TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN TO VISIT BOSNIA NEXT WEEK

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) – Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Bosnia next week during his three-day regional tour, accompanied by a business delegation with representatives of some 40 Turkish companies.

In cooperation with the Turkish Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), the Bosnian Chamber for Foreign Trade will organize a session of the Bosnian-Turkish Business Council on March 25, and before that bilateral meetings will take place between entrepreneurs from the two countries.
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SIPA INVESTIGATES BOSNIAN STATE COURT BOMB THREAT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) – The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) is determining the identity of the person behind a bomb hoax which halted trials at Bosnia's top court on Thursday.

"SIPA has determined the telephone number from which the messenger conveyed 'the bomb warning'," Selma Delalic, SIPA's Public Relations Officer said.

More details will be made available to the public once the investigation has been completed.

The bomb warning, conveyed on the afternoon on March 20, referred to the Bosnian State Judiciary building, in which the State Court, the State Prosecution and the High Judicial and Prosecutors' Council are located. Following the warning, all employees were evacuated. All ongoing trials were immediately brought to a stop.

The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency, in cooperation with the FBIH Entity Ministry of Interior, searched the building and "did not find anything."

"Following a search of several hours, police officers determined this was a false warning," a representative of the Bosnian State Court said, adding that "the control at the entrance of the building is now more strict."
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INFLATION RATE IN BOSNIA WAS 0,4 PERCENT IN FEBRUARY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) – According to the official statistics prsented by the Bosnian State Statistics Agency, the consumer price index in Bosnia was up by 0.4per cent in February, compared to the month before.

Looking at the December 2007 figures, prices were by 1.8 per cent higher. The consumer products whose prices increased the most on the monthly level were in the food and beverage segment – average 1.1 per cent. A monthly drop in prices was recorded only in transport (-0.3 per cent).
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ICTY MILITARY ANALYST RICHARD BUTLER TESTIFIED AT TRIAL OF 11 SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS CHARGED WITH GENOCIDE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) – Richard Butler, military analyst with the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has testified as a Prosecution witness before the Bosnian State Court at the trial of 11 Serbian war criminals charged with genocide.

The witness said the Serbian aggressor's special police forces, which were situated in the vicinity of eastern Bosnian village of Kravica on July 13, 1995, were under the command of the genocidal paramilitary formayions of the Serbians living in Bosnia "VRS".

He also said the reviewed documents indicate that indictee Serbian war criminal Milos Stupar was commander of the Serbian aggressor's special police second squad up to August 24, 1995,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The indictment alleges that in July 1995 Serbian war criminal Milos Stupar was commander of the Serbian aggressor's special police second squad, to which nine other indicted Serbian war criminals belonged. Serbian war criminal Milovan Matic was a member of the "VRS". They are all charged with the genocide and participation in the mass murder of more than 1,000 Bosnian civilians from Srebrenica in Kravica village on July 13, 1995.

Butler was cross-examined by the eleven Defence teams, because, in December 2006 the Trial Chamber admitted, as Prosecution evidence, his two reports commissioned by the ICTY and its Prosecution.

The first report refers to the Serbian aggressor's military operations conducted in Srebrenica, while the second one concerns the responsibilities in the genocidal paramilitary formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia "VRS". Both reports were made in late 2002. As indicated by the witness, he reviewed "tens of thousands" of VRS wartime documents while he was preparing the reports.

Butler said that the VRS attacked the protected zone in response to attacks conducted by the 28th Infantry Division of the Bosnian Army, which had about 12,000 soldiers and which conducted its activities from Srebrenica.

"The VRS forces commenced with their earlier planned operations described in Directive No. 7, which was entitled "Operation Krivaja 95." The Directive was prepared by the General Staffs and it was signed by President Karadzic," Butler said.

The ICTY has ordered the arrest of Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, former "president" of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS", who is also charged with genocide.

The witness said that originally, the main goal of this operation was to narrow the UN protected zone, so that it encircled the town of Srebrenica alone, and to interrupt communication with Zepa. The witness also said the police units were engaged in those operations only after July 10, "when the VRS forces realised that it was possible to conquer that region."

According to the information available to the military analyst, the Special Police Units, including the Second Squad from Sekovici, arrived in Bratunac on July 11. The two following days they were on duty by the road leading from Konjevic Polje to Kravica and they were under the VRS command.

The witness said that they arrested hundreds, or even thousands, of Bosnian civilians.In his report Butler did not mention whether the Serbian aggressor's police had any jurisdiction over those prisoners.

"The Interior Ministry Units could not hold the prisoners of war for a long time but they had to hand them over to the Units which had the capacities for holding those prisoners," Butler said.

Answering questions made by one Trial Chamber member, the witness added that it was indicative that there were no documents on any type of care provided to those prisoners, although there were such documents covering local Srebrenica residents and the wounded.

"No documents indicate whether they took care of the prisoners in a lawful manner," the witness stressed.

During examination, a few Defence attorneys said the fact that Butler testified as a witness and not as a court expert was "odd", because he was not an eyewitness of the genocide in Srebrenica.

In the course of this week Butler testified at two trials - for genocide and other war crimes committed by the genocidal Serbian aggressor in the eastern Bosnian towns of Bratunac and Srebrenica. The mentioned trials are being conducted before the Bosnian State Court in the case of Serbian war criminals Zdravko Bozic and Milorad Trbic. He was treated as a court expert at both trials.

The trial of eleven Serbian war criminals is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on March 26.
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BISHOP KOMARICA: BOSNIAN AUTHORITIES DO NOT CARE ENOUGH ABOUT BOSNIAN CITIZENS

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (March 22,2008) – The Catholic Bishop of Banja Luka Franjo Komarica stated that hundreds of thousands of Bosnian citizens are still living outside of the country and that the Bosnian state has not taken any activities that would by far suffice the needs of that population.

”In that sense, one cannot even ask the question whose interests the country’s authorities are protecting”, Boshop of Banja Luka warned and added that it does not suffice the basic rights to human dignity.

Bishop Komarica stated that the Bosnian citizens, especially the ones who perform some public duties, are called to constructively contribute the wellbeing of all Bosnian citizens for the purpose of obtaining a more prosper and a happier future.

”Do work more decisively on the wellbeing of all the people”, Bishop of Banja Luka told the authority representatives and added that everybody needs to respect the basic human rights, rights to their own identity, birthplace, religious community…

”We cannot live in silence looking at those rights being breeched. There are some people among us who perform important political and state functions and do not care about those rights. They humiliate human beings and their dignity and legitimate right to those same rights”, Bishop of Banja Luka stated.
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SPIRIC AND BASESCU DISCUSSED RELATIONS BETWEEN BOSNIA AND ROMANIA

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) - Bosnia's Prime Minister Nikola Spiric met with Romanian President Trajan Basescu in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. The two high officials discussed relations between Bosnia and Romania and marked them as good, without any open issues, with a significant space for their promotion, especially in the sector of economy.

They emphasized the need of a better cooperation between the chambers of commerce of the two countries and the importance of regulating the bilateral relations in economy, science, culture and sport.

Spiric informed Basescu on political situation in Bosnia, the reform processes and fulfilment of conditions for signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. He emphasized that the most important priorities of the Bosnian foreign policy are progress and full association to the EU and NATO.

The Romanian President emphasized that Bosnia should not miss the present opportunity for singing of SAA. He confirmed that Romania supports Bosnia on its way to association to the Euro-Atlantic structures.

They also talked about possibilities of cooperation at a multilateral level.
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BOSNIA'S TRADE EXCHANGE WORTH 1,85 BILLION BOSNIAN MARKS IN FEBRUARY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (March 22,2008) - The Bosnian State Statistics Agency has announced that Bosnia’s trade exchange in February 2008 amounted to 1,849,300,000 Bosnian Marks. Exported goods accounted for 545.6 million Bosnian Marks of that (29.5 per cent), while imports amounted to 1,303,700,000 Bosnian Marks (70.5 per cent), resulting in a trade exchange ratio of 70.5 per cent.

In the first two months there was a 19.7 per cent increase in export, to 1,031,500,000 Bosnian Marks, but import at the same grew by 33.7 per cent to 2,305,000,000 Bosnian Marks, compared to the same period last year. Trade deficit amounted to 1,273,500,000 Bosnian Marks.

Croatia was the main trading partner in the first two months (16.4 per cent of Bosnia’s export and 15.8 per cent of import).
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