| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| SFOR – Mladic action | Action to arrest Mladic | Mladic | Mladic |
| Fires in Mostar | Explosions in Sarajevo | Sarajevo explosions | Fires in Herzegovina |
| FBiH Army debt | Fires in Mostar | Fires around Mostar | Kosovo |
| 5c corridor | FBiH Army | Delayed strike of miners | A British arrested by FBI |
| Oslobodjenje | SFOR searched for Mladic in his mother’s house |
| Dnevni Avaz | SFOR searched for Mladic at the burial ceremony to his mother |
| Dnevni List | Opponents of unification of Mostar decide about Aluminij, Russian Ambassador to BiH Aleksandar Griscenko: Balkans is weak point of Europe |
| Vecernji List | Federation Government is not ruling; Mladic hunted down at mother’s funeral |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Features Croatia related headlines |
| Glas Srpske | A failed operation of arrest of General Ratko Mladic: search before the requiem |
| Nezavisne Novine | SFOR action in Serb Sarajevo: SFOR soldiers searched the house of the late mother of Ratko Mladic; Investigation in Sarajevo: Suspects for bomb attacks identified; How did Telekom Srpske co-operate with “Ericsson”: A contract of KM 10 million signed without a tender |
| Blic | Fire eats forests; Mother of Ratko Mladic died, SFOR searched the house; Mikerevic earns twice as much as Cavic |
| | War crimes |
| SFOR failed to arrest Mladic | Croat Radio Herceg Bosna, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje front page, pg. 3 ‘SFOR searched house of Ratko Mladic’s mother’, Dnevni Avaz front page, pg. 3 ‘SFOR searched for Mladic at the funeral of his mother’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 ‘They looked for General in mother’s coffin’; Blic pg. 3 ‘SFOR in Mladic’s mother’s house’, Washington Post, New York Times– SFOR troops failed in their trial to arrest war criminal Ratko Mladic on Wednesday.Press release issued by SFOR Command reads that troops searched house of his mother, Stana Mladic, who died late on Tuesday night. Operation was conducted in Kasindol near Sarajevo, and there were no injuries. Fully equipped SFOR troops supported by twenty armed vehicles searched Stana Mladic’s house about 13.00 on Wednesday. According to witnesses entire settlement was blocked, while SFOR soldiers searched with police dogs post office and several other facilities in Kasindol. All vehicles parked nearby were searched in details, and citizens were requested to show their IDs. “All of our operations are initiated and based on intelligence data that we have. We had an information that Mladic has been hiding on this location, and we wanted to examine the accuracy of the information,” stated Dale McEachern, SFOR spokesman. Vecernji List (front page, “Mladic hunted down at mother’s funeral” and page 2, “They were capturing Mladic at funeral of his mother”, by Branka Stevandic), Dnevni List (front and page 10, “Will Mladic be present at funeral of his mother?”, not signed) and Vjesnik (page 2, “SFOR failed to arrest Mladic again”, by Hina), Glas Srpske, cover page story, ‘Search before a requiem’; Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 3, ‘SFOR soldiers searched the house of the late mother of Ratko Mladic’ also reported on the operation. |
| RS police not informed about raid on Mladic mother’s house – Interior Ministry | Oslobodjenje pg. 3, Vecernji List, Dnevni List, Glas Srpske, Nezavisne Novine – Spokesman of RS Ministry of Interior Zoran Glusac said that the ministry has received no official information on Wednesday’s raid of the house of Stana Mladic, the late mother of war criminal Ratko Mladic, by SFOR. He said that the local Public Security Centre in Serb Sarajevo had received several objections from dissatisfied citizens, adding that the RS Ministry is limited regarding SFOR’s mandate in BiH. |
| Montenegrin Interior Minister: Karadzic is not in Budva | Glas Srpske, pg. 2, ‘Karadzic is not in Budva’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 ‘Karadzic is not in Budva’ – Montenegrin Interior Minister, Milan Filipovic, stated that the former Republika Srpska president, Radovan Karadzic, is not in Budva, as some media in BiH reported. |
| | Political statements/developments |
| Serbian Deputy PM: Proposal that Bosnia drop lawsuit not official government view | Dnevni Avaz pg. 8 ‘Batic’s proposal regarding BiH lawsuit not official Serbian Government’s position’, Oslobodjenje pg. 4, Vecernje Novosti pg. 4 ‘He did not represent the Government’ – Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zarko Korac said on Wednesday regarding the proposal of Serbian Justice Minister Vladan Batic that BiH withdraw its lawsuit against the FRY before the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), in view of the existing “vast documentation proving that genocide was carried out against the Serb people during the war in that region,” that this does not represent the official position of the Serbian Government. Korac said it is “assumed” that Batic had made this statement in the capacity of the chairman of the Democratic Christian Party of Serbia, recalling that the Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Ministry had formed a legal team, which was representing the country in these trials and protecting the interests of the state and its citizens in the International Court of Justice. |
| Batic responds to Tihic | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3, ‘A promise to co-operate with Republika Srpska on issues related to war crimes’; Glas Srpske, pg. 3, ‘Izetbegovic must go to The Hague’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 4 ‘Professional stand’ – Vladan Batic, Justice Minister of Serbia and Montenegro, said that in regard to the documentation on war crimes committed against Serbs in BIH, he would cooperate with the institutions in charge in Republika Srpska. He also responded to statement by Sulejman Tihic by saying that: “The statements by some top officials from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, claiming that Serbia and Montenegro had nothing to do with crimes committed in BiH, are horrifying. This could stipulate that they can commit genocide against their own citizens. By saying that, they admitted they had committed genocide.” He also stressed that the crime at Dobrovoljacka street in Sarajevo was performed against persons of Serb nationality, who had both, citizenship of BiH and SFRY (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Batic is of the view that Alija Izetbegovic should have been seated at prisoners’ deck a long time ago. His statement went on to stress that: “Some of the most monstrous crimes were committed against Serbs in BiH, Croatia and KosMet. And we admit that some of our compatriots also committed crimes, and they should all be penalised for that.” |
| RS President slams SDA leader’s statement on genocide, aggression | RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg. 3, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘Sulejman Tihic stirring up dangerous political conflicts’, Blic pg. 7 ‘Tihic is trying to achieve the aims of the SDA because of which the war broke out’ – RS President Dragan Cavic described the TUeasday’s statement by the Bosniak member of the BiH Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, that the RS was a result of genocide as very dangerous. The policy promoted by Sulejman Tihic is based on the values of a quasi-Bosnian nation. Eight years after the war, he is trying to achieve the aims of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) because of which the war broke out in the first place, Cavic said in Banja Luka on Wednesday. “If we are opening the issue of genocide, then are 6,000 missing Serbs in the BiH Federation genocide, or pure chance?” Cavic rejected the allegations on aggression and genocide and pointed out that there were 542 camps for Serbs in the Federation during the past war, that 22,000 Serb soldiers were killed and that only 4.4 per cent of Serbs live in the Federation now. The RS President also denied that he has any information about mass graves, adding that all this was politically motivated. “To say that I have such information is really beyond criticism. That kind of euphoria in Mr Tihic’s statements expressing his political views and those of his party colleagues is really too much. I cannot see where this is leading. The war has obviously not yet ended in the head of the main SDA leader,” Cavic said. |
| SNSD criticizes Tihic’s “hatred-filled” remarks | RTRS – The Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) has sent a message to BiH Presidency member Sulejman Tihic regarding his invitation to SNSD leader Milorad Dodik to reveal the sites of mass graves, saying that “he should exchange this type of information with his partners in the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) and not seek it from Dodik”. In its letter, the SNSD reminds Tihic that his Party of Democratic Action was “in coalition with the SDS and that this love has never died, which has now been proven because they are clinging to each other in order to avoid early elections”. |
| RS Office for Missing Persons comments on Tihic’s statement | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘Call to Tihic to engage in disclosing graves of murdered Serbs’ – Aleksandar Radeta, Director of the Republika Srpska Office for search for missing persons, reacted on statement by Sulejman Tihic and called on Tihic to engage in disclosing the secondary mass graves of over a thousand of Serb bodies. Hearby, he referred to 364 bodies, that were transferred form Kazani Pit onto another location, and also around 700 bodies of Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, whose bodies were transferred to another location from the mass grave at Dobrinja. |
| DNS on Tihic’s statement | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 4, ‘DNS: Ashdown should remove the fear cause’, Blic pg. 7 ‘We are paying for SDS rule’ – Democratic Peoples Alliance (DNS) yesterday called on the High Representative to BiH, Paddy Ashdown, to prevent further activities of the cause of fear and confusion, and to instead enable the activities of progressive forces. Reacting on the statement by Sulejman Tihic, DNS said it is unacceptable that the leading officials of BiH quarrel via media, instead of directing their efforts towards resolving burning issues of people. |
| Dnevni List Statement of Day: Borislav Paravac | Dnevni List (page 2), Statement of Day: “Republika Srpska is expression of will of the Serb people”, by Borislav Paravac, member of BiH Presidency.
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| SDHR Wnendt meets Halilovic; Lozancic, Dzihanovic and Radivojevic | Dnevni List page 4, by Fena, “Without progress in Mostar there is no progress in BiH”, Dnevni Avaz pg. 4 – the BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, Safet Halilovic, and Senior Deputy High Representative, Werner Wnendt, met in Sarajevo yesterday discussing the issues of education reform, de-mining and situation in Mostar. The said Ministry released that SDHR Wnendt welcomed the course of the education reforms especially the General Framework Law on elementary and secondary education at BiH level. Talking about the situation in Mostar, Minister Halilovic said it was necessary that Mostar became a unified city in which mechanisms of protection of all constituent peoples are secured. SDHR Wnendt reportedly added that Mostar was symbol of BiH and if the problems in the city were not solved, it would be hard to believe in the overall progress in BiH. The same papers (DL on page 5 unsigned, “Domestic institutions must assume responsibility for future of BiH” and DA on pg. 4) report that SDHR Wnendt yesterday also met with the President and Vice Presidents of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, namely Niko Lozancic and Sahbaz Dzihanovic and Desnica Radivojevic, when they exchanged views about the implementation of peace in BiH with a special focus on the issue of making of the Statute of City of Mostar, building and strengthening of institutions, implementation of education reforms and process of reorganization of armed forces in BiH for participation in the Partnership for Peace programme. The interlocutors reportedly expressed an expectation that the role and importance of BiH institutions will grow in the period to come. Nezavisne Novine, pg. 8, ‘Werner Wnendt supports educational reform in BIH’ reported on the SDHR Wnendt’s meeting with Halilovic. |
| DL: Interview with Russian Ambassador to BiH Griscenko | Dnevni List (front and page 7, “Balkans is weak spot of Europe”, by Ivica Glibusic) carries an interview with the Russian Ambassador to BiH, Aleksandar Griscenko. Asked whether the political organization of BiH represents a problem for the progress of BiH, Griscenko says: “It does absolutely. The political organization is the big problem and there are no indications that progress has been made with regard to this issue. The things which are positive and which have to be praised are the decision on creating of the unique customs administration, introduction of a value added tax, strengthening of the BiH Council of Ministers as executive authority at the state level and I have to mention some good activities of the OHR, Bulldozer reforms. Numerous activities for creation of favorable environment and economic and legal frameworks are much needed in order that BiH makes a bigger step in the area of democratization and progress.” |
| VL wonders whether FBiH Government is really governing | Vecernji List (front “Federation Government is not ruling” pages 4 and 5, “Government (still) does not have all the authority”, by Milan Sutalo,) – reminding of the letter sent to the Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) by the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and recommendation by the FBiH Ombudsmen that eventually requested the FBiH Government to annul the Decision on appointments to steering boards in the FBiH public companies, the author says it prevented the FBiH from assuming the real power in the entity, also questioning whether the FBIH Government governs at all. The daily carries the FBiH Finance Minister, Dragan Vrankic, as commenting: “Simply, the Federation Government is not ruling. Ever since the authority has been constituted, we could not carry out a single significant staff change, starting with Customs, Financial Police, steering boards in public companies, and any attempt to push any law in the FBiH Parliament, which was not approved by the OHR until the last letter, was in vain”. The daily also carries a Vice President of SDA, Seada Palavric, as admitting that unlike (the former High Representative), Wolfgang Petritsch, (the current) HR Ashdown did not run a campaign against the so-called national parties during the pre-election period. However, Palavric reportedly says that the HR Ashdown did everything that the national parties do not rule the country after the elections. “Even our ministers are figures”, says Palavric. The same daily on page 5 (by Zoran Kresic, “Out of six Federation ministers only Ljubovic sits in Mostar”) notes that several FBiH Ministers, who are supposed to be seated in Mostar, are in fact seated in Sarajevo, complaining that the taxpayers are funding double administrations. In this context, the author notes it is only the FBiH Minister of Trade, Maid Ljubovic, who is operating from Mostar. |
| POLL: Majority of Bosnian Serbs for unification with Serbia in case of Kosovo independence | Vecernje Novosti pg. 6 ‘Majority for unification’ – According to an opinion poll published on Wednesday most Bosnian Serbs believe the RS should unite with Serbia if Kosovo wins independence. Some 65 percent of those polled in the Republika Srpska said they were in favor of unification, the Partner research agency said. 17.6 percent said they disagreed, while remaining 17.3 percent were undecided. In the Muslim-Croat federation 69 percent of those polled said they were against the idea, while 14.5 percent said they supported it and 16.5 percent remained undecided. In the poll, 850 people in the RS and 700 in the Federation were questioned. |
| | Economic/social issues |
| BiH Federation army experiencing power cuts due to lack of funding | Croat Radio Herceg Bosna, BHTV, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg. 8, mentioned on the front page ‘FBiH Army hungry, thirsty and in darkness’, Dnevni Avaz pg. 9, Dnevni List page 4, “Cutting of power, water supply and phone lines strike on system of control over Army”, not signed, Vecernji List page 2, “Cutting of power supply strike against Army”, by E. Medunjanin – Power cuts, water shortages and disconnection of telephone lines is an attack on the command and control system of the BiH Federation Army. Despite this, its members continue to fulfill their obligations successfully, Deputy Commander of the Federation Army’s Joint Command, General Ramiz Drekovic, has said. At a news conference of the Joint Command the problem of providing enough food to soldiers was also raised. Due to the lack of money, the Federation Army will abandon some forms of training this year, which will be adjusted to the available means and resources. However, the training of recruits, mine clearance staff and rangers is going according to plan. According to Drekovic, the army does not have a stable source of financing which is reflected on its planning. Therefore, provision of quality food to soldiers is suffering due to financial problems. The Federation Army is hoping to reach an agreement with the relevant institutions in order to resolve this problem. The shortening of military service, according to Drekovic, is not a measure which will bring significant changes to the army. “We certainly support the reduction of the military service, but the shortening of this period in itself will not make any savings. If we were to decide to reduce military service to four months, then every four months we will have a new group of recruits,” said Drekovic. |
| Arbitration into Aluminij | Dnevni List (front “Opponents of unification of Mostar decide about Aluminij” and page 5 “Opponents of unification of Mostar and forgers of documents decide about Aluminij”) – the daily reports that amid the negotiations about the price of electricity for the Mostar’s “Aluminij” Company, the Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina formed a Commission whose task is to determine “rules of the game” for the forthcoming arbitration for “Aluminij”. The daily complains about the national composition of the Commission, (5 Bosniaks, 2 Croats and 1 Serb), says that Croat members of the Commission were not invited or received short notices for the initial, very important session of the Commission, and above all complains about some Bosniak members of the Commission. With regards to the latter, DL says one of the members is Damir Sadovic, who is according to DL, an SDA man who participated in the work of the Mostar Commission and who was the main obstructionist of unification of Mostar. DL says the other “debatable” member of the Commission (for Aluminij) is the “so-called President of Union for Aluminij from east Mostar”, namely Mujo Hodzic. According to DL, Hodzic forged documents trying to hide that he was an employee of other company whilst trying to be reinstated to “Aluminij” adding that Hodzic is no expert for the issue. |
| DL’s editorial on tax system in BiH | Dnevni List (page 6, by Anica Tomic-Babic, “We want just taxation”) – saying that nothing can characterize the state and authority as much as its tax system, the author says that the issue of “placing of the Indirect Taxation Administration to Banja Luka (move by lord Ashdown that contributes to development of democracy in BiH) clearly shows that unitarianism is a bigger evil than separatism in the post-Dayton BiH. Whilst Banja Luka accepted the Ashdown’s move with understanding thus (again) showing that separatism is a lesser evil than unitarianism, some judgments in Sarajevo circles say it is about – nothing more, nothing less – but the division of the country. And they started writing letters to Ashdown to declare himself! And in fact it is about equality that is not being accepted, and about imposing of inequality through unnecessary centralization”. The author adds that a modern BiH cannot apply centralization if it is to provide equality for all three constituent peoples. |
| Update to Telekom Srpske affair(s) | Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 5, ‘A contract of KM 10 million signed without a tender’ – Zeljko Jungic, Director of Telekom Srpske, on 9 November 2001 signed a contract through direct settlement, namely without a public tender announced. The contract was signed with “Ericsson” and was about the supply of 55 thousand connections to land telephony. The contract was of KM 10,199,800 worth. According to the contract, 15% of the price was paid 15 days after the contract was signed, whilst the rest of the money was to be paid on eight equal monthly instalments. Sources close to Telekom claim that this kind of payment in cash was not typical at the moment when the market was saturated with the mentioned technology, which all suppliers gave on loan with grace period for payment. |
| Vacancy for director of Republika Srpska Healthcare fund | Glas Srpske, pg. 2, ‘Eleven candidates applied for position’ – The vacancy for the selection of the new director and the members of the Steering Board of the Republika Srpska Healthcare Fund, closed. Eleven candidates applied for the position of director. Over 100 applications are to be reviewed for the members of the Steering Board. |
| Vc corridor | Dnevni List (page 4, “Corridor Vc – multilateral obligation of state through which Corridor Vc goes”, by Fena) carries that the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Minister of Traffic and Communications Nedzad Brankovic stated that Corridor Vc is a product of the European transport policy and the regional project which is a multilateral obligation and interest of the states though which the Corridor goes. Reacting to the statement given by BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Mladen Ivanic saying that it is more important for the Republika Srpska to secure funds for financing construction of the highway Banja Luka – Bosanska Gradiska and that Corridor Vc is already becoming pure politics, Brankovic said that Corridor Vc was verified in Helsinki in 1997 and that Ivanic as the BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs will have a role in its implementation. Sarajevo dailies also carried the statement. On the same issue Slobodna Dalmacija (page 17, “State money for ‘Bosmal’s’ campaign”, by Marin Erceg) carries that Director of Agency for Promotion of Foreign Investments Mirza Hajric is printing paid adverts in newspapers in which he is convincing ordinary people that BiH peoples, companies etc. will benefit from the Bosmal’s project in various ways. SD says that the work of the Agency is being financed by taxpayers’ money. The article goes on to say that for this reason it is strange that various Ministers and Government keep silent on the fact that the aforementioned Agency is running campaign to the benefit of private company ‘Bosmal’. |
| Final proposal of PRSP by end of September | Dnevni List (page 4, “Final proposal of Development strategy at end September”) – the daily carries the Co-ordinator of the BiH Development Strategy project, Zlatko Hurtic, who told FENA that the making of the final proposal is in final stages that should be prepared by end September. Hurtic also confirmed that the final proposal would be submitted to the BiH Council of Ministers, entity governments and state parliament for adoption expecting that the whole process would last until end of this year. |
| | Security situation/investigations |
| BiH security chiefs discuss security following explosions in capital | Croat Radio Herceg Bosna, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘The latest incidents will be lightened soon’, Vecernji List page 2, by Fena, “FOSS will also participate in resolving of cases of explosion“, Dnevni List page 2, “Police control in Sarajevo intensified“, not signed – The current security situation in the BiH Federation and BiH was the topic of a meeting of delegations of the BiH Security Ministry headed by minister Barisa Colak, Federation Interior Ministry headed by minister Mevludin Halilovic, Sarajevo Canton Interior Ministry and representatives of the European police. The meeting was held in Sarajevo on Wednesday. After the meeting, Federation Interior Minister Mevludin Halilovic told a news conference that the latest events which took place in the Sarajevo Canton over the past few days had rendered the situation more complex and that the situation had deteriorated in comparison to the first six months of this year. “The public expects urgent reactions from us. It was concluded that it is necessary for professionals to bear the brunt of the task of discovering the perpetrators. With this in mind, an invitation has been sent out to the head of the police administration of the Federation Interior Ministry and the commissioner of the police administration of the Cantonal Interior Ministry. We expect that both would invest maximum efforts to cooperate with the Federation information service and other institutions and agencies involved in the implementation of laws and would do their utmost to throw light on these events,” Halilovic said, voicing his conviction that these events would be clarified very shortly because professionals were involved. Asked whether there were reasons for concern, Halilovic said that following events in Sarajevo, citizens were sure to be anxious. I think, he added, that the police have already undertaken certain measures to prevent the possible escalation of such events. |
| Terzic on security situation in Sarajevo | BHTV 1, Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘Security situation to be more stable soon’, Dnevni List page 2, “Terzic: I am expecting that security situation will stabilize very soon“, FENA – BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Adnan Terzic stated the following: “I cannot give any other comment, but to say that the security situation in Sarajevo has become pretty complicated. I am very concerned with the number of explosions; however, I am convinced that the state instruments can produce the necessary results if all of us take our jobs seriously.” In a statement for Dnevni Avaz pg. 2 ‘Politicisation of cases additionally worsens situation in Sarajevo’, Terzic said that the security situation in the BiH capital was not good primarily because the authorized ministries were doing not enough to prevent possible happening of similar incidents again. |
| Sarajevo Canton Assembly Speaker: No reasons to impose the state of emergency | Oslobodjenje pgs. 4-5, mentioned on the front page ‘No reasons for imposition of the state of emergency’ – “There is no reason for holding an early session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly nor for raising the security level since the Interior Ministry is acting to reveal perpetrators of the bomb attacks that took place recently in Sarajevo,” Sarajevo Canton Assembly Speaker Meliha Alic told the newspaper. |
| Himzo Selimovic on the ongoing investigations | Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 2, ‘Suspects for bomb attacks identified’ – Himzo Selimovic, Police Commissioner at Sarajevo Canton Interior Ministry, yesterday stated that: “The special police team identified several tens of people, suspected of having been involved in the planting and activating of the explosive devices in Sarajevo in the past seven days. We have already interrogated several suspects. I assure the public that those responsible for the series of explosions in the city will soon be arrested.” |
| SDP on security in Sarajevo | Dnevni List (page 3, “Sarajevo has become place of dangerous living”, by Fena) carries that with regard to the latest explosions in the Sarajevo area the SDP Board of the Sarajevo Canton stated that Sarajevo has become the place of dangerous living due to escalation of violence and a new form of city terrorism that is spreading and strengthening. Oslobodjenje pg. 4 also carried the statement. |
| | Education |
| OSCE on primary and secondary school framework law | Glas Srpske, pg. 2, ‘Schools at European standard’; Nezavisne Novine, pg. 8, ‘Entity laws need to be adopted by the end of this eyar’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 39 ‘One school three languages’ – Yesterday in Banjaluka, Claude Kiefer, Deputy Head of OSCE Education Department, stated that the standards set by the Framework law on primary and secondary education need to be embodied in entity and cantonal laws, which need to be adopted by January 2003. |