan Ashyrbekov announced late on 7 August the acquittal of

    former Vice President and Bishkek Mayor Feliks Kulov,

    RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. The military prosecutor had

    demanded an eight-year sentence for Kulov on charges of abuse

    of his official position in 1997-1998 when he served as

    National Security Minister. Kulov's co-defendant, Djanybek

    Bakhchiev, who formerly headed the anti-terror group within

    the National Security Ministry, was sentenced to seven years'

    imprisonment, and two other former ministry employees each

    received suspended sentences of five years. Interfax quoted

    Kulov as telling supporters who had gathered outside the

    courtroom that he will decide within one week, after

    consulting with other opposition candidates, whether to run

    against incumbent Askar Akaev in the 29 October presidential

    poll. The Ar-Namys party, of which Kulov is chairman, has

    nominated him as its candidate. LF

    [08] UZBEK FORCES SEEK TO REPEL INCURSION FROM TAJIKISTAN

    Uzbek

    security forces clashed on 6 August with members of several

    groups of Islamists who penetrated the Surkhandarya Oblast of

    southern Kyrgyzstan from Afghanistan via Tajikistan,

    "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 8 August. The Islamists,

    whose numbers are variously estimated at between 70-100, are

    said to be loyal to Djuma Namangani and Takhir Yuldash, the

    leaders of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

    Tajikistan has intensified controls along its border with

    Uzbekistan, deputy Border Protection Committee chief Major

    General Safarali Saifullaev told Asia Plus-Blitz on 8 August.

    LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [09] SERBIAN UNITED OPPOSITION PICKS KOSTUNICA FOR PRESIDENCY

    Representatives of 15 opposition parties agreed in Belgrade

    on 7 August to field nationalist politician Vojislav

    Kostunica as their joint candidate. Kostunica said that "the

    so-called opposition" Serbian Renewal Movement's (SPO)

    decision to run its own candidate, Vojislav Mihajlovic,

    "makes it more difficult for us, but it also makes [the

    SPO's] future more difficult" by underscoring strategic links

    between the SPO and the regime, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 7 August 2000). Kostunica added that the

    nomination of presidential candidates by the SPO and by

    Vojislav Seselj's Radicals are an "attempt [to reduce the

    chances] that the united opposition's candidate will enter

    the second round of voting," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service

    reported. PM

    [10] SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY NOMINATES 'THE GRAVEDIGGER'

    Seselj's

    Radicals agreed in Belgrade on 7 August to run Tomislav

    Nikolic as their presidential candidate. He is known as "the

    gravedigger" because he once managed a cemetery in

    Kragujevac, Reuters reported. Seselj, who will be named prime

    minister should Nikolic win, said that Nikolic "has the best

    chances to be elected president considering his reputation

    and merits in protecting the national interests of the

    Serbian people." Neither he nor Mihajlovic has ever appeared

    in a national public opinion poll. PM

    [11] DRASKOVIC FIRM ON DIVIDING SERBIAN OPPOSITION VOTE

    SPO

    leader Vuk Draskovic said in Belgrade on 7 August that he

    sticks by Mihajlovic's candidacy. He added that he will not

    reply to an appeal from the united opposition to reconsider

    because he did not like "the tone" of their letter, RFE/RL's

    South Slavic Service reported. In Washington, a State

    Department spokesman called for "a united opposition to

    Milosevic." PM

    [12] YUGOSLAV ARMY MOVES WESTERN CAPTIVES TO BELGRADE

    Vojislav

    Zecevic, who is the defense lawyer appointed by the Yugoslav

    government, said on 8 August that the army has sent its two

    British and two Canadian prisoners to a military court in

    Belgrade, AP reported from the Serbian capital (see "RFE/RL

    Balkan Report," 8 August 2000). He stressed that "the only

    thing to determine is whether the demolition devices and a

    few fuses found in their car are really explosives that can

    cause destruction. I think those were not serious

    explosives." The authorities legally have six months to

    investigate. In London's "The Times," Balkan expert Misha

    Glenny wrote that those four and the four Dutch prisoners

    "are little more than hostages of [Yugoslav President

    Slobodan] Milosevic's election strategy...reminding his

    electorate that...Kosovo, remains occupied by NATO forces and

    suggesting that Western intelligence officers are crawling

    all over the country." Meanwhile, Britain has sought Russian

    diplomatic assistance in the case, the "Financial Times"

    reported. The Foreign Office has--unsuccessfully--demanded

    that Belgrade explain its actions. PM

    [13] OSCE BANS STAFF TRAVEL TO MONTENEGRO

    The private Beta news

    agency reported from Prishtina on 8 August that the OSCE, for

    which the two Britons work, has banned its staff from

    traveling to Montenegro. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry urged

    its citizens traveling to or already in Montenegro to

    exercise caution and avoid staying in the frontier zone or

    near military bases. PM

    [14] YUGOSLAV NAVY FREES CROATIAN SHIP

    The navy permitted the

    Croatian freighter "Dea" to leave the Montenegrin port of

    Zelenika where the navy had detained the ship for two days,

    RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 7 August. The navy

    said in a statement that it held the ship as part of a

    "routine operation aimed at protecting the maritime

    frontier." The Croatian Foreign Ministry said in a statement

    that the navy acted "illegally" because all the ship's papers

    were in order. The Montenegrin police played a key role in

    obtaining the "Dea's" release, "Vecernji list" reported. PM

    [15] AUSTRALIA TO BAR YUGOSLAV ELITE VISITORS

    Foreign Minister

    Alexander Downer said in Canberra on 8 August that his

    country will join the U.S., EU, Canada, New Zealand, and

    several other countries in banning members of the Milosevic

    regime from entering the country. The U.S. list of banned

    persons contains over 800 names, Reuters reported. PM

    [16] IMPRISONED SERBIAN JOURNALIST MOVED TO HOSPITAL

    The

    authorities transferred Miroslav Filipovic on 8 August to a

    military hospital in Belgrade because of heart problems, AP

    reported. He is serving a seven-year sentence for "espionage"

    (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 July 2000). PM

    [17] MEDICAL CHARITY TO LEAVE PARTS OF KOSOVA

    The French-based

    international medical charity Medecins sans frontiers (MSF)

    is removing its Belgian staff from some Serbian enclaves and

    northern Mitrovica, where ethnic Albanians live amid Serbs,

    Reuters reported. MSF stressed in a statement that its staff

    cannot work in areas where people are "in a state of extreme

    insecurity." The statement added that violence is destroying

    what little remains of the province's ethnic diversity. MSF

    stressed that "civilian populations of different ethnic

    groups are being terrorized by constant and organized acts of

    violence which target them specifically. MSF refuses to be

    either a passive accomplice to this process or remain silent

    about the lack of efficient action by the international

    community." The UN's civilian authority in Kosova, to which

    MSF has repeatedly complained, is headed by former MSF leader

    Bernard Kouchner. PM

    [18] PETRITSCH RULES ON BOSNIAN SUCCESSION

    Wolfgang Petritsch,

    who is the international community's high representative in

    Bosnia, ruled in Sarajevo on 7 August that the Muslim vacancy

    on the joint presidency must be filled by the parliament

    slated to be elected in the fall and not by the current

    parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 August 2000). PM

    [19] U.S. 'AFRAID' TO CATCH KARADZIC?

    U.S. forces in Bosnia will

    probably not be ordered to capture indicted war criminal

    Radovan Karadzic because of "a political decision in

    Washington that there should be no American deaths in

    Bosnia," London's "The Times" reported on 8 August, quoting

    an unnamed U.S. official in that republic. The official added

    that "given that, probably only British troops backed by the

    SAS are up to the job." Jacques Klein--the U.S. general who

    heads the UN mission in Bosnia--stressed that "we must arrest

    Karadzic" if the international community is to be credible in

    asking Croatia to arrest its war criminals. Elsewhere, "The

    New York Times" wrote that Karadzic may be trying to enter

    Serbia from Bosnia or Montenegro. PM

    [20] NEW CENTER-RIGHT ALLIANCE SET UP IN ROMANIA

    Representatives

    of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD),

    the Union of Rightist Forces (UFD), and the Ecologist

    Federation (FER) on 7 August signed an agreement setting up a

    new electoral alliance, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported.

    The alliance is called Democratic Convention of Romania 2000

    (CDR 2000). Under the agreement, each party preserves its

    separate identity, program, and structures, and pledges to

    respect the CDR 2000's joint political and economic strategy.

    The alliance will support the same presidential candidate and

    run on joint lists in the fall presidential and parliamentary

    elections. CDR 2000 will be headed by a council consisting of

    four PNTCD, three UFD, and two FER members. MS

    [21] ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS REACT TO STOLOJAN'S CANDIDACY...

    Party of Social Democracy in Romania chairman Ion Iliescu

    said on 7 August that the nomination of former Premier

    Theodor Stolojan as a presidential candidate of the National

    Liberal Party (PNL) the previous day was proof that the

    coalition parties lack personalities capable of running for

    the highest state office and are forced to appeal to

    "outsiders," RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Alliance for

    Romania (APR) leader Teodor Melescanu said Stolojan is

    "entirely unsuitable" for the presidential office, which

    needs "a person with political experience, not an

    accountant." Melescanu also accused Stolojan of breaking the

    agreement under which Stolojan would be APR's candidate for

    the premiership and Melescanu himself its presidential

    contender. "This places an enormous question mark over the

    seriousness, credibility, and consistency of a man who is no

    longer a technocrat once he steps into politics," he said. MS

    [22] ...WHILE SECOND POLL SHOWS ILIESCU MIGHT LOSE

    Former

    President Iliescu would lose in a runoff against either

    Stolojan or Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu, a public opinion

    poll conducted by the Bureau of Social Research shows.

    Iliescu leads the field of presidential contenders with 31

    percent backing, but Stolojan would garner 53.4 percent of

    the vote in a runoff with Iliescu, while Isarescu would be

    backed by 51 percent. This is the second poll that shows

    Iliescu might fail in his presidential bid (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 3 August 2000). In a Stolojan-Isarescu runoff, the

    former premier would win over the incumbent at a difference

    of nearly 4 percentage points. The poll shows Greater Romania

    Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor being backed by 11.5

    percent, followed by Democratic Party leader Petre Roman and

    Melescanu, both of whom are backed by 8 percent. MS

    [23] RUSSIAN, MOLDOVAN TROOPS HOLD JOINT EXERCISE

    Russian and

    Moldovan troops are participating in a joint peacekeeping

    exercise at Moldova's Bulboaca base near Chisinau from 8-12

    August, Flux and Infotag reported. Called "Blue Shield 2000,"

    the exercise is being conducted within the framework of the

    agreement on military cooperation between the two countries

    for 2000. It involves 34 Russian and 150 Moldovan troopers.

    The first joint Russian-Moldovan exercise was held in July

    1999. MS

    [24] MOLDOVA CUTS RADIO BROADCASTS

    Moldovan state radio has

    eliminated its night broadcasts as of 8 August due to a lack

    of funds, Romanian Radio reported the previous day. As of 14

    August, the radio's second channel is also to be eliminated,

    while medium-wave broadcasts will be cut from 18 to 8 hours

    daily. The radio will continue its regular, 18 hours of daily

    broadcasts only on FM. The radio's management says the

    measures are "temporary" and due to MoldRadio being some $1

    million in debt to the state company that relays the

    broadcasts. MoldRadio's entire budget for 2000 is $2 million.

    MS

    [25] BULGARIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL VOWS TO PUNISH BUG PLANTERS

    Prosecutor General Nikola Filichev, in a statement

    distributed by BTA, said on 7 August that those who are

    guilty of having planted eavesdropping devices in his

    apartment and the apartments of several other officials and

    parliamentarians "will be punished regardless of their

    position in society," Reuters reported. Filichev said the

    investigation into the scandal--dubbed in Bulgarian media as

    "Bug Gate"--is continuing and his office "will defend the

    right of all Bulgarian citizens from violation by either the

    criminal world or administrative bodies" (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 31 July, 2, 4 and 7 August 2000).

    [26] BULGARIA REJECTS RUSSIAN CRITICISM OF KOSTOV

    "Discussing

    problems of national security is a sovereign right of the

    Bulgarian state" and "judgments or interpretations" by other

    states in connection with exercising this right are

    "inappropriate"--this is how Foreign Ministry spokesman Radko

    Vlaikov reacted to Russian criticism of statements made by

    Prime Minister Ivan Kostov and Foreign Minister Nadezhda

    Mihailova during a recent parliamentary debate on Bulgarian

    national security goals, Reuters reported. Kostov said during

    the debate that his country's refusal last year to allow over

    flights of Russian troops to Kosova helped prevent the

    failure of the international peace keeping mission there;

    Mihailova also defended that decision. The Russian Foreign

    Ministry on 7 August expressed regret over Kostov's

    "unfriendly statements" and said they demonstrated "an

    inadequate assessment of our actions in the region,"

    according to an earlier ITAR-TASS report. MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [27] SAUDI AID WORKERS BULLDOZE BALKAN MONUMENTS

    By Jolyon Naegele

    The Saudi bulldozing of some of the most historically

    valuable architectural monuments in the western Kosova market

    town of Djakovica is merely the latest in a series of

    iconoclastic activities in the Balkans undertaken in the name

    of reconstruction assistance by Arab aid organizations. War-

    damaged historic buildings are not repaired, but rather

    demolished to make way for what the Arab donors consider to

    be more proper Islamic structures.

    The destruction is a further blow to Kosova's

    architectural heritage, following the destruction by Serbian

    forces and civilians in 1998 and 1999 of over 200 mosques and

    other Islamic structures--about one-third of the total number

    in the province.

    Harvard University Fine Arts librarian Andras

    Riedlmayer, the co-author of a survey of Kosova's war-damaged

    architectural sites, is outraged by the Saudi demolition

    program.

    "Unfortunately, a Saudi aid agency got permits from the

    local reconstruction agency and from the local institute for

    the preservation of monuments to work on the restoration, so

    to speak, of the Hadum mosque complex in the center of the

    historic district."

    Riedlmayer says the Saudis began on 24 July by trying to

    knock down all the Ottoman-era gravestones in the cemetery of

    the Hadum mosque.

    "The Saudis were interested in removing them because

    they consider gravestones to be idolatrous. They are

    followers of Wahhabism, which is an extremist interpretation

    of Islam at odds with the practice of most of the Muslim

    world."

    The Wahhabis are a purist movement founded in the 18th

    century by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (c. 1703-1791). He

    converted the Saud tribe, which now rules Saudi Arabia. The

    Wahhabis are the largest and most powerful Muslim sect in

    Saudi Arabia.

    Riedlmayer says the Saudis are obsessed with having all

    ancient tombstones, mausoleums, and Sufi shrines located near

    mosques eliminated, since--unlike most Muslims in the world

    today--the Wahhabis believe these to be "un-Islamic" and

    idolatrous. He said: "the Wahhabis, with their wealth and

    fanaticism, are a menace to heritage, in some ways more

    dangerous than the [Serb paramilitary] Chetniks, since about

    the latter, at least, no one harbors any illusions regarding

    their uncharitable intentions."

    The Saudi Joint Relief Committee for the People of

    Kosovo and Chechnya, established by royal decree, has built

    mosques, schools, clinics, and shelters for displaced

    persons. It has also supplied the province with several

    hundred tons of medicine, food, blankets, tents, and clothing

    during the last 13 months.

    But spreading the message of Wahhabi Islam appears to be

    another aim of the committee. The new mosques are white, boxy

    structures devoid of detail--a far cry from the centuries-old

    Ottoman-style mosques that characterize the urban and village

    landscape in much of the Balkans.

    Riedlmayer says NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers declined to

    intervene in Djakovica after the Saudis showed their

    authorized papers.

    "Eventually the Department of Culture in UNMIK (the UN

    administration) was notified. They spoke with the Saudis on

    [27 July] and tried to get them to desist. However, on [28

    July], the Saudis sent in a bulldozer [and] knocked down the

    buildings around the Hadum mosque, including the library

    built in 1733 and ancient gravestones in the graveyard."

    The Hadum mosque itself, which survived last year's

    fighting largely intact--despite fire damage to its porch and

    grenade damage to its minaret--remains endangered. If the

    past is prologue, the frescoes could soon be whitewashed by

    Wahhabi purists.

    Attempts by RFE/RL to contact the UNMIK-Joint Interim

    Administration's Department of Culture, the Kosovo Institute

    for the Protection of Monuments, or the Saudi Joint Relief

    Committee in Kosovo were unsuccessful.

    However, Peruvian Alvaro Higueras, from the UNMIK

    Culture Department, confirmed in a telephone call to

    Riedlmayer on 3 August that the Saudis had razed the library

    and Koran school.

    Higueras said the Saudis planned to build a reinforced

    concrete Islamic center on the cleared site. But the UNMIK

    official says the Saudis applied for permission for a

    restoration project, not for new construction. Higueras says

    an order has now been issued to stop construction

    indefinitely. He says the Saudis will have to "undo the

    damage" and restore the Ottoman-era buildings using

    traditional materials and techniques.

    Riedlmayer has documented cases in which the Saudi and

    other Arab aid agencies have destroyed other historic Islamic

    buildings elsewhere in Kosova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and

    Bulgaria.

    Last October, while Riedlmayer was in Kosova conducting

    a survey of war-damaged architectural heritage, he witnessed

    the destruction of Muslim cemeteries in Vushtrri. He says an

    Islamic aid agency from the United Arab Emirates had

    pressured local Albanian residents to sledgehammer the graves

    of their ancestors, completely clearing two historic

    graveyards next to the Gazi Ali Beg and Karamanli mosques of

    more than 100 gravestones dating back to the 15th century.

    Only the grave marker of Gazi Ali Beg himself remained, as

    the locals refused to allow that one to be smashed.

    Riedlmayer says the UAE aid agency promised to rebuild

    the damaged mosques "twice as big and twice as Islamic," but

    only if the gravestones were removed. He says the agency, the

    largest aid organization in the town, also made an implicit

    threat to withhold humanitarian aid if the donors' request

    was ignored.

    Riedlmayer notes that during and immediately after the

    war in Bosnia (1992-95), a Saudi aid agency took charge of

    the restoration of the Gazi Husrev Beg mosque (Begova

    dzamija) as well as other historic mosques in Sarajevo and in

    many other towns and villages.

    At the Beg mosque, the Saudis ordered the Ottoman tile

    work and painted wall decorations stripped off and discarded

    and had the whole building redone, as Riedlmayer puts it "in

    gleaming hospital white, even the minaret slathered in white

    plaster." He says that in scores of villages, the Saudis had

    war-damaged but restorable historic Ottoman-style Bosnian

    mosques demolished and redone Saudi-style. All of the

    colorful Balkan-Muslim interior decor was eliminated, and

    separate entrances were added to segregate women.

    To drive home the significance of the Saudi destruction

    in the Balkans, Riedlmayer says, "Imagine, if you will, some

    terrible catastrophe affecting the historic churches of Rome

    and Tuscany, and then having" modern-day U.S. Christian sects

    coming in and insisting that they be redone in "proper

    Christian style."

    The author is a senior RFE/RL correspondent based in Prague.

    To view photos of some of the structures described in the

    article go to:

    08-08-00


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


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