KOSOVA (Renewed
shooting)
Parts of town besieged - One policeman killed in
Podjeva, Serb sources inform
Podujevė, 21 December (ARTA) 1600CET --
Occasional automatic gunfire was heard in the municipality of Podujevė, starting at
1030CET, as several military vehicles were reported to have entered the road leading to
the village of Dobratin. That villages was almost completely destroyed by the last Serb
offensive conducted in this area. Albanian sources from the ground inform that, shooting
was also heard during the afternoon hours when the population of Dobratin, Bajēinė and
the surrounding villages, fled their homes. The Hospital's neighborhood in Podujevė is
besieged, as the police movements in town are reported to be numerous.
On the other hand, Serb sources inform about the killing of one policeman and the wounding
of one health worker at the Health Station in Podujevė.
OSCE Verifying Mission members arrived in Podujevė, today. Several of them followed the
Serb police convoy that went in the direction of Kėrpimeh and have still not returned.
Meanwhile, large Serb police forces besieged Podujevė in all the streets that connect it
with the surrounding villages, evidencing and maltreating the passers by.Back to top
KOSOVA (OSCE KVM spokesperson's statement)
Grynnet:"The conducted shooting, means the
violation of the agreement"
Prishtina, 21 December (ARTA) 1700CET--
Two incidents have happened today in Podujevė, stated the OSCE KVM spokesman, Jorgen
Grynnet. A policeamn was killed in the first one, while the second incident happened when
the "Yugoslav" Army fired from its tanks against the southeren part of
Podujevė.
"There has been opened fire from tanks and heavy artillery of the
"Yugoslav" Army (VJ) against the trenches which are claimed to have been dug by
KLA.
Grynnet has asserted that, the agreement of October is transgressed in a way by this
incident.The mere fact that shooting were conducted , automatically means violation of the
agreement", he claimed.
Grynnet has asserted that KVM could not do very much in these cases, except report about
them.
Asked what will be the reaction of the verifiers in the cases like the one of today, the
OSCE KVM spokesman answered:
"Unarmed Patrols of the KVM cannot step in front of the tank which is shooting or any
other weapon". But, later on, Grynnet added that, after the complete adjournment of
the information,"we will write a letter of protest to the competent authorities in
Belgrade".
Back to top
Several Albanians arrested by the
Serb police forces
21 December, (ARTA) 1700CET --
Dozens of Albanian families were raided in the neighborhood of the Pejė town, Albanian
sources inform. Large Serb police forces, equipped with APCs and terrain vehicles raided
the "Haxhi Zeka" neighborhood in Pejė, even though OSCE verifiers reside in
this locality.
Albanian sources notified that Serb forces raided every Albanian family in this
neighborhood and physically maltreated dozens of Albanian civilians. There are reports
about several arrested Albanian civilians, of whose whereabouts nothing is known.
Back to top
The Serb police shot at the relatives
of the Gorozhupė victims
Malishevė, 21 December (ARTA) 1800CET --
Local "KD" sources inform that, yesterday at around 1100CET, in the village of
Llozicė, at the Preshevė bridge, the Serb police opened fire in the direction of the 3
vehicles. The vehicles were heading to the funeral of their relatives, killed at the
Kosovė-Albanian border. Witnesses stated, that a "Land Rover" and an armored
transporter fired at the vehicles without any previous provocation, inducing great fear
and panic among the passengers, the "KD" correspondent reports. According to
him, as two of passengers survived, nothing is known about the fate of the third one. The
three of them were going to bury a young Albanian, who was killed along with the group of
35 other Albanians at the bordering belt with Albania. So far, Albanian sources have
issued information about one wounded Albanian, from one of the villages of Suharekė.
Meanwhile, nothing is known on the whereabouts of 5 other persons, who were also
travelling on another vehicle, towards the cemetery of the Drenica martyrs.
Back to top
Residents of Vaganicė spent the
night in the forest
Mitrovicė, 21 December (ARTA) 1820CET --
The Serb police stationed at the Mitrovicė water supply system, fired with automatic
weapons and heavy machine guns in the direction of the villages of Vaganicė, Shipol and
Vėrnicė, the "KD" correspondent in Mitrovicė informs. Fearing that the Serb
police will undertake an eventual attack against these villages, the residents of
Vaganicė were forced to flee their homes and spend the night in the forest nearby.
On the other hand, today at around 1100CET, a convoy of Serb police forces composed of 9
armored trucks, 3 jeeps, 2 terrain vehicles and one "Land Rover", loaded with
Serb policemen, departed from the military barrack in Mitrovicė. Some of them, had masks
on their faces and were dressed in black. After cruising down town, making great noise,
they headed in the direction of Skėnderaj. Other police forces comprised of 4 trucks, 2
terrain vehicles and one "Land Rover", also headed in this direction from
Mitrovicė, at around 1200CET.
Back to top
Ogata: "Milosevic will probably
tell me, the things are not so bad"
Prishtina, 21 December (ARTA) 1630CET --
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, stated on Sunday in Prishtina, that
they are working towards returning the escapees to their homes in Kosova, for a longer
period of time.
"We want to return them into their homes, not only during the Winter, but for a
longer period of time", stated Ogata in the press briefing held after arriving in
Prishtina, on Sunday. This is the third time that the High Commissioner for Refugees
visited Kosova. She was here for the last time in September .
"I came to see how are the returnees doing", said Ogata, who is expected to meet
Zoran Angjelkovic, chairman of the temporary Serb Executive Council, installed in Kosova.
"We are trying to shelter them urgently. I want to see how this goes. I want to know
what are people's main concerns here and we strongly wish that our humanitarian
engagements lead towards peace", said Ogata. On Sunday, she was also expected to meet
with the Head of the OSCE Verifying Mission in Kosova, William Walker.
"One of the reasons, I want to meet the OSCE people is to find out how much are the
people in Kosova ensured protection", said Ogata. "I want to learn about their
viewpoints, so that we could offer a feeling of Security to the people, for as much as we
are able to", said the UN High Commissioner.
Ogata was also expected to have a meeting on Sunday, with the "Koha Ditore"
editor in chief, Veton Surroi. Whereas on Monday, she was scheduled to make a journey to
Malishevė, Prizren and Pejė, before taking off for Belgrade.
"Initially, I want to realize my journey and establish my own viewpoints, which I
would then present to the "Yugoslav" President Milosevic and find out what he
has to say", said Ogata.
On the other hand, asked about what is expected from the meeting with Milosevic,
Commissioner Ogata said: "He will probably say that, things are not so bad. This is
what he said the last time, even though the then circumstances were very bad", said
Ogata. According to her, there is a need for "a clear devotion focused on normalizing
and stabilizing Kosova".
Back to top
Burial of the KLA fighters:
"They don't need mocking words - their deeds make them immortal"
Polac, Kodra e Dėshmorėve, 20 December (ARTA) 1900CET --
The members of 33 families, more than 1,000 soldiers and thousands of villagers gathered
in Polac, for the funeral of the KLA soldiers, killed at the border with Albania, a week
ago. Four trucks filled with coffins, that had travelled for more than 12 hours, to bring
the corpses from Krusha e Madhe, arrived in Polac, at the place called Kodra e
Dėshmorėve (Martyr's Hill).
Slowly, during the afternoon hours, villagers from all sides, flood the region, that was
once known as the Kodra e Kralicės, and it is now named Kodra e Dėshmorėve, in the
honor of the killed soldiers. From this hill, where the valleys around could be seen as in
the hand palm, they will peaceful rest forever.
Waiting for the corpses to arrive, at the top of the hill, two tractors were drawn close
together to improvise a stage, in the background of which was written, "Long live the
KLA" and "Glory to the martyrs".
Along with the families, the KLA soldiers were constantly arriving, taking their positions
along the sides of the hill.
The family members were getting lined up by the stage. United in their pain, they were
comforting each other. Almost each of them was speaking in a different accent - their
relatives were coming from different parts of Kosova. With red eyes and frozen faces, some
of them still had to identify their beloved ones, the majority of whom they did not see
for three months. They were about to see them now.
"I haven't seen him since three months. But, what can I do", said simply an old
man, who was there for his son. "Yes, yes", continued he.
The trucks started arriving at around 1400CET. They were lining up close to one another,
while the KLA soldiers started unloading them.
All the 33 coffins were unloaded on the field. All close to one another. As if they were
placed like they did, all by each other. That's how they were about to be buried.
While the coffins were lining up, the members of their families were slowly approaching,
some of them to see their loved ones once more and the other to confirm their last hope
that it could be the opposite. With the partial opening of the coffins, the family members
started approaching. In the beginning, it was only the men that were slowly approaching
the coffins.
The first coffin was of Luljeta Shala. With her head up, closed eyes and bloody nose she
could not hear the crying of her sister. Luljeta's sister took her ear-ring out of the
corpse as the only dear memory. That should be the only memory from Luljeta whom she has
not seen since two months.
The mother and a sister of another soldier were staying next to his coffin and crying
voiceless.
The mother had not even thought that the lid of the coffin one day would occupy the door
of her house. Bowing on her knees , she waited to give the last salute to her son. His
face was turned towards the place her mother was staying. "O poor me, you remained
without seeing me once again", she screamed.
The members of the KLA General Headquarters, with the spokesman Jakup Krasniqi payed
homage to the corpses.
"In this case were killed more soldiers of ours, than during all those
offensives", an officer claimed with anger.
"We are gathered here to say our last good by to 30 martyrs who died heroically in
their struggle to break the border which divide the Albanian territories", addressed
Gani Koci the crowd which was gathered in front of the coffins already queued in front of
the graves. One minute of homage. Glory to them!.
"Please forgive us about the sorrow, about any eventual tear. It is hard to speak in
these moments, and we do not need mocking words now. You honored Kaēanik, Shtimje,
Anadrin, you honored Has of Gjeēov and together like in the battle, leaded by the
commander Mujė Krasniqi, you are honoring Prekaz, Adem, you are honoring Kosova.We
promise that your blood was not poured in vain", claimed the representative of the
KLA Headquarter of Drenica operative zone, Shaban Shala.
In behalf of the KLA General Headquarters spoke Ramė Buja.
"Our todays meeting here is undesireable, but obligatory, painful but proud. The many
times evidenced killers of the Balkans, multitudinously tolerated and pets of the
international community do not recognize any limit, any human or moral norm, any rule of
peace or war, any signed or non signed agreement. The only rule they obey is-the strength
of the liberation struggle", he claimed at the end of his speech.
A part of the peasants turned back. Many of them had come from Rahovec, Shtimje and
Prizren.
The coffins held by four soldiers each were sent into the graves.
In the darkness of Drenica, the crowd of people, most of them being soldiers, were waiting
the last portions of the soil and flowers to cover the corpses on the graves. Two more
corpses which are still in the morgue are expected to join the "Hill of the
martyrs".
Back to top
KOSOVA (Serb meetings)
Albanians and the international community - Guilty
Fushė Kosovė, 21 December (ARTA) 2100CET--
About 300-400 persons were gathered in front of the Cultural Palace in Fushė-Kosova on
what was supposed to be the Serb rally of the truth. The Serb Interior Minister Vlajko
Stoiljkovic came instead of the Serb President Milutinovic. The rally lasted very short ,
and the President of the Fushė-Kosovė Municipal Assembly, Dobrislav Laziq held the
introductory speech.
"We came into conclusion that, we need to ask security guarantee from the highest
ranking officials of the state.
We, the Kosova Serbs do not have any power without our State Security organs",
claimed initially Laziq.
"We are gathered again in order to secure a freedom and calmness in Kosova, and in
order to break out the fear of our children", he claimed." We are here to
express the revolt for the killings , abductions, tortures and other sorts of organized
crime committed by "Albanian terrorist gangs in Kosova and Metohia", he claimed
further.
"The Terrorists kill, mobilize and get weapons in this country, while their
representatives are still free and in the Albanian press make appeals everyday for
uprising", he claimed speaking about the Kosova Albanian Leaders.
Vlajko Stojilkovic spoke afterwards while the crowd was asking explanations from Laziq why
President Milutinovic did not come. It is a very difficult moment. The President of the
Republic could not come today, Laziq was trying to calm them down.
"How many people still have to die", asked a man from the crowd. After a minute
of silence for the Serb civilian victims and members of the State security, Stojilkovic
claimed:
"The anxiety which has appeared in Fushė Kosova is reasonable the same as the
concern of the citizens in other parts of Kosova, Serbia and Yugoslavia".
"This indicate the persistence of the citizens to protect the fatherland and
establish a new future", claimed Stojilkovic.
"You know that this year we have faced the most extreme form of separatism and
terrorism, and I think we managed to defeat that ", claimed Stojilkovic, while the
crowd responded by whistles.
Someone shouted ironically, "Yes, you have maybe defeated the terrorists in
Dedinje".
Nonetheless, Stojilkovic continued, "We have defeated the terrorists. In the
international plan. They have remained our business", he claimed. Yet, it was evident
that, the crowd was not approving what he was saying.
He described "the terrorists" and their actions for a while.
"Their actions speak for the fascist character of their programs and objectives they
fight for", he claimed.
"We will do everything, we are capable for that, because they are bandits who are
committing crimes i.e the crimes in Pejė and the killing of the Vicepresident Bojaniq
etc".
The crowd was shouting "What is happening with Podujevė".
Stojilkovic also mentioned the duties of the authorities in Kosova.
"Initially we have to secure the border with the Army in order to prevent their
consolidation and re-grouping", he claimed, alluding in KLA.
"Secondly, we need to create conditions so the communication will function
normally", he claimed.
"Another duty of ours is to create a personal security and ensure the properites of
all our citizens, namely the security of our state. Believe me, we will accomplish this.
We count on your support, in the support of our people in fullfilling these goals",
claimed Stojilkovic, although his statement was not being approved.
"I would like to say, that we will organize all these in cooperation with the
representatives of the international community", claimed Stojilkovic. The crowd grew
mad at that point.
Nevertheless Stojilkovic continued further:" According to this Constitution and the
Law, our organs and the members of MUP are independent in accomplishing their duties
determined with the Constitution and Law".
The members of MPB are acting in conformity with the law and professionally as other
police elsewhere in the world", claimed Stojilkovic, at the end of the third protest
of the local Serbs in Fushė Kosova.
Back to top
First Report: Heavy Serbian Troops
Hold Podujeva Under Virtual Siege
Four detonations were heard initially, to be followed by machine-gun fire north of
Podujeva late in the morning; neighborhood in town sealed off
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian military and police troops launched a
large-scale operation in Podujeva area. Serb forces backed up by military equipment,
including tanks, headed from the north-eastern town of Podujeva northwards in the
direction of Kėrpimeh 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 detonations were reportedly heard, to be followed by machine-gun fire, sources in
the area said.
A couple of tanks were said to be on the Podujeva-Kėrpimeh asphalt road, whereas other
tanks had made entry onto the roadway leading to Dobratin.
Serbian police forces have swarmed the Podujeva-Kėrpimeh roadway and the
Podujeva-Letanc roadway. (Letanc is a village adjacent to the town of Podujeva). 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 Podujeva at 11:40 hrs. They were stationed
at the police station at midday.
All roads leading in and out of the town of Podujeva 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 Bajēinė, Dobratin and
the outlying villages half a dozen km north of Podujeva started fleeing their homes in
panic today morning.
Meanwhile, sources in the town of Podujeva 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 Podujeva 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 Podujeva
today. Some of them were said to have followed the Serb convoy in the direction of
Kėrpimeh, to only return back by 11:00 hrs.
A highly explosive situation has been reported in the northeastern municipality of
Podujeva 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 Podujeva and moved back and
forth in the countryside on Sunday.
The Podujeva 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.
Back to top
Updated Report: Serb Police Seals Off Town, Raids Households,
Arrests Albanians
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - The Serb military convoy, including tanks, which headed
earlier in the day towards Kėrpimeh, north of the town of Podujeva, returned to the
Podujeva-Prishtina highway at 13:30 hrs, LDK sources said.
No information about the possible damage caused in the morning crackdown in the area
has been made available by local sources in Podujeva.
Heavy Serb police forces patrolled the streets of the town of Podujeva, hugely
restricting the movement of the Albanian population. Armored vehicles were stationed at
key communications sites. Schoolchildren were prevented from going to schools in some
parts of the town, with police aiming weapons at them.
Serbian police raided the "Te Beli" (Beli's) bakery, smashed it up, and
arrested its proprietors, brothers Xhemajl, Arif, and Blerim Arifi. Later, the police
raided the house of their brother, Samet Arifi, in the town center. The "Xhema
pharm" pharmacy in downtown Podujeva was searched by police, too, LDK sources said.
Later in the day, LDK sources reported that Serb police conducted a sweep for half an
hour, raiding many Albanian households on the "29 Nėntori" street in town.
Members of the Kosova Verification Mission observed the sweep, they added.
Amidst a heavy, intimidating and repressive Serbian police presence in Podujeva,
several Albanian-language schools were closed down today.
The LDK chapter presidency concluded in a meeting in Podujeva today the Serb
military-police crackdown in the area has added further to the already volatile situation.
The LDK organization in Podujeva called on the Kosovar institutions to sensitize the
international community about Serbia's schemes of ethnic cleansing of this part of Kosova.
Back to top
Serb Police and Army Movements in Kosova
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - This past week-end and indeed the entire week saw a stepped
up movement of Serbian military and police forces all over Kosova.
Huge Serb troops went to the Podujeva area over the weekend, and were engaged in a huge
crackdown on the local Albanian population today (Monday).
Heavy Serb troops sealed off entire Peja neighbourhoods, raiding over 100 Albanian
households, arresting and brutalizing scores of people last week.
Military and police forces were deployed today in the village of Planejė of Prizren. A
ubiquitous Serb troop presence is reported along the Kosova-Albanian border in the area,
in the municipality of Prizren. Three dozen Albanians were killed by Serb military in the
area last week. The area has been reportedly mined by Serb troops.
A convoy of Serbian troops involving 7 lorries, 3 jeeps, 2 APCs and a Land Rover, left
Mitrovica for Skenderaj early in the morning today (Monday).
Serb police forces on board three APCs and a Land Rover went to the villages of
Sllatinė and Tarllabuq of Vushtrri Sunday afternoon, causing panic in the Albanian
population
Serb uniformed policemen and armed Serbs in plain clothes have been patrolling the town
of Vushtrri today (Monday), local LDK sources said.
Back to top
Shooting from Serb Positions in Suhareka Sunday Evening
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - A volatile situation has been reported amidst a continued
presence of Serbian forces in the municipality of Suhareka - police in Reshtan, Mohlan and
Grejēec villages, and military in Qafė e Duhlės, Bajrak and the Biraq mountains.
The LDK chapter in Suhareka reported that Serbian police forces opened fire from their
positions from 22 through 24:00 hrs on Sunday. Shooting was reported in the village of
Mushtisht, too.
Serb police stopped cars and searched passers-by in the town of Suhareka today.
LDK sources said Avni Veli Bytyēi (27), resident of Nishor village of Suhareka, was
arrested in Kaēanik while returning home from abroad, where he is a guest-worker.
Back to top
Serb Police Seals Off Another Peja Neighbourhood on Sunday
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian police forces, backed up by armored vehicles
and APCs, sealed off the Haxhi Zeka neighbourhood in the western town of Peja on Sunday,
LDK sources said. All Albanian households in the neighbourhood were raided, and scores of
civilians physically abused.
Two arrested Albanians, Nazmi Shala (22) and Eroll Muhaxheri (23) are being held still
in Serb custody.
The LDK chapter said the health situation of Albanians arrested and brutalized by
police last week in Peja is very bad.
Back to top
Police Shoots at Car, Arrests Albanians in Malisheva Area
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Two Albanians, Zejnullah Sopi (49), a secondary school
teacher in Prizren, and Eshref Muēaj (51), both residents of Prizren, were arrested
yesterday in Mleēan village of Malisheva.
The Albanians were in their car on their way to take part in the funeral of 33
Albanians killed by Serbian troops a week ago when Serb police shot towards their Opel
Vectra car. The car was badly damaged, and the two Albanians arrested. Sopi was taken to
the police station in Klina, whereas Muēaj is suspected to have been seriously injured by
Serb fire, the LDK chapter in Prizren reported.
Meanwhile, LDK sources from Malisheva reported three University of Prishtina students
were arrested on 19 December. They were taken off a bus travelling Prishtina-Peja roadway
at Gjurgjicė near the village of Orllat. The students have been unaccounted for ever
since, the LDK chapter said, failing to give the names of the Albanian students.
Two Albanians, Muhamet Rr. Kastrati (36) and Haxhi L. Kastrati (36), both residents of
Domanek village, were abused physically on 19 December at Pishat e Llazicės in Malisheva
area. They suffered body injuries, LDK sources said.
Back to top
Serbs Sweep Albanian
Stronghold
By ISMET HAJDARI Associated Press Writer
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Serb police carried out a sweep of a Kosovo Albanian
stronghold in retaliation for the killing of one of their officers Monday in escalating
violence that has increased fear of a return to all-out war in the troubled province.
In brief talks with the heads of Yugoslavia's Serb-led army in Belgrade on Monday, NATO's
top commander in Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark, repeated warnings that the alliance might
intervene if fighting between Serb security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels continues,
sources close to the talks said on condition of anonymity.
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic averted threatened NATO airstrikes when he signed a
U.S.-sponsored deal last October, promising an end to the military campaign against
separatists in the overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian province of Serbia.
The government-run Media Center reported a 52-year-old Serb policeman, Milic Jovic, was
killed by unknown assailants in Podujevo, 25 miles north Pristina early Monday. A woman
accompanying Jovic was wounded in the leg, the center said.
Podujevo is an overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian town near central Serbia. Tensions there
have risen in past weeks as local Serbs complained of a growing guerrilla presence and
demanded the government protect them.
The town was sealed off while Serb police brought in reinforcements, said the Kosovo
Information Center, which is close to the ethnic Albanian leadership. Sporadic shooting
could be heard from an area northeast of the town, the center said.
Hysen Fazliu, a spokesman for the main ethnic Albanian party in Podujevo, said the Serbian
forces clashed with the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army and that an unspecified number of
ethnic Albanians had been arrested.
The KLA spokesman in the Podujevo region, Luizim Oraca, said the clash lasted two hours
and that the ``enemy was forced to withdraw, and one of their tanks was destroyed.'' The
report could not be independently confirmed.
Jovic's killing is the latest in a series of setbacks for Kosovo's fragile truce. It is
certain to enrage the Serbs, already furious over last week's killings of six Serb youths
in a Kosovo bar and a prominent Serb official.
The attack on Jovic also heightens fears that violence in Kosovo is moving from the rugged
countryside to the towns.
Several hundred Serbs staged a rally Monday in Kosovo Polje, a few miles west of Pristina,
demanding protection against what they say is increasing danger from the ethnic Albanians.
The crowd booed and jeered as Serbia's Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic declared
``terrorism has been defeated'' and ``only gangs of criminals are left out in the field.''
The previous Serb crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists launched in February
claimed over 1,000 lives and forced some 300,000 people from their homes. The campaign
ended when U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke reached an agreement to defuse the crisis.
Attempts to follow that up with a detailed plan for the province's long-term future have
failed so far. Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, want
independence while Serbia refuses to give up control over its southern province. Serbia is
the main republic of Yugoslavia.
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KIC FEATURE -
Western Aborted 'Credible Threat' Replaced by 'Democratization of Serbia' Mantra
Kosova is a country under Serbian occupation, which should be reversed if a resolution
to the crisis is sought, writes Muhamet HAMITI, the KIC English Section's editor
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - 'Maximum threat for a minimum intervention', a German journalist
defined the Western failing approach to the Kosova situation this past autumn.
Some 450 NATO aircraft were assembled in Aviano, Italy, and elsewhere to produce a
'credible threat', which was a mock threat to Milosevic and his military. "We will
only issue a credible threat, but not carry it out", was the unambiguous message
Western allies were giving the unbending Balkan dictator, Slobodan Milosevic. Between
25,000 and 30,000 Serbian military and police troops were authorized by the West/NATO to
stay in Kosova, which has just over 2 million people, 90 percent of whom ethnic Albanians.
This was hailed as a Serbian troop withdrawal from Kosova, and a huge concession by
Belgrade! Milosevic is closing down independent media outlets because he does not want the
Serbian public to know about the substantial concessions he had made, including the
deployment of an intrusive, unarmed observer mission in Kosova, Ambassador Holbrooke said,
criticizing Milosevic and boasting on his own achievement.
Some 200 American and British aircraft sufficed to produce a four-day strike against Iraq
(Desert Fox Operation), aimed at degrading the weapons capabilities and threats to his
neighbours and the international community posed by Saddam Hussein. A normal threat for a
maximum intervention, one might argue this time.
Slobodan Milosevic occupied Kosova in 1989/90, Saddam Husein occupied Kuwait in 1990. The
Western allies, led by the Americans, launched the Desert Storm to undo Iraqi occupation
of Kuwait in January 1991. They launched the Desert Fox Operation to degrade Iraqi weapons
and military and intelligence command structures.
The military occupation in Kosova continues unchecked for almost a decade. And,
outrageously enough, pains have been taken in the West to define Kosova not as a matter of
Serbian occupation, but rather a matter of Serbia's democratization. Democratization of
Serbia as a remedy to the Kosova issue is the bizarre mantra of the Western approach now.
Western prevarication to act in Kosova, lack of unity of purpose on the part of the
international community, has been off-handedly translated by the Western diplomacy into an
alleged disunity amongst the Albanians of Kosova.
The Kosova Albanians have shown an exemplary unity of purpose in the past decade. They
engaged in a decade-long struggle for a peaceful and democratic implementation of their
wishes, duly "admired" by the West and duly let down by them. The Kosovars want
recognition of their right to self-determination in their bid for an independent homeland,
outside of Serbian rule.
What the West has been cynically asking has been for Kosova Albanians - all the spectrum
from President Ibrahim Rugova to the newly emerged military wing of the independence
struggle (UĒK) - to unite behind an autonomy-within-Serbian rule. This is what the latest
international draft plan for Kosova seems to be about.
The international officials urge unity among Kosova Albanians, an Associated Press (AP)
news story was entitled, referring to a meeting Wolfgang Petritsch, the Austrian
ambassador to Belgrade and EU envoy for Kosova, along with the French ambassador to
neighboring Macedonia, Jacques Huntzinger, and other diplomats of the six-nation Contact
Group had Saturday in Prishtina with
Fehmi Agani, head of the Kosova negotiating team.
Serbian troops out of Kosova, not out of Prishtina hospital, is the solution
"Agani represents Rugova's camp, which has said it will accept broad autonomy within
Serbia", the Associated Press concludes, which, put in the mildest terms, is untrue.
Put in the strongest terms - it is a blatant lie.
President Ibrahim Rugova's camp, just like the opposition camp and the UĒK (the Kosova
Liberation Army), are committed to independence as their ultimate goal. Political parties
in Kosova, those associated with the President of the Republic and others in opposition to
him, have said they would accept an interim solution arrangement for Kosova outside of
Serbia, which does not preclude independence. This is the truth, which even prestigious
world news agencies - operating in Kosova for many long months now - have not come to
learn.
The Contact Group should get better acquainted with the complexity of the Kosova issue and
adopt a more principled stance in search of an interim solution for Kosova, the chief
Kosova negotiator, Fehmi Agani, stressed during the meeting with the Group's
representatives of Saturday.
The failing Western approach to the Kosova, referred to at the outset of this feature
article, is best seen by the incoherent reading by Western officials of the reality of
Kosova and the Serbian regime's behaviour here.
The U.S. KDOM (Kosova Diplomatic Observer Mission) reported the Serbian police
"performed professionally" in a sweep of two villages in Deēan allegedly in
search for those responsible for the killing of six young Serbs in Peja last week.
"Police told KDOM there were no casualties in the operation and that no villagers
were detained except the three arrested", KDOM Daily Report of December 17 said.
In the same report, KDOM said referring to the police huge operation in a Peja Albanian
neighbourhood, four people were arrested.
Scores of Albanians were arrested by Serb forces, using heavy hardware to surround
Albanian neighbourhoods of Kapeshnica and Zatra and raid some 100 households in Kapeshnica
alone late last week, local Albanian sources said, giving the names of those arrested.
(See KIC Daily Reports of the past week).
Ambassador William Walker, the U.S. diplomat heading the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission
(KVM), was quoted as saying to a group of local and foreign media representatives on
Saturday not many police forces in the world use tanks in campaigns to arrest people. He
was apparently referring to the Serb force's pattern of action. (Ambassador Walker himself
was threatened by a drunken armed Serb policeman on Saturday morning in Prishtina. He
slammed the embarrassing Serb police reaction to the incident.)
An outrageous feature of the behaviour of the Serb regime in Kosova was exposed by Harold
Hongju Koh, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.
"I saw Serbian police stationed outside of Pristina Hospital's intensive care
unit", Harold Koh, who visited Prishtina on Friday, said in a statement to the press
that day.
Albanian medical staff still working with the public hospitals and clinics in Prishtina,
now run by the Serb regime, have cried foul in vain for months about the Serb police
presence inside the medical facilities and the outrageous ill-treatment Albanian patients
( routinely referred to as 'terrorists' by Serb police, and sometimes the Serb medial
staff) have received in the hands of Serb police/security.
Remove the police from the hospitals, and everything will be O.K.? No. That would be a
sort of democratization of the Prishtina Hospital, in a sense. "Normal citizens of
Kosovo continue to be treated as military targets", Mr. Koh said Friday. In their
houses, on the streets, everywhere.
Serbian troops out of Kosova, not out of the Prishtina hospital, is the solution to the
problem here.
Serbia cannot be democratized in Kosova. An independent Kosova may pave the way for Serbia
to democratize one day.
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