Kosova Daily Report #1454, 98-06-08
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1454
Prishtina, 8 June 1998
First Edition: 16:30 CET
CONTENTS
[01] Kosova Tops International Agenda this Week
[02] Serb Forces Shell Border Villages Monday Morning
[03] Grave Situation in Skenderaj, Serbs Shell Llausha for Hours on Sunday
[04] Gunfire Reported at Police Checkpoint in Komoran
[05] Serb Police Orders Burial of Three Unidentified Albanians
[06] Fresh Serb Army Reservist Troops Deployed Brought in Kosova
[07] CDHRF Activists Arrested by Armed Policemen in Plain-Clothes
[08] Serbs Bring Terrorism-related Charges against Albanian Students
[09] Serbian Police Station at Ratkoc Has Not Been Destroyed
[10] Heavy Serb Police Presence along Prishtina-Podujeva Roadway Sunday
[11] Serb Police Beat Albanian Youth Ahead of Peaceful Rally in Prishtina
[01] Kosova Tops International Agenda this Week
Are we going to see, at long last, the West opposing in words and in deeds
Serbian atrocities in Kosova?
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - The 15-member European Union (EU) reimposed an
investment ban on Serbia today (Monday), during a meeting of foreign
ministers in Luxembourg, reports said.
Yugoslav/Serbian assents abroad were reported frozen.
This was in reaction to Serbia's military offensive against Albanians in
Kosova, killing dozens, burning and destroying villages with heavy shelling,
and turning scores of thousands into refugees.
The West hastily suspended the sanctions on Belgrade just after a symbolic
meeting of 'FRY' President Milosevic and Kosova President Rugova three
weeks ago.
Milosevic, as usual with him, outsmarted the West by simultaneously
engaging in 'dialogue' with Prishtina and embarking on a military offensive
to ethnically cleanse Kosova.
Tens of thousands of Kosovars have been driven out of their homes in the
past three months.
Some 20.000 have fled to Albania in the wake of Serb bombardments of
Albanian villages in the border area in De^an, Peja, and Gjakova.
Is the West about to reverse its lenient policies towards Belgrade and
Milosevic?
A clear, hopeful, 'yes' answer cannot be given for sure. For there are
still diplomats who get 'impressed' by renewed willingness and kindness on
behalf of Milosevic to allow outsiders see the results of the atrocities of
his military and paramilitary police in Kosova.
There are, however, hopeful signs the world is at last willing to
understand Milosevic's policies for what they really are: disgusting
tactics of the man who has masterminding barbarous ethnic cleansing sweeps
in the former Yugoslavia.
Following is a summary account of reaction in the West, first and foremost
in London and Washington, to the unfolding Serbian military and police
offensive aiming at ethnically cleansing Kosova.
'Butchery' and 'barbarism', the words attributed to have been uttered by
British Prime Minister Blair, are the two words that do best match the
meaning of what Belgrade's forces have been engaged in in Kosova.
In the past three days the principle of an imminent Nato action in Kosova
has come to the fore, according to some sources.
News agencies reported that there is increasing support for resolute action
to end the Serbian offensive in Kosova, threatening the use of military
force to do that.
In addition to today's EU meeting, the political directors of the
international Contact Group on Kosova meet on Wednesday, the Nato defence
ministers will discuss the situation on Thursday, and the Contact Group of
foreign ministers would be meeting with their G8 colleagues in London on
Friday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned the Cabinet that British
troops may have to be sent to Kosova to prevent it becoming the next
Bosnia.
The Prime Minister made clear: "The only question that matter is whether
you are prepared to use force. And we have to be."
Following Thursday's meeting in Downing Street, Mr Blair told his closest
ministers: "Reports indicate a level of butchery that risks escalating into
another Bosnia."
The Prime Minister believes the lessons of Bosnia meant it was better to
decide "whether and when to intervene rather than be dragged in", Downing
Street sources were quoted as saying.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair asked Russia on Sunday to help end the
"barbarism" in Kosova province, and joined the United States in warning
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic against more bloodshed there.
Blair telephoned Russian President Yeltsin to ask him not to oppose the
effort to build an international consensus authorizing force against
Yugoslavia for its attacks on Kosova Albanians and to help end the Kosovo
crisis if he could, a Downing Street spokesman said.
The prime minister also had a lengthy telephone conversation with U.S.
President Bill Clinton, in which they agreed to send a "strong message" to
Milosevic that "the activities of the Yugoslav forces (in Kosovo) were
totally unacceptable," Blair's spokesman said.
He said the prime minister spent the weekend going over the military
options and legal positions about Kosova, where a Serb crackdown on
Albanians has sparked a big exodus of refugees into neighboring Albania and
fears of a new Balkan war.
In his 30-minute conversation with Yeltsin, Blair appealed to the Russian
leader to use "whatever influence he has to get Milosevic to stop the
barbarism against civilians" in Kosova, Blair's spokesman said.
Yeltsin "undertook to do so,"' the spokesman was quoted as saying, without
elaborating.
Blair and Clinton, in their telephone conversation, agreed that they "must
work together at the United Nations and elsewhere, to make sure that
Milosevic is in no doubt we're taking on the issue," Blair's spokesman
said.
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has warned Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic that the European Union will not permit a repetition of Bosnian-
style ethnic cleansing in Kosova.
"President Milosevic over the past week has crossed the threshold," Mr Cook
told an audience at a conference at the London School of Economics. "The
use of tanks, of artillery, of the might of the military army against
civilian centers of population is wholly unacceptable within the modern
Europe."
The Foreign Secretary said the EU could not tolerate a confrontation so
clearly ethnic in its origins.
Britain is consulting its allies about the wording of a resolution for the
UN Security Council to authorize all necessary measures against Belgrade,
sources said.
Robin Cook said one of the great achievements of the present generation had
been the end of racial segregation in South Africa.
"We are not going to celebrate the ending of apartheid within Africa in
order to see a new apartheid created by ethnic cleansing within our own
continent," he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II called on the world Sunday to act against
violence and domination in Kosova.
"Not far from us, in Kosovo, violent options, repression and the flight of
peoples must not leave the international community inert," he said after
his regular Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square.
The bloodshed "recalls the tragic recent history of the Balkans," he said,
referring to wars in Bosnia and Croatia.
He urged both sides to take up the road to dialogue - "longer but more
effective for all."
Also on Sunday, the U.S. Senate majority leader said he would not rule out
using American troops to end ethnic fighting in Kosova.
"Kosovo has the potential to become another Bosnia," Sen.
Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition."
"We cannot allow this slaughter to occur. Once again the Serbians are out
of control. Something should be done."
Lott said the United States should "always be reluctant to use military
force," but "I'm not saying we should not consider troops if it continues
the way it is going."
Meanwhile, top diplomats from nine Balkan countries are to discuss the
Kosova problem at a regional meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, that started
today (Monday).
[02] Serb Forces Shell Border Villages Monday Morning
PRISHTINA, June 3 (KIC) - The villages of Reka e Keqe region in the
municipality of Gjakova, along the border area with Albania, came under a
fierce Serb attack today (Monday) morning, sources said.
The LDK Information Commission said that Serb/Yugoslav army forces began
bombarding Albanian settlements in the area at around 5 a.m. today.
Heavy Serbian artillery, backed up by military helicopter gunships, has
been shelling the villages of Nec, Smolic&, Popoc, Ponoshec, Morin&,
Brovin&, Stub&ll, etc, the LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said.
The most fierce attacks are being waged against the villages of Morin& and
Smolic&, reports said, adding that the sound of heavy detonations can be
heard in the town of Gjakova itself.
Serbian forces have been attacking from their positions in the ^abrati
upland, at Babaj t& Bok&s and in the Kodra e Pllanikut (the Pllaniku
upland) as well as other mobile positions.
Reports from the ground said Albanian defendants have put up a fierce
resistance to the ongoing Serbian attacks.
The resistance is all the more meaningful, for it aims at preventing
Serbian military and paramilitary forcing Albanians out of their homes and
ethnically cleansing the area, sources said.
Eye-witnesses said the building of the local elementary school at the
village of Morin& was in ruins after heavy Serb shelling.
In addition, the village of Dujak& has been under siege by Serbian forces
since yesterday, sources said.
Serb forces have occupied the building of the elementary school "Fan Noli"
at Dujak&. Serb snipers have been targeting this and other villages in the
vicinity from there.
Meanwhile, sources in De^an reported of renewed Serb shelling in the area
today.
Artillery sounds can be heard coming from several villages surrounding the
town of De^an, sources added.
[03] Grave Situation in Skenderaj, Serbs Shell Llausha for Hours on Sunday
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - The Llausha village in Skenderaj ('Srbica')
municipality was shelled repeatedly by Serbian forces until evening hours
on Sunday, local sources said.
Serb forces garrisoned at the Kodra e Skenderajt base shelled the extended
families of Haziraj, Babaj, Zejnullahu and Gecaj, an LDK activist told KIC
on the phone today.
Zuk& Zejnullahu, a 45-year old Albanian, has died for lack of due medical
care in the sealed-off village, the activist said.
The town of Skenderaj itself was reported going through extremely hard
times, with lack of basic necessities in the wake of the three-month-long
siege laid to it by Serbian forces.
Bakeries in the town have been without flour for two weeks now. So the
people have to brace going to Mitrovica to fetch supplies.
Communication lines have been cut to a number of villages in the
municipality of Skenderaj.
During the month of May, 9 Albanians were killed in the municipality; 15
others wounded.
Over 250 Albanian houses have been destroyed, partly damaged or looted by
Serbian forces, LDK sources said.
[04] Gunfire Reported at Police Checkpoint in Komoran
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Intermittent gunfire was heard Sunday evening
coming from the Serb police checkpoint at Komoran of Drenica, a village 25
km north of Prishtina.
LDK sources in Gllogovc said Serb police fired automatic rifles in the
direction of villages north of the checkpoint.
There was no immediate report on possible casualties.
Sporadic gunfire was reported coming from the area today morning too.
Life in Komoran and the surrounding villages has been paralysed.
The local population in the vicinity of the police checkpoint has moved out
a couple of weeks ago.
The main Kosova axis, connecting the capital Prishtina with the town of
Peja, is still closed.
[05] Serb Police Orders Burial of Three Unidentified Albanians
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Serbian police ordered today the burial of three
corpses of Albanians, which had been taken to the Gjakova town morgue
Saturday and Sunday.
They were buried in the town cemetery, a report said.
The killed persons - whose identity has not been made known - were brought
to Gjakova from villages in the municipality of De^an, the scene of a ten-
day long Serb offensive against Albanian settlements.
Another corpse of an unidentified man was buried in the Gjakova cemeteries
Saturday. The body of the man had been brought by Serb army in the town
morgue earlier last week, sources in Gjakova said.
[06] Fresh Serb Army Reservist Troops Deployed Brought in Kosova
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Fresh Serb troops have been reported brought from
Serbia to Kosova today.
Sources in Fush&-Kosova, a town 5 km north of Prishtina, said six train
cars full of Serb army reservists entered today the railway station.
During the whole time, while passengers got off the train, the area around
the railway station was held sealed off by Serb police.
The Serb reservists were reportedly housed in the huge military barracks in
the suburbs of Prishtina in the direction of Fush&- Kosova.
[07] CDHRF Activists Arrested by Armed Policemen in Plain-Clothes
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Two activists of the Prishtina-based Council for
the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) were arrested today at
11:05 just after having left the CDHRF offices in Prishtina, the major
Kosovar human rights organization said.
Ms Zahrije Podrim^aku, an administrative secretary, and Mr. Ibrahim Makolli,
a member of the CDHRF, were arrested by two armed policemen in plain-
clothes.
[08] Serbs Bring Terrorism-related Charges against Albanian Students
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - The office of the Serb-run public prosecutor in
Prizren brought today criminal charges against six students with the local
teachers training college in the town.
A lawyer from Prizren, Syl& Hoxha, said that the students Njazi Kryeziu,
Aqif Iliazi, Bardhyl Duraku, Sejdi Bellania, D&frim Rifaj and Sherif
Iliazin have been charged with involvement in 'setting up terrorist
groups".
According the Serb indictment, they may be sentenced up to 10 years in
prison each, he said.
Njazi Kryeziu, Aqif Iliazi, Bardhyl Duraku, Sejdi Bellania are members of
the Students Union of the "Xhevdet Doda" Teachers Training College in
Prizren.
The six students have been held in Serb detention for over a week now.
The lawyer said the Serb court in Prizren ruled today a 2-month extension
of pre-trial detention for all of them.
Three other female students - Behare Tafallari, Jehon& Krasniqi and Leonor&
Morina - arrested together with the six students named above, are being
held at a prison house in Lipjan.
[09] Serbian Police Station at Ratkoc Has Not Been Destroyed
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Local Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) sources
in Rahovec denied Serb press reports that a police station building at
Ratkovc village had been destroyed.
The building did indeed suffer minor damages, but was not destroyed, the
LDK said, adding that Serb police deserted the station at Ratkoc village of
Rahovec.
The LDK sources said the situation in the municipality was a bit quieter
today.
Three Albanian villages in the municipality - Gexh&, Mal&si e Vog&l and
Ratkoc - have been shelled by Serbian forces on several occasions in the
past few weeks, causing considerable material damage and a number of
casualties amongst Albanians.
[10] Heavy Serb Police Presence along Prishtina-Podujeva Roadway Sunday
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Armed Serb policemen were deployed on the right
side along the Prishtina-Podujeva roadway just after 10 a.m. Sunday.
There was at least one armed policeman standing on every 100 meters along
the 30 km long northbound roadway.
They were there to secure the passage of a bicycle race tour along the road
to demonstrate the everything was O.K. in Kosova!
[11] Serb Police Beat Albanian Youth Ahead of Peaceful Rally in Prishtina
PRISHTINA, June 8 (KIC) - Jakup Bekteshi from Prishtina told KIC he was
beaten up brutally today by a Serb police patrol in the town.
He said the police stopped him on the street, beating him with no reason
whatsoever.
Jakup Bektshi said he was on his way to Mother Teresa square, the venue of
a peaceful protest, planned to start at noon.
Serb riot police intervened brutally Sunday against peaceful protesters in
Prishtina, beating scores of Albanians.
The ralliers paid homage to victims of Serb aggression in different parts
of Kosova over the last weeks.
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