-Caveat Lector- Albanian Army Stages War Games By DENIS D. GRAY .c The Associated Press KUKES, Albania (AP) -- Firing hundreds of artillery shells and rockets toward the embattled Kosovo frontier on Friday, the Albanian army simulated a defense of its territory against a cross-border strike by Serbian forces. The war games involved tanks, howitzers and 1,200 ground troops maneuvering several miles from the border, where Serbian forces have clashed with guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army in recent days. Western military sources said NATO tried unsuccessfully to stop the exercise, fearing a Serbian military response in an area packed with more than 100,000 Kosovo refugees and international aid agency personnel. But NATO spokesman Jamie Shea played down any objections within the alliance. ``It's not that we are unhappy about it,'' Shea said, noting that Albania has been fired upon by the Serbs and ``has the right to take any steps which it deems necessary to defend itself.'' He added, however, that helicopter flights of refugees had been suspended during the exercise. In a letter sent Thursday to the U.N. refugee agency in Tirana and Kukes, the NATO-led force in Albania said that in its assessment ``the conduct of a military exercise so close to the border with Kosovo could elicit a Serbian artillery response.'' It said ``prudent protective measures should be followed during and immediately after any live firing of artillery or other major weapons by the Albanian army.'' There was no report of a response from the Serbs, dug in just behind the key border crossing point at Morini. ``Perhaps the Serbs will shoot back, but we are not afraid of them. We are going to defend our borders, our area,'' said Kukes military commander Gen. Kujdesi Lamaj. The 20,000-strong Albanian army is widely regarded as inferior to the Serb military machine. It nearly collapsed two years ago when a failed pyramid investment scheme sparked enraged citizens to storm barracks and loot armories. Observed by Albanian President Rexhep Meidani and the country's top government leaders and military officers, Albanian troops fired off artillery and tank shells as well as rockets. Several foreign military observers, including U.S. and British personnel, were also present. The scenario for the exercise was a defense of the Kukes area from a hypothetical Serbian attack. Target areas for the Albanian fire were hillsides located several miles from the Morini checkpoint. An Albanian man was evacuated during the war games by a U.S. military helicopter. One report said he was a soldier, but other sources said a civilian was shot and severely wounded when he attempted to steal a tractor from refugees. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which processes refugees at Morini, pulled out during the exercise and warned journalists to exercise caution. ``UNHCR is very concerned that this could draw incoming artillery fire from the Serb side with disastrous effects for the refugees,'' spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva, referring to tens of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees concentrated in the Kukes area. UNHCR personnel also withdrew from Morini, less than 30 miles from Kukes, on Thursday when the Serbs and KLA guerrillas traded gunfire for a second day. Despite the clashes, UNHCR spokesman Rupert Colville said 436 refugees crossed the border at Morini from Kosovo. Another 542 refugees left Kukes refugees camps on Friday as part of an organized relocation to safer camps in central and southern Albania. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
