SCANDAL WITH WEAPONS

Politicians, Smugglers, Professional Murderers in the Game

AIM Skopje, 16 December, 1997

Just after dust had settled because of the typical mafia-like showdown and the cruel murder which took place close to the Macedonian assembly, a deputy of the ruling Social Democratic Alliance (SDSM-former communists) Vanco Cifliganec nervously asked from the platform of that same assembly: "Is it true that somebody is trying to liquidate me? And is my liquidation supposed to conceal somebody's sins?!"

Regardless of the outcome, the question of the deputy from Radovis will be remembered as perhaps the unique parliamentary question in the world because a deputy of the ruling party asked his own government why it wanted him killed!

The question exploded like a bomb in the midst of increasingly sharp articles about Macedonia smuggling arms at the height of the war in Bosnia and blockade of Serbia. Discontent of the public is increasing as the veil is rising which carefully concealed the truth that in the "oasis of peace" of Kiro Gligorov certain influential politicians and personages from the very top of the authorities made an enormous wealth, as true war profiteers and black marketeers.

Cifliganec, a very wealthy manager of the Bucim copper mine from Radovis, has in fact just confirmed speculations of the Macedonian tabliods that two years ago he was threatened with assassination by certain Zoran Saklev, officer of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM) at the time. Allegedly, as an experienced intelligence officer trained in the former Yugoslav army and its intelligence service, Saklev was supposed to kill the manager of Bucim and the respectable member of the leadership of the ruling party SDSM for 20 thousand German marks.

The widely spread assumption is that the ordered assassination is closely connected with Cifliganec's activities during the international blockade of Serbia. At the time, his firm traded with the copper mine from Bor (Serbia), exchanging the Macedonian domicile certificate for a generous compensation. The copper from Bor could not have been sold in the world without this paper. It ranked high on the list of banned material, because ever since the time of former Yugoslavia it was connecetd with international armament industry.

Zoran Saklev, according to the words of his father Kamce Saklev, is in the USA which is the source of the rumour about smuggling of arms and various machinations which is shaking the Macedonian establishment. Three ministers of defence, one foreign minister, head of intelligence service, at least one deputy in the parliament, all from the ruling SDSM, and the Macedonian underground are involved in the scandal, in one way or another.

One of them is the current defence minister Lazar Kitanovski, who is suspected of having never clarified participation in organized racketeering for financing the election campaign of his party and president Kiro Gligorov. The ominous Ace Bocevski, alias Cigan (Gyspy), who murdered a man in the vicinity of the assembly building in cold-blood and in broad daylight last month, was one of the bodyguards who had worked for Kitanovski in 1994. At the time Kitanovski was the head of the election headquarters of the SDSM.

Then, however hard he tried not to be involved in the scandal, there is the present foreign minister Blagoja Handjiski, who had at first claimed that he knew nothing, and then that he had taken certain measures concerning it, at the time when he was still minister of defence.

The current director of intelligence service Vlado Popovski, also a former defence minister, has not a convincing alibi either. At his time, Saklev was an intelligence officer, and arms were bought at the time of Handjiski.

The most bizarre protagonist in this scandal is deputy Vanco Cifliganec. With his public appearance in the Assembly, he hinted that there are other participants and that they are very powerful. According to the allegation of certain Macedonian journals, the tip of this newest profit-making pyramid coincides with the leadership of the state. Certain tabloids claim that Cifliganec aimed at them when he put the question whose interest and camouflage was concerned which he was supposed to pay for with his life?

The current defence minister Lazar Kitanovski was not convincing either while he was fruitlessly explaining that Macedonia had not violated the embargo and bought American weapons without a permit. The question Cifliganec put perplexed the minister, so that his conflused answers that the persons in charge would investigate who was responsible just added fuel to the fire.

It all began when a short piece of news of Associated Press (AP) from America exploded like a bomb in Macedonian media. Quoting the register of court proceedings in the USA, the respectable AP published that criminal proceedings had been instigated against the enterprise called Fortend-USA for illegal sale of weapons to Macedonia and Slovenia. Macedonian media immediately linked Fortend-USA with a Macedonian firm called MIKEI-Fortend. Macedonian Fortend is one of the suppliers of military and other equipment for the Macedonian government from the time of the embargo on arms and selling of weapons in the Balkans.

It was immediately made public that the owner of the American Fortend was certain Jurij Montgomery, alias Uros Malinkovski. He turned out to be the brother of Pance Malinkovski, the owner of Macedonian Fortend. The coincidence was too self-evident. The link is quite logical for the domestic public: if the American court has raised charges against Fortend-USA, the Macedonian MIKEI-Fortend must have something to do with it, the name cannot be the only connection between the two.

Once such a connection was established, an avalanche of revelations started in public. Father of the undestined assassin Zoran Saklev, Kamce Saklev bragged that his son had revealed in America the dirty business of brothers Malinkovski, who jointly supplied Macedonia with weapons during the embargo. Maybe even supplied the army of FRY!? On the other hand, father and son Saklev have themselves registered an enterprise for import and sale of weapons called Mak-Bereta which did not succeed to become the supplier of Macedonian ministries of defence and interior affairs. They chose Mikei-Fortend.

Kamce Saklev claims that due to such protectionism of Mikei-Fortend, Macedonia was damaged of four million marks. His son Zoran was threatened because he revolted because of this protectionism and was forced to leave Macedonia. Saklev senior, however, failed to say why his son had accepted to "liquidate" deputy Cifliganec.

Pressured by an avalanche of data, some of which are firm and some shaky, the Macedonian establishment started to respond. Director of intelligence service, Vlado Popovski (former minister of defence) stated that his service possessed data aboout such intentions of Zoran Saklev. He did not say anything about arms import except that the ministry of defence, while he was in office, purchased a large amount of "material" via Mikei-Fortend from Fortend-USA: bullet-proof vests, hand-cuffs and other equipment needed by military police.

Blagoj Handjiski who was minister of defence at the time (now foreign minister) declared on Monday that the ministry of defence and intelligence service of the Army raised criminal charges against Zorab Saklev. Handjiski, however, did not say anything about arms purchase.

At the moment, the most interesting participant in the story is public prosecutor Stevan Pavlevski. He confirmed that last year he had looked into data on Zoran Saklev and established that the material gathered by the intelligence service of the Army was thin. According to Pavlevski, it did not contain sufficient evidence for raising criminal charges, and least of all for his arrest.

Rumour continues to spread and acquire interesting proportions. Pro-regime media claim that this is a case of "classic product of propaganda with a specific goal and function". The goal, for Nova Makedonija daily, is Macedonian intelligence service. Why? This newspaper does not have an answer for that. It probably believes that it is clear to internal and external enemies?!

For opposition and independent media, this is perhaps the greatest scandal the reginme is involved in, which has been shaken by all kinds of scandals in the course of this year, involving the very top of the administration.

Although the public demands explanation, a series of new scandals makes the previous one fade away. The benumbed public finds it abominable to be reminded of what happened yesterday when there is a fresh scandal on front pages today.

AIM Skopje SLOBODAN CASULE