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1995-01-16
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********************************************************
UN -- Bias In Yugo Report
ZAGREB, Croatia (Tue, 3 Jan 1995) -- A confidential U.N. report
on various players in the war in the former Yugoslavia is marred
by factual errors, and a U.N. spokesman acknowledged Monday that
it was biased and incomplete.
Long excerpts of the 76-page report, billed as a Who's Who of
former Yugoslavia, were published in the current edition of the
Zagreb weekly Globus.
U.N. spokesman Thant Myint-U acknowledged Monday that the report
contained ``sketchy and incomplete generalizations ... which
could be viewed by different people as unfair, partial or biased.
``It is regrettable that some of the observations or comments
contained in the document were made,'' he said.
One of the entries is the Serbian paramilitary commander, Zeljko
Raznjatovic, known as Arkan. He is described without any
reference to the killing, terrorizing and expelling of Muslims
and Croats allegedly perpetrated by his units in Bosnia and
Croatia.
``Captain Dragan,'' the head of a feared Serb militia in Croatia
known as the Red Berets, is also described in what some would
view as innocuous terms as ``very outspoken, extremely clever
and quite Western in his manners and way of speaking.''
The report, dated June 1994, was put together by the U.N.
Military Information branch at U.N. headquarters in Zagreb
following high-level requests for a dossier of the various
players in the Balkans, Thant said.
It mostly describes lower-level or lesser-known figures.
President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, the instigator of the
war, got only six lines, as did another regional power broker,
President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia.
The description of Tudjman as ``the Croatian version of the
extreme nationalism of Slobodan Milosevic'' is ``incomplete and
likely to be viewed as unfair,'' Thant acknowledged.
Serbs wound two Canadian peacekeepers
ZAGREB, Croatia (Tue, 3 Jan 1995) -- Rebel Croatian Serbs
wounded two Canadian peacekeepers by raking a U.N. vehicle with
bullets in southern Croatia on New Year's Eve, a United Nations
spokesman said Tuesday.
``A vehicle carrying two Canadian soldiers was fired on by a
group of some 20 Serb soldiers on Dec. 31 in Kolarina. The car
took 54 shots and both soldiers suffered injuries,'' U.N
spokesman Michael Williams told a news conference.
One soldier was hit by four or five bullets, the other was hit
three times. Both were taken to a U.N. field hospital in Zagreb
and were in stable condition Tuesday.
Michael Williams described the attack as outrageous and said it
was the "most serious incident in the U.N.-patrolled areas of
Croatia for a long period of time.''
General Bertrand de Lapresle, commander of U.N. troops in
former Yugoslavia, made a strong protest about the shooting when
he met the ``prime minister'' of the Croatian Serbs' breakaway
state of Krajina. De Lapresle demanded that the soldiers
involved should be court-martialled.
======================================================
NEW REPUBLIC 9 January 1994 Editorial
Merry Christmas, Mr. Karadzic
"One of the rare chances to let the world know the truth":
This is what Jimmy Carter promised Radovan Karadzic last week.
The abasement took even our breath away. And there was more. "I
cannot dispute your statement that the American public has had
primarily one side of the story," the mad dove of Plains told
the mad hawk of Pale. The difference between the men paled
before the similarity. They were collaborators in evil; and
when, in a few weeks or a few months, the genocide in Bosnia
finally pays off, and a Greater Serbia is brought into being, a
statue of the vain, meddling, amoral American fool should stand
in its every ethnically cleansed square.
Jimmy Carter's reputation for idealism has been one of the
great swindles of American politics for two decades. In fact, he
is the man in his time who will have done the most to damage the
prestige of idealism and the prestige of peace. For peace is
never lasting or true when it is based on the belief that there
is nothing worse than war; but that is Carter's belief. He
practices "conflict resolution," a contentless approach to
conflict, for which all parties in all conflicts are like all
parties in all conflicts, and there are no conflicts that cannot
be fairly ended by compromise. It is the gospel of
reasonableness, which is, as the Carter presidency demonstrated,
a hapless foundation for foreign policy. And since the world is
not reasonable, the world must be misdescribed, as Carter
misdescribed "the truth" about the Balkans. Be reasonable,
Carter says to the butcher of Sarajevo, as he said to the
butcher of Hama; and they, assuring themselves that they have
Sarajevo and Hama in their power, are glad to oblige. He
provides tyrants with the thing that tyranny cannot provide,
which is legitimacy. He brings them even a little pathos, as he
sees into the hearts of men who have no hearts.
Sitting between Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, that is,
at the most dishonorable table in the Western world, Jimmy
Carter secured from them, according to press reports, the
reopening of Sarajevo's airport, "a cease-fire leading to the
complete cessation of hostilities," the free movement of aid
convoys, "full protection of human rights" and freedom for all
people in the region "regardless of age, sex or ethnic origin to
choose where they wish to live." This is an indecent farce.
There is no promise that the Bosnian Serbs made to their
turtle-necked, brow-furrowed, return-ticketed stooge that they
have not made before, and broken. He is elated that they agree
to take another look at the "Contact Group" plan, when that
plan, as Albert Wohlstetter showed in these pages last summer,
is a blueprint for a Greater Serbia. He entertains their plan
for a partition of Sarajevo, which they call "the sacrifices
around Sarajevo." He talks human rights with them!
But Carter is not alone to blame for his mission. He is,
after all, a former president. There is, after all, a current
president. Why can't the current president tell the former
president to stay the hell out of American foreign policy? The
question, alas, is a rhetorical one. The whole country knows the
answer. It is that Bill Clinton lacks a spine. This has been
especially the case in foreign policy, and especially the case
in Bosnian policy. He cannot stand up to Carter, and we are
expecting him to stand up to Karadzic. To be sure, his press
secretary was quick to "distance" the administration from
Carter's analysis of "the truth" by insisting that the Bosnian
Serbs are the "aggressors"; but it has been only a few weeks
since his national security adviser called the same aggression a
"civil war." (And where is Al Gore?)
Here is "the truth." Carter is a menace. Clinton is a sap.
Karadzic is a murderer. And unlike the menace and the sap, the
murderer knows what he is doing.
=============================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C14N1805
Date: 01/04/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 07:30pm \/To: ALL
(Read 1 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Attacks were reported in Bihac yesterday. U.N. officials blamed
rebel Muslim forces of Fikret Abdic for the fighting.
In Sarajevo yesterday, the airport reopened after closing for
bad weather, and streetcars began service again. (Reuters/N.Y.T.)
=======================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C15M0111
Date: 01/05/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 06:01pm \/To: ALL
(Read 4 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Fighting near Bihac continues. Some 300 artillery and mortar
explosions were recorded near Velika Kladusa on Tuesday, with
further shelling yesterday. (Reuters/N.Y.T.)
********************************************************
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 1995 11:32:46 GMT Message-ID:
THE INVISIBLE BALKAN WAR
/NYTIMES ---- The Week in Review/
By ROGER COHEN
c.1994 N.Y. Times News Service
ZAGREB, Croatia The Bosnian war is increasingly invisible.
Its most recent crises, at Bihac in western Bosnia and Gorazde
in the east, have had enormous repercussions around the world,
but the two small towns themselves have remained lost in the fog
of second-hand reporting. Western journalists, almost without
exception, have been unable to get there. The result is
troubling, and the reports sometimes baffling. Serbian forces
advance and advance and advance across towns you can drive
through in five minutes. Villages are taken, then retaken by the
same army a few days later. Casualty figures swing wildly,
reported by local witnesses who may be hunkered down in their
basements or distant from the scene. The precise locality of
photographs is often vague. Television crews plead for
``bang-bang pictures'' from commanders not above a touch of
stage management. The bizarre situation thus created in Bosnia
is that journalists' access to information stands in inverse
proportion to the volume of sophisticated gear they carry around
to communicate what they know. The very possibility of
instantaneous and worldwide transmission, it seems, has made the
facts that much more politically explosive and that much more
necessary to conceal. Of course, there have been attempts to
limit or censor reporting in most wars. The Pentagon set strict
standards for the gulf war that provoked the ire of many
editors. But concern over divulging military information has
usually been the main consideration behind the constraints. In
Bosnia, where attempts to manage and manipulate the press are
now accorded as much importance by Muslims and Serbs as
maneuvers on the battlefield, the concern is much wider: that
any graphic image or report could shift public opinion and so
public policy. Thus does information become suspect and the
journalist dangerous. It took a while to learn this in Bosnia.
The war was chaotic in the early months and more treacherous.
But there were few restrictions. In August, 1992, I crossed the
Bosnian border from Serbia in a bus full of Serbian volunteers
armed to the teeth, and I followed them to the hills overlooking
Sarajevo: telling images too telling for today's bureaucratic
and intensely media-conscious managers of the war in the Serbian
stronghold of Pale and in Sarajevo. The responsibility for the
war's increasing disappearance from view lies with both sides,
but particularly the Serbs, and with the United Nations, for its
apparent complicity in this exercise. Acutely aware that a
strong press report can affect U.N. sanctions or NATO's role,
the Serbs have taken to sealing off areas under their control.
The United Nations has allowed them to do so. The Muslim-led
Bosnian government has also become more restrictive, limiting
access to advances in central Bosnia, perhaps out of concern
that its image as victim could be affected. When was a
reporter last in Srebrenica, the seething and Serbian-encircled
Muslim enclave in eastern Bosnia? Or in Gorazde? When another
shell hits the Bihac hospital, what does that really look like?
As for Zepa, another eastern enclave, no western reporter has
managed to get there since it was surrounded by the Serbs. At
the end of the Gorazde crisis last April, Lieut. Gen. Sir
Michael Rose took to berating the Sarajevo press for inflating
Muslim casualties and so, he claimed, almost precipitating World
War III. Why, then, I asked him, would he not put a handful of
reporters into one of the U.N. helicopters then going to the
town? Oh, no, he replied, that would irritate the Serbs and cut
off U.N. access to Gorazde. When I suggested he was kowtowing to
the Serbs, he got angry. But that, in essence, is the United
Nations' policy toward the press. There is scant evidence that
Rose, or anybody else, has pressed the Serbs to allow
journalists into Muslim enclaves, and on no occasion has the
United Nations taken the initiative in deciding that information
was more important than the Serbs' objections. Announcing last
week that journalists would henceforth be allowed on U.N.
flights in Bosnia, Kofi A. Annan, the U.N. under-secretary for
peace operations, said: ``Peacekeeing operations in particular
depend for their support on widespread public awareness of the
conflicts, and we are committed to doing everything we can to
facilitate the work of the media.'' Up to now, however, this has
not been the case. Of course, it is not the United Nations'
business to do journalists' work for them. It is always possible
to try to circumvent restrictions, by walking over a mountain
and across a front line, for example. But in this conflict,
where such courage has not generally been lacking, 46
journalists have been killed far more than in Vietnam.
Journalists have been directly targeted, particularly by the
Serbs, who think they are biased against them. Last month, Luc
Delahaye of the Magnum photo agency and a colleague were picked
up by the Serbs just north of the Bihac pocket. They were held
for two days, kicked, punched, doused in cold water in freezing
rooms, threatened with death, made to lean against walls with
their entire body weight on their heads until they collapsed,
kicked again and repeatedly interrogated. ``Every time I would
deny that I was a spy for the Muslims and say I worked for
Magnum, I braced myself for the next blow,'' Delahaye said.
``You say the word Magnum and you know what it will trigger.''
For ``Magnum,'' the word ``journalist'' could easily be
substituted. The Muslim-led government and the Serbs, not used
to any open flow of information after five decades of Communist
rule, have come increasingly to see international reporters as
either tools or enemies. It is not just in Bosnia that
information is under attack. In another bitter conflict, in
Algeria, journalists have been a prime target. In all, 24 have
been killed in the last two years. The most recent, Said Mekbel,
the editor of Le Matin of Algiers, was assassinated by Islamic
fundamentalists Dec. 3. In his last, prophetic article, he
wrote: ``This thief who, at night, hugs the walls as he walks
home, is him. This father who recommends to his children never
to mention his profession is him. This vagabond who does not
know where to spend the night is him. This man who swears he
will not die with his throat cut is him. He is all these things,
and he is only a journalist.''
==========================================================
Vol. 1, No. 4, 5 January 1995
We welcome you to the Open Media Research Institute's Daily
Digest - a compilation of news concerning the former Soviet
Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe. The Daily Digest
picks up where the RFE/RL Daily Report, which recently ceased
publication, left off. Contributors include OMRI's 30-member
staff of analysts, plus selected freelance specialists. OMRI is
a unique public-private venture between the Open Society
Institute and the U.S. Board for International Broadcasting.
Due to network congestion, many subscribers did not receive some
issues of the Daily Digest. The Daily Digest is archived weekly
and subscribers may access missing issue themselves. To review a
list of the available weekly archive, send an e-mail message
containing the sentence INDEX OMRI-L to
listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu The computer will return an index
listing; to have a file sent to you, send an e-mail message
containing the sentence GET FILENAME to
listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu NB: use the filename specified in
the index. surrender their weapons until Dudaev's forces have
been completely neutralized. Also on 4 January, Interfax quoted
an unidentified senior Russian Foreign Ministry official as
stating that Moscow is drafting an official response to the OSCE
proposal to send a group of experts to evaluate the human rights
situation in Chechnya. -- Liz Fuller, OMRI, Inc.
*********************************************
BOSNIAN UPDATE. The BBC reported on 5 January that follow-up
talks on the ceasefire agreement between Bosnian government and
rebel Serb representatives had broken down. The Los Angeles
Times quoted a UN spokesman as adding that fighting was
continuing in parts of the Bihac pocket, notably around Bosanska
Krupa and Cojluk. Those actions were launched by the Serbs,
whose ally Fikret Abdic similarly has not been living up to his
pledge to respect the four-month truce in his Velika Kladusa
fiefdom. The Los Angeles paper also cited UN reports that the
Serbs were preventing the evacuation of 35 sick and wounded
people from Gorazde, two of whom had since died. Meanwhile in
Washington, international media reported on 5 January that the
new Republican majority leader in the Senate, Robert Dole, had
introduced legislation the previous day to end American
compliance with the arms embargo against the Bosnian government.
He said it would put the necessary pressure on the Bosnian Serbs
to get them to accept a peace agreement. Reuters quoted a State
Department spokesman as responding that such a move would be
"the wrong thing to do at this very important point in the
crisis in Bosnia." -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
A TOUGH LINE IN CROATIA . . . Reuters reported on 4 January
that the Croatian government has threatened to end all talks
with break-away Serb forces unless the latter begin implementing
last month's economic agreement. So far the only part of the
pact to materialize has been the reopening of the main east-west
highway. Further provisions call for, among other things, the
reopening of the Adria pipeline connecting Rijeka with Central
Europe. Croatian chief negotiator Hrvoje Sarinic said that his
government will not talk about or sign anything more until
existing pledges are carried out. He also suggested that Croatia
might not renew UNPROFOR's mandate when it runs out on 31
January. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
. . . OR JUST DEJA VU? These statements seem to fit an
established pattern in Croatian policy since the UN's presence
there began at the start of 1992: Croatia makes much noise in
the weeks leading up to the renewal of the mandate to the effect
that the UN must aid the reintegration of the occupied
territories into Croatia if the troops' stay is to be prolonged.
Zagreb's allies then quietly pressure it into extending the
mandate, while the Croatian government publicly claims victory,
pledging not to renew the agreement again if the territories in
question remain under Serb control much longer. As part of the
apparent ritual, the chief of the general staff recently said
that he would not rule out a military solution to the Krajina
question. This possibility has also been a central subject of
the Croatian rumor mill, amid reports of increased conscription
levies in Split and elsewhere. President Franjo Tudjman,
however, seems to be publicly taking the line that for now
diplomacy offers the best hope for Croatia to realize its goals.
-- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
MORE SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT SERBIAN DAILY. Reuters reported on
4 January that the London-based International Center for
Censorship had protested to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic
over his attempts to take over the daily Borba and extend
censorship over the independent media. That paper itself said
that some 3,000 people had formed a "ring of freedom" around its
Belgrade offices on 1 January in response to a call by the
Independent Media Union. One speaker said that "our weapons are
words of truth and they reflect hard facts," but added that now
more than words is needed to stop government from destroying the
freedom of the press and airwaves and that of individuals. In
other Serbian developments, that same paper noted that the
Steering Committee of the independent union at the Ikarus-FAO
plant had entered the sixth day of a hunger strike for back pay.
Government officials continued to ignore the men's requests for
talks. Politika on 5 January, for its part, reported that
rumpYugoslavia and Russia had concluded an economic agreement
that provides for mutual most-favored-nation trading status. The
text must first be approved by the Federal Assembly. -Patrick
Moore, OMRI, Inc.
ALBANIAN UNIVERSITY IN MACEDONIA STILL IN OPERATION. Fadil
Sylejmani, a professor at the selfproclaimed Albanian language
university in Tetovo, said that the work of the institution will
continue even though police tried to physically destroy it, Nova
Makedonija reported on 5 January. Sylejmani said that the
Macedonian government "will not gain anything other than its own
loss of face" if it continues to oppose the university.
Meanwhile, a journalist for the Kosovar Albanian dailies
Rilindja and Bujku, Ramush Tahiri, said that the expulsion of
Kosovar legislators from their Macedonian havens affects all
Macedonian citizens. Tahiri added in a letter to Macedonian
Interior Minister Ljubomir Frckovski that the government's
conduct showed an undemocratic spirit. He also said that "the
measures the Macedonian authorities take against the Albanians
now will be taken against all citizens tomorrow." The letter was
published in Flaka on 5 January. -- Fabian Schmidt, OMRI, Inc.
[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Pete Baumgartner and Steve Kettle
=====================================================
Bosnia cease-fire -- Bihac fighting
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Wed, 4 Jan 95) - U.N.
peacekeepers said Wednesday fighting in the Bosnian enclave of
Bihac marred the country's new cease-fire on the eve of a
meeting of major powers to discuss how the truce might further
the peace process.
The U.N. reported heavy shelling in the north of the Bihac
enclave near Velika Kladusa Tuesday. Some 300 artillery and
mortar explosions landed in the vicinity of the town with more
overnight.
The UN has blamed rebel Serbs from the Krajina and renegade
Muslim allies for clashes with Bosnian government forces but
said there was little they could do as the rebel elements were
not signatories to the truce. Diplomats from the
five-nation "contact group" on Bosnia, planned to hold talks in
Bonn Thursday to build on the new truce to press for a
negotiated settlement of the war, the German foreign ministry
said. The meeting will discuss "which steps can be taken to
continue the efforts toward a political peace settlement against
the background of the cease-fire agreed for Bosnia-Herzegovina,"
the foreign ministry said. Since the latest truce was
proposed (by Jimmy Carter,) diplomats say the major powers
appear to have shifted their stance to accommodate Serb demands.
A statement last week by the contact group welcoming the truce
cautiously referred to its peace plan as a "starting point"
instead of a fixed proposal which they had presented as an
ultimatum earlier this year.
The truce accord was signed after U.N. shuttle diplomacy
persuaded the Bosnian government not to insist on peace in Bihac
and the Serbs on a government army pullout from Mount Igman
overlooking Sarajevo as firm preconditions for the agreement.
Bosnian army forces were expected to carry out a pledge to
withdraw an estimated 250 soldiers from the demilitarized
mountain zone, a U.N. spokesman said.
Bob Dole --- Arms Embargo Bill
Meanwhile in Washington Senate Republican Leader Bob
Dole introduced a bill in the new Congress Wednesday to break
the Bosnia arms embargo despite opposition from President
Clinton's administration and European allies. "We have
an opportunity to take real action, to take meaningful action by
terminating this illegal and unjust arms embargo on
Bosnia-Herzegovina," Dole said.
The State Department sharply criticized Dole's action, saying
his timing was particularly bad because the four-month
cease-fire won by former president Jimmy Carter is holding.
"We continue to believe that it is just the wrong thing to
do at this very important point in the crisis in Bosnia," State
Department spokesman Mike McCurry said. "Perhaps
Congress, as it considers Sen. Dole's resolution, might want to
think about what that four-month period offers by way of an
opportunity for negotiations," he told a news briefing.
McCurry said the State Department would discuss this with Dole
and others in Congress. "We think we can argue effectively that
we're at a point in the diplomacy based on the work the contact
group has done that we need to see if we can't use this new
diplomatic opportunity to build on the opportunity for peace,"
he said.
McCurry also said that if the United States unilaterally lifted
the embargo it would take on the moral responsibility to arm,
equip and train the Bosnian government, which has been hit by
the ban in its conflict with Bosnian Serbs. "How that
could be achieved without massive use of U.S. force
unilaterally, and very, very likely the introduction of U.S.
ground troops, is a question that someone I hope will pose to
Sen. Dole," he said.
But Dole said his bill breaking the embargo would not undermine
Carter's cease-fire, and instead would apply pressure on Bosnian
Serbs to accept peace. "The bottom line is that if this
legislation is passed and no peace settlement is reached, (Serb
leader) Radovan Karadzic and his thugs will have to face greater
consequences than another meeting of the contact group," he said.
Dole did not say how soon he would put the legislation to a
Senate vote. It would also have to be approved by the House,
which would be likely, and signed by President Clinton to become
law and take effect. McCurry said he did not know if Clinton
would veto such legislation. Dole also introduced a
proposed "Peace Powers Act of 1995" that would restrict use of
U.S. troops and funds for U.N. peacekeeping operations.
*****************************************************
DATE=1/5/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE= BOSNIA CEASEFIRE
(S-ONLY) BYLINE= DAN YOVICH DATELINE=SARAJEVO
INTRO: CONTINUED FIGHTING IN NORTHWESTERN BOSNIA IS
COMPLICATING EFFORTS TO IMPLEMENT THE FOUR- MONTH CEASEFIRE.
DAN YOVICH IN SARAJEVO REPORTS U-N OFFICIALS ARE MEETING WITH
REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL SIDES IN THE CONFLICT TO TRY TO RESOLVE
THE SITUATION.
TEXT: U-N OFFICIALS ARE LESS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE SPEEDY
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FOUR-MONTH BOSNIAN CEASEFIRE. A SERIES OF
NEGOTIATING SESSIONS IS SCHEDULED IN THE HOPE THAT SERIOUS
SETBACKS TO THE FLEDGLING PEACE PROCESS CAN BE RESOLVED.
UNITED NATIONS PROTECTION FORCE SPOKESMAN MAJOR HERVE GOURMELON
SAYS SPORADIC BUT HEAVY FIGHTING IN NORTHWESTERN BOSNIA
JEOPARDIZES THE CEASEFIRE.
ALSO HINDERING PROGRESS IS THE APPARENT RELUCTANCE OF THE
BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT ARMY TO WITHDRAW FROM THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE
JUST NORTH OF SARAJEVO.
MAJOR GOURMELON SAYS BOTH DEVELOPMENTS ARE FORCING U-N MILITARY
COMMANDERS TO TAKE A MORE REALISTIC APPROACH IN DEALING WITH THE
HIGH LEVEL OF MISTRUST BETWEEN BOSNIAN SERBS AND BOSNIAN
GOVERNMENT ARMY COMMANDERS.
STILL, MOST OF BOSNIA WAS CALM ON THE FIFTH DAY OF THE CEASEFIRE
AND MAJOR GOURMELON SAYS THAT IS ONE ACHIEVEMENT U-N COMMANDERS
HOPE TO BUILD ON. (SIGNED)
05-Jan-95 11:36 AM EST (1636 UTC) Source: Voice of America
*****************************
DATE=1/5/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=BOSNIA MEETING (S
ONLY) BYLINE=EVANS HAYS DATELINE=BONN
/// EDS NOTE: MEETING EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL ABOUT 22 GMT
OR LATER. EVANS WILL UPDATE AFTER MEETING ENDS ///
INTRO: SENIOR DIPLOMATS FROM FIVE NATIONS ARE MEETING IN BONN,
GERMANY, TO ASSESS THE SITUATION IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, WHERE A
FRAGILE CEASEFIRE IS STILL IN PLACE. THE DIPLOMATS ARE
DISCUSSING WHAT STEPS THE WORLD COMMUNITY CAN TAKE TO REINFORCE
THE TRUCE. VOA CORRESPONDENT EVANS HAYS IN BONN HAS THIS REPORT.
TEXT: DIPLOMATS REPRESENTING WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE "CONTACT
GROUP" ON BOSNIA ARE MEETING IN BONN TO DISCUSS THE SITUATION IN
BOSNIA IN LIGHT OF A CEASEFIRE AGREED TO BY THE WARRING PARTIES
LATE LAST MONTH.
THE CONTACT GROUP INCLUDES THE UNITED STATES, BRITAIN, FRANCE,
GERMANY AND RUSSIA.
A STATEMENT FROM THE GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY IN BONN SAYS THE
GROUP IS LOOKING AT WHAT THE WORLD COMMUNITY CAN DO TO ADVANCE
THE PEACE PROCESS IN BOSNIA.
A KEY POINT IN THE TALKS IS THE PEACE PLAN PLAN PUT FORTH BY THE
GROUP ITSELF FOUR MONTHS AGO TO SEPARATE THE WARRING FACTIONS IN
BOSNIA. THAT PEACE PLANS CALLS FOR A DIVISION OF TERRITORY
BETWEEN THE BOSNIAN MUSLIMS AND CROATIANS ON ONE SIDE AND
BOSNIAN SERBS ON THE OTHER.
THE CONTACT GROUP'S MEETING IS THE FIRST TO BE HELD SINCE FORMER
U-S PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER WENT TO BOSNIA, WHERE HE HELPED TO
BROKER A CEASEFIRE IN THE WAR THAT HAS SO FAR COST HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS OF LIVES. (SIGNED)
05-Jan-95 12:39 PM EST (1739 UTC) Source: Voice of America
========================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1AP2869
Date: 01/06/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 08:47pm \/To: ALL
(Read 19 times) Subj: U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL ON
MISSIONS
In a progress report of the last two years of U.N. peacekeeping
operations intended as a follow-up to the 1992 Agenda for Peace,
U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told the Security
Council yesterday that it was "micromanaging" peacekeeping
efforts at the expense of his authority and that of ground
commanders. He also criticized unnamed countries for demanding
strong and costly action, then failing to support it.
Boutros-Ghali suggested that the U.N. develop a supply of
reaction troops from various nations to dispatch to crises in a
short ammount of time, and maintain larger ammounts of equipment
and supplies for the forces. He also noted he was having a hard
time finding qualified special emmissaries to oversee operations
in the field for long periods of time.
Boutros-Ghali also spoke of the use of sanctions, which he said
were "a blunt instrument." He continued: "They raise the ethical
question of whether suffering inflicted on vulnerable groups in
the target country is a legitimate means of exerting pressure on
political leaders whose behavior is unlikely to be affected by
the plight of their subjects." He advocated the formation of a
system to assess the results of potential sanctions, and after
they are implemented, would be able to "fine tune" them to
incease political effect and decrease human suffering to the
extent possible.
The following is an overview of U.N. activity:
1/31/88 1/31/92
1/31/94 Security Council resolutions adopted 15 53
78 in last 12 months
Conflicts in which the U.N. was 11 13
28 actively involved in diplomacy or peacekeeping
Deployed peacekeeping operations 5 11 17
Military personnel deployed 9,570 11,495
73,393 Civilian police deployed 35 115
2,130 International civilians deployed 1,516
2,206 2,206
Countries contributing military or 26 56
76 police Budget for peacekeeping operations 230
1,690 3,610 annually in millions (U.S.$)
Countries in which U.N. monitored - 6
21 electoral activities were held in preceeding 12 months
Sanctions imposed 1 2 7
(Dun and Bradstreet Economic Analysis Department, Barbara
Crossette/N.Y.T.)
===========================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1BP1182
Date: 01/07/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 08:19pm \/To: ALL
(Read 16 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Several hundred Croat and Muslim civilians were reported taken
from Banja Luka in December by Bosnian Serbs to other Serbian
held areas, as part of their "ethnic cleansing." The moves were
appearantly in retaliation for a Croatian attack on Glamoc that
sent around 5,000 Serb civilians fleeing the town.
With the exception of Bihac, the cease-fire appears to be
holding. The U.N. has requested 6,000 more peacekeepers for
monitoring.
Talks at Sarajevo airport yesterday on establishing a
demilitarized zone at Mount Igman west of the airport collapsed
yesterday when Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Government failed
to agree on the size of the zone. Bosnia Serbs are unlikely now
to reopen roads to civilian traffic into Sarajevo.
The U.N. sent out patrols yesterday on Mount Igman to check if
Bosnian Government troops had completed their pullout. Three
posts were still occupied as of yesterday morning.
(Reuters/N.Y.T.)
======================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1CP0037
Date: 01/08/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 08:00pm \/To: ALL
(Read 10 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Flights to Sarajevo Airport were cancelled yesterday. Bullets
were found lodged in the fuselages of two U.N. aircraft after
they returned to Zagreb, Croatia, from Sarajevo. (Reuters/N.Y.T.)
===================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1DR1605
Date: 01/09/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 10:26pm \/To: ALL
(Read 6 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
GEN Ratko Mladic, the military leader of the Bosnian Serbs, said
yesterday that his forces would not lift their blockade of
Sarajevo until Bosnian Government troops withdrew from a
demilitarized zone on Mount Igman. Mladic wants Bosnian troops
to return to the positions they held in the summer of 1993,
before the zone was created.
Aid flights to Sarajevo resumed yesterday.
The cease-fire continues to hold, except for a few explosions
reported near Bosanska Krupa. (A.P./N.Y.T.)
===========================================================
Date: Sat, 7 Jan 95 3:30:14 PST
ZAGREB, Croatia (Reuter) - Warring factions in former
Yugoslavia are brazenly stealing cars from the United Nations in
large numbers with the knowledge of their political leaders, a
U.N. official said Saturday. A spokesman for the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the agency had 32 of
its cars stolen last year. ``We lost one million
dollars' worth of cars, including those with four-wheel drive,
highly-valued armored cars and even trucks used to deliver
humanitarian aid,'' spokesman Peter Kessler told Reuters.
Car thefts are the latest humiliation for the United Nations
mission which has suffered blockades, hostage-taking and direct
attacks at the hands of Serb, Croat and Muslim forces in Bosnia
and Croatia. Kessler said all the warring parties in
ex-Yugoslavia were involved, but most of the thefts were
committed in Croatia and Croat-controlled parts of Bosnia, where
there is ``clearly a well-organized car theft ring.''
``The stolen cars turn up in a matter of days in (Croat-held)
Bosnia, repainted,'' Kessler said. Several UNHCR cars
were seen escorting senior Bosnian Croat officials, he said.
``But our cars were also seen in the entourage of (Bosnia's
Muslim president) Alija Izetbegovic.'' Serbs from
Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia stole 10 UNHCR cars last year, while
the Muslims took five, he said. ``Bosnian Serbs even had
the affrontery to use a stolen UNHCR car in the escort for the
High Commissioner Sadako Ogata herself when she visited (Serb
headquarters in) Pale last year,'' Kessler said. He said
car thefts were organized with the knowledge of ``senior
officials'' in the Croatian capital Zagreb and the Bosnian
capital Sarajevo and ``certainly with Serb authorities too.''
The UNHCR has repeatedly complained to respective
authorities, but none of the cars has been returned so far.
In the first week of the new year two UNHCR cars were stolen
by the Croats and another was fired on as the driver sped off to
avoid being hijacked by ``Croat thugs'' in Medjugorje in
southern Bosnia, Kessler said. The problem appeared to
be even greater for the U.N. Protection Force (UNPROFOR), which
has some 23,000 peacekeepers deployed in Bosnia and Croatia.
``We lose five cars every week,'' a U.N. source with UNPROFOR in
Zagreb said. Kessler said he was not surprised. ``No
wonder, UNPROFOR has better cars.''
********************************************************
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 19:58:43 GMT Message-ID:
*****************************************************
* BOSNIA / DETAINEES
* BOSNIA / U-S (S-ONLY)
* BOSNIA SUPPORTERS PLAN STRATEGY
****************
DATE=1/9/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=BOSNIA / DETAINEES
(S-ONLY) BYLINE=DANIEL YOVICH DATELINE=SARAJEVO
INTRO: U-N OFFICIALS HAVE LODGED A PROTEST WITH BOSNIAN SERB
OFFICIALS OVER THE CONTINUED DETENTION OF CIVILIANS TAKEN
PRISONER AS PART OF ETHNIC-CLEANSING. ALMOST ONE-THIRD OF THE
BOSNIAN MUSLIMS BEING HELD IN A SERB JAIL NEAR SARAJEVO ARE
CHILDREN OR ELDERLY PEOPLE. DANIEL YOVICH REPORTS FROM SARAJEVO.
TEXT: THE HEAD OF THE U-N HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN BOSNIA HAS
FIRED OFF A STRONGLY-WORDED LETTER OF PROTEST TO BOSNIAN SERB
LEADER RADOVAN KARADZIC REGARDING THE DETENTION OF MORE THAN 30
BOSNIAN MUSLIM CIVILIANS.
THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE U-N HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, KRIS
JANOWSKI, SAYS U-N HUMANITARIAN CHIEF, KAREN ABU-ZAYD, IS
OUTRAGED.
ALL THE DETAINEES WERE VICTIMS OF AN ETHNIC-CLEANSING CAMPAIGN
IN THE BOSNIAN SERB-HELD VILLAGE OF ROGATICA, ABOUT 18
KILOMETERS EAST OF SARAJEVO.
SINCE THEIR ARREST, TWO ELDERLY DETAINEES HAVE DIED.
THE BOSNIAN SERBS CONTINUE TO LINK HUMANITARIAN ISSUES TO THE
WITHDRAWAL OF BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES NEAR SARAJEVO. UNPROFOR
SPOKESMAN MAJOR HERVE GOURMELON SAYS THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT HAS
BEEN SLOWER THAN EXPECTED IN HONORING THE COMMITMENT TO REDEPLOY
THEIR FORCES OUT OF THE AREA. STILL, THE PROVISIONS OF THE
FOUR-MONTH BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE PROHIBIT LINKING HUMANITARIAN
ISSUES WITH MILITARY ISSUES.
RED CROSS SPOKESWOMAN NINA WINQUIST SAYS IT IS JUST ONE MORE
EXAMPLE OF INNOCENT CIVILIANS BEING THE VICTIMS OF THE POLITICAL
AND MILITARY CONCERNS OF THE LEADERS OF FACTIONS INVOLVED IN THE
BOSNIAN WAR. (SIGNED)
09-Jan-95 1:38 PM EST (1838 UTC) Source: Voice of America
*****************************
DATE=1/9/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=BOSNIA / U-S
(S-ONLY) BYLINE=DAN YOVICH DATELINE=SARAJEVO
INTRO: U-S ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
RICHARD HOLBROOK HAS MET WITH BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LEADERS IN
SARAJEVO, TO TRY TO ADVANCE STALLED NEGOTIATIONS OVER A PEACE
PLAN FOR BOSNIA. BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT LEADERS ARE WORRIED THE
SO-CALLED BOSNIA CONTACT GROUP MAY ALTER ITS PEACE PLAN TO
SATISFY BOSNIAN SERB DEMANDS. DANIEL YOVICH HAS DETAILS FROM
THE BOSNIAN CAPITAL.
TEXT: BOSNIAN PRESIDENT ALIJA IZETBEGOVIC IS RULING OUT FURTHER
TALKS WITH MEMBERS OF THE FIVE-NATION BOSNIA CONTACT GROUP
ATTEMPTING TO BROKER A LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO THE WAR IN BOSNIA.
HE SAYS BOSNIAN SERBS MUST FIRST ACCEPT THE CONTACT GROUP'S
PEACE PLAN AS DRAFTED.
THE BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT UNCONDITIONALLY ACCEPTED THE PLAN IN
JULY; BOSNIAN SERBS, WHO OCCUPY MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF BOSNIA,
HAVE CONTINUED TO REJECT THE PROPOSAL.
MR. IZETBEGOVIC SPOKE TO REPORTERS AFTER ALMOST TWO HOURS OF
TALKS WITH VISITING U-S ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE, RICHARD
HOLBROOK.
MR. HOLBROOK SAYS THE GOAL OF THE CONTACT GROUP IS TO GAIN
ACCEPTANCE OF LAST YEAR'S PEACE PLAN THAT WOULD ROUGHLY DIVIDE
THE COUNTRY, WITH 51 PERCENT OF THE TERRITORY AWARDED TO THE
BOSNIAN MUSLIM/CROAT FEDERATION AND 49 PERCENT FOR THE BOSNIAN
SERBS.
MR. HOLBROOK PLANS TO BRIEF REPRESENTATIVES OF BRITAIN, FRANCE,
GERMANY, RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES IN PARIS BEFORE THE TALKS
BEGIN THIS WEEK. HE INSISTS THE PLAN DRAFTED BY THE CONTACT
GROUP HAS NOT CHANGED TO SATISFY BOSNIAN SERB DEMANDS. WHAT
HAS CHANGED, HE SAYS, IS THAT THERE IS HOPE THAT THE CURRENT
BOSNIAN CEASE-FIRE MAY OPEN SOME DOORS THAT COULD END THE
NEGOTIATING STALEMATE. (SIGNED)
09-Jan-95 9:21 AM EST (1421 UTC) Source: Voice of America
*****************************
DATE=1/9/95 TYPE=CLOSEUP TITLE=BOSNIA SUPPORTERS
PLAN STRATEGY BYLINE=PAMELA TAYLOR TELEPHONE=619-1101
DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=PHIL HAYNES
CONTENT= // INSERTS AVAILABLE FROM AUDIO SERVICES //
INTRO: LEADERS OF 190 SEPARATE AMERICAN GRASSROOTS MOVEMENTS
SUPPORTING BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA HELD THEIR SECOND ANNUAL
CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON THIS PAST WEEKEND TO PLAN
FUTURE STRATEGY. JOINED BY REPRESENTATIVES FROM
SIMILAR MOVEMENTS IN BRITAIN AND CANADA, SPEAKER AFTER
SPEAKER CALLED ON THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION TO EXERCISE
LEADERSHIP AND SHOW RUSSIA AND THE WORLD THAT AGGRESSION
DOES NOT PAY, WHETHER IN BOSNIA OR CHECHNYA. THE ONLY
REMAINING WAY PRESIDENT CLINTON CAN DO THIS, THEY SAID,
IS FOR THE UNITED STATES TO FINALLY LIFT THE U-N ARMS
EMBARGO AGAINST BOSNIA. VOA'S PAMELA TAYLOR COVERED THE
CONFERENCE AND FILED THIS REPORT:
TEXT: HODDING CARTER, THE FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN
DURING THE ADMINSTRATION OF PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER, WAS
THE FIRST OF SEVERAL SPEAKERS TO POINT OUT THE
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE BOSNIAN
CONFLICT AND THE RECENT FIGHTING IN CHECHNYA. HE SAID
THE INACTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN BOSNIA
WILL SEND A SIGNAL AROUND THE WORLD ABOUT HOW FUTURE
SIMILAR CONFLICTS WILL BE TOLERATED. MR. CARTER CALLED
ON HIS FELLOW DEMOCRATS TO JOIN THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY
IN THE NEW CONGRESS AND VOTE TO SUPPORT A BILL TO LIFT
THE ARMS EMBARGO:
TAPE: CUT # 1 H. CARTER RUNS [:37]
"THE IMMEDIATE TASK IS ON CAPITOL HILL IN THAT WE NOW
HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, HAVING FIRST AT LEAST REMOVED OUR
ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN THE ARMS EMBARGO, TO IN FACT
TAKE THE NEXT STEP LEGISLATIVELY AND TO MOVE THIS NATION
AWAY FROM THE UTTERLY DISHONORABLE, NOT TO MENTION
ILLEGAL, ENFORCEMENT AND PARTICIPATION IN THAT EMBARGO.
THE REASON THAT THOSE ON CAPITOL HILL ARE NOW ABOUT THE
BUSINESS OF LIFTING THE EMBARGO IS BECAUSE THEY
UNDERSTAND FULLY THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAILING TO DO SO."
TEXT: MR. CARTER SAID WHAT'S GOING ON IN BOSNIA IS BEING
ACTED OUT IN CHECHNYA WHERE RUSSIA, LIKE SERBIA BEFORE
IT, HAS CONVINCED THE WORLD NOT TO INTERVENE IN AN
INTERNAL AFFAIR. BRITISH AUTHOR MARK ALMOND, A VOCAL
CRITIC OF LONDON'S POLICY TOWARD BOSNIA, AGREED. HE
PREDICTED THAT THE WORLD COMMUNITY WILL SOON REGRET ITS
INSISTENCE ON CLASSIFYING THE CONFLICT IN CHECHNYA AS AN
INTERNAL MATTER AS IT SIMILARLY CLASSIFIED BOSNIA AS A
CIVIL WAR:
TAPE: CUT # 2 ALMOND RUNS [:44]
"BECAUSE WE SEE EVERYDAY ON THE NEWS PROGRAMS AND IN
THE NEWSPAPERS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN CHECHNYA, WHAT IS
HAPPENING AROUND THE FRINGES OF RUSSIA, (AND) ARE
CONFRONTED BY THE BLEAK NEWS OF THE WORST FEARS THAT
MANY OF US HAD THAT IF THE EXAMPLE OF BOSNIA WAS ALLOWED
TO CONTINUE IT WOULD STRENGTHEN THE VERY NEGATIVE FORCES
IN MOSCOW THAT WE MOST WISHED TO SEE WEAKENED. THAT IT
WOULD AT THE SAME TIME DISCREDIT THE VERY
PRO-DEMOCRATIC, PRO-WESTERN FORCES THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO
SEE STRONG AS THE BASIS OF A POST-COLD WAR PARTRNERSHIP
ACROSS THE OLD COLD WAR DIVIDE. ALL OF THOSE BLEAK
FEARS HAVE COME TRUE."
TEXT: FELLOW BRITISH AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN NOEL MALCOLM, WHO
WROTE THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOOK, "BOSNIA: A SHORT
HISTORY", ALSO POINTED THE FINGER OF BLAME FOR INACTION
AT EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS. HE SAID BRITAIN AND FRANCE
HAVE PROPAGATED WHAT HE CALLED THE MYTH THAT THE BOSNIAN
CONFLICT IS A WAR OF "ANCIENT HATREDS" AND THAT EUROPE
SHOULD NOT GET INVOLVED. MR. MALCOLM SAID LONDON AND
PARIS HAVE ALSO ADOPTED A MORE DANGEROUS MYTH, ONE HE
CALLED THE "DOCTRINE OF EQUIVALENCE":
TAPE: CUT # 3 MALCOLM RUNS [:27]
"ON BOSNIA, GOVERNMENT POLICY HAS BEEN PROPELLED AND
JUSTIFIED BY A 'DOCTRINE OF EQUIVALENCE' AT ALMOST EVERY
LEVEL: HISTORICAL EQUIVALENCE, MORAL EQUIVALENCE,
DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL EQUIVALENCE AND LEGAL
EQUIVALENCE. THE IDEA OF ANCIENT HATREDS PUTS EVERYONE
ON THE SAME LEVEL. (BOSNIAN PRESIDENT ALIJA)
IZETBEGOVIC THUS REPRESENTS ANCIENT MUSLIM HATREDS AND
IS NO DIFFERENT FROM (BOSNIAN SERB LEADER RADOVAN)
KARADZIC REPRESENTING ANCIENT SERB HATREDS."
TEXT: IN FACT, MR. MALCOLM SAID, AS HIS BOOK POINTS OUT, THE
HISTORY OF TODAY'S BOSNIAN MUSLIMS SHOWS THEM TO BE
REMARKABLY TOLERANT OF THEIR SERB, CROAT AND JEWISH
NEIGHBORS, ALL OF WHOM REMAINED IN THE AREA SINCE
OTTOMAN TIMES.
TWO AMERICAN JOURNALISTS WHO HAVE REPORTED EXTENSIVELY
ON THE WAR IN BOSNIA ADDED THEIR VOICES TO THE CHORUS
CALLING FOR ELEVENTH HOUR ACTION BY THE U-S GOVERNMENT
TO ALLOW AN EQUIVALENCY OF ARMS IN BOSNIA. ROY GUTMAN,
THE REPORTER FROM THE NEW YORK NEWSPAPER "NEWSDAY",
WHICH BROKE THE STORY OF THE SERBIAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS
AT OMARSKA AND TRNOPOLJE, [TRN-AH-POLE-EE] RECEIVED A
STANDING OVATION FROM THE CONFEREES.
HAVING JUST RETURNED FROM SARAJEVO THE NIGHT BEFORE,
MR. GUTMAN REPORTED THAT DESPITE THE FLIGHT OF
INTELLECTUALS AND THE FLOOD OF REFUGEES COMING INTO
SARAJEVO, IT REMAINS A VIBRANT, COSMOPOLITAN CITY. AS
EVIDENCE OF THE DETERMINATION OF SARAJEVANS TO REMAIN A
MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY, MR. GUTMAN REPORTED THAT OUT OF 11
RECENT MARRIAGES IN SARAJEVO, FIVE WERE MIXED
(SERB-MUSLIM, MUSLIM-CROAT ETC.). HE PRESENTED SEVERAL
NEW BOOKS WHICH HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED UNDER SIEGE, AS WELL
AS THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE SARAJEVO NEWSPAPER,
'OSLOBODJENJE'. AND HE SAID, DESPITE THE ONGOING SIEGE,
A MUSLIM ORGANIZATION IS PLANNING TO PUBLISH A
TRANSLATED VERSION OF HIS OWN BOOK: "A WITNESS TO
GENOCIDE".
FINALLY, FELLOW JOURNALIST JONATHAN LANDAY OF THE
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR WARNED THAT UNLESS AN
EQUIVALENCE IN ARMS IS ESTABLISHED IN BOSNIA, THERE IS
NO INCENTIVE FOR EITHER SERBIA OR THE BOSNIAN SERBS TO
STOP FIGHTING. [REST OPT] HE SAID NEITHER SERBIAN
PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC NOR BOSNIAN SERB LEADER
RADOVAN KARADZIC ANY LONGER SERIOUSLY WANTS A GREATER
SERBIA. THE SERBIAN PRESIDENT, MR. LANDAY SAID, FEARS
A CHALLENGE TO HIS LEADERSHIP FROM MR. KARADZIC IF THE
TWO AREAS ARE JOINED, WHILE MR. KARADZIC NOW SAYS HE
WANTS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY OF HIS OWN. MR. LANDAY
ALSO DREW A COMPARISON BETWEEN SARAJEVO AND THE CHECHEN
CAPITAL OF GROZNY, WHERE CIVILIANS ARE BEING SHELLED BY
A SUPERIOR ARMED FORCE. HE ECHOED HODDING CARTER'S
COMMENT THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN BOSNIA MAY ONE DAY
BECOME COMMONPLACE. (SIGNED)
********************************************************
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1995 07:53:16 GMT Message-ID:
*****************************************************
Source: The Jerusalem Report, January 1995
Title: How are Bosnia's Serbs getting Israeli arms?
By: Tom Sawicki
Israeli officials don't deny foreign press reports that Bosnian
Serbs have regularly fired Israeli-made shells at Sarajevo and
use Israeli light weapons. The only dispute is over how the
weaponry gets there: Pro-Bosnian activists here charge
government support of Serbia: officials blame third parties.
"The Serbs have large quantities of Israeli arms, and they
couldn't have gotten there without the Israeli authorities being
aware," charges Daniel Kofman, a Hebrew University lecturer who
heads the Israel Public Committee for Bosnia. Responds a
spokesman for overseeing Israeli arms sales abroad: "We strictly
observe the U.N. embargo and have not sold any weapons there"
since the U.N. announced the ban on sales to the combatants in
April 1992 [sic]. A foreign Ministry spokesman adds: "We're
not responsible for how arms move around once they leave
Israel". And Ori Orr, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee, concurs: "It could only happen through
some private channels, once the arms have left Israel." "We
don't take sides in the conflict", insists the Foreign Ministry
spokesman, adding: "Because of anti-Semitic sentiments in (Croat
president) Franjo Tudjmans's book and the Hizballah-Iran help to
the Muslims, you may draw the conclusion where our sympathies
lie". Kofman responds that "Israel generally does keep track
of what happens to its arms. So how can they say they don't
know what happens to them once they reach the international
market?" Hebrew University professor Igor Primorac, who
taught philosophy in Belgrade before coming here a decade ago,
agrees with Kofman. "Belgrade papers regularly report on Isreli
arms shipments", he says, "and it's not far from Serbia to
Bosnia. Maybe it's not official, but the pro-Serbian slant of
the Israeli political leadership is clear: The government has
never condemned the killing of Muslims or Croats."
********************************************************
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 1995 07:56:06 GMT Message-ID:
*****************************************************
DATE=1/10/95 NUMBER=2-172020 TITLE=U-N / BOSNIA (L)
BYLINE=DOUGLAS ROBERTS DATELINE=GENEVA
INTRO: U-N OFFICIALS ARE VOICING GROWING CONCERN OVER
HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHWEST BOSNIAN ENCLAVE OF
BIHAC. DESPITE THE LATEST CEASE-FIRE, CROATIAN SERB FORCES AND
MUSLIM REBELS IN BIHAC ARE CONTINUING TO BLOCK RELIEF SUPPLIES
TO THE AREA'S 180-THOUSAND CIVILIAN RESIDENTS. AS WE HEAR FROM
V-O-A'S DOUGLAS ROBERTS IN GENEVA, THE U-N HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR
REFUGEES HAS ASKED NATO TO RESUME AIRDROPS OF FOOD AND MEDICINE
INTO BIHAC.
TEXT: U-N-H-C-R SPOKESWOMAN SYLVANA FOA TOLD REPORTERS HERE
(TUESDAY) ONLY THREE U-N RELIEF CONVOYS HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO
ENTER THE BIHAC POCKET SINCE THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER.
FOOD AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES ARE RUNNING OUT. AND MISS FOA SAID
THE SITUATION IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY DESPERATE.
/// FOA ACT ///
THE FOOD SITUATION IN BIHAC IS GETTING TO THE POINT
WHERE DOCTORS AT THE HOSPITALS THERE ARE TELLING US THAT
PEOPLE, WOMEN ARE BECOMING SO MALNOURISHED THAT THEY ARE
GIVING BIRTH PREMATURELY. WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THESE
KINDS OF SIGNS OF MALNOURISHMENT. PEOPLE ARE GETTING
SICK MUCH MORE EASILY BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE A
PROPER FOOD BASKET.
/// END ACT ///
MISS FOA SAID ESSENTIAL MEDICAL SUPPLIES, INCLUDING ANTIBIOTICS,
ARE VIRTUALLY EXHAUSTED. AND DOCTORS HAVE BEGUN TO WASH AND
RE-USE BANDAGES TO TREAT THE AREA'S WAR-WOUNDED. SHE SAID THERE
IS NO HEAT AND LITTLE ELECTRICITY IN THE HOSPITALS OF BIHAC,
AND THERE IS NO FUEL FOR THE THE DISTRICT AMBULANCES.
BOSNIA'S FOUR-MONTH TRUCE, THAT WENT INTO EFFECT NEW YEAR'S EVE,
STIPULATES THAT ALL SIDES WILL FACILITATE THE DELIVERY OF
HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES. BUT NEITHER THE CROATIAN SERB FORCES NOR
THE MUSLIM REBELS BATTLING GOVERNMENT TROOPS IN BIHAC SIGNED THE
ACCORD. BOTH HAVE OFFERED VERBAL ASSURANCES THAT THEY WILL
COOPERATE. BUT THE BLOCKADE OF RELIEF SUPPLIES REMAINS IN
EFFECT, AND SPORADIC FIGHTING HAS CONTINUED IN THE AREA.
THE U-N-H-C-R MADE ANOTHER ATTEMPT TUESDAY TO DISPATCH A GROUND
CONVOY TO THE ENCLAVE THROUGH AREAS CONTROLLED BY THE CROATIAN
SERBS AND MUSLIM REBELS. BUT U-N OFFICIALS HERE ARE NOT
OPTIMISTIC THAT IT WILL GET THROUGH.
THE U-N HAS BEGUN TO EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE ROUTES INTO BIHAC,
THROUGH AREAS TO THE SOUTH AND EAST CONTROLLED BY BOSNIAN SERB
FORCES. MISS FOA SAID THE BOSNIAN SERBS HAVE GENERALLY
COOPERATED WITH U-N EFFORTS TO DISTRIBUTE RELIEF SUPPLIES SINCE
THE TRUCE WENT INTO EFFECT.
THE U-N-H-C-R DELIVERED A FORMAL REQUEST TO NATO ON MONDAY
ASKING FOR A RESUMPTION OF AIRDROPS OVER BIHAC. BRITISH, FRENCH
AND AMERICAN CARGO PLANES WERE USED TO PARACHUTE RELIEF SUPPLIES
INTO THE AREA FOR A FEW DAYS LAST AUGUST. BUT NATO COMMANDERS
HAVE BEEN RELUCTANT TO RESUME THE AIRDROPS BECAUSE OF THE DANGER
OF ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE. MISS FOA SAID MOST OF THE GROUND-TO-AIR
MISSILE BATTERIES IN THE BIHAC AREA ARE CONTROLLED BY BOSNIAN
SERB FORCES WHO HAVE PLEDGED TO ABIDE BY THE TRUCE. (SIGNED)
10-Jan-95 9:13 AM EST (1413 UTC) Source: Voice of America
************************
DATE=1/10/95 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=YUGO / HUMAN RIGHTS
(L-ONLY) BYLINE=WAYNE COREY DATELINE=VIENNA
INTRO: THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE
HAS FAILED TO PERSUADE YUGOSLAVIA TO ALLOW HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS
TO BE REDEPLOYED IN THE COUNTRY. V-O-A'S WAYNE COREY REPORTS
FROM VIENNA.
TEXT: O-S-C-E OFFICIAL FRANK SWALEN SAYS HIS DELEGATION'S VISIT
TO BELGRADE HAS BEEN EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. SPEAKING IN THE
YUGOSLAV CAPITAL, HE SAYS HE WAS LED TO BELIEVE SOME RESULTS
WOULD COME OUT OF HIS VISIT, BUT HE SAYS THERE WERE NO RESULTS
AT ALL.
MR. SWALEN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE O-S-C-E DELEGATION FAILED TO
PERSUADE THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW HUMAN RIGHTS
MONITORING TEAMS TO RETURN TO THE ETHNICALLY-TROUBLED REGIONS OF
KOSOVO, SANDZAK, AND VOJVODINA.
SERBIAN PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC INSISTED THAT YUGOSLAVIA
MUST BE READMITTED TO THE O-S-C-E, FORMERLY THE CONFERENCE ON
SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, BEFORE THE MONITORS COULD
RETURN.
THE MONITORS WERE EXPELLED FROM YUGOSLAVIA IN 1991 WHEN BELGRADE
WAS SUSPENDED FROM THE EUROPEAN SECURITY CONFERENCE. THE
SUSPENSION WAS LINKED TO THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN CROATIA.
MR. SWALEN SAYS IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR YUGOSLAVIA TO JOIN THE
ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE NOW BECAUSE
SOME O-S-C-E MEMBERS WOULD OPPOSE IT.
BUT, THE YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT IS CLEARLY NOT TOO CONCERNED
ABOUT THAT. THERE IS NO OBVIOUS REASON WHY IT SHOULD BE.
THE O-S-C-E WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION OF THE
C-S-C-E IN KEEPING WITH DECISIONS MADE AT THE C-S-C-E SUMMIT IN
BUDAPEST IN DECEMBER.
BUT, THE FINAL SUMMIT DECLARATION DID NOT EVEN MENTION THE
CONFLICT IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, THE WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN
EUROPE SINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
IN BOSNIA, ITSELF, THE SERBS CONTINUE TO IGNORE INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW BY PURSUING THEIR ETHNIC-CLEANSING POLICY. THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS CONDEMNED THE POLICY BUT HAS REFUSED
TO TAKE EFFECTIVE ACTION TO STOP IT. (SIGNED)
10-Jan-95 12:23 PM EST (1723 UTC) Source: Voice of America
=======================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1GP2588
Date: 01/12/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 08:43pm \/To: ALL
(Read 17 times) Subj: CROATIA SET TO END U.N.
MANDATE
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman was set to announce today that
he has decided to end the mandate of U.N. forces in Croatia on
March 31. The statement was echoed by Croatian Prime Minister
Nikica Valentic on a visit to China yesterday. Tudjman is
reported exasperated by the continued Serbian occupation of
large swaths of Croatia, the failure of the U.N. to disarm Serbs
and to open the way for the return of Croatian refugees. Two
recent factors have prodded Tudjman: the Croatian Serb assault
on Bihac and the recent offensive of Croatian Government troops
in Bosnia, which was mostly successful. 15,000 U.N. troops are
in Croatia, acting as a buffer between the Croatian Army and the
Serbs. Tudjman is appearantly convinced the Serbs will not give
up the land they have taken with the U.N. present, and if
necessary, he believes the Croatian Army is strong enough to
take it back by force. U.N. forces would have until the end of
June to withdraw from Croatia. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.)
=========================================================
Subject: BOSNEWS-NEWS: OMRI Jan 13 Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLVES TO CONTINUE WITH EASING OF SERBIAN
SANCTIONS. The UN Security Council voted 14-0 on 12 January to
continue easing sanctions against the rump Yugoslavia for
another 100 days. Russia, objecting primarily to additional
restrictions on oil convoys from Serbia Serb-controlled
territories of Croatia, was the only nation to abstain. Reuters
on 13 January reports the council's decision received mixed
reviews, with leaders from Islamic states arguing that sanctions
should not be eased until the Bosnian Serbs show their full
support for peace. Reuters also quotes Muhamed Sacirbey,
Bosnia's UN ambassador, as saying the sanctions monitors' means
for tracking activity along Serbia's border with Bosnia and
Herzegovina were "flawed and inadequate from their inception." A
partial easing of sanctions was introduced by a resolution
dating from September 1994 in recognition of what appears to be
Belgrade's severing of some ties with the Bosnian Serbs.
Sanctions on transportation links and cultural and sports events
were first eased for a period of 100 days. -- Stan Markotich,
OMRI, Inc.
CROATIA ENDS UNPROFOR MANDATE. Hina on 12 January carried the
texts of messages by President Franjo Tudjman to the Croatian
nation and to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali saying
Croatia will not renew UNPROFOR's mandate when it expires on 31
March. The UN forces will have three months to leave the
country, although they may continue to use Zagreb as UN regional
headquarters. He thanked the UN forces for their initial
successes in keeping peace and noted that many were killed or
wounded in the process. But he argued that UNPROFOR has not
promoted the reintegration of the Serbheld one-third of Croatian
territory despite repeated warnings from the Croatian government
to do so or face the loss of its mandate. The president
concluded that UNPROFOR is not only "inefficient" but also
"significantly counterproductive to the peace process." He added
that UNPROFOR's departure could provide a fresh impetus for a
peaceful solution to the problems of Croatia, Bosnia, and the
region as a whole. Tudjman stressed that his government seeks a
peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis, and he also reassured
the Serbian minority that its rights will be protected in
keeping with Croatian law. Croatian diplomats had informed
Contact Group representatives as well as Italy, China, and the
Vatican of Tudjman's decision in advance, although speculation
continues as to whether his word is final. -- Patrick Moore,
OMRI, Inc.
INTERNATIONAL CRITICISM OF TUDJMAN'S STATEMENT. Reuters on 13
January quoted some UN officials as suggesting that the
president's speech leaves little room for maneuver, while also
mentioning that the world organization should not overreact but
rather make a "considered reply." Boutros-Ghali nonetheless said
he is "gravely concerned about the risk of renewed hostilities,"
and Croatia's two closest major allies, Germany and the United
States, were also critical of Tudjman's moves, the BBC reports.
But public opinion polls in Croatia have indicated widespread
disgust with the UN's role. The peacekeepers are often derided
with the nickname SERBPROFOR, reflecting the widespread view
that UNPROFOR has become a buffer between Croatian and Serbian
forces and hence protects Serbian conquests. The Croatian media
have long expressed the fear that the country will become
"another Cyprus," with UN forces originally sent to promote a
ceasefire eventually ensuring the partition of the area. --
Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.
BOSNIAN UPDATE. The Washington Post on 13 January writes that
Contact Group negotiators held talks with Bosnian government
leaders in Sarajevo the previous day and are now off to visit
the rebel Serbs in Pale. Bosnian government officials told the
diplomats that they will allow no changes in the peace plan that
Sarajevo accepted in July. Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic
nonetheless seemed to take at face value a British statement
that the delegation "sticks to the Contact Group plan" and added
that "it is now clear that the Contact Group never shifted its
position." But this may be an exercise by Sarajevo to forestall
expected diplomatic concessions to Pale by the international
negotiators. The German agency dpa on 12 January reported an
increase in the fighting around Bihac, while AFP said that the
Serbs in the Livno area are using Croats and Muslims as human
shields. The French agency also reported on threats by the
Bosnian army against UNPROFOR at Tuzla airport, apparently over
the presence of a Serbian liaison officer there. -Patrick Moore,
OMRI, Inc.
-----------------------------------------------
The OMRI Daily Digest offers the latest news from the former
Soviet Union and East-Central and Southeastern Europe. It is
published Monday through Friday by the Open Media Research
Institute. The Daily Digest is distributed electronically via
the OMRI-L list. To subscribe, send a LISTSERV subscribe command
to listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu The publication can also be
obtained for a fee in printed form by fax and postal mail.
Please direct inquiries to: Editor, Daily Digest, OMRI, Na Strzi
63, 14062 Prague 4, Czech Republic or send e-mail to:
omnipub@omri.cz
Telephone: (42 2) 6114 2114 Fax: (42 2) 426 396
-- Adnan Dzinic e-mail: adzinic@sun14.vlsi.uwaterloo.ca
=======================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1IQ3377
Date: 01/14/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 09:56pm \/To: ALL
(Read 0 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Members of the "Contact Group" visited Bosnian Serb leaders in
Pale yesterday, in defiance of a U.N. Security Council
resolution barring contacts with the Serbs. It is the first time
members of the "Contact Group" have met the Serbs in Pale since
its peace plan was rejected last July. (Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.)
======================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1JN2674
Date: 01/15/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 07:44pm /\To: ALL
(Read 5 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Artillery rounds hit a bridge in Bihac yesterday, killing four
people. They were fired either from Bosnian Serbs or Serbian
rebels in Croatia. Fighting was reported near three other towns
nearby.
Roads from Sarajevo to central Bosnia remain closed, despite an
agreement reached Wednesday for the Bosnian Serbs to reopen
them. (A.P./N.Y.T.)
===================================================
TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS Ref: C1KK1060
Date: 01/16/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)
Time: 04:17pm \/To: ALL
(Read 1 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE
Bosnian Serbs halted the movement of U.N. convoys through much
of their territory, and are still refusing to open roads out of
Sarajevo.
An artillery shell, possibly fired from Serbs in Croatia, killed
a 19-year-old woman yesterday at a school in Bihac. Another
shell killed a 15-year-old girl and wounded her mother. 11 were
reported wounded as shells hit.
The number of people killed from a mortar attack on a bridge in
Bihac on Saturday has increased to five. (A.P./N.Y.T.)