Kosova Daily Report #1515, 98-08-08

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1515
Prishtina, 8 August 1998

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova Receives British Diplomat

[02] Serb Forces Continue Destroying Albanian Houses while Calling for Albanians to Return Home

[03] Five More Killed in Three Villages of Drenica

[04] Two Albanians Killed in Clashes with Serb Troops in Gjakova Area Friday

[05] Serbs Set 24 Hour 'Surrender or Be Bombarded' Deadline to Three Villages

[06] Serb Infantry Sets Ablaze Farmsteads in Polac, Drenica

[07] Serbs Shell Village near Shtime Friday Night

[08] Serb Troops Launch Artillery Missiles from Town of Prizren

[09] Serbs Occupy Albanians' Flats in Klina

[01] President Rugova Receives British Diplomat

On behalf of political directors, the British diplomat delivered to President Rugova a letter of options of the Contact Group on the political resolution of the Kosova issue.

Rugova and Donnelly discussed about the current developments in Kosova and the prospects for a negotiated settlement.

The situation is extremely grave as the Serbian military and police offensive against Albanians in Kosova continues, President Rugova said, pressing for an urgent international intervention to halt this offensive and protect the people of Kosova.

Regarding the political resolution, Rugova said the best solution for the entire region is for Kosova to be an independent and neutral country, with an interim stage international protectorate pending a lasting solution. This arrangement is based on the legal and constitutional position that Kosova enjoyed in the former Yugoslav federation, which has disintegrated, and the express political will of the people in the national referendum for independence.

Negotiations for the resolution of the Kosova issue are necessary, but the appropriate conditions for substantial and fruitful talks should be created first, President Rugova said.

Ambassador Donnelly expressed his government's concern over the situation in Kosova, adding that it stands for a political resolution.

[02] Serb Forces Continue Destroying Albanian Houses while Calling for Albanians to Return Home

Gunfire is reportedly continuing around the railway tunnel at Ujmir village, where local Albanian forces have been resisting Serb troops.

Only 12 Albanians killed by Serb forces have been identified yet, but the casualty-toll is presumed to be much higher.

The plight of some 30,000 Albanians, displaced from their homes in the wake of the Serb offensive, is alarming, LDK sources said, adding that the population is threatened with starvation and a total lack of medication.

There was sporadic shooting yesterday in the villages of Cerovik, Zab&rgj&, ^abiq and Dob&rdol.

Two Serb tanks levelled everything to the ground in the Buzhala family compound of ^abiq village yesterday, sources said.

The Serb regime's call for displaced Albanians to return to their homes is hypocritical for most of the Albanian houses in the municipality have been destroyed by Serb troops, the LDK Information Commission said.

[03] Five More Killed in Three Villages of Drenica

Murat Musliu, an activist with the Council for the Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said Ilmi (Veli) Kadriu (51) from Likoc village was killed, as well as Sokol Aruqi (60) from Rezalla, a sick woman from the Zabelaj family compound in Rezall&, as well as two young Albanians from the village of Abria e Ep&rme. The bodies of the latter have not been identified because their bodies have been carbonized in the fire caused by a shell.

In the Serb offensive the villages of Polac, Kryshec, Morin&, Rezall&, A^arev&, Tic& and Pllozhin& have been almost completely destroyed.

In the village of Likoc the houses of the Zymeraj, Veselaj and Topallaj family compounds have been destroyed, as well as the elementary school building, the community center, the medical center and all the shops and businesses, local sources said.

Tens of thousands of Albanians displaced by Serb offensive have been streaming towards Mitrovica and Vushtrri, most of them being still in the open.

In the fields near the village of V&rbovc there are some 30,000 inhabitants, most of whom women, children and the elderly. They lack food and drinking water.

[04] Two Albanians Killed in Clashes with Serb Troops in Gjakova Area Friday

The LDK chapter said two Albanians were killed at Vraniq village, where the heaviest clashes were fought last evening. Tun& Leshaj (73) and Kol& Lleshaj died while attempting to repel the offensive of troops on their village, the LDK said.

Serb forces took the bodies of Albanians to the town morgue in Gjakova last evening.

The LDK said many shells landed in the Vraniq village yesterday, inflicting immense damage to the farmsteads there. Women, children and weak persons were evacuated from the village, fearing a possible crackdown by heavy Serb police, army and paramilitary troops.

Skirmishes between Serb troops and local Albanians were fought Friday around the villages of Koshare and Junik in the Reka e Keqe region, local sources said.

Reports said the local population is on a move fleeing the continued Serb offensive.

According to the LDK chapter in Gjakova at least 27 villages in the municipality have become ethnically cleansed since the beginning of the Serb offensive in south-west Kosova. At least 40.000 people from this region have fled their homes, many being still on the run and others sheltered in other parts of Kosova, the report said.

[05] Serbs Set 24 Hour 'Surrender or Be Bombarded' Deadline to Three Villages

On Friday afternoon, the Serb police and army sent an ultimatum to the three villagers to surrender by 18;00 hrs today, or else be razed to the ground.

The villages of G&r^in&, Lipovec and Skivjan have not been attacked by Serb forces since the conflict break-out in the western Kosova last spring.

The LDK chapter in Gjakova has cautioned residents of these three villages not to fall pray to provocations which may be well exploited by Serbs to launch bloody campaigns against them.

[06] Serb Infantry Sets Ablaze Farmsteads in Polac, Drenica

The CDHRF said the Serb infantry, backed up by armored vehicles, has been advancing in the direction of all the neighborhoods of the Polac village. They have been dousing houses with petrol and setting them ablaze, he said.

Several other villages near Skenderaj, including Llausha, Likoc and Rezall&, which were successively pounded with Serb artillery during the pats few days, were all on fire Friday afternoon, local sources said.

[07] Serbs Shell Village near Shtime Friday Night

The LDK chapter in Shtime said it could not learn whether there were any casualties in Godanc, noting only that several houses were hit and damaged badly, including those of Asllan Hasani and Avdi Vesli.

The village was pounded for about one hour from a police checkpoint near Shtime.

A large number of Albanians from the southern part of Drenica have been sheltered in the village, who together with the local villagers began fleeing the village during the last night and today morning, fearing other Serb attacks.

[08] Serb Troops Launch Artillery Missiles from Town of Prizren

The LDK chapter in Prizren said that Serb troops garrisoned near the "Farmakosi" plant fired missiles in the direction of the surrounding hills yesterday at around 6 p.m. Today morning, at around 9 o'clock, five cannon shells were launched from a Yugoslav army barracks in the town.

LDK sources in Prizren could not confirm the location the missiles landed, noting only that shooting added to the growing uncertainty as Serbs continue their campaign of intimidation.

[09] Serbs Occupy Albanians' Flats in Klina

It is the Albanians who have been forced to flee their homes amidst the Serb campaign of violence that have had their flats seized now.

The house of Destan Selimi has been burned in the town of Klina, as well as the three-storey house of an Albanian surnamed Ra^i, LDK sources said.

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