CARLOS THE JACKAL: guest of Yugoslavia

One of the most notorious international terrorists during the later stages of the Twentieth Century, Carlos the Jackal, spent three days in 1976 as a guest of Communist Yugoslavia, a defacto ally of the West, according to US diplomatic cables published in wikileaks.

Carlos, real name Ilich Ramirez, posed as an Algerian professor during his visit to Yugoslavia between September 6 to 9th, 1976.

The Yugoslav Interior Ministry had informed the West German authorities of Carlos' visit but then tried to backtack by saying it was a case of mistaken identity--it was not Carlos but a genuine Algerian professor.

The US diplomatic cable makes the wry observation that a large number SDB (UDBa - Yugoslav intelligence) Agents were at Belgrade airport.

Both the German and Amierican authorities, including the FBI, were no longer trusting of the Yugoslav  Interior Ministry.

In another US diplomatic cable, American analysts discuss Communist Yugoslavia's indulgence in conspiracy theories involving Washington's alleged attempt to destablise Yugoslavia. The US regarded Yugoslavia as a defacto ally during the Cold War because of its independent socialist orbit away from the Soviet Union.

www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976BELGRA06081_b.html

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INFO  OCT-01  SS-14  ISO-00  SAJ-01  NSC-05  NSCE-00  SP-02  INR-05

CIAE-00  EB-03  L-01  PRS-01  IO-03  DODE-00  /044 W

---------------------     009590

P 160945Z SEP 76

FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8071

INFO AMEMBASSY BONN PRIORITY

AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY

AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY

AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY

AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY

USMISSION NATO PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 6081

LIMDIS

E.O. 11652: GDS

TAGS: PFOR YO FR US PINS IT

SUBJ: CARLOS ISSUE

REF: (A) PARIS 26714, (B) ROME 14971

1. IN APPRAISING YUGOSLAV INTERPOL REPORT AND ZARIC'S

COMMENTS REFTEL (A), ADDRESSEES SHOULD KEEP IN MIND

THAT THE YUGOSLAVS THEMSELVES ADMITTED TO THE FRG EMBASSY

IN BELGRADE THAT CARLOS ARRIVED HERE SEPTEMBER 6. FURTHER,

THERE WERE LARGE NUMBER OF SDB AGENTS AT AIRPORT FOR

ARRIVAL SEPT 6 AND DEPARTURE SEPT 9, WHICH HARDLY

NECESSARY FOR "ALGERIAN TV TEAM" THAT IS STILL

SUPPOSED TO BE IN BELGRADE.

2. THE YUGOSLAV LINE NOW IS THAT IT WAS A CASE OF

MISTAKEN IDENTITY. BUT WE SHOULD NOT BEGIN TO HAVE

SELF-DOUBTS, AND SHOULD HOLD YUGOSLAVIA TO ACCOUNT

ON THE CARLOS MATTER IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR OWN

ADMISSIONS TO THE GERMANS.

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PAGE 02        BELGRA 06081  161038Z

3. BONN: BELIEVE BASED ON WHAT FRG EMBASSY HAS TOLD US

ABOUT TIMING AND DETAILED CONTENT OF CARLOS ARTICLE IN DER

SPEIGEL THAT FRG FOREIGN MINISTRY CHOSE NOT TO MAKE PUBLIC THE

BELGRADE CARLOS CAPER BUT SOMEONE IN BONN (PERHAPS INTERIOR

MINISTRY) HELD SPIEGEL PRESSES OPEN TO WAIT FOR INFORMATION

SENT BY GERMAN EMBASSY HERE LATE LAST FRIDAY (I.E., THE

"ALGERIAN PROFESSOR" COVER).

4. ROME: CARLOS WAS HERE SEPT 6-9 BUT WE HAVE NO

INFO RE USE US PASSPORTS. DEFER TO DEPARTMENT FOR

GUIDANCE RE INFO FOR TWA.

SILBERMAN

NNN

www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976BELGRA06271_b.html

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---------------------     092475

R 241115Z SEP 76

FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8168

INFO AMEMBASSY BONN

C O N F I D E N T I A L BELGRADE 6271

DEPT PLEASE PASS TO FBI

EO 11652 NA

TAGS: PFOR  YO  US  PINS

SUBJ: CARLOS

REF: (A) BELGRADE 6081, (B) BELGRADE 2671

1. COUNSELOR FRG EMBASSY TOLD ME EVENING SEPT 22 THAT

DER SPIEGEL LEAK ON CARLOS STORY HAD TO BE WORK OF VERY

SENIOR LEVEL IN FRG GOVERNMENT, PROBABLY FOREIGN MINISTRY,

REPEATING REASONS IN REF A.

2. HE FURTHER SAID FRG INTERIOR MINISTRY HAS "LEARNED

THEIR LESSON" CONCERNING COOPERATION WITH GOY INTERIOR

MINISTRY.

3. AS I INDICATED TO STATE DEPT REF B, I HAVE COME TO

CONCLUSION THAT FBI WAS INITIALLY CORRECT IN REFUSING

LIAISON WITH YUGOSLAV INTERIOR MINISTRY. GERMANS NOW

CONCLUDE IT IS A ONE-WAY STREET.

SILBERMAN

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NNN

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In another US diplomatic cable, American analysts discuss Communist Yugoslavia's indulgence in conspiracy theories involving Washington's alleged attempt to destablise Yugoslavia.

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INFO  OCT-01  ISO-00  CIAE-00  DODE-00  PM-04  H-01  INR-07  L-03

NSAE-00  NSC-05  PA-01  PRS-01  SP-02  SS-15  USIA-06

TRSE-00  /058 W

---------------------     090833 /13

R 211555Z DEC 76

FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE

TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9038

INFO AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST

AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST

AMEMBASSY MOSCOW

USMISSION NATO

AMEMBASSY PRAGUE

AMEMBASSY ROME

AMEMBASSY SOFIA

AMEMBASSY WARSAW

AMCONSUL ZAGREB

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 1 OF 3 BELGRADE 8320

E.O. 11652: GDS

TAGS: PFOR, YO, US

SUBJECT: FRIEND OR FOE?: THE YUGOSLAV PERCEPTION OF THE UNITED

STATES

REF: BELGRADE 1725 (NOTAL)

1. SUMMARY: FROM AND AMERICAN STANDPOINT, THE MOST

IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF YUGOSLAVIA IS ITS RELATIVE

INDEPENDENCE FROM MOSCOW. AMERICANS CONCEIVE OF THEM-

SELVES AS ALLIES OF THE YUGOSLAVS IN MAINTAINING THAT

INDEPENDENCE. YUGOSLAVIA'S COMMUNIST ELITE, HOWEVER,

HAS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX ATTITUDE TOWARD THE U.S. IT IS

BASED ON MARXISM, NON-ALIGNMENT, ETHNOCENTRISM, BALKAN

PARANOIA AND A BLEND OF MISINFORMATION AND HARD FACTS.

YUGOSLAVIA'S LEADERS FEEL THREATENED NOT ONLY BY

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PAGE 02        BELGRA 08320  01 OF 03  221019Z

SOVIET IMPERIALISM, BUT ALSO BY WESTERN-INSPIRED

COUNTER-REVOLUTION AND WESTERN-BACKED NATIONALISM.

THEY VIEW THE UNITED STATES MORE AS FOE THAN FRIEND

AND TEND TO TAKE FOR GRANTED OUR CONTRIBUTION TO

THEIR SECURITY AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING. A NUMBER OF

THEIR PERCEPTIONS ARE DISTORTED, STEMMING FROM THEIR OWN

IDEOLOGICIAL PRECONCEPTIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, THE

YUGOSLAV LEADERSHIP DOES NOT ERR IN SEEING US AS ADVERSARIES

ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES AND WE MUST EXPECT A CONTINUATION

OF BASIC SUSPICION AND FRICTION FROM WHICH WE SHOULD NOT

RECOIL. END SUMMARY.

2. WHEN CROATIAN NATIONALIST HIJACKED A TWA PLANE IN

SEPTEMBER, STATEMENTS LIKE THESE WERE COMMON IN THE

CONTROLLED YUGOSLAV PRESS: --"(THE HIJACKING) REVEALS

AN UNDERGROUND PLOT BETWEEN MERCENARIES OF YUGOSLAV

ORIGIN AND INFLUENTIAL REACTIONARY MAGNATES ACROSS THE

ATLANTIC ...--(THE HIJACKERS) HAVE OBTAINED AN INFLUENTIAL

AND POWERFUL MASTER IN CERTAIN AMERICAN CIRCLES, WHICH

USE THEM AS THEIR WEAPON IN ACTION AGAINST SOCIALIST

AND NON-ALIGNED YUGOSLAVIA,--(THE HIJACKING) IS JUST

ONE IN A SERIES OF CAREFULLY PLANNED ANTI-YUGOSLAV ACTS

CONCEIVED IN CERTAIN VERY POWERFUL AND VERY INFLUENTIAL

CIRCLES."

3. SUCH ACCUSATIONS CLASH SO SEVERELY WITH OUR OWN IMAGE

OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF ITS ATTITUDE TOWARD

YUGOSLAVIA THAT WE MUST ASK HOW THEY COULD BE MADE. ARE

THE YUGOSLAVS TRYING TO FOSTER DOMESTIC UNITY BY CREATING

IMAGINARY DANGERS FROM ABROAD? ARE THEY TRYING TO "BALANCE"

THEIR OCCASIONALLY CONTENTIOUS STATEMENTS ABOUT THE

SOVIET UNION? OR DO THEY REALLY BELIEVE THAT "REACTIONARY

CIRCLES" IN THE U.S. ARE MOUNTING AN ANTI-YUGOSLAV CAM-

PAIGN, USING EMIGRE TERRORISTS AS ONE INSTRUMENT? SUCH

A VIEW OF AMERICAN BEHAVIOR IS USEFUL TO THE LEADERSHIP

SINCE NO DISTINCTION IS DRAWN BETWEEN VIOLENT AND ILLEGAL

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ACTIVITIES YUGOSLAV EMIGRES ABROAD ON THE ONE HAND,

AND LEGAL ANTI-COMMUNIST POLITICAL ACTIVITY WHICH THE

YUGOSLAV LEADERSHIP REGARDS AS EQUALLY OR PERHAPS EVEN

MORE THREATENING. BUT, AS STRANGE AS IT MAY SEEM TO

THOUGHTFUL AMERICANS, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INDICATIONS

THAT MANY YUGOSLAV COMMUNISTS SINCERELY BELIEVE WHAT THEY

SAY. AN AMERICAN STUDYING HERE FINDS THAT HIS STUDENT

FRIENDS WHO BELONG TO THE LEAGUE OF COMMUNISTS ALL BELIEVE

THAT THE CIA WAS BEHIND THE HIJACKING. FSFA DIRECTOR

FOR NORTH AMERICAN AFFAIRS SAYS HE IS CONVINCED FBI EITHER

ORGANIZED HIJACKING OR KNEW ABOUT IT IN ADVANCE. HOW

CAN INFLUENTIAL, SERIOUS YUGOSLAVS REACH THESE CONCLUSIONS?

4. AMERICANS TEND TO VIEW YUGOSLAVIA PRIMARILY IN TERMS

OF ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SOVIET UNION. WE SEE OUR

MAIN ROLE AS ASSISTING THE YUGOSLAVS TO MAINTAIN THEIR

INDEPENDENCE FROM MOSCOW, PARTICULARLY AFTER TITO. WE

EXPECT THE YUGOSLAVS TO SEE US AS A FRIEND.

5. WHILE MANY YUGOSLAV "MEN IN THE STREET" MAY HAVE

THIS VIEW OF BENIGN UNITED STATES, YUGOSLAVIA'S

COMMUNIST ELITE HAS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX VIEW OF OUR

RELATIONSHIP. WHILE THEY CREDIT US WITH SOME USEFULNESS

IN KEEPING THE RUSSIANS OFF THEIR BACKS, AS MARXISTS AND

LEADERS OF THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT, WITH AN ETHNO-

CENTRIC BALKAN MENTALITY, AN UNSOPHISTICATED UNDER-

STANDING OF THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN SOME FACTUAL

JUSTIFICATION, THIS ELITE SUSPECTS OUR INTENTIONS AND

FEARS US AS A THREAT, DIFFERENT IN NATURE BUT PERHAPS

EVEN GREATER THAN MOSCOW.

6. YUGOSLAVIA'S POLITICAL LEADERS ARE MARXISTS. THEY

ARE CREATIVE AND HAVE MODIFIED MOARXIST DOGMA AS UNDER-

STOOD IN THE SOVIET UNION, BUT THEY MAINTAIN THEIR

MARXIST VIEW OF THE WORLD. MARXISM HAS NOT BEEN IMPOSED

ON THEM FROM ABROAD AS IT HAS BEEN ELSEWHERE IN EASTERN

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EUROPE:  THEY CHOSE IT ON THEIR OWN. IN 1948 IT WAS

STALIN WHO REJECTED TITO AND NOT VICE VERSA. YUGOSLAV

COMMUNISTS RESIST SOVIET HEGEMONY, BUT NOT COMMUNISM,

AND A BUST OF LENIN IS POSITIONED AS PROMINENTLY AS TITO'S

PORTRAIT IN THE LOBBY OF THE LEAGUE OF COMMUNISTS

BUILDING.

7. THE YUGOSLAVS RECENTLY SPONSORED A CONFERENCE ON

"SOCIALISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD" FOR SOCIALISTS

AND COMMUNISTS FROM MANY COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE SOVIET

UNION. WHILE SENIOR YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS (BAKARIC, GRLICKOV

AND DUSAN POPOVIC) DENOUNCED THE IMPOSITION OF ANY ONE

MODEL FOR SOCIALIST STATES, THEY EXPRESSED STETIMENTS

LIKE THESE:

--"PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE REPRESENTS THE INTERNATIONAL

POLITICAL FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH THE CLASS STRUGGLE

IS BEING CARRIED ON...MARXISM IS THE ONLY POSSIBLE

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KOMRADE KIRO - tells UDBa striking workers enemy of the people

KOMRADE KIRO - a 1973 US diplomatic cable, released by wikileaks, reveals Kiro Gligorov, then a leading Yugoslav Communist and later to become the first President of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991, urged strong security measures to be taken by the Yugoslav government against, ironically, striking workers and equated their actions with anti-state activities.

In other words he was calling for the security services, such as the secret police UDBa (also known as SDB) to come down hard on industrial "troublemakers."

Gligorov was addressing the 44th Plenum of the Party Presidium of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.

He also warned that the LCY had trouble recruiting workers into the communist ranks. It is no wonder when you consider striking workers were being treated as enemy of the state.

Gligorov held high positions in Tito's Yugoslavia (1945-90) becoming the Speaker in the Yugoslav Federal Parliament as well as an "economics" expert.

In 1991 he became the first President of the Republic of Macedonia, after it declared its independence from the collapsing Yugoslav Federation.

Overnight, Gligorov became a democrat. So much so in 2008 he lectured the current crop of Macedonia's leaders to be moderate despite his own hardline history. He urged a compromise on Macedonia's name dispute with Greece, despite fierce public opposition.

Below are two US Diplomatic cables published by wikileaks; one is from 1973 and the other is 2008.
-------------------------------
R 081525Z NOV 73 FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7782 INFO AMCONSUL ZAGREB LIMITED OFFICIAL USE BELORADE 5061 E.O. 11652: N/A TAGS: PINT PFOR YO SUBJECT: GLIGOROV SPEECH AT LCY PRESIDIEUM SESSION SURVEYS WIDE RANGE OF PROBLEMS 1. KIRO GLIGOROV (LCY EXECUTIVE BUREAU MEMBER FROM MACEDONIA) GAVE KEYNOTE SPEECH AT 44TH PLENUM OF PARTY PRESIDIUM NOV 6 (WE ASSUME FBIS TRANSLATED IN FULL). WE READ SPEECH AS DOCUMENT INTENDED TO BE ONE OF MOST SIGNIFICANT PARTY "EVENTS" BETWEEN LAST YEAR'S LETTER (FROM TITO AND PARTY EXECUTIVE BUREAU) AND NEXT YEAR'S TENTH LCY CONGRESS (WHICH PLENUM SCHEDULED FOR MAY). 2. GLIGOROV'S REFERENCES TO ECONOMIC SUCCESSES (IMPROVED BALANCE OF PAYMENTS, FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES, DOMESTIC LIQUIDITY) AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ("SOARING PRICES", DWINDLING REAL WAGES) ARE IN LINE WITH OTHER RECENT COMMENTARY HERE. IN HIS COVERAGE OF BROAD SPECTRUM OF PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES FACING PARTY, MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE - THAT GREAT DEAL REMAINS TO BE DONE IN SHORT TIME BEFORE TENTH CONGRESS - IS UNDOUBTEDLY NECESSARY KICK IN THE PANTS AFTER UNWARRANTED OPTIMISTIC SPEECHES ABOUT GREAT THINGS TAKING PLACE IN PARTY AS RESULT OF TITO LETTER. THIS MESSAGE APPEARS TO BE AIMED AT TOO- COMPLACENT HEADS OF BASIC PARTY ORGANIZATION UNITS. GLIGOROV MAKES EXPLICIT WHAT HAS BEEN FREQUENT TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE: PARTY UNITS HAVE SO FAR FAILED TO ATTRACT MORE WORKERS INTO RANKS. ONLY IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS (I.E., WHERE THEY ARE MOST VISIBLE) ARE WORKERS GETTING BIGGER PIECE OF PARTY ACTION, HE SAYS; OVERALL, HE ADMITS, PARTY HAS BARELY MANAGED TO STEM FLOW OF WORKER RESIGNATIONS WHICH CHARACTERIZED SITUATION BEFORE TITO LETTER. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ROUNDING UP NEW WORKER MEMBERS IN COMING MONTHS NOW PUBLICLY BEING SHIFTED TO PARTY UNIT HEADS. 3. IN HIS REFERENCES TO ALLEGED "REVIVAL OF NEO-STALINISTIC AND DOGMATIC CONCEPTS" IN YUGOSLAVIA, IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER HE IS TALKING ABOUT ACTUAL PHENOMENON OR WHETHER HE IS ESSENTIALLY MAKING GESTURE OF REASSURANCE TO PEOPLE IN REPUBLICS (AND PARTICULARLY TO NON-SERBS) THAT TIGHTENING-UP INSIDE PARTY DOES NOT MEAN ANY TURNING BACK FROM DECENTRALIZED FEDERATION TO CEN- TRALIZED CONTROL OF SOCIETY ON SOVIET MODEL. SUCH GESTURE OF REASURANCE PARTICULARLY BELIEVABLE COMING FROM A MACEDONIAN, SINCE MADECONIA OUTSTANDING BENEFICIARY OF DECENTRALIZATION. 4. CLEARER SIGNAL OF REASSURANCE IS AIMED SQUARELY AT FOREIGN READERSHIP - PARTICULARLY IN US: THIS IS GLIGOROV'S INSISTENCE THAT YUGOSLAV POLICY HAS BEEN ENTIRELY CONSISTENT IN ITS SUPPORT FOR ARABS, ALTHOUGH CERTAIN "QUARTERS" ARE TRYING TO PRESENT YUGOSLAV ACTIVITIES DURING RECENT FIGHTING AS ACT OF RENUNCIATION. OF NONALIGNMENT (I.E., AS HAVING MOVED INTO SOVIET CAMP). FOREIGN SECRETARIAT CONTACT SAID HE HOPED SUCH REASSURANCE NOT REALLY REQUIRED. 5. WE BELIEVE GLIGOROV'S CALL FOR HEIGHTENED SECURITY MEASURES, ALTHOUGH PHRASED IN WAY THAT APPEARS TO TIE NEED FOR VIGILANCE TO PRESSURES FROM ABROAD, IS ALSO A SIGNAL FOR INTERNAL CONSUMPTION: THAT EVIDENCES OF DOMESTIC UNREST SUCH AS STRIKES TO PROTEST WAGE CUTS OR PRICE RISES MAY BE DEALT WITH FIRMLY AS ANTI-STATE ACTIVITIES. TOON ---------------------------------
UNCLAS SKOPJE 000669 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/SCE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL, PGOV, NATO, MK SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: FORMER PRESIDENT GLIGOROV CALLS FOR COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP AND A NAME DEAL SUMMARY 1. (SBU) Still sharp and spry at 91, former President Kiro Gligorov met with Ambassador Reeker November 3 to welcome him back to Macedonia and to share his views on the current political situation and prospects for the future. Gligorov expressed his disappointment in the current Government's lack of courageous political leadership, viewing it as a key missing element to closing a deal on the name issue. He believes that with effective leadership, Macedonians can accept a compromise on the name, saying only the adjective to describe the language and identity of the people are redlines. Gligorov also suggested that Macedonia must realize that it is not the center of the political universe for the U.S., EU, and NATO, and must recognize the limits of other states' and organizations' willingness to solve the country's problems, a view not often expressed here. Macedonia's elder statesman offered a novel view of the country's need for a self-reliant, focused and flexible approach to resolving the name dispute. End Summary. Statesmanship: Let Time Prove you Right ---------------------------------------- 2. (SBU) Former President Gligorov commented on the lack of courage among Macedonia's current political leaders, saying they are hiding behind the "will of the people" rather than leading, pressing for change, and calling for flexibility in resolving the name dispute. Gligorov believes that the Prime Minister and other political leaders must insist on a solution to the name dispute, even if it is not popular, and should "allow time to prove them right" rather than polls and ratings. He cited his own decision to allow Macedonia to enter the UN under the provisional name "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" as an example of courageous leadership -- making a decision that was right for the country, if not popular with the people. 3. (SBU) "There is no democracy without compromise," and in Gligorov's view, Macedonian leaders and citizens must be prepared to compromise on "anything other than their language and identity." He called the recent Nimetz proposals good bases for negotiations and resolution, saying that barring a ban on the use of "Macedonian" to describe the language and identity, "all other solutions are practically possible." The World Does Not Revolve Around Us ------------------------------------ 4. (SBU) The former President offered a refreshing view of the role of Macedonia's friends and allies, saying "we are a small country with a small population. There are limitations to how much the U.S. will or should help us." He said that Macedonian leaders relied on their belief that the U.S. could prevent the Greek veto in Bucharest rather than developing a strategy themselves before the meeting. "We must help the U.S. to help us," Gligorov offered, echoing a line the Ambassador uses frequently with Macedonian interlocutors. Gligorov added that the current leaders have done little to make it easy for the U.S. and others to aid them.

WIKILEAKS ON 1970s YUGOSLAV SPYING

Two interesting documents have emerged in the recent batch of United States diplomatic cables to be released by international whistleblower organisation, Wikileaks:

The first is a 1973 US State Department cable detailing the Yugoslav government's fears of "extremist" Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian activities on American soil. We hear of the Macedonian Patriotic Organisation (MPO).

Link: wikileaks

CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 01 STATE 167086 DRAFTED BY EUR/EE:HGILMORE:GB 8/22/73 X22140 APPROVED BY EUR/EE:JABAKER, JR. S/CCT - AMBASSADOR HOFFACKER --------------------- 026189 P R 222157Z AUG 73 FM SECSTATE WASHDC TO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PRIORITY INFO USINT ALGIERS AMEMBASSY BONN AMEMBASSY PARIS AMEMBASSY OTTAWA AMEMBASSY MADRID AMEMBASSY CANBERRA C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 167086 E.O. 11652: GDS TAGS: PFOR, PINS, YO SUBJECT: YUGOSLAV EMIGRE ACTIVITIES IN THE US 1. IN CALL ON DIRECTOR FOR EASTERN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS BAKER ON AUGUST 21, YUGOSLAV ACTING DCM STRBAC STATED THAT GOY IS CONCERNED THAT CERTAIN YUGOSLAV EMIGRE EXTREMISTS WHO MIGHT TRAVEL TO ALGIERS AT TIME OF NON-ALIGNED SUMMIT MEETING (SEPTEMBER 5-8) MIGHT ENGAGE IN HOSTILE ACTIVITIES AGAINST PRESIDENT TITO DURING HIS VISIT THERE. STRBAC CONVEYED REQUEST OF GOY THAT USG INFORM YUGOSLAV EMBASSY IN EVENT CERTAIN SERB, CROAT, AND CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 STATE 167086 MACEDONIAN EMIGRE EXTREMISTS RESIDING IN US, WHOSE NAMES WERE CONTAINED IN LIST HE GAVE TO BAKER, SHOULD TRAVEL ABROAD SHORTLY BEFORE ALGIERS SUMMIT. STRBAC INDICATED GOY HAD MADE SIMILAR REQUEST OF CANADA, FRG, FRANCE, AND OTHER GOVERNMENTS INCLUDING THE GOA ITSELF. 2. STRBAC STATED THAT YUGOSLAV EMBASSY HAS COME TO CON- CLUSION THAT YUGOSLAV EMIGRE EXTREMISTS ORGANIZATIONS IN US ARE NOT GIVING UP THEIR ANTI-YUGOSLAVIA STRUGGLE. HE POINTED TO FOLLOWING EXAMPLES OF EMIGRE ACTIVITIES WHICH LED EMBASSY TO THIS CONCLUSION: A. AUGUST 15 ISSUE OF CROATIAN EMIGRE NEWSPAPER DANICA (THE MORNING STAR), PUBLISHED IN CHICAGO, WHICH CARRIES ARTICLE CALLING FOR CROATS IN US TO SEND MONEY TO VALENCIA, SPAIN TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THOSE CROAT EMIGRES WHO ARE PREPARING FOR "X-DAY", WHICH STRBAC INTERPRETED AS DAY OF TITO'S DEATH. (ARTICLE, AS WE READ IT, SUGGESTS MONEY MIGHT BE USED ALSO FOR ASSISTANCE TO DEPENDENTS OF CROAT HIJACKERS OF SAS PLANE WHO ARE UNDER DETENTION IN SPAIN.); B. FOUR MEETINGS OF EMIGRE ORGANIZATIONS WHICH WILL BE HELD IN US IN NEAR FUTURE: (1) MEETING OF NORTH AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR THE CROATIAN STATE (NACCS) IN CLEVELAND, AUGUST 24-26/ (2) MEETING IN CHICAGO, NOVEMBER 24, OF UNITED AMERICAN CROATIANS (UAC); (3) CONGRESS IN JACKSON, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEM- BER 1, 1973, OF BRANCHES OF SERBIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE (SND) ORGANIZATION, LOCATED IN WESTERN STATES; (4) CONVENTION OF MACEDONIAN PATRIOTIC ORGANI- ZATION (MPO) IN CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 1-3. 3. STRBAC INDICATED THAT EMBASSY CONSIDERS IT POSSIBLE THAT INDIVIDUAL US CONGRESSMEN AND POLITICAL FIGURES MIGHT ATTEND ONE OR MORE OF THESE MEETINGS. HE ASKED THAT USG GIVE NO OFFICIAL RECOGNITION TO THESE MEETINGS AND THAT IT ADVISE CONGRESSMEN AND OTHER POLITICAL FIGURES AS WELL AS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ON STATE AND LOCAL LEVELS OF US POLICY OF SUPPORTING THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF YUGOSLAVIA. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 STATE 167086 4. AFTER NOTING THAT EMIGRE ORGANIZATIONS ARE FREE TO HOLD MEETINGS AND THAT WE CANNOT ASSUME THAT ALL THOSE WHO WILL ATTEND THESE MEETINGS WOULD USE VIOLENCE TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS, BAKER ASKED STRBAC TO OUTLINE PLATFORMS OF THESE FOUR GROUPS WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THEIR POSITION ON USE OF VIOLENCE. IN REPLY, STRBAC SAID EACH OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS IS BENT ON DISMEMBERING YUGOSLAVIA AND ADVOCATES THE USE OF VIOLENT METHODS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL. STRBAC DESCRIBED ORIENTATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL GROUPS AS FOLLOWS: NACCS AND UAC - DESTRUCTION OF YUGO- SLAVIA AND CREATION OF SEPARATIST, INDEPENDENT CROATIAN STATE; SND - DESTRUCTION AND DISMEMBERMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA AND CREATION OF A GREATER SERBIA; MPO - PULLING MACE- DONIA SR OUT OF YUGOSLAVIA AND INCORPORATING IT INTO A GREATER BULGARIA. 5. BAKER OBSERVED THAT SEVERAL OF THESE MEETINGS ARE SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE VERY SOON. IT IS POSSIBLE, THEREFORE, THAT CERTAIN POLITICAL FIGURES HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED INVITATIONS TO THEM AND THAT IF THERE WERE ATTENDANCE BY ANY CONGRESSMEN OR LOCAL OFFICIALS THIS WOULD IN NO WAY REFLECT USG VIEWS. HE STATED THAT WE HAVE IN THE PAST AND WILL CONTINUE IN THE FUTURE TO MAKE KNOWN THE USG POSITION TO STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS AND CONGRESS- MEN WHO MIGHT NOT BE AWARE OF IT OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD YUGOSLAVIA AND TOWARD ANY ATTACKS ON ITS INTEGRITY. WE COULD NOT, HOWEVER, TELL THESE OFFICIALS WHAT TO DO. BAKER STRESSED THAT US POLICY TOWARD YUGOSLAVIA REMAINS AS OUTLINED BY PRESIDENT NIXON: WE SUPPORT THE UNITY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF YUGOSLAVIA. 6. MEMORANDA REPORTING OTHER MATTERS DISCUSSED BY BAKER AND STRBAC BEING POUCHED. DEPARTMENT GIVING TO FBI COPY OF LIST MENTIONED IN PARA ONE TOGETHER WITH STRBAC'S ADDI- TIONAL COMMENTS ABOUT PLACES OF RESIDENCE AND AFFILIATIONS OF PERSONS ON IT, REQUESTING THAT FBI ADVISE DEPARTMENT SOONEST OF ANY INFORMATION IT MIGHT DEVELOP WHICH SUGGESTS THAT EMIGRES ON GOY LIST PLAN TO TRAVEL TO ALGERIA. ROGERS CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 04 STATE 167086 CONFIDENTIAL NNN
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The second document is another US diplomatic cable explaining the domestic politicking going on in Australia in 1973 after the execution of Australian-Croats involved in the 1972 incursion into Communist Yugoslavia. For our non-Australian readers, there was a push by the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), a splinter group from the orginal Australian Labor Party (ALP), for a Senate Committee:

link: wikileaks
extract:
DLP LEADER SENATOR GAIR HAS SOUGHT TO INTRODUCE MOTION TO ESTABLISH A SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE INTO WHETHER CIVIL RIGHTS OF AUSTRALIAN CROATS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED, EITHER BY OPERATIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN POLICE OR BY AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA.
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Full cable:

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 01 CANBER 02682 140351 Z --------------------- 051542 R 140327 Z MAY 73 FM AMEMBASSY CANBERRA TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0921 INFO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE LIMITED OFFICIAL USE CANBERRA 2682 E. O. 11652: N/ A TAGS: PINT, PINS, PFOR, YO, AS SUBJ: YUGOSLAV EXECUTIONS OF AUSTRALIAN NATIONALS REF: CANBERRA 2462 1. BEGIN SUMMARY: POLITICKING IN AUSTRALIAN SENATE CONTINUES ON PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH SENATE COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE INTO WHETHER THERE HAVE BEEN VIOLATIONS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF AUSTRALIANS OF CROAT ANCESTRY. DEBATES IN SENATE HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY BITTER, AND RESULTING ATMOSPHERE IS SETTING STAGE FOR DOUBLE DIS- SOLUTION AND EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. END SUMMARY. 2. CONTRARY TO PREDICTION IN REFTEL, SUBJECT OF YUGO- SLAV EXECUTIONS OF AUSTRALIAN NATIONALS AND, MORE BROADLY, LABOR GOVERNMENT POLICY TOWARDS AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS OF CROAT ANCESTRY, HAS HAD NEW LEASE ON LIFE AND IS SIGNIFICANT ISSUE BEFORE PARLIAMENT. 3. SCENE OF ACTION HAS SHIFTED FROM HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- TIVES TO SENATE, WHERE DLP LEADER SENATOR GAIR HAS SOUGHT TO INTRODUCE MOTION TO ESTABLISH A SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE INTO WHETHER CIVIL RIGHTS OF LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 02 CANBER 02682 140351 Z AUSTRALIAN CROATS HAVE BEEN VIOLATED, EITHER BY OPERATIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN POLICE OR BY AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF YUGOSLAVIA. COMMITTEE IS TO HAVE SEVEN MEMBERS, THREE OF WHOM TO BE NOMINATED BY GOVERN- MENT LEADER IN SEANTE ( I. E., SENATOR MURPHY); ONE EACH BY LIBERAL, COUNTRY PARTY, AND DLP LEADERS; AND ONE INDEPENDENT SENATOR TO BE CHOSEN BY THREE INDEPENDENT SENATORS. GAIR' S MOTION IS LONG, DETAILED, AND CLEARLY POINTED AT CONDUCT OF SENATOR MURPHY IN HIS ATTACKS ON ALLEGED CROAT TERRORISM AND ON ALLEGED ACTIVITY BY YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT IN AUSTRALIA. 4. ISSUE CAME TO VOTE MAY 10, AND MOTION WAS DEFEATED 28 TO 27 WHEN THREE ALP SENATORS, WHO WERE " PAIRED" WITH THREE LIBERAL SENATORS WHO WERE ABSENT, BROKE THE " PAIRS" AND VOTED AGAINST MOTION. IF " PAIRS" HAD BEEN RESPECTED, MOTION WOULD HAVE PASSED BY VOTE OF 27 TO 25. LIBERAL, COUNTRY PARTY, AND DLP LEADERR IN SENATE HAVE DENOUNCED ALP TACTICS AS VIOLATION OF GENTELMEN' S AGREE- MENT, AND SENATOR WITHERS, LIBERAL LEADER IN SENATE, HAS ANNOUNCED THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER " PAIRS" UNTIL SNEATOR MURPHY, WHO CLEARLY ARRANGED BREAKING OF " PAIRS", APOLOGIZES. MURPHY HAS MADE CLEAR THAT HE CONSIDERS OPPOSITION PARTIES SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR DISGUISED ATTACKS ON HIM. 5. SENATOR GAIR HAS STATED HE WILL RE- INTRODUCE MEASURE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, " PAIRS" WILL BE OFF, AND SENATOR MURPHY LEFT AUSTRALIA MAY 13 TO PRESENT THE AUSTRALIAN CASE AGAINST FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE. HE WILL NOT RETURN, ACCORDING TO PRESENT PLANS, UNTIL MAY 26. MOST OBSERVERS BELIEVE GAIR' S MOTION WILL BE RE- INTRODUCED AND PASSED, EITHER THIS WEEK OR NEXT WEEK, AT LATEST. 6. COMMENT: EPISODE IS SYMPTOM OF STEADILY WORSENING RELATIONS BETWEEN LABOR AND OPPOSITION PARTIES IN SENATE. DEBATE IN HOUSE ON VARIETY OF ISSUES HAS BEEN COMPARATIVELY RESTRAINED, BUT DEBATES IN SENATE HAVE BEEN INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON CONFLICTS OF PERSONALITIES. POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DEVELOPMENTS, BOTH ON STATUS OF CROAT COMMUNITY AS WELL AS OTHER MATTERS, IS LIMITED OFFICIAL USE LIMITED OFFICIAL USE PAGE 03 CANBER 02682 140351 Z THE SOLIDIFYING OF THE LINE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION PARTIES IN THE SENATE. THE DIVISION SEEMS ALMOST CERTAIN TO PRODUCE DEFEAT OF MAJOR GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION IN NEXT FEW WEEKS WHICH WILL LEAD TO DOUBLE DISSOLUTION AND EARLY ELECTIONS, PROBABLY AROUND THE END OF 1973. RICE LIMITED OFFICIAL USE NMAFVVZCZ

PLAY IT AGAIN SAMIR !

Team Uzunov puts the pieces to the puzzle over the 1979 Croatian Six set up -
Australia's real life Humphrey Bogart film noir detective?

1977 JAT Travel Agency bombing in Melbourne may have been a dress rehearsal?
Muslim Bosnian activists being spied upon

WAS BEGOVIC THE MISSING LINK?

by Sasha Uzunov

"Play it again Samir"

Enver Begovic (aka Jason Enver Ablon aka Frank Abalone), a controversial Melbourne private detective whose incredible life was straight out of a Humphrey Bogart film. For many years he ran the successful Inge Detective Agency. Photo credits. Above: ASIO file. Right: Herald and Weekly Times 1968.

A controversial Melbourne Private Detective may have been the link between a Yugoslav diplomat master spy, and a low level operative involved in the 1979 set up of six Australian Croats on false charges of terrorism.

The larger than life Enver Begovic, who spoke excellent English, arrived in Australia as a refugee in 1957 and within a year was running a successful private investigative agency.

Begovic, according to a file by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), called himself a Muslim Croat from Bosnia-Herzegovina, then a part of communist Yugoslavia. He died a few years ago.

In the late 1960s he became a powerful figure within the Australian Croatian community: known for throwing his wealth and influence around. At one stage he was President of Melbourne Croatia Soccer Club. But he later changed political allegiances and began referring to himself as a Yugoslav Muslim. ASIO files, which include transcripts of bugged telephone conversations, have Begovic passing on intelligence on dissident Croats and Bosnians to the Yugoslav Consul General in Melbourne, Dr Georgi Trajkovski in 1978-79

RAT-LINES? WAR CRIMINAL? DOUBLE AGENT? FRAUD? 

The private eye, born in 1924 or 1925, told ASIO officers of his fanciful past: claiming he was  conscripted into the German Secret Police (meaning the dreaded Gestapo or SS) during the Nazi occupation of his homeland during World War II; at the end of the war he claimed he was thrown into a Soviet Prisoner of War (POW) camp before escaping to Austria, where he later met his Austrian wife, Ingeborg. After his release he alleged that both he and his wife had worked for United States intelligence against communist agents.

A check by Australian authorities revealed he had served prison time in Allied occupied Austria and Germany for embezzlement and fraud, involving stealing a large sum of money.

According to a prominent US academic and former Naval Intelligence Officer, Dr John Schindler, Begovic fits the profile of an intelligence operative for the dreaded Communist Yugoslav Secret Police (UDBa), which began a campaign to discredit emigre Croats, Macedonians and other groups through false flag terrorist action. But what is puzzling is how  did a newly arrived migrant such as Begovic learn to speak excellent English before arriving in Australia and where did he pick up the skills and knowledge to run a detective agency?

In 1971 - Melbourne based private detective Enver Begovic in contact with the Yugoslav Consulate in Sydney and Yugoslav intelligence officers (ASIO file)

Another infamous UDBa operative during the 1970s was Zeljko Raznjatovic-Arkan, an armed bank robber in Western Europe and freelance assassin who after the collapse of Communist Yugoslavia became a Serbian nationalist warlord. Arkan later fell foul of his patron, Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, and was murdered in a Belgrade hotel in 2000.

One major UDBa success was the Croatian Six case, which saw six Australian Croats Max Bebic, Vic Brajkovic, Tony Zvirotic, Joe Kokotovic and his brother Ilija Kokotovic, and Mile Nekic set up by Vico Virkez, real name Vitomir Misimovic, another UDBa operative--and arrested by New South Wales Police state police in 1979 and later convicted on bogus terrorism charges.

Virkez, a Bosnian Serb posing as a Bosnian Croat, born in 1951 arrived in Melbourne, Australia in 1970, married a Croatian woman but later abandoned her and their child and moved to Sydney, eventually settling in NSW country town of Lithgow .

He moved in the same political circles as Begovic, a fellow Bosnian, as well as another Muslim Croat from Bosnia Ragib Avdic, a genuine anti-Yugoslav communist dissident.

According to Trajkovski's ASIO file, in 1978 the Australian government refused Avdic a passport in Sydney. Looking for help, he had naively asked Begovic, as a private eye with connections to powerful people, to pull some strings--all the while Begovic was feeding Trajkovski with intelligence. 

THE CROAT 6 SET UP- the Melbourne test run !

There is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Croat 6 set up was orchestrated from Melbourne, and in fact a test run was conducted in 1977-78 with a bombing of a Yugoslav travel agency office in Melbourne. When Yugoslav intelligence could not manipulate the Victoria Police Special Branch into blaming Croat terrorists the focus then moved to New South Wales where the Police Special Branch was more susceptible to accepting the existence of a terrorist conspiracy.

(above): A 1970 ASIO report in Begovic's file suggesting the bombing of the Yugoslav Consulate in Melbourne may have been the work of Yugoslav "agents" to portray Croats as terrorists.

On Saturday 3 December 1977 at 3.16am in the morning, a bomb went off in the JAT (Yugoslav Airlines) office in Exhibition Street, Melbourne, causing enormous damage but no casualties. Victoria Police Special Branch were called in to investigate but the Yugoslav Ambassador Aleksandar Sokorac complained that the authorities were ignoring "subversive" groups.

Before and after the bombing, there were false reports of planted bombs. According to an ASIO file on Trajkovski, on 25 August 1978, Victoria Police Special Branch Detective Geoff Gardiner investigated a break in at the JAT office but had found the lock to the office door had been broken from the inside !

In early September 1978, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, 19 Croats were arrested at an alleged military training camp near the southern NSW coastal town of Bega. Begovic was supplying information to the Yugoslav Consul General in Melbourne, Trajkovski. The question is why would a Melbourne based private eye be passing on information to a diplomat in Melbourne, when the incident happened in NSW and under the scrutiny of the Yugoslav consulate in Sydney?

Trajkovski's ASIO file - details a wiretapped phone conversation he had with Begovic over the Bega arrests.

In another instance, Trajkovski asked Begovic to write down the registration numbers of vehicles parked at a Croatian demonstration and identify their owners.

Begovic infiltrated an umbrella Croatian nationalist group known as HNV and attended on 30 September 1978 its inaugural national conference in Wodonga, Victoria, a town close to the New South Wales border. ASIO noted he was feeding information back to Trajkovski, especially about the unsuspecting Ragib Advic. (from Trajkovski's ASIO file).

On 8 February 1979 Vico Virkez went to Lithgow Police station in News South Wales and informed on the Croat 6, including Ante Zvirotic who had known Avdic.

On 10 February 1979 Trajkovski was in a frantic manner and tried to call the Yugoslav Ambassador Sokorac on the phone but the Ambassador was suspicious that his phone was not working at a time "when all sorts of things were going on."

On 14 February 1979 Jovo Juric from the Yugoslav Embassy in Canberra flew down to Melbourne to talk to Trajkovski over urgent matters.

On the same day, ASIO had noted that a mysterious character, probably a low level operative Todor Jovicic, codenamed Nikola, had flown out of Australia for good. He had been in Australia since 1969, a year before Virkez had arrived.

BEGOVIC AND TRAJKOVSKI GANG UP ON AVDIC - Lombardic in Sarajevo

In August 1978, Avdic was denied an Australian passport and had turned to Begovic for help.  From an ASIO phone wiretap, Trajkovski and Begovic were cracking jokes at his expense:

Begovic: "It appears that they (Australian government) are refusing him a passport. That is good...Yes, he called me last night seeking assistance (laughs). I told him to ring back in around a week."

Trajkovski: "Yes - you tell him you will do everything within your power. (laughs)"

In the same file, deputy Yugoslav Consul Petar "Pero" Lombardic was in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the then Yugoslav republic from where Begovic, Avdic and Virkez had come from. There is cryptic talk between Trajkovski and Begovic about things progressing well after Trajkovski had sent them things (not specified) to Sarajevo.

There is speculation that the whole Croatian 6 set up was hatched by Trajkovski in Melbourne via UDBa in Sarajevo.

"Where are the explosive detonators?" - Asks Yugoslav diplomat 

On 3 March 1978, a person within Victoria's Muslim Bosnian community called Atanas "Aco" Stojanovski, from the Yugoslav Consulate in Melbourne.

Person: "There is something - and I believe it has political connections. A man, who put detonators in Sydney - and I do not know where - was put on bail..."

Stojanovski: " Do you know where he put the detonators?

Stojanovski, in an earlier ASIO report on Trajkovski was named as the intelligence specialist who handled Croat informers. In 1978 he finished his stint at the Yugoslav consulate and eventually married a local Macedonian woman, Liilana Simonova-Stojanovska, now a prominent academic at Victoria University. They live in Melbourne. He may have the answers to the Croatian 6 case but no one in the media has ever contacted him for comment, except TEAM UZUNOV which sent an email to his wife on 10 December 2012 but had not received a response.

ASIO showed interest in Stojanovski's departure and personal life. 

ASIO RELEASE MORE YUGO SPY FILES

ASIO surveillance photo of Georgi Trajkovski from 1979. Pictured here leaving his 

consular vehicle, a Mercedes Benz. source: National Archives of Australia

by Sasha Uzunov

ASIO - The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has released three more dossiers, bringing the total to five so far, for Yugoslav Consul General in Melbourne Georgi Trajkovski, believed to be the mastermind behind a covert operation to discredit emigre Croats and Macedonians during the 1970s.

ASIO, the domestic counter-intelligence service, kept a close watch on Trajkovski, who was Consul General from 1975-79.

According to this 1978 ASIO report, local Macedonians were not regarded as terrorists or posed a security threat. The report suggests that the violence within the community was caused by the Communist Yugoslav government's battle to take control of Australian Macedonian Orthodox Churches.

This same report reveals the struggle between the Yugoslav government and an apocryphally named Macedonian nationalist organisation DOOM (MLUM - Movement for the Liberation and Unification of Macedonia).

In 1976 the situation was worsened when Bishop Kiril (Cyril) was sent by Communist Yugoslavia to induce the local churches to hand over their assets to the Skopje patriarchy. (Photo: National Archives of Australia, 1973)

ASIO surveillance photo of Georgi Trajkovski from 1979. Pictured is his consular vehicle, a Mercedes Benz. Trajkovski is partly obscured at a fancy Melbourne restaurant at the time, Troika.

source: National Archives of Australia

Photo of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (1975-83), in the centre of photo, visiting the Yugoslav Consulate in Hawthorn, Melbourne in 1979 and holding a book. On his left is Trajkovski (numbered 4) and far left is Petar "Pero" Lombardic (numbered 8), Trajkovski's second deputy and hatchet man. Missing from the photo is Anastas "Aco" Stojanovski, first deputy. source: National Archives of Australia

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