| One
Albanian Killed, One Wounded in Shooting Incident in Cafeteria in Mitrovica PRISHTINA, Dec 23 (KIC) - Two Albanians, Lulzim M. Ademi and Naser Q.
Haziri (23), were wounded when an unidentified assailant opened fire in Melisa cafeteria
near the Adriatik hotel in Mitrovica Tuesday evening, the LDK sources in town said
referring to a Serb local radio in Mitrovica. Meanwhile, sources said Naser Haziri died of
wounds today morning in the Prishtina hospital. In the aftermath of the cafeteria shooting
incident, police was stationed in all key positions in town, and Melisa cafeteria was
closed off by Serb forces. Police set up road blocks at the entrances to the town of
Mitrovica, harassing motorists and checking papers of passengers today. Around 20 Serb
armed policemen raided the house of Shemsi F. Balinca in Ibri neighborhood today morning.
Police arrested his family visitor, Daut M. Rrahmani (24), resident of the same
neighborhood. The motive for the arrest was unknown. Late last evening, around 22:00 hrs,
some 15 policemen made entry into Bedro tea-house in Ibri neighborhood and took Nazmi Ku^i
(23) and Faruk Rrahmani (25), who were held in police custody for half an hour. Samir A.
Begu (18), a local cigarette vendor, was physically abused and had 100 DM worth of
cigarettes robbed by police in Mitrovica yesterday .
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Fresh Serb Forces Sent in Kosova from
Serbia
PRISHTINA, Dec 23 (KIC) - Fresh Serb police forces - three
buses, three lorries, two APCs - came in Kosova from Serbia at noon today, LDK sources in
Podujeva said. An hour later a column of three busloads and a lorryload of Serb police as
well as other vehicles headed towards Prishtina, capital of Kosova. A heavy Serb police
presence has been reported in the town of Podujeva today - near the Besiana motel, at
'Qershiat e Llapashtic&s' in the suburbs of town, on the road leading to
Llapashtic& village, as well as near the local brick factory. Police have been
routinely harassing motorists and passers-bye. Serb snipers have been stationed on top of
some houses. Reportedly, they aimed at people and houses in town. A number of Albanian
households (the houses of Kadri Ka^iu, Bejtush Bllaca, Imer Bllaca, Murat Osmani, and Adem
Ajeti) were raided by police yesterday. Part of the roof of the family house of Ramush
Abdullahu in Podujeva was burned yesterday. Police have been staying in it. The houses of
Abdullah Murati, Latif P&rvetica and Abdyl Fejzullahu were damaged by Serb fire. Three
Albanian secondary school students were beaten up by police on the street yesterday, LDK
sources said. Fresh Serbian military forces and hardware went to the Dumosh airfield, east
of the town of Podujeva, yesterday. The now huge forces, which started deploying on
Saturday, have begun digging in there, LDK sources said.
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Serb Police Firing at Shtime Area,
Albanians Arrested
PRISHTINA, Dec 23 (KIC) - Around 16:00 hrs on Tuesday, a huge
column of Serb military forces left Shtime heading for Suhareka, LDK sources said. Just
after this convoy's passage, Serb police with armoured vehicles opened fire on the village
of Belinc. There has been no immediate word on casualties, but damage was reported in the
area. Local Albanian villagers started fleeing their homes in freezing weather conditions,
the LDK said. Serb police forces arrested three Albanians today in Shtime. A number of
Albanian houses were reported raided in town. Police arrested today Dr. Bedri Sadriu, a
physician with the Mother Teresa charity in Shtime, Nazmi Shahini, a local activist with
the LDK in Muzeqin&, and Xhemshir Reshiti, a schoolteacher from Shtime. A number of
Albanians were arrested by police yesterday in the village of Re^ak, the LDK chapter in
Shtime added.
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Two Serb Policemen Wounded in Kosova
Capital, Serb Sources Say
PRISHTINA, Dec 23 (KIC) - The Serbian regime Media Center in
Prishtina said a police car was fired upon Tuesday evening, at 22:00 hrs in Velania
neighborhood of Prishtina. Policeman Miodrag Nesic was seriously wounded, whereas a
colleague of his lightly wounded in the attack, the Center said, adding that the two were
transferred to Belgrade hospital by helicopter.
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(KOSOVA-Killings)
CDHRF: Police executes Jahë Kabashi in the presence
of family members
Prishtina, 23 December (ARTA) 1500CET --
CDHRF in Pejë informs that, on 22 December at around
0600CET, Serb police forces on 25 vehicle, with more than 100 policemen, surrounded the
Kabashi neighborhood in the village of Zahaq, municipality of Pejë. In this case they
raided the houses of Sali, Avdi and Arif Kabashi, states a CDHRF report in Prishtina.
The report states that the police took out from his house, Jahë Kabashi (30), and
executed him in the presence of all the family members. They ordered them not to remove
the body from the place of the execution, until they are back.
According to the CDHRF in Pejë, during these raids, police brutally beat many residents
of this neighborhood and demolished and destroyed the house compounds of all the raided
houses. So far, Avid (44), Shefqet (24), Naim (23), Validate (24) and Bashkim Kabashi
(23), were arrested during the raids. Since large Serb police forces blocked the entire
village, no detailed information were issued, ends the CDHRF report.
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(KOSOVA – testimonies)
"Jaha was shot with bullets, and massacred with
knives afterwards"
Zahaq, 23 December (ARTA) 1600CET--
"Wake up everybody.... police has sieged us", were
the last words which the members of the Kabashi family heard before the shooting. The only
one who saw the entire event from the window was Kumrija, the sister-in-law of Jahë.
"Initially they shot him with two bullets on his arm at 0716CET. He was out of house
to inform us that, police has besieged the suburb. He did not know that the policemen were
almost next to every door", she recalls.
"Two policemen were staying near my house at that time. They pulled out the knives
and headed towards the Jaha's body, which was lying recumbent after the shots. They
incised him with knives and cut his throat ", recalls Kumrija.
Jahë Sali Kabashi, 30 years old was massacred yesterday by the Serb police forces, 10
meters far from his house in Kabash suburb of Zahaq village (Pejë municipality), claim
the witnesses. According to the villagers, about 70-80 policemen have started to siege the
Kabashi suburb at 0430CET on Tuesday. At 0700VET, almost near every window were installed
2-3 police officers, they claim. The others did not know what was happening outside. The
police raided into their houses, destroying and arresting five members of this family. The
arrested are Avid, Shefqet, Naim and Valdet Kabashi who are not released yet.
"I realized that they had killed my son three hours later. When the police withdrew,
I went out in my yard and saw a corpse lying recumbent. I asked myself who that could be.
When I saw that it is Jaha, I did not dare peer on him".
Zahide-the wife of the late Jahë was trying to calm down the children Arlind (6) and
Ariana (3) who had heard the shooting and were crying. Her brother Afrim Hajdari was
killed three months ago in the village of Abri. While sitting in the room receiving the
condolences, she was whispering to her children "Do not fear, these are not
policemen" connoting to the people who were present. The two children were not aware
about what has happened. Little Ariana was crying just because she was seeing the others
crying.
According to the witnesses, police has withdrawn from the village after asking the
arrested persons about the identity of the killed. They left the Kabashi suburb at
1000CET, taking the arrested with them. This family was informed that also Valdet Kabashi
was hospitalized in Prishtina, because the functions of his kidneys were blocked from the
beating. The observers have come afterwards. According to the peasants, they did not
undertake anything special. They just looked the corpse and made some very "simple
questions". A doctor and the investigating judge came in the crime scene to do the
examination afterwards, claim the peasants. The funeral of Jahë Kabashi was done in the
cemetery of Zahaq village, just after 1200CET.
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(KOSOVA – Arrestments)
Serb Police arrested doctor Bedri Sadriu
Shtime, 23 December (ARTA) 1800CET --
The Serb police arrested Bedri Sadriu, a doctor at the CHO
"Mother Theresa" health station, in Shtime. He was arrested on the
Ferizaj-Shtime road, ata round 0900CET, the CHO "Mother Theresa" informs.
The report states that the police arrested Bedri using the pretext that he, as a CHO
"Mother Theresa" activist, had previous contacts with representatives of the
UNICEF, MSF, PDF and other humanitarian organizations that legally act in Kosova.
Bedri, was kept at the police station in Shtime for a while and was then sent to the
notorious police station in Ferizaj, states the report. There is reason to worry, since
many activists and doctors of this association were previously killed and massacred. Such
is the case of dr. Lec Uka, who was arrested maltreated and kidnapped by the Serb police
as well as that of dr. Hafir Shala on whose whereabouts nothing is still known.
In this report, the CHO "Mother Theresa", expresses its indignation about the
arresting of dr. Bed and appeals all the international and humanitarian organizations to
raise their voice to protect the humanitarian workers in Kosova, who are endangering their
lives doing their job.
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(KOSOVA – Trials)
Two more Albanians who were tortured to death also
should have taken the bench of the accused
Prishtina, 23 December (ARTA) 1700CET --
Ylber Topalli and Xhevat Zariqi could barely walk down the
corridor of the District Court in Prishtina, while the guardians were bringing them to the
black bench. Ylber, Xhevat and 24 other Albanians are accused based on article 139, in
conjunction with article 125 - "a crime that caused death or endangered somebody's
life, or was followed with large scale destruction" in conjunction with
"terrorism".
Ylber had a broken leg, after a previous jumping from the fourth floor to escape from the
police's hands.
Whereas, two guardians were holding Xhavit by his shoulders, since he, with a banded head,
could hardly catch up with the guardian's quick tempo.
Cen Dugolli and Rexhep Bislimi, who according to the defensive attorneys, were also
planned to be present in this group, are now not found among the living. They died from
the tortures they received during the police investigation. According to the information
of the human rights' NGOs, Xhevat and Ylber, received their injuries as a result of the
police tortures in prison and at the police station.
Topalli, Zariqi and seven other accused, went before the jury of five, presided by the
judge Zdravkovic, only to give their personal data, since the trial was postponed by the
request of the authorized defence attorneys. The reason of the delay of the trial was that
"the accusation was not handed over in Albanian and there was not enough time to
prepare the defense".
The defense attorney, Rexhep Haxhimusa, said that the attorneys were not allowed to speak
with their clients until 15 days ago. Also after that they could not converaset with their
clients for more than five minutes. Therefore they could not prepare properly the defense
of the indicted.
"At the Gjilan Prison, we were not allowed to have a free conversation with the
accused. We were allowed the same visits as the family members", told he to the judge
Zdravkovic, when requesting the postponement of today's trial.
Whereas, the attorney from Prishtina, Bajram Kelmendi, said the practice of not allowing
the attorneys to talk freely with their clients is exercised not only in the Gjilan
prison. Hence, judge Zdravkovic stated that the accused will continue their detention at
the District prison in Prishtina.
Besides Zhevat Zariqi and Ylber Topalli, the Serb run Court, has also pressed charges
against Enver Topalli (1959), Sylejman Bytyçi (1952), Besim Zymberi (1968), Skënder
Ferizi (1968), Agim Reçica (1963), Ahmet Hoxha (1945), Haxhi Bytyçi (1964), who were
present in the court room today. While, Ismet Sadiku (1941), Xhabir Morina (1959), Hilmi
Reçica (1961), Shaban Viça (1959), Emrush Xhemajli (1959), Hajdin Abazi (1959), Sami
Hajrullahu (1964), Milaim Jashari (1948), Imri Ilazi (1963), Xhavit Gashi (1951), Qamil
Xhemajli (1963), Avdurrahman Oruçi (1950), Sinan Azemi (1963), Ekrem Jashari (1951),
Bashkim Reçica (1969), Mentor Morina (1965) and Remzi Azemi (1961), are about to be tried
in absence.
Otherwise, this is the second time, during the past two weeks, in the District Court in
Prishtina, that the trial of the Albanians is postponed because the accusation is not in
Albanian.
The accused that are under arrest have authorized Albanian attorneys, while those that are
tried in absence were arranged by the government to have Serb attorneys.
In the previous trial in this court, the last word was orally uttered only by the attorney
Çedomir Nikolic. Whereas, the other Serb attorneys expressed their ignorance by handing
over the defense in written, without presenting it orally.
Michael Pedersen from the OSCE was present in the court room, and the Fund for the
Humanitarian Rights one of its activists to defend Sylejman Bytyçi, Xhavit Zariqi and
Ylber Topalli.
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(KOSOVA - viewpoints & analyses)
Doubtfully something bad will happen in Kosova -
Analysis
Vienna, 23 December (ARTA) 1700CET--
How will Kosova spend the days of Christmas and New Year?
This is a question which is most frequently asked by the Albanians, because they know
that, the feast does not drag out of the poverty which has overwhelmed the entire Kosova,
as a consequence of the severe Serb violence exercised during the past eight months of
this year. The OSCE verifiers in Kosova are mostly concerned with this issue, and it seems
that their steering board has already prepared the SOS callsign for rescue.
The recent reports of the KDOM and KVM express the fear that, "something significant
is expected to happen in the days between Christmas and New Year in Kosova". This
suspicion became even more distinguished after the last visit in Belgrade of Wesley
Clark-commander of NATO forces for Europe.
Various sources have reported that Clark has warned the Serb Generals that, the
"Yugoslav" Army has recently increased the number of its troops in Kosova and
such a behavior cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, sources close to OSCE Headquarters
in Vienna declared for "KD" that, NATO possesses almost (100%) information that,
Milosevic is prepared to attack KLA in the period between the feasts, hoping that with
"flash" actions could destroy it.
Milosevic and some other Western diplomats (who are fed up with coming and going from
Belgrade to Prishtina and viceversa) think that, another attack against KLA could advance
the negotiating process for the future status of Kosova.
"It seems that Milosevic has received again a signal similar with the one of previous
summer, when the Western leader were sunbathing, while Serb forces were burning Albanians
and their houses", claimed an anonymous diplomat. If such a thing happens, then there
is no doubt that we will see Gelbard or Holbrooke going again at Milosevic and handing him
the already known message: "You are not allowed to do this again". Accordingly,
Milosevic will again remain intacted.
Besides this fear of the experienced diplomats, the others think that, things in Kosova
are not that bad. For instance, the Austrian Ambassador in Belgrade, Wolfgang Petritsch
thinks that, the political solution of Kosova problem is not very far to be achieved. In
an interview of the Viennese daily, "Courier" of Wednesday, the Austrian
Ambassador stated that both sides in the conflict (Serb KLA forces) have understood that
the problem cannot be solved on military way.
Petritsch claimed that, the last two projects of the American mediator, Christopher Hill
are relevant projects for achieving a compromise solution about the interim status of
Kosova.
"Both of these projects should serve as a ground for direct or indirect negotiations
about an agreement similar with Dayton one", claims Petritsch. Concerning the
negotiating team of Rugova, the EU mediator claims that this group should be extended with
the representatives of the major political parties, "including the KLA".
The same as his colleagues, Petritsch claims that, the situation in Kosova has enter a new
phase of tensions." It is a great danger that the fragile cease-fire will collapse.
The Serb protests which ensued after the killings of Serb youngsters in Pej imply very
dangerous trends", claimed Austrian Ambassador Petritsch in the interview for
Viennese daily "Courier".
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U.S. Accuses Serbs Of Dangerous
Provocations
03:40 p.m Dec 23, 1998 Eastern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States Wednesday accused
Serbian forces of ``dangerous provocation'' by returning to the troubled province of
Kosova and deploying in the field troops who should stay in barracks.
State Department spokesman James Rubin also cited three other complaints against the
Belgrade authorities, and three against the separatist Kosova Liberation Army (KLA).
``We have seen indications that some of the security personnel withdrawn from Kosova in
October have returned, and military and police units that should be in garrison are
deployed in the field. This constitutes a dangerous provocation,'' Rubin said in a
statement.
Under an agreement between U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke and Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic in October, the Serbs called off an offensive against the KLA, withdrew some of
their forces from the province and pulled others back to barracks.
The Serbs and the KLA have generally observed a cease-fire since the agreement but a
series of violent incidents in the last week have brought new tensions.
Rubin noted that the United States has condemned three killings linked to the KLA but
added that Washington was concerned at what he called ``the disproportionate and
heavy-handed response of the security services''.
``A large-scale crackdown against the civilian population of Kosova would do nothing to
improve the security situation and could spark of cycle of violence that would seriously
undermine the cease-fire agreement,'' he added.
``The United States reiterates its call on the Serbian security forces in Kosova and on
the KLA to exercise restraint, even in the face of provocation,'' he said.
The State Department's other complaints were that the Belgrade authorities have threatened
to close down some Albanian-language newspapers and magazines and have refused to
cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which wants
to do investigations in Kosova.
Wednesday NATO chiefs also urged the KLA and Serb forces to restrain from violence.
The KLA meanwhile issued an ultimatum to Serb forces to withdraw from parts of the
volatile province.
The Commander of Allied NATO forces for Europe, General Wesley Clark, demanded an end to
clashes in Kosova and attacked Belgrade over ``increasingly aggressive Serb military and
police activities''.
``There has been an escalation of violence in Kosova. The international community is very
concerned. We are watching the situation very closely,'' Clark said in the Macedonian
capital Skopje after meeting Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski.
Some 2,000 people died in the Kosova conflict this year and a quarter of a million were
driven from their homes before Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw,
under threat of NATO air strikes against his forces.
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NATO Chiefs Urge Restraint In
Violence-Hit Kosova
12:11 a.m. Dec 24, 1998 Eastern, By Adrian Dascalu
Prishtina, Serbia (Reuters) - NATO chiefs urged the Kosova
Liberation Army (KLA) and Serb forces Wednesday to restrain from violence as the KLA
issued an ultimatum to Serb forces to withdraw from parts of the volatile province.
The Commander of Allied NATO forces for Europe, General Wesley Clark, demanded an end to
recent clashes in Kosova and attacked Belgrade over ``increasingly aggressive Serb
military and police activities.''
``There has been an escalation of violence in Kosova. The international community is very
concerned. We are watching the situation very closely,'' Clark said in the Macedonian
capital Skopje after meeting Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said NATO remained ``fully vigilant and
ready to act,'' if necessary. He called on the two sides not to use the coming Christmas
and New Year period to launch new attacks.
``This is a matter of grave concern and we are calling on all parties, including the
Albanian parties, to restrain from violence,'' Clark said.
The statements came amid new reports of violence in Kosova, where a two-month-old truce
secured under by the threat of NATO air strikes against Serbia shattered last week.
The Serb-run Media Center said an ethnic Albanian was killed in the mining town of
Kosovska Mitrovica and two policemen were wounded during an exchange of fire with KLA
gunmen in the Kosova capital Prishtina late Tuesday.
The latest violence broke out last week when Yugoslav troops clashed with guerrillas
trying to smuggle weapons into Kosova from Albania, killing 36 of them.
Seven Serb civilians have since been killed by gunmen, prompting outrage among the
minority Serb population of the province, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian.
Some 2,000 people died in the Kosova conflict this year and a quarter of a million were
driven from their homes before Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic agreed to withdraw
combat forces from the province to avert the air strike threat.
The KLA meanwhile issued an ultimatum demanding military police withdraw from western and
southwestern Kosova.
``We inform you and we guarantee that if they (Serb police) do not withdraw they will be
attacked by our patrols,'' said a KLA statement, addressed to international verifiers in
Kosova.
The KLA urged the verifiers to help get police removed from checkpoints on roads linking
several towns in the region, including Malisevo, Decane, Mitrovica, and Prizren.
``We are aware of the KLA's demands. But, for the time being, we have no comment,'' an
official from the Kosova Verification Mission (KVM) told Reuters in Prishtina.
The head of the OSCE's KVM, Ambassador William Walker, said he was very concerned over the
fate of the hundreds of unarmed verifiers in Kosova because Belgrade, he said, had failed
to fully ensure their security as promised.
Walker also expressed discontent over the failure of both Belgrade and KLA to comply with
their initial commitment to observe the October cease-fire.
``Most of the demands and requests addressed by the OSCE to Belgrade officials received a
negative response, Walker told the independent Belgrade radio station B92.
He said the KLA was acting provocatively and giving the Serb authorities an excuse to step
up pressure.
``The government has responded to KLA provocations and violence and this reaction has been
very strong,'' he said.
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Kosova guerrillas issue ultimatum to
Serb police
09:44 a.m. Dec 23, 1998 Eastern
PrishtinA, Serbia, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Kosova Liberation
Army (KLA) on Wednesday demanded that Serbian police withdraw from northern Kosova and a
senior diplomat voiced concern over the security of international observers in the
province.
``We inform you and we guarantee that if they (police) do not withdraw, they will be
attacked by our patrols,'' the KLA said in a statement carried by local newspapers.
The statement came amid reports of fresh violence in the Kosova, where around 2,000 people
have been killed this year in fighting between security forces and guerrillas fighting to
split the overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian province from Serbia.
William Walker, head of the OSCE verifying mission in Kosova, expressed discontent over
the way both Serbian authorities and the KLA had failed to comply with commitments made in
October to observe a ceasefire.
The Serb-run Media Centre said an ethnic Albanian was killed in the mining town of
Kosovska Mitrovica and two policemen were wounded during an exchange of fire with KLA
guerrillas in the Kosova capital Prishtina late on Tuesday.
Walker, who heads the Kosova Verification Mission run by the Organanisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, voiced concern for the fate of verifiers. The government in
Belgrade, he said, had apparently failed to fully ensure their security.
``Most of the demands and requests addressed by the OSCE to Belgrade officials received a
negative response,'' Walker told independent B92 radio.
He said the KLA was ``acting provocatively and giving the (Serb) authorities an excuse to
step up pressure.
``The government has responded to KLA provocations and violence and this reaction has been
very strong.''
The KLA statement urged OSCE verifiers to cooperate in having Serbian police removed from
checkpoints on roads linking several important towns in the region, including Malisevo,
Decani, Mitrovica and Prizren.
``We are aware of the KLA's demands. But, for the time being, we have no comment,'' an
official from the Kosova Verifiation Mission told Reuters in Prishtina.
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Serbs said to target Albanian
doctors in Kosova
01:31 p.m Dec 23, 1998 Eastern, By Leslie Gevirtz
BOSTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Boston-based Physicians for Human
Rights on Wednesday accused Serbian forces of systematically killing, torturing and
abusing Albanian doctors and their patients in Kosova.
In a letter to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, the group asked him to put an end to
the abuses.
``Attacks on health facilities, doctors and their patients are war crimes,'' said Dr.
Jennifer Leaning, a Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) researcher who helped conduct a
three-month study into beatings and deaths.
Albanian doctors ``have been harassed and hunted in a campaign that disregards norms of
medical neutrality,'' she said, adding: ``We feel the pattern of abuse has to be one at
least countenanced and probably directed at the highest levels in Belgrade.''
The PHR researchers interviewed more than 100 medical colleagues in Kosova from October to
early December and their formal report, expected in early January, will detail alleged war
crimes committed by Serb forces against Albanian doctors and their patients.
Some 2,000 people have died this year in Kosova, a province of Serbia with an ethnic
Albanian majority. The separatist Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) is fighting Belgrade's rule
of the territory.
PHR said that in back-rooms of Albanian-owned stores, its researchers interviewed doctors
who reported they were beaten and tortured and forced to sign confessions that they
treated wounded KLA supporters.
The physicians were then charged with terrorism themselves and sentenced, PHR said.
Serb police have seized medical supplies, destroyed clinics, and razed the doctors' homes,
PHR said, adding there was ``a pattern of abuse of dozens of ethnic Albanian patients in
state-controlled, Serbian-run hospitals.''
``We hope Milosevic will act. There is still the pretense of the rule of law still present
in Kosova,'' Leaning said.
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NATO Calls For End To Kosova
Violence
11:16 a.m. Dec 23, 1998 Eastern
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana
Wednesday demanded an end to an upsurge of violence in the troubled Serbian province of
Kosova, saying the Western military alliance was ready to act.
``I am deeply concerned by the current security situation in Kosova. Violent incidents
over the last few days have again led to loss of life and pose a grave risk to the
cease-fire,'' Solana told reporters.
He urged Yugoslav authorities and ethnic Albanian guerrillas to ``cease all acts of
intimidation, provocation and violence and to take immediate steps to defuse the current
tensions in Kosova.''
About 2,000 people have died in the Kosova conflict so far this year. A further 250,000
people were driven from their homes before a NATO threat of air strikes against Yugoslavia
in October helped bring about a cease-fire in the southern Yugoslav province.
The shaky cease-fire was shattered last week when Yugoslav troops clashed with guerrillas
trying to smuggle weapons into Kosova from Albania, killing 36 of them.
At least seven Serb civilians have since been killed by gunmen, prompting outrage among
the minority Serb population of the province, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian.
Solana said NATO remained ``fully vigilant and ready to act.''
He warned both the Yugoslav authorities and ethnic Albanian guerrillas ``not to try to use
the Christmas and New Year period to launch attacks or to conduct operations which would
undermine the fragile security situation in Kosova and further jeopardize the prospects
for a peaceful solution.''
Solana's comments followed a visit to Belgrade this week by Wesley Clark, NATO Supreme
Allied Commander, Europe. Clark held talks with Yugoslav military chiefs Monday but no
details were released
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Thursday December 24, 2:39 AM
Stolen UN tanks used to destroy
Albanian homes in Kosova?
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23 (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan on
Wednesday informed the UN Security Council that Belgrade may have used stolen Dutch tanks
to destroy the homes of ethnic Albanians in Kosova. Annan wrote to the 15-member council
providing details of an investigation, stemming from the televised incidents in March,
saying that "it has proved impossible to resolve this issue in a satisfactory
manner," in the wake of Yugoslav denials.
He said Dutch military experts, who had watched BBC footage of what appeared to be Serbian
armoured personnel carriers destroying the houses, recognised the two YPR-765-type APCs as
having belonged to the Dutch battalion with UN forces in Bosnia.
The Dutch vehicles were stolen by the Bosnian Serb army in the Bosnian Moslem enclave of
Srebrenica in July 1995.
Asked for an explanation, Yugoslav authorities responded in a letter in June that such an
APC "does not belong to the armaments and equipment of the Army of Yugoslavia, and
any linkage between it and our army is malicious."
Belgrade also denied that such vehicles were used by the Serbian police fighting the
ethnic Albanian separatists in the Serbian province.
The United Nations then sought further clarifications from the Netherlands, which replied
in August that the television footage proved that "the FRY (Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia) used Dutch YPRs-765 in Kosova."
Annan said that the Yugoslav mission to the United Nations informed UN officials in
October that "the competent Yugoslav authorities had carried out an investigation and
established that the said vehicles were not in the territory of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia."
"The Yugoslav side considered the matter closed, and all future inquiries in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia unwarranted."
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Wednesday December 23, 12:44 AM
Kosova rebels ready for negotiations
DRAGOBIL, Yugoslavia, Dec 22 (AFP) - The rebel Kosova
Liberation Army (KLA) is ready to negotiate with Belgrade, a spokesman for the group said
Tuesday after talks in central Kosova with a US State Department official. "KLA is
ready for negotiations and we expect to be included into the negotiating process"
over the future of Kosova," Jakup Krasniqi, the KLA representative, said after three
hours of talks with State Department official Laurence Rossin.
The talks were held in the local offices of the Kosova Diplomatic Observing mission (KDOM)
in Dragobilje, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of the provincial capital
Prishtina.
Rossin, who was accompanied by the head of the US branch of KDOM Shaun Byrnes, gave no
statement to reporters.
"We are not against, but for the negotiations. KLA unilaterally proclaimed restraint
from actions to give a chance to the political solution, if such is possible after
everything that has happened in Kosova," Krasniqi said.
The KLA has not joined Kosova Albanian negotiating team for talks with Belgrade, nominated
by moderate Kosovar leader Ibrahim Rugova, whom the rebels deny the right to represent
them.
US mediator Christopher Hill is trying to get Belgrade and the divided Kosova Albanians to
agree to a political settlement that would allow Kosova greater autonomy, but not
independence.
The KLA has "distanced itself from all violent acts against civilians," Krasniqi
said, referring to Belgrade's accusations that the rebels carried out a series of deadly
attacks on Serb targets.
"We are not dealing with civilians. Our policy and strategy are clear -- struggle for
freedom and independence of Kosova," Krasniqi said.
Since mid-December, violence has erupted again in Kosova, with at least 50 people, among
them 36 KLA rebels at the border with Albania and six Serb civilians were killed in last
ten days.
Meanwhile in Prishtina, KLA political representative Adem Demaci told reporters that the
meeting in Dragobilje was aimed at examining ways to avoid a degradation of the situation
in the province.
The talks also focused on ways to "stabilise the fragile peace" in Kosova in
place since an October ceasefire.
And KLA threatened Tuesday to attack Serbian police unless they withdraw from main roads
in the center of the troubled province, its statement said.
The statement came as the Serb-run information centre in Prishtina announced that a rebel
had been killed and six others were arrested by Serbian police in a village near the
western Kosova town Pec Tuesday.
Jaho Kabasi, 31 was killed in a clash with Serbian police in the village Zahac, near Pec,
the center said, quoting judicial officials.
He died when police returned fire on a rebel group who attacked them during a search of
the village, the center said, adding that six rebels were arrested.
The KLA rebels, in a statement distributed to reporters in Prishtina, demanded that the
international community "end police patrols and movements on the roads
Glogovac-Srbica, Srbica-Klina, Malisevo-Kijevo, Malisevo-Dulje and
Malisevo-Orahovac".
The roads in question connect various KLA strongholds in the center of volatile province.
"KLA will attack the police if they do not pull out from these roads. The occupiers'
police force is undesirable in territories where its units have committed massacres,
murders, destruction and looting," the statement said.
The rebel statement came as the Serb-run information centre here announced that an ethnic
Albanian rebel had been killed and six others were arrested by Serbian police in a village
near the western Kosova town Pec Tuesday.
After a US-brokered ceasefire in October, KLA units returned to most of the strongholds
they had controlled before a Serbian security forces crackdown in summer.
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Wednesday December 23, 8:25 PM
Increase of "aggressive" Belgrade
activities in Kosova: NATO
SKOPJE, Dec 23 (AFP) - NATO commander Wesley Clark on
Wednesday condemned "increasingly aggressive" military and police activity by
Belgrade in its troubled province of Kosova and called all parties to the conflict to
"refrain from violence." "There has been an escalation of violence
there," Clark said. adding that "the international community is very
concerned."
Since mid-December, violence has flared again in Kosova, with Yugoslav army troops killing
36 Kosova Albanian rebels at the border with Albania and rebels stepping up their attacks
on Serb targets.
"We are seeing increasingly aggressive Serb military and police activities that are
not in conformity with the promises made by the government of Yugoslavia," the NATO
Supreme Allied Commander in Europe told reporters.
Under the threat of air strikes on Belgrade targets, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
withdrew some of the security forces as agreed with US special envoy Richard Holbrooke on
October 13.
But after series of deadly attacks by pro-independence rebels of the Kosova Liberation
Army (KLA) on Serb police, various sources reported an increased security presence in
several areas of the province.
Clark, who met Monday with the Yugoslav army chief of staff in Belgrade to discuss
"technical issues" linked to NATO's aerial verification mission in Kosova,
warned that Belgrade must comply with its undertakings.
"I reviewed their acts in compliance and told them they must comply with the promises
they made in writing to NATO," Clark said.
"We are calling on all parties, including Albanian parties, to refrain from
violence," Clark said after meeting in Skopje with Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco
Georgijevski.
Some 2,000 civilian verifiers of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) are monitoring the truce brokered between Serb forces and the majority ethnic
Albanian population in the strife-torn province.
They are protected by a 1,800 soldiers of the NATO rapid intervention force based in
Macedonia which borders Kosova.
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