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Kosova Daily Report #1650, 98-12-29
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1650
Prishtina, 29 December 1998
First Edition: 12:30 CET
Second Edition: 18:00 CET
CONTENTS
[01] Detonations, Machine-Gun Fire in Podujeva and Outskirts on Monday
[02] Bodies of Two Killed Persons Lying on the Ground in Mitrovica
Outskirts
[03] LDK Presses for US, NATO to Take Resolute Action against Serbian
"Machinery of Terror"
[04] There Is Only One Terrorism Here, the Serb Regime Terrorism, Demaçi
Says
[05] Two Albanians Killed in Unsolved Circumstances in Dushanovë, Prizren,
After Midnight
[01] Detonations, Machine-Gun Fire in Podujeva and Outskirts on Monday
PRISHTINA, Dec 29 (KIC) - On Monday evening, at 20:40 hrs, two heavy
detonations were heard in Podujeva, whereas from 21:00 through 23:00
automatic weapons and machine-gun fire was reported occurring at the
location called 'Tabet e Llapashtic&s' near the northern town of Podujeva,
the LDK chapter in Podujeva reported.
Scores of Serbian military tanks and armoured vehicles were involved in an
offensive against Albanian villages in the Podujeva area, which went on
from Thursday to Sunday, leaving at least 16 Albanians killed, 13 of whom
noncombatants. The Albanian resistance forces, the U^K (Kosova Liberation
Army) repelled Serb attacks.
Serb police lorries loaded with goods looted in Albanian villages in the
past few days, were seen today morning in Podujeva.
At 10:20 a.m. today, a Serb armoured car and a troop carrier left the town
for the western village of Obran^&. Serb police have been manning a random
checkpoint at the crossroads leading to the northern village of K&rpimeh,
as well as in front of a car mechanic's between the Besiana motel and
'Qershit& e Llapashtic&s' in the southern outskirts of Podujeva.
At 14:00 hrs today, Sk&nder Zejnullahu, an U^K (Kosova Liberation Army)
soldier killed on 24 December, will be buried in the town cemeteries in
Podujeva, sources said.
[02] Bodies of Two Killed Persons Lying on the Ground in Mitrovica
Outskirts
PRISHTINA, Dec 29 (KIC) - The bodies of two killed persons, whose identity
is not known, have been reported lying near the gas station at Shupkofc
village, at the entrance to the town of Mitrovica. The scene has been
sealed off by police, local sources said.
Local Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) and the Council for the Defense of
Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) sources said there was heavy shooting in
Mitrovica from 22:00 through 24:00 hrs on Monday.
The situation in Mitrovica has been grave and volatile for quite some time.
The exacerbation comes at a time the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission (KVM)
has already opened a regional office in the town, 40 km west of capital
Prishtina.
An ethnic Albanian and three Roma community members have been killed this
past week, with the Serb regime propaganda routinely placing the blame for
the killings on the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army). Albanian sources and the
U^K political representative Adem Dema^i have disclaimed U^K
responsibility.
[03] LDK Presses for US, NATO to Take Resolute Action against Serbian
"Machinery of Terror"
PRISHTINA, Dec 29 (KIC) - The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) said today
the Serbian offensive in the Llapi region has been "a dangerous
provocation" of the situation, which threatens to escalate into a
large-scale outbreak of violence and ethnic cleansing of the Albanians, who
have been exposed to "retribution by the Serbian forces".
At least 16 Albanians - most of whom noncombatants - were killed by Serbian
military and police forces from Thursday to Sunday.
The forceful displacement of the Albanian population from their homes in
Llapi region in this "harsh winter" as well as the killing and looting
campaign carried out by Serb forces have amounted to punishment of innocent
civilians and threatened a fresh humanitarian catastrophe in Kosova, the
LDK presidency said in a statement issued today (Tuesday).
The LDK presses hard for the United States of America, NATO and other
international factors, to undertake "resolute action to stop the Serbian
machinery of terror against the Albanian people of Kosova".
[04] There Is Only One Terrorism Here, the Serb Regime Terrorism, Demaçi
Says
PRISHTINA, Dec 29 (KIC) - The UÇK (Kosova Liberation Army) stands firm in
its position that it will act in self-defence, Adem Demaçi, the UÇK
political representative said at the outset of his press conference in
Prishtina today (Tuesday). He said he was reaffirming this because of the
many "rumours" that the UÇK has called off the cease-fire, in the wake of
the Serb military and police offensive in the Llapi region launched on
Christmas Eve.
"The self-restraint, declared by the UÇK on 8 October, continues to be in
force, and we (the UÇK) will continue to be in the service of forces that
seek a political, democratic and civilizing solution" to the Kosova issue,
Mr. Demaçi said. "The UÇK will never give up defending itself", he
emphasized. "Whenever we are attacked (by Serbs), we will defend ourselves
with all the means that we have".
International mediators should put pressure and all the leverage that the
world has to force the Belgrade regime abide by its commitments arising
from the Holbrooke-Milosevic agreement, so as to end bloodshed in Kosova,
the UÇK political representative said.
The position of unarmed [OSCE] verifiers in Kosova should be "reviewed" in
view of the breach of the cease-fire by the Belgrade regime, and seek
"other means", including NATO contingency plans over Kosova, according to
Adem Demaçi.
"We have said repeatedly, there is only one brand of terrorism - that of
the Serb regime - targeting the Albanian people", the UÇK representative
said. It is unacceptable to attack Albanian villages with a hundred [Serb]
tanks, and when Albanians defend themselves to call this terrorism, Demaçi
stressed.
Asked to comment on Ambassador Walker's [the OSCE Kosova Verification
Mission's head] comments about the situation in Kosova, Adem Demaçi said he
sometimes blames both the Albanian and the Serbian sides so as "to preserve
his position as a mediator".
The UÇK political representative said he cannot understand Russian Foreign
Minister Ivanov and others who act as "advocates of the Serbian terrorist
regime", at a time the Russian Federation parted ways "elegantly" with
Ukraine, Byelorussia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, etc.
Asked by the BBC correspondent to say why the Serbian forces and the UÇK
were fighting in settlements with civilian population, Adem Demaçi said it
is not the UÇK that goes out of its land, that "goes somewhere to Serbia to
provoke", but rather the other way round.
[05] Two Albanians Killed in Unsolved Circumstances in Dushanovë, Prizren,
After Midnight
PRISHTINA, Dec 29 (KIC) - Just after midnight last night, Hysen Bytyçi
(50), a night watchman in the "Landovica Commerce" firm, was killed in his
workplace, together with Mehmet Krasniqi (30), resident of Dushanovë, who
was keeping him company at the time.
Hysen Bytyçi was formerly a member of the Kosova police force, now a member
of the Kosova police trade unions.
No other details related to last night's criminal act have been made
available. There were signs of automatic rifle and pistol bullets in the
scene, sources said.
At 10:00 a.m., Serb police took the bodies of the Albanian to the town
morgue in Prizren.
The late Hysen Bytyçi was held Saturday for three hours in Serb police
custody in Prizren, local LDK sources said.
Meanwhile, LDK sources said a column of Serb army vehicles, armoured cars
and lorryloads of soldiers, left Prizren for Gjakova today morning. A bus
with Leskovc (Serbia) license plates, full of police, was accompanying the
army convoy.
Kosova Information Center
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