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Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-08-18Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Yugoslav Daily SurveyCONTENTS
[01] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS ZAGREBTanjug, 1998-08-17Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic will pay a one-day worki ng visit to Zagreb on Tuesday, at the invitation of his Croatian counterpart Mate Granic. The meeting is held within regular political dialogue on the fur ther implementation of an agreement on the normalisation of relations signed b y the two countries. Jovanovic and Granic are expected to discuss also the reg ulation of relations through accords, resolution of open and outstanding issues t hrough talks and measures for the promotion of relations based on mutual interes ts. [02] POLICE ENTERED THE VILLAGE OF JUNIK WITHOUT INFLICTING CIVILIAN LOSSESTanjug, 1998-08-16Albanian terrorists yesterday attacked from the early hours of morni ng at several places, from the direction of the villages of Voksa near Decane a nd Lodja near Pec, checkpoints manned by police securing the Decane*Pec road, in o rder to make it possible to the band of terrorists, who were encircled by police in Junik village for three weeks, to break out across Mount Djeravica in Albania. The terrorists' plans went sour and police lifted the blockade of the village 2E Police energetically returned the fire by terrorists and organized t he pursuit of dispersed bandit groups. The fighting and pursuit which lasted all day yesterday pushed the terrorists out of the villages of Raosic, Istinic, P obrdje, Voks, Slup and Djocaj towards the Junica Mountains and further towards th e Yugoslav*Albanian border. Yugoslav Army border units which have been rein forced to secure the state border, properly responded to the attacks on them by terrorists attempting to cross the border and acted according to the rule s governing the security of state border. The attack launched by the terror ists of Junik against the border guards lasted more than two hours. Our guards pr evented them from illegally crossing over from Yugoslavia into Albania and sent t hem running to the nearby wooded area on the slopes of Mt Djeravica.A village turned fortress. Late last night, police entered Junik village, which was a terr orist core. On entering, they found a few dozen civilians, mainly elderly peopl e whom police helped with the provision of food and medical attention. Junik is a village of 6,000 people, which housed until end*May a terrorist "headquar ters", as the Junik terrorists were described by the Albanian papers printed in Pristina. For two and a half months, the terrorists attacked the checkpoi nts manned by police securing the Djakovica*Decane*Pec road, the convoys of p olice and civilian vehicles and buses on that road and the Yugoslav Army border units. The terrorists have dug several dozen kilometres of interconnected trench es and built 47 concrete bunkers in Junik. All these fortifications dominating t he plateau helped to control several kilometres of the Decane*Djakovica road by firepower. At the same time, Junik was the first stepping*stone in a tota l blockade of the traffic over several months in that part of Metohija and the first reception base for Albanian terrorists illegally coming from Albani a, because it is situated next to the border. Following the neutralization o f this terrorist centre, a great many terrorists were killed, wounded or arreste d. While pursuing the terrorists, police have discovered a network of dug and interconnected canals with a breastwork, several kilometres*long, two*tie r concrete bunkers (under or above the ground), two makeshift hospitals wit h state of the art equipment, warehouses replete with local and foreign food (humanitarian aid) and with dressings and bandaging, as well as four ston e*built observation towers, one of which dominated the village as it was built at the top of the hill. Machine*guns were placed in this observation post, where the terrorists left behind a "Browing" anti*aircraft machine*gun. Many discar ded weapons and radio motorolas lay around the village treets, and two houses in its centre as well as the Tofaj compound, in the lower part of the village, h oused terrorist command posts. In the post housed in the Tofaj hamlet, police confiscated records meticulously kept by terrorists from 21 May until yes terday. The personal documents of the recently recruited 270 terrorists from the villages of Huljaj, Slup, Djocaj, Voks, Drenovac, Rastavica, Kodralija, Pozar and Ljubusa reveal that children as young as 15 were recruited. In addition, the last daily order says: "The wounded treated in the hospital in Tofaj hamlet should be evacuated to the Junica Mountains and all the disputes and misunderstandi ngs between the upper village and that compound should be resolved at reserve posts". This is a reference to the wounded in the fighting involving various grou ps within the so*called Liberation Army of Kosovo "OVK" terrorist organizati on. As was reported a week ago, and according to police sources in Decane, the c ivilians who managed to get out of Junik said that in a series of shootings, besid es the "foot soldiers", two "OVK commanders", Naim Tofaj and Naim Maljoku, were also wounded. According to the accounts of these civilians, they tried to flee for Albania, but the other group of terrorists prevented them from doing so a nd there was an exchange of fire between them. "Model" killed In a hospital of sorts in the lower part of Junik village they found 27 empty beds with cramped and dirty sheets and temperature charts of the tr eated terrorists that they had not time to destroy on leaving Junik in a rush. In the first*aid supplies there were plenty of drip solution, medicine, antibiot ics and large quantities of tranquillizers and pain killers. Apart from the hospi tal, there was also a quartermaster's office having supplies of flour, sugar, edible oil, canned food, powdered milk, pasta, toiletries, soaps, shampoos and w ashing powder. In a house that belonged to the family of Rugova's DSK local acti vist, police uncovered a state of the art communications centre, a Japanese*mad e motorola, which was on when the police burst in, as the terrorists forgot all about it running for their lives. All these were witnessed by domestic an d foreign press who visited the site with the assistance of the Pristina*ba sed Media Centre. The village literally remained intact. Only a few houses on entering the village were damaged. They were turned into bunkers out of w hich terrorists attacked police in the last two months. Roadblocks were set up on the outskirts, made up of tree trunks and agricultural implements (harrows, ploughshares). The very first houses in the village had openings for rifl es in the walls and stone fences which surrounded the yards there and were conn ected with dug trenches and smaller trenches. Let us recall that almost two mon ths ago, US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke visited Junik in th e company of the owner of the Pristina daily newspaper "Koha Ditore" Veton Suroi and senior officials of Rugova's DSK. He then met with Albanian terrorist s in addition to representatives of the "civilian authorities in the village". In more than half an hour of discussions, the terrorists were represented by a te rrorist whose "nom de guerre" was Ljum Hadziju, who played host to Mr. Holbrooke on the premises of the terrorist "headquarters". That uniformed Albanian had a "Kalashnikov" in his hands and boots on, while his guest from the United States had to comply with the Muslim custom and take off his shoes in front of t he room. This model or "commander" Ljum Hadziju was killed after fleeing three wee ks ago from Junik to his native Gnjilane as the terrorists attacked police near Zrza on the Prizren*Orahovac road. By Milan Laketic [03] U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS RAPPORTEUR: RETURN OF REFUGEES TO CROATIA IS TOO SLOWTanjug, 1998-08-17U.N. human rights rapporteur Jiri Dienstbier has said that the retur n of refugees and displaced persons, especially Serbs, to Croatia is still adv ancing too slowly. He added that the Croatian Government's initiative in present ing a plan for the return was positive but said there was little concrete progr ess. Serbs from Croatia who have found shelter in Yugoslavia encounter great administrative obstacles at the Croatian Consulate when they try to obtai n permission to return, he said. He also said that other serious problems in Croatia included the administration of justice where war-crimes suspects, mainly Croatian Serbs, suffered from a lack of due process. In addition, freed om of expression is still severely restricted, he said explaining that although there were numerous publications in the country there was also a high number of legal claims against journalists who publish articles critical of the governmen t. This results in widespread self-censorship, he said. Dienstbier took up offic e in March replacing U.N. human rights rapporteur Elisabeth Rehn. [04] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION UP BY 10% IN 7 MONTHSTanjug, 1998-08-17According to the latest figures by the Yugoslav Federal Bureau of Statistics, industrial production in Yugoslavia was up by 10% in the earl y January-late July 1998 period, as compared with the same period last year , it was stated at a news conference held at the Yugoslav Government on Monday. B ureau's Assistant Director Mirjana Rankovic said that Serbia's industrial output in this period increased by 11.1%, while Montenegro's was down by 4.7%. She added , however, that a general production growth was recorded on the Yugoslav le vel. Over the past seven months, the output rose by 0.9% in the power industry , by 11.1% in metallurgy, by 20.3% in the non-metal and construction material industries, by 12.1% the metal- processing and electrical engineering indu stries, by 19.3% in the chemical and paper-processing industries and by 18.7% in the textile, leather and rubber industries. Production in food-processing an d tobacco industries was up by 8.6%, in the wood-processing industry by 6.6 % and in other sectors by 8.8%. Industrial output in July was down by 0.3% as against that in the same period of 1997, with the Montenegrin industry recording a 20.9% lower output, while the output in Serbia was 0.3% higher. As compared wi th June, Yugoslavia's industrial output in July was 8.6% lower, but disregarding t he time of the year, it was still up by 3.8%. Rankovic said that summer holidays always made July's output the lowest in a year, but disregarding the time of the year, this July's production still rose by 7.3% as against the average monthly production in 1997 and by another 1.8% as compared with July 1997. She s aid that this indicated a moderate but steady production growth in both 1997 and 1 998, adding that the industrial output kept increasing since February 1994. S uch production movements and a constant gradual diminishing of stocks had res ulted also in higher exports, whose value was 1.363 billion U.S. dollars over t he past seven months of 1998 or was 6.2% higher than that in the same period of 1 997, Rankovic said. On the other hand, the value of imported goods was 2. 816 billion dollars, and although having dropped by 3.6% as against that in t he same period last year, the foreign trade deficit is still very high, amounting to 1.453 billion dollars. Despite this, eleven branches of industry that bo asted a more than 20% higher output in the first seven months of 1998 had a fav ourable foreign trade balance. Those industries are the power industry, coal indu stry, iron and steel industry, non- ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metal-proce ssing, sawn timber production, including the production of finishing wooden good s and Indian rubber- processing, said Rankovic. [05] SERBIAN MINISTER RECEIVES U.S. ARCHBISHOPTanjug, 1998-08-17Serbian Minister for Religious Affairs Milovan Radovanovic received in Belgrade on Monday the Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Conference Internati onal Political Committee, Archbishop Theodore McCurrick, a Ministry statement said. Radovanovic informed McCurrick about the Serbian Government's measur es for promoting human rights and freedoms for all, irrespective of their nation al and religious affiliation. Radovanovic said that this Yugoslav republic woul d respect the highest international standards regulating the status of ethn ic minorities. However, he added, it would not allow those rights to be used as a pretext for violating the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia and of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in any part of their territory. Arc hbishop McCurrick inquired about the present situation in Serbia's provin ce of Kosovo and Metohija. Radovanovic said that the rights of the ethnic Al banian community in the province are not being denied, but that ethnic Albanians are trying to muster foreign help to detach that part of Serbia and so create a Greater Albania. The Serbian Government is working towards a mutually ac ceptable negotiated solution for the problem, but remains determined to fight terr orism in the way other countries fight it, he added. Making it clear that he i s not speaking for the U.S. Government, but for his church, Archbishop McCurric k said that there is a consensus of opinion that there must be no further change s of the borders in the Balkans and that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia and Yugoslavia must be preserved. The meeting was attended by Jac k Kulina, Secretary of the advisory body of American churches to the State Department in Washington. [06] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT DJUKANOVIC RECEIVED THE BRITISH AMBASSADORTanjug, 1998-08-17Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic received in Podgorica on Satur day evening the British Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bri an Donnelli, who informed him about the latest activities of the internation al community for resolving the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, a statement said. Ambassador Donnelli was also received by Montenegrin Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic. In the focus of attention was the further aid of the British Government to the process of privatization in Montenegro. The British Ambassador, in both talks, wanted to learn more about relations in the Yu goslav Federation, the statement said. [07] TWO SERBIAN POLICEMEN KILLED IN SUNDAY'S TERRORIST ATTACKSTanjug, 1998-08-17Two Serbian policemen were killed in Sunday's ethnic Albanian terror ist attacks near the towns of Suva Reka and Pec in the Yugoslav republic of S erbia's Kosovo and Metohija province, police sources in Pristina confirmed on Mon day. Policeman Dragan Stojanovic of the Kursumlija Police Department was kille d in a terrorist attack on the police in the village of Blace in the Suva Reka municipality and policeman Zoran Anicic of the Belgrade Police Department was killed in a clash with ethnic Albanian terrorists around the village of L jubenic near Pec. [08] POLICE UNCOVERS BODIES OF FELLOW OFFICERSTanjug, 1998-08-17Serbian police have uncovered two massacred bodies of their fellow o fficers in the village of Lodja near the town of Pec in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province. According to municipal sources, the office rs are Srdjan Perovic of the Serbian Police Department in Pec and reservist Milo Rajkovic. They were wounded and captured by ethnic Albanian terrorists du ring an attack on the police patrol in Lodja on July 6. Policeman Miomir Stojano vic of Pec died at Belgrade's military hospital on Monday of injuries sustained in the July 6 terrorist attack. [09] ITALY WELCOMES STEPS TAKEN FOR RESOLVING THE KOSOVO AND METOHIJA ISSUETanjug, 1998-08-17The Italian Foreign Ministry welcomes the latest steps taken to resu me dialogue on Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, and urges Belgrade and representatives of ethnic Albanian minority to exert maximum efforts to pursue the dialogue, Italian news agency Ansa reports. In a late reactio n due to the holiday season, the Italian press reported on Monday that Belgrade offered to political representatives of the ethnic Albanian minority a resumption of dialogue on resolving the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija and that the invi tation was made by the head of the state delegation Ratko Markovic who said that the talks could be resumed immediately. For the first time, the Italian pres s, especially the Torino daily "Stampa", writes of a possible real terrorism in Kosovo and Metohija. Quoting one of ethnic Albanian leaders Adem Demaci t hat the self-styled Liberation Army of Kosovo was ready for all methods of fighti ng, the paper writes this could mean that separatists might definitely resort to terrorism. [10] DISPLACED SERBS AND ETHNIC ALBANIANS RETURN TO KOSMET VILLAGESTanjug, 1998-08-17Political and safety situation in the Klina municipality in the Yugo slav republic of Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province is improving as compare d with the past ten days, Klina Mayor Sveto Dabizljevic told Tanjug on Monday. Dabizljevic said that thanks to efficient Serbian police operations, ethnic Albanian terrorists have been annihilated from 38 villages. He said that 500 displaced Serbs and their families had returned to the villages of Kpuz, Jelovac, Dusevic, Boksic, Stepenice, Mlecane, Veliki Djurdjevik and Grebnik, while about 3,000 ethnic Albanians, who had fled their homes before an ethnic Albania n terrorist onslaught over the past three months, had returned to Klina. Re sponding to appeals by Klina municipal authorities and the Serbian Ministry of Int erior, Serbs and ethnic Albanians who had taken refuge with their friends and ne ighbours in Klina and all over Serbia had returned to another 30 villages. All institutions in the Klina municipality are working. The power grid has be en repaired and supply improved. Making of lists of damaged houses is underw ay to secure prompt repairs to be funded by the Serbian Government and local authorities. [11] THE MUNICIPALITY OF GNJILANE IS FREE OF ETHNIC INCIDENTSTanjug, 1998-08-17In the municipality of Gnjilane, in Kosovo and Metohija, there have not been any ethnic incidents in the earlier period or now or any graver viol ations of public peace and order, mayor Zoran Aksic said. Aksic told the Pristi na newspaper "Jedinstvo" that in Gnjilane and in the Kosovo Pomoravlje there have not been registered so far any concrete assaults or activities of Albani an terrorists and extremists. "However, developments in the territory of Ko sovo and Metohija, and in our surroundings, in the nearby Vitin and Urosevac municipalities, have had an impact and influence on the residents of Gnji lane so that we have to say that the situation is rather complex," Aksic said. A ksic underlined that almost in all parts of the municipality life was going on normally and crops were harvested. Economic activities are pursued with c ertain difficulties, mainly due to financial reasons, and traffic is normal, Aks ic said. [12] SERBIAN DEPUTY PM INVITES ETHNIC ALBANIAN NEGOTIATOR TO TALKSTanjug, 1998-08-17Serbian Deputy Premier Ratko Markovic, who also heads a state delega tion to talks with ethnic Albanian political parties in Serbia's Kosovo and Me tohija province, on Monday evening invited the head of a delegation of ethnic Al banian political representatives Fehmi Agani to talks in Pristina on Tuesday. In his letter to Agani, Markovic said:"Dear Professor Agani, With reference to your letter of August 17, 1998, I would like to express my satisfaction a t your wish to continue our talks as soon as possible. Let it be so. Therefore, I suggest that we meet as early as tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18, at 2 p.m. in Pristina, 2 Vidovdanska Street. Looking forward to receiving your reply, I remain, Sincerely yours, Ratko Markovic acting on behalf of the Serbian Government." [13] TERRORIST STRONGHOLDS ARE DESTROYEDTanjug, 1998-08-17Serbian Interior Ministry forces destroyed strong terrorist strongho lds in the villages of Lodja, Grabovac and Rausic, in the vicinity of Pec. Terro rists scattered in the surrounding woods, leaving behind a large quantity of ar ms, ammunition and sanitary material. The villages were connected with a net work of trenches and in front of every house were fortifications. The largest num ber of bunkers and fortifications were built by terrorists in the village of Lod ja, from where attacks were carried out on surrounding villages, said policemen wh o took part in the action. [14] HEAD OF THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN DELEGATION URGES RESUMPTION OF TALKSTanjug, 1998-08-17Head of the delegation of ethnic Albanian political representatives to the talks with official Serbian and Yugoslav representatives Fehmi Agani addr essed on Monday a letter to the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic ur ging for the resumption of dialogue on Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Me tohija as soon as possible. Agani requested in his letter that the modalities a nd timetable of the talks be defined at a later date. The talks began last May, but the ethnic Albanian side broke them off after the first session, after wh ich terrorist activities escalated. Last Saturday, Markovic urged Agani to re sume talks this week, proposing that the exact date be set over the telephone. The Serbian Government has repeatedly been inviting ethnic Albanian represent atives to resolve all pending issues through dialogue, remaining committed to it s stance that no problem can be resolved by force. [15] BRANKOVIC AND ODALOVIC MEET WITH FOREIGN DIPLOMATSTanjug, 1998-08-17Yugoslav Assistant Foreign Minister Branko Brankovic and head of the Kosovo district Veljko Odalovic met on Monday with heads of U.S., E.U. and Russi an diplomatic groups in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija. Brankovic informed the diplomats about Yugoslavia's stand and views on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, said a statement released by the provin cial Information Secretariat. He showed interest in the diplomats' work, stre ssing the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry's openness and readiness to continue contac ts with and assistance to representatives of the Belgrade- based embassies that ar e objective in reporting on the overall situation in the province. In this context, it was stressed that the Ministry has its office in Pristina, th e statement said. Odalovic informed the diplomats about some aspects of th e situation in the field, pointing out humanitarian problems and calling fo r their more complete resolution. In this connection, he stressed Serbia's determ ination to help all its citizens and in particular those who have been forced to leave their homes by ethnic Albanian terrorists or whose homes have been damage d or destroyed. The diplomats welcomed the Ministry's initiative, voicing rea diness for closer cooperation on a more regular footing, the statement said. [16] SERBIAN PRESIDENT MILUTINOVIC RECEIVED A U.S. DELEGATIONTanjug, 1998-08-17Serbian President Milan Milutinovic received on Monday a U.S. delegation headed by Ambassador Christopher Hill. The talks dealt with issues concerning p eace and stability in the region. It was agreed that problems in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija could be resolved through political means only, through dialogue and the full respect of the principle of equality of all citizens and national communities living in the province, in line with generally-accepted standards. Expectation was voiced that dialogue would resume, especially now that a team of representatives of ethnic Albanian politica l parties has been formed and the state delegation's invitation to dialogue again made. Also, it was stressed that all open issues in Kosovo and Metohija s hould be resolved through the full respect of Serbia's and Yugoslavia's territo rial integrity and sovereignty. Also attending were Serbian Vice-Premier Ratk o Markovic who heads the state delegation to talks with ethnic Albanians, Y ugoslav Vice-Premier Vladan Kutlesic who is President Slobodan Milosevic's envoy to political dialogue in Kosovo and Metohija, and U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Belgrade Richard Miles. 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