Izbor za 30.jun

NIN: Heroes of our times: Merciful angel (by Milivoje Glisic)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/belgradepressclips/message/605
--------------------------------------------------------------
Propaganda and History (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/more.php?id=1098_0_1_0_M

SRNA: RS President: Tuzla events point to growing fundamentalism in Bosnian federation
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/srna062704.htm

ICG: EUFORia: Changing Bosnia's Security Arrangements
http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=2833

Macedonian Soldiers Return From Iraq (by Valentin Nesovski)
http://www.setimes.com/default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=24784

NATO Summit: Press conference given by Jacques Chirac, President of the Republic (excerpts)
http://www.info-france-usa.org/printfriendly/statmnts2004/chirac_nato062804_pf.asp

NATO: Istanbul Summit Communique
http://www.epicos.com/News/NewsItem.asp?IdArticle=15511

Operation Active Endeavour
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_3.html

Editorial: Pressure on Greece
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_5798578_29/06/2004_44449

Transatlantic ties (by Vaiju Naravane)
http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/30/stories/2004063000771000.htm

US, Turkey rediscover each other (by Burak Bekdil)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_world_5798353_29/06/2004_44446

Turkish-Israeli tensions (by Omer Taspinar)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=story_29-6-2004_pg3_4

Iran warms to the NATO card (by Kaveh L Afrasiabi)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF30Ak09.html

Sovereignty: Now the games really begin (by Ehsan Ahrari)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FF30Ak01.html

Misrepresenting China's might
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/30/eng20040630_148042.html

Izbor za 29.jun

Kosovo's Nazi Past: The Untold Story (by Carl Savich)
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/054.shtml

Ballists Return to Macedonia
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=42713&ch=0&datte=2004-06-28#
---------------------------------------------------
"Reformer" wins Serbian election (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/comments.php?id=1094_0_1_0_C

OSCE Mission hosts roundtable to improve dialogue between Kosovo's communities
http://www.osce.org/news/generate.pf.php3?news_id=4192

Snap-happy tourist held in Kosovo
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040629a9.htm

DM: NATO Membership an Essential Objective for Macedonia (by Marija Lazarova)
http://www.setimes.com/default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=24770

The NATO Summit: Where Boris Trajkovski Lives On
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=368

Yaniz: Croatia on "Right Path" Towards NATO Integration (by Miranda Novak)
http://www.setimes.com/default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=24768

Issues on NATO fringe
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100001_28/06/2004_44417

What should Turkey expect from the NATO summit? (by Cuneyt Ulsever)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/ulsever.HTM

NATO: A Troubled Transatlantic Marriage (by Ted Galen Carpenter)
http://www.cato.org/cgi-bin/scripts/printtech.cgi/dailys/06-28-04-2.html

U.S. To Urge NATO Allies to Drop Use-of-Force Restrictions (by Donna Miles)
http://www.defenselink.mil/cgi-bin/dlprint.cgi?http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2004/n06272004_2004062702.html

Bush's European visit: opposition from the people and prostration by their leaders (by Chris Marsden)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/bush-j29_prn.shtml

News Analysis: What role can NATO play in Iraq after power transfer?
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/29/print20040629_147898.html

US lobbying Taiwan authority to buy weapons
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/29/print20040629_147928.html

Drugs, the CIA and Faustian Alliances (by John Stanton)
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/STA406B.html

The eclipse of regime change (by Michael A Weinstein)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/FF29Aa01.html

Izbor na Vidovdan

On St. Vitus Day (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/malic/pf/p-m062802.html

Bolje Grob Nego Rob! Better Grave Than Slave!
St Vitus Day (by Alma A. Hromic)
http://www.swans.com/library/art8/aah029.html
----------------------------------------------
Tadic Wins, the West Continues to Feel Good About Itself
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=367

AP: Allies carry out 'invisible' war in Bosnia
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031776282850&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161

Ankara presses Bush on Iraq, Cyprus
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f11

Bush pleads Turkey's E.U. cause (by Atul Aneja)
http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/28/stories/2004062801511400.htm

Israel, six other countries, offered NATO `partnership' (by Amir OrenHaaretz)
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=444206

Russia warns NATO ahead of summit (by Vladimir Radyuhin)
http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/28/stories/2004062801531400.htm

Crossing the roads on the way to NATO (by Aysegul Sert)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/dom.htm#d4

NATO a dupe for Washington (by Su Huimin)
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-06/28/content_343229.htm

Rebelion: Capitalism versus socialism: The great debate revisited (by James Petras)
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/PET406B.html

Izbor na Dan Izbora

NATO Summit to Focus on Outreach, Transformation (by Donna Miles)
http://www.defenselink.mil/cgi-bin/dlprint.cgi?http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2004/n06262004_2004062603.html
-----------------------------------------------------
World Bank Forum Targets Growth in Southeast Europe (by Daniel Daianu)
http://www.setimes.com/default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=24676

Bulgaria Faces EU Entry Hurdles (by Albena Shkodrova)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_504_3_eng.txt

Poland and the European elections (by Marius Heuser)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/pold-j26_prn.shtml

Barroso for Brussels? (by Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey)
http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=13199

Euro-referendum (by B. Papadimitriou)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_3203437_26/06/2004_44370

Russia to develop military cooperation with Serbia & Montnegro
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=981966&PageNum=0

Belgrade's Defence Strategy Tilts West (by Daniel Sunter)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_504_5_eng.txt

EU-US summit stresses common stance, plays down difference
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/27/print20040627_147655.html

Who's on first? Who's on second? Who's really the terrorist? (by Kosmotar J. Katzspliff)
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/062504Katzspliff/062504katzspliff.html

Izbor za 26.jun

Pointless Elections and Possible Solutions (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=366
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
IFRC: Serbia and Montenegro Annual Appeal No. 01.74.2004 Programme Update No. 2 - Special focus on Kosovo
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/c5df68c94843cbcec1256ebe0048bbeb?OpenDocument

Makedonija Denes: Macedonain police intensify hunt for Albanian terrorist as bombs are planted in Kumanovo
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/md062404.htm

AP: U.S., European agencies use rewards, informants in hunt for terrorists in Bosnia (by George Jahn)
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/ap062504.htm

Mixed EUphoria (by Anes Alic)
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=70&NrSection=4&NrArticle=12297

Americans no longer need Turkish aircraft carrier
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=10429=10429&format=0

Turks welcome Bush, with reservations (Asli Gokcora)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f1

Security, Communications Boosted for NATO Summit (by Vahit Bora)
http://www.setimes.com/default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=24744

Russia Interested In Creating Safety Belts With Nato
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4509043&startrow=1&date=2004-06-25&do_alert=0

Building Hope on Experience (by Paul Fritch)
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=70&NrSection=4&NrArticle=12296

A new role for NATO (by Stavros Lygeros)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_2528723_25/06/2004_44328

Russia-Belarus: still arguing (by Vasily Bubnov)
http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=13196

What to do after becoming a big power?
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/26/print20040626_147622.html

Managing the Great Asian Transformation (by Richard H. Solomon)
http://www.usip.org/events/2004/0624_transsolomon.html

Izbor za 25.jun

The Lie of a "Good War" (by Diane Johnstone)
http://www.counterpunch.org/johnstone06242004.html
----------------------------------------------------
Erasing History: Cultural Destruction in Kosovo
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/82485

Decentralization Continues to Bedevil Macedonia
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=365

US President's message to Congress continuing Balkans national emergency
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/print/20040624-10.html

Euro Busybodies Extend Their Balkans Meddling
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/more.php?id=1085_0_1_0_M

EU's negotiations with Turkey will be unique (by Mehmet Ali Birand)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/birand.htm

Russian press unlawfully banned (by Vasily Bubnov)
http://english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=13183

Russian forces to strengthen up in the Caucasus region
http://newsfromrussia.com/main/2004/06/25/54543_.html

Washington renews war crimes immunity in "sovereign" Iraq (by Bill Van Auken)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/iraq-j25_prn.shtml

Abandon the Battlefied! (by Michel Chossudovsky)
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO406D.html

Perils of a US-dominated world (by H. Niu & S. Ni)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/FF25Ad05.html

A Global Power Shift in the Making (by James F. Hoge, Jr.)
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040701facomment83401/james-f-hoge-jr/a-global-power-shift-in-the-making.html?mode=print

Izbor za 24.jun

Srebrenica Revisited (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/malic/
------------------------------
Recent ethnic violence 'devastating blow' to repatriation
http://www.kosovo.net/node/view/279

Speakers stress civil society's important, expansive role in building peace in countries following conflict, during UN SC debate
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/aa1956b2113cb42e85256ebc0005e4fd?OpenDocument

Expressing the sense of the Senate on the development of self-government in Kosovo
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:1:./temp/~c108fDZZIj::

Vreme: Macedonian Intelligence Prevents Nano's Assassination?
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=3376

Viceroy's vendetta hurt anti-terror efforts? (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/index.php?id=P1080

NATO makes the impossible possible (by Nejat Basar)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for.htm#f4

As I talked with the German prime minister... (by Mehmet Ali Birand)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/birand.htm

Recent bomb attack in Cologne's Turkish district-" no political background?"
(by A. Kunstmann & D. Henning)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jun2004/colo-j24_prn.shtml

Saddam Suddenly Looks Innocent (by Jude Wanniski)
http://wanniski.com/PrintPage.asp?TextID=3643

Izbor za 23.jun

"Selective Silence"
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/library/lm53/LM53.html
--------------------------------------------------
'China believed CIA behind bombing of Belgrade embassy'
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2004-daily/23-06-2004/world/w3.htm

Serbian woman ends year of refuge in Halifax church
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1087899946670&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

OSCE Mission calls for reform of domestic war crime procedures in Croatia
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/88631/1/?PrintableVersion=enabled

Belgrade and Zagreb Build Military Ties (by Davor Konjikusic)
http://www.balkantimes.com/html2/english/040622-DAVOR-001.htm

NATO to Macedonia: Don't Get Your Hopes Up
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=364

IPS: UN plans to boost NGOs come under scrutiny (by Thalif Deen)
http://www.dawn.com/2004/06/23/int13.htm

Gloom over Turkey's EU bid (by Burak Bekdil)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_world_561429_22/06/2004_44190

The EU awaits a Turkish quake (by Mehmet Ali Birand)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/birand.htm

Izbor za 22.jun

Selective silence of something else?
http://www.apisgroup.org/article.html?id=1921
------------------------------------------------
Paddy Ashdown forced Bosnian Serbs to fraudulently confess to the Srebrenica massacre
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dfad062104.htm

Halifax Herald: Tensions in Kosovo (by Scott Taylor)
http://www.espritdecorps.ca/new_page_196.htm

UN SG appoints Søren Jessen-Petersen of Denmark as Special Representative in Kosovo
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/d2865c7930cf3ebf85256ebb0005f544?OpenDocument

The forgotten land (by Misha Glenny)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4953224-103674,00.html

Reading the Kurds correctly (by Gunduz Aktan)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/gunduz.HTM

AP: Russian Tankers Bottle Up Bosporus
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/06/22/047-print.html

NATO's Istanbul Summit: new mission, new means
http://www.epicos.com/News/NewsItem.asp?IdArticle=15164

Interview: Scott Taylor: The Secrets of Occupation (by Christopher Deliso)
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=363

Oil Exports Via Baltic Flood North Europe
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/06/22/046-print.html

The imbalanced world
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/22/eng20040622_147121.html

Izbor za pocetak Leta

In Defense of Slobodan Milosevic
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/Yugoslavia/views/defending-Milosevic.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Who said 'never again'? (By Petar Makara)
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/Yugoslavia/views/saving-Nazis.html

Serbia and Montenegro's struggles being ignored, visiting princess says (by Tim Martin)
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/108772383821010.xml

Update on Serbia's Presidential Race
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=362

The return of the Bulgarians (by Velina Nacheva)
http://www.sofiaecho.com/art.php?id=9578&catid=30

Editorial: Bravo Europe
http://www.hindu.com/2004/06/21/stories/2004062102521000.htm

Duga: Partnership for racket (by Dragos Kalajic)
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/Yugoslavia/views/NATO-racket.html

National Lawyers Guild Calls for Prosecution of President Bush for Role in Torture
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/NLG406A.html

Izbor za 20.jun

Human rights as a rule and as an exception (by Akis Gavriilidis)
http://www.zmag.org/balkanwatch/gaviriadis_humanrights.htm
----------------------------------------------------------
Tadic Victory Far From Assured (by Zeljko Cvijanovic)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_503_1_eng.txt

Kai Eide meets with Bishop Artemije
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/82403

No Place Like Home (by Sasa Markovic)
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=69&NrSection=3&NrArticle=12272

Turks pressed on Cyprus
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_7343309_19/06/2004_44121

Ocalan-Kirkuk-northern Iraq bargains (by Mete Belovacikli)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/mete.htm

Blood of Victory (by Chris Floyd)
http://context.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/06/18/120.html

Izbor za 19.jun

Globalizing, Terrorist-Linked Mafia Thrives in the Balkans
http://www.balkanalysis.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=361

Clinton proud of Kosovo (by Nebojsa Malic)
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/more.php?id=1056_0_1_0_M

Stability Pact MARRI Chairman Soeren Jessen-Petersen new SRSG in Kosovo
http://www.stabilitypact.org/pages/press/detail.asp?y=2004&p=22

Move to Break Decentralisation Impasse (by Nevena Angelovska)
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200406_503_5_eng.txt

Cyprus 2004: Curtains for the Annan Plan
http://www.bhhrg.org/Print.asp?ReportID=215&CountryID=29

Turkish maneuvers (by Stavros Lygeros)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_6508655_18/06/2004_44069

EU Leaders Agree on Constitution
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2004-daily/19-06-2004/world/w9.htm

US commission's report a distortion of reality
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200406/19/print20040619_146884.html

Shanghai group aims to keep US in check (by Sergei Blagov)
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FF19Ag01.html

Land of the what? (by Joe Sobran)
http://www.sobran.com/columns/2004/040603.htm

"Why America Can Do No Wrong" (by Michel Chossudovsky)
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG406A.html

Can The Truth Be Killed in The Hague ?

TATEMENT BY Professor VELKO VALKANOV,
FOUNDER AND COCHAIRMAN OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO DEFEND
SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC (ICDSM)

***************************************
CAN   T H E   T R U T H    B E    K I L L E D ?
***************************************

To the Organization of the United Nations To the International Public

          Yesterday the judges of the so-called International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia demonstrated in the clearest way that for them their political tasks and goals are much more important than truth, justice and law.
          In the Pre-Defense Conference for Slobodan Milosevic's defense case, which is expected to start in July this year, they were stubbornly refusing to prolong the unjustly short three month period for the preparation of the defense case, in spite of the fact that physicians had forbid President Milosevic to work more than half that time. They have refused once again without discussion the request for President Milosevic's provisional release for medical treatment, recovery and appropriate preparations for the rest of the process. For presentation of the defense case, they have allocated 150 working days in spite of the fact that for its case the Prosecution had twice as much time. The judges kept the right for themselves to refuse any defense witness as irrelevant, even during his/her testimony. They have refused to discuss the demands of President Milosevic for issuing subpoenas for the leaders of the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia and for issuing orders to the intelligence services of the leading NATO countries as well as to the state of Serbia and Montenegro to disclose the relevant documents, justifying their refusals with unacceptable procedural reasons. Ignoring totally the fact that Slobodan Milosevic with his seriously damaged health conducts his own defense while being in illegal detention and deprived of any adequate material, financial or time resources, the judges have imposed or tried to impose a whole series of proc edural restrictions and obstacles relating to the order of the defense witnesses and to the information that has to be submitted on the witnesses and on the content of their testimony. Particularly irritating was the way yesterday's proceedings were conducted by the presiding judge Patrick Robinson, who has been, in the same manner as his predecessor Richard May, switching off the microphone to President Milosevic and attempting to turn the debate on the presentation of the defense case into discussion between the judges, prosecution and friends of the court, without listening to the opinions of Slobodan Milosevic about the issues of his primary concern.
          Only a day earlier, the newly elected member of the Trial Chamber, judge Ian Bonomy from Britain ruled with his vote to the detriment of Slobodan Milosevic in a situation where the opinions of the other two judges were in conflict on the issue of the acquittal for the charges of genocide.
By this act Ian Bonomy confirmed that in only two months he managed to become acquainted with a million pages of relevant material - an unbelievably disgraceful example of legal malfeasance.
          The Hague tribunal is attempting to kill the truth.
          Nobody in the World needs such a false court, except those in NATO who are responsible for the most serious crimes against peace, against Yugoslavia and against the Serbian people.
          In this moment when the whole world is rising up against aggression and terror, but also against the associated manipulations of the law, and when the people of Serbia with more and more courage enter the battle for truth led by Slobodan Milosevic, the crime against truth, law and elementary human rights being perpetrated at The Hague, must be stopped now.
          ICDSM and its national sections, today, in their statements and public actions, will  intensify the struggle against the Hague crimes.
          Fighters for truth and freedom for Slobodan Milosevic grow in number. Recently, the Parliaments of the Russian Federation and of the Republic of Belarus appeared with powerful declarations. The same was done by the World Peace Council. On the initiative of Canadian poet Robert Dickson, the most renown international artists - Harold Pinter, Peter Handke, Alexander Zinoviev, Rolf Becker, Valentin Rasputin, Dimitri Analis, Nikolai Petev and many others are signing the petition demanding that this crime, the last, desperate phase of the NATO war against Yugoslavia be stopped, in the interest of humanity and in the interest of peace.
          The truth cannot be killed.
          Freedom for Slobodan Milosevic!
          Freedom for Serbia!


Sofia, 18 June 2004

***************************************************************
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IMPORTANT NOTICE:
=================
ICDSM calls upon all its members and friends to react NOW in simmilar, other appropriate or more effective way!
***************************************************************
***************************************************************



******************************************************************

TRUTH
OR SLAVERY, HUMILIATION AND DESTRUCTION OF SERBIAN NATION

 http://www.icdsm.org/battle.htm

THE DECISIVE BATTLE FOR TRUTH NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW!

******************************************************************

SLOBODA urgently needs your donation.
Please find the detailed instructions at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/pomoc.htm

To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/ (Sloboda/Freedom association) http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
http://www.free-slobo.de/ (German section of ICDSM) http://www.icdsm-us.org/ (US section of ICDSM) http://www.icdsmireland.org/ (ICDSM Ireland) http://www.wpc-in.org/ (world peace council) http://www.geocities.com/b_antinato/ (Balkan antiNATO center)

NATO Head Says Alliance Credibility on Brink

 

NATO Head Says Alliance Credibility on Brink

 

Fri Jun 18, 2004 10:23 AM ET

(Page 1 of 2)

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - NATO's international credibility is at stake as its members make grand political declarations but then fail to produce the troops needed to fulfil them, the alliance's head said Friday.

"NATO's political clout is directly related to its military competence," Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a conference, lamenting how he continually had to beg countries to honor their pledges.

"I don't mind taking out my begging bowl once in a while. But as a standard operating procedure, this is simply intolerable," he said.

De Hoop Scheffer cited the alliance's role in Afghanistan as a case in point.

Currently NATO has some 6,400 troops in the country, of which all but a handful are confined to Kabul.

NATO leaders have pledged to beef up the mission so it can operate more widely, but have since been dragging their heels on actually coming up with the necessary troops.

"Missions such as Afghanistan present wholly new challenges in terms of generating forces. We have never done anything quite like this before and it should be no surprise that there are challenges," de Hoop Scheffer said.

"Whenever we enter into a political commitment to undertake an operation, we must have a clear idea beforehand as to what forces we have available to honor this commitment," he added.

He said he hoped the NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28 and 29 would not only resolve the Afghan troop problem but also push forward necessary internal reforms to the alliance.

In his most hard-hitting speech to date, de Hoop Scheffer told the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London that NATO's role was in the throes of revolution.

No longer could it simply defend its borders, it had to look far further afield to spot emerging threats to peace and security and nip them in the bud.

The demand for NATO is likely to increase, not diminish, in the future," he said. "NATO will be called upon by the international community to be peacemaker, peacekeeper, and the provider of security and stability.

"If we are serious about the need to project stability in today's volatile security environment, we must continue to make sure that our means match our ambitions," he added.

The former Dutch foreign minister said NATO's force structure also had to be reformed to meet the challenges of the new era of global insecurity.

"We need more wide-bodied aircraft and fewer tanks. We need forces that are slimmer, tougher and faster; forces that reach further and can stay in the field longer but still punch hard."

He also advocated a review of the traditional way of funding in which countries finance their own troop contingents.

This meant that those with greater means were called on disproportionately more often than their less well equipped counterparts.

"So can we deliver? The simple answer to this question is that we must deliver," he said. "We must make sure that our means match our ambitions. There simply is no other choice."

Related...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5458351&src=rss/worldNews&section=news

New UN governor warns against neglecting Kosovo

 

New UN governor warns against neglecting Kosovo 17 Jun 2004 13:21:51 GMT

SKOPJE, June 17 (Reuters) - Kosovo's newly appointed United Nations governor warned on Thursday that major powers must not neglect the province, which was the cause of NATO's first major military intervention five years ago. "There is a lot of attention these days on other priorities, like Iraq and Afghanistan, but turning our back on Kosovo at this stage would be a serious mistake," Soren Jessen-Petersen told a news conference in the Macedonian capital, Skopje. NATO allies bombed Serbia in 1999 to force its army out of Kosovo and end repression of its Albanian majority. In Albanian eyes, NATO intervention legitimised demands for independence. But the big powers have shied away from deciding to back it. The Danish diplomat and European Union envoy to Macedonia was named by the United Nations in New York on Wednesday as Kosovo's fifth U.N. governor, replacing Finnish diplomat Harri Holkeri who resigned last month citing ill health. Jessen-Petersen, who aims to take up the post in early August, is expected to play a key role in guiding the international community's decision on whether Kosovo becomes independent or formally remains part of Serbia and Montenegro. Kosovo's "final status" is tied to a series of benchmarks of democracy and human rights set by the U.N., with a view to assessing progress in 2005. But impatience is growing among Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians and their political leaders. Unhappy with high unemployment and lack of economic growth, they say it is time for the U.N. to reduce its presence and start handing real power to local institutions. "The mission can be successful only if it starts transferring authority," Mimoza Kusari, spokeswoman for the Kosovo government, told Reuters in response to the appointment. Discontent with the lack of progress towards independence erupted in mid-March with fierce anti-Serb riots in which 19 people died and hundreds of homes were set ablaze. The U.N. has slowly been ceding responsibility for municipal and social affairs to Kosovo's interim authorities but it retains a veto over legislation adopted in parliament. Related...

[All Headline News - Yugoslavia News and Headlines]

Milosevic: I want Clinton, Blair and Schroeder at war crimes tribunal

 

Milosevic: I want Clinton, Blair and Schroeder at war crimes tribunal

Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic wants to force former US president Bill Clinton, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to testify in his war crimes trial.

The three were among nearly 1,400 witnesses the former Serbian leader said that he wanted to call in his defence case, to start on July 5.

United Nations judges at the Yugoslav tribunal at The Hague, in the Netherlands, did not immediately rule on the request, but asked for justification for the subpoenas.

“In effect, you are asking us to subpoena those persons. You will have to produce, in writing, reasons for the issuance by the chamber of that subpoena,” presiding judge Patrick Robinson said.

Milosevic said he would call the Western leaders to testify about the “war waged against Yugoslavia” and pressed for a quick decision. The three headed their governments during the period of Milosevic’s indictment in the 1990s.

“Clinton has to appear here. Schroeder, Blair, others, too,” Milosevic said at a procedural hearing yesterday, appearing energetic and characteristically defiant despite his frail health.

“The reasons for which Mr Clinton should appear here are quite clear. He decided upon many matters which had to do with Yugoslavia. He uttered a series of lies as a pretext to the bombing of Yugoslavia. He gave the orders,” Milosevic said.

Clinton was president during a 78-day Nato bombing campaign of Yugoslavia in 1999 that forced Serbia to end its crackdown on the ethnic Albanian population of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

The court set a four-hour limit for Milosevic’s opening defence statement and reaffirmed he would have 150 trial days to present his case. The judges said they would not limit the number of witnesses Milosevic called, as long as he remained within that time limit.

The court will consider his request that the court seek intelligence service documents from Britain, Germany and the United States.

Milosevic said he has 1,631 witnesses in mind and has presented the names of nearly 1,400 of them to the court. Among other names submitted to the court were long-time West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Wesley Clark, the former Nato commander.

“The most terrible accusations have been uttered here,” Milosevic told the court. “The most flagrant lies have been spoken here as well, and the only means to fight that is to present the truth.”

Wearing a black pinstripe suit and a bright red tie, Milosevic showed no sign of the ailments that have delayed the trial by months. The 61-year-old defendant has a weak heart and high blood pressure, and has repeatedly complained of fatigue and stress.

Milosevic is representing himself against 66 charges of war crimes filed by prosecutors, including genocide, during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

He has had nearly three months to prepare his defence since prosecutors completed their case in February. He is assisted by several Belgrade lawyers.

During the prosecution case which began in February 2002, nearly 300 witnesses were called and thousands of documents were presented into evidence.

The judges rejected Milosevic’s request for an extra month to interview witnesses.

On Wednesday, the three-judge tribunal dismissed a mid-trial motion filed by three independent lawyers to drop the genocide charges. The judges dismissed the argument by the lawyers, appointed by the court to ensure fairness, that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the charges.

http://www.irishnews.com/access/breakingnews/story.asp?j=93427399&p=934z8xyx&n=93428032&x=

Gibson tops celebrity power list

 

Gibson tops celebrity power list

Mel Gibson is one of Hollywood's biggest earners Actor Mel Gibson has been named as the world's most powerful celebrity by US business magazine Forbes. The Passion of the Christ director earned $210m (£120m) in 2003 to take top spot in The Forbes Celebrity 100. The 48-year-old eclipsed last year's winner Jennifer Aniston, who dropped to 17th position. Harry Potter creator JK Rowling was ranked the sixth most powerful celebrity - rocketing up from 15th position last year. The author has sold more than 250 million copies of her five Harry Potter books. CELEBRITY TOP FIVE 1. Mel Gibson 2. Tiger Woods 3. Oprah Winfrey 4. Tom Cruise 5. Rolling Stones Source: Forbes Woods tops sporting money list Forbes ranks people by combining earning power and public exposure - including magazine and newspaper articles, TV and radio appearances and web hits. Other top-ranking Brits include The Rolling Stones whose mammoth tour and DVD sales boosted them by five places to number five. England captain David Beckham's star status has propelled him from 56th place to 22nd, despite allegations of an affair and the relatively small US interest in soccer. Editor-in-chief Steve Forbes said Beckham's move to Real Madrid had made him a bigger international star. "Beckham has been getting more and more coverage in America and it shows that more sports stars and athletes are becoming global phenomenons." Welsh-born actress Catherine Zeta Jones is at number 56, while her husband Michael Douglas does not even make the list. But reality show stars the Osbourne family are also absent, despite peaking at number 12 last year. Other high-profile stars who have fallen out of the top 100 include Jennifer Lopez and her former fiance Ben Affleck. Mr Forbes said: "The list changes enormously each year. "Mel Gibson wasn't even on it last year. But The Passion of the Christ has had a huge intake of money and will probably be a record by the time the residuals come in. "Gibson has also received huge coverage, some of it controversial, from his film." He said of Rowling's placing: "We've seen the latest Potter movie get off to a good start in the US. Everybody expects that her name will have legs on this list."

Related...

[BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

Putin says Iraq planned US attack

 

Putin says Iraq planned US attack

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that after the 9/11 attacks Moscow warned Washington that Saddam Hussein was planning attacks on the US.

He said Russia's secret service had information on more than one occasion that Iraq was preparing acts of terror in the US and its facilities worldwide.

Mr Putin said he had no information the Iraqi ex-leader was behind any attacks.

It came a day after US President George W Bush insisted there had been links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

He disputed the preliminary findings of a US commission investigating the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York that found no "credible evidence" of a relationship between the two.

Surprise remarks

Speaking on a visit to Kazakhstan, Mr Putin said Russia had warned the US on several occasions that Iraq was planning "terrorist attacks" on its soil.

"After the events of 11 September 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, Russian special services several times received such information and passed it on to their American colleagues," he told reporters.

He said the information received by Russian intelligence suggested Iraq was planning attacks in the United States, "and beyond its borders on American military and civilian targets".

But he said it did not change Russia's opposition to the war in Iraq.

"Despite that information... Russia's position on Iraq remains unchanged," he said.

He added: "It is one thing to have information that (Saddam) Hussein's regime was preparing acts of terrorism - we did have this information and we handed it over.

"But we did not have information that they were involved in any terrorist acts whatsoever and, after all, these are two different things."

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says Mr Putin's remarks are a surprise - considering his vocal opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.

But they will come as a relief to President Bush, following the bi-partisan commission's report saying it had found no credible evidence of a collaboration between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/3819057.stm

Published: 2004/06/18 13:44:58 GMT

© BBC MMIV

Related...

[BBC News | Europe | World Edition]

Izbor za 18.jun

Milosevic "Trial" pre-defence conference summary (by Andy Wilcoxson)
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/smorg061704.htm

Annan slams war crime exemption
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3817279.stm
-----------------------------------------------
Yawn - Serbia goes to the polls yet again
http://www.bhhrg.org/LatestNews.asp?ArticleID=40

European elections confirm polarisation between the classes (by R. Sarti & F. Weston)
http://www.marxist.com/Europe/euroelections_2004.html

Joint Statement on the Situation of Internally Displaced and Refugee Minorities from Kosovo
http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2004/June_17/10.html?w=p

Cypriot 'semiotics' observed
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_5503620_17/06/2004_44031

Turkey's deep state (by Costas Iordanidis)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_5503367_17/06/2004_44026

EU: You kept your word, now it's our turn (by Mehmet Ali Birand)
http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/birand.htm

ICG: Moldova: Regional Tensions over Transdniestria
http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=2811

What Is a Nation? What Is a State? (by Richard Falk)
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2004/Falk_Nation_MinorityRights.html

Balkan ghosts

 

Balkan ghosts


By Helle Dale

So much has happened in theworldsincethe Balkan wars of the 1990s that the international community seems to have lost sight of the fact that the wheels of justice are still turning to bring Serbian and Croatian war criminals to justice. Even as we have debated the worth of the International Criminal Court, actual prosecutions of real crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia have slipped from public view.
    This week, Judge Theodor Meron, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was in Washington for consultations and in New York to argue at the U.N. Security Council for continued full funding for bringing criminals to justice. 
 
    "What worries me is that the international community becomes blase to the idea of the court. People get tired and they don't pay up their dues," he says. Judge Meron, a mild-mannered man, speaks with evident passion. As a Holocaust survivor from Poland, erstwhile resident of Israel and a U.S. citizen, his deep commitment to see the tribunal to its rightful and just conclusion is highly understandable.
    "After half a century of doing nothing, we have shown that credible trials are possible. We have created a body of war crimes jurisprudence as well as a body of procedural international law. This is an important legacy for the future."
    As we have witnessed many other horrors in the intervening years, a reminder may be in order.
    For three years in the early 1990s, the war that raged between Bosnians desiring independence and Serbs refusing to allow them to part from the former federation of Yugoslavia resulted in horrendous war crimes committed by all sides. Detention camps sprung up, civilians were shelled, millions of people were driven from their homes, more than 20,000 women were systematically raped, 200,000 people were killed, and men of military age were murdered and buried in mass graves.
    In Croatia, which had declared independence in 1991, Serbs attempted to keep control of the Vukovar region, bombarding the town for three months solid in 1992. Later Croatian troops swept through the Serb-controlled region of Krajina, forcing tens of thousands of Croatian Serbs to flee from their homes toward Serbia proper.
    In Kosovo, in 1999, then-President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia attempted yet another ethnic cleansing campaign against the Albanian population there, burning houses and murdering residents to drive the population out and replace it with Serbs. After NATO finally intervened and bombed Serbia to stop this action, Albanian refugees came back and their leaders in turn drove 100,000 Kosovar Serbs from the province. Europe had not seen crimes against humanity like these since World War II.
    With strong support from the United States, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was set up in 1993 by the U.N. Security Council. An ad hoc institution, it was later given jurisdiction over the prosecutions of the Rwandan genocide as well, an even more horrific event that took place approximately at the same time, costing more than 1 million people their lives.
     The Yugoslav and Rwandan tribunal is designed to go out of business when its work is done, which the United Nations has decided will be 2008. There is already a freeze on the hiring of law clerks, which according to Judge Meron is premature.
     The highly publicized trial of Mr. Milosevic is only now entering the defense stage, which the accused insists on conducting himself. After 35 prosecutions and 17 guilty pleas, there are still 33 prosecutions pending, and 20 wanted war criminals are still at large — mainly suspected of hiding in Serbia — including two of the most famous, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. And it's not just the suspects that are missing. According to Judge Meron, Belgrade continues to drag its feet on delivering documents and opening archives. This contrasts with the Bosnians and the Croats, who are largely cooperating with the tribunal.
    Judge Meron has an idea for speeding things up. "I am going to propose in my monthly report to the Security Council that the future of prosecutions is in national courts ... I want to establish a special war crimes chamber at the court in Sarajevo to try people who had committed crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina." He would like to do the same for Croatia.
    However, he says, "Belgrade has shown such a lack of cooperation that we cannot send accused Serbian war criminals back." The fact that the leader of the winning party in last weekend's Serbian elections, Vojislav Seselj, is one of the prisoners awaiting trial in the Hague does not bode particularly well for public sentiment among Serbs.
    If we want to close the chapter on the Balkan wars properly, the tribunal's work must go on.
    
    Helle Dale is director of Foreign Policy and Defense Studies at the Heritage Foundation. E-mail: helle.dale@heritage.org.

Related...

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040615-090332-2837r.htm

Serbs search for old US bomb at Chinese embassy

Serbs search for old US bomb at Chinese embassy   17 Jun 2004 17:09:42 GMT

BELGRADE, June 17 (Reuters) - Serbian experts began searching on Thursday for a large U.S. bomb at China's embassy that failed to detonate when the building was hit by mistake in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia five years ago.

The experts said it would take about a month to deactivate the 2,000 lb (900 kg) bomb -- one of four that U.S. planes fired at the embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999 -- when it was found.

The other three bombs exploded, killing three Chinese journalists, wrecking part of the building and sparking furious protests in Beijing.

NATO called it a tragic mistake due to poor intelligence and said the U.S. military believed it had been directing the aircraft to bomb a Serbian military supply centre.

But the military had used out-of-date maps that failed to show the embassy, although it was clearly marked on ordinary tourist maps of the Yugoslav capital.

The embassy, which had a distinctive Chinese-style roof in green tiles, looks reasonably intact from the front but is shattered on the inside.

Empty since 1999, the building is still guarded and flies the red Chinese flag.

NATO bombed targets in Serbia and Montenegro for 78 days in 1999 to force then President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his troops and police from Kosovo and end persecution of the province's ethnic Albanian majority.

The Belgrade attack was carried out with state-of-the-art JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) bombs guided by global positioning satellite systems.

The experts said there was no danger to the public from the bomb.

"The public has no reason to worry," said Martin Martinovic, a member of the bomb disposal team.

AlertNet Jun 17 2004 6:04PM GMT

Related...

[Moreover - Balkans news]

Serbs search for old US bomb at Chinese embassy

Serbs search for old US bomb at Chinese embassy   17 Jun 2004 17:09:42 GMT

BELGRADE, June 17 (Reuters) - Serbian experts began searching on Thursday for a large U.S. bomb at China's embassy that failed to detonate when the building was hit by mistake in a NATO bombing campaign against Yugoslavia five years ago.

The experts said it would take about a month to deactivate the 2,000 lb (900 kg) bomb -- one of four that U.S. planes fired at the embassy in Belgrade on May 7, 1999 -- when it was found.

The other three bombs exploded, killing three Chinese journalists, wrecking part of the building and sparking furious protests in Beijing.

NATO called it a tragic mistake due to poor intelligence and said the U.S. military believed it had been directing the aircraft to bomb a Serbian military supply centre.

But the military had used out-of-date maps that failed to show the embassy, although it was clearly marked on ordinary tourist maps of the Yugoslav capital.

The embassy, which had a distinctive Chinese-style roof in green tiles, looks reasonably intact from the front but is shattered on the inside.

Empty since 1999, the building is still guarded and flies the red Chinese flag.

NATO bombed targets in Serbia and Montenegro for 78 days in 1999 to force then President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his troops and police from Kosovo and end persecution of the province's ethnic Albanian majority.

The Belgrade attack was carried out with state-of-the-art JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) bombs guided by global positioning satellite systems.

The experts said there was no danger to the public from the bomb.

"The public has no reason to worry," said Martin Martinovic, a member of the bomb disposal team.

AlertNet Jun 17 2004 6:04PM GMT

Related...

[Moreover - Balkans news]

Prosecutors charge four over Kosovo rioting

 

Prosecutors charge four over Kosovo rioting 17 Jun 2004 15:19:48 GMT

(Releads with charges, previous SKOPJE) By Matthew Robinson PRISTINA, June 17 (Reuters) - International prosecutors have charged three Kosovo Albanians and one Serb with serious crimes during a wave of violence in the volatile province in mid-March, a United Nations police spokesman said on Thursday. The charges were the first "of a more serious nature" stemming from 48 hours of rioting in which 19 people died and more than 800 Serb homes were set on fire, Neeraj Singh told Reuters. Around 270 people have been arrested since the ethnic violence, the worst since the United Nations took control of the province in 1999 after NATO bombing drove out Serb troops. Serbia has complained frequently that the U.N. fails to enforce the law, especially where Albanian extremists are concerned. Singh said the Serb was charged with a grenade attack on NATO-led peacekeepers in the divided town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. The three Albanians were charged with arson, inciting riots and attacking police officers in a series of orchestrated attacks. News of the charges emerged as Kosovo's newly appointed U.N. governor said that major powers must not neglect the province, where NATO carried out its first major military intervention five years ago. FINAL STATUS DECISION LOOMS "There is a lot of attention these days on other priorities, like Iraq and Afghanistan, but turning our back on Kosovo at this stage would be a serious mistake," Soren Jessen-Petersen told a news conference in the Macedonian capital, Skopje. NATO allies bombed Serbia in 1999 to force its army out of Kosovo and end repression of the Albanian majority. In Albanian eyes, the NATO intervention legitimised their demands for independence. But big powers have shied away from a decision. Jessen-Petersen, a Danish diplomat and European Union envoy to Macedonia, was named by the United Nations in New York on Wednesday as Kosovo's fifth U.N. governor, replacing Finnish diplomat Harri Holkeri who resigned last month citing ill health. The Dane, who aims to take up the post in early August, is expected to play a key role in guiding the decision on whether Kosovo becomes independent, possibly some time in 2005, or formally remains part of Serbia and Montenegro. Kosovo's "final status" is tied to a series of democracy and human rights benchmarks set by the United Nations, with a view to assessing progress in 2005. But Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians are increasingly impatient, saying it is time for the U.N. to start handing real power to local institutions so the stagnant economy can grow and produce jobs for the thousands of unemployed young people. "The mission can be successful only if it starts transferring authority," Mimoza Kusari, spokeswoman for the Kosovo government, told Reuters of the appointment. The United Nations can veto legislation adopted by Kosovo's parliament.

Related...

[Moreover - Balkans news]