Kosova Daily Report #1449, 98-06-03

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1449
Prishtina, 3 June 1998

First Edition: 15:00 CET
Second Edition: 20:30 CET

CONTENTS

[01] President Ibrahim Rugova Ends His U.S., UN Trip

[02] Rugova Discusses Kosova with U.S. Legislators

[03] Four De^an Villages with 20.000 Inhabitants Being Terrorized by Serb Military

[04] 5000 Kosovar Refugees Reach Albania So Far

[05] Highly Critical Situation in De^an, Entire Settlements Swept, Casualty- Toll Still Unknown

[06] Border Villages Shelled, Huge Population Movement in Gjakova Municipality

[07] Kosova Student, Refugee in Albania, Testifies of Serb Ethnic Cleansing Operations

[08] Serb Forces Close the Prishtina-Prizren Roadway

[09] Serbian Forces Deployed at Plemetin to Prevent People Fleeing Drenica

[10] Kosova MP, LDK Women Forum's Activist Still Under Arrest

[11] President Rugova Arrives in Italy

[12] President Rugova's Aides Turned Back, Denied Access to De^an Area

[13] Belgrade Drives Border Population Out to Break Up Ethnic Albanian Territorial Continuity, Rugova's Aide Says

[14] Serb Forces Shell Rahovec Villages Wednesday

[15] Eleven Elderly Albanians Trapped for Days in Their Besieged Village

[16] Kosovars to Urge Nato Intervention in Demonstration Thursday Noon

[17] OSCE Delegation Visits Kosova

[18] Serb Court Rules 30-Day Detention for Gjakova LDK Official

[19] 650 Registered Kosovar Refugees in Ulqin, Coastal Town in Montenegro

[20] Prishtina-Prizren Roadway Reopened for Traffic This Afternoon

[01] President Ibrahim Rugova Ends His U.S., UN Trip

In his discussion with Amb. Monteiro, President Rugova called for the UN Security Council to address the situation in Kosova and assess the level compliance with and implementation of the requests laid down in resolutions adopted by UN bodies.

An ad hoc group should be formed to investigate Serbian massacres in Kosova, the Kosova leader said, calling for the Security Council to support the opening of a UN human rights office in Prishtina.

The Security Council's chairman expressed his support for the nonviolent policies, advocated by the political leadership in Kosova, in pursuit of the resolution of the Kosova issue.

President Rugova reiterated his call for the placement of Kosova under international protection.

Meanwhile, in his meeting with U.S. envoy to the United Nations, Ambassador Bill Richardson, President Rugova spoke about the dangerously escalating situation in Kosova as Serb military and police operations against the unprotected Albanian populations go unchecked. Some 30 Albanians were killed and massacred over the week-end alone, he stressed.

Dr. Ibrahim Rugova referred to his meeting with President Clinton last week as an historic moment for Kosova.

The role of the U.S. Mission to the UN for the resolution of the Kosova issue was discussed.

President Ibrahim Rugova met Monday in New York with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.

In a press conference in the UN headquarters after the meeting, Rugova said solution for Kosova lies in respecting the will of the people for independence. "Independence will stabilize the entire region", he stressed.

[02] Rugova Discusses Kosova with U.S. Legislators

The President described the situation in Kosova extremely grave amidst Serbian military and police actions against the unprotected Albanian people. We are willing to press ahead with serious talks with Belgrade on Kosova, but Belgrade should withdraw its forces from Kosova and descalate the situation, he stressed.

Dr. Ibrahim Rugova expressed his appreciation for the work the U.S. legislators have been doing to support the plight of Kosova.

The U.S. legislators said there was bi-partisan support in the Congress for a speedy and just resolution for the legitimate aspirations of the people of Kosova.

[03] Four De^an Villages with 20.000 Inhabitants Being Terrorized by Serb Military

Fadil Berisha, a local school-teacher from Isniq, who managed to flee overnight to Montenegro, told the KIC by phone the Albanian inhabitants of the four villages have been under attack by Serb military and police from the direction of Lugu i Baranit (the Baran Valley), Gjakova and Peja ('Pec').

Mr. Berisha said some of the inhabitants have been executed or massacred by advancing Serbian forces.

Meanwhile, a local human rights activist, Musa Berisha, told the media yesterday the town of De^an itself was in rubble after continuing shelling by Serb military and police forces.

[04] 5000 Kosovar Refugees Reach Albania So Far

The VOA report said the Kosovar refugees were in a desperate mood and physically exhausted.

The ordeal claimed lives, too.

Five children died en route to Albania, a mountainous terrain the Kosovar expellees had to walk to reach safety.

Koha Ditore correspondent in Tirana quoted Tropoja district authorities as saying 88 wounded/injured Kosova Albanians were offered the first aid after arriving in Tropoja in the past few days.

The UNCHR spokesperson Kris Janowsky quoted Kosovar refugees as saying they fled massive shelling by Serb forces "which turned a number of villages along the [Kosova-Albania] border into rubble".

"They speak of heavy mortar attack and machine gun fire and fleeing in a hail of bullets", Janowsky told a press briefing June 2.

"We know from refugees who escaped from the towns Junik and De^an that the entire ethnic Albanian population of those villages fled under massive artillery attack, and we frankly do not know where these people are at the moment", he said.

Janowski quote refugees as saying that the Serbian forces are trying to push the Albanians out of the belt along the Kosova- Albania border.

[05] Highly Critical Situation in De^an, Entire Settlements Swept, Casualty- Toll Still Unknown

Serb attacks in the area have continued this morning, too.

The chairman of the chapter of the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedom (CDHRF) in De^an said today (Wednesday) morning that a dramatic situation prevails in the area.

The local population, whose homes have already been turned into rubble, spent the night out in the fields, Musa Berisha said.

The human rights activist said thousands of people, mostly women, children and elderly, have been heading for Albania as well as the town of Peja and Gjakova.

No one can say what has been going on with people on the run, and it is believed that some have even died while moving along the goat trails on the Kosova-Albania mountainous border area.

There are still some residents in only about a dozen villages in the municipality, the CDHRF chairman in De^an said, noting that they too are in a run amidst unfolding Serb forces operations and ethnic cleansing.

It is believed that the casualty figures are very high, no one being ale to know for certain what has happened to many of the Albanians whose farmsteads have been shelled and peppered by Serb forces.

There is not a single injection for the wounded people, Musa Berisha quoted a doctors team in the area as saying.

As many as 145 men, women and children, wounded during the Serb shelling, were treatad over the past couple of days in one of the local medical centers in De^an municipality, a doctor said.

Meanwhile, Albanian settlements in De^an came under a renewed fierce fire today at around 10 a.m., sources said.

Villages are being pounded with all kinds of armament, including heavy artillery.

The human rights council said Serb gunship helicopters, and even 'catchusha' multiple rocket-launchers, were used during the attacks on Albanian dwellings on Tuesday.

[06] Border Villages Shelled, Huge Population Movement in Gjakova Municipality

The villages of Ponoshec, Smolic&, Stub&ll, Morin&, Brovin& and entire family compounds at Juniku have been turned into rubble.

Heavy artillery has been reported used by Serb forces which have positioned themselves at Kodra e ^abratit, Bitesh, Bobaj, Hulaj, Kodra e Pllanikut at Ponoshec and elsewhere.

Many villages in the area have been deserted. The population has been flowing towards the town of Gjakova or the territory of Albania itself, such is the case with the Batusha village at the border belt with the neighboring country.

It is exactly Serb military's intention to drive the population out and force it cross the border to Albania to ethnically cleanse the border zone area.

In the deserted villages, Serb police forces have been looting houses before setting them on fire.

Since Tuesday the Serbian ('Yugoslav') military has been threatening the other belt villages in the municipality of Gjakova, of the Qafa e Prushit area. They cannot stay in their own farmsteads unless they be given special residence permits by the Serbian police, the military said.

People from the Reka e Keqe villages - mostly women, children and elderly - left overnight and today morning for the suburbs of the south-western town of Gjakova.

Many Albanian houses have been shelled and burned down by Serb forces from their position at Bitesh.

Two convoys of Serbian police forces, equipped with diverse heavy weaponry, travelled the Gjakova-De^an road from 6:00 through 8:00 o'clock in the morning today, local sources said.

Serb soldiers on board of several military vehicles shot on the air in the town of Gjakova at 10 o'clock today to intimidate the town population.

Since early morning today, Serbian military forces have been deployed in the suburbs of the town of Gjakova - at Shkuk&z, Moglic& and Raq& - with their guns pointed at the town itself, the LDK Information Commission in Gjakova said.

[07] Kosova Student, Refugee in Albania, Testifies of Serb Ethnic Cleansing Operations

In a long interview with the Tirana-based daily Koha Jon&, Ganimete Kadriu reveals how her home and the entire De^an region were attacked by the Serbs. "On Friday morning, the Serb forces began shelling our homes without a warning. We dashed to our cellars.

Once the shelling died a bit, we headed towards Albania through the Jasiqi mountains. We stayed for a certain time in the woods, but even there we were attacked with grenades from Serb positions at Podi i Geshtenjave. We had no other choice then, but try to reach Albania", she said.

Ganimete Kadriu said that after 53 hours of walking along the rugged mountains, they reached Shipshan village in Albania Saturday evening, around 21:00 hrs.

During the whole time they ate nothing, she said.

She said that virtually all the residents of her region were fleeing, many probably unable to go any further in the mountains.

"We still hope that dialogue has some chances, although meager,", Ganimete said, adding that Albanian defendants have been doing their utmost to defend homes and prevent the enemy forces from further advancing. "They can not do much in face of a huge force with so much armament. U^K has ben courageously defending Kosova, and I believe, we, the girls will join its ranks soon, to fight to the last breath until Kosova is liberated".

[08] Serb Forces Close the Prishtina-Prizren Roadway

The major Kosova highway connecting Prishtina, in central Kosova, and Peja, in the west, has been closed for almost a moth now.

Sources said that the Prishtina-Prizren roadway has been closed since noon today at a place called Gryka e Carralaves (Carraleva Gorge), half a dozen kilometers west of the small town of Shtime.

Heavy Serb forces have been involved in military exercises in a wide area on both sides of the road, LDK sources in Shtime said.

The highway has served as the only passageway to the Dukagjini region, since the Serb forces clamped down on the other side of the central and west part of Kosova.

[09] Serbian Forces Deployed at Plemetin to Prevent People Fleeing Drenica

A key communication line has been placed under Serb forces's control to prevent people fleeing the Drenica region get out of the area under Serb siege.

Tractor loads of displaced people have been prevented from crossing the river.

The Drenica evacuees have been reported arrested by Serb police and taken to unknown direction.

[10] Kosova MP, LDK Women Forum's Activist Still Under Arrest

She was arrested in her office in Gjakova Monday.

The motive for her arrest is unknown.

Her family has been prevented from contacting her.

[11] President Rugova Arrives in Italy

In Rome, President Rugova will meet with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini.

[12] President Rugova's Aides Turned Back, Denied Access to De^an Area

The delegation was turned back by Serb forces at a check-point at Piskot& village, some five km from Gjakova on the road to De^an, this afternoon.

Dr. Agani, Mr. Mustafa and Mrs Kelmendi were held up for an hour there, and told bluntly they would not be allowed to proceed.

Since last Friday, when Serb forces mounted a large-scale onslaught in the De^an and surrounding villages, the area has been held inside a deadly siege.

Roads and telephone lines to the area have been cut off by the Serb military-police regime. Reporters and humanitarian teams have been prevented from entering the area, the scene of a full-scale military aggression.

Entire Albanian settlements have been turned into rubble amidst unremitting shelling by Serb forces.

The local population has been fleeing the area in panic.

Albania's authorities said at least 5000 Kosovars have reached Albania by Wednesday noon.

[13] Belgrade Drives Border Population Out to Break Up Ethnic Albanian Territorial Continuity, Rugova's Aide Says

Mr. Mustafa, Dr. Fehmi Agani, also an advisor to the President, and Mrs. Nekibe Kelmendi, Secretary-General of the LDK, were turned back by Serb forces at a village just outside Gjakova on the road to De^an today afternoon.

Those who reached Gjakova said Serbian military and police forces have been attacking the town of De^an and the villages of Gllogjan, Baballoq, Isniq, Lubeniq, etc, with artillery for five days now, Mr. Mustafa said, adding that entire settlements have been turned into rubble.

Speaking about the situation in the border villages with Albania, President Rugova's advisor said they continue to be shelled with heavy weaponry. Entire villages have been burned down, he said.

Xhemail Mustafa said the displaced population has been driven out, forced to flee to Albania. "It was not their choice. It was the Serb forces which prevented them from moving towards other parts of Kosova", he said.

This proves that the Belgrade regime wants to create a buffer zone, a stretch of territory with no population, between Kosova and Albania, Mr. Mustafa said. "The aim is to break up the ethnic Albanian territorial continuity" in the Kosova-Albanian border zone area, on both sides of which live Albanians.

Some 15.000 displaced Albanians have found shelter in Gjakova and villages in the vicinity, Rugova's aide said. "There is a desperate shortage of basic necessities, food supplies and medicines there", Mr. Mustafa said.

[14] Serb Forces Shell Rahovec Villages Wednesday

The LDK Information Commission in Rahovec ('Orahovac') said the villages of Gradish&, Gexh& and Mal&sa e Vog&l were intermittently shelled during the whole course of morning and early afternoon today.

The Rahovec villages were shelled from Serb positions in the neighboring municipality of Gjakova.

Still unconfirmed reports said Serbs have laid minefields in several places at Maja e Gradishit (Gradishi Uplands).

At least half a dozen Albanians were killed and many others wounded during a several-day long operation of the Serb forces in Rahovec villages last month.

At 7 o'clock in the morning today, a convoy of 20 Serb military trucks left Prizren for the municipality of Gjakova.

[15] Eleven Elderly Albanians Trapped for Days in Their Besieged Village

Residents of the Lubeniq have fled their homes in the wake of a brutal Serb forces' crackdown on the village on 29 May, killing several local Albanians and setting houses ablaze.

The LDK branch in Peja has identified the 11 old Albanians, who have effectively been held captive in their village, as Ram& Hajredinaj (immobile), Lush Bushati, Ms Sale Bushati, Smajl Bushati and his wife, Shaban Abdullahaj, Shaban Maksutaj, Qerim Ukshini, Din& Huskaj, Mehmet Ukshinaj and Ismet Abdullahaj, ill and immobile.

Family members have attempted, in vain, to get them out of the village which is under Serb police siege.

[16] Kosovars to Urge Nato Intervention in Demonstration Thursday Noon

In a statement issued today the Republican Protest Committee - representing political parties, youth, human rights and trade-union organizations - said the motto of tomorrow's rally will be "Nato, not on Kosova borders, but in Kosova itself".

The half-hour manifestation will be staged in the Mother Teresa square in Prishtina.

The Protest Committee said the protest will be peaceful and calm.

The ralliers will march silently, holding placards reading "Freedom, Independence", "Nato - Kosova is ablaze", "Nato - save Kosova", "Intervene now, tomorrow will be too late", "Only Nato can stop the Butcher of the Balkans", "An unprotected people is being slaughtered in Kosova", etc.

Meanwhile, thousands of Albanians turned to the main avenue in Prishtina today to pay homage to the Albanian victims in different parts of Kosova during the Serbian military-police aggression against entire Albanian settlements in central and south-western Kosova.

[17] OSCE Delegation Visits Kosova

The chances for a peaceful solution to the Kosova issue are diminishing as Serbian military and police aggression against the Albanian settlements in Kosova goes unchecked, the Kosovar authorities warned.

The OSCE ambassadors said they were supportive of a peaceful and negotiated settlement to the Kosova crisis.

[18] Serb Court Rules 30-Day Detention for Gjakova LDK Official

Dr. Fehmi Vula has been held in Serb police custody since Friday.

He was detained repeatedly during the whole course of last week in connection with an alleged obduction of two Serb police officers in the area.

Another member of the LDK presidency in Gjakova, Ms Besa Arllati, has been detained for several times under the same pretext.

The two Gjakova senior LDK activists have been pressed by the police to secure the release of the two Serb policemen who have been allegedly abducted and held at Smolica village of Gjakova.

The police has threatened to use the Albanian activists as human shield in a bid to free the police officers, as well as that Dr. Vula's children would be held as hostages until the Serbs were freed.

Dr. Fehmi Vula has had his detention extended pursuant to Article 136, paragraph 1 and 7, and article 139, of the Serb Penal Code, charged with "organizing terrorist groups', a source in Gjakova said.

A report said the Bujku correspondent in Gjakova, Jah& Sadria, also a member of the Gjakova LDK branch presidency, would be brought before the same Serb regime court.

[19] 650 Registered Kosovar Refugees in Ulqin, Coastal Town in Montenegro

At least 5.000 Kosovars, mainly from Gjakova and De^an municipalities, have reached neighboring Albania, authorities there said today.

Many more are thought to be on the way to cross the rugged terrains along the Kosova-Albania border.

Meanwhile, the local refugee commissioner in the town of Ulqin in Montenegro said some 650 Kosovar Albanians have registered there so far as refugees.

A number of them have not been registered at all, but found shelter with Albanians in the coastal town of Ulqin, sources said.

Ulqin is a predominantly Albanian municipality in the Republic of Montenegro.

[20] Prishtina-Prizren Roadway Reopened for Traffic This Afternoon

In the afternoon, the road Shtime-Prizren, part of the Prishtina- Prizren raoday, was reopened for traffic, although still under a rigorous military and police inspection.

The major Kosova highway connecting Prishtina, in central Kosova, and Peja, in the west, has been closed for almost a moth now.

Sources said the Shtime-Prizren road was closed since noon today at a place called Gryka e Carralev&s (Carraleva Gorge), half a dozen kilometers west of the small town of Shtime.

The roadway has served as the only passageway to the Dukagjini region, since the Serb forces clamped down on the other side of the central and west part of Kosova.

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