-Caveat Lector- (If Russia wants more money from the US they had better stop this nonsense. Yeltsin should resign. --SW) U.S. troops enter Kosovo as peacekeepers meet resistance Copyright © 1999 Nando Media Copyright © 1999 Associated Press By LAURA KING PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (June 13, 1999 4:48 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Serb troops burned and looted houses within sight of Western troops Sunday and NATO soldiers shot dead two armed men as peacekeepers tried to contain new violence in Kosovo. Russian troops, meanwhile, blocked reinforcements for a small British unit uneasily coexisting with a Russian force dominating Pristina airport. Overall, NATO's objectives were being met: Serb troops were withdrawing on or ahead of schedule, and peacekeeping units, including the first American combat troops, were fanning out across the province as planned. But some Serb forces, not due to depart for a few days, prevented NATO soldiers from reaching burning houses in an ethnic Albanian suburb of Pristina, Kosovo's capital. In the first reported fatalities of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, British paratroopers shot and killed a Yugoslav police reservist Sunday after the man fired a pistol at a NATO patrol, the alliance said. And in Prizren, the province's second-largest city, German troops returned heavy sniper fire, killing at least one armed man and wounding another. Capt. Jean Morissette, a Canadian military spokesman, also said one German reporter had been killed and another wounded in Kosovo. A Canadian reconnaissance unit had gone to their aid, Morissette said in Ottawa. There were no other details on the incident. About 100 to 150 U.S. Army troops in armored vehicles crossed into Kosovo at Blace, Macedonia, in the first significant U.S. force to join 5,000 NATO peacekeepers already in the province. A convoy of about 1,200 Marines stopped at the border late Sunday before entering Kosovo from Macedonia. They were to enter the southern Yugoslav province at first light Monday. In Pristina, British troops in armored personnel carriers failed after several attempts to circumvent roadblocks set up by Serbs near the suburb of Sofali. Reporters following the troops saw seven or eight abandoned houses burning in the predominantly ethnic Albanian neighborhood. Even after suspected Serb snipers left the scene in several trucks, there was concern about mines on the road leading to the houses. It was unclear why the homes were being set ablaze, but there have been frequent reports of Serb forces setting ethnic Albanian houses afire as they retreat ahead of advancing NATO troops. "We have the authority to go in, but we don't want to fight our way in," Lt. Damien Walker said. "We want to do it peacefully." Under the agreement reached between Yugoslavia and NATO, Yugoslav troops and Serb paramilitaries are to withdraw from Kosovo by June 20. The alliance said as of late Friday, about 10,000 Serb military personnel had left the province. A NATO statement said the fatal shooting of the Yugoslav police reservist occurred about 5 p.m. in Pristina. After the shot was fired, troops gave the man six warnings to drop the pistol and when he refused, the paratroopers opened fire, killing him, the NATO statement said. German forces were rolling into Kosovo's second largest city when sniper fire crackled from the hills and houses along the route. German troops responded, blasting one car with two occupants. One was slumped dead over the steering wheel and the other was badly wounded and screaming for help before he was evacuated by the German troops. "They're all over the place," one German soldier said. "They're drunks with guns and grenades." Heavily armed Serb forces also blocked the German forces on a main Prizren street, but backed down after a tense standoff, according to a pool reporter. The German forces in and around Prizren, 55 miles southwest of Pristina, are eventually to number 8,500 - postwar Germany's largest foreign military deployment. Earlier Sunday, a dozen British armored personnel carriers rolled into downtown Pristina along the same route where thousands of Serbs wildly cheered arriving Russian troops more than a day earlier. The greeting for the British was not as boisterous, but hundreds of ethnic Albanians cheered, flashed victory signs and handed bouquets of flowers to the troops. Some, like Hysnie Berisha, 50, just breathed deep sigh of relief. "Yes, I feel safer now," she said, holding her hand over her heart. "These (British) are only a few, but those that are here give us some dignity. More will come and we will be more safe." Serbs on the street were less accommodating. Some made obscene gestures and grumbled complaints, but there were no incidents or attempts to interfere. Tension was higher at the strategic airport just outside Pristina, where Serbs and Russians were blocking further access to NATO troops one day after some British forces were allowed to enter. British and French military vehicles were being turned back by Russians at a roadblock just outside the airport, which the Russians took over after arriving unexpectedly in Pristina early Saturday morning. Top U.S. officials sought to dismiss indications of a rivalry with the Russians. Speaking to reporters in Skopje, Macedonia, about Russia's early arrival in Kosovo, NATO Supreme Commander Gen. Wesley Clark said, "No plans have been disrupted whatsoever by this bizarre event." "It's a coordinated occupation right now and the final details are going to be worked out," said Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and President Clinton, in an hour-long telephone conversation Sunday, agreed their generals should work out details for the first 200 or so Russian troops that already are in Kosovo while talks continue on command arrangements for a larger Russian contingent, White House spokesman Mike Hammer said. Many Serbs believe NATO forces will be unable or unwilling to save them from revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians, and see Russian troops as their protectors. Those fears have sent Serb civilians fleeing Kosovo. As many as 8,000 Serb civilians arrived in neighboring Montenegro early Sunday, leaving Kosovo ahead of NATO peacekeeping troops, police said. Another 2,000 were expected to arrive Sunday. Despite the difficulties at the Pristina airport, British troops busily spread out around the perimeter of the capital, taking up positions along main roads. Lt. Gary Bond, who was with about a dozen armored vehicles, said soldiers were reconnoitering the area, searching for helicopter landing sites and setting up field headquarters. Russia has been expected to take part in the peacekeeping force, but Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott has failed so far in negotiations to resolve differences with Moscow over who would command the Russians and where they would be based. In Washington, Clinton administration officials reported some progress Sunday on a deal that would allow the Russian military to play a peacekeeping role without undermining NATO control. Talbott said in Moscow the United States was considering giving the Russians "a zone of responsibility" under NATO command. After a third day of talks Sunday, Talbott left for Washington. An administration official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. and Russian officials had worked out a "framework" for agreement that would enable the Russian troops to participate in Kosovo. Details were still being negotiated. Meanwhile, the first large shipment of humanitarian aid departed Skopje, Macedonia, and crossed the border into Kosovo on Sunday. Fifty vehicles were carrying 250 tons of supplies organized by the World Food Program, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other aid groups, said convoy spokeswoman Paula Ghedini. She said the convoy was headed for Pristina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Steve Wingate California Director SKYWATCH INTERNATIONAL Anomalous Images and UFO Files http://www.anomalous-images.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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