VZCZCXRO1771
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #0786/01 2141808
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011808Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0248
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHNS/NSC WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 000786 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EINV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: NEW SANDZAK MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS FACE OLD 
PROBLEMS 
 
REF: BELGRADE 279 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) New municipal governments in Serbia's predominantly Muslim 
southwestern Sandzak region are optimistic that their ties to the 
national coalition government will pay off in both political support 
and state funds.  These political alliances, though helpful, may not 
be enough for the region to address its economic and security 
realities and allow it to become a viable corner in Serbia's 
pro-European strategy.  Several municipalities in the region may be 
left further behind due to their own political inertia or their 
decision to install radical governments.  Like its multi-ethnic 
residents and wild terrain, the Sandzak and its challenges are not 
singularly definable; normalizing the region will take a long-term 
commitment from both its municipal leaders and their allies in 
Belgrade.    End Summary. 
 
Novi Pazar:  Counting the Damage of Prior Misrule 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) In Novi Pazar, the Bosniak Sandzak Democratic Party (SDP) 
and the local United Serb List composed of Radicals (SRS) Socialists 
(SPS) the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS), 
formed the new municipal government, ending a decade of strong arm 
rule by former mayor Sulejman Ugljanin and his Sandzak Democratic 
Action Party (SDA) (reftel).  Novi Pazar's new mayor Mirsad Djerlek 
(SDP) told us on July 21 that his administration took control of 
literally empty offices after the former mayor and his SDA 
compatriots swiped nearly everything -- including much of the 
furniture -- out the back door of the administration building. 
Djerlek told us that the immediate task for his new government was 
determining the extent of the damage caused by Ugljanin's 
administration.  Nearly 8 million Euros worth of previously unknown 
municipal debt had already been discovered, Djerlek said.  He 
planned to ask the national Ministry for State Administration and 
Self Governance to further investigate the matter.  The new 
government was also trying to determine the number of employees on 
the municipality's payroll and their technical capabilities, Djerlek 
said, expressing frustration that he did not even have an email 
account nearly a week after taking office. In spite of the 
difficulties, Djerlek said he was committed to being the mayor of 
all citizens, regardless of their political affiliations or 
ethnicity.  In a statement to the press, Djerlek called on all 
qualified individuals to work with the new city government in Novi 
Pazar. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Djerlek said his main priorities were making the city 
administration more accessible to citizens, economic development, 
and job creation.  He said both SDP and its coalition partner 
Serbian List shared that agenda, which was confirmed by assembly 
speaker Milan Veselinovic (SRS) and deputy mayor Vujica Tiosavljevic 
(NS).  Djerlek said he strongly believed that SDP's role in the 
national government would be a benefit to Novi Pazar.  Although 
their parties are not in the national government, both Veselinovic 
and Tiosavljevic believed SDP's connection to Belgrade would benefit 
the city.  Veselinovic also said he expected Novi Pazar's new 
government to be a further example of SRS's ability to properly and 
effectively govern.  While the SRS has not yet shown this capability 
in Novi Pazar, Djerlek confirmed that Veselinovic had thus far been 
"constructive." 
 
Tutin:  Diaspora and Smuggling Fuels Economy 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the highland municipality of Tutin, Ugljanin's SDA again 
won an overwhelming majority and formed the local government. 
Semsudin Kucevic of SDA was re-elected to a fourth term as mayor. 
Kucevic told us on July 22 that his government would continue to 
make economic development his priority.  He said that almost 40% of 
Tutin's residents lived abroad and were responsible for the 
financial remittances which were fueling the town's growth, noting 
the construction of awkwardly large high rises in the town's small 
center.  Kucevic, citing SDA's role in the national government, said 
he wanted to create an environment conducive to bringing other 
investors to Tutin.  Kucevic acknowledged, however, that the town's 
isolated location on the borders of Kosovo and Montenegro made it a 
thoroughfare for smuggling and the security concerns that accompany 
such activities. 
 
Security in the Sandzak: Who's to Blame? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Although local Bosniak politicians in both Novi Pazar and 
Tutin believed the security situation between parties was relatively 
stable, religious leaders and the region's small Serb minority 
expressed concerns.  With the two major Bosniak parties, SDA and 
 
BELGRADE 00000786  002 OF 003 
 
 
SDP, in the national governing coalition, the likelihood of 
political tensions has dramatically decreased.  Both SDP and SDA 
have publicly stated their commitment to political and national 
reconciliation of the Bosniak community, but their actions have 
lagged behind than their words. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The ongoing conflict within the Islamic community (reftel) 
continues to cause security concerns in the region.  Feuding "Reis" 
(local Islamic leader) Adem Zilkic told us on July 21 that he felt 
under constant threat from his religious adversary Mufti Muamer 
Zurkorlic.  Zilkic told us that since the elections and the 
departure of his political patron Ugljanin from Novi Pazar, he had 
no access to independent media, which he said was now controlled by 
Zukorlic.  Zilkic also cited a recent case in which local police 
stopped one of Zukorlic's bodyguards for illegally carrying a 
firearm but quickly released him from custody.  Imam Dudic, Dean of 
Zukorlic's Islamic faculty rejected the accusations and told us on 
July 21 that recent elections in the Islamic Community in Serbia had 
reelected Zukorlic as Mufti.  Zilkic and his competing Islamic 
Community of Serbia were to blame for instigating division in the 
community, Dudic said.  There could be no compromise with Zilkic, 
Dudic insisted. 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Local Serb politicians in Novi Pazar see the existence of 
Islamic fundamentalism, known locally as Wahhabism, as the main 
security threat to the region.  Veselinovic told us that the United 
States should help Serbia in the "Christian fight against radical 
Islam."  Sandzak's Bosniaks, on the contrary, believe Wahhabism's 
importance and influence on the security situation had been blown 
out of proportion.  Kucevic insisted that the issue of Islamic 
fundamentalism in the region had been created by Serbia's security 
services to exploit and divide Serbia's Islamic community in an 
unstable environment. 
 
Nova Varos: Regional Potential 
------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) On the opposite side of Serbia's Sandzak region in the 
predominantly Serb town of Nova Varos, local leaders are trying to 
revitalize the municipality, hoping their new links to the national 
government will pay dividends.  Following municipal elections, the 
DS, SDP, Socialists (SPS), and NS-Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), 
formed a governing coalition controlling 14 out of 27 seats in the 
municipal assembly.  New mayor Slavisa Puric (DS) said that for the 
first time in nearly 20 years Nova Varos had a municipal government 
that closely resembled the national government.  Puric said he was 
working closely with the former municipal government, which had been 
led by Branislav Dilparic (SPS), who was now assembly speaker.  Both 
Puric and Dilparic told us on July 22 that the municipality intended 
to proceed with previous plans to turn Nova Varos into an eco- and 
ethno-tourism destination.  Unlike in the past, however, they were 
hopeful that the municipality would now receive adequate attention 
and funds from the national government, especially the 
Infrastructure Ministry currently controlled by SPS. 
 
Sjenica/Prijepolje/Priboj 
------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) While Novi Pazar, Tutin and Nova Varos are all banking on 
their new connections in Belgrade, other municipalities in the 
Sandzak have yet to form local governments or have sided with the 
Radicals, placing them in political limbo.  The Muslim majority town 
of Sjenica formed an assembly on July 24, but a power struggle 
between SDA and SDP has prevented the formation of a municipal 
government.  A divided electorate in the ethnically mixed town of 
Prijepolje resulted in political stalemate; new elections must be 
held within six months.  In the overwhelmingly Serb majority town of 
Priboj on the border with Bosnia, leaders have formed an SRS-led 
assembly and government, which will likely limit attention and 
assistance from the DS-led central government. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Recent municipal elections have provided an opportunity 
for the Sandzak region to address the social and economic challenges 
it faces and become a more integral part of Serbia.  Despite the 
rosy predictions of both old and new political leaders in the 
region, however, the Sandzak faces an uphill battle to maintain its 
security and achieve economic stability.  The fact that many of 
these political parties are now on the same team at both the 
national and local levels helps that cause, but is not a panacea. 
Local leaders will have to work hard to capitalize on the elections 
by addressing the external and internal disputes, particularly 
within the Islamic community, that that have long plagued the 
region.  End Comment. 
 
 
BELGRADE 00000786  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
BRUSH