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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=10987 [Safe for gangsterism, ethnic cleansing, religious persecution, narcotics trafficking, the sex slave industry, violent pogroms, Western oil pipeline projects and, most of all, Camp Bondsteel - from which the following report receives its dateline - the largest US overseas military complex built since that at Khe Sanh during the height of the Vietnam War. It's amazing what can be accomplished with the magic words humanitarian intervention.] Peace in Kosovo remains priority, commander says By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes European edition, Sunday, October 13, 2002 -�I can assure you that there are no plans for a withdrawal of American troops.� -The Americans �are shifting their priorities to other areas of the world.� -�I can assure you that NATO � and inside NATO, the U.S. � remains committed to the KFOR mission� -On Thursday, some 600 Kosovar Albanians attacked U.N. police and Italian peacekeepers with stones and Molotov cocktails after the international force brought a group of 50 Serbs to the center of Pec. -The Serbs, a group of recently returned refugees from the village of Osojane, were taken by bus to a building in the center of town to enroll in the U.N.-run pension fund.... �Once the Serbs entered the building, the angry crowd attacked the peacekeepers and police..." Police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd. CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo � The commander of the Army�s contingent in Kosovo said the United States remains committed to keeping the peace here despite continuing reductions to troop levels and plans to consolidate major commands within the NATO protectorate. Brig. Gen. Douglas Lute rebutted recent claims by European Union leaders that U.S. resolve in Kosovo was waning as the White House and Pentagon look to expand the war on terrorism, including a possible invasion of Iraq. �I can assure you that there are no plans for a withdrawal of American troops,� Lute told local reporters during a monthly news conference Thursday. �America remains committed to the people of Kosovo and stability in the Balkans.� Lute said plans were moving forward to merge the five �multinational brigades� inside Kosovo into three, as part of major troop reductions throughout the Yugoslav province. The German-led sector in the south of Kosovo and the Italian-led sector to the west will merge into a single Multi-National Brigade-Southwest within the next 30 days, Lute said. �Command of the sector will alternate between the two countries,� he said. Meanwhile, the French sector in the north and British sector in the center of Kosovo will also merge, he said. The American-led region of Kosovo to the east is the only area untouched by the consolidations. �MNB-East will stay the same,� said Lute. �There are no plans that I am aware for consolidation of the U.S. sector.� KFOR officials in Pristina said it is likely to be several months before the French and British sectors merge. They said the British contingent may soon be replaced by another country, making the exact merger date uncertain. Some 50,000 international peacekeepers deployed into Kosovo in June 1999 following a 78-day air campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces. A year ago the number of troops had dropped to 40,000, and by year�s end it is expected to dwindle to about 30,000. The United States, among the largest contributors of troops, will be slashing its force level by 20 percent in the coming weeks, dropping to 4,000 soldiers by the end of the year. The reductions will come as the 1st Brigade of the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division relieves the division�s 2nd Brigade as the main U.S. force in Kosovo next month. Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, international troops levels are dropping from 16,700 this summer to about 12,000 by the end of the year. Several hundred U.S. soldiers are part of those cuts. European concerns With U.S. attention now largely on counter-terrorism operations and potential war with Iraq, some European Union leaders are worried that U.S. reductions in the Balkans could increase at a more rapid clip. �The United States does not appear prepared to stay present in the Balkans because they have other international concerns,� said Yannos Papantoniou, chairman of EU defense ministers and the Greek military chief, on Oct. 5. The Bush administration has made clear that it is eager to wrap up peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and Bosnia, but U.S. officials have repeatedly reassured NATO allies that U.S. forces will not be withdrawn prematurely. Regardless, Papantoniou said Europeans must be ready to step in if American troops are diverted to other duties. The Americans �are shifting their priorities to other areas of the world,� he told a news conference. �The most realistic thing for us to do as Europeans is to play the major role.� Lute, however, reaffirmed the U.S. partnership with Europe when it comes to Kosovo. �I can assure you that NATO � and inside NATO, the U.S. � remains committed to the KFOR mission,� he said. That doesn�t mean, though, that force levels will remain the same. �I think we�ll continue to see a logical sequence of reductions,� said Lute, explaining that as security improves within Kosovo fewer and few troops are needed. Precarious peace However, clashes between ethnic Albanians and Italian peacekeepers Thursday underscored just how tenuous the peace here is, especially as U.N. leaders push to return Serb refugees who fled Kosovo. Tens of thousands of Kosovar Serbs fled the province fearing ethnic Albanian reprisals in the wake of NATO�s arrival in 1999. On Thursday, some 600 Kosovar Albanians attacked U.N. police and Italian peacekeepers with stones and Molotov cocktails after the international force brought a group of 50 Serbs to the center of Pec, a town about 50 miles west of Pristina, said Andrea Angeli, a U.N. Mission in Kosovo spokesman. The Serbs, a group of recently returned refugees from the village of Osojane, were taken by bus to a building in the center of town to enroll in the U.N.-run pension fund, Angeli said. �Once the Serbs entered the building, the angry crowd attacked the peacekeepers and police,� he said. Police responded with tear gas to disperse the crowd. Lute said the return of refugees was among the most important aspects of Kosovo�s recovery. �Tolerance for return� of refugees, he said, must be demonstrated before official discussion can even begin on Kosovo�s �final status� � the controversial debate over whether the province will ever return to Yugoslav rule. � The Associated Press contributed to this report. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
