=========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 19, No. 245, 19 December 1995



BALKANS ARMS CONTROL PROCESS BEGINS. A one-day international
conference on

arms control in the former Yugoslavia took place in Bonn on 18
December,

with both Croatia and Serbia threatening to pull out of the
process,

Western agencies reported. The Bonn talks met the Dayton peace
accord

requirement that signatories begin negotiations on arms control
within

seven days of signing the treaty. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate
Granic

warned that Croatia will withdraw from the process unless Serbia
recognizes

Croatian sovereignty over eastern Slavonia. Serbian Foreign
Minister Milan

Milutinovic made a similar threat unless the former Yugoslavia
was

readmitted to the OSCE, which is to oversee the arms control
negotiations,

Tanjug reported. Many delegates at the conference expressed
skepticism that

the parties will take the arms control process seriously. --
Michael

Mihalka



A FEDERAL MODEL FOR SARAJEVO? Boza Kljajic of the Serbian Civic
Council has

suggested that Sarajevo be set up as s special federal district
on the

model of Brussels, Mexico City, or Washington. The Council
represents the

anti-nationalist Serbs who have spent the entire war in the part
of

Sarajevo controlled by the Bosnian government. Nasa Borba on 19
December

quoted him as saying that the city should remain a united and
undivided one

in which all citizens and peoples would enjoy total equality.
Reuters said

the previous day, however, that the Serbian nationalist
leadership in Pale

has other ideas. It met with Belgrade architects to plan a new
city

consisting of Serbian refugees from Sarajevo who refuse to live
under

government rule. Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic said that
rump

Yugoslavia will foot the bill. -- Patrick Moore



SUSPECTED WAR CRIMINAL ARRESTED. The Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung on 19

December reported that an unnamed man was arrested in Dusseldorf
on the

suspicion of having assisted in genocide. The 48-year-old Serb
was

supposedly the leader of a chetnik gang that committed
atrocities in Bosnia

in the spring and summer of 1992. The paper added that a sniper
in Sarajevo

fired on a tram and wounded a woman. -- Patrick Moore



WORLD BANK REQUESTS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR BOSNIA. The World
Bank is

asking Western countries to finance a $100 million assistance
initiative

for Bosnia, Hina reported on 16 December. The money would go for

establishing state institutions, financing small and medium-sized

enterprises, and funding social welfare. The bank estimates that

reconstructing Bosnia will cost $5.1 billion. -- Michael Wyzan



BELGRADE BLAMES BOSNIAN MUSLIMS FOR SREBRENICA MASSACRE. Reuters
on 18

December reported that official Belgrade has defended the
Bosnian Serbs

against charges of massacring Bosnian Muslims and forcing some
5,500 people

to go "missing" when Bosnian Serbs overran the Muslim enclave of
Srebrenica

in July. In a letter to the UN Security Council, Belgrade's
representative

to the UN and former Foreign Minister Vladislav Jovanovic
charges that the

Bosnian Muslims were themselves responsible for the atrocities.
He asserted

that as the Bosnian Serbs approached Srebrenica, "those [Bosnian
Muslim]

units which wanted to continue fighting were mercilessly killing
those who

wanted to surrender and were in favour of a ceasefire." Reuters
suggests

Jovanovic's remarks may be an effort to "head off" an expected UN

resolution condemning the Bosnian Serbs for the atrocities. --
Stan

Markotich



TETOVO UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY. The illegal

Albanian-language university in Tetovo celebrated its first
anniversary on

16 December, MIC reported two days later. At a ceremony attended
by Culture

Minister Eshtref Aliu and ethnic Albanian legislators,
university dean

Fadil Sulejmani called 17 December, the day the university was
founded, a

"day of Albanian liberation in Macedonia." Police earlier this
year

destroyed parts of the self-proclaimed university's premises and
prevented

students from entering the building. Nonetheless, according to
Sulejmani,

the university has underground faculties of math, natural
sciences, law,

economy, philology, philosophy, and the arts. The university
claims to have

1,300 students and 150 professors. -- Fabian Schmidt



FIRST GREEK-MACEDONIAN TALKS ON NAME ISSUE. Greek Ambassador to
the UN

Christos Zacharakis and his Macedonian counterpart, Ivan
Toshevski, met in

New York on 16 December for first talks about the disputed name
issue, Nova

Makedonija reported on 18 December, citing Greek media reports.
According

to those reports, the talks took place in a positive and "very
encouraging"

atmosphere and lasted more than four hours. Both sides said the
problem

should be solved as soon as possible and both made suggestions
for a

possible solution. Further progress is expected after both sides
report to

their governments. UN mediator Cyrus Vance called the meeting
"extremely

interesting" and said similar meetings are expected to take
place after the

Christmas holidays. -- Stefan Krause



=====================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGNM3158 Date: 12/19/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 06:52pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 3 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

At least 16 of 27 scheduled flights made it to Tuzla yesterday. A Russian
flight was delayed until today. At least 150 soldiers, including 60
paratroopers, arrived on the flights along with cargo.

British troops will begun deploying to the confrontation line tomorrow.
(Raymond Bonner/N.Y.T.)

=========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 1, No. 246, 20 December 1995



NEW NATO CHIEF CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF THE ALLIANCE. Former
Spanish Foreign

Minister Javier Solana formally took over as NATO
secretary-general on 19

December and immediately pledged to expand the alliance
eastward, Reuters

reported. He said NATO's enlargement is "the single most
important

contribution the alliance can make to the aim of creating a more
integrated

and united Europe." He termed closer cooperation and the
creation of

stronger ties with Russia as one of NATO's main tasks, adding
that Europe's

new security architecture should be built with Russia rather
than against

it. -- Doug Clarke



IFOR TO ESTABLISH AIR BASE IN BUDAPEST. Col. John Martinson of
the U.S.

Embassy in Budapest on 19 December said IFOR troops will set up
a second

air base at Budapest's Ferihegy airport owing to bad weather in
Taszar,

southern Hungary, Hungarian media reported. Defense Ministry
official Gabor

Nagy said IFOR headquarters asked the Hungarian government last
weekend to

allow military planes to land at Ferihegy. -- Zsofia Szilagyi



UN HANDS OVER COMMAND TO NATO IN BOSNIA. The UN handed over
command of the

Bosnian peacekeeping operation to NATO in Sarajevo on 20
December, Western

agencies reported. The NATO troops, backed by Europe and the
U.S. and with

massive firepower at their disposal, replace the lightly armed
and largely

discredited UN peacekeepers, who often found themselves at odds
with the

cumbersome UN civilian command structure. Nonetheless, many UN
troops will

replace their blue and white with NATO camouflage and remain in
the

country. General George Joulwan on 19 December said that despite
the recent

bad weather and logistical problems, the deployment of the
60,000-strong

force remains on schedule. Thorvald Stoltenberg, the outgoing UN
mediator,

cautioned that a new crisis could occur if the U.S. removed its
troops too

soon. -- Michael Mihalka



BOSNIAN SERB LEADER PLEDGES TO HELP IFOR. New Bosnian Serb
Premier Rajko

Kasagic delivered his first public statement on local television
on 19

December, AFP reported. He told his audience that the Serbs
"should

cooperate with IFOR to ensure that they have peace and security,
because

our future will depend on such cooperation." Kasagic also made
it clear

that his men would help IFOR in keeping law and order and that
stealing

vehicles belonging to international organizations would stop.
Bosnian Serb

leader Radovan Karadzic has called the Dayton agreement
"disastrous" but

said that the Serbian cause will now have to be advanced
politically and

not with weapons. -- Patrick Moore



NEW SIGNALS TO SARAJEVO SERBS. The VOA's Croatian-language
service reported

on 20 December that the Serbian mayor of Ilidza, which is due to
pass to

Bosnian government control, has urged his people to stay. It
appears to be

the first public statement by a Bosnian Serb official in
Sarajevo that it

might be possible for his people to live under the new
authority. Nasa

Borba quoted the speaker of Pale's parliament, Momcilo
Krajisnik, as also

holding open some possibilities other than resettlement for the
Serbs in

the Sarajevo suburbs. He told a local audience that "the people
who

defended this city have a right to stay in it" and that "at this
moment

there are a significant number of arguments that point to a
favorable

solution." Krajisnik indicated that the Serbs would have to have
their own

authorities and police. -- Patrick Moore



U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES BELGRADE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT ATROCITIES
AGAINST

MUSLIMS. Reuters on 19 December reported that U.S. Ambassador to
the UN

Madeleine Albright has criticized allegations by Belgrade that
Bosnian

Muslim forces were responsible for atrocities against fellow
Muslims in

Srebrenica in July, when the enclave fell to advancing Bosnian
Serbs.

Albright said charges made by rump Yugoslav representative to
the UN

Vladslav Jovanovic in a letter to the Security Council were "a
big lie"

(see OMRI Daily Digest, 19 December 1995). "I just hope Mr.
Jovanovic was

acting without instructions as it goes beyond my understanding
of what he

would gain by sending such a preposterous letter that has
basically

insulted the intelligence of the Security Council,'' Albright
said. In a

separate development, Tanjug reported that same day that
Belgrade will

honor a pledge to allow NATO forces to transit through rump
Yugoslav

territory. -- Stan Markotich



MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT SAYS RECOGNITION OF CROATIA ON HOLD . . .
Politika

and Nova Makedonija on 20 December reported that Momir
Bulatovic, speaking

at a press conference the previous day, said Belgrade's
recognition of

Croatia will be withheld as long as Zagreb continues to control
a small

strip of coastal territory known as Prevlaka peninsula, flanking
the Bay of

Kotor, the base of the rump Yugoslav navy. He noted that Croatia
agreed at

Dayton to give up Prevlaka in exchange for territory near the
Croatian city

of Dubrovnik. "We do not wish recognize the Republic of Croatia
. . . as

long as it does not fulfill the obligations it agreed to. We
will not give

up our interests," Bulatovic commented. -- Stan Markotich



. . . BUT GRANTS AMNESTY TO DISSIDENT WRITER, MUSLIM LEADERS.
Bulatovic on

19 December granted an amnesty to well-known writer Jevrem
Brkovic, who is

living in exile in Croatia, as well as to 82 other people,
including

leaders of the mainly Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA),
Hina

reported. Bulatovic told reporters that he wanted "to stress
symbolically

the significance of the peace accords" by stopping legal action
against

individuals and groups on the basis of their political,
ideological, and

religious beliefs. -- Daria Sito Sucic



LJAJIC REGARDS SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT AS "POLE OF OPPOSITION."
The head

of the ethnic Muslim Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak
(SDA), Rasim

Ljajic, has met with a German parliamentary delegation in
Belgrade, Nasa

Borba reported on 20 December. Ljajic demanded the return of the
OSCE

monitoring mission to the rump Yugoslavia, which Belgrade
evicted in 1993.

He stressed that the SDA is cooperating with the Serbian Renewal
Movement

in its fight against reorganizing election districts in favor of
the

Socialist Party of Serbia and added that his party is also ready
to

cooperate with the New Democracy and the Civic Union of Serbia.
The SDA

Sandzak boycotted the last Serbian elections. -- Fabian Schmidt



HEAD OF MACEDONIAN PRIVATIZATION AGENCY FIRED. The Macedonian
government on

19 December relieved Miroljub Sukarov, director of the country's

privatization agency, of his duties, Nova Makedonija reported
the next day.

Strained communications between the cabinet and the agency and
the former's

disagreement with certain agency decisions were cited as reasons
for the

move. Sukarov, who had supervised the privatization process
since 1991,

will be succeeded temporarily by agency's deputy director. --
Michael Wyzan





=========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 1, No. 247, 21 December 1995



RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS READY FOR BOSNIA. The Russian airborne
brigade which

will form part of the multinational Bosnian peace implementation
force is

preparing to depart from its base in Kostroma, ITAR-TASS
reported on 20

December. The brigade, with an overall strength of 1,500 men,
consists of

two battalions, drawn from the 76th and 98th Airborne Guards
Divisions.

Russian military spokesmen praised both the multiethnic
composition and

combat-readiness of the brigade, in which 23 different
nationalities are

represented, although 78% of the troops are Russian. The
brigade's officers

have extensive combat experience, 30% having served in
Afghanistan, and 60%

in Chechnya. The brigade' commander, Col. Aleksandr Lenstov,
served two

years and Afghanistan and was recently decorated for bravery in
Chechnya.

According to a statement by NATO Supreme Commander General
George Joulwan

on 19 December, the Russian brigade will be deployed in the
Posavina land

corridor together with troops from the U.S. First Armored
Division. --

Scott Parrish



EU PLEDGES MONEY FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF BOSNIA. Officials from
more than 40

countries met in Brussels on 20 December to begin discussing the

reconstruction of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They estimated that $1.5
billion is

needed for priority projects such as transportation, water and
sewage,

while World Bank experts projected that the cost of
reconstructing Bosnia

in the first years alone will be $5.1 billion, Nasa Borba
reported the next

day. Only the EU was immediately ready to pledge $100 million of
the $518

million needed to cover immediate needs. Bosnian Foreign
Minister Muhamed

Sacirbey said that the Bosnian delegation has not come to
Brussels to beg

because the Bosnian government and its citizens are ready to
rebuild the

country themselves. But he added that he was disappointed by the
poor

response of the donors. -- Daria Sito Sucic



WHITE HOUSE TO LIFT EMBARGO AGAINST RUMP YUGOSLAVIA? Nasa Borba
on 21

December reported that President Bill Clinton is about to lift
the embargo

against Belgrade, including all sanctions related to trade, air,
and sea

transport as well as to other business contacts. In accordance
with the

November resolution of the UN Security Council on immediate
suspension of

sanctions, Clinton would thus reward the former Yugoslavia's
"constructive

participation" in the Dayton peace talks. But this move would
not include

lifting so-called "outside sanctions," meaning the country's
immediate

readmission to the UN, the OCSE, and international financial
organizations.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac told Serbian
President Slobodan

Milosevic that France will be among the first countries to
recognize the

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and to establish full diplomatic
relations,

Beta reported on 20 December. The same agency reported that
telephone

communications between rump Yugoslavia and Croatia were
reestablished on 20

December. -- Daria Sito Sucic



NATO HAS 17,000 TROOPS IN BOSNIA. NATO Secretary-General Javier
Solana,

speaking at a press conference in Brussels on 20 December, said
NATO

already has 17,000 troops in Bosnia, Western agencies reported.
But most of

those troops were formerly with the UN. An IFOR press spokesman
told OMRI

that as of 21 December, only 1,400 NATO troops had arrived in
Bosnia and

some 1,000 in Croatia. Meanwhile, British troops have arrived in
Krupa, 30

km south of Banja Luka, and IFOR forces have removed roadblocks
to Sarajevo

airport. -- Michael Mihalka



SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT ANNOUNCES NEW COALITION. The Serbian
Renewal

Movement is to form a new coalition of opposition parties,
according to

Nasa Borba on 21 December. Party leader Draskovic has announced
that a

joint "list without Communists" will be drawn up for future
elections. That

list will include the Civic Union of Serbia, New Democracy, the
Vojvodina

Reformists, the Union of Vojvodina Hungarians, and the Party of
Democratic

Action of Sandzak. It may also include the political movement
Democratic

Center, which is expected to form a party. -- Fabian Schmidt



WHAT FUTURE FOR CROATS IN VOJVODINA? Rump Yugoslavia has a
Croatian

population estimated at about 250,000. The largest single group
of them

live in Vojvodina, which had at least 160,000 Croats before the
war but of

whom over 45,000 have left, mainly under duress. President Bela
Tonkovic of

the Democratic League of Croats in Vojvodina told human rights
activists

that his people face constant harassment and psychological
pressure. Their

legal status as a "nation" or a national minority has not been
clarified,

and they are virtually excluded from public life but subject to
rigorous

military conscription and discrimination in hiring. They made a
formal

complaint to the Serbian government in June 1993 but have had no
response

to date, Nasa Borba reported on 21 December. -- Patrick Moore



MACEDONIAN PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES TOUGH 1996 BUDGET. The Macedonian

parliament on 20 December began discussing the 1996 budget,
which is based

on 6% retail price inflation, 10% growth in social product, and
2% growth

in industrial production, Nova Makedonija reported the next day.
Planned

revenues of 42.9 billion denars ($1.1 billion), represent 23% of
social

product, compared with 23.8% in 1995. Wages in the budgetary
sphere will be

frozen at their August 1995 levels, vacation pay eliminated, and
social

welfare spending and agricultural subsidies reduced. The largest
revenue

sources will be excise taxes, the personal income tax, and the
sales tax.

-- Michael Wyzan





==========================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGQM2746 Date: 12/21/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 06:45pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: OPERATION DENY FLIGHT ENDS

Operation Deny Flight, which began April 12, 1993, ended yesterday
following a U.N. Security Council resolution on Saturday. A formal
ceremony was held at 5th Allied Tactical Air Force Headquarters, Vicenza,
Italy, today.

Forces in Operation Deny Flight have transferred to Operation Decisive
Endeavor, a part of Operation Joint Endeavor of the Implementation Force
(IFOR). They will provide support for IFPR and close air support for the
U.N. forces in Croatia.

Operation Deny Flight lasted 983 days. Fighter sorties totalled 23,021,
the close air support and airstrike sorties numbered 27,077, suppression
of enemy air defenses, airborne early warning, aerial refueling,
reconnaissance and support flights numbered 29,158, and 21,164 training
missions were flown. In all, 100,420 flights.

==========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 1, No. 248, 22 December 1995



HAVEL VISITS SARAJEVO. Czech President Vaclav Havel on 22
December began a

two-day visit to Sarajevo at the invitation of Bosnian President
Ilija

Izetbegovic, CTK reported. He is the first foreign head of state
to visit

the Bosnian capital since the signing of the Dayton peace
agreement. Before

departing from Prague, Havel told reporters the aim of his visit
was to

express solidarity with the people of Bosnia and Herzogovina and
show

support for democracy and the principles of civil co-existence.
Havel was

due to have talks with Izetbegovic and Bosnian Prime Minister
Haris

Silajdzic during the visit. The Czech president was accompanied
by Defense

Minister Vilem Holan and Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, who was
scheduled to remain

in Sarajevo over Christmas. -- Steve Kettle



HUNGARY'S FERIHEGY AIRPORT WILL NOT BE NATO AIR BASE. Defense
Ministry

spokesman Lajos Erdelyi on 20 December denied that a second NATO
air base

would be established at Budapest's Ferihegy airport, Hungarian
media

reported the next day. He said an erroneous report was released
by AFP the

previous day quoting Col. John Martinson of the U.S. Embassy in
Budapest

(see OMRI Daily Digest, 20 December 1995). Erdelyi told
Nepszabadsag that

air planes carrying military equipment will land at Budapest
airport, but

shipments will be forwarded to military bases in Taszar and
Kaposvar,

southern Hungary. -- Zsofia Szilagyi



$500 MILLION PLEDGED FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF BOSNIA. At a two-day
meeting in

Brussels (see OMRI Daily Digest, 21 December 1995),
representatives from 50

donor countries announced that $500 million has been pledged for
the first

three months of 1996, Nasa Borba reported on 22 December. They
said they

hope to raise an additional $40-50 million and thereby exceed
the estimated

$518 million required for immediate needs. The biggest donors
were the

organizers of the meeting: the World Bank pledged $150 million
and the EU

$112 million. On arriving in Sarajevo, Carl Bildt, the
international

community's high representative for reconstruction, warned that
the peace

process will be endangered unless help from outside the country
comes soon.

The next conference of donors is scheduled for March 1996, when
pledges for

the estimated $5.1 billion for the longer term will be made. --
Daria Sito

Sucic



MUSLIM-CROATIAN FEDERATION SETS UP UNIFIED COMMANDS IN BOSNIA.
The federal

parliament met in Sarajevo on 21 December and established joint
commands

for the army and police--just after the 20 December deadline set
down in

the Dayton treaty--the VOA's Croatian-language service said the
next day.

There will be a joint defense ministry and command, but recruits
will be

able to choose whether they want to serve in the Croatian or
mainly Muslim

part of the army. AFP added that the two police forces will also
report to

one center. The Muslim-Croat federation is treated as one entity
in the

Dayton agreement, but the allied armies to date have had only
coordinated

activities and do not have an integrated command structure. On
the

contrary, the Bosnian Croat army is closely linked to the
Croatian

military. Elsewhere, the International Herald Tribune on 22
December

reported that the U.S. has named Pentagon Bosnia expert James
Pardew to

head the project to upgrade government forces with Turkish
assistance. --

Patrick Moore



UN CONDEMNS SERBS FOR SREBRENICA MASSACRES. The Security Council
has

rebuked rump Yugoslav representative Vladislav Jovanovic, who
tried to

claim that the Muslims killed their own people in Srebrenica in
July. The

resolution clearly blames the Serbs for the murder, rape,
expulsion, and

conscription into forced labor of civilians, and mentions
Srebrenica, Zepa,

Banja Luka, and Sanski Most. It also singles out Bosnian Serb
leaders

Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic as indicted war
criminals, news

agencies added. The massacre of around 5,000 mainly Muslim men
has often

been referred to as the single biggest atrocity in Europe since
World War

II. A report by Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali and
investigations

by the Christian Science Monitor, independent Serbian
journalists, and

others clearly point to a mass killing, possibly led by Mladic
himself. --

Patrick Moore



INTERNATIONAL POLICE TASK FORCE LAUNCHED. The Security Council
also set up

a 1,721-strong international police force to train and monitor
local police

and assist them as need be. This will be the biggest armed UN
presence in

the area following the disbanding of UNPROFOR. The UNHCR will
supervise the

upcoming exchange of prisoners. Meanwhile in Pale, Karadzic told
Red Cross

officials that he will do all he can to make sure that Dayton's
20 January

deadline for releasing prisoners is met. Elsewhere, Serbian
villagers in

Dojici, near the Croatian front lines, gave a rousing welcome to
British

troops, Reuters reported on 21 December. They credited the
Dayton agreement

with saving them from a Croatian occupation. -- Patrick Moore



IFOR COMMANDER MEETS WITH LOCAL CHIEFS OF STAFF. The chiefs of
staff of the

Muslim, Croatian, and Serbian forces--meeting in Sarajevo on 21
December

with the commander of the NATO-led implementation force (IFOR),
Admiral

Leighton Smith--promised to cooperate with IFOR, Western
agencies reported.

They said that they would restrain their forces, leave the
"zones of

separation," and allow unrestricted access for IFOR. Smith said
after the

meeting that the local forces have so far proved extremely
cooperative with

IFOR. -- Michael Mihalka



SWISS NAMED HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN FOR BOSNIA. The OSCE on 21
December

named Swiss diplomat Gret Haller as human rights ombudsman for
Bosnia,

Western agencies reported. The Dayton peace accord created the
post and

invested it with responsibility for investigating alleged human
rights

abuses and initiating proceedings against those involved. Haller
currently

serves as the Swiss representative to the Council of Europe. --
Michael

Mihalka



SERBIAN RADICAL LEGISLATORS LOSE MANDATE IN MONTENEGRIN
PARLIAMENT. Eight

former Serbian Radical Party legislators were suspended from
their duties

in the Montenegrin parliament on 21 December, Nasa Borba
reported the

following day. The parliamentary commission on immunity and
mandates was

abiding by a decision taken by the Justice Ministry and the
Montenegrin

election commission to ban the legislators from the parliament.
The

commission concluded that following a split in the Serbian
Radical Party,

the legislators were no longer members of the registered Serbian
Radical

Party but of an unregistered extraparliamentary party with the
same name

led by Drago Bakrac. -- Fabian Schmidt



MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT SAYS HE WILL RESUME DUTIES. Kiro Gligorov
has said he

will return to office at the beginning of 1996. In his first
interview

since the attempt on his life on 3 October, published in Nova
Makedonija on

22 December, he rejected speculations about a successor and said
he is

"convinced that the citizens of Macedonia will elect their
president in the

next regular elections." He noted that the attempt on his life
"will

[possibly] remain a mystery for a long time." Gligorov said
there is no

change in the Macedonian position on the name issue. He said
that "after

Dayton and Paris, Macedonia adheres to its well-known position
of being an

independent and sovereign country oriented toward European
integration." He

added that "Macedonia maintains the standpoint that it is one of
the six

equal successors of the former Yugoslavia." -- Stefan Krause



GREECE TO SEND TROOPS TO BOSNIA. Greek government spokesman
Tilemachos

Hytiris on 21 December said the cabinet has decided to send
three ships,

three helicopters, and 250 men to Bosnia as part of the
multi-national

peace-keeping force, Reuters reported the same day. Greece,
which maintains

good ties with Serbia, refused to participate in any
international missions

to the former Yugoslavia before the signing of the Dayton and
Paris

agreements, saying Balkan countries should keep out of the
conflict. --

Stefan Krause





==========================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGRR2704 Date: 12/22/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 10:45pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 7 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs, the Chairman-in-Office of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, appointed Ambassador
Gret Haller of Switzerland yesterday as O.S.C.E. Human Rights Ombudsman
for Bosnia. Haller, who has a doctorate in law from the University of
Zurich, is currently the Swiss representative to the Council of Europe.
Last year, she was President of the Swiss National Council and from 1990 -
1994, was a member of the Swiss Parliamentary delegation to the Council of
Europe. Other activities include municiple councillor and member of the
Berne municipal government in the Department of Education, 1985 - 1988,
and practicing law privately from 1978 - 1984.

Haller is in a non-renewable term of five years in the ombudsman position.
She will lead investigations into human rights incidents in Bosnia and
make recommendations for action. (O.S.C.E. Secretariat)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGSL2742 Date: 12/23/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 05:45pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

The British Army reached the front line yesterday, as a unit arrived on
the peak of Kula Mountain near Krupa. Other forces are spreading out in
the 60 square miles of assigned area. The armored reconnaissance unit on
Kula is there to inspect and dismantle a Bosnian Serb anti-aircraft unit.

Switzerland has decided to permit N.A.T.O. to fly troops and equipment
through Swiss airspace to operations in Bosnia. They will take place only
when N.A.T.O. is unable to fly more direct routes from Germany over
Austria. Train shipments will also be allowed through. (A.P./N.Y.T.)

==============================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGTK1624 Date: 12/24/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 04:27pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 8 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

Two N.A.T.O. aircraft were fired on Friday. It is not known who fired, but
the commander of the operation, ADM Leighton W. Smith Jr., said he was
holding all rival factions responsible for insuring it does not happen
again.

A U.S. Air Force C-130 series Hercules was carrying U.N. relief aid was
fired on during its final approach to Sarajevo. A bullet entered the
fuselage under the navigator's seat and ricocheted around the cargo
compartment.

Ten minutes later, a British helicopter carrying to sick children to
Sarajevo for medical treatment came under small-arms fire.

There were no injuries in either incident. (Raymond Bonner/N.Y.T.)

============================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGUJ1894 Date: 12/25/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 03:31pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

An exchange of 200 Muslim and Serb P.O.W.s occurred yesterday on a bridge
10 miles east of Doboj. It was the first prisoner exchange under the peace
accords and one of the largest in at least two years.

In western Bosnia, two British Army soldiers were slightly wounded by a
land mine explosion on Saturday.

N.A.T.O. IFOR troops continue to arrive. A small Swedish Army unit arrived
in Doboj Saturday, the only Serb-controlled town in the U.S. sector where
N.A.T.O. has set up a base. (Raymond Bonner/N.Y.T.)

=============================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGVK2073 Date: 12/26/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 04:34pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 8 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

A U.S. Army UH-60 series Blackhawk helicopter made an emergency landing
yesterday near Banja Luka after mechanical trouble. It was reportedly
traced to the transmission.

Yesterday, for the first time in over four years since Croatia declared
independence, it was possible to drive 50 mile between Orasje and Tuzla
across the Posavina Corridor. Zagreb and Croatia are now four hours apart,
not the previous 14 hours. (Raymond Bonner/N.Y.T.)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGWJ2235 Date: 12/27/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 03:37pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 2 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

U.S. soldiers established their first post in Bosnia yesterday, in
Lepnica, a Serb-controlled village five miles south of the Sava River. The
platoon, from the First Cavalry, First Armored Division of the U.S. Army,
was the first to reach Bosnia overland. Rising water levels in the river
flooded parts of the U.S. base camp on the Croatian side yesterday.
Lepnica is near the Posavina Corridor.

Bosnian Serbs in Memici, 15 miles west of Zvornik on the road to Tuzla,
have not allowed journalists and others to pass dispite the freedom of
movement provisions of the peace accords. Swedish Army personnel explained
the agreement yesterday by the Bosnian Serbs were not moved. The reason
may be that the mass graves of Muslim victims in July lie beyond,
according to accounts from survivors.

The commander of N.A.T.O. forces in Bosnia was asked yesterday to delay by
at least nine months the deadline of extension of Bosnian Government
authority to Bosnian Serb suburbs of Sarajevo. ADM Leighton W. Smith Jr.,
U.S. Navy, said he would consider the request after meeting with Bosnian
Serb Parliament President Momcilo Krajisnik in Pale. (Raymond Bonner and
Mike O'Connor/N.Y.T.)

U.S. Secretary of the Army Togo D. West Jr. yesterday announced that over
the weekend, elements of several U.S. Army Reserve units received
mobilizaton orders in support of the operation. Among them is the 432nd
Civil Affairs Battalion, Green Bay, Wis., with 103 personnel.

The lead ship of the U.S.M.S.C. M/V Cape Race-class Ro/Ro Cargo Ship
arrived in Split, Croatia, yesterday. Sister M/V Cape Rise arrived last
Saturday. Both carried cargo for British Army troops. Cape Rise had 750
wheeled vehicles and trailers loaded in Antwerp, Belgium, Dec. 14 - 15.
Cape Race had 221 wheeled and tracked vehicles, 94 trailers and 385
pallets of ammunition. The cargo was loaded in Emden, Germany, Dec. 18 -
19. (DoD, N.N.S.)
===========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 1, No. 249, 27 December 1995



BOSNIAN SERBS ASK FOR DELAY OVER SARAJEVO SUBURBS. International
media

reported on 26 December that NATO's commander in Bosnia, Admiral
Leighton

Smith, met a Bosnian Serb delegation in Pale. In keeping with
IFOR

guidelines, he refused to talk to indicted war criminals Radovan
Karadzic

or General Ratko Mladic, so the Serbian team was headed by
parliamentary

speaker Momcilo Krajisnik. The Serbs pledged to continue to
cooperate with

NATO, but asked for an extension of the deadline by which they
must hand

over some parts of Sarajevo to a transitional authority and
ultimately to

the Bosnian government. Smith said that he "did not say yes or
no. I am not

in a position to negotiate the details [of the Dayton peace
agreement] but

I do have the authority to make extensions on time lines,"
adding that he

will seek the "wise guidance" of his senior commanders, AFP
added. --

Patrick Moore



RUSSIAN GENERAL MEETS INDICTED WAR CRIMINAL. In contrast to
Admiral Smith,

Russian Major-General Nikolai Staskov met General Mladic while
on a mission

of "national reconnaissance," as explained by a NATO spokesman
in Sarajevo,

Reuters and Nasa Borba reported on 24 and 25 December. An IFOR
spokesman

said that this meeting happened without the prior knowledge of
or approval

by NATO, demonstrating that the Russians are not willing to
coordinate

their activities completely with NATO at a time when the rules
for Russian

participation are still being clarified. According to the IFOR
spokesman,

Staskov's role in the meeting with Mladic was not clear, although

international media suggested that the Brcko corridor was on the
agenda

because the Serbs had unsuccessfully tried to have the Russians
stationed

there instead of the Americans. -- Daria Sito Sucic



U.S. SETS UP CHECKPOINT IN BRCKO CORRIDOR. CNN reported on 26
December that

heavy rains and floods had slowed U.S. engineers trying to
construct a

bridge from Zupanja, Croatia, across the Sava River into
northern Bosnia.

The Americans nonetheless opened their first checkpoint in the
Brcko

corridor, 7.5 km south of the Sava, on the Tuzla road. AFP added
that U.S.

vehicles were "testing their freedom of movement" in the
sensitive corridor

and proceded unhindered by government or Serbian soldiers. In
Banja Luka,

Reuters said that the region is "one big refugee camp," as aid
workers deal

with 280,000 Serbian refugees, over half of whom arrived this
year. Since

the summer, the Serbian authorities accelerated their expulsion
of the

region's few remaining Croats and Muslims, but housing for Serb
refugees

remains a problem. On 27 December, AFP reported that British
troops found

12 bodies near Sanski Most, where fleeing Serbian soldiers
killed Muslim

and Croat civilians in October. The bodies have yet to be
identified. --

Patrick Moore



BOSNIAN SERB AND GOVERNMENT FORCES EXCHANGE PRISONERS. Serbian
and

government forces on 24 December exchanged 245 prisoners in no
man's land

in northeastern Bosnia, Reuters reported. According to local
officials, 114

Serbs and 131 troops of the government forces, most of whom were
captured

in Srebrenica earlier this year, were freed in the "first big
exchange of

prisoners in the last two years." Swedish soldiers within IFOR
supervised

the exchange which, according to the Dayton agreement, should be
completed

by 28 February, Nasa Borba reported on 25 December. -- Daria
Sito Sucic



CROATIAN CARDINAL SAYS SERBS SHOULD RETURN. The primate of
Croatia,

Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, said that Croatian Serbs who fled their
homes

should be allowed to come back if they agree to be loyal
citizens of

Croatia. Kuharic pointed out that the Roman Catholic Church has
repeatedly

called for all victims of "ethnic cleansing" to be allowed to
return to

their homes and property, Nasa Borba reported on 25 December. He
added that

the Catholic and Orthodox churches should make a serious inquiry
into the

origins of the conflict and show that "there is a way out from
the war and

the hatred." The cardinal has been a voice for reconciliation
throughout

the conflict and played a notable role in opposing the
Croat-Muslim war of

1993. -- Patrick Moore



SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH SPLIT OVER DAYTON AGREEMENT. A special
bishop's

conference of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) was called in
Belgrade on

21 December to discuss an internal split among bishops over the
Dayton

agreement and loss of territories in Republika Srpska, Beta
reported the

same day. Dozens of SPC bishops called on Patriarch Pavle to
resign because

he failed to oppose the Dayton peace agreement, while he himself
earlier

announced his possible resignation from the post. The church
leadership has

long backed Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's "Greater
Serbian" policy

although they distrust him because of his communist background.
They prefer

the non-communist Karadzic, whom they backed in his feud with
Milosevic,

and seconded his complaints about the peace treaty. -- Daria
Sito Sucic



SERBIAN OPPOSITION UNITY DEVELOPMENTS. Delegates from five
opposition

parties--the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), the Serbian Radical
Party

(SRS), the Democratic Party (DS), the Democratic Party of Serbia
(DSS), and

the Democratic Community of Hungarians in Vojvodina -- met on 26
December

for the first sitting of what has been dubbed "the parallel
parliament" for

Serbia, Nasa Borba reported on 27 December. This appears to be
the latest

in a series of moves aimed at opposition cooperation. On 26
December Nasa

Borba reported that on the previous day the republic's
legislature passed

its budget for 1996, with only the governing Socialist Party of
Serbia

delegates, their opposition New Democracy allies and several
breakaway

members of the SRS (now the Radical Party 'Nikola Pasic')
supporting and

debating the legislation. Members of the five aforementioned
opposition

parties boycotted, objecting to a government ban on television
coverage of

the legislature, and to government business being conducted "on
the day of

the great Christian holiday--Catholic Christmas." -- Stan
Markotich



A BIG DEAL FOR SERBIAN OPPOSITION? Meanwhile, participants in the

"alternative legislature" say the institution is an important
vehicle in

opposing the government's power monopoly, Nasa Borba reports on
27

December. The SRS leader in the institution, Tomislav Nikolic,
said, "if

anyone thinks he can defeat the socialists on his own, he's
welcome to try.

I don't think that can be done, and I'll try to show that
through this

institution." SPO leader Vuk Draskovic added that in the absence
of

parliamentary television coverage, the parallel parliament may
communicate

directly with citizens, providing information and soliciting
input on

legislation. On a separate but related topic, Nasa Borba on 26
December

reported that "after over a month of negotiations," the DS, DSS
and two

other minor parties finally agreed on forming an electoral bloc,
the

Democratic Alliance. Whether these developments are being
perceived as a

threat by the SPS is highly debatable, given that all previous
opposition

efforts to oust or impede the socialists have floundered over
parties'

inability to sustain working relations. -- Stan Markotich





============================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CGXM3175 Date: 12/28/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 06:52pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 0 times)
Subj: OPERATION JOINT ENDEAVOR UPDATE

MAJ GEN William L. Nash, U.S. Army, the commander of U.S. forces in
Bosnia, met yesterday with the three regional commanders of areas where
U.S. forces will patrol. The meeting was held in a bombed out guest house
in Porebrice, a Bosnian Serb held town in the Posavina Corridor. Nash met
for an hour in a room with blasted open walls, occupied with a folding
table and coffee and cigarettes. It was agreed that the three parties
would begin clearing main routes of land mines, then move to smaller
roads and areas specified by Nash. Attending were GEN Novica Simic of
the Bosnian Serbs; GEN Djuro Matuzovic of the Bosnian Croats; and COL
Efendic Muharem of Bosnia, on behalf of BRIG Sead Delic.

In an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, COL Gregory Fontenot,
Commander of the First Brigade, First Armored Division, was quoted as
questioning whether a year was enough to make a real difference in Bosnia.
"They think I don't trust them - and they're right," he said. "There are
people who kill women and children and attack their neighbors. They're
offended by me? Hell, I'm offended that I had to come here because of all
their fighting." The article depicts him as turning to two black U.S.
soldiers and saying, "It'll be interesting to hear what you two see,
because Croatians are racists. They kill people for the color of their
skins." Nash said he had seen the article and was dissapointed. He added
that he would look into the matter. DoD officials concurred with Nash, and
an official says he has instructed BRIG GEN Stanley Cherrie, Assistant
Division Commander of the First Armored, to find out if the statements are
accurate, and if Fontenot made them.

The parties were reported pulling back from front lines around Sarajevo
yesterday to meet a deadline of midnight local time. (A.P. and Ian
Fisher/N.Y.T.)

===========================================================

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]

                     Vol. 1, No. 250, 28 December 1995



HAVEL PARDONS CZECH UNPROFOR SOLDIER. President Vaclav Havel has
pardoned a

Czech soldier who was accused of cowardice while serving with
UNPROFOR in

Croatia, Pravo reported on 27 December. The soldier, identified
only as

Marek F., allegedly handed over his weapons and pleaded with
Serbian troops

who surrounded his unit last March not to shoot him and his
colleagues. He

was charged with endangering the moral state of his unit and
could have

faced life imprisonment under military law. -- Steve Kettle



SARAJEVO DISENGAGEMENT COMPLETED. IFOR authorities on 27
December said that

Bosnian Serb and government forces ended their withdrawal from
40 key

frontline positions, two hours ahead of schedule. The VOA's
Serbian Service

called it "the first big test" for NATO in its efforts to
supervise the

disengagement of forces in line with the Dayton agreement. The
BBC noted

that both sides cooperated in the first stage of setting up a
"zone of

separation" despite the difficulties in executing such a
pullback in a

city. The next deadline is 19 January, when a two-kilometer zone
is to be

set up and demined. -- Patrick Moore



IZETBEGOVIC PROTESTS SMITH'S MESSAGE TO SERBS. Bosnian President
Alija

Izetbegovic formally objected to statements by NATO commander
Admiral

Leighton Smith that he would consider a Serb request to delay
the transfer

of authoriity in Serb-held Sarajevo suburbs (See OMRI Daily
Digest, 27

December 1995). The VOA's Croatian Service and the BBC said that
the

president was disappointed that Smith would have even considered
such a

move. Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey set down his
government's

objections in talks with U.S. officials, saying that the Serbs
were trying

"to break the back" of the accord, the International Herald
Tribune

reported on 28 December. Minister for relations with NATO Hasan
Muratovic

told news agencies that "this is not the job of IFOR." The
Bosnian

authorities fear that the Serbs will use such moves to delay
implementing

the peace plan. Muratovic added that if Smith's forces would not
carry out

the transfer on time, his government would demand they be
replaced with

those who could, AFP reported. -- Patrick Moore



MLADIC ABUSED FRENCH PILOTS. The French Defense Ministry on 27
December

admitted that Bosnian Serb forces had mistreated the two French
airmen

captured at the end of August and released on 12 December, news
agencies

reported. The ministry thus went back on previous official
statements that

the men had been well treated, but it denied charges in Le
Canard Enchaine

that the authorities had forced the pilots to lie about what had
happened.

They were kicked, beaten, isolated in ice-cold bunkers, and put
through

mock executions. Indicted war criminal General Ratko Mladic, the
pilots

said, "was the boss from beginning to end. He decided what our
fate would

be," threatening to torture and kill them. The Serbs kicked the
men's

injured legs and threw them only occasional food. The
revelations again

fueled speculation that the French made a deal to free them,
involving

plea-bargaining for Mladic at the Hague war crimes tribunal or
better terms

for the Sarajevo Serbian suburbs. -- Patrick Moore



INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS PROTESTS LACK OF ACCESS TO PRISONERS.
International

Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials warned on 27
December that all

sides were violating provisions of the peace accord related to
the exchange

of prisoners of war, Hina reported the same day. During the
recent release

of 245 prisoners (See OMRI Daily Digest, 27 December 1995), both
the

Bosnian Serb and government forces denied the ICRC access to
prisoners as

set down in the Dayton agreement. The VOA's Serbian Service
reported that

the ICRC stated that prisoners have been released without a
prior interview

with Red Cross officials and that such releases amount to an
expulsion. The

ICRC lists 700 to 800 prisoners, but this number is not final
because its

officials have not had unimpeded access to all prisons and
detention camps.

-- Patrick Moore and Daria Sito Sucic



CROATIAN HIGH COURT RULES FOR GOVERNMENT, AGAINST COUNCILMEN. The

Constitutional Court on 27 December rejected the appeal by 45
newly-elected

councilmen from opposition parties against the government's
decision to

annul their work in the Zagreb City and County Councils (See
OMRI Daily

Digest, 18 December 1995), Hina reported the same day. The Court
upheld the

government's case and ruled that a new constituent session
should be held

on 2 January. Should that fail, the government will appoint its
own

administrator for Zagreb and new elections will be called.
Meanwhile,

negotiations between the government and opposition are underway
about a

compromise solution, but the opposition has made clear that it
will insist

on holding the mayor's job, Novi list wrote on 28 December. --
Daria Sito

Sucic



UPDATE ON IFOR ARRIVAL IN BOSNIA. AFP reported on 28 December
that 35,000

IFOR soldiers were deployed on the territory of former
Yugoslavia, with

28,000 in Bosnia and the rest in Croatia. In spite of bad
weather and the

difficulties inherent in coordinating 60,000 soldiers from 32
countries,

more than 50% of IFOR's scheduled personnel are in the area only
a week

after NATO started its biggest military operation, a NATO
spokesman said on

27 December. Most of the soldiers there are British and French
who had

already served with UNPROFOR. Out of 20,000 Americans, only
1,400 have

arrived, Nasa Borba reported on 28 December. -- Daria Sito Sucic



NASTY WEATHER HITS WESTERN BALKANS . . . Heavy rains held up
U.S. troops in

building two pontoon bridges over the Sava River, while floods
following a

dam burst wiped out a French Foreign Legion base near Mostar.
The men were

evacuated by helicopter, news agencies reported. But an Italian
policeman

was killed in a road accident and military vehicles were washed
away. The

French have evacuated 600 Muslims from Mostar amid fears that
another dam

may burst. The Muslim authorities wanted to burst the dam as a
preventive

measure but local Croat officials refused. Meanwhile, widespread
flooding

cut off villages and forced about 2,000 people to evacuate their
homes in

northern Albania, Reuters reported on 27 December. At least
5,000 hectares

of land were submerged and hundreds of houses have been
destroyed. High

water is also threatening two hydropower stations on the Drin
River. --

Patrick Moore and Fabian Schmidt





