Sorry does not open

This event and Commander Ceku's participation in it are categorized by the UN report as "Activities against minorities, including hate speech." They also violate the policy of the KPC that it "will exist to serve all of the people of Kosovo. It will be politically neutral."

This alone could be grounds for Ceku to be dismissed as Commander of the KPC, according to UN policy. But this infraction pales in contrast to Ceku's brutal past. A past the US knows well because it was influential in making Ceku one of the top "ethnic cleansers" in the Balkans, alongside Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. Ceku refined his brutality as a general in the US-backed Croatian Army during the Balkan war and was trained by Military Professional Resources Inc., a private paramilitary firm founded in 1987 and based in Alexandria, Virginia with former high-ranking US generals and NATO officials on its board. These officers include the former Commanders in Chief of the US Army in Europe and US Central Command, the Supreme Allied Commander-Atlantic and the former US Representative to the NATO Military Committee. In 1994, armed with a contract authorized by the Clinton Administration, MPRI officially began to train Croatian forces.

Just months after MPRI arrived on the scene, Croatian forces carried out the notorious Operation Storm. In a brutal four-day blitzkrieg in 1995, these forces expelled some 200,000 Serbs from the Krajina region of Croatia after their villages were mercilessly shelled. Jane's Defense Weekly reported that Ceku was "one of the key planners" of the operation that the New York Times called "the largest single 'ethnic cleansing' of the war.

The criminal tribunal has been investigating Operation Storm for years. The Sunday Times of London recently reported that Ceku is also suspected by the tribunal of war crimes committed during raids he led in the south of Croatia in September 1993, when he was commanding the feared 9th Brigade.

War crimes investigators at the Hague concluded, "In a widespread and systematic manner, Croatian troops committed murder and other inhumane acts upon and against Croatian Serbs." Investigators also documented deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian buildings, along with summary executions, as Croatian forces "committed numerous violations of international humanitarian law."

To date there have been no indictments at the Hague for crimes committed in Croatia. The US has refused to cooperate in the investigation and despite the fact that MPRI's members are almost exclusively ex-US military, information on its operations are unavailable to the public because it is a private corporation.
http://www.commondreams.org/views/071900-107.htm

Notice the last sentence,nice way to absolve gov't of any wrong doing.

FOCUS-Russia TNK buys Chernogorneft in test case
05:31 a.m. Nov 26, 1999 Eastern
By Sebastian Alison

MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Russia's Tyumen Oil Company on Friday bought bankrupt oil company Chernogorneft CHGZ.RTS for around $176 million against the wishes of its owners, who include BP Amoco, the EBRD and the Soros Foundation.

``I can tell you that Chernogorneft was bought for 4,648.8 million roubles, which roughly corresponds to $175 or $176 million,'' a spokesman for Tymen Oil Company in Moscow told Reuters.

The sale was seen as a test case for determining the future of foreign investment in Russia. BP Amoco has repeatedly said that Chernogorneft and Sidanko, its parent company in which BP Amoco owns 10 percent, are viable companies whose debts could be restructured.

BP Amoco is one of the largest foreign strategic investors in the country, and has been fighting all year to protect its investment since Sidanko was sued for bankruptcy in January.

Many potential foreign investors take the view that if a large, wealthy and internationally experienced company such as BP Amoco cannot make a success of investing in Russia, then others are unlikely to do better.
BP Amoco said there had been some serious irregularities in the bankruptcy proceedings and sale, and added that the company would now review its position in Russia.

``We believe the bankruptcy process was seriously flawed. BP Amoco will be carefully reviewing its business position in Russia in the light of this sale,'' Howard Chase, Director of External Affairs for BP Amoco Russia, told Reuters.

TYUMEN OFFERS TALKS
But Tyumen, known by its Russian initials, TNK, offered a conciliatory tone, noting that the failure of BP Amoco to protect its assets in Russia could have a damaging impact on foreign investment.

``We believe that it is critical for the Russian oil industry to remain open and friendly to foreign investments,'' TNK chief executive Simon Kukes said in a statement.

``To ensure that the negative experience of investing in Sidanko by BP Amoco and other strategic foreign investors does not create a negative image of the Russian oil industry...TNK is prepared to enter into a long term strategic alliance with these investors...(to) ensure they do not suffer a loss from the sale of Chernogorneft,'' he added.

Sputnik Fund, which unites a number of investors including the financier George Soros's Soros Foundation, said the sale was illegal and the price was derisory, given that Chernogorneft last year produced 125,000 barrels per day of crude last year.
At current prices, this would be worth some $1.1 billion per year.

``Clearly the price they are paying could only be available to an insider,'' a Sputnik spokesman said.

``But they haven't got away with it yet and we will contest this illegal sale and pursue all options to bring about a lawful resolution.''

Sputnik is already suing TNK in a New York court, alleging that it was using illegal means to take control of Chernogorneft.

But Kukes told Reuters in an interview this week that there was no basis for the lawsuit.
``To me it's a joke. Actually I'm glad because we'll win the case, it'll give us some good publicity. I have to thank Mr Soros.''

---

US Govt. Threatens Belarus After Soros Kicked Out
srbinje - Jul 23, 2000 21:32 (147.47.*)
OR THE RECORD: U.S. legislators condemn rights violations in Belarus

Following is the full text of a letter to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka sent on April 4 by the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission).

Dear President Lukashenka:

We are writing to express our heightened concern about the further deterioration in the human rights situation in your country and to protest a series of actions by your government in blatant violation of OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] principles and norms.

Within the last few weeks two American citizens, including a U.S. diplomat, have been expelled from Belarus. First Secretary Serge Alexandrov was unjustly and illegally detained and expelled for observing an opposition rally, a routine practice of diplomats. A few days earlier, on March 16, Belarusian Soros Foundation Executive Director Peter G. Byrne was prevented from re-entering Belarus, detained, held incommunicado for over 12 hours in flagrant violation of diplomatic and consular conventions in effect between the United States and Belarus, and forcibly expelled the next day. Mr. Byrne ostensibly was expelled for illegal activity, but in reality he was expelled for supporting efforts to develop Belarus' fledgling civil society.

These expulsions come on the heels of other repressive actions, including arrests and beatings of demonstrators who have been protesting your polices over the last few months. Organizers of these rallies, such as former Chairman of Parliament Mechyslau Hryb, have received stiff fines or have been arrested and jailed for up to 15 days. We are alarmed by reports of beatings that resulted in injuries and detentions of several hundred protesters and journalists during yesterday's demonstrations in Miensk.

We are deeply concerned about the Belarusian government's restrictions on the right to freedom of speech and assembly - as manifested by your March 5 decree which also bans the display of Belarusian national symbols at rallies - and the arrest of peaceful protesters, as well as journalists, at a number of these rallies. We are also alarmed by the political intimidation of leading opposition figures, as illustrated by police visits to their homes demanding they admit they violated a presidential edict that restricts demonstrations, and by police searches of various political party headquarters. In February, two opposition leaders were attacked in Miensk in separate incidents by unidentified assailants under suspicious circumstances. Also we have received reports of the intimidation of university professors and other examples of crude threats by police against democratic activists.

We are especially troubled by the plight of Henadz Karpenka, deputy chairman of the 1996 Parliament and chair of the opposition shadow Cabinet, who was on a hunger strike to protest the special police guard placed outside his ward in a hospital where he is currently a patient.

Another example of apparent intimidation is the March 10 decree calling into question important tax exemptions granted to the Belarusian Soros Foundation and other non-governmental organizations, and the March 18 announcement that all non-governmental organizations in the country will be investigated. We understand that these investigations by government security officials have commenced.

Furthermore, freedom of the media in your country continues to be assailed, most recently by the withdrawal of press accreditation from and the expulsion of Russian NTV reporter Alexander Stupnikov, the March 23 decree banning several Russian television networks from broadcasting footage from Belarus, and the recent announcement by your government that all foreign journalists must obtain new accrediations.

Earlier this year OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Danish Foreign Minister Helveg Petersen urged your government to take action to fully respect OSCE norms, principles and commitments, to enter into dialogue with the opposition and to ensure freedom of media. Unfortunately, actions since that time have only further called into question your government's commitments under the Helsinki Final Act and subsequent OSCE agreements. We urge you to take to heart the concerns of the OSCE and other international entities, as well as individual countries, including the United States, and to begin to reverse the serious deterioration of human rights that has occurred in your country during the last year.

Mr. President, last week you spoke to your countrymen about the international isolation that Belarus is now facing. The best way you can prevent this international isolation, if you desire, is to live up to obligations you have freely undertaken as an OSCE member.

Sincerely,

Rep. Christopher H. Smith
Co-Chairman
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato
Chairman
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer
Ranking Member
Sen. Frank Lautenberg
Ranking Member

---

SEEMS LIKE THE BASTARD IS HAVING A BAD WEEK

Soros Demands IMF Move Out of Russia
srbinje - Jul 23, 2000 22:08 (147.47.*)
DAVOS, Switzerland (January 30, 2000 11:02 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com ) -

Saying that the West can no longer influence the course of events there, U.S. financier George Soros called Sunday for the International Monetary Fund to pull out of Russia.

"I increasingly think that the political developments are moving in the wrong direction and that the IMF should pull out," he told a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.

"In Russia we have lost the ability to influence the course of events too much. We had our chances, more or less 10 years, to influence things and move them in the right direction. We actually flopped it," he added.

An IMF delegation arrived in Moscow last week on a two-week visit to review Russia's progress on its 1999 targets and objectives for 2000.

The IMF suspended lending to Russia last September amid concerns over the slow pace of economic reforms.

Greetings from Russia, to all anti-NATO, anti-NWO patriots!

What's new at the Eurasian Anti-Imperialist Resource Center?
More English translations from the Russian mainstream media
and opposition press:

* Putin makes historic visit to North Korea

* Putin's Dangerous Curves, a conversation between
editors-in-chief of the newspapers Zavtra and Sovetskaya
Rossiya, Aleksandr Prokhanov and Valentin Chikin

* Russian Parliament issues protest to the Hague

* Putin visits China, signs joint declaration with Jiang
Zemin condemning US 'star wars' proposal

* Yugoslav opposition is "Panic'ed" about Slobo

* the latest news on "oligarchs" Berezovsky and Gusinsky

* The Unknown Nation, a reporter visits Chechnya

To access these stories, just go to our site, at
( http://anti-imperialist.webjump.com ) and click on "UPDATE".

Wishing you all the best,

Webmaster, Anti-Imperialist Resource Center

serbia@mail.line.ru
http://homes.line.ru/pb/serbia/
http://anti-imperialist.webjump.com/

"Nashe delo pravoe. My pobedim!"

Mail for the Demon!!

Boris Berezovsky tightens his grip over ORT Channel 1

Amid the noise generated by the arrest of Vladimir Gusinsky, a quiet boardroom coup carried out by Russia's other Israeli media magnate, Boris Berezovsky, went practically unnoticed. The plum among Berezovsky's media holdings is Russia's ORT Channel 1, the most-watched TV channel in Russia. ORT's broadcast range includes most of the former republics of the USSR as well. Though ORT is 51% owned by the government Berezovsky controls the board of directors. Here's a report of the event which appeared in the July 4 edition of "Izvestia":

Why Berezovsky is threatening to return ORT to the government

Izvestia, July 4, 2000

The oligarch's quiet announcement that he would like to return to the government the 49% share of ORT which he by his his own assertion controls aroused a great deal of interest on the part of the public. Society has known for a long time that Mr. Berezovsky rarely makes idle statements. Even clearer, Berezovsky is not in the habit of giving things away for free. So we must ask ourselves: what is the meaning of this recent declaration? Or maybe there's a simple explanation, after all. Is the ORT chief just playing up to the government, which could be planning to nationalize Russia's most powerful media organs in the interests of informational security?

In the same interview with "Radio Liberty" where he made his sensational announcement, Berezovsky enumerated his reasons. Firstly, ORT is an unprofitable business which is bankrupting the oligarch. Secondly, ORT commentators express their own personal opinions for which Berezovsky takes the blame because everyone, especially the presidential administration, thinks that he tells them what to say. And finally, the main thing: ORT was a necessary instrument for Berezovsky to help lead the country into the bright shining future, and insofar as there will be no bright shining future now, in Berezovsky's opinion, the instrument can now be returned to base.

On closer scrutiny it becomes clear that the oligarch's announcement is not quite what it seems. He is offering to give up no shares or property, but simply opting out of the management of the company, and what's more, on the condition that he retains the right to take his toy back if the government proves unable to cope with the task [of management].

Dorenko [ORT's main political commentator] prefers to give the following spin to the story: that his friend Boris is bending over backwards to defend his friend Sergey [Dorenko] from Kremlin intriguers.

For his part, Dorenko made the threatening announcement that he is ready to consider an offer made last summer by Gusinsky to cross over and join the "Gusinsky-Luzhkov gang" [Media Most, NTV] (in Dorenko's own words).

Therefore, it appears that the government is being doubly blackmailed, by both Berezovsky and Dorenko.

There's an underside to this demonstration of threats. In the noise raised by the attacks on NTV and the struggle with regional governors an important fact has been forgotten: that ORT's condition is even worse that that of NTV or the governors. At least in financial terms. ORT, it turns out, is a financial pyramid, no more, no less.

Raised voices and exposes about [Berezovsky's] Bahamian villas is simply PR, as proved by the results of the recent shareholders' meeeting of ORT. Since it took place on the 20th of last month, during Gusinsky's arrest, it passed practically unnoticed, but the results were more than favorable for Berezovsky. In the newly-elected board of directors four persons represent the government: Shuvalov, Seslavinsky, Ignatenko and the presidential press-secretary Gromov, while seven represent the interests of Berezovsky: Ernst, Shabdurasulov, the head of "LogoVAZ" Dubov, the banker Fomichev, personal treasurer Patarkatsishvili, Dorenko and Berezovsky's daughter Yekaterina Berezovskaya.

The oligarch couldn't have wished for such a board of directors in his wildest dreams. It's not surprising that he immediately approached the administration with a request to finance ORT as a separate item of the federal budget, threatening otherwise to sell part of the company's shares to western investors, and what's more, not those shares controlled by Boris Abramovich [Berezovsky] himself, but part of the government's controlling interest.

In fact Berezovsky's show of renunciation may simply be a smokescreen under which the deal, a sale of 13% of the company's stock (to a third party, or, as in the case of "Kommersant" [the leading Russian financial daily], to himself through western front-companies) is to be carried out. As a result the government will lose its controlling interest.

However, there may be a more mundane explanation. No one denies that ORT is up to its ears in debt, that in financial terms it's a ponzi sheme worthy of Mavrodi [a well-known swindler of the early '90's]. Which is all the better, since Berezovsky made sure that ORT was underwritten by large businesses backed by the government. Berezovsky himself prefers to invest his money with greater discretion, in commentators Dorenko and Nevzorov, blockbuster shows such as "Old Love Songs", and in top management. The company has been bled dry, and sooner or later the debts will have to be paid back, so why not return the responsibility for their payment to the government? Here, take your channel back, guys. All the more since in normal countries the majority shareholder runs the company, but with us for some reason decisions are made by management fed and cared for by Boris Abramovich.

ORT's press-secretary Grigory Simanovich said, in an interview with "Izvestia", that the company has not formed an official position on this question, inasmuch as "there's no need for that". "One can only comment a significant event", he said, "and here we simply have a man claiming to own a certain portion of stock who announces that maybe he'll give it up. I don't think there's any sense in commenting upon that."

Once again ORT management is trying to pretend that they're hearing the name "Berezovsky" for the first time. And the owner of that name, it seems, is not objecting.

HI IGOR, L'menexe, Dimi and rest of you guys.

Hopefully everyone had a great weekend. Noticed that Dimi found AllBrownstains on Serb Cafe. UMMMMM, wonder if he missed us as much as we've missed him. Ya, just like we miss the plague. Not to worry though, I've restrained myself and won't go after him. HE HE HE.

As for Bacon, what's his bag? Same crap over and over. Might he once again make the headlines of the Camel's Nut Gazzett? We'll have to wait and see.

L'menexe, I sense that you may be quite concerned with safety at that nuclear power plant. I understand your feelings, however, in the west we can be most confident with all the safety measures that have been put in place. Yes there is always the possibility of an accident. However, whether it be Germany, Belgium, UK, US, etc, they have implemented systems of checks and counterchecks that make the probability of an accident all but disappear. Not to mention the elimination of our dependence on fossil fuels. My only problem is what to do with the nuclear waste. And no, I'm not going to store it in my kitchen again. LOL.

ladies and gentlemen:
HOO-HAH!

am i mistaken or wasnt there a new post from
ber-STEEEN here last night?
in small type, attacking igor as usual, indulging
in his obsession w/bodily functions.
i dont see it now.
was it the distaff payback?
====
ps>at the risk of repeating myself,
no no no it wasnt me, babe -_-

TO THE BOARD:
ATT:K-SAN, D-CHAN, IGOR, MS.MARY, MASK,SULEYMAN, AND ONE WHO'LL GO UNNAMED:

just now i received, off-group, a blistering e-mail from someone i once liked very much.
the last [expletive] thing i'd want to do is relive last week.

and i'm NOT some [expletive] bad guy. nor will by TREATED like some [expletive] bad guy.
ms.mary, you have no idea how relieved i felt by your greeting me this morning. thank you.
to certain others, i thank you for your mail last week.

mask, do you axually think i'm on a 'crusade'? this was alleged in the 'blistering' attack mail. do not waste your time, please. it is not so.

igor, i am not 'american psycho'....at least not on any board, heh. and, to repeat, i had zero involvement in what happened to you last week. for that matter, if ber-STEEEN sunk himself, he sunk his OWN godda*m self. i was just trying to confirm that a post from last light was now off the board.

at the serbian cafe, i've gone by the name of a deranged comic book character who wound up dead. hey, he looked pretty cool, though. i've posted about 5 times, i think.

the serbian cafe seems a pretty harsh place in general. also much more politically aware, even if this 'awareness' amounts to a pile of shite. hatred, prejudices and bigotry abound. but it's 'not my bear to cross', y'know?

there is NO crusade.
there are NO 'nothches on my keyboard' as my off-group attacker alleged.

none of this lets bacon off the hook though, heh; even ms mary concurs; my attacker should take the matter up with her. bacon is too much of a clown to require any 'axion' from moi, other than what is seen right here.

i had hoped to at least _try_ to mend fences with my 'attacker' this week. i presumed too much.

thank you for your time

L'menexe

to think i used to be an editor....editor, edit
thyself -_-

1)..."nor will i be TREATED etc.

2) .."NO 'notches on my keyboard' etc

Hey, ya Mary!
Welcome backkkk...enjoyed your weekend?

L'menexe I did not for one minute think that it was you.We have no beef and I pretty well stick to the subject matter at hand except when the imbecile shows up.American Psycho is some jungle bunny who sounds a lot like ALLAM but I know it is not him.

great webshots

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http://daily.webshots.com/?964454356