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===== AIM Morning NEWS for Friday, September 29, 2000 =====
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DOS CALLS FOR CIVIC DISOBEDIENCE, GENERAL STRIKE
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BELGRADE, September 29, 2000 (Beta)

On Sept. 28, the leaders of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia
called on Belgraders to gather on Republic Square at 2 p.m. on Sept.
29, and to stay there until the regime recognized the victory of DOS
presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica.

They sent similar calls for "civic disobedience and a general
strike" to all citizens of Serbia in a bid to defend Kostunica's
victory in the presidential election.

The DOS leaders made the decision at a meeting, after which they
walked to nearby Terazije Square to address about 1,000 people who
had gathered there spontaneously. They were met with loud applause
and shouts of "He's finished!"

Zoran Djindjic, a DOS leader, said that the general strike meant
that all students would stop going to college and to school, all
workers would stay home, coupled with other forms of civic
disobedience.

Social Democracy party president Vuk Obradovic said, "We must
not allow the criminals from the Federal Election Commission to
tamper with our electoral will," calling on people throughout Serbia
to spend every day and night in the streets "until the government
admits defeat."


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DOS REFUSES ANY DEAL ON ELECTION RESULTS
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BELGRADE, September 29, 2000 (Beta)

The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) does not wish to make
any deals regarding the victory of its candidate Vojislav Kostunica
at presidential elections in Yugoslavia, and "does not intend to give
up this stand under any conditions whatsoever," the opposition
faction stated on Sept. 28.

"Vojislav Kostunica was elected as president in the first round
of elections on Sept. 24 with a majority of votes. This fact cannot
be negotiated because the will of the people is the indisputable
democratic principle," it was said in the statement.

"Slobodan Milosevic, as the one who lost the presidential
elections, is now facing two possibilities: to stand down in peace
and dignity, honoring the will of the citizens of this country, or to
do the same, but in a humiliating way, worthy neither of Serbia, nor
of democracy," it was said in the statement.


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SESELJ: ELECTIONS ARE FINISHED
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BELGRADE, September 29, 2000 (Blic)

"Vojislav Kostunica has won in the first round of elections and
as far as Serbian Radical Party is concerned, the elections have been
finished", Vojislav Seselj, leader of this party said yesterday.

He said he congratulated Kostunica as early as on Tuesday.
Seselj accused Federal election commission for "serious fraud".


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MILOSEVIC TO TRAVEL THROUGHOUT SERBIA
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BELGRADE, September 29, 2000 (Blic)

"Socialist Party of Serbia started campaign for second election
round of presidential elections that will be held on October 8",
Nikola Sainovic, high official of this party said. He added that
Milosevic would try to visit every foot of the country and "it is
possible that he goes to Kosovo, too".


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THE POLICE IS KEEPING ELECTION MATERIAL OF SIK
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BELGRADE, September 29, 2000 (Blic)

As Maja Vasic, DOS member in Federal election commission (SIK)
in extended membership, explained for "Blic" daily, members of this
commission submitted as official results only statistical report
without legislative documentation that understands lists with the
names of voters, ballots and verified protocols from polling
stations.

"According to that report the number of voters in Serbia is
7,249831. This means that the commission managed to decrease the
number of voters for about 600000 in just two days. According to
official data presented by themselves till yesterday, the number of
voters is 7,848,000. Further to that in the latest 24 hours after the
first temporary results announced by Federal election commission,
Milosevic 'lost' 70000 votes", Maja Vasic said.

DOS members in extended membership were told that the Commission
had announced the results and that their work in that body had been
finished.

Since Sunday till today the door of the Institute for statistics
housed in federal Parliament is being kept by the Police.


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BEIJING REACTIONS ON FEDERAL ELECTION RESULTS
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PEKING, China, September 29, 2000 (RTS)

The announcement of the Yugoslav Federal Election Committee that
Dr. Vojislav Kostunica and Slobodan Milosevic are to take part in the
second round of presidential elections, on Sunday 8th October, is
issued by the Chinese media. West does not care for free and fair
elections in Yugoslavia, nor for the future of Yugoslavs, but for
their own interests and this is clear by their political, economical
pressure and military threats towards Yugoslavia, this was issued by
Chinese "Labor diary". Forces of the West are interfering the
internal affairs of Yugoslavia, aiming to dethrone the current
authorities of Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavs will never forget bloody debt to the West in the last
year's bombarding, no meter who rules the country, this is reported
in Chinese diary.


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RUSSIA PLANS TO CUT 350,000 TROOPS
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MOSCOW, Russia, September 28, 2000 (The Associated Press)

A top Russian general on Thursday reaffirmed plans make deep
cuts in Russia's military, saying the country no longer has the money
for such a large force.

The reductions, to be made over 2001-2003, would cut 350,000
troops from the estimated 1.2 million people serving under the
Defense Ministry.

Gen. Vladislav Putilin, who heads the general staff's main
organizational and mobilization department, said: ``We are in a
situation in which external military perils have diminished and the
state is unable to fully finance the armed forces.''

On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said that there would be
no ``hasty or wholesale'' cuts in the number of soldiers and that
more time was needed to plan military reform. But Putin didn't reject
cuts and insisted the country's military was too unwieldy and had to
be modernized.


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OPEC ENDS SUMMIT, BLAMES WEALTHY NATIONS FOR OIL CRISIS
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CARACAS, Venezuela, September 29, 2000 (CNN)

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries wrapped up its
summit on Thursday by signing the Caracas Declaration and challenging
wealthier nations to assume responsibility for what it called a
manufactured oil crisis.

OPEC secretary-general Rilwanu Lukman suggested that those
wealthy nations should put their own house in order "by ensuring that
their environmental, fiscal, energy and trade policies do not
discriminate against oil, thereby helping to achieve global
sustainable development."

The Caracas Declaration calls for solidarity among OPEC members
and emphasizes the need to help poorer nations. But lingering
animosities among some member nations belied the cartel's efforts to
present a united front to the world.


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SHOTS FIRED AT ISRAELI PATROL
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WEST BANK, September 29, 2000 (BBC)

Two Israelis have been wounded, one seriously, in a shooting
near the West Bank town of Qalqilya, Israel Radio has reported.

Sources said shots were fired at an army jeep driving in a joint
Israel-Palestinian patrol near the district liaison office for the
two forces.

The Israeli army is said to be checking reports that a
Palestinian policeman shot at the Israeli jeep.

Qalqilya is one of the areas given joint Israeli-Palestinian
control under the interim peace deals between the two sides.

The incident comes after a day after an Israeli soldier died of
wounds sustained in a bomb attack against an army-escorted convoy in
the Gaza Strip.

Also on Thursday, dozens of Palestinian protesters and Israeli
policeman were hurt in clashes in the compound of Al-Aqsa mosque.


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IRAQ PREDICTS SANCTIONS COLLAPSE
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, September 29, 2000 (BBC)

Iraq says the recent arrival of international flights into
Baghdad means UN sanctions against the country have begun to
collapse.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, told the BBC on
Thursday that countries were defying the US by ignoring the supposed
ban on flights.

These are busy days for the government in Baghdad. Almost every
day now another country announces that it is sending a flight to
Iraq.

After 10 years the air embargo is all but over. The Iraqi
Government says the collapse of sanctions will follow.

Members of the UN Security Council have been divided over
whether air traffic with Iraq amounts to sanctions busting.

As long as those sanctions remain, there is certainly a clear
ban on commercial transactions with Iraq.

But with so many countries now sending official missions to
Baghdad, even the ban on trade may soon be in jeopardy.


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ANOTHER GREEK FERRY RUNS AGROUND BUT NO INJURIES
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ATHENS, Greece, September 29, 2000 (Reuters)

A Greek ferry with 1,081 passengers aboard has run aground as it
was about to dock in an Aegean island port but there were no
injuries, the merchant marine ministry said.

The incident in Naxos port occurred less than three days after
another ferry with the same owner hit rocks and sank off a nearby
island, Paros, killing at least 65 people -- Greece's worst maritime
tragedy since the mid-1960s.

A merchant marine spokesman said the Express Artemis, a big
vehicle and passenger ferry, got stuck in Naxos harbor just after
midnight (2100 GMT) during a run between Piraeus and various islands
in the Cycladic chain, including Paros.

"After about three hours, the ferry managed to dislodge itself
by its own means and docked safely in the port. Everyone aboard was
safe and passengers with destinations (other than Naxos) boarded
other ferries," the spokesman told Reuters.


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FORMER CANADIAN PM TRUDEAU DIES
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TORONTO, Canada, September 29, 2000 (The Associated Press)

With the death of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau,
Canadians lost their own version of Camelot.

Trudeau, 80, died of prostate cancer at his Montreal home
Thursday.

Trudeau - who like John Kennedy embraced progressive ideals in
the revolutionary 1960s - was suffering from Parkinson's disease and
still recovering from 10 days of pneumonia earlier this year.

A French Canadian who fought for national unity, his charisma
and irreverence helped define an era.

Funeral arrangements had not been announced late Thursday. Prime
Minister Jean Chretien canceled a Caribbean summit in Jamaica to fly
home. Chretien built his political life in the centrist Liberal Party
as a minister in Trudeau's cabinets.

Trudeau's powerful influence on Canada was apparent far beyond
the crowds gathered outside his home on a Montreal hilltop.


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EARLY-PREGNANCY ABORTION PILL GETS U.S. APPROVAL
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WASHINGTON, US, September 29, 2000 (CBC)

The controversial abortion pill, known as RU-486, has been
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. It is
designed for use in the early stages of pregnancy.

Guidelines for using the abortion pill advise women to take
three pills the first day, then two lower-dose pills two days later.

The pill, also known as mifepristone, will be sold under the
brand name Mifeprex. It was introduced in France in 1988. It should
be widely available in the U.S. within about a month.

The approval of the pill comes with several conditions, such as
mandatory visits to doctors two weeks after taking the pill to
determine if the pregnancy was terminated.

Early pregnancy in the case of RU-486 means 49 days or less from
the start of the woman's last menstrual period.

The abortion pill is not yet available in Canada, but is being
tested by Health Canada as part of an approval process.


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THE NEWS
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Morning News edited by Aleksandar Stan

AIM, Belgrade, September 29, 2000 12:50


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