YUGOSLAVIA EVENTS CHRONOLOGY Sept.-Dec. 1996 Sept. 1 Milo. meets w/ Rugova, sign agreement on return of ethnic Alb. primary and sec. school children to classes; 4 exp. in Brcko damage 3 Mus.-owned homes, 1 Mus. company; Ger. to go ahead w/ repatriation of 320,000 Bos. refs. by Oct. 1, Bos. govt. says this is too soon, asks for voluntary returns only Sept. 2 Slo. pres. Kucan opens 2nd rd. of talks w/ country's pol. parties over nat. elec. date Sept. 3 Reps. of Bos., Cro., Mac., and Slo. meet in Ljubljana to discuss succession issues (embassies, assets), make no progress; Ref. voting ends; HDZ in Cro. files slander charges against ind. papers Novi List and Nacional for articles critical of HDZ lead- ership; Ethnic cleansing, harassment con- tinue in BL, west Mos., Brcko Sept. 4 Izet. says SDA will boycott elec. if Her- ceg-Bosna continues to exist; Plavsic warns that fed. del. may not visit Brcko without Serb permission; Bos. Serbs say they will allow exhumation of graves in their terr.; Serb mob of 300 prevents Bri. pks from re- moving illegal wea. from army base; trial in absentia of Abdic in Bihac begins; Yugo., Mac. sign 7 trade agreements Sept. 5 OSCE reported to have paid Arkan's Party of Serbian Unity $222,000 out of $3.4 mil. fund to help pol. parties; First body un- covered in mass grave at Ovcara near Vuk.; OSCE extends absentee ballot deadline to Sept. 14 Opposition Joint List accuses SDA and HDZ of creating coalition; Silajd- zic allowed to appear on Bos. Serb TV in Pale; Slo. elec. scheduled for Nov. 10; Cro. town of Ston (30 kilo. n. of Dub.) hit by 5.9 earthquake Sept. 7 Mus. ask intl. comm. for guarantees that Bos. won't be divided after elec.; EU FMs meeting in Ireland decide troops will need to stay in Bos. for at least 2 more yrs.; Open Broadcast Network, ind. station, begins broadcasting; Bridge linking Slavonski Brod to Srpski Brod (Bosanski Brod) across Sava reopened Sept. 8 Krajisnik promises to lead Serbs into a union of Serb states, says Brcko 'alpha and omega of the RS'; both Izet. and PM Kape- tanovic warn that Brcko is important to fed.; Ukr. pk killed by unknown assailant Sept. 9 Bel., Zag. exchange dip. letters establish- ing full bilateral rels.; Rally of Radical Party of Republika Srpska holds rally of 10,000 in Brcko to be attended by Vlad. Zhirinovsky (who fails to show), calls for united Serb state; moderate Dem. Patriotic Block of Rep. Srpska also holds rally but is met w/ jeers by crowd; Bildt tells Serbs they will not be able to secede after elec.; Slo. DM Jelko Kacin meets w/ Ita. DM, sign bilateral def. agreement, Ita. says it sup- ports Slo. int. within NATO; Dub. area hit by second quake, Cro. FM Granic asks for EU aid for Ston area; Ger. pres. Herzog visits Mac. Sept. 10 Izet. says in rally his party only one to protect Mus. and there is such a thing as 'enlightened nationalism'; Bones being found at Pilica grave near Sreb. Sept. 11 Kornblum warns that elec. 'will not be per- fect' but 'represents Bosnia's first tenta- tive step towards a dem. society after decades of Com. rule and years of war', but Dole says they will be 'a fraud w/ an Amer. stamp of approval'; rep. of Human Rts. Watch/Helsinki tells Senate that elecs. 'are about creating an illusion so that an Amer. pres. elec. can go smoothly...and Amer. troops can start to come home'; SDS fined $50,000 by OSCE after its leaders call for secession from Bos., also fines SDA $15,000 for painting its logo on roads Sept. 12 Plavsic calls for int. w/ Serbia; Bos. Serb army protests handing over its command and assets to Bos. Serb leadership; Bos. army and Cro. militia to vote one day early to keep them in barracks on elec. day; SDA holds rally w/ 60,000 in attendance in Sara.; Krajisnik tells rally that Serbs should let Mus. vote peacefully; Joint List holds rally of 20,000 in Tuzla Sept. 13 US formally demands Bos. govt. expel muja- heddin fighters after some threaten to kill US troops, civs.; US warns Americans not to travel to c. Bos. town of Bocinja Donja where they are based; OSCE orders Plavsic to apologize on TV for secessionist remarks which she does 3 times that day, but Kraj. says statement made under pressure and 'we will quickly forget it'; Inter. Crim. Tribunal for Former Yugo. (ICTY, or WCT) issues arrest warrant for Cro. Gen. Ivica Rajic, warns Cro. it will report Cro. to UN Sec. Coun. if he is not handed over; Bomb destroys house of prominent Croat in Mus.-dominated Bugojno Sept. 14 OSCE says vote was nearly flawless, turnout estimated between 65% and 80%, but only about 15% of refs. use bus transport to cross lines and vote; Cro. FM Granic denies to ICTY that regular Cro. troops involved in fighting in Bos. in '93; 4,000 Cro. war vets. protest Cro. policy towards them but rally attended by Tudj. leading to suspicion that it was govt.-organized; Vecernje novosti reports poll showing Milo. most popular politician in Yugo. by 45% w/ Mon. opp. leader Novak Killibarda second at 12.4%, and Seselj and Bulatovic tied for third at 9.5% each Sept. 16 Fre. govt. says Izet., Milo. to meet in Paris next week Sept. 17 Izet. beating out challenger Silajdzic, 81% to 15% for seat on collective pres., Kraj. defeating challenger Mladen Ivanic, 78% to 20%, and Zubak has 85% over Ivo Komsic's 13%; Judge Goldstone says intl. justice will be dealt a 'fatal blow' if Kara., Mladic, other war crims. not arrested; Bos. govt., Serbs working together gathering scattered remains of Mus. in Sreb. area Sept. 18 Elec. results confirm Izet. as head of collective pres. w/ 729,034 votes to Krajisnik's 690,373, and Zubak's 342,007; Challengers Silajdzic had 123,784, Mladen Ivanic (Serb), 305,803, and Ivo Kosmic (Croat), 38,261; United List oppo- sition to get about 10% of seats in leg.; Joulwan to recommend only limited reduction of IFOR before municipal elec., but NATO to send new mil. command to oversee with- drawal; Cro. decides that local elec. be held in E. Sla. on Dec. 15; IFOR commander Adm. Joseph Lopez tells Plavsic that local Serb commander in Prijedor who threatened IFOR troops be replaced by 20th or IFOR 'will take remedial action' Sept. 19 NATO Sec. Gen. Solana says NATO must remain in Bos after IFOR departure in Dec. Sept. 20 Bos. Serb auth. fire Serb policie chief in Prijedor after NATO ultimatum; Serbs say they will boycott neg. over Brcko; UN Sec. Coun. criticizes Cro. for incidents against Serbs while Cro. parl. passes amnesty law for Serbs who fought against Cro. but not war crims.; parl. also ratifies Aug. 23 accord normalizing rel. w/ Bel.; Zajedno leader Zoran Djindjic given suspended sentence of 4 months in prison for libeling Serb PM Mirko Marjanovic Sept. 21 OSCE withdraws its elec. vote totals due to numerous voting regularities, then reinstates them giving prelim. victory to Izet. w/ 731,024 votes to Krajisnik's 690,130 and Zubak's 329,891; IFOR confiscates 12+ wea. from Mus. group repairing homes in separation zone area Sept. 22 Bos. Serb auth. in village of Jusici (e. Bos.) tell 100 Mus. who returned w/ wea. that they must leave by next day, deadline extended to 25th Sept. 23 50 bodies now recovered from Pilica mass grave (154 now recovered from Cerska, 33 from Nova Kasaba, 58 from Lazete) Sept. 24 OSCE says vote not 'free or fair' but that there was not sufficient evidence of fraud to invalidate elec.; parties have 72 hours to protest results which comes immediately from Mus. Party of Dem. Action; Bomb attempt on Slo. judge Konrad Rebernik in Maribor who had been investigating crim. activities; UN Sec. Coun. decides not to lift sanctions against Yugo. yet Sept. 25 Joulwan tells NATO ministers it is time to move from implementation force to a 'stabilization force'; DMs agree on no significant withdrawals of 52,000 troops until end of Nov.; France again says it will withdraw its 7,500 troops unless US agrees to participate in post-Dec. pk force; Izet. tells UN Gen. Assem. conflict could resume if Dayton Accords not enforced; Granic rejects extension of UN mandate in Cro. ept. 26 Former head of Yugo. Central Bank, Drago- slav Avramovic speaks to crown of 10,000 demonstrators in Kragujevac where workers have been on strike for 30 days, criticizes govt. Sept. 27 Former Bos. govt. Gen. and Serb Jovan Divjak calls on loyalist Serbs to form own party; Unknown assailants attack army bar- racks in Kosovo town of Vucitrn w/ 2 bombs, shots fired; police stations on Bel.-Podu- jevo road hit w/ machine-gun fire; Cro. parl. passes resolution calling for end to UN mandate on Jan. 15 '97 Sept. 28 Dep. head of Bos. Agency for Research and Documentation killed in Sara.; UN sponsored conf. meets in Dublin to plan dem. police force for BH but little of $99 mil. neces- sary actually pledged (US to give $17 mil.); World Bank to loan Mac. $45 mil. Sept. 29 OSCE validates elec.; Avramovic to head up joint opposition elec. coalition in Yugo., Zajedno Sept. 30 Izet., Kraj., and Zubak hold first meet- ing, talk for 4 hours in Saraj hotel on outskirts of Sara.; Plavsic comments on meeting that goal of unified Serb state remains and 'there is no force in the world that will prevent us acting towards this end'; SDS wins parl. elec. in Republika Srpska but with only 45 out of 83 seats (previously held 76) and can't overturn pres. decisions which require 2/3rds majority; 17 Mus. and 1 Croat deps. now sit in it (SDA holds 14 seats and Serb opp. Alliance for Peace and Progress has 10); Intl. Contact Group calls for lifting sanctions against Yugo. but maintaining freezing of assets until disputes settled among former republics; US provision calls for linking re-entry to fin. inst. to human rts. issues; Pres. of Mus. Nat. Coun. Sulejman Ugljanin in Sandzak returns to Bel. from Zurich for first time since '93 after govt. releases SDA activists Oct. 1 Member of Cro. Peas. Party in Bos., Josip Jole Musa, wounded in attack on his apt. in Mostar w/ machine-gun fire; 2nd such at- tempt on Musa, CPP blames HDZ; Roman Catho- lic nun found dead in Kakanj (under Mus. control); police investigating remains of humans found in 31 garbage bags in formerly Serb-held Grbavica; Bos. police arrest 24 Iraqis, 4 Jordanians after they arrive on Jordanian pk plane; UN Sec. Coun. votes unanimously to lift '92 sanctions against Yugo., reserves rt. to reimpose them if Dayton Accord fails; Pentagon announces 5,000 man force to begin 6-month deployment to Bos. to protect IFOR troops pulling out, but does not address possibility of troops becoming part of 'follow-on' mil. force; Kornblum reiterates point in testimony to Senate while Hol. tells Senate that immediate pull-out would result in resumption of war; WCT to hold joint trial of 3 Mus., 1 Croat charged w/ atrocities at Celebici camp in cen. BH Oct. 2 Izet., Zubak agree on setting up command for joint army w/ Delic as commander, HVO leader Gen. Zivko Budimir as dep.; Police arrest man w/ history of drug problems in connection w/ murder of nun; New media law adopted in Cro. protecting journalists from demands about revealing sources, but re- taining fines and imprisonment for insult- ing state officials; UN, Cro. govt. offer to buy private wea. stocks of Serbs in E. Sla.; Forensic experts say more than 80 bodies found in Ovcara grave those of Vuko- var hospital massacre; Swit. to recognize Yugo. allowing them to send 10,000 Kosovar refs. home Oct. 3 Izet., Milo. meet in Paris, agree to ex- change amb., institute visa-free travel, re-establish comm. links, and promote mutual eco. rels.; Bel. agrees to respect terr. integrity of BH, but Plavsic says Milo. has betrayed Serbs of Cro. and BH; Cro. FM Granic says Cro. to open consulate in BL to help protect ethnic Croats; 34-day strike at arms factory in Kragu- jevac over after all strikers' demands met; Cro. Supreme Ct. rules that suspected war crim. Zlatko Aleksovski can be extradited to Hague for slaughtering 100 Mus. in Lasva Valley in '93, but 2 other suspects still free Oct. 4 Frowick says local elec. to go ahead on 22-24 Nov.; Kornblum in E. Sla. to discuss extension of UN mandate there, meets w/ Tudjman who says reintegration should be complete by Jan. 15 Oct. 5 Serbs refuse to attend either new Bos. parl. or pres. sessions due to their reluc- tance to take loyalty oaths while claiming this is for safety of Serb reps.; Bos. HDZ dels. to Sara. cantonal assem. stage walk- out before taking loyalty oath (HDZ won only 6% of vote but wants 1/3rd of power); Cro. charges Yugo. army chief of staff, Gen. Momcilo Perisic w/ war crimes while he was col. in JNA for attacks on Zadar Oct. 6 60 Mus. refs. again return to their former village of Jusici after IFOR processes them Oct. 7 US State Dept. 'furious' that Krajisnik walked out of inauguration ceremony, and says sanctions to be discussed at UN Sec. Coun.; Frowick meets w/ Plavsic in BL; Cro. frees 41 Serbs detained for rebelling against the state, 18 others remain in cus- tody for war crimes; 15 more charges w/ espionage also released; Serb police arrest 3rd suspect of bomb attacks on police sta- tion, ref. camp in Vucitrn; Private US company begins training of joint Mus.-Cro. army in Pazaric (s. of Sara.) Oct. 8 Zajedno leaders Draskovic, Djindjic, and Pesic address Eur. Parl. in Brussels Oct. 9 US troops of 1st Armored Div. begin with- drawing to Hun. before going back to Ger.; Span., Czech pks seize unauthorized wea. from Croats in Kobiljaca (12 miles S. of Sara.) and Serbs in Pucari (25 miles nw of BL); Krajisnik ready to take part in govt. institutions, sign loyalty declara- tion, calls for new ceremony in Serb terr.; Bos. Serb govt. calls for special rels. w/ Yugo. as allowed by Dayton Accords Oct. 11 Bos. Serb police in village of Jusici aim guns at US Army liaison officer who had tried to intervene when Serbs arrested 3 Mus.; Serbs armed w/ auto. wea. outlawed by Dayton Accords, pk spokesman says they will have to be handed over and formal apology given, but Serbs deny incident; Mus. surround Rus. pks in Zvornik demanding release of 2 arrested by Bos. Serb police Oct. 13 Croats prevent 250 Serbs from returning to their homes in Drvar forcing them back to BL; Bos. govt. arrests 18 in Bihac and Vel. Kla. on suspicion of war crimes, judge releases 13 but says 5 could be held for a month thereby violating '96 Rome agreement; Oct. 14 Bel. journal Dnevni Telegraf publishes anonymous account of sol. who confirms atrocities commited by Serbs in Vuk., but govt., army continue to deny accusations; FM of Republika Srpska, Aleksa Buha, says ind. from Mus-Cro. Fed. and union w/ Serbia still top priorities of SDS, demands US, UK, Fra., Ger., Rus., and China set up dip. officies in Pale; First bus from Bel. since '92 arrives in Sara.; UN advocate Eliz. Rehn says local elec. should be post- poned 'til spring to remove irregularities; Alliance of Opp. Parties begins 30-day boy- cott of Zag. city coun. to force Tudj. to accept their candidate for mayor; Slo. For. Min. says rels. w/ Yugo. not likely to get better in near future since Bel. has not taken further action Oct. 15 Int. Mins. of Cro-Mus. fed. and Serb Rep. agree to new plan to allow refs. to return; Lower house of Cro. parl. approves property restitution bill covering comm. period in- volving $57 bil. worth of property; 2 Bos. buses on Sara.-Bel. delayed for 6 hrs. by Serb border police who demand $40 tourist visas from passengers despite visa-free travel provisions agreed on in Paris; 2 Serb children hit by gunfire at bus between Ugljevik and Priboj, bullet also hits Serb police car; NATO Sec. Gen. Solana warns Cro. PM Matesa to fully back imp. of fed. in Bos., normalization of rels. in Mos., tells them not to provoke an exodus of Serbs in re-- integration efforts aimed at E. Sla.; 40 opp. deps. walk out of Cro. Sabor to protest lack of media coverage; Bel. prosecutor files crim. charges against Zajedno leader Djindjic for call- ing Milo. a sick man during elec. rally Oct. 16 Cro. reportedly to be admitted to CofE; Greek FM Pangalos in Sara. says Gre. to open emb., pledges $7 mil. to reconstruc- tion, meets w/ Izet., Muratovic, and FM Jadranko Prlic, says Gre. will meet only w/ reps. of BH govt.; Opp. leader in Cro. Stipe Mesic says upcoming trial of JNA soldiers in Zadar could be part of deal between Tudj. and Milo. to allow latter to distance himself from war crimes prior to elec.; 53 refs. to return to Cro. from Serbia under UNHCR auspices Oct. 17 Pangalos in Bel. calls for full reinte- gration of Yugo. into. intl. life; Novi List says 1 out of 4 Cro. cits. goes hungry; Cro. ct. begins trial of JNA gen. Momcilo Perisic in absentia for bombardment of Zadar, 18 others to be tried also; OSCE decides that refs. will be allowed to register to vote in local elec. only where they lived in '91, or where they have lived since end of '95 instead of where they intend to live Oct. 18 Plavsic says organizers of local elec. have attached too many conditions, Serbs may boycott; IFOR troops find bomb in power station of former Mus. village Koraj; IFOR places rep-wide ban on parades by Bos. army after unauthorized parade in Mos., declares that this corp may not train for a week, nor other units in this area; IFOR protests remarks by Gen. Atif Duda- kovic who says Dayton allowed for a re- united Bos., including BL and Bijeljina; Serbs in BL bulldoze site of Ferhadija mosque, Bildt dep. travels to BL to get work stopped at site; Gre. FM Pangalos meets w/ Tudj.; Opp. Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) led by Vuk Draskovic says jour. and candidate for SPO beaten by police; Avramovic not to run in Nov. 3 elec.; 2 Serbs released under Cro. amnesty re-arrested, charged w/ war crimes, 23 others said to also be arrested; Mont. Pres. Bulatovic says Croatia's Prevlaka peninsula should be given to Mont. Oct. 19 RS parl. opens first new session in BL in- cluding 87 deps. w/ 17 Mus., 1 Croat (45 seats controlled by SDS) but walk out to protest oath of loyalty to Orth. Christianity, kissing a bible and cruci- fix Oct. 21 Cro. auth. say more than 700 bodies ex- humed from mass graves in formerly Serb- held terr. of w. Sla., Kra. w/ 80% being civs. Oct. 22 Local elec. postponed for second time af- ter OSCE says conditions not right for fair vote, to be rescheduled in '97; US envoy Korblum brings together 3 mem- bers of BH pres. for meeting; Bos. Serb auth. resettle 32 refs. from Zvornik to Jusici after Mus. begin returning there; Krajisnik takes loyalty oath to BH; Confidential UN document says return of Croats to E. Sla. in spring could prompt 130,000 Serbs to leave for Serbia or BH; Last session of US Cong. extends sanc- tions against Yugo. into '97, linked to improvement of conditions for Kosovans, return of intl. observers; 5 members of Serbian Radical Party arrested in Serbia for arms, munitions possession; US Penta- gon says US troops to pull out by mid- March despite elec. postponement Oct. 23 Plavsic says Serbs will not agree to ex- tend local elec. into '97 Oct. 24 First shipment of US wea. for Train and Equip program arrives at Ploce, Cro., US tells Izet. next shipment conditional on resignation of Hasan Cengic, who has Iran- ian connections, from cabinet; WCT con- firms that mass grave in Cro. contains bodies of Vuk. hospital massacre; Cro. Def. Min. sues paper Globus over report that war crimes suspect Gen. Ivica Rajic is living in hotel in Split owned by Min. Oct. 25 Serbs in Juricke and Donja Mahala (w. of Prijedor) used anti-tank mines to destroy 51 buildings owned by Mus; 30 homes burned down in Cro-controlled Ljeskovica, NATO says this is part of pattern of intimida- tion; Zajedno officials in Yugo. say they may boycott elec. unless ind. monitors allowed to observe elec.; Police officer, civ. killed in ambush in Surkis, Kosovo, police arrest 30 Kos. Albanians; Mus., Croats agree on flag, coat of arms, power-sharing arrangement; HDZ which had threatened to boycott fed. parl., given 20% of seats reserved for Bos. Croats Oct. 26 Adm. Lopez meets separately w/ Krajisnik, Zubak over bombings, arson designed to intimidate refs.; Bos. Serbs threaten to ban parties from Mus.-Cro. fed. from taking part in municipal elec. in RS saying they must be registered according to RS laws Oct. 27 Cro. reburies together bodies of 104 sols. from fascist forces, 6 Ustashi, and 2 partisan troops, saying it is a symbol of reconciliation; Jews, partisans protest Oct. 28 IFOR reopens rebuilt railway bridge at Bosansko Petrovo Selo (near Doboj) to reconnect Bos. lines w/ w. Eur.; US ship Amer. Condor leaves Ploce to await in Adriatic confirmation that Izet. has fired Cengic; OSCE investigates SDS intimidation of ind. media in RS area; 3 members of Zajedno coalition stage hunger strike in Nis, Serbia, to protest govts. preventing them from monitoring elec. Oct. 29 Bildt rep. says they have known for some time Serbs employing 4 indicted war crims. w/ police in Prijedor-Omarska area, but says they should be arrested only by those who have the ability to do so; Plavsic says her govt. will not turn over Kara., Mladic to WCT; BH Def. Min. warns US not to push for dismissal of Cengic; Serb police beat, break up strike by transit workers in Bel., arrest opp. candidate and head of Bel. City Tran. Co. trade union, Dragoljub Stosic; 27 of 94 Cro. Serbs granted amnesty have been rearrested on charges of rape, murder, and arson, while 45 have left for Serbia or Mont.; Cro. Hel. comm. accuses govt. of trying to intimidate Serbs in Cro.; Cro. FM Granic meets w/ Yugo. FM Milutinovic in Zag., sign agreement abolishing visa requirements for dips. and govt. officials; Mil. also meets w/ Tudj., discuss reintegration of E. Sla. Oct. 30 Kos. Lib. Army claims res. for Oct. 25 murders, threatens Albs. who collaborate w/ Serb admin. Nov. 8 Plavsic says she has dismissed Mladic, re- placed him w/ Gen. Pero Colic, and also re- placed entire gen. staff including Milan Gvero and Manojlo Milovanovic Nov. 9 Nationalists in Mac. clash w/ supporters of Roma candidate for mayor of Skopje, Amdi Bajrami Nov. 10 Slovene elec. give Premier Janez Drnov- sek's Lib. Dem. Party 27.05% of pop. vote 25 seats while rightist Slovenian People's Party comes in 2nd w/ 19, ultra- conservative Social Dems. get 16 Nov. 11 Dutch UN police monitor, Bos. Serb wound- ed in gunfire exchange between Mus. and Serbs in town of Koraj after 500 Mus. attempt to return to homes in village of Gajevi; Serbs say Mus. attacked first w/ mortar fire, inf. wea. Nov. 12 1 Mus. killed, 10 injured in clash w/ Serbs after Mus. from Celic attempt to return to former village of Koraj (60 miles ne of Sara.) now held by Serbs; NATO forces block Mus. at checkpoints, call move 'deliberate'; Mladic supporters take over Zepa TV relay station which cripples Republika Srpska TV Nov. 13 800 Mus. protest at NATO checkpoint near Koraj for rt. to return under Dayton Ac., claim that Rus. sols. aided Serbs in fight- ing; UNHCR suspends its ref. resettlement program in zone of separation; 3 more houses near Brcko blown up bringing total to 12 since the 9th; Serbs shut down radio station loyal to Mladic, call on him to surrender power; Cro. opp. deps. walk out of Cro. parl. after their proposal on solving Zag. city coun. crisis turned down Nov. 14 Contact Group meets in Paris w/ 3 members of Bos. pres.; IFOR confiscates illegal wea. from Bos. army's 254th Brigade in Celic-Koraj area, while Rus. troops do same to Serb police nearby; Bos. army accuses IFOR of staging provocations against it and its commander Gen. Delic, while IFOR, Serb police cordon off Han Pijesak area where Mladic is; Cro. parl. meets without opp. deps.; UN announces temporary suspension of ref. return in zone of separation Nov. 15 Serbian, Croatian Int. Mins. meet, talk about their orgs., coop. in areas of crime prevention, and combatting intl. terrorism; Mac. votes in 1st local elec. since ind. w/ Gligorov's Social Dem. Alliance of Mac. expected to win most seats, but Albanina parties to get up to 40 town councils in western part of country Nov. 17 Local elec. show Milos' SDS losing control of several big cities including Bel., Nis, Kragujevac, Uzice, Novi Sad, and others for a total of 44 municipalities, SDS-led coal. claims to have won 134 of 189 Serbian mun., and says it will annul elec. results Nov. 18 Street demonstrations in Bel. led by elec. coal. Zajedno ('Together') protest Milo. decision to annul elec. results; Clinton says he agrees w/ NATO plan for keeping smaller force of about 8,500 Amer. troops in BH until possibly June 1998 saying the peace process is taking longer than expected; Plavsic meets w/ a gen. staff delegation for 1st time since she fired 80 officers, her office says it was agreed that Mladic would go; NATO establishes SFOR, or Stabilization Force to replace IFOR after Dec. 20 w/ a total of 31,000 troops as compared to previous 62,000; One year anniversary of Dayton signing Nov. 19 Yugo. opp. coalition says it won victories in 12 largest cities, polls show opp. win- ning 70 of 110 seats in Bel. city council, while SPS spokesman says his party's coal- ition won 134 of 174 municipalities in Serbia, but leaves big cities off list; Zubak fires Mus.-Croat fed. Dep. Def. Min. Hasan Cengic, advisor to Izet. w/ close ties to Iran after month of neg. and on insistence of US, US agrees to free up $100 mil. in promised wea. as a result; Izet. says Bos. must choose Wash. over Tehran; Mladic staff denies Plavsic comment that Mladic had agreed to resign Nov. 20 Bel. Elec. Commission says Zajedno won 60 of 110 seats in municipal assem. while Socialists get 23, Seselj's Serbian Radical Party 15 and Dem. Party of Serbia 2; 5,000 protest outside of parl. in Bel. while opposition urges supporters to seize control of city halls where they won, police mobilized in major towns; Cro. state media continue to insist Tudj. doing well after cancer surgery at Walter Reed in DC, says he will re- turn after 2 days even while Amb. Miomir Zuzul denies reports that pres. has cancer; Cro. govt. says it will not renew license of Radio 101 (ind.), sev- eral thousand stage protest over this; Plavsic holds 4 hour meeting w/ Mladic at Han Pijesak; Bos. Serb army begins destroying 13 tanks, 30 mortars, 2 APCs in BL as part of force reduction quotas, OSCE criticizes Croats, Mus. for not beginning their own program; NATO con- fiscates illegal mines, rockets, explo- sives from Croats at Orasje (n. Bos.) Nov. 21 Fourth day of protests in Bel. brings out 30,000, police confiscate loudspeaker equip. from Dem. Party; Cargo ship 'American Condor' begins unload- ing $100 mil. of wea. including 45 tanks, 80 APCs in Ploce, Cro. as part of 'train and equip' program; US confirms that UAE, Egyptian shipments of wea. also ready to unload but deny that 155mm cannons smuggled into BH by Turk. and Malay. pk forces; West Eur. govts. continue to express doubts on arming Mus. who they suspect will try to liberate former terr.; 12 houses destroyed by anti-tank mines in formerly Mus. village of Hajvaci near Mahala (ne Bos.), most likely by Serbs who now control area; Croat govt., E. Slavonian Serbs sign agreements on re- integration of region to Cro.; 100,000 rally in Zag. for Radio 101 even after govt. restores station's license; govt. gives in after intl. protests (including US), support given to station from mil. units; Cro. TV shows Tudj. going to Cro. emb. in Wash., CNN says he has cancer and not long to live; UN says Serbs still being attacked in Sara., Mus. throws bomb into Sara. cafe owned by Cro. cultural soc. Napredak Nov. 22 Tens of thousands continue rallies in Bel. in biggest protests since March '91 but RTS 1 news claims their aim is to incite violence and terrorism; Radio B92 says opp. leader Draskovic's wife been kidnapped, but later freed from police custody; says she had knife put to her throat and pistol put in her mouth; Plavsic says army command center to be moved from Han Pijesak to Bijeljina; World Bank officials say Republika Srpska has received only 2% of $900 million in designated aid for Bos. but this largely due to local officials lack of coop.; 2 day meeting of Org. of Islamic Confl. begins in Sara. to discuss aid, Muratovic says 15% of total reconstruction aid now comes from Islamic countries, criticizes Bildt for postponing projects until 3- man pres. appoints Coun. of Mins., threat- ens to ask for diplomatic help from our friends Nov. 23 Tudj. returns to Zag., makes speech in in response to Zag. demonstration con- demning sinister Eur. and trans-Atlantic powers for meddling in Croatia's affairs when they are not able to solve their own minority, racial, or social problems Nov. 24 Bel. court annuls 33 opp. seat victories in Bel. (Zajedno had won 60 of 110 seats on city council); Opp. leaders call for boy- cott of planned 3rd round of elec.; IFOR, UN police confiscate mortars, rocket-pro- pelled grenades from Mus. police station in Sanski Most Nov. 25 100,000 turn out to protest in Bel., hurl eggs at govt. buildings, chant 'thieves to jail', but march peacefully; Univ. students join protest in response to court decision to annul elec.; Opposition leader Zoran Djindjic tells crowd they are picking apart dictatorship piece by piece; 10 busloads of riot police reported in streets, parks but no action taken; US State Dept. calls Milo. govt. actions 'unacceptable' and 'invalidates Serbia's claim to be a state evolving towards dem.'; Trial of 39 Serbs for war crimes in '91- '92 begins in Cro., only 12 are present w/ rest being tried in absentia Nov. 26 30,000 students march in Bel., followed by 50,000 who throw eggs, tomatoes, and bags of red liquid at govt. buildings; US says it will block Serbian membership in intl. fin. orgs. until 'anti-dem. practices' ended; Opp. appeals to Supreme Court to reinstate elec., cancel elec. scheduled for 27th, but SC turns this down; 45 reporters working for pro-regime Politika say mgt. deliberately censoring reporting of dems. Nov. 27 100,000 turn out again, throw rocks, eggs at govt. buildings, burn US flag and accuse US, other western govts. of aiding Milo.; New elecs. held in 25 mun. including Bel. but turnout low due to opp. boycott; Vuk Draskovic calls for resignation of Milo., says 'he is guilty of the death of thousands of people. He is guilty of ethnic cleansing', crowd chants 'Red Bandits', Slobo Traitor'; Serbian Orth. Church says 'free will of the cits. must be respected'; Riot police prevent protest from going to Dedinje neighborhood where Milo. lives; Ind. Radio B92 goes off air, govt. contin- ues to broadcast only its side of dem.; State Dept. again criticizes Milo.; Cro. Supreme Ct. chairman, Krunoslav Olujic fired by disciplinary auth. due to accusations of pedophilia, trying to protect friends' financial activities (Olujic opposes HDZ efforts to curb jud. ind.; replaced by HDZ hard-liner); Cro. parl. opp. ends boycott after question of Zag. city govt. placed on leg. agenda; IFOR, UNHCR, UN police lift 2-week old suspension of return of refs. in NE Bos.; UN agrees to 6 month extension of UNPRE- DEP in Mac., but troops to be reduced from 1,100 to 800 Nov. 28 100,000 again protest as state TV says SDS won 38 seats in rerun elec. giving him majority of 61; 20,000 protest in Nis after new elec. there give Socialists 46 of 70 city council seats; Radio B92 jammed as it tries to carry reports of demonstrations; First US wea. arrive in Sara.; Perry visits US troops in BH, thanks them for 'doing the work of the Lord', meets w/ Rus. Dep. Def. Min. Gen. Vladimir Toporov who says his force of 1,500 might be reduced by 200-300; Mladic agrees to step down but warns that govt. must do something about poor morale, preparedness of army Nov. 29 Zajedno says it will launch labor strikes to widen movement; Drazen Erdemovic given 10 years in prison by WCT for role in mas- sacre of Mus. in Sreb. Nov. 30 Largest protest yet draws 150,000 after 15,000 students begin 13th day of marching; 10 journalists of largest ind. daily news- paper Blic (200,000 copies in Serbia) fired after refusing to stop writing about protests Dec. 1 Police arrest some demonstrators on day of smaller protests, warns that it will hold responsible dem. organizers; State TV says opp. are using 'pro-fascist hysteria and violence' to 'introduce terrorism', compares opp. leaders to Hitler; dozens of buses filled w/ police arrive in Bel. from southern Serbia to intimidate protests; OSCE amb. Robert Frowick says Bos. Serbs have agreed to monitoring of local elec., but Izet. aide says elec. will depend on elec. rules; Mladic aide Gen. Milan Gvero also to step down but says civilian lead- ers don't see value in armed forces Dec. 2 80,000 turn out in snow blizzard in defiance of govt. intimidation; opp. leader Vesna Pesic addresses rally; Marchers use different route and avoid govt. buildings, Politika offices to prevent accusations of violent behavior; Bos. Serbs pull out of Brcko talks say- ing they won't recognize them, US State Dept. says talks to go ahead w/ or w/out them Dec. 3 B92, Radio Index both forced off air due to jamming by govt., US says it could retal- iate as it still maintains an outer wall of sanctions; protestors now using ka- zoos, firecrackers, whistles to give dem- onstrations festive air; Serbian parl. cancels meeting saying building infested w/ pests after opp. says it will meet there, protestors wear gas masks at building, spray it w/ insect repellant; 5 Supreme Court judges break w/ govt., criticize ct. decisions upholding reversal of opp. elec. victories; Socialist party says opp. uniting w/ Yugos' for. enemies; 32 have now been arrested, state TV now criticizing protests after ignoring them; Tudj. visits Vukovar, says Croats should return to homes, Serbs accept the Cro. state; Croatian rail workers shut down country's rail system in solidarity w/ workers fired for taking part in strike of Nov. 28; 114 of 123 mayors elected so far in Mac. w/ Social Dem. Alliance getting 52, rt.- wing opp. coalition 28; ethnic Albanian Party of Dem. Prosperity 12, and 1 in coalition w/ Dem. People's Party Dec. 4 150,000 march past govt. buildings w/ protestors holding their noses as Draskovic says govt. 'lies stink so much'; 25,000 students carry banners supporting Radio B92 in separate dem., while US State Dept. says govt. has acted 'like communist thugs' and that VOA would transmit jammed radio pro- grams; Milo. fires hard-line head of SPS in Nis; EU criticizes censorship; 90 judges sign letter in weekly Telegraf demanding re-examination of annulment saying 'our goal is to protect the honor and dignity of the court'; Bosnian Peace Implementation Conf. in London expresses concern over progress of peace in BH, even as Serbs expel 30 Mus. from homes in Bosanska Gradiska (n. Bos.) over past 10 weeks, while Helsinki Comm. says campaign to force Serbs out of Ilidza continuing; 200 Serbs protest previous day's visit to Vuk. by Tudj., refuse to allow UN rep., Cro. journalists to visit cultural ctr. in town; Dec. 5 150,000 again in streets w/ many now calling for Milos. resignation; effigy of Milo. in prison clothes placed in Republic Square; thousands of paper airplanes thrown at govt. buildings; Taxi drivers have refused to support strikers so far; Milo. govt. allows Radio B92 and Radio Index to resume broadcasts after Carl Bildt sends protest letter; National Elec. commission asks Sup. Ct. to review annulment of elec. Dec. 6 Serbian Info. Min., Aleksandar Tijanic, resigns Dec. 7 Krajisnik says Brcko must be integral part of Bos. Serb state, while Serb PM Gojko Klickovic says Serbs will pull out of arbitration commission on town as they distrust comm. chairman Robert Owen Dec. 8 Supreme Court rejects opp. call for rein- stating elec. results without giving reasons; 50,000 dem. in Nis, smash TV sets in protest of biased media coverage Draskovic says 500,000 needed for 2-3 days to topple govt.; Police arrest, beat, and threaten to shoot Dejan Bulatovic, 21, for carrying Milo. effigy in prison attire; he is sentenced to 25 days in prison, denied access to legal counsel for making fun of the pres. in public; Tudj. again criticizes protesters saying they want to subvert the Cro. state, calls them communist remnants Dec. 9 100,000 turn out for protest which is now using web site to spread word; Djindjic says Zajedno to boycott opening of fed. parl. set for today, but does not rule out possibility of negotiating and end to protests; Bildt announces that Brcko arbitration to be postponed for 2 months after Serbs request delay, Mus. agree Tudj. decorates Gen. Tihomir Blaskic for role in retaking Knin region in '95, wife accepts award for him as he is at Hague; HVO continues evictions of Mus. from E. Mos., UN warns HVO of unspecified mili- tary consequences if soldiers found to be involved in evictions; Party of Dem. Action (SDA) nominates Siladjzic as co- chair of Coun. of Mins., Muratovic for Min. of For. Trade and Eco. Rels., and Husein Zivalj as dep. FM (Croats to appoint FM, Serbs get to name Civil Af- fairs and Comm.) Dec. 10 Opp. boycotts Fed. Parl. session while Fed. Supreme Ct. upholds Serbian Sup. Ct. decision to sanction govt. win; Int. Min. Jokanovic says force will not be used unless protestors attack public property; Clinton tells Milo. to respect vote results, while NATO statement says it strongly deplores the decision to overturn elec. results; Wash. calls off visit by envoy Korblum as a protest; Plavsic says she supports student protest that this is the moment for Serbia to finally break w/ its communist past Dec. 11 Some organized labor joining in protests but CNN reports that crowd numbers in Nis, other towns, getting smaller; Opp. leaders call for freezing overseas assets of 20 most influential families in govt.; VOA to begin broadcasting daily 30-min. TV show Amer. Calling Serbia to Serbia; Tudj. reportedly fires Int. Min. Ivan Jarnjak due to discovery of bugging device in office of opp. mayor of Rijeka, but most likely due to his failure to stop large anti-govt. protests in Nov. Dec. 12 Police prevent 40,000 from demonstrating near Milos' home; 120,000 protest downtown where Milo. meets w/ Ital. FM Lamberto Dini who says protestors 'asking too much at this time'; Milo. makes rare public statement saying 'the existing problems should be resolved within the inst. of our country'; Opp. leaders deny they are secretly negotiating w/ Milo.; Radio B92 says it has signed 10 year deal w/ Radio and Television Serbia to use state-owned transmitter, says it try to gain own frequency; Dem. League of Kosovo (LDK) says Feriz Blakcori died in Pristina hospital after being tortured by police after being arrested at home on 12-9; Kosovar shadow-state govt. issues state- ment welcoming protests but says opp. still anti-Albanian Intl. Police Task Force in Bos. reported to have spotted Kara. in his car but did not arrest him, IFOR says we are not authorized to chase war crims.; Bos. pres. announces that Haris Silajdzic and Serb Boro Bosic to be co-PMs taking turns chairing weekly cabinet meetings; Croats to be dep. pm and for. affairs min., Mus. for for. trade, and Serb for communications, each to have 2 deps. from other nationalities; 1 ship from Egypt, 1 from UAE arrive in Ploce w/ more weapons for Bos. govt.; UN Sec. Coun. approves mandate for SFOR (Stabilization Force) beginning 12-20; Cro. customs officials seize $65,000 from Cro. Open Society foundation sponsored by Soros who Tudj. has publicly criticized; Eur. Parl. res. calls on Cro. to renew Radio 101 permit, expresses concern over its treatment Dec. 13 Milo. sends letter to Christopher deny- ing that he cheated in elec., says force won't be used against dems., but calls them vandals and political terrorists; Zubak prevents inclusion of Mos. on agenda of Croat-Mus. Fed. meeting; NATO warns Bos. Croats that swift mil. action will be taken against them if they are found to be involved in eviction of Mos. Mus.; Croat police detain Cro. Open Society Found. official for 2 hours Dec. 14 Croats, Mus. agree that leg. of their fed. to elect new govt., pres., and vp; Serb auth. detain 14 Kosovan Albanians at Pristina airport as they attempt to re- turn from Switzerland; Rugova ends meet- ings in Wash. w/ Christopher, others Dec. 15 Largest protest yet w/ 250,000 attending; Serbian court restores opp. elec. victory in Nis in effort to placate protestors, but opp. leader Djindjic says we don't want any deals w/ Milo.; US State Dept. envoy John Kornblum meets w/ Draskovic, Vojin Dimitrijevic, and Ivan Vujacic in Geneva to express support for dem. reform Dec. 16 Local court reinstates opp. elec. victory in Smederevska Palanka (30 miles from Bel.) but opp. protests of 130,000 in 2 separate marches in Bel. demand more and Milos' re- signation; Draskovic says no dialogue until all elec. reinstated, while Djindjic says 'thieves' must be punished; Draskovic says meeting w/ Kornblum shows Amer. 'very sup- portive of our peaceful and dem. way of fighting'; Rus. FM Primakov warns against 'intervention into the internal affairs of another state'; Plavsic says war will occur if arbitration takes Brcko away from Serbs; Croats from Kosovo are being resettled in Krajina town of Kistanje; Serbs from vil- lage of Krtova (near Tuzla) returning to homes in area; Bos. Fed. demands release of 40 people arrested by Serbs while try- ing to exer. freedom of movement; Tudj. replaces 4 govt. mins. considered too ind. or suspected of corruption; Senior Cro. police officers express sup- port for fired Int. Min. Jarnjak whom they say is only person capable of dealing w/ chaos if Tudjman were to die in office Dec. 17 3 students who have walked from Nis have 15 minute meeting w/ Milo. giving him letter demanding restoration of elec. results, but Milo. says opp. asking for help from abroad and 'Serbia is its own master'; nearly 200,000 protest outside as workers begin to join movement; OSCE to send Felipe Gonzalez to Bel. to investi- gate elec.; Krajisnik says IFOR has performed well, Pale has worked hard to get Serbs to accept it; Republika Srpska PM Gojko Klickovic invites ICT head Judge Louise Arbour to visit Serb areas of Bos.; Cro. rail workers end 3-week old strike after High Ct. refuses appeal of earlier ct. ruling declaring action illegal; 1-2,000 teachers, research workers dem. in Zag. demanding 15% raise as their monthly wage ($350) is $50 less than the nat. average, but IMF calls for macro- eco. stabilization and careful wage policy linked to productivity Dec. 18 100,000 again rally, w/ part of dem. going past Rus. emb. to protest their support of Milo. regime; 30,000 students try to march to Milo's residence, but police turn them away; 2,000 Milo. supporters rally in village of Sremska Mitrovica (near Bel.); 37 students begin march from Kragujevac (120 km. from Bel.) to present protest letter to Milo.; UN says 3 Mus. homes in Croat terr. (near Capljina) dynamited previous weekend bringing total to 35 in 3 months, nobody caught; UNHCR says Bos. Serb auth. prevent- ing Mus. from returning to homes in Sipovo area (near Mrkonjic Grad); Croatia, Vatican sign agreements on legal issues, educ. and cul., and role of priests in army and police; Zubak claims that Herceg-Bosna ceased to exist on 17th at same time that Bos. rep. govt. transferred auth. to fed.; UNHCR says elderly Mus. couple expelled from Mos. by men claiming to be working for Herceg-Bosna govt., total for year 73 Dec. 19 250,000 turn out for largest demonstration yet; 3,000 Milo. supporters rally in Kru- sevac (90 miles se of Bel.), others in Backa Palanka and other towns; Yugo. FM Milan Milutinovic says Milo. not opposed to new local elec. if OSCE recommends them, but also concludes that Here in Serbia, there is an old saying that when the song is over, you stop singing; SDS vice-pres. Bosko Perosevic says police might be called in as dems. are harassing our citizens and jeopardizing the functioning of our eco. Opposition warns that Milo's tactics divid- ing nation, could lead to civil war; Rugova meets w/ Berisha in Tirana, both say they support the active protests of students Dec. 24 Milo. supporters, plain-clothes police at- tack and beat dems., 1 man shot in head by by pro-govt. supporter; govt. forces bused in, provided w/ clubs, police kept away from dem. site for 2 hours while govt. supporters try to provoke opp., then take part in attacks; Milo. gives first public address since dems. began to crowd of 100,000 in Terazije Sq. accompanied by wife, says dems. are tools of western powers; Bos. Serb ct. decides to go ahead w/ trial of Izet. in absentia for war crimes Dec. 25 US Ass. Sec. of State Talbott says US holds Milo. govt. responsible for violent actions of dems., says 'Serbian auth. have flagrant- ly and provocatively chosen to heighten tensions'; 50 Serbs gather outside Catholic church in town of Ilok in protest of 200 Croats attending midnight mass under UN escort, prevent them from leaving for 3 hours and then vandalize the church Dec. 28 SFOR admits that its troops blocked exhuma- tion of mass grave by Bos. govt. forensics team in ne. Bos.; Bos. Serb parl. approves bill on creation of professional army which would also allow those who are not citizens to volunteer during conflicts Dec. 29 Croat mayor of Mostar, Ivan Prskalo, con- demns Mus. terrorist acts after 2 Croats robbed, beaten, and stripped naked in Mus. part of city Dec. 30 Nis-based 63rd Parachute Brigade, officers from other units issue open letter to Milo., Army commander Gen. Momcilo Perisic, expressing support for students; Perisic rejects pol. role for army; Cro. Dep. PM Ivica Kostovic says local elec. to be held March 16 including Serb- held E. Sla. Dec. 31 CIA claims Iran contributed $500,000 to Izet's re-elec. campaign, and that he has been 'co-opted by the Iranians'; 150,000 opp. supporters celebrate New Year's in center of Bel.; EU asks For. Min. to re- spond to their findings that opp. won elecs.; FM Milutinovic calls report balanced and constructive'; France says Serbia risks isolating itself if it continues its position