Yugoslav Daily Survey
BELGRADE, 5 March 2000
YUGOSLAVIA - LAOS
LAO PRESIDENT URGES YUGOSLAVIA TO
PERSIST IN DEFENCE OF INDEPENDENCE
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV 2ND ARMY DISMISSES
MONTENEGRIN ACCUSATIONS AS MALICIOUS
YUGOSLAVIA - KOSOVO-METOHIJA - TERRORISM
YUGOSLAVIA WRITES TO KFOR COMMANDER
OVER ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISM
ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS QUSE, ISMAILI
CONDEMN ATTACK ON SERB VILLAGE
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - TERRORISM
RUSSIAN KFOR TROOPER KILLED BY
15-YEAR-OLD KOSOVO-METOHIJA ALBANIAN
UN - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
U.N.'S ANNAN SAYS KOSOVO-METOHIJA
SECURITY SITUATION DETERIORATES
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - EUROCORPS
FIRST EUROCORPS CONTINGENT LEAVES FOR
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
RUSSIA - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
U.N. RESOLUTION 1244 IS NOT HONOURED IN
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - SERGEYEV
ITALY - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
ITALY'S DINI BLASTS ANTI-SERB VIOLENCE
AS UNACCEPTABLE
FROM FOREIGN PRESS
ETHNIC ALBANIAN KLA STILL EXISTS, IN
NEW UNIFORMS - BRITISH PAPER
ETHNIC ALBANIANS EXPORT TERRORISM TO
SOUTH SERBIA - MACEDONIAN PAPER
* * *
YUGOSLAVIA - LAOS
LAO PRESIDENT URGES YUGOSLAVIA TO PERSIST IN
DEFENCE OF INDEPENDENCE
VIENTIANE, March 5 (Tanjug) - Lao President Khamtay
Siphandone received visiting Yugoslav Foreign Minister
Zivadin Jovanovic on Sunday, which was a compliment
which showed the Lao Government's pleasure in the
ranking Yugoslav official's visit.
During the one-hour meeting, Siphandone said he had been
following with great attention and indignation NATO's
bombing of Yugoslavia last spring.
Laos has high respect for the patriotism of the Yugoslav
people, led by President Slobodan Milosevic, as displayed
in their resistance to the foreign aggressors and their
violence, according to Siphandone.
He stressed several times Milosevic's contribution to the
defence of Yugoslavia's independence, and sent his
greetings to the Yugoslav President, with the message that
Laos would always stand by Yugoslavia.
Jovanovic, in turn, paid tribute to the Lao president for the
Vientiane Government's support for Yugoslavia since the
outbreak of the crisis in the lands of former Yugoslavia.
Jovanovic further said that Yugoslavia highly appreciates
the Lao Government's resolute condemnation of the NATO
aggression, and the country's efforts made in opposition of
drives for excluding Yugoslavia from the United Nations.
Siphandone said Jovanovic's visit should usher in a new
era in the two countries' relations and should be used to
negotiate economic cooperation in order to utilise to the full
the potentials of Laos.
FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
YUGOSLAV 2ND ARMY DISMISSES MONTENEGRIN
ACCUSATIONS AS MALICIOUS
PODGORICA, March 5 (Tanjug) - The Yugoslav 2nd Army
has again dismissed "all arbitrary and groundless
accusations" levelled against it by individual political
parties and government officials in the Yugoslav Republic
of Montenegro. Allegations that the army has "been
politicalised", levelled even by some senior Montenegrin
Government officials, and views voiced concerning its
activities in Montenegro, "essentially correspond with the
positions of some NATO officials and their anti-Yugoslav
propaganda campaign," the 2nd Army said in a statement on
Saturday.
It went on to say that the Yugoslav Army in Montenegro is
not setting up paramilitary formations, and the allegations
that "the army has been made a political instrument and
obstructs legal decisions of competent Montenegrin
government bodies are malicious."
In line with the regulations, the Army carries out only
regular activities necessary for enhancing its combat
capability and securing the state border, the statement said.
Therefore, it added, any connection perceived between the
2nd Army's regular activities and some current
developments in Montenegro is purely arbitrary.
This "corresponds with NATO's propaganda pressure," the
statement said.
YUGOSLAVIA - KOSOVO-METOHIJA - TERRORISM
YUGOSLAVIA WRITES TO KFOR COMMANDER OVER
ETHNIC ALBANIAN TERRORISM
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, March 5 (Tanjug) -
Yugoslavia's Committee liaising with the U.N. Mission to
Kosovo-Metohija wrote on Saturday to the international
Kfor force Commander for Sector North over Friday's
ethnic Albanian shelling of a Serb village.
Ethnic Albanian terrorists fired a shell on the
Serb-populated village of Grabovac in the Zvecan
municipality late on Friday from the direction of the village
of Zaze, disturbing the people and causing damage, but no
casualties.
The Committee's letter to General Pierre de Saqui de
Sannes said the shelling was the result of the leniency of
Kfor and the U.N. civilian mission (UNMIK) towards
ethnic Albanian terrorists in this U.N.-ruled Serbian
(Yugoslav) province.
Repression, invariably accompanied by brute force, is
obviously reserved only for Serbs, as though they were the
ones expelling non- Albanians from Kosovo-Metohija,
attacking and killing KFor and UNMIK personnel,
according to the letter.
Responsibility for the spreading of chaos and violence in
north Kosovo-Metohija rests with KFor and UNMIK who
are not implementing U.N. Resolution 1244, the letter said.
Instead, it added, they are implementing an obvious
scenario of putting pressure on the Serbs, according to
which every ethnic Albanian terrorist attack is followed by
putting pressure on and using force against Serbs.
The Committee said it expected the KFor Sector North
Commander finally to make an effort to find the attackers
on Grabovac and give safety to the people, instead of just
paying lip service to these duties as so far.
ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADERS QUSE, ISMAILI
CONDEMN ATTACK ON SERB VILLAGE
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, March 5 (Tanjug) - Ethnic
Albanian party leaders in Kosovo-Metohija on Saturday
blasted Friday's shelling by ethnic Albanian terrorists of a
Serb village in that U.N.-administered province of the
Yugoslav Republic of Serbia.
Visiting divided Kosovska Mitrovica, Sokol Quse of the
Democratic Reform Party and Cherim Ismaili of the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative said the shelling of Grabovac was
another proof that terrorists do not care for peace or for a
multi-ethnic Kosovo-Metohija.
They said the terrorists were trying to provoke the Serbs
and trigger conflicts between Serbs and U.N. peacekeepers,
which was standard practice ahead of a U.N. Security
Council session with the purpose of making the Serbs look
bad.
Quse and Ismaili urged the international community to
recognise the reality of the situation in dealing with the
Kosovo-Metohija problem and face up to the ethnic
Albanian terrorists led by Hashim Thaqi, who are solely
responsible for the continued terrorism.
Speaking on behalf of their party members, Quse and
Ismaili said a multi-ethnic Kosovo-Metohija was the only
chance for coexistence in Serbia and Yugoslavia.
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - TERRORISM
RUSSIAN KFOR TROOPER KILLED BY 15-YEAR-OLD
KOSOVO-METOHIJA ALBANIAN
PRISTINA, March 5 (Tanjug) - The international KFor
force in Kosovo-Metohija said on Saturday a 15-year-old
ethnic Albanian had been arrested on suspicion of shooting
a Russian KFor soldier in this U.N.-ruled Serbian
(Yugoslav) province four days ago. The Russian soldier
died from his wounds two days after the shooting in ethnic
Albanian-populated Srbica.
The ethnic Albanian youth was arrested on Friday because
he was found in possession of a Russian-made Kalashnikov
assault rifle, KFor Spokesman Philip Anido said, but gave
no further details.
UN - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
U.N.'S ANNAN SAYS KOSOVO-METOHIJA SECURITY
SITUATION DETERIORATES
NEW YORK, March 5 (Tanjug) - The security situation in
U.N.-ruled Kosovo-Metohija has deteriorated, according to
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in a preview of a report
he is preparing for the Security Council, submitted to the
press at the weekend.
Annan states concern at the possible spilling over of
violence, and goes on to say that both the international
KFor force and the U.N. civilian mission (UNMIK) have
reported noticing armed and uniformed ethnic Albanians in
south Serbia outside Kosovo-Metohija.
Judging by the still unofficial version of the report, Annan
is largely objective in his assessment of the difficult
situation in that southern Serbian province. He quotes
numerous examples which illustrate that Serbs and other
non-Albanians are still exposed to terrorism, although he
again lacks the precision and resolution to point the finger
at the true culprits and the mistakes and inefficacy of the
missions.
Thus, he says that a serious deterioration of the security
situation was registered in early February, which began
practically with a brutal attack on a Serb bus with UNHCR
markings.
However, he does not say who was behind the attack, or
behind subsequent attacks on a Serb cafe and on
non-Albanians in the north part of the divided city of
Kosovska Mitrovica.
Further down in the report, he puts the blame for the
deteriorated security situation in Kosovska Mitrovica on an
insufficient number of international police troops.
In an effort at a balanced approach, he speaks about a
difficult position of the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija,
referring to Serbs and other non-Albanians alternately as
minorities and ethnic communities.
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - EUROCORPS
FIRST EUROCORPS CONTINGENT LEAVES FOR
KOSOVO-METOHIJA
PARIS, March 5 (Tanjug) - The first contingent of the
five-nation Eurocorps left Strasbourg on Sunday for the
U.N.-ruled Serbian (Yugoslav) province of
Kosovo-Metohija, where it should take over command of
the international KFor force in mid-April.
The first batch of 80 Eurocorps members should prepare a
phased deployment of a total of 350 officers.
The KFor command mission will involve four of the five
Eurocorps members - Belgium, France, Germany and Spain
- while Luxembourg will not be represented.
Great Britain, although not a Eurocorps member, will be
represented by Colonel Clive Mantell.
As of April 15, KFor will be commanded by Eurocorps
Commander General Juan Ortuno of Spain, who should
leave for Kosovo-Metohija around April 9, the Eurocorps
command in Strasbourg said.
The Eurocorps mission to Kosovo-Metohija should last six
months and will make up around one-third of the command
staff of KFor in Kosovo-Metohija's chief city Pristina.
RUSSIA - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
U.N. RESOLUTION 1244 IS NOT HONOURED IN
KOSOVO-METOHIJA - SERGEYEV
ROME, March 5 (Tanjug) - Russia's Defence Minister is
quoted on Sunday as blasting the performance of the
international Kfor force in the Serbian (Yugoslav) province
of Kosovo-Metohija, saying it is not implementing U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1244.
Speaking for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera of
Milan, Igor Sergeyev said he believed that Kfor's initiatives
for thwarting Kosovo-Metohija's separatists in their efforts
to create an independent state were obviously not good
enough.
Sergeyev described the situation in U.N.-ruled
Kosovo-Metohija as very tense, with negative tendencies,
so far from being overcome, actually exacerbated.
According to him, Resolution 1244 is not being
implemented at all, while KFor ignores Yugoslavia's
sovereignty over Kosovo-Metohija.
There is a drive on for making the Province ethnically pure,
and life for the non-Albanians is becoming increasingly
dangerous, he explained.
Asked what should be done in Kosovo-Metohija, he said it
was necessary to apply strict control of the ethnic Albanian
former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), disarm it
completely and establish tight border control.
Also, he added, it remains to settle the question of the
return of a part of Serbian and Yugoslav forces to the
territory pursuant to Resolution 1244 provisions, which
requires close cooperation at all levels.
ITALY - KOSOVO-METOHIJA
ITALY'S DINI BLASTS ANTI-SERB VIOLENCE AS
UNACCEPTABLE
ROME, March 5 (Tanjug) - Serbs have been exposed to
violence since the deployment of U.N. troops to the Serbian
(Yugoslav) province of Kosovo-Metohija, and this is
unacceptable, according to Italy's Foreign Minister, as
quoted in a local paper on Saturday.
Lamberto Dini told La Repubblica newspaper that the
international community has not managed to provide even
the basic security conditions in Kosovo-Metohija.
He said security was impossible to achieve unless civilian
administration is being set up parallel with military
presence, to punish crimes.
For the sake of the truth, he added, it must be said that
ethnic Albanians are not exactly helping, neither political
leaders of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA), nor Ibrahim Rugova.
According to Dini, all they do is speak about independence
for Kosovo-Metohija without rightly knowing what it is to
govern a country.
Instead of helping set up civilian bodies of power, they are
thinking about arms and fighting, Dini said.
FROM FOREIGN PRESS
ETHNIC ALBANIAN KLA STILL EXISTS, IN NEW
UNIFORMS - BRITISH PAPER
LONDON, March 5 (Tanjug) - The ethnic Albanian Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) exists despite all reports of its
scrapping, and now operates as the Kosovo Protection
Corps over which the international community has no
control, according to a London paper on Sunday.
The Sunday Times said the newly-formed, officially
"civilian force" in the U.N.-ruled Serbian (Yugoslav)
province of Kosovo- Metohija had been issued with 15,000
uniforms although the accord setting it up envisaged that it
should have only 5,000 members.
The Sunday Times quotes U.N. international police sources
in Kosovo-Metohija as saying the Corps members are not
interested in doing civilian work, and are obeying the
directives of the KLA and its leader Hashim Thaqi.
Among the directives are the ones to continue "ethnically
cleansing" the Province of its Serbs and punishing those
ethnic Albanians who are not to the KLA's liking, the
Sunday Times said.
This is one of the main reasons for the anarchy and chaos in
Kosovo-Metohija, and neither the international community
nor the U.N. administration have managed to secure the
basic conditions for a normal day-to-day life of the people,
the paper said.
ETHNIC ALBANIANS EXPORT TERRORISM TO SOUTH
SERBIA - MACEDONIAN PAPER
SKOPJE, March 5 (Tanjug) - A Macedonian newspaper says
on Sunday the international KFor force in Kosovo-Metohija
has evidence that individuals in that U.N.-ruled Serbian
(Yugoslav) province are involved in events in the southern
Serbian towns of Presevo and Bujanovac designed to cause
inter-ethnic tension in southern Serbia.
The pro-governmental Nova Makedonija newspaper says
that KFor has evidence also that the recent murder of a
Russian KFor solder was the work of "people in green
uniforms with red insignia."
In a story entitled "Dangerous games of Kosovo
extremists", Nova Makedonija urges that KFor tighten
control in Kosovo-Metohija, stressing this is its chief duty
under U.N. Resolution 1244.
This would certainly yield positive results also in the matter
of attempts to spill terrorism out of the province and into
other parts of southern Serbia, the paper says.
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