'Pierre Berge,' he said, 'who is now shouting 'foul', got rid of Mr Barenboim, who had a remarkable plan for the new Opera, in a way which I should prefer not to discuss.'With the next act of the Opera-Bastille drama opening in court this week, musicians have said that they may strike if Chung is not reinstated. This would be no new departure since the Opera has long been afflicted by strikes.One stoppage dates back to the mid-1970s when Valery Giscard d'Estaing was president. He had adopted the practice of having himself invited to dinner in ordinary homes, in order to hear grass-roots views.So numerous were the invitations that, to thank all those who wanted him at table, Mr Giscard d'Estaing organised a gala evening for them at the Opera Garnier. As the guests made their way to Paris, trade unions at the Opera called a snap strike - and hundreds of the President's most loyal citizens found themselves all dressed up with nowhere to go.(Photograph omitted). IN AN episode owing more to Hollywood than history, a makeshift court of Alaskan Indians has sentenced two youths to banishment on separate uninhabited islands because they attacked a pizza deliveryman and robbed him of dollars 40.

After a two-day hearing, a council of elders on Alaska's Prince of Wales Island said the youths would spend more than a year in isolation to atone for their crimes. The affair began when, to the fury of prosecutors, a judge in the state of Washington returned the two 17-year-old Tlingit Indians to face tribal justice rather than dispatch them to jail. The unprecedented decision followed pleas by Rudy James, whose claims to be a tribal judge have been challenged by established representatives of Alaska's 14,000 Tlingits. They say that his 'tribal court' has never met before.This was evident from its proceedings, in a dilapidated hall in the fishing village of Klawock. Clad in ill-fitting tribal gear, Adrian Guthrie and Simon Roberts faced vague and incomprehensible questions from a 'court' of 12 ageing men.

One wanted to know what topping was on the pizza.Mr James, who plans a movie documentary, says they will spend 12 to 18 months on two forested islands in south-east Alaska, equipped with basic tools and food.Most Alaskans are sceptical about the judgment 'Anyone can get to these places by boat. Their pals will be out there every night, drinking beer and smoking dope,' said an elderly white fisherman. But one person approves: the injured pizzaman, who has been promised a new house by Mr James. 'Better than our system,' he said, after watching the court.. CASTEL GANDOLFO (Reuter) - The Pope said yesterday he would go ahead with a dramatic visit to Sarajevo next week provided security could be guaranteed for the local population.

'I truly hope, if there are sufficient guarantees for the security of the local population, to be able to go to that city which has been battered - and which is so dear to me - as a pilgrim of peace,' the 74-year-old pontiff said at the papal summer resort south of Rome. 'I put this trip in the hands of the Virgin Mother and ask her to ensure that all goes ahead without danger to the population.' The Pope plans to arrive in mainly-Muslim Sarajevo on Thursday for what the Vatican considers will be the most dangerous visit of his pontificate. Earlier yesterday, Bosnian Serb leaders refused to guarantee the Pope's safety, despite an appeal from a Vatican envoy.The Bosnian Serb Foreign Minister, Aleksa Buha, said: 'The Serbs informed the (Vatican) envoy they could not take responsibility for possible incidents from the Muslim side.'Bosnian Serb leaders have told the Vatican privately that the Pope's presence in Bosnia is 'highly undesirable'. The Orthodox Serbs believe the Vatican took sides in the break-up of Yugoslavia in favour of the Roman Catholic Croats.Colonel Bernard Lavarsuk a spokesman for the UN Protection Force in Sarajevo, said the United Nations would do its best to ensure the Pope's safety during the planned trip but security risks were high. 'The airport is protected by the UN but the surrounding areas are not under our control,' he said. Sarajevo airport, where the Pope will land and take off, is surrounded by anti-aircraft guns of both Serbs and Muslims and has been closed frequently since July because of firing on UN relief aircraft.