| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19,00 hrs) | FED TV (19,30 hrs) | RT RS (19,30) |
| Blaskic released | Prlic and others released | Prlic and others released | Mikerevic on SDA Ministers |
| Hartmann on Ahmici | Blaskic released | Blaskic released | Strake in ‘Hranaprodukt’ |
| Bond meets Mikerevic | Import of sugar to BiH | BiH/Guatanamo visit | Mikerevic in Kotor Varos |
| Mikerevic on SDA Ministers | Fire in | Fire in | Blaskic released |
| Oslobodjenje | Six BiH Croats temporarily released; Bond: |
| Dnevni Avaz | Bond: Karadzic did not deaft me ; What BiH representative saw on |
| Dnevni List | I will be home on Wednesday or Thursday |
| Vecernji List | Welcome without HDZ |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Ovations for Blaskic |
| Glas Srpske | Whose sultan is Alija? |
| Nezavisne Novine | Blaskic arrived to home; Six BiH Croats free until the start of trial; Algerians are seeking for evidence on BiH citizenship; Fuel more expensive in RS too as of today; Smaller budgets of parties for promotion of candidates |
| Blic | Secret negotiations: Pavkovic and Lukic will surrender if they fail to apprehend Mladic |
War crimes | |
| T. Blaskic released from ICTY detention
| Dnevni List front pg ‘I will be home on Wednesday or Thursday’ and pg 4 ‘I believed that I would return home’ by J. Petrovic – DL carries an interview with Croat General Tihomir Blaskic who was released from the ICTY detention and arrived to Zagreb yesterday. In this interview Blaskic stated that he believed that such verdict would be pronounced against him. Vecernji List pg 3 ‘I want to go to Ahmici’ by Z. Bajt carries a similar interview with Blaskic. RHB, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Blaskic returned to Zagreb from Hague’, ‘Several hundreds of people welcomed Blaskic’, mentioned on cover by Onasa/Hina, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Blaskic arrived in Zagreb yesterday’ by Fena, Nezavisne Novine, cover ‘Blaskic arrived to home’ and pg. 3 ‘Tihomir Blaskic arrived to home’ by Agencies, Dnevni List pgs 4 and 5 ‘General Blaskic in Croatia’ not signed, Slobodna Dalmacija front pg ‘Ovations for Blaskic’ and pgs 2 and 3 ‘Tihomir Blaskic finally free’ by S. Pavic and Vecernji List front pg ‘Welcome without HDZ’ and pgs 2 and 3 ‘Blaskic in Croatia’ by Z. Bajt, J. Babic – The dailies note that Blaskic was released from the ICTY detention on Monday and also say that no representative of the Croatian Government was at the airport to meet Blaskic from the Hague, but a large number of supporters [According to RTRS, about 200]. BHTV 1, FTV, RTRS– Upon his arrival, Blaskic said that he forgave all those hiding evidences proving his innocence and said that his wish was to visit Ahmici. |
| Hartmann: Ahmici case not closed
| RHB, FTV, Oslobodjenje pg 5 ‘Ahmici case not closed’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘There are no cases against Cosic, Sliskovic and Kristo’ by Fena, Slobodna Dalmacija pg 2 ‘Zoran Kristo mined mosque in Ahmici? by F – Spokeswoman for ICTY Prosecutor, Florence Hartmann stated for Fena news agency that ICTY has no cases opened against Vlado Cosic, Ante Sliskovic and Zoran Kristo, while Pasko Ljubicic and Dario Kordic were indicted. Hartmann refused to comment whether Prosecution would raise charges against Cosic, Sliskovic and Kristo having in mind new evidences that appeared in the case of Tihomir Blaskic. “In any court case, new evidences bear significance and they are presented by either prosecution or defence, and that is also what happened in case of Ljubicic who was indicted as well as in a case of Kordic, who is in the phase of appeal procedure,” Hartmann stated adding that case ‘Ahmici’ was not completed. He stressed that ICTY has not exclusive right to initiative processing war crimes especially in the cases of persons in ‘lower’ chain command level: “That means that local judiciary, in this case cantonal courts in BiH, could and should take over certain cases, as ICTY has prepared over 600 cases for local judiciary in BiH, but only about 60 of them were implemented in a sense of taking over and leading ht process before the cantonal courts in BiH.” According to the new evidences presented in the case of Blaskic, Ljubicic and Cosic were accused of killing 116 Bosniak civilians in Ahmici village. Massacre was carried out by HVO [Croat Defence Council] unit under command of Ljubicic. |
| VL, DA op-eds on Blaskic case
| Vecernji list pg 2 ‘Blaskic’s medal’ by M. Ivkosic – Commenting on this situation VL carries an editorial which says that by his behaviour in the ICTY and by his insisting on truth and facts Blaskic deserves respect. The author believes that by behaving in this way Blaskic reduced a sentence not only to himself but also to Croatia and those Croat(ian)s who care about the truth about the war and for this reason leading Croatian politicians should have been at the Zagreb airport yesterday in order to meet Blaskic. Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Victim and criminal’ op-ed by Mirela Kukan – DA’s editorial comments the absence of the representatives of the Croatian authorities at the airport: “It is certain that nobody from Croatia authorities knew how to stand next to the person for which they established in the past few days to be a victim of the dirty politics of former president Franjo Tudjman and they know it will be the biggest spot on HDZ… However,… it seems that Hague’s verdict has been put into second place. And it clearly reads that Tihomir Blaskic is guilty of illegal imprisonment and ill treatment of Bosniak prisoners.” |
| ICTY: Pre-trail release for 6 Croats
| RHB, RTRS, Oslobodjenje cover page, pg 5 ‘Six BiH Croats temporarily released’ by A.O., Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Prlic, Stojic, Petkovic, Praljak, Coric and Pusic temporarily released’ by S. Numanovic,Nezavisne Novine, pg. 3 ‘Six Croats from BiH free until trial commences’ not signed, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Prlic and Praljak free’ not signed, Dnevni List pg 3 ‘6 Croats arrive from The Hague to Zagreb tomorrow’, mentioned on cover ‘6 Croats in Zagreb tomorrow’ by J. Petrovic, Vecernji List pg 4 ‘6 on pre-trail release by Friday’, mentioned on cover, not signed and Slobodna Dalmacija pg 3 ‘Prlic, Praljak, Petkovic, Stojic, Coric and Pusic on pre-trail release by end of week’ by B. Kristo – The ICTY decided to give pre-trail release to 6 Croat war-time officials charged with war crimes (Jadranko Prlic, Slobodan Praljak, Valentin Coric, Milivoj Petkovic, Berislav Pusic and Bruno Stojic) who surrendered in April this year. FTV, BHTV 1 – ICTY Spokesperson, Jim Landale, said that the all ICTY rules are to be respected in this procedure: “That means that they will not influence, intimidate or threat witnesses, victims or other persons. Also that means they will return for the trial.” Landale said that suspects will stay in detention until they travel arrangements were confirmed. |
| VL: ‘The Hague threatens with removal of Croat leaders in BiH’
| Vecernji List pg 5 ‘The Hague is threatening with removals of Croat leaders in BiH’ by J. Pavkovic – VL claims that it has come into possession of the official letter that the ICTY sent to the BiH authorities demanding the documents on war crimes committed in the period from 1991 until mid 1994. According to VL the tone of the letter signed by Chief ICTY Prosecutor Carla del Ponte is threatening and the threats have been exclusively addressed at the Croat side in the Federation of BiH. Among the other things, the letter says: “We are demanding that you hand over all documents by September 30 this year. If you do not meet these demands completely the ICTY will use all measures that it has at its disposal.” According to the article, the letter says that these measures might be international or political ones such as removals of politicians. |
| IWPR claims Mladic in ICTY by end September
| Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Mladic in the Hague by the end of September’ by Onasa, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Serbian authorities working to arrest Mladic by end of September’, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘Mladic in the Hague by the end of September’ by Beta, Glas Srpske, pg. 7 ‘Mladic in the Hague soon’ not signed, EuroBlic, cover and pgs. 10-11 ‘Lukic and Pavkovic will surrender if they fail to apprehend Mladic’ by T. N. Djakovic, Vecernje Novosti, pg. 4 ‘Mladic or Generals in the Hague in September’ by Beta, Nacional Belgrade daily, pg. 5 ‘Mladic in the Hague by the end of September’ not signed – The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) in London has reported that the authorities in Belgrade plan to apprehend and extradite general Ratko Mladic to the Hague Tribunal by the end of the first week in September, and that if they fail to do this, Generals Nebojsa Pavkovic and Sreten Lukic would voluntarily turn themselves in. The problem in locating Mladic, according to a source from the Government, is the fact that the former RS Army commander is now “cut off” from the official military structures, and the fact that he is now contacting with only a few people, and the attempts by the Serbian authorities to contact him through family and friends have also been unsuccessful. According to IWPR, the authorities in Belgrade have already made arrangements with two of the total of four indicted generals – Pavkovic and Lukic – to turn themselves in should the attempts to locate Mladic be unsuccessful. |
| Clifford Bond on war crimes and cooperation with ICTY | Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Karadzic did not defeat me’, mentioned on cover, by Sead Numanovic – In a farewell interview to DA, outgoing US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, says that a number of positive things have occurred during his mandate in BiH, however stressed that the biggest disappointment was the fact that leading war crimes suspects were not arrested. However, he strongly denied he felt ‘defeated’ by Radovan Karadzic, adding: “I don’t see he managed to destroy this country. On the contrary, it is growing stronger. The truth is that this progress is now in jeopardy and all of us have to work together to remove the obstacle. Especially in RS I think some things are changing there. I have just returned from Banja Luka. I established that perception on war crimes indictees has been changing, and that majority of people do not see them as heroes but criminals.” Asked whether US discusses the issue of war crimes independently from SFOR, Bond answered: “Yes. We talk about it at the state level, but also at the RS’. This is what I have talked about with RS Prime Minister [Dragan] Mikerevic. I talked about importance of choosing the serious person for a position of Interior Minister.” Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Dayton limitations make BiH’s road to Europe harder’, mentioned on cover, by Marina Kavaz-Sirucic – In an interview to Oslobodjenje, Bond also stresses that there is certain mentality change on this issue. |
Economic and social issues | |
| Strike of health workers in Central Bosnia
| FTV, BHTV 1, RHB, Dnevni Avaz pg 11 ‘General strike of health workers has started’ by K. Kavazovic, Dnevni List, pg 6, ‘Work will be suspended until requests are met’, by Tanja Dragic – As the Central Bosnia Canton Government and the Ministry of Health have not met the demands of the Independent Trade Union of health workers, all 12 health institutions yesterday went on a general strike. The Union has been uselessly trying for 2 years now to improve the standards of workers and general working conditions. They do not intend to give up until coefficients for calculation of salaries are unique for all health institutions and until allowances for all the past years are paid in a unique way. The Government’s only reaction was to ask for postponement of the strike. |
| Increase of oil prices in BiH
| BHTV 1 – On Monday prices of oil were increased in all gas stations in FBiH for 5-6 pfenings. According to the opinion of domestic experts, this is only a beginning of tred of the price growth. However, they pointed out that while change on the world’s market is not expect for next two years, BiH still has one of the lowest price in the region. Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 2 ‘More expensive fuel in RS too as of today’ by N. Krsman, A. Sekulic – NN reports oil price will be increased in Republika Srpska as well as of today. Vecernji List pg 7 ‘Due to Al-Qa’id threats record prices of fuel’ by E. Medunjanin, RHB, Oslobodjene pg 10 ‘Oil more expensive again’, mentioned on cover, by Dz. Krijestorac, EuroBlic, pg. RS2 ‘Petroleum went up’ by Tijana Veselinovic – reported on increase. |
| PDHR Hays’ visit to Prozor-Rama
| RHB, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘The biggest problem is lack of potable water’ by Onasa, Dnevni list, pg 9, ‘Hays promised assistance for school reconstruction’, by Arijana Beus – during the talks with the Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays about the general and economic situation in the Municipality, about local self-governance, multi-ethnic education and returns, the Mayor of Prozor-Rama, Jozo Vukoja, and his associates noted that the biggest problem the municipality faces was the lack of drinking water in some suburb areas. Mayor Vukoja added that the FBiH Government had declined this Municipality’s request for a loan that would be used to solve the mentioned problem. Speaking of relations between Prozor-Rama and Elektroprivreda BiH, it was underlined that Elektropriovreda had taken up certain commitments that have still not been fulfilled so that some projects, which date back from the 1980ies, are yet to be realized. Ambassador Hays is reported to have promised to try to ensure financial assistance for some projects’ implementation through FBiH and Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Governments. He also promised to talk to high-ranking cantonal officials about providing financial assistance for the reconstruction of the primary school in Prozor-Rama. |
| Mikerevic visits Kotor-Varos | RTRS – RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, visited municipality Kotor Varos on Monday, where he met with the representatives of the municipality authorities and promised assistance of the RS Government to find apartments for war veterans. In addition, Mikerevic said Government will also support development of infrastructure. “Kotor Varos, as the one of undeveloped areas, expects and demands for help from RS. We said today that we would make efforts, but they also stated that they needed more support when it comes to sport and reconstruction of gym,” said Dragan Mikerevic. |
| Mikerevic meets USAID officials
| RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘Preparing regulation on direct taxation’ not signed, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Preparation of Law regulating direct taxation’, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘Help in tax reform’ by R. S. – Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic met with USAID representatives Bill Lawrence and Sean Green on Monday. They discussed reform processes in relation to direct taxes in RS and BiH, i.e. preparation of legislative regulations in field of profit taxes, salary taxes and property taxes. On this occasion, Mikerevic asked from USAID to provide the RS Government with consultative and material help in implementing tax reform. |
| Update to sugar affair
| Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Customs officers under investigation over false sugar import’ by Az. Kalamujic – Director of the Indirect Taxation Administration, Kemal Causevic, has confirmed for daily that investigation has been launched against several customs officers because of suspicion that thy took a part in sugar affair. Apparently, they issued customs clearance for sugar from EU that never entered BiH. According to the ITA’s information, about 250.000 tons of sugar exceeding needs of both industry and households in BiH was imported in BiH. Daily also brings that according to the ‘unconfirmed information’ the biggest part of sugar imported in FBiH ended in RS. BHTV 1 – BiH Foreign Trade Chamber also says that the biggest quantity of cleared sugar never arrived to BiH. The biggest sugar importer is company Prodex from Grude, which claims that it sells all imported substance at the domestic market. In an opinion of RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, there was no fictitious import of sugar in RS. |
| Pensioners and Workers form Social Block in RS
| RTRS, Glas Srpske, pg. 3 ‘A social block to be established’ by B. T. J., Nezavisne Novine, pg. 10 ‘They are establishing a social block’ by Bi. G., EuroBlic, pg. RS2 ‘Trade Union members and pensioners have established a social block’ by T. V. – Cedo Volas, the President of RS Trade Union, and Rade Rakulj, the President of the Association of Pensioners, yesterday agreed that it is necessary to establish a social block in RS, which would be composed of RS Trade Union, Chamber of Commerce and Veterans’ Association. Volas announced that an agreement on joint acting of these three associations would be signed in August. He pointed out that representatives of the Veterans’ Association did not attend the meeting yesterday, but they have already agreed to sign the agreement. |
| Transparency Int. on corruption
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 6 ‘2,000 denunciations on corruption in six months’ by V. I. – Transparency International issued a press release, which reads that in the first half of the year the Centre for providing with Legal Aid in fight against corruption has received more than 2,000 denunciations from physical and legal subjects. Citizens complained the most on corruption cases at inspection services, health care services and education services. The Transparency International brought four charges to the competent Prosecutor’s Offices in the past six months. |
Political issues | |
| Mikerevic announces talks with Tihic
| RTRS – RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic stated on Sunday that the further participation of SDA minister in the RS Government largely depends on the behaviour of that party in the upcoming period. “The faith of SDA ministers is in the hands of that party”, Mikerevic said at a press conference in Banja Luka after meeting outgoing US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond. He confirmed that he would soon meet SDA President Sulejman Tihic to discuss his call for the RS insignia to be changed and about the consequences for public and political life in the region. “The faith of SDA ministers in the RS Government will depend on the outcome of these talks and the future behaviour of SDA and its President”, Mikerevic said. Dnevni List pg 16 ‘Bosniaks arrogate BiH to themselves’ by N. Kolak – also covered. EuroBlic, pg. RS3 ‘One-on-one talks on initiatives’ by R. R. – RS Government’s spokesperson Goran Radivojac also announced the meeting between Mikerevic and Tihic. |
| Tihic’s cabinet says no request for meeting with Mikerevic received
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Tihic has not received invitation for meeting with Mikerevic’ by Aj. D., Vecernji List pg 7 ‘Tihic has not received request for meeting’ by F – The Chairman of the BiH Presidency Chair Sulejman Tihic has not received a request to meet RS Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic. This was confirmed on Monday by Sehada Kolenovic, Chief of Tihic’s Cabinet, for Dnevni Avaz. “Even if there is a meeting, it will certainly not be held before 16 August, until when Chairman Tihic is on holidays. I don’t think he will leave his vacation for this,” said Kolenovic. After talks with US Ambassador to BiH Clifford Bond in Banja Luka two days ago, Mikerevic announced that he would soon meet Tihic to discuss the issue of SDA ministers in the RS Government and other, adding that the destiny of SDA ministers in RS Government depended on that meeting. RHB – also reported. |
| Election campaigns start today
| BHTV 1, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Today election campaigns start’, mentioned on cover, by A. Terzic– Campaign period for the municipal elections in October have today, in accordance with the law which foresees duration of this period to be 60 days. Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘1349 candidates meet legal requirements’, mentioned on cover ‘809 candidates registered for municipal mayors’, by Aj.D. – At the session held on Monday, BiH election Commission concluded that 1349 out of 1. 579 applicants applied meet legal requirements to become a candidate on the lists for upcoming local elections. |
| NN feature on elections campaigns
| Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Smaller party budgets for promotion of candidates’ by N. Krsman and V. Popovic – According to NN, the political parties in BiH reluctantly speak about plans regarding financial coverage of pre-election campaigns, which officially start today. Safet Halilovic, President of Party for BiH, says that this party would not spend so much money (in comparison with how much they spent during previous campaigns). He assesses the amount intended for this purpose would be from BAM 200 to 300 thousand. Svetozar Pudaric, Head of Election Board of the SDP of BiH, stresses that 40% less resources than previously would be spent for pre-election campaign, noting the amount could be between BAM 600 to 800 thousand. Dragan Mikerevic, member of PDP Presidency, says that this party would spend “minimum resources for campaign”. Borislav Bojic, SDS Vice President, says that SDS should consider options how to provide financial resources for this purpose, since HR’s decision blocked party accounts. He says this campaign might be run without financial resources available. Igor Radojicic, SNSD member, notes that this campaign would be more expensive in comparison with previous ones. Mirnes Ajanovic, BOSS President, says that this party would not invest anything in the campaign, stressing that the citizens are those who should make decisions on acts done instead of promises given. |
| Clifford Bond: DPA limits BiH
| Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Dayton limitations make BiH’s road to Europe harder’, mentioned on cover, by Marina Kavaz-Sirucic – In a farewell interview to Oslobodjenje, outgoing US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, points to the limitation of Dayton Peace Agreement [DPA] to the further development of BiH. “I think everybody agrees that BiH has too many levels of authorities. Majority believes that only state level should be strengthen, but I think that municipal level also has to be strengthened, which – I hope – will happen after the October elections,” says Bond adding that mistake of the international community was not to deal with rule of law in BiH immediately following the singing of the DPA. |
| Reactions to Bond’s comment on Dayton
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘Dayton should not be changed’ by V. P. – Most of politicians from RS think the Dayton Agreement should not be changed, but at the same time it should not be an obstacle to solutions with which all parties in BiH would be satisfied. As a comment on the statement of Clifford Bond, Dragan Mikerevic, has stated that if there is enough of political consensus, trust and tolerance, nothing should be an obstacle to BiH on its path to Europe. Borislav Bojic, SDS Deputy President, says the Dayton Ageement is an international ageement that cannot be changed by any of the international representatives. Igor Radojicic, SNSD, says that many think statements of international representatives that ‘the Dayton era is over and era of European BiH begins’ are an opportunity to abolish the entities. Slobodan Popovic, SDP, thinks Bond was not talking about abolishing of RS but he was talking about more economic state. |
| M. Ivanic on Tihic’s initiative
| Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘We will reconsider terms Bosniak and Bosnian language’ by N. Ko., Dnevni List pg 16 ‘Bosniaks arrogate BiH to themselves’ by N. Kolak – PDP President Mladen Ivanic visited Trebinje yesterday. Commenting on the last initiative of SDA President Sulejman Tihic with regard to RS symbols, Ivanic said that Tihic’s concept is not to defend the rights of the others but to dispute everything that has a Serb prefix. According to Ivanic, the reply to such initiatives should be disputing and stressing the abuse of BiH as if BiH belongs to Bosniaks only. Ivanic announced that the issue of a name Bosniak, as well as, using of a term Bosnian language will be raised through institutions and PDP as a political party. |
| Sadovic: Entities should give up on their symbols and accept state’s | Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Entities should give up on their insignias and accept the state’s’ by A. Hadzic – The chairman of the SDA caucus in the RS National Assembly, Tarik Sadovic, is certain that BiH Constitutional Court will bring decisions that both FBIH and RS Laws on insignia were in accordance with the BiH Constitution. “Having in mind constitutional provisions, it is logical for FBiH symbols to contain also insignia of Serb people, in addition to those of Bosniak and Croat peoples. At the same time, symbols in RS cannot anymore include only one people,” Sadovic stated adding that both entities should give up on their symbols and instead accept state insignia. |
| Kunic on Tihic’s initiative
| Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Tihic tries to turn BiH Constitutional Court into instrument of politics’ by Onasa, Oslobodjenje pg 7 ‘Trying to turn Court into instrument of politics’ by Onasa, Nezavisne Novine, pg. 5 ‘Tihic is creating a political instrument out of the Constitutional Court’ by Onasa, Glas Srpske, pg. 2 ‘Court-o-cracy in BiH’ by G. D. – President of Democratic Forum Petar Kunic on Monday stated that Chairman of BiH Presidency Sulejman Tihic is trying to make an instrument of his own policy out of the Constitutional Court. |
| Bond on SDS
| Vecernji list, pg 6, ‘Reis Ceric prepares ground for political career’, by Dejan Jazvic, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 13, ‘Ceric wants Izetbegovic’s position’, by Marin Erceg – Dailies comment that recent Reis Mustafa Ceric’s public criticism of SDA and of this party’s dissatisfactory attitude towards late Alija Izetbegovic (correspondence with S. Tihic following Old Bridge opening, speech at Doboj mosque opening) are interpreted by many people as Ceric’s alleged political ambitions. Some claim he aspires to get politically engaged once his mandate in the Islamic Community of BiH expires and he is allegedly supported in this by the radical SDA faction. SD also says these are signals that Sulejman Tihic, SDA President, will be deprived of Reis’ support and adds that Ceric, the undoubtedly first religious and political figure among Bosniaks, has started open race for formalising his power in the political sense. |
| On Reis Ceric’s criticism of SDA | Glas Srpske cover page story ‘Whose sultan is Alija’ by M. Dz. – GS brings some reactions onto the statement of reisu-l-ulema Mustafa effendi Ceric during the opening of the mosque in Doboj [He stated: “It is high time we destroyed the Berlin wall between peoples. If Dayton is that wall, I praise God it were destroyed as soon as possible, in which order people in this state would become happier, more successful and respected”].Goran Milojevic, Chairman of BiH House of Peoples, said that the Islamic community head consistently applies political course along with Sulejman Tihic. Miroslav Mikes, Head at the RS NA Caucus for other peoples, said that in BiH – as in other democratic states – religion should be separated from the state. |
| Comments to Ceric’s statement on Dayton Peace Agreement
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Karadzic did not defeat me’, mentioned on cover, by Sead Numanovic – In a farewell interview to DA, outgoing US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond, comments on SDS: “Banning political part is a serious step… the removals the High Representatives carried out had an aim to de-block political system in order to receive full cooperation needed to remove obstacles towards BiH’s admission to Partnership for Peace. If that doesn’t happen, than some other more serious steps should be considered. Banning SDS is one of them. However, it is up to HR to decide on that and I am sure that he would decide in a favour of such action only after the consultations with colleagues from the international community. For me, SDS is an obstacle of BiH’s way towards European and Euro-Atlantic integrations… through this party, criminal elements keep RS in almost fatal ‘hug’. Those same elements control SDS. If there is no change when it come to cooperation with the ICTY,… than HR will have to reconsider some very serious steps in order to ensure that does change.” |
| On organization of Mostar City Administration
| Dnevni list, pg 8, ‘Jurisdiction of city area offices defined’, by Zvonimir Jukic – DL reads that, according to the Decision on organisation of the Mostar City Administration, jurisdiction of future city areas (areas of former municipalities) has been clearly defined. Namely, the new organisation of the Mostar City Administration foresees further decentralisation of certain administrative work that is significant to the everyday life of citizens. The city areas offices will offer services and do the jobs for which no complex procedure is required and which can be done without delay, such as receiving citizens and their written requests, issuing various certificates, giving expert legal assistance, voter registration, inspection activities etc. Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘300 workers of Mosta City Administration to stay without jobs’ by F. Vele –Mostar Mayor Hamdija Jahic confirmed for DA that with the Decision on organization of administration about 300 workers will be laid off, adding that the new plan will be implemented next year. |
Security issues | |
| BiH delegation visits Guantanamo base
| BHTV 1 BiH delegation has visited BiH citizens in Guantanamo prison in Cuba. Head of the delegation, Amir Pilav, stated that “they are alive and that is the most important thing.” The delegation returned home yesterday. Two and a half years ago, BiH authorities extradited six Algerians to the USA due to the suspicion of planning terrorist attacks. The delegation, who visited four out of six arrestees, was informed about the possibility of another BiH citizen being detained in the prison following his arrest in Afghanistan. The prisoners had certain complaints about the accommodation, food and medical care. Some of them complained on their treatment by US troops. FTV – There has been no official indictment raised against either of BiH citizens. Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Pilav: Four members of so called Algerian group companied of health problems’, mentioned on cover ‘What BiH representative saw in Guantanamo base’, by J. Sogolj, Nezavisne Novine, cover and pg. 4 ‘Algerians are seeking for evidence on BiH citizenship’ by R. Cengic – also reported of the visit. |
| Clifford Bond on US actions re Islamic terrorism in BiH
| Dnevni Avaz pg 5 ‘Karadzic did not defeat me’, mentioned on cover, by Sead Numanovic – In a farewell interview to DA, outgoing US Ambassador to BiH, Clifford Bond comments the article published by Telegraph on 26 July [see Round-up for 27 July] which claims that US has 300 intelligence agents operating in BiH and focused at Islamic terrorism. Bond was asked to comment the statement by the journalist Harry de Quetteville who called it ‘witch hunt’: “I don’t see witch hunt happening. We are fighting against terrorism here by helping to build potentials which will be capable to handling that problem. [We] assist in building and developing SIPA, entity police forces, intelligence services,… So, no witch hunt… I can say that there is a danger for [this] country to be used as the playfield for acting of trespass of terrorists… This is why we whish to strengthen local institutions to deal with this issue.” Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Dayton limitations make BiH’s road to Europe harder’ by Marina Kavaz-Sirucic – In an interview to Oslobodjenje, Bond stresses that presence of terrorists is not BiH’s, but the problem of entire world. |
| SD on cooperation between 2 teams for struggle against terrorism | Slobodna Dalmacija pg 12 ‘Cars blow up, agents are quarrelling’ by Z. Tulic – SD says that two teams for struggle against terrorism are acting at the state level in BiH (Anti-terrorist team and Coordination team for struggle against terrorism). According to SD, there is almost no cooperation between these two teams, there is no exchange of information and they are even hiding information from each other, while at the same time cars in Sarajevo blow up. |