>from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >>From: "Gregory Elich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>Subject: British SAS Training Djukanovic's secessionist army >>Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 > >>The Independent (UK) >>We have the heart for battle, says Montenegrin trained by SAS >>By Phil Rees in Podgorica >>30 July 2000 > >>An officer from Montenegro's Special Police, the Spezijalni, has > described the role of the SAS in training the force. Tensions between > Montenegro and Serbia - the last republics remaining in the Yugoslav > federation - are likely to be stretched even nearer to breaking point > by the revelations. > >> The 15,000-strong force will be the front line of defence if the > Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic, attempts to oust the separatist > Montenegrin president, Milo Djukanovic, and replace him with a leader > loyal to the union with Serbia. > > >The presence in Montenegro of the Seventh Battalion of the Yugoslav > army, which has been busy recruiting there, raises the prospect of a > bitter fratricidal war on Montenegrin soil between the pro- and > anti-Milosevic camps. > Sparked by Mr Djukanovic's increasing threats to break away, the Seventh > Battalion keeps an ever-watchful eye on its Montenegrin counterparts. > > >But British involvement in the republic, in the shape of the SAS, may > have escaped the gaze of the black-bereted recruits to the Yugoslav > force. > >The revelation comes amid an increasing sense of doom in Montenegro, > following the announcement by Mr Milosevic that he will seek re-election > as Yugoslav president in polls in late September. An internal EU > analysis recently predicted that Mr Milosevic would most probably win at > least another four years in office. > > >In the grounds of the Hotel Zlatica, now converted into a barracks on > the outskirts of Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, Velibor, 23, an > experienced officer in the Spezijalni, spoke of his time with the > British unit: "It was great. We learnt a lot. Some of the techniques > they use are different to ours." > > >The threat from fellow countrymen in the Seventh Battalion is treated > very seriously: "If somebody wants to harm our country, you have to > shoot him. It doesn't matter if it's your friend or your father or your > brother. My best friend - or he used to be, he joined the army and I > joined the police - told me 'brother, it's better for me to shoot you > because then you can't shoot me'." > > >Velibor stands well over 6ft tall, as do most of the officers in the > �lite unit of the Special Police - seemingly in contrast to their > SAS tutors. "They told us 'You have very big guys here... we are all > small guys and we like to run, and you all like to lift weights.' We > were very strange to them." > > >The Special Police has a fierce reputation in Montenegro - its gung-ho > approach seemingly unsettling the SAS. "They thought we were crazy. When > two of us banged into a house and started shooting into walls, bullets > were flying around and they said 'Oh, it's a real gun, real bullets? > You're crazy guys, you don't have protection'. But we have a heart, we > don't have protection but we have a heart. A big heart." > > >The role of the SAS in Montenegro is highly sensitive, with the Special > Police seen as a challenge from inside Yugoslavia to Mr Milosevic. His > supporters have regularly claimed that "foreign forces" are arming and > training the Spezijalni. Montenegro's government officially denies any > involvement by foreign nations in the training or arming of the police. > > >The SAS training includes hostage rescue. A key scenario played out by > the anti-terrorist unit of the Spezijalni is how to react to an > attempted coup by forces loyal to Mr Milosevic. > The Seventh Battalion, all Montenegrin, whose largest contingent is > based near the northern town of Bijelo Polje, has been recruiting in > numbers for the past six months. > > >Ivan, a softly spoken man in his late thirties, fought for the Yugoslav > army during the wars that ripped Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s. He was > under the orders of Mr Milosevic then and would continue to follow his > orders now. > >"If Djukanovic calls for a referendum or moves in any other violent way > towards independence, the Seventh Battalion will follow the orders of > the president. If there is a situation where weapons will decide the > outcome, we are ready. We are training for that." > > >Mr Djukanovic describes the Seventh Battalion as a "paramilitary force". > "Mr Milosevic has always formed groups with the aim of provoking > internal conflicts," he says. > > >Phil Rees presents 'Crossing Continents' on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday 3 > August at 11am, and 'Correspondent' on BBC2 next Saturday at 6.50pm"JC > >(JC..It was yesterday that, as I listened to BBC radio at 4am, the above >detail >was confirmed, together with other information. The population of >Montenegro is 93% Serb. The population of the politicians, anxious to please >American corruption is limited. The Serb forces on both sides are determined >to kill as trained -brothers, fathers, relatives, children in defence of >their flag.) > > ******* > > - not BBC - > (JC... The stage is set in Montenegro for the next US president to do >what US >corporations appoint him to do - give the order to kill Serbs. The US planned >and started all this horror in the Balkans to serve US National Security >and the >right to carve up a new map with US bases protecting US interests in Israel, >Iraq, Turkey, Kosovo, Albania, Asian Oil, as well as the genocide of Serb >"cold- war" communists.) > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
