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Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-08-24Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Yugoslav Daily SurveyCONTENTS
[01] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL POLICE RESERVISTTanjug, 1998-08-21Serbian Police reservist Goran Milenkovic, 27, was killed about 11 p.m. on Thursday in an attack by ethnic Albanian terrorists on the police stat ion in the Lapusnik village, Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo-Metohij a, the Pristina-based Media center learned on Friday. The terrorists used automatic weapons in the attack. [02] ORF: DRUGS FOR FINANCING WAR IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJATanjug, 1998-08-21Austrian state television (ORF, 1998) run a commentary on Thursday eveni ng about the drug trade conducted by Kosmet Albanians in the West for fin ancing terrorist actions in Kosovo and Metohija. Following the arrest of a number of Kosmet Albanians in western Europe it has become clear that t hey are involved in drug smuggling. ORF showed two trucks with 1.5 tons of marihuana, worth 60 million schil lings, which were seized on Wednesday evening on the Austrian-Slovenian b order from ethnic Albanians and recalled that in June this year some 60 A lbanians from Kosovo and Metohija were arrested on drug-smuggling charges. On the same border crossing, at the beginning of the week, Austrian bord er authorities found 500 kg of marihuana in an Albanian truck. The police is having difficulty infiltrating Albanian drug gangs because of their "specific family structure." ORF said that the Italian police has at its disposal evidence that Kosme t Albanians exchange drugs for modern arms later used in Kosovo and Metoh ija. A report made public recently by the Austrian police said that in the pa st year one third of the 2,766 persons arrested on drug-related charges w ere foreigners. The greatest majority of narco-dealers are nationals from Turkey, Kosovo and Metohija and Germany. The Austrian police also noted that, after the cessation of hostilities in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Balkan drug connection has been reactivated. [03] BELGRADE WEEKLY ON U.N. INCONSISTENCY IN IMPLEMENTING ARMS BANTanjug, 1998-08-21The United Nations' consistency to date in inconsistent implementation o f its own resolution has strongly compromised the world organisation and is causing a great loss of life, the Belgrade weekly Vojska said in its l atest issue. The weekly said the Security Council had passed a resolution on March 31 banning arms deliveries to Yugoslavia, saying the United Nations had fai led to show this kind of concern in the case of ethnic Albanian terrorist s and their international sponsors and in particular Albania, although th ey had been violating the resolution grossly and systematically. If the Security Council had been concerned about its credibility, it cou ld have disciplined Albania, chief supplier of ethnic Albanian terrorists in Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija with weapons and am munition, as far back as April, the weekly said. It went on to say that l arge quantities of weapons and military equipment had been infiltrated i nto Yugoslavia from Albania and that ethnic Albanian terrorists had confe ssed to have undergone organised training in Albania. Albania has continued to act in this way, the proof of it being quantiti es and types of arms seized over the past three months by Yugoslav army t roops while preventing their infiltration from Albania into Yugoslavia, t he weekly said. A news conference at the Pentagon on July 17 was informed that the Centr al Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon were aware that the terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija were supplied with arms from Abania as well as Weste rn Europe, the weekly said. It is surprising that they did not know or did not want to know that the United States also helped arm the terrorists, the weekly said. They coul d have learned about it from an article published by the Washington Post daily on May 26 saying that between 300 and 500 U.S. citizens of Albanian origin were openly giving financial asistance to the ethnic Albanian te rrorist organisation calling itself Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK, 1998) as well as recruiting terrorists, and sending humanitarian aid and weapons, the weekly said. In the light of the fact that it is not against the U.S. law to raise fu nds for militias unless they have been listed as terrorist organisations by the State Department, the U.S. reluctance to do so in the case of the OVK appears to be understandable, the weekly said. Moreover, in the light of the fact that the United Nations demonstrated identical inconsistency between 1991 and 1995 when it turned a blind eye to convoys of vehicles carrying weapons to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-H erzegovina despite the U.N. arms ban, one cannot but conclude that, inste ad of protecting and upholding peace on the planet, the organisation pos es a direct threat to it, the weekly said. Vojska said one should nevertheless hope that the United Nations would s hake off its lethargy and put an end to arms supplies to ethnic Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija conducted despite the arms ban. [04] YUGOSLAVIA EXPECTS 6.5-PERCENT INCREASE IN GNPTanjug, 1998-08-22Yugoslavia may end the year with an increase of 6-6.5 percent in the GNP and one of 6.5-7.5 percent in the industrial production, according to As sistant Director of the Yugoslav Statistics Office Miladin Kovacevic. Kovacevic told Tanjug that, judging by the first seven months, the retai l prices should not go up more than 30 percent in 1998. He said the trade deficit may turn out to be 2.43 billion dollars lower than in 1997 and a mount to 2.2-2.3 billion. The industrial production rose 10 percent for the first seven months of the year. Kovacevic underscored that, with a stable money supply of 9.5- 10 billion dinars, the prices and the dinar's rate were being kept relati vely stable. He said the stable monetary policy was reflected in the fact that, despite a July increase in pays of 3.3 percent in real terms, pays were 10.6 percent lower than in December of 1997. The value of the Yugoslav exports for the first seven months of the year stood at 1.363 billion dollars, or was 6.2 percent higher than in the sa me period of 1997. The value of the imports for the seven-month period stood at 2.816 billi on dollars. Kovacevic said the recent government measures aimed at lowering the trad e deficit, increasing imports of semi-manufactures and reducing imports o f consumer goods were expected to produce the desired results. [05] KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY TERRORISTS CAPTURE ETHNIC ALBANIAN PARTY MEMBERSTanjug, 1998-08-23The ethnic Albanian terrorist organisation calling itself Kosovo Liberat ion Army (OVK, 1998) has captured Imer Morina and Demir Morina, officials of the Democratic League of Kosovo led by Ibrahim Rugova. They were cau ght at Ljubizde near Malisevo, Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and M etohija, just as they were about to hold a meeting of the party's local b oard to discuss the state of affairs following the KLA defeat in Malisevo. The terrorists captured Imer Morina and Demir Morina, who are related , on August 17 because they did not like the agenda of the meeting. The P ristina-based Democratic League of Kosovo press section issued a statemen t protesting about and voicing discontent with the incident, reminding th at the party and the OVK had set the identical objective. [06] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL ETHNIC ALBANIAN WOMAN, GIRLTanjug, 1998-08-23The bodies of an ethnic Albanian woman and a girl were found early on Sa turday at the village of Toplicane, near the route linking Suva Reka and Prizren, Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija. Ljatifa Koljo li, 45, and her daughter Rusa Koljoli, 19, were shot dead from automatic weapons. They were blindfolded and their hands were tied. Local authorities in Suva Reka believe that ethnic Albanian terrorists a re responsible for the murder of Ljatifa Koljoli and her daughter because they were of a family known to be loyal to Serbian authorities. [07] RADIO PRISTINA JOURNALIST, DRIVER REPORTED MISSINGTanjug, 1998-08-23Radio Pristina journalist Djuro Slavuj and driver Ranko Perenic have bee n missing since two days ago, when they were last seen while on an assign ment in the Orahovac municipality in Kosovo and Metohija, Tanjug was told at Radio Pristina on Sunday. Slavuj and Perenic were on an assignment wh en all trace of them and the radio station's car they were using was lost on Friday afternoon. The Pristina office of the ICRC was immediately informed about the disap pearance. Ethnic-Albanian terrorists on Friday staged several attacks on police po sts in and around the village of Zociste, from which they were driven out a few days earlier. [08] TERRORISTS CONTINUE WITH MURDERS OF FELLOWMENTanjug, 1998-08-21Ethnic Albanian terrorists are continuing to murder and mistreat their f ellowmen who do not wish to join their ranks, or who oppose their actions , police sources in Pristina say. A fresh case was registered two days a go in the village of Burnice near Podujevo, where terrorists tortured to death Emir Berisa and his eldest son Hazir. Terrorists who are now hiding in the surrounding woods of the Drenica re gion, after a two-hour attack on the twenty-member household of Emin Beri sa, burned down one of the family houses and captured Emin and his son Ha zir. Terrorists brutally tortured both of them until they died. The reason for the attack, it has been learnt, was that the head of the family did not want his sons to join the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army nor was he ready to pay them racket. The other members of the family, more than ten children and several wome n, succeeded to ran away and report the case to the police in the village of Luzane near Podujevo. [09] ETHNIC ALBANIANS SEEK POLICE PROTECTION FROM TERRORISTSTanjug, 1998-08-22Ethnic Albanian inhabitants of Ukca, Crkolez and Suvo Grlo villages in t he Istok municipality of Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo-Metohija fr equently come into conflict with ethnic Albanian terrorists because they refuse to accept arms and join the terrorist organization calling itself the Kosovo Liberation Army and to shoot at their Serb neighbors. Several families from Ukca, which is inhabited solely by ethnic Albanian s, have asked the police in Istok to expell from their village intruders from the villages of Padaliste, Citak and Lovcina who frequently open fir e at night on neighboring villages and police stations in Rakos and Rudni k. The identity of the families who have sought police protection has not b een disclosed for understandable reasons. Similar requests have been rece ived also from ethnic Albanians from other communities. Thirty ethnic Albanian families have returned to Istocko Vrelo, from whe re they had fled two weeks ago when terrorists of the self-styled Kosovo Liberation Army forced weapons on their neighbors. The majority of them h anded over the arms to the police and returned to their homes, where the police guarantees them safety. [10] ABOUT 30,000 ETHNIC ALBANIANS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA RETURN HOMETanjug, 1998-08-23About 30,000 ethnic Albanians who have fled their homes before ethnic Al banian terrorist actions have returned to villages near Drenica and Oraho vac and to Belacevac and Ada, Serbia's Province of Kosovo and Metohija, f ollowing Serbian authorities' call to this end, the Pristina-based Media Centre said Sunday. Serbian police reported that ethnic Albanians in the Djakovica and Pec m unicipalities had surrendered 476 different weapons forced on them by the terrorists. The police called on all ethnic Albanians who have not taken part in ter rorist actions to return to their homes, guaranteeing their security. [11] LIFE RETURNS TO NORMAL IN ORAHOVACTanjug, 1998-08-22Life in the Orahovac municipality in Serbia's southern Province of Kosov o- Metohija has returned to normal one month after ethnic Albanian terrori sts were expelled from the area. All institutions in Orahovac have resumed their activities, shops, baker ies and markets are open and well supplied. Many ethnic Albanian inhabitabts, who had fled their homes in fear of te rrorists and forced mobilization into their ranks, have returned to Oraho vac. Both Serb and ethnic Albanian doctors and nurses are working in the Orah ovac medical center and 90 percent of their patients are ethnic Albanians. Reconstruction of buildings damaged by actions of ethnic Albanian terror ists is underway in the town. President of the Orahovac Municipal Assemb ly Andjelko Kolasinac told Tanjug that ethnic Albanian terrorists had don e much evil, especially as regards personal and inter-ethnic relations. State authorities daily urge all displaced persons from Orahovac to retu rn home, where safety and property rights will be guaranteed to all excep t those with blood on their hands. They will have to face justice for the ir crimes and there is no room for them in Orahovac, Kolasinac. The greatest remaining problem is that of the abducted, Kolasinac said a nd noted that 36 people from Orahovac and nearby villages of Zociste, Opt erusa and Retimlje had been abducted. The Orahovac authorities are in daily contact with international humanit arian organizations but no information is available on the fate of the ab ducted, Kolasinac said. [12] YUGOSLAV ARMY REPORTS STABILISATION OF SITUATION ON BORDER WITH ALBANIATanjug, 1998-08-23The situation has gradually started to stabilise in the border area with Albania where the Yugoslav Army Pristina Corps is deployed, Pristina-bas ed Army sources told Tanjug on Sunday. Following the last week's routing of well-defended ethnic Albanian stron gholds in the villages of Junik and Jasic, situated northwest of Djakovic a, the situation has considerably stabilised, the Pristina Corps said. The Corps said that, over the past four days, no organised attacks had b een launched on Yugoslav Army units patrolling the border area and the bo rder with Albania. Sporadic attempts by routed terrorist groups and terrorists at crossing into Albania at the border posts of Kosare, Djeravice and Koznjar, in the areas of mounts Junik and Djeravica, were reported. During this time, small-arms fire was opened from Albania at the border posts of Morina and Kosare, but Yugoslav Army Border Guards reported no c asualties. Despite the gradual stabilisation of the situation, it has been observed that terrorist groups are being trained intensively in Albanian bases ne ar the border and equipped for infiltration into Yugoslavia. The Corps believes that attempts to infiltrate terrorists and weapons in to Yugoslavia have been suspended following the elimination of well-defen ded terrorist strongholds, especially that in Junik. Yugoslav Army troops have continued combing the area even that difficult to gain access to, and to annihilate routed terrorist groups and destroy bunkers and mines laid by the terrorists. [13] ODALOVIC HOLDS TALKS WITH UNHCR, ICRC OFFICIALSTanjug, 1998-08-21Head of the Kosovo district Veljko Odalovic held talks on Thursday with Eduardo Arboleda of the UNHCR and Beatrice Weber of the ICRC. Odalovic in formed Arboleda and Weber about growing tensions and the dramatic situat ion in Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija arising from a f ailure to deal with cases of abduction of Serbs, ethnic Albanians and mem bers of other ethnic groups by the ethnic Albanian terrorist organisation calling itself Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK, 1998). He informed them als o about other acts of terror over civilians by the OVK, urging internati onal humanitarian organisations to make a greater effort in the domain, t he statement said. Odalovic handed over to Arboleda and Weber documentation about atrocitie s that the terrorists committed in the locality of Lodja near Podujevo. T he documentation contains also lists of persons who have been abducted an d a recent statement by the Democratic League of Kosovo and its leader Ib rahim Rugova, published on Wednesday by the Albanian-language daily Bujku , in which they urge ethnic Albanians not to return to their homes. It al so includes the Serbian state bodies' call to all displaced ethnic Alban ians to return to their homes. Odalovic informed Arboleda and Weber also about intensive measures by th e Serbian Government to secure the return of ethnic Albanians to their ho mes and villages, saying the Government had repeatedly invited the displa ced ethnic Albanians to return to their homes guaranteeing them security and assistance in supplies and the repair of damaged houses. Results achieved in securing the return of displaced persons are encoura ging, Odalovic said adding that everybody should give their own contribut ion to avoid the compounding of the already complex humanitarian situatio n. [14] PRISTINA ARMY CORPS * STATEMENRTTanjug, 1998-08-23Zirojevic said that "more than 900 rifles, about 200 machine guns, 20 re coilless cannons, 70 hand-held rocket launchers and mortars, over 700 mor tar shells and rockets, and more than 450,000 bullets of various calibres " had been seized in the incidents. He set out that the doors of the Pristina Corps were open to all inhabit ants of Kosovo and Metohija "who care for Serbia and the FR of Yugoslavia 2E" "We will talk and cooperate with every such person, but will act in keeping with the Border Service and Army of Yugoslavia rules and legal re gulations and norms in the case of those who try to cross into our countr y with weapons, bombs and shells," Cap. Zirojevic specified. Commenting the possibility of ethnic-Albanian terrorists trying to make it to Albania, the Pristina Corps Spokesman said that all Pristina Corps units would "continue responsibly to carry out their duties of securing t he state border and defending the sovereignty of the FR of Yugoslavia" an d that "terrorists will not be able to get through." [15] KOSOVO DISTRICT HEAD RECEIVES LIBYAN DIPLOMATTanjug, 1998-08-21Head of the Kosovo district Veljko Odalovic received on Friday the Libya n Consul General in Yugoslavia Fati Shahlem, who is visiting Pristina, ca pital of Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo-Metohija, accompanied by an assistant. The Libyan diplomats were informed of the current situation i n the Province by Odalovic. The present situation in the Province can be resolved only through dialogue within Serbia as the sole means of finding a satisfactory solution in the interest of all citizens, it was underlin ed during the meeting. [16] VOJVODINA SHOULD BE AN EXAMPLE FOR ALBANIANS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJATanjug, 1998-08-21National minorities in Vojvodina who exercice their rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Serbia sould serve as an example for members of the Albanian national minority in Kosovo and Metohija, Vojvodina Executive C ouncil President Bosko Perosevic said on Friday in Pristina. National minorities in Vojvodina, Perosevic said in a meeting of the lea derships of the two Provinces, are exercising all their rights in conform ity with the highest European standards. Speaking about the situation in Kosovo and Meothija, Kosovo District Chi ef Veljko Odalovic pointed out that ethnic Albanian terrorists, after the ir defeat in clashes with the Serbian police, are holding a part of their fellowmen in the woods, in a attempt to stage a humanitarian disaster. Describing the escalation of terrorism as the last attempt of ethnic Alb anian extremists to realize their goal * an independent Kosovo, Odalovic said that "now when they are defeated and broken up, they have no other a lternative but to sit down for talks." Serbia, he said, is still ready to talk about all issues, except some ki nd of independent Kosovo. The latest invitation for talks made by the hea d of the Serbian negotating team Ratko Markovic was described by Odalovic as well-intentioned. He called the talks with the representatives of Vojvodina very useful an d pointed out that "information about the way in which national minoritie s in the northern Serbian Province are exercising their rights will be in valuable in the talks with ethnic Albanian represnetatives." The delegation from Vojvodina also met on Friday in Pristina with Interi or Ministry Public Security Chief General Vlastimir Djordjevic and with Y ugoslav Army Pristina Corps Commander General Nebojsa Pavkovic. Delivered during the visit was aid consisting of 24 tons of foodstuffs, personal h ygiene material and cigarettes, for Serbian police and Yugoslav Army memb ers in Kosovo and Metohija. [17] LILIC SAYS YUGOSLAVIA CONTRIBUTES GREATLY TO FIGHT AGAINST FASCISMTanjug, 1998-08-22Yugoslav Vice-Premier Zoran Lilic said on Saturday that Yugoslavia had g iven great contribution to the fight against fascism, saying the country had always backed progress. Speaking at a rally marking the day when Aril je, a town in western Serbia, was first liberated in 1941, Lilic said, "I t is regrettable that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia are f aced with a new evil, ethnic Albanian separatists and terrorists who, imb ued with an aspiration to a greater Albania, threaten to destroy and divi de the entire Balkans and Europe, although Europe itself is not aware of it or has a different interest." Leaders of some ethnic Albanian parties in Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija have chosen to ignore the Serbian Government's invit ation to find solutions to all outstanding issues primarily through uncon ditional dialogue. "They and their foreign patrons and allies must be aware that Serbia and Yugoslavia cannot be divided," he said. Dialogue alone can lead to the resolution of problems in Kosovo and Meto hija as well as ethnic Albanians' participation in the common political, economic, social and cultural life in Serbia and Yugoslavia, he said addi ng that it was up to them to decide. By opting for self-isolation and terror, ethnic Albanian political leade rs have condemned their own people to suicide and the life in a ghetto, b ecause it is certain that Kosovo will never become a republic within Yugo slavia, he said. Lilic also said Yugoslavia had made it clear to the international commun ity that it wanted to live in peace and to be a part of Europe, not only in a geographic sense, but also to be Europe's democratic, economic and s ecurity prop. Consequently, Europe, the U.N. Security Council and the United States ar e faced with great responsibility of listing as a terrorist organisation the ethnic Albanians' Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK, 1998) because he said that was how it should be regarded in the world, he said. We know how to deal with them and how this is done in Europe so that Serbia has the sam e right, he said. What is happening in Kosovo and Metohija is not only a fight for territo ry but also for peace in the entire southeast Europe as well as the rest of Europe, he said adding that it was also a fight for peoples and nation al minorities living in the Province and wanting to remain there and buil d Serbia and Yugoslavia. [18] KOSOVO DISTRICT CHIEF HOLDS TALKS WITH RANKING WORLD DIPLOMATSTanjug, 1998-08-21Head of the Kosovo district Veljko Odalovic met on Thursday with ranking U.S., E.U. and Russian diplomats visiting Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija. The meeting was held at Odalovic's initiative. Odalovic informed the diplomats about the grave situation and tensions i n the Province arising from a failure to deal with numerous cases of abdu ction of Serbs, ethnic Albanians and members of other ethnic groups, said a statement issued by the Provincial Information Secretariat. He also informed them about actions by the ethnic Albanian terrorist org anisation calling itself Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK, 1998) in Podujevo, Lodja and other localities, the statement said. The participants in the meeting agreed that such cases of brutality and violation of basic human rights must not be tolerated and that additional effort must be made to put an end to them, the statement said. Odalovic handed over to the diplomats substantial documentation about pe rsons that have been kidnapped, atrocities and other acts of terror again st civilians committed by ethnic Albanian terrorists, urging that the cou ntries they represent take an adequate stand on the matter. He reiterated Serbia's commitment to resolving all open issues in Kosovo and Metohija through direct talks, saying the Government's invitation to dialogue was still open. The diplomats welcomed such approach, voicing the stand that dialogue al one could lead to the resolution of problems in the Province. They thanked Odalovic for the documentation containing also a statement in which the Democratic League of Kosovo and its leader Ibrahim Rugova ur ge ethnic Albanians not to return to their homes so that they could take advantage of the problem of displaced ethnic Albanians, especially in con tacts with international officials. Odalovic said Serbian state bodies were doing and would do all they coul d to enable their people to return home, guaranteeing them security and a ssistance in supplies and the repair of damaged houses. [19] STATE AUTHORITIES WILL CONTINUE TO RECKON WITH ETHNIC-ALBANIAN TERRORISTSTanjug, 1998-08-22State authorities will continue to reckon with what is left of the route d gangs of ethnic-Albanian terrorists, just as it is done with terrorists throughout the world, Kosovo and Metohija Information Secretary Bosko Dr obnjak told Tanjug on Saturday. "Terrorists must realize that they will be left no room whatsoever for t heir activities and that they will very soon be completely disabled in th eir dirty and treacherous plans," Drobnjak said. Asked to comment the U.S. strikes on terrorist centres in Sudan and Afgh anistan, Drobnjak said that, if the targets of the U.S. attacks had truly been terrorists and their bases, "there was nothing to object to." "I would like to point out that this is the year of battle against terro rism, as a universal evil. If it is so, one should expect of the USA to b e consistent and, using the same standards, to show by far more understan ding and provide adequate support for the legitimate battle of Serbia sta te authorities against ethnic-Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija, " Drobnjak underscored. [20] ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISTS KILL ONE POLICE OFFICER, WOUND ANOTHERTanjug, 1998-08-21A police officer was killed and another wounded in ethnic Albanian terro rist attacks on police forces in the village of Zociste near Orahovac, Se rbia's southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija, on Thursday. Milomir Krvavac, 33, was killed from a hand-grenade launcher, while Gora n Vostic was wounded in the same attack, police sources in Pristina, told Tanjug. [21] YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS TO ALBANIA AGAINST ATTACK ON ORTHODOX CHURCHTanjug, 1998-08-22Yugoslav Foreign Ministry on Friday strongly protested to the Albanian C harge d'Affaires the bombing of an Orthodox church in Scutari on August 1 8. The terrorist attack constituted a violation of fundamental human and re ligious rights of the Serb and Montenegrin minorities in Albania with the clear goal of terrorizing them. The incident also demonstrated that the Albanian authorities did not wish to suppress terrorism. The Ministry demanded that the Albanian authorities immediately take the necessary measures to prevent terrorist acts and the endangering of mino rities. Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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