BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT ISSUES WARNING TO BOSNIAN NATIONALS AGAINST TRAVEL TO GEORGIA

TBILISI, Georgia (August 13,2008) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is currently unable to give information about possible Bosnian nationals staying in Georgia, i.e. in war conflict zones of South Ossetia. Based on the data of the Bosnian Consulate General in Istanbul,Turkey, it seems that a very small number of Bosnian nationals are in Georgia, however, outside the zone of South Ossetia. No Bosnian national has up to now asked for help neither from the Bosnian Embassy in Ankara nor from Consulate General in Istanbul,the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

On the basis of request for information of the Bosnian Embassy in Ankara, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia that all Bosnian nationals wishing to leave Georgia are able to do so, by air or land, since airports in Tbilisi and Batumi are functional, and border crossing points are opened to Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs invites all Bosnian nationals who might found themselves in war conflict zones in Georgia to contact Bosnian Embassy in Ankara by telephone 00 90 312 42 73602 or 00 90 312 4273603 to be provided its assistance as well as assistance of international organizations on the field if they wish to leave.The Bosnian Embassy in Turkey has received all necessary instructions.

The Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises all Bosnian nationals against travel to Georgia until further notice.

Through Bosnian Embassy in Turkey, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia as well as through other diplomatic channels, the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will keep on monitoring the course of events in Georgia, and inform the public accordingly,the Ministry said in a press release.
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US EMBASSY IN BOSNIA DENIES INITIATING TALKS ON BOSNIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - The US Embassy in Bosnia did not initiate talks with Bosnia's most influential political parties on the Bosnian constitutional reform, either officially or unofficially.

This information was confirmed by the US Embassy in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo after the information released in the media that American representatives in Bosnia started with the first informal consultations on renewal of the talks on the Bosnian constitutional reform.

The Embassy stated that they meet with Bosnia's politicians and officials during their regular sessions and activities and talk about different issues important for the future of Bosnia.

“In this context it is certain that we are interested in views of political parties regarding the chances for constitutional reform”, stated the Embassy release.

They added that all talks that occurred were from this perspective and not as part of the initiative for new negotiations on constitutional reform.
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NEW MASS GRAVE FOUND IN EASTERN BOSNIA

ZVORNIK, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - A new mass grave believed to contain dozens of genocide victims has been discovered in eastern Bosnia.The new grave measuring at least 10 by three metres was discovered at Kamenica village, near the eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik, said Murat Hurtic of the Bosnian Missing Persons Commission.

"The remains of around 10 people appeared on the surface as we removed the first layer of soil (and) at least several dozen remains" were expected to be uncovered in total, he said.

The exhumation work was expected to continue for two weeks.

In the final months of the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia, the genocidal Serbian aggressor murdered some 10,000 Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica - the single worst atrocity on Europe since World War II.

The Srebrenica massacre has been deemed by the UN war crimes tribunal and the International Court of Justice to have constituted genocide. Thousands of bodies of the genocide victims have been uncovered from about 70 mass graves around the eastern Bosnian town of Srebenica.

The genocide victims were initially buried in a dozen mass graves. But after the release of satellite pictures showing large portions of freshly disturbed ground, the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor moved them to other locations in order to cover up the crimes.

The body parts were separated during re burial using bulldozers, and forensic experts sometimes found parts of a single person buried in three different so-called secondary graves.

"It is the 10th so-called secondary grave found in Kamenica", said Amor Masovic, the head of the Commission.

Soil probes showed there were at least three other graves in the village, he said, adding that they would probably be exhumed later this year.

The remains of thousands of the genocide victims have been exhumed from about 70 mass graves around Srebrenica, with more than 5,600 genocide victims identified by DNA analysis so far.

Former leader and creator of the genocidal Serbian creature in Bosnia "RS" and one of the masterminds of the genocide against the Bosnian people, committed during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia,Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic, indicted by a UN war crimes court for genocide and crimes against humanity ,was finally arrested last month after being on the run from justice for more than decade.

Former commander of the genocidal Serbian fascist formations of the Serbians living in Bosnia (VRS),Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic and co-accused in the genocide case, remains at large.

The 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia claimed up to 200,000 lives, while some 2.2 million Bosnian citizens - approximately half of the country's population - were forced to take refuge.

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TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINAL MOMIR SAVIC TO CONTINUE TOMORROW IN SARAJEVO

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - The indictment was read yesterday and the Prosecution and Defence presented introductory arguments in the trial of Serbian war criminal Momir Savic before the Bosnian State Court for war crimes committed in the Visegrad area in 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

Serbian war criminal Momir Savic is accused of persecution, murder and rape of Bosnian civilians in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad. He is alleged to have been a member of the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's formations.

Bosnian State Prosecutor Adnan Gulamovic said he would examine 33 witnesses and present 82 pieces of material evidence. He said the evidence would confirm the allegations contained in the indictment.

The Defence will seek to prove that Serbian war criminal Momir Savic never participated in persecution, forcible resettlement, murder or rape of Bosnian civilians in the Visegrad area,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The indictment states that Serbian war criminal Momir Savic participated on several occasions in torture of unlowfully detained Bosnian civilians in Visegrad. He is also accused of false arrest, pillage and murder, and he is charged with having raped a Bosnian woman several times between June and September 1992.

The Bosnian State Prosecution alleges that Serbian war criminal Momir Savic and other members of the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's formations took 10 Bosnian civilians from their homes in the Drinsko settlement, tortured them and then murdered them in Pusin do forest in May 1992.

The Prosecution said it had documents to prove the indictee's wartime status, and other evidence to support witnesses’ statements.

The Defence denied all the allegations in the indictment and questioned the credibility of Prosecution witnesses.

"Twenty-two, out of 33, Prosecution witnesses, know the indictee by sight or do not know him at all. Those who do know him have not confirmed that he committed the crimes described in the indictment," attorney Dragan Medjovic, said, arguing that it is absurd to have witnesses who have never seen the indictee accuse him of grave crimes.

Medjovic said that during the trial he would show that his client "kept numerous Bosnian civilians from being murdered and helped them safely leave Drinsko village", and that he had to leave Visegrad in early 1993 because of that.

The first prosecution witnesses will be examined on Thursday,August 14.
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TRIAL OF CROATIAN WAR CRIMINAL ANTE KOVAC BEGINS BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - At the beginning of the trial of Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac the Bosnian State Prosecution laid out yesterday its plans for presenting evidence. The Defence will present its plans at a later stage.

In its introductory argument, the Bosnian State Prosecutor said it would prove that Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac had participated in crimes against Bosnian civilians in the Vitez area in 1993,during the Croatian aggression against Bosnia.

The Prosecution will examine 22 witnesses, including a Bosnian women who claim to have been raped by Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac.

"In the course of the evidence presentation process the Bosnian State Prosecution will examine four protected witnesses and present 24 pieces of material evidence,” Prosecutor Mirko Lecic said. “By doing this we will prove the actions committed by the indictee."

Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac is charged, as commander of the fascist Croatian aggressor's formations with having "ordered and approved" the unlawful detention of some 250 Bosnian civilians in the premises of the Radnicki Univerzitet, the Public Accounting Service, and a cinema in the central Bosnian town of Vitez in the course of 1993.

The detained Bosnian civilians were held in inhumane conditions. They were forced to work on the frontline between the Bosnian Army and the fascist Croatian aggressor, and at the "Kaonik" concentration camp and in buildings belonging to the Chess Club in the central Bosnian town of Busovaca.

"We will prove that the indictee raped witnesses A and B and confiscated valuables from some civilians," Lecic said.

The Defence will present its introductory arguments only after the Prosecution has presented all its evidence.

Croatian war criminal Anto Kovac was arrested by the Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in January 2008. The Bosnian State Court confirmed the indictment in March this year. Croatian war criminal Ante Kovac has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The examination of the first Prosecution witnesses is due to take place on Friday, August 15, 2008.
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RUSSIAN OIL COMPANY "LUKOIL" INTERESTED IN BOSNIAN OIL

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - With the entry of Lukoil, the Russian oil giant, into the Bosnian motor-fuel market, nothing will be the same. After probing the pulse, the Russian oil company, which owns 1.2 per cent of the world's total oil reserves, is going to sell its fuel in Bosnia and, to the delight of motorists, do so at prices lower than the competition's.

Although it is too soon to speak about the ultimate look of the price of Lukoil's fuels, Alen Hrkovic, the Russian company's commercial director in Bosnia, asserts that it will certainly be cheaper, because it comes directly from the oil field to the final consumer.

"We are still in the phase of testing the market, for which we have big plans. We do not have marketing middlemen in our chain, and it is thus logical that the price of our fuel is lower, because it comes from the primary source," Hrkovic observes.

The Russian oilmen are working out a strategy that would attract a large number of motorists in Bosnia to their gas stations - which they have yet to buy - by means of dumping prices.

Along with sales, Lukoil is entering the Bosnian market with major ambitions, which include a continuation of exploring for oil reserves in the southern and northern Bosnia.

"We have an interest in searching for oil reserves, which, according to earlier surveys, Bosnia possesses. Other than an analysis the American company Amoco prepared, we presently have no new specifics about Bosnia's potential," Director Hrkovic claims.

The majority of the documents connected with the search for oilfields ended up at the Bosanski Brod refinery. Since the refinery's current owner, Russia's Zabnjeft, is owned by Lukoil, it is logical to expect a continuation of exploration under the direction of the Russian oil giant.

Slovenia's Petrol has a large number of gas stations in Bosnia, and, since Lukoil representatives spoke with that company's management recently about the possibility of creating a joint company, it is to be expected that the stations will come under Russian ownership. Petrol and Lukoil signed a memorandum of understanding in October 2006 that is supposed to be the basis for the creation of a joint company in which Petrol is supposed to invest its property, above all its gas stations, of which there were already more than 300 in Bosnia at that moment.
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FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD ACTOR ORLANDO BLOOM TO STAR IN A FILM ABOUT SARAJEVO SIEGE

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (August 13,2008) - Famous Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom has announced plans yesterday to co-produce and appear in a film about the siege of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

The film is based on the book Fools Rush In by American writer and filmmaker Bill Carter who lived in Sarajevo at the height of the siege. It will be directed by Brazilian director Andrucha Waddington and produced by Elliot Lewitt.

"A film is a very specific and personal account of Bill Carter's experience in Sarajevo during the war and we would very much like to make the film here," the star of the Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings told reporters in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo yesterday.

"This is a departure from the very big Hollywood productions," Bloom said after the film's crew met with the Sarajevo Mayor, who promised financial and other support for the film.

Bloom says he will not be playing Carter, but will have a supporting role.

"I'm not in fact playing Bill in this movie but I read the script and the very human story at the very core of this film spoke to me very clearly," he added.

In the book, Carter described his life as an aid worker in besieged Sarajevo in 1993-94 and difficulties and joys he shared with local people trying to preserve the sanity during the 43-month-long shelling of the city by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor.

Bloom declined to provide more details about the film but said he hoped the shooting would start at the end of the year.

"Hopefully, we can get this movie to be made at the end of this year. To come here and shoot would be just wonderful," he said.

Carter made documentary Miss Sarajevo, produced by U2's singer Bono and late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
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