BH-Central Institutions Families of Srebrenica victims want all ten thousands tombstones in Potocari; HDZ-related news Ante Jelavic sends an open letter to Wolfgang Petritsch: Dictator in the BiH Protectorate; Marko Tokic asks Croats to reject the new Federation government; Croat Cultural Society 'Napredak' on political situation in BiH: Problems should be resolved through the culture of dialogue without outvoting General Stanko Sopta wants to establish the army of the Croat Self-rule; Croatian Prime Minister satisfied with his talks with Bozidar Matic: Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs says de-stabilization of BiH may jeopardize Croatia: BiH Ambassador to Croatia: There is no consent on B&H among the politicians in Croatia; International Organizations work on evacuation strategies in Mostar?: Federation The Federation finally gets a new government; The Federation Constitutional Court to open "Bicakcic case"; Invalids of War protest across the Federation; Republika Srpska SNSD protests against the Croatian plan of cantonization of BiH; RS leadership condemns statements of the Croatian leadership on revision of the DPA; Mirko Sarovic condemns statements of the Croatian politicians on revision of the DPA; RS government ask the International Community to condemns plans for cantonization: Brcko District: Gary Matthews appoints members of Brcko judiciary; Editorials: Vjesnik: SDA is struggling even for bits of authority; BiH -related Issues: Families of Srebrenica victims want all ten thousands tombstones in Potocari: Commenting on the recent statement of OHR spokesman, Oleg Milisic, that local commissions working on the Potocari memorial have not done their part of the job, association of families of Srebrenica victims issued a statement in which they said that they have forwarded a written elaborate to OHR coordinator 42 days ago, but have not received any responses. "We are insisting on the appointment of three members of the International Advisory Group in order to start the realization of the project - Potocari Memorial Center - and in order to prevent any further manipulation of the public and of the families of killed Srebrenica residents," Sadik Selimovic of an advisory group in charge of contacts with the International Community. He said that associations also demand that the International Community decides as to the legal status of the property planned for the construction of the memorial. "We do not accept a selective enacting of nisans (Muslim tombstones), for there is already a tendency to find as few victims as possible in order to make the crime less serious. We know how many people died in Srebrenica and want to see that many nisans," said Selimovic. HDZ-related news (see also editorials) Ante Jelavic sends an open letter to Wolfgang Petritsch: Dictator in the BiH Protectorate: Several Federation news agencies and Sarajevo Oslobodjenje carried today an open letter sent to the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, in which Ante Jelavic, the removed Croat member of the BiH Presidency, expresses, as he says, "his truth" about his case and the case of other dismissed HDZ officials. Calling the High Representative an "authorized protector of the International Community", Jelavic writes that, as Petritsch's decisions slipped "on the other side of morality, justice and human dignity", he could not address him as the High Representative but as his personal "unjust pursuer, prosecutor and the judge, all at the same time". Jelavic argues that the ideal of democracy, to which BiH is striving, does not recognize sentencing someone without giving him a chance to defend himself. "Obviously, this is in accordance with your understanding of democracy, human and citizens' rights and freedoms," said Jelavic, and added that he will not resist Petritsch's decision and "demonstrated force." "I am deeply convinced that your mission in our future sovereign and united BiH which guarantees the equality for all three peoples will be a matter of the past," said Jelavic in his letter. In, at times, extraordinarily eloquent manner and speaking in an hackneyed Bosnian folk proverbs, Jelavic writes that he would accept even harsher penalty for his "sins", if those entailed his insisting on the equality of all peoples, respect for their rights, and on the self-sustainable and democratic BiH. "Haven't you Mr. Petritsch, just twenty days ago during our meeting, personally tell me that you found me to be a fair politician and a fair man?," asked Jelavic. "How is it possible then that in the article you wrote for The Financial Times a few days ago, you are comparing me with the Balkan's butcher - Slobodan Milosevic?" Jelavic further writes to Petritsch that he has not achieved much with his decisions, since they only further radicalized the political scene in BiH and exacerbated the political crisis. "At the end I believe that you are only a victim of powerful circles who try to accomplish their political plans in BiH and the region through you. However, I forgive you for all the injustices and I thank you for the cooperation, which at times, seemed very pleasant," ended Jelavic his open letter. For the full text, see the attachment below! < Marko Tokic asks Croats to reject the new Federation government: The president of the so-called interim Croat self-rule in BiH, Marko Tokic, asked Croats and their legal representatives to reject the newly-elected government in the Federation. "The establishment of the illegal and illegitimate authority is an offense for the constitutionally guaranteed equality of the Croat people, while the government comprising Croat marionettes is not an expression of its political will and its electoral orientation," said Tokic in a statement for the press. He called all Croats not to accept the "illegal and imposed" government, and to follow further directions of the genuine Croat leadership. Croat Cultural Society 'Napredak' on political situation in BiH: Problems should be resolved through the culture of dialogue without outvoting Bearing in mind the role and importance of the Croat Cultural Society 'Napredak' in the social life of the Croats and of BiH, starting with its centuries long promotion of the cultural, scientific, spiritual and other values, at this moment, we are feeling a right and obligation to propose and hope that the elected Representatives of the Croat people, just like all the other elected Representatives, political parties and the IC officials, will look for the solutions to the emerged problems through a high level of the culture of the dialogue, without the outvoting, yielding and especially without referring to the 'argument of the stronger and better'. We propose and hope that all political parties and responsible individuals within them will look for the way out in the solutions, which will thoroughly and permanently lead BiH , its citizens and peoples to the bigger democracy and its economic and spiritual progress and not to the abuse of the situation for personal interests. We propose and hope that the IC Representatives will guarantee and correct as soon as possible the Election Rules because of which the basic function of the House of Peoples, as the most important constitutive and practical guarantee of the national equality in BiH, was put into question. General Stanko Sopta wants to establish the army of the Croat Self-rule: According to Jutarnji List, the General Stanko Sopta Baja has been gathering high-ranking HVO officers in order to reach an agreement on separating from the joint FBiH Army and establishing a separate army of the Croat Self-rule in Bosnia-Herzegovina. General Sopta had formally been Ante Jelavic's Advisor for national security before Jelavic was removed from the position of the BiH Presidency Croat member, but he is believed to be the most influential leader of hard-liners who want to revive the former Herzeg-Bosnia at any cost. Sopta is also Ivic Pasalic's key player in the neighboring country and, according to some, it is exactly through Sopta that Pasalic that he has been trying to regain the influence he once had in Herzegovina. The young general is a member of Mladen Naletilic Tuta's Convicts Battalion and a diplomat of the War Military School in Zagreb. There is no doubt that this would be an open invitation to a new war, which can only be interpreted as a suicidal move at the moment when all the power in BiH is in the hands of representatives of the International Community who are supported by ally forces of SFOR. Jutarnji list sources claim that such initiatives have no future, especially because, according to them, it is already certain that it would not meet positive response outside Herzegovina as the officers in Posavina and Central Bosnia are not prone to such radical solutions. If only a part of the HVO accepts general Sopta's invitation, it will be obvious that the Croat Self-rule has not been proclaimed with the aim to protect the interests of Croats in BiH, as Jelavic claims, but to protect the privileges of the leaders in Herzegovina as the international representatives claim. Croatian Prime Minister satisfied with his talks with Bozidar Matic: Premier Racan confirmed that on Saturday in Slavonski Brod, he met with the political representatives of Bosnia Herzegovina, Council of Ministers Chair Bozidar Matic, President of the BiH Federation Karlo Filipovic and the Minster of Foreign Affairs Zlatko Lagumdzija. The Prime minister stated that they talked about the situation in BiH, the problems that exist in that state and the direction in which these problems need to be solved. "I am personally satisfied with these talks and it is very important that the two neighboring countries show the strength to understand the problems and give their contribution to the faster resolution. I believe that we should not only wait for the initiative of the international community, which is present here all the time, but we should stimulate the domestic forces that have a vision with the goal of BiH as a stabile state." Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs says de-stabilization of BiH may jeopardize Croatia: " After five and a half years have passed and 5,5 billions have been invested, everybody is frustrated in BiH. The paradox is even bigger because the biggest proponents of the Dayton Peace Agreement today are the same ones who had opposed it - the Serb politicians in BiH, stated Tonino Picula, the Croatian Foreign Affairs Minister in the War School of the Croatian Army "Ban Josip Jelacic". He held one-hour lecture "The role of the Croatian diplomacy in the European economic and security integration processes". He said that the Croatian diplomacy, at the moment, does not have any higher priority than to make a positive and constructive influence to the modes of resolving of the BiH situation. Picula said that the Dayton architecture is passing through a series of pressures to which a clear answer must be given. According to him, BiH is still an open project of the international community, first of all of the neighboring countries but also of various internal BiH options. It is even more, Picula claims, since the ambient around BiH is not the same any more as it was when the Dayton Agreement was signed. Unless we eliminate the processes, which de-stabilize BiH, those process will soon make influence on the country, which is at the moment the most stable country in the region, and that is Croatia, he warned. By explaining that the signals that "BiH issue should not be opened" are coming from the world centers of power to Zagreb, Picula said: " If we keep silent about BiH, we open up the space to extremists and their way of resolving of the problems." When being asked what he will bring in his diplomatic attachÈ case on his way to Brussels for a meeting with Javier Solana, the EU representative, Picula answered: " First of all the wish for BiH to be taken care of at the level of the EU Council of Ministers, and the message that the Republic of Croatia stays in the group of those, who want to mark a way for a sustainable BiH, within the framework of the DPA, On the other hand, I want to clearly say, bearing in mind the Croatian interests, that the processes of de-stabilizing of BiH, no matter from which side they come, can influence the speed of Croatian joining integration processes." BiH Ambassador to Croatia: There is no consent on B&H among the politicians in Croatia " There is no consensus among the politicians in Croatia, even not in the official policy, about the problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Hasan Muratovic, the Ambassador of B&H to Croatia, stated to the Onasa agency, while commenting on possible solutions for the crisis in B&H and Budisa's proposal on cantonization of B&H. All that is going on in Croatia, within that context, Muratovic says, ' is happening for internal political struggles and making up to the voters, to the voters here and those abroad, unless they are eliminated by the new Law on elections.' The B&H Ambassador to Zagreb further says that the biggest contribution of the Croatian politicians would be ' their staying way from those problems, because the Croatian policy, even the official one, does not have a joint stand with regard to the solution." He clarifies it by presenting his stance that the highest Croatian officials and the representatives of the political parties have significantly different views on political problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bearing that in mind, 'one can draw a conclusion that they can constructively contribute neither to the resolving of the problems not to our relations'. International Organizations work on evacuation strategies in Mostar?: There is a fear within the circles of the international community that, as they say, 'extremist Croat elements' might use a sort of 'terrorism on a restricted scale' in order to provoke chaos and achieve certain political aims. "I could not comment on the information on the plans Medusa 1 and Medusa 2, which your paper found out, "stated Avis Benes, the Spokesperson of Petritsch's Office in Mostar, who obviously did not want either to deny that those plans exist. Benes, with whom we talked on Thursday, a day after Jelavic's removal, added that the Office of the High Representative is functioning as usual, there are even no raised tensions. " We have not noticed any tension or animosity of the ordinary people in the City toward our employees. So far we have not received any threats and we do not expected that those unwanted events might happen in future. I think there is enough of common sense and that people know that the High Representative made the decision by using his mandates and it is not about anything that might jeopardise the position of the Croat people in B&H or anything directed against the Croat people." Our paper also contacted the 'Croat side'. One of the closest associates of Ante Jelavic said he was not surprised with the existence of the security plans of the international organisations. " They would not be serious if they had no plans like that. However, I think that the fear from terrorist attacks provoked by the decision on Jelavic's removal is quite unfounded. I can responsibly say that something like that was not mentioned at any time, in any context during the formal or informal meetings, even not as a joke, because it would be quite silly. We even suggested to some associations that addressed us, wishing to organise peaceful protests, to sustain from those actions for now," claims that source. Federation The Federation finally gets a new government; Nearly four months after the general elections in November, the BiH Federation got its new government headed by Alija Behmen of the SDP. The new government includes fifteen ministries, six of which belong to the SDP, five to the Party for BiH, two to the NHI, one to the Bosnian Patriotic Party (BPS) and one to Lijanovic independent list member. Commenting on the new composition of the government, the president of the BiH Federation, Karlo Filipovic, said that, during the selection process, deputies in the House of Representatives took into account credentials of individual candidates, regional and gender representation, as well as the national balance in the new government. The new Prime Minister, Behmen, said that the priority tasks of his government will be the economic reform, employment, return and the integration into the Council of Europe. According to a poll conducted by Dnevni Avaz, 57 percent of the Federation citizens (Sarajevo, Tuzla and Zenica) say they have confidence in the new government, 18 percent responded negatively, while 25 percent had no opinion. The poll was conduced among 300 individuals by a method of random sampling. Surname Name Party Position BEHMEN ALIJA PRIME MINISTER GRABOVAC NIKOLA NHI Vice PM & Minister of Finances HAFIZOVI] [EFIKA Deputy for Finances BE[I] MUHAMED N/A Minister of Interior LIMOV TOMISLAV Deputy of Interior MIJAN ZOVKO N/A Minister of Justice     D@IHANOVI] [AHBAZ Deputy of Justice ANI] MIJO NHI Minister of Defense BUJUBA[I] FERID SDP D. Minister of Defense BE]IROVI] HASAN SDP Minister of Energy/Mining/Industry   BO[NJAK VINKO Deputy of Energy/Mining/Industry   MEHMEDAGI] RAMIZ SBiH Minister of Urban Planning/Environment BRITVAR BORIS Deputy for Urban Planning/Environment DEMIROVI] MUJO SBiH Minister of Education/Science/Sport/Culture LOVRENOVI] DUBRAVKO Deputy for Education/Science/Sport/Culture MEHMEDI] BESIM SBiH Minister of Traffic/Communications BRDAR STIPO Deputy for Traffic/Communications HAD@IHAJDAREVI]BEHIJA SBIH Minister of Agriculture/Water/Forestry IVI] KAZIMIR Deputy for Agriculture/Water/Forestry HAD@OVI] SUADA SDP Minister of War Veterans'Issues/Invalids JONJI] DOBRICA Deputy for War Veterans'Issues/Invalids HALILOVI] SEFER BPS Minister of Social Care/DP's/Refugees TUKA MIJAT Deputy for Social Care/DP's/Refugees MI[ANOVI] @ELJKO SDP Minister of Health AJANOVI] EKREM Deputy of Health JURKOVI] ANDRIJA SDP Minister of Trade BAK[I] REMZIJA Deputy of Trade IVANKOVI] MLADEN RzB Minister Without Portfolio GRAHOVAC GAVRILO SBiH Minister Without Portfolio The Federation Constitutional Court to open "Bicakcic case": According to Oslobodjenje, the Federation Prosecution asked the Federation Constitutional Court to start an investigation of the former Federation Prime Minister and the removed General- Manager of Elektroprivreda, Edhem Bicakcic and his colleagues, Dragan Covic, the former deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, and Mehmed Alijagic, the deputy Minister of Finance. "On the basis of charges and results [of the Financial Police investigation] the Prosecution concluded that there is sufficient evidence for and a reasonable doubt to initiate this investigation," an unidentified official in the Federation Prosecutor's office told the daily. The same source said that Bicakcic is charged for the abuse of office, while his two colleagues are accused of irresponsible service. Invalids of War protest across the Federation: Associations of invalids of war held peaceful demonstrations across the Federation on Monday, wanting to express their dissatisfaction with a number of unresolved issues affecting the invalid population. The protests were held in Sarajevo, Ilijas, Zenica and few other towns in the Federation. Republika Srpska SNSD protests against the Croatian plan of cantonization of BiH: Commenting on statements of the Croatian top officials that BiH should be "cantonized" Rajko Vasic says that these statements mostly pertain to the RS given that the BiH Federation has already been "cantonized". The SNSD stand is that the Republic of Croatia just continues to conduct the policy it has started with back in 1991. "What Croatia is trying to do at this moment is turning BiH into it's dominion. That is why Croatian leaders condemned establishment of the special and parallel relations between the RS and the FRY. Croatia is one of the DPA signatories but it still has no right to interfere in BiH internal affairs", says Vasic. As to the secret meeting that was held in Slavonski Brod Vasic says that those members of the BiH common institutions who attended the meeting should say what was discussed and what they agreed to. RS leadership condemns statements of the Croatian leadership on revision of the DPA (GS & NN) Both BL dailies report that the RS top officials Zivko Radisic, Dragan Cavic, Mladen Ivanic and Zoran Djeric condemned the statements given by the Croatian officials that BiH should be "cantonised". "Statements of the Croatian top officials on elimination of entities and "cantonisation" of BiH present an open call for revision of the DPA", said the RS top officials after the meeting held in Banja Luka. They concluded that revision of the DPA has to be considered as an direct interference in the BiH internal affairs. "These statements should be punished given that Croatia is one of the DPA signatories", said the RS officials. Mirko Sarovic condemns statements of the Croatian politicians on revision of the DPA (GS) Today's edition of "Glas srpski" carries Mirko Sarovic's statement given to the RTRS that initiatives on "cantonisation" and revision of the DPA coming from the Croatian politicians are completely unacceptable. Sarovic also says that the DPA is a framework that BiH works within which practically means that BiH is a state comprising of two equal entities and that division of powers is clearly defined. RS government ask the International Community to condemns plans for cantonization: RS has requested that the relevant IC and BiH institutions react to Croatia's open violation of the Dayton accords and interference in the internal affairs of BiH. A press release issued after today's meeting of RS officials states that "the statements of high-ranking Croatian officials on the abolition of the Entities and the cantonisation of BiH are an open call for revision of the Dayton accords, which may have serious consequences." Editorials: Vjesnik: SDA is struggling even for bits of authority By Alenko Zornija A drama of another national party in the state, the SDA, is passing almost unnoticed in the shadow of the problems with the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the formation of the Democratic Alliance for Changes, it was also the SDA, which, in the 'package' with the HDZ, lost the power. Although there will be some quite serious politicians who will, off the record, express their suspicion that Izetbegovic's, and in a way Silajdzic's withdrawal is, basically, 'a pre-planned game' by which the new leader, Zlatko Lagumdzija is tasked to do the job which Izetbegovic and Silajdzic were not able to do (creation of the Bosniac domination in the state), the fact is that the loss of power is a very painful experinece to many SDA members. It is, first of all, because they lost the privileges and power, but also because of the fear that they might become a target of revanchism of the new rulers. The fact that they received the biggest number of votes within the targeted, Bosniac-Muslem constituency, at the elections on 11 November is frustrating to the SDA, in the similar way as it is frustrating to the HDZ too. However, the 'victory' of Izetbegovic's party became a Pyrrhic victory since it was for the strange election rules that a majority of the Bosniac votes was not enough for the SDA to keep the former influence having the SDP, the Party for B&H and even nine minor parties on the other side. So, what is going to happen with the SDA? As some independent sources in Sarajevo claim, the highest officials of the Party, led by Izetbegovic, developed a strategy by which one should preserve as much power as possible in the newly-arisen situation, while relying, above all, on the remaining personnel within the administration and the powerful police-security machine which was being made for ten years. The SDA, on the other hand, continued to criticise the international community and new authorities, accusing them that they want to eliminate the Bosniac people from Bosnia and Herzegovina through their 'nationally uncommitted policy'. At the session of the Main Board of the Party Alija Izetbegovic said that "the Bosniac factor in B&H is pressed ". He explained it by the division of the Bosniac constituency into three major and several minor political parties.

The BiH Media Round-up is being compiled primarily for the OHR's internal purposes under time pressure. Please disregard grammar and typing mistakes. The mentioned media reports do not reflect OHR views, and the OHR does not take responsibility for them.

OHR BiH Media Round-up