Kosova Daily Report #1450, 98-06-04

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

Kosova Information Center
KOSOVA DAILY REPORT #1450
Prishtina, 4 June 1998

First Edition: 16:00 CET
Second Edition: 20:00 CET

CONTENTS

[01] Talks Cannot Resume While Violence Escalates, Dr. Agani Says

[02] 10.000 Kosovar Refugees in Albania So Far

[03] Bodies of Two Men Taken to Gjakova Morgue Wednesday

[04] Serb Forces Resume Shelling Border Zone Village

[05] Serb Forces Prevent Reka e Keqe Villagers Entering Gjakova

[06] No Word about Eight Albanians Apprehended, Suspected Executed, by Serb Police Last Weekend

[07] Thousands Rally Prishtina to Call for Nato Intervention in Kosova

[08] Mevlude Sarra^i, MP and Head of Gjakova LDK Women's Forum, in Lipjan Jail

[09] LDK Activists in Obiliq and Dragash in Serb Custody

[10] Trade-Mark Serbian Reporting on Kosova by Reuters Serb Journalist

[11] Serbian Forces Continue Shelling Villages, Targeting Fleeing Population

[01] Talks Cannot Resume While Violence Escalates, Dr. Agani Says

The Kosova negotiating team head referred especially to the escalation of Serb violence in the De^an area, "which is in contravention to the spirit of the first round of discussions between the representatives of the Yugoslav/Serbian governments and the representatives of Kosova".

"The complete blockade of the areas where [Serbian] violence is being carried out, areas where members of the Negotiating Team were prevented from visiting, make it impossible for the continuation of the planned talks for Friday, 5 June,", Dr. Agani said.

This was the position of the Kosovar negotiating team, which met and examined the created situation, he added.

Dr. Fehmi Agani said Prishtina-Belgrade negotiations can resume only after the violence had stopped, the sealed-off areas unblocked, and access to it allowed so as to examine the situation in the region.

In accord with Ambassador Chris Hill there should be agreement between parties to start addressing substantial measures and changes in the field of security situation, which should be the topic of the first next round of talks, Dr. Fehmi Agani, head of the Kosovar negotiating team concluded.

[02] 10.000 Kosovar Refugees in Albania So Far

Mr Fino reported to the Parliament of Albania about the emergency situation in north of the country as thousands of Kosovars, driven of their homes by Serb military and police forces, have been streaming into Albania.

Plans have been drawn up to cater for the needs of 8.000 refugees in the district of Kuk&s, Tropoja and Has, Mr. Fino said, adding plans for a second stage envision taking care of 20.000 people.

[03] Bodies of Two Men Taken to Gjakova Morgue Wednesday

The LDK chapter in Gjakova said it could learn the identity of one of the men, naming him as ^aush ^esku (33), resident of Junik village.

The deceased Albanian, ^aush ^esku (1965), was reported wounded several days ago, the LDK information Commission in Gjakova said.

The identity of the second man, brought in the town morgue by Serb soldiers last evening, could not be established yet.

The media have quoted the Serb army and police sources as saying that they had killed a large number of Albanians in the area during an unfolding huge operation unleashed last week.

Meanwhile, local sources in Gjakova said wounded Serb policemen were being taken with police cars to the Gjakova hospital.

Killed policemen, presumably from the De^an area, had been taken to the Gjakova hospital, namely its morgue, local sources added.

[04] Serb Forces Resume Shelling Border Zone Village

Sounds of artillery shelling could be heard in the town of Gjakova on several occasions last evening and night.

A result of a deadly Serb siege, it is virtually impossible to learn the scale of the attacks and possible casualties.

The LDK Information Commission said it could learn that several villages in the neighboring municipality of De^an were shelled by Serb forces overnight, too.

The Serb attacks seemed to have been concentrated in the villages of Gramaqel and Gllogjan, the Commission said.

The two Albanian settlements were reportedly targeted from a Serb base at Suka e Biteshit.

[05] Serb Forces Prevent Reka e Keqe Villagers Entering Gjakova

A large number of Reka e Keqe villagers have been arrested by Serb police at checkpoints and roadblocks around Gjakova, the local LDK chapter said.

The area near the border zone has for days now been the scene of unremitting shelling by Serb forces. Being barred from seeking shelter in Gjakova and other parts of Kosova, the local population has had no other choice but to cross the border and end up in neighboring Albania.

[06] No Word about Eight Albanians Apprehended, Suspected Executed, by Serb Police Last Weekend

Witnesses have said the eight Albanians - Ahmet Berisha, Hajriz Hajdini, Muhamet Hajdini, Sahit Qorri, Sefer Qorri, Ram& Asllani, and Fidaim Nazmi Berisha (17) - were seen being rounded up by police Sunday afternoon, but no one could so far establish what in fact happened to them.

It is feared they have been executed by Serb forces who swept the Poklek village for several hours on Sunday.

26 Albanian houses in the village were set ablaze by the advancing Serb forces and burned to the ground.

Witnesses have claimed they saw pools of blood, parts of human bodies and brains after the Serb forces left the village.

A 18-year-old Albanian, Ardian Deliu, was found in one of the courtyards with his throat slit.

Meanwhile, sources in Gllogovc said life in the small town has been brought to a standstill for days now.

Shops have been closed, and the movement of the population has been restricted to the minimum.

Gllogovc looks like a typical town under a foreign and hostile occupation, a witness said, adding that Serb forces in combat fatigue roam the streets on board of armored vehicles.

[07] Thousands Rally Prishtina to Call for Nato Intervention in Kosova

Organized by the Republican Protest Committee - representing political parties, youth, human rights and trade-union organizations - the today's manifestation was held under the motto: "Nato, not on Kosova borders, but in Kosova itself".

During a half-an-hour huge manifestation the ralliers walked peacefully along the Mother Teresa square chanting slogans in support of Kosova's independence, freedom, President Rugova, U^K, etc. The rallier also held up Albanian/Kosova and U.S. banners as well as placards in English and Albanian reading "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.

The ralliers stopped for a while in front of the National Theater of Kosova to pay homage to the Albanian victims in different parts of Kosova during the Serbian military-police aggression.

The protest ended as scheduled at 12:30. No incidents were reported during or after the manifestation.

[08] Mevlude Sarra^i, MP and Head of Gjakova LDK Women's Forum, in Lipjan Jail

Mevlude Sarra^i has been held in Serb police custody since Monday.

She was arrested by Serb police in advance of a protest rally of women, called by the Women's Forum in Gjakova, to call for the release of the LDK activists of Gjakova.

Tow other members of the LDK Presidency branch in Gjakova, Dr. Fehmi Vula and Ms Besa Arllati, as well as a Bujku correspondent in the town, have been repeatedly detained by Serb police over the past ten days.

The Serb-run court in Prizren ruled Wednesday a 30-day detention for Dr. Fehmi Vula.

[09] LDK Activists in Obiliq and Dragash in Serb Custody

Mr. Rexhepi is reportedly being held in the detention house in Prishtina.

The Serb police authorities have not produced any arrest warrant or explanation about his arrest.

Meanwhile, Halim Shemsedini, chairman of the LDK branch in Dragash, a municipality in the south Kosova, was reported arrested again today.

Mr. Shemsedini was detained twice during this week and interrogated about party's activities in the area.

[10] Trade-Mark Serbian Reporting on Kosova by Reuters Serb Journalist

Reports from the area during Serb offensive which started last Friday in De^an and Peja villages have filtered in too slowly, because that was the intention of Belgrade.

Serbian security sources are now in a position to pass off their story as the reality.

These unnamed sources were quoted June 3 by the Serb journalist of the Reuters news agency as saying the Serbian police and troops had dealt a "heavy blow" to ethnic Albanian guerrillas in five days of heavy fighting in Kosova.

Nothing on Albanian women, children and elderly slain by Serbian forces, though.

"They said some 40 people, including two Serb policemen, had been killed during an operation to secure roads and territory", Jovan Kovacic reports, quoting Serb sources until the Belgrade regime's version of the Kosova story is unveiled in full.

There was "a comparatively small number of casualties for such an operation" and a "large number of destroyed houses" the source said, complaining of the lack of "manpower to do it any other way."!

This is how Jovan Kovacic reports: "Decani, halfway from Pec to Djakovica, was cleaned of KLA rebels on Tuesday, Serb sources said.

An ethnic Albanian envoy told Albanian television that the town of 2,000 had been reduced to rubble after Serb forces pounded it with tanks and armoured personnel carriers."

No Albanian could have said that De^an has a population of 2.000.

That is a blatant lie.

He could have added another "zero" to have a much closer estimation of the population of the town of De^an normally.

"Western intelligence sources believe that Serbia has deployed some 10,000 police in Kosovo,", Kovacic said, quoting an unnamed Western observer as saying "The police are just too few for what should in fact be a military operation.". Last year, when the Serbian offensive was not yet in the offing, international media, quoting naturally enough Western intelligence, put the number of Serbian troops (police and military) in Kosova between 40.000 and 70.000.

Nobody would believe the Belgrade regime has cut down troops now in Kosova.

Last but not least, Serbia is notorious for a record high percentage of police staff per capita.

'FRY' leader Slobodan Milosevic has extended his brutal ethnic-cleansing tactics of Bosnia to Kosova.

Milosevic's troops are conducting precisely the Bosnian-style atrocities in Kosova.

Western powers warned earlier this spring, when Milosevic embarked on an undeclared war on Kosova, they would not stand by and watch the Serbian authorities do in Kosova what they could no longer get away with doing in Bosnia.

It is just this that the Serbian military-police authorities are doing right now, heavy Serb forces destroying villages, killing civilians and turning thousands of men, women and children into refugees.

A large-scale ethnic cleansing campaign is underway in Kosova.

This is something the world will have no face saying it did not know was happening.

Even if the media are barred access to the area, and base their reports on unnamed Serb security sources.

[11] Serbian Forces Continue Shelling Villages, Targeting Fleeing Population

PRISHTINA, June 4 (KIC) - Sources from De^an and Gjakova said today Serbian military and police continued pounding with heavy weaponry the villages in the two municipalities at the border area with Albania.

The village of Prejlep of De^an was shelled today. Parts of it were reported to have been turned into rubble, the Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said.

Another De^an village, Shaptej, was shelled throughout the day yesterday (Wednesday). Many were reported wounded in the Serb attack.

Most of the population have been fleeing to other parts of Kosova or into neighbouring Albania.

Entire columns of people - mostly elderly, women and children - have been driven out towards Albania. Many others have been streaming to temporarily safer areas inside Kosovar territory.

A group of outflowing people running towards Albania was shot at by Serbian ('Yugoslav') soldiers. "The sound of cries indicated casualties, wounded and killed people", the CDHRF said, quoting sources from the ground.

Serbian troops have been dousing gasoline on houses that survived heavy shelling, setting them ablaze.

Over 200 local Albanians have been reported missing in De^an municipality four five days, CDHRF said.

The extent of casualties cannot be established as the Serbian troops have sealed off the area under fierce attack in the past few days, the human rights group said.

The local chapter of the CDHRF in De^an and other humanitarian organizations called for international organizations to step in and ensure that the killed get found and buried.

The De^an CDHRF chapter said it had information Serb forces have executed three elderly Albanians at Carrabreg village while running for their lives.

The fate of some 250 Albanian residents of the town of De^an - who have been held captive since last Friday - is still unknown, the CDHRF said.

The human rights group added the fate of several elderly and sick Albanians - who have found themselves unable to get out of the Lubeniq village of Peja - is unknown too. Serb troops have been deployed there, making it impossible for family members to get their people out.

There is desperate shortage of basic necessities, food and medical supplies, in the municipality of De^an, sources said. Dramatic pleas for help to the domestic and international organizations have gone largely unheeded, local activists complain.

Meanwhile, sources in Gjakova said Serbian shelling of the Reka e Keqe villages as well as border villages with Albania has continued unabated.

Serbian forces have prevented local Albanians fleeing war zones from proceeding towards territory inside Kosova.

Having found themselves in such a situation, they headed for the border with Albania, the local CDHRF chapter in Gjakova said.

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