September 9, 1999

23:34 On today’s meeting Federal Government made bases for the talks Federal Minister of foreign affairs Zivadin Jovanovic is to have in New York from 19. to 29. September when 54. Session of UN General Assembly is scheduled, electronic media of Serbia report. The government also decided to allot urgent aid for the population of Greece struck by the earthquake. It was also decided that the building of Federal Executive Council in 104 Bulevar Avnoja be given to Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs.

23:02 ZAGREB (ISNK) Today’s daily VECERNJI LIST published a short information according to which Croatia had withdrawn the request of appointing the ambassador to Yugoslavia, because Yugoslavia had been refusing to accept Sergej Morsan as Croatian Ambassador for five months. On the other hand, Belgrade made a hint concerning Yugoslav ambassador to Croatia, and then requested approval of Zoran Vujovic, former trade minister. The rumor goes in diplomatic circles that Belgrade suggested, or precisely speaking, made a condition that the process of getting the approvals of ambassadors’ appointments should be carried out simultaneously. Croatia has not requested the approval of any other candidate so far. Well-informed diplomatic sources claim that the whole “game” was devised so that the Serbs refugees in Yugoslavia would not be able to vote.

22:58 Former Governor of the Central Bank of Yugoslavia Dragoslav Avramovic assessed that “ Serbia is entering a period of high inflation which cannot be stopped by any means”, a period when the increase of prices is more than 20% a month.

23:52 Alija Izetbegovic, Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina member, announced at the press conference held in Tesanj today that he would bring charges against The New York Times and journalist Chris Hedges for their assertions that the authorities of Federation had taken the possession of a billion dollars of international donations.

22:55 Black exchange rate in Podgorica set a record tonight – dealers exchange 1DM for 13,50 dinars, and ‘buy” 1DM for 13,00 dinars. The reasons are today’s announcement of devaluation of dinar, reported by beograd.com at 17:49.

22:45 Podgorica daily VIJEST published the statement of Vladimir Cejovic, assistand of the minister of interior affairs of Montenegro who declared that this year the policemen from Montenegro would not attend secondary police school in Belgrade, but a similar one in Montenegro, since Serbia did not respond to the request regarding this issue and made by Montenegro.

22:41 What is going on with “the black exchange rate”? Here in Sremska Mitrovica dealers on the streets exchange 1DM for 13 dinars and “sell” 1DM for14 dinars. What is going on in other towns of Serbia? And in Montenegro? If anyone knows, please keep us informed. Thank you.

22:31 Secretary of Information of Montenegro Bozidar Jaredic declared today that by the end of the year Information Agency of Montenegro would be formed, since federal agency TANJUG did not service Montenegrin media, but had turned into “an organ of SPS, JUL and SRS”.

22:08 Over 6 thousand Serbs and Montenegrins protested today in Gracanica in front of a monument dedicated to Serb heroes. The reasons of their protest were the situation in Kosovo that is getting more and more complicated and the inability of KFOR to protect them. KFOR representatives, although invited, did not appear, which triggered additional suspicion of Serbs regarding KFOR heads’ statements that they would equally protect all the citizens of Kosmet.

22:04 BEOGRAD.COM-EXCLUSIVE – Permanent Committee of EU has enlarged “the list of personnaes non gratta” from FRY. These persons were denied both transport through and residence or entrance in EU countries. Besides, 29 European countries, including 15 EU members, temporarily confiscated their property and money, as well as investments, deposits, bank accounts, stock exchange transactions, letters of guarantee and all other instruments of payment

21:07 Some 400 Serb Kosovo refugees refused today to be scattered in several camps throughout Serbia. The group was, as beograd.com already reported, stopped by police near Cacak, on their way to Belgrade.

20:51 BETA – UN Balkan Special Envoy Karl Bildt said today that both SFOR and KFOR have no final strategy, and that they would have to remain in the region for a longer period, in order to prevent bloodshed.

20:25 GLAS JAVNOSTI – UNMIK is slowly overtaking all vital functions in Kosovo, including Serb Power Plants Facilities.

19:56 2,000 vehicles had been produced in Kragujevac ZASTAVA since the beginning of the year. 525 vehicles were completed in August, and similar number could be expected this month.

19:42 According to Western Alliance Command, the NATO –Ukraine Committee appealed to all Kosovo inhabitants to cooperate with international peacekeeping forces.

19:20 UNMIK Chief Bernard Couchner tried to appease tensions between Serbs and Albanians by visiting Kosovska Mitrovica, a divided city. Couchner promised to a group of about 200 Albanians protesting in front of the city UN headquarters, that they would be soon returned to their homes in northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, populated mainly by Serbs.

19:04 Vice-president of Serb government Vojislav Seselj announced today reconstruction of the cabinet until October 1, although he added that there will be no major changes.

18:37 According to Manilla official sources, 23 Philiphines will join International Police Force in Kosovo. The team will consist of traffic, explosives and intelligence experts.

17:59 British Embassy in Zagreb denied today information already published by beograd.com, that it would establish a visa regime for Croatian citizens within a forthnight.

17:58 HINA - Croatian Minister of Justice Zvonimir Separovic will travel to The Hague on Monday, September 13, to represent his country before the Court in the process against FRY. Representatives of the two countries will be cross-examined concerning Croatian accusations of violation of Genocide Convention before the Court of Justice.

17:57 On September 9, 1999, beginning at 20:00, the panel discussion entitled “Where is Serbia going?” will be organized. Mladjen Dinkic, G-17 Coordinator, Predrag Markovic, co-author of the Pact of Stability in Serbia, Slobodan Vucetic, Constitutional Court Judge, Dusan Kovacevic, famous playwright, Ljubomir Simovic, member of Serb Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vida Ognjenovic, director, historian Ljubodrag Dimic, Group 17 and Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije will take pat in the discussion.

17:49 “Yugoslav government will devaluate YU DIN”. According to Serb PM Deputy Jovan Zebic, state financial institutions were ordered to increase foreign currency reserves before devaluation, which date was not yet officially published. Previous devaluation was ordered in 1996. Similar decision was postponed in October 1998, because foreign currency reserves of National Bank were too low.

17:42 Australian non-governmental organization “Care” announced today that it is prepared to offer humanitarian aid to victims of bombardment in Yugoslavia, including aid to Yugoslav jails. According to Republican Information Ministry, Serb Justice Minister Dragoljub Jankovic met today Australian Ambassador in Yugoslavia Christopher Lamb and Executive Manager of “Care” organization Malcolm Freiser to discuss details concerning the offered humanitarian aid.

17:38 Church and people Board of Gnjilane demanded from Serb government to “reconsider its representatives behaviour in Kosovo-Pomoravlje region and their work, because they obviously failed to do their duty. Serb authorities persistently rely upon their officials who fled from Kosovo and send their information and opinions from Bujanovac, Vranje and Nis.”

17:32 “Veritas” Information and Documents Center Savo Strbac said today that he had been promised by The Hague Tribunal Attorney General Louise Arbour indictments against six Croatian Generals involved in war crimes committed during “Oluja” and “Bljesak” campaigns – Norc, Markac, Gotovina, Krsticevic, Korada and Cermak. “By this indictment the very military and civil top, and it is well known who are these people. Finally, everybody knows who was in command during the campaigns,” said Strbac for NOVI LIST Rijeka daily.

17:26 According to Athens diplomatic sources, FRY will not be invited to ministerial conference on Balkan cooperation scheduled for September 15 in Bucharest. The meeting of seven countries from the region, which had started cooperation in 1997, was scheduled for June, but Albanian government, due to Kosovo crisis, disagreed with participation of FRY, threatening to boycott the cooperation.

17:23 Socialist Party of Serbia spokesman Ivica Dacic said today that this country would not plan any military intervention in Kosovo. “We shall not offer an alibi to anyone for further threats, blackmailing and attacks on FRY. We shall continue to obey UN Resolution No. 1244, because we still believe to this organization, “ added Dacic.

17:17 A Gypsy woman died today after being severely beaten by KLA members in Kosovo, said a KFOR spokesman. According to witnesses, a woman of sixty five was attacked late last night in Prizren. Although a German KFOR helicopters was used to transport her to military hospital, she died soon after she was hospitalized.

16:04 So called “White Book” on cooperation of Republic of Croatia with The Hague Tribunal was not yet sent to The Hague Tribunal, said at a press conference the Attorney’s Office spokesman Paul Risley. Another spokesman of the Office, Christian Chartier, confirmed this assertion. Besides, no proposals of Croatian Minister of Justice concerning jurisdiction over crimes perpetrated during “Bljesak” and “Oluja” campaigns were delivered.

15:48 As the term given to KLA to disarm (September 19) becomes closer, clashes between this organization and KFOR forces become more and more frequent. According to KFOR Center in Prishtina, a former member of KLA was arrested because of keeping hand grenades, while another eight unidentified males were arrested after a store of heavy armament had been discovered.

15:45 In Preljina, near Cacak, police stopped a group of Serb refugees from Kosovo. The group left Kraljevo this morning, in order to reach Belgrade. The people were given a temporary shelter in “Vuk Karadzic” primary school in Kraljevo, but they had to be moved out because of the beginning of the new school year.

15:44 President of Serbia Milan Milutinovic met today ousted president of Republic of Srpska. Official Belgrade has never accepted the decision of Carlos Westendorp according to which Poplasen was displaced.

14:28 The Bishop of Nis Irinej said today that the Divinity College of Serbian Orthodox Church in Prizren would be temporarily transferred to Nis. “The final decision regarding the College seat will be made by Serbian Orthodox Church Council on Monday”. 14:21 Ministry of education and the Republic Institute for Textbooks and Educational Resources will supply the elementary and secondary school pupils in the village of Gorazdevci in Metohija with books, notebooks, pencils, schoolbags etc. by September 9. Serbian Red Cross will also send to Gorazdevac 10 tons of humanitarian aid in food and medicines. 14:00 Elementary and secondary school students who came from Kosovo and are attending schools in Montenegro will get free textbooks and other supplies provided by UNICEF in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Science and The Institute for Textbooks and Educational Resources of Montenegro, said an assistance of the minister of education and science Radovan Damjanovic.

13:56 The list of Serbs wounded or killed during the attack on the Village of Donje Budrige, as well as what has been going on in Prizren and Gnjilane for the last 24 hours can be read in the statement issued by Serbian Orthodox Church.

13:37 According to KFOR deputy commander in chief French general Jean-Claude Tomaine, “The Kosovo corps”, will beside 3,000 active consist of 2,000 reserve members. “They will carry out humanitarian missions, and their aim will be the reconstruction of Kosovo”. According to Tomaine, a sum of 160 million DM will have to be earmarked during a couple of following years.

13:00 UNMIK spokesman Daniela Rzgonova said today that the international government gathered more than a million DM of taxes during the first five days of the implementation of new customs system in Kosovo.

12:56 A group of 350 Serbs refugees from Kosovo, after a night spent under the open and raining sky passed the police blockade on the exit of Kraljevo and set of for Belgrade.

12:54 Training of future police forces in Kosovo began yesterday in Vucitrn, but without 20 local Serbs, reports independent radio station ANTENA M. In the training center only 9 Serbs appeared at first, then two of them were taken away by KFOR members for hearing after the anonymous reports of their Albanian colleagues. The remaining seven Serbs left in protest. The training was carried out for 180 trainees who are Kosovo Albanians. (Picture: Danish UN officer Sven Frederickson with the trainees of the fist class)

12:34 New US Ambassador to UN Richard Holbruke has a very difficult task. Beside his regular duties, he is one of the American officials who formulated policy for supplying aid for the renewal and attaining peace in Kosovo, asserts American press today. “Holbruke has clearly explained what should be done. First of all, demilitarization of KLA is necessary, since there can be only one kind of security forces in Kosovo – that is KFOR”.

12:28 UN team of experts for the environment protection began the mission in Yugoslavia aimed at evaluating the level of biological and aerial pollution resulting from bombing the FRY. It is the third mission of UN aimed at estimating environmental damage. The first two teams of experts assessed damages to industry, and the pollution of rivers. The third team will during its 3-week stay in FRY visit 13 centers believed to be mostly damaged by NATO bombing.

12:21 Russian Government should adopt a document that would enable reestablishing the shipments of Russian gas to Yugoslavia, reports ITAR TASS. The sources would not give details on the document and the precise date of the document adoption.

12:15 President of Democratic Center Dragoljub Micunovic, invited 14 parties of the Serbian opposition to join in the deliberations of a round table on the key issues for Serbia. The positive answer was given only by Democratic Party of Serbia

12:11 “The worst victims of Kosovo conflict were Albanian young man-civilians who were being killed in groups on the same spot. The mission of forensics exhumed and performed autopsies of almost 400 bodies in the sector controlled by French KFOR soldiers and believes that more than half of the job regarding autopsies of the victims found in Northern zone around Kosovska Mitrovica was completied” is stated in the report made by French forensics sent to Kosovo at the request of The Hague Tribunal.

12:08 On the border crossing between Serbia and Montenegro Serb police forces and inspections still make very strict controls thus forbidding the entrance of all merchandize from Serbia into Montenegro. The manufacturers in Serbia, as well as private enterprises’ owners are aware that this regulation means that Montenegrin market is lost for them, and are therefore forced to cope with the problem in various ways. Many of them avoid Kolvrat, and still find a way of supplying Montenegrin market via Republic of Srpska where the prices of flour and meat are much higher than in Serbia.

11:40 The Agency SENSE had insight into the draft of the proposition of the transformation process of KLA outlined following very long meetings of KFOR, UNMIK and KLA. The draft is being discussed by the high NATO military officials, while Bernard Kouchner is to present it to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today.

11:23 President of the Danube Commission Helmut Strasser declared that he does not know when the Danube traffic in the region of Novi Sad is to be reestablished and announced the possibility of supplying aid to Yugoslav authorities for opening the Danube inland navigation. Strasser reminded that, according to the Danube Convention, every country has the obligation to provide the conditions for navigation along the part of the river running through their territory, but also pointed out that other countries can provide their help if one of the countries for some financial or technical reason is prevented to do so. His estimates are that the costs of re-establishing Danube inland navigation could amount to $ 50 million.

11:17 Criminal charges against 15 Kosovo Albanians suspected to be the members of KLA, considered by Yugoslav Government a terrorist organization, were brought in Pozarevac. Before the Court Martial in Nis on September 17 a process will be initiated against 11 Kosovo Albanians believed to be KLA members. According to Serbian administration of justice, there are 2,050 prisoners from Kosovo more in Serbian prisons.

11:14 “The disappearance of Republic of Srpska has already been scheduled by the end of this year This made me bring up the initiative for the dismissal of the National Assembly of RS, which creates the conditions for wider responsibility of the Government and other political factors in the Republic”, said the ousted president of RS Nikola Poplasen adding that president of FRY did not influence him to require the parliament dismissal, report Banja Luka daily “Nezavisne Novine”.

11:08 Minister of Interior affairs Hubert Vedrine and president of Democratic Party of Serbia Zoran Djindjic discussed the perspectives of changing the regime in Belgrade, France Press reports referring to diplomatic sources in Paris. Vedrine pointed out that the change of the regime was in the interest of Serbian people. Sanctions against Belgrade and the necessity of uniting the whole opposition of Serbia were also discussed. Djindjic declared that the position of Serbs in Kosov were also discussed with Vedrine, and the French Minister agreed with the proposition of creating a special program aimed at protection of Serbs who remained in Kosovo, as well as of creating international fund for financing the return of Serbs-refugees to Kosovo.

11:02 Belgrade lawyer Milan Vujin cannot defend Radomir Kovac indicted with raping Moslem women in Foca 1992, was announced on Wednesday at the regular briefing for journalists in the Hague Tribunal. A process regarding the charges that Vujin “has deliberately and intentionally obstructed justice by unallowed influencing the witnesses” has been initiated before the Court of Appeals of the Tribunal.

10:55 “The idea of transitional government of experts, as framed by the Stability Pact and the Group 17 proposition, obviously cannot be carried out. The reason is the selfishness of the opposition I did not expect. Our proposal that we should together remove Milosevic from the political scene and make truly radical reforms in economy and other aspects of the society was simply overcame by selfish party interests of certain individuals, for whom it is obviously more important to have 10 members in the Parliament than to make a final political breakthrough and bring the changes”, said Mladjan Dinkic, Group 17 coordinator and one of the creators of the Stability Pact.

10:40 Members of Students’ Movement “Otpor” (“Resistance”) protested in front of Court Martial in Belgrade against former and forthcoming mobilization of their coevals, as well as against criminal charges brought against those who refused to be drafted. The protest had a very symbolic name: “For Whom the Bells Tool”, reports REUTERS. 10:49 “Since I cannot perceive the end of Slobodan Milosevic’s reign, I am absolutely pessimistic about the Kosovo remaining a natural part of Serbia”, said Novak Kilibarda and added: “The gentlemen accusing Montenegrin government of betraying Kosovo did not go to Kosovo, neither did the son of Mr. Milosevic, nor the heroes of Montenegro, Predrag Bulatovic for example. They knew that Kosovo they cannot defend. If democracy won in the elections in Kosovo, and if a wise man became a leader of Serbia, mutual trust could be established and common language found”, concluded vice-president of Montenegrin government Novak Kilibarda.

10:33 Criminal charges against Ivan Novkovic main hearing is scheduled to be held on September 23 before the municipal court of Leskovac. Novkovic was the initiator of the citizens’ protests in the town and is charged with the misuse of his position and causing moral damage to the name of Zivojin Stefanovic, Head of Jablanica District. Novkovic was summoned yesterday.

09:48 More than half of 20,000 wells in Kosovo have been contaminated by human or animal corpses as the result of Kosovo clashes, warned ICRC today. In the statement issued by the Head Office of ICRC, it is asserted that many rural communities in Kosovo need an alternative water supply system, since the corpses of many murdered persons and animals were being thrown into the wells during the ethnic clashes.

02:00 President of the Provisional Executive Council of Kosovo Zoran Andjelkovic had talks with Albrecht Konzeo, UNMIK representative regarding the needs to issue passports and other identiy papers to all citizens of the region, which would enable them to cross Yugoslav borders legaly and move within the territory of the country. Solving the problem postponement Konzeo explains is the result of the fact that the citizens of Kosovo may get the identity papers valid for Kosovo only and issued by UNMIK. Committee for the Co-operation with the UN insists on solving the passports issue first, and then identity cards, Andjelkovic pointed out.

01:31 Minister of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Vlajko Stojiljkovic declared during his visit to the Police Academy in Zemun that the Ministry will in the forthcoming period focus on fighting gray economy – especially in the field of oil, cigarette, home appliances, cement, coffee and exotic fruit trade, so that the excises, customs duties and other incomes should end up in the state treasury.

01:07 According to the latest information, 64 persons were killed, 50 disappeared and 1,557 wounded in the earthquake in Athens.

00:39 Sources of News Agency BETA inform that 138 Serbs are to be evacuated from Orahovac, mainly sick persons planned to be accommodated with their cousins in Serbia Proper.

00:21 Sveta Dabizljevic, president of the municipal assembly of Klina was taken in by Serbian Police Forces yesterday afternoon in Kragujevac. Dabizljevic was organizing the trip of a group of refugees from Kosovo to Belgrade.

00:04 Referring to the statement issued by the Cabinet of the President of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ante Jelavic, it is expected that the state will at the latest become a full member of the European Council by the beginning of the year 2000.

§