Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-07-21

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From: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

CONTENTS

[01] Fresh Serb military and police forces in Kosova

[02] Rugova meets U.S. diplomat

[03] NATO plays irreplaceable role for political solution of Kosova crisis - Meta

[04] Greece to demand wider international presence in Kosova -Pangalos

[05] Third Egyptian accused of terrorism arrested in Tirana - paper

[06] Wallen says Sweden ready to support international intervention in Kosova

[07] OSCE office also in Malesi e Madhe

[08] Albanian parliamentary commissions urge NATO forces in Kosova

[09] SP parliamentary group asks for anti-corruption session Thursday

[10] Albanian Kinostudio set on fire

[11] Terror prevails in Rahovec

[12] Holy Synod of Orthodox Autocephalous church formed in Albania

[13] KLMDNJ briefs contact group on Serb massacres in Albanian border

[14] LDK urges international energetic action in Kosova

[15] Scores of victims in Rahovec

[16] US ambassador in Skopje meets with Rugova

[01] Fresh Serb military and police forces in Kosova

Meanwhile, Belgrade has threatened that it will undertake tougher military and police actions against the Albanians of Kosova. /b.j/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[02] Rugova meets U.S. diplomat

Rugova said that the situation in Kosova is becoming increasingly grave and dangerous, due to Serb forces' attacks in various parts of the region.

The situation is especially grave in the commune of Rahovec, said Rugova, who called for an urgent international intervention to halt attacks and ethnic cleansing. /b.j/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[03] NATO plays irreplaceable role for political solution of Kosova crisis - Meta

"The Albanian government is for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Kosova and supports the policy of Mr. Rugova (President of the Republic of Kosova). It (the government) demands that the Albanian political factor of Kosova creates a joint platform, which should also be accepted by the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA). Only in this way will the application of any agreement reached be guaranteed," said Metal at the meeting.

The president of the WEU Parliamentary Assembly said that the deterioration of the situation in Kosova will cause the efforts for its peaceful solution to lose ground.

"When the political solution seems remote and the possibility of the conflict's spill over so near, then we hold that NATO's role to support a political solution remains irreplaceable," said Meta.

The Serbian forces on Saturday morning launched a large-scale military and police operation on the FRY-Albania border belt against the civilian population of Kosova killing and wounding dozens of people.

The Albanian government considered this operation a Serbian barbarous and genocidal act and a provocation and threat against the territorial sovereignty and integrity of Albania.

The Council for the Defence of Human Rights in Prishtine (Capital of Kosova) today made public the names of 350 Albanians killed by the Serb forces in Kosova (90 per cent of the population is Albanian) since the eruption of conflict between the Serbs and Albanians demanding independence, in January of this year. Many of the killed are children, women and old people. /s.s/mima/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[04] Greece to demand wider international presence in Kosova -Pangalos

At this conference, also attended by Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo, Pangalos expressed the support of his government for all the Contact Group and international community approaches towards the crisis in the region.

Asked about his and the Greek government's stand towards the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA), Pangalos said that "We are against any act of violence and believe that they help neither the Kosovars, nor Albanians nor the stability in the region."

Albania's Foreign Minister Paskal Milo, expressing the stand of his government towards the KLA said that "it is a legal reaction of a people being massacred, on whom genocide and ethnic cleansing is being exercised and in this aspect we can not but give them moral support."

But he said that he agrees in principle to all initiatives for a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Pangalos expressed the wish that the Kosova Albanians have a unified stand which would help start dialogue and facilitate international mediation in the coming negotiations.

Pangalos also made the European Union responsible for rejecting for four years in succession Greece's demand to negotiate the Kosova issue before the situation reached this point.

"The Yugoslav leadership is also responsible for not taking measures and bringing the situation to this point," he said. /s.s/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[05] Third Egyptian accused of terrorism arrested in Tirana - paper

The paper says that the 32-year-old Egyptian, Muhamed Hasan Mahmud, arrested on July 16, had been director of the charity Islamic Revival Foundation, which has been operating in Tirana for several years now.

The two other Egyptians arrested by the end of June had also been members of this foundation, and the name of the director of this foundation came out precisely after their interrogation.

"They had been accused of being authors of killing the Egyptian parliamentary speaker in 1992, of blowing up a plane and then a supermarket in America and of other grave acts associated with tens of innocent victims, " the paper says.

It says that the Islamists' arrest operations in both cases have been aided by the authorities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which had taken permission from the Albanian authorities earlier.

According to the data, the foundation of which the Egyptians were members belongs to an Islamic association in the aid of the poor in Kuwait, and its origin is not at all doubtful, the paper says clarifying that the Egyptian terrorists had infiltrated in the ranks of this foundations as "volunteers", as the Kuwait people themselves do not prefer to be employed in poor countries, like in Albania.

The Albanian press said two weeks ago that the Egyptians who might have had connections with the selefists sect, aimed at giving the war in Kosova a religious character.

The arrested Egyptians are also accused of falsifying documents of state and consular institutions.

The public order forces found in their house the seal of the Public Order Police Department, the seal of the visa section, of Rinas Airport control, of lawyers college, as well as an automatic rifle, a gun and 60 shells, which they illegally possessed.

Koha Jone also says that like the two Egyptians arrested by the end of June, Mahmud has been transported outside Albania's borders "to a state so far unknown". /lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[06] Wallen says Sweden ready to support international intervention in Kosova

This is what Foreign Minister of Sweden Lena Hielm Wallen writes on the debate page of one of the major Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter.

Wallen says that there is a limit up to which the international community can tolerate human sufferings and that a peace-imposing operation is necessary to be presented to the Unite Nations Security Council, the press and information department of the Albanian Foreign Ministry told ATA.

Wallen asserts plans for a military intervention backed by the United Nations against the will of the Yugoslav government but adds that the Kosova leadership should realise that the solution of the conflict should be found within the framework of Yugoslavia and not of an independent Kosova.

The long-term autonomy is possible, but only by the consensus of Yugoslavia and through the support first of all of the EU, the U.S. and Russia, she says. /a.ke/das/lm/

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[07] OSCE office also in Malesi e Madhe

He said the aim of the office is to closely follow the situation along the Albanian-Yugoslav border of this district.

Intensification of Serbian violence in Kosova and aggravation of the situation on the northern border made the OSCE open offices in Shkoder last September and later in Bajram Curri, Kukes and Has so that the entire state border with Yugoslavia is covered by OSCE observers.

The Malesi e Madhe district has a 110 km border line with Montenegro. /a.ke/das/lm/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[08] Albanian parliamentary commissions urge NATO forces in Kosova

"We present our attitude that NATO forces should be deployed in the territory of Kosova before the situation precipitates in a wide-scale conflict," Ndrec Pema, deputy head of the Order and SHIK commission said to ATA.

Members of three commissions said to the WEU delegation that "the Albanian government has not been involved in weapons' trafficking in Kosova."

The WEU delegation, headed by the Dutch Euro deputy Van der Linden said that aggravation of the situation in Kosova was increasingly reducing the chances for a peaceful solution to the crisis. It said that "the possible alternative is military intervention by the international community, an option which should be considered in the nearest meeting of the WEU parliamentary Assembly."

The delegation is on an official few day visit to Albania during which it held talks with Albanian president Rexhep Meidani, prime minister Fatos Nano and secretary for European Integration Ilir Meta. ake/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[09] SP parliamentary group asks for anti-corruption session Thursday

This parliamentary session will be the first of this kind since the introduction of the political pluralism in Albania. s.s/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[10] Albanian Kinostudio set on fire

The same source said that besides the Tirana fire trucks other fire brigades from Durres, Elbasan, Fushe Kruje arrived at the site to bring the fire under control.

"The blaze which broke out at 14.45. p.m. outside the building of the only Albanian film enterprise, engulfed the offices of one of its buildings, " the non-commissioned officer said.

No one knew the cause of the fire. s.s/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[11] Terror prevails in Rahovec

Bodies of mostly women, children and elderly people, who had come to ask for shelter at the sacred place of Saint Mihidini masjid, have been massacred. In the center of the city and even in main roads massacred people were seen tightened in pillars.

At the place called "Tomba" there is the massacred body of the teacher Haxhi Sharku and other seven Albanians, whose bodies had been burnt beyond recognition.

Other five massacred bodies found near the lake at the place called "Bllate" could not be recognised.

Around 21 houses have been burnt down and 50 people injured, the Council said adding that two police trucks full of Albanian citizens arrested in Rahovec arrived in Prizren in the evening.

Women and children have been released while men and youths are under custody with other 20 young men arriving today.

On Tuesday from 10.00 a.m. to 11.30. m.p. two other trucks full of Albanian civilians left Rahovec for Prizren, part of them under handcuffs. They are thought to be some 60 to 70 and all are placed at the fire brigade building, near the police station in Prizren. pta/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[12] Holy Synod of Orthodox Autocephalous church formed in Albania

On the same day, Archbishop Anastasios and Metropolitan Ignatios, making up the first nucleus of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, together with the two representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, who have been involved in dealings with the Albanian authorities since 1992, composed an extraordinary Holy Synod in Tirana.

During this meeting, the Holy Synod dealt with urgent issues facing the Church of Albania, accepted the previously given resignations of His Eminence Alexander, former Metropolitan of Gjirokaster and His Eminence Christodoulos, former Metropolitan of Korça (who were not accepted by the Albanian authorities due to their ethnic background) and afterwards, elected two Albanian hierarchs.

Archimandrite Joan Pelushi, 43, was elected as Metropolitan of Korça. He previously served as a teacher and assistant director of the Theological Academy of the Church of Albania. He graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in America with a Masters of Divinity degree. The Reverend Father Kosma Qirjo, 77, was elected Bishop of Apollonia.

Archbishop Anastasios presided over the ordination of the Metropolitan of Korça in front of a large number of faithful at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Tirana on Monday, July 20. The ordination of the Bishop of Apollonia will take place in the same cathedral on Thursday, July 23. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Authocephalous Church of Albania is comprised of His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania, as president, His Eminence Ignatios, Metropolitan of Berat, Vlora and Kanina, His Eminence Joan Metropolitan of Korça and His Grace Kozma, Bishop of Apollonia. s.s/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[13] KLMDNJ briefs contact group on Serb massacres in Albanian border

"After they passed the border at the place called Padesh and were heading for Livadhi i Madh through a mountainous terrain, two mines went off followed by grenade shelling and incessant shooting. The attack started from three directions and lasted 30 minutes followed by a short break, and resumed again," the report said.

"Many people were massacred but their number could not be clearly defined. It was learned that all the children, women and elderly people who were being transported by 30 horses were killed," it said.

Hundreds of people have been injured, others have broken feet and legs or fallen down in abysses or maybe lost in mountains without any help, the report said.

"The fact that names of those killed or any other detail as regards the horrible event has not revealed after four days shows that Belgrade is trying to hide the traces of the crime, which included children, women and many citizens who were turning back to Kosova," the report said. pta/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[14] LDK urges international energetic action in Kosova

"The LDK leadership invites the United States, Contact Group, European Union and NATO to take energetic actions to stop Serb aggression in Kosova. We ask for the Hague Court on war crimes to investigate on the massacres in Kosova and bring law suit on war crimes," the statement said.

It also invited the international humanitarian organisation to be quickly engaged in crisis area.

"The reports from Rahovec tell about massacres against civil Albanians. Tight curfew around Rahovec by the Serbian forces made it impossible to observe the situation and give help to thousand of citizens who are victims of Serb aggression," it said.

"Serbia is killing children, women, elderly people and youth. It is burning down and destroying houses and launching ethnic cleansing, thus openly undertaking crimes against humanity," the statement said.

It also added: "Serbia's aim is very evident, ethnic cleansing." Therefore, the LDK calls for resistance in Kosova. la/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[15] Scores of victims in Rahovec

"Eyewitnesses speak of many victims and unprecedented Serb massacres against the Albanian population. Some 20 thousand persons have abandoned the city," the "Bujku" correspondent Fadil Gashi said.

The same source said that a large number of people fled amid volleys of gunfire. But civilians, children, women and elderly people have remained in the city.

"Two Serb tanks opened fire with heavy machine-gun at some one thousand citizens coming out hands up of the holy place Teqe e Madhe where they have taken shelter. Many eyewitnesses speak of large number of victims, " he said.

"People are forced to walk on dead bodies. Serb police raid, torch and destroy houses," the same source said.

Some 80 injured, mostly children, women, in the police station in Ostrozub, need medical treatment. Three Albanian pregnant women have also been killed. The city is engulfed in the flames. la/mima/ak/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency

[16] US ambassador in Skopje meets with Rugova

They held a close door meeting to discuss the grave situation in Kosova and possibilities to resolve it.

The US diplomat Hill told journalists before the meeting that "I arrived in Prishtina to discuss many things."

"We are trying to achieve progress. There are many political issues we are working at," Hill said refusing to elaborate on his meeting with Milosevic (Yugoslav president Slobodan) in Belgrade on Monday and in Prishtina with Rugova. He called the talks "confidential". bj/mima/ak/

From the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at http://www.telpress.it/ata

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