Kosova Daily Report #1364, 98-03-07

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From: Kosova Information Center <http://www.kosova.com/>

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1364
Prishtina, 7 March 1998

First Edition: 13:30 hrs
Second Edition: 15:00 hrs
Third Edition: 19:30 hrs
Fourth Edition: 20:00 hrs

CONTENTS

[01] Redeployment of Serb Forces Underway in Drenica

[02] Situation in Llausha, a Village under Serb Siege

[03] Stories about Atrocities of Serb Forces in Drenica

[04] President Rugova's Aides Arrested in Mitrovica

[05] At Least 25 Albanians Killed in Prekaz and Llausha Identified

[06] Old Albanian Woman Dies in Schock, Watching Her Family Being Arrested by Serb Forces

[07] Third Day of Serb Armed Attack in Drenica, Shooting Reportedly Dies Down

[08] At Least 36 Albanians, Including Women and Children, Identified as Killed by Serb Forces

[09] President Rugova's Aides Released After Being Held up By Serb Police

[10] Serb Army Tanks, Policemen and Soldiers Involved in Drenica Clampdown, LDK Official Says

[11] Rugova's Spokesman Calls for End of Serb Attacks, Establishment of Humanitarian Corridor

[12] Albanian Woman, Who Got Out of Serb Siege, Tells Her Story

[13] Children and Women Without Food, Men Exhausted, Foreign Journalist Says

[14] Albanian Medical Personnel Protest in Front of American Center in Prishtina

[15] Senior Serb Police Officer Says Action of Serb Forces in Drenica Continues

[16] U.S. Won't Tolerate Kosova Violence, Albright Says

[17] Kosova Albanians Are Being Repressed by a "Brutal Counterattack by the Serb Army", Holbrooke Says

[18] HRW Calls on War Crimes Tribunal to Investigate Possible War Crimes in Kosova

[19] Two Villages in Drenica Still Under Random Serb Fire

[20] President Rugova Receives Diplomats of Contact Group Countries

[21] Brian Donnelly: 'Great Concern about Continued Police Activity in Drenica'

[22] Serbian Police Shoots at People on the Move, in Their Yards

[23] Serbian Police Wound Albanian at Klina e Ep&rme

[24] Kosovar Health Care Institutions Press for Humanitarian Corridor in Drenica

[25] 'Milosevic Has Got to Call the Dogs of Repression Back', US Department Spokesman Says

[26] UNHCR Is Considering Contingency Plans for Kosova

[27] Stern Verbal Warnings Will No Longer Suffice, IHF Says

[01] Redeployment of Serb Forces Underway in Drenica

Heavy armament, tanks, and helicopter gunships were involved in the attacks which amounted to a combined police/paramilitary/military operation of Serb forces in the past two days, targeting first and foremost the Prekaz village. Scores of Albanians are feared dead, and many other wounded, although it is impossible to establish the death toll and the number of wounded.

Today (Saturday) morning, reports indicated that the area is still sealed off. Surces from a village close to Prekaz, as well as sources from Llausha, told the Kosova Information Center (KIC) this morning that there was a cessation of Serb armed attacks since last evening.

Nobody is allowed in, neither political and humanitarian activists, nor journalists.

It remains to be seen what will ensue, an end or resumption of further activities on the part of Serb military/police forces against the local population.

Meanwhile, the residents who have found themselves in the Serb siege are running out of food supplies, the wounded are without any medical help, the killed are inside the houses, in yards, but also on the streets and the fields.

The Serb regime continues its outrageous behavior. Even after two days of heavy shelling by Serb forces in the Albanian villages, it does not allow any kind of assistance for the wounded, old men, women and children.

A local source told KIC last night, the medical personnel in the Skenderaj hospital have found themselves caught in and unable to got out for several days now.

In the meantime, Serb forces have engaged in all activities to see that the local people in Drenica flee their homes. Some 5000 Albanians - mostly old men, women and children - have moved out the area, and moved in villages of Mitrovica and Vushtrri (in Serbian 'Vucitern').

Reports indicated that during the night and in the course of today there was increased movement of Serb forces, presumably to redeploy and/or bring in reinforcements.

At 7:30 this morning, local sources from Mitrovica said 7 cars (six jeeps and a Niva car) with license plates of Kraljevo and Kragujevac (Serbia) left Mitrovica heading for Skenderaj. Scores of bearded and long-haired Serbs were said to be on board the cars.

Meanwhile, at 9:30 hrs three busloads of Serb policemen left Skenderaj for Mitrovica. This gives weight to reports about Serb intentions to bring in fresh troops and redeploy the others.

Statements by Serb regime authorities Friday evening that they had wrapped up the armed operation in Prekaz seem to be aimed at misleading the world.

It is hoped here that the international community will have had enough of the Serb propaganda mendacity and the ploys of the President of the "FRY" Slobodan Milosevic.

The Serbian police is keeping under a strict grip a large territory in Kosova surrounding Drenica.

A foreign TV crew was barred today in Vushtrri from proceeding towards Drenica.

[02] Situation in Llausha, a Village under Serb Siege

Miftar Rrecaj was buried last night after the dusk had set. During the funeral procession a Serb sniper opened fire on the crowd of people paying the last honor to their fellow villager.

This source, said at least six people in the village have been targeted by Serb snipers.

A report from Skenderaj said that 18 members of the extended Jasharaj family, who had been rounded up and were being held in detention in the yard of the Skenderaj Game Ammunition Factory, have been released today (Saturday). The age of those family members ranged from 2 months to 76 years. They have found shelter in the small town of Skenderaj.

In Skenderaj, there is fear the number of the Albanians killed in Prekaz and Skenderaj exceeds 50. This figure was given by LDK sources in Skenderaj yesterday. The number of those wounded could be even higher.

The situation in Skenderaj is described as grave and dangerous. The sound of shooting in Prekaz could be heard in Llausha today morning. A loud detonation was heard in the A^areva and Vojnika villages at 8:30 hrs.

Movement of people in the small town of Skenderaj has all but ceased, with the exclusion of course of Serb policemen.

The LDK branch in Skenderaj and other local organizations at Llasusha sent a dramatic appeal to the international community to act so that this Serbian terrorist expedition is effectively brought to an end. The final goal of such Serba actions is to ethnically cleanse Kosova.

The way the Serb attacks have been carried out, the methods used by them, are tactics by now familiar to the world: they were employed in the Bosnian war, and the perpetrators of such dreadful atrocities are being tried in the Hague, LDK branch activists in Skenderaj underlines.

They called for medical staff and international humanitarian organizations to enter the Drenica area and offer the necessary assistance to the wounded and ensure that the dead are buried.

[03] Stories about Atrocities of Serb Forces in Drenica

Bujku has interviewed a resident of Prekaz, Zen& Jashari, who was able to leave the village. Zen& Jashari (43) said his wife and his son Abdullah were killed by Serbs, whereas two other kids of his, Bajram and Dula, were captured by Serb forces. He was not able to learn a thing about their fate ever since.

Zen& Jashari said that he had also seen the police killing his neighbours Halit (Jashari) and his wife, Zymer (Jashari), with his two children, as well as other neighbours of his.

The house of Shaban Jashari was shelled and burned to the ground, and two Serb armoured vehicles moved on in its ruins subsequently, he said. If the family members of Shaban Jashari were inside as it was said, then there is no doubt none of them is alive, Zen& Jashari told Bujku correspondent in Skenderaj.

Sources have said that Shaban Jashari and at least three other Albanians of Prekaz and Llausha have refused to vacate their houses in advance of and during the attack of Serb forces.

Bujku has quoted an Albanian from Skenderaj, Shaban Gashi, as saying that he had seen himself a woman and her teen-age son and daughter being killed near a Serb check-point just outside the small town of Skenderaj. They were killed by the Serb police while in an attempt to move out of the area, he said.

Koha ditore has quoted evacuees from Prekaz village as saying that they had made a narrow escape and that they had witnessed dreadful atrocities. "In Prekaz village the Serbs cut the throat of a 12- year-old boy in front of his mother", evacuees said. They told this to the Koha reporter in condition of anonymity, fearing further Serb reprisals later, the newspaper said.

[04] President Rugova's Aides Arrested in Mitrovica

Dr. Alush Gashi, Presidential adviser for health and humanitarian issues, and two members of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) Presidency, Dr. Rexhep Gjergji and Mr. Basri Musmurati, were arrested today together with their driver, Mr. Lulzim Makolli.

Presidential adviser Gashi and LDK leaders were on their way to Mitrovica and Skenderaj (in Serbian 'Srbica') to get first-hand information about the most recent situation in this part of Kosova.

Villages in the Skenderaj municipality, in the region of Drenica, have been under continued attack by Serb forces, equipped with military equipment.

Scores of civilian Albanians, including women and children, have been reported killed in Drenica during Serb police/military crackdown.

Thousands of Albanians - mostly old men, women and children - have fled their homes from the area surrounding the Drenica region.

[05] At Least 25 Albanians Killed in Prekaz and Llausha Identified

Among them are: Nazmi Jashari, age 27; Qazim Jashari, teacher, together with his son (name and age could not be obtained); Zuk& Jashari, age 67; Sherif Jashari, age 46; Shaban Jashari, age 76; Habib Jashari; Faik Jashari; Ali Jashari, and another person originally from Luboveci, but residing in Prekaz village, his name unknown; Zen& Jasharit, his wife age 43 (her name could not be obtained), and his son Abdullahu Jashari, age unknown; two members of Jashari family, cousins of Zen& Jashari; Halit Jashari together with his wife; two sons of Zymber Jasharit, and some of his neighbours; Hamide Jashari (f), age 70. All of them are natives of Prekaz village.

In Llausha the Serbian forces killed Miftar Rrecaj; Sadik Ka^kini age 46; an Albanian woman together with her two children, Gazmend Gashi, age 15, and Shukrije Gashin (f) age 13.

[06] Old Albanian Woman Dies in Schock, Watching Her Family Being Arrested by Serb Forces

The LDK Information Commission in Skenderaj said that Serb police and military forces arrested yesterday an unspecified number of resident in Prakaz i Ult& village. They had their eyes concealed and taken to the Game Ammunition Factory, outside Skenderaj.

Amongst the apprehended Albanians were Naser Jashari (36), teacher, Bekim Jashari (26) together with three women and 14 children, as well Maliq Jashari with daughter-in-law and her three kids.

Maliq Jashari's wife, Hamide Jashari (70) died of fear and terror while the Serb forces were rounding up her family.

The three Albanian men Naser Jashari, Bekim Jashari, Maliq Jashari were later taken to the police station in Skenderaj where they were harassed for one day and one night. They were quoted as saying that yesterday when transferred to the police stion, Serb policemen with knifes in their hands were waiting for them in front of the doors, swearimng they's slaugher them. One of the polic officers tolld his men they no arsm were found in the housed of the three datainees which made them back off from slaughtering, the Commission said.

[07] Third Day of Serb Armed Attack in Drenica, Shooting Reportedly Dies Down

The sound of firing was heard earlier in the day from Prekaz, as well as the Turi^evc and Vojnik& villages, where two Albanians, father and son, were reportedly shot and wounded.

This source told KIC the presence of Serb forces seemed to be less ubiquitous today. He added though that there was movement of police forces from and to Mitrovica and Gllogovc.

There have been reports throughout the day about forces moving in and out, which makes local sources conclude Serb forces are only redeploying.

A senior Serbian police officer, Ljubinko Cvetic, told reporters in Prishtina today (Saturday) Serb armed operations against Albanian 'terrorists' in Drenica will continue.

[08] At Least 36 Albanians, Including Women and Children, Identified as Killed by Serb Forces

Among them are: Habib Jashari; Faik Jashari; Hajzer Zymer Jashari (aged 29); Murtez Zymer Jashari (aged 16); Ali Jashari; a mother together with her son and a daughter, (names could not be obtained); Zuk& Jashari aged 67; Zen& Jashari, his wife (name could not be obtained), his-twelve-year- old daughter, and his son Abdullah Jashari; Sherif Jashari; Shaban Jashari aged 72; Qemajl Sherif Jashari; Qazim Jashari and his son (name could not be obtained); Naim Zuk& Jashari; Halit Jashari aged 60 and his wife (name could not be obtained); Fehmi Muhamet Lushtaku; Valdet Zen& Jashari age 13; Adem Shaban Jashari 42 and his wife Mrs. Adile Jashari; Hamit Jashari aged 60; the wife of Maliq Jashari (name and age could not be obtained); Isak Feriz Halili aged 65, Nazmi Jashari aged 27 and Ali Jashari, all natives of Prekaz i Posht&m village.

Albanian mother and her two children Shukrije Gashi (f) aged 12 and Gazmend Gashi age 16, natives of Sk&nderaj, and Hamide Jashari (f) aged 70; Sadik Kaqkini aged 46 and Miftar Rrecaj aged 43, natives of Llaush& village.

Meanwhile, the Belgrade-based Serbian pro-government daily "Politika" said Saturday that the Serb forces, besides Adem Jashari 43, have killed also Rexhep Selimi, aged 29, together with twenty others, suspected members of the so-called Kosova Liberation Army (U^K).

A senior LDK official, Rexhep Gjergji, said today he had seen scattered bodies of Albanians in Prekaz.

The number of Albanians killed in Serb attacks is feared to exceed considerably the number of those already identified.

[09] President Rugova's Aides Released After Being Held up By Serb Police

They told reporters they were stopped by Serb police in a fresh check-point and taken to the police station, where they were held for 45 minutes.

"We told them who we were", one of them told KIC.

The three, close aides of President Rugova of Kosova and his party, the LDK, had been to Drenica, in the near vicinity of the villages which have been attacked by Serb forces for the third day in a row.

[10] Serb Army Tanks, Policemen and Soldiers Involved in Drenica Clampdown, LDK Official Says

They penetrated today to the Prekaz i Ep&rm village, very close to the line where the strong Serb siege of the neighboring Prekaz i Ul&t village starts.

Mr. Basri Musmurati said most of the houses of the Jasharaj family compound (totalling 29 houses) have been ruined.

He quoted a local resident - who spent two nights hidden in the garret of his house and managed to get out of the village eventually - as saying that the houses of Halit Jashari, Hamit Jashari, Qazim Jashari, Shaban Jashari and Kajtaz Jashari, bad been burned down.

This local, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the police had forced his 64-year-old mother, his wife and three children at gun point and then entered inside the house for searches.

Today morning, at 7:15 hrs, the house of Zen& Jashari was shelled, set on fire, and burned down, Musmurati said, quoting locals who saw this.

Basri Musmurati said he himself and Dr. Alush Gashi and Dr. Rexhep Gjergji witnessed, around 12:15 hrs today, when the house of Tahir Jashari was hit and set in flames. He said the family three family compounds (Nezaj, Brahaj and Dushkaj) were being fired at, whereas family compounds in the Prekazi i Ep&rm were targeted likewise.

Dr. Alush Gashi explained that they were around 200-300 meters close to the area where Serbs were firing occurred in the past three days. Serb forces have placed a strong grip around the villages, he said.

Dr. Gashi, a medical professor, said the local residents were trying to do their best to help one another in these hard times.

Dr. Rexhep Gjergji, who claimed to have gotten closer than his two companions, said he saw Serb army tanks near the Jasharaj and Lushtaku family compounds. He said he saw Serb policemen and soldiers there, too.

Dr. Gjergji, a mathematics professor, said Serb forces had dug up trenches around the family compounds.

He said he saw bodies of killed Albanians scattered about the fields. "The shooting was sporadic now, while the some Jsharaj family compound houses were still burning".

[11] Rugova's Spokesman Calls for End of Serb Attacks, Establishment of Humanitarian Corridor

The Serb siege of the area should be lifted, and a "humanitarian corridor" established to assist the people in the affected area, Mr. Mustafa said.

Such a humanitarian corridor, under an international monitoring, is necessary to assist the people who are suffering amidst the ongoing Serb armed attacks there, as well as those who have fled the area, he concluded.

[12] Albanian Woman, Who Got Out of Serb Siege, Tells Her Story

Mahije Kodra (37), mother to five, told reporters in Prishtina that she only realized that her husband was killed when reaching Prishtina.

Mahije Kodra spoke in details about her ordeal, and how she made to to the Kosova capital. "I cannot understand how can those mothers [policemen's mothers] let their sons kill innocent children of other people", she said.

Mrs Kodra said that on Thursday morning at about 5 a.m, shelling targeting her village started "out of blue'. Most of the villagers were still asleep, she said.

When realizing that houses in the neighboring part of the village were already in fire, the woman said she grabbed her kids trying to go as far away as she could. Indiscriminate fire from all the directions and all kinds of armament was being discharged in the village.

She said that she had seen three rings of Serb forces cordoning off her village: the first being heavily armed men in 'iron clothes', as she put it; the next were disguised men in black with knives in their hands, and the third were policemen with a bit lighter uniforms and lighter armament.

She ran through the fields and woods, holding her 5-year-old son on her arms while the four other followed her. "My boy fainted. I though he was dead. Only when I sprayed his face with water near a stream he came back to senses", Mahije Kodra said.

The woman told reporters she spent two cold nights in basements of two abandoned houses with her starving kids. The sound of heavy shooting was heard all time, so she did not dare go out.

At some stage, she asked for shelter at some houses but the people were reluctant to let her in, fearing the police were after her, and that they would execute them all for letting in a fugitive.

"We have never done anything wrong to anybody, we have never killed anyone's kids, so why they are doing this to us..." Mahije Kodra said before fainting in front of reporters in Prishtina.

[13] Children and Women Without Food, Men Exhausted, Foreign Journalist Says

We could see some APCs that were near this armaments factory and in between near where the brick factory is. You could also see some police down in groups, with binoculars.

These women are in ^i^avica in a house in two sixteen-by-sixteen meter rooms."

[14] Albanian Medical Personnel Protest in Front of American Center in Prishtina

Dr. Hashim Maloku, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Prishtina University, said that reports from Drenica speak of a large number of wounded people being in a desperate need for medical assistance.

He called on world organizations to help the people of Kosova, to send medical equipment and medication and assist in establishing a humanitarian corridor to the affected area which has been under the Serb forces's siege since Thursday morning.

The USIS Director Richard Huckaby told the crowd that the US State department is deeply distressed over the recent situation in Kosova and that Belgrade has been pressurized upon so to bring to an and the ongoing attacks and allow humanitarian and medical agencies have access to Drenica.

[15] Senior Serb Police Officer Says Action of Serb Forces in Drenica Continues

Scores of Albanians have been slain by Serb forces in their own homes and yards, including women and children, during a huge armed military/police operation, in which heavy shelling and helicopters were used against entire family compounds in the village of Prekaz.

The Serb police officer spoke about both the Serb armed actions of last week-end at Likoshan (in which 25 Albanians, among ten members of the Albanian Ahmeti family, women and people in their mid-teens were killed) and the attacks launched by Serb forces on 5 March in the Skenderaj (Srbica) region.

Serb forces clashed with terrorists at Prekaz i Ul&t village, he said. The police had information indicating that the "core of the terrorist gangs, led by the notorious terrorist Adem Jashari were there".

Around 20 'terrorists' were killed and armament was found there, according to Cvetic.

The Serb police officer said "the action in Prekaz i Ul&t (in Serbian Donje Prekaze') is continuing".

In this way, he contradicted Serb regime statements of last night that the operations of Serb forces in Drenica had been rapped up.

"We have not liquidated all the terrorist yet", he said.

The journalists have not been allowed in the Drenica region for "security reasons". Serb military did not take part in the operations, the Serb police officer said.

He tried to refute credible reports that Albanians have been massacred, and that people who had been rounded up had been summarily executed by Serb forces.

[16] U.S. Won't Tolerate Kosova Violence, Albright Says

Ms Albright said armed intervention by Western states in Kosova was not discussed in her talks with Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, but she did not exclude any sort of response.

"We did not discuss armed intervention...we do not rule out anything out," Albright was quoted as saying during a joint news conference with Dini ahead of an audience with Pope John Paul and meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi later Saturday.

"We are not going to tolerate any return to the politics of divide and rule in any part of former Yugoslavia," she added.

"We condemn the violence. We believe President Milosevic bears responsibility for this," Albright said. "We believe there should be a peaceful pursuit of the legitimate political rights of the people of Kosovo."

The Reuters news agency concluded that "diplomats say Milosevic apparently took an earlier U.S. decision to brand the KLA [Kosova Liberation Army, KIC] as a terrorist organization as a green light to crack down on Kosovo's Albanian militants."

[17] Kosova Albanians Are Being Repressed by a "Brutal Counterattack by the Serb Army", Holbrooke Says

Asked by CNN about the Kosova situation, Mr. Holbrooke said initially that from 1991 on, "the greatest fear of all American policymakers was that Kosovo would explode."

Since it has not exploded before Dayton, it [Kosova] will not affect Bosnia right now because Dayton, the Dayton peace process, "is definitely working." he said.

"However, it nonetheless remains true that Kosovo has always been our dreaded flash point. You may recall that President Bush issued a warning on it in his last month as president and President Clinton reaffirmed it in his first month as president."

We appear to have reached the most dangerous moment, Ambassador Holbrooke said, noting that 90 percent of the people in Kosovo are Albanian, "but the Serbs consider it most sacred territory because in 1389 the Serbs lost the battle there to the Turks."

"The Albanians of Kosova are being repressed by a brutal counterattack by the Serb army", he said. This has nothing to do with Bosnia directly, "but it comes from the same legacy.", Holbrooke added.

Asked by CNN about whether it is a case of rooting out the terrorists, as the Serbs are saying, or it is ethnic cleansing as the Albanians are saying, Holbrooke replied: "The Kosovo Albanian Muslims have been repressed brutally by the Serbs who are only 10 percent of the population for years. There may be some terrorists among the people fighting for some degree of autonomy in Kosovo, that's not the issue. The issue is that the Serbs are using helicopters, gunships, they're killing people. And for this reason the United States, yesterday, quite correctly, started to reimpose some sanctions or, to put it another way, to take away some of the carrots they've recently been giving Milosevic and the Serbs in Belgrade because Milosevic has been helping out in Bosnia."

Asked by the CNN about what is to prevent this from becoming another Bosnia "that drags on for years and costs thousands and thousands of lives?", Ambassador Holbrooke said he "talked to Secretary Albright and her party and to the acting secretary of state about this, and what I would like to say, very clearly, is that they have learned the lesson of 1991-92."

In that case the previous administration left Yugoslavia alone "while the Europeans fiddled around and nothing happened.", Holbrooke stressed.

Madeleine Albright is flying to London Monday to meet with the British, French, German, Russian and Italian foreign ministers and others to deal with the Kosova situation, he said. "The U.S. government is assembling a very strong package of actions which it will try to push through with our allies and friends. The Russians have already objected, but that's traditional. The Russians will always object to anything which hurts their fellow Slavs, Serbs".

The real point "is that we are not going to sit back passively", Ambassador Holbrooke stressed, adding that he believed it was clear that the lessons of the early 90s, "when neglect and ambivalence at the beginning led to a horrendous tragedy have been absorbed".

Asked by the CNN, whether this will require military intervention from the outside in any way, Holbrooke said "only the president can ever make a decision like that... The president has shown in the past that he's ready to take decisive action to maintain stability in this terribly dangerous part of the world."

Replying to a question about the possibility of the Kosova crisis being can be headed off by diplomacy, Holbrooke said it should be tried. "The only way we finally ended the war in Bosnia was when we were ready to confront and people ready to confront the need to use force. And I think the president showed in Bosnia two years ago, and in Iraq a week ago, that he is ready to use that if necessary. And I do not think the Serbs should go around thinking this is 1991-92 all over again when the U.S. said we don't have a dog in that hunt. We have 8,000 troops in Bosnia, 500 in Macedonia, and we care about stability in that area."

[18] HRW Calls on War Crimes Tribunal to Investigate Possible War Crimes in Kosova

In an open letter addressed to Louise Arbour, Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal, HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said the organization has received reports that Serbian police, military and paramilitary forces have indiscriminately attacked civilians and have committed extrajudicial killings in Drenica region of Kosova.

"Evidence strongly suggests that war crimes are being committed, including arbitrary and indiscriminate attacks against civilians and the summary execution of detainees", the letter said, calling on the Tribunal to launch an immediate investigation of these apparent atrocities, to prosecute those responsible, and help deter further atrocities and save lives.

"On February 28, 1998, Serbian police, paramilitaries, and possibly army units began a massive assault on a triangle of villages in Kosovo's Drenica region, believed to be a base for the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA). Tanks and attack helicopters have been used in what the Yugoslav government describes as "a sweep for terrorists." Human Rights Watch has received highly credible reports that Serbian forces have indiscriminately attacked civilians and other non-combatants, especially in the villages of ^irez, Likosan, Prekaz, and Lausha..."

"Foreign journalists have seen the bodies of six victims, including a pregnant woman, Rukia Nebihi, who had been shot in the face, and four brothers from the Sejdiu family, two of whom had been shot in the back" the letter said and added that precise number of casualties is unknown since humanitarian aid organizations and journalists have been denied access to the region.

Quoting Kosovar human rights groups the HRW said "ten members of the Ahmeti family and two of their guests, Behram Fazliu and Shaban Muja, were killed by Serbian security forces after having been detained, although this has not been independently confirmed" Noting that the Serbian security forces reportedly came under fire from unidentified individuals, possibly from the so-called Liberation Army members the letter said that the "Serbian police confiscated a large amount of weapons and arrested a number of people, although their whereabouts and the charges against them are currently unknown. Four Serbian policemen were also killed during the action", the letter says.

"Human Rights Watch recognizes that the authorities may have to use force when confronted with an armed attack, but attacks against civilians and the summary execution of anyone in detention is a war crime, a severe violation of international humanitarian law. Given the level of armed conflict that has now broken out in Kosovo, common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which governs internal armed conflicts, clearly applies. It requires that civilians and other protected persons be treated humanely, with specific prohibitions of murder, torture, and cruel, humiliating or degrading treatment, the letter read.

The Director of the Human Rights Watch recalled that pursuant to the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia "the Tribunal has the power to prosecute individuals who have committed violations of international humanitarian law on the "territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991." There is no end point to this temporal jurisdiction, Roth noted.

[19] Two Villages in Drenica Still Under Random Serb Fire

There were random shootings from sniper and automatic rifles, the source said.

The neighboring Prekaz village was under random shelling and shooting today, the source said. Shooting from automatic rifles was still heard in Prekaz village in the late afternoon hours.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old Albanian, Riad Jashari, native of Prekaz, who has been able to leave the village has described the way the Serb forces have clamped down on the houses of Albanians.

Mr. Jashari, who has found shelter at Oshlan village of Vushtrri (in Serbian 'Vucitern') has told a foreign reporter that masked Serbs raided his house furiously on Thursday. There were 30 people in the house, he said. The women and children were forced to leave the house one by one, while the three males were executed by the Serbs. Two died, while the third was only wounded but let inside the house, he said Riad Jashari said he could leave the house as he had been disguised in women's clothes. When realizing later that he was not a female, Serbs opened fire. He was wounded, but he made a narrow escape.

Huge Serb police and military forces launched Thursday early in the morning an attack against several villages in Drenica region, central Kosova. According to Serb Ministry of police, 20 Albanians were killed. Yet unconfirmed sources says that the number of fatalities has reached 50.

[20] President Rugova Receives Diplomats of Contact Group Countries

The diplomats representing the Contact Group conveyed the position of their government, expressing deep concerns and strong condemnation of actions of Serb forces in the Drenica region. The diplomats expressed their own sympathies for the suffering of the people in Drenica amidst these violent developments.

President Ibrahim Rugova said the situation in Kosova has deteriorated dangerously in the wake of the attacks Serb police and military forces have launched against the local Albanian population in Drenica.

Dr. Ibrahim Rugova urged for international pressure to make Belgrade bring an end to Serb police/military crackdown. He urged in addition for the international community to establish a presence of all possible forms in Kosova so as to create the conditions necessary to pursue a political resolution of the Kosova issue.

The people of Kosova have been committed all along for a political and negotiated settlement to the Kosova crisis, President Rugova underlined, pressing for steppe-up international efforts to secure that a talks process between Kosova and Serbia, under an effective intermediation, is established in pursuit of a peaceful settlement.

"Of the highest urgency now, however, is to get the Serbs bring an end to the outrageous operations in Drenica and allow medical and humanitarian relief in", President Rugova emphasized.

The diplomats of the Contact Group countries were in Prishtina today in the run-up to a ministerial level meeting of the Group in London on Monday to discuss the situation in Kosova.

[21] Brian Donnelly: 'Great Concern about Continued Police Activity in Drenica'

Following is his statement on behalf of the delegation: "As you know, the ministers of the Contact Group countries will be meeting Monday in London to discuss the situation in Kosovo. We've come to get first-hand information on the situation here. We would like to underline our great concern about continued police activity in the Drenica region. We have asked the Serb authorities to cease all actions and to allow free access to the international media and humanitarian agencies. We would like to urge all sides to abandon violence and to devote all their energies to seek a peaceful solution to the problems here.

In this context, we support very much the efforts of Mr. Paglia, and believe that the implementation of the Education Agreement will be an important first step to rebuilding confidence."

[22] Serbian Police Shoots at People on the Move, in Their Yards

The Serbian police shot with automatic rifle in the direction of Ismet Hasani at Lusht& village.

Meanwhile, at noon, a Serbian police sniper, stationed at Klin& e Ep&rme, made an attempt on the life of Aziz Bajraktari, who was on his yard.

Sources in Mitrovica reported late afternoon that Serbian police have occupied, and turned Albanian homes into their base. They occupied the homes of Ismet Bekteshi, Fek& Kadriu and Ismet Osmani at Klin& e Poshtme village of Sk&nderaj (in Serbian 'Srbica').

Nearly all the residents of the villages which have been placed under siege have fled their homes and found shelter in villages outside the police siege, with the exception of some families who have refused to abandon their homes.

[23] Serbian Police Wound Albanian at Klina e Ep&rme

Mr. Bajrami was in his yard when he was shot by the police from a distance.

The Serbian police opened fire in the direction of Mr. Bajrami's daughters, Safete Bajrami (20) and Hava Bajrami (16). Fortunately, they were not hit.

[24] Kosovar Health Care Institutions Press for Humanitarian Corridor in Drenica

In an appeal addressed today to the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Binak Kastrati, chairman of the Doctors Association of Kosova, Dr. Isuf Dedushaj, chairman of the Kosova Red Cross, and Dr. Hashim Maloku, Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Prishtina University say they have credible information that wounded people are suffering under the ruined houses in Drenica, targeted by Serb artillery on Thursday.

The Serb-run medical institution have not "shown any sign of will to fulfil their duty", whereas Albanian medical crews have been denied access to the area which has sealed off by Serb forces.

The Kosova doctors warn that Albanian population in 14 Drenica villages of Drenica under the siege of Serb forces have urgently need medical and sanitary equipment, as well as food supplies.

"We rally count on your urgent support and solidarity", reads the appeal of the Kosova doctors sent to WHO.

[25] 'Milosevic Has Got to Call the Dogs of Repression Back', US Department Spokesman Says

The first step will be the withdrawal of the positive measures Special Representative Gelbard previewed with Mr. Milosevic during a visit in Belgrade last week, Foley said. "We will explore with the Contact Group Ministers on Monday in London additional coordinated measures in response to these events," he said.

James Foley said that the U.S. has proposed that independent outside authorities investigate the deaths of a number of Kosovar Albanians who were killed in violence last weekend. "There are credible reports that they were, in fact, executed while in the custody of Serb police", he said, and added that according to credible reports Serb police operations have been going on in Kosova.

"The United States strongly condemns the violence in Kosovo this weekend, particularly the excessive use of force by Serbian police.

This violence results from the failure of Serbian authorities to recognize the legitimate grievances of the Kosovar-Albanian population", Foley said.

The State Department said that the U.S. message to both parties is that difficulties in Kosovo cannot be solved through the use of force. "But we believe that the Kosovar people - Albanian Kosovars in Kosovo have legitimate political grievances. They have a right to an enhanced status within the FRY, to greater self-administration. These are fundamental political rights and grievances which have not been addressed, and which are the ultimate source of the violence which has occurred in the last days" her said.

"Without wanting to exaggerate, the situation is very grave. Some terrible, repressive acts have occurred. Innocent people have been killed. That's why we're calling for independent outside authorities to investigate those killings", James Foley said, noting that all the sides have been urged to remain calm and exercise restraint.

Speaking of the seriousness of conflict spillover, Mr Foley said the U.S. has "always believed that Kosovo has implications beyond Kosovo, beyond the FRY region-wide. That's why the situation there is so critical, and that's why we are going to be meeting in the Contact Group on this basis, to deal with this issue. We think, indeed, that violence in Kosovo can have an impact beyond Kosovo, and it is critical that the international community come together, as they will on Monday, and make it crystal clear to Mr. Milosevic that he's got to call the dogs of repression back and must sit down and negotiate with the Kosovar Albanians - the moderate leadership there - on the kinds of reforms that will be necessary to diffuse the situation.

Asked whether U.S. has recognized Milosevic's systematic effort to destabilize Kosovo, Mr. Foley said: "He has shown a record over the last decade as a tactician of some ability, but not usually demonstrated an ability to think long-term, to think about the long-term interests of his people in the region; although we have recognized positive steps on Dayton implementation when he has taken those.

"Whether it involves a conscious long-range design or mere tactical maneuvers, the fact of the matter is that the repression that is taking place is totally unacceptable to the international community and will have the most severe consequences.

Mr Foley did not rule in or out the United States or Europe role in a dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

"I think, as far as the United States is concerned, what is important is not so much who is doing the mediating as the fact that the two sides are coming together and sitting down at the table and discussing differences, and discussing the implementation of the real reforms that will address the root cause of the violence and address the just grievances of the Kosovar Albanian people" James Foley said.

[26] UNHCR Is Considering Contingency Plans for Kosova

Reuters has quoted the UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski as saying that "the UNHCR is extremely alarmed by the upsurge in violence in Kosovo" and there is fear that the kind of ethnic bloodshed seen in Bosnia may occur there.

Janowski said that there were reports that large numbers of women and children have fled Drenica but it could not confirm them as three municipalities, Skenderaj (Srbica), Gllogovc and Klina remained sealed off by Serb security forces.

[27] Stern Verbal Warnings Will No Longer Suffice, IHF Says

The IHF recommended that the Contact Group members agree on a common strategy, one that will lead to an end to the police terror and armed violence on both sides and to internationally mediate negotiations aimed at a political solution for Kosova.

"The Contact Group members cannot allow diverging approaches and inertia to render them powerless, to the advantage of those who would undertake systematic murder and ethnic cleansing with impunity. Stern verbal warnings will no longer suffice.

The IHF called for a "Dayton-like" process, adding that only a similar investment of political energy can prevent further massive human rights violations and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

"The IHF fears that recent and ongoing murders and terror by Serbian police units are premeditated elements of a program of ethnic cleansing aimed at driving Albanians into a new political reality, leaving a rump Kosovo free of Albanians, said IHF in a statement issued Friday.

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