05 January 98, 19:30
Mostar – The Spanish King Juan Carlos paid a visit to BiH today. Escorted by the Spanish Defense Minister, NATO Secretary General Solana and the High Representative Carlos Westendorp, the King visited Mostar and Medjugorje where he met the Spanish soldiers serving with NATO. Juan Carlos talked by phone with Alija Izetbegovic, BiH Presidency Chairman. He asked Izetbegovic to convey to the BiH citizens his best wishes for the new year and he sent greetings to the Presidency members. (Follows detailed footage showing step by step arrival and movements of the King).
2:30
The Public Affairs Office of the Multi National Sector South East distributed to the Media the King Huan Carlos’ address which he delivered to the Spanish troops in BiH.
1:30
Sarajevo – SFOR should arrest Radovan Karadzic this year, reads a statement to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Hanns Schumacher. During 1997 a lot has been talked about this and little has been done. Everybody knows that Karadzic, who continues to pull all the strings in RS and influences his followers, must be arrested, the German Diplomat said. Arresting of the war crimes indicted persons is more than a priority. While the Bosniaks handed over their indicted criminals, the Croats have handed over a lot of theirs, the Serbs have delivered none of them, Schumacher said.
2:00
The Hague – Zlatko Aleksovski, accused of torturing and killing Bosniaks in 1993 will appear before the Court, tomorrow. The Croatian authorities handed over Aleksovski to the Hague in April last year. Meanwhile, he refuted all accusations for the crimes committed in the Kaonik prison, near Busovaca.
1:00
Brcko – The first meeting of the Town Government was held in Brcko today. This meeting represented a start to the functioning of the multi-ethnic authority according the orders of the Supervisor in Brcko. The situation in this town, especially police powers and refugee returns, were the key topic of the talks which Robert Farrand and Ejup Ganic, BiH Federation President held in Tuzla. Farrand thanked Canton Governor Jamakosmanovic for the help in providing gasoline for the Brcko hospital, although Bosniaks and Croats are still not treated there. Dr Ganic and Robert Farrand criticised Teodor Gavric, police Commissioner in Brcko, for his statement on the occasion of celebrating the establishment of the joint police forces in which he assessed that the establishing of the joint police units was neither the wish of the Serb people nor an RS decision, but only a temporary situation.
2:30
Sarajevo – UN Spokesman Alex Ivanko rejected the Media reports according to which a mass of 1000 people tried to outshout the speakers during the festive inauguration of the joint police powers in Brcko, including the IPTF Commissioner. It seems that we are talking about the usual operation of a “rent-a-crowd” of around 30 people and nothing else, Ivanko told the media. He informed journalists about the poll which IPTF made among the citizens of Brcko. The majority supported and expressed their hopes for an improvement in the situation in this town, and especially thanked the multi-ethnic police forces. UNHCR Spokesman Kris Janowski addressed journalists concerning refugee return and informed about some of the more positive points, in addition to the negative aspects of this issue.
2:00
Stolac – The inaugural meeting of the Municipal Council was held in the presence of OSCE Regional Office representatives. Kemal Isakovic, from the Coalition for the United and Democratic BiH became the President of the Municipal Council.
1:30
Jan Pronk, Netherland’s Minister for development and co-operation is arriving tomorrow in our country. He will stay in BiH until 9 January and will visit Mostar, Sarajevo, Tuzla and Banja Luka.
1:30
Members of the Commission for investigation of alleged misuse of money donated to the Federation will soon travel to London as invitees of the British Government, informs the British Embassy in Sarajevo. The reason for the trip should be seen as support from the British Government to the Commission.
1:00