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Kosova Daily Report #1482, 98-07-06
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1482
Prishtina, 6 July 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Kosova Observer Mission Kicks Off Today
[02] Albanian Killed Last Week in Drenica Buried Today in Peja
[03] Bodies of Three Killed Albanians Found at Piran&, Prizren
[04] Serbian Forces Shell the Village of Hade Today
[05] Displaced People from Obiliq and Fush& Kosova Need Help
[06] Serb Forces Manning Kijeva Check-point Attacked Outlying Villages
Saturday
[07] Serb Forces Garrisoned in Ferronikeli Plant Open Fire at Outlying
Villages
[08] Outside the Open Conflict Areas, Serb Police Brutalizes Albanians on a
Daily Basis
[09] Serbs Kidnap Two Albanians, Ill-treat Two Others in Suhareka
[10] Three Albanians Wounded in Serb Attack on Grej^evc, Suhareka
[11] Houses of Albanians in Mainly Serb Villages Fired Upon
[01] Kosova Observer Mission Kicks Off Today
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - As announced on Sunday by the U.S. envoy
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, a so-called diplomatic observer patrol was
kicked off in Kosova today (Monday), involving both diplomats and press
crews.
A motrocade made up of dozens of vehicles with diplomats accredited in
Belgrade and other attached to embassies of Contact Group countries,
Austria, representing the EU, and Poland, representing the OSCE, toured for
about three hours from Prishtina to Skenderaj and back.
The motorcade drove from Prishtina through Mitrovica, Skenderaj ('Srbica')
and the villages of Polac and Prekaz i Ult& in the region of Drenica.
At Polac, where today's patrol concluded, Richard Miles, the U.S. Chief of
Mission in Belgrade, said he was told by Serb police that the motorcade, if
it proceeded, would be running into U^K (Kosova Liberation Army) up to the
Komoran check-point, where the first next Serb checkpoint is.
The Kosova Observer Mission has been the main outcome of the Yelstin-
Milosevic meeting in Moscow late last month, both U.S. and Russian
diplomats have noted.
A BBC reporter asked Chief of Mission Miles whether he "realistically
think(s) that this observer mission can do anything to stop the fighting".
Miles said:"It may slow down some fire-fights and outbreaks of hostilities.
We can sense the impending trouble and report back to governments through
channels of communications. They can detect build-ups, and they can detect
areas where tension is great..."
Asked by another foreign reporter if the mission could solve the problem of
missing people, to find out where these people are, the U.S. diplomat said
that 'solving the problem' is too strong a word.
This problem was a concern to everyone, he said, referring estimates of the
ICRC that "there are at least 50 to 60 abductees, as they call, because
they are unable to find out where they are and talk to them."
Miles said their situation would be examined by going around and talking to
people who have information which may be helpful.
The foreign reporter remarked that he understood "there is 50 alone on the
Serb side."
Ambassador Richard Miles then went on to say: "The estimate is 50- 60 being
held by the Albanians. And I've never seen even an unofficial estimate on
those being held by Serbs. But I don't doubt there are some. The difference
is maybe that I don't have any evidence that hostages are being held by
Serb government forces."
Serbian Forces Attack Village of Loxh&, near Peja
Albanian killed yesterday at Loxh&. Today's consequences still largely
unknown PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Many houses in the village of Loxh&,
four km away from Peja ('Pec'), have been smoldering in the wake of a
Serbian attack which started in the morning today (Monday), local sources
said.
Around 6:45 a.m. today, Serbian military and police forces headed towards
the village of Loxh&. They started shelling farmhouses from some distance.
Various arms were reported used.
Local Albanians have been resisting the Serbian attack.
At least five Albanian houses in the outskirts of Loxh& have been burned
down, reports said.
Joining the Serbian army and paramilitary police forces have been local
Serbs from the neighboring village of Gorazdec, sources said.
It all started yesterday, when Serbs entered the village with two Niva-made
cars and arrested an Albanian surnamed Shala. Local inhabitants resisted
the Serb move. In an exchange of fire, Tahir S. Shala (34) was badly
wounded. He died later. A police officer was wounded yesterday too, eye-
witnesses said.
Yesterday, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj toured Gorazdec, a
mainly Serb-inhabited village neighboring of Loxh&.
A large number of the population has fled their homes from Loxh& and nearby
area.
Women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from the villages of
Loxh& and Raushiq.
A source told the KIC at 14:35 hrs, the armed confrontation between
attacking Serbian forces and local Albanians was still going on.
The extent of damage and the possible casualty-toll is impossible to
determine as the area has been sealed off.
Reports said the Serb police has ordered the inhabitants along the roads
leading to Loxh& to abandon their homes.
[02] Albanian Killed Last Week in Drenica Buried Today in Peja
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - By police order, Muhamet Sefer Hoxha (Haxhaj?),
38, resident of the village of Gllareva, municipality of Klina, was buried
today (Monday) in the town cemetery of Peja ('Pec').
The Albanian was killed on Friday, the day Serbian military and police
operation to lift the siege of Kijeva was carried out, local sources said.
[03] Bodies of Three Killed Albanians Found at Piran&, Prizren
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Bodies of three killed Albanians were found today
morning at the village of Piran&, municipality of Prizren, in southern
Kosova.
The body of Muhamet Elshani (56), his son Afrim, in his mid- twenties, and
Sali Gashi, around 20 years of age, all residents of Piran&, were found
today in a cornfield they had gone last evening to irrigate, the LDK
Information Commission in Prizren said.
Muhamet had a bullet past his ear and a round of bullets on the chest. The
bodies of Afrim and Sali were mutilated, the sources said.
Muhamet Elshani was owner of an electric wheat mill in the village, and
Salih was an employee there.
The local population has received the news of their death with indignation,
LDK sources said.
There have been no hints as to who might have been behind the crime.
[04] Serbian Forces Shell the Village of Hade Today
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Serbian forces have been shelling the village of
Hade, in the municipality of Obiliq, today. Reports said, the villages of
Bardh i Madh and Lajthisht& ('Leskosic') were targeted too.
There have been no immediate reports on the material damage or casualty
toll today.
During yesterday's shelling of these three villages, one Albanian was
killed, and two others were wounded at Bardh i Madh, reports said. The
killed was named Daut Pllana (25), whereas the wounded Muhamet Pllana (22)
and Nuhi Berisha (25).
The villages have been attacked yesterday by Serb forces stationed on the
Kosova B power plant in Obiliq, as well as in the villages of Janovod&,
Palaj ('Vodica'), and in the pinewoods at Sllatin& and Pomozetin.
It is suspected that there are wounded people holed up in the area between
Hade and Obiliq. They cannot be pulled out or given medical assistance
because Serb forces have sealed off the area.
[05] Displaced People from Obiliq and Fush& Kosova Need Help
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - An Obiliq LDK delegation visited the inhabitants
of this municipality and Fush&-Kosova, who have fled their homes in the
wake of the Serbian attacks last week, and found refuge in the villages of
Drenica - in Gradic&, Dobroshec, Qirez, Baks, Prelloc, Krasaliq.
Most of the Obiliq and Fush& Kosova residents, displaced from their
villages, have been settled in houses. A number of them found refuge in the
local mosque at Qirez village.
The people need urgently basic necessities, food and medical supplies,
because the host population is itself in a desperate position, the LDK
people touring the area said.
[06] Serb Forces Manning Kijeva Check-point Attacked Outlying Villages
Saturday
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - On Saturday evening, Serbian forces manning the
Kijeva check-point, mostly snipers, opened fire in the direction of the
villages of Bubavec and Mle^an, municipality of Malisheva, reports said.
From 22:30 through 23:30, Serb mortar fire targeted the villages of Bubavec,
Mle^an, Cerovik and Stapanic&, sources said, adding that local Albanian
resistance forces fired back.
There have been no reports on the extent of material damage, or indeed the
casualty-toll.
From the Kijeva checkpoint, reinforced last Friday with Serb forces with
combat equipment, the villages of Rixhev&, Gllarev& and Cerovik of Klina
were attacked Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. All the 100 Albanian extended
families of Kijeva, amounting to 1.500 inhabitants, have fled the village.
It has also 50 Serb families population, with some 250 inhabitants.
The Serbian Dnevni Telegraf paper reported today, quoting unidentified Serb
police sources, that armed Albanians have retaken earlier positions,
surrounding the village of Kijeva.
[07] Serb Forces Garrisoned in Ferronikeli Plant Open Fire at Outlying
Villages
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Serbian paramilitary police forces garrisoned in
the compounds of the Ferrous-Nickel (Ferronikeli) plant in Gllogovc opened
fire Sunday at 17:00 in different directions, local sources said.
A number of Albanian shepherds were also shot at, but not hit. Two cows,
owned by Haxhi Hasi, were hit by Serb snipers.
Meanwhile, Serb forces resumed fire today morning, at 7:50 hrs, from
Ferronikeli.
The farmers have complained their life has all but been paralyzed by Serb
police, who do hamper them in their daily work.
Ferronikeli, the third most important Kosovar industrial plant, besides
Trep^a and Kosova electricity plants in Obiliq, has been closed down for a
couple of months now. Its compounds have been used by Serb forces attacking
the 99 percent Albanian population of the Drenica region.
[08] Outside the Open Conflict Areas, Serb Police Brutalizes Albanians on a
Daily Basis
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Since the Serbian military and police crackdown
in late February - which has left hundreds of Albanians killed, hundreds
more wounded, entire towns and villages destroyed, and more than 120.000
displaced - the kind of daily, routine Serb police repression against
Albanians in Kosova has missed the interest of the media and even the human
rights activists.
Albanian political, educational, and human rights activists, but also
ordinary citizens, bear the brunt of a systematic campaign of Serb police
in towns and villages.
Four Albanians were arrested by police on 2 July at Savinovod& in Gllogovc.
Selman Maxharaj, local LDK chief in Vrell&, Rifat Dreshaj, resident of
Vrella, who was on his way back home from abroad, Fadil Ku^aj, resident of
Sudenica, as well as a citizen surnamed Berisha, resident of Staradran,
were held for 24 hours in police custody in Peja. They were brutally beaten
up, LDK sources said.
A 16-year-old Albanian, Dulah G&rbeshi, was arrested by police in Gra^anic&,
while he was waiting to take a bus to Prishtina.
The Albanian teenager was first beaten up, then forced into a police car
trunk, and shipped to the Serb police station in Gra^anic&. During the two-
hour police custody, he was beaten up and threatened to be killed.
Eventually, Dulah G&rbeshi was dumped onto the street, LDK sources said.
Besim Morina, resident of Okrashtic&, was taken by a police patrol July 5
in the entrance to the town of Vushtrri. He was beaten up badly in police
custody, and had to seek medical treatment.
The Serb police check-point a Nedakovc has become a place of daily- based
ill-treatment of Albanians.
[09] Serbs Kidnap Two Albanians, Ill-treat Two Others in Suhareka
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - Around 14:00 hrs yesterday (Sunday), Serb
civilians kidnapped Halim Byty^i (39), a teacher with the "Bajram Curri"
elementary school i Nishor, the LDK Information Commission in Suhareka
reported.
On Saturday, Serb police abducted Ekrem Veselaj, resident of the village of
Re^an, Veselaj's family said.
Likewise on Saturday, Serb police detained Eshref Mazreku (30) and Idriz
Kryeziun (25), gravely ill-treating them.
They both had to seek medical treatment for injuries. They have been
hospitalized in the Peja hospital.
[10] Three Albanians Wounded in Serb Attack on Grej^evc, Suhareka
PRISHTINA, July 6 (KIC) - On Sunday afternoon, Serbian military troops
positioned at the Duh&l mountain pass shelled the Lubovci Albanian family
compound in the village of Grej^evc, municipality of Suhareka.
The local Albanian resistance forces fired back, local sources said. Two
Albanians were reported gravely wounded - Flamur Perteshi (20) and Nazmi
^arri (30) - Artan ^atani received light wounds.
The gunfire laster till 23:00 hrs.
Meanwhile, reports said there was a stepped up movement of Serb troops on
armored vehicles and APCs in the town of Suheraka today.
[11] Houses of Albanians in Mainly Serb Villages Fired Upon
PRISHTINA, July 6(KIC) - The farmhouse of Hashim Vllahiu at the village of
Lepia in Lipjan was hit with firearms on Sunday at 21:10, local sources
said.
There was material damage, but no casualties.
The house was fired upon from a blue driving car (Ascona) with Mitrovica
license plates.
The village of Lepia has around 80 households, only two of them being
Albanian families.
Meanwhile, reports said the house of Fehmi Namani, in Milloshev& village of
Obiliq, has been fired upon for three days by unidentified persons.
The village of Milloshev& was a Serb settler village erected in the 1920s.
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