No. 201, 19 October 1993

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.





RUSSIA



RUSSIA TO DUMP MORE NUCLEAR WASTE IN SEA OF JAPAN. Amid growing
outrage in Japan over the dumping of some 900 cubic meters of
radioactive liquid waste off the Japanese coast on 17 October,
Russian officials announced on 18 October that Moscow intended
to dump another 800 cubic meters into the same area sometime
before 15 November, AFP reported. According to Reuters on 18
October, Russian Environmental Ministry officials said that financial
difficulties involved in storing the waste had driven Russia
to conduct the dumping; they suggested that Japan's failure to
provide Russia with technical aid had left them with little choice.
Officials also claimed that the dump had been planned in September,
and that the Foreign Ministry had been asked to notify Japan.
Tokyo has denied being informed. On 18-October, The New York
Times reported. Russia's ambassador to Japan received a statement
of strong regret from the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The newspaper
also noted the apparent "brazenness" of the dumping operation.
Experts have said that the dumping does not constitute an environmental
danger. -Stephen Foye

TRAVKIN FORMS BLOC . . . The Democratic Party of Russia has published
a list of its candidates for parliamentary elections, Ostankino
TV "Novosti" reported on 15 October. The list is headed by the
party's leader, Nikolai Travkin, followed by the well-known patriotic
film maker Stanislav Govorukhin, economist Oleg Bogomolov, and
former Justice Minister Nikolai Fedorov. By allying himself with
Govorukhin, a strong critic of President Boris Yeltsin, and Bogomolov,
a former economic consultant to ex-parliamentary speaker Ruslan
Khasbulatov, Travkin seeks to gain support from more conservative
voters. -Alexander Rahr

. . . AS DOES YAVLINSKY. Economist Grigorii Yavlinsky, who himself
intends to run for president, has formed his own bloc for parliamentary
elections, Kommersant daily reported on 16 October. Apart from
Yavlinsky, the bloc is led by former presidential chief inspector
Yurii Boldyrev and Russian ambassador to the US Vladimir Lukin.
The leadership of the liberal Republican Party has also decided
to join Yavlinsky's bloc and has left the Democratic Russia Movement.
The leader of the democratic bloc "Russia's choice", Egor Gaidar,
tried in vain to save the alliance with the Republican Party.
But Yavlinsky suffered a major defeat when Konstantin Zatulin,
the head of the powerful association "Entrepreneurs for new Russia"
departed from Yavlinsky's group to the newly created party of
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai; Zatulin accused his former
ally of populism. -Alexander Rahr

STANKEVICH ON SHAKHRAI'S PARTY. Presidential advisor Sergei Stankevich
told ITAR-TASS on 18 October that the Party of Russian Unity
and Concord of Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shakhrai will cooperate
with the other democratic bloc-"Russia's choice." Stankevich,
who has joined Shakhrai's party, said that the new party will
attempt to integrate the interests of the various regions and
to develop a unified conception of the Russian state. He stated
that Shakhrai's party will represent the "real interests" of
the Russian regions. Stankevich also said that Shakhrai may become
a serious contender for the presidency in "about eight to ten
years." -Alexander Rahr

CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS ANNOUNCE CANDIDATES. The opposition Russian
Christian Democratic Movement has announced the top three candidates
on its electoral list. The first place will go to the party leader,
Viktor Aksyuchits, a deputy in the dissolved parliament. Two
more places have been offered to the ex-chairman of the Constitutional
Court, Valerii Zorkin, and onetime Olympic champion turned nationalist
activist, Yurii Vlasov. The party will fight under the slogan
"national consent" on a platform of "social justice, socially-oriented
market reforms, and restoration of traditional values," Aksyuchits
told a press conference on 18-October, Reuters and Interfax reported.
Aksyuchits also said that President Yeltsin had acted illegally
in dissolving the parliament, and that his rule was becoming
"an anti-communist dictatorship." -Wendy Slater

EDITOR OF NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA IN JEOPARDY? THE ANCHOR OF THE
SHOW "POLITBURO" (BROADCAST ON OSTANKINO TELEVISION ON 15 OCTOBER)
HAS ALLEGED THAT AUTHORITIES ARE TRYING TO REPLACE VITALII TRETYAKOV
AS CHIEF EDITOR OF THE LIBERAL NEWSPAPER, NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA.
Along with many other media organs, Nezavisimaya gazeta was founded
in 1990 by the Moscow City Soviet after democrats won a majority
of seats in that body. However, after the Moscow City Soviet
was disbanded by Yeltsin's decree of 5 October, "Politburo" claimed,
those publications that had supported the Russian president absolutely,
such as the daily Kuranty and the weekly journal Stolitsa, were
allowed to reregister as the property of their editorial collectives.
The staff of Nezavisimaya gazeta, which has criticized Yeltsin
from a liberal perspective, was refused permission to do this.
Instead, authorities have threatened to reregister Nezavisimaya
gazeta as a publication of the office of Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov;
it would thus share the fate of the parliamentary daily Rossiiskaya
gazeta, whose editor was replaced and whose editorial policies
were changed following Yeltsin's 21 September decree disbanding
the parliament. -Julia Wishnevsky

PRAVDA JOURNALISTS APPEAL TO YELTSIN. On 18-October journalists
of Pravda asked President Yeltsin to reverse the decision of
the Russian Information Ministry that required Pravda to reregister
under a new name, replace its chief editor, and change its editorial
policy. The journalists called the decision "immoral" and "a
totalitarian whim" which could lead to the persecution of dissidents,
an RFE/RL correspondent in Moscow reported. Pravda was first
suspended from publication on 4 October on the alleged grounds
that it had supported the disturbances in Moscow on 3 October;
later the Information Ministry permitted the newspaper to reregister
under the above-mentioned conditions. -Vera Tolz

BREAD PRICES DECONTROLLED. After a two-week delay and conflicting
official pronouncements about further postponements, bread retail
prices in most Russian cities were decontrolled on 15 October,
Interfax reported. A state price committee official was quoted
as saying that the price of the standard loaf would rise from
about 137 rubles to about 250 rubles a kilogram. Grain subsidies
are expected to continue through the end of the harvest season
in many regions. Details of the flour and bread subsidies and
of the bread allowance payable to poor Russians are given in
The New York Times of 17 October. -Keith Bush

MORE SUPPORT FOR THE ENERGY SECTOR. The Russian government intends
to provide fresh loans and new privileges to the energy sector
in coming months, Interfax reported on 15-and 18 October. The
loan package includes 350 billion rubles to keep enterprises
in the energy sector, which has been troubled by delinquent customer
payments, operating, and another 400 billion rubles for investment.
The government has also allocated 400 billion rubles for supplies-over
half of the value of which are energy products-for communities
in the Far North. The government will also subsidize fuel consumption
of residences and public facilities to the tune of 60 billion
rubles in the fourth quarter of this year. It is not clear how
much of this financing was already envisaged in the current government's
1993 budget plan. Finally, President Yeltsin has issued a decree
exempting oil and natural gas extracting companies from the mandatory
sale of hard currency earnings to enable them to pay foreign
creditors more easily. -Erik Whitlock

BASHKORTOSTAN, UDMURTIA AGAINST APPOINTMENT OF PRESIDENTIAL REPRESENTATIVE.
The presidium of the Bashkortostan parliament has issued a statement
saying that the appointment of a representative of the Russian
president to the republic could "lead to interethnic clashes,
and hamper the holding of the elections and the course of constitutional
reform in the republic," ITAR-TASS reported on 18-October. The
statement said that republican leadership was "categorically
against such an appointment." Radio Rossii reported on 17 October
that a joint session of the presidium of the parliament and the
council of ministers of Udmurtia had sent a message to Yeltsin
saying that the appointment of a representative of the president
to the republic could exacerbate the situation in the republic
"inasmuch as it would be seen as a sign of distrust of its people
and supreme organs of power." -Ann Sheehy

TUVA TO ADOPT NEW CONSTITUTION. Radio Rossii reported on 17 October,
citing Interfax, that the Tuvin parliament would adopt a new
constitution shortly. The draft provides for a reform of the
system of representative power. There will be a new one-chamber
parliament called the Supreme Khural. The draft also states that,
in the event of political crises in the Russian Federation, Tuva
should adopt a stance of positive neutrality and all power on
the territory of the republic should be transferred to the Supreme
Khural and the government. -Ann Sheehy

REPUBLICAN, REGIONAL LEADERS CAN STAND FOR ELECTION TO FEDERATION
COUNCIL. According to Ekho Moskvy of 17 October, the Yeltsin
administration has decided that republican presidents, heads
of administration in the regions, and the heads of the executives
of republics and regions can stand for election to the Federation
Council after all. The radio said the original statute of elections
for the Federation Council sent round earlier had been annulled,
and a new one drawn by deputy prime minister Sergei Shakhrai
and signed by the head of Yeltsin's administration Sergei Filatov
was being sent out. -Ann Sheehy

TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA

YELTSIN AIDE SAYS SECURITY FORCES HESITATED. Yeltsin military
aide General Dmitrii Volkogonov said on 17 October that Security
and Defense Ministry leaders had indeed been slow in throwing
their support behind Boris Yeltsin during the 3-4 October disturbances
in Moscow. Speaking on Russian television (as reported by Reuter
on 18 October), Volkogonov intimated that both ministries kept
offering excuses on why they should not get involved until late
into the night on 3 October; he confirmed that Yeltsin had to
go to the Defense Ministry that same evening and suggested that
the army's support came only after a "fairly harsh discussion
took place." He said that Defense Minister Pavel Grachev had
acted in a professional manner once the decision to use force
was taken. Volkogonov also suggested that the parliamentary forces
had come close to rallying some state structures to their defense.
-Stephen Foye

UPDATE: GEORGIA AND ABKHAZIA. On 18 October Radio Tbilisi quoted
parliament chairman Eduard Shevardnadze as telling a gathering
of intellectuals that Georgia's army "has practically disintegrated"
and that Georgia could not regain control over Abkhazia without
military help from Russia. Also on 18 October, Georgia's Ambassador
in Moscow, Valerian Advadze, was quoted by ITAR-TASS as stating
that Russian military officials have categorically ruled out
the involvement of Russian troops in military operations against
the forces of ousted president Zviad Gamsakhurdia in western
Georgia. On the first day of UN-sponsored talks in Geneva on
the Abkhaz situation, the Georgian delegation named two conditions
for negotiations with the Abkhaz, namely, that the Abkhaz recognize
Georgian sovereignty over Abkhazia, and that UN human rights
investigators traveling to the region this week report promptly
on their findings, Reuters reported. -Liz Fuller

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE



WALESA DESIGNATES PAWLAK AS PRIME MINISTER. President Lech Walesa
designated Polish Peasant Party (PSL) leader Waldemar Pawlak
as prime minister on 18 October, PAP reports. Earlier, Walesa
accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka and
her cabinet. Walesa told Polish TV that, of all four Solidarity
governments, cooperation with Suchocka had been most smooth.
Suchocka's caretaker government remains in power until Pawlak
forms his cabinet and the government is officially named by the
president. From that point, Pawlak has fourteen days to seek
confirmation from the Sejm. Pawlak told a press conference that
he may present his cabinet choices as early as the end of this
week. Gazeta Wyborcza speculates that the Democratic Left Alliance
has won control of the two deputy prime minister posts: for political
matters (Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz) and economic affairs (Marek
Borowski), but the battle still rages over the finance, labor,
and public administration posts. Pawlak refused all comment on
specific cabinet choices, acknowledging only that two or three
ministries may be staffed by the Union of Labor. -Louisa Vinton


POLAND ON RUSSIA'S DRAFT DEFENSE DOCTRINE. Polish Defense Minister
Janusz Onyszkiewicz responded on 18 October to fragmentary accounts
of the draft defense doctrine prepared by Russian Defense Minister
Gen. Pavel Grachev. According to Polish TV, the new doctrine
assumes that Poland poses a greater security threat to Russia
than either China or Japan. It proposes bolstering Russia's western
border with the troops withdrawn from Poland, in order to forestall
possible aggression from the West, and contends that Poland is
building up military forces on its eastern border. The doctrine
also reportedly recommends blocking Polish membership in NATO.
Stressing that he is not acquainted with the doctrine itself,
but only press reports on it, Onyszkiewicz said that Poland is
not concentrating forces on its eastern border. Even after the
current process of troop relocation is completed, only 30% of
Polish forces will be stationed to the east, he said. He also
stressed that Polish membership in NATO is a "sovereign decision
for Poland and the alliance" as well as being in Russia's best
interest. Walesa's national security adviser added that "it is
hard to imagine how Poland could threaten great Russia in any
way." -Louisa Vinton

ESTONIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS DEEMED FAIR. Council of Europe observers
reported that the local elections in Estonia held on 17 October
were democratic and peaceful. They noted a few irregularities
but said they were quite ordinary in democratic countries. The
final election results have not yet been announced, but it appears
that the Pro Patria party, which holds the most seats in the
parliament, lost to various smaller parties and alliances in
the cities of Tallinn, Tartu, and Narva, but made a good showing
in Valga. The overall voter turnout was about 60%, with a higher
percentage of participation by non-Estonian voters. -Dzintra
Bungs

YELTSIN OFFERS ESTONIA SUMMIT MEETING. Russian ambassador Aleksandr
Trofimov delivered a message from Russian President Boris Yeltsin
to Estonian President Lennart Meri on 18 October, proposing a
"thoroughly prepared" summit. No date was proposed for the meeting
of the two heads of state, Baltic media reported. In the message,
dated 15 October, Yeltsin said that the pullout of Russian troops
from Estonia is "on schedule." In fact, the two countries have
not agreed on a timetable or a completion date for the withdrawal.
Yeltsin also indicated that he wants to discuss the situation
of Russians in Estonia. -Dzintra Bungs

FINLAND CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN TROOPS. Finnish Foreign Minister
Heikko Haavisto told the press in Washington on 18 October that
the pullback of Russian troops from the Baltic States has led
to an increase of those troops near Finland's southern border
with Russia, Western agencies reported. He also complained that
the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia and Latvia is proceeding
at a very slow pace and that this is a serious concern for Finland.
Haavisto noted that while his country does not feel threatened,
it is following closely all changes in the military capabilities
in Finland's vicinity. Haavisto made these statements at a time
when Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev was visiting his
country and when Latvian-Russian talks on troop withdrawals were
taking place in Moscow. -Dzintra Bungs

LITHUANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS. Lithuanian President Algirdas
Brazauskas announced the resignation of Defense Minister Audrius
Butkevicius on 18 October. He explained that Butkevicius, a physician,
wants to go to England for further training. Butkevicius told
Baltfax that another reason for his resignation was that his
concept of the role of the military and defense leadership differed
from that of the parliament's national security committee, Baltfax
reports. -Dzintra Bungs

ROMANIA AND GERMANY SIGN MILITARY AGREEMENT. In an agreement
signed in Bonn by the two countries' defense ministers, Germany
pledged to support the reform process in Romania's armed forces,
Radio Bucharest reported on 18 October. German Defense Minister
Volker Ruehe said the agreement is to be seen from the perspective
of opening NATO to former Warsaw Pact countries, although Romania's
membership is not imminent. Nicolae Spiroiu, who heads a large
delegation paying a two-day visit to Germany, called the agreement
"historic" and said it aims at adapting Romania's armed forces
to the standard of democratic armies. He added that Romania will
strive for NATO membership when the time is right and when suitable
conditions are achieved. -Michael Shafir

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CRITICIZES ROMANIA OVER GYPSY KILLINGS.
Amnesty International says Romania violated international human
rights standards when its police abetted the slaying of three
Gypsies in the Transylvanian village of Hadareni last month.
In a communique that reached the RFE/RL Research Institute, the
organization says police in the village handcuffed two of the
victims and then allowed an angry crowd of Romanians and Hungarians
to attack and beat them to death. The police also prevented firemen
from reaching a home in which a third Gypsy burned to death,
and took no action to prevent looting the homes of the Gypsies.
Amnesty International protested against the incident in a letter
to President Ion Iliescu, which called the slaying "a flagrant
violation of the international human rights standards, to which
Romania is a party." -Michael Shafir

REFORMER MAY QUIT ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT. Minister of State for
Economic Reform and Strategy, Mircea Cosea, says he will resign
if he fails to win new loans for the country in negotiations
with the IMF. Cosea, who was appointed to the job less than two
months ago and who has the reputation of a reformer, told the
daily Romania libera, as quoted by Reuters on 17 October, that
the reforms cannot be carried out without an agreement with the
IMF. He also warned that Romania may end up on the economic sidelines
of Europe unless it speeds up its free-market reforms. "The red
limit indicator is already flashing," he said. Cosea was Romania's
chief negotiator in last month's talks in Washington with the
IMF. The talks ended without agreement and the two sides will
meet again in late October in Bucharest. -Michael Shafir

POSSIBLE COALITION IN SLOVAK GOVERNMENT. Deputy Chairman of the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Roman Kovac told TASR on 18
October that a coalition with the Slovak National Party is "not
impossible" but that the agreement is subject to ratification
by both parties' executives, which meet on 23 October. Although
several Slovak papers speculated on possible shifts in the cabinet,
Kovac said it is premature to speak about any changes. Chairman
of the SNP Central Council Vitazoslav Moric said that in agreeing
to a coalition, he is "acting for the benefit of the country."
The MDS and SNP began talks in June, following shakeups in the
MDS which left it with a minority government. By August, differences
between the two parties seemed too great to resolve, and several
opposition parties began to talk about early elections as a solution
to the political stalemate. -Sharon Fisher

SLOVAK PREMIER IN ROME. On 18 October Vladimir Meciar continued
his three-day visit to Italy and the Vatican, TASR reports. The
main event of the day was his meeting with Italian Premier Carlo
Azeli Ciampi; the two spoke about bilateral relations, Slovakia's
relations with NATO and the EC, as well as investment possibilities.
During the discussions, Meciar "repeatedly stressed Slovakia's
desire to join NATO." Meeting with Giorgio Napolitano, Chairman
of the Lower House of the Italian parliament, Meciar was told
that the joint entrance of the Visegrad nations into NATO is
supported by the Lower House. -Sharon Fisher

SLOVAK MINISTER OF CULTURE'S CHARGES REJECTED. The Municipal
Court in Bratislava rejected charges brought by Dusan Slobodnik
against Slovak poet Lubomir Feldek on 18 October, TASR reports.
The charges were brought against Feldek after he told TASR on
30 June 1992 that "the Minister of Culture should not be someone
with a fascist personal history." Slobodnik tried to convince
the court that he was not a member of Hlinka's guards and did
not take part in special military training in Sekule sponsored
by the Nazis in the closing years of World War II, but the court
ruled that his claims were not backed by sufficient evidence.
Slobodnik's lawyers said he will appeal the ruling. -Sharon Fisher


US AIR FORCE COMMANDER IN SLOVAKIA. US Air Force Commander General
Merill McPeak visited Slovakia on 15 October, TASR reports. McPeak
visited the air base at Kuchyna. Defense Minister Imrich Andrejcak
said the visit aimed to "develop cooperation between the Slovak
and US armies." -Sharon Fisher

LEBED RETRACTS TRANSFER THREAT. Meeting on 16 October with Tiraspol
constituents who recently elected him to the "Dniester republic's"
Supreme Soviet, Lt.-Gen. Aleksandr Lebed, commander of Russia's
14th Army in Moldova, confirmed his decision to give up that
mandate but retracted his threat, made the previous day, to apply
to the Defense Ministry for a transfer out of Moldova. He said
that he had made the threat "in a moment of irritation" over
the Supreme Soviet's refusal to admit that Dniester fighters
participated in the Moscow rebellion and to draw the political
consequences. Vowing not to leave the "Dniester republic," Lebed
called for the election of a new Supreme Soviet. -Vladimir Socor


UKRAINIAN DEMOCRATS PREPARE FOR ELECTIONS. Ukrainian television
on 16 October reported that 18 political parties, movements,
and trade union organizations headed by Rukh have issued a joint
declaration on cooperation during the parliamentary elections
next March. Noting that it will be practically impossible for
anti-communist organizations to put forth a single candidate
in each electoral district, the groups decided to push for a
proportional or mixed electoral system. The declaration is said
to be open to all organizations with a "democratic orientation."
-Roman Solchanyk

KRAVCHUK SEEKING GERMAN SUPPORT FOR NEW SECURITY ARRANGEMENT.
On the eve of an official visit to Germany, which begins on 22
October, Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk renewed his call
for the creation of a new Central European security zone reflecting
the new political realities of the post-Soviet era. Speaking
on 18 October, Kravchuk also said that his country is ready to
accept more ethnic Germans who want to settle in Ukraine from
other parts of the former USSR. In other news, the Ukrainian
parliament reconvened on 19-October to debate security issues
and state television and radio. -Bohdan Nahaylo

UKRAINE WANTS CHERNOBYL IN OPERATION. Ukraine's government will
ask parliament to allow the Chernobyl nuclear power stations
to continue operating after this year and lift the moratorium
on building three other stations, Ukrainian television and Reuters
reported on 17 and 18 October. The request is prompted by Ukraine's
energy shortage. Kiev now owes Russia $2.5 billion for fuel supplies.
The five nuclear power plants in Ukraine provide 30% of the country's
energy needs, without which the fuel shortage would be even more
acute. In October 1991 parliament ordered the closure of Chernobyl
by the end of 1993 as a result of the 1986 catastrophe. Since
then, however, authorities report that much work has been done
to enhance safety and standards are now the same or higher than
at other plants of the same type. It is uncertain how parliament
will react to the request as many deputies object to lifting
the ban, pointing to a series of incidents at nuclear plants
over the past two years. -Ustina Markus

BELARUS TO REGULATE HARD CURRENCY USE. The Belarus government
is preparing to adopt strict measures regulating the use of hard
currency by individuals, Radiefakt reported on 18 October. Among
the measures under consideration is a ban on private individuals
buying and selling dollars, German marks, and other convertible
currencies. Under the new regulations individuals will only be
able to obtain hard currency from state and commercial exchange
offices. -Ustina Markus

ALBANIAN PRESIDENT DEFENDS NEW PRESS LAW. The controversial press
legislation passed by the Albanian parliament on 11 October was
signed into law by President Sali Berisha on 18 October, according
to an RFE/RL correspondent in Tirana. Albania's opposition parties
had hoped that Berisha would not sign, as in the opinion of journalists
and others it impedes freedom of the press. In a conference on
18 October, Berisha noted that a recently conducted opinion poll
shows that a majority of those consulted do not trust the press
in Albania and feel the country clearly needs such a law. Journalists
and others mounted a two-day strike to protest the law. -Robert
Austin and Duncan Perry

ALBANIAN LEADER RESIGNS. Vecer reported on 18-October that Mithat
Emini, General Secretary of the Party for Democratic Prosperity,
the largest ethnic Albanian political party in Macedonia, resigned
on 16-October. He had been accused of being too "soft" in pressing
for greater rights for Albanians in Macedonia. The PDP is planning
to have a party congress in early November and will presumably
replace Emini at that time. The significance of this change is
unclear, although a more hard-line replacement is likely to be
chosen, further straining negotiations between the government
and ethnic Albanian leaders. -Duncan Perry

SERBIAN NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE ON HOLD. Serbia's parliament will
resume debate next week on a motion of no confidence in the Socialist
government of Nikola Sainovic. The delay comes because parliamentary
committees meet on 19 October to prepare for a session of the
Yugoslav federal parliament that opens on 20-October. The Serbian
Radical Party (SRS) introduced the no-confidence motion on 7
October. After six days of debate marked by mutual recrimination,
several other opposition parties said they will support the SRS
unless Serbia's interior minister resigns. Borba on 19 October
quotes a leading Socialist Party official as saying the party
is looking for ways of reconstructing the government. There is
speculation that Oskar Kovac, a prominent economist and respected
former federal deputy prime minister, might be asked by the Socialists
to form a new government. -Milan Andrejevich

SANDZAK VIOLENCE WORRIES OFFICIALS. Radio Serbia reports that
a violent clash at a soccer match in Novi Pazar on 10 October,
resulting in 30 arrests, has worried Serbian officials about
the potential consequences of worsening relations between local
Muslims and Serbs. At a match between Novi Pazar and Pristina,
some Novi Pazar fans, mostly Muslims, chanted anti-Serb slogans
and unfurled the flags of Turkey and the Party of Democratic
Action (SDA), the main Muslim party in the Sandzak and Bosnia.
Local SDA officials charged that the presence of the Pristina
club's president, federal parliamentary deputy and Serb paramilitary
leader Zeljko Raznjatovic, provoked the demonstration. Yugoslav
soccer officials blamed Serb fans for the disturbance, but Raznjatovic
disputed these claims. Several international organizations and
the SDA have long complained of human rights abuses by Serb paramilitary
units in the Sandzak. Sandzak Muslims make up just over half
of the region's population. -Milan Andrejevich

[As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Stephen Foye and Louisa Vinton







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