- Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly recommends BiH’s admission into the organization
- Oslobodjenje on the “Algerian Group” deportation: A knife in the back of human rights
- RS National Assembly to hold a special session regarding Radisic’s veto on the BiH state Budget?
- Trnka says lawsuit before Hague not in jeopardy after budget veto
- A conference on the future of education in BiH takes place in Sarajevo
- BiH become a member of the World Association of the Agencies for Foreign Investments Promotion
- BiH Federation Constitutional Commission to improve text of the amendments in the next ten days
- BiH Federation Government recommends stoppage of evictions until April this year
- Dnevni List:
Interview with Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic- Dnevni List:
An interview with Amor Masovic, a Chairman of the Federation Commission for Missing Persons- Dnevni List:
Jelavic and Ivanic will meet on Mrakovica near Prijedor- Slobodna Dalmacija:
Storm among members of the Croat component of the Federation Army – 750 soldiers left without jobs and allowances!
- RS President comments on BiH accession to the Council of Europe – Accusations against the RS groundless
- Senior DNS official accuses Ivanic of being responsible for growing crime rate in his cabinet
- Dnevni Avaz: Wolfgang Petritsch – Person of the Day
- Croatia stopped applying disputed oil transport ban provisions on Monday
- SFOR Spokesman Tony Keen confirms that SFOR was searching for Pandurevic;
- Oslobodjenje
- Dnevni List:
BiH State-related Issues
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly recommends BiH’s admission into the organization
All BiH media prominently report that, on Tuesday, during the second day of its regular January session in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly recommended the BiH’s admission into the organization. Together with the recommendation to be considered and probably confirmed by the Council’s Committee of Ministers early in May this year, the Assembly adopted a document amending a list of approximately 90 conditions BiH had to fulfill. The new conditions, according to Oslobodjenje include the strengthening of the state Constitution at the cost of the entity Constitutions and improvement of the military cooperation in the country in order to speed up the process of establishment of a single BiH army. In addition, the entities, particularly Republika Srpska, have been requested to significantly improve cooperation with the ICTY, which should include the hand-over of the indicted war criminals. In his address to the Assembly, the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, affirmed the significance of the existence of a governing coalition in the country prepared to carry out necessary reforms (see the attachment). BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Zlatko Lagumdzija said the decision on the BiH’s admission into the Council represented a concrete message of the oldest European organization that BiH belonged to this family. According to Oslobodjenje, Petritsch announced following the session that the international community would, if necessary, make “a hard decision” in order that the principle of equal constitutional status of all three peoples in the entire country’s territory is applied. Dnevni Avaz report that, at a joint press conference he held with Lagumdzija, Petritsch emphasized that each of 105 votes for the recommendation would weaken extremist in the region. “When it comes to Yugoslavia, BiH will soon be a full Council of Europe’s member and it will together with others decide on whether FRY will access to the organization or not. This is very important because it strengthens a BiH’s role in Europe,” Petritsch said in a statements with Dnevni Avaz. More over, the High Representative told ONASA that that BiH for the first time has a government that fully supports the idea of the state of BiH. “We know that only the state can be admitted in the Council of Europe, and not the entities,” Petritsch said, reiterating that many people in the Republika Srpska still believe that this entity can be internationally recognized separately (Jutarnje Novine carried the SENSE news agency’s report on the Petritsch/Lagumdzija press conference). According to Dnevni Avaz, the BiH Presidency welcomed the recommendation considering the act as the extremely important in the BiH’s post-Dayton history. (See the Press Release)
Oslobodjenje on the “Algerian Group” deportation: A knife in the back of human rights
Oslobodjenje published three articles on the Theme of the Day pages related to the deportation of the “Algerian Group” and reactions on the move by the BiH helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Zdravko Grebo, the Sarajevo University law professor, and Madaleine Rees, the head of the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s office in BiH (see the attachment for the AFP report on the issue). Edina Kamenica wrote in the first article that the last week’s deportation of the Algerians had been followed by demonstrations, a number of controversies and was still in the public focus. According to Kamenica, for this, tributes should be paid to President of the BiH Helsinki Committee Srdjan Dizdarevic, who had clearly underlined that the move was a product of the US ultimatums and pressures. However, the two prominent members of the Committee’s Steering Board, Branko Todorovic and Slavo Kukic, distanced themselves from such the position on Monday. “I received this as a shock, as a knife in the back,” Dizdarevic told Oslobodjenje commenting on the Todorovic and Kukic’s action. He announced that a session of the Steering Board would be held soon. ” I want this cleared, or I will leave the post,” Dizdarevic emphasized. In the second article on the deportation issue, Zdravko Grebo, the Sarajevo University law professor, said that the deportation of the “Algerian Group” was a precedent, which would in many ways mark the political future of this country.
RS National Assembly to hold a special session regarding Radisic’s veto on the BiH state Budget?
Both Banja Luka dailies report that the top leadership and the representatives of the RS in the joint bodies two nights ago unanimously supported the decision by the Serb member of the BiH Presidency Zivko Radisic to declare destructive to the vital interests of the RS the decision of the Presidency that the budget of BiH finance the legal counsellor in the lawsuit brought by BiH against the FRY before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Following the meeting in Banja Luka, Radisic said that by initiating the issue of protection of the RS’s vital interests, the process of adoption of the joint institutions’ budget for this year has been blocked indefinitely. “The National Assembly should decide in the next 10 days whether it would hold an extraordinary session or whether this could be included in the assembly’s conclusions of October 1999,” Radisic specified after the two-hour meeting. Radisic explained that his decision to seek the protection of the RS’s vital interests in view of the article on financing of the BiH’s legal counselor has important justifications since “the RS was not behind nor participated in the filing of the lawsuit against the FRY”. He recalled that the lawsuit against the FRY was filed in March 1993 and the RS National Assembly declared it irregular since it was not ratified by the institutions created by the Dayton Agreement. The session tonight also discussed draft laws on agency for information and protection of the institutions of BiH and the law on succession, and a need for amendments and addenda to the Law on Constitutional Court of BiH was also expressed. Nezavisne Novine quotes RS National Assembly Speaker, Dragan Kalinic, as saying that consultations with legal experts will be held today or tomorrow in order to decide whether extraordinary session of the RS NA will be scheduled. According to him this session will only discuss the issue of Radisic’s veto.
Trnka says lawsuit before Hague not in jeopardy after budget veto
Nezavisne Novine quotes BiH legal counsellor in the lawsuit against Yugoslavia, Kasim Trnka, as saying that the lawsuit over aggression and genocide before the International Court of Justice in The Hague will not be jeopardized even after the veto of the BiH Presidency member Zivko Radisic on a budget article which stipulates financing of BiH’s legal counsellor in the legal proceedings. “According to the Constitution of BiH, Radisic has the right to veto. However, since the Presidency had not reached a decision, but only submitted a draft budget proposal, then the veto does not even come into play, since the BiH Constitution does not provide for the possibility of a veto on proposals, but only on decisions,” Trnka told Sarajevo media. Emphasizing that decisions on the budget are reached by the Parliament of BiH, Trnka added that members of the Presidency do not have the authority to put a veto on parliament’s decisions. He added that in the event of the parliament reaching a negative decision with regard to the financing of the legal counsellor before the International Court of Justice, there are other ways of financing the lawsuit. “One of the possibilities we are considering is the formation of a public fund for this purpose. In such event, in accordance with the existing law on funds, we would set up a fund for the financing of the lawsuit, register it in BiH and provide for transparent access into the purposes and appropriation of funds,” Trnka said.
A conference on the future of education in BiH takes place in Sarajevo
Oslobodjenje and Jutarnje Novine report (on the pages covering culture) that, in the organization of OHR, a conference on the future of education in BiH was held in Sarajevo on Tuesday. In his address, the Principal Deputy High Representative, Donald Hays, called for education reform as a matter of urgency, in order to promote economic recovery and competitiveness. “Failure to address the quality and state of education offered to the youth of this country would be nothing less than catastrophic,” the PDHR told the conference. Both Banja Luka dailies also report on the education conference. Glas Srpski quotes RS Education Minister Gojko Savanovic as saying that it is necessary to find a concept of education that would be acceptable for all sides stressing that objectionable texts should be removed from textbooks. “We agreed that experts of the independent commission, which has been set up by the OHR, revise all textbooks and give their opinion before the textbooks are printed”, said Savanovic. BiH Federation Minister for Education Mujo Demirovic said that BiH has an outdated system of education, burdened with negative ideas of political and nationalistic provenance. He stressed that BiH needs a joint strategy and joint education system that will ensure reintegration of BiH within and its integration to Europe. (See the Press Release)
BiH become a member of the World Association of the Agencies for Foreign Investments Promotion
Dnevni Avaz reports that, in Geneva on Tuesday, the BiH Council of Ministers Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) was as admitted as the 121st member into the membership of the World Association of the Governmental Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA). China, Malaysia, Venecuela and Peru accessed the Association together with BiH. In a statement with Dnevni Avaz, FIPA Director Mirza Hajric said that this admission showed BiH was not isolated from the world-wide economic and political flows.
Federation
BiH Federation Constitutional Commission to improve text of the amendments in the next ten days
Oslobodjenje report that the members of the BiH Federation Constitutional Commission concluded at their session in Sarajevo on Tuesday to hold another session in ten days in order to attempt to improve the text of the amendments to the entity Constitution agreed yet on July 22 last year. The meeting ended with fierce verbal conflict between the Commission chairman, Jakob Finci, and other members of the commission, who were not prepared to accept a Finci’s proposal that the text is sent into the further procedure in its initial text without any additional changes.
BiH Federation Government recommends stoppage of evictions until April this year
According to Oslobodjenje and Dnevni Avaz, at its session in Sarajevo on Tuesday, the BiH Federation Government adopted amendments to the property laws imposed by the High Representative in July and December last year and send them into an urgent parliamentary procedure. The Government also recommended the municipal housing authorities to stop evictions of the people having a right to alternative accommodation until April, which usually marks the beginning of the construction season.
Dnevni List: Interview with Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
When questioned as to how Mostar was perceived in the world nowadays, especially in light of the fact that the world has been fed with bad information about Mostar in the last seven to eight years, Mayor Tomic admitted that Mostar had appeared more in black chronicles then in pages that would create a more positive image saying that it would require a lot of effort to change that situation. He sees the solution to the issue in a better communication with the IC in order to make positive strides because, in Tomic’s opinion, there are not investment to an economy without a stable political situation and a functioning state that abides by the law. “Of course Mostar cannot succeed in that on its own, because a positive environment within the State, the Federation and the Canton needs to be created. The city also has to do a lot”, says Tomic.
With regards to the strategy for the City of Mostar, Mayor Tomic said that they decided to make the strategy because cities that have political problems must have a similar strategy of development and use of resources: “We have sent a clear message to the world that there is new climate being created in the City in order to gain the investors’ trust”, said Tomic adding that events from the past year and a half, such as the Hercegovacka Banka and images of the tanks shown on CNN, made a bad impact on the inflow of capital.
One gets an impression that political problems dominate the economic ones?
Tomic: “I would not say that political problems are the more dominant ones. There is a consensus about the basics with regards to the functioning of the city as a whole. But there are still economy-related problems that easily reflect on the politics, in other words it is easy to mobilise people, who have nothing to do, to do anything. Also the privatisation process is lagging behind, i.e. the process of privatisation of 86 companies that were on the list for strategic partners. The other part of the process that had been carried out through the certificates did not bring any money, so there are no real effects of the privatisation. I would say that Mostar still lives on investment from the immediate surrounding. Companies from the western Herzegovina that were active during the war are now coming to Mostar. If you see the southern, industrial zone, you will see that they are mostly companies from Siroki Brijeg, Ljubuski, Citluk etc. There are some foreign investments, mostly in the banking sector, where we have best results, but also in small pilot projects that really test the attitude of foreign investors towards Mostar.
What’s your stance on the action in the “Hercegovacka Banka”?
Tomic: “Well, I do not know, I think it was about the realisation of a document that can be stable for, let’s say, two years, which was prepared by an international legal group that made an analysis as to how the HDZ logistics work, sort of speak, or, as they put it, the hard-liners in BiH, who located an improper enterprise in the bank through which they funded certain people and their projects, which allowed them to neglect democratic processes in BiH but rather live in their own world. In order to prevent that scenario, the action was undertaken in the bank”.
When questioned as to why the HDZ want him removed from the Mayor’s office, Tomic said that the request has come from a part of the HDZ pinnacle that cannot accept certain processes in the city, who think that Mostar can be used as a hostage to see their politics through. “I had an agreement with the HDZ Presidency and President Jelavic for me to go to Mostar and make a normal city out of it. But, a part of those people are used to the double game, and they thought it could be nice opportunity to put a ban on the HDZ work. There were a lot of indications that the HDZ would be put on the black list, which was the case with the Serb Radical Party. I am not interested in politics because I was everything in BiH but a member of the BiH Presidency.
Mayor Tomic also denied rumours that he was to move to a new function after the October elections by saying that there was still a long way to go until the elections. He also did not want to name persons from the HDZ BiH who are in conflict with him adding that they could be easily recognised because they never talk to him about those issues directly to him, they rather opt to do it through their couriers.
What was offered to you in the Croat self-rule project?
Tomic: I was offered to be one of the four (people) responsible for finances. Then enter an avalanche of pressures coming from the IC on the self-rule leadership, when they did not want to talk to them etc. In the same time the same people talked to the Mayor of Mostar, which caused certain reactions, I would say personal reactions.
Asked about his relation with Ante Jelavic, a removed HDZ President, Tomic answered that they are not on speaking terms, and when they meet they just say hello. Asked about his relation with Dr. Jadranko Prlic, and the fact that many Mostarians objected his statements given during his interview to HTV Oscar C, Tomic said that he himself also objected him many things. “I called him after the show and I told him that. I believe that the Mostar issue is much more complex than my friend Jadranko can see it while he is performing his current duty in Sarajevo”, says Tomic.
Asked as to where he sees himself in October 2002, when the elections will take place, Tomic stated: “As far as the City of Mostar is concerned, it is important that it is one Municipality and everything will be fine then. There is also the second and third side. The International Community should offer the best solution, but how it will be reached? The situation with me is the same. I have not made my choice yet, and for this reason I had deeply believed, until the last moment, that the changes within the HDZ would take place, which would make possible my stay in the party. Since that did not happen, I chose the option to be ousted from the party, since I had lost the last hope that I could make something there”.
Asked about the open conflict between the Cantons and Federation Authorities over money and paying of taxes, which has been expected to take place soon, and the journalist’s conclusion that Sarajevo wants to collect money and distribute it over areas, Tomic stated that such intentions exist. “During the war, Sarajevo developed the technology according to which, simply, all decisions were made in Sarajevo and the others had to implement their part of job. I regret the way people participate, in other words do not participate, in the Authority, and for this reason we failed to prevent many things”. (He stated the example of Elektroprivreda, where three State Agencies were established. Two of them will be in Sarajevo and one in Banja Luka, while Mostar was excluded.) “Actually, the Federation budget was mostly filled in by the funds taken from the lower levels, without their permission, and this is contrary to the Basic Charter on Local Self-Government. You cannot take money from the lower level without its consent”.
Commenting on the fact that the Ministers of Economy of the Cantons with the Croat majority have sent a harsh protest to the Federation Authorities, Tomic stated that the situation was the same with the Cantons with the Bosniak majority, however, they do not voice their opinion in public, because, mostly, the same parties participate in the Cantonal and Federation Authority. “BiH has to be a de-centralized state with strong regions. We already have the situation that Mostar has become the center of Herzegovina again, regardless of the entity division. Nevesinje, Trebinje and Gacko are more oriented to Mostar than to Banja Luka. All people, those who live on the East and West sides of Mostar have to have the same standard. On the territory of the whole BiH rights of Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks and the others should be standardized, and three constituent peoples have to have equal standards in the realization of national rights. It has not been secured at the moment, but the solution seems to be appearing: Three entities or the state without entities. Certainly, these are two concepts that will be discussed, and the IC is supporting them. Personally, I am sure that the IC prefers the state without entities to the state with three entities. However, there are certain tendencies that indicate that the entities will remain, but also their reducing on something that does not have the strength of the state, that they have at the moment”.
As far as the privatization is concerned, Tomic stated that the biggest problem is that many companies were sold for certificates and practically they were purchased for 2,5% of their true value.
Dnevni List: An interview with Amor Masovic, a Chairman of the Federation Commission for Missing Persons
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
‘There are indications that mortal remains of Bosnikas and some Serbs, who were killed by HVO members during 1992, are located on the Vihovici waste dump, and some other locations in Mostar West.’ (…)
What is about missing Croats from Grabovica?
‘The most of the bodies, and I believe that it was about 20 bodies, were handed over to a competent HVO Commission immediately after the crimes over the Croats in Grabovica took place, and one part of them, according tot he information that I have, was thrown into Neretva River. I do not know if some of them were buried in a wider area of Grabovica.’
Dnevni List: Jelavic and Ivanic will meet on Mrakovica near Prijedor
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Dnevni List reveals that the preparations for the organization of this meeting have advanced and that the meeting will take place on Mrakovica near Prijedor. Along with the topic which was mentioned in the HDZ press release (see yesterday’s Cropress summary) they will also discuss the implementation of the Constitutional Court decision on the constituency of peoples on the whole BiH territory. Both sides deny that they will use this meeting to make the HDZ lobby for the establishment of the Constitutional Commission in the RS Assembly, or to make the Serb side to support the HDZ, that is, the Croat National Assembly, in the establishment of the third entity. The meeting has been planned for the end of January.
Slobodna Dalmacija: Storm among members of the Croat component of the Federation Army – 750 soldiers left without jobs and allowances!
(Provided by OHR Mostar)
Slobodna Dalmacija says by a single action of the Government, i.e. the Federation Defense Minister, 750 members of the Croat component of the Federation Army have been left jobless and without any prospect of getting employed again. Those are persons of over 40 years of age that Ante Jelavic and Miroslav Prce, a former Defense Minister, demobilized, made reserve officers and provided with financial compensation pending the final resolution of their right to retirement. However, under the most recent decision of the Defense Minister Mijo Anic, instead of being retired, those 750 soldiers have been thrown out to the street with the explanation that the aforementioned decision was of a temporary character.
A press release signed by Antun Mrkonjic, the Deputy Assistant to the Defense Minister, reads that the allowance pending retirement for those persons has no legal grounds, nor are there any legal solutions in the Ministry’s Budget that would allow providing funds for the persons who have this status so that the Defense Minister decided to suspend the payment of these allowances.
In the meantime, says the daily, war profiteers and newly fledged businesspersons are already making preparations for the employment of demobilized soldiers, i.e. for collecting the money that the World Bank has allocated for the employment of redundant members of the Croat component until a time some new people, promoting some even “better changes” declare the program provisional and unbinding for the new Government.
Republika Srpska
RS President comments on BiH accession to the Council of Europe – Accusations against the RS groundless
Glas Srpski quotes RS President Mirko Sarovic as saying that the recommendations of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to support BiH accession to the CoE is an important event for BiH. “This event is important for several reasons. This is a very important and a very good piece of news for the entire BiH. The decision, made by the CoE Parliamentary Assembly, proves that overall processes take BiH forward and not backward, as one could hear from some malevolent persons”, said Sarovic. He also stressed that the RS played an important role in the CoE Parliamentary Assembly decision to approve BiH accession to the CoE. “This decision proves that many accusations addressed to the RS by some politicians from the BiH Federation are groundless. Had these accusations been true, then the CoE Parliamentary Assembly would not have recommended that BiH joins the CoE”, said Sarovic.
Senior DNS official accuses Ivanic of being responsible for growing crime rate in his cabinet
Nezavisne Novine reports that one of the DNS (Democratic National Alliance) top officials, Drago Kalabic accused RS Prime Minister, Mladen Ivanic of growing crime rate in his cabinet. “There is no use in tax collecting if criminals who work in the RS institutions spend it in an illegal way. We have evidence that some of his people illegally spent some money and the money, that Ivanic said it would be collected from taxes, is not in the budget. The corruption and crime and are suffocating the RS and Ivanic’s government is directly responsible for that situation. However, Ivanic is running away from these problems. He does not have political courage nor willingness to face these problems and start resolving them”, said Kalabic.
International Community
Dnevni Avaz: Wolfgang Petritsch – Person of the Day
Dnevni Avaz declared the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, as the Person of the Day assessing that, actually, he deserved vast majority of the tributes for the fulfillment of the pre-conditions that had led towards the Tuesday Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s recommendation for the country’s admission into the organization.
Croatia stopped applying disputed oil transport ban provisions on Monday
According to Dnevni Avaz, Croatian Ambassador to BiH Josip Vrbosic officially informed Anto Trisic-Babic, the BiH Assistant Foreign Minister for Bilateral relations, that, on Monday, Croatia had stopped applying disputed oil transport ban provisions. The BiH Foreign Ministry said in a press release that Vrbosic said on the occasion it had not been Croatian intention to worsen good neighboring relations with BiH, and that it would therefore continue behaving in accordance to the earlier signed bilateral agreements as well as international conventions.
SFOR Spokesman Tony Keen confirms that SFOR was searching for Pandurevic;
Glas Srpski quotes SFOR MND SW Spokesman, Tony Keene, as saying that SFOR troops did search for RS Army general, Vinko Pandurevic on 20th of January at his family house in the village of Jasik near Sokolac. “It is true that our soldiers did carry out the action aimed to provide information on Pandurevic’s whereabouts. The action was carried out in accordance with SFOR rules of procedure and the troops were accompanied by members of the RS Interior Ministry and police officers employed with the Sokolac Public Security Center”, said Keene.
Editorials
Oslobodjenje
Resad Dautefendic wrote in the Oslobodjenje In Focus column that, with the seal from Strasbourg, BiH had a realistic chance to this year sign an agreement on the Association and Stabilization with the European Union. In another Oslobodjenje editorial, Amra Kebo wrote that the BiH citizens expect the High Representative, Wolfgang Petritsch, and the international community to help them in creating a state, which would function just as good as their ones.
Dnevni List: We wish there were more Brajkovics!
Written by Zorica Culjak (Provided by OHR Mostar)
Mijo Brajkovic was only appreciating work. He did not care who you are or what you are. The only thing that mattered to him was that one works hard and in a professional manner. Unfortunately, BiH press very often attacks him and his Aluminij. I said his Aluminij because immediately after the war ended, together with his workers he put Aluminij back on its feet. And, as far as I know, none but the Republic of Croatia helped him in its reconstruction, neither the International Community, nor the BiH Federation Government did it. Following the BiH press I was embittered over some former ‘comrades’, who were competing as to who will discredit the name of Mijo Brajkovic more. Among them, ‘comrade’ Milan Jovicic has taken a leading role in his criticisms, and I would like to use this opportunity to tell him that he should be ashamed of his articles. I declare under full responsibility that Mijo Brajkovic is one of the leading and best businessmen in the Federation and the whole BiH. Why Aluminij should be destroyed when so many facilities have already been destroyed and wasted on this territory?
Vjesnik: Karadzic and Mladic go to The Hague, mujahedeens go out of BiH, Sarajevo drops charges against Belgrade?
Written by Zeljko Hodonj (Provided by OHR Mostar)
The events of last week indicate that Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic could be arrested soon as a part of interconnected anti-terrorist operations which could be called “cleaning of the Balkan courtyard.” Arresting those two has been announced so many times that it is clear that favorable international political circumstances should be created first. Paradoxically, the event of September 11 was a part of those circumstances.
Carlos Westendorp, the High Representative of the international community in BiH in 1998, testified how it was before that. Back in 1998, he stated that two (or four) of the major countries were obstructing the arrest of Karadzic and Mladic. The then US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, talked to the then Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY, Louise Arbour, about how and when to launch an arrest action. Arbour attacked the Paris politics as a protector of the two criminals, and the Quai d’Orsay laid the blame on London, claiming that most of the war criminals were hiding in the British area of responsibility.
The article says that after the September 11 events, political agreements among major countries are no longer restrained by earlier judgments. It is, therefore, quite certain that the arrests of Karadzic and Mladic will be a part of a wider anti-terrorist campaign and exchange. A few days ago, there appeared the news that the American Special Forces arrested Karadzic and Mladic. Almost at the same time, it was published that Belgrade will extradite Alija Delimustafic, the wartime chief of the BiH police, to Sarajevo. This is an important fragment in the anti-terrorist mosaic assembled by the American intelligence agencies. As the leading police official during the war, Delimustafic was in charge of admitting Muslim extremists in BiH, but also of the legalization of their residence and potential transfer to EU countries.
Now that the Federation authorities have extradited six suspected Algerians with BiH documents to the American authorities, despite the fact that they were acquitted by the BiH Supreme Court, it is clear why Delimustafic must be extradited to Sarajevo and subsequently to those who need him more at this time.
On top of all this, Sarajevo has been covered with copies of arrest warrants after Karadzic and Mladic, and anyone who has any information that could lead to their arrest could get a reward of five million Dollars. Pragmatic politicians are ready to give up on all those they no longer need, says Vjesnik.
This is about a useful exchange: Karadzic (not necessarily Mladic) goes to The Hague, along with Milan Milutinovic, the current President of Serbia; the FRY and the RS get additional privileges; the executors of dozens of thousands of Bosniaks go on trial, and in return, BiH is freed of the burden of mujahedeens that keeps holding the country in the ghetto of international protectorate.
Headlines
Dnevni List
- Interview: Mostar Mayor Neven Tomic – I see BiH as a state of either three entities or no entities at all
Vecernji List
- Jusuf Halilagic, BiH Deputy Minister for Civil Affairs and Communications – Croatia obstructs Double Citizenship Agreement
Oslobodjenje
- Finally: BiH admitted into the Council of Europe
Dnevni Avaz
- A recommendation voted for the BiH admission into the Council of Europe: A Historic Decision
Jutarnje Novine
- Towards Brussels over Strasbourg: BiH welcomed in the Council of Europe
Glas Srpski
- SFOR did search for Pandurevic;
- RS President Mirko Sarovic comments on CoE Parliamentary Assembly decision – Accusations against the RS groundless;
Nezavisne Novine
- Eko terra” swindled more than 1.300 BiH citizens – The gullible ones left without both work and money + big picture of people who protested in front of the RS Government building;
- Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly – BiH to become a full member of Council of Europe