>NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS > >By Gregory Elich > >Quietly, NATO is laying plans for a new military strike against Yugoslavia. >On August 13 through 15, CIA Director George Tenet visited Bulgaria. In a >series of extraordinary meetings, Tenet met with Bulgarian President Petur >Stoyanov, as well as the Prime Minister, Interior Minister and Defense >Minister. Officially, the purpose of Tenet's visit was to discuss the >problem of organized crime and narcotics. However, Tenet spent a combined >total of only 20 minutes at the headquarters of the National Security >Service and the National Service for Combating Organized Crime. Unnamed >diplomatic sources revealed that the proposed oil transit pipeline from the >Caspian Sea was also topic of discussion. > >The driving motivation for Tenet's visit, though, was to discuss >Yugoslavia. According to an unnamed diplomatic source, Montenegrin >secession from Yugoslavia topped the agenda. Following the meeting between >Tenet and Major General Dimo Gyaurov, Director of the National Intelligence >Service, a public statement was issued which stressed their "commonality of >interests." Reports in the Bulgarian press revealed that various options >were discussed with Bulgaria's president and prime minister. Tenet's >preferred option is the removal of the Yugoslav government, either as a >result of that country's election on September 24, or by a NATO military >assault that would install a puppet government. Another scenario would >follow the secession of Montenegro from Yugoslavia. If open warfare breaks >out over Montenegro's secession, then the United States plans to wage a >full-scale war against Yugoslavia, as it did in spring 1999. Sofia's >Monitor reported that the "CIA coup machine" is forming. "A strike against >Belgrade is imminent," it adds, and "Bulgaria will serve as a base." (1) > >The Italian army recently signed a lease contract to conduct training >exercises beginning in October at the Koren training ground, near Kaskovo >in southeast Bulgaria. The French army signed a similar agreement, in which >French soldiers and tanks will train at the Novo Selo grounds in central >Bulgaria from October 11 to December 12. Talks are also underway for the >U.S. military to lease the Shabla training grounds in northeastern >Bulgaria. Scheduled to take place following the election in Yugoslavia, the >training exercises could serve as a launching pad for NATO's planned >military strike. It was recently announced that the British aircraft >carrier HMS Invincible is to be redeployed to the Adriatic over the next >few months in support of a potential conflict over Montenegro (2) > >Military force is only one component of the West's destabilization campaign >against Yugoslavia. In November 1998, President Clinton launched a plan for >the overthrow of the government of Yugoslavia. The initial emphasis of the >plan centered on supporting secessionist forces in Montenegro and the >right-wing opposition in Serbia. (3) Several months later, during the >bombing of Yugoslavia, Clinton signed a secret paper instructing the CIA to >topple the Yugoslav government. The plan called for the CIA to secretly >fund opposition groups and the recruitment of moles in the Yugoslav >government and military. (4) On July 8, 1999, U.S. and British officials >revealed that commando teams were training snatch operations to seize >alleged war criminals and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. As an >encouragement to mercenaries, the U.S. State Department also announced a $5 >million bounty for President Milosevic. (5) > >Several Yugoslav government officials and prominent individuals, including >Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic, have been gunned down. Most of these >crimes remain unsolved, as the assassins managed to escape. Police >apprehended one assassin, Milivoje Gutovic, after he shot Vojvodina >Executive Council President Bosko Perosevic at an agricultural fair in Novi >Sad. During interrogations, Gutovic admitted to police that he worked for >the right-wing Serbian Renewal Movement. (6) > >Goran Zugic, security advisor to secessionist Montenegrin President Milo >Djukanovic, was murdered late on May 31, 2000. The assassin escaped, >allowing Western leaders to blame President Milosevic. Coming just one week >before crucial local elections in Montenegro, forces opposing President >Milosevic stood to gain from the murder, as the effect would tend to sway >undecided voters in favor of secessionist parties. A few days after the >assassination, Yugoslav Minister of Information Goran Matic held a press >conference, at which he accused the CIA of complicity in the murder. Matic >played a taped recording of two telephone conversations between head of the >US mission in Dubrovnik Sean Burns, US State Department official James >Swaggert, Gabriel Escobar of the US economic group in Montenegro and Paul >Davies of the US Agency for International Development. Excerpts of the >conversations, recorded 20 minutes after the assassination and again three >hours later, included comments such as, "It was professional," and "Mission >accomplished." (7) > >The first publicly known Western plan to assassinate President Milosevic >was drafted in 1992. Richard Tomlinson, a former British MI6 employee, >later disclosed the plan. His task as an MI6 agent was to carry out >undercover operations in Eastern Europe posing as a businessman or >journalist. Tomlinson frequently met with MI6 officer Nick Fishwick. During >one their meetings, Fishwick showed Tomlinson a document entitled, "The >Need to Assassinate President Milosevic of Serbia." Three methods were >proposed for the assassination of Milosevic. The first method, Tomlinson >recalled, "was to train and equip a Serbian paramilitary opposition group," >which would have the advantage of deniability but an unpredictable chance >of success. The second method would employ a specially trained British SAS >squad to murder President Milosevic "either with a bomb or sniper ambush." >Fishwick considered this more reliable, but it lacked deniability. The >third method would be to kill Milosevic "in a staged car crash." (8) Seven >years later, on October 3, 1999, the third method was employed against the >leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, Vuk Draskovic, when a truck filled >with sand plowed into his car, killing everyone inside except for >Draskovic. The temperamental Draskovic had been a major factor in the >chronic fragmentation of the right-wing opposition, frustrating >Washington's efforts to forge a unified opposition. (9) > >During NATO's war against Yugoslavia, a missile struck President >Milosevic's home on April 22, 1999. He and his wife were staying elsewhere >that evening. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon was quick to announce that "we >are not targeting President Milosevic." It is impossible, though, to view a >missile striking Milosevic's bedroom at 3:10 AM as anything but an >assassination attempt. (10) > >In November 1999, members of an assassination squad, code-named "Spider," >were arrested in Yugoslavia. According to Minister Goran Matic, "French >intelligence was behind" the Spider group, whose aim was the assassination >of President Milosevic. Planned scenarios included a sniper attack, >planting an explosive device alongside a route they expected Milosevic to >travel, planting an explosive in his car, and organizing 10 trained >commandos to storm the presidential residence. The leader of the group, >Jugoslav Petrusic, had dual Yugoslav and French citizenship. Matic claimed >that Petrusic worked for French intelligence for ten years. During >interrogations, Petrusic said that he had killed 50 men on orders by French >intelligence. Matic announced that one of the members of Spider was a >"specialist for killings with a truck full of sand" - the same method used >against Draskovic the previous month. > >Following the Bosnian war, Petrusic organized the transport of 180 Bosnian >Serb mercenaries to fight for Mobutu Sese Seku in Zaire, an affair that was >managed by French intelligence. According to a Bosnian Serb businessman, >Petrusic "did not hide the fact that he was working for the French >intelligence service. I have personally seen a photo of him next to >Mitterand as his bodyguard." In younger days, Petrusic was a member of the >French Foreign Legion. During NATO's war against Yugoslavia, the Spider >group infiltrated the Yugoslav Army, supplying information to the French >and guiding NATO warplanes to their targets. > >Yugoslav secret service sources revealed that the Spider group trained at >NATO bases in Bosnia where "buildings resembling those where Milosevic >lives were constructed." Money from the French intelligence service for >Spider was brought to the border between Hungary and Yugoslavia by a man >named Serge Lazarevic. (11) > >One month later, the members of a second hit team, calling itself the >Serbian Liberation Army, was arrested. Their aim was to assassinate >President Milosevic and restore the monarchy. (12) > >At the end of July 2000, a squad of four Dutch commandos was apprehended >while attempting to cross into Serbia from Montenegro. During the >investigation, they admitted that they intended to kill or kidnap President >Milosevic. The four said that they were informed that $30 million had been >offered for "Milosevic's head," and that they intended to "claim a reward." >One of the men said that the group planned to abduct Milosevic or former >Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic and "surrender them to The Hague." >The group planned to put them atop a car "in a ski box and transport >them.out of the country." If the abduction failed, one of the men "had the >idea to kill the president, to decapitate his head, to put it in the box >and to send it home" to the Netherlands. > >One of the arrested men, Gotfrides de Ri, belonged to the openly racist >neo-nazi Center Party. During the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, the Center >Party sent Dutch mercenaries to fight in right-wing Croatian paramilitary >units. At the time of their arrest, the four were found with several >knives, including one with a swastika, and wires with hooks for >strangulation. All four admitted that they had trained under the British >SAS. At a news conference on August 1, Goran Matic accused the U.S of being >the prime sponsor of assassinations and attempted assassinations. "It is >obvious that they are recruiting various terrorist groups because they are >frustrated with the fact that their military, political and economic goals >in southeastern Europe have not been realized. [They are] trying to send >them into the country so that they can change our political and social >environment." (13) Jonathan Eyal, an advisor to the British government, >commented recently, "I can't say when it will happen, but I can guarantee >that Milosevic will end up dead, and he will be followed by a more >pro-Western government." (14) > >Flagrant Western interference is distorting the political process in >Yugoslavia. U.S. and Western European funds are channelled to right-wing >opposition parties and media through such organizations as the National >Endowment for Democracy and George Soros' Open Society Institute. The >National Democratic Institute (NDI) is yet another of the myriad >semi-private organizations that have attached themselves like leeches on >Eastern Europe. The NDI opened an office in Belgrade in 1997, hoping to >capitalize on opposition attempts to bring down the government through >street demonstrations. By 1999, the NDI had already trained over 900 >right-wing party leaders and activists on "message development, public >outreach and election strategy." NDI also claimed to have provided >"organizational training and coalition-building expertise" to the >opposition. (15) > >The New Serbia Forum, funded by the British Foreign Office, brings Serbian >professionals and academics to Hungary on a regular basis for discussions >with British and Central European "experts." The aim of the meetings is to >"design a blueprint for post-Milosevic society." The Forum develops reports >intended to serve as "an action plan" for a future pro-Western government. >Subjects under discussion have included privatization and economic >stabilization. The Forum calls for the "reintegration of Yugoslavia into >the European family," a phrase that translates into the dismantling of the >socialist economy and inviting Western corporations to swarm in. (16) > >Western aims were clearly spelled out in the Stability Pact for >Southeastern Europe of June 10, 1999. This document called for "creating >vibrant market economies" in the Balkans, and "markets open to greatly >expanded foreign trade and private sector investment." One year later, the >White House issued a fact sheet detailing the "major achievements" of the >Pact. Among the achievements listed, the European Bank for Reconstruction >and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporations are said >to be "mobilizing private investment." By 2002, "new private investment in >the region" is expected to reach nearly $2 billion. The Pact's Business >Advisory Council "is visiting all of the countries of Southeast Europe" to >"offer advice" on investment issues. Another initiative is Hungarian >involvement with opposition-led local governments and opposition media in >Serbia. > >The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), on July 26, 2000, >inaugurated an investment fund to be managed by Soros Private Funds >Management. The Southeast Europe Equity Fund, "will invest in companies in >the region in a range of sectors." Its purpose, according to the U.S. >Embassy in Macedonia, is "to provide capital for new business development, >expansion and privatization." In March 2000, Montenegro signed an agreement >permitting the operation of OPIC on its territory. Billionaire George Soros >spelled out what all this means. U.S. involvement in the region, he said, >"creates investment opportunities," and "I am happy to put my money where >they are putting theirs." In other words, there is money to be made. George >Munoz, President and CEO of OPIC was also blunt. "The Southeast Europe >Equity Fund," he announced, "is an ideal vehicle to connect American >institutional capital with European entrepreneurs eager to help Americans >tap their growing markets. OPIC is pleased that Soros Private Funds >Management has chosen to send a strong, positive signal that Southeast >Europe is open for business." > >The final text of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe suggested that a >Yugoslavia that would "respect" the Pact's "principles and objectives" >would be "welcome" to become a full member. "In order to draw the Federal >Republic of Yugoslavia closer to this goal," the document declared, >Montenegro would be an "early beneficiary." Western leaders hope that a >future pro-Western Yugoslavia would, as has the rest of Eastern Europe, be > _______________________________________ 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] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
