No breakthrough at NAM over Bosnian membership

No breakthrough at NAM over Bosnian membership

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

CARTAGENA DE INDIA, Colombia (JP): Despite an eleventh-hour
effort by Indonesia and Malaysia, ministers of the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) failed yesterday to break an impasse over whether
or not to admit Bosnia-Herzegovina as a member at their leaders'
summit, which opened here yesterday.

The ministers also failed to agree on Costa Rica's admission
as well as on the applications for guest status from Japan and
Macedonia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told The Jakarta Post
yesterday that the Bosnian question would not be taken up by the
NAM leaders during their summit, which will go on until Friday.

Instead, their ministers will continue with their
consultations, Alatas said.

Informed sources said Alatas and Malaysian Foreign Minister
Abdullah Badawi made last minute efforts to change the minds of a
number of African states, particularly Zimbabwe, and accept
Bosnia's membership application.

The African states support the former Yugoslavia, now only
consisting of Serbia and Montenegro, whose membership in NAM was
suspended in 1992 because of its continuing support for the Serb
insurgency in Croatia and Bosnia.

Costa Rica's membership is opposed by Middle East countries in
view of its decision to relocate its embassy in Israel to
Jerusalem. Japan's application was blocked by North Korea and
Macedonia's application was blocked by Greece.

Because NAM's statutes require full consensus on every
decision, a single member can hold back a resolution.

Bosnian foreign minister Muhamed Sacirbey lashed out yesterday
at the opposition to his country's membership in NAM, saying that
the arguments presented were "based upon rotten ideas".

"They seem to be denying to Bosnia what one would uphold as a
very basic principle of the Non-Aligned (movement), that is,
membership of all countries committed to the non-aligned
principles," Sacirbey said. "Unfortunately, the countries whose
interest they seem to be defending here, Serbia and Montenegro,
are not committed to the non-aligned principles.

"I suspect there is some kind of hold that Serbia and
Montenegro have on these countries that can only be described in
rather unflattering terms," he added.

NAM ministers did reach agreement on the draft of the 99-page
final document that will be presented to their leaders for
adoption during the summit.

The movement will, for example, push for sweeping reforms of
the United Nations to make the world body more effective.

Other topics include the need to address the position of
developing countries in an increasingly competitive global
economy.

"This (the position of developing countries) is like putting
me and Tyson in the ring. And if I cry murder, you would think
I'm unreasonable," former Tanzanian president Julius K. Nyerere
told reporters.

Nyerere, who now chairs the Geneva-based South Center which
studies the development problems of countries in the southern
hemisphere, said NAM should also address the question of the
American economic blockade against Cuba, which he described as
"illegal and immoral".

NAM countries should ignore the blockade and maintain cordial
relations with Cuba, he suggested. "The rest of the world should
just reject American pressures and do business with Cuba."

Colombian foreign minister Rodrigo Pardo Garcia-Pena has also
stated that NAM, under Bogota's leadership, will continue to
oppose the American sanctions against Cuba.

Cuban President Fidel Castro is attending the summit.

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