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LETTERS OF SUPPORT

SERBIAN MASSACRES

 Updated at 11:50 AM on May 28, 1999

 

Massacre at Rezalla: 77 Murdered

Skėnderaj, May 28, (Kosovapress)

Our sources have learned that in Rezallė of Drenica, on April 5th of this year, Serb forces massacred the village's population. On this day, at an open field in the district of Aruēaj, 80 civilians were murdered, most of them older that 60 years of age and some between 15 and 18 years of age. Only three people from the village escaped death that day, two elder people and a 16 year old. The following day, according to these survivors, Serbs returned with a bulldozer and other heavy equipment, prepared a large grave, and buried all 77 of the murdered civilians. We have only been able to verify some of the victim's identities.

The following is the names and ages of some of those murdered at Rezalla on April 5, 1999:

1.Jonuz Rukolli (83) 2.Zymer Rukolli (65) 3.Dibran Rukolli (61) 4.Behram Rukolli (55) 5.Demir Rukolli (45) 6.Hamit Rukolli (65) 7.Ilaz Rukolli (50) 8.Isuf Rukolli (40) 9.Jahir Rukolli (18) 10.Besim Rukolli (15) 11.Avdullah Rukolli (32) 12.Shet Zabeli (85) 13.Mehė Zabeli (82) 14.Sadri Zabeli (65) 15.Latif Zabeli (52) 16.Xhemajl Zabeli (52) 17.Djali i Xhemajlit (12) 18.Aziz Deliu (63) 19.Demir Deliu (62) 20.Nezir Deliu (65) 21.Adem Deliu (65) 22.Vesel Deliu (51) 23.Hetem Deliu (55) 24.Hysen Oruēi (80) 25.Isuf Oruēi (42) 26.Jahė Oruēi (48) 27.Sadik Mala (80) 28.Rexhep Rukolli (80) 29.Shaban Aliu (59) 30.Halim Aliu (59)

Those from Morina buried at Ruzalla:

1.Rexhep Hoti (70) 2.Ukė Hoti (62) 3.Pėrparim Hoti (14) 4.Azem Hoti (56) 5.Alush Hoti (56) 6.Pajazit Kelmendi (68) 7.Nazif Hoti (50) 8.Blerim nga Llazica (20)


Serb Forces Set Booby Traps in Kosovar Homes

Komoran, May 28, (Kosovapress)

Serb police and army units, upon leaving the village of Nekoc of Drenica, have set booby traps in the houses they once occupied.

Last night Adem Idriz Zeka (aged 34) from Nekoci was gravely wounded after activating one of the bombs hidden in his home.

KLA commanders have appealed to the population to proceed with great caution in areas formally controlled by Serb forces and only after KLA experts have effectively issued a security clearance.



Noel Malcolm: Kosova should be an Independent State

New York, May 27, (Kosovapress)

Last night night at Columbia University, Noel Malcolm, British expert on Albanian history and author of the book "Kosova: A Short History" spoke on topics in relation to his book. Within the context of a political history, Noel Malcolm focused on the question of Kosova's right to be an independent state.

"We are not talking here of secessionism," stressed Malcolm, "because Kosova had all the attributes of a state and it had the right to separate as other Yugoslav entities since it was constitutionally a Yugoslav political unit, not a part of Serbia." Malcolm stressed that Yugoslavia and its constitution no longer exists, Kosovars, therefore, should focus on the legality of its right to independence from within the framework of international law. Noel Malcolm also stressed the need to break from the fiction on "historical" arguments made by Serb nationalists for according to Malcolm, "Kosova was never the cradle of Serbia."

Other experts presenting papers in this meeting were Branimir Anzuloviē, Hans Strosmayer and Peter Lutansky. This meeting was attended by many compatriots and many different questions were asked about Kosova and its future during the question-answer session. According to Alex Lekutanoy, present at the discussion, the questions were mostly addressed to Mr. Malcolm.


Russia concerned over Milosevic's Indictment

New York, May 27, (Kosovapress)

In today's " Washington Post" Russian special envoy to Kosova, Viktor Chernomerdin, wrote that the indictments leveled on Milosevic by the International Tribunal in the Hague, will force Russia to abandon the ongoing peace negotiations and has threatened that nuclear war has never been as close to a reality as today.

Meanwhile, former Soviet leader Mihail Gorbachov suggested that "The Cold War developing into a warm war is a possibility." Russian political figures are expanding their threats to the US and their Western allies in the course of the last few days of increasing frustration over Russia's inability to strike an agreement on Kosova.


Serb troops release 7 kidnapped children after being paid a ransom of 1000 German Marks

Ferizaj, 27 may (Kosovapress)

Serb forces retreating from Nerodimja to the Lagja e Re of Manastiri neighborhood in Ferizaj, travelling in two trucks filled with Serb soldiers and reservists, kidnapped 7 Kosovar children demanding 1000 German Marks for their release. After this sum of money was paid by an old women of this quarter the children were released.

Thousands of Kosovars Tortured in Ferizaj

Ferizaj, 27 may (Kosovapress)

In the Shtime, Ferizaj and Shterpcė, region, at the "Pranvera" beer hall, located behind the ex-prison of Ferizaj, it has been learned that Serb forces have used it as a place to torture captured Kosovars of all ages for the last two months. It is reported that up to 3000 civilians have been taken here. There has not been any information about the whereabouts of those who were taken to this location, but it is assumed that they are dead.


As the Historic City of Prizren Burns, Dozens of Kosovars Murdered

Prizren, May 27, (Kosovapress)

During the night, a commando unit of the 135th Brigade led by commander Zafir Berisha, conducted a successful attack in the Tusus district of Prizren. During the fighting, 21 Serb policemen and paramilitaries were killed and their arms confiscated.

In revenge, Serb policemen, paramilitaries and soldiers have set fire to 450 houses of this district and killed over 20 inhabitants, many of whom were seeking refuge in the area, most of them being the old and ill. In one case, Fazile Meēkajn (aged 30), had petrol poured over her body and the set ablaze. Her mother, Selmihane Maēkaj, managed to reach the still burning corpse and laid her to rest in a grave dug in the backyard of her home. Among the others murdered, we can only identify Xhemali Binaku and his brother Ali Binaku.

Heavy Fighting Continues in Has

Has, May 27, (Kosovapress)

The KLA in the region of Has have captured the villages of Milaj, Gorozhupė and Planejė. During the latest attacks, 18 more Serb soldiers were killed and two others captured. The weapons of the dead Serbs have been taken by KLA units.

The battle continued until 23:00 last night, and has commenced today with greater intensity.

More Albanians released from the Concentration Camp in Smrekovnica and forced to Albania

Morinė, May 27, (Kosovapress)

470 Kosovars crossed into Albania today after being deported by Serb soldiers. 150 of them were held captive in the concentration camp at Smrekovnica, while the others are from the Prizren's Tusus district and some surrounding villages. The number of former captives at the Smrekovnica now in Albania has reached 2200.

Dozens of Serb Soldiers and their Commanders Perish

Podujevė, May 27, (Kosovapress)

Last night, units of the Fifth Battalion, the Guard of the operational zone in Llap, annihilated two Serb military transport trucks close to the villages of Orllan and Batllavė. According to eyewitnesses, all the Serb soldiers traveling in these two trucks were incinerated in the explosions. Serb troops, in large numbers, later came to retrieve the charred bodies.

Meanwhile, in Keēekollė, the units of the 153rd "Hyzri Talla" Brigade have conducted yesterday two successful attacks on Serb positions. Around 13:30 the unit of the 153rd had attacked a Serb position in Keēekollė. The commander of the unit reports dozens of Serb troops killed, among them were four commanders.

It is the third day of sporadic fighting reported from this operational zone, and the villages of Repė, Pakashticė,Sllatinė, Pollatė, Sylevicė, and others have become the epicenter of the battle.

Serb Forces Flee Vranoci Hill

Deēan, May 27, (Kosovapress)

Today, on the third day of fighting along the Lumbardh-Broliq-Vranoc-Buēan-Llugaxhi front, shooting between KLA units that operate out of Dukagjin and Serb operatives is taking place.

Defending the civilian population trapped in the area and their own positions, the 131rd "Jusuf Gėrvalla" and 135th "Agim Zeneli" Brigades have forced Serb forces to abandon the strategic position of Gllavica on Vranoci hill.

Serb forces have been positioned at Broliēi mill. At this location there are 12 armed vehicles. Meanwhile at the school in Lumbardhi, two Pragas, one tank, one armored personnel carrier and another armored vehicle have been spotted by KLA reconnaissance.


Two Fighters for Freedom have been killed

Podujevė, May 27, (Kosovapress)

In an operation that put KLA forces and Serb troops face-to-face, a KLA soldier died in an area located between the villages of Dyz and Sallabajė. Esat Berisha, from Godishnjaku, demonstrated tremendous courage and honor, reported his commander.

In a confrontation near the village of Sylevicė a commando of the Llap operational zone, Mentor Retkoceri of Lupēi i Poshtėm has reportedly died in combat.

In Morina of Skenderaj Three Mass Graves have been found

Skėnderaj, May 27, (Kosovapress)

In the village of Morina close to Skėnderaj, three mass graves opened by Serb police at the beginning of April have been discovered.

It is impossible to investigate these sites for there remains a heavy Serb military presence in the area. Witnesses were able to partially investigate one of the graves, however, and three decomposed bodies were discovered. Those investigating could not continue however, because a Serb patrol was approaching the site. It is known that another grave is located close to the house of Haziri, in Morina where Haziri and six members of the Osman Mėziut, also from Morina, have been buried. Close to the grave, clothing has been found. Evidence suggests before their execution the victims were forced to undress.

In Morina of Skėnderaj, soon after the latest Serb offensive this Spring, 26 inhabitants of the village were murdered. In these mass graves also the corpses of those killed in Skėnderaj and other villages of Drenica are expected to be found.



Refugees film ethnic cleansing (BBC)

BBC Online Friday, May 28, 1999 Published at 00:04 GMT

Two ethnic Albanian sisters forced out of Kosovo have provided the first video evidence of how the Serbs are ethnically cleansing the province.

They shot their film as they were made to leave their homes in Mitrovica in the north of the province at gunpoint.

The sisters were among 10,000 people who were forced to walk day and night to Djakovica in the west and then back again.

The video shows hundreds of refugees - from toddlers to elderly people, barely able to walk - slogging through the driving rain.

Their few belongings are crammed into plastic bags or tied up in cloth bundles. Some attempt to keep the rain out with plastic sheets, others have given up.

The sisters, Fatima and Larina, who told their story exclusively to the BBC, are young law students who a few weeks ago had everything going for them. They are now in a refugee camp in Montenegro.

Fatima, who made the video, explains how they were driven from their homes as part of an unwanted race and shuffled back and forth within Kosovo in human herds.

They say the family was split up at the start and they only found one another when they eventually arrived at the refugee camp in Montenegro.

Burnt homes

The video shows the refugees arriving in the shattered town of Djakovica after an 80-mile walk. The buildings have been burnt and the streets look deserted.

But the sisters said the police immediately made them turn round and go back the way they had come. They were on the road for three days and three nights.

Suddenly the grim scenes of refugees cut to happier times. The girls had forgotten that the tape they had used to film their journey had previous footage of a birthday celebration for their young neice.

Surprised, Larina gasps and smiles. 'That's my house!', she exclaims, before remembering her home is now a tent in a refugee camp. 'That was my house,' she corrects herself.

But as she watches her neice dance around what was her living room, the memories come flooding back and she breaks down and sobs.

Annan backs tribunal indictment, says justice must take course

UNITED NATIONS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan indicated support for the decision to indict Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on charges of crimes against humanity, saying justice must prevail.

According to the Security Council resolution that established the U.N. tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the court acts independently, Annan said Thursday in a statement read by his spokesman Manoel de Almeida y Silva.

«The prosecutor must therefore go where the evidence leads her. Justice must be allowed to take its course,» the statement said.

In a speech later to Lund University in Sweden, where Annan has been visiting this week, the U.N. chief also urged world governments to support the work of tribunals such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

«Future criminals will not be deterred if present ones are seen to be getting away with it,» he said.

Chief prosecutor Louise Arbour announced Thursday in The Hague that the tribunal had indicted Milosevic and four other top officials on charges of crimes against humanity in the brutal expulsion of 750,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, a province of Yugoslavia's Serb republic.

The indictment made Milosevic the first sitting head of state to be charged with wartime atrocities.

De Almeida y Silva refused to comment on whether the indictment would undermine diplomatic efforts under way, by Annan himself as well as two U.N. envoys and a host of others, to bring about a peaceful end to the Kosovo conflict.

«It's not his decision to indict him,» the spokesman said of Annan. «The tribunal is independent. His judgement is expressed in his statement, which is very clear.»

Arbour informed Annan personally of her decision to indict the Yugoslav leader, de Almeida y Silva said.

Because of the rapidly developing conflict, Annan was returning to New York on Saturday, cutting short a trip to Nigeria to attend Saturday's inauguration of president-elect, Olusegun Obasanjo, the spokesman said.



Human rights groups welcome indictment but don't expect arrest

NEW YORK

As long as Slobodan Milosevic stays in Serbia and remains Yugoslav president, he can probably avoid arrest for crimes against humanity, human rights officials said.

But they warned Thursday that any new leadership in Belgrade might find it more advantageous to surrender rather than harbor him.

That day might be a long way off, Human Rights Watch officials cautioned during a news conference, citing the decades-long reign of impunity that Khmer Rouge leaders enjoyed until recently in Cambodia.

But Human Rights Watch officials said Thursday's indictment was an important and long-awaited first step towards bringing Milosevic to justice. And they stressed that the long-term benefits of the indictment would far outweigh any short-term complications it might bring to negotiations on a Kosovo peace plan.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International noted that negotiations over the Dayton peace agreement that ended the Bosnian war were conducted with indicted war criminals _ and excluded any amnesty for them in the final settlement.

In addition, the indictment of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his wartime military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic, helped marginalize them and eventually bring about more moderate leadership in Bosnia, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

Similarly, «the indictment of Milosevic will help to delegitimize him in the eyes of his people ... and will make it clear to the Yugoslav people that indeed this is a tainted leader and one that deserves to be replaced,» he said.

As long as Milosevic remains in power and doesn't travel outside Serbia _ where countries would be compelled to arrest him _ the Yugoslav leader will be able to block his handover, Roth said.

But some day Milosevic won't be in power, and the new leadership might find it «politically convenient» to make amends with the West and hand him over _ «because of the desire for aid or normal commerce or just good relations,» Roth said.

«And it's perfectly appropriate that Milosevic has to go to bed at night worrying about that kind of future,» he said.

Amnesty International, however, urged that any international force deployed to Yugoslavia be given an explicit mandate to ensure that indicted war criminals come into the tribunal's custody.

«The slow and piecemeal way in which suspects have been detained seriously risks rendering ineffective and futile the enormous efforts by the tribunal to investigate alleged crimes,» Amnesty said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch will be pressing for all those indicted to eventually face prosecution in The Hague, where the U.N. tribunal is based, said Holly Cartner, Human Rights Watch executive director for Europe and Central Asia.

«Because obviously that is ultimately what will give the victims their day in court, but also give them some resolution to this nightmare,» she said.

The Lawyers Commitee for Human Rights said Thursday's indictment set a crucial precedent for the future International Criminial Court, which will be a permanent tribunal to try war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

«It reinforces the principle that official position cannot be used as a defense to international criminal responsibility and sends a clear message to future violators,» said the organization's executive director, Michael Posner.


Nabbing Milosevic won't be easy

WASHINGTON

Now comes the hard part.

After indicting President Slobodan Milosevic, all the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal needs is for someone, anyone, to arrest him and escort him to The Hague, no small task.

The tribunal has no police powers, meaning it is entirely dependent on the international community to arrest indicted war criminals. But since its creation six years ago, only 25 of 84 suspects, all Bosnians of various ethnicities, are in custody in The Hague.

And none of the 84 has the kind of security apparatus that Milosevic has to fend off any bid to apprehend him.

Chief prosecutor Louise Arbour announced Thursday that the tribunal had indicted Milosevic and four other top officials on charges of crimes against humanity in the brutal expulsion of 750,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.

Both Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook were asked Thursday about the possibility of Milosevic's apprehension but neither offered hope, at least publicly, that any move to nab Milosevic was afoot.

«He has to be turned over and we want to see him in the Hague,» said Albright, speaking to reporters at a joint news conference with Canadian Foreign Secretary Lloyd Axworthy. Cook offered a similar response during a news conference in London.

At The Hague, Arbour even suggested that Yugoslav authorities themselves request that Milosevic and four indicted subordinates surrender voluntarily to the tribunal. Alternatively, they should «provide for their arrest and transfer to The Hague,» she said.

Albright welcomed the indictment of Milosevic, noting that it broadens the base of opposition to Milosevic to include a tribunal created by the U.N. Security Council. The indictment proves that the hostility to Milosevic is no mere «figment of the imagination of NATO,» she said.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former National Security adviser, said the capture of Milosevic would require nothing less than «the occupation of Serbia and the seizure of Belgrade.»

Appearing with a group of other Balkan experts, Brzezinski said the apprehension of Milosevic should not be a high priority.

«The real importance of the indictment is that it reinforces the international condemnation of an outlaw regime and thus gives ... political as well as moral sanction to what is being pursued,» he said.

Top Russian officials suggested that the indictment of Milosevic could complicate the Yugoslav peace process _ one in which Russian diplomats are deeply involved.

«This is the legally elected president of Yugoslavia. Attempting to solve the situation in the Balkans, if you're dealing with Yugoslavia you have to deal with one person, the president of Yugoslavia,» said presidential spokesman Dmitry Yakushkin.

Said Col. Terry Taylor of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies: «The primary goal must be to get the people back in their homes. It's not that the law isn't important, but one must keep one's eyes on the primary goal.»

Sen. Joseph Biden, saw the indictment of Milosevic as a mixed blessing. It may well complicate future negotiations, he said, but, « I believe it is important because it makes absolutely clear that the United Nations, NATO, and the rest of the civilized world know what Milosevic has been doing and will not tolerate it longer.»



Pentagon: NATO strikes level playing field for KLA

WASHINGTON

NATO planes are targeting Serbian heavy military equipment on the ground in Kosovo in part to «level the playing field» between the Serb military and the Kosovo Liberation Army, the top intelligence officer for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.

The KLA is an ethnic Albanian rebel militia that NATO insists is not a partner in the fight against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

But Rear Adm. Thomas Wilson said NATO wants to help take out Serb tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery because the equipment represents a major advantage that Serb forces now have over the KLA.

«So we believe that it's important to continue to destroy that equipment and also to try to make it immobile and keep them kind of out of the fight, because it tends to level the playing field between the KLA and the army,» Wilson said at a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon.

Wilson said the KLA has tripled in size from about 5,000 guerilla troops at the start of the air campaign in March to between 15,000 and 17,000 now. NATO estimates that about 40,000 Serb army and police forces are operating in Kosovo, a province of Serbia with a population that was 90 percent ethnic Albanian before the conflict began.

NATO has tried to keep the KLA at arm's length throughout more than nine weeks of bombing, leery of close association with a guerilla force with different aims and possibly unsavory tactics. The KLA is fighting for Kosovo's independence from Serbia, while NATO has favored autonomy for the province but not outright independence.

Still, at least informal coordination between NATO and the KLA has taken place, and it is obvious that even a ragtag army on the ground could be helpful to NATO as the alliance relies exclusively on air power to rout the Serbs from Kosovo.

«They appear to be a resurgent group which has taken advantage of NATO airstrikes, a general western sympathy and a groundswell of volunteer fighters in Albania,» Wilson said.

The KLA is also successfully recruiting among ethnic Albanian refugees driven from their homes in Kosovo and now congregated in camps in neighboring Balkan countries, Pentagon officials have said.

While ethnic Albanians were a majority in Kosovo before the bombing began, hundreds of thousands have been driven out in a campaign of alleged ethnic terror. Milosevic has been indicted for alleged war crimes related to the exodus.

Wilson described the attacks by small, generally lightly armed bands of KLA fighters as «offensive harassment operations.» The KLA is engaging Serb troops that have been essentially pinned down by NATO bombing, and has captured weapons and positions, Wilson said.

The KLA is also benefiting from more organized leadership and improved supply lines, Wilson said.

Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Wilson was not implying a new coziness with the KLA.

«He just stated the obvious, which is that after 64 days of pounding, the (Serbs) have been diminished in their capability,» Bacon said. «Our goal has never been to empower the KLA to create more fighting. Our goal has been to end fighting in Kosovo.»

PENTAGON: Kosova Rebels, Once Weak, Start Taking a Toll on Serbs (NY Times)

NYTIMES May 28, 1999
By ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON -- Kosovo Liberation Army fighters, led by more experienced commanders and buoyed by NATO's escalating air campaign, are waging increasingly effective hit-and-run attacks against Yugoslav troops in Kosovo, Pentagon officials said on Thursday.

"They appear to be a resurgent group which has taken advantage of NATO air strikes, general Western sympathy, and the groundswell of volunteer fighters in Albania," said Rear Adm. Thomas Wilson, director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The assessment on the Kosovo fighters came as allied warplanes bombed the two main power transmission stations supplying Belgrade with electricity late on Thursday, plunging most of the capital into darkness.

As NATO continues to pummel Yugoslav forces in Kosovo and strategic targets like electricity distribution systems, with no signs of surrender from the Yugoslav president, Sloboban Milosevic, Pentagon officials say a subtle shift is beginning to emerge on the ground.

A broken, demoralized force of roughly 3,000 fighters just two months ago, the Kosovo Liberation Army has swelled to between 15,000 and 17,000 soldiers in Kosovo, with another 5,000 training in Albania, American officials estimated on Thursday.

New commanders, including an ethnic Albanian from the Croatian army, are executing better tactical operations, the officials said. In addition, new recruits and improved supply lines from Albania have revitalized a rebel force that had been routed by Yugoslavia's Third Army before and shortly after the air war started on March 24.

The rebels are still outgunned by the heavily armed Yugoslav forces, which are equipped with tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers, Wilson said. But the growing number of Kosovo fighters, coupled with the air war's forcing many of the 40,000 Yugoslav army troops and police to dig into defensive positions, has started to equalize parts of the battlefield.

"Because of the relative immobility of the Serb armored mechanized forces, the playing field is somewhat more level," Wilson told reporters on Thursday.

Despite the intensifying bombing, NATO and Pentagon officials conceded that there are no signs that Yugoslav troops in Kosovo are beginning to withdraw, one of NATO's main conditions for halting the bombardment.

"We obviously have not destroyed their will to conduct what they're doing in Kosovo yet," Wilson said.

NATO officials on Thursday reported heavy fighting in southwest Kosovo, with the rebels launching a major offensive in the Mount Pastrik area, pinning down Serbian forces there. Last week, the rebels scored one of their biggest victories in the past two months, overrunning a Yugoslav weapons depot in Jablanica, capturing mortars, artillery and a large cache of ammunition.

Yugoslav forces continued their shelling overnight of Albanian villages just across the Kosovo border, which Belgrade believes are being used as staging areas for the rebel forces.

Major clashes were also reported in and around Drenica, where, Pentagon and NATO officials said, Yugoslav troops were continuing to expel Albanians from Kosovo.

As Yugoslav forces and rebel fighters battled, NATO warplanes seized on clear skies to launch 308 bombing runs overnight against command bunkers, anti-aircraft radars, radio relay stations and heavy weaponry, including at least five tanks, six armored personnel carriers, and 10 artillery pieces.

Yugoslav gunners launched more than 30 surface-to-air missiles and withering anti-aircraft fire, NATO officials said.

"The good weather that is helping our pilots to see their targets more easily is in turn helping them to detect our aircraft and guide their missiles visually," Maj. Gen. Walter Jertz, a NATO military spokesman in Brussels, said of the Yugoslav forces.

In recent weeks, Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO's military commander, has stepped up attacks on electrical transmission stations, knocking out power throughout most of Serbia and shutting off the pumping stations that provide water to most Yugoslav citizens.

On Wednesday, the North Atlantic Council, NATO's political arm, authorized l Clark to broaden his bombing campaign to a variety of political and economic targets, including civilian telephone networks that link the military's computer systems. Within hours of the approval, allied fighter-bombers hit the first of several telephone networks on the target list, a senior Pentagon official said.

"Every day or every week he gains authority to strike a wider range of targets," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon said on Thursday, without disclosing details of NATO's expanded target list.

Striking civilian phone systems will play havoc with the Yugoslav military's computer networks and force commanders to speak on cellular phones, whose transmissions can be intercepted by eavesdropping satellites and Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft.

Maj. Gen. Charles Wald, a senior planner for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that as of Wednesday, in the air war's first 64 days, U.S. warplanes had conducted 52 percent of the 6,950 bombing runs and 70 percent of the 20,300 reconnaissance, refueling and other support missions.



Kosovo peace mission falters (BBC)
BBC News Online Friday, May 28, 1999 Published at 10:20 GMT

Russia's Balkans envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin is in Belgrade on what could be a final effort to bring a political solution to the Kosovo crisis. His chances of success have been complicated by Thursday's indictment of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for alleged crimes against humanity. Nato forces have have again recorded their heaviest 24 hours of bombarding against Serb forces and infrastructure in Yugoslavia. Three civilians are reported killed. Mr Chernomyrdin warned further talks would be pointless if Nato did not adjust its position. "We have been talking for over a month now, but, nevertheless, there is no result at all. Nato's bombing of Yugoslavia is on the increase and people are dying," Mr Chernomyrdin said. "If things continue this way, talks will become meaningless," he added. The Russian envoy warns that, unless the air campaign is halted soon, he will advise President Yeltsin to suspend Russian participation in the negotiating process, end all military-technological co-operation with the West and veto United Nations resolutions on Yugoslavia.


Return trip

But Mr Chernomyrdin has also announced he is to return to Yugoslavia next week with European Union representative, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. The pair have been taking part in tri-partite talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, although there has been no breakthrough. The Russian envoy to the Balkans said the indictment of President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes would not make a difference to the talks. "Slobodan Milosevic is a legitimately elected president of Yugoslavia. We dealt, are dealing and will be further dealing with him," he said. Russia has been strongly critical of the indictment as a deliberate attempt to trip up the diplomatic process.

Heavy bombardment

Meanwhile in the 67th night of air strikes against Serbia, Nato said it flew 741 sorties over Wednesday and Thursday, including 308 strike sorties and 74 others designed to suppress Serbian air defences. On Thursday Nato attacked military installations in and around Belgrade and Nis, in southern Serbia. Thirty bombs fell in Nis, said the Serb authorities, hitting a bridge, a factory, the airport, the main road to Belgrade and the industrial zone. Three people died when a bomb fell in a residential area of Aleksinac, local media said. Belgrade lost power for several hours on Thursday evening. On Wednesday Nato hit a number of Serb army targets including artillery positions, a radar site and armoured personnel carriers.

Clinton welcomes charges

US President Bill Clinton has welcomed the indictment of Mr Milosevic saying it sent a message to the "hundreds and thousands of victims of Belgrade's atrocities in Kosovo that their voices have been heard". However, officials added that the US did not rule out meeting President Milosevic if it was in the US interests. Chief UN war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour said five indicted Yugoslav officials were being held personally responsible for their role in the deportation of 740,000 Kosovar Albanians and the murder of 340 "identified" Kosovar Albanians. Mr Milosevic is the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the tribunal. If he is brought to trial and convicted he will face a maximum life sentence. Yugoslavia has dismissed the indictment of President Milosevic on war crimes charges as a "propaganda trick" and the "ultimate hypocrisy". Vice-president of the Democratic Party Slobodan Vuksanovic, an opposition politician, feared the decision might even make President Milosevic stronger. "A wounded lion is a dangerous lion," he told the BBC.

Serbs shell Albanian border

Thursday saw some of the heaviest fighting so far between Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army on the Kosovo border with Northern Albania. Serbian shells were fired over the border near the main crossing point used by refugees fleeing Kosovo. Throughout the day Serbian shells could be seen landing inside Albania very close to the Morina checkpoint on the main road between the Kosovo town of Prizren and the Albanian town of Kukes. It is assumed the Serbs were targeting positions held by the Kosovo Liberation Army, who appear to be trying to gain more of a foothold inside Kosovo. Occasional exchanges of fire were heard along a stretch of the border. A journalist from Chile who was at the Morina border crossing was seriously wounded during the crossfire and had to be flown to Tirana for emergency medical treatment. Albanian military reinforcement Amid the increasing tension, the Albanian army has stepped up its presence in the area. Ten tanks were engaged in live firing exercises just four miles from the border this morning, while other Albanian tanks have taken up positions on the main road. So far though the Albanians have not become involved in the conflict. Nato planes, however, have been continuing to bomb Serbian positions just inside Kosovo. Refugees continue to arrive In the midst of this more refugees have been on the move. Scores of men arrived in Albania who had been released by the Serbs from detention in the now notorious prison near Mitrovica. More than 1,000 of these men entered Albania last weekend. On Thursday whole families of men, women and children arrived from Prizren. Many of them said that as they fled the Serbs had been burning buildings in the city.


Russia accuses NATO

Russia has accused NATO of violating a major international agreement when it prevented Russian officers from inspecting the alliance's troops based in Macedonia and Albania. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that officials of NATO, Macedonia and Albania had hindered its inspectors earlier this month. Russia claims the right to make such inspections under an agreement signed in Vienna five years ago, under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. NATO, while not responding officially to the complaint, said the Russian inspections had taken place.


Despite Indictment, Politicians and Diplomats Control Milosevic's Future (NY Times)

By RAYMOND BONNER

WASHINGTON -- In handing up an indictment of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, the prosecutors have spoken. But, as has been the case since the outbreak of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Milosevic's fate is still in the hands of politicians and diplomats.

"If he asked me what to do, I'd say just ignore the whole thing, at least th e legal aspects of it," said Alexandros Lykourezos, a Greek lawyer who has advised Gen. Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander who was indicted by the war crimes tribunal in 1995.

"It's a pure political problem now," Lykourezos added in a telephone interview from Athens.

His assessment is shared by several international human rights lawyers, who can easily list the political problems of trying to enforce an indictment against someone like Milosevic.

"It is legally important, that the head of state responsible for massive human rights violations can be held personally responsible by a criminal court, but it is going to require the political will of the major states in the world to make it meaningful," said Michael Posner, director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in New York.

Like the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has no marshals to enforce its rulings. So NATO, or some international police force, will have to muster the political will to arrest Milosevic, and the four other Yugoslav leaders whose indictment was announced Thursday.

It is the political will that has been lacking with respect to others indicted on charges of war crimes, such as Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, political leader of the Bosnian Serbs, who remain at large.

Arrest warrants have been issued for the five, and they will severely circumscribe the defendants' ability to travel. But if a country like Iraq decided to give Milosevic asylum, he would be relatively safe, because there is no body to enforce the order.

The war crimes tribunal Thursday also issued an order to the member countries of the United Nations to freeze assets belonging to Milosevic and the other men. But its effectiveness will also depend on whether countries want to cooperate.

American and European officials have said that Milosevic has hidden assets in Greece, Switzerland, Russia, Lebanon and Cyprus, which asserted this month that it had looked unsuccessfully for any assets that belonged to Milosevic.

One thing the indictment does not do is present any legal bar to negotiating with Milosevic, legal experts said. But the United States and NATO would not be able, as part of any negotiated settlement of the Kosovo conflict, to grant Milosevic immunity from prosecution, experts said. Such an agreement would not be binding on the tribunal, because it is an independent body created by the Security Council of the United Nations.

Lykourezos, the Athens lawyer, said that the only possible way for Milosevic and the other defendants to obtain valid immunity agreements would be for the Security Council to pass a resolution granting the protections.

Other international law experts questioned whether the Security Council could do this, and Lykourezos acknowledged that there was no legal precedent.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was established in 1993 to prosecute war crimes in the Balkans. All U.N. countries are obligated to comply with tribunal orders, which means that member countries would be required to arrest Milosevic if he traveled inside their borders.

But the Security Council has not taken action against countries that decided to look the other way. For a long time, for instance, Croatia refused to turn over several people who had been indicted by the tribunal, and the Security Council did nothing.

As recently as last week, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported that "there has been no notable progress in Croatia's cooperation" with the war crimes tribunal, and that Croatia was still refusing to extradite two people who have been indicted by the tribunal.

Still, it is unlikely that Milosevic would travel to another country where he might risk arrest.

Which leaves Milosevic secure in Belgrade, however uncomfortable that might be, unless NATO or some international force goes after him.

That seems highly unlikely considering that the Clinton administration and other NATO governments have been unwilling to use their forces in Bosnia to arrest Karadzic, who was indicted in 1995 on charges of genocide and other war crimes.

Karadzic has been living in Pale, a mountain village in the Serb region of Bosnia, near Sarajevo. The area is under the control of French forces, and American officials often blame the French for not arresting him.

But, unwilling to risk any casualties, the Pentagon and White House were long opposed to a military operation to seize him.

In her visit to Washington last month, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Louise Arbour, urged that Karadzic be arrested, a plea that she made in European capitals as well.

If Milosevic and the others are eventually brought before the tribunal, the case against them will be fairly easy to establish, said Aryeh Neier, an expert on international war crimes.

It will not be necessary to show that Milosevic participated in the atrocities, or even ordered them.

"If you have the power, and if you know the crimes are being committed, and you do not do everything that is feasible to prevent and suppress the commission of those crimes, then you are culpable," Neier said.

And Milosevic would certainly not be able to claim that he was not aware of what was happening in Kosovo, Neier said, given widespread public knowledge of the events.

Europeans Draft a Balkan Stability Plan (NY Times)

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS

BONN -- Senior European Union officials agreed Thursday on the blueprint for a "Stability Pact" for southeastern Europe, to be formally set in motion next month whether or not the Kosovo crisis has ended, diplomats said.

The draft pact, whose details senior European officials hammered out here, encourages regional countries, including Yugoslavia, hoping to join international bodies like the European Union and NATO. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany said he expected that the pact would be formally endorsed before Germany's presidency of the European Union ends next month.

"We must do now for southeastern Europe what was done for Europe after 1945 and for Eastern Europe after 1989," he told European Union political directors and representatives of countries in the region.

A ministry official said two dates were being considered for the conference, from June 8 to June 10 here or from June 18 to June 20 in Cologne.

Belgrade was not represented at the Bonn meeting.

By Tony Czuczka Associated Press Writer Thursday, May 27, 1999; 7:48 a.m. EDT

BONN, Germany (AP) - Looking beyond the war in Kosovo, officials from more than 30 countries met today to debate an ambitious Balkan ``stability pact'' that ultimately foresees the region joining the European Union and NATO.

The pact offers a ticket to ``modern Europe'' for countries that commit to democracy, minority rights, economic development and peace with their neighbors, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told the meeting of EU and Balkan foreign ministry envoys.

``Southeast Europe is at a turning point,'' he said. ``This time, we must make a massive, long-term effort to finally break the vicious circle of violence, oppression and instability.''

Proposed by Germany, the pact seeks to prevent another Yugoslavia, an outlaw nation that has kept its Balkan neighborhood backward while other East European countries are rejoining the West after decades of Cold War division.

Fischer compared the task to the rebuilding of Western Europe after World War II and the integration of East Europe since the fall of communism.

Yugoslavia was not invited to the daylong talks, but Fischer said it had a chance to join the pact if it cedes to Kosovo peace terms set by seven Western powers and Russia this month.

``We welcome a democratic and peace-loving Serbia committed to European values. We need it to achieve the long-term goals of this pact,'' he said.

Germany wants foreign ministers to endorse the pact during its EU presidency, which ends June 30, Fischer said. He also suggested an aid donor conference be called soon.

``The absurdity that it's easier to mobilize money for war than for peace must finally stop,'' he said.

The draft pact pledges 10 countries in southeastern Europe to democracy, economic and political reforms and living in peace with their neighbors. It also sets up permanent forums to settle border conflicts and minority rights disputes and to promote economic cooperation.

Balkan countries at today's talks included Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.

Also attending were international organizations that will play a key role in helping the region -- the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The United States, Russia, Japan and Canada sent representatives as well.


Clare Short calls for ground force by September (Times)

BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR

AN INTERNATIONAL military force will have to be in place in Kosovo by September to start returning refugees to their homes before the winter, Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, said yesterday. A "refugee-return operation" was being worked out, she said, but it was dependent on having a military force inside the Yugoslav province within four months.

Russia is reported to be willing to send 10,000 troops to join the peace force. Last night the Itar-Tass news agency, quoting a military source, said that Moscow would agree to a Nato-dominated force, provided it was led by a general from a neutral country, and only after agreement with Belgrade.

Earlier, Ms Short said that once the international force was deployed the focus had to be on helping the half million internally displaced Albanians in Kosovo.

"The only real way to bring humanitarian relief to those inside [Kosovo] is to succeed militarily, reverse the aggression and get the refugees home," she said. Planning for the return of the refugees was "intensifying", "knowing that winter will begin in September".

Ms Short admitted that it would take some time for all the refugees, inside and outside Kosovo, to return home. "So we are now looking at flexible planning for the winter."

This would include providing assistance to the thousands of Albanian families in Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia who had taken refugees into their homes. Of the 400,000 refugees in Albania, more than 250,000 were with families, 70,000 in communal centres and 80,000 in tented camps.

Ms Short added: "It is poor families in a very poor country that are hosting most of the refugees. We, and all the international agencies, are now putting more focus on supporting local families and communities so that they are able to maintain their generosity for as long as is necessary."

A Nato pilot had a narrow escape yesterday when two Serb surface-to-air missiles locked on to his American F16 aircraft. He said that they were so close that he "heard and felt the turbulence" of the missiles