Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- [But NATO and the West have been known to go back on their pledges before....The latter half of the dispatch is a perfect specimen of its kind: Muhamet Xhemaili, KLA commander and "one of the most radical leaders of the LAPMB," is quoted verbatim from a cell phone call - emanating from we can well imagine where - stating his forces didn't kill the Serbian policemen at all. True to form, true to the racial stereotypes developed by Western media and others over the past decade - stereotypes Xhemail knows he can play to - the dead and wounded are portrayed as the perpetrators, the perpetrators as the victims. The policemen, he assures us, were drunk and killed themselves. And were the other 68 killed and 150 wounded, as the disptach mentions in passing, in the NATO-backed terrorist attacks out of Kosovo over the past two years also inebriated suicides? The message from this report is that they must have been as "There were never any terrorists here," as the chief of the terrorists asserts, and as Agence France-Presse lets go without comment.] Tense Atmosphere in Southern Serbian Village After Policemen Killed MUHOVAC, Aug 6, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Police stepped up patrols on Sunday on the deserted streets of Muhovac, a former ethnic Albanian rebel stronghold in southern Serbia, amid signs of increasing tension following the killing of two Serb policemen. Two police officers were killed and two injured in the mainly Albanian village on Friday, in the most serious incident since the dismantling in May of the ethnic Albanian Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (LAPMB). Serbian officials blamed the attack on the rebels. Village chief Qani Ramadani told AFP automatic fire was heard around 10.00 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday. "We're afraid now of police repressions and the villagers don't know what to do," he said. Muhovac is 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Bujanovac, the main town in the region bordering the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo, which is also dominated by ethnic Albanians. The village was the fiefdom of Muhamet Xhemaili, one of the most radical leaders of the LAPMB, which took its name from three mainly Albanian towns in southern Serbia. Clashes between LAPMB rebels and Serbian government forces lasted for over a year, leaving a total of 68 dead and 150 wounded. The guerrillas disarmed in line with a peace plan drawn up by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic and implemented with the help of NATO-led peacekeeping troops in Kosovo (KFOR). "The murder of two policemen is not a burst of nationalism or extremism but an obvious example of terrorism. And we will fight terrorists by every possible means," Covic said on Saturday during a visit to Muhovac with NATO's representative to Belgrade, Sean Sullivan. But rebel leader Xhemaili insisted he was not involved in the incident. "I don't have any connection with it. I don't know who did it," he told AFP by telephone. One villager insisted the death of the policemen was the result of Serb officers fighting each other. "The Serb policemen had been drinking all day. They were drunk and this was an incident between them," Qemal Xhemali said. But an international official who came to Muhovac to investigate the incident was skeptical about the villagers' explanation and concerned for the future. "I dread the consequences of this incident," he told AFP, insisting the police had changed since former president Slobodan Milosevic was ousted last October. "The behavior of the Serbian security forces is more positive and more professional nowadays than during Milosevic's time," he said. One ethnic Albanian policeman from the multi-ethnic police force set up after the LAPMB was dismantled has remained in Muhovac in an attempt to reassure local inhabitants. Ramadani said four ethnic Albanians from Muhovac were arrested after the shooting. "We were detained for 12 hours. Two of us were beaten and accused of killing the policemen," one of the four said. Xhemali said he was still "in shock" after Covic's remarks. "He told us if we weren't satisfied, we could leave, in an allusion to Kosovo," Xhemali said. But the villagers said they would not leave Muhovac, despite renewed tensions. "There were never terrorists here and we hope the calm will return," Ramadani said. On Saturday the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) condemned the murders, warning that they threatened to undermine the precarious, hard-won peace in the region. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
