Yugoslav Daily Survey
BELGRADE, 14 September 2000
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
-YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES
MEMORANDUM TO UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
-FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: FOREIGN INVESTORS'
INTEREST IN YUGOSLAVIA INCREASES
-MINISTER MATIC POINTS TO FOREIGN PLANS FOR
TAKING POWER IN YUGOSLAVIA
-MINISTER MATIC: UN MISSION PROTECTS
KOUCHNER'S MAFIA
NATO AGGRESSION - CONSEQUENCES
-YUGOSLAV UN AMBASSADOR ON USE OF DEPLETED
URANIUM IN VIOLATION OF UN CHARTER
YUGOSLAVIA - CHINA
-SERBIAN VICE PREMIER RECEIVES CHINESE
AMBASSADOR
EUROASIAN CONFERENCE ON TRANSPORT
-YUGOSLAV TRANSPORT MINISTER ADDRESSES
CONFERENCE IN RUSSIA
YUGOSLAVIA - ANGOLA
-YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS ANGOLA
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
-KFOR AND UNMIK RESPONSIBLE FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA
-TREPCA WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AGAINST
PLANT SEIZURE
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - TERRORISM
-SERB CONVOY STONED IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA
-SERB WOMAN KILLED IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA - SERBS
PROTEST
* * *
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES
MEMORANDUM TO UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
NEW YORK, Sep 14 (Tanjug).- Participants in the general debate
of the 55th regular UN General Assembly session had the opportunity
Wednesday, second day of the session at the Palace of Nations in New
York, to read a Memorandum of the Yugoslav government on the difficult
situation in the UN-run Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province.
The latest Yugoslav government document on the implementation of the
Security Council Resolution 1244 was distributed to the General Assembly
to brief the participants of Yugoslavia's views and of the analysis of the
situation in the province that the Yugoslav government addressed to the
UN on August 21.
The Memorandum points to the continuing worsening of the situation in
Kosovo-Metohija since the previous analysis of June 7, and underlines that
the situation has deteriorated dramatically due to acts of terrorism being
perpetrated by ethnic Albanian separatists aided and abetted by KFor and
UNMIK chiefs.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: FOREIGN INVESTORS'
INTEREST IN YUGOSLAVIA INCREASES
BELGRADE, Sept 14 (Tanjug) - Foreign investors' interest in
investing in the Yugoslav economy is growing, according to the Yugoslav
government as quoted in a statement released on Thursday.
At a session chaired by Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic, the cabinet
reviewed current economic trends and a report on the work of the national
flight control administration, the government statement said.
The cabinet noted that 186 companies have been founded in Yugoslavia
since January - 114 joint-stock companies and 72 all-private foreign
ventures - with foreign investments totalling in excess of 81 million
German marks.
Fifteen new companies were founded and 17 annexes to existing business
contracts were signed in August alone, which was a period of intensified
political pressure, the statement said.
by 20 percent over the past years, with 1,000 aircraft flying through
Yugoslav airspace each day, it was noted.
The government approved the necessary funds to the flight control
administration for purchasing new equipment, in order to maintain the high
safety standards in air traffic and increase its hard currency revenues.
MINISTER MATIC POINTS TO FOREIGN PLANS FOR
TAKING POWER IN YUGOSLAVIA
BELGRADE, Sep 13 (Tanjug).- The upcoming elections will be held in a
legal and peaceful manner and will be won by candidates who get the
greatest number of votes in Serbia and Yugoslavia, although several
scenarios have been drawn up to help opposition parties, which do not
enjoy popular support, come to power with the participation of foreign
forces, Yugoslav Minister of Information Goran Matic said at a press
conference Wednesday.
There are several scenarios for helping the opposition get power illegally,
the most curious of which is the one defined at a meeting held between the
head of the UN mission for Bosnia Jacques Klein, US Ambassador to
Sarajevo Thomas Miller and pro-US authorities in Republika Srpska, who
Serbian police uniforms andiriding in about 140 vehicles, into Serbia's
territory after the polling stations close on September 24, Matic said
answering questions by reporters.
Elections for Yugoslavia's president and parliament and local
elections in Serbia are scheduled for that date.
According to that scenario, the opposition would proclaim its alleged
victory and start arresting state officials with the help of the false
police
officers to make it seem that the police has taken the side of the
opposition, Matic said.
Media support for that scenario has been obtained from Republika Srpska and
from the NATO propaganda machinery that should report that the
police has sided with the opposition, which will allegedly have won the
elections but the votes will allegedly have been stolen, Matic explained.
If such a scenario could be implemented, ethnic Albanians of
the Kosovo Protection Force from Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province would
enter
towns in central Serbia wearing Yugoslav Army uniforms, where the
opposition would welcome them with flowers and TV stations would
report that the army supports the opposition, Matic said.
Other scenarios for taking over the power in Yugoslavia by
force have been prepared abroad, for a single simple reason - the absolute
majority of
Yugoslavs support the present authorities. The authors of the
scenarios are aware of this and are planning to overthrow the expected
absolute winners, Matic said.
This country has sufficient power and a security system that
can confront such a scenario, he added. The opposition is deeply aware that
it cannot win the upcoming elections, and has therefore commissioned
falsified opinion polls that should get the public opinion to contest the
credibility of the elections and persuade the voters that opposition
candidate Vojislav
Kostunica is the favourite, Matic said.
Such propaganda opinion polls are aimed at preparing the public opinion
for the planned scenarios, Matic said, adding that the Group-17, a part of
the opposition, Otpor and some media such as the Danas daily have been
entrusted with the dirty work, Matic said.
We are ready for all subversive or terrorist activities and have answers to all
such attempts. Elections in this country will be peaceful and will be won
by those whom the voters will elect, not by those supported by NATO,
ethnic Albanian tanks or false policemen from Srpska, Matic said.
MINISTER MATIC: UN MISSION PROTECTS
KOUCHNER'S MAFIA
BELGRADE, Sep 13 (Tanjug).- The UN mission in Serbia's
Kosovo-Metohija province is not implementing the Security Council
Resolution 1244 and is doing nothing to protect its population
or to ensurethe return of displaced persons, it is only working to protect
(UNMIK
chief) Bernard Kouchner's mafia and should consequently leave Yugoslavia,
Yugoslav Minister of Information Goran Matic said Wednesday.
After last year's (March-June) NATO aggression on Yugoslavia ended,
international troops KFor and civilian mission UNMIK took over the
responsibility for administering Kosovo-Metohija in line with the Security
Council Resolution 1244.
Matic told a press conference, attended also by press attaches
of several embassies, that the results of the mission's "efforts" are
300,000 expelled non-Albanians, over 1,000 Serbs killed and 1,400 abducted.
Under the umbrella of the UN mission and within the framework of the
phantom so-called Kosovo Protection Corps (which is not even
mentioned in Resolution 1244), Croatian instructors are creating at the
Dragas base near provincial capital Pristina a special military unit of
3000 ethnic
Albanians wearing NATO uniforms, Matic said.
The UN mission is planning to replace troops from western countries by
ethnic Albanians. The fact that 700 Serbs are being held in a concentration
camp near Pec, commanded by a brother of Agim Cheku, one of known
war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, is another proof of UNMIK's
failure, Matic said.
The reporters were shown unedited, authentic and shocking footage
showing the mission's troops "from the inside", drunk,
disorderly and half-naked, having "fun" in their bases in Kosovo-Metohija
with young
women and even ethnic Albanian children.
Commenting the behaviour of international troops, Matic said
the is easy to understand that it is doing what NATO was doing all the
time,Matic said.
The Kosovo-Metohija mission is attempting to destabilize Yugoslavia,
develop aggressive-terrorist structures to undermine its
interests, militarize
the region and arm para-military units that the mission's task was to
disarm, Matic said.
Yugoslavia's fundamental political and state commitment is to
making the Balkans a zone of peace and security, demilitarizing the region
and reducing
tensions to enable its peoples to live in peace and to
cooperate, Matic said, pointing to attempts being made to make the Balkans
a powder keg in order to realize the geo-political and strategic interests
of outside forces.
Underlining that the UN mission has not accomplished any of its
tasks, Matic recalled that Resolution 1244 defined the basic rules for the
development of multi-ethnic coexistence in the province, the right of all
refugees and displaced persons to return home safely, and the need for
demilitarizing the "KLA" and other armed groups of ethnic Albanians and
for the return of Yugoslav forces to Kosovo-Metohija.
NATO AGGRESSION - CONSEQUENCES
YUGOSLAV UN AMBASSADOR ON USE OF DEPLETED
URANIUM IN VIOLATION OF UN CHARTER
GENEVA, Sep 14, (Tanjug).- Yugoslav Ambassador to the UN in Geneva
Branko Brankovic said Thursday that last year's NATO aggression on
Yugoslavia constituted a glaring violation of the fundamental
principles of the UN Charter, and most strongly condemned the US, whose
aircraft
dropped depleted uranium bombs on inhabited areas.
Brankovic was presenting a Yugoslav government document on the
effect of the use of depleted uranium during the NATO aggression on
Yugoslavia
in 1999. The following is the official translation of his statement:
In the NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in
1999, called "Humanitarian intervention - Guardian Angel",
commander of French air force in NATO, General Joffret stated: "The air
force received
orders to destroy life in Serbia" (the statement was quoted by
Michel Fontanie, President of ASFED FRANCE - Association pour la sauvegarde
des familles et enfants de disparus, in Strasbourg, 27 May 1999).
NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, from 24
March to 10 June 1999, was committed in gross violation of the
fundamental principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
international law in general and represents a crime against
peace and humanity and a crime of genocide.
During the armed NATO aggression against the FR of Yugoslavia,
it was established beyond doubt that US A-10 aircraft fired shells with
depleted
uranium (DU). Some 50,000 missiles with DU were fired on some 100
densely populated locations in the Serb province of Kosovo and
Metohija.
It was also established that 3,000-5,000 DU shells were fired on 8
locations outside the Province - of which six in the region of
Presevo and Bujanovac and one in a broader area of Vranje and one in
Montenegro. The Yugoslav authorities undertook a detailed investigation of
all locations
outside the Province and established that contamination is
going up to 235,000 Bq/kg, which is 1,100 times above the permissible level
of
contamination. The contaminated areas were marked and other
activities are underway to deal with the consequences.
US Department of Defense refused to release information about the
locations and quantities of DU used in the territory of the FR of
Yugoslavia. In his letter to P. Sullivan, Executive Director of
National Gulf War Research Center of 19 July 1999, the Director of the
Joint Staff denied access to this information because "The issues related
to the use of
DU in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia area of operations are under
litigation in the International Court of Justice. Any answers
we provide at this time may impact the interests of the United States in
these
proceedings".
At the request of UN Secretary-General K. Annan, NATO
Secretary-General G. Robertson, in his letter of 7 February 2000, confirmed
that throughout the territory of the Province of Kosovo and Metohija, in
approximately 100 air strikes, around 31,000 rounds of DU ammunition were
used (which is equivalent to 10 tons of DU) and attached a map with only 28
locations, saying that "at this moment it is impossible to state accurately
every location where DU ammunition was used". But it was not said why it
was
impossible at this moment, nor when it will be possible, if in July 1999
was not possible.
Nevertheless, the USA knows best the characteristics of DU
weapons and the health consequences that DU provokes to the future
generations. On the
basis of many research studies conducted after the Gulf war by US
institutes it was established beyond doubt, that DU
contaminates both environment and affects population on a lasting basis -
development of
tumours, immune system damage, neurological problems, respiratory
disease, kidney damage and male and female reproductive
effects, newly-borns with deformities, etc.
The effect of DU is lasting (DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion
years) and its chemical and radiological toxicity cannot be reduced. The
fact that most of DU, in addition to the Province of Kosovo and Metohija
was dropped in the area of Presevo and Bujanovac, with a large Albanian
population,
indicates that the goal might be, in addition to destroying the Serbs, also
an attempt to systematically destroy the coming generations of the
Albanian population, whose birth rate is among the highest in
the world: according to the data from 1994, growth rate in Serbia is minus
3 %, in
Vojvodina, minus 0.3 %, in central Serbia, and even plus 17.2 in the
Province of Kosovo and Metohija (half the figure in Albania).
The US has tried to justify the use of weapons with DU ammunition
owing allegedly to their greater effectiveness in anti-tank
warfare. The fact
that 30,000-50,000 DU missiles were dropped in the Province of
Kosovo and Metohija, and only a dozen Yugoslav Army tanks were destroyed,
raises the issue of the true goals in using such quantities of DU
ammunition in densely populated areas. The most important
reason is that DU is made from radioactive waste, which is very expensive
to store and
safeguard. The US thus disposes of large quantities of
hazardous waste by spilling it over the territories of other countries.
Uncontrolled diposal of this radioactive waste deliberately causes lasting
and dangerous
contamination of Europe.
The dispersion of DU particles cannot be controlled or
prevented and may spill over to neighbouring states and regions. In
addition to the local
population, international civilian and security presences, staff of
humanitarian and non-governmental organizations in general
deployed in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija, are also exposed to DU
dust, inhaled
or ingested through food and water. Among them, as well as among US
veterans from the Gulf war, "inexplicable illness" began showing up.
Armies and Governments of NATO countries are aware of the dangers
arising from DU and some Governments have already undertaken certain
measures of protection.
The use of DU weapons represents a grave breach of the basic
principles of international humanitarian law because they cause unnecessary
suffering and excessive injury, beyond the point used for military
purposes. For its inherent cruelty and immeasurable lethal effects
threatening the current and
future generations, in the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, DU weapons rank among the weapons of
mass or indiscriminate destruction (UN Sub-Commission on the
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Resolutions 1996/16 and
1997/36); also these are precisely the weapons which uses is
prohibited by international law for more than a century including the
Geneva
Conventions and their Additional Protocols of 1997.
Under US pressure, some international organizations tend to
minimize the effects of DU and conceal serious consequences caused by the
use of DU,
while some give up preparing a report warning of DU or withdraw
reports and published new versions deliberately diminishing the scope of
effects of DU. In line with this let me quote the statement by Dan Fahey, a
former
US Navy officer "The Pentagon has refused to comply with 1993
congressional mandate to study the health effects of inhaled
and ingested DU dust. In 1999 the Pentagon obstructed a United Nations
investigation
of the use of DU in Kosovo. The Pentagon is likely to continue
impeding investigations of DU hazards", and remind you that the nine US
congressmen (supporting the rights of US veterans, victims of
DU used by the US in the Gulf War) sent, on 8 June 2000, a letter to the
President of the USA expressing concerns over the reports that the US
Government has
blocked an investigation by the World Health Organization's
experts into the effects of DU on human health.
In the report of Amnesty International on war rights violations
by NATO during the operations in Yugoslavia, referring to the studies
indicating "the DU dust poses a significant health risk, if inhaled or
ingested", the
Amnesty International expresses concern about indiscriminate
nature of DU ammunitions and recommended NATO and its member states "to
investigate and cooperate fully with independent investigations of the
possible long-term health and environment risk posed by DU
weapons". It is therefore necessary for the Yugoslav experts from the
Institute for
Nuclear Science "Vinca", in cooperation with independent
experts and those from international organizations who are not under the
influence of the US
(Iraq, India, Russia, China), to examine the terrain and mark
contaminated sites. In view of the fact that weather and natural laws
contribute to dissemination of uranium in the field, it is necessary that
international
organizations for the protection of human rights, health,
environment, food, etc. undertake urgent action in order to protect the
population and
ensure financial resources to decontaminate the terrain, wherever possible.
YUGOSLAVIA - CHINA
SERBIAN VICE PREMIER RECEIVES CHINESE
AMBASSADOR
BELGRADE, Sept 13 (Tanjug) - Serbian Vice Premier Vojislav Seselj
received on Wednesday China's Ambassador to Yugoslavia Pan
Zhanlin, a statement from this Yugoslav republic's information ministry
said.
During the cordial and open discussion, Seselj thanked Pan for
his great personal contribution to the development of friendly bilateral
relations and cooperation, the statement said.
The Chinese people and government have shown true friendship for the
Yugoslav people in their hour of trouble, and the Yugoslavs
appreciate this, Seselj said. He added that, differences in views and
rivarly between Yugoslavia's internal forces notwithstanding, promotion of
friendly
cooperation with China is an important part of Yugoslavia's strategy.
Pan, for his part, expressed pleasure with bilateral cooperation to date and
the upward curve in overall relations, stressing he regarded Seselj as a
true friend of China and as his friend, and repeated an invitation to
Seselj to visit China soon.
EUROASIAN CONFERENCE ON TRANSPORT
YUGOSLAV TRANSPORT MINISTER ADDRESSES
CONFERENCE IN RUSSIA
MOSCOW, Sep 14 (Tanjug).- Yugoslav Minister of Transport Dejan
Drobnjakovic addressed Wednesday the second Eurasian conference on
transport held in St. Petersburg.
Drobnjakovic briefed the participants of the great devastation of
Yugoslavia and especially its transport infrastructure during last year's
NATO
aggression.
Ministers of transport of over 20 European and Asian countries
and other participants discussed at their two-day conference various issues
regarding transport, environment, computer technology and new energy
sources of interest to both continents.
YUGOSLAVIA - ANGOLA
YUGOSLAV DELEGATION VISITS ANGOLA
LUANDA, Sept 13 (Tanjug) - A Yugoslav business and political
delegation, headed by Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Trade Borislav
Vukovic, is currently visiting Angola.
The delegation has met with Angolan Minister of Finance Joaquim
David, Minister of Trade Vitorino Hossi, and Minister of Transport M.
Brandao,
as well as other distinguished state officials and businessmen. The two
sides expressed willingness to promote bilateral relations, especially in
economic areas.
The existing tradition of friendly relations and economic ties
between the two countries is a basis for further improvement, the officials
said.
The Yugoslav delegation is continuing comprehensive talks aimed at
discussing specific matters related to finance, economy, and
other areas.
Representatives of several Yugoslav companies, present in
Angola since its declaration of independence in 1975, are also members of
the delegation.
Yugoslav Ambassador to Angola Miroslav Petrovic is also
participating in the talks, as well as Ambassador at the Yugoslav Foreign
Ministry Bratislav Krstic.
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
KFOR AND UNMIK RESPONSIBLE FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Sept 13 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav Committee
for Cooperation with the U.N. and local authorities have
condemned Kfor's and UNMIK's ineptitude in stopping the sulphuric acid
spill that started on Monday at a battery factory at Kosovska Mitrovica, a
town in the north of
the U.N.-run Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija.
Representatives of the Committee and local authorities have
said that the spill caused a large-scale environmental disaster coming from
an
UNMIK-run factory, situated in ethnic Albanian-populated southern
Kosovska Mitrovica.
Ironically, Kfor had shut down the facilities of the Trepca
metallurgy complex in nearby Zvecan using environmental reasons as a
pretext.
Nevertheless, Kfor has proved unable to secure the facilities it seized a
year ago, Committee representative Ivica Mihajlovic has told media.
Serbia and Yugoslavia will take all the necessary measures to
neutralize the toxic substance that has reached the Ibar, a river flowing
towards central Serbia. Experts are trying to prevent the acid from getting
into the Morava river, Mihajlovic said, adding that the state would take
legal action against Kfor troops, as they had not taken the necessary
measures and had proved
incompetent to preserve what they had taken away from Serbia.
Chief of the Kosovska Mitrovica region Zdravko Trajkovic has
told the press that a large number of fish died in the Ibar river.
Kosovska Mitrovica mayor Nikola Radevic has said that the Serbian
environmental inspectorate has declared tap water in the area
bacteriologically unsafe, even for hygiene.
The water processing plants are situated in southern Kosovska
Mitrovica, which is populated mostly by ethnic Albanians, as local Serbs
have been driven out of the area.
TREPCA WORKERS CONTINUE PROTEST AGAINST
PLANT SEIZURE
ZVECAN, Sep 14 (Tanjug).- Workers of the Trepca mining and ore
processing industry in Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province continued
protesting Thursday morning against the seizure of the Trepca
lead smelter by KFor on August 14, which deprived Serb workers of their
livelihood,
and rejected speculations on the sale of the industry.
Thanks to their unity in hard times, the Trepca workers have
always won their battles, labor union leader Milica Jekic told the
gathering.
Serb enemies know that the Serb people cannot be defeated if it
remains united. This is why they wish to sow discord, but they will not
succeed,
Jekic said and added that the protesters were not only
defending their jobs, but also all Serbs in the UN-run Serbia's southern
province.
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - TERRORISM
SERB CONVOY STONED IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA
STRPCE, Serbia, Sept 13 (Tanjug) - A Serb convoy came under
attack in southeast Kosovo-Metohija on Tuesday as the Serbs were returning
to their
homes in Strpce in the south of that U.N.-run Serbian (Yugoslav)
province, according to reports on Wednesday.
Amateur radio operators reported that ethnic Albanian children
stoned the convoy at the village of Radvojce on the Gnjilane-Klokot road,
breaking windows on cars, and the attack stopped only after the Serbs
requested help from the international force KFor.
SERB WOMAN KILLED IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA - SERBS
PROTEST
KOSOVSKA KAMENICA, Sep 14 (Tanjug).- About 500 Serbs gathered
Thursday around a local church in Kosovska Kamenica, Serbia's
Kosovo-Metohija province, in protest against the murder of a
Serb woman Wednesday evening.
Two unidentified killers opened fire from an automatic weapon from a
distance of 50 meters on Milijana Stojanovic, 46, mother of
two, as she was rinsing dishes in her own yard. She died on the spot.
UNMIK police arrived at the scene of the crime, but has found
no trace of the killers, who committed the murder at 10.40 p.m., 20 minutes
before
curfew.
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