BELGRADE, 4 June C O N T E N T S : F.R. YUGOSLAVIA - SOUTH AFRICA - YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC VISITED JOHANNESBURG - YUGOSLAV MINISTER GAVE INTERVIEW TO SOUTH AFRICAN PAPER FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA - YUGOSLAVIA TO IMPLEMENT DAYTON ACCORD ON REFUGEE REPATRIATION SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA - KOSOVO AND METOHIJA ALBANIAN ASKED KFOR AND UNMIK TO RESPECT U.N. RESOLUTION NATO AGGRESSION - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS - CARLA DEL PONTE REFUSED TO PROSECUTE NATO CRIMINALS - RUSSIA BLASTED CARLA DEL PONTE'S DECISION * * * F.R. YUGOSLAVIA - SOUTH AFRICA YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC VISITED JOHANNESBURG BELGRADE, June 4 (Tanjug) - Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic met in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday with Ferida Mohammad of the parliamentary foreign policy committee. They discussed bilateral relations and ways to intensify them in all fields, as well as topical international matters, according to Serbian Radio and Television. Jovanovic briefed Ferida Mohammad on the reconstruction of Yugoslavia following last year's NATO aggression and on the situation in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's U.N.-administered province of Kosovo and Metohija. He said U.N. Resolution 1244 on Kosovo and Metohija was not being implemented, while ethnic Albanians were persecuting local Serbs and other non-Albanians despite the presence of U.N. military (KFor) and civilian (UNMIK) missions. He stressed also Yugoslavia's willingness to reactivate its role in the non-aligned movement, which is currently chaired by South Africa. Ferida Mohammad, in turn, upheld Yugoslavia's efforts and reaffirmed readiness for overall bilateral cooperation to be promoted. The South African Parliament was invited to send a delegation to visit Yugoslavia, and the invitation was accepted. YUGOSLAV MINISTER GAVE INTERVIEW TO SOUTH AFRICAN PAPER BELGRADE, June 4 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavia's reconstruction moves apace despite international sanctions that have added 150 billion dollars' loss to the damage of 100 billion dollars wreaked by NATO's aggression last year, according to Yugoslavia's Foreign Minister. Speaking for South Africa's "Businessday", Zivadin Jovanovic said that work on clearing away debris from the strategic navigation route in the River Danube was exempted from the European sanctions against Yugoslavia and was co-financed by the European Union. Jovanovic, who ended his visit to South Africa on Saturday, said that an arterial road through Yugoslavia would be built by the Athens Olympics scheduled for 2004, to facilitate visitors' access to the venue through Yugoslavia. Speaking about the Yugoslav economic situation, he said the nation was recording an annual growth of between 5 and 6 percent, despite having no access to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and despite being denied international credits. Asked about the government's takeover of Belgrade's Studio B radio and television, he said this had been necessary because the station had been calling for overthrowing the government. "We do not want NATO propaganda in Yugoslavia any more than we wanted NATO bombs", Jovanovic said. FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA YUGOSLAVIA TO IMPLEMENT DAYTON ACCORD ON REFUGEE REPATRIATION JAGODINA, Yugoslavia, June 4 (Tanjug) - Competent Yugoslav, Serbian and U.N. bodies would begin efforts on Monday, June 5, for implementing the Dayton Accord in the part where it relates to refugee repatriation, according to a Yugoslav minister on Saturday. Minister for refugee affairs Bratislava Morina said the effort would be made by her ministry and the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's refugee commissioner, with the help of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Speaking for "Palma Plus" television in Jagodina, central Serbia, Morina said that, so far, 16,500 Serbs from Croatia had completed the Croatian authorities' strict procedure for repatriation. This is a token number, however, in view of the fact that Yugoslavia has given shelter to some 350,000 refugees and displaced people from Croatia, according to Morina. It is nevertheless encouraging to those who have been forced to flee their homes, she said, adding she was sure most refugees would seek the help of the competent Yugoslav ministry and the Serbian commissioner in order to return to their homes. SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA KOSOVO AND METOHIJA ALBANIAN ASKED KFOR AND UNMIK TO RESPECT U.N. RESOLUTION PRISTINA, June 4 (Tanjug) - An ethnic Albanian leader in Kosovo and Metohija said on Sunday the U.N. military (KFor) and civilian (UNMIK) missions there must respect Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and implement strictly and without delay U.N. Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo military-technical accord. Bajram Haliti of the Kosovo and Metohija Provisional Executive Council told TANJUG in Pristina that international representatives (UNHCR, UNESCO, ICRC, OSCE, E.U., Council of Europe) were informed about constant deterioration in that U.N.-administered Serbian province, but had not honoured their duties and obligations. Speaking ahead of a U.N. Security Council conference on Kosovo and Metohija, Haliti said Yugoslavia had discharged its obligations under Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo accord, and the other concerned parties must without delay do the same, primarily the U.N. Security Council as the most responsible of them. NATO AGGRESSION - INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS CARLA DEL PONTE REFUSED TO PROSECUTE NATO CRIMINALS NEW YORK, June 4 (Tanjug) - Carla del Ponte has announced there are no grounds for opening an investigation into crimes committed by NATO against Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav people, effectively siding with the NATO criminals. The chief prosecutor of the Hague-based war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia announced her decision in a brief report to the U.N. Security Council late on Saturday, saying she had finished considering some requests for investigating NATO. In an obvious effort to hush up the matter and protect NATO, she said that, despite some mistakes made by NATO, she was satisfied there had been no deliberate targeting of civilians or illegitimate military targets during NATO's aggression on Yugoslavia last year. This attitude provoked strong criticism from individual Council members, with Russian U.N. mission deputy chief Gennady Gatilov warning del Ponte that her decision showed clear bias on the part of the Hague-based tribunal. The decision to close the investigation even before it was opened is extremely hasty and inappropriate, according to Ambassador Gatilov. RUSSIA BLASTED CARLA DEL PONTE'S DECISION MOSCOW, June 4 (Tanjug) - The Russian foreign ministry blasted on Saturday the refusal by the chief prosecutor of the war crimes court for the former Yugoslavia to investigate violations of norms of international law by NATO in last year's air strikes on Yugoslavia. The ministry said in a statement that Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte's decision not to investigate NATO's crimes in Yugoslavia, their instigators and executors, showed bias on the part of the Hague-based tribunal. The statement said this was not the first time the tribunal had picked its own culprits for the Yugoslav tragedy and shut its eyes to violations of norms of international law by the NATO military and political leadership, thus demonstrating its political bias. The ministry took the view this attitude was not conducive to a political settlement in the region. __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
