Neverending pogroms in Kosmet
(IN ENGLISH - con titoli riassuntivi in italiano. Si noti il
persistente stillicidio di gravi notizie provenienti da questa
martoriata regione, notizie che ci pervengono purtroppo in maniera
sempre meno organica ed oramai solamente in lingua inglese, in un
contesto europeo in cui le informazioni provenienti dal Kosovo sono
sottoposte in tutti i media a severa censura redazionale, ed in un
contesto serbo in cui i media che non siano di stretta osservanza
NATO sono stati spazzati via. Sul sito ANSA Balcani la maggiorparte
degli episodi di violenza ai danni delle comunità kosovare non
albanofone sono omessi, e lo stesso vale per l'unica altra fonte di
informazione che fa un lavoro sistematico in lingua italiana,
Osservatorio Balcani, portale legato alla Commissione Europea. Tutto
questo riguardo ad una regione a noi vicinissima, presidiata da
migliaia di nostri soldati ed agenti "non governativi", ed alla
vigilia di nuovi stravolgimenti della geografia politica balcanica. -
A cura di Italo Slavo-)
NEWS:
# Authorities in Istok, Kosovo Ban Expatriated Serbs from Returning
Tomorrow
AI SERBI DI ISTOK IMPEDITO IL RIENTRO NELLE CASE
# Retired US general appointed UN deputy chief in Kosovo
STATUNITENSE NOMINATO VICE CAPO ONU IN KOSMET
# Makfax: 2 Killed, 8 Wounded in Firing in Kosovo
DUE MORTI ED OTTO FERITI IN SPARATORIA
# UNMIK tires slashed
PROVOCAZIONI CONTRO L'UNMIK DAI SEPARATISTI
# Home of Kosovo Serb Attacked
ATTACCO CONTRO CASA DI SERBI
# Two more attacks in Mitrovica
ALTRI DUE ATTACCHI CONTRO CASE DI SERBI
# Ceku says Kosovo doesn't recognize border agreement
IL "GOVERNO" DEL CRIMINALE CEKU NON RICONOSCE IL CONFINE CON LA
MACEDONIA
# Blast Shakes Town of Zubin Potok, Kosovo
ATTENTATO ALLA MUNICIPALITA' DI ZUBIN POTOK
# Kosovo’s PM: Operation for Liberation of Kosovo Is The First Step
Towards NATO’s Transformation
IL CRIMINALE CEKU: LA NATO E' IL NOSTRO OMBRELLO, GRAZIE PER AVERCI
LIBERATO
# Two People Die in Explosion in Kosovo Mitrovica
DUE MORTI IN ESPLOSIONE A MITROVICA
# Kosovo PM Calls for Independence in Sofia
IL CRIMINALE CEKU PER LA "INDIPENDENZA DELLA KOSSOVA"
# Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
"INDIPENDENZA": RUSSI PREOCCUPATI, BERISHA ENTUSIASTA
# Gorans request to be granted municipality in Kosovo
AL "TAVOLO NEGOZIALE" AUSTRIACO I GORANI CHIEDONO UNA MUNICIPALITA'
# Austrian writer Peter Handke in Kosovo
PETER HANDKE IN KOSOVO ASSISTE DIRETTAMENTE A VIOLENZE CONTRO SERBI E
SI GUADAGNA L'OSTRACISMO DELLE MAFIE CULTURAL-POLITICHE OCCIDENTALI
# Jessen-Petersen Signs Act for Protection of Families of KLA Members
L'UNMIK LAVORA PER RICONOSCERE SPECIALI DIRITTI ALLE FAMIGLIE DI
20MILA MILIZIANI DELL'UCK
# Montenegro's Albanians demand statehood rights
GLI ALBANESI DEL MONTENEGRO VOGLIONO IL DISTACCO DALLA SERBIA PER
POTERSI POI STACCARE ANCHE DAL MONTENEGRO ED ANNETTERSI ALLA GRANDE
ALBANIA PROSSIMA VENTURA
# Serb bus attacked
USUALE SASSAIOLA CONTRO AUTOBUS DI LINEA
# Serbia Wants 13 Municipalities in Kosovo
AL "TAVOLO NEGOZIALE" AUSTRIACO I SERBI CHIEDONO 13 MUNICIPALITA'
# Suspected Kosovo war criminal held in Germany
AGUZZINO DELL'UCK FERMATO IN GERMANIA
# Two Serb Youths Wounded in Skirmish in Kosovo
DUE BENZINAI VENTENNI, SERBI KOSOVARI, BERSAGLIATI DA CECCHINI SONO
ORA IN FIN DI VITA
# UNMIK expects a wave of violence
L'UNMIK SI ASPETTA ULTERIORI VIOLENZE
# Makfax: Kosovo's Government Takes-Over Police, Judiciary Sector
TRASFERIMENTO DI COMPETENZE DALL'UNMIK AL COSIDDETTO "GOVERNO KOSOVARO"
# NATO urged to protect Kosovo Serbs after attacks
IL GOVERNO DELLA SERBIA CHIEDE ALLA NATO (SIC) DI PROTEGGERE I SERBI
KOSOVARI
---
LINKS:
AIRPORT CORRUPTION ROW INFLAMES KOSOVO
(SCANDALO CORRUZIONE ALL'AEREOPORTO DI PRISTINA, COINVOLTA L'ONU)
UNMIK accused of turning blind eye to an explosive probe that lifts
lid on fraud and bribery at Pristina Airport.
By Krenar Gashi in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 20 Apr 06)
Opposition parties and civil society groups here have accused the
head of the entity's UN authority and the Kosovo government of
downplaying a damning report on Pristina Airport, which alleges that
corruption has flourished in the public company...
http://www.birn.eu.com/insight_31_1_eng.php
=== NEWS ===
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&ch=0&newsid=86783
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 19, 2006
Authorities in Istok, Kosovo Ban Expatriated Serbs from Returning
Tomorrow
Kosovska Mitrovica - Even though local authorities in
the town of Istok in Kosovo gave their permission for
expatriated Serbs to start returning, they decided not
to allow the first group of returning expatriates to
settle in the center prepared for them in one of the
town’s residential quarters, Serbian radio station B92
reports.
Coordination Center for Kosovo announced that 30
returning Serbs, who in the last 7 years have been
living with their families in central Serbia, have
decided not to give up their right and are arriving to
Kosovo tomorrow.
The returning Serbs will be met tomorrow by the
Commander of the local Spanish KFOR contingent.
The Commander confirmed his soldiers will guarantee
the security of the returning expatriates.
---
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/20/content_4450290.htm
Xinhua News Agency - April 19, 2006
Retired US general appointed UN deputy chief in Kosovo
BELGRADE - Retired U.S. brigadier general Steven
Schook has been appointed the deputy chief of the
United Nations mission in Kosovo, a UN spokesman said
in the Kosovo capital of Pristina on Wednesday.
Spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk said that Schook, who was born
in 1953, has served as chief of general staff of the
NATO's peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.
During his military career, Schook was also a NATO
commander and senior military representative in
Sarajevo, as well as a commander of NATO-led
international forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Kosovo remains legally part of Serbia-Montenegro,
although it has been run by the United Nations since
NATO bombing forced out Serbian forces in 1999.
There are some 17,500 NATO-led peacekeeping forces in
Kosovo, including about 1,700 U.S. soldiers.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=86961&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 22, 2006
Makfax: 2 Killed, 8 Wounded in Firing in Kosovo
Lipljan - Two people were killed and eight were
injured in a firing near the town of Lipljan, Kosovo,
Macedonian agency Makfax reported.
Kosovo police spokesperson Sabri Kamberi said three
people were seriously injured.
All of the injured were rushed to hospital.
The identity of the victims and the injured, as well
as the reasons for the incident were not known, reads
a statement of Belgrade-based agency Fonet cited by
Makfax.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34590&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 22, 2006
UNMIK tires slashed
PRISTINA - Albanian activists slashed the tires of
about twenty UNMIK jeeps.
The jeeps were parked across the street from the
Pristina International Administration, and were
vandalised by activists of the Movement of Kosovo
Albanians for the Freedom of Choice, who want the UN
mission to exit the region.
At the time of the incident, UNMIK Chief Soeren Jessen
Petersen was meeting with Portuguese President Aníbal
Cavaco Silva inside the building.
The activities put an “F” in front and a “D” in behind
the letters “UN” on the jeeps to spell “FUND,” which
means “the end” in Albanian.
The movement, lead by student Aljbin Kurti, also
opposes the direct discussions regarding the Kosovo
status question between Belgrade and Pristina.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87017&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 23, 2006
Home of Kosovo Serb Attacked
Tucep - The home of Danilo Dzolic (75) was attacked by
an armed group at about 1 a.m. this morning in Kosovo
village of Tucep, RTS reports.
No one was injured during the attack, but the house in
which Dzolic and his wife were at that moment is
damaged.
The attackers most probably wanted to steal Dzolic’s
tractor because so far four tractors had been stolen
in the village.
Tucep residents chased away the attackers by firing
their hunting guns, *which Kosovo police and KFOR
confiscated today.*
The Serbs living in the village expressed their
concerns the attacks might happen again.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34594&style=headlines
FoNet/Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 24, 2006
Two more attacks in Mitrovica
PRISTINA - Two more Serbian homes were attacked over
the weekend in Kosovo.
Yesterday afternoon, a group of young Albanians
shattered the windows of Milovan Bozovic's home in the
northern part of Kosovksa Mitrovica.
Living in the home is a refugee from Prizren,
Miroslava Repic.
Later in the day, rocks were thrown at a vehicle
belonging to a Serb in Suva Dola, an attack confirmed
by the Kosovo police.
The Kosovo Police Service said that other than
material damage, there were no other consequences of
these attacks.
Yesterday morning, a group of unidentified, armed
attackers shot at the home of Danilo Dzolic in the
Kosovo village of Tucep, near Istok.
Dzolic's wife was in the home at the time, but did not
sustain any injuries.
The house did suffer material damage, however. Serbian
sources from the village said that the attackers were
most likely looking to steal Dzolic's tractor, because
at least four tractors have ben stolen from the
village recently.
Tucep villagers scared the attackers away by firing
shots from their hunting guns, which were confiscated
later on by the KPS and KFOR during the investigation.
Many people in the village say that they are afraid
that the attacks on their village will continue.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=20531&NrIssue=449&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - April 25, 2006
Ceku says Kosovo doesn't recognize border agreement
Pristina - The border agreement signed by Skopje and
Belgrade in 2001 is invalid and Kosovo's government
does not recognize it, Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim
Ceku said after the meeting with [Macedonian]
Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) leader Arben
Xhaferi.
Media in Pristina and Tirana quote Ceku as saying that
demarcation of Macedonia-Kosovo border will be
addressed in an appropriate momentum after the
resolution of Kosovo's political status.
As regards border demarcation, DPA leader Xhaferi said
the issue should be solved in accordance with Contact
Group instructions.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/glavnavest/lastvest.asp?vest=\Refresh1
\444-2604.htm
Macedonian Information Agency - April 26, 2006
PRESIDENT CRVENKOVSKI: CEKU'S STATEMENT NOT IN FAVOR OF GOOD-
NEIGHBORLY RELATIONS
The position of Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku for
not recognizing Skopje-Belgrade agreement on border
demarcation is not in favor of good-neighborly
relations, President Branko Crvenkovski told
journalists Wednesday in Kocani.
"It is neither in favor of the good-neighborly
relations nor of intentions of interim Kosovo
authorities for the Kosovo future. The statement also
presents a severe blow to the international community
policy for the region. I have said in numerous
occasions that the interim Kosovo government has no
legitimacy, and obviously no will to be the main
factor for demarcating the border on the other side,"
Crvenkovski said.
He pointed out that Macedonia did not intend to
re-negotiate the border demarcation issue, as in 2001
the country had signed an agreement on the matter with
Belgrade, than the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now
Serbia/Montenegro), which is internationally
recognized.
"It is not an administrative, but international
border, and we are speaking only about a technical
operation....Considering the UN Resolution 1244 and
the fact that Kosovo is under UN administration, the
main factor we should communicate with and ask for the
completion of this operation is the international
community, above all Brussels, New York and
Washington," Crvenkovski said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=87214&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 26, 2006
Macedonian President: Statement of Kosovo PM doesn’t
Contribute to Good Neighborly Relations
Skopje - The statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Agim
Ceku, who said that he doesn’t recognize the agreement
between Skopje and Belgrade on the border near Kosovo,
doesn’t contribute to the good neighbourly relations,
Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said,
Macedonian agency MIA reported.
It is not favorable for the good neighbourly relations
and for the interim Kosovo authorities' plans for the
future of the province.
The statement is a serious blow on the international
community’s policy on the region”, Crvenkovski said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=87354&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 28, 2006
Vecer: Macedonian Government Should Request New
Resolution of UN Security Council for Border with
Kosovo
Skopje - The Macedonian Government with the support of
all political parties should request a new resolution
from the UN Security Council to adopt a new
resolution, with which Kosovo authorities and the
administration of the UN mission in Kosovo /UNMIK/
will be obliged to participate and to perform the
demarcation of the border with Macedonia before the
settlement of the final statute of Kosovo, Slobodan
Causle from VMRO–NP said, cited by the Macedonian
daily Vecer.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87183&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 26, 2006
Blast Shakes Town of Zubin Potok, Kosovo
Zubin Potok - An explosive device blew up at about
1.30 a.m. in center of Kosovo town of Zubin Potok,
spokesperson for UNMIK police Larry Miller said cited
by RTS.
The bomb was thrown at the building of the
municipality court and the Social Activities Center.
Two cars parked in front of the building and an UNMIK
vehicle were damaged in the explosion.
The windows of the edifice and the nearby houses were
smashed.
According to preliminary information the bomb was
thrown from a moving black Audi, which after the blast
drove off to southern Mitrovica.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=113&newsid=87394&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 29, 2006 - Ivan RADEV
Kosovo’s PM: Operation for Liberation of Kosovo Is The First Step
Towards NATO’s Transformation
Sofia - Kosovo witnessed the most remarkable coalition
after World War II, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Agim Ceku
stated during the conference “NATO’s Transformation –
New Borders of Security” which is taking place in
Boyana residence in Sofia, FOCUS News Agency reporter
informs.
According to him the operation for liberation of
Kosovo is the first step towards NATO’s
transformation.
Ceku noted that Kosovo will remain under “NATO’s
protective umbrella” but it must form its own small
military force, which would be a sign of its
sovereignty.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87433&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 30, 2006
Two People Die in Explosion in Kosovo Mitrovica
Kosovo Mitrovica - Two people died in explosion in a
house in Northern Kosovo Mitrovica, the Spokesman of
the UN Mission in Kosovo /UNMIK/ Larry Moller said,
cited by Radio Televisija Srbije.
The exact reason for the explosion is still not known,
Miller said and added that a special team of
criminologists had arrived before the arrival of the
KFOR special group.
---
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=62748
Sofia News Agency - April 20, 2006
Kosovo PM Calls for Independence in Sofia
Kosovo's prime minister defended in Sofia the point
that the province should become an independent state,
integrated in NATO and the EU.
Agim Ceku took part in the conference "NATO
transformation - Facing new security frontiers" that
took place in the outskirts of Bulgaria's capital. The
forum followed an informal meeting of NATO foreign
ministers, joined by dozens of delegations as well as
the US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice.
Ceku complained that talks with Belgrade were not
going smoothly. "They want more than we can give, and
than the international community can accept," the
leader said.
Bulgaria's foreign minister advised Ceku to take
decisive steps for adopting the international
standards for Kosovo.
Bulgaria tries to stimulate a positive atmosphere in
negotiations over the statute of Kosovo, Minister
Ivaylo Kalfin underlined.
Kalfin and Ceku agreed that security in the Balkan
region should be the main motivation for both sides in
the talks.
---
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1739116&C=europe
Agence France-Press - April 28, 2006
Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Independence for Kosovo would
destabilize the Balkans, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov warned April 28 after talks with NATO
counterparts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
”We don’t agree with those trying to persuade us...
that there is no alternative to Kosovo independence,”
he told reporters.
”That is a fairly dangerous path that could lead to
dangerous consequences for the region and create a
precedent for other conflict situations,” he said.
Still technically a province of Serbia, Kosovo has
been administered by the United Nations since Serb
forces were forced out by NATO-led air war in 1999.
The international community hopes to settle Kosovo’s
status by the end of this year, and talks have begun
between Belgrade and the ethnic Albanian government in
Pristina on the territory’s future status.
Lavrov called on Pristina to respect U.N. Security
Council “standards” and “to create conditions in
Kosovo to guarantee the return of refugees” — Kosovar
Serbs forced out of the territory.
Russia has long sided with Serbia in challenging moves
to proclaim Kosovo independence.
The foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro, Vuk
Draskovic, said in Paris Wednesday that Kosovar
independence would pose a major obstacle to Serbian-EU
relations.
”It would seen as a humiliation ... Kosovo is the
spiritual cradle of the Serbs,” he said, though he
added that Belgrade was willing to offer “internal
independence.”
But on April 27, Prime Minister Sali Berisha of
neighboring Albania told France’s Le Figaro newspaper
that “no plan other than the independence of Kosovo
can bring peace and stability.”
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=20687&NrIssue=452&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - April 28, 2006
Gorans request to be granted municipality in Kosovo
Pristina - Political representatives of the minority
communities in Kosovo requested from the Kosovo's
negotiating team establishing of new municipalities in
the course of the decentralization process, in which
they would comprise majority populations.
Representatives of the Goran and Bosnian communities
demand for setting up new municipalities in
Vitomirica, Recane, and in the part of Dragas
Municipality, inhabited by Gorans and Bosnians.
Lutfi Zahiri, Vice-President of the Kosovo's
Government and Minister of Local Self-Government held
talks with political representatives of the Kosovo's
Serbs and other minority communities ahead of the next
round of Pristina-Belgrade negotiations slated for 4th
May in Vienna.
"Forming of new Municipalities where Serbs, Bosnians,
Gorans or Turks would consist majority population has
been requested. We are currently conducting analyses
on economic sustainability and functioning of such
municipalities, pending concrete proposal on this",
Zahiri said.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#9
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 28, 2006
Austrian writer Peter Handke in Kosovo
This is a universe of pain
Standing on the side of justice, as he said, and
always with the victims, Austrian writer Peter Handke
visited Kosovo several days ago.
Standing at burnt homes of the Nikolices, Kostices,
Bozanices and Bandices in the villages of Retimlje and
Opterusa near Orahovac, Handke said: 'These are
universes of pain. I do not have the right to speak. I
shall keep silent, I have to keep silent. Thank you
for making it possible for me to see this horror
personally. This is not the 21st century'.
Together with a group of domestic and foreign writers,
Handke visited the most jeopardized locations in
Kosovo under patronage of the Coordination Center.
'He was speechless but he promised to tell in his way
the horror that Kosovo Serbs are exposed to', the
organizer of the visit Ranko Djinovic said.
'Feeling terrible that a mother cannot find her son's
grave in a destroyed cemetery in Retimlje, Hendke
defended a Serb woman who at that moment was verbally
attacked by Albanians.
'He managed to get from Austrian KFOR commander a
helicopter escort in continuation of the visit but was
astonished to witness the stoning of the convoy in
downtown Decani in spite of an escort and a minute
later while approaching the Monastery of Visoki
Decani', Djinovic said.
Handke left yesterday but promised to return soon with
a far larger number of writers having world reputation
in spite of the threats he received 'in order to awake
the world that has fallen asleep'.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87638&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 3, 2006
Jessen-Petersen Signs Act for Protection of Families of KLA Members
Pristina - The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) Søren Jessen-Petersen signed a law that
ensures institutional protection to the families of
the over 20,000 members of Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA), thus acknowledging their contribution to
“Kosovo’s liberation”, Pristina media inform cited by
TANJUG.
Petersen stated the wounds from the war will heal
slowly but “the law acknowledges the contribution of
the militaries to Kosovo’s freedom,” Koha Ditore
newspaper reads.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=21345&NrIssue=13&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - May 8, 2006
Montenegro's Albanians demand statehood rights
New York - Albanian parties in Montenegro said they
will back Montenegro's independence in the upcoming
referendum but only if they are given the rights of
statehood nation.
In the course of three-day conference of the
Democratic League of Albanians, which took place in
New York last weekend, the ethnic Albanian political
leaders from Montenegro confirmed that they would vote
in the referendum slated for 21 May.
The leader of the Democratic League of Albanians,
Mehmed Bardhi, said once Montenegro is granted
independence from Serbia, the next step would be to
define the rights of Albanians in Montenegro.
"We support the pro-independence bloc, but we are not
inside the bloc," Bardhi said.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34826&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 9, 2006
Serb bus attacked
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A group of Albanian youths in the
village of Rudnik threw rocks at a bus full of Serbs.
The bus was travelling from Osojana to Kosovska
Mitrovica. Serbian sources from Kosovo told Beta that
no one was injured in the attack, but that the bus,
which is clearly marked as a vehicle of the United
Nations, sustained material damage.
Windows on the bus were broken, according to the
sources, who added that this bus which takes Serbs
from Osojana to Kosovska Mitrovica every week is
attacked almost every single time it passes through
this Albanian village.
Beta’s source said that the attackers are mostly
under-aged youths, but added that older individuals
are always present when the attacks occur.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88156&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Serbia Wants 13 Municipalities in Kosovo
Belgrade - The Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo
talks tabled at the last round of talks in Vienna on
May 4th and 5th a map in which it pointed its proposed
new Serbian municipalities, 13 of which would be with
Serbian majority and one with Turkish, one with Goran
and one with Roma majority, the Serbian newspaper
Politika reads today.
Serbia’s proposal includes the territories in which
the Serbs are a majority at the moment and which are
big enough to host the emigrants who are to return at
a later stage.
The Albanian negotiating team proposed only three
municipalities.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34845&order=priority&style=headlines
FoNet (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 10, 2006
Former KLA member arrested
FRANKFURT - A former member of the Kosovo Liberation
Army has been arrested in Germany.
According to Frankfurt prosecutors, the suspect is
wanted by UNMIK under suspicions of being involved in
activities of genocide.
The unidentified male was, according to UNMIK, the
commander of a Kosovo concentration camp in 1998 and
is suspected of committing genocide.
He was arrest on Monday and is awaiting extradition,
according to the Associated Press.
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?
subchannel_id=26&story_id=29912&name=Suspected+Kosovo+war+criminal
+held+in+Germany
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - May 10, 2006
Suspected Kosovo war criminal held in Germany
FRANKFURT - German police have arrested a man
suspected of war crimes in Kosovo eight years ago,
prosecutors said Wednesday.
The 38-year-old, identified only as X.G., was in
charge of a prison camp where many people died,
prosecutors in Frankfurt said.
He was also believed to be a leading figure in the
Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK).
The United Nations Mission in Kosovo has asked for the
suspect to be extradited.
He was detained by national police in the small town
of Seeheim- Jugenheim, south of Frankfurt.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#7
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
'Blic' reveals identity of KLA leader arrested in Germany
Agim Ceku's man led a concentration camp for Serbs.
A former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army arrested
in Germany on Monday is Djemail Gashi, nicknamed
German, 'Blic' found out.
UNMIK requested extradition of Gashi because of
genocide.
He is suspected to have taken part in genocide in 1998
in Kosovo and that he is responsible for the
abduction, torture and killing of hundreds of Kosovo
Serbs.
The 'Blic' source claims that Gashi was commander of
the concentration camp at Drenovac and that his
immediate superior was Agim Ceku.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88135&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Two Serb Youths Wounded in Skirmish in Kosovo
Kosovska Mitrovica - Two Serbian youths, employees at
a petrol station in Grabovac, near Kosovska Mitrovica,
were seriously wounded this morning when an unknown
attacker shot at them with an automatic gun, RTS
reports.
The two youths were admitted into the hospital in
northern Kosovska Mitrovica and their condition is
serious.
Kosovo police examined the crime scene and started
investigation on the case.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34853&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
Serbs shot in Kosovo
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Two Serbs were seriously injured
in an armed attack in the village of Grabovac, near
Kosovska Mitrovica.
Serbian sources in Kosovo told Beta that unknown
assailants attacked Jovan Miloševiæ and Jablan Jevtiæ
using automatic weapons. The two Serbian gas station
workers were attacked at about 3:30 am and taken to
the hospital. After undergoing operations they are
currently in critical condition.
According to Kosovska Mitrovica physicians, both are
in intensive care and remain in critical condition.
Jevtiæ lost a great amount of blood and Miloševiæ
suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
This is the third violent incident against Serbs in
the area in recent days. The first was a shooting in
the village of Rudar at the Secretary of the
Raško-Prizren Eparchy and the second was a stoning of
a bus full of Serbs in the village of Rudnik.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.296955640&par=0
AKI Kronos International (Italy) - May 11, 2006
KOSOVO: TWO YOUTHS CRITICALLY INJURED IN ATTACK NEAR ETHNICALLY
DIVIDED TOWN
Belgrade - Medics were on Thursday fighting to save
the lives of two Serbian youths seriously injured in
an attack late on Wednesday in Kosovo's
ethnically-divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Jovan Milosevic (19) and Jablan Jeftic (21) were
working at a petrol station near the town when unknown
attackers armed with automatic weapons opened fire on
them, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.
In ongoing talks on Kosovo's future status, ethnic
Albanian and Serb negotiators failed to resolve the
fate of Kosovska Mitrovica, split into Serb and ethnic
Albanian areas since June, 1999, and where ethnic
tensions still flare.
....
Earlier this week in the same area, a vehicle carrying
Serbian priest Srdjan Stojkovic and his family came
under fire but they escaped injury.
UN-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status have
failed to resolve the fate of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Serbs want to create their own municipality in the
north, while Albanians said the towns should be
re-united and organised into two sub-municipalities.
Nearly three thousand Serbs and non-ethnic Albanians -
who form a minority in the province - have been killed
or listed as missing since Kosovo was put under United
Nations control, according the International Red Cross
and other sources. Serbian forces withdrew from the
province after the ethnic Albanian uprising and the
NATO bombings in 1999. Over 200,000 Serbs have since
fled Kosovo.
The number of armed incidents has recently increased
as the UN-sponsored talks have seemed to make little
progress in bringing the two sides closer.
The fourth round of talks ended last Friday without
any agreement being reached over the creation of new
non-Albanian municipalities - particularly
Serb-majority ones - and their boundaries.
The approximately 100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo
form a tiny minority compared with its 1.7 ethnic
Albanians - most of whom are Muslim and want
independence, a move which Belgrade continues to
oppose.
The fifth round of talks is scheduled for 23 May, and
will tackle the issue of protection of Serb religious
sites in the province.
The UN-mediated talks aim to finalise Kosovo's status
by the end of the year.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34847&order=priority&style=headlines
B92 (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
UNMIK expects a wave of violence
PRIŠTINA - UNMIK police say that the recent increase
of attacks on Serbs is a reason for concern in Kosovo.
“After the stoning of the bus, we are practicing in
order to react quickly in unforeseen situations, and
the mission chief is continuing the investigation.”
UNMIK representative Nirad Sing told daily Glas
Javnosti, adding that conflicts do not serve in the
best interest of Kosovo and that it is time for both
sides to realise that.
Commenting the most recent attack on a bus full of
Serbs, UNMIK said that these actions are initiated by
people who want to see the Kosovo status discussions
called off. They added that the situation is getting
more and more critical everyday, and that UNMIK will
be preparing its police officers for similar
incidents.
“On the same night that the United Nations bus which
was carrying Serbs was stoned, we started to test our
forces to see how fast we can react in unexpected
situations.” said UNMIK spokesperson Kelly Collins
Mcmurry, adding that UNMIK’s task is to protect all
people in Kosovo.
She added that the police are not able to stop all
crimes in any region of the world, and that UNMIK is
well aware of the potential problems in Kosovo, adding
that its forces will be well-prepared.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88182&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Makfax: Kosovo's Government Takes-Over Police, Judiciary Sector
Pristina - The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) handed
over the competencies in police and judiciary to the
province's interim institutions, the Macedonian Makfax
agency reports.
"UNMIK had reduced the mechanism's role dealing with
police and judiciary as it completes the transfer of
competencies to the province's newly created
ministries of justice and internal affairs," UN
spokesman in Kosovo Neeraj Singh said.
UNMIK will have an advising role and assist in
implementing UN's policies in those fields, Singh
said.
---
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/060512144307.2d66ls32.html
Agence France-Presse - May 12, 2006
NATO urged to protect Kosovo Serbs after attacks
BELGRADE - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday
urged NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to step up
security in Kosovo after a recent spate of attacks on
the Serb minority there.
"In a telephone conversation Tadic expressed his
concern for the security situation in Kosovo due to
frequent attacks on Serbs, their property and
monuments," his office said in a statement.
Tadic made the call a day after two Serbs suffered
serious wounds when gunmen fired at them in the tense
northern region of Kosovo, the disputed Serbian
province with an independence-seeking Albanian
majority.
Kosovo's police force said robbery was the motive for
the petrol pump attack, but local Serb leaders stated
it was ethnically motivated as nothing had been
stolen.
Separately, a Serbian Orthodox Church was damaged in
the northern town of Podujevo on Thursday, and a
UN-marked bus carrying Serbs was stoned en route to
the region's ethnically divided town of Kosovska
Mitrovica on Friday, Belgrade media reported.
On Thursday, the NATO secretary general visited the
troubled province, warning that the military alliance
would not let extremists endanger talks between
Belgrade and Pristina aimed at solving the future
status of the province.
"Tadic strongly condemned the incidents and demanded
that international military forces increase security
in Kosovo and enable the protection of people, their
homes, churches and monasteries," the statement said.
"The president of Serbia particularly emphasised that
security is a key factor for Serbs' to stay in
Kosovo," it added.
Since the end of Kosovo's 1998-1999 conflict, some
200,000 Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals
[sic] by ethnic Albanian extremists, while the
remaining about 100,000 live in fear for their lives
and property.
NATO-led peacekeepers have been deployed throughout
Kosovo since mid-1995, when the alliance's bombing
campaign drove out Serb troops for a crackdown against
separatist Albanians.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians make up about 90 percent of
the province's population of around two million
people.
(IN ENGLISH - con titoli riassuntivi in italiano. Si noti il
persistente stillicidio di gravi notizie provenienti da questa
martoriata regione, notizie che ci pervengono purtroppo in maniera
sempre meno organica ed oramai solamente in lingua inglese, in un
contesto europeo in cui le informazioni provenienti dal Kosovo sono
sottoposte in tutti i media a severa censura redazionale, ed in un
contesto serbo in cui i media che non siano di stretta osservanza
NATO sono stati spazzati via. Sul sito ANSA Balcani la maggiorparte
degli episodi di violenza ai danni delle comunità kosovare non
albanofone sono omessi, e lo stesso vale per l'unica altra fonte di
informazione che fa un lavoro sistematico in lingua italiana,
Osservatorio Balcani, portale legato alla Commissione Europea. Tutto
questo riguardo ad una regione a noi vicinissima, presidiata da
migliaia di nostri soldati ed agenti "non governativi", ed alla
vigilia di nuovi stravolgimenti della geografia politica balcanica. -
A cura di Italo Slavo-)
NEWS:
# Authorities in Istok, Kosovo Ban Expatriated Serbs from Returning
Tomorrow
AI SERBI DI ISTOK IMPEDITO IL RIENTRO NELLE CASE
# Retired US general appointed UN deputy chief in Kosovo
STATUNITENSE NOMINATO VICE CAPO ONU IN KOSMET
# Makfax: 2 Killed, 8 Wounded in Firing in Kosovo
DUE MORTI ED OTTO FERITI IN SPARATORIA
# UNMIK tires slashed
PROVOCAZIONI CONTRO L'UNMIK DAI SEPARATISTI
# Home of Kosovo Serb Attacked
ATTACCO CONTRO CASA DI SERBI
# Two more attacks in Mitrovica
ALTRI DUE ATTACCHI CONTRO CASE DI SERBI
# Ceku says Kosovo doesn't recognize border agreement
IL "GOVERNO" DEL CRIMINALE CEKU NON RICONOSCE IL CONFINE CON LA
MACEDONIA
# Blast Shakes Town of Zubin Potok, Kosovo
ATTENTATO ALLA MUNICIPALITA' DI ZUBIN POTOK
# Kosovo’s PM: Operation for Liberation of Kosovo Is The First Step
Towards NATO’s Transformation
IL CRIMINALE CEKU: LA NATO E' IL NOSTRO OMBRELLO, GRAZIE PER AVERCI
LIBERATO
# Two People Die in Explosion in Kosovo Mitrovica
DUE MORTI IN ESPLOSIONE A MITROVICA
# Kosovo PM Calls for Independence in Sofia
IL CRIMINALE CEKU PER LA "INDIPENDENZA DELLA KOSSOVA"
# Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
"INDIPENDENZA": RUSSI PREOCCUPATI, BERISHA ENTUSIASTA
# Gorans request to be granted municipality in Kosovo
AL "TAVOLO NEGOZIALE" AUSTRIACO I GORANI CHIEDONO UNA MUNICIPALITA'
# Austrian writer Peter Handke in Kosovo
PETER HANDKE IN KOSOVO ASSISTE DIRETTAMENTE A VIOLENZE CONTRO SERBI E
SI GUADAGNA L'OSTRACISMO DELLE MAFIE CULTURAL-POLITICHE OCCIDENTALI
# Jessen-Petersen Signs Act for Protection of Families of KLA Members
L'UNMIK LAVORA PER RICONOSCERE SPECIALI DIRITTI ALLE FAMIGLIE DI
20MILA MILIZIANI DELL'UCK
# Montenegro's Albanians demand statehood rights
GLI ALBANESI DEL MONTENEGRO VOGLIONO IL DISTACCO DALLA SERBIA PER
POTERSI POI STACCARE ANCHE DAL MONTENEGRO ED ANNETTERSI ALLA GRANDE
ALBANIA PROSSIMA VENTURA
# Serb bus attacked
USUALE SASSAIOLA CONTRO AUTOBUS DI LINEA
# Serbia Wants 13 Municipalities in Kosovo
AL "TAVOLO NEGOZIALE" AUSTRIACO I SERBI CHIEDONO 13 MUNICIPALITA'
# Suspected Kosovo war criminal held in Germany
AGUZZINO DELL'UCK FERMATO IN GERMANIA
# Two Serb Youths Wounded in Skirmish in Kosovo
DUE BENZINAI VENTENNI, SERBI KOSOVARI, BERSAGLIATI DA CECCHINI SONO
ORA IN FIN DI VITA
# UNMIK expects a wave of violence
L'UNMIK SI ASPETTA ULTERIORI VIOLENZE
# Makfax: Kosovo's Government Takes-Over Police, Judiciary Sector
TRASFERIMENTO DI COMPETENZE DALL'UNMIK AL COSIDDETTO "GOVERNO KOSOVARO"
# NATO urged to protect Kosovo Serbs after attacks
IL GOVERNO DELLA SERBIA CHIEDE ALLA NATO (SIC) DI PROTEGGERE I SERBI
KOSOVARI
---
LINKS:
AIRPORT CORRUPTION ROW INFLAMES KOSOVO
(SCANDALO CORRUZIONE ALL'AEREOPORTO DI PRISTINA, COINVOLTA L'ONU)
UNMIK accused of turning blind eye to an explosive probe that lifts
lid on fraud and bribery at Pristina Airport.
By Krenar Gashi in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 20 Apr 06)
Opposition parties and civil society groups here have accused the
head of the entity's UN authority and the Kosovo government of
downplaying a damning report on Pristina Airport, which alleges that
corruption has flourished in the public company...
http://www.birn.eu.com/insight_31_1_eng.php
=== NEWS ===
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&ch=0&newsid=86783
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 19, 2006
Authorities in Istok, Kosovo Ban Expatriated Serbs from Returning
Tomorrow
Kosovska Mitrovica - Even though local authorities in
the town of Istok in Kosovo gave their permission for
expatriated Serbs to start returning, they decided not
to allow the first group of returning expatriates to
settle in the center prepared for them in one of the
town’s residential quarters, Serbian radio station B92
reports.
Coordination Center for Kosovo announced that 30
returning Serbs, who in the last 7 years have been
living with their families in central Serbia, have
decided not to give up their right and are arriving to
Kosovo tomorrow.
The returning Serbs will be met tomorrow by the
Commander of the local Spanish KFOR contingent.
The Commander confirmed his soldiers will guarantee
the security of the returning expatriates.
---
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/20/content_4450290.htm
Xinhua News Agency - April 19, 2006
Retired US general appointed UN deputy chief in Kosovo
BELGRADE - Retired U.S. brigadier general Steven
Schook has been appointed the deputy chief of the
United Nations mission in Kosovo, a UN spokesman said
in the Kosovo capital of Pristina on Wednesday.
Spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk said that Schook, who was born
in 1953, has served as chief of general staff of the
NATO's peacekeeping forces in Kosovo.
During his military career, Schook was also a NATO
commander and senior military representative in
Sarajevo, as well as a commander of NATO-led
international forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Kosovo remains legally part of Serbia-Montenegro,
although it has been run by the United Nations since
NATO bombing forced out Serbian forces in 1999.
There are some 17,500 NATO-led peacekeeping forces in
Kosovo, including about 1,700 U.S. soldiers.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=86961&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 22, 2006
Makfax: 2 Killed, 8 Wounded in Firing in Kosovo
Lipljan - Two people were killed and eight were
injured in a firing near the town of Lipljan, Kosovo,
Macedonian agency Makfax reported.
Kosovo police spokesperson Sabri Kamberi said three
people were seriously injured.
All of the injured were rushed to hospital.
The identity of the victims and the injured, as well
as the reasons for the incident were not known, reads
a statement of Belgrade-based agency Fonet cited by
Makfax.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34590&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 22, 2006
UNMIK tires slashed
PRISTINA - Albanian activists slashed the tires of
about twenty UNMIK jeeps.
The jeeps were parked across the street from the
Pristina International Administration, and were
vandalised by activists of the Movement of Kosovo
Albanians for the Freedom of Choice, who want the UN
mission to exit the region.
At the time of the incident, UNMIK Chief Soeren Jessen
Petersen was meeting with Portuguese President Aníbal
Cavaco Silva inside the building.
The activities put an “F” in front and a “D” in behind
the letters “UN” on the jeeps to spell “FUND,” which
means “the end” in Albanian.
The movement, lead by student Aljbin Kurti, also
opposes the direct discussions regarding the Kosovo
status question between Belgrade and Pristina.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87017&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 23, 2006
Home of Kosovo Serb Attacked
Tucep - The home of Danilo Dzolic (75) was attacked by
an armed group at about 1 a.m. this morning in Kosovo
village of Tucep, RTS reports.
No one was injured during the attack, but the house in
which Dzolic and his wife were at that moment is
damaged.
The attackers most probably wanted to steal Dzolic’s
tractor because so far four tractors had been stolen
in the village.
Tucep residents chased away the attackers by firing
their hunting guns, *which Kosovo police and KFOR
confiscated today.*
The Serbs living in the village expressed their
concerns the attacks might happen again.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?nav_id=34594&style=headlines
FoNet/Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 24, 2006
Two more attacks in Mitrovica
PRISTINA - Two more Serbian homes were attacked over
the weekend in Kosovo.
Yesterday afternoon, a group of young Albanians
shattered the windows of Milovan Bozovic's home in the
northern part of Kosovksa Mitrovica.
Living in the home is a refugee from Prizren,
Miroslava Repic.
Later in the day, rocks were thrown at a vehicle
belonging to a Serb in Suva Dola, an attack confirmed
by the Kosovo police.
The Kosovo Police Service said that other than
material damage, there were no other consequences of
these attacks.
Yesterday morning, a group of unidentified, armed
attackers shot at the home of Danilo Dzolic in the
Kosovo village of Tucep, near Istok.
Dzolic's wife was in the home at the time, but did not
sustain any injuries.
The house did suffer material damage, however. Serbian
sources from the village said that the attackers were
most likely looking to steal Dzolic's tractor, because
at least four tractors have ben stolen from the
village recently.
Tucep villagers scared the attackers away by firing
shots from their hunting guns, which were confiscated
later on by the KPS and KFOR during the investigation.
Many people in the village say that they are afraid
that the attacks on their village will continue.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=20531&NrIssue=449&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - April 25, 2006
Ceku says Kosovo doesn't recognize border agreement
Pristina - The border agreement signed by Skopje and
Belgrade in 2001 is invalid and Kosovo's government
does not recognize it, Kosovo's Prime Minister Agim
Ceku said after the meeting with [Macedonian]
Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) leader Arben
Xhaferi.
Media in Pristina and Tirana quote Ceku as saying that
demarcation of Macedonia-Kosovo border will be
addressed in an appropriate momentum after the
resolution of Kosovo's political status.
As regards border demarcation, DPA leader Xhaferi said
the issue should be solved in accordance with Contact
Group instructions.
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/glavnavest/lastvest.asp?vest=\Refresh1
\444-2604.htm
Macedonian Information Agency - April 26, 2006
PRESIDENT CRVENKOVSKI: CEKU'S STATEMENT NOT IN FAVOR OF GOOD-
NEIGHBORLY RELATIONS
The position of Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku for
not recognizing Skopje-Belgrade agreement on border
demarcation is not in favor of good-neighborly
relations, President Branko Crvenkovski told
journalists Wednesday in Kocani.
"It is neither in favor of the good-neighborly
relations nor of intentions of interim Kosovo
authorities for the Kosovo future. The statement also
presents a severe blow to the international community
policy for the region. I have said in numerous
occasions that the interim Kosovo government has no
legitimacy, and obviously no will to be the main
factor for demarcating the border on the other side,"
Crvenkovski said.
He pointed out that Macedonia did not intend to
re-negotiate the border demarcation issue, as in 2001
the country had signed an agreement on the matter with
Belgrade, than the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now
Serbia/Montenegro), which is internationally
recognized.
"It is not an administrative, but international
border, and we are speaking only about a technical
operation....Considering the UN Resolution 1244 and
the fact that Kosovo is under UN administration, the
main factor we should communicate with and ask for the
completion of this operation is the international
community, above all Brussels, New York and
Washington," Crvenkovski said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=87214&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 26, 2006
Macedonian President: Statement of Kosovo PM doesn’t
Contribute to Good Neighborly Relations
Skopje - The statement of Kosovo Prime Minister Agim
Ceku, who said that he doesn’t recognize the agreement
between Skopje and Belgrade on the border near Kosovo,
doesn’t contribute to the good neighbourly relations,
Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said,
Macedonian agency MIA reported.
It is not favorable for the good neighbourly relations
and for the interim Kosovo authorities' plans for the
future of the province.
The statement is a serious blow on the international
community’s policy on the region”, Crvenkovski said.
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=123&newsid=87354&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 28, 2006
Vecer: Macedonian Government Should Request New
Resolution of UN Security Council for Border with
Kosovo
Skopje - The Macedonian Government with the support of
all political parties should request a new resolution
from the UN Security Council to adopt a new
resolution, with which Kosovo authorities and the
administration of the UN mission in Kosovo /UNMIK/
will be obliged to participate and to perform the
demarcation of the border with Macedonia before the
settlement of the final statute of Kosovo, Slobodan
Causle from VMRO–NP said, cited by the Macedonian
daily Vecer.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87183&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 26, 2006
Blast Shakes Town of Zubin Potok, Kosovo
Zubin Potok - An explosive device blew up at about
1.30 a.m. in center of Kosovo town of Zubin Potok,
spokesperson for UNMIK police Larry Miller said cited
by RTS.
The bomb was thrown at the building of the
municipality court and the Social Activities Center.
Two cars parked in front of the building and an UNMIK
vehicle were damaged in the explosion.
The windows of the edifice and the nearby houses were
smashed.
According to preliminary information the bomb was
thrown from a moving black Audi, which after the blast
drove off to southern Mitrovica.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=113&newsid=87394&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 29, 2006 - Ivan RADEV
Kosovo’s PM: Operation for Liberation of Kosovo Is The First Step
Towards NATO’s Transformation
Sofia - Kosovo witnessed the most remarkable coalition
after World War II, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Agim Ceku
stated during the conference “NATO’s Transformation –
New Borders of Security” which is taking place in
Boyana residence in Sofia, FOCUS News Agency reporter
informs.
According to him the operation for liberation of
Kosovo is the first step towards NATO’s
transformation.
Ceku noted that Kosovo will remain under “NATO’s
protective umbrella” but it must form its own small
military force, which would be a sign of its
sovereignty.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87433&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - April 30, 2006
Two People Die in Explosion in Kosovo Mitrovica
Kosovo Mitrovica - Two people died in explosion in a
house in Northern Kosovo Mitrovica, the Spokesman of
the UN Mission in Kosovo /UNMIK/ Larry Moller said,
cited by Radio Televisija Srbije.
The exact reason for the explosion is still not known,
Miller said and added that a special team of
criminologists had arrived before the arrival of the
KFOR special group.
---
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=62748
Sofia News Agency - April 20, 2006
Kosovo PM Calls for Independence in Sofia
Kosovo's prime minister defended in Sofia the point
that the province should become an independent state,
integrated in NATO and the EU.
Agim Ceku took part in the conference "NATO
transformation - Facing new security frontiers" that
took place in the outskirts of Bulgaria's capital. The
forum followed an informal meeting of NATO foreign
ministers, joined by dozens of delegations as well as
the US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice.
Ceku complained that talks with Belgrade were not
going smoothly. "They want more than we can give, and
than the international community can accept," the
leader said.
Bulgaria's foreign minister advised Ceku to take
decisive steps for adopting the international
standards for Kosovo.
Bulgaria tries to stimulate a positive atmosphere in
negotiations over the statute of Kosovo, Minister
Ivaylo Kalfin underlined.
Kalfin and Ceku agreed that security in the Balkan
region should be the main motivation for both sides in
the talks.
---
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1739116&C=europe
Agence France-Press - April 28, 2006
Kosovo Independence Would Destabilize the Balkans: Russian Official
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Independence for Kosovo would
destabilize the Balkans, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov warned April 28 after talks with NATO
counterparts in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.
”We don’t agree with those trying to persuade us...
that there is no alternative to Kosovo independence,”
he told reporters.
”That is a fairly dangerous path that could lead to
dangerous consequences for the region and create a
precedent for other conflict situations,” he said.
Still technically a province of Serbia, Kosovo has
been administered by the United Nations since Serb
forces were forced out by NATO-led air war in 1999.
The international community hopes to settle Kosovo’s
status by the end of this year, and talks have begun
between Belgrade and the ethnic Albanian government in
Pristina on the territory’s future status.
Lavrov called on Pristina to respect U.N. Security
Council “standards” and “to create conditions in
Kosovo to guarantee the return of refugees” — Kosovar
Serbs forced out of the territory.
Russia has long sided with Serbia in challenging moves
to proclaim Kosovo independence.
The foreign minister of Serbia-Montenegro, Vuk
Draskovic, said in Paris Wednesday that Kosovar
independence would pose a major obstacle to Serbian-EU
relations.
”It would seen as a humiliation ... Kosovo is the
spiritual cradle of the Serbs,” he said, though he
added that Belgrade was willing to offer “internal
independence.”
But on April 27, Prime Minister Sali Berisha of
neighboring Albania told France’s Le Figaro newspaper
that “no plan other than the independence of Kosovo
can bring peace and stability.”
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/agencija/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=1&NrArticle=20687&NrIssue=452&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - April 28, 2006
Gorans request to be granted municipality in Kosovo
Pristina - Political representatives of the minority
communities in Kosovo requested from the Kosovo's
negotiating team establishing of new municipalities in
the course of the decentralization process, in which
they would comprise majority populations.
Representatives of the Goran and Bosnian communities
demand for setting up new municipalities in
Vitomirica, Recane, and in the part of Dragas
Municipality, inhabited by Gorans and Bosnians.
Lutfi Zahiri, Vice-President of the Kosovo's
Government and Minister of Local Self-Government held
talks with political representatives of the Kosovo's
Serbs and other minority communities ahead of the next
round of Pristina-Belgrade negotiations slated for 4th
May in Vienna.
"Forming of new Municipalities where Serbs, Bosnians,
Gorans or Turks would consist majority population has
been requested. We are currently conducting analyses
on economic sustainability and functioning of such
municipalities, pending concrete proposal on this",
Zahiri said.
---
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#9
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - April 28, 2006
Austrian writer Peter Handke in Kosovo
This is a universe of pain
Standing on the side of justice, as he said, and
always with the victims, Austrian writer Peter Handke
visited Kosovo several days ago.
Standing at burnt homes of the Nikolices, Kostices,
Bozanices and Bandices in the villages of Retimlje and
Opterusa near Orahovac, Handke said: 'These are
universes of pain. I do not have the right to speak. I
shall keep silent, I have to keep silent. Thank you
for making it possible for me to see this horror
personally. This is not the 21st century'.
Together with a group of domestic and foreign writers,
Handke visited the most jeopardized locations in
Kosovo under patronage of the Coordination Center.
'He was speechless but he promised to tell in his way
the horror that Kosovo Serbs are exposed to', the
organizer of the visit Ranko Djinovic said.
'Feeling terrible that a mother cannot find her son's
grave in a destroyed cemetery in Retimlje, Hendke
defended a Serb woman who at that moment was verbally
attacked by Albanians.
'He managed to get from Austrian KFOR commander a
helicopter escort in continuation of the visit but was
astonished to witness the stoning of the convoy in
downtown Decani in spite of an escort and a minute
later while approaching the Monastery of Visoki
Decani', Djinovic said.
Handke left yesterday but promised to return soon with
a far larger number of writers having world reputation
in spite of the threats he received 'in order to awake
the world that has fallen asleep'.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=87638&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 3, 2006
Jessen-Petersen Signs Act for Protection of Families of KLA Members
Pristina - The head of the UN Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) Søren Jessen-Petersen signed a law that
ensures institutional protection to the families of
the over 20,000 members of Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA), thus acknowledging their contribution to
“Kosovo’s liberation”, Pristina media inform cited by
TANJUG.
Petersen stated the wounds from the war will heal
slowly but “the law acknowledges the contribution of
the militaries to Kosovo’s freedom,” Koha Ditore
newspaper reads.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?
IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=21345&NrIssue=13&NrSection=20
MakFax (Macedonia) - May 8, 2006
Montenegro's Albanians demand statehood rights
New York - Albanian parties in Montenegro said they
will back Montenegro's independence in the upcoming
referendum but only if they are given the rights of
statehood nation.
In the course of three-day conference of the
Democratic League of Albanians, which took place in
New York last weekend, the ethnic Albanian political
leaders from Montenegro confirmed that they would vote
in the referendum slated for 21 May.
The leader of the Democratic League of Albanians,
Mehmed Bardhi, said once Montenegro is granted
independence from Serbia, the next step would be to
define the rights of Albanians in Montenegro.
"We support the pro-independence bloc, but we are not
inside the bloc," Bardhi said.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34826&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 9, 2006
Serb bus attacked
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A group of Albanian youths in the
village of Rudnik threw rocks at a bus full of Serbs.
The bus was travelling from Osojana to Kosovska
Mitrovica. Serbian sources from Kosovo told Beta that
no one was injured in the attack, but that the bus,
which is clearly marked as a vehicle of the United
Nations, sustained material damage.
Windows on the bus were broken, according to the
sources, who added that this bus which takes Serbs
from Osojana to Kosovska Mitrovica every week is
attacked almost every single time it passes through
this Albanian village.
Beta’s source said that the attackers are mostly
under-aged youths, but added that older individuals
are always present when the attacks occur.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88156&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Serbia Wants 13 Municipalities in Kosovo
Belgrade - The Serbian negotiating team for Kosovo
talks tabled at the last round of talks in Vienna on
May 4th and 5th a map in which it pointed its proposed
new Serbian municipalities, 13 of which would be with
Serbian majority and one with Turkish, one with Goran
and one with Roma majority, the Serbian newspaper
Politika reads today.
Serbia’s proposal includes the territories in which
the Serbs are a majority at the moment and which are
big enough to host the emigrants who are to return at
a later stage.
The Albanian negotiating team proposed only three
municipalities.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34845&order=priority&style=headlines
FoNet (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 10, 2006
Former KLA member arrested
FRANKFURT - A former member of the Kosovo Liberation
Army has been arrested in Germany.
According to Frankfurt prosecutors, the suspect is
wanted by UNMIK under suspicions of being involved in
activities of genocide.
The unidentified male was, according to UNMIK, the
commander of a Kosovo concentration camp in 1998 and
is suspected of committing genocide.
He was arrest on Monday and is awaiting extradition,
according to the Associated Press.
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?
subchannel_id=26&story_id=29912&name=Suspected+Kosovo+war+criminal
+held+in+Germany
Deutsche Presse-Agentur - May 10, 2006
Suspected Kosovo war criminal held in Germany
FRANKFURT - German police have arrested a man
suspected of war crimes in Kosovo eight years ago,
prosecutors said Wednesday.
The 38-year-old, identified only as X.G., was in
charge of a prison camp where many people died,
prosecutors in Frankfurt said.
He was also believed to be a leading figure in the
Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK).
The United Nations Mission in Kosovo has asked for the
suspect to be extradited.
He was detained by national police in the small town
of Seeheim- Jugenheim, south of Frankfurt.
http://www.blic.co.yu/danas/broj/E-Index.htm#7
Blic (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
'Blic' reveals identity of KLA leader arrested in Germany
Agim Ceku's man led a concentration camp for Serbs.
A former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army arrested
in Germany on Monday is Djemail Gashi, nicknamed
German, 'Blic' found out.
UNMIK requested extradition of Gashi because of
genocide.
He is suspected to have taken part in genocide in 1998
in Kosovo and that he is responsible for the
abduction, torture and killing of hundreds of Kosovo
Serbs.
The 'Blic' source claims that Gashi was commander of
the concentration camp at Drenovac and that his
immediate superior was Agim Ceku.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88135&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Two Serb Youths Wounded in Skirmish in Kosovo
Kosovska Mitrovica - Two Serbian youths, employees at
a petrol station in Grabovac, near Kosovska Mitrovica,
were seriously wounded this morning when an unknown
attacker shot at them with an automatic gun, RTS
reports.
The two youths were admitted into the hospital in
northern Kosovska Mitrovica and their condition is
serious.
Kosovo police examined the crime scene and started
investigation on the case.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34853&order=priority&style=headlines
Beta (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
Serbs shot in Kosovo
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Two Serbs were seriously injured
in an armed attack in the village of Grabovac, near
Kosovska Mitrovica.
Serbian sources in Kosovo told Beta that unknown
assailants attacked Jovan Miloševiæ and Jablan Jevtiæ
using automatic weapons. The two Serbian gas station
workers were attacked at about 3:30 am and taken to
the hospital. After undergoing operations they are
currently in critical condition.
According to Kosovska Mitrovica physicians, both are
in intensive care and remain in critical condition.
Jevtiæ lost a great amount of blood and Miloševiæ
suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
This is the third violent incident against Serbs in
the area in recent days. The first was a shooting in
the village of Rudar at the Secretary of the
Raško-Prizren Eparchy and the second was a stoning of
a bus full of Serbs in the village of Rudnik.
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.296955640&par=0
AKI Kronos International (Italy) - May 11, 2006
KOSOVO: TWO YOUTHS CRITICALLY INJURED IN ATTACK NEAR ETHNICALLY
DIVIDED TOWN
Belgrade - Medics were on Thursday fighting to save
the lives of two Serbian youths seriously injured in
an attack late on Wednesday in Kosovo's
ethnically-divided town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Jovan Milosevic (19) and Jablan Jeftic (21) were
working at a petrol station near the town when unknown
attackers armed with automatic weapons opened fire on
them, the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.
In ongoing talks on Kosovo's future status, ethnic
Albanian and Serb negotiators failed to resolve the
fate of Kosovska Mitrovica, split into Serb and ethnic
Albanian areas since June, 1999, and where ethnic
tensions still flare.
....
Earlier this week in the same area, a vehicle carrying
Serbian priest Srdjan Stojkovic and his family came
under fire but they escaped injury.
UN-mediated talks on Kosovo's future status have
failed to resolve the fate of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Serbs want to create their own municipality in the
north, while Albanians said the towns should be
re-united and organised into two sub-municipalities.
Nearly three thousand Serbs and non-ethnic Albanians -
who form a minority in the province - have been killed
or listed as missing since Kosovo was put under United
Nations control, according the International Red Cross
and other sources. Serbian forces withdrew from the
province after the ethnic Albanian uprising and the
NATO bombings in 1999. Over 200,000 Serbs have since
fled Kosovo.
The number of armed incidents has recently increased
as the UN-sponsored talks have seemed to make little
progress in bringing the two sides closer.
The fourth round of talks ended last Friday without
any agreement being reached over the creation of new
non-Albanian municipalities - particularly
Serb-majority ones - and their boundaries.
The approximately 100,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo
form a tiny minority compared with its 1.7 ethnic
Albanians - most of whom are Muslim and want
independence, a move which Belgrade continues to
oppose.
The fifth round of talks is scheduled for 23 May, and
will tackle the issue of protection of Serb religious
sites in the province.
The UN-mediated talks aim to finalise Kosovo's status
by the end of the year.
---
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?
&nav_category=&nav_id=34847&order=priority&style=headlines
B92 (Serbia and Montenegro) - May 11, 2006
UNMIK expects a wave of violence
PRIŠTINA - UNMIK police say that the recent increase
of attacks on Serbs is a reason for concern in Kosovo.
“After the stoning of the bus, we are practicing in
order to react quickly in unforeseen situations, and
the mission chief is continuing the investigation.”
UNMIK representative Nirad Sing told daily Glas
Javnosti, adding that conflicts do not serve in the
best interest of Kosovo and that it is time for both
sides to realise that.
Commenting the most recent attack on a bus full of
Serbs, UNMIK said that these actions are initiated by
people who want to see the Kosovo status discussions
called off. They added that the situation is getting
more and more critical everyday, and that UNMIK will
be preparing its police officers for similar
incidents.
“On the same night that the United Nations bus which
was carrying Serbs was stoned, we started to test our
forces to see how fast we can react in unexpected
situations.” said UNMIK spokesperson Kelly Collins
Mcmurry, adding that UNMIK’s task is to protect all
people in Kosovo.
She added that the police are not able to stop all
crimes in any region of the world, and that UNMIK is
well aware of the potential problems in Kosovo, adding
that its forces will be well-prepared.
---
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=88182&ch=0
Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - May 11, 2006
Makfax: Kosovo's Government Takes-Over Police, Judiciary Sector
Pristina - The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) handed
over the competencies in police and judiciary to the
province's interim institutions, the Macedonian Makfax
agency reports.
"UNMIK had reduced the mechanism's role dealing with
police and judiciary as it completes the transfer of
competencies to the province's newly created
ministries of justice and internal affairs," UN
spokesman in Kosovo Neeraj Singh said.
UNMIK will have an advising role and assist in
implementing UN's policies in those fields, Singh
said.
---
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/060512144307.2d66ls32.html
Agence France-Presse - May 12, 2006
NATO urged to protect Kosovo Serbs after attacks
BELGRADE - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday
urged NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to step up
security in Kosovo after a recent spate of attacks on
the Serb minority there.
"In a telephone conversation Tadic expressed his
concern for the security situation in Kosovo due to
frequent attacks on Serbs, their property and
monuments," his office said in a statement.
Tadic made the call a day after two Serbs suffered
serious wounds when gunmen fired at them in the tense
northern region of Kosovo, the disputed Serbian
province with an independence-seeking Albanian
majority.
Kosovo's police force said robbery was the motive for
the petrol pump attack, but local Serb leaders stated
it was ethnically motivated as nothing had been
stolen.
Separately, a Serbian Orthodox Church was damaged in
the northern town of Podujevo on Thursday, and a
UN-marked bus carrying Serbs was stoned en route to
the region's ethnically divided town of Kosovska
Mitrovica on Friday, Belgrade media reported.
On Thursday, the NATO secretary general visited the
troubled province, warning that the military alliance
would not let extremists endanger talks between
Belgrade and Pristina aimed at solving the future
status of the province.
"Tadic strongly condemned the incidents and demanded
that international military forces increase security
in Kosovo and enable the protection of people, their
homes, churches and monasteries," the statement said.
"The president of Serbia particularly emphasised that
security is a key factor for Serbs' to stay in
Kosovo," it added.
Since the end of Kosovo's 1998-1999 conflict, some
200,000 Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals
[sic] by ethnic Albanian extremists, while the
remaining about 100,000 live in fear for their lives
and property.
NATO-led peacekeepers have been deployed throughout
Kosovo since mid-1995, when the alliance's bombing
campaign drove out Serb troops for a crackdown against
separatist Albanians.
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians make up about 90 percent of
the province's population of around two million
people.