No breakthrough at NAM over Bosnian membership<\/p>\n
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat<\/p>\n
CARTAGENA DE INDIA, Colombia (JP): Despite an eleventh-hour
\neffort by Indonesia and Malaysia, ministers of the Non-Aligned
\nMovement (NAM) failed yesterday to break an impasse over whether
\nor not to admit Bosnia-Herzegovina as a member at their leaders'
\nsummit, which opened here yesterday.<\/p>\n
The ministers also failed to agree on Costa Rica's admission
\nas well as on the applications for guest status from Japan and
\nMacedonia.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday that the Bosnian question would not be taken up by the
\nNAM leaders during their summit, which will go on until Friday.<\/p>\n
Instead, their ministers will continue with their
\nconsultations, Alatas said.<\/p>\n
Informed sources said Alatas and Malaysian Foreign Minister
\nAbdullah Badawi made last minute efforts to change the minds of a
\nnumber of African states, particularly Zimbabwe, and accept
\nBosnia's membership application.<\/p>\n
The African states support the former Yugoslavia, now only
\nconsisting of Serbia and Montenegro, whose membership in NAM was
\nsuspended in 1992 because of its continuing support for the Serb
\ninsurgency in Croatia and Bosnia.<\/p>\n
Costa Rica's membership is opposed by Middle East countries in
\nview of its decision to relocate its embassy in Israel to
\nJerusalem. Japan's application was blocked by North Korea and
\nMacedonia's application was blocked by Greece.<\/p>\n
Because NAM's statutes require full consensus on every
\ndecision, a single member can hold back a resolution.<\/p>\n
Bosnian foreign minister Muhamed Sacirbey lashed out yesterday
\nat the opposition to his country's membership in NAM, saying that
\nthe arguments presented were "based upon rotten ideas".<\/p>\n
"They seem to be denying to Bosnia what one would uphold as a
\nvery basic principle of the Non-Aligned (movement), that is,
\nmembership of all countries committed to the non-aligned
\nprinciples," Sacirbey said. "Unfortunately, the countries whose
\ninterest they seem to be defending here, Serbia and Montenegro,
\nare not committed to the non-aligned principles.<\/p>\n
"I suspect there is some kind of hold that Serbia and
\nMontenegro have on these countries that can only be described in
\nrather unflattering terms," he added.<\/p>\n
NAM ministers did reach agreement on the draft of the 99-page
\nfinal document that will be presented to their leaders for
\nadoption during the summit.<\/p>\n
The movement will, for example, push for sweeping reforms of
\nthe United Nations to make the world body more effective.<\/p>\n
Other topics include the need to address the position of
\ndeveloping countries in an increasingly competitive global
\neconomy.<\/p>\n
"This (the position of developing countries) is like putting
\nme and Tyson in the ring. And if I cry murder, you would think
\nI'm unreasonable," former Tanzanian president Julius K. Nyerere
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
Nyerere, who now chairs the Geneva-based South Center which
\nstudies the development problems of countries in the southern
\nhemisphere, said NAM should also address the question of the
\nAmerican economic blockade against Cuba, which he described as
\n"illegal and immoral".<\/p>\n
NAM countries should ignore the blockade and maintain cordial
\nrelations with Cuba, he suggested. "The rest of the world should
\njust reject American pressures and do business with Cuba."<\/p>\n
Colombian foreign minister Rodrigo Pardo Garcia-Pena has also
\nstated that NAM, under Bogota's leadership, will continue to
\noppose the American sanctions against Cuba.<\/p>\n
Cuban President Fidel Castro is attending the summit.<\/p>\n
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