Heavy Serbian Troops Crack Down on Podjeva Area Monday
Morning
Four shells landed initially, to be followed by
machine-gun fire north of Podjeva late in the morning; neighborhood in town sealed off
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - A heavy Serbian convoy of military troops and hardware headed
from the north-eastern town of Podjeva northwards in the direction of K&rpimeh village
today (Monday) morning, local LDK sources said. At around 10:30 intermittent automatic
weapons fire was reported occurring, at a time a number of Serb military vehicles advanced
towards the village of Dobratin, which was the target of a Serb military crackdown back in
September, when scores of Albanian houses were destroyed and burned down, and a number of
local people slain. Four shells were reportedly heard, to be followed by continued
machine-gun fire, sources in the area said. A couple of tanks were said to be on the
Podjeva-Kėrpimeh asphalt road, whereas other tanks had made entry onto the roadway
leading to Dobratin. Serbian police forces have swarmed the Podjeva-Kėrpimeh roadway and
the Podjeva-Letanc roadway. (Letanc is a village adjacent to the town of Podjeva). Police
are roaming the streets of the town. OSCE verifiers are said to be present in town, too.
Latest reports said a convoy of 15 Serbian police armored personnel carriers (APCs),
originating from Prishtina, arrived the town of Podjeva at 11:40 hrs. They were stationed
at the police station at midday. All roads leading in and out of the town of Podjeva are
under a severe Serb police grip. Albanians are being routinely harassed and beaten up,
local LDK sources said. Local sources confirmed that the local Albanian population from
Baj^in&, Dobratin and the outlying villages half a dozen km north of Podjeva started
fleeing their homes in panic today morning. Meanwhile, sources in the town of Podjeva said
the Hospital area in the town has been sealed off by heavy Serb police troops, equipped
with an armored vehicle. Some sources spoke of shooting last night in Podjeva and its
suburbs. There was word of shooting in the Hospital area today at 7:30 a.m. Serbian
sources have reported the killing of a Serb policeman and the wounding of a Serb
administration employee in town. LDK sources said members of the OSCE Kosova Verification
Mission arrived in Podjeva today. Some of them were said to have followed the Serb convoy
in the direction of K&rpimeh, to only return back by 11:00 hrs. A highly explosive
situation has been reported in the northeastern municipality of Podjeva in the wake of the
deployment of around Serbian troops, backed up by around military vehicles, including 20
tanks, in the village of Dumosh, namely a sports airstrip, on Saturday morning. The
Serbian troops and equipment paraded the streets of Podjeva and moved back and forth in
the countryside on Sunday. The Podjeva area is a 99 percent ethnic Albanian populated
area, with one percent of the population having all the administrative power accorded to
them by the Serbian occupation authorities.
KOSOVA (escalation of violence –
Deēan)
Gllogjan attacked again on Saturday
Deēan, 19 December (ARTA) 1700CET --
The village of Gllogjan was attacked, first with light weapons and then, large caliber
cannons, for several hours, on Saturday, the "KD" correspondent, from Deēan
informs.
No reports on eventual consequences of the attack this Saturday, were issued, although
there is information on two young Albanians, killed during the attack on Thursday. Their
unidentified bodies are still in the Gjakovė hospital morgue.
There are claims that two more houses were burnt in the village of Gllogjan and 25
villagers were arrested on the streets of the Deēan villages, as they returned to their
destroyed villages a day before.
Along with the 23 other Albanian arrested, the brothers Hazir and Musa Kasumi, education
workers in Gramaēel, were also held for several hours at the police station in Gjakovė.
They had just recently returned to their burnt homes, and were arrested on the street just
outside. The "KD" correspondent quoted the arrested as saying they were severely
maltreated.
The population that had just returned to their homes in Baballoē, Gramaēel, Dubravė,
and Shaptej, fled them again on Thursday.
Xhavit Rexhahmetaj (23), from the village of Isniq, who was among the 36 killed in the
village of Lugishtė, of Has, on 14 December, was identified. Whereas, Xhevdet Tolaj, was
added to the list of missing persons. He is supposed to be from the village of Pobėrgjė,
of Deēan, the "KD" correspondent reports.
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KOSOVA (shooting –
Klinė)
Shootout in the Klinė region
Klinė, 19 December (ARTA) 1800CET --
There were frequent movements of Serb forces, equipped with full fighting gear, from their
positions at the bauxite mine in Volljakė, in the direction of the villages of
Pėrēevė, Sferkė, Volljakė and Ēupevė e Epėrme.
Whereas, the "KD" correspondent from Klinė, notifies that the villages of
Sferkė and Dush were subjected to heavy shooting at around 2200CET.
Firepower was also on display late Saturday in Klinė proper, as there was a large
presence of Serb forces in town the next day.
In the meantime, the Serb Court in Prishtina, sentenced Albert Shala, from Ujėmir with
two years imprisonment.
On the other hand, it has been confirmed that one of the victims killed at the
Kosova-Albanian border, is the 21 year old Bashkim Krasniqi from Zllakuqan.
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KOSOVA (shootout – Shtime)
Two-hour-long shooting in Qesta e Reqakut
Shtime, 19 December (ARTA) 1730CET --
Automatic gunfire directed towards the Qesta e Reqakut locality, was carried out today
from 2000CET to 2200CET. Witnesses believe that the shooting came from the nursing house
and the police station in Shtime. The CDHRF informs that there were no victims, although
there were cases when Albanian residents were arrested and maltreated in the town proper
during Friday and Saturday.
On the other hand, Asim Asimi, from the village of Balincė, was arrested on 17 December,
in the administration office, where he went to get his IDs. He was sent to the police
station in Ferizaj, where he is still being kept. Isa Tėrshani, the imam of the mosque in
Shtime, was also taken to the police station for two days in a row.
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KOSOVA (reinforcements – Podujevė)
Large military forces deployed in the Batllavė airport
Podujevė, 19 December (ARTA) 1720CET --
Large military forces and fighting technique were deployed in the Batllavė airport, on
Friday at around 0900CET, CDHRF and LDK sources in Podujevė inform.
These sources inform that these military forces that were coming from the direction of
Prishtina, started stationing in the Batllavė airport from 0830CET until 0930CET.
According to the same sources, over 33 military vehicles, 20 tanks and other armored
vehicles were stationed in this airport. Police and military forces were posted in
different points along the Prishtina-Lluzhan-Batllavė road, during the early morning
hours, even before these forces arrived, the "KD" corespondent informs.
Meanwhile, over 30 police officers were posted on the Lluzhan crossroad, part of which
conducted checked all passersby thoroughly. The other part, took their positions on the
bridge over the Llap river, in several spots, monitoring the terrain, while three tanks
were safeguarding the crossroad. Three other tanks were placed in Vranidoll, at the local
military base.
According to the same sources, large police reinforcements were also witnessed on Friday,
at the police stations in Podujevė, Lluzhan, and Orllan.
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KOSOVA (US Deputy Secretary for democracy… -
Prishtina)
Koh: "The Belgrade regime accused media for activities, for which is
responsible itself"
Prishtina, 19 December (ARTA) 1900CET --
"What I have seen concerning the situation of human rights in Kosova is very
disturbing", said in a press conference held last evening at the USIS offices, the
American deputy secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, Harold Koh.
"The US condemn the violence from all sides, and requests from Serbs and Albanians,
to give up the new cycle of retaliation strategy", said Koh. He added that he was
very sorry to hear about the killing of the six Serbs in Pejė and the deputy-mayor in
Fushė Kosovė.
The threats made by the Serb authorities to close down the Albanian daily newspapers, Koh
evaluated as "intolerant attacks against the rights to free press and a violation of
the human right standards".
"Ironically, the Government's letter, accuses the newspapers for urging
non-tolerance, which is an act for which the Belgrade regime is to be blamed. Through its
actions, Belgrade's regime is telling all newspapers that they cannot work without feeling
fear", said he. Koh visited Kosova to get informed on the human rights’
situation. During his stay, he met with the leaders of Kosova, Ambassador Walker,
journalists and also visited prisons and hospitals.
"I saw a policemen, posted, outside the hospital of Prishtina. Common residents of
Kosova, continue to be treated as military targets", stated Harold Koh.
"The press is being threatened and closed down by the Government without any reason.
The poor and discriminating condition continues to prevail in prisons. Milosevic's regime
continues to illegally prevent the work of the investigators of The Hague International
Tribunal for War Crimes and of independent forensic experts. I saw tired and disconsolate
people and a catastrophe of human rights that is still going on", said Koh expressing
in several sentences, the situation in Kosova that he managed to see during his one day
stay in Kosova.
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KOSOVA (Contact Group Ambassadors – Prishtina part
I)
Qosja: "We are tragically late to agree between ourselves"
Prishtina, 19 December (ARTA) 2000CET --
The Contact Group Ambassadors visited Prishtina on Saturday, on their first round of talks
to unite the Albanian political forces in one negotiating group. Wolfgang Petritch, the
Austrian Ambassador to Belgrade and the EU envoy for Kosova, headed the team of six
Contact Group member states, found after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.
Petritch and the French Ambassador to Macedonia, Jacques Huntzinger, held their first
meeting with President Rugova, on Saturday, to stress the urgency of "forming a real
negotiating team, which would include all Albanian political forces of Kosova".
The Austrian and French Ambassadors, initially "expressed their concern with the
deteriorating situation in Kosova and the fact that the political process of negotiations
was blocked".
"Time is passing", said Huntzinger adding, "the negotiations will be
starting in a short period of time".
Concerning the meeting with Agani, Ambassador Petritch, said that they "got positive
replies that lead to the right direction".
"But, there is still no complete devotion that would be leading towards the formation
of some sort of a negotiating team", said Petritch.
Meanwhile, the head of the Albanian negotiating team, Agani stated that "the Contact
Group member state Ambassadors in Belgrade, came here to convey the Group's message, which
consisted on stressing the urgent moment and need for the negotiating process to
recommence with as much seriousness as possible".
They had a few warnings for the Albanian side, said Agani adding that they had to do with
the readiness to negotiate but also with the last events on the ground.
Asked whether he was ready to accept KLA presence in the process, Agani stated the
following: "all political forces that are present in Kosova, should participate in
the negotiations that are to take place".
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BELGIUM (NATO - Kosova)
Solana: Air strikes threat is still on (Arta)
Brussels, 19 December (ARTA) 1730CET --
NATO Secretary General, Javier Solana, reiterated that NATO stills views that the crisis
in Kosova can be solved only through political means, and not militarily. Solana said in a
press briefing that NATO would continue to pay heed to the developments in Kosova, adding
that it will keep the activation order for air strikes on, in case of need.
"NATO is now carrying out its air observing mission dynamically, with 2-6 flights
daily. The Extraction Forces are now stationed in the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, ready to act, whereas cooperation with the OSCE is also on the level",
said Solana.
Another official declaration on Kosova also emerged from the ministers' meeting, in a form
of the meeting's final document. In the final document that was adopted in the conference
held in Brussels, the ministers of defense of NATO member states expressed their stand in
favor of continuing to pressure the "FRY" through threats of air strikes.
The official declaration says that the "threats have so far resulted with the
agreement for the beginning of the NATO air observing mission over Kosova and for the
deployment of the OSCE Verifying Mission in Kosova".
The option of air strikes is still open for making the sides involved in the conflict in
Kosova comply with the requests as foreseen by the UN Security Council resolutions, says
the declaration of NATO ministers.
The ministers of defense of NATO member states saluted the deployment of the OSCE
verifying mission, expressing their conviction that these two organizations will
cooperate. The ministers also expressed their deep concern with the recent incidents in
Kosova and called both sides to restrain from violence and provocation.
They stated their support to earlier decisions of NATO foreign ministers for finding a
political solution for Kosova, through a status of broader autonomy and
self-administration, with the perseverance of the "FRY" territorial integrity at
the same time. The crisis in Kosova, says the declaration, must be solved through open and
free dialogue, through compromise and trust, with international presence.
The situation in Kosova was discussed in the NATO-Russian Permanent Joint Council meeting
as well. In the absence of the Russian Minister of Defense, Igor Sergeyev, the Russian
Ambassador to NATO, Sergey Kiselak, represented the Russian side. The situation in Iraq
and the situation in Kosova were given most attention during the meeting.
"There is a high level of acquiesce between NATO and Russia in the case of Kosova.
Both sides agree that the crisis should be solved through political dialogue, they do not
support the independence of Kosova, and they both agreed that the blame should not be put
on one side only", said a senior NATO official after the meeting.
However, NATO views that despite KLA provocation, the "Yugoslav" President,
Slobodan Milosevic, has the greatest responsibility for the crisis in Kosova. "The
problem should be seen in a more substantial way and the cause of the crisis should be
analyzed", said the senior NATO official.
The diplomat refused to comment the Russian minister's absence in the meeting, but did
comment the minister's visit to Belgrade. "I hope Sergeyev conveyed the clear message
to Milosevic, that he must give up violence and get engaged for the beginning of political
dialogue with the Albanian side, based on the Contact Group proposal", he said.
NATO expects Russia to join the air-observing mission over Kosova. NATO sources claimed
that Russia has expressed its readiness to do so, but has not yet presented the formal
request for participation in the mission.
There are still essential differences between NATO and Russia concerning the methods of
pressure that should be applied on Belgrade. Russia strongly opposes the possibility of
NATO air strikes against "Yugoslavia" without an explicit UN Security Council
mandate.
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Yugoslavs cross Albanian border, fire shots
(Reuters)
03:47 p.m Dec 19, 1998 Eastern
TIRANA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Yugoslav soldiers crossed from Serbia's Kosovo province into
Albania on Friday and fired into a village but there were no casualties, Albanian police
said on Saturday.
The Yugoslav attack followed the killing of 38 ethnic Albanian guerrillas on Monday, part
of a larger group of more than 100 separatists who were ferrying arms and ammunition from
Albania into Kosovo.
``Six Yugoslav soldiers crossed into Albanian territory and opened automatic fire at the
Zharke village,'' an Albanian Interior Ministry statement said.
``The firing lasted (45 minutes) while 14 other soldiers watched from Yugoslav territory.
Then they withdrew,'' the statement added.
Guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which wants Kosovo to be independent, have been
battling Serbian security forces inside Kosovo since February.
Soldiers and arms are smuggled into Kosovo from northern Albania across a rugged mountain
border. Incidents in the area are relatively common.
Yugoslavia claims a total of 16 border incidents have occurred since October 16 when it
agreed to the deployment of 2,000 international peace ``verifiers'' by the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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SERBIA GAGS OPPOSITION MEDIA, PRESSES ATTACKS IN
KOSOVO
By Guy Dinmore Special to the Tribune December 18, 1998
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Serbia on Thursday responded to U.S. efforts to revive the peace
process in Kosovo province by closing an Albanian-language newspaper and pressing ahead
with a border offensive against separatists.
Western diplomats were dismayed by developments in Kosovo, which they fear could lead to a
resumption of full-scale war and described Belgrade's actions as a slap in the face to
U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke.
Returning to Belgrade this week for the first time since reaching a deal two months ago
that averted NATO airstrikes, Holbrooke raised the issue of media freedom in talks with
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Tuesday.
Holbrooke's pleas for both sides to show restraint in Kosovo after an escalation of
fighting also appeared to have been ignored; ethnic Albanian politicians reported heavy
attacks by government forces on villages close to the border with Albania.
Binak Kelmendi, editor in chief of Bujku, one of three Albanian-language dailies in
Kosovo, said that the state-controlled printing house in the provincial capital Pristina
refused to publish Friday's edition.
Earlier, Kelmendi received a letter from the Serbian information ministry accusing Bujku
of violating a newly passed media law that also has resulted in the closure of several
independent Serbian publications. Electricity to the Bujku newsroom was cut Thursday,
Kelmendi said.
Koha Ditore, another Albanian-language daily, and the weekly Zeri also received the
letter, warning them of court action if they continued to publish articles deemed to be
inciting interethnic hatred. The three publications broadly support the pro-independence
aspirations of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
Diplomats said Belgrade's attack on the Albanian-language media would further complicate
U.S.-led efforts to negotiate a political settlement to the conflict in Kosovo, which has
taken more than 1,500 lives this year and displaced some 300,000 people.
Under the threat of NATO attack, Milosevic agreed in talks with Holbrooke on Oct. 13 to a
partial withdrawal of his security forces from Kosovo and the presence of 2,000 unarmed
international observers to verify the peace process. In recent weeks, some special police
forces have returned to Kosovo and diplomats expressed concern about the movement of
armored units of the federal Yugoslav army.
Serbian officials said police killed two rebels of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army
in the village of Glodjane on Thursday and captured large quantities of weapons.
Police in the western town of Pec also rounded up ethnic Albanians suspected of
involvement in an attack on a cafe on Monday in which six Serb youths were killed.
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West sends Kosovo refugees to hell
camps of Hungary
IN THE cold corridor of a Hungarian military barracks, a five-year-old girl tugged last
week at a locked door that led to freedom. Elli and her family, all ethnic Albanians,
watched as Serbian forces set their village home on fire in Kosovo earlier this year. Like
hundreds of their compatriots, they are now enduring another ordeal, locked inside one of
the most degrading prisons in Europe.
A thousand adults and children are being forced to spend Christmas in appalling conditions
at so-called community shelters like this one in Gyor, 60 miles west of Budapest.
The detainees, most of them from Kosovo, are victims of a new-found determination among
some European Union countries overburdened by immigration to turn away a growing number of
refugees from war in the Balkans. Many end up instead in former communist states,
including Hungary.
At first glance, the Gyor barracks looks nothing like a prison. Serving as the regional
headquarters of the Hungarian border guards, it is surrounded by gardens. The impression
of an orderly, well-tended establishment is destroyed, however, as the door is opened to a
small converted block in which the refugees are confined day and night.
"What are you are about to see is certainly inhumane and wrong," admitted Kandor
Sadoz, a border guard captain in charge of accommodation. Nearly 200 refugees are crammed
into eight bedrooms designed to hold 50 people. Behind a locked inner door, children are
pressed against the bars, clasping the metal with their fingers. They are watched by
guards armed with wooden batons and canisters of pepper spray. An almost unbearable stench
of urine and faeces from blocked lavatories fills the air.
Most of those held at Gyor are bitter and confused about their fate. Ebie Piveci, 40, had
lived in Germany for eight years, working as a street sweeper and renting his own flat,
before he returned to Kosovo in the autumn to rescue his children from the war. The family
were detained by border police as they crossed into Austria on their way back to Germany,
and were sent over the border to Gyor. "I thought I was safe in Germany. I didn't
expect any problem when I went back," said Piveci, brandishing his German social
security and health cards. "They turned me away and now we are locked up in this
hell. Nobody will tell us what will be happening next. They don't listen to me."
A fellow Kosovo Albanian, Arsim Zojulahu, 20, who says he hid in a forest for weeks after
his village was destroyed, has been detained in the camp for more than 100 days after
trying to cross a field into Austria. "I am counting every hour here," he said.
"I am treated like a criminal." In theory, the "community shelters"
run by the border guards are intended to provide only temporary accommodation. Illegal
immigrants should wait for one or two months while their identity and status are
established. Although many are then returned to their home country, those with a
reasonable case are sent to refugee reception centres - where conditions are appreciably
better - while their applications are considered.
In practice, many, like Zojulahu, are forced to spend far longer in the Gyor camp. After
experiencing the hardship there, they often agree to go home voluntarily. Human rights
groups claim the conditions seen at Gyor are becoming familiar across central and eastern
Europe, as western European countries refuse entry to more and more refugees without
immigration visas. Many are turned back to "safe third countries" such as
Hungary without any attempt to investigate their circumstances. These countries, keen to
curry favour with the European Union, have agreed to accept the refugees despite
hopelessly inadequate resources.
"Many EU countries want Russia to be a safe third country, too," said Saul
Takahashai, a refugee officer for Amnesty International. "The result of all this is
dire for refugees."
It is not only the former communist east where the treatment of refugees is proving
controversial. In Switzerland, one of Europe's richest countries, asylum-seekers are held
in one of five converted underground nuclear bunkers before being transferred to disused
military camps.
United Nations figures suggest 70,000 Albanians from Kosovo have reached western Europe
this year and are applying to settle there. Another 170,000 who have been forced from
their homes are still living in Serbia, raising fears of a fresh influx of refugees.
Those responsible for Gyor and the other Hungarian camps claim they are doing their best
to help the refugees. However, they admit to being overwhelmed. "There is a sort of
reverse Iron Curtain being put up by the West now," said one interior ministry
official.
For the inmates, who claim to suffer harsh treatment from the soldiers in addition to a
poor diet and cramped conditions, conditions are almost intolerable. "To live here is
to be treated like a dog," said Prizvan, 21, a Kosovo Albanian. "I tried to
escape the war and I have ended up in this prison, to be beaten by guards."
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