PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WATCH
Monday, September 26, 2005
(Volume IV, Number 35)
Contents:
Gunfire stops monitoring in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia bolsters air force with 10 Russian fighters
Armenia updates air fleet with 10 new Russian-made SU fighter jets.
UN urges National Liberation Forces (FNL) not to disturb local elections.
Burundi to cap democratic process with village polls
Burundians to vote for village council members.
Chechen lawyer wins Rafto Prize for human rights
Lidia Yusupova wins Norwegian Rafto Prize for documenting human rights violations in Chechnya.
UN says Chechnya mines kill 641
Mines and unexploded ammunition have killed 641 civilians and wounded 2,340 since 1995.
Congo Refugees Return, Determined to Vote
Thousands of refugees head back to vote for presidential election.
Uganda says top rebel seeks refuge in DR Congo
Deputy chief of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Vincent Otti, seeking political assylum in Congo.
Click here to access the DR Congo Negotiation Simulation.
Georgia, South Ossetia trade accusations over shelling that wounded 10
Georgia and breakaway reagion of South Ossetia trade accusations over shelling.
Separatist South Ossetia region calls off talks with Georgia amid rising tension
South Ossetia calls of talks with Georgia over shelling incident.
Indonesian military completes first stage pullout under Aceh peace pact
Twenty-five percent of Indonesian military pulls out completing first stage of Aceh peace pact.
ICoast's Gbagbo calls for new election date amid plans for talks
October 30 election unlikely as Ivorian president calls for new date.
Deepening political crisis in Ivory Coast under threat of UN sanctions
Security Council threatens sanctions amid political crisis.
African Union summit on Ivory Coast crisis planned for next month
Leaders from African Union Peace and Security Council are to meet to discuss situation in Ivory Coast.
Pakistan and India to hold more talks on air and road links
Indian and Pakistan to hold fresh talks on air and road links to strengthen ongoing peace process.
Politicians from Kashmir's Indian, Pakistani sides hold first-ever direct talks
Leading politicians from the Indian and Pakistani sides of divided Kashmir held their first-ever direct talks.
Kosovo
Kosovo status talks to start by year's end, top UN official says
Top UN official says talks on the status of the disputed province of Kosovo should start by the end of the year.
Belgrade, Pristina entrenched over Kosovo independence as talks loom
Despite talks on the status of Kosovo to begin at the end of the year, Serbia and Kosovo are as distant as ever on any agreements.
In Liberia, football star still leads in race for presidency
Polls showing soccer star George Weah losing ground but remaining atop the field of 22 presidential candidates.
Macedonia hopes to be in E.U. by 2010, says Crvenkovski
Despite potential delays, Macedonia eager to achieve EU membership
OSCE official calls on Russia to withdraw its forces from Moldova
OSCE official calls on Russia to remove 1,500 troops stationed in the pro-Russian separatist province of Trans-Dniester
Romanian leader promises to help Moldova resolve separatist crisis
Romanian President pledges to assist Moldova in resolving the crisis in Trans-Dniester.
Morocco relocating Western Sahara hunger strikers
Thirty Western Saharan prisoners on hunger strike will be transferred to a jail in their territory to face trial.
French prime minister urges "direct dialogue" between Morocco, Algeria over Western Sahara
Prime minister of France urges direct dialogue between Morrocco and Algeria to solve their long-running disagreement over the Western Sahara.
Maoist rebels abduct hundreds of students, teachers in northwest Nepal
Maoist rebels have abducted hundreds of students and teachers from dozens of schools in northwest Nepal, says human rights group.
Nepal's rebels say army executed their members; army claims self-defense
Maoist rebels accuse army of executing members; army claims self-defense in ambush.
Eight suspected Maoists killed in southwest Nepal; 12 surrender
Eight Maoist rebels killed since ceasefire.
Muslim-led party joins Serbia's governing coalition
A Muslim-led party joined Serbian governing coalition Thursday, providing necessary support to Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government.
Belgrade official: next defense minister must devote all time, energy to capturing Mladic
Top official says capturing Mladic a top priority for next defense minister.
Montenegrin president: independence must not be sacrificed for speedier EU membership
Montengerin leader will not sacrafice independence for EU membership.
Outsiders, Islamic clerics told to leave Somaliland
Sri Lanka warned to keep war rhetoric down, Tigers take flak
Top foreign aid donors warned Sri Lankan political parties against undermining a fragile peace process and accused Tamil Tiger rebels of carrying out political assassinations to undermine a truce.
Tamil rebel strike shuts Sri Lankan port town; Parliament extends emergency rule
Tamil Tigers strike to protest tough emergency laws and a Buddha statue built in a public square causes port town to shut down.
Minority Tamil to run for Sri Lanka's presidency
A.R. Arudpragasam, a former militant rebel, said he would run in November 17 presedential election.
Sudan's new FM proposes plan to end Darfur conflict
Foreign Minister Lam Akol Ajawin said his former rebel movement from the south of the country would propose a solution to the Darfur conflict to the government in Khartoum.
Southern Sudan's autonomous legislature will meet for the first time next week
Southern Sudan's autonomous legislature will meet for the first time next week, according to a decree issued Tuesday by Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Former south Sudan rebels to join Darfur peace talks
Former southern Sudan rebels are to join peace talks aimed at ending more than 30 months of civil war in the western region of Darfur.
Genocide in Darfur: A Legal Analysis Click here to access the PILPG Report.
Issue Prepared by Alex Rafla, John Sannar, and Alice Shukla.
OSCE stops Karabakh monitoring mission after shot
Agence France Presse, 9/20/05
A ceasefire monitoring mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) along frontlines between Azerbaijani soldiers and ethnic Armenian forces in the volatile Nagorno-Karabakh enclave was stopped Tuesday after gunfire.
"During the monitoring today, a single shot was heard by both OSCE groups conducting monitoring along the frontline. The monitoring was stopped," Olexandr Samarski, an OSCE field assistant, told AFP.
The monitors were near the village of Karakhanbeili in the Fizulinsky region. The OSCE conducts regular monitoring missions along the frontlines, where a ceasefire has held since 1994 despite frequent shooting incidents between the two sides.
Karabakh, a mountainous chunk of Azerbaijan's territory predominantly inhabited by Armenians, unilaterally declared independence from Baku in 1991, unleashing a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that killed some 25,000 people.
Armenia bolsters air force with 10 Russian fighters
Agence France Presse, 9/26/05
Armenia has taken delivery of 10 new Russian-made SU fighter jets as part of a programme to update its air force, Armenian Defence Minister Seiran Shakhsuvaryan said Monday.
"The purpose... is to update the air fleet. We previously had a total of six such fighters," the minister told AFP. He added that the purchase was in compliance with international agreements limiting the size of conventional forces in Europe.
Armenia's arch-rival Azerbaijan has been building up its armed forces, saying it may one day need to use force to retake territory seized by Armenia in a conflict in the 1990s -- should bilateral talks on the problem fail. Of the three South Caucasus countries -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- Armenia has maintained the closest ties with Moscow since the end of Soviet rule in 1991.
UN appeals to Burundi rebels not to disrupt local elections
Agence France Presse, 9/22/05
The United Nations on Thursday appealed to Burundi's last active Hutu rebel group not to disrupt this week's village elections, the last in a series of polls aimed at bringing lasting peace to the war-ravaged nation.
Nureldin Satti, the deputy chief of the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB), urged the National Liberation Forces (FNL) to keep to a pledge to allow Friday's elections for village councillors to go ahead without violence. "I urge the FNL to hold to their promises and not disturb tomorrow's elections," he told reporters at ONUB's weekly news conference in Bujumbura.
Friday's polls have attracted little interest and have no national significance since a new government was chosen in municipal and national elections in June and July but are the final step in a peace process intended to bring a final end to Burundi's 12-year ethnically driven civil war.
The FNL is the only one of the country's seven rebel groups not to have signed onto the peace process which saw ex-Hutu guerrilla leader Pierre Nkurunziza sworn in as Burundi's first post-transition president in August.
The FNL has refused to recognize the legitimacy of Nkurunziza's government and rejected calls to join peace talks but while it continues to mount small attacks in and around the capital, it largely held to vows not to disrupt earlier elections.
However, the army said Thursday that security forces will be deployed in strength around the 6,200 polling stations for Friday's elections that will see nearly 45,000 candidates compete for 11,615 village councillor seats in 2,923 constituencies. Satti said ONUB, which has a contingent of some 5,500 peacekeepers in Burundi would also station troops in various areas of the country to ensure that Friday's polls were peaceful.
Burundi to cap democratic process with village polls
Agence France Presse, 9/22/05
Burundians on Friday vote for village councillors in the last leg of series of polls that peaked last month with the election of the small central African nation's first post-transitional president.
The low-key polls have little national significance, have been free of the serious campaigning that characterised municipal and parliamentary elections in June and July and have stirred little interest among voters. Yet they are the final step in the complex election process under peace plans intended to bring a final end to Burundi's 12-year ethnically driven civil war that has claimed some 300,000 lives. Nearly 45,000 contesters have been registered to battle for 11,615 seats across 2,923 constituencies, according to the national electoral commission.
"There are little or no political stakes in this election," said Willy Nindorera, a Burundi analyst, adding that voters are disinterested compared to earlier polls. "Even the new government seems to be totally disinterested," he said. "It did not even call on the people to vote."
According to Burundi's power-sharing constitution endorsed in February, the councillors, who will hold the country's lowest-ranking elective offices and arbitrate local disputes, are not allied to any political party.
"Contrary to other offices, there are no ethnic quotas in Friday's election, which also confirms why politicians have given it little importance," said Nindorera.
Under the new constitution, the majority Hutus who account for 85 percent of the population and minority Tustsis, who account for 14 percent, have a 60-40 power share in the new government. Last month, the marathon polls peaked with the election of former Hutu rebel leader President Pierre Nkurunziza and officially ended a four-year transitional period. His election also marked a return to democratic rule in Burundi where war erupted in 1993 after the assassination of the country's first democratically elected president, a Hutu, by members of the Tutsi-dominated military.
All of Burundi's former Hutu rebel groups have been participating in the election with the exception of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), which has continued with armed raids and disrupted the municipal elections. Late Tuesday, two police officers and one civilian were seriously injured in an attack south of the capital Bujumbura that the army blamed on FNL insurgents.
But army spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza downplayed possibilities that the FNL would disrupt Friday's elections."Nothing at the moment shows that the FNL are planning to disrupt Friday's elections," he said, adding that security forces would be deployed in and around the 6,200 polling stations for Friday' vote.
Last Friday, the UN Operation in Burundi begun deploying peacekeepers to boost the army and the police in providing security during the country's last election.
Chechen lawyer wins Rafto Prize for human rights
Agence France Presse, 9/22/05
Chechen lawyer Lida Yusupova was on Thursday awarded the Norwegian Rafto prize, which each year goes to a human rights advocate, for her work documenting human rights violations in Chechnya.
Yusupova, 44, is in charge of the Grozny office of the Russian human rights group Memorial, "one of very few such organisations that continue to operate in Chechnya", the Rafto Foundation said. "The incidents that Yusupova and her fellow co-workers in Memorial have documented are serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Russian federal and Chechen security forces, committed without fear of legal consequences," it said, citing "extrajudicial killings, enforced 'disappearances' of civilians, illegal arrests and torture."
"Amongst Chechens today, there are widespread feelings of despair caused by the terror, hatred directed towards those exercising the terror, as well as a sense of having been neglected and abandoned by the entire world," it said. A lawyer by training, Yusupova has been active in bringing lawsuits regarding human rights violations to Chechnya's courts.
In 1995, during the first war in Chechnya, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia received the Rafto Prize for its efforts for a peaceful solution to the conflict. "Ten years later, the Rafto Prize to Lida Yusupova serves as a reminder that the conflict remains unresolved and the possibility of a negotiated settlement now appears more remote than ever before," the foundation said.
The foundation, named after Norwegian professor Thorolf Rafto who spent most of his life fighting for human rights, created the prize in 1986. The prize consists of a cheque of 50,000 kroner (7,855 dollars, 6,430 euros) and has often been awarded to little-known people in an attempt to encourage their continued work. Four recipients of the Rafto have gone on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
UN says Chechnya mines kill 641
Agence France Presse, 9/26/05
Mines and unexploded ammunition have killed 641 civilians and wounded 2,340 in the Russian republic of Chechnya since 1995, according to a report by the United Nations office for co-ordinating humanitarian aid to Chechnya obtained Monday by AFP.
The figures, based on reports from the inhabitants of Chechnya through 15 special mailboxes organised by the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, included 125 children killed and 612 injured.
Chechnya's pro-Russian president Alu Alkhanov said 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) of farmland still need to be de-mined in the Caucasian republic, the Interfax news agency said.
De-mining is one of the reasons invoked by the Russian government for its continued massive troop presence in the republic, where a 1994-1996 war was followed by a new Russian campaign against separatist fighters and Islamic rebels in 1999.
Congo Refugees Return, Determined to Vote
Associated Press, 9/21/05
Thousands of Congolese refugees are piling their furniture, bicycles, pots and pans onto barely seaworthy boats and heading back to their war-ravaged homeland, determined to vote in presidential elections.
"I want peace, I want to vote and I want a good life for my children," said Mukato Selemani after crossing Lake Tanganyika aboard a blue barge from Tanzania on Saturday, nine years after fleeing pillaging gunmen. "A real citizen will not miss the elections."
Selemani, 29, does not even know if his village still exists. But he joined the thousands of refugees making the journey back home in hopes of voting in the election next year - their vast mineral-rich country's first in nearly half a century.
While the vote is not until next year, Congolese must register now if they want to participate. Authorities began registering voters in June for a constitutional referendum later this year that will pave the way for the 2006 presidential vote. The registration process, staggered by region, began in South Kivu province last week. The government expects to register about half of the nation's 60 million people.
President Joseph Kabila's transitional government, based in the distant capital, Kinshasa, is hoping the long-awaited ballot will usher in a peaceful era after back-to-back wars that began in 1996 ended in 2002. Millions died, most from hunger and disease.
Conflicts in neighboring Burundi and Rwanda have also spilled over into Congo. Much of the east remains lawless, however, and banditry and militia attacks are commonplace. An estimated 380,000 refugees still live in neighboring African countries, said Jan Hesemann, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Congo.
On the other side of Lake Tanganyika, 150,000 of them are living in Tanzania, hoping to return to the toppled walls and roofless churches that have become symbols of Congo's conflict. Over the last month, around 4,000 refugees have boarded private boats and barges, crossing the lake and landing on the beach in Baraka, a small town a three-hour drive south of the provincial capital, Uvira.
From there, the U.N. is helping refugees to return to their villages.
Wading onto the beach in Baraka on Saturday with a mattress over his head, Selemani said he hoped to find a few old friends in his village, perhaps even his tiny patch of land to cultivate once more. He said he was determined to begin life anew, even if it means rebuilding his home, brick by brick. Selemani, who fled Congo in 1996, said he was tired of eating U.N. maize and beans.
The villages to which some refugees are returning resemble ancient ruins, their homes crumbling.
"Help me build my wall, I am too weak to do it alone," pleaded Alinoti Bukumba, an 80-year-old grandfather in tattered orange pants who returned from Tanzania a month ago, squatting in a doorway blasted open so wide that it now exposes half his house. "We cannot live like this," said Bukumba, who cited the elections as the main reason for coming home.
Levantine Dambare, a widow who returned from Tanzania last week with five hungry children, lost her husband and her house years ago when rebels from Burundi battled local militia for her village, reducing her home to a pile of rubble and turning her green fields into charred black patches. Her father now helps her survive. But like many who have returned, Dambare is enthusiastic about participating in the upcoming elections, which she hopes will bring peace to the region and help her people rebuild their lives.
"We need someone who can lead us properly," said Dambare, 36, in a red dress printed with bright blue flowers, as her children ran around her with poorly cut umbilical cords protruding from their bellies. "Only when people return and are free to choose their leader, will we agree that peace has returned to Congo," she said.
Uganda says top rebel seeks refuge in DR Congo
Agence France Presse, 9/23/05
The deputy chief of Uganda's notorious rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Vincent Otti, is seeking political asylum in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda's defense minister said Friday.
Otti, the longtime deputy to elusive LRA supremo Joseph Kony, has requested asylum from authorities in Kinshasa who have yet to make any decision on the matter, the minister, Amama Mbabazi, told reporters in Kampala. "Otti's group has declared their presence in the DRC and have requested political asylum," he said. "I am waiting to hear their (the DRC government's) response."
In Kinshasa, however, DRC government spokesman Henri Mova Sakanyi denied that the authorities had received any such request from Otti and said the government had no interest in having Ugandan insurgents on its territory. "We have not received any asylum request concerning Ugandan rebels nor have we gotten any request for the extradition of LRA rebels on Congolese soil," he told AFP. "It is absolutely not in our interest to have foreign rebels on our soil."
Mbabazi would not say whether the DRC had confirmed receipt of the alleged asylum request from Otti who, according to Kampala, fled southern Sudan with about 60 fighters into the DRC last week under pressure from Ugandan troops. "We have told the authorities in the DRC about the LRA's presence, but they already knew about it," he said, adding that the rebels had crossed into the DRC at a village known as Aba.
Mbabazi could not say where Otti and the fighters were at the moment or how or when they requested asylum from Kinshasa, which has in the past complained about the presence of DRC rebel groups on Ugandan soil. On Monday, the Ugandan army said Otti and the fighters had fled Ugandan military operations in southern Sudan -- carried out under a 2002 agreement between Kampala and Khartoum -- into the jungles of the eastern DRC.
"It is possible that they are asking for political asylum in order to avoid any harassment and have some time to rest and re-organize or it could be a deception," Mbazazi said. "Whatever it is, we will find out soon."
Despite the LRA presence in the eastern DRC, the minister said Uganda had no plans to send troops into the country as it did in the late 1990s. "We think that the Congolese authorities and MONUC (the UN mission in DR Congo) will do the needful," he said. "So therefore it will not be necessary to take action in self defense."
In addition to his comments about Otti, Mbabazu said the LRA chief, Kony, remained holed up in southern Sudan and that Kampala was asking Khartoum for permission to pursue him. "Kony is 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Red Line and we have asked the Sudanese government to engage them," he said.
The Red Line is the border up to which Khartoum allows the Ugandan army to launch military operations against the LRA in southern Sudan under the three-year-old agreement.
Also Friday, the Ugandan army claimed it had killed 15 LRA fighters -- including two commanders -- in southern Sudan, who were in a group of about 30, but the claims could not be independently confirmed.
"This morning we cornered them at the banks of River Ateti and killed 15 of them," at a point about 60 kilometres north of Uganda-Sudan border, army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Shaban Bantariza told AFP by phone.
For nearly two decades, the LRA has operated bases in both northern Uganda and southern Sudan from where they launch brutal attacks on villages in both countries, displacing masses of people. The group took over leadership of a rebellion in northern Uganda in 1988 and vowed to overthrow the government of President Yoweri Museveni and replace it with one based on the biblical Ten Commandments. The LRA is, however, notorious for atrocities committed against civilians and abducting villagers as bearers, child soldier conscripts and sex slaves.
The conflict has displaced more than 1.6 million people, who are living in crowded and unhealthy camps in northern Uganda, most of which are prone to attacks.
Democratic Republic of Congo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the DR Congo Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Georgia, South Ossetia trade accusations over shelling that wounded 10
Associated Press, 9/21/05
Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia traded accusations Wednesday over shelling that broke out on the 15th anniversary of the separatist province's declaration of independence.
Ten people were wounded in the attack in the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, on Tuesday, including a 2-year-old who sustained grave chest wounds and was sent to Russia for treatment, said Ismel Shaov, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry in the North Ossetia region, just across the border from South Ossetia.
South Ossetian authorities accused Georgian forces of staging the shelling. But Givi Targamadze, chairman of the Georgian parliament's defense and national security committee, called the shelling a "provocation" by the South Ossetian side, "shooting at their own population." He said Georgia has high hopes for peaceful negotiations - now involving the United States - to settle the conflict.
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, condemned the shelling and called for an urgent investigation. "The firing of heavy weapons into civilian areas is not only a serious breach of the cease-fire agreement, but it is also against all norms of civilized behavior and decency. I have no hesitation in totally condemning this act", he said, without indicating which side he believed to be at fault.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday invited the Vienna-based OSCE, which is involved in efforts to resolve the separatist conflict, to investigate the incident. "The president expressed serious concern over the incident and instructed local military and Interior Ministry officials to fully cooperate with the OSCE and to take all necessary measures to find out the truth and punish those responsible," said a statement from his office.
Meanwhile, another separatist leader, Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh - who was in South Ossetia for the independence celebrations - ordered his republic's forces on a heightened state of alert, the Defense Ministry in Abkhazia said. A duty officer at the Abkhazian Defense Ministry, Valery Kandzhariya, said that the military had put the order into effect immediately.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from central government control during wars in the 1990s. Tensions remain high, with Saakashvili vowing to resume control over the rebellious regions, both of which enjoy strong support from Russia.
Separatist South Ossetia region calls off talks with Georgia amid rising tension
Associated Press, 9/26/05
The separatist province of South Ossetia called off talks with Georgia that had been planned for Wednesday, as tensions rose amid mutual accusations of responsibility for shelling that wounded up to 10 people in the South Ossetian capital.
"Unfortunately, Tbilisi hasn't acknowledged the fact of the shelling, and that was our condition for holding the meeting," a member of South Ossetia's separatist government, Boris Chochiyev, said Monday. The two-day talks were to have opened Wednesday in Vladikavkaz, capital of Russia's North Ossetia region.
In a separate statement, South Ossetian separatist authorities also claimed Monday that Georgian forces used U.S. M-16 rifles in the shelling - a claim which Georgia's Defense Ministry spokeswoman Nana Intskirveli shrugged off as "utterly absurd." Georgia has denied responsibility for the shelling and accused South Ossetia of breaching commitments by parading heavy weaponry and personnel from illegal paramilitaries during its independence day celebration on Sept. 20.
Georgia's minister for conflict settlement, Georgy Khaindrava, meanwhile alleged that Russia had illegally supplied South Ossetia with heavy weaponry it had paraded during the celebration. "Moscow is supposed to be acting in the role of a guarantor of peaceful settlement of the conflict," Khaindrava said. "At the very least, it's a strange position."
South Ossetia has run its own affairs - without international recognition - since it broke away from central government control in an 18-month war that ended in 1992. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed to bring South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia, back into the fold.
Indonesian military completes first stage pullout under Aceh peace pact
Agence France Presse, 9/25/05
The Indonesian military on Sunday completed the first stage of its pullout from Aceh province under the terms of peace pact with rebels to end decades of violence.
Under the August 15 agreement in Helsinki between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the government is withdrawing troops while the rebels disarm in a process witnessed by foreign monitors.
"This is the last wave of withdrawals from Aceh in the first phase, so that the total (of soldiers pulled out) reached 25 percent, in proportion to the weapons surrendered by the GAM," Aceh military chief Major General Supiadin said at Krueng Geukeuh port in North Aceh where the 1,316 soldiers were given a send off ceremony.
Under the peace deal, the GAM has to surrender a total of 840 firearms in four stages until the end of the year. In return the government will pull out all its non-local military and police unit, leaving only 14,700 soldiers and 9,100 police.
In the first phase, the GAM had to surrender 210 firearms or 25 percent of its arsenal while the military has to pull out 8,500 troops, or 25 percent of its reinforcement forces in Aceh.
The GAM surrendered 279 weapons between September 15 and 17. The troop pull out was witnessed by representatives of the GAM as well as of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) which is monitoring the implementation of the peace pact in Aceh.
The AMM consists of about 240 monitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union, which is on its first peace-monitoring mission in Asia. The 1,316 soldiers, from three battalions, will return to their homebases in West Sumatra and Riau province and the city of Yogyakarta in Central Java, Supiadin said.
Observers see the Helsinki agreement as the best chance yet of ending the conflict which has claimed about 15,000 lives, most of them civilians. GAM began its struggle for an independent state on the western tip of Sumatra island in 1976.
Under the accord, GAM dropped its long-held demand for independence in exchange for a form of local government in Aceh, a province of about four million people. The second phase of disarmament and troop withdrawal is scheduled to start on October 15, but Supiadin said the government hoped it could proceed earlier, before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which this year begins on October 4.
Aceh Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Aceh Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
ICoast's Gbagbo calls for new election date amid plans for talks
Agence France Presse, 9/20/05
Ivory Coast must choose a new date for elections, President Laurent Gbagbo said even as new talks were being organized by international bodies grown weary of the west African state's crisis.
"If we think October 30 is too soon and that the rebels did not disarm... we will ask them when they will disarm and we will organize elections," Gbagbo told a rally of 10,000 young faithful late Monday, on the third anniversary of the country's armed rebellion.
"We are ready to go towards elections and we are in a hurry to go to elections," added Gbagbo, who said he had written to the country's UN monitors to ask for talks. "We want a democracy; not a kalashnikov-cracy."
Presidential polls had been set for October 30, bringing an end to a five-year Gbagbo regime that has been characterized by political impasse and punctuated by outbreaks of violence, particularly since a failed bid to oust him in September 2002 triggered months of civil war.
Both the country's rebels and pro-government militias were to have disarmed before elections would occur, but neither side has fulfilled its commitments.
Voter rolls have yet to be tallied, making it all but impossible for the elections to take place, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said earlier this month.
Regional grouping ECOWAS would hold a summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja before the end of the month to wrangle an end to the conflict that has ruined what was once west Africa's strongest economy, UN diplomatic sources told AFP in New York late Monday.
A meeting of the African Union's security council would follow two weeks later in Addis Ababa, possibly to weigh whether to suspend mediation efforts by South African President Thabo Mbeki as has been demanded by Ivory Coast's rebels and hinted by AU chief Olusegun Obasanjo, president of Nigeria.
In an address to the UN General Assembly at the weekend, Obasanjo said the AU would undertake a review of the Ivorian situation, which could possibly sound the death knell for Mbeki's mediation on behalf of the pan-African body. On a new round of shuttle diplomacy, which was to take him to Abuja Tuesday for talks with Obasanjo, rebel leader Guillaume Soro said that his followers were counting on their regional brothers to help broker a solution.
Mbeki is "complacent and biased" in favor of his Ivorian counterpart, Soro told AFP in an interview in the Niger capital Niamey late Monday, and only west Africans could navigate the crisis.
The rebels are counting on time to run out on the Gbagbo presidency, using a strict interpretation of the constitution to infer that a power vacuum will arise from October 30, irrespective of whether elections are held.
"After October 30, Gbagbo will no longer be president," Soro said following his talks with Niger President Mamadou Tandja, current chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
"The situation is growing more tense. Gbagbo is isolated; he can count only on his militias, who are creating a genocide," Soro said. "The conditions for peace are really not good."
Deepening political crisis in Ivory Coast under threat of UN sanctions
Agence France Presse, 9/22/05
Ivory Coast is churning deeper into political crisis, with President Laurent Gbagbo rejecting west African mediation, renewed threats of sanctions by the UN Security Council and the looming failure of presidential polls.
The deadlock in the divided state, once a bright light in an otherwise troubled region, has again roused fears of a return to violence once the October 30 poll date passes, likely without one ballot being cast. "The crisis is growing less manageable, with a president who rejects all mediation and an opposition calling for new and different mediation," one weary western diplomat observed Thursday.
"We are in a crucial phase," added another. "And certainly the African Union is not doing the debate any favors by not clearly saying who is in charge of the (mediation) -- which will only create tensions and irritations."
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current AU chairman, has backed involvement by west African regional bloc ECOWAS, implicitly sidelining the efforts of President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to act as a mediator, even as South Africa insists there has been no disengagement.
But Gbagbo has said that he has fulfilled all of his commitments to the tattered peace process, and has negated any further involvement in mediation efforts by his west African counterparts, even as a new summit is being planned in Nigeria's capital Abuja of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
It is a bold, but risky tactic for the Ivorian leader, who has also said that he plans to remain in office until elections take place, the almost certain failure of the October 30 polls not withstanding.
"(Gbagbo) already has a mediator at his disposition, Mbeki, who has delivered him the goods, and so has no reason to change," a western diplomat said.
"Besides, he has no interest in falling prey to his west African counterparts, since everyone knows that the rebels find themselves at greater ease with them," added another.
The unarmed opposition including former president Henri Konan Bedie, who returned to Ivory Coast from France earlier this month to a thunderous welcome, has also issued its support for ECOWAS mediation, which will only widen the gulf between Gbagbo and his opponents, including the rebels who maintain control of the mostly-Muslim north.
Time is of the essence to resolve the current imbroglio, after the announcement of an imminent visit by the UN Security Council's sanctions pointman, Greek UN Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis. His trip, the date of which has not been confirmed, is considered a major step towards imposing targeted sanctions on political players suspected of blocking the peace process.
Included on a much-circulated list of sanctions targets are Gbagbo, his wife, lawmaker Simone Ehevet Gbagbo, and rebel leader Guillaume Soro.The rebels are also keeping a close eye on the calendar, convinced that a power vacuum will follow from October 31 when, according to their interpretation of the constitution, Gbagbo must step down.
UN peacekeepers operating in the world's top cocoa producer lent their support Thursday to new sub-regional and international initiatives to restore peace, pleading for the unlikely return of consensus to stop the country's downward slide."There is no military solution to this crisis," warned UN operation chief Pierre Schori.
African Union summit on Ivory Coast crisis planned for next month
Agence France Presse, 9/26/05
Leaders from the 15 members of the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council are to meet to discuss the situation in volatile Ivory Coast amid a row over the role of west African nations in peace efforts, an official said Monday.
The October 6 summit in Addis Ababa will also include leaders from Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose mediation efforts are now being snubbed by embattled Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, the official said.
In addition, the ECOWAS leaders will this week hold an extraordinary meeting in Nigeria's capital Abuja to find a way out of the Ivorian crisis and will present a report to next month's AU summit. The two meetings follow the rebel New Forces' rejection of a South African-led mediation and accused President Thabo Mbeki of partiality in the talks.
The rebel forces which hold the northern half of Ivory Coast -- which has been divided in two since a brief civil war in 2003 -- have warmed up to an ECOWAS mediation which Gbagbo has rejected.
Politicians from Kashmir's Indian, Pakistani sides hold first-ever direct talks
Associated Press, 9/20/05
Leading politicians from the Indian and Pakistani sides of divided Kashmir held their first-ever direct talks Tuesday, trying to carve a role for themselves in the peace process between the rival countries.
Participants said the one-day talks would lead to the opening of a crucial backdoor channel in the peace process between India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed rivals that have been engaged for nearly two years in talks aimed at ending six decades of hostility. Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both, lies at the heart of that rivalry - and Kashmiri leaders from both sides say they must be given a bigger role in the peace process if the two countries are serious about true reconciliation.
"When you discuss Kashmir, Kashmiris have to be part of it," said Abdul Ghani Bhatt, leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the leading alliance of moderate separatists from the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.
The Hurriyat parties are not part of Kashmir's armed insurgency - a rebellion against Indian rule that has killed about 66,000 people, most of them civilians, since it began in 1989. No insurgents took part in Tuesday's meeting. "The climate (in Kashmir) is far better. The steps are in the right direction," Bhat said. But "we want the steps to be more brisk, so that we can achieve peace faster."
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with Hurriyat leaders earlier this month in an effort to build on gains, such as a decrease in violence in Kashmir, that have resulted from the India-Pakistan peace process.
But there are sharp divisions among Kashmiri leaders from both sides of the border. Some are pro-India, some pro-Pakistan, and others favor an independent Kashmir. Some say the Islamic militants in Indian Kashmir are "freedom fighters," while others call them "terrorists."
Few agree on how the border dispute over Kashmir can be resolved, or how the insurgency will end. "Right now, no one trusts anybody - whether it is India and Pakistan, or among us Kashmiris," said 80-year-old Sardar Muhammed Abdul Qayyum Khan, head of the ruling Muslim Conference party of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.
Khan said he wanted more confidence-building measures that would touch the lives of ordinary Kashmiris, millions of whom had their families divided when the subcontinent - including Kashmir - was partitioned at independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan and India have since fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. A twice-monthly bus service that started in April between Kashmir's two parts has begun to bring together divided families, many of whom haven't met for decades. But "this should have been followed by more buses, more access, new routes," Khan said.
Kashmir Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kashmir Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Kosovo status talks to start by year's end, top UN official says
Associated Press, 9/26/05
Talks on the status of the disputed province of Kosovo should start by the end of the year, the top U.N. official said Monday.
Soren Jessen-Petersen, who administers the troubled province, said that the "clear consensus" emerging from talks with Western officials was that the process of finding a solution for Kosovo must press ahead. "I made the point that the status quo is unsustainable," he said upon return to Kosovo after a week of talks with U.N. and other Western officials in New York.
"Based on everything that I heard, that I discussed ... I'm now very confident that by the end of the year - that is within a couple of months - status discussions will be under way," said Jessen-Petersen.
Kosovo officially remains part of Serbia-Montenegro, the union that replaced Yugoslavia. It has been under U.N. and NATO administration since a 78-day NATO-led air war that halted a Serb crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in 1999.
The province's majority ethnic Albanians want full independence, but the Serb minority insists Kosovo remain part of Serbia-Montenegro.
Jessen-Petersen said that a report by a U.N special envoy outlining recommendations to Secretary-General Kofi Annan on whether to recommend a start of status talks is imminent.Following that report, the Security Council is expected to meet in mid-October on Annan's recommendation, he added.
Belgrade, Pristina entrenched over Kosovo independence as talks loom
Agence France Presse, 9/25/05
As preparations for the long-awaited talks on Kosovo's future status gather momentum, the chances of a breakthrough compromise between Belgrade and Pristina seem as distant as ever.
Kosovo, which is still technically part of Serbia, has been administered by the United Nations since former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to crush separatism was ended in June 1999 after a NATO bombing campaign.
The key issue in the negotiations expected to start within weeks, more than six years after the Kosovo war ended, is whether or not the Serbian province should be allowed to become independent.
Pristina says it is not even willing to discuss the subject with Belgrade, which remains vehemently opposed to any form of independence.
"Unfortunately, by still insisting only on independence, the Kosovo Albanians have not moved from the trenches from the period before 1999," Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic told a session of the UN General Assembly this week.
His comments came after the Serbian government revealed for the first time a detailed explanation of its offer to Pristina of "more than autonomy, less than independence".
The Belgrade policy was to allow the Albanian side in the troubled province to have "executive, legal and legislative power" while remaining within Serbia's boundaries, its new Kosovo envoy Sanda Raskovic-Ivic said.
The recently appointed chair of Serbia's Coordination Centre for Kosovo said Belgrade's "compromise" included making Kosovo a demilitarised zone in order to prevent the formation of paramilitary units and deny Serbian forces any presence.
Kosovo's political leaders responded by flatly rejecting the proposals.
"The establishment of the state of Kosovo is an issue which is non-negotiable with Serbia," said the province's Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi.
"We will negotiate with Serbia agreements on many issues of common interest such as the cultural and religious heritage of Kosovo Serbs, guarantees for the minorities in Kosovo and refugees.
"(However) we can negotiate about the future status of Kosovo only with the international community," Kosumi said.
"The international community should not waste its time and money in finding a solution that does not match with Kosovars," said Nexhat Daci, Kosovo's parliamentary speaker.
The talks on Kosovo's future status cannot start until after UN special envoy Kai Eide presents UN Secretary General Kofi Annan a report on whether the province has met a series of international democratic standards.
They are expected to be held in the form of shuttle diplomacy between Belgrade and Pristina starting in November and are likely to be mediated by delegates headed by former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, according to Serbia-Montenegro's human rights minister, Rasim Ljajic.
A source in Belgrade close to the international community told AFP this week that it seemed clear from the preparations for the talks that the negotiations were likely to lead to "conditional independence".
"That means internal and foreign affairs transferred to Kosovo's government and everything else meaning practical independence, but without any international recognition," said the source, who wished to remain unnamed.
All powers would be transferred to Pristina but Kosovo would remain a "protectorate" of the European Union concerning human and minority rights for several years, after which the province's status would be reviewed again.
The negotiations are expected to last for several months.
Kosovo Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Kosovo Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
OSCE official calls on Russia to withdraw its forces from Moldova
Associated Press, 9/22/05
A representative from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Thursday repeated a demand for Russia to unconditionally withdraw its 1,500 troops from Moldova.
The troops, leftovers from the Soviet Army, are stationed in the pro-Russian separatist province of Trans-Dniester, which broke away from Moldova after a short war that ended in 1992. Russia, which also took over thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition from the Soviet Army, had pledged to withdraw its forces and materiel by the end of 2003.
However, the removal of weapons was halted last year after renewed tensions between separatists and Moldovan authorities.
"We regret that the weapons' evacuation was halted," said William Hill, OSCE's representative in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau. "I often bring this up with my Russian colleagues, but the situation remains blocked," he added.
Moldova's government has also asked Russia to pull its troops out, calling them "an illegal occupation force."
However, Russian military officials recently said the Kremlin would keep its troops in the region indefinitely, citing rising tensions in the region. Moldova recently offered broad autonomy status to Trans-Dniester in exchange for peaceful reunification, but separatist authorities have criticized the plan because it calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Romanian leader promises to help Moldova resolve separatist crisis
Associated Press, 9/25/05
Romanian President Traian Basescu pledged Sunday to assist neighboring Moldova in resolving a separatist crisis and help the country to build stronger ties with the European Union.
Moldova, which was a Romanian province until the Soviet Union annexed it in 1940, has struggled for years to reach a settlement with its eastern, Russian-speaking province of Trans-Dniester, which broke away in 1992.
"Romania will seek a solution to the Trans-Dniester crisis according to European standards," Basescu said after a meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin. He said Romania opposed the separation of Moldova and would continue to work with international organizations, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to assist in the settlement process.
Voronin threatened to pull out of settlement talks with the separatists unless they accept the European Union and the United States as full mediators. Currently, only Russia, which often sides with the separatists, Ukraine and the OSCE mediate the talks. Moldova has pushed for more Western involvement in the talks. Voronin added that the Trans-Dniester issue was holding Moldova back in its efforts to join the EU.
"If the three D's - demilitarization, democratization and decriminalization - of Trans-Dniester cannot be achieved, Moldova can't be a part of the EU," he said.
Basescu pledged to assist Moldova in building closer ties with the EU, which Romania is scheduled to join in 2007. He said Romania would not use its chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council to sponsor a resolution on Trans-Dniester.
"Our one-month chairmanship will not be long enough to ensure agreement on a resolution," Basescu said. "And there are five states who can veto it," he added. Russia, which has 1,500 troops in Trans-Dniester, supports the separatists, as it views the region as a strategic location. The Russian government has refused the Moldova government's demands to pull its troops out of the region.
Maoist rebels abduct hundreds of students, teachers in northwest Nepal
Agence France Presse, 9/22/05
Suspected Maoist rebels have abducted hundreds of students and teachers from dozens of schools in northwest Nepal, a human rights group said Thursday.
The abductions happened between Saturday and Wednesday in Accham district 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the capital Kathmandu.
The students and teachers, mainly from secondary schools, were forcibly marched to an undisclosed location for indoctrination by the rebels, a human rights official said. "We have received information from our bureau that the Maoists have abducted hundreds of students, teachers and other civilians from scores of villages in Achham district," said Subodh Pyakurel, president of the Informal Sector Service Centre human rights group. Pyakurel said "they were taken as flocks of sheep to undisclosed locations."
Police also reported the abduction of 60 students from a school in Dolpa district, 475 kilometres (270 miles) northwest of Kathmandu on Wednesday.
"The Maoists selected 60 sturdy looking boys and girls of grades six to 10 and abducted them," police said after a teacher at the school reached the district headquarters Dunai on Thursday.
The rebels, who are fighting to install a communist republic, regularly abduct students for indoctrination sessions and normally release them several days later.Local human rights groups and the United Nations Children's Fund have routinely condemned the abductions and have received pledges from the Maoists to halt the practice.
Pyakurel appealed to the rebels to release the children. "We appeal to the Maoists to be sincere in their words and stop abducting docile villagers, students and other civilians," Pyakurel said.
Separately, a district security officer who declined to be named, said the rebels destroyed three government buildings with explosives in southwest Nepal Tuesday after evacuating workers.
"The rebels had forced the staff to leave and set off the explosive devices destroying the offices," the official said from Doti district, 425 kilometres southwest of Kathmandu.
The rebels announced a unilateral ceasefire in early September aimed at winning support from political parties for a joint challenge to the king.
King Gyanendra sacked a four-party government in February for failing to tackle the Maoist rebellion that has claimed about 12,000 lives since 1996. In August the parties said they would hold talks with the Maoists on forming a broad front against Gyanendra provided the rebels stop killing civilians.
Nepal's rebels say army executed their members; army claims self-defense
Associated Press, 9/26/05
Nepal's communist rebels accused government troops of arresting and then executing six of their members despite the guerrillas' unilateral cease-fire, but the army said its soldiers were ambushed and returned fire.
In a statement posted on the group's Web site, the rebels claimed six of their party workers were visiting Bahadurpur, 250 kilometers (160 miles) west of the capital, Katmandu, when soldiers arrested them. They claimed the captured rebels were tortured in front of the villagers and then killed.
The Royal Nepalese Army, however, disputed the claim, saying one of its patrols came under fire in the area on Saturday and killed the rebels in a gunbattle.Two rebels also were killed Sunday near Ausidada village, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) east of Katmandu, the army said.
These were the first reported clashes between the two sides since the rebels declared a unilateral three-month cease-fire on Sept. 3 to continue peace talks aimed at ending the decade-long civil war in the Himalayan kingdom.
The government has expressed skepticism over the guerrillas' promise to temporarily lay down their arms. The rebels said they would not attack any government officials or civilians during the cease-fire, but would defend their positions.
Brig. Narendra Rawal said a 7-year-old girl was wounded when she got caught in the crossfire at Bahadurpur. She was flown to Katmandu with her parents for treatment, he said.
Five rebels were also arrested after the fighting at Bahadurpur, including a 12-year-old boy who was being used by the rebels to carry ammunition and explosives and as messenger, Rawal said.
Rebel violence in Nepal has escalated since King Gyanendra seized control of the government in February. The king said the measure was necessary to quell the communist insurgency, which has left more than 11,500 people dead.
The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting to topple the monarchy. The rebels declared cease-fires in 2001 and earlier this year, but negotiations with the government failed both times. The guerrillas have insisted on an election for a special assembly to draft a new constitution and decide whether the monarchy should be abolished. The government wants the guerrillas to give up their weapons and join mainstream politics.
Eight suspected Maoists killed in southwest Nepal; 12 surrender
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 9/26/05
Security forces have killed at least eight Maoists in southwestern Nepal less than a month after the rebels announced a ceasefire, the official media reported Monday.
In the deadliest incident since the September 3 unilateral truce, six Maoists were killed Sunday in a clash between security forces and the rebels in Palpa district, about 200 kilometres southwest of the capital, said the official news agency, RSS. The agency, quoting the Defence Ministry, said the clash followed an attack by Maoists on a security patrol. The ministry said five Maoists were detained in the operation.
Two other Maoists were also killed Sunday in the district of Tehrathum, about 250 kilometres east of the capital.
According to the Defence Ministry, the two were killed in "retaliatory" firing after the Maoists began shooting on security forces. The government has refused to heed the calls of political parties and others to reciprocate the ceasefire, saying the Maoists cannot be trusted.
Meanwhile, 12 Maoists, including the chief of the "People's Government" of Dhading, surrendered Sunday to the Dhading district administration, Nepalese media reports said Monday. Among those surrendering were the chief, the deputy chief and the secretary of the Maoist administration in the district, about 80 kilometres west of the capital.
According to Nepalese newspapers, the Maoists who surrendered said they were forced to take up posts in the Maoists' district leadership four years ago. The armed Maoist insurgency, aimed at setting up a communist republic in Nepal, began nearly a decade ago. About 13,000 people are estimated to have been killed.
Nepal Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Nepal Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Belgrade official: next defense minister must devote all time, energy to capturing Mladic
Associated Press, 9/26/05
Serbia-Montenegro's next defense minister must devote all his efforts to capturing war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, a top Belgrade official said Monday.
"Mladic's extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal is our top priority," said Rasim Ljajic, the country's human rights minister who also is coordinating cooperation with the Netherlands-based court.
A proposal last week by Serbia's conservative Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica that an army general and good friend of Mladic replace the outgoing defense minister triggered much criticism but also speculation the possible appointment of Gen. Zoran Stankovic could speed up Mladic's handover to The Hague tribunal.
Kostunica startled the Serbian public when he announced the nomination of Stankovic, former head of the Belgrade military hospital and Mladic's longtime friend. If approved, Stankovic would replace Prvoslav Davinic, who resigned amid a scandal involving the purchase of military equipment, allegedly at inflated prices.
Kostunica needs backing for the appointment from his coalition partners and also from Montenegro, the smaller republic which with Serbia forms the union that replaced Yugoslavia. Stankovic himself has said he will decide by this week whether to accept the nomination.
"I don't know if his nomination is a good thing, but he has to be determined" to hand over Mladic, Ljajic said, speaking on Belgrade's B-92 radio. "Whether Stankovic's friendship with Mladic can help remains to be seen, but the future defense minister must devote all time and energy to this."
Mladic, Bosnian Serb wartime army commander, was charged in 1995 by the U.N. tribunal with genocide for allegedly orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, and with other atrocities during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. He is believed to be hiding in Serbia with the help of army hard-liners.
Mladic's extradition is the key condition for the Balkan country's integration into European Union and NATO. "There is no other way forward for us but to hand over Mladic," Ljajic added, saying he hoped Belgrade would be able to convince chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte during her visit Thursday that the authorities are "doing all we can" to find Mladic. "Del Ponte knows what efforts we are making to arrest Mladic," Ljajic said. "They have never been more serious."
Montenegrin president: independence must not be sacrificed for speedier EU membership
Associated Press, 9/26/05
Montenegro's pro-independence President Filip Vujanovic said Monday that his republic should not give up independence from Serbia for a speedier entry into the European Union.
"I would never sacrifice our statehood for the sake of faster membership in the European Union," Vujanovic said, speaking in the Montenegrin assembly. "Joining the EU is a very long process and we have only just begun it," Vujanovic added. "No one serious would think of sacrificing independence for it."
Vujanovic, who has pledged to secure independence for his republic of about 600,000 people, expressed hope that the EU would "understand" Montenegro's position. Serbia and Montenegro are the only two republics that stayed together when the six-member Yugoslav federation broke up in a series of bloody conflicts in the 1990s.
But relations between the two, now forming the loose Serbia-Montenegro union, have worsened over Montenegro's push to stage an independence referendum in 2006. A scandal concerning a deal to purchase military gear for the union's joint army also has threatened to drive the republics further apart, after union President Svetozar Marovic, a Montenegrin, was implicated in the affair by Serbia's officials.
The EU has opposed Montenegro's independence, fearing any further redrawing of Balkan borders could lead to more bloodshed. Montenegrins themselves are deeply divided over their relation with the 9 million-strong Serbia. About half of Montenegro's population supports independence, while the other half advocates staying together with Serbia.
Vujanovic said he had long believed Montenegro could be an "equal partner" with Serbia but that "this is no longer the case."
Also Monday, deputy parliament speaker Dragan Kujovic, a high ranking official in Vujanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists, said Montenegro should "focus all attention to preparing for the referendum" and abandon efforts of compromise with Serbia.
Earlier this year, Montenegro fielded a proposal for an association between Serbia and Montenegro of two independent countries - modeled after the ex-Soviet republics' Commonwealth of Independent States. This compromise should be "completely abandoned," Kujovic said.
Outsiders, Islamic clerics told to leave Somaliland
Agence France Presse, 9/24/05
Authorities in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland on Saturday warned outsiders, particularly Islamic clerics, without legitimate business there to leave immediately following the arrest of several alleged Al-Qaeda operatives.
In a crackdown ordered after the arrests of five suspected members of Osama bin Laden's network during a shootout with police on Friday, Interior Minister Ishmail Aden said non-Somalilanders illegally in the region would be deported.
"I have instructed the (Islamic) clerics from neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia to leave the country if they do not have legal papers and are not genuine businessmen registered by relevant authorities," Aden said. "Those who have commercial interest here may stay as long as they respect the laws of the land but others must leave as soon as possible," he told a news conference. "This is strictly a security issue."
"The activities of outsiders and suspect (Somalilanders) will be scrutinized further for security purposes," Aden said, adding police in the region had arrested a total of five alleged Al-Qaeda members on Friday.
On Friday, he said three suspected extremists, including "an internationally known" Afghan-trained Al-Qaeda leader, had been detained after police raids in the capital Hargeisa that followed tips from local residents.
Three police officers were wounded in the shootout and Aden, while he declined to identify the suspects, told reporters that all five detainees were cooperating with police. Hargeisa's Ogal daily newspaper, meanwhile, said at least 100 people had been detained for questioning after the raid, but added that many had been released.
Aden said the suspects had been plotting attacks in Somaliland on local leaders and foreigners ahead of elections scheduled for September 29 in the internationally unrecognized breakaway state. He said police had recovered a large cache of weapons and communications equipment from the men, many of which were displayed by state-run television on Saturday.
Somaliland's self-styled president Dahir Riyale Kahin said Saturday that the suspected terrorists, who he claimed were based in Mogadishu, were extremely dangerous and praised the work of the security forces. "The terrorists who planned to wage attacks in Somaliland are trained and facilitated from Mogadishu," he said. "These terrorists are dangerous and planned serious attacks but their attempt was foiled by our people in uniform."
Kahin said the men had arrived from Mogadishu separately and had been discovered just a day after renting a house in Hargeisa from where they intended to plan and carry out attacks. "I congratulate our security forces for the heroic operation they fulfilled by arresting these terrorists," he said, appealing for international assistance to help prevent extremist attacks there.
Somaliland, in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the country after the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre plunged the Horn of Africa nation into anarchy. It is not internationally recognized but is seen widely as an island of relative stability in the lawless country which Western intelligence agencies fear has become a haven for Muslim extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda. In July, a respected international policy think tank said a group of Al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters led by an Afghan-trained militia leader had secured a foothold in Mogadishu and threatened to push Somalia deeper into anarchy.
"The threat of jihadi terrorism in and from Somalia is real," the International Crisis Group said in a report that described the group as "a new, ruthless and independent network with links to Al-Qaeda."
Sri Lanka warned to keep war rhetoric down, Tigers take flak
Agence France Presse, 9/20/05
Top foreign aid donors Tuesday warned Sri Lankan political parties against undermining a fragile peace process and accused Tamil Tiger rebels of carrying out political assassinations to undermine a truce.
The United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway, co-chairs of efforts to drum up international financial support for Sri Lanka's peace bid, said they were concerned about killings as well as rhetoric in campaigning for next month's presidential vote.
"The co-chairs look to all parties to refrain from violence and from statements and acts that could undermine progress toward the peaceful resolution of the conflict after the elections," they said in a statement issued after a meeting in New York on Monday.
The co-chair members stressed that a peaceful resolution to Sri Lanka's drawn out ethnic conflict could be achieved only through a negotiated political settlement based on a federal state. The ruling party's candidate for the November 17 ballot, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, has vowed to overhaul the Norwegian-led peace process and drop plans for a federal state. The co-chairs said the August 12 assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar at his Colombo home had cast a shadow over the peace process between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The killing was the "most serious challenge" since a truce agreement went into effect in February 2002, the statement said.
The co-chairs stopped short of accusing the Tigers of being responsible for his death. Colombo, however, has accused the Tigers of carrying out the killing of Kadirgamar, an ardent critic of the guerrillas, while the rebels have denied any involvement.
"This unconscionable act of terrorism casts profound doubt on the commitment of those responsible to a peaceful and political resolution of the conflict.
"The co-chairs call on the LTTE to take immediate public steps to demonstrate their commitment to the peace process and their willingness to change," the statement said. "An immediate end to political assassinations by the LTTE and an end to LTTE recruitment of child soldiers are two such steps."
The Tigers for their part have accused the government of supporting para-military groups to lead atacks against them, a charge denied by the military. "The co-chairs deplore the activities of paramilitary groups, which fuel the cycle of violence and unrest," the statement said.
"The co-chairs underscore the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government under the ceasefire agreement to disarm or relocate these groups from the north and east."
Shortly after the slaying of the foreign minister, Colombo asked for a review of the truce but efforts to find a venue acceptable to both sides for the meeting have so far failed. The Tigers agreed to travel abroad for the talks or hold them in rebel-held territory, a position rejected by the government. A proposal by Norway to have the talks at the international airport here was turned down by the Tigers.
"The co-chairs are disappointed that the LTTE have not agreed to the proposed venue for talks with the government of Sri Lanka about implementation of the ceasefire agreement," the statement said.
The LTTE's political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan told AFP in a weekend interview that they were ready to have truce talks "even in the next minute" if government representatives agreed to travel to their political headquarters at Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres (206 miles) north of here.
Tamil rebel strike shuts Sri Lankan port town; Parliament extends emergency rule
Associated Press, 9/21/05
Schools, shops and offices were closed and transportation halted in a Sri Lankan port town Wednesday, in a Tamil Tiger rebel-backed strike to protest tough emergency laws and a Buddha statue built in a public square.
Also Wednesday, Sri Lanka's Parliament voted 118-24 to extend the government's emergency rule, enacted after suspected Tamil Tiger rebels assassinated Sri Lanka's foreign minister last month.
The northeastern town of Trincomalee was partially paralyzed Wednesday by a Tamil Tiger-backed strike to protest the emergency laws and a Buddha statue recently set up in a public square. Trincomalee, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, has a crucial to Sri Lanka natural harbor and its population composition roughly equal numbers of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. Most of Sri Lanka's minority ethnic Tamils are Hindus, while mainly Buddhist Sinhalese make up the majority.
Separately, a grenade attack by suspected Tamil Tigers in Batticaloa, south of Trincomalee, wounded three soldiers and a policeman, said military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake.
The government-imposed emergency laws give security forces wide powers to arrest and detain anyone for lengthy periods without charge on suspicion of threatening national security. The protesters in Trincomalee accused the military of using such laws to harass Tamils.
The emergency laws were introduced after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on Aug. 12. The Tigers deny involvement, but the government accuses the rebels of the murder. At least 10 security force personnel and 18 civilians have been killed in the last month, mainly in eastern Sri Lanka, according to Ratnasiri Wickremenayake. As acting defense minister, Wickremenayake had presented the laws to the legislature for possible extension. He said there were 27 shooting incidents and 21 grenade attacks during the month. The military blames the Tamil rebels for the attacks.
In Trincomalee, Tamils have opposed the Buddha statue since it was set up earlier this year. Their protests have sometimes turned violent. The Tamil Tigers began an armed insurrection in 1983, demanding a separate state for Tamils in Sri Lanka's northeast and claiming discrimination by the Sinhalese.The conflict killed more than 65,000 people before a Norway-brokered cease-fire was signed in 2002. Subsequent peace talks have been stalled since 2003 due to disagreements over power-sharing.
Violence has escalated in recent months, particularly in this island nation's volatile east, killing scores of people and threatening the fragile truce.
Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation
Click here to access the Sri Lanka Negotiation Simulation prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.
Sudan's new FM proposes plan to end Darfur conflict
Agence France Presse, 9/25/05
Sudan's new Foreign Minister Lam Akol Ajawin said Sunday his former rebel movement from the south of the country would propose a solution to the Darfur conflict to the government in Khartoum.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) "has a proposal for a peaceful settlement to the Darfur issue which will be submitted to the council of ministers for presentation to the Darfur armed movements as a government proposal," Ajawin told reporters. While declining to give details of the proposal, Ajawin said it was aimed at "reaching a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem in the same way the previous government solved the question of south Sudan."
"The SPLM has good ties with the armed movements of Darfur and we want the people of Darfur to enjoy peace in the way the south now enjoys," the foreign minister said.
Since Darfur rebels launched an uprising in western Sudan in February 2003 more than 300,000 civilians have been killed and around two million people driven from their homes, according to UN relief agencies.
The two main rebel groups from Darfur called Friday for the former southern rebels of the SPLM to be included in African Union attempts to end their conflict with the Khartoum government. The SPLM, which fought a two-decade war against Khartoum, was last week included in a national unity government under a January peace accord.
Southern Sudan's autonomous legislature will meet for the first time next week
Associated Press, 9/25/05
Southern Sudan's autonomous legislature will meet for the first time next week, according to a decree issued Tuesday by Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Kiir, a former southern rebel leader who joined the national government under a January peace accord, said he had accepted nominations to the 170-member legislature made by local leaders. But he did not immediately release their names or say how many members the assembly would have.
The formation of the assembly is believed to have been the subject of intense negotiations among Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement, other southern parties and the National Congress, which rules at the national level. The southern parliament was among the provisions hammered out in negotiations that led to the January peace accord ending 21 years of war between the Arab Muslim-dominated north and the African Christian and animist south.
The accord provided for an autonomous south with its own army, national power and wealth sharing, religious freedom and a new constitution during a six-year interim period. After those six years, the 10 southern states will hold a referendum on independence.
The regional government was to have authority over the southern states administrations and work with the national government to safeguard "the rights and interests of the people of Southern Sudan." The SPLM was to have 70 percent of its seats, the National Congress, which rules at the national level, 15 percent and other southern parties were to split the remaining 15 percent.
Kiir was sworn in as first vice president in a unity government in August, replacing the late John Garang, who died July 30 in a helicopter crash. The unity government's Cabinet, with ministers from the SPLM and the National Congress, was to be announced by Wednesday, Sudan's official news agency reported Tuesday.
Negotiations over Cabinet posts reportedly had hit a stumbling block over whether SPLM or the National Congress would get the energy and mining portfolio, a key ministry as the two parties work out how to share Sudan's oil wealth.
Former south Sudan rebels to join Darfur peace talks
Agence France Presse, 9/26/05
Former southern Sudan rebels are to join peace talks aimed at ending more than 30 months of civil war in the western region of Darfur, a Sudanese daily reported Monday.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) has already named a delegation to participate in the African Union-sponsored negotiations in the Nigerian captial Abuja, Akhbar Al-Yom said. It added that the team included senior SPLM officials Deng Alor, the new minister for cabinet affairs, Yasser Arman, a northerner, and Abdul Aziz al-Hilu from the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan.
"The SPLM is now part of the national unity government and it is illogical to let the National Congress party (NCP) negotiate alone in the name of the government," the paper quoted SPLM deputy leader Riek Machar as saying.
The national unity government was formed last week, eight months after the signing of a peace agreement with Khartoum that ended more than two decades of north-south conflict that left some two million people dead. International observers have said that power and wealth-sharing arrangements in the January 9 peace deal could be used as a model to end the conflicts in Darfur and eastern Sudan.
The SPLM has expressed sympathy with the cause of the people of Darfur and their demands for greater political and economic autonomy from Khartoum. Sudan's new Foreign Minister Lam Akol Ajawin said Sunday that his SPLM movement would propose a solution to the Darfur conflict to the government in Khartoum.
The SPLM "has a proposal for a peaceful settlement to the Darfur issue which will be submitted to the council of ministers for presentation to the Darfur armed movements as a government proposal", Ajawin told reporters.
While declining to give details of the proposal, Ajawin said it was aimed at "reaching a peaceful solution to the Darfur problem in the same way the previous government solved the question of south Sudan."
The two main rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), called on Friday for the SPLM to be included in the talks that had so far been led by the ruling NCP.
Machar said he believed "the delegation will play a major role in bringing closer the positions of the negotiating parties for reaching a final settlement."
For the past year the AU has been trying to broker a peace deal between Khartoum and the Darfur rebels, and has deployed a large peacekeeping contingent to monitor a shaky ceasefire. Since the rebels launched their uprising in February 2003, up to 300,000 civilians have been killed -- many in raids by government-backed militias -- and around two million people have been driven from their homes.
Genocide in Darfur: A Legal Analysis
Click here to access the Report prepared by the Public International Law & Policy Group.