Jugoinfo
TREPCA E SOROS
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http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/406
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L'emblematica e vergognosa vicenda delle miniere di Trepca
Kossovo: Soros ordina e la NATO esegue
In un clima di sistematica persecuzione ed espulsione della minoranze
serbe, rom, garani da parte delle truppe NATO e dell'UCK, in Kossovo si
comincia a parlare di affari. E' in corso una concorrenza spietata.
Espropriate le miniere di Trepca. A farla da padrone è Soros, diventato
fiduciario dell'amministrazione Clinton nei Balcani.
Ma in mezzo ci sono anche degli italiani..."insospettabili".
A luglio, i quotidiani finanziari rendono nota la notizia che i
finanziamenti USA per i Balcani saranno gestiti da George Soros. Secondo
quanto riportato, l'agenzia chiamata a gestire gli aiuti - la OPIC
ovvero "Overseas Private Investment Corporation - ha preferito Soros
rispetto ad altri 16 candidati.
Il noto speculatore finanziario si troverà così a gestire 150 milioni di
dollari dei circa 600 che gli USA hanno stanziato per gli investimenti
nei Balcani.
Il presidente della OPIC, affidando la gestione del fondo a Soros, ha
dichiarato che "Il governo americano e le aziende statunitensi vogliono
avere un ruolo da protagonisti nella regione". (1)
La notizia in sè non è di quelle sorprendenti ma conferma ulteriormente
quello è stato - e rimane - il ruolo del tutto particolare svolto da
Soros in tutta la vicenda che ha portato la NATO ad occupare
militarmente il Kossovo e bombardare il resto della Jugoslavia.
L'incredibile esproprio delle miniere di Trepca
A metà agosto, le truppe della NATO hanno occupato e chiuso una parte
delle miniere di Trepca.La vicenda del complesso minerario di Trepca, il
più importante della ex Jugoslavia e ovviamente del Kossovo, conferma il
doppio filo che lega le operazioni finanziarie e il ruolo dei soldati
della NATO e dell'UCK.
Innanzitutto, occorre sottolineare come una parte degli impianti
minerari siano collocati a Kosovska Mitrovica, ovvero l'enclave in cui
la minoranza serba sta resistendo disperatamente alle persecuzioni, agli
attacchi e alle intimidazioni sistematiche e congiunte dell'UCK e dei
contingenti della NATO. Ma Trepca rappresenta anche una delle poche vere
ricchezze del Kossovo occupato.
"Essendo una delle poche imprese in Kosovo in grado di attirare valuta
estera, Trepca eserciterà un ruolo assai significativo nel contesto
dello sforzo internazionale per la ricostruzione" segnalava un anno
prima il Financial Times (2) ed in effetti la previsione del quotidiano
finanziario era destinata ada avverarsi in poco tempo.
Un rapporto dell'ICG (International Crisis Group) nel novembre del 1999,
è dedicato proprio al complesso minerario di Trepca. Questo rapporto
raccomandava alla missione ONU in Kossovo (la Unmik) di appropriarsi nel
più breve tempo possibile delle miniere e suggeriva anche le modalità e
la tempistica con cui realizzare questo esproprio ai danni della
Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia. Le miniere di Trepca, nonostante
varie controversie di cui parleremo, risultano ancora essere di
proprietà statale della Repubblica Jugoslava.
Secondo il rapporto, una volta espropriate le miniere "la forza e il
management vanno selezionati in base al merito ...ma non va presa in
considerazione nessuno che abbia legami con il regime di Belgrado". Ma
anche sui tempi dell'esproprio è interessante quanto dice il rapporto
dell'ICG: "Se l'iniziativa venisse presa prima di qualunque
consultazione elettorale in Serbia, questa non sconvolgerebbe
necessariamente una eventuale strategia per deporre Milosevic, e
potrebbe anzi contribuire anche a questa impresa" (3).
E' importante, a questo punto, sapere che l'ICG è un centro di ricerca
sui Balcani finanziato da Soros e gestito dal suo braccio destro nel
Kossovo, l'ex ambasciatore USA in Turchia Morton Abramowitz.
A marzo, la KFOR già aveva provveduto a far ripartire una parte del
complesso minerario, quello in cui lavoravano operai albanesi alle
dipendenze dell'ing.Burhan Kavaja a cui il viceré dell'Unmik, l'esaltato
Bernard Kouchner, ha affidato la direzione dell'impianto.
Nella Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia, il 24 settembre si terranno le
elezioni politiche generali. Ad agosto, conformemente a quanto sostenuto
dall'ICG, le truppe NATO occupano militarmente le altre miniere di
Trepca, cacciano via gli ultimi operai serbi che vi lavoravano (circa
600) e le chiudono perché "sarebbero inquinanti". Se non fosse
vergognoso ci sarebbe da ridere: la NATO che con le sue bombe all'uranio
ed i bombardamenti sistematici sulle raffinerie di Pancevo ha inquinato
tutta l'area danubiana, si preoccupa dell'inquinamento delle miniere di
Trepca!!!
Una concorrenza spietata sulle ricchezze del Kossovo
Una volta cacciati via i lavoratori serbi, le miniere saranno affidate
ad investitori esteri disposti a rilevarle.
Sulle miniere, tra l'altro, esisteva già un pretendente/concorrente di
Soros. Si tratta di un finanziere greco, Evangelos Mytilineos, il quale
reclama le miniere come risarcimento di un credito ormai inesigibile a
causa della guerra, verso il governo jugoslavo. Ma se le miniere vengono
espropriate dall'Unmik, per il finanziere greco non ci sarà nulla da
fare.
Per lui, come per altri imprenditori, pesa l'accusa di "aver fatto
affari con Milosevic", per cui anche se il Kossovo non è formalmente
indipendente ma amministrato dall'ONU, non può più accampare diritti. Il
finanziere greco ha chiesto un arbitrato internazionale a Vienna ma in
Kossovo decidono le armi, quelle della NATO ma anche quelle dell'UCK. Lo
conferma quanto avvenuto ad un altro imprenditore-avvoltoio, un questo
caso italiano. "E' il caso della società siderurgica Duferco di Brescia
che non riesce a rientrare in possesso di due laminatoi a Urosevac e
Vucitrin" scrive il Sole 24 Ore." Nel primo sono alloggiate le truppe
greche, nel secondo i kossovari vogliono una partecipazione...Gli
impianti erano stati ceduti dalla Siderurgica statale di Belgrado in
cambio di debiti accumulati verso la società italiana a metà degli anni
'90. Adesso un certo Ramadani, kosovaro di Slovenia, dichiara ai
giornali di volere un partner per la "sua" fabbrica" di Vucinar"(4).
Seguendo la stessa logica, la francese Alcatel, utilizzando una sua
società basata a Montecarlo, ha "soffiato" alla Telecom italiana la rete
di telefonia cellulare nel Kossovo. La Telecom era "rea" di aver fatto
affari con Belgrado partecipando insieme alla greca Ote alla
privatizzazione della società telefonica jugoslava. Il 19 giugno è
scaduto il termine stabilito dalla "Agenzia Europea per la Ricostruzione
del Kossovo" per gli appalti delle gare per la ricostruzione dei ponti
di Zaimovo e Luzane e la riparazione dei convogliatori di carbone delle
miniere di Bardh e Mirash. Sembra che ci siano stati "colpi bassi" di
ogni tipo, incluso qualche morto ammazzato. Si potrebbe dire che "è la
concorrenza, bellezza"!!
Tra gli espropriatori anche degli "insospettabili italiani"
Ma le pagine vergognose sulla ricostruzione del Kossovo "gestita"
dall'ONU-NATO (ovvero Unmik-KFOR) non sono finite. Un'altra pagina
vergognosa è quella scitta da CGIL CISL UIL.
Con alcuni articoli di insolito"coraggio", il Manifesto, ha reso noto
che agli investimenti sulle miniere di Trepca, partecipa anche un fondo
comune di 1,5 miliardi di lire, messo su dai sindacati confederali
italiani e dalla Confindustria (altro che concertazione!!!NdR). Non
solo, ma i soldi utilizzati da CGIL CISL UIL sono quelli raccolti nei
posti di lavoro per la famigerata "Missione Arcobaleno" (finita sotto
inchiesta della magistratura) attraverso il versamento di "un'ora di
lavoro per il Kossovo".
Il 10 maggio, il commissario italiano per i fondi privati della Missione
Arcobaleno, Marco Vitale, e il viceré dell'ONU in Kossovo, Kouchner,
hanno reso noto di aver firmato l'accordo per la donazione dei soldi e
la destinazione alle miniere di Trepca, specificamente per l'impianto di
Stari Terg (5).
Il Manifesto accusa esplicitamente la "pulizia etnica sindacale". Loris
Campetti denuncia che "quelle miniere, che sono la realtà economica più
importante del Kossovo, sono state di fatto consegnate ai vincitori,
agli albanesi, che hanno proceduto ad una "deserbificazione" forzata".
Tre mesi dopo, questa deserbificazione è stata continuata direttamente
da quasi 2.000 militari della NATO. Soros ordina...e i soldati della
NATO eseguono. Una cosa è certa, alla vergogna di aver appoggiato
l'aggressione NATO un anno fa, nel Kossovo occupato si aggiungono
quotidianamente episodi e rivelazioni che dovrebbero suggerire, a chi ha
sposato la tesi della guerra umanitaria, di sopprimersi da solo.
Note :
(1) Sole 24 Ore del 26 luglio 2000; (2) Financial Times del 6 luglio
1999; (3) vedi l'articolo di Diana Johnstone sul Manifesto del 19 marzo
2000; (4) Sole 24 Ore del 23 marzo 2000; (5) Manifesto dell'11 e del 12
maggio 2000.
---
U.N.STORMED TREPCA'S WORKERS CONTINUE PROTESTS
ZVECAN, Aug 22 (Tanjug) Trepca lead smelter employees and
people
in divided Kosovska Mitrovica held a peaceful rally early on Tuesday in
protest against the KosovoMetohija plant's violent takeover by the
international force KFor on Aug. 14.
The assembled protesters, who have been rallying outside
factory
gates since the day of the takeover, were addressed by Trepca Assistant
General Manager Vojislav Radulovic.
"We are gathering here daily because we are not allowed to
work.
We ask that we be returned to our jobs, to go back to doing what we have
been doing", Radulovic said.
According to Radulovic, environmental concerns pleaded as the
reason for KFor's occupation of Trepca (in the north of the Yugoslav
republic of Serbia's U.N.administered KosovoMetohija province) are a
pretext to justify the outrage in the eyes of the world.
"But Trepca was not built yesterday, and all of us who have
worked
here are alive and our health is unimpaired," he stressed, urging the
people to keep up the peaceful protests.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Le puntate precedenti su:
http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/405
http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/406
---
L'articolo che segue uscira' sul prossimo numero di
CONTROPIANO - giornale per l'iniziativa politica di classe
cpiano@...
-
L'emblematica e vergognosa vicenda delle miniere di Trepca
Kossovo: Soros ordina e la NATO esegue
In un clima di sistematica persecuzione ed espulsione della minoranze
serbe, rom, garani da parte delle truppe NATO e dell'UCK, in Kossovo si
comincia a parlare di affari. E' in corso una concorrenza spietata.
Espropriate le miniere di Trepca. A farla da padrone è Soros, diventato
fiduciario dell'amministrazione Clinton nei Balcani.
Ma in mezzo ci sono anche degli italiani..."insospettabili".
A luglio, i quotidiani finanziari rendono nota la notizia che i
finanziamenti USA per i Balcani saranno gestiti da George Soros. Secondo
quanto riportato, l'agenzia chiamata a gestire gli aiuti - la OPIC
ovvero "Overseas Private Investment Corporation - ha preferito Soros
rispetto ad altri 16 candidati.
Il noto speculatore finanziario si troverà così a gestire 150 milioni di
dollari dei circa 600 che gli USA hanno stanziato per gli investimenti
nei Balcani.
Il presidente della OPIC, affidando la gestione del fondo a Soros, ha
dichiarato che "Il governo americano e le aziende statunitensi vogliono
avere un ruolo da protagonisti nella regione". (1)
La notizia in sè non è di quelle sorprendenti ma conferma ulteriormente
quello è stato - e rimane - il ruolo del tutto particolare svolto da
Soros in tutta la vicenda che ha portato la NATO ad occupare
militarmente il Kossovo e bombardare il resto della Jugoslavia.
L'incredibile esproprio delle miniere di Trepca
A metà agosto, le truppe della NATO hanno occupato e chiuso una parte
delle miniere di Trepca.La vicenda del complesso minerario di Trepca, il
più importante della ex Jugoslavia e ovviamente del Kossovo, conferma il
doppio filo che lega le operazioni finanziarie e il ruolo dei soldati
della NATO e dell'UCK.
Innanzitutto, occorre sottolineare come una parte degli impianti
minerari siano collocati a Kosovska Mitrovica, ovvero l'enclave in cui
la minoranza serba sta resistendo disperatamente alle persecuzioni, agli
attacchi e alle intimidazioni sistematiche e congiunte dell'UCK e dei
contingenti della NATO. Ma Trepca rappresenta anche una delle poche vere
ricchezze del Kossovo occupato.
"Essendo una delle poche imprese in Kosovo in grado di attirare valuta
estera, Trepca eserciterà un ruolo assai significativo nel contesto
dello sforzo internazionale per la ricostruzione" segnalava un anno
prima il Financial Times (2) ed in effetti la previsione del quotidiano
finanziario era destinata ada avverarsi in poco tempo.
Un rapporto dell'ICG (International Crisis Group) nel novembre del 1999,
è dedicato proprio al complesso minerario di Trepca. Questo rapporto
raccomandava alla missione ONU in Kossovo (la Unmik) di appropriarsi nel
più breve tempo possibile delle miniere e suggeriva anche le modalità e
la tempistica con cui realizzare questo esproprio ai danni della
Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia. Le miniere di Trepca, nonostante
varie controversie di cui parleremo, risultano ancora essere di
proprietà statale della Repubblica Jugoslava.
Secondo il rapporto, una volta espropriate le miniere "la forza e il
management vanno selezionati in base al merito ...ma non va presa in
considerazione nessuno che abbia legami con il regime di Belgrado". Ma
anche sui tempi dell'esproprio è interessante quanto dice il rapporto
dell'ICG: "Se l'iniziativa venisse presa prima di qualunque
consultazione elettorale in Serbia, questa non sconvolgerebbe
necessariamente una eventuale strategia per deporre Milosevic, e
potrebbe anzi contribuire anche a questa impresa" (3).
E' importante, a questo punto, sapere che l'ICG è un centro di ricerca
sui Balcani finanziato da Soros e gestito dal suo braccio destro nel
Kossovo, l'ex ambasciatore USA in Turchia Morton Abramowitz.
A marzo, la KFOR già aveva provveduto a far ripartire una parte del
complesso minerario, quello in cui lavoravano operai albanesi alle
dipendenze dell'ing.Burhan Kavaja a cui il viceré dell'Unmik, l'esaltato
Bernard Kouchner, ha affidato la direzione dell'impianto.
Nella Repubblica Federale di Jugoslavia, il 24 settembre si terranno le
elezioni politiche generali. Ad agosto, conformemente a quanto sostenuto
dall'ICG, le truppe NATO occupano militarmente le altre miniere di
Trepca, cacciano via gli ultimi operai serbi che vi lavoravano (circa
600) e le chiudono perché "sarebbero inquinanti". Se non fosse
vergognoso ci sarebbe da ridere: la NATO che con le sue bombe all'uranio
ed i bombardamenti sistematici sulle raffinerie di Pancevo ha inquinato
tutta l'area danubiana, si preoccupa dell'inquinamento delle miniere di
Trepca!!!
Una concorrenza spietata sulle ricchezze del Kossovo
Una volta cacciati via i lavoratori serbi, le miniere saranno affidate
ad investitori esteri disposti a rilevarle.
Sulle miniere, tra l'altro, esisteva già un pretendente/concorrente di
Soros. Si tratta di un finanziere greco, Evangelos Mytilineos, il quale
reclama le miniere come risarcimento di un credito ormai inesigibile a
causa della guerra, verso il governo jugoslavo. Ma se le miniere vengono
espropriate dall'Unmik, per il finanziere greco non ci sarà nulla da
fare.
Per lui, come per altri imprenditori, pesa l'accusa di "aver fatto
affari con Milosevic", per cui anche se il Kossovo non è formalmente
indipendente ma amministrato dall'ONU, non può più accampare diritti. Il
finanziere greco ha chiesto un arbitrato internazionale a Vienna ma in
Kossovo decidono le armi, quelle della NATO ma anche quelle dell'UCK. Lo
conferma quanto avvenuto ad un altro imprenditore-avvoltoio, un questo
caso italiano. "E' il caso della società siderurgica Duferco di Brescia
che non riesce a rientrare in possesso di due laminatoi a Urosevac e
Vucitrin" scrive il Sole 24 Ore." Nel primo sono alloggiate le truppe
greche, nel secondo i kossovari vogliono una partecipazione...Gli
impianti erano stati ceduti dalla Siderurgica statale di Belgrado in
cambio di debiti accumulati verso la società italiana a metà degli anni
'90. Adesso un certo Ramadani, kosovaro di Slovenia, dichiara ai
giornali di volere un partner per la "sua" fabbrica" di Vucinar"(4).
Seguendo la stessa logica, la francese Alcatel, utilizzando una sua
società basata a Montecarlo, ha "soffiato" alla Telecom italiana la rete
di telefonia cellulare nel Kossovo. La Telecom era "rea" di aver fatto
affari con Belgrado partecipando insieme alla greca Ote alla
privatizzazione della società telefonica jugoslava. Il 19 giugno è
scaduto il termine stabilito dalla "Agenzia Europea per la Ricostruzione
del Kossovo" per gli appalti delle gare per la ricostruzione dei ponti
di Zaimovo e Luzane e la riparazione dei convogliatori di carbone delle
miniere di Bardh e Mirash. Sembra che ci siano stati "colpi bassi" di
ogni tipo, incluso qualche morto ammazzato. Si potrebbe dire che "è la
concorrenza, bellezza"!!
Tra gli espropriatori anche degli "insospettabili italiani"
Ma le pagine vergognose sulla ricostruzione del Kossovo "gestita"
dall'ONU-NATO (ovvero Unmik-KFOR) non sono finite. Un'altra pagina
vergognosa è quella scitta da CGIL CISL UIL.
Con alcuni articoli di insolito"coraggio", il Manifesto, ha reso noto
che agli investimenti sulle miniere di Trepca, partecipa anche un fondo
comune di 1,5 miliardi di lire, messo su dai sindacati confederali
italiani e dalla Confindustria (altro che concertazione!!!NdR). Non
solo, ma i soldi utilizzati da CGIL CISL UIL sono quelli raccolti nei
posti di lavoro per la famigerata "Missione Arcobaleno" (finita sotto
inchiesta della magistratura) attraverso il versamento di "un'ora di
lavoro per il Kossovo".
Il 10 maggio, il commissario italiano per i fondi privati della Missione
Arcobaleno, Marco Vitale, e il viceré dell'ONU in Kossovo, Kouchner,
hanno reso noto di aver firmato l'accordo per la donazione dei soldi e
la destinazione alle miniere di Trepca, specificamente per l'impianto di
Stari Terg (5).
Il Manifesto accusa esplicitamente la "pulizia etnica sindacale". Loris
Campetti denuncia che "quelle miniere, che sono la realtà economica più
importante del Kossovo, sono state di fatto consegnate ai vincitori,
agli albanesi, che hanno proceduto ad una "deserbificazione" forzata".
Tre mesi dopo, questa deserbificazione è stata continuata direttamente
da quasi 2.000 militari della NATO. Soros ordina...e i soldati della
NATO eseguono. Una cosa è certa, alla vergogna di aver appoggiato
l'aggressione NATO un anno fa, nel Kossovo occupato si aggiungono
quotidianamente episodi e rivelazioni che dovrebbero suggerire, a chi ha
sposato la tesi della guerra umanitaria, di sopprimersi da solo.
Note :
(1) Sole 24 Ore del 26 luglio 2000; (2) Financial Times del 6 luglio
1999; (3) vedi l'articolo di Diana Johnstone sul Manifesto del 19 marzo
2000; (4) Sole 24 Ore del 23 marzo 2000; (5) Manifesto dell'11 e del 12
maggio 2000.
---
U.N.STORMED TREPCA'S WORKERS CONTINUE PROTESTS
ZVECAN, Aug 22 (Tanjug) Trepca lead smelter employees and
people
in divided Kosovska Mitrovica held a peaceful rally early on Tuesday in
protest against the KosovoMetohija plant's violent takeover by the
international force KFor on Aug. 14.
The assembled protesters, who have been rallying outside
factory
gates since the day of the takeover, were addressed by Trepca Assistant
General Manager Vojislav Radulovic.
"We are gathering here daily because we are not allowed to
work.
We ask that we be returned to our jobs, to go back to doing what we have
been doing", Radulovic said.
According to Radulovic, environmental concerns pleaded as the
reason for KFor's occupation of Trepca (in the north of the Yugoslav
republic of Serbia's U.N.administered KosovoMetohija province) are a
pretext to justify the outrage in the eyes of the world.
"But Trepca was not built yesterday, and all of us who have
worked
here are alive and our health is unimpaired," he stressed, urging the
people to keep up the peaceful protests.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* SOROS IL "FILANTROPO"
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Soros, the Philanthropist
George Soros is the typical case of the new speculative capital that is
entering in Hispano-America. In addition to his great purchase of the
lucrative Russian telephone monopoly Svyazinvest, in collaboration with
the
Deutsche Morgan Grenfel, where some people alleges that Soros has
earned billions speculating with the exchange rate in England and more
recently in Southeast Asia, where he and his cabal of speculators, aka
Quantum Group, “upset currencies in order to pursue his own political
agenda” (Malasyan PM’s words) in 1997. The currencies in the region were
drastically devalued in a few weeks and more than $100 billion in the
central
bank reserves of those countries were expended in a failed attempt to
defend their currencies. There was a net withdrawal of foreign funds
reaching $12 billion from South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and
the Philippines. In a year, $105 billion flowed out ($12 billion net
outflow in
1997 coming after a $93 billion net inflow in 1996), equivalent to 11%
of total
production in these countries. In the span of a few months, the overall
value
of stock markets in Asia fell by 60%.
The philanthropic incursions of Soros in East Europe helped him to
create
bridges with future politicians and intellectuals that later facilitated
lucrative
opportunities to him of investment in the purchase of companies in that
region.
Like it was to be expected, Soros is the first in front of the
speculative
outpost in Latin America. He found right opportunities to make a great
fortune under the Carlos Menem's regime. With an initial investment of
$10
million in 1990, his profits in real estate now surpass $550 million,
including
two towers of offices, two residential marinas in a de-luxe harbour
complex,
flats for sectors of high income and plans to reconvert the Market of
Supply
(Mercado de Abastos) of Buenos Aires. He has bought four of the six
biggest mall centres of Buenos Aires and a great sport complex and today
he is the biggest landowner and cattle dealer of Argentina. This last
one is a
result from an investment of $17 million in 400.000 hectares of land and
160,000 heads of cattle. At the beginning of 1997, with a profitability
of $90
million taken from that property, Soros bought another 60,000 hectares
of
agrarian land plus 87,000 heads of cattle. The value of the land has
been
duplicated in about two years and the American market "has been suddenly
opened" to exports of Argentinean beef meat for first time in 60 years.
And while the value of the land increased and his leasing business were
multiplying, Menem's regime was proclaiming its success to attract new
capitals. At the same time, general strikes were spreading to every
province
of Argentina and massive demonstrations of Health and Education Service
workers, usually exploited or unpaid, became frequent.
Mexico is another target for the speculative adventures of Soros, with
investments of $1,3 billion in real estate. Thus, while the standard of
life is
going down, the external predator arrives to catch the profits.
In Venezuela, Soros took control of numerous "automatic tellers"
networks
and a company of real estate whose capital surpasses $150 million (Fund
of Real Estate Values, FVI). In addition, he has shares in lucrative
companies of mining, textiles and electrical energy. Of course, he
financially help the opposition to Hugo Chavez's populist government.
In Brazil, he has shares for $245 million in privatised
telecommunication
company, Telebras, a majority share in Brazil Realty, and investments in
skyscrapers for business offices in the centre of Sao Paulo.
Like in his previous incursions, taking advantage - in association with
local
speculators- of the legal vacuum fomented by corrupt and repressive US-
backed regimes, Soros covered up his predatory actions with a
philanthropic faccade. In effect, while he was earning trillions at the
expense
of farmers and natives deprived of their land, Soros Foundation opened
an
office to offer free education to indigenous and street-children in
Guatemala
City.
Very Philanthropic.
Javier Bernal (copyleft 2000 - Feel free to forward as much as you can)
PS: To know more:
Latin America in the Time of Cholera : Electoral Politics, Market
Economics, and Permanent Crisis, by James Petras, Morris Morley
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415905354/amazonatechelon
"George Soros buys Ukraine", by Connie Bruck in The New Yorker, 23
January 1995
http://www.ukar.org/soros01.shtml
"Beware of billionaires bearing gifts", by Richard C. Morais in Forbes 7
April
1997
If you've dimly wondered what is happening in Albania, we can, in a
brief
sentence, explain: George Soros' friends are coming out on top...
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0407/5907082a.htm
---
* SOROS LANCIA UN FONDO DI INVESTIMENTO PER COMPRARSI I BALCANI
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Berger, Munoz, Soros Launch Southeast Europe Equity Fund
Jul. 26, 2000 | 12:40 p.m.
To: National Desk
Contact: Lawrence Spinelli, 202-336-8690, or Timothy Harwood,
202-336-8744, both of OPIC
Web site: http://www.opic.gov
WASHINGTON, July 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Samuel R. Berger, Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs, George Munoz, President and
CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and George
Soros, organizer of Soros Private Funds Management (SPFM), today
launched the Southeast Europe Equity Fund, a $150 million fund to
provide new business development, expansion, restructuring, and
privatization in the region.
At a ceremony in the Old Executive Office Building at the White House
marking the one-year anniversary of the Stability Pact for Southeast
Europe, Munoz and Soros signed an agreement on basic terms under which
SPFM is prepared to manage, and OPIC is prepared to provide financing
for, the fund.
``A year ago, after NATO won the war in Kosovo, more than 40 leaders
came together in Sarajevo determined to win the peace,´´ Berger
said. ``With the Stability Pact Summit, we launched a new partnership
between Southeast Europe and the international community to reverse the
habits of history, de-Balkanize the Balkans and work toward a peaceful
and stable region. We made clear that the nations of Southeast Europe
must undertake reforms to attract investment, and that they must work
together. Our efforts are working.´´
Berger noted that economic growth is accelerating throughout the region
and that the OPIC fund is one of a number of steps the United States has
taken over the past year to promote trade, investment, and economic
growth in Southeast Europe, as promised by President Clinton at the
Stability Pact Summit Pact last July. Berger said the United States will
continue to provide strong support, particularly for initiatives to
strengthen democracy and create sustainable economic growth.
Munoz said, ``I am pleased that we are taking another significant step
in demonstrating that Southeast Europe is an important region on which
we should focus our efforts, to enable it to rebuild and enter the
global marketplace as a full partner. The Southeast Europe Equity Fund
is an ideal vehicle to connect American institutional capital with
European entrepreneurs eager to help Americans tap their growing
markets. OPIC is pleased that Soros Private Funds Management has chosen
to send a strong, positive signal that Southeast Europe is open for
business.´´
Soros said, ``After all the horror and destruction wrought by the
Milosevic regime, the United States and the European Union are deeply
committed to ensuring a better future for the region. This creates
investment opportunities and private investment in turn can make an
important contribution to the region. OPIC is rendering a real service
by providing financing for this fund and I am happy to put my money
where they are putting theirs.´´
Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), Chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, said, ``I am very pleased that this
new fund of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation will be able to
play a key role in mobilizing private sector support for the future
development of Southeast Europe. The Fund´s creation is as much a
recognition of the importance of this region´s vibrant new markets for
U.S. products as it is a reflection of our long-term support to its
emerging market economies. With the financial commitments of the
Fund´s management team already in place, it should quickly be able to
raise the capital needed to promote those projects demonstrating the
best corporate governance practices.´´
The fund will serve Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Montenegro
and Turkey - an emerging consumer market of 112 million people. Its
primary purpose will be to provide capital for new business development,
expansion, restructuring, and privatization.
Soros Private Funds Management was selected as fund manager by the OPIC
Board of Directors in June, concluding a transparent, seven-month
selection process by OPIC management. A Soros affiliate will commit $50
million in private equity, while OPIC will commit to provide a $100
million loan guaranty. Interests in the fund will not be offered to the
public.
OPIC currently provides more than $65 million in financing and insurance
for projects in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. Other OPIC-supported
funds have invested more than $30 million in the region.
``OPIC has taken a leadership role in responding to the Clinton
Administration´s Southeast Europe initiative to stabilize and
integrate the countries of southeast Europe into the transatlantic
community,´´ Munoz said. ``OPIC opened a southeast Europe regional
office in Zagreb last February, to serve as a focal point for
establishing potential joint venture partnerships between U.S. and
regional businesses. We will continue to support and encourage U.S.
investment in the region.´´
OPIC is a self-sustaining federal agency that sells investment products
to small, medium and large American businesses expanding into some 140
developing nations and emerging markets around the world. OPIC's
political risk insurance, project finance and investment funds fill a
commercial void, create a level playing field for U.S. businesses and
support development in emerging economies. Since 1971, OPIC has
supported $130 billion worth of investments that will generate $61
billion in U.S. exports and create more than 242,000 American jobs.
> http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n&cat=01&id=0007260631427097
Soros Fund Launches $150 Mln US-Backed Balkans Investment
Bloomberg News, Jul 26 2000 6:31PM
---
* ALTRI DOCUMENTI IMPORTANTI SU GEORGE SOROS:
> http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/3880/
The unofficial George Soros Homepage
BIOGRAFIA NON-UFFICIALE DI GEORGE SOROS
> http://www.antiwar.com/justin/pf/p-j073100.html
Behind the Headlines by Justin Raimondo (July 31, 2000)
PROFITEERS OF EMPIRE CHENEY, SOROS, AND CO.
SOROS TRA I PROFITTATORI DELL'IMPERO
> http://www.tao.ca/fire/nettime/0788.html
George Soros on the Kosovo situation
Commencement Speech delivered by George Soros on May 27, 1999, at Paul
H.
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University.
1999: SOROS PARTECIPA ALLA CAMPAGNA DI DIFFAMAZIONE DELLA JUGOSLAVIA ED
APPOGGIA LE BOMBE UMANITARIE
> http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a393bebad667e.htm
Soros opens Bank so Montenegro can be just liks Kosovo
June 2 1999 /PRNewswire/
SOROS APRE UNA BANCA IN MONTENEGRO
> http://geocities.com/CapitolHill/2890/
Center for Strategic Studies - Belgrade
SOROS NON HA IN MANO SOLAMENTE TUTTI I MEDIA DELL'OPPOSIZIONE, MA ANCHE
ISTITUZIONI DI RICERCA E PERSINO UN CENTRO DI STUDI STRATEGICI A
BELGRADO!
---
* IL MONDO DI SOROS
http://www.antiwar.com/rep/szamuely/szamuely50.html
Soros' World
by George Szamuely
New York Press, 8/22/00
Last week 900 NATO troops, under UN auspices, stormed into a smelting
factory at Zvecan in Kosovo and closed the place down. According to the
UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) chief, Bernard Kouchner,
pollution from the plant – part of the vast Trepca mining complex that
produces gold, silver, lead, zinc and cadmium – was raising lead
levels in the environment to 200 times World Health Organization norms.
"I would be a debauched person if I let this threat to the health of
children and pregnant women continue operating any longer," he
announced.
One wonders if the Frenchman managed to keep a straight face as he said
this. Kouchner is running the province on behalf of a NATO that littered
the place with cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells, that presided
over the expulsion of some 200,000 Serbs, that sent bridges crashing
into the Danube, that happily released clouds of toxic fumes from
bombed-out petrochemical factories into the atmosphere. The residents of
this town – particularly the women – showed their usual ingratitude
to their benefactors by throwing stones at them. Trepca is the leading
employer of Serbs in Kosovo and is Yugoslavia's chief exporter. The
protesters got the Los Angeles treatment: tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Yugoslav government disputes Kouchner's claims. Yugoslavia's record
for telling the truth is considerably better than NATO's. Seizure of
Zvecan gives UNMIK control of the Trepca mines. Already an agreement has
been signed with a group of major mining companies, ITT Kosovo
Consortium, to begin rehabilitation of the complex. Some $16 million is
forthcoming from the EU, the United States, France, Italy, Holland and
Sweden.
UNMIK, needless to say, does not have the right to take over property
that belongs to others. The agency was set up by UN Security Council
Resolution 1244; strangely enough, it remained silent on the matter of
stealing. However, as is the way with NATO, Kouchner simply issued a
decree last year: "UNMIK shall administer movable or immovable property,
including monies, bank accounts, and other property of, or registered in
the name of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the Republic of Serbia
or any of its organs, which is in the territory of Kosovo."
Interestingly enough, the seizure of Trepca had been urged on him as
long ago as last November by the International Crisis Group (ICG). The
ICG, invariably described in the media as an "independent" and "private"
think tank, is largely financed and run by the billionaire financier
George Soros. Its "independence" can be gauged by the fact that on its
board sits Louise Arbour, former chief prosecutor at that travesty of
justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia;
as well as Wesley Clark, loony chief bomber from last year. Financial
support also comes from the governments of France, the UK and the U.S.
The ICG is a fascinating case study of the way human rights
organizations, governments and international corporations work hand in
glove these days. "Independent" figures like Soros identify a "crisis"
demanding urgent government attention. Governments act on them and then
parcel out the lucrative contracts to Soros and his pals. The Trepca
report begins with the usual tendentious boilerplate: "The future of
Trepca cuts to the heart of the Kosovars' identity. Its great mineral
wealth is the basis of the economy of Kosovo, but the complex is badly
run-down as a result of under-investment and over-exploitation by
governments in Belgrade… Trepca…is Kosovo's Berlin Wall. It has long
stood for Kosovar Albanians as the symbol of Serbian oppression and of
their own resistance." Therefore, "UNMIK…should implement a rapid and
categorical takeover of Trepca complex, including the immediate, total
shutdown of the environmentally hazardous facilities at Zvecan." There
is no question of turning the mines over to the Kosovar Albanians. And
forget about there being lots of jobs for the locals. Trepca is to be
rehabilitated and then divided up among foreign investors.
The report notes, with pleasure, that the KLA appears to be thoroughly
up-to-date on the issue of turning Kosovo over to international
financiers. George Soros has littered the world with innumerable think
tanks and foundations, all dedicated to promoting his nebulous notions
of the "open society." Cut away the pompous verbiage and what his
pronouncements amount to is that enlightened businessmen like himself
and enlightened governments with the appropriate globalist outlook
should help each other out. To hell with national sovereignty.
It is an outlook that has been happily in conformity with that of the
Clinton administration. And it has gone out of its way to be very
helpful to Soros. Last month, Soros Private Funds Management announced
that it will invest $50 million of its own equity in the Balkans. The
U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. will provide a loan guarantee for
another $100 million of investments. The Soros investment was chosen
over 16 other proposals.
Last December the Clinton administration ordered the U.S. Export-Import
Bank to delay approval of $500 million in credit guarantees to a Russian
company, Tyumen Oil, following complaints by Western investors,
including Soros, that they had been swindled. The U.S. Export-Import
Bank argued that the loan met all its financial criteria. After talking
to Soros, however, it was announced that it was not in the "national
interest" to go ahead with the loan "for the time being." Now comes the
seizure of Trepca. There is little mystery as to what it is our society
is "open" to.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Soros, the Philanthropist
George Soros is the typical case of the new speculative capital that is
entering in Hispano-America. In addition to his great purchase of the
lucrative Russian telephone monopoly Svyazinvest, in collaboration with
the
Deutsche Morgan Grenfel, where some people alleges that Soros has
earned billions speculating with the exchange rate in England and more
recently in Southeast Asia, where he and his cabal of speculators, aka
Quantum Group, “upset currencies in order to pursue his own political
agenda” (Malasyan PM’s words) in 1997. The currencies in the region were
drastically devalued in a few weeks and more than $100 billion in the
central
bank reserves of those countries were expended in a failed attempt to
defend their currencies. There was a net withdrawal of foreign funds
reaching $12 billion from South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and
the Philippines. In a year, $105 billion flowed out ($12 billion net
outflow in
1997 coming after a $93 billion net inflow in 1996), equivalent to 11%
of total
production in these countries. In the span of a few months, the overall
value
of stock markets in Asia fell by 60%.
The philanthropic incursions of Soros in East Europe helped him to
create
bridges with future politicians and intellectuals that later facilitated
lucrative
opportunities to him of investment in the purchase of companies in that
region.
Like it was to be expected, Soros is the first in front of the
speculative
outpost in Latin America. He found right opportunities to make a great
fortune under the Carlos Menem's regime. With an initial investment of
$10
million in 1990, his profits in real estate now surpass $550 million,
including
two towers of offices, two residential marinas in a de-luxe harbour
complex,
flats for sectors of high income and plans to reconvert the Market of
Supply
(Mercado de Abastos) of Buenos Aires. He has bought four of the six
biggest mall centres of Buenos Aires and a great sport complex and today
he is the biggest landowner and cattle dealer of Argentina. This last
one is a
result from an investment of $17 million in 400.000 hectares of land and
160,000 heads of cattle. At the beginning of 1997, with a profitability
of $90
million taken from that property, Soros bought another 60,000 hectares
of
agrarian land plus 87,000 heads of cattle. The value of the land has
been
duplicated in about two years and the American market "has been suddenly
opened" to exports of Argentinean beef meat for first time in 60 years.
And while the value of the land increased and his leasing business were
multiplying, Menem's regime was proclaiming its success to attract new
capitals. At the same time, general strikes were spreading to every
province
of Argentina and massive demonstrations of Health and Education Service
workers, usually exploited or unpaid, became frequent.
Mexico is another target for the speculative adventures of Soros, with
investments of $1,3 billion in real estate. Thus, while the standard of
life is
going down, the external predator arrives to catch the profits.
In Venezuela, Soros took control of numerous "automatic tellers"
networks
and a company of real estate whose capital surpasses $150 million (Fund
of Real Estate Values, FVI). In addition, he has shares in lucrative
companies of mining, textiles and electrical energy. Of course, he
financially help the opposition to Hugo Chavez's populist government.
In Brazil, he has shares for $245 million in privatised
telecommunication
company, Telebras, a majority share in Brazil Realty, and investments in
skyscrapers for business offices in the centre of Sao Paulo.
Like in his previous incursions, taking advantage - in association with
local
speculators- of the legal vacuum fomented by corrupt and repressive US-
backed regimes, Soros covered up his predatory actions with a
philanthropic faccade. In effect, while he was earning trillions at the
expense
of farmers and natives deprived of their land, Soros Foundation opened
an
office to offer free education to indigenous and street-children in
Guatemala
City.
Very Philanthropic.
Javier Bernal (copyleft 2000 - Feel free to forward as much as you can)
PS: To know more:
Latin America in the Time of Cholera : Electoral Politics, Market
Economics, and Permanent Crisis, by James Petras, Morris Morley
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415905354/amazonatechelon
"George Soros buys Ukraine", by Connie Bruck in The New Yorker, 23
January 1995
http://www.ukar.org/soros01.shtml
"Beware of billionaires bearing gifts", by Richard C. Morais in Forbes 7
April
1997
If you've dimly wondered what is happening in Albania, we can, in a
brief
sentence, explain: George Soros' friends are coming out on top...
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0407/5907082a.htm
---
* SOROS LANCIA UN FONDO DI INVESTIMENTO PER COMPRARSI I BALCANI
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Berger, Munoz, Soros Launch Southeast Europe Equity Fund
Jul. 26, 2000 | 12:40 p.m.
To: National Desk
Contact: Lawrence Spinelli, 202-336-8690, or Timothy Harwood,
202-336-8744, both of OPIC
Web site: http://www.opic.gov
WASHINGTON, July 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Samuel R. Berger, Assistant to
the President for National Security Affairs, George Munoz, President and
CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and George
Soros, organizer of Soros Private Funds Management (SPFM), today
launched the Southeast Europe Equity Fund, a $150 million fund to
provide new business development, expansion, restructuring, and
privatization in the region.
At a ceremony in the Old Executive Office Building at the White House
marking the one-year anniversary of the Stability Pact for Southeast
Europe, Munoz and Soros signed an agreement on basic terms under which
SPFM is prepared to manage, and OPIC is prepared to provide financing
for, the fund.
``A year ago, after NATO won the war in Kosovo, more than 40 leaders
came together in Sarajevo determined to win the peace,´´ Berger
said. ``With the Stability Pact Summit, we launched a new partnership
between Southeast Europe and the international community to reverse the
habits of history, de-Balkanize the Balkans and work toward a peaceful
and stable region. We made clear that the nations of Southeast Europe
must undertake reforms to attract investment, and that they must work
together. Our efforts are working.´´
Berger noted that economic growth is accelerating throughout the region
and that the OPIC fund is one of a number of steps the United States has
taken over the past year to promote trade, investment, and economic
growth in Southeast Europe, as promised by President Clinton at the
Stability Pact Summit Pact last July. Berger said the United States will
continue to provide strong support, particularly for initiatives to
strengthen democracy and create sustainable economic growth.
Munoz said, ``I am pleased that we are taking another significant step
in demonstrating that Southeast Europe is an important region on which
we should focus our efforts, to enable it to rebuild and enter the
global marketplace as a full partner. The Southeast Europe Equity Fund
is an ideal vehicle to connect American institutional capital with
European entrepreneurs eager to help Americans tap their growing
markets. OPIC is pleased that Soros Private Funds Management has chosen
to send a strong, positive signal that Southeast Europe is open for
business.´´
Soros said, ``After all the horror and destruction wrought by the
Milosevic regime, the United States and the European Union are deeply
committed to ensuring a better future for the region. This creates
investment opportunities and private investment in turn can make an
important contribution to the region. OPIC is rendering a real service
by providing financing for this fund and I am happy to put my money
where they are putting theirs.´´
Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman (R-N.Y.), Chairman of the House
International Relations Committee, said, ``I am very pleased that this
new fund of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation will be able to
play a key role in mobilizing private sector support for the future
development of Southeast Europe. The Fund´s creation is as much a
recognition of the importance of this region´s vibrant new markets for
U.S. products as it is a reflection of our long-term support to its
emerging market economies. With the financial commitments of the
Fund´s management team already in place, it should quickly be able to
raise the capital needed to promote those projects demonstrating the
best corporate governance practices.´´
The fund will serve Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Montenegro
and Turkey - an emerging consumer market of 112 million people. Its
primary purpose will be to provide capital for new business development,
expansion, restructuring, and privatization.
Soros Private Funds Management was selected as fund manager by the OPIC
Board of Directors in June, concluding a transparent, seven-month
selection process by OPIC management. A Soros affiliate will commit $50
million in private equity, while OPIC will commit to provide a $100
million loan guaranty. Interests in the fund will not be offered to the
public.
OPIC currently provides more than $65 million in financing and insurance
for projects in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. Other OPIC-supported
funds have invested more than $30 million in the region.
``OPIC has taken a leadership role in responding to the Clinton
Administration´s Southeast Europe initiative to stabilize and
integrate the countries of southeast Europe into the transatlantic
community,´´ Munoz said. ``OPIC opened a southeast Europe regional
office in Zagreb last February, to serve as a focal point for
establishing potential joint venture partnerships between U.S. and
regional businesses. We will continue to support and encourage U.S.
investment in the region.´´
OPIC is a self-sustaining federal agency that sells investment products
to small, medium and large American businesses expanding into some 140
developing nations and emerging markets around the world. OPIC's
political risk insurance, project finance and investment funds fill a
commercial void, create a level playing field for U.S. businesses and
support development in emerging economies. Since 1971, OPIC has
supported $130 billion worth of investments that will generate $61
billion in U.S. exports and create more than 242,000 American jobs.
> http://my.aol.com/news/story.tmpl?table=n&cat=01&id=0007260631427097
Soros Fund Launches $150 Mln US-Backed Balkans Investment
Bloomberg News, Jul 26 2000 6:31PM
---
* ALTRI DOCUMENTI IMPORTANTI SU GEORGE SOROS:
> http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/3880/
The unofficial George Soros Homepage
BIOGRAFIA NON-UFFICIALE DI GEORGE SOROS
> http://www.antiwar.com/justin/pf/p-j073100.html
Behind the Headlines by Justin Raimondo (July 31, 2000)
PROFITEERS OF EMPIRE CHENEY, SOROS, AND CO.
SOROS TRA I PROFITTATORI DELL'IMPERO
> http://www.tao.ca/fire/nettime/0788.html
George Soros on the Kosovo situation
Commencement Speech delivered by George Soros on May 27, 1999, at Paul
H.
Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University.
1999: SOROS PARTECIPA ALLA CAMPAGNA DI DIFFAMAZIONE DELLA JUGOSLAVIA ED
APPOGGIA LE BOMBE UMANITARIE
> http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a393bebad667e.htm
Soros opens Bank so Montenegro can be just liks Kosovo
June 2 1999 /PRNewswire/
SOROS APRE UNA BANCA IN MONTENEGRO
> http://geocities.com/CapitolHill/2890/
Center for Strategic Studies - Belgrade
SOROS NON HA IN MANO SOLAMENTE TUTTI I MEDIA DELL'OPPOSIZIONE, MA ANCHE
ISTITUZIONI DI RICERCA E PERSINO UN CENTRO DI STUDI STRATEGICI A
BELGRADO!
---
* IL MONDO DI SOROS
http://www.antiwar.com/rep/szamuely/szamuely50.html
Soros' World
by George Szamuely
New York Press, 8/22/00
Last week 900 NATO troops, under UN auspices, stormed into a smelting
factory at Zvecan in Kosovo and closed the place down. According to the
UN Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) chief, Bernard Kouchner,
pollution from the plant – part of the vast Trepca mining complex that
produces gold, silver, lead, zinc and cadmium – was raising lead
levels in the environment to 200 times World Health Organization norms.
"I would be a debauched person if I let this threat to the health of
children and pregnant women continue operating any longer," he
announced.
One wonders if the Frenchman managed to keep a straight face as he said
this. Kouchner is running the province on behalf of a NATO that littered
the place with cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells, that presided
over the expulsion of some 200,000 Serbs, that sent bridges crashing
into the Danube, that happily released clouds of toxic fumes from
bombed-out petrochemical factories into the atmosphere. The residents of
this town – particularly the women – showed their usual ingratitude
to their benefactors by throwing stones at them. Trepca is the leading
employer of Serbs in Kosovo and is Yugoslavia's chief exporter. The
protesters got the Los Angeles treatment: tear gas and rubber bullets.
The Yugoslav government disputes Kouchner's claims. Yugoslavia's record
for telling the truth is considerably better than NATO's. Seizure of
Zvecan gives UNMIK control of the Trepca mines. Already an agreement has
been signed with a group of major mining companies, ITT Kosovo
Consortium, to begin rehabilitation of the complex. Some $16 million is
forthcoming from the EU, the United States, France, Italy, Holland and
Sweden.
UNMIK, needless to say, does not have the right to take over property
that belongs to others. The agency was set up by UN Security Council
Resolution 1244; strangely enough, it remained silent on the matter of
stealing. However, as is the way with NATO, Kouchner simply issued a
decree last year: "UNMIK shall administer movable or immovable property,
including monies, bank accounts, and other property of, or registered in
the name of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or the Republic of Serbia
or any of its organs, which is in the territory of Kosovo."
Interestingly enough, the seizure of Trepca had been urged on him as
long ago as last November by the International Crisis Group (ICG). The
ICG, invariably described in the media as an "independent" and "private"
think tank, is largely financed and run by the billionaire financier
George Soros. Its "independence" can be gauged by the fact that on its
board sits Louise Arbour, former chief prosecutor at that travesty of
justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia;
as well as Wesley Clark, loony chief bomber from last year. Financial
support also comes from the governments of France, the UK and the U.S.
The ICG is a fascinating case study of the way human rights
organizations, governments and international corporations work hand in
glove these days. "Independent" figures like Soros identify a "crisis"
demanding urgent government attention. Governments act on them and then
parcel out the lucrative contracts to Soros and his pals. The Trepca
report begins with the usual tendentious boilerplate: "The future of
Trepca cuts to the heart of the Kosovars' identity. Its great mineral
wealth is the basis of the economy of Kosovo, but the complex is badly
run-down as a result of under-investment and over-exploitation by
governments in Belgrade… Trepca…is Kosovo's Berlin Wall. It has long
stood for Kosovar Albanians as the symbol of Serbian oppression and of
their own resistance." Therefore, "UNMIK…should implement a rapid and
categorical takeover of Trepca complex, including the immediate, total
shutdown of the environmentally hazardous facilities at Zvecan." There
is no question of turning the mines over to the Kosovar Albanians. And
forget about there being lots of jobs for the locals. Trepca is to be
rehabilitated and then divided up among foreign investors.
The report notes, with pleasure, that the KLA appears to be thoroughly
up-to-date on the issue of turning Kosovo over to international
financiers. George Soros has littered the world with innumerable think
tanks and foundations, all dedicated to promoting his nebulous notions
of the "open society." Cut away the pompous verbiage and what his
pronouncements amount to is that enlightened businessmen like himself
and enlightened governments with the appropriate globalist outlook
should help each other out. To hell with national sovereignty.
It is an outlook that has been happily in conformity with that of the
Clinton administration. And it has gone out of its way to be very
helpful to Soros. Last month, Soros Private Funds Management announced
that it will invest $50 million of its own equity in the Balkans. The
U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. will provide a loan guarantee for
another $100 million of investments. The Soros investment was chosen
over 16 other proposals.
Last December the Clinton administration ordered the U.S. Export-Import
Bank to delay approval of $500 million in credit guarantees to a Russian
company, Tyumen Oil, following complaints by Western investors,
including Soros, that they had been swindled. The U.S. Export-Import
Bank argued that the loan met all its financial criteria. After talking
to Soros, however, it was announced that it was not in the "national
interest" to go ahead with the loan "for the time being." Now comes the
seizure of Trepca. There is little mystery as to what it is our society
is "open" to.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
DARE DA BERE AGLI ASSETATI
Al termine della grande adunata dei papa-boys, delle ragazze pon-pon e
degli altri giovani tifosi di quella che era un tempo chiamata chiesa
cattolica, sono stati denunciati per sciacallaggio alcuni passanti che
si erano ingenuamente dissetati con alcune bottiglie d'acqua minerale
prese dai distributori giubilari. Alla faccia del comandamento cristiano
di dar bere agli assetati!
(Notizia ascoltata personalmente dal compagno Luciano di Genova al
notiziario nazionale RAI 3 serale delle 19:30 del 21/8/2000)
Sull'adunata papalina si veda anche:
http://digilander.iol.it/Yuri/kermesse.htm
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Al termine della grande adunata dei papa-boys, delle ragazze pon-pon e
degli altri giovani tifosi di quella che era un tempo chiamata chiesa
cattolica, sono stati denunciati per sciacallaggio alcuni passanti che
si erano ingenuamente dissetati con alcune bottiglie d'acqua minerale
prese dai distributori giubilari. Alla faccia del comandamento cristiano
di dar bere agli assetati!
(Notizia ascoltata personalmente dal compagno Luciano di Genova al
notiziario nazionale RAI 3 serale delle 19:30 del 21/8/2000)
Sull'adunata papalina si veda anche:
http://digilander.iol.it/Yuri/kermesse.htm
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Sullo stesso argomento si veda anche:
http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/383
OLANDESI, CANADESI E BRITANNICI ARRESTATI IN JUGOSLAVIA.
L'ACCUSA E' TERRORISMO
---
<< Dutch daily NRC-Handelsblad ["NRC-Business Paper"] of Tuesday 1
August on one of the
arrested, Godfried de Rie:
"According to the Group for Anti-Fascist Research, KAFKA,
his name, with the same initials and
place of residence, is on the list of members for
1995 of the extreme Rightist [political party] CP'86. The
[Dutch] Ministry
of Defence confirms that De Rie was a conscript Army lance
corporal, of
1989/8."
The CP'86 ["Center" Party, founded in 1986] political party
was notorious for racism, violence, and
open propaganda for Nazis like Adolf Hitler and Rudolf
Hess. In the 1990s, they sent Dutch
mercenaries to Yugoslavia, to fight in extreme Right
Croat units in Croatia and Bosnia... >>
---
L'OLANDA E' MOLTO PREOCCUPATA PER LA SORTE DEI SUOI NEONAZISTI
CATTURATI IN JUGOSLAVIA
Dutch Mull Options Over Detainees In Yugoslavia
AMSTERDAM, Aug 20, 2000 -- (Reuters) The Netherlands is considering
responses if
Yugoslavia prevents four Dutch detainees held in Belgrade from receiving
a fair trial, including
cutting off diplomatic relations, local radio reported on Saturday.
Several Dutch radio stations cited a confidential report from the Dutch
Foreign Ministry saying
that cutting diplomatic ties was one way to pressure Belgrade, which has
accused the four men of
spying for the West.
The ministry declined to elaborate on the content of the report. "The
list with ideas exists but I
don't want to say anything about the content," a spokeswoman said.
"We've had some thorough
brainstorming sessions about possible steps but this is a list of
options that serve as a basis for
further talks."
Border guards captured the four men -Godfried de Rie, Bas van Schaik,
Sander Zeitsen and
Jeroen van Iersel - last month. Expected to be tried on terrorism
charges, they have already
served a 30-day sentence for entering Yugoslavia without proper visas.
The Netherlands Foreign Ministry could expel Yugoslav diplomats from the
Netherlands and
withdraw its diplomats from Yugoslavia. It could also send a diplomatic
mission to Yugoslavia or
call for European Union support.
One of the four men was seen in a video shown in Yugoslavia saying the
four had planned to
kidnap President Slobodan Milosevic and take him to The Hague if they
met him or decapitate him
and send his head to the UN Tribunal there.
Western officials have said the four men appeared to be adventurers who
fell into the hands of
Serbian police.
-
Dutch held in Belgrade have had ``difficult time''
BELGRADE, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A Dutch diplomat on Tuesday visited four
Dutchmen held in Yugoslavia for the first time since their arrest last
month
and said they had been through a ``difficult time.''
Kees Klompenhouwer, charge d'affaires of the Dutch embassy in Belgrade,
said
the men were very pleased to have been visited by someone from their own
country.
``They have been going through a difficult time. Their present situation
is
reasonably well but this will need to be followed up, in particular
their
medical condition will need close attention, and of course the
development of
the legal procedure itself will need close attention,'' he told
reporters
after almost five hours inside a Belgrade jail.
The four men were shown on television at the end of last month and
accused by
the government of being Western spies, posing as ``weekend warriors.''
08:58 08-15-00
---
LA GRAN BRETAGNA MOBILITATA PER LA SORTE DEI SUOI TERRORISTI
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=190330
Yugoslavia Ignores UK Calls over Detained Police
LONDON, Aug 18, 2000 -- (Reuters) Yugoslavia on Friday ignored British
calls to either charge
or release two nationals arrested as suspected terrorists, saying the
matter was serious and the
courts would deal with them in their own time.
Yugoslavia's chief diplomatic representative in London, Rade Drobac,
said he expected a military
court investigating the case of the two Britons - arrested in Montenegro
on August 1 - to dismiss
claims that President Slobodan Milosevic's government was using the men
as political
scapegoats...
---
ANCHE UNA COPPIA DI SLOVENI ARRESTATA PER SPIONAGGIO
Slovenian couple charged by Yugo military court
PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav army has arrested
a
Slovenian couple in Montenegro, the latest in a list of foreigners
detained
in the past month as Belgrade steps up pressure on pro-Western republic
ahead
of September 24 polls.
Pro-government daily Vijesti said on Tuesday Milos Glisovic and his wife
Natasa Zorz were arrested on August 2, accused of ``illegal entry into
military facilities and making drafts of military buildings and combat
materiel.'' The maximum penalty would be three years in prison, Vijesti
said....
---
ANCHE IL GOVERNO CANADESE CHIEDE ATTIVAMENTE IL RILASCIO
DEI SUOI TERRORISTI CATTURATI IN JUGOSLAVIA
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20000812/369107.html
NATIONAL POST, Monday, August 12, 2000
Canadians aren't above suspicion
Isabel Vincent
National Post
Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana noted that "Those who do
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Although his famous
words are usually mentioned in relation to world wars and the Holocaust,
last week I found myself using the phrase to describe knee-jerk
reactions of Canadian politicians, and my fellow journalists to the case
of Shaun Going and Liam Hall, the two Canadians currently being held in
Belgrade along with the two other British men on suspicion of terrorist
activities.
When Canadians are detained abroad on terrorism charges, they tend to be
given the benefit of the doubt simply because they are Canadian...
-
http://www.canoe.com/Columnists/worthington.html
THE TORONTO SUN, Sunday, August 13, 2000 COMMENT
Axworthy's odd diplomacy
By PETER WORTHINGTON
Toronto Sun
Like him or loathe him, you've got to admit our intrepid Foreign Affairs
Minister Lloyd Axworthy has an unusual diplomatic approach.
He justifies establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea, against
whom Canada fought a war 50 years ago (and is still at war, technically,
since no peace agreement has been signed, only a ceasefire), on grounds
that recognition might make it easier for that strange, xenophobic
regime to behave decently.
And Axworthy apparently thinks the most effective way to get two
Canadians released by the Yugoslav military holding them for suspected
terrorism, is to call President Slobodan Milosevic "a thug."...
-
http://www.canoe.com/TorontoSun/editorial.html
THE TORONTO SUN, Sunday, August 13, 2000 EDITORIAL
Lloyd exits, stage left
Hard on the heels of the good news of Corrections Canada commissioner
Ole Ingstrup's resignation last week (effective next month) came the
even better news that fellow liberal-leftie Lloyd Axworthy, our Foreign
Affairs minister, is also planning to step down.
Axworthy, who was once touted for a Nobel Peace Prize for his fight to
ban land mines around the world, has reportedly told Prime Minister Jean
Chretien he plans to accept a job with a new international affairs
centre at a B.C. university. However, he will not make any formal
announcement without the PM's okay.
Perhaps this explains Axworthy's recent behaviour. Maybe his mind was on
his new job prospects. How else to explain his bizarre handling of the
case of two Canadians arrested in Kosovo by the Yugoslav military?
With a straight face, while calling Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic a "thug" (no argument there), Axworthy actually appealed to
Canadian Serbs to put pressure on Milosevic to release the two Alberta
men...
-
http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/International/20000811/UDIPSN.html
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, Friday, August 11, 2000
Serbs tell Axworthy to get lost
Community leaders denounce minister's call for help in freeing Canadians
JEFF SALLOT
Parliamentary Bureau
Ottawa -- Serbian community leaders in Canada say Ottawa has a lot of
nerve asking for their support to help free two Albertans held by
Yugoslav authorities, after Canadian warplanes bombed their homeland
during the Kosovo crisis last year.
"Nobody listens to us in Canada when we wanted the bombing stopped. Why
does [Foreign Affairs Minister] Lloyd Axworthy think we can have
influence in Belgrade now?" said Stojanka Petkovic, a settlement
counsellor at the Serbian Heritage Academy in Toronto.
"We are very sorry about the arrests, but Axworthy is just being very
arrogant and absurd" to expect help from Canadians of Serb background,
said Zana Vitrovich, president of the Association of Serbian Women of
Canada...
-
SERBIAN NATIONAL SHIELD SOCIETY OF CANADA
VOICE OF CANADIAN SERBS
1900 Sheppard Ave. East, Box 303, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 4T4
Tel: 416-496-7881 Fax: 416-493-0335
August 11, 2000
OPEN LETTER TO LLOYD AXWORTHY,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Mr Minister:
Your televised request to Canadians of Serbian heritage to assist Shaun
Going and Liam Hall, the two Canadians arrested in Montenegro trying to
enter the territory of Yugoslavia without visas and carrying explosive
equipment, is the first time in ten years that you have openly
addressed and
acknowledged the Canadian Serbian
community.
As citizens of this country, Canadian Serbs support your concern that
these
arrested Canadians have access to Canadian embassy officials and their
families and that they be given a fair trial with independent defense.
We
also appeal to the Yugoslav Ambassador in Ottawa to ensure the fair
treatment of these Canadians in compliance
with international law and the Canadian government's request.
That, we believe, is the democratic, legal and humanitarian approach
which
facilitates a resolution to any international crisis. Sabre rattling
and
name calling do not resolve such tensions.
Humanitarianism is a universal principle; it is not selective. As an
influential politician who has promoted the "humanitarian agenda"
around the
world, Canadian Serbs also appeal to you, Mr. Axworthy, to apply the
"humanitarianism" which you promote to the tragic situation of the
Serbian
people who have been robbed of their
health, their jobs and their future by the relentless and unjust
sanctions
imposed on them ten years ago by the international community.
If the aim of those sanctions was to remove Mr. Milosevic from office,
that
tactic has failed. Sanctions have only penalized the most vulnerable of
Serbian society - the elderly, children, the ill and almost one million
forgotten Serbian refugees permanently ethnically cleansed from Bosnia,
Croatia and Kosovo, and now living in
war-torn Serbia.
The "humanitarian agenda" which you expound would be served if you
would
take the initiative to remove those devastating sanctions from the
Serbian
people.
International law does not give democracies the right to decimate an
entire
people within the boundaries of their sovereign country using
sanctions,
bombing and invasion. Regardless of international law, NATO justified
its
78-day bombing campaign using the "humanitarian' argument. The Toronto
Star
(Aug. 2) referred to that assault as "NATO's war to force Serbs out of
Kosovo". Many people would understand that as an ethnic cleansing
campaign.
Since NATO's "humanitanan" bombing and the arrival of its ground forces
in
Kosovo, the Kosovo Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanian minorities have
been
forced out of Kosovo; ancient Serbian monasteries have been bombed;
Albanian
KLA sponsored drug trafficking, rampant crime and corruption are on the
rise; Serbia's
infrastructure has been destroyed; its soil and food chain have been
poisoned by depleted uranium bombs; it receives no reconstruction aid;
and
Mr. Milosevic has consolidated his political power. That is the
"humanitarianism" NATO brought to the war- ravaged Serbian people.
Most politicians like to win political points using events to improve
their
own ratings. There is wide speculation that Mr. Milosevic may be using
the
case of the arrested Canadians to tighten his grip before the
September24
elections.
We support the press release issued yesterday by the Canadian Serb
Congress
of which our organization is a member.
As Canadians we appeal for the fair treatment of our fellow Canadians
within
the law.
At the same time, as Canadians of Serbian heritage we ask for the
following
four things: for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the Serbian
people;
for the reconstruction of Serbia devastated by NATO; for aid to almost
one
million permanent refugees inside Serbia; and for an end to ten years
of
demonization, mistreatment and
misrepresentation of Serbs everywhere. That is the humanitarian agenda,
Mr.
Minister, you are in a position to demonstrate that the Serbian people
are
also deserving of compassion and humanitarian assistance.
Yours truly,
Bora Dragasevich,
President
Serbian National Shield Society of Canada
cc: Dr. P. Todorovic, Yugoslav Ambassador to Canada
Canadian Media
NOTE:
Isti tekst Draga je protcitala inoc na radio Sumadiji i na kraju je
dodala:
We are still waiting for your call,
Mr. Minister( ili slicno..)
Kao i uvek, Draga je zvucala perfektno! Nadam se da je neko od njihovih
spijuna to snimio!
-
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
3662 Albion Rd. South, Gloucester, Ontario, K1T 1A3,
serbian.heritage@...
OPEN LETTER TO LLOYD AXWORTHY,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Dear Sir,
It is gratifying that you , minister Axworthy, have finally deemed it
fit
to offer to
meet the representatives of Serbian Community in Canada over the arrest
of
the two Canadians ,whereas you had refused to meet us in the connection
with
the murder of hundreds of Serb civilians in which our government was a
willing participant.
As citizens of this country, Canadian Serbs support your concern that
these arrested Canadians have access to Canadian embassy officials and
their
families and that their be given a fair trail with independent defence.
We
also appeal to the Yugoslav Ambassador to Ottawa to ensure the fair
treatment of these Canadians in compliance with international law.
It is to be hoped that the rule of law be respected by the Yugoslav
Government and that two Canadians, if proven innocent, will be released
soon. Our harts and prayers are with the accused and their families.
We can not be expected to pass a judgement on this particular case
without a full disclosure of all relevant facts. Had the Canadian
authorities arrested two Serb citizens who had entered the country
illegally
on a remote road in the middle of the night and had they found explosive
fuses in the trunk of their car, they would have had every right to
instigate criminal investigation and judicial proceedings. Mr.Going
maintains very close relation with the leaders of the terrorist
"liberation
army" which has carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against all
non
Albanians in Kosovo under NATO occupation. That association by itself
with
some of the most unsavoury thugs in the Balkans is sufficient to arouse
our
profound suspicion about his motives and real objectives.
As Canadians we appeal for the fair treatment of our fellow
Canadians
within the law.
We support the press release issued yesterday by the Canadian Serb
Congress of which our organisation is a member.
It is, disbelieving, however, to hear you demanding from the
Yugoslav
Government to respect the law, when you and our Canadian Government did
not
respect neither Canadian , nor international Law when Canadian pilots
bombed Yugoslavia in 1999.
At the same time, as Canadians of Serbian heritage we ask for
the
lifting of sanctions imposed on the Serbian people; for the
reconstruction
of Serbia; and for an end of 10 years of demonization, mistreatment and
misrepresentation of Serbs everywhere.
Respectfully ,
Slobodanka Borojevic, president
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
---
DUE PARLAMENTARI INGLESI SVELANO I LEGAMI TRA GLI ARRESTATI E L'UCK
http://www.the-times.co.uk (World)
The Times (London)
August 9 2000 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Kosovo business link to 'racketeers'
>From Mrs Alice Mahon, MP for Halifax (Labour), and Mr
Tam Dalyell, MP for Linlithgow (Labour)
Sir, We are concerned to read your report, "Serb jail
threat to arrested British police" (August 8), that
Shaun Going, one of the four people detained by the
Serb authorities last week on the border of Montenegro
and Kosovo in a car that contained explosive
materials, admitted paying £40,000 earlier this year
to Gani Thaci, brother of Kosovo Liberation Army
commander Hashim, to secure contracts in Kosovo
because "there was no way of doing business in the
area without coming into contact with former KLA
members".
The Thaci family and other former KLA members are
widely known to have a significant hold over Kosovo's
economy. At the end of Nato's war, the political wing
of the KLA under Hashim Thaci seized control of most
municipal authorities and took over state-controlled
enterprises.
As Members of Parliament who have visited Kosovo, we
are aware of the prevalent view - including amongst
international personnel there - that the Thaci family
and other former KLA members are behind much of the
racketeering that goes on in the province today.
The fact that the two British citizens, Adrian
Prangnell and John Yore, have been detained in the
company of someone who is linked with KLA terrorists
and has taken part in dubious activities in Kosovo,
places them in a precarious and compromising position.
We think our Government owes Parliament - and the
British public - an explanation of why British
personnel have become involved with such people.
Yours sincerely,
ALICE MAHON,
TAM DALYELL,
House of Commons.
August 8.
-
Globe And Mail (Toronto)
Two British MPs blame Albertan for arrests
Brother of construction company owner denies
man has links to Kosovo liberation movement
ALAN FREEMAN
European Bureau
Friday, August 11, 2000
London -- Two maverick Labour MPs have accused the
Alberta contractor under arrest in Yugoslavia of
compromising the fate of two British police officers
detained with him, because of the Canadian's alleged
links with a onetime leading member of the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
"I think [Shaun] Going has put them all in a
compromising position," MP Alice Mahon said in an
interview yesterday. Mr. Going and his nephew Liam
Hall, 19, were travelling with two Britons when the
four were arrested Aug. 1 in the Yugoslav republic of
Montenegro, near its border with Kosovo.
Citing an April British Broadcasting Corp. report on
corruption in Kosovo, Ms. Mahon noted that Mr. Going,
who runs a construction firm in the Kosovo capital of
Pristina, had acknowledged paying $60,000 (U.S.) to
Gani Thaci, the brother of Hashim Thaci, the former
KLA commander. Mr. Going told the BBC the money was
for "intermediary services," saying it was difficult
to do business in Kosovo, which is now under United
Nations authority, without dealing with former members
of the KLA.
"There's no doubt the former KLA people are well
positioned in business so there is no way of doing
business in this country without them or coming across
them on a day-to-day basis," Mr. Going told the BBC.
In a letter to The Times of London, Ms. Mahon and
fellow MP Tam Dalyell said it was widely known that
members of the Thaci family were "behind much of the
racketeering that goes on in the province today."
"The fact that the two British citizens, Adrian
Prangnell and John Yore, have been detained in the
company of someone who is linked with KLA terrorists
and has taken part in dubious activities in Kosovo,
places them in a precarious and compromising
position," the MPs wrote.
In Calgary yesterday, Mr. Going's brother, Michael,
said the two MPs are not well informed about his
brother's work in Eastern Europe.
"Shaun has no ties to the Kosovo liberation movement
or any other political movement. He's very
apolitical," Mr. Going said. "He's a businessman doing
business in the region. He does business with a lot of
different groups and companies and governments for
that matter."
The British government reacted angrily to the MPs'
comments and their suggestion that Britain cease
acting jointly with Canada in seeking the release of
all four men.
Keith Vaz, the junior foreign minister who has been
handling the case, said that "unhelpful and
irresponsible speculation about the detainees puts
them at risk, makes our task more difficult and plays
into the hands of those who seek to politicize this
issue."
Both MPs are considered political mavericks and broke
with their government last year to oppose the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's bombing campaign
against Yugoslavia.
In an interview, Mr. Dalyell laid the blame on Shaun
Going for the arrest of the four men on a remote road
near the border of Kosovo, where the men were
returning after a weekend in Montenegro. "It was his
car and his explosives," he said, referring to the
materials found in the car that have been described by
Canadian officials and Mr. Going's lawyer as blasting
caps and fuses used in construction work.
Ms. Mahon believes it was "at best naive and at worse
rather reckless" for the men to travel without visas
and to be carrying such materials in a tense border
region.
"If you found someone in Canada in that sort of
situation just after a war, I think you would detain
them and ask some sort of questions," she said.
Friends of Mr. Going have described him as an
apolitical yet "pragmatic" businessman who had been in
the Balkans for almost a decade and knew that doing
business was virtually impossible without greasing
some palms.
In Ottawa, officials yesterday said Mr. Going is a
legitimate Canadian businessman. "We are not aware of
any illegal activity by Mr. Going," Foreign Affairs
spokeswoman Marie-Christine Lilkoff said.
-
NATIONAL POST: CANADIAN ARRESTED IN YUGOSLAVIA WORKED WITH THACI
MONTREAL, August 8 (Tanjug) The Canadian daily National Post
said
in a report on Monday that one of the two Canadians arrested by the
Yugoslav Army recently in northeastern Montenegro had closely
collaborated
with the terrorist organization, the Kosovo Liberation Army, and its
leader
Hashim Thaci.
Arrested Canadian citizen Chaun Going, a building contractor,
lived in Albania for 10 years, and last year gave 60,000 Canadian
dollars
(40,000 U.S. dlrs) to Thaci's elder brother, said National Post.
Going, 40, paid the sum to Gani Thaci in order to get
permission
for construction in Kosovo and Metohija, where he had moved after the
end
of the NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia (June 10, 1999), National Post
said.
Early this year, the international civilian mission UNMIK
police
in Kosovo and Metohija carried out a raid of Gani Thaci's apartment and
seized 168,000 U.S. dollars. Thaci told investigators he had got the
money
from the Meridian Resources company, which is owned by Chaun Going.
The daily quoted Going as saying that he had been compelled to
do
such services in order to do business in Kosovo and Metohija.
Going and his nephew Liam Hall, 19, and two British citizens
were
arrested in the night between Aug 12, 2000, in Yugoslav territory, in
northeastern Montenegro. The four had been armed with military
equipment,
wrecking instruments, and other things.
---
FOREIGNERS ARRESTED IN MONTENEGRO TRANSFERRED TO BELGRADE
BELGRADE, August 8 (Tanjug) The four foreigners, detained in
the Andrijevica region, territory of Montenegro, Yugoslavia,
were transferred from Podgorica to Belgrade on Tuesday, a Yugoslav
Army spokesman told Tanjug.
Colonel Svetozar Radisic explained that further
proceedings against the detainees would be taken at the Military Court
in Belgrade.
In the night between Aug 12, 2000, within their activities on
securing the state border, Yugoslav Army units arrested Britons Adrian
Michael Prangnell and John Connon Bradley, and Canadians Chaun Gerald
Going
and Liam Patrick Hall.
-
http://www.the-times.co.uk (World)
The Times (London)
August 8 2000 EUROPE
Serb jail threat to arrested British police
BY ALEX TODOROVIC IN PODGORICA AND RICHARD BEESTON,
DIPLOMATIC EDITOR
TWO British policemen and two Canadians being held by
the Yugoslav military are facing a long spell in Serb
custody after compromising evidence emerged linking
one of the four to Kosovo guerrillas.
One of the Canadians, a construction company owner
whose car was found to contain explosive equipment,
hasadmitted giving money to the brother of a Kosovo
Liberation Army leader to secure post-war building
contracts.
A military prosecutor in the Montenegrin capital,
Podgorica, must decide today whether to launch a
formal investigation or release the men, who were
detained returning to Kosovo after a trip to
Montenegro last week.
The men's best hope is a 60-day jail sentence for
entering Yugoslavia without visas. At worst they could
be tried and convicted of "terrorist actions",
punishable by a life sentence. In any event, the
prosecutor is likely to open a criminal investigation
that could take six months to complete. And the
situation could be further complicated by next month's
Serbian elections as President Milosevic could use the
arrests to whip up nationalist support.
The policemen John Yore, 31, and Adrian Prangnell, 41,
had been helping to train Kosovan police cadets when
they took a weekend off to visit Montenegro with Shaun
Going, 45, and his nephew Liam Hall, 19. As they
returned to Kosovo they were stopped twice for routine
inspections by the Montenegrin police and then again
at a Yugoslav Army checkpoint.
"When they were stopped by Yugoslav border guards, one
of the men expressed frustration at having to stop so
many times," their lawyer, Vojislav Zecevic, said.
"One of the Yugoslavs understood English and then
searched the car."
The guards found the men did not have visas to enter
Yugoslavia - as most Westerners do not - and a search
of Mr Going's car revealed explosive materials used in
mining. The Serbs say the material, believed to be
detonators, could have been used in sabotage.
Mr Going admitted earlier this year that, in an
attempt to win contracts, he had paid £40,000 to Gani
Thaci, whose younger brother Hashim is a Kosovo
Liberation Army commander. Mr Going said that there
was no way of doing business in the area without
coming into contact with former KLA members.
Britain was last night intensifying diplomatic efforts
in London and Belgrade to win the release of the
detainees and trying to make a distinction between the
Canadians and the Britons.
Keith Vaz, the Foreign Office Minister, said that he
would be calling in Raida Drobac, the head of the
Yugoslav interests section in London, to protest about
the detentions. A similar message will be delivered in
Belgrade by Igor Khalavinsky, the UN representative,
and the Brazilian Ambassador, whose embassy represents
British interests.
"We have two policemen working for civil humanitarian
causes in Kosovo who went to Montenegro for a holiday
break. The next thing they know about this is they are
on Serbian television being branded as terrorists," Mr
Vaz said. "This is new depths of Serbian paranoia."
However, Mr Drobac said that the Serb authorities were
acting within their rights, just as much as British
police would respond if "terrrorist suspects" were
detained in Sussex.
"These men were detained without visas on Yugoslav
territory in possession of compromising material," he
said. "It is only natural for the authorities to
investigate."
In the meantime the men are likely to remain at a
military base outside Podgorica, where, their lawyer
said yesterday, they were being well-treated. "They
are in good health and are satisfied given the
situation." They were not confined in a jail cell and
wear their own clothes.
Mr Zecevic said military authorities have little
evidence against the four men, but there is enough to
launch an investigation. He is optimistic that it will
not last long or lead to formal charges.
The men had told him that they had wanted to take a
different road back to Kosovo after their weekend
break at the resort town of Sveti Stefan. They drove
through the Lim River valley, a notoriously
pro-Milosevic region, then took a small village road
at Murino, up the Mount Cakor pass.
---
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--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
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http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/383
OLANDESI, CANADESI E BRITANNICI ARRESTATI IN JUGOSLAVIA.
L'ACCUSA E' TERRORISMO
---
<< Dutch daily NRC-Handelsblad ["NRC-Business Paper"] of Tuesday 1
August on one of the
arrested, Godfried de Rie:
"According to the Group for Anti-Fascist Research, KAFKA,
his name, with the same initials and
place of residence, is on the list of members for
1995 of the extreme Rightist [political party] CP'86. The
[Dutch] Ministry
of Defence confirms that De Rie was a conscript Army lance
corporal, of
1989/8."
The CP'86 ["Center" Party, founded in 1986] political party
was notorious for racism, violence, and
open propaganda for Nazis like Adolf Hitler and Rudolf
Hess. In the 1990s, they sent Dutch
mercenaries to Yugoslavia, to fight in extreme Right
Croat units in Croatia and Bosnia... >>
---
L'OLANDA E' MOLTO PREOCCUPATA PER LA SORTE DEI SUOI NEONAZISTI
CATTURATI IN JUGOSLAVIA
Dutch Mull Options Over Detainees In Yugoslavia
AMSTERDAM, Aug 20, 2000 -- (Reuters) The Netherlands is considering
responses if
Yugoslavia prevents four Dutch detainees held in Belgrade from receiving
a fair trial, including
cutting off diplomatic relations, local radio reported on Saturday.
Several Dutch radio stations cited a confidential report from the Dutch
Foreign Ministry saying
that cutting diplomatic ties was one way to pressure Belgrade, which has
accused the four men of
spying for the West.
The ministry declined to elaborate on the content of the report. "The
list with ideas exists but I
don't want to say anything about the content," a spokeswoman said.
"We've had some thorough
brainstorming sessions about possible steps but this is a list of
options that serve as a basis for
further talks."
Border guards captured the four men -Godfried de Rie, Bas van Schaik,
Sander Zeitsen and
Jeroen van Iersel - last month. Expected to be tried on terrorism
charges, they have already
served a 30-day sentence for entering Yugoslavia without proper visas.
The Netherlands Foreign Ministry could expel Yugoslav diplomats from the
Netherlands and
withdraw its diplomats from Yugoslavia. It could also send a diplomatic
mission to Yugoslavia or
call for European Union support.
One of the four men was seen in a video shown in Yugoslavia saying the
four had planned to
kidnap President Slobodan Milosevic and take him to The Hague if they
met him or decapitate him
and send his head to the UN Tribunal there.
Western officials have said the four men appeared to be adventurers who
fell into the hands of
Serbian police.
-
Dutch held in Belgrade have had ``difficult time''
BELGRADE, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A Dutch diplomat on Tuesday visited four
Dutchmen held in Yugoslavia for the first time since their arrest last
month
and said they had been through a ``difficult time.''
Kees Klompenhouwer, charge d'affaires of the Dutch embassy in Belgrade,
said
the men were very pleased to have been visited by someone from their own
country.
``They have been going through a difficult time. Their present situation
is
reasonably well but this will need to be followed up, in particular
their
medical condition will need close attention, and of course the
development of
the legal procedure itself will need close attention,'' he told
reporters
after almost five hours inside a Belgrade jail.
The four men were shown on television at the end of last month and
accused by
the government of being Western spies, posing as ``weekend warriors.''
08:58 08-15-00
---
LA GRAN BRETAGNA MOBILITATA PER LA SORTE DEI SUOI TERRORISTI
http://www.centraleurope.com/yugoslaviatoday/news.php3?id=190330
Yugoslavia Ignores UK Calls over Detained Police
LONDON, Aug 18, 2000 -- (Reuters) Yugoslavia on Friday ignored British
calls to either charge
or release two nationals arrested as suspected terrorists, saying the
matter was serious and the
courts would deal with them in their own time.
Yugoslavia's chief diplomatic representative in London, Rade Drobac,
said he expected a military
court investigating the case of the two Britons - arrested in Montenegro
on August 1 - to dismiss
claims that President Slobodan Milosevic's government was using the men
as political
scapegoats...
---
ANCHE UNA COPPIA DI SLOVENI ARRESTATA PER SPIONAGGIO
Slovenian couple charged by Yugo military court
PODGORICA, Yugoslavia, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav army has arrested
a
Slovenian couple in Montenegro, the latest in a list of foreigners
detained
in the past month as Belgrade steps up pressure on pro-Western republic
ahead
of September 24 polls.
Pro-government daily Vijesti said on Tuesday Milos Glisovic and his wife
Natasa Zorz were arrested on August 2, accused of ``illegal entry into
military facilities and making drafts of military buildings and combat
materiel.'' The maximum penalty would be three years in prison, Vijesti
said....
---
ANCHE IL GOVERNO CANADESE CHIEDE ATTIVAMENTE IL RILASCIO
DEI SUOI TERRORISTI CATTURATI IN JUGOSLAVIA
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?f=/stories/20000812/369107.html
NATIONAL POST, Monday, August 12, 2000
Canadians aren't above suspicion
Isabel Vincent
National Post
Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana noted that "Those who do
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Although his famous
words are usually mentioned in relation to world wars and the Holocaust,
last week I found myself using the phrase to describe knee-jerk
reactions of Canadian politicians, and my fellow journalists to the case
of Shaun Going and Liam Hall, the two Canadians currently being held in
Belgrade along with the two other British men on suspicion of terrorist
activities.
When Canadians are detained abroad on terrorism charges, they tend to be
given the benefit of the doubt simply because they are Canadian...
-
http://www.canoe.com/Columnists/worthington.html
THE TORONTO SUN, Sunday, August 13, 2000 COMMENT
Axworthy's odd diplomacy
By PETER WORTHINGTON
Toronto Sun
Like him or loathe him, you've got to admit our intrepid Foreign Affairs
Minister Lloyd Axworthy has an unusual diplomatic approach.
He justifies establishing diplomatic relations with North Korea, against
whom Canada fought a war 50 years ago (and is still at war, technically,
since no peace agreement has been signed, only a ceasefire), on grounds
that recognition might make it easier for that strange, xenophobic
regime to behave decently.
And Axworthy apparently thinks the most effective way to get two
Canadians released by the Yugoslav military holding them for suspected
terrorism, is to call President Slobodan Milosevic "a thug."...
-
http://www.canoe.com/TorontoSun/editorial.html
THE TORONTO SUN, Sunday, August 13, 2000 EDITORIAL
Lloyd exits, stage left
Hard on the heels of the good news of Corrections Canada commissioner
Ole Ingstrup's resignation last week (effective next month) came the
even better news that fellow liberal-leftie Lloyd Axworthy, our Foreign
Affairs minister, is also planning to step down.
Axworthy, who was once touted for a Nobel Peace Prize for his fight to
ban land mines around the world, has reportedly told Prime Minister Jean
Chretien he plans to accept a job with a new international affairs
centre at a B.C. university. However, he will not make any formal
announcement without the PM's okay.
Perhaps this explains Axworthy's recent behaviour. Maybe his mind was on
his new job prospects. How else to explain his bizarre handling of the
case of two Canadians arrested in Kosovo by the Yugoslav military?
With a straight face, while calling Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic a "thug" (no argument there), Axworthy actually appealed to
Canadian Serbs to put pressure on Milosevic to release the two Alberta
men...
-
http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/International/20000811/UDIPSN.html
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, Friday, August 11, 2000
Serbs tell Axworthy to get lost
Community leaders denounce minister's call for help in freeing Canadians
JEFF SALLOT
Parliamentary Bureau
Ottawa -- Serbian community leaders in Canada say Ottawa has a lot of
nerve asking for their support to help free two Albertans held by
Yugoslav authorities, after Canadian warplanes bombed their homeland
during the Kosovo crisis last year.
"Nobody listens to us in Canada when we wanted the bombing stopped. Why
does [Foreign Affairs Minister] Lloyd Axworthy think we can have
influence in Belgrade now?" said Stojanka Petkovic, a settlement
counsellor at the Serbian Heritage Academy in Toronto.
"We are very sorry about the arrests, but Axworthy is just being very
arrogant and absurd" to expect help from Canadians of Serb background,
said Zana Vitrovich, president of the Association of Serbian Women of
Canada...
-
SERBIAN NATIONAL SHIELD SOCIETY OF CANADA
VOICE OF CANADIAN SERBS
1900 Sheppard Ave. East, Box 303, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 4T4
Tel: 416-496-7881 Fax: 416-493-0335
August 11, 2000
OPEN LETTER TO LLOYD AXWORTHY,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Mr Minister:
Your televised request to Canadians of Serbian heritage to assist Shaun
Going and Liam Hall, the two Canadians arrested in Montenegro trying to
enter the territory of Yugoslavia without visas and carrying explosive
equipment, is the first time in ten years that you have openly
addressed and
acknowledged the Canadian Serbian
community.
As citizens of this country, Canadian Serbs support your concern that
these
arrested Canadians have access to Canadian embassy officials and their
families and that they be given a fair trial with independent defense.
We
also appeal to the Yugoslav Ambassador in Ottawa to ensure the fair
treatment of these Canadians in compliance
with international law and the Canadian government's request.
That, we believe, is the democratic, legal and humanitarian approach
which
facilitates a resolution to any international crisis. Sabre rattling
and
name calling do not resolve such tensions.
Humanitarianism is a universal principle; it is not selective. As an
influential politician who has promoted the "humanitarian agenda"
around the
world, Canadian Serbs also appeal to you, Mr. Axworthy, to apply the
"humanitarianism" which you promote to the tragic situation of the
Serbian
people who have been robbed of their
health, their jobs and their future by the relentless and unjust
sanctions
imposed on them ten years ago by the international community.
If the aim of those sanctions was to remove Mr. Milosevic from office,
that
tactic has failed. Sanctions have only penalized the most vulnerable of
Serbian society - the elderly, children, the ill and almost one million
forgotten Serbian refugees permanently ethnically cleansed from Bosnia,
Croatia and Kosovo, and now living in
war-torn Serbia.
The "humanitarian agenda" which you expound would be served if you
would
take the initiative to remove those devastating sanctions from the
Serbian
people.
International law does not give democracies the right to decimate an
entire
people within the boundaries of their sovereign country using
sanctions,
bombing and invasion. Regardless of international law, NATO justified
its
78-day bombing campaign using the "humanitarian' argument. The Toronto
Star
(Aug. 2) referred to that assault as "NATO's war to force Serbs out of
Kosovo". Many people would understand that as an ethnic cleansing
campaign.
Since NATO's "humanitanan" bombing and the arrival of its ground forces
in
Kosovo, the Kosovo Serbs, Roma and other non-Albanian minorities have
been
forced out of Kosovo; ancient Serbian monasteries have been bombed;
Albanian
KLA sponsored drug trafficking, rampant crime and corruption are on the
rise; Serbia's
infrastructure has been destroyed; its soil and food chain have been
poisoned by depleted uranium bombs; it receives no reconstruction aid;
and
Mr. Milosevic has consolidated his political power. That is the
"humanitarianism" NATO brought to the war- ravaged Serbian people.
Most politicians like to win political points using events to improve
their
own ratings. There is wide speculation that Mr. Milosevic may be using
the
case of the arrested Canadians to tighten his grip before the
September24
elections.
We support the press release issued yesterday by the Canadian Serb
Congress
of which our organization is a member.
As Canadians we appeal for the fair treatment of our fellow Canadians
within
the law.
At the same time, as Canadians of Serbian heritage we ask for the
following
four things: for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the Serbian
people;
for the reconstruction of Serbia devastated by NATO; for aid to almost
one
million permanent refugees inside Serbia; and for an end to ten years
of
demonization, mistreatment and
misrepresentation of Serbs everywhere. That is the humanitarian agenda,
Mr.
Minister, you are in a position to demonstrate that the Serbian people
are
also deserving of compassion and humanitarian assistance.
Yours truly,
Bora Dragasevich,
President
Serbian National Shield Society of Canada
cc: Dr. P. Todorovic, Yugoslav Ambassador to Canada
Canadian Media
NOTE:
Isti tekst Draga je protcitala inoc na radio Sumadiji i na kraju je
dodala:
We are still waiting for your call,
Mr. Minister( ili slicno..)
Kao i uvek, Draga je zvucala perfektno! Nadam se da je neko od njihovih
spijuna to snimio!
-
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
3662 Albion Rd. South, Gloucester, Ontario, K1T 1A3,
serbian.heritage@...
OPEN LETTER TO LLOYD AXWORTHY,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Dear Sir,
It is gratifying that you , minister Axworthy, have finally deemed it
fit
to offer to
meet the representatives of Serbian Community in Canada over the arrest
of
the two Canadians ,whereas you had refused to meet us in the connection
with
the murder of hundreds of Serb civilians in which our government was a
willing participant.
As citizens of this country, Canadian Serbs support your concern that
these arrested Canadians have access to Canadian embassy officials and
their
families and that their be given a fair trail with independent defence.
We
also appeal to the Yugoslav Ambassador to Ottawa to ensure the fair
treatment of these Canadians in compliance with international law.
It is to be hoped that the rule of law be respected by the Yugoslav
Government and that two Canadians, if proven innocent, will be released
soon. Our harts and prayers are with the accused and their families.
We can not be expected to pass a judgement on this particular case
without a full disclosure of all relevant facts. Had the Canadian
authorities arrested two Serb citizens who had entered the country
illegally
on a remote road in the middle of the night and had they found explosive
fuses in the trunk of their car, they would have had every right to
instigate criminal investigation and judicial proceedings. Mr.Going
maintains very close relation with the leaders of the terrorist
"liberation
army" which has carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against all
non
Albanians in Kosovo under NATO occupation. That association by itself
with
some of the most unsavoury thugs in the Balkans is sufficient to arouse
our
profound suspicion about his motives and real objectives.
As Canadians we appeal for the fair treatment of our fellow
Canadians
within the law.
We support the press release issued yesterday by the Canadian Serb
Congress of which our organisation is a member.
It is, disbelieving, however, to hear you demanding from the
Yugoslav
Government to respect the law, when you and our Canadian Government did
not
respect neither Canadian , nor international Law when Canadian pilots
bombed Yugoslavia in 1999.
At the same time, as Canadians of Serbian heritage we ask for
the
lifting of sanctions imposed on the Serbian people; for the
reconstruction
of Serbia; and for an end of 10 years of demonization, mistreatment and
misrepresentation of Serbs everywhere.
Respectfully ,
Slobodanka Borojevic, president
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
---
DUE PARLAMENTARI INGLESI SVELANO I LEGAMI TRA GLI ARRESTATI E L'UCK
http://www.the-times.co.uk (World)
The Times (London)
August 9 2000 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Kosovo business link to 'racketeers'
>From Mrs Alice Mahon, MP for Halifax (Labour), and Mr
Tam Dalyell, MP for Linlithgow (Labour)
Sir, We are concerned to read your report, "Serb jail
threat to arrested British police" (August 8), that
Shaun Going, one of the four people detained by the
Serb authorities last week on the border of Montenegro
and Kosovo in a car that contained explosive
materials, admitted paying £40,000 earlier this year
to Gani Thaci, brother of Kosovo Liberation Army
commander Hashim, to secure contracts in Kosovo
because "there was no way of doing business in the
area without coming into contact with former KLA
members".
The Thaci family and other former KLA members are
widely known to have a significant hold over Kosovo's
economy. At the end of Nato's war, the political wing
of the KLA under Hashim Thaci seized control of most
municipal authorities and took over state-controlled
enterprises.
As Members of Parliament who have visited Kosovo, we
are aware of the prevalent view - including amongst
international personnel there - that the Thaci family
and other former KLA members are behind much of the
racketeering that goes on in the province today.
The fact that the two British citizens, Adrian
Prangnell and John Yore, have been detained in the
company of someone who is linked with KLA terrorists
and has taken part in dubious activities in Kosovo,
places them in a precarious and compromising position.
We think our Government owes Parliament - and the
British public - an explanation of why British
personnel have become involved with such people.
Yours sincerely,
ALICE MAHON,
TAM DALYELL,
House of Commons.
August 8.
-
Globe And Mail (Toronto)
Two British MPs blame Albertan for arrests
Brother of construction company owner denies
man has links to Kosovo liberation movement
ALAN FREEMAN
European Bureau
Friday, August 11, 2000
London -- Two maverick Labour MPs have accused the
Alberta contractor under arrest in Yugoslavia of
compromising the fate of two British police officers
detained with him, because of the Canadian's alleged
links with a onetime leading member of the Kosovo
Liberation Army.
"I think [Shaun] Going has put them all in a
compromising position," MP Alice Mahon said in an
interview yesterday. Mr. Going and his nephew Liam
Hall, 19, were travelling with two Britons when the
four were arrested Aug. 1 in the Yugoslav republic of
Montenegro, near its border with Kosovo.
Citing an April British Broadcasting Corp. report on
corruption in Kosovo, Ms. Mahon noted that Mr. Going,
who runs a construction firm in the Kosovo capital of
Pristina, had acknowledged paying $60,000 (U.S.) to
Gani Thaci, the brother of Hashim Thaci, the former
KLA commander. Mr. Going told the BBC the money was
for "intermediary services," saying it was difficult
to do business in Kosovo, which is now under United
Nations authority, without dealing with former members
of the KLA.
"There's no doubt the former KLA people are well
positioned in business so there is no way of doing
business in this country without them or coming across
them on a day-to-day basis," Mr. Going told the BBC.
In a letter to The Times of London, Ms. Mahon and
fellow MP Tam Dalyell said it was widely known that
members of the Thaci family were "behind much of the
racketeering that goes on in the province today."
"The fact that the two British citizens, Adrian
Prangnell and John Yore, have been detained in the
company of someone who is linked with KLA terrorists
and has taken part in dubious activities in Kosovo,
places them in a precarious and compromising
position," the MPs wrote.
In Calgary yesterday, Mr. Going's brother, Michael,
said the two MPs are not well informed about his
brother's work in Eastern Europe.
"Shaun has no ties to the Kosovo liberation movement
or any other political movement. He's very
apolitical," Mr. Going said. "He's a businessman doing
business in the region. He does business with a lot of
different groups and companies and governments for
that matter."
The British government reacted angrily to the MPs'
comments and their suggestion that Britain cease
acting jointly with Canada in seeking the release of
all four men.
Keith Vaz, the junior foreign minister who has been
handling the case, said that "unhelpful and
irresponsible speculation about the detainees puts
them at risk, makes our task more difficult and plays
into the hands of those who seek to politicize this
issue."
Both MPs are considered political mavericks and broke
with their government last year to oppose the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's bombing campaign
against Yugoslavia.
In an interview, Mr. Dalyell laid the blame on Shaun
Going for the arrest of the four men on a remote road
near the border of Kosovo, where the men were
returning after a weekend in Montenegro. "It was his
car and his explosives," he said, referring to the
materials found in the car that have been described by
Canadian officials and Mr. Going's lawyer as blasting
caps and fuses used in construction work.
Ms. Mahon believes it was "at best naive and at worse
rather reckless" for the men to travel without visas
and to be carrying such materials in a tense border
region.
"If you found someone in Canada in that sort of
situation just after a war, I think you would detain
them and ask some sort of questions," she said.
Friends of Mr. Going have described him as an
apolitical yet "pragmatic" businessman who had been in
the Balkans for almost a decade and knew that doing
business was virtually impossible without greasing
some palms.
In Ottawa, officials yesterday said Mr. Going is a
legitimate Canadian businessman. "We are not aware of
any illegal activity by Mr. Going," Foreign Affairs
spokeswoman Marie-Christine Lilkoff said.
-
NATIONAL POST: CANADIAN ARRESTED IN YUGOSLAVIA WORKED WITH THACI
MONTREAL, August 8 (Tanjug) The Canadian daily National Post
said
in a report on Monday that one of the two Canadians arrested by the
Yugoslav Army recently in northeastern Montenegro had closely
collaborated
with the terrorist organization, the Kosovo Liberation Army, and its
leader
Hashim Thaci.
Arrested Canadian citizen Chaun Going, a building contractor,
lived in Albania for 10 years, and last year gave 60,000 Canadian
dollars
(40,000 U.S. dlrs) to Thaci's elder brother, said National Post.
Going, 40, paid the sum to Gani Thaci in order to get
permission
for construction in Kosovo and Metohija, where he had moved after the
end
of the NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia (June 10, 1999), National Post
said.
Early this year, the international civilian mission UNMIK
police
in Kosovo and Metohija carried out a raid of Gani Thaci's apartment and
seized 168,000 U.S. dollars. Thaci told investigators he had got the
money
from the Meridian Resources company, which is owned by Chaun Going.
The daily quoted Going as saying that he had been compelled to
do
such services in order to do business in Kosovo and Metohija.
Going and his nephew Liam Hall, 19, and two British citizens
were
arrested in the night between Aug 12, 2000, in Yugoslav territory, in
northeastern Montenegro. The four had been armed with military
equipment,
wrecking instruments, and other things.
---
FOREIGNERS ARRESTED IN MONTENEGRO TRANSFERRED TO BELGRADE
BELGRADE, August 8 (Tanjug) The four foreigners, detained in
the Andrijevica region, territory of Montenegro, Yugoslavia,
were transferred from Podgorica to Belgrade on Tuesday, a Yugoslav
Army spokesman told Tanjug.
Colonel Svetozar Radisic explained that further
proceedings against the detainees would be taken at the Military Court
in Belgrade.
In the night between Aug 12, 2000, within their activities on
securing the state border, Yugoslav Army units arrested Britons Adrian
Michael Prangnell and John Connon Bradley, and Canadians Chaun Gerald
Going
and Liam Patrick Hall.
-
http://www.the-times.co.uk (World)
The Times (London)
August 8 2000 EUROPE
Serb jail threat to arrested British police
BY ALEX TODOROVIC IN PODGORICA AND RICHARD BEESTON,
DIPLOMATIC EDITOR
TWO British policemen and two Canadians being held by
the Yugoslav military are facing a long spell in Serb
custody after compromising evidence emerged linking
one of the four to Kosovo guerrillas.
One of the Canadians, a construction company owner
whose car was found to contain explosive equipment,
hasadmitted giving money to the brother of a Kosovo
Liberation Army leader to secure post-war building
contracts.
A military prosecutor in the Montenegrin capital,
Podgorica, must decide today whether to launch a
formal investigation or release the men, who were
detained returning to Kosovo after a trip to
Montenegro last week.
The men's best hope is a 60-day jail sentence for
entering Yugoslavia without visas. At worst they could
be tried and convicted of "terrorist actions",
punishable by a life sentence. In any event, the
prosecutor is likely to open a criminal investigation
that could take six months to complete. And the
situation could be further complicated by next month's
Serbian elections as President Milosevic could use the
arrests to whip up nationalist support.
The policemen John Yore, 31, and Adrian Prangnell, 41,
had been helping to train Kosovan police cadets when
they took a weekend off to visit Montenegro with Shaun
Going, 45, and his nephew Liam Hall, 19. As they
returned to Kosovo they were stopped twice for routine
inspections by the Montenegrin police and then again
at a Yugoslav Army checkpoint.
"When they were stopped by Yugoslav border guards, one
of the men expressed frustration at having to stop so
many times," their lawyer, Vojislav Zecevic, said.
"One of the Yugoslavs understood English and then
searched the car."
The guards found the men did not have visas to enter
Yugoslavia - as most Westerners do not - and a search
of Mr Going's car revealed explosive materials used in
mining. The Serbs say the material, believed to be
detonators, could have been used in sabotage.
Mr Going admitted earlier this year that, in an
attempt to win contracts, he had paid £40,000 to Gani
Thaci, whose younger brother Hashim is a Kosovo
Liberation Army commander. Mr Going said that there
was no way of doing business in the area without
coming into contact with former KLA members.
Britain was last night intensifying diplomatic efforts
in London and Belgrade to win the release of the
detainees and trying to make a distinction between the
Canadians and the Britons.
Keith Vaz, the Foreign Office Minister, said that he
would be calling in Raida Drobac, the head of the
Yugoslav interests section in London, to protest about
the detentions. A similar message will be delivered in
Belgrade by Igor Khalavinsky, the UN representative,
and the Brazilian Ambassador, whose embassy represents
British interests.
"We have two policemen working for civil humanitarian
causes in Kosovo who went to Montenegro for a holiday
break. The next thing they know about this is they are
on Serbian television being branded as terrorists," Mr
Vaz said. "This is new depths of Serbian paranoia."
However, Mr Drobac said that the Serb authorities were
acting within their rights, just as much as British
police would respond if "terrrorist suspects" were
detained in Sussex.
"These men were detained without visas on Yugoslav
territory in possession of compromising material," he
said. "It is only natural for the authorities to
investigate."
In the meantime the men are likely to remain at a
military base outside Podgorica, where, their lawyer
said yesterday, they were being well-treated. "They
are in good health and are satisfied given the
situation." They were not confined in a jail cell and
wear their own clothes.
Mr Zecevic said military authorities have little
evidence against the four men, but there is enough to
launch an investigation. He is optimistic that it will
not last long or lead to formal charges.
The men had told him that they had wanted to take a
different road back to Kosovo after their weekend
break at the resort town of Sveti Stefan. They drove
through the Lim River valley, a notoriously
pro-Milosevic region, then took a small village road
at Murino, up the Mount Cakor pass.
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