Kosova Daily Report #1407, 98-04-22

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1407
Prishtina, 22 April 1998

First Edition: 11:30 hrs
Second Edition: 15:45 hrs

CONTENTS

[01] EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN DE^AN - Build-up and Garrisoning of Serb Forces, Sporadic Shooting at Baballoq

[02] Additional Serb Army Forces Deployed along Kosova-Albania Border Zone

[03] Serbian Police Vacate Police Station in Irzniq

[04] President Rugova Receives ICRC Officials

[05] LDK Demands Cessation of Armed Actions of Serb Forces in Kosova

[06] Sporadic Serb Shooting at Baballoq Continues, Population on the Move in Fear

[07] Broek and Kinkel Support Idea of Kosova Talks on Neutral Ground

[08] Talbott Describes Kosova as "Extremely Urgent, Difficult and Dangerous Problem"

[09] Serb Police Compels Albanians Build Barricades around Police Bases

[10] Serb Army Tanks Parading through Prishtina Village

[11] Serb Police Orders Albanian Family to Vacate House

[12] Serb Police Beats Albanian Interpreter Accompanying Deutsche Welle Reporter

[01] EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION IN DE^AN - Build-up and Garrisoning of Serb Forces, Sporadic Shooting at Baballoq

Baballoq is an Albanian village, with 180 households and around 1600 inhabitants. Around 300 meters away a housing unit for Serb settlers has been built.

The Information Commission of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) branch in De^an said the sound of sporadic shooting can be heard today at Baballoq village.

At 7:30 hrs today, a military convoy, equipped with heavy weaponry, reached De^an from Peja ('Pec'), and headed for the village of Baballoq.

The Albanian village was under sporadic Serb fire yesterday (Tuesday) from 10:45 through 20:15, local sources said. Serb police, military as well as Serb settlers from the refugee settlement took part in the attack.

Meanwhile, Serb press reported today of armed confrontations yesterday, laying the blame on the Albanian side. It is reported that the road block erected along the Gramo^el-Gllogjan road near the Serbian refugee settlement has allegedly been attacked by Albanians. The police fired back, the Serb reports said, adding that there were no casualties on the Serb side.

LDK activists paid a visit to Baballoq last night. They told KIC there were no reported casualties among the local inhabitants resulting from yesterday's Serbian attack.

Yesterday's attack against the Baballoq village is the first massive attack after the one launched by Serb forces on Gllogjan village on 24 April, when three Albanians were killed and several others wounded in their homesteads.

The situation in De^an has been explosive for days now.

The Serbian authorities and forces have been engaged in activities which bespoke an impending full-scale attack against Albanian villages. This has become all the more evident in the aftermath of the Serb regime orchestrated evacuation of Serbs and Montenegrisn from the villages.

[02] Additional Serb Army Forces Deployed along Kosova-Albania Border Zone

The LDK Information Commission in De^an said Serb army units have been positioned yesterday afternoon in the fields and forests around Vokshi and Juniku villages, as well as in a plateau called Shkoza in the border zone. Residents of the area have been extremely anxious about what may happen in the next days or even hours, sources said.

Residents of Sllup village - women, children and elderly people - have already abandoned their homes. They have found temporary refuge at Drenoc village.

Local population from other Kosovar villages near the Kosova- Albanian border zone has been reported moving out of the area.

[03] Serbian Police Vacate Police Station in Irzniq

The whole police personnel, as well as the equipment of the Irzniq police station, were moved out in a lorry yesterday at around 17:00 hrs, the LDK Information Commission in De^an said.

Residents of Irzniq fear before leaving the Serb police could have planted mines in the building.

Some of the Serb printing media announced Tuesday that the police station in Irzniq was to be vacated shortly.

[04] President Rugova Receives ICRC Officials

President Rugova and the ICRC officials discussed the situation in Drenica and other parts of Kosova in the wake of massacres committed against the local Albanians by the Serbian forces.

ICRC officials expressed their profound concern over the worsening situation in Kosova, and spoke about the efforts and activities of the organization to help the affected area in Drenica with humanitarian aid.

Dr. Rugova thanked the ICRC and Mr. Haldimann for his work in Kosova, and welcomed the efforts of the organization to help the vulnerable under very difficult conditions in Drenica and other parts of Kosova.

[05] LDK Demands Cessation of Armed Actions of Serb Forces in Kosova

In a statement, the LDK, the main political party in Kosova, condemned the crackdown of Serbian police and military forces Tuesday and Wednesday in Baballoq village of De^an. The Serb attack on Baballoq, artillery and grenade launchers having been used, heralds the danger od fresh Serb massacres, like the one against the Albanian people in the Drenica region, the LDK said.

The party called for an immediate withdrawal of Serbian police and military forces from villages in the De^an and Gjakova municipalities. The extremely huge build-up of Serb forces there, which have been showing threatening force against the local population, could result in large-scale massacres that would endanger the entire region, the LDK said.

The party warned in the statement that the arming by the Serb regime of the local civilian population is yet another proof of the militarist course the regime has been pursuing. "Serbia is bringing in fresh police and military troops on a daily basis in Kosova, and is setting towns and villages under siege".

There are indications that the Serbian authorities are preparing the public opinion for an impending onslaught, the LDK stressed, referring to remarks by a senior Serb police officer who said there may be hundreds of casualties on 24-25 April, amidst a possible provocation by Albanian militants.

[Reuters agency quoted "an authoritative Serbian source" as saying: ``What we fear is a big provocation by the KLA around April 24 or 25 which will prompt major police action. "Casualties could climb into hundreds and affect the Contact Group's verdict against Belgrade," the source was quoted as saying by Reuters April 21.] Given the dramatic situation and the possible scenarios of the Serbian military and paramilitary forces, the LDK called on "the United States, the Contact Group, the European Union, and the UN" to take urgent and decisive preventative measures against the war- mongering activities of the Serbian regime.

"Preventing the terror of Serbian forces is of critical importance to pave the way for a political resolution of the Kosova issue, and the peaceful implementation of the will of the people for independence", the LDK said in its statement.

At the end of the statement, the LDK called on the Albanian population of the De^an and Gjakova villages to stay in their homes and not flee the area. By leaving the area, they would only help Serbian schemes of ethnic cleansing of Kosova, the party concluded.

[06] Sporadic Serb Shooting at Baballoq Continues, Population on the Move in Fear

The Information Commission of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK) branch in De^an said the sound of sporadic shooting can be heard still at Baballoq village.

The Albanian village came under Serb gunfire and grenade attack yesterday (Tuesday) from 10:45 through 20:15, local sources said.

Serb police, military as well as Serb settlers from the refugee settlement took part in the attack.

There is panic in this as well as other Albanian villages in the municipality, the LDK sources said, adding that the population is moving out of the area in fear of imminent Serb massacres. People are heading for Peja ('Pec') and Prishtina, eye-witnesses said.

The situation in De^an has been explosive for days now.

The Serbian authorities and forces have been engaged in activities which bespoke an impending full-scale attack against Albanian villages. This has become all the more evident in the aftermath of the Serb regime orchestrated evacuation of Serbs and Montenegrisn from the villages.

There have been reports of increasing Serbian forces's build-up along the border zone with Albania.

LDK sources in Gjakova said Serb military forces have been stationed in the compounds of the former tobacco factory "Virgjinia" at Ponoshec village. Other troops have been heading for the villages of Koshare and Botusha, situated two to four kilometers from the Kosova-Albanian border, sources said.

The LDK branch information commission in Gjakova said heavily armed Serb military forces headed today for the Dushkaja region. Some of them have been stationed near the Radoniq lake, whereas the rest at a location called "Boka" near Zhdrella village.

There is growing fear among the local population in the municipality. Inhabitants of Grama^el and Palabardh villages which are close to the De^an municipality have started moving out, heading for other villages or the town of Gjakova, LDK sources said.

[07] Broek and Kinkel Support Idea of Kosova Talks on Neutral Ground

"Has the time not come yet for the international Contact Group to invite the parties to some territory outside the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to talk maybe about talks?", External Relations Commissioner Hans van den Broek said Tuesday in Brussels during a conference at the European Parliament.

Van den Broek said the European Union should contribute "more actively and visibly" to finding a solution, and consider sending troops from its defence arm, the Western European Union (W&U), to neighboring countries like Macedonia or Albania.

"The EU has, in my view, to play a more active role itself", he told the conference, Reuters reported.

"That's why I would recommend that the (EU) Council of Ministers, or the ministers of the WEU would discuss what kind of contribution they can make", Broek said.

German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel was quoted as saying he saw no room for a military presence by the United Nations or NATO in Kosova itself.

Speaking at the same conference, Kinkel said Van den Broek's idea of neutral-territory talks on Kosova was "well-advised".

"I agree with Hans van den Broek that the Europeans have to come clean on this and say where they stand [on Kosova],'' Kinkel told the conference.

[08] Talbott Describes Kosova as "Extremely Urgent, Difficult and Dangerous Problem"

In a brief press conference held after the meeting, the US Deputy Secretary of State said "my colleagues from the United States government and I are on a Presidential mission that is taking us to the capitals of all members of the Contact Group in the former Yugoslavia. We are working on an extremely urgent, difficult and dangerous problem of Kosovo which poses threat to the peace and security and stability of an important region in Europe and therefore to transatlantic community as a whole, which Poland and the United States are part of".

"President Clinton, sending us on this mission, instructed us specifically to come to Warsaw, to meet Mr. Geremek in his capacity as the chairman in office of the OSCE", the senior U.S. official said, adding that "we will be working very closely with him and his colleagues and Mr. Gonzalez in the days and weeks ahead as we continue to find the solution to this very important problem".

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Strobe Talbott said "the important thing is for the international community to use resources that it has at its disposal to convince the parties in the Kosovo conflict that it is in their own self-interest to enter unconditionally into dialogue that will lead to a lasting settlement."

The key components of such a settlement, according to the Deputy Secretary of State Talbott, are that it (the settlement) "be based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of international borders", and that the dispute be resolved peacefully, Talbott said.

[09] Serb Police Compels Albanians Build Barricades around Police Bases

Over the past couple of days, sand-bag barricades were erected around the police stations in Lluzhan, K&rpimeh and Orllan, as well as the "Besiana" motel in Podujeva which was turned into a Serb police base several years ago, the LDK Information Commission in Podujeva said.

Reportedly, Albanians were compelled by Serb police to fill bags with sand and transport them to police stations.

Meanwhile, the chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Podujeva said that around 60 Serb army vehicles with combat equipment on board drove though Podujeva on Monday afternoon. The convoy which was coming from Serbia drove in the direction of Prishtina, the CDHRF said.

[10] Serb Army Tanks Parading through Prishtina Village

LDK sources in Shkabaj said the Serb army convoy drove through the village first in the morning hours to return again at around noon.

The Serb army troops have bee reported garrisoned later around the memorial complex of Gazimestan, about five km north-west of Prishtina.

[11] Serb Police Orders Albanian Family to Vacate House

Sejdi Gashi was given a three-day time to move his family out of the house, the Prishtina-based newspaper Koha ditore said today.

The newspaper said the Serb police broke brutally into the house of Sejdi Gashi on Monday. Mr. Gashi was told he should vacate the house because, as the police put it, "it is located in a dangerous area". In case he failed to vacate the house, the police themselves would throw out his family, Gashi was told.

Quoting LDK sources in Kijeva, Koha ditore said that all the Albanian families in the vicinity of the recently established police check-point in Kijava have abandoned their houses. Serb policemen have been housed instead in a couple of houses there.

[12] Serb Police Beats Albanian Interpreter Accompanying Deutsche Welle Reporter

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