RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 137, 01-07-23

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

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 5, No. 137, 23 July 2001

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA, RUSSIA REACH AGREEMENT ON DEBTS

[02] ARMENIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER DISMISSED

[03] AZERBAIJAN CREATES NEW COUNCIL TO OVERSEE MEDIA, INTERNET

[04] SENIOR IRANIAN SECURITY OFFICIAL VISITS AZERBAIJAN...

[05] ...AND GEORGIA

[06] U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OSCE SAYS RUSSIA SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM

[07] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS VIGILANTE GROUPS SHOULD DISBAND, JOIN

[08] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTIES DEPLORE SUPREME COURT RULING

[09] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION LEADER HOSPITALIZED

[10] TAJIKISTAN CLAIMS INSURGENT FORMER FIELD COMMANDER KILLED

[11] RUSSIA BLAMES MURDER OF TAJIK PRESIDENT'S ADVISER ON BIN

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] MACEDONIAN CEASE-FIRE BROKEN

[13] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS RUSSIAN HELP, PLANS TO MEET BUSH

[14] HUNGER-STRIKING KOSOVA SERBS HOSPITALIZED

[15] KOSOVA SERBS TO TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS

[16] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT DETERMINED TO GO AHEAD WITH

[17] ...AMID 'CONCERNS' FROM SERBIA

[18] MONTENEGRO TO CUT POLICE FORCE

[19] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT: NO WAR CRIMINALS HERE

[20] REMAINS OF ALBANIAN COMMUNIST LEADER FOUND

[21] ALBANIA'S ANSWER TO FLORIDA

[22] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PREMIERS TO MEET ON 28 JULY

[23] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS MOLDOVA

[24] BULGARIA'S SIMEON SIGNS COALITION AGREEMENT WITH ETHNIC

[25] ...UNVEILS HIS CABINET

[26] BULGARIA'S SOCIALISTS TO ABSTAIN FROM VOTE ON PREMIER

[27] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT THANKS KOSTOV

[C] END NOTE

[28] There is no end note today.

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] ARMENIA, RUSSIA REACH AGREEMENT ON DEBTS

Yerevan on 19-20 July, visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister

Ilya Klebanov and Armenian government officials reached

agreement that Russia is to receive a stake in various

Armenian state-owned enterprises in return for writing off

Yerevan's $88 million debt to Moscow, RFE/RL' s Yerevan

bureau reported. Klebanov told journalists that Moscow is

particularly interested in the energy and mining sectors.

Among the enterprises he visited the previous day together

with Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian was the Zangezur

copper-molybdenum plant in southern Armenia, according to

Noyan Tapan. Russian investment in that plant is one of the

issues to be discussed during a planned visit to Armenia by

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sarkisian pointed out that

Russian investment could enable the plant to produce

molybdenum for sale at $20,000-$25,000 per ton, rather than

continuing to produce enriched copper ore at a sale price of

$2,000 per ton, according to Noyan Tapan. A package of

documents on closer bilateral economic cooperation is to be

signed during Putin's visit. LF

[02] ARMENIAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER DISMISSED

Robert Kocharian on 21 July fired Environment Minister Murad

Muradian, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Muradian

represented the Kayunutiun (Stability) parliament faction,

whose leader Vartan Ayvazian reportedly hopes to succeed him

in the government. But if Ayvazian is offered, and accepts, a

cabinet post, he would have to relinquish his deputy's

mandate, leaving the Kayunutiun faction with only nine

deputies, one less than the minimum 10 (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 20 July 2001). LF

[03] AZERBAIJAN CREATES NEW COUNCIL TO OVERSEE MEDIA, INTERNET

creating a national council to monitor the implementation of

legislation relating to the media and the Internet, Turan

quoted presidential administration official Ali Hasanov as

telling journalists in Baku on 20 July. It will also issue

licenses for TV and radio stations and for Internet

providers. The council will comprise three separate

commissions for the print media, the electronic media, and

the Internet, and have 39 members -- of whom 18 will be

appointed directly by the president and the remainder by the

media and political parties. Also on 20 July, Aliev issued a

decree on financial support for the mass media to enable them

to resolve problems connected with the transition from the

Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, Turan reported. LF

[04] SENIOR IRANIAN SECURITY OFFICIAL VISITS AZERBAIJAN...

National Security Council Secretary Hasan Rowhani held talks

in Baku on 20 July with President Aliev and Azerbaijani

Foreign Minister Vilayet Quliev, Turan reported. Rowhani

assured both officials of Tehran's support for Azerbaijan's

territorial integrity and of its readiness to contribute to a

solution to the Karabakh conflict with the aim of promoting

peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Aliev and Rowhani

also discussed the prospects for cooperation in the field of

transport, specifically the planned creation of a north-south

rail and road corridor linking Russia and Iran via

Azerbaijan, according to ITAR-TASS. It was also agreed that

Aliev's long-planned and frequently postponed visit to Iran

could take place next month, presidential administration head

Ramiz Mekhtiev told journalists on 20 July, according to

Turan. LF

[05] ...AND GEORGIA

with parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania and President Eduard

Shevardnadze, Caucasus Press reported. Rowhani expressed his

support for Georgia's territorial integrity, warning that any

border changes in the South Caucasus could give rise to

instability throughout the region, IRNA reported. Both sides

agreed on the benefits of expanded economic cooperation. LF

[06] U.S. AMBASSADOR TO OSCE SAYS RUSSIA SHOULD WITHDRAW FROM

Caucasus Press on 20 July quoted the U.S.

ambassador to the OCSE, David Johnson, as telling that

organization's Permanent Council that Russia should comply

with its commitment to vacate the Gudauta military base in

Abkhazia. Also on 20 July, Georgian Foreign Ministry

spokesman Kakha Sikharulidze told journalists in Tbilisi that

the Georgian government would allow Moscow to deploy up to

100 troops at that base to protect it from possible attack by

Abkhaz forces, but not the 400 men the Russian side proposed.

He added that Tbilisi would not object to the Russian

peacekeeping troops currently deployed in western Georgia

using the Gudauta facility, but that Georgia would not agree

to designating it formally a rehabilitation center for those

troops. On 23 July, Caucasus Press quoted Sikharulidze as

saying that Moscow opposes any inspection of the Gudauta base

by international observers. LF

[07] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS VIGILANTE GROUPS SHOULD DISBAND, JOIN

In his traditional Monday radio interview, President

Shevardnadze on 23 July said that while he does not doubt the

"good will and decency" of members of the unofficial

vigilante groups created in eastern Georgia to combat crime

in the Pankisi gorge, those groups should be disbanded,

Caucasus Press reported. He added that their members "are

welcome" to join the police, alluding to the excesses

committed by unofficial paramilitaries in Georgia in the

early 1990s. Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze had argued

last week that the vigilantes should be disarmed and

disbanded, but their leader, Luka Ramazashvili, replied that

his men will not surrender their weapons (see "RFE/RL

Newsline," 20 July 2001). Shevardnadze announced his

intention of traveling to eastern Georgia "in the near

future" to meet with residents of Pankisi and neighboring

districts. LF

[08] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION PARTIES DEPLORE SUPREME COURT RULING

opposition Ar-Namys Party issued a statement in Bishkek on 20

July condemning as politically motivated the Supreme Court's

rejection the previous day of Ar-Namys Chairman Feliks

Kulov's appeal against the seven-year prison term to which he

was sentenced in January, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 22 January 2001 and 20 July 2001).

Ata-Meken Party Chairman Omurbek Tekebaev similarly

criticized the court's decision. He told RFE/RL the entire

judicial system in Kyrgyzstan is dependent on the government.

Aziza Abdrasulova of the Erkindik (Liberty) Party said she

thinks the Kyrgyz leadership wants to exclude Kulov from

national politics "forever." LF

[09] KYRGYZ OPPOSITION LEADER HOSPITALIZED

Chairman Topchubek Turgunaliev was taken on 20 July from the

prison camp where he is serving a six-year sentence to a

prison hospital near Bishkek, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service

reported. It is not clear what health problems he is

suffering from. Turgunaliev, 59, was sentenced last September

on what are widely believed to be fabricated charges of

plotting to assassinate President Askar Akaev. LF

[10] TAJIKISTAN CLAIMS INSURGENT FORMER FIELD COMMANDER KILLED

army who sided with former opposition field commander Rakhmon

Sanginov to protest official reprisals against his men, was

killed late on 20 July in a shootout with Tajik security

forces northeast of Dushanbe, Reuters and ITAR-TASS reported

on 21 July, quoting a Tajik Interior Ministry spokesman.

Tajik officials have already claimed several times to have

neutralized Sanginov's group (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 and 16

July 2001). Sanginov himself is believed to be still at

large. LF

[11] RUSSIA BLAMES MURDER OF TAJIK PRESIDENT'S ADVISER ON BIN

The murder last week in Dushanbe of President Imomali

Rakhmonov's foreign policy adviser Karim Yuldashev (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 18 July 2001) was committed on orders from

Saudi-born terrorist Osama bin Laden with the aim of

destabilizing the situation within Tajikistan, an unnamed

senior Russian military official based in Tajikistan told

Interfax on 20 July. He said the murder was discussed and

planned at a meeting in Pakistan last month. He added that

bin Laden has allocated $1 million for subversive activities

in Tajikistan. It is not clear whether he offered any

evidence to substantiate those claims. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[12] MACEDONIAN CEASE-FIRE BROKEN

Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army (UCK) and

Macedonian government security forces broke out in the

villages of Sipkovica, Gajre, and Selce near Tetovo at about

11:00 a.m. local time on 22 July, the Skopje daily "Dnevnik"

reported on 23 July. The exchange of machine-gun fire lasted

until 12:30 p.m. It was the most serious breach yet of a 17-

day-old cease-fire, which has otherwise largely held (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 9 July 2001). Two Macedonian soldiers were

reportedly injured slightly during the clashes. Unnamed

"Western sources" told Reuters on 22 July that the Macedonian

military responded "disproportionally" to a "couple of rounds

of incoming fire." Two Russian-built Sukhoi 25 aircraft flew

over UCK positions. "Dnevnik" added that there were a number

of clashes between Macedonian security forces and insurgents

during the night of 21 to 22 July. On 23 July, Macedonian

Defense Ministry officials reported renewed fighting. A UCK

commander told dpa, however, that the Macedonian authorities

are simply seeking to increase tension. UB/PM

[13] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT SEEKS RUSSIAN HELP, PLANS TO MEET BUSH

changes in Macedonia "that ensure the participation of all

citizens in the political life of the country and the highest

respect for the identity and rights of all communities,"

Reuters reported. Also in Genoa, Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to

Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Macedonian

President Boris Trajkovski has asked Putin for unspecified

"help" in ending the conflict, AP reported. Elsewhere, the

Serbian news agency Beta reported that Trajkovski will meet

U.S. President George W. Bush in conjunction with the

American leader's trip to Camp Bondsteel in Kosova on 24

July. The two men will meet at an undisclosed location that

is neither in Kosova nor in Macedonia. PM

[14] HUNGER-STRIKING KOSOVA SERBS HOSPITALIZED

Kosova Serbs who have been on a hunger strike for a week were

hospitalized on 22 July, AP reported from Gracanica. The five

received medication but refused food and water. The hunger-

strikers are demanding that the UN and NATO help find their

loved ones who have been missing since the 1999 Kosova

conflict. Some 1,300 Serbs were reported missing at that

time. PM

[15] KOSOVA SERBS TO TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS

branches of two Serbian parties, the Christian Democratic

Party of Serbia (DHS) and the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO),

said that their parties will take part in the 17 November

elections, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from

Gracanica on 22 July. Rada Trajkovic, who is also the

nationwide vice president of the DHS, said that her party is

"fulfilling an obligation that the international community

asked it to." Vladan Batic, who heads the DHS, has said that

conditions have not yet been created for the Serbs to take

part in the vote. Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic has

expressed views similar to those of Batic, RFE/RL's South

Slavic Service reported on 21 July. PM

[16] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT DETERMINED TO GO AHEAD WITH

Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica on 22 July

that the government is determined to go ahead with plans for

a referendum on independence, "Pobjeda" reported. He added

that the conditions for the vote remain open to negotiations,

as does the date. Djukanovic said that the referendum could

take place at any time through June 2002. PM

[17] ...AMID 'CONCERNS' FROM SERBIA

Nebojsa Covic said in Belgrade on 22 July that one cannot

speak of Montenegro separating from Serbia in the same way as

Bosnia and Croatia did. He added that in the case of

Montenegro and Serbia, "this is a matter of one and the same

people," RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Elsewhere,

the pro-Belgrade Podgorica daily "Dan" reported that the

Yugoslav supreme military command wants Serbia and Montenegro

to remain together to preserve the military and strategic

balance in the Balkans. The paper did not name a source for

these remarks, but "Vijesti" reported that General Nebojsa

Pavkovic, who heads the General Staff, visited the

Montenegrin coast over the weekend. The reported remarks are

similar to ones often made by Yugoslav President Vojislav

Kostunica, who is widely believed to be politically close to

the army leadership. PM

[18] MONTENEGRO TO CUT POLICE FORCE

Jovicevic told "Vijesti" of 23 July that the government will

soon reduce the size of the paramilitary police force "in

keeping with EU standards," dpa reported. He said that a

large police force is no longer necessary in view of the

ouster of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in October

2000. As long as he was in power, there remained a danger

that Belgrade would use force against the government in

Podgorica. Jovicevic added that the Montenegrin government

will set up a special unit to fight organized crime. PM

[19] BOSNIAN SERB PRESIDENT: NO WAR CRIMINALS HERE

Srpska President Mirko Sarovic said that his government will

cooperate with The Hague-based war crimes tribunal but denied

that there are any indicted war criminals on Bosnian Serb

territory, AP reported from Sarajevo on 21 July. PM

[20] REMAINS OF ALBANIAN COMMUNIST LEADER FOUND

after his reported "suicide," the remains of former Prime

Minister Mehmet Shehu were found on 21 July near the Erzen

River in the village of Ndroq between Tirana and the

Adriatic, AP reported. He is widely believed to have been

killed on the orders of his former colleague, Enver Hoxha, or

forced into taking his own life under pressure. Shehu's wife,

Fiqirete, died in a communist labor camp in 1988, and his

eldest son committed suicide. Shehu's two surviving sons had

looked for their father's grave since the fall of communism

in 1991. They plan to rebury him in a Tirana cemetery next to

his wife. Mehmet Shehu was long regarded as Hoxha's right-

hand man. The circumstances of his death in December 1981

remain a mystery. PM

[21] ALBANIA'S ANSWER TO FLORIDA

in Albanian history, voters cast their ballots in a repeat

vote in eight districts on 22 July, AP reported (see "RFE/RL

Balkan Report," 20 July 2001).Voters will cast their ballots

once again in an additional two districts on 29 July. The

first round of voting took place on 24 June, and the runoff

was held on 8 July. The Socialists won a majority, albeit not

as large a majority as in 1997. The opposition claimed fraud

in a number of cases, but the Central Election Commission and

Constitutional Court dismissed most of the complaints. PM

[22] ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN PREMIERS TO MEET ON 28 JULY

government spokesman Claudiu Lucaci announced on 20 July that

Premier Adrian Nastase will meet his Hungarian counterpart

Viktor Orban on 28 July near the Transylvanian city of Targu

Mures, Romanian media reported. The two are to discuss

Romanian opposition to the Hungarian Status Law recently

adopted by parliament. Nastase on 20 July said that during

Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi's 13 July visit in

Bucharest, the parties "agreed that they disagree" on the

issue (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 July 2001). ZsM

[23] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS MOLDOVA

Zemin on 20 July made a one-day visit to Chisinau, Flux

reported. Jiang and his Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Voronin

signed a common declaration aimed at boosting bilateral

relations in the name of "regional and world peace and

progress." The Chinese leader expressed his country's respect

for the "independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity"

of Moldova, and its "support" for efforts to solve the

Transdniester conflict. ZsM

[24] BULGARIA'S SIMEON SIGNS COALITION AGREEMENT WITH ETHNIC

Former Bulgarian king and Premier-designate Simeon

Saxecoburggotski signed a coalition agreement with Movement

for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) leader Ahmed Dogan on 20 July,

Reuters reported. The agreement marks the first time that the

ethnic Turkish party has been represented in the country's

government. Simeon called the deal "a very important

agreement." Saxecoburggotski and Dogan pledged to combat

crime and corruption, maintain a stable and more prosperous

economy, and continue Sofia's efforts to enter the EU and

NATO. The government will have 141 seats in the 240-member

parliament, the largest majority for a government since 1990.

Ethnic Turks make up some 10 percent of the country's 8

million people. PB

[25] ...UNVEILS HIS CABINET

signed a decree on 22 July directing the National Assembly to

vote on the candidacy of Premier-designate Saxecoburggotski

and his proposed government, BTA reported. The vote is

expected to be taken on 24 July. Most significant among the

appointments is 31-year-old Nikolai Vassilev, who was named

deputy premier and economy minister. Vassilev, who is

Western-educated and known as an expert in analyzing emerging

markets, said: "With a flying start, we will continue

privatization, reform the financial sector, and attract huge

foreign investment." Milen Velchev, 35, was named finance

minister. He is considered an expert in restructuring

external debt and previously worked for Merrill Lynch in

London. Solomon Passi was designated foreign minister. He is

chairman of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, an NGO lobbying

for Sofia's entry into NATO. The other deputy premiers are

Kostadin Paskalev, the Socialist (BSP) mayor of Blagoevgrad

who is also minister of regional development and public

works; and Lidia Shuleva, the minister of labor and social

policy. Ethnic Turkish nominees -- the first since the end of

communist rule -- are Mehmed Dikme as agriculture minister

and Nedjet Mollov of the Emergencies Ministry. PB

[26] BULGARIA'S SOCIALISTS TO ABSTAIN FROM VOTE ON PREMIER

Purvanov, the head of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and

leader of the leftist Coalition for Bulgaria, said on 22 July

that his parliamentary group will abstain from the vote on

the new cabinet set for 24 July, BTA reported. Purvanov's

statement was made after the announcement by Premier-

designate Saxecoburggotski that his cabinet will include two

members of the BSP, Blagoevgrad Mayor Paskalev and Dimitar

Kalchev, who was designated minister of state administration.

Purvanov said the two will remain "loyal to the political

force that named them candidates and supported them in the

local elections." He said their inclusion by Saxecoburggotski

in the cabinet is indicative of their own qualities as well

as "the governance potential of the Left." PB

[27] BULGARIAN PRESIDENT THANKS KOSTOV

with outgoing Premier Ivan Kostov on 23 July and thanked him

for the work of his government over the last four years, BTA

reported. Stoyanov said the government under the United

Democratic Forces allowed Bulgaria to "regain its image and

prestige as a partner" in the democratic world. He said he

told Kostov that, "thanks to your successes, it will be much

easier for the new government to do its job." Kostov declined

to make a statement or to address the media after the

meeting. PB

[C] END NOTE

[28] There is no end note today.

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