Kosova Daily Report #1583, 98-10-15
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1583
Prishtina, 15 October 1998
CONTENTS
[01] There Should Be Principles, Not Off-Hand Solutions, Enshrined in
Kosova Deal
[02] Draft Brims with Expressions Showing Serb Pretensions over Kosova,
Agani Says
[03] Serbs Beefing up Forces, Repositioning in Kosova
[04] Serbs Spurn NATO Ultimatum: 'We Are Not Going Anywhere'
[05] Serb Troops Attack Three Villages in Gjakova Thursday Afternoon
[06] Serb Troops Pound Four Villages with Machine-Gun Fire in Mitrovica
Area
[07] Serb Attack Albanian Communities in Malisheva and Gllogovc
[08] Two Albanians Die from Grenade Left Behind by Serb Army
[09] Half a Dozen Uprooted Albanians Die in Camping Sites Recently
[10] Serbs Have Executed 15-Year-Old Boy in Front of His Family, CDHRF
Says
[11] Serbs Repair Outpost, Loot Albanian Property in Drenica Villages
[12] Serb Police Arrests Gjilan LDK Vice-Chairman and Several Activists
[01] There Should Be Principles, Not Off-Hand Solutions, Enshrined in
Kosova Deal
Kosovars have little to hope from outcome of talks in Belgrade, Muhamet
Hamiti, KIC English Section's chief editor, writes
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - The manner and the matter of marathonic
negotiations that led to Milosevic agreeing to meet minimal international
demands in exchange for reconfirmation of his rule over Kosova and averting
NATO air strikes instills no hope here in Kosova.
The Serbian leader has the upper hand, and the West continues to treat him
as a partner in resolving the problems he has himself created.
Years of Serbian occupation in Kosova culminated this year in a Milosevic-
masterminded Serb military offensive that has turned half of Kosova into a
wasteland: thousands of Albanians killed, tens of thousands of their homes
destroyed and burned by Serb troops, one quarter of the population driven
from their homes.
The West, through NATO in the first place, had raised the hopes, not to say
expectations, in the people of Kosova an end was in sight to the Serbian
military offensive, as well as to the Serb occupation in Kosova.
There is a notable disconnect between the tough NATO stance and air force
assembled in preparation to respond to the Kosova crisis and the kind of
substance offered by the West as a political and diplomatic package in
pursuit of a resolution to the Kosova question.
Dr. Fehmi Agani, the chief Kosova negotiator, told EU envoy Wolfgang
Petritsch Wednesday his team objected to a plan put forward by U.S. envoy
Chris Hill for a political solution in Kosova.
"There is no way that the Kosova problem can be solved if the solution is
sought within Serbia," Dr Agani stressed during a meeting in Prishtina with
the Austrian diplomat, referring to aspects of the plan which link Kosova
to Serbia.
"In the process of the resolution of the Kosova issue, the wishes and
demands of the people here, as well as political developments in Kosova
since the Independence Declaration of 1990, should be taken into
consideration," the Kosova negotiator concluded.
The talks and sets of ideas on an interim accord for Kosova - from what the
Kosovar public knows at least - lack much in substance and seriousness of
attitude.
The West has been insisting on patching up a plan for Kosova. The package
lacks the substance, because it does not take anything for granted, as a
matter of principle. Premises, or internationally acknowledged standards
governing international affairs and behavior, such issues as the self-
determination, have been dropped and replaced with off-hand tactical
solutions in which the will of the Albanian majority becomes hostage to the
wishes of the Serb minority in Kosova.
The eight-member Federal Yugoslavia, to which Kosova was an equitable part,
has ceased to exist. Four of the members have become independent nations:
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia.
Nine out of ten people in Kosova have opted for independence. They see, and
feel Serbia on their skin, as a sheer occupier. The Kosovars have built up
and maintained a civic polity in a bid to survive and pursue their struggle
peacefully.
There is a self-determination principle which has been enshrined in the
peace accord in Northern Ireland, sponsored by the United States of America,
earlier this year. Why should the people of Northern Ireland be entitled to
the right of self-determination, but not the people of Kosova?
The West may well be on an utterly erroneous track if it hopes to seal off
the Kosova problem by forcing Albanian politicians - the much talked about
'moderates' - to subscribe to arrangements leaving Kosova subordinate to
rather than effectively on a par with Serbia and Montenegro, even for an
interim period of time. The 'moderates' would end up being signatories to a
dead letter.
Two principles will have to be enshrined in any kind of document on the
status of Kosova: the people will be free from Serbian rule, and they will
eventually be allowed to determine their future in a democratic way - to
say whether they wish to continue living on a par with Serbia and
Montenegro or go a separate way, become an independent nation. This is what
the right to self-determination is about. This is what a principled
approach to the Kosova issue means.
[02] Draft Brims with Expressions Showing Serb Pretensions over Kosova,
Agani Says
Kosovar negotiating team spells out objections to draft text of OSCE Kosova
Verification Mission
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - The chief Kosova negotiator, Dr. Fehmi Agani,
wrote Wednesday to Ambassador Wolfgang Petritsch, the EU envoy for Kosova,
offering a number of remarks spelling objections to the wording of the
draft agreement between "FRY" and OSCE on the mission in Kosova.
The second paragraph of the Preambular Language should read: "Considering
in particular the importance of reaching a peaceful, democratic and lasting
solution of the problem of Kosova", Agani writes adding that the language
used in the proposed document: "... solution of all existing problems in
the province of Kosovo and Metohija, based on the equality of all citizens
and national and ethnic communities" expresses the Serbian attitude towards
the problem of Kosova.
In addition, this would mean legalization of the forceful annexation of
Kosova by Serbia, the chief Kosova negotiator writes, noting that "Kosovo
and Metohija" is the legitimation name of this annexation.
There is only one problem of Kosova from the point of subjectivity, Agani
says, adding that the paragraph as it stands tries to relegate the whole
question to a lower level, which indeed means negation of Kosova's
identity. "The international community has never accepted such an attitude",
he writes, adding that Kosova has been treated and addressed in different
resolutions and other relevant international documents as a unique
question.
"The proposed document does not include Kosova as a subject of the
agreement, although the agreement deals with Kosova itself", Dr. Fehmi
Agani says.
According to the interim agreement to be concluded soon, Kosova shall have
its on organs. Therefore, Kosova has to be included directly in the
document, Agani argues.
He says that the dispute is between "FRY" and Kosova. As it stands, the
draft paper "legalizes the Serbian annexation of Kosova, which has been the
source of dispute throughout the decade. Serbia should not appear as a
subject in this document. Kosova should appear with a unique name."
Dr. Fehmi Agani concluded that the language of the document brims with
expressions showing Serbian pretensions on Kosova, "like the term 'opstina',
which is the Serbian word for 'municipality'."
[03] Serbs Beefing up Forces, Repositioning in Kosova
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - The Serbian military and police are poised to
effectively call a bluff to the international community by refusing to
withdraw from Kosova.
Commitments are not compliance, President Clinton said Tuesday, referring
to commitments Serb President Milosevic had made in a bid to head off
international intervention.
Following is a summary of reports reaching the KIC regarding the Serb
military and police presence in Kosova today.
Prishtina: Early in the morning today, heavy Serb military and police
troops were stationed in the compounds of the Agricultural Cooperative at
Shkabaj ('Orlovic') village of Prishtina, local LDK sources said. Serb
military has brought combat arsenal, including radar systems, in the
village.
The village of Shkabaj has not so far been a base to Serb installations.
Podujeva: Serbian forces have not been withdrawn from any of their
positions in the northeastern Kosovar municipality. LDK sources in Podujeva
said Serb forces continue being positioned in an area between the villages
of Llapashtic& and Obran^&, near the town of Podujeva. Three lorryloads of
Serb soldiers arrived there on Tuesday.
Heavy Serb forces have been deployed near the Kosovar border village of
P&rpellac, sources said. The Serb police checkpoint in the entrance to
Podujeva has only been reinforced lately, just like the police stations in
Lluzhan, Orllan and K&rpimeh, LDK sources said.
Skenderaj: Serb forces are still positioned in 14 villages of the
municipality of Skenderaj ('Srbica'): in Llaush& (five checkpoints), in
Likoc (three checkpoints), and in the villages of Polac, Mak&rmal, Polluzh&,
T&rnavc, ^ubrel, Vitak, Runik&, Suhog&rll&, Padalisht&, Le^in&, ^itak and
A^arev&.
The local chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and
Freedoms (CDHRF) in Skenderaj said Serb forces have been beefing up their
presence rather than withdrawing.
It should be recalled that before 5 March, when the Serb attack on
Skenderaj villages started, there was only one police checkpoint in the
area (at Klin& e Ep&rme), and two police stations (one in the town of
Skenderaj and the second in the village of Runik).
Serbian forces open sporadic fire in the village, instilling panic amongst
the few Albanians who have actually returned to their homes. Serbs loot
Albanian houses and other property, cutting their woods.
Ka^anik: Two days ago, Serb military forces backed up by combat equipment
and vehicles were stationed in the property of two Albanian family
compounds in the village of Doganaj. The hardware has been camouflaged, and
tents have been set up.
Part of the Albanian population has left the village in the aftermath of
Serb deployment, LDK sources said.
Malisheva: Heavy Serb police forces remain positioned in many villages of
the municipality of Malisheva.
Reports cited Serb forces' presence in the village of Dragobil, on the road
to Rahovec, near the village of Ostrazub, in the town of Malisheva, at
Carralluk&, Shkorashnik, in ^upev& e Ul&t, near the village of Lladrovc, in
Bubavec, Kle^k& and Kijev& villages.
Prior to Serbian attacks in the Malisheva area, only Kijev& had a Serb
police presence.
Prizren: A Serb convoy consisting of 22 vehicles headed towards the village
of Planej&, municipality of Prizren, sources said.
Serb army officers had ordered the proprietors of three shops in the
village to evacuate them, so that they be made available to the Serb
military. The shop owners had to move the goods out by Wednesday
afternoon.
Lipjan: This municipality had no Serb checkpoints before the Serb crackdown
of this year.
Now, there are police checkpoints at ^ylag&, Magur& and Grac& e Vog&l
villages, as well as on the roadway to Shtime.
LDK sources in Lipjan said Serb forces have stepped up movement in the past
few days. A Serb convoy of 20 vehicles travels every day to Shtime in the
morning, returns to Lipjan in the evening, and proceeds in the direction of
Prishtina.
Peja: Heavy Serb military and police troops, backed up by combat equipment,
were stationed in the village of Lybeniq today (Thursday) morning, the LDK
chapter in Peja said.
The deployment caused panic amongst the few Albanian residents who have
stayed behind in the village. The majority has fled to Montenegro after
Serb assaults earlier this year.
[04] Serbs Spurn NATO Ultimatum: 'We Are Not Going Anywhere'
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Serb police and militia commanders in 12 Kosova
cities, villages and army bases said Wednesday that they had not been given
orders to pull out of Kosova by Friday, as required by a U.S.-brokered
agreement, USA Today newspaper wrote.
Instead, several commanders said they were beefing up their forces to
continue battling the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA), USA Today correspondent
added.
"We haven't had any orders to move out, not by Friday, not by Saturday,"
said a Serb police commander in the city of Malisheva, southwest of
Kosova's provincial capital, Prishtina.
"The journey through parts of Kosovo turned up Serb soldiers in armored
personnel carriers arriving for new deployments in Kosovo.
Dozens of camouflaged tanks are still dug into hilltops and Serb snipers
are positioned inside abandoned homes owned by ethnic Albanians", USA Today
wrote.
The American newspaper goes on to portray Serb military and police presence
in several locations in Kosova.
Podujeva, the northern Kosovar town near the border with Serbia, is a case
in point. The area is 99 percent Albanian.
"Podujevo: You'd never see this army base if you didn't look hard. There
are no signs; only a dirt road between two cornfields. It's tucked 200
yards off the main street behind 20-foot-tall piles of hay in the shape of
Hershey's kisses and a dense forest of tall white maple trees.
Behind a haystack sits an armored personnel carrier with 10 soldiers, one
of them carrying a hand-held rocket launcher. On the hill is a bunker with
what appears to be a tank dug into the ground with only its turret sticking
out. Soldiers in battle gear and carrying automatic weapons hide among the
trees.
A Serb sergeant says that the Holbrooke agreement will never be enforced.
He says that NATO didn't really want to bomb Yugoslavia.
When told that NATO could still bomb Yugoslavia if it didn't withdraw its
troops by Friday, the soldier laughed. ''We're not scared of NATO,'' he
said.
"They'll never bomb us, and they know it. We're not going anywhere.", the
Serb sergeant is quoted as saying by the USA Today correspondent on
Wednesday.
[05] Serb Troops Attack Three Villages in Gjakova Thursday Afternoon
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Serb forces resumed attacks against at least
three villages in the Gjakova municipality, western Kosova, today
(Thursday) afternoon.
Sokol Dobruna, head of the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human
Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) branch in Gjakova, told the Albanian section of
the Voice of America (VOA) that at around 13:15 today Serb forces opened
fire on the villages of Krelan and Rakovic&. The villages were pounded with
artillery fire from two Serb army bases, at Suka e Cermjanit (the Cermjani
uphill) and Mrasor village, respectively, he said.
A convoy of Serb forces passing nearby the Dashinovc village sprayed with
machine-gun fire the outlying Albanian farmhouses.
There has been no word yet on possible casualties in the villages that came
under Serb fire today.
[06] Serb Troops Pound Four Villages with Machine-Gun Fire in Mitrovica
Area
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Four Albanian villages in Mitrovica municipality
came under machine-gun fire on Wednesday evening, local sources said.
The villages of Melenic&, Vidishiq, Bare and Bajgor&, were fired into for
over half an hour simultaneously from two Serb bases in Stant&rg and
Kutllofc, just after 19:00 hrs, the Mitrovica Information Commission said.
The Commission could not obtained confirmed information on possible
casualties in these Albanian-inhabited villages.
[07] Serb Attack Albanian Communities in Malisheva and Gllogovc
A 28-year-old Albanian, Adnan Pa^arizi, wounded in a Malisheva village
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - The head of the LDK Information Commission in
Malisheva said Serb forces pounded with artillery fire several villages in
the area both overnight and today (Thursday) morning.
Isuf Bytyqi said the villages along the Malisheva-Kijeva roadway, including
Ostrazub, Dragobil, Maxhar&, Carralluk&, and ^upev&, were attacked from a
Serb base near the Rahovec wine-cellars. Serb shells landed even in the
remote villages of Shkoz& and Guriq, he added. There was no immediate word
on possible casualties in these villages.
A 28-year-old Albanian, Adnan Pa^arizi, was wounded in Dragobil village at
around 18:30 last evening, when his village was pounded with artillery
fire.
Meanwhile, sources in the neighboring municipality of Gllogovc, in central
Kosova, said Serb forces sprayed with sniper and machine- gun fire the
Bazaj and Bylykbashi family compound areas in T&rstenik village, west of
Gllogovc.
A local LDK activist, Fatmir Bazaj, told the KIC the Serb fired into
Albanian communities from two bases up the village. Serb forces have
camouflaged themselves in several places in the area, he added.
Mr. Bazaj said a local old woman, Bahtie Bylykbashi (75), who died on
Wednesday morning, could not be buried because Serb snipers have been
intermittently shooting in the direction of T&rstenik.
[08] Two Albanians Die from Grenade Left Behind by Serb Army
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Two Albanians died Tuesday near Reshan village of
Mitrovica, when they run into a Serb army artillery grenade. Sources in
Mitrovica said the grenade had landed in the area during the Serb forces'
offensive late last month.
The LDK chapter in Mitrovica named the victims as Rifat Smakolli (18) and
Driton Smakolli (20), both residents of Reshan village.
The two young men died on the spot, and were buried in their native village
the next day.
Two other Albanians - Shpejtim Kryeziu (18) and Latif Gollopeni (19) from
Suhareka - died Tuesday when they walked into a mine- field laid down by
the Yugoslav army near Ponashec village, in the Kosova-Albania border
zone.
[09] Half a Dozen Uprooted Albanians Die in Camping Sites Recently
PRISHTINA, Oct 9 (KIC) - A 9-month-old girl, Donik& B. Morina, resident of
Shala village of Lipjan, died two days ago in the T&rpeza village, where
her family had sought shelter almost two months ago, the Prishtina-based
Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said. The girl
died for lack of medical treatment, it added.
The CDHRF said that a local teacher from Krojmir village of Lipjan died
several days ago, also as a result of poor and untimely medical treatment.
The late Veli A. Olluri had sustained slight wounds earlier this year.
A 2-year-old refugee boy died in a camping site in Ngucat on Monday.
Leutrim Kodraliu, resident of Javor village, was staying together with his
family in a plastic homemade tent in Ngucat.
Mr. Ham&z Shala, a local LDK activist in Ngucat, told the KIC that at least
3,000 uprooted Albanians have been still cramming the village.
Another boy, Lindor Hoti (2) from Malisheva, died on Tuesday in another
camping site in Pagarusha village.
LDK information commission's head in Malisheva said the boy's parents
failed to obtain the medication they needed to save their boy. They were
afraid to take him to a hospital for treatment, he said.
[10] Serbs Have Executed 15-Year-Old Boy in Front of His Family, CDHRF
Says
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - The Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of
Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said today that Serb forces have executed
a 15-year-old boy in front of his family members.
Fidan Jetullah Beka was shot dead on 23 September in his village of Gradic&,
Gllogovc, during a large-scale offensive against Albanian villages north-
west of Prishtina.
The body of Fidan Beka was buried those days by his relatives, the human
rights group reported.
[11] Serbs Repair Outpost, Loot Albanian Property in Drenica Villages
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Sources in Skenderaj ('Srbica) said around a
dozen Serb police vehicles with policemen on board left the town today
morning, and headed towards Likovc village. A bulldozer was part of the
motorized convoy.
Serb forces were deployed later between the villages of Likovc and Mak&rmal,
where they have begun reconstructing a base there.
Witnesses told the LDK chapter in Skenderaj later today, Serbs have gone on
with looting livestock in the area. It is being taken away in trucks.
Cattle was collected in the villages of Likovc, Mak&rmal and Rezall&,
sources said.
Reports from Klina municipality said Serbs, both police and civilians, have
resumed looting the property of Albanians in the area. Lorryloads of
livestock as well as household commodities and appliances have been taken
away from Albanian villages in the region in the past couple of days, the
local LDK chapter in Klina said.
[12] Serb Police Arrests Gjilan LDK Vice-Chairman and Several Activists
PRISHTINA, Oct 15 (KIC) - Serbian police cracked down on the homes of
several LDK activists and other Albanians in Gjilan today morning, local
sources reported.
At least 30 heavily armed policemen raided the house of Lutfi Haziri in
Gjilan, vice-chairman of the local branch of the Democratic League of
Kosova (LDK). Mr. Haziri was arrested subsequently, and, by early afternoon,
was still reported in Serb police custody.
The LDK Information Commission in Gjilan named several other Albanians who
had their homes raided on, and were later arrested by the Serb police,
including Tajar Berisha, coach of the "Drita" football club, Ibrahim Oru^i,
Ekrem Qerimi, Nexhat Bunjaku, Ruzhdi Sadiku.
Sk&nder Bunjaku, Rashit Ymeri and Qani Hidiqi also had their houses
searched, at the time they were not at home.
The Serb police did not produce any search/arrest warrants, nor did it
explain why the Albanians were detained, the Commission said. It quoted,
however, the wife of the LDK vice-chairman as saying the police were very
brutal. She said she was warned not to report the case of her husband to
the media.
Kosova Information Center
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