Tagesnachrichten 11. September 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - September 11, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1549

         Die Bibel sagt  -  The Bible says
 

If available you find on this page  -  Soweit verfügbar finden Sie auf dieser Seite     1. Meldungen von dpa    2. Remarks - Hints - Special informations    3. Reports about deportation and persons repatriated to Kosova  in deutsch und englisch     4. Daily Report from KIC  (Kosova Information Center)    5. news from ARTA  (Koha ditore)    6. news from RFE/RL NEWSLINE    7. news from Fr. Sava  (Decani Monastery)    8. Reports from Human Rights Organisations        especially CDHRF  (Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, Prishtina)    9. news from ATA /ENTER  and so on  10. eventual additional press news  Link to Background-information  Link to earlier news - so far as room is given by my provider on the server  The Bible says  -  Die Bibel sagt

 

1. Meldungen von dpa

Meldung vom 11.09.1998 19:07  http://seite1.web.de/show/35F958DA.NL1/

Flüchtlingsbeauftragter: Rückführung auf dem Landweg
Frankfurt am Main - Der Flüchtlingsbeauftragte der deutschen Regierung, Dietmar Schlee, hat darauf hingewiesen, daß nach dem JAT-Embargo eine Abschiebung der Kosovo-Flüchtlinge auch auf dem Landweg möglich sei.
Dabei vertraue die Regierung auf die Solidarität von Staaten wie Österreich und Ungarn, sagte Schlee im Hessischen Rundfunk.
Auch die noch bestehenden Flugverbindungen über London oder Athen seien nutzbar. Schlee bedauerte, daß sich Griechenland und Großbritannien nicht am EU-weiten Landeverbot beteiligten.
Aber wenn diese Länder meinten, rechtlich nicht anders zu können, «dann muß es doch eine Möglichkeit geben, über diese Flughäfen abzuschieben.
© dpa

EU-Landeverbot für JAT-Flugzeuge in Belgien von Montag an wirksam
Brüssel (dpa) - Mit sechs Tagen Verzögerung wird Belgien von diesem Montag an das EU-Landeverbot für Flugzeuge der jugoslawischen Gesellschaft JAT umsetzen. Das teilte das Transportministerium am Freitag in Brüssel mit. Belgien habe das der jugoslawischen Regierung offiziell mitgeteilt.
JAT flog ungeachtet des Landeverbots auch am Freitag weiter Flughäfen in der EU an. EU-Kommissionspräsident Jacques Santer forderte deshalb die EU-Staaten auf, die seit Dienstag geltende Strafmaßnahme durchzusetzen. Sie soll Serbien zum Verzicht auf Gewalt gegen die mehrheitlich albanisch-stämmige Bevölkerung in der Provinz Kosovo bewegen.
Eine Umfrage der Deutschen Presse-Agentur (dpa) ergab, daß das Landeverbot auch in Großbritannien, Griechenland und Spanien noch nicht eingehalten wurde.
© dpa

JAT fliegt EU trotz Landeverbots weiter an - Santer mahnt
Brüssel (dpa) - Die jugoslawische Fluggesellschaft JAT fliegt trotz eines seit Dienstag geltenden Landeverbots weiter Flughäfen in der Europäischen Union an.
EU-Kommissionspräsident Jacques Santer forderte deshalb am Freitag die Mitgliedsstaaten eindringlich auf, die Strafmaßnahme für das gewaltsame Vorgehen Serbiens in der Provinz Kosovo konsequent durchzusetzen.
Eine Umfrage der Deutschen-Presse-Agentur (dpa) ergab, daß das Landeverbot in Großbritannien, Griechenland, Belgien und Spanien noch nicht in der Praxis funktioniert.
«Beschlüsse der 15 (EU-Staaten) müssen auch von den 15 umgesetzt werden», forderte Santer am Freitag in Brüssel. Die Mitgliedsstaaten müßten sich an die Spielregeln halten, sonst machten Sanktionen keinen Sinn. Am kommenden Mittwoch werde sich die Kommission damit befassen, wie das Landeverbot gegen die JAT umgesetzt ist.
Derzeit prüfen die Rechtsexperten der Kommission, ob die britischen Gründe für eine vorläufige Nichtteilnahme akzeptabel sind. Großbritannien gibt vor, ein bestehendes Luftfahrtsabkommen mit Jugoslawien habe eine Kündigungsfrist von einem Jahr.
Nach Angaben der Kommission hat die griechische Regierung Übersetzungsprobleme mit der einstimmig beschlossenen Verordnung geltend gemacht.
Sollte die Rechtsexperten der Kommission die britische Position als einen Verstoß gegen EU-Recht werten, droht der Regierung in London eine Klage vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof in Luxemburg, bekräftigte eine Sprecherin. Zunächst müßte die Kommission ein Mahnschreiben an Großbritannien richten und eine Stellungnahme einfordern.
Eine JAT-Maschine flog am Freitag ihre normale Route nach Barcelona und Madrid. Das Außenministerium in Madrid wies jedoch darauf hin, daß Spanien das Flugverbot einhalten werde. Dies sei nur eine Frage der Zeit, sagte ein Sprecher.
JAT flog am Freitag auch Brüssels Flughafen Zaventem planmäßig an, wie Sprecher des Flughafens sowie des Außenministeriums bestätigten. Das Außenministerium verwies auf bürokratische Verfahrensprobleme.
Auch in der Schweiz landet nach wie vor einmal täglich eine JAT- Maschine aus Belgrad. Die Regierung in Bern hatte am 1. Juli beschlossen, EU-Sanktionen gegen Belgrad mitzutragen, wenn sie in allen Mitgliedsländern umgesetzt werden.
Angesichts widersprüchlicher Haltungen in der EU will das Land die Strafmaßnahme noch nicht verwirklichen, wie ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums in Bern sagte.
Mit drei Tagen Verzögerung setzte Frankreich das Landeverbot mit dem Beginn des Freitags um, teilte das Außenamt in Paris mit. In Deutschland und Österreich landeten keine JAT-Maschinen mehr. Unklar war nach offiziellen Angaben die Lage in Italien und Dänemark.
© dpa

Rugova verlangt internationale Garantien für Flüchtlings-Rückkehr
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Der Führer der Kosovo-Albaner, Ibrahim Rugova, hat am Freitag internationale Garantien für eine sichere Rückkehr der zahlreichen Flüchtlinge verlangt. Er beschuldigte die serbische Führung in Belgrad, die Offensive auf Gebiete um Drenica im Zentralkosovo und im Westen der Provinz fortzusetzen. Das meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad) aus der Kosovo-Hauptstadt Pristina. Wegen der andauernden serbischen Artillerieangriffe auf viele Dörfer sei die Lage im Kosovo äußerst gefährlich, sagte Rugova.
© dpa

Santer mahnt Umsetzung des EU-Landeverbots für JAT-Maschinen an
Brüssel (dpa) - EU-Kommissionspräsident Jacques Santer hat die EU-Staaten eindringlich aufgefordert, das Landeverbot für die jugoslawische Fluggesellschaft JAT in der Europäischen Union umzusetzen. Großbritannien und Griechenland haben die Strafmaßnahme gegen Jugoslawien wegen der Gewalt im Kosovo noch nicht verfügt. Das Verbot gegen die JAT ist seit Dienstag rechtlich bindend.
Santer erklärte am Freitag in Brüssel: «Beschlüsse der 15 (EU-Staaten) müssen auch von den 15 umgesetzt werden.» Die Mitgliedsstaaten müßten sich an die Spielregeln halten, sonst machten solche Sanktionen keinen Sinn. Am kommenden Mittwoch werde sich die Kommission mit der Umsetzung des Landeverbots befassen.
Derzeit prüfen die Rechtsexperten der Kommission, ob die britischen Gründe für die Weigerung akzeptabel sind. Großbritannien gibt vor, ein bestehendes Luftfahrtsabkommen mit Jugoslawien habe eine Kündigungsfrist von einem Jahr. Nach Angaben der Kommission nennt die griechische Regierung Übersetzungsprobleme mit der einstimmig beschlossenen Verordnung.
Sollte die Rechtsexperten der Kommission die britische Position als einen Verstoß gegen EU-Recht werten, droht der Regierung in London eine Klage vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof in Luxemburg, bekräftigte eine Sprecherin. Dies geschieht zunächst durch ein Mahnschreiben, mit dem eine Stellungnahme abgefordert wird.
Angesichts von Berichten, daß immer noch Maschinen der JAT in der EU starten und landen können, sagte sie: «Wir prüfen jetzt die Umsetzung Land für Land.»
© dpa

Belgrad: Keine drohende humanitäre Katastrophe im Kosovo
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Nach Auffassung der Behörden in Belgrad gibt es in der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo keine drohende humanitäre Katastrophe der vielen zehntausend Flüchtlinge.
`Ich weiß nicht, worauf sich solche Behauptungen stützen", sagte der serbische Regierungskoordinator für den Kosovo, Andreja Milosavljevic, der Nachrichtenagentur Beta in Belgrad am Freitag.
Es gebe etwa 150 000 Flüchtlinge, 20 000 davon müßten unter freiem Himmel schlafen, sagte Milosavljevic.
Die meisten Flüchtlingen befinden sich in anderen Kosovo-Ortschaften und in Montenegro, während zehn bis 15 000 nach Albanien geflüchtet sind. Milosavjevic beschuldigte die Regierung in Tirana, nicht über die Rückkehr dieser Menschen reden zu wollen.
Zwischen 60 000 und 70 000 Menschen seien inzwischen in ihre Häuser, die sie während der Kampfhandlungen verlassen hatten, zurückgekehrt. Alle Rückkehrer würden mit Hilfslieferungen versorgt, sagte er.
Nach unvollständigen Angaben wurden in den sechsmonatigen Kämpfen im Kosovo etwa 10 000 Häuser beschädigt. Die serbische Regierung habe Baumaterial für die Reparaturen zur Verfügung gestellt, sagte der Regierungskoordinator.
Am Freitag kehrten etwa 10 000 albanische Flüchtlinge unter Polizeibegleitung in ihre Dörfer nordöstlich von Decani zurück, meldete das halboffizielle serbische Mediazentrum aus der Kosovo-Hauptstadt Pristina.
© dpa

JAT-Maschinen landen weiter auf Brüssels Flughafen
Brüssel (dpa) - Flugzeuge der jugoslawischen Luftgesellschaft JAT sind auch nach Inkrafttreten des von der Europäischen Union am Dienstag verhängten Start- und Landeverbots auf dem Flughafen Zaventem in Brüssel eingetroffen. Das bestätigten Sprecher des Flughafens sowie des Außenministeriums am Freitag.
Noch am Mittag stand eine JAT-Maschine abflugbereit auf dem Rollfeld, die auch eine Startgenehmigung hatte. Ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums verwies auf bürokratische Verfahrensprobleme. Das Flugverbot war verhängt worden, um Belgrad zum Einlenken in der Kosovo-Krise zu bewegen.
© dpa

........

   Three months ago:

Contact Group Statement on Kosova, London/12 June 1998
   8.  The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States confirmed their decision to implement the ban on new investment in Serbia and to freeze funds held abroad by the FRY and Serbian governments, and agreed to take steps to ban flights by Yugoslav carriers between the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and their countries. Japan supported this approach and agreed to consider similar action. The Russian Federation does not associate itself with these measures.

 

3. Reports about deportation and persons repatriated to Kosova

....
erhaltene Berichte - received reports       Namensliste ==> Einzelheiten   /   list of names ==> details

Kennen Sie Fälle von Abschiebungen nach Kosova ? - Bitte senden Sie mir Ihren Bericht !
Do you know cases of deportations to Kosova ? - Please send me your report !

Postkarten schreiben ! -  Write postcards !

Postkarten schreiben ! -  Write postcards !
 

4. Daily Report from KIC (Kosova Information Center)

Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] News:Kosova Daily Report #1549
Datum:         Fri, 11 Sep 1998 17:24:45 +0200
    Von:         Edmond Hajrullaaga <edihaga@EUnet.yu>

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1549
Prishtina, 11 September 1998

President Rugova's Press Conference

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - The situation in Kosova continues to be grave and dangerous, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, the President of the Republic of Kosova, said at the beginning of his regular press conference in Prishtina on Friday.
Rugova condemned in the strongest terms the continued Serb military offensive in Kosova. Serb forces shelled Albanian villages in Dukagjini and Drenica regions this past week, he said. "This produced thousands of new refugees and a lot of destruction of houses and other property, scores of Albanians killed and wounded and hundreds arrested/taken captive". Some 40,000 displaced Albanians in the Dukagjini region have been at grave risk from Serb forces, the President said, highlighting the appalling humanitarian situation in that part of western Kosova, but also elsewhere.
President Ibrahim Rugova called for an immediate halt to the Serbian offensive in Kosova, which is aimed at "ethnically cleansing Kosova", as well as for international action to ensure a safe return of Albanian refugees and displaced Albanians to their places of permanent residence.
Rugova invoked the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and NATO to offer protection for Kosova and its people. He called for heavier international involvement to save the people of Kosova. The best solution is independence for Kosova with all guarantees for local Serbs, and an international protectorate as an interim stage, the Kosova President said, reiterating the position he has steadfast on.
A reporter wanted Rugova's comments on the criticism levelled at the U.S. envoy Chris Hill, who, as he put it, has been blamed for dragging on the process of the resolution of the Kosova issue and for actually damaging it.
"Mr. Hill has been working intensively of five months", the President said, adding the engagement of the international community, of Ambassador Hill and others who work on Kosova, should be appreciated.
Asked by a Serb reporter on the contents of the plan for an interim settlement in Kosova, Ibrahim Rugova answered by saying that "once it has been completed, the public will be informed about it".
Yet another Serb reporter asked about reports that local and parliamentary elections would be held in Kosova. "These are rumors and speeches. When an interim settlement agreement is reached, all the issues will be discussed", President Ibrahim Rugova concluded.

Serb Troops Mount Heavy Attack against Drenica Villages
Two Albanians killed, 6 wounded in Rezalla village

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Serb troops launched a fierce attack against a number of villages of Drenica, Skenderaj ('Srbica') municipality, early in the morning today.
The Chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CHDRF) in Skenderaj said the villages of Rezalla, Ticë and Plluzhinë were pounded with heavy artillery fire for several hours.
An 8-year-old girl, Xufë Ahmeti, and Leutrim Ahmeti (19) were killed in Rezalla village, the CDHRF said. Six other villagers were wounded when their homes were hit by artillery shells: Brahim Ahmeti (1969), Bajram Ahmeti (1987), Makfire Ahmeti (f, 1987), Fatmir Ahmeti (30), Fatmire Ahmeti (f, 17) and Tahir Lladrofci (1976).
Sources in the area said that two other villages, Makërmal and Obria, came under heavy fire in the afternoon hours. No reports about possible casualties have been made available.
At least 15.000 people from the villages that came under Serb troops' attack today have been reported on the move, fearing further attacks and reprisals.

'More Aggressive Action' by Serbs Would Trigger NATO Use of Force in Kosova, Bacon Says

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - "More aggressive action by the Serbs would trigger" the use of force in Kosova, Mr. Keneth Bacon, the spokesman of the Department of Defense said during a briefing in Washington on 10 September, after having reiterated the now familiar - the use of force to end the fighting has not 'been ruled out'.
"We are dealing with a problem where people are being displaced from their homes [in Kosova], and their houses are sometimes being destroyed", Mr. Bacon told reporters in Washington, using language typical of those officials who have not actually been in Kosova.
Senior U.S. officials who have toured Kosova in the past couple of weeks - including Julia Taft, John Shatuck and Bob Dole - have said they were appalled by the scale of destruction in Kosova and the atrocities being committed here.
Asked by reporters to be specific about what would trigger a NATO use of force in Kosova, Bacon said, "Well, certainly more aggressive action by the Serbs would trigger it. If we reach a conclusion that the Serbs are not at all serious about a diplomatic settlement, that could trigger it...This is going to be a NATO issue. It's NATO that has come up with the military options, and NATO will have to make a decision about what triggers the use of force."

Euro-Liberals Press for NATO/WEU Military Intervention in Kosova
There must never be a European flag over such a concentration camp [in Kosova], EU Commissioner Bonino says

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - European Liberals demand military intervention in Kosova to put an end to the ongoing Belgrade's crackdown, the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform (ELDR) Group said in a press release issued on 10 September.
The ELDR will insist on an emergency debate on the proposal at the European Parliament on Wednesday in Strasbourg, the release read. The Liberal group, which is holding a four-day conference in Venice, Italy, denounced the Serb forces' offensive in Kosova, calling their operations as "low intensity ethnic cleansing". They called for intervention by Nato/WEU forces to halt the aggression and prevent the conflict spreading to other Balkan countries.
The newly elected ELDR chairman, Pat Cox, told the Conference that the lesson of Bosnia when 10 days of targeted intervention created the conditions for peace must now be applied to Kosova.
The ferocious Liberal attack on President Milosevic was backed by EU Commissioner Emma Bonino, who warned the ELDR group at its strategy conference in Venice that the 15 member states should not agree to the Yugoslav leader's plan to run food centers for Kosovar refugees. "That is like asking Dracula to run a blood bank. There must never be a European flag over such a concentration camp", she said.
Mrs Bonino, who visited Kosova recently and was the keynote speaker in the Liberal's debate on EU foreign policy, said: "We are witnessing the kind of ethnic subjugation and violation of human rights which the founding fathers of the European Union wanted to eradicate from the continent when the process of European integration began. Milosevic is the only European leader with any clear project in mind for Kosova - like it or not. He simply terrorizes the Kosovars when he feels it appropriate".
Mrs Bonino criticized European Union leaders for failing to construct a clear joint foreign policy. "Unless we are prepared to define a foreign policy, we will remain an economic giant but a political worm," she said, emphasizing that there is no excuse for the EU not formulating a foreign policy worth its name.
The ELDR emergency motion calls for an interim agreement to bring a swift end to the fighting in Kosova before serious negotiations begin on the final status of Kosova. The group will demand that the European Parliament backs its military intervention proposal by enlisting the immediate agreement of the EU's Council of Ministers.

'Kosova Will Be Ours, Or Turned to Ashes', UÇK Says
It called for the formation of an international team of experts to investigate crimes; denied having committed atrocities against Serbs

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - The General Headquarters of the Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës (UÇK, Kosova Liberation Army) issued Thursday a press release, dubbed 'Political Statement No 8", in which it vowed to continue with the armed resistance against Serbia and slammed what it called "collaborationist and pacifist elements" for undermining the resistance.
"The military and propaganda machinery of the enemy has intensified the fabrication of charges against the UÇK, blaming it for alleged killings and massive graves, earlier in Kleçka now in Gllogjan", the statement said. The Serb machinery is doing this by uncovering the graves and the crimes committed by "specialized Milosevic's criminals".
If they were allegedly committed by the UÇK, why then the Belgrade authorities have not granted visas to specialized international organizations to investigate them, the statement said.
The General Headquarters called on the international community to form a team of experts to investigate the crimes committed in Kosova.
The Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës has not started its war in two minds, the statement said, but rather with the motto: "Kosova will either become ours, or else it will be turned to ashes, with the conviction that death for freedom is nobler that living under occupation."

Thousands of Displaced Kosova Albanians Trekking for Plavë, Montenegro

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Thousands of Albanian residents of the Deçan area, driven from their homes in the recent Serb offensive, have in the past three days been trekking rugged terrain heading for Plavë region of Montenegro.
Musa Goçaj, chairman of a local emergency aid organization in Plavë, told the KIC 475 Albanians arrived in the past three days, by midday today alone 180, who have been offered shelter in the local community center and in the mosque.
Mr. Goçaj, citing accounts of those who have actually made it to Plavë, said some 1,000 people have arrived to a location around 15 km away from Plavë, who need transport to proceed to their hoped- for destination.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 have been on their way, eye-witnesses said.
The people - among whom women, children, sick and wounded - are in a terrible situation, the local activist in Plavë said. Reports which could not confirmed as three of them have died on their way, he said.
Some 8,500 people driven from their homes had found refuge in Plavë municipality by Thursday. It will be hard to feed and shelter more people, Mr. Goça said.

Latest Report: 16:00 hrs: Serb Military Stops Refugees up in the Mountains

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Around half a dozen thousand Albanians who were trekking the Bjeshkët e Nemuna mountains on their way to Plavë (Montenegro) were stopped and turned back at around lunch time today. They were stopped by the Serb military at a location called Bogiqe.
The terrain where they were stopped is very virtually impossible to have access to, the KIC was told by eye-witnesses. Relief supplies can be provided there only by helicopter.
Activists of the Emergency Council, a local aid association in Plavë, called on international humanitarian agencies to urgently intervene to help these refugees.
After the sealing off of the border with Albania, people driven from western Kosova have seen passage to Montenegro as their only way out to relative safety.

Old and Helpless Albanians Holed Up in Ostrozub Village

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) -  A number of elderly Albanians have been holed up in the village of Ostrozub, Malisheva, since last Monday, when the village came under fierce Serb troops' attacks. It is feared that they could have already been killed, local activists warned.
Cen Desku, a member of the LDK chapter in Malisheva, told the KIC he has learned the names of the following persons who could not flee the village the day of the Serb attack: Sadik Morina (75), Haxhi Morina (78), Beqir Morina (85) and his 72-year-old wife. Mr. Desku said the number of villagers holed up in Ostrozub may be higher, as the whereabouts of several others are unknown as well.

Serb Troops Spray with Machine-gun Fire Albanian Communities in Malisheva

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Intermittent machine-gun fire was reported overnight in the villages around Malisheva.
Sources said that Serb troops moving along the Malisheva- Ostrozub road opened fire on the outlying villages on both sides. There were no human casualties as the villages have been abandoned by their residents for weeks, the LDK Information Commission in Mailsheva said, noting that only the remaining farmhouses could be further damaged.
The Commission also said that Serb troops pillaged the houses of Albanians Thursday and today morning. Lorryloads of looted commodities were taken to Rahovec.

Serb Force Local Albanian Help Looting Houses of His Neighbors

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) -  Fazli Bytyçi (48), resident of Karvansari village in Malisheva, has claimed that he was forced to help the Serb police looting the commodities of Albanians in the area.
Mr. Bytyqi told the LDK chapter in Malisheva that he was captured in the street by Serb police and was held in their hands for two days. He was compelled to help them pillage the property of Albanians in Banja village. He was then tied to a tractor trailer and was only released with the intervention of the Red Cross, he said.
Sources said that Serbs have been taking tractors, cars, domestic appliances and other items that can be taken away.

Serb Troops Kill Schoolteacher in Skivjan, Gjakova

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - A 47-year-old Albanian teacher, Dinë Çekaj, from Irzniq village of Deçan was reported shot dead by Serb troops on Thursday.
The LDK chapter in Gjakova said it could not yet learn details  on the way the Albanian teacher was killed. He was buried Thursday in the village of Irzniq.

Serb Police Cracks Down on Ferizaj Village Friday Morning

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Heavy Serb police forces cracked down on the Koshare village in Ferizaj Friday morning, harassing and terrorizing scores of local Albanians.
LDK sources in Ferizaj said heavily armed Serbs raided at least half a dozen houses in the village. Several local residents, including a school-teacher, have suffered body injuries when beaten by the police.
The LDK chapter in Ferizaj could not learn the pretext of the  Serb crackdown on Koshare. It only reported of stepped up Serb movements of Serb forces along the Ferizaj-Shtime road during the whole course of today.
The vice-chairman of the LDK chapter in Shtime was detained by the Serb police today. Vitor Markaj was reportedly subjected to harassment for a couple of hours.

Serb Police Carries House-to-House Raid in Hani i Elezit Suburb

PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) -  Serb police forces raided today morning half a dozen Albanian houses in a suburb of Hani i Elezit ("General Jankvic"), a southernmost Kosova town.
The local LDK chapter in the town named the following Albanians who had their houses thoroughly searched by police: Faik Brava, Nafi Brava, Sami Brava, Ramadan Bela, Zelqif Laçi.
Family members in all these houses were reportedly subjected to brutal maltreatment.

Kosova Information Center
Last page!

KOSOVA (casualties - Prizren)
Three victims of the Serb offensive were identified and buried

Prizren, 10 September (ARTA) 2130CET --
The corpses of three local residents from the village of Kushnin, who were killed during the Serb offensive were found, identified and buried yesterday. The corpses of Refki Gani Shala (35), Milaim Xhemajl Shala (28), and Qamil Beqir Shala (43), were buried nine days after they were killed. In addition, the corpse of Marjan Dom Gjani (55) from the village of Grazhdanik, who was missing since the end of August, was found.
The CDHRF branch in Prizren confirmed that the number of the wounded in Prizren region is very large. The Council appeals to all international organizations in Kosova, to contribute so all the wounded could be transported to hospital centers and undergo adequate medical treatment.
Albanian sources in Prizren confirm that three corpses of Albanians were exhumed today in the region of Malishevë, and it is believed that they will be misused by the Serb regime for genocidal propaganda.

KOSOVA (situation deteriorates – Klinë)
Fire spreads over the municipality of Klinë

Klinë, 10 September (ARTA) 1700CET --
The situation in the municipality of Klinë is still very tense and with signs of further escalation. There are reports that two more houses were burned in the town of Klinë. It has also been claimed that Serb forces are still looting Albanian property in this part of Kosova.
The killing of Avdyl Morina (70), from Gllarevë, increases death toll during the clashes, to 76. On the other hand, Albanian sources claim that clashes are still taking place in the region. There are reports that the villages of Lugu i Leshanit were targeted again by Serb police\military forces.
Shooting was heard throughout last night in the village of Poterç i Epërm. This tense situation that prevailed upon this village of Lugu i Leshanit, induced great fear among tens of thousands of dislocated people. This population is facing great difficulties due to the lack of basic living conditions, as they are not receiving any help.
Sources from the ground also inform about the arrest of Ramadan Bacaj, from Gremnik, pedagogue at the "Luigj Gurakuqi" high school in Klinë.

KOSOVA (wave of arrests - Gjilan)
Police arrests four heads of displaced families

Gjilan, 10 September (ARTA) 1900CET --
The displaced persons from war zones started coming to Gjilan, although to do so, they must pass through many thorough police controls. Hence, yesterday, as they were traveling by bus to Gjilan, several displaced families were stopped by the police on the Prishtina-Gjilan road in Llabjan and were ordered to step off the bus. The police arrested four Albanians, who along with their families, were going to seek for shelter in Gjilan.
LDK information sources in Gjilan inform, that one of the four arrested, Behram Zogiani was finally released today. He claims to have been brutally beaten and maltreated in different ways during his stay at the police station. According to him, all four of them were kept there throughout the night, during which time the police provoked them in all kinds of different ways. In the meantime, Zogiani was released under the accusation that his sons are KLA members, and that he allegedly provided the "terrorists" with ammunition and food.
At the same time, this man, along with 5 other family members, were ordered by the police to leave Gjilan, and return to their home village, in Graboc i Ulët of Obiliq. The police recommended this, saying that they will be safe there so long they report at the local police station.
On the other hand, the three other heads of families, Eliasan Mjekiqi, from Graboc i Epërm, municipality of Fushë Kosovë, Elmi Avdyli, from Gllogoc and Hasan Hasanaj from Gllarevë, municipality of Klinë are still at the police station, as their families are now sheltered in town.

KOSOVA (burnt land – Pejë)
The municipal villages of Deçan and Rugovë on fire

Pejë, 10 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
The villages of Nepole, Gllogjan, Buçan, Beleg and many other villages which have been previously looted, (which explains the mountains of stolen goods, piled up inside the sports hall), are now up in flames, sources from the ground inform.
Ever since 24 August and on, the Serb police surrounded 13 villages of Rugovë. Over 10,000 residents of this region that are suffering a great lack of food, are living through very difficult conditions, fearing a possible attack that could have very tragic outcomes at any moment.
The Islamic Union in Pejë informs that, on 9 September, the police forced them to bury an unidentified person. As it is reported, the NN corpse was a male in his mid thirties and was suspected to have died as a result of tortures from the police station in Pejë.

KOSOVA (Serb onslaught - Mitrovicë)
Shelling in Shalë e Bajgorës continues

Mitrovicë, 10 September (ARTA) 1710CET --
The villages of Shalë e Bajgorës: Mazhiq, Melenicë, Vidishiq, lagjja e Trepçës, Bair, Bajgorë, Tërsten, and Rashan were shelled yesterday, from 0800CET until 1000CET, sources from the ground inform. Fortunately, no victims resulted from this shelling, which still caused enormous material damages. The Serb military\police forces conducted the shelling from their bases in the villages of Veronicë, Kutlloc, and Stantërg.
On the other hand, there are claims that the Serb police and army planted mines all around the block of the Trepça enterprise. Albanian sources claim that warning signs were placed yesterday to inform the residents that the area is mined. Serb civilians and armed paramilitary forces are the only ones inside this block.
A large convoy consisted of buses, trucks, APCs, and jeeps filled with policemen, arrived today at 1330CET, in Mitrovicë from Serbia, and settled in the military barrack.

KOSOVA (police siege - Malishevë)
Police maintain looting and maltreating campaign

Malishevë, 10 September (ARTA) 1830CET --
Today is the fourth day, since the Serb forces completely sealed off the villages situated along the asphalt road in Malishevë, such as Dragobilin, Maralinë, Maxharin, and Ostrazub. Starting from yesterday, the most intensive looting and destroying are being conducted in the village of Dragobil, where Serb gangs are posted in all key positions.
There are also reports claiming that the Serb forces opened fire frequently along the Ostrazub - Malishevë road. However, there are no reports on eventual victims so far.
On the other hand, brothers Vesel Kryeziu (30) and Mursel Kryeziu (19) from Mleçan and Fadil Thaqi (25) from Shkarashnik, were arrested during the Serb police intervention in Carallukë, a few days ago. Their families know nothing about their whereabouts until now. The same day, according to Albanian sources, the Serb police beat and robbed 6 other residents from Carallukë.
The western region of the municipality received a rich contingent of international humanitarian aid today. It is believed that the humanitarian assistance will improve at least for a short while, the bad situation of the displaced of this area.

KOSOVA (situation deteriorates – Lipjan)
A police convoy visits the village where Albanians returned a few days ago

Lipjan, 10 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
A convoy of Serb forces greatly disturbed the residents of the villages of Shalë e Drenicës yesterday, sources from the ground confirmed. The same sources inform that two APCs, a police bus, seven trucks, and two jeeps parked in front of the village's school building this afternoon.
After the burning of 127 Albanian houses, a thousand cottages, three stores, the looting of the grain and flour, cattle and food stocks, trucks, cars, domestic equipment, the people that returned home from the forest a few days ago, were greatly disturbed.
Following this event, a number of Albanian residents, left the village once more, fleeing to places less under threat.
There are reports that the police, in the meantime, told the villagers that they were there to offer help to the people, not specifying what kind of help they were referring to.
The majority of the residents of the surrounding localities abandoned their houses and sheltered deeper in the municipal region, as a considerable number of them continue to live under the open sky.

KOSOVA (refugees - Montenegro)
Rexha: "Private accommodation of the refugees from Kosova, is a unique case in the world"

Ulqin, 10 September (ARTA) 2130CET --
"We as an Albanian political subject, once more express our disappointment with the insufficient engagement of relevant Montenegrin organs for accommodating IDPs from Kosova. They, as we know, fled from the flashpoints, to escape from death and Serb police\military massacres", was said at the beginning of the press conference, organized by the Albanian Democratic Union (UDSH). UDSH chair, Bajram Rexha, stated that unlike IDPs from Kosova, the Bosnian refugees were accommodated in state owned buildings. He also said that nobody made an issue from the fact as to whether they would return to Bosnia or remain in Montenegro, as it is being done with the IDPs from Kosova.
"Such an approach, is not just at all, it is not humane and it opposes the International Law. We think that the private accommodation of IDPs, is a unique case in the world", evaluated the UDSH chairperson, Bajram Rexha.
In this meeting, the UDSH chair also brought up the issue of education for children from Kosova.
He demanded from the Montenegrin Education Minister, Kujovic, to reconsider his statement that only those students that learned by the Serbian curriculum can attend classes.
UDSH vice-chairman, Fuad Nimani, said, "there are conditions for collective accommodation, because the admitting capacities were not used even during the tourist season, let alone now". He said that this is not being done because of the political-demographic problems. "We as an Albanian political subject, guarantee that upon the creation of the least normal conditions in Kosova, these refugees will return to their lands, since Albanians are emotionally tied to their birthplace", stated Nimani.
Asked whether any manipulations are being done with the number of the IDPs and whether there are any possibilities of misusing the help dedicated to the IDPs from Kosova, deputy Dinosha said that "such a thing would not be any good even for the Montenegrin Government itself". He once more emphasized that "the refugees from Bosnia and Croatia were treated better, because they were actually offered shelter, jobs and even different public functions, even though this was done through ethnic-family ties more, than as a result of the Montenegrin Government's stance".

KOSOVA (education - Prizren)
Classes expected to start on 14 September

Prizren, 10 September (ARTA) 2030CET --
Fighting operations in Prizren surrounding disabled the beginning of the new school year for about 2 thousand students of the municipality.
Classes have not started in the regions of Vërrin, Zhur, Vlashne, and "Fadil Hisari" elementary school in the Tusus neighborhood, because of the insecure situation. Whereas, it has been reported that the "Ibrahim Fehmiu" elementary school in Dushanovë, starting from 8 September, has stopped classes as well.
Zijadin Shemsedini, chairperson of the Municipal Council for Education, claims that maximal efforts are being given these days for the classes to begin in the schools they haven't started yet.
The new school year is expected to begin on 14 September in the following schools: in the elementary school of Dushanovë, in that of Zhur and Vlashne, as well as all the high schools in the municipality of Prizren.
Concerning high schools, one of the greatest problems is the buildings because the houses that were used as classrooms are now being resided by dislocated people.
The Municipal Council for Education reports that the Serb regime, through the competent bodies installed in Prizren, threatened the students and the school board of the "Mushnikovë" elementary school in Mushnikovë, that if they do not hold classes in Serbian, they will close the school down.

KOSOVA (KLA commander - Drenica)
"Our problem is how to integrate professional officers"

Drenica, 10 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
While the KLA position is discussed in various ways in the plain of Kosova, there is no doubt that the "KLA is the only way toward salvation" in Drenica.
In fact as anywhere else, there are many comments about this issue here as well, but they are quite optimistic when it comes to the future of KLA (even though that optimism is limited compared to the past)...
Commander Dini, as he likes to call himself, fights in one of the zones of Drenica. He tells us about the ardor of the soldiers from his unit.
"In my unit, which includes soldiers from Fushë Kosovë and Obiliq, the average age is 25.
There were never any doubts concerning the fighting morale in our army and all soldiers accomplished their duties according to the plan".
On the other hand, a corporal who came from the west and is now serving in the village of Prelloc says that the problem is in integrating qualified officers in the KLA.
"We have no problems with the level of morale. Our problem is how to engage officers in all organizing levels. This process has been carried out to a certain extent, but we need time to complete it. When it is accomplished, our army will be strong and professional".
The commander of the unit, speaking about the situation following the offensive says: "I do not see the fact that we withdrew from some of the front lines as a military failure. I think that it was then, that our political representatives, especially the political class in Prishtina, experienced a diplomatic failure. Therefore, we organized the protection of civilians from the Serb offensive only, and we were not much concentrated in the aspects which are currently being mentioned in a very negative context".
An officer, who introduced himself as a First class captain, commented the claims of the media that, "KLA units did not protect the civil population, but they took more care of their soldiers". "Means of propaganda against our Army have always existed in Prishtina", he claimed. "Those people tried to prevent youngsters from joining the KLA from the very beginning, but their efforts were in vain. So I don't think they will succeed now", said he at the end.

KOSOVA (Parliament of the Republic of Kosova - communiqué)
Government's action for collecting help - positive

Prishtina, 10 September (ARTA) 1800CET --
The leadership of Parliament of the Republic of Kosova, during its regular meeting, among others discussed the communiqué issued by the Government of the Republic of Kosova, respectively of the Ministry of Financial Economy, concerning the action "Help the Independence of Kosova". This action was undertaken for gathering assets in the Fund of the Government of the Republic of Kosova, states a communiqué issued by the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova.
"The Parliament considers that this action has shown positive results so far. We hope that this action will be supported in the future by all those, who through their contribute, will fulfill all their civilian duties toward Kosova", ends the communiqué, signed by the chairman of the Parliament, academician Idriz Ajeti.

KOSOVA (Kosovar demonstration – USA)
We are with you until victory

Washington, 10 September (ARTA) 1800CET --
Around 1,000 Albanians living in America demonstrated in Washington this Wednesday. These demonstrations aimed at gaining stronger American support for Kosova, as well as the American recognition of the statehood of Kosova.
The protesters were gathered in front of Capitol Hill, and Congressman Benjamin Gilman and Senator McGovern (Massachusetts) initially saluted them. Several American Congressmen and Senators, as well as other officials, saluted the participants of the protest, expressed their revolt towards the present situation in Kosova, and requested for the American administration to undertake concrete steps.
Afërdita Rakipi, from the Albanian-American National Council (KKSHA) informed the protesters on the details of a meeting held in the State Department, where she took part together with a group of Albanian-Americans. She told that she demanded concrete help from State Department officials, emphasizing that the events in Kosova are already worse than in Bosnia, even though the USA promised not to allow another Bosnia take place in Kosova.
In addition, senator Trent Lott addressed the protesters with a letter. He reminded that the American senate adopted the legislative act last week, which makes the sanctions against Serbia a part of the American law, and that this law will enter in force by the end of this session.
"Your presence here will challenge the American administration, to apply their rhetoric into concrete actions", wrote Lott.
Congressman Elliot Engel (who is a supporter of Kosova and the Albanian issue in general) reiterated in the House of Representatives his attitude that the only solution for Kosova, is the self-determination of the people of Kosova.
"Autonomy did not work 10 years ago and it won't work now", stressed Engel. He also strongly denied accuses of terrorism and claimed that "the only terrorists in Kosova are Milosevic's policemen".
Congressman Tom Lantos recalled his visits in Kosova, remembering the people who looked "hopeful, full of spirit, and careful to their families and friends".
"These people wanted to live a civilized life in the heart of Europe" he claimed, subsequently pointing at the photos with mutilated corpses carried by the protesters.
He informed that the Committee for International Relations decided to approve the legislative act proposed by Lantos, according to which the "frozen" funds of Serbia should be used for reimbursing the damages caused to the people of Kosova.
"I promise to be with you until victory", declared Lantos at the end.
The senator Al D’Amato also addressed the protesters. He expressed his disappointment with the American Administration, "which turned its back to hundreds of thousands of dislocated people", adding that, "thousands of people will die if we do not undertake anything".
"Keep your promise", D'Amato warned President Clinton, referring to President Clinton's promise that he will help the people of Kosova.
D'Amato read a letter written by former senator Bob Dole, who recently came back from his visit to Kosova.
The West claimed that it would not allow for what happened in Bosnia to be repeated in Kosova, but during his visit in Kosova, he has seen that "such crimes had already been committed", quoted D'Amato what Dole wrote.
"What we need is the strength to tell Milosevic that we will use the American force to stop the killings of innocent civilians", emphasized D'Amato. He then told Richard Holbrooke that he would not support his promotion to the post of a US Ambassador to the UN, "if he does not undertake concrete actions".
The warning that Senator D'Amato addressed to Holbrooke should be taken into account, because according to the American Law, the Senate has to approve of the persons who are proposed by the President to be US representatives in the UN, before they get appointed.
In addition, members of Congress, John Porter, and Sue Kelly, as well as Senator Gordon Smith, saluted the protesters.
Former officials of the State Department, James Hooper, and Marshal Harris (who resigned from their posts, because of the American negligence towards the crisis in Bosnia) saluted the protesters as well.

KOSOVA (International War Crimes Tribunal – The Hague)
"Belgrade's refusal to allow investigations of the Hague Tribunal in Kosova to be sanctioned"

The Hague, 10 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
The War Crime Tribunal in former Yugoslavia decided to address the UN Security Council and inform them about the fact that the "FRY" still refuses to cooperate with the International Tribunal.
The chairman of the Hague Tribunal, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, addressed a letter to the Security Council demanding from them to use their influence on Belgrade to fulfill its obligations towards the Tribunal. The Tribunal’s prosecutor, Louise Arbour, also joins this letter. This letter notes the numerous cases in which the "Yugoslav" Government was uncooperative. The Tribunal officials highlighted that no actions were undertaken since the demand it addressed to the Security Council some time ago. The reluctance of the "Yugoslav" authorities to hand the accused for war crimes in Croatia, who are now in the "FRY" territory, to the Hague - Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Slivancanin - are cases that prove that the UN Security Council should intervene.
The letter states that "Yugoslavia" is heaven for those "who try to elude international justice", and this can no longer be tolerated. One of the greatest concerns of the Tribunal, is the situation in Kosova. This issue was also mentioned in the letter that McDonald and Arbour addressed to the UN Security Council.
Tribunal officials expressed their readiness to continue and intensify investigations in Kosova.

KOSOVA (German Ministry)
Germans criticize Austrians and the British

Bonn, 10 September (ARTA) 1900CET --
On Wednesday's press briefing, Kohl's spokesman, Otto Hauser (CDU), and Kinkel's, Martin Erdmann, harshly criticized their Austrian and particularly British partners, for not banning "Yugoslav" flights. Asked about the British stance, Otto Hauser replied: "We demand from our partners to fulfill their obligations", referring to the British signature for applying the measures in question.
The long "history" of banning "Yugoslav" air flights shows how unified the international community is when it comes to the conflict in Kosova.
Many of them are only concerned for their economic interests. The German "concern" is understandable in this case, since if these measures are imposed, Germans will be the ones to suffer the most. The reason for this is the fact that the German - "Yugoslav" agreement for the return of over 140 thousand refugees from Kosova virtually died yesterday.

*NEWS REPORT*
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The views expressed in the news reports and messages posted to the List by the List members are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policy or position of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Quoting is allowed only if the source of the information  is specified.
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04 September 1998

TRANSCRIPT: AMB. HILL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION IN PRISTINA 9/2

(Chief U.S. negotiator on Kosovo talks with local press) (3620)

Pristina -- Ambassador Christopher Hill told local reporters in Pristina September 2, "We are looking for an agreement to establish and restore democratic institutions in Kosovo, an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina where the first priority is to establish democratic institutions, ensure people's rights and provide for a 'normal life.' It will be a very difficult negotiation."
     Joining journalists for a roundtable discussion, Ambassador Hill told them, "We know about the horrific incident only a few days ago when an entire family was destroyed by a single mortar round. There are other such incidents. And if we don't get to a solution here, there are going to be more of them as well.... All I know is that these acts are simply unacceptable and they are uncivilized. And they have to stop.
     "The only way within my power to deal with this is to press ahead with a negotiated settlement. I know to some of you that seems an inadequate means, but I'm telling you it's an absolutely essential means, and it's the way we're going to get through all this. So we have some broad agreement on where we're heading and what approach we're going to have."
     Hill said the United States is deeply concerned about the situation in Albania, and "clearly there has to be some effort devoted to stabilizing the situation in Albania, to helping Albania through what is another very difficult trial for it. And even though the issues there are very separate from the issues here, we understand the influence of the issues there, here. And that clearly Western countries need to devote a lot of attention to that situation, and I think you'll see that in the coming weeks and months."
     Questioned about how a negotiated settlement will be "imposed," Hill said, "This is an agreement that's going to be achieved with both sides agreeing to it. We're going to get both sides to agree to it. We are going to ensure that we have lent our direct involvement to this agreement, and we will not be part of an agreement that is not going to be observed, and I can assure you we will make sure this agreement is observed."
     Asked about his "attitude about the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army, also known as UCK] at this moment," Hill said, "I would hope that people who are in the KLA would rather support a political non-violent process, which is the one the United States is supporting."

Following is a transcript prepared by USIS Pristina of the roundtable discussion:

(Begin transcript)

AMBASSADOR CHRISTOPHER HILL
Roundtable Discussion with Local Journalists
USIS Pristina
Wednesday, September 2, 1998, 3:30 pm

AMBASSADOR HILL: (Following discussions with Dr. Ibrahim Rugova and the Albanian negotiating team Wednesday in Pristina, and meeting with Yugoslav President Milosevic on Tuesday in Belgrade): We are looking for an agreement to establish and restore democratic institutions in Kosovo, an agreement between Belgrade and Pristina where the first priority is to establish democratic institutions, ensure people's rights and provide for a "normal life." It will be a very difficult negotiation.
     But there is only one way out of this mess, and that's through a political settlement -- through a negotiating process. There are a lot of bad things going on on the ground. There have been thousands of people dislocated from their homes, thousands of people who are sleeping in very dangerous places. We know about the horrific incident only a few days ago when an entire family was destroyed by a single mortar round. There are other such incidents. And if we don't get to a solution here, there are going to be more of them as well. I know there is a lot of discussion today about what exactly happened in Klecka, and I know there is a view on the Albanian side that somehow the Serbs are exaggerating this or using this as propaganda, and I know the Serb side is making some broad statements about who is responsible. All I know is that these acts are simply unacceptable and they are uncivilized. And they have to stop.
     The only way within my power to deal with this is to press ahead with a negotiated settlement. I know to some of you that seems an inadequate means, but I'm telling you it's an absolutely essential means, and it's the way we're going to get through all this. So we have some broad agreement on where we're heading and what approach we're going to have. We have today Jim O'Brien, a colleague who works in Secretary Albright's office, here talking with your negotiating team, who by the way are working very hard. And that's the key thing -- they are working very hard and produced some material on their own. They are thinking very hard. I also talked to some other people who are not in the process. I briefed them on what we're trying to do, encouraged them to consider joining the process.
     So I can't say when this is all going to be wrapped up, except that we're working as hard and as fast as we can. We're deeply concerned, needless to say, about the plight of people who are truly at risk now. Deeply concerned about the fact that every day the conflict goes on peoples' positions harden and their attitudes to each other get more difficult. So we will do what we can to make progress as soon as possible and to continue to pressure both sides. I know every time I say something like "both sides" people say, "oh, how can you talk about standing between the middle of the perpetrator and the victim." Well, part of being a mediator is to stand in the middle, and sometimes the only agreement you get between the two sides is that they both don't like you! And that's sort of the fate of mediation.
     Tomorrow I will be going up to Vienna, and I will be returning to Washington for some brief consultations. I will be conferring with Secretary Albright, who throughout her unbelievable schedule -- including meetings in Moscow, and of course having to travel to Africa recently to see the remains of our two embassies, and to escort the bodies of my colleagues back from those embassies -- despite all of those duties, she has been very interested and has been engaged in finding a solution here in Kosovo. I think many people here in Kosovo look to the United States, and I can assure them that we are doing all we can. But it's a very difficult process, and I would ask that people not only look to the United States, but look to themselves to find solutions. So let me stop with those opening remarks and see if there are any questions.

QUESTION: You mentioned a period of years, and after that a lasting process. It will be a process of three years, and within those three years you will be searching for a lasting solution. And here can you be more specific: what do you mean by "democratizing," what do you mean by "restoring the institutions?"

AMBASSADOR HILL: I don't know if I can really be much more specific than that. One, because I can't, but two, because I don't want to be. I think a lot of what needs to be done in terms of establishing institutions and safeguarding people's rights has to be done between the two sides in the negotiations. But we think the first order of business is to make sure we have institutions here that truly reflect the population here, that truly protect everyone's, every community's interests and every community's rights. And after that the sides can review where they stand and additional measures that are needed. So I don't really want to get more specific than that, except to say that we can see that a certain triage, of trying to do some things first, leaving some things for later.

Q: How will you impose a kind of cease-fire?

AMBASSADOR HILL: We would like to see the violence stopped immediately. And I would hope that as people see that the political process is gathering steam, and people understand that this is the only process around, that they will consider maybe putting down their guns and if not supporting this, at least watching it, giving it a chance. Because there is no way that this is going to be solved by guns, or checkpoints or other things on the ground, or mortar rounds. This is a problem that's going to require a political solution.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, you said that one of the rules...(inaudible)...have you managed to define who will guaranty...a negotiated settlement? Who is going to guaranty implementation?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I cannot answer you directly, except to say that this agreement will be fulfilled. We will ensure that it is properly guaranteed. And it's a fair question you've asked.

Q: (partially inaudible)...many Albanians call to "God and the United States" to [solve the problem]...you have told here you can do something here to help...but many Albanian people in crisis areas say America has not done enough to save lives...Can you tell us something concretely, what can the USA do under the circumstances?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I would encourage people not to confuse God with the United States. We do the best we can. I think what we can ensure, what we can help people with, is finding a political solution. We cannot help people with armed struggle. We can help them with a political solution. We encourage everyone to be a part of that political solution, encourage everyone to be a part of the negotiating process. Dr. Rugova has held the door open for other parties to join in the process. This is the process we are supporting. When we get to the state of an agreement or a draft of some kind, there will be an adequate means for everyone to express whether they can accept this.
     So, although I know that there is criticism in Pristina that our negotiating process is too narrow, doesn't include enough different Albanian parties, to them I say that the process is very open and other parties now not involved are welcome to join in. It is very painful to see people's lives, people's ...lost. I've seen some of it myself, I've been out in the field many times. I don't think there's any substitute for actually being out there and seeing for yourself. For me, all it means is that we have to work faster, work harder, to try to get a solution. Any time terrible things happen in the field, it's simply more proof that we've got to move faster on this negotiating process. I know you would like some other means brought to bear. The means I can offer you is a rigorous negotiating process.

Q: Does Dr. Rugova recognize (inaudible)...and the situation in Albania; do you take any measures regarding the [kidnapped Serbs]?

AMBASSADOR HILL: Well, first of all, we are deeply concerned about hostage taking. Hostages have been taken...they are not just Serb hostages, there are other hostages as well. Hostage taking often happens in conflicts of this kind and it's got to stop, and it's perhaps one of the cruelest aspects of the conflict. You'll have to ask Dr. Rugova for his views on hostage taking, but I'm sure that his views are identical to mine, which is that we condemn hostage taking. As I think does any civilized person. As for the situation in Albania, clearly there has to be some effort devoted to stabilizing the situation in Albania, to helping Albania through what is another very difficult trial for it. And even though the issues there are very separate from the issues here, we understand the influence of the issues there, here. And that clearly Western countries need to devote a lot of attention to that situation, and I think you'll see that in the coming weeks and months.

Q: Will you continue to be in contact with other Albanians?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I contact a lot of people, I talk to a lot of people. We are working, however, with the negotiating group. You know who the group is. We have consultations with other people. I don't want to get into the specifics of who I'll be consulting, etc.

Q: What about rights...(inaudible)...wouldn't these rights be lower than what Kosovars had before the abolishment of autonomy in 1989?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I think what you're trying to ask me -- as I understand you're question -- is whether we would be looking at the 1974 constitution and does the 1974 constitution comprise a base upon which to build further rights. You should take note of the fact the 1974 constitution predated the 1975 Helsinki process. And I think what we would be looking for is an agreement based on rights, based on treatment of people, which involves the Helsinki process. And I would encourage people not to look back to the '74 constitution, but to look forward to the future. The '74 constitution -- I don't want to get too far into this, but frankly speaking, it had its share of problems. And I think what we would look for is something that really does meet international standards of rights.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, it is clear that both sides political process...is going to last for a couple of years...you mentioned three years....

AMBASSADOR HILL: I mentioned that we will try to put together an agreement which would aim to establish democratic institutions and create normal conditions for people, and we would expect that this agreement would be open for review and for further additional measures at about the three-year period. That's what I'm saying -- it doesn't mean that the institutions we would form would be closed in three years.

Q: My question was, would the lifting of the outer wall of sanctions on the Republic of Yugoslavia have the same dynamics?

AMBASSADOR HILL: Look, I'm working on trying to get a political arrangement between Belgrade and Pristina. You're asking the issues that obviously will flow from that, but that's not what I'm doing right now, working on those issues. So I just can't answer that question right now. Ask me sometime in the future, and we'll have a better answer.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, you said that you will be working on restoring or establishing institutions in Kosovo? You mean all the institution, or selective process?

AMBASSADOR HILL: It depends on what your negotiating team tries to get. I think we would look for whatever they feel is possible, and whatever the other side can agree to. This is going to be a negotiated agreement; neither side is going to get their ideal solution. You know, I was always amused by people who said to me after Dayton, "Why was this thing written so poorly?" And the answer is: it was a negotiated document. We didn't ask one person to sit down and write the Dayton Accords. If we did, it would have been a much better written document than it was. It was a negotiated process. And one side will want things that the other side doesn't want, and they'll have to compromise, and they'll have to use a spirit of tolerance.

Q: What's your comment on the government's call for all dislocated citizens to come back to their homes?

AMBASSADOR HILL: Look, I want to see dislocated people come back to their homes as soon as possible. We want to create the conditions for them to get back to their homes as soon as possible. We think everyone should support that process. We don't want to see people out there one day longer than they have to be out there. We want them back. Obviously they can't come back if their homes are even less safe than the mountains and forests that they are hiding in right now. We should try to find a way to get them back as soon as possible. And no one should play any politics with those people. A lot more needs to be done.

Q:  When do you expect both sides to face each other?

AMBASSADOR HILL: You know, if this were a normal world they would have faced each other already. This isn't a normal world. There is a lot of bitterness, a lot of distrust, a lot of resentment. We're not looking for face-to-face talks right now. We're looking for progress, and we can achieve the progress indirectly. But indirect does not mean it's not a negotiation. It's got to be a very strong negotiation, albeit indirectly.

Q: ...(inaudible, about the UCK)...

AMBASSADOR HILL: Sorry, I'm not involved with that issue. I'm working on a political solution. I understand there are a lot of people who are concerned about that, but I'm working on political solutions.

Q: You talked about institutions, about elections. The question would be what would people be electing, for instance? What constitution?

AMBASSADOR HILL: That would have to be provided for in the agreement.

Q: This agreement is recommending a level of self-administration by Kosovars? Who's going to administrate?

AMBASSADOR HILL: There are a lot of details, a lot of issues. But this is all part of the negotiating process, and we don't have agreement yet on these issues. Frankly, it's just starting. I wish it would go more quickly, and we'll try to make it go more quickly.

Q: When the negotiating team of the Albanians was announced, you said that the door was open to other people...

AMBASSADOR HILL: I think I said it today, too. And I've said it just about every day.

Q: Right now, after the latest events, do you see the willingness on the side of the other political forces in Kosovo to join the negotiating process?

AMBASSADOR HILL: The latest events -- you mean the events on the ground.

Q: Many people consider this negotiating team as the preferred one of the people who are ready to accept something that is less than independence, or whatever.

AMBASSADOR HILL: We don't think people need to put aside what they want in order to participate in the negotiations and the agreement. We don't think they need to put aside their ultimate desires in order to participate. You mentioned events on the ground. Everything I've seen on the ground convinces me more that this process has to go faster, not slower.

Q: Many times diplomats have told ...(inaudible)... guaranty from international community. But in Kosovo we have a bad experience with the history...in 1944 the United States, Russia, Great Britain, and other allies in the Second World War had guaranteed Kosovo will be a part of Albania after the War...(inaudible)...will there again be another war?

AMBASSADOR HILL: Well, I always appreciate history lessons, and I appreciate learning new things. I certainly haven't heard those things before, so I appreciate you trying to give me a history. We don't need more history lessons here. We need people who are thinking about their futures and thinking about their children's futures. And I think everyone understands what the situation here is, and everyone understands how we need to get out of this situation. And now we need to move ahead. And we're not going to move ahead with more history lessons.

Q: Mr. Ambassador, how will you assure people that this thing will be imposed, any kind of negotiated agreement will be imposed, how will you support it? Militarily, or by your shuttle diplomacy?

AMBASSADOR HILL: How this will be imposed? This is an agreement that's going to be achieved with both sides agreeing to it. We're going to get both sides to agree to it. We are going to ensure that we have lent our direct involvement to this agreement, and we will not be part of an agreement that is not going to be observed, and I can assure you we will make sure this agreement is observed. And I agree with you there have been agreements in the past, including the 1974 constitution, which a lot of people have nostalgia for, but those agreements were not observed, and we were not a part of them. We're very much a part of this, and we're going to see that it's observed.

Q: But I mean, how do you see your involvement? Dayton Agreement had a military component. How are you going concretely to support this? By shuttle diplomacy?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I cannot say at this point how precisely we are going to ensure that the agreement is observed, but we will ensure that the agreement is observed.

Q: Senator Warner, in his press release two days ago, told in one sentence that eventually involvement of KLA leaders in the negotiation....

AMBASSADOR HILL: I think what Senator Warner was talking about was the need to have a broad agreement and to make sure that everyone ultimately supports it. I would hope that people who are now armed and fighting, in armed struggle, will look to this process as the process that will achieve progress and will understand that their process cannot achieve either international support, international guarantees, or frankly any progress at all, and that they will look to this instead.

Q: What's your attitude about the KLA, in this moment?

AMBASSADOR HILL: I would hope that people who are in the KLA would rather support a political non-violent process, which is the one the United States is supporting.

(End transcript)

BC-ALBANIA-RUGOVA-CONFERENC
Rugova calls for greater international commitment on Kosove

      PRISHTINE, Sept.11 (ata) - ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports:
President Rugova asked also today a greater international commitment to save the people of Kosove. "We demand international protection for Kosove, first of all from the U.S., EU, UN and NATO," said Rugova in his regular press conference in Prishtine today.
      He demanded urgent halting of the Serb offensive on Kosove and its people and a resettlement of the displaced people in their homes under a international security.
      The best solution for Kosove will be an independent Kosove with all guarantees for Serbs of Kosove and an international protectorate as a transition period, said Rugova. He hailed the commitment for Kosove by U.S. President Bill Clinton, French President Jacque Chirak, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, British PM Tonny Blair and Russian President Boris Yeltsin and especially the commitment of the U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, stressing the need of a greater engagement in order to save the people of Kosove. /das/xh/

BC-ALBANIA-KOSOVE SITUATION
Serb forces attack Drenice

      PRISHTINE,Sept.11 (ata) - ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports:
Fierce fighting is taking place today in Drenice, central Kosove, where numerous Serb military-police forces and paramilitaries undertook a massive strike today morning.
      Heavy artillery is shelling nonstop the villages Likofc, Rezaller, Tice, Plluzhine and their outskirts, while KLA forces are trying to prevent the advance of Serb forces in those villages, sources from the field say. Fierce fighting is going on especially on the front line between Rezalle and Llaushe villages. Today in the morning, about 90 tanks and other transport means carrying troops and ammunition have been seen going towards Llaushe. While long columns of Albanian refugees, children, women and elderly people are seen leaving these regions right after they had resettled at their homes damaged over the offensive of the past month. /das/xh/

BC-ALBANIA-KOSOVA REFUGEES
The number of people coming from Kosova to Has increases

      KRUME, Sept. 11 (ATA) - As a result of the continuous fighting and Serb terror against the civil people of Kosove, the number of Kosovars reaching the district of Has keeps increasing.
       About 45 peopel crossed the state border on Wednesday afternoon, while 35 others mainly children, women and elderly people, entered the city in the early hours of Friday, said to ATA the chief of the district's police station, Sali Gera.
      The border line of the district of Has, 25.6 kilometers long, has become lately a path for Kosovars entering Albania to escape the Serb terror.
      The inhabitants of Kosova are coming to Albania mainly through villages Vlane and Dobrune. So far most of them have been accommodated in Has local families they are linked by blood and in the dormitory of the high school in Krume.
      The number of the refugees keeps increasing. At present the listed people are more than 550, while some hundreds others who have gone to other parts of the country are not unregistred.
      According to Mr Gera, 30 people from the yesterday's group from Suareka and Rahovec wanted to go abroad, and only 50 of them have agreed to be registered./A.A/xh/

Grave situation in Kosova - 16 Albanians killed

      PRISHTINE, Sept 10 /ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports that the Serb forces have killed 16 Albanians, of whom 11 infants,  during this month's offensive in villages of Kosova (90% of the population  are ethnic Albanians). The killings have been committed in the suburbs of Rahovec as well as in Kushnin and Verrin villages.
      Serb forces kept on shelling Drenica regions on Thursday, while new Serbian forces are reported to have arrived in Mitrovica.
      A delegation from the Kosova Democratic League (LDK), at a meeting on Thursday with representatives from the office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Prishtine raised the alarm over the dramatic situation of the displaced, especially in Dubovike, Prapazan, Isniq and Strellc i Ulet of Decan district, where more than 70 000 people, escaping the conflict zones, have been settled.
      The delegation asked this office to urgently help the refugees, who are under threat of the Serbian iron siege, starvation, shortage of medicine and bad weather conditions. /mima/lola/lm/

Villages of Dushkaje of Gjakove emptied

      PRISHTINE, Sept 11 (ATA)-The villages of Dushkaje of Gjakova have been completely emptied after the latest offensive of the Serb military and police forces, according to the Kosova Information Centre (CIK).
      The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) in Gjakove says the Serb forces are also thought to have killed people besides looting, destructions, burning and other atrocities.
      "A three-month baby from the Krelan village died of cold and hunger," the LDK says.
      Sources say that in the Kline mountains and villages many have died, but have remained unburied because of the police siege, especially of snipers which check every movement. /mima/lm/

Many villages razed in Rahovec

      PRISHTINE, Sept 11 (ATA)-Dozens of villages of the Rrahovec commune have been razed to the ground or gravely damaged because of latest attacks by the Serb forces;
      Kramovik, Polluzha, Llapceva, Dobidoli, Denji, Ratkoc, Malesi e Vogel, Dremoc have been razed to the ground, while Guri i Kuq, Koznik, Senoc, Gexhja as well as the villages Vrranake, Bratotine, Neshpalla and half of the Sopnic village have been gravely damaged, the Kosova Information Centre (KIC) reports.
      Many killed and wounded have remained in fields and everywhere in this region.
      Mass graves are thought to exist in the places called "Lugjet e denjit", "Lugjet e Polluzhes" and in the place called "Te varrezat e Ratkocit".
      In "Lugjet e Polluzhes" the Serb police are thought to have burnt over 300 agricultural means as well as transport vehicles carrying food articles, which the evacuated had taken with themselves. /mima/lm/

BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)

Germany has criticised the UK for failing to comply immediately with a European Union ban against flights by the Yugoslav airline JAT.

The measure was taken to put pressure on Belgrade to halt military operations in Kosovo which have left hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians homeless.
German officials were quoted as saying the UK could face legal action by the European Commission.
The UK says it supports the ban, but it has a legally binding agreement with Yugoslavia to give12 months notice before taking action.

Embarrassment

BBC World Affairs correspondent Nick Childs says this is clearly something of an embarrassment for the UK.
He said any public dispute within the European Union over sanctions against Belgrade clearly plays into the hands of the Yugoslav leadership.
Germany was the first to implement the EU ban preventing the Yugoslav national airline flights from landing on EU territory.
The ban was agreed in June as part of a package of economic sanctions imposed on Belgrade for its handling of the crisis in Kosovo.
But it was only adopted formally at the beginning of this week.
A German Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the UK is undermining EU solidarity because it says it cannot implement the ban for a year.
And other German officials are quoted in one German newspaper as saying the UK's approach would send a "disastrous signal" to Belgrade.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said London had received no formal complaint from Bonn.
The official insisted that EU law clearly stated that legal obligations entered into by a state prior to EU membership take precedence.

09 September 1998
PLANNING FOR MILITARY OPTIONS IN KOSOVO IS 'MESSAGE' TO BELGRADE

(Briefing by senior analyst, DOD Bosnia Task Force, 9/9) (960)
By Louise Fenner
USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- In a briefing on U.S. military policy on Kosovo, a senior analyst for the Defense Department's Bosnia Task Force said that while "a diplomatic strategy is the preferred option," there is an accelerated planning process within NATO "to develop military options to deal with the problem in Kosovo if need be."
     This is "prudent military planning, should NATO be called upon to have to intervene," said Rich Batsavage in a September 9 briefing at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Such planning is also designed as a "clear message to Belgrade of the international community's intention to underpin the diplomatic strategy with force if need be."
     Batsavage said there is "some glimmer of hope in that Ambassador [Chris] Hill has secured from ["Federal Republic of Yugoslavia President" Slobodan] Milosevic an agreement to pursue an interim solution for Kosovo, to sit down and negotiate some sort of new autonomy for the province that would be reviewed in three to five years. This is certainly a favorable step forward, if we can get the process in order."
     But, he added, "It's deeds, not words, that we're really looking for" from Milosevic.
     Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck and former Senator Bob Dole traveled to Belgrade and "got at least a pledge from Milosevic to allow the International Red Cross access to some of the detainees being held by the [Serb] security forces," Batsavage said. "These are at least positive rhetorical steps from Milosevic, and now we have to keep the pressure on to get action."
     He said NATO's military planning covers three phases. Phase 1 includes underpinning neighboring countries, considerations of preventive deployments by NATO in Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and a plan for NATO to provide assistance to humanitarian efforts to handle an expected outflow of refugees in Albania and FYR Macedonia -- an outflow that was, in fact, much less than expected, Batsavage noted.
     He said Phase 2 includes air options. "NATO is looking at full array of those, a phased escalating program if need be to punish continued offensive actions."
     Phase 3 involves ground operations, "the theory being that ... once you've made the decision that this is necessary to achieve a policy goal, you have to have a full commitment; otherwise you run the risk of a kind of 'shot across the bow' that makes headlines for a moment, but the parties on the ground ignore it if there's not follow-up."
     Batsavage said the issue of a legal basis for military action "is still an open question within NATO; full consensus hasn't been developed on this."
     He cited Defense Secretary Williams Cohen's publicly stated position that a United Nations Security Council resolution "would be extremely useful to have, to show the full backing of the UN and the international community, but it's not a necessity for NATO action. Our proposition is that, given the circumstances that would precipitate the need for NATO action, there is sufficient legal authority in various international agreements, the NATO Charter, et cetera, that would provide the basis needed for such action."
     On the diplomatic side, Batsavage said, "Essentially, what we're trying to do is, if we can get both parties to the table ... is to convince Milosevic that a negotiated solution is in his and the FRY's ["Federal Republic of Yugoslavia"] long-term interest.
     "I personally sense that he's maneuvering for a way out, but the current press of offensive operations may indicate that he sees some hope of scoring a military victory or major setback to the [Kosovar Albanian] insurgency before he has to sit down at the table."
     Milosevic faces numerous domestic problems, including internal political opposition as well as opposition from the Montenegrin government, "and dealing with the deplorable state of the economy," Batsavage said. "One of the things the Contact Group has held out is that reaching a reasonable solution would be a positive step toward dismantling the outer wall of sanctions, giving the FRY what it desperately needs."
     But he acknowledged that the international community is pressing for a "centrist solution" -- "improved status" for the Kosovars -- which does not fully satisfy either side; the Kosovar Albanians want independence, while Milosevic is happy with the current situation, "where he has full control, and 90 percent of the population doesn't vote against the Socialist Party, or vote at all."
     On the humanitarian situation, the international community is working "to try to come up with a system, perhaps in some targeted areas, where food and relief supplies and shelter supplies will be available, and some sort of security could be offered to encourage the IDPs [internally displaced persons] to come in out of the cold."
     There is concern about "moving ahead too quickly and implying that these are 'safe areas,' as in the ill-fated U.N. safe areas in Bosnia, and that there is more of a security guarantee than actually exists," Batsavage said. "So this is something that we're being a little cautious on."
     Asked if NATO troops could be used to airdrop food and other supplies and to provide security for humanitarian operations, Batsavage said that it would have to be "by invitation ... otherwise you're moving well ahead of the NATO planning process, you're getting into ground options.
     "The first choice we're pursuing is to hold Milosevic's feet to the fire on access for the humanitarian organizations, the NGOs [non-governmental organizations] that are at work in Kosovo now. There are relief supplies getting into Kosovo; what we need now is full access, and key to that is to convince Belgrade to stop the offensive, which is a major barrier for NGO operations."

11 September 1998
TRANSCRIPT: PENTAGON SPOKESMAN'S REGULAR BRIEFING, SEPT. 10, 1998

(US/Central Asia maneuvers, NKorea missile, Japan/missle defense, Kosovo, Russia/Primakov, contract fraud investigation, military readiness) (7100)

Defense Department Spokesman Kenneth Bacon briefed.
Following is the Pentagon transcript:
(begin transcript)

DoD News Briefing
Thursday, September 10, 1998 - 2:00 p.m.
Presenter:  Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD (PA)

BACON:  Good afternoon.  Welcome to the briefing.

.....Q: What is the United States and NATO planning to do, or are there plans to do anything about what may be up to 40,000 ethnic Albanians trapped in Kosovo between Serb military forces and Serb police shelling and attacks?

A: First of all, there is increased humanitarian aid being sent into Kosovo. President Clinton announced $20 million of humanitarian aid yesterday, I believe, to go to Kosovo.
     Second, we are still working hard, led by Ambassador Chris Hill, on efforts to produce a diplomatic resolution to this problem. We think that a diplomatic resolution is the best way to solve the problem and to disengage the forces and allow Kosovar Albanians to go back to their houses, which is the issue.
     Third, NATO has on the shelf a series of military plans that can be taken off and put into action if necessary. We have not ruled out the use of force in this tragic situation. But we would prefer to find a way to solve it diplomatically. We're dealing with a problem where people are being displaced from their houses and their houses are sometimes being destroyed, and we would like to find a way to deal with this that doesn't increase destruction but rather decreases destruction.

Q: Isn't it true that Serbian forces, Serbian police, Serbian leadership, have no reason whatsoever to negotiate without an active threat of force from the West? These are civilian refugees being pummeled by the military.

A: They're being pummeled by the military. The military is continuing to respond to insurgency operations by Kosovar Albanians. It's a complex situation. We're appealing to both sides to stand down. We've made it very clear to the Serbs and to Mr. Milosevic that we think his actions have been disproportionate, that he's gone too far. The fighting continues. Ambassador Hill's efforts to end the fighting continue.
     The European community is getting more involved both in humanitarian actions and they've spoken recently about the need for greater diplomatic involvement, and we welcome that.

Q: Does this action by the Serb forces of shelling homes and driving people out of their villages amount to ethnic cleansing?

A: I don't think I want to get into legal definitions. It amounts to a bad, unacceptable set of actions by the Serbs, and they should stop doing it.
     I think the tragedy of Kosovo will become more apparent as the summer ends and winter begins. That's one of the reasons that non-government organizations and humanitarian organizations are becoming more concerned and more involved in trying to help the displaced people in Kosovo.

Q: You said the use of force hadn't been ruled out. What would trigger the use of force?

A: Well, certainly more aggressive action by the Serbs would trigger it. If we reach the conclusion that the Serbs are not at all serious about a diplomatic settlement that could trigger it, but I don't think -- this is going to be a NATO issue. NATO has come up with the military options, and NATO will have to make a decision about what triggers the use of force.

Q: Has anyone in the building had any military-to-military contact with the Russians? Is there any reaction to Primakov (inaudible) here...?

A: I'm not aware that the Secretary has spoken with General Sergeyev recently, Marshall Sergeyev recently, his counterpart in Russia. Obviously we had people from the Pentagon in Moscow during the Summit and they participated in the early warning talks and had some dealings with members of the Russian military, but I'm not aware there's been any direct, top level contact recently.

Q: Is there a concern that Primakov appears to be a very close friend of Saddam Hussein and often is on quite different sides of issues than the Pentagon and the United States?

A: As Foreign Minister, we got to know -- Secretary Albright in particular got to know Minister Primakov very, very well; worked with him successfully on a number of issues....

Britain scorned for ambiguity on Yugoslav air ban
By Ian Traynor in Bonn
Friday September 11, 1998

Britain was strongly criticised in Germany, Brussels, and elsewhere in Europe yesterday for breaking rank with the rest of the European Union by refusing to deny landing rights to the Yugoslav airline JAT, after voting at the weekend in favour of the ban.
     Officials in Bonn condemned the British stance as a "disastrous signal" to the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia. The European Commission suggested that Britain could be taken to the European court for breaching EU regulations.
     The JAT ban, which the EU agreed on three months ago as part of its package of sanctions against Belgrade because of the conflict in the province of Kosovo, was only implemented this week after EU foreign ministers meeting in Salzburg at the weekend reached a "political consensus" on the measure.
     Greece, a traditional ally of Belgrade, which had been threatening for months to block the agreement, abstained in the vote.
     London maintains that a civil air traffic agreement with Belgrade which predates Britain's EU membership obliges the Government to give 12 months' notice if it wishes to suspend landing rights.
     Belgrade says it has such agreements with most EU countries, and may sue them for implementing the EU ban. Bonn and Brussels argue that EU law supersedes bilateral agreements between member states and third countries.
     The shadow foreign secretary, Michael Howard, also attacked the Government's stance.
     "The situation in Kosovo deteriorates daily, with reports of atrocies appearing with horrifying regularity," he said in a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.
     "What signal... is provided to Milosevic if Britain is now seen to be undermining even those limited measures which have been agreed against Serbia?"
     At the last German cabinet meeting before the elections on September 27, Chancellor Helmut Kohl demand EU solidarity towards Mr Milosevic, and government officials said that the Yugoslav president would be slapping his thighs with delight at the latest sign of European disagreement on Serbia and Yugoslavia.
     German commentators were scathing about Mr Cook, who did not attend the Salzburg meeting because he was on holiday.
     The JAT ban was decided in June while Britain held the EU presidency.
     "Cook has chosen to disappear off on his honeymoon and send his minister for Europe [Joyce Quinn] because the latest foreign ministers' meeting in Salzburg was embarrassing for the British," the Stuttgarter Zeitung commented.
     The heavyweight Frankfurter Allgemeine said Britain's refusal to implement the ban made the EU a laughing stock in foreign affairs.
     Until JAT flights were banned this week, Germany had been using them to send Kosovo Albanian asylum-seekers back to Yugoslavia. It cannot return them by land.
     Despite the German criticism of Britain, the German interior minister, Manfred Kanther, is now believed to be considering whether he can continue deporting the Albanians via the four JAT flights each week from London Heathrow airport.
--
Kosova Information Centre - London

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

Buses evacuate weeping Kosovo refugees
           REUTERS 09/11
Kosovo refugee column stretches for miles
           REUTERS 09/11
UN's Annan tells Milosevic to stop Kosovo violence
           REUTERS 09/11
Albanian Leader Wants Serbs Stopped
           AP 09/11
Kosovo Refugees Living Without Food
           AP 09/10
Yugoslavia 'harbouring war criminals'
           BBC 09/11
_________________________

Buses evacuate weeping Kosovo refugees
07:37 a.m. Sep 11, 1998 Eastern
By Kurt Schork

DECANI, Serbia, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Coaches laden with crying women, children and old men on Friday left the western Kosovo town of Istinic where 40,000 ethnic Albanian refugees had been trapped for two days by Serbian forces, witnesses said.
     There were no fighting-age men on the coaches, suggesting that Serbian security forces may have been separating "terrorist" suspects from their families as had happened in other villages in Kosovo in recent weeks.
     Reporters who tried to gain access to Istinic were blocked by Serbian police as were International Red Cross delegates in what observers said was an "ominous sign."
     A Western diplomatic observer based in nearby Pec told Reuters he reached Istinic by a back road early on Friday and that many thousands of people who were there on Thursday appeared to have left.
     "If there are 7,000 people there today I'd be surprised. The Serbs say they immediately dispersed the refugees in coaches. I didn't see them leaving in coaches, I saw them walking in columns, old women dragging suitcases. It was a pathetic sight.
     "As for the men, there were some in groups, separated out as KLA suspects. The wounded were separated too. The Serbs said they were fighters."
     In a conflicting account, Fernando del Mundo, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency told reporters that he had been in Istinic during the day and had not seen anyone being separated into groups.
     He said a number of men were dispersing on foot back to their villages.
     "Yesterday, (Kosovo governor Veljko) Odalovic announced they had opened a humanitarian centre in Istinic. Two trucks came with bread," said del Mundo.
     "No one would touch it. So they dumped it at the Mother Theresa warehouse in Istinic where two cameras filmed anyone who came to collect it.
     "One old man, named Bardosh Gashi, told me 'I saw children who had collected the bread go back to their villages. They were shouted at. The Serbs burn our houses, give us bread, and then they try to kill us'," del Mundo said.
     Red cross officials evacuated seven wounded people from the refugee column on Thursday. UN officials said there were six fresh graves in Istinic, where refugees who have died over the last few days were buried.
     In addition a six-month old refugee child died overnight on Friday.
     Police in transporters and private vehicles streamed towards the Istinic area from the direction of Decani and Pec and the area seemed comprehensively sealed off to outsiders.
     Reporters who tried to approach Istinic from the east were stopped in Celopek.
     Even though Serbian officers had vowed on Thursday that all men, women and children were free to return to their homes, none were spotted in Celopek, a dismal, largely destroyed village about 15 km east of Istinic.
     Smoke was still rising from houses burning in other villages in the area, which was full of Serbian police and army units, making it highly unlikely that any ethnic Albanian refugee would voluntarily return to homes there, especially since most of the residences have been destroyed.
     Small numbers of refugees were spotted walking or sitting along the main highway heading east from Pec towards Pristina and south from Pec towards Djakovica.
     There were no large congregation of refugees spotted by reporters except those travelling in coaches.
     It was exactly one week ago that Serbian security forces surrounded thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees in Ponorac, separated out hundreds of fighting-age men from their families and carted them away for interrogation.
     Most were released subsequently, but about 60 are reported by ethnic Albanian authorities to still be in detention.

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
_________________________

Kosovo refugee column stretches for miles
12:44 p.m. Sep 10, 1998 Eastern
By Kurt Schork

ISTINIC, Serbia, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A drama of human misery on a scale seldom seen in Europe since World War Two unfolded in Western Kosovo on Thursday where 40,000 ethnic Albanian refugees were trapped by Serbian forces, witnesses said.
     Thursday was the second day the refugees had spent sandwiched between Serbian army and police units, backed by armour, that are rampaging through ethnic Albanian villages southeast of Pec, about 80 km (50 miles) west of Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
     "These people are in a very desperate situation," said Fernando del Mundo, spokesman for the UN refugee agency.
     "They are terrified, obviously, and they don't know where to go or what to do. I saw one man crying there yesterday. He gestured in the direction of his village and asked me if I could stop the shelling. I could do nothing."
     The refugee column stretched for at least eight km (five miles) from the village of Istinic towards Krusevac on a dirt road gorged with tractor-drawn wagons, cars, people and livestock.
     An Austrian defence attache operating in the area stated that there were "at least" 40,000 people in the column.
     Every field and house along the way was crammed with women and children, many sitting or lying exhausted on the ground without adequate food or water.
     Plumes of black smoke rose in the sky to the north, east and west of Istinic as Serbian security forces continued to burn ethnic Albanian villages in the area.
     Reporters saw a Yugoslav army armoured column, including 11 battle tanks, leaving the deserted village of Celopek on Thursday morning, its vehicles mud-splattered and its men unshaven and weary from a night of action.
     Parts of Celopek, Kotradic, Krusevac and Brolic were in flames. Dogs were gnawing at the flesh of dead cattle along the roads and chickens pecked at the carcasses of dead dogs.
     The minaret on the mosque in Barane drifted in and out of view as smoke rose from the village against a backdrop formed by Kosovo's mountainous border with Albania and Montenegro.
     Strewn along the roads were bundles of clothing and bedding, soaked by overnight rain, abandoned by refugees in their panic to flee.
     Bullet-riddled, burned-out automobiles and overturned tractors and wagons lined the way toward Istinic.
     Sule Sofia, from the village of Gramacel, sat with a fixed grimace on his face in a field outside Istinic, his right arm swathed in bandages through which foul-smelling pus and blood seeped in three places.
     "I was wounded yesterday by a mortar and there was no doctor to treat me, no medicines," the 50-year-old man said.
     "We're trapped here without any help, without any protection. Where is Europe? Where is America?"
     Serbian police in combat gear and walking on foot, some carrying automatic weapons, escorted American and European diplomatic observers into the refugee column on Thursday.
     The crush of humanity, especially surrounding the U.S. vehicle which flew an American flag, finally made it impossible to proceed and the observers withdrew.
     "Where are they going? Why are they leaving? What is going to happen to us tonight?" cried Ibrahim, 37, a schoolteacher from the Decani area, as the foreign observers left.
     Some relief supplies were being doled out by aid agencies in the centre of Istinic, under the watchful eye of Serbian police. When compared to the number of people in need, the amount of assistance being provided was pitifully inadequate.
     But the worry voiced most frequently by the refugees was how the thousands of fighting-age ethnic Albanian men among them were going to be treated by Serbian forces.
     Thousands of refugees were surrounded in Ponorac in central Kosovo last week and the fighting-age men were separated and taken away for interrogation in scenes chillingly reminiscent of Serb actions during the recent Bosnian war.
     Most, but not all, of those men detained in Ponorac were subsequently released. All were questioned about being members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian separatist movement Belgrade has vowed to crush.
     Serbian officers in Istinic said on Thursday the ethnic Albanian men surrounded there had nothing to fear.
     "Everyone here is free to return to their homes. That includes all men, women and children. We're not detaining the men here. They're free to go too," said General Rodoljub Djordjevic, vice-commander of the Serbian police.
     "This was an operation against terrorists. I feel safe walking here (among the refugees in Istinic). We have already recovered 2,000 weapons."
     The fact that Serbian officers could walk without fear among tens of thousands of refugees whose homes his men had just destroyed spoke volumes about how a six-week-old offensive by Belgrade has pacified the ethnic Albanian population.
     While no one attacked General Djordjevic, few were prepared to believe him or his promises.
     "The Serbs came this morning and told everyone we could go home, but we have no homes. They've all been destroyed. You can see the fires burning in the distance," said Ibrahim, the school teacher from Decani region.
     "We are afraid what might happen to us tonight if we begin to leave. You saw what happened in Bosnia. Remember the massacre in Srebrenica?"
     As Ibrahim spoke another ethnic Albanian man named Esad, 28, interrupted: "It's not true, what the police say, it's never true. We have decades of experience with them. One day they say we are free and the next day we are in prison or executed."

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
________________________

UN's Annan tells Milosevic to stop Kosovo violence
06:02 p.m Sep 10, 1998 Eastern
By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan disclosed on Thursday a critical letter he sent to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic charging indiscriminate violence against civilians in Kosovo, the destruction of villages and the continuing flow of refugees.
     U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said no reply had been received to the letter sent on September 1 that asked Milosevic to "take immediate steps to end the practice of the destruction of homes and livelihoods by security forces...and to ensure respect for and protection of human rights."
     Annan's position, also outlined in a lengthy report circulated on Thursday, was supported by the Security Council, whose president, Hans Dahlgren of Sweden, called on Milosevic to "halt all repressive actions against the civilian population in Kosovo."
     But the council's press statement read by Dahlgren included no action to halt the conflict in the Serbian province where security forces are battling a secessionist movement among the ethnic Albanian majority.
     NATO has completed contingency planning for action in Kosovo, provided the Security Council approves. But Russia, which has veto in the council power and is a traditional ally of Serbia, has not agreed.
     Annan, in his letter, said the "disproportionate use of force by Serbian police and military units" had led to loss of life, mass displacement of civilians, and destruction of property and means of livelihood.
     He said the August killings of three Mother Theresa relief workers, who seemed to have been deliberately targeted by Serbian police, "was one particularly appalling example of the unacceptable and excessive use of force."
     "I am alarmed by reports of widespread unlawful arrests by Serbian security forces, as well as by abductions evidently perpetrated by the Kosovo Albanians' paramilitary units," Annan said.
     "Irrespective of the causes of hostilities, the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bear responsibility for the well-being and security of all its citizens." he added.
     Some 90 percent of the 1.8 million population of the southern Serbian province are ethnic Albanians.
     U.N. refugee officials estimate that 265,000 people are now homeless and that as many as 50,000 of them are living in forests and on hillsides across Kosovo. They fear a disaster next month when cold weather sets in.
     More than 15,000 refugees have also crossed into Albania since June, fleeing fighting between separatist guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian security forces which flared up seven months ago.
     Dahlgren, in his press statement, said Security Council members called for an immediate ceasefire as a prerequisite for the return of refugees and the start of political negotiations.
     "The members of the council call on both sides to do everything possible to prevent a humanitarian disaster," he said. "They emphasised the unconditional right of all displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes in safety. They deplore any attempts to prevent those who want to return their homes from doing so."

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
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September 11, 1998
Albanian Leader Wants Serbs Stopped
By The Associated Press

ISTINIC, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Kosovo's main ethnic Albanian leader today joined a chorus of calls for a halt to Serb military actions in the province, where a huge new exodus of civilians has alarmed international refugee officials.
     Ibrahim Rugova described the situation in Kosovo as critical and worsening, but stopped short of his usual calls for Western intervention.
     "The humanitarian crisis is very grave, especially involving the people who have fled to the mountains," he said in Kosovo's capital, Pristina.
     Rugova estimated that 40,000 people are involved in the flight from besieged villages in the southwest this week; international officials say it's about 25,000.
     Despite the appeals for an end to Serb attacks, many of the ethnic Albanian refugees who fled the fighting in western Kosovo are losing hope.
     Thousands remained camped around the southwestern village of Istinic, where they sought refuge from Serb-led Yugoslav forces seeking to destroy the secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army. Many are losing hope.
     "This is what we sleep on," said Zenia Krasniqi, pointing to a rain-soaked field, her third place of refuge since twice fleeing Serb attacks. "I will die here even if I have to hang myself from this tree."
     U.N. officials, including Undersecretary-General Olara Otunnu, planned to visit the refugees today. They hope their presence will discourage police from arresting males suspected of links to the KLA.
     The KLA insists on independence for Kosovo from Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia. Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the province's population.
     For now, Serb forces appear to have halted their advance, which drove ethnic Albanians from their homes and farms into a huge encampment around this village 45 miles southwest of Pristina.
     Parked tractors stretched for more than a mile from the center of the village, hooked to trailers piled high with hurriedly gathered clothes and belongings.
     In Belgrade, chief Yugoslav prosecutor Vukasin Jokanovic declared that Serb troops had crushed the rebels and arrested "a large number" of them. Jankovic said many would soon face trial for "terrorism and conspiracy against the state."
     In New York on Thursday, the U.N. Security Council issued yet another appeal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to "halt all repressive actions against the civilian population."
     The fighting has created an estimated 265,000 refugees.
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Thursday September 10 4:36 PM EDT
Kosovo Refugees Living Without Food
ADAM BROWN Associated Press Writer

ISTINIC, Yugoslavia (AP) - Parking their tractors bumper-to-bumper, some 25,000 Kosovo refugees camped out in fields Thursday, terrified that Serb police soon would be arresting their men for alleged membership in the rebel army. Food, water and hope appeared nowhere in sight.
     Serb forces appeared to have halted their advance, which drove the ethnic Albanians from their homes and farms into a huge encampment around this village, 45 miles southwest of the provincial capital, Pristina.
     Carloads of armed Serb police, some escorting Western diplomatic observers, cruised back and forth on the road past the refugees, provoking curses as well as instilling fear. Parked tractors stretched for more than a mile from the center of the village, hooked to trailers piled high with hurriedly gathered clothes and belongings.
     "Police beat six young guys right here an hour ago with sticks," said one middle-aged man. Fearing for his safety, he asked that his name not be published.
     On the horizon, black smoke rose slowly over the Albanian villages abandoned since the Serbs launched their pincer attack Tuesday. Hundreds of police and soldiers, backed by armored vehicles and trucks hauling heavy artillery, patrolled nearby.
     Until this week's attacks, the Istinic area was one of the last strongholds of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which is fighting for independence from Serbia, the dominant republic in Yugoslavia.
     Rrok Berisha, a member of Kosovo's unauthorized ethnic Albanian parliament, said most of the refugees came from 40 nearby villages that Serb police shelled in the past few days.
     Berisha, who has been trapped in Istinic for three days, said he feared up to 100,000 refugees could stream into the area as more villages are cleared. Kosovo's population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, most of whom back the rebels' armed struggle.
     Refugees said they feared police soon would begin rounding up men of fighting age on suspicion they had fought with the KLA. A village elder said about 40 men and women injured by shelling fled into the hills Wednesday, fearing arrest.
     Those who stayed behind faced a desperate situation. In one house, a 16-year-old boy lay on the floor, screaming in pain, with a bag taped to his bullet-shattered abdomen to collect excrement.
     Family members said he was shot when he tried to return to their home with a friend to feed their cattle. His mother said the boys stumbled on police looting their home. Police opened fire, wounding her son and probably killing his 18-year-old friend, the mother said.
     Out in the fields, a young woman carrying an infant who had blood streaming from his head screamed for medical help, of which there was none. The baby was kicked by a horse in the jammed convoy, she said.
     A village official said five people, including a baby and a toddler, died Wednesday for lack of medical treatment. Refugees and village officials said there was not enough clean water and food to prevent disease.
     A half-dozen shots rang out Thursday afternoon, out of earshot of the main cluster of refugees. A policeman, who did not give his name, explained that his colleagues simply were shooting cows to roast for dinner.
     Kosovo fighting already has created 265,000 refugees. With winter fast approaching, Western officials fear the worst if urgent help isn't provided for the 50,000 or so living in the hills and forests.
     President Clinton released $20 million in aid for Kosovo refugees on Wednesday. The White House said the money, plus an earlier $11 million U.S. contribution, would go to U.N. and private humanitarian agencies.
     In The Hague, Netherlands, John Shattuck, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, warned again Thursday that Kosovo is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe.
     "Massive human rights violations are occurring," he said. "Punitive actions are being taken against large numbers of civilians."
     The United Nations estimated this week that 600 to 700 civilians have been killed in six months of fighting between Serb-led forces and Kosovo Albanian rebels.
     Western officials have threatened military intervention for months if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic doesn't halt the offensive. But such plans have been stymied, in large part because of opposition from Russia and its new prime minister-designate, Yevgeny Primakov.
     As foreign minister, Primakov refused to support any U.N. Security Council resolution to authorize use of force in Kosovo. Without U.N. approval, many European NATO members are reluctant to take part.
     U.N. Security Council president Hans Dahlgren of Sweden read a statement Thursday in New York calling on Milosevic to "order a halt to all repressive actions against the civilian population."
     He pledged that the 15 members would take further action, but acknowledged there is "disagreement on what practical steps there could be consensus on in the council."
     U.N. chief Kofi Annan, in a letter released Thursday, also urged the Milosevic to stop the crackdown and blamed the president for obstructing humanitarian aid to refugees.
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Thursday, September 10, 1998 Published at 14:42 GMT 15:42 UK
Yugoslavia 'harbouring war criminals'

The International War Crimes Tribunal has accused Yugoslavia of harbouring indicted war criminals.
     In a letter to the United Nations Security Council the tribunal said the country's actions were illegal.
     It asked the council to take steps to guarantee that Yugoslavia hands over anyone suspected of carrying out atrocities.
     The letter focused on the case of three army officers, believed to live in Belgrade, who have been indicted for participation in the killing of more that two-hundred civilians after the fall of the Croatian town of Vukovar in 1991.
     The court said Yugoslavia has repeatedly refused to arrest and extradite the men.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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