Tagesnachrichten 15. August 1998
von ALBANEWS und anderen
weitere Presse-Meldungen
further press news
Tagesnachrichten 15. August 1998
- 'Terrorist threats' close US embassy_______________________________________________________________________
BBC ONLINE, August 15, 1998
- U.S. Halts Business at Embassy in Albania
THE NEW YORK TIMES, August 15, 1998
____________________________________________________Saturday, August 15, 1998 Published at 04:18 GMT 05:18 UK
'Terrorist threats' close US embassy
The United States has temporarily closed its embassy in the Albanian capital, Tirana, because of fears it might become a target for Islamic extremists.
The US State Department has ordered its diplomats and their families to leave and warned American citizens against travelling to Albania.
In a warning to travellers it cited "recent declarations by Islamic extremists against the United States" and "the possibility that the US embassy's facilities in Tirana, Albania, could become the targets of a terrorist attack".
Correspondents say Albania has been a focal point of US intelligence since last week's bombing of the American embassies in East Africa.
State Department spokesman, James Foley said the suspension of the embassy would not affect Tirana-Washington relations, which he said were "excellent".
However, as a result of the security fears, the American ambassador to Macedonia, Christopher Hill, who is playing a key role in peace efforts in Kosovo, has also postponed a visit to Tirana.
Albania recently extradited several Egyptians who were allegedly members of a banned Islamic group, Jihad, which has issued threats against the US.
____________________________________________________THE NEW YORK TIMES
August 15, 1998U.S. Halts Business at Embassy in Albania
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON -- The State Department said Friday that it had shut down routine operations at the U.S. Embassy in Albania because of "recent declarations by Islamic extremists against the United States."
The department ordered some embassy employees to leave Albania and warned Americans not to travel there. The announcement came a week after bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Clinton administration officials say that one of the questions the investigators are asking is whether the bombings might have been a response to the arrest in June of three Muslim fundamentalists by Albanian authorities. The three later were deported to Egypt.
The deportations prompted a terrorist group in Cairo, Egypt, Islamic Jihad, to issue a threat this month to attack U.S. targets abroad. Administration officials acknowledge that the CIA worked with the Albanian police to plan the raid that resulted in the capture of the militants.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is going to East Africa on Sunday to meet with investigators and to console embassy employees.
The Pentagon announced Friday that three of those killed in Nairobi would be granted waivers to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. They are Julian Bartley Sr., the counsul general, his 20-year-old son, Jay Bartley, and Prabhi Guptara Kavaler, an administrative officer in the embassy.
The Defense Department said Friday that it would substantially reduce U.S. participation in NATO exercises scheduled to be held in Albania beginning Monday. The Pentagon insisted that there was no connection between its move and the threats from Islamic extremists.
The decision to curtail embassy operations in Tirana, the Albanian capital, was made as reports circulated that Albania had arrested another Egyptian Muslim militant on Thursday and was prepared to deport him to Egypt, where he could face execution.
The arrest was reported by an Islamic group in London, the Islamic Observation Center, which protested the Albanian move and called for human rights groups to block the extradition.
The Islamic Jihad is among the terrorist groups that are suspects in the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 250 people.
The group has close ties to Osama bin Laden, an anti-American Saudi expatriate who is also described by administration officials as a suspect in the attacks in East Africa.
"Because of recent declarations by Islamic extremists against the United States and its citizens, and because of the possibility that the U.S. embassy facilities in Tirana, Albania, could be among the targets of a terrorist attack, the Department of State has ordered the departure of embassy personnel in non-emergency positions and families of embassy employees," the department said in a travel advisory.
Administration officials said the threat was serious enough to force the U.S. ambassador to Macedonia, Christopher Hill, to postpone a trip to Tirana planned for Friday. Hill is trying to mediate an end to fighting between the Serbian military and ethnic Albanians in the disputed region of Kosovo.
The embassy in Albania is one of several U.S. embassies and other diplomatic installations that have suspended some operations as a result of threats issued after the bombings in East Africa.
Authorities evacuated the U.S. Embassy in Bern, the Swiss capital, Friday after receiving phone threats. A police spokesman said that an anonymous caller had warned that "something is going to happen at 5 p.m." at the embassy. The hour passed without incident, and investigators said they found nothing suspicious in a search of the embassy compound.
By Jonathan Steele in Pristina
Saturday August 15, 1998
Abandoned cows wander in and out of the ruined
grocery shops of Malishevo, crunching the glass from broken display cases
under their hooves, and Belgrade's top administrator in Kosovo frankly
acknowledges that the surreal scene is the work of Serbs.
The total ruin of the
main street in the predominantly Albanian town, which used to be the "capital"
of the independence fighters' "liberated zones", has done more to shock
diplomats, aid workers and journalists than almost any other act iof destruction
in the current summer offensive.
"It was some kind of
act of revenge," Andreja Milosavljevic said yesterday. "Serbs did burn
the shops. The reason is that Gani Krasniqi, a commander of the so-called
Kosovo Liberation Army, owned more than half of them. It was a mistake
that the rest of the shops were also burnt."
Mr Milosavljevic, a
former minister in the Serbian government, was appointed "co-ordinator
of state affairs" in Kosovo three months ago. In effect the civil governor,
he is in charge of everything except the police.
Even before his confirmation
yesterday, the finger of suspicion pointed in one direction. Journalists
were taken on a government tour of the once flourishing market town in
central Kosovo shortly after its entire population, as well as the KLA
fighters, fled without a shot last month. They saw the main street intact
and under the control of Serb police. A few days later the shops were in
ruins.
Mr Milosavljevic acknowledged
that the arson was illegal, and said an investigation was under way. "It
was not the security forces. It was a group of Serb civilians who did it,
but we don't know their names," he insisted. He was also sure it was an
isolated case.
The Serbian government
wanted all the Albanians displaced by the recent fighting to go home, he
said. Some were doing so, but "the results could be better if the civilians
were not afraid of the terrorists". "They are doing everything to prevent
their return, because they want to show the world that the situation is
difficult and that people have to escape repression by fleeing to the woods."
He claimed "only a small
number - about 20,000" - civilians were still in the woods, and not many
of them were women and children. They were with relatives elsewhere in
Kosovo.
The Serb authorities
have scattered hundreds of leaflets in the area round Malishevo. Written
in Albanian, they say: "We invite you to go back to your homes and villages.
We guarantee your safety.
"The Serbian government
can make a clear distinction between our Albanian citizens and terrorists.
The terrorists bring you no good. Everywhere they just bring ill-fortune.
They take your villages, they make you take up weapons by force, they put
shame on your wives and your girls, they take your money for a so-called
KLA."
They add: "Show up at
the police posts on the roads. We will help you to get home safely".
Mr Milosavljevic said
the government had expanded the programme of providing people with building
materials, which it began in western Kosovo after the Serb offensive there
in May.
Local committees were
estimating how much glass, wood, and concrete was needed. Pressed to say
how many houses had actually been rebuilt, he said "a few hundred".
On a wooded hill-top
about 10 miles from Malishevo, the last of a group of 500 Albanians who
fled the Serb attacks were preparing to go back home.
"We have been here more
than two weeks," said Avdi Telaku, a 45-year-old father of five, as he
stood beside a tractor crammed with foam mattresses and plastic bags. His
son and elderly mother sat blankly under the oak-trees.
It was not so much the
Serb "guarantees" that persuaded them to abandon their enforced campsite,
he said, as the discomfort of living outdoors a long uphill walk from water
and food, and the fact that, unlike Malishevo, their village, Banja, was
hardly damaged.
The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees confirms that a few of the estimated 167,000
Albanians displaced by this year's fighting have returned to their homes.
"But we've seen village
after village burnt and houses destroyed, and the question is how many
will be able to return very soon," the local UNHCR press officer, Mons
Nimberg, said. "As the cold weather approaches we've got to...get plywood
and plastic sheeting for windows. For many displaced people the conditions
are already appalling."
As for the Serb promise
of building materials, he says: "There is absolutely no evidence of the
programme they have announced. I don't see how the government would have
the resources to do the amount of repair necessary. So it will have to
be the international community which takes on the burden."
--
Kosova Information Centre - London
EXCERPTS
14 August 1998
TRANSCRIPT: WHITE HOUSE DAILY BRIEFING, AUGUST 14, 1998
(Clinton birthday, Bombing victims/Arlington burial, Clinton/Yeltsin phone call, Russian economy, Kosovo, President/probe, Clinton vacation, Iraq, tobacco, Africa) (6840)
White House Spokesman Mike McCurry briefed.
Following is the White House transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
August 14, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY
The Briefing Room
..
...Next, the President today had a 40-minute
phone call with President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation. President
Clinton called President Yeltsin to review preparations for the upcoming
summit that President Clinton will have with President Yeltsin in Moscow.
They reviewed some of the work that Vice President Gore has been doing
with Prime Minister Kiriyenko, meetings that Secretary of State Albright
has had with Foreign Minister Primakov to go through some of the agenda
items and some of the issues that we expect to address there.
Obviously, the two also
discussed Russia's financial situation and steps the Russian government
is taking to meet its obligations under the current program, jointly developed
with the International Monetary Fund. Both Presidents agreed to continue
to work together to find ways to improve Russia's economic situation and
restore market confidence. They also talked about the situation in Kosovo
and international efforts to broker an end to the conflict there.
...
Q: We would like to move on to Kosovo.
A: Okay, all right. I'm glad you mentioned Kosovo.
Kosovo was covered in the call that President Clinton and President Yeltsin
had and, of course, the two agreed on the importance of working together.
...
Q: Another subject, on Kosovo?
A: We'll come back to that. Anything else on this subject, or we're done? Yes, go ahead.
Q: On Kosovo, with the continuing fight in Kosovo, Kosovar refugees now are crossing the Greek-Albanian borders. Any contingency plan to prevent a type of refugee crisis since you are very concerned about the stability in the Balkans?
A: Well, as I mentioned earlier, this was a discussion point between President Yeltsin and President Clinton today. We are very aware of the pressure that has been building on the Albanian side of the border because of some of the migration flows resulting from the fighting. This has been one of the very real concerns of the international community. It has been addressed both as a humanitarian matter and as also a political/military matter in some of the diplomacy that we've undertaken.
Let me cover some points. We haven't done Kosovo
recently, and I'm more than happy to go on at great length about Kosovo.
We strongly support formation of an ethnic Albanian negotiating team, as
has been announced by Dr. Rugova just in the last 24 hours. This conflict,
in our view, cannot be resolved militarily, by either side. It must be
settled through a process of negotiation.
Ambassador Christopher
Hill has been in Pristina today for exploratory talks with the Kosovar
side. He'll also be in contact with the Belgrade side at the proper point.
We're going to encourage both sides to get substantive talks under way
as soon as possible.
We strongly condemn
the continuing Serb offensive in Kosovo. We and our allies and other partners
have told Milosevic in the clearest terms that he must cease repression,
withdraw security forces, facilitate humanitarian access in terms of those
who were displaced -- which is the concern that you just cited. We also
believe they need to make rapid progress in talks with Kosovar Albanians.
And it's our understanding
from the reporting that Ambassador Hill has done that the negotiating process
will be open to additional participants on the side of the Kosovar Albanians,
which is encouraging to us. It needs to be a broad-based representative
group, but we will concentrate on trying to make successful these discussions
that could lead to a peaceful outcome.
We are aware that a
peaceful outcome may not be within sight and within view, and for that
reason the work that we've been doing with our allies through the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization will continue.
....
14 August 1998
TRANSCRIPT: PENTAGON SPOKESMAN'S BRIEFING AUGUST 13
EXCERPTS.
(Kosovo/NATO, Iraq, defense spending, readiness, Greece/Turkey/Israel, embassy security/terrorism, Congo) (7310)
Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon briefed.
Following is the Department of Defense transcript:
(begin transcript)
OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
(PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20301
DOD NEWS BRIEFING
AUGUST 13, 1998
MR. KENNETH H. BACON, ASD (PA)
....
Q: Ken, I understand the North Atlantic Council has requested General. Clark to do a survey on how many troops, countries are willing to contribute to air operations, troops and assets, possible air operations if it should become necessary to take action in Kosovo. Does the assessment also include possible land operations?
A: First of all, as Secretary General Solana has
said, NATO is preparing plans for both air and ground operations if called
upon to execute those in Kosovo. Our goal in Kosovo remains clear and remains
the same, it is to achieve a diplomatic settlement. And we've actually
had some important motion in that direction today with the announcement
that the Kosovar Albanians have agreed on a negotiating group that will
sit down with the Serb side to talk about the parameters or terms of a
possible settlement. So this is something that Ambassador Chris Hill has
been working on for some time. The State Department issued a statement
earlier today, welcoming the announcement by Mr. Rigova of the formation
of a Kosovar-Albanian negotiating team.
But to go back to NATO, should diplomacy fail
and should the Serbs continue their attacks, should the sides be unable
to reach a peace agreement, and if after that, NATO felt called upon to
use force, we now have a range of air operations that have been cleared
by the North Atlantic Council and they're also working on reviewing some
ground operations as well. Now, the ground operations would only come into
play if there were a cease-fire agreement or a peace agreement. So they
would clearly be following a negotiating success and would be designed
to support a negotiating success. The success that we all hope will emerge
from newly started talks.
What General Clark is
doing is taking an informal poll of what NATO members would be willing
to commit to the air operations. The formal term to putting together a
force is called force generation. There has been no order issued by the
Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General Clark. It is an informal poll
now to find out what people are willing to contribute should this need
arise.
Q: And does that apply to possible ground operations if a peace agreement just kind of a preliminary...
A: Right now, what they're working on are air operations is my understanding, yeah. That's the first stage.
Q: What is the United States willing to contribute to air ops?
A: Well, I think it's premature to say right now because we're in the process of doing the survey. General Clark is in the process of doing the survey wearing his NATO hat. Obviously, we would participate, if necessary, just as we participated in the air exercise in June.
Q: Do all the potential air operations options include taking out all air defenses?
A: There's a range of options and I don't want
to get into them now, but there's a wide range of options that go from
short of what would be a show of force right up to significant military
action.
Yes.
Q: Has there been any response that you know of from Milosevic, given today's new developments?
A: Not that I'm aware of.
Q: New subject?
A: Sure. Are we through with this? Are there any more questions on Kosovo?
Q: Would the United States be prepared to contribute troops to a ground force if there were some sort of a cease-fire or peace between the two sides?
A: Well, that's a decision the President would
make after consulting with his military advisors and with Congress. I think
right now, the primary consideration is on putting together a possible
air force, if necessary. And we haven't reached the stage of constituting
the ground force yet or NATO hasn't reached that stage yet. I think it's
fair to say the United States would strongly consider some sort of participation
in a force to enforce a cease-fire or a peace agreement. But that's a decision
the President would have to make after discussing this with Congress.
....
14 August 1998
WHITE HOUSE REPORT, FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 1998
EXCERPTS.
(Military burial, Russia, Albania, Iraq, Africa) (1280)
White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry briefed
reporters at early morning and early afternoon sessions.
...
CLINTON SPEAKS BY PHONE WITH RUSSIA'S PRESIDENT YELTSIN
Clinton had a 40-minute phone conversation President
Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation August 14, McCurry said.
Clinton called Yeltsin
"to review preparations" for their upcoming Moscow summit.
They discussed the consultations
between US Vice President Al Gore and Russia's Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko
and meetings that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has had with
Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov "to go through some of the agenda
items and some of the issues that we expect to address there," McCurry
said.
...
Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin "also talked about
the situation in Kosovo and international efforts to broker an end to the
conflict there," McCurry said.
KOSOVO CONFLICT MUST BE RESOLVED THROUGH NEGOTIATION, WHITE HOUSE SAYS
In response to a question about the mounting number
of refugees fleeing from Kosovo to neighboring countries, McCurry said:
"We are very aware of the pressure that has been building on the Albanian
side of the border because of the some of the migrations flows resulting
from the fighting. It's been one of the very real concerns of the international
community. It has been addressed both as a humanitarian matter and as also
a political-military matter in some of the diplomacy that we've undertaken."
We strongly support
formation of an ethnic Albanian negotiating team, as has been announced"
by Albanian Kosovar leader Dr. Ibrahim Rugova in the last 24 hours, McCurry
said.
"This conflict, in our
view, cannot be resolved militarily by either side; it must be settled
through a process of negotiation."
US Ambassador to the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Christopher Hill, "has been in Pristina
today for exploratory talks with the Kosovar side. He'll also be in contact
with the Belgrade side at the proper point. We're going to encourage both
sides to get substantive talks under way as soon as possible.
"We strongly condemn
the continuing Serb offensive in Kosovo. We and our allies and other partners
have told Milosevic in the clearest terms that he must cease repression,
withdraw security forces, facilitate humanitarian access and returns of
those who were displaced... We also believe they need to make rapid progress
in talks with Kosovar Albanians.
"Now it's our understanding,
from the reporting that Ambassador Hill has done, that the negotiating
process will be open to additional participants on the side of the Kosovar
Albanians, which is encouraging to us. It needs to be a broad-based representative
group. But we will concentrate on trying to make successful these discussions
that could lead to a peaceful outcome. We are aware that a peaceful outcome
may not be within sight and within view, and for that reason, the work
that we've been doing with our allies through the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization will continue," McCurry said.
14 August 1998
FACT SHEET: U.S. RESPONSE TO HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN KOSOVO CRISIS
(State Department release of August 14, 1998) (210)
(The U.S. Department of State released August 14, 1998, the following fact sheet on USG assistance provided as of August 13, 1998, to international and non-governmental organizations in response to humanitarian needs related to the Kosovo conflict.)
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO HUMANITARIAN NEEDS RELATED TO THE KOSOVO CRISIS
The United States Government has provided direct financial contributions, commodities and equipment to international and non-governmental organizations responding to the humanitarian needs related to the Kosovo conflict. Below is a list of USG assistance provided in response to the conflict, as of August 13, 1998:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
-- $2.6 million to support emergency appeal
-- 185,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs)
International Committee of the Red Cross
-- $700,000 to support emergency appeal
United Nations Children's Emergency Fund
-- $250,000 to support emergency appeal
World Food Program
-- $830,000 in commodities
-- Eight surplus vehicles for use in Albania
Non-Governmental Organizations
-- Close to $5.3 million for humanitarian aid
delivery and shelter projects
-- 265,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations (RDRs)
Other contributions are forthcoming. USG will respond to the future UN appeal, expected in-late August 1998.
14 August 1998
TEXT: UN SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT'S PRESS STATEMENT ON KOSOVO
(Expresses concern, urges cease-fire and peace negotiations) (460)
United Nations -- The president of the United
Nations Security Council issued a press statement August 11 expressing
"grave concern over the intensified fighting in Kosovo, especially over
the ongoing offensive by Belgrade's security forces," and calling for an
immediate cease-fire and the initiation of peace negotiations.
"The issue of Kosovo
can have no military solution and all violence and acts of terrorism from
whatever quarter are unacceptable," the statement said.
It also condemned "the
excessive use of force by Belgrade's security forces and violations of
human rights and international humanitarian law," and affirmed "the commitment
of all member states to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."
The rotating presidency
of the Security Council is currently held by Slovenia's Permanent Representative,
Danilo Turk.
Following is the text of the UNSC press statement:
(Begin text)
The Security Council
-- Discussed the latest report of the Secretary-General pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1160; heard a briefing by U/SYG Prendergast on the situation in Kosovo;
-- Expresses grave concern over the intensified fighting in Kosovo, especially over the ongoing offensive by Belgrade's security forces. The ongoing fighting has had a devastating impact on the civilian population of Kosovo and has increased the numbers of refugees and displaced persons;
-- Stresses the importance of the implementation of the prohibitions imposed by Resolution 1160 and expresses concern over infiltration from outside the borders of the FRY [Former Republic of Yugoslavia] of weapons and fighting men;
-- Calls for an immediate cease-fire, which would enhance the prospects for a meaningful dialogue between the Kosovar Albanian leadership and the FRY authorities leading to a final end to the violence in Kosovo; urges the parties to start the negotiation as soon as possible; the issue of Kosovo can have no military solution and all violence and acts of terrorism from whatever quarter are unacceptable;
-- Deplores the excessive use of force by Belgrade's security forces and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and expresses concern about appalling humanitarian situation in Kosovo;
-- Calls upon all parties to provide all necessary assistance and cooperation to the activities of international humanitarian organizations and international monitors in Kosovo and underlines the need to ensure their full and continuous access;
-- Underlines the need to create conditions to allow safe and permanent return of all refugees and IDPs [internally displaced persons];
-- Recalls the commitments made by President Milosevic to the international community;
-- Affirms the commitment of all member states to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
-- Makes it clear that the Security Council will continue to follow closely the situation in Kosovo and will remain seized of the matter.
(End text)
NEWS: KOSOVA UPDATE, AUGUST 15, 1998
Taken without permission, for fair use only.
FOCUS-Serb forces said to renew Kosovo attacks
Reuters, August 15, 1998
- Ex-prisoner is rebel voice
The Times, August 15, 1998
- KOSOVO ALBANIAN CHIEF MOVES ON
PEACE TALKS; REBELS SNUBBING HIM
Chigaco Tribune, August 14, 1998
- FOCUS-Kosovo peace doubts deepen, KLA names
team
Reuters, August 14, 1998
- Peace talks are cold comfort in Kosovo
SMHerald, August 15, 1998
___________________________________
FOCUS-Serb forces said to renew Kosovo attacks
09:06 a.m. Aug 15, 1998 Eastern
By Julijana Mojsilovic
PRISTINA, Serbia, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanian
sources reported fresh Serb attacks on Kosovo villages on Saturday, a day
after the head of the Albanian community set an end to fighting as a precondition
for peace talks.
Serbian troops and paramilitary
police, backed by 46 tanks, four jets and eight helicopter gunships, mounted
a full-scale attack on villages along the main Decani-Pec road in western
Kosovo, the Albanian community's Kosovo Information Centre (KIC) said.
Serb sources, speaking
on condition of anonymity, confirmed fighting in the area but said it was
part of a mopping-up operation, especially around Lodja, said to be a stronghold
of separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) rebels.
The KIC, whose reports
could not be independently confirmed, said at least five ethnic Albanian
civilians had been killed and some 50,000 people, most of them refugees,
were encircled in nine villages under attack.
The Serb sources confirmed
casualties on both sides, but did not specify how many.
The KIC said in a statement
faxed to news agencies that its reporter in the Decani area, sources with
the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Pec and eyewitnesses
in the village of Decani spoke of "a huge Serb buildup overnight."
It preceded the launch
at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) of a "full-scale attack on the villages," the KIC
said.
The reports of more
attacks in a four-week-old Serbian offensive to wipe out forces of the
KLA came a day after ethnic Albanian political leader Ibrahim Rugova made
an end to fighting a pre-condition for peace talks.
"There has to be an
appropriate climate for meaningful dialogue. And that is indispensable,"
Rugova said on Friday.
Rugova on Thursday named
a five-member delegation to resume suspended peace talks with Belgrade.
In an offensive started
on July 20, the Serbs have ejected KLA guerrillas from most of the towns
and villages they had taken in an insurrection launched last February.
Serbian sources had
previously said that fighting in the province, whose 90 percent ethnic
Albanian population has suffered under arbitrary police rule since being
stripped of governing autonomy in 1989, had subsided.
Relief agencies have
predicted a humanitarian disaster if the estimated 200,000 people, or 10
percent of Kosovo's population, who have been driven from their homes by
fighting are not re-settled before the onset of cold weather.
Rugova, elected president
of an ethnic Albanian government not recognised by Belgrade and Western
powers, agreed under intense pressure from the United States to resume
negotiations, which the Albanians boycotted in March and suspended in June.
The KLA has also appointed
its own negotiating team, whose status in any talks remains unclear, with
Adem Demaqi, a political prisoner for 28 years, as its coordinator.
In an interview with
the Kosovo Albanian daily Koha Ditore, Demaqi, 62, said he respected Rugova's
policy of passive resistance but feared it was doomed to fail.
"We have no intention
of blocking Rugova... We believe he will not succeed," Demaqi told the
newspaper.
"Such a policy is dedicated
to fail," Demaqi said, adding that the KLA was the main and most important
factor in any political process aimed at solving the Kosovo crisis.
Fehmi Agani, whom Rugova
named coordinator of his negotiating team, said Demaqi spoke for only a
segment of the KLA and predicted its fighters would accept a peace settlement.
"We have no powers over
the KLA, but I believe that anything we agree on, if the talks take place
at all, will be respected by the KLA," Agani told a private Serbian television
station in an interview monitored by Beta news agency.
"My belief is that a
majority in the KLA will accept any agreement we make," he said.
Serbian authorities
have agreed only to discuss restoring some autonomy in Kosovo. Western
powers favour self-rule but no independence, fearing this would inflame
aggrieved minorities in neighbouring countries, such as Albania and Macedonia.
Copyright 1998 Reuters
Limited. All rights reserved.
___________________________________
The Times
Saturday, August 15, 1998
Ex-prisoner is rebel voice
Belgrade: The Kosovo Liberation Army moved closer
to creating a political wing as Adem Demaci, right, the leading ethnic
Albanian rival to Ibrahim Rugova, the unofficial Kosovo President, agreed
to negotiate on behalf of the guerrillas (Tom Walker writes). Mr Demaci,
who spent 28 years as a political prisoner in Serbia, could technically
be arrested by Belgrade authorities as head of a "terrorist" group.
___________________________________
KOSOVO ALBANIAN CHIEF MOVES ON PEACE TALKS; REBELS SNUBBING HIM
From Tribune News Services
August 14, 1998
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- The leading ethnic Albanian
politician unveiled a new team Thursday to negotiate the future of Kosovo
with the Serb-led government, but he failed to win the backing of rebels
fighting for independence.
U.S. envoy Christopher
Hill, who for weeks has been struggling to persuade ethnic Albanian rebels
and politicians to stop squabbling and join forces, said the ongoing violence
in Kosovo made it imperative to start talks immediately--with or without
the rebels.
Representatives of Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright will meet Friday with the team to hammer out
a negotiating platform for what Hill said he hopes are imminent talks with
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
The five-member team
is weighted with disciples of Ibrahim Rugova, a pacifist supported by one
branch of the Kosovo Liberation Army and despised by others.
The KLA never responded
to an invitation extended two weeks ago to join the team, Hill said, apparently
because it did not want to work with Rugova.
Rugova, Hill and European
diplomats hope the rebels will join the negotiations once they see progress
is being made toward autonomy for Kosovo.
"There are open seats
for other representatives and politicians to be included" in talks, Rugova
said. He was surrounded by Hill and representatives of the so-called Contact
Group--the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
The Serb-led government
applauded Rugova's decision, with Vice President Nikola Sainovic saying
a Serb delegation is ready to resume talks, which broke off in May.
Milosevic has offered
to discuss restoring a version of the self-rule he revoked from Kosovo
in 1989. But it remains unclear what degree of autonomy Milosevic is willing
to grant the province, which some Serbs consider the medieval cradle of
their national identity.
Kosovo is a southern
province of Serbia, a republic that dominates Yugoslavia. Ethnic Albanians
outnumber Serbs 9-1 in the province's population of 2 million.
Since 1991, ethnic Albanians
have sought independence from what they call the oppression of the Milosevic
regime. The Albanians have declared a self-styled Republic of Kosovo and
elected Rugova president.
But Rugova's pacifist
approach tried the patience of politicians who broke with his party. Last
year, the rebels started attacking Serb police units.
On Feb. 28, Milosevic
sent police and military troops to crush the KLA.
On Thursday, Serb forces,
who have swept KLA rebels from most of their Kosovo strongholds in a three-week
onslaught, mopped up remaining pockets of resistance.
Hours before Rugova
announced his negotiating team, the KLA revealed its six-member team of
"political representatives" in a statement declaring its "full trust" in
Adem Demaci, a former political prisoner, to lead the rebel army in "creating
the institutions of Kosovo."
___________________________________
FOCUS-Kosovo peace doubts deepen, KLA names team
02:06 p.m Aug 14, 1998 Eastern
By Mark Heinrich
PRISTINA, Serbia, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Doubts about
a Kosovo peace initiative deepened on Friday as the ethnic Albanian political
leader posed a tough precondition for talks with Belgrade and separatist
rebels named a rival negotiating team.
The Kosovo Liberation
Army (KLA) made clear it wanted nothing to do with the negotiating team
unveiled by Ibrahim Rugova, head of Kosovo's largest pro-independence party,
and sponsored by the Big Power Contact Group and the European Union.
The separatist guerrillas
seemed intent on sabotaging the Rugova initiative after snubbing invitations
to join his team, vowing to fight for final victory in Kosovo while at
the same time introducing their own negotiators.
Rugova resurrected an
old obstacle to dialogue, seen as urgent by Western mediators to avert
a refugee catastrophe, when he told a news conference Serbian security
forces must call off its anti-KLA offensive first.
"There has to be an
appropriate climate for meaningful dialogue. And that is indispensable,"
he told reporters a day after naming a five-person delegation to resume
suspended peace talks with Belgrade.
In an offensive started
on July 20, the Serbs have ejected KLA guerrillas from most of the towns
and villages they had taken in an insurrection launched last February.
Serbian sources said
fighting in the province, whose 90 percent ethnic Albanian population has
suffered under arbitrary police rule since being stripped of their governing
autonomy in 1989, had subsided.
While ethnic Albanian
sources insisted the offensive continues without respite, the Serbs said
fighting in recent days was caused only by KLA ambushes.
Ethnic Albanian media
also had no battle reports on Friday but Rugova said the situation of more
than 200,000 Albanian refugees "is especially grave and desperate."
The Kosovo Information
Centre (KIC), linked to Rugova's political party, said Serbian forces burned
1,208 abandoned Albanian homes in Decani municipality during the offensive.
Pitched fighting was
reported earlier this week around Decani, at the foot of mountains where
the KLA is clinging to its last major bastion Junik near the border of
Albania.
A Reuters news team
noticed no shooting in the area but saw heavy Serbian military traffic
including a tank, vehicles mounted with heavy machineguns and a truck full
of troops.
The negotiating team
unveiled by Rugova lacked representation from the KLA, which feels he has
been discredited for presiding over a decade-long campaign of passive resistance
to Serbian rule in Kosovo that yielded no concessions from Belgrade.
Both seek independence
for Kosovo but the KLA's absence from the negotiating group, which includes
only three parties on Kosovo's feud-ridden political scene, underlined
a lack of broad consensus and raised doubt about the viability of talks.
A KLA statement faxed
from an unknown location said a rebel negotiating team had been formed
with Adem Demaqi, a Rugova foe who was a celebrated political prisoner
for 28 years and head of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo, as its coordinator.
Demaqi championed armed
struggle and heaped disdain on Rugova's peace effort.
"This so-called negotiating
team is only an alchemic effort that will fail because it does not have
concrete forces like the KLA and the will of the people behind it," he
told local reporters.
Rugova, elected president
of an ethnic Albanian government not recognised by Belgrade and Western
powers, agreed under intense pressure from the United States to resume
negotiations, which the Albanians boycotted in March and suspended in June.
Serbian authorities
have agreed only to discuss restoring some autonomy in Kosovo. Western
powers favour self-rule but no independence, fearing this would inflame
aggrieved minorities in neighbouring countries, such as Albania or Macedonia.
Relief agencies have
predicted a humanitarian disaster in Kosovo if an estimated 200,000 people
driven from their homes by the fighting are not re-settled before the onset
of cold weather in about two months' time.
There was some good
news on Friday as the Kosovo Information Centre said most of the at least
5,000 ethnic Albanians who fled the town of Orahovac when Serbs reasserted
control of it in a fierce battle with the KLA had returned home this week.
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
___________________________________
Saturday, August 15, 1998
YUGOSLAVIA
Peace talks are cold comfort in Kosovo
By GEOFF KITNEY, Herald Correspondent in Berlin
Representatives of the international community
stood alongside ethnic Albanian leaders from Kosovo as the Albanians announced
late on Thursday night that they had formed a negotiating team to begin
talks with the Yugoslav Government on the future of the province.
But to many of the 2
million Kosovars, the gesture of international solidarity provided no comfort.
Six months after the
still-undeclared war for the future of the Kosovo province of Yugoslavia
began - and despite threats of punitive action by the international community
to force an end to Serbian military action - the ethnic Albanian population
of Kosovo has seen only misery.
At least 500 of its
people are dead, as many as another 500 are missing, and up to a quarter
of a million have been driven from their homes to refugee camps and to
makeshift shelters in the hills and mountains of Kosovo.
The much smaller Serb
population (around 200,000) has also suffered, with kidnappings, murders
and forced removal from their homes.
Yet for all the blood
spilt and all the words uttered about seeking an end to the conflict, the
key reason for the war has not changed: the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo
continue to be second-class citizens in their own land, deprived of basic
rights and opportunities.
The grievances which
prompted the Kosovars to take up weapons and fight have not changed. The
brutal military repression by the Yugoslav President, Mr Slobodan Milosevic,
has only magnified them and made the ethnic Albanian population more bitter
and desperate.
Instead of suppressing
ethnic Albanian terrorism, Mr Milosevic has made it flourish. Even after
the most recent Serb offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
- which has driven ethnic Albanian fighters out of most of the key centres
they controlled - Western military observers believe the KLA has substantial
numbers of fighters, and access to enough weapons to sustain an on-going
guerilla war.
Serb attempts to force
the KLA into submission, and International attempts to coax them into a
peace process, have failed.
Attempts by the political
leadership of the ethnic Albanian community to establish a united political
front to negotiate with Mr Milosevic have also failed.
The negotiating team
announced by the ethnic Albanian political leader, Dr Ibrahim Rugova, this
week does not include any representatives of the KLA nor does it include
the two political leaders most closely connected with the KLA. Although
Western officials gave the Rugova team their endorsement by standing alongside
when the team was named in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, on Thursday night,
the gaps in the team were apparent.
The international community
gave its strong endorsement to the Rugova team in a bid to reinforce its
message to the KLA fighters that it opposed their violent campaign for
independence. International observers also hope that Dr Rugova's announcement
might at least offer the chance to begin a dialogue which the others might
join later.
The failure of this
attempt to begin a peace process would leave the international community
with some hard choices, including the option of using military force to
try to stop the war.
But expectations of
any significant progress towards a peaceful settlement in Kosovo remain
low.
In the rural areas,
where villages are still smouldering and whole populations of towns and
villages hide in the hills, the disillusionment with the international
community and the ethnic Albanian leadership runs deep.
Since the first days
after the first Serb offensive against the KLA in late February - when
world leaders condemned the Serb authorities and promised not to allow
what happened in Bosnia to happen in Kosovo - the Kosovo situation has
daily become more like that in Bosnia during the wars.
Economic sanctions have
had no effect. Threats of military action, using NATO forces to protect
the local population, have come to nothing.
The promises and lack
of action are a chronology of failure by the international community.
Six months on, and despite
frequently expressed fears by world leaders that the conflict could become
a regional war, the Kosovo situation is an increasingly serious threat
to regional stability.
Although the formation
of an ethnic Albanian negotiating team is a positive development, the prospects
of it leading to a significant breakthrough in the search for a solution
to the conflict remain bleak.
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