>From: "Miroslav Antic" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sunday November 26 2:53 PM ET >Yugoslav Tanks Near Kosovo Border > >By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer > >BUJANOVAC, Yugoslavia (AP) - Yugoslav's army sent tanks and reinforcements >near the NATO (news - web sites)-patrolled boundary with Kosovo on Sunday, >one day before Yugoslavia's deadline for NATO to crack down on ethnic >Albanian militants whose attacks have inflamed the region. > >Kosovo is a province of Serbia, Yugoslavia's main republic, but it has been >under international control since last year and many residents want full >independence. In the three-mile buffer zone between central Serbia and >Kosovo, attacks by independence-minded militants last week left at least >four Serb policemen dead. > >Yugoslav authorities set a Monday afternoon deadline for NATO to clear out >the militants from the boundary region. They have threatened to launch >counterattacks after the deadline passes. > >In Kosovo, the local television station reported that one ethnic Albanian >fighter was wounded in the contested area Sunday but gave no further >details. The ethnic Albanians declared their own, unilateral ceasefire >Friday, but it expires at midnight Sunday. > >The crisis erupted last week when militants believed to be operating from >heavily ethnic Albanian Kosovo killed the Serb policemen and seized key >positions just across the boundary from the NATO-patrolled province. > >Their action provoked a major crisis for the new government of Yugoslav >President Vojislav Kostunica (news - web sites), which took power last month >after the collapse of Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites). The offensive >could undermine Kostunica's rule by portraying him as incapable of dealing >with ethnic Albanian extremists. However, if Serb police fight back with >massive force, they risk a serious incident with NATO. > >The crisis also has cast doubt on NATO's ability to control Kosovo, which >the Yugoslav authorities believe was used as a staging area for the ethnic >Albanian attacks. > >The attacks were carried out by the so-called ``Liberation Army of Presevo, >Medvedja and Bujanovac.'' The rebels want to drive Serb forces from the >Presevo Valley, the adjacent Serb region, and unite it with Kosovo. > >Although the area has a substantial ethnic Albanian population, the valley >was not considered part of Kosovo and therefore was not included in the June >1999 agreement which sent NATO peacekeepers into the province. > >On Sunday, Yugoslav army T55 battle tanks and armored personnel carriers >could be seen maneuvering near the buffer zone separating Kosovo from the >rest of Serbia. The reinforcements were kept away from the zone under terms >of a June 1999 agreement between NATO and the Milosevic government which >bars heavy weapons from the buffer area. American troops patrol the Kosovo >side of the zone. > >Nevertheless, the presence of additional tanks, armored personnel carriers >and infantry was seen as a demonstration of Belgrade's resolve to prevent >ethnic Albanian rebels from seizing and holding Serbian territory. > >``They are terrorists and bandits and will be treated as such,'' said Vladan >Batic, a leading Kostunica ally who visited the area Sunday. ``It is the >task of every responsible state to protect its citizens.'' > >In a report obtained Sunday by The Associated Press, the Yugoslav Interior >Ministry estimated that about 1,000 ethnic Albanians were involved in the >recent attacks and were receiving support from ethnic Albanian sympathizers >in nine villages on Serb-controlled territory. > >Yugoslav officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants >had smuggled small artillery pieces and more than 100 small mortars across >the U.S.-patrolled boundary into positions on the Yugoslav side of the >demilitarized zone. > >The Interior Ministry report said Serb police ``cannot hold out long unless >they receive reinforcements from Serbia proper.'' It recommended mobilizing >Serb men of military age and using them to augment police units already in >the area. > >In Bujanovac, one of the towns in the contested area, Mayor Stojanca Arsic >blamed the attacks on the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian rebel >group which fought Yugoslav forces in Kosovo last year but which NATO says >has been disbanded. He urged NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo to ``really disarm >the supposedly demilitarized Kosovo Liberation Army'' and prevent more >weapons from reaching the buffer zone. > > >Miroslav Antic, >http://www.antic.org/SNN/ > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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