BOSNIAN PRESIDENT HARIS SILAJDZIC TO ATTEND MEDITERRANEAN SUMMIT IN FRANCE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 30,2008) – The Ambassador of France to Bosnia Maryse Berniau delivered yesterday an invitation from the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the Bosnian President Haris Silajdžić for participation in the First Summit of the Union for the Mediterranean that will be held on July 13, this year in Paris,France, as well as for participation in the celebration of July 14, the French National Holiday.

During the meeting, the Bosnian President Silajdzic and the French Ambassador Berniau agreed that the European-Mediterranean Dialogue, which has lasted for 13 years, is a good way for bringing peoples together as much as possible around concrete projects.

President Silajdžić thanked for the invitation and he gladly accepted to participate The Union for the Mediterraneanin the First Mediterranean Summit in Paris.

The Union for the Mediterranean (French: Union pour la Méditerranée)is a proposed community of European Union member states and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea planned to be established in July 2008.

The Mediterranean Union would be a looser grouping than the EU. Sarkozy called on the Mediterranean people to "do the same thing, with the same goal and the same method" as the European Union, however he stated it would not be based on the EU model.

However when the project began to be scaled down in 2008, many proposals were dropped, such as a Mediterranean Investment Bank (modeled on its European counterpart) and a raft of agencies. Instead it would focus on more practical projects.

Under the original plans, members would form a regular council under a rotating presidency (similar to the current EU model) dealing with energy, security, immigration and trade.
.

FOUR BODIES OF GENOCIDE VICTIMS FROM BRATUNAC EXHUMED

BRATUNAC, Bosnia (May 30,2008) – In village Rakovac,near the eastern Bosnian town of Bratunac, Bosnian expert team exhumed four bodies of Bosnian civilians from Bratunac which are presumed to have been murdered by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in May 1992.

”We expect to find seven bodies in this location”, stated Danica Arapovic-Kovacevic, Tuzla Canton Prosecutor.

Asides clothing of the genocide victims, the team also found barbed wire and razors.Work on excavating the site and finding more genocide victims’ remains continues.
.

EUFOR,NATO SEARCH HOME OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL RADOVAN KARADZIC'S SUPPORTER

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 30,2008) - The European Union Force (EUFOR) and NATO troops in Bosnia searched the office and apartment of Belgrade professor Kosta Cavoski in Pale, some 20 kilometres east of the Bosnian Sarajevo, today.

Cavoski, who works as a professor in a law school in Bosnia, heads a fascist Serbian organization that supports Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, the former leader of the Serbians living in Bosnia who is charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of with war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and severe breaches of the Geneva Conventions committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Cavoski was questioned during the raid. EUFOR says a number of items were confiscated during the early morning search today.
.

NINETEEN BOSNIAN PLAYERS REFUSE TO PLAY IN FRIENDLY AGAINST AZERBAIJAN

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 30,2008) - Nineteen Bosnian players have refused to play in a friendly against Azerbaijan this Sunday in protest at the sacking of national coach Meho Kodro by the Bosnian Football Association.

Several players said they would instead accept invitations by Kodro and Bosnia's leading striker Elvir Bolic to play in a charity match scheduled at the same time.

Kodro was sacked this month after only four months when he refused to lead the team in a friendly against Iran, saying he had not been notified about the fixture in time.

Acting coach Denijal Piric said the boycott meant he had to scramble together a team with many players from the Under-21 team.

"We have to play the match, otherwise we risk being suspended by FIFA and block our clubs' entry on to the European stage," Piric said.

Piric said he would quit after the Sunday match.

Zenica, the central Bosnian town where the friendly will take place, was covered this week with placards calling for the public to ignore the game.

The capital Sarajevo also featured placards urging fans to join Bolic and Kodro, the "Saviour of Bosnian Football", and buy tickets for the humanitarian match in the Kosevo Olympic stadium.

"All that is worthy in Bosnian football will gather in Kosevo, while (the Zenica stadium) Bilino Polje will probably be empty," said a commentary in the Bosnian daily Oslobodjenje.

At least eight players have boycotted games and called on Bosnian Football Association officials to resign in the past year. Two top Bosnian Football Association officials are facing corruption charges in the state court.
.