Tagesnachrichten 10. Oktober 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - October 10, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1578

         Die Bibel sagt  -  The Bible says
 

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

 

Offene Fragen:

     Ein ethisches
           Ein juristisches
                 Ein politisches Problem ?

                        Wenn sich jemand nicht an seine Zusagen,
                                an getroffenes Vereinbarungen,
                                an geschlossene Verträge,
                                an Gesetze hält,
                        kann der dann von anderen die Einhaltung genau
                                dieser Absprachen und Regelungen einfordern ?
                        ist der - sind die - Vertragspartner
                                dann noch an ihr Wort gebunden ?

Open questions:

     An ethical
           A juridical
                 A political problem ?

             If someone keeps not his promises,
                    incured agreements,
                    contracts,
                    laws,
             can this one call in from others to keep
                    even these agreements and arrangements ?
             is the - are the - partner of contract
                    in theses circumstances liable to keep his - their - word ?

• Außenministerium warnt Bulgaren vor Reisen in Jugoslawien
• Bulgarien gibt Luftraum für NATO-Einsatz in Jugoslawien frei
• Albanien gibt Luftraum und Hoheitsgewässer für NATO-Einsätze frei
• Serbien lehnt Kosovo-Plan der Kontaktgruppe ab
• Rumäniens Präsident will mit Kollegen der Region über Kosovo beraten
• Vizeregierungschef Seselj lehnt Kontaktgruppenplan ab

 
• Protest albanischer Studenten auf Buchmesse gegen serbische Verleger
• Primakow warnt Westen eindringlich vor Militärschlag im Kosovo
• Holbrooke besuchte Pristina - Weiterflug nach Belgrad
• NATO: Einsatzbefehl steht bevor - Holbrooke-Mission geht weiter
• Moskau: Chance für politische Lösung des Kosovo-Konflikts gestiegen
• Serbischer Patriarch appelliert: Friedliche Lösung im Kosovo
• NATO: Einsatzbefehl steht bevor - Auch ohne UNO-Beschluß
• Überflüge von NATO-Flugzeugen in Österreich umstritten
• NATO gab noch keinen Einsatzbefehl
• Italien für möglichen NATO-Einsatz im Kosovo «bereit»
• Deutsches Botschaftspersonal wird aus Belgrad abgezogen
• Holbrooke zu Gesprächen mit Rugova in Pristina eingetroffen
• Grünen-Sprecher fordert neues Rollenverständnis in Außenpolitik
• «Trud»: NATO-Militärschlag im Kosovo würde Radikale stärken
• Holbrooke in Pristina erwartet
• «Liberation»: Stunde der Wahrheit für neue deutsche Regierung
• Nato-Rat tagt in Brüssel - Einsatzbefehl im Kosovo wahrscheinlich
• Schröder unterstützt auf Blitzbesuch bei Clinton US-Kosovopolitik

Außenministerium warnt Bulgaren vor Reisen in Jugoslawien
Sofia (dpa) - Angesichts des möglichen Einsatzes der NATO in Jugoslawien hat das bulgarische Außenministerium am Samstag die Bulgaren gewarnt, sich von Reisen in Jugoslwien zurückzuhalten. Das berichtete die amtliche Nachrichtenagentur BTA.
     Den Bulgaren wird der Ratschlag gegeben, nur in «Fällen von äußerster Notwendigkeit" das Nachbarland Jugoslawien zu besuchen.
© dpa

Bulgarien gibt Luftraum für NATO-Einsatz in Jugoslawien frei
Sofia (dpa) - In Bulgarien ist am Samstag ein Konflikt über die Freigabe des Luftraumes des Landes für einen Einsatz der NATO in Jugoslawien ausgebrochen.
     Der Rat für nationale Sicherheit Bulgariens hatte entschieden, den Luftraum des Landes bereitzustellen, erklärte der Staatspräsident Petar Stojanow am Samstag nach einer fünfstündigen Sitzung des Rates in Sofia.
     Der Vorsitzender der oppositionellen Sozialistischen Partei (frühere KP) Georgi Parwanow lehnte diese Entscheidung als «verfassungswidrig" ab, weil allein das Parlament die Vollmacht für einen derartigen Beschluß habe.
     Die Freigabe des bulgarischen Luftraumes für einen Einsatz der NATO in Jugoslawien würde für Bulgarien bedeuten, «ein Teil des Theaters der Kampfhandlungen" zu werden, sagte Parwanow, der ebenfalls an der Tagung des Rats für nationale Sicherheit teilgenommen habe.
     Als «unmittelbares Nachbarland" Jugoslawiens lehnt Bulgarien allerdings «eine direkte, sowie eine indirekte» Teilnahme an militärischen Handlungen der NATO in Jugoslawien ab, sagte Staatspräsident Stojanow weiter über die Entscheidung des Rats für nationale Sicherheit, der allein eine beratende Funktion hat. Bulgarien sei allerdings bereit, «humanitäre und logistische Operationen" der NATO zur Durchsetzung eines Friedens zu unterstützen.
© dpa

Albanien gibt Luftraum und Hoheitsgewässer für NATO-Einsätze frei
Tirana (dpa) - Albanien gibt seinen Luftraum und seine Hoheitsgewässer für mögliche NATO-Luftangriffe auf Serbien bis Ende des Jahres frei. Das teilte die Regierung in Tirana am Samstag abend mit.
     In einem Statement hieß es: «Diese Maßnahmen wurden ergriffen, damit die NATO ihre Aktivitäten ausführen kann, um die Krise im Kososvo zu lösen und die Sicherheit in der Region zu gewährleisten.» Bisher hatte Albanien nur seine militärische Infrastruktur der NATO im Falle eines Angriffes auf serbische Einheiten angeboten.
© dpa

Serbien lehnt Kosovo-Plan der Kontaktgruppe ab
Brüssel/Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Trotz Des unmittelbar bevorstehenden Einsatzbefehls der Allianz für Luftangriffe ist Belgrad offenbar nicht bereit, im Kosovo-Konflikt einzulenken.
     Es lehnte am Samstag den Plan der Sechs-Mächte-Kontaktgruppe für eine friedliche Lösung kategorisch ab. «Der Plan ist absolut unannehmbar», sagte der stellvertetende Regierungschef Vojislav Seselj.
     Er wies vor allem die Forderung nach Abzug der serbischen Sicherheitskräfte zurück. Bonn reduzierte am Samstag das Personal der Deutschen Botschaft in Belgrad bis auf eine Notbesetzung und empfahl Deutschen nochmals, Jugoslawien umgehend zu verlassen.
     Ein hoher NATO-Beamter hatte zuvor nach einer dreistündigen Sondersitzung des NATO-Rates in Brüssel erklärt, der Einsatzbefehl der NATO für eine militärisches Eingreifen stehe unmittelbar bevor. Nach Einschätzung Moskaus haben sich dagegen die Chancen für eine friedliche Beilegung des Konfliktes verbessert.
     Ein hoher NATO-Beamter in Brüssel sagte, es zeichne sich ab, daß die Allianz bereit sei, auch ohne einen UNO-Beschluß loszuschlagen. «Es gibt zunehmende Einigkeit über die rechtliche Grundlage eines Einsatzes». Die Rechtsfrage werde eine NATO-Aktion «nicht verhindern», sagte er.
     Der US-Sondergesandte Richard Holbrooke, der am Samstag seine diplomatischen Bemühungen um eine Lösung der Krise fortsetzte, bezeichnete die Lage als «äußerst ernst». Unklar blieb weiter, ob und inwieweit seine ausführlichen Gespräche mit dem jugoslawischen Präsidenten Slobodan Milosevic Fortschritte gebracht haben.
     Die Planungen bei der NATO für einen Militärschlag schritten unvermindert fort, sagte Holbrooke nach einem Gespräch mit der Führung der Albaner in der Kosovo-Hauptstadt Pristina.
     NATO-Generalsekretär Javier Solana sagte, letzte Voraussetzung für ein militärisches Eingreifen sei die abschließende Zustimmungsprozedur in den Mitgliedsländern. Dieser Prozeß werde in den nächsten Stunden, maximal in wenigen Tagen, beendet sein.
     Der russische Ministerpräsident Jewgeni Primakow warnte noch einmal eindringlich vor einem militärischen Eingreifen. Wenn die NATO ohne ein Mandat der Vereinten Nationen angreife, werde das gesamte System der internationalen Sicherheit zerbrechen und Rußland seine Beziehungen zur westlichen Allianz «korrigieren».
     Nach einem Bericht des NATO-Oberkommandierenden, des US-Generals Wesley Clark, und des Militärkomitees stehen noch immer umfangreiche Einheiten der serbischen Sonderpolizei im Kosovo. Lediglich alte Kräfte würden abgezogen und durch frische ersetzt. Eine Rückkehr der Flüchtlinge in ihre Dörfer werde durch Straßensperren und Kontrollpunkte der Armee weiter unmöglich gemacht.
     Mit dem Einsatzbefehl für die NATO (Activation Order) werden die von den NATO-Mitgliedsländern bereitgestellten Militärkräfte unter dem Befehl des NATO-Oberkommandierenden gestellt.
     Dieser kann dann innerhalb eines vorher festgelegten Zeitraumes für die ausgemachten Ziele die Kräfte einsetzen. Zuvor ist dann nur noch eine letzte Konsultation mit NATO-Generalsekretär Solana erforderlich, wurde bei der NATO in Brüssel erläutert.
© dpa

Rumäniens Präsident will mit Kollegen der Region über Kosovo beraten
Bukarest (dpa) - Der rumänische Staatspräsident Emil Constantinescu hat am Samstag angekündigt, er werde mit seinen Kollegen in der Region telefonisch Kontakt aufnehmen um über die Lage in der jugoslawischen Provinz Kosovo und über die möglicherweise bevorstehende militärische Intervention der NATO beraten.
     Mit seinem bulgarischen Kollegen Petar Stojanow habe er sich bereits darüber ausgetauscht. Das meldete der rumänische Rundfunk.
     Constantinescu kündigte außerdem an, er werde noch am Samstag mit den Führungen aller parlamentarischen Parteien über die Position beraten, die Rumänien im Fall eines NATO-Eingriffs im Kosovo einnehmen solle.
     Dies wird auch Thema einer für Sonntag einberufenen Sitzung des Obersten Verteidigungsrats Rumäniens sein, dessen Vorsitzender Constantiescu ist.
     Die exkommunistischen Oppositionsparteien sind klar dagegen, daß Bukarest die NATO-Intervention unterstützt. Als Argument führen sie die Sicherheitsinteressen Rumäniens sowie die «traditionelle Freundschaft zu Jugoslawien» an. Außerdem bezeichneten sie die «Einmischung der NATO in innere Angelegenheiten eines souveränen Staates» als nicht rechtmäßig.
     Die rumänische Regierung hat bisher wiederholt eine militärische Beteiligung Rumäniens an einem Einsatz im Kosovo ausgeschlossen. Dieses hat die NATO allerdings auch nicht verlangt.
     Strittig ist offenbar noch, inwieweit Rumänien riskieren kann, die mögliche NATO-Intervention auf humanitärer Ebene zu unterstützen, zum Beispiel durch Hilfeleistungen für in das Kampfgeschehen verwickelte Militärpiloten, die auf rumänischen Territorium abstürzen.
     Die Drohung Belgrads, Nachbarländer, die die NATO unterstützen, als Feinde zu betrachten, hat in Rumänien Panik ausgelöst. Diese nährte außerdem der rumänische Generalstabschef.
     Er hatte gesagt, daß die Teilnahme am NATO-Programm «Partnerschaft für den Frieden» Rumänien verpflichte, dem Bündnis den Militärflughafen in der westrumänischen Stadt Temeswar zur Verfügung zu stellen.
© dpa

Vizeregierungschef Seselj lehnt Kontaktgruppenplan ab
Belgrad (dpa) - Serbien hat am Samstag den Kontaktgruppenplan für eine friedliche Beilegung des Kosovo-Konflikts abgelehnt. `Der Plan ist absolut unannehmbar", sagte Vizeregierungschef Vojislav Seselj, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad) berichtete.
     Er lehnte vor allem die Stationierung von NATO-Truppen in der Krisenprovinz und den verlangten Abzug der serbischen Sicherheitskräfte ab.
     `Der amerikanische Plan von der erweiterten Kosovo-Autonomie möchte die Region von Serbien lostrennen", sagte Seselj und bezeichnete die NATO-Drohungen von einem Militärschlag als real.
     `Wir unternehmen alles, um das zu verhindern, aber keinesfalls zum Preis der Aufopferung Serbiens oder eines Teils serbischen Territoriums", sagte Seselj, Chef der extrem nationalistischen Serbischen Radikalen Partei.
     Auch Dragan Tomic, ebenfalls Vizepremier, versicherte am Samstag, daß der jugoslawische Präsident Slobodan Milosevic keine Zugeständnisse auf Kosten Serbiens machen werde. `Milosevic wird keinen Kompromiß auf Kosten des im Kosovo lebenden Volkes (der Serben) machen", sagte Tomic, meldete der Sender B 92.
© dpa

weitere Meldungen  ==>  Teil 2

KOSOVO DIPLOMATIC OBSERVER MISSION DAILY REPORT, OCT. 8
(Compiled from daily reports of U.S. element of KDOM) (400)

(The following KDOM Daily Report was compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-4850) from daily reports of the U.S. element of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission and released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC)

KDOM Daily Report

October 8, 1998 The Serbian stand-down of military forces continued today with no major new action reported anywhere in Kosovo. There were, however, some skirmishes between KLA and Serb forces near Malisevo. KDOM noted no change in Serbian Army and Special Forces deployment. Serbian police presence remains high, especially along major roads and highways. KDOM did note a more relaxed posture at police checkpoints today, with inspections being conducted only on truck cargoes.
KDOM visited the Glogovac factory complex where hundreds of ethnic Albanians allegedly had been held and tortured. KDOM personnel were given free access to the premises and found no evidence that the area had been used as a prison.
KDOM has been busy this week trying to stem the spread of provocative rumors. Three times during the week KDOM investigations have debunked reports of Serbian attacks carried by the LDK Information Bulletin.
KDOM teams confirmed some exchanges of fire between Serbian police and UCK near Dragobilje area. Neither side reported casualties. The UCK has a strong presence in the area and these incidents have been taking place almost daily since Oct. 2. Residents of the Kisna Reka, Golubovac, and Cerovic regions told KDOM of hearing "heavy and small arms fire" over the past two days.
The exodus of humanitarian assistance organizations, both IOs and NGOs, continued today. The World Food Program and UNHCR made a delivery to an estimated 62,000 IDPs today, its final delivery of the week. A Mother Teresa Society official told KDOM that their Golubovac distribution center, on which some 5,000 IDPs are dependent, was empty and was most recently resupplied two weeks ago.
Most humanitarian assistance personnel will be out of Kosovo by the weekend. Many of the aid workers have told KDOM they are upset about having to leave when the need is so great. They say they will take their lead on returning by whatever UNHCR does.
(End text)

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

Kaum zu glauben:     s o  handelt das Land des Oktoberfestes !

dpa- Meldung vom 02.10.1998 11:16  http://seite1.web.de/show/36149A07.NL1/      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.  © dpa

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

3. Reports about deportation and persons repatriated to Kosova

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

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1578
Prishtina, 10 October 1998

President Rugova Receives Ambassador Holbrooke

PRISHTINA, Oct 10 (KIC) - In Prishtina today, the President of the Republic of Kosova Dr. Ibrahim Rugova received Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, President Clinton's special envoy, Ambassador Chris Hill, the U.S. envoy for Kosova, and Ambassador Brian Donnelly, Britain's envoy to Belgrade.
The most recent developments and the possibilities for a negotiated settlement to the Kosova issue were discussed in the meeting. President Ibrahim Rugova reiterated his demand for an urgent international intervention to protect the people of Kosova and create the conditions for a political resolution of the Kosova issue.
After the meeting, Clinton's special envoy Holbrooke and the British ambassador Donnelly spoke to the press in front of Rugova's residence.

Holbrooke and Donnelly to the Press
"We are here to find a totally viable, credible, verifiable, irreversible compliance with the UN Resolution", Ambassador Holbrooke said

PRISHTINA, Oct 10 (KIC) - After the conclusion of their meeting with President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosova, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Ambassador Brian Donnelly spoke to the press in Prishtina today (Saturday).
Holbrooke said Donnelly, the Ambassador of Great Britain, Ambassador Hill and himself had just met with Dr. Rugova. They had met earlier today with members of the Kosova Albanian negotiating team, he said.
Ambassador Donnelly and Holbrooke would be returning to Belgrade, whereas Ambassador Hill would be staying behind to continue talks in Prishtina, the Clinton special envoy told reporters. Then he made the rhetorical question:"So, where are we?", to which he replied: "Well, we are where we were earlier today, where we were yesterday: extremely serious situation. No change there."
Planning has continued to move forward at NATO, Holbrooke said.
"I'll let NATO speak for itself; we are not here on behalf of NATO. We are here to find a way to do the best we can in a very difficult situation. We are very grateful to Dr. Rugova, for the time he took to see us today. He continues to represent important moderate leadership in a situation where all sides increasingly resorted to violence, and we greatly admire and appreciate that. We will return to Belgrade and I will have an immediate meeting with President Milosevic, and we will see where we go from there", Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said in his remarks to the press in Prishtina.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Brian Donnelly recalled that the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robin Cook, chaired the Contact Group meeting on Friday and afterwards announced the six points, "which we think are essential for compliance with UNSC Resolution 1199."
Ambassador Holbrooke invited me to come here today to illustrate the clear unity in purpose of support of those demands", Donnelly added. He endorsed Holbrooke's remarks about the importance of the situation and the significance for "both sides to negotiate hard and seriously" on Kosova.
Ambassador Hill will be continuing "his extraordinary and intense efforts which have been going on all summer long" on a political process, Ambassador Holbrooke said, declining to say whether there was any progress after the meetings with Milosevic.
Holbrooke said he himself and ambassadors Hill and Donnelly are diplomats, who by nature "always believe that it is better to keep talking".
Nobody wants to have to resort to the bombing, or military action.
"The UN Resolution is very clear, and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Secretary of State Albright and others, have made clear the Yugoslav government is not in compliance with that Resolution", Holbrooke said.
"On the base of that fact, in another part of Europe, other people are planning another way to deal with the problem", the Clinton envoy said, alluding to NATO. "And that is not what we are here for. We are here to find a totally viable, credible, verifiable, irreversible compliance with the UN Resolution."

UÇK Reaffirms Ceasefire, Assures NGO's Based in Kosova, Says Serb Forces Not Complying

PRISHTINA, Oct 10 (KIC) -  The General Staff of the Kosova Liberation Army (UÇK) reaffirmed in a statement yesterday (Political Declaration no 13) it had declared a ceasefire, "restraining itself from armed actions in a bid to abide by the demands of the UN Resolution of 24 September.".
The "enemy (Serb) forces" have not respected the ceasefire, the UÇK said, adding that Serb forces started shelling in the direction of the villages of Skenderaj, Klina, Dragobil and Maxharrë villages of Malisheva, and the village of Gërgoc which was being shelled yesterday by Serb forces positioned at Suka e Cërmjanit in Gjakova area.
"We have not fought back, not out of fear to confront the Serb occupier's troops, but rather to demonstrate our courage and determination", the UÇK statement said, adding that the UÇK made only tactical movements to avert the need to fire back.
The UÇK called on the international community to pressurize the "terrorist regime in Belgrade" to accept soon the UN Resolution's demands.
The General Staff of the UÇK assured international humanitarian organizations operating in Kosova to assist those affected by the "Serbian barbarity" the moral and physical integrity of members of such organizations would in no circumstances "be violated by UÇK fighters".

At Least 492 Albanians Killed in Kosova in September, CDHRF Says

PRISHTINA, Oct 10 (KIC) - The major Kosovar human rights group, the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights Freedoms (CDHRF), said at least 492 Albanians were killed in Kosova during September alone, as Serb offensives rolled with impunity against Albanian communities.
In a report circulated today, the Council said hundreds of Albanians were wounded. Its activists on the ground could, however, register only 159. 73 persons were buried as unidentified, the CDHRF noted, because some were carbonated, bodies of others were mutilated, whereas in several cases there was none to identify the victims found in abandoned villages attacked earlier by Serb forces.
The human rights group said it had registered 206 persons gone missing during the last month alone. Many others were rounded up and held in Serb police stations, whereas others were abducted and their whereabouts could not be learned.
One of the abducted Albanians was Xhavit Haziri, a desk officer of the human rights Council. Eye-witnesses have claimed that Mr Haziri was abducted on 17 September while on his way to the CDHRF offices by members of the Serb state security. Yet, Serb authorities denied he had been detained by Serb officers. The number of missing persons in Kosova was already 1,300 by the end September, it said. The Council received reports of 45 cases of missing persons of Serb nationality.
The CDHRF said on many occasions during the last month, Serb forces cracked down on refugee sites or on clusters of people laving their villages. Serb forces separated menfolks from their families, and men were subsequently subjected to brutal maltreatment, intimidation or even killing. The Council has registered similar practices during the first decade of this month too, the CDHRF concluded.

Serb Military Kills 15-Year-Old Albanian in Gjakova
Another 13-year-old boy was found with his throat slit

PRISHTINA, Oct 10 (KIC) - Serb soldiers killed last Thursday a 15-year-old boy, Blerim Haxhi Berisha, sources in Gjakova said.
The LDK chapter in Gjakova said the late Blerim Berisha was killed in woods near Prush village, in the Hasi region. The boy was cutting timber there together with his father when shot dead by Serb soldiers, the source said.
The body of Blerim Berisha was taken by Serb soldiers to the town morgue in Gjakova yesterday (Friday).
The LDK Information Commission of Gjakova said the body of a 13- year-old boy, Neshet Bytyçi, resident of Rogova village, was found on Friday not far from his village. The boy's head was slit and his body was badly mutilated, local villagers said. He had gone missing a month ago.
The Commission said that the resident of the village of Prush, Zylfaj and Goden, in Hasi region have been ordered by the Serb army strictly stay inside their houses from 17:00 on today until 9 a.m tomorrow (Sunday). The villagers have been ordered to also keep the livestock inside during the whole time and keep all the lights off during the night.
Serb soldiers have not explained the reasons for the imposition of such a regime in the village.

Kosova Information Center
Last page!

KOSOVA (KLA)
KLA: After announcing cease-fire, Serb forces continue shelling

Prishtina, 9 October (ARTA) 1945CET --
In the political statement #13 of the KLA General Headquarter, it is stated: "As we have informed in the statement #12, KLA has announced a cease-fire, aimed at creating conditions to end the humanitarian disaster in Kosova. The cease-fire, by our side started at 0001CET today. As we have informed in the statement #12, the KLA reached a decision for self-restrain from the armed actions, in order to respect the conditions set by the UN Security Council Resolution of 24 September. We notify the international community and all the international institutions interested and engaged in the evicting the further humanitarian tragedy and creating the conditions needed for a long term political solution of the Kosova issue, that, from the moment of receiving the decision of the KLA General Headquarter, the Serb forces started bombarding the villages in the municipalities of Skënderaj, Klinë and the villages of Maxharrë and Dragobil, municipality of Malishevë, while the village of Gërgoc, was shelled and continues to be shelled from Suka e Cërmjanit. We have made tactic moves with our forces and we have not responded. We were not restrained by "fear" to confront the occupier, for we have proved the strength of our forces in more then one occasion. But, we did this to fulfill the international community's demands. The KLA General Headquarter urges the international community to increase the pressure so that the terrorist regime of Belgrade accepts, as soon as possible, all the conditions set by the resolution.
The KLA General Headquarter ensures the international institutions and the humanitarian organizations, that wish to come to Kosova to offer their help to overcome the consequences caused by the Serb barbarians, that in no case will a KLA soldier violate the physical and moral integrity of the workers of the humanitarian organizations", it is stated in the political communique #13 of the KLA General Headquarter.

KOSOVA (Serb offensive)
New shelling in the villages of Malishevë

Malishevë, 9 October (ARTA) 1930CET --
Last night at around 1900CET, Serb forces attacked a large number of the villages of the Malishevë municipality. The Serb force attack, according to Albanian sources was conducted from the Serb military\police bases set in Kijevë, Bubavec, Baincë, Carallukë, Malishevë, Dragobil, Astrazub and Kleçkë. The same sources state that during these attacks, the Serb forces used mine launchers, anti-air missiles, tanks, different caliber cannons, and APCs.
There are reports that the villages of Malishevë: Astrazub, Maxharrë, Morali, Dragobil, Shkozë, Burim, Gur Bardh, Gajrakë, Carallukë, Lladrovcë, Shkarashnik, Drenovc, Llozicë and Bubavec, were also shelled.
Following the two hour long attack, a large part of the municipal territory turned into an open fighting arena, between the Serb and the KLA forces. So far, the Albanian sources did not issue any information about the eventual victims, as they state that the material damages are quite high. Witnesses, claim that KLA forces are very carefully following the cease-fire, as they confirm that the Serb forces in the village of Dragobil, on the other hand, launched mines in the direction of Maxharrë and Astrazub, during the night and this morning.

KOSOVA (Serb offensive - Mitrovicë)
Shelling continues in the villages of Shalë e Bajgorës

Mitrovicë, 9 October (ARTA) 1700CET --
The villages of Mazhiq, Vidishiq, Melenicë and Bare, of Shalë e Bajgorës, were shelled for several hours from the military base in the village of Kutlloc.
23 military vehicles among which, 3 tanks, trucks and jeeps, headed to the direction of Skënderaj, through the town of Mitrovicë, returning to Mitrovicë at around 0900CET.
While the Serb, forces are shelling and burning the Albanian owned houses, in the town of Mitrovicë, Albanian citizens are subjected to police violence. Thus, today at around 1100CET, three Serb police inspectors raided several Albanian owned houses in the neighborhood of "Tavnik". A 17-year-old old Albanian was arrested and is still being kept in custody.

KOSOVA (border incident)
"Yugoslav" forces attacked inside the Albanian territory

Tirana, 9 October (ARTA) 1600CET --
Albania accuses the "Yugoslav" border units of crossing into Albanian from Kosova, today.
The Albanian Foreign Ministry states that the "Yugoslav" troops entered 50 meters inside the Albanian territory in the northern region of Has on Thursday and shot at the village of Dobrunë and at a bordering post.
"The Albanian Government, very harshly denounces this provocative act of the Belgrade authorities" it is stated in a communique issued by the ministry.
"We demand these actions, aimed at inducing tension and conflict, be brought to an end for once and for all and we demand from the international community... to denounce this new demonstration of the aggressive military Serbo-"Yugoslav" policy".
The communique does not issue any information about any causalities or fire exchange.

KOSOVA (repositioning)
Serb force movements in the municipality of Prizren

Prizren, 9 October (ARTA) 1800CET --
A military convoy consisted of 2 APCs, one anti-aircraft transporter, 6 trucks with "Yugoslav" soldiers, departed from Prizren on Friday at around 1100CET, heading in the direction of Gjakovë.
Large military forces, from the military barrack in Prizren, headed in the direction of the bordering belt with Albania, in the village of Gorozhub, in the Prizren Has region.
In the village of Vërmicë, situated about a kilometer away from the border with Albania, Serb forces stationed in two Albanian owned houses, thus compelling the population flee the village again. Low altitude flights of military helicopters were evidenced today also, over the town of Prizren.

KOSOVA (Serb siege - Prizren)
Villages of Prizren Has are being blocked

Prizren, 9 October (ARTA) 2020CET --
Albanian sources report that the "Yugoslav" military forces have blocked the villages of Has, Prizren municipality, along the border with Albania, Friday: Mazrek, Konjushë, Milaj, Planeja, Gorozhub and Krajk. Buses with civilian passengers, on Friday afternoon traveled only to the village of Gjonaj and than they were forced to leave their passengers or take them back to Prizren.

KOSOVA (murder attempt)
A Serb forest caretaker forest shoots at Albanian colleague

Viti, 9 October (ARTA) 1630CET --
According to the CDHRF sources in Viti, yesterday in the village of Goshicë, municipality of Viti, a Serb forest caretaker shot at his Albanian colleague, fortunately with no consequences.
It is reported that this took place as a result of a quarrel between two workers in the Forest Economy, in Viti, Sadik Ajvazi and Marko Radenkovic.

KOSOVA (massacre - Gollubovc)
"They poked my sons eye with a fork"

Drenica, 9 October (ARTA) 1530CET --
Gollubovc, a village in Klinë municipality, seems very tiny to live through all the massacres that took place there. In a large traditional room, the eighty-year-old man, Halil Hoxha, with tears in his eyes, tells of what happened to his 49-year-old son that was killed.
"Saturday, on 26 September, we gathered the family and escaped in the forest. When they came, the picked 14 young men, separating them from the women and children, from where with tied hands, they first sent them to the house yard of Miftar and then the house of Mujë. They did so many horrible things to them. They poked my son’s right eye with a fork. They burned my nephew's corpse, thus we first had to bury him in the forest and then we brought him here", tells Halil. "We buried them, because we couldn't let them burn them, as they started doing".
"They carved KLA signs on their legs, they cut their legs, cut their ears, poked their eyes and spilled their brains out", he said.
"Later, they left and we returned home, I saved the corpses by the street so they wouldn't get burnt. We had four people to bury, so it was very difficult. Out of 14 men, only one managed to survive, although with three bullet wounds."
"I counted 48 military vehicles, from where the Serb soldiers and police were pointing at me with their fingers, as I was constantly smoking", explains Halil.
The father of the massacred Remzi Veselaj, Sokol (64), from Gllarevë, who was sheltered there since five months ago, says that his son Remzi had a deep opening above his eyebrow and many bullets in his body.
"I saw ripped noses, torn throats, chests slaughtered with knives, after the controls they did and the looting of all the valuable things, they then took out a lighter and threatened me that if I didn't leave immediately, they would burn me alive", said Sokol.
For Isuf Hoxha (40), they say he was completely burned. 13 other massacred are in Plloçicë at Malokët. It is claimed that their Imam is cut in the throat. Rizah was burned on the haystack, despite the fact that the police ordered him to return back to his village with his family from whom, they separated him.
All 14 stayed outside in Miftar's yard, where they were beaten. Then they were forced to get on their knees, and stay like that with tied hands and heads down. Zeqir Berisha, from Gjurgjevik was beaten to death. All that had remained from him was his skull, a broken nose, a cut leg and broken teeth.
After the action was over, the Serb police went to the village and asked one of the residents as to which one of the 14 are KLA members. One of the policemen pointed at two others, who were then executed. After that, all the others were executed.
The only one that survived had two wounds in the left hand and one in the leg. When one policeman started kicking them, to see if they were alive, he pretended he was dead.

KOSOVA (CDHRF)
CDHRF: "492 Albanians killed during September alone..."

Prishtina, 9 October (ARTA) 2000CET --
In the CDHRF monthly report, on the violation of the human rights and freedoms for the month of September, it is stated that thousands of Albanians have been killed. Among them many were massacred and executed without being tried. This war was also manifested with shelling and burning of villages, looting of property, abductions and people taken hostage, mass arrests and framed political processes and large displacement of people. The report also states that the humanitarian situation is now taking threatening measures for a large number of dislocated Albanians. "As we are preparing the report for the month of September, the list of the killings from January, when the situation escalated, is 1645 killed Albanians", it is stated in the report, as it is evaluated that the structure of the killed is the following: 174 females; 152 children, 338 over the age of 55; out of the number of the killed 408 are unidentified.
"During September alone, CDHRF registered 492 cases of killed Albanians, 73 were buried without being identified. During this entire period, the Council registered 206 people considered as missing or taken hostage, as the overall number of them is 1300, among which the Council announced 45 cases of Serb nationality", it is stated in the new CDHRF report.
CDHRF is disturbed by the fact that the activists are being kidnapped and lost without a trace, as was the case with Hafir Shala, who was kidnapped by the Serb police, six months ago, and nothing is known on his and many other Albanians' whereabouts.
At the same time 98 Albanians are arrested or under an investigating procedure. According to the CDHRF data, during this period, several warehouses, factories, mines and schools, even including monasteries, were turned into investigating prisons and concentration camps, in which Albanians are being tortured.

KOSOVA (politics)
Official Prishtina: "In the newspaper - that is where we saw the text of the plan"

Prishtina, 9 October (ARTA) 1900CET --
The new American plan for the solution of the Kosova issue, said to have been "blessed" by the Contact Group and supposed to be handed over to the Serb and the Albanian side, raised dubious reactions from the Kosovar Albanian political subject.
"This is an issue of the newspapers," said Ibrahim Rugova, in today's meeting with journalists, concerning the document published in "KOHA Ditore".
Rugova's LDK party Secretary General, Nekibe Kelmendi, said: "I have nothing to add, other than what the president said today in his press conference".
Even the Albanian negotiating group, who was supposed to discuss this document did not yet offer a pronunciation, as it states that it still hasn't receive the integral copy of it. The Leadership of the United Democratic Movement (LBD), whose members however are very "restrained" in their evaluations, also uses this "justification".
Regarding this, the member of the LBD, initially informs: "We still haven't got hold of the integral and authentic text of the project-document, which by some people is called Hill's and by others Holbrooke's, thus we still don't have a full and final evaluation. Such an evaluation, should be proceeded by an all-sided professional contemplation", says Hyseni.
"Such as it is published in the Kosovar press, this document leaves a lot to be wished for. Among our people, it evokes not only disturbance and unhappiness, but also serious dilemmas and suspicions" claims Hyseni.
"The document such as it is does not even closely fulfill the demands of the Kosovars".
In his opinion "an eventual agreement, even if it is to be interim, it can have a perspective, only if it is, if not more, at least neutral; if it does not negatively prejudice the final solution; if it does not reduce the Kosova issue to an internal issue of Serbia and 'FRY' in a cultural and education issue, issue of local self-administration, or simply into an issue of human rights" stated Hydajet Hyseni.
According to him, the issue of Kosova, is an unsolved, national and political issue, and it needs to be treated as one. Any kind of other solution, be that interim or final, should consider the will of the people of Kosova, base well-known universal principles and ensure the direct, guaranteeing and implementing engagement of the authoritative international factors.
The concessions, towards, as Hyseni states, "Serb secession and hegemonization", as it was proved by previous experience, encourage the Serb "chauvinism", enable them to misuse and manipulate with the peace process, thus making the political decision difficult. "There cannot be any solution of the Kosova problem, by discriminating those who are equal, and equalizing mechanically those who are not equal and cannot become so. I believe, and wish to believe that this document will undergo visible changes and evolve towards a more adequate context" said the LBD Leadership member, Hydajet Hyseni.

KOSOVA (Rugova - press conference)
Rugova: "NATO intervention - protection for Kosova's population"

Prishtina, 9 October (ARTA) 2030CET --
"Serb forces have not withdrawn from Kosova. On the contrary, they were reinforced from Serbia and they are repositioned in Kosova", said Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, in today's press conference.
"Kosova was part of a state that doesn't exist anymore, that is the former Yugoslav Federation, and because of that it has the right to independence. Since 1990, Kosova is an occupied state, and since March, it is under continuous Serb aggression. An independent Kosova will calm the Southeastern Europe region", stated Rugova.
President Rugova took this occasion, to seek from Russia "a constructive involvement and setting aside the logic of Cold War". "The published plans in "Koha Ditore" concerning the solving of the Kosova problem are issues of the newspapers", said Rugova.
"NATO intervention should be considered as a protection for Kosova's population, based on Chapter VII of U.N Charter", was Rugova's answer concerning
NATO intervention.

KOSOVA (IDPs-Rahovec)
Shortage of food and medicine

Rahovec, 9 October (ARTA) 1820CET --
Following the Serb police\military June offensive, in the municipality of Rahovec, the situation remains tense, particularly in the social aspect. There is great lack of food items, as the majority of the stores are destroyed. Thus, today in the few opened stores, there is lack of basic food items such as, kitchen oil, sugar and flour.
In Rahovec, proper oil and sugar can be found at very high prices.
A very disturbing fact is also, the lack of milk and medicine in the private pharmacy shops.

2. FRANCE TAKES SOFTER LINE.
3. ALBRIGHT, COOK SAY NO RUSSIAN VETO.
4. HOLBROOKE BACK IN BELGRADE.
5. SESELJ THREATENS WEST, NEIGHBORS.
6. SERBIAN POLICE DETAIN KOSOVAR JOURNALIST.
7. U.S. BROADCASTING BOARD RESPONDS TO SERBIAN BAN
8. WESTENDORP SACKS SERBIAN LEGISLATOR FOR THREATS.
9. ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW GOVERNMENT.
10. ALBANIAN POLICE INCREASE SECURITY AROUND U.S. EMBASSY.
11. END NOTE: TOUGH AGENDA FOR ALBANIA'S NEW PREMIER

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 2, No. 196, Part II, 9 October 1998

1. CLINTON SAYS NATO READY TO DEFEND ITS INTERESTS. U.S.

President Bill Clinton said in Washington on 8 October that "we would far prefer to secure [Yugoslav] President [Slobodan] Milosevic's compliance with the will of the international community in a peaceful manner. But NATO must be prepared to act militarily to protect our interests and to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe in the Balkans." In a letter to several leading senators, Clinton added that "there will be no 'pinprick' strikes...[initial strikes] will send a very clear signal, and follow-on phases will progressively expand in their scale and scope." He denied, however, that NATO has any concrete plans to deploy ground troops in the region: "I can assure you the United States would not support these options and there currently is no sentiment in NATO for such a mission." PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

2. FRANCE TAKES SOFTER LINE.

Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine told a parliamentary commission that NATO plans "exclude resorting to immediate huge attacks which would be incompatible with a political solution. Eventual military action will be progressive and interrupted by periods where [diplomatic] activity will be resumed," Reuters reported on 9 October. PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

3. ALBRIGHT, COOK SAY NO RUSSIAN VETO.

Foreign ministers of the six international Contact Group countries agreed in London on 8 October to demand Milosevic's "full compliance" with a UN resolution that calls on him to withdraw his forces, allow refugees to go home, and launch talks with the Kosovars. The ministers did not, however, agree on what they might do if he fails to comply. After the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that "if it is necessary to use force, [then] those [Contact Group governments] that do not agree would not have a veto over the action." British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook added that although the ministers took no decision on air strikes, "I can assure you we have no intention of offering Russia a veto on what we may decide is appropriate for NATO." Albright said that an unspecified "attempt to divide us...has failed." Cook noted that if Milosevic "was looking for rescue from any member of the Contact Group, he did not get it." PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

4. HOLBROOKE BACK IN BELGRADE.

U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke returned to Belgrade for further talks with Milosevic on 9 October, saying that the situation "remains extremely serious." In response to reporters' questions in London the previous day, Albright refused to describe Holbrooke's latest mission as a "last chance" for Milosevic to reach a negotiated settlement. She added: "the goal of our policy is not to use force if it's not necessary. The goal of our policy is to achieve compliance with the requirements of the international community. By ratcheting the pressure up in the coming days by moving into the next stage of NATO decision-making, perhaps Milosevic will get the message he has not yet gotten. And Ambassador Holbrooke can work on specific ways to ensure a verifiable and durable compliance with the requirements of the international community." PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

5. SESELJ THREATENS WEST, NEIGHBORS.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said in Belgrade on 8 October that "NATO soldiers may possibly enter our country as combatants but they will leave it in coffins." He warned other countries in the region not to provide any help to NATO or "they will also be considered our enemy and will have to face the consequences." He did not elaborate. Seselj recently threatened to take reprisals against U.S. forces outside Serbia, presumably in Bosnia, and against members of the Serbian opposition (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 September 1998). Meanwhile in Prishtina, the Kosova Liberation Army said in a statement on 8 October that it will "refrain from all military activity" as of the next day. PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

6. SERBIAN POLICE DETAIN KOSOVAR JOURNALIST.

Serbian police held Enver Malloku, who is the director of the Kosova Information Center (KIC) news agency, for three hours in Prishtina on 8 October. They kept his journalist's identity papers, mobile phone, and some tapes. One plainclothes policeman "openly threatened Malloku's family," KIC added. Unidentified gunmen shot at Malloku's home in July. The Serbian authorities have repeatedly threatened the independent media in recent days and have banned rebroadcasting of foreign radio broadcasts, including those of RFE/RL (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 October 1998). PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

7. U.S. BROADCASTING BOARD RESPONDS TO SERBIAN BAN.

David Burke, the chairman of the Washington-based Broadcasting Board of Governors, United States of America, said on 8 October: "The decision [to ban rebroadcasting] dramatizes the Serbian government's determination to restrict the Serbian public's access to uncensored news, analysis, and responsible discussion of the current crisis in Kosovo. My colleagues and I believe this ban is an intolerable form of press censorship. As we did during a similar situation in Serbia in late 1996, VOA and RFE/RL have expanded their Serbian language programming. We will also pursue additional creative ways of providing the truth to the people of Serbia." PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

8. WESTENDORP SACKS SERBIAN LEGISLATOR FOR THREATS.

A spokesman for the international community's Carlos Westendorp said in Sarajevo on 8 October that Westendorp has invalidated the mandate of Dragan Cavic, who was elected in September to the Republika Srpska parliament for Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party. Cavic lost his seat because of his recent statements to the effect that NATO air strikes against Serbia would be an attack on Serbs everywhere and that Serbs should react accordingly. Westendorp interpreted Cavic's statements as an "incitement to violence and a deliberate threat to the security of the international community and the Dayton peace process." The U.S. embassy in the Bosnian capital said in a statement that NATO intervention "would not be directed against the Serbian people or the Republika Srpska. It would be against those whose operations have led to the death of over 1,500 people and the creation of some 400,000 refugees and displaced persons." PM (Patrick Moore, Team Leader, MooreP@rferl.org)

9. ALBANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW GOVERNMENT.

Prime Minister Pandeli Majko's Socialist-led government coalition won formal parliamentary approval on 8 October. All 104 deputies present voted in favor of approving the new cabinet. Opposition Democratic Party legislators boycotted the session and repeated their demand for early elections. The Democratic Party's "Rilindja Demokratike" ran an editorial the following day saying that "the communist majority voted by 100 percent for a program of national enmity...[and] wiped out any hope...for a possible change." FS (Fabian Schmidt)

10. ALBANIAN POLICE INCREASE SECURITY AROUND U.S. EMBASSY.

Albanian police blocked off the street in front of the U.S. embassy in Tirana on 4 October, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters three days later. He added that police took this latest security measure after a request from the embassy. He did not elaborate, however. After the two U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa in August, the embassy in Tirana suspended most operations and flew all non-essential personnel out of the country.

11. END NOTE: TOUGH AGENDA FOR ALBANIA'S NEW PREMIER
by Fabian Schmidt

     Following the parliament's approval of his cabinet on 8 October, Albania's new prime minister, Pandeli Majko, faces many domestic challenges, including the passage of a new constitution, improving public order, and fighting corruption. In the foreign-policy sphere, Majko will try to maintain Albania's moderate Kosova policy. And he will also seek to withstand pressure from the opposition, which frequently uses nationalist rhetoric to embarrass the governing coalition.
     Majko's government is the third to take office since the Socialist Party won a two-thirds majority in the legislature in the 1997 general elections, which followed the widespread unrest earlier that year. Against the background of these frequent changes of government, the Socialist Party realizes that it must maintain a broad support base in order to lead the country out of the turmoil that has engulfed it. Majko knows full well that he will be able to withstand calls from opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha for early elections only if he enjoys support that extends far beyond his own party.
     The litmus test for Majko and his coalition will be a popular referendum next month on a new constitution. The drafting of the basic law has been a major issue for Albanian governments for years. In 1994, President Berisha failed to garner the necessary two-thirds majority in the parliament for the passage of his own draft constitution. When he tried to have the document approved by popular referendum, the electorate voted against the document in what many observers saw as a negative turning point in his political career.
     The Democrats have attempted to frustrate the Socialists' attempts to draft a new constitution by boycotting the parliament, questioning the legitimacy of the government, and demanding new elections. But Majko's prospects of receiving the backing of the electorate in the referendum may be better than were Berisha's. The parliamentary commission working on the draft not only includes members of the governing coalition but is headed by the center-right opposition Republican Party legislator Sabri Godo. Godo has repeatedly complained about the Democrats' boycott of the drafting process.
     Furthermore, the Democrat-led unrest that broke out in early September following the murder of Democratic legislator Azem Hajdari backfired for the Democrats and showed that the government's political position is strong. The opposition failed to gather sufficient popular support to overthrow the government, and the armed revolt in Tirana was over within less than two days. Prosecutors investigating the events now claim to have gathered evidence that unspecified Democratic Party members planned the riots well in advance and that some individuals even tapped the Interior Ministry's telephone lines during the revolt.
     Majko, nonetheless, will have to promote reconciliation with the opposition while not giving into their demand for new elections. He is in a strong position to do so. The 30-year-old leader of the student revolt that ended communist rule in Albania, Majko is Europe's youngest prime minister and was never a member of the communist Party of Labor of Albania. He became a member of the Socialists after the party's internal reform in1991 and has since developed the profile of a reformer promoting a Social Democratic image for the party.
      For this reason, he commands more respect from the opposition than did his predecessor Fatos Nano, a former communist and bitter rival of Berisha. But if Berisha is charged with staging a coup in connection with the September riots, Majko would find it difficult to end the polarization that has characterized Albanian politics for some years. He will also need to convince critics that his government, which is almost identical in composition to Nano's, signifies a break with the Nano administration.
     Besides reaching a modus vivendi with the opposition, Majko's toughest challenges remain a thorough reform of the administration, the implementation of institutionalized anti-corruption measures, improving the living standards of the population, developing the country's infrastructure, and strengthening the rule of law. Most media and the opposition have repeatedly accused Nano's previous Socialist government of corruption and inefficiency. Majko has drawn up an ambitious reform program that would create 85,000 new jobs and would promote the reform of the country's police and judiciary. It will be a tough order to carry out such reform.
     Finally, the new government is under pressure from the international community to maintain its moderate Kosova policy, which aims at promoting a peaceful solution within the existing borders of federal Yugoslavia. Achieving that goal may be thwarted by the opposition's constant attempts to exploit the Kosova conflict for its own political ends. The Democrats demand the recognition of the Serbian province as an independent state and Albanian assistance for the Kosova Liberation Army. Majko will therefore need to prove that his Kosova policy is working. Moreover, the success or failure of the international community in forcing Belgrade to cease military operations and take part in internationally mediated talks will directly affect the credibility of Albania's government and its ability to move ahead with its domestic agenda.

     The author is a Berlin-based analyst of Balkan affairs.

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Dated  : October 10, 1998 at 05:03:43
Subject: U.S. officers warn of risks in air strikes
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/98/Oct/09/international/KOSO09.htm

U.S. officers warn of risks in air strikes
Long-term objectives in Kosovo are not clear, they say. Diplomats avoid talk of ground troops.

By Richard Parker and John Donnelly
 INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- As President Clinton urges NATO to go to the brink of conflict with Yugoslavia, some senior U.S. military officers are quietly warning that the alliance's plan for an air campaign is fraught with dangerous consequences because it lacks clear long-term objectives.
     U.S. military officers and independent observers say any attack must take into account the use of ground forces in case the situation in the secessionist Yugoslav province of Kosovo deteriorates. But U.S. diplomats at NATO are blocking discussion of ground troops for fear of another Bosnia-like occupation, according to military officials.
     As a result, these officials believe NATO is engaged in a daring diplomatic bluff or is unwisely stumbling into a half-baked military operation.
     "Air strikes might bring [ Yugoslav President Slobodan ] Milosevic to the table. But there is no end game defined without some kind of force on the ground," said a senior military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
     "There is no reluctance to take action," the official said. "But this business hasn't been fully thought through. And if it goes bad, we're the ones left holding the bag."
     NATO ambassadors are meeting daily in Brussels, Belgium, and are expected to try as soon as this weekend to approve air strikes. But the 16-nation alliance is divided, with Italy -- the likely base for the launch of most of the 400 aircraft -- and France increasingly reluctant to support military action.
     Because of this growing hesitancy, some NATO diplomats are privately considering abandoning plans for bombing raids and limiting attacks to unmanned cruise missile strikes, military officials say.
     Nonetheless, Clinton yesterday gave NATO's U.S. representative the go-ahead to approve air attacks if Milosevic fails to meet all the demands for peace, including removing his military and police forces from Kosovo and beginning talks with ethnic Albanian leaders there.
     A further potential obstacle to the settlement of the conflict, however, lies in the difficulty of getting ethnic Albanian leaders to the negotiating table with Milosevic. Their elected leader, Ibrahim Rugova, has generally been willing to talk peace, but the Kosovo Liberation Army, whose forces have fought Milosevic's troops, have frequently expressed disdain for negotiations.
     "We would far prefer to secure President Milosevic's compliance with the will of the international community in a peaceful manner," Clinton said yesterday. "But NATO must be prepared to act militarily to protect our interests, to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe in the Balkans."
     Hundreds of ethnic Albanians have been killed in the last seven months and more than 270,000 have been forced to flee. The United States backs autonomy for Kosovo, but not independence from Yugoslavia, as many Kosovars demand.
     The Clinton administration has used the threat of force to bolster its diplomatic offensive. So far, about half of Yugoslavia's troops have left Kosovo. U.S. officials believe the remaining forces could easily resume their offensive against ethnic Albanian separatists.
     "What we have seen is a televised show of soldiers leaving Kosovo," Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright said yesterday, as she dispatched special envoy Richard Holbrooke to Belgrade for further talks with Milosevic. Holbrooke failed earlier this week to win all the concessions demanded by the United Nations Security Council.
     If Holbrooke's new diplomatic effort fails and NATO orders an air campaign, it presents unforeseen consequences and mortal and political peril.
     "Before initiating any type of operation in Kosovo we need to think this operation through, from beginning to end state," Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday.
     Yugoslavia's armed forces are showing signs that they will fight, according to U.S. and NATO officials. Yugoslav warships are putting to sea in the Adriatic, and men with military experience are being recalled to serve. About 14,000 government troops remain in Kosovo.
     "They will fight back," a U.S. Air Force officer with extensive experience in the Balkans said of the Yugoslav forces. "They have good air defenses. They will try to hit our ships and shoot back at our planes. They will launch their air force to get in and mix it up. If we're looking to go toe-to-toe, we'll win. But do we have the stomach for what that means?" said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
     Despite morale problems among conscripts and a lack of money for new equipment, Yugoslavia retains a formidable system of Soviet-style air defenses, a small navy of submarines and frigates, and an air force with some modern combat planes.
     "They're not a match for us in the air, but it will by no means be a cakewalk," said Lani Kass, a military analyst at the National Defense University.
     The prospect of ground troops may prove so controversial that it could force NATO to back away even from the air campaign being prepared -- or to launch a military operation in which few officers have confidence.
     "There is a lot of skepticism in the U.S. armed services," said Michael Gary Roskin, a former Balkans analyst at the U.S. Army War College. "The feeling is we would in effect be fighting for [ Kosovo's ] independence. In cases like this the U.S. military is always reluctant because they are the guys getting killed."

Knight Ridder correspondent Lori Montgomery contributed to this article.

--
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Antonio posted Message 7040 in the SM News:
Dated  : October 09, 1998 at 08:39:08
Subject: AFP - Tension grows in Kosovo as air strike threat looms

Thu, 8 Oct 1998 21:21:51 PDT
Tension grows in Kosovo as air strike threat looms
By Pierre Lhuillery

   PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Oct 9 (AFP) - Tension is growing in Kosovo in the expectation of NATO air strikes aimed at making Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic ease his iron grip on the southern Serbian province.
   Foreign diplomats said it was impossible to judge to what extent Belgrade was complying with United Nations Security Council demands that it end its repression of the ethnic Albanian majority.
   These include the withdrawal of security forces, the return of refugees to their homes, access for humanitarian aid and meaningful negotiations with Albanian representatives.
   No fighting between Serbian and Yugoslav paramilitary and military forces and the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has been reported for a week, and Belgrade has proposed the renewal of talks, which has been rejected by local leaders.
   A western diplomat said: "The police presence in Kosovo is definitely reduced, but they are still there in sensitive areas, and that alone is deterring refugees from returning."
   The diplomat, who requested anonymity, also said units of the Yugoslav army had retired to barracks in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, in Vucitrn in the north of the province and in Djakovica, in the southwest.
   But another diplomat said that this was not enough. Apart from the impossibility of knowing how many troops were still in the field, there was the problem that it was easy to send those withdrawn back into action quickly.
   While journalists noted retirements in the past few days, one of Pristina's Albanian-language newspapers, Bujku, claimed Thursday that at least 40 tanks had entered Kosovo from the north on Wednesday.
   "The Yugoslavs still have the time to prove their good faith, but we are waiting to see," said a diplomat.
   Relatively few police and soldiers were visible Wednesday on the main roads in western Kosovo between Pristina, Pec, Decani and Djakovica, which were recpatured from the KLA in the summer after hard fighting.
   On the road from Pristina to Pec, three road blocks were still in place but the police appeared relaxed and fairly idle. En a trip lasting several hours only three or four small army trucks were encountered.
   The surrounding areas were practically deserted, with numerous villages destroyed by shellfire or burned. No one was working in the fields and traffic was virtually nil.
   Further north, however, refugees were reported by western journalists and Serbian sources to be returning to their villages on the Drenica plateau, but at the same time the KLA had resumed positions from which they had been ousted.
   In Pristina anxiety and nervousness is increasing palpably. Radovan Milic, 42, a Serb worker, warned that if NATO air strikes took place the minority Serbs could start killing Albanians.
   Many of the 90 percent ethnic minority are waiting for the attacks with a mixture of impatience and apprehension. They fear that air strikes will not be enough and, as in Bosnia, foreign ground troops will also be required.
   An Albanian political analyst, Shkelzen Maliqi, said said that sooner or later Belgrade would have to accept this.
   But Belgrade remained bellicose Thursday, with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj warning that if NATO sent ground troops to Kosovo "they will go home in their coffins."
   Serbia, he said, "will never accept a single NATO soldier on its territory."
   Meanwhile the US Information Centre in Kosovo shut down Thursday. A US official said the centre run by the United States Information Service will remain closed "until the situation is normal."

Antonio posted Message 7043 in the SM News:
Dated  : October 09, 1998 at 09:23:08
Subject: AP - Serb Villagers in Kosovo Frightened

Fri, 9 Oct 1998 5:51:46 PDT
Serb Villagers in Kosovo Frightened
BY JEFFREY ULBRICH, Associated Press Writer

        PRILUZJE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Zoran Kostic is defiant.
        He and the other inhabitants of this small Serb village in Kosovo are surrounded by ethnic Albanians and afraid of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, the rebel force President Slobodan Milosevic is trying to destroy.
        "No Serb has crossed to the other side since last year," says Kostic, indicating the far bank of the Sitnica River from a bunker the villagers dug into a dike at the edge of Priluzje to protect themselves from attack.
        As he looks at the fields of barley, corn and wheat across the river -- crops Priluzje farmers cannot risk harvesting -- the sound of a single gunshot cracks. It is a common occurrence.
        While the world focuses on the fate of the ethnic Albanian
majority in this southern province of Serbia, Serbs clustered in hamlets such as Priluzje are frightened, worried about their families, worried about their crops, and worried about what waves of NATO missiles and bombs would do to them.
        Kostic, 48, organized the defense of Priluzje, about 15 miles northwest of Pristina, the provincial capital. He supervised the digging of bunkers along the river and scheduled the lookouts -- usually old men with shotguns and hunting rifles during the day, and young, better-equipped men after nightfall.
        Living in fear has embittered Dusan Milic, an aging man with gray stubble stretching across his weather-worn face.
        "They were shooting at me from our own land," he says angrily as he creeps slowly along the dike with the help of a rugged stick. "In 1941, the Albanians killed an entire Yugoslav Army regiment in the hills. And a lot of partisans were killed by Albanians in 1944."
        For years, Serbs lived in an uneasy peace alongside ethnic Albanians. That semblance of harmony began deteriorating in 1989 when Milosevic stripped Kosovo of its autonomy. It grew even worse in February when fighting broke out between government forces and small bands of the KLA, the loosely knit force struggling for independence from Serbia, the main republic of Yugoslavia.
        "We were not the biggest friends on the earth, but we did business together," Kostic says. "So in that sense, there was an interchange."
        At the end of a deeply rutted dirt road just outside the village of Bukos, about six miles north of here, Rade Bozovic and his cousin sat terrified in an attic, rifles in hand, as about 50 or 60 KLA fighters walked by his house last week.
        "I didn't know if it was my responsibility to shoot them or not," he said. He had sent his 90-year-old father and four children walking quickly toward Bukos, just over the hill from the rural Bozovic home.
        He and his cousin decided their only duty was to protect their families, so they waited quietly until the KLA men passed by. The KLA didn't shoot. Neither did Bozovic.
        The rebels, he said, infest the hills above his house. When they need supplies, they change into civilian clothes and walk to a nearby town below, he says. "They all know each other."
        Asked if he is afraid, Bozovic turns his head slowly and gazes hard at his interlocutor.
        "Yes, I'm afraid," he said, cracking walnuts in his hand, looking down the slope. "I'm afraid of the terrorists. I'm afraid of NATO. NATO would hit the power plant near here. And they are not that accurate."
        He points to a white house on the next rise, a neat bungalow surrounded by fruit trees. It's an Albanian family, he says. He has no problem with his neighbor. And his neighbor has no problem with him.
        "We wouldn't have any problems at all, but the West hates us. The problems come because the British, the French and the Americans hate us."
        He nods down the slope to a clump of trees at the edge of his property.
        "If NATO comes, we will handcuff you to those willows as a human shield," he tells his American visitor, without the slightest trace of a smile.

Antonio posted Message 7062 in the SM News:
Dated  : October 09, 1998 at 13:04:49
Subject: CSM - JUSTIN BROWN: Bombing Yugoslavia
 

JUSTIN BROWN: Bombing Yugoslavia

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 The Christian Science Monitor

(October 9, 1998 10:08 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com)
-- The use of airstrikes against the government in Belgrade to end the conflict in Kosovo would have a wide range of repercussions, some of which run counter to U.S. goals in the Balkans.
     Because of the intractable nature of the Kosovo conflict, as well as the unpredictability of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, there exists a strong possibility that bombing could further destabilize the region.
     Such destabilization could lead the Yugoslav Army to turn on Milosevic, potentially fueling deep civil war. But in a least desirable outcome from the West's perspective, NATO action could galvanize Serb nationalism, analysts say, and have the effect of giving police free reign in Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians are calling for independence.
     While Britain has hinted it could send ground troops to Kosovo, high-level U.S. officials have said American soldiers will not be sent to Kosovo.
     Airstrikes could also give Milosevic -- widely viewed as the primary instigator in Kosovo -- an opportunity to strengthen his hold on power. Already the opposition political parties and independent media in Belgrade are weak, but they could become completely muted if Milosevic calls a state of emergency.
     With emergency powers, Milosevic could move to tighten his grip on Montenegro, the other republic of Yugoslavia. In the past year, the United States has found an ally in new Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic, who seems willing to open up the republic's economy and promote democratic reform.
     In his decade of rule, Milosevic has thrived on ethnic conflict. He rose to power in 1989 partially by exploiting Kosovo, where local Serbs complained they were exploited under ethnic Albanian autonomy. Milosevic quickly took that autonomy away, styling himself as the defender of the Serbian people. The wave of nationalism first awakened in Kosovo would later lead to wars in Croatia and Bosnia.
     "Milosevic's career began on the Field of Blackbirds," says a U.S. diplomat, referring to the battlefield in Kosovo where the Serbs lost a monumental fight with the Turks and became subjected to 500 years of Ottoman rule.
     "(Kosovo) is a more important issue to him than Bosnia."
     Military action in Kosovo also could complicate relations with Russia, which to date has stood by Serbia, a fellow Slavic nation with a similar Orthodox religion.
     Furthermore, airstrikes would continue to expand the role of NATO, which was first established to defend Western Europe from the spread of communism. It would almost certainly create a need for a peacekeeping force like the one that stayed behind in Bosnia after the 1995 Dayton agreement ending that war. Some 32,000 NATO troops remain there today.
     The difficulties of unleashing cruise missiles on a distant land where no Americans have been killed was evident this week. U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke met with Milosevic repeatedly, but had no significant progress to report to journalists.
     "It seems to me it's the (most grim) situation we've faced in the Balkans to date," says a U.S. diplomat familiar with the negotiations.
 

further news  ==> Part 2

REPORT NO. 438
ON THE WIDESPREAD REPRESSION AND HARASSMENT PERPETRATED BY
THE SERBIAN POLICE AND  OTHER AUTHORITIES IN KOSOVA
FROM SEPTEMBER 27 UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30 1998

           The text you can read at   week438.htm

Albania Formally Offers Bases for NATO Air Strikes
Reuters   10-OCT-98

TIRANA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Albania on Saturday formally offered its air bases and ports to NATO should it need them for any air strikes against Serbia over the conflict with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
     "The Government of the Republic of Albania decided to put to the service of NATO its air space and waters in case NATO intervenes militarily to end the violence in Kosovo," a government statement said.
     The decision allows NATO aircraft and ships to use the air space, airports, waters and ports of Albania, which belongs to NATO's Partnership for Peace scheme, until the end of the year.
     Albania has taken in some 20,000 Kosovo refugees who fled over the border from the fighting between Serbian security forces and separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas this year.
     "We think this NATO incursion, which we believe and hope will be undertaken, will pave the way for a just solution for the Kosovo people," Defence Minister Luan Hajdaraga said.
     Albania has repeatedly said it would offer any assistance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on the Kosovo conflict.
     Foreign Minister Paskal Milo told reporters Albania had been exchanging information with NATO in the last few days.
     "This is not a decision taken in haste but a mature and well-studied one and coordinated with NATO leaders," Milo said.
     He said he hoped U.S. diplomatic troubleshooter Richard Holbrooke could negotiate a peaceful settlement to the crisis in last-ditch talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on the future of the province, so that air strikes could be avoided.
     "Albanians...do not wish to see force used but they also do not want to see children, women and children, killed and buried alive in Kosovo," Milo said.
     Albania has not supported outright independence for its Kosovo Albanian brethren but has advocated making the province an autonomous republic within federal Yugoslavia.
     Albania allowed NATO to fly unmanned surveillance aircraft out of an air base in the north for missions over Bosnia before the alliance staged air strikes in 1995 that paved the way to the Dayton treaty which ended the Bosnian war.

Albania, Germany voice will to deepen cooperation
      - Albania's President meets German deputy -

      TIRANA, Oct. 9 (ATA) - Albania's President Rexhep Meidani met Friday with the deputy of the German Parliament, dr. Schvarz Schiling, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, and also international mediator during the crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
      The humanitarian crisis in Kosova and the situation of the Albanian refugees in different countries of the region were in the focus of this meeting, President's press and information department reported to ATA.
      Meidani stressed that the forceful displacement of the Albanian population in Kosova from their territories testified the genocide and severe cleansing of Belgrade.
      President Meidani appreciated every act of the international community which would immediately stop the violence against the Albanian population in Kosova.
      After expressing his gratitude for the humanitarian aid that Germany has offered to the Kosova Albanians, President Meidani said that only a diplomatic, political and military operation would create the conditions for the stability in the region.
      The German Parliamentarian Schiling accepted the fact that the international community did not react on time to avoid the catastrophe he saw during his recent visit in Kosova. He said that he feels responsible for the humanitarian aid that Germany should offer for the Albanians in Kosova and Albania, as well as for the Albanian emigrants in Germany.
      Both parties hailed and expressed the will to deepen the cooperation and bilateral assistance. /pas/mt/

Serb soldiers open fire on border unit in Zogaj, Tropoje

      TIRANA, Oct. 10 (ATA) - The Serb military forces have opened fire on an Albanian border unit in the district of Tropoja (North) on Friday.
      The spokesman of the Ministry of Order reported to ATA that on Friday, at 12:00, in the sector of the border point of Zogaj in the district of Tropoja, in the border post C 13/1, the Serb military forces opened fire on the Albanian border unit, which was 150 m inside the Albanian territory.
      The spokesman added that at 13:30 on the same day, during the time that the group of the border police went to the spot, the Serb soldiers shot by fire weapons against them.
      The Albanian border forces did not respond the fire but took up defensive positions.
      No one was reported wounded from the volleys of Serb soldiers, except several cattle grazing nearby.
      This is the second case during the last two days that the Serb military and police forces open fire on the Albanian border units.
      The Serb soldiers opened fire two days ago on the border unit and inhabitants of Dobrune village in the district of Has. /s.s/mt/

From: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>
Albanian Telegraphic Agency
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
[01] Statement of Albania's Foreign Ministry
[02] Albanian state and private sector employees to pay 500 lek per month for public order and defence
[03] Greece-Albania agreement on road and freight transport ratified
[04] Deaths among Kosovars because of cold and lack of medical assistance
[05] Serbs shelled Drenice village last night
[06] Merchants speculate with cooking oil; wholesales blocked in Librazhd
[07] UNICEF to assist Kosova children and women displaced in Albania
[08] Oil processing industry consumes more imported raw material
[09] NATO intervention to defend Kosove people - Rugova
[10] Armoured vehicles control axes of roads in South
[11] Investigations on September 14 event extended in other districts
[12] Government programme intends continuation of reform in law and justice
[13] Volleys of gunshots on Telecom of Tropoje
[14] National library, the largest book asset in Albania
[15] Speaker Gjinushi meets German deputy Schiling
[16] Supreme Court Chairmen of Central and Eastern Europe to meet
[17] Rama to present cultural projects in Strasbourg
[18] Strengthening of order, Government priority
[19] Strengthening national defence, government's permanent duty
[20] Albanian Parliament continues discussion of draft constitution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[01] Statement of Albania's Foreign Ministry

TIRANE, Oct.8 (ata) - In the course of some consecutive provocations since September 30, 1998 until now on the state border between the Republic of Albania and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, today at 4.30 p.m. until 5.00 p.m., Yugoslav military-police forces have entered 50 meters in the territory of Albania in the village Dobrun of Has, in the Region of Outpost C 2, and have opened fire towards the border post and the village. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania and its border authorities have demanded to hold talks with Yugoslav authorities several times with regard to these incidents, but receiving no reply.
Today's grave provocation, like others in the past days, is another clear testimony to the consistent provoking policy of the Belgrade authorities towards the Republic of Albania, its state integrity and sovereignty.
It is not by chance that such provocations take place after the warmongering and anti-Albanian speech of Momir Bullatovic in the Yugoslav Parliament. Such acts, taking place at a time when the Yugoslav government is facing the direct charge of exerting genocide and state terror towards Albanians in Kosove and when a strong punishment is expected for the perpetrators of these monstrous crimes, prove that the official Belgrade is blindly continuing to apply the plan of instigating the regional conflict and staging a real threat to peace and stability in the Balkans.
Such provocations carried out precisely on the day when the NATO Council of Ambassadors has convened in Brussels and the foreign ministers of the Contact Group have met in London to discuss the decisions for the implementation of the Resolution 1199 of the U.N. Security Council, show once more that the warmongering generals and chauvinistic politicians in Belgrade are seeking to challenge the international community in its efforts to solve the conflict in Kosove through peaceful ways.
The Government of the Republic of Albania condemns energetically this new provoking act by Belgrade authorities and wants that these actions which spread tension and the conflict in the region be stopped. It also appeals to the international community, the U.N. Security Council, NATO and all other international organizations to denounce this new manifestation of the aggressive policy of the Serb-Yugoslav militarism against the territory of the Republic of Albania.
The Albanian Government, also in cooperation with monitoring missions of OSCE, EU and other international organizations in the field, is ready to contribute, both with regard to this grave incident and in the future, to identify acts of such nature which are forming more and more that background of the aggressive policy of Belgrade.
Once more the Albanian Government points out with force that instead of withdrawing the repressive military-police forces from Kosove, the Serb- Yugoslav authorities are making the opposite, they are intensifying the efforts for a spillover of the conflict in the Balkan region.
The charge d'affaires of the FRY in Tirane, Stanislav Vukicevic was summoned late on Friday, in the Albanian Foreign Ministry and was handed over a note of strong protest with regard to the grave incident on the state border between the Republic of Albania and the FRY on October 8,1998. /dori/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency
[04] Deaths among Kosovars because of cold and lack of medical assistance

PRISHTINE, Oct.9 (ata) - An Albanian woman, a mother of six children, from Kijeva, died while she was trying to cross River Drini i Bardhe to settle in village Zajm in order to escape Serb terror, the Kosove Information Centre reports. Sources of the LDK branch in Kline say that Zemrije Bacaliu, 48, forced to leave her house to escape the Serb terror, died on her road from Mirusha e Bardhe to village Zajm while she was passing the River Drini i Bardhe. Her body got frozen from the cold water and some moments later she died, the above sources said.
In the mean time, an infant of Halitaj family from Selaniku of Malisheva, accommodated in Ngucat, died for lack of medical aid. A LDK source in that village said that no assistance has reached that village in the past three months. About 5 000 people have settled in Ngucat, while 10 000 others are in the nearby villages. All are sheltered in houses but they are lacking clothes and have food only for 3-4 days, the same source said. The people sheltered in Ngucat are from 35 villages of Malisheve, Suhareke, Kline, Gllogoc, Lipjan and Shtimje. /pas/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency
[05] Serbs shelled Drenice village last night

PRISHTINE, Oct 9 (ATA):
Serb military and police forces deployed in Likoc village, shelled last night some villages of Drenice, Kosova Information Center (KIC) reports.
The targets of the assault were mainly the villages of Obri e Eperme, Tice and Prilluzhe of Skenderaj commune, KIC said adding that shoots were also listened in the distant villages.
Till 15.30 Thursday there were occasional Serb attacks. The Albanian forces opened fire as well. /pas/lola/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency
[07] UNICEF to assist Kosova children and women displaced in Albania

TIRANE, Oct.9 (ata) - By G Dilaveri: The main group to receive UNICEF aid from the people coming from Kosove to Albania are the children and women, the spokesman of UNICEF in Tirane told ATA.
A clear proof of the multilateral tragedy continuing in Kosove is also the humanitarian situation of the minors coming from the warring territories.
They travel for several days from their dwelling areas towards Vermosh (extreme north of Albania, a stiff mountain area) to go later to Shkoder, Tropoje or Kukes, with swollen feet, totally exhausted from hunger and thirst.
UNICEF has settled in Tropoje, Has, Kukes (northeastern Albania) and has attached special importance to the integration of the Kosova children in the daily life. The spokesman said that to this end, in cooperation with a German non-governmental organization some entertaining and sport activities were sponsored during past summer. Such activities were held also in Tropoje by the "Terre des Hommes" organization.
According to the UNICEF source, the health state of the children is not bad, but the predisposition of the local government in the regions were the displaced Kosovars are settled is not so satisfactory. One of the problems is the accommodation of big families which is difficult to be separated.
For the current school year, UNICEF has guaranteed school instruments for the children. In this context, the workshop "Education for Peace" with the participation of 30 teachers from all over the country, and a phsyco- social training course will be held for the teachers who will deal with the children with traumatic experiences. To this end, they have enabled the arrival of two specialists from Bosnia-Herzegovina as well.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogato during a visit to Albania in the past month, expressed her deep concern for the situation in Kosove and for the fact that Serb violence, which caused the displacement of a great number of people from Kosove and the great problem of the refugees, is still going on. Consequently, mainly women and children keep leaving Kosove. /pas/xh/

Albanian Telegraphic Agency
[09] NATO intervention to defend Kosove people - Rugova

PRISHTINE, Oct 9, (ata) - Behlul Jashari, ATA correspondent reports:
President Rugova considered today NATO intervention "defence for the people of Kosova, based in the Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter". Speaking to journalists in Prishtine, Mr Rugova called for "more energetic steps" from the international community and first of all from the U.S., European Union, U.N. and NATO. He described the situation in Kosove as "very grave and dangerous" especially that in broad regions from Albania's border to the villages of Mitrovice, near the border with Serbia. "Serb forces are not withdrawn from Kosove. They have been continuously reinforced by new forces and have taken new positions in Kosove," President Rugova said.
Speaking about the humanitarian drama and the other serious consequences of the Serb attacks, Rugova said that thousands of people keep staying in the mountains, that some people have died of cold, while scores of Albanian bodies have been found murdered and massacred by Serb forces.
Kosove President condemned the arrest and the sentences passed for hundreds of Albanians, along with the violence exerted to political and humanitarian activists.
The best resolution is an independent Kosove, with all guarantees for local Serbs and an international protectorate as a transitory stage, said Rugova, stressing that "Kosove was a member of a state which does not exist any longer - of the former Yugoslav Federation, therefore, like all other former republics, it has the right for independence".
"Since 1990, Kosove is an occupied state, while since March this year, it is under a constant aggression by Serbia. An independence for Kosove would restore the calm in the region of southeastern Europe," Rugova said. /pas/xh/lola/xh/

Go to Part 2

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