August 22, 2003

ERP KIM Newsletter 22-08-03

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

DEVASTATING RESULTS OF THE KOSOVO "PEACE" MISSION: 1,200 KILLED SINCE DEPLOYMENT OF UN/KFOR - 6 DEAD IN LAST THREE WEEKS

PERPERTRATORS OF GORAZDEVAC MASSACRE STILL NOT ARRESTED - DAY 9...

ONE OF MANY TERRORIST ATTACKS IN POST-WAR KOSOVO IN WHICH
 PERPETRATORS HAVE NEVER BEEN ARRESTED BY UNMIK/KFOR
After the terrorist attack on a Serb civilian bus (Feb 17, 2001) in which 11 people were killed (two of them children) and 40 wounded a few Kosovo Albanian suspects have been arrested by UN police. The main suspect Florim Ejupi is direcly linked to the circles of Kosovo Albanian organized crime, close to the former KLA and its successor UN/NATO sponosred Kosovo Protection Corps. Despite all security measures Ejupi ran away from the American detention facility in Camp Bondsteel. British Sunday Times reveals in its article by Bob Graham (July 29, 2001: British troops' error led to bus bomb) that "UN sources believe that Florim Ejupi had been working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His trial would have been a serious embarrassment, they claim".
(The Sunday Times, British Troops' Error Led to Bus Bomb, July 29 2001)

CONTENTS:

TANJUG: 1,200 PERSONS KILLED SINCE DEPLOYMENT OF KFOR IN KOSOVO
TERRORIST ATTACKS AND OTHER INCIDENTS FROM JULY 30 TO AUGUST 15, 2003
TOL: VIOLENCE AGAIN DESTABILIZING KOSOVO
ANTIWAR.COM: FRESH BLOOD IN KOSOVO, By Nebojsa Malic
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA CHRONICLE, AUG 21

More News Available on our:

KOSOVO DAILY NEWS LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive

This newsletter is available on our ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html

1,201 PERSONS KILLED SINCE DEPLOYMENT OF KFOR IN KOSOVO - SERBS AND MONTENEGRINS SUFFER HIGHEST CASUALTIES

Since the deployment of KFOR and UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija on June 10, 1999 to August 9 of this year, Albanian terrorists have carried out 6,535 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 1,201 persons, the wounding of 1,328 persons and the abduction of 1,146 persons, reports the Serbian ministry of internal affairs.

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Tanjug News Agency, Belgrade
August 20, 2003

(photo: three Serbs massacred by KLA terrorists in Belo Polje near Pec despite KFOR/UN presence. The priests read a hasty funeral service over bloodsmeared bodies. KFOR refused to protect the village and all Serb villagers soon fled to Montenegro,  June 1999)

Since the deployment of KFOR and UNMIK in Kosovo and Metohija on June 10, 1999 to August 9 of this year, Albanian terrorists have carried out 6,535 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 1,201 persons, the wounding of 1,328 persons and the abduction of 1,146 persons, reports the Serbian ministry of internal affairs.

Of the total number of attacks, 6,468 were directed against civilians (5,932 against Serbs and Montenegrins, 201 against Albanians and 335 against members of other ethnicities), 57 against Serbian police (members of the ministry of internal affairs) and 10 against members of the Serbia-Montenegro (formerly Yugoslav) Army.

In these attacks 1,173 civilians, 24 Serbian policemen and four members of the Army were killed, while 15 policemen were wounded. Of the total number of abducted persons, 1,107 are civilians, 29 are members of the Serbian police and 10 are members of the Army.

Among the 1,173 civilians killed by Albanian terrorists, the great majority (991) are Serbs and Montenegrins. The number of Albanians killed is 109 and the number of members of other ethnicities killed is 73.

Out of the total of 1,108 abducted civilians, 960 are Serbs and Montenegrins, 73 are Albanians and 74 are members of other ethnicities. The fate of 846 persons remains unknown; 160 have been killed; 12 managed to escape (nine Serbs and three persons of other ethnicities), and 89 civilians have been released, according to information of the Serbian police (MUP).

The fate of 15 abducted policemen and nine members of the Army also remains unknown. Six of the abducted policemen have been killed, six have been released, and two managed to escape from their abductors, Albanian terrorists.


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FOUR YEARS WITHOUT ANY CLUE ON WORST POST-WAR KOSOVO ATTACK
July 23, 1999: 14 Serb farmers were killed by Kosovo Albanian terrorists while
harvesting their field. Perpetrators of the "Harvest massacre", one of most
tragic post-war Kosovo terrorist attacks have never been found by UNMIK/KFOR
http://spc.rs/Ppres/24-7-izjava-lipljan_e.html

TERRORIST ATTACKS AND OTHER SECURITY-RELATED INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FROM 07/30/03 T0 08/15/03

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1. On August 2, 2003 between the hours of 22.30 and 23.00 in the park near the bus station in Pec unknown attackers ambushed and opened gunfire from automatic weapons on Rexhep Kelmendi, Rustem Dresaj and Skelzen Nikici (K/Albanians). Skelzen Nikci was mortally wounded, Rustem Dresaj sustained serious wounds and Rexhep Kelemendi managed to escape. As the unknown assailants opened fire, Is Dedusi from the village of Vitomirica in Pec municipality was passing by with two of his daughters, who were shot from automatic weapons and died on the scene from their wounds.

It is assumed that the attackers intended to assassinate Rexhep Kelmendi, who served as a witness in the Dukadjin group (former members of UCK) trial, and his cousin. Eyewitness observed the assailants leaving the scene in a white Audi 80 passenger vehicle.

2. On August 4, 2003 between the hours of 16.00 and 17.00 in the village of Gorazdevac, Pec municipality, an unknown person set a fire in a field owned by Srboljub Dakic (S), a member of the Kosovo Police Service. A firefighting team from Pec was dispatched to the location and managed, with the help of local residents, to localize the fire. In the fire some 20 black locust trees on the edge of the field were burned.

3. On August 9, 2003 at 08.30 hours in the village of Mala Jablanica, Pec municipality, Sadri Rexhaj, son of Azem (A), age 55 years, was shot to death. His brother Brahim (A) and son Safet (A) were seriously wounded. The media claimed that this was an act of inter-Albanian blood revenge because the area of the attack is inhabited exclusively by Kosovo Albanian population.

4. On August 13, 2003 at approximately 13.00 hours in the immediate vicinity of the Serb village of Gorazdevac, Pec municipality, a terrorist attack was carried out in all likelihood from automatic weapons against Serb teenagers swimming in the Bistrica River (approximately one kilometer from the village). The shots were fired from the direction of the village of Zahac, Pec municipality, inhabited exclusively by Albanians. Six people were wounded, four of them seriously:

Gunshot wounds were also sustained by the following:

Somewhat later, Ivan Jovanovic (19) and Pantelija Dakic (11), both from the village of Gorazdevac, died as a result of their wounds. Seriously wounded Bogdan Bukumiric (15) and Marko Bogicevic (12) were transferred by KFOR to the Clinical Center in Kosovska Mitrovica by helicopter.

Milоvаn Pavlovic (S) from the village of Gоrаzdеvаc drove without escort a wounded Bogdan Bukumiric to the hospital in Pec. He ran out of fuel in the center of the city. A group of ethnic Albanians stoned the vehicle and beat Pavlovic and the comatose child, inflicting physical injuries. They were rescued by the UNMIK police patrol.

There was a strong presence by KFOR, special units of the police and UNMIK police in the village of Gorazdevac. Citizens gathered in the center of the village, embittered, frightened and in despair, awaiting news about the seriously wounded students.

1. On August 11, 2003 at approximately 13.30 hours in the K/Albanian village of Ajvalija, Pristina municipality, members of the Kosovo Police Service came under fire from the house of the Ajeti family (A). The KPS patrol was attempting to carry out a search of the Ajeti home (following the registration of gunshots from an automatic weapon on August 10, 2003 during a wedding celebration). One KPS member was wounded in the leg.

KPS members called for reinforcements. Members of KFOR and UNMIK police appeared on the scene and blocked off the house. They arrested three persons (the father and two sons). According to unconfirmed information weapons and ammunition were found inside the house. An investigation is in progress.

2. On August 12, 2003 in the village of Slivovo, Pristina municipality, unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity started a fire in a forest owned by Jovanka Simic (S),. A firefighting unit from Pristina went to the scene and localized the fire. There was great material damage (about one hectare of forest was burned).

3. On August 13, 2003 Silvana Marinovic (S) (born 1972), the wife of kidnapped Serbian police (MUP) member Goran Marinkovic from the village of Slivovo, Pristina municipality, left the village of Gracanica, Pristina municipality, in Kosovo for central Serbia. Her reason for leaving was fear of terrorists Imer and Enver Abazi (A) from the village of Labjane, Novo Brdo municipality (who kidnapped her husband), after learning that they were seen in front of the preschool in Gracanica in a jeep with dark windows and had been inquiring about her daughter, Dragana.

1. On August 14, 2003 at about 12.00 hours in the village of Batuse, Kosovo Polje municipality, Emin Djurevci (A) from the village of Dobrevo (Kosovo Polje municipality) came to the yard of the house of the family of Stojan Dimic (S) and advised him that, starting today, the field owned by Dimic (located in district of the village of Dobrevo) was his, that he would be using it and telling him in a threatening tone not to complain about it to anyone.

2. The morning of August 15, 2003 unknown persons started a fire at the Serbian Orthodox Christian cemetery in the village of Bresje, Kosovo Polje municipality. The fire spread to the dry brush, the crosses on the graves, the wooden fence around the cemetery and the benches next to the graves. After speaking with locals living near the cemetery, it was established that none of the locals had visited the cemetery on that day.

1. On August 2-3, 2003 in Milosa Obilica Street in Obilic, unknown persons tossed a hand grenade at the house of Zoran Milic (S). No one was injured. All the windows on Zoran Milic's house and nearby houses owned by Albanians shattered as a result of the explosion.

The house of the family of Zoran Milic is located about 30 meters from the house of the Stolic family (S), where unknown persons brutally murdered the three members of the Stolic family (father, mother and son) on June 4, 2003. The house of the Milic family was previously attacked by unknown persons in 2001. Zoran Milic repaired the house with funds from humanitarian organizations. An on the scene investigation was conducted by UNMIK and KPS police. An investigation is in progress.

2. On August 4, 2003 in Obilic an unknown person tossed a hand grenade at the house of Sejdija Maloku (A) (a retired employee of the Serbian police (MUP) formerly with the Secretariat for Internal Affairs in Pristina). No one was injured. There was material damage. An on the scene investigation was conducted by UNMIK and KPS police. An investigation is in progress.

It is assumed that the assailants intended to frighten Maloku, who after the brutal triple murder of the Stolic family (father, mother and son) on June 4, 2003 gave an interview to Albanian language media (in connection with the murder) and reported the incident to UNMIK police.

1. On July 30, 2003 at about 20.05 hours in the predominantly Serb inhabited village of Suvi Do, Kosovska Mitrovica municipality, in immediate proximity to the St. Sava Elementary School, two unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity (aged approximately 15-16 years) from the village of Gusevac, Kosovska Mitrovica municipality, while passing next to the store owned by Branko Radovanovic (S), in front of which Jelena Petronijevic (S) and her two sons were standing, directed several curse words at Jelena. A group of young Serb men who were inside the store ran to Jelena's assistance. Members of KFOR ran to the group of Serbs and attempted to arrest Dusan Vrzic (S). After the incident some 30 Serbs gathered who attempted to prevent the arrest of Vrzic. UNMIK police and the KPS appeared on the scene and took Jelena Petronijevic and Dusan Vrzic to the police station in Kosovska Mitrovica. After talks (lasting approximately one hour) they returned them to the village of Suvi Do.

2. On August 2, 2003 at about 11.45 hours in the village of Kosutovo, Kosovska Mitrovica municipality, three unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity stoned a Zastava 101 passenger vehicle, license plate UE 941-81, driven by Nazifa Isadikovic (Bosniac) from Prijepolje (central Serbia) on the main highway Pristinа _ K. Mitrоvicа _ Ribаricе. They hit the right side window (on the co-passenger's side) where her son Senko Isadikovic (B) (about 15 years of age) was sitting. He sustained injuries and subsequently received medical treatment in the Zubin Potok Health Care. The incident was reported to UNMIK police, who spoke with Nazifa and Senko.

3. On August 2, 2003 at approximately 23.00 hours in the northern (predominantly Serb inhabited) part of Kosovska Mitrovica, near the main bridge across the Ibar River, a group of Albanian young men crossed into the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. The Albanians immediately began with provocations, cursing and insulting citizens of Serbian nationality who were strolling near the bridge. An Albanian young man hit a Serb young man with his hand. The Albanians then began to throw stones at the Serbs. UNMIK police and the KPS arrived on the scene and pushed back the Albanians, returning them to the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. After the incident the Serbs quietly dispersed.

4. On August 4, 2003 at about 22.15 hours local residents of the village of Strezovce, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, heard shooting from an automatic weapon coming from the direction of a place known as "Rid" (located between the hamlet of Bara and Jastrebac). The next day residents of the hamlet went to the place from where they had heard the shooting. They found multiple empty cartridges and an oiled cloth used by unknown persons to clean weapons. The Serbs did not report the incident to UNMIK police out of fear.

5. On August 4, 2003 at about 00.00 hours (midnight) on the main highway Kosovska Mitrоvicа _ Lеpоsаvic (North Kosovo), in a place known as "Ceranjska Reka" (Leposavic municipality), unknown persons carried out an armed attack on an UNMIK police vehicle. Menos Satish (a citizen of India and member of the UNMIK police) died in the attack and a second policeman in the vehicle sustained serious physical injuries.

Before the above cited attack unknown persons opened fire from automatic weapons on a passenger vehicle driven by KPS policeman Sasa Blazic (S). Blazic's vehicle was riddled with bullets but continued to advance. After this, various obstacles such as rocks were placed in the road. When an UNMIK police jeep stopped at one of these, unknown persons opened fire. UNMIK policeman Menos Satish was killed and a second policeman in the vehicle was seriously injured. UNMIK police arrived on the scene and blocked traffic. An investigation is in progress.

6. On August 9, 2003 at about 15.10 hours in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica near the main bridge across the Ibar River approximately 20 refugees of Albanian ethnicity crossed from the southern (Albanian) part of the city, arrived in front of the Dolce Vita Cafe and stoned a Renault 25 bus without license plates owned by the Trepca Company, which was parked near the cafe. No one was injured. Significant material damage resulted.

7. On August 10, 2003 at about 13.30 hours in the Mikro Naselje quarter in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, unknown persons set fire to a house owned by an ethnic Albanian (that had been the target of several previous arson attempts). The firefighting unit of UNMIK police arrived on the scene. At 15.00 firefighting was taken over by teams of the French KFOR contingent, who managed to localize the fire by 18.00 hours.

8. On August 13, 2003 at about 23.30 Dragan Jovic (S) from the village of Plemetina, Obilic municipality (a mentally handicapped person) was brought to the Kosovska Mitrovica Medical Clinic with a leg injury. He was admitted to the orthopedic department for further treatment.

Mara Jovic (S), Dragan's mother, said that that day Dragan had gone to visit a relative in the village. Unknown persons in the village of Plemetina had put Jovic on a bus that stopped in the village en route from the village of Samodreza to Vucitrn municipality, inhabited exclusively by Albanians. In the bus the passengers physically abused him and inflicted a serious physical injury, breaking his leg. The injured Jovic was then tossed from the bus by the roadside near the village of Babin Most, Obilic municipality, inhabited by Serbs. A local resident of Babin Most (unknown to the mother) transported the injured Jovic by passenger vehicle to the Kosovska Kamenica Clinical Center.

9. On August 13, 2003 at about 21.30 machine gun fire was heard coming from the K/Albanian village of Zabare, Kosovska Mitrovica municipality, in the direction of the northern (S) part of Kosovska Mitrovica. Several short bursts were fired, followed by light bullets and again short bursts of machine gun fire.

At approximately 22.00 in the Bosnjacka Mahala quarter (inhabited predominantly by K/Albanians, Bosniacs and Roma) in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica near Bridge Number 2, a strong explosion was heard, most probably that of a hand grenade. After the explosion a number of persons of Albanian ethnicity gathered on the bridge.

The same day at about 22.15 hours several bursts of machine gun fire were heard coming from the direction of the village of Kicic (the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica).

10. On August 14, 2003 at about 21.40 hours in Kolasinska Street in the northern (predominantly Serb) part of Kosovska Mitrovica and in the immediate vicinity of three apartment buildings a strong explosion was heard. Members of KFOR and UNMIK police arrived on the scene, blocked off Kolasinska Street and conducted an investigation.

11. On August 15, 2003 at about 00.30 (half an hour after midnight) in the Bosnjacka Mahala quarter in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica a strong explosion was heard. An on the scene investigation was conducted by members of KFOR and the UNMIK police.

On August 11, 2003 between the hours of 19.15 and 19.30 in the village of Skulanevo, Lipljan municipality, Dragan Tonic (S), son of Aleksandar, (1959-2003) from Skulanevo was fishing on the Sitnica River in the direction of the village of Rujce when unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity approached him, stabbed him several times with a knife and then fired a handgun into his mouth. He was transported to the Serb run Simonida Hospital in Gracanica. Physicians determined that Tonic had sustained serious physical injuries (a gunshot wound through the nape of the neck). He passed away at the Emergency Medical Center in Belgrade on Monday, August 18. According to unconfirmed information, Albanian extremists planned the attack to frighten the Serb population and commemorate the murder of Milorad Milic (killed three years ago) in the same location.

1. On July 29, 2003 at about 17.00 hours in the village of Domorovce, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, in the place known as "Zaguzina," four young men of Albanian ethnicity, all about 20 years old, from the village of Toponica (Kosovska Kamenica municipality) threatened Dragutin Slavkovic (S) as he was grazing his cows and used hand signals to signify that they would slit his throat. The Albanians attempted to steal his cows but Dragutin managed to escape with the animals.

2. On August 2, 2003 Islam Zuzaku (A) from the village of Berivojce, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, met Milunka Mihajlovic (S) and her daughter-in-law Zivana (S) from the same village and began to insult them, using foul language and then removing a knife from his belt and threatening Milunka. She reported the incident to members of UNMIK police.

3. On August 3, 2003 at about 17.00 hours Bozidar Maksimovic (S), his wife Verica and Rodna Kostic (S), all from the village of Ranilug, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, set out for the place known as "Blato" to a field bordering with fields in the district of the village of Petrovce (inhabited by Albanians). When they arrived at the field, they found livestock grazing in it watched by five unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity. Bozidar asked the Albanians to herd the livestock out of the field. The young men headed toward Bozidar holding staffs in their hands and insulting him. The frightened Serbs left the field and went home. They reported the incident to UNMIK police.

4. In the village of Berivojce, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, after the departure from Kosovo and Metohija of the Russian KFOR contingent from the "Karacevo" base, the company was taken over by K/Albanians. They began to mistreat, abuse and threaten the Serbs living in the house in immediate proximity to the Karacevo Company every day. They forcibly hooked up to the existing water lines by digging over gardens owned by Serbs without their permission. When the Serbs protested, they swore at them and threatened to kill them if they reported the incident to KFOR and UNMIK police.

5. On August 13, 2003 at 21.30 hours in the region of the village of Marovac, Medvedja municipality (southern Serbia), three individual shots were observed from an automatic weapon (using light bullets) coming from the direction of the village of Lisocka Mahala "Krcelji" - Kosovska Kamenica municipality (Kosovo).

6. On August 14, 2003 at about 21.00 hours local residents of the villages of Bosce and Strelce, Kosovska Kamenica municipality, heard multiple short bursts from automatic weapons coming from the direction of villages inhabited primarily by K/Albanians.

On August 9, 2003 at 23.00 hours in Strpce on the parking in front of the house of the family of Miladin Boskovic (S), unknown persons planted an explosive device under a black metallic VW Vento TDI passenger vehicle without license plates owned by Zaklina Boskovic (S), temporarily residing in Leskovac (southern Serbia), who occasionally comes to Strpce to visit her parents. The explosive device was most probably activated by remote control. No one was injured. The vehicle sustained significant material damage (the front part of the vehicle was destroyed). All the windows on surrounding houses and shops shattered as a result of the explosion. Members of UNMIK police and the KPS came to the scene after the explosion. They sealed off the location for investigation purposes.

1. On August 2, 2003 at about 19.00 hours in the village of Cernica, Gnjilane municipality, in the center of the village, unknown persons of Albanian ethnicity stoned an Opel Kadet passenger vehicle with Kosovo license plates driven by Dusko Antonijevic (S), son of Srecko. No one was injured. The vehicle sustained material damage (body damage, broken headlight and signal light).

2. On August 4, 2003 at about 17.00 hours Milorad Pаvic (1952), Stојаn Dеnic, Vоја Stојkоvic, Djоrdjе and Јоrdаn Kоvаcеvic (K/Serbs), all from the village of Koretiste, Gnjilane municipality, were grazing their livestock on the meadow known as "Rakita" near the village when they observed four persons around 20 years of age and five persons around 10 years of age of Albanian ethnicity breaking off ears of corn and collecting squashes. When Milorad Pavic told them not to do this, the Albanians showered him with the broken ears of corn, stones and wooden stakes. At one point Pavic felt a strong blow to his forehead. Bathed in blood he abandoned his livestock and fled in the direction of the village. He received medical treatment in the village primary health care center and was then transferred to the Vranje Medical Center (southern Serbia). He is undergoing treatment in the department of otolaryngology. Physicians have established that he sustained light physical injuries.

3. On August 7-8, 2003 in the village of Paralovo hamlet of "Perici," Gnjilane municipality, unknown attackers set fire to the home of the family of Ljubisa Aksic (S). There was significant material damage. The incident was reported to members of UNMIK police.

1. On August 5, 2003 at about 18.00 hours Djurdja Simic, Perica Przic and Boban Bocic (K/Serbs) from the village of Mogila, Vitina municipality, displaced persons presently living in Smederevo (Central Serbia), set out to visit the house of the family of Djurdja Simic (S), who fled out of fear in 1999, escorted by two KPS policemen (an Albanian and Nenad Nojic, a Serb). They were met in front of the house by Afrim Azemi (A), son of Bajram, who physically attacked Bocic by hitting him with his fist in the head, while Afrim's brother hit Przic in the face (the nose) and struck Djurdja in the head with a rock. The KPS police stood by, observing the physical abuse of the Serbs. When Bocic addressed policeman Nenad Nojic with the plea that he protect them, Nojic asked the attackers to calm down. The Serbs then left the yard of Djurdja Simic.

2. On August 9, 2003 unknown persons tossed two hand grenades at the municipal courthouse in Vitina. No one was injured. There was minor material damage (damaged facade and broken windows on the building).

3. On August 9, 2003 in the K/Albanian village of Djelekare, Vitina municipality, an unknown person tossed a hand grenade at a mixed goods shop (owned by an Albanian). No one was injured. There was insignificant material damage.

1. On August 14, 2003 at about 02.00 hours in Trepcanska Street in Prizren an unknown person activated an explosive device, most probably a tossed hand grenade, in front of the UNMIK police building, which is located in the administrative building of the "Metohija" water company (located on the right side of the road upon exiting Prizren toward Djakovica). At 13.00 hours a second explosive device was activated in front of the UNMIK building. UNMIK assumes that the second explosion is a consequence of the preceding morning attack. No one was injured. An investigation is in progress. (Out of a pre-war population of 8,000 Serbs, only 68 elderly Serbs remain in Prizren today. The city is now overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian.)

1. On August 14, 2003 at about 23.00 hours the Serb village of Grabac, Klina municipality, was targeted by an armed attack of 5-6 bursts of automatic gunfire coming from the direction of the Albanian inhabited villages of Stupelj and Krnjince, located east of Grabac. No one was injured. The Serb returnees in the village are frightened and afraid for their safety.

WHAT IS CALLED "INCIDENT" IN KOSOVO THAT WOULD BE
 A TERRORIST ATTACK IN JERUSALEM
February 2, 2000. Albanian terrorists  fired an anti-tank rocket at a UNHCR
bus with 49 Kosovo Serbs on board, killing two elderly people and wounding
three other passengers. As in many other terrorist attacks (i.e. incidents, in Kosovo)
perpetrators have never been arrested ( /busattack.html )

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TOL: VIOLENCE AGAIN DESTABILIZING KOSOVO
Ethnic tensions in Kosovo continue to escalate in the wake of the murder of two Serb youths and the wounding of four others by unknown gunmen near the town of Pec, some 50 miles south of the capital, Pristina.

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RELIEF WEB
Source: Transitions Online
Date: 18 Aug 2003


The murder of two Serb teenagers at play sparks fears of spiraling ethnic tensions in the province.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ethnic tensions in Kosovo continue to escalate in the wake of the murder of two Serb youths and the wounding of four others by unknown gunmen near the town of Pec, some 50 miles south of the capital, Pristina.

United Nations police are conducting an intensive manhunt for the killers, who on 13 August opened fire from nearby bushes on teenagers who were swimming in the Bistrica River, in the enclave of Gorazdevac. Police still have no suspects and have made no arrests. Andrea Angeli, a spokesman for the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), said in a statement that some 300 officers are involved in the manhunt. The UN has offered a reward of 50,000 euros for information leading to the arrest of the killer or killers.

UNMIK officials have continued house-to-house searches. According to UN police spokesperson Derek Chappell, investigators believe there was at least one gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle.

Kosovo Serbs have staged peaceful protests throughout the province. In one violent incident, however, a grenade was thrown at the house of an ethnic Albanian in an apparent act of retaliation. International officials are concerned that the incident will spark greater violence in the fragile province.

The killings took place only one day after the arrival of the new head of UNMIK, Harri Holkeri, who made his first official visit to the UN-administered province. Holkeri is replacing Michael Steiner, who resigned in June, as the province's new civilian governor.

"Certainly, it was very emotional. It's a very sad event," Angeli said. "The new chief of the mission, Mr. Holkeri...declared here: 'I'm devastated about this terrible tragedy. It's a tragedy for Kosovo that four years after the conflict ended such incidents continue to take a terrible toll on the lives of innocent citizens and on Kosovo's image in the international community.'"

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, who heads Belgrade's Kosovo Coordination Center, was more emphatic.

"[What happened] in Gorazdevac is the most brutal form of fascism. I don't know how else to name the act when someone opens fire on children who are swimming. Believe me, condemnations, protests, and notes are not enough. Whatever we do, nothing has changed, and they are killing and killing people, ethnic cleansing is going on. My proposal will be to the government [of Serbia] and the Council of Ministers [of Serbia and Montenegro] to demand a session of the UN Security Council in the presence of the secretary-general [Kofi Annan]," Covic was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

The UN Security Council was due to meet on 18 August to discuss the security situation in Kosovo. Covic was scheduled to speak for the Serbian government.

Holkeri has appointed a special international prosecutor to lead an investigation into the incident.

Both ethnic Albanian and Serbian political leaders condemned the killings. Ethnic Albanians in the government blamed Serbian extremists for the murder, while authorities in Belgrade are pointing fingers at Albanian "terrorists," such as the outlawed Albanian National Army (AKSh)--a group Steiner had earlier labelled a terrorist organization.

The 16 August funeral for the two slain teenagers was an intense scene, with Kosovo Force (KFOR) and UNMIK police blockading the village while mourners laid the victims to rest in a traditional Orthodox ceremony, visiting the grave sites the day after according to custom.

In the meantime, local authorities in Gorazdevac have requested that UNMIK and KFOR troops be replaced by local representatives and have called for the resignation of the president of the Pec Municipality on grounds that he failed to provide adequate protection. Members of the local Serbian Orthodox Church delivered the request to the international community, blaming international troops for allowing such a violent incident to occur in an area under their direct protection.

Some 4,500 international police officers, 21,000 peacekeepers, and 5,000 local police provide security in the province.

Serbian Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said that the killings provided "tragic confirmation that the UN and NATO have failed" in Kosovo.

Leaders of the Serbian community also fear that the incident may keep some of the 200,000 Serbs who fled Kosovo during and after the NATO bombing campaign from returning to their homes.

Violence in Kosovo has been escalating over the past several months. In early August, a UN police officer was shot dead in northern Kosovo after his car came under attack by unknown assailants. And in early June, three members of a Serb family were murdered in their home in Obiliq, outside of the capital. The family was beaten to death and their house set on fire. No suspects have yet been identified.

Aljban Vjosa, representative of the outlawed AKSh, on 17 August urged Albanian political representatives in the southern Serbian districts of Bujanovac, Medvedja, and Presevo to join the terrorist group to work toward creating an ethnic Albanian state in the province, Beta news agency reported. In an interview with preshava.com Vjosa officially declared himself a member of the AKSh's political wing and said that Albanian political leaders in Kosovo do not deserve the trust of their voters.

Vjosa called dreams of multi-ethnicity "naive," and insisted that the territory of central Serbia is occupied territory colonized by Serbs with military facilities constructed with the goal of "massacring the Albanian population."

--Compiled by TOL with reports from Radio B92, Beta, RFE/RL, and The New York Times.


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FRESH BLOOD IN KOSOVO - OCCUPIED PROVINCE TERRORIZED AGAIN

The attack on children was condemned by both Kosovo Serbs and the Belgrade government. As angry Serbs protested in the streets of their ghettos, the UN authorities and NATO occupiers pledged to find the assailants. That pledge has remained unfulfilled as of yet, as have all others before it.

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http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m082103.html
ANTIWAR
Balkan Express
by Nebojsa Malic

August 21, 2003


Even as north-eastern United States clawed its way from a weekend blackout, and the UN mission in Iraq gasped in shock at Tuesday's massacre at its Baghdad headquarters, the occupied Serbian province of Kosovo was once again in the headlines. A week ago, British historian Kate Hudson noted that the attack on Yugoslavia over Kosovo in 1999 established a "pattern of aggression" that was applied to Iraq in 2003.

Of course, the US did not occupy all of Serbia, as it did with Iraq - only its one province, settled with Albanians bent on carving out an independent state, or possibly annexing Albania. While Iraqis shoot at occupation troops, the Albanians actually welcomed them. These differences, while rightly irrelevant to Hudson's argument, have also meant years of abject misery for non-Albanians living in Kosovo.

Last Tuesday, the government in Belgrade finally announced its official position on the status of its occupied province, rejecting outright the notion of independence but pledging "substantial autonomy" within Serbia. The unexpectedly firm line by the otherwise spineless Dossie leadership came a day before Kosovo's new international viceroy, Harri Holkeri, was to make his first visit to the occupied province.

A Clear Response

Belgrade and UNMIK probably expected an official Albanian response filled with righteous indignation at the very thought of anything but full independence for the province. But the unofficial response that came on August 13 was loud, clear and disgusting. An "unknown" gunman fired at children swimming in the Bistrica river, killing two and injuring several others. The attack took place just outside Gorazdevac, a Serb enclave surrounded by Albanian villages. Serbs in Kosovo have long since been disarmed by the NATO occupation force; the assailant had used an AK-47 assault rifle.

Another attack followed on Sunday, only this time no one was hurt.

Earlier that week, and again on Saturday, Serbian military outposts near the border with Kosovo came under fire. The attacks were claimed by the AKSh, the "Albanian National Army," the newest incarnation of the KLA. It seems to have reawakened following the announcement of Presevo area Albanians that they would form an Albanian National Council to promote annexation to Kosovo.

Anger and Loathing

The attack on children was condemned by both Kosovo Serbs and the Belgrade government. As angry Serbs protested in the streets of their ghettos, the UN authorities and NATO occupiers pledged to find the assailants. That pledge has remained unfulfilled as of yet, as have all others before it.

Father Sava, the famous "cybermonk" at Decani, wrote that the Gorazdevac attack was "first and foremost a shocking indicator of the real situation in Kosovo and Metohija that the majority of UNMIK and KFOR representatives, together with Albanian political leaders, are persistently attempting to hide from the global public in order to rationalize their own failures..."

Even Bishop Artemije, who once collaborated with the UN-NATO occupiers, is embittered. "All words have been used already; everything that should have been said has been said so many times already," he told KFOR political officer Frederick Mathias during their meeting Saturday, quoted FoNet news agency.

When even the most conciliatory Serbs - who have condemned Slobodan Milosevic's government on many occasions and repeatedly reached out to Albanians - are this embittered, it should be obvious that few if any Kosovo Serbs trust the occupying authorities any more. KFOR may be the only thing standing between them and the Albanian lynch mobs, but it clearly isn't doing it well; besides, NATO occupation enabled those lynch mobs to operate in the first place, a fact Kosovo Serbs have not forgotten, if others have.

Mr. Covic Goes To The UN

While the murders at Gorazdevac were ghastly, they should not have been a surprise to anyone familiar with the situation in Kosovo. Truly surprising was the reaction of official Belgrade, where the normally ambivalent Dossies actually did something.

Nebojsa Covic, deputy Prime Minister charged with Kosovo affairs, quickly traveled to New York for the emergency session of the UN Security Council. What he said there was surprisingly frank:

"[T]he hideous attack on innocent children swimming in the river near their homes in Kosovo and Metohia had taken place only because they were Serbs. It was an attempt to send a message to all Serbs that they had to leave and there is no chance for a multi-ethnic society," official UN reports quoted Covic, who added that "it was necessary to accept the fact that last week's crimes were not unique - they belonged to a pattern of activity by a determined minority of the Albanian population to bring the ethnic cleansing of the province to completion."

The UN Ambassadors gave him a polite hearing and said the obligatory words of concern and condolences, then rejected his claims outright. According to US government-sponsored Radio Free Europe, British Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry said the attacks "must still be considered as isolated acts of extremism," offering no explanation as to why. And the Council said "it was important for leaders in Pristina and Belgrade to redouble their efforts to cooperate in building a multiethnic Kosovo."

Let's see, double of zero is still - zero. The UN gets to sound all proper, but do nothing. Impressive.

Lie and Deny

While at first apologetic, after Covic's presentation UN officials began an all-out effort at spin control. Derek Chappel, UN police spokesman in Pristina, glibly dismissed the danger of terrorism in the occupied province in an interview to Agence France-Presse. The agency played along, labeling the manifestly one-sided campaign of murder "inter-ethnic violence." Here are some of Chappel's more ludicrous statements from Tuesday's AFP story:

a. "They [the AKSh] have been classified as a terrorist organisation but we don't believe they can seriously threaten the stability of Kosovo."

b. "We've always said that we don't believe there are any large-scale terrorist organisations in Kosovo but there are always people who are capable of carrying out terrorist acts."

c. "Kosovo is still awash with explosives, hand grenades and military weapons and it is certainly true that there are people here who do not want reconciliation and want to create instability. They wouldn't hesitate to use violence to drive the communities apart. I think that is a very serious threat..."

d. (paraphrased by AFP): "the extremists' failure to generate a popular uprising against the international police and judiciary following the recent war-crimes conviction of an ethnic-Albanian guerrilla commander showed that most people, whether Serb or Albanian, wanted to bury the past."

Chappel is either insane, or deliberately lying. To him, the AKSh exists
- but not really - and is certainly not a threat. But of course, there are people who threaten "the stability of Kosovo," (!) and since he pointedly avoids mentioning Albanians (and everyone knows they want a stable, Serbenfrei Kosovo of their own), then who else could possibly be responsible than those dastardly Serbs again??

Describing people who have systematically killed and expelled their neighbors of all other ethnicities, then stole or torched their property as "people who do not want reconciliation" is surely the pinnacle of cynicism. In case he'd been living under a rock these past four years (which is entirely possible), he could not have helped but notice that "communities" in occupied Kosovo had already been separated into Albanians (forcibly ruled by KLA thugs) and everybody else (killed, expelled, or terrorized into ghettos). How many more people need to die for Chappel to snap out of his auto-colonoscopy and confess the truth? Why, all of them, in all likelihood. Kosovo would be very stable then.

Now Chappel isn't just some faceless UN bureaucrat. He is the official spokesman for the UN police force, the people who are supposed to prevent attacks like Gorazdevac from happening - or at the very least catch their perpetrators. Which they have markedly failed to do over the past four years.

There are no signs they would perform differently in the future. That "failure to generate a popular uprising" Chappel incredulously mentioned had in reality been a week-long bombing spree against police stations and a fatal sniper attack against a UN policeman. It appears the UN police have heard the KLA's message, loud and clear.

Distort and Divert

AFP is not the only news service deliberately obfuscating the issue. The Associated Press reported on the Serbian government's Tuesday declaration with obvious derision and distortion of facts. For example, its reporter claimed "dozens" of Serbian churches were destroyed in "revenge attacks" since 1999, while in reality the number has been over 112, and the attacks were motivated not by "revenge" (what have the churches done?) but sheer hatred.

The Guardian article about the Bistrica beach atrocity referred to "brutal Serbian occupying forces," dismissed the Belgrade position as a "wish list" that had "fat chance of becoming reality," and claimed that "indicted war criminal" Slobodan Milosevic had "set up a police state" in Kosovo. It did call the attack on children "exceptionally brutal" and "extreme," but it almost sounded as a pretext for lambasting Belgrade.

Obviously, the media refuse to see the pattern in the attacks so obvious to Covic and the Kosovo Serbs. They have toed the UN-NATO line for so long, it has become impossible to drop it, even in face of overwhelming evidence. So what happens in Kosovo must be distorted and the audience diverted from obvious conclusions.

Until last week, under Imperial pressure and that of their regime, the Serbs had gone along with this charade. No more.

Awareness of Empire

Three weeks ago, Helle Dale of the Washington Times quoted Dossie Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic, who supposedly said that, "There are three things Serbs cannot stand: an independent Kosovo, NATO and the United States." Dale was trying to be malicious and smear the Serbs as Nazis and barbarians. But she really did them a favor.

In a letter of response, the Serbia-Montenegro embassy did not deny the quote's accuracy, only its context: namely, that Zivkovic was trying to tell the media how he was governing against the will of the people, like every good modern, progressive, freedom-loving, democratic etc. vassal of the Empire.

Zivkovic was right, then. As reactions from both the government and the people show, Serbs really cannot stomach an independent (and needless to say, Albanian) Kosovo. After what happened in 1999, they cannot stand NATO, either. Dossies are working hard to join the Alliance, but they might well choke themselves trying. Regarding the United States, perhaps the Serbian peasants have figured out something that has eluded most
Americans: that the United States, once venerated by Serbs as a friendly and fellow freedom-loving nation, has turned into a freedom-crushing Empire, an abomination and antithesis of itself. What it has done to Kosovo is all the evidence they need.

And that is definitely something to ponder.

-Nebojsa Malic

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INET: KOSOVO AND METOHIJA CHRONICLE, AUG 21

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KOSOVO AND METOHIJA NEWS
Thursday 21 August 2003

23:20 Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer condemned today the gun attack on a group of Serbian children in the Kosovo village of Gorazdevac, which left two dead and four others injured, and urged for a dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade that should lead to a reconciliation of all communities in Kosovo-Metohija.

18:00 President of the local community in Suvi Dol Mico Kragovic said today that the situation in the village has deteriorated dramatically since the arrival of the Danish KFOR contingent. Serbs in Suvi Dol have not been feeling safe in their own homes since last February, when the Danish contingent replaced the French KFOR contingent, said Kragovic.

17:40 Serbian Deputy Premier and President of the Coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija Nebojsa Covic visited at the Military Medical Academy (VMA) today Bogdan Bukumiric, the boy wounded in the recent gun attack in Gorazdevac, the Serbian government press release said.

17:20 Milan Jovanovic, Vladimir Jovanovic's father, told reporters today that the door to his apartment in Leposavic was demolished by UNMIK police. Vladimir Jovanovic (21) was arrested by the international police three days ago on suspicion that he killed Indian policeman Satish Menon in northern Kosovo in early August.

17:00 New UNMIK Chief will officially resume his duties on Monday, August 25th, Pristina media report today. According to the daily Zeri, Holkeri is scheduled to meet with leaders of transitional Kosovo institutions and political officials of Serbs on Tuesday, August 26th.

13:20 UNMIK police Commissioner Stefan Veller called upon the people of Kosovo-Metohija to cooperate with the police in eradicating terrorism and crime in the province.

13:00 UNMIK Police regional spokesperson Tracy Becker has confirmed that Serb Vladimir Jovanovic is suspected with murder of Indian police officer Satish Manon, denying at the same time that he is a Kosovo Police Service member.

12:20 Several dozen members of the NGO Women in Black and Belgrade citizens protested yesterday in Belgrade against Albanian extremists' violence in Kosovo-Metohija and murder of two Serb boys in Gorazdevac.

12:00 UNMIK's municipal administrator for Kosovska Mitrovica Mina Jervenpa has said that horrible crime committed on Serb children in Gorazdevac didn't produce sincere mourning of Albanian politicians, but that reactions of Serbian politicians also haven't contributed to appeasement of the situation.

11:40 Kosovo-Metohija premier Bajram Rexhepi says that no decision was brought at UN Security Council session to condemn Kosovo-Metohija.

11:20 Democratic Opposition of Serbia parliamentary leader in the Serbian Parliament Bojan Pajtic has said that starting point of the official Belgrade in talks with Albanian representatives from Kosovo-Metohija will be the principle that Province is an integral part of Serbia.

11:00 An impression has been created in Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) that SCG Army and Serbian police will return to Kosovo-Metohija to protect Serbs there, but this is, unfortunately, impossible, SCG defense minister Boris Tadic told Serbian TV.

10:40 Serbian deputy premier Nebojsa Covic expressed confidence with results of UN Security Council session on Kosovo-Metohija, but added that situation in the field won't be changed soon.


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