Kosova Daily Report #1549, 98-09-11

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1549
Prishtina, 11 September 1998

CONTENTS

[01] President Rugova's Press Conference

[02] Serb Troops Mount Heavy Attack against Drenica Villages

[03] 'More Aggressive Action' by Serbs Would Trigger NATO Use of Force in Kosova, Bacon Says

[04] Euro-Liberals Press for NATO/WEU Military Intervention in Kosova

[05] 'Kosova Will Be Ours, Or Turned to Ashes', U^K Says

[06] Thousands of Displaced Kosova Albanians Trekking for Plav&, Montenegro

[07] Latest Report: 16:00 hrs: Serb Military Stops Refugees up in the Mountains

[08] Old and Helpless Albanians Holed Up in Ostrozub Village

[09] Serb Troops Spray with Machine-gun Fire Albanian Communities in Malisheva

[10] Serb Force Local Albanian Help Looting Houses of His Neighbors

[11] Serb Troops Kill Schoolteacher in Skivjan, Gjakova

[12] Serb Police Carries House-to-House Raid in Hani i Elezit Suburb

[01] President Rugova's Press Conference

Rugova condemned in the strongest terms the continued Serb military offensive in Kosova. Serb forces shelled Albanian villages in Dukagjini and Drenica regions this past week, he said. "This produced thousands of new refugees and a lot of destruction of houses and other property, scores of Albanians killed and wounded and hundreds arrested/taken captive".

Some 40,000 displaced Albanians in the Dukagjini region have been at grave risk from Serb forces, the President said, highlighting the appalling humanitarian situation in that part of western Kosova, but also elsewhere.

President Ibrahim Rugova called for an immediate halt to the Serbian offensive in Kosova, which is aimed at "ethnically cleansing Kosova", as well as for international action to ensure a safe return of Albanian refugees and displaced Albanians to their places of permanent residence.

Rugova invoked the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and NATO to offer protection for Kosova and its people. He called for heavier international involvement to save the people of Kosova.

The best solution is independence for Kosova with all guarantees for local Serbs, and an international protectorate as an interim stage, the Kosova President said, reiterating the position he has steadfast on.

A reporter wanted Rugova's comments on the criticism levelled at the U.S. envoy Chris Hill, who, as he put it, has been blamed for dragging on the process of the resolution of the Kosova issue and for actually damaging it. "Mr. Hill has been working intensively of five months", the President said, adding the engagement of the international community, of Ambassador Hill and others who work on Kosova, should be appreciated.

Asked by a Serb reporter on the contents of the plan for an interim settlement in Kosova, Ibrahim Rugova answered by saying that "once it has been completed, the public will be informed about it".

Yet another Serb reporter asked about reports that local and parliamentary elections would be held in Kosova. "These are rumors and speeches. When an interim settlement agreement is reached, all the issues will be discussed", President Ibrahim Rugova concluded.

[02] Serb Troops Mount Heavy Attack against Drenica Villages

The Chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CHDRF) in Skenderaj said the villages of Rezalla, Tic& and Plluzhin& were pounded with heavy artillery fire for several hours.

An 8-year-old girl, Xuf& Ahmeti, and Leutrim Ahmeti (19) were killed in Rezalla village, the CDHRF said. Six other villagers were wounded when their homes were hit by artillery shells: Brahim Ahmeti (1969), Bajram Ahmeti (1987), Makfire Ahmeti (f, 1987), Fatmir Ahmeti (30), Fatmire Ahmeti (f, 17) and Tahir Lladrofci (1976).

Sources in the area said that two other villages, Mak&rmal and Obria, came under heavy fire in the afternoon hours. No reports about possible casualties have been made available.

At least 15.000 people from the villages that came under Serb troops' attack today have been reported on the move, fearing further attacks and reprisals.

[03] 'More Aggressive Action' by Serbs Would Trigger NATO Use of Force in Kosova, Bacon Says

"We are dealing with a problem where people are being displaced from their homes [in Kosova], and their houses are sometimes being destroyed", Mr. Bacon told reporters in Washington, using language typical of those officials who have not actually been in Kosova.

Senior U.S. officials who have toured Kosova in the past couple of weeks - including Julia Taft, John Shatuck and Bob Dole - have said they were appalled by the scale of destruction in Kosova and the atrocities being committed here.

Asked by reporters to be specific about what would trigger a NATO use of force in Kosova, Bacon said, "Well, certainly more aggressive action by the Serbs would trigger it. If we reach a conclusion that the Serbs are not at all serious about a diplomatic settlement, that could trigger it...This is going to be a NATO issue. It's NATO that has come up with the military options, and NATO will have to make a decision about what triggers the use of force."

[04] Euro-Liberals Press for NATO/WEU Military Intervention in Kosova

The Liberal group, which is holding a four-day conference in Venice, Italy, denounced the Serb forces' offensive in Kosova, calling their operations as "low intensity ethnic cleansing". They called for intervention by Nato/WEU forces to halt the aggression and prevent the conflict spreading to other Balkan countries.

The newly elected ELDR chairman, Pat Cox, told the Conference that the lesson of Bosnia when 10 days of targeted intervention created the conditions for peace must now be applied to Kosova.

The ferocious Liberal attack on President Milosevic was backed by EU Commissioner Emma Bonino, who warned the ELDR group at its strategy conference in Venice that the 15 member states should not agree to the Yugoslav leader's plan to run food centers for Kosovar refugees. "That is like asking Dracula to run a blood bank. There must never be a European flag over such a concentration camp", she said.

Mrs Bonino, who visited Kosova recently and was the keynote speaker in the Liberal's debate on EU foreign policy, said: "We are witnessing the kind of ethnic subjugation and violation of human rights which the founding fathers of the European Union wanted to eradicate from the continent when the process of European integration began. Milosevic is the only European leader with any clear project in mind for Kosova - like it or not. He simply terrorizes the Kosovars when he feels it appropriate".

Mrs Bonino criticized European Union leaders for failing to construct a clear joint foreign policy. "Unless we are prepared to define a foreign policy, we will remain an economic giant but a political worm," she said, emphasizing that there is no excuse for the EU not formulating a foreign policy worth its name.

The ELDR emergency motion calls for an interim agreement to bring a swift end to the fighting in Kosova before serious negotiations begin on the final status of Kosova. The group will demand that the European Parliament backs its military intervention proposal by enlisting the immediate agreement of the EU's Council of Ministers.

[05] 'Kosova Will Be Ours, Or Turned to Ashes', U^K Says

"The military and propaganda machinery of the enemy has intensified the fabrication of charges against the U^K, blaming it for alleged killings and massive graves, earlier in Kle^ka now in Gllogjan", the statement said. The Serb machinery is doing this by uncovering the graves and the crimes committed by "specialized Milosevic's criminals".

If they were allegedly committed by the U^K, why then the Belgrade authorities have not granted visas to specialized international organizations to investigate them, the statement said.

The General Headquarters called on the international community to form a team of experts to investigate the crimes committed in Kosova.

The Ushtria ^lirimtare e Kosov&s has not started its war in two minds, the statement said, but rather with the motto: "Kosova will either become ours, or else it will be turned to ashes, with the conviction that death for freedom is nobler that living under occupation."

[06] Thousands of Displaced Kosova Albanians Trekking for Plav&, Montenegro

Musa Go^aj, chairman of a local emergency aid organization in Plav&, told the KIC 475 Albanians arrived in the past three days, by midday today alone 180, who have been offered shelter in the local community center and in the mosque.

Mr. Go^aj, citing accounts of those who have actually made it to Plav&, said some 1,000 people have arrived to a location around 15 km away from Plav&, who need transport to proceed to their hoped- for destination.

Between 5,000 and 7,000 have been on their way, eye-witnesses said.

The people - among whom women, children, sick and wounded - are in a terrible situation, the local activist in Plav& said. Reports which could not confirmed as three of them have died on their way, he said.

Some 8,500 people driven from their homes had found refuge in Plav& municipality by Thursday.

It will be hard to feed and shelter more people, Mr. Go^a said.

[07] Latest Report: 16:00 hrs: Serb Military Stops Refugees up in the Mountains

The terrain where they were stopped is very virtually impossible to have access to, the KIC was told by eye-witnesses. Relief supplies can be provided there only by helicopter.

Activists of the Emergency Council, a local aid association in Plav&, called on international humanitarian agencies to urgently intervene to help these refugees.

After the sealing off of the border with Albania, people driven from western Kosova have seen passage to Montenegro as their only way out to relative safety.

[08] Old and Helpless Albanians Holed Up in Ostrozub Village

Cen Desku, a member of the LDK chapter in Malisheva, told the KIC he has learned the names of the following persons who could not flee the village the day of the Serb attack: Sadik Morina (75), Haxhi Morina (78), Beqir Morina (85) and his 72-year-old wife. Mr. Desku said the number of villagers holed up in Ostrozub may be higher, as the whereabouts of several others are unknown as well.

[09] Serb Troops Spray with Machine-gun Fire Albanian Communities in Malisheva

Sources said that Serb troops moving along the Malisheva- Ostrozub road opened fire on the outlying villages on both sides. There were no human casualties as the villages have been abandoned by their residents for weeks, the LDK Information Commission in Mailsheva said, noting that only the remaining farmhouses could be further damaged.

The Commission also said that Serb troops pillaged the houses of Albanians Thursday and today morning. Lorryloads of looted commodities were taken to Rahovec.

[10] Serb Force Local Albanian Help Looting Houses of His Neighbors

Mr. Bytyqi told the LDK chapter in Malisheva that he was captured in the street by Serb police and was held in their hands for two days. He was compelled to help them pillage the property of Albanians in Banja village. He was then tied to a tractor trailer and was only released with the intervention of the Red Cross, he said.

Sources said that Serbs have been taking tractors, cars, domestic appliances and other items that can be taken away.

[11] Serb Troops Kill Schoolteacher in Skivjan, Gjakova

The LDK chapter in Gjakova said it could not yet learn details on the way the Albanian teacher was killed. He was buried Thursday in the village of Irzniq.

Serb Police Cracks Down on Ferizaj Village Friday Morning PRISHTINA, Sept 11 (KIC) - Heavy Serb police forces cracked down on the Koshare village in Ferizaj Friday morning, harassing and terrorizing scores of local Albanians.

LDK sources in Ferizaj said heavily armed Serbs raided at least half a dozen houses in the village. Several local residents, including a school- teacher, have suffered body injuries when beaten by the police.

The LDK chapter in Ferizaj could not learn the pretext of the Serb crackdown on Koshare. It only reported of stepped up Serb movements of Serb forces along the Ferizaj-Shtime road during the whole course of today.

The vice-chairman of the LDK chapter in Shtime was detained by the Serb police today. Vitor Markaj was reportedly subjected to harassment for a couple of hours.

[12] Serb Police Carries House-to-House Raid in Hani i Elezit Suburb

The local LDK chapter in the town named the following Albanians who had their houses thoroughly searched by police: Faik Brava, Nafi Brava, Sami Brava, Ramadan Bela, Zelqif La^i.

Family members in all these houses were reportedly subjected to brutal maltreatment.

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