http://www.seeurope.net/en/Story.php?StoryID=32858&LangID=1
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YUGOSLAVIA: Serb MP In Kosovo: International Community Making Little
Effort
2002-10-12 16:24:37
Head of the Serb MP caucus in the Kosovo
Parliament Rada
Trajkovic accused the international community of
making practically
no efforts to deal with the para-military
extremist centres in Kosovo.
Protesting over attack on Serbs in the Kosovo town
of Pec launched
by the local Albanians, Trajkovic claimed that the
international
troops have all the necessary information on these
centres and
those controlling them.
"That is why it is really hard to understand why
they are doing
nothing to break these extremist centre up", said
Trajkovic. "The
Serbs seemingly have peace, but only sometimes,
when that suits
the centres controlled by the Albanian political
leadership", Trajkovic
claimed, quoted by radio B92.
www.seeurope.net
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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.]Rick Rozoff
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 Armys
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 years 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
divisions 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 doesnt mean, though, that force levels will
remain the same. I think well 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 NATOs
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 Kosovos recovery.
Tolerance for return of refugees, he said, must be
demonstrated before official discussion can even begin
on Kosovos final status the controversial debate
over whether the province will ever return to Yugoslav
rule.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
