Kosova Daily Report #1642, 98-12-21
Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1642
Prishtina, 21 December 1998
First Edition: 12:10 CET
Second Edition: 17:00 CET
CONTENTS
[01] Heavy Serbian Troops Crack Down on Podujeva Area Monday Morning
[02] President Rugova Returns from European Trip
[03] FEATURE - Western Aborted 'Credible Threat' Replaced by
'Democratization of Serbia' Mantra
[04] First Report: Heavy Serbian Troops Hold Podujeva Under Virtual Siege
[05] Updated Report: Serb Police Seals Off Town, Raids Households, Arrests
Albanians
[06] Serb Police and Army Movements in Kosova
[07] Shooting from Serb Positions in Suhareka Sunday Evening
[08] Serb Police Seals Off Another Peja Neighbourhood on Sunday
[09] Police Shoots at Car, Arrests Albanians in Malisheva Area
[01] Heavy Serbian Troops Crack Down on Podujeva Area Monday Morning
Four shells landed initially, to be followed by machine-gun fire north of
Podujeva late in the morning; neighborhood in town sealed off
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - A heavy Serbian convoy of military troops and
hardware headed from the north-eastern town of Podujeva northwards in the
direction of K&rpimeh village today (Monday) morning, local LDK sources
said.
At around 10:30 intermittent automatic weapons fire was reported occurring,
at a time a number of Serb military vehicles advanced towards the village
of Dobratin, which was the target of a Serb military crackdown back in
September, when scores of Albanian houses were destroyed and burned down,
and a number of local people slain.
Four shells were reportedly heard, to be followed by continued machine-gun
fire, sources in the area said.
A couple of tanks were said to be on the Podujeva-K&rpimeh asphalt road,
whereas other tanks had made entry onto the roadway leading to Dobratin.
Serbian police forces have swarmed the Podujeva-K&rpimeh roadway and the
Podujeva-Letanc roadway. (Letanc is a village adjacent to the town of
Podujeva). Police are roaming the streets of the town.
OSCE verifiers are said to be present in town, too.
Latest reports said a convoy of 15 Serbian police armored personnel
carriers (APCs), originating from Prishtina, arrived the town of Podujeva
at 11:40 hrs. They were stationed at the police station at midday.
All roads leading in and out of the town of Podujeva are under a severe
Serb police grip. Albanians are being routinely harassed and beaten up,
local LDK sources said.
Local sources confirmed that the local Albanian population from Baj^in&,
Dobratin and the outlying villages half a dozen km north of Podujeva
started fleeing their homes in panic today morning.
Meanwhile, sources in the town of Podujeva said the Hospital area in the
town has been sealed off by heavy Serb police troops, equipped with an
armored vehicle. Some sources spoke of shooting last night in Podujeva and
its suburbs. There was word of shooting in the Hospital area today at 7:30
a.m. Serbian sources have reported the killing of a Serb policeman and
the wounding of a Serb administration employee in town.
LDK sources said members of the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission arrived in
Podujeva today. Some of them were said to have followed the Serb convoy in
the direction of K&rpimeh, to only return back by 11:00 hrs.
A highly explosive situation has been reported in the northeastern
municipality of Podujeva in the wake of the deployment of around Serbian
troops, backed up by around military vehicles, including 20 tanks, in the
village of Dumosh, namely a sports airstrip, on Saturday morning.
The Serbian troops and equipment paraded the streets of Podujeva and moved
back and forth in the countryside on Sunday.
The Podujeva area is a 99 percent ethnic Albanian populated area, with one
percent of the population having all the administrative power accorded to
them by the Serbian occupation authorities.
[02] President Rugova Returns from European Trip
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - The President of the Republic of Kosova,
Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, returned back home in Prishtina today (Monday) at the
conclusion of a European trip, during which time he had senior level
meetings with French and Czech leaders, as well as European Parliament
officials.
President Rugova met in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac, for a
second time in half a year, and received a French prize for human rights.
In Strasbourg, the Kosova leader received the prestigious Sakharov '98
Prize accorded to him by the European Parliament, whereas in Prague the
Homo Homini prize of the Czech-based People in Need Foundation.
[03] FEATURE - Western Aborted 'Credible Threat' Replaced by
'Democratization of Serbia' Mantra
Kosova is a country under Serbian occupation, which should be reversed if a
resolution to the crisis is sought, writes Muhamet HAMITI, the KIC English
Section's editor
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - 'Maximum threat for a minimum intervention', a
German journalist defined the Western failing approach to the Kosova
situation this past autumn.
Some 450 NATO aircraft were assembled in Aviano, Italy, and elsewhere to
produce a 'credible threat', which was a mock threat to Milosevic and his
military. "We will only issue a credible threat, but not carry it out", was
the unambiguous message Western allies were giving the unbending Balkan
dictator, Slobodan Milosevic. Between 25,000 and 30,000 Serbian military
and police troops were authorized by the West/NATO to stay in Kosova, which
has just over 2 million people, 90 percent of whom ethnic Albanians. This
was hailed as a Serbian troop withdrawal from Kosova, and a huge concession
by Belgrade! Milosevic is closing down independent media outlets because he
does not want the Serbian public to know about the substantial concessions
he had made, including the deployment of an intrusive, unarmed observer
mission in Kosova, Ambassador Holbrooke said, criticizing Milosevic and
boasting on his own achievement.
Some 200 American and British aircraft sufficed to produce a four-day
strike against Iraq (Desert Fox Operation), aimed at degrading the weapons
capabilities and threats to his neighbours and the international community
posed by Saddam Hussein. A normal threat for a maximum intervention, one
might argue this time.
Slobodan Milosevic occupied Kosova in 1989/90, Saddam Husein occupied
Kuwait in 1990. The Western allies, led by the Americans, launched the
Desert Storm to undo Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in January 1991. They
launched the Desert Fox Operation to degrade Iraqi weapons and military and
intelligence command structures.
The military occupation in Kosova continues unchecked for almost a
decade. And, outrageously enough, pains have been taken in the West to
define Kosova not as a matter of Serbian occupation, but rather a matter of
Serbia's democratization. Democratization of Serbia as a remedy to the
Kosova issue is the bizarre mantra of the Western approach now.
Western prevarication to act in Kosova, lack of unity of purpose on the
part of the international community, has been off-handedly translated by
the Western diplomacy into an alleged disunity amongst the Albanians of
Kosova.
The Kosova Albanians have shown an exemplary unity of purpose in the past
decade. They engaged in a decade-long struggle for a peaceful and
democratic implementation of their wishes, duly "admired" by the West and
duly let down by them. The Kosovars want recognition of their right to
self-determination in their bid for an independent homeland, outside of
Serbian rule.
What the West has been cynically asking has been for Kosova Albanians - all
the spectrum from President Ibrahim Rugova to the newly emerged military
wing of the independence struggle (UÇK) - to unite behind an
autonomy-within-Serbian rule. This is what the latest international draft
plan for Kosova seems to be about.
The international officials urge unity among Kosova Albanians, an
Associated Press (AP) news story was entitled, referring to a meeting
Wolfgang Petritsch, the Austrian ambassador to Belgrade and EU envoy for
Kosova, along with the French ambassador to neighboring Macedonia, Jacques
Huntzinger, and other diplomats of the six-nation Contact Group had
Saturday in Prishtina with Fehmi Agani, head of the Kosova negotiating
team.
Serbian troops out of Kosova, not out of Prishtina hospital, is the solution
"Agani represents Rugova's camp, which has said it will accept broad
autonomy within Serbia", the Associated Press concludes, which, put in the
mildest terms, is untrue. Put in the strongest terms - it is a blatant lie.
President Ibrahim Rugova's camp, just like the opposition camp and the UÇK
(the Kosova Liberation Army), are committed to independence as their
ultimate goal. Political parties in Kosova, those associated with the
President of the Republic and others in opposition to him, have said they
would accept an interim solution arrangement for Kosova outside of Serbia,
which does not preclude independence. This is the truth, which even
prestigious world news agencies - operating in Kosova for many long months
now - have not come to learn.
The Contact Group should get better acquainted with the complexity of the
Kosova issue and adopt a more principled stance in search of an interim
solution for Kosova, the chief Kosova negotiator, Fehmi Agani, stressed
during the meeting with the Group's representatives of Saturday.
The failing Western approach to the Kosova, referred to at the outset of
this feature article, is best seen by the incoherent reading by Western
officials of the reality of Kosova and the Serbian regime's behaviour here.
The U.S. KDOM (Kosova Diplomatic Observer Mission) reported the Serbian
police "performed professionally" in a sweep of two villages in Deçan
allegedly in search for those responsible for the killing of six young
Serbs in Peja last week. "Police told KDOM there were no casualties in the
operation and that no villagers were detained except the three arrested",
KDOM Daily Report of December 17 said.
In the same report, KDOM said referring to the police huge operation in a
Peja Albanian neighbourhood, four people were arrested.
Scores of Albanians were arrested by Serb forces, using heavy hardware to
surround Albanian neighbourhoods of Kapeshnica and Zatra and raid some 100
households in Kapeshnica alone late last week, local Albanian sources said,
giving the names of those arrested. (See KIC Daily Reports of the past
week).
Ambassador William Walker, the U.S. diplomat heading the OSCE Kosova
Verification Mission (KVM), was quoted as saying to a group of local and
foreign media representatives on Saturday not many police forces in the
world use tanks in campaigns to arrest people. He was apparently referring
to the Serb force's pattern of action. (Ambassador Walker himself was
threatened by a drunken armed Serb policeman on Saturday morning in
Prishtina. He slammed the embarrassing Serb police reaction to the
incident.)
An outrageous feature of the behaviour of the Serb regime in Kosova was
exposed by Harold Hongju Koh, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. "I saw Serbian police stationed outside
of Pristina Hospital's intensive care unit", Harold Koh, who visited
Prishtina on Friday, said in a statement to the press that day.
Albanian medical staff still working with the public hospitals and clinics
in Prishtina, now run by the Serb regime, have cried foul in vain for
months about the Serb police presence inside the medical facilities and the
outrageous ill-treatment Albanian patients ( routinely referred to as
'terrorists' by Serb police, and sometimes the Serb medial staff) have
received in the hands of Serb police/security.
Remove the police from the hospitals, and everything will be O.K.? No. That
would be a sort of democratization of the Prishtina Hospital, in a
sense. "Normal citizens of Kosovo continue to be treated as military
targets", Mr. Koh said Friday. In their houses, on the streets, everywhere.
Serbian troops out of Kosova, not out of the Prishtina hospital, is the
solution to the problem here.
Serbia cannot be democratized in Kosova. An independent Kosova may pave the
way for Serbia to democratize one day.
[04] First Report: Heavy Serbian Troops Hold Podujeva Under Virtual Siege
Four detonations were heard initially, to be followed by machine-gun fire
north of Podujeva late in the morning; neighborhood in town sealed off
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian military and police troops launched
a large-scale operation in Podujeva area. Serb forces backed up by military
equipment, including tanks, headed from the north-eastern town of Podujeva
northwards in the direction of Kërpimeh village today (Monday) morning,
local LDK sources said.
At around 10:30 intermittent automatic weapons fire was reported occurring,
at a time a number of Serb military vehicles advanced towards the village
of Dobratin, which was the target of a Serb military crackdown back in
September, when scores of Albanian houses were destroyed and burned down,
and a number of local people slain.
Four detonations were reportedly heard, to be followed by machine-gun fire,
sources in the area said.
A couple of tanks were said to be on the Podujeva-Kërpimeh asphalt road,
whereas other tanks had made entry onto the roadway leading to Dobratin.
Serbian police forces have swarmed the Podujeva-Kërpimeh roadway and the
Podujeva-Letanc roadway. (Letanc is a village adjacent to the town of
Podujeva). Police are roaming the streets of the town. OSCE verifiers are
said to be present in town, too.
Latest reports said a convoy of 15 Serbian police armored personnel
carriers (APCs), originating from Prishtina, arrived the town of Podujeva
at 11:40 hrs. They were stationed at the police station at midday.
All roads leading in and out of the town of Podujeva are under a severe
Serb police grip. Albanians are being routinely harassed and beaten up,
local LDK sources said.
Local sources confirmed that the local Albanian population from Bajçinë,
Dobratin and the outlying villages half a dozen km north of Podujeva
started fleeing their homes in panic today morning.
Meanwhile, sources in the town of Podujeva said the Hospital area in the
town has been sealed off by heavy Serb police troops, equipped with an
armored vehicle. Some sources spoke of shooting last night in Podujeva and
its suburbs. There was word of shooting in the Hospital area today at 7:30
a.m.
Serbian sources have reported the killing of a Serb policeman and the
wounding of a Serb administration employee in town.
LDK sources said members of the OSCE Kosova Verification Mission arrived in
Podujeva today. Some of them were said to have followed the Serb convoy in
the direction of Kërpimeh, to only return back by 11:00 hrs.
A highly explosive situation has been reported in the northeastern
municipality of Podujeva in the wake of the deployment of around Serbian
troops, backed up by around military vehicles, including 20 tanks, in the
village of Dumosh, namely a sports airstrip, on Saturday morning.
The Serbian troops and equipment paraded the streets of Podujeva and moved
back and forth in the countryside on Sunday.
The Podujeva area is a 99 percent ethnic Albanian populated area, with one
percent of the population having all the administrative power accorded to
them by the Serbian occupation authorities.
[05] Updated Report: Serb Police Seals Off Town, Raids Households, Arrests
Albanians
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - The Serb military convoy, including tanks, which
headed earlier in the day towards Kërpimeh, north of the town of Podujeva,
returned to the Podujeva-Prishtina highway at 13:30 hrs, LDK sources said.
No information about the possible damage caused in the morning crackdown in
the area has been made available by local sources in Podujeva.
Heavy Serb police forces patrolled the streets of the town of Podujeva,
hugely restricting the movement of the Albanian population. Armored
vehicles were stationed at key communications sites. Schoolchildren were
prevented from going to schools in some parts of the town, with police
aiming weapons at them.
Serbian police raided the "Te Beli" (Beli's) bakery, smashed it up, and
arrested its proprietors, brothers Xhemajl, Arif, and Blerim Arifi. Later,
the police raided the house of their brother, Samet Arifi, in the town
center. The "Xhema pharm" pharmacy in downtown Podujeva was searched by
police, too, LDK sources said.
Later in the day, LDK sources reported that Serb police conducted a sweep
for half an hour, raiding many Albanian households on the "29 Nëntori"
street in town. Members of the Kosova Verification Mission observed the
sweep, they added.
Amidst a heavy, intimidating and repressive Serbian police presence in
Podujeva, several Albanian-language schools were closed down today.
The LDK chapter presidency concluded in a meeting in Podujeva today the
Serb military-police crackdown in the area has added further to the already
volatile situation.
The LDK organization in Podujeva called on the Kosovar institutions to
sensitize the international community about Serbia's schemes of ethnic
cleansing of this part of Kosova.
[06] Serb Police and Army Movements in Kosova
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - This past week-end and indeed the entire week saw
a stepped up movement of Serbian military and police forces all over
Kosova.
Huge Serb troops went to the Podujeva area over the weekend, and were
engaged in a huge crackdown on the local Albanian population today
(Monday).
Heavy Serb troops sealed off entire Peja neighbourhoods, raiding over 100
Albanian households, arresting and brutalizing scores of people last week.
Military and police forces were deployed today in the village of Planejë of
Prizren. A ubiquitous Serb troop presence is reported along the
Kosova-Albanian border in the area, in the municipality of Prizren. Three
dozen Albanians were killed by Serb military in the area last week. The
area has been reportedly mined by Serb troops.
A convoy of Serbian troops involving 7 lorries, 3 jeeps, 2 APCs and a Land
Rover, left Mitrovica for Skenderaj early in the morning today (Monday).
Serb police forces on board three APCs and a Land Rover went to the
villages of Sllatinë and Tarllabuq of Vushtrri Sunday afternoon, causing
panic in the Albanian population
Serb uniformed policemen and armed Serbs in plain clothes have been
patrolling the town of Vushtrri today (Monday), local LDK sources said.
[07] Shooting from Serb Positions in Suhareka Sunday Evening
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - A volatile situation has been reported amidst a
continued presence of Serbian forces in the municipality of Suhareka -
police in Reshtan, Mohlan and Grejçec villages, and military in Qafë e
Duhlës, Bajrak and the Biraq mountains.
The LDK chapter in Suhareka reported that Serbian police forces opened fire
from their positions from 22 through 24:00 hrs on Sunday. Shooting was
reported in the village of Mushtisht, too.
Serb police stopped cars and searched passers-by in the town of Suhareka
today.
LDK sources said Avni Veli Bytyçi (27), resident of Nishor village of
Suhareka, was arrested in Kaçanik while returning home from abroad, where
he is a guest-worker.
[08] Serb Police Seals Off Another Peja Neighbourhood on Sunday
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Heavy Serbian police forces, backed up by armored
vehicles and APCs, sealed off the Haxhi Zeka neighbourhood in the western
town of Peja on Sunday, LDK sources said. All Albanian households in the
neighbourhood were raided, and scores of civilians physically abused.
Two arrested Albanians, Nazmi Shala (22) and Eroll Muhaxheri (23) are being
held still in Serb custody.
The LDK chapter said the health situation of Albanians arrested and
brutalized by police last week in Peja is very bad.
[09] Police Shoots at Car, Arrests Albanians in Malisheva Area
PRISHTINA, Dec 21 (KIC) - Two Albanians, Zejnullah Sopi (49), a secondary
school teacher in Prizren, and Eshref Muçaj (51), both residents of
Prizren, were arrested yesterday in Mleçan village of Malisheva.
The Albanians were in their car on their way to take part in the funeral of
33 Albanians killed by Serbian troops a week ago when Serb police shot
towards their Opel Vectra car. The car was badly damaged, and the two
Albanians arrested. Sopi was taken to the police station in Klina, whereas
Muçaj is suspected to have been seriously injured by Serb fire, the LDK
chapter in Prizren reported.
Meanwhile, LDK sources from Malisheva reported three University of
Prishtina students were arrested on 19 December. They were taken off a bus
travelling Prishtina-Peja roadway at Gjurgjicë near the village of
Orllat. The students have been unaccounted for ever since, the LDK chapter
said, failing to give the names of the Albanian students.
Two Albanians, Muhamet Rr. Kastrati (36) and Haxhi L. Kastrati (36), both
residents of Domanek village, were abused physically on 19 December at
Pishat e Llazicës in Malisheva area. They suffered body injuries, LDK
sources said.
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