Eurasia Press & News

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro — The extradition of seven war crimes indictees, including Ratko Mladic, remains a major condition for progress in Serbia-Montenegro’s bid for EU integration, said federal Human and Minority Rights Minister Rasim Ljajic, who also is chairman of the national council for co-operation with the UN tribunal. Ljajic spoke …

TIRANA, Albania — The Central Election Commission complained on Tuesday (5 July) that infighting between the two main political parties has slowed the vote counting from Sunday’s parliamentary election. According to a spokesman, ballot counters in 15 of the country’s 100 counting centres walked off the job on orders from …

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — UN prosecutors announced on Tuesday (5 July) that they want to put nine former Serb military and militia commanders on trial together for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. A spokesman said holding a single trial for all defendants would save time, avoid duplication of evidence and minimise …

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — The Bosnian Serb police on Tuesday (5 July) discovered two large explosive devices close to the site where dignitaries and thousands of mourners will gather on 11 July to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre. A total of 35kg of plastic explosives …

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov signed a decree Tuesday (5 July) summoning the country’s new parliament to convene on 11 July. He also urged the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which won the 25 June general election but failed to secure an outright majority, to try to reach agreement on a government …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s prime minister announced a new phase in anti-insurgency operations on Monday, as troops seized more than 100 suspects around Baghdad airport and hunted the kidnappers of Egypt’s envoy in the capital. Political efforts to undermine revolt among Sunni Arabs moved forward with parliament’s formal acceptance of …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli President Moshe Katsav said on Monday the vocal opposition of pro-settler rabbis to Israel’s Gaza pullout could incite ultranationalists to try to assassinate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “In the struggle over the disengagement someone is likely to distort the rabbis’ messages,” Katsav told army Radio. …

HAMYYA, Iraq — Tawfiq Jamil hasn’t worked since Saddam Hussein’s government fell more than two years ago. A former taxi driver, the 28-year-old was forced to sell his car after the war to try to provide for his wife and seven children, and hasn’t been able to find a new …

RAMALLAH (AP) — The embattled Greek Orthodox patriarch in Jerusalem was not involved in the long-term lease of prime Jerusalem properties to Jewish settlement groups in the city, the Palestinian Authority concluded Monday, after an investigation of several weeks. The findings could signal a turning point in the murky saga …

DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syrian forces captured two “terrorists” and a security officer was killed Monday in a dawn clash with extremists who included former bodyguards of Saddam Hussein, official media said. The gunbattle on Mount Qassioun overlooking the Syrian capital was the second such firefight with extremists in recent days …