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September
25, 2003
ERP KIM Newsletter
25-09-03
A major in the
Serbia-Montenegro army has been shot and wounded
by ethnic Albanian extremists in an ambush in southern Serbia
SERBIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH ON FORTHCOMING KOSOVO DIALOGUE
Holy Synod of Bishops of
the Serbian Orthodox Church supports open and sincere dialogue but it does
not mean that we can close our eyes before cruel reality which is facing
our people and all non-Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija.
Information Service of the
Patriarchate
Belgrade September 24, 2003
CONTENTS:
 SOLDIERS
AMBUSHED IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
A major in the Serbia-Montenegro
army has been shot and wounded in an ambush in southern Serbia, B92
reports.
BELGRADE
CONDEMNS "TERRORIST ATTACK"
"It is another attempt
to escalate the conflict in the southern municipalities and former Ground
Safety Zone. After a period of quiet, Albanian terrorist groups have
resumed activities", Boris Tadic, Serbia-Montenegro’s defence minister,
said tonight.
CONATCT
GROUP BACKS HOLKERI DIALOGUE PLAN
The Contact Group
emphasised the need to deal with "standards before status", establishing
good government and building trust and reconciliation before addressing
the sensitive issue of the final status of the province.
KOSOVO
REPATRIATES SEEK HELP FROM SERBIA
"Because of the
delay in building a school we have sent our schoolchildren back to Serbia,
which means we've postponed mass repatriations for another year.
OSCE
WANRS OF POTENTIAL VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO
The head of the
Pristina OSCE mission's Democratisation Division, Friedhelm
Frischenschlager, said today that new violence could erupt in Kosovo at
any time.
BELGRADE-PRISTINA
TALKS LOOK ON KOSOVO LOOK SET TO START
The international community has been pushing
for talks, and officials now say that -- after a number of false starts --
they are set to open soon. The talks between Serbian and Kosovar
representatives are expected to focus on cooperation in the energy and
communications fields, as well as on the fate of missing persons and the
return of Serbian refugees.
INET
- FLASH NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
PERPETRATORS OF GORAZDEVAC MASSACRE STILL NOT ARRESTED - DAY 42...
More News Available on our:
KOSOVO DAILY NEWS LIST (KDN)
KDN Archive
This newsletter is available on our
ERP KIM Web-site:
/erpkiminfo.html
SOLDIERS AMBUSHED IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
A major in the
Serbia-Montenegro army has been shot and wounded in an ambush in southern
Serbia, B92 reports.
TOP
B92, Belgrade
Belgrade, September 24, 2003
BELGRADE -- Wednesday – A major in the Serbia-Montenegro army has been
shot and wounded in an ambush in southern Serbia, B92 reports.
The major was wounded when his vehicle came under machine-gun fire at
about 4.30 this afternoon on the Lucane-Dobrosin road. He was transported
to hospital in Vranje.
A second soldier was shot but escaped unhurt thanks to his bulletproof
vest.
The Presevo valley, bordering UN-governed Kosovo, was rocked by an ethnic
Albanian insurgency in 2001. Though a NATO-backed plan brought an end to
the worst of the violence, tensions remain between the Serb and ethnic
Albanian populations.
The OSCE mission to Serbia-Montenegro quickly condemned the attack, which
it blamed on "terrorists". Ambassador Maurizio Massari said the attackers
"do not have the right to negatively affect stability in this multi-ethnic
constituency. The OSCE Mission will do everything within its mandate to
ensure that stability and security are maintained in southern Serbia."
TOP
BELGRADE
CONDEMNS "TERRORIST" ATTACK
"It is
another attempt to escalate the conflict in the southern municipalities
and former Ground Safety Zone. After a period of quiet, Albanian terrorist
groups have resumed activities", Boris Tadic, Serbia-Montenegro’s defence
minister, said tonight.
TOP
Beta News
Agency
Belgrade, September 24, 2003
BELGRADE -- Wednesday – Belgrade has accused ethnic Albanian "terrorists"
of trying provoke a military reaction in southern Serbia, after an army
officer was shot three times in an ambush this afternoon near the town of
Lucane.
"It is another attempt to escalate the conflict in the southern
municipalities and former Ground Safety Zone. After a period of quiet,
Albanian terrorist groups have resumed activities", Boris Tadic,
Serbia-Montenegro’s defence minister, said tonight.
Major Rahman Bandic was shot in the head, chest and pelvis when attackers
opened machine-gun fire on his vehicle on the Lucane-Dobrosin road. He was
taken to hospital in Vranje, and later transferred to the Military-Medical
Academy in Belgrade, where his condition is said to be stable.
The town of Lucane is a former stronghold of the Liberation Army of
Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, an ethnic Albanian extremist group that
led a wave of attacks on Serbian police and army units in 2001 in the
Presevo valley, a region of southern Serbia bordering Kosovo.
Tadic accused Albanian extremists of trying to provoke the
Serbia-Montenegro military and win the attention of the international
community. He claimed they included members of the Kosovo Protection
Corps, a civil unit created by the United Nations mission in Kosovo from
the ranks of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army.
"Our operative data indicates that these are not only members of the
illegal Albanian National Army, but also people from the Kosovo Protection
Corps who have their own political benefactors," he said.
TOP
CONTACT
GROUP BACKS HOLKERI DIALOGUE PLAN
The Contact
Group emphasised the need to deal with "standards before status",
establishing good government and building trust and reconciliation before
addressing the sensitive issue of the final status of the province.
TOP
www.b92.net
B92, Belgrade
September 24, 2003
NEW YORK -- Thursday - The Contact Group last night agreed that the first
direct talks between Belgrade and Pristina should begin in Vienna in the
middle of next month.
The Contact Group, which consists of the US, Russia, France, Germany, the
UK and Italy, met during last night's UN General Assembly meeting.
European Union representatives were also present.
A statement issued after the meeting called for practical steps to improve
the quality of life in Kosovo and reiterated that the international
community would not tolerate attempts to pre-empt Kosovo's final status.
There has been no direct contact between Belgrade and Pristina since NATO
spent three months bombing Yugoslavia in 1999, after which the province
was placed under a UN protectorate.
The Contact Group emphasised the need to deal with "standards before
status", establishing good government and building trust and
reconciliation before addressing the sensitive issue of the final status
of the province.
Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said last night that
Holkeri had told him that the initial round of talks would be between
Belgrade and Pristina officials at the highest level.
After that, Svilanovic told B92, discussions would continue between
various working groups.
"We expect the Kosovo delegation to also included Serb representatives and
ministers within the Kosovo Government, with consultants supplied by
UNMIK.
"We have a platform for these talks. Our team will be headed by Kosovo
Coordination Centre chief Nebojsa Covic and we are preparing for the
dialogue," said Svilanovic.
"Covic told B92 that the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade should be
one phase in the process of meeting the standards for discussion of the
province's final status.
"In this dialogue there is no room for discussion of the finals status, so
this issue should be put aside. "I expect the most senior officials to
attend the first meeting because I see that all sides have various
concerns.
"The problem of Kosovo is not the problem of any one individual, and nor
should it be treated as a hot potato," said Covic.
Holkeri has indicated that he will announce a starting date for the talks
after consultations with EU officials.
At the Contact Group meeting, he insisted that the Kosovo delegation must
be multi-ethnic, that the Serb delegation take part in the dialogue, that
he will be chairman and that representatives of the Contact Group, the EU,
NATO and the US should attend.
TOP
KOSOVO REPATRIATES SEEK HELP FROM SERBIA
"Because of the delay in building a school we have sent our schoolchildren
back to Serbia, which means we've postponed mass repatriations for another
year.
TOP
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina
September 24, 2003
KLINA -- Wednesday - Residents of Serb villages in Kosovo's Klina
municipality have asked for assistance from Serbia in order to "make a
living from work and not from humanitarian aid".
"We want help from Serbia, not from the NGOs and the Red Cross," said
local leader Golub Doncic.
Despite constant promises from Belgrade's Kosovo Coordination Centre, no
assistance has been received from Serbia, he said.
"Because of the delay in building a school we have sent our schoolchildren
back to Serbia, which means we've postponed mass repatriations for another
year.
"The people who are most responsible for this are our representatives in
the Coordination Centre who spend absolutely no time here," said Doncic.
The chairman of the Serbian Parliament's kosovo.netmittee, Momcilo
Trajkovic, ahs told the Klina residents he will intervene to ensure they
receive assistance as soon as possible.
He also called on UNMIK and KFOR to improve security conditions in the
region, which he described as a prerequisite for repatriations.
Trajkovic also underlined that the issue of refugee returns was one for
Belgrade, because this was the only way to keep a grip on Kosovo.
A six-strong delegation from the Serbian Parliament today visited the
villages of Bica and Grabac for the first time since the UN mission was
deployed in the province in 1999.
In that time only ninety Serbs have returned to the villages.
TOP
OSCE
WARNS OF POTENTIAL VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO
The head of the Pristina OSCE mission's Democratisation Division,
Friedhelm Frischenschlager, said today that new violence could erupt in
Kosovo at any time.
TOP
SRNA News Agency, Bijeljina
September 24, 2003
VIENNA -- Wednesday - The head of the Pristina OSCE mission's
Democratisation Division, Friedhelm Frischenschlager, said today that new
violence could erupt in Kosovo at any time.
Frischenschlager, who is a former Austrian foreign minister, said that
attacks such as the slaying of Serb children in Gorazdevac, were in fact
aimed against the international community.
"The extremist forces want the international community to withdraw from
Kosovo," he told media in Vienna, adding that some Albanians also wanted
Serbs out of Kosovo.
"The Serb side doesn't see itself as an ethnic minority, although Serbs
make up only six per cent of the Kosovo population and all Serbs returning
to Kosovo are strictly against autonomy," said Frischenschlager.
TOP
AFTER MAY
DELAYS, BELGRADE - PRISTINA TALKS ON KOSOVO LOOK SET TO START
The international
community has been pushing for talks, and officials now say that -- after
a number of false starts -- they are set to open soon. The talks between
Serbian and Kosovar representatives are expected to focus on cooperation
in the energy and communications fields, as well as on the fate of missing
persons and the return of Serbian refugees.
TOP
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/09/23092003152026.asp
RADIO FREE EUROPE RADIO LIBERTY (USA)
By Julia Geshakova
International officials appear confident that a long-awaited direct
dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will begin within weeks. The talks
will focus on technical issues and not on the final status of the
UN-administered province. Diplomats from the six-nation Contact Group are
meeting today and tomorrow in New York to discuss a plan for the talks,
for which analysts say both sides are ill-prepared.
Prague, 23 September 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Serbian and Kosovar leaders have not
had direct contact since the end of NATO's air campaign in 1999 to end a
crackdown by Serbian security forces against the province's majority
ethnic Albanians.
The international community has been pushing for talks, and officials now
say that -- after a number of false starts -- they are set to open soon.
The talks between Serbian and Kosovar representatives are expected to
focus on cooperation in the energy and communications fields, as well as
on the fate of missing persons and the return of Serbian refugees.
The talks will not touch on the province's final status, which the
international community insists will be solved by the UN Security Council,
not by Belgrade or Pristina.
Over the weekend, Harri Holkeri, Kosovo's UN administrator, sounded
upbeat, saying the dialogue could start "within weeks." Holkeri is to
brief representatives of the Contact Group nations -- the United States,
Russia, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Germany -- on the two sides'
preparedness. A possible date and venue for the talks is expected to be
announced following the meeting.
The start of talks had been expected earlier this year, but they have been
constantly postponed amid apprehension on both sides about the direction
the talks might take.
Serbian politicians over the weekend reiterated their previous public
assurances that Belgrade wants to see talks as soon as possible. Deputy
Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic is expected to lead the Serbian delegation.
"[Holkeri] will present his views to the Contact Group, and I expect that
the Contact Group will support what must happen, and that is a dialogue.
If people do not talk to each other, if they do not have a dialogue,
problems cannot be solved. We have seen what happens when people do not
talk, when there is no dialogue," Covic said.
Starting such talks is in Serbia's interest, since progress toward
eventual European Union membership is seen as impossible without resolving
the Kosovo issue.
Serbian politicians insist that emotionally laden issues -- such as
security for the province's minority Serbs and the return of Serbian
refugees -- should have priority, with other problems being dealt with
farther down the line.
Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic -- meeting children from the Kosovar
village of Gorazdevac over the weekend -- reiterated that security in
Kosovo is a priority for his government. "It is not going to be easy," he
said. "It is not going to be simple. I cannot tell you that it is going to
be tomorrow, or in seven days, in 10 days or in a month. Our political
activities will have different goals, but the most important goal will be
[to guarantee] that children in Kosovo, regardless of their ethnicity
[can] play freely, study freely, bathe freely in your rivers, that you can
freely come to Belgrade but can also freely return to your Gorazdevac." In
Gorazdevac last month, unknown assailants fired on a group of Serbian
children bathing in a river, killing two and wounding seven.
Recent moves by Belgrade, however, hardly seem conducive to dialogue. In a
declaration last month, the Serbian parliament declared Kosovo an
indisputable part of Serbia, despite its UN administration -- a statement
that drew the ire of politicians in Pristina bent on Kosovo's eventual
independence.
Kosovar leaders also are wary that direct talks might make it easier for
Serbia to dictate its own terms. Esat Stavileci, a member of the Pristina
Academy of Sciences, explained to RFE/RL why he believes neither side is
ready for talks: "Despite the fact that, formally, both sides have
declared that they are for talks, I believe that in reality these talks
will take place because the international community is pushing both sides.
That is especially true for Kosova, because the talks will be taking place
at the same time when [the union state of] Serbia and Montenegro has taken
several steps which EU officials say will have no impact on the future
status of Kosova but which, in fact, mean that [Serbia and Montenegro]
wants to secure a better position at the start of talks."
Enver Hasani, a professor of international law at Pristina University,
said the lead-up to the talks is further complicated by the lack of
consensus among Kosovar politicians. "I think that Kosovar institutions,
the Kosovar side, is not ready for a dialogue, but that does not mean they
are not going to take part," Hasani said. "This is something we have yet
to see. But they are not ready as far as the Kosovar political life is
concerned, and that became obvious in the past few days when the Kosova
Assembly could not reach a consensus on the platform, the representation
and the procedures for a dialogue with the Serbs and with Serbia."
Last week (18 September), the Kosovo Assembly said dialogue with Belgrade
is not a priority and that problems should be solved inside the province.
There are a number of practical issues related to the planned talks that
have not yet been agreed, including at what level they will take place,
who will mediate and who will guarantee any possible agreements are
implemented.
Kosovar leaders insist these issues must be resolved before talks begin.
Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi recently said U.S. and European Union
involvement is necessary if the talks are to succeed.
(The Kosovo Subunit of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages
Service contributed to this report.)
TOP
INET -
FLASH NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
TOP
www.inet.co.yu
I*Net News, Belgrade
KOSOVO AND METOHIJA NEWS
Tuesday 23 September 2003
23:20 In talks with the chairwoman of the first roundtable of the
Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe, Elizabeth Rehn, today Serbia and
Montenegro human and minority rights minister Rasim Ljajic stated that
extremist forces in Kosovo and Metohija are attempting to use incidents to
internationalize the issue of the status of the province while the state
through measures it is undertaking is maintaining the complete support of
the region and encouraging the integration of ethnic Albanians into system
institutions.
21:40 A delegation of the Serbian justice ministry headed by minister
Vladan Batic will travel to The Hague this week to seek agreement with the
Hague on acceptance of evidence the tribunal possesses in connection with
the Telecom Serbia scandal. Another topic of discussion will be submitted
evidence regarding war crimes committed by the leaders of the so-called
Kosovo Liberation Army during conflict in Kosovo in 1999 which will enable
the international court to issue indictments against them.
21:20 UNMIK police from Pristina have begun to stop and penalize drivers
on the territory of Leposavic municipality who do not have Kosovo license
plates on their vehicles, refusing to take into consideration proof of
insurance, stated Leposavic mayor Velimir Bojovic today. "The agreement
with Serb authorities regarding the use of Kosovo plates in the north of
the Province has not been realized, that is, it was agreed that the
problem be deferred until final solution. Despite this, yesterday a
special UNMIK police unit from Pristna showed up in Leposavic and began to
stop, penalize and confiscate driver's licenses from drivers whose
vehicles do not have Kosovo plates," said Bojovic.
16:00 Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo president Milan Ivanovic
assessed today that the indictment issued against him by the international
council of the court in Kosovska Mitrovica is politically motivated.
14:00 The political leaders of the Kosovo Albanians have no common
position with respect to the upcoming dialogue with Belgrade. The only
thing they agree on is the desire for Kosovo to be an independent state,
write today's media.
11:20 Serbian representatives of Kosovo provisional institutions, local
self-government and the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija in
talks with Belgrade analyzed the situation in Kosovo in detail within the
framework of preparations for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina
and in order to ease the living conditions of Serbs and other ethnic
communities in Kosovo.
09:40 Serbia and Montenegro president Svetozar Marovic stated that he
expects the international Contact Group and the special representative of
the UN secretary general Harri Holkeri to finally determine the date for
the beginning of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.
Monday 22 September 2003
20:40 A bus returning children from Gorazdevac back to their home after a
field trip to Belgrade was stoned today near Srbica in central Kosovo.
20:20 Representatives of UNMIK and the World Bank signed two agreements on
economic and technical assistance to Kosovo in Pristina today with a total
value of 4.8 million euros.
20:00 Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija head Nebojsa Covic met
today with representatives of the Serbian national community in Kosovo
provisional institutions, as well as with representatives of the Return
Coalition (Povratak), local self-government and the leadership team of the
Coordinating Center, the information service advised.
19:40 Serb National Council of Northern Kosovo president Milan Ivanovic
denied the charges in the indictment against him before the District Court
in Kosovska Mitrovica today. Ivanovic is charged with violent behavior
during the unrest on April 8 of last year in the northern part of the
city.
16:00 The Hague tribunal has rejected the requests of members of the
former so-called KLA Haradin Balaj and Isak Musliu, indicted for war
crimes in Kosovo during 1999, to be provisionally released, the Hague
tribunal advised. The two are suspected of the murder of 22 Serbian and
Albanian civilians in the Lapusnik war camp in Glogovac municipality, as
well as for the illegal detention and torture of prisoners. The same
indictment applies to camp commander Fatmir Limaj, whose request for
provisional release was already rejected earlier. In the justification of
its decision the tribunal council states that it is uncertain that the
accused would return for the beginning of trial, as UNMIK was unable to
provide guarantees to that effect.
13:40 Serbia and Montenegro president Svetozar Marovic assessed that it is
necessary to begin dialogue on Kosovo as soon as possible and that the
meeting of the Contact Group in the near future in New York may
significantly contribute to bringing it about. "We need dialogue that will
stop the violence and guarantee everyone who lives in Kosovo the most
basic thing of all - the right to life," said Marovic in an interview for
the Podgorica daily "Dan".
11:40 A group of Kosovo Serb journalists was intercepted yesterday while
returning from liturgy in the church in Obilic by a vehicle from which an
unknown person threatened them with death. Reporters for KIM Radio and The
Southern Voice (Glas Juga) reported that a man in camouflage uniform in a
black VW Golf was gesturing by drawing his finger across his throat,
slowing their vehicle down on the way to Pristina. The incident was
reported to police. Reporters for KIM Radio and The Southern Voice
attended liturgy in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother in
God in Obilic served by Bishop Artemije of Artemije of Raska and Prizren
for the first time since the deployment of UNMIK in Kosovo. The liturgy
was attended by several hundred Serbs from Obilic and surrounding
villages.
10:40 The international community is insisting that the Pristina
delegation in upcoming dialogue with Belgrade include representatives of
the Serbs from Kosovo. According to Milorad Todorovic, one of the
participants in the meeting between Return Coalition representatives and
UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri, this was the first topic of discussion.
TOP
ERP KIM
Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox
Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace
Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The
main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church
and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM
Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the
Kosovo
Daily News (KDN) News List
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
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