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===== AIM Morning NEWS for Tuesday, September 19, 2000 =====
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BULATOVIC: NO CONFLICTS AFTER ELECTIONS
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BELGRADE, September 19, 2000 (BETA)

Federal Prime Minister and president of the Socialist People's
Party of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic, estimated that there would not
be any conflicts after the elections. He said that instead both
Montenegro and Yugoslavia would actually be stronger and more
democratic. "This is the goal we sincerely believe in and it
justifies everything we have done so far on the political scene,"
Bulatovic said at a pre-election gathering of this party in
Golubovci, near Podgorica. The event was attended by several hundred
citizens, noticeably fewer than at this party's promotion on the eve
of local Montenegrin elections in Podgorica and Herceg Novi.
Bulatovic accused the Montenegrin authorities of doing everything in
its power to prevent the citizens from going to the polls on
September 24. In his words, the state apparatus and Montenegrin
police were engaged in illegal activities aimed at obstructing the
elections in Montenegro.


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TRIAL OF WESTERN LEADERS AND NATO BEGINS
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BELGRADE, September 19, 2000 (Free Serbia)

The trial of Western politicians and NATO representatives
charged with war crimes against civilian population and several other
criminal acts committed during the last year's bombing of Yugoslavia
has begun today in their absence in Belgrade District Court. Among
those charges with war crimes are US President William Clinton, US
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of Defense
William Cohen, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, British Foreign
Minister Robin Cook and NATO Secretary General George Robertson,
British Defense Minister at the time of aggression against
Yugoslavia. French President Jacques Chirac, French Foreign Affairs
Minister Alain Richard, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, German Defense Minister Rudolf
Scharping, former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana and former
NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Wesley Clark were also
indicted for war crimes. Belgrade district public prosecutor charged
them with several criminal acts against the constitutional order and
security of Yugoslavia as well as with war crimes against humanity
and violations of the international law. Western officials also stand
accused of having used weapons banned by international treaties and
attempted murder of the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The
defendants are being tried in their absence since "they are not
accessible to state organs". Only accredited journalists and invited
guests could enter the largest courtroom in the Palace of Justice
building where the court is in session. Some diplomatic
representatives have also attended the trial. It is expected that the
trial will last for four days


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DUTCHMEN'S DETENTION IN BELGRADE EXTENDED
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BELGRADE, September 19, 2000 (Reuters)

Yugoslav judges have extended the detention of four Dutchmen
arrested in July and accused of plotting to kill President Slobodan
Milosevic, a defense lawyer said on Monday.Attorney Ivan Jankovic,
representing Godfried de Rie, said the judges decided to extend the
detention period until November 17 as the investigation into the case
was not yet complete.

He said the panel believed the men would flee Yugoslavia if they
were released in the meantime. De Rie is accused of leading a
terrorist group, which intended to kidnap or kill Milosevic.The other
three detainees - Bas van Schaik, Sander Zeitsen and Jeroen van
Iersel - were accused of being members of the group. All four have
denied the allegations against them. Attorney Vladimir Petrovic,
representing Zeitsen, confirmed that the detention had been extended
by two months, but said he expected the investigation to be completed
soon, explaining that nothing more remained to be done.


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HAGUE TRIBUNAL INVESTIGATORS IN Banja Luka
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BANJA LUKA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 19, 2000 (Free Serbia)

The Hague Tribunal investigators will begin on October 4 at the
United Nations headquarters in Banja Luka a series of interviews with
34 former and still active officers of the Republic of Srpska Army,
"who had mostly been members of the general staff or the Drina corps
of the Republic of Srpska Army during the events taking place in
Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia". Hague Tribunal investigators had
delivered summons signed by the deputy prosecutor to these officers
early this month providing guarantees that they would not be arrested
during the interviews.


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ALBERTO FUJIMORI'S RESIGNATION DEMANDED
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LIMA, Peru, September 19, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Peru's opposition has called for the formal and immediate
resignation of President Alberto Fujimori, who at the weekend called
for early elections, saying he would not run again as a candidate.
Opposition leader Alejandro Toledo called for a transitional
government leading up to elections in six months time. He also warned
that the military might intervene. Fujimori's election call followed
disclosure of a videotape showing his key aide and spy chief,
Vladimiro Montesinos, allegedly giving 15,000 dollars to an
opposition lawmaker. Montesinos' whereabouts have become a mystery.
His sister has claimed that he was arrested, but that has been denied
by Justice Minister Alberto Bustamante, who said a new election could
be held in March.


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TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR PEACE TALKS
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JERUSALIM, ISRAEL, September 19, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Israel has ruled out making further concessions to the
Palestinians in the latest round of peace talks. Israel's acting
foreign minister Schlomo Ben Ami warned that time was running out for
the Middle East peace talks. The Israeli Knesset reconvenes in
October. Ben Ami has rejected Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's
call for the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel, who
were expelled in 1948. The Israeli foreign minister said his country
could take back only "a small and very limited" number of the
millions in exile. Once a Palestinian state is established,
Palestinian refugees could go there, but not to Israel, he said.


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RISK OF EPIDEMICS NEAR MEKONG RIVER IS GROWING
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MEKONG RIVER, Vietnam, September 19, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Officials warn there is a growing risk of epidemics along the
Mekong River where more than one million people have already
displaced by severe monsoon flooding. It's been blamed for at least
110 deaths. Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has appealed for
foreign aid, saying many peasants had fled to Phnom Penh, but were
unable to find food. Officials had feared that the city itself would
be inundated but now predict the Mekong's level at that point will
ease. Downriver in Vietnam, however, emergency workers are preparing
for the highest levels in 40 years. Laos's southern "rice bowl" has
also been hard hit by the flooding.


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BOMB KILLS 11 IN PAKISTAN FRUIT MARKET
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, September 19, 2000 (BBC)

A bomb ripped through a busy fruit market on the edge of
Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, killing at least 11 people and
wounding about 50 in what police called an act of terrorism.

The bomb was hidden in a crate of grapes imported from
neighboring Afghanistan and went off when the fruit was being
auctioned to retailers, police said. Most of those bidding to buy the
grapes were killed or wounded, witnesses said. Police initially said
seven people were killed and about 30 wounded, but Nasir Khan
Durrani, senior superintendent of Islamabad police, said the toll had
risen to 11 dead with another 50 in hospitals. Police sources said
the death toll could rise as some of the injured were in critical
condition. "It is an act of terrorism," Durrani said at the site of
the blast at Islamabad's main vegetable and fruit market on the
outskirts of the city, adjoining the sister city of Rawalpindi, where
the Pakistani army has its headquarters. There has been a series of
bomb blasts in the (central) province of Punjab and elsewhere to
terrorize the population and it appears to be a link of the same
chain. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast,
which police said occurred at 7.45 a.m. When the market was crowded
with retailers buying vegetables and fruit from wholesalers. There
have been several bomb explosions in Pakistani cities in recent
months, including two in the city of Lahore this month that killed
eight people.


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U.S. URGES UN TO SET UP WAR CRIMES TRIAL FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN
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WASHINGTON DC, US, September 19, 2000 (CNN)

At the same time that the Clinton administration is pressing for
the creation of a special war crimes tribunal to try Saddam Hussein
for past behavior, top U.S. officials are warning the Iraqi leader
not to make new threats against his neighbors or his own people.

During a speech Monday, the U.S. ambassador at large for war
crimes issues, David J. Scheffer, urged the United Nations to set up
an international court to put the Iraqi leader on trial.


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THOUSANDS TRAPPED IN JOLO FIGHTING -REFUGEES
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JOLO, Philippines, September 19, 2000 (Reuters)

Thousands of civilians are trapped in a relentless Philippine
military assault on Muslim rebels holding 19 hostages, refugees from
the fighting said.

Food and water were scarce and the wounded could not be taken to
hospital because of a military cordon around the area of operations
on Jolo island in the southern Philippines, they told reporters.

As the bombardment of rebel positions entered the fourth day,
military sources said dangers for the hostages, who the government
said on Tuesday were believed to be still alive, were increasing.


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TRUCKERS IN ISRAEL TAKE FUEL PROTESTS TO MIDEAST
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JERUSALEM, Israel, September 19, 2000 (Reuters)

A European wave of resistance to high fuel prices spread to the
Middle East as hundreds of Israeli truckers mounted a "go-slow"
protest along the main north-south road linking the ports of Haifa
and Ashdod. Police said the creeping convoys caused minimal
disruption during the morning rush hour because the truckers, who
received a police permit for the protest, had honored an agreement to
drive only in one lane, allowing traffic to pass.

Nonetheless, Prime Minister Ehud Barak vowed to take unspecified
action to intervene if the protests disrupted daily life, saying the
price of diesel fuel used by the truckers was relatively low in
Israel.

Gabi Ben-Haroush, chief of the Haulers and Drivers Council, said
truckers could widen their protest on Wednesday and the go-slow was
only a "warning shot". Truck drivers in Israel complain that diesel
fuel makes up more than 30 percent of their costs, its price having
gone up repeatedly since the start of the year. Angry truckers and
farmers in Europe intensified protests against high fuel prices on
Monday, blockading ports and petrol depots while nervous governments
scrambled to limit the political fallout. European drivers have been
dismayed at rising prices sparked by higher world oil prices -- which
edged up to new 10-year peaks on Monday on fresh tension in the
Middle East.


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NEW SNETCH RECORD OF 112.5 KILOGRAMS
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SIDNEY, Australia, September 19, 2000 (Deutsche Welle)

Finally to the Sydney Olympics and a Chinese 63-kilogram class
weightlifter, Chen Xiaomin, has set a new snatch record of 112.5
kilograms. Australia's equestrian team has won gold in the three-day
event. Bulgarian shooter Tanyu Kiriakov has won the men's 50-meter
air pistol gold. Sweden's Pia Hansen took gold in the women's double
trap shooting event. American swimmers Lenny Krayzelburg and Megan
Quann won the men's 100 meters backstroke and women's 100 meters
breaststroke respectively. A disappointed German team has only
managed one bronze so far. That was by Steve Theloke in the 100
meters backstroke. Doping scandals continued: An International
Athletics Federation arbitration panel imposed a two-year ban on
German runner Dieter Baumann after rejecting his claim that some-one
had secretly spiked his toothpaste with nandrolone. Four Romanian
weightlifters were allowed to compete on payment of a 50,000 dollar
fine, but two teammates who failed drugs tests remained barred.


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FLYING DUTCHMAN SETS WORLD BEST
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SIDNEY, Australia, September 19, 2000 (Reuters)

Swimming sensation Pieter van den Hoogenband smashed the world
record for the 100m freestyle as he stormed into the final. The
Flying Dutchman clocked 47.84 seconds in his heat, becoming the first
man to break the 48-second barrier. The 22-year-old, who equaled his
own world record when beating Australian wonderboy Ian Thorpe in the
200m freestyle final, now has his sights set on Alex Popov.

The Russian is bidding to become the first swimmer to win the
coveted 100m crown for the third Olympics in succession But Popov
could only finish second in his semi-final to previous world record
holder Michael Klim of Australia.

Klim, who set the previous record of 48.18 seconds during
Saturday's 4x100 meters freestyle relay final, clocked 48.80 in his
heat. Van den Hoogenband will now be favorite for Wednesday's final -
but he revealed the exertions of the past few days may be starting to
catch up with him.


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THE NEWS
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The Morning News edited by Jasmina Vermezovic
AIM, Belgrade, September 19, 2000 13:40


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