Dubrovnik – Four persons died and 11 were injured in a traffic accident when a Centrotrans bus driving on the Sarajevo – Dubronik line fell down a 40 metre chasm near Slano. The injured were taken to Dubrovnik hospital and an accident investigation is under way.
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London – Robin Cook, British Foreign Minister launched a new statement suggesting that the Hague Tribunal could move to BiH. The Nazi trial after the Second World War did not take place in any other country but Germany, he said in an interview for the Observer. In this case NATO should have complete control over the region as well as give good security for the witnesses, Cook maintained. Three weeks ago during his visit to BiH, he announced that Momcilo Krajisnik, BiH Presidency Member suggested that Karadizic’s trial occurs without his physical presence at the Hague. According to Cook, Judge Goldstone sees it as a good idea to move the Hague to BiH. Tuzla, as more tolerant towards other Entities than Sarajevo, is being discussed as a town for the Court’s seat.
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The Hague – The Hague Tribunal demanded that rump Yugoslavia extradite: Miroslav Radic, Milan Mrksic and Veselin Sljivancanin, accused of committing war crimes in Vukovar. The Hague Tribunal knows for sure that they live on the territory of FRY. Two other persons are wanted by the Tribunal for war crimes committed in Omarska and Keraterm.
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Banja Luka – Marko Palic, newly appointed RS Minister for Interior Affairs, met Biljana Plavsic, RS Prsident, for the first time since his appointment, to discuss working plans. At the same time the meeting represents a denial of the alleged non acceptance of the President’s decision by Palic. The Minister has started to gain more support in SDS. Today he received support from SDS Prijedor. Very soon, probably even tomorrow, the changes in the RS military hierarchy, could occur, for Plavsic has called a Headquarters meeting. Despite all changes, Plavsic asserts that it doesn’t mean a split in the Entity. (Follows a lengthy piece of AP commentary on the split in the RS leadership, among them a possible compromise or a military clash, which should also not be excluded).
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Pale – SRT Director Miroslav Toholj refuted the assertions of HR Carlos Westendorp in a letter sent to Krajisnik, accusing the SRT of deliberate misinformation, agitating comments, insulting language and very biased reporting. Toholj angrily warned the HR in a statement read on SRT last night. Don’t mix in things which concern only the will of our people, SRT Director wrote. Any drastic movement in this direction could mean the end of your mission in our country. An unidentified source close to Plavsic said that the RS President might undertake steps to establish a new Serb TV with a seat in Banja Luka, beginning next week.
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Sarajevo – A recent visit of the high Federal delegation to the Central Bosnian Canton, as well as Deputy HR Gerd Wagner’s meeting with Dzevad Mlaco, Bugojno Municipal Commissioner, in Sarajevo today, ended with expressions of welcome for the refugee return to Bugojno. What is possible in Jajce and Bugojno, must be possible in the whole Canton and BiH, Gerd Wagner asserted on camera.
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Zagreb – Frequent visits and demands on Zagreb by the IC representatives, especially by American, mean only that they expect that the most co-operative sides in the DPA implementation do even more, estimates Franjo Greguric, Special BiH Envoy of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. In an interview to Zagreb’s Vijesnik, he asserted that the biggest hindrance to the DPA are the Bosnian Serbs, who in the end, intend to join Serbia or obtain their own state. The militant Bosniaks, had the same wishes while Zagreb is the most co-operative, said Greguric.
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Summary SRT TV News
NEVESINJE – Prime minister of Republika Srpska (RS) Gojko Klickovic, stated in Nevesinje that following the latest developments in Banjaluka it came “obvious that the open betrayal is at stake”. “The RS Government and the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) undertake to overcome the double rule as soon as possible”, Klickovic stated, and added that this should happen with a full observance of democratic principles. The RS prime minister expressed his belief that the Serbian people had “strength, willingness, unity and togetherness” for such as endeavour. In Nevesinje Klickovic visited a building site of housing units for refugees; first 20 out of 120 housing units should be built by autumn. He emphasised that both jobs creation and housing must be a guarantee for the survival of the Serbs in the region.Supervisor for Brcko, Mr. Farrand, met today with delegation of the Serb refugee families living in the ex-zone of separation in Brcko, where 120 Muslims tried to enter forcibly on 22 August . Mr. Farrand met with the presidents of the Croat, Muslim and Serb municipalities in Brcko to talk about the return of Muslims into the zone of separation.
Mr. Farrand proposed at the meeting that about 70 Serb families should leave their houses which they and RS Government have repaired in the ZOS and that the OHR Brcko will build new houses at the locations which they choose in Brcko.
It has been agreed at the meeting that the reconstruction of the houses, started by the Muslims on 22 August, should be continued on Monday 25 August, but the Muslims should not enter the ex-zone of separation in big groups in order to avoid further provocation.
A special team of Association of Prisoners of War from 1991, which is cooperating with the Hague Tribunal on the case of the Celebici camp, near Konjic, sent a letter to this Court asking for legal interpretation of the Tribunal Constitution in connection with the claimed responsibility of Alija Izetbegovic about his visit to the camp supported by the statements of the witnesses. The Association has reminded in its letter that they have many times provided proofs about responsibility of the Muslim authorities and President of BIH Presidency, Mr. Alija Izetbegovic personally, for ethnic cleansing of Serbs in Konjic municipality, but the Court, to date, has never taken this into consideration. Ethnic cleansing has been carried out in Konjic municipality from April till December 1992. During this period, almost all out of total 7700 Serbs were ethnically cleansed, while around 160 Serbs were killed and more than thousand Serbs were sent to the camps in Celebici ad Musala. That is why the Association is requesting legal interpretation from the Court, namely, what kind of responsibility bears the visit of Mr. Izetbegovic and General Jovan Divjak to the camp Celebici. The Hague Tribunal Court has charged only three Muslims, Delalic, Lndjo and Delic as well the Croat, Zdravko Nucic for the crimes done at the Celebici camp. The witnesses who had the opportunity to see Alija Izetbegovic at the camp, made their statements in January 1996 in Temisvar, Hungary. After that the Association offered six more witnesses including one who attended half an hour inspect of the honour guard unit at the terrain of the camp. The Association claims there is a VHS recording of this event and asked the Court to contact the owner of the tape.
American Envoy for former Yugoslavia, Mr. Robert Gelbard stated that RS President Ms. Biljana Plavsic promised to do everything to implement the Dayton Peace Accord and enable the return of refugees and displaced persons. Mr. Gelbard made a statement last night for the ‘Radio Free Europe’, carried by the news agency SRNA, in which he mentioned that Ms. Plavsic supported the programme of return of the Muslim refugees to Sipovo within the project ‘open cities’. He mentioned that Ms. Plavsic many times admitted that she earlier had opinions and attitudes for which she deeply regretted now. Asked whether he felt comfortably to cooperate with Ms. Plavsic having in mind her past, Mr. Gelbard answered that the RS President is working on achieving the goals of the Dayton Agreement and multi-democratic state.
SRNA NEWS AGENCY on SRT drama:
BANJALUKA – Immediately before the SRT central news broadcast, the SRT Banjaluka’s studio started with its own broadcast, which is regarded as a media coup in all democratic states. A SRT journalist, who did not sign a “list of Banjaluka editors board”, Rade Grbic, was definitely denied entrance into Banjaluka’s Studio, under an order by Mrs Plavsic and a journalist Marinko Ucur. At the same time the Banski Dvori is freely accessed by one of Muslim political leaders from the B-H Federation, Sejfudin Tokic, who disseminated propaganda material for his political party on the street.
BANJALUKA – Serb Radio-Studio Banjaluka exited the unitary SRT system and now, under control of Biljana Plavsic’s followers, started its own programming, this was confirmed to SRNA in the studio. This media coup followed a call of the president of the Coordination Board of Opposition Parties for Support to President Plavsic, Radoslav Brdjanin, on Plavsic’s supporters to make a peaceful protest against editorial policy of Serb Radio.