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FBIS3-37390_0 | Press Review for 16 Feb | Language: English Article Type:BFN ["Press Review" -- ITAR-TASS headline] [Text] Moscow February 16 TASS -- Moscow-based newspapers highlight the Russian-British summit meeting. The press points out that the Tuesday signing of a joint Russian-British statement on the de-targeting of strategic nuclear missiles from each other became the chief result of the Moscow talks between President Boris Yeltsin and British Prime Minister John Major, who had arrived in Russia for his first official visit here. Newspapers practically with one accord note the friendly partnership atmosphere of the talks, although, as NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA points out in particular, "There were complex issues under discussion, such as the situation in Bosnia." Commenting on the Russian-British talks, TRUD points out that "Russia and Britain are not adversaries any longer". KRASNAYA ZVEZDA (Red Star), describing the talks as a "dialogue of partners", writes: "it is important that our mutually respectful dialogue between equal partners is carried on. And not only with the United States but also with European countries that are friendly to Russia, with Britain rightfully among them". ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI, recalling the words of President Yeltsin that Russia and Britain have now developed the best-ever relations in their entire history, emphasises that "this conclusion has been backed up by a package of joint documents". NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA on the signing of a bilateral Russo-Tatar treaty in the Kremlin on Tuesday as a result of talks between Presidents Boris Yeltsin and Mintimer Shaimiyev: "The presidents of Russia and Tatarstan summed up the results of the three-year negotiating process between Moscow and Kazan. From now on, the Republic of Tatarstan is a state united with the Russian Federation on the basis of two constitutions and the treaty on the delimitation of the areas of jurisdiction and mutual delegating of powers between the state power bodies of the Russian Federation and Tatarstan. NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA runs an interview with Shaimiyev, who recalled in particular that he had stated way back in January this year that Tatarstan "will sign a treaty with Russia before the beginning of March". ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI on the signing of the Russia-Tatarstan treaty: "An ossified centre is being replaced by a federal authority, the power of which is in the emancipation of the subjects of the federation". At the same time the newspaper points out that, for a variety of reasons, primarily socio-economic ones, Russia and Tatarstan" are just destined to be partners". The newspaper ROSSIYA, under |
FBIS3-37414_0 | Probe of May Demonstration Completed | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Moscow February 16 TASS -- An investigation into the May 1 disturbances in Moscow has been completed. Criminal proceedings were instituted against 11 men who took part in the May 1 demonstration, the Russian "Vesti" television programme reported on Wednesday. Nine of them face charges envisaged by Article 79 of the criminal code of the Russian Federation -- participation in mass disturbances. If court finds them guilty they will be sentenced to imprisonment from 2 to 15 years. According to preliminary reports, the investigation established that leader of the "Labour Russia" Movement Viktor Anpilov, leader of the National Salvation Front Ilya Konstantinov and leader of the "Officers' Union" Stanislav Terekhov were initiators of mass disturbances in Moscow on May 1, 1993. An investigation into their activities on May 1 is being conducted separately. The accused were not taken into custody but signed a document pledging not to leave Moscow. On May 1, 1993 representatives of opposition movements organised an unsanctioned rally on Leninskiy Prospekt in Moscow which resulted in clashes with law enforcement bodies. During street-fighting one policeman was killed and many people were injured. |
FBIS3-37418_1 | Think Tank Addresses Fight Against Mobsters | banks. According to entrepreneurs in Tver, a vehicle will be stopped by racketeers if they get word from a traffic police checkpoint that it is carrying a valuable load. Vladimir administration leaders confirmed that attempts to carry out surprise searches of bandit groupings' headquarters were blocked because they had been alerted through the traffic police-Internal Affairs Ministry system. In Moscow transport inspectors are unable to monitor the work of mobile service stations because the illegal traders are alerted by traffic police personnel. In Kazan only bandits are allowed to drive foreign cars, Volgas, and Zhiguli-9's. Other citizens have these cars taken away from them. The same rule has applied for some time in St. Petersburg too. Bandit groupings have started to demand money from farmers, market gardeners, and inhabitants of suburban settlements in Kazan. A similar practice is now being introduced in the Moscow region. In Tver entrepreneurs are required to obtain permission from the leaders of bandit groupings to set up a stall or open a store. Only with their consent will the local authorities issue licenses. Independent entrepreneurs have been driven out of some areas of activity altogether, since organized crime is financing on very favorable terms (a very large interest-free loan, for example) young people who are prepared to cooperate. As a result they have a significant advantage over their competitors (of course, when they achieve some success they surrender a large part of the profit as payment for the credit). Incidentally, this distingishes the situation in our country from the situation in Western Europe and the United States: There organized crime controls only "criminal" areas of activity, such as prostitution, the drugs trade, and gambling. In Russia organized crime controls all types of activity. The extra tax paid to the bandits and the artificial restrictions on business activity for the purpose of obtaining massive monopoly profits lead to price rises of 20-30 percent. The population's living standards fall accordingly. The memorandum notes that organized crime's accumulation of capital during 1991-1993 has been vast. Some of it is transferred abroad through banking structures (under threat of physical violence), but this does not save the bank managers. They are eliminated because they know about the secret deposits. Bankers have the highest death rate among entrepreneurs. In Russian cities a large class of young hoods has developed, whose sole function is racketeering and obtaining money. In St. Petersburg there |
FBIS3-37444_0 | Duma Hears Alternative Economic Platforms | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [Yelena Tokareva report: "Where Is Politics Here, and Where Economics?"] [Text] A week ago, when the anticrisis program submitted by the pillars of the socialist economy under the leadership of Academician Shatalin was widely publicized, Sergey Glazyev modestly reported at a news conference in the State Duma that the academicians' program for overcoming the crisis and for economic policy, to put it mildly, was not the only one. The academicians' program, which, for want of any better ones, was printed in many periodicals, has proved to be one of many. The theses of four more reports aspiring to the role of programs and also the data of statistical reports characterizing the state of the economy were made public yesterday in parliamentary hearings in the State Duma. According to a report by the chairman of the Russian Federation State Committee for Statistics, over the past year retail prices increased 900 percent, and wholesale prices 840 percent. The federal budget deficit stood at 17 trillion rubles [R]. Profits amounted to R40 trillion. Some 17 percent of enterprises worked at a loss over the year. Mutual nonpayments amounted to R17 trillion. Industrial production fell 15 percent compared with the previous year. In the military-industrial complex it fell 29 percent. Capital investments fell 15 percent. Of 652 capital construction projects, just 193 were commissioned. Grain production fell 7 percent compared with 1992. How do economists in opposing camps rate these results, and what prescriptions for the future do they propose? Yakov Urinson, first deputy minister of economics, who submitted an extensive report for the parliamentary hearings to Sergey Glazyev, who chaired those hearings, declared that the results of the economic year are contradictory. "Inflation has fallen, and the population's monetary incomes have increased. Enterprises are coming to a halt, and yet unprofitable enterprises are continuing to work, devouring resources. Some R12 trillion has gone on expenditure which was not provided for, and this when the state has a debt of R4 trillion to the military-industrial complex and the agrarian complex." Ya. Urinson proposed a prescription for curing the crisis in the economy along the lines of the economic policy of Gaydar and Fedorov: not to change the tax policy for two years; to abolish tax breaks; to toughen up control over the expenditure part of the budget; to monitor the effectiveness of subsidies, capital investments, and subventions. To continue privatization, |
FBIS3-37508_1 | Serbian Role in Sarajevo Blast Doubted | mortar attack on the market in Sarajevo. General Pierre M. Gallois, the eminent French strategist, shares his thoughts with PRAVDA readers: "NATO is now completely subordinate to the United States. The Atlantic alliance's military organization has become a most powerful instrument in establishing a `new world order.' It is meant to punish and does not take the trouble to find out exactly who is really guilty. "That was the case in June 1993, when the United States decided to 'punish' Iraq for 'attempting to assassinate President Bush.' B. Clinton sent cruise missiles to Baghdad even before the Iraqis' guilt had been proved. It was only later that the U.S. press admitted that there had been no attempt on Bush's life. But dozens of completely innocent people's lives had already been sacrificed to U.S. democracy. "Washington and NATO Secretary General Woerner, a German, have just issued an ultimatum to the Serbs in order to punish them for the bloody massacre in Sarajevo, of which they are accusing only the Serbs. Without even waiting for the results of an investigation by a special commission. "Something similar also occurred in Bosnia 27 May 1992, when the Serbs were accused of gunning down a peaceful bread line in Sarajevo. The Serbs were not guilty of this, but the investigating commission concealed the facts, including the fact that most of the people killed in this line were Serbs. "Nevertheless, at the time this incident served as grounds to impose economic sanctions, as a result of which thousands of peaceful Serbian inhabitants who were just as completely innocent as those killed in that bread line suffered. "What happened in the market in Markala is also strange in terms of both its presentation to the public and consequences. Just a single round from a mortar -- a rather inaccurate weapon -- could not, if fired from Serb positions, have hit a 40-by-30-meter [m] target the first time. Nobody could have seen a mortar shell in flight, as certain 'witnesses' claimed. Alas, all they could have seen was the result of the explosion, not the mortar shell itself. Finally, the haste with which Western powers hurried to adopt sanctions against the Serbs without even having convened a commission of investigation looks highly suspicious. It is no less suspicious than the adoption of sanctions after the events of 27 May 1992. The Serbs were not responsible for that crime, |
FBIS3-37558_2 | Former Adviser Warns West To Open Military Markets | also worries the Russian official: "The next set of graduates and students will not find work. They have hitherto found jobs in commerce, in the criminal world. But every niche is occupied... In the current atmosphere of damaged pride, lack of heating and electricity, the demonstrators will not just be angry grandmothers..." Last Asset The West is mistaken therefore in abandoning Boris Yeltsin at the very moment when the situation is becoming really critical: "You forget that we are still a big nuclear power, even if we have become an economic pygmy. We must have access to the international arms market. Otherwise, we will no longer be able to respect the rules set by a well-fed and self-important West. We are being strangled." Only the military-industrial complex can still save the country from the crisis, he concluded. With its 6 million men and its network of enterprises capable of producing almost any goods, "it is the only organized force which remains in Russia, the country's last asset." Judging from what he says, President Yeltsin is beginning to understand the importance of the issue and supported the defense industry's plans in the last two meetings of the Security Council. But he is still too "disorientated" to really commit himself. "Boris Nikolayevich feels he has chosen the wrong model of reform, but he is still reluctant to change it," Mikhail Maley suggested. The president may not fully share the certainties of his former adviser on the role of "magic potion" which the defense complex could play. Indeed, it is far from being monolithic. It is seriously affected by the crisis. The defense industry sector has not been spared by the problem of mounting debts. It is suffering the effects of government nonpayment amounting to $1.5 billion. IZEVESTIYA this week devoted the front page of its edition to the explosive situation in the military enterprises in Siberia. According to the Russian daily, the Krasmash misile factory has not been paid by the state for the 11.3 billion rubles worth of orders it supplied in 1993, and it has not been able to pay any salaries for four months. The angry workers are furious and marched on the residence of the region's governor to demand their due. The governor had to flee to Moscow where he was promised money. "But the money has still not arrived and there is no more work," IZVESTIYA reports. |
FBIS3-37560_0 | Defense Sector Blames Woes on Finance Ministry | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [Faina Osmanova report under the "Economy" rubric: "Defense Sector Looks for Government Support. Tariff Agreement for This Year Signed"] [Text] The State Committee for Defense Industries, the Trade Union Association, and the Labor Ministry have signed a tariff agreement for 1994. The Defense Industries Committee expects that industrial policy regarding defense industries will be propped up by due government support and budget financing. The committee is presently trying to identify all the key areas so as to ensure the most efficient workload for scientific and research institutes and design bureaus, and also to utilize the defense industries' scientific-technical potential in a rational fashion. In 1993 the sector experienced a 19.6-percent slump in production against 36.7 percent in 1990; the production of weapons and military hardware fell 34.3 percent against 1992 and 72.4 percent against 1990. The share of weapons and military hardware slipped from 50 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 1993. The main reasons for the downturn are: a break in economic relations, the unrestrained growth in raw material prices, oppressive taxation policy, and, as a consequence, a huge amount of enterprises' mutual debts. The negative processes under way in the defense sector have been caused by conversion (nearly 70 percent in 1992) and the extremely inadequate financing by the state. Conversion that affects over 5-7 percent of military production is considered destructive in international practice. Corporate profits have been the main source of financing defense industries, accounting for nearly one-half of the cost financing. The Finance Ministry has released only 67 percent of the money appropriated for conversion programs and 23.7 percent of funds to maintain mobilization capacities, but even that was done after long delays. The enterprises have been forced to take bank credits at high interest rates. As a result of this policy of defense sector financing virtually all budget appropriations for government defense orders (99.9 percent) have been transferred to commercial banks and the Russian Federation Central Bank toward repaying the credits. It turned out that the government budget financed commercial banks and the Central Bank, not the military-industrial sector. In fact, the money was simply pumped from the government budget right into the banking system, and the defense sector enterprises worked to boost the banks' profits, not to satisfy the country's defense needs. In the end, defense enterprises ended 1993 with the accounts payable of 3 trillion rubles and |
FBIS3-37586_0 | Nazarbayev on `Negative' U.S. Understanding of Iran | Language: Persian Article Type:BFN [Text] In a meeting with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, U.S. President Clinton has asked him to stay away from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Announcing the above in a gathering of reporters in New York yesterday, Nazarbayev said: The U.S. Government has a negative understanding of the Iranian Government. He referred to the special significance of the role played by Iran in the southern and central Asian equations and emphasized that relations between Almaty and Tehran are very good. The Kazakh president, rejecting the existence of a threat of Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia, stressed: We are all Muslims and respect Islamic beliefs. However, Nazarbayev said: A line has been drawn separating religion and politics in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh president said: Washington and Almaty have reached agreements in political, economic, scientific, technological, and defense fields as well as the U.S. use of Kazakhstan's space center and America has promised to provide $300 million of aid to Kazakhstan. |
FBIS3-37597_2 | Press Review for 22 Feb | actions, particularly if they are directed only against one of the sides while ignoring the real interests of all those involved, will never lead to peace... "Various political options have now opened up for a settlement of the conflict in Bosnia due to Russia. It is essential to try them, taking into account all the errors made. There is no single culprit to whom an ultimatum could be presented". ROSSIYSKIYE VESTI on the Sarajevo crisis: "The Sarajevo crisis can be overcome on the strength of Moscow's initiative". At the same time the newspaper quotes U.S. President Bill Clinton as saying that the need for NATO air strikes in Bosnia has been obviated but that the settlement issue has not been resolved and, so, the ultimatum remains in effect". KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA wonders whether "the 'hand of Moscow' will undo the Balkan knot", drawing attention to the fact that "the numerical strength of Moslem infantry in the Sarajevo area is three times as high as that of the Serbian one at a time when the 'restraining factor', as represented by artillery guns surrounding the Bosnian capital, is now absent". The newspaper concludes that "the way to the south-east, to the Serbian enclaves, has been somewhat 'cleared' for military forces led by Alija Izetbegovic". PRAVDA, commenting on the situation in Bosnia, points out that NATO will not limit itself to an ultimatum in Bosnia. "But, in the interests of a further political settlement, will the 'necessary balance in Bosnia' be maintained and to what extent? ", the newspaper asks. "In other words, the question is whether the Bosnian Serbs' concession will be compensated by appropriate obligations on the part of Moslem forces. If otherwise, it is not ruled out an idea may occur that that was the Serbs' 'one-sided capitulation'. Such an idea may play a negative role notwithstanding any active peacemaking efforts". KRASNAYA ZVEZDA (RED STAR) on the NATO air strike ultimatum: "The threat of NATO air strikes has been eliminatied due to resolute actions of Russia. NATO placed both itself and the entire world in an extreme situation. Europe could have faced an escalation of the Balkan war up to unpredictable proportions. NATO could be saved from itself only by Russia and she took such difficult decision". ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA on the same subject: "The word of Moscow turned out to be decisive. Russia coped with the Sarajevo crisis within seven days". |
FBIS3-37605_0 | Bilibino Nuclear Plant To Suspend Two Units | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] The personnel of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant in Russia's Magadan Region has decided to suspend two generating units and may suspend the other two when their fuel runs out due to the lack of funds to make an advanced payment for the next annual fuel supply. Customers, mainly gold mining firms, owe the plant eight billion rubles for last year. The plant's own debt has reached seven billion rubles. The plant's trade union organization has demanded help from the government. |
FBIS3-37625_1 | Shevardnadze Interviewed on U.S. Trip | from the point of view of expanding our political and diplomatic arena. This is in general. In detail, I do not want an impression to be created that after the visit we will have electricity, sugar, and bread and we will have abundance. It never happens like this. But the way to this is connected with Russia as well as the West and the United States in particular. [passage omitted] This visit should become a guarantee of future active cooperation between Georgia and the United States and this cooperation will do good to every family and every citizen. This is the major aim of the visit. [Oniani] Mr. Shevardnadze, there is a committee in support of Georgia in the United States. Do you think the activities of the committee are limited to moral and political support, or is this committee involved in other activities? [Shevardnadze] This is not a symbolic committee. I would like to point out that the committee has worked since the preparations for the visit started and will actively work during my visit. [passage omitted] Relations with the IMF and the World Bank are of a particular interest for me. Preliminary preparatory work for the meetings has been done and I think the U.S. Administration as well as the World Bank and IMF will consider the current situation in Georgia. Since we are more or less moving in the direction of peaceful settlements of conflicts and are establishing order in the country, I do not think we shall return emptyhanded. Guarantees resulting from the visit for credits, an increase of humanitarian aid, and concrete supplies of products or currency will apparently be substantial. [passage omitted] [Oniani] You have said that you will have meetings at the IMF, at the Reconstruction Bank [as heard]. In addition, the press has reported that the committee in support of Georgia is preparing your meeting with businessmen. I think we have to infer that the visit in general and the meetings will have a link with an anticrisis program in our country. [Shevardnadze] There is much talk in Georgia about anticrisis programs and ways to escape from the crisis, which mainly result in an implication that if the present government quits and another one comes in everything will be all right. I do not think like this. Changes can always be introduced in the government, into every line of power, but this |
FBIS3-37633_0 | Favorable Economic Conditions Needed | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [Text] President Nazarbayev held a news conference today on the outcome of his official visit to United States. He said: Talks with President Bill Clinton were the most important stage of the visit and determined the prospects for the development of bilateral relations. An accord has been reached to take additional practical steps in order to promote these relations in many spheres. Signing of the charter on democratic partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States means a new stage of cooperation aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the entire Central Asian region. As the result of the talks, a number of other documents have been signed which regulate contacts in the fields of science, technology, defense and military relations, and nuclear safety, and open up broad access for foreign investment in the economy of our country. Nursultan Nazarbayev answered numerous questions from journalists. He stressed that in new Kazakh-U.S. relations, not a single step has been taken that contradicts previous agreements between the CIS states. This is what the president said when answering a question on what the United States will get from economic cooperation with Kazakhstan: [Begin Nazarbayev recording] I tell you again -- I have been saying this for three years -- nobody in the world, not a single businessman, not a single billionaire, will give a cent to anyone for nothing, besides, of course technical help, educational help, international funds, humanitarian aid and so on. Any person will come here only if he will earn more than he is earning in America. Is this [words indistinct] in the transition period we have to create favorable conditions for them so that they will come here. We will have to lose something in order to gain something. Some people in our country sometimes say that we are selling these resources and so on and so forth -- every state sells what it has. Kuwait is selling its oil and living normally, developing production. Saudi Arabia is selling its oil and living normally. Iran and Iraq are selling their oil and living normally. What we are planning now is for 100 years to come. I hope that in 50 years mankind will find a source of energy that will not pollute the streets with gasoline and [words indistinct]. Japanese cars are using batteries already. That is why it is not right to say that we |
FBIS3-37673_3 | U.S. Ambassador, State Duma Official on Bosnia | in coordinating the efforts of all the elements of the Russian state structure. [Svanidze] So do you think that the Duma shares this, let us hope, possible success for Russian diplomacy? [Lukin] The Duma shares all Russia's successes, including those made by Russian diplomacy, as long as they are successes. [Svanidze] Yes, of course. Ambassador, in your opinion, whose success is it -- if it turns out to be a success? Was it achieved by Russian diplomacy, working together with the Duma, of course, the United Nations, or NATO? What do you think? [Pickering] I have been in diplomacy long enough not to get involved in discussions of internal affairs in countries where I am accredited. But I think that there is enough credit to go around here. I think the most immediate step, and obviously (?a very important one), was produced by President Yeltsin's (?leadership) and various people working on the ground, and somehow (?we ended up with) a situation in which obviously the Bosnian Serbs had to consider very carefully what steps they took (?and they had to take account of) the work of the secretary general and the development of the UN position under the resolution. It all helped in the process of moving ahead. Realistically, I think we are not engaged in any fight or discussion about who takes credit [passage indistinct]. [Svanidze] Thank you. Vladimir Petrovich, what do you think about frequent talk of the contradiction in Western and Russian interests in the Balkans? This is stated frequently. What do you think about it? [Lukin] I think that we have a lot in common. I think that in the long term our victories and defeats will be the same, although, I agree with my friend Tom here. Listening to him, I remembered a French proverb saying that victory has a lot of father and that defeat is an orphan, but as far as long term prospects are concerned, what sort of interests can people, not wishing to see a conflict, have? They want to stop the conflict, to reach an agreement, finally to put an end to people being killed and see the observance of slight balances of national interests both within various communities -- who brought about the explosion of the whole process -- and on a more general scale in Europe. I am convinced that we can achieve this but one has to |
FBIS3-37695_3 | Bundeswehr Chief Sees End to Confrontation | being conducted? [Naumann] Recent events in this region have tested the effectiveness of Europe's security institutions to keep the peace. We must call a halt to this situation. In my opinion both Russia and Germany are keen to do this. It is time to put a stop to a situation in which the Paris Charter is essentially being flouted in Europe. Specifically, we must stop unilaterally laying the blame on one of the parties in the conflict. We must also make every effort to stop the crazy destruction of the innocent civilian population. This is the end toward which all NATO's actions are directed. I hope that all the parties to the conflict realize this and will put their heavy weapons under UN control or withdraw to a distance of 20 km from Sarajevo. [Zheglov] If a decision is eventually made to bomb Bosnian Serb positions, will FRG Air Force planes take part in the air operations? [Naumann] Chancellor Kohl has made a firm and unequivocal statement on this matter: Not a single German serviceman will take part in this sort of operation. [Zheglov] Events in former Yugoslavia are influencing the processes of establishing and strengthening common European security systems. What role can and should Russia and Germany play in this process? [Naumann] In my opinion, Russia and Germany play a important if not decisive role in the process of establishing a European security system. Russia is the largest country in Europe, it also has significant interests in Asia. With its population of 80 million Germany is certainly not puny in the economic sense, and it thereby makes its contribution to European stability. In this sense both our countries should strive to cooperate. Of course our approaches to various problems may not coincide. But in any case we need to look for ways ahead that lead not to new lines of confrontation but to mutual trust. For example, as far as I can understand following my talks with your defense minister, Russia regards the "Partnership for Peace" program somewhat differently from the East European countries. But in any case we are approaching the day when there will be no confrontation in Europe. As a phrase, European security is indivisible sounds wonderful. However, the current state of affairs is such that people in Sarajevo, for example, regard it as empty talk. Unfortunately, therefore, it is a wish rather than a reality. |
FBIS3-37716_2 | ITAR-TASS Carries Press Review for 23 Feb | there. The newspaper points out that it is in many respects due to Russia's stance that there has been no "Balkan storm" operation. "Throughout last week, the entire world closely followed the development of events in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Balkans again turned into 'europe's powder keg' which could go off with unpredictable consequences for the old world. "Nevertheless, the conflict is not yet over. International diplomacy is yet to make a good deal of effort to undo the tight knot of Bosnian contradictions. "The West should draw two lessons from the situation taking shape there: that the crisis situation in the former Yugoslavia cannot be resolved behind the back of Russia and in disregard for her interests. The time has come to abandon the approach according to which 'it is the Serbs that should pay for everything', and to place equally tough demands upon all the sides involved in the Bosnian conflict". TRUD on the Russian Government's economic reform policy. The newspaper carries an interview with academician Nikolay Petrakov, a prominent Russian economist and director of the academy Institute on Market Studies. The interview dealt with matters aimed at promoting further economic development of Russia. Petrakov said "the market idea has been discredited". According to him, for two years more than 50 million people in Russia (who account for more than a third of the country's population) "live below the subsistence wage", as against 17 million in 1991 when every tenth was in straits whereas now every third is destitute. Petrakov believes that it is essential to adjust reforms "which must be with a human face, using the old Czechoslovak slogan." with this end in view, the academician suggests in particular that the taxation system be radically changed and an in-depth agrarian reform be carried out. "private ownership is the main principle of the market while the ownership of land is its foundation," he added. ROSSIYA newspaper runs an interview with Anatoliy Chubays who describes the course of privatisation. NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA frontpages a forecast as to which kind of report will be delivered by President Boris Yeltsin in the federal assembly in the Kremlin on Thursday. The newspaper believes that the president must show that he is not only prepared "to further and deepen reforms" but is also aware of the entire "complexity and painfulness of the process" and point out the achievements of Russian diplomacy "in resolving the Bosnian crisis". |
FBIS3-37751_5 | Paper Publishes Free Trade Agreement With Russia | of exporting them to a third country. Article 5 The contracting parties will exchange information on a regular basis on customs questions, including customs statistics. Bodies authorized by the contracting parties will draw up the procedure for the exchange of such information in a corresponding document. Article 6 The contracting parties will undertake measures aimed at drawing together the levels of customs duty rates that are being applied in trade with third countries and, to this end, will hold regular consultations. The contracting parties will inform one another about all exceptions regarding customs tariffs in force in their states. Article 7 The contracting parties, in accordance with current legislation on their territories, will promote the expansion and deepening of equal and mutually advantageous economic and scientific and technological cooperation between economic subjects at all levels and forms of ownership and the creation of joint enterprises and international companies, involving also the participation of third countries, with the aim of utilizing their potentials in order to form an effective common economic space. Article 8 The contracting parties recognize as incompatible with the aims of this agreement unfair business practice expressed, in particular, in the following: In the conclusion of contracts between enterprises whose aim is to hinder or restrict competition or violate the conditions for it on the territories of the contracting parties; In the carrying out of actions with whose help one or several enterprises use their position of dominance, restricting competition on all or a significant part of the territories of the contracting parties. Article 9 The contracting parties will not use state aid in the form of subsidies to enterprises or in any other form if such state aid should result in the violation of normal economic conditions on the territory of the other contracting party. Article 10 During the implementation of measures aimed at the tariff and non-tariff regulation of bilateral economic relations, in order to exchange statistical information and conduct customs procedures, the contracting parties have agreed to use the single nine-character Classification of Goods of Foreign Economic Activity (CG FEA) based on the Coordinated System of Describing and Coding Goods. At the same time, for the own needs of their states, the contracting parties, when necessary, will develop the classification of goods beyond nine characters. The Russian Federation will introduce a standard copy of the classification of goods through its representations in the corresponding international |
FBIS3-37775_5 | Defense Minister on NATO Partnership, Army | may wonder whether our Army is not overly large. We would not resist the big neighbors even if we increased the soldiers' number tenfold. Should we rather improve its quality? [Linkevicius] I think that this question should be addressed to our politicians. It is not the National Defense Ministry that defines the number of armed forces. Do not forget its majesty, the budget, and the finances specially assigned to national defense. To be aware of the exact number of servicemen, the Seimas [parliament] should announce a military doctrine. The latter, in turn, cannot be drafted without a security concept. Unfortunately, our Seimas men and women have not yet discussed this issue. [Sniukas] We have signed the "Partnership for Peace" program with NATO. However, it is difficult to predict any definite benefit except the political one. Meanwhile, Russia surely did not like this move. The community is considering now: Has our security improved or weakened after this? [Linkevicius] We have not heard any statements from Russian officials after 27 January that are cause for concern. First, this agreement is not directed against other countries. Second, I think that leaders of the United States and other countries have fully explained the essence of this agreement to Russia. Furthermore, the gate is not closed to Russia. True, our right-wing press, which speaks through the mouth of the opposition, is full of suspicions toward Bill Clinton and other Western leaders concerning the fact that Lithuania's fate has already been decided and so on. This does not surprise me because suspicion is, probably, the key trait of the current opposition. However, if we approved of these suspicions, then there would be no sense in creating a state at all. As far as I know, the Lithuanian Government trusts the decency of the United States and other big states. Therefore, it has appealed to NATO and wants closer cooperation with the European Union. [Sniukas] Your office is a political one. Given our opposition's clamor, you must be scolded quite often.... [Linkevicius] The press criticizes the ministry more often than me personally. It is difficult to tell which bitter article was inspired by politicians or the editorial board itself. I know the principles of the press because I myself have been a journalist. I understand that spicy material means high circulation and prestige for a publication. Nevertheless, before issuing criticisms, I wish reporters considered whether their articles |
FBIS3-37820_3 | Turkey's Demirel on Democracy, Foreign Ties | organization's council created by commercial associations from the member countries. The International Black Sea Club has been created. The progress achieved with the framework of the BSEC may be considered outstanding. Its structural organization has been completed and the transition to the level of implementing specific projects has been made. Cooperation in the telecommunications sphere is developing particulary actively. [Kulik] Islamic fundamentalism is worrying the whole world today. Does that problem exist in Turkey? How do you regard it? [Demirel] To be frank, it is hard to understand how world publc opinion can be worried about the activation of Islamic fundamentalism. After all, in former Yugoslavia and especially on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is the Muslims who have been subjected to attack. It is they essentially who are suffering genocide. More than 1 million people in Azerbaijan have become refugees in their own country. And it is against that background that the whole world is for some reason talking about Islamic fundamentalism. On the contrary, it is the Muslims who are presently in a defensive position. That must be clearly seen. Islamic fundamentalism in the eighties was a kind of reaction by the populations of various Muslim countries to the lack of democracy and to pressure from the authoriies. But if we look at things from today's perspective, we will see that even the most radical Islamic tendencies of that period which entered the leadership of certain countries have substantially moderated their position. In the nineties the situation began to develop differently. A new world order is being formed in the process of which a host of problems which have accumulated since World War I have surfaced. In such an uncertain atmosphere, religiosity, micronationalism, a hostile attitude to foreigners, and other harmful tendencies have begun to prevail in various regions. It is because the world community did not prevent them in time that we now have the present situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. There is no need to speak of fundamentalism in Turkey: We do not have such a problem. Yes, of course, there are individual fundamentalists or fairly small and uninfluential groups of that kind. But you can encounter that anywhere in the world. But the overwhelming majority of Turks are implacable toward fundamentalism. The fact is that Turkey has quite considerable experience in the sphere of democracy and law -- we have accepted them as a way |
FBIS3-37820_5 | Turkey's Demirel on Democracy, Foreign Ties | of life.... Go out into the streets and talk with Turks there and you will see that for yourself. [Kulik] Last year Turkish officials were heard to say a number of times that the "Kurdish Workers' Party [PKK] would be finished off before 1994." Indeed, Ankara did conduct a number of successful operations against Kurdish militants both in Turkey itself and in Europe. However, the strength of the PKK has not diminished, the struggle goes on, and people continue to die. Do you still believe that this organization must be fought by strong-arm methods alone? What is the way out of the present situation? [Demirel] I do not believe that anyone said: "The PKK will be finished off...." I am sure that they were talking about an effective and successful campaign against that terrorist organization and the weakening of it, which has been achieved. Turkey is constantly trying to resolve this problem on the basis of the norms of a democratic, rule-of-law state. We are opposed to the destruction of the country and our villages, attacks on border posts and police stations, and the murder of people, indiscriminate murder furthermore -- of children, women, men, civilians or military, young or old. And Turkey's measures in response to all this are constitutional: We are protecing our democratic regime by the methods of that democratic regime. I do not think that there are any other means of combatting terrorism. It would be a mistake to think that it is only people of Kurdish origin who are members of the terrorist PKK. In Turkey all people are "first class" citizens. Incidentally, there are more Kurds in western Turkey than in the southeast (that is where the war against the PKK is particularly fierce -- author's note). They live as they please and where they please, they work where they want to work. And our task is to protect them from the PKK, a terrorist organzation which engages in racketeering, drug smuggling, and other illegal activity. [Kulik] The Cold War has ended, but Turkey retains its former military concept and there are NATO basis still on its territory. Do you think that it is still necessary to preserve this situation? [Demirel] I do not believe that there is any reason to fear this in Moscow. There is an agreement on friendship and cooperation between Russia and Turkey which I myself signed in 1992. [Kulik] |
FBIS3-37834_0 | Negotiations `Very Difficult' | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] First Deputy Georgian Foreign Minister, a member of the Georgian delegation at the Georgian-Abkhazian negotiations, started on February 22 in Geneva, Mikhail Ukleba, said that the negotiatory process was very difficult. However, there was hope for the future, he added. He mentioned in a televised interview that Head of the Georgian delegation, Jaba Ioseliani, had made a statement on the 'ethnic cleansing' carried out in the Abkhazian region of Ghali. Ioseliani also blamed the Abkhazian party for failure of the agreements on return of refugees to this region achieved at the previous January round of the negotiations. A member of the Abkhazian delegation, Plenipotentiary Representative of Abkhazia to the Western Europe, Vyacheslav Chirikba, stressed that the negotiations were hampered by the categorical and uncompromising statements of the Georgian delegation, which impeded the negotiations and adoption of constructive decisions." According to him, the Abkhazian party continues to stand for deployment of peacekeeping forces on the Georgian-Abkhazian border of the Inguri River. The Georgian delegation insisted that these forces be brought to Abkhazia to control all its territory. Speaking on return of refugees, Chirikba said that the Abkhazian delegation had confirmed the preparedness to receive all refugees except those who had committed military crimes against Abkhazians. Chirikba announced that the parties had put forward their proposals on the status of Abkhazia which was to be discussed in a few days. The Abkhazian plenipotentiary representative's press service told Interfax that three main issues were to be considered in Geneva - refugees, the status of Abkhazia and deployment of the peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone. The Abkhazian delegation is headed by Abkhazian Premier Sokrat Jinjoliya. Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, Boris Pastukhov, represents the Russian party. |
FBIS3-37837_2 | Intelligence Official Interviewed | of mutual expulsions, so frequent in the Cold War years. Yet it hopes that Russia will recall from the United States those diplomats who have worked with the Ames couple. Washington would also like to hear promises from Moscow that nothing of the sort will happen in the future. What does the public relations official of the Russian external intelligence think of that? Yuriy Kobaladze: [Kobaladze] If we avoid focusing on this concrete episode and speak in broader terms, the Russian intelligence has never pledged to curtail intelligence activity. No other Western intelligence, including the American one, has ever done so either. Moreover, Washington keeps saying that in the wake of the break-up of the Soviet Union, its interest in Russia's problems and in the problems of other former Soviet republics has grown and not reduced. The Americans say they must increase the presence of the intelligence in that region. They have talked a great deal about what they call human intelligence. This euphemism means recruiting agents. The American intelligence and other foreign secret services have been very active in that respect. [Announcer] One of Russia's central dailies, IZVESTIYA, earlier this month published an interview with the chief of Russia's Federal Counterintelligence, Mr. Golushko. In that interview he said outright that several people have been arrested on spying charges. The damage one of them has caused to Russia is similar only to that of the Penkovskiy affair in the 60's. This is only one of the examples of how active Western secret services have been in Russia. Washington seems to be expecting Moscow to take certain steps to restore stability in its relations with the United States, the more so since the United States President Bill Clinton has described this as a very serious incident. Is that so? Yuriy Kobaladze: [Kobaladze] What we would like to say is that individual episodes should not be used to build up tensions in Russian-U.S. relations. That is a Cold War tactic. If we really live in a new world, a world of cooperation and good-neighborliness, it would be senseless to fan this hysteria. [Announcer] One cannot but agree that even in this changing world, an intelligence service will remain so. It will continue to have its own specific interest and use its own means. It remains to be seen whether this episode will have a negative effect on Russian- U.S. relations or not. |
FBIS3-37841_5 | Background to Ames Arrest Reported | fines the Ames' guilty they face life imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. President Clinton called the exposure of the Ames' a "very good joint operation by the FBI and the CIA." The CIA has no right to operate on U.S. territory although it gave the FBI full assistance in exposing its employee. FBI Director Louis Freeh paid tribute to his CIA colleagues for their readiness "to help us unhesitatingly at each step" of the investigation, and CIA Director James Woolsey noted in an official statement that "this joint effort shows how our counterintelligence agents and FBI employees have cooperated over the recent period." This mutual praise is an indirect response to criticism of past years when differences between the two intelligence departments allowed CIA staffer E. Howard to flee to Moscow in 1985 and betray several U.S. agents to the KGB. U.S. observers are angered most by the perfidy of Russia which, they say, is seeking new aid from the United States yet itself spending millions of dollars on anti-American espionage. The picture of intelligence hostilities since the end of the Cold War has become motley and chaotic. The countries with powerful special services -- the USSR, the GDR, and Czechoslovakia -- no longer exist. The successors to the GDR and Czechoslovakia have completely halted their work against the West. Russia has not and is believed to have no intention of doing so, primarily because such activity against it has not ceased for a moment. The commentaries of experts, who include many former professional intelligence workers, contain anger at the fact that, tempted by the Russian millions, Ames betrayed many U.S. agents to Moscow. Although this claim is to all appearances true it also attests to the hypocrisy of this anger since Russia has no less right to secret operations in the United States than America has to espionage in Russia. On Tuesday U.S. journalists laid siege to the Russian Embassy in Washington requesting comments on the main sensation of the week. In the absence of a response from Moscow this was impossible. Accepted practice is for governments to keep quiet if agents working for their countries are exposed. The State Department asserts that questions connected with Aldrich and Maria Ames may be raised with Russian Foreign Minister A. Kozyrev if there is confirmation of persistent rumors that he is coming to Washington toward the end of the week. |
FBIS3-37844_0 | Yeltsin Summit Proposal on Bosnia Viewed | Language: English Article Type:BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Valeriy Sevryukov] [Text] Moscow February 23 TASS -- In order to "put a full stop to resolving the Yugoslav conflict", Russian President Boris Yeltsin said on Wednesday [23 February] he was inviting President Bill Clinton and the leaders of Great Britain, France and Germany to a one-day meeting. He believes this international peace summit might result in signing a document "which would be of historic importance and help cease bloodshed in Yugoslavia". The necessary premises have been already created. "The European peace plan" to settle the crisis in former Yugoslavia, which was discussed at yesterday's meeting of senior diplomats from Russia, the United States, "the European trio", NATO, and the United Nations in Bonn, is based to a great extent on Russia's concept of stabilizing the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Russian peace initiatives made it possible to stop bloodshed in Sarajevo, to avert the NATO threatened air strikes against Bosnian Serb positions and to take a small first step towards a final peace agreement between the three warring factions in Bosnia. The major success of Russia's foreign policy revealed the ineffectiveness of the "tough ultimatum" stand taken by Western countries. The developments of the past few days have proved there is no need to resort to ultimatums for extending "peace dynamics" from the Bosnian capital to other zones of military actions. The Russian initiative displayed other possibilities of solving such problems, which can presently be exploited to open the Tuzla airport and to relieve Dutch peacekeepers in Srebrenica. The latest events in Bosnia showed that Russia should be actively involved in the Balkan peace process. The world community is gradually coming to understand this. Thus, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Douglas Hurd admitted in today's interview with the French newspaper LE FIGARO that the international community's first successful step towards a peaceful solution in Sarajevo had been to a considerable degree due to Russia's positive initiative. And one of the lessons to be learned by Western countries from the latest developments is that they should always inform Russia about measures they are going to take for settling the conflict, Mr. Hurd noted. |
FBIS3-37854_2 | Krakow Conference To Confront `Difficult Questions' | of liberating Soviet servicemen but as a result Vatican pressure on Berlin. [passage omitted] What is this -- the latest attempt to falsify history, and, what is more, so obviously? Evidently not! This is big-league stuff. It even includes elements of psychological warfare, aimed at setting Slavs at loggerheads with each other by playing on religious feelings, and even using blatant lies in the process. They are also counting on the fact that there are few eye-witnesses of these events left, and indeed that anti-Russian sentiments, stirred up by certain political circles on the Vistula, have been reinforced in Poland in the past four years. To follow these "sensational historical facts" the U.S. special services are putting new, "fresh" ones, into circulation. A few days ago THE WASHINGTON POST published an article which, citing a former high-ranking CIA staffer, claims that during the 1980's, without the USSR's knowledge, the Poles sold large consignments of state-of-the-art secret Soviet weapons to the Americans to the tune of over $200 million. Some types, notably the "Strela" missile launchers, were then sold by the Americans to the Afghan mojahedin, who used them to shoot down Soviet military aircraft. Such insinuations by THE WASHINGTON POST have clearly placed the Polish Ministry of National Defense in an impasse. Its spokesmen were clearly shocked. Polish National Defense Minister Piotr Kolodziejczyk called the article an act of provocation. Whereas in the first case the Americans were making snide remarks about Poland, in the second this was obviously aimed at Russia, counting on the fact that Moscow was bound to be annoyed at the "perfidy" of its former Warsaw Pact ally. It cannot be ruled out the Washington is currently going through a period when its head is being turned with success following the collapse of the USSR and the significant weakening of Russia, which is busy with its own serious domestic problems. It is trying to dictate its terms of play to the world even by rewriting history and spreading obvious disinformation. The question is solely one of whether our two neighboring countries should be led by Washington and shut themselves off from each other by a wall of hostility. Or whether they should nevertheless be guided by pragmatism and reestablish relations on the principles of partnership and mutually advantageous cooperation. It looks as though the Russian-Polish conference in Krakow will provide some answers to these difficult questions. |
FBIS3-37898_0 | Opposition Leaders May Be Freed Following Ruling | Language: English Article Type:BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Aleksandr Chernov] [Text] Moscow February 23 TASS -- The organisers of the armed opposition revolt last October in Moscow may be soon freed from the Lefortovo investigation prison, however they will spend this night in jail. TASS learned from the Office of the Russian Prosecutor General on Wednesday that the decision of the State Duma to pardon the revolt organisers is an order for authorities as, according to the new Russian Constitution, the Duma is the supreme legislative body in issues of amnesty. However, the Prosecutor's Office has not yet received the necessary documents from the Duma and cannot thus free the Lefortovo prisoners. All activities will most evidently begin tommorrow, according to the Prosecutor's Office. The pardoned organisers include former Vice-President Aleksandr Rutskoy, Former parliament speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, diehard opposition members Ilya Konstantinov and Viktor Anpilov, as well as other resolute opponents of the Russian president. The Prosecutor's Office said they know about the Duma decision thanks to radio broadcasts and some of them had meetings with lawyers and relatives on Wednesday. |
FBIS3-37917_1 | `Tenuous Legal Basis' of Local Elections Queried | himself appoint municipal leaders (who should, of course, be elected by the people). So the executive branch offensive against representative branch prerogatives is continuing. But there is nothing to be surprised about here -- this is what step-by-step constitutional reform amounts to. It is more to the point to ask the question: What will become of the country if this impromptu approach extends to the whole of great Russia? As far as the range of views represented on the eve of the elections is concerned, it does differ, though not sharply, from that of December. All seven communist parties are vigorously nominating their own candidates this time (only Zyuganov's Communist Party participated in the federal elections), as are the parties with a popular-patriotic orientation. The regional organizations of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia [LDPR] are hedging their bets. Zhirinovskiy has stated that these elections have not the slightest significance for him -- all his thoughts are on the presidential election. But in the provinces the LDPR branches are not inactive and are counting on winning a majority of the votes cast -- which, to tell the truth, is hardly likely if you take into consideration the stiff competition put up by the left-wing and patriotic movements. The democratic forces, on the other hand, finally seem reconciled to the prospect of losing. Presidential Territorial Administration Chief Nikolay Medvedev even stated that a Red anti-presidential cordon could form around Moscow, taking in Lipetsk, Kursk, Orel, Voronezh, Ryazan, Mordovia, and Penza. Almost as in 1918: Then, if you remember, the government, ringed by the Whites, was forced to transfer from St. Petersburg to the Kremlin in Moscow. You can only say one thing definitely: Whatever the results of the elections they will hardly provide a solid basis on which to extricate ourselves from the crisis. The converse is more likely: Yet one more leg of the presidential chair will fold under him. But a poor result is nevertheless a result. The time is coming when to dramatize the outcome of the voting, to ring all the bells and cry "Russia, you've gone crazy" would be tantamount to summoning the spirits of revolution. Enough of that! It would be nice to enter the 21st century in a well-cut rule of law suit. Let presidential power be the pants and parliamentary power the jacket. Or the other way around, so long as there are |
FBIS3-37947_89 | Russian National Security Concept for 1994 I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia Appendix I. Tables of Contents of the journal OBOZREVATEL for 1993 [not translated] Appendix II. RAU-Corporation in 1993 [from the Corporation's annual report [not translated] Section I: I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State Section II: II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People Section III: III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country Section IV: IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population Section V: V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia | with nothing but the monotonous flow of previously "forbidden fruit." Literary journals are slowly sinking into oblivion. It is not so much that viewers are deserting the theater, but that the theater is deserting viewers: It has nothing to say. National cinematography is in a state of coma. The humanities and social sciences are ravaged. Philosophers have been squeezed out by chiromancers and sundry other charlatans. The "former Soviet intelligentsia" is increasingly often sighing: It was better in the past, they dictated to us but at least we got paid. Until quite recently Federico Fellini's reflection was considered a bad joke, but now people seem to comprehend its meaning: "I fancy the order which caused suffering to artists in the past: A pope, a duke, or a viceroy commissioned a work and did not feed the artist if the work was not completed. Had it not been for those tyrants, we would not have enjoyed the hundreds of great works." In actual fact, freedom as such does not in any way guarantee the flourishing of creativity. Nowadays many people repeat the old truism: Poverty is the worst form of slavery. Creative people are becoming hostages of commercialism; the naive political faith of many intellectuals in politicians has proved fatal: How many notable figures are now silent, having been traumatized by the fact that they perceived as beacons some politicians who proved to be nothing but deceptive will-o'-the-wisps. At the same time, in a situation whereby we are more than likely not only to experience a buildup of catastrophic tension in all spheres of society's life but also to see the people driven into apathy and listlessness, right up to the point where the desire and actual will to live are dulled and society is paralyzed because nothing is sacred and mandatory for people -- in this situation we are beginning to see the emergence of a stratum of people with the qualities and functions of a new intelligentsia. The intelligentsia is not affiliated to any political stream, it does not serve either the state, or the parties, or the church, or even the people. Intelligence as a human quality does not speak on anyone's behalf but its own, based on the theoretical principles of knowledge. The theoretical nature of the new intelligentsia's judgments does not at all mean that it is aloof from the realities of life. Now, for example, |
FBIS3-37947_184 | Russian National Security Concept for 1994 I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia Appendix I. Tables of Contents of the journal OBOZREVATEL for 1993 [not translated] Appendix II. RAU-Corporation in 1993 [from the Corporation's annual report [not translated] Section I: I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State Section II: II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People Section III: III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country Section IV: IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population Section V: V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia | an imbalance in the international settlements of CIS countries. On the whole, it is possible to agree with the opinion of World Bank associates K. Mikhalopoulos and D. Tarr: "The situation as regards trade and payments in the former Soviet republics was distinguished by chaos, which reflected the existence of a series of problems. The disorganization of the credit, monetary, and payments system was at the heart of these problems. "The main problem is that the reduction of interrepublic trade will promote the further decline of the volume of output and incomes. Therefore, political strategists will have to create mechanisms for the transition period which would help the new states to restore the effective flow of trade and avoid further serious breaches of this flow in the short term, supporting in the longer term the restructuring of their economy and its integration in the world economy." After all, the sharply increased dependence of each CIS state on the external markets becomes a condition for the functioning of their economies. As a matter of fact, these realities are only just being realized and taken into account in the economic practice of CIS countries. On the whole, as 1993 has shown, the stepping up of the economies' "external" dependence will continue. This dependence will be most graphically demonstrated in the sphere of satisfying the CIS countries' energy needs. "Sovereignization" has undermined Russia's potential as energy supplier. Let us add for objectivity's sake that cutbacks in the rate of oil extraction started four years ago. According to estimates by Russia's Ministry of Fuel and Energy, oil extraction dropped by a further 50 million tonnes in 1993, in other words will reach only 340 million tonnes. If this pace of reducing the extraction of black gold is maintained, then in the very near future the fuel and energy complex will be working to meet only Russia's own needs, which today stand at 240 million tonnes. Oil exports increased more than threefold, but this increase was accompanied by a reduction of deliveries to CIS countries by an average of 50 percent. In this context, Russia could be suspected of waging a "cold war" against Ukraine and the Baltic and Central Asian countries. But such an approach would be based on inertia of thought. Facts prove whether it is advantageous for Russia to deliver oil products to the former republics. Russia delivered its output (primarily raw |
FBIS3-37947_192 | Russian National Security Concept for 1994 I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia Appendix I. Tables of Contents of the journal OBOZREVATEL for 1993 [not translated] Appendix II. RAU-Corporation in 1993 [from the Corporation's annual report [not translated] Section I: I. Preservation of Civil Peace, of an Integral and Independent Russian State Section II: II. Formation of Genuine Spiritual Principles and Values of the Russian People Section III: III. Stabilization of the Socioeconomic Situation in the Country Section IV: IV. Protection of the Interests of Russian-Speaking Population Section V: V. The Creation of Favorable International Conditions for the Implementation of Reforms in Russia | of borders would be permissible only via peaceful talks. Sanctions, including the use of force, would be permissible only in the event that a country's leadership pursues a policy of genocide toward ethnic minorities, and this is recognized and defined as genocide under UN rules. Germany, Turkey, Japan, China, and others are potentially capable of posing the threat of regional hegemony to Russia in the 1990's. Of course, nobody is accusing the aforementioned countries of currently acting along this avenue. But a sober forecast of the shifting balance of forces and of the geopolitical situation makes it mandatory to consider the possibility of changes in their policy which are not even contemplated at present. The United States is Russia's most important partner in countering regional hegemony. The remaining centers of power are still not capable of really influencing the situation in hot spots, be they in the Near East, Angola or Yugoslavia, the Caucasus or Afghanistan. Russia is planning to pursue this priority using different methods in different regions. In Europe, for example, the guarantee for preventing any military-political expansionism by leading states is perceived in the development of European integration and the stregnthening of the CSCE as an organ of collective security and collective response to any potential aggressor. In the past, the USSR used to advocate the simultaneous disbandment of NATO and the Warsaw Pact Organization [WPO]. Not only has the NATO bloc not been disbanded, but is is actually building up its might. This organization cannot be smoothly transformed into a European security structure. We believe that a stabilization of the situation in the Russian Federation on the basis of market economy and the development of democracy will create the need for a fundamentally new international organization, possibly on the basis of utilizing and developing elements from the structures of the EC, the West European Union, NATO, and the CSCE and with participation by Russia, the United States, and Canada. The Russian Federation's policy in Asia Minor [Malaya Aziya] and South Asia could take the form of direct, including military, resistance to outside interference by agreement with the republics under threat. The nature of the multipolar world adjoining the Transcaucasus is much more complex. Russia's partner here is objectively Iran, and Turkey in South Asia. The maintenance of a certain balance between them is in line with Russia's interests, despite the fact that the West would obviously |
FBIS3-38014_0 | Government Options for Radioactive Waste Disposal Viewed | Language: English Article Type:BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Veronika Romanenkova] [Text] Moscow February 24 TASS--If facilities for recycling liquid radioactive waste is not built in Russia's Far East within the next two months, Russia will possibly have to dump this waste in the Sea of Japan again in order to avert an ecological disaster. A choice whether to build the appropriate recycling facilities estimated at about 10 million dollars or to dump the waste in the sea is to be made by the Russian Government, according to Viktor Kutsenko, head of the Russian Ministry for Environmental Protection and Natural Resources' Department for Ecological Safety. He also said the government was presently considering a request from the ministry to immediately solve the issue of waste disposal. Taking into account the current financial difficulties and therefore uncertainty over the recycling facilities project, Russia did not join the London convention on a complete ban on dumping radioactive and industrial wastes in the seas, which took effect from February 21. Not acceding to the convention, Russia is losing politically, believes Valeriy Chelyukanov, a senior official at the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environment Monitoring. However, from the point of view of ecological safety, this decision was fully justified. If something happens to the tanker overloaded with liquid radioactive waste, which is now at moorage in the Zolotoy Rog bay near Vladivostok, the environment and people's health will be heavily damaged. Waste dumping in the sea does not threaten a catastrophe. A high-speed tanker dumps its load in the open sea, and the wastes are instantly dissolved in the water. Taking into consideration the present radioactive contamination of the Sea of Japan, "Russia's supplement" will be negligible and not cause any damage for the environment. |
FBIS3-38031_0 | Foreign Ministry Statement Issued on Ames Case | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [By ITAR-TASS diplomatic correspondent] [Text] Moscow, 25 Feb--The Russian Foreign Ministry today issued a press statement in connection with the arrest of the Ameses in Washington. It says: "Sufficiently close contacts exist between Russia and the United States to raise any questions. As has been announced, the investigation into the Ames case was going on for 10 months. We suggest that this was sufficient time for us to be contacted directly and for them to share their anxieties with us before making them public. "We are opposed to the attempts by the special services to drag the political leadership into their mutual relations. The appropriate channels are there. And they can be fully brought into use. "The political consequences of this story give cause for concern. Our partnership has withstood a series of serious tests, the latest one arising from the crisis around Sarajevo. We shall cope with this misunderstanding, too. However there are circles in the United States, just as there are, incidentally, in Russia, who are not interested in friendship between the two major powers. They became noticeably active after the successful summit in Moscow, at which a solution was made to bring relations between Russia and the United States to the stage of mature strategic partnership. We reaffirm yet again that within the framework of this course it is possible to find an appropriate solution to this situation, too." |
FBIS3-38067_1 | `Furor' Continues | from top-secret work involving opposition to the KGB and was transferred to a department remote from politics -- the department for combating narcotics. All the same, the exposure of a double agent, a routine event for the intelligence world, is still riveting the heightened attention of the mass media. THE WASHINGTON POST reports on the recently completed visit of a special CIA delegation to Moscow. Details of the visit by the U.S. intelligence agents to their Russian counterparts are not reported. The paper only says that discussion of the Ames affair was unproductive. However, it can be assumed with a great deal of probability that the visitors from Langley could not have failed to take advantage of the opportunity afforded to them of censuring their Russian colleagues and rivals for not honoring a sort of gentleman's agreement between the two intelligence services to stop recruiting their agents among high-ranking officials, to which category Aldrich Ames can apparently be assigned. It can also be supposed that the Americans tried to twist the arms of the Russian intelligence agents to make them wind down their activity on U.S. territory and reduce the number of Russian intelligence agents working there. And, possibly, they also tried to find out what secrets Ames betrayed. Of course, the leadership of the Foreign Intelligence Service [FIS] could not meet such demands. FIS Director Yevgeniy Primakov once called on the Americans to wind up intelligence activity against each other on a mutual, equal basis. However, the Russian intelligence agency's call was left hanging in the air. In principle it would be possible to return to discussion of this proposal today. However, judging by the assessment of this visit given by the Americans themselves, Langley believes that only they have the right to carry out intelligence activity. It would be unjust to accuse Russian intelligence agents of perfidy and breaking a gentleman's agreement -- if, despite all the stupidity of such an agreement, it does exist. The point is that Ames, the U.S. press claims, was recruited back in the mid-eighties before the beginning of Gorbachev's perestroyka. And Russian intelligence agents, as it were, inherited him from the Soviet intelligence agency. And it would be simply the height of folly to refuse the services of such a valuable agent. I am confident that, if the Americans were in our place, they would have acted in exactly the same way. |
FBIS3-38068_1 | Ames Affair Shows Intelligence Spending Pays | the report that for 17 years the Russians had a U.S. spy (it would be nobler to call him an agent) with whose help we were able to fully monitor top-secret communications traffic [perepiska] between nuclear submarines, the main component of the U.S. atomic triad. As for the damage caused to U.S. security by that agent, U.S. specialists have noted that in the event of war -- which heaven forbid, of course! -- the scales could have been tilted in our favor. It is with good reason that they called him the agent of the century. Furthermore, at the very top in our country there were people who were seriously afraid of a sharp reaction from the United States in the event of that agent's arrest. But there was no official reaction. All that happened was that journalists in the United States published four thick volumes and a few movies were made. [TRUD] Evidently something has changed in relations between us if the arrest of an agent has become the grounds for political statements. [Solomatin] I believe that we have begun to assess ourselves and each other differently. From being equal powers whose intelligence services worked against each other we have been transformed into a country which has to ask permission to do this now. I believe that this began when we started to surrender and abandon our positions without a fight and with a certain degree of enthusiasm. The blame for this rests largely on Gorbachev and his unprofessional clones Bakatin in the KGB and Pankin at the Foreign Ministry. After the Cold War ended something occurred in our country which happens when you clean out the sewers: At the top there were so-called state figures who decided that the time had come to look after their own affairs at the expense of the state's interests. These and other "great guys" set about the destruction-cum-"reformation" of state security and first and foremost the intelligence service. They finally found a scapegoat, the cause of all our failures. But it is already clear now that the real "goat" in the form of the old party-administrative hierarchy is still alive and well and sends us all a greeting. The reform of the state and of the security system ended in failure. I recall how when they completed the reform in our country they entered the international arena and invited the gentlemen in |
FBIS3-38070_0 | More on Deputies' Visit | Language: Russian Article Type:BFN [By ITAR-TASS correspondent Igor Borisenko] [Excerpt] Washington, 26 Feb -- Russian parliamentarians and law enforcement workers are visiting the United States with the aim of familiarizing themselves with the experience of U.S. law in fighting organized crime. They have held meetings with Attorney General Janet Reno, Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown, and representatives of the State Department and the FBI. The arrest of the CIA agent Aldridge Ames, accused of spying for Russia, "has had no effect" on the visit, Mikhail Mityukov, the head of the delegation and first deputy chairman of the State Duma, told ITAR-TASS. In his words, at meetings with the FBI heads, they discussed the fight against organized crime, first and foremost against the Italian mafia and Asian criminal groups. We are primarily interested in how organized crime is combated in the United States, and how the law enforcement bodies act and cooperate, he continued. "The primary problem," according to M. Mityukov, is drawing up an American-Russian agreement on arranging laws which would open new paths toward cooperation in fighting organized crime. Meanwhile, he added, the Russian and American experts "are establishing contacts to coordinate" their efforts. Serious attention during the tour of the Russian delegation has been devoted to issues of intellectual property. "The fight against intellectual piracy is very topical", the Russian parliamentarian said. Both Russian and American businessmen are affected by it." [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-38116_3 | Sinn Fein's Adams: End to Violence `Priority' | on for more than six hours. In a joint statement afterwards, Sir Patrick and joint chairman Dick Spring, Ireland's deputy premier and foreign minister, condemned recent violence in Ulster and said a range of issues had been reviewed. Sir Patrick relayed British disappointment at the Irish government's recent decision to scrap a 20-year-old ban on broadcasting interviews with members of the IRA, Sinn Fein and other groups with paramilitary links. A similar ban continues to operate in the UK. Mr Adams said he was now actively engaged in developing an unarmed strategy. The Sinn Fein president added: "It should be encouraged, not discouraged. Indeed, despite all the difficulties, Sinn Fein has now moved to a position where our main function as a political party is to build a peace process." He said the development of that process, which included the Downing Street declaration, was a response to his party's peace strategy and the initiative undertaken between him and SDLP leader John Hume. Sinn Fein, he said, was committed to a peace settlement. He added: "I am concerned, I am indeed anxious to be persuaded that the Downing Street declaration can provide a basis for us. And even if this is not the case, even if there is a gap between what is required and what is on offer then we should all move to bridge that gap. I am persuaded to go the extra mile." Apart from the Downing Street declaration, Mr Adams tonight clearly had America on his mind when he spoke. The White House is seeking a form of words which would enable President Clinton to issue a waiver of a long-term visa ban imposed by the immigration authorities because of the Sinn Fein president's alleged involvement in violence. Mr Adams has been invited to address a conference in New York on Northern Ireland next Tuesday. It is being organised by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Senators Edward Kennedy and Christopher Dodd are among those campaigning for a lifting of the ban, but the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Tom Foley, one of the most powerful Irish Americans in Washington, is apparently opposed to it and there is pressure from the British as well to resist any moves to allow the Sinn Fein president in. The leaders of the four main constitutional parties have been invited but it is understood the two Unionist leaders, |
FBIS3-38124_0 | Government Scheme Aims at Improving EU's Security | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Excerpts] Berlin (DDP/ADN) -- The German Government wants to work toward the improvement of the European Union's internal security. It must be ensured that borders do not come down for criminals while they remain in place for the prosecuting authorities, says a program of action drafted by Federal Interior Minister Manfred Kanther for the period of the German EU presidency in the second half of 1994. WELT AM SONNTAG adds that according to Kanther, cross-border crime, which is increasingly being organized on an international basis, must be combated more effectively, and illegal immigration in the European region -- and especially in Germany -- must be halted. The interior minister told the paper that he wants to ensure "an improvement in cooperation between all the security authorities." The German Government also wants to step up the expansion of "Europol" in The Hague and ensure that the European police organization is "fully operational" by October 1994. According to information from the news agency DDP/ADN, the Europol organization will take up work officially on 16 February. Narcotics agents from the 12 EU states based in The Hague will then cooperate in order to better organize the combating of internationally active drug gangs and other serious cross-border international crime. [passage omitted] Cooperation between the German and Polish border police will also be the focus of talks tomorrow between Kanther and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Milczanowski. The talks in Warsaw will also center on police cooperation, the Federal Interior Ministry announced in Bonn today. |
FBIS3-38126_0 | `Confidential' Report Analyzes Right-Wing Membership | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Text] Cologne (DDP/ADN) -- There are 42,400 right-wing extremists in Germany. This is stated in a confidential analysis compiled by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Cologne newspaper SONNTAGS-EXPRESS reports that according to the analysis there are "5,600 militant right-wingers among them." The German People's Union (DVU) with "some 26,000 members" is "the largest right-wing extremist organization." The report leaves open the politically very controversial question of whether the "Republicans" are an unconstitutional party. Staff of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution working at federal and state level were able to determine that the Republicans, whose declared membership of 23,000 is questioned, show "in fact indications of right-wing extremist tendencies." It is uncertain, however, whether these will intensify or whether the party will succeed in "pushing back the right-wing extremist tendencies in its ranks," the newspaper reports. |
FBIS3-38138_0 | Russia's Chernomyrdin, Pope Discuss Bosnia | Language: Italian Article Type:BFN [Text] Talks in the Vatican between John Paul II and Russian Prime Minister Chernomyrdin lasted an hour. The central issue was Bosnia and Russia's new position regarding the drama in the Balkans. Here is a report from Giuseppe De Carli: [De Carli] This was a strictly private meeting without speeches or official communiques, but the arrival at the Vatican of the rising star of the Yeltsin government, Viktor Chernomyrdin, was far from routine. John Paul II wanted to find out about the new Russian prime minister's intentions and, above all, to jointly evaluate the position to be taken with regard to the drama in Bosnia. Here, we must say, the Vatican and Russia have positions that are far apart and, in some respects, irreconcilable. In the last few weeks, the governments of the West have learned that Russia is against any use of force. Yeltsin has asked for the Security Council to be convened and has insisted on a political solution to the crisis in the Balkans. The chief cause for concern is Russia's pro-Serbian line. It is no longer West against East, but the Christian world against the Muslim world. This is not the Pope's position. He is desperately trying to build bridges between Christians and Muslims in order to find common grounds for tolerance. The Vatican is particularly concerned about the mood of Islamic nations angrily watching Europe's indifference towards the massacre of Bosnian Moslems. John Paul II once again told Chernomyrdin that after the collapse of the walls, it is absurd to be building new ones using the spur of nationalism and conflicting religious beliefs. According to official sources, the Russian prime minister listened attentively and was receptive to this line of reasoning. |
FBIS3-38142_0 | Pakistan's Bhutto Addresses News Conference in Davos | Language: Urdu Article Type:BFN [Text] The prime minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, said that the best opportunities and environment exist for foreign investment in Pakistan and foreign investors can earn remarkable profit there. She stated this while addressing a crowded news conference at the Congress Media Center of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos yesterday. Benazir Bhutto said Pakistan, as a developing country, wants to spend its human resources and limited mineral resources to eradicate poverty, diseases, and illiteracy. The prime minister said Pakistan has really become a suitable country for investments, where foreign investment is not only safe but the percentage of profit is also very high. Investments can be taken out of the country without any hindrance. She said we are relaxing the rules and regulations on economy in order to promote investments in the country and also are lifting the remaining government controls. She said Pakistan is situated geographically on an important location between the newly independent Central Asian states and the Gulf countries and it provides the best and the least expensive route for access to these fast developing markets. Referring to Pakistan's steps for forging close commerical ties with Central Asian states, she said projects are on the anvil to establish rail and road links between Pakistan and Central Asian states. She said investors from Japan, Turkey, and Singapore have offered assistance in these projects. She said Pakistan has come ahead as a democratic, progress-loving, and Islamic nation. The recent elections, which have been recognized at the international level as the most fair and transparent elections in our election history, have made it clear that there is no place for retrograde and conservative tendencies in Pakistani elections. The prime minister made it clear that Pakistan's foreign policy is based on peace and justice in our region and stability in the world. She emphasized that durable peace cannot be established in an atmosphere of injustice, exploitation, and foreign hegemony. Referring to India's continued aggression in Jammu and Kashmir and its atrocities on the Kashmiris, the prime minister said India is constantly negating a meaningful dialogue to resolve this dispute in accordance with UN resolutions, which call for holding a plebiscite. In response to a question on Pakistan-India talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and the support for appeal to observe total strike on 5 February, Ms. Benazir Bhutto said the appeal for |
FBIS3-38154_0 | U.S., UN Participation in `Secret Diplomacy' Viewed | Language: Greek Article Type:BFN [Text] The policy of secret diplomacy was chosen and has already been implemented in the process to promote the confidence-building measures [CBM's]. The Americans are moving intensely and are the main participants in events behind the scenes. Informed diplomatic sources say this policy was adopted during one of the frequent meetings between U.S. and British diplomats at the Foreign Office last fall. The diplomats were coordinating their actions to promote the CBM's after the "election" in the pseudostate. With their stance, the U.S. and British diplomats, along UN envoys, are proving the accuracy of this information. During their recent meetings in Cyprus, the UN envoys avoided meeting the country's political leaders and only held talks with the two communities' leaders. There was talk in the past of "secret negotiations" but the issue resurfaced with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas' remarks after his latest meeting with the UN secretary general's representatives Joe Clark and Gustave Feissel. Following the official talks, Denktas seems to have told the Greek Cypriot reporters who went to the occupied areas to cover the meeting: "Secret diplomacy will follow." Bearing all this in mind, you cannot help but link the optimism expressed by Joe Clark, the UN secretary general's special representative in Cyprus, immediately after he arrived in the Greek capital, the second stop on his tour. Based on official statements and President Glavkos Kliridhis' briefing of National Council members, there was talk in Cyprus of a deadlock. According to the government spokesman: "The procedure has ended for now." In his statement, Clark said: "There could be progress in the effort toward a Cyprus solution." The UN official's statement surprised the common view. Those who are familiar with behind-the-scenes events link the statement with one of Denktas' references. Asked about the prospects for an agreement with Kliridhis, Clark said in his statement that they may disagree but in the end they will agree. There is another fact, reported and not denied, that strengthens all of the above information. Before their meeting with the five UN Security Council permanent representatives at the Russian Embassy last Wednesday [26 January], Clark and Feissel reportedly "secretly met" U.S. Ambassador Richard Boucher at the U.S. Embassy. The U.S. ambassador recently adopted intense activity to persuade politicians, economists, and other elements to support the confidence-building measures. But he cynically told them there is no margin for improvement because Denktas |
FBIS3-38160_0 | Government Officials Comment on Operation Against PKK Ciller Denies Raids Linked to Economy | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Announcer-read report over still photograph of Prime Minister Tansu Ciller] [Excerpts] Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has declared that the government will take the necessary steps to eliminate both economic and PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] terrorism. Contrary to claims by certain circles, Ciller announced that the government, in doing this, will act with courage and determination, without any ulterior motives, will consider only the future of Turkey and the prosperity and happiness of the Turkish nation. In a written statement issued today, Ciller stated: From the day we established the government, I seized every opportunity to announce our determination to end PKK terrorism as well as the terror in the economy. It is known that we have displayed this determination without any consideration for party congresses or elections. [passage omitted] Ciller added: Only yesterday, our brave Turkish Armed Forces conducted the biggest and most comprehensive operation of the past 10 years and destroyed the Zhalah PKK shelter, 110 km from our border. Ciller announced that as a result of this operation the PKK sustained great losses from the viewpoint of administration, militants, weapons, and ammunition. The support of the Turkish people for these efforts aimed at eliminating PKK terrorism is well known, Ciller stressed, noting: Friendly countries and our allies have also demonstrated through their recent decisions and attitudes that they are on Turkey's side on this subject. She said: Given these facts and the support of the people for the elimination of both kinds of terrorism, I personally fail to comprehend the logic alleging that bombing the Zhalah PKK camp was aimed at veiling the adverse affects of the decisions concerning the money markets. Advocating such a logic would constitute an injustice to the government, to the Turkish Armed Forces, and to those who are trying to restore the economy by taking steps to continue the free market economy. In our opinion, the recent economic operations launched in the money markets as well as yesterday's Zhalah PKK camp operation are great successes. Both operations were necessary. The two are not related in any way from the point of timing. The government weighed and used its political will and did whatever was necessary in both cases. Our government will take the necessary steps to eliminate both the economic and PKK terrorism. Contrary to the allegations of certain circles, the government, in doing this, will act with |
FBIS3-38161_0 | Government Officials Comment on Operation Against PKK Foreign Ministry Says No Civilian Casualties | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Announcer-read report] [Text] Every measure was taken to ensure that civilians were not hurt during the operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces against the Zhalah camp of the terrorist PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] organization in northern Iraq yesterday. At the end of the operation, it was determined that no mistake was made in this region. A Foreign Ministry announcement says that Iranian authorities claim certain Iranian citizens were killed or wounded during the operation in the border region inside Iran. The statement points out that the operation was not aimed against Iranian territory, and that the Iranian authorities had sufficient advance information about the intentions, reasons, and targets of the operation. The statement says: Every measure was taken during the operation in northern Iraq to ensure that no civilians were hurt. The technical capability of our planes and the training level of our pilots are very well known. Furthermore, a study of the photographs taken after the operation and a study of the places where the bombs were dropped lead us to determine that such a mistake was not made. Nevertheless, we proposed that Turkish and Iranian border authorities meet immediately to study this issue and that a joint delegation investigate the issue. We informed the Iranian authorities that military officials will also be included in the Turkish delegation. |
FBIS3-38162_0 | Government Officials Comment on Operation Against PKK `Many' PKK Leaders Reportedly Die | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Announcer-read report over video] [Excerpt] Interior Minister Nahit Mentese has said the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] terrorist organization lost many of its high-level officials during the air operation Turkey carried out against the Zhalah camp. The interior minister was speaking in Tekirdag, where he ceremoniously received vehicles donated by private citizens to the police force. He pointed out that the cross border air operation was extremely successful. He stressed that certain circles do not want to see Turkey, which is in a very sensitive area, grow and develop. No force can divide our country, he said. The interior minister stated that everyone living in Turkey is equal before the law and everyone enjoys the same rights. There is no discrimination among the citizens, he said, adding that 200 trillion Turkish lira [approximately $100 million] will be spent this year in the struggle against terrorism. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-38164_0 | Government Officials Comment on Operation Against PKK Military Spokesman Details Raid | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Ankara, Jan 30 (A.A) -- In addition to all ground targets, under-land hideouts were also destroyed during the airstrikes carried out on Friday [28 January] by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) war planes, a senior military official told A.A. on Sunday. Chief of Staff spokesman Colonel Dogu Silahcioglu said that all targets in Zhalah have been completely destroyed, adding that in line with the confirmation of any information and political authorities' directives, the TAF may at any moment repeat similar operations. Following close inspection of detailed air photographs of the region, it was determined that all the targets, including training installations, tents, buildings, warehouses, and communications bases have been hit and destroyed, Silahcioglu said, adding that a total of 132 bombs were thrown at the terrorist bases. Accordingly, in line with the number of targets hit, there has also been a large number of losses among the terrorist members present in the camp at that time, he added. Silahcioglu further said the aim of the operation was to incapacitate all the elements of the organization, and this "was reached with the destruction of the logistic center, the training camp, in a way that cannot be repaired." Answering a reporter's question on whether northern Iraqi officials were warned or not, Silahcioglu said that Turkey has in the past repeatedly warned the northern Iraqi officials, that the terrorist targets in the region may be hit at any moment. |
FBIS3-38167_2 | Ciller Briefs Press on Economy, PKK Raid | the same in June? A certain period of time is needed to repair the economy; 1994 will be a year of repairs; 1995 will be a better year; 1996 is the election year, and it will be much better. If this house has collapsed, then we will repair it. We need a certain period of time: 1994 will be that time, the year of repairs. [end recording] [passage omitted] Ciller said the regional countries were not informed about the time and date of the air operation into northern Iraq, but were repeatedly alerted to the fact that terrorists were being trained in the Zhalah camp and that it was providing the terrorists with logistic support. She stressed that the Zhalah camp is 110 km from the border and 550 km from the area where the planes took off. [Begin Ciller recording] While extending humanitarian aid to Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani, and while negotiating within the framework of our cooperation, we repeatedly alerted them. We said we are continuing with our aid, but that we have certain ideas. Talabani told me that the area in question is not under his control. The operation was prepared very well over months. When the state decided that it was time to carry it out, I made the political decision. Those who claim the operation was linked to the devaluation do not know the first thing about how the state mechanism works. [passage omitted] In addition to the peace process between Israel and 'Arafat, the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] issue has also been included in the U.S. Middle East policy. This is extremely important. The United States has also agreed in principle to follow this issue at the State Department level. In other words: 1. This is the first time the United States is including the PKK in its Middle East policy; 2. The United States has instructed the State Department to follow this issue. This is extremely important. [end recording] Replying to a question, Ciller said that she is going to Bosnia-Herzegovina because this is a humanitarian and not a Muslim-Christian issue. Asked to comment on reports that the United Nations will not do much to safeguard her security in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ciller said: [Begin Ciller recording] [passage omitted] If I have a duty to perform, I will do it regardless. That is not our problem; it is a UN problem. [end recording] |
FBIS3-38173_0 | Kurdish Businessmen Reportedly Assassination Targets | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Report by Mehmet Salih Ceviker] [Text] Istanbul--It has been discovered that the counterguerrilla organization has targeted a great number of Kurdish businessmen for assassination. There is evidence that the Kurdish businessmen--including the singer Ibrahim Tatlises, Idris Ozbir, Halis Toprak, and Necdet Ulucan--have been targeted because they allegedly have been providing enormous financial assistance to the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan]. An official at the Istanbul Security Directorate said Behcet Canturk was killed two weeks ago in order to cut off the PKK's financial resources. This same official said Inci Baba was killed for the same reason. He said: "Inci Baba, who was known to be close to the DYP [True Path Party], was killed because, despite warnings from the Security Directorate, he continued to harbor `radical views' on the Kurdish problem and to provide financial assistance to the Kurdish movement." A source close to the National Security Council [NSC] said a policy has been adopted to pressure and even to kill "those persons who fetter the state in its policy on the Kurdish problem." Such people will be cowed by linking them to the ASALA [Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia], PKK, and mafia. Recently, the Kurdish businessmen have been placed under constant surveillance and their books have been scrutinized by the tax inspectors. Tatlises Also Targeted The famous singer Ibrahim Tatlises is on the top of the list of names targeted by the counterguerrillas. The latter are planning to kill Tatlises as part of the operation that started with the murder of Canturk. A source told AYDINLIK: "They [the Turkish officials] are very determined. They will either intimidate or eliminate those who even give a single coin to the PKK. They see as their target all those individuals and organizations that provide, or are suspected of providing, financial assistance to the PKK." This source added: "Ibrahim Tatlises is attracting too much attention. He is on the top of the list that has already been drawn up. They might give it the appearance of an accident. The only thing preventing them from carrying out this act is Tatlises' popularity." When informed by AYDINLIK that he is one of the targets, Tatlises said: "Why should they target me? What is my crime? I have committed no crime. It is not a good thing to die for nothing." Asked to comment on Canturk's assassination, Tatlises said |
FBIS3-38174_0 | Eight Prominent Kurds Named | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Unattributed report: "Who Is Included on the List?"] [Text] An official at the Istanbul Security Directorate said the security organs, particularly the Istanbul Security Directorate, acting on the instructions of the National Security Council, have placed hundreds of Kurdish businessmen, starting with 67 important businessmen, under close watch throughout Turkey on charges that they are helping the PKK. Some of the important businessmen targeted are: Halis Toprak from Lice, who is the owner of Toprak Holding; Mustafa Suzer from Nizip, who is the owner of Kentbank; contractor Aga Ceyhan from Diyarbakir; Necdet Ulucan, one of the famous godfathers of Turkey; Idris Ozbir, the owner of Ozbir Recording Company; Nurettin Guven, the former president of Malatyaspor football club; Sehmuz Tatlici, the owner of Setat Foreign Currency Exchange Outlets; and Ibrahim Polat, the owner of Polat Apartments. It was also reported that police files have been opened on an additional 700 Kurdish businessmen. |
FBIS3-38175_0 | Human Rights Group Lists 54 Imprisoned Journalists | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Ankara -- Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) has announced that 54 journalists and writers in this country are in prison for violating laws in their reports and books. IHD Secretary-General Husnu Ondul said in a statement on the issue that all the inmates were imprisoned on the grounds that they had violated the Anti-Terrorism Law, and noted that "the crime of opinion cannot be accepted as a crime." Ondul said his association would be in solidarity with the writers in prison, stressing that even if one writer in a country is imprisoned, there can be no talk of freedom there. According to a recent report issued by the IHD, writers and journalists currently in prison in Turkey were listed as follows: Osman Gunes (Emek Dunyasi magazine), Hidir Ates (Odak magazine), Zana Sezen (Azadi newspaper), Omer Agin (writer), Tuncay Atmaca (Emek magazine), Hacay Yilmaz (Emek magazine), Hidir Batusal (Ozgur Gelecek magazine), Naile Tuncer (Devrimci Proleterya magazine), Erdogan Yasar Kopan (Devrimci Mucadele magazine), Kemal Bilget (Nevroz magazine), Edip Polat (writer), Ismail Besikci (writer), Gunay Aslan (writer), Ergun Gumgum (Hevdam newspaper), Fethiye Peksen (Devrimci Cozum magazine), Hikmet Cetin (Deng magazine), ?ustafa Cubuk (Emek magazine), Kenan Kalyon (Toplumsal Dayanisma magazine), Nabi Barut (Zagros publications), Suleyman Bakirman (Tavir magazine), Ahmet Zeko Okcuoglu (writer), Culperi Turuz (Alinteri newspaper), Hidir Guyildar (Cercek magazine), Deniz Gezen (Mucadele magazine), Cemal Uc (Mucadele magazine), Huseyin Solak (Mucadele magazine), Veysel Sahin (Mucadele magazine), Ahmet Ibili (Mucadele magazine), Necati Onder (Mucadele magazine), Murat Kirsoy (Mucadele magazine), Gurbetelli Ersoz (Ozgur Gundem), Ali Riza Halis (Ozgur Gundem), Serdar Karakos (Ozgur Gundem) Riza Zingal (Ozgur Gundem), Serdar Caycioglu (Ozgur Gundem), Namik Alkan (Ozgur Gundem), Oguzhan Ogruk (Ozgur Gundem), Sadi Salik (Ozgur Gundem), Nizamettin Karaciger (Ozgur Gundem), Mehmet Sah Yildiz (Ozgur Gundem), Hasan Ozgun (Ozgur Gundem), Cengiz Tas (Ozgur Gundem), Manaf Avci (Ozgur Gundem), Bulent Derik (Ozgur Gundem), Ozgur Aslan (Ozgur Gundem), Culay Celik (Ozgur Gundem), Ahmet Caldiran (Ozgur Gundem), Ercan Aslan (Ozgur Gundem) and Sabri Bolek (Ozgur Gundem). These writers and journalists were reportedly incarcerated in the prisons of Elazig, Istanbul, Adiyaman, Igdir, Ankara, Izmit, Tunceli, Malatya, Bursa, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Erzurum, Urla and Mugla. |
FBIS3-38187_0 | Russian Envoy Discusses Straits, Yeltsin Visit | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Ankara, Jan 30 (A.A) -- Russian Ambassador in Ankara, Albert Chernyshev, on Sunday [30 January] said his country wants the Montreux Agreement, which regulates the passages from Canakkale and Istanbul Straits of foreign ships, to be maintained but at the same time understands Turkey's concern's on passage security. He said the straits are of vital importance to Russia as they are the only way for Russian ships to reach the Mediterranean, and his country understands Turkey's concern concerning Istanbul's security. Turkey has prepared a new regulation draft which aims at bringing to the minimum any risks that may threaten ships and environmental security, and which brings new regulation for ships passing through the straits. Chernyshev also said that Russia is in principle not against a possible Baku-Yumurtalik (in southern Turkey) pipeline to transport Azeri oil from Azerbaijan and former Soviet republics to Europe, adding however that there are two important criteria, which are economic and political feasibility. A framework agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan was signed on March 9, 1993, stating that the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline would be the most economic way to bring Azeri oil to world markets. The pipeline has a design capacity of 40 million tonnes per year. Azeri oil production over the next few years is not expected to exceed 25 million tonnes per year. The extra capacity has been incorporated into the pipeline to attract oil transportation demand from Central Asian countries, mainly from Kazakhstan. Turkey has made plain its opposition to oil being transported by tankers through the Bosphorus, a route suggested by some, because of the risks of environmental damage and the potential dangers to Istanbul whose ten million plus residents live on both sides of the busy strait. Commenting on the Azeri-Armenian conflict he said his country sees Turkey as a country that can politically contribute to the solution of the problem. On the European Conventional Arms Reduction Agreement, he said Russian demands should not be seen as threat against Turkey, adding it is not targeting any country. On the nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovskiy's remarks targeting Turkey he said the former has no political future. Chernyshev said a planned visit by Russian President Boris Yeltsin expected to take place in March will bring a new dimension to Turkish-Russian relations, adding a number of agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries during this visit. |
FBIS3-38216_0 | EC Officials: Accords With Poland, Hungary `Landmark' | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Brussels, Jan 31 (AFP) -- Association agreements linking Poland and Hungary more closely with the European Community and ultimately preparing them for full membership of the EC come into effect on Tuesday [1 February]. The so-called European Agreements give the two East European countries greater access to the EC for their products, and provide for an enhanced political dialogue. The EC commissioners for foreign relations and foreign trade, Hans van den Broek and Leon Brittan, said the accords, signed in December 1991 but not fully ratified until last December, constituted "a landmark." They said in a statement: "It enables the parties to fully develop their political and economic cooperation in the context of their future membership of the European Union (also known as the EC)." The agreements give no firm date for membership of the EC, although they state this as an ultimate objective. The trade terms of the accords have been in effect since March 1, 1992. They commit the EC to a gradual lifting of tariff barriers against industrial products to create a free trade zone. But some barriers against some products considered sensitive in the EC will remain for several years to protect European industries. Thus tariffs on steel and coal will remain intact until January 1996, and various textile tariffs for another one or two years. Tariffs and quotas on agricultural goods will be gradually lowered until July 1995. Poland and Hungary will be given a little longer, until end-1998 and end-2001 respectively, to open their markets to products from the EC, and adopt the Community's competition laws. The EC has also negotiated European agreements with the Czech and Slovak republics, Romania and Bulgaria. But these have not yet been finalised. In 1992 the EC chalked up a combined trade surplus of ECU2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) with the six countries. |
FBIS3-38218_3 | Austrian Chancellor, German Official Discuss Issues | are interested in what the official side says, and we are not concerned with views like those of Samaras.... Past Problem Discussing Alternate Foreign Minister Theodhoros Pangalos' remarks and the atmosphere of Greek-German relations, German Deputy Foreign Minister Helmut Schaefer said: "Pangalos' remarks are history and couldn't affect Greek-German relations. I do not believe it is useful to reiterate rumors of problems because we are confirming them in some way. Following my visit and talks with my Greek counterpart Yeoryios Papandreou, I would describe the atmosphere as positive and the similarity of views on many issues as significant." Referring to Germany's Balkan policy, he said: "There is no German Balkan policy. The German side's interest is purely humanitarian. We want things to be stable and we need everyone to contribute to that. The wrong impression was once created -- and we believed it too -- that the Serbs were responsible for continuing the clashes and that if Serbia stopped fighting, the problem would be solved. "The problem is more complex. We must persuade all former Yugoslav parties involved that every side must take steps to resolve the crisis, because Europe will run out of patience at some point. A new initiative must be undertaken to end the prevailing situation. We are waiting for the U.S. secretary of state to move." Germany seems to be running out of patience on Skopje as well. This can be seen in a response to a question on the hasty opening of a German diplomatic delegation in Skopje. "No one can claim that we hurried to recognize the former Republic of Macedonia. We waited two years before establishing diplomatic relations. During these two years, the country became a UN member and was thus recognized by international law. "The Greek side must get rid of its sentimentality on this issue. It would be much worse for the Greek side if there was instability in the region. Papandreou agreed with that. So, Athens and Skopje must continue their dialogue and Germany is ready to help resume the talks." Referring to the Cyprus issue, Schaefer said: During their visit to Turkey, the German and British Foreign Ministers Claus Kinkel and Douglas Hurd discussed the Cyprus issue. We said both sides involved must show greater flexibility. Asked how he describes a common European policy for resolving the Bosnian crisis, the minister said: "In one sentence, it's common European desperation...." |
FBIS3-38225_1 | Neo-Nazi, Right-Wing Activities Within Police Viewed | "Graz policeman." Mere provocation -- or further evidence of neo-Nazi cells inside the police? As early as 1991, worried policemen from Vienna filed a complaint: In the telephone exchange of the police building at Rossauer Laende a socialist trade union election poster was "embellished" with anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans by unknown persons. The room is in a "closed area" and is accessible only to officers on duty. Despite the immediate report and the intervention of Department 1 (state police), investigations came to nothing. Texts inspired by right-wing radical ideology even showed up at the Interior Ministry. Officials have said that some time ago, a racist smearsheet ("Application for Asylum") was displayed on the board on which the personnel office usually affixes its news. When, last week, PROFIL reported right-wing extremist activities and other defects in the police machinery, the responsible officials at police headquarters on Schottenring started hectic activities. Leading officials rushed from one crisis meeting to the next, concentrating their search on the leaks inside the police authorities. That police officer who does not conceal his right-wing radical convictions and indulges in loyal German activities in league with his subordinates in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel area, has gone on sick leave. Other officers decided to use their accumulated overtime as compensatory time. Meanwhile one has started to go through the files of the security alert department -- an enclave of radical right-wing "hardliners." In connection with the incipient investigations it has become public that last summer one officer defected to Croatia and joined the fascist HVO [Croatian Defense Force] militia. The man is said to have taken along a prohibitively expensive night vision system from the security alert department. The problem is that his colleagues must be cautious and not talk too much about it because the high tech equipment had been bought without the mandatory invitation to bid. Yet an increasing number of policemen are venting their pent-up irritation and frustration about the conditions in the security machinery. They are hoping that right-wing radical activities in the police will now finally be "stopped." Guenther Marek, vice president of the Vienna police, has not spotted "any signs of right-wing extremism," of course. He simply refers to his "33 years of experience in the police": Some of the young whippersnappers among the officers were sometimes going "a bit too far." In a handout, last week the trade union group AUF |
FBIS3-38225_2 | Neo-Nazi, Right-Wing Activities Within Police Viewed | officials at police headquarters on Schottenring started hectic activities. Leading officials rushed from one crisis meeting to the next, concentrating their search on the leaks inside the police authorities. That police officer who does not conceal his right-wing radical convictions and indulges in loyal German activities in league with his subordinates in the Lower Austrian Waldviertel area, has gone on sick leave. Other officers decided to use their accumulated overtime as compensatory time. Meanwhile one has started to go through the files of the security alert department -- an enclave of radical right-wing "hardliners." In connection with the incipient investigations it has become public that last summer one officer defected to Croatia and joined the fascist HVO [Croatian Defense Force] militia. The man is said to have taken along a prohibitively expensive night vision system from the security alert department. The problem is that his colleagues must be cautious and not talk too much about it because the high tech equipment had been bought without the mandatory invitation to bid. Yet an increasing number of policemen are venting their pent-up irritation and frustration about the conditions in the security machinery. They are hoping that right-wing radical activities in the police will now finally be "stopped." Guenther Marek, vice president of the Vienna police, has not spotted "any signs of right-wing extremism," of course. He simply refers to his "33 years of experience in the police": Some of the young whippersnappers among the officers were sometimes going "a bit too far." In a handout, last week the trade union group AUF [Action Group for Independents and Liberals], close to the Freedom Party of Austria [FPOe], rejected the "denunciations" within the police. Is keeping one's mouth shut the police officer's supreme duty? Certainly not. State police officers in Klagenfurt were more talkative. The student union there recently received right-wing extremist propaganda material, some revisionist stuff, from Spain -- sent to "Juergen Hatzenbichler, student." This man used to be a member of Gerd Honsik's National Front in Carinthia, wrote for Walter Ochensberger's SIEG gazette, and is now writing for AULA, IDENTITAET, and JUNGE FREIHEIT. The people from the student union passed the material on to the Klagenfurt division of the state police. The officers acted as postmen and handed the letter over to Hatzenbichler, not without mentioning from whom they had gotten it. The addressee expressed his thanks -- to the student union. |
FBIS3-38236_0 | EU Makes Proposal on Immigrants' Rights | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Report by Andrew Marshall: "Rights Boost for Europe's Immigrants"] [Text] Brussels -- Radical proposals on immigration and asylum would create new rights for Europe's 9 million legal immigrants while clamping down on illegal entrants, according to officials in Brussels. The proposals are contained in a document from Padraig Flynn, Commissioner for Social Policy and Immigration. They are the first indication of how far the Maastricht treaty may allow the European Union [EU] to spread its influence into areas previously the preserve of national governments. Mr Flynn, a former Irish Justice Minister, risks controversy by tackling these issues, particularly as some member states such as Britain dispute the Commission's right to take the lead. The document aims to accentuate the positive features of immigration, officials say. The message behind the essentially liberal plan is that "immigration to Europe has been a positive development with substantial economic and social benefits," an official said yesterday. "It has been an enriching process." Cash is available to assist in integrating immigrants, say officials. Their rights need strengthening, including measures to underpin equality, employment, housing, education and training, particularly those aged between 20 and 30. Employers and unions would be encouraged to adopt a new code of conduct on non- discrimination. These programmes would involve "education, information and new legislation," officials say. The rights flowing from legal residence vary across the EU and are often not recognised in other states. A Turkish worker legally resident in Germany, for instance, would have problems finding work in Britain. The ways to achieve nationality also vary throughout the EU, and the Flynn proposals would focus on using dual nationality. Speeding up the process of gaining nationality would greatly help to integrate immigrants, officials say. Mr Flynn and his officials emphasise this aspect of his package, even though it also confronts the other side of the issue -- restricting the flow of immigrants into Europe and removing those who are already here illegally. The document recommends tougher measures against illegal immigrants, with a U.S.-style focus on punishing those who employ them. The second aspect of the voluminous package is on immigration flows, movement of asylum-seekers and immigrants across borders. The paper focuses on admission procedures, illegal immigration and refugees, all areas already being tackled. EU ministers have been working to restrict asylum-seekers by tightening definitions, accelerating procedures and weeding out "manifestly unfounded claims." The Flynn proposals, |
FBIS3-38236_2 | EU Makes Proposal on Immigrants' Rights | those who employ them. The second aspect of the voluminous package is on immigration flows, movement of asylum-seekers and immigrants across borders. The paper focuses on admission procedures, illegal immigration and refugees, all areas already being tackled. EU ministers have been working to restrict asylum-seekers by tightening definitions, accelerating procedures and weeding out "manifestly unfounded claims." The Flynn proposals, however, deal with temporary protection for people who, like some of those fleeing the war in former Yugoslavia, need shelter, protection and assistance for only a limited time. The document spells out ways of sharing the burden among EU states when one or more faces a sudden flood of those seeking asylum or temporary protection. This controversial idea was advocated by Germany -- faced with massive migrant flows -- but is resisted by its partners. The third area examined by the paper deals with the pressure that causes immigration and the flow of asylum-seekers. It recommends using trade and aid agreements to improve conditions in the countries that are a source of migration, and toughening the stance on human rights with countries where government oppression creates refugees. The paper is still being discussed between the different services of the Commission and may be put before all Commissioners next week. It would then be sent to the Council of Ministers, which groups representatives of member states, including on this issue the Home Secretary, and the European Parliament. The aim is to create a detailed action programme for legislation and decisions. The subject matter will be controversial enough. But some member states will be deeply opposed to the Commission taking the lead. The Maastricht treaty created a common policy on Justice and Home Affairs, but measures are largely left to member states. Many proposals will be welcomed by those working on behalf of immigrants and asylum-seekers. But they will horrify right-wing opponents of the EU, since they combine the incendiary elements of immigration and the Maastricht treaty. They put more emphasis on the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers than previous decisions by EU governments that concentrated on creating a "Fortress Europe." The Commission may be taking a generous view of its abilities under Maastricht. But Mr Flynn's officials point to existing powers in the area of social policy which enable him to take initiatives. And they point out that many of the issues raised relate to the completion of the single market. |
FBIS3-38237_1 | Eurocrats Threaten Strike Over Security Vetting | prepared and executed. Niels Ersboll, its secretary-general, has told representatives of his 2,200 staff that he expects 370 will need positive vetting. They will be assessed by the security services of their own country. Most will be lawyers and translators. The plan has caused uproar among secretariat personnel who think vetting unnecessary since staff regulations already allow for violations of secrecy to be punished by dismissal and loss of pension rights. Gunther Lorenz, vice president of the staff association, said yesterday that his members particularly objected to the lack of opportunity for an appeal against a negative security report which might blight an official's career. Staff considered themselves to be members of a European civil service which proudly resisted national interference. Now they might be refused clearance because of behaviour in their home countries during their youth. Staff wanted minimum guarantees, including an appeals procedure. They might be balloted on a strike. "We feel we are not strong enough to stop the vetting completely, but we want some minimum guarantees," Mr Lorenz said. "If a member state's security service writes a negative report, it must give reasons against which the official can appeal. "If we do not obtain satisfaction, we will be obliged to convene a general meeting and, if necessary, call a general strike." Senior officials believe a full strike is unlikely, but they are aware of the danger of a work to rule. In previous disputes staff have come close to immobilising the council of ministers by refusing to work in any language other than their mother tongue. In the face of this threat, diplomats from the member states have made a few concessions, but it is understood they are being resisted by hardliners on the K4 committee of senior representatives from the Home Office and EU interior ministries. The fourth draft of the plan will be discussed today in Brussels. Before the Maastricht treaty came into force co-operation between member states was handled outside the Community framework. Alex Falconer, Labour MEP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, who led the parliament's successful campaign to quash previous attempts to introduce a Community official secrecy regime, said the council of ministers was trying to bypass democratic control. Diplomats are aware that the issue could have serious repercussions in Sweden, Norway and Finland, whose governments are negotiating membership of the EU. The proposals are likely to meet opposition in the European Parliament. |
FBIS3-38245_0 | Officials Comment on U.S. Decision To Issue Visa U.S. Decision `Spurned' British Requests | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Report by Martin Walker in Washington, David Sharrock in Belfast, Joe Joyce in Dublin and Stephen Bates: "U.S. Grants Entry Visa to Adams"] [Text] The U.S. Government spurned British urgings and announced last night that it would grant a visa for the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams, to visit America for a conference on Northern Ireland in New York this week. The visa will allow him to launch a media blitz on behalf of the republican cause but not to raise funds. Officials said Mr Adams will be allowed to stay only 48 hours, be barred from travelling more than 25 miles from New York and not allowed to engage in "direct or indirect fund raising." The ostensible purpose of his trip is to attend a conference of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, a non-profit group whose honorary chairman is the former secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Some members of Congress opposed the visa as a dangerous concession that could only result in political comfort for the IRA. The U.S. decision followed a statement in which Mr Adams declared himself to be against all forms of violence in Northern Ireland, "including the violence of the British army and security forces," and said he looked forward to the disbandment of the IRA. Mr Adams has been repeatedly denied admission to the United States over the past 20 years on grounds of his alleged involvement in terrorism. Ulster Unionists and Conservative backbenchers will be concerned that American-Irish politicians will give him a publicity platform and effectively condone terrorism. The British Government said that Sinn Fein would be judged by deeds, not words. A spokesman said: "The fact is that Adams said in a statement that he wants to end violence and is working towards supporting the Downing Street declaration, and it is on that basis that he is being admitted, under very strict conditions for 48 hours. The British Government does not issue visas for admission to the U.S." Labour's Northern Ireland spokesman, Kevin McNamara, said: "We are against exclusion orders in principle. It is purely an internal domestic matter for the United States Government, and I have no views about it." Ken Maginnis, Ulster Unionist MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, who refused to go to the same conference if Mr Adams was there, said last night: "My understanding was that two conditions were being |
FBIS3-38250_0 | Kohl Comments on EU Integration, Border | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Excerpt] Mainz (DPA) -- Chancellor Kohl is of the opinion that there will be no lasting peace without integrating East European states into the European Union [EU]. "We will never resign ourselves to the EU border being the border between Germany and Poland," Kohl said in Mainz today at a reception for 33 bishops from throughout Europe. Europe was in the process of taking up the great tradition of coexistence. Everyone should be grateful about the progress achieved. Beforehand the chancellor attended a celebration mass in Mainz Cathedral at the conclusion of the 24th General Assembly of the Council of Catholic European Bishops' Conferences. At the service, the bishops called on the warmongers in former Yugoslavia to stop their merciless actions, and said they hoped peace would be achieved. Kohl warned that no one was immune to developments such as those in former Yugoslavia. [passage omitted] |
FBIS3-38256_0 | Fabbri Confirms Refusal of U.S. Request on Spy Planes | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Unattributed article: "Fabbri Confirms Denial of Spy Plane Facilities"] [Text] Parma, 31 Jan (ANSA) -- Italian Defence Minister Fabio Fabbri confirmed here today that the Rome government had refused the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency permission to fly two unpiloted espionage drones from Italy over ex-Yugoslavia, but said unauthorised speculation seeking to explain the move had got it wrong. The American weekly, AVIATION WEEK AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY, said in its edition on the newsstands today that Albania had agreed to let the CIA fly the drones from its facilities because of Italy's refusal. After the release of a pre-publication copy of the article, the author, John Morrocco, told ANSA that a service on the same question two months ago quoted Pentagon sources as saying various countries had turned down the CIA's request. "After further research, we managed to learn that the refusal came from Italy," he added, "but we don't know why or what the motivations were." Fabbri told reporters that the denial of the facilities concerned only a question of air safety. "The remote-controlled planes would have had to use Italian airspace used by intense aviation traffic," he said, "and the risks would have been grave in case of a crash or a technical fault." He also pointed out there was no Italian or international legal framework to work within which would create not a few problems for the air traffic control authorities. Above all, Fabbri was careful to stress that he found it "frankly surprising and unacceptable" that there should have been hints of a limited spirit of collaboration by the Italian authorities when top U.S. officials recognised the "extraordinary cooperation" shown for NATO and the United States in all their operations in ex-Yugoslavia. The drones the CIA will be using are reportedly two GNAT 750's developed after the Gulf War had disclosed shortcomings in U.S. information gathering capabilities and now brought into service ahead of time to improve information collection in Bosnia. The GNAT can fly for 24 hours at a stretch to a maximum altitude of 8,000 m and with a range of 800 km, transmitting digitalised information back to base via land stations or another plane. Direct hookups with Washington are also possible, AVIATION WEEK said. The programme, which has been estimated at 6 million dollars, involves setting up a radar station in Albania with a CIA team of twelve. February 1 |
FBIS3-38258_0 | Chernomyrdin, Pope Discuss Conditions in Russia, FRY | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Unattributed article: "Premier Chernomyrdin Meets Pope"] [Text] Vatican City, January 28 (ANSA) Conditions in Russia and ongoing violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina were the major issues discussed here by Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Pope John Paul II in a meeting which included the visiting head of government's wife, Yuri Karlov, the Russian ambassador to the Holy See, and a delegation of Russian officials. On developments in Russia, Chernomyrdin confirmed for the pope his government's intention to pursue reforms set in motion and, after outlining the Russian position on Bosnia of opposition to any international solution to hostilities based on the use of force, the prime minister said crisis conditions in ex-Yugoslavia must be managed "with peaceful methods." A brief communique issued by the Holy See at the end of the meeting, which ran to 50 minutes rather than the 30 minutes scheduled, said, "During the audience, the prime minister illustrated for the Holy Father the present situation of his government on major problems in national and international life." The pope, for his part, "expressed the wish Russia's material and spiritual progress with profound respect for the religious freedom of all believers." At the end of the talk, held in Russian, the pope and the prime minister exchanged gifts of papal medallions and rosaries and a painting of a Russian landscape. Though the atmosphere prevailing was described as "very cordial," Holy See observers noted that Chernomyrdin did not invite John Paul to Moscow and recalled that an invitation was not forthcoming from Russian President Boris Yeltsin during his meeting with the pope on December 20, 1991. The pontiff was, however, warmly invited to the Russian capital by the Soviet president of the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, who had two private audiences in the Vatican, in December 1989 and in November of the following year. Chernomyrdin also met here with Vatican Secretary of State Msgr Angelo Sodano and his foreign minister, Jean-Louis Tauran, for a talk in which the two sides "reviewed some bilateral problems between the Holy See and Russia and especially various aspects of life in the Catholic community residing there," said the communique released by the Vatican press office. |
FBIS3-38273_0 | Greece, Albania Sign 1994-96 Cooperation Program | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Tirana, January 19 (ATA) -- The 4th session of the Joint Albanian-Greek Commission for the scientific and technical cooperation was held in Athens from January 13-14, 1994. The session analyzed the achievements of the former program of scientific and technical cooperation for 1991-1993 and concluded this cooperation has been active and beneficial for both sides. After examining the respective proposals, the two delegations agreed on a new program of cooperation for 1994-1996. The program covers different fields such as agriculture, biology, construction, transport, science, computers, energy, geology, mining, medicine, environmental protection, monuments of culture, archaeology, and other fields. The program also envisages exchanges of specialists and joint projects of research. The Greek side also expressed its readiness to support Albanian research projects in the program of the European Union and other international initiatives. For the Albanian side the program was signed by the leader of the delegation and chairman of the Committee of Science and Technique, Maksim Konomi, and for the Greek side by the secretary general for research and technology of Greece, Nikolaos Chrisodoulakis. |
FBIS3-38284_0 | Editorialist Views Clinton's State of Union Address | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Editorial: "America's Refusal"] [Text] The U.S. refusal to let itself be involved in European -- and especially French -- initiatives aimed at putting an end to the war in Bosnia illustrates a paradox which characterizes America today. The stronger it gets internally, the less willing to commit itself externally it seems to become. In his recent State of the Union Address, Bill Clinton listed his reasons to be satisfied, all of which were of an internal nature. Growth now seems assured, consumer and entrepreneur confidence indicators are rising, over 1.5 billion jobs have been created in one year, inflation remains under control, the budget deficit will be cut as soon as next year, and interest rates are at a low ebb. A look at its traditional evils -- especially crime -- must not hide the fact that America is in a strong position in this age of global economic competition. It is then all the more surprising to witness the timid way in which the United States has been exercising its leadership abroad. Mr. Clinton can boast no foreign policy achievement. As for Bosnia, the U.S. President only -- almost casually -- mentioned that the United States could be proud of devising, for humanitarian purposes, "the longest air lift in human memory." A rather inadequate contribution considering that this is a conflict which dents NATO's credibility, mocks the United Nations Organization, and has already claimed over 100,000 lives. The U.S. Administration justifies its aloofness with two arguments. Exerting pressure to stop the fighting at a time when the Muslims have been regaining some ground would be unfair to them -- they were sorely provoked, after all -- and would not lead to a workable solution. Indeed, while the United States has undertaken to contribute to the peacekeeping force should the Muslims, Croats, and Serbs come to an agreement, it wants such troops to secure peace, not to have to force it upon the belligerents, which means that the agreement would have to be concluded in good faith, a highly unlikely proposition. To demand such an agreement -- which is what the Americans have been doing -- is therefore almost akin to a manifesto of non-involvement. Routed in Haiti, battered in Somalia, the U.S. Administration has been equally luckless with a "Russian policy" which it had almost exclusively based on a reformist current which has just vanished |
FBIS3-38302_1 | Government Tries To Improve EU's Internal Security | the period of the German EU Presidency during the second half of 1994. According to Kanther, the primary goal for this term of office is the improvement of the EU's internal security. Kanther told WELT AM SONNTAG that, during its presidency, the German Government wants to push ahead with the expansion of Europol in The Hague and wants to make sure "that this European police force is fully operational by October 1994." The minister gave figures: In 1992 alone almost 6.3 million crimes were registered in Germany. In 130,000 cases vehicles were stolen. The damage: about 1.3 billion German marks. The Federal Government will work with particular emphasis toward an amendment to the valid EC law so that cars will be equipped with state-of-the-art security measures all over Europe. According to Kanther, by 1995 at the latest, it is to be examined "whether asylum policy is to be transferred to the authority of the European Union." It is to be welcomed that in a report the EU Commission has already "come to a cautious vote in favor of making asylum policy a Community matter." Europe needs a common asylum policy. The minister pointed out that still more than 70 percent of all asylum-seekers moving toward Europe come to Germany: "Since the pressure of migration on Europe is a common problem of the European states, it must be solved together in the future." This is true above all in a Europe of open borders, where asylum-seekers or foreigners, who have entered a country illegally, can move from one EU state to another practically without being checked. Freedom of travel must "not be confused with freedom of residence or freedom of immigration." Regarding the acceptance of civil-war refugees, the Federal Government will press for a "fair burden-sharing" within the European Union. Kanther noted that more than 370,000 persons have been accepted in Germany. Thus, the FRG is "at the forefront internationally." Tomorrow, Kanther will meet Polish Interior Minister Andrzej Milczanowski in Warsaw for talks about closer cooperation in combating cross-border crime. Focal issues are drug trafficking and the rising number of vehicle thefts by the Polish car mafia. Furthermore, additional measures are to be agreed on to put an end to the activities of those gangs that smuggle asylum-seekers across the border to Germany for money. In Warsaw, Kanther will also be received by President Lech Walesa and Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak. |
FBIS3-38310_0 | * Rehn Makes Advances in Center Party, Women's Groups * Backed by Women's Organizations | Language: Swedish Article Type:CSO [Finnish News Service Report: "Wide Female Support for Rehn"] [Text] The women's organizations want to see Elisabeth Rehn become the next president of Finland. At a meeting of chairpersons heading member groups belonging to the Central Federation of Women's Organizations, support was given to Rehn. The Central Federation is politically independent. It represents 400,000 women in 52 different organizations. Constituent groups include the women's auxiliaries of the Center Party, Conservative Party, the Christian Party, and the Rural Party, as well as the Martha Confederation, the Young Women's Christian Association, the Kindergarten Teachers' Union, Wives of Engineers, Zonta International [Finnish chapter], and, for example, the wives of foreign service officers. The leftist women's organizations do not belong to the Central Federation. Also supporting Rehn is the Women's Party, [which said in a statement]: "As a women, wife, mother, and grandmother, she has new groups of people with her and is bringing a human dimension to the highest realm of politics." |
FBIS3-38312_0 | Mikhailidhis Views Treatment of Kurdish Dissidents | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Interior Minister Dinos Mikhailidhis gave assurances yesterday that Kurds wanted for political crimes would not be sent back to Turkey or the occupied areas. DIKO [Democratic Party] deputy Markos Kiprianou raised the issue of handing over left-wing Turks and Kurds to Turkey, where they face certain imprisonment or death, at yesterday's closed House Legal Affairs Committee meeting. Mikhailidhis, who was present yesterday, told the committee: "If a Kurd's life is in danger for political reasons then he will not be handed over to the Turks." Kiprianou also asked the minister to study other cases brought up by the Kurdistan solidarity committee. There are accusations that Turks and Kurds were being sent back to instant death after entering the free areas illegally. Kiprianou wanted to discuss with Mikhailidhis the procedures followed when Kurds or Turks enter the free-areas illegally. According to the Turkish Cypriot press, two Turks who entered the free area illegally through Famagusta recently were sent back by the government. One of the Turks, according to reports, was a member of the Turkish National Liberation Party and a PLO member. Police say it's their policy to send back those who enter the free areas illegally. The Kurds argue that such action is unacceptable because dissidents are treated as deserters and face the death penalty on their return. "The major thing is that lives of Kurds are not put in danger, if it is known they face death on being returned to Turkey or the occupied areas," said Kiprianou afterwards. |
FBIS3-38316_0 | Clinton, Ciller Discuss al-Asad Stance on PKK | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Report by Sinan Kurun: "President al-Asad Has Made No Promise on PKK"] [Text] Ankara--Prime Minister Tansu Ciller held a telephone conversation with President Clinton yesterday. President Clinton informed her that President al-Asad neither promised anything nor opened any door on the issue of the Workers Party of Kurdistan [PKK] and Hizballah during their talks in Geneva. Considering President al-Asad's indifference to PKK terrorist activities, Turkish Foreign Ministry officials have said: "It seems President al-Asad wishes to continue to use the PKK as a trump card against Turkey." Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin is reportedly expected to hold bilateral talks with his Syrian counterpart when the foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran, and Syria hold a summit on northern Iraq in Istanbul early in February. Recalling that the summit should have been held in November 1993 but was repeatedly postponed because of Syria's objections, Foreign Ministry officials have revealed that Damascus has informed Ankara that the Syrian foreign minister may visit Istanbul from 4 to 6 February. But they have also said that "Iran has not yet responded." |
FBIS3-38319_0 | Attack on PKK Zhalah Camp Analyzed | Language: English Article Type:BFN ["Analysis" by Ismet G. Imset: "Zhalah Had To Be Hit"] [Text] Ankara -- On Friday [28 January], Turkish warplanes conducted what Prime Minister Tansu Ciller referred to as "the most important operation of the past 10 years" and bombed a major training camp of Kurdish separatists based on the Iran-Iraq border. The operation, the deepest ever into Iraqi territory, came amid reports that the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] was gearing up to launch a wave of attacks targeting Kurdish civilians in the Southeast. The Zhalah camp which was bombed and almost completely destroyed, was used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) not only for training purposes but, as Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani also accepted, to conduct cross border operations into Turkey. According to information the TURKISH DAILY NEWS [TDN] obtained during a November 1993 trip to the area, the PKK was not only using Zhalah for shelter, but was expanding its influence both inside Iran and in the Kurdish-controlled parts of Iraq close to the border. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Chairman Mas'ud Barzani readily accepted when interviewed by the TDN in Zakho that it was a great mistake from the very beginning to allow the PKK to move into the area. Talabani said at about the same time that they had no other alternative. The PKK's "transfer" to Zhalah came in 1992 with the October Turkish incursion into Iraq tightening the grip on this organization and with a makeshift surrender of the separatists to the Iraqi Kurds. As Turkish officials boasted back in Ankara that some 4,000 casualties were recorded in successful land and air attacks, Iraqi Kurds were putting the number of PKK losses at about 180 at the most. Instead of agreeing that the result of the incursion fell short of expectation, officials had electoral priorities and insisted that they had crushed the terrorists. In reality, and as the TDN then reported at the cost of angering officials, hundreds of PKK militants were placed in trucks and buses, carried off to Kurdish-controlled Iraqi cities and from there, transported to Zhalah. The only practical result of the Turkish operation then was to force the PKK more than a hundred kilometers to the south of the Turkish border and make it more difficult for the separatists to reach back into southern Turkey. But, despite agreements made with the Iraqi Kurds, |
FBIS3-38332_2 | Polls Show Leftist Coalition Ahead | National Alliance of MSI Secretary Gianfranco Fini. There are many unknown quantities, however. "The principal unknown quantity," declares Renato Mannheimer, an expert on election trends, "is the fact that almost half of the population has not yet decided for whom to vote. Until a few years ago, the undecided were often those who wanted to keep their choices secret. Today, however, the indecision is genuine, and the forecasts could be turned upside down." CIRM Director Nicola Piepoli agrees. "The proportion of undecideds--which I put at around 30 percent--could overturn the forecasts. Moreover, these people change their minds from time to time. Today, they are aligned with the left, but within a week they could be lining up with Segni and Berlusconi." In the opinion of Roberto Weber, director of the SWG of Trieste, this uncertainty stems primarily from two sources. "The election alliances are an unknown quantity," he said. "So far there is only one coalition, that of the left. The center and the right are not getting together. Then there is the question: Who will be the candidates, and what will they say to the people?" Other unknown factors also adversely affect the forecasts. First of all, the surveys are still being conducted by the old proportional method rather than by the majority method; they accordingly indicate the orientation of public opinion at the national level but do not predict the effects within the majority constituencies. There is one exception: Diakron of Milan--which works for Forza Italia--has already developed a model that translates the poll responses into parliamentary seats and has applied it to the most recent CIRM poll presented on 10 January in MILANO, ITALIA (see accompanying table). "In fact," explains Diakron's Managing Director Gianni Pilo, "we had already used a scenario similar to that of CIRM." Based on this scenario, the left would elect 370 deputies--an absolute majority--and could therefore govern alone. Is this a credible forecast? Visani dismisses it out of hand. "It is a device used by Berlusconi to terrorize the public," he says. "Terrorism? How so?" Pilo retorts. "It is rather that the survey takes into consideration only the variable that is most favorable for the left, namely, a scenario in which the progressives are united while the Catholics are separated from the other moderate forces. We have obtained different percentages, however. If the moderates were to form a coalition, they would win an |
FBIS3-38333_6 | Kinkel Comments on Moscow Developments, Poland | accession." The next EU Council of Foreign Ministers should discuss this issue in February. Nervousness in Poland Regarding the countries in East-Central Europe, Kinkel noticed that nervousness is most marked in Poland, because of Warsaw's unfulfilled wishes toward NATO and the EU. In her talks in Bonn on Tuesday, former Polish Prime Minister Suchocka expressed her disappointment about the West. The Partnership for Peace did not offer any protection. Since NATO failed to agree on an "agenda" for Polish membership in, say, 10 years, Poland's acceptance into the alliance, including a necessary security guarantee for this country, which is a neighbor to Russia. Mrs. Suchocka predicted that the stronger and more dangerous Russia would become the less NATO would be willing to accept Central- East European countries as members out of fear of Moscow's reactions. Russia would never become a democracy. The Poles were also getting upset with the EU and its protectionism. The mood was becoming anti-Western, Suchocka said. In the interview with FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE, Kinkel described Poland's fears as not justified. The Europe agreement with Poland will come into force on 1 February: "Poland is being involved in many ways." Poland must understand, however, that "the involvement of Russia in cooperation is in the interest of the Central-East European countries." Kinkel said: "There are two levels. We understand what is moving the peoples and governments of the Central-East European countries; however, together we must try to come to a rational assessment of the situation." The accusation of selfish Western European protectionism to the disadvantage of democracy in the East cannot be substantiated. Kinkel warned the East Europeans against turning their back to the West: "Remain sensible and do not overreact!" Kinkel pointed out that the Europe agreement with Hungary on free trade and political dialogue, including "prospects for membership" would also become effective at the beginning of next month. Similar agreements with Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were signed in Brussels last year. The ratification procedures have started; interim agreements will be in force until they are concluded. Negotiations between the European Union and Russia on a partnership agreement have been interrupted as a result of the government reshuffle in Moscow. A result should be achieved in the course of the year. Negotiations with Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have started or are being prepared. Kinkel concluded: "We are doing everything possible to strengthen the network." |
FBIS3-38344_0 | Commission Supports `Customs Corridor' for Balkans | Language: English Article Type:BFN [EC Document No. DOC/IP/94/63: "Commission Backs Customs Corridor as Part of Transit Package for Balkans"] [Text] The European Commission has decided to back the creation of a Balkan customs corridor as part of a wider initiative and could commit over ECU100 million through its PHARE [Economic Reconstruction Aid for Poland and Hungary] program in 1994 to help improve transit to and from Balkan states most affected by the UN sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. The Commission's initiative is to be formally unveiled at the CSCE conference taking place in Vienna today and tomorrow. The Commission's Balkans initiative falls into four parts: - Support for the Balkans customs corridor; - A series of short-term actions to address the most serious bottlenecks in the Balkans; - A medium-term plan to focus European Union investment on a number of "multi-modal" corridors identified by Balkan states themselves as alternatives to the trans-Yugoslav route; - Channeling further funds from the PHARE program into the construction of roads, ferry connections, customs posts and other needs identified by those Balkan states suffering most from the sanctions. Balkan Customs Corridor Civil war in the former Yugoslavia has caused severe delays and loss of trade resulting from the closure of road, rail and other traffic routes. The Commission believes that the establishment of a corridor passing through adjacent countries will greatly alleviate congestion if customs procedures are streamlined sufficiently. Furthermore, suitable technical assistance should enable such a corridor to be in place by this summer. The Commission will therefore urge the Vienna conference, due to discuss ways of helping those countries suffering from the sanctions, to consider the following proposals. The Commission believes that if followed, these proposals would ensure that trucks are delayed at borders for no more than one hour: Certain border posts should be reserved only for transit traffic carrying valid clearance documents (the TIR [international road transportation] carnet), enabling them to avoid normal traffic queues at customs. At other posts, where sufficient space is available, special "fast lanes" should then be created for those holding the TIR documents. Furthermore, two corridors should be assigned -- between Austria and Greece/Turkey, and between Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine -- and priority border posts will be nominated by the countries concerned. Valid TIR carnets could only be obtained, and the transit operation ended, at inland customs houses. Tackling the Most Serious Bottlenecks - Short |
FBIS3-38344_1 | Commission Supports `Customs Corridor' for Balkans | resulting from the closure of road, rail and other traffic routes. The Commission believes that the establishment of a corridor passing through adjacent countries will greatly alleviate congestion if customs procedures are streamlined sufficiently. Furthermore, suitable technical assistance should enable such a corridor to be in place by this summer. The Commission will therefore urge the Vienna conference, due to discuss ways of helping those countries suffering from the sanctions, to consider the following proposals. The Commission believes that if followed, these proposals would ensure that trucks are delayed at borders for no more than one hour: Certain border posts should be reserved only for transit traffic carrying valid clearance documents (the TIR [international road transportation] carnet), enabling them to avoid normal traffic queues at customs. At other posts, where sufficient space is available, special "fast lanes" should then be created for those holding the TIR documents. Furthermore, two corridors should be assigned -- between Austria and Greece/Turkey, and between Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine -- and priority border posts will be nominated by the countries concerned. Valid TIR carnets could only be obtained, and the transit operation ended, at inland customs houses. Tackling the Most Serious Bottlenecks - Short Term Through the PHARE program, which channels over ECU1 billion of assistance every year to promote market economies in Central and East Europe, the Commission will identify the main transit bottlenecks and short-term projects for possible financing by PHARE. A plan for dealing with them will be submitted to the G-24 transport group for discussion in mid-April. Planning for the Medium and Long Term The Commission is participating in the "pan-European indicative plan for transport infrastructure development," through which the Balkan states have identified a series of multi-modal corridors toreplace the trans-Yugoslav route. This will be presented to European transport ministers in Crete on March 14. The plan is intended to guide governments and international financial institutions in the way they invest in infrastructure in East Europe, helping them to avoid overlap between such investments. PHARE is also preparing a study on the best site for a new bridge across the Danube between Bulgaria and Romania, although disagreements persist between those countries. In addition, PHARE will ensure that short-term transport projects tie in with longer- term priorities. Channeling Further Funds from PHARE Over the next four months, the Commission, through the PHARE program, will discuss with the countries worst affected |
FBIS3-38347_0 | EU Paper Outlines New Security Classifications | Language: English Article Type:BFN [John Carvel report: "Brussels `Trying To Gag MEPs'"] [Text] The fourth revision of the impending council of ministers' resolution on how best to protect official secrets in Brussels makes good a surprising omission from the previous three attempts. Senior officials have decided to introduce a top secret classification to cover material whose unauthorised disclosure would have "exceptionally serious consequences" for the essential interests of the European Union [EU]. They had already established the need for classifications of secret (for information whose leakage would have "serious consequences"), confidential (where disclosure would be "detrimental") and restricted (where publication would be "inappropriate or premature"). Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, an organisation which monitors conduct by officialdom affecting civil liberties in the EU, said yesterday: "It is fair enough for them to classify operational details, say about efforts to combat terrorism. But ministers appear to be making no distinction between operations and policy. "The confidential and restricted categories by definition cover information whose disclosure would not have serious consequences for the EU. They are questionable because they can be used to deny national parliaments and MEPs information about policy which they ought to be debating." The council documents provide a fascinating insight into security procedures in an institution which previously did not have secrets worth stealing. Article 6 says: "Where a number of items of information constitute a whole, that whole shall be classified at least as highly as its most highly classified constituent item. "Where appropriate, however, a body of information may be classified more highly than any of its constituent items." Article 7 says: "Access to and the keeping of classified information... shall be authorised only for officials and other servants granted clearance therefore who in addition require to know or receive such information for the performance of their duties... Only persons who have undergone security screening may be granted clearance." Article 8 says: "The purpose of security screening shall be to ascertain that an official or other servant provides the necessary guarantees to be allowed access to classified information... security screening shall be carried out by and under the responsibility of the member state of which the person concerned is a national. "If that person is not a national of a member state the member state within whose territory he has his domicile or normal residence shall be responsible for screening." Officials needing vetting will have to |
FBIS3-38360_0 | Civilian, Military Air Traffic Control Services Merge | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Text] Bonn -- According to an agreement between the Transportion and the Defense Ministry, civilian and military air traffic control services will be working under the same roof in the future. Thus, a further step will be implemented within the framework of the structural reform of air traffic control, which was initiated in 1993 to privatize its legal organization. On Tuesday [1 February], the Defense Ministry announced that 340 air traffic control officers and air data processors will be given leave from the Bundeswehr to start work as employees of the state-run Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS) [German Air Control]. In the long term, it is intended to provide some 500 soldiers. The Bundeswehr members are to cooperate as one working team. According to the Defense Ministry, their work will focus on the control and support of military operational air transport to do justice to the defense assignment of the armed forces. Outside the responsibility of the DFS, Bundeswehr personnel will control the airspace beyond an altitude of 7,500 meters at the Eurocontrol headquarters in Maastricht. The merger of the German air control services is intended to improve the organization, flexibility, and efficiency to keep up with the future development of air transport in Europe. |
FBIS3-38405_0 | Hamburg Official Comments on Right-Wing Extremism | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Interview with Ernst Uhrlau, head of the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, by Nana Brink and Ludwig Rademacher; place and date not given: "`Uniform Movement'"] [Text] [FOCUS] Are we being deceived by the impression that the cooperation between German right-wing extremists, who have so far been rather divided, has achieved a new quality? [Uhrlau] No, your impression is correct. Right-wing extremism in Germany is about to assume the character of a movement. [FOCUS] What does that mean? [Uhrlau] The point is the networking of right-wing extremist activities. Until the early nineties, we only knew this phenomenon on the left-wing extremist scene. Networking means that the individual groups remain independent and that political hierarchies are avoided. Politically active right-wing extremists hitherto longed for hierarchy and leadership. Now they are taking advantage of state-of-the-art communications technologies to mobilize people from different groups for action. [FOCUS] Has your office underestimated the neo-Nazi who is equipped with a personal computer [PC], fax, and mobile telephone? [Uhrlau] No, we have not underestimated him. However their position is different today and will continue to change. The traditional right-wing extremists of the eighties were much more at variance. Comprehensive media such as mail boxes and information telephone lines have sprouted tremendously over the past two years. While the "old" right-wing extremism remained static, so to speak, the protagonists of the new right-wing extremist tendencies, tactics, and strategies are using inexpensive modern communications technologies. After all, one can not forbid anybody the use of a fax, a PC, or mobile telephone. [FOCUS] Can you give us an example? [Uhrlau] It was only through mobile communications that the right-wing extremists were able -- as they had successfully done before in 1992 -- to redirect a demonstration on the occasion of the death day of "Deputy Fuehrer" Hess to the city of Fulda, in Hesse, in August 1993. [FOCUS] Which ended in a political and a media spectacle. [Uhrlau] The right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis are deliberately banking on the media to transmit their message. What is actually conveyed is of secondary importance -- the point is that they are present. I am greatly worried to see that some neo-Nazis have been idolized as "personalities of modern history" via the media. The media bear a special responsibility in this connection. [FOCUS] After right-wing tumults, let us now talk about the intellectualization at the right |
FBIS3-38405_1 | Hamburg Official Comments on Right-Wing Extremism | such as mail boxes and information telephone lines have sprouted tremendously over the past two years. While the "old" right-wing extremism remained static, so to speak, the protagonists of the new right-wing extremist tendencies, tactics, and strategies are using inexpensive modern communications technologies. After all, one can not forbid anybody the use of a fax, a PC, or mobile telephone. [FOCUS] Can you give us an example? [Uhrlau] It was only through mobile communications that the right-wing extremists were able -- as they had successfully done before in 1992 -- to redirect a demonstration on the occasion of the death day of "Deputy Fuehrer" Hess to the city of Fulda, in Hesse, in August 1993. [FOCUS] Which ended in a political and a media spectacle. [Uhrlau] The right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis are deliberately banking on the media to transmit their message. What is actually conveyed is of secondary importance -- the point is that they are present. I am greatly worried to see that some neo-Nazis have been idolized as "personalities of modern history" via the media. The media bear a special responsibility in this connection. [FOCUS] After right-wing tumults, let us now talk about the intellectualization at the right margin. What about the Deutsches Rechtsbuero [German Legal Office], which offers legal advice to neo-Nazis? [Uhrlau] That is part of the network. Via mail boxes one can also access court decisions, appeals for demonstrations and actions or the banning of such actions. The activities by right-wing extremist students are gaining in importance in this connection. [FOCUS] Are right-wing extremist graduates getting ready for a march through the institutions? [Uhrlau] We know that such plans exist in individual right- leaning fraternities. The difference is that such groups do not resort to Nazi patterns of justification but to the classic models of anti-democratic thinking such as Carl Schmitt and the Italian elite theorists. This can be found, for example in JUNGE FREIHEIT [YOUNG FREEDOM], which has set out to become a "TAGESZEITUNG [far left Berlin daily] of the right." This development is also a result of the fact that right-leaning high-school leavers entering the universities are finding the political field there lying fallow. [FOCUS] And their objective is to march through the institutions? [Uhrlau] If one understands oneself as a movement, there is either the parliamentary or the extra-parliamentary approach. The path into the institutions requires a strong representation in parliament. According |
FBIS3-38411_0 | Turkish-Egyptian Statement Issued | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Nuran Milli video report] [Excerpt] [passage omitted] A press release was issued this afternoon in connection with the Turkish-Egyptian talks held in Ankara today. The press release stated that the two countries agree on the protection of the territorial integrity of Iraq and the other regional countries. The press statement stressed that a historic opportunity which should not be missed is at hand with regard to the Middle East peace process, adding that efforts and support will continue for the establishment of peace in the region. Commenting on the situation in the Balkans, the statement remarked that the minimum conditions must be created for the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina in securing lasting peace in this region. The sides agreed that the arms embargo imposed on Bosnia-Herzegovina must be lifted if the aggression continues, the statement declared. Pointing out that the situation in the Caucasus was also discussed during the talks, the statement expressed the concern felt over the tragic situation faced by the displaced Azerbaijani people. During his contacts this afternoon, Egyptian President Husni Mubarak received Prime Minister Tansu Ciller at his hotel and conferred with her for some time. Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin, Egyptian Foreign Minister 'Amr Musa, and prime minister's chief adviser Volkan Vural also attended the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes. In a statement after the meeting, Ciller said that joint action between Turkey and Egypt with regard to the reconstruction of the Middle East and to the peace process was discussed during the meeting. This process may turn into tripartite talks with the participation of Saudi Arabia in the coming days, Ciller announced. Ciller reported that she invited Egyptian Prime Minister 'Atif Sidqi to Turkey, adding that the issues will be discussed in more detail during this visit. The visiting president then received Murat Karayalcin, state minister and deputy prime minister. At the end of the meeting, Karayalcin said that a very fast economic and social development process will begin in the Middle East countries in the next year or two. Turkey and Egypt will assume important roles in this context, he added. Underlining that a peaceful atmosphere is necessary for economic and social development in the Middle East, Karayalcin remarked that the further strengthening of Turkish-Egyptian relations will benefit regional peace. Mubarak also met with Motherland Party leader Mesut Yilmaz, who declared that the situation in Iraq was assessed with the Egyptian |
FBIS3-38413_0 | `Second Stage' of Operations Against PKK Launched | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Text] Security forces have launched the second stage of their operation against the Workers Party of Kurdistan [PKK] after Turkish military aircraft bombed the Zhalah camp in northern Iraq. The special units and the snow and mountain commandos commanded by high-ranking officers, who were already on a state of alert in southeastern Turkey, moved to begin their operation, code-named "Destroy," under falling snow yesterday morning. Several snow vehicles acquired from the United States are being used in their operations. The security forces have intensified their operations in the triangle between Diyarbakir's Lice and Hani districts, Bingol's Karliova and Genc districts, and Mus. They have also intensified operations on the heights of the Gabbar, Namaz, and Cudi mountains. It has been reported that hit-and-run attacks have been organized against predetermined PKK shelters in the region under unfavorable winter conditions. Specially trained civilian security teams have intensified their operations to control the intercity highways as a precaution against any move by the PKK to block them. Meanwhile, the planned reconnaissance flights over the border areas and the Zhalah camp have been postponed because of weather conditions. A high-ranking official who prefers to remain anonymous has recalled the government's view that 1994 will be a year of determined struggle against the PKK. He said: "The security forces will carry out spontaneous cross-border ground and air attacks in the future. The attack on the Zhalah camp has destroyed the PKK's training center. It also removed the logistics support that camp gave to PKK units in Turkey. Turkey is able to monitor the movement of PKK militants through its satellite systems. We waited for an opportunity for a long time. Significant blows will be inflicted on the PKK terrorists, who have withdrawn to their shelters because of the winter. The established targets will be quickly destroyed." |
FBIS3-38419_0 | Deputies Condemn U.S. Embargo Against Cuba | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Article by Marie-France Cros: "Condemning the Embargo Against Cuba"] [Text] SP [Flemish Socialist Party], PS [Walloon Socialist Party], CVP [Christian People's Party], PSC [Social Christian Party], Ecologist, Agalev [Live Differently] and Volksunie [People's Union] deputies have submitted a resolution proposal to the Chamber to object to the U.S. embargo against Cuba, propose the signing of a general agreement on economic and trade cooperation with the island, and increase humanitarian aid to its people. The proposal stems primarily from foreign policy considerations. "The U.S. boycott of Cuba no longer has any reason to exist" at a time when communism has collapsed, believe the signatories to this proposal. Now that the Soviet Union has ceased to exist, Cuba's population is the principal victim of Washington's policy. The embargo "in fact stops Cuba from developing positively" and, on 24 November 1992, the United Nations General Assembly (with the exception of the United States, Israel, and Romania) called for it to be lifted. Our Trade But the text submitted to the Chamber is also a response to domestic considerations. Since 1992, Washington has tightened its embargo as well as the Torricelli Law, which imposes trading restrictions on third countries. U.S.-owned or controlled companies based in Belgium cannot trade with Cuba, which is a barrier to Belgium's trade and "could even result in a second embargo on Belgian exports to the United States." Although the Chamber of Representatives "is concerned by the human rights situation" in Cuba, it must "increase dialogue with Cuba at the European level with a view to promoting the process of reform which has already begun." |
FBIS3-38420_6 | Molyneux Role in `Neutralizing' Ulster Accord Viewed | there was no harm in acquiescing to...was Reynolds having a forum `within his jurisdiction.' These words were put in deliberately. He can have a talking shop if he wants to. We are not involved. The British Government is not involved. They can do what they like. It is in their own sovereign territory." He does not rule out a meeting with Reynolds, who sent him a "friendly" letter in December to which Molyneux sent a reply simply acknowledging receipt. But Molyneux is not particularly interested in relations between Northern Ireland and Dublin. What he considers to be much more significant is internal democracy and the talks have been underway since last September with the Northern Ireland minister of state, Michael Ancram, about setting up an Assembly. This has attracted interest in Scotland, where the argument is that if Northern Ireland can have a legislative Assembly, why not Scotland. But Molyneux makes it clear that while the Government may want a legislative Assembly, he does not, and what Molyneux wants, he invariably gets. His plan is for a nonlegislative 85-member Assembly, a sort of glorified local government. It would be more like Strathclyde Regional Council than a full-blown Scottish Parliament as proposed by Labour. If legislation was needed, this could be done by getting private bills put through the Commons, just as English councils do at present. He concedes that if the Assembly worked and became a mature body, there might in the future be a case for adding legislative powers. Molyneux, who fought in the RAF [Royal Air Force] during the Second World War, found himself on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. It was partly an accident, having been transferred only a few days earlier by a commanding officer who did not like him. A lot of his life has been an accident. He has been an MP since 1970 -- first for Antrim South and now for the Lagan Valley -- and leader of the Unionists since 1974. As Major's Commons majority of 17 dwindles further as a result of inevitable by-election defeats, Molyneux's role over the next few years will become more, not less, important. In January 1985, Douglas Hurd, then Home Secretary, frustrated by the intransigence of Molyneux and Paisley, complained that "the Unionist tail cannot go on wagging the British dog forever." The British dog has never been so vigorously wagged as it is at present. |
FBIS3-38425_1 | Adams Urges UK `Clarification' of Declaration | stay. He told an audience of 300 in New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel -- venue for the Committee's conference on Northern Ireland -- that the US could make a "significant and positive" role to achieving peace. But he accused the British Government of stalling by refusing to clarify the December 15 peace declaration. But his statement brought a strong retort from Mr Major. In the Commons, the Prime Minister accused Sinn Fein of "prevarications" and "evasions" about the ending of violence. Mr Major said: "There has been no commitment by Mr Adams or the Provisional movement to end violence for good. "That is the commitment that this House and everybody in this country and Ireland is waiting to hear." Mr Adams was on day two of his visit, authorised by President Clinton against the wishes of the Major Government. He has conducted a series of coast-to-coast TV interviews amid huge press interest, as well as meetings with top American politicians. He told his audience that Irish republicans had to decide whether the Anglo-Irish document was a first step for the British Government in the direction of lasting peace, or merely a political response by a government under pressure, aimed at avoiding a political confrontation with Dublin. He said: "The Joint Declaration is described by its authors as `the first step' towards a peace settlement. "Sinn Fein is committed to such a settlement and I am concerned -- I am indeed anxious -- to be persuaded that the Downing Street declaration can provide the basis for this. "And even if this is not the case -- if there is a gap between what it required and what is on offer -- then we should all move to bridge that gap." Mr Adams said the exercise of the right of Irish self-determination required a change in British policy and the removal of the veto on change in Northern Ireland held by the majority Unionist community. He acknowledged the democratic rights of the Unionists, but claimed they would be upheld in an independent Ireland. "The argument that the consent of a national minority, elevated into a majority within an undemocratic artifically-created state, is necessary before a constitutional change can occur is a nonsense," he said. Mr Adams also claimed that the Downing Street declaration was a response to proposals made after a series of talks he had with Ulster's Social Democratic and Labour Party |
FBIS3-38434_1 | Lamassoure: Schengen Delay Due to Technical Problem Balladur, Chirac Presidential Candidacies Viewed [LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR 13-19 Jan, etc] | report] Writing in the 13-19 January Paris left-of-center weekly LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, Alain Duhamel notes that it is presently "fashionable" to question the durability of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur's "ascendancy," as well as the influence he can exert on the political scene until the presidential elections. While Balladur's popularity has a solid foundation, it will naturally suffer some attrition but will not collapse, for it rests, above all, on a "judgment of the man, his style, and the political equilibrium he represents," Duhamel comments. Much depends on the general situation, he adds: Were the government to fail in its attempt to stabilize unemployment and improve economic growth, and if pessimism gained, leading to serious social conflict, Balladur's popularity would wane. On the other hand, if the prime minister succeeds in imposing a unified list of Rally for the Republic [RPR]-Union for French Democracy [UDF] candidates for the Euroelections and in keeping his ministers out of the competition, he will continue to embody the role of unifier of the parliamentary right, Duhamel continues. Much also depends on the evolution of his relationship with RPR leader Jacques Chirac. While the French are grateful to Balladur for ending the rivalry between Chirac and UDF leader Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the prime minister should carefully avoid a "fratricidal Balladur-Chirac duel." In Duhamel's estimation, this might not be easy, since all polls reveal the prime minister is the favorite for president. Indeed, Balladur would leave all his opponents--from the right or from the left--far behind in the first round and would win handily against any adversary in the second. While Balladur stated before becoming prime minister that the future head of government in a cohabitation period should never run for president, he could not have imagined the extent of his popularity at that time, Duhamel comments. Balladur would only enter the race if Chirac were in a difficult position, Duhamel contends; and there will certainly be only one RPR candidate, he affirms. The issue will probably be settled after the European Parliament elections: If the situation remains unchanged, the prime minister would be better placed than Chirac, and thus the "Balladur phenomenon" will surely upset the political scene. Under different, more difficult circumstances that would negatively affect the government, Chirac might recoup, at which time Balladur's "courteous authority" would only have been a transition between the legislative and the presidential timetables, Duhamel concludes. By taking himself |
FBIS3-38435_2 | Columnist: U.S. Bosnia Policy Will Internationalize War | as a screen. The announcement of this new policy will be welcomed by American public opinion and by Congress: The pictures of GI bodies being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu are still present in everybody's memory and highlight this illusion of a war without innocent victims, in which only the "bad guys" die, which ensured the media success of the confrontation with Saddam Husayn. But how can anybody forget that George Bush had launched his country into the Somali operation largely to make his voters forget the terrible pictures coming out of the former Yugoslavia? Why should Bill Clinton be spared a dilemma which is as old as America? Although the the rejection of old European wrongdoings, which founded the creation of the United States, carries within it a large dose of isolationism, the puritanism and messianism which go with it carry within them the seed of interventionism. The U.S. President has so far managed to reconcile the two tendencies: Officially, at least, it is by moralism and a sense of justice that he justifies his refusal to get his hands dirty in Bosnia and give his backing in principle to a plan to partition this former Yugoslav Republic. The victims, he says referring to the Muslims, have the right to defend themselves. The conflict in Bosnia, he also hints, does not threaten any American interest. In so doing, he is gambling on a continuation of the war, from which justice would emerge. Unfortunately, there is a strong chance that he will lose his bet: Of course, the outcome of the fighting is at present favorable to the Muslims. But major victories will inevitably provoke a Serbian counteroffensive, which is already being planned, and the official entry of the Croatian Army into Bosnia. The 12,000 Blue Helmets deployed in Bosnia will merely prevent the war going round in circles, and their withdrawal will be inevitable. The internationalization of the conflict will then be even closer because it will become infinitely more difficult to curb Slav and Muslim solidarities: Russia is much more active in its diplomatic defense of the Serbian positions, whereas China will place an increasingly high price on its right of veto within the Security Council, and many Muslim countries will consider the support (not only moral, according to some Western intelligence services) given by the Americans to the Bosnian Muslims as the go-ahead for increased intervention. |
FBIS3-38474_0 | Right-Wing Extremists Step Up International Ties | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Report by Friedrich Kuhn: "Right-Wing Extremists Step Up Cooperation"] [Text] Bonn -- According to the German security authorities, some 25 German right-wing extremists, mainly neo-Nazis, are fighting in Croatia and Bosnia as volunteers against the Serbs. This proves that there are efforts by right-wing extremist circles in Germany to intensify connections with like-minded people abroad. Another example that has been mentioned are the more frequent joint appearances of the head of the German People's Union [DVU], Gerhard Frey, and the Russian right-wing extremist Vladimir Zhirinovskiy. In a meeting with Frey in August 1992, the latter declared that his party would bring its influence to bear "to solve the East Prussian question in Germany's favor." Since then German right-wing extremists have been seen to be supporting the settlement of Russian Germans in East Prussia. According to security experts, German right-wing extremists met with like-minded people in Vellexon, France, Diksmuide, in West Flanders, Naumburg (Saxony Anhalt), and Madrid. Contacts with U.S. citizen Gary Rex Lauck, who smuggles Nazi propaganda material to Germany from Lincoln, Nebraska, are regarded as particularly dangerous. That way, Lauck spares the German right-wing extremists the risk of prison terms of several years for producing the material in Germany itself. Several German publishers of right-wing extremist material now have their newspapers, leaflets, and books printed abroad. According to the Cologne-based Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, signs of a "networking" of right-wing extremist tendencies in Germany have become "more obvious" in the last year. The right-wing extremists are trying to overcome the fact that they are divided into many groups through "means of communication." "Organizational structures are being replaced increasingly by specific interlinking through technology," sources form the Office said. The use of information technology through coded information via mail boxes and mobile telephones enables the right-wing extremists "to mobilize on a federal level within a short time and to react flexibly in each individual case." This has also benefited Hamburg neo-Nazi Christian Worch, who is trying to establish a network under the name of "Anti-Antifa" [anti-antifascist] Direct control over the approximately 5,600 militant right-wing extremists in the entire FRG has not yet been observed. At the moment, 1,500 right-wing extremists are organized into 27 groups. |
FBIS3-38475_0 | Report Details Right-Wing Extremist Groups | Language: German Article Type:BFN [Unattributed report: "Right-Wing Extremists"] [Text] More than 70 neo-Nazi and right-wing extremist organizations and splinter groups with a total of about 41,500 members are haunting Germany. While so far authorities have assumed that the right-wing extremist scene is largely torn by strife, now constitutional protectors admit that they have underestimated the interlacement of the groups. The slogan of "Marching separately, striking together," which was issued by the late neo-Nazi leader Michael Kuehnen, is increasingly being followed. Controlled by the supra-regional cadre organization "New Front Association of Like-Minded People," individual groups at home and abroad are coordinating their activities through magazines, information telephones, and mailbox systems. The militant nature of the scene is also alarming: By the end of 1993 the Federal Office of Criminal Investigations had reported 1,814 acts of violence with right-wing extremist motives. Eight people were killed; in 1992 there were 17 deaths. The Right-Wing Extremist Scene in Germany Parties: The Republikaner (REP): Founded in Munich in 1983. [Chairman Franz] Schoenhuber tries to draw a line between the party and militant neo-Nazis. Many ex-Republikaner have good contacts with the neo-Nazi scene. About 25,000 members. German League for People and Homeland (DL): Collection point for former members of the Republikaner and the NPD [National Democratic Party]. Ex-Republikaner [and DL Chairman Harald] Neubauer has a seat in the European Parliament and is establishing Europe-wide contacts. The DL has 1,000 members. National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD): In terms of personnel it is closely linked to the neo-Nazi scene. It took in members of the German Alternative, cooperates with the Viking Youth, and has contacts with Worch (National List, New Front of Like-Minded People). About 5,000 members. Its chairman is Guenter Deckert. German People's Union (DVU): With 26,000 members it is one of the largest right-wing extremist organizations. Publisher [Gerhard] Frey (DEUTSCHE NATIONAL-ZEITUNG) cooperates with the Russian fascist Zhirinovskiy. It has contacts with the DL. Liberal German Workers Party (FAP): The only openly national socialist party. Has taken in many activists of the National Offensive, the German Alternative, and the Nationalist Front. Attracts attention by marches and militant actions. About 220 members. Its chairman is Friedhelm Busse. Umbrella Organization: New Front of Like-Minded People (GdNF): The GdNF considers itself as the cadre organization of the right-wing movement in Germany. Its goal is the new establishment of the NSDAP [National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi party]. The |
FBIS3-38492_0 | Intelligence Report Details Armenia-PKK Ties | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Report by Sinan Onus] [Text] During the National Security Council meeting the previous day President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller were given a report on Armenia prepared over the last year by MIT [National Intelligence Organization] and the intelligence department of the Security Directorate. There were indications that the "top secret" report produced documentary evidence of Armenia-PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan] ties. Noting that Armenia directly supports the PKK, the report showed that PKK militants are being trained in 13 Armenian villages. Stating that members of the Kurdish minority in Armenia are being encouraged and given money to join the PKK, the report claimed that the Armenians are also acting as mediators with Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria to secure arms and ammunition for the PKK. The report claimed that in improving PKK's ties with Armenia, ASALA [Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia] laid the groundwork for the establishment of PKK bases in that country. Explaining that Armenia's aim in helping the PKK is to oppress the Kurdish people living in eastern Anatolia, the report said: "In the long-term, this country aims to isolate the PKK and, using the popular base in the region, to realize the illusion of a greater Armenia." CIA's Report Yesterday SABAH reported CIA chief James Woolsey's report to the Senate Intelligence Committee. His report cited the following crisis points in the world: the Balkans, Russia, the Caucasus, and Iran. The newspaper report indicated that the United States was concerned about these regions. |
FBIS3-38493_0 | Foreign Ministry: Investigative Delegation Sent to Iran | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Announcer-read report over video] [Text] The Foreign Ministry has announced that if the conclusion is reached that Iranian civilian settlements were damaged during the Turkish Armed Forces operation against the Zhalah camp in northern Iraq, the necessary measures will be adopted. Foreign Ministry acting spokesman Ferhat Ataman, answering a question during his weekly news conference today, recalled that a joint Turkish-Iranian delegation was sent to the region following the claims that the Zhalah operation caused casualties and material damage in Iranian territory. The delegation reached certain conclusions as a result of its tour of the region yesterday, Ataman remarked, adding that these findings will be studied by authorized bodies. |
FBIS3-38495_0 | NOKTA: Kurds, PKK Possess Chemical Arms in Iraq | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Article by Nedret Ersanel: "PKK's Chemical Arms Depots"] [Text] The latest reports on the late-night newscast on television on 21 January informed the people of the Workers Party of Kurdistan [PKK] attack on Akyurek and Ormancik in Mardin Province. The way the PKK attack was carried out indicated a new tactic on the part of that organization. The PKK guerrillas forced the women and children into a house and killed them with hand grenades in Ormancik. What was left behind was a few tearful people, who escaped from the attack by coincidence, and a strange odor that could be detected regardless of the sharp smell of smoke in the burning village. The enigma of the strange odor was resolved when State of Emergency Governor Unal Erkan and several experts arrived in that village. The fact that several people suffocated to death as a result of the smoke in the burning village raised significant anxiety. The truth was that the PKK used chemical weapons. The preliminary reports on the attack mentioned that chemical weapons may have been used. The final decision was to be made in light of the autopsy reports. However, the main question was the source of the PKK's chemical arms. Ascertaining that source was not difficult. The matter was clarified through the study of the "geographical anatomy" [cografi anatomi] of chemical arms. An authority vacuum has existed in northern Iraq for a long time. That is an indisputable fact. That region is controlled by the Hammer Force. Another indisputable fact is the existence of large quantities of various types of arms in northern Iraq. Many of the basic foodstuffs are sold at exorbitant prices in that region. However, arms are very cheap to buy, so much so that a dozen hand grenades may cost as much as $9 or $10. Even the chemical grenades, the type that the PKK used in its attack on Ormancik, are sold at low prices. Dumping also exists in the chemical arms market in northern Iraq. For example, the local cost of a chemical weapon, which can affect any living creature in an area of three square kilometers, is about 200,000 dinars--that is, nearly 70,000,000 Turkish lira. Four types of "gas-based" chemical arms, which are sold over the counter, are in great demand in northern Iraq. A great demand exists for the type that contain mustard gas, a toxic |
FBIS3-38495_3 | NOKTA: Kurds, PKK Possess Chemical Arms in Iraq | all the arms the Iraqi military forces abandoned in the past are in the hands of the Kurdish leaders, most of whom we know very well. Democratic Party of Kurdistan Leader Mas'ud Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Leader Jalal Talabani, who are among the "legal" leaders of the Kurds in northern Iraq, top the list of leading Kurdish officials who control the chemical arms in the region. Chemical arms are stored in more than 10 small and large residential areas. Zakho and Irbil are the largest and most important among them. The surrounding areas of the two towns provide an opportunity for the Kurds to store and sell their chemical arms. Depots and Sales The arms depots in Irbil are located in four areas. The largest depots are in Sheyhulla and Hasankaya Districts. The entire basement of the bus station in Irbil, which is known as the Karkuk Bus Terminal, is a chemical arms depot. Another depot is known to be in Diyana, which can be reached after three hours of driving from Irbil. The Kurds sell their chemical arms in those depots. Anyone can buy chemical arms from them, provided that he has the cash to pay it. The situation in Zakho, which is an important settlement in northern Iraq, is no different than that in Irbil. A large amount of chemical arms exist in that town. The area adjacent to the Abbasi Bridge is a well-established chemical arms depot and sales center. Meanwhile, various types of chemical arms can be purchased in Izza, which is not far from Zakho. However, the depot in Izza is smaller than those in the other areas. The Karkuk Bus Terminal in Irbil and the depot in Zakho are regarded as storage centers for chemical arms. Small chemical arms depots also exist in Hajj 'Umran and Chamchamal. Jalal Talabani is known to be the patron of the chemical arms depots in and around Irbil. He decides who should buy chemical arms and the amount to be sold. Talabani retains the profit made from the sales. The chemical arms depots in and around Zakho are under the PKK's control, that is, with the exception of those in a few small settlements. The most noticeable of them are those in Cisri Abbasi and Izza. In fact, the chemical grenades the PKK militants used against the people in Ormancik Village were acquired from those depots. |
FBIS3-38497_0 | Kurdish Leader Comments on Zhalah Camp Attack | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Report by Faruk Balikci: "Journalists Not Allowed Into the Zhalah Camp"] [Text] Irbil--Journalists have not been allowed to enter the Zhalah camp in northern Iraq, which was bombed by Turkish Air Force units. The Workers Party of Kurdistan [PKK] informed Turkish journalists who traveled to northern Iraq to visit the Zhalah camp after it was bombed in a cross-border air operation on Friday [28 January] that the "embargo on the press is being maintained" and that they will not be allowed into the camp. Several Kurdish sources in the region have claimed that the PKK militants left the Zhalah camp at 0500 and returned at 1900 on 26 January. Meanwhile, 'Abdallah Rasul Kusret, prime minister of the federal Kurdish state in northern Iraq, said that his government was not informed about Turkey's air operation. He asserted: "Consequently, we were not able to take precautionary measures in our villages. We lost 18 people in Sheni, Goreser, and Sune, which are close to the border. Many of our people were wounded. Nine people were killed and 19 others were wounded in Iran. The PKK lost only seven men." Stressing that they have informed Ankara on their reaction to the air operation, Kosret said: "The Zhalah camp is 120 km from Turkey's border. PKK maintained its activities in areas close to Turkey. We signed a protocol with that organization and allowed its members to settle in the Zhalah camp. Our objective was to keep the PKK away from the border. Turkey is aware of that. The protocol we have signed is still valid. The PKK members are in the Zhalah camp. That is where they maintain their activities." Local sources have said that 1,200 militants were based in that camp until recently. However, they also said that considering the possibility of an air attack, the PKK recently reduced the number of its militants in that camp to 500 and began to use it as a facility for support services instead of a base for military and political training. |
FBIS3-38498_0 | PKK Activities in Nakhichevan; Policy Criticized | Language: Turkish Article Type:BFN [Article by Emin Pazarci from the "Outlook" column: "Look Out for Nakhichevan!"] [Text] For days now Turkey has found itself in an election flurry, the intensity of which is bound to increase. As the late Menderes [prime minister in the 1950's] would have said, "we have now entered the uphill election campaign." The struggle has already gone beyond the limits of local elections. An atmosphere similar to a general election prevails in the country. We will go on talking and thinking about elections for two more months. Turkey will redirect its attention to the home front and again be unable to see what is happening around her. We already lost Azerbaijan, and if things continue like this we will also lose Nakhichevan from under our very noses. It was not enough that we lost Azerbaijan; if things continue like this Azerbaijan will even start giving Turkey trouble. There is a newspaper called "SES" in Baku. It is under the control of President Geydar Aliyev. The paper has almost become the press organ of the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan]. Some days ago, it pronounced Apo [alias of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan] "the great Kurdish hero." Almost every day the paper advertises Abdullah Ocalan's books. Could such a paper ever have been published during the Elchibey period? Of course not. Yet, we not only failed to come to the support of Elchibey, we even backed Aliyev. During visits to Turkey, we pressured Elchibey in order to catapult Aliyev to the forefront. We held Aliyev in esteem. Now, the result is here for everyone to see. Now, it is useless to be sorry. Now efforts are under way to hatch a series of plots in Nakhichevan, yet, we remain blind to these developments. We have withdrawn into ourselves so much that we have no idea of what is going on under our very noses. Today "an Aliyev terror" is sweeping through Nakhichevan. The Nakhichevan Assembly has been unable to meet for the last seven months. It is Geydar Aliyev who prevents the convocation of the Assembly. There is a total lack of law and order in the country; this is what Aliyev really wants. He shelved the Constitution and is running Nakhichevan as he sees fit. Three deputies are in jail. Most of the members of the People's Front are under detention. The homes of most of the |
FBIS3-38499_1 | Ciller Said To Order Raid To Offset Economic Slide | Run Out of Smoke Screens?"] [Text] Only on Saturday [29 January] we wholeheartedly applauded the Turkish air raid against the Zhalah terrorist camp of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and said we believed the terrorists got what they deserved. Now we see that an unfortunate controversy has surrounded the military operation against Zhalah in northern Iraq. The operation against Zhalah was justified and well overdue. We had pointed out several times in the past in the TURKISH DAILY NEWS that the Iraqi Kurdish leaders had lost control over the separatist militants of the PKK who were using Zhalah as a logistics base as well as a training camp. The fact that Turkey can launch such an operation deep inside a foreign territory should be an appropriate message for all those who provide shelter to terrorists. This is all fine. Yet we are saddened by claims that Ciller had ordered the air raid against Zhalah simply to divert public attention from her economic defeat when the Turkish lira was devalued by 13.6 percent earlier last week. We know well that the military had contingency plans to raid Zhalah and that all preparations had been made for the attack. Yet we are now told that Ciller wanted the air raid on Friday at short notice for her own political benefit rather than to fulfill a particular security goal. The fact that the PKK claims its casualties are minimal, and is prepared to take journalists to Zhalah to prove it, will put many people in a poor light. It seems Ciller did not bargain for the current controversy surrounding the Zhalah raid. Now she will have to create a new smoke screen to make people forget the Zhalah incident. So what can she do? She can start with devaluing the Turkish lira a bit more, or even announce a new bitter economic austerity package to bring us back to our senses. Then we will all be thinking about our pockets again and we can forget about Zhalah... If things really get out of hand and people revolt, then Tansu Ciller could even declare war on Armenia or Syria to once again divert our attention abroad. She will never run out of smoke screens and the Turkish nation will continue to find itself in woman-made disasters until the people get the chance to vote her out of office or her own party deposes her. |
FBIS3-38520_3 | Daily Calls Bosnian Conflict `Unmanageable' | the past, the United States is letting Europe take initiatives itself. In fact if there are problems in the Balkans, Europe's backyard, then the United States expects Europe, the economic great power, to clear things up. Washington will watch, but in contrast to the past, it no longer wants to organize everything unilaterally. The heaviest burden is now on Europe's shoulders. Partly as a result of the changed world situation and the end of the partition of Europe, the Union now has to deal with it. Up to now it has not proved capable of doing so. As long as the Maastricht Treaty had not been ratified, it could still be argued that the Union did not have the instruments to conduct efficient foreign policies. In the meantime it has been possible to observe empirically that this explanation does not hold true. Maastricht is now operational, and the indecision was not reduced but has, on the contrary, increased. For the United States, and the United Kingdom too, the Balkans remain an insignificant piece of land of little strategic importance. The area contains no useful raw materials and does not lie on the major sea lanes. Therefore its importance is very relative. Continental Europe should know better. For centuries the Balkans have been the continent's weak underbelly and if there is grumbling there, the entire European Constitution is undermined. That was once again proved at the start of this century when a Serbian nationalist's bullets caused the start of World War One. Nevertheless, the European leaders have assessed the disintegration of Yugoslavia wrongly, and above all they have underestimated it. It was catalogued as a regional conflict which did require some attention but did not in the least require inclusion in "intensive care." Wasn't it Marx who said that history never repeated itself, unless as a caricature? Therefore Sarajevo could never start a new world war. The end of the Soviet Union and the unanimity in the Security Council were other good reasons to not take the events in Bosnia too dramatically. This time the fire could not threaten the neighboring properties. This view remains, although little is left of the self-assurance of two years ago. "There is a very real risk of the conflict spreading, of so-called internationalization," Claes said. In recent days that risk has increased strongly. The prime ministers of Turkey and Pakistan are shortly to visit Bosnia, |
FBIS3-38526_1 | Prosperity Party Leader Interviewed | to repentance is always open. Every person can make mistakes; however, every person has enough common sense to see God. [passage omitted] [Dundar] Former U.S. Ambassador in Ankara Abrahamowitz recently said that the Prosperity Party [PP] could come to power if it were led by a younger, more moderate leader. As you know, when the United States speaks about something, it usually turns out to be not so auspicious. [laughs] How do you feel about that? [Erbakan] You know what Ali Pasha used to say: If he wanted to find out the truth, he would go ask the Russian ambassador. The truth would be exactly the opposite of what the ambassador said. Now the world has changed. It is not Russia but the United States that is filling this role. So that is how we should relate to this. [laughs] [Birand] The most important thing on Turkey's agenda is the southeast. Your approach to the Kurdish problem differs from the other parties. You are more moderate. You are not opposed to the use of the Kurdish language, for example. Your campaign is: Either the PP or terrorism in the southeast. Democratic Left Party leader Bulent Ecevit is critical of your policy regarding this issue. [Erbakan] The PP and the southeast -- that is an important issue. Ecevit is not important. Let us put him aside. All the parties are trying to discredit the PP today. Ecevit harps on this issue. He has published certain things which were found in his party offices. We are suing him. The PP is the party that strives for the happiness of the 60 million people in this country -- in fact, of 6 billion people. Approximately 60 million brothers live in this country. We have lived as brothers -- in fact, as one body -- for 1,400 years. The country reached its current situation as a result of the wrong policies of the West-imitating parties. [passage omitted] [Birand] You are saying that you have a different policy toward the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan]. [Erbakan] We do not have a policy toward the PKK. The PKK is not important to us. There are 60 million people in this country. We want to bring all of them peace, freedom, prosperity, dignity, and self-respect. To achieve this, we must first stop being the satellites of foreign forces. It is impossible to have Poised Hammer imposed on |
FBIS3-38526_9 | Prosperity Party Leader Interviewed | other country uses this word. More than half of these countries state their official religion in their constitutions. For example, the British constitution states that the official religion is the Anglican Church. [passage omitted] All countries do that with the exception of Turkey. Laicism is based on three fundamental principles. The first one is that there is the freedom of belief. The second one states that one cannot resort to force to impose his beliefs on others. There should be tolerance and views should be expressed in an atmosphere of tranquillity. The third principle notes that the church administration will not interfere with the state administration. This is a reaction to the Middle Ages when the church remained in power for a long time in Western countries. It is stated that the church administration will not interfere in the state administration and vice versa. This is a delicate differentiation. It does not say that religion and the state are separate. [passage omitted] [Birand] There has been a very interesting development. There has been a rapprochement between the PP and the Alawites. You have even had contacts with Prof. Izzettin Dogan. There has been talk of cooperation, mutual support in various municipalities. The Alawites have reacted to this cooperation. The Sivas incidents have not yet been forgotten. Can you explain this rapprochement? How far will it go? [Erbakan] Let me first refer to the Sivas incidents. Those incidents were the ploy of foreign forces aimed at creating an Alawite-Sunni conflict. [passage omitted] Our Alawite brothers are Muslims. We believe in the same God, the same Prophet and the Koran. Sectarian differences are just details. We should, therefore, not become the tools of foreign forces in their efforts to create an Alawite-Sunni rift. The PP is against the Turkish-Kurdish rift. The PP has the ideology to create the bonds of brotherhood among our 60 million citizens. It also has the ideology to eliminate the Alawite-Sunni rift. [Dundar] What kind of a cooperation is being envisaged? [Erbakan] In a symbolic ceremony held last week, we accepted 200 Alawite brothers as members of our party. Certain persons with ulterior motives have been waging this propaganda for years now. Now our Alawite citizens are asking themselves. They are saying: We have, for years, been voting for the SDPP [Social Democratic Populist Party]. What have we achieved? Are we still not hungry? Are we not oppressed? |
FBIS3-38526_13 | Prosperity Party Leader Interviewed | us reports on this research. They say that most of the institutes there regret their research. In other words, they brought about revolutions in certain Muslim countries and these revolutions have not brought any happiness to the people. They had to foot the bill for these revolutions. One can cite Algeria. The revolutions in Turkey were also greatly influenced by them. It is not important whether those who made the revolutions are aware of it. [Dundar] You are saying that they were used? [Erbakan] Of course, they were used. We have repeatedly stated this. They are the directors. They prepare the ground and then they push the button. Those who make the revolutions are not aware of what they are doing. None of the problems are solved. Realizing this U.S. interference and involvement the people become furious. This has been confirmed. Now they propose to do it differently. They propose not to interfere in the elections. Let the people elect whomever they choose. If the elected administration does not suit them, if it does not fit in with their exploitation and world supremacy, if an administration favoring equality, independence, peace, tranquility, and justice instead of force is elected then they will try and render that administration unsuccessful. [Dundar] Then they are no longer in favor of coups. [Erbakan] That is true. They prefer to cause that administration to fail. [Birand] That is not what they did in Algeria. [Erbakan] And what happened there? There is no tranquillity. Algeria will revert to its former situation. They realize that this is not a solution. Now they are trying to devise new methods. I would like to refer to an important point. I allocated a significant section to this point in our party congress. They might think that the PP will come to power. I am sure that when we come to power they will be revising their policies. Why? Because the PP is not against anyone. We are not prejudiced against any country. We want happiness for the 6 billion people of this world. We want good relations with everyone. We will be establishing these good ties. For example, the United States will change its stand towards Turkey. How will it change? Instead of giving orders over the phone it will show us the respect befitting a country that is the leader and nucleus of the new world. [passage omitted] [end recording] |
FBIS3-38532_0 | Report Reveals Fraud in EU Tobacco Production | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Andrew Marshall report: "Taxpayers Lose Millions to Tobacco Fraudsters"] [Text] Brussels -- Massive fraud, maladministration and ill-conceived policies have cost the European Union [EU] hundreds of millions of pounds in its efforts to subsidise tobacco production, a report from its financial watchdog says. The damning report from the EU's Court of Auditors follows five years of investigation by Terry Wynn, the Labour Merseyside East MEP [Member of European Parliament]. "It's an indictment of not just the tobacco sector but the whole Common Agricultural Policy," said Mr Wynn yesterday. "The report is everything that I have asked for," he said. But he demanded action yesterday fom both the European Commission and national governments. "This is a total misuse of public funds," he said. Nearly all of the EU's 180,000 tobacco growers live in Spain, Italy and Greece. The cost of propping up the sector was 1.274bn ecus (1bn pounds) last year. The report notes that changes have been made to policy, but says that huge and in many cases unnecessary costs will continue. It blames the European Commission and member states alike. The most serious allegation in the report concerns the fraudulent manipulation of the market with the assistance of a Commission official who later committed suicide, and inadequate attempts by the Commission to get to the bottom of the affair. "In 1990, the Commission carried out an internal inquiry into the management of the tobacco division," the report notes. "During the inquiry the Commission received allegations that a cartel had existed and been aided by the head of division.... The report itself indicates that the possible loss over an eight-year period could have been as high as ECU 40 million." During the 1989-90 period one Italian company and one Greek company accounted for about half of all the tobacco sold off from EU stocks. The Commission launched a disciplinary action against the head of division. But, it notes, "no action has been taken to carry out adequate inquiries into the allegations of a cartel and the consequences for the Community budget." It adds: "There was no evidence of action on the part of the Commission or a member state to bring suspected wrongdoers to justice." The Commission maintains that the investigation is ongoing, even though the official killed himself last year. The Court of Auditors says that it found the Commission "not as forthcoming as it |
FBIS3-38535_3 | Press Reviews Adams Visit, U.S.-UK Relations Visit `Public Relations Catastrophe' | also have known that his decision would be seen as a rebuff to Britain and a propaganda victory for the IRA. It would be going too far to suggest this was his revenge for the Conservatives' support of President Bush in the 1992 campaign, but the inescapable conclusion is that he cares less about Washington's relations with London than his predecessors. The international relationships he most values are those based on trade, not security, and on that score Britain rates well below China, Japan and Germany. But what really preoccupies Mr Clinton is domestic politics. He had fences to mend with the powerful Irish-American lobby, having last year backpedalled on his election promises to admit Mr Adams and appoint a special envoy to Northern Ireland. The pressure on him was spearheaded by Edward Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, chairmen respectively of the Senate labour and finance committees, whose support for Mr Clinton's health-care reform is critical. They were backed by 12 other senators and 27 congressmen, almost all Democrats from areas with sizeable Irish communities. Thirty-two of them face re-election this November. Earlier this month, these congressmen all signed a letter urging Mr Clinton to "facilitate the emerging dialogue as an alternative to violence," and they sustained the pressure up to the moment the decision was taken. They argued that a concession to Mr Adams might strengthen his influence over IRA hardliners opposed to the joint declaration, and that the British Government had itself had recent contacts with Sinn Fein and the IRA. Early last week, British officials thought Mr Adams would not be admitted. They were not unduly alarmed even when the Administration announced last Thursday that it is ordering its Belfast diplomats to elicit Mr Adams's views on terrorism and the Anglo-lrish peace initiative. They believed they had reached an understanding that Mr Adams would only be let in if he unequivocally renounced violence and supported the joint declaration. What no one anticipated was that the White House would instead interpret Mr Adams's weasel words as "constructive comments warranting a visa." John Major visits Washington later this month. He will undoubtedly play down this unhappy episode. But there seems little chance of the Prime Minister and Mr Clinton sitting down in a Washington restaurant, as the President did with Germany's Helmut Kohl this week, and jovially gobbling their way through a hefty lunch like the best of friends. |
FBIS3-38577_0 | Wreck of Crashed Cessna Retrieved | Language: French Article Type:BFN [Article signed PF/AN/TP: "Wreck Found in Lake Constance on Tuesday Evening. It Is Identified as Missing Cessna. To Be Brought Up on Friday"; as released by Bern ATSA/SDAA database] [Text] Rorschach, 2 Feb (ATS) -- The wreckage discovered in Lake Constance on Tuesday evening [1 February] is that of the Cessna 425 which disappeared nine days ago. The twin-jet plane was identified by underwater cameras, the St. Gallen canton police said on Wednesday in a press conference. The operation to recover the plane will be carried out on Friday. Preparations began on Wednesday. The recovery work will be carried out with caution, in case radioactive material is present within the wreckage, a representative of the Swiss Alert Center explained. Experts from the Paul Scherrer Institute of Wuerenlingen for the monitoring of radiation are at the scene. However, it is very unlikely that cesium will be found on board. Prague Rules Out Transport of Cesium Bruno Fehr, chief of the St. Gallen criminal investigation department, does not believe radioactive substances will be discovered. In Prague, whence the Cessna came, an assurance has been given that the customs checks found nothing suspicious. Moreover, the two businessmen on board were certainly known for their trade in rare metals but not radioactive metals. The pilot's partner said she knew nothing of such a cargo. According to Mr. Fehr, in addition to the police and the two German businessmen, two Czech women were on board the plane when it crashed. However, there is no certainty about that. The St. Gallen police are focusing their efforts on identifying the victims, the police chief explained. The investigation into the radioactive metal and the activities of the businessmen is in the hands of the German criminal investigation department in Wiesbaden. No Bodies Detected A camera from the Langenargen (Germany) Lacustrian Research Institute transmitted pictures of the Cessna's registration number -- D-IEFW -- at 1100 hours [1000 GMT]. However, it was impossible to see whether there were bodies inside the plane which is lying on its back. Preparations for lifting the plane have already begun, Peter Gruetter, commander of the St. Gallen canton police, explained. Weather permitting, the wreckage will be brought to the surface on Friday. A representative of the Federal Civil Aviation Office also said that the Cessna from Prague, which was preparing to land at Altenrhein, was due to take off again |
FBIS3-38580_0 | Netherlands Minister Urges Greater U.S. Role in Bosnia | Language: Dutch Article Type:BFN [Interview with Netherlands Foreign Minister Peter Hendrik Kooijmans by Bettina Hubo; place and date not given: "`Flanders Is More Political, the Netherlands More Administrative' -- An Interview With Foreign Minister Peter Hendrik Kooijmans"] [Excerpt] [passage omitted] [Hubo] Does Benelux still have a right to exist? [Kooijmans] Originally Benelux was set up as an economic cooperative association. In the meantime the European Union has taken over a large part of its tasks, to such a degree that you could even say that the European Union train has taken over the Benelux truck. Soon Benelux will have existed for fifty years. For me and my colleagues in the other countries that is reason to examine the future of the association. You should never throw away old shoes before you have looked to see whether they could be used for something. We must examine the other fields where Benelux cooperation could be useful now that the economic factor has dropped away. I am thinking in particular of problems which did not arise at the time when it was set up, like environmental pollution. [Hubo] "I am against a Benelux process, because in it the Walloons are the Italian-speaking Swiss who paddle on Lake Lugano," Guy Spitaels said two years ago, expressing the Walloon fear of being pushed aside. Is the present combination of countries the most fortunate? [Kooijmans] I have no fixed opinion on that. I do think we should realize that we are in a small corner of Europe with three countries which largely have a shared historical background, no matter how differently they subsequently developed. We are also squeezed between a large Germany and a large France. In this context the Benelux association creates a frame of reference where you recognize each other's problems as small countries. [Hubo] At present Europe is showing itself to be painfully impotent where peace and security in its own part of the world are concerned. Can the small countries still play a role in controlling these problems? [Kooijmans] Of course, they can. Take the former Yugoslavia. Both the Netherlands and Belgium have many troops in Bosnia. That also gives them the right to express their opinion. I do not believe that our role is less important because we are small. We are not able to solve the political problem. To do so it is necessary for the European Union to speak |
FBIS3-38601_0 | Trade Minister Launches Asian Trade Initiative | Language: English Article Type:BFN [Text] Paris, Feb 3 (AFP) -- France launched a 10-point trade initiative to increase the share of Asian trade from 7 percent to 10 percent of French exports, on Thursday [3 February]. Opening the offensive, Industry and Trade Minister Gerard Longuet said that a French business centre for small and medium-sized companies would be set up soon in Singapore. He also unveiled projects for outline investment deals in Asia between French interests and various Asian countries. The activity of the French Foreign Trade Ministry in the region was to be tripled during the next three years. Financial support, particularly in the form of insurance for the prospection of markets and for trade fairs, would be orientated mainly towards Southeast Asia. The number of French trade exhibitions would be increased as would efforts to make known French products. French companies, with few exceptions, began to take an interest in Asia only from 1990 after having concentrated their attention on the United States. They hold only 2 percent of the Asian market. German interests hold more than twice this. U.S. interests hold more as in many cases do the British, and in some places the Italians. Longuet said that direct French investment was also low, representing 0.7 percent to 2.5 percent. Longuet, taking a cautious approach in the light of visits to the region, has set a target of increasing the share of exports to Asia as a proportion of all French exports from 7 percent to 10 percent within five years. This is equivalent to increasing the market share in Asia to about 3 percent. Elsewhere in the world France holds an average market share of about 6 percent. The outcome will depend much on what happens in China which last year imported goods worth more than 100 billion dollars. Longuet did not provide figures for a new aid arrangement which France is to make available to China following an interruption lasting a year caused by Chinese discontent at the sale by France of arms to Taiwan. The arrangement will provide finance for projects by French companies in China. |
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