Kosova Daily Report #1588, 98-10-20

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1588
Prishtina, 20 October 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Aspects of Holbrooke-Milosevic Kosova Deal Revealed

[02] Situation in Kosova Unchanged, Despite NATO Threats, LDK Says

[03] U^K Representative Holds Press Conference in Prishtina

[04] Serbs, 'Black Hand' Members, Hack KIC Web Page Overnight

[05] Mother and Baby Receive Life-Threatening Wounds When Serb Shell Hits Their Home

[06] Serb Police in Lipjan Arrests Four Albanians from Malisheva

[07] Serb Forces Open Fire from 13 Locations in Klina on Tuesday

[08] Only 12 Houses, Out of 220, Remain Intact from Serb Shelling of Lybeqeva Village

[01] Aspects of Holbrooke-Milosevic Kosova Deal Revealed

Milosevic has accepted "an intrusive verification regime including OSCE monitors on the ground and unrestricted NATO surveillance in the airspace over Kosovo", the NSC said, adding that the Belgrade leader had agreed on a specific timetable "for completing talks with the Kosovar Albanians that will Kosovo self-government and its own local police."

Milosevic agreed to reach a "basic agreement with Kosovars on an interim settlement by November 2", the NSC fact sheet stressed.

Early November for the conclusion of an agreement on Kosova was cited as a time frame by the Serbian government last week, too.

The NAC fact sheet spells out that Milosevic has agreed that the Kosovar Albanians will have self-government and to the creation of Kosovar institutions of government, but does not indicate the status of the constitutional framework. 'FRY' President Milosevic and Serbia have spoken of a limited Kosovar self-rule within Serbia, which has been rejected all along by the Kosova leadership as utterly unacceptable, and spurned as an attempt to legalize the Serbian occupation of Kosova.

The NSC fact sheet of October 19 unveiled in addition details of the NATO Air Verification System, which amount in some aspects to a virtual imposition of a 'no-fly' zone over for Serbian jets over the Kosova skies.

NATO will have unrestricted aerial surveillance of Kosova, the NSC noted. It then went on to say: "['FRY'] Air defense systems will be removed from Kosovo or stored in cantonment areas, and no FRY fighter aircraft will fly within Kosovo or in a surrounding "mutual safety zone" during NATO-manned reconnaissance mission."

The NATO Air Verification Mission provides an "immediate and addition means to verify FRY compliance, while also reminding Milosevic of the proximity of NATO air power", the NSC said.

With regard to the obligations of the Kosovars, who have not been directly involved in talks, the NSC fact sheet reads: "We have made it clear that we expect the Kosovar Albanians to do their part by refraining from violence, participating in negotiations, and supporting the verification regime."

The Kosovar armed force, the U^K (Kosova Liberation Army), has declared officially it will "show self-restraint". President Ibrahim Rugova has repeatedly stated his commitment to a negotiated settlement in Kosova, and supported last week the NATO and OSCE verification system.

[02] Situation in Kosova Unchanged, Despite NATO Threats, LDK Says

Belgrade has not given signs it will significantly withdraw troops, the LDK said, although a four-day deadline has been extended to a further ten-day grade period.

By moving troops inside Kosova, repositioning them here, Belgrade is keen on misleading the world it is actually implementing the commitments, the LDK said. "Not only is this a mock withdrawal, but we have information indication Serbs are beefing up troops in some areas, such as in Podujeva, Ka^anik, Klina, as well as the border area with Albania."

Under the pretext of still unsolved attacks on Serb police forces, the Serbian regime has embarked on new attacks against the Albanian population, the LDK said, adding that people have had to flee their homes as a result.

The LDK called on international factors to force Serbia implement abide fully by the UN Security Resolution, an LDK press release issued after a party leadership's meeting today concluded.

[03] U^K Representative Holds Press Conference in Prishtina

The Serb regime media has claimed that two journalists of the Serb news agency Tanjug were apprehended somewhere in Kosova by members of the U^K on Sunday.

If the two Serb journalists were detained by members of the Liberation Army of Kosova and if they are being held in any of the local HQs, nothing bad will happen to them, Adem Dema^i told reports in Prishtina today. But he did not rule out the possibility that the two Serbs could have been apprehended by other people, non-U^K men, and in such a situation he would be able to do nothing. He regretted the fact that the two journalists and others failed to visit his office and receive accreditation before touring Kosova.

Mr. Dema^i noted that the alleged abduction of the Serb journalists may as well be only a Serb game to blame the U^K. The killing of three Serb policemen last weekend may be also part of such a game in order to discredit the U^K, after it had declared self- restraint.

The U^K representative called on the Serb regime to demonstrate signs of good will, for, as he put it, creating the climate for negotiations and agreements. One such signs could be the release of all (political) prisoners and hundreds of others apprehended by Serbs in the past months. "The U^K has no intention to bargain with people, and it will not insist in exchanging prisoners or using them for political goals," he said.

Adem Dema^i told reporters that the office of the International Red Cross could more helpful than he himself in finding out where detainees are being held, and helping to secure their release. "I cannot do a lot on the ground", he said.

Referring to some reported comments by Jiri Dinstbir, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, that members of U^K were "Maoists", "Stalinists" or "Hoxhaists", Adem Dema^i said one can only build such assertions on Serb propaganda. Such accusations are disgraceful, he said, adding he expected to meet Mr. Dinstbir soon and seek clarifications from him.

Adem Dema^i said over the past days he had intensive meetings with different political forces and their representatives in Kosova, including the Kosova Parliament, and the LDK.

"Every political force which honors the will of the people of Kosova expressed in the 1991 Referendum insists that there cannot be agreement which disregards the right of the Kosovars to self- determination", he said. He revealed the U^K Headquarters had authorized him to create a national assembly and a government involving a broad political specter in Kosova. "We will have another negotiating Kosovar team, which will be able to conduct direct talks with the Serbs," Dema^i concluded.

[04] Serbs, 'Black Hand' Members, Hack KIC Web Page Overnight

In the front page of the KIC, hackers installed the Serbian national symbol, with captions reading in Serbian and poor English: "Welcome to the Web page of the biggest liars and killers"!, as well as in Serbian, "Brothers Albanians, this coat of arms will be in your flag as long as you exist"!

Visitors to the KIC Web page intervened immediately, phoned the KIC HQ in Prishtina, outraged by this hacking. Albanian students contacted the provider in New York, preventing a further intrusion into the KIC Web page. Today morning (local time in Prishtina), the original contents of the KIC pages were restored.

The circumstances surrounding this intrusion will be investigated.

A few days back, a similar fate befell the Web page of the Albanian newspaper "Z&ri i Kosov&s".

Such intrusion may be the work of individual hackers, but also of Serbian government circles, who have embarked in the recent weeks on campaign of intimidation of Albanian media in Kosova.

[05] Mother and Baby Receive Life-Threatening Wounds When Serb Shell Hits Their Home

A local activist in the village said today morning that both the mother and her baby were in a life-threatening condition, unable to be taken to a clinic because of Serb forces' presence in the area.

Sources in Malisheva said the village of T&rpeza was shelled on two occasions yesterday and overnight, from 17:15 through 19:00 hrs, and from midnight until 1:00am. Over 20 mortars landed in the village during the first round of shelling alone. The local school and medical center were also hit. One grenade hit a house where around 40 people were sheltering in the cellar, but none was injured, a witness said.

Several Serb army mortars landed last night in the neighboring village of Novosell&, causing panic in the population who then headed towards the Berisha and Kishnareka villages, where at least 3,000 people have been camping out.

[06] Serb Police in Lipjan Arrests Four Albanians from Malisheva

The LDK chapter in Malisheva said Xhemshir Berisha (30), Hasan Berisha (23), Sokol Berisha (21) and Dem& Berisha (19) were arrested yesterday morning at Kraishta village of Lipjan. One of them was released later in the day yesterday, but the three others are being held in police custody, presumably in Lipjan jail.

The source said that the Albanians were halted by a Serb police patrol, who arrested them on seeing they were from a Malisheva village. The Serb police did not produce any explanation or arrest warrant, but simply handcuffded them and drove them away in the direction of Lipjan.

[07] Serb Forces Open Fire from 13 Locations in Klina on Tuesday

The LDK information Commission in Klina said Serb forces opened artillery fire from 13 different positions between the villages of Dollc and Sferk& during mid-morning hours today.

At around 9:00 hrs, fresh Serb army forces in 3 armored cars and 5 trucks trailing artillery pieces were deployed at Sferka village.

These troops, alongside with others dug in in that area earlier, continued staying there during afternoon hours today. Activists in the area reported of sporadic shooting from artillery and machine- guns around other villages in the municipality of Klina, including K&rrnic&, Pogragj& and Jashanic&. Re-deployment of Serb forces was reported today at a location near the leather plant in a Klina suburb.

The LDK Commission said that a 67-year-old Albanian, Veli Krasniqi, died in P&r^eva village after having slept rough out in the hills for several weeks.

[08] Only 12 Houses, Out of 220, Remain Intact from Serb Shelling of Lybeqeva Village

The LDK chapter in Prizren said 48 Albanians were killed in Lybeqeva and neighboring villages in V&rrini region, south of Prizren, during a ten-day offensive last month.

Rami Shala, a local school teacher in Lybeqeva village, said his school had over 500 pupils last year. Now only 45 kids attend classes in the school. They are children of the 12 families whose houses were not destroyed by Serbs.

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