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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 158, 01-08-21Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 5, No. 158, 21 August 2001CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] SIX SUSPECTED IRANIAN AGENTS ARRESTED IN AZERBAIJANAzerbaijan's National Security Ministry on 18 August arrested six Muslim clerics in Djalalabad Raion on suspicion of working for Iranian intelligence, Turan and Reuters reported on 20 August. LF[02] AZERBAIJAN'S SENIOR CLERIC CALLS FOR MORE EFFECTIVE RELIGIOUS COUNTERPROPAGANDAThe head of the Muslim Religious Board of the Caucasus, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allakhshukur Pashazade, admitted on 18 August that, partly as a result of proselytizing by various religious sects since the collapse of the USSR, the religious situation in Azerbaijan is "complicated," Turan reported on 20 August (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 4, No. 30, 17 August 2001). He called for more sophisticated and effective Islamic propaganda to counter such missionary activity. Pashazade said all mosques are to be registered centrally and formally subordinated to the Religious Board, which will also inform mosques of the subject to be discussed in the weekly Friday sermon. LF[03] TURKISH OFFICER DENIES LINK BETWEEN CASPIAN TENSIONS, WARPLANESThe participation of a squadron of Turkish warplanes in parades in Baku on 24-25 August should not be construed as "a demonstration of force," nor is it in any way connected with the recent escalation of tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran, the squadron's commander, Colonel Mehmet Kutlu, told journalists in Baku on 20 August, according to Turan. He said the squadron's visit to Azerbaijan was arranged last year to coincide with a graduation ceremony for Azerbaijani pilots. LF[04] GEORGIAN OIL COMPANY SAYS NO GAS TRANSIT AGREEMENT WITH AZERBAIJAN REACHEDLast week's talks in Baku between Azerbaijani officials and a Georgian governmental delegation headed by Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili on the terms for the transit of Azerbaijani gas via Georgia failed to iron out disagreements, Caucasus Press reported on 20 August, quoting an unidentified official from the Georgian International Oil Corp. A further round of talks is to take place next month. Menagharishvili had said after his talks in Baku that a transit agreement "is ready for signing" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 August 2001). LF[05] ABKHAZ CLAIM TO HAVE DESTROYED GEORGIAN GUERRILLA BASEOne member of a group of Georgian guerrillas was shot dead and the remainder neutralized in a shoot-out with Abkhaz police on 18 August, Abkhaz Security Service head Raul Khazhimba told journalists in Sukhum on 20 August, Caucasus Press reported. He said a large quantity of arms and ammunition was also confiscated. Khazhimba said that the Abkhaz authorities informed the Georgian government of the whereabouts of the guerrilla detachment during talks last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 15 and 17 August 2001), but that the Georgian side failed to take any measures to detain them. LF[06] POLL REGISTERS SOLID SUPPORT FOR LATEST GEORGIAN ANTICORRUPTION PROPOSALOf 500 people questioned in an opinion poll conducted by Intermedia, 72 percent said they are in favor of confiscating illegally acquired wealth from government officials, Caucasus Press reported on 20 August. A draft bill tabled by Justice Minister Mikhail Saakashvili that would provide for such confiscations incurred criticism from Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and several members of the government, as well as from some opposition politicians (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 and 14 August 2001). Saakashvili himself figured among those politicians whom the poll participants suspected of having acquired their wealth illegally, as did parliament speaker Zurab Zhvania, former Minister of State Niko Lekishvili, Interior Minister Kakha Targamadze, and Tbilisi police chief Soso Alavidze, who has just resigned after being accused by Saakashvili of corruption (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001). LF[07] COMMISSIONING OF KAZAKHSTAN'S OIL EXPORT PIPELINE AGAIN POSTPONEDThe ceremony to mark the filling of the first oil tanker with Kazakh crude exported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's pipeline to Novorossiisk has been postponed from 2 to 20 September, Caspian News Agency and Caucasus Press reported on 16 and 17 August. That ceremony had been planned for 6 August but was postponed due to disagreements between the shareholders, which include several international oil companies and the Russian and Kazakh governments, which have 24 and 19 percent stakes respectively. Meanwhile, over 100 people have staged a protest in Gelendjik on the Black Sea coast near Novorossiisk to focus attention on the ecological risks inherent in exploitation of the pipeline, Glasnost-North Caucasus reported. They demanded that the city authorities hold a referendum on whether permission should be granted for the loading of crude from the pipeline onto tankers at Novorossiisk. LF[08] INVESTIGATION INTO KAZAKH ARMS DEPOT FIRE 'ALMOST COMPLETE'The probe into the causes of the fire that destroyed an arms depot in northern Kazakhstan earlier this month is almost completed, Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Lieutenant General Sat Toqpaqbaev told Interfax on 20 August (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 and 14 August 2001). Spontaneous combustion of artillery shells and premeditated arson have been mentioned among the possible causes of the blaze. LF[09] RED CROSS SAYS 1 MILLION FACE STARVATION IN TAJIKISTANThe second consecutive summer of drought in Tajikistan has left up to 1 million of that country's 6.4 million population threatened by starvation, a senior Red Cross official who recently returned from Tajikistan said in Geneva on 21 August, according to AP. Many of the rural population were forced last year to sell all but their most elementary possessions to buy food. The International Red Cross has launched an appeal for $4 million to provide food for those most at risk, and also for clothes and winter shoes for children to enable them to continue attending school. LF[10] ANOTHER OPPOSITION FIELD COMMANDER APPREHENDED IN TAJIKISTANPolice in Dushanbe have arrested former field commander Mustafo Taghoev on charges of murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and hostage taking, according to Asia Plus-Blitz and "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 21 August. A former colonel in Tajikistan's special police and a member of the anti- Islamic Tajik Popular Front, Taghoev was first arrested and sentenced in 1999, but was freed in an amnesty shortly afterward. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] NATO OK'S MACEDONIAN MISSIONReuters quoted unnamed Western diplomats in Skopje on 21 August as saying that General Joseph Ralston, NATO's supreme commander, is satisfied that the Macedonian cease-fire is holding (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001, and "End Note," below). "The Times" suggested that Ralston will advise NATO's North Atlantic Council on 21 August to move ahead with plans to launch Operation Essential Harvest to collect weapons from the guerrillas of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK). In Brussels, Reuters reported that NATO has indeed agreed to launch the mission. In Skopje, President Boris Trajkovski said that he hopes that the arms collection will be "extensive and not symbolic" in nature, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. PM[12] MACEDONIAN ARMY TO 'REDISTRIBUTE' FORCESAP reported from Skopje on 20 August that the Macedonian army will "redistribute" its forces by pulling back from areas near UCK positions so that NATO can more easily collect weapons. Macedonian officials nonetheless fear that the UCK will try to occupy any positions that the security forces leave. PM[13] OPPOSITION TO SETTLEMENT, NATO IN MACEDONIAOn 21 August, Reuters quoted unnamed Defense Ministry sources in Skopje as saying that guerrillas damaged a 14th-century Orthodox monastery in Lesok. An unnamed Western diplomat told the news agency, however, that the ministry's story is "rather suspicious. [The UCK] is not known to have attacked religious sites before. If you wanted to pick one way to screw up the peace agreement, this would be one of them." The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported that many Macedonian-language media have for some weeks been fueling anti-American and anti-NATO sentiment, suggesting that the U.S. is arming the UCK even though there is no evidence to back up such conspiracy theories (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 July and 14 August 2001). In the most recent display of anti-Western sentiment, some Macedonian nationalists recently blockaded the main road between Skopje and the border crossing to Kosova at Blace. PM[14] MACEDONIAN AUTHORITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR UCK'S PROPAGANDA WINDFALL?"The Guardian" wrote on 21 August that "Skopje's bullying" of Western diplomats and journalists in recent weeks has given the UCK a "public relations coup." The daily suggested that Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski recently showed his opposition to the political settlement by "raging" against the UCK's political leader, Ali Ahmeti, when Ahmeti gave a press conference to announce that the UCK will disarm (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001). The government tried to force the cancellation of Ahmeti's press conference. An unnamed "Western official" told the government: "I hope you are not about to send a helicopter gunship up to Sipkovica [where the press conference was]. This [press conference] was bound to happen, and as long as [Ahmeti] is supportive of the agreement, [his conference] is actually helpful." The daily noted that the Macedonian side has frequently tried to intimidate Western journalists and officials, "draining sympathy for the counterinsurgency, which was initially viewed as a justified crackdown against terrorists." Now, "Western journalists are more likely to report from Albanian areas, where they are welcomed." PM[15] PRESEVO ALBANIANS: NO CHANGE SINCE MILOSEVICSeveral leaders of ethnic Albanian political parties in the Presevo valley and in Kosova told Deutsche Welle's Albanian Service on 20 August that NATO was too hasty in allowing Serbian forces to reoccupy the demilitarized zone along Serbia's border with Kosova, Deutsche Welle's "Monitor" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 August 2001). Behlul Nasufi, the vice president of Presevo's Party for Democratic Activity (PVD), said that the Serbian and Yugoslav authorities proved very diligent in arranging for their forces to return to the zone, but have done nothing to help the region's ethnic Albanians. He added that "nothing has changed" for the Albanians since the collapse of former President Slobodan Milosevic's regime. PM[16] ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER WINS NOMINATION FOR RE-ELECTIONLeaders of the governing Socialist Party voted in Tirana on 20 August to keep Prime Minister Ilir Meta as their party's nominee to head the government (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 24 July 2001). AP reported that Meta's victory over Arben Malaj is seen as one of relative professionalism over the crony-based politics of the party's old guard. Meta said after the vote: "You have seen my total commitment and devotion to changing Albania, and Albania has changed enough for those who want to see the changeÖ. The new cabinet ministers will be Socialists with a political mandate. Those who accuse me of turning the government into a club of friends are wrong." PM[17] BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT: MASS GRAVE MAY BE LARGEST TO DATEGovernment forensics experts said in Sarajevo on 20 August that a mass grave found near Bratunac may prove to be the largest one yet discovered because it has already yielded the remains of more than 210 victims, dpa reported. The bodies are believed to be those of Muslims killed by Serbs during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. In The Hague on 21 August, Bosnian Serb Colonel Dragan Jokic pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from that massacre (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 August 2001). In Sarajevo on 20 August, Bosnian Serb government adviser Sinisa Djordjevic told AP that the Banja Luka authorities will send to The Hague by mid-September materials to show the involvement of wartime Bosnian Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic in war crimes. PM[18] MONTENEGRIN LEADERS BEGIN TALKSPresident Milo Djukanovic and Socialist People's Party (SNP) leader Predrag Bulatovic discussed Montenegro's relations with Serbia in Podgorica on 20 August, "Dan" reported. Bulatovic said that his party will not take part in preparations for a referendum on independence because there is no reason to hold one. The talks are but the latest stage in a months-old cat-and-mouse game that has been going on between the leaders in Podgorica and the Belgrade authorities, including the SNP. PM[19] VOJVODINA LEADERS PRESENT PLATFORMLeaders of 14 political parties and NGOs agreed in Novi Sad on 20 August on a platform for "full autonomy" for Vojvodina, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 July 2001). Talks with the Belgrade authorities in the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition are slated for 21 August. Vojvodina, like Kosova, had extensive autonomy under the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, which Milosevic abrogated. PM[20] SERBIAN GOVERNMENT IMBROGLIO CONTINUESPrime Minister Zoran Djindjic said in Belgrade on 20 August that he wants Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) to prove its charges that his government is corrupt or else withdraw its call for a vote of confidence in that government, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001). Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, who heads the Citizens' Alliance of Serbia (GSS), said that he hopes that the disagreements within DOS will quickly be put to an end. PM[21] MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ROMANIAVisiting Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva on 21 August met with Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, Romanian Radio reported. On 20 August, Mitreva held talks with Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana and Chamber of Deputies speaker Valer Dorneanu. Geoana, who currently holds the OSCE chair, said after the meeting that the OSCE intends to send 25 additional "monitors" to Macedonia and that Romanian monitors will participate in that mission as a "token of the importance Romania attributes" to achieving stability in that country. He also said Romania is willing to organize in September a "donors conference" for Macedonia in Bucharest, but Mitreva replied that it is now "too late" for such a conference to be held. She said her country has proved its goodwill by signing the agreement on the settlement of the conflict, but added that in order for that agreement to be implemented Albanian rebels need to lay down and hand over their weapons. She also said Macedonia's security forces are determined to defend the country's sovereignty if the rebels do not comply with the agreement. MS[22] MORE ROYAL RESTITUTION CLAIMS IN ROMANIAThe five heirs of Princess Ileana are demanding the restitution of the Bran castle in the Carpathian Mountains, Mediafax reported on 20 August. However, the heirs are prepared to agree to a $25 million compensation instead of the restitution. The 15th-century castle was gifted to Queen Maria by the Brasov town hall and was inherited by the queen's daughter, Princes Ileana, who was King Carol II's sister. Also on 20 August, a woman claiming to be a descendant of Hungarian King Matyas Corvinus filed a claim for the restitution of the Hunyadi castle in Transylvanian Hunedoara. Cosmin Gusa, the general-secretary of the ruling Social Democratic Party, on 20 August said that the restitution claims are being examined by "specialists" and that the government intends to abide by the provisions of Law No. 10 of this year, which deals with real estate restitution. Gusa added, however, that "there may be more royal claims" in the offing, alluding to self- proclaimed Prince Paul, who is a descendant of King Carol II from a morganatic marriage and who is claiming a share of the royal properties. He said "negotiations" with the royal claimants will start after the experts end their examination of the claims. MS[23] MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION LEADER COMPLAINS ABOUT 'ROMANIAN INDIFFERENCE'In an interview with the Bucharest daily "Curentul" on 20 August, Iurie Rosca, the leader of the opposition Popular Party Christian Democratic, said that no "important politician" in Romania believes that "Bessarabia is still a space that can be won back," and no politician regards reunification with Bessarabia as "imperative." Rosca complained about "the absence of a patriotic sentiment" in Romania, and added that the main reason was Romania's "political class is in fact a direct product of the former communist regime." He said that Romania "contents itself with granting a few scholarships" to Moldovan students, as well as "cultural activities" or "unsuccessful attempts to encourage Romanian investments" in Moldova. MS[24] MOLDOVA ASKS DIPLOMATS TO STAY AWAY FROM TIRASPOL CELEBRATIONSThe Foreign Ministry on 20 August sent a note to diplomatic missions in Chisinau, asking them to "refrain" from participating in the 2 September celebrations in Tiraspol of the separatists' "11th independence day anniversary," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The ministry said the festivities have an "obvious propagandistic and provocative character" and "once again prove the Transdniester authorities' intention to compromise by all possible means Moldova's efforts to urgently solve the Transdniester conflict." The ministry warned that participation in the festivities would "have a negative impact on the effort to solve the conflict," as well as "prejudice the good relations" between Moldova and states that would send envoys to Tiraspol. MS[25] BULGARIA'S CHIEF EU NEGOTIATOR SAYS 'NO TANDEM WITH ROMANIA'Meglena Kuneva on 20 August said on Bulgarian Radio that no Bulgarian politician "has ever mentioned a tandem with Romania in the quest of attaining EU accession," Mediafax reported. She also said no consultations have ever taken place regarding that possibility and added that Bulgaria will continue its "individual approach" toward attaining EU membership. On 14 August, Romanian Premier Nastase had said after meeting in Sofia with his Bulgarian counterpart Simeon Saxecoburggotski that they agreed upon a "tandem approach" toward achieving EU and NATO membership. Romania recently protested against remarks made by Hungarian Ambassador to Bulgaria Bela Kolojzni, who advised Bulgaria to desist from such an approach (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 August 2001). MS[26] BULGARIA READY TO START EU NEGOTIATIONS ON AGRICULTUREAgriculture Minister Mehmed Dikme told Reuters on 20 August that Bulgaria is "ready to open agriculture negotiations with the EU and we really hope that this will happen by the end of this year." He said that although the agriculture chapter in the aquis communautaire is "one of the most difficult," he believes that "Bulgaria can walk up this difficult road and protect the interests of its farmers" simultaneously. He said that in order to "make farming efficient and raise land prices, we need to consolidate private plots." Dikme said "enormous fresh funding" is needed to bring small farms up to EU standards, and that the government plans to invest 808 million euros ($741 million) in agriculture over the next seven years, some of which will come from EU grants. Bulgarian agriculture employs 27 percent of the workforce but accounts for less than 15 percent of GDP. MS[27] BULGARIAN PREMIER MEETS CHIEF MUFTIPremier Saxecoburggotski on 20 August met with Bulgaria's Chief Mufti Selim Mehmed, BTA reported. The premier asked the mufti to prepare a document outlining problems dealing with nationalized and unrestituted Waqf properties, the restoration of their places of worship, educational funds, and difficulties encountered in teaching Islam in schools. Chief Mufti Mehmed told the premier that despite the progress made in achieving religious rights and freedoms since 1989, a number of problems remain and require the intervention of the cabinet for a solution. Among these problems he noted that of the status of the Chief Mufti's Office, which he described as "inadequate," particularly in view of its "enormous responsibilities, and the international prestige it enjoys among Islamic countries." MS[28] ACCIDENT AT BULGARIAN NUCLEAR PLANT SAID TO BE 'MINOR'A "temporary retaining wall" collapsed at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant on 20 August during "repairs of a canal linking the plant to the Danube River," BTA reported. The agency said radiation levels were not increased as a result of the incident and the plant continues to operate "normally." The construction site was flooded and the repair operations had to be stopped. No one was injured. MS[C] END NOTE[29] EXPECTATIONS IN THE BALKANSBy Patrick MooreThe planned NATO mission to Macedonia has awakened a wide range of expectations before it has even begun. It is likely that at least some of these hopes will be disappointed. But the start of a new mission provides an opportunity for the international community to assess its broader agenda in the region. NATO is preparing for Operation Essential Harvest, the goal of which is to collect and destroy weapons from those members of the National Liberation Army (UCK) willing to surrender them. The alliance is slated to complete the mission in 30 days and then withdraw. Few observers believe that the mission will be so simple or quick. Macedonian government officials say that they expect that the guerrillas -- whom they call "terrorists," even though the UCK uses guerrilla rather than terrorist tactics -- will bury or hide most of their weapons and go back to fighting when they feel the time is ripe. The UCK fighters, for their part, stress that they do not know who will protect Albanian civilians from vengeful Macedonian security forces once the weapons are destroyed and NATO is gone. Finally, the alliance maintains that it is interested only in carrying out Essential Harvest and leaving, and not in dealing with any wider agenda. But all these doubts aside, everyone concerned seems anxious for Essential Harvest to get started. Some of the Macedonian government leaders -- perhaps with a view to the January 2002 elections -- frequently criticize NATO and especially the U.S., but at the same time they welcome the NATO presence (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 31 July and 17 August 2001). Their goal is to have on the ground what President Boris Trajkovski's spokesman has called a "heavy presence" by members of the international community, including the OSCE and EU as well as NATO. Skopje feels that a large foreign presence is the ethnic Macedonians' best insurance against a revival of hostilities by the UCK. Should the guerrillas again resort to violence, this reasoning goes, the foreigners will be on hand and in a position to stop the UCK. The guerrillas and the two ethnic Albanian political parties represented in the four-party governing coalition likewise view the NATO presence as an insurance policy against the other side's possible misbehavior. If NATO is on the ground, the Albanians argue, the Macedonian security forces will not dare take revenge on ethnic Albanian communities. And the UCK is probably counting on NATO to provide a physical buffer to ensure that government forces stay out of many of the territories that the guerrillas have captured. Whether or not NATO will oblige them remains to be seen. It is hard, moreover, to see how NATO can meet either side's expectations if its troops stay for only 30 days. But NATO officials seem concerned to get their forces in place as soon as possible before the recent isolated cease-fire violations become any worse. In the meantime, the Western troops will begin collecting those weapons that the UCK decides to surrender. It is therefore not too difficult to imagine that NATO will be put under pressures to extend or expand its mission even before Essential Harvest has begun. The most commonly voiced criticism of the mission -- from the region and also from the media in many NATO countries -- is that the 30-day time framework is too short. Other observers add that NATO cannot expect to carry out a purely military mission. The alliance must also plan on playing a civilian role, because it is unrealistic to expect the two sides to work together without an "honest broker" to help things along. According to this reasoning, NATO should plan on having at least some political role for itself from the very start -- before the alliance is forced by the pressure of events on the ground to assume such a role. Some observers add that this might also be an opportunity for the international community -- which in effect means NATO and the EU -- to rethink what its goals are in the region as a whole. The jury remains out as to how effective a role outsiders can play in Balkan nation-building or even in promoting civil societies. In the last analysis, it will be the task of the peoples of the region alone to achieve political stability, overcome or neutralize deeply rooted mistrust and hatreds, and build political cultures that go beyond conspiracy theories, parties based on charismatic leaders rather than programs, and a view that public office is primarily a source of enrichment. There are probably two things that the wealthy and powerful international community can do to help bring about peace and stability. First, it can promote job creation and prosperity so that people have a productive outlet for their energies and a chance to build a better life. One should not forget that demagogues rose to power and wars began in the former Yugoslavia only after a decade of economic downturn. People who feel they have something to lose will not have much of a stomach for fighting. One factor in preventing the recent Macedonian conflict from getting totally out of hand seems to have been precisely that too many people felt they had too much to lose if it did. A second thing that the foreigners can do is to maintain some form of effective, long-term military presence. This, its proponents argue, will reassure peaceful citizens and foreign investors, and will provide a deterrent to those tempted to cause mischief. Such a military presence will need to include at least some U.S. forces to be effective. The Americans are the only foreigners whom the ethnic Albanians of the region truly trust, and the foreigners whom potential troublemakers of any ethnic background are likely to take most seriously. 21-08-01 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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