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===== AIM Evening NEWS for Monday, October 30, 2000 =====
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SERBIAN GOVERNMENT - KOUCHNER'S ELECTIONS CONTRARY TO RESOLUTION 1244
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BELGRADE, October 30, 2000 (Tanjug)

The Serbian government said on Saturday that the local elections
organized in Kosovo and Metohija province by UNMIK chief Bernard
Kouchner are unacceptable because they are mono-national, without any
foundation in the laws of the Republic of Serbia, and because they
run contrary to the proclaimed objectives and responsibilities of the
international community and United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1244.

The government statement specified that there are not even the
elementary conditions for implementing these elections, having in
mind the security and overall political situation in the province.
There are no conditions in Kosovo and Metohija for the free
expression of the political will of citizens because there is no
freedom of movement. Serbs, Montenegrins and other non-Albanians have
been expelled, and those who remain in Kosovo and Metohija are
threatened in every respect, the statement said.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 (of June 10, 1999)
envisages that international forces secure law and order, provide
full security and safety for all citizens in Kosovo and Metohija, put
a stop to terrorism and violence, and ensure the return of all
temporarily displaced persons.

The Serbian government maintains that the elementary
precondition for free, legitimate and democratic elections in Kosovo
and Metohija is the full realization of Resolution 1244, and that
such elections cannot be organized or accepted without a political
solution for the problems in this province, the statement said.


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NEW AMNESTY LAW IN THE OFFING
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BELGRADE, October 30, 2000 (Tanjug)

Amnesty law expert team head Stevan Lilic said in Belgrade late
Saturday that those who committed military-political crimes would
soon be released from criminal persecution under a new amnesty law.

The amnesty law will affect those who failed to respond to a
military summons, who deliberately avoided military service, or were
illegally released from their military service obligation, said
Lilic, a professor at the Belgrade University Law School.

The new amnesty law will also affect political prisoners,
victims of political repression, persons imprisoned over accusations
that their activities had violated Yugoslavia's renown, its
constitutional system, and social system, Lilic said.


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KOSTUNICA: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA CANNOT BE DENIED
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BELGRADE, October 30, 2000 (Free Serbia)

President Kostunica who was a guest on Serbian National TV
estimated last night that Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was getting
closer to the moment of final recognition of its international status
of a state as well as to solution of internal relations between
Serbia and Montenegro in democratic dialogue, as reported by Belgrade
media.

Kostunica estimated that the existence of Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia cannot be denied and that the idea about forming a new
federal unit could not be discussed since Yugoslavia existed since
1992. It is estimated as highly important that people should express
their will about the future constitutional government. "We are
absolutely against the will of people to be neglected", Kostunica
said.

About the request of Yugoslavia to be accepted in UN, Kostunica
said that a step had been made during the consultations with French,
Greek and Russian officials. He said that the key reason for making a
request for entering UN was the urgent need for restoring Yugoslavia
in all international organizations and institutions, especially the
financial ones. He went on to add that "everyone with good intentions
in Montenegro would have to agree with this request".


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CONTINUED DISINTEGRATION OF SERBIAN RENEWAL MOVEMENT
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BELGRADE, October 30, 2000 (Blic)

"All members of Serbian Renewal Movement parliamentary club of
Serbian Parliament left or plan to leave Serbian Renewal Movement,
including the chief of this club, Milan Mikovic", Nebojsa Atanackovic
till recently parliament deputy and member of party's main board
said.

According to him, some of former SRM officials will most likely
join "Pravda" /Justice/, new party being founded by Borivoje Borovic
and expected to be registered officially till Friday.


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YUGOSLAV PINK TELEVISION TO GET FOREIGN INVESTMENT
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BELGRADE, October 30, 2000 (Reuters)

Popular Yugoslav PINK television has signed an agreement with a
multinational company paving a way for foreign investment in local
media after the country's recent political changes, the TV owner said
on Sunday.

Zeljko Mitrovic, once a prominent member of the Yugoslav Left
party (JUL) led by Mirjana Markovic, the wife of former President
Slobodan Milosevic, said the Mitsui company had become a junior PINK
partner in Yugoslavia.

"I believe that the position of Mitsui as now the co-founder of
PINK will, among other advantages, provide a chance for the Belgrade
daily Blic to have its news seen on the most popular TV in
Yugoslavia," Mitrovic told Reuters. Mitsui is already a co-owner of
Blic, one of a few newspapers that had been critical of Milosevic's
regime over the years before he was ousted in a popular protest
following his refusal to concede an election defeat on September 24.

According to Mitrovic, Peter Kolbel, a Mitsui executive, said
that as far as he knew this was the first foreign investment in any
Yugoslav company after political changes in the country earlier this
month.

Mitrovic was a JUL candidate in Belgrade in the last election,
but was among the first in the party to recognize Milosevic's defeat.
He left the party after refusing to promote it any more on his
channel.

He also gave PINK a satellite link to foreign TVs that covered
the events on October 5 when angry demonstrators, demanding
Milosevic's resignation, set ablaze the state television building in
Belgrade, disabling any transmission.


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SERBS CLASH WITH FRENCH POLICE IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA VILLAGE
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KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, October 30, 2000 (Tanjug)

Violent clashes erupted in a village of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija
province on Sunday as local Serbs defied an attempt of the French
police to arrest one of their neighbors, Serb sources from the area
told TANJUG.

Early in the morning, the police arrived in Priluzje, 20 odd km
away from Kosovska Mitrovica, and attempted to arrest Serb Zoran
Kostic in the presence of neighbors and family members. The family
offered resistance, after which the police responded brutally.

TANJUG learns that the angry locals gathered into groups and
clashed with the police. There were reports of injuries on both
sides, and two policemen were wounded.

Later in the day, Kfor troops were called for assistance.


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KFOR SOLDIER ASSAULTED
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PRISTINA, October 30, 2000 (KFOR)

Late last night, a group of twelve Kosovo Albanian men gathered
outside of the KFOR 1-37 Armor compound in Cernica. One of the men
shoved a KFOR soldier. The soldier was not injured, and the man was
immediately detained and charged with the assault. The man was
transported to the Gnjilane Information Center. UNMIK Police is
investigating.


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SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION AIMS TO MAN STATION FOREVER
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CAPE CANAVERAL, US, October 29, 2000 (Reuters)

If all goes well, Monday will be the last day for mankind as a
strictly terrestrial species.

Monday man will take up permanent residency in space, a dream
for a generation of space sojourners and the stuff of science fiction
for even longer.

At the Russian-owned cosmodrome near Baikonur, Kazakhstan, three
astronauts -- Russians Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalyov and their
American commander, Bill Shepherd -- are in final preparations for
their launch Tuesday to the International Space Station (news - web
sites), in orbit some 230 miles above Earth.

They will arrive aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, not a U.S. space
shuttle as other crews have. And unlike previous visitors, they will
not leave after a week.

Their stay is supposed to last about four months, longer if NASA
(news - web sites)'s ambitious launch schedule slips. In the end,
they will be swapped for another crew -- this one with two Americans
and a Russian commander -- who will arrive on a space shuttle.

Other ``Expedition Crews'' will follow, rotating one after
another until the $60 billion station is finished, sometime in 2006
or later. After that, the crews will get larger, the stays perhaps
longer.

The station is designed to last at least 10 years, but could
last 25 or more, and then be replaced by a newer, bigger station.
Expeditions to the moon or Mars may be launched from there.


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RELIGIOUS STRIFE HURTS CENTRAL ASIA
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ASIA, October 29, 2000 (The Associated Press)

In spite of Russian troops and Western aid, Central Asia appears
to be slipping ever deeper into fear, poverty and frustration. Some
even warn that the 55 million people in these infant states - born
just nine years ago by the Soviet collapse - are on the verge of a
tangled, cross-border war.

Afghanistan is by far the world's largest producer of opium, the
raw source of heroin. Most of it pours through Tajikistan to Russia
and Western Europe. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan grow opium
poppies, too.

Some observers say the conflict isn't motivated so much by
religion as by the drug trade. Central Asian officials say the IMU's
ulterior aim is to protect drug-trafficking corridors.


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SEVEN DIE AS VIOLENT STORM SWEEPS N.EUROPE
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LONDON, England, October 30, 2000 (Reuters)

Driving rain, snow and gale force winds lashed northwestern
Europe Monday, with police reporting seven deaths in Britain, France
and Ireland.

British officials said the storm was the worst for more than a
decade, with the south of the country brought to a virtual standstill
as fallen trees and floods shut roads and rail lines.

Air travelers in Britain and northern France faced long delays,
Eurostar trains were shut down and ports were paralyzed on both sides
of the English Channel and North Sea.

Seven people died in the storm, which tore across southern
Britain from the Atlantic before sweeping into western Europe.

In northern France, police said two motorists were killed, one
when a tree hit his van and another when he crashed into a car
stopped because of a fallen tree.

Two people died in unrelated incidents off the British and Irish
coasts Sunday. Roger Davis, watch manager at Brixham coastguard, said
the 33-year-old skipper of the Dutch-registered vessel Almenum was
killed after falling into the ship's hold as it was tossed on heavy
seas as it anchored off Torbay Sunday evening.


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THE NEWS
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Evening News edited by Aleksandar Stan

AIM, Belgrade, October 30, 2000 16:30


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