Tagesnachrichten 8. August 1998
von ALBANEWS und anderen
Daily Report No 1515 August 8, 1998
Kosova Information Center
Tagesnachrichten 8. August 1998
7. to call on the Commission and the Council to provide all necessary humanitarian aid to the victims of and the refugees from the acts of violence and call on member states to stop returning refugees and asylum seekers to Kosova where protection cannot be guaranteed;________________________________________________________________________
Geplant sind Fußball-Begegnungen zwischen
FC Bayern München und FK Obilic Belgrad am
12. und am 26. August. - An sich schön, a b e r
Scheduled are football-maches between FC Bayern
München and FK Obilic Belgrad on 12th and 26th August. - Very nice,
b u t
"If you look at: http://www.sport1.de/vereine/bayern/verein/obilic.html
you will find that Bayern Munchen is writing NOTHING at all about the background
that the leader of FK Obilic Belgrad is having !!!!!
... About -Arkan-, official name Zeljko Raznjatovic´,
You can read about him in the final report of the United Nations Commission
of Experts established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 780 (1992).
For futher info about this facts please look at: http://mprofaca.cro.net/kosovo04.html
This man is a
- wellknown criminal,
- member of the Serbian Parliament,
- Leader of the notorius pramilitarian force
the Serbian Tigers who are accused for
murdering 200 croatian patients
when they were still lying in their hospital bed
at the hospital of Vukovar in
Croatia,
- international wanted by INTERPOL for heavy
robbery and suspected for other
things in Sweden as f.e. organizing
to Sweden heavy smuggling of ciggarets;
alcohol; narcotica and so on,
- on the run from a prison sentence in Belgium,
- accused for murder in Holland, Croatia,
Bosnia-Hercegovina and Kosova."
P R O T E S T !
Protest against the football match between
FC Bayern Munchen and
Arkan´s propaganda weapon, the team
FK Obilic.
If FC Bayern Munchen refuses to boycott the
match, urge them to have a
SILENT MINUTE for all the victims of the
GENOCIDE IN KOSOVA, CROATIA and BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA
( all the countries that Arkan is suspected
of conducting genocide)
before the match starts as an emphasis
of their feeling.
Please protest by e-mail :
info@bayernmuenchen.de Mail 
senden
or by FC Bayern Munchen Treffpunkt -Forum at
internet
http://www.sport1.de/vereine/bayern/treffpunkt/index_treffpunkt.html
or by fax:
+49 (0) 89 64 41 65
or make a protest telephone call
to the President of FC Bayern Munchen
Franz Beckenbauer: +49 (0) 89 699 31-0
or at the address:
FC Bayern Munchen
Postfach 900451
D-81504 Munchen
Germany
Thank you for your support to the people of Kosova !
Anders Wessman
member of the council of the
Swedish Albanians Friendship Ties
President Rugova Receives British Diplomat
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The President of the
Republic of Kosova, Ibrahim Rugova, received today in Prishtina Mr. Brian
Donnelly, the British Ambassador to Belgrade.
On behalf of political directors, the British
diplomat delivered to President Rugova a letter of options of the Contact
Group on the political resolution of the Kosova issue.
Rugova and Donnelly discussed about the current
developments in Kosova and the prospects for a negotiated settlement.
The situation is extremely grave as the Serbian
military and police offensive against Albanians in Kosova continues, President
Rugova said, pressing for an urgent international intervention to halt
this offensive and protect the people of Kosova.
Regarding the political resolution, Rugova said
the best solution for the entire region is for Kosova to be an independent
and neutral country, with an interim stage international protectorate pending
a lasting solution. This arrangement is based on the legal and constitutional
position that Kosova enjoyed in the former Yugoslav federation, which has
disintegrated, and the express political will of the people in the national
referendum for independence.
Negotiations for the resolution of the Kosova
issue are necessary, but the appropriate conditions for substantial and
fruitful talks should be created first, President Rugova said.
Ambassador Donnelly expressed his government's
concern over the situation in Kosova, adding that it stands for a political
resolution.
Serb Forces Continue Destroying Albanian Houses
while Calling for Albanians to Return Home
The plight of 30,000 Albanians, displaced from
their homes in, is alarming, LDK sources said
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The one-week long Serb
offensive in the municipality of Klina continues with shooting of a lower
intensity in the villages of Çabiq, Zabërgjë, Siçevë
and elsewhere, the LDK Information Commission in Klina reported.
Gunfire is reportedly continuing around the railway
tunnel at Ujmir village, where local Albanian forces have been resisting
Serb troops.
Only 12 Albanians killed by Serb forces have
been identified yet, but the casualty-toll is presumed to be much higher.
The plight of some 30,000 Albanians, displaced
from their homes in the wake of the Serb offensive, is alarming, LDK sources
said, adding that the population is threatened with starvation and a total
lack of medication.
There was sporadic shooting yesterday in the
villages of Cerovik, Zabërgjë, Çabiq and Dobërdol.
Two Serb tanks levelled everything to the ground
in the Buzhala family compound of Çabiq village yesterday, sources
said. The Serb regime's call for displaced Albanians to return to their
homes is hypocritical for most of the Albanian houses in the municipality
have been destroyed by Serb troops, the LDK Information Commission said.
Five More Killed in Three Villages of Drenica
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - Local human rights activists
reported Thursday that five more Albanians are known to have been killed
in Drenica during the last week.
Murat Musliu, an activist with the Council for
the Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said Ilmi (Veli) Kadriu (51) from
Likoc village was killed, as well as Sokol Aruqi (60) from Rezalla, a sick
woman from the Zabelaj family compound in Rezallë, as well as two
young Albanians from the village of Abria e Epërme. The bodies of
the latter have not been identified because their bodies have been carbonized
in the fire caused by a shell.
In the Serb offensive the villages of Polac,
Kryshec, Morinë, Rezallë, Açarevë, Ticë and
Pllozhinë have been almost completely destroyed.
In the village of Likoc the houses of the Zymeraj,
Veselaj and Topallaj family compounds have been destroyed, as well as the
elementary school building, the community center, the medical center and
all the shops and businesses, local sources said.
Tens of thousands of Albanians displaced by Serb
offensive have been streaming towards Mitrovica and Vushtrri, most of them
being still in the open.
In the fields near the village of Vërbovc
there are some 30,000 inhabitants, most of whom women, children and the
elderly. They lack food and drinking water.
Two Albanians Killed in Clashes with Serb Troops in Gjakova Area Friday
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The Reka e Keqe
and Dushkajë regions in the municipality of Gjakova were scenes of
continued fighting on Friday afternoon and evening, sources in Gjakova
reported.
The LDK chapter said two Albanians were killed
at Vraniq village, where the heaviest clashes were fought last evening.
Tunë Leshaj (73) and Kolë Lleshaj died while attempting to repel
the offensive of troops on their village, the LDK said.
Serb forces took the bodies of Albanians to the
town morgue in Gjakova last evening.
The LDK said many shells landed in the Vraniq
village yesterday, inflicting immense damage to the farmsteads there. Women,
children and weak persons were evacuated from the village, fearing a possible
crackdown by heavy Serb police, army and paramilitary troops.
Skirmishes between Serb troops and local Albanians
were fought Friday around the villages of Koshare and Junik in the Reka
e Keqe region, local sources said.
Reports said the local population is on a move
fleeing the continued Serb offensive.
According to the LDK chapter in Gjakova at least
27 villages in the municipality have become ethnically cleansed since the
beginning of the Serb offensive in south-west Kosova. At least 40.000 people
from this region have fled their homes, many being still on the run and
others sheltered in other parts of Kosova, the report said.
Serbs Set 24 Hour 'Surrender or Be Bombarded' Deadline to Three Villages
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - Serb troops have set
a 24-hour deadline to residents of three villages of Gjakova - Gërçinë,
Lipovec and Skivjan - to surrender or face bombardment, local LDK sources
said.
On Friday afternoon, the Serb police and army
sent an ultimatum to the three villagers to surrender by 18;00 hrs today,
or else be razed to the ground.
The villages of Gërçinë, Lipovec
and Skivjan have not been attacked by Serb forces since the conflict break-out
in the western Kosova last spring.
The LDK chapter in Gjakova has cautioned residents
of these three villages not to fall pray to provocations which may be well
exploited by Serbs to launch bloody campaigns against them.
Serb Infantry Sets Ablaze Farmsteads in Polac, Drenica
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The Serb police
entered today morning the Polac village near Skenderaj ('Srbica'), and
started burning houses right away, Murat Musliu, a member of the local
chapter of the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights
and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Senderaj said.
The CDHRF said the Serb infantry, backed up by
armored vehicles, has been advancing in the direction of all the neighborhoods
of the Polac village. They have been dousing houses with petrol and setting
them ablaze, he said.
Several other villages near Skenderaj, including
Llausha, Likoc and Rezallë, which were successively pounded with Serb
artillery during the pats few days, were all on fire Friday afternoon,
local sources said.
Serbs Shell Village near Shtime Friday Night
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The village of Godanc
in the municipality of Shtime, south of Prishtina, came under heavy artillery
gunfire last night, local sources said.
The LDK chapter in Shtime said it could not learn
whether there were any casualties in Godanc, noting only that several houses
were hit and damaged badly, including those of Asllan Hasani and Avdi Vesli.
The village was pounded for about one hour from
a police checkpoint near Shtime.
A large number of Albanians from the southern
part of Drenica have been sheltered in the village, who together with the
local villagers began fleeing the village during the last night and today
morning, fearing other Serb attacks.
Serb Troops Launch Artillery Missiles from Town of Prizren
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - The Serb troops have
fired a number of artillery missiles last evening and today in Prizren,
causing panic among the population. Many families left their homes in Prizren
Friday evening fearing a Serb crackdown and shelling of their homes.
The LDK chapter in Prizren said that Serb troops
garrisoned near the "Farmakosi" plant fired missiles in the direction of
the surrounding hills yesterday at around 6 p.m. Today morning, at around
9 o'clock, five cannon shells were launched from a Yugoslav army barracks
in the town.
LDK sources in Prizren could not confirm the
location the missiles landed, noting only that shooting added to the growing
uncertainty as Serbs continue their campaign of intimidation.
Serbs Occupy Albanians' Flats in Klina
PRISHTINA, Aug 8 (KIC) - Fifteen local Serbs,
including policemen, have broken into deserted Albanian flats and occupied
them in the town of Klina, the LDK Information Commission in Klina said.
It is the Albanians who have been forced to flee
their homes amidst the Serb campaign of violence that have had their flats
seized now.
The house of Destan Selimi has been burned in
the town of Klina, as well as the three-storey house of an Albanian surnamed
Raçi, LDK sources said.
Kosova Information Center
Last page!
Hungary urges Belgrade not to send Hungarian policemen, soldiers to Kosova_______________________________________________________________________TIRANA, Aug 7 (ATA) - Hungary has firmly asked the authorities of Belgrade not to send in Kosova soldiers and policemen belonging to the Hungarian ethnic minority in Vojvodina, said a spokesman of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry in a press communique obtained by the Albanian Foreign Ministry.
Secretary of State at the Hungarian Foreign Ministry Zholt Nemet has summoned the Budapest-based Ambassador of the Yugoslav Federation Republic to reiterate him the concern of his ministry as regards the escalation of crisis in Kosova as well as the sending of Hungarian recruits, reservists and policemen from Vojvodina to Kosova, the press communique said.
At the beginning of August, many Hungarian reservists and policemen from Vojvodina have been mobilised and sent to Kosova. s.sh/pas/ak/
PD: A NEW BOSNIA IS REPEATED IN KOSOVA_______________________________________________________________________TIRANE,8 AUGUST, ENTER/-The democratic Party declared that the events of Bosnia are repeated even in Kosova, with greater speed. The leader of the democrats Sali Berisha said that within three months there are more victims in Kosova than in Bosnia in six months and this shows that Miloshevic is exercising a greater violence towards the Albanians of Kosova. PD called to all political forces of Kosova to recognise their responsibilities and to found a joint stand for the solution of the conflict. The leader of DP said that the disagreements of the political forces in Kosova have diminished the negotiating potential of the 2 million Albanians.
Berisha said that the question of Kosova can be solved only in Kosova and the voices that ask a military intervention of Albania in Kosova are complicating the situation. Berisha called once more to the USA and president Clinton to intervene to stop the terror in Kosova against the civil population. Berisha said that the USA are very sensitive for the question of Kosova compared to the other European countries.
Berisha said that Albanian government has a direct responsibility for Kosova because her actions , according to the democrat leader favour the division at the Albanian political forces and KLA.BERISHA: GOVERMENT IS CREATING A GETTO IN TROPOJA
TIRANE,8 AUGUST, ENTER/-The democrats denounced Friday the stand of the Albanian government towards the treatment of the newcomers from Kosova. In a press conference the leader of DP Sali Berisha said that the government is creating a getto in Tropoja and misinforming the public opinion on the treatment of the kosovars in Tropoja.The democrats said that the government has ordered to block the readiness of the local institutions to receive the newcomers from Kosova. The leader of DP Sali Berisha said that Albania must support morally and with humanitarian means kosovars and influenced at the international organisations to solve the conflict.
On the question of the Constitution the democrats said that they could not ignore the work of others, but there exist changing possibilities, because the study of the draft is opened. The democrats said that that they would made public their remarks on the round table of the parties on august 31.
The leader of the democrats hailed during the press conference the Albanian and foreign businessmen who had not agreed to touch the assets of the Albanian creditors and called on the other businessmen not to buy the assets of the Albanians who had lost their money in the pyramid scheme companies. He said that DP will confiscate all these assets and properties when it will be in power.DEMOCRISTIANS:INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS MUST RECOGNISE THE INDEPENDENCE OF KOSOVA
TIRANE,8 august, ENTER/-The democristian party declared that Albania, USA, OSCE, UNO, CE and the other European states must recognise the independence of Kosova. In a press conference Friday the leader of the this party Bushati said that this is the only means to avoid the war in Balkan and Europe.
Miloshevic, he went on wont accept nor the autonomy, independence or the dialogue for Kosova, but aims the colonisation and the physical elimination of the people of Kosova and its return in a small Serbia within the Big Serbia.
Bushati called on the Albanian president meidani to be engaged personally and to ask the Albanian government to recognise the independence of Kosova.
The democristians accused the government of opening the road to organised crime and contraband and asked the approval of a special law against money laundering, which is done in Albania in all forms.UNICEF GIVES THE ALARM ABOUT THE CHILDREN SITUATION IN KOSOVA
TIRANA, 8AUGUST/ENTER/- United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF issued a statement on Thursday that "the situation in Kosova is increasingly deteriorating as it now can be considered a human catastrophe." Major victims of the escalation of violence are children and women, said the statement. Pregnant women are obliged to give birth to their children in forests without medical care and professional assistance while the situation among children is very hopeless. In these conditions, UNICEF called on the international diplomatic community to take all necessary measures to reach a long term cease-fire in as shorter time as possible. "If no international coordinated and efficacious initiative is taken, the world leaders risk to see with their own eyes how violence and brutality will reach unbelievable levels in Kosova," the UNICEF statement said.
THOUSAND OF ALBANIANS IN SERIOUS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
PRISHTINE, 8 August/ENTER/ - Since august when the Serb military-police forces entered the village of eskove, Jabllanica and Gjakova have come under rocket propelled grenade launchers from the eskova hill while over 10 thousand Albanian residents of the attacked villages of the commune of Klina are on the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe because they have run short of food, medicaments and other necessary things to live, Center for Information in Kosova (QIK) said.
The number of Albanians who have fled the war zones in Drenica and settled in Vushtri is estimated at 25.000 persons. Their health situation is deteriorating and they are running short of foods, clothes, medicaments and others. Around five thousand displaced people are settled in the building of an elementary school and the mosque of Qirez. Some 10 thousands Albanians have been settled at a place called Fusha e Molles in the village of Verbofc. It is said that the communal emergency council of Vushtri has offered 15tons of wheat to refugees for no aid has arrived until Wednesday from the humanitarian organisations in Vushtri.
Western European Union calls on NATO to intervene_______________________________________________________________________PARIS, August 7 (Reuters) - The Western European Union called on Friday for NATO to intervene in Kosova, saying immediate military action was needed to end the war in the region. "It is now clear that the use of force is the only means of bringing about a political agreement, with which the parties must be forced to comply," WEU president Lluis Maria de Puig said in a statement headlined "Enough is Enough". "The limits of what the international community can tolerate without intervening have been reached. We are in the midst of a catastrophe with more than 600 dead, over 5000 taken prisoner, 200,000 refugees and 300 villages destroyed: This is Bosnia all over again," he added.
The WEU is made up of 10 full members and 18 observers and is the only purely European defense body.
Constantly overshadowed by the more assertive NATO, the WEU has struggled to establish a strong identity of its own.
Friday's statement was the WEU's most outspoken comment on the five-month old conflict in the Yugoslav province of Kosova.
"The international community has yet again been deceived by (Yugoslav President Slobadan) Milosevic and there is no sign of any intention to arrive at a peaceful settlement," de Puig said. "The time has come for military action which, while it should consist of the most appropriate, peaceful and effective measures, is now essential to prevent the worst from happening." A senior NATO diplomat said earlier on Friday that NATO had finalized plans for possible air operations to help restore peace to Kosova.NATO finalizes plans for air operations in Kosova
BRUSSELS, August 7 (Reuters) - The NATO military alliance has finalized planning for possible air operations to help restore peace in the Serbian province of Kosova, a senior NATO diplomat said on Friday. "In the course of this week we did finalize the planning for possible air operations if air strikes become necessary," the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters after NATO ambassadors met informally. Another NATO source said a full arsenal of other military options was "in a high state of readiness."
The 16-nation alliance, whose ambassadors will meet formally next week, voiced "grave concern" about continuing Serb offensives in the mainly-ethnic Albanian province, pointing to the impact on the civilian population, the source said. The senior diplomat said that if ordered, air operations could be implemented in a matter of "days not weeks" and would be targeted on Serbian air defense, command and control and military assets within Kosova itself and its support operations in the rest of Yugoslavia.
NATO foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg on May 28, asked military experts to look at possible preventative deployments in Albania and Macedonia which border Kosova and made clear that action in Kosova itself, probably by aerial rather than ground forces, was a possibility.Clinton and Blair discuss Kosova crisis
WASHINGTON, August 6 - International news agencies informed yesterday that President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed in a telephone conversation on Thursday ways to halt a Serb offensive against ethnic Albanians in Kosova, a White House spokesman said. "They discussed ways to increase the pressure on (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic and ways to put a stop to the offensive that is going on," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has told Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic he should halt his military offensive in Kosova, which she said increased the threat of NATO military intervention. State Department spokesman James Foley said on Thursday that in the message she expressed the "strong view that the ongoing Serb offensive and the unacceptable actions that have taken place in the context of that offensive only increase the chances of there being military action on the part of NATO."NATO and European troops will hold exercises in Albania
WASHINGTON, August 6 (Reuters) - NATO and European troops will hold exercises in Albania the week after next and in Macedonia in September to warn Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to end military action in Kosova, the Pentagon said on Thursday. "I don't think that he should doubt our ability to move forces in very quickly, whether they be air forces or ground forces," Defense Department spokesman Ken Bacon said. Bacon told reporters NATO contingency plans for possible military intervention in the Kosova crisis were "largely done" and the patience of the allies was wearing thin over the continuing violence in the south Serbian province. He said the plans could be completed by Friday.
Bacon declined to give details but said the plans covered "a wide range of military options." NATO asked its military experts in May to look at possible preventive deployments in Albania and Macedonia and air strikes in Kosova itself. Bacon said the military exercises -- to be held from Aug. 17 to 22 in Albania and from Sept. 10 to 18 in Macedonia -- would involve forces from a large number of NATO countries and East European nations under the alliance's Partnership for Peace program. In Brussels, NATO's Military Committee said forces from 14 countries, including Russia, would take part in the exercises in Albania, called "Cooperative Assembly."
It named the countries as Albania, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. The Albania exercise was planned after NATO ministerial meetings early this summer, while the Macedonia peacekeeping exercise had been tentatively planned for some time, Bacon said. Both Balkan countries border Kosova.British troops set to join peace force in Kosova
Stephen Grey, The Sunday TimesBRUSSELS, August 6 - Thousands of British troops could be sent to the war-torn province of Kosova and neighboring countries under a large-scale intervention plan to be finalized by NATO allies this week. NATO commanders have devised a strategy to bring peace to the region that combines airstrikes on Serbian offensive positions within 18 hours of political approval; the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Kosova; and deployment of 25,000 troops along the province's border with Albania to halt the supply of weapons to the separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA).
In the event of a negotiated settlement to end the fighting, NATO could enforce it with up to 60,000 peacekeeping troops - as many as were deployed to prevent a resurgence of conflict in Bosnia. The options are set out in a detailed plan, hundreds of pages long, expected to be approved by NATO diplomats in Brussels on Wednesday. Britain has taken a leading role in the planning, and its aircraft and troops would be part of any coordinated action. Britain and its allies believe that no ground troops should be sent into Kosova itself while fighting there continues. The use of troops to stop donkey trains of weapons moving into Kosova from Albania's mountainous northern border and to close down guerrilla camps would be technically difficult, however, requiring substantial logistical support.Serb heavy attacks continue in Kosova
PRISTINA, - Serb forces pursued an all-out offensive against separatist fighters in Kosova today, despite a new U.S. warning of Western military intervention in the troubled Serbian province. Serb sources reported fierce fighting along the main Pristina-Prizren road, southwest of Kosova's capital, and clashes continued near the besieged village of Junik, close to the Albanian border. Ethnic Albanians said Serb forces were also shelling villages in the central Drenica region. Pantina, an ethnic Albanian stronghold northwest of Prishtina, was also under attack, the Albanian sources said.
Speaking late Wednesday on CNN, U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said the likelihood of intervention had increased dramatically as the Serb offensive continues - contrary to a promise last month from Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to halt military operations against Kosova Liberation Army rebels.
Serb authorities have acknowledged they killed dozens of ethnic Albanians in one grisly recent battle and then buried the unclaimed bodies at a garbage dump. However, they angrily called media reports of mass graves a lie and said all the dead were ethnic Albanian "terrorists."Albanian parliament urges Western military action in Kosova
TIRANA, August 7 - Albania's parliament appealed to the international community on Thursday to intervene militarily in Serbia's Kosova province to stop what it called an ethnic war between Albanians and Serb troops. A parliamentary resolution said war had engulfed the whole of Kosova and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was using the Serbian military against the province's ethnic Albanians. "Milosevic has turned the conflict in Kosova into a real ethnic war, which carries the most serious consequences for the stability of the region," the ATA news agency quoted the resolution as saying.
"We ask that a military intervention in Kosova be started immediately because it is the only way to stop the war and start negotiations for a peaceful solution." Parliament addressed its appeal to the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union and the Western European Union. Albanian lawmakers said they hoped U.S. President Bill Clinton would once again "examine his noble warning that he would not allow Kosova to turn into another Bosnia." Earlier on Thursday, the Albanian Foreign Ministry urged the international community to stop what it termed ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosova. The ministry accused Milosevic of fighting ethnic Albanians with sophisticated weapons, including tanks and rockets, and said many women, children and elderly people had been killed.
Prishtina, 7 August (ARTA) 2100CET--
"We consider that the events of the current two
weeks, have in fact created a serious threat for the peaceful process and
for the perspective of the political negotiations", stated Nikolai Affanasiefsky,
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, after the talks with the Kosova Albanian
leader, Ibrahim Rugova, today in Prishtina.
Following the one-hour meeting, Affanasiefsky
stated for the reporters that "there is no military solution for Kosova".
The only way is to "urgently begin with the negotiations and find a peaceful
political solution for the Kosova problem, also including the status and
particularly the urgent solution of the problems such as the return of
the displaced persons and the refugees".
Affanasiefsky, who was escorted by the Russian
ambassador in Belgrade, further added that concerning the issue of return
of the IDPs and refugees, which he considers to be a primary issue, they
"were granted guarantees from Belgrade, president Milosevic, the `Yugoslav'
and Serb Government".
Affanasiefsky considers as "unacceptable" the
act of burning the houses after the last Serb offensive, as at the same
time he adds that "it is very difficult to know who actually burned the
houses in the regions afflicted in the offensive". He then stated that
the "international observing reports are very objective and based on these
reports and their presence, the situation also tends to stabilize".
"We believe that after what happened during the
last two weeks i.e., the KLA offensive followed by the reply of the Serb
security forces, a military solution of the problem would not be adequate",
stated the Russian special envoy, accusing KLA for the last offensive.
KOSOVA (Hill in Prishtina, again)
Hill met Rugova and Affanasiefsky
Prishtina, 7 August (ARTA) 2100CET--
A few minutes before the arrival of the announced
Russian delegation, the American ambassador to FYROM, Christopher Hill,
arrived Rugova’s office to have a forty-minute conversation with president
Rugova.
After the meeting was over, Hill declared that
in the meeting with Rugova he particularly discussed "the issue of the
recently displaced people who are headed in the direction of the northern
towns of Kosova" and added that his concern for the displaced was also
joined by the "Yugoslav" president, Milosevic.
Hill said that Milosevic had particularly expressed
his concern about the fact that the Serb police presently is not allowing
any conditions for the "return of the displaced people".
Before meeting the Kosova Albanian leader and
the representatives of his party, behind closed doors, Christopher Hill,
had a conversation with the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Nikolai Affanasiefsky,
at the Grand Hotel.
KOSOVA (Hill press conference)
He came, he went, he will be back on Monday
Prishtina, 7 August (ARTA) 2030CET--
"We discussed about the necessity to advance
the political process, I think we have some good ideas which will be drafted
in the upcoming days", declared today at the end of his visit in Prishtina,
American Ambassador to Shkup, Christopher Hill.
The American diplomat met today in Prishtina
with Ibrahim Rugova and the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Nikolai Affanasiefsky.
In the aftermath of the meeting Hill visited some regions of Kosova, Rahovec
and neighboring villages, which he had previously visited on Tuesday.
As it concerns to his visits outside Prishtina,
the American mediator said that he wanted "to see how things are going
on, especially because on Tuesday he saw destruction and burning".
"The good news is that today I have not seen
any new burning, there was no smoke over the villages I visited, but on
the other hand there were more damages than last Tuesday", emphasized the
American Diplomat.
"The security situation is not under control
and the people are very nervous concerning the return back", he added.
Even though he has noticed returns of some people
in Rahovec, according to Hill, "the process of returning into villages
is far more difficult"
"One can still view the cattle tramping through
the fields, eating the corn maize, in fact corn harvests have to be conducted
within these weeks so we hope the conditions for return of the people in
their homes will improve", he stressed.
At the end of the briefing, the American Ambassador
informed that he will be back in Prishtina on Monday, as he said, to push
forward the political process, which he estimated to contain "good talks",
and he announced "more good talks to come" on the above.
KOSOVA (government – KLA)
KLA in favor of the coalition government
Prishtina, 7 August (ARTA) 2100CET--
"Overcoming the difficult situation imposed by
the massive Serb offensive, will nevertheless create, if it could be said
so, normal conditions to establish a coalition Government", sources close
to KLA state. Soon, KLA’s stand on the above will be made public, they
claim.
KOSOVA (KD interview – Hydajet Hyseni)
Hyseni: "Establishing the Government is an
urgent issue...even though we are already late"
The vice-chairman of Albanian Democratic Movement (hereinafter LDSH), in an interview given to "Koha Ditore", initially claimed that Albanians are already late in establishing the new Government.
KD: Who is stalling the formation of the new Government?
Hyseni: The general prevailing situation in Kosova. The violence and the barbarian Serb terror are impacting it in the first place. So are our quarrels and our characteristic disorganization.
KD: Then, what are you doing about this?
Hyseni: It is very clear that the Serb chauvinist regime is using the only argument it has in the conflict with Albanians... the brutal violence and the unseen terror. All that is enabled, because of the incomprehensibly indifferent attitude of the international factors in front of such a policy. On the other hand, also because of our weaknesses, this continues to be present in our national movement and which must be eliminated soon.
KD: You have taken part in the talks with KLA representatives about the coalition government. Which is the official reply of KLA in this regard?
Hyseni: We had a very constructive talk with the representatives of the KLA General Headquarters. I hope their definitive response will be revealed soon. At least it, that was the promise. However, the Serb offensive followed and this obstructed the agreement, as well as the attitude of KLA.
KD: What ministries have been offered to KLA in this mechanism?
Hyseni: This will be agreed later. It depends also from their attitude and demands.
KD: There are rumors that the person who will be appointed as the premier is member of your Party?
Hyseni: Yes. The name of Mehmet Hajrizi is most frequently mentioned and I think that he is the right person for that duty.
KD: You and other 'opposition' parties in Kosova have demanded the competencies of this government to be independent from the Parliament of Republic of Kosova. Is your request sustained?
Hyseni: It is normal for every government, more or less democratic, to act and ought to act independently. Especially in our conditions. Only an independent government could commit itself successfully for the independence of Kosova. In our circumstances, the Government ought to be the government of national unification, of national reconciliation - a government that ensures the engagement of the entire wide spread potentials of our national and democratic movement. Merely because of that, it must run in conformity with the concrete conditions that prevail in Kosova.
KD: The latest estimations have indicated that what is happening in Kosova was actually endorsed by the "green light" of the international community, especially after the Russian concessions. Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolai Affanasieffski is in Prishtina today. Will you meet him0?
Hyseni: Yes. We are waiting to discuss with him the issues you are posing. We have always demanded an international presence, but that demand was made in function of preventing the worst, and not for it to be only a testimony or to some extent, a benediction of the violence and terror which is being exercised against the unprotected people of Kosova. If this is allowed, it would be a failure not only for the nonviolent policy but also for the processes of democracy in Europe. The "old story" that another Bosnia will not allowed to happen, is just being repeated, while in fact nowadays more than half of Kosova has turned into a second Bosnia.
KD: The latest standpoints of the international community toward Kosova have converted in into a humanitarian issue. Will you continue to cooperate with the international community, if it continues this way?
Hyseni: The international community is a very
broad encompassing concept. We wouldn't like to identify that what is called
international community with some viewpoints that are rightly being criticized
even by the international public. We believe that what is happening in
Kosova will be a sufficient reason to wake up the sleeping European conscience
and act in favor of halting the Serb violence and, of course, toward creating
the preconditions for a right and steady solution of the Kosova problem.
KOSOVA (press conference – Rugova)
"The representatives of KLA are ready to join
the group, but first we ought to see who these people are"
Prishtina 7 August (ARTA) 1500CET--
"We still pursue our stand that an independent
and neutral Kosova with all the guarantees for the local Serbs would be
the best solution", declared Rugova in his press conference today. My position
as a negotiator is not weak, on the contrary, it will be even stronger.
Nevertheless, the Kosovar leader, demanded the immediate halt of the Serb
violence. The West can do this", Rugova said.
"I believe both in the USA and the West when
it regards Kosova", said he, responding to the question about the possibilities
for an intervention from abroad. "We support every intervention which intends
to prevent actions of the Serb military apparatus in Kosova, because the
unprotected people of Kosova must be saved, and the region must stabilize",
he said when asked about the most recent signals from Washington about
an eventual military intervention.
Have you received any signal from the KLA, that
they will join this "group" was the other posed question to Rugova, to
what he said: "They (KLA) are ready to join the group, but first we have
to see who these people are".
He said that creating a negotiating group was
easy, but that is was very hard to establish talks in the current circumstances
and conditions
KOSOVA (protests – Prishtina)
Homage for the victims in Kosova
Prishtina 7 august (ARTA) 2000CET--
"I feel like attending a burial", said one woman
who was crying and keeping a candle in her hand, paying homage to the victims
in Prishtina’s main "Nëna Tereze" street.
Today at 1700CET, organized by the "Albanian
Women’s Network", a protest attended by several thousands of women holding
candles and expressing their grief for the victims killed during the war
in Kosova, took place.
Women were staying on the sidewalks, lighting
candles, which faded from the wind, while their silence was disturbed only
from the cars passing through the main street. One sidewalk was full of
women for 15 min. while the traffic was not stopped. A bus driver of "urban
traffic", tried to provoke the silent protesters, while some other cars
moved quickly intentionally shrieking the tires.
At 1715CET the women put their candles on the
pavement and started to disperse quietly.
The wind had blown some of the candles, but after
some time two little girls lit them again.
The police was staying in the other side of the
street all the time, watching.
KOSOVA (mobilization – Obiliq)
Serb civilians mobilized
Fushë Kosovë, 7 August (ARTA) 1700CET--
Local Serbs in the town of Obiliq and the surrounding
villages are being mobilized. The Serb police are handing over weapons
to Serb civilians.
The Serb forces continue keeping the villages
of Graboc i Ulët, Graboc i Epërm, Lajthishte, Plemetin, Sibovc
and Hamidi as target, the chairman of CDHRF in Obiliq, Hajredin Mjeku informs.
Because of the great insecurity, the inhabitants
of Hamidi, Lajthishte, Sibovc and the few remaining villagers of Graboc,
have started fleeing their homes.
"The majority of the escapees, are sheltered
in Vushtrri, where they are warmly welcomed by the local inhabitants",
the CDHRF chairman informs.
The Serb police that are settled in the village
of Hade for a month now have looted and burned the village. Heavy smoke
can be seen, however due to the impossibility to reach the village, it
is hard to tell what has actually been burned during the last two days.
The villages of Graboc i Ulët, Graboc i
Epërm, Hade, Sibovc, Hamidi, Shipitull, remain completely emptied
since one month ago, while the villages of Fushë Kosovë municipality
-- Lismir, Pomozotin, Sllatinë e Vogël, Sllatinë e Madhe,
the villages of Obiliq -- Leshkoshiq, Vodicë (only the Albanian population),
Plemetin (only the Albanian population) are partially emptied.
KOSOVA (tense situation – Lipjan)
While the Serbs get armed -- Albanians do
not believe in returning
Lipjan, 7 August (ARTA) 1930CET--
The mobilization of the few remaining local Serbs
that have not yet joined the active units in their preparations for a possible
inter ethnic confrontation, as well as the weapons delivery to local Serbs
continues in Lipjan. Differing from before, now the Serb civilians, besides
being handed over guns are now also being uniformed, Albanian sources claim.
Albanian witnesses also claim to have identified a considerable number
of Romany from the town's surrounding, among the mobilized.
Two days ago in the villages of the municipal
region, particularly in Pjetërshticë, Shalë, Krojmir and
Rusinoc that have, otherwise, been living a tense situation and hosted
many IDPs, Serb airplanes threw flyers stating: "All displaced are asked
to return to their homes. Serbia’s Government guarantees physical safety,
peace and the return of their properties, a compensation for the cattle
and other capital that could have eventually been lost during this time
to all concerned".
These flyers were thrown precisely in the areas
that are under complete police and paramilitary siege and undergo occasional
shelling from the artillery settled in Belincë hill, in Shtime and
near Magurë.
Otherwise, the villages of the threatened area
around Magurë have no conditions to receive the eventual returning
population, if international humanitarian assistance is not provided immediately.
KOSOVA ("quarantine" – Gjilan)
The town looks like an iron quarantine
Gjilan 7 August (ARTA) 1700CET--
Through the Albanian localities of this municipality
and neighboring ones in Kamenicë, and Novobërdë, joint military
and police forces are checking and identifying travelers and vehicles.
Today, starting early morning, a military "Niva" started patrolling through
the village of Zhegër and it controls every vehicle belonging to Albanians.
Yet, the road Gjilan - Zhegër and vice-versa, which passes through
the Serb village Budrikë e Poshtme is still impassable because of
it is blocking by the Serb police under the pretext that mobilized Serb
was killed, informs the CDHRF in Gjilan. The same source informs that yesterday
at around 1030CET in the place called "Guri I Bardhë" in Llabjan,
some Serb soldiers stopped, threatened and plundered Ramadan Mustafa (52)
an ex-miner from Verbicë (Zhegoc) who was waiting the bus together
with his son Avni (12). They took away their only money 10-DM.
On the other hand, at the police checkpoint situated
in the place "Dheu i Bardhë" on the Bujanoc-Gjilan road, all the vehicles
coming from Gjilan direction are being stopped and searched.
Local information sources state that near the
border with Macedonia, in the surroundings of Viti, many herd were killed
as a result of the blasts of the minefields. This has incited fear among
the local inhabitants that are reluctant to work on the field.
KOSOVA (child killed – Prizren)
Serb snipers kill a child in the village Billushë
Prizren, 7 August (ARTA) 1815CET--
The Serb police, situated at the place called
"Laku i Keq", on the Prizren-Dragash road, shot dead a 12 years old child,
at around 1900CET, as he was coming back from the field works, Albanian
sources claim. Another 55 years old Albanian was wounded as he was striving
to help the victim.
On the other hand, confirmed sources notify that
Islam Berisha (71), from the village of Buqe, Opojë region, is in
a very critical health condition and presently at the Hospital of Prizren,
following the injuries he was caused by the police on 28 July. He was beaten
with the pretext that he provided shelter to "terrorists".
Besides the Albanian activists, the Serb police
have now started harassing activists of other nationalities. The chairman
of the Party of Democratic Actions (PDA), Mustafi Nesim, was invited to
an "informative talk" at the police station in Prizren, tomorrow at 0900CET.
KOSOVA (shooting – Mitrovicë)
Shooting in town
Mitrovicë, 7 August (ARTA) 1900CET--
Mitrovicë proper is under an iron police
siege, ever since this morning. Groups of policemen, posted in every street
in Mitrovicë, stop, evidence and beat the passersby. During the whole
day today, a police expedition drove around raiding several Albanian owned
houses in the neighborhood of Tavnik, on which occasion they arrested three
Albanians. The arrested are still held at the police station.
Loud automatic gun shooting was heard least night
at around 2300CET in the town of Mitrovicë, respectively in the neighborhoods
of Bair and Kroi i Vitakut, inducing great fear and panic among the locals.
Military planes that flew very low over the town, largely added to the
fear that has prevailed over the inhabitants of Mitrovicë and the
IDPs that have found shelter there. Presently, over 40.000 IDPs are accommodated
in Mitrovicë.
KOSOVA (trial in Nis)
10 Albanians sent to the Military Court in
Nis
Prishtina, 7 August (ARTA) 2015CET--
The Serb run Municipal Court in Prizren has decided
to transfer 10 accused Albanians to the Military Court in Nis. They were
all arrested on 28 July in the village of Buqë, (Dragash municipality).
This Court charges the accused with "Association
for hostile activities". According to the indictment, the accused, during
the confrontation with the Serb police\military forces at the bordering
area, killed Bojan Denic, officer of the "Yugoslav" army, on 28 July.
However, according to the statements of the accused
given to the investigating judge, as defending attorney Hazër Susuri
confirmed, there are no proofs showing that any of the accused has killed
the "Yugoslav" army officer.
KOSOVA (shelling – Prizren)
The suburb of Prizren and the villages of
Vrrin shelled
Prizren, 7 August (ARTA) 2030CET--
The villages of the Vrrin area of Prizren were
shelled by mine launchers, today at around 1800CET. The shelling lasted
for about a half an hour. It seems that the target was the region near
the town. No information about the possible victims or material damages
has been yet collected.
Due to the critical situation, the neighborhood
of "Tusus" in Prizren that underwent a similar shelling from the Serb police\military
units a week ago, started evacuating the children and women in the afternoon
hours.
KINKEL SAYS KOSOVA INTERVENTION WOULD BE DIFFICULT.
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said on 6 August that NATO intervention in Kosova would be drawn out and "enormously complicated," Reuters reported. Kinkel, speaking at The Hague, rejected allegations that the West has delayed taking action to stop the violence in the Serbian province. A White House spokesman said preparations for military intervention will be finished in a couple of days. Spokesman P. J. Crowley said Washington is outraged by the Serbs' continued use of violence against civilians. Kinkel also called on Russia to support a UN mandate for possible foreign military involvement in Kosova. PB
AFANASEVSKII IN PRISHTINA.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai Afanasevskii traveled to Prishtina on 7 August for talks with ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and representatives of Serbian authorities and humanitarian agencies. Afanasevskii met in Karadjordjevo with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic the previous day, and both men urged new negotiations between Yugoslav and Kosovar Albanian officials, Tanjug reported. Afanasevskii told RIA Novosti after the talks that he concentrated on making Milosevic aware of Russian alarm over the latest developments in Kosova. JN
EU CALLS FOR EXPERTS TO PROBE MASS GRAVE ALLEGATIONS.
The EU on 6 August called on Yugoslavia to grant forensic scientists access to the town of Rahovec, where mass graves are alleged to have been found (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 August 1998). EU officials said the previous day that they saw no evidence of the mass graves, which are said to contain the bodies of some 500 people. The Austrian daily "Die Presse" said the same day that there are two sites, not visited by the EU officials, that have been freshly plowed over by a bulldozer. UN human rights investigator Jiri Dienstbier said he has no independent confirmation of mass graves. He added that Serbian action in Kosova could not be termed ethnic cleansing when compared with what occurred in Bosnia. In Prishtina, family members of some 100 Serbs alleged to have been kidnapped by the Kosova Liberation Army met with Red Cross and U.S. officials to seek help in finding their missing relatives. PB
HUMANITARIAN GROUPS PLEAD WITH CLINTON ON KOSOVA.
Several human rights organizations sent a letter to U.S. President Bill Clinton urging him to take immediate steps to stop Serbian aggression against civilians in Kosova, an RFE/RL correspondent in Washington reported on 7 August. The letter said the international community cannot afford to wait for a cease-fire or a political settlement before resolving the "humanitarian disaster." The letter was signed by 30 major humanitarian and human rights groups including Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Open Society Institute. The letter said a large-scale crisis would occur without urgent action. It said the number of "besieged, displaced, and attacked" Kosovar residents nearly 1 million people. PB
HUNGARY WANTS BELGRADE TO STOP SENDING VOJVODINA CONSCRIPTS TO KOSOVA.
The state secretary of Hungary's Foreign Ministry, Zsolt Nemeth, summoned Yugoslav ambassador Balsa Spadijer on 6 August to request that the Yugoslav authorities cease sending ethnic Hungarian soldiers and police from Vojvodina to Kosova, ministry spokesman Gabor Horvath told "Nepszabadsag." Nemeth repeatedly expressed the ministry's concern about the broadening of the crisis in Kosova and the call-up of ethnic Hungarian reserve soldiers and policemen to Kosova. In Subotica, the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina asked the Yugoslav Army not to send ethnic Croat conscripts to Kosova and called for the return of all conscripts from Vojvodina. (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 August) JN
MACEDONIA, UN CONFIRM MINING OF BORDER WITH YUGOSLAVIA.
The Macedonian Ministry of Defense on 6 August confirmed news reports that the Macedonian-Yugoslav border has been mined. The previous day, a representative of the UN Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in Skopje said the minefields overlap UN patrol routes. Defense Ministry spokesman Petar Atanasov told Radio Macedonia the anti-personnel mines are on the Yugoslav side of the border. Yugoslav forces have been laying the mines for at least one month, the Skopje daily "Nova Makedonija" reported on 6 August. It added that four mines have exploded since 9 July. JN
MACEDONIAN ELECTIONS CALLED.
Tito Petkovski, the speaker of the Macedonian parliament, said on 6 August that elections for the 120-seat legislature in Skopje will be held on 18 October, AP reported. The Social Democrats won the last elections, which were boycotted by several opposition parties because of alleged voter fraud. PB
BOSNIAN SERB POLITICIANS PUNISHED.
Two Bosnian Serb politicians on 6 August were barred from participating in next month's parliamentary elections because of their actions in a protest to prevent the burial of a Muslim cleric, AFP reported. The names of Predrag Lazarevic and Slavko Zupljanin were struck from candidate lists by the Elections Appeal Sub- Commission for failure to "respect the codex of the elections." Some 800 Bosnian Serbs prevented the burial of Mufti Ibrahim Halilovic at the former site of the Ferhadija mosque in Banja Luka late last month. In Sarajevo, the UN announced that 17 Bosnian Serb policemen were suspended last month for torture and abuse of authority. PB
MORE BODIES FOUND IN BOSNIAN MASS GRAVE.
UN officials said on 6 August that 70 more bodies have been exhumed from a mass grave in eastern Bosnia near Srebrenica, Reuters reported. UN spokesman Alexander Ivanko said many of the victims had been blindfolded and their hands had been tied behind their backs. Some 7,000 people from the Srebrenica region went missing after the fall of the town to Serbian forces. PB
ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES PLAN TO COLLECT ARMS.
The parliament on 5 August approved legislation aimed at accelerating the collection of unregistered weapons. The creation of a central disarmament commission, headed by Minister of Local Government Bashkim Fino, is envisaged. Local disarmament commissions are to carry out the nationwide action to collect weapons over the next year. The authorities will first appeal to the people to hand over their weapons voluntarily; those who fail to do so will be liable to punishment. The law, however, allows several categories of Albanian civilians to keep their weapons. More than 600,000 arms were looted from depots during unrest in 1997. Police have so far collected only a small number of those arms. FS
ALBANIAN COMMISSION PRESENTS DRAFT CONSTITUTION.
Minister for Institutional Reform Arben Malaj on 5 August said the commission drafting a new constitution, which he heads, has finished its work and will send the latest draft to the parliament for approval. The parliament will discuss the draft in September--after the summer recess--and is scheduled to submit it to a referendum on 22 November. A preliminary version of the draft has been published in newspapers over the last two weeks. Albania's current constitution is based on constitutional provisions passed by the parliament in 1991 to replace the communist basic law. FS
TIRANA, Aug 7 (ATA)
- By P. Shuteriqi: The leader of the Democratic party (DP) Sali Berisha
told a news conference on Friday that Albania's intervention in the present
conflict under way in Kosova would be "foolish".
Berisha called
on the United States and NATO "to avoid the catastrophe of two million
Albanians in Kosova", considering "foolishness" an eventual intervention
of Albania in the armed conflict.
The idea of a
direct intervention by Albania in the armed conflict which is continuing
in Kosova for some months was launched by the deputy chairman of the National
Front party Shpetim Roqi, who declared that "Albania should declare war
to Serbia."
All other Albanian
political forces have asked for Albania should not be directly involved
in the conflict, but the government should back the military operations
undertaken by NATO after the U.N. Security Council adopts decisions.
In today's news
conference, Berisha called on the international community to urgently intervene
in Kosova. A day before the Albanian parliament formally issued a resolution
passed unanimously by deputies present except the DP's deputies, calling
on international community to urgently intervene in Kosova. ypa/pas/ak/
EU accords Ecu 5 million for Kosova displaced people
TIRANA, Aug 7 (ATA)
- By I. Luto: The European Union will accord Ecu 5 million to help the
victims of the Kosova crisis, press and information office at the Albanian
Foreign Ministry said.
The aid which
was approved by the E.U. executive body, the European commission, will
be administered by the E.U. Humanitarian office (ECHO) and will help United
Nations bodies as well as NGOs to carry out emergency programmes
for the displaced people in Kosova.
The same source
said that the number of the people who have been displaced is estimated
over 142 thousand, 13 thousand of them are settled in Albania, 27 thousand
in Montenegro and some two thousand in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM) while one hundred thousand are recorded as uprooted within the
territory of Kosova.
This is not the
first aid the ECHO has accorded to refugees of Kosova. The previous
aid worth Ecu1.5 million was used to help Kosova people who settled
in Albania.
Official sources
of the Albanian Foreign Ministry said that food, medicaments, sanitary
equipment and other things to help the displaced people cope with the forthcoming
winter are priorities of the second ECHO aid. ypa/das/ak/
US considers situation in Kosova totally unacceptable
TIRANA, Aug 7 (ATA)
- U.S. deputy press secretary Philip Crowley told a news conference on
Thursday that the United States considered the situation in Kosova
totally unacceptable.
Press and information
office at the Albanian foreign Ministry quoted him as saying that "the
United States is angry with the fact that the Serbs continue to use violence
systematically against the civil population."
"We are holding
ongoing consultations with our allies as regards future steps," Crowley
said.
After reiterating
that "we have intensified military planning in NATO framework and within
one of two days we would reach a decision," Crowley said that the U.S.
ambassador Chris Hill had met with Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslav president,
on August 6. He conveyed him a "strong message" which, as the U.S. expects,
would oblige Milosevic to create a climate to enable a resumption of negotiations.
White House deputy
press secretary said that "it is clear that the Serb offensive is firstly
responsible for the climate created there and the failure of negotiations."
This should be changed, he said.
Crowley said that
"the U.S. continues to belief that the diplomatic solution is the best
solution."
Particularly in
this direction had the Ambassador Hill been engaged intensively in
the last weeks, he said. Therefore, a political solution, which assures
Albanians of Kosova the autonomy they have enjoyed before, should be achieved,
said the U.S. senior official. s.sh/pas/ak/
LINK to further press news_______________________________________________________________________
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