03.11.1999

OHR RTRS News Summary, 3 November 1999

News Headlines

  • Dodik meets with Del Ponte
  • Dodik accuses group of people that escaped from RS to Yugoslavia of attempting to destabilize RS
  • BiH Presidency discusses draft on BiH Common Border Service
  • BiH Presidency meets with Del Ponte
  • Klein opens UN and IPTF offices in Srbinje (Foca)
  • IPTF spokesperson Roberts holds press conference on cadets for multi-ethnic police force in Brcko
  • Joint Commission for Implementation of Brcko Arbitration Decision holds session in Brcko
  • Citizens and doctors in Kosovska Mitrovica protest on Kouchner decision to dismiss Hospital Director
  • Body of elderly woman found in Donji Stereoc, Kosovo – KFOR
  • Russian KFOR arrests 10 Serbs for possession of illegal weapons in Strzovce, Kosovo
  • Serb beaten in Kosovo Polje
  • Albanian policewoman attacked in northern Kosovska Mitrovica
  • Kouchner accuses Albanians of humiliating Serbs in Kosovo
  • OSCE concerned over continuing violence in Kosovo – SRNA
  • NATO and Russia will achieve their goal – peace in Kosovo – Robertson
  • Head of former OSCE Verification Mission to Kosovo Walker condemns attacks on Serbs
  • Djukanovic departs for US visit
  • Alliance for Change meets with US Congress
  • Opposition wants guarantees from western countries that Serbia will receive aid after Milosevic departure – Alliance for Change member Avramovic
  • Yugoslav Trade Inspector Jaksic not officially informed of DM circulation in Montenegro
  • Glossary of religious terms promoted in Sarajevo
  • European Commission to invest 1.2 million Euros in BiH de-mining – BiH Federation Defense Ministry
  • Over 3,000 Serbs return to Sarajevo – Serb Civic Council (SGV)
  • 70% of Bosniaks living abroad have returned to Livno, Tomislavgrad, Glamoc and Kupres – Onasa
  • Sarajevo Canton Government adopts Law on Apartment Utilization
  • BiH Federation workers continue to strike
  • World News
  • Goods worth KM 100,000 confiscated in Bijeljina and Trebinje
  • Fourth International Food and Beverage Fair to be held in Banja Luka 4-11 November
  • Sports
  • Weather
  • ICG believes Petritsch changes to property law could fail
  • Permanent violence in Kosovo could influence donors’ assistance – OSCE and UN
  • Provisional Kosovo Council President Andjelkovic dissatisfied with poor security situation in Kosovo
  • Yugoslav Ambassador to UN Jovanovic protests UN plans to conduct census in Kosovo
  • European Commission proposes 500 million EURO for Kosovo reconstruction in 2000
  • European Council holds session on Kosovo and stabilization in Balkans
  • UN police in Kosovo requests merchants not sell firecrackers to children – BETA
  • US administration to allow fuel delivery to Serbia if free elections held – BETA
  • Business conference of RS and German economists held in Banja Luka
  • Doboj Mayor Mirko Stojcinovic physically attacks reporter Mirko Srdic believing him to be author of documentary on Doboj corruption (no further details)

News Summary

Dodik meets with Del Ponte

RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik met with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte in Banja Luka on Wednesday. RS Minister of Labor, Veterans and Victims of War Tihomir Gligoric and Justice Minister Milan Trbojevic also attended the meeting. Dodik expressed his satisfaction that full agreement was reached that all those who committed war crimes in former Yugoslavia should be tried in the ICTY. He added that guilt must be individualized. Del Ponte told Dodik that certain measures would be undertaken against those who committed crimes against the Serb people. Del Ponte stated that if the RS is to be accepted by the International Community, it is important for the RS to act in accordance with its international obligations, especially those to the ICTY. She added that the ICTY investigates crimes regardless of the ethnic origin of the perpetrator. She assessed that indictments would be raised against non-Serbs at the beginning of next year. Dodik promised his full support to the ICTY. He said that he would be visiting The Hague in end-November to continue the talks started in Banja Luka.

02:09

Dodik accuses group of people that escaped from RS to Yugoslavia of attempting to destabilize RS

In an interview to the Belgrade weekly Vreme, RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik accused a group of people who escaped from the RS to Yugoslavia of undertaking actions over the past ten years to destabilize the RS. They have been doing this under the auspices of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Dodik added that the group is now based in Loznica and that their actions are being monitored. He added that those same people attempted to murder Nezavisne Novine Editor-in-Chief Zeljko Kopanja. Dodik believes that the assassination attempt is, in a way, an attack on him. According to Dodik, this shows that the people who adhere to the political option Kopanja tried to expose are in a great crisis. “These people have brought the most evil to Serb people” he added. “They have no other arguments except the use of explosives and terrorism, which is their own end, he concluded.

01:10