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A model displays a black and white dress as a part of Bulgarian designer Zheny Zhivkova's collection at a fashion show in Sofia, late September 17, 2002. REUTERS/Dimitar Dilkoff
Patriarch Maksim of Bulgaria consecrated on Tuesday a chapel in the yard of Sofia's Pirogov accident and emergency hospital. It was opened on the feast day of St Sophia and her three daughters, Faith, Hope and Charity, and is dedicated to them. Pressphoto BTA. Photo Tihomir Penov.
Slobodan Casule, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia addresses the United Nations General Assembly 57th Session at the United Nations headquarters in New York Tuesday, September 17, 2002. (AP Photo/Osamu Honda)
SITUATION IN CRISIS REGIONS.
MIA
Increased intensity of gunshots have been heard during Monday night in Tetovo region which stopped early Tuesday, MIA's correspondent reports.
Volleys of gunshots and sporadic shootouts have been registered from the area of the city square, the Post Office, the ARM House, Bratstvo Migjeni elementary school, the Red Cross warehouse, Ciglana, Kupenik, Gorna Carsija and Vonvardarska settlements and the area of the medical centre.
Tetovo Interior Department says shootouts have been heard from the villages of Lisec, Gajre, Mala Recica, Dolno Palciste, Zerovjane, Celopek, Radiovce, Strimnica, Slatino, Tearce, Semsovo, Odri, Dolno Orasje, Neraste, Trebos and Ozormiste. Gunshots have not been aimed at direct targets.
A detonation has been heard around 21:35 hours near the area of SS. Cyril and Methodius elementary school in the southeast part of the town, police says.
Macedonian government says weekend shootout foiled plot to assassinate interior minister.
AP
SKOPJE, Macedonia - A weekend shootout between police and ethnic Albanian gunmen foiled a plot to assassinate Macedonia's interior minister, authorities said Tuesday.
The Interior Ministry said the clash on Saturday, the day before the troubled Balkan country's first post-rebellion elections, involved members of a renegade rebel group called the Albanian National Army.
The shootout happened in the village of Celopek, 25 miles west of the capital, Skopje, where Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski was attending his father's funeral. One of the gunmen was killed and two others were wounded, Interior Ministry spokesman Voislav Zafirovski said. He offered no other information to back up the claim.
Police had said over the weekend that the slain ethnic Albanian carried a gun, a radio transmitter and the insignia of the rebel group. But NATO's spokesman in Macedonia, Craig Ratcliff, said the alliance had no information about a plot.
Boskovski, a tough-talking Macedonian nationalist whose ruling VMRO party lost power in recent elections, angered many ethnic Albanians after he recently issued a warrant for the arrest of Ali Ahmeti, a popular former rebel leader-turned-politician whose fledgling party claimed a landslide victory among minority voters in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
The Interior Ministry's claim underscored continuing ethnic tensions in Macedonia, where Orthodox Christian Macedonians and Muslim ethnic Albanians view each other with deep suspicion despite Sunday's largely peaceable elections.
Many Macedonians consider Ahmeti a terrorist. Zafirovski said Tuesday that the warrant remained in place and the government still planned to arrest him.
Assassination bid on Macedonia minister Tuesday.
Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
SKOPJE, Sept 17 (AFP) - The interior minister in the outgoing Macedonian government escaped an assassination attempt by a paramilitary ethnic Albanian group, a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Ljube Boskoski was the target when militants from the ethnic Albanian National Army (AKSH) opened fire on a vehicle on Saturday, said the spokesman, Voislav Zafirovski.
The car was in the line of vehicles accompanying the minister back to Skopje after his father's funeral in the western Tetovo region's village of Celopek.
"Fortunately, the minister was not in the car" and nobody was hurt in the incident, Zafirovski told reporters here.
The AKSH had previously planned to carry out the attack on the minister during the funeral but some of attackers clashed with a police patrol in the village itself earlier, Zafirovski said, adding that police killed one attacker, wounded two and arrested another two.
He said word of the attempted hit had been kept quiet in order not to "complicate" elections which were held on Sunday.
A top ethnic Albanian rebel leader, Ali Ahmeti, has asked for a cabinet role after preliminary results showed his fledgling party had scored well in the polls.
It was the country's first election since a bloody uprising by ethnic Albanians last year.
Explosion in Kumanovo.
Reality Macedonia
By Irina Gelevska
Last night at 02:00, a hand grenade "kashikara" exploded in Kumanovo's settlement Zelen Rid (Green Hill).
The hand grenade was put under black police jeep on the street "Vidoe Smilevski Bato" #38, near the hotel "Hills."
There were no casualties from the explosion. It damaged the police jeep and the front door of private house owned by Momchilo Zhguma.
The Police confirmed the incident, adding that the police vehicle was parked there accidentally.
REGULAR GOVERNMENT SESSION.
MIA
"The Macedonian Government reviewed on Tuesday the information about the realization of the election process and the events that followed after the elections," government spokesman Gjorgji Trendafilov said.
As he said, the state institutions carried out their tasks professionally and the election process itself denied the "horrifying scenarios" that were announced previously.
"The government also considers that the manner how those who consider themselves for winners celebrated the victory was the most brutal celebration of election victory in the past 12 years," Trendafilov stated.
In this context, he mentioned the shooting from automatic and semi-automatic weaponry, the shooting on the vehicle of the Minister of Finance, Nikola Gruevski, and the breaking in the house of the mayor of Cair, Ace Milenkovski.
As Trendafilov said, according to the information submitted to the Government, initiator of the breaking in Milenkovski's house was Riste Bislimoski, "whose name was on the list of candidates of those who consider themselves for winners."
He also reported that experts from the criminal police tried with a court warrant to enter in the printing house "October 11", but they were not allowed to do that. The purpose of the criminal police was to determine the factual situation with the number of ballots that appeared on certain polling stations and which caused confusion about the number of ballots, their numeration and validity.
At the session, the Ministry of Interior reported on its activities in the past years aimed to combating the organized crime.
The government also reviewed the information for the recently signed agreement for purification station in Veles. "The government managed to find a company that deals with this work and we believe that the contract will be fulfilled in 220 days," he said.
At today's session, presided by Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, the Macedonian Government reviewed the realization of the election process in the country.
In that context, the Macedonian Government assessed that the elections took place in peaceful atmosphere without violations of the public peace and order.
The government also estimated that the international organizations and foreign monitors also assessed these elections as peaceful and democratic, which was greatly enhanced by the role of the state administration and the Ministry of Interior.
The government concluded that after the election process and the announcing of the preliminary results several incidents took place, such as shooting from firearms and fights among supporters of different political parties. The government also condemned the shooting on the vehicle of the minister of finance, Nikola Gruevski.
At the session, the government also reviewed the report from the Ministry of Interior in regard to the combating of the organized crime.
Considering the fact that the organized crime in Macedonia represents relatively new phenomenon, and also having in mind the specific geographical position of the country, it was estimated that the criminal acts and organizations represent serious threat for the national stability.
The Ministry of Interior focuses all of its efforts to identify, locate and prevent the security problems.
According to the report from the Ministry of Interior, in 2001, during the military crisis in Macedonia, total of 194 criminal acts were reported. This trend continued in 2002 with 99 criminal acts committed by 174 persons.
The government also reviewed the information about the status of the persons under temporary humanitarian protection who come from Kosovo, FR Yugoslavia. The government decided that these persons should extend their permit for stay in Macedonia latest by October 28, 2002. The non-Albanian refugees from Kosovo will be able to stay in Macedonia by 28 March, 2003.
The government reviewed the information for increase of the prices of the petrol products. Starting from midnight September 8, the price of the petrol products will be increased in average for 5,23%, or Denar 1,5. A liter of A86 gasoline will now cost Denar 53,40 , liter of A98 gasoline - 54,50, and unleaded 95-octane gasoline will cost Denar 51,50. The D-1 diesel will cost Denar 38,50 for liter, D-2 will cost 37,50. A liter of extra light fuel will be Denar 28, and the crude oil - Denar 14,275. This decision comes as a result of the increased oil price on the world markets.
MACEDONIA BECOMES INFORMAL MEMBER OF WTO.
MIA
The negotiations for entrance of the Republic of Macedonia in the World Trade Organization ended successfully in Geneva Tuesday.
"Today we signed bilateral agreements with the European Union and Malaysia, which finished the negotiations several months ago", Minister of Economy and national coordinator for accession of the Republic of Macedonia in WTO Besnik Fetai stated for MIA.
As Minister Fetai stated, at today's meeting of the informal working group in Geneva "the Report on harmonization of legislation was adopted without any remarks from the representatives of the WTO member countries, as well as the Report of the sector for goods and service sector, which includes the financial sector".
"The entire package of documents by the WTO member countries was also adopted, thus making the Republic of Macedonia an informal members of the World Trade Organization", he stated.
As Fetai stated, the one thing that remained was the ratification of the final document in Geneva on October 11 by the WTO General Council, which should be ratified by the Macedonian Parliament no late than March 31, thus making the country a full-fledged 145th WTO member.
Minister of Economy emphasized that all agreements on free trade that were signed with the countries in the region still stood, with an additional accordance with WTO regulations.
Besides the agreements with the EU and Malaysia, Macedonia has already signed agreements with Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Latvia, Canada, Australia, USA and Croatia.
PROMOTION OF WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT.
MIA
The World Investment Report (WIR) prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCATD), was promoted Tuesday at the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia.
Governor of the Macedonian National Bank Ljube Trpevski assessed that one of the main reasons for raising of foreign investments was ensuring of currency stability.
"In the past years we successfully met conditions for attracting foreign investments, by achieving price and currency stability," Trpevski said, adding that the situation will remain stable.
Addressing at the WIR promotion, President Boris Trajkovski emphasized the necessity of "redirecting of the country's macroeconomic policy towards export-oriented investments." He stated that the multinational corporations by investing in the country's economy would contribute for improving the quality of the products and access to the world markets.
Trajkovski pointed out certain dilemmas and controversies in regard to the important role of the foreign investments, especially privatization process. He said that transparency, the profitability and the social background were crucial indicators for foreign investments.
"Despite the fact that including foreign investments in privatization process results in decreasing of employment at the beginning, the restructuring of companies increases their profit, the average salaries of employees, and accumulate funds for new investments, thus opening new jobs," Trajkovski said.
Macedonia should practice a policy that would grant benefit to the foreign investors, the state and its citizens, he said.
Trajkovski underlined that the foreign investment competitiveness was severe and if a country wanted to achieve positive results it should "initiate and convey the reforms, thereby stressing its difference from the other countries in the region." He also referred to the process of finalization of the legislation system, which guarantees the safety of the foreign direct investments and protect the national interest.
Trajkovski stressed the need of more active approach of the international community and the developed countries for promotion, warranty and pointing out to the potential investors the countries, which have the needed capacity but are located in unstable regions.
"Macedonia is an example of a country that meets all conditions for investments, but is facing a problem with investors' interest due to the last year crises and the current stability of the region," Trajkovski said, underlying that the country has proved a high level of democracy. He said the elections were positive indicator for the potential foreign investors.
Trajkovski called on his colleagues to encourage the companies in their countries to invest in Macedonia, as it would mean investing in the peace and stability of the country.
The UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Frode Mauring said that one of the principal message of this year World Investment Report was that "the Government policy is the key to reap maximum development gains from export-oriented foreign direct investments."
"Transnational corporations normally focus on existing comparative advantages of host countries, especially the low labour cost, existing skills, supplier networks and logistical considerations, when locating their export-oriented activities in developing countries," Frode said.
For the host countries to capitalize fully on static benefits and to transform them into dynamic and sustainable advantages, a pro-active policies, consistent with the overall national priorities and strategies were needed, he said.
"A number of developing countries and economies in transition, including Macedonia, have done well in attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) and improved their competitiveness. They still have the substantial potential to participate even more in the expanding international production systems of companies and to benefit from them. Also, There is still potential for developing more dynamic interaction between the foreign and domestic enterprise sectors," Frode said.
Zoran Jolevski, secretary-general of the President's Cabinet, said that according to this document, the last year's FDI decreased to US$ 735 billion, which is less than 50 percents of the investments in 2000.
"The global economic recession and insufficient confidence among business partners, and the events on September 11, reduced the cross-border cooperation - the main factor for attraction of FDI in 2002," Jolevski said.
According to WIR, decreasing of FDI was mostly registered in developed countries, which is 59%, while a modest decrease of 14% was registered in the developing countries. An insignificant raise of 2% was registered in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, while Africa is on the margins of the FDI.
Jolevski said WIR was focused on the "Transnational Corporations (TNC) and the Export Competitiveness, underlining the significant role of these corporations in the world economy.
"TNC business strategies are responsible for development of the world economy, especially car, electronic and textile industry," Jolevski said.
"In order to benefit from the international economic systems, countries have to learn to understand the principles of the cooperation strategies, which alter constantly."
WIR final conclusion reads that some developing countries in transition process "led efficient policy for exploiting of the TNCs capacity offer for improving their export and competitiveness."
"The key moment in our struggle against poverty is to help out the developing countries to integrate their national economies into the global world economy through a better way of investments and trading. WIR 2002 contributes a great deal in this respect," Jolevski said.
Macedonian voters reject hardliners who wanted war.
The Independent
By Justin Huggler
Macedonian voters have strongly endorsed the opposition Social Democrats in the first elections since the Balkan country was so nearly engulfed in civil war last year.
Yesterday's preliminary results spell the end for the hardline government of Ljubco Georgievski, which vowed to defeat an Albanian rebellion by force and failed.
Ali Ahmeti, the softly spoken Albanian rebel leader who only last year was holding court to journalists in the mountains in ill-fitting combat fatigues, is on the threshold of a ministerial post after his party dominated voting among the ethnic Albanian minority in Sunday's elections. The question that remained yesterday: will it make Macedonia safer?
Scores of people, including many children, were killed in fighting last year. For a few days in August, the fifth Balkans war in a decade had apparently begun.
There was fighting on the edge of Skopje, Macedonia's capital. Huge swaths of territory were controlled by Mr Ahmeti's National Liberation Army (NLA), and Mr Georgiev-ski's government ordered air strikes against them.
Then Nato sent a peace-keeping force, led by Britain, and both sides backed away from what would have been a devastating war. Since then, overshadowed by the 11 September attacks and their repercussions, tensions have been simmering in Macedonia.
The election campaign was an ugly one. Peace-keepers had to talk Mr Ahmeti into calling off a rally in Skopje, in case it caused fighting in the ethnically divided city. One candidate had a broken bottle held to his throat at another rally.
Yesterday's results showed Mr Ahmeti's Union for Democratic Integration (DUI) gained two thirds of the ethnic Albanian vote, eclipsing two older, more moderate Albanian parties. Voters kicked out Mr Georgievski's VMRO party in favour of the more moderate Social Democratic Union of Branko Crvenkovski. Mr Crvenkovski, less jingoistic and more prepared to compromise in peace talks last year, is likely to become Prime Minister, after his party polled twice as many votes as VMRO.
Any government he forms may have to include Mr Ahmeti and his party, now the largest in parliament. But Ljube Boskovski, the outgoing ["]ultra-hardline["] [(!!!)] interior minister, has put out a warrant for Mr Ahmeti's arrest for war crimes, and has threatened to have him seized if he sets foot in Skopje. Yet if Mr Ahmeti's party is excluded from government, there are fears that his disbanded NLA guerrillas might come out of retirement to restart the fighting.
Mr Boskovski is among the most prominent losers. An exponent of defeating the NLA on the battlefield, he opposed any peace deal, and has been the subject of inquiries by the Hague Tribunal over alleged war crimes. He was filmed in the village of Ljuboten last year on the day members of his police units executed six unarmed Albanian civilians, human rights investigators said.
The former interior minister had founded irregular elite police units, now officially disbanded, though some are said to be still active, and he was accused of connections with Macedonian paramilitary groups last year.
Organised crime is said to be on the rise and police have found it hard to reassert their authority in formerly rebel-held areas where there have been a string of murders.
Masked Actors in Sofia Streets.
Standartnews
Antoaneta Peteva
Actors from the Sofia theatres with masks on their faces will defile along the streets in the center of Sofia today at noon. The merry masquerade is dedicated to the Day of Sofia - September 17. It is expected that many students will join in the street parade, because most of schools in the Bulgarian capital will be closed that day.
MACEDONIA-ELECTIONS.
BTA
Foreign Ministry Hails Democratic Parliamentary Elections in Macedonia.
Sofia, September 17 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry hails the September 15 democratic parliamentary elections in Macedonia. The elections showed the determination of the political forces in the country to build a united and prospering Macedonia, the Foreign Ministry's Information and PR Directorate told BTA.
Together with its Macedonian neighbours Bulgaria will continue to work for the establishment of a climate of mutual trust and cooperation and for the implementation of the two countries' common strategic goals: integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures, reads the press release.
Simeon Dreaming of the Baikal.
Standartnews
I would very much like to see the Lake Baikal, I wish I could spare some time for a more relaxed trip to Russia and enjoy the atmosphere of the country, said yesterday Premier Saxe-Coburg-Gotha before editors-in-chief of some 20 Russian mass media. The meeting lasted for over one hour. Bulgaria's membership in the EU doesn't rule out good relations with Russia, the PM emphasized. Cut down taxes to draw in more Russian investments to your country, said the Russian journalists. We are working towards winning back the Russian markets for the traditional BG goods that once were very popular there. It is important that they appear in Russian stores before people forgot our trademarks, Simeon added.
Satellite Watches Trams.
Standartnews
Antoaneta Peteva
More buses and trams in the winter.
A satellite will watch the route of trams in Sofia as of yesterday. A satellite system will enable passengers in the public transport to decide if they have time for a cup of coffee before the tram arrives, the city municipality said. The first information board was officially inaugurated by mayor Stefan Sofianski. Meanwhile Sofia Public Transport Company released more trolleys and trams. Extra public transport vehicles are provided for at the beginning of the new school year.
A Monument to Rabbi Who Lived 200 Years Ago
Standartnews
boasts the Danubian town of Silistra. It's dedicated to Jewish rabbi Eliezer Papo who lived here 2 centuries ago. According to the legend, he rendered invaluable help to the local people at the time of cholera epidemic, but he himself got infected and died. It is assumed that he was buried where now the monument stands - near the Danube. Only few Jews live in Silistra, most of them moved to Israel after September 1944 when the Soviet army entered Bulgaria.
PASSY - IRAQ.
BTA
Foreign Minister Passy Says New Resolution Needed About Iraq.
Sofia, September 17 (BTA) - Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said a new resolution is needed about Iraq, determining the mandate of the inspectors there, the timeframes within which they are to fulfill their tasks and the sanctions in the instance of obstructing their mission. Preliminary consultations are being conducted for such a resolution, Passy said.
On Tuesday the Foreign Minister gave a news conference on his visit to the United States connected with the Bulgarian presidency of the UN Security Council.
Passy said the resolution will be possible to vote within the remaining thirteen days of the Bulgarian presidency of the Security Council. A total of 16 resolution on Iraq have been passed in the past twelve years, but a comprehensive and decisive enough resolution will be timely and relevant, Passy said.
Speaking about the letter from the Iraqi Government Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri handed over to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Passy said he cannot give a positive assessment beforehand but hopes for a peaceful solution. In the letter Iraq agrees to allow back the UN weapon inspectors.
The Foreign Minister said that while in New York he heard only praise about the Bulgarian mission in the UN. "We have thirteen more demanding days ahead," he said.
The best assessment for the Bulgarian presidency of the UN Security Council would be the election of chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe due in December in Portugal. "Bulgarias being elected OSCE chairman in a worthy manner will mean we did well as president of the UN Security Council," Passy said.
Highlighting the work of the UN General Assembly, Passy singled out US President George W. Bushs statement on September 12, which, he said, "changed the international climate in the course of about 25 minutes". Speaking about President Bushs address, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister noted the USs coming closer with the UN system, the approximation of the USs position and that of the EU about Iraq, which Passy described as strategic and allowing efficient actions within the UN Security Council. "This gives one more chance for the peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis," Passy said.
In New York the Bulgarian Foreign Minister had about 30 official and twice as many unofficial meetings with foreign ministers. "We added some fuel on the even of the [NATO] summit in Prague. I was also able to talk a lot about the EU enlargement," Passy said.
We Turned Sofia into Orderly City.
INTERVIEW Standartnews: Antoine Nikolov
Antoinette Peteva
We keep our promises, so I can look people straight in the eyes, says Antoine Nikolov.
Antoine Nikolov was born in 1967. He studied law in Sofia University. From 1997 Nikolov is the chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council. He is serving his third term in office as a municipal councilor from the UDF quota.
- Mr. Nikolov, today is the Day of Sofia, how would you explain to its residents the fact that public transport becomes more expensive starting from the next month even if the price rise is not the idea of the municipality?
- Should we give the explanations or the state administration? We could honestly tell the people of Sofia that we would like to keep intact all allowances, as we did during the last two terms in office, but now we are forced to pay into the budget 132 million levs. This is the money taken from the pockets of Sofianites and returned to the state budget. Another problem is that we haven't received 26 million due for a service we rendered, namely transportation of state administration employees. And they have been using public transport for free for 7-8 months already. To me the circumstances are critical. For the first time we face such a grave situation. It wasn't so hard even under Videnov's rule, the time of most acute financial crisis.
- Is there anything that you failed to do so far, anything that doesn't let you look people straight in the eyes?
- No, I can't say there's anything that we haven't fulfilled, I have the full right to look the people of Sofia straight in the eyes. I think that we manage to fulfill most of our pledges given during the last election campaign. I wish we could hand down to the next municipal council and mayor a really orderly and tidy city with clearly-cut perspectives of development. I think that now Sofia perfectly fits into this definition.
(Abr)
Georgian president accepts Russian ultimatum.
Pravda.ru
Text: Ilya Zhegulev
At a press conference on Monday Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze announced that his country was ready to hand over detained Chechen gunmen to Russia and to step up anti-terrorist efforts in Pankisi. Simultaneously, the Georgian leader publicly announced that the real reason behind Russias anti-terrorist drive was a desire to thwart the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project.
The Georgian president ordered a stepping up of the Interior Ministrys operation aimed at reinstating order in the notorious Pankisi Gorge. He also declared that the amount of armed forces sent to the gorge was sure to suppress any resistance from gunmen and criminals, assuring reporters that in two or three weeks the Pankisi problem would be solved and the peaceful population would be able to return to a normal way of life.
Shevardnadze also told those present that all 13 Chechen gunmen detained in the gorge in early August would be handed over to Russias authorities after all the legal formalities were completed. This, the Georgian president said, would happen only after some time. Then he announced, somewhat unexpectedly, that representatives of Russias special services are currently working in Pankisi in cooperation with their Georgian colleagues. However, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlins spokesman on the North Caucasus operation, has not confirmed Shevardnadzes words.
The Russian side reacted by voicing support for the idea of joint action.
Russia's First Deputy Chief of Staff Yuri Baluyevsky told a Moscow news conference that he disagreed with the stand expressed by the US authorities at the weekend that the Pankisi problem was for Georgia to solve on its own. At the same time, the Russian general strongly denied Russian plans for a large-scale military operation on the territory of the sovereign state. ''There is no question and no one is even discussing it of the Russian General Staff drawing up a plan for the invasion of Georgia,'' Baluyevsky said.
Russias diplomacy chief has reiterated that Russia is pursuing only the goal of fighting terrorism in the region, and once the Chechen rebels are destroyed in Pankisi the good relations between Russia and Georgia would return.
''Russia is not interested in artificially worsening relations with Georgia and by no means intends to encroach on the sovereignty and territorial integrity that we recognized and continue to recognize,'' Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told the press in New York on Monday. ''If the Georgian side promptly does away with rebel and terrorist bases on its territory, in particular in the Pankisi Gorge, destroys and not simply transfers them to a different place, then there will be no grounds for the problem that now exists in our relations,'' the minister said.
Such a reply from the Russian authorities could be taken as an expression of satisfaction as unruly Shevardnadze finally succumbs to pressure and lets Russia fight the Chechen insurgents in his country. But these statements, or at least the one by the Foreign Minister could also be in reply to Shevardnadzes accusations that Russia is really aiming to obstruct the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project.
Russian business daily Kommersant quoted its Tbilisi correspondent on Tuesday as saying that in his address to the press Shevardnadze also stressed that the real reason that Russia is seeking a military presence in Georgia is not to completely eliminate Chechen rebels in Pankisi, but to display its dissatisfaction with the start of construction on the pipeline which is expected to draw huge amounts of investment into the Georgian economy and put an end to Russias control in transporting Caspian and Central Asian oil to world markets.
The newspaper said that Shevardnadze leaves for Baku on Tuesday to take part in the opening of the pipelines construction. Deprived of strong support from the US, the Georgian president had to make certain concessions to Russia, just to be sure that a massive conflict does not prevent the start of the pipeline project, but he also made it clear that concessions are not the only way out for his country.
Shevardnadze told the press that at the forthcoming NATO summit in Prague, Georgia would make a statement about its desire to join the alliance. NATO representatives are expected in Tbilisi in the near future and Shevardnadze said that detailed consultations on the subject would be held, including on Georgias membership in the military bloc. The Georgian Parliament has already started work on all the documents required for the move.
Russia will back Iraq invasion, media reports say.
National Post
Matthew Fisher
Putin to support U.S. if Bush allows action on Chechen rebels.
MOSCOW - Russia has not yet said what it will do when the United Nations votes on any U.S.-backed resolution on Iraq. The Russian media, however, believes the matter has already been decided.
The NTV network's main newscast said last night that Russia will support the United States if the United States gives Russia the green light to do what it wants about Chechen rebels said to be hiding out in Georgia.
This analysis is no different than what has been offered for several days in Russia's newspapers and elsewhere. Iraq would be traded for Georgia.
As Vremya MN, a daily, declared on Friday: "Russia is offering to make no objection to how the United States deals with Iraq, in return for no obstruction from the United States in Russia's handling of Georgia." But the issue is much more complicated than that.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, transparently played the Georgia card last Wednesday. Only 24 hours before George W. Bush addressed the United Nations about how the world had to be protected from Iraq, Mr. Putin gave Georgia an ultimatum, warning that Russia would be obliged to protect itself from Chechen terrorists if the Georgian government wouldn't or couldn't root them out of the Pankisi Gorge, which abuts Russian territory in Chechnya.
Abandoning Iraq will not be easy. Russia has long been Iraq's greatest friend and ally outside the Arab world, even if Iraq has not always returned the favour. Russia is owed as much as US$9-billion by Iraq for weapons which Baghdad bought from the Soviet Union.
Washington's ambassador to Moscow, Alexander Vershbow, has not been shy about pointing out that Russia's chances of seeing some of that money would be greatly improved if Saddam Hussein were ousted and Iraq had a new, Western-oriented regime.
Russian arms merchants have apparently already decided they will get no money from Iraq as long as Saddam is in power. In recent months, they have been trying hard to sell guns and aircraft to the Gulf sheikdoms which will serve as the springboard for any U.S.-led military attack on Iraq.
Before Russia decides whether to use its veto at the UN Security Council, it will also undoubtedly be seeking assurances that its oil companies will receive a significant share of Iraq's oil business. Russian companies such as Lukoil already receive several billion dollars a year for helping to sell Iraqi oil under the UN's oil-for-food program. Those companies naturally fear U.S. competitors will be given preferential treatment if Saddam is deposed.
Iraq has the world's second largest proven oil reserves after Saudi Arabia, although almost nothing has been done to develop that potential since the first Gulf War in 1991. If Saddam is eliminated and Iraq's oil flows freely again on the world market, the price of oil will go down.
As Russia is the second biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and its economic recovery is tied to those exports, the Russian economy is likely to be deeply harmed if Iraq is allowed to export again. Marginal oil fields in Siberia, for example, may not be developed because Iraqi oil would be much cheaper.
The United States could ease some of that pain by giving Russia special access to Iraq's oil business and by not interfering with Russia's plans to build a US$1-billion nuclear power plant in Iran. The United States could also lower tariffs on Russian exports and help Russia gain the place it covets in the World Trade Organization.
While not tipping its hand, a day after saying on Thursday that the Iraqi problem had to be resolved through diplomacy, Russia hinted that it might support the United States after all. Igor Ivanov, the Foreign Minister, warned that "it is a serious problem" if Iraq does not comply with existing UN resolutions and allows UN weapons inspectors into the country.
For its part, the United States has stated publicly that Russia should give Georgia time to root out the Chechen rebels on its territory. However, the Russian media has hinted that the United States may be sending different signals to the Kremlin privately.
SPAIN: NEW BASQUE GROUP THREATENS "COLONIES"
PRAVDA.Ru
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
The new Basque militant group Euskal Borroka promises to expel Spaniards from territories that "are not theirs". The motto is The Basque country is for the Basques.
Euskal Borroka means "Basque fight" and this new group appears to be one of the most militant, if not the most, to have appeared in recent years. The new group speaks in terms of "ethnic cleansing", sending the non-Basques out of the Basque country to Spain.
In a letter addressed to councillors of the Partido Popular (PP, government), Euskal Borroka invited the "colony inhabitants of the municipalities" to voluntarily leave the Basque country because they are "occupying territory which is not theirs and which they hold be force of arms". The letter adds that all efforts will be made to expel the non-Basques from the territory.
The police are investigating the claims in a climate of growing tension: after the political party Herri Batasuna was made illegal for not unequivocally condemning ETA terrorist attacks, there have been waves of demonstrations in the Basque country in favour of the party, which despite official bans, have gone ahead.
For the first time in years, it seems that the Basque country is no longer Spain and that the consensus of common sense which reigned over years of uncertainty and political troubles is disappearing.
Yugoslav families sue Germany over 1999 NATO bombing Tuesday.
AFP
BONN, Sept 17 (AFP) - Relatives of civilians killed in the Serbian town of Vavarin during NATO's 1999 bombing campaign against Yugoslavia filed a suit for 3.5 million euros (3.3 million dollars) damages against Germany Tuesday, justice officials said.
The suit, lodged by lawyers for a group of 35 Yugoslav citizens, will be heard in a civil court, the first hearing of its kind in a European tribunal, and could serve as a test case for seeking damages from NATO's 19 members.
Ten Serb civilians were killed and more than 30 were injured on May 30, 1999, when two NATO airplanes launched missiles into Varvarin, striking the town's bridge.
Three people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed and five badly injured when the planes first struck.
A second attack a few minutes later killed seven and injured 12, most of them people who had come to help the earlier victims.
A lawyer for the relatives said Germany knew of and approved the bombing of the town, which was some 200 kilometres (125 miles) outside the combat zone.
The lawyer, Ulrich Dost, has said that the attack was a deliberate act meant to hit the civilian population and that Germany must take responsibility for the deaths and violations of human rights.
According to Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, 1,500 Serb civilians, including 81 children, died during NATO's two-and-a-half-month air campaign to force an end to Belgrade's repression against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Demands of EU and Nato temper Slovak poll fever.
Financial Times
By Robert Anderson and Stefan Wagstyl
At an election rally in the industrial town of Nove Mesto at the weekend Vladimir Meciar, Slovakia's veteran political strongman, harangued the government and talked warmly of his love of the family, the church and the soil of Slovakia. At the end of his speech, a woman called out: "I know a lot of families where they hang your photograph next to the Pope's. Please don't give up."
After four years out of office, the former prime minister is fighting to make a comeback in parliamentary elections this Friday and Saturday. But he is losing - and he knows it. He pleased the crowd in Nove Mesto, but has looked tired and irritable elsewhere. At one point last week he lashed out at a journalist who asked awkward questions.
Any hope Mr Meciar harboured of returning to office has virtually been destroyed by a very public diplomatic campaign by the US and the European Union. Western officials made clear Mr Meciar's authoritarian behaviour in his last government in 1994-98 disqualified him as a political partner. The west said Slovakia must abandon Mr Meciar or jeopardise its chances of securing its much-desired membership of Nato or the EU.
Leaders of other mainstream parties have isolated Mr Meciar. While he continues to lead Slovakia's largest political party, HZDS, he will almost certainly be excluded from any governing coalition. A western diplomat in Bratislava says: "Yes, we have interfered in the internal affairs of Slovakia. We have done so successfully."
The diplomatic pressure has contributed to turmoil inside Mr Meciar's party, which in the summer split, with a breakaway faction led by Ivan Gasparovic, once one of Mr Meciar's most loyal lieutenants, forming a new party called the HZD. According to opinion polls, the HZD could take 6 to 8 per cent of the vote, taking HZDS support down from more than 25 per cent to below 20 per cent.
However, the ruling centre-right coalition has failed to take electoral advantage of Mr Meciar's troubles. Mikulas Dzurinda, the prime minister, has won praise overseas for his reforms, including privatisation. But with unemployment at 19 per cent and allegations of corruption widespread, few Slovaks want to give the government any credit.
The coalition partners - consisting of Mr Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU), the Christian Democrats (KDU), and the ethnic Hungarian SMK - are expected to win around 30 per cent of the vote - some 5 percentage points less than in 1998.
With voters fed up with the established parties, the big election winners are likely to be two new personality-based movements - Robert Fico's SMER and Pavol Rusko's Ano.
The dynamic Mr Fico has made the largest gains, occupying the political centre with a mix of populism and clever campaigning financed by wealthy business people who used to back Mr Meciar.
The 37-year-old lawyer has made contradictory promises - pledging to work for EU entry, for example, while annoying Brussels by demanding a re-opening of certain negotiating chapters. He says he appeals to all Slovaks, but has made ugly remarks about gypsies. Like many Slovaks, he retains a hankering for the protective state of communist times, but his economic advisers promise market reforms.
Whoever the real Mr Fico may be, voters love him. From zero three years ago, SMER's opinion poll support has reached 17 per cent - about equal to Mr Meciar's. EU diplomats say that despite his populist outbursts, Mr Fico could be an acceptable and even an effective prime minister.
Mr Rusko, a television magnate often called Slovakia's Berlusconi (after Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi) has also capitalised on public disaffection with established politicians but with less success than Mr Fico. With his liberal economic programme, Mr Rusko is a possible ally for the ruling centre-right coalition. Opinion polls give him 9 per cent.
The ruling coalition will need the support of either Mr Fico or Mr Rusko or both. Mr Fico has set a high price for his backing - the prime minister's office. Mr Dzurinda and his colleagues say ruling with a majority of one is better than dealing with Mr Fico.
But this is campaign talk. In the post-election bargaining, promises made in the heat of battle will be set aside. Jan Figel, chief negotiator with the EU, said post-election negotiations would be very tough.
However, international deadlines will concentrate minds. Bratislava wants a government in office for Nato's Prague summit in November, when Slovakia hopes to be among several countries joining the alliance. It also needs new ministers in place for EU entry negotiations planned to finish by the end of the year.
The demands of EU and Nato entry will also limit the new government's freedom of manoeuvre on policy. With or without Mr Fico, accession will continue to dominate policy-making.
Brutality sparks flood of Russian desertions.
Steve Rosenberg
BBC Moscow correspondent
Around 40,000 conscripts have fled Russian regiments.
In the centre of Moscow, hidden away in a backstreet behind the Kremlin, is the Committee for Soldiers Mothers. The office is tiny, but each day it's packed with young men - conscripts who have run away from the Russian army. They complain of being bullied, abused and beaten.
"The older soldiers made the young conscripts fight each other, like animals," says Sergei, a conscript who's deserted from his base in Siberia. "If we refused - they knocked us about...one of them always kept watch outside the barracks."
In another corner of the room, a social worker is helping another deserter, Anton. He has fled after just three months military service, fearing for his life.
"Six soldiers cornered me in the toilet," Anton told me. "They started punching and kicking. Then they tried to strangle me. I ended up in hospital. But they even came to visit me there - they threatened to kill me if I filed a complaint."
Flood of desertions.
There are many more stories like these. So far this year more than 1,300 servicemen have turned to the Committee for Soldiers' Mothers for help.
The committee, a non-governmental organisation, investigates each case and offers support to those who've gone awol. "Every day more and more soldiers are leaving the army," believes Vadim Solovyov, editor of Russia's Independent Military Journal. "It looks like a flood".
Official view.
Bullying is common in Russia's increasingly undisciplined conscript army. The Russian Military admits it is the problem. But it's appealing to conscripts to stay on base.
"The Russian Ministry of Defence recognises the problem of bullying and we're very concerned about the number of soldiers leaving their units," ," army spokesman Colonel Vyacheslav Sedov told me.
"But they should know that going out of the camp is no way out. They will be caught and what will happen then? They will be court martialled."
Teenagers flee the abuse of older men.
Maxim's story.
In an apartment on the edge of Moscow, 18-year-old Maxim sits watching the news on TV. The top story - a mass desertion in southern Russia. Fifty-four soldiers have fled their base in Volgograd, complaining of bullying. It's the same division from which Maxim has run away.
He was helped to escape by his mother. When she found out her son was being bullied, she climbed over the fence into his camp and smuggled him out.
"No-one denies that you need to serve in the army," says Maxim's mother Valya, "but not in this kind of army. The situation there is completely out of control. Our sons come back to us like invalids."
Suddenly the telephone rings - it's the call mother and son have been dreading - the camp commander searching for Maxim. If he is found Maxim faces up to a year in a military jail. Valya says she hasn't seen him.
Back outside the Committee for Soldiers' Mothers, soldier Sergei is helped into an ambulance - he is off to hospital now to recover from his ordeal. From army private to patient - one more symbol of Russia's ailing military.
French author denies racial hatred.
BBC
The author has won the Impac prize and Prix Novembre.
A prize-winning French author on trial for calling Islam "the dumbest religion" has denied charges of inciting racial hatred. Michel Houellebecq told a Paris court that his words had been twisted.
"I have never displayed the least contempt for Muslims," he said, but added, "I have as much contempt as ever for Islam".
The controversial writer is being sued by four Islamic organisations over his comments about his book, Platform, in an interview last year with the literary magazine Lire. The novel is also cited in the case being brought by the largest mosques in Paris and Lyon, the National Federation of French Muslims (FNMN) and the World Islamic League.
France's Human Rights League has also joined them, saying that Mr Houellebecq's comments amount to "Islamophobia". The case has become a cause celebre, which, like the Salman Rushdie affair in the UK, raises questions about the appropriate limits, if any, to be placed on freedom of expression.
Platform has been a best-seller in France.
'Contempt' for Islam.
Mr Houellebecq told the court that he felt contempt - not hatred - for Islam, and that it was nonsensical to call him an "anti-Muslim racist".
"The whole tone of the interview was one of contempt, not hate", he said, adding, "I am always changing my point of view".
The author said he opposed not just Islam but all monotheistic faiths, and that it was his right as an author to criticise religions. He told the court he felt the Koran was inferior to the Bible as a literary work.
"In literary terms, the Bible has several authors, some good and some as bad as crap. The Koran has only one author and its overall style is mediocre," said Michel Houellebecq. In a written submission, lawyers for the Paris mosque said: "The fact that a famous author can be allowed to proclaim clearly his hatred for Islam in a magazine like Lire constitutes incitement to religious hatred."
Dalil Boubakeur from the mosque told the court: "Islam has been reviled, attacked with hateful words. My community has been humiliated." If found guilty, Mr Houellebecq faces up to a year in prison and a 52,000 euro fine.
Blasphemy.
In the Lire interview, Mr Houellebecq was quoted as saying "the dumbest religion, after all, is Islam".
"When you read the Koran, you're shattered. The Bible at least is beautifully written because the Jews have a heck of a literary talent," he told the magazine.
Mr Houellebecq's lawyer, Emmanuel Pierrat, argues that the case effectively re-establishes the notion of blasphemy, despite the fact that France is a secular state and has no such law. Mr Houellebecq, who recently won the Impac literary prize, is used to the controversy - and the attendant publicity - arising from his frank and sometimes nihilistic novels.
He has neither retracted his comments nor defended the main character in his novel Platform, who admits to a "quiver of glee" every time a "Palestinian terrorist" is killed. Last year Mr Houellebecq said he had "a gift" for insults and provocation.
"In my novels, it adds a certain spice. It's rather humorous, no? What I think as an individual seems to be of no importance here," he said in an interview.
L'association des amis de michel houellecq - official website.
Haidar Haidar: A new Salman Rushdie?
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