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Friday, March 12, 1999, 8:40 PM.
UK warns MPs to prepare for strikes on Yugoslavia
LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Government ministers wrote to all members of parliament on
Friday warning them that British armed forces could soon take part in strikes against
Yugoslavia if talks next week fail to secure an agreement over Kosovo.
Junior foreign minister Tony Lloyd and junior defence minister Doug Henderson said in a
joint letter that MPs should prepare for the talks to fail.
``Belgrade may choose to reject the agreement and/or launch a major offensive, leading to
an overwhelming human catastrophe,'' the letter said, adding that Britain was prepared to
take the necessary action to avert that catastrophe.
``In this crucial period, (Yugoslav) President (Slobodan) Milosovic and his commanders
must understand that NATO will not stand by in the face of oppression and atrocities in
Kosovo,'' the two ministers said.
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook will travel to Paris on Monday to co-chair a second round of
talks between representatives of Yugoslavia and ethnic Albanians living in the southern
province of Kosovo.
Last month the two sides held 17 days of inconclusive negotiations in France.
Mr Hashim Thaēi, the Mandatar of the Provisional Government
of Kosovė among the members of General Headquarters of UĒK
Prishtinė, March 11 (Kosovapress)
A meeting of General Headquarters of UĒK (Kosova Liberation Army) was held today, where
Mr Hashim Thaēi, Mandatar of the Provisional Government and Chief of Political
Directorate of UĒK, was present, - our sources close to General Headquarters of UĒK
inform.
Villages that are not under UĒK control are being shelled also
Kaēanik, March 12 (Kosovapress)
Serb forces stationed in the factory "Silkapor" near Kaēanik, today at around
08.20, have shelled villages Dubravė, Rekė, etc. which are not under UĒK control.
Unidentified body was found near Rakovina
Gjakovė, March 12 (Kosovapress)
A dead body of a 50 years male was found in the evening hours of yesterday, 700 meters
from Rakovina, in the road Gjakovė-Klinė. The victim was hit with fire arm.
Today at 05.30, in the ward Piskotė of Gjakovė, Serb police have arrested and raided the
house of 68 years old Ramadan Abdyli, allegedly for weapons possession.
Serb Terrorist onslaughts
Llap, March 12 (Kosovapress)
Serbian forces, stationed in Lupē i Poshtėm, have started shelling, using mortars of 120
millimetres calibre, village Majac, today at 06.00 in the morning. While at 07.00, similar
attack was conducted from Serb positions in Lluzhan, and towards UĒK positions in the
villages Sallabajė, Godishnjak, and Buricė. There were attacks from Tabet e
Llapashticės at UĒK positions in this village, also.
UĒK units have successfully and with determination defended their positions and repelled
Serb forces, thus preventing their penetration in these villages. Serb forces were
prevented from their usual barbaric procedure of looting and destruction of Albanian
possessions by UĒK elite Units.
In these clashes Albanian side has no human casualties, while in the Serb side there are
human and material damages. UĒK Scout Units have observed new arrivals of Serb forces and
military vehicles from Serbia in the direction of Prishtinė.
Overwhelming counter attack against Serb terrorists, two destroyed tanks and many
casualties
Shalė, March 12 (Kosovapress)
Around 09.00 today, a convoy of military vehicles and large number of Serb military
forces, has arrived in the region of Vushtrri, towards the positions of First Battalion of
142nd Brigade of UĒK. They started shelling from there until 13.00 when, UĒK Forces
ferociously counter-attacked. During this battle They destroyed 2 Serb tanks, while the
number of Serbs killed and wounded is very large.
Prishtinė-Mitrovicė road axes is being kept blocked in order to enable free ambulance
transportation of wounded and killed Serb terrorists.
The fighting continues and there are no information about casualties on the Albanian side.
Serbian Shelling of Mitrovica and Vushtrri Villages Continues
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Serbian military and police troops pounded late Thursday
evening UĒK (Kosova Liberation Army) positions in the villages of Verrnicė, Vaganicė,
Oshlan, Pantinė and Lkej, in the municipalities of Mitrovica and Vushtrri ('Vucitrn'),
local LDK sources in Mitrovica.
Serbs shelled Albanian villages from their positions in Frashėr i Vogėl and Pirq. There
has been no immediate word on casualties or the damages.
Serbian forces resumed shelling the five villages today at 10:00 CET.
A dozen Serbian lorries full of soldiers, trailing heavy grenade launchers, were sent as
reinforcements to the area today morning, local sources said.
At Least Four Albanians Killed in Vėrrini Region of Prizren on
Thursday
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Between four and seven Albanians were killed in Prizren area
yesterday (Thursday).
The Vėrrini villages were attacked by Serbian forces on Thursday. A heavy Serbian buildup
was reported there today, too.
The bodies of three killed Albanians have been taken to the Prizren town morgue. Asllan
Krasniqi (62) was found killed in Hoēė e Qytetit, Muharrem Hysenaj (35), resident of
Reēan village of Suhareka, was found killed near Prizren. The third man has not been
identified yet.
Serb police entering Jeshkovė village said they had found three killed Albanians there,
OSCE sources were quoted as saying.
Another Albanian was found killed today in Lybeēevė village. It is supposed that he is
Shemsedin Thaēi (22), resident of Kushtendil village. Three men of Lybeēevė have been
reported missing.
A young Albanian, Arsim Poniku, wounded during a Serbian offensive, has been taken away
from hospital by the Serbian police, local sources said.
Vushtrri Villages Shelled by Serbian Army
7 Albanian houses burned in Stanoc village
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Fresh Serb troops and armor, including five tanks, entered
Vushtrri at 6:00 CET today. An hour and half later, 20 other Serb vehicles trailing combat
equipment moved in there, local LDK sources said.
The town of Vushtrri has indeed been turned into a Serbian military base.
Five Serbian tanks and three lorries with soldiers on board left Bukosh for Mihaliq
village at 7:40 CET, whereas three more tanks have been reported stationed near the
village of Gracė.
The Serbian forces positioned in Gracė started shelling the village of Mihaliq at 9:30
CET, local sources told the KIC.
A column of Serbian forces involving more than 20 vehicles left Mitrovica heading in the
direction of Oshlan and Pantinė villages today.
Meanwhile, local LDK sources said Serbian forces burned seven Albanian houses in the
village of Stanoc i Poshtėm last night. They were located near the Serb-inhabited
Prilluzhė village of Vushtrri. The Albanians had abandoned their homes in the wake of
threats by Serbian paramilitaries.
The village of Dolak was initially fired by Serbian forces Thursday afternoon, and later
several houses were reported burned there.
Serbian shelling continues today
Serbian troops continued shelling the villages of Mihaliq, Druar, Strofc and others
located at the foot of the Ēiēavica massif. Serbs are attacking from their base at
Gracė, local LDK sources said.
Serbian forces have been stationed in the Shallc village, as well as in Druar.
Smoke has been billowing from the attacked villages.
An Albanian civilian has been seriously wounded during today's attacks, sources said.
Meanwhile, local LDK sources said an UĒK soldier, Bahri Ferat Kuēi (26), was killed
yesterday in Balinc village of Vushtrri.
Albanians Displaced from Two Vushtrri Villages
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Displaced Albanian residents from Stanofc i Epėrm and Stanofc
i Poshtėm villages of Vushtrri municipalities have been streaming towards Mitrovica since
the morning hours today.
They fled their homes, because heavy Serbian troops and armor have been deployed in their
villages, local LDK sources said.
Heavy Gunfire Reported in Three Kaēanik Villages
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Serbian military was pounding three Kaēanik villages with
heavy weapons today morning, local sources said, naming the villages as Dubravė, Biēec
and Kovaēec, municipality of Kaēanik.
The population of the attacked villages, mostly women, children and elderly, started
fleeing their homes, heading towards Kaēanik.
Some 200 people remain locked in Dubravė, though. A number of people have been reported
arrested.
A heavy Serbian presence of arms and troops has been reported in Hani i Elezit
municipality, too.
Three Albanians, including Suad Hysen Brava (18), have been reported unaccounted for since
early March.
Serbian forces have been looting Albanian households in villages abandoned by their
occupants in the wake of the Serbian crackdown.
Serbian Forces Shell Llapi Villages in Northern Kosova
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Serbian forces shelled today the villages of Godishnjakė,
Buricė and Penuhė, municipality of Podujeva.
The Albanian settlements and UĒK positions were being shelled from Serbian positions in
Lluzhan. Serbian army vehicles had arrived there earlier from Dumosh airfield, which has
been turned into an army bases for months now.
Albanian villages were shelled yesterday, too, including Tėrrnavė, which had not been
attacked earlier.
The houses of three Albanian family compounds (Berisha, Bici and Kastrati) have been badly
damaged by Serbian shelling, at a time many others were reported damaged in Sallabajė.
An Albanian, Fitim Halimi, resident of Dumnicė e Poshtme village of Podujeva, arrested
three days ago in Podujeva, has not been released yet, local sources said.
Meanwhile, reports said heavy Serbian paramilitary police forces, backed up by combat
equipment, were stationed today morning in the village of Besi, 10 km north of Prishtina
along the Prishtina-Podujeva highway. Serbs have been sniping the area from an Albanian
house there, local LDK sources said.
Groups of policemen stopped Albanian motorists and passers-by at Besi-Milloshevė
crossroads, ill-treating many of them.
Around the village of Lebanė, straddling the Prishtina-Podujeva highway, Serbian forces
and armor have been massed, sources said.
Albanian Screen-Writer Suffers Broken Ribs in Serbian Police
Custody in Prishtina
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - Two Albanians were tortured badly by Serbian police in capital
Prishtina on Wednesday evening.
Having been routinely stopped in a police check-point near the Serbian-run District Court
in downtown Prishtina early evening on Wednesday, Zeqir Hamiti (1958) and Hysen Pula were
arrested and taken to a police station, where they were tortured for hours until 11:00 CET
that day.
Mr. Hamiti, a screen-writer with the Radio and Television of Prishtina (RTP) till 1990
when he was fired from his job by the Serbian regime, said he was with Pula who was giving
him a lift to his place, when police routinely stopped his car. He was himself taken into
a police vehicle and transferred to the police station in Prishtina, whereas his
co-traveller, a car mechanic, was forced to drive himself to the police station.
We were beaten up by uniformed and people in plain clothes in the police, Zeqir Hamiti
said, who suffered two broken ribs and has bruises about his face and head.
The police, who conducted a very sketchy interrogation of the two Albanians, would
routinely accuse them of being associated with the UĒK (Kosova Liberation Army), or
President Ibrahim Rugova. "All of you are of the same stuff", Serb policemen
would shout, while torturing Hamiti, kicking him about his body. "I had one of the
ribs broken, when a man in plain clothes kicked me last in the police station" before
being released, Zeqir Hamiti, who had to seek medical treatment, concluded.
Albanian Painter Found Killed on Mitrovica-Stantėrg Roadway
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - The mutilated body of a killed person was found early in the
morning today along the Mitrovica-Stantėrg road in northern Kosova, local sources said.
He was identified as Kadri Kadriu (45), a painter, resident of Mitrovica.
Serbian police forces have been travelling in civilian cars or vehicles with no license
plates at all in Mitrovica, sources said.
One Killed Albanian in Gjakova Morgue
PRISHTINA, March 12 (KIC) - An Albanian, killed in unsolved circumstances, was taken to
the Gjakova morgue yesterday.
The still unidentified man, around 50 years of age, was found in Rakovinė village, by the
roadside.
This is the 11th person killed in mysterious circumstances in the municipality in a month,
local LDK sources said.
Heavy Serbian troops and armor have been concentrated in the border area. The village of
Zylfaj was attacked with artillery, and the few remaining residents are going through an
ordeal.
A killed person in Mitrovicė-Stantėrg roadside
(Radio21)
Albanian sources from Mitrovica inform today of a killed person in Mitrovicė- Stantėrg
roadside, the place called " Ura e Fazlisė"
The identity of killed person is unknown, but he is supposed to be in his fifties.
New serb forces concentration in Vushtri municipality - Mihaliq
still a target of serb poundings
(Radio21)
From the early hours of the morning heavy serb forces were seen to move onwards the city
of Vushtri. Five tanks and other military vehicles from Bukosh reached the village of
Mihaliq and at about 9.30 a.m. they started with heavy shelling. No informations about
possible casualties, but it is said many houses nearby Prilluzhė, inhabited of Serbs,
were burnt to ashes last night.
According to serb sources, four serb policemen and three soldiers
wounded in Deēan, Prizren and Mitrovicė
(Radio21)
As Media Centre refers to its sources, Miodrag Veliqkoviq was slightly wounded, yesterday,
during an attack of armed Albanian crew, nearby Lumbardh of Deēan.
Yesterday at about 4.00 p.m. near Jeshkovė, three policemen were wounded during a sudden
attack of armed Albanian groups. One of them seems to be in a critical state.
There were also some clashes between Albanian groups and Yugoslav army in Pirq of
Mitrovica yesterday, and as a result three serb soldiers got slightly wounded, whereas on
of them badly.
Kosova Media Targeted by Belgrade
PRISHTINA, Kosova (Reuters) - The Serb authorities have launched a new crackdown against
ethnic Albanian media in Kosova, an Albanian-language newspaper said Friday.
The Kosova Sot daily said it had learned that a trial had been opened against the paper's
editor and its publisher from a brief report on Yugoslavia's official news agency Tanjug.
"The purpose is quite clear: To restrict information in the Albanian language,"
said a statement by the paper's employees.
"The way this news came out further enforces the pressure that is being made to the
independent media in Kosova."
The latest charges come amid increased international pressure on Belgrade to restore
Kosova's autonomy under a plan negotiated during 17 days of talks in Paris last month. A
new peace conference is scheduled for Monday.
Kosova Sot was charged with "fomenting religious and ethnic hatred" under
Article 67 of the Serbian Information Law, state-run Radio Prishtina said late Thursday.
Ruzhdi Kadriu, the newspaper's publisher, and Ibrahim Rexhepi, chief editor, were accused
of using the Impres publishing firm, which publishes Kosova Sot, to print calendars with
photographs of the outlawed Kosova Liberation Army (KLA).
The magazine Gazeta Shqiptare was also charged under the same article and the newspaper
Rilindja was charged with not being registered, it said.
Rilindja had only begun reappearing a few weeks ago. It had been shut down in 1990, a year
after Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic stripped Kosova of the wide autonomy it had
enjoyed since 1974.
Kosova Sot was one of several papers issued with a warning in December to stop printing
articles promoting "intolerance." The province's oldest Albanian language daily
Bujku was shut down at the time and has not been published since.
Kosova is a southern province of Serbia, the larger of Yugoslavia's two remaining
republics. Ninety percent of the population here is ethnic Albanian and most want
independence.
Fighting between separatist guerrillas and Serbian security forces has killed more than
2,000 people in the past 12 months and driven hundreds of thousands of others from their
homes.
Serbia and Yugoslavia have long used the legal system to restrict the flow of public
information within their borders.
Kosova Fighting Goes on as KLA Debates Peace Plan
PRISHTINA, Kosova, March 12 (Reuters) - Fighting simmered on in Kosova on Friday as
commanders of the separatist ethnic Albanian Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) met their
political chief to discuss signing an international peace plan.
International monitors reported that Serbian security forces were "mopping up"
in several villages near Prizren in southern Kosova and that four bodies had been spotted
in the area.
The KLA's press agency said Hashim Thaqi, political director of the guerrilla army, had
returned to Kosova and closeted himself with senior military commanders.
Sources close to the KLA told Reuters on Friday that Thaqi was engaged in intensive
discussions with his comrades on the 83-page peace proposal hammered out in 17 days of
internationally-sponsored talks in Rambouillet, France in March.
Thaqi, who emerged as leader of the 16-man ethnic Albanian delegation at Rambouillet, had
pledged to Western diplomats that he would deliver a signed peace plan before the start of
an "implementation" conference scheduled for March 15.
U.S. diplomats said on Monday the KLA had promised to sign but they have since grown
frustrated at the failure to put pen to paper. Former U.S. senator Bob Dole, a long-time
backer of the ethnic Albanians, accused Thaqi of delaying tactics.
Elements in the KLA are known to oppose parts of the deal, which does not guarantee
independence after an interim three-year period of autonomy, and analysts were unsure
whether Thaqi was lobbying for or against the deal.
A KLA communique issued late on Thursday hinted that the peace deal for the majority
ethnic Albanian southern province of Serbia might still be salvaged.
"The Rambouillet Conference (peace plan) does not offer the best desired
solution...it is not free from faults and shortcomings, yet it does not block all avenues
towards the future," the communique said.
"Kosova's future and destiny is mainly in the hands of the Albanians themselves, and
is also dependent on their cooperation with the international community and its relevant
mechanisms."
Ibrahim Rugova, Kosova's most popular ethnic Albanian political leader and a member of the
Rambouillet delegation, said on Friday that 90 per cent of people in Kosova supported the
peace plan and he urged that it be signed.
Yugoslavia, which also has not signed the deal, opposes the deployment of 28,000 NATO
troops to implement the accord.
International monitors on Friday reported exchanges of fire between the two sides in the
Kacanik, Prizren and Vucitrn areas, where there had been military activity the day before.
The Serbian Media Centre reported four policemen and three Yugoslav army soldiers had been
wounded on Thursday.
The ethnic Albanian Kosova Information Centre said one KLA soldier had been killed and two
wounded over the same period.
Meanwhile, U.N. refugee officials were scrambling to cope with continuing flows of
civilians fleeing fighting.
UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said on Friday that as many as 3,000 people were believed
on the move as a result of the recent fighting near Prizren in southern Kosova.
The U.N. added that 3,200-4,000 villagers were unaccounted for after several days of
fighting in the rugged montains west of Kacanik in southern Kosova, near the Macedonian
border.
"We know that they are out there because they haven't arrived in any neighbouring
towns or safe areas," said Paula Ghedini, UNHCR press officer in Prishtina.
NATO warns Yugoslavia's Milosevic of deadly force in waiting
LONDON (CNN) -- NATO supreme commander General Wesley Clark on Friday warned Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic that NATO had a "vast air armada" ready to strike
if Belgrade continued to block peace negotiations on Kosova.
"I think Milosevic has to understand that NATO does have the capability and means to
make a very devastating series of attacks against him should that be required. He is not
going to be given a free rein to smash the civilian populace and their villages in
Kosova," Clark told BBC radio.
NATO has said it is ready to strike if Belgrade is deemed to be consistently thwarting a
peace deal between Yugoslavia and ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosova.
"What we're talking about is using a vast air armada that's already assembled and
standing by," Clark said. "The intent is that the troops go in at the invitation
of both parties."
The alliance is building up the vanguard of a peacekeeping force for Kosova in neighboring
Macedonia. The West believes a NATO force, around 28,000 strong, is essential to ensure
peace in the Serbian province where 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian.
Clark said NATO was confident the force could be effectively deployed if both sides
invited troops into Kosova: "A well- armed well-structured NATO-led force with robust
rules of engagement that goes in with both parties' understanding that it means business
is treated with a great deal of respect."
Peace talks are due to resume in Paris next Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov was scheduled to meet Milosevic on Friday for talks
the West hopes will help secure the concessions needed for a Kosova peace deal that
Western envoys have so far failed to win. Moscow remains opposed to the idea that Belgrade
should be forced to accept Western troops.
Asked what would happen if Belgrade refused to give in to international pressure for a
peace deal, Clark said: "(Milosevic) is going to say no until pressure is brought to
bear...that's adequate to persuade him to change his stand.
"He does not make preemptive concessions. The challenge for the international
community is to ensure that he recognizes that he must say yes," Clark said.
Two days ago, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke failed to persuade the Yugoslav leader to drop
his objections to NATO troops being stationed in Kosova -- a key part of the deal which
promises autonomy to the province.
Western hopes of putting maximum pressure on Milosevic have been undermined by the refusal
of the Kosova Liberation Army to sign the peace deal, despite promising to do so.
KLA leader reappears
In a related development, Hashim Thaqi, the 29-year-old ethnic Albanian guerrilla leader
who is supposed to sign any peace plan, had returned to Kosova, the guerrilla news agency
said on Friday.
Observers here said that if the report is confirmed, the KLA may be about to take a
decision on the proposed plan, which would give the province autonomy for three years.
Kosovapress, the KLA information agency, said Thaqi, who is high on the Serbian police
wanted list, had entered Kosova and met senior KLA commanders.
"Today (Friday) a meeting of the KLA general headquarters was held where the (leader)
of the provisional government and the chief of the KLA political directorate, Mr. Hashim
Thaqi, was present," Kosovapress said, citing sources close to the KLA.
Western diplomats have been fuming because Thaqi, who headed the five-man KLA team within
a 16-strong ethnic Albanian delegation at peace talks in Rambouillet, France last month
has so far failed to deliver the signed peace deal.
Non-KLA members of the ethnic Albanian delegation were unanimous in their support for the
Rambouillet plan and blame Thaqi for stalling the deal.
Serbian authorities, who must also agree to the proposed autonomy plan, have expressed
severe reservations.
Thaqi, who the Serbian authorities have said would be arrested on sight for alleged
criminal activities, did not fly back to Kosova from Rambouillet like other ethnic
Albanian delegates.
He went instead to Albania and his whereabouts over the past few days have been a mystery.
Yugoslavia Toughens Kosova Position-U.N. Envoy
BELGRADE, March 12 (Reuters) - The Yugoslav government appears to have hardened its
opposition to an international force in Kosova, the United Nations rights envoy said on
Friday, just days away from a peace conference on the conflict.
Jirji Dienstbier, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights for Yugoslavia, said after talks
with officials in Belgrade that whereas before they had been ready to contemplate foreign
troops under a U.N. banner, now they ruled them out altogether.
At the same time, he said, a foreign military force was becoming ever more necessary
because the situation in Kosova was very tense, people were being killed on a daily basis
and mistrust between the ethnic communities was running high.
"I know the official position in this country is that the political agreement can be
implemented by Yugoslav authorities but I don't believe it, because we need a neutral
force which will disarm Kosova, create conditions for confidence-building and start the
normalisation of life there," he said.
"Now it seems the position has hardened," he told reporters at the end of a
visit to Kosova and Belgrade. "The Yugoslav authorities just refuse a foreign
military presence."
The West is insisting Belgrade allow 28,000 NATO-led troops into Kosova to implement an
autonomy plan negotiated during 17 days of internationally-brokered talks last month and
due to be finalised at a peace conference in Paris on Monday.
Yugoslavia insists a political settlement must be reached on its southern province before
it can discuss any military implementation.
Dienstbier said that when he was last in the country on February 19 some senior government
officials, particularly Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Draskovic, had said they had
nothing against the presence of United Nations troops.
Other officials not reject the possibility of at least a U.N. force whereas now their
position had hardened, he said.
Dienstbier blamed both the Yugoslav security forces and the ethnic Albanian rebels for the
deteriorating situation in the province, which he said had worsened considerably since his
first visit to the province in April last year.
Dienstbier rejected charges by the Yugoslav government that his reports on human rights
abuses in Kosova were directed only against the Serb side. He said he was being criticised
by all sides and that reinforced his belief he was on the right track.
"There is an offensive of the Kosova Liberation Army as well as of the Yugoslav army
and both sides' actions are unacceptable," he said.
"I think some neutral force which will disarm Kosova and create conditions for
confidence-building and normal life there is necessary."
Russian Foreign Minister Meets Milosevic On Kosova
BELGRADE (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov met Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic Friday to try to persuade him to accept a political settlement for Kosova.
The two men sat down to talks two days after U.S. Balkans envoy Richard Holbrooke failed
to persuade Milosevic to lift his objections to stationing a NATO-led force on the
territory.
A Russian source close to the talks said the meeting had begun but gave no further
details. Russian embassy and Yugoslav officials were unavailable for comment.
The West hopes Ivanov will be able to use the traditional ties Russia has with
fellow-Orthodox Slavs in Serbia to influence the Yugoslav leader.
Ivanov urged Belgrade Thursday to sign an autonomy plan for Kosova and then discuss a
military force to police the deal.
Western leaders say a settlement cannot be divorced from its implementation, which they
insist can only be effective if carried out by a NATO-led force of about 28,000 troops.
Moscow says it is prepared to contribute to a force but that Milosevic must agree first to
its size and character.
The West has begun assembling a NATO force in neighboring Macedonia to move into Kosova
once an agreement is signed.
The Western defense alliance has said the troops will not go in without Milosevic's
go-ahead but has threatened air strikes if he appears to be blocking a settlement.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright spoke to Ivanov by telephone to coordinate policy,
Holbrooke said, but declined to give details.
House Signals Backing for a Kosova Force
By ALISON MITCHELL
WASHINGTON -- The House voted narrowly Thursday night to support President Clinton's plan
to send American troops to Kosova should a peace settlement be reached, after a passionate
and bitter debate on United States policy in the Balkans.
The 219-to-191 vote reflected a House deeply divided over Clinton's efforts to commit
troops to another peace settlement in the Balkans.
Supporters of the President argued that the United States has a moral obligation to stop a
genocidal war that could ignite a broader conflict.
Opponents -- including the House majority leader and the House Republican whip -- argued
that Kosova would prove to be a quagmire, and that Europe should police any settlement.
Although the House action was not binding, the debate was held at a crucial juncture in
the faltering peace effort for Kosova, as a new round of negotiations was scheduled to
resume on Monday.
Nine House members voted present tonight, because they had reservations but did not want
to cast a vote that would discourage the talks between the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians.
For the past year, Serbian troops have harshly opposed the Albanian separatists.
Throughout the day, Congressional officials from both parties called the outcome of the
vote too close to call. Both the White House and the State Department said any such debate
would interfere with their diplomatic efforts.
The President's victory was not signaled until the early evening when the House rejected
an amendment by Representative Tillie Fowler, Republican of Florida, that would have put
the House on record in opposition to any deployment.
In a statement Thursday night, Clinton said the House action showed bipartisan support for
his Kosova policy and "sends a clear message" to both sides in the conflict
"that it's time now to sign an agreement that stops the fighting in Kosova and
creates real self-government for the Kosovar people."
Forty-four Republicans joined 174 Democrats and one independent to support the President.
Those opposed included 173 Republicans and 18 Democrats.
The resolution authorizes the President to deploy American troops with a NATO peacekeeping
force in Kosova if a peace agreement is reached.
It instructs Clinton to explain to Congress an "exit strategy" from the province
and to certify that United States forces would answer only to American commanders.
Senior members of the President's foreign policy team -- many of them overseas -- placed
calls to lawmakers throughout the day.
And during his visit to Guatemala, President Clinton said, "I do not believe that
Congress should take any action that will in effect pre-empt the peace process or
encourage either side to say no to it."
On Wednesday Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright implored the House to hold off its
debate, saying a vote against troops at a delicate moment of diplomacy would be seen as
"a green light to resume fighting."
She was backed by Bob Dole, the former Republican presidential candidate and Senate
majority leader.
But in an aggressive assertion of Congress's role in foreign policy, the new Republican
Speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, refused to delay the debate.
"I have tried to be direct and honest with the President and his Secretary of
State," Hastert, of Illinois, said in a speech on the House floor. "I told them
that I believed it was my duty as Speaker to insure that members of the House of
Representatives, Republican and Democrat, have the opportunity to fairly and openly debate
this important issue before troops are sent into a potentially dangerous situation."
The day was a test of how Hastert would compare with Newt Gingrich, who was a confirmed
internationalist. Although he refused to tip his hand in advance and did not vote on the
Fowler amendment, in the end he supported Clinton.
"Any time we send our sons and daughters into harm's way, it is a tough
decision," he said in a statement after the vote. "But I do believe America has
a vested interest in supporting NATO and in keeping peace in Kosova."
His stand put him at odds with the two senior members of his team.
The House majority leader, Dick Armey, and the Republican whip, Tom DeLay, opposed
deploying troops. DeLay called the plan a "big dangerous quagmire" and
"another bad idea in a foreign policy with no focus."
He said the Clinton Administration had become too dependent on air strikes and the threats
of air strikes, referring to bombings in Iraq, strikes against targets in Sudan and
Afghanistan and the threat of strikes in Serbia.
"Bombing sovereign nations for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines
American stature in the world," DeLay said. "The international respect and trust
for America is diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly. We must stop giving
the appearance that our foreign policy is formulated by the Unabomber."
Through hours of debate into the night, members clashed over the role of the United States
after the cold war, as well as over the American leadership role in NATO.
The members argued whether outsiders could ever end the strife in the Balkans, and
expressed misgivings about the length of the United States mission in Bosnia, which
Clinton had once promised would be limited in time.
The debate split the Republican Party.
Most Democrats spoke out in support of the President.
"I recall Bosnia, my friends," Representative Howard Coble, Republican of North
Carolina, said. "The President told us our troops would be back home, I believe, by
December of 1996. But when I last checked, December 1996 has come and long gone, and our
troops are still there.
"I don't mean to portray myself as an isolationist. But to suggest that Bosnia and
Kosova are European problems that should be resolved by Europeans hardly constitutes
isolationism."
In disagreeing, Representative Henry J. Hyde, Republican of Illinois, said, "There
really is a moral obligation for those who have the resources to intercede."
Many Democrats spoke forcefully for deployment and questioned why the Republican
leadership had scheduled such a debate when a new round of diplomacy was beginning.
"This is the height of irresponsibility," Richard A. Gephardt, the House
minority leader, said. "This should not be about politics. It should not be about
giving the Administration a black eye. This is about ending a humanitarian
catastrophe." |
