Kosova Daily Report #1448, 98-06-02

Kosovo Information Center: Kosova Daily Report Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Kosova Information Center <http://www.kosova.com/>

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1448
Prishtina, 2 June 1998

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova Meets with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

[02] Serb Forces Use Heavy Cannons to Shell De^an and Surrounding Villages

[03] 26 Burned Houses, Extent of Casualty-Toll Still Unknown, at Poklek Village

[04] Dramatic and Tense Situation Prevailing Gjakova

[05] Serbia Is Carrying Out Ethnic Cleansing, CDHRF Says

[06] PLK and PPK Condemn Serbian Outright Aggression in Kosova

[07] Three Klina Villages Have Become Ruins, Witness Says

[01] President Rugova Meets with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

President Ibrahim Rugova spoke about the ever worsening situation in Kosova amidst Serbian military and police actions against the Albanian population in central and western parts of the country.

Indiscriminate Serbian shelling of villages has claimed many innocent lives and made people flee their homes, Rugova said, calling on the UN to act urgently to bring an end to Serbian violence and pave the way for a negotiated settlement to the crisis based on the political will of the people for independence.

The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recalled that preventative troops have been deployed in Macedonia to prevent a conflict spill- over which would destabilize the entire region.

President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosova express the need for peacemaking troops, including a NATO force, to be deployed in the territory of Kosova itself rather than on its borders.

Mr. Annan said the UN Security Council, the Contact Group, Nato, and other international fora have been working to end the violence in Kosova and prevent a conflict.

Status quo is unacceptable, the UN Secretary General said, adding that a satisfactory solution for Kosova should be arrived at as soon as possible.

The grave humanitarian situation in Kosova was discussed in the meeting, too.

President Rugova called for the opening of a UN office in Kosova.

[02] Serb Forces Use Heavy Cannons to Shell De^an and Surrounding Villages

Many houses have been burned down, whereas those which have not been burned from Serb shelling were set ablaze by members of the 'Yugoslav' (Serbian) military.

Serb soldiers ransacked and looted Albanian houses before setting them ablaze, Mr. Berisha said.

Thousands of Kosova Albanians have been fleeing their villages and streaming towards neighboring Albania, he said, adding that there have been people on the move with no idea where to go to.

Serb forces attacked today from their military base at Hulaj, as well as from their positions at Podi i G&shtenjave and Zag&rma e Pej&s locations.

Serb forces attacked with 200 mm and 220 mm-caliber cannons, the local human rights activist said.

Most of the houses in the town of De^an have been burned down or destroyed, he said, adding that life has stood still in town.

Tens of Serb military tanks left Peja at 4:20 a.am. today and deployed at the villages of Lubeniq, Strellc i Ep&rm, Lluk&, Isniq and in De^an. The hugest Serb troop build-up is in the near vicinity of the village of Isniq.

The De^an villages came under a renewed Serb attack at 14:30 hrs today.

The Albanian defendants have been putting up a strong resistance to Serbian attacks, a source said.

Mr. Musa Berisha said there was danger of an epidemic spreading in the area, as hundreds of killed livestock have been lying unburied.

[03] 26 Burned Houses, Extent of Casualty-Toll Still Unknown, at Poklek Village

It was a fierce onslaught, the Commission said, adding that it could not say for sure how many people were killed because Serb police had taken away some residents.

Only the body of the killed youngster Ardian Hazir Deliu (18), high school student, was left behind and buried at Poklek village.

Some 50 persons took part in the funeral of Deliu, who was slain Sunday. He had his throat slit.

It is feared that Sefer B. Qorri, Ahmet A. Berisha, Sahit M. Qorri, Hajriz Hajdini, Muhamet Hajdini were killed, whereas the fate of Blerim B. Shishani (14) is unknown as he has been missing, the LDK Information Commission said.

26 houses in the village have been burned down and several other damaged and looted, the LDK said, giving the names of family heads of the burned houses.

The houses were first looted then set ablaze by Serb forces.

The depot of the private pharmacy owned by Xhevdet Pajaziti was looted by police, whereas Pajaziti's car taken away. Several other cars were burned or smashed up.

Quoting an eye-witness, the LDK Information Commission said after the Serb raid, in front of the houses of Hajriz and Muhamet Hajdini one could see traces of blood, limbs of massacred human bodies, as well as pieces of torn clothes.

Meanwhile, sources in Gllogovc said there was overnight shooting in Gllogovc villages.

Around midnight the house of Islam Karaxha at ^ikatov& e Vjet&r village was burned down after being shelled. Metush Shapeta (51),6 from Korrotica e Ep&rme village, was reported living in the house, His fate is unknown.

The village of Llapushnik and the Karaxha family compound were shelled by Serb forces overnight.

Gunfire was opened at 6 o'clock in the morning today from a location near the Ferrous Nickel plant in Gllogovc.

There was Serb sniper fire at 8.30 a.m. today in the small town of Gllogovc, LDK sources said.

[04] Dramatic and Tense Situation Prevailing Gjakova

Sporadic shooting was heard overnight in the village on the border zone with Albania.

The most critical situation was reported at Batusha village, which is being kept inside a deadly siege by Serb army and paramilitary forces. Most of the Batusha villagers have fled their homes and crossed into the neighboring Albania. Yet those who are still in their homes have been held constantly at Serb forces gun-point.

A rigorous police/military blockade prevails in the town of Gjakova itself. The town has been without phone lines since Friday. The of people and goods has been drastically restricted.

Albanians get routinely beaten up by Serb police patrols roaming the streets of the town.

Muhamet Gorani, a local resident in his mid-seventies, sustained serious body injuries when beaten by Serb police in the street.

There is a sharp shortage of food and other supplies in the town.

Shipment of food, medicaments and hygienic supplies have not been allowed access to the town for many days.

[05] Serbia Is Carrying Out Ethnic Cleansing, CDHRF Says

Dr. Pajazit Nushi said the victims were of all ages, and both male and female. They were killed and massacred during the unfolding Serbian onslaught in Drenica and in Dukagjin, that is central and south-west Kosova.

The chairman of the major Kosovar human rights group in Kosova said that the Serb forces have been applying a scorched-earth policy in parts of Kosova amounting to a wide-scale ethnic cleansing.

Hundreds of homesteads, including entire Albanian settlements, have been burned to the ground amidst unremitting Serb shelling, he said, adding that Serb have even doused Albanian homes in gasoline and set them ablaze.

The plight of the displaced persons from areas attacked by Serbs has become dramatic, Dr. Nushi said.

The CDHRF head, who is also member of the Kosovar negotiating team in talks with Belgrade, said the process has been seriously jeopardized.

No further talks should be held if the Serb police and military forces are not withdrawn and unless there is an end to the Serb violence and terror against Albanians, he said.

The human rights council sad last week that at least 210 Albanians were killed in Kosova by then this year.

Over 250 is the death-toll by now.

[06] PLK and PPK Condemn Serbian Outright Aggression in Kosova

Serbian forces - police, military and paramilitary - have been executing unprotected people, Mr. Dedaj said speaking during a press conference in Prishtina. "The Belgrade leadership is behind these heinous crimes".

The PLK leader said the Albanian population which is resisting Serbian attacks should be supported by all, the Albanians and international community.

Mr. Gjergj Dedaj called on Podgorica to pull out Montenegrin soldiers and policemen from Kosova. The Montenegrin leadership should use all influence with the local Montenegrin population in Kosova telling them they should not become accomplices in Serbian crimes against Albanians in Kosova, he concluded.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Party of Kosova (PPK), chaired by Adem Dema^i, said the Belgrade regime has waged a war on Kosova, using the military, police and paramilitary forces of all kinds.

The international community has been turning a blind eye while Milosevic engages in war, the PPK presidency said in a statement today.

While foreign diplomats are stating "a second Bosnia will not be allowed", the Belgrade regime is destroying Kosova, the PPK said.

"In this way, the Serbian militarist policy, the policy of violence, diktat and aggression, is being encouraged".

[07] Three Klina Villages Have Become Ruins, Witness Says

The three villages have been targeted for weeks by Serb forces, maintaining a deadly siege around the area.

Any communication with the villages under siege has been impossible since last Friday, when Serb authorities cut the phone lines in the small town of Klina.

An LDK activist who managed to come to Prishtina, walking most of the distance, said the villages of Grabanic&, Dellov&, K&puz and ^eskov& have been repeatedly shelled by Serb forces over the last weekend as well.

The local population is on the verge of starvation, the activist said. No shop has been opened in a large area, while the population cannot go to the town of Klina to get supplies, because they would risk becoming targets of Serb forces dug in and around the villages.

Gjakova Senior LDK Member Released, There Others Still in Serb Custody

PRISHTINA, June 2 (KIC) - Besa Arllati, chairwoman of the LDK Information in Gjakova, was released from Serb police custody last evening at around 23:00 hrs.

Ms Arllati was held in Serb police detention since Friday.

Dr. Fehmi Vula, member of the local LDK Presidency, who was arrested the same day when Ms Arllati, is being still held in custody.

The two Albanians were repeatedly detained during the last week in connection with an alleged abduction of two Serb policemen in Smolica village. The Serb police has threatened them and their families with severe punishment unless they secured the release of the two Serbs.

Besa Arllati and Dr. Fehmi Vula, as well other LDK people in Gjakova, strongly deny knowing anything about the alleged abduction of the Serbs.

Meanwhile, Jah& Sadria, a Bujku correspondent in Gjakova, and Mevlude Sarra^i, senior member of the LDK Presidency and a Kosova Parliament member, are reported still in Serb custody.

Jah& Sadria was arrested last Friday, whereas Mrs Sarra^i on Monday.

Kosova Information Center

Kosovo Information Center: Kosova Daily Report Directory - Previous Article - Next Article