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Tuesday.

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Bonev: Maxim Is the Genuine Patriarch. To me, it is very important that the country's new president follow the example of Simeon II and unequivocally prove by his actions that there is only one Synod and that Maxim is the legitimate Patriarch. The candidate presidential couple Bogomil Bonev (right) - Atanas Zhelezchev (in the middle) told the same to Patriarch Maxim. Photo: Kiril Konstantinov.

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Referendum On Macedonia Peace?

CBS

Radical Prime Minister Calling For Nationwide Vote
SKOPJE, Macedonia, Oct. 16, 2001

(CBS) Macedonia's radical prime minister is backing a nationwide referendum on a Western-engineered peace accord, despite warnings that such a vote could derail the country's fragile peace process, state television reported Tuesday.

The comments came hours before parliament postponed a debate on the referendum, which is being pushed by hard-line deputies of the prime minister's majority VMRO party. No new date was set for the session and there was no explanation for the postponement.

There are so many reasons in favor of voting for a referendum, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski told reporters. A referendum should ... be thought of as something that can resolve Macedonia's future for the next 100 years.

The debate on the referendum began Monday, even though ethnic Albanian deputies boycotted the session arguing the referendum is not in line with the peace agreement signed in August.

The assembly has stalled the peace process for weeks now, failing to enact reforms to upgrade the rights of ethnic Albanians, a third of Macedonia's 2 million population.

Under the peace accord engineered by the United Sates and Europe, ethnic Albanian rebels agreed to stop fighting and handed in more than 4,000 weapons to NATO in exchange for constitutional amendments granting their ethnic group greater rights.

A Western diplomat in Skopje, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Georgievski and his hard-liners represent the biggest obstacle to a successful completion of the peace deal.

Georgievski's group has 47 seats in the 120-seat assembly and lacks the majority needed to single-handedly pass a referendum. But they hope to win support from other conservative Macedonian deputies.

Meanwhile, shootings have occurred almost every night in rebel-held areas in the northwest, despite NATO's continued presence and a growing number of European monitors.

Blagoja Markovski, an army spokesman, said the military registered 16 bursts of gunfire from late Monday into Tuesday morning, in the northwestern city of Tetovo and nearby villages -- the scene of six months of clashes between government troops and ethnic Albanian rebels earlier this year.

Also, the police reported being shot at 20 times overnight from Matejce, a northern rebel-held village, but did not respond to the provocations.

Macedonian President Threatens Talks.

AP

By KATARINA KRATOVAC, Associated Press Writer

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Macedonia's president threatened to pull out of peace talks Tuesday unless lawmakers stop stalling on a Western-engineered accord meant to upgrade ethnic Albanian rights.

Under the August accord, ethnic Albanian rebels agreed to stop fighting and handed in more than 4,000 weapons to NATO in exchange for constitutional amendments granting the large ethnic Albanian minority greater rights.

The weapons were turned over by Sept. 26, but parliament has failed to enact the amendments.

Tuesday, President Boris Trajkovski condemned ``certain groups of deputies'' for ``continuing to block'' crucial constitutional amendments that are part of the August peace agreement.

``If these unacceptable efforts go on, I shall consider them a form of dictate and will have to reconsider my role'' in the peace process, Trajkovski said in a letter to parliament without elaborating.

Trajkovski's role in the process is pivotal, as the president is the only figure with enough stature to act as a go-between among factions of the majority Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.

If Trajkovski backs out of the peace process, the country could again be plunged into disarray.

But some also blame Trajkovski for the delay in passing the legislation. The law calls for the president to review all 15 amendments and pass them on to parliament ahead of any vote to make them law.

Instead of presenting parliament with the 15 amendments, for enactment as a package deal as called for by the ethnic Albanians, Trajkovski has only given them nine.

Ethnic Albanian deputies have boycotted key parliament meetings, fearing a ploy by the Macedonians to introduce changes in some of the amendments, particularly one that would make all ethnic groups equal under the law.

Zamir Dika, an ethnic Albanian deputy, said that Trajkovski's actions were ``unacceptable'' and the ethnic Albanian deputies will only return to parliament once all amendments are on the table.

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson and Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, were expected in Skopje on Thursday. Officials in Brussels said the two would talk with Macedonian leaders about pushing through the amendments as a package deal.

Also Tuesday, Macedonia's parliament postponed a debate on whether the peace deal should be put to a nationwide referendum, a move that the West has warned would sink the peace process.

Macedonian President May Leave Talks.

AP

By Katarina Kratovac
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, October 16, 2001; 6:31 PM

SKOPJE, Macedonia Macedonia's president threatened to pull out of peace talks Tuesday unless lawmakers stop stalling on a Western-engineered accord meant to upgrade ethnic Albanian rights.

Under the August accord, ethnic Albanian rebels agreed to stop fighting and handed in more than 4,000 weapons to NATO in exchange for constitutional amendments granting the large ethnic Albanian minority greater rights.

The weapons were turned over by Sept. 26, but parliament has failed to enact the amendments.

Tuesday, President Boris Trajkovski condemned "certain groups of deputies" for "continuing to block" crucial constitutional amendments that are part of the August peace agreement.

"If these unacceptable efforts go on, I shall consider them a form of dictate and will have to reconsider my role" in the peace process, Trajkovski said in a letter to parliament without elaborating.

Trajkovski's role in the process is pivotal, as the president is the only figure with enough stature to act as a go-between among factions of the majority Macedonians and ethnic Albanians.

If Trajkovski backs out of the peace process, the country could again be plunged into disarray.

But some also blame Trajkovski for the delay in passing the legislation. The law calls for the president to review all 15 amendments and pass them on to parliament ahead of any vote to make them law.

Instead of presenting parliament with the 15 amendments, for enactment as a package deal as called for by the ethnic Albanians, Trajkovski has only given them nine.

Ethnic Albanian deputies have boycotted key parliament meetings, fearing a ploy by the Macedonians to introduce changes in some of the amendments, particularly one that would make all ethnic groups equal under the law.

Zamir Dika, an ethnic Albanian deputy, said that Trajkovski's actions were "unacceptable" and the ethnic Albanian deputies will only return to parliament once all amendments are on the table.

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson and Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, were expected in Skopje on Thursday. Officials in Brussels said the two would talk with Macedonian leaders about pushing through the amendments as a package deal.

Also Tuesday, Macedonia's parliament postponed a debate on whether the peace deal should be put to a nationwide referendum, a move that the West has warned would sink the peace process.

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TERRORISM CANNOT BE ELIMINATED INDIVIDUALLY, MINISTER BOSKOVSKI SAYS.

MIA

Macedonian Minister of Interior Ljube Boskovski stated that the meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Petkanov continues the bilateral cooperation between the both ministries and countries.

"Regardless of the fact that Bulgaria has new Government and Macedonia has new coalition, the fight against organized crime as one of the greatest evils at the end of 20th and the beginning of the 21st century still remains, especially now when Europe and the entire world faces the global terrorism," Minister Boskovski said after the meeting.

Regarding the global terrorism, both ministers have identical position. "The terrorism cannot be eliminated individually, because just as the organized crime it does not recognize borders," Boskovski underlined.

According to Boskovski, Tuesday's meeting brings new quality in the cooperation that will enable faster flow of information and more efficient fight against criminal.

They agreed on cooperation in implementing the plan for border police "that should have been realized by the end of 2001", Boskovski said, adding that it was not realized due to the complex security situation in the country.

Bulgarian Minister Petkanov stated that "in the modern world the criminal is an international matter and it is not restricted only to one country, therefore there must be cooperation in the fight against it." He stressed that the cooperation should be intensified between the neighboring countries that have "almost similar problems."

According to Petkanov the talks with Minister Boskovski should continue with special emphasis on the fight against organized criminal, drugs and human trafficking, smuggling, trade with assize goods and terrorism.

GEORGIEVSKI: ENTRANCE IN CRISIS REGIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE EARLIER.

MIA

"We can defend the thesis that there should not be a referendum for constitutional changes, but there are a lot of arguments to support this thesis. Still, this issue should be solved by the Parliament", Prime Minister Georgievski this evening.

Answering the question whether, as VMRO-DPMNE leader, he is in favor of referendum, Georgievski said "a lot of discussions in this view were clear that the Parliament and the referendum are high democratic institutions in Macedonia".

"In principle, every theory that the referendum is not something bAd for Macedonia, but something to confirm the thing that should solve the future of the citizens of the country", Prime Minister Georgievski is clear.

Concerning the issue of the vote of VMRO-DPMNE deputies on the issue of referendum, Macedonian Prime Minister said that they had already decided "to decide freely". "I think that we have heard most of them", he added.

The entrance of the members of the Internal Ministry in the crisis regions, according to Prime Minister Georgievski, is linked with the decision of the Macedonian Security Council.

"We do not want the Internal Ministry to take up initiatives. I think that a decision for entrance in crisis regions should have been brought earlier", he stated.

Prime Minister Georgievski, assessing Internal Minister Ljube Boskovski as "a good minister", informed that ha has not thought about his change.

"If you ask for my opinion, Ljube Boskovski will remain Internal Minister. If there is another coalition, maybe we will all be changed", Prime Minister Georgievski emphasised.

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LAST PREPARATIONS BEFORE RETURNING OF THE SECURITY FORCES IN THE OCCUPIED VILLAGES.

MIA

President of the Governmental Coordination Body for Crisis Management Ilija Filipovski said at the press conference on Tuesday that he expected the Macedonian security forces to return to the regions impacted by the crisis on Thursday or Friday.

He announced that tomorrow's meeting with OSCE, NATO representatives and with special envoys of the EU and U.S. would be focused on determining the exact locations and dates for returning of the security forces, which will be in mixed ethnic composition.

"The first activity will be de-mining of the terrain," Filipovski said. He added that President Boris Trajkovski and Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski would be informed about all decisions of the Coordination Body.

Craig Janise, Head of the OSCE mission to Macedonia, said that although there were no conditions set for returning of the security forces, there were still some practical issues that need to be resolved.

Regarding the amnesty, he said it was a positive political signal, adding that the statement of President Boris Trajkovski and supported by the Government was not a law, but should be applied in the field.

Regarding the violations of the cease-fire, Filipovski said that the Coordination Body believed that there were still armed persons in certain districts in Tetovo who did not respect the cease-fire.

Mr. Janise said that the situation in Macedonia was not perfect, but was certainly positive. "We do not carry out monitoring in the night hours and that is why we do not know who makes the violations," he said.

Bulgarian Women Gave up Child-Bearing Because of Poverty.

Standartnews

Bulgarian women refuse en masse don't give birth to children because of poverty, it transpired from a poll by the National Statistics on birth rate. 61.5 % of the people think that the ideal family is the one with two children. Yet, the Bulgarian women with one child don't give birth to a second one, because it will cost them a lot of money or because they have another economic problems, such as being jobless. 44.9% have no children, because they don't have a partner. Each 5th Bulgarian thinks that the best variant is having a single child. The data shows also that 53.9% of the Bulgarians estimate the living standard of their family as satisfactory. 24.9% find their financial situation very poor. This is a very high rate, the statisticians elaborated. 196,000 people have emigrated from the country since 1992, another poll of the National Statistics Institute reads. From all the emigrants only 18% are with university education.

Stephan Kioutchukov
(PY)

Bin Laden's Emissary Has US-Visa till 2005.

Standartnews

Dr Anwar has shown interest in NPP Kozloduy waste fuel long before our meeting.

Ed. note: On Sunday, "Sunday Times" wrote how the British secret services investigated the statements of Bulgarian "Ivan Ivanov". The editorial office again got in touch with the man who told for a first time before "Standart" of his meetings with Bin Laden and his people and the business network of Osama. Here is his new story.

I'd like to elaborate on the topic of Kozloduy, which is delicate to all of us, and the interest Bin Laden's people showed in the waste fuel. During the talks I had with the interested person of Pakistani citizenship Mohammad Anwar, who, by the way, is DSc, I understood that this is a long-standing interest. After all, it comes to profound knowledge of the technology of production, transport and foreign relations. Besides, the "candidate-buyers" were aware of the export route as well: via Moldova - Ukraine - to the "Mayak" plant in Siberia Dr Anwar told me: "It is the same plant, receiving also the waste fuel from Czechia, Slovakia and Ukraine, Mr Ivanov. We are now interested only in the waste product from VVER-440, and if the things are to go well, we are to negotiate also on VVER-1000." One more interesting fact from our dialogue: "After all, you have not exported it during the period 1988-99, which means you have a lot of it." Now, as I know what the people referred to are to answer me, I'll waste no time to retell the rest of our conversation: "It is true, you resumed the export in the recent years, but you are paying for the processing $640 per kilo and the Russians will soon rise this price to $1,000 - so, let's negotiate, we shall offer you better terms." You already know what my answer was. I understood that the services are already after the "candidate-buyers". To "Sunday Times", the DSc in question has often been in UK and has, most probably, searched to establish contacts with English universities. I take the liberty to refer them to the university in Brighton. However, they'll be surprised to know that he has also a US visa valid till 2005. There are people in charge of tracing what he has been doing there. After all it is not my business but of the services, though it was me who mentioned of using anthrax a week earlier than the first accident took place. Otherwise, the American forces will for a long time chase after foxes only in the burrows of the caves in the vicinities of Kandahar.

Why Should I Hurt General Atanassov?

Standartnews

The information on my meeting with Osama was left to get dusty in some drawer of our intelligence services.

I should also shed some light on certain things connected with the interest of foreign economic, financial and other groupings in Bulgaria. The occasion is a publication in the Sunday Times the day before yesterday, which read that Bin Laden had tried for the fourth successive time during the past year alone to purchase nuclear components. Besides, after the investigation carried out by the British intelligence services the information carried by 'Standart', was commented as 'credible', that is 'trustworthy'. Since the publication concerns me too, I should make certain things clearer. The most important inacuracy is that I have never 'worked for the government'. God forbid, for many years now I've been outside of the system. However, I know Velizar Shalamanov personally and although there hadn't been too much love between us, I consider that the military intelligence lost on two occasions. The first one was when Mr Shalamanov left it, and the second one - after he had been forced to exchange his high-ranking post in the Defence Ministry for that in the Atlantic Club. To him it would be perhaps a surprise, but Gerhard Schroeder himself had said the following: 'a sensible person in the defence ministry at last'. I myself am very sorry that our ways parted long ago. I can't but be surprised at the Bulgarian model too: Shalamanov - in the Atlantic Club, and in the place of the Pretty Nadya (this is how the Bulgarian ex-foreign minister was referred to) - a minister who mows the grass in front of his ministry. Yet the reaction of our secret services is easy to understand since we are not directly involved in the conflict. However, I knew there would be some reaction to the information I had disclosed but it was something I expected the least. In the first place - the data that someone wanted to trade in our nuclear waste was 'a threat to the national security'. More or less this fact has its explanation. However, the idea that my account aims to help dismiss general Atanass Atanassov (former premier Kostov's right hand and a man the president doesn't want to remove, for now). I was in Pakistan from April 3 to 18, 2001. On April 10 I was taken to Bin Laden. Where precisely - who should know, knows it. I returned to Bulgaria on May 16. I duly informed the respective services. The only result was that they wagged their finger at me, advising me not to busy myself 'with that' any longer. My information was left to gather dust in someone's drawer. Whose is the drawer - the one concerned is very well aware of it. I began my account for 'Standart' after the attacks on the US of September 11. As for the former Intelligence Department of the General Staff, I just don't want to mention anything, I left it long ago and with 'pain' at that, because at the time, there was a typical army order that 'lifts be used only in the upward direction' with the aim of economizing. Perhaps some people still can't swallow the fact that the world has again taken a turn for the worse and these people would like to busy themselves only with small, lobby intrigues and worldly gossip. How could they accept it after even the powerful national media doesn't want to sober up. For example, what was the reaction of BNT on the day of the attacks?: at the hour for the bulletin the Number One news was the attack on New York. 15-20 seconds of information and then followed the 'breaking news' of Dogan's visit to Kardzhali and what Boris Traikovski had said at some conference. The bTV, Nova TV and even the cable televisions 'pulled themselves together', while the big state media was still wondering what to do. I still wonder how it hasn't come to anyone's mind to launch an investigation into whether the second tower of the World Trade Center hadn't been hit only to make BNT become aware of what it came to. However, the story has its 'happy end'. Several weeks later America struck back. That time the small televisions broadcast only 'a black sky and lightnings', as general Anguel Marin put it. The biggest state television had brought out the heavy artillery: journalist Yavor Dachkov was defeating newsmen and obviously there was no force in the world to stop him.

Sofia-Belgrade relations flourish.

SofiaEcho

Relationships between Sofia and Belgrade are advancing to a new level, said Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofianski after a meeting with his Belgrade counterpart Radmila Hrustanovic on Tuesday. Hrustanovic came on a two-day official visit to Bulgaria on Monday.

According to Sofianski the two capital cities will cooperate in urban transport, hot water supply, finance, business and culture. He added that Sofia will help Belgrade design a waste water treatment facility. On Monday the two mayors toured the Bistritsa Treatment Plant, whose modernization and construction has been internationally financed. Sofia will also share its experience with Belgrade in setting up a municipal bank.

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