BiH/Central institutions: BiH Council of Ministers to discuss the election law Breakthrough in succession talks; The High Representative satisfied with the progress The High Representative holds talks with the new members of the BiH Presidency HDZ-related news Klein and Anic: Officials who left the Federation Defense Ministry will be criminally charged All HVO barracks in Central Bosnia under control of the disbanded HVO soldiers Federation Parliament's House of Representatives discusses the security situation in the entity Deputy President of the Federation Chamber of Commerce condemns the raid on Hercegovacka Banka International Organizations: If there were no violence, Hercegovacka Banka would shortly be operational again HNS Coordination Council evaluates political and security situation in BiH Minister of Finances, Nikola Grabovac - I found out from the press about the action Death notice for the Ivankovic family OHR's confidential documents on the Internet - Americans take over the Hercegovacka Bank computers Federation Defense Minister: Knezevic was pressured into dismissing the 4th Guardian Corps Globus: Excerpts from an interview with Ljubo Cesic Rojs Vecernji List: Excerpts from an interview with Wolfgang Petritsch Crisis in BiH: International Representatives suspect that Mijo Zlatan Jelic organized demonstrations in Mostar Hercegovina-Neretva Canton Ministry of Interior: Police acted in a fair and professional manner Federation Federation Supreme Court initiates an investigation against Bicakcic, Alijagic and Covic Republika Srpska Director of the RS Privatization Agency dismissed Editorials Oslobodjenje: Exorcism -Without the OHR and IC, the Alliance cannot deal with Jealvic and his nationalist sect Globus: State Department is against the HDZ BIH BiH/Central institutions related issues: BiH Council of Ministers to discuss the election law: The BiH Council of Ministers will discuss the draft election law at a session which is scheduled for today. The draft law was rejected last week because some ministers disagreed with certain provisions within the law, in particular those referring to the election of members of the BiH Presidency, and asked for some revisions. OSCE spokesman, Luke Zahner, could not confirm whether any changes have been made. Breakthrough in succession talks; The High Representative satisfied with the progress: All media report that the delegations of former Yugoslav republics reached a compromise in the succession talks held in Brussels, and that the final agreement on the distribution of gold reserves should be concluded in the near future. In a statement for the press, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, said he is satisfied with the progress reached during the talks, and expressed hope that this will be a true encouragement for the next circle of negotiations. See the Press Release. The High Representative holds talks with the new members of the BiH Presidency: The High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, met yesterday with the newly appointed members of the BiH Presidency, Beriz Belkic and Jozo Krizanovic, and discussed with them the current political situation in the country. All Federation media carry the press release. HDZ related News Klein and Anic: Officials who left the Federation Defense Ministry will be criminally charged: Following their meeting yesterday in Sarajevo, the Federation Defense Minster, Mijo Anic, and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Jacques Paul Klein, informed the press that nearly 83 percent of the soldiers of the Croat component of the Federation Army in Posavina and 71 percent in Central Bosnia expressed their loyalty to the Federation Ministry of Defense. Anic said, however, that these figures do not represent the number soldiers who remained in their barracks, but simply those who signed contracts with the Defense Ministry. He also stressed that senior Croat officers are not included in the above figures, which is a clear indication that they have succumbed to political pressure. Anic said at the end that certain officials who left the Federation Ministry of Defense will be criminally charged, but he refused to disclose any individual names. All HVO barracks in Central Bosnia under control of the disbanded HVO soldiers: Quoting sources in the HQ for protection of identity and national interests of the Croat people, Oslobodjenje reports that all abandoned HVO barracks in the Central Bosnia are under the control of disbanded troops of the Croat component of the Federation Army. The same source said that following the SFOR statement that it will not secure the empty barracks, disbanded troops in the organization of the HQ, moved in and will, in their words, remain there until the "Croat issue" in BiH is fully resolved. Federation Parliament's House of Representatives discusses the security situation in the entity: One of the issues discussed at yesterday's session of the BiH Federation House of Representatives was the security situation in the country following the decision of the Croat National Assembly (HNS) to proclaim the Croat self-rule in BiH. After an hours long debate, the present deputies failed to reach any concrete conclusions, despite the fact that they were all unanimously critical about the moves of the HDZ and equally concerned about the political situation in the country. Deputy President of the Federation Chamber of Commerce condemns the raid on Hercegovacka Banka: In a statement for the press, the Deputy President of the Federation Chamber of Commerce, Jago Lasic, strongly criticized the decision of the High Representative and the subsequent raid of the Hercegovacka Banka in Mostar and other towns in Herzegovina. "A raid conducted by masqued persons, be it in any institution or a private house, can mean only a robbery, murder and physical harassment, and the hoods are commonly worn by criminals who commit criminal acts," said Lasic, and added that this raid was not necessary since all information and documentation could have been audited peacefully and in a transparent manner. International Organizations: If there were no violence, Hercegovacka Banka would shortly be operational again: General Robert Meille, the Commander of SFOR MND SE said that the Friday demonstrations were organized by Croat soldiers and policemen. Croat policemen of the Hercegovina-Neretva Canton Ministry of Interior and HVO members were engaged in the organization and realization of the protest rallies against SFOR last Friday, stated Meille. The Head of the OHR in Mostar Colin Munro said that the MoI members encouraged the high school children to organize the protest rallies last Friday in Mostar. Munro did not want to say as to what was found in the documentation confiscated by SFOR, but stated that, in his opinion, there were serious suspicions in the business of the Hercegovacka Bank. He refused to comment on the text published in Nacional, in which the Hercegovacka Bank is brought in connection with the assassination of the Federal Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Jozo Leutar, and added the following: "Nacional is sometimes better informed than the international community. Not always, but in most cases," stated the British diplomat. He added that the incidents will affect the economy and the "decent Croats in Herzegovina." He refuted the allegation about a discrepancy between the statements by the Central Bank Governor Peter Nicholl and the Banking Agency, which claimed that the Hercegovacka Bank was doing business in accordance with the law, and those of the OHR officials. He stressed that the action in the Hercegovacka Bank is completely legal. Munro also failed to answer the question about a lawsuit that the Bank shareholders will start before the European courts against the High Representative's forcible administration claiming that he is protecting their interests. He only said that the shareholders of a similar bank in his country could not be public persons. Munro recommended to the Hercegovacka Bank clients to open accounts in other banks as soon as possible. In answer to a question about a blockade of the work of the hospitals which had funds deposited with the Hercegovacka Bank, Munro said it was a "political stunt." Vecernji list says that the press conference was held with intensified security measures and carries the participants' statements - demonstrations well planned and organised by those who have interest in the Bank; condemnation of the police officers' behaviour, condemnation of the bomb attack at the Ivankovic brothers. HNS Coordination Council evaluates political and security situation in BiH: Coordination Council of the Croat National Assembly held yesterday its regular meeting at which, among other issues, political/safety situation was considered after the raid in the Herzegovacka Banka. It was concluded that detailed report on financial, economic and political consequences of the blockade of the Bank should be made. Coordination Council condemned the action against the Herzegovacka Bank and which was approved by the HR, as well as a bomb attack on the car and the family house of the Ivankovic -Lijanovic family, concluding that all institutions should act as responsibly as possible on preventing violent acts, and if they happen, an investigation should be promptly carried out and perpetrators penalized. The CC also stressed that all political issues should be solved with political means. Representatives of the Croatian Coordination members at yesterday's session also considered the course of the modification of the Constitution of FBiH and Constitution of Republika Srpska, Draft Election Law of BiH and Provisional Election Rules. As for the modifications of the Constitution, the CC called upon Constitutional Commissions of both entities to bring into harmony as soon as possible constitutions of the entities with the Constitution of BiH on the constituent status of Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs on the entire territory of BiH. The Croat Coordination holds that the basic principles for the harmonizing should be: equal form of bringing into line of legislative, executive and judicial powers in both entities as well as equal rights for all three peoples in both entities. It also holds that the Election Law, after Constitution, is the most important regulation of a state and for the reason the Law should be passed as soon as possible. Minister of Finances, Nikola Grabovac - I found out from the press about the action The Federation Finance Minister, Nikola Grabovac, said the High Representative did not notify him about the action that was to take place in the Hercegovacka Banka and added that he found out about it from the media. "Four to five days prior to the events of 6 April, funds from some banks in Herzegovina were transferred to the Hercegovacka Bank affiliate in Sarajevo and now 17 700 000 KM are blocked in the Federation Budget," said Grabovac. "I told all the institutions that, according to my findings, the business was correct," said Grabovac. Death notice for the Ivankovic family The day after the explosive was planted in front of the Ivankovic brothers family house, Siroki Brijeg was covered with posters carrying a death notice with the names of the Lijanovic brothers, Mladen and Jerko, and their father. The posters appeared in the early morning hours and were not seen after that. OHR's confidential documents on the Internet - Americans take over the Hercegovacka Bank computers "The Croat National Assembly sent out by e-mail the documents of the OHR Sarajevo about the take-over of the Hercegovacka Bank, some of which carry the tag "confidential." One of such documents is the "Order for Operative Action" dated April 4 in which the reasons and ways of the Bank take-over are described in detail. The motive was the information which, as is written, caused a concern in the international community - that there are approximately 50 HVO sub-accounts in the Hercegovacka Bank on which exist large deposits, but the data does not disclose as to where that money is held or the ways in which the money was withdrawn or issued from those accounts." The article mentions the names of Norbert Gallemann as the action planner, Manfred Dauster as the one who approved it, Principal Deputy High Representative Ralph Johnson as the one who authorized the action and Adrian Rausche as the action co-ordinator. Vecernji list also says that, in addition to SFOR, the Federation MoI, IPTF and the Financial Police, the experts from the American company Kroll are also engaged in the action. Federation Defense Minister: Knezevic was pressured into dismissing the 4th Guardian Corps: Commenting the decision of Tomo Knezevic to disband the Fourth Guardian corps, Federation Defense Minister, Mijo Anic, said that Knezevic left his post under pressure and due threats to his family. According to Anic, his statement, who were not like him at all, testify to this. OBN Television aired last night a short report about Knezevic and juxtaposed his statement given to the press three weeks ago, when his firmly stressed that he will not leave the FA because his "job is not to worry about politics but to work and to be a soldier," with his presser yesterday, when he disgruntedly accused the SFOR of pressuring him and announced, never once glancing at the camera, the disbanding of the 4 guardian corps. According to Dnevni Avaz, the Federation Defense Minister, Mijo Anic, and the deputy commander of the Joint Command of the Federation Army, Ivica Zeko, could not say where is Tomo Knezevic at this moment. The daily reports that immediately following his press conference on Tuesday night, Knezevic was taken away in an unknown direction. "We think that he has been temporarily moved and exposed to pressure just to give up. I spoke with him only a night earlier, and he was not showing any signs that he might give up," said Minister Anic. Globus: Excerpts from an interview with Ljubo Cesic Rojs (prepared by OHR Mostar): The Director of the Bank, Sutalo, listed 26 companies, including the Lijanovics , and which are believed to be in your ownership? The Herzegovina holding is neither a shareholder of the Hercegovacka Bank nor does it exist. There is no Herzegovina holding. O.K., let's just call it Hercegovina Holding (for the purpose of conversation), when we say for example, Croherc, Herzegovina-gradnja or former Monitor, Eronet etc. It is true that Monitor was a founder of the Bank, however, we sold our shares because we were not able to pay back the loans and all the other things. First, we were shareholders, however, as we ran into debts, we had to sell the shares. In your opinion, in what way the tensions in Mostar could be resolved? I suggest for the international community to change the election rules and call for the new elections. Let the one who wins take up the authority. The present representatives of the Croat people are not elected, they are not entitled to represent us. These days a rumor could be heard that the new Croat authorities in Sarajevo and Mostar intend to reduce the borderline services between the BiH Federation and Croatia. It is rumored that they want to close some roads. Is it true? It is true. The newly imposed political pawns got the blessing from the Republic of Croatia for all that is going on in Mostar. On the same day when the Hercegovacka Bank was raided, Zlatko Lagumdzija, the Foreign Affairs Minister was received by the Croatian President, the Foreign Affairs Minister, the President of the Parliament. They agreed for all the border crossings to be closed except for Gradiska, Slavonski Brod, Okucani, Doljani near Metkovic, Vinjani Donji on the way between Imotski and Grude and Kamensko. They are going to cement all other crossings. However, they are not able to put up so many cement blocks, which we shall not be able to pull down. Do you think that the Croatian authorities will take away the passports from Ante Jelavic, Stanko Sopta and other leaders of the HDZ BiH? They do not have so much consideration. They were instructed by the EU to raise a bill of indictment against me, and I believe, they intend to do so: They are following and tapping me, I wrote about it to Minister Lucin. Let them not hesitate to treat me in the way they treat Ante Jelavic and Stanko Sopta. Because, the two of them are honest people, I support them and take their side. Vecernji List: Excerpts from an interview with Wolfgang Petritsch: Rumours have appeared in public that Wolfgang Petritsch, the High Representative in BiH, will address an appeal to the Austrian and German pilgrims not to go to Medjugorje for the Easter holidays. On that occasion, we asked Petritsch if that is correct, and if it is, did he do it in order to add to the economic de-stabilisation of Croats in Herzegovina? Such information is incorrect, I will prevent no one from going to Medjugorje. Those are very malicious rumours. However, I do know that some countries have advised their citizens against travelling to Herzegovina, but that is the decision of those countries which I cannot influence. I would like to make myself clear when it comes to the economic de-stabilisation. I want all Croats in BiH to enjoy the same rights as all other citizens of BiH and to feel good in their homes. That is why I want them to be rid of the leadership which is trying to manipulate them and is leading them to isolation under the pretext that the Croats' rights are being suppressed, whereas the real goal is the protection of the interests of a handful of people who got rich in the past years. The HDZ and HNS extremists and the mob are those who caused the instability in Herzegovina. The actions related to the Hercegovacka Bank were an attempt to stabilise the Bank to the benefit of the Bank clients and investors, and to make sure that the taxpayers' money is not used for supporting the illegal institutions. Should the tourist visits to Medjugorje be postponed this year, that will be due to the activities of the hard-line political leadership and the organised mob. What is your comment on the fact that even the pilgrims attacked the SFOR during the audit of the Hercegovacka Bank? Medjugorje, along with another few towns in Herzegovina, was the venue of the appalling attacks at the representatives of the international community. As you know, my staff members were present in the Hercegovacka Bank affiliate in Medjugorje, as well as in other locations, and therefore, I have witnesses of what happened there. They saw no pilgrims in the mob. At no moment did we think that the skinheads wearing black leather jackets, who were spitting, cursing and hitting, were the representatives of the pilgrims. Do you, perhaps, plan to come to Medjugorje? My family will gather for the Easter holidays, but we will probably not go to Medjugorje. Crisis in BiH: International Representatives suspect that Mijo Zlatan Jelic organized demonstrations in Mostar: Marko Tokic, the President of the temporary Croat self-rule, announced that the salaries for the HVO soldiers will be paid out until Easter holidays. On Tuesday evening he announced on the Mostar TV Oscar C that all HVO soldiers who respected the decision on the self-rule will receive the salaries. Over 300 entrepreneurs gathered in the 'Herceg Stjepan Kosaca' building and discussed the possibilities of financing the Croat self-rule. The purpose of the meeting, which lasted two and a half hours, was to inform the representatives of the local authorities about problems and initiatives of the entrepreneurs. Hercegovina-Neretva Canton Ministry of Interior: Police acted in a fair and professional manner: In a statement for the press, the Hercegovina - Neretva Canton Ministry of Interior said its troops behaved in a very organized and professional manner during the incidents which took place in Mostar last Friday. The MiO stressed that, despite the fact that it has not been promptly informed about the raid on the Hercegovacka Banka, its officers adequately fulfilled all their duties, protected the property and citizens and tried to calm the situation in the city. It is also said that the Ministry established several investigative teams which will look into the entire incident and provide adequate information about it. Federation: Federation Supreme Court initiates an investigation against Bicakcic, Alijagic and Covic: Following recent hearings, the BiH Federation Supreme Court initiated an investigation against the former leadership of this entity, Edhem Bicakcic, Dragan Covic and Mehmed Alijagic. According to Oslobodjenje the case was initiated by the Federation Prosecutors Office, which charges the former Prime Minister Bicakcic for abuse of office and his colleagues for irresponsible professional behavior. Republika Srpska: Director of the RS Privatization Agency dismissed: The RS government dismissed Borislav Obradovic, the director of the RS Privatization Agency and removed him from the post. Media speculate that Obradovic could be replaced by a Bratunac economist, Radoljub Djukanovic. Editorials: Oslobodjenje: Exorcism -Without the OHR and IC, the Alliance cannot deal with Jealvic and his nationalist sect By Gojko Beric While thinking about the lack of capacity on behalf of Wolfgang Petritsch to cool down the nationalist heads in this sad Balkan country, I remembered one unusual affair which shook the Vatican last year. During a reception with the Pope, one girl began shouting offences at him with a broken voice. John Paul the Second did get confused and performed an improvised act of exorcism on the girl. Despite the efforts of the Pope and his assistant, the girl remained possessed, and the devil's voice began laughing at the Pope's failed attempt to chase him away. This incident has been disclosed to the press by the Father Amort who conceded that the incident was "spectacular" and the "devil showed his teeth." Something similar is happening to Wolfgang Petritsch in his constant attempts to drive the devil out from the cloned monster called the Federation. The devil is in the shape of Ante Jelavic and his nationalist sect. Petritsch is late with his radical moves, although he should have been aware that his confused and characterless predecessors, Bildt and Westendorp, wasted en entire four years of the delicate peace without doing anything efficiently. The order of Petritsch's moves is also peculiar. He as acting as if he were employed in some pedagogical institution, and not like a man whose powers well exceed those vested in the state Presidency. Fifteen days before he ordered the blockade of the Hercegovacka Banka, Petritsch disclosed that 54 million DM have been deposited on secret accounts in this bank and which were directed for the payment of HVO soldiers and officers. Apparently, when the SFOR troops reach its volts, all the money was already gone. The use of force does not give the expected results. A peaceful way is, in principle, a good way, but only if it does not lead to a no-way-out situation. This is precisely what is happening here. What is a "peaceful way" which would end out ten year long agony? There is no good answer to that question... I do not want to make any forced analogy between the peace in Germany following the Second World War and the Dayton Peace Agreement which ended the war in BiH, but it is indeed questionable how did the West succeed in transforming one completely destroyed and morally depraved country, and, fifty years later, it produced no results. The answer to this paradox is relatively simple: The West is less unified today than it was fifty years ago, and the serious mistakes in the structure of the DPA are just a mirror of different interests if western countries on the Balkans. Richard Holbrooke admits his mistakes, but he does not want to hear about the revision of the Peace Agreement. Isn't this a hypocrisy coming from a man who is fully aware that the Bosnia makes one step forward and two back. It's simply not going! To reward Serbs with an ethnically clean state, created on the results of a genocide, and to put Bosniaks and Croats in the perverted Federation could only plant the seeds of new frustrations and inter-ethnic conflicts...The Experiment, naturally, fails and the International Community cannot even see what is transpiring before its eyes. Or, it does not want to admit it. The Americans are stubborn: The Daton first needs to be implemented, and then we will se how to proceed. I know no one who built a house by constructing a roof first, and then setting a foundation. Today, BiH is what it has never been in its history: a strange construction that is floating in the air, while the SFOR troops and tanks are preventing it from falling down. Five years and five billion dollars have been wasted here in order to wait for the pro-Bosnian forces to gain some strength for the political change. The West supported by all means the Alliance for Changes, believing that it will, with its Bolshevik efforts, make constitutional changes and create a political framework for the formal functioning of the state. It turned out that the versatile Alliance group does not have enough strengths for this. The new authority appears somehow pathetic these days, like a general without an army giving orders, and there is no one to obey them. The exorcism is left to the OHR and international forces, and what will happen at the end, we'll see. Globus: State Department is against the HDZ BIH (prepared by the OHR Mostar) By Gordan Malic The highest representatives of the American Administration supported in the last days the radical showdown of the international community on the part of the HDZ BiH, which is working on destruction of the Dayton Agreement. As Globus finds out from diplomatic sources, Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State told this, word for word, to the High Representative in BiH, Wolfgang Petritsch, during Petritsch's official visit to Washington, which recently took place. On Tuesday afternoon, April 10, in the phone conversation with him, Powell fully supported the SFOR action, which blocked the work of the Hercegovacka Bank. The Washington circles believe that the biggest post-Dayton crisis has arisen in BiH, for which the radical part of the HDZ BiH is to blame. For the first time after the official inauguration, the US President, George Bush, asked for a detailed report about the state of affairs in the BiH Federation, while being faced with the fact that the HDZ BiH has been politically boycotting the Dayton Agreement. Apart from a general outline of the situation in the region, which Petritsch presented to the State Secretary Powell during the 35-minute talk with him, he also tried to describe in more details the situation in the BiH Federation after the latest moves of the HDZ BiH. On that occasion, the State Secretary expressed his full support to the work of the High Representative and commended him for the rapid and energetic action, which he undertook against the attempt of undermining of the constitutional order of BiH, by removing Ante Jelavic and other problematic party's officials. For the Office of the High Representative to be more efficient in the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, Colin Powell promised that the USA would help in re-examining of the efficiency of the international institutions in BIH. Also, the USA will not undertake any unilateral moves regarding the reduction of the engagement of its military potentials in BiH. Wolfgang Petritsch elaborated the details of the general agreement with Powell in a quite long conversation, which he subsequently had with James Dobbins, the Assistant to the State Secretary. The diplomatic source of Globus holds that efficient measures, which are to be taken against the opponents of the Dayton Agreement in the HDZ BiH, were agreed on that occasion. Jelavic's invitation to Rivkin: According to a well-informed source from the top level of the HDZ BiH, it was less than three weeks ago when Ante Jelavic and Stanko Sopta Baja, his Advisor for Internal Policy, proposed to David Rivkin, a lawyer from the USA, once the HDZ's lobbyist, to draw up a professional survey on legal and political non-sustainability of the Dayton Agreement. Ivic Pasalic is claimed to have launched the idea on hiring Rivkin's Lawyer Firm in disproving of the Dayton Agreement. Two officials of the HDZ BiH promised to finance the entire project. In a short telephone conversation Pasalic denied the information, which we, unfortunately, were not able to check in the Office of David Rivkin, in spite of our endeavours. However, as we found out in the diplomatic sources, Rivkin did not accept the proposal, in the first place because of advises he received from some of his friends in the American Congress.

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