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260 applicants sat for the history examination at Bourgas Free University. Most of them were happy with the theme "Bulgaria's Political and Cultural Development during the Reign of Simeon the Great" Pressphoto BTA. Photo : Todor Stavrev
Osama Bin Laden (bottom right) has been depicted in a Romanian church fresco in the town of Timisoara - riding a plane to Hell. CTK
Roadblocks on Tetovo-Skopje Highway.
MakFax
Family members of 12 reportedly kidnapped persons set up roadblocks earlier today (at 07:50 hours) on Tetovo-Skopje highway, including the old road near the pay-toll outside the Tetovos village of Zelino, says the press release by the government-run Crisis Management Center.
The same source says the traffic undergoes stoppage in both directions given that some 300-400 protesters have gathered at the site. The protesters are demanding information on the destiny of kidnapped civilians.
The International Commission on Missing Persons, chaired by the Swedish Ambassador in Skopje, announced a press conference later today to present the latest information on the destiny of kidnapped persons.
Parliamentary Commissions for Political System and Foreign Policy will convene today for a joint session to address destiny of kidnapped Macedonians. They had been reportedly kidnapped during the last years conflict.
rlt/sh
Blockade At Skopje-Tetovo Highway Continues.
MIA
The blockade of traffic at Tetovo-Skopje highway at Zelino pay-toll, which began at 07,50h this morning, continues Monday evening. Close relatives and friends of the 12 kidnapped Macedonians from Tetovo, Beloviste and Dobroste set the blockade.
According to Tetovo police department, the blockade is carried out in both directions, as well as at old road Tetovo-Skopje.
Only sick persons, mothers with little children and emergency vehicles were allowed passage through the blockade.
rlt/sh
SITUATION IN CRISIS REGIONS.
MIA
The blockade of traffic at Zelino pay - toll, which begun at 07,50h Monday morning have been removed by the close relatives of the twelve kidnapped Macedonians from Tetovo, Neprosteno, Beloviste and Dobroste, accompanied by a number of Tetovo citizens and villagers from Tetovo area.
After the total blocking of the traffic in both directions as well as of old Tetovo- Skopje road, Tetovo police department announced that the traffic has been completely normalized, thus stopping the long lines of cargo vehicles and busses.
The blockade of the highway is a result of the protest for not knowing anything about the 12 kidnapped Macedonians from Tetovo, Beloviste and Dobroste for more than one year.
According to police sources, gunfire from several types of weaponry was heard on several occasions coming from the pay - toll at Zelino, the nearby field as well as the lower region of Suva Gora.
The shootouts had no definite targets.
Increased intensity of the shootouts in Tetovo region lasted until 06:00 hours, MIA's correspondent reports.
Police and army sources say volleys of fire and sporadic shootouts have been registered from Kupenik, Gorna Carsija, Sipad, Vonvardarska, Drenovec 2 and Ciglana settlements, also from building areas around "Avtoprogres," transportation company "Polet," the factory "Nemetali," the SEE University, the city stadium and Red Cross warehouse, from the area of "Kuzman Josifovski Pitu" barracks, the Teke and road toll Tetovo - Gostivar.
Shootouts have been registered in the villages of Semsovo, Zelino, Trebos, Miletino, Celopek, Gajre, Mala Recica, Dobroste, Tearce, Prsovce, Otusiste, Odri, Prvce, Slatino and Poroj.
According to police sources, intensive shootouts have been registered overnight in Kumanovo - Lipkovo region.
The public peace and order has been violated on twenty occasions with several infantry weaponry sporadic and riffle shots, coming from the villages of Slupcane, Matejce, Vaksince and Opae. The shootouts had no definite targets.
The police forces continue with its regular patrols as envisaged by the plan.
BRIEFING WITH CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE ON KIDNAPPED AND OTHER MISSING PERSONS.
MIA
The Committee on kidnapped and other missing persons has not accomplish its primary goal to find the kidnapped and other missing persons, Ambassador Lars Wahlund the Commission's Chairman said Monday, presenting the Report focused on the fate of the twenty missing persons, including 13 Macedonians, six Albanians and one Bulgarian in the period April 17 - August 31, 2002.
According to the Report, the investigation on the missing persons did not progress as the information was withheld, and the concerned parties - the Macedonian Government, the Interior Ministry and NLA leadership did not provide the significant information that was expected.
The Committee concluded, "there were certain individuals from the former NLA who had relevant information on the fate of the eight kidnapped Macedonians as well as individuals within the Macedonian security police forces that have information regarding the fate of the three missing Albanians.
However, none of the information was disclosed.
"The international community can only support, encourage and eventually exert pressure, but its not responsible for the kidnapping of the missing persons," Wahlund said at the press conference.
He informed that the Committee provided all available information about the missing persons through interviews with the relatives, meetings with some individuals and institutions believed to have some information as well as through work on the ground.
Ambassador Wahlund emphasized that criminal responsibility did not imply to the persons mentioned in the Report, but believed "they were in a position to have or to obtain more information on the missing persons."
According to him, "based on the obtained information in regard with eight of the twelve Macedonian cases there was solid information that they were abducted by men in NLA uniforms, while the other Macedonians reported as kidnapped moved in areas where it is likely that they came across NLA units."
"In regards with the kidnapped or missing Albanians, one was taken and interrogated by Macedonian police units before his disappearance, while two other Albanians went missing in connection with "a checkpoint manned by persons in police uniforms." In the other Albanian cases and in the case of the Bulgarian it has not been possible to obtain any solid information on the circumstances of their disappearance.
The Committee has no solid or justified information and cannot claim whether the missing persons were alive or dead, Wahlund says.
According to him, the refusal of the families of kidnapped Macedonians to give blood did not help to the Committee. "I have no mandate to make them do that, although I tried to tell them they ought to give blood. They were asking why should they do that and claim that their relatives are still alive. Unless they give blood, I cannot rule out the option whether the bodies found between Neprosteno and Trebos belong to the kidnapped persons or not," he said.
"NLA representatives say that eight of the kidnapped Macedonians were abducted, killed and buried by a unit on which they had only limited control.
However, there is no specific or justified information about this," Ambassador Wahlund said.
Wahlund presented Monday the Report on the fate of the twenty missing persons to Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, members of the Assembly Committees on Political System and Foreign Policy as well as to the relatives of kidnapped persons.
The Report will be also available to the Hague Tribunal.
The report of the Committee on kidnapped and other missing persons, which was presented at Monday's session of the Assembly Committee on political system, contains information that does not correspond with the truth, Macedonian Ministry of Interior announced Monday.
As stated in the announcement, the presented information in the report of the Committee, which was prepared by Ambassador Lars Vahlund based on unreliable sources, does not correspond with the truth, opposite to the activities of the Ministry regarding the obtainment of concrete data about the fate of the 8 missing persons, 6 of whom were Albanians, 1 Macedonian and 1 Bulgarian citizen.
According to the data of the Ministry, the families of missing Albanian persons reported the incident and cooperated with the branch offices of the Ministry only in 3 cases. The other cases were evidenced by the Ministry through deputy questions at an Assembly session, and after reports by the Ombudsman", the announcement states.
Based on the legal authorisation, the Ministry of Interior undertook all necessary operative measures and activities for acquiring data and information regarding the fate of the 8 missing persons through its departments and branch offices, but without any success so far.
The search for the missing persons continues, regardless of the fact that some families have not cooperated at the required level, resulting in lack of information and photographs of them, which makes the process even harder.
"For the purpose of solving these cases, the Macedonian Government announced a 500,000 award, which confirms the responsibility and the wish of the Government to solve the case as soon as possible", the announcement emphasises.
"Regarding the untrue and tendentious report of the Committee on kidnapped and other missing persons, which accuses the Ministry of Interior in an ungrounded manner that it has not overtaken all necessary measures and activities for revealing of the fate of the kidnapped and missing persons, the Ministry will ask the state authority organs to reassess the need for existence and the future activity of this Committee", the Interior Ministry said.
SWISS EQUIPMENT DONATED TO MACEDONIAN ARMY.
MIA
The Swiss donation comprised of military equipment was delivered Monday to the Macedonian Army.
The donation includes 50 motor vehicles and 50 "pinzgauer" trailers, five "pinzgauer" ambulance models, spare parts for the vehicles and 20 sledges for the winter activities of the Army's units.
Swiss Ambassador to Macedonia Stephan Nellen and Macedonian Defense Minister Vlado Popovski attended the ceremony.
Addressing the attendees, Ambassador Nellen underlined that with this donation Switzerland continued the regular cooperation with Macedonia and the support to its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Nellen said that from its territory Switzerland would prevent all illegal activities focused towards Macedonia.
He emphasized that the cooperation with the Defense Ministry and the Macedonian Army within NATO's initiative Partnership for Peace would continue and announced the upcoming cooperation with the Ministry of Interior Affairs.
Thanking for the donation, Minister Popovski emphasized the main goal of the Defense Ministry - multiethnic stability, pointing out the Framework Agreement as great contribution in that respect.
Regarding the Macedonian - Swiss military technical cooperation, Popovski emphasized that it was abundant in the past four years and confirmed not only through donating equipment, but also through training of the Army's special unit.
"OHRID SUMMER 2002" OPENS FRIDAY.
MIA
The stars of the Opera and Ballet House of the "Bolshoi Theater" from Russia will open the 42nd Ohrid Summer 2002 on July 12.
Gordana Josifova - Nedelkovska, president of "Ohrid Summer" Steering Board presented Monday the Festival's program, which according to her "includes many distinguished names and large projects."
This year's festival encompasses 29 music performances and 11 theater plays from 16 European and North American countries. The guests are from Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Canada, Poland, Romania, Russia, USA, Slovenia, FR Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Hungary, France, Czech Republic and Switzerland. The performances will be held in "St. Sofia" Church, Culture House "Grigor Prlicev" and the reconstructed Antique Theater.
Josifova - Nedelkovska pointed out the opening of the Festival with the performance of one of the leading world houses "Bolshoi" Theater.
"This is a joint project with the Orchestra and the Chorus of the Opera House within the Macedonian National Theater and Macedonian Philharmonic," Josifova - Nedelkovska said, adding that more than 200 participants will perform on the scene of the Antique Theater. "This gala concert would be one grand event in the festival's history," she said.
It is also expected the number one world violinist Yuri Bashmet with his chamber orchestra "Moscow soloists" to close the festival.
In the musical part of this year's "Ohrid Summer" we will see the performances of the Ballet within the Belgrade National Theater, Symphonic Orchestra of the Faculty of Music Arts from Skopje, Chamber Orchestra of the Ukraine National Radio, the concert of the Chamber orchestra "St. George String Players" from Yugoslavia, Chamber Orchestra of the Macedonian Philharmonic, "Ahn" Trio from USA, Bartok Quintet from Hungary and Tango Nova Quintet from Yugoslavia.
During the evenings dedicated to the winners of the international violin competitions we will see Nikolay Sachenko from Russia and Mariusz Patyra from Poland, while at the Music Nova evening we will see the "Ensemble Reconsil Vienna" from Austria. The head of this ensemble will also hold a seminar for young composers.
Several other seminars will be held including the tenth edition of the piano seminar led by Prof. Ljudmila and Boris Romanov. Also the book "Ex tempore" Ohrid Summer 1991 - 2001" by Macedonian music critic Marko Kolovski will be promoted.
Speaking of the theater program at the festival, director of Drama Theater Senko Velinov said that dozens plays of the Macedonian National Theater, Drama Theater from Skopje, National Theater from Bitola and seven foreign theaters will be performed.
Velinov pointed out the following plays: "Love's Labor's Lost" - Athens National Theater; "Dinner for Fools" by Jirzi Menzel - State Satirical Theater from Bulgaria, "Montenegrini" - Montenegrin National Theater, "Hasanganica" - Belgrade National Theater, "M.M.E" by Dejan Dukovski, directed by Dejan Projkovski - National Theater "Ivan Vazov" Bulgaria.
The Macedonian theater houses will perform three premiers: "Collection of William Shakespeare's Works" - Drama Theater Skopje, "Dangerous Liaisons" - Macedonian National Theater and "Family tales" by Biljana Srbljanovic, directed by Aleksandra Kovacevic from Yugoslavia - Bitola National Theater.
The Festival's budget is 250,000, out of which 85 percent are provided by the Macedonian Culture Ministry and the other means are provided by the sponsors.
MISSILES-DESTRUCTION-REACTION.
BTA
Opposition Wants Environmental Impact Assessment Ahead of Missile Destruction; Haskovo Residents Oppose the Destruction.
Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) insist that the forthcoming destruction of Bulgaria's SS-23 and Scud missiles and FROG rockets at a firing ground near Zmeyovo, in the southern Stara Zagora region, must be preceded by an assessment of the possible environmental impact of the process. The leaders of the two parties' regional chapters, Trifon Mitev (BSP) and Stefan Radev (UDF), made statements to this effect during separate news conferences on Monday.
The two parties share the view that a comprehensive study should be conducted by chemical, medical, missile and environmental experts. Each of them should sign the future assessment report to indicate that the responsibility for the conclusions will be personal, not political, the two parties say.
Rural residents of Haskovo region, Southern Bulgaria, have launched a sign-in campaign against the possible destruction of SS-23 missiles at the local Koren firing ground. They grew worried after aircraft bombs were destroyed at Koren on Friday, said Georgi Petrov, coordinator for a newly established public committee for environmental protection of the area.
The public is concerned because of the utmost secrecy about the bomb destruction operation at Koren, Petrov said, adding that the local authorities had not been notified about it.
"There is no change in the decision regarding the site where the SS-23 and Scud missiles and FROG rockets will be demolished," Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov told the media on Monday, taking a reporter's question. He added that the contacts aimed to ease tensions in Stara Zagora and Kazanluk regions, which are close to the firing ground at the village of Zmeyovo chosen for the destruction of the missiles.
"We will not breach any safety rules to observe the deadline recommended by Parrliament for the destruction, October 30," Svinarov said.
The technical experiment, aimed to produce an effect comparable to that produced as a result of the demolition of SS-23, Scuds and FROGs and conducted last Friday at Koren was successful for the military and the Defence Ministry, Svinarov said. In his words, although the results did not show any negative consequences, the position of local residents is unchanged.
Gen. Nikola Kolev, Chief of General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, said that the trial destruction of missiles will begin not earlier than a month later.
The leadership of the parliamentary group of the BSP-dominated Coalition for Bulgaria and representatives of Stara Zagora region are planning to meet with Environment Minister Dolores Arsenova on Tuesday. "We also expect to meet with Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov," Angel Naidenov MP of Coalition for Bulgaria told a news conference in Haskovo.
The meetings will be held to request more information concerning relevant environmental impact studies and assessments. The government officials will be briefed on the public worries in Haskovo municipality, Naidenov said.
At the end of May, the governments of Bulgaria and the United States signed a memorandum on assistance for missile destruction. The document was later ratified by the National Assembly. A test has been conducted, and the results show that the process will pose no danger to local people or the environment, the Defence Ministry has said.
KOZLODOUI N-PLANT-UNIT 2.
BTA
Unit 2 at Kozlodoui N-plant Put into Operation after Planned Repair; Unit 6 to Be Stopped.
Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - Following a planned annual repair and refuelling, Unit 2 of the Kozlodoui nuclear power plant was put into operation again on Monday, the N-plant's press centre told BTA.
The unit will start operating to capacity in 48 hours.
Unit 2 (440 MW) was switched off the power grid for planned repair and safety upgrading on April 20. On Monday it started its 24th fuel campaign.
The start of taking out of operation the N-plant's Unit 6 (1,000 MW) will be at midnight on July 9, said the press centre of the Committee for Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. The purpose is to perform planned annual repair works and charge the reactor with fresh fuel.
HUNGARY - JUSTICE MINISTER - VISIT.
BTA
Hungarian Justice Minister Expected in Sofia.
Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - Hungarian Justice Minister Peter Barandy will arrive Tuesday on an official three-day visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of his counterpart Anton Stankov, the Justice Ministry press office said Monday.
Barandy is scheduled to confer with senior Justice Ministry officials, Constitutional Court President Hristo Danov, Supreme Cassation Court President Ivan Grigorov, and Prosecutor General Nikola Filchev. The guest will be received by National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdjikov and Deputy Prime Minister Kostadin Paskalev, who is also Minister of Regional Development and Public Works.
BULGARIA-TURKISH DEFENCE MINISTER-VISIT.
BTA
Turkey Categorically Supports Bulgaria's Bid for NATO, Turkish Defence Minister Cakmakoglu Says.
Sofia, July 8 (BTA) - Conferring with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolai Svinarov, Turkish Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu expressed the categorical support of Ankara for Bulgaria's bid to join NATO.
This is what Cakmakoglu said after his meeting with Svinarov. The Turkish Defence minister arrived on an official visit here on Monday at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart.
The support of Turkey and Greece for Bulgaria and Romania in a 2 plus 2 format was also discussed, the guest said. He added that the intention is to continue cooperation in a quadrilateral format. "We are optimistic about the Prague summit [of NATO] in November," Cakmakoglu said. In his words, Bulgaria and Romania are considered to be two friendly countries, and it is believed that their future membership of the Alliance is a factor that will contribute to the balance in Europe.
For the time being, Turkey will have the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for a term of six months, Cakmakoglu said, taking a question.
Svinarov added that Bulgaria will continue its participation in the mission until the expiration of the term of Turkish command of ISAF, specifying that an extension could be negotiated.
Terem, a Bulgarian company for military repair, is participating in an international tender for the repair of Mi-17 helicopters used by the Turkish police, Svinarov's press attache Roumyana Strougarova said after the meeting of the two defence ministers.
Cakmakoglu's programme continued with a meeting with Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and representatives of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
Stanishev to Refuse a Meeting with Mihailova.
Standartnews
BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party) officials declined the request of Nadezhda Mihailova - leader of UDF (Union of Democratic Forces), to meet Sergey Stanishev- Socialist Party leader. The proposal was aimed at discussion of the UDF draft on amendments to the Constitution, Nadezhda Mihailova said before Inforadio yesterday.' Let us be more indulgent to Stanishev's statement, he was not acquainted with those concepts, thus he was caught unprepared,' UDF leader commented the words of Stanishev that the 'blue' proposals had been written after a 'heavy hang-over'. Nadezhda Mihailova will meet the Premier on July 10.
N-Plant May Produce Fuel for Toyota.
Standartnews
Miglena Georgieva
BG to pay millions of dollars fines for ecological damages, if NPP Kozloduy will be closed down.
Kozloduy N-plant may produce fuel for Toyota motor company, Georgi Gyoshev - deputy-chairman of the Bulgarian Nuclear Association, said yesterday. Next year the Japanese car giant is to start off the batch production of automobiles equipped with hydrogen-engines. The fuel will be received out of the electricity output, while the N-plants produce the cheapest power, Gyoshev stressed. BMW and Daimler - Crysler will manufacture the same kind of cars since 2004 on. The hydrogen-fuel is ecologically pure, while the power from Kozloduy NPP will be the cheapest one for the low cost price of the electric energy produced in the N-plant, Gyoshev said further. Hydrogen-cells may be implanted in wide range of electric appliances. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be the annual profit out of the trade with hydrogen- energy, Gyoshev stressed. This is the future of the modern economy, but its development in Bulgaria will be stopped if the small units of Kozloduy NPP are decommissioned, he said flatly.
N. Vassilev Decides Today For Bulgartabac Chairman.
Standartnews
Pavlina Zhivkova
Nevena Mircheva
Vice-Premier holds two orders in his pocket - for dismissal and for re-appointment of G. Popov.
Vice-Premier and Economy Minister Nikolay Vassilev has two equally decisive orders for the future of Georgi Popov - former CEO of Bulgartabac. One is for his discharge from the Directors Board (DB), whose member he became after the dismissal from the CEO's post of the holding. The other one - for his remaining in DB. Today, immediately before the general meeting of the Bulgartabac shareholders, Minister Vassilev is to decide about which of the two documents he will sign, 'Standart' daily learnt. Georgi Popov stepped down the holding's CEO office on June 24. He, however, retained his membership in the DB, since the shareholders' meeting can only release him from the post. If he's to be dismissed after all, only five members will remain in Bulgartabac DB - Chairman Roumen Porozhanov, Kaloyan Ninov - deputy-minister of economy, Bulgartabac CEO Georgi Kostov and two other heads of department - Valentin Gruev and Mithat Metin. Today's general meeting should also decide the remuneration of the DB members. Topic in the agenda is also approval of the report for 2002. It was drawn several days ago and was already submitted to the candidate-buyers of the holding. The aspirants currently hold out due diligence in the plants.
Simeon To Drive On Harvester
Standartnews
tomorrow in the village of Balkantsi. There he will open the harvest-time in Dobrudja. If Prime Minister will take the sickle, the photos will go round the world and will make a show of the technical primitivity in this country, farmers preparing the PM's visit, commented their choice.
Taxi-Drivers Kidnapped Policeman.
Standartnews
Taxi-drivers abducted a policeman and beat him black-and-blue, after he declined paying them a three-time overcharged bill. The victim was spending his holidays in Slanchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) resort. He took the taxi-cab to go to the near village of Nessebar and denied to pay the overcharged bill. The taxi-driver called to his colleagues to give him a sound thrashing together.
Kostov-Led Cabinet Set up Uncontrollable Privatization.
INTERVIEW Standartnews: Rossen Dimov
Elena Yaneva
The Prosecution should cancel deals. No one protects the state in the privatization ever since 1997, prosecutor Rossen Dimov maintains.
- Mr Dimov, why do the political forces and institutions levelled such sharp criticism to the request of the left-wing coalition to resume the powers of the prosecution at cancelling incorrect privatization deals?
- It should have been too strange if such a reaction wouldn't exist, since if the amendments to the Civil Procedure Code are to be adopted, they will reinstate the right of the prosecution to ask from the court cancellation of privatization deals. UDF-led government was the one to deprive the prosecution of its power to attack illicit transactions while defending the state's and public interests, at that without any explanations. If we haven't that right, who then will protect the state?
- But that's the job of the Post-privatization Control Agency, isn't it?
- I will give a simple example thus answering your question.
The seller - municipal privatization agency and at the same time it's a control body, sells out to the buyer an venture, but at a ridiculously low price. Yet, no one attacks the deal. The seller - since he was aware of what he had done and the low price is not accidental. The buyer - he's not interested as well, because he's satisfied. Yet, the public interest is suffering damages. Then emerged the prosecution to fulfil its constitutional function - to control over execution of the laws and to defend the state's interests and to file a claim in court after the due checkup.
- But UDF and NMS warned the investors climate will worsen if the prosecution is to resume its powers.Is that true?
- I don't understand their motives. An independent control body will ask cancelation of the illicit deal before the court. To me, the foreign investor coming to Bulgaria to invest at the level, has not to ground to fear. Those who arrival to make benefit of the unfenced yard of this country and to take dirt cheap the state property, those who didn't fulfil his obligations under the contract and don't pay salaries to his workers, does not invest, but rather damage assets - we don't need such an investor. Let him find his interests in another country. So we can't find out, how do the prosecution hampers the foreign investors. Vice-Premier Nikolay Vassilev said it straight a time ago, that the judicial authority impeded the foreign investments to enter this country.
- How will you comment the suspicions emerged that the prosecution is trying to straighten its influence and to assume more power with insisting to take the control over privatization?
- The prosecution doesn't need more power at all. It will have much more duties first of all. On the other hand the prosecution will need more finances to provide the checkups.
The judicial budget is out the bottom to be able further to pay our expert.This power will burden us with much more responsibility. Balkans tribunal turns to Clinton.
Washington Times
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
ZAGREB, Croatia The Balkans war crimes tribunal is examining whether charges are warranted against former President Clinton and his aides for supporting a 1995 military offensive by Croatia that recaptured territory then held by rebel Serbian forces.
The Croatian World Congress sent a letter last week demanding that Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), open a criminal investigation into Mr. Clinton and other top officials of his administration for "aiding and abetting indicted Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina in a 1995 Croatian military operation known as 'Operation Storm.'"
When asked if the prosecutor's office plans to indict Mr. Clinton and U.S. officials, Florence Hartmann, spokeswoman for Mrs. Del Ponte, said: "We are working on the basis of an ongoing investigation."
Besides Mr. Clinton, others named in the complaint are former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, former Deputy National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and former U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith.
Fears that American officials and soldiers will be prosecuted for participating in U.N.-backed peacekeeping efforts lie behind the Bush administration's threat to scuttle the present U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
The threat is part of a dispute involving a separate but similar U.N. tribunal, the International Criminal Court, which was modeled after the ICTY and opened its doors last week. Both courts are based in The Hague.
The Balkans court angered U.S. officials two years ago when it acknowledged it was looking into a similar complaint against NATO commanders for their role in the 1999 U.S.-led bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.
Court officials said at the time they felt obliged to look into all complaints placed before them, but they dropped the matter after a preliminary investigation.
Gen. Gotovina was indicted by the ICTY in June 2001 on charges that he exercised "command responsibility" over a military campaign in which 150 Serbian civilians were killed.
Secretly supported by the Clinton administration, Croatian forces launched a massive three-day military offensive known as "Operation Storm" on Aug. 4, 1995, in which Croatia recovered territories occupied by rebel Serbs following Zagreb's drive for independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
The Croatian World Congress, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) that advises the United Nations, said it believes neither Gen. Gotovina nor Clinton administration officials are guilty of war crimes.
However, it said that if Mrs. Del Ponte insists on prosecuting Gen. Gotovina, then American officials should be prosecuted in the interests of "evenhanded justice" because they played a pivotal role in aiding the general's campaign in Operation Storm.
The Croatian World Congress said the U.S. administration gave the green light for the operation and provided diplomatic and political support for it.
But the NGO stressed that "the most just outcome would be to withdraw the indictment against Gen. Gotovina."
The possibility that the Gotovina case will lead to U.S. officials being indicted by the ICTY worries some lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican and chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, said in a May 29 letter to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that at committee hearings on the ICTY, "Testimony was presented at our hearing questioning the factual basis for this indictment.
"It was brought to our attention that the ICTY may investigate U.S. officials for potential command responsibility in connection with Operation Storm."
Mr. Hyde said the ongoing investigation in the Gotovina case poses "risks" that U.S. officials would be prosecuted by the "U.N. tribunal for formulating or carrying out U.S. government policy."
Gen. Gotovina, 48, was the military commander of Sector South of the operation that was responsible for the capture of the city Knin.
He is also accused by the prosecutor's office at The Hague of overseeing the ethnic cleansing of 150,000 Serbs in Croatia who fled the military assault. He is currently in hiding, his whereabouts unknown.
The United States provided military and technical assistance to Operation Storm in order to deliver a defeat to then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's goal of forging an ethnically pure "Greater Serbia."
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