Tagesnachrichten 12. September 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - September 12, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1550

         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 12.09.1998 13:57   http://seite1.web.de/show/35FA61C0.NL1/

Serbische Offensive im zentralen Teil Kosovos
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Serbische Sicherheitskräfte haben am Samstag ihre Angriffe auf albanische Dörfer in der Region um Srbica im Zentral-Kosovo fortgesetzt. Deswegen hätten viele tausend Menschen die umkämpften Dörfer verlassen müssen, berichtet das albanische Kosovo-Informationszentrum aus der Provinzhauptstadt Pristina. Allein in Vucitrn ist die Zahl der Flüchtlinge auf 30 000 angewachsen. In den serbischen Angriffen am Freitag wurden drei Albaner getötet und 16 verletzt.
Serbische Einheiten belagerten im Dorf Istinic mehrere tausend Albaner. Sie wurden aufgefordert, das Dorf zu evakuieren, hieß es weiter.
© dpa

Menschenrechtsgruppe: 1 221 Kosovo-Albaner seit Januar getötet
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Bei den Kämpfen in der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo sind seit Mitte Januar mindestens 1 221 Albaner getötet worden. Das teilte das albanische Kosovo-Menschenrechtskomitee am Samstag in der Provinzhauptstadt Pristina mit. Unter den Getöteten befinden sich 99 Kinder, 131 Frauen und 191 ältere Personen.
Die Zahl der Opfer sei wahrscheinlich noch viel höher, denn das Schicksal von mehr als 900 verschleppter Menschen sei noch unbekannt, hieß es weiter. Außerdem seien viele Opfer in Massengräbern verscharrrt worden. Allein im August sollen serbische Sicherheitskräfte 206 Albaner getötet und 199 verletzt haben.
Das gleiche Komitee hatte am Mittwoch von 843 seit Jahresanfang getöteten Kosovo-Albanern berichtet.
© 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.

Still there is no Stop of deportations ! - Immer noch kein Abschiebe-Stop !

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

......... 

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 !

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1550
Prishtina, 12 September 1998

Serb Forces Shell Two Villages in Mitrovica
Four Albanians taken off a bus, illtreated for hours

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - Around 22:00 hrs on Friday, Serbian military and police troops stationed at Kutllovc and Stan Tërg ('Stari Trg') shelled the villages of Melenicëa and Mazhiq and the "Trepça" neighborhood in Stan tërg, LDK sources in Mitrovica reported. Considerable material damage was reported, but there has been no word on possible casualties yet.
Meanwhile, sources said four Albanians were taken off a bus near Zubin Potok on Thursday, held in police custody for hours and ill- treated on obscure charges.
Brothers Ali, Ymer and Sulltan Desku, form Siçeva village of Klina, and Ejup Zejnullahu, resident of Llausha village of Skenderaj, were on a bus commuting between Mitrovica and Ulqin (Montenegro), when they were stopped and taken to a police station in Mitrovica. The Desku brothers were released after seven hours in custory, whereas Ejup Zejnullahu was held for 27 hours in detention.

Serb Troops Resume Attacks against Drenica Villages

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - A Serb forces' attack, launched Friday morning against a number of villages of Drenica, Skenderaj ('Srbica') municipality, has continued today morning, local sources reported.
Serb operations have been focussed on the Rezalla village, targeting also the villages of Plluzhinë, Ticë, Makërmal, Obri and Açarevë.
LDK activists in the area said heavy Serb troops backed by 58 tanks, 38 trucks and other combat equipment were deployed in the Llausha village today morning, from where they mounted fierce attacks against  Albanian settlements. The outlying villages are being pounded with artillery guns and ground-to-ground missiles, Fadil Ymeri, head of the local LDK information commission in Qirez told the KIC this morning.
The local Chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CHDRF) in Skenderaj said that 2 Albanians were killed and six others wounded in Rezalla village yesterday.
Meanwhile, LDK sources in Skenderaj confirmed that the casualty- toll in the village yesterday was higher: 3 fatalities and 16 wounded.
Leutrim Ahmeti (9), Xufë Ahmeti (8) and Ramë Ahmeti (42) died during the Serb bombardment, while the following persons were wounded yestrday: two women of the same name Fatmire Ahmeti (18) and Fatmire Ahmeti (35), Gjyle Raci (f, 30), Brahim Ahmeti (29), Makfirete Ahmetin (f. 14), Bajram Ahmeti (11), Shpresa Ahmeti (f. 9), Naser Gashi (15), Feti Musliu (22), Nuredin Bacaj (39), Xheladin Behrami (53), Rifat Smakiqi (34), Arben Makolli (24), Tahir Lladrovci (22), Jahir Dërguti (44) and Skënder Ahmeti (39).
Scores of farmhouses in Rrezalla and other villages were badly damaged or burned to the ground, witnesses said. There has been ne immediate word on possible casualties yet.
Over 10.000 people from the villages that came under Serb troops' attack were reported on the move since Friday morning. Sources in the neighboring Vushtrri ('Vucitrn') said thousands of displaced Albanians from Drenica arrived during the last night in the villages of this municipality, already swelled by large numbers of others who had sought refuge there in the past months. Around 30.000 have been sheltered in the town of Vushtrri alone, local LDK chapter said.

Albanian Refugees from Drenica Swell further Mitrovica Population

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - The Albanian population driven out from their villages in Skenderaj (Srbica), the region of Drenica, in the wake of the recent Serb attacks there have been arriving in Mitrovica, further swelling the population of the northern town, LDK sources said. Local political and humanitarian activists have been working hard to help the new arrivals.
Meanwhile, a lorryload of domestic appliances and other looted commodities arrived in Mitrovica from Skenderaj Friday evening, LDK sources said. Such lorries are generally driven by Serb policemen and carry also home furniture and agricultural implements, as well as cattle looted in the Albanian villages, they added.

Serb Police Set Three Hours Deadline to IDP's to Leave Isniq Village

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - Thousands of internally displaced Albanians have been reported trapped still today in the Isniq village of Deçan, encircled by heavy Serb troops.
Estimates by local activist earlier last week said over 40.000 were camping out in Isniq.
Sources told the KIC that the Serb police has been separating men from their families, either keeping them in separated clusters or taking them away to unknown places.
The LDK chapter in Deçan said the Serb forces have ordered today all the people who are not residents of Isniq to leave the village immediately. The Albanians have been given a 3-hour-deadline to leave or force would be used to have them go.
The LDK chapter said the villages of Prapaçan, Kryshec and Llukë were pounded with artillery fire for several hours on Friday. Serb troops entered these villages subsequently, looting and destroying dozens of farmhouses.

Over 3000 Albanians Trapped in Mountains Heading for Montenegro,
Encircled by Special Security Units

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - At least 3000 Albanian residents of the Deçan area have been trapped in the mountains between Kosova and Montenegro since last evening, tightly encircled by heavy Serb Montenegrin forces.
The Albanians who have been trekking for Plavë region of Montenegro were halted Friday afternoon by the Serb police and Yugoslav army troops at a location called Bogiqe. After the Serb troops sealed off the border with Albania, people driven from western Kosova have seen Montenegro as the only place of relative safety.
Between 5,000 and 7,000 - among whom women, children, sick and wounded - were reported travelling via the Bjeshkët e Nemuna mountains on Friday.
The local emergency organizations in the town of Plava (Montenegro) said the Montenegrin Government had ordered to prevent all Kosovar refugees from entering the republic since yesterday. Special police and army units which were deployed in the mountains have even used brutal force against the Albanians who attempted to proceed for Plava.
Sources in Plava said the refugees have been in a desperate situation, with many sick amongst them and with no food. Residents of Plava have provided some breakfast for them today.
Activists of the local emergency council in Plavë repeated today calls addressed to international humanitarian agencies to urgently intervene so as to rescue these hapless refugees.

Refugees Heading for Plava, Turned Back by Serbs, Reach Drelaj (Rugova)
Serb forces ambush, fire upon refugees

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - Thousands of Kosovar Albanians who had been trying to cross to Plava (Montenegro) have been travelling back to Kosovar territory, after being turned back by Serb troops yesterday.
A source from the mountainous western Kosovar region of Rugova told the KIC between 2,000 and 3,000 of them arrived in the village of Drelaj (Rugova) by lunch-time today, whereas around 1,000 have proceeded to Rozhaje (Montenegro).
The situation of the refugees is appalling, the source told the KIC by phone, and appealed to international organizations to step in with food and medical supplies.
A resident of Rugova region told the KIC by phone Serb forces had opened fire from an ambush on the refugee crowd, adding that killed and wounded were feared in the incident. He quoted one of the wounded as saying the ambush had been set by Serbs at a location called Stanet e Roshkodolit (the Roshkodol alpine summer huts).

Critical Security and Humanitarian Situation in Prizren

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - Activists in Prizren described the situation in the area today as extremely difficult in the wake of the large-scale Serb offensive since the beginning of September.
Local sources in Prizren said between 40 and 50 Albanians were killed and many others wounded in the area last week alone. Many Albanians have been held in Serb custody for days, LDK chapter in town said.
Entire Albanian communities have been threatened with further reprisals by Serb troops unless they surrendered weapons they allegedly possessed. Serb troops drove yesterday the main squares of the village of Xërxë, Celinë, Krush e Madhe, Krushë e Vogël, Piranë, Landovicë and Dushanovë calling through a megaphone on the Albanians to give in arms or risk brutal attacks.
The Albanian-run municipal emergency council in Prizren said it has registered over 50,000 displaced persons housed in the town. It appealed to international aid organizations to assist the refugees with food, medical and winterization items.

Serb Military Withdrew from a Position in Shtime

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - Around 11:30 hrs today (Saturday), Serb military forces withdrew from a location called Pishnajat e Shtimes (the Shtime pine forests), which has been their base in the past three months.
From this base, Serb troops shelled and destroyed 11 villages of the small municipality of Shtime, LDK sources said. The convoy of withdrawing troops and combat equipment headed in the direction of Ferizaj ('Urosevac').
Meanwhile, a convoy of Serb forces coming from Prishtina drove through Shtime town and headed for Prizren.
The LDK chapter in Shtime said the situation in the town was very tense today. The funeral of a Serb policeman, killed yesterday near the village of Koshare in Ferizaj, took place in Shtime today. The Shtime-Prizren roadway was closed for traffic for a period of time.
Police arrested four citizens, random passers-by, and ill-treated several others in Shtime today, LDK sources said.

Serb Civilian Attacks Albanian Couple in the Street

PRISHTINA, Sept 12 (KIC) - An Albanian, Milaim Abazi, resident of Gjylekar village of Vitia, received firearm wounds yesterday when attacked by a Serb in a neighboring village of Verboc.
Witnesses said Milaim Abazi and his wife were driving on a tractor through Verboc village when attacked by a Serb civilian, who opened unprovoked fire from his automatic gun on the Albanian couple. In addition, Milaim Abazi was detained by Serb police later in the day. He was released after having been interrogated for a couple of hours.
Sources in Vitia could not confirm if the Serb who attacked the couple was detained or even interrogated by police.

Kosova Information Center
Last page!

KOSOVA (war in Kosova)
New Serb reinforcements in Shalë e Bajgorës and Drenica

Mitrovicë, 11 September (ARTA) 1500CET --
26 fighting vehicles, among which 2 tanks, 4 APCs equipped with mine-launchers and 5 trucks filed with soldiers, departed today at 1030CET from the military barrack in Mitrovicë heading in the direction of Shalë e Bajgorës. One of the trucks was dragging a large caliber cannon, as one of the vehicles had an artillery weapon installed on it. Four jeeps were loaded with officers and another contained radio-links and intendance equipment. Military forces are settled in the military base in the village of Kutlloc, of the Shalë e Bajgorës region. There are also reports that 23 trucks, 10 Landrovers, 2 trucks, 3 jeeps and two ambulance vehicles, came out from the military barrack in Mitrovicë. These vehicles loaded with policemen, headed in the direction of Skënderaj.

Police kills a young Albanian in Volljakë

Klinë, 11 September (ARTA) 1525CET --
The village of Poterç i Epërm is being held under siege for several days now. Throughout the whole night last night, the Serb forces stationed in this village, constantly shot in the direction of the villages of Lugu i Baranit, using all kinds of weaponry. Besides the one Albanian family, for which it is known to be out of the risk from the Serb regime, nothing is known of the whereabouts of 50 families from Potërç, who remained inside their houses. Numerous Serb police and military movements were evidenced today along the Greminë-Volljakë road. These forces are constantly shooting in the direction of the villages of Gremnik, Çupevë, Volljakë, Këpuz, Çeskovë etc.
There are reports that, Afrim Bilalli (20), from Volljakë, was killed yesterday near the Bokshiq mine, in Volljakë. Whereas, Pashk Buzhala (74) from the village of Çabiq, who managed to escape from the police siege, informs that two corpses remain unburied in the village of Çabiq.

Renewed offensive against the villages of Drenica

Skënderaj, 11 September (ARTA) 1600CET --
Today at 1000CET, large Serb police\military forces composed of dozens of tanks, large caliber cannons, surface to surface missiles and other fighting weaponry, started an attack against the villages of Rezallë, Likovc, Ticë, Plluzhinë, Obri and other villages of Drenica. The detonations could be heard from a great distance. Numerous infantry forces are also helping this Serb force offensive. So far, there is no information about the eventual victims, on either of the sides, although there are reports that the few Albanian houses that were spared from fire during the past days' offensive, are now being burned down.
On the other hand, the population, which has just recently returned to their mostly burned houses, is now largely fleeing into more secure places.

Tense situation in the villages along the Ferizaj-Shtime road

Ferizaj, 11 September (ARTA) 1700CET --
Tense situation took over the villages along the Ferizaj-Shtime road today. Large Serb police forces, equipped with APCs and terrain vehicles, stationed at the key points ever since the morning. According to witnesses and local sources, the police harassed and arrested many persons in Koshare. The brutal intervention of the police was conducted under the pretext that "a policeman from their patrol, was killed last night at 2300CET". They demanded from the villagers to hand in their weapons "until tomorrow at 1000CET, or else they will burn the entire village".
Due to the bad security situation, no afternoon classes were held in the elementary school "Përparimi" in Lloshkobare, whereas in the elementary school of Koshare, no classes were held at all.
According to these sources, the Serb forces withdrew after 1300CET, however the situation remained tense as a result of the arrests and the movements of the population in the direction of the less endangered areas.

Tens of thousands Albanian civilians in Bjeshkët e Nemuna, attempting to go to Plavë

Deçan, 11 September (ARTA) 1830CET --
Since three days, tens of thousands of residents of Dukagjin facing the destructive Serb machinery, took the road to Plavë, CDHRF chairman in Deçan stated. He claimed that over 10 thousand Albanians, the majority of which women, children and elderly, are presently in Bjeshkët e Nemuna (Cursed Mountains) attempting to cross to Plavë. These escapees are being faced with the largest human catastrophe ever seen. The line of the escapees extends to 20 kilometers, along the Cursed Mountains, in a configuration of the terrain, where they are faced with death at every moment. Their situation is catastrophic.
In several villages of Deçan, tens of thousands of Albanian civilians remain besieged.

Police blocks Tusus

Prizren, 11 September (ARTA) 1900CET --
A Serb police expedition blocked this morning the cemetery in the neighborhood of Tusus of Prizren, whose residents were given an ultimatum to hand in the weapons.
Several delegations from the ICRC and UNHCR, as well as EU observers visited today the town of Prizren. Although they did not issue any particular communiqué about the situation in the municipality of Prizren, they expressed their great concern about the catastrophic situation in the villages of Vërrin region as well as about the situation of the IDPs sheltered in Prizren and the surrounding -- presently surviving on the people's solidarity.

KOSOVA (trade-union communiqué)
161 killed only during the first ten days of September

Prishtina, 11 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
The sources of the Kosova Housing Trade Union inform that 161 new victims killed by the Serb forces were recorded during the first days of September. In their 7th communiqué, activists inform about 881 killed Albanians in Kosova and 900 others to be missing during the period from 28 February through 10 September 1998.
According to the sources of the trade union, the number of IDPs has increased for new 40.000 people during the first ten days of September, while the total number of the IDPs has reached 445.033.
"Taking into account the average number of members in one family (out of total number of the displaced people), it could be concluded that 274.311 people remaining without shelter, cannot return back, without help to restore and rebuild their houses", it is stated in this communiqué.
The most recent data of the trade union, estimate that around 5.000 other houses (whose value reaches $ 1 billion), were shelled, burnt and looted during the last ten days.
The overall number of the burnt, shelled and looted houses in Kosova now has come to 39.622, while the damage caused is evaluated at $ 6.2 billion.
"These damages were evidenced in 316 localities so far, without pretending to have registered them all", is stated in this information.
The trade union data state that in the past ten days, the largest number of the recently displaced people comes from municipality of Rahovec - 12.500, municipality of Prizren -11.000 and from municipality of Klinë where 6.500 people moved out.

KOSOVA (villagers refuse Serb "humanitarian" assistance)
Villagers: You burned down our houses, we do not need your help

Drenica, 11 September (ARTA) 2130CET --
Following the Serb police\military offensive against the villages of Southern Drenica, Kishnarekë, Nekoc, Baicë, Shalë, Fushticë e Poshtme and Fushticë e Epërme, Sankoc and Mirenë, which the Serb fighting units leveled to the ground, the Serb authority is telling Albanians that: "their houses were burned by the terrorists" and that now they should forget about KLA and accept "the Serb humanitarian assistance", the residents of these villages tell.
Yesterday, in the village of Nekoc, municipality of Drenica, Albanian villagers refused the Serb humanitarian aid. It is claimed that they told the Serb "emissaries" that: "You burned our houses and everything we owned, we do not need your help...".
Serb motorized units, returned without distributing the "humanitarian aid" to the villagers sheltered in the forests of Drenica, under the open sky.
According to the reports, around 7 thousand residents of the villages of Drenica, who are presently at the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, are sheltered in the village of Nekoc alone. Starting from Gryka e Llapushnikut, up to the villages by the Prishtina-Prizren road, along the Carralevë forest, thousands of displaced persons have no medicine nor medical assistance. Children, elderly and pregnant women are the most threatened.

KOSOVA (military/police movements – Istog)
Many military and police forces are being evacuated from Dubravë prison?

Istog, 11 September (ARTA) 2200CET --
Long convoys of Serb special units of military and police, who were installed in the prison of Dubravë, drove out of there during the last 24 hours.
Tanks, APCs and heavy artillery weapons comprised the convoys. These forces drove in two directions during the last night. One part of the convoy drove towards Gurrakoc through Istog, while the other part drove in the direction of Mitrovicë and Zubin Potok. Still, it is not clear whether these forces went to reinforce the Serb positions in the battlefields of Drenica and Dukagjin, or is it that some units were moved out from this prison.

KOSOVA (KLA General HQ communiqué)
"KLA has started the struggle with the motto:
Kosova either will be ours, or it will be burnt to ashes"

Prishtina, 11 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
"The Albanian nation in Kosova and its Liberation Army, have been facing the broad dimensions of the Serb offensive for a long time. KLA is continuing the resistance re-organized and re-structured through the recent war circumstances. Only those areas controlled by pacifist and 'professional' (former policemen) elements did not make any resistance to the enemy forces.
These elements, in the name "of protecting people", left them to the mercy of the hostile soldatesque in Sverkë (Gash), Llapçevë and Panorc.
KLA are being struck back by the pacifist and collaborationist elements. Regardless of all difficulties, KLA, which emerged from the people, will continue its struggle towards victory.
The war and propagandistic machinery of the enemy intensified the falsehood on the alleged mass killings and graves in Kleçkë and Gllogjan. Of course, this propaganda relies on the revealed crimes and graves, which Milosevic’s criminals committed and made. If those crimes were committed by KLA, then why Belgrade did not issue visas to the international forensics.
The KLA General Headquarters demands from the International Community to appoint a group of forensic experts to investigate the crimes in Kosova. They will have the unlimited help of KLA.
The KLA General Headquarters demands from the Albanian nation in general, and from the Kosova Albanians in particular, to avoid by all means the misinformation of the evil pacifists, which state that KLA has grabbed the weapons to give them in. KLA has grabbed the weapons to fight for freedom.
KLA does not have any dilemmas; it has started the struggle with the motto: Kosova either will be ours, or will be burnt to ashes, with the cogency that dying for freedom is more generous than living under slavery.
We do not fight for partial or ideological interests (as the political parties and leaders are doing). We fight for liberation and unification, for national dignity and honor, for authentic future and democracy.
Dear compatriots and countrymen, unite to help KLA!
Only those who help the KLA, help the freedom and independence of Kosova", is stated in communiqué # 8 of the KLA General Headquarters.

KOSOVA (KLA operations HQ – Dukagjin -- communiqué)
"We leave it to the international justice to contemplate our responsibility"

Dukagjin 11 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
"Clashes against the enemy forces took place in the sub-zone of Dukagjin, during the past week. At the same time we were being faced with the responsibility of taking care of the displaced population, who were left without a roof above their heads and the basic living conditions.
We call the population to stand firm even in this difficult situation and to continue to support our just war.
We call all the international instances to urgently undertake actions to stop genocide against the Kosova Albanians, which is now turning into a humanitarian catastrophe witnessed by everybody and leave it to the international justice to contemplate our responsibility as a Liberation Army, -- based on war, human and moral norms.
Kosova Liberation Army in the sub-zone of Dukagjin, stands firmly in its path towards freedom, thus we request the direct activation of all human and moral potential of the people of Kosova in this state of war", it is stated among others in the communiqué issued by KLA operations HQ for Dukagjin.

KOSOVA (IDPs testimony)
"We paid 400 DM to the taxi driver to come from Sllatinë to Prishtina"

Prishtina, 11 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
Afrim Gashi (32), from Gremnik, municipality of Klinë, a former bus driver, wandered for ten days along with his family in the forest.
He arrived today in the premises of the Emergency Council in Prishtina, with thirteen members of his family, after paying 400 DM as "entrance fee" in town.
When we approached the Emergency Council premises in Prishtina, he, his brother, the women and children were sitting around three tables. The children were eating. He stepped away from the table and came to us.
He started telling his story: "My name is Afrim Gashi. I come from Gremnik, a village in the municipality of Klinë. My village is burned to the ground. Only a few houses might have not been destroyed".
"We all escaped. Then, for ten straight days we wandered in the forest. We were 5000 people gathered somewhere in Panorc".
"Many babies died. It was horrifying to see the women, children... The police were demanding from them to rise their hands up. They were tearing of the jewelry from women's necks and hands. We wandered for days without any water or food. We drank water from the streams in the forest". In the meantime, his wife uncovered the children. They had infections all over their bodies.
"We had no milk to give them. We asked for it so many times in villages", his wife continued the story.
Their eight children were under the age of 10.
We spent most of our time hiding in the forest. We were offered sheltered only during the heavy rains".
"Then we decided to leave the woods. When it became dark, we walked through the forest roads, until we arrived to a hill called Sllatinë".
"’For 400 DM, I could get you safe to Prishtina -- if you want to escape from the police’, taxi drivers told us there. They brought us all the way here in two cars", he was speaking calmly. At the Emergency Council in Prishtina, they told them that they could not provide any shelter for him and the children.
"We cannot understand how could it happen that in the entire town of Prishtina, they cannot find us a single spare room", he was asking.
"Nevertheless, we will put the children to sleep inside these `bars', they cannot not let us in, I will not leave the children out anymore".
As we were leaving, another family just arrived.
"My name is Shefki Sejdiu. I come from Reçak, municipality of Shtime. We are only five family members. We have been wandering in Prishtina for five days now..."

KOSOVA (EU envoy still questionable)
The EU envoy will not be delegated in Kosova until 5 October

Bonn, 11 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
In the last meeting of the EU representatives in Salzburg, one of the proposals arising was the appointment of an EU mediator between Prishtina and Belgrade. However, this seems to still remain at the level of a proposal.
So far, no names are mentioned, and no talks are carried out about the role of the mediator between the sides in conflict.
Asked about details of German Foreign Minister Kinkel’s proposal, a high-ranking diplomat of the German Foreign Ministry declared to "Koha Ditore" that, "so far, there are no names or concrete proposals from the partners in this regard".
According to this German diplomat, until 5 October when another meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers is expected to take place, there are no chances for the mediator to be appointed. Meanwhile, the list of the possible candidates will be scrutinized jointly with the partners, so the mediator will be able to officially start his new duty in the Kosova conflict on 5 October", the German diplomat declared to "KD".

ALBANIA (NATO concerns)
"The obsolete Chinese and Russian produced armament and ammunition in Albania must be destroyed"

Brussels, 11 September (ARTA) 1900CET--
"The Kosova conflict and the problems which Albania is encountering (because of this conflict), forced NATO to accelerate its efforts in maintaining Albania stable", stated to "KD" a high ranking official of the Alliance engaged in the plans for Albania, within the frames of the "Partnership for Peace" program.
"The Kosova conflict and the security of Albania are very closely interconnected, and this is why we opened our office in Albania in June", he claimed. This source claimed that "according to NATO, the main problem in Albania presently is the armament and ammunition warehouses, which are not protected in conformity with NATO standards".
Asked about the details of this problem, the NATO diplomat stated that, "Albania has more than 140 warehouses of military armament and ammunition. Most of them were looted during the last year’s disorders".
"Even though a huge quantity of armament and ammunition have been stolen and it is supposed to have been sold in Kosova, a considerable quantity of ammunition and weapons remains", claim the NATO experts.
"Those warehouses contain a lot of obsolete armament of Chinese and Russian production which cannot be used even by Albania itself, so NATO planned to destroy a part of it, in cooperation with the Albanian government".
According to the NATO experts, "the boxes of ammunition and explosive, which were opened during the disorders of the last year (and after it was evident that they do not contain anything worth to be sold), still remain open and represent a big danger. What we are speaking of is a very dangerous material which can cause damages with grave consequences", remind the NATO experts.
NATO sources informed that a conference of Ministers would take place on 30 October in Tirana. It will be kind of continuation of the Donors Conference, which was held last year in Rome. Italy initiated this conference, while the Albanian Government will be the host. In this conference, NATO will delegate a high-ranking envoy, because it is expected that the ministers participating will also offer military assistance to Albania, to help the modernization of its Army. Within the framework of NATO’s plans for helping Albania, the training of Albanian officers is also foreseen. In this realm, NATO will sent experts for radio links to Albania, in order to improve the communication between the Headquarters of the Albanian Army in Tirana with the military border units", NATO sources state, adding further that, "this will take place at the end of the month".
Despite the entire above, NATO sources note that "the main problems are closely interconnected with the Kosova conflict, so an armistice ought to be achieved and a solution, which would establish stability in the region, must be found".

THE LIST OF THE KILLED ALBANIAN CHILDREN IN KOSOVA
        DURING THE PERIOD OF JANUARY-SEPTEMBER 1998

THE LIST OF THE ALBANIAN WOMEN KILLED
        DURING THE PERIOD OF JANUARY-AUGUST 1998

THE LIST OF THE ALBANIANS OVER THE AGE OF 55 KILLED
        DURING THE PERIOD OF JANUARY-AUGUST 1998

THE LIST OF THE KILLED PERSONS SINCE JANUARY 1, 1998

...............................................................Prishtina, 10 September 1998

             The text you can read at  kill10998.htm
 

BC-ALBANIA-KOSOVE-BOMBING
Tanks and troops of Serb infantry making towards Rezalle

      PRISHTINE, Sept.12 (ata) -  Tank units and Serb infantry troops were moving on Saturday towards Rezalle (Kosove) with the aim to penetrate in Likoc, at a time when Albanian population are quickly fleeing also from villages Rezalle, Tice, Plluzhine, Kosove Information Centre (KIC) reports.
      According to KIC, since Thursday morning Serb forces have started to shell some of Drenice villages.
      Sources of the Council for the Defence of Human Rights in Skenderaj report that intensive shelling was made from the positions of Serb police near Llaushe, while lower intensive bombing was made in the villages Tice and Plluzhine. /mima/xh/

BC-ALBANIA- NATO OFFICE
NATO intervention in Kosove should be the same as in Bosnia

      TIRANE, Sept.12 (ata) -  By Enkelejda Koraqi:
"NATO is waiting all options to be determined by politicians for the question of intervention in Kosove," said Saturday in a news conference the chief of the NATO Office in Tirane, Paolo Tunegutti.
      In the conditions when the conflict in Kosove is assuming extraordinary proportions of violence, the highest ranking personalities of politics and defence continue to discuss the idea of stepping up the NATO pressure in Kosove and the way military intervention for the solution to the conflict will be realised.
      "We hold that the intervention of NATO troops in Kosove for the solution to the armed conflict there should be vetoed by the U.N.,"  said Tunegutti. Asked on the way NATO would follow in case such a military intervention was approved, he said that "we shall act in the same way as we did some years ago when NATO was asked to intervene for the solution of the conflict in Bosnia.
      "Most important thing for the Albanian army and for Albania is the rehabilitation of the army depots," said NATO office chief. "Our opinion for the road the Albanian army has to follow for this question is that the depots must be reduced in number. This is a long process which takes time, but it is also dangerous because the situation in Albania is not completely safe, moreover that most of the weapons (those looted last year) are not yet gathered."
      An indispensable duty for the Albanian Army is also to solve the question of the infrastructure, said Tunegutti. "We are working to create a team which will contribute to the elevation of the level of the forces of civil intervention. Finally, the mission that this office has been established in Albania is to be a coordinating mediator between NATO and the Albanian Defence Ministry."
      Referring to the departure of the representatives of the NATO Office from Albania, Tunegutti said that this is related with two factors, with the rotation taking place every three months and with another reason, which is a national question of the Americans. Their departure is not an indication that the NATO office is closed," said the NATO Office chief in Tirane, Paolo Tunegutti. /xh/

Romania urges quick solution to Kosova problem

      TIRANA, Sept 12 (ATA) - By I. Luto: Romanian president Emil Constantinescu has expressed his and his government's support for a quicker solution to the Kosova crisis in a letter to the Cultural Union of Albanians in Romania, Press Department at the Albanian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
      Romanian president wrote this letter in response to a statement published by the Cultural Union of Albanians which expressed "the deep concern of the Albanian diaspora on the fate of the Kosova people."
      "Romanian authorities have been and continue to be interested in finding a political and diplomatic solution to prevent escalation of the conflict in Kosova," the letter said.
      The message also recalled the latest visits of Constantinescu in the United States and Turkey, visits which created the possibility to discuss the Kosova problem and ways to overcome the crisis. /mima/ak/

Serb army blocks Albanian refugees in Bjeshket e Nemura

      PRISHTINE, Sept 12 (ATA) - Seven thousand Albanian refugees from Kosova who fled their attacked villages have been blocked since Friday midday by the Serb forces in the road leading to Plava, Montenegro, and are not allowed to climb down the Bjeshket e Nemuna, sources of Center for Information in Kosova (CIK) said.
      Witnesses have said to CIK that their situation is very grave and the site is very difficult.
      Only helicopters can be used to send aid to them while activists of the emergency council in Plava have called on international humanitarian institutions to urgently intervene to help the refugees, CIK said. /mima/ak/

Thousand Albanians head for Plava

      PRISHTINE, Sept 12 (ATA) - Thousand inhabitants of the villages of Decan commune fleeing latest attacks of Serb forces have been heading for Plava, Montenegro, in the last three days, Center for Information in Kosova (CIK) said.
      Head of the emergency council in Plava, Musa Gozaj, said to CIK that some 475 people have arrived in Plava during the last three days.
      Gozaj said that 1.000 people arrived on Friday some 15 km from Plava and should be transported to Plava.
      The same sources said that five to seven thousand people are on their way to Montenegro. Their situation is grave because there are also injured, sick persons among them including children and elderly people. Unconfirmed sources report of three dead.
      Some 8.500 Albanians fleeing their houses in Kosova have been settled in the commune of Plava and other possible influx is expected, according the latest reports. /mima/ak/

11 September 1998
TRANSCRIPT: SHATTUCK PRESS CONFERENCE ON KOSOVO SEPT. 10
(Says "current and immediate" must be urgently addressed) (2640)

The Hague -- Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor John Shattuck held a press conference in The Hague September 10 after spending four days in Belgrade, Kosovo and Montenegro to assess and report on the what he called the "current and immediate crisis, the human rights and humanitarian crisis," which "must be urgently addressed."

Shattuck said that while on his mission in Kosovo, he received "severely disturbing" reports that people were being rounded up and the men and boys were being separated from the women and children. He said he called the office of "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" President Slobodan Milosevic, registered his protest, told them "we would hold President Milosevic and his government personally responsible for the well-being of these individuals," and demanded that they be released. He said he "received confirmation last night [September 9] that 536 men have been released, and that is an important development. This is something we took directly to President Milosevic."

Reporting other eye-witness accounts of hostage-taking and of thousands of internally displaced persons in Kosovo, he said, "The overall situation is one where the international community is urgently pressing for a cease-fire and a stopping of the hostilities, because only under those conditions will people be able to return to their homes.... A cease-fire is absolutely imperative, as is a withdrawal or reduction of security forces."

Shattuck indicated that he was also concerned about the intimidation of the independent media outlets in Belgrade. He said this is a "very disturbing development that we are going to follow very closely."

Asked about the "timescale" of the impending "humanitarian tragedy," Shattuck responded, "The timescale is urgent.... It is urgently important that people get the relief that they are going to need before they are truly exposed [to the winter weather] in the mountains and elsewhere."

Following is a transcript of the press conference provided by the U.S. Embassy in The Hague:

(Begin transcript)

Assistant Secretary of State John Shattuck
Press Conference, U.S. Embassy, The Hague
September 10, 1998

I have just completed a four-day trip to Belgrade, Kosovo and Montenegro. I have made a number of public statements during the course of this mission, but I am very pleased to meet here with you and to discuss some even more recent developments and make some statements about the situation. The conclusion of my trip -- and I covered about 150 kilometers in Kosovo, in a large part of the central and eastern part of Kosovo -- is that massive human rights violations are occurring, that punitive actions are being taken against large numbers of civilians, that homes have been destroyed by shelling, partially or fully. On the roads on which I went there was constant evidence of that. In several cases there were houses burning.
     There was evidence just before I arrived, which I was able to look into a little more directly, of a shelling of a group of civilians as they sought to flee from their homes in the town of Senic, where seven fatalities occurred and 30 people were severely wounded, including in the case of the fatalities two small children and elderly women. The reports that we received as we made the trip around Kosovo of people being rounded up and men and boys being separated from women and children were severely disturbing. As we received those reports from several towns, we immediately contacted from the field, from the armored vehicles in which we were traveling, President Milosevic's office and his foreign policy advisor, made the very strongest possible protests, indicated that we would hold President Milosevic and his government personally responsible for the well-being of these individuals, and above all that they be given immediate access and released if they were not to be charged with criminal conduct under the international due process standards of criminal conduct. I received confirmation last night that 536 men have been released, and that is an important development. This is something we took directly to President Milosevic.
     We had four separate meetings during the two days we were there with officials about this situation. Seventy-three individuals continue to be held, reportedly in a prison in a town called Prizrien. We have a commitment that the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] will be able to visit these people to ensure that they are being treated under basic standards of humanitarian law under international due process. I don't have confirmation as of this moment that the ICRC has actually gotten access to them. The reason we are so deeply concerned and have stressed the urgency of access and the release of these individuals is that this story has been all too reminiscent of similar events that occurred in Bosnia. I think the release of these men is a very important development, but the situation needs to be watched very, very closely, and we are making it our highest diplomatic priority to ensure that similar events do not occur.
     Meanwhile, we received reports and eye-witness evidence that between 40 and 60 thousand internally-displaced persons are now in and around the town of Krusevac, which is near Pec, and these people are fearful of returning to their homes and are in the area largely surrounded by, not necessarily held by, security forces. We have expressed directly this morning to President Milosevic's office again our very deep concern about the welfare of these individuals, and we have again stressed that we hold President Milosevic and his government personally responsible for their welfare.
     We have also heard reports today from Belgrade that the independent media, or those few independent media outlets that are in Belgrade, have been intimidated by strong statements from the propaganda council, as it is called, accusing them of reporting favorably about terrorism, as it's being characterized by the official Belgrade media. That is a very disturbing development that we are going to follow very closely. I had occasion to meet with many of these independent media outlets when I was in Belgrade.
     The overall situation is one where the international community is urgently pressing for a cease-fire and a stopping of the hostilities, because only under those conditions will people be able to return to their homes. There are estimated hundreds and thousands -- there are no precise numbers -- of internally-displaced persons who are now unable to, because of the conditions of their homes and the conditions of fear under which they are moving around, return to their homes. A cease-fire is absolutely imperative, as is a withdrawal or reduction of security forces. We are also stressing the urgency of broad country-wide access for humanitarian organizations, not only for the ICRC, which I have mentioned, but all humanitarian organizations, such as the UNHCR [U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees] and others who are delivering humanitarian services. We also stress the urgency of international criminal investigations under the standards of the international humanitarian law by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, based here in The Hague. I was very pleased, and I think the international community strongly supports the statement made yesterday by the chief prosecutor of the War Crimes Tribunal, Judge Arbour, when she said, and I quote, in her letter to Judge MacDonald, which was then transmitted to the Security Council, "The international community is gravely concerned about the hostilities in Kosovo, and the possibility that war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed there. As you know, my office has launched an investigation into the events in Kosovo. I believe that the strongest deterrent message that could possibly be sent to those who may be involved in criminal activities falling within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal would be to demonstrate unambiguously that indicted persons will indeed be brought to justice in The Hague."
     And she then refers to three individuals who have been indicted by the War Crimes Tribunal and who have repeatedly been requested to be turned over to The Hague and President Milosevic has refused to do so. I raised this issue myself in my meeting with President Milosevic directly. In short, we have a humanitarian emergency and a human rights emergency and a very serious catastrophe in the making. We hold the Serb authorities and President Milosevic personally responsible for changing the circumstances that now exist in Kosovo so that people can return to their homes and this catastrophe can end and the international humanitarian organizations can get broad access to these individuals as the winter comes on.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION:

Q: Did you say you spoke with Milosevic about those people he refuses to turn over to The Hague Tribunal? What did he say?

Yes, I did and he has in the past resisted requests to turn them over. First, on a theory that his constitution bars extradition to an international organization such as the Criminal Tribunal. He has also made completely unsupportable statements about the Tribunal being anti-Serb, when in fact, significant work by the Tribunal is being done and has been done with respect to victims of the conflict in Bosnia who are Serb.

Q:  Do you think he'll close the media as he threatened?

A: We don't have any specific information that he's going to close them, but certainly statements intimidating them are dangerous. Another major example of the fundamental violation of human rights and basic principles of democracy in Serbia by President Milosevic and his government.

Q: We've been engaged in diplomatic efforts for six months. When is the time for military intervention?

A: Well, that is for others to say. What we have, as I stressed here, is a humanitarian emergency and a catastrophe in the making. That was the purpose of my mission. My reporting on that subject, I think, speaks for itself.

Q: Do you think that military intervention is the best method to deal with the situation?

A: I'm going to leave that set of comments for others. I think that's the best way I can indicate to you what the situation is.

Q:  Elections

A: On the longer term track, that is to say, a diplomatic track for a longer-term negotiated settlement to the situation in Kosovo, there has been a recent procedural positive development. That is to find a framework within which Kosovo Albanian leaders and authorities in Belgrade can discuss and the leaders themselves in Kosovo, to develop institutions for protecting human rights, for developing elections, for having independent judiciary and other basic elements of the future. The current and immediate crisis, the human rights and humanitarian crisis, must be urgently addressed for this longer-term process to bear fruit.

Q: Your colleague Christopher Hill has accused EU leaders of abandoning Kosovo. What do you make of that dispute? Is there a split?

No, and I will just comment by saying that I was very pleased throughout my trip to have with me a representative of the European Commission, Commissioner Emma Bonino's personal representative. I have also been in direct and constant contact with European capitals during the course of my trip. And I think there is a growing and very strong unanimity between the U.S. and European countries about the point that I've just made and the analysis of the situation.

Q:  ....

A: Well, that will be done. There is in our partnership with the EU... that will be done in collaboration with the existing diplomatic channel that Ambassador Hill is working on. Ever closer coordination and stepped-up activities, diplomatic and otherwise, in this area, is very positive.

Q: When you visited the Tribunal today were you able to take evidence that investigators will be able to gain access?

A: One area that shows some promise, I think, after the meetings I had in Belgrade, is the prospect of international forensic experts getting access to Kosovo. As you know there are a number of mass grave sites that have recently been either alleged or demonstrated, but the identity of the victims and persons in those graves and the circumstances under which they died can't ever be known without truly independent forensic evidence-gathering. I made that point in the meetings with Milosevic, and I would expect that, in the near term, international forensic experts will get access to Kosovo. Other aspects of investigation into the crimes being committed need to be developed more fully. Certainly, the statement that I just read that Judge Arbour has sent to the UNSC is a very strong indication of the work that the Tribunal is doing and proposes to do with respect to, as I see it, the violations of international humanitarian law in Kosovo.

Q: Were these violations committed by the Serbs? Were any committed by the KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army, also called the UCK]?

A: Our trip involved evidence-gathering and information-gathering from all sides. We met with the parents of Serb victims, who have allegedly been kidnapped and are missing. There are about 115 Serbs reported missing. In each instance, they are reported to have been kidnaped. These are clearly human rights violations against Serbs. We also looked closely, but obviously could not reach any conclusion, at alleged mass graves that are said by the government to contain the bodies of Serbs. This is precisely why international forensic evidence-gathering is critical. This is in the interest of all parties including the government of Belgrade.

Q: What is the timescale to try and avert this humanitarian tragedy?

A: The timescale is urgent. Again, I'm going to leave to others statements that might be made about further actions to be taken. I think the urgency of providing basic humanitarian relief to persons and to create conditions under which they can return to their homes as the winter approaches is very clear. The calendar itself is a big factor here. It is urgently important that people get the relief that they are going to need before they are truly exposed in the mountains and elsewhere.

I, incidentally, also visited Montenegro and had a meeting with the government of Montenegro, and I would like to make a few comments about that. First, there are about 43,000 Kosovo refugees in Montenegro, and the government of Montenegro, which you know is a part of the FRY ["Federal Republic of Yugoslavia], is receiving those refugees and is providing for them with the help of the international community. It is fully cooperating with UNHCR, with the International Criminal Tribunal, and with the ICRC. Of course, there were, a year ago, free and fair democratic elections and the process of developing a democratic country is proceeding in Montenegro, even as it remains part of the FRY. This is a very strong signal that the underlying crisis in the region is a crisis of democracy or a lack of democracy in Serbia. That is demonstrated most powerfully by the circumstances in Montenegro, where there is also a very independent media, who we met with and reported on the trip and who have been very clear when they need to make critical comments about their government without intimidation. I think the story of Montenegro is under-reported, if I may make that point to the press.

Q: Do you think the international community is putting too much stress on...

A: The international community is inviting all members and parts of the Albanian Kosovo community to participate in the efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the status of Kosovo. The door is wide open to all participants. Dr. Rugova is one participant and should be. He is the legitimate representative of his people, having won himself an election. Others are also welcome to participate and we certainly hope that in the coming time they will.

(End transcript)

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

Thousands of Kosovo Refugees Flee
          Associated Press 09/12
Serbian armoured cars drive refugees from camp
          REUTERS 09/12
UK defies EU ban over Serbia
          BBC 09/11
Albanian Refugees Pinned In as Serbs Rampage
          REUTERS 09/11
Humanitarians Appalled by Kosovo
          Associated Press 09/11
_________________________

September 12, 1998
Thousands of Kosovo Refugees Flee
By The Associated Press

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Heavy fighting in northwestern Kosovo drove thousands of ethnic Albanians from their villages today, days after their cautious return to attempt resettling, ethnic Albanian sources said.
     A separate refugee crisis was developing on Kosovo's border with Montenegro after an estimated 3,000 refugees were refused entry Friday by the cash-strapped republic. Ethnic Albanians pleaded for emergency aid for those refugees.
     International officials have been trying desperately to help unsheltered refugees of the six-month conflict before winter arrives.
     There was no sign of a letup today in the offensive by Serb security forces, who are trying to crush the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army that is fighting for their province's independence from Serbia. In Kosovo, ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-to-1.
     About 12,000 people fled their homes late Friday and today in the Drenica region, according to the ethnic Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center. Most had returned only days earlier to their homes in the area around Razala, about 18 miles northwest of the provincial capital Pristina, spokesman Himli Zogjani said.
     "Refugees are fleeing but they don't know where to go," he said.
     The ethnic Albanian center said fighting was "very heavy" today in the Drenica area, which is considered one of the last remaining KLA strongholds. It said three ethnic Albanians, two of them children, had been killed there Friday and today.
     The pro-Serb Media Center had no immediate reports of fighting or refugee movements today.
     To the west of Decani, a new refugee plight developed on the Montenegro border following the government's decision Friday to halt the influx of refugees into their territory.
     More than 40,000 Kosovo refugees already are in Montenegro. Serbia and the smaller Montenegro are the two remaining republics of Yugoslavia.
     Zogjani said 3,000 refugees were camped in the mountains on the border, effectively trapped near the village of Bogajice, after being turned back.
     Serb police, meanwhile, used loudspeakers today to urge an estimated 7,000 refugees to leave the meadow where they are camped in Istinic, 45 miles southwest of Pristina. "Go home, the police and army won't harm you," they said in Albanian.
     Police were escorting those who refused to leave.
     "I'd like most of all to go to my home but I don't know what's waiting there for me," said Mistar Sejdia, a 70-year-old refugee who said he's been on the run for over three months.
_________________________

Serbian armoured cars drive refugees from camp
09:21 a.m. Sep 12, 1998 Eastern
By Kurt Schork

ISTINIC, Serbia, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Serbian police dispersed tens of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees from Istinic in western Kosovo on Saturday using armoured personnel carriers and loud-hailers to move the crowd, witnesses said.
     "Get going, get going, this is your last warning!" shouted a Serbian policeman as he wandered through a jumble of refugee wagons, wielding a willow switch like a riding crop, cracking it against his trouser leg as he urged the weary column on.
     The dirt roads leading away from Istinic were crammed with horse and tractor-drawn wagons piled high with bedding, clothes, cook stoves, women, and children whose hands and faces were black with grime from days spent living rough.
     The refugees were generally compliant, but one old man did dare to stand in front of a blue armoured personnel carrier for a moment with his hands outstretched in a supplication for mercy and understanding.
     Informed by reporters that many refugees were complaining they couldn't go back to their villages because their houses had been burned, a Serbian policeman said: "Good, good. They can busy themselves rebuilding them."
     Wounded men groaned in their agony and at least one woman gave birth along the main route out of Istinic on Saturday.
     Small groups of refugees struck out on foot, some heading home to villages they knew to be largely destroyed and others bound for towns like Pec and Djakovica where they hoped to find shelter with friends or relatives.
     Fear was the common denominator among this bedraggled throng, most of whom arrived in Istinic on Thursday after being driven from their homes by Yugoslav army armoured columns and Serbian special police in the latest spasm of Kosovo's conflict.
     Guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) have been fighting since February to take the province and its 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority out of federal Yugoslavia.
     "This is my fourth day in this field and I'm exhausted," said 90-year old Haxhi Zeqa, who fled the village of Celopek earlier in the week.
     "In World War Two soldiers fought against soldiers. Now the police and the army are attacking ordinary people, civilians, and they are burning our houses. My house was never damaged in World War Two and I never had to run away before now.
     "They tell us to go home, but our homes are destroyed. We don't know what to do and there's no one here to help us," the old man said.
     Western aid workers reckon that a Serbian sweep through villages southeast of Pec last week drove at least 50,000 ethnic Albanians into Istinic, where they were trapped between police and army units.
     The International Red Cross was blocked from Istinic on Friday and little in the way of humanitarian aid made it to the refugees before they were forced to move on again.
     Mercy Corps International and the World Food Programme had staff on the scene on Saturday. Most were appalled by what they witnessed.
     "This is pretty much a done deal," said Steve Zimmerman, Director of Operations for Mercy Corps International, and American relief organisation.
     "The people don't have much choice but to leave. The question we keep getting asked over and over again is 'What should we do? Should we move or should we stay? What's safest?' We can't give them any advice because we just don't know."
     Asked why European and American representatives weren't present and visible in Istinic when it is just an hour by air to Rome and Vienna, Zimmerman replied: "Because what's happening here isn't significant to them."
     Police estimated there were no more than 15,000 refugees in Istinic by midday on Saturday and they vowed that all would be gone by sundown.
     Even though they were surrounded by army and police units and had little food or potable water, most of the refugees in Istinic felt safer there as a group than they did breaking up into smaller bands and dispersing.
     Fighting-age men trying to care for their families feared being arrested, or worse, on suspicion of membership in the KLA.
     A recent government offensive has laid waste to much of the countryside in Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia. U.N. officials report that at least 265,000 people are now homeless in Kosovo.
     "I was in Istinic twice on Friday and there were about 50,000 people here in the afternoon," said Terry Helius, Mercy Corps' chief in the former Yugoslavia.
     "It looks like they'll all be pushed out by the end of the day today (Saturday). We'll have a harder time keeping track of them then, a harder time figuring out if they're OK."

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
________________________

Friday, September 11, 1998 Published at 18:44 GMT 19:44 UK
UK defies EU ban over Serbia

The government has rejected claims that it is undermining EU policy to end repression in Kosovo.
     Foreign secretary Robin Cook was criticised by his shadow counterpart, the Conservatives' Michael Howard, for failing to impose an immediate landing ban on Yugoslave airline JAT.
     Germany led criticism from the other member states at the government's lack of action to effect the ban.
     The ban, a reprisal for Belgrade's repressive policies in Kosovo, was agreed last week by EU member states including the UK.
     But UK ministers and officials said at the time that they were tied by an air services agreement signed with Yugoslavia almost 40 years ago.
     They said the UK was obliged to give 12 months notice before halting JAT flights into Britain.
     Nevertheless, the German Foreign Office on Thursday said Britain had "broken ranks" with EU solidarity over the air travel embargo.
     EU Commission President Jacques Santer stepped up the pressure.
     Without mentioning the UK directly he insisted that the embargo on JAT flights into Europe imposed by 15 member states on 7 September had to be applied by all.
     "If one or several member states don't play the game the sanctions are robbed of meaning," Mr Santer said, announcing that the commission would be investigating the matter at talks next week.
     Germany is leading calls for Britain to be called before the European Court of Justice unless it complies with the embargo.
     A government spokeswoman insisted the UK had honoured last week's agreement by giving notice that it was terminating its long-standing accord with Yugoslavia.
     The government's statement turned the tables by accusing other EU member states of undermining the flight ban by doing commercial deals with the Yugoslav government to absorb JAT's lost market share.
     It is understood that both Germany's Lufthansa national airline and Austrian Airlines are paying the Belgrade regime hard currency in exchange for taking over JAT's trade on some air routes.
     "We believe this undermines the flight ban by indirectly benefiting the Yugoslav government," said the UK Government spokeswoman.
     "We hope that the commission will examine these reports when considering the issue next week."
     Government officials say Britain would have been happy to comply immediately with the EU embargo were it not for the legally-binding accord with Yugoslavia.
     They added that no watertight way had yet been found of breaking the air services agreement at short notice.
_________________________

September 11, 1998
Albanian Refugees Pinned In as Serbs Rampage
By REUTERS

ISTINIC, Serbia -- Some 40,000 ethnic Albanian refugees spent a second day Thursday caught between advancing Serbian police and army units that have burned villages during rampages across western Kosovo.
     "These people are in a very desperate situation," said Fernando del Mundo, spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency. "They are terrified, obviously, and they don't know where to go or what to do."
     Ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the two million people who live in Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia where a rebel army has been fighting for independence from Belgrade since early this year.
     On Thursday the refugee column stretched for at least five miles from this village toward Krusevac on a dirt road crowded with tractor-drawn wagons, cars, people and livestock. An Austrian defense attaché working in the area said the refugees numbered at least 40,000.
     Some relief supplies were being doled out by aid agencies in the center of Istinic, under the watchful eye of the Serbian police. When compared with the number of people in need, the amount of assistance being provided was pitifully inadequate.
     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 as Serbian security forces continued to burn villages in the area where ethnic Albanians live.
     Reporters saw a Yugoslav Army armored column, including 11 tanks, leaving the deserted village of Celopek this morning, its vehicles mud-splattered and its men unshaven and weary from a night of action.
     Parts of the villages of Celopek, Kotradic, Krusevac and Brolic were in flames.
     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.
     One refugee there, Sule Sofia, a 50-year-old man from the village of Gramacel, sat in a field with a fixed grimace on his face, his right arm swathed in bandages.
     "We're trapped here without any help, without any protection," he said.
"Where is Europe? Where is America?"
________________________

September 11, 1998
Humanitarians Appalled by Kosovo
By The Associated Press

ISTINIC, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Aid workers trickled into a teeming village in Kosovo on Friday and were immediately overwhelmed by the misery of thousands of refugees, many ill, wounded and shell-shocked after fleeing homes under a Serb siege.
     A half dozen humanitarian workers arrived in Istinic, in southwestern Kosovo, where an estimated 20,000 ethnic Albanians have been camped out for days. They quickly found themselves besieged with demands for medical attention and food.
     "This is the worst I've seen," said Terry Heselius, an American who has been helping out in refugee crises in the region for about five years. He represents the Oregon-based Mercy Corps, whose role in Istini is to provide food.
     As he spoke, dozens of refugees crowded around him to tell tales of fear and hardship.
     The other group represented Friday, the French organization Doctors Without Borders, set up a makeshift clinic that was soon surrounded by about 150 people, many of them children.
     Some of those waiting had festering wounds. Others appeared feeble after nights sleeping on damp fields with little food and no clean water.
     "There is too much work for us to do," said one nurse, who did not want her named used for fear of repercussions from Serb officials. She said most of the children were suffering from diarrhea, and that infections were widespread.
     Most refugees fled to Istinic, 45 miles west of the provincial capital of Pristina, from areas to the north and south. Those villages were targeted by a Serb military offensive that ousted the secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army from one of their last strongholds almost a week ago. Dozens were wounded and several killed by mortar shells and bullets.
     Many had already spent weeks in other refugee pockets where they fled earlier fighting in the six-month-old conflict that has killed hundreds and left more than a quarter of a million homeless in Kosovo.
     The province is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, who overwhelmingly seek independence from Serbia, the dominant republic in the Yugoslav federation.
     Tractors and trailers loaded with hastily packed belongings jammed farm fields for miles around Istinic on Friday. Refugees cooked what little food they had on open fires.
     In one crowded field outside Istinic, a boy in his early teens lay on his family's meager pile of clothing with a bullet in his groin. A relative said the boy was shot when police attacked his village several days ago.
     Aid workers, however, said the supplies that were expected Friday and Saturday may be meager because of the need to care for tens of thousands of other refugees elsewhere in Kosovo.
     Serb police officers patrolled the roads around the town Friday, saying they were trying to escort the refugees safely back to their villages, many of which have been reduced to rubble. One senior officer said thousands of refugees had already returned, and by some estimates the refugee population had dwindled in recent days.
     But several refugees said police loaded only six buses with men, women and children and refused to allow others to leave. Others said they were afraid to leave the refugee camp for fear of being arrested by the Serb police.
     The growing refugee flow has alarmed international refugee officials. John Shattuck, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, has warned that Kosovo is headed for a humanitarian catastrophe as the harsh Balkan winter approaches.

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