PROTETTORATO

"Sembra che siamo l'unico paese del mondo che viene attaccato da un
protettorato internazionale"
(dichiarazione del Ministro della Difesa della FYROM)


> http://www.sunday-times.co.uk (World)
>
> An Albanian rebel source said that hundreds of
> fighters were boarding buses to be taken to "border
> transfer" areas: "Effectively the old Kosovo
> Liberation Army has been mobilised."
> Macedonian Defense Ministry official: "It seems we're
> the only country in the world being attacked from an
> international protectorate."
>
> The Sunday Tmes
> March 25 2001
>
> Albanian fighters evade Nato patrols
> Tom Walker, Tetovo
> Balkans 'could be Britain's Vietnam'
> HUNDREDS of ethnic Albanians intent on fighting in
> Macedonia streamed into the country from Kosovo last
> week as Nato failed to take promised measures to cut
> off supply lines, despite a dangerous widening of the
> conflict.
> In one of the most notorious areas for border
> incursions, American soldiers from Nato's Kosovo force
> (Kfor) admitted to The Sunday Times that they were not
> carrying out patrols at night on the paths and minor
> roads used by mule trains to smuggle arms to the
> rebels.
> Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, had
> rejected Macedonian claims that the Americans were too
> passive because they feared the political
> repercussions of any casualties. He spoke of a
> "renewed effort to see that the patrolling along the
> border of Macedonia is improved and strengthened".
> However, a drive through the rain and mud of a
> freezing evening around the Kosovo village of Debelde,
> which was hit by Macedonian army mortar rounds,
> revealed that American soldiers were confined to
> checkpoints at least five miles apart by road. It was
> possible to drive to within three miles of the
> Macedonian border, no more than an hour's walk away.
> Captain Alayne Cramer, a Kfor spokeswoman at the
> Americans' Bondsteel base, insisted that night patrols
> were taking place. "We're doing an effective job," she
> said.
> But an American soldier in Debelde explained that he
> could not drive to the next checkpoint, four miles
> away across a rolling, wooded valley, because "we
> don't do patrols at night".
> Another soldier admitted that, even if he spotted
> rebels through his night sights, they would not be
> challenged. "I'd report down the chain of command and
> they'd send an observation team or helicopter," he
> said.
> An Albanian rebel source said hundreds of fighters
> were boarding buses to be taken into "border transfer"
> areas: "Effectively the old Kosovo Liberation Army has
> been mobilised."
> A Macedonian defence ministry official said the
> government in Skopje, the capital, felt "deeply let
> down" by Nato's failure to halt the flow of men and
> arms into the country. "It seems we're the only
> country in the world being attacked from an
> international protectorate," he added.
> The Macedonians were further angered on Friday when it
> emerged that Germany was withdrawing at least 600
> troops from the border town of Tetovo, leaving only a
> depleted tank squadron that one officer admitted
> "could drive out of here as soon as the fighting got
> bad".
> The Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army
> are full of confidence, however, after a week in which
> they withstood an almost continuous barrage of
> machinegun and artillery fire from the Macedonian
> security forces.
> Well dug into their positions above Tetovo, the rebels
> broadened their attacks, killing two plainclothes
> policemen in Skopje and attacking police positions to
> the north of the city.
> In Tetovo yesterday a rebel grenade landed in the
> Ciltuk Macedonian quarter, injuring four people and
> provoking another artillery barrage from the army.
> Fires spread across the hillside beneath the Kale
> fortress, in rebel hands, and angry crowds attacked
> journalists in the street.
> Macedonian forces were reported to have responded last
> night with a helicopter gunship attack on rebel
> positions.
> The Macedonian army has poured troop reinforcements
> into Tetovo, putting tanks and checkpoints all around
> the city. Relations between Macedonians and Albanians
> have been further strained by the shooting on Thursday
> of an Albanian father and son carrying grenades.
> The NLA has set up a political wing, and one of its
> leaders said as he prepared for a cross-border trek
> towards Tetovo from Kosovo that time was running out
> for the Macedonian government to accept peace talks.
> If not, he said, then Tetovo would fall and Skopje
> would become "the Beirut of the Balkans".
> He advocated an internationally monitored reform of
> the Macedonian government and suggested that Sir Paddy
> Ashdown, who toured Kosovo and Macedonia last week,
> would be an ideal mediator.
> At the NLA's headquarters in the village of Selce, oil
> lamps revealed 100 men sipping Russian tea poured from
> a steaming samovar. A battery-powered black and white
> television flickered in one corner, while outside
> mules were harnessed for journeys across the mountain
> paths all around.
> On the track leading towards the snowy peaks above
> Kosovo, a tractor could be seen grinding its way up
> towards Vejce, the rebel village from where the
> wounded are ferried down to Prizren and the German
> Kfor zone for treatment.
> Commander Sedri Hameti, a rebel spokesman flanked by
> guards and a calendar featuring the Manchester United
> footballer David Beckham, claimed that the NLA had
> 7,000 men under arms across the border region, with
> 2,000 fighters in the seven villages overlooking
> Tetovo. "Our aim is to remove Slav forces from all
> terrain that is historically ours," he said, refusing
> to identify his leader, whom he referred to only as
> "the general".
> The house reverberated as mortar shells lobbed in by
> the Macedonian army hit open ground beneath the
> village. An immaculately dressed senior commander -
> some suggested he may have been the general - barked
> orders at young NLA recruits who lined up for
> inspection before dashing for their positions.
> Although Britain has sent 10 officers, including a
> brigadier, to advise the Macedonians on what help Nato
> might offer, the government in Skopje has deduced that
> it will probably be fighting the rebels alone.
> "The rules of engagement are very complicated, but
> we're sending in a reconnaissance team," said Major
> Fergus Smith, the British Kfor spokesman in Pristina.
> Another British source said: "We simply can't be seen
> to be in the business of killing Albanians. And if the
> Yugoslav army couldn't seal the border, how can you
> expect us to do it?"
>

---

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