.
Page 1: daybydaywithVOA_1-01Apr2003.html
.|
. Usually 2 or more calendar days worth of news bulletins are packaged together and will appear on this web page depending upon the amount and character of the news. Each page which packages several days of news bulletins has a unique designation in its name, "VOA_n", and a date "01Feb2003". The "n" is a number between 1 and 10, or a bit larger. You can expect the number "1" to contain the first few days of news bulletins for a given month. Then the next number "2" will contain the next few days and so on. Neither the number or the date indicate the exact date of the news bulletins. However the date "01Feb2003" indicates the month of the news bulletins. The entire month of news bulletins is stored under a directory on the server having the date name "01Feb2003". Typically the population of this web page with news bulletins may trail the actual date of those bulletins by no more than one or more days. . |
.
.
(Click here for
the news - directly below this commentary and promotional section):
COMMENTARY -- WAR -- The completed article.
COMMENTARY -- NEWS REPORTING -- The completed article.
COMMENTARY -- US and Israel's
'common cause'
COM_002-01Mar2003.html Wednesday,
19-Mar-2003 -- The completed
article.
Jesus Christ is the answer. He is both an example of what we must be like as humans and he is the facilitator/mediator/interface whereby we can all know and experience the love/caring of God.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns you can email this ministry at thilts@help-for-you.com
Click here for "Bruce Atchison Reports", World news bulletins on Christian persecution.
Visit the...
Overcomer on line Study Bible
OOLSB articles
are now being added - Click on::
http://www.help-for-you.com/doc/OOLSB_freestanding.html
.
Also check out:
Introduction to the Book of Revelation
Back to the WORLD NEWS
Page 1
. . ..
... .
Air Canada is the latest casualty in a long list of airlines struggling to cope with the travel slump caused by September 11, the recent health scare in Asia and the war on Iraq. The company said it was seeking protection from its creditors while it sought to find a way to survive as a leaner, financially viable airline. Air Canada has massive debts of C$13bn ($US8.8bn; £5.6bn). It is by far the largest airline in Canada, and the only Canadian carrier with an extensive network of international flights. There is already speculation that the Canadian government may come to the rescue. 'Essential part of infrastructure' Transport Minister David Collenette said on Monday that the government was considering ways to assist the airline but ruled out a cash handout. Credit rating agency Moody's has predicted that some government assistance may be available to the airline as it is an important part of Canada's transportation infrastructure, but said the support would be directed towards maintaining necessary flights. Earlier this month, Air Canada cut 3,600 jobs and the firm's two biggest unions have already accepted the lay-offs as necessary. Shares in Air Canada hit an all time low on Monday before being suspended from the Toronto stock exchange on Tuesday. American Airlines (AA), meanwhile, the biggest airline in the US, has been hovering on the brink of bankruptcy for some days and is in desperate last hour negotiations to avoid taking the same route out as Air Canada. The latest news from AA unions indicated that 2,500 pilots - 20% of the total - would be laid-off over the next year.   . End of article 1.
British troops in southern Iraq have begun trading their helmets for berets, and officials said it is helping them win the trust of the local population. British officials said that while American troops are on edge following a suicide car bombing at a U.S. Army checkpoint, British forces have begun easing their security profile in parts of southern Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told reporters in London that British troops are taking off their helmets and putting on berets in areas that have been pacified. He said the aim is to develop a relationship of trust with the local population in towns outside of the main southern city of Basra, which has yet to be captured. British officials concede it is difficult for troops to let down their guard and try to win civilian support against the fear that Iraq will unleash more suicide bombers, like the one who killed four American servicemen at a roadblock Saturday near Najaf. Following that incident, U.S. troops fired on a car that refused to stop at a checkpoint, killing seven women and children. British pollsters say public support for the war continues, but it could erode if the fighting drags on and civilian casualties mount. Pollster Stephan Shakespeare said backing for the war has dropped five percentage points in recent days, and stands at 54 percent. Speaking on British television, he said people are realizing the war may take longer than they expected. "What we have seen is that people thought at the beginning of this war it would be a quick war. It would be a few days, maybe a few weeks. Now nearly everybody thinks it is going to be at least one, if not several months," he explained. Mr. Shakespeare said the British are slightly more reluctant to support the war than Americans are, but he noted that both Prime Minister Blair and President Bush have the approval of more than half of the British public. But Mr. Shakespeare said the British government has a credibility problem, because only half the people believe what it says about the war.
. End of article 2.
 A recent suicide attack and the killing of seven civilians at a coalition checkpoint in Iraq have brought into question the procedures and techniques used to run checkpoints. For coalition forces, there are obvious security concerns.
A BBC correspondent with US forces in Iraq, Gavin Hewitt, says the unit involved in the killing of seven civilians was the same unit that suffered four deaths at the hands of a suicide bomber on Sunday. Political concerns are also important in this equation. With the US and UK trying to win over the Iraqi population and to convince them that coalition forces can provide security and humanitarian aid, the handling of checkpoints is crucial. Stop and search The standard procedure at checkpoints is currently to stop and search all people and vehicles that want to pass through a checkpoint. US soldiers are told to fire warning shots if a car fails to stop at a checkpoint. US military officials say that in Monday's shooting at a checkpoint near Najaf in southern Iraq, soldiers fired shots over the car and then at its engine.
The Washington Post reports that warning shots were not fired in good time to halt the car. The newspaper's reporter quotes the commander at the checkpoint saying to soldiers under his command: "You killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough." Rules of engagement Each conflict tends to have or develop its own rules of engagement. For the current war, military analysts say, the Pentagon has drafted guidelines that provide US soldiers with greater latitude to use force, but also greater obligations to take care of civilians than in previous conflicts. The written guidelines are classified. A BBC correspondent at Central Command in Qatar, Paul Adams, says there is no indication that these rules of engagement are likely to be changed. None of the current procedures at checkpoints specifically guard against suicide attackers - something that might well contribute to the nervousness of soldiers at checkpoints and increase the likelihood of incidents such as Monday's shooting. Our correspondent says that while insisting that the correct procedures were followed in Monday's incident, more "aggressive" checkpoint procedures may be adopted. Theses might include the use of barbed wire and barriers to stop cars at some distance from checkpoints and the soldiers manning them. Israeli lessons Military checkpoints are widely used all over the world and in conflict areas they are traditionally a point of tension.
Israeli checkpoints, even those in the occupied territories often take on the look and atmosphere of permanent international border crossings. High fencing, large concrete blocks and watchtowers are standard at some of the bigger checkpoints run by the Israeli Defence Force. Concrete slabs arranged in a zigzag pattern channel cars and force them to slow down to a crawl. Cars are forced to stop and are approached by soldiers only when they are ready. Watchtowers and observation posts allow Israeli soldiers to take a long and close look at the car and passengers trying to get through the checkpoint. The Israeli authorities also carry out detailed ID checks and keep tight control on travel permits. Signs of occupation Of course Israeli checkpoints are one of the main manifestations of the Israeli occupations of large parts of Palestinian territory. For Palestinians, the hours needed to get through checkpoints and the feeling of their lives being circumscribed are a source of tension and humiliation. Checkpoints were also the scene of many of the clashes in the early stages of the current intifada. Coalition forces may not want to build up their checkpoints and allow the impression to be created that they intend to be in Iraq for a long period of time. Whether the US and UK want to commit resources to establishing well appointed checkpoints is also debatable. . End of article 3.
The overnight targets in Baghdad included Iraq's Olympic Committee headquarters and one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. Witnesses said the bombing attack was among the most intense of the war so far. The head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee is Saddam Hussein's oldest son, Udai, and western intelligence agencies say he has been running a torture chamber inside the building for years. Other air
attacks continue to target Republican Guard units blocking the southern
approaches to Baghdad.
"They are achieving nothing," Mr. al-Sahaf said. "They are suffering from casualties. Those casualties are on the increase, not decrease." Mr. al-Sahaf also says U.S. warplanes attacked two buses carrying human shields from Iraq to Jordan, but a U.S. military spokesman said he had no information on that. Also Tuesday, U.S. Marines waged what was described as "bloody street-to-street" fighting in and around the central Iraqi town of Diwaniya and took at least 20 Iraqi prisoners. VOA correspondent Alisha Ryu is with U.S. troops in central Iraq. She says coalition forces are stepping up preparations for a major ground assault on Baghdad. "Yes, there is increased amount of activity," she said. "There is a great deal of preparation going on. It's been ongoing for over a week now and I think there are some indications now that this may be sooner rather than later." Meanwhile, U.S. military officials at the central command headquarters in Qatar have expressed regret for an incident that led to the deaths of at least seven Iraqi civilians Monday and say it is now under investigation. U.S. troops shot at a van loaded with civilians, including women and children, when it failed to stop as it approached a military checkpoint near Najaf. U.S. officials say they fired warning shots but the van refused to stop. U.S. troops are on heightened alert at the checkpoints following Saturday's suicide attack in which four Americans died. Tuesday's military briefing in Qatar was dominated by questions about the incident. "Our checkpoints have to remain alert and vigilant to any type of threat that would approach that is being protected and secured," said U.S. Army Brigadier General Vincent Brooks. "We have not had a change in rules of engagement in recent days. There is increased vigilance because of the tactics that we have seen throughout the battlefield by the regime and the death squads that are out there." General Brooks says he regrets the loss of civilian lives but added that they "remain unavoidable" as they have throughout the history of warfare. Despite the incident, General Brooks says Iraqi civilians continue to help coalition forces target regime supporters in central and southern Iraq. And he says it is the Iraqi government that must bear the blame for civilian casualties. "We know that the regime would like to see as much difficulty placed between our efforts and their eventual departure and demise as can be made," he said. "And if they can put the Iraqi population between themselves and us, we have seen repeated occasions that they are willing to do that. In fact, this regime has shown they will go to just about any extent to protect themselves." General Brooks also says a recently-captured senior Iraqi general is cooperating with coalition forces. The Iraqi officer is said to have provided tactical information of use to coalition forces. In other developments, Kuwait says an incoming Iraqi missile was shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile battery early Tuesday. Iraq has fired more than a dozen missiles at Kuwait since the war began. Also, two U.S. Navy pilots are safe after their plane veered off the flight deck of the U.S. aircraft carrier Constellation. They were plucked from the sea by a rescue helicopter. On the diplomatic front, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell heads to Turkey and later Brussels on a trip aimed at smoothing relations with Ankara and other NATO allies that have been strained by the war in Iraq. On Monday, Secretary Powell accused Iraq of widespread human rights violations as part of the State Department's annual human rights report.
. End of article 4.
Iraqi Kurdish fighters and US special forces have captured the entire area held by Islamic radicals in the mountains of northern Iraq near the border with Iran.
The group is accused by both the Kurds and the Americans of having links with international terrorism and the al-Qaeda movement. There are no precise figures yet for the number of the Ansar killed, though a spokesman for the US special forces said it was 300. Very few prisoners were taken, as the Ansar apparently fought ferociously. Weapons search Kurdish leaders from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - the group that carried out the bulk of the offensive - believed that at least 300 Ansar elements were still at large and that 150 had slipped across the high mountain ridge on the border with Iran.
They said the Iranians had arrested the Ansar fugitives, and the PUK was asking to have them handed back. The US special forces gave an unusual news conference in the town of Halabja near the Iranian border. They said that they had taken away for analysis materials found in a complex abandoned by the Ansar which they believed were related to attempts to develop chemical or biological weapons. Turkish unease The US special forces were full of praise for the Kurdish peshmerga fighters.
"The peshmerga are the ones that did it," a US special forces soldier said. "A terrorist organisation that has held grip on this region for the last several years was rooted out and neutralised." The combination of large numbers of peshmerga, small numbers of US special forces and American air power has been highly successful. Both parties would now like to apply that same formula to the northern front with the Iraqi army. That would make the Iraqi Kurds the second
biggest troop contributor to the coalition effort, but it would also anger
Turkey, which does not want to see the Kurds move forward.
. End of article 5.
The Israeli army has destroyed the homes of five Palestinians, including that of the young suicide bomber who blew himself up Sunday in front of a crowded cafe in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. VOA's Sonja Pace reports on these latest developments in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and some of the criticism both sides have netted for their practices. Israeli troops moved into the Al-Amri refugee camp near Ramallah and destroyed the family homes of four suspected militants, allegedly associated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and accused of having planned and carried out attacks against Israel. Soldiers also demolished the family home of Rami Ghanem near the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Authorities said the young man carried out a suicide bomb attack Sunday in Netanya, which injured dozens of bystanders. The militant group, Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a gift to the Iraqi people. Israel routinely demolishes the family homes of suspected Palestinian militants and those who have carried out attacks against Israelis. The military says the practice is necessary to deter future attacks. But Palestinians and human rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment and violates international law. The demolition of Palestinian homes and property has been criticized even by Israel's close ally, the United States. In the State Department's annual human rights report, both Israel and the Palestinians are cited for serious human rights abuses. The report describes Israel's overall human rights record in the occupied Palestinian territories as poor. It says Israel's policy of demolition, strict curfews, and closures directly punishes innocent civilians. It accuses security forces of using excessive force against Palestinians during military operations, at checkpoints and while on patrol. The State Department report says that in the past year, Israeli security forces killed at least 990 Palestinians and two foreign nationals and injured more than 4,000, including innocent bystanders. It also says Israeli forces carried out targeted killings of at least 37 Palestinian terror suspects and often undertook these killings in crowded areas where civilians were at risk. The report notes that the Israeli government has said it is making every effort to reduce civilian casualties during operations. The State Department report also criticizes the Palestinian Authority and describes its overall human rights record as poor. It accuses members of the security forces and Palestine Liberation Organization officials of participating with terrorist groups in violent attacks against Israeli soldiers, settlers, and other civilians. The report says the Palestinian Authority has not lived up to its commitment to renounce violence and terrorism and to take responsibility for halting such attacks and disciplining violators. The report says there is no hard evidence that the Authority's top leaders approved such violent acts in advance, but it says some leaders endorsed such acts by their speeches and statements. Thus far there has been no official reaction from either the Israeli government or the Palestinian Authority to the U.S. report. The State Department's human rights report for 2002 covers conditions in nearly 200 countries.
. End of article 6.
Jordanian authorities say they have arrested several Iraqis suspected of plotting terror attacks on U.S. interests in Jordan. Officials said Tuesday that a group of Iraqis was arrested on suspicion of planning to poison water supplies to U.S. troops. The officials identified the target as a water plant in the Jordanian city of Zarqa. It feeds distant villages in Jordan's eastern desert, where U.S. soldiers are based. Jordanian authorities say they are also investigating a second possible terror plot on a Hyatt hotel in the capital, Amman. They are investigating whether a small fire that broke out on an upper floor of the hotel last week was electrical in nature or sabotage. The hotel is located in the center of the capital's business and diplomatic district. Last week, Jordan expelled five Iraqi diplomats on security grounds. Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
. End of article 7.
On April 1,
Mexico assumes the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council
for the month of April. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council,
Mexico played a significant role in recent months in the debate over
resolutions aimed at forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm. The country's U.N.
ambassador may now try to seek a role for the world body in bringing about
peace.
Now that there is a war, Ambassador Aguilar Zinser says, Mexico will lead an effort to find a role for the council in restoring peace. However, he says he does not believe there will be any resolution brought before the council to condemn the United States for the war. He says there is a division of opinions on the council as to the war, and that such a resolution would not be viable. The Mexican representative at the United Nations says the world body will have an important humanitarian role to play in Iraq, once hostilities have ceased. He says Mexico will seek consensus in order to develop an effective plan. There have been reports in the Mexican press that the United States had campaigned to have Mr. Aguilar Zinser replaced. He says, however, that he has the full support of President Vicente Fox and Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, who is also expected to preside at some of the Security Council sessions in April. Although the spotlight on the U.N. Security Council has dimmed somewhat, now that the war is under way, the role of Mexico in that forum has become a matter of intense debate. Public opinion polls here show around 80 percent of Mexicans are against the war, and many leading political and intellectual figures, from right to left on the political spectrum, have voiced their opposition to the war. One prominent anti-war intellectual who has generally been supportive of good relations with the United States is historian and magazine editor Enrique Krause. In a television interview in the northern city of Monterrey, Mr. Krause warned that Mexico should avoid confrontations with the United States during its time at the head of the security council. He says that, if U.S. television transmits images of Mexican representatives making imprudent statements that could be considered anti-American, then there could be a backlash against Mexico. He cites the reaction against France over its stand in the security council as an example, and says that, instead of something like the boycotts of wine and cheese directed at the French, there could be animosity shown towards millions of Mexican immigrants living in the United States. For his part, Ambassador Aguilar Zinser stresses the role of Mexico at the United Nations in April as "institutional." He says Mexico will propose meetings on such matters as strengthening the multilateral approach to resolving conflict and discussing the role of non-governmental organizations in conflict situations.
. End of article 8.
U.S. special forces and their Iraqi Kurdish allies say they have routed an Islamic militant group, allegedly linked to the al-Qaida terror network, from territory it controlled in northern Iraq. A special forces officer says U.S. air strikes and a Kurdish-led ground offensive killed most of the members of Ansar al-Islam, and drove survivors out of villages the group held near the Iraq-Iran border. The officer, speaking to reporters in the Kurdish town of Halabjah Tuesday, said it took a day and a half "to root out a terrorist organization that gripped the area." The U.S. officer said there is evidence that several hundred Ansar and al-Qaida fighters had been killed. He said those who escaped apparently fled into Iran or are holed up in the mountains near the border. The special forces officer says the troops found materials at the site that made them believe Ansar al-Islam was working on chemical and biological weapons, but he did not elaborate. U.S. and Kurdish officers say the ground attack consisted of a rush by several thousand Kurdish guerrillas, backed by U.S. air strikes and a small number of U.S. special forces. Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
. End of article 9.
Mr. Powell is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, as well as with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. Ties between Turkey and the United States have come under unprecedented strain in recent months. Both countries have conflicting agendas with regard to Iraq. The United States has long been pressing Turkey to take an active part in the military campaign in Iraq, but the overwhelming majority of Turks are opposed to the war, and Turkey's parliament voted on March 1 not to allow U.S. combat troops to be based in Turkey. That rejection came after months of bargaining between the United States and Turkey. In the end, the Bush administration agreed to extend some $6 billion in loans and grants to Turkey in exchange for its help. That package has now been withdrawn and Secretary Powell made clear ahead of his visit that he would not be offering Turkey more money. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has brushed aside speculation that Mr. Powell would seek use of Turkish bases for the U.S.-led war effort. Turkey has, however, opened its airspace to coalition aircraft. Turkish officials have said one of the most urgent issues that will be discussed between the two sides is the situation in northern Iraq. Turkey is seeking written guarantees from Washington that the Iraqi Kurds will not be permitted to take control of the oil-rich provinces of Kirkuk and Mosul. Turkey fears that if the Kurds are able to occupy these provinces, the money they get from the oil would enable them to fulfill their long-held dreams of independence and re-ignite separatist sentiment among Turkey's own Kurdish population. To prevent such a development, Turkish leaders say they reserve the right, if the need arises, to intervene militarily in the Kurdish-held enclave. That is a development the United States wants to prevent.
. End of article 10.
The top security adviser to South Korea's president is wrapping up a two-day visit to Moscow aimed at reviving efforts to find a solution to the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program. Russian officials believe the answer to the dispute lies in direct negotiations. Russia's position on the North Korean nuclear dispute mirrors its views on the recent standoff over Iraqi disarmament, with officials in Moscow believing that only diplomacy will yield progress. Russia has been trying for months to mediate direct talks between communist North Korea and the United States since the impasse took a turn for the worse last October. That is when U.S. officials said North Korea had acknowledged having a nuclear program, in violation of a 1994 agreement. Pyongyang denies making such a claim and shortly after the U.S. announcement, officials in the north withdrew from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and expelled U.N. nuclear monitors. Russia has urged Washington to immediately start a dialogue with North Korea, warning that it is the only way to peacefully resolve the crisis. The same message was delivered during the past two days of talks in Moscow with visiting South Korean presidential envoy, Ra Jong-Yil. The envoy met with a series of Russian officials, all of whom urged him to push the United States toward the negotiating table. The United States has resisted such moves before, saying it favors a multi-lateral approach that would include all regional powers. Russia's Interfax news agency quotes Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov as saying Moscow is ready to step forward and offer solutions, but only after Washington and Pyongyang begin talking. Mr. Losyukov also warned that failure to do so could push North Korea to develop nuclear weapons as a defense, as he says officials in Pyongyang earlier threatened. He said Russia is maintaining contacts with North Korea, China, Japan, and South Korea, as well as with the United States. But according to Mr. Losyukov, contacts are a poor substitute for direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. "There is no alternative to negotiations in achieving peace on the peninsula," he said. The South Korean envoy is due Wednesday to leave Moscow for Beijing, where he is scheduled to hold more talks on North Korea's nuclear program. His trip was scheduled after North Korea vowed to resist all international demands to allow nuclear inspections or to disarm. Officials in Pyongyang said Iraq had made this mistake and "was now paying the price."
. End of article 11.
But can he harness Iraqi nationalism or will it prove his undoing? And given the country's mosaic of different communities, does an Iraqi nation actually exist? The question might seem academic to Iraqis struggling for daily survival, their country ravaged by two earlier wars and more than 12 years of United Nations sanctions. And it might seem academic to George W Bush as he wages a war to topple Saddam Hussein and destroy his alleged weapons of mass destruction. But if America ignores or misreads Iraqi nationalism, the war the US has code-named Operation Iraq Liberation could come to grief. Early nation-building Like many countries in the Middle East, Iraq is an artificial creation. Britain carved it out of the ruins of the Ottoman empire, in the aftermath of the First World War, and put on the throne in Baghdad an Arabian prince called Faisal. The first of the country's modern nation-builders, King Faisal found the task a frustrating one. In the days before oil wealth, there was widespread poverty, disease and illiteracy. The idea of an Iraqi nation was alien in a land divided along ethnic lines between Arab and Kurd, and on sectarian lines between Sunni and Shia.
Iraqi nationalists wanted to see the emergence of an independent nation state free of foreign rule. Arab nationalists wanted Iraq to play its part in a united Arab nation stretching from Morocco to the Gulf. The military coup of 1958, which overthrew the British-backed monarchy and ushered in the birth of a republic, was a triumph for the Arab nationalists, inspired by the "hero of Arabism", Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Arabism and after When Saddam Hussein became Iraqi president in 1979, he saw himself as an Arab nationalist in the Nasser mould. Iraq was now a major oil producer which, under his leadership, was capable of playing a major role in the Middle East and the Third World. Oil wealth and modernisation began to knit the country together. The new Iraq was led by a Sunni elite, but the Kurds and the Shia could help build the nation, provided they made no trouble. The idea of an Iraqi nation took root, especially in Baghdad, the country's political heart and a melting-pot of Sunni, Shia and Kurd. Today the idea survives, but badly bruised.
Having originally discouraged tribalism, he revived it. Having originally promoted secularism, he embarked on a policy of "Islamisation". Modern-minded Iraqis were aghast. The other big blow to nation-building has been the devastating impact of UN sanctions. Since they were first imposed in 1990, sanctions have wiped away many of the gains of oil-fuelled modernisation. The economy, education, health have been hit hard. Nationalist backlash But national pride has not disappeared.
Saddam Hussein is trying to exploit this by calling on all sectors of society to rally behind him to fight what he is presenting as a "people's war". Whether this succeeds will depend to a considerable extent on how the American and British forces conduct the war and its aftermath. Many Iraqis have undoubtedly suffered under a brutal regime. They would welcome "regime change" if it resulted from a short war with the minimum of civilian casualties. But a prolonged and bloody conflict would engender lasting bitterness. And a newly assertive Iraqi nationalism
would make post-war challenges even more daunting than they already
are. . End of article 12.
Perhaps the boldest action taken by new Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic was last week's disbanding of the special operations police unit, known as the Red Berets, which was seen as having close ties with organized crime. The move is seen as an important step in fighting organized crime, according to Slobodan Homen, a leader of the Otpor student group that was prominent in the October 2000 uprising that brought down former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Mr. Homen called the disbanding of the unit "probably the crucial step in this fight against organized crime. Because in the past 10 years, Milosevic allowed criminal gangs to have IDs from the secret service. So, at the same time, they were criminals and the state," he asserted. Bratislav Grubacic, editor of the VIP Daily News Report in Belgrade, agrees that the disbanding of the Red Berets was an important step. He also applauds the sacking of Milosevic era judges and prosecutors and the rounding up of nearly 2,000 alleged organized crime members in the hunt for Mr. Djindjic's killers. Mr. Grubacic said democracy in Serbia is fragile, and that still more reforms are needed. "The question is how long this state of emergency will hold," said Mr. Grubacic. "On the other hand, the government has to solve the constitutional issue, so that Serbia can get a new constitution, after forming this new state of Serbia and Montenegro. And then they have to reform the army, which was also part of the problem." A new constitution is expected to be ready by September. Parliamentary elections could come soon thereafter. The reformist government faces significant political and economic challenges. Washington has made aid conditional on Serbia meeting a U.S.-mandated deadline of June 15 to demonstrate tangible cooperation with the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Economic growth is slower than projected, making it harder for the government to deliver on its promise to boost living standards. Slobodan Homen, the Otpor leader who is also a lawyer, said there is optimism in Belgrade that a society based on the rule of law is at last being created. For example, "Now we have a real police force. Because, in the past, the police were afraid of these paramilitary groups [Red Berets], and they were fully aware of who are the criminals. But they were simply blocked from arresting them. We believe this can be a great beginning," said Mr. Homen. This week, Otpor and the Serbian Interior Ministry are launching a drive to get citizens to voluntarily turn in the up to 60,000 weapons said to be in the hands of Serbian citizens.
. End of article 13.
|
