EUR: Fraser confident of Yugoslav visa

AAP General News (Australia)
04-18-1999
EUR: Fraser confident of Yugoslav visa

CANBERRA, April 18 AAP - Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says he is confident he will
be granted a visa to enter Yugoslavia and argue for the release of two Australian aid workers
being held there.

CARE Australia workers Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace are being detained by Belgrade after
being accused of spying for NATO.

Mr Fraser, who is also CARE Australia's chairman, is awaiting his Yugoslav visa in Geneva
where yesterday he held talks with several international agencies about the plight of the two
aid workers.

The former PM said today he thought he would be allowed into Yugoslavia and hoped it would
be before any charges were laid by Belgrade against the two Australians.

"I believe I will get a visa, I hope at the latest tomorrow but it could be Tuesday," he
told Channel Seven.

"In the communications that have gone forward, time tends to slip, but I certainly hope I
can get a visa before any charges are laid.

"I suspect it might be much easier to do something about Steve and Peter before formal
charges are laid; once those formalities are set down, it is harder to undo."

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KEYWORD: KOSOVO CARE FRASER (CARRIED EARLIER)

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