Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-05-11

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Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] TERRORISTS KILL A FELLOW COUNTRYMAN

[02] PETER BROCK ON FRAUDS IN MEDIA AND REPORTS ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

[03] POLITIKA: CLINTON DOES NOT QUESTION SERBIA'S INTEGRITY

[04] GONZALEZ WELCOME, BUT NOT AS MEDIATOR FOR KOSMET

[05] IMPETUS TO YUGOSLAV-CHINESE COOPERATION

[06] CROATIA AGAIN PRESSED OVER ISSUE OF RETURN OF REFUGEES

[07] EUROPE CONCERNED OVER THE SITUATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

[08] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL SAYS CROATIA AND BOSNIA FAIL TO MEET COMMITMENTS

[09] MIHAILOVIC ON WAYS TO RESOLVE THE SUCCESSION ISSUE

[10] NENAD DJOKIC APPOINTED YUGOSLAV MINISTER

[11] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC'S MESSAGE OF FELICITATIONS ON THE OCCASION OF V- DAY

[12] MACEDONIA IS AGAINST NEW ANTI-YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS

[13] PLAVSIC DESCRIBES INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO AS ABSOLUTE TERRORISM

[14] FOREIGN MINISTER PRIMAKOV ON DIFFERENCES OVER KOSMET

[15] RUSSIA RESOLUTELY OPPOSES SANCTIONS AND FORCE AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

[16] U.S. STAND: YUGOSLAVIA'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY MUST BE PRESERVED

[17] PRIMAKOV: OSCE MISSION WOULD NOT GO AGAINST SERBS' STANCE ON KOSMET

[18] TERRORISTS KILL ANOTHER POLICEMAN

[19] POLICE IDENTIFY TERRORIST KILLED IN A WEDNESDAY SHOOTOUT

[20] TERRORIST ATTACK SERBS IN A VILLAGE NEAR VITINA

[21] TERRORIST ATTACKED A POLICE PATROL

[22] LAST SERB FAMILY HAS BEEN FORCED TO LEAVE

[23] FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC RECEIVED U.S. DELEGATION

[24] EXPLOSIVE DEVICE GOES OFF IN PEC

[25] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED U.S. DELEGATION

[26] THREE POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

[27] POLICE OFFICER INJURED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

[28] TWO POLICEMEN LIGHTLY WOUNDED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

[29] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC LAID A WREATH ON THE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

[30] TERRORISTS THROW TWO BOMBS ON PROPERTY OF ETHNIC ALBANIANS

[01] TERRORISTS KILL A FELLOW COUNTRYMAN

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Ethnic Albanian terrorists seized Ahmet Taci, an ethnic Albanian, from his house in Klina on Saturday night, and then killed him by the road linking Pec and Pristina, police sources said on Sunday. Police are investigating the murder.

[02] PETER BROCK ON FRAUDS IN MEDIA AND REPORTS ABOUT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Editor-in-chief of the "Real Washington" newspaper Peter Brock spoke in an extensive interview to Tanjug about frauds in media and reports about Kosovo and Metohija. Brock mentioned many inconsistencies in U.S. internal and foreign political policies. He had published in the "Foreign Policy" newspaper an analysis of western media reports from the former Yugoslavia in 1994 that gave rise to a lot of polemic. Brock used facts to refute many reports about fabricated events or distorted and biased reports on the grounds of which many important political decisions detrimental to the Serbs had been reached. Many reports that covered events about the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the secessionist activities of some its republics had been represented as either black or white, said Brock. This aroused my suspicion, he said. I became curious, when war broke out in Slovenia, Croatia, and then in Bosnia, and I began to make categorical analyses to cover different events, on radio and other media. I became convinced of deviations when I compared these reports with reports of daily life in Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Croatia. And they definitely showed that there was a pattern in the biased reporting. I wanted to write about this and I wrote an analysis on foreign policy, said Brock.

Comparing world media reports between 1992-94 and current reports about Kosovo and Metohija, Brock said he believed that reports about events in the province were not as aggressive, which meant that media have realized they had exaggerated. News reports about Kosovo are not as hysterical as they used to be, said Brock. However, they are still not objective, he said. There is only one side you can read about in the U.S. press, regarding the matter of Kosovo.

Brock said Kosovo was important to U.S. interests, above all because of the message Washington was sending to the Muslim world. This is of the greatest importance from the point of the administration and American media, he said. In that sense, Kosovo has the same significance as Bosnia, said Brock. Asked about the U.S. interests in the Balkans, in Kosovo, Brock said he thought the American policy aimed to continue to reduce Serbia to a fragile, split-up entity that could be easily controlled. Serbia is still resisting, it is defiant. The Serbs have not been broken, they do not fulfil the demands of the West whatever they are, said Brock. I became so interested in this that I formed an opinion that the reason why the Balkans were attracting so much attention lay in the newly discovered oil fields and mineral resources in southern and central Asia. Some powers decided that they belonged to the west, the United States, Western Europe. We know we cannot rely on oil resources in the Middle East and Arab countries. I think that some of the key routes for transportation go through the Balkans, said Brock and underscored the importance of the Danube in transportation.

Asked about the insistence on mediation in a Serbo-Albanian dialogue, Brock said as he understood it, Serbia first responded to the demands for dialogue. Asked about the image U.S. media were creating about Kosovo and Metohija, Brock said people who suffered were shown, street protests, slogans written in perfect English in the (Kosovo capital) Pristina. It is obvious these people knew they would be acting for the media. They had interesting slogans in English. Obviously they did not expect to affect local leaders, but world media, he said. Brock said Americans saw Kosovo as another problem in some European banana republic.

[03] POLITIKA: CLINTON DOES NOT QUESTION SERBIA'S INTEGRITY

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

U.S. President Bill Clinton does not question Serbia's integrity, the Belgrade daily "Politika" said on Saturday. In a commentary on the recent speech by the U.S. President following talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, "Politika" indicated the new way in which Clinton specified Washington's stand on Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija. Urging some form of greater autonomy, Clinton did not question Serbia's integrity. The autonomy of Kosovo is within Serbia, the U.S. President said. Clinton said, reviewing the problem of this province, that Kosovo was a legitimate part of Serb lands, a great part of this territory. That is a part of Serbia where 90% of the population are ethnic Albanians who want some form of autonomy and wish to have their legitimate demands met. On the other hand, Serbs do not wish to relinquish a great part of their territory, which they consider and which legally is part of their territory, he said. Clinton said it was therefore evident that the sides should sit down and hold talks on how to express the legitimate aspirations of Kosovo Albanians, giving them a certain level of self-administration and independence in decision- making within Serbia. Clinton made no mention of possible foreign mediators in such talks. He expressed optimism regarding the outcome of such a dialogue. Threats and sabre-rattling should be avoided as there are some fifty ways of achieving autonomy within Serbia for Kosovo in a humane and legitimate way, he said, adding there was no need for lives to be lost to achieve this. Italian Prime Minister Prodi agreed with Clinton, but pointed out another, a very dangerous fact, that arms were being smuggling into Kosovo from Albania, said "Politika". Prodi said there was the problem of how to protect the border in order to put a speedy stop to arms smuggling across this border. He said the protection of borders in itself became dangerous in such a situation, since the troops sent to defend it were potential hostages, said the daily.

Like Clinton, Prodi said no solution was ruled out and that they were making efforts to arrive at a peaceful settlement. The two statesmen reached a high degree of accord on ways to resolve the Kosmet issue, but it is noticeable that Clinton and his envoy Robert Gelbard speak different languages on this issue, "Politika" said. The U.S. presidential special envoy for the Balkans and secretary for the implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords addressed the senate foreign relations subcommittee, placing emphasis on punitive measures against Belgrade (evidently giving no importance to his president's view on the essential need for dialogue and the existence of 50 different ways to find a way out of the Kosmet crisis), said "Politika". Namely, while Clinton spoke about Kosovo as an autonomy within Serbia, Gelbard told the Senate that he strongly supported an enhanced status of Kosovo within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Finally, Gelbard is now speaking about the existence of an alleged liberation army of Kosovo, which he had until recently referred to as a terrorist organization, said "Politika" in its commentary.

[04] GONZALEZ WELCOME, BUT NOT AS MEDIATOR FOR KOSMET

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Former Spanish Prime Minister and special representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (E.U.) Felipe Gonzalez is always welcome in our country if his mission is in connection with the promotion of relations between Yugoslavia, the OSCE, E.U. and other important international organizations, well- informed diplomatic circles said in Belgrade on Friday. However, our country cannot accept Gonzalez, or any other figure as a mediator in the talks offered by the Serbia Government to ethnic Albanian political leaders in Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet), the sources said. This is the principled stand that a solution to all issues on Kosmet can be found only within Serbia, as Kosmet has always been and is today part of Serbia as a state. This stand, on which there is full unity among the top political leadership and all relevant political factors of Yugoslavia and Serbia, won the support of the vast majority of Serbian citizens at a recent referendum. It should be pointed out that the Serbian Government sent a public invitation to political representatives of Kosmet Albanians to start unconditional dialogue on all outstanding issues in the provincial town of Pristina on May 12. It is very important that a draft temporary statuary decision for Kosmet and a draft law on local self-administration will be considered at this time, as Government delegation head Ratko Markovic has announced. Both documents are based on top European standards, OSCE principles and Council of Europe conventions. The only way to establish unconditional dialogue, which the Serbian Government urges consistently and duly, is to do this through the fulfilment of several key conditions. Dialogue can start after an end to all pressures and measures against Yugoslavia and Serbia undertaken by certain world centres of power, because Serbia has definitely demonstrated its readiness to resolve all outstanding issues in Kosmet through dialogue and agreement with all the principles of the United Nations Charter, the OSCE Closing Document, and Council of Europe standards.

Moreover, it is necessary to have a direct and public condemnation of terrorism which is stoked and used by separatist leaders in Kosmet to realize their programme of secession. Separatism is contrary to the basic principles of the U.N., the OSCE, and poses a threat to peace and stability in this region. The leaders of the Albanian national minority in Kosmet who advocate separatism should give up this objective and publicly condemn terrorism which presents a danger to all citizens of this Serbian province, and dangerously threatens peace and stability in the entire region.

Neighbouring Albania could also make a significant contribution toward easing existing tensions in Kosmet and the onset of dialogue if it respected the sovereignty and inviolability of Yugoslavia's borders and prevented terrorists and weapons from being infiltrated into Kosovo and Metohija from its territory.

[05] IMPETUS TO YUGOSLAV-CHINESE COOPERATION

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Yugoslav Minister for Development, Science and the Environment Jagos Zelenovic talked in Beijing on Friday with Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Zhu Lilan about the promotion of scientific-technological cooperation between the two countries. A joint interest exists for such cooperation, it was said in the talks. Minister Zhu said that the traditional friendship between the two peoples was a good basis for developing cooperation in all fields, including scientific-technological. She emphasized that the Chinese leadership and people highly esteem the courage of the Yugoslav people for preserving their national independence, which represents another link between the two peoples.

Minister Zelenovic informed in detail the Chinese host about the social and economic development of FR Yugoslavia and the role of science and technology in the overall development of the country, and Minister Zhu informed the Yugoslav delegation about current developments in China, particularly about the importance the Chinese Government attaches to the development of science, technological development and education. Minister Zhu assessed positively the results and achievements of the Mixed Commission for Scientific-Technological Cooperation of Yugoslavia and China, pointing to the readiness of the Chinese side to expand the scope and content of existing cooperation. Taking part also in the talks was Yugoslav Ambassador to China Slobodan Unkovic. Minister Zelenovic and members of the Yugoslav delegation visited the Chinese State Council for Economic Reform, wh ere experiences were exchanged about economic reforms in the two countries, as well as the Ministry of Science and Technology, where there was talk about long-term strategy and directions of scientific- technological development in the two countries.

[06] CROATIA AGAIN PRESSED OVER ISSUE OF RETURN OF REFUGEES

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

The International Commission for the implementation of the Erdut agreement called on Friday on the Croatian Government to secure mechanisms which would enable all refugees to return and exercise their right to their property, according to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy after a Commission's meeting with representatives of Croatian parliamentary parties. The Commission, known as the Group of Eleven, voiced dissatisfaction with the fact that the Croatian Government had significantly changed, in a negative sense, the procedure for the return of refugees from what had been agreed after lengthy consultations between representatives of the international community and the Croatian Government. The released statement said that the Commission had informed representatives of Croatian parliamentary parties of its decision to suspend indefinitely the international community's participation in a July conference on reconstruction and development of Croatia and was considering other stronger measures. The statement said that Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic had pledged that the Croatian Government would introduce a new, improved procedure for the return of refugees.

[07] EUROPE CONCERNED OVER THE SITUATION IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Head of the E.U. Monitoring Mission for Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Peter Strims and Vice President of the National Confidence Building Committee Vojislav Stanimirovic discussed in Vukovar on Friday the reconciliation process and repatriation of refugees. The E.U. mission head did not wish to comment on the situation in the region in view of the fact that the people had continued to move out. He said that his mission would submit an objective report to the European community, which should give adequate responses. Stanimirovic said after the meeting that the delegation was interested in the moving of people from Eastern Slavonia. "They expressed their dissatisfaction with and concern over the present situation, especially because of the departure of the local population," he said and added that one of the topics at the meeting had been "how to stop further moving out."

[08] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL SAYS CROATIA AND BOSNIA FAIL TO MEET COMMITMENTS

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Head of the Yugoslav Commission for Humanitarian Issues and Missing Persons said on Sunday that Bosnia and Croatia failed to fulfil commitments under the Dayton Accord and promises given to the International Missing Persons Commission and its President Bob Dole, himself. Maksim Korac held talks last week with the head of the Sarajevo Office of the International Missing Persons Commission Ervin Bohi. "I acquainted Bohi with the fact that the Croatian Missing Persons Commission had so far submitted only 444 protocols out of 1,079," said Korac and added that the process under that rate would take over a year. Korac said Yugoslavia had asked Bohi to exert pressure on the Croatian authorities to hand over the remaining 635 protocols by the end of May. As for missing persons in the Bosnian federation, Yugoslavia expects to be given the remains of 26 soldiers of the former Yugoslav People's Army killed on May 3, 1992.

The Muslim side said it was unable to sign any agreement on cooperation with the Yugoslav Commission because the two countries had not established diplomatic relations. Yugoslavia is looking for 3,134 missing persons, of whom 112 are in the Bosnian federation, and the rest in Croatia.

[09] MIHAILOVIC ON WAYS TO RESOLVE THE SUCCESSION ISSUE

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Head of the Yugoslav delegation to the succession talks, Academician Kosta Mihailovic told Tanjug on Friday that a mini-agreement on "non-economic" and humanitarian issues had been possible, and that a decision on court as possibly the best remaining way to resolve the succession issue needed to be carefully weighed. Asked about the fate of the mini-agreement following the recent round of bilateral talks and about the latest statement of the international community's High Representative Carlos Westendorp that he would suggest to the Peace Implementation Council to suspend the negotiations and try and resolve the succession issue by arbitration, Mihailovic said that, in a letter of April 29, international negotiator Sir Arthur Watts had said that there was no consensus and he would, therefore, abandon any further attempt at having the mini-agreement concluded. Sir Watts also said that he would decide at the June meeting of the Peace Implementation Council how the work was to continue, Mihailovic set out. He said that the Yugoslav delegation regretted the outcome of the talks, especially as it held the view that since all sides had been in agreement on four "non-economic" and humanitarian issues (archives, citizenship, pensions and acquired rights), an agreement on those issues had been possible. Mihailovic set out that the Yugoslav delegation could not agree to having embassies included among the "non-economic" issues and to having the Vienna Convention made mandatory, as that would mean to totally ignore the specific features of the generation of the state assets in the former Yugoslav federation.

He said that the Yugoslav delegation also could not agree to having different dates be taken as relevant in the mini and the main agreements. Mihailovic explained that the Yugoslav delegation had insisted that the relevant date for succession must be linked to the actual events (the withdrawal of one republic of the former Yugoslav federation after another from the single monetary, financial and economic space) instead of a made- up date which would prejudice the relevant date in the main agreement. Except for the issues which were unnecessarily subsequently added, the draft mini-agreement was acceptable for the Yugoslav delegation in the way it resolved the essential issues (archives, citizenship, pensions, acquired rights), Mihailovic stressed. He said that he did not have the integral text of the Westendorp statement nor information about the context in which it was made, so that he could not say whether it was an impulsive reaction to the failure of the talks on the mini-agreement or an option Westendorp had chosen after thoroughly examining different possibilities for the further work on succession. "I would like to set out that, in any case, court, as a way of resolving the succession issue, is a very complex and lengthy procedure which all interested sides in the talks have avoided up to now," said the head of the Yugoslav delegation to the succession talks.

He urged that it be weighed carefully whether court is the best way left for resolving the succession issue, and specified that, if the matter did go to court, Yugoslavia would chose the International Court of Justice in the Hague, as the highest international court instance.

[10] NENAD DJOKIC APPOINTED YUGOSLAV MINISTER

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic appointed to the office of Yugoslav Minister for Cooperation with International Financial, Trade and Other Organizations, Nenad Djokic, former Director of the Fund for the Development of the Republic of Serbia, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said on Friday. Djokic was born in 1958 in Krusevac. He worked in the firm "14 Oktobar" and the ready-wear clothing industry "Zvezda" as Deputy General Director. He was also President of the Executive Board of the Krusevac City Council. He is married and has two children.

[11] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC'S MESSAGE OF FELICITATIONS ON THE OCCASION OF V- DAY

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic sent a message of felicitations on Saturday to war veterans and others who had helped to bring about the end of World War Two. In the message President Milosevic says: "In the struggle for freedom, our patriots bore huge sacrifices to bring about the glorious victory over fascism, which we now celebrate, proud of Yugoslavia's contribution in the allies' victory in WWII and determined to preserve our country, freedom and peace.

"I felicitate May 9, the victory over fascism, as one of the greatest dates in the 20th century, to all the people of our country, with a wish that the hatred which had bred fascism may never come again between nations and people."

[12] MACEDONIA IS AGAINST NEW ANTI-YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Macedonia is against new sanctions against the FR of Yugoslavia as they would only hurt its population as well as neighbouring countries, Macedonian Foreign Minister Blagoje Handziski said on Friday in Vienna following a meeting with his Austrian counterpart Wolfgang Schuessel. Macedonia has already suffered the effects of the earlier anti-Yugoslav sanctions and believes that any future sanctions would punish neighbouring states, destroy legal trade and payment transactions, slow down economic reforms underway in Balkan states and encourage crime. The two ministers discussed bilateral relations, as well as the situation in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija. Handziski said that the international community should exert pressure not only on Belgrade, but also on ethnic Albanian leaders so that unconditional dialogue could start as soon as possible in order to find a political solution to the Kosovo and Metohija problem. Handziski advocated international mediation in the negotiations between the Serbian Government and representatives of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija, as the two sides mistrust each other. Any change in internationally recognized borders in the Balkans that giving independence to Kosovo and Metohija demanded by ethnic Albanian separatist extremists would entail would lead to war and destabilization in Europe. The Yugoslav authorities cannot agree to independence of Kosovo and Metohija, he said. Handziski described the situation at the Yugoslav- Macedonian border as completely normal. Expressing concern over the situation in Kosovo and Metohija whose deterioration would jeopardize peace and destabilize the region, he said he most feared a flow of refugees that would present a problem not only for Macedonia but also for many other European countries.

[13] PLAVSIC DESCRIBES INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO AS ABSOLUTE TERRORISM

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic has said that the incidents in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija were absolute terrorism. The so- called Kosovo Liberation Army is no liberation army, but a terrorist organization in the true sense of the word, said Plavsic. We will see what stand the international community takes, as it had always condemned terrorism everywhere in the world, Plavsic said in a telephone statement to local television station Palma Plus.

She said every Serb in the Republika Srpska considered Kosovo and Metohija a part of Serbia. "Kosovo and Metohija are part of Serbia under the Constitution, and dialogue with the local Albanians and international community can be conducted only on that basis," she said.

[14] FOREIGN MINISTER PRIMAKOV ON DIFFERENCES OVER KOSMET

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Russia will cooperate closely with G8 countries, but this must never be to the detriment of its interests and principled stands, Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov told state television on Sunday, explaining the differences within that association over the approach to the issue of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet).

Primakov said Russia had held a different opinion only on the part on Kosmet in the entire extensive document prepared by the G8 ministers for the upcoming summit in Birmingham. Primakov presented the principled stand which Moscow did not wish to give up. Implementing a policy aimed at the peaceful settling of conflicts in the world, Russia acts on a balanced basis, never accusing only one side, as it was done in the approach to the Kosmet problem, Primakov said. The differences with the western partners over Kosmet are not dramatized in Moscow and this subject is evidently considered exhausted, since Russia remained firm in its stand even after the London meeting that it is not obliged in any way to implement decisions of western countries on economic pressures on Yugoslavia, considering them damaging, one-sided and unprincipled.

[15] RUSSIA RESOLUTELY OPPOSES SANCTIONS AND FORCE AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

A ranking Russian official was quoted on Saturday as saying there should be no direct foreign involvement in the Kosovo and Metohija issue, but Russia upheld as useful the idea of help in an acceptable form that would not constitute interference. In a statement carried by Interfax news agency, First Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stressed that Russia was against using force and sanctions, and invited all forces in and outside Yugoslavia to exercise the necessary caution. Ivanov said that efforts to settle the problem of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province by force, whatever side they might come from, could precipitate another brutal war in the Balkans, with all its consequences. He said that any false step in the Kosovo and Metohija matter could cost European stability dearly, adding that in the absence of dialogue, solution to any concrete problem, including that of Kosovo and Metohija, was problematic. Russia took the view that it was necessary for the parties concerned to be brought to the conference table by making them realise that talks could only benefit them, Ivanov said. This kind of constructive pressure, he added, rather than negative pressure with elements of constant threat, should continue to be applied. He stressed that tactical differences in the approach to the Kosovo and Metohija problem did not mean that Russia would not act together with other members of the "Contact Group." In answer to a reporter's question, Ivanov said that there should be no parallels drawn between the questions of Kosovo and Metohija and Chechnya, because each had its own specific internal circumstances and prior history.

[16] U.S. STAND: YUGOSLAVIA'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY MUST BE PRESERVED

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

The United States and the international community respect the territorial integrity of all states and we think it is important to respect the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia as well, U.S. envoy said on Sunday. Special envoy for the Balkans Robert Gelbard told reporters after a meeting with Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova that he had conveyed this stand once again to his colloquists in Pristina. We spoke about the role of Albania, said Gelbard and added that the government in Tirana was trying to play a very positive role. Former U.S. peace envoy for Bosnia Richard Holbrooke took part in the talks. He described the talks as very useful, and added that the U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Belgrade Richard Miles would continue the talks with members of Rugova's advisory team.

Holbrooke said he and Gelbard had come to Pristina to listen and learn, and to show that the United States cared very much about rights and human rights in this area. The U.S. wants to help in resolving very complicated issues, he said. Holbrooke said he expected to meet with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on Monday.

Asked about a solution to the crisis in Kosovo and whether it would be resolved by violence, Holbrooke said he had no idea. At the conclusion of his statement to the press, Holbrooke declined to answer whether there would be international military intervention in the province. Reporters insisted on hearing the reasons for the emergency mission in Yugoslavia. Gelbard said it was no emergency mission as they had paid frequent visits to Yugoslavia before, as did representatives of the Contact Group. He said the international community had assessed that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija had over the past few weeks become very disturbing. Gelbard said he had asked for Holbrooke to join him, because the two of them were a good team, and because Holbrooke had helped bring about very good solutions in Bosnia. Gelbard said he and Holbrooke assessed that there was a lot of work to be done on both sides for talks to take place between Kosovo Albanians and the Serbian authorities. He said he believed the talks should take place very quickly. Gelbard declined to answer a question about the so- called Kosovo Liberation Army.

After the talks, Gelbard and Holbrooke visited the Serbian monastery of Gracanica. They did not meet with representatives of Serbian political parties and authorities in Kosovo.

[17] PRIMAKOV: OSCE MISSION WOULD NOT GO AGAINST SERBS' STANCE ON KOSMET

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

Russia's Foreign Minister said in London on Saturday that Russia believed there should be an OSCE mission to Yugoslavia and that this would not go against the Serbs' position that Kosovo and Metohija is a Serbian and Yugoslav internal affair. Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov was speaking at a news conference about the results of a ministerial meeting of the Group of 8 (G8) states earlier in the day. Primakov said G8 had adopted a very important document which took into account Russia's positions, and quoted its position on the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province as a case in point. He said the document was quite well balanced and spoke of the necessity of doing everything to open dialogue between the two parties in Kosovo and Metohija, where responsibility for opening talks rested with both parties. Primakov stressed that this had been put in at Russia's insistence. He said that the document strongly condemned terrorism and those supplying arms to terrorists and helping incursions into the territories of others, a position shared by Russia. He went on to say that Russia supported the mission of Felipe Gonzalez and believed that it should be carried out and that it did not go against the position of the Serbs that Kosovo and Metohija is an internal affair of Serbia and Yugoslavia.

[18] TERRORISTS KILL ANOTHER POLICEMAN

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

One policeman was killed in a terrorist attack on a police outpost near a refugee camp in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, said the Media Centre. The attack occurred when groups of armed ethnic Albanians opened fire from surrounding woods on a police outpost on Mt. Suka Erecka which secures the refugee settlement at Babaloc, near Decani, where refugees from Albania have been accommodated since 1990.

According to still unconfirmed reports, the police officer was killed by sniper fire. The police returned gun*fire. Investigation in the incident is in progress. Over the past two days, armed ethnic Albanians have on several occasions shelled the Babaloc refugee settlement and police outposts securing it from automatic rifles and mortars.

[19] POLICE IDENTIFY TERRORIST KILLED IN A WEDNESDAY SHOOTOUT

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

The terrorist that was killed in a shootout with police near the local bus station in Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday midnight has been identified as a member of the Jasari family. He is a close relative of terrorist leader Adem Jasari, who was killed in a skirmish with police in Donje Prekaze about a month ago. The body was handed over to his family, Tanjug has learnt from sources at a court in Kosovska Mitrovica. The terrorist was a student, and so far police only know his surname, Jasari.

[20] TERRORIST ATTACK SERBS IN A VILLAGE NEAR VITINA

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Terrorists attacked the house of Angelina and Mirko Vukoja of the village of Cerkez Sadovina, municipality of Vitina in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet), at about 11 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Investigative Judge Pregrad Nikolic of the Vitina Municipal Court, who carried out an investigation on the spot, said on Friday that a group of armed persons fired about a dozen shots from foreign-made automatic weaponry at the secluded house in the predominantly ethnic Albanian village. The attackers had previously called the elderly couple to come out of the house. When Vukoja returned fire from a 7.62 calibre M-48 rifle, the terrorists fled, firing and showering threats and curses while they dispersed. No-one was injured in this attack, but several shells hit the house above the front door. An investigation is under way.

[21] TERRORIST ATTACKED A POLICE PATROL

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

A group of armed ethnic Albanians attacked a police patrol in the village of Iglarevo near Klina on the Pristina-Pec road at about 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Friday, the Pristina-based Media Centre reported. Police responded and killed one of the attackers, Agim Hasanaj (24), of Iglarevo. The Pec Municipal Court confirmed that Hasanaj had been in possession of a rifle and 250 bullets. In the nearby houses, police found uniforms bearing the insignia of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army and a large quantity of ammunition. Police arrested brothers Imer, Dzafer and Miftar Hasanaj of Iglarevo, who are suspected of having participated in the attack. The Pec Municipal Court told the Media Centre that the Court's investigators had been fired at from the woods around the village.

[22] LAST SERB FAMILY HAS BEEN FORCED TO LEAVE

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Ethnic Albanian terrorists forced Aleksandra and Milijana Cvetkovic, 70- year-olds from the village of Lugodjija, to leave their homestead. They are the last Serb family to move away from the Decani municipality comprising 42 villages where there are now no Serbs or Montenegrins left as a result of ethnic cleansing. The Cvetkovics told Tanjug's correspondent that their ethnic Albanian neighbours came to their door with guns and threatened them to leave the village before dark, because that was allegedly now free ethnic Albanian territory and that they as Serbs had to leave.

The Cvetkovics left a farm of 16 hectares, a new house, cattle and other property. As the village of Lugodjija is situated on the border between the municipalities of Decani and Pec, the Cvetkovics went to the Red Cross to ask for help and they are now accommodated, only a couple of kilometres from their home, in a refugee canter in Pec together with refugees from the Republic of Serb Krajina.

[23] FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC RECEIVED U.S. DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic received on Saturday a U.S. delegation, which is paying a working visit to Yugoslavia, headed by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. In an ensuing frank discussion, the two sides exchanged views on progress made in the implementation of the Dayton/Paris Accord on peace for Bosnia-Herzegovina, relations in the region, and bilateral questions. The two sides reaffirmed common interest in further promoting the peace process as a vital factor of overall stability in the region. Both sides stressed the importance of traditional ties between the American and Serbian and Montenegrin peoples, and the need for strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation on this basis.

[24] EXPLOSIVE DEVICE GOES OFF IN PEC

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

An explosive device, most probably a grenade, was thrown on Friday night at about 0220 hrs (local time) in front of the house of a notable local family and the first aid building in the canter of Pec, Kosovo and Metohija. Two private cars and an ambulance were damaged by the explosion, and windows smashed on nearby residential buildings. Police are investigating the incident.

[25] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC RECEIVED U.S. DELEGATION

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic received on Saturday evening Richard Holbrooke, and ambassadors Robert Gelbard and Christopher Hill. Milosevic set out Yugoslavia's lasting interest for promotion of bilateral relations and cooperation with the United States, on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. Yugoslavia will not accept a policy of threats, to which it is exposed because of its principled stand.

As to the problem of Kosovo and Metohija, in regard to which some countries have taken a very biased position, President Milosevic said the problem was an internal question of Serbia, to be resolved in Serbia, by political means.

The question of foreign participation in solving the problem has been taken*off the agenda by the recent referendum.

[26] THREE POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Three policemen were wounded in an attack at a police patrol near the village of Balince on the Pristina-Pec trunk road about 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Friday, the Pristina-based Media Centre reported. The wounded were transferred to the Pristina Clinical Centre. Zoran Smiljanic received serious wounds and is in the intensive care unit, doctor Stojan Sekulic said and added that his life was not in danger. Policemen Srdjan Markovic and Srecko Filipovic were lightly wounded. About 20 terrorists shot at the patrol from an ambush. Police returned fire and are looking for the perpetrators.

[27] POLICE OFFICER INJURED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

A police officer was injured in an attack near the village of Smonica on the Djakovica-Ponosevac road about 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Friday. The Pristina-based Media Centre said that Djakovica policeman Cedomir Bozovic had been injured when the attackers fired at a column of police cars from automatic rifles, machine guns and mortars.

Bozovic was shot in the head and the neck. Djakovica doctors say that the injuries are slight. Police responded to the fire. Several police cars were slightly damaged in the attack, which did not last long.

[28] TWO POLICEMEN LIGHTLY WOUNDED IN A TERRORIST ATTACK

Tanjug, 1998-05-08

Two policemen were lightly wounded in an ethnic Albanian terrorist attack in Laus near Srbica, Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, late on Thursday. The wounded policemen, Goran Kandic and Slavisa Pumpalovic, were immediately taken to hospital in Kosovska Mitrovica. Kandic, whose jaw was smashed as he was shot in the chin, was transferred to the Clinical Centre in Pristina for further treatment. Pumpalovic, who was also wounded in the face, was released from hospital after receiving medical treatment.

[29] PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC LAID A WREATH ON THE GRAVE OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER

Tanjug, 1998-05-09

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic laid a wreath on the grave of the Unknown Soldier on Mount Avala near Belgrade in celebration of V-Day. The occasion was marked with the highest military honours and the national anthem.

After laying the wreath, President Milosevic wrote in the commemoration book, "Glory to the fighters for freedom."

[30] TERRORISTS THROW TWO BOMBS ON PROPERTY OF ETHNIC ALBANIANS

Tanjug, 1998-05-10

Two explosive devices went off in the canter of Pec half an hour after midnight on Saturday, causing material damage. One bomb exploded in front of a boutique, owned by Erduhan Krasnici, and the other in front of a restaurant several yards away, owned by Met Krasnici, both of them ethnic Albanians. Police are investigating the incident.

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