Informazione
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MEN307A.html
Oil Pipelines and Transport Corridors
Balkans Crisis supports US Corporate Interests
By Alfred John Mendes
www.globalresearch.ca 29 July 2003
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MEN307A.html
This article is primarily concerned with the Balkan crisis, which, on
the face of it, may seem a somewhat untimely divergence of attention
from the more exigent crisis in Iraq - but, with a little patience on
the part of the reader, it will become apparent that there are basic,
causal factors common to both. And given the dominant rôle played by
one country, America, in both these crises, this should hardly be
surprising.
This Balkan crisis - now over a decade old - differs from the region’s
previous, numerous crises (in the past invariably referred to as ‘That
Balkan Problem!’) in that it is now playing a pivotal rôle in a
scenario of global dimensions, due, primarily, to the fact that the
main protagonist in this crisis is also by far the world’s most
economically powerful state - namely, Corporate America, a state
embarked upon world domination under the banner of ‘Profit’.
To determine why America/NATO became involved in this region it is, of
course, necessary to view its actions within a wider historical
context, but insofar as this is covered in this author’s previous
article, ‘An Alternative View of The Yugoslav Crisis’, this article
will concern itself with the situation in the aftermath of the collapse
of the Soviet Union (As a result of which, it must be kept in mind,
Yugoslavia was no longer a useful foil for the West in its stand-off
with the USSR), with particular emphasis on the role that oil has
played in determining the strategy of the US in the region. The big oil
corporations had wasted little time in buying their way into the vast
ex-Soviet oil & gas reserves - especially those in Kazakhstan, and the
enormous potential for profit that lay in this Caucasus region would
play an important part in determining US strategy in the Balkans.
The Trade & Development Agency (TDA - now known as the USTDA) was given
the task of overseeing this project, known as the South Balkan
Development Initiative (SBDI) of 1996. This was an agency which had
been set up in 1981 to deal with just such a situation. Following are
some of its aims, quoted from its reports of the years 2000 & 2001:
(italics are the authors’)
(a) “It provides funding for US companies to conduct feasibility
studies on major projects in developing & middle-income countries”;
(b) “It promotes economic development while helping the US private
sector get involved in projects that offer significant US export
opportunities... Exports of US goods and services related specifically
to those projects already total over $1.2 billion”;
(c) “TDA’s strategy is to identify those areas in which US companies
are highly competitive - rail, aviation, power, and oil & gas”; and
(d) “The longest lasting impact we can have is to bring US technology &
investment to the Balkans through our private sector” (1). It is worthy
of note that the TDA describes itself as “ an independent US government
agency”. Equivocal phraseology, to say the least - but it is a token of
the clonal relationship between the government and the so-called
independent (corporate) establishment.
Understandably, the problem of transporting oil & gas from the Caucasus
to its markets featured early on in the deliberations between the TDA
and the oil corporations, one of the factors taken into consideration
being that there was already a Russian plan on the table: a pipeline
from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Greek port of
Alexandropolous on the Aegean Sea (thus by-passing the heavily
trafficked Bosphorous). The TDA settled for a different plan: they
would run a 900 kilometer trans-Balkan pipeline, called Corridor 8,
from Burgas - via Skopje in Macedonia - to the Albanian port of Vlore
on the Adriatic Sea at an estimated cost originally estimated to be
$825 million, but later imcreased to $1.13 billion. On the face of it,
this would seem to have been a strange choice for the Americans to have
made in view of the fact that the US and Russia were already partners
in the Caspian pipeline project, and could have continued this
partnership in the latter’s Burgas to Alexandropolous project. After
all, the latter was - at 280 kms. - a much shorter route and presented
far fewer topographical problems. The American’s main objection to it
- and it was a valid one - was that the Albanian port of Vlore, with
its deeper water could accomodate larger tankers, and was more
accessible to the oil markets than Alexandropolous. However, other
factors of a more political nature played a more crucial role in the
American’s choice.
One clue to this was hinted at by the Director of TDA, J. Joseph
Grandmaison, when, in a press release he described TDA’s $588,000
feasibility grant for the project as “..a significant step forward for
this policy and for US business interests in the Caspian region”. What
he did not mention was that the company which TDA had chosen to run the
Corridor 8 pipeline had obtained “exclusive right” so to do at a
meeting with the three countries involved in the project, and that one
of the three, Bulgaria, had also granted Russia “exclusive right” to
run its line through Bulgaria! A very strange interpretation of the
term “exclusive”. Further clues can be found by a brief look at how
these TDA grants were distributed throughout the Balkan region as
stated in their 2001 report: It reveals that there was a bias in the
distribution thereof. Total grants to the countries through which
Corridor 8 would run, Bulgaria, Macedonia & Albania, (countries, it
should be noted, not directly involved in the disastrous Yugoslav civil
war), were - respectively -$14,636,555; $10,030,285; and $9,161,856 -
whereas Bosnia-Herzogovina, which had suffered heavily in the war,
received $7,929,309 (2). It should be stressed here that the above
grants were for feasibility studies only. Other, much larger grants
were being supplied by other US government bodies. For instance, when,
in 1998, the Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov met Clinton in
Washington, their joint statement at the conclusion of the meeting
contained the following items of pertinent interest:
(a) “Over the past 7 years, the United States has provided Bulgaria
with over $235 million in assistance under the Support for East
European Democracy Program (SEED) to advance fundamental economic
reforms”, and
(b) also provided a $3.2 million Foreign Military Financing program
..and a US “military liaison team resident in the Bulgarian Ministry of
Defense to organize staff & information exchanges” (3). This would be
but one more stride of America’s military march eastwards (details of
which, more later).
As can be seen from the foregoing facts and quotes, the Corridor 8
project, accompanied as it would be by linked facilities such as roads,
telecommunications, rail and security, would act as the thin end of the
wedge, opening up the prospect of further lucrative contracts for other
US businesses - thus leading to the influx of American exports,
capital, and eventual economic domination of the region. Or, as TDA
puts it in their Annual Report 2000: “...we always knew Corridor 8 was
far more than just a road (sic). As the links among the economies and
cultures of the three countries continue to grow, Corridor 8 will
become a vital economic Corridor as well” (4). What they could have
added was that it would also provide a reason for maintaining a strong
military presence (NATO) in the region for security.
In 1996 TDA gave the Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation
(AMBO) the exclusive right to run the Corridor 8 pipeline. Once again,
a somewhat puzzling choice. AMBO was/is a company founded by one Vuko
Tashkovikj, an immigrant to the USA from Macedonia who became an
architect and set up an architectural firm in Pond Ridge, NY. How did
an architect become an oilman? The answer to this is, for now, veiled
in mystery. The feasibility study for this pipeline project was
contracted out - by the TDA - to the prestigious oil/construction
company Brown & Root (the CEO of whose parent company, Halliburton, had
been Dick Cheney - now Vice-President under Bush jnr.); the economic
analysis sub-contracted to Credit Suisse First Boston (of which Richard
Holbrooke,. the much-publicised Balkan ‘peace-maker’, was
Vice-Chairman); the legal aspects overseen by the New York law firm,
White & Case (which President Clinton joined on losing his presidency).
But perhaps the most fortuitous ‘coincidence’ occurred in January 1997
when Edward Ferguson, Director of Oil & Gas Development in Brown &
Root, was appointed President & CEO of AMBO.
Brown & Root Services (BRS), of Texas, is one of the many American
companies involved in high-profile projects in the Balkans, and it is a
company that bears all the hallmarks of membership of Corporate
America, demonstrated by its clonal relationship with the US
Administration over the years. It certainly benefitted from
fellow-Texan LBJ’s presidency - and will just as surely benefit from
George W. Bush’s presidency (after all, Halliburton had donated one
quarter of a million dollars to his election campaign). Brown & Root’s
entry into the Balkans was no ‘shot in the dark’, as a brief resumé of
its recent, pertinent history reveals (by Robert Bryce in the Austin
Chronicle of August 2nd 2000): (a) From 1962 to 1972, Brown & Root
built roads, landing strips, harbors & military bases in South Vietnam;
(b) In 1992, when Dick Cheney was US Secretary of State for Defense
under Bush Snr., the Pentagon “paid BRS $3.9 million to produce a
classified report detailing how private companies - like itself - could
help provide logistics for American troops in potential war zones
around the world”. Later that same year giving BRS “an additional $5
million to update its report”; (c) “Between 1992 and 1999, the Pentagon
paid BRS more than $1.2 billion for its work in trouble spots around
the globe. In May of 1999, the US Corps of Army Engineers re-enlisted
the company’s help in the Balkans, giving it a new 5-year contract
worth $731 million” (5).
Brown & Root’s most important Balkan project, begun in the immediate
aftermath of NATO’s bombing of Kosovo and Serbia, was almost certainly
the $36.6 million US military base Camp Bondsteel, near Urosevac in
Gnjilane county in southeastern Kosovo. As the OSCE Mission in Kosovo
(OMIK) noted in their report in the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict -
and after the arrival of NATO in the area - this was an area in which
the Serbs were the majority ethnic group, and it had remained
relatively calm during the conflict. “Since the end of the conflict,
however, the situation has been startlingly different.” For instance,
whereas in June 1999 “..only one house in Gnjilane had been destroyed”
- by October of that same year “the number had risen to 280!”. And the
KLA was now in the area in force. The Serbs and Romas (Gypsies) had
fled, and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the party of the
liberal Albanian, Ibrahim Rugova, was also being targeted by the KLA.
This OMIK report preceeded the construction of the base, for which the
Americans had no mandate - other than their own. It involved the
seizure and flattening of two hills of cultivated land of some 800
acres (the largest foreign-based camp since Vietnam). This could only
have meant that the Americans intended to remain there for a long time.
Were the reasons for establishing Camp Bondsteel in this autocratic
manner ‘humanitarian’? (If there is one thing to be said in favour of
the feudal barons as they built their walled, impregnable castles
throughout Europe, it is that at least they made no bones about why
they were doing so!). Be that as it may, Camp Bondsteel is also
strategically placed near the Kosovo-Macedonia border, giving it easy
access southwards. So easy, in fact, that the KLA used it for their
subsequent incursions into Macedonia - unhindered! Could it be that the
security of Corridor 8 was/is of prime importance to the US, to the
exclusion of much else - at least, for now? And with the above in mind,
is it not rational to assume that, at the very least, NATO was
deliberately not preventing the KLA's incursions into Macedonia because
the ensuing friction there accomplished two things:
(a) it justified the need for NATO’s presence in the region (and this
includes Macedonia), and
(b) it ensured that the latter ‘played ball’ over Corridor 8? Why else
had the ‘peacekeepers’ in the stand-off between the Serbs and Albanians
in Macedonia included such men as Solana (who had been NATO General
Secretary through much of the crisis), and James Pardew (the Pentagon
representive sent to persuade the Bosnians to use the mercenary MPRI’s
services in the aftermath of the Dayton Accord)? Indeed, the early
reaction of distrust evinced by the Macedonian Slavs to America’s
“peace-keeping” moves in the region was surely understandable in view
of the fact that their Army was concurrently being
advised/trained/aided by that prestigious group of ‘privatised’ retired
US Generals known as the Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI) -
under the command of ex-General Richard Griffiths (as admitted by Major
General Metodi Stamboliski of the Macedonian Army General Staff in the
Macedonian magazine “Defence” no.60 April 2001) (6).
After all, this is an organisation which: (a) assisted/trained the
Croatian Army in preparation for the latter’s attack on the Serbs in
West Krajina; (b) aided & assisted in the reformation of the Bosnian
Army after the Dayton Accord; and (c) aided and assisted the KLA after
NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in ‘99. This was all under the command of
the self-same General Richard Griffiths who, from ‘89 to ‘91 had been
US Assistant Commander in Europe for Intelligence - in Frankfurt. In
Croatia, he, naturally, had had a close relationship with Brigadier
Agim Ceku, a Kosovan, who was then serving with the Croatian Army - but
had later left to become Commander of the KLA in Kosovo. To cap it all,
it transpires that when the then Chief of Staff of the Macedonian Army,
General Jovan Andrejevski attended Military School in the US, Richard
Griffiths had been his tutor!
On September 11th 2001 - with G.W.Bush jnr. now President - the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked, causing severe civilian
and military casualities. With surprising alacrity the US laid the
blame for this event at the door of the Afghan Taliban and its
al-Quaeda cohorts - and decided to invade Afghanistan. But the fact
that for years there had been a close relationship between the US (its
Intelligence Services in particular) and the Taliban - to say nothing
of the Pakistan ISI - immediately posed a question, best expressed by
Paul JosephWatson in his article ‘The End Justifies the Means’: “When
one considers the voluminous evidence derived from official sources,
domestic and foreign mainstream media, and alternative media, the only
logical conclusion is that elements within the US Government had
specific foreknowledge of the events of September 11th and allowed the
attacks to take place when preventative measures could and should have
been taken to prevent them..”. He intriguingly added: “What is also
patently clear is that a New World Order has been fuelled and
accelerated by September 11th”. (7)
America invaded Afghanistan and a ‘War on Terrorism’ was now the
clarion call-of-the-day. The US Central Command (CENTCOM - which had
led the ‘allies’ in the Gulf War of ‘91), led the invasion, and using
Bulgaria’s and Romania’s prospective membership of NATO as an incentive
(to say nothing of grants, etc.), the Americans, in return, gained
from those two countries: (a) contracts to improve their military bases
and Black Sea ports - and use of same for possible interventions in the
Middle East; (b) permission to overfly their countries using military
aircraft. This cooperation resulted in Bulgarian and Romanian troops
serving with the peace-keeping force in post-war Afghanistan. (8)
In the spring of 2003, the Americans, again using their strike force
CENTCOM, invaded Iraq with Britain as its only ally. They had planned
on using their old NATO ally Turkey as a jumping off point for moving
their troops in a pincer movement into northern (Kurdish) Iraq, but the
Turks balked at this and refused permission. The conveniently-placed
Balkan countries, Bulgaria and Romania, were used instead, and 3000 US
troops (including ‘special operations units’) - and weapons - were
flown to the frontline in Iraq during the invasion (9). Apparently, a
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was now involved/participating in
this Middle East fracas. Disorienting, to say the least - but not if it
is recalled that
(a) both NATO and CENTCOM were/are American-controlled forces, and
(b) both had been formed in order to protect and propagate the
socio-economic system of its Corporate capitalist masters. Indeed, it
would seem that the present secretary-general of NATO, Lord Robertson,
agrees with this: to quote the Independent on Sunday dated July 6th ‘03
“Last week Cable & Wireless announced that Lord Robertson, the
secretary-general of NATO, will join the company in December as
executive deputy chairman. His role will be to foster relations with
overseas governments. A meeting with the Japenese administration is
likely to be at the top of his agenda”. In any case, the term NATO is
today certainly a misnomer, and thus it would not be surprising if its
title were to be changed in the near future.
It was now evident that there was a change in US military strategy. As
Will Dunham (of Reuters) reported on June 13th 2003: “The United States
has begun a dramatic realignment of its military forces abroad, making
key changes in the Middle East and Asia and preparing a restructuring
in Europe to confront emerging 21st century threats” (10). This was
confirmation of a previous report by George Jahn (of Associated Press)
written on April 1st 2002: “Even before September 11th, Caspian Sea oil
and gas - and planned pipelines for deliveries of those energy sources
- had dictated a re-evaluation of Western strategic interests” (11). As
evidence of this new strategy, Dunham (see above) notes
(a) in the aftermath of its invasion of Iraq, the US is pulling out
5000 of its troops from Saudi Arabia;
(b) it intends moving its troops from the vulnerable demilitarized zone
in Korea to ‘hub bases’ further south;
(c) it will reduce its forces based in Germany quite drastically - but
its Ramstein airbase will remain; and
(d) if (and it is a big ‘if’) the US manages to set up military bases
in Iraq, the deteriorating relationship with Turkey could result in the
US removing all troops from that latter country - even the Incirlik
airbase. (However, their Intelligence Base outside Diyarbakir would
pose a serious problem!)
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s statement in June of this year sums it all
up concisely (again quoting Dunham): “We have been reviewing our
presence around the world, in every portion of the globe”, adding that
“US forces are still deployed as if the USSR still existed” - a
statement which, on the face of it, would seem to be just another
non-sequitur from the lips of an Administration somewhat prone to such.
But, on reflection, it transpires that Rumsfeld, a veteran of the ‘Cold
War’, meant what he said, knowing full well that the creed of Marxism
(in his eyes, ‘The USSR’) did not die away with the collapse of that
régime - and is still very much alive, and thus a threat to its
antithesis, Capitalism. NATO is confirmation of that.
The rapidly increasing, insidious encroachment of corporations of vast
wealth and influence into the military arena - in the form of mercenary
groups such as the MPRI (above) does not augur well for the future,
inasmuch as it reflects the sinister trend towards what is, in effect,
the privatisation of military tasks, which leads, inevitably, to the
demise of democratic accountability in this field.
That oil has played an important role in determining the
policies/actions of the US (NATO) in the Balkan crisis was clearly, if
inadvertently, spelt out by the then Bulgarian President, Petar
Stoyanov, at an international conference on Europe-Caucas-Asia
transport corridor held in Bulgaria in September 1998, mainly to
discuss the Trans-Balkan pipeline. When asked whether regional
conflicts - particularly in Kosovo - would hinder these infrastructural
projects, he replied: “Economic profit is a significant tool in
political decision-making” (12). Never were truer words spoken!
ENDNOTES
(1) www.tda.gov/region/europe.html
(2) ibid
(3) www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3793a582649e.htm
(4) www.tda.gov/abouttda/report2000/promoting.html
(5) www.mojones.com/news_wire/cheney.html
(6) www.morm.gov.mk/2001/odbrana/odb60e.htm
(7) www.propagandamatrix.com/end justifies means 2 text only.html
(8) www.geocities.com/joshkatem/spring02/nato2.htm
(9) www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~10859~1434497,00.html
(10) www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030613-military-suhffle01.htm
(11) www.geocities.com/joshkatem/spring02/nato2.htm
(12) www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3793a582649e.htm
© Copyright Alfred John Mendes 2003 For fair use only/ pour usage
équitable seulement .
Oil Pipelines and Transport Corridors
Balkans Crisis supports US Corporate Interests
By Alfred John Mendes
www.globalresearch.ca 29 July 2003
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MEN307A.html
This article is primarily concerned with the Balkan crisis, which, on
the face of it, may seem a somewhat untimely divergence of attention
from the more exigent crisis in Iraq - but, with a little patience on
the part of the reader, it will become apparent that there are basic,
causal factors common to both. And given the dominant rôle played by
one country, America, in both these crises, this should hardly be
surprising.
This Balkan crisis - now over a decade old - differs from the region’s
previous, numerous crises (in the past invariably referred to as ‘That
Balkan Problem!’) in that it is now playing a pivotal rôle in a
scenario of global dimensions, due, primarily, to the fact that the
main protagonist in this crisis is also by far the world’s most
economically powerful state - namely, Corporate America, a state
embarked upon world domination under the banner of ‘Profit’.
To determine why America/NATO became involved in this region it is, of
course, necessary to view its actions within a wider historical
context, but insofar as this is covered in this author’s previous
article, ‘An Alternative View of The Yugoslav Crisis’, this article
will concern itself with the situation in the aftermath of the collapse
of the Soviet Union (As a result of which, it must be kept in mind,
Yugoslavia was no longer a useful foil for the West in its stand-off
with the USSR), with particular emphasis on the role that oil has
played in determining the strategy of the US in the region. The big oil
corporations had wasted little time in buying their way into the vast
ex-Soviet oil & gas reserves - especially those in Kazakhstan, and the
enormous potential for profit that lay in this Caucasus region would
play an important part in determining US strategy in the Balkans.
The Trade & Development Agency (TDA - now known as the USTDA) was given
the task of overseeing this project, known as the South Balkan
Development Initiative (SBDI) of 1996. This was an agency which had
been set up in 1981 to deal with just such a situation. Following are
some of its aims, quoted from its reports of the years 2000 & 2001:
(italics are the authors’)
(a) “It provides funding for US companies to conduct feasibility
studies on major projects in developing & middle-income countries”;
(b) “It promotes economic development while helping the US private
sector get involved in projects that offer significant US export
opportunities... Exports of US goods and services related specifically
to those projects already total over $1.2 billion”;
(c) “TDA’s strategy is to identify those areas in which US companies
are highly competitive - rail, aviation, power, and oil & gas”; and
(d) “The longest lasting impact we can have is to bring US technology &
investment to the Balkans through our private sector” (1). It is worthy
of note that the TDA describes itself as “ an independent US government
agency”. Equivocal phraseology, to say the least - but it is a token of
the clonal relationship between the government and the so-called
independent (corporate) establishment.
Understandably, the problem of transporting oil & gas from the Caucasus
to its markets featured early on in the deliberations between the TDA
and the oil corporations, one of the factors taken into consideration
being that there was already a Russian plan on the table: a pipeline
from the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea to the Greek port of
Alexandropolous on the Aegean Sea (thus by-passing the heavily
trafficked Bosphorous). The TDA settled for a different plan: they
would run a 900 kilometer trans-Balkan pipeline, called Corridor 8,
from Burgas - via Skopje in Macedonia - to the Albanian port of Vlore
on the Adriatic Sea at an estimated cost originally estimated to be
$825 million, but later imcreased to $1.13 billion. On the face of it,
this would seem to have been a strange choice for the Americans to have
made in view of the fact that the US and Russia were already partners
in the Caspian pipeline project, and could have continued this
partnership in the latter’s Burgas to Alexandropolous project. After
all, the latter was - at 280 kms. - a much shorter route and presented
far fewer topographical problems. The American’s main objection to it
- and it was a valid one - was that the Albanian port of Vlore, with
its deeper water could accomodate larger tankers, and was more
accessible to the oil markets than Alexandropolous. However, other
factors of a more political nature played a more crucial role in the
American’s choice.
One clue to this was hinted at by the Director of TDA, J. Joseph
Grandmaison, when, in a press release he described TDA’s $588,000
feasibility grant for the project as “..a significant step forward for
this policy and for US business interests in the Caspian region”. What
he did not mention was that the company which TDA had chosen to run the
Corridor 8 pipeline had obtained “exclusive right” so to do at a
meeting with the three countries involved in the project, and that one
of the three, Bulgaria, had also granted Russia “exclusive right” to
run its line through Bulgaria! A very strange interpretation of the
term “exclusive”. Further clues can be found by a brief look at how
these TDA grants were distributed throughout the Balkan region as
stated in their 2001 report: It reveals that there was a bias in the
distribution thereof. Total grants to the countries through which
Corridor 8 would run, Bulgaria, Macedonia & Albania, (countries, it
should be noted, not directly involved in the disastrous Yugoslav civil
war), were - respectively -$14,636,555; $10,030,285; and $9,161,856 -
whereas Bosnia-Herzogovina, which had suffered heavily in the war,
received $7,929,309 (2). It should be stressed here that the above
grants were for feasibility studies only. Other, much larger grants
were being supplied by other US government bodies. For instance, when,
in 1998, the Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov met Clinton in
Washington, their joint statement at the conclusion of the meeting
contained the following items of pertinent interest:
(a) “Over the past 7 years, the United States has provided Bulgaria
with over $235 million in assistance under the Support for East
European Democracy Program (SEED) to advance fundamental economic
reforms”, and
(b) also provided a $3.2 million Foreign Military Financing program
..and a US “military liaison team resident in the Bulgarian Ministry of
Defense to organize staff & information exchanges” (3). This would be
but one more stride of America’s military march eastwards (details of
which, more later).
As can be seen from the foregoing facts and quotes, the Corridor 8
project, accompanied as it would be by linked facilities such as roads,
telecommunications, rail and security, would act as the thin end of the
wedge, opening up the prospect of further lucrative contracts for other
US businesses - thus leading to the influx of American exports,
capital, and eventual economic domination of the region. Or, as TDA
puts it in their Annual Report 2000: “...we always knew Corridor 8 was
far more than just a road (sic). As the links among the economies and
cultures of the three countries continue to grow, Corridor 8 will
become a vital economic Corridor as well” (4). What they could have
added was that it would also provide a reason for maintaining a strong
military presence (NATO) in the region for security.
In 1996 TDA gave the Albanian Macedonian Bulgarian Oil Corporation
(AMBO) the exclusive right to run the Corridor 8 pipeline. Once again,
a somewhat puzzling choice. AMBO was/is a company founded by one Vuko
Tashkovikj, an immigrant to the USA from Macedonia who became an
architect and set up an architectural firm in Pond Ridge, NY. How did
an architect become an oilman? The answer to this is, for now, veiled
in mystery. The feasibility study for this pipeline project was
contracted out - by the TDA - to the prestigious oil/construction
company Brown & Root (the CEO of whose parent company, Halliburton, had
been Dick Cheney - now Vice-President under Bush jnr.); the economic
analysis sub-contracted to Credit Suisse First Boston (of which Richard
Holbrooke,. the much-publicised Balkan ‘peace-maker’, was
Vice-Chairman); the legal aspects overseen by the New York law firm,
White & Case (which President Clinton joined on losing his presidency).
But perhaps the most fortuitous ‘coincidence’ occurred in January 1997
when Edward Ferguson, Director of Oil & Gas Development in Brown &
Root, was appointed President & CEO of AMBO.
Brown & Root Services (BRS), of Texas, is one of the many American
companies involved in high-profile projects in the Balkans, and it is a
company that bears all the hallmarks of membership of Corporate
America, demonstrated by its clonal relationship with the US
Administration over the years. It certainly benefitted from
fellow-Texan LBJ’s presidency - and will just as surely benefit from
George W. Bush’s presidency (after all, Halliburton had donated one
quarter of a million dollars to his election campaign). Brown & Root’s
entry into the Balkans was no ‘shot in the dark’, as a brief resumé of
its recent, pertinent history reveals (by Robert Bryce in the Austin
Chronicle of August 2nd 2000): (a) From 1962 to 1972, Brown & Root
built roads, landing strips, harbors & military bases in South Vietnam;
(b) In 1992, when Dick Cheney was US Secretary of State for Defense
under Bush Snr., the Pentagon “paid BRS $3.9 million to produce a
classified report detailing how private companies - like itself - could
help provide logistics for American troops in potential war zones
around the world”. Later that same year giving BRS “an additional $5
million to update its report”; (c) “Between 1992 and 1999, the Pentagon
paid BRS more than $1.2 billion for its work in trouble spots around
the globe. In May of 1999, the US Corps of Army Engineers re-enlisted
the company’s help in the Balkans, giving it a new 5-year contract
worth $731 million” (5).
Brown & Root’s most important Balkan project, begun in the immediate
aftermath of NATO’s bombing of Kosovo and Serbia, was almost certainly
the $36.6 million US military base Camp Bondsteel, near Urosevac in
Gnjilane county in southeastern Kosovo. As the OSCE Mission in Kosovo
(OMIK) noted in their report in the aftermath of the Kosovo conflict -
and after the arrival of NATO in the area - this was an area in which
the Serbs were the majority ethnic group, and it had remained
relatively calm during the conflict. “Since the end of the conflict,
however, the situation has been startlingly different.” For instance,
whereas in June 1999 “..only one house in Gnjilane had been destroyed”
- by October of that same year “the number had risen to 280!”. And the
KLA was now in the area in force. The Serbs and Romas (Gypsies) had
fled, and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the party of the
liberal Albanian, Ibrahim Rugova, was also being targeted by the KLA.
This OMIK report preceeded the construction of the base, for which the
Americans had no mandate - other than their own. It involved the
seizure and flattening of two hills of cultivated land of some 800
acres (the largest foreign-based camp since Vietnam). This could only
have meant that the Americans intended to remain there for a long time.
Were the reasons for establishing Camp Bondsteel in this autocratic
manner ‘humanitarian’? (If there is one thing to be said in favour of
the feudal barons as they built their walled, impregnable castles
throughout Europe, it is that at least they made no bones about why
they were doing so!). Be that as it may, Camp Bondsteel is also
strategically placed near the Kosovo-Macedonia border, giving it easy
access southwards. So easy, in fact, that the KLA used it for their
subsequent incursions into Macedonia - unhindered! Could it be that the
security of Corridor 8 was/is of prime importance to the US, to the
exclusion of much else - at least, for now? And with the above in mind,
is it not rational to assume that, at the very least, NATO was
deliberately not preventing the KLA's incursions into Macedonia because
the ensuing friction there accomplished two things:
(a) it justified the need for NATO’s presence in the region (and this
includes Macedonia), and
(b) it ensured that the latter ‘played ball’ over Corridor 8? Why else
had the ‘peacekeepers’ in the stand-off between the Serbs and Albanians
in Macedonia included such men as Solana (who had been NATO General
Secretary through much of the crisis), and James Pardew (the Pentagon
representive sent to persuade the Bosnians to use the mercenary MPRI’s
services in the aftermath of the Dayton Accord)? Indeed, the early
reaction of distrust evinced by the Macedonian Slavs to America’s
“peace-keeping” moves in the region was surely understandable in view
of the fact that their Army was concurrently being
advised/trained/aided by that prestigious group of ‘privatised’ retired
US Generals known as the Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI) -
under the command of ex-General Richard Griffiths (as admitted by Major
General Metodi Stamboliski of the Macedonian Army General Staff in the
Macedonian magazine “Defence” no.60 April 2001) (6).
After all, this is an organisation which: (a) assisted/trained the
Croatian Army in preparation for the latter’s attack on the Serbs in
West Krajina; (b) aided & assisted in the reformation of the Bosnian
Army after the Dayton Accord; and (c) aided and assisted the KLA after
NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in ‘99. This was all under the command of
the self-same General Richard Griffiths who, from ‘89 to ‘91 had been
US Assistant Commander in Europe for Intelligence - in Frankfurt. In
Croatia, he, naturally, had had a close relationship with Brigadier
Agim Ceku, a Kosovan, who was then serving with the Croatian Army - but
had later left to become Commander of the KLA in Kosovo. To cap it all,
it transpires that when the then Chief of Staff of the Macedonian Army,
General Jovan Andrejevski attended Military School in the US, Richard
Griffiths had been his tutor!
On September 11th 2001 - with G.W.Bush jnr. now President - the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked, causing severe civilian
and military casualities. With surprising alacrity the US laid the
blame for this event at the door of the Afghan Taliban and its
al-Quaeda cohorts - and decided to invade Afghanistan. But the fact
that for years there had been a close relationship between the US (its
Intelligence Services in particular) and the Taliban - to say nothing
of the Pakistan ISI - immediately posed a question, best expressed by
Paul JosephWatson in his article ‘The End Justifies the Means’: “When
one considers the voluminous evidence derived from official sources,
domestic and foreign mainstream media, and alternative media, the only
logical conclusion is that elements within the US Government had
specific foreknowledge of the events of September 11th and allowed the
attacks to take place when preventative measures could and should have
been taken to prevent them..”. He intriguingly added: “What is also
patently clear is that a New World Order has been fuelled and
accelerated by September 11th”. (7)
America invaded Afghanistan and a ‘War on Terrorism’ was now the
clarion call-of-the-day. The US Central Command (CENTCOM - which had
led the ‘allies’ in the Gulf War of ‘91), led the invasion, and using
Bulgaria’s and Romania’s prospective membership of NATO as an incentive
(to say nothing of grants, etc.), the Americans, in return, gained
from those two countries: (a) contracts to improve their military bases
and Black Sea ports - and use of same for possible interventions in the
Middle East; (b) permission to overfly their countries using military
aircraft. This cooperation resulted in Bulgarian and Romanian troops
serving with the peace-keeping force in post-war Afghanistan. (8)
In the spring of 2003, the Americans, again using their strike force
CENTCOM, invaded Iraq with Britain as its only ally. They had planned
on using their old NATO ally Turkey as a jumping off point for moving
their troops in a pincer movement into northern (Kurdish) Iraq, but the
Turks balked at this and refused permission. The conveniently-placed
Balkan countries, Bulgaria and Romania, were used instead, and 3000 US
troops (including ‘special operations units’) - and weapons - were
flown to the frontline in Iraq during the invasion (9). Apparently, a
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was now involved/participating in
this Middle East fracas. Disorienting, to say the least - but not if it
is recalled that
(a) both NATO and CENTCOM were/are American-controlled forces, and
(b) both had been formed in order to protect and propagate the
socio-economic system of its Corporate capitalist masters. Indeed, it
would seem that the present secretary-general of NATO, Lord Robertson,
agrees with this: to quote the Independent on Sunday dated July 6th ‘03
“Last week Cable & Wireless announced that Lord Robertson, the
secretary-general of NATO, will join the company in December as
executive deputy chairman. His role will be to foster relations with
overseas governments. A meeting with the Japenese administration is
likely to be at the top of his agenda”. In any case, the term NATO is
today certainly a misnomer, and thus it would not be surprising if its
title were to be changed in the near future.
It was now evident that there was a change in US military strategy. As
Will Dunham (of Reuters) reported on June 13th 2003: “The United States
has begun a dramatic realignment of its military forces abroad, making
key changes in the Middle East and Asia and preparing a restructuring
in Europe to confront emerging 21st century threats” (10). This was
confirmation of a previous report by George Jahn (of Associated Press)
written on April 1st 2002: “Even before September 11th, Caspian Sea oil
and gas - and planned pipelines for deliveries of those energy sources
- had dictated a re-evaluation of Western strategic interests” (11). As
evidence of this new strategy, Dunham (see above) notes
(a) in the aftermath of its invasion of Iraq, the US is pulling out
5000 of its troops from Saudi Arabia;
(b) it intends moving its troops from the vulnerable demilitarized zone
in Korea to ‘hub bases’ further south;
(c) it will reduce its forces based in Germany quite drastically - but
its Ramstein airbase will remain; and
(d) if (and it is a big ‘if’) the US manages to set up military bases
in Iraq, the deteriorating relationship with Turkey could result in the
US removing all troops from that latter country - even the Incirlik
airbase. (However, their Intelligence Base outside Diyarbakir would
pose a serious problem!)
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s statement in June of this year sums it all
up concisely (again quoting Dunham): “We have been reviewing our
presence around the world, in every portion of the globe”, adding that
“US forces are still deployed as if the USSR still existed” - a
statement which, on the face of it, would seem to be just another
non-sequitur from the lips of an Administration somewhat prone to such.
But, on reflection, it transpires that Rumsfeld, a veteran of the ‘Cold
War’, meant what he said, knowing full well that the creed of Marxism
(in his eyes, ‘The USSR’) did not die away with the collapse of that
régime - and is still very much alive, and thus a threat to its
antithesis, Capitalism. NATO is confirmation of that.
The rapidly increasing, insidious encroachment of corporations of vast
wealth and influence into the military arena - in the form of mercenary
groups such as the MPRI (above) does not augur well for the future,
inasmuch as it reflects the sinister trend towards what is, in effect,
the privatisation of military tasks, which leads, inevitably, to the
demise of democratic accountability in this field.
That oil has played an important role in determining the
policies/actions of the US (NATO) in the Balkan crisis was clearly, if
inadvertently, spelt out by the then Bulgarian President, Petar
Stoyanov, at an international conference on Europe-Caucas-Asia
transport corridor held in Bulgaria in September 1998, mainly to
discuss the Trans-Balkan pipeline. When asked whether regional
conflicts - particularly in Kosovo - would hinder these infrastructural
projects, he replied: “Economic profit is a significant tool in
political decision-making” (12). Never were truer words spoken!
ENDNOTES
(1) www.tda.gov/region/europe.html
(2) ibid
(3) www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3793a582649e.htm
(4) www.tda.gov/abouttda/report2000/promoting.html
(5) www.mojones.com/news_wire/cheney.html
(6) www.morm.gov.mk/2001/odbrana/odb60e.htm
(7) www.propagandamatrix.com/end justifies means 2 text only.html
(8) www.geocities.com/joshkatem/spring02/nato2.htm
(9) www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~10859~1434497,00.html
(10) www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030613-military-suhffle01.htm
(11) www.geocities.com/joshkatem/spring02/nato2.htm
(12) www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3793a582649e.htm
© Copyright Alfred John Mendes 2003 For fair use only/ pour usage
équitable seulement .
OVO SE NE SME ZABORAVITI
THIS CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN
QUESTO NON SI PUO' DIMENTICARE
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/IMMAGINI/
krajina1995.jpg
--- (english / italiano) ---
La eliminazione dei serbi dalla Croazia
3: Otto anni dopo
A: CROAZIA: IN UN RAPPORTO LE STRAGI CONTRO I CIVILI SERBI/ANSA
B: In memory of over 250,000 Serbs expelled from their homes in Krajina
by Croatian forces (Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society)
C: Re: Letters to WT Re: Facing reality at the ICTY By JeffreyT. Kuhner
D: Comments on a National Post FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS article,
published July 28, 2003, and the issue of Gen. Gotovina
NOTE: Most materials used here have been forwarded to us by
minja@...
=== A ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/croazia/croazia.shtml
CROAZIA: IN UN RAPPORTO LE STRAGI CONTRO I CIVILI SERBI/ANSA
(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, 24 LUG - Pulizia etnica della popolazione serba di
Croazia organizzata e in accordo con il nemico; uccisione di almeno 83
civili; saccheggi e numerose violazioni dei fondamentali diritti
umani: queste le principali accuse del Comitato di Helsinki croato
per i diritti umani (Hho) sull'offensiva dell'esercito di Zagabria
che nel maggio del 1995 permise alla Croazia di riprendere il
controllo della Slavonia occidentale, dal 1991 nelle mani dei
secessionisti serbi. I dirigenti dell'Hho Zarko Puhovski e Ranko
Helebrant, citati dall'agenzia di stampa Hina, hanno presentato oggi
il rapporto sull'operazione militare conosciuta sotto il nome
'Bljesak' ('Lampo') che contiene anche i nomi di 83 civili serbi
uccisi dall'esercito croato durante l'offensiva iniziata all'alba del
primo maggio 1995 e conclusasi 30 ore piu' tardi. Di questi, 53
furono uccisi nelle loro case, mentre altri 30 persero la vita nelle
incursioni croate contro colonne di profughi che fuggivano, assieme
ai militari serbi, verso la Bosnia. Puhovski ha detto che una parte
dei profughi, non precisandone il numero, e' stata eliminata dagli
stessi soldati serbi che in questo modo volevano facilitare il
ripiegamento. Secondo i dirigenti dell'Hho l'elenco degli 83 non e'
definitivo poiche' nel rapporto sono citati solo i casi verificati
da piu' fonti. Il massacro piu' grave e' avvenuto nel villaggio di
Medari, il primo in cui entrarono le forze croate, ''dove - ha detto
Helebrant - delle 24 persone rimaste sopravvissero solo due bambine,
salvate da un soldato che le ha riconosciute e non ha permesso che
venissero eliminate''. Il rapporto parla anche delle case serbe
saccheggiate dai soldati croati, mentre gli abitanti per due giorni
venivano tenuti lontano dai villaggi. Ai serbi non e' stato permesso
di seppellire i loro morti, seppelliti poi dall'esercito croato in
fosse comuni, molte delle quali rimaste non segnalate. ''L'esodo e
la pulizia etnica dei serbi della Slavonia occidentale avvenuta
durante l'operazione e' stata organizzata dai dirigenti croati e
serbi, ma anche da una parte della comunita' internazionale'' ha
detto Puhovski argomentando la tesi con il fatto che l'esodo sia
iniziato nel momento stesso in cui fu lanciata l'offensiva croata. In
tal senso Puhovski ha anche fatto notare che dalla zona della Bosnia
controllata dai serbi, che si trovava al confine con la Slavonia
occidentale, non sia stato sparato un solo colpo, mentre l'esercito
croato non ha preso alcuna misura di protezione contro un possibile
attacco serbo dalla Bosnia. Secondo i dati ufficiali di Zagabria
nell'operazione 'Lampo' hanno partecipato 7.200 soldati e poliziotti
croati, e 42 di loro hanno perso la vita. Le perdite serbe vengono
stimate a circa 450 uomini. Secondo fonti indipendenti soltanto 1.000
dei circa 13.000 serbi sono rimasti nella regione dopo questa
offensiva croata, alla quale, nell'agosto dello stesso anno, segui'
l'operazione 'Tempesta' che permise a Zagabria di riprendere il
controllo dell'intera regione della Krajina, durante il conflitto
serbo-croato (1991-1995) nelle mani dei secessionisti serbi. In
quell'occasione dal paese fuggirono altri 150.000 civili e almeno 150
furono uccisi. COR*VD
24/07/2003 17:03
=== B ===
[Note: We absolutely DISAGREE with shifting responsability of Croatian
crimes to Tito and the socialist Yugoslavia. This sort of revisionism
only contributes creating a distorted feeling and rewriting history, as
if the main culprits for nationalisms and divisions were those - like
Tito - who lead the most heroic and successful battles against
nationalisms and divisions. CNJ]
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
3662 Albion Rd. South,
Gloucester, Ontario, K1T 1A3
Remembering Krajina
August 4, 2003
In memory of over 250,000 Serbs
expelled from their homes in Krajina by Croatian forces
Eight years ago on this day, Croatian army, trained, aided and abetted
by NATO, murdered approximately 14,000 civilians in the most brutal
manner.
To this day, the disgraceful involvement of Western "democracies" in
this atrocity has remained secret and unpunished.
Expulsion of Serbs in 1995 was but a final step in the plan to make
Croatia an ethnically pure state devised by Ustashe - Nazi Croatian
forces who are responsible for the murdered of over one million Serbs
during W.W.II. This atrocity has remained secret and unpunished for
over 60 years due to the
efforts of Former Yugoslav Communists led by then President Tito.
Civil wars in former Yugoslavia in 1991-1999, have left well over one
million Serbs expelled from their homes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
On August 4, 2003 we will remember those victims, ignored and
forgotten by the world.
Stanko Vuleta,
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
=== C ===
Subject: Re: Letters to WT Re: Facing reality at the ICTY By JeffreyT.
Kuhner,
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 12:47:19 -0400
From: Boba
Letter to the Editor :
letters@...
letters@...
Facing reality at the ICTY
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner, Aug. 8, 2003
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20030804-090706-1701r.htm
Letter to the Editor:
What do we have here? An extended PR company of Croatian government
among the editorial staff of Washington Times?
Mr. Kuhner looses his coolness when faced with reality of Croatian
crimes against Krajina Serbs from 1992-1995.
If the Washington Times agrees with his view or not it is up to the
editor and the owner of the newspaper. However, your readers deserve a
dose of a reality here.
The fact of a matter is that Serbs lived in the area of Krajina for
centuries, long before Croatia even became an independent country. It
is also true that Croat forces expelled in the most brutal way over
200.000 Serbs in one day only during the Croatian military action
called " Operation Storm". It is also true that Canadian forces fought
Croatian forces to save innocent Serb civilians in Medak pocket in
1993. It is considered to be
the most severe action Canadian troops have been involved in since the
Korean War. They became witness of a Croatian military campaign, which
was carried out with brutality, wanton murder, and indiscriminate
shelling of civilians.
Over 650.000 Serbs were ethically cleansed out of Croatia from 1992 to
1995.
An estimated number of 30.000 Serbs have returned to Croatia to find
their homes either burned or inhabited by others. There is no respect
for human rights for Serbs in Croatia -- thus Croatia achieve their
goal of a pure Croatian state that Ante Pavelic of Nazi Croatia and
Hitler could only promise.
The National Post (from Canada) was right in requesting general
Gotovina to be sent to the Hague. Now it is up to the Washington Times
to at least publish someone else's opinion on Croatian atrocities other
then Mr. Kuhner's.
Boba Borojevic
=== D ===
Subject: re "fair play in the balkans"
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:14:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: joann fredrick
To: letters@...
perhaps, using the same logic applied in 1999, 78 days of the bombing
of croatian schools, hospitals, day care centers, world heritage sites,
and the occasional tank are in order; excuse the hyperbole, but it is a
necessary prrelude for the following facts:
croatia was an illegal state in the 1990's; yugoslavia in the 1990's
was not
croatia has a long history of intolerance; yugoslavia does not have any
such history
croatia was an enemy of canadians during WW2, yugoslavia was an ally
croatia perpetrated unspeakable atrocities during WW2; yugoslavs,
especially serbs, were the victims
croatia turned over jews to the nazis or killed jews themselves;
yugoslavia protected them throughout the 1940's
even today, croatia uses the same fascist symbols it employed during
WW2, including its flag; the history of yugoslavia remains a symbol of
triumph against prejudice and fear
croatia worked with those who allied with so-called muslim
fundamentalists, some of whom were involved with those planning and
training for 9/11; yugoslavia tried to stop the onslaught of
intolerance from the days of prince lazar and into the 1990's
croatia and its allies tried to kill canadian peacekeepers; yugoslavs
never have done this
croatia did commit atrocities duriing the 1990s; the government of
yugoslavia had committed atrocities
yugoslavs historically were our friends, as they were america's
friends; many WW2 pilots talk of the risks undertaken by serbs to save
them- and we rewarded this historical and longstanding friendship by
making up stories about serbs killing innocent peopleand "punishing" a
criminal act which never existed. at the same time, we carry on
relations with croatia.
there can be no "fair play" in the balkans unless canada apologizes and
makes amends for its culpability in the murder of innocent yugoslavs
disguised as "humanitarian intervention"....and as long as your
newspaper and other mainstream media continue to obfuscate the truth,
"fair play in the balkans" will always remain an oxymoron
chris soda
---
Subject: National Post // FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS, July 28, 2003
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 00:43:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Slobodanka Borojevic
National Post
To the Editor: letters@...
Re: FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS, July 28, 2003
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=16FDB7EB-31E2-
474B-B550-5251F6748B29
Your article "Fair play in the Balkans" is a perfect example how to
write an article about war crimes and remain kind toward the
perpetrator of these crimes.
There is a real prejudice against the Serbs not only in academia, but
also in media and the Western political circles.
Over 250,000 Krajina Serbs were ethnically cleansed from their
ancestral homes and those too old or infirm to flee remained only to
have their throats slit by the Croatian forces during the "Opration
Storm" in 1995.
It was military aid and technology provided by the Clinton
Administration, on the advice of Madeleine Albright and Richard
Holbrooke, that made it possible for Croatian forces to conduct
"Operation Storm" in order to achieve their goal of a pure Croatian
state that Hitler could only promise.
No general media outrage to what was described in Newsweek (April 5,
1999) as "the largest ethnic cleansing of the entire Balkan wars.
Investigators with the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague have concluded
that this campaign was carried out with brutality, wanton murder and
indiscriminate
shelling of civilians . . ."
In his book "To end a War" Richard Holbrooke said about the August
1995 Croat offensive against the Serbian Krajina, that during one
meeting with Croatian officials, Robert Frasure had handed Holbrooke a
note (describing the operation of Croat forces in Krajina): "Dick: We
"hired" these guys to be our junkyard dogs because we were desperate.
We need to try to
"control" them."
In June 2001, Carla del Ponte from the Hague Tribunal issued an
indictment for Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina on charges that he exercised
"command responsibility" over the 1995 military operation.
Gen. Gotovina for his part insisted that Operation Storm had been
conducted in cooperation with the US army and Clinton administration.
It is well known that the Pentagon endorsed a contract between MPRI--
Military Professional Resource Inc, which was staffed by former US
generals and the Croatian
army.
Approximately 650,000 Serbs have been driven out of Croatia since 1992
with little prospect of ever returning.
The late Zoran Djindjic (and not Vojislav Kostunica) handed over
Milosevic to the Hague. While Djindji's followers continue hunting
Serbs on behalf of ICT and the 'international community", Croatia has
refused to hand over any of its generals accused by the Tribunal for
the most brutal murders and the greatest ethnic cleansing of the
late-20th century.
Boba Borojevic
30 Walgate Ave - Ottawa, ON. - Canada
---
Da: "D. Dostanic"
Data: Lun 28 Lug 2003 16:18:11 Europe/Rome
A: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Oggetto: NPost: Fair play in the Balkans
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id=16FDB7EB-31E2-
474B-B550-5251F6748B29
NATIONAL POST, Monday, July 28, 2003 EDITORIAL
Fair play in the Balkans
Eight years ago, Canadian peacekeepers witnessed one of the late 20th
century's most brutal attempts at ethnic cleansing. In August, 1995,
over a span of just 64 hours, Croatian soldiers forced 200,000 Serbs
from their homes in Croatia -- the largest single act of ethnic
cleansing of all the Balkan wars between 1991 and 1995. The military
action -- dubbed Operation Storm -- involved the Croats' entire
100,000-man army. Canadian soldiers stationed in the area documented
the Croats' efficiency. Colonel Andrew Leslie, for example, reported
that of the 40,000 people who lived in the Serb stronghold of Knin,
barely 1,000 remained once the operation ended.
It took some time, but two years ago, the UN's International Criminal
Tribunal (ICT) began seriously looking into claims regarding war crimes
committed during Operation Storm. In 2001, the ICT issued an indictment
against Ante Gotovina, a Croatian general with an allegedly central
role in the operation. But Gen. Gotovina promptly went underground.
Lawyers working on his behalf say he is willing to answer questions
from the ICT -- but only if it first drops its indictment.
Unfortunately, the Croatian government has failed to fully co-operate
in bringing Gen. Gotovina to justice. Though the Croatian Interior
Ministry has issued a warrant for his arrest (and a bounty of $80,000
for information leading to his arrest), authorities have done little to
apprehend him. One reason for this is that ultra-nationalist Croats see
the general as a hero. In May, Gen. Gotovina even had the audacity to
send an official message of support to a gathering of 15,000 Croatian
nationalists. They had met to mourn the death of Janko Bobetko, another
general who defied an ICT order to answer questions about his own
involvement in possible crimes against humanity by Croatian forces.
The case of Gen. Gotovina is important not only as a matter of justice,
but of politics as well. The Croats and Serbs have had their share of
murderous feuds, and the Serbs would be understandably outraged if the
world community aggressively prosecuted allegations of Serb atrocities
while passing over those in which Serbs were victims. In 2001, the ICT
formally demanded that the Serbs force former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic to appear for trial on charges of war crimes. NATO
member states, including Canada and the United States, put a full-court
press on the Serbs to hand Mr. Milosevic over -- and even made his
handover a condition of economic aid. As a result, Mr. Milosevic's
successor, Vojislav Kostunica, duly served him up to The Hague.
Those same NATO states should make a similar effort to get Croatia to
secure Gen. Gotovina. He's been allowed to run free long enough.
letters@...
THIS CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN
QUESTO NON SI PUO' DIMENTICARE
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/files/IMMAGINI/
krajina1995.jpg
--- (english / italiano) ---
La eliminazione dei serbi dalla Croazia
3: Otto anni dopo
A: CROAZIA: IN UN RAPPORTO LE STRAGI CONTRO I CIVILI SERBI/ANSA
B: In memory of over 250,000 Serbs expelled from their homes in Krajina
by Croatian forces (Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society)
C: Re: Letters to WT Re: Facing reality at the ICTY By JeffreyT. Kuhner
D: Comments on a National Post FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS article,
published July 28, 2003, and the issue of Gen. Gotovina
NOTE: Most materials used here have been forwarded to us by
minja@...
=== A ===
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/croazia/croazia.shtml
CROAZIA: IN UN RAPPORTO LE STRAGI CONTRO I CIVILI SERBI/ANSA
(ANSA) - ZAGABRIA, 24 LUG - Pulizia etnica della popolazione serba di
Croazia organizzata e in accordo con il nemico; uccisione di almeno 83
civili; saccheggi e numerose violazioni dei fondamentali diritti
umani: queste le principali accuse del Comitato di Helsinki croato
per i diritti umani (Hho) sull'offensiva dell'esercito di Zagabria
che nel maggio del 1995 permise alla Croazia di riprendere il
controllo della Slavonia occidentale, dal 1991 nelle mani dei
secessionisti serbi. I dirigenti dell'Hho Zarko Puhovski e Ranko
Helebrant, citati dall'agenzia di stampa Hina, hanno presentato oggi
il rapporto sull'operazione militare conosciuta sotto il nome
'Bljesak' ('Lampo') che contiene anche i nomi di 83 civili serbi
uccisi dall'esercito croato durante l'offensiva iniziata all'alba del
primo maggio 1995 e conclusasi 30 ore piu' tardi. Di questi, 53
furono uccisi nelle loro case, mentre altri 30 persero la vita nelle
incursioni croate contro colonne di profughi che fuggivano, assieme
ai militari serbi, verso la Bosnia. Puhovski ha detto che una parte
dei profughi, non precisandone il numero, e' stata eliminata dagli
stessi soldati serbi che in questo modo volevano facilitare il
ripiegamento. Secondo i dirigenti dell'Hho l'elenco degli 83 non e'
definitivo poiche' nel rapporto sono citati solo i casi verificati
da piu' fonti. Il massacro piu' grave e' avvenuto nel villaggio di
Medari, il primo in cui entrarono le forze croate, ''dove - ha detto
Helebrant - delle 24 persone rimaste sopravvissero solo due bambine,
salvate da un soldato che le ha riconosciute e non ha permesso che
venissero eliminate''. Il rapporto parla anche delle case serbe
saccheggiate dai soldati croati, mentre gli abitanti per due giorni
venivano tenuti lontano dai villaggi. Ai serbi non e' stato permesso
di seppellire i loro morti, seppelliti poi dall'esercito croato in
fosse comuni, molte delle quali rimaste non segnalate. ''L'esodo e
la pulizia etnica dei serbi della Slavonia occidentale avvenuta
durante l'operazione e' stata organizzata dai dirigenti croati e
serbi, ma anche da una parte della comunita' internazionale'' ha
detto Puhovski argomentando la tesi con il fatto che l'esodo sia
iniziato nel momento stesso in cui fu lanciata l'offensiva croata. In
tal senso Puhovski ha anche fatto notare che dalla zona della Bosnia
controllata dai serbi, che si trovava al confine con la Slavonia
occidentale, non sia stato sparato un solo colpo, mentre l'esercito
croato non ha preso alcuna misura di protezione contro un possibile
attacco serbo dalla Bosnia. Secondo i dati ufficiali di Zagabria
nell'operazione 'Lampo' hanno partecipato 7.200 soldati e poliziotti
croati, e 42 di loro hanno perso la vita. Le perdite serbe vengono
stimate a circa 450 uomini. Secondo fonti indipendenti soltanto 1.000
dei circa 13.000 serbi sono rimasti nella regione dopo questa
offensiva croata, alla quale, nell'agosto dello stesso anno, segui'
l'operazione 'Tempesta' che permise a Zagabria di riprendere il
controllo dell'intera regione della Krajina, durante il conflitto
serbo-croato (1991-1995) nelle mani dei secessionisti serbi. In
quell'occasione dal paese fuggirono altri 150.000 civili e almeno 150
furono uccisi. COR*VD
24/07/2003 17:03
=== B ===
[Note: We absolutely DISAGREE with shifting responsability of Croatian
crimes to Tito and the socialist Yugoslavia. This sort of revisionism
only contributes creating a distorted feeling and rewriting history, as
if the main culprits for nationalisms and divisions were those - like
Tito - who lead the most heroic and successful battles against
nationalisms and divisions. CNJ]
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
3662 Albion Rd. South,
Gloucester, Ontario, K1T 1A3
Remembering Krajina
August 4, 2003
In memory of over 250,000 Serbs
expelled from their homes in Krajina by Croatian forces
Eight years ago on this day, Croatian army, trained, aided and abetted
by NATO, murdered approximately 14,000 civilians in the most brutal
manner.
To this day, the disgraceful involvement of Western "democracies" in
this atrocity has remained secret and unpunished.
Expulsion of Serbs in 1995 was but a final step in the plan to make
Croatia an ethnically pure state devised by Ustashe - Nazi Croatian
forces who are responsible for the murdered of over one million Serbs
during W.W.II. This atrocity has remained secret and unpunished for
over 60 years due to the
efforts of Former Yugoslav Communists led by then President Tito.
Civil wars in former Yugoslavia in 1991-1999, have left well over one
million Serbs expelled from their homes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
On August 4, 2003 we will remember those victims, ignored and
forgotten by the world.
Stanko Vuleta,
The Ottawa Serbian Heritage Society
=== C ===
Subject: Re: Letters to WT Re: Facing reality at the ICTY By JeffreyT.
Kuhner,
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2003 12:47:19 -0400
From: Boba
Letter to the Editor :
letters@...
letters@...
Facing reality at the ICTY
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner, Aug. 8, 2003
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20030804-090706-1701r.htm
Letter to the Editor:
What do we have here? An extended PR company of Croatian government
among the editorial staff of Washington Times?
Mr. Kuhner looses his coolness when faced with reality of Croatian
crimes against Krajina Serbs from 1992-1995.
If the Washington Times agrees with his view or not it is up to the
editor and the owner of the newspaper. However, your readers deserve a
dose of a reality here.
The fact of a matter is that Serbs lived in the area of Krajina for
centuries, long before Croatia even became an independent country. It
is also true that Croat forces expelled in the most brutal way over
200.000 Serbs in one day only during the Croatian military action
called " Operation Storm". It is also true that Canadian forces fought
Croatian forces to save innocent Serb civilians in Medak pocket in
1993. It is considered to be
the most severe action Canadian troops have been involved in since the
Korean War. They became witness of a Croatian military campaign, which
was carried out with brutality, wanton murder, and indiscriminate
shelling of civilians.
Over 650.000 Serbs were ethically cleansed out of Croatia from 1992 to
1995.
An estimated number of 30.000 Serbs have returned to Croatia to find
their homes either burned or inhabited by others. There is no respect
for human rights for Serbs in Croatia -- thus Croatia achieve their
goal of a pure Croatian state that Ante Pavelic of Nazi Croatia and
Hitler could only promise.
The National Post (from Canada) was right in requesting general
Gotovina to be sent to the Hague. Now it is up to the Washington Times
to at least publish someone else's opinion on Croatian atrocities other
then Mr. Kuhner's.
Boba Borojevic
=== D ===
Subject: re "fair play in the balkans"
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:14:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: joann fredrick
To: letters@...
perhaps, using the same logic applied in 1999, 78 days of the bombing
of croatian schools, hospitals, day care centers, world heritage sites,
and the occasional tank are in order; excuse the hyperbole, but it is a
necessary prrelude for the following facts:
croatia was an illegal state in the 1990's; yugoslavia in the 1990's
was not
croatia has a long history of intolerance; yugoslavia does not have any
such history
croatia was an enemy of canadians during WW2, yugoslavia was an ally
croatia perpetrated unspeakable atrocities during WW2; yugoslavs,
especially serbs, were the victims
croatia turned over jews to the nazis or killed jews themselves;
yugoslavia protected them throughout the 1940's
even today, croatia uses the same fascist symbols it employed during
WW2, including its flag; the history of yugoslavia remains a symbol of
triumph against prejudice and fear
croatia worked with those who allied with so-called muslim
fundamentalists, some of whom were involved with those planning and
training for 9/11; yugoslavia tried to stop the onslaught of
intolerance from the days of prince lazar and into the 1990's
croatia and its allies tried to kill canadian peacekeepers; yugoslavs
never have done this
croatia did commit atrocities duriing the 1990s; the government of
yugoslavia had committed atrocities
yugoslavs historically were our friends, as they were america's
friends; many WW2 pilots talk of the risks undertaken by serbs to save
them- and we rewarded this historical and longstanding friendship by
making up stories about serbs killing innocent peopleand "punishing" a
criminal act which never existed. at the same time, we carry on
relations with croatia.
there can be no "fair play" in the balkans unless canada apologizes and
makes amends for its culpability in the murder of innocent yugoslavs
disguised as "humanitarian intervention"....and as long as your
newspaper and other mainstream media continue to obfuscate the truth,
"fair play in the balkans" will always remain an oxymoron
chris soda
---
Subject: National Post // FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS, July 28, 2003
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 00:43:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Slobodanka Borojevic
National Post
To the Editor: letters@...
Re: FAIR PLAY IN THE BALKANS, July 28, 2003
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/site/story.asp?id=16FDB7EB-31E2-
474B-B550-5251F6748B29
Your article "Fair play in the Balkans" is a perfect example how to
write an article about war crimes and remain kind toward the
perpetrator of these crimes.
There is a real prejudice against the Serbs not only in academia, but
also in media and the Western political circles.
Over 250,000 Krajina Serbs were ethnically cleansed from their
ancestral homes and those too old or infirm to flee remained only to
have their throats slit by the Croatian forces during the "Opration
Storm" in 1995.
It was military aid and technology provided by the Clinton
Administration, on the advice of Madeleine Albright and Richard
Holbrooke, that made it possible for Croatian forces to conduct
"Operation Storm" in order to achieve their goal of a pure Croatian
state that Hitler could only promise.
No general media outrage to what was described in Newsweek (April 5,
1999) as "the largest ethnic cleansing of the entire Balkan wars.
Investigators with the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague have concluded
that this campaign was carried out with brutality, wanton murder and
indiscriminate
shelling of civilians . . ."
In his book "To end a War" Richard Holbrooke said about the August
1995 Croat offensive against the Serbian Krajina, that during one
meeting with Croatian officials, Robert Frasure had handed Holbrooke a
note (describing the operation of Croat forces in Krajina): "Dick: We
"hired" these guys to be our junkyard dogs because we were desperate.
We need to try to
"control" them."
In June 2001, Carla del Ponte from the Hague Tribunal issued an
indictment for Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina on charges that he exercised
"command responsibility" over the 1995 military operation.
Gen. Gotovina for his part insisted that Operation Storm had been
conducted in cooperation with the US army and Clinton administration.
It is well known that the Pentagon endorsed a contract between MPRI--
Military Professional Resource Inc, which was staffed by former US
generals and the Croatian
army.
Approximately 650,000 Serbs have been driven out of Croatia since 1992
with little prospect of ever returning.
The late Zoran Djindjic (and not Vojislav Kostunica) handed over
Milosevic to the Hague. While Djindji's followers continue hunting
Serbs on behalf of ICT and the 'international community", Croatia has
refused to hand over any of its generals accused by the Tribunal for
the most brutal murders and the greatest ethnic cleansing of the
late-20th century.
Boba Borojevic
30 Walgate Ave - Ottawa, ON. - Canada
---
Da: "D. Dostanic"
Data: Lun 28 Lug 2003 16:18:11 Europe/Rome
A: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Oggetto: NPost: Fair play in the Balkans
http://www.nationalpost.com/commentary/story.html?id=16FDB7EB-31E2-
474B-B550-5251F6748B29
NATIONAL POST, Monday, July 28, 2003 EDITORIAL
Fair play in the Balkans
Eight years ago, Canadian peacekeepers witnessed one of the late 20th
century's most brutal attempts at ethnic cleansing. In August, 1995,
over a span of just 64 hours, Croatian soldiers forced 200,000 Serbs
from their homes in Croatia -- the largest single act of ethnic
cleansing of all the Balkan wars between 1991 and 1995. The military
action -- dubbed Operation Storm -- involved the Croats' entire
100,000-man army. Canadian soldiers stationed in the area documented
the Croats' efficiency. Colonel Andrew Leslie, for example, reported
that of the 40,000 people who lived in the Serb stronghold of Knin,
barely 1,000 remained once the operation ended.
It took some time, but two years ago, the UN's International Criminal
Tribunal (ICT) began seriously looking into claims regarding war crimes
committed during Operation Storm. In 2001, the ICT issued an indictment
against Ante Gotovina, a Croatian general with an allegedly central
role in the operation. But Gen. Gotovina promptly went underground.
Lawyers working on his behalf say he is willing to answer questions
from the ICT -- but only if it first drops its indictment.
Unfortunately, the Croatian government has failed to fully co-operate
in bringing Gen. Gotovina to justice. Though the Croatian Interior
Ministry has issued a warrant for his arrest (and a bounty of $80,000
for information leading to his arrest), authorities have done little to
apprehend him. One reason for this is that ultra-nationalist Croats see
the general as a hero. In May, Gen. Gotovina even had the audacity to
send an official message of support to a gathering of 15,000 Croatian
nationalists. They had met to mourn the death of Janko Bobetko, another
general who defied an ICT order to answer questions about his own
involvement in possible crimes against humanity by Croatian forces.
The case of Gen. Gotovina is important not only as a matter of justice,
but of politics as well. The Croats and Serbs have had their share of
murderous feuds, and the Serbs would be understandably outraged if the
world community aggressively prosecuted allegations of Serb atrocities
while passing over those in which Serbs were victims. In 2001, the ICT
formally demanded that the Serbs force former Yugoslav president
Slobodan Milosevic to appear for trial on charges of war crimes. NATO
member states, including Canada and the United States, put a full-court
press on the Serbs to hand Mr. Milosevic over -- and even made his
handover a condition of economic aid. As a result, Mr. Milosevic's
successor, Vojislav Kostunica, duly served him up to The Hague.
Those same NATO states should make a similar effort to get Croatia to
secure Gen. Gotovina. He's been allowed to run free long enough.
letters@...
Macelleria UCKFOR in Kosmet, giugno-luglio 2003
(english / italiano)
---
Nota: le notizie da noi qui riportate non sono in alcun modo esaustive
degli avvenimenti nella provincia del Kosmet (Kosovo e Metohija), e
vanno intese solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.
Ricordiamo che i numeri piu' recenti di questo "bollettino di guerra"
sul Kosmet sono archiviati alle URL:
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, Maggio-Luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1876
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, fine luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1900
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, agosto-settembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1962
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, settembre-ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2001
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2002
Kosmet, bollettino di guerra: fine ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2055
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra novembre-dicembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2556
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra gennaio-febbraio 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2557
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra marzo-aprile 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2558
La "liberta'" a colpi di accetta (maggio - inizio giugno 2003)
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2559
Kosovo: The bloodshed continues
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2589
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2660
Hashim Thaci detto "il Serpente"
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2622
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2642
L'AMICO AMERICANO / 7: Games Surrounding Kosovo
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2645
Kosmet: presa di posizione ufficiale Belgrado +
Nomina nuovo governatore della colonia-protettorato
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2659
Un grande numero di articoli sui vari aspetti del regime di terrore
instaurato congiuntamente dalle "nostre" truppe occidentali (KFOR) e
dai neonazisti locali (UCK) si puo' trovare sempre nel nostro archivio:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
Per un inquadramento storico del terrore nazista in Kosovo-Metohija si
veda in particolare:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2521
ed i collegamenti ivi contenuti.
Molti dei materiali qui riportati vengono diffusi regolarmente sulle
mailinglists:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
antinato@...
anti-imperialiste@...
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
e dal bollettino della chiesa ortodossa in Kosmet
ERP KIM Newsletter
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo.html
(a cura di Andrea)
---
A USEFUL LINK:
ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the
Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the
blessing of His Grace Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related
issues. The main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian
Orthodox Church and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and
Metohija. ERP KIM Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the Kosovo Daily News (KDN) News
List
Our Newsletters are available on our ERP KIM Info-service Web-Page:
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo.html
Additional information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo
Serb Community may be found at:
http://www.kosovo.com
===
I SERBI DI OBILIC TERRORIZZATI DOPO LA STRAGE
ENDANGERED KOSOVO SERBS ANNOUNCE EVACUATION FROM OBILIC
OBILIC, June 8 (Tanjug) - More than 20 Kosovo Serb families
from Obilic, close to Pristina, said on Sunday they would evacuate,
since they did not feel safe and saw no possibility for living in the
province any more after the recent brutal murder of the three-member
Kosovo Serb Stolic family.
Representatives of the endangered Kosovo Serb families told
Tanjug that they would leave their homes, and symbolically give their
keys to Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic and Serbian
Premier Zoran Zivkovic to keep them.
In his Sunday phone statement, Serbia Deputy Premier and head
of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre, Nebojsa Covic told Tanjug
that the Serbian government understood the rage and justified the
worry of Kosovo Serbs, but pointed out that evacuation would represent
a wrong move, since it was in contradiction with their interests and
did the work for ethnic Albanian terrorists.
"The terrorists were the ones who murdered three Kosovo Serbs
so as to carry out an ethnic cleansing in Obilic and make another
step towards independence," Covic said, and called on the local Serb
population to show courage and stay where it was, promising Belgrade
would help them in their efforts.
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - June 9, 2003
KOSMET-OBILIC-SERBS-DEPARTURE
Over 4,000 Serbs have left Obilic, Jakovljevic
16:56 BELGRADE , June 9 (Tanjug) - A total of 8,000
Serbs inhabited the Obilic municipality before June
1999, while less than 4,000 remain four years after
the international community assumed the administration
of Kosovo-Metohija, a member of the Serbian National
Council for Central Kosovo, Mirce Jakovljevic said in
Obilic on Monday.
At present only a mere 450 Serbs live in the town of
Obilic, in the most difficult conditions, without any
freedom of movement and in constant fear from ethnic
Albanian extremists, Jakovljevic told Tanjug following
a meeting between the Serb delegation and Serbian
Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic, who is also
Kosovo-Metohija Coordination Center head.
Tanjug - June 9, 2003
KOSOVO-OBILIC-SERBS-SECURITY
Still no KFOR patrols to protect Serbs in Obilic
20:33 OBILIC , June 9 (Tanjug) - Six days after the
monstrous murder of the three-member Stolic family by
Albanian extremists in Obilic, near Pristina, there is
no sign of the KFOR patrols in the street inhabited by
22 Serb families. As Tanjug learns from its Serb
sources in Obilic, KFOR patrols were noticed on Monday
only in the town center, inhabited by Albanians only,
and on the road leading out of the town to the
Serb-populated village of Plemetina.
The day following the murder, the Kosovo police
service (KPS), in co-operation with the KFOR troops
from Norway, proclaimed June 5 "the welcome day to the
police station" in Obilic, which was interpreted by
Serbs as cynicism.
Tanjug - June 10, 2003
UNMIK spokesman says situation has improved
dramatically (SIC)
12:18 LONDON , June 10 (Tanjug) - Commenting on the
murder of the Stolic family in Obilic,
Kosovo-Metohija, UNMIK spokesman Simon Haselock has
said that no police force in the world is capable of
protecting every house and every individual and that
the security situation in Kosovo has lately improved
dramatically.
Speaking for the BBC radio, Haselock said he did not
wish to underestimate the dreadfulness of this crime,
which had seriously aggravated the atmosphere in
Kosovo, but that no police in the world could protect
every family or every individual from extremists.
KOSOVO: CARABINIERI MSU PROTEGGERANNO SERBI DI OBILIC
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 24 GIU Saranno i carabinieri dell'Unita'
specializzata multinazionale (Msu) a garantire la sicurezza della
comunita' serba di Obilic, piccolo centro del Kosovo orientale dove
tre serbi sono stati uccisi nelle scorse settimane. La notizia,
anticipata dall'agenzia Tanjug, e' stata successivamente confermata a
Pristina dal portavoce della Kfor (forza di pace a guida Nato), Gary
Banister.
Banister ha detto che la Msu ''sta gia' effettuando posti di
blocco'' intorno all'enclave. Finora la sicurezza nella zona era
invece affidata alla polizia della missione delle Nazioni Unite
(Unmik).
La Msu e' una forza comandata e composta in gran parte da
carabinieri italiani ma della quale fanno parte anche gendarmi
francesi ed estoni. (ANSA). BLL 24-GIU-03 16:24 NNNN
24/06/2003 17:31
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
Italian carabinieri to protect Serbs in Obilic
PRISTINA, June 24 (Tanjug) - Kosovo-Metohija coordinating center
President Nebojsa Covic conferred with KFOR commander, Italian General
Fabio Mini in Pristina late Monday, who promised Italian carabinieri
of that local peacekeeping force would protect Serbs in Obilic. Covic
insisted, together with political representatives of Obilic Serbs, on
greater safety and freedom of movement for the Serb community in this
town in central Kosovo and Metohija, where ethnic Albanian terrorists
murdered a Serb family of three 20 days ago.
General Mini provided solid guarantees that security would be
improved, Covic said, since he said the KFOR carabinieri would set up
control checkpoints in all Serb-populated parts of Obilic, and step up
patrols. Each patrol will include one Serb interpreter who will
communicate with the local community so that the KFOR troops can help
them whenever necessary, Tanjug learned.
===
QUATTRO ANNI DOPO, IL KOSOVO E' NEL CAOS;
LA KFOR PREVEDE UN "BOOM" DEL TERRORISMO NEL CORSO DELL'ESTATE
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bz/Qserbia-montenegro-
kosovo.RBH0_Du9.html
Four years on, Kosovo is still a mess
Aleksandar Mitic
BELGRADE, June 10 (AFP) - Four years after the end of
the Serbo-Albanian war in Kosovo, the southern Serbian
province is still wracked by violence and ethnic
hatred overseen by a United Nations mission which is
losing the respect of all sides to the conflict.
A crackdown on the ethnic-Albanian majority by forces
of then-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic was the
initial justification for NATO's 1999 intervention.
But now it is the Serbs who are living in fear of
Albanian extremists.
More than 200,000 Kosovo Serbs have left their homes
as a result of extremist violence or fearing bloody
reprisals from Albanians. The 80,000 to 120,000 Serbs
who remain live in isolated enclaves, sometimes as
small as a single apartment block, "protected" by NATO
troops.
That security -- a key obligation of the international
community if it seriously wants to build a
multi-ethnic, democratic Kosovo -- proved to be
tragically absent last week when an elderly Serb
couple and their son were brutally murdered.
The victims were asleep in their home in Obilic, just
north of the capital Pristina, when they were hacked
to death with axes by unknown attackers, who then set
their home on fire. The slaughter came after several
days of threats, according to relatives.
No one has claimed responsibility for the homicide,
the worst violence in Kosovo in more than a year, but
few are in any doubt that it was a hate crime by
Albanian extremists bent on driving Serbs out of the
province.
When the chief of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
Michael Steiner, rushed to the scene to offer his
condolences, he was jeered by angry and frightened
Serb villagers, many of whom have now fled their
homes.
Twenty-three Serb families, all residents of the same
street in Obilic, decided to leave the province and
join the ranks of refugees in Serbia, Beta news agency
reported. They accused NATO, which has 30,000 troops
in Kosovo, of ignoring their pleas for extra security.
"The Serbs of Obilic don't want to ask anything more
from UNMIK and KFOR (the NATO-led protection force),
which have demonstrated over the past four years that
they have no intention of protecting the Serbs," said
local councillor Mirce Jakovljevic.
"The people are desperate."
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic,
Belgrade's pointman for Kosovo, has said he does not
want to give "false hopes" to the province's Serbs
because the authority of the Serbian government was
suspended with the UN takeover in 1999.
Always walking a tightrope between the frustrations of
the Serbs and the need to maintain good relations with
UNMIK, Covic said he hoped the Obilic families would
return to their homes because their departure only
handed victory to the Albanian "terrorists".
The events in Obilic are just a further blow to the
credibility of the UN mission in Kosovo, which has
failed to fulfil its promise of securing the return of
the refugees or win the support of either of the two
opposing ethnic communities.
For their part the Albanians are impatient to declare
independence and take control of the province once and
for all, but the UN says the time has not yet come to
decide Kosovo's "final status" and when it does it
will be a decision for the Security Council.
Earlier this year Steiner banned ethnic-Albanian
politicians from attending two international
conferences because they passed a motion in parliament
recognising the Kosovo Liberation Army -- seen as
terrorists by Serbs -- as heroes.
"The bureaucrats in Pristina, Belgrade, Brussels, New
York, they talk a lot but they do very little," said
Zoran Masic, a Serb who fled his home in Pristina
after the war.
"I no longer have any illusions, no hope that anything
will change."
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Ven 11 Lug 2003 13:01:26 Europe/Rome
A: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] KFOR Predicts 'Summer Crime Boom' For Kosovo
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=23686&order=priority&style=headlines
[Don't expect KFOR to do anything about it. It's
evidently in the prediction and not prevention
business. Or the protection business.]
SRNA (Serbia) - July 11, 2003
KFOR predicts crime boom
-Turning to local forces, KFOR added that state
union's security forces continue to honour provisions
and conditions stipulated in the Military-Technical
Agreement, while the Kosovo Protection Corps is under
investigation for ties to extremists and terrorist
organisations.
NEW YORK -- Friday – A KFOR report submitted to the UN
Security Council forecasts a summer crime boom for
Kosovo.
In particular, the Kosovo force predicts increases in
smuggling and illegal border crossings, as well as the
appearance of large quantities of drugs and
counterfeit money.
The report notes several ethnically-motivated
incidents in May, but insists that the overall
security situation in the province was mainly stable.
The report reads:
"The number of murders, kidnappings and rapes
increased compared to last month, but the number of
thefts dropped, while the total number of incidents is
less than in May 2002".
KFOR draw attention to ethnic tensions evident in the
northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, highlighting the
as yet unsolved murders of two Serbs in the Klokot
region, near Vitina. The international force also
notes 27 attempted illegal border crossings in May – a
two-fold increase on the previous month.
Turning to local forces, KFOR added that state union's
security forces continue to honour provisions and
conditions stipulated in the Military-Technical
Agreement, while the Kosovo Protection Corps is under
investigation for tiess to extremists and terrorist
organisations.
===
USURPATE LE PROPRIETA' DEI PROFUGHI E DELLO STATO
ETHNIC ALBANIANS USURP 77,000 HOUSES IN KOSOVO - UNMIK ASSESSMENT
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, June 9 (Tanjug) - According to UNMIK's
assessment, ethnic Albanians have usurped between 75,000 and 77,000
houses, flats and other facilities in Kosovo-Metohija, and looted and
torched 30,000 others.
According to UNMIK, Kosovo-Metohija is populated by between
1.8 and 2.4 million people. With more than 300 people per square
kilometer, Serbia's southern province is the most densely populated
region of Europe. Kosovo also has the highest birth rate - 27 babies
to 1,000 people. In the past few years, the number of newborn babies,
mostly ethnic Albanian, ranged between 55,000 and 57,000.
Today, Pristina is populated by about 500,000 ethnic Albanians
and 170 Serbs. In 1999, Pristina was populated by 250,000 people,
including 40,000 Serbs. The largest number of Serbs, 125,000, live in
northern Kosovo-Metohija. The Kosovo parliament has recently adopted a
law on the census and property registration, which will take place on
April 1-15, 2004. Kosovo Serb representatives say that this law
legalizes the exodus of Serbs, which happened in the past four years.
ALBANIA BUYING KOSOVO AND METOHIJA COMPANIES
Despite the objections of the Serbian government the privatization of
socially-owned and state-owned property has begun in Kosovo and
Metohija.
Vecernje Novosti daily, Belgrade - July 18, 2003
PRISTINA - Despite the objections of the Serbian government the
privatization of socially-owned and state-owned property has begun in
Kosovo and Metohija.
No official information is available; however, from sources close to
Albanian business men we have learned that the brick factory in Srbica,
which has been renamed by the Albanians as Skenderaj, has already been
sold. The buyer is from Albania and has also purportedly expressed
interest in a similar factory in Pec. An Austrian venture has expressed
interest in "Termovent" in Orahovac, built by the Belgrade company of
the same name. "Energoinvest" and "Energomontini", built by the former
Sarajevo conglomerate, have only drawn the interest of businessmen from
Albania, who are waiting for a better purchase price to buy.
The rock quarry in Klina has already been purchased by local Albanians.
A tender is expected to be issued at the end of the month for about ten
companies but no official information by the provisional Kosovo
institutions for privatization has yet been released.
SERBIA TO FILE CHARGES OVER PRIVATIZATION IN KOSOVO
BELGRADE, July 23 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier
and Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija chief
Nebojsa Covic has announced that Serbia will file
charges with the international court because of the
manner in which privatization is being realized in
Kosovo and Metohija.
The formula of a 99-year lease is being used to try
and privatize what local residents built for
generations, Covic said in a broadcast on
Belgrade-based Studio B TV late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Serbia must pay 1.8 billion dollars in
debts incurred in the province, without getting any
income from there, Covic said.
===
"STATUS":
CONTINUE DICHIARAZIONI DI INDIPENDENZA DA PARTE PAN-ALBANESE;
"CI FIDIAMO SOLO DEGLI USA"; FESTEGGIATO IL "FREEDOM'S DAY"
NELL'ANNIVERSARIO DELLA OCCUPAZIONE NATO-UCK;
AMERICANI PREMONO SULLA UE PER LA SECESSIONE, SI VA VERSO LO SCONTRO
FRONTALE UE/USA ?
SEPARATISTI CONTRARI AI COLLOQUI FINCHE' BELGRADO NON "CHIEDE SCUSA"
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=41658
MakFax (Macedonia) - June 9, 2003
Greece: Ta Nea daily claims Kosovars will declare
independence
The Head of UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Michael
Steiner and KFOR Commander, General Fabio Mini, have
informed NATO and Greece, current holder of EU
rotating presidency, that Kosovar Albanians appear
strongly determined to declare an independence, said
Greek daily Ta Nea.
Referring to its own reliable sources, Ta Nea daily
says the Greek Government has available information
showing the strong determination of Kosovar Albanians
to declare independence by the end of 2003.
Greek daily says the Greek Government fears that such
development of events and any unilateral decision
could trigger conflicts and destabilization of the
region. Ta Nea daily says the reactions of the
international community would be weak given that its
attention is currently directed to other problems in
the world.
---
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Gio 12 Giu 2003 18:39:12 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Feast Of The NATOvity: KosovA Celebrates
'Freedom Day'
1) KosovA Celebrates NATO's Conquest Of Province,
Boasts Of Increased Stability, Security, Democracy
2) Serbian Officials Refuse to Meet With 'Kosovar'
Representatives At EU Meeting In Greece
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-120603.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (US government site)
June 12, 2003
KOSOVA MARKS FREEDOM DAY
-He called on the international community to support
independence for Kosova and its integration into NATO
and the EU.
Celebrations took place across Kosova on 12 June to
mark Freedom Day, which is the anniversary of the
arrival of NATO troops in 1999 and the end of Serbian
rule over the more than 90 percent ethnic Albanian
majority, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages
Service reported. On 11 June, President Ibrahim Rugova
said in Prishtina: "During those four years, Kosova
has achieved significant progress in all areas. The
overall security situation and political stability
have improved considerably, especially with regards to
the functioning of democratic institutions. These
results have been achieved together with the UNMIK [UN
civilian administration in Kosova], OSCE, KFOR and
with the all-round help of the United States, the
European Union, and other countries," Hina reported.
Rugova noted the tasks ahead in privatization, job
creation, and the integration of ethnic minorities. He
called on the international community to support
independence for Kosova and its integration into NATO
and the EU. PM
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-120603.asp
[Note that this US government site distinguishes
between Serbians and Kosovars, when Kosovo is still an
internationally recognized province of Serbia.
Moreover, after the Bosnia model, the term Kosovar is
transparently used to exclusively connote ethnic
Albanian citizens of the Serbian province.
And that provincial representatives from Kosovo are
invited to the Thessaloniki EU conference, thereby
effectively elevating them to the level of national
status, is another travesty of international law and
diplomatic protocol.]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - June 12, 2003
SERBIAN LEADERS RULE OUT TALKS WITH KOSOVARS
AT EU SUMMIT
In the run-up to the Serbian general elections widely
expected in 2003 or 2004, two Serbian deputy prime
ministers said on 11 June that Serbian representatives
will not talk with Kosovar officials at the EU's 21
June Thessaloniki summit, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported. Cedomir Jovanovic
said in Zagreb that Serbian officials will not have
direct talks with Kosovar leaders until the Kosovars
"meet basic preconditions," including improving the
security situation and "not allowing ethnic criteria
to be paramount in state institutions" in the
province. Nebojsa Covic said in Bujanovac that talks
in Thessaloniki cannot be "serious" and that Serbia
wants only "serious" talks. In related news, Covic
called on the governing Democratic Opposition of
Serbia (DOS) to chose between him and his critics
among the Kosovar Serb political leadership. PM
---
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-180603.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - June 18, 2003
KOSOVAR LEADERS STRESS U.S. ROLE IN SETTLING THE
STATUS QUESTION
-"The EU does not have a strategy for resolving the
Kosova question. Some of its members are one-sided [in
the matter] and showed this four years ago when they
opposed NATO's intervention [against Serbian forces].
Because of this, politicians and the public in Kosova
are convinced that the Kosova question cannot be
resolved without the direct and leading role of the
United States."
Nexhat Daci, who is speaker of Kosova's parliament,
said in Prishtina on 17 June that any upcoming talks
between Kosova and Serbia will deal with purely
practical questions and serve to make life easier for
ordinary citizens, RFE/RL's Albanian-language
broadcasters reported. He stressed that status talks
will come later and must involve the United States in
the "leading role," even though the most important
"European countries are gradually coming to understand
the Kosova question better." Elsewhere, Bujar Dugolli,
who is a member of the parliament's presidency and of
the Alliance for the Future of Kosova (AAK), said:
"The EU does not have a strategy for resolving the
Kosova question. Some of its members are one-sided [in
the matter] and showed this four years ago when they
opposed NATO's intervention [against Serbian forces].
Because of this, politicians and the public in Kosova
are convinced that the Kosova question cannot be
resolved without the direct and leading role of the
United States." PM
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Lun 23 Giu 2003 09:22:27 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: EU, US To Back Talks Next Month On 'Splitting' Kosovo From
Serbia
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966325676&p=1012571727166
Financial Times - June 23, 2003
Support for talks on splitting Serbia, Kosovo
By Judy Dempsey and Kerin Hope in Thessaloniki
-Diplomats hope the talks could eventually lead to
Serbia and Kosovo agreeing on how they could
peacefully separate from each other, with
internationally recognised borders.
The European Union and the US will back direct talks
between Serbia and Kosovo that could help end one of
the last outstanding disputes to dog stability and
security in the Balkans.
Diplomats hope the talks could eventually lead to
Serbia and Kosovo agreeing on how they could
peacefully separate from each other, with
internationally recognised borders.
The talks, expected to take place next month outside
the region, were agreed in principle at the EU-western
Balkan summit in Thessaloniki, where European leaders
at the weekend promised the countries integration and
eventual membership under stringent conditions.
In particular, EU leaders spelt out how the region had
to combat corruption, human and drug trafficking and
smuggling, which is rife in Albania, Serbia and
Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
These countries were told their chances of becoming
closer to Europe depended on strengthening the rule of
law and, crucially, co-operation among the police
forces across the region to weaken criminal gangs.
"These countries have a road open to the European
Union. They know what they have to do," said Javier
Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief.
The EU has provided Ä4.6bn (£3.2bn) for 2000-2006 to
the region, topped up by an additional Ä200m pledged
at the summit.
But diplomats said the changing attitude at the summit
reflected a growing consensus by the EU and US that
any stable, long-term integration into Europe by the
western Balkans will not be possible until the
territorial and border disputes are resolved.
Constitutionally, Kosovo is still part of Serbia. In
practice, since 1999 it has been under a United
Nations-sanctioned international protectorate.
"We now support a dialogue," said Zoran Zivkovic,
prime minister of Serbia. He insisted, however, that
talks with Kosovo would only begin once Michael
Steiner, the UN's special envoy for the province, left
his job later this month.
Mr Steiner has proved a controversial figure in
Kosovo. Diplomats said that he had quickly alienated
the Serbs in both Kosovo and Serbia.
DACI SAYS INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVO WHEN MANDATE OF PROVISIONAL
INSTITUTIONS EXPIRES
PRISTINA, July 22 (Beta) - Kosovo Assembly Speaker
Nexhat Daci said on July 22 that he believed that
Kosovo would become independent when the mandate of
the existing provisional institutions expired.
At a conference held in the Kosovo Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Daci said that the wishes of the Kosovo
people would be realized at a certain pace, and that
the process would be brought to an end when the
mandate of Kosovo's temporary institutions expired.
"The issue of Kosovo should be settled considering the
principle of self-determination and the will of the
people," German professor of international law Johann
Frovin said.
The Kosovo Assembly and cabinet were assembled at the
end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002. Their mandate
is three years and it expires at the end of next year
and the beginning of 2005.
RUGOVA WELCOMES APPOINTMENT OF UN GOVERNOR
PRISTINA,July 26 (Srna,Reuters)-Kosovo President
Ibrahim Rugova has welcomed the appointment of former
Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri as head of the
United Nations administration in the province.
A statement from the office of the president said that
Rugova expected Holkeri to continue with the gradual
handover of responsibilities from UNMIK to the Kosovo
institutions. Rugova said he hoped that Holkeri would
contribute to Kosovo's integration into Europe and
help the province on its path to independence.
www.b92.net
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina - July 30, 2003
Kosovo official demands Belgrade apology | 10:48 | SRNA
PRISTINA -- Wednesday - The government in Kosovo will not attend talks
with Serbian officials until Belgrade apologises for the crimes
committed by its troops during the war, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister
Jakub Krasnici was quoted as saying today.
The official also demanded Belgrade "give up its hegemonic claims" on
Kosovo and withdraw the arrest warrants issued against a number of
senior Kosovo politicians. "This is the only way to create the
conditions for Pristina to have an equal and legitimate delegation" at
talks, he said.
SCHUESSEL:EU DOES NOT WANT INDEPENDENT KOSOVO
SALZBURG, July 31 (Tanjug) - Kosovo's independence and
secession from Serbia and Montenegro is not a desired
prospect of the European Union, Austrian Chancellor
Wolfgang Schuessel told Tanjug on Thursday. After a
meeting of the premiers of South-East European
countries in Salzburg, Schuessel said that the
situation in Kosovo was presently certainly better
than two of three years ago, but that time was needed
for the situation to start developing for the better.
Schuessel said that the international presence helped
improve the situation in Kosovo. He urged the
exclusion of extreme forces and said that Kosovo could
no longer resemble that from the Milosevic era when it
was fully dependent and oppressed.
===
LE PRESE DI POSIZIONE DEL FRATELLO DI MILOSEVIC, EX AMBASCIATORE IN
RUSSIA, E DEL MINISTRO DEGLI ESTERI RUSSO
http://en.rian.ru/rian/
index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3267624&startrow=1&date=2003-06-
11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 11, 2003
PROBLEM OF KOSOVO'S STATUS CANNOT BE SETTLED IN
CURRENT SITUATION, SAYS EX YUGOSLAVIAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA
MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - The problem of
Kosovo's status cannot be settled in the current
situation, believes former Yugoslavian ambassador to
Russia Borislav Milosevic.
"The final status of Kosovo cannot be determined
without Serbia's legitimate participation," he told
RIA Novosti on Wednesday. "Western powers, first of
all the USA, are creating in Kosovo and Metohija
another, besides Albania, Albanian Muslim state in the
Balkans, using expansion of Albanian nationalism,"
Milosevic said.
Western experts believe that Serbia will have to grant
Kosovo "independence to speed up the process of
joining the European Union," he pointed out. Yet this
means abolishment of UN Security Council's resolution
1244 "which provides for Kosovo's broad autonomy, but
not independence," the diplomat emphasized.
"To break the deadlock we have to adopt a new
resolution, which many observers, including myself,
believe utterly unreal in the current situation,"
Milosevic concluded.
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Gio 12 Giu 2003 09:16:59 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Russia Worried By 'Alarming Trends' In Kosovo
http://en.rian.ru/rian/
index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3267768&startrow=11&date=2003-06-
11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 11, 2003
MOSCOW WORRIED BY ALARMING TRENDS IN KOSOVO SETTLEMENT
-The Russian Foreign Ministry drew the attention to
the fact that Security Council members have broadly
supported the thesis, of which the Russian envoy
spoke, of the inadmissibility of decisions, pushed by
Kosovo political leaders through the Kosovo assembly,
fomenting ethnic strife and seeking "retailoring" the
Kosovo ethnic map.
MOSCOW, JUNE 11 (RIA NOVOSTI) - Moscow voices concern
over the alarming trends surfacing in the process of a
comprehensive settlement in Kosovo, the RIA Novosti
correspondent quotes the press and information board
of the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
It recalled that an open session of the United Nations
Security Council on Kosovo was held on June 10 under
Russia's chairmanship.
"The discussion has confirmed that, despite the
tremendous efforts it has made in the Kosovo
settlement, the international community has, so far,
failed to attain safe and equal conditions of life for
all the residents of Kosovo," said the Russian Foreign
Ministry.
Conferees have confirmed the United Nations Security
Council's adherence to the full and efficient
fulfillment of resolution 1244 and abidance by the
"standards after status" concept. The common opinion
was that a decision on the final status should remain
with the United Nations in line with resolution 1244,
provide for the passing of powers to the Kosovo organs
of self-government and secure the observance of
legitimate rights of all the residents of Kosovo.
The Russian Foreign Ministry drew the attention to the
fact that Security Council members have broadly
supported the thesis, of which the Russian envoy
spoke, of the inadmissibility of decisions, pushed by
Kosovo political leaders through the Kosovo assembly,
fomenting ethnic strife and seeking "retailoring" the
Kosovo ethnic map.
Russia will continue to assist overcoming the
"alarming trends" in the process of Kosovo settlement
on the basis of a due fulfillment of resolution 1244,
stressed the Russian Foreign Ministry.
===
ARRESTI E CONDANNE PER ALCUNI ESPONENTI
DI SECONDO PIANO DELL'UCK;
IMMEDIATA LA REAZIONE TERRORISTICA
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?lang=english&version=standard&my_categories_class='News'&nav_c
ategory=&nav_id=23287&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta - June 18, 2003
Former Kosovo Liberation Army member jailed
PRISTINA -- Tuesday ñ The Pec District Court today
sentenced a former member of the outlawed [sic] Kosovo
Liberation Army to seven years in prison.
Dibran Fylli was found guilty of being an accomplice
to the murder of fellow Albanian Ali Rraci.
UNMIK spokesman Andrea Angeli told media that Fylli,
47, had been convicted because he took Rraci from his
home and delivered him to the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Rraci was killed by an unidentified person.
Another defendant in the same proceedings was
acquitted because of lack of evidence.
The trial took place before an international judge.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bq/Qkosovo-un-crime.RLXP_DlI.html
Police officers injured in search for Kosovo fugitive
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, July 18 (AFP) - Three
police officers were injured Friday as they tried to
apprehend a suspect wanted for kidnapping and sexual
assault in central Kosovo, United Nations police said.
The incident happened early Friday near the town of
Srbica, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the
provincial capital Pristina, Barry Fletcher, spokesman
for the UN police in Kosovo, told AFP.
"The injuries are not believed to be life
threatening," he said.
A group of around 15 of the fugitive's relatives
attacked the international police officer and two
local officers with metal bars as they entered the
family compound in search of him, officials said.
The suspect was armed with a machine gun, which the
police managed to wrest away from him, before extra
police and NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) arrived at
scene of the incident.
"Police confiscated the machine gun and ammunition,
three hand grenades, the metal bars used in the
attack, and a quantity of counterfeit money," Fletcher
said.
Four others were arrested on various charges including
the attempted murder of police officers and illegal
posession of weapons.
Some 4,000 international policemen serve alongside
local police in the southern Serbian province, which
has been under UN and NATO control since 1999.
KOSOVO: CONDANNATI PER CRIMINI DI GUERRA QUATTRO EX UCK
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 16 LUG - Quattro albanesi del Kosovo, ex membri
dell'ormai disciolto Esercito di liberazione del Kosovo (Uck), sono
stati condannati oggi a Pristina al termine di un lungo processo
durato oltre un anno. Rustem Mustafa, ex alto responsabile dell'Uck,
noto con il nome di battaglia ''comandante Remi'', e i suoi tre
collaboratori sono stati accusati di crimini di guerra, commessi
contro i serbi e albanesi civili, prima e dopo la guerra. Mustafa
e' stato condannato a 17 anni, mentre per gli altri tre, Latif Gashi,
Nazif Mehmeti e Naim Kadriu, i giudici hanno deciso condanne che
vanno da 13 a 5 anni. Mustafa, che era uno dei comandanti dell'Uck
nel nord del Kosovo e' stato accusato in particolare di arresti
illegali, trattamenti inumani, torture e omicidio. Il processo contro
i quattro esponenti dell'Uck era stato accompagnato da forti
polemiche e proteste da parte degli albanesi del Kosovo. (ANSA) COR
16/07/2003 11:29
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
KOSOVO: EX UCK, PRIME CONDANNE PER CRIMINI DI GUERRA
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 16 LUG - Una condanna per crimini di guerra e'
stata emessa oggi per la prima volta a Pristina da gudici internazion
nei confronti di un alto esponente dell'ormai disciolto Esercito di
Liberazione del Kosovo (Uck), Rustem Mustafa. La corte ha condannato
l'ex comandante della guerriglia albanese, noto con il nome di
battaglia ''Remi'' a 17 anni di reclusione. Pene che vanno da 13 a 5
anni sono state inflitte ad altri tre collaboratori di Mustafa: Nazif
Mehmeti, Latif Gashi e Naim Kadriu. I quattro sono stati accusati
''di aver ordinato l'omicidio di cinque albanesi del Kosovo''
ritenuti dai guerriglieri ''collaborazionisti dei serbi''. Secondo
quanto detto dai giudici, Mustafa, che durante il conflitto armato
del 1998-1999 era a capo delle unita' della guerriglia albanese nella
zona di Podujevo, a 50 chilometri al nord di Pristina, aveva
costituito ''un campo di detenzione''. L'ex comandante dell'Uck e'
stato ritenuto colpevole anche di ''arresti illegali, trattamenti
inumani, torture e omicidio''. Mustafa, 30 anni, era uno dei
personaggi di rilievo tra le file dell'ex guerriglia. Anche dopo la
fine del conflitto, e' diventato uno degli esponenti del Corpo di
Protezione Civile del Kosovo (Tmk) in cui si e' trasformato l'Uck.
Visto come un eroe dagli albanesi, la sua immagine subi' un primo
colpo nel luglio del 2001, quando il suo nome era apparso nella lista
del presidente statunitense George W. Bush, tra ''le persone che
mettono in pericolo la pace e la stabilita' nei Balcani''. Un anno
dopo, nell'agosto 2002, Mustafa e' stato fermato dalla polizia
dell'Unmik (amministrazione Onu in Kosovo) e dalle truppe della
Kfor(forza di pace a guida Nato). Il suo arresto aveva suscitato
forti polemiche e proteste di migliaia di albanesi che chiedevano la
sua liberazione. Il conflitto fra gli albanesi del Kosovo e
l'esercito jugoslavo, si e' concluso nel giugno 1999 dopo 78 giorni
di bombardamenti della Nato. Dopo il ritiro dalla provincia delle
truppe jugoslave, circa 200 mila serbi del Kosovo furono costretti
alla fuga. In questi anni il loro rientro e' stato molto lento e
accompagnato da incidenti. Segnali di distensione si sono visti
pero' negli ultimi tempi. Ieri, 25 capifamiglia serbi che sono
tornati nelle loro case situate a un chilometro dalla nuova base
''Villaggio Italia'' di Belo Polje, nella zona di Pec (Kosovo
occidentale) hanno gia' iniziato i lavori e vengono assistiti
dall'Unhcr oltre che dai militari italiani e dalle donne della vicina
enclave serba di Gorazdevac. Questo e' il piu' consistente
ritorno di quest'anno, avvenuto pacificamente e contraddistinto da
gesti distensivi da ambo le parti. Padre Sava, abate vicario del
monastero di Decani, ha ringraziato i militari italiani impegnati
nella zona.(ANSA). COR 16/07/2003 18:30
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bv/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RZQD_DlH.html
Grenade blast near Kosovo police station; no casualties
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, July 17 (AFP) - Unknown
assailants on Thursday detonated a hand grenade near a
police station in a northern Kosovo town, the day
after four ethnic Albanians from the town were
sentenced for war crimes, UN officials in the province
said. There were no casualties or damage.
Two other grenades were found unexploded outside the
police station, in the town of Podujevo said Derek
Chappell, a spokesman for the UN police in the
province.
He said the incident, which appeared to be an attempt
to intimidate the police rather than attack them, was
being investigated.
On Wednesday several hundred ethnic Albanian in
Podujevo protested a landmark ruling before a Kosovo
court, which sentenced four former rebels to between
five and 17 years in prison for war crimes.
"If they wanted to attack the police they could have
done so. I wouldn't say it was a deliberate attack,
but an attempt to intimidate or warn the police,"
Chappell said.
Rustem Mustafa, once a senior officer in the now
disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and three of
his associates were convicted of crimes including
murder, illegal detention, inhumane treatment and
torture.
Mustafa, known as Remi, was sentenced to 17 years for
ordering the murder of five Kosovo Albanians and
"failing to prevent illegal detention" in his zone of
command during the 1998-1999 conflict.
The crimes were committed in what was then Mustafa's
zone of command in the region of Podujevo, some 50
kilometers (30 miles) north of Pristina, the capital
of the southern Serbian province.
The police station in Podujevo houses both UN
policemen and members of the local police force, the
Kosovo Police Service.
NATO-led peacekeepers, KFOR, were deployed to dispose
of the remaining hand grenades, Chappell said.
Kosovo, a southern Serbian province, has been under UN
administration since NATO bombed Yugoslavia to force
the withdrawal of Serb troops in 1999.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23340&style=headlines
Beta - June 20, 2003
KFOR disarm bomb outside Pristina court
PRISTINA -- Friday -- Finnish KFOR troops have
successfully disarmed an explosive device in the
provincial capital today.
The device, the strength of which has yet to be
released, was rigged to explode in front of Pristina's
Municipal Court building.
KFOR have blocked main streets in the city as the
investigation gets underway.
No further information has been released at this time.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dk/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RWU5_DlK.html
Two explosions hit police, court building in Kosovo
capital
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, July 20 (AFP) - Two
explosions rocked Kosovo's capital Pristina Sunday
evening in what was believed to be a deliberate attack
on the police and judiciary in the province, a UN
official said.
The explosions happened shortly after 9:00 pm (1900
GMT) in the center of Pristina. No injuries were
reported, Barry Fletcher, spokesman for the UN police
in the province, told AFP.
"The first explosion took place by the District Court
building and the second one at a police station,"
Fletcher said.
"We are making the assumption that this is a
deliberate attack," Fletcher said.
Fletcher said one police vehicle was damaged at the
station housing both international and local
policemen. It was not immediately clear what kind of
explosives were used.
On Thursday, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade
near a police station in a northern Kosovo town, a day
after four ethnic Albanians from the town were
sentenced for war crimes.
Rustem Mustafa, once a senior officer in the now
disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and three of
his associates were convicted of crimes including
murder, illegal detention, inhumane treatment and
torture.
The district court of Pristina sentenced Mustafa to 17
years for ordering the murder of five Kosovo Albanians
and "failing to prevent illegal detention" in his zone
of command during the 1998-1999 conflict.
The verdict was not welcomed by his supporters who
view the former rebels as heroes for fighting a
separatist war against the Yugoslav army and security
forces.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since NATO
bombed Yugoslavia to force the withdrawal of Serb
troops in 1999.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/br/Qkosovo-warcrimes.RQYd_DlL.html
Police, judiciary targeted after Kosovo war crimes
verdict
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, July 21 (AFP) - The
UN-run police and judiciary in Kosovo are being
targeted with violence after four former
ethnic-Albanian rebels were found guilty of war
crimes, UN officials said Monday.
Officials said a spate of attacks against United
Nations police and courts represented an attempt to
disrupt the internationally-backed court proceedings
against war veterans in the southern Serbian province.
"These were cowardly criminal incidents aimed at
threatening the police and the judiciary," said Stefan
Feller, head of the UN-police here.
Speaking in front of Pristina's shrapnel-scarred
district court where the verdicts were handed down
last week, he said the violence was an attempt to
"disrupt unbiased court proceedings".
Rockets struck a police station and justice building
in the provincial capital Pristina on Sunday, causing
material damage but no injuries to police.
A police station housing international and local
police in Podujevo, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of
Pristina, was attacked with hand grenades and a dozen
police vehicles have been vandalised in different
parts of Kosovo.
"We do believe all these events are connected to the
verdict in the recent war crimes trial," a UN official
said on condition of anonymity.
International judges last week found four former
ethnic-Albanian rebels guilty of war crimes against
the civilian population during the 1998-99 war against
Serbian security forces under then-leader Slobodan
Milosevic.
One of them was Rrustem Mustafa, a commander of the
now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, who was
sentenced to 17 years jail for ordering the murder of
five Kosovo Albanians, among other crimes.
But the verdict has angered Kosovo's majority
ethnic-Albanian population, most of whom see the
rebels as heroes who fought the oppression of
Belgrade.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since NATO
bombed Yugoslavia to force the withdrawal of Serb
troops in 1999.
KOSSOVO: ESPLOSIONI A PRISTINA A TRIBUNALE E COMMISSARIATO
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 20 LUG - Due forti esplosioni hanno scosso questa
sera poco dopo le 21 il centro di Pristina, capoluogo della provincia
a maggioranza albanese. Un razzo e' stato lanciato contro la sede
della Corte distrettuale. Lo ha detto all'Ansa il portavoce dell'
Unmik (amministrazione Onu in Kosovo) Andrea Angeli. L'edificio della
Corte e' situato vicino a quello del comune e del palazzo del
Governo. La polizia, che ha trovato vicino alla zona il lanciarazzi
abbandonato, ha confermato che non ci sono vittime ma solo danni
riportati all' edificio. La seconda esplosione, sempre in centro,
e' avvenuta nel parcheggio antistante un commissariato di polizia.
Non si sa ancora se e' stata una granata a mano o un razzo. Solo una
macchina e' stata distrutta. Le due esplosioni avvengono pochi
giorni dopo la decisione della Corte di Pristina contro un gruppo di
ex esponenti dell' ormai disciolto esercito per la liberazione del
Kosovo (Uck) accusati di crimini di guerra: la prima sentenza di
questo genere verso l'ex guerriglia albanese. Una giuria di giudici
internazionali aveva condannato a 17 anni di reclusione Rustem
Mustafa, noto con il nome di battaglia di 'comandante Remi'. La
decisione della Corte aveva provocato una serie di proteste per
chiedere la sua liberazione. (ANSA). COR/IAT 20/07/2003 22:49
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23836&style=headlines
Beta - July 21, 2003
Shots fired at home of Kosovo speaker
PRISTINA -- Monday – The house belonging to Kosovo’s
parliamentary speaker was shot at this morning, United
Nations police in the province said today.
UN police spokesman Barry Fletcher said that bullets
had been found outside Nedzat Daci’s Pristina home,
which had suffered material damage.
He said that an investigation was underway.
A grenade was lobbed at the UN police building in
Pristina shortly after midnight, and the Pristina
District Court also came under fire last night.
Tensions in the province are said to be running high
after four former members of the Kosovo Liberation
Army were found guilty on Wednesday of war crimes and
sentenced to between five and 17 years imprisonment.
www.b92.net
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina - July 21, 2003
Grenade attacks hit Kosovo | 10:39 | SRNA
PRISTINA/LIPLJAN -- Monday - As yet unidentified attackers hurled
grenades at a number of public buildings in Pristina and Lipljan last
night.
UNMIK police confirmed to agency SRNA that a hand grenade was thrown at
the Lipljan court building shortly after midnight and a rocket-launcher
projectile was fired at the second floor of the Pristina District Court
building shortly before a second hand grenade was thrown at the UN's
police station in Pristina.
Considerable structural damage has been caused, but nobody was injured
in any of the attacks.
===
ESUMAZIONI ED IDENTIFICAZIONI
DI CADAVERI DI "DESAPARECIDOS" SERBI
Kosovo: Pathologists exhume 51 bodies from Pristina cemetery
Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text web site on
21 June
Gracanica: Pathologists from UNMIK and Belgrade's Kosovo Coordination
Centre have exhumed 51 bodies from the Dragodan Muslim cemetery in
Pristina over the past five days. Belgrade pathologist Slavisa
Dobricanin told media that these were most probably the bodies of
Serbs. He added that the bodies included those of eight babies,
probably from a maternity hospital. Dobricanin said that there were
still ten bodies to be exhumed on Monday 23 June . The bodies have been
taken to the UNMIK centre in Orahovac for identification.
Copyright 2003 British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
SOURCE: Radio B92 text web site, Belgrade, in English 1929 gmt 21 Jun 03
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/b92bbc062203.htm
EXPERTS EXHUME 40 BODIES FROM PRISTINA CEMETERY
PRISTINA, June 19 (Beta) - The head of the Coordinating Center for
Kosovo's bureau for exhumation and identification, Slavisa Dobricanin,
said on June 19 that the center's experts, in association with UNMIK,
in the last two days had exhumed 40 bodies of Serbs, Albanians, and
Roma including the remains of eight babies from a Pristina cemetery.
He said that the autopsy of the remains had not yet been
carried out, but he added that he assumed the babies had been brought
to the cemetery from a maternity clinic, while the discovered severed
body parts had been amputated in hospitals.
The bodies exhumed at the cemetery have been transported to the
autopsy center in Orahovac and will be given to their families after
identification. According to Dobricanin, another 10 bodies will be
exhumed at this location.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23403&style=headlines
SNRA - June 24, 2003
Three Kosovo-Serb bodies identified
PRIZREN -- Thursday -- The remains of three
Kosovo-Serbs have been identified after being exhumed
from shallow graves on the Suva Reka (dry river) road
near the village of Dulja in Prizren.
The bodies have been identified as those of Dejan
Jezdic, a former Yugoslav Army officer from Vranje,
Stanko Saranovic, kidnapped in Pristina in 1999, and
Zvezdan Mojsic, abducted from a bus-stop in Djakovica
in 1999.
Vujadin Otasevic, representative of the Coordination
Centre for Kosovo and Southern Serbia, confirmed that
the bodies are soon to be returned to their families
at the Merdare administrative border crossing.
===
SE NE VANNO GLI ULTIMI SOLDATI RUSSI
GAS LACRIMOGENI CONTRO LA FOLLA CHE SI OPPONE
RESTA SENZA PROTEZIONE L'ULTIMO OSPEDALE SERBO
GRANATA CONTRO L'ULTIMO OSPEDALE SERBO
[ Some context needs to be provided to the story
below. First, "Kosovo police" is a politically correct
misnomer for an all-Albanian Michael Steiner's and
UNMIK's legalized paramilitary in Kosovo. Many of these
police proudly 'served' as members of the so-called
"Kosovo Liberation Army" in the past. Second, the
Serbs and other minorities in central Kosovo (Kosovo
Polje is in vicinity of the capital, Pristina) have
virtually no access to friendly and reliable health
services. Serb doctors and nurses were virtually
thrown out of most of Pristina's and other hospitals
throughout Kosovo once NATO/KFOR occupied the
province, and Serb patients were experiencing
systematic and frequent verbal, physical and other
abuses at the health care institutions now staffed
exclusively by ethnic Albanians. One 'safe haven' for
the Serbs in central Kosovo was the hospital in Kosovo
Polje that was under the Russian KFOR control. Now
that the Russians are completely withdrawing from the
peacekeeping/occupation operations in Kosovo, the
local Serbs want to insure that this sole hospital
will remain accessible to Serb and other non-Albanian
patients, that the doctors and nurses there won't
be thrown out into the streets like in many other
situations throughout Kosovo, and the like. Why
"Kosovo and UNMIK police" had to take over this health
institution, and especially the way this attempt was
carried out, speaks volumes about the true state of
'democracy', 'human rights', 'minority rights' and
other lovely sounding fantasy concepts in that
lawlessness, terror, violence and crime ridden black
hole of Europe that this NATO's protectorate of Kosovo
has been over these four years of NATO's "glorious
victory" and subsequent occupation - pardon,
liberation - of Serbia's southern province.
P.S. The lines in the last paragraph in TANJUG report
below are underlined by me, PT. ]
Kosovo, UNMIK police clash with Serbs over control of
Russian hospital
Tanjug - June 19, 2003
Kosovo Polje, 19 June: Over 1,000 policemen from the
Kosovo and UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo] police today tried to take over the Russian
hospital in Kosovo Polje following the withdrawal of
the Russian Kfor [Kosovo Force] contingent, duty
doctor Nebojsa Dzelatovic has told Tanjug.
Strong police forces tried to storm the building and
remove about 30 patients and the Serb medical staff.
"When I tried to get into the building where a woman
was in labour at the time, the police prevented me by
throwing tear gas. I and my colleagues, who also tried
to defend the hospital, were injured. Several of us
have sustained burns," Dr Dzelatovic said.
He said that the UNMIK police also wanted to storm the
building with special units, but when they encountered
strong resistance, the commander of these units, an
American, told him that it had been decided that UNMIK
would take control of the hospital.
"We have managed to save the hospital. We have 10
injured people. The UNMIK administrator, who came to
the scene of conflict, promised that force would not
be used any more," Dzelatovic said.
[Serb] Return Coalition deputy Randjel Nojkic, who
also came to the scene of conflict, was affected by
tear gas and is currently being treated at the Kosovo
Polje hospital.
Several hundred Serbs from Kosovo Polje, Gracanica and
Gusterica have ^^^ gathered together around the hospital with the
intention of saving the only Serb hospital in the Kosovo Polje area. ^^^
KOSOVO POLICE ATTEMPTED TO TAKE OVER RUSSIAN HOSPITAL
KOSOVO POLJE, June 19 (Tanjug) - Over 1000 Kosovo and UNMIK
policemen attempted on Thursday to take over the Russian hospital in
Kosovo Polje, following the withdrawal of the Russian contingent of
KFOR, doctor Nebojsa Dzeletovic who was on duty at the time told
Tanjug.
Strong police forces attempted to storm the building and expel
about 30 patients and the Serbian medical personnel. "When I tried to
get into the building where a woman was in labor at the time, the
police prevented me by throwing tear-gas. Also injured were my
colleagues who also tried to defend the hospital, and some of us have
burns," dr Dzeletovic said. "We have succeeded to save the hospital,
and we have 10 injured, while the UNMIK administrator, who arrived to
the spot, has promised that force will not be used any more," dr
Djelerovic said.
---
UNMIK and Kosovo police violate Serb hospital with tear gas
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkim20june03.html
ERP and SNC KIM: Communique: Unprecedented and immoral act
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/75631
---
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ck/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RBk0_DuJ.html
UN police in Kosovo use pepper spray against angry
Serb crowd
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, June 19 (AFP) - UN
police in Kosovo on Thursday used pepper spray to
disperse a crowd of angry Serbs who were trying to
break into a hospital, a UN police spokesman said.
"The police tried to shut the inner gate and were
attacked by a crowd on the other side. Three policemen
were lightly injured and then the police used pepper
spray," spokesman Jack Kraus said.
No civilian injuries were reported.
Police said the crowd in the Serb part of Kosovo
Polje, to the west of the capital Pristina, had been
demonstrating against the departure of Russian
peacekeepers from the area.
The Russians, serving with the NATO-led peacekeeping
mission in Kosovo, have begun withdrawing from the
region and are scheduled to complete their pullout
from Kosovo by the end of July.
They were deployed in Serb-inhabited areas to prevent
attacks by Albanian extremists seeking revenge [sic]
for years of repression from governments in Serbia, of
which Kosovo is a province.
The southern Serbian province of Kosovo has been under
United Nations and NATO control since June 1999 when
Serbian forces under then Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic withdrew from the province and ended a
brutal crackdown on Albanian separatists and
civilians.
But the Serb minority in the province complains that
NATO forces have failed to protect them from Albanian
reprisals.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23341&style=headlines
Beta - June 20, 2003
Grenade attack in Kosovo Polje
KOSOVO POLJE -- Friday -- A hand grenade was
discharged in front of the Kosovo Polje Medical Centre
in the early hours of this morning, causing minimal
damage but injur[ing] nobody.
Speaking to agency Beta, doctors of the centre
expressed their belief that the attack was an act of
attempted intimidation, which follows a clash between
Serb doctors and UNMIK police yesterday after police
tried to take control of the centre.
KFOR have arrived on the scene and an investigation is
underway.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?&nav_category=19&nav_id=23365&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta - June 24, 2003
Serbs form crisis centre to protect services
KOSOVO POLJE -- Saturday -- Serbs remaining in Kosovo
Polje and nearby villages have formed a crisis centre
to protect and sustain their medical centre, senior
school, post office and other services crucial to
their survival.
Speaking to agency Beta, coordinator of the new centre
Miroslav Velickovic said that it is vitally important
for the 4,000 Serbs remaining in the Kosovo Polje area
that their services be protected.
The forming of the crisis centre follows the refusal
of Serb medical centre staff to hand responsibility to
UNMIK as requested.
The new centre has invited UNMIK governor Michael
Steiner and Coordination Centre for Kosovo chief
Nebojsa Covic to visit the area and help address
disputed issues.
---
Russian KFOR Troops Leave Kosovo (by Seremb Gjergji)
http://www.balkantimes.com/
default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=20625
===
TENTATA DEPORTAZIONE A KUMANOVO
PER I ROM KOSOVARI
(si veda anche / see also:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2578 )
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=42702
MakFax (Macedonia) - June 20, 2003
Macedonia: Kosovar Roma refugees will be relocated in
Kumanovo
Kosovoís Roma refugees, who have been accommodated in
make-shift refugee camp at the border crossing of
Medjitlija, will be transferred in Kumanovo. They will
stay in Kumanovo as long as the necessary conditions
for transfer to Skopje are provided, said Makfax news
agency.
Representatives of the UNHCR Office in Skopje
confirmed this information. UNHCRís team has been
engaged over the past few days in reconstruction of a
facility in Kumanovo, where some 600 Kosovoís Roma
refugees will be accommodated.
UNHCR representative told Kumanovoís correspondent of
Makfax news agency that accommodation of Kosovoís Roam
refugees will be temporal. Later on, they will be
transferred to Skopje and hosted by families.
Kosovoís Roma refugees fled the collective centers in
Skopje one month ago and headed to Macedonian-Greek
border (Medjitlija border crossing). They urged Greek
authorities to allow entry of some 600 Roma people
into Greece or countries in Western Europe. Greek
authorities however rebuffed to grant asylum to Roma
refugees, noting that they are not welcomed in Greece
or any other member-state of the EU. UN Administrator
in Kosovo Michael Steiner called upon Kosovoís Roma
refugees to return to Kosovo but made it clear that he
could not guarantee their security.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/
Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Kosovski%20Romi%20vo%20Kumanov.htm
Macedonia Information Agency - June 20, 2003
KOSOVO ROMA FROM MEDZITLIJA TO BE TRANSFERRED IN KUMANOVO
Skopje, June 20 (MIA) - Kosovo Roma, who are at the
improvised refugee camp Medzitlija for more than a
month, will be transferred to Kumanovo, where they
will stay until conditions are created for their
transfer in Skopje.
UNHCR representatives in Skopje confirmed this. Their
teams intensively work on providing conditions in
Kumanovo, where Roma will be sheltered.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/
Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Romi%20mezitlija.htm
Macedonian Information Agency - June 23, 2003
KOSOVO ROMAS DO NOT ACCEPT SETTLEMENT IN TEMPORARY CENTER IN KUMANOVO
Skopje, June 23 (MIA) - According to UNHCR, Kosovo
Romas, who are located at border crossing Medzitlija
for more than two months, requiring asylum in Greece,
will be settled in Kumanovo, if they agree.
They will be settled in a temporary center, i.e. an
adjusted storehouse, where they will stay for one-two
days, which is a period necessary for them to find
private lodging on their own account. For that
purpose, UNHCR will provide Denar 15,000 for six
persons per month. Besides the financial assistance,
they will also receive hygienic packages and food
packages.
The Kosovo Romas have a status of temporary protected
persons in Macedonia, which ends on September 29,
after which they will acquire a status of refugees.
They rejected to fill in the forms for acquiring of
such a status, but also reject their transfer to
Kumanovo.
According to the Government's decision, those persons
that have not regulated their status, i.e. have not
filled in the forms, should accept the provided
settlement in families or in the collective center
"Katlanovo". The Government does not allow building of
illegal refugee camps or any type of lodging out of
the offered solutions, especially at places lacking
infrastructure, which do not allow suitable protection
of these persons.
Despite their efforts for asylum in some Western
European countries, no state has shown interest as yet.
===
CONDANNATO IL FUNZIONARIO UNMIK TEDESCO CHE RUBO' I FONDI
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Lun 23 Giu 2003 23:15:55 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Kosovo: UNMIK Official Sentenced For Stealing $4.3 Million
From Serbian Utility
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23380&style=headlines
[Three and a half years in prison equals 30,660 hours.
$4.3 million dollars divided by 30,660 is over $142
per hour, waking and sleeping. Not bad wages in most
of the world.]
FoNet - June 23, 2003
UNMIK official in jail after $4.3 million theft
BOCHUM -- Monday ñ An official of the UN mission in
Kosovo was sentenced in Germany today to three and a
half years in prison for stealing $4.3 million while
serving in Kosovo.
A court in Bochum sentenced 37-year-old Joe Trutschler
after an investigation established that he had
embezzled funds intended for the Kosovo Electricity
Company and transferred it to his account in
Gibraltar.
A further attempt to forward the funds from Gibraltar
to Belize was thwarted by investigating bodies.
Only $3.2 million of the funds has been recovered.
===
COVIC: IN KOSOVO STIAMO ANDANDO VERSO IL FASCISMO
COVIC: SITUATION IN KOSOVO ON VERGE OF FASCISM
KOSOVO POLJE,June23 (Beta)-After his meeting with Serbs from
Kosovo Polje on June 23, the Kosovo Coordinating Center chief, Nebojsa
Covi<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
(english / italiano)
---
Nota: le notizie da noi qui riportate non sono in alcun modo esaustive
degli avvenimenti nella provincia del Kosmet (Kosovo e Metohija), e
vanno intese solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.
Ricordiamo che i numeri piu' recenti di questo "bollettino di guerra"
sul Kosmet sono archiviati alle URL:
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, Maggio-Luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1876
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, fine luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1900
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, agosto-settembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1962
Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, settembre-ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2001
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2002
Kosmet, bollettino di guerra: fine ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2055
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra novembre-dicembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2556
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra gennaio-febbraio 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2557
Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra marzo-aprile 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2558
La "liberta'" a colpi di accetta (maggio - inizio giugno 2003)
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2559
Kosovo: The bloodshed continues
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2589
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2660
Hashim Thaci detto "il Serpente"
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2622
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2642
L'AMICO AMERICANO / 7: Games Surrounding Kosovo
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2645
Kosmet: presa di posizione ufficiale Belgrado +
Nomina nuovo governatore della colonia-protettorato
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2659
Un grande numero di articoli sui vari aspetti del regime di terrore
instaurato congiuntamente dalle "nostre" truppe occidentali (KFOR) e
dai neonazisti locali (UCK) si puo' trovare sempre nel nostro archivio:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
Per un inquadramento storico del terrore nazista in Kosovo-Metohija si
veda in particolare:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2521
ed i collegamenti ivi contenuti.
Molti dei materiali qui riportati vengono diffusi regolarmente sulle
mailinglists:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
antinato@...
anti-imperialiste@...
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e dal bollettino della chiesa ortodossa in Kosmet
ERP KIM Newsletter
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo.html
(a cura di Andrea)
---
A USEFUL LINK:
ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the
Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the
blessing of His Grace Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related
issues. The main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian
Orthodox Church and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and
Metohija. ERP KIM Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the Kosovo Daily News (KDN) News
List
Our Newsletters are available on our ERP KIM Info-service Web-Page:
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo.html
Additional information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo
Serb Community may be found at:
http://www.kosovo.com
===
I SERBI DI OBILIC TERRORIZZATI DOPO LA STRAGE
ENDANGERED KOSOVO SERBS ANNOUNCE EVACUATION FROM OBILIC
OBILIC, June 8 (Tanjug) - More than 20 Kosovo Serb families
from Obilic, close to Pristina, said on Sunday they would evacuate,
since they did not feel safe and saw no possibility for living in the
province any more after the recent brutal murder of the three-member
Kosovo Serb Stolic family.
Representatives of the endangered Kosovo Serb families told
Tanjug that they would leave their homes, and symbolically give their
keys to Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic and Serbian
Premier Zoran Zivkovic to keep them.
In his Sunday phone statement, Serbia Deputy Premier and head
of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre, Nebojsa Covic told Tanjug
that the Serbian government understood the rage and justified the
worry of Kosovo Serbs, but pointed out that evacuation would represent
a wrong move, since it was in contradiction with their interests and
did the work for ethnic Albanian terrorists.
"The terrorists were the ones who murdered three Kosovo Serbs
so as to carry out an ethnic cleansing in Obilic and make another
step towards independence," Covic said, and called on the local Serb
population to show courage and stay where it was, promising Belgrade
would help them in their efforts.
http://www.tanjug.co.yu/
Tanjug - June 9, 2003
KOSMET-OBILIC-SERBS-DEPARTURE
Over 4,000 Serbs have left Obilic, Jakovljevic
16:56 BELGRADE , June 9 (Tanjug) - A total of 8,000
Serbs inhabited the Obilic municipality before June
1999, while less than 4,000 remain four years after
the international community assumed the administration
of Kosovo-Metohija, a member of the Serbian National
Council for Central Kosovo, Mirce Jakovljevic said in
Obilic on Monday.
At present only a mere 450 Serbs live in the town of
Obilic, in the most difficult conditions, without any
freedom of movement and in constant fear from ethnic
Albanian extremists, Jakovljevic told Tanjug following
a meeting between the Serb delegation and Serbian
Deputy Premier Nebojsa Covic, who is also
Kosovo-Metohija Coordination Center head.
Tanjug - June 9, 2003
KOSOVO-OBILIC-SERBS-SECURITY
Still no KFOR patrols to protect Serbs in Obilic
20:33 OBILIC , June 9 (Tanjug) - Six days after the
monstrous murder of the three-member Stolic family by
Albanian extremists in Obilic, near Pristina, there is
no sign of the KFOR patrols in the street inhabited by
22 Serb families. As Tanjug learns from its Serb
sources in Obilic, KFOR patrols were noticed on Monday
only in the town center, inhabited by Albanians only,
and on the road leading out of the town to the
Serb-populated village of Plemetina.
The day following the murder, the Kosovo police
service (KPS), in co-operation with the KFOR troops
from Norway, proclaimed June 5 "the welcome day to the
police station" in Obilic, which was interpreted by
Serbs as cynicism.
Tanjug - June 10, 2003
UNMIK spokesman says situation has improved
dramatically (SIC)
12:18 LONDON , June 10 (Tanjug) - Commenting on the
murder of the Stolic family in Obilic,
Kosovo-Metohija, UNMIK spokesman Simon Haselock has
said that no police force in the world is capable of
protecting every house and every individual and that
the security situation in Kosovo has lately improved
dramatically.
Speaking for the BBC radio, Haselock said he did not
wish to underestimate the dreadfulness of this crime,
which had seriously aggravated the atmosphere in
Kosovo, but that no police in the world could protect
every family or every individual from extremists.
KOSOVO: CARABINIERI MSU PROTEGGERANNO SERBI DI OBILIC
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 24 GIU Saranno i carabinieri dell'Unita'
specializzata multinazionale (Msu) a garantire la sicurezza della
comunita' serba di Obilic, piccolo centro del Kosovo orientale dove
tre serbi sono stati uccisi nelle scorse settimane. La notizia,
anticipata dall'agenzia Tanjug, e' stata successivamente confermata a
Pristina dal portavoce della Kfor (forza di pace a guida Nato), Gary
Banister.
Banister ha detto che la Msu ''sta gia' effettuando posti di
blocco'' intorno all'enclave. Finora la sicurezza nella zona era
invece affidata alla polizia della missione delle Nazioni Unite
(Unmik).
La Msu e' una forza comandata e composta in gran parte da
carabinieri italiani ma della quale fanno parte anche gendarmi
francesi ed estoni. (ANSA). BLL 24-GIU-03 16:24 NNNN
24/06/2003 17:31
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
Italian carabinieri to protect Serbs in Obilic
PRISTINA, June 24 (Tanjug) - Kosovo-Metohija coordinating center
President Nebojsa Covic conferred with KFOR commander, Italian General
Fabio Mini in Pristina late Monday, who promised Italian carabinieri
of that local peacekeeping force would protect Serbs in Obilic. Covic
insisted, together with political representatives of Obilic Serbs, on
greater safety and freedom of movement for the Serb community in this
town in central Kosovo and Metohija, where ethnic Albanian terrorists
murdered a Serb family of three 20 days ago.
General Mini provided solid guarantees that security would be
improved, Covic said, since he said the KFOR carabinieri would set up
control checkpoints in all Serb-populated parts of Obilic, and step up
patrols. Each patrol will include one Serb interpreter who will
communicate with the local community so that the KFOR troops can help
them whenever necessary, Tanjug learned.
===
QUATTRO ANNI DOPO, IL KOSOVO E' NEL CAOS;
LA KFOR PREVEDE UN "BOOM" DEL TERRORISMO NEL CORSO DELL'ESTATE
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bz/Qserbia-montenegro-
kosovo.RBH0_Du9.html
Four years on, Kosovo is still a mess
Aleksandar Mitic
BELGRADE, June 10 (AFP) - Four years after the end of
the Serbo-Albanian war in Kosovo, the southern Serbian
province is still wracked by violence and ethnic
hatred overseen by a United Nations mission which is
losing the respect of all sides to the conflict.
A crackdown on the ethnic-Albanian majority by forces
of then-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic was the
initial justification for NATO's 1999 intervention.
But now it is the Serbs who are living in fear of
Albanian extremists.
More than 200,000 Kosovo Serbs have left their homes
as a result of extremist violence or fearing bloody
reprisals from Albanians. The 80,000 to 120,000 Serbs
who remain live in isolated enclaves, sometimes as
small as a single apartment block, "protected" by NATO
troops.
That security -- a key obligation of the international
community if it seriously wants to build a
multi-ethnic, democratic Kosovo -- proved to be
tragically absent last week when an elderly Serb
couple and their son were brutally murdered.
The victims were asleep in their home in Obilic, just
north of the capital Pristina, when they were hacked
to death with axes by unknown attackers, who then set
their home on fire. The slaughter came after several
days of threats, according to relatives.
No one has claimed responsibility for the homicide,
the worst violence in Kosovo in more than a year, but
few are in any doubt that it was a hate crime by
Albanian extremists bent on driving Serbs out of the
province.
When the chief of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
Michael Steiner, rushed to the scene to offer his
condolences, he was jeered by angry and frightened
Serb villagers, many of whom have now fled their
homes.
Twenty-three Serb families, all residents of the same
street in Obilic, decided to leave the province and
join the ranks of refugees in Serbia, Beta news agency
reported. They accused NATO, which has 30,000 troops
in Kosovo, of ignoring their pleas for extra security.
"The Serbs of Obilic don't want to ask anything more
from UNMIK and KFOR (the NATO-led protection force),
which have demonstrated over the past four years that
they have no intention of protecting the Serbs," said
local councillor Mirce Jakovljevic.
"The people are desperate."
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic,
Belgrade's pointman for Kosovo, has said he does not
want to give "false hopes" to the province's Serbs
because the authority of the Serbian government was
suspended with the UN takeover in 1999.
Always walking a tightrope between the frustrations of
the Serbs and the need to maintain good relations with
UNMIK, Covic said he hoped the Obilic families would
return to their homes because their departure only
handed victory to the Albanian "terrorists".
The events in Obilic are just a further blow to the
credibility of the UN mission in Kosovo, which has
failed to fulfil its promise of securing the return of
the refugees or win the support of either of the two
opposing ethnic communities.
For their part the Albanians are impatient to declare
independence and take control of the province once and
for all, but the UN says the time has not yet come to
decide Kosovo's "final status" and when it does it
will be a decision for the Security Council.
Earlier this year Steiner banned ethnic-Albanian
politicians from attending two international
conferences because they passed a motion in parliament
recognising the Kosovo Liberation Army -- seen as
terrorists by Serbs -- as heroes.
"The bureaucrats in Pristina, Belgrade, Brussels, New
York, they talk a lot but they do very little," said
Zoran Masic, a Serb who fled his home in Pristina
after the war.
"I no longer have any illusions, no hope that anything
will change."
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Ven 11 Lug 2003 13:01:26 Europe/Rome
A: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] KFOR Predicts 'Summer Crime Boom' For Kosovo
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=23686&order=priority&style=headlines
[Don't expect KFOR to do anything about it. It's
evidently in the prediction and not prevention
business. Or the protection business.]
SRNA (Serbia) - July 11, 2003
KFOR predicts crime boom
-Turning to local forces, KFOR added that state
union's security forces continue to honour provisions
and conditions stipulated in the Military-Technical
Agreement, while the Kosovo Protection Corps is under
investigation for ties to extremists and terrorist
organisations.
NEW YORK -- Friday – A KFOR report submitted to the UN
Security Council forecasts a summer crime boom for
Kosovo.
In particular, the Kosovo force predicts increases in
smuggling and illegal border crossings, as well as the
appearance of large quantities of drugs and
counterfeit money.
The report notes several ethnically-motivated
incidents in May, but insists that the overall
security situation in the province was mainly stable.
The report reads:
"The number of murders, kidnappings and rapes
increased compared to last month, but the number of
thefts dropped, while the total number of incidents is
less than in May 2002".
KFOR draw attention to ethnic tensions evident in the
northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, highlighting the
as yet unsolved murders of two Serbs in the Klokot
region, near Vitina. The international force also
notes 27 attempted illegal border crossings in May – a
two-fold increase on the previous month.
Turning to local forces, KFOR added that state union's
security forces continue to honour provisions and
conditions stipulated in the Military-Technical
Agreement, while the Kosovo Protection Corps is under
investigation for tiess to extremists and terrorist
organisations.
===
USURPATE LE PROPRIETA' DEI PROFUGHI E DELLO STATO
ETHNIC ALBANIANS USURP 77,000 HOUSES IN KOSOVO - UNMIK ASSESSMENT
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, June 9 (Tanjug) - According to UNMIK's
assessment, ethnic Albanians have usurped between 75,000 and 77,000
houses, flats and other facilities in Kosovo-Metohija, and looted and
torched 30,000 others.
According to UNMIK, Kosovo-Metohija is populated by between
1.8 and 2.4 million people. With more than 300 people per square
kilometer, Serbia's southern province is the most densely populated
region of Europe. Kosovo also has the highest birth rate - 27 babies
to 1,000 people. In the past few years, the number of newborn babies,
mostly ethnic Albanian, ranged between 55,000 and 57,000.
Today, Pristina is populated by about 500,000 ethnic Albanians
and 170 Serbs. In 1999, Pristina was populated by 250,000 people,
including 40,000 Serbs. The largest number of Serbs, 125,000, live in
northern Kosovo-Metohija. The Kosovo parliament has recently adopted a
law on the census and property registration, which will take place on
April 1-15, 2004. Kosovo Serb representatives say that this law
legalizes the exodus of Serbs, which happened in the past four years.
ALBANIA BUYING KOSOVO AND METOHIJA COMPANIES
Despite the objections of the Serbian government the privatization of
socially-owned and state-owned property has begun in Kosovo and
Metohija.
Vecernje Novosti daily, Belgrade - July 18, 2003
PRISTINA - Despite the objections of the Serbian government the
privatization of socially-owned and state-owned property has begun in
Kosovo and Metohija.
No official information is available; however, from sources close to
Albanian business men we have learned that the brick factory in Srbica,
which has been renamed by the Albanians as Skenderaj, has already been
sold. The buyer is from Albania and has also purportedly expressed
interest in a similar factory in Pec. An Austrian venture has expressed
interest in "Termovent" in Orahovac, built by the Belgrade company of
the same name. "Energoinvest" and "Energomontini", built by the former
Sarajevo conglomerate, have only drawn the interest of businessmen from
Albania, who are waiting for a better purchase price to buy.
The rock quarry in Klina has already been purchased by local Albanians.
A tender is expected to be issued at the end of the month for about ten
companies but no official information by the provisional Kosovo
institutions for privatization has yet been released.
SERBIA TO FILE CHARGES OVER PRIVATIZATION IN KOSOVO
BELGRADE, July 23 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Premier
and Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija chief
Nebojsa Covic has announced that Serbia will file
charges with the international court because of the
manner in which privatization is being realized in
Kosovo and Metohija.
The formula of a 99-year lease is being used to try
and privatize what local residents built for
generations, Covic said in a broadcast on
Belgrade-based Studio B TV late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Serbia must pay 1.8 billion dollars in
debts incurred in the province, without getting any
income from there, Covic said.
===
"STATUS":
CONTINUE DICHIARAZIONI DI INDIPENDENZA DA PARTE PAN-ALBANESE;
"CI FIDIAMO SOLO DEGLI USA"; FESTEGGIATO IL "FREEDOM'S DAY"
NELL'ANNIVERSARIO DELLA OCCUPAZIONE NATO-UCK;
AMERICANI PREMONO SULLA UE PER LA SECESSIONE, SI VA VERSO LO SCONTRO
FRONTALE UE/USA ?
SEPARATISTI CONTRARI AI COLLOQUI FINCHE' BELGRADO NON "CHIEDE SCUSA"
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=41658
MakFax (Macedonia) - June 9, 2003
Greece: Ta Nea daily claims Kosovars will declare
independence
The Head of UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Michael
Steiner and KFOR Commander, General Fabio Mini, have
informed NATO and Greece, current holder of EU
rotating presidency, that Kosovar Albanians appear
strongly determined to declare an independence, said
Greek daily Ta Nea.
Referring to its own reliable sources, Ta Nea daily
says the Greek Government has available information
showing the strong determination of Kosovar Albanians
to declare independence by the end of 2003.
Greek daily says the Greek Government fears that such
development of events and any unilateral decision
could trigger conflicts and destabilization of the
region. Ta Nea daily says the reactions of the
international community would be weak given that its
attention is currently directed to other problems in
the world.
---
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Gio 12 Giu 2003 18:39:12 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Feast Of The NATOvity: KosovA Celebrates
'Freedom Day'
1) KosovA Celebrates NATO's Conquest Of Province,
Boasts Of Increased Stability, Security, Democracy
2) Serbian Officials Refuse to Meet With 'Kosovar'
Representatives At EU Meeting In Greece
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-120603.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (US government site)
June 12, 2003
KOSOVA MARKS FREEDOM DAY
-He called on the international community to support
independence for Kosova and its integration into NATO
and the EU.
Celebrations took place across Kosova on 12 June to
mark Freedom Day, which is the anniversary of the
arrival of NATO troops in 1999 and the end of Serbian
rule over the more than 90 percent ethnic Albanian
majority, RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages
Service reported. On 11 June, President Ibrahim Rugova
said in Prishtina: "During those four years, Kosova
has achieved significant progress in all areas. The
overall security situation and political stability
have improved considerably, especially with regards to
the functioning of democratic institutions. These
results have been achieved together with the UNMIK [UN
civilian administration in Kosova], OSCE, KFOR and
with the all-round help of the United States, the
European Union, and other countries," Hina reported.
Rugova noted the tasks ahead in privatization, job
creation, and the integration of ethnic minorities. He
called on the international community to support
independence for Kosova and its integration into NATO
and the EU. PM
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-120603.asp
[Note that this US government site distinguishes
between Serbians and Kosovars, when Kosovo is still an
internationally recognized province of Serbia.
Moreover, after the Bosnia model, the term Kosovar is
transparently used to exclusively connote ethnic
Albanian citizens of the Serbian province.
And that provincial representatives from Kosovo are
invited to the Thessaloniki EU conference, thereby
effectively elevating them to the level of national
status, is another travesty of international law and
diplomatic protocol.]
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - June 12, 2003
SERBIAN LEADERS RULE OUT TALKS WITH KOSOVARS
AT EU SUMMIT
In the run-up to the Serbian general elections widely
expected in 2003 or 2004, two Serbian deputy prime
ministers said on 11 June that Serbian representatives
will not talk with Kosovar officials at the EU's 21
June Thessaloniki summit, RFE/RL's South Slavic and
Albanian Languages Service reported. Cedomir Jovanovic
said in Zagreb that Serbian officials will not have
direct talks with Kosovar leaders until the Kosovars
"meet basic preconditions," including improving the
security situation and "not allowing ethnic criteria
to be paramount in state institutions" in the
province. Nebojsa Covic said in Bujanovac that talks
in Thessaloniki cannot be "serious" and that Serbia
wants only "serious" talks. In related news, Covic
called on the governing Democratic Opposition of
Serbia (DOS) to chose between him and his critics
among the Kosovar Serb political leadership. PM
---
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/06/4-SEE/see-180603.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - June 18, 2003
KOSOVAR LEADERS STRESS U.S. ROLE IN SETTLING THE
STATUS QUESTION
-"The EU does not have a strategy for resolving the
Kosova question. Some of its members are one-sided [in
the matter] and showed this four years ago when they
opposed NATO's intervention [against Serbian forces].
Because of this, politicians and the public in Kosova
are convinced that the Kosova question cannot be
resolved without the direct and leading role of the
United States."
Nexhat Daci, who is speaker of Kosova's parliament,
said in Prishtina on 17 June that any upcoming talks
between Kosova and Serbia will deal with purely
practical questions and serve to make life easier for
ordinary citizens, RFE/RL's Albanian-language
broadcasters reported. He stressed that status talks
will come later and must involve the United States in
the "leading role," even though the most important
"European countries are gradually coming to understand
the Kosova question better." Elsewhere, Bujar Dugolli,
who is a member of the parliament's presidency and of
the Alliance for the Future of Kosova (AAK), said:
"The EU does not have a strategy for resolving the
Kosova question. Some of its members are one-sided [in
the matter] and showed this four years ago when they
opposed NATO's intervention [against Serbian forces].
Because of this, politicians and the public in Kosova
are convinced that the Kosova question cannot be
resolved without the direct and leading role of the
United States." PM
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Lun 23 Giu 2003 09:22:27 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: EU, US To Back Talks Next Month On 'Splitting' Kosovo From
Serbia
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/
FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1054966325676&p=1012571727166
Financial Times - June 23, 2003
Support for talks on splitting Serbia, Kosovo
By Judy Dempsey and Kerin Hope in Thessaloniki
-Diplomats hope the talks could eventually lead to
Serbia and Kosovo agreeing on how they could
peacefully separate from each other, with
internationally recognised borders.
The European Union and the US will back direct talks
between Serbia and Kosovo that could help end one of
the last outstanding disputes to dog stability and
security in the Balkans.
Diplomats hope the talks could eventually lead to
Serbia and Kosovo agreeing on how they could
peacefully separate from each other, with
internationally recognised borders.
The talks, expected to take place next month outside
the region, were agreed in principle at the EU-western
Balkan summit in Thessaloniki, where European leaders
at the weekend promised the countries integration and
eventual membership under stringent conditions.
In particular, EU leaders spelt out how the region had
to combat corruption, human and drug trafficking and
smuggling, which is rife in Albania, Serbia and
Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
These countries were told their chances of becoming
closer to Europe depended on strengthening the rule of
law and, crucially, co-operation among the police
forces across the region to weaken criminal gangs.
"These countries have a road open to the European
Union. They know what they have to do," said Javier
Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief.
The EU has provided Ä4.6bn (£3.2bn) for 2000-2006 to
the region, topped up by an additional Ä200m pledged
at the summit.
But diplomats said the changing attitude at the summit
reflected a growing consensus by the EU and US that
any stable, long-term integration into Europe by the
western Balkans will not be possible until the
territorial and border disputes are resolved.
Constitutionally, Kosovo is still part of Serbia. In
practice, since 1999 it has been under a United
Nations-sanctioned international protectorate.
"We now support a dialogue," said Zoran Zivkovic,
prime minister of Serbia. He insisted, however, that
talks with Kosovo would only begin once Michael
Steiner, the UN's special envoy for the province, left
his job later this month.
Mr Steiner has proved a controversial figure in
Kosovo. Diplomats said that he had quickly alienated
the Serbs in both Kosovo and Serbia.
DACI SAYS INDEPENDENCE FOR KOSOVO WHEN MANDATE OF PROVISIONAL
INSTITUTIONS EXPIRES
PRISTINA, July 22 (Beta) - Kosovo Assembly Speaker
Nexhat Daci said on July 22 that he believed that
Kosovo would become independent when the mandate of
the existing provisional institutions expired.
At a conference held in the Kosovo Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Daci said that the wishes of the Kosovo
people would be realized at a certain pace, and that
the process would be brought to an end when the
mandate of Kosovo's temporary institutions expired.
"The issue of Kosovo should be settled considering the
principle of self-determination and the will of the
people," German professor of international law Johann
Frovin said.
The Kosovo Assembly and cabinet were assembled at the
end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002. Their mandate
is three years and it expires at the end of next year
and the beginning of 2005.
RUGOVA WELCOMES APPOINTMENT OF UN GOVERNOR
PRISTINA,July 26 (Srna,Reuters)-Kosovo President
Ibrahim Rugova has welcomed the appointment of former
Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri as head of the
United Nations administration in the province.
A statement from the office of the president said that
Rugova expected Holkeri to continue with the gradual
handover of responsibilities from UNMIK to the Kosovo
institutions. Rugova said he hoped that Holkeri would
contribute to Kosovo's integration into Europe and
help the province on its path to independence.
www.b92.net
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina - July 30, 2003
Kosovo official demands Belgrade apology | 10:48 | SRNA
PRISTINA -- Wednesday - The government in Kosovo will not attend talks
with Serbian officials until Belgrade apologises for the crimes
committed by its troops during the war, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister
Jakub Krasnici was quoted as saying today.
The official also demanded Belgrade "give up its hegemonic claims" on
Kosovo and withdraw the arrest warrants issued against a number of
senior Kosovo politicians. "This is the only way to create the
conditions for Pristina to have an equal and legitimate delegation" at
talks, he said.
SCHUESSEL:EU DOES NOT WANT INDEPENDENT KOSOVO
SALZBURG, July 31 (Tanjug) - Kosovo's independence and
secession from Serbia and Montenegro is not a desired
prospect of the European Union, Austrian Chancellor
Wolfgang Schuessel told Tanjug on Thursday. After a
meeting of the premiers of South-East European
countries in Salzburg, Schuessel said that the
situation in Kosovo was presently certainly better
than two of three years ago, but that time was needed
for the situation to start developing for the better.
Schuessel said that the international presence helped
improve the situation in Kosovo. He urged the
exclusion of extreme forces and said that Kosovo could
no longer resemble that from the Milosevic era when it
was fully dependent and oppressed.
===
LE PRESE DI POSIZIONE DEL FRATELLO DI MILOSEVIC, EX AMBASCIATORE IN
RUSSIA, E DEL MINISTRO DEGLI ESTERI RUSSO
http://en.rian.ru/rian/
index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3267624&startrow=1&date=2003-06-
11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 11, 2003
PROBLEM OF KOSOVO'S STATUS CANNOT BE SETTLED IN
CURRENT SITUATION, SAYS EX YUGOSLAVIAN AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA
MOSCOW, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - The problem of
Kosovo's status cannot be settled in the current
situation, believes former Yugoslavian ambassador to
Russia Borislav Milosevic.
"The final status of Kosovo cannot be determined
without Serbia's legitimate participation," he told
RIA Novosti on Wednesday. "Western powers, first of
all the USA, are creating in Kosovo and Metohija
another, besides Albania, Albanian Muslim state in the
Balkans, using expansion of Albanian nationalism,"
Milosevic said.
Western experts believe that Serbia will have to grant
Kosovo "independence to speed up the process of
joining the European Union," he pointed out. Yet this
means abolishment of UN Security Council's resolution
1244 "which provides for Kosovo's broad autonomy, but
not independence," the diplomat emphasized.
"To break the deadlock we have to adopt a new
resolution, which many observers, including myself,
believe utterly unreal in the current situation,"
Milosevic concluded.
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Gio 12 Giu 2003 09:16:59 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: [yugoslaviainfo] Russia Worried By 'Alarming Trends' In Kosovo
http://en.rian.ru/rian/
index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3267768&startrow=11&date=2003-06-
11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - June 11, 2003
MOSCOW WORRIED BY ALARMING TRENDS IN KOSOVO SETTLEMENT
-The Russian Foreign Ministry drew the attention to
the fact that Security Council members have broadly
supported the thesis, of which the Russian envoy
spoke, of the inadmissibility of decisions, pushed by
Kosovo political leaders through the Kosovo assembly,
fomenting ethnic strife and seeking "retailoring" the
Kosovo ethnic map.
MOSCOW, JUNE 11 (RIA NOVOSTI) - Moscow voices concern
over the alarming trends surfacing in the process of a
comprehensive settlement in Kosovo, the RIA Novosti
correspondent quotes the press and information board
of the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
It recalled that an open session of the United Nations
Security Council on Kosovo was held on June 10 under
Russia's chairmanship.
"The discussion has confirmed that, despite the
tremendous efforts it has made in the Kosovo
settlement, the international community has, so far,
failed to attain safe and equal conditions of life for
all the residents of Kosovo," said the Russian Foreign
Ministry.
Conferees have confirmed the United Nations Security
Council's adherence to the full and efficient
fulfillment of resolution 1244 and abidance by the
"standards after status" concept. The common opinion
was that a decision on the final status should remain
with the United Nations in line with resolution 1244,
provide for the passing of powers to the Kosovo organs
of self-government and secure the observance of
legitimate rights of all the residents of Kosovo.
The Russian Foreign Ministry drew the attention to the
fact that Security Council members have broadly
supported the thesis, of which the Russian envoy
spoke, of the inadmissibility of decisions, pushed by
Kosovo political leaders through the Kosovo assembly,
fomenting ethnic strife and seeking "retailoring" the
Kosovo ethnic map.
Russia will continue to assist overcoming the
"alarming trends" in the process of Kosovo settlement
on the basis of a due fulfillment of resolution 1244,
stressed the Russian Foreign Ministry.
===
ARRESTI E CONDANNE PER ALCUNI ESPONENTI
DI SECONDO PIANO DELL'UCK;
IMMEDIATA LA REAZIONE TERRORISTICA
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?lang=english&version=standard&my_categories_class='News'&nav_c
ategory=&nav_id=23287&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta - June 18, 2003
Former Kosovo Liberation Army member jailed
PRISTINA -- Tuesday ñ The Pec District Court today
sentenced a former member of the outlawed [sic] Kosovo
Liberation Army to seven years in prison.
Dibran Fylli was found guilty of being an accomplice
to the murder of fellow Albanian Ali Rraci.
UNMIK spokesman Andrea Angeli told media that Fylli,
47, had been convicted because he took Rraci from his
home and delivered him to the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Rraci was killed by an unidentified person.
Another defendant in the same proceedings was
acquitted because of lack of evidence.
The trial took place before an international judge.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bq/Qkosovo-un-crime.RLXP_DlI.html
Police officers injured in search for Kosovo fugitive
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, July 18 (AFP) - Three
police officers were injured Friday as they tried to
apprehend a suspect wanted for kidnapping and sexual
assault in central Kosovo, United Nations police said.
The incident happened early Friday near the town of
Srbica, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the
provincial capital Pristina, Barry Fletcher, spokesman
for the UN police in Kosovo, told AFP.
"The injuries are not believed to be life
threatening," he said.
A group of around 15 of the fugitive's relatives
attacked the international police officer and two
local officers with metal bars as they entered the
family compound in search of him, officials said.
The suspect was armed with a machine gun, which the
police managed to wrest away from him, before extra
police and NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) arrived at
scene of the incident.
"Police confiscated the machine gun and ammunition,
three hand grenades, the metal bars used in the
attack, and a quantity of counterfeit money," Fletcher
said.
Four others were arrested on various charges including
the attempted murder of police officers and illegal
posession of weapons.
Some 4,000 international policemen serve alongside
local police in the southern Serbian province, which
has been under UN and NATO control since 1999.
KOSOVO: CONDANNATI PER CRIMINI DI GUERRA QUATTRO EX UCK
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 16 LUG - Quattro albanesi del Kosovo, ex membri
dell'ormai disciolto Esercito di liberazione del Kosovo (Uck), sono
stati condannati oggi a Pristina al termine di un lungo processo
durato oltre un anno. Rustem Mustafa, ex alto responsabile dell'Uck,
noto con il nome di battaglia ''comandante Remi'', e i suoi tre
collaboratori sono stati accusati di crimini di guerra, commessi
contro i serbi e albanesi civili, prima e dopo la guerra. Mustafa
e' stato condannato a 17 anni, mentre per gli altri tre, Latif Gashi,
Nazif Mehmeti e Naim Kadriu, i giudici hanno deciso condanne che
vanno da 13 a 5 anni. Mustafa, che era uno dei comandanti dell'Uck
nel nord del Kosovo e' stato accusato in particolare di arresti
illegali, trattamenti inumani, torture e omicidio. Il processo contro
i quattro esponenti dell'Uck era stato accompagnato da forti
polemiche e proteste da parte degli albanesi del Kosovo. (ANSA) COR
16/07/2003 11:29
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
KOSOVO: EX UCK, PRIME CONDANNE PER CRIMINI DI GUERRA
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 16 LUG - Una condanna per crimini di guerra e'
stata emessa oggi per la prima volta a Pristina da gudici internazion
nei confronti di un alto esponente dell'ormai disciolto Esercito di
Liberazione del Kosovo (Uck), Rustem Mustafa. La corte ha condannato
l'ex comandante della guerriglia albanese, noto con il nome di
battaglia ''Remi'' a 17 anni di reclusione. Pene che vanno da 13 a 5
anni sono state inflitte ad altri tre collaboratori di Mustafa: Nazif
Mehmeti, Latif Gashi e Naim Kadriu. I quattro sono stati accusati
''di aver ordinato l'omicidio di cinque albanesi del Kosovo''
ritenuti dai guerriglieri ''collaborazionisti dei serbi''. Secondo
quanto detto dai giudici, Mustafa, che durante il conflitto armato
del 1998-1999 era a capo delle unita' della guerriglia albanese nella
zona di Podujevo, a 50 chilometri al nord di Pristina, aveva
costituito ''un campo di detenzione''. L'ex comandante dell'Uck e'
stato ritenuto colpevole anche di ''arresti illegali, trattamenti
inumani, torture e omicidio''. Mustafa, 30 anni, era uno dei
personaggi di rilievo tra le file dell'ex guerriglia. Anche dopo la
fine del conflitto, e' diventato uno degli esponenti del Corpo di
Protezione Civile del Kosovo (Tmk) in cui si e' trasformato l'Uck.
Visto come un eroe dagli albanesi, la sua immagine subi' un primo
colpo nel luglio del 2001, quando il suo nome era apparso nella lista
del presidente statunitense George W. Bush, tra ''le persone che
mettono in pericolo la pace e la stabilita' nei Balcani''. Un anno
dopo, nell'agosto 2002, Mustafa e' stato fermato dalla polizia
dell'Unmik (amministrazione Onu in Kosovo) e dalle truppe della
Kfor(forza di pace a guida Nato). Il suo arresto aveva suscitato
forti polemiche e proteste di migliaia di albanesi che chiedevano la
sua liberazione. Il conflitto fra gli albanesi del Kosovo e
l'esercito jugoslavo, si e' concluso nel giugno 1999 dopo 78 giorni
di bombardamenti della Nato. Dopo il ritiro dalla provincia delle
truppe jugoslave, circa 200 mila serbi del Kosovo furono costretti
alla fuga. In questi anni il loro rientro e' stato molto lento e
accompagnato da incidenti. Segnali di distensione si sono visti
pero' negli ultimi tempi. Ieri, 25 capifamiglia serbi che sono
tornati nelle loro case situate a un chilometro dalla nuova base
''Villaggio Italia'' di Belo Polje, nella zona di Pec (Kosovo
occidentale) hanno gia' iniziato i lavori e vengono assistiti
dall'Unhcr oltre che dai militari italiani e dalle donne della vicina
enclave serba di Gorazdevac. Questo e' il piu' consistente
ritorno di quest'anno, avvenuto pacificamente e contraddistinto da
gesti distensivi da ambo le parti. Padre Sava, abate vicario del
monastero di Decani, ha ringraziato i militari italiani impegnati
nella zona.(ANSA). COR 16/07/2003 18:30
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bv/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RZQD_DlH.html
Grenade blast near Kosovo police station; no casualties
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, July 17 (AFP) - Unknown
assailants on Thursday detonated a hand grenade near a
police station in a northern Kosovo town, the day
after four ethnic Albanians from the town were
sentenced for war crimes, UN officials in the province
said. There were no casualties or damage.
Two other grenades were found unexploded outside the
police station, in the town of Podujevo said Derek
Chappell, a spokesman for the UN police in the
province.
He said the incident, which appeared to be an attempt
to intimidate the police rather than attack them, was
being investigated.
On Wednesday several hundred ethnic Albanian in
Podujevo protested a landmark ruling before a Kosovo
court, which sentenced four former rebels to between
five and 17 years in prison for war crimes.
"If they wanted to attack the police they could have
done so. I wouldn't say it was a deliberate attack,
but an attempt to intimidate or warn the police,"
Chappell said.
Rustem Mustafa, once a senior officer in the now
disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and three of
his associates were convicted of crimes including
murder, illegal detention, inhumane treatment and
torture.
Mustafa, known as Remi, was sentenced to 17 years for
ordering the murder of five Kosovo Albanians and
"failing to prevent illegal detention" in his zone of
command during the 1998-1999 conflict.
The crimes were committed in what was then Mustafa's
zone of command in the region of Podujevo, some 50
kilometers (30 miles) north of Pristina, the capital
of the southern Serbian province.
The police station in Podujevo houses both UN
policemen and members of the local police force, the
Kosovo Police Service.
NATO-led peacekeepers, KFOR, were deployed to dispose
of the remaining hand grenades, Chappell said.
Kosovo, a southern Serbian province, has been under UN
administration since NATO bombed Yugoslavia to force
the withdrawal of Serb troops in 1999.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23340&style=headlines
Beta - June 20, 2003
KFOR disarm bomb outside Pristina court
PRISTINA -- Friday -- Finnish KFOR troops have
successfully disarmed an explosive device in the
provincial capital today.
The device, the strength of which has yet to be
released, was rigged to explode in front of Pristina's
Municipal Court building.
KFOR have blocked main streets in the city as the
investigation gets underway.
No further information has been released at this time.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dk/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RWU5_DlK.html
Two explosions hit police, court building in Kosovo
capital
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, July 20 (AFP) - Two
explosions rocked Kosovo's capital Pristina Sunday
evening in what was believed to be a deliberate attack
on the police and judiciary in the province, a UN
official said.
The explosions happened shortly after 9:00 pm (1900
GMT) in the center of Pristina. No injuries were
reported, Barry Fletcher, spokesman for the UN police
in the province, told AFP.
"The first explosion took place by the District Court
building and the second one at a police station,"
Fletcher said.
"We are making the assumption that this is a
deliberate attack," Fletcher said.
Fletcher said one police vehicle was damaged at the
station housing both international and local
policemen. It was not immediately clear what kind of
explosives were used.
On Thursday, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade
near a police station in a northern Kosovo town, a day
after four ethnic Albanians from the town were
sentenced for war crimes.
Rustem Mustafa, once a senior officer in the now
disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and three of
his associates were convicted of crimes including
murder, illegal detention, inhumane treatment and
torture.
The district court of Pristina sentenced Mustafa to 17
years for ordering the murder of five Kosovo Albanians
and "failing to prevent illegal detention" in his zone
of command during the 1998-1999 conflict.
The verdict was not welcomed by his supporters who
view the former rebels as heroes for fighting a
separatist war against the Yugoslav army and security
forces.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since NATO
bombed Yugoslavia to force the withdrawal of Serb
troops in 1999.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/br/Qkosovo-warcrimes.RQYd_DlL.html
Police, judiciary targeted after Kosovo war crimes
verdict
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, July 21 (AFP) - The
UN-run police and judiciary in Kosovo are being
targeted with violence after four former
ethnic-Albanian rebels were found guilty of war
crimes, UN officials said Monday.
Officials said a spate of attacks against United
Nations police and courts represented an attempt to
disrupt the internationally-backed court proceedings
against war veterans in the southern Serbian province.
"These were cowardly criminal incidents aimed at
threatening the police and the judiciary," said Stefan
Feller, head of the UN-police here.
Speaking in front of Pristina's shrapnel-scarred
district court where the verdicts were handed down
last week, he said the violence was an attempt to
"disrupt unbiased court proceedings".
Rockets struck a police station and justice building
in the provincial capital Pristina on Sunday, causing
material damage but no injuries to police.
A police station housing international and local
police in Podujevo, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of
Pristina, was attacked with hand grenades and a dozen
police vehicles have been vandalised in different
parts of Kosovo.
"We do believe all these events are connected to the
verdict in the recent war crimes trial," a UN official
said on condition of anonymity.
International judges last week found four former
ethnic-Albanian rebels guilty of war crimes against
the civilian population during the 1998-99 war against
Serbian security forces under then-leader Slobodan
Milosevic.
One of them was Rrustem Mustafa, a commander of the
now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, who was
sentenced to 17 years jail for ordering the murder of
five Kosovo Albanians, among other crimes.
But the verdict has angered Kosovo's majority
ethnic-Albanian population, most of whom see the
rebels as heroes who fought the oppression of
Belgrade.
Kosovo has been under UN administration since NATO
bombed Yugoslavia to force the withdrawal of Serb
troops in 1999.
KOSSOVO: ESPLOSIONI A PRISTINA A TRIBUNALE E COMMISSARIATO
(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 20 LUG - Due forti esplosioni hanno scosso questa
sera poco dopo le 21 il centro di Pristina, capoluogo della provincia
a maggioranza albanese. Un razzo e' stato lanciato contro la sede
della Corte distrettuale. Lo ha detto all'Ansa il portavoce dell'
Unmik (amministrazione Onu in Kosovo) Andrea Angeli. L'edificio della
Corte e' situato vicino a quello del comune e del palazzo del
Governo. La polizia, che ha trovato vicino alla zona il lanciarazzi
abbandonato, ha confermato che non ci sono vittime ma solo danni
riportati all' edificio. La seconda esplosione, sempre in centro,
e' avvenuta nel parcheggio antistante un commissariato di polizia.
Non si sa ancora se e' stata una granata a mano o un razzo. Solo una
macchina e' stata distrutta. Le due esplosioni avvengono pochi
giorni dopo la decisione della Corte di Pristina contro un gruppo di
ex esponenti dell' ormai disciolto esercito per la liberazione del
Kosovo (Uck) accusati di crimini di guerra: la prima sentenza di
questo genere verso l'ex guerriglia albanese. Una giuria di giudici
internazionali aveva condannato a 17 anni di reclusione Rustem
Mustafa, noto con il nome di battaglia di 'comandante Remi'. La
decisione della Corte aveva provocato una serie di proteste per
chiedere la sua liberazione. (ANSA). COR/IAT 20/07/2003 22:49
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23836&style=headlines
Beta - July 21, 2003
Shots fired at home of Kosovo speaker
PRISTINA -- Monday – The house belonging to Kosovo’s
parliamentary speaker was shot at this morning, United
Nations police in the province said today.
UN police spokesman Barry Fletcher said that bullets
had been found outside Nedzat Daci’s Pristina home,
which had suffered material damage.
He said that an investigation was underway.
A grenade was lobbed at the UN police building in
Pristina shortly after midnight, and the Pristina
District Court also came under fire last night.
Tensions in the province are said to be running high
after four former members of the Kosovo Liberation
Army were found guilty on Wednesday of war crimes and
sentenced to between five and 17 years imprisonment.
www.b92.net
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina - July 21, 2003
Grenade attacks hit Kosovo | 10:39 | SRNA
PRISTINA/LIPLJAN -- Monday - As yet unidentified attackers hurled
grenades at a number of public buildings in Pristina and Lipljan last
night.
UNMIK police confirmed to agency SRNA that a hand grenade was thrown at
the Lipljan court building shortly after midnight and a rocket-launcher
projectile was fired at the second floor of the Pristina District Court
building shortly before a second hand grenade was thrown at the UN's
police station in Pristina.
Considerable structural damage has been caused, but nobody was injured
in any of the attacks.
===
ESUMAZIONI ED IDENTIFICAZIONI
DI CADAVERI DI "DESAPARECIDOS" SERBI
Kosovo: Pathologists exhume 51 bodies from Pristina cemetery
Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text web site on
21 June
Gracanica: Pathologists from UNMIK and Belgrade's Kosovo Coordination
Centre have exhumed 51 bodies from the Dragodan Muslim cemetery in
Pristina over the past five days. Belgrade pathologist Slavisa
Dobricanin told media that these were most probably the bodies of
Serbs. He added that the bodies included those of eight babies,
probably from a maternity hospital. Dobricanin said that there were
still ten bodies to be exhumed on Monday 23 June . The bodies have been
taken to the UNMIK centre in Orahovac for identification.
Copyright 2003 British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Monitoring Europe - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
SOURCE: Radio B92 text web site, Belgrade, in English 1929 gmt 21 Jun 03
http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/b92bbc062203.htm
EXPERTS EXHUME 40 BODIES FROM PRISTINA CEMETERY
PRISTINA, June 19 (Beta) - The head of the Coordinating Center for
Kosovo's bureau for exhumation and identification, Slavisa Dobricanin,
said on June 19 that the center's experts, in association with UNMIK,
in the last two days had exhumed 40 bodies of Serbs, Albanians, and
Roma including the remains of eight babies from a Pristina cemetery.
He said that the autopsy of the remains had not yet been
carried out, but he added that he assumed the babies had been brought
to the cemetery from a maternity clinic, while the discovered severed
body parts had been amputated in hospitals.
The bodies exhumed at the cemetery have been transported to the
autopsy center in Orahovac and will be given to their families after
identification. According to Dobricanin, another 10 bodies will be
exhumed at this location.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23403&style=headlines
SNRA - June 24, 2003
Three Kosovo-Serb bodies identified
PRIZREN -- Thursday -- The remains of three
Kosovo-Serbs have been identified after being exhumed
from shallow graves on the Suva Reka (dry river) road
near the village of Dulja in Prizren.
The bodies have been identified as those of Dejan
Jezdic, a former Yugoslav Army officer from Vranje,
Stanko Saranovic, kidnapped in Pristina in 1999, and
Zvezdan Mojsic, abducted from a bus-stop in Djakovica
in 1999.
Vujadin Otasevic, representative of the Coordination
Centre for Kosovo and Southern Serbia, confirmed that
the bodies are soon to be returned to their families
at the Merdare administrative border crossing.
===
SE NE VANNO GLI ULTIMI SOLDATI RUSSI
GAS LACRIMOGENI CONTRO LA FOLLA CHE SI OPPONE
RESTA SENZA PROTEZIONE L'ULTIMO OSPEDALE SERBO
GRANATA CONTRO L'ULTIMO OSPEDALE SERBO
[ Some context needs to be provided to the story
below. First, "Kosovo police" is a politically correct
misnomer for an all-Albanian Michael Steiner's and
UNMIK's legalized paramilitary in Kosovo. Many of these
police proudly 'served' as members of the so-called
"Kosovo Liberation Army" in the past. Second, the
Serbs and other minorities in central Kosovo (Kosovo
Polje is in vicinity of the capital, Pristina) have
virtually no access to friendly and reliable health
services. Serb doctors and nurses were virtually
thrown out of most of Pristina's and other hospitals
throughout Kosovo once NATO/KFOR occupied the
province, and Serb patients were experiencing
systematic and frequent verbal, physical and other
abuses at the health care institutions now staffed
exclusively by ethnic Albanians. One 'safe haven' for
the Serbs in central Kosovo was the hospital in Kosovo
Polje that was under the Russian KFOR control. Now
that the Russians are completely withdrawing from the
peacekeeping/occupation operations in Kosovo, the
local Serbs want to insure that this sole hospital
will remain accessible to Serb and other non-Albanian
patients, that the doctors and nurses there won't
be thrown out into the streets like in many other
situations throughout Kosovo, and the like. Why
"Kosovo and UNMIK police" had to take over this health
institution, and especially the way this attempt was
carried out, speaks volumes about the true state of
'democracy', 'human rights', 'minority rights' and
other lovely sounding fantasy concepts in that
lawlessness, terror, violence and crime ridden black
hole of Europe that this NATO's protectorate of Kosovo
has been over these four years of NATO's "glorious
victory" and subsequent occupation - pardon,
liberation - of Serbia's southern province.
P.S. The lines in the last paragraph in TANJUG report
below are underlined by me, PT. ]
Kosovo, UNMIK police clash with Serbs over control of
Russian hospital
Tanjug - June 19, 2003
Kosovo Polje, 19 June: Over 1,000 policemen from the
Kosovo and UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo] police today tried to take over the Russian
hospital in Kosovo Polje following the withdrawal of
the Russian Kfor [Kosovo Force] contingent, duty
doctor Nebojsa Dzelatovic has told Tanjug.
Strong police forces tried to storm the building and
remove about 30 patients and the Serb medical staff.
"When I tried to get into the building where a woman
was in labour at the time, the police prevented me by
throwing tear gas. I and my colleagues, who also tried
to defend the hospital, were injured. Several of us
have sustained burns," Dr Dzelatovic said.
He said that the UNMIK police also wanted to storm the
building with special units, but when they encountered
strong resistance, the commander of these units, an
American, told him that it had been decided that UNMIK
would take control of the hospital.
"We have managed to save the hospital. We have 10
injured people. The UNMIK administrator, who came to
the scene of conflict, promised that force would not
be used any more," Dzelatovic said.
[Serb] Return Coalition deputy Randjel Nojkic, who
also came to the scene of conflict, was affected by
tear gas and is currently being treated at the Kosovo
Polje hospital.
Several hundred Serbs from Kosovo Polje, Gracanica and
Gusterica have ^^^ gathered together around the hospital with the
intention of saving the only Serb hospital in the Kosovo Polje area. ^^^
KOSOVO POLICE ATTEMPTED TO TAKE OVER RUSSIAN HOSPITAL
KOSOVO POLJE, June 19 (Tanjug) - Over 1000 Kosovo and UNMIK
policemen attempted on Thursday to take over the Russian hospital in
Kosovo Polje, following the withdrawal of the Russian contingent of
KFOR, doctor Nebojsa Dzeletovic who was on duty at the time told
Tanjug.
Strong police forces attempted to storm the building and expel
about 30 patients and the Serbian medical personnel. "When I tried to
get into the building where a woman was in labor at the time, the
police prevented me by throwing tear-gas. Also injured were my
colleagues who also tried to defend the hospital, and some of us have
burns," dr Dzeletovic said. "We have succeeded to save the hospital,
and we have 10 injured, while the UNMIK administrator, who arrived to
the spot, has promised that force will not be used any more," dr
Djelerovic said.
---
UNMIK and Kosovo police violate Serb hospital with tear gas
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkim20june03.html
ERP and SNC KIM: Communique: Unprecedented and immoral act
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/75631
---
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ck/Qkosovo-serbia-
montenegro.RBk0_DuJ.html
UN police in Kosovo use pepper spray against angry
Serb crowd
PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, June 19 (AFP) - UN
police in Kosovo on Thursday used pepper spray to
disperse a crowd of angry Serbs who were trying to
break into a hospital, a UN police spokesman said.
"The police tried to shut the inner gate and were
attacked by a crowd on the other side. Three policemen
were lightly injured and then the police used pepper
spray," spokesman Jack Kraus said.
No civilian injuries were reported.
Police said the crowd in the Serb part of Kosovo
Polje, to the west of the capital Pristina, had been
demonstrating against the departure of Russian
peacekeepers from the area.
The Russians, serving with the NATO-led peacekeeping
mission in Kosovo, have begun withdrawing from the
region and are scheduled to complete their pullout
from Kosovo by the end of July.
They were deployed in Serb-inhabited areas to prevent
attacks by Albanian extremists seeking revenge [sic]
for years of repression from governments in Serbia, of
which Kosovo is a province.
The southern Serbian province of Kosovo has been under
United Nations and NATO control since June 1999 when
Serbian forces under then Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic withdrew from the province and ended a
brutal crackdown on Albanian separatists and
civilians.
But the Serb minority in the province complains that
NATO forces have failed to protect them from Albanian
reprisals.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23341&style=headlines
Beta - June 20, 2003
Grenade attack in Kosovo Polje
KOSOVO POLJE -- Friday -- A hand grenade was
discharged in front of the Kosovo Polje Medical Centre
in the early hours of this morning, causing minimal
damage but injur[ing] nobody.
Speaking to agency Beta, doctors of the centre
expressed their belief that the attack was an act of
attempted intimidation, which follows a clash between
Serb doctors and UNMIK police yesterday after police
tried to take control of the centre.
KFOR have arrived on the scene and an investigation is
underway.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/
index.php?&nav_category=19&nav_id=23365&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta - June 24, 2003
Serbs form crisis centre to protect services
KOSOVO POLJE -- Saturday -- Serbs remaining in Kosovo
Polje and nearby villages have formed a crisis centre
to protect and sustain their medical centre, senior
school, post office and other services crucial to
their survival.
Speaking to agency Beta, coordinator of the new centre
Miroslav Velickovic said that it is vitally important
for the 4,000 Serbs remaining in the Kosovo Polje area
that their services be protected.
The forming of the crisis centre follows the refusal
of Serb medical centre staff to hand responsibility to
UNMIK as requested.
The new centre has invited UNMIK governor Michael
Steiner and Coordination Centre for Kosovo chief
Nebojsa Covic to visit the area and help address
disputed issues.
---
Russian KFOR Troops Leave Kosovo (by Seremb Gjergji)
http://www.balkantimes.com/
default3.asp?lang=english&page=process_print&article_id=20625
===
TENTATA DEPORTAZIONE A KUMANOVO
PER I ROM KOSOVARI
(si veda anche / see also:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2578 )
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=42702
MakFax (Macedonia) - June 20, 2003
Macedonia: Kosovar Roma refugees will be relocated in
Kumanovo
Kosovoís Roma refugees, who have been accommodated in
make-shift refugee camp at the border crossing of
Medjitlija, will be transferred in Kumanovo. They will
stay in Kumanovo as long as the necessary conditions
for transfer to Skopje are provided, said Makfax news
agency.
Representatives of the UNHCR Office in Skopje
confirmed this information. UNHCRís team has been
engaged over the past few days in reconstruction of a
facility in Kumanovo, where some 600 Kosovoís Roma
refugees will be accommodated.
UNHCR representative told Kumanovoís correspondent of
Makfax news agency that accommodation of Kosovoís Roam
refugees will be temporal. Later on, they will be
transferred to Skopje and hosted by families.
Kosovoís Roma refugees fled the collective centers in
Skopje one month ago and headed to Macedonian-Greek
border (Medjitlija border crossing). They urged Greek
authorities to allow entry of some 600 Roma people
into Greece or countries in Western Europe. Greek
authorities however rebuffed to grant asylum to Roma
refugees, noting that they are not welcomed in Greece
or any other member-state of the EU. UN Administrator
in Kosovo Michael Steiner called upon Kosovoís Roma
refugees to return to Kosovo but made it clear that he
could not guarantee their security.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/
Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Kosovski%20Romi%20vo%20Kumanov.htm
Macedonia Information Agency - June 20, 2003
KOSOVO ROMA FROM MEDZITLIJA TO BE TRANSFERRED IN KUMANOVO
Skopje, June 20 (MIA) - Kosovo Roma, who are at the
improvised refugee camp Medzitlija for more than a
month, will be transferred to Kumanovo, where they
will stay until conditions are created for their
transfer in Skopje.
UNHCR representatives in Skopje confirmed this. Their
teams intensively work on providing conditions in
Kumanovo, where Roma will be sheltered.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/
Vest.asp?vest=\1\Copy%20of%20Romi%20mezitlija.htm
Macedonian Information Agency - June 23, 2003
KOSOVO ROMAS DO NOT ACCEPT SETTLEMENT IN TEMPORARY CENTER IN KUMANOVO
Skopje, June 23 (MIA) - According to UNHCR, Kosovo
Romas, who are located at border crossing Medzitlija
for more than two months, requiring asylum in Greece,
will be settled in Kumanovo, if they agree.
They will be settled in a temporary center, i.e. an
adjusted storehouse, where they will stay for one-two
days, which is a period necessary for them to find
private lodging on their own account. For that
purpose, UNHCR will provide Denar 15,000 for six
persons per month. Besides the financial assistance,
they will also receive hygienic packages and food
packages.
The Kosovo Romas have a status of temporary protected
persons in Macedonia, which ends on September 29,
after which they will acquire a status of refugees.
They rejected to fill in the forms for acquiring of
such a status, but also reject their transfer to
Kumanovo.
According to the Government's decision, those persons
that have not regulated their status, i.e. have not
filled in the forms, should accept the provided
settlement in families or in the collective center
"Katlanovo". The Government does not allow building of
illegal refugee camps or any type of lodging out of
the offered solutions, especially at places lacking
infrastructure, which do not allow suitable protection
of these persons.
Despite their efforts for asylum in some Western
European countries, no state has shown interest as yet.
===
CONDANNATO IL FUNZIONARIO UNMIK TEDESCO CHE RUBO' I FONDI
Da: Rick Rozoff
Data: Lun 23 Giu 2003 23:15:55 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Kosovo: UNMIK Official Sentenced For Stealing $4.3 Million
From Serbian Utility
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=23380&style=headlines
[Three and a half years in prison equals 30,660 hours.
$4.3 million dollars divided by 30,660 is over $142
per hour, waking and sleeping. Not bad wages in most
of the world.]
FoNet - June 23, 2003
UNMIK official in jail after $4.3 million theft
BOCHUM -- Monday ñ An official of the UN mission in
Kosovo was sentenced in Germany today to three and a
half years in prison for stealing $4.3 million while
serving in Kosovo.
A court in Bochum sentenced 37-year-old Joe Trutschler
after an investigation established that he had
embezzled funds intended for the Kosovo Electricity
Company and transferred it to his account in
Gibraltar.
A further attempt to forward the funds from Gibraltar
to Belize was thwarted by investigating bodies.
Only $3.2 million of the funds has been recovered.
===
COVIC: IN KOSOVO STIAMO ANDANDO VERSO IL FASCISMO
COVIC: SITUATION IN KOSOVO ON VERGE OF FASCISM
KOSOVO POLJE,June23 (Beta)-After his meeting with Serbs from
Kosovo Polje on June 23, the Kosovo Coordinating Center chief, Nebojsa
Covi<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
http://www.apisgroup.org/article.html?id=1330
'We just hate Serbs'
Julia Pascal
I take my actors to the Sibenik International Children's Theatre
Festival. 0n the idyllic Croatian coast, we pass burned-out Serbian
villages. This is a clear message to any Serbs planning return. We are
to perform The Golem. This Yiddish Frankenstein story comes from
medieval Prague and, in my version, the monster created to defend
ghettoised Jews from Catholics, is a metaphor for the conflict between
self-defence and violence. Most importantly, it is about minority
culture. The contradiction between what we are presenting and what we
are seeing soon becomes apparent. "U" signs are common graffiti. This
is the "U" of the fascist Ustashe, the puppet Nazi state of the second
world war which still has underground support.
We give theatre workshops to teenagers. War talk is taboo at home but
with us, they feel safe enough to reveal childhood memories of bombings
and tanks. Our workshop leader asks, "What is the ‘U’ painted on the
walls here?" The next day I am hauled into the theatre programmer's
office and ordered to keep politics out of the festival. "Parents have
been complaining," she says. "You mustn't talk about war and certainly
never mention Ustashe in the theatre." Another theatre board member
proclaims that my troupe are "not English, they're Jews". Before our
performance, we give a synopsis of The Golem in Croatian for
non-English speakers. The translation is scrupulously checked to ensure
it contains no Serbian or international vocabulary. Language, as well
as people, must be ethnically cleansed. Minorities have got the
message. The few remaining Serbs and Bosnians here are fast changing
their names and converting to Catholicism .
I meet a 40-year-old Serb married to a Croatian. He was drafted by the
Croatian army to fight Serbs in l99l. His reward was being thrown out
of his flat for being a Serb. I meet "J", a 76-year-old Croatian who,
at 15, ran to the partisans. This war heroine fought Ustashe, Italians
and Germans and still has a body full of shrapnel fragments. President
Franjo Tudjman withdrew the partisans' pensions for six months during
the 199l war and her husband, once Tito's bodyguard, starved to death.
0thers committed suicide at the humiliation of being transformed from
heroes to pariahs.
Today, "J's" pension has been cut in half, the stolen 50% going to the
Ustashe fascists who attacked her in the 40s. I tell her joining the EU
will rebalance this injustice, but I might as well be talking about
flying saucers. All around I find suspicion of European solutions.
Croatia is isolated and traumatised. "J" cries at the death of Tito's
dream of a multi-ethnic Yugoslavia. "I am a Yugoslav," she insists. "I
spent my whole life fighting nationalism. And it was all for nothing."
Back in the Solaris Hotel I talk to a Croatian waiter, a former
gastarbeiter in Germany. We discuss Berlin. "Sheisse," he spits.
"Berlin is sheisse. Too many Turks. Just like the Bosnians. I hate
Muslims, I want to go to Iraq and fight Muslims." On the last night of
the festival, our driver, who is the son of a theatre secretary, is to
return us to Solaris. His drinking mate, a six-foot giant, sandwiches
me in. I am crushed between the two drunks who scream with laughter and
hardly look at the road. "Calm down," I tell the driver who ignores me.
When our Croatian actor/translator intervenes, he yells at her, "Fuck
off, you. And your Jews."
It is our last day and we chill out. One of the actors starts a jamming
session on the beach. The Hotel Solaris Animation Team join us. These
local musicians are paid to entertain the mainly German guests. Tonight
is a Caribbean evening. The singers are wearing rasta wigs and have
blacked up. I tell them, "You know this would be seen as offensive in
Britain." "Look," they say in surprise, "we are not racist. We don't
even dislike black people. We just hate Serbs."
NOTA: This artcile was published at The Guardian (July 14, 2003). Julia
Pascal's last play Crossing Jerusalem is published by Oberon Books. She
can be tuched at pascal7038@...
'We just hate Serbs'
Julia Pascal
I take my actors to the Sibenik International Children's Theatre
Festival. 0n the idyllic Croatian coast, we pass burned-out Serbian
villages. This is a clear message to any Serbs planning return. We are
to perform The Golem. This Yiddish Frankenstein story comes from
medieval Prague and, in my version, the monster created to defend
ghettoised Jews from Catholics, is a metaphor for the conflict between
self-defence and violence. Most importantly, it is about minority
culture. The contradiction between what we are presenting and what we
are seeing soon becomes apparent. "U" signs are common graffiti. This
is the "U" of the fascist Ustashe, the puppet Nazi state of the second
world war which still has underground support.
We give theatre workshops to teenagers. War talk is taboo at home but
with us, they feel safe enough to reveal childhood memories of bombings
and tanks. Our workshop leader asks, "What is the ‘U’ painted on the
walls here?" The next day I am hauled into the theatre programmer's
office and ordered to keep politics out of the festival. "Parents have
been complaining," she says. "You mustn't talk about war and certainly
never mention Ustashe in the theatre." Another theatre board member
proclaims that my troupe are "not English, they're Jews". Before our
performance, we give a synopsis of The Golem in Croatian for
non-English speakers. The translation is scrupulously checked to ensure
it contains no Serbian or international vocabulary. Language, as well
as people, must be ethnically cleansed. Minorities have got the
message. The few remaining Serbs and Bosnians here are fast changing
their names and converting to Catholicism .
I meet a 40-year-old Serb married to a Croatian. He was drafted by the
Croatian army to fight Serbs in l99l. His reward was being thrown out
of his flat for being a Serb. I meet "J", a 76-year-old Croatian who,
at 15, ran to the partisans. This war heroine fought Ustashe, Italians
and Germans and still has a body full of shrapnel fragments. President
Franjo Tudjman withdrew the partisans' pensions for six months during
the 199l war and her husband, once Tito's bodyguard, starved to death.
0thers committed suicide at the humiliation of being transformed from
heroes to pariahs.
Today, "J's" pension has been cut in half, the stolen 50% going to the
Ustashe fascists who attacked her in the 40s. I tell her joining the EU
will rebalance this injustice, but I might as well be talking about
flying saucers. All around I find suspicion of European solutions.
Croatia is isolated and traumatised. "J" cries at the death of Tito's
dream of a multi-ethnic Yugoslavia. "I am a Yugoslav," she insists. "I
spent my whole life fighting nationalism. And it was all for nothing."
Back in the Solaris Hotel I talk to a Croatian waiter, a former
gastarbeiter in Germany. We discuss Berlin. "Sheisse," he spits.
"Berlin is sheisse. Too many Turks. Just like the Bosnians. I hate
Muslims, I want to go to Iraq and fight Muslims." On the last night of
the festival, our driver, who is the son of a theatre secretary, is to
return us to Solaris. His drinking mate, a six-foot giant, sandwiches
me in. I am crushed between the two drunks who scream with laughter and
hardly look at the road. "Calm down," I tell the driver who ignores me.
When our Croatian actor/translator intervenes, he yells at her, "Fuck
off, you. And your Jews."
It is our last day and we chill out. One of the actors starts a jamming
session on the beach. The Hotel Solaris Animation Team join us. These
local musicians are paid to entertain the mainly German guests. Tonight
is a Caribbean evening. The singers are wearing rasta wigs and have
blacked up. I tell them, "You know this would be seen as offensive in
Britain." "Look," they say in surprise, "we are not racist. We don't
even dislike black people. We just hate Serbs."
NOTA: This artcile was published at The Guardian (July 14, 2003). Julia
Pascal's last play Crossing Jerusalem is published by Oberon Books. She
can be tuched at pascal7038@...