Kosova Daily Report #1594, 98-10-26

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1594
Prishtina, 26 October 1998

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova Receives Vice-President of European Parliament

[02] 19 Kosovars Feared Dead in the Adriatic Sea Waters

[03] Four Klina Villages Under Renewed Serb Fire

[04] Identity of Two Other Teenagers Killed in Serb Minefield Established

[05] Serbs Spray With Fire Communities in Vushtrri, Harass Population

[06] Serb Troops Tighten Grip on Albanian Villages in Obiliq

[07] Ten Lorryloads of Serb Policemen in Combat Fatigue Heading for Skenderaj

[01] President Rugova Receives Vice-President of European Parliament

Mr. Haarder said he had come here to examine ways to help Kosova, alleviate the grave humanitarian situation and create the preconditions for a political resolution to the Kosova issue.

President Rugova said consequences of the Serbian military and police offensives are everywhere in Kosova, with thousands of Albanians killed and wounded, hundreds of thousand Albanians turned into refugees and their homes destroyed.

The huge presence of the Serbian military and police forces makes the return of people back to their homes highly insecure, President Ibrahim Rugova said. "There should be an irreversible withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosova", he stressed. In this way, the humanitarian emergency would be addressed and an environment conducive to a political process in pursuit of a negotiated settlement in Kosova created, the Kosova President concluded.

[02] 19 Kosovars Feared Dead in the Adriatic Sea Waters

In the night of Saturday, the boat they were on board sank or crashed into another boat before sinking, according to conflicting reports.

The Kosovar Albanians were trying to go to Italy.

The Albanian border guards said they had prevented another boat from sailing to Italy. As many as 180, out of the 250 passengers- to-be, were Kosovar Albanians, according to the Albanian authorities.

[03] Four Klina Villages Under Renewed Serb Fire

Witnesses told the KIC that the villages of Rud, Panorc, Llap^ev& and Sferk& e Gashit were first pounded with artillery fire from a Serb base at Vulljaka from 19:00 through 20:30 hrs. These communities were fired into later in the night and today (Monday) morning, Fetah Rudi, local activist in Sferka village told the KIC.

The sound of the shelling could be clearly heard in the during the telephone conversation with Mr. Rudi last evening.

Rudi said the local population in the four villages spent last night in their house basements or in other safer places.

By midday today, he failed to learn if there were any casualties.

The Prishtina-based daily 'Kosova Sot' said an 11-year-old boy Kadri Morina was wounded in Sferka village on Sunday. The boy received life-threatening bullet wounds.

[04] Identity of Two Other Teenagers Killed in Serb Minefield Established

The bodies of Kujtim Byty^i and Enver Byty^i, both aged 17, residents of Shkoza village of Malisheva, have been in the town morgue in Prizren since Thursday.

Sources in Malisheva reported on Sunday that at least four young Albanians from the Malisheva area had died from mines planted by Serb military in the Hasi region, in western Kosova. They named two of them as Shp&tim Kryeziu (20) and Sami Kryeziu (18), both of them residents of Pagarusha village of Malisheva.

Isuf Bytyqi, head of the Malisheva LDK Information Commission said today the Serb police set afire the house of a local Albanian in Dragobil village. Serbs had used the house of Zeqir Pa^arizi as a base for several months. They burned it before leaving the village this morning, he said.

[05] Serbs Spray With Fire Communities in Vushtrri, Harass Population

By mid-morning hours, when the Commission reported about the incident, it could identify the exact targets of the Serb forces.

The situation in municipality is highly volatile, with many Serb troops dug in ares near Albanian communities. Serb policemen manning a checkpoint in the town have been harassing and provoking the local population, LDK sources said.

[06] Serb Troops Tighten Grip on Albanian Villages in Obiliq

PRISHTINA, Oct 26 (KIC) - The villages of Sibovc, Hamidi, Lajthisht&, Shipitull& and Graboc i Ep&rm, in the municipality of Obiliq, north-west of Prishtina, are still under a virtual Serb siege, the LDK chapter in Obiliq said today.

Serb forces have continued digging in in many positions around Albanian communities, making the movement of the people almost impossible. In addition to Serb troops, armed Serb civilians have been provoking and intimidating Albanians with impunity, the source said.

Over a dozen Serb policemen went Sunday afternoon to the home of an Albanian in Dradhishta village in a bid to secure, as they put it, the "implementation of the Holbrooke-Milosevic deal".

The head of the family, Sali Shalaku (70), was told by the police to summon all the local men and begin implementing the deal! As Mr. Shalaku refused to engage in this obscure mission, the police asked for the head of the local LDK organization to organize the meeting. The police left the village, as the LDK activist was not at home, and no one was willing to organize such a meeting.

The Serb policemen reportedly suggested that such a meeting be open to the public and the media!

[07] Ten Lorryloads of Serb Policemen in Combat Fatigue Heading for Skenderaj

Serb policemen in combat fatigue were on board of ten trucks, the LDK said. It could not yet tell where exactly in Skenderaj the Serb troops were heading. The sources said that at the same time a lorryload of Serb forces returned from Skenderaj.

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