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May 03, 2004
ERP KiM Newsletter 13-04-04 UNESCO experts: Situation in Prizren near catastrophe After completing a four-day tour of destroyed cultural heritage in Kosovo, the head of the four member UNESCO mission Marie-Paule Roudel said today that the current situation is very bad and that a very long time period will be necessary for conservation and restoration.  | | Prizren - a city in which all Serbian Orthodox holy sites were destroyed by Kosovo Albanian mob despite 4.000 German KFOR troops | | www.beta.co.yu Beta News Agency, Belgrade
April 30, 2004 PRIZREN - After completing a four-day tour of destroyed cultural heritage in Kosovo, the head of the four member UNESCO mission Marie-Paule Roudel said today that the current situation is very bad and that a very long time period will be necessary for conservation and restoration . "The situation is worst in Prizren. It is near catastrophe. All the experts expressed concern because of the condition of the church of the Mother of God of Ljevis. In order to protect it it will be necessary to undertake urgent measures including the work of experts at the highest level," assessed Roudel. She warned that "it is truly time for a law to be passed in Kosovo for the protection of cultural, historical and natural inheritance in the region". Austrian Tomas Stepan, one of the team members, expressed the hope that the Mother of God of Ljevic may be saved if work begins immediately. "Every delay in the beginning of work may result in the present condition, which is tantamount to catastrophic, becoming even worse." "If work on the narthex, bell tower and entrance portion of the Mother of God of Ljevis do not begin as soon as possible, we will have a very, very difficult situation. We are especially concerned by the possibility of rain damage to the building," said Stephan. The Italian expert on the team, restorer Donatella Zari, said that "as far as the frescoes in the cultural monuments that were damaged are concerned, 90 to 95 percent of these frescoes can be saved because experts have the ability to reproduce them using authentic methods". "A very long period of time, years of work" will be required for the restoration of the frescoes, said Zari. Russian expert Alexey Lidov said that "saving the cultural heritage" does not depend solely on the UNESCO mission. "There are al lot of factors. The very political situation in Kosovo is such that there is cause for concern." "In normal political, economic and financial conditions it would take us from three to five years for the restoration of the Mother of God of Ljevis. I repeat: under normal conditions," said Lidov. Lidov said that the mission has addressed a warning to representatives of local authorities that the cultural heritage cannot be protected without cooperation at the broadest level which includes the education and cultural level of the people. Otherwise, he said, all efforts toward restoration and conversation are doomed to fail. Scenes from the destroyed Serbian Orthodox Holy sites in Prizren
(While EU is reaffiriming its committment to build democratic society based on European cultural traditions, Christian holy sites in Kosovo are being exposed to merciless destruction and desecration)
click each photo to open in larger format ----- B92 version: Historical objects in danger | 19:52 April 30 | Beta PRIYREN -- Friday Mari-Pol Rudil of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization mission reports that the state of cultural objects in Kosovo is worsening by the day. She added that the conservation and restoration of these objects will take an extremely long period of time. "The situation is at its worst in Prizren. It's almost catastrophic. All our experts have expressed worry for the condition in which the church of Bogorodica Ljeviska is in." Rudil called for an immediate introduction of a law that would protect cultural, historical and natural legacy of this region. TOP
www.beta.co.yu
Beta News Agency, Belgrade
April 30, 2004 PRISTINA - KFOR commander Holger Kammerhoff said today in Pristina that "the March crisis has influenced" KFOR in changing its strategy of confronting the loose and instable situation in Kosovo. At a ceremony transferring command of Multinational Brigade Center, which was attended by the commander of NATO's south wing admiral Gregory C. Johnson, representatives of representative offices of the Western countries in Pristina and numerous guests, Kammerhoff said that KFOR, working together with UNMIK an dthe Kosovo Police Service, will do everything to improve the security situation in Kosovo. For just a few hours KFOR was confronted with an unexpected situation, violence that engulfed many regions in Kosovo. KFOR and UNMIK confronted the violence against minorities, innocent persons and cultural heritake, said Kammerhoof and added that KFOR is prepared to support civil institutions in achieving the standards for Kosovo. Previous MNB Center commander, Czech general Ander Bramsan, said that March events in Kosovo proved that enmity between the ethnic groups is greater than assumed. Bramson assessed that the road to achieving progress, confidence in institutions and the rule of law is long. "We have assessed that in our zone of responsibility the situation is not stable. In Kosovo there are enough people who can represent a serious threat to security and regional stability," said Bramsan. The new MNB Center commander, Finnish general Antip Emisijo Lantjen, expressed his conviction that by following a path of cooperation by all sides, the security situation in Kosovo can be improved. MNB Center is comprised of troops from eight European countries. ----- B92 version: A change in KFOR's strategy | 20:17 April 30 | Beta PRISTINA -- Friday - KFOR has decided to alter its strategy in Kosovo after what Commander Holger Kammerhoff called "the March crisis." According to Kammerhoff, KFOR along with UNMIK and the Kosovo police will do everything they can to better the security situation in Kosovo. KFOR and UNMIK were in just a few hours, met with a completely unexpected situation with the riots in March, he added. KFOR also announced plans to back civil institutions to improve the standard of living in Kosovo TOP
www.beta.co.yu KFOR arrests two members of former KLA Beta News Agency, Belgrade
May 2, 2004 BELGRADE - Members of KFOR arrested two members of the former Kosovo Liberation Army this morning in the region of Pec under suspicion of having participated in the March violence in the province, UNMIK police spokesman Neeraj Singh confirmed. Singh specified that the arrested persons are suspected of having participated in violence against civilians on March 17 in the region of Pec. According to Beta's sources, the two arrested men are Nexhmi Lajichi and Naser Shatri, the president and a member of the executive board, respectively, of the association of veterans of the disbanded KLA. TOP
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