VZCZCXRO3444
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVJ #2568/01 3341222
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301222Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7453
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUZEJAA/USNIC SARAJEVO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 002568 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR(DICARLO), EUR/SCE(FOOKS/STINCHCOMB) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KPAO BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA - SILAJDZIC SEEKS CONTROL OF FEDERATION TV 
 
REF: A. SARAJEVO 2406 
 
     ¶B. SARAJEVO 2370 
     ¶C. SARAJEVO 2253 
     ¶D. SARAJEVO 131 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Political and media contacts allege that 
Bosniak nationalist parties are conspiring to seek control 
over the editorial policies of public television.  An 
upcoming vote in Parliament to replace the Bosniak board 
member for Bosnia-Herzegovina Radio and Television (BHRT) 
will provide the first opportunity for a Party for Democratic 
Action (SDA) faction led by Bakir Izetbegovic and Party for 
BiH (SBiH) to promote their candidate.  A draft public 
broadcasting reform law in the Federation Parliament may 
provide an opportunity to punish Federation Television (FTV) 
for reporting perceived to be critical to Bosniak national 
interests.  These events could lead to the stifling of news 
reporting critical of Bosniak national parties and their 
politics, provide a challenge to the freedom of the media and 
expose a further weakening of SDA President Sulejman Tihic's 
control of his party.  End Summary. 
 
Election for BHRT Bosniak Board Member 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The state Parliament will soon select a new 
candidate for the Bosnia-Herzegovina Radio and Television 
BHRT) managing board following the recent expiration of the 
term of Bosniak member Plamenko Custovic.  The election is 
slated to be on the agenda of the next Parliamentary session, 
which has not yet been scheduled.  We were told by political 
and media contacts that an SDA faction led by Bakir 
Izetbegovic supports the candidacy of Sacir Filandra, head of 
the Preporod Muslim Cultural Society.  Filandra is a 
self-described independent unaffiliated with any party. 
Although Filandra is not known for his nationalist views we 
are concerned that he has been identified by SBiH and the 
Izetbegovic wing of SDA because of his susceptibility to 
political pressure.  SDA President Sulejman Tihic reportedly 
supports a different candidate, Ahmed Zilic, who many media 
professionals view as an independent and professional 
alternative.  BHT news programs have a reputation for 
objective reporting and have not shied away from criticizing 
Bosnian political leaders, including for their failure to 
meet the requirements to initial a Stabilization and 
Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU.  We are told that 
Izetbegovic has cut a deal with SBiH to support Filandra in 
order to protect Bosniak national interests.  The outgoing 
Bosniak board member was reported to oppose political 
interference in the content of state television reporting. 
Several contacts expressed concern that a board member, loyal 
to Izetbegovic and his SDA faction, would work with 
nationalist Serb and Croat counterparts on the managing board 
to stop reporting critical to political leaders. 
 
Nationalist Challenge to FTV Leadership 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Several political and press sources have expressed 
concern to us that the Bakir Izetbegovic's SDA faction also 
agreed to work with SBiH to remove FTV senior leadership. 
FTV is known for its objective broadcasts, including 
investigative reports on corruption, war crimes, and 
organized crime.  FTV news broadcasts also regularly 
challenge the nationalist rhetoric of Bosnian politicians 
from all ethnic groups and address controversial issues, such 
as the ineffective response of the Islamic Community to the 
rise of Wahhabism in Bosnia.  FTV's flagship news magazine 60 
Minutes has been particularly critical of the entity and 
state political leaders and ministers.  FTV political 
editor-in-chief Bakir Hadziomerovic (a Bosniak) has broadcast 
sharp criticism of Silajdzic, and FTV recently aired a 
detailed expose of alleged misuse of position by SBiH Foreign 
Minister Sven Alkalaj.  FTV also publicly questioned the 
placement of several relatives of Izetbegovic and Federation 
Prime Minister Nedzad Brankovic in management positions at 
BiH Telecom.  Serb board member Nikola Deretic is also 
exerting pressure on the board where he recently asked for 
the replacement of Hadziomerovic. 
 
¶4. (SBU) SBiH has made no secret of its hostility to FTV or 
its editorial policies.  SBiH Federation MPs used the 
opportunity presented by a debate in the Federation 
 
SARAJEVO 00002568  002 OF 002 
 
 
Parliament on an audit of FTV to openly attack FTV officials. 
 Several SBiH MPs threatened to remove FTV officials, 
including Hadziomerovic  The attacks did not dissuade 
Hadziomerovic from airing news segments critical of 
nationalist Bosniak politics, both SBiH and SDA, however.  He 
recently broadcast footage documenting the exhumation of a 
grave of Sarajevo Serbs killed by a Bosniak military unit in 
¶1993.  The footage was graphic and was an implicit challenge 
to Bosniak claims that no Sarajevo Serbs were victimized 
during the 1992-1995 wars.  (Note: Three weeks ago during the 
15th anniversary of SDA's creation of the 10th Mountain 
Brigade, an SDA cantonal politician recommended paying 
respects to the late Brigade commander Musan Topalovic a.k.a. 
Caco, who was killed during the war.  Hadziomerovic's 
reporting reminded the public that Caco and his men were 
responsible for a 1993 massacre of approximately 42 
non-Bosniaks as well as of nine Bosniak, Serb, and Croat 
soldiers and police sent to arrest Caco.  End Note.)  We were 
told that Hadziomerovic was been put under police protection 
following the broadcast. 
 
Public Broadcasting Reform 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) One of the conditions for Bosnia to initial a 
Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU is 
public broadcasting reform.  A draft Federation Law on Public 
Broadcasting has been held up in the Federation Parliament 
over perceived threats to the national interests of Croats, 
but we are told those concerns are being resolved.  Once 
adopted, the law would allow the Federation Parliament to 
name a new FTV steering board, providing SBiH and its SDA 
allies with an opening to replace the current FTV leadership 
with more pliable steering board members and senior editorial 
staff. (Note: The current steering board was installed by the 
HighRep. End Note) It is not clear how soon the PBS law issue 
will be resolved in the Federation, given the preoccupation 
among political leaders with the crisis over the HighRep's 
October 19 measures, but we are told that a vote could come 
by the end of the year. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) If accurate, SDA and SBiH attempts to control public 
broadcasting are reminiscent of their recent jockeying to 
control two large and profitable public companies BiH Telecom 
and Elektropriveda (Ref C).  If Bakir Izetbegovic's SDA 
faction succeeds with SBiH's help in gaining the election of 
their preferred BHRT board candidate, it will be another blow 
the authority of SDA President Tihic and his ability to 
control the rank and file of his party.  Perhaps more 
disturbing is the alleged Bosniak nationalist effort to take 
control of FTV.  This combined with Dodik's successful 
silencing of opposition in RS media and January boycott of 
BHRT (Ref D) would deprive Bosnian citizens of objective 
television news reporting.  Several contacts from the Bosnian 
media are concerned that these actions signal a return to the 
immediate post-Dayton situation in which almost all entity 
media outlets were under nationalist control.  This would 
solidify control by nationalist parties in their respective 
entities and provide cover for the misuse of the 
privatization process by corrupt politicians, not to mention 
to reverse significant USG efforts to promote the freedom of 
the media. 
ENGLISH