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Topic
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Source
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Title
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Narrative
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EUFOR
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Glas Srpske
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MSU remains in BiH
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"The Multinational Specialised Unit (MSU) will stay in BiH
even when the European Union takes over the mission from NATO at
the end of the year, in order to continue securing a stable and
safe environment and provide assistance to the local law-enforcement
bodies," reads a press release issued by HQ SFOR yesterday.
This unit is an integral part of SFOR and was first deployed in
BiH on 2 August 1998. Considering that the MSU is equipped for conducting
many police and military tasks, it filled the gap that existed between
SFOR as a military force and units that are of a purely police character.
SFOR's press release states that the MSU is made up of military
police forces that perform different tasks, including suppressing
riots. It consists of 600 soldiers from Austria, Hungary, Italy,
Romania and Slovenia. (p.3)
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SFOR
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Oslobodjenje
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Beginning of 'Summer Harvest 2004'
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On Tuesday, members of the RSMUP and the RS Civil Defense supported
by SFOR began with an extensive operation of collecting hidden illegal
weapons in the western part of the RS. The action titled "Summer
Harvest 2004" is to be conducted in the area of Banja Luka, Prijedor,
Novi Grad/Bosanski Novi and Kotor-Varos. The objective of the action
planned to last at least two weeks, is the improvement of the security
situation in the RS and BiH. (p.5)
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SFOR
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Oslobodjenje
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Independent and efficient actions of BiH police
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On Tuesday at a press-conference in Sarajevo, the EUPM spokesperson,
Kirsten Haupt, stated that "the EUPM assessed as encouraging the
fact that BiH local police have intensified their cooperation with
SFOR during the "Harvest operation." Haupt also stated "it is evident
that BiH police is more and more taking over the initiative and
organizing their own operations of collecting illegal weapons".
As an example Haupt mentioned a recent action conducted by the Una-Sana
police that had organized its own 'Harvest' with SFOR support, as
well as activities of the Central Bosnia police that filed 15 criminal
reports against citizens for illegal possession of arms. Haupt announced
that a series of similar operations will be conducted in BiH this
week, among them, a " summer harvest" in the western part of the
RS where the police, supported by SFOR, will be collecting arms
in several locations. However, Haupt underlined that "in the past
few weeks we have witnessed a significant number of incidents involving
different types of firearms across BiH. Almost daily fire arms are
used in the streets with tragic consequences. In spite of the successful
"Harvest operations" conducted so far by SFOR, there are still too
many weapons and explosives left in private possession." (p.4) Similar
in Nezavisne Novine (p.10)
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SFOR
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Oslobodjenje
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International Course for Inspectors General
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"On Monday at the SFOR Camp Butmir in Sarajevo, Colonel-General
Paul Mikolashek, opened a seven day International course for inspectors
general that is organized for members of the Armed Forces in BiH,
entity armed forces and defense ministries. "This course is designed
to offer information on how the system of inspectors general functions
in the US Army, and respectively to help BiH state and entity armed
forces with the establishment of their own systems," stated Mark
Hope, SFOR spokesperson. According to Hope, the first part of the
course is intended for BiH defense ministers and army generals,
while the rest of the week is dedicated to training and briefings
of the inspectors general at entity and state levels. Hope remarked
that at the opening ceremony, General Virgil Packett, the SFOR Commander,
welcomed the participants of the course (p.7) Similar in Dnevni
Avaz (p.2)
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SFOR
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Oslobodjenje
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SFOR allows Pejcic contact with his wife and his lawyer
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On Tuesday at a press conference in Sarajevo, SFOR spokesperson,
Mark Hope, confirmed that "SFOR allowed Mile Pejcic a contact with
his spouse and lawyer". Pejcic was detained by SFOR on 31 July on
suspicion that he was engaged in anti-Dayton activities and providing
assistance to PIFWICs. "Pejcic continues to be in a secure location,
while the investigation into his activities continues," said Hope
adding that "SFOR makes sure that every detention is carried out
by law and that all detainees are given a correct treatment." (p.8)
Nezavisne Novine quotes SFOR maj. Aaron Jenkins as sating at a press-conference
in Doboj that "Pejcic continues to be in a secure location due to
an ongoing investigation" (p.4)
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SFOR
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Oslobodjenje
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SFOR will not conduct investigations against persons in possession
of illegal arms
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On Tuesday in Prijedor, Maj. Phil Stanford, stated announced that
"in the course of the 'Harvest operation', SFOR will not conduct
investigations against persons who are hiding illegal weapons and
neither will such persons stand any consequences." Maj. Stanford
said that the action of discovering illegal weapons and explosive
ordinances will last several weeks, and that trained dogs will be
employed in the operation as well, but only in places where the
circumstances allow. Maj. Stanford informed that on Monday the inhabitants
of Lamovita handed over a certain quantity of explosive ordnance
that, due to their condition had to be destroyed on the spot. Maj.
Stanford appealed on citizens who possess any weapons, and particularly
mine and explosive ordnance, to call in trained professionals instead
of handling them themselves. (p.2)
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BIH - ECONOMY
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Oslobodjenje
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EU will invest 600,000 euro into BiH tourist industry
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The European Union has ensured 600,000 Euro of non-returnable funds
to support the development of BiH tourism, as part of the CARDS
2002/EU RED program for assistance to the BiH regional development.
In this respect, the EU delegation has published a tender for collection
of bids for tourist projects that are eligible for EU funding. The
funds will be spent on strengthening and development of the tourist
industry and promotion of cultural and natural heritage, as well
s on creation of new jobs. (p.3)
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BIH - ELECTIONS
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Nezavisne Novine
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BiH Election Commission verifies lists of candidates for municipal
elections
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As the BiH Election Commission stated, the printing of the election
ballots for October 2004 municipal elections started yesterday at
the Sarajevo CPU Publishing Company , which was warded the job in
a public tender. This is the first time that BiH election ballots
were printed in the country. Lidija Korac, members of the Election
Commission said that printing of ballots for 13 RS municipalities,
whose names should be changed following the decision of the BiH
Constitutional Court on change of the prefix "Serb",. was put on
hold until the Commission receives instruction from the Constitutional
Court as to how they should proceed in this case since the names
and organization of electoral units had been determined earlier
on. Korac also informed the public that the Election Commission
has made a final verification of all candidacy lists, even though
some of the institutions that were obliged to deliver answers on
their candidates, have not done that so far. (p.2) Similar in Dnevni
List (p.2), Jutarnje Novine (p.4) and Dnevni Avaz (p.8)
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BIH - PARTIES
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Nezavisne Novine
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BiH SDU: RS authorities should be punished
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"The BiH Social Democratic Union asks international institutions
to punish those responsible in the RS authorities for non-cooperation
with the Hague Tribunal," said Miro Lazovic, President of the
SDU, in Sarajevo yesterday. The SDU also asks RS democratic forces
to start processes that will remove the burden of the past from
the Serb people, and individualize and punish criminal acts. "The
recent opening of several mass graves in the RS, especially the
biggest one in Foca/Srbinje, has once again uncovered Slobodan Milosevic's
political idea of creating a Greater Serbia and its criminal scenario
planned together with the then SDS leadership," stated Miro
Lazovic in an SDU press release. (p.4)/The same in Jutarnje Novine
(p.3)/
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BIH - PARTIES
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Glas Srpske
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PDP: Lagumdzija takes off his mask
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"The President of the Social Democratic Party, Zlatko Lagumdzija,
has shown once again his hypocrisy through his latest attacks on
the Party of Democratic Progress and its leader," the PDP stated
yesterday. "Lagumdzija's reaction to the announcement that
the PDP will ask that the constitutionality of the name 'Bosnian
language' be assessed, clearly shows how much this, somewhat worn-out,
politician is far from being tolerant," reads a press release
issued by the party yesterday. Concerning these events, the PDP
asks Lagumdzija why he failed to react when SDA members asked that
everything that had the Serb prefix and name be abolished and erased.
"To the PDP, that is an unequivocal sign that Lagumdzija has
taken off and shown his true face which is identical to that of
Tihic. It is now obvious that Lagumdzija's political goal, just
as Tihic's, is BiH without the Republika Srpska, the Serbs and all
their symbols," states the PDP. (p.2)/The same in Nezavisne
Novine (p.6)/
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BIH - PRESIDENCY
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Dnevni avaz
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Decision on deployment of BiH troops in Iraq should be reviewed
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In addition to the petition which the Social Democratic Union of
BiH organized the other day, some other political parties also reacted
to the decision of the BiH Presidency on sedning a BiH de-mining
company to Iraq. The SDA Vice-president, Elmir Jahic, holds that
the decision should be reviewed one more time in light of the aggravated
situation in Iraq: "The BiH Presidency had the best of intentions
to help the people of Iraq and save human lives by sending a de-mining
team to the country. However, this represents a great risk since
further development of the situation in Iraq is unpredictable."
Safet Halilovic from the Party for BiH, points out the fact that
the sending BiH troops to Iraq should be done in accordance with
the UN decision. Halilovic approves the petition commenting: "Such
a complex political issue does not allow a unilateral approach.
At the moment we have an ongoing reform of the BiH defense system
with the essential objective of creating one single and unified
army, and it would be absurd if we tried to play an international
police officer elsewhere in the world, while we have not managed
to resolve our problems at home." Halilovic holds that fear of potential
terrorist diversions in BiH was justified, and wonders what would
happen if any BiH soldiers are killed in Iraq. Joisp Merdzo, head
of the HDZ Caucus, underlines that the BiH de-mining company engaged
in Iraq would have a humanitarian and not a classical military character,
but he did not deny the fact that US occupation of Iraq has raised
many complex political questions. Nikola Spiric, member of the Main
Board of the Union of Independent Social Democrats, thinks that
the BiH Presidency should have first made a legal basis for the
mission: "The state top should not try to deceive the local and
international public that it sincerely cooperates in the fight against
international terrorism. It would be better if this decision had
not come as a result of the will of a number of individuals. Unfortunately,
the BiH leadership would only contemplate the consequences once
they have taken place." Mirnes Ajanovic, President of the BOSS,
was the first party to publicly oppose sending of BiH Troops to
Iraq: "If potential terrorist threats are realized in BiH, this
will be then characterized as Bosnian-Islamic fundamentalism, and
that is the core of the problem. It is unimportant if our troops
are sent on a humanitarian mission or as part of the support to
the aggression on Iraq. Whatever the case, it will have double negative
consequences for BiH citizens, one being an aggravated security
situation and the other, possible economic repercussions." (cover
page and p.2)
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CRIME
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Nezavisne Novine
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RS Prosecutor's Office investigates Milenko Vracar
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On the order of the RS Prosecutor's Office, the RS police have
been investigating into the activities of Milenko Vracar, the former
director of Nova Banjalucka Banka, and Ljiljana Tesic, the former
executive director of this bank, because they are suspected of abusing
their positions and powers. According to the paper, on 3 August
the District Court in Banja Luka ordered the RS police to confiscate
certain documents from Nova Banjalucka Banka and stated at the time
that "the suspects, Milenko Vracar and Ljiljana Tesic, have
the right to inform their attorneys first". This same order,
which was signed by Judge Danijela Milovanovic, says that it was
issued because "there is reason to suspect that the criminal
offence of abuse of position and powers was committed". Nezavisne
Novine unofficially learned that two days ago the RS police confiscated
from the bank the documentation related to the bank's guarantees
given for the contract signed by the Oil Refinery in Brod and the
Galaxy Company in Monte Carlo, which was concluded when Vracar headed
the bank. Suspicions about this contract were first publicly aired
in the letter that RS President Cavic sent to RS Premier Mikerevic
in February this year, asking him to open an investigation into
this case. Milenko Vracar, who was the finance minister in Mladen
Ivanic's government, was dismissed from this post after the scandal
in the RS Customs Administration. Afterwards, Vracar was appointed
as Director of Nova Banjalucka Banka and was later dismissed because
his name was included on the EU and US black lists. (Photo on p.3)
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CRIME
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Nezavisne Novine
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Turkovic, Ibrahimovic, Kobilic and Grladinovic deny any connection
with bomb attacks
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In the Municipal Court in Sarajevo yesterday, Zijad Turkovic (40),
Bakir Ibrahimovic (40) and Senad Kobilic (44), all three from Sarajevo,
accused of having endangered public safety, pleaded not guilty.
Antun Grladinovic from Croatia, the third accused of the same criminal
offences, also pleaded not guilty, but from the Kosevo Hospital
where he has been ever since the explosion in the settlement of
Hrasno in Sarajevo. Since they all denied all the counts of the
indictments issued by the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office on 16 July,
their trials will be scheduled in the next three months. (Photo
on p.4)
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EXHUMATIONS
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Oslobodjenje
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Velibor Ostojic moves at nighttime only
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Velibor Ostojic, one of the founders of the SDS, a senior RS wartime
official and a postwar Minister for refugees and Displaced Persons
"is practically in flight. He is nowhere to be seen and moves only
at night, like an animal trying to cover up its trail", state the
families of the killed Bosniacs from Foca. The list of the responsible
criminals does not however end on Ostojic, but contains the names
of Vojislav Maksimovic. Petko Cancar, Leko Vukovic, Milos Krunic,
Nedjo Govedarica, Miro Stannic, Pavle Elez, Pero Elez, Mico Orlovic
and so on. Even though some of the "death masters" are said to have
died or been killed in the meantime, many of them are still large,
and even holding prominet public offices, thus defying both the
victims and the justice. Even the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, Carla Del
Ponte seems to have no interest in them whatsoever. (cover page,
p.7)
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EXHUMATIONS
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Nezavisne Novine
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Most victims suspected to be civilians from Vukovar
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Yesterday, the Judge of the Zenica-Doboj Court and a member of
the FBiH Commission for Tracing Missing persons, Enisa Adrovic,
stated that the exhumations that has been ongoing for 14 days in
Sijekovac near Srpski/Bosanski Brod, have rendered 58 victims so
far, out of which 18 children. Adrovic explained that the location
was initially assigned to the Federal Commission due to suspicion
that a number of Bosniac victims were buried in the location which
is actually a Bosniac graveyard. However, the number of exhumed
bodies indicates that the victims were mostly Serb civilians." According
to Judge Adrovic, certain objects, like a children T-shirt, remains
of a belt, buttons, spectacles and similar personal belongings were
found on the eight bodies that were first discovered in one grave,
while the remaining 49 bodies had no clothes on or other evidence
that could reveal their identity. Goran Krcmar, a member of the
RS Office for Missing Persons said that the first unerathed bodies
confirm the thesis on Serb vicitims since in this region there was
only one report on a missing Bosniac minor. The District Prosecutor
of Doboj, Slavko Krulj, who is monitoring the exhumation, also assumes
that "the bodies must be of Serb children from Vukovar, because
there are no reports of missing children in the BiH or the RS."
According to him, the "Veritas" organization "is looking for 22
Serb children that went missing in the Vukovar hopsital in 1992.
At the time when this mass grave originated, the area of Sijekovac
was controled by the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia, which
is one more proof to the thesis". And while neither Croatian nor
SCG representatives from the respective Office for Missing Persons
were present at the exhumation, the RS monitors have suspicion of
the illegal trade with human organs as "the victims were buried
naked, no clothes but just the bones were found." However, this
would be hard to prove after such a long time. (p.5)
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ICTY
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Dnevni avaz
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HDZ President Barisa Colak: We have not yet found any document
required by the ICTY
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HDZ President Barisa Colak told Dnevni avaz that none of the documents
that the Hague Tribunal Office of the Prosecutor had asked for from
BiH Croat officials had been found. These documents concern the
work of the HDZ branch offices, Herceg-Bosna's government and parliament
and the HVO. "Co-operation between Croat representatives in
the BiH authorities and the ICTY is not questionable. This week
we have already tried to locate the required documents and even
though we have been unsuccessful so far, we will do everything to
meet this ICTY request," said Colak. However, that will be
rather difficult, as part of the documentation was destroyed in
the war, another part was destroyed in the floods during 1996 and
1997, the audio-recordings from some HDZ branch sessions are missing,
and a part is in Croatia. According to unofficial information, the
delivery of the required documents to the ICTY is a main precondition
for provisional release of the six officials of so-called Herceg-Bosna
and the HVO. (Photo on p.5)
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ICTY
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Oslobodjenje
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Luka Karadzic: My brother Radovan is in good health
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Luka Karadzic, Hague indictee Radovan Karadzic's brother, denied
the information that his brother Radovan had had a stroke. Luka
Karadzic told Dan in Podgorica that the news about his brother's
illness was only a provocation, meant to coax out information about
Radovan's whereabouts. The media in Sarajevo reported that Karadzic
had suffered a severe stroke and that he was being treated by a
"select medical team from Serbia". (Photo on p.9)/The
same in Jutarnje Novine (p.3), Glas Srpske (p.3), Politika (p.2),
Slobodna Dalmacija (p.12)/
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POLICE/SBS
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Nezavisne Novine
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Through co-operation against terrorism and crime
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In Podgorica yesterday, the police directors of Serbia, Montenegro,
BiH, Albania and UNMIK signed a joint statement stating that they
would intensify their co-operation in the fight against all forms
of crime. "Aware that terrorism and organized crime pose a
threat to the rule of law, democratic processes and human rights
and freedoms, we think that we must intensify our co-operation as
regards the detection, prevention and disruption of criminal networks
and terrorist activities. We must exchange information and organize
joint operations with the support of the international community,"
reads the joint statement, which also emphasizes that the Olympic
Games in Athens are a particular security challenge and task for
all police structures in the region. The participants of the Podgorica
conference agreed to hold similar conferences quarterly, and that
the next one be held in Albania. (p.2)/The same in Dnevni avaz (p.4),
Dnevni List (p.3)/
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PROTEST
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Dnevni avaz
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BiH Prime Minister promises enactment of Law on Customs tariff
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The Association of BiH Farmers and the BiH Association of Poultry
and Meat Producers, stated that they will not participate in the
announced protests and road blocks because they expect to see a
positive outcome of the meeting scheduled for 16 August with the
BiH Prime Minister, Adnan Terzic, who has already given them assurances
that the Amending Law on Customs Tariff will come in effect on 17
August. (p.2)
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TERRORISM
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Oslobodjenje
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Western services scan the Balkans in serach of Al-Qaida: Master-mind
of terrorist attacks on US was in BiH?
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According to the United Press International, the network of intelligence
agents searching for Al-Qaida terrorists keeps spreading throughout
the world. In BiH foreign intelligence is focused on 700 fighters
who arrived in BiH during the war under the pretext that they had
come to fight Serbs, while in fact, they were running terrorist
training camps. This was also confirmed by the BiH State Prosecutor,
Marinko Jurcevic, when an official investigation into some 750 Islamic
fighters in BiH was opened. UPI reports that BiH local media had
informed on earlier occasions about young Bosnian men leaving for
Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq to fight on the side of Islamic militants.
The western intelligence services In BiH have recently intensified
their activities after a report was published indicating that Khalid
Sheik Mohammed, considered to be the master-mind behind the September
11 terrorist attacks on the US, had been in BiH during the war.
While State Prosecutor Jurcevic did not discount this possibility,
he noticed that Sheik Mohammed must have been using a false name,
as his name is not on the list of 750 Islamic fighters who were
in BiH at one point or other. "If Sheik Mohammed was in BiH, he
must have been passive, or otherwise, his activities would have
been noticed and he would have been registered." (p.3)
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