KOSOVA (reinforcements – Podujevë)

New Serb forces arrive in Kosova (Arta)

Podujevë, 16 December (ARTA) 1710CET --

New Serb forces arrived in Kosova from Serbia. LDK information sources in Podujevë notify that at around 0915CET, 8 police buses, out of which, five were filled with police officers and three were empty, and four other vehicles, arrived in Kosova from the direction of Serbia. They continued their way in the direction of Prishtina.

The same source informs that yesterday at around 1030CET, dozens of Serb police officers, concentrated in the village of Lupç, near the bus station, were controlling and maltreating the passersby and at the same time observing the terrain.

Lately, large Serb force movements were witnessed from Merdar, a village situated on the border between Kosova and Serbia, in the direction of Prishtina and back.

Serb Police Cracks Down on Albanian Families in Hani i Elezit (KIC)

Five people reported arrested

PRISHTINA, Dec 16 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian police forces, backed up by 4 APCs and other vehicles, raided a number of Albanian families for two hours (6-8 a.m.) today in the small town of Hani i Elezit ('General Jankovic'), LDK sources said.

During the crackdown, the police abused physically the LDK chapter chairman in Hani i Elezit, Mr. Zylbehar Hasallari, and arrested his brother, Sabedin.

Serb police arrested also Beqir Ballazhi, Muhabi Siti and his two sons, and Shaban Miçi.

The pretext for the police raid and arrests made today has not been made known.


Serbs Ill-treat Albanians in Prishtina, Mitrovica, Ferizaj (KIC)


PRISHTINA, Dec 16 (KIC) - Three young Serbs beat up two Albanian youths near the Prishtina football stadium at noon today (Wednesday).

Afrim Brajshori (15) and Shkëlzen Januzi (14), both residents of Prishtina, told the KIC they were assaulted suddenly by the Serbs.

Meanwhile, today morning in Mitrovica, several young Serbs beat up severely a young Albanian girl, Edonë S. Beqiri (10), who was on her way to school.

The girl, originating from Bajgora, has found shelter in the town of Mitrovica, LDK sources said.

This was the fifth incident involving young Serbs assaulting Albanian youths in an organized way in Peja, Prishtina and Mitrovica.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday and Wednesday, organized Serb gangs of civilians smashed the windowpanes of a number of Albanian businesses in the town of Ferizaj.

An old Albanian man was ill-treated today by Serb gangs. In the aftermath of this, Serb vandalists and a number of young Albanians were engaged in scuffles, local sources said.

The Serbian police is thought to be instigating such Serb gangs.


If KLA denied the act, was this setup by the Serbs so the Kosova Albanians lose the little support they have from the west? (alb-net)

Serbs Protest Killings in Kosovo (AP)

By KATARINA KRATOVAC Associated Press Writer

PEC, Yugoslavia (AP) - Thousands of Serbs, many weeping, gathered today to mourn six slain countrymen whose deaths have dangerously inflamed tensions in the separatist province of Kosovo.

A crowd of 5,000 assembled to remember the victims in a tense silence that permeated the western city of Pec, where the victims of the Monday night shooting were to be buried later today. Another 2,000 to 3,000 Serbs attended a protest rally in the provincial capital of Pristina.

As mourners sobbed, the six coffins were brought to Pec's main square and covered with wreaths. At least one man in civilian clothing was seen armed with a submachine gun.

``Pain and sorrow is in our hearts,'' said Mirko Simonovic, principal of the high school where four of the victims were students. ``They were killed for the simple reason of being Serbs.''

He concluded with a demand that the state ``punish the perpetrators and do away forever with Albanian terrorism.''

Many fear the Pec killings, along with a border clash this week between the Yugoslav army and ethnic Albanian rebels that killed at least 36 rebels, move Kosovo closer to a renewal of war.

The brutal barroom shooting of six Serbs in Kosovo's third-largest city prompted protests and threats of retaliation against rebels, who want independence. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the population of Kosovo, a province of Yugoslavia's main republic of Serbia.

Voicing grave concern at the dangerous turn of events this week, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke condemned the deaths as ``appalling beyond words.''

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, meanwhile, renewed his determination to suppress rebel ``terrorism.'' A top government body for the Serbian province called the Serb killings were ``the most monstrous crime in the series of assaults by Albanian terrorist gangs.''

Holbrooke, who brokered an agreement in October that halted more than seven months of combat in Kosovo, appeared pessimistic about reaching a political settlement that could stop the carnage.

After more than five hours of talks with Milosevic in Belgrade, Holbrooke acknowledged Tuesday night that diplomats are nowhere near bridging the huge divide between Serbs and Kosovo's ethic Albanians on the province's status.

``The gap between the Serbs and the Albanians on the future of Kosovo ... is very grave,'' Holbrooke told reporters. He gave no details on his talks with Milosevic.

While the death toll from Monday's clash between border guards and rebels trying to bring in arms from Albania was higher - the army said it killed 36 guerrillas - the Pec killings raised more alarm among international officials because they involved an attack on civilians.

Pec, located 45 miles west of Pristina, has about 150,000 residents. Like Kosovo itself, the population is overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian, but several thousand Serbs also live there.

In his statement, Milosevic said security forces ``will suppress terrorism'' and that the ``terrorist bandits'' responsible for the Pec shooting would be ``found, wherever they are.''

He also accused U.S. representatives in the U.N. Security Council of ``losing credibility'' by blocking U.N. statements denouncing ethnic Albanian ``terrorists.''

Towns and cities have mostly escaped the violence that has engulfed Kosovo villages this year since Serb forces launched an offensive in February to crush pro-independence militants.

More than 1,000 people have been killed and 300,000 forced from their homes since Milosevic launched his crackdown on separatists in February.

Rubin - "The Serbian military and police presence appears to be increasing on the roads and in the cities" (Washington DC, December 16, 1998)

QUESTION: Before Mr. Holbrooke went to Belgrade the last time, there were some calls among people in the region and from some think tanks here in Washington that it would be a good idea for the State Department to draw a so-called "red line" around Montenegro and ask Mr. Milosevic not to interfere in Montenegrin affairs. My question is, do you know if that subject of Montenegro came up during Mr. Holbrooke's visit; and if it did, whether he discussed such a red line?

MR. RUBIN: Well, without getting into the specifics of that kind of discussion, let me say we've said many times that we do not want to see the kind of repression that occurred in Kosovo occur in Montenegro. But we do not support secession of Montenegro. On the contrary, we support democracy and Montenegro working successfully with Serbia in a parliamentary system. And so we do have concerns about Montenegro, we've been very supportive of its president, Djukanovic, and we take the opportunity, when appropriate, to raise those issues with the Serbs. But I wouldn't be able to specify what was said on that subject between Ambassador Holbrooke and President Milosevic.

QUESTION: Ambassador Holbrooke said last night on broadcast that there had been - the fire fight that had happened along the border appeared to be infiltration of the UCK with arms. But then there was an act against the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo of a slaughter in a pool hall that he was very much opposed to. Does the State Department stand behind his assessment of that?

MR. RUBIN: Absolutely. The general situation in Kosovo remains very tense after the shootings of six Serbian youths in Pec on Monday. Yesterday members of the KLA general staff disclaimed responsibility for the shootings. US monitors report that a large gathering in Pec for the funeral of the six youths was scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. local today. Some 20 to 30 buses arrived in Pec from Pristina. There are no reports of violence.

We do strongly condemn these kind of random killings, and we will monitor the behavior of both sides and encourage them to avoid provocative acts.

With respect to the Serbian military, let me say the Serbian military and police presence appears to be increasing on the roads and in the cities, although the police deny this. US monitors have also seen a pattern of combined military and police checkpoints and have raised this matter with police authorities. Our monitors opened a base in Malisevo yesterday. The presence of monitors from KDOM in this tense community is intended to build confidence.

We've had some trouble with Serbian high school students along the road being hostile to the KDOM; but KDOM patrols were increased and the situation, although tense, remains without new violence as far as we can tell.

Ambassador Holbrooke obviously had a chance to go through with President Milosevic the stalemate in the talks between the Kosovar Albanians and the Serbs. We have a text; we want them to work on that text. Obviously, it's a rolling text that can be made to reflect concerns of both sides. But we have a window of opportunity here during these next short periods of time, and we think it's up to both sides to use that window of opportunity to avoid a dangerous situation in the spring.

QUESTION: Is there any violation by the Serbs as of yet?

MR. RUBIN: Well, as I indicated, we do have concerns about increased police presence, and we're checking on that and raising those with the Serb authorities.

QUESTION: Is there any sign of additional forces coming in from Serbia into Kosovo?

MR. RUBIN: The information I have is as I provided you. I don't have additional information.

QUESTION: And this disclaimer by the KLA about the Pec incident, is that a credible disclaimer so far as you know?

MR. RUBIN: I don't know the answer to that. I'm merely pointing out the disclaimer.

QUESTION: Is there any sign that the incident might have been staged, even by the other side?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I'm sure that theoreticians will theorize. I don't know the answer to that question. I'm telling you what I know, not what I can theorize.