VZCZCXRO6261
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHVJ #1075/01 1361413
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 161413Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3501
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC
RUFOAOA/USNIC SARAJEVO
RUETIAA/NSA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SARAJEVO 001075 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR D (SMITH), P (BAME), EUR (DICARLO), EUR/SCE 
(ENGLISH, FOOKS, MITCHELL, SAINZ), EUR/ACE (VISOCAN, 
ADAMS), NSC FOR BRAUN, OSD FOR FLORY, USNIC FOR WEBER AND 
GREGORIAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2016 
TAGS: ECON KCRM PGOV PHUM PREL BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: LITTLE PROGRESS IN POST-SANCTION TREBINJE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador McElhaney for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: One year after Lautenberg sanctions on the 
municipality were lifted, the eastern Republika Srpska (RS) 
municipality of Trebinje shows very little progress in a 
number of critical areas. The working relationship between 
Mayor Dobroslav Cuk (a member of the opposition Alliance for 
Independent Social Democrats (SNSD)) and the municipal 
assembly has broken down almost completely, with both sides 
hurling insults and bringing municipal decision-making to a 
standstill. Organized crime elements have a stranglehold on 
the town's economy, and have recently escalated their 
campaign of orchestrated violence (including car bombings and 
shootings) against the local police and judiciary. Meanwhile, 
a simmering dispute over the possible reconstruction of local 
historic landmark Begova Kuca has flared up, causing conflict 
between Trebinje's Serb Orthodox and Bosniak communities. The 
Embassy will continue to monitor Trebinje closely; during a 
recent visit by the Ambassador, he warned the mayor that 
considerably more progress would be needed to keep Trebinje 
off the Lautenberg sanctions list. End summary. 
 
PROMISES, PROMISES 
 
¶2. (C) Trebinje Mayor Dobroslav Cuk, representing the 
opposition SNSD party, was elected in October 2004, breaking 
a long chain of SDS mayors. Trebinje's SNSD leadership, along 
with its coalition partners, had pledged to work 
cooperatively on a wide range of issues targeted at 
normalizing life and inter-ethnic relations, including 
refugee returns, access to employment, replacement of SDS 
hard-liners running publicly-owned companies, return of 
property to the religious communities, and better cooperation 
with the search for war crimes indictees. Unfortunately, more 
than a year after the lifting of Lautenberg sanctions, the 
situation in Trebinje has deteriorated in several respects. 
 
THE GOOD NEWS 
 
¶3. (C) As promised, Cuk did return a commercial building to 
the Islamic community, which is now collecting rent from its 
tenants. Through USAID's Governance Accountability Program 
(GAP), Trebinje now has a municipal one-stop shop, with the 
goal of providing better and more efficient service to 
citizens. The leader of the local Islamic community said he 
was "reasonably satisfied" with the municipality's actions. 
Cuk recently told us that the reconstruction of the historic 
Begova Kuca remains a top priority. (Note: Begova Kuca is a 
Bosniak cultural monument with historic value, although not a 
religious monument.) Cuk added that an Orthodox religious 
foundation established by Vladika Grigorije, the Serb 
Orthodox bishop for the region, has raised $630,000 (1 
million KM) to date for the reconstruction of Begova Kuca. 
 
THEN, THE BAD NEWS 
 
¶4. (C) However, there has been little progress on a number of 
key issues. Normalizing relations with Dubrovnik, Croatia's 
"jewel" on the Adriatic coast, which is only 20 miles (30 km) 
from Trebinje, had been high on Cuk's list. Despite much 
Embassy prodding, Cuk still does not accept that apologizing 
for Trebinje's wartime shelling of Dubrovnik is a 
prerequisite for future cooperation, at least from the 
Croatian point of view. When interviewed by the Croatian 
press about his wartime past (Cuk was a colonel in the RS 
Army), Cuk expressed regret only that he had not been a 
general. Trebinje would clearly benefit from an improved 
relationship with Dubrovnik, which could provide a 
much-needed economic boost. Cuk's stubborn refusal to 
acknowledge the past is costing his municipality dearly. 
 
¶5. (C) During his campaign to have U.S. sanctions lifted, Cuk 
made a number of commitments to employ more non-Serbs in 
municipal government. (Note: According to the 1991 census, 
the population of Trebinje municipality was 80 percent Serb, 
17 percent Bosniak and 3 percent Croat.) In addition to the 
Deputy Speaker of the Municipal Assembly (who is directly 
elected), Cuk acknowledged to us that he could point to only 
one new Bosniak employee in the city administration, bringing 
the total number of Bosniaks to 6 out of 135 positions. 
Although he pledged to downsize the city administration by 
cutting about 60 jobs, Cuk instead hired an additional 15 
employees, all of whom are members of his party. 
 
¶6. (C) Cuk had previously stated his commitment to removing a 
 
SARAJEVO 00001075  002 OF 003 
 
 
number of SDS-affiliated directors and members of steering 
boards of publicly-owned companies. However, no removals have 
taken place. Cuk has defended this by arguing that a number 
of the SDS directors are actually well-qualified for their 
jobs and should be allowed to stay. As for the rest, local 
rumor has it that they remain in place as part of Cuk's 
strategy to continue his (relatively) good relationship with 
local SDS officials. 
 
¶7. (C) Worse, in recent weeks, a violent terror campaign 
against police officials and judges has escalated 
significantly. In the last six months, there have been nine 
car bombings in Trebinje. Because of its location near 
borders with both Montenegro and Croatia, Trebinje is ideally 
situated for smuggling activities. Organized crime elements 
have long been a powerful influence in the municipality; 
efforts to target crime and corruption have provoked an 
organized campaign of car bombings and other incidents 
designed to intimidate law enforcement officials. On April 9, 
one local police inspector's car was completely destroyed by 
a car bomb; police have also been the targets of shootings. 
On April 10, a car bomb damaged the car of a Basic Court 
judge. 
 
THE FIGHT OVER BEGOVA KUCA 
 
¶8. (C) Begova Kuca (the Bey's House), constructed in 1774, 
was a cultural and historic landmark built in the traditional 
Ottoman style. This style of architecture is strongly 
associated with Bosniak culture. The prominent Bosniak family 
who owned the house sold it to the then government-owned 
Hotel Leotar in 1964; before the war, the house hosted a 
cafe, restaurant, exhibition space and local cultural events. 
During the war, Begova Kuca was completely destroyed. A 
charitable religious foundation headed by Serb Orthodox 
Bishop Grigorije claims to have raised about $600,000 (1 
million KM) for the reconstruction of Begova Kuca, which 
Grigorije has said he wants to do as a symbol of inter-ethnic 
reconciliation in Trebinje. However, plans approved by the 
municipal authorities to construct a sports complex on land 
adjacent to the Begova Kuca site (also owned by the religious 
foundation) have raised Bosniak suspicions about Grigorije's 
intentions. If the construction is executed according to the 
building permits, it would cut off all access to the site 
except by boat (the site backs on to the Trebisnica River). 
Trebinje Imam Husein Hodzic, meanwhile, has linked the issue 
of the preservation of Begova Kuca to his quest for the 
municipality to return all property formerly owned by the 
Islamic community and nationalized by the former government 
of Yugoslavia--as it returned the Serb Orthodox Church's 
properties in 1996. The reconstruction of Begova Kuca has 
therefore become embroiled in the complex web of property 
return issues, raising tensions rather than fostering 
tolerance. 
 
MUTINY BREWING 
 
¶9. (C) The Municipal Assembly recently acted to remove the 
Deputy Mayor, a member of Cuk's party. The Speaker of the 
Assembly, Nikola Sekulovic, said the removal was necessary 
because the Deputy Mayor was "falling-down drunk" at assembly 
meetings. Although Sekulovic is not an SDS member, Cuk 
accused him of plotting with SDS to take back control of city 
government. For their part, Sekulovic and Deputy Speaker 
Ervin Pobric called the Mayor "a Bolshevik," complaining that 
he is so arrogant, rigid and controlling that his working 
relationship with the Assembly has become hostile and 
unproductive. The hostility of the assembly members toward 
the Mayor is reportedly so pervasive that it has led the 
non-SDS members to turn to their SDS colleagues in order to 
garner support for their efforts to oust Cuk. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶10. (C) We had hoped that Cuk's election in October 2004 
would mark the beginning of a brighter era in troubled 
Trebinje. Not only has he not delivered on his promises, but 
his approach has alienated even the non-SDS municipal 
assembly members who once supported him. Naturally, this 
pleases the SDS hard-liners in Trebinje, as it paves the way 
for them to reclaim near-total control over local politics. 
Cuk's primary concern appears to be handing out jobs and 
other perks to his party faithful; clearly, the control he 
craves is slipping from his grasp. During a recent visit, the 
Ambassador emphasized to Cuk that we are watching Trebinje 
 
SARAJEVO 00001075  003 OF 003 
 
 
closely and expect to see improvements soon. We will continue 
working with Trebinje officials to encourage a more 
constructive approach and progress on key human rights 
issues, and will report on options for addressing Trebinje's 
critical issues septel, including through a dialogue with RS 
Prime Minister and SNSD President Milorad Dodik, whose own 
aspirations for the October national elections will be 
damaged by this kind of local SNSD record. 
MCELHANEY