Tagesnachrichten 21. September 1998
     von dpa, from ALBANEWS and others
     News of the day - September 21, 1998
     Kosova Information Center : Daily Report No 1559

         Die Bibel sagt  -  The Bible says
 

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

 

1. Meldungen von dpa

Meldung vom 21.09.1998 20:45  http://seite1.web.de/show/36069ED3.NL1/

Blair will noch in dieser Woche UNO-Resolution zum Kosovo
New York (dpa) - Der britische Premierminister Tony Blair hat den Weltsicherheitsrat am Montag in New York gedrängt, noch «in dieser Woche» eine Resolution zum Kosovo zu verabschieden.
Darin solle der sofortige Waffenstillstand in der südserbischen Provinz verlangt werden, um das «Herumtrampeln auf den Rechten der Bewohner des Kosovo» zu beenden, erklärte Blair in seiner Rede während der Generaldebatte der 53. UNO-Vollversammlung in New York.
Der britische Premierminister drohte dem serbischen Präsidenten Slobodan Milosevic, er «würde sich in Gefahr begeben, sollte er die Resolution ignorieren».
Blair gab sich vor der Versammlung der 185 UNO-Mitgliedsstaaten als überzeugter Anhänger der UNO, verlangte jedoch eine gründliche Überholung der Weltorganisation. Sie benötige sicherere Einnahmen, besseres Management und eine effektivere Koordination aller Projekte, sagte er.
Ebenso wichtig sei es, die Autorität des Sicherheitsrates zu stärken. «Das heißt ein Ausbau seiner Zusammensetzung: neue ständige Sitze - für die Dritte Welt ebenso wie für Deutschland und Japan». Nach fünf Jahren Diskussion sei die Zeit für eine Entscheidung gekommen, drängte Blair die Vollversammlung zur Reform des Sicherheitsrates.
© dpa

Kinkel für mehr Kooperation der G-7-Gruppe und der EU mit China
New York (dpa) - China wünscht wie Rußland eine «Anbindung» an die Gruppe der sieben wichtigsten westlichen Industrie-Nationen (G-7) und setzt auf deutsche Hilfe beim Ausbau seines Verhältnisses zur EU.
Das sagte Außenminister Tang Jiaxuan am Montag seinem deutschen Kollegen Klaus Kinkel bei einem Treffen am Rande der UNO-Generalversammlung in New York. Tang war der erste einer Reihe westlicher, östlicher und Drittwelt-Außenminister, mit denen Kinkel einen Tag vor seiner Rede vor dem Weltforum zusammentraf.
Kinkel betonte nach Angaben seines Sprechers Martin Erdmann, die «umsichtige und stabilisierenen Rolle» Pekings in der gegenwärtigen asiatischen Finanzkrise zeige, daß China an die G-7- beziehungsweise G-8-Gruppe (mit Rußland) herangeführt werden sollte.
Gleichzeitig sagte er zu, Deutschland werde werde sich während der Zeit seiner EU-Präsidentschaft im ersten Halbjahr 1999 für eine verstärkte Zusammenarbeit mit China einsetzen. Er begrüßte die Zusage Tangs, daß Peking weiterhin nicht die Absicht habe, seine Währung wegen der Asien-Krise abzuwerten.
Kinkel informierte Tang über die Lage im Kosovo. Dabei und das für Deutschland besonders brennende Flüchtlingsproblem. Dabei lehnte Tang nicht ausdrücklich die Bitte Kinkels ab, eine Resolution mitzutragen, die auch Maßnahmen gegen Belgrad nach Kapitel 7 der UNO-Charta - mit der Androhung eines militärischen Eingreifens als letzte Konsequenz - vorsieht.
Um die Formulierung einer solchen Entschließung gab am Montag am Rande der Vollversammlung weiter intensive Beratungen von Diplomaten der Sechs-Mächte-Kontaktgruppe (USA, Großbritannien, Rußland, Frankreich, Deutschland, Italien). Dabei geht es um die Suche nach einem Wortlaut für die Erwähnung von Kapitel-7-Maßnahmen, der Rußland - und auch China - von einem Veto im Sicherheitsrat abhält. Kinkel, der am Montag abend ein Gespräch mit seinem russischen Kollegen Igor Iwanow auf dem Programm hatte, sieht nach seinen Worten hier Anlaß zu Hoffnung.
Bei einem Treffen mit seinem albanischen Kollegen Paskal Milo forderte Kinkel Tirana auf, Aktivitäten der kosovo-albanischen Untergrund-Armee zu unterbinden. Er bekräftigte die Bereitschaft der Staatengemeinschaft, Albanien nach den jüngsten schweren Unruhen bei der inneren Stabilisierung zu helfen. Milo bezeichnete den Oppositionsführer Sali Berisha als einen «Politkriminellen». Seine Regierung werde alles daransetzen, ihm das Handwerk zu legen.
© dpa

Serbien nur zu territorialer Kosovo-Autonomie bereit
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Serbien schließt eine vollständige Autonomie für den Kosovo aus. In Frage käme lediglich eine `lokale Autonomie", die der serbische Vizeregierungschef Vojislav Seselj in einem Fernsehinterview als `territoriale Autonomie" bezeichnete.
     Damit bestätigte er die Feststellung des US- Kosovo-Vermittlers, Christopher Hill, daß es zwischen den Standpunkten Serbiens und der Kosovo-Albaner bezüglich des künftigen Status der südserbischen Krisenprovinz `riesige" Unterschiede gibt.
     `Über den Kosovo entscheidet Serbien mit Parlament und Regierung", sagte Seselj nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad) vom Montag.
     Es werde kein Nachgeben auf den internationalen Druck geben, denn das Kosovo sei ein Bestandteil Serbiens. Seselj ist zugleich Chef der extremistischen Serbischen Radikalen Partei.
     Eine NATO-Intervention im Kosovo bezeichnete er als `reale Gefahr", die nicht unterschätzt werden sollte. `Wir müssen uns darauf vorbereiten, aber die Allianz muß mit Verlusten rechnen und unsere Armee muß sich den eventuellen Angriffen widersetzen", sagte Seselj.
     Das Kosovo-Problem sei sehr komplex. Es müsse eine politische Lösung gesucht werden, sagte Hill der albanischsprachigen Zeitung `Koha ditore" (Montagsausgabe).
     `Das müssen aber die Serben und Albaner alleine lösen und zu einer Vereinbarung kommen", sagte er. Das größte Hindernis der Lösung der Kosovo-Krise sei die Fortsetzung von Gewalt, der Zerstörung der Dörfer und die steigende Zahl der Flüchtlinge.
     Die USA haben beiden Seiten mehrere Ideen und Vorschläge vorgelegt. Davon sei etwas angenommen worden, andere Teile nicht, sagte Hill, US-Botschafter in Mazedonien, der die Hoffnung äußerte, daß er den Schlüssel zur Lösung des Konflikts finden werde.
     Im Kosovo gebe es weiterhin obdachlose Flüchtlinge und viele Menschen seien gezwungen, ihre Dörfer östlich von Kosovska Mitrovica zu verlassen, sagte der UNO-Sonderberichterstatter für Menschenrechte, Jiry Dienstbier. Er äußerte sich am Montag in Belgrad im Anschluß an seine zehntätige Erkundungsreise durch das Kosovo.
     Er habe keine genaue Zahl der Obdachlosen genannt, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad). Der UNO-Diplomat beschuldigte die serbischen Sicherheitskräfte, im Kosovo `übermäßige" Gewalt angewendet zu haben. Er hat verlassene, zerstörte und niedergebrannte Dörfer gesehen und betonte die Verantwortung Serbiens dafür.
     Dienstbier rief die serbische und albanische Seite auf, unverzüglich alle Gewalt einzustelen und Verhandlungen ohne Vorbedingungen aufzunehmen. Er unterstützte auch den US-Voschlag zur friedlichen Beilegung des Konflikts und sprach sich für eine weitgehende Autonomie der Provinz aus.
© dpa

UNO-Vertreter: Weiterhin obdachlose Flüchtlinge im Kosovo
Belgrad (dpa) - In der südserbischen Krisenprovinz Kosovo gibt es weiterhin obdachlose Flüchtlinge. Viele Menschen seinen gezwungen, ihre Dörfer östlich von Kosovska Mitrovica zu verlassen.
     Das sagte der UNO-Sonderberichterstatter für Menschenrechte, Jiry Dienstbier, am Montag in Belgrad im Anschluß an seine zehntätige Erkundungsreise durch das Kosovo. Er habe keine genaue Zahl der Obdachlosen genannt, meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad).
     Dienstbier rief die serbische und albanische Seite auf, unverzüglich die Gewalt einzustellen und Verhandlungen ohne Vorbedingungen aufzunehmen. Er unterstützte auch den US-Voschlag zur friedlichen Beilegung des Konflikts und sprach sich für eine weitgehende Autonomie der Provinz aus.
     Der UNO-Diplomat beschuldigte die serbischen Sicherheitskräfte, im Kosovo `übermäßige" Gewalt angewendet zu haben. Er hat verlassene, zerstörte und niedergebrannte Dörfer gesehen und betonte die Verantwortung Serbiens dafür.
     Gleichzeitig äußerte er seine Zufriedenheit darüber, daß auch der politische Führer der Kosovo-Albaner, Ibrahim Rugova, die Untergrundarmee UCK als `die größte Schande" für das albanische Volk betrachtet. `Man kann nicht für Freiheit und Menschenrechte kämpfen, indem man Menschen tötet", sagte Dienstbier.
© dpa

Hill: Riesige Unterschiede zwischen Belgrad und Kosovo-Albanern
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Zwischen den Standpunkten Serbiens und der Kosovo-Albaner bezüglich des zukunftigen Status der südserbischen Krisenprovinz bestehen `riesige" Unterschiede.
     `Das müssen aber die Serben und Albaner alleine lösen und zu einer Vereinbarung kommen", sagte der amerikanische Kosovo-Vermittler Christopher Hill in der albanischsprachigen Zeitung `Koha ditore" am Montag, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad) meldete. `Das Kosovo-Problem ist sehr komplex und es muß eine politische Lösung gesucht werden", sagte er.
     Die USA haben beiden Seiten mehrere Ideen und Vorschläge vorgelegt, und davon wurde etwas angenommen, und etwas nicht, sagte der Diplomat und US-Botschafter in Mazedonien. Er dementierte Berichte, wonach sich die in der vergangenen Woche veröffentlichten Friedensvorschläge der USA und Serbiens sehr ähnelten.
     Das größte Hindernis der Lösung der Kosovo-Krise ist die Fortsetzung der Gewalt, Zerstörung der Dörfer und die steigende Zahl der Flüchtlinge. Das Kosovo-Problem sollte nach Auffassung von Hill auf eine ähnliche Verhandlungsweise gelöst werden.
© dpa

UCK-Vertreter Demaci stellt politische Aktivität zurück
Belgrad/Pristina (dpa) - Adem Demaci (63), der politische Vertreter der albanischen Kosovo-Befreiungsarmee UCK, muß aus gesundheitlichen Gründen alle politischen Tätigkeiten für längere Zeit unterbrechen. Das gab das Demaci-Büro am Montag in der Kosovo-Hauptstadt Pristina bekannt.
     Die Ärzte hätten bei Demaci «erhöhte Nervenanspannungen und Verschlechterung seiner Zuckerkrankheit» festgestellt, hieß es weiter.
© dpa

Serbien nur zu territorialer Kosovo-Autonomie bereit
Belgrad (dpa) - Serbien schließt eine vollständige Autonomie für das Kosovo aus. In Frage käme lediglich eine «lokale Autonomie», die der serbische Vizeregierungschef Vojislav Seselj in einem Fernsehinterview als «territoriale Autonomie» bezeichnete. Das meldete die Nachrichtenagentur Beta (Belgrad) am Montag.
     `Über das Kosovo entscheidet Serbien mit seinem Parlament und Regierung", sagte Seselj weiter. Es werde kein Nachgeben auf den internationalen Druck geben, denn Kosovo sei ein Bestandteil Serbiens. Seselj ist zugleich der Chef der extremistischen Serbischen Radikalen Partei.
     Eine NATO-Intervention im Kosovo bezeichnete Seselj als `reale Gefahr", die nicht unterschätzt werden sollte. `Wir müssen uns darauf vorbereiten, aber die Allianz muß mit Verlusten rechnen und unsere Armee muß sich den eventuellen Angriffen widersetzen", sagte Seselj.
© dpa

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3. Reports about deportation and persons repatriated to Kosova

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Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1559-B
Prishtina, 21 September 1998

UÇK Detains 13 Members of Delegation of Kosovar Political Parties Sunday

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - Late afternoon on Sunday, members of the UÇK (Kosova Liberation Army) detained a delegation of representatives of the political parties of Kosova visiting the village of Qirez, municipality of Skenderaj ('Srbica') which plays home to thousands of displaced Albanians.
These members of the delegation were arrested by the UÇK: Gjergj Dedaj, vice-president of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova, Agim Krasniqi, member of the presidency of the LDK (Democratic League of Kosova), Professor Jusuf Telaku, an MP from the LDK, Mehdi Bardhi, member of the LDK General Council, Veli Bytyçi, vice- chairman of the PSHDK (Christian Democrats), and Kurtesh Devaja and Simon Augustini, members of the PSHDK presidency, Sokol Blakaj, Halim Mujku, and Hasim Dërmaku, members of the presidency of the PLK (Liberal Party), Milaim Kadriu, chairman, and Musa Binakaj, vice-chairman of the PPSH (Albanian Popular Party), and Qaush Bajrushi, chairman of a Trade Unions branch.
Part of the delegation were also Mrs Nekibe Kelmendi, Secretary- General of the LDK, and Mrs Sanije Aliu, member of the LDK presidency, but they, along with the journalists escorting the delegation, were let go.
There has been no reaction from Kosovar parties or institutions, nor indeed reports on whether efforts have been going on to secure the release of Kosovar Albanian politicians detained by the UÇK.
There has been no word from the UÇK either.
The office of Adem Demaçi, the political representative of the UÇK, said Sunday evening doctors had recommended that Demaçi disengage himself from his duties and take a long rest. Doctors had established a condition with his nerves as well as a deterioration of his diabetes disease, the UÇK political representative's office said, adding that Demaçi had canceled all his meetings with "friends from abroad and the country, as well as contacts with the press".

Bob Dole on Milosevic's Notorious Mendacity

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - Former Senator Robert Dole, now chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons in former Yugoslavia, told the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe September 17 the U.S. and its allies do not have to go back to the UN to get another resolution regarding the possibility of intervention in Kosova. "This is NATO. They don't need another resolution. They can act."
'FRY' President Slobodan Milosevic is "a bad, evil person", Bob Dole said.
The former Senator visited Kosova earlier this month. He and Assistant Secretary John Shattuck had 'a very tense meeting' with Milosevic later in Belgrade. This is how Dole described the meeting, and Milosevic's mendacity: "Here's a man who looked us right in the eye and said nothing is going to happen [in Kosova], and the next day there were 40,000 more people [Albanians] driven from their homes."
As a rule, Western envoys who have worked with Milosevic throughout the nineties in the midst of the crisis in former Yugoslavia have described Milosevic as the man who threw charm over his interlocutor, who 'looked you in the eye while blatantly lying'.
The West has treated Milosevic as a partner, and intermittently peace-maker, in the past several years.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Congressman Joseph Dioguardi, chairman of the Albanian-American Civic League, speaking on CNN on Saturday, slammed the current U.S. administration, alleging that it had "two puppets" in the Balkans, Communist-turned-Socialist leaders in Tirana and Belgrade, Fatos Nano and Slobodan Milosevic, respectively.

Two of the Six Burned Albanians Identified

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The charred bodies of six, perhaps seven, Albanians were found Sunday in three burned houses in the Lepaja family compound (hamlet), situated between the villages of Dobratin and Bajçinë.
They were found in the area where heavy Serb forces had been deployed early on Tuesday.
The Albanians were presumably burned at the end of the three-day- long Serb forces' action, on Thursday afternoon.
In the guest hall (in Albanian 'odë') of Fehmi Rekaliu only part of the remains, the bones, of three people have been found. The roof, the door and the window of the guest hall were burned.
Fehmi told the KIC the Serb forces had entered the courtyard of his family houses at 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday. He and the 22 members of the extended family were holed up there till 18:30 hrs that day, he said.
The family head said a Serb officer, around 45 years of age, of middle height, wearing a wooden cross tied to a black ribbon, had told him he himself would occupy the guest hall until the Serb action is over. It is in this hall that the bones of three victims were found on Sunday.
In the two-room house of Rizah Rekaliu the bones of at lasts one victim were found. The house was burned to the ground.
The charred bodies of two victims were found in the burned house of Hazir Rekaliu. Family members have identified the corpses of Rrahim Kadri Lepaja (30), married with a child, and Beqir Xhafer Lepaja (28), boht of them residents of the Lepaja hamlet.
Members of the Lepaja family told the KIC the two Albanians had been arrested by Serb forces at midday on Thursday while on their way back to their homes. They had deserted their village on Tuesday, along with other people, and had returned on Thursday to take away the mother of one of them, who had remained behind alone in the house.
In the body of Rrahim the hole of a bullet was evident. The two were probably shot dead and mutilated before being actually burned in the houses.
The other remains could not be identified. They could well be the bodies of people who had been registered as missing. At least eight Albanians had gone missing.
Two burned cars are some 100 metres away from the house of Fehmi Rekaliu, where the remains of three people were found. The cars belonged to the persons missing.
The casualty-toll of the Serb attacks in Dobratin, Kaçanoll and Bajçinë last week reached 18 killed Albanians, including five UÇK members.
Six local Albanians are still missing.
26 farmhouses have been burned and destroyed in Dobratin. The two buildings of the local school and the medical center were burned, too by Serb forces last week.

At Least 23 Albanians Killed in Serb Offensive against Shalë e Bajgorës Region
Five Albanians killed, many wounded and missing, in Shalë region from the Mitrovica side; at least 18 Albanians were killed in the other side, the Llapi area, during a three-day Serb offensive last week

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The LDK chapter in Mitrovica confirmed today the identity of 5 Albanians killed last week in Shala e Bajgorës region, north-west of Prishtina.
The mountainous Shala e Bajgorës region, straddling between the municipalities of Podujeva, Mitrovica and Vushtrri, was targeted by heavy Serb troops for three days last week. According to estimates by a local Albanian organization, some 260 vehicles, tanks, trucks and APC's and around 12.000 Serb troops, were involved in the operations against Albanian villages in the area.
At least 18 Albanians were killed in two villages, Dobratin and Kaçanoll in Podujeva municipality, which are part of the mountainous region from the Llapi area.
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica provided today the names of the five killed and three wounded Albanians in Shala region during the last week's Serb offensive. It noted that may are still missing who may as well have been slain by Serb troops, as was the case with others in the area the same week.
The remains of six burned Albanians were found on Sunday in gutted houses between the villages of Dobratin and Bajçinë. The six Albanians were reported missing for a couple of days before their carbonated bodies were found by activists in the region.
Sources in Podujeva added that the water in a well nearby the location where the six victims were found was red and stank. They suspected corpses of killed people may have been dumped into the well.

Foreign Observers and Journalists Tour Dobratin Area

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The remains of six Albanians burned by Serb forces last week in Dobratin (Lepaja family compound) of Podujeva lay still unburied.
A delegation of U.S. observers in Kosova, representatives of the UNHCR, and foreign reporters, visited the village of Dobratin, north of Podujeva.
Reports said the killed person who was buried earlier in Dobratin, identified initially as Fetah Behrami, was Haki Rekaliu, who had gone missing.

"A Pattern of Serb Crematoriums", Kosovar Official Says

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) -  Fatmir Sejdiu, secretary-general of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova, Abdyl Ramaj and Adil Pireva, members of the Parliament, and LDK chapter leaders in Podujeva visited the burned village of Dobratin, namely the site in the hamlet of Lepaja, where the remains of six, perhaps seven, burned bodies were found on Sunday.
What we saw there was a repeat of Serb massacres against the Albanian civilian population, Mr. Sejdiu told the KIC.
The burning of people there represented a "pattern of Serb crematoriums", the senior Kosovar official said.

Serb Forces Open Fire on Tractor with Refugees, Two Wounded Girls

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - Two Albanian girls, aged 8 and 12, the daughters of Xhemail Dragidella, were wounded on Sunday in the village of Grabanicë, municipality of Klina, when the tractor they were perched on together with other refugee family, was fired upon by Serb forces, LDK sources said.
Xhemail Dragidella is resident of Gremnik village. His family was on its way back from Kosuriq village, where they had sought refuge earlier.
The two girls were sent to hospital, LDK sources said.
Meanwhile, the house and small business of Haki Gashi, situated near the "Nora" motel in the entrance to Klina, was burned by Serb forces, sources said.

LDK Activist, Shot and Wounded By Serb Forces, Dies

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - Abedin Ferizi, local head of the LDK in the village of Pasomë, who was shot and seriously wounded by Serb troops on 17 September, died on 20 September, LDK sources in Vushtrri ('Vucitrn') said.
On the day Mr. Ferizi was fatally wounded, another Albanian, Halil Mustafa, was killed in the courtyard of his family house in the nearby village of Smrekovnicë, municipality of Vushtrri.

New Serb Ultimatum to Albanian Residents of Two Podujeva Villages

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - LDK sources in Podujeva reported today (Monday) afternoon that a delegation of two villages, Llapashticë e Epërme and Llapashticë e Poshtme, consisting of Ramadan Muçiçi, head of the LDK sub-chapter, Ismet Shabani, member of the leadership in the LDK organization in Llapashticë e Poshtme, and Hasan Seferi, an elderly man, went to meet the commander of the Serb forces, as requested by the latter earlier today.
The Serb commander told the representatives of these two villages the residents would have to hand in weapons in their possession by midday on Tuesday.
The Serb commander had threatened to raze the two villages to the ground if their representatives did not show up in his tent by 14:00 hrs today.
New reinforcements have come to Serb forces stationed between the villages of Obrançë and Llapashticë near Podujeva today. A convoy of four lorryloads and three APCs full of Serb forces arrived from Serbia today, local LDK sources said.

Serbs Hold Five Villages under Siege
Vow to destroy them unless residents surrender arms

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The villages of Dedaj, Lugishtë, Kushnin, Kabash and Romajë, located near the Kosova-Albania border in western Kosova, have been under a virtual siege by Serb troops since last Saturday, the LDK chapter in Prizren said.
Heavy Serb troops initially encircled the Dedaj village on Saturday morning extending the siege to the neighboring villages only a couple of hours later.
Serb officers have ordered the residents of the five villages to "surrender every single piece of weapon you possess or else face a complete destruction", witnesses told the LDK chapter in Prizren.
Another witness said that the whole population of Romaja has been taken by Serb troops to the local school building.
Serbs have separated menfolks from women and children. At Kabash village, all the menfolks have been rounded up and confined in one of the houses in the village.
Access to the five villages encircled by Serb troops is impossible, and it is not known what is actually happening there, the LDK Information Commission in Prizren said this afternoon.

Serbs Burn Homes of Albanians in Ferizaj

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The Serb forces have continued to burn houses and property of Albanians in the municipality of Ferizaj, local sources said.
The LDK chapter in Ferizaj said the Serbs set afire Saturday evening the farmhouse of Shefki Neziri, located between the villages of Nerodime e Poshtme and Nerodime e Epërme. Only a few days earlier, the Serbs burned half a dozen farmhouses in Nerodime e Epërme, it said.

Five-Member Family Missing Since End of May

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - A five-member family from Pobërxha village in Deçan has been missing since the end of May in the wake of a Serb attack in the area.
Beqir Mataj (67), Sejdi Mataj (60), Isa Mataj (75), Ms Mone Mataj (70) and Ms Fane Mataj (70) were seen last on 29 May, their relatives said, noting that they have known nothing about their whereabouts ever since.
According to estimates of the major Kosovar human rights group, the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF), over 900 persons are considered missing in Kosova. Many of them have been missing since early spring.

Serbs Step Up Arson and Vandalistic Campaigns in Hasi Region, Gjakova

PRISHTINA, Sept  (KIC) - Serb troops and paramilitary units have continued burning and destroying property of Albanians in the Hasi region, Gjakova municipality, the local LDK chapter reported today.
Serbs have been burning farmhouses that survived bombardments earlier this year, as well as community centers, including schools and small local clinics.
The houses of LDK activists have been particularly targeted, witnesses said.
Only two days ago, Serbs set afire the houses of Mustafë Berisha, head of the LDK organization in Lipovec village, and Metë Berisha, principal with the local school.
Over the past few days, Serb forces have burned scores of farmhouses in the Gërçinë, Pnish, Ramajë, Demjan and other hamlets in the Hasi region, the LDK chapter in Gjakova said.

Serbs Soldiers Demolish School They Used as a Base

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - The Serb/Yugoslav military troops have reportedly demolished completely a school building near Gjakova they had used as a base for a long time.
Heavy Serb troops were garrisoned for almost three months in the "Fan S. Noli" schoolhouse in a suburb of Gjakova, from where they launched repeated attacks against Albanian communities in the area, KIC sources in the Gjakova reported.
Before leaving the school building, Serbs smashed everything in there, including benches and chairs, doors and windows.  In addition, Serbs broke into several shops and depots owned by Albanians, pillaging and destroying goods worth several thousand German marks, witnesses said.

Kosova Information Center
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Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1559-A
Prishtina, 21 September 1998

First Edition: 11:30 hrs

Serb Army Officer Threatens to Raze Two Albanian Villages Near Podujeva

PRISHTINA, Sept (KIC) -  The Serbian ('Yugoslav') military, which has been stationed for some time in an area between the villages of Llapashticë and Obrançë, has blockaded the road linking the village of Llapashticë with the town of Podujeva in the outskirts of the northern Kosovar town at a location called 'Tabet e Llapashticës'
At 9:30 in the morning today (Monday), the Serb military stopped Mr. Hasan Potera, a secondary school-teacher, and told him to assemble the leadership of the villages of Llapashticë e Epërme and Llapashticë e Poshtme by 14:00 hrs today. Two Serb soldiers had been killed, the Serb military told Mr. Potera, threatening to attack the two villages and raze them to the ground if the village leaders do not show up by that time in the tent of the Serb army commander there.
In the morning today, the sound of gunfire and explosion of a number of shells was heard in the town of Podujeva coming from the direction of Llapashticë village, 4 km west of the town.
Fearful of Serb reprisals and massacres, part of the population of Llapashticë and the outlying villages as far as Lluzhan (15 km southward) have fled their homes amidst pouring rain.
The Prishtina-Podujeva roadway has been open for traffic today.
At least 18 Albanians were killed and some 45 houses burned and destroyed in two villages by Serb troops in the Podujeva area last week.

Serbian Forces Attack Likoc, Makërmal and Polluzhë Villages

PRISHTINA, Sept 21 (KIC) - At seven o'clock in the morning today (Monday), Serbian forces launched an attack against Likoc and the surrounding villages.
The local chapter in Skenderaj of the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF), said fighting between Serb forces and local Albanian resistance forces is going on in the center of Likoc, then in Makërmal, Polluzhë and other outlying villages.
There has been no immediate word on casualties.

Kosova Information Center
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KOSOVA (war crime – Podujevë)
Seven burnt and carbonized corpses found in Podujevë municipal village of
Dobratin

Podujevë, 20 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
Confirmed sources say on Sunday at 1300CET, that in the place of Lepajë, situated between the villages of Bajçincë and Dobratin, seven carbonized corpses have been found. Four of them have been found in the house of Fehmi Rekaliu, two in that of Rizah Rekaliu, while in the house of Hazir Rekaliu one burnt corpse has been found. It is supposed that the number of the burnt corpses is bigger, for the area (where the corpses were found) has not yet been examined. A professional team, which would identify the corpses and film the scene of the crime, is excepted.
According to "Koha Ditore" sources, the burnt corpses are of those people who were missing since the beginning of the Serb forces' operation on September 15th.
Albanian sources claim that five massacred corpses were buried in the village of Kaçandoll.
Meanwhile, in the place where the corpses were found, a crowd of local people is trying to identify their relatives. Yet, such a thing seems impossible at this moment, for the corpses are carbonized, and without the help of forensic experts, they cannot be identified.
Albanian sources say that in the aftermath of the Serb forces’ operation, the village of Kaçandoll, numbering 35 houses is now completely destroyed.

KOSOVA (victims - Prizren)
Another wounded child from the explosion, died

Prizren, 20 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
Two children died from yesterday’s explosion near the Prizren municipal village of Leskovec, while others were badly wounded. Albanian sources inform today that another wounded child Hashim Enver Krasniqi (9) died while being transferred to the Prishtina hospital center. Three other wounded children are under intensive care in the Orthopedic Clinic in Prishtina.
"Koha Ditore" sources claim that police at the entry of the Hospital arrested Arif Enver Krasniqi from Leskovec.
Serb police continue arresting Albanians of this area, while the students Blerim and Hysen Durmishi from Suharekë, municipal village of Mushtisht, who were arrested in Ferizaj, are still being kept in the police station.
Meanwhile the villages of the border belt (Has region) are still under strong Serb police and military siege. The residents of the villages Kushnin i Hasit, Lugistë, Kabash, Dedaj, Damjan and Romajë are submitted to continuous pressure, while some villages of the Has region have been set on fire. Witnesses who managed to escape this region and seek refuge in Prizren say that Serb police and military units have burnt the harvests and buildings in this region, in order to induce the ethnic cleansing of this area.

KOSOVA (victims – Gjakovë)
Two corpses brought to the Hospital morgue

Gjakovë, 20 September (ARTA) 1600CET --
Large Serb police\military forces, surrounded the villages of the bordering zone Kosovë-Albania, yesterday, in the municipality of Gjakovë, region of Has. Residents of the villages of Damjan, Lipovec and Gërqinë, municipality of Gjakovë, in the region of Has, were trapped in the school buildings of these villages, it has been reported. According to the sources from the ground, the reason for this intervention, was a police ultimatum sent to these three villages ordered to hand in their weapons. The same sources notify that a neighborhood of the village of Lipovec was set on fire. Serb military forces, in the village of Gërqinë, have arrested a number of Albanians and sent them to the police station in Gjakovë.
Albanian sources from Gjakovë claim that, two days ago, at a location near the village of Devë (Shpatulla e Bobit), municipality of Gjakovë; the Serb forces attacked a group of about 200 Albanians. According to the same sources, the group of 200 Albanians was headed towards Albania. LDK sources from Gjakovë state that the group returned fire to the Serb forces.
On the other hand, Albanian sources from the ground confirm that the Serb police brought to the Hospital morgue of Gjakovë, the corpses of two young Albanians, aged around 20. One corpse has not been identified. It is believed that one of them was killed near the village of Devë, on his attempt to reach Albania. The same sources claim that the Serb police brought to the Hospital morgue of Gjakovë, two other wounded persons, one of which, aged 12. No other details on their wounding were issued.

SPOTLIGHT (KOHA Ditore Interviews Ambassador Hill)

KOHA Ditore: Mr. Ambassador, do you think that after three months of mediation in Kosova, you made a mistake in arranging a meeting between Rugova and Milosevic?
Ambassador Hill: The Kosova situation is a very difficult situation, it is a very difficult problem. Anyone who says the answers are easy, probably is not well informed of it. The answers are not easy. There are some huge differences between the views of the Serbs and the views of the Albanians.
What I am trying to do is to assist and try to resolve this, to assist the parties and try to work this out. It's a problem that needs a political solution and I am doing my best to try and find the solution. We tried a number of ideas, a number of proposals, some have been accepted and some have not, but we are just doing the best we can to try to solve the problem.

KOHA Ditore: Sources from the American Embassy in Belgrade evaluated the Milosevic-Rugova meeting as very dangerous, particularly for the present time.

Hill: I know there are people who feel that way, there are people who don't like the idea that they had a direct meeting. I think it is a lot more important to focus on getting a process going that will find a political solution and that's what we are continuing to do. I don't know how useful it is to sort of go back and sort of look at the events that people feel did not contribute to the solution. Maybe when we get to the solution, we can go back and look at things that worked and at things that did not work, but for now I am simply looking forward and saying what can work. I think we owe it to all those people in Kosova to try to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

KOHA Ditore: Mr. Hill, you said that you are here to assist both sides in achieving a political settlement of the Kosova crisis, do you see both sides as equal partners at the dialogue table, since Belgrade is more or less seen as the aggressor?

Hill: When you are a mediator, you try to assist both sides. Obviously, you have a lot of personal views on these things, many personal views. Someday in retirement, I'll be happy to share these personal views, but my job, the job that secretary Albright asked me to take on, is the job of trying to be helpful and mediating in finding some common views on how we can solve this problem. Therefore, I hate to disappoint you by not giving you all my personal views, but why don't you come back when I am retired and, you know, growing tomatoes or something.

KOHA Ditore: Many people, including Rugova consider you had a successful mediation in Kosova, but many others feel that your three month mediation in Kosova is getting worse. The problem is that during these three months, we had some 14 thousand burned and destroyed houses and many thousand people killed. What do you think about that?

Hill: Well, I gather you think that there are some people who believe that I am successful and other people, presumably including yourself who believe that I'm somewhat less successful. What I can assure you I am doing is that I am doing my best. I am trying as best I can to try and find a political solution. I have been asked because I am in the region, because I am here nearby, to work as hard as I can, consistent, by the way, with some of my other duties, because I do have other duties in the region as you know. I am working as hard as I can to get some type of an agreement. When you say you, I hope you are not referring to me personally because this is a US Government initiative. One of the reasons I went to Brussels was to consult with Deputy Secretary Talbot. I talk very frequently with Secretary Albright, I talk with a number of senior officials, assistant secretary Roseman, and I talk with a number of senior officials on the US initiative trying to resolve this issue. Believe me I am doing everything I can and believe me, it is not that easy.

KOHA Ditore: Mr. Ambassador, the huge scale of violence has been seen as a main obstacle for the political process you are leading towards. What will you do to avoid, or overcome or to hopefully eliminate the violence, which presently is the main obstacle?

Hill: I totally share your view that violence is the main obstacle. However, it is very difficult to get the people sit down and discuss political solutions, in the context of seeing the villages burn or seeing the displaced people created every day. It is deeply personally upsetting to me. I have been out in some of these villages, I've seen the faces of these people, and the backs of these wagons being drawn by the tractors, believe me I think about it every day and frankly every night. Nonetheless, to me it is simply more stimulation for the need to get a political solution to push ahead to get a solution. I cannot take what I see and assume that I've got to slow down my efforts. As you know there are other people working on other aspects of the problem. There are people working on the humanitarian aspect of the problem, which are becoming very necessary, very urgent given the change in weather now. There are people working on other contingencies, other approaches to the problem. My job, the job that Secretary Albright asked me to take on, is work on a political settlement. In addition, I can assure you that it does not mean that I don't notice what is going on around me and it doesn't mean that this is a terrible climate to press for a political settlement but that what I am trying to do.

KOHA Ditore: You became involved in Kosova issue during May, at the time when Gelbard was in Kosova. Do you think that there is a clash in the state department concerning Gelbard and Holbrooke?

Hill: I know there is a lot of journalistic speculation and gossip on this. But I can assure you that there is a lot less there than may meet your eye, that in fact what is happening is, ambassador Gelbard has an extremely important job in ensuring that Bosnia goes well and that the situation there evolves in a positive direction. Why do I say it is so important? Because the US has committed a considerable number of troops, considerable prestige. I was involved personally in the Dayton accords; it is absolutely crucial that Bosnia be successful. I cannot stress that enough.

KOHA Ditore: Your previous answer was that you are engaged on achieving a political settlement before the violence has stopped. So the main point is, first to have a political settlement and the violence will stop, or then you will try to eliminate the violence.

Hill: I would like to eliminate the violence immediately. Absolutely immediately. The violence is very deleterious to the political process, a very negative factor for the political process. I have done what i can to eliminate the violence. I have not been successful on that. But, it doesn't mean that I can slow down the search for a political process, which is why it was very important to form a negotiating team, which by the way takes a lot of courage, for people to sit there and discuss texts of something while there is so much violence going on the ground it rather courageous act for people to do that, and it is not easy for them at all. So, we are doing our best to perceive with that. And believe me the violence has been a disaster for the whole process.

KOHA Ditore: What, you personally as a chief of the political mission for the Kosova crisis, recommend to the state department and US policy makers to eliminate the violence

Hill: I do know what you are getting at, and let me say that I do make a lot of recommendations to the state department. I can assure you I am very active, but I am not going to tell you what I discuss internally within the state department on my view. Sorry to disappoint. I know "KOHA" has a very open policy, believing everything should be wide open. Some things I have to keep in internal

KOHA Ditore: Your mission has been kept so much within these confidential talks. Are sharing the opinion that it is the future of the territory of two million inhabitants, I mean the Northern Ireland had a referendum upon the agreement that achieved this year. Do you think that these talks should be more open, this project-document that you have brought to Kosova should be shared with the opinion?

Hill: Now your asking me? Isn't it a little too late?

(To be continued)
 

KOSOVA (arrests – Suharekë)
The corpse of Vesel Sopaj found

Suharekë, 20 September (ARTA) --
According to SCDHRF sources in Suharekë, the corpse of Vesel Sopaj (58) was found yesterday. Vesel Sopaj was listed as missing on August 23rd.
His brother Muharrem Sopaj declared that Vesel worked as a guard in a construction material warehouse in Suharekë, until the Serb offensive in the village Reshtan commenced. His family knew nothing about him since that day.
The International Red Cross of Geneva was informed on his absence. But as the members of Sopaj family say, "they did not give a damn about our problem".
The corpse of the deceased was found near the factory "Balcan", in Suharekë and was totally decomposed. There are further claims that another corpse was found close by, the identity, however not being confirmed yet.
Meanwhile in some of the municipal regions, sporadic fighting between KLA and Serb forces has become more frequent, but there is no information on the eventual casualties. Serb police has continued the campaign of arrests, and accordingly Haki Fikaqi from Suharekë, was arrested in the elementary school "Kongresi I Manastirit" in Studençan.
The pretext for his arrest is unknown.

MACEDONIA (police raids – western Macedonia)
The witness: "Police officer ordered - 'terminate the entire family'!"

Kërçovë, 20 September (ARTA) 1700CET --
Macedonian Special police units raided last week dozens of Albanian families in Western Macedonia in search for weapons. One person has been killed during these raids.
Most of the raided families were in Kërçovë, respectively in the municipalities of Zajaz and Osllome.
According to the statements given by raided family members, in most of the cases the police was not in possession of search warrants, issued by municipal judicial bodies.
The sites of the raided houses starting from Kumanovë up to Strugë are upsetting, because the raids were conducted very brutally.
Albanian Beqir Limani (1951), a father of four children was killed in this municipality during the police raids. The suburb where he lived was besieged on Friday by some 100 special units’ policemen. The police action started at around 1500CET and ended after three hours.
Fadil Limani, the son of the victim, who has just taken the corpse of his father from the Hospital, looked exhausted since he spent almost a whole night at the police station. "When I came back from town, I saw a dozen of policemen who had besieged the suburb where I live, as well my house. The whole thing started at 1500CET. With an extreme brutality, policemen handcuffed me and asked on the whereabouts of my father, while he was in the house and was being kept hostage together with other members of the family", says Fadil.
"They ordered me to tell my father to get out, though I did not know that he was there. I refused to call him for more than one hour, saying that they are supposed to do that and not I. When I heard the instructions (from the officer who was in charge of the action) in a walkie-talkie, to shoot and terminate the entire family, I called my father. While two children and two old women of the family were being kept hostages and a disguised policeman was keeping me, the order of the officer was upsetting "kill the entire family". Regardless to the order he got from the center, the officer in charge told the policemen not to shoot without his order. In that moment, I called for my father to get out and he got on the window and said: ‘I 'm getting out, leave my family, I do not…’. Before he finished the sentence, the policemen who were behind my back opened fire. Afterwards, keeping me in front as 'a shield' we got in the house, and saw my father lying hit by two bullets, one on the throat and one on his face. After raiding the house, they took me in the police station, while they gave this document to my mother. In the police station they administered two inoculations into my body, and continuously interrogated me about the relations of my father with KLA", claimed Fadil at the end of his story.
In the document, given to the Limani family, there is no mentioning of automatic weapons being found in the house of the victim.
Albanian political subject in Kërçovë says that the brutal killing of Beqir Limani, "Has deeply indignated the local Albanians".
" This killing has a political background", they claim.
After an emergency session, both parties (PDSH and PPD) as a joint Albanian subject decided to hold a protest in the center of the town on Saturday at 1830CET. The protest was held without any incident, and thousands of people took part on it.
Just half an hour after this protest (which was dedicated as a homage for the victim), the Macedonian Prime Minister, Branko Crvenkovski held the pre-electoral meeting for his party (Social Democratic League of Macedonia) in the same place.
OSCE representatives visited the crime scene and got the information from the family of the deceased. The same representatives were present at the funeral in Kërçovë that took place on Sunday.

ALBANIA (Berisha – Tirana)
Berisha:"We shall create the front of dictatorship-noncompliance"

Tirana, 19 September -
Following the meeting of the National council of the Democratic party (PD), held on Saturday afternoon, the party President, Sali Berisha said that the National Council has decided to form a front of dictatorship-noncompliance, which according to him, shall unite all Albanians, regardless of their party membership, that are committed to fight dictatorship by peaceful means.
It has also been decided that all communications with Nanoist instances should cease, until democratic standards have been settled, in addition to cutting-off all contact with Government officials while continuing dialogue with the Albanian people.
Peaceful protests shall be organized, different kinds of peaceful resistance, followed with strikes, in order to prevent the consolidation of dictatorship.
The International Community shall be urged to isolate Fatos Nano’s Government, which is disobeying all standards and establishing a new dictatorship in Albania.
Fatos Nano has centered the Parliament, the Presidency, the Courts and the Government in an unconstitutional, immoral manner, claims Berisha's Democratic Party.

ALBANIA (Democratic Party – Tirana)
38 activists of Democratic Party arrested

Tirana, 20 September (ARTA) 2100CET --
According to the Democratic Party (PD) sources, 38 activists of this party were arrested on Sunday. Eighteen of them were arrested in Tirana, while 20 others were arrested in different towns of Albania.
All of these people are accused, as Nano's Government claims for "organizing a coup d'etat". The principal of the first private (opposition) radio in Albania "Radio Contact", Alfons Zeneli is among those who have been arrested as well. The deputy principal of TVSH, Antoneta Malja, is also under arrest.
Meanwhile, the former officer of the Albanian Foreign Ministry Luan Maltezi and some other persons received the warrant for their arrest. The General Director of the Albanian Radio-Television, Adrian Klosi, denounces them in the Public Prosecution, claim further the sources of PD.
In these moments, an urgent Democratic Party session is taking place. The representatives of the rightist parties the Union for Democracy and the United Right are taking part into.
So far, no conclusions from this session are published. It is expected that the joint conclusions from this session will be given in the late evening hours.
However, it is expected that all rightist parties demand Fatos Nano’s resignation.
A peaceful protest was held on Sunday, with 7000 people taking part. They gathered in front of the PD office and continued the protest in the "Skënderbej" square afterwards.

KOSOVA (IDPs - Gjilan)
People continue fleeing war zones

Gjilan, 20 September (ARTA) 1700CET --
"Tense situation, prevailed the town of Gjilan, this week as well. The situation has worsened due to raids, arrests, detentions and show-trials that are expected in the near future", says LDK branch chairman, Sadudin Berisha.
"The influx of the displaced, coming in this direction is still continuing", stated he, adding that "the IDPs from the villages of Zabel i Poshtëm, Korroticë e Poshtme, Korroticë e Epërme and Vasilevë, municipality of Gllogoc, who are presently sheltered in Gjilan, are likely to return back to their villages".

KOSOVA (IDPs – Deçan)
People gradually returning to destroyed villages

Deçan, 20 September (ARTA) 2000CET --
People, that once fled their under attack villages, are now gradually returning to the villages of the municipality of Deçan, destroyed by the clashes. They are making great efforts to rebuild their houses, regardless to the difficulties. Primarily, there is no electric power, so they are forced to do all the work manually. The humanitarian situation is still very bad, as the commercial market is not functioning. In addition, there is great shortage of food items and clothing, since the humanitarian assistance does not meet even the basic needs.

KOSOVA (health problems – Demaçi)
Doctors recommend Demaçi on medical leave

Prishtina, 20 September (ARTA) 1700CET --
A communiqué from the Office of the KLA political representative, states that, due to extreme engagement in work, the doctors have concluded that Demaçi obtained a very tense nervous state and an enhanced stadium of <diabetes mellitus>. Therefore, they have recommended him a complete recess from the odd jobs and a longer period of relaxation.
Furthermore the all the meetings "with foreign and local friends and journalists", scheduled with Demaçi will be postponed until an undetermined time, it is said in the communiqué.

KOSOVA (Switzerland – Kosovar refugees)
Swiss army to "monitor and supervise" potential refugees from Kosova?

Zurich, 20 September (ARTA) 1730CET --
The Swiss Defense Minister, Adolf Ogi, is contemplating the possibility for the Swiss army to put in disposition of the bordering zones not only the military barracks but also armed soldiers, with the purpose of, as they state, "monitoring and supervision".
The representative of the Ministry of Justice and Police, Schlumpf, said that "in the next coming days, there will be discussions concerning the possibility of engaging the military units, for supervision".
Speaking about these plans, undoubtedly unique in their sort among the European States, the principal of the Federal Bureau for refugees, Gerber, stated that the proposal for the engagement of the army is nothing unusual. "The army engages when the problem gets too big", he said.
"The Law is clear: If the federal authorities, cantons and the civil defense formations are not able to face the situation, then the army is to be engaged", said Gerber in an interview given to "Sonntags Blick".
Is the army really going to be engaged to "monitor and supervise" the refugees, depends on the course of the situation in Kosova and the possible wave of refugees. Concerning the situation in Kosova, Gerber claimed that he was very pessimistic.
The Swiss authorities estimate that the further escalation of the situation in Kosova will force thousands of other Kosovar refugees to head to Europe, in which case Switzerland is the most preferable country. According to the official data, this territory provides shelter for 150,000 Albanians, whereas 180,000 others reside in it illegally.
A chaotic situation has presently taken over the Italian-Swiss border, particularly in the zone of the town of Como, where thousands of Albanians try their fortune everyday in order to get to the "Promised Land" of Switzerland. Thus, during numerous attempts of crossing the border, the refugees and the border-guards are constantly playing a cat and mouse game.

Betreff:         [ALBANEWS] NEWS: Albanian Telegraphic Agency, 98-09-20
Datum:         Mon, 21 Sep 1998 11:08:29 -0400
    Von:         Sokol Rama <sokolrama@sprynet.com>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), 98-09-20
Taken without permission, for fair use only, from: The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) Home Page at <http://www.telpress.it/ata>

Albanian Telegraphic Agency
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS

•[01] International community to continue to support Albania - Papandreou
•[02] Five youths die in white sand tunnel trap in Bicaj
•[03] Red Cross distributes aid for Kosova refugees
•[04] LDK backs only temporary solution leading to Kosova independence
•[05] Houses burnt in Dobrat of Podujeve
•[06] Grave situation of refugees in Malisheve
•[07] Some 23 people killed, 20 injured and 11 villages burnt in Shtime
•[08] Drug-trafficker and his two collaborators arrested in Rinas
•[09] Peoples decide on their fates themselves - Gjinushi
•[10] 56th anniversary of Peza Conference commemorated
•[11] Work for rehabilitation of the "Transbalkan" road segment inaugurated
•[12] Dramatic situation in border region of Has
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[03] Red Cross distributes aid for Kosova refugees

ELBASAN, Sept 20 (ATA)-By P. Zekthi, The Kosova refugees in Elbasan (Central Albania), as a result of the Serb violence and terror, received aid from the Local Red Cross on Saturday.
Levin Bordi, head of the Red Cross Association for the district, told ATA, that this is the third aid dispatched to the 130 Kosova refugees in our city.
Each of the Kosovars on Friday also received money, gathered from members of the "Cameria" Association for Cerrik. /mima/lm/

[04] LDK backs only temporary solution leading to Kosova independence

PRISHTINE, Sept 19 /ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports:
The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) declared today that only a temporary solution, which, through international guarantees, would lead to independence.
Otherwise, the "temporary solution" might become "permanent occupation of Kosova by rump Yugoslavia," said academician Rexhep Qosja, LDK chairman, and Hydajet Hyseni, deputy chairman, at a meeting with the ambassador of Great Britain in Belgrade, Brian Donelly.
They said that the current humanitarian catastrophe can be halted only by a correct political solution to the Kosova issue. /pas/lm/

[05] Houses burnt in Dobrat of Podujeve

PRISHTINE, Sept 20 (ATA)-Some 25 houses as well as hospitals and schools have been burnt during the latest operations of Serb forces in the Dobrat village of Podujeve, the Kosova Information Centre (KIC) reports.
It also reports that nine houses have also been burnt in Reke of Mitrovice, and in the mountains of Selac there are some 500 Albanian civilians from the villages of Shale e Bajgores, where there are 19 000 Albanians, most of them homeless. /mima/lm/

[06] Grave situation of refugees in Malisheve

PRISHTINE, Sept 20 (ATA)-Grave situation prevails in the commune of Malisheve, due to Serbian military, police and paramilitary built-up, the Kosova Information Centre (KIC) reports, referring to sources from the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) in Malisheve.
According to the above source, a very grave situation prevails in this commune for the displaced Albanian civilians and other Albanian inhabitants of this commune, a part of whom need urgent medical aid. /mima/lm/

[07] Some 23 people killed, 20 injured and 11 villages burnt in Shtime

PRISHTINE, Sept 20 (ATA)-Some 23 Albanians have been killed and 20 others injured during the Serb offensive in the Shtime villages since June 14 until today, the Kosova Information centre (KIC) reports, also making public the names of the killed Albanians.
During this period 11 villages of this commune have been burnt and six others bombarded, razing 799 houses and heavily damaging 379 others, while 14.200 inhabitants of this commune have left the attacked villages. /mima/lm/

[12] Dramatic situation in border region of Has

PRISHTINE, Sept.20 (ata) - ATA correspondent Behlul Jashari reports:
The border line of Kosova with Albania is placed under an iron ring by great Yugoslav forces who have kidnaped thousands of people, while men and youngsters have been sealed off in schools and other premises.
Sources of the Council for Defence of Human Rights in Gjakove and in Prizren report that the situation in the region is very dangerous and dramatic.
Sources from Gjakova report that in two school buildings there are more than 60 young boys and men from three villages, Damjan, Gerqine and Lipovec. While sources from Prizren report of the kindnapped people and those gathered from other villages of Has, such as Kushnin, Lubizhde, Kabash, Dedaj and Romaje. Eye witnesses tell that houses of Albanians in the regions under siege are being set on fire. Smoke and flames are seen on villages Lipovec, Kushnin and other villages.
Reports from Gjakove say that Serb forces have brought two Albanians killed on the border line in the morgue of the hospital of Gjakove, along with two other wounded Albanians. Nobody knows of the fate of thousands of Albanian people kidnaped and sealed off in the border region of Has by Yugoslav military forces. An appeal has arrived from the region addressed to the Red Cross and other international organizations to go urgently to Has and make everything possible to help unprotected Albanian civil population escape Serb terror. /xh/

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NATO Stance Is Said to Hurt Both Alliance and Kosovo
September 21, 1998 BELGRADE, Serbia

NATO indecision about whether to act against a three-month-old military offensive in Kosovo by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has severely threatened the credibility of the alliance and almost ensured a winter-long human catastrophe, Western diplomats said Sunday. This past week, the shelling and torching of villages by Milosevic's forces, coupled with the apparent electoral victory of a Serbian ultra-nationalist in Bosnia, has put Washington's policy of dealing with Milosevic to its biggest test since the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, the diplomats said.
 "We have got to regain the initiative," said an influential NATO diplomat, adding that the alliance had severely underestimated the will and strength of the Serbs at the start of the summer and allowed them to roll on unchallenged. NATO had overestimated the strength of the Kosovo Liberation Army -- ethnic Albanian rebels fighting for Kosovo's independence -- and had quaked at the thought of acting as the "KLA's air force," the diplomat said.
On Monday, Washington's envoy on Kosovo, Christopher Hill, is scheduled to meet Milosevic. A flurry of discussion about Kosovo is expected in New York this week at the U.N. General Assembly, and in Portugal at a meeting of NATO Defense Ministers.
 The NATO diplomat noted that the alliance has given Milosevic comfort by failing to live up to repeated threats of using its air power.
Serbian forces, now heading into their third month of an offensive against ethnic Albanian rebels, attacked about a dozen villages around Podujevo, 20 miles north of the Kosovo capital, Pristina, from last Tuesday to Friday, forcing an estimated 10,000 civilians to flee, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.
 U.N. officials allowed into the area on Saturday found a health clinic run by an Albanian charity, Mother Teresa, burned and the school in the village of Dobrotin vandalized after the Serbian forces used it as sleeping quarters, said the spokesman, Fernando del Mundo. Many homes were burned beyond repair, he said. About 250,000 ethnic Albanians have been forced from their homes in similar actions by the Yugoslav army since late July and are moving around Kosovo on foot and on tractors seeking shelter, according to U.N. officials and Western monitors in Kosovo.
More than 50,000 are squatting without shelter in the cold and rain on some of Europe's most rugged mountains. About 3,000 were bussed into the city of Shkoder in neighboring Albania last weekend, adding to the political unrest there.
 The director of U.N. refugee operations in Serbia, Margaret O'Keefe, said that Milosevic had calculated force against civilians that was far-reaching but not quite enough to provoke NATO attacks.
"He just stops short of the mark," said Miss O'Keefe, adding that Milosevic was not conducting a "slaughter, but severe punishment."
 She said the U.N. refugee organization was "very pessimistic that we are heading into a winter of conflict with guerrilla type strikes by the KLA and reprisals by the Serb police."
 Milosevic initiated his campaign by insisting that Kosovo is a province of Serbia and in 1989 withdrew its autonomy. But more than 90 percent of the approximately 2 million people in Kosovo are Albanian; the number of Serb residents is dwindling daily.
The Clinton administration and European governments, fearful of the precedent that an independent Kosovo would set for other breakaway movements in the world, have said they do not support the aims of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which was fairly well-routed by Milosevic by mid-August.
 But Washington and NATO officials warned Milosevic that if he continued to use force against civilians, NATO would retaliate. In the summer, Milosevic pledged that his military action was ending, according to diplomats.
 Instead, said another NATO diplomat familiar with the Serbian military action on the ground, "This has gone from being a fight with the Kosovo Liberation Army terrorists to being a campaign against the Albanian people."
Julia Taft, the Assistant Secretary of State for Refugees in Washington, said that during a tour of Kosovo and Montenegro this month she had been told that 212 villages in Kosovo had been torched to varying degrees by Serbian forces.
 Mrs. Taft said the Serbs' strategy "seems to be the aggressive displacement of civilians and then, when winter comes, saying to the West you can have access and feed them."

  THE SACRAMENTO BEE: Balkan disarray grows as the West frets

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net
Copyright © 1998 Scripps-McClatchy Western

(September 21, 1998 08:07 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -- In the Serbian province of Kosovo, the Yugoslav army continues to bombard rebel troops and ethnic Albanian villages, increasing the numbers of people forced to flee to the countryside, where upward of 50,000 are living in the open. By mid-October, when nighttime temperatures turn very cold, the death rate will soar, especially among children and old people.
     President Clinton said last week that he foresees a "major humanitarian disaster," but stopped short of saying what he and his counterparts in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are prepared to do beyond providing relief to refugees. NATO has drafted contingency plans for armed intervention - presumably air strikes against military targets - if Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic doesn't call off his scorched-earth policy in Kosovo, where events are eerily reminiscent of the war in Bosnia earlier in this decade.
     That war ended - or at least was suspended - after NATO warplanes bombed Serb military targets. But by then, nearly a quarter-million people had died and some 2 million had been uprooted. Will history repeat itself in Kosovo?
     The question becomes more important in the context of other troubling developments in the region: In Bosnia, voters appear to have ousted (the vote count is not yet final) the U.S.-backed Biljana Plavsic as president of the Serb half of the country by electing a fiercely nationalistic candidate, raising fears of heightened ethnic tensions; in next-door Albania, a former president is leading an unruly movement aimed at toppling his successor. Thus efforts to stabilize Balkan countries are faltering at best, and the goal of ethnic reconciliation in the region remains remote.
     Using force could set in motion a chain of unpredictable and potentially calamitous circumstances; moreover, a U.S. proposal to allow Kosovars substantial local autonomy while remaining part of Serbia makes sense, if only Milosevic and hard-line ethnic Albanian Kosovars would agree to compromise.
     But repeated threats by Washington to use force send a confusing message and have not impressed Milosevic. In his eyes, the West - Washington in particular - has no credibility. And soon, the Yugoslav onslaught may succeed to the point where threats of force become moot, and the world will have to cope with hundreds of thousands of refugees and a defiant dictator in Belgrade with even less interest in negotiating.

(Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service.)

Albanians propose peace plan amid violence in Kosovo

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

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (September 20, 1998 7:13 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) --
Ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo released a peace proposal Sunday that would give the troubled province its own legislature and make it equal to Yugoslavia's two republics.
     The plan, published in the Kosovo daily Koha Ditore, was released amid reports that the government had launched a fresh offensive against a rebel stronghold in the southern Serbian province.
     The plan envisions Kosovo as "temporarily part of Yugoslavia" and an "independent entity equal" to Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia's two republics, the newspaper said. The plan also calls for a separate parliament.
     Ilijaz Kurteshi, a member of the negotiating team, said the plan still had to be fine-tuned.
     "This is a phase of reconciling different opinions and I expect the American side will uphold our proposals in future negotiations," Kurteshi told The Associated Press on Sunday.
     The Serb side could come up with their suggestions as early as Monday, when U.S. envoy Christopher Hill is scheduled to visit Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital.
     Last week, the Americans released details of their own proposal for a three-year interim solution to bring peace to Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-1.
     While that plan does not call for full independence for Kosovo, it would restore the autonomy enjoyed by Kosovo Albanians until it was revoked in 1989 by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
     Ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova, who favors independence but opposes an armed struggle to achieve it, on Friday backed the U.S.-sponsored plan, calling it the best starting ground for peace.
     The Albanians' plan is similar to the U.S. proposal in that both are looking at a three-year interim solution before trying to settle the question of Kosovo's status.
     In it, Kosovo would have its own courts, police and an independent central bank, but would share a common economy with the rest of Yugoslavia. Control of Kosovo's borders would remain in the hands of the Yugoslav army and federal customs authorities.
     The proposal also says that if Belgrade and Kosovo fail to negotiate a lasting solution to the province's status during a three-year period, Kosovo residents would vote on it in a referendum. Belgrade has already rejected that idea.
     Meanwhile, the Kosovo Information Center, which is close to the Albanian leadership, claimed Serb forces launched a new offensive early Sunday on two villages in the central Drenica region, about 19 miles west of Pristina, one of the largest and last rebel strongholds.
     The center said seven Serb policemen were killed in an attack by the Kosovo Liberation Army on a police checkpoint in Drenica on Saturday. No information from the Serb side was immediately available and the reports could not be independently confirmed.
     The center also said 12 Albanian civilians were killed in clashes between Podujevo and Mitrovica in northern Kosovo, since fighting broke out last Wednesday. The charred bodies of six men were seen in the village of Dobratim, 21 miles northwest of Pristina.
     More than 600 people have been killed and more than 275,000 made homeless since Serb forces launched an armed crackdown in the province in late February.

By ISMET HAJDARI, Associated Press Writer

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