[ALBSA-Info] Fresh fighting on Kosovo border

[Iris Pilika]

Fresh fighting on Kosovo border

Kostunica's plan for border zone has been praised
February 28, 2001
Web posted at: 1323 GMT


BUJANOVAC, Yugoslavia -- Violence has broken out again in southern Serbia's 
Presevo Valley, with a Serb policeman injured in a clash with ethnic 
Albanian guerrillas.

The incident happened as a NATO-delegation was due to arrive at the nearby 
town of Bujanovac to discuss the crisis in the area with Serbian Deputy 
Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic.

The violence has claimed an estimated 30 lives in southern Serbia over the 
last year.

The latest clashes followed Monday's skirmishes between Macedonian forces 
and armed Albanians near the Macedonia-Kosovo border in the same area.

The Beta news agency said the policeman suffered a knee injury and was taken 
to hospital in the town of Nis.

The fighting took place in a five kilometre (three mile) wide belt around 
Kosovo which NATO imposed in June 1999 as a no-go area for almost all 
Serbian forces.

Serbian police and guerrilla positions are located only 100 to 200 metres 
(yards) from each other in the village of Lucane.

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels earlier this week said they were 
accelerating efforts to assist Serbia in peacefully regaining government 
control of the Presevo Valley.

In another incident near Lucane this month, anti-tank landmines killed three 
Serb police, and the guerrillas said one of their men also was killed.

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson praised a plan by the 
Yugoslav government of President Vojislav Kostunica for resolving the crisis 
in the Presevo Valley.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, meeting with the 18 other allied 
foreign ministers at NATO headquarters, said the message to the ethnic 
Albanians was: "This is not the time to start a new conflict in Europe."

Robertson said the ministers were concerned that the "ground safety zone," 
originally designed to separate NATO-led peacekeeping forces in Kosovo from 
the Serbian army, was being used as "a safe haven for extremist activities."

NATO officials stressed that the Yugoslav army would be allowed to return to 
the zone once the Serbian government implements confidence-building measures 
toward the local ethnic Albanian majority.

A Serbian government spokesman in Bujanovac, Milan Kerkovic, accused ethnic 
Albanian "terrorists" of starting Wednesday's attacks "in order to disrupt 
the peace process.

"This armed action is a clear sign of the terrorists' nervousness as their 
war option loses international support," Kerkovic said.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.


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