(english, con telegrafiche sintesi in italiano)

Neverending pogroms in Kosmet (4)



=== LINKS ===

"GIORNI DI PAURA" - DVD SUL KOSOVO

http://daysmadeoffear.com/dvd.html

DAYS MADE OF FEAR - 1998-2005

NEW DVD WITH EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTARY FILMS ABOUT KOSOVO CRISIS
Directed, produced and published by:
Ninoslav Randjelovic (RONIN production)
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CONTO ALLA ROVESCIA PER L'ESODO DEI SERBI

http://www.serbianna.com/news/2006/02028.shtml

COUNTDOWN TO SERBIAN EXODUS
Serbianna - July 11, 2006
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L'ANA ORDINA DI ATTACCARE IL NORD DEL KOSOVO (DOVE È ANCORA FORTE LA
COMPONENTE NON-ALBANOFONA)

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/kd071206.htm

ALBANIAN NATIONAL ARMY (ANA) ORDERS ATTACK ON NORTHERN KOSOVO
Koha Ditore (Kosovo-Albanian) - July 12, 2006
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ALBANESE-KOSOVARO RAPISCE FIGLIA DI FUNZIONARIO MONTENEGRINO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/vijesti071306.htm

KOSOVO-ALBANIAN KIDNAPS MONTENEGRIN OFFICIAL'S DAUGHTER
Vijesti (Montenegro) - July 13, 2006
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CRESCE IL FERMENTO TRA I SECESSIONISTI PAN-ALBANESI IN MONTENEGRO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/kl071306.htm

HERE WE GO AGAIN: KOSOVO-ALBANIAN GROUP ACCUSES MONTENEGRO OF RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS
KosovaLive (Kosovo-Albanian) - July 15, 2006
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IL WHC SOTTOLINEA IL PERICOLO PER IL PATRIMONIO STORICO-RELIGIOSO
SERBO-KOSOVARO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/xinhua071706.htm

WORLD HERITAGE COUNSEL SAYS KOSOVO-SERB HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS
MONUMENTS IN DANGER
Xinhua (China) - July 16, 2006
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I SONDAGGI MOSTRANO LA DIVERSITÀ DI OPINIONI SUL FUTURO DEL KOSOVO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/fonet072006.htm

POLL SHOWS SERBS AND ALBANIANS DEEPLY SPLIT OVER KOSOVO
FoNet - July 21, 2006

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IL TRAFFICO DI DROGA IN ALBANIA È LEGATO A FUNZIONARI DI GOVERNO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dfasa071706b.htm

ALBANIAN DRUG TRAFFICKING LINKED TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis - August 5, 2006

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LE VIE BALCANICHE DEL TRAFFICO DI DROGA E ARMI

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/dfasa071706.htm

NEW SMUGGLING ROUTES DEMONSTRATE LINK BETWEEN BALKAN JIHADISTS AND MAFIA
Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis - August 6, 2006

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CONSIGLIERE DI BERISHA INNEGGIA ALLA "GRANDE ALBANIA"

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?
cat=Politics&loid=8.0.332806468&par=0

BALKANS: OFFICIAL CALLS FOR A 'NATURAL ALBANIA'
ADN Kronos International (Italy) - August 22, 2006

=== NEWS ===

CINQUE ARRESTATI PER L'ATTACCO CONTRO LA POLIZIA NEL NORD DI MITROVICA

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=91400&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 1, 2006

Police Arrest Five Albanians for Attacking Kosovo Police Patrol

Kosovska Mitrovica - The police arrested five
Albanians who attacked a patrol of the Kosovo police
unit in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica,
Montenegrin news agency MINA told FOCUS News Agency.
The Albanians attacked the patrol at about 8 p.m.
Friday on the road Kosovska Mitrovica – Suvi Do.
Before that the attackers beat up two Kosovo Serb
policemen and after that two of their colleagues who
are Albanian.

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TRUPPE ITALIANE IN KOSOVO DANNEGGIANO CASE SPARANDO PER FESTEGGIARE
LA VITTORIA AI MONDIALI DI CALCIO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/srna070506.htm

Italian troops' gun celebration damages Kosovo Serb homes

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 5, 2006, Wednesday
Excerpt from report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA
Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1148
gmt 5 Jul 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.

Pristina, 5 July: Italian Kfor [NATO-led Kosovo Force] members caused
an unintentional incident last night in the village of Grabac [near
Klina in central Kosovo], when they fired a number of rounds from
automatic weapons and hand-held mortars celebrating the victory of
their football team over Germany [in the World Cup], Kfor spokesman
Klaus Treude said today in Pristina.
"The celebration disturbed the locals, who are returnees to the
village of Grabac, and Kfor command has ordered an investigation to
be conducted," Treude said at a press conference.
The representative of the Serb community in the Klina municipality,
Tatjana Tosic confirmed that last night's gunfire celebration
resulted in cracked roofs and damaged roof tiles in the village.
"Locals retreated into their homes because of the gunfire and the
situation calmed down only after the arrival of a Kfor patrol and the
Kosovo Police Service [KPS] in Grabac," Tosic said.

---

L'UNHCR PREPARA LA EPURAZIONE FINALE DEI SERBI KOSOVARI

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/gj070605.htm

UNHCR SAID CHECKING OUT SOUTH SERBIA FOR SERB EVACUATION FROM KOSOVO
- PAPER
BBC Monitoring International Reports - July 6, 2006, Thursday
Source: Glas javnosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 30 Jun 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information - All Rights Reserved

Text of report by B. Ristic entitled "Big Evacuation of Serbs being
prepared"? published by the Serbian newspaper Glas javnosti on 30 June

Belgrade: For more than a month now, UNHCR members from Kosovo-
Metohija have been informally touring municipalities in southern
Serbia along the administrative boundary line with Kosmet [Kosovo-
Metohija], checking out accommodation capacities for a swift
evacuation of Serbs from Kosmet if the southern province should
become independent or - which is another possibility that is being
considered - if the Albanian side should be dissatisfied with
Kosmet's status settlement. This has been confirmed for Glas javnosti
in informal contacts by Serb councilmen in the Medvedja Municipal
Council, whom UNHCR members have recently contacted, as well as -
again informally - by sources in the civilian segment of UNMIK [UN
Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] and Albanian members of the
KPS [Kosovo Police Service] in Kosmet. Kfor [Kosovo Force] troops in
Kosmet also say that their internal level of alert has been raised,
but they could not say whether this has anything to do with the above.
Serbs living in enclaves in the south of Kosmet say that an
unofficial population census has recently been taken in the villages,
that is, representatives of local international forces asked "village
elders" to submit an approximate list of people permanently living in
the area.
One of the main problems about this "operation of sheltering the Serb
population" comes from the fact that the Serb enclaves are small and
tucked away deep in the territory of Kosmet, among the Albanian
population; according to KPC representatives, again speaking
informally, these areas are predominantly populated by Albanians that
have come from Albania and settled here since 1999 and who are
regarded as "extremists" even by their indigenous ethnic kin in
Kosmet. Glas javnosti's source says that it has been recommended to
Serbs in this area to try to "group themselves" somehow, that is, to
organize themselves in a way that would enable international troops
to evacuate them swiftly in case of a crisis.
In Medvedja they say that Serbs in southern Serbia have some fear
also from Albanians, whose numbers they estimate at about 250,000 at
any time and who practically "live" on both sides of the
administrative line with Kosmet. In their view, depending on the
Kosmet status solution, these Albanians could make problems in this
part of Serbia. They say that Serbs have discussed this matter with
UNHCR officials who, the Serbs were told, are also aware of the
problem but "do not have a solution" for the moment. Although Glas
javnosti tried on Wednesday [28 June] to obtain official confirmation
of this report on the ground, from local UNHCR officials in Kosmet,
none of them were willing to comment, but the fact that they did not
deny it speaks for itself.
Albanians in Kosmet say that parallel with these plans, there are
also plans being made for the evacuation from Kosmet of international
civilian and military forces, who are apparently becoming less and
less popular with Albanians in Kosmet.
---

L'ULTIMA IMMORALE BOUTADE DI AHTISAARI PRIMA DI ANDARSENE: I SERBI
LASCINO IL KOSOVO, PAGHEREMO BENE

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=91824&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 8, 2006

UN Kosovo Envoy Buying Kosovo

Pristina - In his wish to preserve his position
European Union's Special Envoy for Kosovo Marti
Ahtisaari has sent a new unexpected proposal to
Serbia: to recognize Kosovo’s independence and in
return receive money and concessions.
In the language of diplomacy this is called a
“shopping list”, Serbian newspaper Vecerne Novosti
reads.
From diplomatic sources the newspaper found out that
the so-called shopping list includes five points:

1. Serbia to join in NATO’s Partnership for Peace
program (without being obliged to capture General
Ratko Mladic)

2. An agreement Serbia to join the European Union
(also without being obliged to hand in Mladic)

3. Financial aid from the US

4. Access to EU funds

5. Increase of direct foreign investments.

Marti Ahtisaari’s proposal to the southern Serbia
region does not sound bad at all – at least on paper.
But it means: “Give Kosovo up and we will give you
everything else!” the newspaper comments.
According to an anonymous government source there is
no official document for Ahtisaari’s shopping list.

---

KOSTUNICA: LA SECESSIONE KOSOVARA DESTABILIZZEREBBE LA REGIONE

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=92059&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 12, 2006

Kosovo’s Independence Would Destabilize Region: Serbia’s PM

Washington - If Kosovo is granted independence this
would seriously destabilize the region, Serbia’s Prime
Minister Vojislav Kostunica said during his meeting
with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in
Washington RTS reports.
“A country to be robbed of 15% of its territory – this
would be possible only if democracy is violated,” PM
Kostunica told journalists after his conversation with
Condoleezza Rice.
Kostunica and Rice agreed that it is of extreme
importance the talks for Kosovo to be very well
prepared and a solution for the region to be found in
accordance with the leading principles of the Contact
Group.

---

ATTACCO CONTRO PROFUGO SERBO-KOSOVARO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/kp071406.htm

Kosovo Albanians give chase to would-be Serb returnee - Kosovo Serb
radio

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 14, 2006, Friday
Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian 1400 gmt 14 Jul 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.

Text of report by Serbia-Montenegrin radio Kontakt Plus on 14 July

[Announcer] A group of Albanians from Srbobran village near Istok
yesterday attacked Dragi Malikovic, dean at the [Kosovska Mitrovica-
based] Pristina University Philosophy Department, who was visiting
his family property with his friends. Jelena Markovic has a detailed
report.
[Reporter] I heard that an Albanian had built a four-storey house on
my family's property. I went there with some of my friends to see for
myself, and I saw that it was true. I entered the other part of my
courtyard which this Albanian had also usurped and prepared for the
construction of another house. While I was visiting the property, the
owner of the aforementioned house spotted me and immediately went
somewhere with his tractor. Just ten minutes later, two vans carrying
around 15 Albanians arrived. We got into our vehicle and departed for
[Kosovska] Mitrovica but they followed us for more than 10 kilometres
with various shouts and threats, Dragi Malikovic told the
International Press Centre in Kosovska Mitrovica.
Until 1999, Srbobran was a purely Serb village with 59 households
whose owners have been keenly waiting to return to their hearth and
home for over seven years. Currently, work to restore five houses in
the village is nearing its end. Recent attacks against Serb returnees
demonstrate that Albanians from neighbouring villages, helped by the
Pristina authorities, want an ethnically pure Kosovo-Metohija without
a Serb presence. This is also confirmed by the fact that six multiple
store houses owned by Albanians from neighbouring villages had been
built on village land which belongs solely to the Serbs exiled from
Srbobran.
Despite the attacks and large sums of money which Albanians offer for
our property, we are determined and will persist in our wish to
return and begin our lives anew on this Kosovo-Metohija land, Dragi
Malikovic said.
---

DELEGAZIONE RUSSA ALL'ONU PREOCCUPATA PER LA QUESTIONE KOSOVARA

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/07/14/kosovo.shtml

MosNews - July 14, 2006

Russia Challenges UN Power on Kosovo, Calls for Talks

Russia said on Thursday the United Nations had no
authority to impose a solution on Serbia over the
status of its breakaway Kosovo province and only a
negotiated deal was acceptable, the Reuters news
agency reported.
The statement by Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin
was significant as the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia
have dug their heels in the international talks aimed
at determining whether Kosovo wins independence or
remains a part of Serbia, making an imposed solution
more likely.
“I stated today in the closed meeting of the Security
Council that I do not believe that the international
community has legal, political or moral ground to
force Serbia into a solution on this issue,” Churkin
told reporters.
“There is plenty of opportunity for the sides to have
their discussions, and the only stable solution, the
only solution good for regional and global stability,
would be a solution negotiated between the two sides,”
Churkin said.
Ethnic Albanians, 90 percent of the impoverished
province’s 2 million people, demand independence while
Serbia insists Kosovo must remain within its borders,
albeit with substantial autonomy.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations since June
1999 when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces....
Martti Ahtisaari of Finland is leading the U.N.-backed
process set up to determine Kosovo’s eventual status.
Direct talks on the fate of Kosovo began in February
in Vienna, and he hopes for a result by the end of
this year.
Churkin spoke after Ahtisaari briefed the council -
and then talked to reporters - on his talks.
During the closed-door meeting, Serbian Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica again ruled out independence and
accused the international community of seeking to
change Serbia’s borders by force, diplomats attending
the session said.
Ahtisaari, asked before Churkin spoke whether he
thought a solution might have to be imposed because of
Kostunica’s hard line, said it was “entirely premature
to start talking how the end result of this exercise
is going to be.”
But other council diplomats said an imposed solution
would clearly be in order if a deal could not be
negotiated.
Ahtisaari said he had strong council support for his
work. “I think everyone is interested that we have a
thorough process - in the end of the day that we can
say that we have done our utmost to try to find a
negotiated settlement,” he said.

---

SERBO SFUGGE A LINCIAGGIO A SRBOBRAN

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=92333&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 16, 2006

Serbs Escape Lynching in Kosovo Village

Istok - Serbs who visited their property in the Kosovo
village of Srbobran were lucky to escape after they
were attacked by Albanians residing in the village,
Serbian newspaper Politika reads today.
The Serbs were made to leave the village in order to
escape the clash with the group of Albanians.
Only a few days ago Albanians robbed a house which was
being built for a returning Serb, after which they set
fire to it.
Meanwhile the work on five of the 59 Serbian houses,
which existed in the village before 1999, is almost
finished.

---

I MINISTRI DELLA UE SE NE FREGANO DI TUTTO E VOGLIONO IL KOSOVO
"INDIPENDENTE"

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1961498&C=europe

Defense News - July 18, 2006

EU Ministers Support Kosovo Independence
By BROOKS TIGNER

BRUSSELS - European Union foreign ministers issued a
clear signal of support July 17 for Kosovo’s impending
independence, declaring the union would take a leading
role within the international community as the
province prepares to break away from Serbia.
....
In a joint report to the foreign chiefs during their
July 17 gathering here, Solana and Olli Rehn, European
commissioner for enlargement, recommended three
courses of action by the EU in support of Kosovo,
currently administered by the United Nations. These
call for the:

• Creation of a double-hatted post to lead the
international community’s work in Kosovo and to serve
as the EU special representative to Kosovo.

• The European Union will launch a new mission, under
its security and defense policy, to help reform and
strengthen Kosovo’s law enforcement and justice
authorities.

• Use EU financial instruments to help Kosovo prepare
for a so-called Stabilization and Association
Agreement covering trade and investment with the
union.

The goal is for Kosovo to become “a reliable partner,
progressing towards integration with the EU together
with the rest of the region,” according to the report.
Though Pristina would be responsible for handling most
government functions, the report also reaffirms that
the international security presence in Kosovo is
needed to guarantee the rule of law and stable
relations between Kosovo’s dominant Albanian majority
and its Serb minority.
A NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force of 17,000 soldiers
currently has this role, a mission that will continue
under the NATO flag after Kosovo secures its
independence, say EU and NATO officials.
....

---

IL CRIMINALE "PREMIER" KOSOVARO PROMETTE "INDIPENDENZA" ENTRO LA FINE
DELL'ANNO

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=92601&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 20, 2006

Kosovo PM: Kosovo to be Independent by Year’s End

Ljubljana - Kosovo will be an independent state even
before the end of the year, Kosovo’s Prime Minister
Agim Ceku, the Serbian radio B92 reported.
Ceku is on a visit to Slovenia at the invitation of
his Slovenian counterpart Janez Jansa.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister stated he would voice his
stand during his first meeting with UN special envoy
for the Kosovo status talks Marti Ahtisaari on July 24
in Vienna.

---

MAFIA KOSOVARA MINACCIA ANCHE L'UNMIK

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=92650&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 21, 2006

Kosovo Mafia Makes Death Threat to UNMIK Police Commissioner

Pristina - UNMIK Police Commissioner Kai Vittrup told
in an interview with a Danish TV station that the
Kosovo Albanians mafia had threatened him with death
and that is why his personal protection has been
reinforced, RTS informs.
“One gets used to the threats and if I were afraid I
wouldn’t have stayed in Kosovo.
"The threat I received is actually a threat to all UN
officials in Kosovo therefore we are carrying out an
investigation and are taking the necessary protection
measures,” Kai Vittrup said.
“My wife left Kosovo and it was a joint decision. No
threat should make a Police Commissioner leave
Kosovo,” he added.
The UNMIK Police Chief said that there are various
crime forms in the region – from the classical, like
robberies and murders, to organized crime dealing with
drugs and arms.
“This is a mafia ran by families on the clan
principle. It is a closed system that is hard to track
down, but we are progressing,” Kai Vittrup added.

---

IL "KOSOVO" PARLA SOLO DI "INDIPENDENZA"

http://news.scotsman.com/latest_international.cfm?id=1041302006

Reuters - July 17, 2006

Kosovo ready to talk independence with Serbia
By Shaban Buza

PRISTINA, Serbia - Kosovo said on Monday it would
demand independence from Serbia when the two sides
meet this month for the highest-level talks between
the two sides since NATO's 1999 air war drove out Serb
forces.
U.N. mediators hope to bring together the presidents
and prime ministers of Serbia and its United
Nations-run, majority Albanian province in Vienna on
July 24.
For the first time, Kosovo's international status -
independence or autonomy - will top the agenda, after
six months of lower-level talks on the rights and
security of minority Serbs. The West wants a decision
within the year.
"The Kosovo delegation will go to Vienna, not to
negotiate but once more to argue its case that full
independence and sovereignty for our country based on
the will of the people ... is the vital solution that
must be confirmed," Skender Hyseni, adviser to Kosovo
President Fatmir Sejdiu, told reporters.
Serbia has yet to confirm its participation.
Legally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run by the
United Nations since 1999, when NATO bombed to drive
out Serb forces...during a two-year war with
separatist guerrillas.
The meeting is not expected to yield any concrete
results, the chasm between the two sides seemingly
unbridgeable.

AID ONCE STATUS CLEAR
Ninety percent of Kosovo's 2 million people are
[currently] ethnic Albanians impatient for
independence.
Serbia has offered wide autonomy for land seen as the
sacred cradle of the nation.
But diplomats say Kosovo is heading for independence,
under European Union supervision and secured by a NATO
peace force that currently numbers 17,000.
In a report to EU foreign ministers meeting in
Brussels, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said
the bloc intended to be the driving force of the
international presence, with the head of that mission
also serving as EU Special Representative.
It would monitor the implementation of a status
settlement, the rule of law and certain economic and
fiscal matters.
"The international presence will need to have some
limited intervention powers to ensure that the status
settlement is implemented," Rehn wrote, according to a
summary of his report, drafted with EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana.
The West is pushing for a deal by the end of 2006,
concerned that a delay could spark fresh violence
against the U.N. mission and Kosovo's 100,000
remaining Serbs, a ghettoised minority.
The seven-year limbo is blamed for the lack of
investment and deep poverty in Kosovo, where
unemployment is 50 percent.
Rehn added that the EU and the World Bank would
convene a donors' conference once status was settled
and the EU would contribute to a "well-coordinated mix
of grant assistance, macro-financial support and
loans".

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels)

---

IL CRIMINALE "PREMIER" KOSOVARO CHIEDE AD ONU E NATO DI TAGLIARE I
LEGAMI TRA NORD KOSOVO E RESTO DELLA SERBIA

http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2006/07/un-nato-must-isolate-north-
kosovo-from.html

Agence France-Presse - July 22, 2006

UN, NATO must isolate north Kosovo from Serbia: PM

PRISTINA, Serbia [for now] - The prime minister of
Kosovo on Saturday called on the province's UN
administration to increase security on its northern
border to isolate it from Serbia proper.
"KFOR (NATO peacekeepers) and (the UN administration)
UNMIK have to undertake measures in order to isolate
this part (of Kosovo) from Serbia, politically and
practically, and establish such measures on the border
which are the same as on the rest of the Kosovo
borders," PM Agim Ceku said.
He was speaking before attending UN-sponsored talks
between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo's ethnic
Albanian leaders in Vienna on Monday, the first such
meeting since the 1998-1999 Kosovo war.
The one-day meeting in Vienna, chaired by UN special
envoy Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, is expected to
tackle for the first time the core issue of Kosovo's
future status and the ethnic Albanians' demands for
full independence.
Ceku said the border between Kosovo and the rest of
Serbia was so "soft" that visitors did not believe
that it was a border at all, believing instead that
the border is on the Ibar river, which runs through
the volatile and ethnicly-divided town Kosovska
Mitrovica.
The river separates and marks the boundary between the
biggest Serb-populated area in northern Kosovo with
about 60,000 inhabitants and about two million ethnic
Albanians in the rest of the UN-administered Serbian
province.
One of the toughest issues at the talks is the issue
of northern Kosovo, where Serbs have been calling for
the partition of the province.
Serbs warn that this region along the border with
Serbia proper would secede if independence was granted
to Pristina.
In June, Serbs in the north proclaimed a "state of
emergency", cutting off their relations with the
Kosovo institutions, a move considered to be a first
step towards the partition of the province.
The decision, strongly opposed by the Kosovo Albanian
and UN authorities, came after a series of small-scale
attacks against Serbs, including a murder of a young
Serb man.
Kosovo, legally still a province of Serbia, has been
run by the UN and NATO since mid-1999, when the
military alliance's air war drove out forces loyal to
then Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic over a
crackdown against the province's separatist ethnic
Albanian majority.
The international mission in Kosovo has failed to
enforce its mandate in the Serb-dominated north and to
sever Belgrade's influence. [UN Resolution 1244 - the
mandate - states no such thing; in fact it upholds the
opposite, including the return of Serbian security
forces.]

---

ALTRI 650 SOLDATI DELLA GRANDE GERMANIA NELLA GRANDE ALBANIA

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1969247&C=europe

Agence France-Presse - July 22, 2006

NATO Deploys German Soldiers in Kosovo

PRISTINA - NATO has deployed some 650 German soldiers
to Kosovo, as part of an operation to show its
commitment to security in the United Nations-run
province, officials said July 21.
”The German army battalion, comprised of some 650
soldiers, has been deployed to Kosovo since Monday,”
Colonel Pio Sabetta, KFOR (NATO-led peacekeeping
mission) spokesman told AFP.
”The deployment confirms NATO’s ability to reinforce
in-theater NATO-led forces on very short notice and
continues NATO’s mission to provide a safe and secure
environment for all of Kosovo.”
KFOR earlier also increased its presence in northern
Kosovo after Serbs there announced in June a state of
emergency, breaking off its relations with Kosovo’s
institutions, a move which was considered as a
precursor to a bid to partition the province.
The decision came after the series of small-scale
attacks against Serbs, in which a young Serb was
killed.
Following the latest tensions in north of the
province, the U.N. Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and KFOR
increased security in the north, deploying additional
police forces and reopening KFOR’s base by the
northern administrative border with Serbia.
”The battalion is part of NATO’s Operational Reserve
Force (ORF) and they will be used all around Kosovo,
also in north,” Sabetta said.
Sabetta said KFOR wanted to show its commitment to
security.
Kosovo, a province in southern Serbia, has been run by
the U.N. and NATO since mid-1999, after the alliance’s
air war drove out forces loyal to former Serbian
leader Slobodan Milosevic who were cracking down on
the province’s separatist ethnic Albanian majority.
Talks on the future of Kosovo are set to resume Monday
in Vienna under the auspices of the United Nations.
Kosovo’s Albanian majority wants independence for the
province, but its demand has been rejected by Belgrade
and the province’s minority Serb community.

---

SCONTRI A FUOCO TRA ALBANESI-KOSOVARI E MONTENEGRINI SUL CONFINE

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/vijesti072306.htm

Montenegrin police confirm exchange of fire along border with Kosovo

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 23, 2006, Sunday
Source: Vijesti, Podgorica, in Serbian 23 Jul 06 p9
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.

Excerpt from report by Bi.B entitled "First insulted and then shot at
border guards" published by Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti on 23 July

Podgorica - Last weekend an incident occurred on Bogicevica Mountain
in the Hadzina Ravan village area near Plav [town in northern
Montenegro], close to the junction of three borders - that of
Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. Several persons entered Montenegro
from Kosovo and fired shots at border guard policemen.
The incident happened last Sunday [16 July] about noon [1000gmt],
when young men from Kosovo crossed the border and advanced about 50
metres into Montenegro.
They were singing and cursing. Border guard policemen tried to stop
them but the young men form Kosovo fired several bullets at them.
Border guard policemen fired several warning shots into the air and
then the attackers escaped back to Kosovo, police sources told Vijesti.
---

LOBBYSTI DELL'ICG SENTENZIANO: IL "KOSOVO" DEVE AVERE UN SUO ESERCITO

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=93077&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - July 28, 2006

Kosovo Must Have Own Army: International Crisis Group

[The board of the so-called International Crisis Group
includes such disinterested luminaries as George
Soros, Morton Abramowitz, Kenneth Adelman, Zbigniew
Brzezinski, Wesley Clark, Joschka Fischer, Martti
Ahtisaari, Chris Patten and George Mitchell.]

Pristina - The independent Kosovo must have its own
army despite Serbia’s disagreement on the issue, a
report of the International Crisis Group reads.
According to the organization the armed forces in
Kosovo must be small, they should concentrate mainly
on performing peacekeeping operations and to be placed
under NATO’s command.
In the report entitled “Army for Kosovo?” the
International Crisis Group thinks that a Kosovo army
would help Kosovo’s Liberation Army and the existing
military formations to receive an official status
after which they would threaten neither the new state
nor its neighbors.
The report supports the thesis the future army would
be one of the pillars of the new state.
The paramilitary formations and those connected to
organized crime must be eliminated, the International
Crisis Group recommends in its report.

---

DROGA ED ARMI SEQUESTRATE IN KOSOVO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/ap073106.htm

Police seize large quantities of marijuana, weapons in two raids in
Kosovo

Associated Press Worldstream - July 31, 2006 Monday 6:04 PM GMT
Copyright 2006 Associated Press - Posted for Fair Use only.

PRISTINA Serbia - Police in Kosovo seized large quantities of
marijuana and weapons in two separate raids in the province,
officials said Monday.
Police units specialized in narcotics arrested five people during the
operations, and confiscated 36 kilograms (about 80 pounds) of
marijuana in the southern town of Prizren and another 8 kilograms
(about 18 pounds) in the province's capital, Pristina, a police
statement said.
An AK-47 assault rifle, a revolver and ammunition were also found in
Sunday's raids, it said.
Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations and patrolled by
NATO peacekeepers since 1999. The province is believed to be often
used as a transit point for drugs intended for sale in Western Europe.
---

PARTITI MONTENEGRINI SOTTOLINEANO LA MINACCIA PROVENIENTE DAL KOSOVO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/mina073106.htm

Montenegrin Serb party wants ban on "extremist tourists" from Kosovo

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - July 31, 2006 Monday
Source: Mina news agency, Podgorica, in Serbian 0916 gmt 30 Jul 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.

Excerpt from report by Montenegrin Mina news agency

Podgorica, 30 July: The Serbian People's Party (SNS) today stated
that the dramatic events in Ulcinj yesterday [29 July] had shown the
real face of Montenegro after the referendum and asked the government
to proclaim the perpetrators of the incident personae non gratae.
Some 2,000 Kosovo Albanians yesterday blocked the Little Beach
promenade in protest over the detention of two of their countrymen.
[Passage omitted]
"Thousands of extremists dressed as tourists were charging at the
police, chanting slogans supporting the terrorist OVK [disbanded
Kosovo Liberation Army], and members of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs failed to react adequately," said a statement by [the SNS]
information service head, Jovan Vucurovic.
The state of Montenegro, he said, showed the strength embodied in
"the beat-up policemen who were running around the Little Beach in
front of outraged pro-sovereignty protesters from Kosovo-Metohija".
"This incident can be defined as a classic clash with another state's
bodies and an expression of various pretensions towards it,"
Vucurovic believes.
He said that the regime would do everything in its power to cover up
this incident, because these Albanian tourists had brought
independence to Montenegro and now assessed that they could do
whatever they wanted without being held accountable.
"Only naive people can believe that this was a spontaneous gathering
of over 2,000 persons, and the SNS openly suspects that this was a
well-organized action and that those whom [Kosovo Prime Minister]
Agim Ceku and [Democratic Party of Kosovo chairman] Hashim Thaci
recently praised for their selfless participation in the dissolution
of the country were also among the protesters," Vucurovic said.
The SNS believes that this incident could cause numerous problems in
Montenegro, not only because of the increasing Albanian extremism,
but also because the regime was not capable of reacting "to a sort of
occupation of its territory".
"The question arising is who has allowed such a large number of
extremists to enter Montenegro and whether anyone is checking the
identity of the persons crossing the border between Montenegro and
Serbia from the territory of Kosovo-Metohija," Vucurovic said.
---

TENSIONE ALTA NEL NORD DEL KOSOVO

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/04/
AR2006080400320.html

Reuters - August 4, 2006

Major powers warn of tensions in north Kosovo
By Matt Robinson

BELGRADE - The major powers voiced concern on Friday
at tensions in northern Kosovo, where there are
growing signs of Serb resistance as the majority
Albanian province pushes for independence from Serbia.
A statement issued by the six-member Contact Group
expressed concern at "recent developments" in the
mainly Serb north of Kosovo adjacent to central
Serbia.
It did not specify which developments. Reports suggest
Serbs there are strengthening what they say are
self-defense groups made up of former military and
police officers.
"Both Belgrade and Pristina should take immediate
steps to reduce tensions in northern Kosovo,
particularly to encourage responsible leadership and
build confidence among communities," said the
statement, issued by the U.S. liaison office in Kosovo
on behalf of the United States, Britain, Germany,
France, Italy and Russia.
Seven years since NATO bombs drove out Serb forces and
the United Nations took control, the West is pushing
for a decision on Kosovo's fate in 2006. Some Serb
leaders have threatened to split it in two if the
Albanians win independence.
Three northern Serb municipalities, home to around
50,000 Serbs or almost half Kosovo's Serb population,
have already cut what minimal cooperation they had
with the Albanian-dominated institutions in Pristina,
citing security concerns.
The statement called on "Belgrade, Pristina and
Kosovo's residents to take steps to ensure northern
Kosovo remains a stable region where the rights of all
are respected."

PARTITION
Diplomats say the 90-percent Albanian province is
likely to win independence under European
Union-supervision. U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari is
working to propose a settlement to the U.N. Security
Council by year-end. He opened talks in February.
The Contact Group, which sets international policy on
Kosovo, says the north must remain part of Kosovo. It
fears that splitting the province in two would revive
separatism in south Serbia and Macedonia, where
Albanians took up arms in 2000-01.
The 17,000-strong NATO peace force in June reopened
its only base in the north, and the West is mulling a
specific international mission to oversee the area's
integration.
The province of 2 million has been run by the U.N.
since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces....
Half the Serb population fled a wave of revenge
[sic]attacks after the war.
The 100,000 Serbs left lead a grim, ghettoized
existence, financially supported...by Belgrade.
Serbs in the north enjoy greater freedom, forming the
majority above the Ibar River with a clear land link
to the rest of Serbia.
Belgrade says it does not want to partition Kosovo.
But Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Monday
that, in the event independence is imposed, Belgrade
would declare Kosovo an integral part of Serbian
territory. Serbs consider Kosovo the cradle of their
nation stretching back 1,000 years.

---

FERITO A COLTELLATE UN SERBO-KOSOVARO

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/fonet080506.htm

Stabbed Kosovo Serb released for home treatment; ethnic Albanian
suspected

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - August 5, 2006, Saturday
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1311 gmt 5 Aug 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.
Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Kosovska Mitrovica, 5 August: Ljubisa Janackovic, who was stabbed
with a knife in Priluzje village near Vucitrn on Friday around 1900
[1700 gmt], was released for home treatment, it was confirmed to KiM
[Kosovo-Metohija] Radio in the Kosovska Mitrovica hospital.
Janackovic was given first aid in the village and then Kosovo Police
Service (KPS) transferred him to the hospital in the northern [Serb-
held] part of Kosovska Mitrovica where he was admitted to the
orthopaedic ward.
KPS spokesman Veton Elshani told KiM Radio that Janackovic had been
attacked near Lab River and had received two stabs with a knife in
his left shoulder during the incident. He added that his two mobile
phones had been stolen.
For the time being, one ethnic Albanian was suspected in relation to
this incident and the investigation is progressing, KiM Radio said.
---

SACCHEGGIATA CHIESA TRECENTESCA

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/fonet080606.htm

SERB CHURCH IN KOSOVO PLUNDERED, DESECRATED

BBC Monitoring International Reports - August 6, 2006 Sunday
Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1457 gmt 6 Aug 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information
Copyright 2006 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information
Limited - Posted for Fair Use only.
Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet

Belgrade, 6 August: Unknown perpetrators have broken into, plundered
and desecrated the Church of the Holy Mother of God (Presveta
Bogorodica) in the Serb village of Babin Most near Obilic, the Rasko-
Prizren Eparchy has said.
The thieves broke in last night at around midnight [2200 gmt] after
smashing the bars and the windows on the rear side of the church
where the priest's home is also situated.
The St Stefan fresco was taken from the church along with 50,000
dinars in donations, the priests' habits and ritual objects, while
some ten frescoes and icons were destroyed and found smashed on the
floor.
The Kosovo Police Service [KSP] carried out on-the-spot checks and
began their investigation, although no details have been made public.
The Church of the Holy Mother of God was built in the 14th century
and is one of the oldest Serb churches in central Kosovo-Metohija.
---

IL PRESIDENTE DELL'ALBANIA GALVANIZZATO PER LA PROSSIMA
"INDIPENDENZA" KOSOVARA

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=128&newsid=93590&ch=0

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 6, 2006

Makfax: Independence of Kosovo will Increase Influence
of Albanian Factor, Alfred Moisiu Announced

Tirana - The opinion of Albanians will be heard more
and more if there are two Albanian states in the
region and at the same time they will be able to
strengthen the friendly relations they have with the
USA, the Albanian President Alfred Moisiu announced at
his yesterday meeting with representatives of
Albanian-American National Organization that is
visiting Albania, Makfax announced.
Moisiu is expecting that Kosovo will gain its
independence this year and thus the peace and
stability on the Balkans will strengthen as well as
the Albanian factor will increase.

---

LA RUSSIA CONDIVIDE LA POSIZIONE DI BELGRADO

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/08/content_4932218.htm

Xinhua News Agency - August 8, 2006

Russia shares stand of Belgrade on Kosovo status

BELGRADE - Visiting Russian Minister for Civil Defense
and Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu said here on
Monday that Russia shares Belgrade's stand on the
issue of Kosovo's future status.
During talks with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica, Shoigu conveyed the same opinion that the
best solution for this southern province is essential
autonomy within the existing state borders of Serbia,
the official Tanjug news agency reported.
"The resolving of Kosovo's future status must not be
imposed, nor the negotiations on this issue placed
under a time limit", said Shoigu, adding that it was
the principled stand of Russia and its President
Vladimir Putin.
Kostunica said that Serbia deeply appreciates the
principled stand of Russia and President Putin.
He also underscored that a possibly imposed solution
would have serious consequences for peace and
stability, not only in the region of the Balkans, but
also much wider.
Since the end of the Kosovo war in June 1999, the
province has become a UN protectorate under Security
Council Resolution 1244. Kosovo 's Albanian majority
demand outright independence, but Serbia only agrees
to grant Kosovo essential autonomy.
The UN-mediated negotiations on the future status of
Kosovo started last November. But thorny problems have
not been addressed after eight rounds of talks.

---

I SERBI-KOSOVARI BOICOTTANO I "COLLOQUI" DI VIENNA

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5257566.stm

BBC News - August 8, 2006

Kosovo Serbs boycott Vienna talks

The Serb delegation from Kosovo has boycotted a
session of talks about the future of the province.
The second day of negotiations brokered by the United
Nations in Vienna concentrated on the rights of the
province's minorities.
The Serb representatives said they did not accept
being given the status of a minority.
The talks are trying to resolve issues of education,
health care, police and justice systems.
The Tuesday session on minority rights was attended by
the delegation from Belgrade.
The first day of the latest round of talks on Monday
ended with no progress on the major stumbling blocks
between the ethnic Serb and Albanian communities.
There is international pressure on both sides to
resolve the long-term political status of the province
by the end of the year.
Officially still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been run
by the UN since the war there ended in 1999.

Rising tensions

Kosovo's Albanians want independence. Serbia has said it is willing
only to grant wide "substantial autonomy". Tensions have been rising
in Kosovo in recent weeks. Local Serb politicians have heavily
criticised the acting head of the United Nations mission, accusing
him of favouring the Kosovo Albanians. The Nato-led peacekeeping
force, K-For, has recently reopened a base and deployed extra troops
in Serb areas to the north.

On Monday, a human rights group said the UN and the
international community were failing to protect the
rights of Kosovo's minorities.
"Nowhere [in Europe] is there such a level of fear for
so many minorities that they will be harassed or
attacked, simply for who they are," a report by
London-based Minority Rights Group International
(MRGI) said.

---

TRE ALBANESI-KOSOVARI ARRESTATI PER CRIMINI COMMESSI CONTRO ALBANESI-
KOSOVARI JUGOSLAVISTI

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/afp081106.htm

Three Kosovo Albanians jailed for war crimes

Agence France Presse (English) - August 11, 2006 Friday 9:43 AM GMT
Copyright 2006 Agence France Presse - Posted for Fair Use only.

PRISTINA, Serbia, Aug 11 2006 - Three ethnic Albanians were sentenced
to seven-year jail terms for war crimes committed during Kosovo's
1998-1999 conflict, the United Nations said Friday.
Selim Krasniqi, Agron Krasniqi and Bedri Zyberaj, former members of
the Kosovo Liberation Army, a rebel force that fought Serbian forces
during the war, were found guilty of detaining and beating fellow
Albanians, said the justice department of the UN mission in Kosovo.
"The panel of international judges carefully considered the evidence
and found the three defendants guilty of the war crime of inhumane
treatment, which consisted of detaining and beating fellow Kosovo
Albanians whom they believed to be collaborating with Serbian
authorities," it said in a statement.
The crimes were committed between June and September 1998, when
members of the KLA organised and ran a detention centre in the
basement of a school building in the central Kosovo village of Drenovac.
Selim Krasniqi and Zyberaj were also senior officials of Kosovo
Protection Corps, an emergency service formed after the KLA was
demilitarised at the end of the conflict.
A fourth defendant, Islam Gashi, was acquitted, while charges were
withdrawn against two others, Isuf Gashi and Xhavit Elshani due to a
lack of evidence, said the UN statement.
Kosovo has been run by the United Nations and NATO since June 1999,
after the alliance's bombing campaign drove out Serbian forces over a
crackdown against separatist Albanian rebels.
The future status of the disputed province, which technically remains
a Serbian province, is being decided in UN-backed talks due to be
completed by the year's end.
---

ALBANESI-KOSOVARI AGGREDISCONO SERBO IN SERBIA CENTRALE

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/b92081206.htm

ARMED KOSOVO ALBANIANS REPORTEDLY ENTER SERBIA, FIRE SHOTS AT FORMER
SERB MAYOR

BBC Monitoring International Reports - August 12, 2006, Saturday
Source: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 1500 gmt 12 Aug 06
Copyright 2006 Financial Times Information
Copyright 2006 BBC Monitoring/BBC Source: Financial Times Information
Limited - Posted for Fair Use only.
Text of report by Belgrade-based Radio B92 on 12 August

[Announcer] A group of armed [ethnic] Albanians carried out an armed
attack on the territory of Kursumlija municipality's village of
Tacevac on the administrative border between Serbia and Kosovo just
as former Podujevo Mayor Milovan Tomcic was out in his field with his
family. Ljiljana Danilovic reports from Kursumlija.

[Reporter] According to the testimony of former Podujevo Mayor
Milovan Tomcic, who was with his family in the field close to the
administrative border between Serbia and Kosovo, a large group of
armed Albanians penetrated around three kilometres into the territory
of Kursumlija municipality in Tacevac village and carried out an
armed attack.
Tomcic said that there was a barrage of fire from automatic weapons
which lasted for about ten minutes.

[Tomcic] I was barely 20 paces from the road when the shots were
fired. Bullets started whistling above our heads. This was a real
barrage of separate shots fired from several pieces of weapons and
from a number of locations. At least five or six types of weapons
were fired, but I managed to take cover.

[Tomcic's wife] When the barrage started getting fiercer, I told our
daughter to get to the ground and start crawling. We managed to get
close to a fence and then we climbed over it and got away.

[Reporter] The police went to the scene after the incident but an
investigation was not carried out for security reasons. A spokeswoman
for the police in Prokuplje, Jasmina Stamenkovic, confirmed that a
group of armed Albanians had carried out an attack in the territory
of Tacevac village.

[Stamenkovic] Members of Kfor [NATO-led Kosovo Force] were informed
about the incident via our team for cooperation with Kfor so that
they could undertake measures envisaged by the law.

[Reporter] Nobody was injured in this armed attack. We should say
several dozens of armed attacks by Kosovo Albanians had been carried
out in Kursumlija's Tacevac village over the past few years in which
one local inhabitant was killed and several houses were torched.

---
"POLIZIA KOSOVARA" RIMPIAZZA L'ONU ALL'AEREOPORTO

http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/30406

Associated Press - August 14, 2006

Kosovo police replace U.N. border forces

PRISTINA, Serbia - Police in Serbia's mainly
ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province on Monday replaced
U.N. civilian forces overseeing Pristina's airport.
The Kosovo police units also assumed control of the
province's borders with Albania, Macedonia and
Montenegro, Belgrade's Beta news agency reported.
Political analysts in Pristina saw the authority
transfer from the U.N. administration to the Kosovo
provincial police as recognition of high standards
under which the ethnic-Albanian-led law enforcement is
organized [sic], Beta said.
Formally, Kosovo is Serbia's province, but since 1999
it has been administered by a U.N. civilian mission.
NATO troops have been deployed to prevent ethnic
conflicts between the Serb minority of 100,000 and
ethnic-Albanians who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's
1.8 million population.
U.N.-led, Serb-ethnic Albanian talks, under way in
Austria since February, will decide who will govern
Kosovo once U.N. and NATO personnel leave.

---

DELEGAZIONE SERBO-KOSOVARA CRITICA LA SCELTA DI UN TEDESCO A GUIDARE
L'UNMIK

http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org/news/beta081506.htm

Serbian Kosovo negotiating team member criticizes new UNMIK chief

BBC Monitoring Europe (Political) - August 15, 2006 Tuesday
Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1848 gmt 14 Aug 06
Copyright 2006 British Broadcasting Corporation - Posted for Fair Use
only.
Text of report by Serbian news agency Beta

Belgrade, 14 August: Marko Jaksic, a member of the Belgrade
negotiating team for the status of Kosovo, today said that the Serbs
in Kosovo were not very happy to hear that German diplomat Joachim
Ruecker had been appointed new UNMIK [UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo] chief.
"We can only hope that the situation and the attitude towards the
Serbs in Kosovo will not be as bleak as so far, but we know from
experience that UNMIK chiefs have been figureheads and that the most
important moves have been made from the shadow by their deputies, who
have always and regularly been Americans," Jaksic told the Beta news
agency.
Jaksic, who is chairman of the Community of Serb Municipalities in
Kosovo, accused Ruecker of being the "architect of the plundering
privatization" in Kosovo and "one of the people guilty of the fact
that Serbs in Kosovo do not have electricity."
"Having that in mind, we are afraid that Ruecker might even be worse
than Soren Jessen Petersen as far as the position of the Serb
community in Kosovo is concerned," Jaksic said.
The other members of the Belgrade negotiating team and
representatives of the Serbian government who were contacted by Beta
did not wish to comment on the appointment of Ruecker as UNMIK chief
and said that they would most likely do so tomorrow.
Representatives of Albanian political parties in Kosovo described
Ruecker as the "right man in the right place."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier today appointed Ruecker UNMIK
chief and informed the UN Security Council that Ruecker would take
over as of 1 September, 2006.
---

TADIC CONTRO LA CREAZIONE DI UN "ESERCITO KOSOVARO"

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n94329

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 19, 2006

Forming Kosovo Army Would Endanger Regional Stability: Serbia’s
President

Belgrade - Serbia’s President Boris Tadic condemned
the statements of Kosovo Albanians leaders that Kosovo
will have its own army and warned the international
community that it would endanger the stability in the
region, as well as that it would present an
international precedent, RTS informs.
According to President Tadic the plans to form an army
in Kosovo are unacceptable and extremely dangerous
because Kosovo must be demilitarized and should have
its own police force according to international
standards.
Boris Tadic will once again informed of the problem
the UN Security Council member states, the Contact
Group member states (the UK, Germany, France, Italy,
Russia and the US), the UN Special Envoy for Kosovo
Marti Ahtisaari, the High Representative of the Common
Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, as well as
the NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

---

L'UNMIK INDAGA SU CELLULE JIHADISTE

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n94502

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 22, 2006

UNMIK Police Investigating Possible Extremist Activity in Kosovo

Pristina - The police of the UN Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) started an investigation of a possible
activity of radical Islamists in the area of Urosevac,
Serbian news agency TANJUG informs.
The investigation was launched when after a search of
a house of Kosovo Albanian in the village of
Talinovac, near Urosevac, the police found a “certain
amount” of materials related to Al Qaeda activities, a
source of the international police force said.

---

LA RUSSIA CONTRARIA ALLA "INDIPENDENZA" KOSOVARA

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060823/53030820.html

Russian Information Agency (Novosti) - August 23, 2006

Kosovo independence could set risky precedent - dep. Russia FM

MOSCOW - Independence for Kosovo would set a dangerous
precedent for other "frozen" conflicts, a deputy
Russian foreign minister said in an interview with a
respected Russian daily Wednesday.
Russia has consistently taken the position that
sovereignty for Kosovo, which remains a province of
Serbia under a UN protectorate, could have negative
consequences for conflicts in the former Soviet Union
that erupted in the early 1990s.
"Should 'sovereignization' of the province [of Kosovo]
be imposed on Serbia, as [our] Western partners are
attempting to do, a clear precedent will be set in
international law that cannot but be projected onto
other frozen conflicts," Grigory Karasin told
Izvestia. "This applies not only to the post-Soviet
space, but also to other regions."
The deputy minister said that unlike the
disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia or
Czechoslovakia, Kosovo independence was being claimed
not by a republic as part of a federation but by an
autonomy as part of a federation constituent member.
"Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdnestr have the
same status," he said, referring to two similar
conflicts in Georgia and one in Moldova.
He accused those who saw Kosovo as a "unique" case of
either forgetting or deliberately ignoring differences
in approaches to conflicts around the world.
The West has supported the Georgian government's
attempts to bring breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia
back under its control, as well as Moldova's efforts
to return unrecognized Transdenstr to Chisinau's fold.
"This approach erodes trust in the international
community, leading to chaos and instability in
international relations," Karasin told Izvestia.
"Needless to say, this is unacceptable to Russia,"
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month
against any double standards in regard to the
unrecognized republics in Georgia and Moldova.
Putin said there had always been contradictions in the
principles of international law.
"[Russia] wants and will insist on such decisions to
be based on a universal principle to prevent such
cases when approaches to the regions like Kosovo are
different from those to Abkhazia or South Ossetia,
which is incorrect," the president said during a Web
cast.

---

MONTGOMERY: "I COLLOQUI DI VIENNA SONO UNA FARSA"

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n94650

Focus News Agency (Bulgaria) - August 24, 2006

Kosovo Talks Are Farce: Former US Ambassador to Belgrade

Belgrade - The talks for Kosovo’s future status that
are held in Vienna are a “farce directed by the
international community”.
This is what former US Ambassador to Belgrade William
Montgomery said cited by Serbian news agency TANJUG.
“We saw how even in public statements various Contact
Group representatives gave signals that the inevitable
result of this process would be an independent Kosovo.
"I am sure that Serbia’s Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica has already been informed of that directly
during a private conversation,” William Montgomery
added.

---



LA RUSSIA USERÀ IL KOSOVO COME "PRECEDENTE"



http://www.regnum.ru/english/693406.html

Regnum (Russia) - August 24, 2006

Grigory Karasin: It is naive to say that the Kosovo precedent is unique

“Territorial integrity does not rule out the
possibility of a multi-scenario resolution of the
status problem and does not imply that the will of a
nation can be ignored,” Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Grigory Karasin says in an interview to
Izvestia daily, when asked if the Kosovo precedent can
be applied to Transdnestr, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Karasin says that in the Kosovo case, unlike the
collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia and the division
of Czechoslovakia, [is a case of] claiming
independence by an autonomy within a republic of a
federation rather than a republic of federation
[federated republic].
“Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr have a
similar status. So, if the Western partners force
Serbia to acknowledge the sovereignty of this region,
they will create an obvious international legal
precedent, which cannot but be projected to other
frozen conflicts — and not only in the post-Soviet
area but also in other regions.
"Some people in the West are trying to convince us
that Kosovo is a unique case – a result of some unique
historical circumstances. It is naive to say that the
Kosovo case is unique, we can’t agree with this.
"Precedents come from reality and one can’t abolish
them just by persistently denying them. Can anybody
say to people in other autonomies that in this case we
give independence, but for you this can in no way be
an example?” wonders Karasin.
“Those speaking about the ‘uniqueness’ of the Kosovo
case either forget or deliberately neglect that, in
fact, the question is about inconsistency in
approaching different conflicts, in other words, about
‘double standards.’
"Such an approach undermines confidence in the
international community and leads to chaos and
selectivity in international relations. Of course, for
Russia this is unacceptable. That’s why our position
is that, even though each specific conflict is
peculiar, there should be some universal settlement
rules based on the generally accepted norms of the
international law,” says Karasin.



http://www.azi.md/news?ID=40668

Infotag (Moldova) - August 24, 2006

Russia Considers It Possible to Use Kosovo Precedent in FSU Republics

The Russian Federation considers as acceptable the
spreading of the Kosovo self-determination precedent
in the former Soviet Union area.
Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigory
Karasin stated in his interview with Russia's Izvestia
newspaper published today that in case of Kosovo's
sovereignization, being imposed on Serbia by Western
partners, an obvious international law precedent will
be created, which cannot help telling on other frozen
conflicts. [Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia,
Transdniester in the former Soviet Union]
Karasin stated Moscow shall never let down its
compatriots living outside Russia borders - no matter
if they find themselves in humanitarian hardships or
under a threat to their security.
"Nowadays, peacekeepers are guarantors of stability in
conflict regions and guarantors of security of the
people living there, no matter their nationality",
said the Deputy Minister.
....



http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/24/kosovo.shtml

MosNews (Russia) - August 24, 2006

Kosovo Independence Fraught With Risks — Russia

A Russian government minister says independence for
Serbia’s Kosovo province could set a risky precedent
for other contested regions.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said
if independence of Kosovo is granted from Serbia, “a
clear precedent will be set in international law that
cannot but be projected onto other frozen conflicts,”
the RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday.
“This applies not only to the post-Soviet space, but
also to other regions,” Karasin said in an interview
with Moscow’s Izvestia newspaper.
Karasin said that unlike the disintegration of the
Soviet Union, Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia, Kosovo
independence was being claimed not by a republic as
part of a federation but by an autonomy as part of a
federation.
Serbs, led by the Belgrade government, and ethnic
Albanians have been holding talks on who will govern
the predominantly Albanian Kosovo, once the UN
administration and NATO protection troops leave.
The Serbian government wants to retain Kosovo as its
province, while Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians insist on
independence from Belgrade.


http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=1439

Prime News (Georgia) - August 24, 2006

Deputy Foreign Minister Of Russia Said That Kosovo
Case Is Exemplary For Abkhazia

Gregory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Minister Of Russia
said that the Kosovo case is an exemplary precedent
for Abkhazia.
Gregory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Minister Of Russia
said, “the international precedent concerning
sovereignty of Kosovo is very interesting, the
absolute majority of citizens of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia have Russian citizenship. We will not leave
our citizens without care, they can rely on Russia’s
support in the military, humanitarian or security
spheres.”
Gregory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Minister Of Russia
said, that concerning Georgia’s intention to leave the
Commonwealth of Independent States, Georgia is a
sovereign country and is eligible to make decisions
independently.


http://www.trend.az/?mod=shownews&news=26118&lang=en

Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan) - August 24, 2006

Kosovo independence could set risky precedent - dep. Russia FM

À. Mammadov

Independence for Kosovo would set a dangerous
precedent for other "frozen" conflicts, a deputy
Russian foreign minister said in an interview with a
respected Russian daily Wednesday.
Russia has consistently taken the position that
sovereignty for Kosovo, which remains a province of
Serbia under a UN protectorate, could have negative
consequences for conflicts in the former Soviet Union
that erupted in the early 1990s, reports Trend.
"Should 'sovereignization' of the province [of Kosovo]
be imposed on Serbia, as [our] Western partners are
attempting to do, a clear precedent will be set in
international law that cannot but be projected onto
other frozen conflicts," Grigory Karasin told
Izvestia. "This applies not only to the post-Soviet
space, but also to other regions."
The deputy minister said that unlike the
disintegration of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia or
Czechoslovakia, Kosovo independence was being claimed
not by a republic as part of a federation but by an
autonomy as part of a federation constituent member.
"Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdnestr have the
same status," he said, referring to two similar
conflicts in Georgia and one in Moldova.
He accused those who saw Kosovo as a "unique" case of
either forgetting or deliberately ignoring differences
in approaches to conflicts around the world. The West
has supported the Georgian government's attempts to
bring breakaway South Ossetia
and Abkhazia back under its control, as well as
Moldova's efforts to return unrecognized Transdenstr
to Chisinau's fold.
"This approach erodes trust in the international
community, leading to chaos and instability in
international relations," Karasin told Izvestia.
"Needless to say, this is unacceptable to Russia."
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last month
against any double standards in regard to the
unrecognized republics in Georgia and Moldova.
Putin said there had always been contradictions in the
principles of international law.
"Russia wants and will insist on such decisions to be
based on a universal principle to prevent such cases
when approaches to the regions like Kosovo are
different from those to Abkhazia or South Ossetia,
which is incorrect," the president said during a Web
cast.