Kosova Daily Report #1372, 98-03-15
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1372
Prishtina, 15 March 1998
First Edition:
Second Edition: 16:00 hrs
CONTENTS
[01] LDK Presidency Chosen During Meeting of Party Main Board Sunday
[02] Serbian Police Step Up Presence along the Mitrovica - Klin& e Ep&rme
Road
[03] Fresh Serb Forces Reported Deployed in Skenderaj Sunday Morning
[04] Huge Serb Forces Deployed in the Compounds of the Game Ammunition
Factory in Skenderaj
[05] Hundreds of Thousands Stage Silent Protest in Kosova, Paying Homage to
Drenica Victims
[06] Masked Persons Wound Albanians, Husband and Wife, at Their Home in
Gjakova
[07] Women March from Prishtina to Drenica Monday
[08] ON RECORD: SERBIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER'S ETHNO-RACIST REMARKS
[01] LDK Presidency Chosen During Meeting of Party Main Board Sunday
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - The Main Board of the Democratic League of
Kosova (LDK), the executive body, elected today (Sunday) in Prishtina the
fifteen-member Presidency of the party, and adopted a statement on the
current situation in Kosova.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, president of the Republic of
Kosova and LDK leader.
Proposed by President Rugova, the Main Board elected the following as
members of the Presidency of the LDK: Mr. Eqrem Kryeziu, Mr. Alush Gashi,
Mr. Niman Alimusaj, Mr. Aqif Shehu, Mr. Faruk Spahia, Ms Nekibe Kelmendi,
Ms Sanie Aliu, Mr. Hajzer Krasniqi, Mr. Fatmir Rexhepi, Mr. Fadil Hysaj,
Mr. Kol& Berisha, Mr. Ali Gashi, Mr. Agim Krasniqi, Mr. Naim Jerliu and Ms
Edi Shukriu.
LDK vice-chairmen were elected Eqrem Kryeizu, Kol& Berisha and Naim Jerliu,
whereas secretary Nekibe Kelmendi.
The General Board of the LDK adopted the following statement on the current
situation in Kosova: Having discussed the situation in Kosova, the LDK Main
Board 1. Condemns in the strongest terms the massacre of Serbian forces
against the Albanian population in the Drenica region and the Serbian
violence in Kosova, and demands the withdrawal of Serbian forces from
Kosova.
2. Calls on the United States of America, the European Union and other
international factors to urgently intervene in order to bring about an end
to the Serbian terror against the unprotected population of Kosova.
3. Supports the policies of Dr. Ibrahim Rugova in pursuit of independence -
which is indeed the political will of the people expressed in the national
referendum - and the resolution of the Kosova issue by political and
democratic means, through a talks process under the mediation of a third
party from the international community.
4. Demands that the LDK branches and all the people of Kosova assist the
people of the Drenica region, who have been subjected to an outrageous
Serbian terror, and organize the life in Kosova so as to overcome this
dangerous situation.
5. Demands from the LDK chapters in Western countries to step up efforts to
help the people of Kosova in all possible ways, and to work hard to see
that the Kosova issue be discussed in political fora in the respective
countries.
6. Calls on all members of the LDK and the people of Kosova to take part in
the parliamentary and presidential elections on 22 March, to elect their
representatives in the organs of the Republic of Kosova.
7. Calls on the Albanian political parties to cooperate and concert their
activities so as to overcome the grave situation the Albanian people of
Kosova has been going through." (end text) The LDK General Board will
convene on Tuesday to approve the list of the party for the parliamentary
elections of next Sunday.
The LDK will have candidates in all the 100 electoral zones.
The LDK Convention late last month chose Dr. Ibrahim Rugova as the party
candidate for the presidential election Sunday.
At the end of today's meeting, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova said the members of the
now former LDK Presidency will be his advisers and advisers to the new LDK
Presidency.
[02] Serbian Police Step Up Presence along the Mitrovica - Klin& e Ep&rme
Road
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - Groups of Serb policemen have been reported
deployed along the 17 kilometer-long road from Mitrovica to Klina e Ep&rme
(in Skenderaj) road.
The LDK Information Commission in Mitrovica could not say what the pretext
for such a ubiquitous presence of police was.
[03] Fresh Serb Forces Reported Deployed in Skenderaj Sunday Morning
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - Increased deployment and movements of Serb
police/military forces has been reported in Skenderaj since morning hours
today.
The LDK Information Commission in Mitrovica said Serb police forces in a
couple of armored vehicles and lorries, and several vans with policemen on
board left the town at around 9:00 heading for Skenderaj.
Only about half an hour later, five white-coloured jeeps without license
plates were seen moving in the direction Prishtina- Mitrovica-Skenderaj.
[04] Huge Serb Forces Deployed in the Compounds of the Game Ammunition
Factory in Skenderaj
PRISHTINA, March (KIC) - Huge Serb forces have left Mitrovica for Skenderaj
('Srbica') today from 9 o'clock to early afternoon, the Information
Commission of the LDK branch in Mitrovica reported.
Reportedly, 13 buses, one armored car, 6 trucks (two of which military
lorries), 21 personnel carriers, one van, 5 jeeps and 3 police cars, full
of Serb police forces headed for Skenderaj.
A bit later, 4 additional buses, 9 personnel carriers and 4 police vehicles,
which came from Leposavic (a municipality in northern Kosova, bordering on
Serbia), were reported going to Skenderaj.
LDK sources said at 10 a.m., Serb forces were holding the Mitrovica-
Skenderaj road under strict control, doubling the forces on both sides of
the road at noon.
Movement of Serb forces towards Skenderaj was reported at around 13:00 hrs.
Heading for the area was a lorry with police license plates, full of
weapons, which could be seen from a distance. The lorry was escorted by a
landrover car with Belgrade license plates.
While parading through the town of Mitrovica, Serb policemen threatened the
local citizens by pointing their guns at them.
An LDK branch activist in Skenderaj said the buses and vehicles and cars of
Serb forces ended up in the Game Ammunition Factory there.
The same vehicles left the compounds of the factory empty, going back to
Mitrovica, the activist said.
LDK sources in Skenderaj reported that last night shooting from heavy guns
were heard from the direction of Morina village of Skenderaj, where an
agricultural airport is and the Serb police has been stationed.
It is feared that fire had been opened on a nearby village, although this
could not be confirmed for the time being because the Serb police has
sealed off the area.
In the Drenica region anger, fear and anxiety prevail. There is fear of
Serb forces launching fresh attacks.
More than 80 Albanians, including women, children and elderly, were slain
by Serb forces in Drenica since 28 February.
[05] Hundreds of Thousands Stage Silent Protest in Kosova, Paying Homage to
Drenica Victims
Serb police ill-treated peaceful protesters in De^an, forcing some of them
eat candles PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - Hundreds of thousands of people
rallied all over Kosova Sunday morning, including the capital Prishtina,
to protest peacefully and in silence the Serb violence and pay homage
to Albanian men, women and children slain by Serb forces in the past two
weeks in the Drenica region.
The peaceful manifestations were called by the Kosova Diocese, the
President of the Republic of Kosova, the political parties and the student
organization. In all the Catholic churches all over the country requiem
masses were held for the victims of Drenica massacres.
In Prishtina, where the central protest manifestation took place, tens of
thousands of people marched for one hour in the "Mother Teresa" square and
the surrounding streets. People walked in silence saluting with two-fingers
("V") sign, holding burning candles, portraits of Mother Teresa and posters
with anti-war slogans such "Stop the Violence" "Serb Police Out of Kosova" ,
"Drenica, We Stand By You".
Dr. Don Shan Zefi, chancellor of the Kosova Diocese who conducted the
requiem mass in the Prishtina Catholic church, prayed for the people of
Kosova and the innocent victims of Drenica. He urged the Kosovars for
solidarity, love, restraint and peaceful struggle in achieving freedom.
Reverend Don Shan Zefi appealed on the decision-making centers of the world
to facilitate a just and peaceful solution for Kosova.
While the mass was being held today morning in the Sh&n Ndou" (Saint
Anthony) Church in Ulpiana neighborhood of Prishtina, Serb provoked and
offended the churchgoers. From a balcony opposite to the church, Serbs
holding a poster of Slobodan Milosevic cried anti-Albanian slogans during
the whole time.
Silent and peaceful rallies were staged Sunday morning in all the municipal
centers of Kosova, including Gjakova, Podujeva, Prizren, Mitrovica,
Suhareka, De^an, Ferizaj, Ka^anik, Vushtrri, etc.
The Sh&n Pali (Saint Paul) church in Gjakova was over-crowded this morning.
At around 11 hrs at least twenty thousand people with candles in their
hands marched silently in the main streets of the town.
The Serbian police intervened against several peaceful protesters in De^an.
Sources said that when the silent protest of the Albanian was about to end,
the police cracked down against a number of them.
Serb civilians who were staying with the police provoked during the whole
time Albanians walking silently.
Several Albanians were reported beaten up or/and detained. Shaban Zukaj and
Florim Zukaj from Beleg village are amongst those beaten up brutally.
Shaban Zukaj is reported in Serb police custody.
The Serbian police, at a checkpoint outside the town on the De^an- Peja
road, ill-treated a large number of Albanians while on their way to or back
from the rally. The police has reportedly forced some of them to eat
candles.
Over 20 thousand people gathered today morning in front of the "Engj&lli i
Roj&s" (Guardian Angel) church in Ferizaj. They marched peacefully later to
the town center with burning candles in their hands. Although there was an
increased presence of Serb police forces in the town, the manifestation
ended without incidents.
Thousands of people began gathering in front of the Kosova Diocese in
Prizren since morning hours. The people marched silently for over one hour
in the streets of the town later.
Republican Electoral Commission Says Elections to Take Place as Planned
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - Tadej Rodiqi, chairman of the Republican
Electoral Commission, said the parliamentary and presidential elections in
Kosova will be held on 22 March, as planned.
During a press conference today, Mr. Rodiqi said the elections will be held
in 100 electoral zones, but did not rule out the possibility of leaving
Drenica out temporarily, because of the latest tragic developments in the
region.
The Drenica residents would be voting at a later date, he said.
According the Republican Electoral Commission the electoral body amounts to
1.150.000 voters registered, including Bosniak, Turkish and Roma ethnic
groups.
100 members of the Kosova Parliament and the Kosova President will be
chosen by direct vote. The number of voters compared to 1992 is 25 to 30
percent higher, Mr. Rodiqi said.
The Kosova Parliament will have 130 deputies. Thirty seats in the
parliament will be distributed according to a proportional system, to the
parties that receive at least 3 percent of the votes, and the ethnic groups
that will participate in the elections.
Mr. Tadej Rodiqi said the Commission has received two candidacies for the
Kosova Presidency. The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) has submitted the
candidacy of Dr. Ibrahim Rugova for the Presidency of the Republic of
Kosova, whereas the Social Democratic Party of Kosova (PSDK) proposed Ms.
Luljeta Pula-Beqiri as its candidate in the upcoming presidential race, he
added.
Tadej Rodiqi said 12 parties have announced so far they will participated
in the elections.
The deadline for the submission of candidacies is 17 March, at
[06] Masked Persons Wound Albanians, Husband and Wife, at Their Home in
Gjakova
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - Two masked persons broke into the house of
Marjan Nikolla at Pet&rshtan village of Gjakova and wounded him and his
wife Age Nikolla with firearms, the LDK sources in Gjakova reported.
The two masked persons were armed and spoke Serbian, the Nikolla family
told LDK sources. They shot at us because we opposed them.
Both husband and wife were taken to the Gjakova town hospital for
treatment.
Their lives are not in danger, said medical staff of the hospital.
24:00 hrs.
[07] Women March from Prishtina to Drenica Monday
PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - The Women's Network and the LDK Women's Forum
said they will organize a march of women to Drenica tomorrow (Monday).
The march will beging at 9:00 and be kicked off from the Dragodan
neighbourhood of Prishtina, where the American Center (USIS) is situated.
The organizers said the marching women will be carrying loaves of bread.
The march is in protest at the Serb masscare against the people of the
Drenica region, and a sign of solidarity with the population which is
suffering because the area is still sealed off by huge Serb forces.
[08] ON RECORD: SERBIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER'S ETHNO-RACIST REMARKS
Ratko Markovic's Terminological Refinement: In Kosova - 90% Albanians a
'Qualitative Minority', less than 10% Serb Community a 'Qualitative
Majority' PRISHTINA, March 15 (KIC) - This past week saw Belgrade engage
in a publicity stunt in an effort to manipulate the international
community and the public at large about its alleged willingness to initiate
a dialogue with the Kosova Albanians.
This came after the March 9 Contact Group meeting in London, in which
Belgrade authorities were pressed upon to start an unconditional dialogue
with Kosova Albanians about the status of Kosova within ten days.
Belgrade sent down to Prishtina for two days in a row (Thursday and Friday)
a 'ministerial delegation', led by Ratko Markovic, Deputy Prime Minister of
Serbia, "to talk to Albanians who wish to talk about all problems", which
could be addressed and solved within the constitutional order of Serbia!
This constitutional order of Serbia was established in the spring of 1989,
when Serbia adopted the new constitution purporting to include Kosova
within Serbia, namely enforced the so-called 'constitution of tanks' as a
fait accompli thing to institutionalize Serbian coercive rule over Kosova,
namely the suspension of the latter's status as a federal unit in the then
Yugoslavia. Scores of Albanians who opposed this constitutional crackdown
were killed by Serb police and military troops then.
According to the 1974 constitution of the then Federal Yugoslavia, Kosova
was constitutionally on a par with Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, etc. at the
federal level.
It was Ratko Markovic - a law professor in the Belgrade University, later a
teacher of law in the Academy of Police - who was reputed as one of the key
authors of the Serbian constitution.
Prof. Ratko Markovic, a close Milosevic aide, Deputy Prime Minister of
Serbia, made early in 1995 notorious ethno-racists remarks when he stated
in the Serb media, but also in the Serbian Parliament itself, what could be
summed up as the 'principle of ethnic quality'.
Dr. Markovic distinguished between a 'quantitative' and 'qualitative'
minority/majority in Kosova.
Serbia should design mechanisms to prevent 'majorization' [majority rule]
in Kosova, namely the numerically majority population over the numerically
minority population, he said. "The Albanian national minority cannot be a
qualitative majority in the sense that it can have its own will, which
would be stronger vis-a-vis the will of the Serbian people", Markovic
said.
To put it in a nutshell, translating it in terms of ordinary language,
Kosova Albanians, even if they accepted the Serb diktat, as a second-rate
people, would in no way be qualified to have and express their own will.
For, the 90 percent Albanian community in Kosova is a 'quantitative
majority' but a 'qualitative minority', and the Serb/Montenegrin community
of less than 10 percent a 'quantitative minority' but a 'qualitative
majority'.
The Parliament of Serbia refused to distance itself from such ethno-racist
remarks the Deputy Prime Minister Markovic had made.
Last but not least, the Serbian Parliament, the ruling Socialist Party of
Serbia (SPS) and the main opposition party, the Serb Renewal Party (SPO)
have designed and been supportive of the idea of a 'bicameral assembly' in
Kosova which would prevent 90 percent of the people of Kosova have and
exercise their own will.
The people of Kosova have in fact expressed their will. In July 1990, the
Parliament of Kosova adopted the Independence Declaration. In September
1990, the Constitution of the Republic of Kosova was promulgated. On May 24,
1992 the first parliamentary and presidential elections in the Republic of
Kosova were held. (14 seats were reserved for Serbs/Montenegrins in that
legislature).
This coming Sunday, on 22 March, the people of Kosova will re- exercise
their will by going to the polls to elect a new Parliament and the
President of the Republic of Kosova.
Kosova Information Center
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