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Wednesday, March 17, 1999, 2:25 PM.
Fierce clashes around Prizren
Prizren, March 17 (Kosovapress) There were fierce clashes between UÇK (Kosova Liberation
Army) Units and Serbian police/military forces, in the early hours of this morning, in the
villages Kabash, Korishtë and Lubizhdë, around Prizren. There was heavy artillery
shelling between 10.00-11.00 especially against Kabash. The inhabitants of these villages
were evacuated earlier.
Fruitful meeting between Mr Hashim Thaçi and Mr James Rubin
Paris, March 17 (Kosovapress) President of Albanian Delegation in Paris, Mr Hashim Thaçi,
has had a fruitful meeting with American State Department spokesman Mr James Rubin. They
have talked regarding all aspects of Agreement on Kosova, that Albanian side has agreed
for. It is confirmed that, Mr Thaçi was assured that if Serbian side do not sign the
Complete agreement, than NATO will act. Meanwhile, the news is that the Serb delegation
have almost blocked the talks in Paris. According to an European official, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity, at around 15.30, Serb delegation had to meet with
representatives of the Contact Group to discuss the aspects of the implementation of the
Agreement on Kosova. But Serbs delegation choose not to be present at this meeting. This
practically means that, they are not ready for talks, in other words, that they refuse
implementation of all aspects of the Agreement, including the civil ones. On the
"Kosovapress" question that - Is there any chance that Serb side will change
it’s decision ? European Official replied - I don’t believe that Serb Delegation
will change it’s stand, they will not come to the meeting.
Kosova Mediators Say Serbs Refuse To Negotiate
PARIS (Reuters) - International mediators said Wednesday that the Serbs were refusing to
negotiate on the implementation of an autonomy plan for Kosova and there was no prospect
of progress in the peace talks.
``They are, as we know, not prepared to sign. They continue to have problems with the
political part of the agreement and they are not ready to engage in negotiations on the
implementation issues that were clearly a part of the invitation to come to Paris,''
European Union envoy Wolfgang Petritsch told a news conference.
The chief mediator, U.S. ambassador Chris Hill, said: ''Based on the last few days with
the Yugoslav side, we would not anticipate any further progress.''
He said the ethnic Albanian delegation would formally sign the international autonomy plan
for Kosova before the end of the Paris talks. ``I don't want to predict which day but very
shortly,'' he said.
Russian mediator Boris Mayorsky said the co-chairmen of the talks, French Foreign Minister
Hubert Vedrine and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, would return Thursday to assess
the state of the talks.
``As long as there is time, there is hope. We'll continue working,'' Mayorsky said.
Meeting between Kosovar Delegation and NATO representatives
Paris, March 17 (Kosovapress) Kosovar Delegation, this morning, has met again with OSCE
representatives to discuss Civil Aspects of Agreement on Kosova. During the afternoon,
however, they met with three NATO representatives, discussing in details Military aspects
of the implementation of the agreement, especially UÇK transformation. International
mediators, Hill, Petrisch and Mayorsky, will give a press conference, at 18.00, regarding
the latest developments in the International Conference on Kosova.
Around 5 thousand grenades on the villages of Qyqavica, during
yesterday only
Vushtrri, March 17 (Kosovapress) More than 5 thousands grenades were launched, by Serb
forces, at the villages in the foothill of Qyqavica, yesterday. While counter-attacking,
UÇK Units of Shala OZ have, yesterday, killed 4 and today, another 2 Serb soldiers. UÇK
Units have undertaken some ferocious counter-attacks, causing considerable damages to
enemy forces.
Albanian Foreign Minister met with Kosovar Delegation in Paris
Paris, March 17 (Kosovapress) Albanian Foreign Minister, Mr. Paskal Milo, during the
today’s meeting in Paris, has expressed support of Albanian Government regarding the
readiness of Kosovar Delegation to sing the agreement. Mr Milo also voiced solidarity with
Kosovar Delegation for it’s stand in connection with International Conference on
Kosova.
Report: Kosova killings 'crime against humanity'
PRISHTINA, Kosova (CNN) -- A Finnish forensic team said Wednesday that the killing of
dozens of unarmed ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosova in January was a "crime against
humanity." But the team's report did not call the killings an outright
"massacre" and did not identify the perpetrators.
The report presented the findings of a forensic investigation into the deaths of 45 ethnic
Albanians who were found in a gully at the village of Racak.
At the time, a leading international truce monitor called the gruesome event a massacre.
The discovery of the bodies prompted intense international diplomacy and renewed threats
of NATO intervention to stop Belgrade's crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosova.
The Serbian authorities denied any massacre allegations, saying the civilians were caught
in the crossfire between Yugoslav forces and what Belgrade considers terrorists of the
separatist Kosova Liberation Army.
The Finnish pathologists determined that 22 of the people whose bodies were found in the
gully by international monitors on January 16 "were most likely shot where
found."
Helena Ranta, the head of the team, said that among the bodies they conducted autopsies on
were several elderly men and one woman.
"There were no indications of the people being other than unarmed civilians,"
she said. But she said there was no way of telling if any of the victims had taken up arms
in the past.
From the pattern of bullet wounds, clothing and possessions on the victims, the
pathologists found no reason to conclude they were killed accidentally or were members of
the KLA.
William Walker, the American head of the international monitoring force in Kosova, visited
the site on January 16 and immediately accused Serbian security forces, who had been
conducting a siege of the village, of a massacre.
The pathologists, however, steered clear of such a characterization.
"The Racak events have been described as a 'massacre,'" the report said.
"However, such a conclusion does not fall within the competence of the European Union
forensic team or any other person having participated solely in the investigation of the
bodies. The term 'massacre' ... is a legal description of the circumstances surrounding
the deaths of persons as judged from comprehensive analysis of all available
information."
Ranta said the investigation immediately after the bodies were discovered was not
reliable. She noted that the area had not been sealed off and outside access to the bodies
was possible.
Serbian Military Shells Vushtrri and Mitrovica Villages
Overnight
Attack launched against Beçuk village today
PRISHTINA, March 17 (KIC) - Serbian military and paramilitary police forces shelled the
Çiçavica massif villages in northwestern Kosova overnight, local LDK sources in Vushtrri
reported.
The villages of Beçuk came under Serbian attack at 9:30 CET today, they added.
As in the past twenty days, Serbian military and police, from their positions at Frashër
i Vogël and Pirq of the Mitrovica municipality, shelled last night the villages of
Oshlan, Pantinë and Lkej of Vushtrri municipality, local LDK sources said.
Many Serb shells landed also on the 'Zmiq' hill, from where UÇK (Kosova Liberation Army)
has been resisting the Serbian occupation forces.
Fresh Serbian Troops and Armor Enter Kosova Via Podujeva
PRISHTINA, March 17 (KIC) - Some 30 Serbian military vehicles entered Kosova from Serbia
last night, travelling the Nis-Podujeva-Prishtina highway, local LDK sources in Podujeva
reported.
Meanwhile, more Serbian reinforcements moved in Kosova today at 7:00 CET, local sources
said. A convoy involving 23 tanks, 27 lorries, 12 APCs and 25 so-called 'pragas', full of
Serb soldiers and reservists arrived in the Podujeva area today morning.
The troops and armor were deployed in the Dumosh airfield, from where at 8:30 CET 13 tanks
left, as well as two lorries and one APC, all of them heading southward towards the
capital of Prishtina.
Three Albanian Brothers Found Killed in Tomoc Village of Istog
PRISHTINA, March 17 (KIC) - Three Albanian brothers were found killed today morning along
the Gjurakovc-Istog roadway, near a village cemetery at Tomoc village of Istog
municipality, local LDK sources reported. They are Brahim Dervishaj (30), Esat Dervishaj
(20) and Enver Dervishaj (16), residents of Zabllaq village of the same municipality.
The Serbian police took the bodies of the Dervishaj brothers to the Prishtina town morgue
for autopsies a few hours later.
One of the victims had his throat slit, whereas the other had his hands hand-cuffed on the
back, local sources said, quoting eye-witness accounts.
One Albanian Killed, 30 Wounded in Serb Crackdown on Babaj i
Bokës Village Gjakova
PRISHTINA, March 17 (KIC) - One Albanian killed, 30 others wounded and many more arrested.
This was the outcome of a Serbian forces' crackdown on the Babaj i Bokës village along
the Kosova-Albania border, local LDK sources in Gjakova said, failing to specify the
circumstances of the killing and wounding of Albanians.
They noted that since 6 o'clock in the morning today, Serbian military and police forces
held the village under an iron grip.
Huge material damage has been caused to the houses in the village, local sources said.
The names of only two arrested, brothers Ilaz and Hamëz Musa, have been provided.
The village of Korenicë has also been sealed off by police forces, LDK sources said.
Meanwhile, sources said the Serbian military has been engaged in artillery fire for three
nights in a row in the villages of Vogovë, Zhub and Brekoc along the Kosova-Albania
border area.
Part of the Albanian population has been forced to flee their homes.
Serbian Forces Surround Kabash Village
PRISHTINA, March 17 (KIC) - Serbian forces surrounded today from three sides the village
of Kabash, sending thousands of Albanians from this and neighboring villages fleeing their
homes, local LDK sources said.
There has been no explanation about the motives behind this Serbian siege of the village.
An extremely dangerous situation has been reported in the town of Prizren. Several
Albanian middle schools have been shut down.
Serbs Move on New Front in Kosova
Balkans: Rebels say government is bent on seizing strategic area. Peace talks in Paris
stall.
By PAUL WATSON, Times Staff Writer
LUBOVAC, Yugoslavia--Kosova's Cicavica mountains cut through the heart of rebel territory,
and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has chosen this high ground to answer Western
demands for peace. His response came in a series of shuddering blasts that sent up dark
plumes of smoke from this deserted village Tuesday afternoon while negotiations for peace
in the separatist province stalled in Paris. Hundreds of new refugees fled so suddenly
that fresh laundry still hung on a clothesline outside one farmhouse, gently waving in the
spring breeze.
The only people left in Lubovac and surrounding villages were a few fighters from the
separatist Kosova Liberation Army who said Milosevic has launched an offensive to take the
strategic Cicavica mountains. "This is their aim, to climb up Cicavica," Gani
Koci, a spokesman for the KLA's high command, said at the guerrillas' headquarters in the
village of Likoc. "But I don't think they will succeed. And if they do, they will
suffer heavy losses." The Serbian forces' advance is the latest violation of a
cease-fire Milosevic agreed to in October after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
threatened to bomb Yugoslav military targets. NATO has repeated that threat without effect
ever since. The Yugoslav army has at least seven times the number of troops and weapons in
Kosova that is permitted under the October agreement, according to NATO estimates, and
more reinforcements roll in every day.
The army says its forces are only conducting regular exercises. On Tuesday, foreign
cease-fire monitors reported that seven powerful Russian-made T-72 tanks arrived by train
and headed to a base just west of the Cicavica mountains. Until now, Milosevic's troops
have made do with older T-55 tanks. In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon called
the arrival of the T-72s "most disturbing." The Serbs "certainly are
bracing for war" even as they continue to take part in Paris peace talks, he said,
speculating that the preparations are underway for any of three reasons: to fire back in
the event of NATO airstrikes; to resist a NATO move into Kosova; or to blast the
province's ethnic Albanian population.
Bacon said the buildup has brought Serbian troop levels to between 14,000 and 18,000
within the province, and 21,000 along its perimeter. KLA fighters indicated Tuesday that
they are using land mines to thwart the Serbs' advance. Asked whether the KLA had laid any
mines recently, Koci replied with a cold stare: "You have to be careful where you
drive." Kosova is a southern province of Serbia, the more powerful of Yugoslavia's
two remaining republics. About 90% of Kosova's 2 million people are ethnic Albanians, but
Serbs claim the territory as their cultural heartland. Koci conceded that a Serbian
victory atop Mt. Cicavica would be a major blow to the KLA's fight for independence, which
broke into full-scale war just over a year ago.
The guerrillas hope to quit while they're ahead by signing an interim peace deal in Paris
that would bring 28,000 NATO-led troops to Kosova and grant three years of self-rule to
the province's ethnic Albanian majority--without guaranteeing a referendum on
independence. Milosevic flatly rejects the deployment of foreign troops in Kosova, while
Washington and the KLA agree that a peacekeeping force led by NATO is essential to any
deal. The Serbian delegation spent Tuesday arguing for changes to political sections of
the accord, which would give Kosova's ethnic Albanians their own president, legislative
assembly, police force and courts. "We are ready to sign the political statement but
only on the condition that our adjustments are accepted," Serbian President Milan
Milutinovic said Tuesday in Paris, without specifying what amendments he wants.
Western mediators insist that they will accept only minor, technical changes to the draft
and are trying to pressure Milosevic with threats of NATO airstrikes in the hope of
getting a deal before war engulfs Kosova. One of the KLA's most hard-line commanders, who
fights under the war name Remi, added another dangerous twist to the faltering peace
process Tuesday with a letter denouncing the proposed accord as fraudulent and
manipulative.
"We find it necessary to disassociate ourselves from this wrong anti-national
policy," Remi's headquarters said in a letter published by Koha Ditore, a popular
Albanian-language daily newspaper. Times staff writer Paul Richter in Washington
contributed to this report.
Serbs 'bracing for war,' Pentagon says
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Yugoslav-Serb forces and tanks continue to build up in and around
Kosova and appear to be "bracing for war," Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said
Tuesday.
Serb forces have moved seven additional top-of-the-line, Russian-made T-72 tanks into
Kosova to add to about 96 tanks already deployed there and 30 additional tanks nearby,
Bacon said.
"There are probably now 16,000 to 21,000 Serb forces gathered around the perimeter of
Kosova," he said, "with tanks and APCs" (armored personnel carriers). Some
14,000 to 18,000 Serb troops are already in Kosova.
"They are certainly bracing for war", Bacon told reporters, "but they
continue to participate in the talks."
State Department: 'Peace or catastrophe'
The U.S. State Department gave a gloomy assessment of the negotiations at Rambouillet. But
the Clinton administration gave no indication that a long-threatened bombardment was
imminent.
Accusing Serb negotiators of backtracking on key elements of a self-rule plan for ethnic
Albanians in the troubled province, State Department spokesman James Rubin said,
"Time and patience clearly are running out."
Rubin also said the Serbs must decide "whether they want a peace agreement rather
than a catastrophe."
Serb negotiators Tuesday tried to win major changes to the plan, which offers the Albanian
majority in Kosova substantial autonomy for three years.
International mediators rejected the Serb attempt and put more pressure on Belgrade to
match the ethnic Albanians and accept the peace agreement.
Pentagon warns of new threats to peacekeepers
The Albanians consented this week, conditioned as the plan is on a NATO peacekeeping force
moving into Kosova while most Serbian troops retreat.
But Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has not relented in his refusal to permit NATO
peacekeepers on Serb territory.
Many of the Serb forces in Kosova are concentrated along the southern Kosovar border with
Macedonia, where a NATO peacekeeping force would enter Kosova if a peace accord is
reached.
U.S. intelligence reports indicate that Serb forces in Kosova have placed land mines and
other explosives along the two planned entry routes for NATO peacekeeping troops, and that
they are "prepared to disrupt the entry of NATO into Kosova."
Military officials said there are indications that land mines have "likely" been
laid on a bridge and in a tunnel along the primary entry route -- the main road from
Skopje, Macedonia, to Prishtina, Yugoslavia. Skopje is to be the staging area for the
proposed NATO force.
And, the reports say, large "cratering charges" that could cut off the entry of
any force and create "ambush" zones have been placed in the road from Skopje
through the Serb city of Bujanovac into the eastern Kosova city of Gnjilane.
That road is expected to be used as the "alternate" or "secondary"
entry route for the NATO force, particularly U.S. troops who would make their headquarters
in that area of Kosova.
Justifying NATO force
Rubin noted that NATO has threatened since the end of January to attack Serb forces from
the air if they reject the peace plan.
Justifying the threat of force, Rubin said the Serbs seem to be preparing their biggest
offensive yet against ethnic Albanians fighting for independence.
"With Belgrade giving every indication that it will prepare a new offensive against
Kosovar Albanians, we face the prospect of a new explosion of violence if the
international community doesn't take preventive action," he said.
"Humanitarian suffering and destruction could well exceed that of the 1998
offensive," Rubin added.
Close to 2,000 people were killed in the fighting in 1998 and hundreds of thousands of
ethnic Albanians spent months away from home for fear of Serb attacks
Counting warplanes and warships
NATO has close to 400 warplanes in the vicinity that could damage targets in Yugoslavia.
About 250 of the aircraft are U.S.-owned, including 12 F-117 "Nighthawk" stealth
fighters in Italy and seven B-52 "Stratofortress" heavy bombers in England.
Bacon said an unspecified number of Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle aircraft would be moved to
Aviano air base in Italy from elsewhere in Europe to fill the gap created by the aircraft
carrier USS Enterprise's departure Sunday for the Persian Gulf.
Six U.S. Navy ships in the Balkan region are capable of firing Tomahawk Land-Attack Cruise
Missiles (T-LAMs), including two submarines. |
