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YDS-1017

 16 NOVEMBER 1995                                           



 BURNS: BOSNIA TALKS HAVE REACHED BREAKING POINT

      New York, Nov. 15 (Tanjug) - The Dayton talks have reached
breaking

 point when it must be decided if there will be war or peace in
Bosnia, State

 Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns said Wednesday. The
negotiators must

 realize the talks cannot go on for months or years, he said.
There is a moment

 when fundamental decisions must be made and that moment is now
- today,

 tomorrow, or possibly by the weekend, he said.

      Burns held a briefing with the press in Washington after
his return from

 Dayton where he had accompanied Secretary of State Warren
Christopher.

 Christopher spent 14 hours in Dayton in a number of meetings
with the heads

 of the three negotiating delegations - Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic,

 Croatian President Franjo Tudjman, and Bosnian Muslim Leader
Alija

 Izetbegovic.

      Christopher is not disappointed with the course of the
talks so far,

 Burns told reporters. The talks continue and there is no
crisis, he said.

 There are efforts to arrive at peace in Dayton, but no wishes
to force anyone

 to accept it, he said.

      Christopher, who has meanwhile gone to Japan, is ready to
return to

 Dayton, said Burns.

 

 YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ADOPTS REPORT ON WAR CRIMES IN FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA

      Belgrade, Nov. 15 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Government
adopted Wednesday

 the sixth report of the Federal Committee for collecting data
on war crimes

 in the former Yugoslavia which will be forwarded to the U.N.

      The Federal Information Secretariat said the report
contained proof

 about deliberate killings of civilians, arrestees and prisoners
of war,

 inhumane treatment of civilians, murders of the wounded and the
ill, practices

 of ethnic cleansing, hostage taking and setting up of detention
camps. The

 report also contains documents on the deliberate destruction of
civilian

 facilities, churches, cemetaries, cultural and historical
monuments.

      The report elaborates 178 cases of violation of
international

 humanitarian conventions and international laws of war since
the beginning of

 the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

      There are 40 cases of deliberate killings of civilians, 20
cases of

 inhumane killings of arrestees and pow's, 18 cases of inhumane
treatment of

 civilians, and 56 cases of inhumane treatment of arrestees and
pow's.

 Furthermore, 10 cases of deliberate killings and inhumane
treatment of the

 wounded and the ill, five cases of hostage taking and setting
up of detention

 camps, six cases of destruction of civilian facilities of no
military

 importance, three of destruction of temples and cemeteries, and
20 cases of

 ethnic cleansing.

      The Federal Committee has relevant documentation in
support of each of

 the said cases.

      The report said that the data collected so far spoke
volumes about the

 Croatian Government top bodies planning and practicing ethnic
cleansing in

 areas where Serbs had been either the majority or the minority
and in fact

 committing genocide of Serbs.

      The Information Secretariat said it had recorded an
increased interest

 of Yugoslav non-governmental organizations and local diplomatic
offices in the

 Federal Government's reports on war crimes in the former
Yugoslavia.

 

 SECURITY COUNCIL DRAFTS FIRST RESOLUTION ON MULTINATIONAL FORCE
FOR EASTERN

 SLAVONIA

      Belgrade, Nov. 16 (Tanjug) - U.N. Security Council
Wednesday revealed

 the first draft of a resolution on the engagement of
multinational force in

 the Srem-Baranja region (Sector East), predominantly populated
by Serbs. The

 text of the first document, however, does not specify who would
directly

 command some 4,000 troops, Reuters reported.

      The draft resolution endorses the Security Council's role
in the

 realization of the agreement signed on Sunday by the
representatives of the

 Croatian Government and the Serbs in the Srem-Baranja region,
the only one of

 the formerly four U.N.-protected territories that Croatia had
not occupied.

      The draft urges U.N. Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros-Ghali to maintain

 contacts with the negotiating teams.

      The Security Council calls in the document on the Croatian
Government

 and the Serbs in the Srem-Baranja region to refrain from
undertaking any

 military or other measures that could threaten the agreement
reached.

      According to U.N. diplomatic sources, up to 4,000 troops
were expected

 to be deployed in the region. This contingent would likely also
include 1,500

 Russian and Belgian troops already stationed there.

 

 CROATIAN PRESIDENT PROMOTES WAR CRIMES SUSPECT

      Belgrade, Nov. 15 (Tanjug) - The Hague-based International
Criminal

 Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is not very concerned over
the fact that

 Croatian President Franjo Tudjman appointed Tihomir Blaskic,
who is accused

 of war crimes, inspector at the Croatian Army Inspectorate,
Tribunal Spokesman

 Christian Chartier was quoted as saying.

      The Agence France Presse quoted Chartier as saying that
Blaskic's

 appointment did not rule out the possibility of his being
arrested some day.

 His arrest would thus only be facilitated, he added.

      In any case, this does not change the suspect's or the
Tribunal's

 position in the least, Chartier said.

      According to Chartier, Croatian authorities promised to
cooperate with

 the tribunal, coordinate their laws with international demands
and make it

 possible for the Tribunal to examine the suspects and take them
to the Hague.

      Chartier said that if Croatian authorities did not
extradite Blaskic,

 the Tribunal would inform the U.N. Security Council, which
would take care of

 it.

 

 U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CRITICIZES TUDJMAN

      New York, Nov. 15 (Tanjug) - The State Department on
Wednesday evening

 strongly criticized the decision by Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman to

 promote Gen.Tihomir Blaskic (a Bosnian Croat military
commander) who was

 indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague
two days ago.

      'The U.S. strongly criticizes the decision by the Croatian
Government

 and the Croatian President to promote an individual,
Gen.Blaskic who was

 indicted by the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal two days ago,' State
Department

 Spokesman Nicholas Burns told a briefing. He said such a
decision by President

 Tudjman was in direct contrast with Croatia's obligations to
cooperate with

 the Hague Tribunal and in general with the international
community in

 persecuting persons who have committed war crimes in the
territory of former

 Yugoslavia.

      'We are raising today this case directly with the Croatian
delegation

 (to the Dayton peace talks on Bosnia),' he said.

 

 SENTENCING OF SERBS WHO BELIEVED CROATIAN PRESIDENT'S PROMISES
OF ABOLITION

 IF THEY SURRENDER

      Zagreb, Nov. 14 (Tanjug) - After a very brief trial the
Croatian

 Military Court from Karlovac, in session in Gospic, passed
sentences against

 thirteen Serbs, who were charged with 'armed rebellion against
the Republic

 of Croatia.'

      Milan Bubanj, Nikola Banjekav, Stevo Rakic, Jovo Sorak and
Bogdan

 Ognjenovic have been sentenced to four and a half years in
prison. Radomir

 Cvijanovic, Milan Studen, Stevo Rakic and Branko Stakic were
sentenced to two

 to two and a half years in prison. Stevo Rapaic and Bozo
Vlaisavljevic were

 sentenced to three years in prison.

      The sentenced Serbs, most of them over fifty years old,
said at the

 trial that they surrendered to the Croatian authorities
believing that they

 would be guaranteed abolition.

      Such guarantees were made personally by Croatian President
Franjo

 Tudjman to Serbs from the Western, Southern and Northern parts
of the Republic

 of Serb Krajina (RSK) in May and in August, when the Croatian
Army carried out

 aggressions on those parts of RSK, state of Serbs in the former
Yugoslav

 republic of Croatia.

 

 465,000 SERBS FORCED TO LEAVE SERB KRAJINA AND MORTHWESTERN
BOSNIA

      Banjaluka, Nov. 15 (Tanjug) - Close to 465,000 Serbs were
during 1995

 forced to abandon their homes in the Republic of Serb Krajina
and the Bosnian

 Serb state Republika Srpska, the joint Bosnian Serb and Serb
Krajina Refugee

 Crisis Staff has said. About 260,000 Krajina Serbs fled their
ancestral homes

 in May and August this year at the time of the Croatian
offensive on the

 western, southern and eastern parts of the Republic of Serb
Krajina.

      In Republika Srpska there remain 22,000 refugees, while
the others have

 found refuge in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

      During September's combined Muslim-Croat offensive,
supported by the

 regular Croatian Army, on northwestern Republika Srpska, about
205,000 Serbs

 fled the region. Of this figure, about 23,000 found refuge in
Yugoslavia, and

 the reminder in other parts of Republika Srpska.

      The Refugee Crisis Staff said that in the two exodusses
from Serb

 Krajina and Republika Srpska, which were unprecedented in the
history of the

 Serb nation, 306 people, including three children, had died or
were killed

 either by the Muslim-Croat bombardment of refugee columns or as
a result of

 several-day efforts to reach liberated territory, sometimes
even by

 horse-drawn wagons. The Refugee Crisis Staff said that there
still remain

 refugees living in very difficult conditions, including 3,000
children.

      The Refugee Centre in Slapovici near Srebrenica, eastern
Republika

 Srpska, on Wednesday had to turn back refugees because it is
currently

 providing accomodation for 3,000 people, which by 20 percent
exceeds its

 capacities, said the head of the local Refugee Crisis Staff
Stanko Rakic.

      The situation is very grave in the Clinical Centre of
Banja Luka, the

 biggest city in Republika Srpska, in whose vicinity about
170,000 refugees

 have been given accomodation. There is no heating in the
Clinical Centre due

 to a lack of heating oil and surgical instruments cannot be
sterilized, the

 Centre's Head Dr. Branislav Lolic said on Wednesday.

 



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

29. NOVEMBER 1995.

                     YUGOSLAV DAILY SURVEY



YUGOSLAV MINISTER: SLOVAKS IN YUGOSLAVIA PRESERVED NATIONAL
IDENTI

TY

      B  e  l  g r a d e, Nov. 18 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Minister

Margit Savovic and a Slovakian Parliamentary delegation agreed

at  a  meeting  here on Tuesday that Slovaks  in  the  Federal

Republic  of Yugoslavia have preserved their national identity

and  that  they  were  one of the pillars  of  good  relations

between the two countries.

      Savovic  met  with  the delegation of the  Parliamentary

Committee  for Minorities and State Administration  headed  by

Committee  Chairman Jozef Rea. The two sides agreed  that  the

status of the minorities is an internal affair of each country

and  that any form of internationalization of that issue would

clash with state sovereignty.



  KARADZIC: U.S. TROOPS WELCOME IF THEY COME ON FRIENDLY MISSION

      B e l g r a d e, Nov. 28 (Tanjug) - The President of the

Republika  Srpska  (RS  -  State of  Bosnian  Serbs),  Radovan

Karadzic said on Tuesday that he 'fully supported' the plan of

President Bill Clinton to send U.S. troops to Bosnia and added

that  'they  will make new friends here'. 'If American  troops

are  coming  on a friendly mission, they will be  welcomed  by

Serbs...if   the  conduct  of  foreign  troops  is  completely

impartial, they will make here new friends', Karadzic said  in

an interview to CNN.

     Karadzic also said: 'I have completely abandoned the idea

of   a   military  settlement.  I  support  fully  the  Dayton

agreement. We recognize peace'.

      Karadzic said he hoped that the status of Sarajevo would

be considered again.



          CROATS STILL TORCHING HOUSES IN CENTRAL BOSNIA

      B e l g r a d e, Nov. 28 (Tanjug) - Bosnian Croat forces

are still torching houses in parts of central Bosnia which are

to  be  placed  under  Serb control according  to  the  Dayton

accords. U.N. Spokesman Major Alastair Ross said British  U.N.

reconnaissance  patrols had seen houses in flames  around  the

towns  of  Mrkonjic  Grad and Sipovo which  were  captured  by

Croats in their October offensive.

      Croats  are  implementing  a  'scorched  earth'  policy,

totally  destroying all objects which Bosnian Serbs might  use

when  they  return  to  that region, the British  news  agency

Reuter said.

     Major Ross said a hydro-electric power plant on the Vrbas

river  was also in danger of being destroyed. The power  plant

supplies  electricity to a wide area, including both the  town

of  Jajce which is under Croat control and Banjaluka,  a  Serb

town.

      Major Ian Kippon said at the British peacekeepers'  base

in the town of Bugojno in central Bosnia that houses were also

being  torched in other parts of Bosnia which are to be handed

over  to  Serbs  under  the Dayton accords.  'They  have  been

bundling  hay  into  houses  to get  them  burning,  not  just

chucking  in matches,' he said, describing what was  happening

in  villages  north of the town of Kupres. Major Kippon  said:

'It  is  no secret that industrial machinery is being stripped

out of factories they'll have to hand over.'



SERB PARTY IN CROATIA: SERBS IN CROATIA ARE 'SECOND CLASS
CITIZENS

'

     S o p h i a, Nov. 28 (Tanjug) - The leader of the Serbian

Independent Party (SSS) in Croatia, Milorad Pupovac, has  said

that 'in Croatia, Serbs are treated as second class citizens.'

In  an  interview published on Tuesday by Sophia  daily  Duma,

Pupovac  said that in Croatia currently there are  only  about

150,000  Serbs left from the total of 750,000 before Croatia's

war  for  secession from the former Yugoslavia.  Pupovac  said

that  'the  constitution and the laws provide Serbs with  full

civic  and  minority  rights, but in practice  this  does  not

exist,'  and that 'the Croatian authorities are ignoring  both

minority and elementary human rights.'

     'Zagreb is forcefully reintegrating western Slavonija and

Kninska  Krajina (western and southern parts  of  Republic  of

Serb  Krajina),  but  is not integrating the  Serbs  who  have

remained in Croatian cities,' he said. Pupovac said that Serbs

in  the cities 'have been stripped of the right to participate

equally  in  social  and political activities  and  have  been

subjected to forceful assimilation.'

      'The  Serbs  want to live in Croatia,  where  they  were

born,'  Pupovac  said and warned that 'possibilities  for  the

Serbs  to realize their rights are meagre and this is why  the

international  community  for  a  long  time  refused  to  pay

attention to the problems and rights of the Serbs in Croatia.'



    GUARDIAN: MUJAHEDDIN ARE BIGGEST THREAT TO NATO IN BOSNIA

      L  o n d o n, Nov. 28 (Tanjug) - The Mujaheddian will be

the biggest threat to the NATO troops to be deployed in Bosnia

to  enforce  the peace agreed from Dayton, Ohio, London  daily

The  Guardin  said on Wednesday. The Guardian  said  that  the

U.S.,  which is a kind of sponsor of the peace agreement,  has

demanded  from  the  Sarajevo  Muslim  authorities  that   the

Mujaheddin leave Bosnia within 30 days after the agreement  is

signed, but it is still uncertain whether this will happen.

       British  reports  from  the  field  indicate  that  the

Mujaheddin  are completely out of any control  and  that  they

could continue their 'independent' war mission.

      In  London it is said that the biggest threat  from  the

Mujaheddin  in  Bosnia  is  to the British  troops,  who  have

several  times already been exposed to actions by the  Islamic

fighters.

      The Mujaheddin are massed in the region of the towns  of

Zenica,  Tesanj and Zavidovici, all controlled by the  Muslims

in  central  Bosnia and it is in this region that the  British

troops will control the implementation of the peace agreement.





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