| BETA Lidov: What happened in
Kosovo in March was cultural genocide | |
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Beta News Agency, Belgrade May 3, 2004 Lidov: What happened in Kosovo in March was cultural genocide BELGRADE - Russian historian Alexey Lidov, a member of the UNESCO team, assessed that on March 17-18 in Kosovo "cultural genocide" was carried out against the Orthodox heritage. Lidov, one of six members of the UNESCO team which visited Kosovo last week, said at a Belgrade press conference that the team managed to visit most of the damaged Orthodox monuments and that it gathered materials for an expert conclusion with proposed measures that need to be undertaken. At the end of a Kosovo visit lasting several days, the UNESCO experts also met in Pristina with UNMIK deputy chief Charles Brayshaw. Lidov said that he had conveyed his concerns to Brayshaw regarding the law of will among the majority population in Kosovo to preserve the historical legacy, adding that he had openly asked the UNMIK official: "What is the point of restoring these monuments if they are again destroyed?" The Russian expert said that the UNESCO mission in Kosovo was difficult and that it took them one and a half hours of negotiations with local authorities to enter Pristina. In his initial analysis of what he had seen in Kosovo, Alexey Lidov said that in March a pre-planned campaign of destruction of Orthodox monuments had been carried out and that this assessment was confirmed to the UNESCO experts by one of the German officers protecting Holy Archangels Monastery near Prizren. "The throng of people was organized by individuals with military experience. The masses acted in accordance with the principles of military tactics; they intercepted roads so reinforcements for protecting Orthodox buildings could not arrive on the scene. Another example is Devic Monastery, whose interior has been covered with UCK (KLA) graffiti," said Lidov. He said that the frescoes in Devic Monastery near Srbica were systematically destroyed; first, the image on them was mutilated, then the name and finally they were signed with the initials "UCK" (KLA). Lidov said that explosives were also used during the destruction of the monuments. The Russian expert said that some of the monuments could restored as much as 95 percent, first of all, the Mother of God of Ljevis in Prizren. However, despite this, it will take three to five years for the restoration under ideal conditions in the political, economic and every other sense, said Alexey Lidov. |
Title: Message
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/81637
