Tagesnachrichten 10. August 1998
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Tagesnachrichten 10. August 1998
_______________________________________________________________________NEWS: KOSOVA UPDATE, AUGUST 10, 1998
Taken without permission, for fair use only.
*Slovenia pledges to help solve Kosovo crisis at UN
REUTERS,. Aug 10, 1998
*Fighting reaches new areas of Kosovo
BBC Online,. Aug 10, 1998
*FOCUS-Ten police reported killed in Kosovo
REUTERS,. Aug 10, 1998
*Kosovo Rebels Cling To Territory
Associated Press, Aug 10, 1998
*FOCUS - Serbs say intercept Kosovo rebels on border
Reuters, Aug 09, 1998
___________________________________Slovenia pledges to help solve Kosovo crisis at UN
11:57 a.m. Aug 10, 1998 Eastern
TIRANA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Slovenia, current chairman of the United Nations Security Council, pledged to Albania on Monday it would act quickly to help end the crisis between ethnic Albanians and Serbia in its southern Kosovo province.
Franco Juri, Secretary of State at Slovenia's Foreign Ministry, said the humanitarian situation in Kosovo, where some 500 people have been killed and 180,000 displaced, was "catastrophic."
Juri, who was in Albania on a fact-finding mission ahead of a consultative meeting of the Security Council on Kosovo, said the situation there required rapid intervention.
"We will do whatever possible within the Security Council to solve in the most just way the crisis in Kosovo, by explaining to those interested the process of the disintegration of Yugoslavia," an Albanian Foreign Ministry statement quoted Juri as saying.
Slovenia, the first republic to break away from the Yugoslav federation, took over the one-month rotating presidency of the Security Council on August 1.
Juri visited ethnic Albanians refugees in the northern region of Tropoje on the border with Kosovo on Monday. He said a ship had left Slovenia with $100,000 worth of food, clothes and medicines in government aid.
Some 12,000 ethnic Albanian refugees have fled to Albania since June to escape the fighting between Serbian security forces and the separatist guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army, which is supplied from Albania.
The Albanian statement quoted Juri as saying Slovenia favoured a political solution in Kosovo but did not exclude military pressure by the West if talks failed.Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
___________________________________Monday, August 10, 1998 Published at 16:54 GMT 17:54 UK
Fighting reaches new areas of Kosovo
Renewed fighting has been reported between Serb forces and ethnic Albanian rebels in the Serbian province of Kosovo - this time in an area previously untouched by the five-month conflict.
Serb authorities said three members of the ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) were killed during clashes near the village of Duraj, in the south east of the province near the Macedonian border.
Ethnic Albanian sources said civilians were fleeing the village - a pattern seen throughout the province as Serb forces have seized territory previously controlled by the rebels.
Elsewhere, three Serbian policemen were killed in clashes in western Kosovo over the weekend, Serb sources said.
The KLA has also re-entered one of its former strongholds, the western village of Likovac, which was captured by the Serbs late last week.Diplomatic efforts
The latest violence came as diplomatic efforts continued to try to find a settlement to the conflict.
On Saturday, Western countries and Russia offered proposals for a peace settlement that would give Kosovo a high level of autonomy within Yugoslavia, but would rule out independence.
Yugoslav officials called it a positive step, but the Kosovo Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, said independence was still his preferred option.
Mr Rugova said a peace dialogue was impossible as long as Serbian forces kept pounding separatist guerrillas and civilian villages.Hungary opens extra refugee centres
Meanwhile the Hungarian Government has opened five new temporary reception centres to cope with a growing influx of ethnic Albanian refugees.
The existing eight centres are full with 500 people who fled across the border to escape the fighting.
The BBC Correspondent in Budapest, Nick Thorpe, says that as the refugees are citizens of Yugoslavia, they can enter Hungary without a visa, but cannot travel on towards their final goal, usually Germany or Switzerland.
___________________________________FOCUS-Ten police reported killed in Kosovo
12:56 p.m. Aug 10, 1998 Eastern
By Julijana MojsilovicPRISTINA, Serbia, August 10 (Reuters) - Serb sources said ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed 10 policemen in the Serb province of Kosovo as diplomatic efforts continued on Monday to end the violence.
Serbian police sources said six policemen were killed in overnight clashes near a lake but did not specify the location.
Earlier, the Serbian-run Pristina media centre said four policemen were killed and three were wounded while on patrol on Sunday in the Decani area, near the Albanian border.
The centre also reported that three members of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) were killed on Monday in a clash with police.
More than 500 people have been killed since fighting began six months ago in Kosovo, where guerrillas are battling for independence for the province whose population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian.
U.S. ambassador Chris Hill, who has been working for weeks to try to bring the Serb and ethnic Albanian sides together, was in the provincial capital Pristina on Monday to see Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Kosovo Albanians, and Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic.
There was no immediate word on their discussions and Hill left without making any statements to reporters.
But political sources said it was assumed they would talk about a peace plan submitted by the six-nation Contact Group.
The Serbian media centre said the four policemen were killed in the village of Prilep on the Decani-Djakovica road.
It said the three KLA guerrillas were killed in a firefight with police at 5:30 a.m. on Monday in the village of Gabrica, south of Pristina near the Albanian border.
The centre's reports could not be independently confirmed.
Kosovo Albanian media earlier said Serbian security forces had stepped up attacks on rebel-controlled villages in the Decani area, including Prilep, at the foot of the mountains along the border with Albania.
Western countries have condemned the actions by Serb forces, which have forced up to 300,000 people from their homes, but there so far has been no Western military intervention.
The Contact Group has formulated a plan to serve as a basis for peace talks and a local newspaper said one of its proposals is to give Kosovo the status of a third republic within Yugoslavia.
Both the Yugoslav and Kosovo Albanian side were reportedly willing to talk about the draft, the newspaper Koha Ditore, an Albanian daily, reported in its English-language edition.
"The ethnic Albanian negotiating team is expected to be formed sometime this week," a Kosovo Albanian source said.
Meanwhile, villagers of Skivjane along the Djakovica-Pec road, western Kosovo, surrendered arms to local Serbian police.
A Reuters Television crew filmed the weapons, which included 65 AK-47s and semi-automatic rifles, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.
Police chief Veljko Bogunovic said four villagers led by the local mullah came to the police station in Djakovica and agreed the terms for the surrender.
The mullah said he had advised the villagers to surrender their arms.
"What do we need weapons for?" he said.
When police came to pick up the weaponry, no one except the mullah was there, all the villagers having temporarily left their homes.
The TV crew said it had heard an exchange of automatic fire in the distance, but police advised them not to go any closer for security reasons.Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
___________________________________Monday August 10 9:29 AM EDT
Kosovo Rebels Cling To Territory
ANNE THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - Backed into a few remaining strongholds, ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo fought today to cling to territory in the face of a punishing Serb offensive.
With Western diplomats pushing them to agree to peace talks, Kosovo Liberation Army fighters skirmished with Serbian forces throughout the weekend and again today.
Although one moderate KLA faction signaled its readiness for negotiations that could lead to the province regaining autonomy from Serbia, prospects for talks remained uncertain.
U.S. envoy Christopher Hill arrived in Pristina, capital of Kosovo, today to try to push the peace process forward.
Kosovo is a province in southern Serbia, where ethnic Albanians, who demand independence, represent 90 percent of the population. Serbia and the smaller republic of Montenegro make up what is left of Yugoslavia.
Reports from both sides today showed skirmishes were continuing at several locations.
The pro-Serb Media Center said three KLA fighters were killed today in a clash with Serb police in the village of Dura, about 25 miles south of Pristina. Authorities there said the KLA attacked a police patrol and police fired back, killing three.
The ethnic Albanians' Kosovo Information Center said one Albanian was killed today by a sniper in Suva Reka, about 25 miles southwest of Pristina.
About 400 civilians were being encircled by Serb forces in the village of Lausa, one of the KLA's biggest strongholds until it fell to Serb forces Aug. 2. Four civilians who managed to get out of the village said two women and a man were killed during the attack, the Kosovo Information Center said.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook criticized the Serbs for their recent attacks involving civilians, particularly the fires set by Serb forces to crops in Kosovo to try to ensure villagers won't return.
"The events of the last 10 days have been deeply disturbing and have undoubtedly caused great hardship to many civilians throughout Kosovo," Cook told BBC1 on Sunday.
Pressing for talks while holding out the threat of NATO intervention, Western diplomats gave the warring sides a proposal outlining how autonomy might work in Kosovo.
"This is not a war that either side can win," Cook said. "The only way this war can be ended is by both sides coming to the table with an international presence and negotiating a satisfactory constitutional political settlement."
According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the Serb offensive has forced 167,000 people from their homes in Kosovo since the conflict exploded in February, with a total of 231,000 displaced, including those who fled the province.
Hundreds have been killed, with thousands of others remaining in the woods and hills, many without food or water.
___________________________________FOCUS - Serbs say intercept Kosovo rebels on border
12:36 p.m. Aug 09, 1998 Eastern
By Branko FilipovicGORAZUP, Serbia, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Yugoslav army troops seized weapons and ammunition on Sunday from Kosovo Albanian guerrillas trying to smuggle them across the border from Albania, military sources said.
The sources told a Reuters Television crew close to the scene at Gorazup, on Mount Pastrik about 1.5 km (one mile) inside Yugoslav territory, that 50 rebels crossed the frontier with 20 horses loaded with weaponry around 1 a.m. (2300 GMT).
Yugoslav troops interdicted the rebels and in an ensuing battle one Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) insurgent was killed but there were no casualties on the Yugoslav side, according to the sources.
About four tonnes of weapons and ammunition were confiscated, they said.
Yugoslav forces have sought to clamp down on KLA smuggling of men and ammunition into Kosovo from lawless northeastern Albania since Belgrade announced a widening of the restricted security strip along the frontier to five km (three miles).
The KLA is fighting for independence of Kosovo, a province of Serbia with a 90 percent Albanian majority that has been under harsh police rule since 1989 when its autonomy was revoked by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
Kosovo Albanian media said Serbian security forces stepped up attacks on rebel-controlled villages in the Decani area, at the foot of the borderline mountains, during the day on Sunday.
The Kosovo Information Centre, linked to Kosovo's leading pro-independence ethnic Albanian party, said Serbian units backed by tanks shelled a number of villages surrounding Decani, including Gramocelj, Prilep and Rastavica.
"Today's is amongst the fiercest Serb attacks in Dcani area, and the casualty toll is feared high," the KIC said in a statement faxed to news agencies.
The KIC, whose report could not be independently confirmed, also said Serb forces again attacked the guerrilla stronghold town of Junik on Saturday night and again on Sunday.
Junik, perched at the high end of a road that climbs towards mountains marking the border of Albania, is one of the last remaining major outposts of the Kosovo Liberation Army and has been surrounded by Serb forces for about two weeks.
Foreign reporters have been barred from front-line zones, making independent information difficult to obtain.
The Serbian Media Centre, for its part, reported KLA attacks on police checkpoints in the Decani area.
"Albanian terrorists opened sniper and automatic weapons fire on Sunday morning on a number of police checkpoints on the Decani-Djakovica road near the villages of Prilep, Erec and Babaloc," the media centre said in a statement.
"Police returned fire and are hunting for the attackers."
The statement also said three Serbian policemen had been wounded on Saturday night in an attack on police checkpoints at Probrdje, near Decani. The attacks were blamed on Albanian separatists.
The report of fresh Serb attacks on villages came a day after the KIC said Serbian troops had captured a KLA stronghold in the hill village of Likovac.
Belgrade's three-week-old offensive, powered by tanks and artillery, has overwhelmed flimsy KLA lines, forcing them to retreat from much of the 50 percent of the province which the separatists had loosely controlled.
The offensive has also forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, creating a huge number of displaced people less than three months before the onset of winter.
Some charitable agencies say a United Nations estimate of 200,000 displaced is too low.
James Weatherill of Catholic Relief Services said the number is probably closer to 300,000, based on growth rates after Kosovo's last census coupled with a new count of depopulated villages.Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Taken without permission for fair use only_______________________________________________________________________MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL:
NATO should put up or shut upCopyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 Scripps Howard(August 10, 1998 06:24 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
While Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic lies through his teeth to Americans and orders his army to continue its rampage through Kosovo, NATO sits on the sidelines, issuing warnings and making plans that make it look -- or reveal it to be -- puny, irrelevant and hypocritical.
For almost six months, Milosevic has been trying to put down a rebellion in Kosovo. But the rebels, who seek independence for the province, have proved to be stronger than Milosevic or others supposed; they have attracted money, arms and political support from the outside world.
To conquer them, Milosevic has resorted to the same policy of ethnic cleansing that he used during the war in Bosnia; he levels villages thought to be sympathetic to the rebels and turns their hapless inhabitants into refugees.
Two weeks ago Milosevic assured a U.S. diplomat that he had ended his offensive in Kosovo, and promised to give relief workers and international monitors free access to the province. These assurances and the promise proved to be worthless; the campaign in Kosovo continued unabated last week. In just the last few days, 20,000 to 30,000 were made homeless.
Ever since May, NATO has been wagging its finger at Milosevic and warning him to back off. In mid-June, NATO fighter-jets conducted military maneuvers in the region, supposedly to put the fear of God into him. Week before last, NATO issued yet another warning; it approved contingency plans for the use of military force -- probably air strikes -- in Kosovo.
None of NATO's supposedly grave warnings has had any impact on Milosevic. Why should he pay the slightest attention to the latest heavy breathing from NATO headquarters? He knows very well that NATO is deeply -- paralytically -- divided on the issue of using force in Kosovo.
It took NATO two years to get involved in Bosnia, and it moved then only because the United States finally forced it to. Why should Milosevic think NATO is any more resolute now than it was then?
NATO needs to show some gumption and make good on its many promises and warnings. Milosevic is not going to stop the onslaught in Kosovo until he is forced to. If NATO is not prepared to do that, the organization should just keep quiet. In short, NATO should either put up or shut up.
KOSOVO: Serbian forces attack last pockets of resistance
By Guy Dinmore in Srbica
Serbian forces on Thursday attacked the remaining
pockets of resistance of ethnic Albanian rebels in Kosovo province, despite
US warnings of military intervention if President Slobodan Milosevic of
Yugoslavia does not call off his offensive. Police blocked journalists
and western diplomatic observers on the edge of the central town of Srbica
from entering the village of Lausa. Smoke hung over the area and the occasional
boom of artillery fire could be heard nearby.
Government forces have captured a swathe of central
and southern Kosovo over the past week, burning villages and fields and
putting to flight tens of thousands of civilians. Pro-independence rebels
of the Kosovo Liberation Army have mostly retreated in disarray after evacuating
civilians.
The US envoy, Richard Holbrooke, warned on Wednesday
that the operation, which was continuing despite Mr Milosevic's assurances
to the contrary, "increases dramatically the likelihood or possibility
of active western intervention of a military sort".
He also said Mr Milosevic had received a letter
from the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, of "a very forceful
nature".
The Independent
Kosovo rebels to adopt guerrilla tactics
By Paul Wood in Drenica, Kosovo
The KLA fighter looked tired and drawn as he emerged
from the dense oak forest, his hiding place since the Serbian offensive
in central Kosovo began.
Some village children had walked up the dusty
hillside path to give him a bag of plums, his staple diet for the past
three weeks. "This is just survival," he said. "I don't know, what will
we do next?" The leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army must be asking themselves
the same question.
The Serbian offensive in the Drenica region of
Kosovo is over, with just "mopping up operations" continuing, the authorities
say. Serbian armoured vehicles have swept away the checkpoints which marked
the beginning of what ethnic Albanians called "free Kosovo". The towns
and villages which were KLA strongholds are gutted and empty; the fighters
and their families have taken to the surrounding hills.
"The KLA will do what they should have done from
the start - wage a classic guerrilla campaign," said one ethnic Albanian
source close to those who want the armed struggle to continue. The past
few weeks have shown that in a pitched battle, KLA fighters armed with
Kalashnikov automatic rifles are no match for Yugoslav armour and artillery:
a guerrilla campaign may be their only military option.
The alternative would be to accept whatever peace
deal the international community can broker with Yugoslavia's leader, Slobodan
Milosevic. That would mean giving up the cherished ideal of an independent
Kosovo Albanian state. Nobody I spoke to in Drenica - fighters or civilians
- was prepared to do that.
If the KLA does wage a guerrilla campaign it
will be faced with the problem of what to do with the civilian population.
A massive humanitarian crisis is looming. With tens of thousands of displaced
people in central Kosovo, many are living out in the open without clean
water, and running out of food.
Over the hills and an hour's drive from the last
metalled road, we came across one group of about 100 refugees. They had
built shelters from oak saplings, weaving the branches together to keep
the rain out. The women were cooking what little food they had on open
fires, the men were digging to find clean water, but some of children had
already drunk from a stagnant pool.
"I never thought I would see such things with
my own eyes," said Aslan Hoxha, a 40-year-old man who has been looking
for his wife and six children ever since his village was overrun by Serbian
forces two weeks ago. "They were attacking civilians with tanks. There
was an old man cut in half by tank fire." The refugees said their houses
had been set alight by the Serbian police to stop them returning. "Where
is Nato?" was the question at every refugee camp.
Driving through the town of Malisevo, the biggest
town under KLA control before the offensive, every building on the main
street had been destroyed by fire. Fallen power cables lay across the road
and stray dogs wandered between burned out cars and rubble. Not one Albanian
remained; the only inhabitants were Serbian police.
Serbian officials maintain that homes caught
fire during the fighting, but one house was burning while we were in Malisevo,
the flames leaping from the roof and black smoke rising in a plume visible
for miles.
"The Serbian offensive has probably achieved
its objectives," said one Western diplomat, "which is to regain control
of the main roads and push the KLA into the hills."
Most of the villages of central Kosovo are 100
per cent Albanian and the Serbian police do not appear interested in trying
to control them. The Government offensive was triggered when, last month,
the KLA attempted to seize the town of Orahavat, which does have a large
minority of Serbs.
"I defended my own house," said Velimir Vitosevic,
one of the town's Serb inhabitants and vice president of the local branch
of the right- wing Serbian Radical Party. He said that at least 55 Serb
civilians had been kidnapped by the KLA and an unarmed neighbour had been
killed by a KLA sniper. Sitting in the state-owned general store which
he manages, Mr Vitosevic said he was happy to live with his Albanian neighbours
- "they are my customers" - but not the "extremists" who he said wanted
to destroy Serbs.
The international community is pushing for a
peace plan based on autonomy for Kosovo within Yugoslavia but any Serb
or Albanian leader who accepts it will face accusations of betrayal from
their own side. On the ground, both sides are preparing for a long war.
--
Kosova Information Centre - London
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