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Meldung vom 02.10.1998 14:38  http://seite1.web.de/show/3614C92C.NL1/

Neue Regierung in Albanien gebildet
Tirana (dpa) - Der Präsident der Republik Albanien, Rexhep Mejdani, hat am Freitag die neue Regierung des Landes bestätigt. Der neue Ministerpräsident Pandeli Majko bezeichnete es als seine wichtigste Aufgabe «die Wiederherstellung der öffentlichen Ordnung», mit der sofort begonnen werden müsse.
     Daneben sollen die Ausarbeitung und Annahme einer Verfassung, der Dialog mit der Opposition und die Krise in der benachbarten südjugoslawischen Provinz Kosovo im Vordergrund der Regierungsarbeit stehen.
     Die Bestätigung der neuen Regierung, die wie die Vorgängerin von den Sozialisten bestimmt wird, wurde noch für den Nachmittag erwartet. Der sozialistische Ministerpräsident Fatos Nano war nach Kritik auch aus den eigenen Reihen zurückgetreten, die ihm Unfähigkeit bei der Aufrechterhaltung der öffentlichen Ordnung vorgeworfen hatte.
     Sein ebenfalls von den Sozialisten nominierter 30jähriger Nachfolger gilt als Mann des Ausgleichs. Ihm wird zugetraut, die Blockadehaltung der Opposition zu beenden.
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Überlebender eines Massakers nennt serbische Polizisten als Täter
New York (dpa) - Der einzige Überlebende eines Massakers mit 13 Toten in einem Dorf der südjugoslawischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo hat serbische Polizisten als Täter genannt.
     In einem am Freitag veröffentlichten Interview der «New York Times» schilderte der 43jährige Albaner, er sei mit den anderen Männern in der Ortschaft Golubovac bei Gornje Obrinje in den Garten getrieben worden und habe sich hinlegen müssen.
     Dann hätten die Polizisten ihre Opfer getreten und geschlagen, gerufen: «Wer unter euch ist von der Kosovo-Befreiungsarmee? Wenn Ihr es uns sagt, werden wir die anderen freilassen», und schließlich das Feuer eröffnet.
     Er habe schwerverletzt überlebt, weil er sich tot gestellt habe, sagte der Mann, der seinen Namen nach Angaben der Zeitung aus Sicherheitsgründen nicht nannte.
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NATO will erneut auf Ministerebene über Kosovo beraten
Brüssel (dpa) - NATO-Verteidigungsminister werden vermutlich in der kommenden Woche in Brüssel erneut über den Kosovo-Konflikt beraten. Der amerikanische Verteidigungsminister William Cohen werde zu einer Sitzung der NATO-Botschafter am Mittwoch im Hauptquartier der Allianz erwartet, hieß es am Freitag in Brüssel und Bonn.
     Die Minister hatten sich erst in der vergangenen Woche in Vilamoura (Partugal) getroffen. Für einen Luftschlag im Kosovo- Konflikt bedarf es nur noch einer politischen Entscheidung des Bündnisses.
     Die Vorbereitungen, wie etwa die Zusammenstellung einer Luftstreitmacht, sind weitgehend abgeschlossen. Welche Minister außer Cohen noch an der Sitzung des NATO-Rates teilnehmen werden, war zunächst ungewiß. Die NATO hatte angedroht, serbische Stellungen aus der Luft zu beschießen, wenn Belgrad im Kosovo-Konflikt nicht einlenkt.
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EU soll Milosevic isolieren - Weitere Sanktionen geplant
Brüssel (dpa) - Der jugoslawische Präsident Slobodon Milosevic soll mit einem Einreiseverbot in die Europäische Union (EU) belegt werden.
     Entsprechende Beratungen über eine Ausweitung der Visa- Restriktionen der EU auf jugoslawische Spitzenpolitiker haben die Niederlande für die Sitzung der EU-Außenminister an diesem Montag in Luxemburg verlangt.
     Wie am Freitag aus diplomatischen Kreisen in Brüssel verlautete, soll damit der Druck auf Milosevic, im Kosovo-Konflikt noch einzulenken, auch von EU-Seite erhöht werden. Gleichzeitig werde er international isoliert und müsse auch damit rechnen, eines Tages als Kriegsverbrecher angeklagt zu werden, hieß es in Brüssel.
     Die EU-Kommission wird für die Außenministertagung Vorschläge unterbreiten, wie die bereits bestehenden Sanktionsmaßnahmen gegen Belgrad effektiver gemacht werden können.
     So sei sie empört über Schlupflöcher, wie es sie etwa bei dem von den Außenministern beschlossenen Flugverbot für die serbische Fluggesellschaft JAT gebe. Noch immer erfüllt Griechenland diesen Beschluß nicht.
     Eine Kommissionssprecherin verwies am Freitag in Brüssel aber auch darauf, daß das Verbot nur für die JAT und nicht für Flüge europäischer Gesellschaften nach Jugoslawien gelte.
     Bisher hat die EU neben dem Flugverbot und den Visa-Restriktionen für hohe jugoslawische Beamte auch jugoslawische staatliche Bankkonten eingefroren und die Lieferung von Waffen und Polizeiausrüstungen eingestellt.
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Blair: Barbarei im Kosovo stoppen
London (dpa) - Großbritanniens Premierminister Tony Blair hat die aufgedeckten Greueltaten gegen ethnische Albaner im Kosovo als «humanitäre Katastrophe» verurteilt.
     In einem Fernsehinterview sagte Blair am Freitag, Jugoslawiens Staatspräsident Slobodan Milosevic müsse klargemacht werden, daß diese «Grausamkeiten und Barbarei aufhören müssen». Dies wäre auch das Ziel eines möglichen militärischen Eingreifens.
     «Ich glaube, es ist nur zu stoppen, wenn Milosevic deutlich und unmißverständlich gesagt wird, wenn er so weitermacht, riskiert er eine militärische Bestrafung», erläuterte Blair im Gespräch mit dem Sender Channel 4. Je schneller gehandelt werde, desto mehr Menschenleben könnten gerettet werden, fügte der Premier hinzu.
     Verteidigungsminister George Roberston drohte Milosevic mit «düsteren Konsequenzen», wenn er der Aufforderung des UNO- Sicherheitsrats nach einem Rückzug aus der südserbischen Konflikt- Provinz nicht nachkomme.
     «Die Uhr tickt», sagte Robertson im BBC. Wenn Milosevic sich nicht füge, «sind wir bereit und in der Lage, etwas dagegen zu tun».
     In London nahmen unterdessen Experten der internationalen Kontaktgruppe zum ehemaligen Jugoslawien Beratungen auf. Hohe Beamte der Sechs-Mächte-Gruppe sollten anschließend am Nachmittag mit dem US-Sonderbeauftragten Christopher Hill und EU-Vertretern die weitere Strategie für eine politische Lösung des Konflikts beraten, sagte ein Sprecher des Außenministeriums in London.
     Der internationalen Kontaktgruppe gehören Deutschland, die USA, Rußland, Großbritannien, Frankreich und Italien an. Rußland lehnt einen Militäreinsatz im Kosovo strikt ab.
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Für NATO-Luftangriffe im Kosovo-Konflikt fehlt nur Einsatzbefehl Brüssel/Washington (dpa) - Für mögliche Luftangriffe der NATO im Kosovo-Konflikt fehlt nur noch der Einsatzbefehl. Wie am Freitag aus dem Hauptquartier der Allianz in Brüssel verlautete, wird die NATO vor einer entsprechenden Entscheidung aber den Bericht von UNO- Generalsekretär Kofi Annan zur Erfüllung der jüngsten Kosovo- Resolution durch Jugoslawien abwarten.
     Der UNO-Sicherheitsrat forderte Annan in New York auf, schon am Montag darüber zu berichten. Der Sicherheitsrat hatte Serbien aufgefordert, seine Sicherheitskräfte aus der südjugoslawischen Provinz zurückzuziehen und zudem Verhandlungen über einen Waffenstillstand zu beginnen.
     Ein US-Regierungsprecher sagte am Donnerstag abend in Washington, der NATO-Rat habe die Bündnispartner aufgefordert, dem Oberbefehlshaber in Europa, General Wesley Clark, verbindliche Listen mit einsatzbereiten Einheiten und Waffen für eine Militäraktion vorzulegen.
     Diese sogenannte Bitte um Aktivierung dient dazu, die technischen Vorbereitungen für Luftschläge abzuschließen, wie ein NATO-Beamter und erläuterte. «Das ist eine definitive Verpflichtung, die den Militärs Planungssicherheit gibt», sagte er.
     «Der nächste - und letzte - Schritt wäre die Ausgabe des sogenannten Aktivierungsbefehls», sagte James Rubin, der Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums. «Das geschieht, wenn der Nordatlantikrat eine politische Entscheidung über einen militärischen Einsatz trifft.
     Nach dieser Aktivierungsorder kann die Militäroperation jederzeit beginnen.» Wie aus der NATO weiter verlautete, müßte dann noch in einigen NATO-Staaten wie Deutschland, das Parlament einen Einsatz billigen.
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Türkischer Präsident Demirel zu Besuch in Mazedonien
Skopje (dpa) - Der türkische Präsident Süleyman Demirel ist am Freitag zu einem zweitägigen Besuch in Mazedonien eingetroffen. Im Rahmen seines offiziellen Besuchs sollen unter anderem mehrere bilaterale Abkommen unterzeichnet werden, teilte das Informationsamt der mazedonischen Regierung in Skopje mit.
     Bei seinen Treffen mit dem mazedonischen Präsidenten Kiro Gligorov und den Mitgliedern der mazedonischen Führung sollte zudem die Sicherheitslage am Balkan, vor allem in der südjugoslawischen Unruheprovinz Kosovo, erörtert werden.
     Die mazedonische Presse wertete diesen bereits zweiten Besuch Demirels als «Beweis für die traditionell freundschaftlichen Beziehungen» zwischen Mazedonien und der Türkei.
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Albanerführer fordert sofortige Militäraktion des Westens in Kosovo
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Albanerführer Ibrahim Rugova hat am Freitag eine sofortige Militäraktion des Westens «zum Schutz des albanischen Volks» in der südjugoslawischen Unruheprovinz Kosovo gefordert.
     Mit einem Militäreinsatz könnten unter anderem «weitere Massaker albanischer Zivilisten» verhindert werden, sagte er nach Angaben der Agentur Beta (Belgrad) in der Provinzhauptstadt Pristina.
     Rugova begrüßte die Presseerklärung des Weltsicherheitsrats der Vereinten Nationen, in der am Vorabend die Greueltaten an der albanischen Zivilbevölkerung im Kosovo verurteilt wurden. «Ich hoffe aber, daß die internationale Gemeinschaft weitere Schritte ergreift.»
     Seine Forderung nach einem militärischen Eingreifen des Westens begründete er damit, «daß die Militärmaschinerie Belgrads gestoppt» werden müsse. «Eine internationale Intervention wäre ein Akt der Humanität und der Menschlichkeit.»
     Der Albanerführer warf den serbischen Machthabern vor, weiterhin ihre Politik der «ethnischen Säuberung» des Kosovo fortzusetzen. Nach seinen Worten dauerten die Angriffe der serbischen Polizeikräfte und der jugoslawischen Armee im Kosovo an, ungeachtet der von Belgrad zu Wochenbeginn offiziell verkündeten Einstellung der Offensiven.
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Bayern wollte Kosovo-Albaner per Flugzeug via Schweiz abschieben
Bern (dpa) - Nach Inkrafttreten des Landeverbots für die jugoslawische Fluggesellschaft JAT in Deutschland versuchen die Behörden des Bundeslandes Bayern nun, abgewiesene Asylbewerber aus dem Kosovo via Schweiz abzuschieben. Das erklärten Vertreter der Schweizer Flüchtlings-Bewegung am Freitag in Bern.
     Ein erster Abschiebungs-Versuch scheiterte nach den Angaben der Flüchtlingshilfe am 21. September - allerdings nicht an den Schweizer Behörden. Ein jugoslawischer Staatsangehöriger sei von Frankfurt über Zürich mit der JAT nach Belgrad geflogen worden, wo ihn die jugoslawischen Behörden aber zurückwiesen.
     Die Schweiz hatte sich dem vor vier Wochen von der EU beschlossenen Landeverbot für die JAT nicht angeschlossen. Sie fliegt immer noch einmal täglich ab Zürich.
     Zur Begründung hieß es, selbst die EU-Länder wollten sich nicht alle an das Verbot halten. Belgrad akzeptiert keine abgeschobenen Asylbewerber, die auf dem Landweg nach Jugoslawien gebracht werden.
     Das bayerische Innenministerium soll sich in der Schweiz nach Angaben der Flüchtlings-Bewegung eingehend über Möglichkeiten informiert haben, in Zukunft Kosovo-Albaner mit Maschinen der Fluggesellschaft JAT von Zürich nach Belgrad zu bringen.
     Der bayerische Versuch, das JAT-Embargo zu umgehen, zeige, daß der Schweizer Alleingang hochproblematisch sei, erklärte der Zentralsekretär der Schweizerischen Flüchtlingshilfe, Markus Loosli.
     Die Nationalrätin Vreni Müller-Hemmi aus Zürich richtete in der Sache eine Dringliche Einfache Anfrage an den Schweizer Bundesrat. Darin fordert sie die Landesregierung unter anderem zu einer Erklärung darüber auf, warum die Schweiz ein einzelnes deutsches Bundesland dabei unterstütze, einen Entscheid der gesamtdeutschen Regierung zu unterwandern.
     Das Außenministerium nannte dagegen die Schweizer Haltung zum Milosevic-Regime «sehr kritisch». Ministeriums-Sprecher Livio Zanolari verwies auf die Schweizer Sanktionen gegen Belgrad, die von der Regierung am Montag weiter verschärft worden waren. Er ließ erkennen, daß man in Bern erneut über eine Teilnahme an dem EU-JAT- Embargo nachdenken wolle.
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Belgrad lädt UNO-Generalsekretär Annan zu Informationsbesuch ein
Belgrad (dpa) - Das Regierung in Belgrad hat am Freitag UNO- Generalsekretär Kofi Annan zu einem Informationsbesuch über die Lage in der Unruhe-Provinz Kosovo eingeladen. Wie die Staatsagentur Tanjug weiter berichtete, wurde diese Einladung bereits formell von Außenminister Zivadin Jovanovic in New York ausgesprochen.
     «Der Generalsekretär könnte sich bei diesem Besuch direkt über die tatsächliche Lage im Kosovo informieren», hieß es bei Tanjug.
     Gleichzeitig könne sich Annan ein Bild «von den Bemühungen der serbischen und jugoslawischen Behörden um eine Normalisierung der Situation» machen. Nach Ansicht der Agentur könnte ein Besuch des UNO-Generalsekretärs «zur Beseitigung der negativen Folgen der zuletzt verstärkten Medienkampagne» gegen Jugoslawien wegen der Kosovo-Krise beitragen.
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Moskau droht mit drastischen Maßnahmen bei NATO-Einsatz im Kosovo
Moskau (dpa) - Das russische Verteidigungsministerium hat für den Fall eines NATO-Militäreinsatzes im Kosovo ohne Sanktion des Weltsicherheitsrates mit einem weitgehenden Abbruch der Beziehungen zu der Allianz gedroht.
     Die russische Gesellschaft und das Parlament würden unverzüglich die Aufkündigung der Rußland-NATO-Akte fordern, sagte ein ranghoher Vertreter des Ministeriums am Freitag der Nachrichtenagentur Interfax. Rußland würde auch nicht mehr am Partnerschaftsprogramm mit der NATO teilnehmen, sagte er weiter.
     Ferner müßte über die Zweckmäßigkeit der Entsendung eines ständigen russischen Vertreters zur NATO in Brüssel nachgedacht werden. Zudem könnte auch von einer Ratifizierung des Start-II-Vertrages über die Abrüstung strategischer Atomwaffen durch die Duma dann nicht mehr die Rede sein.
     Durch einen nicht sanktionierten NATO-Schlag gegen serbische Ziele im Kosovo würde auch das Embargo-Regime gegen Jugoslawien zerstört, sagte der Sprecher. «Unter diesen Bedingungen wird Rußland frei von seinen Verpflichtungen sein.»
     Das «konstruktive Potential», das in den Beziehungen zwischen Rußland und der NATO erarbeitet worden sei, könnte zunichte gemacht werden, warnte er weiter. Es würde eine «neue geostrategische Situation in Europa und der Welt» entstehen, wenn die NATO «die Grenzen des internationalen Rechtsfelds überschreitet».
     Die von Kommunisten beherrschte Duma wollte am Freitag über eine Resolution abstimmen, in der ein möglicher NATO-Militärschlag im Kosovo ohne Mandat des UNO-Sicherheitsrates scharf verurteilt wird. In dem Entwurf wird für diesen Fall die Wiederaufnahme der militär-technischen Zusammenarbeit mit Jugoslawien gefordert sowie ebenfalls ein weitgehender Abbruch der Beziehungen zur NATO.
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«Daily Telegraph»: Untätig zusehen
London (dpa) - Der konservative britische «Daily Telegraph» äußert sich am Freitag skeptisch über den Zweck von Luftangriffen gegen serbische Kräfte in Kosovo:
     «Westliche Politiker haben angesichts serbischer Greueltaten eine schandhafte Bilanz vorzuweisen: Sie beteuern, nicht untätig zusehen zu wollen, und tun dann genau das. Nun scheint sich zögerlich die Erkenntnis durchzusetzen, daß Milosevic nicht erneut die internationale Meinung ignorieren darf.
     Doch selbst wenn es zu Luftangriffen kommt, wird die Befriedigung darüber, den Serben ein wenig ihrer eigenen Medizin zu verabreichen, nicht groß sein. Bombenangriffe waren zu Beginn des Sommers eine mögliche Option. Heute würden sie keine Nutzen mehr bringen...
     Die albanische Widerstandsbewegung KLA ist zerbrochen, und die Serben haben zumindest vorläufig gesiegt... Das überwiegende Interesse des Westens ist es, Milosevic loszuwerden. Am Anfang des Kosovo-Konflikts gab es dazu die Gelegenheit, doch Europa hat klein beigegeben. Das wird es noch oft bedauern.»
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«Iswestija»: Der Westen spielt sich im Kosovo als Vollstrecker auf
Moskau (dpa) - Die russische Tageszeitung «Iswestija» schreibt am Freitag zu einem möglichen NATO-Einsatz in der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo:
     «So wird also die Bombardierung der Serben im Kosovo und vielleicht über die Grenzen dieses Gebietes hinaus durch die NATO-Luftstreitkräfte keine leere Drohung des Westens mehr sein. Die westlichen Staaten wollen jeweils aus eigenen Motiven die Rolle des Vollstreckers eines von niemandem gefällten Urteils gegen Jugoslawien spielen. Ihnen dürfte wohl kaum mit der Erklärung des Vorsitzenden der Staatsduma, Gennadi Selesnjow, Einhalt zu bieten sein (...), daß das russische Parlament in diesem Falle die Annullierung der Grundakte Rußland-NATO veranlassen wird.»
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«Basler Zeitung»: NATO-Einsatz im Kosovo nur noch Frage der Zeit
Basel (dpa) - Die «Basler Zeitung» hält einen NATO-Einsatz im Kosovo für unvermeidbar:
     «Irgendwann wird die NATO Im Kosovo sicher intervenieren müssen. Die Frage ist nur, wie viele Opfer es noch braucht, und wie laut der öffentliche Aufschrei sein muß, bis der Tag X erreicht ist. Vergangene Woche hat der UNO-Sicherheitsrat das Regime in Belgrad aufgefordert, die Kämpfe im Kosovo einzustellen.
     Auf ein Ultimatum konnte man sich allerdings nicht einigen. Auch die NATO beließ es vorerst beim Säbelrasseln. Jugoslawiens Präsident Slobodan Milosevic reagierte auf seine Art: Er erklärte die Offensive im Kosovo für beendet und ließ im gleichen Stil weitermachen.. ..
     Die Politiker von Washington über London bis nach Wien zeigen sich empört. Wieder einmal, so scheint es, haben sie sich von Milosevic an der Nase herumführen lassen. ... Wie lange noch klammern sich westliche Politiker an die Fiktion, daß mit einem Milosevic verhandelt werden kann?»
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«Aftonbladet»: Verrat am Kosovo eine Schande für die Umwelt
Stockholm (dpa) - Die sozialdemokratische schwedische Tageszeitung «Aftonbladet» (Stockholm) kommentiert am Freitag die Debatte um internationale militärische Aktionen gegen Jugoslawien nach Berichten über neue Massaker im Kosovo:
     «Wenn werden die UNO und Europa handeln? Man hat die Albaner im Kosovo den serbischen Verbrechern ausgeliefert. Diese nun mit Bomben zu bestrafen, wäre in sinnloser Weise verspätet. Es wurde dem serbischen Kriegs-Faschismus gestattet, im Kosovo ungehindert das Völkerrecht zu brechen. Monat nach Monat verging, während die Umwelt sich wider besseres Wissen mit Lügen und Versprechungen über ein Ende der Gewalt abgefunden hat. (...)
     Der Kosovo wird sicher eines Tages frei sein, aber das geschieht dann nicht dank Hilfe von UNO, Nato oder europäischer Zusammenarbeit. Die Welt hat den Kosovo verraten und das Morden geschehen lassen. Für Europa war das ein Sommer der Schande.»
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«La Repubblica»: Der Countdown läuft
Rom (dpa) - Zum Kosovo-Konflikt schreibt die linksliberale «La Repubblica» (Rom) am Freitag:
     «Der Countdown hat begonnen, so warnen zumindest die USA. Wenn der serbische Präsident Milosevic nicht bald seine Spezialeinheiten aus dem Kosvo zurückzieht, die für die letzten Greueltaten verantwortlich gemacht werden, dann scheint eine Aktion der NATO unausweichlich.
     Die militärischen und diplomatischen Vorbereitungen sind weit gediehen: Der Sicherheitsrat ist erneut zusammengetreten, hat Serbien gerügt und von Milosevic verlangt, daß er eine Untersuchung anstrengt und die Schuldigen des jüngsten Blutbades in der Region findet.
     Washington hat seine Bürger aufgefordert, Jugoslawien zu verlassen. Washington und Großbritannien bleiben dabei, daß die UNO- Resolution der vergangenen Woche ausreicht, um eine Nato-Aktion gegen Belgrad zu legitimieren. Moskau dagegen, der historische Verbündete der Serben, verlangt allerdings eigens einen nochmaligen Zusammentritt des Sicherheitsrates.»
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«Die Presse»: «Stoppt das Massaker!» im Kosovo
Wien (dpa) - Die in Wien herausgegebene konservative österreichische Zeitung «Die Presse» schreibt am Freitag unter der Überschrift «Stoppt das Massaker!» über die westliche Politik gegenüber der südjugoslawischen Unruheprovinz Kosovo:
     «Das einzige wirkliche Problem, das sich im Zusammenhang mit einem militärischen Eingreifen im Kosovo stellt, ist der Mangel an einem politischen Konzept und dem politischen Willen des Westens. (...) Es ist nicht absehbar, wann und ob überhaupt noch eine politische Lösung zwischen der albanischen Mehrheit und der serbischen Minderheit im Kosovo gefunden werden kann. Aber eines ist klar: Dieses Massaker muß gestoppt werden, so rasch wie möglich und unter Einsatz aller Mittel, die dazu nötig sind.»
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Keine Entscheidung im Sicherheitsrat über Militärschlag im Kosovo
New York/Washington/Wien (dpa) - Der UN-Sicherheitsrat hat am Donnerstag (Ortszeit) die jüngsten Massaker an Zivilisten im Kosovo «scharf verurteilt». Eine Entscheidung über die Billigung eines Militärschlages gegen serbische Ziele wurde in einer Dringlichkeitssitzung hinter verschlossenen Türen jedoch nicht getroffen.
     Die Nato rückte einem möglichen Luftangriff näher, indem sie ihre Mitgliedsstaaten aufforderte, ihre einsatzbereiten Einheiten und Waffen aufzulisten. Das US-Außenministerium teilte mit, für einen Militäreinsatz bedürfe es nur noch eines förmlichen Befehls durch den Nato-Rat.
Die jugoslawische Regierung sicherte unterdessen zu, eine internationale Untersuchung über die vorgeworfenen Massaker zuzulassen, die von Belgrad bestritten werden. Britische Zeitungen hatten am Mittwoch und Donnerstag über drei Bluttaten berichtet, bei denen etwa 35 albanisch-stämmige Zivilisten im Kosovo grausam getötet worden seien.
     Der UN-Sicherheitsrat in New York rief den jugoslawischen Präsidenten Slobodan Milosevic und die Regierung in Belgrad auf, die Vorfälle sofort zu untersuchen. Die Verantwortlichen müßten identifiziert und bestraft werden. In einer Erklärung für die Presse wurde vor der täglich größer werdenden Gefahr einer humanitären Katastrophe im Kosovo gewarnt.
     Die Erklärung enthielt keine Hinweise auf mögliche Militäraktionen der Nato im Kosovo, die Rußland strikt ablehnt. UN-Generalsekretär Kofi Annan wurde aufgefordert, seinen vom Sicherheitsrat angeforderten Bericht über die Lage und über die Einhaltung der Auflagen des Sicherheitsrats an Milosevic schon am kommenden Montag vorzulegen.
     Eine Erklärung für die Presse ist die schwächste Form, in der sich der Sicherheitsrat äußern kann. Nach Angaben von Diplomaten hatte Rußland keine offene Dringlichkeitssitzung zugelassen, die die britische Ratspräsidentschaft wegen der erhofften «Signalwirkung» angestrebt hatte.
     Die Nato hatte zuvor seine Mitgliedsstaaten in Brüssel aufgefordert, dem Nato-Oberkommandierenden, General Wesley Clark, eine Liste einsatzbereiter Einheiten und Waffen für eine Militäraktion zu übermitteln, wie US-Regierungssprecher in Washington berichteten. Diese Bitte wurde vom Nato-Rat, den ständigen Vertretern der Mitglieder in der Allianz, herausgegeben.
     «Der nächste - und letzte - Schritt wäre die Ausgabe des sogenannten Aktivierungsbefehls», erläuterte der Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums, James Rubin, am Donnerstag in Washington. «Das geschieht, wenn der Nordatlantikrat eine politische Entscheidung über einen militärischen Einsatz trifft.» Anschließend könne «die Militäroperation jederzeit beginnen».
     US-Außenministerin Madeleine Albright sagte nach einer Lagebesprechung mit Kongreßmitgliedern in Washington, die USA hätten seit langem darauf hingearbeitet, daß die Nato für den Fall einer nötigen Militäraktion einssatzbereit sei. «Jetzt ist sie vorbereitet», fügte sie hinzu.
     Der österreichische Außenminister Wolfgang Schüssel berichtete als EU-Ratspräsident am Donnerstag abend in Wien, die Regierung in Belgrad habe erlaubt, daß internationale Gerichtsmediziner die Massaker-Vorwürfe im Kosovo überprüfen. In den «nächsten Tagen» werde sich eine Gruppe von finnischen Experten nach Belgrad begeben, um ihr Arbeitsprogramm festzulegen.
     Belgrad hat nach Angaben des Kosovo-Beauftragten der EU, des österreichischen Botschafters in Belgrad, Wolfgang Petrisch, sein Militär entgegen seiner Ankündigung noch nicht aus dem Kosovo abgezogen. «Leider ist an den Beteuerungen Belgrads nicht viel dran», sagte er am Abend im österreichischen Fernsehen (ORF). Jugoslawien habe immer noch viele Truppen in dieser vorwiegend von Albanern bewohnten Region stationiert.
     Der jugoslawische Außenminister Zivadin Jovanovic sagte der Zeitung «Washington Post», «daß die regulären Polizeikräfte, die Recht und Ordnung aufrechterhalten, dort (im Kosovo) bleiben werden». Die Armee bleibe, um die Grenze (zu Albanien) zu bewachen. Er stritt nicht ab, daß es zu Greueltaten gekommen sei, bekräftigte allerdings, es gebe «kein wahlloses Töten von Zivilisten. Es gibt nur einen Kampf gegen Terrorismus». Manchmal gehe das auf Kosten der Zivilbevölkerung.
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01 October 1998
TRANSCRIPT:
STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, OCTOBER 1
(Kosovo)  (7130)

State Department Spokesman James Rubin briefed.

KOSOVO -- Rubin announced that the State Department issued a travel warning for Serbia and Montenegro October 1.
     Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's failure to respond to international demands and "the possibility of NATO action makes Serbia-Montenegro a more dangerous place," Rubin said. But he declined to provide specifics as to when a final decision might be made on whether to use force in an attempt to end Milosevic's bloody repression of the ethnic Albanian majority in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
     The United States is pressing for a speedy completion and delivery of a report by the UN Secretary General to the UN Security Council regarding Yugoslav compliance to UN demands, Rubin said. With the report, NATO members would then be able to decide on any military response next week, the spokesman said.
     Acknowledging that there has been "a spectrum of opinion about what the necessary prerequisites for military action ought to be," Rubin said recent atrocities by Serbs in Kosovo have underlined the dangers that will result if the international community fails to act in the face of Milosevic's intransigence.
     The UN Security Council, Rubin noted, has called for an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of Serb security units from Kosovo. It also called for continuous international monitoring of the situation in Kosovo and no restrictions on international relief agencies attempting to work in the region.
     The Security Council has been all along urging a peaceful, negotiated settlement to Kosovo's demands for greater autonomy, Rubin said.
     But Milosevic has shown no sign of cooperating with the United Nations, according to the State Department spokesman. "The international community is running rapidly out of patience with Slobodan Milosevic," Rubin said.
     "I think it is fair to say the prospect of military action is now closer," Rubin said, noting that NATO is now requesting forces from various NATO members.
     Following is the State Department transcript:

(begin transcript)

US Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

INDEX
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1998
Briefer:  JAMES P.  RUBIN
.....

U.S.  DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

OCTOBER 1, 1998
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

Mr. RUBIN: Welcome to the State Department briefing. Please put all gambling activities -- must cease; I'm shocked. Welcome to the State Department briefing. Let me start with a very sad task, and that is to tell you that our Deputy Assistant Secretary, Meg Donovan, passed away early this morning. Meg is someone who is known very well to Secretary Albright and many of us who had the very difficult task of working with Congress in the pursuit of the many nominations and the many pieces of legislation that we need to pursue with Congress.
     She oversaw the confirmation of two Secretaries of State in that capacity Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright -- as well as hundreds of other nominees. She devoted her entire career to helping others, and she was the kind of person who not only worked on issues of concern on human rights and other forms of persecution, but was the kind of person that helped people she didn't meet and took care of the people she did know. We will all miss her very much at the State Department. With that personal note, let me turn to your questions.

QUESTION: Jamie, there are credible reports of a severe round-up of Baha'is in Iran. While you're looking for moderation in Tehran -- we're told that 32 professors and teachers, who already were barred from teaching in universities and schools, but were teaching their own people, have been rounded up in 14 cities. And you know sometimes that isn't the end of it they sometimes get killed. And I wonder if you could confirm that and if there's anything the State Department's got to say on this subject?

A: Yes. It's not only the round-up, but the imminent prospect of a death sentence that concerns us. We understand that two individuals of the Baha'i faith currently in prison in the Iranian province of Khorasan have had their death sentences confirmed and are in imminent danger of execution for nothing else than the free exercise of their religion.
     The two individuals were arrested in October 1997 for violating a ban on religious gatherings. The United States urges the government of Iran to exercise restraint and not to carry out these death sentences.
     As you know, in July the United States strongly condemned the Iranian Government's execution of a Baha'i charged with converting a Muslim to the Baha'i faith. As you indicated in your question, we are also aware of other recent official acts of persecution against the Baha'i, including the arrest of 32 faculty members of the university operated by the Baha'i community, as the Islamic republic does not allow Baha'i's to enroll in public universities.
     We have urged publicly, and will continue to urge publicly, that the government of Iran protect members of the Baha'i faith and we have also urged the government of Iran to ease restrictions on the practice of religion and to recognize and uphold the fundamental human right to freedom of conscience and belief. We've urged that in the past and we are urging it again today.

Q:  What was the location that the -- at the top there that you --

A:  Khorasan -- K-H-O-R-A-S-A-N.

Q: Jamie, when you're talking about Iran, do you have anything more to say about the Foreign Minister's speech on Monday? And does the United States -- in that speech, he seemed to really say we're not ready for dialogue with the United States yet and unless the United States does X,Y and Z. Where do things go from here? Do they just sort of drift --

A: In order to succeed in diplomacy, one has to be patient, and we intend to be patient. We have made clear that we are willing to talk to the government of Iran to develop a parallel set of steps to allow our concerns to be dealt with and we are ready to engage in such a process.
     We would like to go beyond the exchange of rhetoric and address the substance of the relationship, but it's not something we can do alone. I think others have spoken to the different aspects of the speech and I'm not going to go through an elaborate exegesis of it at this time -- simply to say that we are ready to engage but we can't do so alone.

Q: On another subject, this morning the Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia held a news conference and he said that his country is adhering to the Dayton Accords and specifically, on the issue of war criminals and cooperation of the signatories. He said that Yugoslavia has a clause in its constitution which bans the extradition of Yugoslav citizens and thus would negate any promises made at Dayton by President Milosevic or his representatives. Was that the US understanding? Is that what the US understands now to be the Yugoslav position, that it cannot extradite indicted war criminals?

A: I'm unable to respond directly to that particular legal question, other than to say as follows. The Yugoslav authorities have given myriad excuses for their failure to cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal. They could easily demonstrate cooperation without simply the question of extradition. They could help the War Crimes Tribunal to do its job. That is something that all member states have been urged to do and called on to do pursuant to the Security Council resolutions, and it's my understanding that Serbia has done little, if anything, to follow through with that.
     So what we're seeing here is a broad pattern of non-cooperation with the Tribunal's work. Whether there is a legal question that needs to be resolved in order to permit extradition, there are many legal questions in many countries around the world with respect to extradition and when the will is there, they're resolved. We have no doubt that President Milosevic could get a law passed, if he wanted to change things, that would make it possible for extradition to occur.
     So what we're seeing here is another excuse by the Serbs for their failure to cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal.

Q: Could you bring us up to date on Kosovo since you're talking about Yugoslavia?

A: Yes. Let me start by saying that the various claims of the Serb authorities at the offenses and the use of brutal force in Kosovo has stopped, are blatantly untrue. The shelling by Yugoslav authorities and police forces continue today in several regions, including artillery firing. We also have reports from our monitors that firing continued in two cities, Stimije and Likovac.
     So despite the claims of the Serbian authorities that the Kosovo conflict is now over and that it is calm, it is demonstrably not calm. The international community has set out very clearly what it expects from Slobodan Milosevic. It's contained in various documents including Resolution -- I believe it's 1190 -- it doesn't say so on the front -- but it's the resolution of the Security Council from 23 September, which made clear that all actions by the security forces affecting the civilian population must cease and the security units used for civilian repression must be withdrawn. Continuous international monitoring must be allowed; that the international relief organizations must be able to operate; and that progress needs to be made towards a peaceful resolution of this issue.
     Broadly speaking, those are the four areas that the international community has set down clear conditions on President Milosevic. He is not listening or not hearing or has chosen to flaunt the will of the international community. As a result, I think it's fair to say the prospect of military action is now closer.
     NATO has taken a step today to request formally the forces that people have said might be available. This is called an Actreq, which means that the forces that people said might be available are now being formally requested by the Supreme Allied Commander. This follows in direct sequence -- the original planning process, the request for countries to decide what they might provide. Now they're being asked to provide specific forces, and the next step -- and the final step, if that were taken -- would be the release of what we call an Activation Order. That is when the North Atlantic Council approves a political decision to undertake a military operation. After that Activation Order, the execution of the military operation may commence at any time.
     So as a result of his failure to comply, I think it's increasingly clear that the international community is running rapidly out of patience with Slobodan Milosevic, his activities and his spokesman's deception about what's going on there.
     Furthermore, let me add that I would expect the State Department to issue, in a few short hours, a travel warning indicating that American citizens should not be -- warning American citizens not to travel to the region and those in Serbia-Montenegro to consider departing the country -- precisely because of Belgrade's failure to comply with the requirements of the international community and the fact that members of the North Atlantic Council are considering the necessity for military action.
     So these are steps that are underway. There are several steps at the UN I can talk about in a moment if you are interested.

Q:  (Inaudible.)

A:  On the travel warning?

Q:  Yes.

A:  Serbia-Montenegro covers all that territory.

Q: Do you have unanimity within NATO now on this; and what about Russia's position -- where does that stand?

A: Well, let me first say that the United States is urging the Secretary General to accelerate the report to the Council on compliance, essentially, with the points I mentioned earlier -- that is, stopping the repression; stopping the prevention of international humanitarian organizations from operating; and facilitating the monitors from working. That report, we hope, can be sped up so that NATO members will be in a position to discuss the next decision next week.
     It is our view that President Milosevic should have absolutely no doubt or misconception as to NATO's capabilities or resolve. We hope that he understands the seriousness of the situation that he has created. If he does not, the direction and momentum of NATO planning should be clear.
     With respect to the views of other countries, let me say this -- as I've indicated to some of you on other occasions, there has been a spectrum of opinion about what the necessary prerequisites for military action ought to be, i.e. a Security Council resolution. I think that in light of the recent reports of the atrocities in the region, some of those countries who perhaps wanted to see more and more authority given may be satisfied with less and less.

I can't speak to them specifically, but what I can say is that increasingly, NATO allies are coming to understand the dangers that would be faced if we failed to act or if President Milosevic failed to respond to our demands. That is why the NATO decision-making process is on such a fast track.

Q: I just want to clarify one thing and then ask a question. The warning to the Americans in Serbia-Montenegro -- is that being given to protect them from impending bombing or to protect them from a reaction by the local community from the possibility of bombing or actual bombing?

A: We think the combination of President Milosevic's failure to respond and the possibility of NATO action makes Serbia and Montenegro a more dangerous place for a variety of reasons that I don't care to get into. But we do, when we believe we have reason to think that it becomes more dangerous, it's our responsibility to alert American citizens to that danger. So the danger can be parsed down to different possibilities; but nonetheless, we are saying that Americans shouldn't travel there, and that those in Serbia and Montenegro should consider the fact that we regard it as a more dangerous place in light of the two points that I made. But I can't be more specific than that.

Q: Also, the type of planning that's being discussed publicly here in the last ten days, two weeks is usually the kind of thing that's done in the utmost secrecy -- nobody ever talks from podiums about activation orders, et cetera, et cetera. Why is this particular case being done in such a public fashion?

A: I don't think I quite agree with your characterization of the past. I mean, everything is different; NATO has never put itself together for this kind of military action before in Kosovo -- that's never happened before. When it happened in Bosnia, as I think you may recall, there was excruciating detail given on a regular basis for months about the different support that NATO had for action and the UN had for action. So I think what you're comparing this to is a unilateral operation by the United States, which is often done in extreme secrecy, as opposed to a NATO action where 16 countries are involved and obviously that means that it's more difficult and we don't expect to be able to have the same kind of secrecy. So I don't see the analogy the way you do.

Q: What about that resolution in a watershed event -- doesn't it foretell or -- at that point foretell -- but confirm that you have unanimity except for China, which won't veto anyhow?

A: Well, I -

QUESTION: Hasn't the ball been moved with that resolution?

A: We do think the ball was moved by the resolution, because it was taken under Chapter 7 -- that is, the enforcement powers of the UN Charter. But again, each of the countries involved is going to have to interpret its own -- what significance it applies to that resolution.
     We have taken a position of principle that even in the absence of Security Council resolution, NATO would have the authority to act. And as I've said, other countries -- depending on who they are -- have more or less desire for Security Council authorization.
     Certainly, the combination of that resolution and the recent reports of atrocities has made it easier for us to gain support from NATO countries for acting in the absence of a clear and explicit authorization to use force.

Q: The last few days -- of course, the UN was an opportunity and she took it. But in the last few days, has the Secretary talked specifically to allies about this --

A: I don't have a list of her phone calls, but I can tell you that she's had and will probably continue to have a number of discussions.
     In New York, most of her time with her European colleagues was focused on Kosovo. All the nuances that we are now reporting publicly were discussed in some detail privately by the Secretary with her counterparts from France, from Russia, from the United Kingdom and other countries from Europe, including Germany. So these are issues that she has been discussing constantly; that is, how to gather together the greatest possible support by NATO countries for being prepared to act if necessary if Slobodan Milosevic doesn't get the message and fails to comply with the UN's demands.

Q: Through the travel warning you're saying, of course, that any military action would not necessarily be limited to Serbian forces in Kosovo. Often times in this case you'd attack command and control centers anyway; is that what you're trying to say?

A: Lee, I said nothing of the sort. I said very clearly that we regard the situation as such that American citizens in Serbia-Montenegro and those considering travel there should be aware that it is becoming a more dangerous place, and that they should be advised against travel. That is for the obvious reason that President Milosevic has chosen not to respond to the requirements of the international community, and NATO is considering -- as we've indicated on several occasions -- the possibility of further action.
     So that is the reason why we think it's more dangerous. There are numerous possibilities flowing from that, and I'm not going to get into any specifics.

Q: And secondly, in the consultations with the NATO allies, excluding Russia, is everyone on board for the possibility of military action? Does she feel, do you feel that should you get ready to raise this decision to take this step of military action that everyone in NATO will agree?

A: Well, I'm not going to predict the position of the other 15 members. I've tried to give you a flavor of how we sense the momentum has shifted in recent days. Clearly, NATO understands that for the threat of the use of force to be credible, people need to be prepared to act. But as far as what decision each leader will take, as I've indicated to you in the past, that is a political decision and I am not indicating what America's political decision is or what the political decision of the other countries will be. That is above my pay grade.

Q: Foreign Minister Djukanovic -- has he asked for any meetings here at the State Department?

A:  Did he say some other ridiculous thing as well?

Q:  I'm sorry?

A: I'm wondering if he made some other ridiculous claim, but please go ahead.

Q: I don't know. Aside from what he said in his public statement, is he going to meet anybody at the State Department, and if you're not -- if he asks and is refused, would the reason be that you didn't want to give him an idea that its negotiable?

A: Well, I'm not aware of what meetings he's requested. I do believe we have contact with Serbian officials, broadly speaking, both in Belgrade and New York and here in Washington. I'd have to check what his particular request would be and whether we have any planned contact; I just don't know.

Q:  He's not coming over here today, for example?

A: I'm not aware of that, no. Certainly not meeting with the Secretary.

Q: You've mentioned several times that President Milosevic has not gotten the message or has not stopped his actions. Should he stop tomorrow or the next day, any time before NATO would make a political decision, would that be sufficient to prevent any military action by NATO? Is that the US' position?

A: Certainly our goal here is compliance; it's not the use of force. The goal is to get President Milosevic to stop the killing, stop the atrocities, stop the murder of innocent people, to allow international relief organizations to save those who are going to be increasingly in danger in the next two to three weeks, to allow monitors to be in Kosovo to find out what's going on, and to start negotiating seriously.
     In our view, that is the goal. What we are looking for is not a temporary tactical once step back two steps forward. We're looking for a strategic decision that is not reversible where he makes the decision to pull back his security forces, to stop them from being used, to repress and brutalize the population of Kosovo, and makes clear that he's made a strategic decision for a serious peace effort. It is not going to be enough for him to simply play cat and mouse with the international community.

Q: Would it be fair to draw the conclusion that if he were to take those steps and if he were to start negotiating, there would be no retribution for actions taken in the past by him and his forces?

A: I don't know how to answer that question. What I can say to you is that our demands are clear. His failure to meet those demands is equally clear. If he does not change course, we're heading in a direction that he won't like.

Q: How do you measure the irreversibility of a strategic move by Milosevic? How do you prevent this from becoming a cat and mouse game?

A: Well first of all, we are fully capable of monitoring the extent to which his security forces move, the extent to which he allows monitors to monitor that, the extent to which international relief organizations are able to operate and get food to the hungry. It's their reports that they are not able to do that, which is part of the reason he's in non-compliance. Certainly, Chris Hill and our negotiators and diplomats are fully able to assess whether he's serious about pursuing a peace accord to provide greater self-government to the people of Kosovo. So these are measurable items.
     What I'm saying to you is we haven't seen a shift, and that is where we are today.

Q: I'm trying to pin down the approximate cause for the possibility of NATO strikes. For instance, in taking the heat around here for the past couple of days, including by Ambassador Hill, about the need to round up professional forensic evidence in order to pin down the perpetrators of these atrocities. Is what you are saying that -- am I interpreting correctly what you are saying -- that the United States would go ahead and recommend NATO air strikes even without comprehensive forensic evidence coming in, pinning down the responsibility for the atrocities?

A: We have had monitors who visited certain sites. We have had very credible reports of atrocities. These atrocities are not the sole reason why NATO has geared up for contingency planning and move to an Activation Order and now to an Activation Request. This is something that has been going on for months. Some have criticized us for not moving more quickly.
     It is our view that in a matter as serious as the use of force, one needs to move carefully; one needs to explore all available diplomatic means of resolving a conflict; one should not rush to use military force. So the fact that this has been going on so long and there's been a steady use of his security forces to crack down on people, and now we have specific atrocity reports, doesn't change the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have been denied access to their homes or driven out or brutalized or scared to death.
     So the atrocities, I think, have helped crystallize in the minds of some of those who might have been wavering the urgency of action. But we've been at this from the beginning.

Q: In other words, the reason, when it comes, for NATO air strikes, would be the larger operation -- suppression, oppression and general abuse of the Kosovar population.

A: Again, without going beyond where the decision-making is, let me say very clearly, we have a set of demands. The use of force, if a political decision was made, would be designed to compel compliance with that set of demands and would be designed to ensure that failure to do so would be costly and punishing for Serbian authorities.
     What I am saying to you is that we've been at this for some time. We have looked at this as a combination of two interests: number one, our interest in the security and stability of the region and the danger that an outflow of refugees from Kosovo could pose to stability in countries surrounding Kosovo to the future of Bosnia; and secondly, a humanitarian interest in preventing the starvation or death of many, many refugees and internally displaced persons during these winter months. From the beginning, those have been the interests that we have identified. And all I am saying to you, with respect to the atrocities, is that they bring home to those who might have had their doubts the brutality of what President Milosevic and his forces have been doing for some time now.

Q: Another subject -- the Turkish President of -- Mr. Suleyman Demirel -- at the opening ceremony today in parliament, in his speech he said that, "I declare once more to the world that we reserve the right to retaliate against Syria, which has not abandoned its hostile attitude despite all our warning and peaceful initiative and that our patience is nearing an end." It means that some kind of diplomatic way is urging to Syria for supporting Kurdish terrorist organization --

A: I haven't seen that statement. I'll have to get a copy of it and get a response for you.

Q: Also, the Turkish military is starting a build-up in the nearby Syrian border right now.

A:  I'll have to check on those reports.

Q: Jamie, is there any chance you have a briefing on this before the trip?

Q:  On this same thing?

Q:  Yes, this same thing.

Q:  Oh, I'm sorry.

Q: The new Turk Chief of Staff or Armed Forces Chief said essentially the same thing a week ago when he was up there with these reviewing the 10,000 troops along the Syrian border. My question is would Syria -- two questions -- is Syria giving safe haven to the PKK leader (inaudible) -- I believe is his name? Secondly, would Turkey be justified in going after him -- what they consider terrorists, as they have done in Iraq - an operation you all have said was understandable?

A:  I'll have to take those questions.

Q: The trip coming up -- I wonder if there could be a briefing on the Middle East? There's something, for instance, I'd like to ask you about that's more like a specialist type of situation.

A: I can't be assured that we would be able to brief in advance of the trip, but I will inquire. But pose the question.

Q: Well, McCurry, at his regular briefing Tuesday, spoke of Cook having talked to Arafat at some length -- more than he did on security -about establishing -- Mike's words included such things as a formal relationship; a bilateral -- preparing for a bilateral relationship. This is an idea that was alive a while ago, and I wondered what's the -- what kind of -- what are you all ginning up there? What are you talking about -- a vehicle for economic assistance? Are you preparing for the state that you probably think is inevitable and probably is inevitable? What is this what are you doing with the Palestinians that resembles dealing with the government or the UN has recognized the Palestinians as all but a government, except for voting rights? I don't know if you saw it in the brief --

A: The difference in having voting rights and not have voting rights.

Q: Oh sure it is, but they did take a step -- a major step -- to increase their status; and apparently the US is planning something similar.

A: Well I will check with Mike to what he was referring. I know that the President did have a chance to talk at length with the Chairman about several matters. As you know we do deal with the Palestinian Authority in a myriad of ways on security matters, on diplomatic matters, on the peace process, on economic matters. So we have a full service relationship with the Palestinian Authority. Whether there are any steps being considered to change the technicalities of that, I will check for you.

Q:  It sounds like it, but, all right, I'll try again tomorrow.

A:  Okay.

Q: One of the things Mike did talk about was his commission. About a year or so ago you all did announce an Albright-Arafat commission or something and when -- he talked about rejuvenating a commission and nothing was really ever done with the Albright-Arafat commission. What happened to it --

A: I'll get you an answer. I mean I know that Secretary Albright and Chairman Arafat have had a lot of meetings, primarily in the peace process and perhaps that has made it hard to focus on other subjects. But let me check on the status of that for you.

Q: My question on Colombia. Colombia's constitutional court is about to decide in the next few hours whether to allow retroactive extradition of criminals and drug traffickers to other countries, obviously including the United States. Have you been holding talks with the Colombian Government on this or pressuring them on this?

A: We don't use the "P" word, but I can certainly tell you what our view is. Our view is that extradition with retroactivity, meaning that people who have committed crimes in the past should be able to be extradited, is an essential tool to combat transnational crimes such as narco-trafficking, and that is our view and continues to be our view.

Q: Back on the Middle East, I apologize if Mr. Foley may have gone through this yesterday. Could you go over a little bit more about what she plans to do during the trip and where she plans to visit, et cetera?

A: Well the details of the trip are still being worked out, but what I would expect to see is a series of meetings with Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Netanyahu and the negotiating teams in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel. The objective of the trip will be to further narrow the gaps and try to develop formulas to overcome some of the differences.

There are a number of areas the Secretary intends to focus on. It is an intensive negotiating session to try to limit the number of issues that need to be addressed when the two leaders come to the United States for a meeting with the President -- a series of meetings, presumably -- to close and hopefully finish all the interim issues that have been unable to be moved forward for 18 months.

Q: Is there a chance that she might detour either en route or afterwards to do the Kosovo issue?

A: Well, all of those who have traveled with the Secretary know that she's fully capable of changing directions to go onto an urgent task, but I have no information for you on a current plan.

Q: During their meetings, did Netanyahu and the President discuss Jonathan Pollard in this set of meetings and did they -- there was an Israeli report that there's a road map for next steps with Jonathan Pollard.

A: Well, as you know, our position on Jonathan Pollard is a position of principle, and that is that it's a domestic law enforcement matter. That is a decision the President would make in accordance with US law and taking into account the recommendation of the Attorney General and the views of the law enforcement and national security agencies. I understand that Mike is going to check with President Clinton to see whether that issue arose in the one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu that did not arise in the larger meeting. He will be reporting the results of his check.

Q:  Is this something the Secretary would make a recommendation on?

A: I would have to check that. I certainly think the lead is the Attorney General and the views of the law enforcement and national security agencies. To what extent the State Department plays in domestic sentencing of that kind, I would have to check. Yes?

Q: Regarding Cambodia, Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy is scheduled to arrive here in DC tonight sometime, and I was wondering, are there plans for him to meet with anybody here at the State Department in advance of Assistant Secretary Roth's testimony on the Hill tomorrow?

A:  I'm not aware of any such plans.

Q:  Okay.

Q: We had a bit of a readout on the meeting with the Vietnamese yesterday. Do you have anymore today?

A: Yes. I thought you were going to go to another country nearby. You may want to do that afterwards. The basic readout that you got yesterday is what I'm looking at, so I'm not sure I have much to add to you. We have made progress in our relations with Vietnam based on Vietnam's continued cooperation on the POW MIA issue, and that is to achieve the fullest possible accounting. Vietnam has also cooperated in processing refugees and immigrants. That has been the basis for two presidential waivers of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, waivers upheld by a bipartisan majority in Congress.
     As you know the Jackson-Vanik waiver made Vietnam eligible for certain trade and investment programs but does not result in MFN -- so-called normal trade relations trading status for Vietnam because that requires a bilateral trade agreement and we've held six rounds of negotiations on that. We have encouraged -- and she did yesterday -- Vietnam to undertake changes in reforms that would improve the business climate and make its economy more attractive to foreign investors. Such reforms would facilitate progress on this trade agreement.
     In addition, we welcomed Vietnam's recent decision to release a number of dissidents and religious leaders and we would encourage Vietnam to further improve respect for human rights, including religious freedom.

Q: (Inaudible). I'm just wondering -- given the Prime Minister's comments about a year ago that George Soros and the Jewish community was to blame for the financial crisis in Southeast Asia. Now these nearly unbelievable charges that he's leveled against the Deputy Prime Minister Anwar, whether you have something you could comment on his ability to rule, --

A: Well certainly in the last case we regarded it as an outrageous statement. We have no reason to believe that these were self-inflicted wounds; it's kind of a ridiculous claim given what's happened to the Deputy Prime Minister and his family and we are working with others to try to bring home to the government of Malaysia that these kind of activities only further cast into doubt the role of Malaysia in the international community.

Q: And, in prosperous times this kind of thing, I suppose, can go away but in fragile times and with unrest in the streets, does this take have a special sort of -- a special sort of difficulty, would you think, in Malaysia?

A: We'll have to see how things unfold there. All I can say to you is that we have put out statements on this; Secretary Albright has talked to the Secretary General of the UN and other foreign ministers about this, urging everyone to put pressure on the government there to reverse this kind of step.

Q: The Secretary -- I assume she's met with the Deputy Prime Minister before -- how does she -- does she feel anything --

A: I would have to check that; I don't know about their personal relationship. I'll be happy to check that with them.

Q:  Do you have anything on -- (inaudible) -- ?

A: On North Korea. The missile talks did begin this morning. These - the US delegation is led by Bob Einhorn. This is a follow up to talks that were held in April '96 and June '97. As you know, this was one of the things that we urged the North Koreans to move forward on during a set of negotiations in August, and let me be clear -- the United States has serious concerns about North Korea's missile exports and their indigenous missile activities, including the attempt in August to use a Taepo Dong-1 missile to orbit a very small satellite. The August 31 launch represents another step forward in North Korea's missile development program and is a matter of deep concern to the United States. That is because a further launch of long-range missiles or transfers of such missiles would pose a threat to our interests; to our allies and could spark an arms race in missiles in the region. We intend to make quite clear to the North Koreans that if they were to proceed with additional launches or were to export such missiles, there will be very negative consequences for our policy.
     On the other hand, if North Korea were to adopt strict restraints on its missile program, including the cessation of North Korean flight testing production, deployment and export of missiles and related technology, there could be a commensurate improvement in its relationship with the United States. That is the essence of the message we are going to make clear to them; it's a matter we take very, very seriously and -- an unrestrained North Korean missile program would have a very negative consequence on our policy.

Q: Do you know if Einhorn is going to make himself available up there to -- (inaudible) -- ?

A:  I'm hoping to arrange something for you tomorrow.

Q:  Tomorrow?

A:  Yes.

Q:  Back on Malaysia for a moment -

A:  We're on North Korea and then we'll go back.

Q:  (Inaudible.)

A:  In New York.

Q: Can you say anything more about what you mean by the details of what would constitute commensurate improvement or negative consequences?

A:  No.

Q: On Malaysia -- do you -- if this continues -- this situation in Malaysia continues, is it -- could the meeting in Kuala Lumpur be endangered?

A: I don't think that this is one of those cases, and remember how the system works and it's basically an annual rotation and I don't -- given the other countries involved, I would be surprised if there is a willingness on their part to consider a change of venue.

Q: What about participation of the United States -- would that be affected?

A:  I haven't heard that at this time.

Q: I just wanted to ask you to try to elaborate a little on your comments earlier on Kosovo --

A:  I thought they were pretty elaborate.

Q: Well, just a little bit more. But specifically your comment about their -- your having credible reports of atrocities for some time -- I don't --

A:  That's not what I said.

Q: Well, OK then, I misunderstood it, but I'm trying to understand how this particular incident represents an increase in our knowledge of exactly what allegedly is going on and going on there?

A: For some time we have been deeply concerned and condemned Serbia's use of military power against civilians in a wide-scale repression in Kosovo. We have talked about it from the podium of myriad occasions; we have ratcheted up the sanctions regime; we launched a series of military planning activities, including exercises, precisely because we have had concerns about the humanitarian consequences of what Serbian military and police authorities are doing in Kosovo. What I said, with respect to the atrocities, was that for those who had their doubts about the need to reach to the question of military force, perhaps that has made it easier for them to do so. We have always said that we thought NATO could act without a UN Security Council resolution and I think the combination of an initial Security Council action some days ago and the credible reports of atrocities in recent days has made some, who were perhaps less clear on the importance of threatening the use of force, to come closer to our position.

Q:  Thank you.

(end transcript)

01 October 1998
ADD WHITE HOUSE REPORT, OCTOBER 1, 1998
(Kosovo, Japan/Korea, McCurry's final briefing) (870)

NATO MAKES FORMAL REQUEST FOR AIR RESOURCES FOR KOSOVO

McCurry announced at his afternoon briefing that NATO October 1 had made a "formal request for air forces" from member states following the deliberations of the North Atlantic Council. "It's an activation request for air resources as it was described today in Brussels," he said.
     "We certainly will respond to that request. We are actively working that to consult with Congress about the consequences of the refusal by Mr. Milosevic to comply with the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1199," he said.
     President Clinton is in touch with world leaders on the situation in Kosovo. "It remains something that he is actively engaged with, particularly at a time when his national security advisers are beginning to explain to Congress the steps that NATO has been taking, that the UN has been taking, to deal with the intransigence of the government in Belgrade," McCurry said.
     Asked if there is a deadline in the Security Council resolution for Milosevic to act, McCurry said, "there is not, but it's clearly an urgent matter in which urgent action needs to be taken because of the humanitarian situation. People are up in the mountains. Winter is about to begin, and the likelihood that they are going to freeze or starve to death is pretty clear."

01 October 1998
U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS KOSOVO MASSACRE

(UNSC issues statement while awaiting SecGen's report) (850)
By Judy Aita
USIA United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The U.N. Security Council October 1 strongly condemned the massacre of dozens of ethnic Albanian villagers in Kosovo and called upon "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY) President Slobodan Milosevic to identify and punish those responsible.
     The Security Council members have "made clear their determination to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe in Kosovo and to promote peaceful negotiations, and they demanded full and immediate compliance with Security Council resolution 1160 and 1199," the president of the council said.
     After hearing a report from a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) during a closed-door session, the council issued a statement to the press through its president for October, British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.
     "The Security Council members met today following the appalling report of the atrocities since the adoption of UNSC resolution 1199 on the 23rd of September. We also heard from a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that the alarming humanitarian situation on the ground continues to get worse daily," Greenstock said.
     "The council expressed considerable alarm at reports that fighting was continuing, despite the demand in Security Council resolution 1199 for a cease-fire, and, in particular, that thousands more civilians have been forced to leave their homes because of the actions of government security forces," he said.
     "Council members strongly condemned those responsible for those atrocities, and they called upon President Milosevic and the government in Belgrade immediately to investigate and identify and punish those responsible," the council president said.
     Council members also said that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which is based in the Hague, is empowered to and should investigate violations of international humanitarian law in Kosovo, Greenstock said.
     U.S. Ambassador Peter Burleigh said that the statement was a "very clear, direct message to the government in Belgrade that they have to be accountable and responsible for their activities, the activities of their security forces in the FRY, and, after all, they are responsible for the well-being of the people of the country.
     "As far as the U.S. is concerned, the council is sending a clear signal of its outrage ... with regard to these latest atrocities in Kosovo," Burleigh said.
     "It is a very serious situation, a very grave situation. The council is deeply concerned about it," the U.S. ambassador added.
     Secretary General Kofi Annan also condemned the "wanton killings and excesses by the Serb security forces.
     "I think violence by all sides must stop immediately. If it doesn't stop, and we don't have access to the displaced and the refugees we need, there will be humanitarian disaster," the secretary general said.
     "I appeal to all concerned to cease the violence and give us humanitarian space and access to do our work and also allow the negotiators to get on with their work and get people back to the table," he said.
     The press statement, which is not a legal or official document of the council, is considered by diplomats as an interim step until Secretary General Kofi Annan reports on the situation.
     The council has asked the secretary general to make his report by Monday, October 5.
     In resolution 1199, the council demanded that all hostilities in Kosovo cease immediately and international monitors and humanitarian aid workers be allowed to operate in the province.
     In that resolution, the council also demanded that Yugoslav and Kosovar leaders begin a political dialogue, but placed the main responsibility for the situation in Kosovo on Belgrade and Serbian security forces. The council said that the situation "constitutes a threat to peace and security in the region."
     The resolution, enacted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, came as the international community became increasingly concerned and impatient with Milosevic's failure to end the military crackdown on the province and the number of displaced persons and refugees soared to more than 250,000.
     NATO has completed plans for possible air strikes and political pressure for military strikes has continued to build after the bodies of 34 women, children and elderly civilians were found in three Kosovo villages September 29.
     British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who called for the October 1 council meeting, said Annan's report could "provide the basis for the next step."
     Diplomats at the UN expect the United States and the United Kingdom to present a tougher resolution or statement based on the secretary general's report. However, U.S. officials have said that resolution 1199's warning of "further action and addition measures" if Belgrade does not comply is a basis for using force.
     A UN spokesman said that Annan was "outraged" over reports of the atrocities.
     While Yugoslav authorities have the right to maintain public order, no actions of Kosovar Albanian separatist extremists "can never justify the pattern of terror, including the burning of houses, looting, killing of livestock and wanton killing that have been reported these past few days," the secretary general said in a statement issued through his spokesman September 30.

01 October 1998
TEXT: STATE DEPT. ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING FOR SERBIA-MONTENEGRO
(Urges U.S. citizens to consider departing the country) (260)

Washington -- The State Department warned all U.S. citizens October 1 against travel to Serbia-Montenegro and urged those U.S. citizens now in that country to consider departing.
     The travel warning stated that due to the failure of Belgrade authorities to comply with United Nations Security Council demands and in the face of atrocities committed in Kosovo, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are considering the necessity for military action. This action could be decided upon in the near future, the State Department said.

Following is the text of the State Department warning:

(Begin text)

TRAVEL WARNING
Serbia-Montenegro
October 1, 1998

The Department of State warns U.S. citizens against travel to Serbia-Montenegro. United States citizens in Serbia-Montenegro are urged to consider departing the country. Due to the failure of Belgrade authorities to comply with United Nations Security Council demands and in the face of atrocities committed in Kosovo, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are considering the necessity for military action. This action could be decided upon in the near future.
     Both the police and Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) are active in Kosovo and each operates numerous checkpoints throughout the region. There have been incidents at both kinds of checkpoints in which guards have fired at vehicles whose occupants did not obey their commands. Due to the potential for violence, the authority of the individuals operating these checkpoints should not be challenged.

(End text)

Taken without permission, for fair use only.

Serbians Leave Sites Of Civilian Slayings-Initial Probe Reveals Pattern of Atrocities

TIMES:Serb atrocities blamed on renegade police

TIMES:Alliance marshalling its forces for intervention in Kosovo

NYT:War Crimes Panel Seeks a Way for Kosovo Survivor to Testify

Serbs attack Kosovo massacre reports

BBC: Analysis: Nato's military options

Kosovo Villagers Allege Troop Rampage, Killings

Security Council Is Expected to Condemn Kosovo Killings

Kosovo troubles at forefront of world agenda

Administration Briefs Senate Over Possible Action in Kosovo

Analysis-West near Kosovo Action, Result Uncertain

Top Serbian Radical Accuses West Over Kosovo

White House Warns Serb Leader to Act Quickly

U.S. prepares for possible strikes against Serbs

Reports: Serbs Massacred Villagers-Another Balkan Nightmare

NYT:U.S. Again Seeks Forensic Study on Killings in Kosovo Villages

ABC-Bloody Sunday

==============================

Serbians Leave Sites Of Civilian Slayings
Initial Probe Reveals Pattern of Atrocities

By Guy Dinmore
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, October 1, 1998; Page A32

GOLUBOVAC, Yugoslavia, Sept. 30—Some Serbian special police forces pulled out of central Kosovo today, giving Western investigators the chance to move in and gather evidence of what appeared to be a systematic pattern of atrocities committed against ethnic Albanian civilians.
     U.S. and European diplomats monitoring the Serbian government's announcement Monday of a unilateral cease-fire in Kosovo said it appeared that the police units had driven home a brutal message to the ethnic Albanian population last weekend before withdrawing from the region.
     In at least two villages in the central Drenica region, a former stronghold of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, witnesses and survivors said police massacred civilians on Saturday. Farms in the region were torched and cattle killed.
     Police carried out a mass execution of 14 men in a farm compound during an attack on this village, according to an ethnic Albanian resident -- the sole survivor -- who gave his account today to Western diplomats and journalists.
     His account paralleled descriptions of a massacre of at least 19 ethnic Albanians in the nearby village of Gornje Obrinje the same day. Most of the victims of that attack, who included six women and four children, were shot in the head at close range. Some had their throats cut.
     Col. Bozidar Filic, a Serbian police spokesman, denied that police officers were responsible for the killings but said an investigation would be conducted.
     Human rights investigators who have attended burials and interviewed survivors say more than 60 people may have been executed in the Drenica region last weekend. Corpses are still scattered in lanes and woods.
     More than 700 people have been killed in Kosovo, a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's dominant republic, since Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic launched an offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in late February. The guerrillas have fought for independence for the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs by 9 to 1, but have been routed by Serbian police and Yugoslav army forces in recent months.
     Lying in bed with bullet wounds in his arm and leg, the survivor of Saturday's attack in this village said he had lived by pretending to be dead. His account was supported by an elderly farmer who said he saw the killings from behind the wall of his yard where the execution took place.
     According to the survivor, who was too terrified for his name to be made public, Serbian police and Yugoslav army units attacked his village, and then rounded up civilians who had taken refuge in a nearby wood.
     "They separated us men from the women and children," he said. "Police and army in various uniforms took us to a farmyard where we were forced to crouch with our hands behind our necks."
     Police, he said, then beat them with farm tools and wooden clubs, and stabbed some of them with a pitchfork. The witness said he saw police gouge out the eyes of some of the victims with a cleft stick. By this point some of them already were dead, but one policeman, seated on an old car seat propped up on a mound of earth, finished off the execution at close range with a machine gun.
     Taken to the compound today, reporters saw large patches of blood on the ground, blood-stained farm tools and the car seat with scores of spent cartridges scattered nearby.
     By the time Western investigators arrived, villagers had buried the 14 men, but the bodies of other victims, killed in nearby woods, were still being brought to the small, Muslim graveyard. The contorted corpse of one man was badly charred, but what a diplomat described as an entry wound could be seen in the back of his head.
     Convoys of trucks and buses carrying several hundred policemen were seen withdrawing from central Kosovo today, though it was unclear whether they were planning to pull out completely from the province to Serbia proper. In Washington, State Department spokesman James Foley and other U.S. officials said that while the Serbians have pulled back some security forces, they have been replaced by newly arrived units.
     Machine-gun fire and tank engines could be heard near the village of Likovac, about five miles north of here. Western diplomats said government forces also continued to shell and burn villages about five miles from the southern town of Suva Reka, one of the guerrillas' last remaining pockets of organized resistance.
     Representatives of the U.N. war crimes tribunal based in The Hague already have interviewed survivors of the massacres, as have members of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission, which comprises envoys from the United States, Russia and European nations. The tribunal was set up during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia but has the jurisdiction to investigate alleged war crimes throughout the former Yugoslavia.
     Their mission is not without danger. An ethnic Albanian doctor was killed today when a Red Cross vehicle hit a land mine a few miles from Gornje Obrinje. Five Serbian policemen also died in a mine explosion in the same area Friday, an event that some diplomats believe led to police reprisals in surrounding villages the next day.
     These latest atrocities are not the first in Kosovo. When Serbia launched its offensive against the guerrillas on Feb. 28, special police units singled out 10 men from the same family in Likosane, beat them and executed them on the spot. Their bodies were later returned, mutilated, to their families.
     The Serbian authorities allege that the guerrillas have tortured and executed Serbian prisoners. Officials said more than 20 bodies were dredged out of a canal near Glodjane in southwest Kosovo last month. Some of them later turned out to be ethnic Albanians. The U.N. war crimes tribunal has said it wants to send forensic experts to investigate alleged atrocities committed by both sides.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
__________________________________________________

A massacre in Kosovo couldprove a turningpoint,
 writesTom Walker
Serb atrocities blamed on renegade police

THE police officer in charge of the Serb security operation in Kosovo yesterday denied that his officers had been involved in massacres of ethnic Albanians, as his superiors in the Belgrade regime again faced accusations of genocide.
     "All the units active in this area were under the direct control of their superiors, and I am completely sure the police were not involved," said Colonel Bozidar Filic. He added that an investigation had begun into the Gornje Obrinje atrocities, involving the point-blank shooting of refugees, many of them women and children. In the aftermath of an operation that again raises questions about President Milosevic's ability to protect basic human rights in his country, the Serbian media have denounced Western journalists and diplomatic observers, whom they accuse of twisting the Kosovo story by quoting unreliable Albanian sources.
     But the existence of mutilated bodies is hard to deny and if Colonel Filic's men were not behind the massacres, it raises the question of just who was.
     At the beginning of the conflict in February, diplomats and Albanians pointed the finger at fighters of Serbia's SAJ anti-terrorist unit. The black-uniformed forces, under the command of Frenki Simatovic, one of Mr Milosevic's shadowiest henchmen, were regularly seen in the thick of the action and had a history of involvement in some of the ugliest chapters of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Croatia.
     Serb security sources yesterday ruled out the SAJ as the perpetrators of massacres. "They are professionals, men who want to get from A to B with the minimum of fuss," said a former paratrooper.
     He said it was far more likely that rogue elements within the normal police, crazed by their experiences in the Bosnian war, were responsible for atrocities that could prove the turning point in the West's attitude towards military intervention in Kosovo.
     A diplomat who has had extensive experience as an observer in the Balkan conflicts agreed that the atrocities were probably the work of police reinforcements. "They're angry and often schizophrenic," he said. "War here is a ruthless game, there's nothing glorious about it."
     The Serbs always deny that their forces would ever kill women and children; the Albanian side claims likewise.
     Yet the cycle of Balkan violence over the ages shows a depressing repetition of cruelty every bit as bloody as anything practised in medieval times by warriors such as Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian leader who killed thousands of Turks.
     This Kosovo war has been no different - victims on both sides have had their throats slit and their eyes gouged out. In many of the Orthodox monasteries that dot Kosovo, frescos show saints with their eyes missing - the result of atrocities committed by invading Turks 900 years ago. Echoes of previous conflicts are everywhere around the Kosovo landscape, in which are buried the bodies of countless men, women and children who suffered miserable, tortured deaths over the centuries of conquest and reconquest.
     This time it is the Albanians who have been on the receiving end of most of the violence - although several mass grave sites of Serb hostages killed by the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) have also been uncovered.
     The Serbs, who have lost at least 150 police in the past seven months in Kosovo, do not help their case by refusing visas to international forensic scientists. Villagers complain that their animals have often been mutilated in much the same way as their menfolk.
     Cattle and sheep carcasses are often found with their ears cut off, a form of treatment which is also practised on KLA guerrillas. "What the Serbs have to remember is that they're creating walking timebombs by allowing these people to get away with it. These people can never be normal again, and they will for sure kill their own kind sooner or later," said the paratrooper.
     One more modern factor in the present slaughter is the influence of drugs. "I've looked at the eyes of some of these guys and they are out of their minds," said another Western diplomat.
     He added: "They're pumped up and not sleeping for days on end. In that condition they're capable of anything."
__________________________________________________

Alliance marshalling its forces for intervention in Kosovo
BY MICHAEL EVANS DEFENCE EDITOR

NATO is "now in full swing" assembling a strike force from all member nations for possible air raids on Serbian targets in Yugoslavia, an alliance official said yesterday.
     But, despite the latest massacre of civilians uncovered in Kosovo - further evidence that Serbian forces are ignoring the demands and ultimatums of the international community - there were no signs of imminent military action.
     After a full council meeting of Nato ambassadors in Brussels, officials said no decision on military action would be taken until after Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, delivers his report next week on whether Belgrade had complied with last week's Security Council demand for a ceasefire.
     A senior British official also said it was vital to think about the long-term consequences of launching airstrikes. He said it was likely that airstrikes would need to be followed with further action to stabilise the region, implying that ground forces would have to be sent in to help to resolve the refugee crisis.
     Many observers, comparing the present impasse over Kosovo with the confrontation with Belgrade over Bosnia, believe that action now might be too late. "The Serbian forces have largely achieved what they wanted; they have recovered all the ground gained by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the summer," one diplomat said.
     In keeping with the strong rhetoric of Nato defence ministers at their meeting in Vilamoura, Portugal, last week, however, all alliance countries yesterday assigned specific forces for an airstrike operation against Serbian military targets in Yugoslavia.Britain offered eight RAF Harrier 7s, four of which are already in Bosnia.
     America has refused to reveal what forces it has assigned, but, apart from a wide range of tactical bombers based in Italy, the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean has five warships and three attack submarines.
     Germany announced that it was putting 14 Tornado strike aircraft and 500 troops at Nato's disposal for possible military action. The incoming Bonn Government has pledged to pursue the present policy, although Gerhard Schröder, the new Chancellor, has said he wants a UN mandate for any intervention.
     Among other allies, The Netherlands and Norway have each offered eight F16 fighters and Spain has pledged four F18s.
     Nato officials said the alliance had reports that some Yugoslav army forces and heavy weapons were being pulled out of Kosovo, but this action was described as totally inadequate.
     One official said there was no evidence to support Belgrade's claim that the offensive in Kosovo was over.
     Russia continues to oppose the use of force, but the Nato official said Moscow could not remain indifferent to the "mounting evidence of wanton acts of assassination of women and children".
     Reacting to the latest atrocities in Kosovo, Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday: "I am appalled by these reports of massacres of civilians, including women and children, at Gornje Obrinje and near Vucitern."
     International monitors found the bodies of 14 Albanians at Gornje Obrinje and another 17 at Vucitern.
     Mr Cook, who demanded an immediate independent forensic science inquiry into the deaths, announced that he had called a meeting of senior officials of the Contact Group - the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Russia - for tomorrow to discuss how to obtain a political deal in Kosovo. But Michael Howard, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, accused the Government of "bluster, indecision and prevarication".
     Carlos Westendorp, the senior official in charge of the civilian restructuring programmes in Bosnia, has made clear he is concerned that Nato airstrikes might spur unemployed Bosnian Serbs to join the Serbian security forces in Kosovo and that military action might destabilise the Dayton peace accord agreed by all the parties after more than three years of war.
__________________________________________________

October 1, 1998
War Crimes Panel Seeks a Way for Kosovo Survivor to Testify
By JANE PERLEZ

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- Investigators were trying Wednesday to get the lone survivor of a mass shooting in Kosovo out of Serbia to testify about the killings at a war crimes tribunal.
     The witness, about 35 years old, was among 14 ethnic Albanian men who were ordered to lie face-down against a fence and were systematically shot by one or more Serbs, said Western diplomats who interviewed the man on Tuesday. His identity was kept secret.
     The witness was shot in his left arm and leg and badly wounded, but managed to survive by pretending to be dead, diplomats said the man told them.
     Two investigators from the International War Crimes Tribunal, based in the Hague, Netherlands, were in Kosovo Wednesday to look into the matter, one of two executions of ethnic Albanians that witnesses said Serbian forces carried out in central Kosovo on Saturday. The 13 men were killed in the village of Golubovac, while 18 members of an extended family were killed about four miles away near Gornji Obrinje.
     Serbian authorities Wednesday denied that their forces were involved in the killing of the 18 women, children and elderly people of the Deliaj clan near Gornji Obrinje. But the Serbian authorities did not address the question of culpability for the 13 deaths in Golubovac that the survivor said he had witnessed.
     The killings took place in an area where Serbian forces had been shelling and burning villages in a campaign of intimidation against ethnic Albanian civilians. Kosovo, once an autonomous province, is fighting for independence from Serbia.
     Col. Bozidar Filic, the Serbian police spokesman in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, said Wednesday that it was not possible that Serbian police had shot the civilians in Gornji Obrinje. Police units involved in "breaking up terrorist bands" in the area were under the direct command of their superior officers who submitted regular reports about their activities, he said. The officers, he said, did not report any incidents involving the killing of women, children or the elderly.
     The Yugoslav army did not issue any statements Wednesday, although witnesses implicated them in the deaths of the Deliaj family.
     In Belgrade, the official Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, which usually reflects the position of the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, said the reports of the killings of the Deliaj clan were made by "foreign media" anxious to advance the calls for NATO intervention in the conflict between the Serbs and the ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's population.
     NATO officials have called on Milosevic in the last week to end his tank and artillery operations against the separatist guerrillas and attacks on ethnic Albanian civilians and their property or face possible military action.
     In an apparent move to comply with the NATO demands, the Serbian government said on Monday that the offensive had ended and all was quiet in Kosovo.
     Two long convoys of Serbian police and Yugoslav troops were seen by Western diplomatic monitors on the roads Wednesday, indicating the offensive might be over. One was heading north to Pristina, the other was heading out of Pristina farther north.
     But Western diplomats and monitors remained unconvinced. It was "too early to say" whether the convoys on the move were merely intended to make it "look as though the troops were going back to barracks," one diplomat said.
     The survivor told diplomats that 14 men between the ages of 18 and 35 from different villages in the area had been selected for a firing line from a larger group of men. They were told to lie face down on the ground against the fence of a house, the survivor said. After shots were fired by what the survivor described as at least one Serbian policeman but possibly more, one of the Albanian men cried out that he was still alive. The man was immediately shot dead, the survivor recounted.
     The bodies were said to have been returned to their villages and buried before diplomats arrived.
     Because of the survivor, Western officials here said that the killing of the 13 Albanians provided the best case for prosecution at the war crimes tribunal, which has established jurisdiction over the Kosovo conflict. Another witness, Adem Hoxhaj, said he saw the shooting from nearby.
     By comparison, the most vivid description so far of the shooting of the Deliaj clan came from a member of the family who said he saw Serbian forces approach but did not see the actual slaughter.
     One of the diplomats said the survivor was "an important witness" and "we are very concerned about getting him to the Hague.
     The issue of how to get the survivor to the Hague is developing into a test case of how the tribunal can exercise jurisdiction in Serbia, which is now the dominant part of Yugoslavia.
     Milosevic's government has refused to recognize the authority of the tribunal and granted visas for only two investigators from the Hague. One of the investigators was scheduled to talk to the survivor Wednesday, a Western official said.
     The investigators, who are police detectives on loan to the tribunal, have no power of extradition or mandate to decide how to get the survivor who remains seriously wounded and needs medical treatment, to the Hague. The investigators were discussing with the Red Cross and Western diplomats how to proceed, the official said.
     Tanjug, the Yugoslav news agency, lashed out at the foreign press Wednesday for some reports of the civilian killings that mentioned the possibility that they were a reprisal for the reported deaths of Serbian police officers killed recently when their vehicle hit a land mine in the same area.
     "The policemen are mentioned now, but only in the context of speculation that Albanian civilians were killed in retaliation," Tanjug said. The news agency said seven police officers were killed in the incident while other reports said five died. Mines in that area, a former stronghold of the Kosovo Liberation Army, are believed to have been planted by the separatist fighters.
     Western monitors assessing the military situation in Kosovo said there was significantly less shelling Wednesday. But shells were fired at four villages east of Suva Reka Wednesday morning, an area that had been sealed by the Serbs until Wednesday, monitors said. Columns of smoke from burning buildings were easy to see a few miles away Wednesday, and people who had fled their homes said there were Serbian police around their village.
     In nearby Vranici, men and women were returning to their homes after an ordeal with the Serbs.
     On Sunday morning, they heard warning shots that an attack on the village was under way, so they fled up the mountain in a caravan of vehicles. On Monday morning, Serbian police invited them to come back, saying they would be safe.
     But when they agreed to return, the villagers said, police took about 250 men, loaded them onto buses and took them away. The women were bused away separately, they said. Many of the women were returned to the village on Monday and others Wednesday. Late Wednesday afternoon many of the men were returned as well. They said about 50 of their number were still in Serbian custody.
     On their return Wednesday afternoon, the villagers found the bodies of two ethnic Albanian men on the ground at the mosque of Vranici. One of them, Hafir Elshani, had been shot in the chest and his nose had been cut off. The other man, Milam Bugari, had been shot at close range behind the ear.
     The villagers found that many of the convoy of 250 or so cars and tractors they had abandoned on Sunday had been set on fire or vandalized and their belongings had been strewn on the ground.
     Because Milosevic has been criticized by the West for allowing about 50,000 Albanian refugees to live outdoors, the operation by Serb police in Vranici seemed designed to create chaos and fear but insure that those forced to flee their homes would not end up in the forest.
__________________________________________________

World: Europe
BBC
Serbs attack Kosovo massacre reports

As international threats of military intervention in Kosovo are stepped up, officials in Serbia have hit back against allegations of atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
     David Loyn: BBC accused of laying ground for western air raidsBelgrade has denied responsibility for two cases of atrocities, and says its military operation against ethnic Albanian separatists is over.
     In particular, the outspoken Deputy Prime Minister, Vojislav Seselj, accused the BBC of being part of a conspiracy to harden public opinion in the West, and warned of reprisals around the world if Nato forces attacked Serbia.
     A Serb television report described the BBC accounts of atrocities committed by police in Kosovo as lies and manipulation.

Third massacre reported

David Loyn: "No ceasefire despite Serbian claims"The comments from Belgrade came after the emergence of evidence of a third Kosovo massacre this week.
     Four men were slaughtered when Serb security forces ambushed a convoy of Albanian refugees in south-western Kosovo, according to Human Rights Watch.
     Yugoslavia insists its offensive in Kosovo is overA monitor from the group said one man appeared to have been shot at close range and another had had his nose cut off.
     It follows earlier reports of the killings of 32 Albanians at two sites in the Serbian province.
     Human Rights Watch said police detained several hundred men during the attack on Tuesday and burnt large parts of the village of Vranic.

Britain calls Security Council into session

The emergency meeting of the Security Council on Thursday was requested by Britain after reports of this week's massacres.
     Graves were marked only by shoesThe bodies of 18 ethnic Albanians were found in the central Kosovo village of Gornje Obrinje and another 14 corpses were located in Vucitern.
     Local people said the killings had been carried out by Serbian police.
     The victims were stabbed or shot and several had been decapitated.
     One child survived, protected from the bullets by the body of its mother.
     Foreign Secretary Robin Cook says Britain is now seeking agreement for military action against Yugoslav authorities.
     British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook: "This was an act of ethnic hatred""Britain is ready to act if Milosevic does not act in order to bring himself into line with United Nations resolutions (for a cease-fire).
     "I think what we have seen is plain murder. Milosevic has outraged the whole of the world community," he told the BBC.
     Mr Cook has demanded that the Serbs allow independent forensic investigation of the massacres.

Timetable for action

The BBC's UN correspondent, Rob Watson, says the Security Council meeting is certain to produce angry criticism of Belgrade.
     But substantial action is unlikely before the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, presents a report next week on Serbia's compliance with UN demands for a cease-fire in Kosovo.
     BBC Diplomatic Correspondent James Robbins says Russia - who has traditionally stood by the Serbs - is likely to give its active support to this new denunciation of Belgrade.
     That will strengthen Nato's hand as ships and planes prepare for possible cruise missile and bomb attacks.
     The United States and Britain are offering aircraft, as are the Netherlands, Norway and Spain.
     Germany is expected to provide 14 Tornados from the Luftwaffe.
__________________________________________________

Thursday, October 1, 1998 Published at 12:50 GMT 13:50 UK
Analysis: Nato's military options
Germany has offered 14 Tornado fighter bombers
By Defence Correspondent Jonathan Marcus

The mood within the Atlantic Alliance has hardened in the wake of the news of indiscriminate killings of civilians, attributed to the Yugoslav government forces.
     Nato is fast losing patience with President Milosevic. Congressional opinion in the United States is also turning towards military action, bringing more pressure to bear on the embattled White House.
     Nato knows it cannot keep threatening without taking action.
     Mr Milosevic understands the Alliance's reluctance to act and has called their bluff.
     What is far from clear is whether he understands the detailed dynamics within the western coalition which may make air action by Nato inevitable if the Serbian offensive in Kosovo is not halted.

Emotions play their part

The latest killings of unarmed civilians have given a renewed emotional element to the crisis in Kosovo, which Nato governments may not be able to ignore.
     More than a quarter of a million have been made homeless since the offensive beganNato says it will wait until the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reports next week on Mr Milosevic's compliance with the Security Council resolution urging him to call off his forces.
     If there is no let-up in the fighting, Nato may act swiftly.
     Long lines of tanks have been filmed returning to barracks. Nato is watching these developments on a day-to-day basis but Nato insiders fear that while some troops are being withdrawn, others are moving in to take their place.

If the Alliance was forced to act, what would it do?

Air action - possibly backed up by cruise missile strikes - would be the preferred option. Several countries have indicated their willingness to contribute aircraft for such a mission.
•The Americans would provide the lion's share of the strike force, although it has not yet assigned planes.
•Britain has offered eight Harrier jump jets - four of which are already in Bosnia.
•Germany has put 14 Tornado fighter bombers on stand-by.
•Norway and the Netherlands have offered eight F16 bombers between them.
•Spain has pledged four F18s.

What's the target?

Defining the pilots' exact task is no easy matter.
     It knows from bitter experience in Bosnia pin-prick attacks are next to worthless and missiles cannot tell a war criminal from an innocent infantryman or a civilian.
     It must pitch the level of force at just the right amount needed to warn off Mr Milosevic's forces.
     Command centres, supply dumps, even armoured formations might be hit but any attacks would have to be preceded by an onslaught against the Serbian forces' ground-to-air missile systems.
     Doing anything may require a significant number of warplanes.

What next?

This is the most difficult question facing the alliance. The goal is not to punish Mr Milosevic, but to bring about a swift ceasefire to enable thousands of refugees to return to their homes before the onset of the worst of the winter weather.
     How bombing will achieve this is by no means clear.
__________________________________________________

Thursday October 1 11:08 AM EDT
Kosovo Villagers Allege Troop Rampage, Killings

VRANIC, Serbia (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanians in a mountain village of southern Kosovo Thursday showed reporters the mutilated bodies of men they said were killed by Serb troops during a rampage of violence, looting and arson.
     Standing among their gutted homes by a convoy of burnt carts, cars and tractors, which they said had been methodically torched by the Serb forces, they added that hundreds of men from Vranic and neighboring villages had been taken away by police Sunday and Monday and many had not come back.
     No immediate comment was available from Serbian police authorities in Kosovo, who earlier this week denied police involvement in apparent massacres further north in the strifetorn south Serbian province.
     Villagers showed Reuters the body of a man whose ears and nose had been cut off, and another without ears. A third man had several stab wounds to his body and a fourth had been shot dead.
     A young woman said she and other women had been sexually molested by armed Serbs wearing the bandanas, painted faces and mixed uniforms associated with irregular Serbian paramilitary groups. Most of the roughly 1,000 Serb troops who took over the village on the weekend appeared, however, to be regular police or soldiers, other villagers said.
     Serbian police spokesman Colonel Bozidar Filic said Wednesday a large-scale investigation had been launched into a separate incident in which at least 16 civilians, including women, children and old people, were killed in Gornje Obrinje, central Kosovo.
__________________________________________________

NYTIMES
Security Council Is Expected to Condemn Kosovo Killings
BARBARA CROSSETTE

UNITED NATIONS -- The Security Council on Wednesday scheduled an emergency meeting for Thursday to condemn the massacres of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo that witnesses attributed to Serbian forces.
     NATO, meanwhile, completed planning for possible air strikes.
     "There must be no impunity for such an act of ethnic hatred," Foreign Secretary Robin Cook of Britain said at a news conference in Blackpool, England, where he was attending a conference of his Labor Party. "This was not an act of war. This was plain, cold murder."
     Britain, which takes over the rotating presidency of the Security Council on Thursday, called for the urgent special session, which the United States backed.
     The Council, which last week demanded an immediate end to attacks on civilians by the Serb-dominated Yugoslav army, is expected to condemn President Slobodan Milosevic's forces in even stronger terms than it did then, although the Council, with no troops at its disposal, remains divided on what to do next.
     At NATO, however, Britain's defense secretary, George Robertson, told reporters that the organization was proposing sharply targeted military strikes on Serbian forces, not random bombing, which would endanger civilians.
     Some NATO officials say military action could begin as soon as next week, after Secretary-General Kofi Annan reports to the Security Council on Yugoslav compliance with its demands. It is far from clear that this link is essential, since the United States has already stated that NATO has the authority now to strike the Yugoslav forces attacking civilians.
     But any ultimate action would depend on support from the Clinton administration. A spokesman for the State Department, James Foley, said Wednesday, "Military action is a live and real prospect."
     But it is uncertain whether the administration, preoccupied by the Lewinsky scandal and facing November elections, will determine to strike at the Serbs. And even if it does, Milosevic appears so defiant of world opinion that he might be willing to withstand an air strike in order to crush the Albanians.
     On Thursday, top foreign policy officials, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and the national security adviser, Sandy Berger, plan to visit Capitol Hill to brief senators on events in Kosovo.
     Last week's Security Council resolution was passed under a provision of the U.N. charter that makes it enforceable by military means. But there is dissent on the Security Council.
     Russia and France are very reluctant to condone the use of force against Yugoslavia at this stage, and would argue that further Security Council action is needed before it can be seen to be condoning NATO action. In the Security Council, China could not even be persuaded last week to join the warning to Milosevic.
     At the United Nations Wednesday, diplomats and officials reacted with shock not only to the horrific killings of civilians -- women, children and elderly men shot through the head, mutilated or burned to death in their homes -- but also to the audacity that Milosevic displayed.
     Diplomats have watched the Yugoslav leader flout world opinion before through years of fighting in the Balkans, but not as boldly as he has in recent weeks, as he continues his ruthless suppression of the ethnic Albanians, a majority in the province where an ethnic Albanian rebel force, the Kosovo Liberation Army, has been battling the Serbs.
     That rebellion, Annan said Wednesday, "can never justify the pattern of terror, including the burning of houses, looting, killing of livestock and wanton killing that have been reported in these last few days."
     "Such actions are totally unacceptable to the international community," he said.
     Annan was described as "outraged" by the descriptions of the massacres published Wednesday since he had met only on Tuesday with Yugoslavia's foreign minister and delivered a sharp message to him after hearing reports of atrocities.
     "The reports are particularly shocking to the secretary-general in light of denials received from the foreign minister that such actions were taking place," said Fred Eckhard, the secretary-general's spokesman.
     Amnesty International said Wednesday that the massacres in Kosovo underline the urgent need for human rights monitors in the area. Last week, the Security Council made that one of its demands. The European Union and other organizations have volunteered to monitor Kosovo, but have been rebuffed by Milosevic.
     In Britain, Cook, the foreign secretary, said he had been in touch with the War Crimes Tribunal for the Balkans in The Hague, Netherlands, and had asked its prosecutor, Louise Arbour of Canada, to investigate the massacres in recent days.
     Cook also called a meeting in London on Friday of senior officials from nations that call themselves the contact group on the former Yugoslavia -- Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and the United States -- to discuss how to settle the problem peacefully. In Washington, Albright spoke with her British counterpart by telephone several times Wednesday, officials said.
     Javier Solana, NATO's secretary-general, did not rule out the use of force under the existing Security Council resolution. On a visit to Azerbaijan, Solana said NATO's reaction would be determined by "what happens on the ground."
     "The behavior of Milosevic should be judged by his deeds, not by his words," he said. "Too many words have not been complied with by Milosevic."
__________________________________________________

Kosovo troubles at forefront of world agenda

•Evidence of another massacre?
•Britain's Ashdown: Serb officials lying
•NATO forces could muster soon
•Fighting along Albanian border
•Related stories and sites

October 1, 1998
Web posted at: 12:43 p.m. EDT (1643 GMT)

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (CNN) -- Fighting between ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb soldiers raged southwest of the Kosovar capital on Thursday, as international officials planned meetings on two continents in their pursuit to an end to the crisis.
     Seeking international support for possible NATO action against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Great Britain was convening an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York on Thursday afternoon. The meeting, and its goal of approval for either military action or further dialogue, would be Britain's first official act as head of the U.N. Security Council.
     In London, officials from the United States and other leading nations also planned to discuss Kosovo on Thursday.
     And in Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen planned to brief U.S. senators on reports of recent massacres in the province.
     Heightened rhetoric accompanied the sense of urgency spreading across the globe as world officials became even more emphatic that something must be done to end the bloodshed in Kosovo, where Milosevic's army in February initiated a crackdown on the separatists. The fighting has left an estimated 800 people dead and driven some 300,000 people from their homes.
     "Britain is ready to act ... It's beginning to look like the only language President Milosevic will listen to is the threat of force," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told BBC radio on Thursday.
     The meetings in Europe and the United States follow evidence that Milosevic apparently continues to defy a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Kosovo and the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the province. The resolution also calls on Milosevic to enter serious negotiations designed to grant greater autonomy to ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The province is 90 percent Albanian.

Evidence of another massacre?

Evidence of atrocities against civilians, allegedly at the hand of Serb soldiers, surfaced earlier this week in at least two areas of Kosovo.
     On Wednesday, residents of Golubovac said Serb forces surrounded a pocket of refugees on Saturday and singled out at least 13 men to kill.
     Five miles north of there, near a village the Serbs call Gornje Obrinje, diplomats, journalists and human rights workers said earlier this week they had seen as many as 18 mutilated bodies, including those of women and children.
     And a report published in The Guardian, a London newspaper, on Thursday indicated more killings may have taken place near the village of Vraniq, about 30 miles southwest of Pristina.
     Villagers told a human rights worker that Serb fighters tricked some refugees into returning home.
     The Serbs, the villagers said, rounded up hundreds of ethnic Albanians on Monday, holding the women and children in a school compound while they separated the men into two groups. At least four people were killed, villagers said. An estimated 300 men were later arrested. All but 50 were returned by Wednesday.
     The 50 were still missing on Thursday and presumed to be still in custody, the paper reported.
     Milosevic's government has denied playing a part in the first two reported massacres. No response from Serbia was available regarding the report in The Guardian.

Britain's Ashdown: Serb officials lying

Prominent British politician Paddy Ashdown, who just returned from an inspection tour of Kosovo, told CNN he confronted Milosevic directly with what he had witnessed -- including, Ashdown said, that fighting continued in places where Serb officials claimed it had ended.
     "I told him his officials were lying to him," Ashdown said. "I had been amongst the villages being burned the day before at precisely the time the Yugo authorities had said the operation had ended."
     Angered that Milosevic apparently had not complied with the U.N. resolution, the British government and NATO on Thursday both urged the U.N. Security Council to send the Serbs a message that international military intervention was imminent.
     "I would like to see that the members of the Security Council recognize that Milosevic is not complying with the previous resolution and that a very clear message has to be given to President Milosevic that he has to stop immediately and comply with the U.N. resolution," said NATO Secretary General Javier Solana in a BBC interview.
     "It is clear that the diplomatic solution alone will not work," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in Blackpool, England. "We have to send the strongest possible message to Milosevic that we will not tolerate any more of these atrocities."

NATO forces could muster soon

In Washington, a White House official told CNN that the North Atlantic Council (NAC) is now considering a formal request for the activation of forces that NATO members have voluntarily indicated would be available for possible military action against Milosevic's forces.
     The same request is expected to go out to NATO members, the official said.
     "Should the NAC approve the activation request, you will see forces prepared to carry out action," the source said.
     Military experts say NATO would likely target Milosevic's command and control facilities, fuel depots and other sites that support the infrastructure of Yugoslav troops in the region.
     U.S. National Security Counsel Deputy Spokesman P.J. Crowley says the political dialogue continues, but that "this is not a matter of Milosevic not understanding. This is a matter of willful disregard of what the international community wants Milosevic to do."
     Meanwhile on Thursday, world governments got further confirmation for their fears that the battle for independence in Kosovo could spill beyond the Yugoslav borders into a wider Balkan war.

Fighting along Albanian border

Heavy fighting between Kosovar rebels and Serb soldiers raged along the Yugoslav border with Albania on Wednesday, leaving at least six soldiers dead, Albanian officials said.
     The border clashes lasted about three hours, just 300 meters (yards) inside the Yugoslav border, with about 100 Serbs battling the Kosovar separatists, Albania's Interior Ministry spokesman Artan Bighga said Thursday.
     A U.N. spokesman in Belgrade said fighting was still going on Thursday near Suva Reka, southwest of Pristina, but the pullback was continuing.
     "It appears there is a methodical, gradual withdrawal of the military under way," said the spokesman, who gave his name as J. Carter.
     Ethnic Albanian leaders and the Red Cross declared Thursday a day of mourning to honor Sheptim Robaj, an ethnic Albanian doctor who volunteered for the international relief agency. Robaj was killed Wednesday after his vehicle hit a land mine in Kosovo.
     London Bureau Chief Tom Mintier, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
__________________________________________________

Administration Briefs Senate Over Possible Action in Kosovo
AP  01-OCT-98

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton sent his national security team to Capitol Hill today to lay the groundwork for possible NATO military intervention in Kosovo. "We're at a fairly critical moment," Clinton's spokesman said.
     Clinton's senior advisers were to brief senators on Serb atrocities against ethnic Albanians and on international efforts to stop the slaughter. The White House urged Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to heed Western demands for a cease-fire and withdrawal of Serbian troops.
     "When faced with diplomacy backed by force, he has in the past backed down at various moments," presidential spokesman Mike McCurry said. He said NATO has started the process that could lead to military strikes.
     "The activation warning has been made to allied capitals by NATO," McCurry said. "The next step in the process would be an activation request in which forces would be provided for a pending military action. And that's a serious piece of business," McCurry said.
     "Because the U.S. leads NATO and because we have obligations there, it would involve, one way or another, putting people in harm's way," the president's spokesman said.
     Secretary of State Madeleine Albright endorsed a British call for a special U.N. Security Council meeting today to deal with repression in Kosovo.
     "Clearly, the clock is ticking," State Department spokesman James Foley said Wednesday.
     Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Sandy Berger, the president's national security adviser, were scheduled to give senators a closed-door briefing late today in a secure room at the Capitol.
     NATO has completed plans for possible airstrikes to halt Milosevic's troops, who have since February been fighting a guerrilla movement seeking independence for the Serbian province. The pressure to act increased this week upon discovery of fresh massacres by Serbian security forces of 18 ethnic Albanians, including women and children.
     "This was not an act of war. It was plain cold murder," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said from Blackpool, England, as he called for a special Security Council meeting.
     U.S. officials also were talking tough, noting that Milosevic has ignored a U.N. resolution approved by the Security Council a week ago calling for a cease-fire and for withdrawal of Serbian troops and threatening the use of force if fighting continues.
     Foley conceded that Serbs have withdrawn some military units from Kosovo but said other units have rotated into the province.
     "We certainly have no evidence of a net drawdown of forces," Foley said, adding, "The actual decision to use force, though, may not be far away if indeed the situation doesn't change rapidly."
     On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have expressed frustration that action hasn't already been taken against Milosevic, who also is accused of atrocities during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
     Further, GOP leaders contend that President Clinton's credibility overseas has been undermined due to the Monica Lewinsky affair, and that enemies will continue to test the United States.
     Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is among congressional leaders who have called for a firmer U.S. stance in Kosovo.
     "He's expressed his concerns about what's going on in Kosovo," said a spokeswoman Susan Irby. "He agrees with (former) Senator (Bob) Dole."
     Last week, Dole, the former majority leader and Clinton's GOP opponent in 1996, said NATO allies must use "major force" against the Serbs if Yugoslav authorities don't agree to a cease-fire in Kosovo and withdraw their military and police by a set date.
     The time is overdue for the United States to embrace a policy that will end the "reign of terror" of Milosevic, Dole said in a speech. "Let me be clear," he said, "the only language Milosevic understands is force."
     A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials also are losing patience in seeking a diplomatic solution.
     "As it becomes apparent that President Milosevic is not getting the message to stop the violence, military action is becoming more likely," said the official. "NATO has finished its plans. ... We're entering a real critical phase."
     Still, the official did not say military intervention was imminent. And military planners at the Pentagon, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is a dilemma about what to do after initial NATO airstrikes, which would likely first take out Serb anti-aircraft batteries.
     "What are the military targets after that?" asked one defense official. "You can go after the tanks, but then the Serb forces can hide in the mountains."
     That could further endanger thousands of the more than 275,000 refugees who have fled the fighting, including many living in makeshift tents with winter on the way.

Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________

Analysis-West near Kosovo Action, Result Uncertain
Reuters  01-OCT-98

LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - After months of dithering, Western countries are steeling themselves for possible military action against Serbia, but experts question whether air strikes without a ground deployment can solve the Kosovo problem.
     NATO officials stress that tough talk from Western ministers and high-profile military planning by the alliance are designed to force Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic to yield without having to fight.
     "The strategy is to avoid the use of force, if we can, by exerting the maximum political and diplomatic pressure," said a diplomat at NATO headquarters. "Nothing leads us to believe that President Milosevic will not back down when he sees the West is deadly serious about action."
     The next week could be decisive in determining whether or not Western air forces launch massive strikes on Serbian forces.
     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan reports to the Security Council, perhaps as early as Monday, on whether Milosevic has complied with last week's resolution demanding a ceasefire.
     Further details are likely on who carried out massacres of ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo. The six-power Contact Group in charge of Balkan peace efforts will have met in London and European Union foreign ministers meet next Monday in Luxembourg.
     "We are putting ourselves under a lot of pressure to act. We would look ridiculous if we didn't do something after all this preparation and talk, as happened in June," a French official said.
     But amid a rising torrent of rhetoric, led by Robin Cook, Britain's sharp-tongued foreign secretary, independent analysts and experienced military men query whether the West has a coherent strategy.
     "There seems to be a patent mismatch between the means and the objectives," said a senior serving military officer who commanded NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia.
     "It's not at all clear how you could use air power to force a sovereign state to grant one of its provinces autonomy, especially when people there are fighting for independence, not autonomy," said the general, speaking on condition of anonymity.
     Colonel Terence Taylor, assistant director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said air strikes would have to be accompanied by a land campaign to be effective.
     "The history of the use of air power since World War Two shows that on its own, it doesn't work," Taylor said.
     NATO sources acknowledge that, while planning for a phased air campaign, beginning with strikes on Serbia's air defences, is virtually complete, preparations for a ground operation are at a much more rudimentary stage.
     "We would have to have very rapidly available ground troops able to enforce any ceasefire or initial settlement and secure the ground for humanitarian relief operations, refugee return, international observers and deter the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) from exploiting a Serb withdrawal," a NATO diplomat said.
     "We haven't reached that point yet. We have to finalise the planning and we haven't even started the force generation for ground operations," he said.
     Force generation is NATO jargon for member states pledging troops for an allied operation. Many analysts doubt whether the United States, given congressional hostility to open-ended military engagements, could offer ground troops for Kosovo.
     Professor Lawrence Freedman, head of war studies at London University's Kings College, said the Kosovo situation reminded him of the Western allies' attempt to create a safe haven for the Kurds in northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
     "To police the safe haven by air power without troops on the ground may be the best model, but it didn't stop the war between the Kurds and the Iraqis, or civil war among the Kurds. Nor would it in this case," Freedman said.
     "If not clearly backed by force on the ground as well in the air, it may not provide enough confidence for refugees to return home, and it could end up just providing a safe haven for the KLA," he said.
     NATO governments are aware of the danger of appearing to act as the "KLA air force."
     Any military action against Serbia would be accompanied by a warning to the KLA that NATO could not restrain the Serbs if guerrillas began attacking Serb police stations again.
     But given the separatists' fierce determination, and their loose organisation, some analysts doubt whether such a warning would be heeded.
     To avert air strikes, NATO would expect Milosevic to reach agreement with the United Nations to withdraw army and special police forces from Kosovo on condition the KLA did not exploit the situation. Leaders of the Kosovo ethnic Albanian majority would have to give an undertaking to refrain from violence.
     Milosevic would also have to agree to a U.N. plan for the return and resettlement of up to 300,000 refugees driven from their homes by the fighting.
     And he would have to commit himself to a timetable for negotiating autonomy, preferably under international mediation, NATO diplomats said.
     While most European NATO allies would prefer a further Security Council resolution before using force, even sticklers such as France appear to be willing to contemplate taking action without another vote if Russia will not support the West.
     The French official said last week's resolution had laid the groundwork by defining the situation in Kosovo as a threat to peace and security under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter and threatening further measures if Milosevic did not comply.
     "The idea of avoiding a Russian veto is gaining ground. We cannot sit on our hands," he said.

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________

Top Serbian Radical Accuses West Over Kosovo
Reuters  01-OCT-98

BELGRADE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Serbian deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj, a powerful ultra-nationalist, accused the West on Thursday of waging an "orchestrated campaign" against Serbs to justify military intervention in the Kosovo conflict.
     Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party, threatened retaliation against NATO forces "wherever possible" if they intervened.
     He appealed to Russia and China to help prevent NATO air strikes, which could be carried out to punish Belgrade for its non-compliance with U.N. demands for an immediate ceasefire and talks with Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
     Serbian security forces are fighting separatist guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in Kosovo, a province of Serbia with a 90 percent Albanian population.
     The official news agency Tanjug said six Yugoslav soldiers were killed in KLA attacks on military posts at Kosovo's border with Albania on Wednesday.
     "The United States, Britain and France openly conduct a hostile policy against Serbian people, Serbia and Yugoslavia," Seselj told a news conference.
     "All media and all agencies in charge of waging a special, psychological war have joined this orchestrated campaign by Western powers against the Serbian people," he said.
     Describing the threat of military intervention as a real danger, he reiterated Belgrade's readiness to defend itself using all available means.
     "Maybe we are uncapable of hitting each one of their planes, but the West should be aware that their soldiers will be our targets no matter where they are, if reachable to us," he said, adding that there were "some territories where it will be easy to do so."
     Without being specific, Seselj could only have been referring to a 25,000-strong NATO force in neighbouring Bosnia.
     Seselj denied alleged massacre reports of more than 30 ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo by Serbian security forces, accusing Albanian "terrorists" and the West of making it up.
     "The bodies were real, but the crime was made up," he added.
     He contended that Western powers chose the time of Albanian "terrorists"' defeat and the withdrawal of security forces to fabricate such a crime and present Serbs as savages and criminals to their public to justify foreign intervention.
     "The Serbian Radical Party appeals to the governments of Russia and China not to allow adoption of the U.N. Security Council resolution (to permit use of force) because if they ignore the destiny of Serbia the same evil could befall them tomorrow," he said.
     The Security Council was to convene later on Thursday to look into the alleged massacre reports and was expected to condemn the killings.
     A green light for any additional measures, including use of force, must await a report next week by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on whether Yugoslav federal President Slobodan Milosevic has been complying with the Security Council resolution.

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________

White House Warns Serb Leader to Act Quickly
AP  01-OCT-98

(White House)-- The White House is warning Serb leaders to act quickly to avoid NATO military action in Kosovo (KOH'-soh-voh).
     Press Secretary Mike McCurry says though diplomacy has not yet been exhausted, a "fairly critical moment" has arrived.
     Administration officials are briefing senators on the crisis this afternoon.
     The latest saber-rattling follows the massacre of 18 ethnic Albanians in the embattled province this week. Forces of the Serb-led Yugoslav government are blamed. Ethnic Albanians make up a majority of Kosovo's population, but government troops and paramilitary units are trying to put down an independence movement.
     NATO officials have put Serbian leaders on notice that if they don't withdraw forces from Kosovo, military action will likely follow.

Copyright 1998& The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________

U.S. prepares for possible strikes against Serbs
Web posted at: 7:55 a.m. EDT (1155 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration, laying the groundwork for possible NATO military intervention in Kosovo, is briefing senators on Serb atrocities against ethnic Albanians and on international efforts to stop the slaughter.
     "Clearly, the clock is ticking," State Department spokesman James Foley said Wednesday after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright endorsed a British call for a special U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday to deal with repression in Kosovo.
     Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Sandy Berger, the president's national security adviser, were scheduled to give senators a closed-door briefing late Thursday in a secure room at the Capitol.
     NATO has completed plans for possible airstrikes to halt Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's troops, who have since February been fighting a guerrilla movement seeking independence for the Serbian province. The pressure to act increased this week upon discovery of fresh massacres by Serbian security forces of 18 ethnic Albanians, including women and children.
     "This was not an act of war. It was plain cold murder," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said from Blackpool, England, as he called for a special Security Council meeting.
     U.S. officials also were talking tough, noting that Milosevic has ignored a U.N. resolution approved by the Security Council a week ago calling for a cease-fire and for withdrawal of Serbian troops and threatening the use of force if fighting continues.
     Foley conceded that Serbs have withdrawn some military units from Kosovo but said other units have rotated into the province.

Dole: NATO must use 'major force'

"We certainly have no evidence of a net drawdown of forces," Foley said, adding, "The actual decision to use force, though, may not be far away if indeed the situation doesn't change rapidly."
     On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have expressed frustration that action hasn't already been taken against Milosevic, who also is accused of atrocities during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia.
     Further, GOP leaders contend that President Clinton's credibility overseas has been undermined due to the Monica Lewinsky affair, and that enemies will continue to test the United States.
     Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, is among congressional leaders who have called for a firmer U.S. stance in Kosovo.
     "He's expressed his concerns about what's going on in Kosovo," said a spokeswoman Susan Irby. "He agrees with (former) Senator (Bob) Dole."
     Last week, Dole, the former majority leader and Clinton's GOP opponent in 1996, said NATO allies must use "major force" against the Serbs if Yugoslav authorities don't agree to a cease-fire in Kosovo and withdraw their military and police by a set date.
     The time is overdue for the United States to embrace a policy that will end the "reign of terror" of Milosevic, Dole said in a speech. "Let me be clear," he said, "the only language Milosevic understands is force."

Strikes could endanger refugees

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. officials also are losing patience in seeking a diplomatic solution.
     "As it becomes apparent that President Milosevic is not getting the message to stop the violence, military action is becoming more likely," said the official. "NATO has finished its plans. ...We're entering a real critical phase."
     Still, the official did not say military intervention was imminent. And military planners at the Pentagon, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is a dilemma about what to do after initial NATO airstrikes, which would likely first take out Serb anti-aircraft batteries.
     "What are the military targets after that?" asked one defense official. "You can go after the tanks, but then the Serb forces can hide in the mountains."
     That could further endanger thousands of the more than 275,000 refugees who have fled the fighting, including many living in makeshift tents with winter on the way.

Copyright 1998   The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
__________________________________________________

Reports: Serbs Massacred Villagers
Another Balkan Nightmare
By Terence Nelan
ABCNEWS.com

Oct. 1 — The bodies of 18 mutilated men, women and children had scarcely been laid in their hastily dug graves before their deaths became a political issue.
    The ethnic Albanians were slaughtered in the woods where they hid after Serbian troops overran their village in the southern Serb province of Kosovo.
     “Serb police executed everybody,” a trembling elderly man, who identified himself only as Fazli, told journalists and diplomats who came to the village and saw the bodies where they lay.

Killers Wore Uniforms
A surviving member of the family told reporters that the killers, who struck last Saturday, were wearing Serb police or Yugoslav army uniforms. Serbs and Yugoslav forces are currently winning their fight against ethnic Albanian separatists known as the Kosovo Liberation Army.
     Serbian forces today vehemently denied they had anything to do with the Kosovo massacre, which made front page news around the world. Now, observers are looking to NATO and the United Nations to see if the international community will do anything in response.
     “We rule out any possibility that our members did something like this,” Serbian police Col. Bozidar Filic said. “In that area, we had clashes with terrorists, and a number of them have been arrested.”

West Slams Killings
In the tidier capitals of the West, condemnation of the killings was swift, but announcements of swift action to end the attacks will apparently have to wait.
     “It just underscores the ugliness and the brutality of the Serb presence in Kosovo … and underscores the rationale for the efforts that we’ve been making both diplomatically and through NATO,” White House spokesman Mike McCurry said.
     And while British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said that NATO was “ready to act” to punish the perpetrators of “ethnic hatred,” the perpetrators will probably only feel the sting of official NATO disapproval next week.

Waiting for Kofi Annan
Both NATO and the United Nations are awaiting a report Monday or Tuesday by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on whether Belgrade was complying with a resolution requiring a Kosovo cease-fire passed by the Security Council last week.
     In New York, the humanitarian group Human Rights Watch—which had an observer at the massacre scene—blamed the Serbian police.
     “The massacre was clearly an attack on defenseless civilians who were hiding in the woods,” said Holly Cartner, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s European division.

Are Killings Deliberate?
And they are doing it deliberately, says Richard Mansbach, a professor at Iowa State University and an expert on the region.
     “The Serbian regime is quite intentionally attacking civilians,” he says. “Essentially their policy is to terrorize the civilian population and frighten them into not cooperating with the KLA.”
     While this may achieve the Serbian military objective in the short run, Mansbach points out, it will not win the hearts and minds of the population.

Big Stick or Big Mouth
“The Serbs will have to get used to the idea of guerrilla warfare and outbursts of terrorism,” Mansbach predicts.
     That may not be all. Although Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic says the battle against the KLA is over, these massacre reports cast serious doubt on those claims. Now, NATO and the United Nations may act.
     “If NATO threats to intervene are a bluff,” Mansbach says, “Milosevic may have called it. Now we’ll see if NATO carries a big stick or just has a big mouth.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
__________________________________________________

October 1, 1998
U.S. Again Seeks Forensic Study on Killings in Kosovo Villages
By TIM WEINER

 WASHINGTON -- The United States once again Wednesday called for forensic experts to investigate massacres of Kosovo villagers, as NATO ambassadors met in Brussels and the United Nations Security Council set an emergency session for Thursday.
     But there is still no sign that Western nations had resolved to strike against Serbian troops carrying out President Milosevic's crackdown against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. NATO weaponry and soldiers were gathering, in various stages of readiness, should the West decide to use force.
     "NATO is in the last phases of its planning process, and we believe that NATO is for all practical purposes prepared to act," said a State Department spokesman, James Foley. "Clearly, Milosevic has begun to get the message that military action is a live and real prospect if he doesn't reverse course."
     He added: "We've got to see on the ground real evidence that he has ended the repression, he's withdrawn the forces as called for by the Security Council, or else."
     The White House spokesman, Mike McCurry, said it was "very important to us that international forensic experts be allowed to inquire further on these events," referring to witness reports of massacres against civilians.
     "But these atrocities are part and parcel of the horror that has been under way in the Balkans for years, and in Kosovo since Serb authorities moved in a very dangerous and very outrageous way against those Kosovar Albanians who are attempting to get some freedom of expression with respect to their own political rights," McCurry said. "The use of military force as an option should come if we have exhausted the efforts to resolve this on a diplomatic basis."
     "There is a high degree of resolve, both within the Security Council and within the alliance, to see that we deal with what is going to be an unspeakable tragedy, especially as winter proceeds," he said.
     He added: "NATO has the authority to undertake military action on its own initiative but we would certainly welcome any statement from the Security Council that supported NATO's determination to act."
__________________________________________________

ABC
Bloody Sunday

 Friends and relatives of the victims said masked Serbs in green and blue uniforms descended last Sunday on the village the Serbs call Obrinje.
     They captured a man in his 60s, and wielding a knife from his kitchen, forced him to take them to where refugees were hiding. The man’s body was found at the edge of the camp. The back of his head was blown off, his throat was slit and the butcher knife was carefully placed on his chest.
     In the camp, the attackers shot a man and a woman, both 65, while they lay in a makeshift tent that had sheltered them since they fled their home days earlier.
     Their bodies were spread on the blankets, surrounded by their blood-spattered clothing, pots and pans. The woman’s right foot was partially cut off and her mouth was gaping open.
     Villagers said six women tried to escape with four children. But the attackers caught up with them in a shallow ditch. They were found there, executed and mutilated.
     “The Serbian policy may bring the stability of the charnel house to Kosovo,” says Balkan expert Richard Mansbach. “But the long term issue is hardly resolved, it is exacerbated. A whole generation of Kosovo Albanians who see as their most holy of duties the driving out of the Serbian oppressor is growing up right now.”

Kosovo massacre prompts outrage from international community

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

  U.S. tells Americans to get out of Yugoslavia

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (October 1, 1998 5:56 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -- Seeking to head off threatened NATO attacks, Yugoslavia's Serb leadership invited foreign experts Thursday to investigate massacres in Kosovo, while a survivor supplied chilling new details of alleged atrocities against ethnic Albanian civilians.
     The survivor, saying he was left for dead, described to human rights officials how he and a group of other civilian men were beaten, interrogated and then shot, one by one, by Serbian police.
     The Serbs, anxious to appear responsive to Western calls for an end to their campaign against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, announced the withdrawal of combat forces from battlefields in the southern Serbian province. But ethnic Albanian sources claimed fighting continued along the border with Albania, where separatist guerrillas take sanctuary.
     Yugoslavia's foreign minister, Zivadin Jovanovic, invited the international Red Cross and the U.N. refugee agency to send experts to Kosovo to investigate the killings.
     The move came as the U.N. Security Council met in New York to condemn the massacres and as the United States prepared for possible NATO air strikes against Serb military positions.
     International efforts to end the seven-month conflict gained momentum this week with reports that Serb police massacred dozens of ethnic Albanian civilians southwest of the provincial capital, Pristina. Kosovo is a province of Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia.
     In the latest allegation, Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch said a wounded Albanian gave a graphically detailed account of how Serbian police beat and shot him and 13 others.
     The man, whom Bouckaert did not name for security reasons, said he was the only survivor.
     He said the survivor's story was corroborated by other witnesses from of Golubovac, a village three miles from Donje Obrinje, site of another massacre.
     Relating the man's account, Bouckaert said Serb police last Saturday sent old men into nearby woods to tell refugees it was safe to come out of their hiding place.
     Police selected about 20-25 of the men; the older ones were eventually let go. The rest were forced to lie on their stomachs with their hands behind their heads. All were beaten and kicked and told if they would say who in the group belonged to the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, the rest could go free.
     Finally, "one policeman executed them all with short bursts of automatic fire," Bouckaert said the survivor told him. After two trips up and down the line, the policemen kicked each victim.
     The survivor said he didn't move when he was kicked. He said he waited about 10 or 15 minutes, then fled home, where his mother and wife waited.
     Bouckaert said the man in his early 40s was in extreme danger, both from severe gunshot wounds in the leg and upper arm and from police forces in the area.
     "We do not believe his safety can be guaranteed in his present location," Bouckaert said. "One wound is very large and infected and there is no adequate medical care in the area he is located in."
     Meanwhile, the Serb Media Center said that, while government troops had been pulled, a few police units had been left behind in Kosovo "to preserve public security and order and guard communications."
     But the ethnic Albanian-run Kosovo Information Center claimed government troops shelled a village Thursday near Djakovica (JA-kaw-vee-tsah) along the Albanian border.
     Ethnic Albanians form 90 percent of the population of Kosovo. Most of them support independence, although many Western nations do not, fearing that could further destabilize the Balkans.
     However, the international community has repeatedly urged Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to stop his offensive in the province.
     President Clinton dispatched his national security team to Capitol Hill on Thursday to brief lawmakers on possible NATO strikes, and the State Department prepared a travel advisory urging Americans not to travel in Yugoslavia.
     Britain also offered words of warning.
     "We don't want to use force," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told his governing Labor Party on Thursday. "But today I warn President Slobodan Milosevic that if it will take force, Britain is ready to back force."
     In an apparent bid for time, the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry accepted a demand by the European Union for an impartial investigation of the massacres. The ministry said it has invited a team of forensic experts from Finland to take part in the investigation.
     But Robert Gelbard, the U.S. envoy to the Balkans, said the massacres have left the Yugoslav government with "no credibility at all."
     "We have seen atrocities piled on atrocities," he told the British Broadcasting Corporation. "Our people in Kosovo ... have verified that these atrocities have occurred, that these latest atrocities that occurred piled on top of previous ones."

By JEFFREY ULBRICH, Associated Press Writer

U.S. tells Americans to get out of Yugoslavia

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 Reuters News Service

WASHINGTON (October 1, 1998 5:26 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - The United States warned Americans Thursday to leave Yugoslavia because of the looming possibility of NATO military action aimed at stopping Serb attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
     State Department spokesman James Rubin said a travel warning was issued because "we think the combination of President (Slobodan) Milosevic's failure to respond (to international demands) and the possibility of NATO action makes Serbia-Montenegro a more dangerous place."
     The international community set clear conditions for Milosevic but he is "either not listening ... or has chosen to flaunt the will of the international community. As a result ... the prospect of (NATO) military action is now closer," Rubin told a news briefing.
     The text of the U.S. warning says of NATO military action: "This action could be decided upon in the near future."
     Thursday's comments were more muscular than those issued Wednesday when U.S. spokesmen focused on a call for forensic experts to probe massacres of Kosovo villagers and condemned the killings as proving the "ugliness" of Serb authorities.
     Serbia said Thursday heavily-armed police units withdrew to their bases in Kosovo and Reuters journalists in southern Kosovo, where villages were bombarded ferociously by tanks and artillery Sunday and Monday, saw no sign of military action.
     But Rubin said claims by Yugoslav authorities that Serb forces had stopped attacking ethnic Kosovo Albanians, as the U.N. Security Council demanded, were "blatantly untrue."
     "The shelling by Yugoslav authorities continued today in several regions," he said.
     Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon reinforced that: "Our best information to date is that the Serb forces are continuing to attack the Kosovar Albanians in areas north and northwest of Pristina so while (Belgrade) ... says they are withdrawing back to the barracks they are continuing to fight at the same time."
     NATO Thursday took another step closer to action by formally asking member countries to begin supplying forces for a military operation.
     "Increasingly, NATO allies are coming to understand the dangers that would be faced if we failed to act or if President Milosevic failed to respond to our demands," Rubin said.
     As further evidence the United States was inching toward military action, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were to deliver a classified briefing to senators at 4 p.m. EDT.
     Still, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said diplomatic possibilities for settling the conflict had not been exhausted, and it would not be out of character for Milosevic to yield to U.N. demands that he end hostilities in Kosovo.
     "When faced with diplomacy backed by force, he has in the past backed down," McCurry said.
     Rubin also stressed a preference for a peaceful solution, saying: "Our goal here is compliance ... not the use of force."
     Bacon said no military equipment for an attack had been moved yet and the only action planned at this stage was air attacks -- no ground forces -- against military targets.
     "What NATO has planned is a graduated series of possible air strikes which could, at the high end, involve a very considerable number of airplanes," Bacon said.
     He declined to say what the United States would contribute except to say it would be "significant."
     "The goal of the options is to reduce or degrade the Serbian military's ability to continue striking the Kosovar Albanians," he said.
     Asked whether there would be a further NATO ultimatum before force was used, Bacon implied that was not needed as "the Western demands on Milosevic are already very clear."
     U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been asked to speed completion of a report on Milosevic's compliance with U.N. demands on Kosovo. Rubin said  NATO wants the report before it takes a decision on further action, possibly next Wednesday.
     British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has said if the report showed Milosevic not complying, NATO was ready to launch air strikes.
     U.S. officials say the massacre of ethnic Albanians in the village of Gornje Obrinje last weekend has heightened the sense of urgency for action.
     The State Department spokesman declined to say if in issuing the travel warning the United States was more concerned about Americans getting caught up in any possible military action or facing adverse reaction from the local population.
     But U.S. sources expressed concern about a public threat from Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seseli that persons he called "Western agents" would be taken captive.
     McCurry said any "expression of support" by Congress for the U.S. position on Kosovo would be welcomed.
     Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va., told reporters Thursday: "I think you will see very soon some concerted international response to the situation in Kosovo."
     But some lawmakers fear becoming embroiled in another Balkan conflict.

By CAROL GIACOMO, Reuters

>KOSOVA PRESS CONFERENCE
>
>Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Co-Chairman of the Congressional Albanian Issues
>Caucus, and several other members of Congress will hold a news conference
>announcing a bi-partisan letter urging President Clinton to use air strikes
>unless Yugoslav President Slobodan Milsevic's troops immediately end their
>assaults on ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosova and withdraw.  The letter
>also calls for the indictment of Milosevic for war crimes and respect for the
>legitimate political aspirations of the people of Kosova.  The news
>conference will also discuss the briefing of House members by high
>Administration officials about possible US/NATO plans for military action.
>
>Where: Rayburn House Office Building horseshoe lobby
>
>When:  Friday, October 2, 1998
>       11:00 am
>
>Contact:  Jason Steinbaum, Rep. Engel (202)225-2464
>
>Text of Dear Colleague and letter follow:
>
>September 28, 1998
>
>HALT THE BLOODSHED IN KOSOVA!!!
>
>Dear Colleague:
>
>We write to encourage you to cosign the attached letter to President Clinton
>urging our country to demonstrate firm resolve in efforts to end Belgrade's
>campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosova.
>
>As you are aware, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian Kosovars have been
>forced out of their homes since the beginning of Yugoslav President Slobodan
>Milosevic's attacks.  More than one thousand others, including many innocent
>civilians, have been killed in the onslaught.
>
>Earlier this year, President Clinton said that the United States would not
>permit another Bosnia-like situation to recur in Kosova.  We are afraid that
>with the reports of ethnic cleansing and mass murders, the world is
>witnessing a series of events in Kosova alarmingly similar to that which
>consumed Bosnia.
>
>We believe that, like in Bosnia, Milosevic will only respond to a policy
>backed by the credible threat of force.  Our recent military exercises and
>vague statements have not been adequate to demonstrate to Milosevic that his
>criminal policies have real consequences.  It is time that our diplomats tell
>him that unless his troops immediately end attacks on civilians and withdraw,
>NATO will employ its airpower to halt the crisis.
>
>Second, we knew that Milosevic was a war criminal when he perpetrated his
>genocidal campaign in Bosnia.  We believe that the United States should
>strongly urge the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
>to move ahead with the indictment of Milosevic for war crimes and crimes
>against humanity, as recommended by the House and Senate.
>
>Finally, we believe that the legitimate political claims of the people of
>Kosova must be addressed in whatever settlement is negotiated by the parties
>so that they are not simply forced to return to the failed status quo ante of
>limited autonomy.
>
>If you would like to cosign the attached letter, please have your staff
>contact Jason Steinbaum with Rep. Engel at x52464 or Kevin Fogarty with Rep.
>King at x57896.
>                               Sincerely,
>
>       Eliot L. Engel                          Peter T. King
>       Member of Congress                      Member of Congress
>
>       James P. Moran                  Sue W. Kelly
>       Member of Congress                      Member of Congress
>
>       John W. Olver                           Dana Rohrabacher
>       Member of Congress                      Member of Congress
>
>*****************************************************************************
>
>The President
>The White House
>Washington, DC  20500
>
>Dear Mr. President:
>
>We write to express our very serious concern about the growing humanitarian
>crisis in Kosova and to urge our country to demonstrate firm resolve in
>efforts to end Belgrade's campaign of ethnic cleansing.
>
>As you are aware, the people of Kosova, of whom more than 90% are ethnic
>Albanian, have faced harsh repression and ethnic discrimination throughout
>the 1990s.  During the decade, many of us consistently warned that sooner or
>later the situation would boil over.  Now, vital United States interests are
>at stake as the threat of a regional conflagration has grown and, with the
>approach of winter, a humanitarian catastrophe seems around the corner.
>
>Tragically, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian Kosovars have been
>forced out of their homes since the beginning of Yugoslav President Slobodan
>Milosevic's attacks.  Many of the least fortunate are barely subsisting in
>the forests and mountains.  And, only recently, credible news agencies
>reported the possible existence of two mass graves -- one allegedly
>containing the bodies of hundreds of children.
>
>Earlier this year, you said that the United States would not permit another
>Bosnia-like situation to recur in Kosova.  We are afraid that with these
>reports of ethnic cleansing and mass murders, the world is witnessing a
>series of events in Kosova alarmingly similar to that which consumed Bosnia.
>
>Mr. President, in the short term, Slobodan Milosevic only understands force,
>or at the very least the credible threat force will be used.  Our recent
>military exercises and vague statements have not been adequate to demonstrate
>to Milosevic that his criminal policies have real consequences and have, in
>fact, undercut our credibility.
>
>In Bosnia, you drew the line for Milosevic with air strikes and ended the
>horror.  That is what is needed in Kosova -- the same forceful resolve, not
>just empty rhetoric.  Specifically. our diplomats should tell Milosevic that
>unless his troops immediately end attacks on civilians and withdraw, NATO
>will employ its airpower to halt the crisis.
>
>Furthermore, we knew that Milosevic was a war criminal when he perpetrated
>his genocidal campaign in Bosnia.  Now that his security services are
>carrying out a similar campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosova, the United
>States should strongly urge the International Criminal Tribunal for the
>former Yugoslavia to move ahead with the indictment of Milosevic for war
>crimes and crimes against humanity, as recommended by the House and Senate.
>
>After halting the bloodshed and the coming humanitarian catastrophe, the
>world can then focus on what the ultimate status of Kosova should be and how
>the long-standing conflict can be resolved.  We believe that the legitimate
>political claims of the people of Kosova must be addressed in whatever
>settlement is negotiated by the parties.  That means that the Kosovars cannot
>simply be expected to return to the status quo ante of limited autonomy, but
>must know that their rightful aspiration to control their own destiny will be
>incorporated into any agreement.
>
>Finally, we would like to impress upon you the urgency with which we view
>this situation.  If nothing is done very soon to halt Belgrade's brutal
>onslaught and alleviate the humanitarian crisis, we fear that thousands of
>deaths could occur with the coming of winter.
>
>Thank you for your consideration.
>
>                                       Sincerely,

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