20 October 97, 19:30
At 2:00 hrs this morning SFOR troops blew up a Serb TV transmitter kept in an apartment in the centre of Bijeljina, said the report quoting Reuters. Hard-liners from Pale used it to broadcast their programme. However, SRNA reported that a terrorist act was carried out in Bijeljina. Nobody was hurt, but all the electronic equipment had been destroyed.
OHR Spokesman Simon Haselock told the press that because of an attempt by Pale to establish alternative broadcasts from Pale by making a sabotage on the TV relay Veliki Zep, the eastern part of the RS had been left without a TV signal. Haselock condemned this sabotage, reiterating that TV Pale would be allowed to continue its broadcast only when the OHR conditions had been fully met.
1:50
SFOR troops inspected military barracks which used to be occupied by the VRS HQ. No details on the inspection were revealed, except that was the action was only a part of overall SFOR efforts to put under control the RS special police forces. A similar inspection was carried out in Pale ( Koran) as well.
0:50
Chaired by Roberts Owen, Arbitrator for Brcko , the Conference on Brcko began in Vienna today. OHR officials, Supervisor for Brcko, Robert Farrand are attending the conference. Ejup Ganic heads the FBH while Dragoljub Mirjanic, RS Vice President is at the head of the RS delegation. The objective of the conference is to ascertain the current status in Brcko and assesses progress in the implementation of the arbitral decision on Brcko.
1:00
The media featured a lengthy report on the issue of the port Ploce. The report underlined Croatian insistence of the resolution of this issue within the context of confederate relations between the two countries. Hasan Muratovic (BH Minister of Foreign Trade) commented:” We have given up on a confederation by signing the Dayton Agreement, which is more recent than the Washington Accords. It has never been mentioned during discussions.”. Muratovic said that a draft on utilization of the port Ploce would be completed tomorrow and forwarded to Croatia.
A session of the FBH House of Peoples has been convened for tomorrow. A set of laws on privatisation will be on the agenda. In light of tomorrow’s session, FBH PM Edhem Bicakcic held talks with the US Ambassador to BH, Richard Kauzlarich. Premier Bicakcic assured his collocutor that the FBH Government was fully committed to the process of privatisation.
0:50
The Club of Bosniak deputies in the House of Peoples held a meeting today in order to prepare for tomorrow’s parliamentary session.
1:00