Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-08-12

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] YUGOSLAV BORDER GUARDS PREVENT TERRORISTS FROM CROSSING TO ALBANIA

[02] KNEZEVIC ON INEFFICIENT ORGANIZATION OF RETURN OF SERB REFUGEES

[03] FRENCH PHILOSOPHER CRITICISES KOSOVO ALBANIAN GOALS

[04] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST ARCHIVES FOUND IN MALISEVO

[05] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS ATTACK SERB POLICE NEAR DECANI, DJAKOVICA

[06] SEVEN POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN ATTACKS BY ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS

[07] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL FELLOW ETHNIC ALBANIAN

[08] SERBS, MONTENEGRINS SUPPORT SECURITY FORCES * DJAKOVICA OFFICIAL

[09] YUGOSLAV HELICOPTERS ALLEGEDLY OVER ALBANIA * A PRIMITIVE FORGERY

[10] U.N. CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DIALOGUE ON SERBIA'S KOSOVO-METOHIJA

[11] RELIEF CENTERS FOR RETURNEES OPEN IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA VILLAGES

[12] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL ONE POLICEMAN NEAR DJAKOVICA

[01] YUGOSLAV BORDER GUARDS PREVENT TERRORISTS FROM CROSSING TO ALBANIA

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

The Yugoslav Army Border Guards prevented a group of ethnic Albanian ter rorists from crossing over to Albania at 1 a.m. on Tuesday near the Deva border post near Djakovica, Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija , military sources told Pristina-based Media Center. The terrorists opene d fire on the Border Guards who returned fire killing one terrorist and w ounding another.

[02] KNEZEVIC ON INEFFICIENT ORGANIZATION OF RETURN OF SERB REFUGEES

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Yugoslav Ambassador in Zagreb Veljko Knezevic said in an interview to th e Rijeka daily Novi List on Tuesday that he was not pleased with the proc ess of the return of refugee Serbs to Croatia, explaining that it could b e more efficiently organized.

Knezevic said, however, that he was certain many more would return than Croatian officials believed at this time, since he considered himself fam iliar with the refugees' psychology, their vital, emotional and centuries - long links with the environment which they had been forced to leave.

The return of Serbs to Croatia will be one of the more important issues at the upcoming talks between Yugoslav and Croatian officials in Zagreb, said Knezevic. All aspects of this issue will be considered and practical answers will be given on what each side should concretely do toward the return of all those who wish and may return, he said.

One of the inevitable questions of the reporter was about the controvers ial Prevlaka promontory. Knezevic said the latest U.N. Security Council R esolution, as the previous ones, urged the sides in the conflict * Yugosl avia and Croatia * to settle the issue with negotiations, as both sides h ave completed draft contracts on a lasting solution to this border issue on the Adriatic Sea.

Knezevic said he believed conditions were ripe to begin talks on coordin ating the draft contracts and that talks should begin as soon as possible 2E

Speaking about the Yugoslav proposal to abolish visas between Yugoslavia and Croatia, which was presented to Zagreb for consideration a year ago, Knezevic said visas could be abolished already by the year's end or earl y next year, provided the two sides reached a political agreement at the upcoming meeting. It must be said that Croatia, at this point of the pro cess of the return of refugee Srerbs, is not too interested in the due re alization of this Yugoslav initiative.

It is almost certain, said Knezevic, that representatives of insurance c ompanies of Yugoslavia and Croatia will sign a contract on mutual recogni tion of an international security card, popularly known as the "green car d", at the Zagreb meeting, which will make it easier for citizens of eac h country to enter the other when traveling by automobile.

[03] FRENCH PHILOSOPHER CRITICISES KOSOVO ALBANIAN GOALS

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

French philosopher and author Daniel Salvatore Schiffer has criticised t he ethnic Albanian separatist goals and quoted a number of facts about th e Kosovo crisis "in order to avoid manipulation."

In a text published in the Tuesday issue of the Paris daily Le Figaro, S chiffer said that it was easy to identify Kosovo Albanian goals as "terro rism, destabilisation of the region, secession and self-proclaimed indepe ndence."

As an argument which may help better to understand the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija and avoid manipulation, Schiffer said that ethnic Albanians had "systematically refused any dialogue with Serbian authorities" for th e past ten years.

He recalled that Kosovo and Metohija was the "cradle of the Serbian cult ure, like Jerusalem is for the Jews."

Schiffer opposed serious allegations that "ethnic cleansing" or an "apar theid policy" was being pursued against the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo and Metohija.

"It is senseless to claim that so-called 'cleansing' is being carried ou t against so numerous a population as ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Meto hija... Serbs are rather the target of 'cleansing'," Schiffer said. "Serb s were those who were frequently forced to leave their own land in the fa ce of ethnic Albanian oppressors, like in World War II, when Albanians we re allied with Mussolini's fascists," he said.

As for the manipulations with the term "apartheid," Schiffer wondered "h ow anyone can speak about a Serbian policy of apartheid against ethnic Al banians without contradiction, when ethnic Albanians are those who refuse to abide by the laws of the country in which they live (Serbia, 1998)."

Schiffer also wondered "for the sake of which injustice should Serbia be the only one in the world to accept what any other country would natural ly refuse * to change its borders, to reduce its sovereignty and to give up the holy land of its ancestors."

[04] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORIST ARCHIVES FOUND IN MALISEVO

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Serbian police searched an ethnic Albanian terrorist base in Malisevo, K osovo and Metohija (Kosmet, 1998) Province, and found extensive archives with lists of terrorists, plans, lists of executors of certain attacks o n state police, and other documents, sources close to the Pristina police told Tanjug on Tuesday.

Ethnic Albanian terrorists had at one point proclaimed Malisevo their "h eadquarters" and maintained their chief leaders there until police broke them up and they fled in panic.

Police also found video and photo records of the terrorists, and a local photographer's store was found to contain large numbers of photos and ne gatives of terrorists in uniform and with arms.

On the grounds of the found documents, police are expected to make many arrests these days of terrorists and their accomplices in different place s of this southern Serbian Province.

[05] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS ATTACK SERB POLICE NEAR DECANI, DJAKOVICA

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Ethnic Albanian terrorists of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army on Tu esday continued attacks on Serbian police checkpoints on the road Decani- Djakovica in Serbia's southern Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet, 1998) Provinc e.

Terrorist groups which were broken up about a fortnight ago near Orahova c and Malisevo and fled towards the Albanian border have again started at tacking police in the areas around Djakovica and Decani.

Police are successfully repulsing the terrorist attacks, neutralizing th eir strong fortifications, and pushing them into the depths of the Junik mountains.

[06] SEVEN POLICEMEN WOUNDED IN ATTACKS BY ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Six police officers were wounded on Tuesday in day-long clashes with str ong groups of ethnic Albanian terrorists near the villages of Prilip, Ras tavica and Glodjani along the Decani-Djakovica road in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija. The police returned fire in all attacks by t errorists and is presently neutralizing sniper and mortar positions held by terrorists.

The Pristina-based Media Center told Tanjug that ethnic Albanian terrori sts fired scores of mortar shells on the police on Tuesday morning from t he encircled village of Junik. The police did not return fire.

Strong groups of ethnic Albanian terrorists attacked police posts near t he Drenovac village, one the Klina-Pec road, about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, usi ng mortars and automatic weapons. The police returned fire. One police of ficer was wounded in the attack.

[07] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL FELLOW ETHNIC ALBANIAN

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Ethnic Albanian terrorists killed a fellow ethnic Albanian, Djemailj Kru eziju, 35, at 1 a.m. Tuesday in front of his house in Suva Reka, Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija. Krueziju was killed by men using automatic weapons and wearing camouflage uniforms with insignia of the s elf-styled Kosovo Liberation Army, witnesses testified. Investigation is underway.

[08] SERBS, MONTENEGRINS SUPPORT SECURITY FORCES * DJAKOVICA OFFICIAL

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Serbs and Montenegrins fully support police, the Yugoslav Army and other state organs in the uncompromising fight against ethnic Albanian terrori sm, Djakovica Municipal Council President Momcilo Stanojevic has said.

"Our police and the Yugoslav Army energetically respond to all provocati ons, owing to which terrorists have lost all chances of realising the ide a to detach Kosovo and Metohija from Serbia and annexe it to Albania. The inhabitants of village centres have realised this too and every day they give up the arms the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army has given them und er threat. There is an increasing number of those who are giving up arms and who wish to carry on living in peace, and to work on their farms, in factories or private companies," Stanojevic said.

Every day, the municipal leadership receives appeals from local ethnic A lbanians to be supplied with basic foodstuffs through state-run shops, be cause ethnic Albanian smugglers sell them sugar and cooking oil at exorbi tant prices.

One can see that families who left their villages under the terrorist pr essure are returning home, Stanojevic said.

[09] YUGOSLAV HELICOPTERS ALLEGEDLY OVER ALBANIA * A PRIMITIVE FORGERY

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Albanian accusations that helicopters of the Yugoslav Air Force had alle gedly violated Albanian air space on Aug. 8 and 9 are "a primitive forger y with which Albanian authorities are trying to shun their own responsibi lity in training and equipping terrorists and in their infiltration into Yugoslav territory," said a senior officer of the Yugoslav Army General S taff on Tuesday.

The source said in a statement to Tanjug that the accusations are "a con tinuation of the practice so far of the Albanian authorities to hide and distort facts and launch lies in attempts to play the victim to the inter national public, a victim threatened by Yugoslavia, and at the same time hide their role in stoking and organizing terrorism in Kosmet" (Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, 1998).

Indicating the fact that this latest attempt by the Albanian authorities to manipulate the international public coincides with the beginning of a meeting between representatives of Albania and NATO on a possible action to accommodate refugees from Kosmet, the Yugoslav Army officer pointed o ut that joint excercises by the Albanian Army and NATO member-countries within the Partnership for Peace program were planned in Albanian territo ry next week.

"All these attempts by the Albanian authorities indicate the wish to sec ure an alibi in case of possible incidents which might occur during the e xcercise, and for which the Yugoslav side might be blamed, which would fu rther aggravate the Kosmet crisis," the officer said.

By "imagining Yugoslav helicopters in its skies, Albania is inviting the foreign military factor to take an even more active role in the developm ents in Kosmet," he said.

Resolutely denying any violations of air space of this neighbouring coun try, the officer said Albanian organs had allegedly very precisely locate d the Yugoslav aircraft in their air space. Meanwhile, they cannot seem t o locate or prevent large groups of terrorists and arms shipments and mi litary equipment from crossing from their territory into Yugoslavia, he s aid.

At the very time when Yugoslav helicopters had allegedly been sighted ov er Albania, security organs had broken up a large group of terrorists in the Pastrik region, who were trying to cross over from Albania into Yugos lavia. About four tons of weapons and military equipment were found when the area was combed, said the Yugoslav Army officer.

[10] U.N. CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DIALOGUE ON SERBIA'S KOSOVO-METOHIJA

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday called for urgent dialogue on the Y ugoslav Republic of Serbia's Province of Kosovo-Metohija, reiterating its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia.

The Security Council issued a press release after Tuesday's consultation s, in the course of which was again stressed the importance of honouring its earlier decision, set out in its Resolution 1,160, about blocking the inflow of arms into the region. In this context, the body stated concern about the infiltration of weapons and men across the border into the Fed eral Republic of Yugoslavia from outside.

Calling for dialogue between the legal bodies of power and Kosovo-Metohi ja's ethnic Albanian political parties, the body stressed that the region 's problems cannot be settled by military methods and condemned terrorist operations as unacceptable.

The body further expressed concern about tension in this Serbian Provinc e.

Judging from the press release which is informative in character, the co nsultations touched also on the humanitarian situation in Kosovo-Metohija , urging relief agencies to redouble their efforts and civilians' return to their homes.

[11] RELIEF CENTERS FOR RETURNEES OPEN IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA VILLAGES

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

A relief center for ethnic Albanian refugees who are returning home was launched in the village of Glogovac in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija Province on Monday. The center will be operating alongsid e the local bodies.

Several thousand people have returned to Glogovac of late.

Another relief center for taking care of returnees opened in the village of Malisevo.

According to authorities of the Kosovo and Prizren districts, the Serbia n Government will send additional relief aid to the areas. The deliveries will contain large quantities of foodstuffs, medicines and construction material.

[12] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL ONE POLICEMAN NEAR DJAKOVICA

Tanjug, 1998-08-11

Policeman Zoran Jovanovic, 25, of the Podujevo Internal Affairs Secretar iat was killed in an ethnic Albanian attack on the village of Bites near Djakovica late on Monday, police sources in Pristina said on Tuesday. Te rrorists on Monday launched a series of synchronised attacks at Serbian p olice along the Djakovica-Decane-Prilipu road.

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