BOSNIA/ MACEDONIA: SEARCHERS FIND WRECKAGE OF CRASHED PLANE CONTAINING BODY OF MACEDONIA PRESIDENT TRAJKOVSKI

Record ID: 383724

  • Title: BOSNIA/ MACEDONIA: SEARCHERS FIND WRECKAGE OF CRASHED PLANE CONTAINING BODY OF MACEDONIA PRESIDENT TRAJKOVSKI
  • Date: 27th February 2004
  • Summary: (U3) NEAR ROTIMLJA, BOSNIA (FEBRUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF FRENCH S-FOR TROOPS WITH VEHICLES ON ROAD IN AREA WHERE SEARCH FOR TRAJKOVSKI'S CRASHED PLANE IS BEING CONDUCTED 0.04 2. VARIOUS OF FRENCH S-FOR TROOPS LOOKING AT MAPS ( 3 SHOTS) 0.33 3. VAROUS OF FRENCH S-FOR SOLDIER ON MILITARY VEHICLE 0.51 4. SMV SOLDIER 0.56 5. VARIOUS OF BOSNIAN DE-MINING TEAM, IN BLUE LANDROVERS, HEADING TO SITE 1.04 6. SLV DE-MINING VEHICLES AND TEAM BY SIDE OF ROAD 1.11 7. CLOSE-UP 'MINE CLEARANCE' SIGN ABOVE LICENCE PLATE ON LANDROVER 1.17 8. VAROUS OF HELICOPTERS HOVERING OVER SEARCH SITE 1.27 9. SLV FOR TROOPS ON ROAD 1.36 10. GV SEARCH HELICOPTER IN AIR, PULL BACK TO FRENCH SFOR VEHICLE BLOCKING ROAD 1.44 (U4) NEAR ROTIMLJA, BOSNIA (FEBRUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 11. STILL SHOWING PARTS OF CRASHED PLANE WHICH HAD CARRIED MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BORIS TRAJKOVSKI SCATTERED ACROSS GROUND 1.54 12. STILL SHOWING DE-MINER NEAR THE CRASHED AIRCRAFT 2.04 13. STILL SHOWING DE-MINERS, RESCUE WORKERS LOOKING AT PART OF CRASHED PLANE 2.13 (W4) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (FEBRUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS (A)) 14. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY MACEDONIA PRIME MINISTER BRANKO CRVENKOVSKI AND EUROPEAN UNION (EU) FOREIGN POLICE CHIEF CHIEF JAVIER SOLANA 2.22 15. WIDE OF SOUNDBITE (Macedonian) MACEDONIA PRIME MINISTER BRANKO CRVENKOVSKI SAYING "The visit by (Solana) is very welcome, after we have suffered such a great loss, I highly appreciate this and I consider it to be a sign of his support and friendship. We informed Mr Solana about the situation and assured him that the institutions of Macedonia are functioning and that the Republic of Macedonia will continue to move on its course without any doubts or hesitations." 3.30 16. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF JAVIER SOLANA SAYING "I would like to say that for me, this tragedy is not only a tragedy for your country, and for the families of the people who have been lost, but it's also been a personal tragedy for a friend, for me." 3.47 (W5) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 15, 2002) (REUTERS) 17. VARIOUS OF MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT BORIS TRAJKOVSKI VOTING IN GENERAL ELECTION (5 SHOTS) 4.11 (W5) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (FILE - FEBRUARY 23, 2001) (REUTERS) 18. SLV MACEDONIA PRESIDENT TRAJKOVSKI WALKING WITH SERBIAN PRESIDENT KOSTUNICA 4.19 19. VAROUS OF TRAJKOVSKI AND KOSTUNICA SITTING FOR TALKS 4.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEAR ROTIMLJA, BOSNIA/SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
  • City:
  • Country: Bosnia Macedonia
  • Reuters ID: LVAD7E84KL08DH4W5CM1ZXFGVIY9
  • Story Text: Searchers in south Bosnia find wreckage of
    Macedonian president's plane as the Macedonian prime
    minister assures Europe his country remains stable.



    Searchers in southern Bosnia found the body of
    Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski on Friday (February
    27,2004) in the blackened fuselage of his plane.

    It was one of nine charred corpses found by rescue
    teams, who had to probe the crash site for mines and
    unexploded shells before reaching the wreck safely.

    A coordinator of the Bosnian rescue team said there
    were no survivors and that the bodies had been found in the
    wreck.

    The government flight from Skopje to Mostar on Thursday
    (February 26) was carrying Trajkovski, two crew men and six
    presidential aides when it crashed in heavy fog and rain.

    The plane crashed in a minefield in southern Bosnia
    between former frontlines in the 1992-95 Bosnian war, in an
    area of low hills between the towns of Mostar and Stolac,
    according to Darko Kalas of the Bosnian federations
    de-mining unit.

    French S-For troops and Bosnian de-miners were involved
    in the search for the plane.

    In Skopje, Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski
    met EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana for talks on
    Friday, and told him that the president's death would not
    destabilise the Balkan country, which came close to civil
    war three years ago.

    Crvenkovski had been due to hand in Macedonia's formal
    application for EU membership on Thursday (February 26).

    The ceremony was postponed after news of Trajkovski's death
    was received.

    "We informed Solana about the situation and assured him
    that the institutions of Macedonia are functioning and that
    Macedonia will continue to move on its course," Crvenkovski
    said at a news conference with Solana.

    Western leaders have hailed Trajkovski as a courageous
    statesman whose voice of moderation helped avert another
    Kosovo-style war in 2001 between his country's Macedonian
    majority and large ethnic Albanian minority.

    Solana, who worked closely with Trajkovski to end
    months of clashes in the former Yugoslav republic of 2.1
    million people, pledged continuing EU support.

    The EU took over peace monitoring duties in Macedonia
    from NATO last December, deploying a 200-strong police
    force, and the bloc is also helping the impoverished
    country economically.

    "I would like to say that for me, this tragedy is not
    only a tragedy for your country, and for the families of
    the people who have been lost, but it's also been a
    personal tragedy for a friend, for me," said Solana.

    A Methodist preacher and lawyer, Trajkovski made his
    name during the 2001 conflict with ethnic Albanian rebels
    which brought Macedonia close to civil war.

    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called him a
    "great friend". Former NATO chief George Robertson said his
    peacemaking "required considerable guts."
    Under the constitution, parliament chairman Ljupco
    Jordanovski takes over as acting president. The post is
    largely ceremonial, though the president can temporarily
    block legislation and is also commander-in-chief of the
    armed forces.


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