Headlines in Print Media |
Dnevni Avaz: BiH federation Interior Ministers claims that there are criminals in some protection companies
Dnevni List: Meeting of all parliamentary parties was held in OHR: Function of Chairman of BiH Council of Ministers will not be rotating
Vecernji List: Exclusive: Why did Ashdown remove Munir Alibabic, Head of FOSS: Head of Secret Service was lying about Karadzic
Slobodna Dalmacija: Scandal shakes Posusje: Although his house was attacked, and he was under vigilant surveillance of bodyguards, Head of Municipality Milan Rezo keeps accusing: Velimir Jukic took 4 million Marks from bank in 1992, and this money disappeared without trace
Glas Srpski: Serbia: Investigation into the terrorist group case – Police have evidence; Orao flies to Baghdad
Nezavisne Novine: RS Vice President says those responsible for Orao affair will be legally prosecuted; OHR and BiH parties agree to eliminate rotation in CoM; Jack Straw meets High Representative, BiH Foreign Minister – FRY and RS have to cease cooperation with Iraq
Blic: Mirko Sarovic: “Better cooperation between FRY and BiH”; Dragan Cavic: “’Orao’ has caused damage to RS”; SFOR soldiers in VRS base and barracks; 19 policemen without accreditation
FRY Nacional: Jack Straw – new stipulations for FRY: “No weapon selling, all accused must go to the Hague”
OHR/international community’s activities; related news/commentaries |
Dnevni List (front and page 3, by I. Barbaric, title “Position of Chairman of Council of Ministers will not be rotating“) reads that leaders of all political parties from BiH Parliament met in OHR Sarajevo office yesterday (Wednesday), except for Mladen Ivanic and Milorad Dodik, who sent their representatives. The meeting was held behind the closed door, says the daily, and the host was Gerhard E. Schrömbgens, SDHR. Results of the meeting were presented only to selected group of journalists from electronic media, says the daily, but they found out that political leaders agreed that the position of Chairman of Council of Ministers will not be rotating any more. The author wrote that it is public knowledge that the IC for that position wants to find a person who is not member of any of the parties, or if he is a party member to have support from all political parties. The daily says that Bosniaks are pushing Haris Silajdzic for the position of Chairman of CoM, and even SDP supports him, but SDS is against him, for Silajdzic’s known attitude about abolishing the entities. The Serb parties, in the same time, are asking position of Minister for Foreign Affairs.
“I am of course for reforms, now and without any exception. At least because I want finally to see a new motion picture directed by Paddy Ashdown, in which the key roles will be played the leading BiH politicians who, faced with international community’s authority, behave as the obedient reformers,” Gojko Beric wrote in an Oslobodjenje editorial.
The British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, late on Wednesday visited Sarajevo, where he met with the BiH Foreign Minister, Zlatko Lagumdzija,. Behind closed doors, he also met with the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, World Bank Director in BiH Joseph Ingram, Head of the UN Mission to BiH Jacques Klein, and British Ambassador to BiH Ian Cliff. At the meeting with Lagumdzija, Straw emphasized that BiH could count on the Great Britain’s support in the process of its further accession to the Euro-Atlantic integration. (Oslobodjenje, p 3, Dnevni Avaz, p 4, Nezavisne Novine, p 3)
The High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, will on December 6 appear as a ICTW Prosecution Office witness in trial of Radoslav Brdjanin, indicted for war crimes committed in the area of so called autonomous district of Krajina, according to the OHR Spokesman, Kevin Sullivan. This will be the third Ashdown’s testimony before the Hague Tribunal following his appearance in trial of Croat General Tihomir Blaskic and former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (SRNA, Oslobodjenje, p 7).
BiH Presidency hold first regular session in Sarajevo |
Orao affair; related news |
At a press conference in Banja Luka, Cavic said that, on the basis of the information available so far, there were indications that the senior management of Orao visited Iraq as early as in 1999 to negotiate business and other forms of cooperation, in violation of the UN resolutions. This was happening with the knowledge of the then RS Defense Minister and some senior officers in the General Staff of the RS Army. Cavic said that the cooperation lasted, with more or less intensity, until a short while ago, when the case was discovered. He added that all activities related to the future export and maintenance of arms and equipment to the countries under sanctions had been stopped, and that the cooperation between Orao and Iraq had ceased. According to Cavic, all these activities had been conducted with the mediation of companies outside the RS and BiH, but mostly through Jugoimport-SDPR in the FRY. He said that the preliminary investigation showed that the RS political leadership and some of the senior officers in the RS Army’s General Staff had not been informed about these activities and agreements. Cavic added that the investigation was continuing, and that all the facts and the responsibility of everyone involved in such unlawful dealings would be established, and a report submitted to the BiH Presidency so that it could brief the UN on the matter. The future president of the Entity said that he would use all his powers to establish the truth in this case. (BHTV 1, Oslobodjenje, p 3, Dnevni Avaz, p 4, Blic, p 7, FRY Nacional, p 7, Vecernje Novosti, p 15, Nezavisne Novine, front page, p 2, Glas Srpski, front page, p 3)
Nezavisne Novine reports that former RS Defence Minister Manojlo Milovanovic denied that he knew about the visit of the Orao top management to Iraq in 1999. “Cavic probably has some corroborating material since he said something like that. But if he has it why does not he show it to all of us”, said Milovanovic.
The inspection conducted by Sfor and a British combat unit in the RS’s army barracks in Zaluzani and the military complex at Mahovljani Airport near Banja Luka ended yesterday around 1600, said Spokesman for the MND SW Major Nigel Fontaine. He said that the majority of Sfor soldiers who took part in the inspection, which started at 8 o’clock yesterday morning, had left Zaluzani and Mahovljani. “The result of the inspection of the arms depot will be released after the finds have been assessed,” Fontaine said, adding that the inspection was conducted as part of Sfor’s routine operations in accordance with the General Framework for Peace Agreement (GFAP) and Instruction to Parties (ITP) programmes. The relevant RS Army authorities had been informed about the inspection 24 hours before it was conducted and, according to Fontaine, the inspection had nothing to do with the Orao affair (Nezavisne Novine, p 2, Glas Srpski, p 3)
Vecernji List: Alibabic lied about Karadzic |
BiH Federation affairs |
Vecernji List (front and page 2, by Zdenko Jurilj) carries that the HDZ Caucus with the House of Representatives of the Federation Parliament filed a suit against Alija Behmen, the current Federation Prime Minister, accusing him of illegal payments from the budget funds, that is, for the violation of Law on execution of budget, since Behmen, allegedly, paid to Bosniak companies unpaid years of service, amounting to 173 million Marks. VL says that the documents show that this decision was passed with the assistance of Sefika Hafizovic, the Federation Deputy Minister of Finances, and at the time when the position of the Federation Minister of Finances was vacant due to the removal of Nikola Grabovac. Behmen is also charged with one sided allocation of the money from the budget for certain investment projects, which have not been envisaged by investment plans, in order to strengthen his personal political position in the period of his pre-election candidacy for a member of the BiH Presidency. Ivica Marinovic, the President of the HDZ Caucus, stated that “the Federation Prosecutor’s Office was supposed to forward the charges of the HDZ Caucus to certain court stances in Sarajevo in order to launch the court procedure, however, it has not been done yet, and for this reason HDZ Caucus suspects that cadres from the Alliance are controlling the work of this body”. VL says that Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative, as well as other relevant institutions were informed about these irregularities.
Dnevni List (page 7, by Zoran Vidic, titled “Seizure planned in advance”) continues a story on Eronet (NB: see yesterday’s Cropress) with giving the chronology of events in privatization of Eronet. The author of the article says that former General Manager of HPT Mostar Marinko Gilja was paying the work that he did not need to. The author also says that Gilja signed contracts from 1995 and 1998 with the same pen, and they were both filed in 1999, which leads to conclusion that the documents were antedated.
Vecernji List (page 5, conducted by Mila Stankovic) carries interview with Amela Odobasic, spokesperson of Communication Regulatory Agency (CRA) who stated: “We are aware that we have two licensed operators and we have Eronet that works without permit of CRA. We are not competent and cannot say when will that third license be issued. That decision has to be made by Council of Ministers, and we, as state regulator, will implement that decision”.
BiH state-related issues: VAT, oil war |
“Does Milorad Dodik belong to the reform block in BiH? If some representatives of the western countries in Sarajevo believed he was the right politician for the future of BiH, they will have to reconsider their position following Dodik’s statement of Wednesday (against VAT introduction at the state level),” Fadil Mandal wrote in the Dnevni Avaz Commentary of the day.
BiH Council of Ministers Chairman Dragan Mikerevic convened a meeting for Thursday to discuss the situation at the fuel market in BiH following the decision of the entities’ Governments to abolish the road fees and reduce fees on fuel. The BiH Council of Ministers stated that representatives of OHR, the US Embassy in BiH, entity Finance Ministries, the Brcko District Government, CAFAO, IMF and the World Bank should take part in the meeting. PDHR Donald Hays urged relevant BiH institutions on Tuesday to review the decisions on petroleum and petroleum products and to prevent bringing into the stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) into a question. “We received clear assurances from the IMF that if entities’ Governments do not withdraw the controversial decision canceling road fees in the next several days, the stand-by arrangement could come under serious review”, Hays warned. (FENA, Dnevni List, p 5 Dnevni Avaz, p 9)
Slobodna Dalmacija (page 15) reads that Federation Deputy Minister of Trade Remzija Baksic expects from OHR to convene a meeting of representatives of Council of Ministers, entity governments and Government of Brcko District about the problem of oil market. According to Baksic, the statement of PDHR Donald Hays in which he called competent institutions to review their decisions related to oil market, shows that OHR is interested in finding solution in this matter.
Dnevni List (page 3) reads that meeting of PHDR Donald Hays with representatives of RS and Federation ministries of finances and trade in order to solve situation over the oil war. The daily also says that, according to their source, the Official Gazette No. 54/02. was withdrawn due to disputable definitions in Law on Security and Protection Agencies.
Vecernji List (front and page 4, by Edina Medunjanin) carries that the prices of fuel in the BiH Federation but also in the RS will be probably corrected as early as next week. VL says this will be the result of the pressure exerted by the International Monetary Fund against the Governments of the entities to annul the decision on the reduction of prices. However, according to VL, the Federation Government decision on this issue has urged officials of the International Community to act more efficiently in order to protect the idea on the unique economic space in BiH. VL also says that Donald Hays, the Principle Deputy High Representative, confirmed this information.
Implementation of the election results |
Vjesnik (page 11) carries that “the new executive authority in BiH has not been formed yet, however, it is becoming clear that the International Community, first of all, the American diplomacy are strongly lobbying in order to establish parliamentary majorities that would ensure the authority of moderate parties.” Vjesnik also mentions that the Banja Luka meeting with Bond took place and the article says that it is quite certain that Haris Silajdzic will be the new Prime Minister regardless of the fact whom with his party will form the coalition.
Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 14, by Blanka Magas) carries an editorial on the meeting that Clifford Bond, the American Ambassador, had in Banja Luka with representatives of some political parties. The editorial speculates that Mladen Ivanic’s PDP might go into coalition with SDS and have all Serb Ministries in the RS Government. The editorial carries an addition that says that Silajdzic will be the BiH Prime Minister in any case. It also says that Bond is trying to exclude national parties at any cost and the statement of Donald Hays, the Principle Deputy High Representative about the removal of the politicians responsible for Orao affair, according to SD is related to Mirko Sarovic, a Chairman of the BiH Presidency.
Glas Srpski (p 3) and Nezavisne Novine (p 5), carries a press release, issued by the RS NA Speaker’s Cabinet, which states that the RS NA inaugural session will take place 15 days after the elected RS NA deputies receive certificates from the BiH Election Commission. SNSD Chairman Milorad Dodik said that 5 days before the session we inform RS NA Secretary General about the names of caucuses. He said that in the next couple of days it is necessary to define whether parliamentary majority exists or not because we are entering a complicated process of implementation of the constitutional changes.
SDA senior official Adil Osmanovic said recently that SDA would support the RS government whose prime minister would be Mladen Ivanic and which would be made up of SDS, PDP, SNSD, SDA and SPRS. Nezavisne Novine reports that the representatives of SNSD, SPRS, SDS and PDP are against the offer of SDA. “SDA can support SDS and PDP, but we are against it. We shall not negotiate with SDA and in this case we are ready to be an opposition party”, said SNSD’s Dodik. SPRS Secretary General Zivko Marjanac said that SPRS would not support the parliamentary majority that includes SDA. Member of the SDS Main Board Milenko Stanic said that SDS came up with a proposal on formation of the Alliance for RS and only if that fails then SDS will consider these other options”, and added that the most acceptable option is SDS/SNSD/PDP coalition. According to him, SDS’s offer to Dodik is still on. He said that at today’s session of the SDS main Board, the party would probably take a stand on its coalition partners. Dodik said that SNSD is on a good way to form a coalition, adding that they are waiting for PDP final decision. He said that judging what he has heard these days from the PDP leading people, they are very close to the agreement.
Slobodna Dalmacija (front and page 14, conducted by Marijan Sivric) carries interview with President of Croat People’s Union (HNZ) Milenko Brkic, who stated that HNZ is satisfied with results of the elections in BiH. “It is general feeling that HNZ did well when insisted on its idea of unification of Croat political scene, that culminated at the meeting in Stup (NB: meeting of all Croat parties in February 2002 related to constitutional changes). (…) We will continue to be carriers of the idea of cooperation and merger of Croat political scene, therefore we concluded to invite in post-election coalition other parties with Croat prefix, primarily HSS BiH, HKDU BiH, HSP BiH and Croat Rightist Block. We will ask at the Coalition Council for these parties to be included. (…) At this moment, we have a situation in which Bosniaks can form government in Federation without paying too much attention to where Croats stand. Serbs have the same right in the other entity. Therefore, current Election Law and results of the elections have shown all weak points of constitutional changes”, Brkic stated.
Headlines in Electronic Media |
- New BH Presidency held a first session
- Orao violated UN resolution already in 1999
- 17 killed in aero-plane crash in Luxembourg
- Security Council on new resolution on Iraq
FTV 1 (1930)
- Presidency sends a letter to President Putin: only solution for gas is settling of debts
- SFOR completes inspection of RS Army barracks in Zaluzani, airport in Mahovljani
- IPTF checks the laws
- Republicans won elections for both Houses of US Congress
RTRS (1930)
- BiH Presidency accepted report of the RS Supreme Defense Council on Orao case
- SFOR completed its inspection of barracks and airport near Banja Luka
- Inauguration of the parliaments waits for certificates from BiH election commission
- Serbia to reelect president on December 8
- Victory of republicans at the elections for the American Congress