Kosova Daily Report #1455, 98-06-09

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1455
Prishtina, 9 June 1998

First Edition: 16:30 CET

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova Travels to London on Eve of Contact Group Meeting

[02] Serbian Military Continues Shelling Gjakova Villages

[03] Serbian Forces Shell Village Between Skenderaj and Istog

[04] Accounts of Serb Offensive in De^an: 6 Killed, 15 Wounded in One Village Only

[05] At Least 15 Women Killed by Serbs in De^an this June

[06] Helicopter Flies Overhead Drenica Hamlets, Serbs Shell Llausha Again Tuesday

[07] Serbs Deploy Fresh Troops and Combat Equipment in Kosova

[08] Lake Radoniqi Dam May Suffer Damages amidst Serb Shelling

[09] Political Process Has Been Greatly Impaired, Dr. Agani Says

[10] Human Rights Watch Says Bosnia-style Atrocities Are Being Carried Out in Kosova

[01] President Rugova Travels to London on Eve of Contact Group Meeting

President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosova will be meeting British Foreign Minister Robin Cook and other senior officials during his London trip.

The political directors of the Contact Group will be meeting Wednesday in Paris to prepare the ministerial meeting of Friday, which is expected to consider measures to address the situation in Kosova.

[02] Serbian Military Continues Shelling Gjakova Villages

The LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said the village of Popoc has been crushed to the ground.

From their positions at Babaj i Bok&s, Pllanik, Kodra e ^abratit, Boka e Zhdrell&s, and Syka e Biteshit, Serbian forces attacked with heavy artillery Albanian villages in the Reka e Keqe region and the De^an municipality.

Albanian defendants have been putting up a fierce resistance to the Serbian onslaught, reports said, referring to an unspecified number of wounded amongst Albanians.

In the morning hours, the front of fighting extended to the village of Skivjan in the municipality of Gjakova, sources said.

The local population fled this village after being pounded with heavy Serb weaponry.

The area has under a ring of steel imposed by Serbian forces.

Therefore, details about the extent of fighting, casualties and damage have not trickled out yet.

Local sources said yesterday's confrontation between the Serbian military and the Albanian resistance forces was the strongest since the beginning of Serbian attacks against the villages of Morin& e Smolic& in the border area with Albania.

[03] Serbian Forces Shell Village Between Skenderaj and Istog

PRISHTINA, June 9 (KIC) - The village of Suhog&rll&, which lies between the municipalities of Skenderaj and Istog in north-west Kosova, was the scene of intensive shelling by Serbian forces for two and a half hours yesterday (Monday), from 18:00 through 20:30 hrs, sources said today.

There was gunfire all day long yesterday, as well as for half a dozen hours between Sunday and Monday, sources added.

An LDK source from Istog told the Kosova Information Center (KIC) 37 Albanian houses at the village of Suhog&rll& have been destroyed or badly damaged, adding that only a few houses have been left intact in the village.

It is suspected three residents have been trapped in the rubble of their homes at Suhog&rll&. The report could not be confirmed.

The population has moved out of the village.

There have been reports of sporadic shooting in the village today.

[04] Accounts of Serb Offensive in De^an: 6 Killed, 15 Wounded in One Village Only

Thousands of local population fled to the neighbouring Albania amidst indiscriminate shelling of villages.

Osman Cacaj, head of the LDK Information Commission in De^an, told KIC Monday afternoon that it was still impossible to unveil the consequences of the Serb aggression.

He said that his Commission has established by Monday the identity of six residents of Carrabreg i Ul&t village, victims of the recent Serb onslaught. He named the victims as Hamdi Dautaj, Murat Dautaj, Ms Ajshe Loshi, Idriz Lataj, Sadik Lataj and Sylejman Uk& Zekaj.

Osman Cacaj noted that one cannot have a full account of casualties on other villages: Drenoc, Pob&rxh&, Carrabreg i Ep&rm, Llo^an, Hulaj, and the town of De^an itself.

Witnesses accounts speak of wide-spread atrocities committed by Serb forces in many villages to which no one has had access since.

Mr. Cacaj said he also had the identity 15 Albanians of the Carrabreg i Ep&rm wounded during the Serb offensive: Isuf Tahiraj, Ram& Tahiraj, Ahmet Loshaj, Haxhi Loshaj, Driton Balaj, Sadik Gjonaj, Ajshe Rreh Dobraj, Ajshe Nezir Dobraj, Ajmane Dobraj, f&mij&t Jeton Ali Dobraj e Mone Ali Dobraj, Rrustem M. Zekaj, Arsim Q. Dautaj, Hatmane Loshaj, Dyke Dautaj, Xhejrane Gani Loshaj (3), Ilir Gani Loshaj (6), Sevdije Dautaj, Arlinda M. Dobraj and Din& Balaj.

[05] At Least 15 Women Killed by Serbs in De^an this June

The LDK Information Commission said all of the deceased women were married and had children.

The Commission has named the killed women as Ajmane Balaj, Hate Lataj, Teuta Loshaj, Gala UkBeli, Ajshe Loshaj, Mire Lataj and her sister from Novi Pazari, Have Balaj's mother, Shyhrete Jeftaj, Raze Krasniqi, Shkurte Tolaj, Zize Tolaj, a family guest from Batusha was killed in the farmstead of Elmi Tolaj, Lule Selmanaj and Zoje Selmanaj.

[06] Helicopter Flies Overhead Drenica Hamlets, Serbs Shell Llausha Again Tuesday

The extended families of Gecaj and Bekteshi came under fierce artillery fire today at around 10:30, an LDK activist in Llausha told KIC on the phone.

The activist could not confirm whether there were casualties.

At around noon, he said the village was still being intermittently shelled.

Llausha village has been subjected to sporadic Serb shelling almost on a daily basis. The village is being held inside a deadly siege for over two months now.

Meanwhile, sources in Skenderaj said the situation seemed to be mostly tense in another village of Drenica region today.

Stepped up movement of Serb forces movement have been reported since morning in Runik and a couple of surrounding hamlets.

A Serb police helicopter has been hovering over the village since morning hours today.

The LDK Information Commission in Skenderaj could not obtain detailed information from the area.

[07] Serbs Deploy Fresh Troops and Combat Equipment in Kosova

Six train cars full of Serb soldiers reached today morning, at around 8:30, the railway station in Fush&-Kosova, sources said.

46 military vehicles and tanks arrived in Fush&-Kosova on board of the train today, too.

Heavy Serb police forces kept the area around the railway station sealed off for over one hour.

Serb soldiers and equipment were subsequently brought to the huge military barracks in the suburbs of Prishtina in the direction of Fush&-Kosova.

A large number of Serb army reservists were brought Monday morning in the military barracks in Prishtina.

[08] Lake Radoniqi Dam May Suffer Damages amidst Serb Shelling

Experts say heavy detonations may cause damage to the dam of the lake, which would result in catastrophic consequences for the population of the entire Rrafshi i Dukagjinit (Dukagjin plateau) in Kosova stretching to similar lakes in neighbouring Albania, the LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said.

[09] Political Process Has Been Greatly Impaired, Dr. Agani Says

U.S. Ambassador to Shkup Chris Hill, who has been serving as a facilitator in the Prishtina-Belgrade talks process, attended the meeting.

The G-15 coordinator, Dr. Fehmi Agani, told reporters after the meeting the delegation that visited the De^an area yesterday, including himself, shared the impressions about what it saw there with the rest of the people in the Group.

Resumption of the Kosova-'FRY' negotiation process will be discussed later, Agani said, adding that the attacks launched by Serbian military and police forces in De^an area and elsewhere in Kosova have greatly impaired the political process on Kosova.

The talks will resume when we see that we can have talks that can produce results, he said.

De^an is not under the control of the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army), Dr. Agani said, adding that the action of the Serbian military and police forces, the destruction and devastation they caused, cannot be justified.

The situation in De^an, especially in the villages of Prejlep, Carrabreg and Strellc i Ep&rm, was graver than we could have imagined, the Kosova negotiating team's coordinator said.

"It was shocking to see a great number of houses shelled and burned-out".

Even more shocking was the fact that the area has been emptied of its inhabitants, Dr. Agani said, adding that there was a ubiquitous military and police presence which makes the return of the displaced Albanian population impossible.

Serb police did not allow the delegation to visit the attacked villages in the municipality of Gjakova, he said.

The situation in the town of Gjakova itself was grave enough, Agani said, adding that no humanitarian relief has been allowed in by Serb forces.

The great number of refugees from De^an and Gjakova villages fleeing the dangerous areas to the town of Gjakova make the life in it even more burdensome, Dr. Agani told reporters after today's meeting of the G-15.

Ambassador Chris Hill said he wanted to consult with the people in the G- 15.

"I am going to be attending the Contact Group meeting in Paris, leaving later today, so I wanted the opportunity to talk to them, discuss the negotiating process, which, I think everyone agrees, needs to get going.", Hill told reporters.

He took yesterday a trip to De^an. "I was accompanying Dr. Agani, and the situation there is very difficult. There was a lot of damage there, and frankly I think it highlights the fact that we do need to get a political process going."

The whole issue needs to have "a political track, and that's what I was talking about today with the G-15."

U.S. Ambassador to Shkup/FYROM said could not predict when the next session of the Prishtina-Belgrade talks process will be.

"There are a lot of problems that need to be addressed. There is a great deal of concern. There are very heart-felt concerns for the refugees from the area. And, we want to make sure that those refugees are able to return to the area, even if some of their houses are not livable at this point."

Asked to say whether it was still possible to sit down and talk, while arms rage in Kosova, the U.S. diplomat said "any time when you sit down, when there has been a type of thing has been going on in Kosovo, any time is going to be difficult, but I think the longer you wait, the more difficult it gets and I would like to see the conditions created for negotiations as soon as possible."

This is a problem that is not going to be solved without a process of negotiations. That's integral to any solution to the situation in Kosovo."

A lot of specific issues were discussed by Hill with the Yugoslav side, "especially the issue of gaining access by diplomats to the entire area.", the Ambassador said.

"And I would say that process began yesterday with my trip to the De^ani area. It continues today with Chief Mission Miles's trip.

And I think we will continue on a daily basis, because it is very important to gain access to those areas. People's lives are really at stake. And it's very important that we be able to go in there and see what is happening.", Ambassador Chris Hill, the facilitator in the Kosovar negotiation process, said in reply to a question.

[10] Human Rights Watch Says Bosnia-style Atrocities Are Being Carried Out in Kosova

In a press release issued today, the Human Rights Watch said it was dismayed that despite the mounting evidence of widespread humanitarian law violations in the region, the international community has repeatedly failed to follow through on warnings to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

"Although information on human rights and international humanitarian law violations therefore remains incomplete, there is substantial and credible evidence that serious violations of humanitarian law are taking place. As many as fifty people are reported dead and many more are reported missing from the most recent offensive in the border region around Decan. At least 11.000 people have fled across the mountainous border to Albania.

Eyewitnesses report the shelling of civilians by Serb forces, as well as cases of summary execution, in the villages of Ljubenic, on May 24, and Poklek in the Drenica region on May 31. Many villages around the town of Decan have been looted, shelled, and set on fire.", the Human Rights Watch said in the statement.

The renowned organization said the Contact Group should demand an immediate withdrawal of the Serbian special police forces and any paramilitary units operating in Kosova, and that the government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia halt all long-range artillery shelling and other military operations that are being used to target or indiscriminately fire on civilians in Kosova.

Kosova Information Center

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