Kosova Daily Report #1457, 98-06-11

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1457
Prishtina, 11 June 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Kosovar Negotiating Team Meets with Tony Lloyd

[02] Serbian Crackdown in Kosova Amounts to 'Ethnic Cleansing', Tony Lloyd Says

[03] Protection of the Innocent in Kosova and Prevention of a Wider Balkan Conflict Discussed in Nato, McCurry Says

[04] Serb Forces Shell Gjakova Villages Overnight

[05] Skenderaj Villages Shelled Wednesday and Thursday

[06] Serb Helicopters Fly Overhead Peja, Aircraft Jet over Ka^anik

[07] Kosova Human Rights Council Alarmed over Fate of Activists in Serb Police Hands

[08] 14 Victims of Serb Forces in Gllogovc in One Month

[09] Armed Serb Civilians Ill-treat Albanians in Gjakova

[10] Serb Army Long-Range Rockets Installed Around Prishtina Village

[11] Albanian Shot and Wounded by Serb Forces Wednesday

[12] Peja Train Reaches Prishtina, No Passengers on Board

[01] Kosovar Negotiating Team Meets with Tony Lloyd

In discussions in Prishtina, the Kosovar team briefed the senior British diplomat on the most recent developments in Kosova in the wake of Serbian military operations against the Albanian population in western Kosova, in the region of De^an, Peja and Gjakova.

Against the background of the situation there, international action is needed to bring about an end to Serbian aggressive practices which have resulted in scores killed, many others wounded, tens of thousands driven out of their homes after entire villages were shelled, the team stressed.

Regarding the possibility of resumption of Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue, that cannot be done unless and until Serb attacks against Albanian settlements are terminated, the negotiating team said.

The negotiating platform for talks with 'FRY' representatives derives from the will of the people for independence and its pursuit by political means, the Kosovar delegation said.

The Secretary of State in the Foreign Office Tony Lloyd expressed the deep concern of his government and indeed the European Union over the developments in Kosova.

[02] Serbian Crackdown in Kosova Amounts to 'Ethnic Cleansing', Tony Lloyd Says

He said had a very important meeting with senior representatives of the Kosova Albanian community.

"Yesterday I was in Belgrade, I delivered a very clear message to the authorities, a letter from Prime Minister Tony Blair to President Milosevic.", he said, condemning "the kind of violence that the Yugoslav army, the MUP, have been involved in here in recent months, the loss of civilian life, the loss of lives in generally, the destruction of houses, at least reports of summary executions, these are the issues which I raised directly and made it quite clear that could be nothing other than outrage in the international community."

"I drew the attention in Belgrade to the view of the General Affair Council of the EU that this has amounted to ethnic cleansing.", Tony Lloyd stressed, adding that the violence of any organization, including KLA violence in Kosova is condemned by the EU.

The international community is looking very carefully about what action can be taken by Nato, by the international community to put very clear restraint on the actions of the Yugoslav authorities, he said, speaking about the determination not to see Kosova "engulfed in the type of the violence that caused so much pain, so much loss of life in the past in the Balkans generally."

Tony Lloyd said he made it clear that the EU endorses the negotiations for autonomy for the Albanian people in Kosova within the framework of the FRY.

There should be compromise on all sides, he said, "compromise that the outside world expects from President Milosevic as well from the more extreme aspirations that are expressed here in Kosovo."

"We've got to see an end to the militarization of Kosovo, the withdrawal of those military forces and a return to a normal fleet.", he said.

Nato is examining what options are available and what options are specifically available on Kosova, Lloyd said, in reply to a question.

"We cannot any more defend the argument that it [Kosova] is simply an internal matter.", Lloyd said, adding that this level of death and destruction is bound to involve the international community.

[03] Protection of the Innocent in Kosova and Prevention of a Wider Balkan Conflict Discussed in Nato, McCurry Says

Asked to say whether the President had any reason to believe that the sanctions he imposed on Serbia will have any effect in Kosova, McCurry said Clinton believed that the steps taken by the United States government, "in concert with steps that other European governments", will have a considerable impact.

Sanctions, and economic sanctions in particular, work best when they're undertaken in concert with other like-minded governments, he stressed.

Asked to say whether President Clinton felt that the Kosova situation, unlike the early situation in Bosnia, was a situation where economic sanctions were all that would be needed to stop the ethnic cleansing, Mr. McCurry said other measures have not been ruled out.

"Our interest is in discontinuing any practice that has put noncombatants and innocent civilians at risk. And there's been too much of that practice, which is why on an urgent basis we have been consulting with our friends and allies and other governments in the region on what we can do.", the Press Secretary said in reply to a question whether the focus was on stopping the conflict from spreading rather than stopping what Milosevic is doing in the border areas, inside of Kosova.

"We have discussed in the NATO context a variety of things that we can do both to protect the innocent in Kosovo -- and our interest in that is obviously because of the possibility that any conflict over Kosovo could escalate quickly into a wider Balkan conflict.", President Clinton's press secretary said.

Mc Curry declined to answer a question if a military exercise in Albania could be used to "pre-position either forces or equipment for an eventual NATO activity in Kosova?".

I would refer that question to the Pentagon, he said, adding that considerable NATO-related assets are in the region, and "we operate a lot of air activity out of Aviano already."

[04] Serb Forces Shell Gjakova Villages Overnight

Heavy detonations caused fear and panic amongst the population.

Serb forces shelled Albanian villages from the ^abrati hill, sources said.

Part of the population - mostly women and children - left their homes from the area near ^abrati and sought shelter in other neighborhoods in the town of Gjakova.

The LDK Information Commission in Gjakova could not say for sure which villages were hit by Serb fire.

Local observers said the Serb shelling was perhaps aimed at instilling panic in the town of Gjakova and the surrounding area.

A Serb military unit backed up by heavy weaponry was stationed in the farmstead of Ham&z Avdyli at the Duzhnje village of Reka e keqe today at 9 a.m, local sources said.

Some 300 meters away, Serb forces opened artillery fire on an unspecified target. The action was being carried out in the presence of Serb media.

Eye-witnesses suspected it was a staged thing by Serb forces, namely an alleged attack by Albanians, to justify the heavy overnight Serbian shelling of most of the Reka e Keqe villages.

Serbian aircraft jets flew today over Gjakova and border villages, the LDK Information Commission said.

[05] Skenderaj Villages Shelled Wednesday and Thursday

Serbian forces set fire on the house of Kadri Rreci in Skenderaj ('Srbica') early morning today. Its walls only survived.

The house of Rreci, a schoolteacher, had been looted first by Serb forces, sources said.

Serbian forces launched mortar and machinegun fire against the village of Llausha in Skenderaj Wednesday at 19:00 hrs, a local LDK activist told the KIC on the phone yesterday, adding that the part of the town around Skenderaj Health Center was targeted too.

Meanwhile, other sources confirmed today Serbian forces attacked the Skenderaj villages yesterday, adding that the village of Llausha was shelled with mortars and high-caliber guns.

The Geci family compound in Llausha was targeted yesterday.

The village of Suhog&rll&, which was shelled Monday by Serb forces, was reported desolated.

There are no people in it.

Most of the 50 or so houses in the village were destroyed, burned down or badly damaged during the shelling which left at least three Albanians killed in their homes.

Whether other people were killed in Serb attack cannot still be established, because Suhog&rll&, a village between Skenderaj and Istog, is sealed off by Serb forces.

The Serb action against the village was led by the Serb police officer named Zoran Jovanovic, sources said.

[06] Serb Helicopters Fly Overhead Peja, Aircraft Jet over Ka^anik

Helicopters were flying from Dubrav& via Peja in the direction of Gjakova, they added.

Meanwhile, LDK sources said a Serb aircraft jet flew overhead the town of Ka^anik, a town in sout-east Kosova, late in the morning today.

[07] Kosova Human Rights Council Alarmed over Fate of Activists in Serb Police Hands

Serb police authorities have refused to give any explanation.

Zahrije Podrim^aku, an administrative secretary of the chapter of Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) in Gllogovc, was arrested Monday morning in Prishtina. She was arrested by two Serb policemen in plain-clothes, after having left the CDHRF offices in Prishtina. Ibrahim Makolli, a member of the CDHRF, who was accompanying her, was arrested but was released later in the day.

In a statement issued yesterday, the major Kosovar human rights organization, CDHRF, said it fears that Ms. Podrim^aku may 'disappear' as it was the case with several other Albanians in the past.

Another human right activist in Gllogovc, Dr. Hafir Shala, was arrested by Serb police on 10 April. The Serb authorities have ever since refused to give any information about his fate or whereabouts.

[08] 14 Victims of Serb Forces in Gllogovc in One Month

Xhem& Binaku, head of LDK Information Commission, said at Poklek village alone Serbs killed and/or summarily executed 10 local Albanians, set 29 houses ablaze and demolished a dozen others.

Mr. Binaku recalls it is exactly two months now since a local hospital physician, Dr. Hafir Shala, was apprehended by Serb forces, but no one cold learn a word about his fate.

Dr. Hafir Shala was arrested by Serbian police on 10 April 1998 in Sllatina village in presence of witnesses, his two companions travelling together in the same car.

Dr. Shala was last seen being taken to a Serb police station in Prishtina.

His family and lawyer were repeatedly told by Serb police authorities they knew nothing about him!

[09] Armed Serb Civilians Ill-treat Albanians in Gjakova

Sources in Gjakova said armed Serbs roamed unchecked in the streets of Piskota neighborhood in Gjakova for half an hour.

Passersby and customers in cafes and shops in the area were maltreated and beaten brutally at Serb gunpoint.

Dukagjin Osmani, Nexhat Berisha and Astrit Mala recieved severe body injuries, and had to seek medical treatment later.

[10] Serb Army Long-Range Rockets Installed Around Prishtina Village

Sllatina is a large village near the Prishtina airport, where a huge Serb army base is also located.

Meanwhile, sources in Podujeva, a town in northern Kosova bordering on Serbia, said Serb army troops have been deployed in the border area.

Serb soldiers, huge trucks and other military equipment have been deployed in P&rpellac area, on the Serb side of the Kosova-Serbia border.

[11] Albanian Shot and Wounded by Serb Forces Wednesday

Mr. Zeka, a Skivjan resident, was halted and beaten up first. Then police shot and wounded him.

With two wounds sustained, he was taken to Gjakova hospital.

Brahim Zeka was transferred to the Prishtina Hospital.

Other Albanians were reported ill-treated by Serb forces near the check- point where Mr. Zeka was halted and wounded.

[12] Peja Train Reaches Prishtina, No Passengers on Board

Serb police prevented the passengers from boarding the train in Peja, sources said.

The Prishtina-Peja highway has been closed to traffic a month ago.

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