Tagesnachrichten 14. September 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - September 14, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1552

         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 14.09.1998 16:28  http://seite1.web.de/show/35FD2840.NL1/

Athen will EU-Landeverbot für JAT vorerst nicht umsetzen
Hamburg/Belgrad/Pristina/Brüssel (dpa) - Nach Großbritannien will auch Griechenland das EU-Landeverbot für Flugzeuge der jugoslawischen Fluggesellschaft JAT vorerst nicht umsetzen.
Wie die EU-Kommission am Montag in Brüssel mitteilte, berief sich die Regierung in Athen auf ein Luftverkehrs-Abkommen mit Jugoslawien. Das hat nach diplomatischen Angaben eine Kündigungsfrist von sechs Monaten. «Die Griechen haben die gleiche Linie wie die Briten eingeschlagen», sagte eine Kommissionssprecherin.
Das Landeverbot ist seit knapp einer Woche für alle EU-Staaten nach einer Verordnung rechtlich bindend. Die Strafmaßnahme soll Serbien zum Verzicht auf Gewalt gegen die mehrheitlich albanisch-stämmige Bevölkerung im Kosovo bewegen. JAT kündigte unterdessen an, Belgien und Spanien nicht mehr anzufliegen.
In der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo ist die Lage der Flüchtlinge weiter angespannt. Der deutsche Außenminister Klaus Kinkel warnte am Montag vor einem Flüchtlingsdrama. Es müsse alles versucht werden, «um im Winter eine Katastrophe zu verhindern», sagte er der «Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung».
Nach Angaben Kinkels haben im Kosovo etwa 150 000 Menschen ihre Dörfer verlassen. Derzeit liefen in Absprache mit der UNO daher Bemühungen, daß die Flüchtlinge in der Region, in Mazedonien und in Albanien bleiben könnten.
Erst am Wochenende hatten serbische Sicherheitskräfte nach Angaben des albanischen Kosovo-Informationszentrums in Pristina mindestens 14 Kosovo-Albaner getötet, die nach Montenegro flüchten wollten.
Das Zentrum beschuldigte die serbische Polizei, mehrere tausend Kosovo-Flüchtlinge aus Istinic und Umgebung unter Gewaltandrohung am Wochenende zur Rückkehr in ihre Dörfer in der Provinz gezwungen zu haben. Nach Berichten serbischer Behörden kehrten die Albaner dagegen freiwillig zurück und gaben ebenso freiwillig ihre Waffen ab.
Wie Kinkel weiter mitteilte, sind bisher etwa 14 000 Flüchtlinge über die Grenze nach Nordalbanien gekommen, etwa 27 500 befinden sich in Montenegro.
Im Kosovo werde versucht, mit dem jugoslawischen Präsidenten Slobodan Milosevic Konzepte zu entwickeln, die eine Rückkehr der Flüchtlinge in ihre Dörfer ermöglichten, sagte Kinkel. Milosevic müsse jedoch seine Truppen zurückziehen.
© dpa

EU-Kommission: Athen setzt Landeverbot für  JAT-Flugzeuge nicht um
Brüssel (dpa) - Nach Großbritannien will auch Griechenland das EU-Landeverbot für Flugzeuge der jugoslawischen Gesellschaft JAT vorerst nicht umsetzen. Wie die EU-Kommission am Montag in Brüssel mitteilte, berief sich die Regierung in Athen auf ein Luftverkehrsabkommen mit Jugoslawien. Dieses hat nach diplomatischen Angaben eine Kündigungsfrist von sechs Monaten. «Die Griechen haben die gleiche Linie wie die Briten eingeschlagen», sagte ein Kommissionssprecherin.
Großbritannien beruft sich auf ein ähnliches Abkommen mit einer Kündigungsfrist von einem Jahr. Derzeit prüfen Juristen der Behörde, ob eine solche Ausnahme zulässig ist. Sollte das nicht der Fall sein, könnte die Kommission Großbritannien vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof in Luxemburg.
Das Landeverbot ist seit knapp einer Woche für alle EU-Staaten einer Verordnung nach rechtlich bindend. Die Strafmaßnahme soll Serbien zum Verzicht auf Gewalt gegen die mehrheitlich albanische Bevölkerung in der Provinz Kosovo bewegen.
© dpa

Albaner: Mindestens 14 Albaner im Kosovo getötet
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Beim Versuch aus der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo nach Montenegro zu flüchten, sind am Wochenende mindestens 14 Albaner getötet worden, gab das albanische Kosovo-Informationszentrum am Montag in Pristina bekannt.
Die Opfer wurden in der Nacht zum Samstag nach Augenzeugenberichten im Prokletija-Gebirgen nahe Istinic von serbischen Sicherheitskräften getötet.
Das Zentrum beschuldigte die serbische Polizei, unter Gewaltandrohung am Samstag und Sonntag mehrere tausend Kosovo-Flüchtlinge aus Istinic und Umgebung zur Rückkehr in ihre Dörfer in der Provinz gezwungen zu haben. Serbische Behörden berichten demgenüber, daß die Albaner freiwillig zurückkehren und ebenso freiwillig ihre Waffen abgeben.
Die kleinere jugoslawische Bundesrepublik Montenegro hat am Sonntag 3 200 Kosovo-Flüchtlinge nach Albanien abgeschoben. Ihnen wurde zuvor die Einreise in die Grenzstadt Plav verweigert, wo sich schon 8 500 Kosovo-Albaner befinden, meldete das Informationszentrum.
© dpa

In Klammern die Prozentzahlen der Landtagswahlen 1994

                           in der Stadt Wertingen   |   in Bayern
                                                    |
Wahlbeteiligung           69,5 % (67,5)     + 2,0   |
                                                    |
            CSU           56,8 % (55,5)     + 1,3 % |   52,8 %   ± 0,0 %
            SPD           22,8 % (23,2)     - 0,5 % |   29,2 %   - 0,8 %
            Grüne          8,4 % ( 7,4)     + 1,0 % |    5,5 %   - 0,6 %
            Republikaner   4,8 % ( 5,3)     - 0,5 % |    3,6 %   - 0,3 %
            FDP            1,6 % ( 3,4)     - 1,8 % |    1,7 %   - 1,1 %
            ÖDP            1,7 % ( 2,7)     - 1,0 % |     ?
            BP             0,6 % ( 0,7)     - 0,1 % |     ?
            BFP            0,4 % ( 0,0)     - 0,4 % |     ?
            FBU            0,2 % ( 0,3)     - 0,1 % |     ?
            FW             2,5 % (  - )             |    3,4 %      -
_______________________________________________________________________
 

........
       now Germany can not deport Kosova-Albanians !

   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 !

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

Kinkel Calls for Settlement of Kosovo Refugees Problem.

Itar-Tass 14-SEP-98
BERLIN, September 14 (Itar-Tass) - German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel has called for the urgent solution of the Kosovo refugees problem. "It is necessary to take every step to prevent a disaster this winter," he stressed in his interview, which was published in the newspaper "Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung" on Monday.

About 150,000 people had fled from Kosovo. About 14,000 refugees have crossed over to northern Albania and about 27.5 thousand are now in Montenegro, the minister said. On agreement with the United Nations, he added, efforts are now being exerted to make the refugees stay in Albania and Macedonia. At the same time, attempts are being made in Kosovo to reach agreement with Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic on the return of the refugees to their homes.

"Milosevic must withdraw his troops from these districts," Kinkel believes.

Postkarten schreiben ! -  Write postcards !

Postkarten schreiben ! -  Write postcards !

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1552
Prishtina, 14 September 1998

FOCUS: - Milosevic Is Destroying Kosova Piecemeal, 'Western Policy Working'
The West should know the Serb dictator does not have to take 'more aggressive action' to actually turn Kosova into a wasteland

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (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.
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. They did not speak of homes being 'sometimes destroyed', nor did they resort to the kind of language intent on playing down the scale of destruction caused by Serb military and the sense of urgency of the situation.
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."
The problem is Milosevic, the man who masterminded the wars of attrition in Bosnia and Croatia, is now destroying Kosova piecemeal while the West, NATO and U.S, are hibernating.
More than 1,200 Kosovar Albanians have been killed this year, more than 40,000 houses destroyed, more than 400,000 people turned to refugees. Half of Kosova has been affected directly by the Serb military and paramilitary offensive in the past seven months.
Yet, the West sees some success in this. It is basking in self- adulation. The Kosova crisis has been contained and Western policy is working, a Western diplomatic observer in Kosova said on Sunday, Reuter news agency reported.
"The goal has been to erect a fire-break around Kosovo, to prevent the conflict here from destabilising (neighboring) Albania and Macedonia and igniting a wider war", said the diplomatic observer on condition of anonymity.
"Measured against that standard, the policy is working. One could object that it is a cold and calculating policy dressed up in rhetorical concern for human rights and vague threats against Belgrade to make it more palatable."
"But at the end of the day, we have managed to avoid air strikes and any deployment of troops. The dollar cost of our effort can be measured in tens of millions, not in billions as happened in Bosnia. And there is no great public outcry.", Reuters quoted the Western diplomatic observer as saying.
What the unnamed observer and indeed the Kosova diplomatic observer mission as a whole - which was born out of a meeting of Russian and Serb leaders in mid-June in Moscow - may perhaps pride themselves on is the fact that their official information despatched to and processed by their capitals has been fashioned to convey the idea of the 'not-so-much destruction' in Kosova.
The cost of billions of dollars in damages caused by the Serb armor to Kosovar towns and villages is not part of this cold, reasoned, and cynical calculation. Nor is there any 'great public outcry' over the reality that half of Kosova has been turned into a wasteland.
There have been quarters which have cried foul over the Western policies, though.
Senator Bob Dole said Sunday, 6 September, in Prishtina: "American and European leaders have pledged not to allow the crimes against humanity which we witnessed in Bosnia to occur in Kosovo. But, from what I have seen this weekend, such crimes are already happening."
EU Commissioner Emma Bonino warned the ELDR (European Liberal and Reform Group) at its strategy conference in Venice last week 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 referring to a Serb regime plan to open 11 centers where Kosova Albanian refugees would be supplied with food and building material. (Senior U.S. officials initially said they would support such a plan, to only retract it after criticism by the New York Times.)
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".
Now that the West has spared billions of dollars at the expense of hundreds of killed, thousands of wounded, billions of dollars worth of Kosovar housing units destroyed by Milosevic, an interim settlement for Kosova has been floated as the success-to-be.
The irony is this success-to-be is being claimed by three parties. Milosevic himself, the EU (Brussels), and Ambassador Hill (USA) want each to be credited for this. The Serb propaganda said the 'FRY' and Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader has come up with the idea; there has been a lot of talk of the U.S. (Mr. Hill) having secured a way out by having made the parties (Milosevic and Rugova) agree to the plan; and, last but not least, Belgian Foreign Minister Dereycke said last week in Prishtina that what Ambassador Hill had put forth was something the European Union had come up with a long time ago.
Belgrade, Washington and Brussels have something to pride themselves on, to emulate one another on. As Reuters correspondent duly noted, survival, not independence, will become the all- consuming struggle for many Kosovar Albanians through the coming winter.
It is only Prishtina, the capital of the 2-million nation of Kosova, that has nothing to pride itself on. Half of Kosova destroyed, almost a quarter of the population turned into refugees, etc. etc...

Serb Burn Communities in Klina after Red Cross Workers Leave Area

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - Serb troops set ablaze today (Monday) the few remaining houses of Albanians in the villages of Volljakë, Çupevë and Gremnik of Klina, central Kosova, local sources told the KIC.
Heavy Serb troops backed by 30 tanks besieged the village of Sverka today morning. Once the Red Cross Delegation which was visiting the Panorc village left, the Serb troops launched a fierce attack against Sverka. Serb infantry entered into the village later, torching over a dozen houses there, witnesses said. The local population had fled the village earlier.

Serbs Pound Albanian Hamlets North-West of Prishtina

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - Albanian hamlets - Vidishiq, Melenicë and Zjaqë - in the Shala a Bajgorës, region, north-west of Prishtina, came under heavy Serb fire for many hours on Sunday.
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica said the Serb attack against the Albanian communities in the area was kicked at around 11 in the morning and lasted until evening hours.
Immense damage was caused in these villages, it said, failing to say anything on possible casualties.

Serbs Shoot Dead Albanian in His Place in Vushtrri

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - A 50-year-old Albanian, Amrush Asllani, was shot dead Sunday evening at his village, Stanoc i Poshtëm, of Vushtrri ('Vucitrn') municipality.
The LDK chapter in Vushtrri said Amrush Asllani was killed in his courtyard around midnight yesterday, when his house was sprayed with machine-gun bullets from the neighboring Serb village of Prilluzha.
The Prilluzha village has been for months now turned into a stronghold of Serb troops and paramilitary units, who, in tandem with the local population, have been repeatedly pounding with fire the outlying Albanian hamlets.
Residents of Stanoc i Poshtëm claimed that their farmhouses were pounded with machine-gun fire on several occasions yesterday, as well as around midnight, when their fellow villager Amrush Asllani was killed.

Montenegrin Authorities Deport Thousands of Kosovr Refugees to Albania

RISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - At least 3,000 Kosovar Albanians who had trekked on foot to Montenegro during the past few days were deported to Albania by the Montenegrin authorities on Sunday.
Between 5 to 7 thousand Albanians from western Kosova, among whom women, children, sick and wounded, who had fled the Serb attacks, attempted to cross into the neighboring Montenegro via Bjeshket e Nemuna mountains. About 3,000 were trapped in the mountains since Friday night when Serb and Montenegrin forces prevented them from proceeding towards the Plavë area.
Still unconfirmed reports said that at least 14 were killed in the Bjeshket e Nemuna when ambushed by Serb troops.
An activist with the local aid groups in Plavë (Montenegro) told the KIC that between 3,000 and 4,000 Kosovar refugees were forced on buses, trucks and means of transportation, and sent into Albania through the Vermosh border crossing.
Local authorities in Shkodra (Albania) said that the many Kosovar refugees had already reached north of the country yesterday evening, failing to say where they were sheltered.
Reuters quoted a UNCHR spokesman as saying that three thousand Kosovars who crossed on foot Montenegro on Friday after three days and nights of travel through the mountains were taken in trucks to Albania. Fernando del Mundo added that another 3,000 were stuck in the mountains just inside Kosova, unable to enter Montenegro after the border was closed to refugees on Saturday.
Sources in Plava said today that around 250 Kosovar refugees sheltered in Alpine summer huts not very far from Plava have been trapped in the mountains, and denied access to the town by the Montenegrin authorities. The Montenegrin government decided late last week to cut the flow of refugees from Kosova into the republic.
Around 8500 registered Kosovar refugees had sought shelter in Plava by last week, while thousands of others are reported in other places across Montenegro, mainly in the costal town of Ulqin.
On Sunday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees sent a letter to Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic, reminding him of an earlier promise to provide a safe haven for those trying to escape the Kosova fighting, the Associated Press reported.

Half a Dozen Villages in Fushë-Kosova Given Three-Day Deadline to Surrender Weapons

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - Residents of half a dozen villages in the municipality of Fushë-Kosova ('Kosovo Polje') have been given a three-day-ultimatum to hand over weapons they allegedly possessed or else risk brutal reprisals.
Representatives, two to three each, of the villages of Harilaq, Sllatinë e Madhe, Henc, Miradi e Epërme, Vragoli were detained by Serb police on Friday. They were told to persuade their fellow villagers to surrender all weapons by Tuesday, or else Serb troops would do the job.
LDK activists in the municipality say the Serb regime warning  has caused anxiety amongst the population, who are fearful of a Serb forces' crackdown.
Hundreds of Albanians displaced from the Drenica region, who have found shelter in Fushë-Kosova villages, left during the last weekend to look for safer places.
Meawnhile, sources in Prizren said Serbs have issued similar ultimatums to the Albanian population in the region. Serb police drove on repeated occasions the main square of Dushanova village on Sunday calling through a megaphone on the local residents to give in weapons, or else face bombardment. Similar ultimatums have been issued to the residents of the Tusus suburb of Prizren.

Refugees Sheltered in Rugova Mountains in Urgent Need for Food and Clothes

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - At least 2,000 Albanians driven from their homes in the Lugu i Baranit (Barani valley) area, south-east of Peja, have found shelter in the Rugova, a mountainous region in western Kosova, local sources said.
LDK activists in Rugova told the KIC today morning that the refugees were in a vulnerable situation. There are many weak and sick persons who need urgently food and medical supplies, as well as clothing, as the air temperatures in mountains have already fallen down significantly, they noted.

Serb Police Beat Wounded Albanians in Hospital

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - Four wounded Albanians who were taken by workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Prishtina hospital on Friday were reported maltreated physically by Serb police in the clinic.
Sources in the Surgery Dept of Prishtina hospital named the four wounded Albanians as Xhon Ndreca, Arsim Tolaj, Yll Morina and Ms Fatime Dodaj. The ICRC representatives who brought the wounded Albanians to the hospital were denied access to the hospital.
The three wounded men, Xhon Ndreca, Arsim Tolaj, Yll Morina, were beaten up brutally by Serb police officers who interrogated them in the clinic. They are being held in the vascular surgery ward, with Serb police tightly guarding their rooms, witneses  said.

Serb Police Removes Patient from Hospital, His Whereabouts Unknown

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - A wounded Albanian who was being treated in the Prishtina hospital was removed by Serb police and taken away to an unknown place last Friday.
Qerim Jetishi, wounded two months ago somewhere in south-west Kosova, got treated for some days in a Gjakava clinc before being transferred to the Prishtina hospital. While in clinics in both the towns, he was guarded constantly by Serb police.
Sources in the Prishtina hospital said his legs were still in plaster, and he was still sick on Friday when Serb police officers took him. There has been no word about his whereabouts ever since.

Serb Military and Police Roam the Streets, Provoke Citizens in Mitrovica

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - A convoy of Serb military and police consisting of 5 tanks, 10 lorries, 30 jeeps and five landrovers full of soldiers and policemen backed up by heavy artillery pieces passed through Mitrovica heading in the direction of Prishtina late in the morning today (Monday).
The convoy came from Skenderaj ('Srbica'), the LDK chapter in Mitrovica said.
At half past 12:00, more Serb military and police equipment and personnel arrived in Mitrovica. They patrolled the streets of the aiming their guns at Albanian passers-by.
At noon, three Serb tanks, two armored cars, three lorries, and other vehicles with soldiers on board left Mitrovica for Stantërg ('Stari Trg'), LDK sources said.

6,000 Albanian Refugees Camping Out in Qirez, Skenderaj

PRISHTINA, Sept 14 (KIC) - Some 6,000 Albanians, driven from villages shelled by Serb forces in Drenica, have found refugee and shelter in the open at a location called "Fushë-mollë", in the premises of the local mosque and the elementary school at Qirez village of Skenderaj ('Srbica'), LDK sources in Vushtrri said.
They are in an appalling situation, most of them spending days and nights rough in the open.
The refugees in this make-shift camp lack everything, food, clothes, medication, sources said.

Kosova Information Center
Last page!

ALBANIA (Albanian MP assassinated)
Chaos in Albania?

Tirana, 13 September (ARTA) 1900CET --
President Meidani stopped his visit to Athens and returned urgently to Tirana, following the news about the murder of Albanian MP, Azem Hajdari. He commented the killing of Hajdari as a criminal act, which should be condemned by all state institutions. The President requested from the police to find the assassin.
The former Republican leader and the present chairperson of the Foreign Policy Commission, Sabri Godo, demanded Nano's resignation. Political parties should assemble to decide about the future, he stated.
The Government also assembled to contemplate the situation notified the Minister for Public Order, Perikli Teta. There were also suggestions to contact with the Democratic Party as means to lower the tension. They even evaluated that contacts could be made using international mediation.
The Albanian Government also issued a statement concerning today's incident in front of the PM building. It states that an armed gang, using automatic weapons and stones, attacked the PM premises, failing to take it over, although causing enormous material damages. The armed gang initially burned the state owned vehicles that were parked in front of its premises. Further, they attacked its eastern side, attempting to enter. The objective was to enter the office, where the Government, the PM cabinet and other cabinets were having a meeting. The incident occurred at around 1100CET, when a session was held to contemplate the circumstances in which MP Azem Hajdari was killed and the measures that should be undertaken.
Presently, the Government is contemplating a series of measures for maintaining law and order. The Government forcefully demands from the PD and its leaders to restrain armed persons, avoid confrontation with order keeping forces as well as to wait for the results of the investigation of the criminals that claimed the life of MP Azem Hajdari.
In the meantime, two other persons were killed during the confrontation at the PM premises. One is Skënder Kalenja, as the name of the other is still unknown. There are also reports that 3 members of the Guard of the Republic of Albania were wounded, including the Commander of the Guard, Haki Liçaj.
On the other hand, there are claims that the Rrogazhinë-Kavajë national road is presently blocked by PD supporters, who do not allow any vehicle to pass through, except for the people, who are heading to Tirana, to express their condolences at the funeral ceremonial.

KOSOVA (Albanian Government – MP assassination)
Albanian Government: A great loss for Albanian democracy

Tirana, 13 September (ARTA) 1930CET --
In a statement issued after the assassination of Azem Hajdari, the Albanian Government expresses its deep condolence to the Hajdari family, his wife and children for the assassination of their husband and father Azem Hajdari.
"The Government strongly condemns the tragic act which claimed the life of Hajdari and his bodyguard on Saturday, 12 September. The murder of the Democratic Party representative represents a great loss for Albanian democracy.
The Albanian Government has engaged all security structures, the police, and National Informative Service, to investigate and discover those guilty for this crime. The Government beseeches the Hajdari's relatives, the political parties, the Democratic Party in particular, to find strength and hold back the sorrow and sentiments for the loss of their beloved. The Government demands from all the people or witnesses of the crime to cooperate and provide any information they may have to the state authorities", says the statement issued by the Albanian Government after the assassination of Azem Hajdari.

KOSOVA (LDK – Albanian MP assassination)
LDK: This is nothing but a political assassination

Prishtina, 13 September (ARTA) 1800CET --
The LDK presidency issued a statement after the murder of Albanian MP, Azem Hajdari. The statement says:
 The LDK leadership received the news about the criminal assassination of democrat Azem Hajdari, by the Albanian enemy, with very deep indignation. Hajdari represented one of the best personifications of Albanian democracy to the LDK leadership, and he was the one who put an end to 50 years of communist dictatorship in Albania. The LDK presidency fears that the murder of democrat Azem Hajdari in fact represents the slow annihilation of democracy in Albania, a killing that originated in the spring of 1997.
The LDK presidency considers the assassination of MP Hajdari, not as "a form of revenge" (as the assassination attempt on him was called last year), but simply as a political homicide. The LDK leadership expresses its deep condolences to the Hajdari family, to the Albanian Democratic Party and to the entire Albanian nation. Notwithstanding this great loss, the LDK presidency evaluates that restraint and rationality are necessary to maintain stability, which is essential in this critical situation for the entire Albanian nation, including Kosova that is suffering from the Serb military and police apparatus.

KOSOVA (fighting - Drenica)
Two Albanians killed, as fighting continues

Skënderaj, 13 September (ARTA) 1930CET --
Albanian sources report that there were clashes between KLA special units and Serb police\military forces in the village of Likovc last night. According to these reports, KLA forces were successful in pushing the Serb forces from this village and thus, caused them much loss in men and fighting gear.
It has been claimed that large police and military forces have strengthened their hold in the villages of Rezallë, Morinë, and Polac. Unconfirmed sources say that the Serb forces set fire to several houses in the above-mentioned villages this morning. Although the afternoon hours were more or less calm in the region of Drenica, shooting could be heard coming from the village of Polluzhë (Skënderaj munic.).
Sources from the ground claim that the Serb forces killed Ramë Gjinovci (64), from Makërmal, and Elfije Ramë Ahmeti (7), from Rezallë. They say that the Serb forces also wounded Hazir Tahiraj (42) from Tërdevc and Skënder Krasniqi (36), who was a guest in Tërstenik.
The overall situation in central Kosova is evaluated dramatic, especially when considering the large number of escapees currently sheltered there. Thousands of IDPs spent last night outdoors, in the cold and rainy weather. Sources say that they are facing many difficulties because of the shortage in food and because of the fact that not one humanitarian convoy arrived here these past four days.

KOSOVA (casualties – Klinë)
A young Albanian killed

Klinë, 13 September (ARTA) 1845CET --
A young Albanian from Volljakë was killed as a result of the Serb force attack against the village of Sverkë, municipality of Klinë.
Albanian sources say that the attack against the village of Sverkë started when a Serb military convoy, passing by the bauxite mine in Volljakë, started using tanks to attack this village. Thousands of Albanians from the villages of Gremnik, Siçevë, and Volljakë fled their houses and are now living outdoors.
The Serb force operation now encompassed the villages, which have so far not been afflicted by the clashes.

KOSOVA (casualties – Deçan)
Skeletons of ten killed people in the Bjeshkët e Nemuna

Deçan, 13 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
LDK Information Commission in Deçan claims that the skeletons of ten persons were seen in the region between Kosova and Montenegro. Several people, who tried to go to Montenegro through Bjeshkët e Nemuna, claim that they saw the skeletons at the place called Qafa e Rashkodolit, which borders with Montenegro.
Fearing that they might be the next victims, they turned back, and said that they saw the skeletons of ten persons, in a place called Milishec. They claim that the victims were most probably killed in the beginning of June.
LDK sources confirm that there was information about the killing of these Albanians, but nobody dares to go and see what happened or pick up the skeletons.
On the other hand, 4 Albanians were killed from the ambush, in Milishec, in the forest of Isniq, at the place called "Varret e Vajzave", on Friday night, as they tried to escape to Montenegro, LDK sources claim.

KOSOVA (CDHRF report - Gjilan)
85 cases of police harassment

Gjilan, 13 September (ARTA) 1800CET --
The CDHRF branch in Gjilan issued a monthly report of the cases of the violation of human rights in this municipality. According to the report, the Council registered 85 cases, in which the human rights of the local population were violated.
In Gjilan, the CDHRF branch, evidenced 6 cases of physical torture, 9 summons to informative talks, 9 arrests, one person taken hostage, 11 beaten individuals, 7 wanted by the police.
Two women and a child were not spared from police harassment either. Such a trend of police mistreatment continued during September as well, as two houses were raided, under the pretext of "search for weapons", and 8 Albanians were summoned for "informative talks".
On the other hand, the Municipal Court in Gjilan started an investigating procedure against 18 Albanians from the region of Anamoravë, accused for terrorism and "association for hostile activities".
The CDHRF states that, besides the 85 cases of human rights violation, there are many other cases, which have not been reported to this local branch.

KOSOVA (Serb onslaught – Ferizaj)
Nerodime – target of Serb attacks

Ferizaj, 13 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
The Serb police and military forces, backed by local Serb civilians, attacked the village of Nerodime e Poshtme, on Saturday evening. The intensity of the attacks increased at 1900CET, especially in the area around the local ambulance. The local Albanian population fled towards Ferizaj and its surrounding villages. The Serb military forces retrieved from the village towards Nerodime e Epërme at around 2000CET. There are reports that shooting took place in that village (Nerodime e Epërme), afterwards.

KOSOVA (tension mounts – Prizren)
Ultimatum to the residents of Prizren municipality

Prizren, 13 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
A Serb police expedition, composed of one APC and 3 terrain vehicles, stopped on the "Ganimete Tërbeshi" street, in the village of Dushanovë, municipality of Prizren, on Sunday, and using a megaphone announced that the "the deadline for handing in weapons expires Sunday, at 1500CET".
Such ultimatums were announced in the village of Petrovë, and the "Bajram Curri" and the "Tusus" neighborhood of the town of Prizren as well. The residents of these localities have not had any peace since 1 September, as they are subjected to Serb threats, which made them flee their homes and seek shelter in the town proper.

KOSOVA (IDPs – Montenegro)
Montenegrin police "let pass" 3200 IDPs to Albania

Plavë, 13 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
The Montenegrin police blocked about 3,500 Albanian escapees from the villages of Deçan and Pejë, and did not let them get off in Plavë. However, it has been reported that the police took them to the border with Albania, in the bordering point of Vermosh, on Sunday.
Sources from the ground claim these people, consisting of women, children and elders, are in a very bad state. They were tired and exhausted from the hunger, diseases, and insecurity.
Albanian sources claim that there are still many Albanian dislocated in the forest of Plavë, who do not dare report. On the other hand, the Vice-President of the Montenegrin Government, Nikola Burzan, confirmed that a group of 3,200 Kosovars, from the Plavë surrounding, crossed the border to Albania from the Vermosh border point today.
Otherwise, the Montenegrin Government has recently reached a decision to close the borders for escapees from Kosova.

KOSOVA (KD reportage - Prishtina)
Waiting - Between a wall and a palm

Prishtina, 13 September (ARTA) 1610CET --
"The best parties in Sarajevo, took place during the war", state many of those who stayed in this city during the war. In addition, while Southern Croatia was on fire, the people in Zagreb continued living a "normal" life.
Overloaded bars and people moving up and down the streets of Prishtina, leave the impression that there is "nothing new in the South". The war is somewhere out there, far away. Even when the clashes were close to Prishtina, about 12 kilometers away, the war was still, somewhere far out there.
Nevertheless, the consequences of waiting for some sort of "deus ex machina", good forces defeating the dark forces, or the fall of Democleus' sword, are apparent. People, at some time, need to release the anger and distress, either by giving a 'knuckle sandwich' or lighting yet another cigarette. It is obvious that everyone is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The anxiety, the accumulation of the heavy burden with a compulsory "stoic" acceptance of the half ruined living environment, leads undoubtedly to eruption, which is temporarily, synthetically hidden beneath a frozen smile.
Months ago, surely nobody thought realistically about "what would a (my) corpse look like, lying on the ground" or "what will happen if somebody knocked on the door, in late night hours". But, indirectly, such a thought now preoccupies people. The threat with the dissolution of one’s world coerces one to "suck the marrow out of life", or at least spend it where one feels safe - in the crowd.
Ignoring information considered by some as superfluous does that the same is blanketed with a small dosage of the farcical: "UÇK soon in Prishtina" - say some youths in entertainment as they sit around in the cafes.
Prishtina, though not directly involved in fighting, breathes with a somewhat morbid philosophy of life "live while you can"
On the other hand, the impact of the fighting, stretching throughout Kosova, excluding the capital - "oasis", and a few other remote places. The tide of IDPs from the war-stricken areas has concentrated in Prishtina as well. The number of beggars as multiplied and one "cannot drink a coffee in peace without being bothered by 50 beggars".
Moreover, one can see police and military convoys coming back from the frontline in "Hollywood" manner, with scarves around their heads, T-shirts, and unshaven. Fighting jets roaming about the sky all day long. There is even past-midnight gunfire that seems as if expectation has come to an end. And of course, all the cars without number plates that constantly drive around, even in the late evening hours.
Nevertheless, life in Prishtina seems to go on as usual. Smoke screened with the prospect of an "interim agreement" being reached and the expectation that everything will turn out fine, it is impossible to avoid becoming accustomed to the new rules of life. "Life is fine in Prishtina. War has no impact on me whatsoever", says a student as he goes through a number of daily newspapers.
The post-Prekaz "Sahara" and the disappearing of life from the streets with the evening hours has been surmounted in Prishtina. War has become a barren everydayness and has made its way everywhere. The news on the death of X persons now remains simple news. Following the swelling of this tiny little place of ours under international zoom, it seems that everybody feels as mosquitoes - 'tween a wall and a palm.

KOSOVA (Kosovar refugees - Switzerland)
"Switzerland ought to triple the assistance for refugees from Kosova"

Zurich, 13 September (ARTA) 1600CET --
Swiss MP, Ernst Mühlemann (Liberal Party) visited Albania last week, in the framework of a European Council mission. The aim of the mission was to get acquainted with the conditions of Kosovar refugees who are temporarily sheltered in northern Albania, and with the problems that emerged in the Albanian political scene.
"A new and larger wave of refugees from Kosova will head toward Switzerland during the winter, if the reasons for their suffering are not eliminated completely", Ernst Mühlemann told Swiss paper "Blick" in Zurich, after the visit in Albania. Mühlemann claimed that he is impressed with the Swiss aid in Albania. "Important work is being done. Around five thousands refugees are sheltered in Bajram Curri. Swiss activists built convenient lodgings for 250 people for this coming winter", said Mühlemann, adding that, "this is just a drop of water where an ocean is needed".
It is very difficult for the representatives of international humanitarian organizations to work under the existing circumstances in Albania. "The hotel in Bajram Curr did not even have electricity" Mühlemann told newspaper "Blick".
The Swiss MP appealed to "Switzerland to triple its assistance for the Kosovar refugees sheltered in Albania" in order to overtake the problems of the refugees (most of them women and children) who are traumatized by the consequences of the Serb offensive.
The European Council observer, Ernst Mühlemann, also visited the border belt with Kosova. "I saw the war stricken villages and I found out that 250,000 Kosova Albanians have been dislocated from their houses so far. Serb forces targeted a column of refugees some days ago. Many people were killed in that case", tells Mühlemann.
The Swiss MP also met with KLA soldiers, who operate from Albania. "Most of them were wearing Swiss Army uniforms and at the moment we visited them they were exercising ", declared Mühlemann to "Blick". He claimed the KLA even asked him to accompany them during a "partisan action".

http://www.serbia-info.com/news/1998-09/10/4643.html

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Betreff:                               SN2963:Djilas on Malcolm
Zurückgesendet-Datum:      Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:31:26 -0700 (PDT)
Zurückgesendet-Von:          news@siem.net
Datum:                                Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:36:29 -0700 (PDT)
Von:                                    Daniel Tomasevich <danilo@primenet.com>
Rückantwort:                       news@siem.net

             Copyright 1998 Council on Foreign Relations, Inc.

                              FOREIGN AFFAIRS
 
SECTION: REVIEWS; Review Essay; Pg. 124
LENGTH: 3900 words
HEADLINE: Imagining Kosovo;
A Biased New Account Fans Western Confusion

BYLINE: Aleksa Djilas; ALEKSA DJILAS is the author of The Contested Country: Yugoslav Unity and Communist Revolution, 1919-1953 and the forthcoming Yugoslavia: Dictatorship and Disintegration. From 1987 to 1994 he was a Fellow at the Russian Research Center at Harvard University.

               The text you can read at   back203.htm
 

REPORT ON THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN KOSOVA DURING AUGUST 1998

          The text you can read at  august98.htm

Gunfire, turmoil hit Albanian capital after death of opposition leader

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 14, 1998 11:31 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
Tanks lumbered through the capital of Albania on Monday after guards fired on opposition members carrying the bodies of their leader and two others to the office of Prime Minister Fatos Nano, whom the opposition blames for the deaths.
     Thousands of mourners scattered in terror as guards inside the main government building began firing at those who brought the bodies of opposition leader Azem Hajdari and two others to Nano's office following a service at Skanderbeg Square.
     The situation rapidly deteriorated and within an hour, the government appeared to be losing control of the capital. Thousands of people were milling about Skanderbeg Square, firing weapons in the air.
     The unrest threatened a repeat of nationwide riots that swept the country last year after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes that cost many Albanians their life's savings.
     Opposition leader Sali Berisha, who has called for Nano's immediate resignation, on Monday appealed for calm in a televised address. He urged his followers to seek a political solution to "this deep crisis."
     There was little sign of police or any government authority. Calls to the prime minister's office and the Interior Ministry went unanswered.
     Local radio reported that "civilian patrols" were taking up positions near banks and government facilities to protect them from looters.
     Monday's gunfire, in which at least three protesters were wounded, triggered what appeared to be a spontaneous uprising throughout Tirana.
     One group stormed the government's television studios, sending many of the staff fleeing. An unidentified man appeared on television, announcing "we have taken over."
     Opposition members seized at least four government tanks, and civilians climbed atop the vehicles while they moved down the streets.
     A private television reported this afternoon that crowds had also entered the parliament building.
     Young men were breaking into shops, which had closed for Hajdari's funeral, and could be seen carrying off jeans and other goods. A luxury hotel on Skanderbeg Square sealed off its entrances.
     Monday's violence erupted after a funeral service for Hajdari and his bodyguard -- slain Saturday outside their Democratic Party headquarters -- and a protester who was killed during rioting Sunday.
     During the funeral, Berisha repeated allegations that Nano was responsible for Hajdari's death and called for a "day of peace" to honor the charismatic former student leader.
     After the ceremony, the crowd carried the bodies -- each in a wooden coffin -- down the capital's main street to the prime minister's office, which was attacked and set afire on Sunday.
     The building appeared deserted. Suddenly, as mourners placed the coffins at the entrance, gunfire broke out, apparently from guards inside the building. Hundreds of terrified marchers trampled over one another to escape.
     An opposition radio station reported Monday that Nano had resigned. The local office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe denied the report.
     Nevertheless, the report set off a celebration among mourners, many of whom drew back from the building. Carloads of opposition supporters, waving national flags, raced through the streets.
     Envoys from the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement deploring the violence and hinting that they might cut off economic aid if the government falls.
     "The government will ... take necessary decisions to avoid conflicts and bloodshed," Nano's office said Sunday. Nano called on the people "to be calm and not permit armed crowds to violate the state institutions."
     President Rexhep Meidani, who broke off a trip to Greece, said Sunday that the "tragic murder" of Hajdari "should not lead to a repetition of last year's chaos, for which we all paid dearly."
     The United States and the European Union have expressed fear that the turmoil could spread elsewhere in the Balkans, including the Serbian province of Kosovo. Berisha has openly supported Kosovo Albanian rebels, who maintain sanctuaries in northern Albania  and are fighting for independence from Serbia.
     In last year's Albanian unrest, more than a million weapons were looted from government armories, and many of the guns ended up in Kosovo.
     Greece warned Monday that the violence could destroy democracy and stability in Albania. Greece was swamped by thousands of refugees fleeing last year's turmoil.

By MERITA DHIMGJOKA, Associated Press Writer

DECLARATION

Tirana, September 13, 1998

The Albanian political parties, the political coalition "Union for Democracy", the "Albanian United Right" and other parties of the Albanian political spectrum convened today, Sunday, on 13 September 1998 consider with deep concern that Albania is on the brink of the national catastrophe, as a consequence of the anti-national governing of the Socialist Party and its allies.
     The all-round and sharp crisis came because the public order fell prey of political and ordinary criminal gangs, because the high governing levels are included in an unrestrained smuggling and corruption, because the state political crime through murders, imprisonment and terror against its political opponents became the only means to eliminate the opposition, to dismantle the democratic state institutions and to install the communist-Mafia dictatorship of Prime Minister Fatos Nano and his clan.
     The last crime, which is the most monstrous in the history of the politics of the Albanian nation, is the murder by Fatos Nano of the symbol of nationalism, democracy and political pluralism, Azem Hajdari, who is the legend of resistance against the installation of the new dictatorship in Albania.
     By killing Azem Hajdari, the leader of the Students' anti-Communist movement of December 1990 and the chairman of the first anti-Communist party, the Member of Parliament in four legislations, elected in four different electoral constituencies by the vote of more than a hundred thousand electors, the Chairman of the Defense Parliamentary Commission, the terrorist Fatos Nano thought to resolve the problem of his power which is stained with the blood of thousands of Albanians and thus to kill once and for all the hope of the Albanians, that are today in a great effort fighting for their freedom against the Tirana clique and that of Belgrade. Azem Hajdari was and will remain to be the spirit of the unyielding fighter for freedom, social justice, human and national dignity.
     The explosion of the powerful protests and the popular anger is the most convincing evidence that Albanians cannot agree to a clique that usurped power by support of the most anti-Albanian circles.
     In this critical moment, and with responsibility for the fates of Albania and the Albanian nation, the signatory political parties of this declaration made the following decision:

1. We ask the unconditional resignation of the Fatos Nano government within 12:00 hrs, of date September 14, 1998.
2. We request the immediate summit of the round table of political parties for the solution of the political crisis through the creation of an interim government with the mission:
        - To establish public order and security;
        - To prepare and organize the adoption of the Constitution;
        - To prepare and organize the early general elections.
3. We demand the capture of the executors of Azem Hajdari. we demand them to be given the merited condemnation.

Signed by,

Democratic Party of Albania                     Sali BERISHA
National Renaissance Party                      Abdi BALETA
Conservative Party                              Armando RUCO
Legality Movement Party                         Eqerem SPAHIU
Liberal Union                                   Arian STAROVA
National Front Party (BK)                       Shpetim RROQI
Republican Party                                Fatmir MEDIU
Democrat Union Party                            Remzi NDREU
Christian-Democratic Party                      Zef BUSHATI
Albanian People's League Party                  Hasan HASANI
Agrarian Party                                  Koci TAHIRI
National Community Party                        Bajram UKPERAJ
--
Democratic Party of Albania     http://www.albania.co.uk/dp     e-mail. dpa@albania.co.uk

Albanian protesters fire on prime minister's offices, killing 1

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 13, 1998 7:07 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
Protesters angry over the killing of an opposition leader set fire to Albania's main government building Sunday and sent the prime minister and his Cabinet fleeing in a hail of gunfire.
     One protester was killed and four of Prime Minister Fatos Nano's guards were wounded as marchers and police traded gunfire. Clouds of smoke from burning cars rose over the center of the capital.
     Opposition leader Sali Berisha urged his followers to remain calm until Monday's funeral of popular politician Azem Hajdari, 35, who was shot to death Saturday in front of opposition Democratic Party headquarters. A bodyguard was also killed.
     Berisha blamed Nano's Socialist Party for the killing and warned him to resign within 24 hours or face "catastrophic consequences." Berisha's followers, some of them weeping in grief, chanted "kill, kill, kill Fatos Nano."
     Elsewhere, witnesses said Berisha's followers blocked the national highway with barricades and flaming tires and seized the police station at Kavaja, 18 miles southwest of Tirana.
     The violence raised fears of a repeat of the 1997 nationwide riots which swept this country after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes that cost many Albanians their life savings.
     Some fear instability in Albania could spread throughout the southern Balkans and impede U.S. and European efforts to solve the crisis in neighboring Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians are fighting for independence from Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia. The rebels maintain sanctuaries in northern Albania.
     The U.S. Embassy in Tirana urged Albanians to "put down their weapons, cease threatening violence and pursue legitimate democratic and legal means to deal with the situation."
     "Leaders of all Albania's political parties must behave responsibly," the American statement said.
     Late Sunday, supporters brought Hajdari's body to the sprawling Skanderbeg Square for an all-night vigil before Monday's funeral. President Rexhep Meidani called on police to find Hajdari's killers as quickly as possible.
     The Interior Ministry announced a $50,000 to $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assassins.
     There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
     On Sunday, Berisha warned the opposition would use "all means" to force Nano out, and blamed his party for the killing.
     After Berisha issued his ultimatum, about 1,500 of his followers marched to the Interior Ministry, firing pistols in the air and pelting the building with stones.
     The crowd set fire to a ministry vehicle, then continued down the city's main street to the prime minister's office. Protesters opened fire on the third floor, which contains Nano's offices. Troops responded with volleys of gunfire over the protesters heads.
     But the crowd forced its way into the building, traded gunfire with the guards and set fire to the ground floor. Nano and his Cabinet were holding an emergency meeting at the time.
     They fled out a side exit through the smoke and amid explosions of gas tanks of seven cars which the protesters had set on fire. The crowd then returned to Democratic Party headquarters and dispersed at Berisha's urging.
     Later Sunday, the government announced it would take "all measures necessary" to defend the state against those "calling for revenge and blood."

By MERITA DHIMGJOKA, Associated Press Writer

Dear subscribers,

Today, September the 13th, earlier in the day, two news items were distributed on ALBANEWS reporting the death of the ex-president of Albanian S. Berisha. One news item apparently came from ATA (ATSH) and the other apparently from Gazeta ALBANIAN.
     Later on ATA said that they did not send such news.
     It appears that both messages that were sent to ALBANEWS had been faked, both had similar header fields, and in both instances the header fields of the e-mail messages were different from the previous ATA and Gazeta Albania messages respectively.
     Also, both messages originated from the same server in Romania.

Sincerely,
Mentor Cana

Albanian opposition fires on premier's office, blame him for leader's death

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 14, 1998 06:49 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
Gunfire broke out Monday after protesters carried the bodies of a slain Albanian politician and two others to the office of Prime Minister Fatos Nano, whom the opposition blames for the deaths.
     Hundreds of mourners scattered in terror as guards inside the main government building began firing at those who brought the bodies of opposition leader Azem Hajdari and two others to Nano's office following a service at Skanderbeg Square.
     Explosions could be heard from inside the building.
     The violence erupted after a funeral service for Hajdari and his bodyguard -- slain Saturday outside their Democratic Party headquarters -- and a protester who was killed during rioting the following day.
     During the funeral ceremony Monday, opposition leader Sali Berisha repeated allegations that Nano was responsible for Hajdari's death and called for a "day of peace" to honor the charismatic former student leader.
     After the ceremony, the crowd carried the bodies -- each in a wooden coffin -- down the city's main street to the prime minister's office, which was attacked and set afire on Sunday.
     The building appeared deserted. Suddenly, as mourners placed the coffins at the entrance, gunfire erupted, apparently from guards inside the building. Hundreds of terrified marchers trampled over one another to escape.
     Berisha had given Nano until noon Monday to resign to pace the way for new elections. But the deadline passed with no sign Nano was prepared to step down, despite the escalating tensions including a riot Sunday in which protesters torched government cars and the prime minister's offices.
     "The government will ... take necessary decisions to avoid conflicts and bloodshed," Nano's office said Sunday. Nano called on the people "to be calm and not permit armed crowds to violate the state institutions."
     President Rexhep Meidani, who broke off a trip to Greece, said in a nationally televised address Sunday that the "tragic murder" of Hajdari "should not lead to a repetition of last year's chaos, for which we all paid dearly."
     He was referring to nationwide riots which swept the country after the collapse of pyramid investment schemes that cost many Albanians their life's savings.
     More than one million weapons were looted from government armories, and many of the guns ended up in neighboring Kosovo province in the hands of ethnic Albanian rebels fighting for independence from Serbia.
     Meidani urged all politicians to "stop the language of hate."
     The United States and the European Union appealed for calm, fearful the turmoil could topple Albania's elected government and spread elsewhere in the Balkans, including neighboring Kosovo.
     Instability in Albania could impede U.S. and European efforts to solve the crisis in neighboring Kosovo. Berisha has openly supported Kosovo Albanian rebels, who maintain sanctuaries in northern Albania.

By MERITA DHIMGJOKA, Associated Press Writer

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

We Must Stop the Kosovo Terror
By Bob Dole
Monday, September 14, 1998; Page A19

A few days ago I returned from a human rights and fact-finding mission to Kosovo with the able assistant secretary of state for human rights, John Shattuck. I was last in Kosovo in 1990, when the repression against the Kosovar Albanians had just begun. At that time, I joined the few voices warning the Bush administration that war would come to Yugoslavia.
     As terrible as the war in Bosnia proved to be, the war that the Bush and Clinton administrations claimed to fear most was in Kosovo, where the conflict easily could spread to neighboring countries. As a result, President Bush warned Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic that the United States was prepared to use military force against Serb-instigated attacks in Kosovo. When he took office, President Clinton repeated this warning. Yet, at this moment, only an hour's flight from NATO headquarters, Serbia is engaged in major, systematic attacks on the people and territory of Kosovo.
     Before this trip, I had seen TV reports of the suffering in Kosovo. These images, however, were a pale reflection of the devastation of lives, property and society that we witnessed in Suka Reka, Orahovac, Malisevo and other towns. Many homes have been firebombed. Villages have been abandoned. We encountered armed Serbian police every few kilometers. The remaining Albanians -- mostly women, children and the elderly -- are living in fear for their lives.
     Ironically, they were the lucky ones, living in their homes by day and fleeing to the hills at night. Tens of thousands of others are afraid to return at all or have lost their homes.
     During our visit we also heard chilling testimony from eyewitnesses to abuses and atrocities, including direct artillery attacks on civilians, seizures at gunpoint and -- as in Srebrenica in Bosnia -- the separation of women and children from men.
     The war in Kosovo has many of the worst characteristics of the war in Bosnia. The primary victims of Serbian attacks are civilians. Humanitarian workers are denied access and often are harassed and attacked. But it is not just the situation on the ground that is hauntingly familiar; it is also American and European diplomacy.
     Once again, the victims are being asked to negotiate with those who are attacking them. In addition, there is an active attempt to impose a moral equivalence between Serbian forces and the small band of Albanians who have taken up arms against them. Once again, Western diplomats are trying to make "deals" that would not lead to a just, permanent or democratic solution. And once again, Milosevic is being courted, cajoled and bribed to end the suffering that he has wrought.
     When I met with Milosevic earlier this month, he did not act like a man cowering in fear of NATO action. Instead, he acted like a man who had gotten away with murder and would be rewarded for it. Milosevic denied any offensives were under way or being planned, yet within 24 hours of our departure, a serious offensive was begun in the region of Pec.
     With 300,000 displaced persons and winter approaching, Kosovo is already a human-rights catastrophe. However, the problem in Kosovo is not by definition a humanitarian one. It is a political and military crisis, whose most visible symptoms are humanitarian. There are those who claim that the situation in Kosovo is "complicated." That is an excuse for inaction or, at best, ineffective action.
     The situation in Kosovo could not be clearer. This is a war against civilians, and we know who is responsible: Slobodan Milosevic.
     The time is long overdue for the United States to embrace a policy that will end Milosevic's reign of terror in Kosovo. The failure to address the status of Kosovo at Dayton may be the single greatest failure of the already badly flawed Dayton peace process.
     The United States and its NATO allies must press for a cease-fire and withdrawal of Serbian police and military by a date certain. It must back this with an ultimatum to use major force immediately and effectively.
     With a cease-fire and withdrawal of all Serbian police and Yugoslav Army forces, people can return to their homes and rebuild their lives with international assistance. Moreover, only if civilians are not under attack can Albanian and Serbian leaders engage in genuine negotiations with the goal of achieving a sustainable peace built on democratic institutions. Such a peace would guarantee that instability would not spread into Macedonia or Albania.
     Half-measures and interim deals will not do. The options are not easy, but that cannot be a justification for Band-Aid diplomacy. American officials have pledged not to allow the crimes against humanity that we witnessed in Bosnia to be repeated in Kosovo. From what I have seen, such crimes already are occurring. What is urgently needed now is American leadership and a firm commitment to a genuine and just peace.

The writer, a former senator from Kansas, was the Republican presidential nominee in 1996.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

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