Informazione
REPUBBLICA SERBA DI BOSNIA-ERZEGOVINA (RS)
* Il vice-presidente Sarovic assume gli incarichi presidenziali (Tanjug
26 gennaio) dopo mesi di stallo a causa della dismissione di Poplasen da
parte dell'Alto Rappresentante. L'Alto Rappresentante internazionale
Petritsch si oppone anche alla nuova scelta (FreeB92 27 gennaio).
* Il signor Holbrooke chiede a Radisic (attuale componente serbo della
presidenza collegiale, socialista) di rispettare i diktat internazionali
oppure dimettersi (FreeB92 31 gennaio).
* L'"erede al trono" Alessandro Karadjordjevic incontra l'opposizione
filooccidentale serbobosniaca; plauso del premier Dodik (FreeB92 27
gennaio). Per l'occasione, meeting "internazionale" dell'opposizione
liberale e monarchica proveniente dalla RFJ e dall'estero (FreeB92 18
gennaio).
* Isolamento e criminalizzazione dei leader "storici" della RS: l'ex
componente serbo della presidenza collegiale bosniaca Krajsnik si
nasconde, i radicali non possono presentarsi alle elezioni ne' andare
all'estero, il presidente Poplasen bandito da ogni carica dal
super-governo occidentale (IWPR 8 ottobre 1999).
---
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA VICE PRESIDENT SAROVIC ASSUMES PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES
BANJA LUKA, January 26 (Tanjug) - Republika Srpska (RS) Vice-President
Mirko Sarovic, acting in keeping with the Constitution, assumed on
Wednesday evening presidential duties at a Parliament session in Banja
Luka.
Sarovic informed the deputies that he is ready, on the basis of Article
80 of the RS constitution, to assume presidential duties - to represent
RS, to propose a mandator for the RS Government, to propose the
president and judges of the Constitutional Court, to declare laws and
carry out duties in the sphere of security.
Following Sarovic's address, Parliament Speaker Petar Djokic concluded
that the RS National Assembly has "duly noted" Sarovic's readiness to
contribute to the resolution of the political crisis in RS.
Djokic scheduled the continuation of the ninth session of the RS
Parliament for February 8 when the issue of the election of the new RS
Government is expected to be resolved.
B92 27/01/00 ---
Petritsch on Sarovic
SARAJEVO, Thursday - The decision of Republic of Srpska Vice-President
Mirko Sarovic to assume presidential authority was unconstitutional and
illegal, International High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch said
today.
Petritsch described Sarovic's action as an attack on the legal
institutions of the Bosnian Serb Republic with the clear and obvious aim
of destabilising the entity and undermining the Dayton Agreement.
Prince meets opposition in Republic of Srpska
BANJA LUKA, Thursday - The exiled Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic of
Serbia today met Kosovo Serbs and representatives of the Serbian
opposition in Banja Luka, capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic. Republic
of Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik described the meeting as being
aimed at joint efforts to prevent a Serbian tragedy and reach an
agreement for a better future.
The meeting concluded that the priority for Serbia at the moment was
democratisation and removal of the regime which had brought only tragedy
to the country.
B92 18/01/00 ---
Royal visit to Banjaluka
LONDON, Tuesday - The heir-in-exile to the Serbian throne, Prince
Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, is to visit the Republic of Srpska next week,
his London office announced today. Prince Aleksandar is to attend
religious services commemorating St Sava, founder of the Serbian
Orthodox Church.
Representatives of political parties and cultural institutions in Serbia
are also expected to travel to the Bosnian Serb Republic for meetings
with the prince. During Prince Aleksandar's visit, Banjaluka will host a
meeting of Serbian opposition leaders and representatives of Serbs
living abroad.
B92 31/01/00 ---
Holbrooke lays down the law
SARAJEVO, Monday - US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke
has demanded that the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Zivko
Radisic, assent to legislation on border services for Bosnia, according
to Sarajevo media today. Daily "Dnevi avaz" writes that Holbrooke has
written to Radisic demanding that he perform his duties or withdraw from
the three-man presidency. Serb members of the Bosnian Parliamentary
Assembly voted against the legislation in the parliament last month.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 00:57:21 +0000
From: The Institute of War and Peace Reporting <info@...>
To: info@...
Subject: IWPR BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 82
WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 82, October 8, 1999
(...)
DOUBLE BLOW FOR BOSNIAN SERB HARD-LINERS
Fearing war crimes charges, Momcilo Krajisnik of the hard-line Bosnian
Serb SDS is reportedly in hiding. Meanwhile, leaders of the Bosnian Serb
Radical Party have been banned from next year's elections.
By Janez Kovac in Sarajevo (Published on October 8, 1999)
The two most extreme Bosnian Serb political parties have suffered a
double blow this week that will certainly effect their participation and
chances in next year's elections.
In the wake of media speculation about a possible indictment for war
crimes, the leader of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Serb
member of the first post-war Bosnian tripartite presidency, Momcilo
Krajisnik, has reportedly taken refuge somewhere in Serbia, fearing
arrest.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, three leaders of the Bosnian
Serb Radical Party (SRS) have been banned from competing in next year's
elections.
Although the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has made no
official comment about Krajisnik's indictment, nobody is answering the
telephone in Krajisnik's office and none of his friends or aides appears
to know his current whereabouts.
This follows the appearance of an article in the Sarajevo daily Dnevni
Avaz citing western diplomats alleging that Krajisnik's name was on one
of the Tribunal's latest sealed indictments.
In recent months The Hague Tribunal has grown in confidence, issuing
indictments among others against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
and four of his inner cabinet, and receiving in custody several
high-ranking war crimes suspects, including the active head of the
Bosnian Serb army.
Moreover, new prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has made it clear that she
intends to focus on the most senior indictees.
During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Krajisnik, who is popularly referred to
as 'The Eyebrow' as a result of his principal physical attribute, was
one of the closest allies of leading Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect,
Radovan Karadzic and a notorious profiteer.
After Richard Holbrooke persuaded Karadzic to withdraw from public in
July 1996, Krajisnik took over control of the party and became its
leading candidate in the September 1996 elections.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the
international agency which supervises elections in Bosnia, banned Nikola
Poplasen, the president of the SRS, and two other senior party members
from standing in next year's poll after reviewing the material which the
party presented to register. OSCE officials said that they would be
penalising parties which violate local laws, the Dayton Peace Agreement
and the election rules and regulations.
After winning most votes in the 1998 presidential elections, Poplasen
became the president of Republika Srpska but was dismissed this March by
Bosnia's then High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, for obstructing
the peace process. The SRS now has until October 22 to resubmit its
registration documentation, including candidates and membership lists,
after removing Poplasen, Mirko Blagojevic and Ognjen Tadic, or it will
not be allowed to participate in the ballot.
In response, Poplasen rejected the OSCE's demand in a statement that was
read out on Bosnian Serb television, describing the OSCE's move as "an
obvious example of a totalitarian behaviour of a fascist type, which
bans parties and people who think differently".
In the wake of these two blows, the key Bosnian Serb hard-line parties
find themselves in a no-win situation. Even if The Hague Tribunal has
not indicted Krajisnik, it is unlikely to deny the report and thus
reassure him. As a result, Krajisnik will likely be obliged to keep a
low profile and leave the decision-making and management of the SDS to
others.
If the Radical party does eventually yield to the OSCE demand, their
election prospects will be seriously affected by the absence of their
leader.
Meanwhile, the SDS and the SRS have increasingly been coming into
conflict with each over. The rift is especially acute at the local
level, where officials of both parties have in some places begun to work
with parties from the Muslim-Croat Federation in order to win
international, reconstruction projects.
The two hard-line parties have also failed to agree a common approach on
the question of the president of Republika Srpska and whether Mirko
Sarovic, the vice president who is also a member of the SDS, should
accept the position in place of Poplasen. While the SDS believes that
Sarovic should become president, the SRS insists that Poplasen's
dismissal should simply be ignored.
A rift has also emerged within the SDS party itself, between the
followers of Krajisnik and a more moderate faction headed by one of the
party's vice presidents, Dragan Cavic. If Krajisnik does decide to keep
a lower profile in the wake of his reported sealed indictment, western
diplomats believe that the Cavic faction is likely to come out on top.
Janez Kovac is a pseudonym for a journalist from Sarajevo.
==================================================================
FreeB92B92 - sono le notizie che provengono dalla mailing list di
RadioB2-92, di orientamento antigovernativo e filo-occidentale:
> freeb92-e is an open mailing list for distribution of news by Radio
> B2-92. News bulletins are updated at 19.00 CET Monday to Friday and
> at 23.00 CET on Saturday and Sunday.
> For more information on FreeB92 and Radio B2-92, visit:
> http://www.freeb92.net/
IWPR - e' il bollettino dell'Institute for War & Peace Reporting
<info@...>
> Balkan Crisis Report is supported by the Department for International
> Development, European Commission, Swedish International Development and
> Cooperation Agency, MacArthur Foundation, Press Now and the Carnegie
> Corporation. IWPR also acknowledges general support from the Ford
Foundation.
> *** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net ***
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Il vice-presidente Sarovic assume gli incarichi presidenziali (Tanjug
26 gennaio) dopo mesi di stallo a causa della dismissione di Poplasen da
parte dell'Alto Rappresentante. L'Alto Rappresentante internazionale
Petritsch si oppone anche alla nuova scelta (FreeB92 27 gennaio).
* Il signor Holbrooke chiede a Radisic (attuale componente serbo della
presidenza collegiale, socialista) di rispettare i diktat internazionali
oppure dimettersi (FreeB92 31 gennaio).
* L'"erede al trono" Alessandro Karadjordjevic incontra l'opposizione
filooccidentale serbobosniaca; plauso del premier Dodik (FreeB92 27
gennaio). Per l'occasione, meeting "internazionale" dell'opposizione
liberale e monarchica proveniente dalla RFJ e dall'estero (FreeB92 18
gennaio).
* Isolamento e criminalizzazione dei leader "storici" della RS: l'ex
componente serbo della presidenza collegiale bosniaca Krajsnik si
nasconde, i radicali non possono presentarsi alle elezioni ne' andare
all'estero, il presidente Poplasen bandito da ogni carica dal
super-governo occidentale (IWPR 8 ottobre 1999).
---
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA VICE PRESIDENT SAROVIC ASSUMES PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES
BANJA LUKA, January 26 (Tanjug) - Republika Srpska (RS) Vice-President
Mirko Sarovic, acting in keeping with the Constitution, assumed on
Wednesday evening presidential duties at a Parliament session in Banja
Luka.
Sarovic informed the deputies that he is ready, on the basis of Article
80 of the RS constitution, to assume presidential duties - to represent
RS, to propose a mandator for the RS Government, to propose the
president and judges of the Constitutional Court, to declare laws and
carry out duties in the sphere of security.
Following Sarovic's address, Parliament Speaker Petar Djokic concluded
that the RS National Assembly has "duly noted" Sarovic's readiness to
contribute to the resolution of the political crisis in RS.
Djokic scheduled the continuation of the ninth session of the RS
Parliament for February 8 when the issue of the election of the new RS
Government is expected to be resolved.
B92 27/01/00 ---
Petritsch on Sarovic
SARAJEVO, Thursday - The decision of Republic of Srpska Vice-President
Mirko Sarovic to assume presidential authority was unconstitutional and
illegal, International High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch said
today.
Petritsch described Sarovic's action as an attack on the legal
institutions of the Bosnian Serb Republic with the clear and obvious aim
of destabilising the entity and undermining the Dayton Agreement.
Prince meets opposition in Republic of Srpska
BANJA LUKA, Thursday - The exiled Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic of
Serbia today met Kosovo Serbs and representatives of the Serbian
opposition in Banja Luka, capital of the Bosnian Serb Republic. Republic
of Srpska Prime Minister Milorad Dodik described the meeting as being
aimed at joint efforts to prevent a Serbian tragedy and reach an
agreement for a better future.
The meeting concluded that the priority for Serbia at the moment was
democratisation and removal of the regime which had brought only tragedy
to the country.
B92 18/01/00 ---
Royal visit to Banjaluka
LONDON, Tuesday - The heir-in-exile to the Serbian throne, Prince
Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, is to visit the Republic of Srpska next week,
his London office announced today. Prince Aleksandar is to attend
religious services commemorating St Sava, founder of the Serbian
Orthodox Church.
Representatives of political parties and cultural institutions in Serbia
are also expected to travel to the Bosnian Serb Republic for meetings
with the prince. During Prince Aleksandar's visit, Banjaluka will host a
meeting of Serbian opposition leaders and representatives of Serbs
living abroad.
B92 31/01/00 ---
Holbrooke lays down the law
SARAJEVO, Monday - US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke
has demanded that the Serb member of the Bosnian Presidency, Zivko
Radisic, assent to legislation on border services for Bosnia, according
to Sarajevo media today. Daily "Dnevi avaz" writes that Holbrooke has
written to Radisic demanding that he perform his duties or withdraw from
the three-man presidency. Serb members of the Bosnian Parliamentary
Assembly voted against the legislation in the parliament last month.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 09 Oct 1999 00:57:21 +0000
From: The Institute of War and Peace Reporting <info@...>
To: info@...
Subject: IWPR BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 82
WELCOME TO IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 82, October 8, 1999
(...)
DOUBLE BLOW FOR BOSNIAN SERB HARD-LINERS
Fearing war crimes charges, Momcilo Krajisnik of the hard-line Bosnian
Serb SDS is reportedly in hiding. Meanwhile, leaders of the Bosnian Serb
Radical Party have been banned from next year's elections.
By Janez Kovac in Sarajevo (Published on October 8, 1999)
The two most extreme Bosnian Serb political parties have suffered a
double blow this week that will certainly effect their participation and
chances in next year's elections.
In the wake of media speculation about a possible indictment for war
crimes, the leader of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and the Serb
member of the first post-war Bosnian tripartite presidency, Momcilo
Krajisnik, has reportedly taken refuge somewhere in Serbia, fearing
arrest.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, three leaders of the Bosnian
Serb Radical Party (SRS) have been banned from competing in next year's
elections.
Although the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague has made no
official comment about Krajisnik's indictment, nobody is answering the
telephone in Krajisnik's office and none of his friends or aides appears
to know his current whereabouts.
This follows the appearance of an article in the Sarajevo daily Dnevni
Avaz citing western diplomats alleging that Krajisnik's name was on one
of the Tribunal's latest sealed indictments.
In recent months The Hague Tribunal has grown in confidence, issuing
indictments among others against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
and four of his inner cabinet, and receiving in custody several
high-ranking war crimes suspects, including the active head of the
Bosnian Serb army.
Moreover, new prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has made it clear that she
intends to focus on the most senior indictees.
During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Krajisnik, who is popularly referred to
as 'The Eyebrow' as a result of his principal physical attribute, was
one of the closest allies of leading Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect,
Radovan Karadzic and a notorious profiteer.
After Richard Holbrooke persuaded Karadzic to withdraw from public in
July 1996, Krajisnik took over control of the party and became its
leading candidate in the September 1996 elections.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the
international agency which supervises elections in Bosnia, banned Nikola
Poplasen, the president of the SRS, and two other senior party members
from standing in next year's poll after reviewing the material which the
party presented to register. OSCE officials said that they would be
penalising parties which violate local laws, the Dayton Peace Agreement
and the election rules and regulations.
After winning most votes in the 1998 presidential elections, Poplasen
became the president of Republika Srpska but was dismissed this March by
Bosnia's then High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, for obstructing
the peace process. The SRS now has until October 22 to resubmit its
registration documentation, including candidates and membership lists,
after removing Poplasen, Mirko Blagojevic and Ognjen Tadic, or it will
not be allowed to participate in the ballot.
In response, Poplasen rejected the OSCE's demand in a statement that was
read out on Bosnian Serb television, describing the OSCE's move as "an
obvious example of a totalitarian behaviour of a fascist type, which
bans parties and people who think differently".
In the wake of these two blows, the key Bosnian Serb hard-line parties
find themselves in a no-win situation. Even if The Hague Tribunal has
not indicted Krajisnik, it is unlikely to deny the report and thus
reassure him. As a result, Krajisnik will likely be obliged to keep a
low profile and leave the decision-making and management of the SDS to
others.
If the Radical party does eventually yield to the OSCE demand, their
election prospects will be seriously affected by the absence of their
leader.
Meanwhile, the SDS and the SRS have increasingly been coming into
conflict with each over. The rift is especially acute at the local
level, where officials of both parties have in some places begun to work
with parties from the Muslim-Croat Federation in order to win
international, reconstruction projects.
The two hard-line parties have also failed to agree a common approach on
the question of the president of Republika Srpska and whether Mirko
Sarovic, the vice president who is also a member of the SDS, should
accept the position in place of Poplasen. While the SDS believes that
Sarovic should become president, the SRS insists that Poplasen's
dismissal should simply be ignored.
A rift has also emerged within the SDS party itself, between the
followers of Krajisnik and a more moderate faction headed by one of the
party's vice presidents, Dragan Cavic. If Krajisnik does decide to keep
a lower profile in the wake of his reported sealed indictment, western
diplomats believe that the Cavic faction is likely to come out on top.
Janez Kovac is a pseudonym for a journalist from Sarajevo.
==================================================================
FreeB92B92 - sono le notizie che provengono dalla mailing list di
RadioB2-92, di orientamento antigovernativo e filo-occidentale:
> freeb92-e is an open mailing list for distribution of news by Radio
> B2-92. News bulletins are updated at 19.00 CET Monday to Friday and
> at 23.00 CET on Saturday and Sunday.
> For more information on FreeB92 and Radio B2-92, visit:
> http://www.freeb92.net/
IWPR - e' il bollettino dell'Institute for War & Peace Reporting
<info@...>
> Balkan Crisis Report is supported by the Department for International
> Development, European Commission, Swedish International Development and
> Cooperation Agency, MacArthur Foundation, Press Now and the Carnegie
> Corporation. IWPR also acknowledges general support from the Ford
Foundation.
> *** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net ***
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
NOTA:
DOPO 9 MESI DI CENSURA HA RIPRESO LE TRASMISSIONI LA TV DEL NEMICO.
Di nuovo captabile via satellite la RTV della Serbia, ogni giorno dalle
16 alle 24.
Dati tecnici: via STACIONAR 12, 40 gradi est sulla frequenza 11530 GHz
con polarizzazione circolare destra (si puo' captare anche con
polarizzazione orizzontale o verticale, ma il segnale sara' inferiore).
SR 4167 megasymbols per second FEC 1/2. (Fonte:
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-02/09/17139.html )
REUTERS 9/2/00 ----------------------------------------
IL NUOVO PRESIDENTE CROATO MESIC: LA NATO INNANZI TUTTO
Paris, Weds., Feb. 9, 2000
Croatia President-Elect Says He'll Push Effort To Join EU and NATO
Reuters
ZAGREB, Croatia - Stipe Mesic, the president-elect of Croatia, vowed
Tuesday to push for swift entry into the European Union and NATO and to
battle high unemployment.
''We want to convince the world that Croatia is a part of Europe and
that Europe is in Croatia too,'' Mr. Mesic told cheering supporters
after winning the runoff election Monday, signaling a fresh start after
a decade of nationalist rule under Franjo Tudjman. ''We want to fulfill
our strategic goals as soon as possible to enter the European Union and
NATO.''
In Washington, Richard Holbrooke, the chief U.S. delegate to the United
Nations, heralded Mr. Mesic's election as a major step forward in
Croatia's drive to turn its back on ''the horrible mess'' in the
Balkans.
During the final years of rule under Mr. Tudjman, who died in December,
the West had shunned Croatia for its interference in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and refusal to cooperate with a United Nations war crimes tribunal.
Both Mr. Mesic, and the new center-left government that defeated Mr.
Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union in a general election Jan. 3, have
vowed to reverse those policies.
With Mr. Mesic preparing for a five-year term, the influential weekly
Nacional underscored the political mood Tuesday with a front-page
headline: ''Croatia returns to the European family.''
The electoral commission said Mr. Mesic, who heads a coalition that is
part of the new governing alliance, had won 56.21 percent of the
second-round vote against 43.79 percent for Drazen Budisa, leader of the
Social Liberal party. In the first round of the presidential election on
Jan. 24, Mr. Mesic won 41.6 percent of the vote in a nine-party field,
while Mr. Budisa won 28 percent.
Croatian financial markets, rising strongly since the Jan. 3
parliamentary elections, were unmoved by the result, which had been
predicted by opinion polls.
''Though more news of rapprochement with Europe will always be rewarded,
from now on, the focus will be on economic rather than political
performance,'' said Hrvoje Fajdetic, trading chief at ZB Brokers in
Zagreb.
The Croatian economy was expected to have contracted by 1 percent to 1.5
percent last year, and unemployment reached a record high 20.8 percent
in December.
Mr. Mesic has said he will work closely with Prime Minister Ivica Racan
on tackling domestic woes. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mr. Mesic
said, ''I would sum up our problem in three words: employment,
employment and employment.''
But it is not clear what influence Mr. Mesic will have in the daily
running of the country, because the government is committed to stripping
the presidency of the wide-ranging powers that were held by Mr. Tudjman.
Mr. Mesic supports this shift, saying only that he wants to remain
supreme commander of the army and have responsibility for appointing
secret service chiefs.
A former member of the Croatian Democratic Union, Mr. Mesic has held
numerous political offices. He was ejected into the opposition in 1994
after renouncing Mr. Tudjman's policy toward Bosnia.
Despite allegations of murky campaign financing, Mr. Mesic, with his
jovial, down-to-earth style, struck a chord in a nation tired of Mr.
Tudjman's aloofness.
B92 9/2/00 ------------------------------------------
GLI USA METTONO LE MANI AVANTI RISPETTO ALLA PROSSIMA
DICHIARAZIONE D'INDIPENDENZA DI KOSOVO E MACEDONIA
Independence of Kosovo or Montenegro no answer for Yugoslavia: US
WASHINGTON, Wednesday - The US Administration has came out strongly
against
the independence of either Kosovo or Montenegro as a solution to
Yugoslavia's
problems. According to Deputy Foreign Secretary Thomas Pickering, quoted
in
the US Government Bulletin today, what is needed is the departure of
Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic and the flourishing of the democratic
opposition. Pickering goes on to say that the US had stuck to its
principles
and was still prepared to oppose any provocative action such as that
which
had occurred in Kosovo.
The US State Department also today released results of a public opinion
poll
conducted in Serbia. The survey, conducted by the department's research
division, shows that Milosevic's popularity has dropped to its lowest
level
in several years. According to the results sixteen per cent of Serbian
citizens support the Yugoslav President. However, despite a drop of nine
percentage points from October 1998, Milosevic is still the most popular
politician in Serbia. In second place is Alliance for Change leader
Dragoslav
Avramovic with eleven per cent.
The State Department did not identify the agency responsible for
collecting
data in Serbia.
DOMANI I FUNERALI DI BULATOVIC
Bulatovic funeral in Montenegro tomorrow
PODGORICA, Wednesday - The body of murdered Yugoslav Defence Minister
Pavle
Bulatovic is lying in state in a Podgorica cemetery today. A memorial
service
was due to begin in the Montenegrin capital at 6.00 p.m. Bulatovic will
be
buried tomorrow in the village of Gornji Rovci, his birthplace. Yugoslav
Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, who is not related to the slain defence
minister, will deliver a eulogy.
Federal Information Minister Goran Matic said today that the murder of
Bulatovic was part of a series terrorist acts organised abroad. Matic
added
that he had predicted since last October that foreign countries would
plan
subversive terrorist acts in an effort to undermine the trust of
citizens.
Bulatovic had been under investigation by the Hague Tribunal, Deputy
Chief
Prosecutor Graham Blewett said today, adding that it was possible that
he
would be named as an accessory in future indictments.
VERRA' TOLTO L'EMBARGO AEREO?
Air traffic embargo to be lifted?
LONDON, Wednesday - The Yugoslav air traffic embargo will be suspended
for
six months after next Monday's Council of Minister meeting in Brussels,
British Foreign Office spokesman Mark Kent said today. Kent told
Belgrade
daily Blic that that the lifting of the sanctions was part of the
European
Union's agreement with the Serbian opposition. He added that along with
the
probable lifting of sanctions, the EU would step up financial pressure
on the
Belgrade regime and again extend the list of people close to the regime
banned from travelling to EU countries. Blic wrote today that Britain
had
already given its European partners an additional 180 names for the
list.
IL PARTITO SOCIALISTA SERBO DEL KOSOVO PREPARA IL CONGRESSO
Socialists choose deputies in Kosovo
ZVECAN, Wednesday - The ruling Socialist Party of Serbia is today
holding its
fourth election conference in Kosovo. The conference is expected to
elect
members of the Province Committee and delegates for next week's annual
party
congress. Conference delegates from Serbia proper were cleared by German
KFOR
troops at the Lesak checkpoint on the Kosovo administrative border. KFOR
provided escorts for Socialist Party members still living in the
province.
MESIC NON VEDE L'ORA DI ANDARE A TESTIMONIARE CONTRO MILOSEVIC
Mesic seeks to testify against Milosevic
ZAGREB, Wednesday - Croatian President-elect Stipe Mesic said today that
he
wanted to testify against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the
Hague
Tribunal. Mesic said he was doing everything he could to be invited by
the
Hague to give evidence against Milosevic. The newly-elected president
told
Spanish media that only after Milosevic had appeared before the
international
war crimes tribunal could the possibility of change in the Balkans be
discussed.
B92 8/2/00 -----------------------------------
ASSASSINATO IL MINISTRO DELLA DIFESA DELLA RFJ
Defence minister murdered
BELGRADE, Tuesday - Federal Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic was
murdered
yesterday in a restaurant in the Belgrade suburb of Banjica. Serbian
police
say that an unknown assailant fired through the window of the Rad
restaurant,
probably with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle. The restaurant manager,
Mirko
Knezevic and the director of the YuGarant Bank, Vuk Obradovic, where
slightly
wounded in the attack.
A memorial service was held today at the Federal Government building in
Belgrade, attended by most senior figures of the Serbian and Yugoslav
governments. Deputy Federal Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, speaking at
the
service, warned that there would be a serious assault on terrorism in
the
country.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic told media today that he
agreed
with the federal government's assessment that the murder of Bulatovic
was a
case of terrorism.
Belgrade daily 'Glas javnosti' writes today that Bulatovic was a cousin
of
Belgrade underworld figure Darko Asanin who was also murdered in a
Belgrade
restaurant eighteen months ago. The paper also claims that restaurateur
Mirko
Knezevic, who was wounded in the attack, was related to the murdered
defence
minister. The other injured man, retired army officer Vuk Obradovic, was
director of YuGarant bank which was established in the transformation of
the
Yugoslav Army in 1997 and had only later begun operating traditional
banking
services.
Deputy Serbian Information Minister Miodrag Popovic told the BBC today
that
the murder could easily be the work of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Other
speculations went further afield, with the Serbian Radical Party
accusing US,
British and French intelligence services of masterminding the murder.
The US
State Department said today that the murder of Bulatovic was new proof
that
the Belgrade regime was maintaining power by spreading fear, crime and
violence. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told media that only
a
democratic Serbia could relieve its citizens of the evil which
controlled
their destiny.
GRAVE INQUINAMENTO NEI FIUMI PROVENIENTE DALLA ROMANIA
New cyanide leak in Romania
BUDAPEST, Thursday - Another source of deadly cyanide pollution has been
discovered in Romania, according to an announcement from the Hungarian
embassy today. The embassy statement said that levels of up to sixty
times
the legal limit of cyanide had been identified.
The Director of the Federal Water Institute, Caslav Stanojevic, said
today
that the cyanide in the Tisa river which has been approaching Yugoslavia
through Hungary for the past week did not present a threat. Stanojevic
told
Studio B Radio that very diluted cyanide would reach Yugoslavia in
between
seven and ten days, and that all appropriate safety measures had been
taken.
TANJUG 8/2/00 ------------------------------------------------
L'ASSASSINIO DI BULATOVIC: UN ATTO DI TERRORISMO CONTRO LA RFJ
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-02/08/17109.html
Yugoslav Defense Minister Bulatovic assassinated
February 08, 2000
Belgrade, February 8th (Tanjug) - An unknown assailant assassinated the
Yugoslav
Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic in the F.C. Rad restaurant in Belgrade
at 6.55 p.m.
Monday, stated the Internal Affairs Secretariat in Belgrade.
Belgrade-based JU Garant Bank Director Vuk Obradovic and Rad restaurant
Manager Mirko Knezevic received minor injuries in the incident.
The assassin fired an automatic firearm through a window facing the
nearby football
stadium.
Belgrade police are taking all necessary measures towards finding the
perpetrator of
this crime, it was said in the statement
Pavle Bulatovic - victim of conventional act
of terrorism
Belgrade, February 8th (Tanjug) - The federal government states with
deep sorrow
and regret that Pavle Bulatovic, the FRY Defense Minister, was
assassinated in
Belgrade on Monday evening.
Minister Bulatovic is the victim of a conventional act of terrorism, it
was stressed in
the statement.
The federal government expresses gratitude and respect for the
contribution made by
Bulatovic to the defense, affirmation and development of FR Yugoslavia,
and
extends its deepest condolences to his family.
The federal government fully supports the authorized state organs in
their
uncompromising struggle against terrorism.
B92 6/2/00 ------------------------
DINI: PRESTO LEVATO L'EMBARGO AEREO
Dini: Suspension of air embargo imminent
BRUSSELS, Sunday - The air embargo on international flights from
Belgrade is
likely to be suspended at the next meeting of EU Ministers in Brussels
on
14th February, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in an
interview
for Belgrade daily "Blic" published today. The daily also writes that
there
are no indications that the European 15 will suspend the oil embargo.
IL TRIBUNALE DELL'AIA CHIEDE AI CRIMINALI
DELLA NATO DI CATTURARE I RICERCATI
Del Ponte demands NATO intensify search for war criminals
THE HAGUE, Sunday - Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor responsible for war
crimes, Carla Del Ponte has demanded that NATO set up special forces to
catch
war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, writes today's Danish daily
"Politiken". In her interview for "Politiken", Mrs. Del Ponte said that
she
had asked NATO General Secretary George Robertson to be more active in
this
area, expressing her opinion that NATO arrested only those indicted war
criminals which they ran into.
PARLA L'AVVOCATO DI ARKAN
Di Stefano: Arkan did not cooperate with Hague
BELGRADE, Sunday - Zeljko Raznjatovic, Arkan, did not provide the Hague
Tribunal with any documents or statements regarding war criminals,
Arkan's
lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano said in a written statement published in
Belgrade
daily "Glas javnosti" today. Di Stefano, who is currently imprisoned in
Italy
awaiting extradition to Britain, also stated that Arkan had not left
behind
any statements which could be used against senior Yugoslavian officials
in
any eventual war crimes trials.
YDS 5/2/00 ----------------------------------------------------
A BELGRADO UN POMERIGGIO DI SOLIDARIETA' CON IL POPOLO IRACHENO
EVENING OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE
BELGRADE, February 5 (Tanjug) - In the presence of members of the
diplomatic corps from Arab countries and ranking officials of Serbia and
of
Yugoslavia, on Friday evening in Belgrade was held an evening of
solidarity
with Iraq and with the Iraqi people, who is the victim of a long
systematic
aggression and genocidal sanctions.
Sympathizing sincerely with the sufferings of the friendly Iraqi people
and expressing support for its dignified resistance and defense of
freedom,
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic stressed that systematic
attacks of the Washington-London axis on Iraq were encountering growing
condemnation, repulsion and resistance of the freedom-loving world
public.
Frightful UNICEF data about the suffering of the Iraqi people, Jovanovic
said, testify that as a direct consequence of the sanctions one million
two
hundred fifty thousand Iraqis have died, including several hundred
thousand
children, and that the same reasons were causing more than 200 children
under five years of age to die every day and an increased mortality rate
of
new-borns and pregnant women.
"Sanctions are a form of massive violation of basic human rights. Those
who deprive other people of food, medicines, water, electric power, who
destroy day care centres and maternity wards, who cooperate with
separatists and terrorists in order to break peoples and states guarding
their freedom and dignity, have no right to speak in the name of
democracy,
human rights and the international community. They must be held
accountable
for crimes against peace and humanity and for genocide," Jovanovic said
and
pointed out that for such people the last concern is human rights in
Iraq,
in Kosovo and Metohija or any where else in the world.
Jovanovic stressed particularly that the successful development of
traditional friendly relations between Yugoslavia and Arab countries
repudiated malicious claims, used in the media war against our country,
aimed at breaking off cooperation on the bilateral and the international
level that is based on joint interests, activity in the Non-Aligned
Movement and the struggle for democratic international relations.
By the joint engagement of our countries, these principles have been
promoted with a view to creating a more just world, in which developing
countries would have the opportunity to, without dictate, conditioning
or
limitations on the part of a great power, to reach the level of
political
and economic independence enabling their peoples to live in freedom and
in
peace, Jovanovic said.
"Relations between Yugoslavia and Iraq have always been characterized by
diversified cooperation based on mutual respect, noninterference in
internal relations and on mutual interests, which was at the same time a
sound and reliable basis of our relations with all Arab countries and
peoples. Those relations and cooperation were never directed against the
interests of third countries, nor is that the case today and that is why
they have good prospects," Jovanovic assessed.
Warning that the Security Council has a special responsibility to stop
every form of aggression and to put an end to the genocidal sanctions
against Iraq, Minister Jovanovic said that Yugoslavia, which itself is a
victim of hegemonistic and domineering concept of the policy spearheaded
by
the United States, has great respect for the solidarity, support and
understanding of Iraq and of a large number of Arab countries and the
huge
majority of members of the world organization.
The ambassador of Iraq to Belgrade, Sami Sadun Al Kinani, warmly thanked
for the solidarity and support of Yugoslavia, which itself is exposed to
aggression and sanctions, for his country and stressed that the
solidarity
was the result of the principled policy of the Yugoslav leadership. The
evening of solidarity with the Iraqi people was attended by Yugoslav and
Serbian deputy premiers, Nikola Sainovic and Ratko Markovic, and by
Serbian
parliament president Dragan Tomic.
IL MINISTRO DELLA DIFESA SUL RUOLO DELLE TRUPPE RUSSE
YUGOSLAV DEFENCE MINISTER: RUSSIAN TROOPS MAINTAINING BALANCE IN KOSOVO
AND
METOHIJA
MOSCOW, February. 4 (Tanjug) - Throughout its history the Balkan region
has always been very important for Russia because its fate either
affirmed
Russia as a great power or caused it to lose this distinction, Yugoslav
Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic said in an interview carried by
Friday's
issue of the Russian paper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Speaking about the March 24 - June 10, 1999 NATO aggression on
Yugoslavia,
Bulatovic set out that the resistance to the aggressors was
"spontaneous,
organized and determined" and that established was "the exceptional
unity
of the people, army, police and the state organs."
"We were also very efficient in downing their planes and missiles,"
Bulatovic stated recalling that the Yugoslav Army, using the Neva
rocket,
was the first in the world to shoot down the famous U.S. F117A Stealth
plane.
Speaking about the strength of the Yugoslav Army, Bulatovic stated that
"it is better for all not to test it" because the heroism proven in the
war
against NATO has had a specially good effect on morale.
He underscored, however, that the Yugoslav Army badly needs modern
combat
means whose characteristics would serve as a deterrent to all potential
aggressors.
"We expect big support from the Russian Federation in the modernization
of
our army and the entire defence system since we have a traditionally
extensive cooperation in the defence sphere," Bulatovic noted.
According to him, this cooperation had, however, been marked by a degree
of discrepancy.
"In the previous decade we badly needed sophisticated and efficient
weapons, which Russia had, as our freedom was constantly being
threatened.
Russia, however, opted for the embargo on arms deliveries to Yugoslavia
and
strictly respected the U.N. embargo," Bulatovic recalled.
Describing the embargo as unjust and contrary to the principles ruling
international relations, in view of the elementary right of every
country
to defend itself, Bulatovic pointed out that this same embargo was
breached
by the Western and the Arab countries which constantly armed the enemies
of
the Serb and Montenegrin people.
Furthermore, Yugoslavia and Russia had signed and ratified numerous
agreements and contracts which have not been realized.
"I firmly believe that the time of Russian hesitation and indecision is
over and that the international security trends and economic conditions
will influence our military, military-economic and scientific-technical
cooperation in the sphere of defence to acquire a new quality and
contents," Bulatovic stated.
He added that Yugoslavia is monitoring with great hope the developments
on
the military and political scene in China and Russia and the
determination
of these two superpowers to oppose the U.S. and NATO hegemony.
Concluding that Russia was and remains the factor of the security of the
Serb and Montenegrin people, Bulatovic recalled the decision of the
Yugoslav government and the federal parliament to join the Union of
Russia
and Belarus. He added that this union opens up prospects for joint
solutions on issues of the defence and protection of one's own and the
joint sovereignty.
Commenting the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Bulatovic said that
U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1244, which guarantees Yugoslavia's
sovereignty
in Kosovo and Metohija, is not being implemented.
"We hoped that by protecting the Serbs, Montenegrins and other
non-Albanian ethnic groups in Kosovo and Metohija, the United Nations
would
defend itself from accusations that it has become the servant of the
United
States and NATO, but it is clear that KFOR and UNMIK were given the task
to
support the aggression and to try to realize all that the NATO warplanes
failed to do," Bulatovic set out.
Quoting the stupefying facts about the huge number refugees, murdered
and
kidnapped Serbs since the arrival of KFOR and UNMIK in Kosovo and
Metohija,
Bulatovic stated that all this "represents a clear message to Russia
regarding Chechnya."
"The United States has opted to cause crises to break out and to control
them and it has participated in more than 85 percent of the 215 wars and
focuses of crises which took place since the end of World War Two,"
Bulatovic said.
Regarding the participation of Russian troops within the international
force, Bulatovic noted that Russia "deserves to be given an important
role
by the United Nations both in view of its contingent and within the
command
structures."
SUI FINANZIATORI DEI "MEDIA INDIPENDENTI"
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS FINANCE SO-CALLED INDEPENDENT MEDIA
BELGRADE, February 5 (Tanjug) - Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar
Vucic said on Saturday that for all the crimes committed lately in
Kosovo
and Metohija are directly responsible the U.N. mission and Bernard
Kouchner.
The daily killings of Serbs only because they are Serbs and because they
do not want to abandon the homes of their ancestors, testifying to the
criminal nature of the Americans and their endeavors to conceal the
truth,
stifle freedom and human rights allegedly in the name of those same
rights,
is the culmination of hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the so-called
Western democracy, Vucic said at a news conference.
We are going though a phase of disintegration of the international legal
order, Vucic warned, specifying that the United States attempts to
introduce and put into practice an Orwellian unique, absolute, global
truth
and all those who do not agree with it are enemy and should be
destroyed.
Serbia found itself in the way and that is why they attempt to destroy
it
and obliterate the Serbian people from the face of the earth, Vucic
said.
Noting that in the sphere of the media the United States attempts to
impose the existence of only one truth, that serves its policy, Vucic
said
that the West, thought its obedient media in our country, is
endeavouring
to abolish all elementary human freedoms, including the right to freedom
of
speech and opinion, while sanctimoniously claiming that they are urging
the
freedom of the press and that their obedient media is threatened.
Kosovo and Metohija is the very image of democracy in the United States
and in the West, Vucic said, pointing to the example of the banning of
SAS
television in Pristina which had programs in Serbian, Albanian and in
English, but which did not suit UNMIK and Western interests.
Pointing out that the United States is trying to destroy all the pillars
of democracy, including the electoral system, Vucic cited the example of
Austria, where the European Union and the United States, as he said,
reduced to nonsense the legal institution of elections, by not
recognizing
the will of the people, but only of elections at which pro-American
forces
win.
ENNESIMA RICHIESTA JUGOSLAVA ALL'ONU SULLA SITUAZIONE IN KOSMET
U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL WOULD BE BLAMED FOR BALKAN DESTABILISATION
NEW YORK, February 4 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's permanent representative to
the United Nations wrote to the U.N. Security Council on Friday
requesting
the body's emergency meeting.
Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, who heads Yugoslavia's U.N. mission,
drew
the Council's attention to the disastrous consequences that would result
from its failure to curb the deterioration of the security situation in
Kosovo and Metohija, violation of Yugoslavia's sovereignty and
territorial
integrity, and the ethnic cleansing campaign waged by ethnic Albanian
terrorists against local Serbs and other non-Albanians in that Serbian
(Yugoslav) province.
Failure to do this would directly result in an escalation of terrorism
throughout the region, which would destabilise the Balkans and southeast
Europe, and for which the U.N. Security Council would be directly to
blame,
according to Jovanovic.
Ethnic Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija have committed fresh
atrocities, said the letter, addressed to the U.N. Security Council
President for February, Ambassador Arnoldo Listre of Argentina.
Jovanovic drew the attention of the Council members and U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan, who received a copy of the letter, to the two most
recent ethnic Albanian terrorist attacks - shelling with an anti-tank
grenade of a bus transporting Serbs under the escort of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and bombing of a cafe in Kosovska
Mitrovica.
The victims were all Serbs, the letter said, adding that the latest
brutal
operations by the ethnic Albanian so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA),
transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, have shown without a
shadow
of doubt that the international force KFor and the U.N. civilian mission
(UNMIK) have not discharged their main obligations under U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1244 of disarming KLA terrorists and providing
security
for all in Kosovo and Metohija.
It is especially disturbing that both terrorist attacks occurred in the
presence of members of the international military and civilian missions.
Yugoslavia has once again, regrettably under tragic circumstances, been
proved right in its warnings that KFor and UNMIK are neither determined
nor
ready of guaranteeing freedom of movement and safety for all.
This kind of behaviour has resulted in the expulsion of 350,000 Serbs,
Montenegrins, Goranies, ethnic Turks and other non-Albanians from Kosovo
and Metohija.
Describing the reaction and statement by Annan as confused, ambiguous
and
mild, the Yugoslav ambassador said Annan's statement does not condemn
the
terrorism whose acceleration is the direct result of an accord reached
with
the ethnic Albanian separatists and terrorists by Annan's special envoy
Bernard Kouchner.
IL LEADER NAZIONALISTA ALBANESE-MACEDONE XHAFERRI RICEVE UN MILIARDO
DALLA BROWN & RUTH COMPANY PER SFASCIARE IL SUO PAESE
ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER XHAFERI PAID TO RUIN MACEDONIA
SKOPJE, February 4 (Tanjug) - Leader of the Democratic Party of (ethnic)
Albanians in Macedonia Arben Xhaferi received 1,050,378 German marks
paid into his account late last December, according to a Macedonian
weekly magazine.
Start Magazine of Skopje says the money was paid into Xhaferi's
account with the Alfa Credit Bank of Tirana, Albania, by the American
Houston-based Brown and Ruth Company, which has a branch in Kumanovo,
Macedonia.
The company has close ties with the Pentagon, according to the
magazine.
Seeking an answer to the question what Xhaferi has done to merit the
considerable payment, Start learned of at least two services he has
rendered the Americans.
According to Start, he secured free passage for Brown and Ruth Co.
trucks across the Kosovo AND Metohija section of the Yugoslav-
Macedonian border which he controls on the Macedonian side,
independently of the state police.
Also, says Start, he was paid for his practical support for U.S. policy
at the time of NATO's March 24-June 10, 1999 aggression on Yugoslavia.
Start describes Xhaferi as a former Marxist-Leninist and follower of
(the late Albanian communist dictator) Enver Hoxha, now turned Greater
Albanian advocate and mafioso.
B92 4/2/00 --------------------------
DJINDJIC SEMPRE IN VIAGGIO ALL'ESTERO
Djindjic abroad again
WASHINGTON, Friday - Democratic Party President Zoran Djindjic met US
Balkans
envoy James Dobbins at the US State Department today. A statement issued
by
the Democratic Party after the meeting said the two had discussed aid to
prevent Serbian citizens becoming victims of isolation generated by the
Milosevic regime. The safety of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo
was
also on the agenda.
IL MONTENEGRO INDIPENDENTE AIUTERA' IL TRIBUNALE
DELL'AIA A SFASCIARE ANCHE IL RESTO
Montenegro will cooperate with The Hague: PM
THE HAGUE, Friday - Montenegro would cooperate with the Hague Tribunal
regardless of the official stance of Belgrade, Montenegrin Prime
Minister
Filip Vujanovic said today. Vujanovic told media in The Hague that he
had
assured the tribunal of Montenegro's willingness to hand over anyone
accused
of war crimes, provided their arrest would not lead to internal conflict
and
violence in the republic. Vujanovic, speaking at a joint press
conference
with Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, said that he believed that
it
was not in the international community's interest that arrests in
Montenegro
caused conflict or loss of human lives.
SHEA: LE NOSTRE MANOVRE IN KOSOVO SONO DI ROUTINE
Shea: Nato Kosovo exercises "routine"
BRUSSELS, Friday - NATO military manoeuvres in Kosovo in March would be
routine exercises, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea told Belgrade daily "Blic"
today. NATO headquarters announced this week that the manoeuvres would
be in
preparation for a response to any kind of deterioration of the situation
in
the province. Shea said today that the exercises were similar to those
which
had already taken place in both Bosnia and Kosovo, adding that there was
no
need to seek any kind of secret explanation for them.
B92 3/2/00 -----------------------------------------------------
VUJANOVIC CHIEDE 62 MILIONI DI DOLLARI PER SPACCARE IL SUO PAESE
Montenegro seeks aid for stabilisation
PODGORICA, Thursday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic today
sought
$62 million from the US as assistance in resisting what he described as
an
attempt by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to destabilise the
southern
republic. Vujanovic told an international conference in Washington today
that
Montenegro's reform efforts had reached a key moment and that financial
aid
was needed rapidly in order to reduce the chances of conflict and ensure
the
republic's survival. Vujanovic was expected to meet US Secretary of
State
Madeleine Albright later today before leaving for The Hague where he
will
meet Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte.
IL MANIFESTO 2/2/00 ------------
7 MILIONI DI DOLLARI A VUJANOVIC
(...)
Prosegue intanto negli Stati Uniti il viaggio del premier montenegrino
Filip Vujanovic, alleato del presidente Djukanovic. L'amministrazione
Usa ha riservato una calda accoglienza all'alleato anti-Milosevic e
l'Agenzia statunitense per lo sviluppo internazionale (Usaid) ha
concesso al governo di Podgorica 7 milioni di dollari per aiutarla a
pagare le pensioni. [sic!]
B92 2/2/00 ----------------------------------------------
VUJANOVIC VA A PRENDERE ACCORDI CON IL TRIBUNALE DELL'AIA
Montenegrin PM to visit Hague Tribunal
THE HAGUE, Wednesday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic is to
visit
the Hague Tribunal on Friday. Tribunal spokesman Paul Risley told media
today
that Vujanovic would meet Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte. Risley added
that
the visit had been arranged at Vujanovic's request.
GLI USA DANNO ISTRUZIONI AL MONTENEGRO SULLA SECESSIONE
US warns Montenegro against hasty action
PODGORICA, Wednesday - The US Defence Department has advised the
Montenegrin
government to proceed with caution during the coming months in order to
avoid
giving the Milosevic regime any opportunity to provoke a conflict in the
republic, Podgorica daily "Vijesti" writes today. The paper quotes
sources
from a Montenegrin delegation visiting Washington as saying that Prime
Minister Filip Vujanovic spent much longer than a planned half hour
yesterday
with Deputy US Defence Secretary Walter Slocombe. According to the
report,
Slocombe warned Vujanovic that the US was concerned that Belgrade wanted
a
new war in the Balkans, adding that any hasty move to resolve
Montenegro's
position in the Yugoslav Federation would lead the republic straight
into the
Milosevic machine.
B92 1/2/00 ----------------------------
VERSO IL CONGRESSO DEI SOCIALISTI SERBI
Socialists reshuffle for local elections
BELGRADE, Tuesday - The governing Socialist Party of Serbia is preparing
to
call local government elections immediately after its annual congress on
February 17, Belgrade daily "Vecernje novosti" writes today. The paper
quotes
sources it says is well-informed on SPS matters. "Vecernje novosti" also
claims that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has demanded that
branch
officials be reshuffled in order to put "the best people into senior
positions in the larger cities".
The paper also wrote today that the powerful secretary-general of the
Socialist Party, Gorica Gajevic, could soon be moved to a
vice-presidential
position and that current vice-president Zoran Lilic may be dumped
because of
his reformist views.
VUJANOVIC PROMETTE SEPARATISMO INDIPENDENTEMENTE DA MILOSEVIC
Crisis in federal relations deeper than Milosevic: Montenegrin PM
WASHINGTON, Tuesday - The crisis in federal relations between Serbia and
Montenegro won't be solved by the departure of Yugoslav President
Slobodan
Milosevic, Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic said today.
Vujanovic
told the "Washington Times" that it was necessary to define the
relationship
between Montenegro and Serbia on different constitutional principles,
adding
that Milosevic intended to launch a new crisis by destabilising
Montenegro
and beginning his fifth war in an attempt to maintain power.
RICOSTRUZIONE DI UN PONTE DISTRUTTO A NOVI SAD
Novi Sad begins its own bridge reconstruction
NOVI SAD, Tuesday - Work began today on rebuilding one of the three
Danube
bridges in Novi Sad destroyed in last year's NATO bombing campaign. The
mayor
of the Vojvodina capital, Stevan Vrbaski told media today that the
reconstruction was being financed by the city and the Institute for
Reconstruction of Novi Sad. In a reference to the Serbian Reconstruction
and
Renewal authority's strong objections to Novi Sad's initiative, Vrbaski
said
that the city would complete the bridge within twelve months, despite
attempts to deny it the right to do so.
SCIOPERO DEGLI INSEGNANTI IN SERBIA PER L'AUMENTO DEL SALARIO
School strike continues
BELGRADE, Tuesday - Teachers in Serbia's four largest education unions
today
continued to work reduced hours as part of their campaign for salary
increases and payment of salary arrears. Members of the four unions have
reduced class times from 45 to 30 minutes. Full time graduate secondary
teachers in Serbia currently receive a monthly salary of approximately
1,700
dinars or about 80 Deutschmarks.
SCIOPERO DEI FERROVIERI IN UNGHERIA
Hungarian railways strike again
BUDAPEST, Tuesday - Hungarian rail workers are on strike for the second
time
in a month, disrupting rail traffic in central and eastern Europe. The
workers say they will not return to work until their demands are met.
The
earlier action was limited to sixty hours. All passenger and freight
services
between Hungary and Yugoslavia have been suspended by the strike.
B92 30/1/2000 ------------------------------------------------
IL PRIMO MINISTRO MONTENEGRINO IN "VISITA DI LAVORO" NEGLI USA
Montenegrin Prime Minister on working visit to America
MONTENEGRO, Sunday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic left for
America today on a working visit which will last for several days, his
cabinet stated today. During his visit, Vujanovic will take part in a
Balkan
conference on 2nd February and will meet with representatives from the
State
department, Congress, US Aid and other American political
establishments.
SENSE news agency reported today that the USA budget for 2000 will
provide
Montenegro with fifty five million dollars as part of the American
programme
to promote world democracy.
CP 28/1/00 -------------------------------------------------
EX AMBASCIATORE CANADESE A BELGRADO DIVENTA PERSONA SGRADITA
NELL'AMBASCIATA CANADESE A BELGRADO PER LE SUE IDEE
Last updated: Friday 28 January 2000 NATIONAL NEWS
Ex Canadian ambassador not welcome at his former embassy in Belgrade
TORONTO (CP) - A former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia says he was
not allowed to visit Canada's embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, probably
because of his outspoken criticism of NATO's Kosovo bombing campaign.
James Bissett, who was in the Yugoslavian capital to speak to a Serbian
writers conference, told CBC Radio's As It Happens that an embassy
official told him neither the Canadian nor local staff were allowed to
speak with him, on orders from Ottawa.
Bissett said Thursday his first reaction was that the snub was a petty
act as payback for his public criticism of NATO's military campaign
against the Yugoslavian government of Slobodan Milosevic. He later came
to feel it was a more serious effort to squelch opposition to the
Canadian government's policies.
Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Jim Wright told CBC Radio that
officials in Ottawa had instructed the Belgrade embassy staff not to
spend any time talking with Bissett. Wright said the embassy staff was
busy with a humanitarian mission that was visiting Belgrade at the same
time.
Wright also said Bissett's public comments had been used by the
Milosevic government for propaganda and his visit to the embassy could
also be used by the Yugoslavian government, which Wright described as a
"pariah regime."
An opinion article by Bissett, published by the Globe and Mail on Jan.
10, accuses NATO of misleading the public about the reasons and
consequences of the bombing campaign.
He wrote there were approximately 2,000 casualties in Kosovo up to the
NATO bombing - but that NATO bombing killed more than 2,000 Yugoslavian
civilians.
Bissett also said more than 800,000 ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo after
NATO bombing started, compared with 200,000 who were displaced prior to
the military campaign.
Bissett was Canada's ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1990 until 1992,
before the current Liberal government came to power.
==================================================================
NOTA DEL CRJ: Le notizie in lingua straniera sono introdotte da un
nostro titolo in italiano per facilitarne la consultazione.
La nostra selezione di notizie contiene brani da fonti diverse:
YDS - e' la "Yugoslav Daily Survey" del Ministero degli Esteri della
RFJ (cfr. http://www.mfa.gov.yu/ ).
B92 - sono le notizie che provengono dalla mailing list di RadioB2-92,
di orientamento antigovernativo e filo-occidentale:
> freeb92-e is an open mailing list for distribution of news by Radio
> B2-92. News bulletins are updated at 19.00 CET Monday to Friday and
> at 23.00 CET on Saturday and Sunday.
> For more information on FreeB92 and Radio B2-92, visit:
> http://www.freeb92.net/
REUTERS - sono i dispacci della omonima agenzia di informazione
CP - e' l'agenzia di stampa canadese Canadian Press
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
DOPO 9 MESI DI CENSURA HA RIPRESO LE TRASMISSIONI LA TV DEL NEMICO.
Di nuovo captabile via satellite la RTV della Serbia, ogni giorno dalle
16 alle 24.
Dati tecnici: via STACIONAR 12, 40 gradi est sulla frequenza 11530 GHz
con polarizzazione circolare destra (si puo' captare anche con
polarizzazione orizzontale o verticale, ma il segnale sara' inferiore).
SR 4167 megasymbols per second FEC 1/2. (Fonte:
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-02/09/17139.html )
REUTERS 9/2/00 ----------------------------------------
IL NUOVO PRESIDENTE CROATO MESIC: LA NATO INNANZI TUTTO
Paris, Weds., Feb. 9, 2000
Croatia President-Elect Says He'll Push Effort To Join EU and NATO
Reuters
ZAGREB, Croatia - Stipe Mesic, the president-elect of Croatia, vowed
Tuesday to push for swift entry into the European Union and NATO and to
battle high unemployment.
''We want to convince the world that Croatia is a part of Europe and
that Europe is in Croatia too,'' Mr. Mesic told cheering supporters
after winning the runoff election Monday, signaling a fresh start after
a decade of nationalist rule under Franjo Tudjman. ''We want to fulfill
our strategic goals as soon as possible to enter the European Union and
NATO.''
In Washington, Richard Holbrooke, the chief U.S. delegate to the United
Nations, heralded Mr. Mesic's election as a major step forward in
Croatia's drive to turn its back on ''the horrible mess'' in the
Balkans.
During the final years of rule under Mr. Tudjman, who died in December,
the West had shunned Croatia for its interference in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and refusal to cooperate with a United Nations war crimes tribunal.
Both Mr. Mesic, and the new center-left government that defeated Mr.
Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union in a general election Jan. 3, have
vowed to reverse those policies.
With Mr. Mesic preparing for a five-year term, the influential weekly
Nacional underscored the political mood Tuesday with a front-page
headline: ''Croatia returns to the European family.''
The electoral commission said Mr. Mesic, who heads a coalition that is
part of the new governing alliance, had won 56.21 percent of the
second-round vote against 43.79 percent for Drazen Budisa, leader of the
Social Liberal party. In the first round of the presidential election on
Jan. 24, Mr. Mesic won 41.6 percent of the vote in a nine-party field,
while Mr. Budisa won 28 percent.
Croatian financial markets, rising strongly since the Jan. 3
parliamentary elections, were unmoved by the result, which had been
predicted by opinion polls.
''Though more news of rapprochement with Europe will always be rewarded,
from now on, the focus will be on economic rather than political
performance,'' said Hrvoje Fajdetic, trading chief at ZB Brokers in
Zagreb.
The Croatian economy was expected to have contracted by 1 percent to 1.5
percent last year, and unemployment reached a record high 20.8 percent
in December.
Mr. Mesic has said he will work closely with Prime Minister Ivica Racan
on tackling domestic woes. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Mr. Mesic
said, ''I would sum up our problem in three words: employment,
employment and employment.''
But it is not clear what influence Mr. Mesic will have in the daily
running of the country, because the government is committed to stripping
the presidency of the wide-ranging powers that were held by Mr. Tudjman.
Mr. Mesic supports this shift, saying only that he wants to remain
supreme commander of the army and have responsibility for appointing
secret service chiefs.
A former member of the Croatian Democratic Union, Mr. Mesic has held
numerous political offices. He was ejected into the opposition in 1994
after renouncing Mr. Tudjman's policy toward Bosnia.
Despite allegations of murky campaign financing, Mr. Mesic, with his
jovial, down-to-earth style, struck a chord in a nation tired of Mr.
Tudjman's aloofness.
B92 9/2/00 ------------------------------------------
GLI USA METTONO LE MANI AVANTI RISPETTO ALLA PROSSIMA
DICHIARAZIONE D'INDIPENDENZA DI KOSOVO E MACEDONIA
Independence of Kosovo or Montenegro no answer for Yugoslavia: US
WASHINGTON, Wednesday - The US Administration has came out strongly
against
the independence of either Kosovo or Montenegro as a solution to
Yugoslavia's
problems. According to Deputy Foreign Secretary Thomas Pickering, quoted
in
the US Government Bulletin today, what is needed is the departure of
Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic and the flourishing of the democratic
opposition. Pickering goes on to say that the US had stuck to its
principles
and was still prepared to oppose any provocative action such as that
which
had occurred in Kosovo.
The US State Department also today released results of a public opinion
poll
conducted in Serbia. The survey, conducted by the department's research
division, shows that Milosevic's popularity has dropped to its lowest
level
in several years. According to the results sixteen per cent of Serbian
citizens support the Yugoslav President. However, despite a drop of nine
percentage points from October 1998, Milosevic is still the most popular
politician in Serbia. In second place is Alliance for Change leader
Dragoslav
Avramovic with eleven per cent.
The State Department did not identify the agency responsible for
collecting
data in Serbia.
DOMANI I FUNERALI DI BULATOVIC
Bulatovic funeral in Montenegro tomorrow
PODGORICA, Wednesday - The body of murdered Yugoslav Defence Minister
Pavle
Bulatovic is lying in state in a Podgorica cemetery today. A memorial
service
was due to begin in the Montenegrin capital at 6.00 p.m. Bulatovic will
be
buried tomorrow in the village of Gornji Rovci, his birthplace. Yugoslav
Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, who is not related to the slain defence
minister, will deliver a eulogy.
Federal Information Minister Goran Matic said today that the murder of
Bulatovic was part of a series terrorist acts organised abroad. Matic
added
that he had predicted since last October that foreign countries would
plan
subversive terrorist acts in an effort to undermine the trust of
citizens.
Bulatovic had been under investigation by the Hague Tribunal, Deputy
Chief
Prosecutor Graham Blewett said today, adding that it was possible that
he
would be named as an accessory in future indictments.
VERRA' TOLTO L'EMBARGO AEREO?
Air traffic embargo to be lifted?
LONDON, Wednesday - The Yugoslav air traffic embargo will be suspended
for
six months after next Monday's Council of Minister meeting in Brussels,
British Foreign Office spokesman Mark Kent said today. Kent told
Belgrade
daily Blic that that the lifting of the sanctions was part of the
European
Union's agreement with the Serbian opposition. He added that along with
the
probable lifting of sanctions, the EU would step up financial pressure
on the
Belgrade regime and again extend the list of people close to the regime
banned from travelling to EU countries. Blic wrote today that Britain
had
already given its European partners an additional 180 names for the
list.
IL PARTITO SOCIALISTA SERBO DEL KOSOVO PREPARA IL CONGRESSO
Socialists choose deputies in Kosovo
ZVECAN, Wednesday - The ruling Socialist Party of Serbia is today
holding its
fourth election conference in Kosovo. The conference is expected to
elect
members of the Province Committee and delegates for next week's annual
party
congress. Conference delegates from Serbia proper were cleared by German
KFOR
troops at the Lesak checkpoint on the Kosovo administrative border. KFOR
provided escorts for Socialist Party members still living in the
province.
MESIC NON VEDE L'ORA DI ANDARE A TESTIMONIARE CONTRO MILOSEVIC
Mesic seeks to testify against Milosevic
ZAGREB, Wednesday - Croatian President-elect Stipe Mesic said today that
he
wanted to testify against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the
Hague
Tribunal. Mesic said he was doing everything he could to be invited by
the
Hague to give evidence against Milosevic. The newly-elected president
told
Spanish media that only after Milosevic had appeared before the
international
war crimes tribunal could the possibility of change in the Balkans be
discussed.
B92 8/2/00 -----------------------------------
ASSASSINATO IL MINISTRO DELLA DIFESA DELLA RFJ
Defence minister murdered
BELGRADE, Tuesday - Federal Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic was
murdered
yesterday in a restaurant in the Belgrade suburb of Banjica. Serbian
police
say that an unknown assailant fired through the window of the Rad
restaurant,
probably with a Kalashnikov automatic rifle. The restaurant manager,
Mirko
Knezevic and the director of the YuGarant Bank, Vuk Obradovic, where
slightly
wounded in the attack.
A memorial service was held today at the Federal Government building in
Belgrade, attended by most senior figures of the Serbian and Yugoslav
governments. Deputy Federal Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, speaking at
the
service, warned that there would be a serious assault on terrorism in
the
country.
Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic told media today that he
agreed
with the federal government's assessment that the murder of Bulatovic
was a
case of terrorism.
Belgrade daily 'Glas javnosti' writes today that Bulatovic was a cousin
of
Belgrade underworld figure Darko Asanin who was also murdered in a
Belgrade
restaurant eighteen months ago. The paper also claims that restaurateur
Mirko
Knezevic, who was wounded in the attack, was related to the murdered
defence
minister. The other injured man, retired army officer Vuk Obradovic, was
director of YuGarant bank which was established in the transformation of
the
Yugoslav Army in 1997 and had only later begun operating traditional
banking
services.
Deputy Serbian Information Minister Miodrag Popovic told the BBC today
that
the murder could easily be the work of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Other
speculations went further afield, with the Serbian Radical Party
accusing US,
British and French intelligence services of masterminding the murder.
The US
State Department said today that the murder of Bulatovic was new proof
that
the Belgrade regime was maintaining power by spreading fear, crime and
violence. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told media that only
a
democratic Serbia could relieve its citizens of the evil which
controlled
their destiny.
GRAVE INQUINAMENTO NEI FIUMI PROVENIENTE DALLA ROMANIA
New cyanide leak in Romania
BUDAPEST, Thursday - Another source of deadly cyanide pollution has been
discovered in Romania, according to an announcement from the Hungarian
embassy today. The embassy statement said that levels of up to sixty
times
the legal limit of cyanide had been identified.
The Director of the Federal Water Institute, Caslav Stanojevic, said
today
that the cyanide in the Tisa river which has been approaching Yugoslavia
through Hungary for the past week did not present a threat. Stanojevic
told
Studio B Radio that very diluted cyanide would reach Yugoslavia in
between
seven and ten days, and that all appropriate safety measures had been
taken.
TANJUG 8/2/00 ------------------------------------------------
L'ASSASSINIO DI BULATOVIC: UN ATTO DI TERRORISMO CONTRO LA RFJ
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/2000-02/08/17109.html
Yugoslav Defense Minister Bulatovic assassinated
February 08, 2000
Belgrade, February 8th (Tanjug) - An unknown assailant assassinated the
Yugoslav
Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic in the F.C. Rad restaurant in Belgrade
at 6.55 p.m.
Monday, stated the Internal Affairs Secretariat in Belgrade.
Belgrade-based JU Garant Bank Director Vuk Obradovic and Rad restaurant
Manager Mirko Knezevic received minor injuries in the incident.
The assassin fired an automatic firearm through a window facing the
nearby football
stadium.
Belgrade police are taking all necessary measures towards finding the
perpetrator of
this crime, it was said in the statement
Pavle Bulatovic - victim of conventional act
of terrorism
Belgrade, February 8th (Tanjug) - The federal government states with
deep sorrow
and regret that Pavle Bulatovic, the FRY Defense Minister, was
assassinated in
Belgrade on Monday evening.
Minister Bulatovic is the victim of a conventional act of terrorism, it
was stressed in
the statement.
The federal government expresses gratitude and respect for the
contribution made by
Bulatovic to the defense, affirmation and development of FR Yugoslavia,
and
extends its deepest condolences to his family.
The federal government fully supports the authorized state organs in
their
uncompromising struggle against terrorism.
B92 6/2/00 ------------------------
DINI: PRESTO LEVATO L'EMBARGO AEREO
Dini: Suspension of air embargo imminent
BRUSSELS, Sunday - The air embargo on international flights from
Belgrade is
likely to be suspended at the next meeting of EU Ministers in Brussels
on
14th February, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in an
interview
for Belgrade daily "Blic" published today. The daily also writes that
there
are no indications that the European 15 will suspend the oil embargo.
IL TRIBUNALE DELL'AIA CHIEDE AI CRIMINALI
DELLA NATO DI CATTURARE I RICERCATI
Del Ponte demands NATO intensify search for war criminals
THE HAGUE, Sunday - Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor responsible for war
crimes, Carla Del Ponte has demanded that NATO set up special forces to
catch
war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, writes today's Danish daily
"Politiken". In her interview for "Politiken", Mrs. Del Ponte said that
she
had asked NATO General Secretary George Robertson to be more active in
this
area, expressing her opinion that NATO arrested only those indicted war
criminals which they ran into.
PARLA L'AVVOCATO DI ARKAN
Di Stefano: Arkan did not cooperate with Hague
BELGRADE, Sunday - Zeljko Raznjatovic, Arkan, did not provide the Hague
Tribunal with any documents or statements regarding war criminals,
Arkan's
lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano said in a written statement published in
Belgrade
daily "Glas javnosti" today. Di Stefano, who is currently imprisoned in
Italy
awaiting extradition to Britain, also stated that Arkan had not left
behind
any statements which could be used against senior Yugoslavian officials
in
any eventual war crimes trials.
YDS 5/2/00 ----------------------------------------------------
A BELGRADO UN POMERIGGIO DI SOLIDARIETA' CON IL POPOLO IRACHENO
EVENING OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE
BELGRADE, February 5 (Tanjug) - In the presence of members of the
diplomatic corps from Arab countries and ranking officials of Serbia and
of
Yugoslavia, on Friday evening in Belgrade was held an evening of
solidarity
with Iraq and with the Iraqi people, who is the victim of a long
systematic
aggression and genocidal sanctions.
Sympathizing sincerely with the sufferings of the friendly Iraqi people
and expressing support for its dignified resistance and defense of
freedom,
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic stressed that systematic
attacks of the Washington-London axis on Iraq were encountering growing
condemnation, repulsion and resistance of the freedom-loving world
public.
Frightful UNICEF data about the suffering of the Iraqi people, Jovanovic
said, testify that as a direct consequence of the sanctions one million
two
hundred fifty thousand Iraqis have died, including several hundred
thousand
children, and that the same reasons were causing more than 200 children
under five years of age to die every day and an increased mortality rate
of
new-borns and pregnant women.
"Sanctions are a form of massive violation of basic human rights. Those
who deprive other people of food, medicines, water, electric power, who
destroy day care centres and maternity wards, who cooperate with
separatists and terrorists in order to break peoples and states guarding
their freedom and dignity, have no right to speak in the name of
democracy,
human rights and the international community. They must be held
accountable
for crimes against peace and humanity and for genocide," Jovanovic said
and
pointed out that for such people the last concern is human rights in
Iraq,
in Kosovo and Metohija or any where else in the world.
Jovanovic stressed particularly that the successful development of
traditional friendly relations between Yugoslavia and Arab countries
repudiated malicious claims, used in the media war against our country,
aimed at breaking off cooperation on the bilateral and the international
level that is based on joint interests, activity in the Non-Aligned
Movement and the struggle for democratic international relations.
By the joint engagement of our countries, these principles have been
promoted with a view to creating a more just world, in which developing
countries would have the opportunity to, without dictate, conditioning
or
limitations on the part of a great power, to reach the level of
political
and economic independence enabling their peoples to live in freedom and
in
peace, Jovanovic said.
"Relations between Yugoslavia and Iraq have always been characterized by
diversified cooperation based on mutual respect, noninterference in
internal relations and on mutual interests, which was at the same time a
sound and reliable basis of our relations with all Arab countries and
peoples. Those relations and cooperation were never directed against the
interests of third countries, nor is that the case today and that is why
they have good prospects," Jovanovic assessed.
Warning that the Security Council has a special responsibility to stop
every form of aggression and to put an end to the genocidal sanctions
against Iraq, Minister Jovanovic said that Yugoslavia, which itself is a
victim of hegemonistic and domineering concept of the policy spearheaded
by
the United States, has great respect for the solidarity, support and
understanding of Iraq and of a large number of Arab countries and the
huge
majority of members of the world organization.
The ambassador of Iraq to Belgrade, Sami Sadun Al Kinani, warmly thanked
for the solidarity and support of Yugoslavia, which itself is exposed to
aggression and sanctions, for his country and stressed that the
solidarity
was the result of the principled policy of the Yugoslav leadership. The
evening of solidarity with the Iraqi people was attended by Yugoslav and
Serbian deputy premiers, Nikola Sainovic and Ratko Markovic, and by
Serbian
parliament president Dragan Tomic.
IL MINISTRO DELLA DIFESA SUL RUOLO DELLE TRUPPE RUSSE
YUGOSLAV DEFENCE MINISTER: RUSSIAN TROOPS MAINTAINING BALANCE IN KOSOVO
AND
METOHIJA
MOSCOW, February. 4 (Tanjug) - Throughout its history the Balkan region
has always been very important for Russia because its fate either
affirmed
Russia as a great power or caused it to lose this distinction, Yugoslav
Defence Minister Pavle Bulatovic said in an interview carried by
Friday's
issue of the Russian paper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Speaking about the March 24 - June 10, 1999 NATO aggression on
Yugoslavia,
Bulatovic set out that the resistance to the aggressors was
"spontaneous,
organized and determined" and that established was "the exceptional
unity
of the people, army, police and the state organs."
"We were also very efficient in downing their planes and missiles,"
Bulatovic stated recalling that the Yugoslav Army, using the Neva
rocket,
was the first in the world to shoot down the famous U.S. F117A Stealth
plane.
Speaking about the strength of the Yugoslav Army, Bulatovic stated that
"it is better for all not to test it" because the heroism proven in the
war
against NATO has had a specially good effect on morale.
He underscored, however, that the Yugoslav Army badly needs modern
combat
means whose characteristics would serve as a deterrent to all potential
aggressors.
"We expect big support from the Russian Federation in the modernization
of
our army and the entire defence system since we have a traditionally
extensive cooperation in the defence sphere," Bulatovic noted.
According to him, this cooperation had, however, been marked by a degree
of discrepancy.
"In the previous decade we badly needed sophisticated and efficient
weapons, which Russia had, as our freedom was constantly being
threatened.
Russia, however, opted for the embargo on arms deliveries to Yugoslavia
and
strictly respected the U.N. embargo," Bulatovic recalled.
Describing the embargo as unjust and contrary to the principles ruling
international relations, in view of the elementary right of every
country
to defend itself, Bulatovic pointed out that this same embargo was
breached
by the Western and the Arab countries which constantly armed the enemies
of
the Serb and Montenegrin people.
Furthermore, Yugoslavia and Russia had signed and ratified numerous
agreements and contracts which have not been realized.
"I firmly believe that the time of Russian hesitation and indecision is
over and that the international security trends and economic conditions
will influence our military, military-economic and scientific-technical
cooperation in the sphere of defence to acquire a new quality and
contents," Bulatovic stated.
He added that Yugoslavia is monitoring with great hope the developments
on
the military and political scene in China and Russia and the
determination
of these two superpowers to oppose the U.S. and NATO hegemony.
Concluding that Russia was and remains the factor of the security of the
Serb and Montenegrin people, Bulatovic recalled the decision of the
Yugoslav government and the federal parliament to join the Union of
Russia
and Belarus. He added that this union opens up prospects for joint
solutions on issues of the defence and protection of one's own and the
joint sovereignty.
Commenting the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, Bulatovic said that
U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1244, which guarantees Yugoslavia's
sovereignty
in Kosovo and Metohija, is not being implemented.
"We hoped that by protecting the Serbs, Montenegrins and other
non-Albanian ethnic groups in Kosovo and Metohija, the United Nations
would
defend itself from accusations that it has become the servant of the
United
States and NATO, but it is clear that KFOR and UNMIK were given the task
to
support the aggression and to try to realize all that the NATO warplanes
failed to do," Bulatovic set out.
Quoting the stupefying facts about the huge number refugees, murdered
and
kidnapped Serbs since the arrival of KFOR and UNMIK in Kosovo and
Metohija,
Bulatovic stated that all this "represents a clear message to Russia
regarding Chechnya."
"The United States has opted to cause crises to break out and to control
them and it has participated in more than 85 percent of the 215 wars and
focuses of crises which took place since the end of World War Two,"
Bulatovic said.
Regarding the participation of Russian troops within the international
force, Bulatovic noted that Russia "deserves to be given an important
role
by the United Nations both in view of its contingent and within the
command
structures."
SUI FINANZIATORI DEI "MEDIA INDIPENDENTI"
FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS FINANCE SO-CALLED INDEPENDENT MEDIA
BELGRADE, February 5 (Tanjug) - Serbian Information Minister Aleksandar
Vucic said on Saturday that for all the crimes committed lately in
Kosovo
and Metohija are directly responsible the U.N. mission and Bernard
Kouchner.
The daily killings of Serbs only because they are Serbs and because they
do not want to abandon the homes of their ancestors, testifying to the
criminal nature of the Americans and their endeavors to conceal the
truth,
stifle freedom and human rights allegedly in the name of those same
rights,
is the culmination of hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the so-called
Western democracy, Vucic said at a news conference.
We are going though a phase of disintegration of the international legal
order, Vucic warned, specifying that the United States attempts to
introduce and put into practice an Orwellian unique, absolute, global
truth
and all those who do not agree with it are enemy and should be
destroyed.
Serbia found itself in the way and that is why they attempt to destroy
it
and obliterate the Serbian people from the face of the earth, Vucic
said.
Noting that in the sphere of the media the United States attempts to
impose the existence of only one truth, that serves its policy, Vucic
said
that the West, thought its obedient media in our country, is
endeavouring
to abolish all elementary human freedoms, including the right to freedom
of
speech and opinion, while sanctimoniously claiming that they are urging
the
freedom of the press and that their obedient media is threatened.
Kosovo and Metohija is the very image of democracy in the United States
and in the West, Vucic said, pointing to the example of the banning of
SAS
television in Pristina which had programs in Serbian, Albanian and in
English, but which did not suit UNMIK and Western interests.
Pointing out that the United States is trying to destroy all the pillars
of democracy, including the electoral system, Vucic cited the example of
Austria, where the European Union and the United States, as he said,
reduced to nonsense the legal institution of elections, by not
recognizing
the will of the people, but only of elections at which pro-American
forces
win.
ENNESIMA RICHIESTA JUGOSLAVA ALL'ONU SULLA SITUAZIONE IN KOSMET
U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL WOULD BE BLAMED FOR BALKAN DESTABILISATION
NEW YORK, February 4 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's permanent representative to
the United Nations wrote to the U.N. Security Council on Friday
requesting
the body's emergency meeting.
Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic, who heads Yugoslavia's U.N. mission,
drew
the Council's attention to the disastrous consequences that would result
from its failure to curb the deterioration of the security situation in
Kosovo and Metohija, violation of Yugoslavia's sovereignty and
territorial
integrity, and the ethnic cleansing campaign waged by ethnic Albanian
terrorists against local Serbs and other non-Albanians in that Serbian
(Yugoslav) province.
Failure to do this would directly result in an escalation of terrorism
throughout the region, which would destabilise the Balkans and southeast
Europe, and for which the U.N. Security Council would be directly to
blame,
according to Jovanovic.
Ethnic Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija have committed fresh
atrocities, said the letter, addressed to the U.N. Security Council
President for February, Ambassador Arnoldo Listre of Argentina.
Jovanovic drew the attention of the Council members and U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan, who received a copy of the letter, to the two most
recent ethnic Albanian terrorist attacks - shelling with an anti-tank
grenade of a bus transporting Serbs under the escort of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and bombing of a cafe in Kosovska
Mitrovica.
The victims were all Serbs, the letter said, adding that the latest
brutal
operations by the ethnic Albanian so-called Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA),
transformed into the Kosovo Protection Corps, have shown without a
shadow
of doubt that the international force KFor and the U.N. civilian mission
(UNMIK) have not discharged their main obligations under U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1244 of disarming KLA terrorists and providing
security
for all in Kosovo and Metohija.
It is especially disturbing that both terrorist attacks occurred in the
presence of members of the international military and civilian missions.
Yugoslavia has once again, regrettably under tragic circumstances, been
proved right in its warnings that KFor and UNMIK are neither determined
nor
ready of guaranteeing freedom of movement and safety for all.
This kind of behaviour has resulted in the expulsion of 350,000 Serbs,
Montenegrins, Goranies, ethnic Turks and other non-Albanians from Kosovo
and Metohija.
Describing the reaction and statement by Annan as confused, ambiguous
and
mild, the Yugoslav ambassador said Annan's statement does not condemn
the
terrorism whose acceleration is the direct result of an accord reached
with
the ethnic Albanian separatists and terrorists by Annan's special envoy
Bernard Kouchner.
IL LEADER NAZIONALISTA ALBANESE-MACEDONE XHAFERRI RICEVE UN MILIARDO
DALLA BROWN & RUTH COMPANY PER SFASCIARE IL SUO PAESE
ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER XHAFERI PAID TO RUIN MACEDONIA
SKOPJE, February 4 (Tanjug) - Leader of the Democratic Party of (ethnic)
Albanians in Macedonia Arben Xhaferi received 1,050,378 German marks
paid into his account late last December, according to a Macedonian
weekly magazine.
Start Magazine of Skopje says the money was paid into Xhaferi's
account with the Alfa Credit Bank of Tirana, Albania, by the American
Houston-based Brown and Ruth Company, which has a branch in Kumanovo,
Macedonia.
The company has close ties with the Pentagon, according to the
magazine.
Seeking an answer to the question what Xhaferi has done to merit the
considerable payment, Start learned of at least two services he has
rendered the Americans.
According to Start, he secured free passage for Brown and Ruth Co.
trucks across the Kosovo AND Metohija section of the Yugoslav-
Macedonian border which he controls on the Macedonian side,
independently of the state police.
Also, says Start, he was paid for his practical support for U.S. policy
at the time of NATO's March 24-June 10, 1999 aggression on Yugoslavia.
Start describes Xhaferi as a former Marxist-Leninist and follower of
(the late Albanian communist dictator) Enver Hoxha, now turned Greater
Albanian advocate and mafioso.
B92 4/2/00 --------------------------
DJINDJIC SEMPRE IN VIAGGIO ALL'ESTERO
Djindjic abroad again
WASHINGTON, Friday - Democratic Party President Zoran Djindjic met US
Balkans
envoy James Dobbins at the US State Department today. A statement issued
by
the Democratic Party after the meeting said the two had discussed aid to
prevent Serbian citizens becoming victims of isolation generated by the
Milosevic regime. The safety of Serbs and other non-Albanians in Kosovo
was
also on the agenda.
IL MONTENEGRO INDIPENDENTE AIUTERA' IL TRIBUNALE
DELL'AIA A SFASCIARE ANCHE IL RESTO
Montenegro will cooperate with The Hague: PM
THE HAGUE, Friday - Montenegro would cooperate with the Hague Tribunal
regardless of the official stance of Belgrade, Montenegrin Prime
Minister
Filip Vujanovic said today. Vujanovic told media in The Hague that he
had
assured the tribunal of Montenegro's willingness to hand over anyone
accused
of war crimes, provided their arrest would not lead to internal conflict
and
violence in the republic. Vujanovic, speaking at a joint press
conference
with Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, said that he believed that
it
was not in the international community's interest that arrests in
Montenegro
caused conflict or loss of human lives.
SHEA: LE NOSTRE MANOVRE IN KOSOVO SONO DI ROUTINE
Shea: Nato Kosovo exercises "routine"
BRUSSELS, Friday - NATO military manoeuvres in Kosovo in March would be
routine exercises, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea told Belgrade daily "Blic"
today. NATO headquarters announced this week that the manoeuvres would
be in
preparation for a response to any kind of deterioration of the situation
in
the province. Shea said today that the exercises were similar to those
which
had already taken place in both Bosnia and Kosovo, adding that there was
no
need to seek any kind of secret explanation for them.
B92 3/2/00 -----------------------------------------------------
VUJANOVIC CHIEDE 62 MILIONI DI DOLLARI PER SPACCARE IL SUO PAESE
Montenegro seeks aid for stabilisation
PODGORICA, Thursday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic today
sought
$62 million from the US as assistance in resisting what he described as
an
attempt by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to destabilise the
southern
republic. Vujanovic told an international conference in Washington today
that
Montenegro's reform efforts had reached a key moment and that financial
aid
was needed rapidly in order to reduce the chances of conflict and ensure
the
republic's survival. Vujanovic was expected to meet US Secretary of
State
Madeleine Albright later today before leaving for The Hague where he
will
meet Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte.
IL MANIFESTO 2/2/00 ------------
7 MILIONI DI DOLLARI A VUJANOVIC
(...)
Prosegue intanto negli Stati Uniti il viaggio del premier montenegrino
Filip Vujanovic, alleato del presidente Djukanovic. L'amministrazione
Usa ha riservato una calda accoglienza all'alleato anti-Milosevic e
l'Agenzia statunitense per lo sviluppo internazionale (Usaid) ha
concesso al governo di Podgorica 7 milioni di dollari per aiutarla a
pagare le pensioni. [sic!]
B92 2/2/00 ----------------------------------------------
VUJANOVIC VA A PRENDERE ACCORDI CON IL TRIBUNALE DELL'AIA
Montenegrin PM to visit Hague Tribunal
THE HAGUE, Wednesday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic is to
visit
the Hague Tribunal on Friday. Tribunal spokesman Paul Risley told media
today
that Vujanovic would meet Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte. Risley added
that
the visit had been arranged at Vujanovic's request.
GLI USA DANNO ISTRUZIONI AL MONTENEGRO SULLA SECESSIONE
US warns Montenegro against hasty action
PODGORICA, Wednesday - The US Defence Department has advised the
Montenegrin
government to proceed with caution during the coming months in order to
avoid
giving the Milosevic regime any opportunity to provoke a conflict in the
republic, Podgorica daily "Vijesti" writes today. The paper quotes
sources
from a Montenegrin delegation visiting Washington as saying that Prime
Minister Filip Vujanovic spent much longer than a planned half hour
yesterday
with Deputy US Defence Secretary Walter Slocombe. According to the
report,
Slocombe warned Vujanovic that the US was concerned that Belgrade wanted
a
new war in the Balkans, adding that any hasty move to resolve
Montenegro's
position in the Yugoslav Federation would lead the republic straight
into the
Milosevic machine.
B92 1/2/00 ----------------------------
VERSO IL CONGRESSO DEI SOCIALISTI SERBI
Socialists reshuffle for local elections
BELGRADE, Tuesday - The governing Socialist Party of Serbia is preparing
to
call local government elections immediately after its annual congress on
February 17, Belgrade daily "Vecernje novosti" writes today. The paper
quotes
sources it says is well-informed on SPS matters. "Vecernje novosti" also
claims that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has demanded that
branch
officials be reshuffled in order to put "the best people into senior
positions in the larger cities".
The paper also wrote today that the powerful secretary-general of the
Socialist Party, Gorica Gajevic, could soon be moved to a
vice-presidential
position and that current vice-president Zoran Lilic may be dumped
because of
his reformist views.
VUJANOVIC PROMETTE SEPARATISMO INDIPENDENTEMENTE DA MILOSEVIC
Crisis in federal relations deeper than Milosevic: Montenegrin PM
WASHINGTON, Tuesday - The crisis in federal relations between Serbia and
Montenegro won't be solved by the departure of Yugoslav President
Slobodan
Milosevic, Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic said today.
Vujanovic
told the "Washington Times" that it was necessary to define the
relationship
between Montenegro and Serbia on different constitutional principles,
adding
that Milosevic intended to launch a new crisis by destabilising
Montenegro
and beginning his fifth war in an attempt to maintain power.
RICOSTRUZIONE DI UN PONTE DISTRUTTO A NOVI SAD
Novi Sad begins its own bridge reconstruction
NOVI SAD, Tuesday - Work began today on rebuilding one of the three
Danube
bridges in Novi Sad destroyed in last year's NATO bombing campaign. The
mayor
of the Vojvodina capital, Stevan Vrbaski told media today that the
reconstruction was being financed by the city and the Institute for
Reconstruction of Novi Sad. In a reference to the Serbian Reconstruction
and
Renewal authority's strong objections to Novi Sad's initiative, Vrbaski
said
that the city would complete the bridge within twelve months, despite
attempts to deny it the right to do so.
SCIOPERO DEGLI INSEGNANTI IN SERBIA PER L'AUMENTO DEL SALARIO
School strike continues
BELGRADE, Tuesday - Teachers in Serbia's four largest education unions
today
continued to work reduced hours as part of their campaign for salary
increases and payment of salary arrears. Members of the four unions have
reduced class times from 45 to 30 minutes. Full time graduate secondary
teachers in Serbia currently receive a monthly salary of approximately
1,700
dinars or about 80 Deutschmarks.
SCIOPERO DEI FERROVIERI IN UNGHERIA
Hungarian railways strike again
BUDAPEST, Tuesday - Hungarian rail workers are on strike for the second
time
in a month, disrupting rail traffic in central and eastern Europe. The
workers say they will not return to work until their demands are met.
The
earlier action was limited to sixty hours. All passenger and freight
services
between Hungary and Yugoslavia have been suspended by the strike.
B92 30/1/2000 ------------------------------------------------
IL PRIMO MINISTRO MONTENEGRINO IN "VISITA DI LAVORO" NEGLI USA
Montenegrin Prime Minister on working visit to America
MONTENEGRO, Sunday - Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic left for
America today on a working visit which will last for several days, his
cabinet stated today. During his visit, Vujanovic will take part in a
Balkan
conference on 2nd February and will meet with representatives from the
State
department, Congress, US Aid and other American political
establishments.
SENSE news agency reported today that the USA budget for 2000 will
provide
Montenegro with fifty five million dollars as part of the American
programme
to promote world democracy.
CP 28/1/00 -------------------------------------------------
EX AMBASCIATORE CANADESE A BELGRADO DIVENTA PERSONA SGRADITA
NELL'AMBASCIATA CANADESE A BELGRADO PER LE SUE IDEE
Last updated: Friday 28 January 2000 NATIONAL NEWS
Ex Canadian ambassador not welcome at his former embassy in Belgrade
TORONTO (CP) - A former Canadian ambassador to Yugoslavia says he was
not allowed to visit Canada's embassy in Belgrade on Thursday, probably
because of his outspoken criticism of NATO's Kosovo bombing campaign.
James Bissett, who was in the Yugoslavian capital to speak to a Serbian
writers conference, told CBC Radio's As It Happens that an embassy
official told him neither the Canadian nor local staff were allowed to
speak with him, on orders from Ottawa.
Bissett said Thursday his first reaction was that the snub was a petty
act as payback for his public criticism of NATO's military campaign
against the Yugoslavian government of Slobodan Milosevic. He later came
to feel it was a more serious effort to squelch opposition to the
Canadian government's policies.
Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Jim Wright told CBC Radio that
officials in Ottawa had instructed the Belgrade embassy staff not to
spend any time talking with Bissett. Wright said the embassy staff was
busy with a humanitarian mission that was visiting Belgrade at the same
time.
Wright also said Bissett's public comments had been used by the
Milosevic government for propaganda and his visit to the embassy could
also be used by the Yugoslavian government, which Wright described as a
"pariah regime."
An opinion article by Bissett, published by the Globe and Mail on Jan.
10, accuses NATO of misleading the public about the reasons and
consequences of the bombing campaign.
He wrote there were approximately 2,000 casualties in Kosovo up to the
NATO bombing - but that NATO bombing killed more than 2,000 Yugoslavian
civilians.
Bissett also said more than 800,000 ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo after
NATO bombing started, compared with 200,000 who were displaced prior to
the military campaign.
Bissett was Canada's ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1990 until 1992,
before the current Liberal government came to power.
==================================================================
NOTA DEL CRJ: Le notizie in lingua straniera sono introdotte da un
nostro titolo in italiano per facilitarne la consultazione.
La nostra selezione di notizie contiene brani da fonti diverse:
YDS - e' la "Yugoslav Daily Survey" del Ministero degli Esteri della
RFJ (cfr. http://www.mfa.gov.yu/ ).
B92 - sono le notizie che provengono dalla mailing list di RadioB2-92,
di orientamento antigovernativo e filo-occidentale:
> freeb92-e is an open mailing list for distribution of news by Radio
> B2-92. News bulletins are updated at 19.00 CET Monday to Friday and
> at 23.00 CET on Saturday and Sunday.
> For more information on FreeB92 and Radio B2-92, visit:
> http://www.freeb92.net/
REUTERS - sono i dispacci della omonima agenzia di informazione
CP - e' l'agenzia di stampa canadese Canadian Press
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
UCRAINA
* IAC - Colpo di stato del Presidente filooccidentale Kuchma.
Truppe circondano il Parlamento: Kuchma vuole emulare Eltsin
incominciando a bombardare "per la democrazia"?
Assoluto silenzio stampa sui media occidentali.
* Daily Telegraph - L'Ucraina sempre piu' inserita nella NATO in vista
di future "missioni umanitarie".
* SESSIONE A KIEV DEL TRIBUNALE INTERNAZIONALE PER I CRIMINI DELLA NATO
Una relazione a cura dell'IAC.
---
>From: iacenter@...
>Reply-To: "activist -- key" <iacenter@...>
>To: "actvist -- key" <iacenter@...>
>Subject: 2/4/00: Emergency alert on pro-NATO coup in Ukraine
>Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:16:14 -0500
>
>EMERGENCY ALERT!
>
>PRO-NATO COUP D'ETAT IN UKRAINE; US-BACKED
>PRESIDENT SURROUNDS PARLIAMENT WITH TROOPS;
>OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS ON HUNGER STRIKE
>
>IAC Delegation Back from Kiev Charges US Gov't Role, Calls for
>Protests to Break US Media Information Blockade
>
>Feb. 4, 2000—Troops have surrounded Ukraine's parliament. Inside
>the main hall are nearly 200 opposition deputies, some of them on
>hunger strike. They oppose rightwing president Kuchma's plan to
>abolish Ukraine's elected legislature (Verkhovnye Rada) and replace it
>with a body more compliant to his wishes. Those include bringing
>Ukraine into NATO as well as privatizing land and other measures
>demanded by the International Monetary Fund. On Feb. 1, protesters
>gathered to defend parliament were attacked by rightwing groups
>organized by the regime.
>
>US ROLE
>Before moving against his country's parliament, Kuchma held a private
>meeting with US vice president Al Gore in Washington, D.C. Kuchma
>was first elected in 1996 with considerable financial aid from the
>Soros Foundation. He was reelected last November in a vote the
>opposition charges was plagued with fraud. European Union electoral
>observers confirm many of their charges.
>
>The current confrontation began Jan. 21, when pro-NATO, pro-IMF
>deputies and their allies held an extralegal gathering in a non-
>government building at the same time as an official Rada session was
>in progress. The unconstitutional meeting voted to oust elected Rada
>speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko and deputy speaker Adam Martynyuk
>and replace them with Kuchma supporters. Attempts to remove
>Tkachenko and Martynyuk by constitutional procedures had failed in
>the Rada. Today armed guards escorting Ivan Plyush, the pro-
>Kuchma grouping's choice for speaker, forcibly seized the speaker's
>office from Tkachenko, who had refused to leave.
>
>OPPOSITION LEADERS SPEAK TO IAC
>International Action Center representatives Larissa Kritskaya and Bill
>Doares were in Kiev last week, where they visited the Rada and met
>with Tkachenko and other opposition leaders. "This crisis comes not
>from the deputies but from the president," Kuchma told the IAC
>representatives. "There is an attempt to forcibly Westernize Ukraine.
>The presidential election was determined by force, and now the
>president is using force against parliament. Kuchma's rule has brought
>ruin to our people. Now he is staging a coup d'etat to concentrate
>absolute power in his hands. Our constitution has been violated at
>every step."
>
>"Kuchma is trying to make a coup to gain absolute power," said
>Ukraine Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz. "He is acting on
>behalf of powerful private groups that support him. Since Kuchma
>came to office, Ukraine has gotten poorer but his friends have gotten
>rich. They now want to get even richer by selling shares in land and
>grabbing control of basic industries like steel, petrochemicals and even
>oil and gas, which is now forbidden to be privatized."
>
>"It is obvious that the United States has designed the Ukraine's
>political landscape," Oleg Grachev, Kiev regional secretary of the
>Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), told Kritskaya and Doares.
>"You cannot speak about injustice and electoral falsification in this
>country without speaking of the domination of the International
>Monetary Fund."
>
>INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER CONDEMNS US ROLE
>"The US-backed presidential coup in Ukraine is of a piece with the
>bloody war against Yugoslavia and the occupation of Kosovo," the
>International Action Center charged in a statement issued today. "It is
>part of NATO's drive to the east. The White House and Pentagon
>want to bring Ukraine into NATO, which is a dangerous step toward
>a new and larger war. This must be seen in the context of the revival
>of Star Wars and the plans to base nuclear weapons in Hungary.
>Washington also wants to crush any opposition in to the dictates of the
>International Monetary Fund in Ukraine and the other former Soviet
>republics. We must not allow a repeat of the events in Chile in 1973,
>with Kuchma as Pinochet."
>
> WALL STREET RULES
>With nearly 50 million people, Ukraine is the second-largest former
>Soviet republic. It was one of the USSR's most productive agricultural
>and industrial regions. Today, like other former Soviet republics, it has
>been devastated by "economic restructuring" dictated by the
>International Monetary Fund. Since the fall of the USSR, Ukraine's
>industrial production has dropped 70 percent. Its population has fallen
>by 2 million in just the past two years. The old-age pension is $13 a
>month and millions of workers are not being paid. While hunger stalks
>many regions, one-third of the state budget goes in interest payments
>to Western banks. The country's debt has risen 30 times since
>Kuchma took office in 1996.
>
>The Kuchma regime has tried to create a fascist-like atmosphere by
>exploiting divisions similar to those used to break up Yugoslavia. It
>has tried to whip up bigotry against the large Russian minority (one
>quarter of the population) among the Ukrainian majority. Soviet-era
>books have been burned in public squares and opposition activists
>attacked by fascist gangs. The regime's nationalist pose does not stop
>Wall Street from dictating its economic policy. It has agreed to raise
>food and fuel prices, rents and gas and electricity rates on a schedule
>dictated by the International Monetary Fund.
>
>MARKED BALLOTS AND HAND GRENADES
>KPU general secretary Petro Simonenko, who calls for Ukraine to
>withdraw from the IMF, was the runner-up in November's
>presidential election. He got an official 38 percent of the vote. The
>KPU brought evidence of marked ballots, ballot-box stuffing and vote
>buying to Ukraine's criminal court but was told such matters were
>outside the court's jurisdiction. In the first round of the presidential
>election, Progressive Socialist Party candidate Natalia Vitorienko,
>who also condemns the IMF, was injured by a hand grenade tossed
>into a rally she was addressing.
>
>IAC CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS
>"The US corporate media, which so obediently repeated Pentagon-
>State Department lies about Kosovo, appears to have imposed an
>information blockade on the events in Ukraine and US involvement
>there" the IAC statement concluded. "We must break that blockade.
>The democratic forces in Ukraine deserve the support of antiwar and
>justice-loving people in this country and around the world."
>
>The IAC called for protests to be sent to President Kuchma via the
>embassy of Ukraine in Washington at telephone 202-333-0606 or fax
>202-333-0817.
>
>International Action Center
>39 West 14th Street, Room 206
>New York, NY 10011
>email: iacenter@...
>http://www.iacenter.org
>phone: 212 633-6646
>fax: 212 633-2889
---
> Daily Telegraph (UK)
> ISSUE 1709Saturday 29 January 2000
> Nato to help Ukraine train armed forces
>
> NATO will help Ukraine modernise its armed forces, its Secretary-General
> announced yesterday at the end of his two-day visit to the former Soviet
> republic.
> George Robertson told leaders in a speech in Kiev, the capital: "Such a
> reform will be painful. Nato can assist Ukraine. A military that is
> transparent, democratically controlled and fully accountable is part and
> parcel of a mature democracy. And a military that adopts modern
> management techniques will spend scarce resources more efficiently."
> Lord Robertson met President Leonid Kutchma and Prime Minister Viktor
> Yushenko during his visit. Kiev signed a partnership agreement with Nato
> in 1997 but is not an official candidate for membership. Russia has
> opposed Nato's expansion to the east and has warned against inviting
> republics from the former Soviet Union to join the defence alliance.
> Lord Robertson said: "We need to exploit more fully our military
> co-operation in Partnership for Peace. By preparing partner countries to
> be able to deploy forces alongside Allied ones in possible peace support
> or humanitarian operations, we expand the pool of trained forces for
> effective crisis management in Europe."
>
>
Subject: Ukraine war crimes tribunal condemns U.S., NATO
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 14:22:00 -0500
From: iacenter@...
To: "International"<iacenter@...>
UKRAINE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CONDEMNS
WASHINGTON, NATO
KIEV, Ukraine--President Clinton and other NATO leaders were
found guilty of crimes against peace by an International Peoples
Tribunal on NATO War Crimes Against Yugoslavia (English
translation) that met Jan. 23 in the parliament building of this
beautiful
ancient capital. The hearing was held in defiance of the U.S.-backed
regime of President Leonid Kuchma, who wants to bring Ukraine into
NATO.
Delegates from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Yugoslavia, the Czech
Republic, Poland, Germany and the United States took part in the
hearing. The U.S. was represented by Larissa Kritskaya and Bill
Doares of the International Action Center. Kritskaya and Doares
were shown on the front page of the major daily Kievsky Vedomosty
under the headline "Americans Who Dream of Destroying NATO."
The Kiev tribunal was the second in a series of hearings organized by
the International Peoples Tribunal, which was initiated in Russia by
All-
Slavic Assembly. The first was held in the Russian city of Yaroslavl
Dec. 14. Others are planned for Belgrade (March 27), Warsaw and
Minsk. The Kiev tribunal focused on charges of crimes against peace-
conspiracy to cause a war. IPT organizers plan to coordinate their
efforts with the Commission of Inquiry on U.S./NATO War Crimes
Against Yugoslavia organized by the International Action Center and
former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark.
The Ukraine hearing, which was chaired by Prof. Mikhail Kuznetsov
of Moscow, got considerable support from the Socialist, Communist
and other Ukrainian opposition parties. Socialist Party deputy Vil
Nikolayich Romashenko was vice president of the tribunal.
The judges and participants heard eyewitness testimony from
Yugoslav delegates who told of the death and destruction inflicted by
NATO bombs and missiles, which took 2,000 civilian lives. They also
heard several parliamentarians who had visited Yugoslavia during the
war.
Deputy Sergei Kaszian of the Belarus parliament told of his meetings
with ethnic Albanian Kosovar leaders who condemned the NATO
bombing and held the U.S. responsible for the destruction of their
country. Kaszian said that NATO forces used had brutalized Kosovar
refugees, separating children from mothers and sending them to
different countries. He also testified to the large number of children
killed or wounded by NATO bombs and missiles.
Ukrainian Communist deputy Vladimir Moiseenko represents the
Donbass coal-mining region and chairs the Ukraine Association to
Restore the Soviet Union. He pointed out that NATO was from its
inception an aggressive alliance aimed against East Europe and the
Soviet Union and compared the U.S.-NATO strategy used to break
up Yugoslavia with its current strategy toward Ukraine. He quoted
U.S. strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski's description of Ukraine as a
"military platform" for NATO's expansion to the east. A NATO
Ukraine would become a base to invade Belarus and later Russia,
Moiseenko said. He condemned Ukraine's U.S.-backed president
Leonid Kuchma for facilitating NATO's expansion but said, "The
Ukrainian people are waking up to resist Ukraine's colonization." He
also called on the rest of the world to apply economic sanctions
against the U.S. and other NATO states if NATO is not dissolved.
"But the world is not insane yet and has the strength to stop NATO
and its 'spiritual leader' the United States."
Retired Soviet admiral Anatoli Yurkovsky, now a member of
Ukrainian parliament, testified that NATO was also aimed at the
Albanian people. He told of the 1996 mass uprising in southern
Albania against the U.S.-backed Berisha regime. The insurgents
"formed committees of national salvation that were like the workers'
councils in Russia in 1917. But they were smothered by the massive
intervention of NATO troops."
Larissa Kritskaya, a member of the International Action Center, said
that "corporate America has dominated Ukraine long enough to
deliver the country to the point of total destruction. But there is
another America inside the land of giant corporations, and that is
conscious people in the U.S. We are happy to be here today
representing these people as your friends and supporters in your
struggle against the coming colonization planned by U.S.-led NATO."
IAC spokesperson Bill Doares condemned the war against
Yugoslavia "as a cynical maneuver carried out to enrich giant U.S.
corporations that profit off death and destruction." He said that
"bombs and missiles are not the only agency of destruction. When the
International Monetary Fund orders Ukraine to close down its coal
mines and steel plants, reducing workers to starvation, is that not an
act of war?" He denounced NATO as "the strike force of the
International Monetary Fund."
Yugoslav ambassador to Ukraine Goiko Dapcevic said, "the fact that
the war crimes tribunal took place here in Ukraine and the fact that
there were many representatives of your country willing to testify in
the
name of truth about the horrible crimes committed during this unlawful
war that brought a human tragedy to Yugoslavia speaks to our unity.
Yet the war in Yugoslavia is still far from its end," he continued.
"Though there are no missiles and bombs falling from the sky right
now, there is also no peace for us at this time. And the most difficult
thing now is our incapacity to break the blockade on information.
Therefore an event like the war crimes tribunal has special value in our
struggle to tell the world the truth about this war and the present
condition of my country."
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* IAC - Colpo di stato del Presidente filooccidentale Kuchma.
Truppe circondano il Parlamento: Kuchma vuole emulare Eltsin
incominciando a bombardare "per la democrazia"?
Assoluto silenzio stampa sui media occidentali.
* Daily Telegraph - L'Ucraina sempre piu' inserita nella NATO in vista
di future "missioni umanitarie".
* SESSIONE A KIEV DEL TRIBUNALE INTERNAZIONALE PER I CRIMINI DELLA NATO
Una relazione a cura dell'IAC.
---
>From: iacenter@...
>Reply-To: "activist -- key" <iacenter@...>
>To: "actvist -- key" <iacenter@...>
>Subject: 2/4/00: Emergency alert on pro-NATO coup in Ukraine
>Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:16:14 -0500
>
>EMERGENCY ALERT!
>
>PRO-NATO COUP D'ETAT IN UKRAINE; US-BACKED
>PRESIDENT SURROUNDS PARLIAMENT WITH TROOPS;
>OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS ON HUNGER STRIKE
>
>IAC Delegation Back from Kiev Charges US Gov't Role, Calls for
>Protests to Break US Media Information Blockade
>
>Feb. 4, 2000—Troops have surrounded Ukraine's parliament. Inside
>the main hall are nearly 200 opposition deputies, some of them on
>hunger strike. They oppose rightwing president Kuchma's plan to
>abolish Ukraine's elected legislature (Verkhovnye Rada) and replace it
>with a body more compliant to his wishes. Those include bringing
>Ukraine into NATO as well as privatizing land and other measures
>demanded by the International Monetary Fund. On Feb. 1, protesters
>gathered to defend parliament were attacked by rightwing groups
>organized by the regime.
>
>US ROLE
>Before moving against his country's parliament, Kuchma held a private
>meeting with US vice president Al Gore in Washington, D.C. Kuchma
>was first elected in 1996 with considerable financial aid from the
>Soros Foundation. He was reelected last November in a vote the
>opposition charges was plagued with fraud. European Union electoral
>observers confirm many of their charges.
>
>The current confrontation began Jan. 21, when pro-NATO, pro-IMF
>deputies and their allies held an extralegal gathering in a non-
>government building at the same time as an official Rada session was
>in progress. The unconstitutional meeting voted to oust elected Rada
>speaker Oleksandr Tkachenko and deputy speaker Adam Martynyuk
>and replace them with Kuchma supporters. Attempts to remove
>Tkachenko and Martynyuk by constitutional procedures had failed in
>the Rada. Today armed guards escorting Ivan Plyush, the pro-
>Kuchma grouping's choice for speaker, forcibly seized the speaker's
>office from Tkachenko, who had refused to leave.
>
>OPPOSITION LEADERS SPEAK TO IAC
>International Action Center representatives Larissa Kritskaya and Bill
>Doares were in Kiev last week, where they visited the Rada and met
>with Tkachenko and other opposition leaders. "This crisis comes not
>from the deputies but from the president," Kuchma told the IAC
>representatives. "There is an attempt to forcibly Westernize Ukraine.
>The presidential election was determined by force, and now the
>president is using force against parliament. Kuchma's rule has brought
>ruin to our people. Now he is staging a coup d'etat to concentrate
>absolute power in his hands. Our constitution has been violated at
>every step."
>
>"Kuchma is trying to make a coup to gain absolute power," said
>Ukraine Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz. "He is acting on
>behalf of powerful private groups that support him. Since Kuchma
>came to office, Ukraine has gotten poorer but his friends have gotten
>rich. They now want to get even richer by selling shares in land and
>grabbing control of basic industries like steel, petrochemicals and even
>oil and gas, which is now forbidden to be privatized."
>
>"It is obvious that the United States has designed the Ukraine's
>political landscape," Oleg Grachev, Kiev regional secretary of the
>Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), told Kritskaya and Doares.
>"You cannot speak about injustice and electoral falsification in this
>country without speaking of the domination of the International
>Monetary Fund."
>
>INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER CONDEMNS US ROLE
>"The US-backed presidential coup in Ukraine is of a piece with the
>bloody war against Yugoslavia and the occupation of Kosovo," the
>International Action Center charged in a statement issued today. "It is
>part of NATO's drive to the east. The White House and Pentagon
>want to bring Ukraine into NATO, which is a dangerous step toward
>a new and larger war. This must be seen in the context of the revival
>of Star Wars and the plans to base nuclear weapons in Hungary.
>Washington also wants to crush any opposition in to the dictates of the
>International Monetary Fund in Ukraine and the other former Soviet
>republics. We must not allow a repeat of the events in Chile in 1973,
>with Kuchma as Pinochet."
>
> WALL STREET RULES
>With nearly 50 million people, Ukraine is the second-largest former
>Soviet republic. It was one of the USSR's most productive agricultural
>and industrial regions. Today, like other former Soviet republics, it has
>been devastated by "economic restructuring" dictated by the
>International Monetary Fund. Since the fall of the USSR, Ukraine's
>industrial production has dropped 70 percent. Its population has fallen
>by 2 million in just the past two years. The old-age pension is $13 a
>month and millions of workers are not being paid. While hunger stalks
>many regions, one-third of the state budget goes in interest payments
>to Western banks. The country's debt has risen 30 times since
>Kuchma took office in 1996.
>
>The Kuchma regime has tried to create a fascist-like atmosphere by
>exploiting divisions similar to those used to break up Yugoslavia. It
>has tried to whip up bigotry against the large Russian minority (one
>quarter of the population) among the Ukrainian majority. Soviet-era
>books have been burned in public squares and opposition activists
>attacked by fascist gangs. The regime's nationalist pose does not stop
>Wall Street from dictating its economic policy. It has agreed to raise
>food and fuel prices, rents and gas and electricity rates on a schedule
>dictated by the International Monetary Fund.
>
>MARKED BALLOTS AND HAND GRENADES
>KPU general secretary Petro Simonenko, who calls for Ukraine to
>withdraw from the IMF, was the runner-up in November's
>presidential election. He got an official 38 percent of the vote. The
>KPU brought evidence of marked ballots, ballot-box stuffing and vote
>buying to Ukraine's criminal court but was told such matters were
>outside the court's jurisdiction. In the first round of the presidential
>election, Progressive Socialist Party candidate Natalia Vitorienko,
>who also condemns the IMF, was injured by a hand grenade tossed
>into a rally she was addressing.
>
>IAC CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS
>"The US corporate media, which so obediently repeated Pentagon-
>State Department lies about Kosovo, appears to have imposed an
>information blockade on the events in Ukraine and US involvement
>there" the IAC statement concluded. "We must break that blockade.
>The democratic forces in Ukraine deserve the support of antiwar and
>justice-loving people in this country and around the world."
>
>The IAC called for protests to be sent to President Kuchma via the
>embassy of Ukraine in Washington at telephone 202-333-0606 or fax
>202-333-0817.
>
>International Action Center
>39 West 14th Street, Room 206
>New York, NY 10011
>email: iacenter@...
>http://www.iacenter.org
>phone: 212 633-6646
>fax: 212 633-2889
---
> Daily Telegraph (UK)
> ISSUE 1709Saturday 29 January 2000
> Nato to help Ukraine train armed forces
>
> NATO will help Ukraine modernise its armed forces, its Secretary-General
> announced yesterday at the end of his two-day visit to the former Soviet
> republic.
> George Robertson told leaders in a speech in Kiev, the capital: "Such a
> reform will be painful. Nato can assist Ukraine. A military that is
> transparent, democratically controlled and fully accountable is part and
> parcel of a mature democracy. And a military that adopts modern
> management techniques will spend scarce resources more efficiently."
> Lord Robertson met President Leonid Kutchma and Prime Minister Viktor
> Yushenko during his visit. Kiev signed a partnership agreement with Nato
> in 1997 but is not an official candidate for membership. Russia has
> opposed Nato's expansion to the east and has warned against inviting
> republics from the former Soviet Union to join the defence alliance.
> Lord Robertson said: "We need to exploit more fully our military
> co-operation in Partnership for Peace. By preparing partner countries to
> be able to deploy forces alongside Allied ones in possible peace support
> or humanitarian operations, we expand the pool of trained forces for
> effective crisis management in Europe."
>
>
Subject: Ukraine war crimes tribunal condemns U.S., NATO
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 14:22:00 -0500
From: iacenter@...
To: "International"<iacenter@...>
UKRAINE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CONDEMNS
WASHINGTON, NATO
KIEV, Ukraine--President Clinton and other NATO leaders were
found guilty of crimes against peace by an International Peoples
Tribunal on NATO War Crimes Against Yugoslavia (English
translation) that met Jan. 23 in the parliament building of this
beautiful
ancient capital. The hearing was held in defiance of the U.S.-backed
regime of President Leonid Kuchma, who wants to bring Ukraine into
NATO.
Delegates from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Yugoslavia, the Czech
Republic, Poland, Germany and the United States took part in the
hearing. The U.S. was represented by Larissa Kritskaya and Bill
Doares of the International Action Center. Kritskaya and Doares
were shown on the front page of the major daily Kievsky Vedomosty
under the headline "Americans Who Dream of Destroying NATO."
The Kiev tribunal was the second in a series of hearings organized by
the International Peoples Tribunal, which was initiated in Russia by
All-
Slavic Assembly. The first was held in the Russian city of Yaroslavl
Dec. 14. Others are planned for Belgrade (March 27), Warsaw and
Minsk. The Kiev tribunal focused on charges of crimes against peace-
conspiracy to cause a war. IPT organizers plan to coordinate their
efforts with the Commission of Inquiry on U.S./NATO War Crimes
Against Yugoslavia organized by the International Action Center and
former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark.
The Ukraine hearing, which was chaired by Prof. Mikhail Kuznetsov
of Moscow, got considerable support from the Socialist, Communist
and other Ukrainian opposition parties. Socialist Party deputy Vil
Nikolayich Romashenko was vice president of the tribunal.
The judges and participants heard eyewitness testimony from
Yugoslav delegates who told of the death and destruction inflicted by
NATO bombs and missiles, which took 2,000 civilian lives. They also
heard several parliamentarians who had visited Yugoslavia during the
war.
Deputy Sergei Kaszian of the Belarus parliament told of his meetings
with ethnic Albanian Kosovar leaders who condemned the NATO
bombing and held the U.S. responsible for the destruction of their
country. Kaszian said that NATO forces used had brutalized Kosovar
refugees, separating children from mothers and sending them to
different countries. He also testified to the large number of children
killed or wounded by NATO bombs and missiles.
Ukrainian Communist deputy Vladimir Moiseenko represents the
Donbass coal-mining region and chairs the Ukraine Association to
Restore the Soviet Union. He pointed out that NATO was from its
inception an aggressive alliance aimed against East Europe and the
Soviet Union and compared the U.S.-NATO strategy used to break
up Yugoslavia with its current strategy toward Ukraine. He quoted
U.S. strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski's description of Ukraine as a
"military platform" for NATO's expansion to the east. A NATO
Ukraine would become a base to invade Belarus and later Russia,
Moiseenko said. He condemned Ukraine's U.S.-backed president
Leonid Kuchma for facilitating NATO's expansion but said, "The
Ukrainian people are waking up to resist Ukraine's colonization." He
also called on the rest of the world to apply economic sanctions
against the U.S. and other NATO states if NATO is not dissolved.
"But the world is not insane yet and has the strength to stop NATO
and its 'spiritual leader' the United States."
Retired Soviet admiral Anatoli Yurkovsky, now a member of
Ukrainian parliament, testified that NATO was also aimed at the
Albanian people. He told of the 1996 mass uprising in southern
Albania against the U.S.-backed Berisha regime. The insurgents
"formed committees of national salvation that were like the workers'
councils in Russia in 1917. But they were smothered by the massive
intervention of NATO troops."
Larissa Kritskaya, a member of the International Action Center, said
that "corporate America has dominated Ukraine long enough to
deliver the country to the point of total destruction. But there is
another America inside the land of giant corporations, and that is
conscious people in the U.S. We are happy to be here today
representing these people as your friends and supporters in your
struggle against the coming colonization planned by U.S.-led NATO."
IAC spokesperson Bill Doares condemned the war against
Yugoslavia "as a cynical maneuver carried out to enrich giant U.S.
corporations that profit off death and destruction." He said that
"bombs and missiles are not the only agency of destruction. When the
International Monetary Fund orders Ukraine to close down its coal
mines and steel plants, reducing workers to starvation, is that not an
act of war?" He denounced NATO as "the strike force of the
International Monetary Fund."
Yugoslav ambassador to Ukraine Goiko Dapcevic said, "the fact that
the war crimes tribunal took place here in Ukraine and the fact that
there were many representatives of your country willing to testify in
the
name of truth about the horrible crimes committed during this unlawful
war that brought a human tragedy to Yugoslavia speaks to our unity.
Yet the war in Yugoslavia is still far from its end," he continued.
"Though there are no missiles and bombs falling from the sky right
now, there is also no peace for us at this time. And the most difficult
thing now is our incapacity to break the blockade on information.
Therefore an event like the war crimes tribunal has special value in our
struggle to tell the world the truth about this war and the present
condition of my country."
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
RUSSIA
* Il ruolo delle multinazionali del petrolio nella guerra in Caucaso
(da "Morning Star Daily")
* Il ruolo dei Lupi Grigi turchi nella "guerra santa" cecena ("Il
Manifesto" / CNNitalia)
* Una serie di articoli e dispacci d'agenzia sui rapporti tra terrorismo
ceceno e Taliban afghano-pakistani (Daily Telegraph, Reuters, AFP, AP)
* Una "jihad" in Cecenia (stopnato@...)
* La posizione del Partito Comunista degli USA sulla crisi cecena (da
"People's Weekly World", organo ufficiale del PCUSA)
---
> Stec's Commie-Pinko List - http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7078
>
> The following article was published in the Morning Star daily newspaper on
> January 19, 2000.
>
>
> The Politics of Oil
> By Kenny Coyle
>
> The break-up of the Soviet Union released enormous resources that had been
> denied to Western transnational corporations for decades.
> In the early years of the 20th century, oil from the Russian Caucuses
> accounted for nearly half of all oil produced in the world. The oil
> district of Grozny was, next to Baku, the most important Russian oil area
> before the revolution and by 1915 accounted for about 18% of Russian oil
> production. The oil fields at Baku provided almost all the remainder.
> More than half the investment in Russian oil came from abroad. Before
> World War I, the total investment in the Russian oil industry was $214
> million, $130 million of that represented foreign capital. Great Britain
> was particularly active in Russia, providing more than 60% of the foreign
> capital.
> In the former Soviet Union, Grozny oil was at one time quite important,
> accounting for one-third of national production in 1932. In the
> post-Soviet era the importance of Grozny oil for the Russian economy has
> diminished greatly but its importance as a regional producer increased.
> Over the years, Grozny became a key oil pipeline crossroads, oil refining
> centre and also a juncture for natural gas from fields in Russia and
> Central Asia.
> The vast oil fields of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and in the
> North Caucasus of Russia have always been a target for invasion. It was to
> secure unimpeded access to these riches, as much as for the symbolic
> associations with the city's name, that Hitler threw division after
> division at Stalingrad in World War II.
> Access to these newly available resources is an enormous boon for Western
> imperialism. The US is determined not to have to rely on the unstable
> Middle East for supplies. However, as recent events in Venezuela, now one
> of the largest national suppliers of oil to the USA, have shown, nowhere
> is truly safe.
> Prising open the oil fields grouped beneath and around the Caspian Sea
> have been a key strategic target of the US in the past decade. BP Amoco,
> Texaco, Mobil, Chevron and other US and foreign companies have already
> spent over a billion dollars on developing the Caspian oil resources. They
> are drawing on a whole spectrum of Cold War foreign policy figures from
> the US and Britain to cash in on the region.
> Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser under President
> Carter and a key figure in securing initial US support for the Afghan
> mujahidin, is a consultant to Amoco.
> James Baker, a former US Secretary of State, runs a law practice in
> Houston doing business for the oil companies, where he is able to use his
> friendship with his former Soviet counterpart Edward Shevardnadze, and now
> president of Georgia.
> Former US National Security Adviser, Brent Scowcroft, advises Pennzoil and
> the multinational Azerbaijan consortium. Dick Cheney, President Bush's
> Secretary of Defence, is now chief executive of Halliburton of Houston,
> the world's largest oilfield services company.
> Azerbaijan is also a favourite destination for the British oil companies
> such as Monument and Ramco. Timothy Eggar, who as British Energy Minister
> led a delegation to Baku in 1994, is now chief executive of Monument Oil,
> while former Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind sits on the board of Ramco.
> In October 1997, Le Monde Diplomatique wrote: "The negotiation of oil
> contracts enabled Washington to show a direct interest in the region. The
> US government sees it as an extra source of energy, should Persian Gulf
> oil be threatened. It also wants to detach the former Soviet republics
> from Russia both economically and politically, so as to make the formation
> of a Moscow-led union impossible.
> In an article published in the spring, former [US] Defence Secretary
> Caspar Weinberger wrote that if Moscow
> succeeded in dominating the Caspian, it would achieve a greater victory than the
> expansion of NATO would be for the West."
> US policy therefore has both a tactical economic aspect and a longer-term
> strategy to further weaken Russia.
> The most crucial question for oil supply though is the route chosen for
> delivery. Unlike the Persian Gulf, none of the oil producing states of
> Caucasus offer the possibility of shipment to the West by tanker, since
> the Caspian Sea is essentially a huge inland lake. The alternative is the
> construction of a super pipeline from Central Asia to either the
> Mediterranean or the Persian Gulf.
>
> For several years, two rival pipeline projects have been mooted. US
> corporations Amoco, Exxon, Pennzoil and Unocal lead the Azerbaijan
> International Oil Consortium (AIOC), comprising Chechnya's neighbour,
> Azerbaijan, and 11 Western companies. Its aim is to construct a pipeline
> to carry Azeri oil from the Caspian seabed. US petroleum concerns are
> currently responsible for more than 50% of oil investment in Azerbaijan.
> The government of Azerbaijan is possibly the most pro-US in the region,
> offering its territory for US military bases and seeking integration into
> Nato through 'big brother', Turkey.
> Meanwhile, the Russians put together a Caspian Pipeline Consortium to run
> a pipeline from the Tengiz fields of Kazakhstan across Russia to the port
> of Novorossisk on the Black Sea and to link this with a pipeline extending
> northwest from Baku.
> However, to do this the pipeline from Baku would have to run through
> either Chechnya, which has been virtually inoperable because of the
> renewed conflict, or neighbouring Dagestan, itself the target of several
> Chechen mujahidin incursions in August 1999.
> The US government insisted from the outset that the pipeline, expected to
> carry one million barrels per day, run from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku,
> to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The shortest route to Turkey
> leads through Armenia. But Azerbaijan and Armenia broke off all relations
> after a brutal war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. This route
> does, however, pass through Chechnya's other near neighbour, Georgia,
> despite the fact that this detour is double the cost of a shorter path
> between Azerbaijan and Iran. Washington's aim is to ensure that oil
> supplies are free from Russian and Iranian influence.
> The Istanbul Protocol, signed late last year during the OSCE conference in
> the Turkish city, is a significant victory for the plans of the US and
> Turkey. The New York Times of November 19 1999 bluntly described it as
> "one of President Clinton's cherished foreign policy projects, a pipeline
> that would assure Western control over the potentially vast oil and
> natural gas reserves".
> While US Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, enthused: "This is a major
> foreign policy victory. It is a strategic agreement that advances
> America's national interest."
> Inevitably, many Russians believe that destabilisation in the Caucasus
> represents a Western plot to monopolise energy resources in the region.
> While this has a certain simplistic aspect to it, ignoring as it does the
> other complex factors, it nonetheless expresses a certain truth. The
> expansion of Western imperialist influence eastward demands the further
> break-up of Russia and the wresting of her rich energy resources from her
> grasp, piece by piece.
>
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 22 Gennaio 2000:
TURCHIA IL RUOLO DEI LUPI GRIGI
La guerra santa cecena parte da Istanbul
Per molti dei suoi protagonisti, la guerra in Cecenia inizia nelle
strade di Istanbul. E' qui, nella metropoli turca, che convergono da
tutto il mondo islamico i mujaheddin, i guerriglieri della guerra santa.
Gli stesso soldati volontari che stanno opponendo una strenua resistenza
alle forze russe che assediano Grozny. La Turchia è il principale
alleato degli indipendentisti ceceni. Oggi in Turchia vivono circa 3
milioni persone di origine cecena, circassa, abkhasiana, tutte
popolazioni che - sin dai tempi dell'impero ottomano - hanno legami
molto stretti con la Turchia secolare ma islamica. Ogni settimana i
gruppi islamici turchi e i Lupi grigi organizzano manifestazioni contro
la Russia. Ci sono anche alcuni quartieri di Istanbul dove i Lupi grigi
gestiscono le moschee e le organizzazioni commerciali. E' in queste
moschee della periferia di Istanbul che, dopo la preghiera, vengono
raccolte le offerte dei fedeli per aiutare i profughi ceceni (e
probabilmente anche i militari al fronte). Alla moschea di Fatih, uno
dei luoghi di culto più antichi di Istanbul, il network filo-ceceno
arruola ogni giorno uomini da mandare al fronte, raccoglie denaro e
organizza manifestazioni. Anche alla moschea di Beyazit, sotto il
controllo di alcuni gruppi sunniti, ogni venerdì dopo la preghiera la
gente manifesta in favore dei "martiti di Grozny". Sui siti internet che
fanno capo ai diversi filoni del movimento ceceno compaiono preghiere
per i combattenti di Cecenia. E chi si mette in contatto con loro si
sente inevitabilemte offrire di "compiere il proprio dovere" in
Cecenia... In queste ore, mentre
il conflitto si intensifica e vive le sue giornate più drammatiche, gli
sforzi sono stati moltiplicati. Secondo alcune stime, sarebbero tra i 3
e i 5 mila i mujaheddin stranieri transitati dalla Turchia in direzione
Cecenia. Questo movimento non è certo avvenuto senza il tacito consenso
del governo di Ankara. Anzi, non è più un mistero per nessuno il fatto
che a Duzce, una città tra Istanbul e Ankara, ci sia il principale campo
di
addestramento di guerriglieri ceceni. D'inverno il campo di Duzce è
costantemente immerso nella neve e il paesaggio che lo circonda ricorda
molto da vicino quello delle montagne del Caucaso. E anche i legami
storici ed etnici tra Duzce e il Caucaso sono molto forti, perché è
proprio qui che molte popolazioni caucasiche furono costrette ad
amigrare durante i tanti conflitti tra ottomani e russi. A Istanbul,
invece, stanno proliferando le associazioni più o meno umanitarie che
hanno obiettivo quello di fornire aiuto ai ceceni. La più attiva si
chiama Kafkafasya Yardimlasma Dernegi...
( da un articolo di Ali Isingor, messo in rete dall CNNitalia.it )
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Daily Telegraph (UK)
ISSUE 1697Monday 17 January 2000
Afghan spectre over Chechnya
By Marcus Warrenin Zamai-Yuri
THE battle for Grozny and the struggle for control of Chechnya are far
from over, with the Russian army now faced with guerrilla warfare waged
by the rebels.
Unpleasant memories: the rough terrain of Chechnya reminds some Russian
officers of the Afghan region
The military may occupy the snow-capped ridges in the Caucasus but some
officers are disturbed by the terrain's resemblance to Afghanistan,
where the Mujahideen humbled the Soviet army in the Eighties. Adding to
their worries, the Chechen rebels are deploying the same tactics as the
victorious Afghans, launching small raiding parties of no more than 10
men to harry the Russians.
Some Chechen fighters are believed to have trained in Afghanistan and
one of their most feared warlords, Khattab, began his military career
fighting Soviet troops there. Col Vladimir Kruglov, a paratroop officer
and Afghan veteran, said: "They use the same methods; they are financed
by the same people and some of their leaders are the same as well."
The Chechen Defence Minister, Magomed Khambiyev, was quoted by Russia's
Interfax news agency yesterday as saying that rebel commanders had
decided at a meeting to declare a hit-and-run war on Russia.
"The period of battles for strategic positions is coming to an end," the
agency quoted Mr Khambiyev as saying. "From now on the tactic of a
guerrilla war will mainly be used. We do not set ourselves the aim of
entering populated areas and holding them. Our aim is to smash separate
units and to retire to repeat the operation in a new place."
Gen Gennady Troshev, one of Russia's best known military chiefs,
relieved of his command a week ago but now apparently back in charge,
said: "They approach, open fire and then hide. And the next morning they
smile at you in the streets."
To combat the guerrillas he advocated even stricter policing of the
territory under Russian control, with special emphasis on thorough
house-to-house searches. He said that until now the searches have been
perfunctory. "Every house without exception will be checked," he said.
"And they will be searched a second time without warning and at random."
Small-scale raids on Russian positions were a problem in the hills near
Zamai-Yurt, but they were clearly not the main reason that Gen Troshev
had flown by helicopter to the Russian base there. His main
preoccupations are Grozny, the Chechen capital, which is obstinately
refusing to surrender, and the counter-attack by the rebels early last
week.
After weeks in which the Russian army admitted losing only a handful of
men, if that, every day, the latest official casualty figures have
jumped much higher to as many as 26 in one ambush and even more every
day. "Aviation and the artillery will do their work and only then will
the troops go in," Gen Troshev said. "The weather today is good," he
said, pointing at a blue sky. What are we going to do? We are going to
kill more bandits."
European Union foreign ministers are to meet next Monday to debate
possible sanctions against Moscow over its intervention in Chechnya.
Afghanistan's Taliban regime said yesterday that it has recognised the
rebel government in Chechnya and its independence from the Russian
Federation, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The Taliban's supreme leader, Mulla Mohammad Omar, took the decision
after a meeting in Kandahar with a visiting Chechen delegation. It was
not clear whether the Taliban would help the Chechens militarily.
information.
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Mon, Jan 17 at Prague 09:27 pm, N.Y. 03:27 pm
Afghan Taleban Recognize Chechen Gov't
KABUL, Jan 17, 2000 -- (Reuters) Afghanistan's ruling Taleban Islamic
movement on Sunday became the first government to recognize the
breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya but said it could hardly give any
help to Chechens in their conflict with Moscow.
The formal recognition was agreed by Taleban supreme leader Mullah
Mohammad Omar during a meeting with a Chechen delegation on Sunday at
his headquarters in the southern Afghan town of Kandahar, Taleban
Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil Muttawakil told a Pakistan-based Afghan
news service.
Mullah Omar agreed that the Chechen government "can open its diplomatic
mission in Kabul from today", a Taleban spokesman told Reuters in the
Afghan capital.
It was the first time any government had recognized rebel Chechnya and
comes as a bloody four-month-old Russian military campaign against the
rebels is facing strong resistance in the regional capital Grozny and in
the south.
"The delegation requested the Taleban leader to recognize the Chechen
government, and the Taleban leader accepted this request on the basis of
Islamic brotherhood and recognized the Chechen government," the private
Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Muttawakil as saying by telephone from
Kandahar.
He said the Taleban, itself struggling for international recognition,
had intended to recognize Chechnya anyway but that the urgency of such a
move had increased because of the Russian assault.
Asked if the Taleban could help the Chechens fight the Russian
offensive, a Taleban spokesman, Tayeb Agha, said Mullah Omar had told
the Chechen delegation that his movement had "limited ability in terms
of giving such help".
The Taleban government, accused by the West of helping international
terrorism is fighting a northern-based opposition alliance and is
recognized by only three countries - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates.
Moscow has repeatedly accused the Taleban and some Pakistan-based
militant groups of training warriors to fight Russia in Chechnya. The
Taleban and Pakistan deny the charges.
The Taleban government, which controls about 90 percent of Afghanistan,
in turn accuses Russia of helping the opposition alliance that holds the
remainder of the country, which Moscow had occupied in the 1980s under
the former Soviet Union.
Mon, Jan 17 at Prague 09:35 pm, N.Y. 03:35 pm
Afghan Taliban Call On Muslim World To Recognize Chechnya
KABUL, Jan 17, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Afghanistan's ruling
Taliban militia Monday called on the Muslim world to join Kabul in
opening diplomatic relations with the rebel government in Chechnya.
Taliban Minister of Information Qudratullah Jamal said the religious
militia was not worried about reprisals from Moscow a day after his
regime became the first to recognize the breakaway republic.
"It is the obligation of all Muslims to recognize the Chechen
government, which is a big support and cooperation for them," he told
reporters in Kabul.
"We should always cooperate with Muslims, particularly those who demand
this cooperation to enable them to live in Islam and freedom," the
minister said.
Ironically only three countries recognize the Taliban, who now control
most of Afghanistan, as the country's legitimate rulers.
Afghanistan's UN seat is held by the former government and only
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have diplomatic
relations with the militia.
Jamal said the Taliban had not yet decided whether to open a mission in
the embattled Grozny or to give military aid to Chechen fighters.
"We accepted their two demands: official recognition and the opening of
an embassy here. The military aid has not been considered yet," he said.
The Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday officially
recognized the Chechen rebel government and allowed it to open a
political mission in the Afghan capital.
The permission was secured after a visiting Chechen delegation met Mulla
Omar on Sunday in the southern province of Kandahar, home to the Taliban
headquarters.
"We are not afraid if Russia imposes sanctions on us or threatens us
occasionally," Jamal said.
"The Russians have not recognized us. We are independent. Everybody is
doing his own business," he said.
Moscow, which still recognizes the anti-Taliban leader and ex-president
Burhanuddin Rabbani, has threatened to sever diplomatic ties with any
country which starts formal relations with Chechen rebel regime.
Moscow offers political and military aid to Rabbani and his military
strongman Ahmad Shah Masood, who is battling the Taliban in his
northeastern pockets of resistance.
"Their asistance to our opposition is not a secret anymore. They back
the opposition to the best of their ability whether or not we recognize
Chechnya," Jamal said.
The minister said no place for Chechen embassy in Kabul has been chosen
yet.
He also would not reveal how the six-strong Chechen delegation, led by
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev a rebel official, traveled into Afghanistan. ((c)
2000 Agence France Presse)
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
21/1/2000:
Chechens to open Afghan embassy
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Chechen rebels will open an embassy in the
Afghan capital of Kabul, the Taliban's Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed
Muttawakil said Friday.
In a joint press conference with Chechen rebel spokesman Zelimkhan
Banderayev, Muttawakil urged Muslims worldwide to rally behind the
Chechens in their bitter war for independence against Russia.
The Taliban, the orthodox Islamic army which rules Afghanistan, is the
only government so far to officially recognize an independent Chechnya.
The move has drawn fire from Russia, which accuses the Taliban of
sending material and men to help the rebels.
But Muttawakil said the Taliban have nothing to offer Chechnya because
they are in the middle of a war of their own against a northern-based
opposition, led by ousted defense chief Ahmed Shah Massood.
``Unfortunately we have nothing left in this country and what we have we
are using to face our opposition,´´ he said.
The Taliban controls about 90 percent of Afghanistan. Only three
countries recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Muttawakil likened Russia's attack on Chechnya to the 1980s invasion of
Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union. Then, he said, Muslims from
around the world came to Afghanistan to help defeat the former Red Army,
which eventually negotiated a withdrawal from Afghanistan after 10
years.
``Muslim people came from all over the world to help Afghanistan, Now
the Muslim people should help the Chechen people,´´ he said.
Banderayev sharply criticized the international community and the United
Nations for doing too little to stop the Russian assault on Chechnya.
---
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 12:07:46 -0000
From: MR JAVIER BERNAL <988005350@...>
Reply-To: "STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN!" <STOPNATO@...>
To: STOPNATO@...
Subject: A jihad in Chechnya (+ personal comments)
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
I have added some comments. Please, read them.
Javier Bernal
--------------------------------
A jihad in Chechnya
By Kenny Coyle
Islam is one of the world's great religions and probably the most
misunderstood in the West. Ignorance of Islam has led to an essentially
racist 'Islamophobia', on the one hand, which fears Moslem populations
and
states, equating the faith with terrorism.
However, a second error is to ignore the rise of reactionary political
and
social movements simply because they express themselves in Islamic
vocabulary and theology.
This is like confusing Liberation Theology with the conservative and
even
pro-fascist wing of the Catholic hierarchy. For socialists, determining
the
nature of these politico-religious movements must be based on their
social
outlook rather than their theology.
The recent recognition of the breakaway Chechen republic by the Taliban
government of Afghanistan highlights the increasingly open and formal
links
between the Chechen mujahidin and outside powers. In November 1998, a
high-level Chechen delegation led by Abdul Wahid Ibrahim had visited
Afghanistan to lay the ground for open recognition.
As was noted in a previous article, the populations of the northern
Caucasus are primarily, although not exclusively, Moslem. But it has
been
the Sufi wing of Islam that is rooted there. Sufi Islam adapted to local
pre-Islamic beliefs and often incorporated local rites and customs.
However, this places it in opposition to the Wahhabi school of Islam, an
18th century movement aimed at purifying Islam and returning to basic
Koranic concepts. It is this wing of Islam that is best described as
'fundamentalist', although only in the same sense that right-wing
Protestants in the US who hold to the literal truth of the Bible can be
regarded as 'Christian fundamentalists'. In both cases, these are
conservative social movements with definite political agendas.
Anatol Lieven, author of a book on Chechnya noted: "The 'Wahhabis' in
the
North Caucasus used to number a few, with minimal influence; but
religious
radicalisation produced by the war, the arrival of former Arab mujahidin
who had served in Afghanistan and, above all, Arab money, have since
made a strong impact.
"During the Cold War, Islamic movements, such as the Muslim
Brotherhood, were encouraged by Middle Eastern regimes to combat
secular communist parties and pan-Arab nationalism. However, three other
factors have seen the emergence of new Islamicist movements since the
1960s. First, in response to widespread radicalisation caused by the
rising
Palestinian struggle, local conservative regimes saw it as essential to
push at least some of these radicals away from a broader
anti-imperialist
perspective and to focus on a 'holy war' against the Jews and their
Christian backers. Second, the oil wealth that transformed the hitherto
backward and conservative Gulf states also created a revulsion against
consumerism and the local 'playboy' ruling classes. The Wahhabi
movement, which had its origins in the Gulf, won many new and often rich
converts. It was a Saudi-born millionaire, the infamous Osama Bin Laden,
who set up the International Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews
and
Crusaders. Third, and quite crucially, as part of imperialism's efforts
to roll
back communism, vast quantities of arms and foreign volunteers were made
available to fight the revolutionary government of Afghanistan and its
Soviet ally. The US used Pakistan as the conduit for these efforts. By
1987, some 65,000 tonnes of weapons were being transferred each year to
Afghanistan via Pakistan. A key source of funding for these covert
operations, as in other CIA-orchestrated ventures, has been the heroin
trade. Gulbaddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami mujahidin faction, itself
backed
by the CIA and more directly by the Pakistani military, ran at least six
opium refining centres within Pakistan during the 1980s, according to
Alfred
McCoy's 'The Politics of Heroin'. Bin Laden's personal fortune
mysteriously
multiplied during the same period. By 1996, the CIA itself reported that
"heroin is becoming the lifeblood of Pakistan's economy and political
system".
Pakistan is now emerging as a nuclear power with regional ambitions.
Pakistan¹s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) was the main
channel for US and Saudi support for the Afghan mujahidin. Today it has
established its own control over the various mujahidin factions,
including
of course with the Taliban, which rapidly emerged from obscurity to fill
the power vacuum in Kabul in the mid-1990s. There are believed to be at
least 20 foreign mujahidin training camps located in Afghanistan and
another 80 on Pakistani territory.
Chechen separatist commander Shamil Basayev led a group of Chechens
to ISI-sponsored camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the mid-1990s.
In Afghanistan, the Chechens visited the ISI's training facilities in
the
Khost area, then run by Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami.A leading French
specialist on political Islamic movements Antoine Sfeir has stressed the
need to distinguish between 'Islamo-nationalists', such as Algeria's
Islamic
Salvation Front and the Palestinian Hamas, whose primary concern is
domestic political change, and 'universalists', who regard existing
borders and national
distinctions as unimportant. It appears that a shift within the Chechen
separatist
movement has seen the increasing marginalisation of the
'Islamo-nationalists' and the
growing predominance of the 'universalists'.
The unilateral declaration of Chechen independence in October 1991 by
Dzhokar Dudayev was accompanied by the drafting of a secular
constitution. This was
now been set aside. The current Chechen leader, Aslan Maskhadov,
replaced the
secular legal system with Islamic Sharia law tribunals. However, this
was too little too
late for his deputy and rival Shamil Basayev. Explaining the cause of
the recent conflict,
Basayev told one Islamicist magazine last year: "We only see the
solution to the crisis
of
Chechnya with what agrees with the Islamic Sharia. In 1996, a solution
to
the problem was found not in accordance with the Sharia, which is why
the
war began a second time."
The Chechen rebel forces have three components. Aside from those locals
still loyal to the breakaway republic's leader Maskhadov, there are
others
whose allegiance is to Basayev¹s indigenous, but Islamicist, Chechen and
Dagestani forces. The third distinct force, but working entirely in
tandem with Basayev,
is led by an Arab mujahidin commander known as Ibn Khattab (Note: You
can also find
his name written as Ibn-ul-Khattab. Ibn -or Ben- means "Son of"). After
several years in
Afghanistan, Khattab moved in 1992 to Tajikistan to fight with the
Islamicist opposition.
In 1995 he moved to Chechnya and began training Chechen and other
Islamicists.
To an interviewer, who asked if his forces contained mujahidin from
outside the
Caucasus, Khattab replied: "Yes, we do have mujahidin, but not from
outside, because
the Islamic nation is one nation that belongs to all the Muslims. We
have one common
purpose, which is to expel the Russian forces and to create an Islamic
State for all our
brothers." He added that Russia's military actions are a "Christian war
and crusade
against Islam and its people and it is an obligation upon the Muslims,
especially the
great scholars, to support their mujahidin brothers in the land of the
Caucasus."
Using Sfeir¹s approach, we could place Maskhadov in the camp of
Islamo-nationalism,
Khattab is clearly a 'universalist', and Basayev¹s group, aiming for a
Caucasian
Islamicist state, is a hybrid, which in practice leans toward the
latter.
Russia blamed the Chechen mujahidin for a series of terrorist bombings
in Moscow that
claimed 300 lives. Others suspected a pre-election ploy by pro-Yeltsin
security forces.
The truth is far from clear. In an interview with Associated Press last
September,
Khattab had boasted that: "From now on they will get our bombs
everywhere. Let
Russia await our explosions blasting through their cities. I swear we
will do it." Yet on
the day of that interview's publication, Khattab told the Interfax news
agency that he
had nothing to do with the Moscow explosions, saying: "We would not like
to be akin to
those who kill sleeping civilians with bombs and shells." Further
Russian claims that the
Chechen mujahidin are directly linked to Osama Bin Laden are part of
attempt to win
over Western critics. The mujahidin internationally are deeply
factionalised and attempts
to establish any central co-ordinating centre have invariably
fragmented. The common
theme is that the various mujahidin groups seek patronage, arms,
training and money,
from various regimes, principally Pakistan, Iran and Sudan
(NOTE: I don't know why this columnist leave away the most important,
Saudi Arabia.
In my opinion, this feudal ultraconservative monarchy is using Religion
as an instrument
of power: Most of the critics say that US is backing caucasian republics
-Georgia, ...- to
get another way of getting cheap oil instead Persian Gulf countries, so
it should be good
for saudi purposes to finance a "friendly State" in North Caucasus. In
this way, they can
also control a share of the Caucasus oil politics. All this actions are
natural in a
monarchy who sold their people and the Pan-Arab revolt (Lawrence of
Arabia,...) in order
to mantain its bloody Power. One time more, the key can be found in
History...)
It is the intermeshing of the fanaticism of the mujahidin with the
foreign policy objectives
of their patron states that accounts for the instability and
unpredictability of these armed
Islamicist groups. This has become a crucial aspect of the current
conflict in the
Caucasus.
Ends
---
CPUSA's 'People's Weekly World':
http://www.pww.org
What’s behind the war
in Chechnya?
News Analysis
(Picture)
Local residents cry during a memorial ceremony as they came to pay last
respects to Maj. Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev, killed during fighting in
Grozny, 55 miles west of the Chechen border, Jan. 25.
AP
People’s Weekly World Saturday, January 29, 2000 Page 3
By Gus Hall
Ever since Mikhail Gorbachev started dismantling socialism, the Soviet
Union has been confronted with secessionist movements in one republic
after
another. These secessions eventually led to the disintegration of the
Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The separatist movements in the Soviet Union are part of the process of
privatization that led to the collapse of socialism within the republics
and
unleashed the secessionist forces throughout the USSR.
Besides a setback for socialism, this crisis is taking a terrible human
toll on all the peoples of the former Soviet Union. In Chechnya, the
1994-96
guerrilla war of secession and the present conflict is causing
continuing
death and destruction.
From the very beginning, the USSR, as a fledgling socialist nation, had
its
hands full holding back the scourge of extreme nationalism and religious
fanaticism inherited from the past. One of the great feats of the
socialist
revolution was the molding of 500 nationalities into one great Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
However, these backward movements never completely died out. They were
kept
alive by reactionary forces inside and outside the country.
Because the ideological and educational work was weak, these movements
were
never really challenged during the building of socialism. With the
advent of
the crisis, these secessionist movements were stirred up and supported
by
reactionary forces within the republics and by U.S. imperialism from the
outside.
World imperialism, especially U.S. imperialism, has momentarily won a
major
victory by supporting and encouraging all the "free market" capitalists
and
criminal elements that have fully emerged in control of Russia.
The Russian Federation, which is the largest country left of the USSR,
finds itself fighting another secessionist war caused by the same
factors
extreme nationalism and religious fanaticism.
Understanding the current disaster, the loss of life on both sides, the
destruction of whole villages, cities and regions is not easy. The
propaganda, disinformation and misinformation makes it hard to sort out.
In this very complicated situation there are many factors to consider
in
understanding what is happening and what is at stake. We have a
responsibility to challenge the anti-Communist media fog that is keeping
people so confused.
There has yet to be an explanation of this situation from the Russian
Communists. And, of course, no one has explained anything in terms of
the
oil, the pipelines, privatization and corruption. A complete breakaway
of
Chechnya would be a bonanza for U.S. oil imperialism.
Whatever the political and military mistakes made by the Russian
government
and its military command, the direct cause of the conflict was and is
secession. This movement is largely made up of extreme nationalist and
reactionary religious armed forces drawn from inside and outside
Chechnya
itself. It is aided by U.S. political and financial support, especially
U.S.
oil.
Just as Gorbachev’s capitulation to Estonian secession started the
dismemberment of the USSR, capitulation to Chechen secessionists would
signal the disintegration of the Russian Federation.
The disintegration of the USSR structure, devastation of its economy,
privatization and capitalist economic penetration, severe weakening of
state
and socialist enterprises and the outlawing of the Communist Party are
all
part of the crisis of socialism.
However, U.S. imperialism’s main objective is to direct and oversee the
complete transition to capitalism in Russia, with a massive penetration
of
U.S. multinational capital, while further reducing the wages and living
conditions, with the ultimate aim of making Russia into a semi-colony of
the
United States.
Some facts
First, Chechnya is not a republic. It never was. It has none of the
features that would define it as a republic.
Further, no one called it a republic until the Chechens announced they
were
seceding from the Russian Federation and accelerated their guerrilla war
with a force of Chechen mercenaries and Muslim extremists.
All of a sudden Chechnya became a "rebel republic" fighting for its
independence from "centuries of Russian oppression." Right-wing New York
Times columnist William Safire has called Chechnya the "breakaway
republic,
fighting for its homeland." But he also admits that "if Russia lets
Chechnya
go, other Caucasian dominoes will fall and Moscow will be denied its
Caspian oil."
There are no winners in the Chechen conflict
(Picture)
An Interior Ministry officer, right, checks the documents of a refugee
who
wants to return to Chechnya, at a border checkpoint between war-torn
Chechnya and the neighboring Russian region of Ingishetla, near
Sleptsovskaya, Jan. 25.
AP
Oil- the bottom line
Thus, Chechnya is not a republic, a separate country or a nation. It is
also not a single, united ethnic group or nationality. The armed
struggle is
being waged as a Holy War, a Jihad, that calls for all Muslims to come
to
the aid of their "Chechen brethren."
However, the struggle is not really over religious differences. Calling
it
a Muslim Holy War is a smokescreen to cover up the real, underlying
cause of
the conflict. The bottom line in Chechnya is oil. It is one of the
richest
oil-producting regions in the former USSR. Chechnya also has vast
natural
gas deposits. It is a major chemical processing center.
Perhaps most importantly, Chechnya not only has vast reserves of oil,
but
also a vital pipeline running through its territory to the Caspian Sea.
The
issue is not only oil, but control of these pipelines.
When we say oil, we have to ask what roles Exxon, Standard Oil and
Shell
are playing in this situation. Wherever there is the combination of oil,
privatization and corruption, the oil cartels are deeply involved. They
are
actively making moves that will put them in position to pounce and
penetrate. Once they gain a foothold, it is very difficult to get rid of
them.
One of the main factors in destroying socialism was, and is, political
corruption. Because of the oil and potential private profits, corruption
has
become an even bigger factor in the Chechnya region. In fact, the
temptation
to make huge profits from selling oil to U.S. and world imperialism
corrupted even some very top Communist leaders.
This corruption is directly related to the privatization of Russia.
Privatization and corruption go hand-in-hand. Privatizing socialist
public
property opens wide the doors to corruption and criminal elements of all
kinds.
Historical backdrop
It is interesting to note that this region was one of the earliest
supporters of Boris Yeltsin and privatization. Its leaders quickly
became
corrupt opportunists. They were interested only in enriching themselves
by
selling out socialism to the "free marketplace of capitalism," where
they
could wheel and deal away socially-owned resources by privatizing them.
One of the main leaders was Djovkhar Dudayev, the self-proclaimed
president
of Chechnya who is a Yeltsin-created gangster. Like Gorbachev, he
declared
the region independent and recruited former mercenaries from Afghanistan
and
other regions.
How is it possible for the Chechen guerrillas, poorly trained and
equipped,
to hold off thousands of Russian troops with far superior weapons?
Dudayev
kept them fighting against insurmountable odds by resurrecting and
preaching
a backward ideology. He convinced many that they were "soldiers in a
liberating Holy War," based on national hatreds and religious
fanaticism.
Yes, it is nationalist Muslim fanaticism, but it is also the
indecision,
the political splits in the Russian government and military, the
bumbling
and confusion, which is resulting in many more deaths and much more
destruction than was necessary to subdue the secessionist movement.
Betrayers of socialism
Yeltsin’s war policies were a reflection of his political and economic
policies. The conflicts between nationalities and ethnic groups, the
throwbacks to bitter clan warfare, nationalist extremism, separatism,
racism
and discrimination have all been inflamed and fostered by Yeltsin and
his
gang.
Before him, it was the crimes of Gorbachev against socialism and the
Soviet
people that started the ball of separatism and privatization rolling.
Once
started, separatism and nationalism snowballed from one republic to
another,
from one country to another.
The developments in Russia, Chechnya and other areas are an outgrowth
of
first Gorbachev’s and then Yeltsin’s policies. This led to the
corruption
that makes the people vulnerable to nationalism and secession.
Centuries-old
backwardness, nationalism, extremist and fanatical religious beliefs
were
stirred up. Such backwardness cannot be fought without a socialist
ideology
to take its place.
Yeltsin is out mainly because he managed to alienate and infuriate not
only
his own people, but also his handlers and the right-wing majority in the
U.S. Congress. They want a Russia that can at least pass for bourgeois
democracy, moving steadily to privatize, to reform itself into a free
market
economy, controlled and dominated mainly by U.S. multinationals.
Global monopoly capital actually has two distinct approaches to
Chechnya.
The multinationals and entrepreneurs, like McDonald’s or Pepsi, actually
prefer operating in conditions of disorder, instability and overall
chaos.
On the other hand, finance capital, banking and international finance,
like
the International Monetary Fund, are looking for ripe conditions for
long-term capital investments. They demand stability and order. They
demand
more guarantees that investment will be safe and profitable for
long-term
deals like oil and pipelines. They demand a reliable, cooperative
government
in control, and under their control. They want assurances that the
transition to capitalism is irreversible.
What’s at stake
Let me pose this question to Americans: how would we react if
confronted
with the threat of oilrich Oklahoma seceding from the United States,
declaring independence and demanding recognition as a new sovereign
country?
You can believe that as soon as statemonopoly capital got wind of any
such
move, armed forces would immediately be sent in to squash it.
Thus, the future of the Russian Federation is directly involved in the
outcome of the Chechnya conflict. If Chechnya is allowed to secede,
there
are hundreds of other such areas that would move in the same direction.
It would not take long for the Russian Federation to disintegrate. The
cohesion, unity and very existence of Russia as a sovereign country is
at
stake. Also at stake are all the socialist structures and features
remaining
in the former republics. Secession would mean another big step backward
toward capitalism.
Chechnya is only one more example why ideological education is so
important
in the building and defense of a socialist society. This is especially
true
while there are still powerful, insatiable predators, with corporate
claws
ready to pounce wherever socialism is weak, crippled and vulnerable.
Inadequate attention to the ideological struggle and the false concept
that
the ideological and class struggle are no longer valid, were big factors
in
the crises in the east European socialist countries and in the USSR.
What has been missing in the former republics, in areas and regions
like
Chechnya, is class consciousness and class unity. What is missing is an
ideology that would build a sense of unity, an ideology that would
transform
nationalism and even religious fanaticism into a positive, progressive,
internationalist consciousnesS. What is missing is the ideology of
socialism.
(Picture)
AP
Russian conscripts ferrying ammunition to troops in Chechnya, rest at
the
side of a road in Ingushetia, just kilometers away from the Chechen
border,
at Sleptsovskaya, January 25. The soldiers said they make the resupply
trip
every two to three days.
Gus Hall is national chairman of the Communist Party USA.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Il ruolo delle multinazionali del petrolio nella guerra in Caucaso
(da "Morning Star Daily")
* Il ruolo dei Lupi Grigi turchi nella "guerra santa" cecena ("Il
Manifesto" / CNNitalia)
* Una serie di articoli e dispacci d'agenzia sui rapporti tra terrorismo
ceceno e Taliban afghano-pakistani (Daily Telegraph, Reuters, AFP, AP)
* Una "jihad" in Cecenia (stopnato@...)
* La posizione del Partito Comunista degli USA sulla crisi cecena (da
"People's Weekly World", organo ufficiale del PCUSA)
---
> Stec's Commie-Pinko List - http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/7078
>
> The following article was published in the Morning Star daily newspaper on
> January 19, 2000.
>
>
> The Politics of Oil
> By Kenny Coyle
>
> The break-up of the Soviet Union released enormous resources that had been
> denied to Western transnational corporations for decades.
> In the early years of the 20th century, oil from the Russian Caucuses
> accounted for nearly half of all oil produced in the world. The oil
> district of Grozny was, next to Baku, the most important Russian oil area
> before the revolution and by 1915 accounted for about 18% of Russian oil
> production. The oil fields at Baku provided almost all the remainder.
> More than half the investment in Russian oil came from abroad. Before
> World War I, the total investment in the Russian oil industry was $214
> million, $130 million of that represented foreign capital. Great Britain
> was particularly active in Russia, providing more than 60% of the foreign
> capital.
> In the former Soviet Union, Grozny oil was at one time quite important,
> accounting for one-third of national production in 1932. In the
> post-Soviet era the importance of Grozny oil for the Russian economy has
> diminished greatly but its importance as a regional producer increased.
> Over the years, Grozny became a key oil pipeline crossroads, oil refining
> centre and also a juncture for natural gas from fields in Russia and
> Central Asia.
> The vast oil fields of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and in the
> North Caucasus of Russia have always been a target for invasion. It was to
> secure unimpeded access to these riches, as much as for the symbolic
> associations with the city's name, that Hitler threw division after
> division at Stalingrad in World War II.
> Access to these newly available resources is an enormous boon for Western
> imperialism. The US is determined not to have to rely on the unstable
> Middle East for supplies. However, as recent events in Venezuela, now one
> of the largest national suppliers of oil to the USA, have shown, nowhere
> is truly safe.
> Prising open the oil fields grouped beneath and around the Caspian Sea
> have been a key strategic target of the US in the past decade. BP Amoco,
> Texaco, Mobil, Chevron and other US and foreign companies have already
> spent over a billion dollars on developing the Caspian oil resources. They
> are drawing on a whole spectrum of Cold War foreign policy figures from
> the US and Britain to cash in on the region.
> Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser under President
> Carter and a key figure in securing initial US support for the Afghan
> mujahidin, is a consultant to Amoco.
> James Baker, a former US Secretary of State, runs a law practice in
> Houston doing business for the oil companies, where he is able to use his
> friendship with his former Soviet counterpart Edward Shevardnadze, and now
> president of Georgia.
> Former US National Security Adviser, Brent Scowcroft, advises Pennzoil and
> the multinational Azerbaijan consortium. Dick Cheney, President Bush's
> Secretary of Defence, is now chief executive of Halliburton of Houston,
> the world's largest oilfield services company.
> Azerbaijan is also a favourite destination for the British oil companies
> such as Monument and Ramco. Timothy Eggar, who as British Energy Minister
> led a delegation to Baku in 1994, is now chief executive of Monument Oil,
> while former Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind sits on the board of Ramco.
> In October 1997, Le Monde Diplomatique wrote: "The negotiation of oil
> contracts enabled Washington to show a direct interest in the region. The
> US government sees it as an extra source of energy, should Persian Gulf
> oil be threatened. It also wants to detach the former Soviet republics
> from Russia both economically and politically, so as to make the formation
> of a Moscow-led union impossible.
> In an article published in the spring, former [US] Defence Secretary
> Caspar Weinberger wrote that if Moscow
> succeeded in dominating the Caspian, it would achieve a greater victory than the
> expansion of NATO would be for the West."
> US policy therefore has both a tactical economic aspect and a longer-term
> strategy to further weaken Russia.
> The most crucial question for oil supply though is the route chosen for
> delivery. Unlike the Persian Gulf, none of the oil producing states of
> Caucasus offer the possibility of shipment to the West by tanker, since
> the Caspian Sea is essentially a huge inland lake. The alternative is the
> construction of a super pipeline from Central Asia to either the
> Mediterranean or the Persian Gulf.
>
> For several years, two rival pipeline projects have been mooted. US
> corporations Amoco, Exxon, Pennzoil and Unocal lead the Azerbaijan
> International Oil Consortium (AIOC), comprising Chechnya's neighbour,
> Azerbaijan, and 11 Western companies. Its aim is to construct a pipeline
> to carry Azeri oil from the Caspian seabed. US petroleum concerns are
> currently responsible for more than 50% of oil investment in Azerbaijan.
> The government of Azerbaijan is possibly the most pro-US in the region,
> offering its territory for US military bases and seeking integration into
> Nato through 'big brother', Turkey.
> Meanwhile, the Russians put together a Caspian Pipeline Consortium to run
> a pipeline from the Tengiz fields of Kazakhstan across Russia to the port
> of Novorossisk on the Black Sea and to link this with a pipeline extending
> northwest from Baku.
> However, to do this the pipeline from Baku would have to run through
> either Chechnya, which has been virtually inoperable because of the
> renewed conflict, or neighbouring Dagestan, itself the target of several
> Chechen mujahidin incursions in August 1999.
> The US government insisted from the outset that the pipeline, expected to
> carry one million barrels per day, run from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku,
> to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The shortest route to Turkey
> leads through Armenia. But Azerbaijan and Armenia broke off all relations
> after a brutal war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. This route
> does, however, pass through Chechnya's other near neighbour, Georgia,
> despite the fact that this detour is double the cost of a shorter path
> between Azerbaijan and Iran. Washington's aim is to ensure that oil
> supplies are free from Russian and Iranian influence.
> The Istanbul Protocol, signed late last year during the OSCE conference in
> the Turkish city, is a significant victory for the plans of the US and
> Turkey. The New York Times of November 19 1999 bluntly described it as
> "one of President Clinton's cherished foreign policy projects, a pipeline
> that would assure Western control over the potentially vast oil and
> natural gas reserves".
> While US Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, enthused: "This is a major
> foreign policy victory. It is a strategic agreement that advances
> America's national interest."
> Inevitably, many Russians believe that destabilisation in the Caucasus
> represents a Western plot to monopolise energy resources in the region.
> While this has a certain simplistic aspect to it, ignoring as it does the
> other complex factors, it nonetheless expresses a certain truth. The
> expansion of Western imperialist influence eastward demands the further
> break-up of Russia and the wresting of her rich energy resources from her
> grasp, piece by piece.
>
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 22 Gennaio 2000:
TURCHIA IL RUOLO DEI LUPI GRIGI
La guerra santa cecena parte da Istanbul
Per molti dei suoi protagonisti, la guerra in Cecenia inizia nelle
strade di Istanbul. E' qui, nella metropoli turca, che convergono da
tutto il mondo islamico i mujaheddin, i guerriglieri della guerra santa.
Gli stesso soldati volontari che stanno opponendo una strenua resistenza
alle forze russe che assediano Grozny. La Turchia è il principale
alleato degli indipendentisti ceceni. Oggi in Turchia vivono circa 3
milioni persone di origine cecena, circassa, abkhasiana, tutte
popolazioni che - sin dai tempi dell'impero ottomano - hanno legami
molto stretti con la Turchia secolare ma islamica. Ogni settimana i
gruppi islamici turchi e i Lupi grigi organizzano manifestazioni contro
la Russia. Ci sono anche alcuni quartieri di Istanbul dove i Lupi grigi
gestiscono le moschee e le organizzazioni commerciali. E' in queste
moschee della periferia di Istanbul che, dopo la preghiera, vengono
raccolte le offerte dei fedeli per aiutare i profughi ceceni (e
probabilmente anche i militari al fronte). Alla moschea di Fatih, uno
dei luoghi di culto più antichi di Istanbul, il network filo-ceceno
arruola ogni giorno uomini da mandare al fronte, raccoglie denaro e
organizza manifestazioni. Anche alla moschea di Beyazit, sotto il
controllo di alcuni gruppi sunniti, ogni venerdì dopo la preghiera la
gente manifesta in favore dei "martiti di Grozny". Sui siti internet che
fanno capo ai diversi filoni del movimento ceceno compaiono preghiere
per i combattenti di Cecenia. E chi si mette in contatto con loro si
sente inevitabilemte offrire di "compiere il proprio dovere" in
Cecenia... In queste ore, mentre
il conflitto si intensifica e vive le sue giornate più drammatiche, gli
sforzi sono stati moltiplicati. Secondo alcune stime, sarebbero tra i 3
e i 5 mila i mujaheddin stranieri transitati dalla Turchia in direzione
Cecenia. Questo movimento non è certo avvenuto senza il tacito consenso
del governo di Ankara. Anzi, non è più un mistero per nessuno il fatto
che a Duzce, una città tra Istanbul e Ankara, ci sia il principale campo
di
addestramento di guerriglieri ceceni. D'inverno il campo di Duzce è
costantemente immerso nella neve e il paesaggio che lo circonda ricorda
molto da vicino quello delle montagne del Caucaso. E anche i legami
storici ed etnici tra Duzce e il Caucaso sono molto forti, perché è
proprio qui che molte popolazioni caucasiche furono costrette ad
amigrare durante i tanti conflitti tra ottomani e russi. A Istanbul,
invece, stanno proliferando le associazioni più o meno umanitarie che
hanno obiettivo quello di fornire aiuto ai ceceni. La più attiva si
chiama Kafkafasya Yardimlasma Dernegi...
( da un articolo di Ali Isingor, messo in rete dall CNNitalia.it )
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Daily Telegraph (UK)
ISSUE 1697Monday 17 January 2000
Afghan spectre over Chechnya
By Marcus Warrenin Zamai-Yuri
THE battle for Grozny and the struggle for control of Chechnya are far
from over, with the Russian army now faced with guerrilla warfare waged
by the rebels.
Unpleasant memories: the rough terrain of Chechnya reminds some Russian
officers of the Afghan region
The military may occupy the snow-capped ridges in the Caucasus but some
officers are disturbed by the terrain's resemblance to Afghanistan,
where the Mujahideen humbled the Soviet army in the Eighties. Adding to
their worries, the Chechen rebels are deploying the same tactics as the
victorious Afghans, launching small raiding parties of no more than 10
men to harry the Russians.
Some Chechen fighters are believed to have trained in Afghanistan and
one of their most feared warlords, Khattab, began his military career
fighting Soviet troops there. Col Vladimir Kruglov, a paratroop officer
and Afghan veteran, said: "They use the same methods; they are financed
by the same people and some of their leaders are the same as well."
The Chechen Defence Minister, Magomed Khambiyev, was quoted by Russia's
Interfax news agency yesterday as saying that rebel commanders had
decided at a meeting to declare a hit-and-run war on Russia.
"The period of battles for strategic positions is coming to an end," the
agency quoted Mr Khambiyev as saying. "From now on the tactic of a
guerrilla war will mainly be used. We do not set ourselves the aim of
entering populated areas and holding them. Our aim is to smash separate
units and to retire to repeat the operation in a new place."
Gen Gennady Troshev, one of Russia's best known military chiefs,
relieved of his command a week ago but now apparently back in charge,
said: "They approach, open fire and then hide. And the next morning they
smile at you in the streets."
To combat the guerrillas he advocated even stricter policing of the
territory under Russian control, with special emphasis on thorough
house-to-house searches. He said that until now the searches have been
perfunctory. "Every house without exception will be checked," he said.
"And they will be searched a second time without warning and at random."
Small-scale raids on Russian positions were a problem in the hills near
Zamai-Yurt, but they were clearly not the main reason that Gen Troshev
had flown by helicopter to the Russian base there. His main
preoccupations are Grozny, the Chechen capital, which is obstinately
refusing to surrender, and the counter-attack by the rebels early last
week.
After weeks in which the Russian army admitted losing only a handful of
men, if that, every day, the latest official casualty figures have
jumped much higher to as many as 26 in one ambush and even more every
day. "Aviation and the artillery will do their work and only then will
the troops go in," Gen Troshev said. "The weather today is good," he
said, pointing at a blue sky. What are we going to do? We are going to
kill more bandits."
European Union foreign ministers are to meet next Monday to debate
possible sanctions against Moscow over its intervention in Chechnya.
Afghanistan's Taliban regime said yesterday that it has recognised the
rebel government in Chechnya and its independence from the Russian
Federation, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The Taliban's supreme leader, Mulla Mohammad Omar, took the decision
after a meeting in Kandahar with a visiting Chechen delegation. It was
not clear whether the Taliban would help the Chechens militarily.
information.
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Mon, Jan 17 at Prague 09:27 pm, N.Y. 03:27 pm
Afghan Taleban Recognize Chechen Gov't
KABUL, Jan 17, 2000 -- (Reuters) Afghanistan's ruling Taleban Islamic
movement on Sunday became the first government to recognize the
breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya but said it could hardly give any
help to Chechens in their conflict with Moscow.
The formal recognition was agreed by Taleban supreme leader Mullah
Mohammad Omar during a meeting with a Chechen delegation on Sunday at
his headquarters in the southern Afghan town of Kandahar, Taleban
Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil Muttawakil told a Pakistan-based Afghan
news service.
Mullah Omar agreed that the Chechen government "can open its diplomatic
mission in Kabul from today", a Taleban spokesman told Reuters in the
Afghan capital.
It was the first time any government had recognized rebel Chechnya and
comes as a bloody four-month-old Russian military campaign against the
rebels is facing strong resistance in the regional capital Grozny and in
the south.
"The delegation requested the Taleban leader to recognize the Chechen
government, and the Taleban leader accepted this request on the basis of
Islamic brotherhood and recognized the Chechen government," the private
Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Muttawakil as saying by telephone from
Kandahar.
He said the Taleban, itself struggling for international recognition,
had intended to recognize Chechnya anyway but that the urgency of such a
move had increased because of the Russian assault.
Asked if the Taleban could help the Chechens fight the Russian
offensive, a Taleban spokesman, Tayeb Agha, said Mullah Omar had told
the Chechen delegation that his movement had "limited ability in terms
of giving such help".
The Taleban government, accused by the West of helping international
terrorism is fighting a northern-based opposition alliance and is
recognized by only three countries - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates.
Moscow has repeatedly accused the Taleban and some Pakistan-based
militant groups of training warriors to fight Russia in Chechnya. The
Taleban and Pakistan deny the charges.
The Taleban government, which controls about 90 percent of Afghanistan,
in turn accuses Russia of helping the opposition alliance that holds the
remainder of the country, which Moscow had occupied in the 1980s under
the former Soviet Union.
Mon, Jan 17 at Prague 09:35 pm, N.Y. 03:35 pm
Afghan Taliban Call On Muslim World To Recognize Chechnya
KABUL, Jan 17, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Afghanistan's ruling
Taliban militia Monday called on the Muslim world to join Kabul in
opening diplomatic relations with the rebel government in Chechnya.
Taliban Minister of Information Qudratullah Jamal said the religious
militia was not worried about reprisals from Moscow a day after his
regime became the first to recognize the breakaway republic.
"It is the obligation of all Muslims to recognize the Chechen
government, which is a big support and cooperation for them," he told
reporters in Kabul.
"We should always cooperate with Muslims, particularly those who demand
this cooperation to enable them to live in Islam and freedom," the
minister said.
Ironically only three countries recognize the Taliban, who now control
most of Afghanistan, as the country's legitimate rulers.
Afghanistan's UN seat is held by the former government and only
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have diplomatic
relations with the militia.
Jamal said the Taliban had not yet decided whether to open a mission in
the embattled Grozny or to give military aid to Chechen fighters.
"We accepted their two demands: official recognition and the opening of
an embassy here. The military aid has not been considered yet," he said.
The Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday officially
recognized the Chechen rebel government and allowed it to open a
political mission in the Afghan capital.
The permission was secured after a visiting Chechen delegation met Mulla
Omar on Sunday in the southern province of Kandahar, home to the Taliban
headquarters.
"We are not afraid if Russia imposes sanctions on us or threatens us
occasionally," Jamal said.
"The Russians have not recognized us. We are independent. Everybody is
doing his own business," he said.
Moscow, which still recognizes the anti-Taliban leader and ex-president
Burhanuddin Rabbani, has threatened to sever diplomatic ties with any
country which starts formal relations with Chechen rebel regime.
Moscow offers political and military aid to Rabbani and his military
strongman Ahmad Shah Masood, who is battling the Taliban in his
northeastern pockets of resistance.
"Their asistance to our opposition is not a secret anymore. They back
the opposition to the best of their ability whether or not we recognize
Chechnya," Jamal said.
The minister said no place for Chechen embassy in Kabul has been chosen
yet.
He also would not reveal how the six-strong Chechen delegation, led by
Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev a rebel official, traveled into Afghanistan. ((c)
2000 Agence France Presse)
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
21/1/2000:
Chechens to open Afghan embassy
By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Chechen rebels will open an embassy in the
Afghan capital of Kabul, the Taliban's Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed
Muttawakil said Friday.
In a joint press conference with Chechen rebel spokesman Zelimkhan
Banderayev, Muttawakil urged Muslims worldwide to rally behind the
Chechens in their bitter war for independence against Russia.
The Taliban, the orthodox Islamic army which rules Afghanistan, is the
only government so far to officially recognize an independent Chechnya.
The move has drawn fire from Russia, which accuses the Taliban of
sending material and men to help the rebels.
But Muttawakil said the Taliban have nothing to offer Chechnya because
they are in the middle of a war of their own against a northern-based
opposition, led by ousted defense chief Ahmed Shah Massood.
``Unfortunately we have nothing left in this country and what we have we
are using to face our opposition,´´ he said.
The Taliban controls about 90 percent of Afghanistan. Only three
countries recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Muttawakil likened Russia's attack on Chechnya to the 1980s invasion of
Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union. Then, he said, Muslims from
around the world came to Afghanistan to help defeat the former Red Army,
which eventually negotiated a withdrawal from Afghanistan after 10
years.
``Muslim people came from all over the world to help Afghanistan, Now
the Muslim people should help the Chechen people,´´ he said.
Banderayev sharply criticized the international community and the United
Nations for doing too little to stop the Russian assault on Chechnya.
---
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 12:07:46 -0000
From: MR JAVIER BERNAL <988005350@...>
Reply-To: "STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN!" <STOPNATO@...>
To: STOPNATO@...
Subject: A jihad in Chechnya (+ personal comments)
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
I have added some comments. Please, read them.
Javier Bernal
--------------------------------
A jihad in Chechnya
By Kenny Coyle
Islam is one of the world's great religions and probably the most
misunderstood in the West. Ignorance of Islam has led to an essentially
racist 'Islamophobia', on the one hand, which fears Moslem populations
and
states, equating the faith with terrorism.
However, a second error is to ignore the rise of reactionary political
and
social movements simply because they express themselves in Islamic
vocabulary and theology.
This is like confusing Liberation Theology with the conservative and
even
pro-fascist wing of the Catholic hierarchy. For socialists, determining
the
nature of these politico-religious movements must be based on their
social
outlook rather than their theology.
The recent recognition of the breakaway Chechen republic by the Taliban
government of Afghanistan highlights the increasingly open and formal
links
between the Chechen mujahidin and outside powers. In November 1998, a
high-level Chechen delegation led by Abdul Wahid Ibrahim had visited
Afghanistan to lay the ground for open recognition.
As was noted in a previous article, the populations of the northern
Caucasus are primarily, although not exclusively, Moslem. But it has
been
the Sufi wing of Islam that is rooted there. Sufi Islam adapted to local
pre-Islamic beliefs and often incorporated local rites and customs.
However, this places it in opposition to the Wahhabi school of Islam, an
18th century movement aimed at purifying Islam and returning to basic
Koranic concepts. It is this wing of Islam that is best described as
'fundamentalist', although only in the same sense that right-wing
Protestants in the US who hold to the literal truth of the Bible can be
regarded as 'Christian fundamentalists'. In both cases, these are
conservative social movements with definite political agendas.
Anatol Lieven, author of a book on Chechnya noted: "The 'Wahhabis' in
the
North Caucasus used to number a few, with minimal influence; but
religious
radicalisation produced by the war, the arrival of former Arab mujahidin
who had served in Afghanistan and, above all, Arab money, have since
made a strong impact.
"During the Cold War, Islamic movements, such as the Muslim
Brotherhood, were encouraged by Middle Eastern regimes to combat
secular communist parties and pan-Arab nationalism. However, three other
factors have seen the emergence of new Islamicist movements since the
1960s. First, in response to widespread radicalisation caused by the
rising
Palestinian struggle, local conservative regimes saw it as essential to
push at least some of these radicals away from a broader
anti-imperialist
perspective and to focus on a 'holy war' against the Jews and their
Christian backers. Second, the oil wealth that transformed the hitherto
backward and conservative Gulf states also created a revulsion against
consumerism and the local 'playboy' ruling classes. The Wahhabi
movement, which had its origins in the Gulf, won many new and often rich
converts. It was a Saudi-born millionaire, the infamous Osama Bin Laden,
who set up the International Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews
and
Crusaders. Third, and quite crucially, as part of imperialism's efforts
to roll
back communism, vast quantities of arms and foreign volunteers were made
available to fight the revolutionary government of Afghanistan and its
Soviet ally. The US used Pakistan as the conduit for these efforts. By
1987, some 65,000 tonnes of weapons were being transferred each year to
Afghanistan via Pakistan. A key source of funding for these covert
operations, as in other CIA-orchestrated ventures, has been the heroin
trade. Gulbaddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami mujahidin faction, itself
backed
by the CIA and more directly by the Pakistani military, ran at least six
opium refining centres within Pakistan during the 1980s, according to
Alfred
McCoy's 'The Politics of Heroin'. Bin Laden's personal fortune
mysteriously
multiplied during the same period. By 1996, the CIA itself reported that
"heroin is becoming the lifeblood of Pakistan's economy and political
system".
Pakistan is now emerging as a nuclear power with regional ambitions.
Pakistan¹s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) was the main
channel for US and Saudi support for the Afghan mujahidin. Today it has
established its own control over the various mujahidin factions,
including
of course with the Taliban, which rapidly emerged from obscurity to fill
the power vacuum in Kabul in the mid-1990s. There are believed to be at
least 20 foreign mujahidin training camps located in Afghanistan and
another 80 on Pakistani territory.
Chechen separatist commander Shamil Basayev led a group of Chechens
to ISI-sponsored camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the mid-1990s.
In Afghanistan, the Chechens visited the ISI's training facilities in
the
Khost area, then run by Hekmatyar's Hizb-i-Islami.A leading French
specialist on political Islamic movements Antoine Sfeir has stressed the
need to distinguish between 'Islamo-nationalists', such as Algeria's
Islamic
Salvation Front and the Palestinian Hamas, whose primary concern is
domestic political change, and 'universalists', who regard existing
borders and national
distinctions as unimportant. It appears that a shift within the Chechen
separatist
movement has seen the increasing marginalisation of the
'Islamo-nationalists' and the
growing predominance of the 'universalists'.
The unilateral declaration of Chechen independence in October 1991 by
Dzhokar Dudayev was accompanied by the drafting of a secular
constitution. This was
now been set aside. The current Chechen leader, Aslan Maskhadov,
replaced the
secular legal system with Islamic Sharia law tribunals. However, this
was too little too
late for his deputy and rival Shamil Basayev. Explaining the cause of
the recent conflict,
Basayev told one Islamicist magazine last year: "We only see the
solution to the crisis
of
Chechnya with what agrees with the Islamic Sharia. In 1996, a solution
to
the problem was found not in accordance with the Sharia, which is why
the
war began a second time."
The Chechen rebel forces have three components. Aside from those locals
still loyal to the breakaway republic's leader Maskhadov, there are
others
whose allegiance is to Basayev¹s indigenous, but Islamicist, Chechen and
Dagestani forces. The third distinct force, but working entirely in
tandem with Basayev,
is led by an Arab mujahidin commander known as Ibn Khattab (Note: You
can also find
his name written as Ibn-ul-Khattab. Ibn -or Ben- means "Son of"). After
several years in
Afghanistan, Khattab moved in 1992 to Tajikistan to fight with the
Islamicist opposition.
In 1995 he moved to Chechnya and began training Chechen and other
Islamicists.
To an interviewer, who asked if his forces contained mujahidin from
outside the
Caucasus, Khattab replied: "Yes, we do have mujahidin, but not from
outside, because
the Islamic nation is one nation that belongs to all the Muslims. We
have one common
purpose, which is to expel the Russian forces and to create an Islamic
State for all our
brothers." He added that Russia's military actions are a "Christian war
and crusade
against Islam and its people and it is an obligation upon the Muslims,
especially the
great scholars, to support their mujahidin brothers in the land of the
Caucasus."
Using Sfeir¹s approach, we could place Maskhadov in the camp of
Islamo-nationalism,
Khattab is clearly a 'universalist', and Basayev¹s group, aiming for a
Caucasian
Islamicist state, is a hybrid, which in practice leans toward the
latter.
Russia blamed the Chechen mujahidin for a series of terrorist bombings
in Moscow that
claimed 300 lives. Others suspected a pre-election ploy by pro-Yeltsin
security forces.
The truth is far from clear. In an interview with Associated Press last
September,
Khattab had boasted that: "From now on they will get our bombs
everywhere. Let
Russia await our explosions blasting through their cities. I swear we
will do it." Yet on
the day of that interview's publication, Khattab told the Interfax news
agency that he
had nothing to do with the Moscow explosions, saying: "We would not like
to be akin to
those who kill sleeping civilians with bombs and shells." Further
Russian claims that the
Chechen mujahidin are directly linked to Osama Bin Laden are part of
attempt to win
over Western critics. The mujahidin internationally are deeply
factionalised and attempts
to establish any central co-ordinating centre have invariably
fragmented. The common
theme is that the various mujahidin groups seek patronage, arms,
training and money,
from various regimes, principally Pakistan, Iran and Sudan
(NOTE: I don't know why this columnist leave away the most important,
Saudi Arabia.
In my opinion, this feudal ultraconservative monarchy is using Religion
as an instrument
of power: Most of the critics say that US is backing caucasian republics
-Georgia, ...- to
get another way of getting cheap oil instead Persian Gulf countries, so
it should be good
for saudi purposes to finance a "friendly State" in North Caucasus. In
this way, they can
also control a share of the Caucasus oil politics. All this actions are
natural in a
monarchy who sold their people and the Pan-Arab revolt (Lawrence of
Arabia,...) in order
to mantain its bloody Power. One time more, the key can be found in
History...)
It is the intermeshing of the fanaticism of the mujahidin with the
foreign policy objectives
of their patron states that accounts for the instability and
unpredictability of these armed
Islamicist groups. This has become a crucial aspect of the current
conflict in the
Caucasus.
Ends
---
CPUSA's 'People's Weekly World':
http://www.pww.org
What’s behind the war
in Chechnya?
News Analysis
(Picture)
Local residents cry during a memorial ceremony as they came to pay last
respects to Maj. Gen. Mikhail Malofeyev, killed during fighting in
Grozny, 55 miles west of the Chechen border, Jan. 25.
AP
People’s Weekly World Saturday, January 29, 2000 Page 3
By Gus Hall
Ever since Mikhail Gorbachev started dismantling socialism, the Soviet
Union has been confronted with secessionist movements in one republic
after
another. These secessions eventually led to the disintegration of the
Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The separatist movements in the Soviet Union are part of the process of
privatization that led to the collapse of socialism within the republics
and
unleashed the secessionist forces throughout the USSR.
Besides a setback for socialism, this crisis is taking a terrible human
toll on all the peoples of the former Soviet Union. In Chechnya, the
1994-96
guerrilla war of secession and the present conflict is causing
continuing
death and destruction.
From the very beginning, the USSR, as a fledgling socialist nation, had
its
hands full holding back the scourge of extreme nationalism and religious
fanaticism inherited from the past. One of the great feats of the
socialist
revolution was the molding of 500 nationalities into one great Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
However, these backward movements never completely died out. They were
kept
alive by reactionary forces inside and outside the country.
Because the ideological and educational work was weak, these movements
were
never really challenged during the building of socialism. With the
advent of
the crisis, these secessionist movements were stirred up and supported
by
reactionary forces within the republics and by U.S. imperialism from the
outside.
World imperialism, especially U.S. imperialism, has momentarily won a
major
victory by supporting and encouraging all the "free market" capitalists
and
criminal elements that have fully emerged in control of Russia.
The Russian Federation, which is the largest country left of the USSR,
finds itself fighting another secessionist war caused by the same
factors
extreme nationalism and religious fanaticism.
Understanding the current disaster, the loss of life on both sides, the
destruction of whole villages, cities and regions is not easy. The
propaganda, disinformation and misinformation makes it hard to sort out.
In this very complicated situation there are many factors to consider
in
understanding what is happening and what is at stake. We have a
responsibility to challenge the anti-Communist media fog that is keeping
people so confused.
There has yet to be an explanation of this situation from the Russian
Communists. And, of course, no one has explained anything in terms of
the
oil, the pipelines, privatization and corruption. A complete breakaway
of
Chechnya would be a bonanza for U.S. oil imperialism.
Whatever the political and military mistakes made by the Russian
government
and its military command, the direct cause of the conflict was and is
secession. This movement is largely made up of extreme nationalist and
reactionary religious armed forces drawn from inside and outside
Chechnya
itself. It is aided by U.S. political and financial support, especially
U.S.
oil.
Just as Gorbachev’s capitulation to Estonian secession started the
dismemberment of the USSR, capitulation to Chechen secessionists would
signal the disintegration of the Russian Federation.
The disintegration of the USSR structure, devastation of its economy,
privatization and capitalist economic penetration, severe weakening of
state
and socialist enterprises and the outlawing of the Communist Party are
all
part of the crisis of socialism.
However, U.S. imperialism’s main objective is to direct and oversee the
complete transition to capitalism in Russia, with a massive penetration
of
U.S. multinational capital, while further reducing the wages and living
conditions, with the ultimate aim of making Russia into a semi-colony of
the
United States.
Some facts
First, Chechnya is not a republic. It never was. It has none of the
features that would define it as a republic.
Further, no one called it a republic until the Chechens announced they
were
seceding from the Russian Federation and accelerated their guerrilla war
with a force of Chechen mercenaries and Muslim extremists.
All of a sudden Chechnya became a "rebel republic" fighting for its
independence from "centuries of Russian oppression." Right-wing New York
Times columnist William Safire has called Chechnya the "breakaway
republic,
fighting for its homeland." But he also admits that "if Russia lets
Chechnya
go, other Caucasian dominoes will fall and Moscow will be denied its
Caspian oil."
There are no winners in the Chechen conflict
(Picture)
An Interior Ministry officer, right, checks the documents of a refugee
who
wants to return to Chechnya, at a border checkpoint between war-torn
Chechnya and the neighboring Russian region of Ingishetla, near
Sleptsovskaya, Jan. 25.
AP
Oil- the bottom line
Thus, Chechnya is not a republic, a separate country or a nation. It is
also not a single, united ethnic group or nationality. The armed
struggle is
being waged as a Holy War, a Jihad, that calls for all Muslims to come
to
the aid of their "Chechen brethren."
However, the struggle is not really over religious differences. Calling
it
a Muslim Holy War is a smokescreen to cover up the real, underlying
cause of
the conflict. The bottom line in Chechnya is oil. It is one of the
richest
oil-producting regions in the former USSR. Chechnya also has vast
natural
gas deposits. It is a major chemical processing center.
Perhaps most importantly, Chechnya not only has vast reserves of oil,
but
also a vital pipeline running through its territory to the Caspian Sea.
The
issue is not only oil, but control of these pipelines.
When we say oil, we have to ask what roles Exxon, Standard Oil and
Shell
are playing in this situation. Wherever there is the combination of oil,
privatization and corruption, the oil cartels are deeply involved. They
are
actively making moves that will put them in position to pounce and
penetrate. Once they gain a foothold, it is very difficult to get rid of
them.
One of the main factors in destroying socialism was, and is, political
corruption. Because of the oil and potential private profits, corruption
has
become an even bigger factor in the Chechnya region. In fact, the
temptation
to make huge profits from selling oil to U.S. and world imperialism
corrupted even some very top Communist leaders.
This corruption is directly related to the privatization of Russia.
Privatization and corruption go hand-in-hand. Privatizing socialist
public
property opens wide the doors to corruption and criminal elements of all
kinds.
Historical backdrop
It is interesting to note that this region was one of the earliest
supporters of Boris Yeltsin and privatization. Its leaders quickly
became
corrupt opportunists. They were interested only in enriching themselves
by
selling out socialism to the "free marketplace of capitalism," where
they
could wheel and deal away socially-owned resources by privatizing them.
One of the main leaders was Djovkhar Dudayev, the self-proclaimed
president
of Chechnya who is a Yeltsin-created gangster. Like Gorbachev, he
declared
the region independent and recruited former mercenaries from Afghanistan
and
other regions.
How is it possible for the Chechen guerrillas, poorly trained and
equipped,
to hold off thousands of Russian troops with far superior weapons?
Dudayev
kept them fighting against insurmountable odds by resurrecting and
preaching
a backward ideology. He convinced many that they were "soldiers in a
liberating Holy War," based on national hatreds and religious
fanaticism.
Yes, it is nationalist Muslim fanaticism, but it is also the
indecision,
the political splits in the Russian government and military, the
bumbling
and confusion, which is resulting in many more deaths and much more
destruction than was necessary to subdue the secessionist movement.
Betrayers of socialism
Yeltsin’s war policies were a reflection of his political and economic
policies. The conflicts between nationalities and ethnic groups, the
throwbacks to bitter clan warfare, nationalist extremism, separatism,
racism
and discrimination have all been inflamed and fostered by Yeltsin and
his
gang.
Before him, it was the crimes of Gorbachev against socialism and the
Soviet
people that started the ball of separatism and privatization rolling.
Once
started, separatism and nationalism snowballed from one republic to
another,
from one country to another.
The developments in Russia, Chechnya and other areas are an outgrowth
of
first Gorbachev’s and then Yeltsin’s policies. This led to the
corruption
that makes the people vulnerable to nationalism and secession.
Centuries-old
backwardness, nationalism, extremist and fanatical religious beliefs
were
stirred up. Such backwardness cannot be fought without a socialist
ideology
to take its place.
Yeltsin is out mainly because he managed to alienate and infuriate not
only
his own people, but also his handlers and the right-wing majority in the
U.S. Congress. They want a Russia that can at least pass for bourgeois
democracy, moving steadily to privatize, to reform itself into a free
market
economy, controlled and dominated mainly by U.S. multinationals.
Global monopoly capital actually has two distinct approaches to
Chechnya.
The multinationals and entrepreneurs, like McDonald’s or Pepsi, actually
prefer operating in conditions of disorder, instability and overall
chaos.
On the other hand, finance capital, banking and international finance,
like
the International Monetary Fund, are looking for ripe conditions for
long-term capital investments. They demand stability and order. They
demand
more guarantees that investment will be safe and profitable for
long-term
deals like oil and pipelines. They demand a reliable, cooperative
government
in control, and under their control. They want assurances that the
transition to capitalism is irreversible.
What’s at stake
Let me pose this question to Americans: how would we react if
confronted
with the threat of oilrich Oklahoma seceding from the United States,
declaring independence and demanding recognition as a new sovereign
country?
You can believe that as soon as statemonopoly capital got wind of any
such
move, armed forces would immediately be sent in to squash it.
Thus, the future of the Russian Federation is directly involved in the
outcome of the Chechnya conflict. If Chechnya is allowed to secede,
there
are hundreds of other such areas that would move in the same direction.
It would not take long for the Russian Federation to disintegrate. The
cohesion, unity and very existence of Russia as a sovereign country is
at
stake. Also at stake are all the socialist structures and features
remaining
in the former republics. Secession would mean another big step backward
toward capitalism.
Chechnya is only one more example why ideological education is so
important
in the building and defense of a socialist society. This is especially
true
while there are still powerful, insatiable predators, with corporate
claws
ready to pounce wherever socialism is weak, crippled and vulnerable.
Inadequate attention to the ideological struggle and the false concept
that
the ideological and class struggle are no longer valid, were big factors
in
the crises in the east European socialist countries and in the USSR.
What has been missing in the former republics, in areas and regions
like
Chechnya, is class consciousness and class unity. What is missing is an
ideology that would build a sense of unity, an ideology that would
transform
nationalism and even religious fanaticism into a positive, progressive,
internationalist consciousnesS. What is missing is the ideology of
socialism.
(Picture)
AP
Russian conscripts ferrying ammunition to troops in Chechnya, rest at
the
side of a road in Ingushetia, just kilometers away from the Chechen
border,
at Sleptsovskaya, January 25. The soldiers said they make the resupply
trip
every two to three days.
Gus Hall is national chairman of the Communist Party USA.
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