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http://www.rferl.org Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [As war criminals from five continents retire peacefully to their mansions in California, Florida, Hawaii and New York tonight.] 26 April 2002 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE U.S. CALLS ON BELGRADE FOR MORE COOPERATION WITH THE HAGUE Referring to General Dragoljub Ojdanic's surrender to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 25 April that Belgrade must do more, Reuters reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 April 2002). He added, "We recognize it is a difficult thing for an individual to do. [Ojdanic] has done the right thing and I think that deserves a little bit of credit... We are encouraged that the authorities in Belgrade are working to improve their cooperation with The Hague tribunal. Further necessary steps are for the Yugoslav government to take remaining indictees into custody and transfer them to The Hague as soon as possible." Boucher also noted that, "while we see [Ojdanic's move] as a positive step on the part of the individual...as well on the part of the government of Yugoslavia for facilitating this, at this point we have not made any further decisions with regard to certification" of further U.S. aid payments to Serbia. PM DEL PONTE WANTS EU TO PUT MORE PRESSURE ON BELGRADE Speaking in Madrid on 25 April, Carla Del Ponte, who is the war crimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, said the EU should increase pressure on the Yugoslav authorities to cooperate more fully with The Hague, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service reported. She added that she is still waiting for a concrete answer from Belgrade about the extradition of the 23 indicted war criminals believed to be on Yugoslav territory, including General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. Unlike the U.S., the EU has previously said that it will not impose sanctions on Belgrade for its failure to cooperate with the tribunal (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 and 9 April 2002). PM NATO AMBASSADOR TO MACEDONIA MEETS FORMER REBEL LEADER Ambassador Nicolaas Biegman and NATO's Director of Operations, Crisis Management, and Defense Robert Serry, met on 24 April with Ali Ahmeti, the leader of the disbanded ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK), Makfax reported. They discussed the roadblocks set up recently by Albanians near Tetovo and other obstacles to the planned return of ethnically mixed police to former rebel-held areas. Also on the agenda were the issue of ethnic Albanian prisoners held by the authorities, as well as the fate of kidnapped Macedonians and Albanians. According to U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Lawrence Butler, the meeting was planned already in 2001. "NATO wanted to hold a meeting with Ahmeti in order to make sure that the UCK was really disbanded and that all of them, including Ahmeti, work against violence and on the implementation of the [Ohrid] Framework Agreement," MIA quoted Butler as saying. UB ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS U.S. HAS ACCEPTED OFFER TO PROVIDE TROOPS FOR 'ENDURING FREEDOM' Ioan Mircea Pascu told journalists following a cabinet meeting in Bucharest that the U.S. has accepted Romania's offer to send troops to participate in the operations under way in Afghanistan, Romanian radio reported. MS MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON PACE RESOLUTION Vladimir Voronin said on 25 April that Moldova "wishes to assure the international community of the firm determination [of its leadership] to overcome an artificial situation created and maintained by forces that were sanctioned by the electorate in February 2001," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Voronin described the previous day's resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as "objective" and reflecting the "neutrality" of the assembly's two rapporteurs on Moldova. He said the resolution demonstrates that Moldova has "chosen the right path, overcoming the difficulties of the transition period by initiating a constant dialogue with society." Voronin said that all Moldovan political forces must begin a "constructive dialogue, without any trace of ultimatum tone," but added that such a dialogue is "impossible if the Popular Party Christian Democratic does not stop the [antigovernment] demonstrations." MS BULGARIAN PRIME MINISTER MEETS HEADS OF WORLD BANK, IMF Simeon Saxecoburggotski met with World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler on 24 April, BTA reported, citing a government press release. After the meeting, Wolfensohn said the government's program is in line with the development strategy coordinated by the World Bank. Wolfensohn told Saxecoburggotski that the World Bank's board of directors will discuss at the beginning of May a possible $450 million loan to Bulgaria. Saxecoburggotski said after his meeting with Koehler that the IMF official was impressed by Bulgaria's anticorruption measures. UB __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
