Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- ...penalties for extremist activity are light in the UN-administered province [Kosovo]. Most of about 500 guerrillas arrested since June have released since they were determined to no longer be a threat to security in Kosovo.... Kosovo peacekeepers clash with NLA Sunday, 26 August 2001 0:44 (ET) Kosovo peacekeepers clash with NLA By JEFF BIELEY SKOPJE, Macedonia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Violence in Macedonia spilled over into Kosovo, when a group of ethnic Albanian insurgents fired on U.S. peacekeepers, the peacekeeping force reported Saturday. The members of the National Liberation Army had crossed into Kosovo from the Macedonian town of Radusha when a combined American-Polish patrol spotted them. Two of the militants dressed in NLA uniforms tried to flee, before one opened fire on the peacekeepers. U.S. soldiers took cover and then returned fire, wounding one guerrilla in the leg. He and four others were captured and taken to the main American base, Camp Bondsteel, for questioning. No soldiers from the NATO-led peacekeeping force known as KFOR were injured in the incident, which took place Friday morning near the border village of Gorance. KFOR did not immediately report the clash, releasing only a routine statement Saturday that a patrol detained a wounded man after illegally crossing into Kosovo. A spokesman for the peacekeepers declined to release the man's name, but the NLA commander in Radusha confirmed that Emrush Suma, one of his soldiers, fired on the American troops. He said Suma, in his mid-20s, is from the southern Kosovo border town of Hani Elezit, about five kilometers from where he was shot. The incident is likely to raise fears that some of the rebels who have been battling Macedonian security forces for the last six months will not abide by a peace agreement signed Aug. 13. Kosovo is the main base of men and materiel for the NLA, which exploits a porous border with Macedonia to fuel its rebellion against the government. KFOR says it has stepped up patrols along the Kosovo-Macedonia border in an operation it calls "Relentless Denial" to clamp down on ethnic Albanian extremists. However, Friday's incident, in which guerrillas in uniform were traveling inside Kosovo in broad daylight, suggests that the militants do not fear the peacekeeping force. KFOR did report some success in two unrelated incidents overnight Friday and Saturday morning with the arrest of 48 suspected NLA members who crossed in Kosovo from Macedonia. One automatic rifle was seized, along with hand-held radios and an unspecified amount of cash. KFOR troops detained all of the men, who were taken for questioning to Camp Bondsteel. About 150 suspected ethnic Albanians are being held there while military tribunals process their cases. However, penalties for extremist activity are light in the U.N.-administered province. Most of about 500 guerrilla suspects arrested since June have been released after they were determined to no longer be a threat to security in Kosovo, KFOR spokesman Maj. Norman Johnson said. Illegally crossing into Kosovo without a weapon is a misdemeanor in Kosovo, handled by U.N. police, rather than peacekeepers. The flow of arms and fighters out of Kosovo has reversed in the last week, Johnson said, following the entry of NATO forces into Macedonia to disarm the militants. NLA rebels moving into Kosovo may be trying to hide their arsenal of assault rifles, grenades and mortars there before a NATO operation to disarm ethnic Albanians begins in Macedonia. Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski has announced an amnesty for guerrillas who lay down their arms, following an Aug. 13 peace deal that granted more rights to ethnic Albanians. However, both the peace accord and the amnesty still await parliamentary approval. The NATO disarmament mission, dubbed Operation Essential Harvest, is set to get underway Monday, if a disagreement about the size of the rebel arsenal to be collected can be resolved. On Saturday, Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski ridiculed NATO estimates of the number of weapons to be collected, saying it was woefully inadequate. An alliance spokesman said talks with the government would continue Sunday. __________________________________________________ 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 ==^================================================================
