(italiano / english)

La "liberta'" a colpi di accetta

KOSMET: BOLLETTINO DI GUERRA MAGGIO - INIZIO GIUGNO 2003


=== NOTA ===

Lo scorso 4 giugno sono stati ritrovati ad Obilic i cadaveri di una
coppia di coniugi ottantenni e del loro figlio cinquantatreenne,
uccisi a colpi di accetta e poi dati alle fiamme insieme alla loro
casa (vedi la documentazione in fondo a questa rassegna).

In seguito a questa ennesima dimostrazione dei reali risultati e
scopi del regime di terrore razzista e di occupazione imperialista
in Kosovo-Metohija, abbiamo cercato di inquadrare il fatto nell'ambito
di una cronaca degli avvenimenti di questi mesi. Benche' gia' di per
se sufficientemente scioccanti, le notizie da noi riportate non sono
in alcun modo esaustive degli avvenimenti nella provincia, e vanno
intese solo come esempi delle informazioni negate alla pubblica
opinione.

Ricordiamo che i precedenti numeri del "bollettino di guerra" sono
archiviati alle URL:

Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, Maggio-Luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1876

Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, fine luglio 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1900

Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, agosto-settembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1962

Kosmet: bollettino di guerra, settembre-ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2001
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2002

Kosmet, bollettino di guerra: fine ottobre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2055

Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra novembre-dicembre 2002
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2556

Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra gennaio-febbraio 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2557

Macelleria UCKFOR: bollettino di guerra marzo-aprile 2003
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2558

Un grande numero di articoli sui vari aspetti del regime di terrore
instaurato congiuntamente dalle "nostre" truppe occidentali (KFOR) e
dai criminali neonazisti locali (UCK) si puo' trovare sempre nel
nostro archivio:

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/

Per un inquadramento storico del terrore nazista in Kosovo-Metohija
si veda in particolare:

http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2521

ed i collegamenti ivi contenuti.

(a cura di Andrea)


=== LINKS ===


Extremist on UN's payroll
http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/06/02/fOpinion173.raw.html

Monday, June 2, 2003 - The Halifax Herald Limited
By Scott Taylor ON TARGET
<<Pristina, Kosovo - IN THEIR SMALL OFFICE at the UN police
headquarters in Kosovo, former Ottawa policeman Derek Chappell and his
partner, Barry Fletcher, an ex-New Orleans cop, told me about their
frustration in trying to control the ongoing inter-ethnic violence in
this war-ravaged Balkan province...>>

Scott Taylor Accuses NATO & UN of Tolerating Terror in Kosovo.
Comments by Jared Israel
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/taylor1.htm


=== ESPROPRIATI ALLO STATO E MESSI IN SVENDITA I BENI JUGOSLAVI ===


STEINER FIRMA IL DECRETO

LAST DOCUMENT FOR STARTING PRIVATIZATION IN KOSOVO SIGNED
PRISTINA, May 12 (Beta) - U.N. administrator in Kosovo Michael Steiner
proclaimed a Decree on the "Transformation of rights to use
sociallyowned real estate," known as the "Decree on the right to use
land."
Under the decree, the right to use land belonging to sociallyowned
companies has been changed into a 99year lease, which can be
transferred, and used as collateral for loans.
"The decree that stipulates the transformation of the right to use
land into a kind of ownership of property will considerably boost the
value of sociallyowned companies that will be privatized and thus
contribute to developing the Kosovo economy," it said in a statement
delivered to BETA.
A special provision of the Decree refers to "granting rights to
workers," in respect of income from privatization. A certain portion
of the income will be distributed to the workers of a privatized
sociallyowned company. The portion will be 20 percent of the amount
offered for the given sociallyowned company.
The decree, which came into effect on May 9, has overcome the last
legal obstacle for starting the privatization program in Kosovo.

COVIC: "E' UN FURTO ED UNA PROVOCAZIONE"

COVIC: STEINER'S DECREE ON LAND IS ROBBERY
BELGRADE, May 12 (Beta) - The president of the Coordinating Center for
Kosovo and Metohija, Nebojsa Covic, said that UNMIK Chief Michael
Steiner's decree, which envisions the privatization of municipal land,
was biased and represented "the robbery" of stateowned capital.
Covic said that Steiner's decree on transforming the rights of using
stateowned land, was "another provocation for the Belgrade
authorities, whose representatives had not been consulted before its
adoption."
Covic said that Steiner's decree on land will be one of the main
issues on the agenda at tomorrow's meeting.
"I think this is plunder which is in total violation of international
standards, where property is treated as a sacred thing and cannot be
sold without the landowner's permission, which in this case is
Belgrade," Covic told BETA.
He added that everyone knows how much the state invested in Kosovo and
Metohija and how much property Serbia owns in Kosovo and he called on
the workers to protect their property.

VERSO LA PRIVATIZZAZIONE DI 500 AZIENDE A CAPITALE SOCIALE

http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=40535&LangID=1
Seeurope.net - May 23, 2003
UN Launches Kosovan Sell-Off

The United Nations has published tenders for the first controversial
privatisations of almost 500 companies in the Serbian province of
Kosovo.
Serbia, of which the Kosovan protectorate is still legally a part, has
opposed the privatisations claiming the UN interim authority has
failed to properly consult on how the proceed of the sales will be
distributed.
According to the Kosovo Trust Agency, a UN body, state laws have been
introduced to "ensure a very investor-friendly environment including
regulations on foreign investment, repatriation of capital, the
purchase of real estate and... the 99-year leases of land formerly
used by 'socially-owned enterprises'." UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) says the sell-offs are vital for restarting
the economy, where about 2 million inhabitants depend mainly on
foreign aid. /Source: BBC/


=== UNMIK: "IL KOSOVO NON FARA' MAI PIU' PARTE DELLA SERBIA" ===


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/75028
SNC - COUNT LAMBSDORF SCANDALOUS STATEMENT IS REVEALING STEINER'S
HIDDEN AGENDA IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

ERP KIM Info-service - Gracanica, May 11, 2003
Nikolaus Count Lambsdorf, chief of cabinet of Michael Steiner, Special
UN Secretary General representative in Kosovo said that "Kosovo will
never again be a part of Serbia" at an international meeting on Kosovo
in Vienna (Austria) on May 09.
By such a statement Count Lambsdorf is seriously overstepping his
authorities and prejudicing future status of Kosovo and Metohija
before any negotiations, claim SNC leaders in Kosovo and Metohija. In
fact, this shocking statement reveals true goals of Michael Steiner's
administration, which is no longer hiding its openly pro-Albanian
agenda and support of unilateral changes of Serbia-Montenegro
internationally recognized borders.
On the other hand, Lambsdorf easily dismisses the idea of division of
Kosovo claiming that "division of Kosovo could encourage Albanians to
request Albanian inhabited territories in Macedonia and South of
Serbia by force". However, he seems to forget that the very request of
proclaiming independence of Kosovo and Metohija province, which is
still a part of Serbia-Montenegro, in itself constitutes a precedent
that is directly encouraging secessionist claims in many other
European and non-European countries.
After four years of international-Albanian rule in Kosovo, it is more
than evident for Kosovo Serbs that the only kind of state Albanians
can create in Kosovo is an ethnically clean Albanian society which
will be one of the most monoethnic and repressive societies in Europe.
Support for such ideas by an UN official is simply scandalous and is
further eroding the allegedly unbiased image of UNMIK, claim SNC
officials in Gracanica.
After the mandate of former UNMIK chief Hans Haekerrup, Steiner's
admnistration did everything to obstruct implementation of the UN SC
Resolution 1244 and encourage ethnic Albanian claims for secession of
Kosovo and Metohija.
Steiner's famous slogan of standards-before-status has become nothing
but a smoke screen behind which UNMIK intends to hand over most
important competencies to almost ethnically pure ethnic Albanian
institutions, which openly continue with their gross violations of
minority rights and actively pursue a policy of creating a second
ethnic Albanian state in the Balkans.
Therefore, this statement by one of Steiner's closest associates
suggests an urgent need to replace the present UNMIK leadership by
more evenhanded and constructive representatives who will finally
start working on implementation of Resolution 1244 and creation of
proper conditions for all ethnic communities in Kosovo.
The statement of Count Lambsdorf was also strongly condemned by the
Serbian-Montenegrin ambassador in Austria, Mihailo Kovac, who
explained to the participants of the meeting in Vienna that Serbia has
undergone very important democratic changes and that it is now headed
by people who strongly fought against Milosevic's policies and who
pursue a policy of tolerance and human rights respects, as can be seen
in South Serbia.
On the other hand, in Kosovo, under UNMIK's policy of transfer of
competencies, a monoethnic society is emerging and its politicians
only pursue a policy of independence without readiness to grant the
minimum of rights to non-Albanians, Kovac stated.
This fact was also recognized by UNMIK chief Michael Steiner himself
who said a few days ago that Kosovo is ruled by organized crime in
which some international representatives are also involved.
"Many criminals and terrorists put on uniforms of the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC) and keep throwing bombs and arming Albanians in
south Serbia and Macedonia," said Kovac, adding that, in Kosovo, there
is "a tragic lack of democratic potential and positive authority among
local Albanians". He also said that international representatives
hypocritically refuse to confront such a reality and implement
Resolution 1244, which constitutes their mandate in the Province.

PRIMA CONSEGUENZA DELL'INCORAGGIAMENTO DELL'UNMIK:
IL "PARLAMENTO" DEL KOSOVO ADOTTA RISOLUZIONE INDIPENDENTISTA

Resolution on liberation and independence of Kosovo adopted

PRISTINA, May 15 (Tanjug) - The Kosovo Parliament deputies adopted on
Thursday a resolution of freedom, liberation and independence of
Kosovo.
The resolution is aimed at protecting all forms of resistance by the
Albanian people against the "Serbian aggressor," and it underlines
the "enormous assistance of the international community" in the
liberation of Kosovo. Unlike the previous resolution, which had
failed to be adopted twice, including at the Parliament Presidency
session, the new resolution has no mention of the credit of former
soldiers of the Liberation Army of Kosovo (OVK).
The parliament requested from the Kosovo government to draw up a law
that would clearly define the contribution of the "Kosovo liberators"
in liberating the province, that is to specify that the OVK is not a
terrorist organization. As announced in Kosovska Mitrovica on
Wednesday, deputies of the Coalition Return walked out of the
Thursday parliament session, but returned after the vote.


=== VARIE NEFANDEZZE ===


I MEMBRI DEL "CORPO DI PROTEZIONE" HANNO TUTTORA CONTATTI CON I
TERRORISTI

http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=3211797&startrow=1&date=2003-05-11&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti), May 11, 2003

MEMBERS OF KOSOVO PROTECTION CORPS MAY HAVE CONTACTS WITH TERRORISTS
BELGRADE, May 11, 2003. (from a RIA Novosti correspondent Alexander
Slabynko) - The command of the KFOR international peacekeeping force
in Kosovo will stick to its prohibition against training Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC) officers abroad until it is guaranteed that the
organisation is devoid of members of terrorist groups, a KFOR official
statement published on Sunday by the Beta agency reads.
The document reads in part that so far there are reasons to believe
that there are people "involved in terrorist activity" among KPC
members.
The command of the international peacekeeping force has temporarily
prohibited the training of KPC members abroad after a terrorist
attempt to mine a railway bridge near Zvecani, in Kosovo. According to
KFOR, two officers of the Kosovo Protection Corps took part in the act
of terror.
The Kosovo Protection Corps is a civil organisation designed to take
emergency measures and it should not harbour criminals and terrorists,
KFOR stresses.
The KPC was established in September 1999 to substitute the so-called
Kosovo Liberation Army which had been disarmed and disbanded.

UN ALTRO SERBO TROVATO CADAVERE

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=15649
Stars And Stripes - May 23, 2003

Cold-case squad tackles unsolved murders in Kosovo
By Ward Sanderson
PRISTINA, Kosovo - International police in Kosovo have taken a cue
from metropolitan cops back home and created a special squad to tackle
cold cases - unsolved murders that are years old.
In Kosovo, killings were commonplace after the NATO-led bombing in
1999 that led to the province's protectorate status. Ethnic, political
and organized crime assassinations - and just plain revenge - were
frequent.
This Old West in Eastern Europe has since grown relatively calm,
despite two killings in the last few days. On Friday, a Serb was found
dead with multiple gunshots to the head in the Gnjilane region. A note
discovered on the scene claimed it was the work of the Albanian
National Army, an ethnically motivated terror group. Police say they
haven't verified the claim.
On Sunday, a construction warehouse worker was shot dead in the Pec
region. Police have yet to announce a motive.
Nonetheless, the number of murders has nearly halved each year since
peacekeepers arrived. That welcome breather and lapse of time may
combine to allow international gumshoes to solve the backlog of
killings from 1999 and 2000.
"Over the past decade or so, it has become a common practice for
police agencies in the West to create a special squad to re-examine
unsolved murders", U.N. police spokesman Derek Chappell said during a
press conference Tuesday.
"It is an effective tactic that allows a new investigator with a fresh
perspective to examine the case, possibly also ... to use new
technology or resources."
Though exact figures weren't available for how many cases remain
unsolved, they likely number in the hundreds considering the total
number of killings and the state of chaos that once reigned.
"In '99, we must have had maybe 500 or 600," Chappell said. In 2000,
police records show 245 murders. Last year, there were 68.
Of the unsolved cases, some have been put on a high-profile list of
crimes believed to be politically motivated and the result of dark
forces rather than spontaneous passions. Those number about 60,
according to local newspaper Koha Ditore.
"Most of them," Chappell said, "are very well-organized and
well-planned."
Police also hope that, as the years roll by, witnesses will recover
from the amnesia brought on by fears of gangsters or terrorists.
"A lot of people were scared to death," Chappell said. "As time
passes, fear passes."
Technology may also prove a formidable ally.
According to a U.S. Justice Department report published last year,
upgraded genetic testing techniques make it possible to identify
suspects using smaller samples of DNA than were required in recent
years.
"DNA has proved to be a powerful tool in the fight against crime," the
report read. "DNA evidence can identify suspects, convict the guilty,
and exonerate the innocent. Throughout the nation, criminal justice
professionals are discovering that advancements in DNA technology are
breathing new life into old, cold or unsolved criminal cases."

KOSOVO: UNMIK, PROFESSORE SERBO TROVATO MORTO NEL SUD-EST

(ANSA) - ROMA, 18 MAG - Un professore di lingue serbo, di 41 anni, e'
stato ucciso con due colpi alla testa: il suo corpo e' stato trovato
ieri sera tardi in un canale a un chilometro dal villaggio serbo di
Vrbovac (sud-est), nella zona di Vitina. Lo ha detto all'Ansa il
portavoce della missione dell'Onu in Kosovo (Unmik) Andrea Angeli. Il
professore era padre di tre figli. La sua morte, definita di carattere
etnico dai suoi compaesani, che hanno inscenato una manifestazione di
protesta, e' ora oggetto di indagini. La zona appartiene al settore
controllato dagli americani della Kfor. (ANSA). SPD 18/05/2003 14:09
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

KOSOVO: MINI A BRUXELLES,SONO TORNATI GRUPPI ARMATI ILLEGALI

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 22 MAG - In Kosovo sono tornati gruppi armati
illegali che insieme al terrorismo di stampo nazionalista
costituiscono le nuove sfide per la sicurezza nella provincia: lo ha
detto a Bruxelles il comandante della Kfor (forza di pace a guida
Nato), generale Fabio Mini, parlando davanti al Consiglio del Nord
Atlantico (Nac). ''Altre minacce alla sicurezza provengono dalle lotte
interne per il potere, dagli scontri di estremisti anche contro le
istituzioni internazionali e dalla criminalita' organizzata'' ha
aggiunto Mini, secondo quanto si legge in un comunicato della Kfor
affidato all'Ansa. Il generale Mini ''ha difeso appasionatamente il
ruolo presente e futuro del Tmk (la struttura di protezione civile del
Kosovo) come organizzazione civile di emergenza'', escludendo che
l'organismo composto dagli ex appartenenti alla guerriglia albanese
(Uck) possa ''sostituire nei propri compiti la Kfor ne' far pensare ad
un esercito''. Il concetto e' stato ripreso anche nella dichirazione
finale del Nac nella quale il segretario generale dell'Alleanza
atlantica, George Robertson, ha ribadito che ''il Tmk e'
un'organizzazione civile di emergenza e la comunita' internazionale si
rifiuta di considerarlo in qualsiasi forma riconducibile ad un
embrione di esercito''. Nelle proprie ambizioni indipendentiste gli
albanesi del Kosovo ritengono invece che il Tmk debba diventare in
futuro proprio la forza armata del paese. Robertson ha espresso
''incondizionato appoggio'' al generale Mini e ha riconfermato ''il
grande impegno della Nato'' a sostegno del Kosovo.(ANSA). BLL
22-MAG-03 19:54
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

RIFUGIATI KOSOVARI ROM IN MACEDONIA ABBANDONATI IN CONDIZIONI IGNOBILI

http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=2582
Reality Macedonia - May 24, 2003

Kosovo Roma Refugees Invite Robertson to Medzhitlija
By Mende Petkovski, Dnevnik
Translation by RM Team, for fair use only

Roma refugees from Kosovo who have been staying on
border crossing Medzhitlija for five days now invited
Friday George Robertson or Xavier Solana to come at
that border crossing and see the new humanitarian
disaster. Thirty out of more than six hundred Romas
from Kosovo got soaked wet and caught a cold so they
are constantly asking for help doctors on duty in
improvised hospital due to high fever. There is
already not enough food and water while the lack of
sanitary utilities complicates the situation even
further. "Komunalec" [garbage disposal] vehicle puts
away the waste occasionally.
"We do not accept the proposals of UNHCR and other
humanitarian organizations to go to live in Katlanovo
or to private shacks and basements in Skopje, or any
other town in Macedonia. We have only one choice - to
die here in Medzhitlija or to become citizens of any
Western European country which would grant us asylum,"
says Bekir Krasniqi, one of Roma refugee leaders.
Deputy Nezhdet Mustafa visited Thursday Roma people,
supported their demands and said that "those people
are not adventurers," and that European community
should hear about their problem and put serious effort
into solving it.
"They really cannot go back to Kosovo, since nobody
guarantees their safety, and in Macedonia they cannot
find a happy future for them or their children.
Therefore, their request to leave to Europe should be
taken honestly and seriously. They live with this
problem for over four years. Unfortunately, the
responsible international institutions act as if they
do not want to deal with the problem, to admit it
exists, and to solve it," stated Mustafa.
Roma people invite George Robertson, NATO's general
secretary and Xavier Solana, EU High Representative,
as well as UN representatives, to come to Medzhitlija.
"Just like they were running to Blace to see the
crisis of Albanian refugees, they should come to
Medzhitlija to see the humanitarian disaster which is
real and which might destroy 611 people, half of which
are children and pregnant women."
Today the refugees have scheduled a new meeting with
Ashmet Elezovski, member of the organization Roma
National Congress, who is supposed to pass their
message--that they are all going to die in Medzhitlija
if they don't get to EUrope--to all European
institutions,

KOSOVO: GOVERNATORE STEINER LASCIA, ANDRA' A ONU GINEVRA

(ANSA) - BERLINO, 28 MAG - Il governatore Onu in Kosovo, L'ex
consigliere di politica estera e di sicurezza del cancelliere Gerhard
Schroeder, Michael Steiner, terminera' in estate il suo mandato e
sara' trasferito come rappresentante permanente della Germania presso
le Nazioni Unite a Ginevra. La nomina dell'alto diplomatico e' stata
decisa oggi dal consiglio dei ministri a Berlino. Steiner (53 anni)
era stato costretto a dimettersi nel novembre 2001 da consigliere del
cancelliere a seguito di un incidente verbale con un militare.
All'inizio del 2002 aveva assunto l'incarico di responsabile della
missione delle Nazioni Unite (Unmik) in Kosovo. A Ginevra' andra' a
sostituire l'ambasciatore Walter Lewalter che va in pensione a fine
giugno. (ANSA). BUS 28/05/2003 13:09
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

PROFUGHI KOSOVARI SERBI PROTESTANO A BELGRADO DINANZI ALLE AMBASCIATE
STRANIERE

B92 June 2, 2003
Kosovars protest outside Western embassies
BELGRADE -- Monday - A number of associations of Serbs
displaced from Kosovo today demonstrated in front of
Western embassies in Belgrade, demanding an answer on
when Serbs would repatriated to the southern province.
The protesters asked the governments of the US,
Germany, the UK, Russia and Italy to secure freedom of
movement for Serbs and to call a halt to the UNMIK
privatisation process.
They also called on the Serbian government to "finally
take a serious approach to resolving the Kosovo problem".
Although they announced they would stage a hunger
strike in front of the embassies, most of the
demonstrators dispersed after submitting their demands.

B92 June 2, 2003
Exiled Serbs request western powerhouse assistance
BELGRADE -- Monday -- Representatives of several
associations of expelled Kosovo-Serbs have today
submitted requests to the Belgrade embassies of
western countries and Russia.
The exiles request that the governments of America,
Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Russia explain
exactly when they will allow expelled Serbs and other
minorities to return to the troubled southern Serbian province.
The request also asks for freedom of movement to be
secured and the privatization process to be halted.
The Kosovo-Serb refugees also request that the Serbian
government "finally take a serious approach to resolve
the Kosovo problem".

PREMIER DELL'ALBANIA DICHIARATAMENTE FAVOREVOLE ALLA SECESSIONE DEL
KOSOVO

B92 Beta - June 2, 2003
Albanian premier advocates Kosovo independence

PRISTINA -- Monday -- Albanian President Alfred Moisiu
has said that there's hardly another option for
Kosovo's Albanians than to seek independence of the
province.
In an interview with Pristina daily Koha ditore,
Moisiu said: "The times of applying force and power
have passed, that is our stance on one of the main
conditions set for the Balkan countries".
The Albanian president continued by insisting that
Balkan integration must be achieved, or else the
countries of the region could not integrate into the
European Union.
Moisio said that the people of Kosovo should be the
ones to decide the Serbian province's fate in
accordance with international factors, adding that the
calling of a referendum would be a good solution to
the deadlock.

MOISIU: ONLY ALBANIAN OPTION IS INDEPENDENT KOSOVO
PRISTINA, June 2 (Beta) - There is hardly any other option for
Albanians except an independent Kosovo, said Albanian President Alfred
Moisiu in an interview to the Pristina based daily Koha Dittore of
June 2.
Asked about Kosovo's final status, Moisiu said that a referendum on
Kosovo's status was a good solution for Kosovo. He said that the
citizens of Kosovo should be allowed to decide on the province's
future in cooperation with international factors.
Moisiu, however, said that it was also very important to establish and
strengthen democratic institutions in Kosovo. Commenting on relations
between Albania and Kosovo, Moisiu said that they were "satisfactory
and constantly improving, despite the fact that Kosovo is an
international protectorate and that all bilateral relations are
supervised by UNMIK."


=== LA "LIBERTA'" CONQUISTATA CON L'ACCETTA ===


Repubblica on line del 4/6 (flash ANSA)
Pristina, 11:42
Kosovo, Onu conferma: tre serbi uccisi a colpi di accetta

Sono stati uccisi a colpi di accetta prima che la loro abitazione
venisse data alle fiamme i tre serbi trovati carbonizzati questa
mattina nel villaggio di Obiliq, in Kosovo (leggi qui). Lo ha
confermato all'Ansa Andrea Angeli, portavoce della missione delle
Nazioni Unite (Unmik): "Sui cadaveri sono state trovate profonde
lesioni provocate da colpi di accetta - ha detto il portavoce - resta
da definire soltanto se nel momento in cui e' stato appiccato il fuoco
alla loro abitazione, i tre membri della famiglia fossero gia' morti".
Centinaia di serbi che abitano nella zona di Obiliq sono intanto scesi
in strada per protestare contro questa che considerano [sic]
un'ennesima strage a sfondo etnico, la piu' grave avvenuta in Kosovo
negli ultimi mesi. Il governatore Onu del Kosovo Michail Steiner e il
vice premier serbo Nebojsa Covic stanno raggiungendo la zona. (Red)

KOSOVO: SERBI UCCISI; MANIFESTANTI CONTESTANO STEINER

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 4 GIU - Un centinaio di manifestanti serbi ha
duramente contestato oggi il governatore delle Nazioni Unite in
Kosovo, Michail Steiner, che si era recato nel villaggio di Obiliq per
rendere omaggio ai tre serbi massacrati la notte scorsa nella loro
abitazione in una probabile strage a sfondo etnico. Steiner era
accompagnato dal primo ministro albanese Bajram Rexhepi. I
dimostranti, che sin dalle prime ore del mattino erano scesi in
strada, hanno piu' volte interrotto il discorso che Steiner stava
improvvisando. ''E' questa la giustizia degli americani'' ha urlato un
serbo, mentre altri strattonavano per la giacca lo stesso Steiner che
poco dopo, accompagnato dalla scorta, ha preferito fare rientro a
Pristina. (ANSA). BLL 04/06/2003 12:26
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

il manifesto - 05 Giugno 2003
PRISTINA

Strage di serbi in Kosovo

Sterminata famiglia di contadini: siluro alla missione Ue
TOMMASO DI FRANCESCO
Una coppia di coniugi ottantenni serbi e il loro figlio
cinquantatreenne sono stati uccisi ad accettate e la loro casa data
alle fiamme nel piu' grave atto di violenza in Kosovo negli ultimi
mesi. Le vittime sono Slobodan Stolic di 80 anni, la moglie Radmira di
78 e il figlio Ljubinko di 53 anni. L'agguato sanguinoso e' avvenuto
la notte scorsa a Obilic, a 15 km da Pristina, e rappresenta "un
siluro" ai tentativi di riconciliazione nella provincia serba a
maggioranza albanese. Le uccisioni sono infatti avvenute poche ore
prima dell'arrivo in Kosovo dell'alto rappresentante della politica
estera dell'Unione europea, Javier Solana, che intende promuovere un
summit tra leader serbi e albanesi della provincia al Consiglio
europeo del 20 e 21 giugno a Salonicco. Le vittime sono stati
aggredite nel cuore della notte mentre erano a letto. Il governatore
Onu della provincia, Michael Steiner, e il premier della comunita'
albanese, Bajiram Rexhepi, si sono recati sul luogo dell'assassinio
appena appresa la notizia e sono stati fischiati dalla folla di serbi.
In Kosovo sono state piu' di 1.300 le uccisioni causate dalla
contropulizia etnica [sic] seguita all'intervento Nato del 1999 - e
avvenute sotto gli occhi dei nostri "soldati di pace" - mentre 200.000
serbi hanno preferito abbandonare la provincia passata
provvisoriamente sotto il controllo dell'Onu. La famiglia uccisa aveva
gia' subito numerose minacce affinche' lasciasse il paese. In passato
aveva subito il furto dell'auto e il lancio di bottiglie molotov
contro l'abitazione. E' stata una esecuzione barbara. Sono stati fatti
a pezzi prima che la loro abitazione venisse data alle fiamme. Ce lo
ha confermato Andrea Angeli, portavoce della missione delle Nazioni
unite (Unmik), da noi sentito direttamente:
"I cadaveri presentavano profondi tagli provocati da colpi di accetta,
forse non erano ancora morti al momento in cui l'abitazione e' stata
data alle fiamme". Centinaia di serbi della zona di Obiliq sono subito
scesi in strada per protestare contro l'ennesima strage etnica, tra le
piu' feroci degli ultimi mesi. Ha subito raggiunto in macchina la zona
anche il vice-premier serbo Nebojsa Covic, responsabile per Belgrado
della questione Kosovo. I manifestanti serbi, tutti contadini, al
grido: "Questa e' la pace americana e tedesca!", hanno duramente
contestato l'arrivo del governatore dell'Onu, Michail Steiner, che si
era recato nel villaggio di Obilic per rendere omaggio ai tre serbi
massacrati. Steiner e' stato anche "strattonato" e piu' volte
interrotto mentre cercava di pronunciare un discorso improvvisato,
tanto che la sua scorta alla fine ha preferito riaccompagnarlo di
corsa a Pristina.
Una prova del fatto che il Kosovo - ancora secondo gli accordi di pace
del 1999, "provincia" della Serbia, non e' pacificato. Un siluro alla
necessita' di affrontare il nodo del suo status definitivo: gli
indipendentisti al governo con il moderato [sic] Rugova ma anche con
gli estremisti dell'ex Uck vogliono il Kosovo indipendente, Belgrado
vuole il rispetto degli accordi del 1999, e ora, dopo la guerra
all'Iraq, un allungamento del protettorato militare all'infinito
sembra esere l'intendimento dell'Occidente che ha fatto la "guerra
umanitaria". A quali risultati? Se pochi giorni fa un rapporto di
Amnesty International denunciava, con
dovizia di particolare, che il Kosovo altro non e' che "una prigione
per le minoranze". E una tomba.
Su tutto questo l'Italia del governo Berlusconi tace e
irresponsabilmente frequenta la tragedia del Kosovo "giocando a
pallone", come ha fatto recentemente il sottosegretario Antonione con
delega ai Balcani.
http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/05-Giugno-2003/art30.html


Three Serbs murdered in Kosovo: UN
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, June 4 (AFP) - An elderly Serb couple and
their son were axed to death and their
house was set on fire Wednesday in Obilic, some 15 kilometers (nine
miles) northwest of the Kosovo capital Pristina, a United Nations
official said.
Slobodan Stolic, 80, his wife Radmila, 78, and their son Ljubinko, 53,
were murdered in their house around 2:30 am (0030 GMT), UN spokesman
in Kosovo Andrea Angeli said. The house was then torched.
"It's a murder and we are still investigating this horrendous crime,"
Angeli said, adding that there were no suspects so far.
"A large crowd of Serbs has gathered in Obilic and they are very
nervous."
UN mission chief Michael Steiner and Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram
Rexhepi were on their way to Obilic, which has a mixed Serb and
Albanian population.
Angeli said it was too early to say whether the murder was motivated
by ethnic hatred.
Kosovo has been under UN control since the end of a NATO bombing
campaign in June 1999 which forced Belgrade forces to withdraw from
the southern Serbian province, ending their brutal crackdown on the
Albanian majority.
Hundreds [sic] of Serbs and non-Albanians have been killed or have
gone missing since the end of the war, while more than 200,000 Serbs
have fled the province fearing reprisals from Albanian extremists.

Ethnic Albanian extremists kill Kosovo Serb family
OBILIC, June 4 (Tanjug) - Ethnic Albanian extremists used firearms to
kill in Obilic late on Tuesday the Stolic nfamily - Slobodan and
Radmila, both over 80 years old, and their son Ljubinko, Return
coalition member Rada Trajkovic told Tanjug.
The attackers tried to set the family's house on fire to conceal
murder, but neighbors noticed and put out the fire at about 2 a.m.,
finding the dead bodies. Neighbor Novica Stolic told Tanjug that
ethnic Albanians had repeatedly asked Slobodan Stolic to sell his
house, which he refused, and that this was why they were killed.
The Stolic family chose to stay in Kosovo-Metohija after the arrival
of KFOR in 1999. Obilic is inhabited by about 2,500 Serbs, who have
no freedom of movement.


Subject: [yugoslaviainfo] Kosovo: Tortured, Murdered Serb Family Had
Sought UNMIK Help, Were Ignored
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 16:11:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Rozoff

1) NATO War Criminal, Architect Of Four Years Of
Murder And Ethnic Cleansing, Javier Solana Returns To
Scene Of Crime
2) Tortured, Murdered Serbian Family Had Sought UNMIK
Assistance But Were Ignored
3) Kosovo Serbian Deputies Stage Walk-Out In Protest
Of Latest Atrocity

1)
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bx/Qkosovo-serbia-montenegro.RMUm_Du5.html

Solana meets Kosovo leaders as violence simmers
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, June 5 (AFP) - The
European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana,
met ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo on Thursday, a
day after the brutal slaying of a Serb family damaged
hopes for inter-ethnic dialogue.
Officials said Solana met Prime Minister Bajram
Rexhepi and President Ibrahim Rugova as UN police
probed Wednesday's slaughter of an elderly Serb couple
and their son in a village northwest of here.
No details were immediately available of the meetings.
Radio B92 in Belgrade reported that the triple murder,
the worst attack on Serbs here in more than a year,
were high on the agenda of Solana's talks with UN
mission chief Michael Steiner late Wednesday.
The violence has fuelled the deep animosity between
the Serb and Albanian communities at a time when the
UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is tentatively exploring
the possibility of dialogue between the ethnic
Albanian government here and the Serbian authorities
in Belgrade.
Kosovo has been under UN control since the end of a
NATO bombing campaign in June 1999 which forced
Belgrade forces to withdraw from the province and end
a brutal crackdown on the Albanian majority.
Hundreds of Serbs and non-Albanians [a gross, obscene
understimation] have been killed or have gone missing
since the end of the war, while more than 200,000
Serbs have fled the province fearing reprisals [what
does an 80-year-old man and his 78-year-old wife have
to fear 'reprisals' for?] from Albanian extremists.
Angry Serbs took to the streets of Obilic, 15
kilometers (nine miles) northwest of Pristina, on
Wednesday to express their grief at the attack on
their elderly neighbours the previous night.
UN officials said Slobodan Stolic, 80, his wife
Radmila, 78, and their son Ljubinko, 53, had been
hacked to death with an axe and their house had been
torched by unknown attackers.
Steiner and Rexhepi rushed to the town to promise
justice but they were jeered by the grieving crowd.
Most Serbs believe the UN has failed to protect them
from Albanian reprisals since the war.
Nenad Radosavljevic, a Serbian advisor to Steiner for
minority and refugee issues, said there could be no
doubt that the murders were an ethnic hate crime even
though UN officials were cautious about jumping to
conclusions.

2) http://www.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/2003-06/05/329520.html

Serbia.info June 5, 2003
Triple murder opens issue of human rights in Kosovo
Belgrade, June 5, 2003 - The Coordinating Centre for
Kosovo-Metohija's Department for Justice and Human
Rights has severely condemned the murder of the
three-member Stolic family from Obilic.
The murder of the Stolic family was ethnically
motivated and it opens the issue of respect for basic
human rights in Kosovo-Metohija, the Coordinating
Centre has said in a statement.
The Serbian Parliament's Committee on Kosovo-Metohija
has also severely condemned this act, and has proposed
that the Serbian government ask the UN Security
Council to call an urgent session to discuss the
security situation in the province. At the same time,
Coalition Povratak (Return) deputies are ordered to
demand the dismissal of all those responsible for
security in Kosovo's interim institutions.
Chief of the Department for Police and Security
General-Major Svetislav Djurdjevic said that the
investigation confirmed that Slobodan, Radmila and
Ljubinko Stolic had been tortured before they were
murdered with a blunt object.
According to Djurdjevic, the family had previously
reported to UNMIK police threats and pressure directed
at them, but the police did not respond by taking any action.

3) B92 Beta June 5, 2003

Return Coalition walk out of Kosovo Assembly
PRISTINA -- Thursday -- Kosovo-Serb MPs of the Return
Coalition have walked out of today's Kosovo Assembly
session in protest over yesterday's triple murder of a
Kosovo-Serb family in Obilic.
Dragisa Krstovic, head of the coalition, demanded that
someone bear responsibility for the Stolic family
slaughter, noting that many other crimes against Serbs
in the province remain unsolved.
The Assembly's session has continued with Albanian MPs
and members of other minorities in attendance.


Subject: [yugoslaviainfo] Call For Urgent Security Council Meet On
Kosovo; Kandic Ousted By Victims' Family
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 23:14:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rick Rozoff

1) Serbia Will Present Kosovo Crisis Before UN
Security Council On June 10, 2003
2) Serbian Parliament Calls For Urgent Security
Council Session On Kosovo
3) Professional 'Human Rights' Operative Natasa Kandic
Thrown Out By Murdered Victims' Family

1) http://www.serbia.sr.gov.yu/news/2003-06/05/329526.html

Serbia.info June 6, 2003
UN Security Council to discuss Kosovo situation on June 10
Belgrade, June 5, 2003 - Head of the Coordinating
Centre for Kosovo-Metohija Nebojsa Covic announced
Thursday that Serbian and Montenegrin Ambassador to
the United Nations Dejan Sahovic will present the
position of the Belgrade authorities on the situation
in Kosovo-Metohija at the UN Security Council's June
10 session.
Covic said that the people of Kosovo can no longer
live on certain international officials' empty
promises of freedom of movement, security, stability
and tolerance in Kosovo-Metohija. He also demanded for
the quick arrest of the murderers of the Stolic family
from Obilic.
Covic stressed that the situation in Kosovo-Metohija
needs to be put into order.
He also underlined the importance of the adoption of
two conclusions at the upcoming Thessaloniki Summit:
that Pristina and Belgrade need to begin immediate
talks and that creation of democratic institutions in
the whole of the region is necessary for European
integration.

2) B92 Beta June 5, 2003

Outraged Serbs request action at all levels Beta
BELGRADE -- Thursday - The Serbian Parliament's Board
for Kosovo has requested that the Serbian Government
call for an urgent session of the UN Security Council
to address the problems of Kosovo.
The board have also requested that MPs of the
Kosovo-Serb Return Coalition initiate calls for the
dismissal of all those responsible for security in the
province's institutions, as well asking the Serbian
Parliament to hold an emergency session to debate the
security situation in Kosovo.
Today's session of the Serbian Parliament began with a
minute of silence in honour of the slain Stolic
family.
General-Major Svetislav Djurdjevic, head of the Police
and Security Sector of the Coordination Centre for
Kosovo, has confirmed that autopsy results show the
three victims were tortured, before being killed by
blows from a blunt object.
Djurdjevic added that the Stolic family had previously
reported repeated attacks and pressure, but that UNMIK
had not taken action and as such it was the
responsibility of the UN mission to bring the guilty
parties to justice.

3) B92 June 5, 2003

Stolic family throws lobbyist out of home
BELGRADE -- Thursday - Relatives of the Stolic family,
murdered in Kosovo's Obilic yesterday, today threw the
director of the Humanitarian Law Centre out of the
yard of the family home.
Natasa Kandic had travelled to Kosovo today in attempt
to visit the family.
Speaking to B92, she played down the significance of
the incident.
"This is a normal reaction from people in panic and
fear of their lives," said Kandic.
The family told Kandic that they were in no need of
people who were paid to lobby for human rights.
"Nothing has changed, only Albanians and their rights
are written about," said the family.
The family also said that no one was taking care of
the rights of Serbs while Kandic had been fighting for
the rights of Albanians.


TRIPLE MURDER IN OBILIC WAS PLANNED, NOT RESULT OF FIRE - CHAPEL
OBILIC, June 4 (Tanjug) - Kosovo UN police spokesman Derrek Chapel
said Wednesday, commenting last night's murder of the Serb family of
three in Obilic, that in question is a planned murder and that the
victims died as a result of a brutal beating, not in a fire, while
UNMIK chief Michael Steiner described it as a heinous and perfidious
crime. In question ins a triple and planned murder, Chapel told the
Reuters news agency adding that the victims were killed in the middle
of the night and died after being brutally beaten, not in a fire.
Reuters described this as the most serious attack on the Serb
community in the past two years since the bombing attack on a bus
near Pluzani in February 2001, when 11 Serbs were killed.
Steiner, who arrived on the scene, described the attack bas a heinous
and perfidious crime aimed against the multiethnic community in
Kosovo and the reconciliation of the two communities, Retuers
said.
Kosovo Premier Bairam Rexhepi condemned this act, which he called
barbaric, and demanded that those responsible are found as soon as
possible and brought to justice. Rexhepi added that the crime took
place at the moment when 20 Serb families were preparing to return to
Obilic.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=71613110&p=7y6y38y6
[Were the perpetrators wearing Kosovo Protection Corps uniforms?]
Ireland Online - June 5, 2003
Extremists accused of Kosovo family killings

Ethnic Albanian extremists were today accused of killing a Kosovo Serb
family of three whose bodies were found in their blazing home.
The attack condemned as a hate crime by UN officials and Kosovo's
ethnic Albanian prime minister.
The burned bodies of Slobodan Stolic, 80, his wife Radmila, 78, and
their 53 year-old son, Lubinjko, were found inside their home in
Obilic, an ethnically mixed town ten miles from Pristina.
"They had serious body injuries prior to the burning with a sharp
object, with an axe," said UN spokesman Andrea Angeli.
Michael Steiner, Kosovo's UN administrator, called the killings "a
heinous act, a perfidious crime which was
directed against multi-ethnicity in Kosovo.
"We need justice here and find those who are responsible," Steiner
said, announcing creation of a special police squad to investigate the
killings.
Visiting the site with Steiner, Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, an
ethnic Albanian, called the killing "a monstrous crime."
Steiner and Rexhepi were booed and jeered by a crowd of angry local
Serbs gathered in the garden of the family's charred house. They
accused the leaders of failing to provide security for their
community.
The killings are the gravest this year in the ethnically tense
province of two million and a major setback for stepped-up
international efforts to create conditions for the return of Serbs and
other minorities.
Kosovo has been administered by the UN and Nato since mid-1999, after
a Nato air war halted a Serb military crackdown on separatist ethnic
Albanians.
Since then, the Serb minority has been targeted by ethnic Albanian
extremists in revenge attacks for wartime atrocities [sic]. Some
200,000 Serbs have fled the province, and dozens have been killed in
such attacks.

B92 - June 5, 2003
Serb family murdered in Kosovo

OBILIC -- Wednesday a Kosovo-Serb family was murdered in their Obilic
home near Pristina last night, prompting an extreme reaction from
UNMIK's chief advisor for minorities and returnees.
Fire fighters discovered the bodies of Slobodan Stolic, his wife
Radmila and son Ljubinko after managing to extinguish a fire in the
modest house.
It has been established that the three were already dead before the
fire was set and the family car stolen. An investigation is now
underway.
UNMIK Chief Michael Steiner has also arrived on the scene, accompanied
by heavily armed police and KFOR troops.
Reacting to news of the murders, UNMIK advisor for minorities and
returnees, Nenad Radosavljevic said that he would request the complete
suspension of all powers of temporary institutions and the
re-introduction of a full protectorate status for Kosovo.
Speaking to B92 and condemning the murders in the strongest possible
terms, Radosavljevic continued: "I will also ask for Kosovo First
Minister Bajram Rexhepi to resign".
He said: "I cannot bring back the lost lives, but I will insist on the
dismissal and responsibility of the mayor, the municipal administrator
and the Obilic chief of police and KFOR commander for central Kosovo".
Insisting that "someone has to answer for this", Radosavljevic
explained: "I have been warning for days of the strong resistance and
ties between the Albanian politicians and Albanians who have
appropriated the assets of displaced people, but everyone has turned a
deaf ear to this".
A Serb National Council of Kosovo delegation has also arrived in the
town to learn details of the crime. Lead by Randjel Nojkic, they
insisted that local Serbs are understandably very upset and worried by
this latest atrocity.
Issuing a joint statement, the Serb National Council of Kosovo and the
Serbian Orthodox Church's Raska-Prizren diocese said:
"This heinous murder of innocent civilians is just one more in a
series of crimes that the Albanian extremists and terrorists use to
expel the remaining Serbs in Kosovo.
"There are around twenty Serb families left in Obilic. They have been
exposed for months to systematic terror, grenade and arson attacks."
The statement adds: "The murder of the Stolic family confirms the
bitter truth that Serb status in Kosovo
remains unchanged for four years, and that the drop in the number of
crimes committed is only a consequence of the Serbs' even greater
isolation, who stick to their enclaves and protected zones".
The Serbian Government has since announced that PM Zoran Zivkovic has
condemned the murder and requested that the responsiblity of temporary
self-government be established in Kosovo.
The government statement reads: "The monstrous torture, plundering and
burning of three people just because they continued to live in their
house is a great loss and a threat to all Serbs and all other citizens
of Kosovo that the extremists have pointed their finger at".
The PM is to propose to the appropriate Serbian and state union bodies
that responsible, autonomous, temporary institutions be established in
the southern province, insisting that the number of Serbs killed and
incidents of violence and destruction are increasing with the transfer
of powers to temporary Albanian-run institutions.
The daming statement adds: "The establishing of responsibility is also
necessary because of the fact that, despite all the more frequent
grave crimes and the increasing number of people killed, the UN
Secretary General's special representative continues to present his
disastrous results as successful, and plays at forming an independent
state in Kosovo by transferring the powers".


ONE MORE LINK:

Bishop Artemije:
Future of Kosovo cannot be built on blood of the innocent
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkim07june03.html#1


=== SEGUONO CONGRATULAZIONI ===


CARABINIERI: KOSOVO, CONGRATULAZIONI SOLANA A MSU

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 5 GIU - L'alto rappresentante per la politica
estera e la sicurezza dell'Unione europea, Javier Solana, si e'
congratulato oggi con i carabinieri italiani presenti in Kosovo per il
lavoro svolto nell'ambito dell'Unita' specializzata multinazionale
(Msu).
Solana, in occasione delle celebrazioni del 189/mo anniversario della
fondazione dell'Arma, ha voluto fare visita alla base della Msu a
Pristina dove ha incontrato il comandante della missione, il
colonnello Georg di Pauli.
Alla Msu in Kosovo partecipano circa 300 carabinieri italiani
affiancati da contingenti della gendarmeria francese e della polizia
militare estone, e attualmente costituisce la forza d'elite della
missione Nato (Kfor). Alla cerimoinia di oggi sono intervenuti tra gli
altri il comandante della Kfor, il generale italiano Fabio Mini, e il
rappresentante diplomatico italiano Pasquale Salzano. Il colonnello
Georg di Pauli, 46 anni di Merano, ha gia' partecipato a sette
operazioni di pace all'estero ed ora si appresta a lasciare l'incarico
in Kosovo per assumere il comando in una nuova, delicata,
missione.(ANSA) BLL 05/06/2003 20:45
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

KOSOVO: TRAPPOLA ESPLOSIVA IN CENTRO, QUATTRO FERITI

(ANSA) - PRISTINA, 7 GIU - Un attentato e' stato compiuto questa
mattina alle 9,20 in un'agenzia di viaggio nel centro di Pristina,
proprio di fronte al palazzo del governo del Kosovo. Una trappola
esplosiva, collegata alla saracinesca dell'agenzia di viaggi, ha
provocato il ferimento delle quattro commesse che si apprestavano ad
aprire l'esercizio.
''Due di loro sono in gravi condizioni -ha detto all'Ansa Andrea
Angeli, portavoce della missione delle Nazioni Unite (Unmik)- e una
rischia l'amputazione di una gamba''. La trappola era stata realizzata
con una granata di fabbricazione jugoslava collegata ad un filo.
Non si conosce ancora il movente dell'attentato. L'agenzia di viaggi
''Viola Reisen'' e' di proprieta' di un albanese, ma si esclude il
gesto a sfondo etnico. (ANSA). BLL/REN 07/06/2003 11:26
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/FIL744648.htm
Seven wounded in Kosovo travel agency blast

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, June 7 (Reuters) - A
bomb exploded outside a travel agency in the Kosovo
capital Pristina on Saturday, wounding a worker
opening up the office and six others, police said.
Jack Kraus, a spokesman for the Balkan province's
United Nations police force, said they were not sure
what sort of bomb had gone off. Some media spoke of a
booby-trapped hand grenade.
"The door was opened by a female employee. Two females
sustained serious injuries, not life-threatening. Five
others received less injuries," he said.
There was no word on who may have been responsible for
the city centre blast, which occurred at about 9 a.m.
(0700 GMT).
Organised crime flourished in the lawlessness
following NATO's 1999 bombing to drive Serb forces out
of Kosovo and end repression of majority ethnic
Albanians. The U.N. authority that took over the
province has been trying to crack down ever since. [Sic]

KOSOVO: DUE SOLDATI USA MORTI IN INCIDENTE ELICOTTERO

(ANSA) - PRISTINA (KOSOVO), 8 GIU - Due soldati americani delle truppe
della Nato in Kosovo (Kfor) sono morti oggi in un incidente di
elicottero nell'est di questa provincia serba a maggioranza albanese,
a quanto ha detto il portavoce delle forze Usa, il capitano Hillary
Luton.
Non ci sono indizi che l'incidente dell'elicottero, un Ah-64, sia da
attribuire a intenzioni ostili, ma le sue cause non sono ancora note,
ha aggiunto Luton. Il contingente americano nella Kfor e' composto da
circa 2.500 uomini, basati in buona parte nel Campo Bondsteel, a 40
chilometri ad est di Pristina, capoluogo del Kosovo. La Kfor e'
responsabile della sicurezza nel Kosovo, che e' sotto amministrazione
dell'Onu. (ANSA). COR 08-GIU-03 12:00 NNNN 08/06/2003 15:49
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/kosovo/kosovo.shtml


=== I SERBI DI VITINA CHIEDONO AIUTO ===


Subject: [yugoslaviainfo] Terror in Kosovo continues: CRY OF THE SERBS
FROM VITINA
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 19:25:57 -0500 (CDT)
From: Predrag Tosic
To: yugoslaviainfo <Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.>

[ ... but, insofar as the 'free press' i.e., the major media outlets
in the US are concerned, don't hold your breath and expect to read
about this in New York Times or see a heart-breaking C.
Amanpour-Rubin's report on CNN, or hear an honest account on the
Kosovo situation on quasi-independent NPR... ]

The Information Service of
the Serbian Orthodox Church
May 30, 2003
THE CRY OF THE SERBS FROM VITINA

The Serb National Council of Kosovo and Metohija has
sent a text with the cry and appeal of the Serbs of
Vitina containing a list of violent incidents in
Kosovsko Pomoravlje. Because of the rise in violence
and pressure against the Serb population of this
region, and in light of the persistent denial of the
worsening of the security situation by U.S. KFOR and
UNMIK representatives, the people of Kosovsko
Pomoravlje have no other option than to address a
public appeal to the Serb people and the Belgrade
Government to ask for their help.

CRY OF THE REMAINING SERB POPULATION FROM VITINA
MUNICIPALITY

Yet again in a endless series of instances we have
been murdered. Yet again in an endless series of
instances we have become targets. We had just begun to
hope that the killing was at an end. We had just begun
to hope that in our homes and on our properties, at
least, we would be safe. But still there is no safety:

May 14, 2003 - Albanians frighten residents of the
Serb village of Vrbovac by opening gunfire at the exit
from that village.

May 15, 2003 - Albanians provoke Serbs by shouting
anti-Serb slogans and cheering Adem Jashari in the
Serb-inhabited streets of the ethnically mixed village
of Mogila. During the same night livestock belonging
to a Serb local is stolen.

May 16, 2003 - While passing freely through the Serb
village of Vrbovac, Albanian students sing provocative
songs in Albanian, in the sense of "We have expelled
all the Serbs and we will soon expel you, too." The
very same day there are rumors from the Albanian side
that they will kill seven Serbs in this region.

May 17, 2003 - The Albanians realize their threat by
brutally murdering Zoran Mirkovic, age 44, leaving a
message next to his body bearing the name of the
Albanian National Army and including a threatening
message signed by someone calling himself "Commander
Celi." The deceased Zoran, a professor of Russian, the
father of three small children, a great man and a good
household head, set out by bicycle to inspect his
property. By killing him, they have killed another
part of our wounded, bloodied and helpless spirit.

May 19, 2003 - In the Serb village of Klokot there is
an attempt to kidnap a Serb local, Stanko Misic, who
also was going to inspect his land near the village.
He manages to escape, thanks mainly to the proximity
of the church and KFOR checkpoint where he fled.

May 21, 2003 - A 90 year-old Serb from Vitina, Slavko
Stamenkovic, was beaten up in his own home in front of
his wife, whose mouth was covered so she could not
call for help.

May 22, 2003 - In the village of Klokot a student of
the second year of the Economic Secondary School,
Milan Pavic, was beaten up near his house while
waiting for the school bus at the bus stop.

May 25, 2003 - The house of Serb Momcilo Savic was set
on fire in the village of Klokot.

Crushed by pain, our hopelessness and helplessness
embodied in 45 slaughtered innocents and 10 missing
souls whose uncertain fate is slowly turning into
horrible certainty without proof, yet again in an
endless series we raise our voices.

We do not know whether to call this text an
appeal--for God himself must be weary of our
appeals--or a protest: a protest against the general
evil which tragically lies beside us and around us.
But no one sees it, especially not those who are
responsible and paid to see it. We do not know how
much longer we will remain hunted game only because we
are Serbs and became we still live in our
centuries-old homes.

Every sacrifice we have made in our freedom of
movement, in our hopes, in our jobs and in our
security is a wound that will not heal. There were
some 11,000 of us living in region of Vitina
municipality; since the arrival of KFOR, only 3,000 of
us remain in two Serb villages, a village that was
formerly Serb until one year ago, and two--out of
fifteen--surviving ethnically mixed villages. The town
of Vitina itself, where the population was formerly 70
percent Serb, is now a dungeon for some one hundred
elderly people and those who have nowhere else to go.

Life in these ghettos, where everything seems somewhat
normal, no matter where you are, behind every tree,
from every gully, from behind every car, is full of
potential danger because all the previous murders
occurred in similar situations, treacherously, without
provocation or forewarning. These circumstances
inevitably bear with them a question: Who will be the
next victim?

Despite every effort to remain collected and convince
the people around us that someone is thinking of us,
we cannot even convince ourselves, for reality speaks
otherwise and we have lost hope even in God's help.

May God grant that the victim who fell on May 17 may
be the last. Our great friend and a great, great man,
considering how small and weak we are. Yet another
family is bereaved, without its breadwinner and with a
precarious future.

We will not criticize you because you are not the ones
suffering and perhaps this letter will be only so many
words on paper and will end up in the wastebasket. But
since you have begun, please read it to the end,
thinking of your own families, which we hope are happy
and far from the evil that is our everyday lot and
destroying us only because we are Orthodox Christian
Serbs.

THIS IS OUR CONSCIENTIOUS PROTEST ADDRESSED TO ALL
THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE:

AGAINST THE MURDER to which we are systematically
exposed and which threatens to drive us into
extinction, which does not discriminate in terms of
place or time or weapon or means or given name or
family name or size or age; the only important thing
is that the victim is an Orthodox Christian Serb and
that the goal is achieved: one Serb less, one more
weapon to kill our determination to survive in our
ancestral homes.

AGAINST PHYSICAL OPPRESSION manifesting itself daily
in the form of woundings, beatings, stonings and other
forms of repression, breeding fear for our very lives,
fear for our freedom of movement and work, and
culminating generally in our departure from our
centuries-old homes and our fear to return to them.

AGAINST SPIRITUAL GENOCIDE apparent in the destruction
of centuries-old heritage of an entire people, the
demolition of its religious shrines (churches and
monasteries), the desecration of cemeteries and
obliteration of all traces of the existence and
cultural history of a Christian people with a
civilization originating in the area of Kosovo and
Metohija.

AGAINST EVERY FORM OF INSTITUTIONAL DISCRIMINATION
which, tragically, only supplants physical forms of
pressure and combines with them to destroy every
prospect for short-term, and even more so long-term,
peaceful coexistence.

AGAINST HATE AND THE TALK OF GUNS INSTEAD OF REASON.

AGAINST THE UNDERMINING OF PROPERTY RIGHTS through
various forms of destruction, appropriation and
transfer of houses, apartments, land, agricultural
machinery, livestock, etc. Responsible individuals
representing the international community have a
million statistics and proofs that this is occurring;
however, for four years these problems have remained
unsolved resulting in a feeling of constant
helplessness and disinterest in fighting for the
realization of their rights through institutional
means among the remaining Serbs.

AGAINST SOCIAL POVERTY created by the expulsion of
thousands of workers from their jobs, leaving many
families without basic means for existence and further
necessitating their departure from their centuries-old
homes.

AGAINST THE REDUCTION IN PRESENCE OF KFOR FORCES,
resulting in conditions and increased possibility for
terrorist activities.

AGAINST THE ACTIVITY OF THE ALBANIAN TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION CALLING ITSELF THE ALBANIAN NATIONAL ARMY
IN THIS REGION.

ON BEHALF OF THE HELPLESS SERBS OF VITINA MUNICIPALITY
SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA, VITINA
MUNICIPALITY
(Signatures of the members of the SNC KIM, Vitina
municipality)

~~~

www.spc.yu (for Europe)
www.serbian-church.net (for USA)
www.spc.org.yu (for USA)