Kosova Daily Report #1597, 98-10-29
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1597
Prishtina, 29 October 1998
CONTENTS
[01] President Rugova Receives Russian Diplomats
[02] FOCUS: 25,000 Serb Troops Remain in Kosova, Withdrawal Symbolic
[03] Serb Troops Have Only Partially Withdrawn, LDK Says
[04] Returning Refugees Find Dead Relatives and Neighbors in War-Torn
Villages
[05] farmhouse in Likoc. The late old man was killed in early October, the
CDHRF quoted local villagers as saying.
[06] Camouflaged Serbs Crack Down Brutally on Women and Children near
De^an
[07] Serb Police Still Manning Half a Dozen Checkpoints on Mitrovica-
Skenderaj Roadway
[08] Serbs Build Military Outpost in Kosova-Albania Border
[09] Serb Military and Police Troops Camouflaged in Lipovica Mountains
[10] Serb Police Clothed in Workers' Uniforms in Grabovc Village
[11] 827 Albanian Houses Burned, 102 Shelled, By Serb Forces in Vushtrri
Area
[12] Serb Regime Court Sentences Albanian to 2 Years in Prison
[01] President Rugova Receives Russian Diplomats
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - The President of the Republic of Kosova Dr
Ibrahim Rugova received today Russian diplomats, Yakov F.
Gerasimov, Minister-Counsellor in the Embassy of Russia in Belgrade, and
Vladirmir Ivanovskiy, Consul-General of the Russian Federation in
Istanbul.
The current situation in Kosova and the possibilities of creating the
necessary conditions for the start of a negotiating process to resolve the
Kosova issue were discussed.
President Rugova stressed the importance of full implementation of the UN
Security Council resolutions as well as other demands of the international
community on Kosova.
[02] FOCUS: 25,000 Serb Troops Remain in Kosova, Withdrawal Symbolic
Who for God's sake is speaking of withdrawal of Serbian troops from
Kosova?
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Chief NATO commanders for Europe, General Wesley
Clark and General Klaus Naumann, negotiated with Serbian leader Milosevic
last week in the run-up to the expiration of NATO deadline of 27 October.
The result of their long hours of negotiations was that Milosevic would be
permitted to keep 25,000 Serbian troops - 15,000 military and 10,000 police
- sources said.
After that Milosevic ordered the withdrawal of 4,100 Serb special police
from Kosova, which was widely reported and turned out to be just enough for
NATO to suspend its threat of an immediate air strikes against Serb
targets.
Brussels and Washington were relieved, just like Belgrade.
The deal concerned Kosova.
Milosevic has been credited with having complied significantly. A senior
Pentagon official said "upwards of 80 percent" of the Serbian army tanks
and armored personnel carriers had returned to their garrisons, and about
90 percent of the special police that had gone to Kosova to suppress
Albanians had departed.
The bottom line is Kosova remains a heavily militarized area.
Milosevic has been allowed to keep the same number of Serb police (10,000)
and more military troops (15,000) than he actually had committed here in
Kosova to perpetuate his military occupation of Kosova.
It goes without saying that the actually withdrawal of one sixth of Serb
troops from Kosova is better than nothing, optimists would say. It is next
to nothing, pessimists would retort. It is just that, one sixth of the
troops out of Kosova.
Kosova has just over 2 million people, of whom 90 percent Albanians.
The 25,000 Serb troops are unwanted by Albanians, because they have killed
Albanians, destroyed their villages and towns this year, last year, the
year before the last, .... They are seen here as nothing less that 25,000
members of an alien, hostile force trying to perpetuate occupation and neo-
colonial rule.
So, who are they going to serve here? The less than 200,000 Serbs and
Montenegrins. A Serb policeman/soldier in every eight Serbs/Montenegrins.
The problem is not whether Serbia had 25,000 or 29,000 troops in Kosova.
The issue at point is that Milosevic has created a fait accompli in Kosova
after his military aggression of this year. He has done this through the
use of his sheer force, as well as his byzantine diplomacy, outsmarting the
West for the hundredth time or so.
Last but not least, U.S. envoys Holbrooke and Hill have been speaking of 2,
500 police personnel in Kosova, which should be the heart of the much
talked about interim accord plan for Kosova that has all the signs of
becoming a permanent solution.
Why was the rationale of NATO commanders Clark and Naumman giving Milosevic
the blessing to maintain ten times as much troops now as part of an
arrangement the West has called a 'deal' on Kosova?
Who for God's sake is speaking of withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosova?
The 25,000 heavily-armed Serb military and police troops in Kosova are
within shooting range in this small embattled country of less than 11,000
square kilometers.
[03] Serb Troops Have Only Partially Withdrawn, LDK Says
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Serbian military and police troops have only
partially withdrawn from Kosova, despite NATO pressure, the Democratic
League of Kosova (LDK), the strongest political party in Kosova, said in a
press release today.
The LDK leadership welcomes the decision of the North Atlantic Treaty to
maintain the Activation Orders for possible strikes against Serb targets,
and hails the engagement of the international community, especially the
United States and NATO, the party statement said.
It called on Russia to be more constructive in international efforts to
secure a solution to the Kosova issue.
"There are so many Serbian troops, military and police, as well as combat
hardware, that a partial withdrawal cannot create the necessary confidence
for the Albanian refugees and IDPs to return back to their homes", the LDK
said.
Instead of withdrawing, Serb military and police troops are being stationed
in garrisons and other camouflaged positions inside the territory of Kosova,
ready to always use pretexts to attack the Albanian communities in their
homes, the major Kosovar political force said.
The Serb police personnel is being now clothed in traffic police and
deployed up and down Kosova, the LDK said.
Thousands of Albanians are still living rough in the open, despite their
burning desire to return to their homes, be they even burned, the party
said, adding that Serb. They cannot return because of the presence of the
Serb police and military as well as the local Serb and Montenegrin civilian
population armed to the teeth, the LDK statement said.
Therefore, the Presidency of the LDK called on the UNHCR and the ICRC as
well as other international mechanisms to step up their efforts to create
conditions for an organized and safe return of displaced people to their
homes, the statement concluded.
[04] Returning Refugees Find Dead Relatives and Neighbors in War-Torn
Villages
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Displaced Albanians trickling back to their
villages after the Serb forces pulled out from some of the outposts have
been finding the dead bodies of their relatives and neighbors slain by Serb
forces earlier this year.
Sources in the Kosova war-torn municipalities reported that bodies,
mutilated or decomposed, of a dozen Albanians were found during the past
two days in central and western Kosova villages. It is feared that hundreds
of Albanians who had gone missing for months lay in fact killed with
scattered bodies in the villages which had been attacked by Serb troops in
the summer.
Sources in Malisheva said the decomposed body of Jashar Krasniqi (53) was
found two days ago in the the woods near his village of T&rpeza. The late
Krasniqi, teacher with a local school, had gone missing for almost three
months.
While returning to their T&rpeza village, local villagers found the bodies
of three other neighbors. The bodies of Demush Krasniqi (63) and Ajet
Krasniqi (85) were charred, while the third one, Rasim Krasniqi (87), was
covered with mud.
The corpse of Ramadan Hoti (80) was found in his guest hall in Carralluk&
village of Malisheva.
Unconfirmed reports said that Albanian refugees returning in their villages
have found mutilated bodies of their fellow villagers in Bubavec and
Llazic&.
The LDK chapter in Gjakova said Albanian villagers returning to their homes
have been finding dead bodies of their neighbors or relatives scattered in
the fields or under the rubble of their homes.
The mutilated body of Tun& Gjuka (42) was found on Tuesday in Bardhaniq
village.
Zef Dreni (65) was found dead near his village of Firza on Wednesday.
Witnesses said his body was papered with bullets and "Zastava" made (Serb)
bullet cartridges were found only a few meters away, a sign that he could
have been shot dead from a short distance.
The chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms
(CDHRF) in Skenderaj ('Srbica') said the body of a 82- year-old man, Hazir
Hoti (82), was found on Wednesday near his
[05] farmhouse in Likoc. The late old man was killed in early October, the
CDHRF quoted local villagers as saying.
[06] Camouflaged Serbs Crack Down Brutally on Women and Children near
De^an
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Serb forces cracked down brutally today
(Thursday) on a group of women and children between L&bush& and Isniq
villages of De^an, western Kosova. The Albanians were picking chestnuts in
a forest, the LDK chapter in De^an said.
Witnesses said that camouflaged Serb forces with painted faces were hiding
in the forest. Several women and children sustained severe body injuries,
including Jeton Zeqiraj (16), Ms Cyme Zeqiraj (40), M&rgim Zymeraj (16).
Jeton Zeqiraj was beaten unconscious. A teenager girl (S. Z.) was captured
by several Serbs, who forced her into the woods. It is suspected the Serbs
raped her, witnesses said.
Sources said that several Albanians were rounded up by Serb forces in the
forests above Isniq village. The LDK Information Commission said it could
learn the identity of only one of them by midday today, naming him as Avdi
Ahmetxhekaj. People told the Commission that the apprehended Albanians were
taken to the Serb Monastery in De^an.
[07] Serb Police Still Manning Half a Dozen Checkpoints on Mitrovica-
Skenderaj Roadway
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Serb forces were manning half a dozen checkpoints
on the Mitrovica-Skenderaj road today (Thursday) morning, the LDK chapter
in Mitrovica said. Moreover, some of the checkpoints have been reinforced
with fresh troops, it said.
The LDK named the following locations on the Mitrovica-Skenderaj road where
Serb police were still in place today: near the Barani hamlet, at "P&rroi i
keq" near Llausha, in ^ubrel and Vitak. Serb forces are camouflaged and are
hiding in other locations which cannot bee noticed from the main road,
witnesses said.
[08] Serbs Build Military Outpost in Kosova-Albania Border
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Yesterday, the Serbian army started building a
military outpost at the foot of the Pashtriku mountains in the Kosova-
Albania border.
Serbs have built a 22-km long road to the military outpost.
[09] Serb Military and Police Troops Camouflaged in Lipovica Mountains
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Considerable Serb forces and mechanized vehicles
were seen camouflaged in the Lipovcia mountains Wednesday, LDK sources in
Lipjan said.
The Albanian residents of V&rshec, Leletiq and other villages in this
municipality are afraid to return to their homes, shelled earlier by Serb
forces.
[10] Serb Police Clothed in Workers' Uniforms in Grabovc Village
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Serbian forces have not withdrawn from the
village of Grabovc i Ul&t, municipality of Fush& Kosova, LDK sources said.
Serb police have been disguised in workers' uniforms in this village, they
said. They have occupied the house of Rexhep Berisha.
These Serb police have been looting Albanian houses.
[11] 827 Albanian Houses Burned, 102 Shelled, By Serb Forces in Vushtrri
Area
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - Serbian military, paramilitary and polcie forces
burned 827 Albanian farmhouses and shelled 102 ones in 21 Albanian villages
of the Vushtrri municipality, the LDK Sector for Emigration and Refugees
said.
The LDK offered a detailed report on the consequences of the Serbian
offensive in late summer, early autumn, in the municipality of Vushtrri.
[12] Serb Regime Court Sentences Albanian to 2 Years in Prison
Trial of 13 others underway
PRISHTINA, Oct 29 (KIC) - On Thursday, the Serbian-run District Court in
Peja sentenced Uk& Golaj, resident of the village of Sheremet in the
municipality of Gjakova, to two years imprisonment.
He became a member of a local 'terrorist' organization in the village of
Sheremet, the Serb press said.
Albanians are tried for their political beliefs and routinely charged with
hostile activities and terrorism by the Serb regime.
The trial of 13 Albanians on such trumped up charges started Thursday in
the Serb court in Peja. They are Fadil, Qerim, Burim, Valdet, Kastriot,
Agim, Abdyl, Mustaf, Kujtim, Flamur, Behar, Zenel and Adem Jetishi, all of
them residents of Prekovc village, municipality of Gjakova.
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