KosovA/O – ALARMING –news !!
Dear Lady, dear Sir
In international news by AP and Reuters distributed today Mitrovica was in
the center.
I want you to inform, that there were (and are?) other events all over
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sincerely
Wolfgang Plarre
to shorten this mail
- not all news distributed by the sources are given
- Links are given
Remark concerning the “ERP KIM Newsletter”s:
I regret the generalization „THE Albanians“ used in these newsletters.
SOME Albanians are extremist criminals as SOME Serbians are too!
I hope all my Albanian and Serbian friends will not loose the hope, to build
up a Kosov@ where ALL can live in peace.
I add a
# mail from Anika,
working with great engagement for the return of refugees to Kosov@, then –
just received – a
# summary of today’s events by IWPR, followed by news
# B92 News Kosovo
# ERP KIM Newsletter 17-03-04
LINKS:
AFP, KUNA, Xinhuanet, EU press release, Reuters, Associated Press, Agence
France-Presse (AFP), Deutsche Presse Agentur
--------------
mail from Anika:
I'm sending you some digest news as the reports were coming in. It's not so
short, but I guess you can use the various segments to compile a more
comprehensive message.
I spoke to some people from the Danish Refugee Council and they have indeed
suspended their field activities and are taking it one day at a time. There
were some Municipal and Regional Working Group meetings planned this week,
but I don't think that IDPs would be going there as they usually do. My
meeting in Suhareke was cancelled, as I told you and all IDPs we're working
with are extremely concerned. This is a serious blow to all return efforts,
especially because returnee communities have been targeted and many
expensive efforts of European and other international organisations have
been erased by systematic and organised violent attacks against which there
is no proper response. It seems that UNMIK is unable to control the
situation.
*I now hear the official statement of international organisations that UNMIK
and KFOR have questioned the surving Albanian child, who said that there
were no Serbs chasing them and that his friends drowned while crossing the
river.
Hope this helps at least a little.
Will keep you posted on events, especially if I hear from colleagues working
in Kosovo.
Best,
Anika
--------------
Several days ago, protests were held in Prishtina by local Albanians,
requesting the release of KLA members arrested by international forces and
the withdrawal of international presence from Kosovo.
A Serb person from Caglavica (near Pristina) was wounded, reportedly by
Albanians, a few days ago, after which Serbs from Caglavica staged a road
blockade requesting that perpetrators be punished. After that, Albanian
protested against the blockade and this protest culminated on Wednesday,
17th March, when Albanians broke through the KFOR protection blockade and
started to burn down Serbian houses. Six houses were burned and Serb women
and children were evacuated to a safer location in Laplje Selo.
Earlier the same day, three Albanian children drowned in the Ibar river in
Mitrovica. The UNMIK investigation is ongoing and has not yet confirmed
rumours that the children were actually chased by Serbs angry because of the
prevuous incident in Caglavica. Outraged by this, Albanians gathered in
protest in South Mitrovica, which soon turned violent. There were clashes
between Albanians and UNMIK and KFOR forces, as well as between Serbs and
Albanians. Sniper fire has also been reported. Seven people were killed in
Mitrovica, and about 200 wounded were brought to the hospital.
As volence spread throughout the province, 70 more wounded, mainly Serbs,
were reportedly brought to Mitrovica hospital from the settlement of Slatina
near Vushtri.
In Peja/Pec region, villages of Bica and Grabac also came under attack and
gunfire from the neighbouring Albanian communities. Italian KFOR was
immediately deployed in the area to protect the returnees. Currently, Serb
are being evacuated from Bica - report by eywitness - to Osojane, which
Boban does not consider the safest place, since it's very open to any kind
of attack from the outside.
In the village of Belo Polje 25 houses of returnees were burned down by
local Albanians and Serb returnees were moved to safety in the KFOR base.
One Albanian was killed in this incident, reportedly by KFOR. All of these
houses have been recently built for the returnees by international NGOs
(primarily European Perspective and Danish Refugee Council), through the
return project funded by the European Union, EAR and other major donors, as
well as the Coordination Centre for Kosovo. Ultimately this is the money
from the European tax payers and I think this is an extreme disregard to
private property and, above all, human life.
An eyewitness in Pristina reports that sniper and gunfire are heard in the
town, UNMIK and KFOR cars are being set on fire on Veternik hill, and some
Serbs say that they have been advised to stay in their flats and keep the
lights out. There is a general sense of uncertainty and fear among the
inhabitants.
>From Kosovo Polje / Fushe Kosove (FKP) reports are coming in of Albanians
having burned the local school and a café, as well as about 6 Serb houses.
These sources (reporting for B92 and BK TV) also said that the Albanians
entered the local hospital in FKP and burn it down completely. Apparently
the KPS and UNMIK police did not manage to prevent the burning.
We have also heard reports on Serb TV that the Albanians have demolished the
houses of Serb returnees in Gjilan region, while the Viti/na Orthodox church
has been demolished.
Village of Silovo has also been reported to be under siege, and Berivojce
village is threatened as well. The media also report that according to their
eyewitness sources have said that all Serb returnee houses are burning in
Gjilan. These houses were also built through the efforts and funding of the
international community and both local and international NGO.
As I heard lated this afternoon from an UNMIK official working in Suhareke
(with whom I was supposed to have a meeting on Friday to agree on final
arrangements for the inter-ethnic dialogue between Serbs and Albanians in
the village of Mushtishte), the violence has spread into Prizren as well.
Later we heard that threats were made to burn down th Orthodox church in the
centre of town; Beta agency reports that the Orthodox seminary has been
burned to the ground, and that the churches are in flames.
--------------
part of IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 485, March 17, 2004 KOSOVO ON THE
BRINK
Day of ethnic conflict dwarfs anything seen in the region since Serb
withdrawal over four years ago.
By Marcus Tanner and IWPR reporters in Pristina and Merdare
Violence exploded throughout Kosovo today, March 18, after at least seven
people were killed in Mitrovica in riots following the discovery of the
bodies of two Albanian children in the river Ibar dividing the northern
town.
As UN police and NATO peacekeepers lost control over simmering ethnic
hatred, Serb villages came under sustained attack from angry crowds, forcing
women and children to flee to larger, better-protected enclaves for safety.
The violence spun out of control in several different flashpoints. In
one small enclave in Caglavica, near Pristina, Serbs fled burning homes and
took refuge in the nearby villages of Laplje Selo and Gracanica.
In Lipljan, eastern Kosovo, three bombs were thrown at the local Serb
Orthodox church, Borivoj Vignjevic, the town's Serb deputy mayor told IWPR.
In western Kosovo, 25 houses belonging to Serb returnees in the village
of Belo Polje, near Pec, were set on fire and the inhabitants evacuated to
Pec by Italian troops, Ranko Manojlevic, a local Serb leader of nearby
Gorazdevac, told IWPR.
The Serbian church's seminary in the southern town of Prizren was also
attacked and set on fire, according to Fr Benedikt, a monk of the Serb
Orthodox Holy Archangel monastery in Prizren.
Even in Pristina the situation was volatile as angry crowds of Albanians
blocked UN headquarters, trapping an IWPR reporter in the building alongside
UN staff.
"It felt like 1999 all over again," said Jeta Xharra, IWPR's project
manager in Kosovo reported from Merdare, where crowds of Albanians were
blocking the main road to Serbia. "We have gone four years backwards in the
course of one day. All the feeling of security that has been built up since
then has evaporated."
Tanja Matic, IWPR project coordinator, who was blockaded inside the UN
headquarters in Pristina, said, "The situation is out of control. Every
moment we are getting calls from all over Kosovo from Serbs saying they are
under attack.
"UNMIK has lost control over Kosovo and its credibility too. Only today,
Harri Holkeri (the UN special representative in Kosovo) was on the
television saying Serbs and Albanians want to live peacefully together. That
now sounds incredible. The UN stands to lose whatever credibility it has
left."
Trouble started in Mitrovica at around 11 am local time. The town has
been a tense flashpoint between Serbs and Albanians, following the discovery
of two dead Albanian children earlier in the day.
After the Albanian media reported that the children had been chased into
the river by Serb youths on the northern side of the town, angry crowds
demonstrated near the bridge separating the Serb and Albanian sectors.
Exchanges of gunfire soon left several dead and at least 200 wounded. At
least 13 French soldiers were also injured.
Hospital sources on either side gave the names of four of the dead:
Serbs, Jana Tucev and Borivoje Spasojevic; and Albanians, Isak Ibrahimi and
Feriz Chitaku.
While bewildered French peacekeepers doused the ethnic warfare in
Mitrovica, clashes in and around smaller Serbian enclaves in Kosovo
multiplied and threatened to increase the death toll.
The next major flashpoint was at Caglavica. There, angry crowds
demonstrating in solidarity with the Mitrovica Albanians broke through
peacekeepers' cordons into the enclave, trashing and setting on fire Serb
homes. They forced panicked UN police to retreat into the village to
safeguard the thousand or so inhabitants.
As Serbia's government in Belgrade went into emergency session to
discuss the deepening crisis, Holkeri told Serbian premier Vojislav
Kostunica that he was sending reinforcements to Caglavica.
However, a UN police spokeswoman, Angela Joseph, said, "The situation in
Caglavica is out of the control'' and Momcilo Trajkovic, a local Serb
leader, said local women and children had been evacuated to the nearby
larger enclave of Gracanica for safety.
As darkness descended, relative calm was restored to Mitrovica where UN
forces imposed a curfew from 7 pm local time, vowing to shoot anyone seen on
the streets after then. But as Mitrovica's violence subsided, the other
flashpoints in Kosovo remained turbulent.
Ethnic tension has been increasing in Kosovo for several days now,
especially after a drive-by shooting earlier in the week in Caglavica, in
which an 18-year-old Serb was badly wounded.
Local Serbs then protested against what they said was an
ethnically-motivated attack by blocking the main road from Pristina to
Skopje. The discovery of the dead Albanian children in Mitrovica appears to
have triggered today's vicious cycle of violence.
UN and NATO forces in Kosovo have clearly been taken by surprise by the
scale of the violence in Kosovo, which has dwarfed anything seen in the
region since alliance airstrikes forced a Serb withdrawal in 1999.
The violence threatens to torpedo halting UN moves to normalise
relations between the Albanian majority and the Serb minority in the
province. It also threatens to complicate further relations between the UN
in Kosovo and Belgrade, where increasingly powerful nationalists are vowing
to restore Serb rule over Kosovo.
"This is a dark day for Kosovo," said Holkeri. " Incidents of recent
days, the drownings last night and the violent deaths today are profoundly
shocking and disturbing.
"They must all be investigated fully and rapidly. But there is no excuse
for further violence. It is essential that people remain calm and do not add
to the tension and general insecurity."
Marcus Tanner is IWPR's editor/trainer in the Balkans.
--------------
B92 News Kosovo
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?version=print&nav_category=19
Belgrade to demand urgent Security Council sitting | 19:43 | Beta …
Svilanovic calls Contact Group ambassadors | 18:33 | Beta … Parliament
committees demands protection for Serbs | 18:23 | Beta Emergency talks in
Belgrade | 15:34 | SRNA Kostunica demands action from Holkeri | 18:52 | Beta
… Belgrade urges calm in Kosovo | 13:43 | SRNA … Holkeri appeals for calm |
18:10 | B92 … UN governor condemns Kosovo shooting | 12:20 -> 12:39 | FoNet
… Military law imposed in Mitrovica | 18:17 | B92 … Holkeri appeals for calm
| 18:10 | B92
--------------
Serbs wounded in Caglavica clash | 17:57 | Beta
CAGLAVICA -- Wednesday – At least two Serbs have been wounded in the village
of Caglavica by sniper fire from a hilltop near Pristina. They have been
transferred to hospital in Gracanica.
Most Serb women and children from the village have been evacuated to the
neighbouring settlement of Laplje Selo.
Clashes continue between Albanians and international forces at the
entrance to the village, which is completely obscured by smoke from Serb
houses set on fire by the angry mob of Albanians from Pristina. Gunfire and
explosions can be heard through the smoke.
The conflict in Caglavica began soon after 1.00 p.m. today when
thousands of Albanians from nearby Pristina charged the village.
Serbs have been blocking the Pristina-Skopje road since last night in
protest at the drive-by shooting of eighteen-year-old medical student Jovica
Ivic on Monday evening.
Serbs, international troops forced to retreat | 17:49 | Beta
CAGLAVICA -- Wednesday – International troops and Serb citizens in the
strife-torn town of Caglavica are fighting a losing battle to maintain their
territory, being forced back towards the Serb part of the village.
Stun bombs and tear gas deployed by KFOR troops and UNMIK police have
had little effect on the thousands of Albanian who have arrived from
Pristina to storm the town.
Two Serbs have been reported wounded by sniper fire near the village,
which houses about a thousand Serb residents.
Dozens of women and children have gathered in the centre of the village
preparing to evacuate, as about ten Serb houses near the village entrance
have been set on fire.
For now there seems little hope of international peacekeepers arriving
to evacuate. Them.
--------------
Prizren seminary burning | 18:48 | Beta
PRIZREN -- Wednesday – Albanians in Prizren have set fire to the town’s
Serbian Orthodox seminary, sources in Kosovo say.
Fire fighters are attempting to quell the blaze in two wings of the
Cyril and Methodius Seminary’s new buildings and the seminary’s old
building.
Special UNMIK police are using tear gas in an attempt to disperse an
Albanian mob which is hurling rocks at them. Two UNMIK police vehicles have
been set on fire.
The seminary building has been deserted since NATO’s bomb attacks on
Kosovo in 1999, but has not sustained damage until today.
--------------
All Serb houses in Belo Polje on fire | 18:44 | Beta
PEC -- Wednesday – A mob of angry Albanians from Pec have set fire to all 25
houses belonging to repatriated Serbs in the village of Belo Polje.
The Serb repatriates have been evacuated to an Italian KFOR base.
“The village is deserted now. The houses they built for our return are
now on fire,” one of the Serbs told media.
Serbian houses torched near Pec | 18:04 | Beta Mitrovica calm, troops
holding bridge | 17:40 | Beta … Five reported killed in Kosovo clashes |
14:36 | AP
--------------
Serb houses on fire in Caglavica, reports Beta | 15:29 | Beta CAGLAVICA --
Wednesday – A crowd of ethnic Albanians has set light to two Serb houses in
the village of Caglavica, near the Kosovo capital Pristina, Beta news agency
reports.
Beta’s correspondent reports clashes between Albanians and members of
the international peacekeeping force (KFOR).
The situation is said to be clam but tense.
Serbs in the village have been blocking the main road in protest at the
shooting of a teenage boy on Monday evening.
Copyright © 1995-2004, B92. All rights reserved.
--------------
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/80167
March 17, 2004
ERP KIM Newsletter 17-03-04
Diocese of Raska and Prizren appeals to Government in Belgrade to undertake
joint measures with KFOR and UNMIK to protect Serb returnee villages in
Metohija
ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, March 17, 2004 17:24
The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija appeals to the Government
in Belgrade to urgently undertake measures in contact with KFOR and UNMIK
police forces to protect Serb returnee villages and Serbian monasteries in
Metohija.
According to information from Belo Polje near Pec three newly restored
houses for Serb returnees have been set on fire and the returnees have
withdrawn to the Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the
Temple where they are being stoned by gathered Albanians. KFOR forces are
protecting the church. Latest information from KFOR says that Serbs from
Belo Polje have been evacuated and the smoke from the torched houses is
visible above the village. Italian military sources have advised that
several Italian soldiers have been wounded in clashes with Albanian
extremists.
News reports from the Serb returnee villages of Bicha, Grabac and
Osojane say that during the day the Albanians have opened fire several times
on Serbs but the villages remain under the protection of KFOR forces. The
situation in the village of Gorazdevac near Pec is not known but it remains
under the protection of KFOR.
Albanians threaten sisterhood of the Pec Patriarchate: Tonight your
monastery will go up in flames
The ERP KIM Info Service has received word from the monastery of the Pec
Patriarchate that the Albanians have been repeatedly calling its sisterhood
by telephone and threatening to set the monastery on fire. Presently in the
monastery are the 24 nuns of the sisterhood, priest-monk Epifanije and
Bishop Joanikije of Budim, who is visiting the monastery and was scheduled
to visit Serb returnees and other Metohija monasteries during the afternoon.
The situation in the monastery is calm and the sisters are collected and
devoted to their prayers. The Italian command has been informed regarding
the threats to the sisterhood by Albanian extremists and all necessary
measures will be undertaken to protect the monasteries of the Pec
Patriarchate and Visoki Decani in an appropriate manner.
The monks of Holy Archangels Monastery have been informed by the German
KFOR command that the monastery is being sealed off and that monks are
prohibited from leaving the monastery. At the same time strong armed forces
have been deployed around the monastery residence halls. In Prizren the
Albanians are staging demonstrations and the fate of some 60 Serbs who
remain in the city and the churches which are no longer under KFOR
protection remains unknown.
Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service
--------------
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/80166
March 17, 2004
ERP KIM Newsletter 17-03-04
Clashes in Mitrovica continue in southern part of city - Two Serbs dead and
over 70 wounded - Serb hospital in Kosovo Polje torched - Unrest in all Serb
villages in central Kosovo - Caglavica deserted, Albanians torching Serb
houses - KIM Radio director Fr. Nektarije alone in studio, all other staff
evacuated
ERP KIM Info Service
Kosovska Mitrovica, March 17, 2004
According to ERP KIM Info Service correspondent M.G., Abbots Petar Ulemek
and German Vucicevic who are currently visiting wounded Serbs in the
hospital in the northern part of the city, the situation of the northern
side of the Ibar River is stable. According to eyewitness reports, the
escalation of gunfire and especially sniper fire occurred when large groups
of Albanians and Serbs gathered on the south and north of the bridge,
respectively, at the same time. At one point, according to eyewitnesses,
Albanians residing in the three highrises located in the northern part of
the city opened fire from their apartments on the gathered Serbs. UNMIK
police and KFOR forces reacted quickly and clashes are now going on between
international police forces and KFOR, on one side, against armed Albanian
groups in the southern part of the city, on the other. Gunfire can be heard
on all sides. The ERP KIM Info Service has been informed from within the
UNMIK headquarters building in southern Mitrovica that at least two KFOR
soldiers have been seriously wounded and that one of them has already died
of his wounds.
According to unconfirmed reports from Mitrovica, a large number of
Albanians are gathering from nearby villages and there is a strong
possibility of renewed clashes during the night. UNMIK police has allegedly
decreed a curfew to go into effect at 19,00 hours. On the streets near the
bridge there are a lot of rocks and empty cartridges. The bridge still
remains blocked off by strong KFOR forces.
Central Kosovo in chaos - Albanians torching Caglavica, people are fleeing
Disturbing news is once again coming from central Kosovo. After initial
reports that several thousand Albanians heading from the direction of
Pristina toward Caglavica were stopped before arriving in the village and
are withdrawing, KIM Radio reporters informed that Caglavica is in panic as
a result of news that a great number of Albanians are pushing in the
direction of Laplje Selo from Lipljan, while a second group is heading
toward Gracanica from Pristina. Some Serbs in Laplje Selo have already
evacuated their families and withdrawing in the direction of nearby
Gracanica. Fr. Nektarije Vorgucic, the direction of Radio KIM, just informed
the ERP KIM Info Service that he is alone in the studio and that all other
staff has been evacuated. According to him, Albanians are breaking into Serb
houses in Caglavica and torching them. The smoke can be seen from the Radio
KIM building. KFOR and UNMIK police appear to be unable to stop them. If
events continue to unfold in the same way, soon the entire village of
Caglavica will be destroyed.
Serb hospital in Kosovo Polje torched, fate of Serbs in central Kosovo
villages uncertain
The ERP KIM Info Service has just received word that the Serb hospital in
Kosovo Polje has been torched and that the fate of remaining Serbs in Kosovo
Polje and in the villages of Ugljare and Bresje remains uncertain.
Due to lack of official information from KFOR and UNMIK, it is very
difficult to verify all this information primarily transmitted by telephone
where service is still available.
Still calm on Mt. Brezovica and in western part of the Province
Unconfirmed reports from Mt. Brezovica indicate that there are some signs of
the disturbance even there. U.S. helicopters are constantly circling their
entire zone of responsibility. In western parts of the province there is
still no news of major disturbances although Albanian demonstrations against
UNMIK are going on in several towns - accompanied by shouts of "KLA, KLA,
down with UNMIK".
Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service
--------------
# 10 People Died in Today’s Clashes in Kosovo
(AFP, 17 March 2004, 20:30)
?http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=144&newsid=37007&ch=0&datte=2004-0
3-17
# EU, NATO appeal for calm in kosovo ?
(KUNA, 17 March 2004)
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=612574
# 11 KFOR soldiers wounded in Kosovo ethnic clashes
(Xinhuanet, 17 March 2004)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-03/18/content_1371492.htm
# Javier SOLANA strongly condemns the inter-ethnic violence in Kosovo
(EU press release, 17 March 2004)
http://ue.eu.int/newsroom/NewMain.asp?LANG=1
Reuters, 17 March 2004
# At Least Six Killed as Kosovo Flares Up
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1048-2004Mar17?language=printer
# Five Killed, 200 Injured in Kosovo Clash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A876-2004Mar17?language=printer
# Four Killed, 200 Injured in Kosovo Clash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A719-2004Mar17?language=printer
Associated Press, 17 March 2004
# 6 Dead, Hundreds Wounded in Serbia Clash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1140-2004Mar17?language=printer
# Killed in Serb, Ethnic Albanian Clashes
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dg/Akosovo-clashes.RP2J_EMH.html
# 7 Dead, Hundreds Wounded in Serbia Clash
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1031-2004Mar17?language=printer
# 5 Killed, 100 Wounded in Kosovo Clashes
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A820-2004Mar17?language=printer
# Serbs, Ethnic Albanians Clash in Kosovo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A540-2004Mar17?language=printer
Agence France-Presse (AFP) , 17 March 2004 # Seven killed, more than 250
injured in ethnic clashes in Kosovo
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040317/1/3iu2l.html
# Seven killed, 250 injured in clashes in northern Kosovo
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/fb4efa49
ebc6bf4cc1256e5a004c43ad?OpenDocument
Deutsche Presse Agentur, 17 Mar 2004
# Violence erupts again in Kosovo's divided city
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/2c46b4c5
0fd8e1f0c1256e5a004d7594?OpenDocument
Wolfgang Plarre
Dillinger Straße 41
86637 Wertingen
Telefon 08272 - 98974
Fax 08272 – 98975
E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Serbian News Network - SNN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.antic.org/
