* Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" conteneva un arsenale
("Il Manifesto", Associated Press)
* Il punto della situazione... (G. Carpi)
* Ignobile comportamento dei "peacekeeper" olandesi ad Orahovac (Emperors
Clothes, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
* Devastato il settore nord di Mitrovica dalle truppe tedesche e statunitensi
"alla ricerca di armi" mentre in decine di migliaia marciano con bandiere
albanesi ed americane per chiedere la cacciata degli ultimi serbi rimasti.
Il comandante KFOR Reinhardt: "Stanno dimostrando per un futuro migliore"
(KFOR Press Update, stopnato@..., New York Times, Tanjug)
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 16 Febbraio 2000
KOSOVO/NATO-ONU
Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" trasportava armi a Mitrovica
Bernard Kouchner attacca il governo di Parigi: "Non mandate la polizia".
Verso le sue dimissioni?
- TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO -
L a notizia. Un'autoambulanza diretta a Kosovska Mitrovica, la città ancora
a ferro e fuoco nel nord del Kosovo, è finita fuori strada e al suo interno
la polizia dell'Onu ha scoperto un grosso carico di armi: 14 lanciarazzi,
182 granate, moltissime munizioni e sei casse di proiettili calibro 7,62 per
armi leggere. Secondo Andrea Angeli, portavoce della polizia Onu,
"l'incidente non è chiaro, non si sa se dell'autoambulanza fosse prima stato
denunciato un furto o che cosa...". Qual è il fatto esplosivo? E' che sulla
fiancata dell'autoambulanza svetta a lettere cubitali la scritta "Missione
Arcobaleno". L'autoambulanza risulta essere stata donata dal Cesvi, Ong di
Bergamo, all'ospedale di Glakovac - a circa 30-40 km da Pristina, nella
direzione di Pec sulla strada per Mitrovica - e quindi pagata con i soldi
della Missione Arcobaleno. Era stata forse rubata dall'ospedale per
trasportare armi - in Bosnia ambulanze dell'Onu sono spesso servite allo
stesso scopo - destinate agli albanesi di Mitrovica che riprendono la guerra
sparando per la prima volta sugli uomini del contingente francese della
Nato? Alla fine diranno che sì, era stata rubata. Ma la verità è che le armi
arrivano a Mitrovica dall'Uck che in Kosovo controlla tutto, dai comuni agli
ospedali, dalle strade ai fondi elargiti a piene mani da ampie strutture -
400 Ong solo a Pristina - che fanno riferimento all'Onu e
all'Amministratore, Bernard Kouchner. E questo perché l'Uck altro non è che
l'attuale Kpt (Kosovo Protection Corps) la nuova polizia voluta a tutti i
costi da Kouchner e dalla Nato che ha così riciclato, a partire dal
comandante Agim Ceku - su cui indaga il Tribunale dell'Aja - le sue
gerarchie di comando, i mezzi militari e le milizie.
Certo, è troppo presto per gettare discredito, anche qui, sulla Missione
Arcobaleno - anche se qualche risposta dal governo italiano dovrà pur
venire, come dallo stesso Kouchner che ogni giorno deve fare i conti con la
cappa di piombo del potere mafioso-malavitoso che in Kosovo controlla tutto.
Il fatto è che questa notizia-bomba, insieme alla crisi esplosiva della
città di Mitrovica, pongono all'ordine del giorno il nodo dei risultati
della guerra "umanitaria" della Nato. E sotto tiro è Bernard Kouchner.
Soprattutto dopo il duro scontro da lui avuto ieri addirittura con il
governo francese. Per il terzo mese di fila Kouchner ha accusato i governi
occidentali di non fornire forze di polizia all'Amministrazione Onu. Ieri ha
denunciato anche il comportamento di Parigi, che "dimentica di essere la
patria dei diritti umani" e dove "i politici francesi si 'sparano' addosso"
mentre a Mitrovica i cecchini albanesi sparano sui soldati francesi. Gli ha
risposto il ministro della difesa Jean Pierre Chevenement: "Quando si spara
sui soldati - ha detto duramente - l'aumento del numero dei poliziotti non è
forse la soluzione al problema". Uno scontro tutto interno alla sinistra di
governo che ha voluto l'intervento "umanitario".
La polemica ha raggiunto anche le Nazioni unite: Kouchner, dicono, non deve
pensare che la questione della sicurezza in Kosovo sia una questione "di
famiglia", tra lui e il governo francese. Un conflitto ingigantito dai fatti
di Mitrovica di questi giorni, dove cecchini albanesi hanno fatto fuoco sui
soldati della Nato per la prima volta, un ceccino albanese è stato ucciso e
la città è sotto coprifuoco, sempre divisa in due dal ponte sul fiume Ibar.
Kouchner, dicono fonti dell'Onu di Pristina, continua a ripetere che
"Mitrovica non è il simbolo del Kosovo", e qui sbaglia "perché i fatti di
Mitrovica sono proprio il simbolo di quello che ora il Kosovo rappresenta".
Lì le forze Kfor-Nato solo adesso difendono i serbi perché sono i pochi
serbi - cinquemila - rimasti in tutto il Kosovo, Mitrovica è il bantustan
più grosso con sacche di poche centinaia sparse a Pristina, Pec e in poche
altre parti. Dopo una mattanza su cui si è spesso taciuto che ha visto 500
civili serbi morire ammazzati dopo l'ingresso della Nato. Se i serbi
venissero cacciati anche da lì chi la racconterebbe più la favola degli
obiettivi multietnici? Sotto gli occhi della Nato l'Uck in sette mesi ha
cacciato dal Kosovo quasi 300.000 persone, serbi, albanesi
"collaborazionisti", goranci (serbi islamizzati, considerati agenti di
Belgrado) e tutti gli zingari le cui case sono state rase al suolo ovunque.
Mitrovica è il simbolo di tutto questo. Kouchner, su mandato Nato-Onu e di
tutti i governi europei, ha avviato di fatto l'indipendenza della regione
(con il libero corso del marco tedesco al posto del dinaro, con l'apertura
delle frontiere all'Albania, con le targhe autonome, con il governo senza
serbi, con la polizia emanazione dell'Uck, le telecomunicazioni a rete
autonoma da Belgrado - fra l'altro affidata alla francese Alcatel). Ma negli
accordi di pace il Kosovo resta regione della Serbia, e questo vogliono
ancora Unione europea e Stati uniti. Ora siamo nella palude. Washington
cerca in ogni modo di trovare una via d'uscita. Il cerino resta nelle mani
dell'Europa, e del signor Kouchner. A Pristina, negli ambienti Onu - come
alcuni giornali americani in questi giorni - dicono che le sfuriate di
Kouchner sulle forze di polizia che non arrivano, mentre incombe il
fallimento, sono una "dichiarazione d'impotenza, meglio a questo punto
passare la mano, girare pagina, meglio le sue dimissioni".
---
Weapons, ammunition found in ambulance in Kosovo
Associated Press
By ELENA BECATOROS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (February 15, 2000 10:57 a.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Peacekeepers found a large stock of
powerful weapons and ammunition in an ambulance apparently driven by
ethnic Albanians and heading for this turbulent northern city, a NATO
spokesman said Tuesday.
The ambulance, its emergency signals flashing, veered off a road and
into a ditch while approaching a checkpoint outside Kosovska Mitrovica
late Monday, said Fabrice Turco, a spokesman for the French
peacekeepers. Peacekeepers found weapons and ammunition in the vehicle,
including 14 anti-tank rocket launchers and 182 high-explosive grenades,
NATO said.
The ambulance was marked with ethnic Albanian writing, which uses a
different alphabet from the Serb language. U.N. police were searching
Tuesday for the driver and a passenger, both of whom fled the vehicle
after it went into the ditch.
Kosovska Mitrovica has been a flashpoint for violence between the
province's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations for months. Unrest began
to escalate Feb. 2, when a grenade attack on a U.N. bus killed two
elderly Serbs.
Two French peacekeepers were injured by ethnic Albanian snipers here
over the weekend, and the NATO-led peacekeepers have arrested dozens of
people since. Of the 51 ethnic Albanians arrested, six have been
released.
In addition, the nightly curfew has been extended from seven hours to 12
hours. Under the new regulations, people are prohibited from circulating
on Kosovska Mitrovica's streets from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
The alliance reported no security incidents overnight, and the city was
calm. But a local ethnic Albanian human rights group said three more
Albanian families were forced to flee their homes on the northern,
Serb-controlled side of the city.
Additional Greek peacekeepers backed up by U.S. and Canadian soldiers
have been sent in to help cope with the weekend's outbreak of violence.
The peacekeepers are conducting extensive searches of houses and
buildings for weapons and other evidence of criminal intent.
Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic's 18-month crackdown against separatists in
Kosovo. After NATO bombing forced the Serb troops to withdraw last
spring, ethnic Albanians began attacking Serbs in revenge.
The NATO peacekeeping mission, which began after the bombing, has
shifted over the last eight months from facilitating the return of
refugees to protecting Serbs and Gypsies from the ethnic Albanian
reprisals.
"I would remind all parties in Kosovo that it was NATO that put an end
to organized ethnic cleansing and has worked to restore peace and
stability for all ethnic groups in the province," NATO Secretary-General
Lord George Robertson said in Brussels, Belgium.
---
RIEPILOGO DELLA SITUAZIONE NELLA PRIMA META' DI FEBBRAIO
Il mese di febbraio comincia come meglio non si potrebbe: il 2/II un
autobus di civili serbi in uscita dall'enclave-ghetto di Kosovska
Mitrovica e' stata attaccato a colpi di razzi anticarro. Risultato,
due morti e cinque feriti, nonche' una prevedibile recrudescenza della
guerra per bande: il giorno dopo, tre albanesi kosovari vengono
"cecchinati" a Mitrovica e due granate lanciate in locali frequentati
da serbi fanno circa venticinque feriti. Gli scontri sono proseguiti
nei giorni successivi, costringendo circa 550 persone a lasciare le
proprie case, tanto che il rappresentante russo della missione ONU
Sergej Ivanov ha denunciato la totale impotenza della "forza di pace"
e ha minacciato di ritirare il proprio contingente. Intanto,
proseguono gli incendi, i rapimenti, i pestaggi e le esercitazioni
nello sport di lanciare granate in case, negozi e locali serbi: il
4/II a Obilic; nello stesso giorno, viene presa a colpi di granata una
corsia dell'ospedale di Prizren, col ferimento grave di 4 pazienti
serbe; a Gnjilane, il 9/II, 5 bombe in 24 ore, mentre nella stessa
citta' un serbo era stato ammazzato a casa sua il 4/II; un altro
autobus carico di serbi e' stato bersagliato a Lipljan l'8/II,
fortunatamente senza vittime.
Non stupisce quindi che i non albanesi continuino a lasciare il
Kosovo, spinti dalla paura o dai rastrellamenti dell'UCK. Il 2/II, gli
ultimi slavi-musulmani (circa un migliaio), hanno abbandonato la
regione di Prizren per rifugiarsi a Novi Pazar (Serbia). La
piccola comunita' ebraica di Pristina era gia' stata costretta in
novembre a rifugiarsi a Belgrado. "E' stato terribile quando due
dozzine di uomini armati, albanesi di Albania a giudicare dall'accento
(!), hanno fatto irruzione nel nostro appartamento." - Dichiara il
capo dell'ex comunita' ebraica Cedomir Prlincevic al quotidiano
tedesco "Neues Deutschland" (22/XII) - "Mia madre, che ha ottant'anni,
ha avuto un infarto perche' si e' ricordata delle SS di Hitler, che
nel 1943 irruppero nel suo appartemento allo stesso modo". Come spesso
accade, anche in questo caso le forze di occupazione KFOR si erano
distinte per l'atteggiamento pilatesco.
Mentre 45.000 soldati KFOR armati fino ai denti ignorano la
sistematica pulizia etnica condotta in Kosovo, impiegati come sono ad
occupare a lungo termine e a fortificare i nodi strategici
fondamentali della regione per futuri obiettivi che niente hanno a che
fare col "peacekeeping" (la base americana di Camp Bondsteel, costo
36,6 milioni di dollari, 6300 presenze, e' destinata a rimpiazzare
Aviano come testa di ponte verso oriente), il contingente civile ONU
e' totalmente privo di fondi (le quote dell'UE e degli USA sono
"sotto" di 102 milioni di dollari secondo lo stesso Rappresentante
Generale della missione ONU B. Kouchner) e non ha ancora avviato
nessuna delle opere di ricostruzione previste. In compenso, secondo
un'inchiesta del "London Times" (5/II), nella regione fioriscono
traffico di droga, rapimento e tratta dei bambini, prostituzione
(quest'ultima merce anche ad usum delle stesse truppe KFOR).
Intanto, se la struttura amministrativa ad interim, patrocinata da B.
Kouchner e non prevista dagli accordi di pace, nasce gia' lacerata
dalle liti inter-albanesi (gli altri gruppi etnici non vi
partecipano), l'UCK non perde occasione per ribadire a modo suo
l'egemonia de facto sulla maggior parte dei comuni: Hasim Chuse,
leader di un piccolo partito democratico, e' stato ritrovato morto il
2/II con tre proiettili nella nuca, dopo essere sparito di casa il
19/I.
Anche su questo versante, ben poche le garanzie offerte dalle forze
KFOR: dopo la perquisizione, con sequestro di un arsenale, a casa del
fratello del leader UCK Hashim Thaci e dopo le indagini su altri
capibanda, e' bastato che il portavoce UCK Krasniqi indirizzasse a
Kouchner e al generale Klaus Reinhardt (comandante generale della
KFOR) una lettera minatoria, accusando la KFOR di "agire come i
criminali serbi", perche' i due alti papaveri della forza di
occupazione si scusassero direttamente con Thaci. La concordia e'
stata prontamente ristabilita, e pochi giorni dopo Kouchner e
Reinhardt hanno tenuto a battesimo il nuovo "Corpo di Protezione del
Kosovo", interamente targato UCK a cominciare dal suo comandante Agim
Ceku, ex ufficiale disertore dell'esercito jugoslavo, poi noto come il
piu' feroce fra i capi dei contras kosovari, responsabile del massacro
di 120 serbi a Gospic (Croazia) gia' nel 1991.
Oltre che alla pulizia di casa propria, i terroristi UCK si dedicano
con un certo successo anche ai rapporti internazionali: il Primo
Ministro bulgaro Ivan Kostov (destra nazionalista e filo-atlantica),
ha invitato Thaci a Sofia in visita ufficiale, probabilmente sperando
che cio' acceleri il tanto ambito ingresso della Bulgaria nell'UE e
nella NATO. Non bastera' certo a rovinare l'intesa il recente
sequestro (29/I) di 38 chili di eroina su un tir albanese alla
frontiera bulgara: il paese gioca infatti da anni un ruolo chiave
nella via della droga gestita dalle mafie turca, albanese e kosovara
(261 kg sequestrati in Bulgaria nel '99).
Si sa: "business is business", e parallelamente alla colonizzazione
delle strutture produttive kosovare (vedi "Rinascita" del 14/I), gli
occupanti occidentali non perdono tempo neanche sul fronte
finanziario. Il 24/I ha iniziato le attivita' la "Micro Enterprise
Bank" (MEB), un ente di credito industriale acquartierato presso la
Missione ONU e patrocinato e diretto dai governi tedesco e olandese
(amministratore generale: l'olandese Koen Wasmus). In una situazione
di assoluto monopolio finanziario dopo la distruzione forzata di tutti
i legami economici fra Pristina e Belgrado, la MEB promette di
diventare il principale volano di colonizzazione economica della
regione, in modo non dissimile da quanto gia' da tempo attuato in
Bosnia dalla "Banca Europea per la Ricostruzione e lo Sviluppo" (BERS,
non a caso uno dei principali finanziatori anche della MEB).
Guido Carpi
Universita' di Cassino
Fonti: Tanjug; FreeB92; Agence France Presse; Transnational Foundation
for Peace and Future Research; "Il Manifesto"; Reuters; IWPR's Balkan
Crisis Report.
---
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 3:29 AM
Subject: [sorabia] NATO Dutch Mercenaries Torment Serb Women and Children in
Orahovac
>Dutch Rep Office to UN
>Attn. Office Manager/Ambassador
>United Nations
>New York, NY
>
>Copies: Foreign Missions to UN, Foreign Embasses to US, State Department,
> US Congress, Senate, US and Intermnationa Media,
Concerned
>/ Involved Individuals Across the World
>
>February 20, 2000
>
>Dear Sir, or Madam,
>
>The arrogant Dutch mercenaries under the pirate NATO flag, both the aerial
>and the ground butchers, have been rated by the civilized world as the most
>notorious brutes and barbarous savages in the recent cowardly, terrorist
>attack on a small nation of the Serbs, in the motley pack of the wild and
>blood thirsty NATO professional killers of the children, nannies, sick and
>defenseless victims, under the command of the even more vicious military
and
>civilian superiors.
>
>Known as the nation of cowards in defending their homeland in W.W.II, that
>graciously forgave the Germans for pulverized Rotterdam, but then the
loyal,
>rubber-spine lackeys, subservient butlers, shoeshine boys and dog-walkers
of
>the victorious German Nazi officers. Now the armed Dutch, under the NATO
safe
>skirt, have displayed their true colors in Kosovo: monstrous bullies for
the
>helpless Serb women and children in Orahovac, who found their match and
ally
>in the Albanian cutthroats, both in the service of the same masters in
Bonn,
>Washington and London.
>Once a colonial power, the Dutch have become faithful colonial servants for
>the US and German empires, diligently wagging the tail for a piece of a
>chewed off bone.
>I am hoping the Dutch hunters of the Serbs will someday leave their crushed
>bones in the Serb Kosovo sacred soil-to contaminate it, as did the British
>and US depleted uranium shells. The Netherlands could not stoop any lower
in
>disgrace.
>
> Respectfully
and
>Truly Yours,
>
> Tika
Jankovic
> San Jose,
>California
>
>
>
>
>
>Can children be war criminals?'
>by Abe de Vries
>(Translated from Trouw, Amsterdam daily newspaper)
>www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>BELGRADE
>
>"The sooner the Dutch 'Yellow Riders' leave Orahovac, the better. They're
>worse than the Germans," says Mirjana. "The soldiers are not so bad, but
the
>officers are terrible'', according to Natasha. "They admit that they're
only
>here for the Albanians, not for the Serbs,'' says Simka.
>
>Three women from Orahovac, who until recently lived there or who have
family
>there. This is their story, which differs substantially from the one
>lieutenant-colonel Tony van Loon, the commander of the Yellow Riders, has
>told. (Trouw, November 11). His artillery unit will soon be replaced. [See
>Note # 1 at end]
>
>The women read the interview with Van Loon. In their eyes the Yellow Riders
>don't have even one reason to be proud of themselves. "Dear sir,'' begins
an
>open letter from the Humanitarian Committee of Women from Orahovac, ''the
>fact that you turned Orahovac into a test field where the Serbs - without a
>possibility to leave because you pretend not to be able to give them
>protection - are thus forced to stay imprisoned in a ghetto - should not be
>something you should be proud of, nor should you leave Kosovo with a clear
>conscience. To keep the Serbs as prisoners this way is to deliver them to
the
>mercy of terrorists. If this is the way to create a multi-ethnic society,
>than such a society existed also in Warshaw during World War Two.''
>
>In Orahovac 2500 Serbs and 500 gypsies live a terrible life. They are
packed
>into a few streets with only KFOR [NATO] checkpoints separating them from
the
>extremely hostile Albanian majority in the rest of the town. They all want
to
>leave for Serbia or Montenegro. Only one thing is keeping them in Orahovac:
>the fact that the Dutch don't want to guarantee their safety if they
venture
>out of the ghetto.
>
>The Yellow Riders say they're searching for possible war criminals amongst
>the Serbs. A lot of Serbian men are afraid the KLA has put their names on a
>secret list of suspects, so they stay where they are.
>
>Mirjana (26), Natasha (27) and Simka (35) have difficulty believing the
>Serbian police really murdered hundreds of Albanian citizens in Orahovac
and
>the surrounding villages. According to the Yellow Riders, Serbian police
>reservists born in the area executed perhaps some thousand Albanians in
cold
>blood. Until now, 400 bodies have been found. Natasha: "There was a war
going
>on. The KLA attacked the army and the police, who were not saying: 'O
please,
>kill us.' I was in Orahovac myself when the war started. It was a
>psychologically unbearable situation. While NATO bombed us from the air,
>uniformed terrorists were everywhere in the city. In Orahovac and the
>villages everyday Serbs were killed.'' Mirjana: "A number of bodies that
were
>found could belong to Serbs. Villages like Velika Hoca, Retimlje, Zociste
and
>Opterusa were mainly inhabited by Serbs. In Retimlje alone 30 Serbs were
>murdered last year. Where are the bodies of the Serbs?'' Simka: "People say
>all kinds of things. It's because of the hatred Albanians have for the Serb
>police.'' Natasha: "Let's say some Serbs did commit war crimes. Do you
think
>they'll be waiting in Orahovac for Kfor to arrest them? Those who maybe
>really did something wrong are long gone.'' Mirjana: "My husband was
director
>of a municipal archive. If he hadn't left on time, he would probably also
now
>be considered a war criminal. But he is not a nationalist. He fired some
>Albanians because they didn't work well.''
>
>The women do not understand why KFOR refuses to let at least the children
go.
>Until now only one convoy of 155 Serbs was allowed to leave town. Guarded
by
>Dutch troops, it was attacked by a large crowd of Albanians in the vicinity
>of Pec. After that UNHCR, the refugee-agency of the United Nations, stopped
>its humanitarian evacuations in Kosovo. Natasha and Simka both tried
several
>times to take the children of their relatives back to Serbia. Without
>success.
>
>"Can children also be war criminals?'' asks Natasha. "I've cried and I've
>screamed'', says Simka. "But this Dutch officer just stood there and looked
>at me as through a mask. He didn't show any emotion. Nothing. It was just
not
>allowed.'' Simka recently returned from a visit to Orahovac. She says the
>situation there is worse than a couple of weeks ago. Many times there are
>days without electricity, she says. The Serbs cannot buy food in Albanian
>shops They rely on humanitarian organisations to help them. Albanians block
>the road to Pristina, to stop a Russian batallion from entering the town
(the
>Russians are scheduled to replace the Dutch), so all kinds of shortages
>exist.
>
>Simka: "With winter coming, the Serbs are in panic. They're afraid
everybody
>will forget about them. Now they can still drive to Velika Hoca, where many
>Serbs live, but the road is in bad condition and nobody clears up the snow.
>They'll be stuck.''
>
>A visit to Orahovac is only possible with KFOR protection. Visitors have to
>leave the same day. The Serbs in Orahovac are allowed to use a Red Cross
>satellite telephonefor one minute a week. According to the women, the phone
>is bugged. Mirjana: "The line is cut the moment someone says something
>negative about life in Orahovac."
>
>Mail can be delivered to the Red Cross, but the letters are first examined
by
>a censor. Relatives in Serbia get them with thick black lines through the
>text.
>
>Since the arrival of the Dutch soldiers more than 20 Serbs from Orahovac
have
>been kidnapped and 136 Serbian houses have been burned to the ground. One
of
>the missing Serbs is the husband of a translator who worked for the Yellow
>Riders. In none of these cases have the Dutch started an investigation, let
>alone succeeded in bringing someone back, says Simka.
>
>In 1998, some 50 Serbs were kidnapped. Nobody has heard from them since.
She
>asks why the Dutch, who arrested 11 Serb war crimes suspects, have never
>arrested an Albanian for war crimes. The Albanian Ismet Tara is Orahovac's
>KLA-commander. He would be the biggest criminal. Simka: "His uncle had the
>reputation in 1941 of being the worst fascist in town. My uncle, who was a
>Partizan, told me that.'' Mirjana mentions Sebajdin Cena, her teacher at
>school. "My parents and I were at his wedding. My father gave him his first
>job. He was recognized as one of the organizors of the kidnappings last
>year.''
>
>The Dutch, conclude the women, are one-sided, anti-Serb and don't do a
thing
>to improve the situation for the Serbs in Orahovac. Natasja: "With them,
>every day is worse than the day before''. Mirjana: "I don't think this
[Dutch
>Col.] Van Loon will ever sleep well again."
>
>***
>
>Note # 1 - The above article is second in a series by Trouw. The first
>consisted of an interview with Dutch KFOR (NATO) Commander Col. Tony van
>Loon. Excerpts from that article with comments by Simca and Natasha can be
>read by clicking on The Women of Orahovac Answer the Colonel or going to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/trouw.htm
>
>Note # 2 - To read interviews with the women from Orahovac, click on Save
the
>families: The women of Orahovac speak or go to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/savethe.htm
>
>Enjoyed this article? Send it to a friend!
>
>To read more... please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>
>
>
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>
>
---
-----Original Message-----
From: NATODOC <natodoc@...>
To: NATODATA@...
<NATODATA@...>
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 8:47 AM
Subject: KFOR Press Update, 21 February 2000
>KFOR
>Press Update
>Delivered by Lieutenant Commander Philip Anido
>KFOR Spokesman
>
>PRISTINA - Monday, 21 February 2000
>KFOR Search Operation in Mitrovica
>KFOR soldiers, supported by UNMIK police, began a second day of searches in
>several neighbourhoods in Mitrovica this morning at 7 a.m. They are looking
>for small and large caches of illegal and dangerous weapons.
>Owners of the weapons will be detained and turned over to UNMIK police, and
>those who are suspected for having been involved in the recent violent
>actions will be arrested.
>Yesterday, 11 arrests were made, all for weapons violations. The men
>included 10 Albanians and one Serb. Following identification and
>interrogation, nine were released. One Albanian and one Serb remain in
>custody.
>The latest report of weapons confiscated includes:
>* 22 rifles
>* 8 blocks of plastic explosive
>* 1 heavy machine gun
>* 18 rifle magazines loaded with ammunition; 30 bullets per
>* 1 hunting rifle
>* 1000's of rounds of ammunition
>* 2 automatic pistols
>* 4 hand grenade
>The search operation will continue until General Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, the
>Commander of KFOR, is satisfied that illegal activities have been stopped
>and dangerous weapons are banned from Mitrovica.
>KFOR and UNMIK will not allow any illegal activities that perpetuate the
>cycle of violence or hold up the process of peace and reconciliation in
>Kosovo to continue.
>Approximately 2,500 KFOR troops from 12 nations are supporting the
operation
>in Mitrovica.
>Demonstration
>Twenty thousand Albanian citizens from Pristina and other communities are
>marching to Mitrovica today to protest the situation in that troubled city.
>The men, women and children are marching on foot and driving in cars, vans
>and busses.
>UNMIK police are following the parade and KFOR soldiers are monitoring the
>progress along the route using foot patrols, vehicles and helicopters.
>The organizers have called for a peaceful demonstration and have agreed
that
>the protesters will stop in Vucitrn south of the city. From there, 12
>representatives will be allowed to deliver a letter to UN officials in
>Mitrovica.
>By 4 p.m. the crowds on foot will be picked up by bus for the return trip
to
>Pristina.
>Incidents During the Past 24 Hours
>Searches and Weapons Confiscations
>Multinational Brigade East
>Yesterday in Kravarica, a KFOR patrol confiscated two rifles
>and a quantity of ammunition.
>Incidents and Injuries
>Multinational Brigade Centre
>Yesterday evening, KFOR Norwegian troops reported that a
>home-made bomb was thrown into an occupied Serb house. There were no
>injuries but there was damage to the house. KFOR are using specially
>trained dogs in their investigation.
>Arrests
>Multinational Brigade West
>Yesterday morning in Pec, KFOR Military Police and UNMIK
>police arrested a Montenegrin man in connection with the shooting of an
>Albanian on 19 February in Vitomirica.
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
[Finally, a headline has been assigned to this story
from the New York Times - by the Florida Sun Sentinel
- that doesn't grotesquely distort the truth.
For those who have been following the current state of
"Kosovo peacekeeping," in a province overrun by 50,000
NATO occupation troops an equal number of ethnic
Albanians "just happen" to gather in the capital city,
Pristina, and march 25 miles to Mitrovica.
Waving Albanian (that is, the nation of Albania's) and
American flags, the marchers - organized by whom, if
not the KLA? - are able to converge on Mitrovica
unhindered and ostensibly unnoticed by General
Reinhardt and his Balkans Korps, who are busy
ransacking Serb quarters in that city for non-existent
arms caches.
And then this from General Reinhardt: "They have
demonstrated how they want to live" - as they're
forcing their way through K-For cordons and
threatening God-knows-what violence should they
succeed - "and are demonstrating for a better future.
They want a united city."
They want a united city, indeed. United like Warsaw
became after Reinhardt's countrymen attacked the
Warsaw Ghetto some sixty-five years ago.
Beginning to sound surreal? No more than the entire
false rationale for NATO aggression and occupation in
the first place.]
_____________________________________________________
Thousands of Albanians rally to oust Serbs from city
in Kosovo
By CARLOTTA GALL
Web-posted: 10:55 p.m. Feb. 21, 2000
MITROVICA, Yugoslavia -- Thousands of ethnic Albanians
from throughout Kosovo marched on this divided city on
Monday and clashed with NATO-led troops who used tear
gas and fists to keep them from reaching the Serbian
district.
An estimated 25,000 protesters tried to cross the
main bridge that divides the Serb and Albanian
sections of this mining town, but were turned back as
thousands of Serbs stood watching from the other side.
The Albanians repeatedly pushed against the lines of
British and Canadian soldiers and French gendarmes as
fights broke out and demonstrators were hauled away.
Monday's showdown came as tensions continued to
build in the ethnically divided city of 90,000 people.
The violence of the past two weeks has left 11 people
dead and dozens wounded, including two French soldiers
who were shot in gun battles.
Wave after wave of protesters arrived Monday on
foot from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province, 25
miles away, and from the western towns of Pec and
Srbica among others. Young men strode up the main
street waving red Albanian flags and banners as they
tried to breach the military lines.
Across the River Ibar, Serbs held the Serbian
tricolor aloft and played Serbian nationalist songs on
loudspeakers. For several hours peacekeepers struggled
to contain the crowd and French police resorted to
volley after volley of tear gas over the heads of the
British and Canadians, often leaving the soldiers
choking and retching along with the demonstrators.
By nightfall the protesters, some of whom had
walked for 10 hours, grew tired and drifted away. The
commander of the peacekeeping force, German Gen. Klaus
Reinhardt, climbed atop a British tank to talk to the
crowd. He praised his troops for their restraint and
said they had prevented any serious injuries or
consequences.
He also said he understood the demonstrators.
"They have shown the way they want to live and are
demonstrating for a better future. They want a united
city," he said.
But his words underlined the intractable problem
the city presents for the peacekeepers and the U.N.
administration. The Albanians all speak of liberating
the city, by which they mean moving back into the Serb
district en masse, which in turn would force the Serbs
to flee.
---
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
BRUTAL AND BARBARIC ACT BY KFOR
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, February 21 (Tanjug) - Jovica Jovanovic, a member of
the subcommittee for administration and legislature of the Yugoslav
committee for cooperation with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and
Metohija province, said on Sunday that the search of apartments and
institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica by international force KFOR
U.S. and German troops was a brutal, barbaric and uncivilized act.
Jovanovic told reporters he had been present during a search of the
Faculty of Technology. He saw troops break down with axes the doors of a
laboratory and other premises.
Jovanovic also toured the school of technology which had also been a
target of KFOR's barbaric activities.
He said it was not by accident that the barbaric action was carried out by
U.S. and German troops. The presence of numerous foreign reporters and TV
crew at the very time when the action took place, and their on-the-spot
reporting is proof that this was all stage-managed, Jovanovc said.
The leading players in this action - U.S. and German troops - were not
picked at random, because there are no more Serbs in the parts of Kosovo
and Metohija where these troops are deployed, he said.
Jovanovic said it was an act of ultimate cynicism when French troops
brought the principal of the School of Technology about a dozen cylinder
locks and padlocks to compensate for the incurred damage.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
("Il Manifesto", Associated Press)
* Il punto della situazione... (G. Carpi)
* Ignobile comportamento dei "peacekeeper" olandesi ad Orahovac (Emperors
Clothes, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
* Devastato il settore nord di Mitrovica dalle truppe tedesche e statunitensi
"alla ricerca di armi" mentre in decine di migliaia marciano con bandiere
albanesi ed americane per chiedere la cacciata degli ultimi serbi rimasti.
Il comandante KFOR Reinhardt: "Stanno dimostrando per un futuro migliore"
(KFOR Press Update, stopnato@..., New York Times, Tanjug)
---
Da "Il manifesto" del 16 Febbraio 2000
KOSOVO/NATO-ONU
Ambulanza della "Missione Arcobaleno" trasportava armi a Mitrovica
Bernard Kouchner attacca il governo di Parigi: "Non mandate la polizia".
Verso le sue dimissioni?
- TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO -
L a notizia. Un'autoambulanza diretta a Kosovska Mitrovica, la città ancora
a ferro e fuoco nel nord del Kosovo, è finita fuori strada e al suo interno
la polizia dell'Onu ha scoperto un grosso carico di armi: 14 lanciarazzi,
182 granate, moltissime munizioni e sei casse di proiettili calibro 7,62 per
armi leggere. Secondo Andrea Angeli, portavoce della polizia Onu,
"l'incidente non è chiaro, non si sa se dell'autoambulanza fosse prima stato
denunciato un furto o che cosa...". Qual è il fatto esplosivo? E' che sulla
fiancata dell'autoambulanza svetta a lettere cubitali la scritta "Missione
Arcobaleno". L'autoambulanza risulta essere stata donata dal Cesvi, Ong di
Bergamo, all'ospedale di Glakovac - a circa 30-40 km da Pristina, nella
direzione di Pec sulla strada per Mitrovica - e quindi pagata con i soldi
della Missione Arcobaleno. Era stata forse rubata dall'ospedale per
trasportare armi - in Bosnia ambulanze dell'Onu sono spesso servite allo
stesso scopo - destinate agli albanesi di Mitrovica che riprendono la guerra
sparando per la prima volta sugli uomini del contingente francese della
Nato? Alla fine diranno che sì, era stata rubata. Ma la verità è che le armi
arrivano a Mitrovica dall'Uck che in Kosovo controlla tutto, dai comuni agli
ospedali, dalle strade ai fondi elargiti a piene mani da ampie strutture -
400 Ong solo a Pristina - che fanno riferimento all'Onu e
all'Amministratore, Bernard Kouchner. E questo perché l'Uck altro non è che
l'attuale Kpt (Kosovo Protection Corps) la nuova polizia voluta a tutti i
costi da Kouchner e dalla Nato che ha così riciclato, a partire dal
comandante Agim Ceku - su cui indaga il Tribunale dell'Aja - le sue
gerarchie di comando, i mezzi militari e le milizie.
Certo, è troppo presto per gettare discredito, anche qui, sulla Missione
Arcobaleno - anche se qualche risposta dal governo italiano dovrà pur
venire, come dallo stesso Kouchner che ogni giorno deve fare i conti con la
cappa di piombo del potere mafioso-malavitoso che in Kosovo controlla tutto.
Il fatto è che questa notizia-bomba, insieme alla crisi esplosiva della
città di Mitrovica, pongono all'ordine del giorno il nodo dei risultati
della guerra "umanitaria" della Nato. E sotto tiro è Bernard Kouchner.
Soprattutto dopo il duro scontro da lui avuto ieri addirittura con il
governo francese. Per il terzo mese di fila Kouchner ha accusato i governi
occidentali di non fornire forze di polizia all'Amministrazione Onu. Ieri ha
denunciato anche il comportamento di Parigi, che "dimentica di essere la
patria dei diritti umani" e dove "i politici francesi si 'sparano' addosso"
mentre a Mitrovica i cecchini albanesi sparano sui soldati francesi. Gli ha
risposto il ministro della difesa Jean Pierre Chevenement: "Quando si spara
sui soldati - ha detto duramente - l'aumento del numero dei poliziotti non è
forse la soluzione al problema". Uno scontro tutto interno alla sinistra di
governo che ha voluto l'intervento "umanitario".
La polemica ha raggiunto anche le Nazioni unite: Kouchner, dicono, non deve
pensare che la questione della sicurezza in Kosovo sia una questione "di
famiglia", tra lui e il governo francese. Un conflitto ingigantito dai fatti
di Mitrovica di questi giorni, dove cecchini albanesi hanno fatto fuoco sui
soldati della Nato per la prima volta, un ceccino albanese è stato ucciso e
la città è sotto coprifuoco, sempre divisa in due dal ponte sul fiume Ibar.
Kouchner, dicono fonti dell'Onu di Pristina, continua a ripetere che
"Mitrovica non è il simbolo del Kosovo", e qui sbaglia "perché i fatti di
Mitrovica sono proprio il simbolo di quello che ora il Kosovo rappresenta".
Lì le forze Kfor-Nato solo adesso difendono i serbi perché sono i pochi
serbi - cinquemila - rimasti in tutto il Kosovo, Mitrovica è il bantustan
più grosso con sacche di poche centinaia sparse a Pristina, Pec e in poche
altre parti. Dopo una mattanza su cui si è spesso taciuto che ha visto 500
civili serbi morire ammazzati dopo l'ingresso della Nato. Se i serbi
venissero cacciati anche da lì chi la racconterebbe più la favola degli
obiettivi multietnici? Sotto gli occhi della Nato l'Uck in sette mesi ha
cacciato dal Kosovo quasi 300.000 persone, serbi, albanesi
"collaborazionisti", goranci (serbi islamizzati, considerati agenti di
Belgrado) e tutti gli zingari le cui case sono state rase al suolo ovunque.
Mitrovica è il simbolo di tutto questo. Kouchner, su mandato Nato-Onu e di
tutti i governi europei, ha avviato di fatto l'indipendenza della regione
(con il libero corso del marco tedesco al posto del dinaro, con l'apertura
delle frontiere all'Albania, con le targhe autonome, con il governo senza
serbi, con la polizia emanazione dell'Uck, le telecomunicazioni a rete
autonoma da Belgrado - fra l'altro affidata alla francese Alcatel). Ma negli
accordi di pace il Kosovo resta regione della Serbia, e questo vogliono
ancora Unione europea e Stati uniti. Ora siamo nella palude. Washington
cerca in ogni modo di trovare una via d'uscita. Il cerino resta nelle mani
dell'Europa, e del signor Kouchner. A Pristina, negli ambienti Onu - come
alcuni giornali americani in questi giorni - dicono che le sfuriate di
Kouchner sulle forze di polizia che non arrivano, mentre incombe il
fallimento, sono una "dichiarazione d'impotenza, meglio a questo punto
passare la mano, girare pagina, meglio le sue dimissioni".
---
Weapons, ammunition found in ambulance in Kosovo
Associated Press
By ELENA BECATOROS
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Yugoslavia (February 15, 2000 10:57 a.m. EST
http://www.nandotimes.com) - Peacekeepers found a large stock of
powerful weapons and ammunition in an ambulance apparently driven by
ethnic Albanians and heading for this turbulent northern city, a NATO
spokesman said Tuesday.
The ambulance, its emergency signals flashing, veered off a road and
into a ditch while approaching a checkpoint outside Kosovska Mitrovica
late Monday, said Fabrice Turco, a spokesman for the French
peacekeepers. Peacekeepers found weapons and ammunition in the vehicle,
including 14 anti-tank rocket launchers and 182 high-explosive grenades,
NATO said.
The ambulance was marked with ethnic Albanian writing, which uses a
different alphabet from the Serb language. U.N. police were searching
Tuesday for the driver and a passenger, both of whom fled the vehicle
after it went into the ditch.
Kosovska Mitrovica has been a flashpoint for violence between the
province's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations for months. Unrest began
to escalate Feb. 2, when a grenade attack on a U.N. bus killed two
elderly Serbs.
Two French peacekeepers were injured by ethnic Albanian snipers here
over the weekend, and the NATO-led peacekeepers have arrested dozens of
people since. Of the 51 ethnic Albanians arrested, six have been
released.
In addition, the nightly curfew has been extended from seven hours to 12
hours. Under the new regulations, people are prohibited from circulating
on Kosovska Mitrovica's streets from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
The alliance reported no security incidents overnight, and the city was
calm. But a local ethnic Albanian human rights group said three more
Albanian families were forced to flee their homes on the northern,
Serb-controlled side of the city.
Additional Greek peacekeepers backed up by U.S. and Canadian soldiers
have been sent in to help cope with the weekend's outbreak of violence.
The peacekeepers are conducting extensive searches of houses and
buildings for weapons and other evidence of criminal intent.
Thousands of ethnic Albanians were killed by Serb forces during Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic's 18-month crackdown against separatists in
Kosovo. After NATO bombing forced the Serb troops to withdraw last
spring, ethnic Albanians began attacking Serbs in revenge.
The NATO peacekeeping mission, which began after the bombing, has
shifted over the last eight months from facilitating the return of
refugees to protecting Serbs and Gypsies from the ethnic Albanian
reprisals.
"I would remind all parties in Kosovo that it was NATO that put an end
to organized ethnic cleansing and has worked to restore peace and
stability for all ethnic groups in the province," NATO Secretary-General
Lord George Robertson said in Brussels, Belgium.
---
RIEPILOGO DELLA SITUAZIONE NELLA PRIMA META' DI FEBBRAIO
Il mese di febbraio comincia come meglio non si potrebbe: il 2/II un
autobus di civili serbi in uscita dall'enclave-ghetto di Kosovska
Mitrovica e' stata attaccato a colpi di razzi anticarro. Risultato,
due morti e cinque feriti, nonche' una prevedibile recrudescenza della
guerra per bande: il giorno dopo, tre albanesi kosovari vengono
"cecchinati" a Mitrovica e due granate lanciate in locali frequentati
da serbi fanno circa venticinque feriti. Gli scontri sono proseguiti
nei giorni successivi, costringendo circa 550 persone a lasciare le
proprie case, tanto che il rappresentante russo della missione ONU
Sergej Ivanov ha denunciato la totale impotenza della "forza di pace"
e ha minacciato di ritirare il proprio contingente. Intanto,
proseguono gli incendi, i rapimenti, i pestaggi e le esercitazioni
nello sport di lanciare granate in case, negozi e locali serbi: il
4/II a Obilic; nello stesso giorno, viene presa a colpi di granata una
corsia dell'ospedale di Prizren, col ferimento grave di 4 pazienti
serbe; a Gnjilane, il 9/II, 5 bombe in 24 ore, mentre nella stessa
citta' un serbo era stato ammazzato a casa sua il 4/II; un altro
autobus carico di serbi e' stato bersagliato a Lipljan l'8/II,
fortunatamente senza vittime.
Non stupisce quindi che i non albanesi continuino a lasciare il
Kosovo, spinti dalla paura o dai rastrellamenti dell'UCK. Il 2/II, gli
ultimi slavi-musulmani (circa un migliaio), hanno abbandonato la
regione di Prizren per rifugiarsi a Novi Pazar (Serbia). La
piccola comunita' ebraica di Pristina era gia' stata costretta in
novembre a rifugiarsi a Belgrado. "E' stato terribile quando due
dozzine di uomini armati, albanesi di Albania a giudicare dall'accento
(!), hanno fatto irruzione nel nostro appartamento." - Dichiara il
capo dell'ex comunita' ebraica Cedomir Prlincevic al quotidiano
tedesco "Neues Deutschland" (22/XII) - "Mia madre, che ha ottant'anni,
ha avuto un infarto perche' si e' ricordata delle SS di Hitler, che
nel 1943 irruppero nel suo appartemento allo stesso modo". Come spesso
accade, anche in questo caso le forze di occupazione KFOR si erano
distinte per l'atteggiamento pilatesco.
Mentre 45.000 soldati KFOR armati fino ai denti ignorano la
sistematica pulizia etnica condotta in Kosovo, impiegati come sono ad
occupare a lungo termine e a fortificare i nodi strategici
fondamentali della regione per futuri obiettivi che niente hanno a che
fare col "peacekeeping" (la base americana di Camp Bondsteel, costo
36,6 milioni di dollari, 6300 presenze, e' destinata a rimpiazzare
Aviano come testa di ponte verso oriente), il contingente civile ONU
e' totalmente privo di fondi (le quote dell'UE e degli USA sono
"sotto" di 102 milioni di dollari secondo lo stesso Rappresentante
Generale della missione ONU B. Kouchner) e non ha ancora avviato
nessuna delle opere di ricostruzione previste. In compenso, secondo
un'inchiesta del "London Times" (5/II), nella regione fioriscono
traffico di droga, rapimento e tratta dei bambini, prostituzione
(quest'ultima merce anche ad usum delle stesse truppe KFOR).
Intanto, se la struttura amministrativa ad interim, patrocinata da B.
Kouchner e non prevista dagli accordi di pace, nasce gia' lacerata
dalle liti inter-albanesi (gli altri gruppi etnici non vi
partecipano), l'UCK non perde occasione per ribadire a modo suo
l'egemonia de facto sulla maggior parte dei comuni: Hasim Chuse,
leader di un piccolo partito democratico, e' stato ritrovato morto il
2/II con tre proiettili nella nuca, dopo essere sparito di casa il
19/I.
Anche su questo versante, ben poche le garanzie offerte dalle forze
KFOR: dopo la perquisizione, con sequestro di un arsenale, a casa del
fratello del leader UCK Hashim Thaci e dopo le indagini su altri
capibanda, e' bastato che il portavoce UCK Krasniqi indirizzasse a
Kouchner e al generale Klaus Reinhardt (comandante generale della
KFOR) una lettera minatoria, accusando la KFOR di "agire come i
criminali serbi", perche' i due alti papaveri della forza di
occupazione si scusassero direttamente con Thaci. La concordia e'
stata prontamente ristabilita, e pochi giorni dopo Kouchner e
Reinhardt hanno tenuto a battesimo il nuovo "Corpo di Protezione del
Kosovo", interamente targato UCK a cominciare dal suo comandante Agim
Ceku, ex ufficiale disertore dell'esercito jugoslavo, poi noto come il
piu' feroce fra i capi dei contras kosovari, responsabile del massacro
di 120 serbi a Gospic (Croazia) gia' nel 1991.
Oltre che alla pulizia di casa propria, i terroristi UCK si dedicano
con un certo successo anche ai rapporti internazionali: il Primo
Ministro bulgaro Ivan Kostov (destra nazionalista e filo-atlantica),
ha invitato Thaci a Sofia in visita ufficiale, probabilmente sperando
che cio' acceleri il tanto ambito ingresso della Bulgaria nell'UE e
nella NATO. Non bastera' certo a rovinare l'intesa il recente
sequestro (29/I) di 38 chili di eroina su un tir albanese alla
frontiera bulgara: il paese gioca infatti da anni un ruolo chiave
nella via della droga gestita dalle mafie turca, albanese e kosovara
(261 kg sequestrati in Bulgaria nel '99).
Si sa: "business is business", e parallelamente alla colonizzazione
delle strutture produttive kosovare (vedi "Rinascita" del 14/I), gli
occupanti occidentali non perdono tempo neanche sul fronte
finanziario. Il 24/I ha iniziato le attivita' la "Micro Enterprise
Bank" (MEB), un ente di credito industriale acquartierato presso la
Missione ONU e patrocinato e diretto dai governi tedesco e olandese
(amministratore generale: l'olandese Koen Wasmus). In una situazione
di assoluto monopolio finanziario dopo la distruzione forzata di tutti
i legami economici fra Pristina e Belgrado, la MEB promette di
diventare il principale volano di colonizzazione economica della
regione, in modo non dissimile da quanto gia' da tempo attuato in
Bosnia dalla "Banca Europea per la Ricostruzione e lo Sviluppo" (BERS,
non a caso uno dei principali finanziatori anche della MEB).
Guido Carpi
Universita' di Cassino
Fonti: Tanjug; FreeB92; Agence France Presse; Transnational Foundation
for Peace and Future Research; "Il Manifesto"; Reuters; IWPR's Balkan
Crisis Report.
---
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 3:29 AM
Subject: [sorabia] NATO Dutch Mercenaries Torment Serb Women and Children in
Orahovac
>Dutch Rep Office to UN
>Attn. Office Manager/Ambassador
>United Nations
>New York, NY
>
>Copies: Foreign Missions to UN, Foreign Embasses to US, State Department,
> US Congress, Senate, US and Intermnationa Media,
Concerned
>/ Involved Individuals Across the World
>
>February 20, 2000
>
>Dear Sir, or Madam,
>
>The arrogant Dutch mercenaries under the pirate NATO flag, both the aerial
>and the ground butchers, have been rated by the civilized world as the most
>notorious brutes and barbarous savages in the recent cowardly, terrorist
>attack on a small nation of the Serbs, in the motley pack of the wild and
>blood thirsty NATO professional killers of the children, nannies, sick and
>defenseless victims, under the command of the even more vicious military
and
>civilian superiors.
>
>Known as the nation of cowards in defending their homeland in W.W.II, that
>graciously forgave the Germans for pulverized Rotterdam, but then the
loyal,
>rubber-spine lackeys, subservient butlers, shoeshine boys and dog-walkers
of
>the victorious German Nazi officers. Now the armed Dutch, under the NATO
safe
>skirt, have displayed their true colors in Kosovo: monstrous bullies for
the
>helpless Serb women and children in Orahovac, who found their match and
ally
>in the Albanian cutthroats, both in the service of the same masters in
Bonn,
>Washington and London.
>Once a colonial power, the Dutch have become faithful colonial servants for
>the US and German empires, diligently wagging the tail for a piece of a
>chewed off bone.
>I am hoping the Dutch hunters of the Serbs will someday leave their crushed
>bones in the Serb Kosovo sacred soil-to contaminate it, as did the British
>and US depleted uranium shells. The Netherlands could not stoop any lower
in
>disgrace.
>
> Respectfully
and
>Truly Yours,
>
> Tika
Jankovic
> San Jose,
>California
>
>
>
>
>
>Can children be war criminals?'
>by Abe de Vries
>(Translated from Trouw, Amsterdam daily newspaper)
>www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>BELGRADE
>
>"The sooner the Dutch 'Yellow Riders' leave Orahovac, the better. They're
>worse than the Germans," says Mirjana. "The soldiers are not so bad, but
the
>officers are terrible'', according to Natasha. "They admit that they're
only
>here for the Albanians, not for the Serbs,'' says Simka.
>
>Three women from Orahovac, who until recently lived there or who have
family
>there. This is their story, which differs substantially from the one
>lieutenant-colonel Tony van Loon, the commander of the Yellow Riders, has
>told. (Trouw, November 11). His artillery unit will soon be replaced. [See
>Note # 1 at end]
>
>The women read the interview with Van Loon. In their eyes the Yellow Riders
>don't have even one reason to be proud of themselves. "Dear sir,'' begins
an
>open letter from the Humanitarian Committee of Women from Orahovac, ''the
>fact that you turned Orahovac into a test field where the Serbs - without a
>possibility to leave because you pretend not to be able to give them
>protection - are thus forced to stay imprisoned in a ghetto - should not be
>something you should be proud of, nor should you leave Kosovo with a clear
>conscience. To keep the Serbs as prisoners this way is to deliver them to
the
>mercy of terrorists. If this is the way to create a multi-ethnic society,
>than such a society existed also in Warshaw during World War Two.''
>
>In Orahovac 2500 Serbs and 500 gypsies live a terrible life. They are
packed
>into a few streets with only KFOR [NATO] checkpoints separating them from
the
>extremely hostile Albanian majority in the rest of the town. They all want
to
>leave for Serbia or Montenegro. Only one thing is keeping them in Orahovac:
>the fact that the Dutch don't want to guarantee their safety if they
venture
>out of the ghetto.
>
>The Yellow Riders say they're searching for possible war criminals amongst
>the Serbs. A lot of Serbian men are afraid the KLA has put their names on a
>secret list of suspects, so they stay where they are.
>
>Mirjana (26), Natasha (27) and Simka (35) have difficulty believing the
>Serbian police really murdered hundreds of Albanian citizens in Orahovac
and
>the surrounding villages. According to the Yellow Riders, Serbian police
>reservists born in the area executed perhaps some thousand Albanians in
cold
>blood. Until now, 400 bodies have been found. Natasha: "There was a war
going
>on. The KLA attacked the army and the police, who were not saying: 'O
please,
>kill us.' I was in Orahovac myself when the war started. It was a
>psychologically unbearable situation. While NATO bombed us from the air,
>uniformed terrorists were everywhere in the city. In Orahovac and the
>villages everyday Serbs were killed.'' Mirjana: "A number of bodies that
were
>found could belong to Serbs. Villages like Velika Hoca, Retimlje, Zociste
and
>Opterusa were mainly inhabited by Serbs. In Retimlje alone 30 Serbs were
>murdered last year. Where are the bodies of the Serbs?'' Simka: "People say
>all kinds of things. It's because of the hatred Albanians have for the Serb
>police.'' Natasha: "Let's say some Serbs did commit war crimes. Do you
think
>they'll be waiting in Orahovac for Kfor to arrest them? Those who maybe
>really did something wrong are long gone.'' Mirjana: "My husband was
director
>of a municipal archive. If he hadn't left on time, he would probably also
now
>be considered a war criminal. But he is not a nationalist. He fired some
>Albanians because they didn't work well.''
>
>The women do not understand why KFOR refuses to let at least the children
go.
>Until now only one convoy of 155 Serbs was allowed to leave town. Guarded
by
>Dutch troops, it was attacked by a large crowd of Albanians in the vicinity
>of Pec. After that UNHCR, the refugee-agency of the United Nations, stopped
>its humanitarian evacuations in Kosovo. Natasha and Simka both tried
several
>times to take the children of their relatives back to Serbia. Without
>success.
>
>"Can children also be war criminals?'' asks Natasha. "I've cried and I've
>screamed'', says Simka. "But this Dutch officer just stood there and looked
>at me as through a mask. He didn't show any emotion. Nothing. It was just
not
>allowed.'' Simka recently returned from a visit to Orahovac. She says the
>situation there is worse than a couple of weeks ago. Many times there are
>days without electricity, she says. The Serbs cannot buy food in Albanian
>shops They rely on humanitarian organisations to help them. Albanians block
>the road to Pristina, to stop a Russian batallion from entering the town
(the
>Russians are scheduled to replace the Dutch), so all kinds of shortages
>exist.
>
>Simka: "With winter coming, the Serbs are in panic. They're afraid
everybody
>will forget about them. Now they can still drive to Velika Hoca, where many
>Serbs live, but the road is in bad condition and nobody clears up the snow.
>They'll be stuck.''
>
>A visit to Orahovac is only possible with KFOR protection. Visitors have to
>leave the same day. The Serbs in Orahovac are allowed to use a Red Cross
>satellite telephonefor one minute a week. According to the women, the phone
>is bugged. Mirjana: "The line is cut the moment someone says something
>negative about life in Orahovac."
>
>Mail can be delivered to the Red Cross, but the letters are first examined
by
>a censor. Relatives in Serbia get them with thick black lines through the
>text.
>
>Since the arrival of the Dutch soldiers more than 20 Serbs from Orahovac
have
>been kidnapped and 136 Serbian houses have been burned to the ground. One
of
>the missing Serbs is the husband of a translator who worked for the Yellow
>Riders. In none of these cases have the Dutch started an investigation, let
>alone succeeded in bringing someone back, says Simka.
>
>In 1998, some 50 Serbs were kidnapped. Nobody has heard from them since.
She
>asks why the Dutch, who arrested 11 Serb war crimes suspects, have never
>arrested an Albanian for war crimes. The Albanian Ismet Tara is Orahovac's
>KLA-commander. He would be the biggest criminal. Simka: "His uncle had the
>reputation in 1941 of being the worst fascist in town. My uncle, who was a
>Partizan, told me that.'' Mirjana mentions Sebajdin Cena, her teacher at
>school. "My parents and I were at his wedding. My father gave him his first
>job. He was recognized as one of the organizors of the kidnappings last
>year.''
>
>The Dutch, conclude the women, are one-sided, anti-Serb and don't do a
thing
>to improve the situation for the Serbs in Orahovac. Natasja: "With them,
>every day is worse than the day before''. Mirjana: "I don't think this
[Dutch
>Col.] Van Loon will ever sleep well again."
>
>***
>
>Note # 1 - The above article is second in a series by Trouw. The first
>consisted of an interview with Dutch KFOR (NATO) Commander Col. Tony van
>Loon. Excerpts from that article with comments by Simca and Natasha can be
>read by clicking on The Women of Orahovac Answer the Colonel or going to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/trouw.htm
>
>Note # 2 - To read interviews with the women from Orahovac, click on Save
the
>families: The women of Orahovac speak or go to
>http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/savethe.htm
>
>Enjoyed this article? Send it to a friend!
>
>To read more... please click here or go to http://www.emperors-clothes.com
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
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>page at http://www.egroups.com/list/sorabia
>for more informations about current situation in Serbia
http://www.sorabia.home.dhs.org
>
>
---
-----Original Message-----
From: NATODOC <natodoc@...>
To: NATODATA@...
<NATODATA@...>
Date: Monday, February 21, 2000 8:47 AM
Subject: KFOR Press Update, 21 February 2000
>KFOR
>Press Update
>Delivered by Lieutenant Commander Philip Anido
>KFOR Spokesman
>
>PRISTINA - Monday, 21 February 2000
>KFOR Search Operation in Mitrovica
>KFOR soldiers, supported by UNMIK police, began a second day of searches in
>several neighbourhoods in Mitrovica this morning at 7 a.m. They are looking
>for small and large caches of illegal and dangerous weapons.
>Owners of the weapons will be detained and turned over to UNMIK police, and
>those who are suspected for having been involved in the recent violent
>actions will be arrested.
>Yesterday, 11 arrests were made, all for weapons violations. The men
>included 10 Albanians and one Serb. Following identification and
>interrogation, nine were released. One Albanian and one Serb remain in
>custody.
>The latest report of weapons confiscated includes:
>* 22 rifles
>* 8 blocks of plastic explosive
>* 1 heavy machine gun
>* 18 rifle magazines loaded with ammunition; 30 bullets per
>* 1 hunting rifle
>* 1000's of rounds of ammunition
>* 2 automatic pistols
>* 4 hand grenade
>The search operation will continue until General Dr. Klaus Reinhardt, the
>Commander of KFOR, is satisfied that illegal activities have been stopped
>and dangerous weapons are banned from Mitrovica.
>KFOR and UNMIK will not allow any illegal activities that perpetuate the
>cycle of violence or hold up the process of peace and reconciliation in
>Kosovo to continue.
>Approximately 2,500 KFOR troops from 12 nations are supporting the
operation
>in Mitrovica.
>Demonstration
>Twenty thousand Albanian citizens from Pristina and other communities are
>marching to Mitrovica today to protest the situation in that troubled city.
>The men, women and children are marching on foot and driving in cars, vans
>and busses.
>UNMIK police are following the parade and KFOR soldiers are monitoring the
>progress along the route using foot patrols, vehicles and helicopters.
>The organizers have called for a peaceful demonstration and have agreed
that
>the protesters will stop in Vucitrn south of the city. From there, 12
>representatives will be allowed to deliver a letter to UN officials in
>Mitrovica.
>By 4 p.m. the crowds on foot will be picked up by bus for the return trip
to
>Pristina.
>Incidents During the Past 24 Hours
>Searches and Weapons Confiscations
>Multinational Brigade East
>Yesterday in Kravarica, a KFOR patrol confiscated two rifles
>and a quantity of ammunition.
>Incidents and Injuries
>Multinational Brigade Centre
>Yesterday evening, KFOR Norwegian troops reported that a
>home-made bomb was thrown into an occupied Serb house. There were no
>injuries but there was damage to the house. KFOR are using specially
>trained dogs in their investigation.
>Arrests
>Multinational Brigade West
>Yesterday morning in Pec, KFOR Military Police and UNMIK
>police arrested a Montenegrin man in connection with the shooting of an
>Albanian on 19 February in Vitomirica.
---
STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
[Finally, a headline has been assigned to this story
from the New York Times - by the Florida Sun Sentinel
- that doesn't grotesquely distort the truth.
For those who have been following the current state of
"Kosovo peacekeeping," in a province overrun by 50,000
NATO occupation troops an equal number of ethnic
Albanians "just happen" to gather in the capital city,
Pristina, and march 25 miles to Mitrovica.
Waving Albanian (that is, the nation of Albania's) and
American flags, the marchers - organized by whom, if
not the KLA? - are able to converge on Mitrovica
unhindered and ostensibly unnoticed by General
Reinhardt and his Balkans Korps, who are busy
ransacking Serb quarters in that city for non-existent
arms caches.
And then this from General Reinhardt: "They have
demonstrated how they want to live" - as they're
forcing their way through K-For cordons and
threatening God-knows-what violence should they
succeed - "and are demonstrating for a better future.
They want a united city."
They want a united city, indeed. United like Warsaw
became after Reinhardt's countrymen attacked the
Warsaw Ghetto some sixty-five years ago.
Beginning to sound surreal? No more than the entire
false rationale for NATO aggression and occupation in
the first place.]
_____________________________________________________
Thousands of Albanians rally to oust Serbs from city
in Kosovo
By CARLOTTA GALL
Web-posted: 10:55 p.m. Feb. 21, 2000
MITROVICA, Yugoslavia -- Thousands of ethnic Albanians
from throughout Kosovo marched on this divided city on
Monday and clashed with NATO-led troops who used tear
gas and fists to keep them from reaching the Serbian
district.
An estimated 25,000 protesters tried to cross the
main bridge that divides the Serb and Albanian
sections of this mining town, but were turned back as
thousands of Serbs stood watching from the other side.
The Albanians repeatedly pushed against the lines of
British and Canadian soldiers and French gendarmes as
fights broke out and demonstrators were hauled away.
Monday's showdown came as tensions continued to
build in the ethnically divided city of 90,000 people.
The violence of the past two weeks has left 11 people
dead and dozens wounded, including two French soldiers
who were shot in gun battles.
Wave after wave of protesters arrived Monday on
foot from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo province, 25
miles away, and from the western towns of Pec and
Srbica among others. Young men strode up the main
street waving red Albanian flags and banners as they
tried to breach the military lines.
Across the River Ibar, Serbs held the Serbian
tricolor aloft and played Serbian nationalist songs on
loudspeakers. For several hours peacekeepers struggled
to contain the crowd and French police resorted to
volley after volley of tear gas over the heads of the
British and Canadians, often leaving the soldiers
choking and retching along with the demonstrators.
By nightfall the protesters, some of whom had
walked for 10 hours, grew tired and drifted away. The
commander of the peacekeeping force, German Gen. Klaus
Reinhardt, climbed atop a British tank to talk to the
crowd. He praised his troops for their restraint and
said they had prevented any serious injuries or
consequences.
He also said he understood the demonstrators.
"They have shown the way they want to live and are
demonstrating for a better future. They want a united
city," he said.
But his words underlined the intractable problem
the city presents for the peacekeepers and the U.N.
administration. The Albanians all speak of liberating
the city, by which they mean moving back into the Serb
district en masse, which in turn would force the Serbs
to flee.
---
SERBIAN PROVINCE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
BRUTAL AND BARBARIC ACT BY KFOR
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, February 21 (Tanjug) - Jovica Jovanovic, a member of
the subcommittee for administration and legislature of the Yugoslav
committee for cooperation with the United Nations mission in Kosovo and
Metohija province, said on Sunday that the search of apartments and
institutions in northern Kosovska Mitrovica by international force KFOR
U.S. and German troops was a brutal, barbaric and uncivilized act.
Jovanovic told reporters he had been present during a search of the
Faculty of Technology. He saw troops break down with axes the doors of a
laboratory and other premises.
Jovanovic also toured the school of technology which had also been a
target of KFOR's barbaric activities.
He said it was not by accident that the barbaric action was carried out by
U.S. and German troops. The presence of numerous foreign reporters and TV
crew at the very time when the action took place, and their on-the-spot
reporting is proof that this was all stage-managed, Jovanovc said.
The leading players in this action - U.S. and German troops - were not
picked at random, because there are no more Serbs in the parts of Kosovo
and Metohija where these troops are deployed, he said.
Jovanovic said it was an act of ultimate cynicism when French troops
brought the principal of the School of Technology about a dozen cylinder
locks and padlocks to compensate for the incurred damage.
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