RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 4, No. 205, Part II, 23 October 2000
KOSTUNICA PAYS CONTROVERSIAL VISIT TO BOSNIA... Kostunica held talks with Bosnian Muslim, Serbian, and Croatian leaders at a meeting hastily convened by representatives of the international community at Sarajevo airport on 22 October, after he had visited the Republika Srpska. Halid Genjac, who is the Muslim representative on the joint presidency, said: "We agreed that this is the beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations between two countries," AP reported. Bosnian Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic, who is a moderate ethnic Croat, added that Kostunica's visit was a "good start for future relations." Kostunica, who supported hard-line Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic during the 1992-1995 conflict, said that he favors setting up diplomatic relations between Sarajevo and Belgrade. He added that "truth is not one-sided, especially when we talk about interethnic relations." Kostunica came to Bosnia for the reburial in Trebinje of a Serbian poet who died in the U.S. in 1943 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 October 2000). Bosnian officials previously made it clear that Kostunica must meet with Bosnian government representatives during his stay lest he appear to show disrespect for Bosnian sovereignty. PM ...MAKES GESTURE TO KOSOVARS. Kostunica asked officials of the Justice Ministry to begin proceedings to pardon and free from prison ethnic Albanian human rights activist Flora Brovina, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported from Belgrade on 21 October. Brovina is the best-known Kosovar detainee in Serbia, along with student leader Albin Kurti. At least 700 additional Kosovars remain in Serbian jails following round-ups in 1998 and 1999. Kosovar leaders have called on Kostunica to free all of them as a gesture of good will. PM
Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
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