Kosova Daily Report #1595, 98-10-27
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1595
Prishtina, 27 October 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Serb Police Leave Many Checkpoints, Still Manning Many Others
[02] U^K Will Show Self-Restraint as Long as Serb Side Does Not Provoke It,
Dema^i Says
[03] Hill Plan Unacceptable, Kosovar Politicians and Legal Experts Say
[04] Bodies of Three Killed Albanians Found in Drenica Today
[05] Serbs Set Ablaze Albanian Houses as They Move Out of Villages
[06] Serb Forces Spray with Fire Malisheva Villages Monday Night
[07] Albanian Held Hostage by Serbs in His House for 60 Days
[01] Serb Police Leave Many Checkpoints, Still Manning Many Others
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - Sources from Kosova municipalities reported
during the morning hours today that Serb troop were leaving a considerable
number of checkpoints on the roads, intersections and near the Albanian
communities. Serbs have been reportedly dismantling the checkpoints
established over the past several months.
Below are the accounts circulated by LDK chapters in several Kosova
municipalities on the withdrawal of Serb troops by mid-morning today:
Gllogovc: Serb police has withdrawn from T&rstenik, Komoran, while military
ones left a base at ^ukat e Zabelit above Komoran. Part of Serb troops also
left the compounds of the Ferrous-Nickel "Feronikeli" plant. It is not
certain if all Serb forces left the factory halls which, for several months,
had been turned into a virtual detention center where scores of Albanians
were held for days and tortured severely.
Serb forces were still by midday in the villages of Korrotica and
Llapushnik.
Podujeva: At around 20:00 on Monday, Serb forces left a huge checkpoint
near the Besiana motel on the edge of the town of Podujeva, on the Podujeva-
Prishtina roadway. Sources said that most of the Sreb policemen retreated
into the motel, to only leave today. It is not certain, however, if all of
them have withdrawn from that base.
The checkpoint in the northeastern town of Podujeva had been turned into a
surrogate border control post between Kosova and Serbia, with all vehicles
entering Kosova being stopped there, and Albanian traders and ordinary
passengers paying arbitrary taxes/fines levied on them by the Serbian
police manning the checkpoint!
Sources in Podujeva said around 100 buses with Serb forces on board were
seen moving in the direction of Serbia travelling the Prishtina-Podujeva-
Nis road after 21:00 hrs last night.
Peja: An LDK activist in Lugu i Baranit, a valley on the south-west of Peja
which was targeted by huge Sreb offensives earlier this year, said Serb
forces have retreated from the checkpoints in Kosuriq and Gllogjan. Serb
police in an armored vehicle was seen moving between the Baran and Nepole
on repeated occasions today.
Witnesses said that before leaving the Gllogjan village, Serbs demolished
the local schoolhouse as well as the farmhouse of Zymer ^eku in Kosuriq.
Lipjan: Serb forces pulled Monday evening from checkpoints in V&rshec,
^ylag&, Grac& e Vog&l, Gllavic&. Serbs also evacuated the "Jeronim de Rada"
school in the mining town of Magura.
A resident of Qulaga village told the KIC today morning that he went to his
village last night after having seen the Serbs leaving.
Shaban Bytyqi said dozens of houses in his village were levelled to the
ground, others were damaged and demolished and virtually each house
pillaged. Serb damaged and filled with rubble many wells, sources of
drinking water for the local population.
Suhareka: Serb forces withdrew today from Samadraxha village. They warned
the local villagers not to remove the sandbags from the houses they were
garrisoned in, saying that they would be back soon.
Sreb police were today still manning checkpoints and bases at the villages
of Reshtan, Bllac&, and Mohlan villages. Serb police patrols roamed the
street of Suharka, harassing, intimidating and offending passersby in the
morning hours today.
Obiliq: By midday today, Sreb police were still manning checkpoints and
outposts in several places in the municipality of Obiliq, including at a
location known as "K&rshat e Grabocit", Graboc i Ul&t, Shipitull&, Siboc
and Lajthisht& villages, as well as around the Bella^evc coal mines.
Serb forces opened fire in the direction of Hajredinaj neighborhood in
Graboc i Ep&rm last night, local sources told the KIC.
[02] U^K Will Show Self-Restraint as Long as Serb Side Does Not Provoke It,
Dema^i Says
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - The Office of the Ushtria ^lirimtare e Kosov&s
(U^K, Kosova Liberation Army) has contacted people who deal with the issue
of the Hague Tribunal, Adem Dema^i, the political representative of the U^K,
said in a press conference today.
The U^K will help the Tribunal in all ways so that the truth on all crimes
and massacres committed in Kosova be established, he said.
There have been Serb troop withdrawals in the past 24 hours, Dema^i said,
but he cautioned against making hasty judgments. "We do not know whether
they have gone, not to return to Kosova".
The General Staff of the U^K has "reassured me the U^K will continue to
show self-restrain as long as the Serb side does not provoke the U^K and as
long as it respects the agreements between the U^K and the international
verifiers on their positions and emplacements".
Adem Dema^i reaffirmed his idea for the formation of an Assembly of Kosova,
which would include the current legislature of the Parliament, but also
representatives of parties and other organizations which did not take part
in the 22 March elections.
"This Assembly would elect a Government", which would be representative of
all the political specter and have "competent" people in it.
The world should know that our goal one and the same, laid down in the 1991
Referendum for independence, Adem Dema^i said, adding that no agreement on
Kosova would be accepted unless there is a clear provision in it,
specifying the date when the Albanian will exercise their right to self-
determination. "There are no substantial differences between the LDK and
U^K. Our goal is the same".
Meanwhile, in a written statement, Dema^i's Office called on the Albanian
people of all walks of life not to "accept any solution which has not been
made known to the people and which is in opposition to the independence of
Kosova". The allusion was to the Holbrooke-Milosevic deal.
[03] Hill Plan Unacceptable, Kosovar Politicians and Legal Experts Say
The plan degrades even the autonomy Kosova enjoyed in former Yugoslavia,
Milazim Krasniqi, a senior LDK official says
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - The draft idea for a settlement in Kosova, what
is frequently referred as the [Ambassador Chris] Hill plan for Kosova, is
unacceptable, participants in a round-table organized by the Democratic
League of Kosova (LDK) Youth Forum Monday said.
The Holbrooke-Milosevic deal on Kosova on the implementation of UNSCR 1199
has been shrouded in mystifications, Milazim Krasniqi, member of the LDK
Executive, said. "There was no need for so much ado about what is a routine
deal on the implementation of Resolution 1199, because it was mandatory
anyway", he said.
Echoing comments by Bobe Dole, Krasniqi said the deal put pressure on the
Albanian side - the victims of aggression - in order to force them accept
damaging solutions. "The Hill document degrades even the autonomy that
Kosova used to enjoy [in former Yugoslavia], let alone the political will
of the people expressed in the 1991 referendum," he said.
One thing is clear, Milazim Krasniqi said, as long as the international
community seeks a status for Kosova within the state framework of
Yugoslavia, excluding the possibility of self- determination and
independence for Kosova, "there will be no solution".
Mr. Gjergj Dedaj, Vice-President of the Parliament of the Republic of
Kosova, and leader of the Liberal Party, said his party was appreciative of
the efforts of the international community, especially the USA, to
discontinue the negative trends in Kosova.
The Kosova Albanian side has been sidelined in the political process
heretofore, he noted.
Mr. Dedaj said for the PLK any solution for Kosova within "Serbia or the
FRY, which is in fact Serbia, is unacceptable".
The draft ideas for a solution in Kosova which do not safeguard the right
of the people of Kosova to decide its future in a referendum after the
provisional period expires are unacceptable, the PLK leader concluded.
A similar round-table was organized last week by the KACI (Kosova Action
for Civilian Initiative], in which Albanian legal experts and university
law professors took part.
They slammed the draft plan put forward by Ambassador Chris Hill early
September, noting by and large that what it offered was far less than what
Kosova had with the 1974 Constitution. "Russian experts would not have
written a worse document", Kurtesh Salihu, a constitutional law professor
at the University of Prishtina, was quoted as saying, referring to the Hill
plan.
[04] Bodies of Three Killed Albanians Found in Drenica Today
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - The bodies of three Albanians have been found
today after Serb forces withdrew from many of their checkpoints in Drenica,
Murat Musliu, a local human rights activist in Skenderaj ('Srbica') told
the KIC.
The decapitated body of Xhavit Halit Kadriu (22) was found today in his
native village of Likoc. He had gone missing on 25 September.
The bodies of Cen& Gjinovci (67), resident of Mak&rmal, and Idriz Gashi
(60), resident of Rrezall& village, were found today.
Idrizi was killed on 17 October together with another Albanian, Ali Ahmeti,
the human rights activist said.
People have started trickling back to their villages, although many of them
have no home to return to, Mr. Musliu said.
[05] Serbs Set Ablaze Albanian Houses as They Move Out of Villages
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - Serb forces set ablaze two houses of Albanians in
the Balinc& village of Malisheva, a local resident told the KIC today. In
addition to that, Serbs opened fire in the direction of a group of local
residents who attempted to return to the village after having been informed
that the police had left it this morning.
The villager said that 42 houses were burned down in the village earlier
this year.
The Malisheva LDK Information Commission said a Serb police convoy driving
through the Carralluka village today set ablaze several local Albanian
houses.
The Commission said that the body of killed Jashar Krasniqi, a local
schoolteacher from T&rpez& village, was found on Monday not far from his
house. The late Krasniqi, who had been among the missing people lists, was
probably killed three months ago when Serb forces launched a fierce
offensive in the area.
[06] Serb Forces Spray with Fire Malisheva Villages Monday Night
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - A senior LDK activist of Malisheva told the KIC
that the villages of Sferk& e Gashit, Panorc, Rud, Llap^ev& and Bub&l, were
sprayed with machine-gun fire last night.
Fetah Rudi, member of the LDK branch leadership in Malisheva, said Albanian
villages were pounded with fire from two bases, Pishat e Volljak&s
(Volljaka Pinewood) and a bauxite mine in Volljaka.
[07] Albanian Held Hostage by Serbs in His House for 60 Days
PRISHTINA, Oct 27 (KIC) - A local Albanian from Samadraxha village of
Suhareka was held hostage in the hands of Serb forces for 60 days, the LDK
chapter in Suhareka said today.
Bafti Murtez Musaj (70) was caught in his home two months ago, when Serb
forces advanced into the village of Samadraxha. He was ever since held as
hostage to only be let free yesterday.
Sources said the whereabouts of another Albanian from the same village area
have been unknown since his kidnaping by Serbs a month ago.
G&zim Krasniqi (38) was abducted at Zojz village of Prizren on 25
September.
Kosova Information Center
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