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| Fires in Europe | BiH Central Bank | Pope’s prayer for weather | Heats in Europe |
| Deadly heat wave | OHR supports return | Investigation into Ahmici | RS Syndicates |
| Pope’s prayer for rain | Mine fields | War veterans benefits | RS meat manufacturers |
| Liberia update | Liberia issues |
| SCG issues |
| Oslobodjenje | SDP President Zlatko Lagumdzija responds to accusations – Current government stands behind terrorist attacks |
| Dnevni Avaz | Halilovic calls on Batic to publicize the alleged evidence |
| Dnevni List | Accused are Zaric, Bule, Prce, Covic and rest; Single Mostar ought to be model of unity and equality of peoples; Swiss are ready to revive railroad and roads from Ploce Port through BiH |
| Vecernji List | Serbs staying without republic; Bomb in café in Grude |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features Croatia related headlines |
| Glas Srpske | Troubles of local egg producers: Even scrambled eggs imported; The village of Kamenica near Zvornik mourning its dead again: The dead ones cannot rest in peace |
| Nezavisne Novine | Drought in BiH: Most cities in the country may face shortage of potable water; How did RS Telekom allocate credits to ‘necessary personnel’ via VB Bank?: Credits given with no plan |
| Blic | Weapon must be sold or it will go for scrap; 150 million KM in the budget from petroleum |
| | Political developments/statements |
| BHTV 1 interview with SDHR Wnendt | “Office of the High Representative needs to assist on providing the necessary financial support for the return,” stated the new SDHR Werner Wnendt in the interview for BHTV1. Even though BiH authorities are about to take the full supervision regarding Annex 7 implementation at the beginning of 2004, Wnendt considers this issue as one of the most important in the country. “We must insure enough financial support, and assist BiH authorities in the future on this matter,” said Wnendt, adding that helping BiH to go towards European integrations would be the most important goal in his mandate. “The rule of the justice and economical reforms are the priorities for BiH on this path. However, there are a lot of small steps to be made in the process: educational reforms, resolving the Mostar City status, and public administration reforms.” |
| SDP BiH President responds to the accusations | Osloboodjenje front page, pgs. 4-5 ‘Current authorities stand behind the terrorist attacks’ – “Fascists and nationalists are wining in the situation of chaos and apathy. That is the reason why I am now accusing the government of standing behind the recent terrorist attacks,” said Zlatko Lagumdzija, the BiH SDP leader, in an interview for the newspaper. Amid accusations published in Dnevni Avaz that were signed by Fatmir Alispahic, which say that one can suspect that Zlatko Lagumdzija with the help from Munir Alibabic Munja and some media are behind the terrorism, Dnevni List (page 5, by De. L., “Current authority create environment for criminals of all sorts”) carries an SDP press release which says that “all current fuhrers and their Goebels on the model of the nationalist Adolf Hitler, are trying to hide their criminals and crimes behind monstrous accusations against victims of their terror, just like against the SDP BiH.” |
| Safet Halilovic calls on Serbian Justice Minister to present new evidence on war in BiH if they exist | Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 2 ‘Halilovic calls on Batic to make the alleged evidence public’ – Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic reiterated two days ago that BiH should withdraw lawsuit for genocide against Serbia and Montenegro submitted to the Hague-based International Court of Justice. Batic said on the occasion that BiH should make such a move particularly because his Ministry possessed significant documents throwing a different light on the war in BiH. Commenting on these claims, BiH Minister of Civil Affairs Safet Halilovic called on Batic to make public all the alleged new evidence related to the war in BiH. |
| Initiative for change of RS symbols | Dnevni Avaz pg. 3, mentioned on the front page ‘Salkic: Cavic’s statement unserious and premature’ – Ramiz Salkic, Head of the Bosniak Caucus in the RS Council of Peoples, considers a statement made by RS President Dragan Cavic with regard to the Bosniak’s initiative for change of the Entity’s symbols unserious and premature. In an interview with the newspaper, Salkic described as unfounded Cavic’s claim that the Bosniaks’ request was failed. Adil Osmanovic, the RS Vice-president said that, if the RS authorities do not resolve these issues, the Bosniak representatives would request for OHR intervention. Vecernji List (front “Serb staying without republic” and page 4 “Introduction to abolishment of RS”) – reports that the recent initiative aimed at carrying out changes to the Law on flag, coat of arms and anthem of Republika Srpska (RS), which was launched by the Bosniak Caucus in the RS Council of Peoples, could be an introduction to request for change of the name of Republika Srpska. According to the papers, the Bosniaks believe that the current laws endanger their national interests because the RS insignia do not contain Bosniak national symbols. A delegate in the RS Council of People, Sead Circkin, says the request is fully justified in order to have the Bosniaks feel constituent in the RS adding that he had nothing against the Serb politicians starting the same issue in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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| Coordination Board of Mostar Returnees’ Association demands urgent Mostar restructuring | Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘National pens/ghettos should be dismantled’ – The Coordination Board of the Associations of Returnees to Mostar comprising representatives of the associations of all three peoples is intending to address the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and request immediate resolution of the issue of Mostar restructuring in compliance with his principles.
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| Interview with former Mayor of Mostar Orucevic | Dnevni List (front and page 7, by Zvonimir Jukic, “Single Mostar ought to be model of unity and equality of peoples”) – an interview with a former Mayor of Mostar, Safet Orucevic, about the ongoing processes in Mostar. Questioned what he would say to the High Representative for BiH how to tackle the situation in Mostar, Orucevic says: “Solution can be found within 30 days and with very little intervention of the IC. The local commission ought to be dis-empowered because it will be a stumbling block. The responsibility for further talks ought to be transferred to presidencies of parliamentary parties at political and expert level. That’s why I would suggest him to clean up his working desk and deals only with the Mostar case. With a proper solution for Mostar, he will take burden of other problems in his work at all levels in the state. For example, he will devise the position of Serbs, radicalization of the political scene by the SDA will stop, and the interest of the HDZ for BiH will strengthen because through this model the political current that promotes that interest will get stronger and in the same time the position of the Croats in towns where they are deprived of rights will strengthen (…) Failure of talks would cause a division of the city into two municipalities, which has been an idea of one part of HDZ that only fights for unified Mostar in declarations, and which in reality only needs the ‘half’ they have been advocating for years. Obviously, they got a partner in a part of the local SDA”.
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| BH HCSP on Mostar restructuring | Dnevni List (page 8, by Z. Jukic, “Take away illegally acquired property so Mostar can move forward”) – carries spokesperson of BH HCSP (BiH Croat Pure Party of Rights), Mario Miletic, as saying that the party advocates that Mostar be organized as one municipality in accordance to European standards. Miletic also proposes measures how to make Mostar an European city again, one of them being an investigation into origin of property of people whose property exceeds the value of 150.000 KMs. “If it is proven that the persons acquired the property in an illegal way, there should be expropriation in other words the illegally acquired property should be taken away”, says Miletic. |
| Terzic on SDS participation in power | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 – ‘Difficult without SDS’- the daily carries an interview with the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, in which he said that it would be difficult to secure parliamentary majority at BiH level, without SDS participation. Terzic also said he did not notice that SDS was slowing down the reforms carried out by the Council of Ministers and added that in his view, the SDS cannot dismiss Ministers from SDA, due to the fact that Republika Srpska citizens elected those Ministers. Terzic once again denied that SDA and SDS were partners. According to Terzic, SDA Ministers in the Republika Srpska Government still do not have enough space to implement their ideas. |
| Vetting of Doko still underway | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 – ‘Dragan Doko still being checked by OHR’, Glas Srpski, pg. 3 – ‘Doko being checked’- according to the SRNA news agency report, the OHR has not yet completed checking of the new candidate for position of BiH Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, Dragan Doko. The BiH Council of Ministers forwarded Doko’s curriculum vitae to OHR on August 6. The vetting procedure will be completed within 10 days period. Dnevni List p 2, “Verification of Doko’s appointment in 10 days”, by D.L. carries a statement on the issue made by Mario Brkic, an OHR Spokesperson. The daily also says that the view of the HDZ BiH HQ on Doko is similar to the one of the party’s Municipal Board of Capljina although no one has officially reacted. DL adds that Doko was proposed by someone but not even the HDZ top level knows by whom it was done. |
| Paravac critical of Mesic’s statement | Glas Srpske, pg. 3- ‘Mesic is changing Dayton’- the Cabinet of the Serb member to BiH Presidency, Borislav Paravac, announced that only citizens of BiH and legally elected authorities of the country can change the Dayton Peace Agreement and BiH Constitution. Nobody else can do it, said the announcement. Paravac reacted over the interview given to Dnevni Avaz on Friday by the President of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic. (Note that in the interview, Mesic said “it was of BiH interest that the Dayton Agreement is amended by will of all BiH political forces.”) |
| Statement of Day: Sefik Dzaferovic | Dnevni List (page 2), Statement of Day: “We would win in early elections too”, by Sefik Dzaferovic, member of SDA Presidency. |
| Jadranko Prlic in Dnevni List on Ashdown, international community | Dnevni List (page 6, by Jadranko Prlic, “Usual extraordinary situation”) – an editorial in which the author renders the role, responsibilities and future of the High Representative for BiH. Regarding the article recently published in “The Guardian”, which compared the authorities of the current High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, to the British rule in India during the nineteenth century, Prlic says some identical features do exist but the differences are vast, making the comparison ungrounded. In that context, Prlic says the article, beside its promotion, has no particular value. However, the author supports the idea by the author of the article, Gerald Knaus, to tackle the issue of the role of the High Representative. “How can one explain the lesser role of domestic authorities, and what are the ways to assess the work of the High Representative, and subject his decision to some sort of verification?”, says Prlic and goes on to say that the Peace Implementation Council has not held a session for years now, the body the High Representative is responsible to. Furthermore, Prlic says the article published in the “Journal of Democracy” is of limited scientific value, both on accounts of approach and methodology, and its most important effect is to start an avalanche of commentaries, which is according to Prlic, the fundamental approach by the European Stability Initiative (ESI), the ESI being a typical “think-tank”. The author goes on to say that in the period to come, there will be some sort of verification of decisions of the High Representative because the role of the High Representative was not devised in Dayton since nobody paid much attention to it at the time, believing that the interpretation of the civil part of the DPA was not a priority. Prlic also says there was a mistake at the very start – lack of readiness to form a representative government resulted in losing of dynamics which was compensated through strengthening of the role of the High Representative. “Instead of acting in extraordinary circumstances, passing of decisions in the name of elected institutions became a usual practice. The development has been made but the feel of lack of perspective is without doubt present”, says Prlic. |
| FT on HR’s intervention regarding steering boards of public companies in FBiH | Commenting that the SDA-HDZ partnership has always been based on internal inter-party division of vital firms and their uncontrolled exploitation for political purposes, Feral Tribune (p 46-47, “To armchairs facedown”, by Ivan Lovrenovic) says that, by means of his intervention in relation to FBiH Government’s Decision on appointment of new steering boards in FBiH state-owned companies, the High Representative for BiH, Paddy Ashdown, in the last minute, after more than 10 days of media avalanche on the issue, did something to save his face and authority. Lovrenovic says it is known that FBiH Prime Minister made the mentioned decision under huge party leaderships’ pressures, which is illustrated by the fact that he has asked the HR to forward the decision on suspension of the FBiH Government’s decision also to Sulejman Tihic and Dragan Covic. “Yet, nothing dramatic should be expected”, anticipates Lovrenovic and concludes by saying that the mentality of obstruction, in which SDA and HDZ behave like identical twins, will prevail: “well, we have tried… it did not work…. we’ll wait… next time, it will be O.K…” |
| FT on new BiH Ambassador to Serbia & Montenegro | In light of a fact that Dragan Covic, BiH Presidency Chairman, recently appointed Tomislav Leko to the position of the new BiH Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, Feral Tribune (p 22-23, “Ambassador with Gloomy Past”, by I. Lasic) reads that, apart from embezzlements (that revisions of companies which Leko ran proved), Leko acquired the BiH citizenship in an illegal manner (proven by BiH Police investigation), yet “the fact remains that one thief leads BiH and he sent another thief to represent that very country abroad”. |
| DL: “Bosniaks of Sandzak bypass Belgrade in relations with BiH” | Dnevni List (page 2, by Pejo Gasparevic) – says the visit of the Bosniak national council of Sandzak (BNC) to Sarajevo, when it met with the Bosniak member of BiH Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, was an interesting one because an official press release reads that the BNC was an “institution” that advocates and protects individual and collective rights of Bosniak of Sandzak. This, according to Gasparevic, requires additional explanation since the term “institution” is leaning towards autonomy or at least feeds the doubts of it. Gasparevic also notes that one cannot conclude from the said press release if Sandzak is a part of Serbia and Montenegro or something else since the PR says “the issue of Bosniak people in Sandzak is a burning issue in Sandzak” and “it was concluded that the co-operation between BiH and Sandzak needs to be improved”. All this triggers the author to ask: “All regional co-operation is welcomed, but when it comes to inter-state matters, it should be made clear whether the BiH Presidency’s (to be precise Tihic’s) partners are in Belgrade and Podgorica or, perhaps, in Sandzak?” |
| | Economic/social affairs |
| Banking sector in FBiH | Croat Radio Herceg Bosna – ‘Main characteristics of banking sector in FBiH in the first quarter of 2003 are the continuance of consolidation and stabilisation of the sector’ – reads July issue of BiH Central Bank magazine. Due to the statuary changes and mergers with another banks, FBiH Banking Agency banned this year three banking licences. The total capital in commercial banks in FBiH is 21 million KM or 3% bigger in comparison with the capital at the end of 2002. In the structures of private capital, magazine reads that increase in domestic private capital has been noted, and currently it makes 25% of total private capital. The citizens’ savings have been increase for 3% in comparison with the 2002. |
| BiH Central Bank Steering Board | BHTV 1, RTRS – New Managing Board of the BiH Central Bank will not change the monetary strategy during its mandate. The monetary strategy has been legally established, and obligates the implementation of the ‘Currency Board’, that binds the exchange rate of the KM to European Euro. This monetary politics was able to insure the monetary stability in the country in the past. After redrawing the candidacy of Cvjetin Mikic for the member of the Managing Board, Serb member of the BiH Presidency Borislav Paravac has appointed the new candidate, Ljubo Kovacevic, for this position. BiH Presidency has not yet considered this candidacy. The New Managing board will hold their first session on Monday. It is expected from the new Managing Board (instructed by the BiH Presidency) to appoint Peter Nichol for the Governor of the Bank (who is on this position from 1997). On the session on Monday Jure Pelivan and Kasim Umicevic will be dismissed from their positions in the Managing Board. |
| 5c corridor | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4 – ‘There are no secret arrangements about construction of 5c corridor’- the daily carries an interview with BiH Minister for Transport and Communications, Branko Dokic, in which he said that so far, the BiH Government received only one offer for construction of 5c corridor and that is from ‘Bosmal’ company. As for the Croatian offer, Dokic said the Council of Ministers did not receive anything from Croatian Government. However, if Croatia makes the offer, the BiH CoM will consider it seriously. Dokic also denied allegations that some private interests contributed to the acceptance of ‘Bosmal’ offer. Dnevni List (page 5, by W. R., “What Dokic gets if Bosmal get the job?”) – argues that the fact that the BiH Council of Ministers approved that “Bosmal” makes the feasibility study on Corridor Vc and spend 300 million Euros in the process shows that the BiH CoM practically awarded the job to the company. “Many will ask how. Well, it is highly unlikely that a company will spend 300 million Euros on something that will not give profit”, says the author wondering why the CoM has not invited an international tender in order to get best possible bids. Vjesnik (page 3, by Alenko Zornija, “BiH citizens will pay for highway, not ‘Bosmal’, so they deserve most favourable bid”) – says that at a first glance the Bosmal’s offer looks tempting, a concession which is handed over to the country after it has expired. “It is clear that BiH citizens will pay for the highway eventually and they deserve the most favourable bid to say the least. And you can get only via an international tender”, says the author. Dnevni List (page 9, “BiH goes into project of decade with Bosmal”) carries a paid advert which, among other things, reads: “Bosmal’s offer for construction of corridor Vc, the most modern highway that is 330 km long, represents the project of decade for BiH, and when it comes to the size and importance of the investment, today’s generation of politicians will not record anything similar”, as assessed by Mirza Hajric. |
| RS Telekom Affair | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 – ‘Credits given with no rules to ‘necessary personnel’’- the daily carries the copy of the letter of the Special Auditor, Dale Ellen Ralph, delivered on June 2 this year to RS Telekom Assistant Director for Financial issues, Branislava Blagojevic, requesting her to explain, within 48 hours deadline, whether RS Telekom has a special fund for purchase of apartments for company cadre. Nezavisne Novine learnt that the contract between RS Telekom and VB Bank will be audited. On behalf of VB Bank, its Director, Radovan Bajic, who at the same time, is the Chairman of the RS Telekom shareholders assembly, signed the contract. As for the information on credits given to RS Telekom employees, VB Bank said it was confidential. According to RS Telekom employees, there was no regular procedure for allocation of housing credits before June 2, when the Auditor requested to see that document. According to the decision from 9 July 2001, the Director of the Company is authorised to suggest the Board of Governors to allocate credit to an employee. The daily also carries the names of RS Telekom employees who got housing credits. |
| RS Army sells surplus of weaponry | Glas Srpski, pg. 3 ‘Tanks for selling’, Blic pg. 7 ‘Tanks to be sold or go for scrap’- the SFOR Spokesman, Mark Hamilton, stated that the RS Army decided to sell the surplus of weapons and 105 tanks and SFOR will closely monitor this action. According to Hamilton, SFOR will approve purchase of every single piece of weaponry, after verification of a buyer who has to have permission to trade with weapons. |
| Collection of excises in RS | Blic pg. 6 ‘150 million KM in the budget from petroleum’ – “By collecting the tax on high-tariff goods at the border crossings, the RS budget will increase for 150 million KM only from collecting taxes on petroleum,” president of the RS Association of Petroleum Dealers, Vukasin Vojinovic, says. Commenting on Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic’s statement that petroleum should be imported to the Republika Srpska only by railways, Vojinovic says that Mikerevic should be dealing with other issues and not ordering how to import petroleum. According to Vojinovic, petroleum dealers need to pay more if import petroleum by railways. “The impression is that Mikerevic is under an influence of a strong lobby, which would like to use the opportunity. Three or five dealers would import petroleum by railways, there will be no competition and the result would be increase of petroleum price,” Vojinovic says. On the other side, Trade Union of RS Oil Industry supports the idea to import petroleum by railways, because in that way it would be easier to control quality of petroleum and the budget would increase. The Trade Union says that would also reduce possible manipulations and eliminate import of bad quality petroleum. |
| Swiss corporation “KFI” to visit BiH | Dnevni List (front and page 4, by Fena, “Swiss are ready to revive railroad and roads from Ploce Port through BiH”) – reports that representatives of the Swiss investment corporation “KFI” (Key Funds Investments) announced they would be visiting BiH today and over next few days in order to present plans of investments into strategic projects. Reportedly, the “KFI” CEO, Alfonso Perez, is coming to BiH to inform representatives of the BiH Council of Ministers, about the “short, medium and long term intentions of KFI”. It is also said that the KFI’s delegation will be received by the Chair of BiH CoM, Adnan Terzic, representatives of BiH Central Bank, World Bank etc. Apparently the KFI is interested in investing into basic infrastructure, namely, railroads, roads, revival of the two from the Ploce Port through BiH and revival of industry, especially textile and timber. |
| DL on Agency for Confiscation of Property | Dnevni List (front & p 2, “Confiscation of illegally gained property in BiH soon”, by De.L.) reports that an unnamed high-ranking official of Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office (CAFAO) has confirmed that the Agency for Confiscation of illegally acquired property will start operating on the entire territory of BiH next month. The source claims that all preparatory activities both in BiH and abroad have been completed and that there are no unclear issues regarding the establishment and functioning of the Agency. The paper says the establishment of the Agency is a logical sequence of events following the US’s black list and amendments to the Criminal Law in BiH. |
| VL on faulty privatisation in FBiH | Vecernji List (page 3, by Zoran Kresic, “No owner has got title document”) – notes that companies in which, just prior to the last elections, privatization of 10% of shares was conducted, are yet to submit the Privatization Agency of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina valid proves on ownership structure, which resulted in the situation that the new owners cannot enjoy their rights. The author warns that the new owners, ten months after the privatization took place, still do not have title documents or possibility to participate in decision-making or share of profit. The author wonders whether the latest “recommendation” of the High Representative to suspend appointments to steering and supervisory boards will be applied in this case too, so the new owners sit on supervisory boards of the companies. |
| | Incidents |
| Graveyard desecrated in Kamenica | Glas Srpske, cover page – ‘The dead cannot rest in peace’- the daily reports that unknown perpetrators have destroyed memorial plaque in the village of Kamenica, near Zvornik. Local Association of war participants will ask the international community to help in restoration of the plaque, as it would be some sort of a guarantee that similar incident will not happen again. According to Glas Srpske, the village of Kamenice is now populated by Bosniac returnees and during the war, between 6th and 8th November 1992, 122 Serbs were killed. |
| Police arrests Ragib Poturkovic in Sarajevo | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 – ‘The investigation supported by the state team for fight against terrorism’- the daily reports that Ragib Poturkovic from Sarajevo was arrested in action of special team of F BiH and cantonal policemen, launched after series of explosions that occurred in Sarajevo last week. Poturkovic is suspected of activating a hand grenade last Thursday, explosion of which damaged five cars and a house. |
| VL: “Bomb in cafe in Grude” | Vecernji List (front and page 3 “Cafes targets of criminals”, by M. S.) – reports that there was an explosion in Grude on the night between Saturday and Sunday around 0300 hrs. The bomb was planted in a garage nearby the local café “Set”, causing damages to the café and a Mercedes-Benz parked nearby. The author notes that previously, the targets were politicians and business people unlike today when targets are cafes where common people gather. |
| | Criminal, disciplinary proceedings |
| Criminal charges against Covic, Prce, Zaric… | Dnevni List (front and page 3, by De. L., “Accused are Zaric, Bule, Prce, Covic and rest”) – the daily claims to be in possession of a criminal report filed with the Cantonal Prosecution in Mostar against 11 persons over abuse of office/authority, negligence at work, forgery of documents and tax evasions. Reportedly, the Financial Police on July 23 this year filed the report against 11 persons including the Chair of BiH Presidency, Dragan Covic, former CEO of Elektroprivreda of Herceg Bosna, Matan Zaric, former Minister of Defence of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998-2001), Miroslav Prce. DL says it will publish details from the report tomorrow. |
| On Cegar case/situation in FBiH MoI | Dnevni List (front “Removal planned in advance” and page 3 “Removal of Zoran Cegar prepared”, by De. L.) – reports that the “Cegar case” is entering final stages owing it to well-prepared witnesses. Reportedly, the Disciplinary Commission of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) Ministry of Interior, will tomorrow interview Izmir Hadziavdic, a secretary in the FBIH House of Peoples, and Enes Tabakovic, a security officer in the said Parliament to finally wrap up the removal of the commander of FBiH MoI’s Special Unit, Zoran Cegar. According to DL’s source, the Cegar removal was pre-planned. First, there were efforts to create national intolerance in the Special Unit, then there was the incident in the Parliament and finally, according to the daily’s source, the recent incidents in Sarajevo were created to cause confusion in the FBiH MoI and whole of FBiH to show the public that something must be done, all with an aim to carry out purges in the FBiH MoI. |