Assassination suspect arrested

The Federal police units of Bosnia and Herzegovina arrested Željko Ćosić under the suspicion of committing acts of terrorism and participating in the assassination of the Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, Jozo Leutar. Mr Leutar died last year after being seriously wounded by a car bomb in downtown Sarajevo.

The spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the Bosnian-Croat federation said in a statement that federal police units apprehended Mr Ćosić in the village of Doljani. After the arrest was made, Mr Ćosić was transported to Sarajevo Cantonal Court. The International Police Task Force (IPTF) spokesman stated that the arrest was conducted professionally and upheld the law and that it was carried out under the supervision of IPTF.

Furthermore, the Croatian government, in cooperation with the federal government of BiH, arrested Ivan Andabaka, a former Croatian general on charges of drug trafficking. Mr Andabaka is considered as the main suspect in the assassination of BiH's Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs.

 

Return from China

Adamir Jerković, the chief advisor to BiH's president, Alija Izetbegović, arrived in Sarajevo this week after visiting the Peoples Republic of China. While visiting China, Mr Jerković held talks with Deputy Prime Minister of the Chinese government, Oian Oichen. At the summit, Mr Oichen said "Peking's official perspective in its relationship to BiH is to uphold the sovereignty and unity of BiH." He also emphasized the importance of strengthening the relationship between the two countries. Furthermore, Mr Oichen stated that the leadership of the Peoples Republic of China has invited the chairman of BiH's Presidency, Alija Izetbegović to pay an official visit to China.

 

Property laws criticised

The implementation of property laws was the main topic at the summit held between the government of Federation BiH (FBIH) and OSCE, UNHCR, OHR that took place in Sarajevo this week, BiH Press reports. During the summit, it was concluded that the implementation of property laws in Federation BiH is not satisfactory and the supervision of the executive agencies by the responsible institutions must be strengthened so that those who obstruct the process must be held accountable.

At the meeting, Federal Premier Edhem Bičakćić emphasized the government support for the implementation of property legislation. Furthermore, Mr Bičakćić added that people should not be evicted without alternative accommodation. The OHR emphasized that it is absolutely necessary for the implementation of the property legislation to take the same approach in both entities of BiH: the Federation and the RS.

In addition, the FBiH government instructed the Payment Bureau management to prepare a suggestion for transformation of the organization for the next session and to propose how many people should be employed in particular fields after the Bureau is closed.

 

German loan help

With the coordination of the EU-sponsored European Fund for Bosnia, the German development finance agency Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) has significantly helped the country's post-war economic recovery with loans worth some DEM 80 million (USD 35 million), stated the organization's manager on Tuesday.

KfW was established with the purpose of assisting the reconstruction of war-torn housing developments in BiH. Furthermore, KfW initiated a donation program aiding the development of small private enterprises throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. These funds were allocated from Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

The KfW Director in BiH, Frank Bullen, said "Today the EFBH is the most important refinancing source for banks in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the field of housing and SME finance." He went on say that these loans are being distributed through nine local banks, which establishes a bases for the development of a successful and organized financial sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Political donations curbed

The Provisional Election Committee (PEC) passed legislation establishing the limit on the amount of soft money contributions to political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, OSCE press reports. According to the OSCE report, this law limits the contributions of individuals to their designated parties in one calendar year to KM 3656. This amount was arrived at after PEC conducted analysis of the average workers salaries in Republika Srpska (RS) and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH).

The maximum contribution of each individual was determined by the multiplication of his monthly salary by a factor of eight. The OSCE's report went on to say that "PEC will inform all certified political parties that they are prohibited from accepting more than KM 3656 from any single contributor between 26 August, the day that the Law on Party Financing went into effect, and the end of the year."

Compliance of the country's parties with the Law on Party and Finance will be established after the reviewing procedure of the post-election finance reports submitted by the parties involved in the election. According to Article 1601 of the legislation, all parties are required to file such reports.

Ibrahim Sejfović, 22 September 2000

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Sources:

BiHPress: the news agency of Bosnia-Hercegovina
Oslobodjenje: Sarajevo-based independent magazine
RFE/RL
Danas
OSCE Press Service