Kosova Daily Report #1483, 98-07-07
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1483
Prishtina, 7 July 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Serbian Troops Attack Border Villages Overnight and Today
[02] A Bit Calmer Situation in Loxh& Reported
[03] At Least 10 Albanians Killed in Kosova During the Last Week
[04] A 'Diplomatic Circus', 'Observers Watching Leaves of Grass on the
Floor of Destroyed Houses'
[05] The Kosovar Struggle Is About Kicking Serbia Out, Not Accommodation
[06] Serb Police Sets Ablaze School Building in Gllogovc
[07] Serb Police Tortures 10 Prishtina University Students
[08] Serbs Establish New Checkpoint near Vushtrri
[09] Grenade Blasts in Courtyards of Two Albanians in Ferizaj
[10] 926 Kosovar Refugees to Montenegro in Three Days
[01] Serbian Troops Attack Border Villages Overnight and Today
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - Overnight and today morning, Serbian military
mounted attacks on the villages of Reka e Keqe region, local sources said.
The Serbs attacked from the very positions they have been attacking
villages on the border area with Albania for a couple of months now.
There have been no immediate reports on the casualty-toll, but damages are
reported to be enormous.
The local Albanian resistance forces have been returning fire, sources
said.
The sound of heavy detonations last night and today morning till 10 o'clock
could be heard in the town of Gjakova itself.
Eye-witnesses said fire and columns of smoke could be seen in villages of
Smolic&, Stub&ll, Berjah, Morin&, and Nec.
In the Has region of Gjakova, the village of Goden, Zylfaj and Prush, along
the border belt with Albania, have become the scene of fighting between
Serbian troops and local Albanians.
Yesterday and today, as a result of the Serb attacks, the population of
these villages, mainly children and women, have fled homes seeking shelter
in other villages or in Gjakova itself.
Heavy Serb police forces on board of armored vehicles roamed the streets of
the town of Gjakova after midnight.
The village of Bishtazhin has found itself cut from the Gjakov&- Prizren
roadway, local sources said.
[02] A Bit Calmer Situation in Loxh& Reported
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - It is a bit calmer today in Loxh&, local sources
said, referring the village close to the western town of Peja, which was a
scene of fighting between Serb forces and local Albanians in the past
couple of days.
Only sporadic automatic fire echoed today, sources said.
Because of a strictly limited movement of people, with Serb forces having
blocked access to the region, the extent and consequences of yesterday's
Serb attack is largely unknown.
A convoy of Serb military withdrew from Loxh& today, going back to the Peja
barracks.
In the town of Peja itself very little movement of citizens is reported.
The daily press has not reached the town.
It is expected that Tahir S. Shala (35), killed two days ago by Serb police,
will be buried today in his native village of Loxh&.
In the town of Peja today, the two Serb policemen killed yesterday in Loxh&
will be buried.
Three Serb Policemen Killed, Several Wounded near Loxh& Yesterday PRISHTINA,
July 7 (KIC) - Around 13:00 hrs yesterday, in clashes with Albanian forces,
three Serb policemen were killed: Mirko Radulovic, Dejan Preleviq, and
Milan Rajkoviq. Four more policemen were wounded in the ongoing fighting at
Loxh&, 3 km near Peja, the Belgrade pro-government "Politika" daily
reported.
Meanwhile, the Dnevni Telegraf daily said at least 5 policemen have been
killed and 15 others wounded during the fighting.
This Serb newspaper said Serb military units have taken part in the
fighting.
[03] At Least 10 Albanians Killed in Kosova During the Last Week
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - According to reports by the chapters of LDK and
the Kosova human rights Council (CDHRF), at least ten Albanians were killed
and many others wounded from 30 June through 6 July this year.
Serb media reports about the killing of 8 Albanians at the Kosova- Albania
border last week was not included in the death-toll account, as they were
not confirmed by Albanian sources so far.
Following are the names of the last week's Albanian victims, identified by
Albanian sources on the ground: Jakup Agushi (around 30 years of age) from
Drenoc of Klina, killed in his native village by Serb forces on 30 June;
Haxhi Syl& Ukaj (61) from Cerovik of Klina, died on 2 July. He sustained
gunfire wounds from a Serb police helicopter on 25 June.
Kadri Sadri Kokollari (30) from Budakova of Suhareka, killed on 3 July,
during a Serb forces attack on Krushica village. On 4 July, the dead body
of Ali Hasani (75), resident of Prejlep of De^an, was found in the vicinity
of Hereq village. The late Albanian was killed with sniper rifle bullets.
Daut Islam Pllana (25) was killed on 5 July during a Serb forces shelling
of his Bardh i Madh (Bella^evc) village.
Jahir Shala, an immobile old Albanian was shot dead by the Serb forces
advancing in his Hade village on 29 June. Tahir S. Shala(35) was killed by
Serb forces in Loxha village of Peja on 5 July.
Muhamet Sefer Haxha (38) from Gllareva village of Klina was killed last
Friday during a huge Serb forces operation in Kijeva and the adjacent
villages.
The dead bodies of Muhamet Elshani (56), his son, Afrim Elshani, 25, and
Salih Gashi (around 20 years old), all of them from Pirana village of
Prizren, were found on 6 July in their cornfield.
[04] A 'Diplomatic Circus', 'Observers Watching Leaves of Grass on the
Floor of Destroyed Houses'
Three Albanian daily newspapers on the first day of the Kosova Observer
Mission PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - The so-called Kosova Observer Mission
(KOM) started work yesterday (Monday) in Kosova.
The KOM was born as a result of the Yeltsin-Milosevic meeting in Moscow in
June, which has by and large been seen here in Kosova as a dilution of the
international resolve to act on Kosova.
The three Albanian-language daily newspapers in Kosova - "Informatori",
"Bujku", and "Koha Ditore" - carry leading articles/features on the first
day of the KOM.
"Observers/viewers of the leaves of grass in burned out houses", Enver
Maloku, the editor-in-chief of "Informatori", the evening newspaper
entitled his leading article yesterday (Monday).
It took four months for the Contact Group's demand for international
presence in Kosova to materialize, Maloku writes, noting that such a
mission was thought as a means to avert further escalation of conflict.
Then, in early March, there was talk of the mission starting in spring, the
writer says, adding that there have been no observers so far, nor the
fighting ceased. "More crimes have been committed, hundreds of fresh graves
dug".
The "Informatori" writer then goes on to describe yesterday's mission:
"Today's journey was somewhat weird. It resembled a media show.".
Commenting on the photos of reporters, Enver Maloku writes: "In one of them
you can see clearly the thin leaves of grass which have grown on the floors
of the burned houses. The grass has grown quicker in houses than upon the
earthen graves".
Meanwhile, "Informatori" carried a feature article by two KIC reporters,
who stressed the fact that no living people were encountered in Prekaz, the
village destroyed by Serbian artillery on 5 March, an action diplomats have
had the face to call an 'excessive use' of force by Serbian forces.
The "Bujku" newspaper carries today a long feature article, entitled "The
caravan of OSCE observers and journalists toured Skenderaj, Polac, and
Prekaz".
Bujku reporters, just like the KIC ones, describe in detail what they saw
as the remains of a destroyed and a deserted village, Prekaz, and the
Jashari family compound.
A Serb who infiltrated the convoy punched and kicked the reporter of The
Times of London, Anthony Lloyd, Bujku writes.
The other Kosovar daily in Albanian, "Koha Ditore" refers to this incident
by identifying those who bore the brunt of Serb security officers as
Reuters reporters and a cameraman. (In fact, it was Times and Reuters
reporters, Lloyd and Schork, the KIC learned.) A red "Opel Kadet", known to
all as the car of the Serb security, had got in the middle of the convoy,
said "Koha" reporters, adding that three Serb security in sports clothes
punched the reporter of the Reuters news agency, Kurt Schork. His colleague,
the cameraman, did not fare better, either, because he was hit several
times by the plain-clothes Serb security officers, "Koha" says. All this
happened in front of the ruined wall of the destroyed house of Adem Jashari
in Prekaz.
"A diplomatic circus across police checkpoints", "Koha" entitles its
article today, quoting a diplomat as saying the ruins of the village of
Prekaz were something deja-vu: "I've seen this in Vukovar".
The motorcade of the Kosova Observer Mission did not set foot on territory
controlled by local Albanian resistance forces yesterday.
It was the Russians who refused to proceed beyond Polac, to come across U^K
checkpoints, "Koha" writes, quoting diplomats.
[05] The Kosovar Struggle Is About Kicking Serbia Out, Not Accommodation
Western diplomatic language; semantics; Kosovar independence,...
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - 1. "There is no way Kosovo can shoot its way out
of Serbia, but Belgrade cannot maintain a status quo," said Christopher
Hill, the U.S. ambassador to FYROM, news agencies reported.
There should be a change in status for Kosova within the 'FRY', "this is
essential", Ambassador Holbrooke has said repeatedly in the past few days.
The Kosovar independence bid, which has been an institutionalized effort of
the 2 million people of Kosova, means only this: Kosova outside Serbia or
indeed Serb-led Yugoslavia, a state creature the Kosovars see and feel as a
sheer occupier.
The 222-year-old Independence Declaration of the United States of American
"continues to inspire newly independent nations around the world",
President Bill Clinton said in his Independence Day, 1998, Message.
2. President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosova, long referred to as the 'Kosova
Albanian leader' by the West, is increasingly referred to as the 'main
among the Albanian leaders' in Kosova, or a 'leading political figure'.
Holbrooke met with Albanian leaders, including Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, a news
agency reported, referring to Ambassador Holbrooke's trip to Kosova this
past weekend.
This changing, and belittling, designation of President Rugova comes at a
time the West has been speaking about the 'lack of a unified voice' among
the Kosova Albanian political leaders, while maintaining support for the
'pacifist, moderate, Rugova'.
"There is no viable negotiating team" on the Kosova Albanian side,
Holbrooke complained at the end of his latest Prishtina-Belgrade shuttle
diplomacy tour.
For years, the LDK and President Rugova himself have been criticized for
maintaining a very cohesive, monolithic, organization on an independence
platform. Implied in the criticism was always the need to break up the
block, and therefore, produce more voices.
Now that differing tones are being heard in Kosova does not mean that the
Kosovars do not speak with one voice. Independence for Kosova is the voice
of President Ibrahim Rugova, but also his main opponents Dema^i and Qosja,
as well as the armed people around the U^K.
The only way to have a unified voice is for the President of the Republic
of Kosova and the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova to choose a new
Government and a negotiating team representing and echoing the voice of the
people of Kosova uttered on 22 March 1998, when the national election was
held.
3. The town of De^an was shelled and even bombarded by Serb air jets, as
well as a number of villages in the municipality, with tens of thousands of
people fleeing their homes, to Albania and Montenegro, as well as inside
Kosovar territory.
The formerly 20,000-strong town does not exist now, with more than 60
percent of the houses having been destroyed.
This kind of action, as well as the massacres of scores of Albanians in
their homes in Drenica and Dukagjin, have been readily placed under the
'excessive use' of force rubric!
4. Are there any Albanian abductees or hostages in Serbian hands in
Kosova?
Nobody can say how many people have been missing in Kosova since the
beginning of the Serbian military and police operations in late winter,
because almost half of Kosova is virtually sealed off, access having been
denied to humanitarian activists as well journalists in Drenica, De^an,
Gjakova, elsewhere.
"Over 350 missing in Kosova is the figure closest to the truth, according
to reports.", the KIC wrote on June 19.
Around 300 of them were thought to be from the De^an area, which found
itself under a heavy Serb onslaught since the end of May.
Two Albanians kidnapped by Serbs over the weekend, the KIC reported
yesterday, July 6.
The CDHRF, the major Kosovar human rights group, has repeatedly called for
the fate of abductees and missing people to be investigated.
Let's mention one Albanian by name. Dr. Hafir Shala, the Albanian doctor,
was arrested by Serb forces almost three months ago, 10 April 1998. Two of
his companions were arrested and released.
Nobody knows where Hafir is, for the Serb regime denies having even
detained him.
His family and human rights organizations have cried foul. Dr. Hafir Shala
may not even be an abductee any longer. He may well be dead.
[06] Serb Police Sets Ablaze School Building in Gllogovc
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - Today morning, Serb police forces set ablaze the
building of a primary school in the Feronikeli neighborhood in Gllogovc,
local sources said.
The compounds of the (Ferrous-Nickel) Feronikeli plants in the outskirts of
Gllogovc have been for over two months now turned into a huge base of
Serbian forces.
The LDK Information Commission in Gllogovc said the eight-classroom school
which was located near the plants was set in fire by the Serbs today at 5
a.m. The Commission has failed to provide further details about the
circumstances, noting only that smoke was billowing from another building
near the nickel mines.
The LDK chapter in Gllogovc said that over the past three days Serb snipers
positioned in several places in the compounds of the Feronikeli have
stepped up attacks against the local Albanian population around it.
[07] Serb Police Tortures 10 Prishtina University Students
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - Ten Prishtina University students from Peja and
Istog were reported beaten up brutally by the Serbian police in Vushtrri
today (Tuesday) morning.
Sources in Vushtrri ('Vucitern') said the Albanian students were forced off
the bus at the police checkpoint at Nedakovc village and were beaten
brutally both on the spot and in the local police station in Vushtrri. Nine
of them were released later, while one of them, whose identity is still
unknown, is being held in Serb custody, LDK sources in Vushtrri said.
The Albanian students, residents of Peja and Istog regions, were on their
way home after having completed the spring term courses and exams at
colleges. The Serb police accused them of allegedly going to join the
Liberation Army of Kosova (U^K).
[08] Serbs Establish New Checkpoint near Vushtrri
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - The Serb police began setting up a new checkpoint
in the intersection between the villages of Bukosh, Dubovc and Druar
('Drvar'), in the municipality of Vushtrri.
Sources in Vushtrri said employees of the P&rparimi firm in the town have
been ordered to build the new police base. Witnesses told the LDK chapter
in Vushtrri Serb policemen were also housed in an abandoned house near the
checkpoint.
Meanwhile, sources in Lipjan said that another checkpoint, manned by a
large number of Serb policemen, was set up last weekend in Magura village.
The newly built checkpoint is located at a crossroads connecting the roads
to Prishtina, Lipjan and the south Drenica villages.
Passengers passing through this checkpoint have been subjected to strict
inspection, the LDK chapter in Lipjan said.
[09] Grenade Blasts in Courtyards of Two Albanians in Ferizaj
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - Hand grenades blasted Monday night, at around
22:00 hrs, in the courtyards of two Albanians at Nerodima e Ep&rme village
of Ferizaj.
LDK sources in Ferizaj ('Urosavac') said one grenade each exploded almost
simultaneously in the courtyards of Ibrahim O. Nuhaj and Shaban H. Guta in
Nerodime.
No casualties were reported, but material damage was caused in both houses,
sources said.
Ibrahim Nuhaj was ordered to show up at the Serb police station in the
Ferizaj, the local LDK chapter said.
[10] 926 Kosovar Refugees to Montenegro in Three Days
PRISHTINA, July 7 (KIC) - In the past three days, 926 refugees from Kosova
arrived in neighboring Montenegro. More than half of them were women and
children, FoNet news agency reported.
The number of registered Kosovar refugees in Montenegro exceeds 13.000. It
is estimated that 2-3.000 have not been registered.
Most of the Kosovar refugees are ethnic Albanian, but there are also Slav
Muslims, Serbs, Montenegrins and Gypsies, FoNet said.
Kosova Information Center
|
