24.01.2000

OHR BiH TV News Summary, 24 January 2000

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News Headlines

  • Elektroprivreda BiH and Sodaso Tuzla sign export contracts with Debis Int. Corporation valued at $180 million
  • Izetbegovic and Ganic meet with delegation of Daimler-Chrysler Company
  • Petritsch will not consider request for of Silajdzic dismissal – OHR spokesman James Ferguson
  • LBO supports Silajdzic’s idea to revise Dayton Agreement
  • Forum of Parliamentarians, Association of Prison Camp Inmates and Party for BiH support Silajdzic
  • Dayton Agreement cannot be changed because it was never valid – Mothers of Srebrenica Association
  • BPS reserved towards Silajdzic’s statement due to his duplicity in practice
  • Liberals BiH do not want revision of Dayton Agreement but amendment to BiH Constitution
  • International representatives in BiH must undertake sanctions against Silajdzic – BiH House of Representatives Speaker Mirko Banjac
  • Dodik expects High Representative to dismiss Silajdzic
  • Silajdzic cannot change historical facts – Radisic
  • Sloga Coalition expects Petritsch to dismiss Silajdzic
  • Prompt change of Dayton Agreement essential – Silajdzic
  • 55% of voters participate in Croatian presidential elections by 16:00 – Croatian State Election Commission Chairman Marijan Ramuscak
  • Turnout for Croatian presidential elections in 14 BiH towns slightly lower than for parliamentary elections
  • World news
  • 200 refugees return to Kula Grad in Zvornik Municipality
  • Izetbegovic asks SFOR to implement decision on Inter-Entity Boundary Line in Sarajevo suburbs of Dobrinja I and IV
  • Prlic meets General Adams for talks on current situation in BiH
  • BiH institutions do not show enough interests for refugee returns – UN Special Envoy for Human Rights Jiri Dientsbier
  • HN Cantonal Interior Ministry finalizes report on devastating flood of Neretva river in Mostar
  • Local authorities in Tuzla announce state of alert due to heavy snow fall
  • Snow causes troubles on all roads in BiH
  • Workers of Bihac factory Polietilenka announce strike
  • Number of police officers and civil servants in Brcko administration to be reduce after of District’s establishment
  • BiH film ‘Tunel’ premiers in Istanbul
  • Sports
  • Weather
  • Croatian presidential election ends, first results after midnight tonight
  • Prlic meets with EC delegation
  • OHR reminds returnees that deadline for free PTT connection expires on 25 January
  • Refugees from Kula Grad start to return despite of bad weather conditions
  • After Sarajevo Declaration success we expect IC to aid Bosniak refugees – Hajric
  • 600,000 healthcare beneficiaries in Tuzla Canton can expect improved care
  • Report on bad traffic situation in Tuzla Canton

News Summary

Dodik expects High Representative to dismiss Silajdzic

RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, in an interview for the daily Nezavisne Novine on Monday, said that Haris Silajdzic is the main factor of disturbance in the region and his statements could destabilize political relations in BiH. Dodik stated that he expects High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch to suspend Silajdzic. Silajdzic wants a BiH without Serbs and has now, after everything he has said, lost any chance of cooperating with the Serbs in future, said Dodik. The RS Prime Minister speculated that “Silajdzic might have his place in The Hague but that time would show this.” Calling for revision of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Haris Silajdzic has shown that any kind of dialogue with him is impossible, Dodik concluded.

00:42

Prompt changes of Dayton Agreement essential – Silajdzic

Haris Silajdzic, a Co-chairman in the BiH Council of Ministers, comments on a statement he made in Sofia that has provoked waves of accusations against him by RS politicians. “The Dayton Agreement has not been implemented in BiH because we have one ethnically-clean entity that is not allowing the return of refugees. We cannot speak of human rights while people are forced to live in the cellars of their homes in Banja Luka. The Dayton Agreement is not being implemented and time is passing and playing into the hands of those who perpetrated genocide in BiH. Cantonization of the entire BiH, the real return of refugees and joining Europe are the three pre-conditions that will make BiH a democratic country” Silajdzic assessed. Silajdzic stated that allegations, that he wants to create an Islamic state in BiH, “come from forces in RS that could not accept the fact that the project to create Greater Serbia had been defeated.” It was planned that the Bosniaks would cease to exist, as it had happened in Srebrenica. But the Bosniaks survived and now represent an important political factor. It is hard to accept this for those who wanted the Bosniaks to disappear, said Silajdzic. Silajdzic announced a press conference for Monday, when he plans to present a document precisely explaining revisions of the Dayton Agreement that would have to be undertaken. Silajdzic plans to distribute copies of the document to the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council and other relevant institutions, in order to initiate the needed changes in BiH Constitution. “Those who criticize me like to talk about the Dayton Agreement and not implement it. I want to implement the Dayton Agreement because it is high time to stop this farce, return people to their homes, and develop the economy and direct our steps in the right direction” Silajdzic concluded.

04:32

After Sarajevo Declaration success we expect IC to aid Bosniak refugees – Hajric

An Advisor to BiH Presidency Member Alija Izetbegovic and the President of the Sarajevo Declaration Implementation Board, Mirza Hajric, was a guest in the second TV BiH newscast. Commenting on the implementation of the Sarajevo Declaration, Hajric said he accepted UNHCR figures on the number of refugees that have returned (19,458), but added that the actual figure is much higher. “The International Community and RS authorities have not allowed the return of 51,000 refugees now living in the Sarajevo Canton.

I am still waiting for the High Representative to set the process in motion so we can start implementing the Sarajevo Declaration. Otherwise, the process of return to Sarajevo will run in one direction only” said Hajric. He stated that if the International Community had returned 20,000 refugees from Sarajevo to their pre-war homes (out of Sarajevo), then 20,000 former Sarajevo inhabitants could have returned to Sarajevo and completed the implementation of the Sarajevo Declaration. He added that what has been done in Sarajevo should also have been done in Mostar, Banja Luka, Trebinje and other places. Commenting on Haris Silajdzic’s statement that the Dayton Agreement should be revised, Hajric stated that “it is realistic to expect the revision of the Dayton Agreement to happen one day.

08:29