KOSOVO NEWS WIRE
March 18, 2004 - Various News Agencies

Due to the sheer scale of terrorist violence that is being perpetrated by the Albanian terrorist hordes against the non-Albanian civilian population residing in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, providing a link to each individual news report on the main page of the website would be a huge task. Therefore, we are providing the a collection raw newswire feeds for the day of March 18, 2004 on this one page. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.

Andy Wilcoxson
webmaster, www.slobodan-milosevic.org

Admiral Johnson says violence in Kosovo may be orchestrated

21:45 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - NATO South Wing Commander Admiral Gregory Johnson said in Pristina on Thursday that mass violence which was presently being occurring in Kosovo-Metohija might be orchestrated.

According to the US Admiral, who arrived in Pristina on Thursday, developments in Kosovo-Metohija indicate that there is a model of organisation of this violence, the AFP news agency reported.
(end)

US Embassy in Belgrade temporarily closes for public

21:16 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - The US Embassy in Belgrade on Thursday warned its nationals to avoid crowds and said that the Embassy would be temporarily closed for the public.

Following unrest in Belgrade late on Wednesday, the US Embassy instructed US nationals to stay away from crowds of people, public places and to "avoid political discussions of any kind," the Associated Press news agency reported.
(end)
 

Organised ethnic Albanian terrorism continues in Kosovo-Metohija - Serbian Orthodox Church

21:31 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church said on Thursday that Wednesday's unrest throughout Kosovo-Metohija represented the continuation of organised ethnic Albanian terrorism against the Serbian Orthodox people.

This terror campaign against Serbs and their and world cultural heritage and all other non-Albanians has lasted for decades, the Holy Synod said.
(end)

 

About 100 Serbs from Prizren evacuated

20:48 PRIZREN , March 18 (Tanjug) - KFOR evacuated about 100 Serbs from Prizren, Orahovac and Velika Hoca in the southwestern part of Kosovo, local media in Prizren reported on Thursday.

The media said that the UNMIK police station in the settlement of Orokal had been set on fire at about 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) and added that a dozen police and UN vehicles had been destroyed in demonstrations late on Wednesday and that a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at the building of the Prizren Municipal Assembly.
(end)

Ethnic Albanians are trying to seize Serbian Orthodox church in Lipljan

20:41 LIPLJAN , March 18 (Tanjug) - A group of ethnic Albanians showered the Serb part of Lipljan, central Kosovo-Metohija, with bombs in an attempt to seize the church protected by the Finnish KFOR battalion, representative of local authorities Borivoje Vignjevic said on Thursday.

"About 300 ethnic Albanians are trying to enter the Serbian Orthodox church in Lipljan," Vignjevic told the Reuters news agency over the phone and added that ethnic Albanians were throwing bombs.
(end)

Church of St Nicholas in central Pristina is on fire

20:38 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Serbian Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, situated in central Pristina, was set on fire at about 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT) on Thursday, the BK television reported.

The fate of church head, Father Miroslav, is unknown.
(end)

Three Serb children injured in bomb explosion in Cernica

20:36 GNJILANE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Petar Jovanovic and three children, most likely his children or nephews were injured when a bomb was thrown at a Serb house in the village of Cernica near Gnjilane, southeastern Kosovo, the Belgrade-based BK television said late on Thursday.

In Gnjilane itself, all Serb houses were torched and Serbs were evacuated to the neighbouring villages of Silovo and Koretiste.
(end)

 

Ethnic Albanians stage major demonstrations in Pec

19:52 PEC , March 18 (Tanjug) - Ethnic Albanians staged great demonstrations in Pec, shouting and demolishing the premises of international organisations, Darko Dimitrijevic of Gorazdevac told Tanjug.

"UNMIK staff in Pec has been evacuated and the building has been demolished," Dimitrijevic said.

Serbian Orthodox Patriarch holds prayer service for salvation of Kosovo-Metohija

19:42 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - A prayer service for the salvation of Kosovo-Metohija and its people, served by Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle before thousands of Belgraders outside St Sava's Cathedral in central Belgrade, ended just before 6 p.m. (1600 GMT).

The service was attended by all Serbian government members, headed by Premier Vojislav Kostunica, as well as Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister Boris Tadic.

KFOR says 35 international troops injured in Kosovo

19:35 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - During the violence, which started in Kosovo-Metohija on Wednesday, 35 international peacekeepers were injured, KFOR spokesman James Moran told the AFP news agency.

Moran did not specify the circumstances in which the troops were injured or their nationality.
(end)

Most television says Serb cemetery in southern Kosovska Mitrovica destroyed

19:32 ZVECAN , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Serb cemetery in southern Kosovska Mitrovica was completely destroyed in the past two days, the regional Zvecane-based Most television reported on Thursday, quoting sources close to KFOR.

Between the arrival of UNMIK and KFOR to Kosovo-Metohija and three days ago, ethnic Albanians already destroyed about 70 percent of the Serb cemetery and a chapel in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, which is populated only by ethnic Albanians.
(end)
 

Critical in Svilari, fairly stable in northern Kosovo

19:20 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - The situation is extremely difficult in Svinjare village, near Kosovska Mitrovica, while it is fairly stable in the north of the province, Kosovo-Metohija Minister-Coordinator in charge of return and communities Milorad Todorovic told Tanjug on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, practically all Serbs have been expelled from Obilic after the church was set on fire this morning," he said. "There are verified reports that large groups of extremists and terrorists are moving toward the Monastery of Decani and the Pec Patriarchate (southern Kosovo and Metohija), but the KFOR Italian and Spanish troops claim they can keep them at bay," the minister said.
(end)

Many facilities in Novo Brdo municipality torched

19:18 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - The coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija said on Thursday that many facilities had been set on fire in the municipality of Novo Brdo, southeast of Pristina.

According to Kosovo and Pomoravlje District Secretary Milovan Stajic, a new municipal building in the village of Bostane, whose construction was financed by the coordination centre, and a large number of facilities constructed through the efforts of this centre in Kosovo-Metohija in the past three years are on fire.
(end)

Serbs expelled from Gnjilane

19:00 GNJILANE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Out of 150 Serbs who had lived around the church in Gnjilane before Wednesday's incident, only about a dozen remained and they are guarded by KFOR and UNMIK.

Serbs from Gnjilane on Wednesday afternoon fled to neighbouring Serb-populated villages with the assistance of multinational forces.
(end)

Serb women, children leave Svinjare accompanied by UNMIK

18:50 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - At about 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Thursday, UNMIK police evacuated Serb women and children from the village of Svinjare, near Kosovska Mitrovica. Kosovo police force confirmed to Tanjug that the women and children had been accommodated at the KFOR Multinational Brigade Northeast base near Kosovska Mitrovica.
About 250 Serbs live in the mostly ethnic Albanian-populated multiethnic village of Svinjare.
(end)

UNMIK evacuates families of its officials in Pristina

18:36 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Belgrade-based coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija has received UNMIK's request that people working at the UNMIK office in Pristina and their family members cross the administrative line with Kosovo.
"This request has been approved and coordination centre head Nebojsa Covic and representatives of the Serb community in Kosovska Mitrovica are working on the securing of evacuated citizens from other parts of Kosovo-Metohija," the centre said in a statement.
(end)
 

Extremist activities noted in South Serbia on Wednesday night, says Tadic

17:44 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) Defense Minister Boris Tadic said on Thursday everything was calm in southern Serbia proper, but that activities by ethnic Albanian elements had been observed during the night in the southern Serbian municipalities.

Regrouping of paramilitary terrorist formations of the Albanian National Army (ANA) toward the administrative line have also been observed, Tadic told a press conference.
(end)

 

This is decisive battle for Kosovo, Covic

17:35 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Head of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre Nebojsa Covic is in constant contact with (UNMIK chief) Harri Holkeri, with the aim of bringing the situation in Kosovo under control and protecting the Serbs and their property, the centre said on Thursday.

Together with his associates and local authorities, Covic is working on the organisation of defence in those Serb towns and enclaves which are threatened the most and in which Kfor forces are not numerous or do not exist at all.
(end)

NATO gives green light for use of armed force in Kosovo

17:25 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - Kosovo and Metohija international force (KFOR) commander, General Holger Kammerhoff, said on Thursday he approved the use of force by his troops in order to respond to the growing ethnic violence in the province.

The general said he authorized the use of the necessary force in order to ensure the safety of the troops, to protect innocent civilians, and restore freedom of movement for all in Kosovo.
(end)

Combat alert in part of SCG Army units raised

17:24 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Information Service of the Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) Hedquarters said on Thursday that, in keeping with the decison of the Supreme Defence Council, the SCG Army had overtaken and was overtaking measures under its jurisdiction in offering support to the efforts of government bodies so that the situation in Kosovo-Metohija be resolved in the interest of peace and to the wel-being of the people of Kosovo.

"With the aim of preventing a possible deterioration of the situation and a further escalation of violence, the combat alert has been raised in part of Army units. Measures have been undertaken so as to raise the security level of those units and institutions which the Army protects," it was pointed out in the statement.
(end)

St Sava's Cathedral in South Kosovska Mitrovica torched

17:16 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - Smoke is billowing in the air, on Thursday, above the location of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St Sava in South Kosovska Mitrovica, populated by ethnic Albanians.

Cathedral priest Boro Kekvic and Father Velimir, with seven family members, were evacuated last night.
(end)

Kostunica says Security Council should react immediately

17:07 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Thursday said the situation in Kosovo and Metohija requires an immediate reaction by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, "which could protect Serbs and other non-Albanians only with reinforcements and more resolute action by international security forces and imposing emergency measures in Kosovo".

Kostunica told a press conference the violence is aimed at expelling the Serb population and that it acquired "the scale of attempted ethnic cleansing and the characteristics of something that was described as a humanitarian disaster several years ago."
(end)

Complete fiasco of international's mission in Kosovo, Ljajic

16:35 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) Minister of Human and Minority Rights Rasim Ljajic met on Thursday with Gilles Leroy, head of the Monitoring Mission Belgrade Office, and discussed the events in Kosovo-Metohija, said the Information Department of the SCG Council of Ministers.

"Yesterday's events represent a complete fiasco and defeat of the international's mission in Kosovo-Metohija, both in the political and security sense of the word," Ljajic said.
(end)

 

Kosovo is Serb cradle, says bishop of Sumadija
16:22 KRAGUJEVAC , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Bishop Jovan of Sumadija on Thursday sent a message to the whole world - that Serbia does not want Kosovo and Metohija as a geographic term, because it means much more than that to Serbs.

"To Serbs, Kosovo is our cradle, and the existence of 1,600 altars in that area are our best land deed and proof that we are not settlers in Kosovo and Metohija and that we cannot do without that cradle," the bishop told a press conference.
(end)

Clashes in Kosovo-Metohija - organised terrorism, Markovic
16:16 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian parliament speaker and acting republic president, Predrag Markovic, said on Thursday that the Wednesday organised violence in Kosovo-Metohija could be qualified as "organised terrorism."

"For most of its part, violence was announced, but, unfortunatelly, once it spread throughout Kosovo-Metohija, Kfor and UNMIK proved to be uncapable of standing up against it," Markovic told a press conference.
(end)
 

Ethnic Albanians torch Serbian Orthodox church in Kosovska Mitrovica

15:25 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - Kosovo Albanians on Thursday set fire to the Serbian Orthodox church in South Kosovska Mitrovica, despite efforts by the KFOR to prevent them, using teargas and firing rubber bullets, Reuters reported from the spot.

French peacekeepers tried to disperse the masses and prevent the ethnic Albanians from breaking into the church, but were unsuccessful. Shots were heard, but it is still uncertain which side they came from, the British news agency said.
(end)

School, church and apartments of Serbs torched in Obilic

15:20 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Serb school, a Serbian Orthodox church, and apartments from which UNMIK police previosuly evacuated the Serb tenants, were set on fire in the Kosovo and Metohija town of Obilic on Thursday.
The Serbs have been evacuated to the Obilic police station, the regional television station based in Zvecan, TV Most, said.
(end)

Army at top-level alert, says Minister Tadic

15:16 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) Defense Minister Boris Tadic said on Thursday the security situation in Kosovo and Metohija is extremely difficult and that the army is on top-level alert and ready to act within its constitutional mandate.

There was an overnight lull in the tension, but violence escalated again this morning, Tadic told a press conference in the Serbian parliament. He said intelligence reports showed a possible further escalation and that combat readiness has been raised to the top level, primarily of the Uzice and Pristina corps.
(end)

Violence planned, coordinated in advance - Kostunica

15:13 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica said on Thursday that the Wednesday violence in Kosovo-Metohija had been planned and coordinated in advance, as well as that an attempt of exile had been made against the Serb population, which had had the "character of that what was qualified as a humaniatarian catastrophy several years ago".
Speaking at a press conference, which followed a session of the government, Kostunica pointed out that it was obvious that on Wednesday, Kfor had taken more care about its own safety than of the safety of those it had to look after.
(end)

Serbs from Plemetina withdrawing in direction of Priluzje

13:59 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - Accompanied by Kosovo police forces, Serbs from Plemetina, some 13 kilometres away from Vucitrn, began withdrawing in the direction of the village of Priluzje, inhabited by Serbs, around Thursday noon, Tanjug learned in that Serb village.

The Serbs from Plemetina demanded that international forces in Kosovo-Metohija protected them from ethnic Albanian terrorist attacks, but did not rule out a possibility of an evacuation on a massive basis if there was no such help.
(end)

Ethnic Albanians invaded village of Drajcice,killed Dobrivoje Stolic

13:49 STRPCE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Ethnic Albanians invaded the village of Drajcice, mostly inhabited by Serbs, in the municipality of Strpce late on Wednesday, and murdered Dobrivoje Stolic (60), Tanjug learned from the local Red Cross.
Some 130 Serbs live in the village.
(end)

 

Rugova demands independence of Kosovo

13:21 LONDON , March 18 (Tanjug) - Following the latest developments in Kosovo and Metohija, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova considered there was a need for an urgent decision about the independence of Kosovo, as that would resolve many problems.

In a statement to Radio BBC in the Croatian language Rugova's spokesman Muhamed Hamiti said there was a need for an urgent resolution of the UN Security Council on the status of Kosovo.
(end)
 

About one hundred Serbs evacuated from Obilic

13:03 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - UNMIK police, after it was unable to guarantee their safety any longer, evacuated about one hundred of the total of 300 Serbs in Obilic, who lived in two buildings in the town.
The Serbs are currently housed in UNMIK's police station.
(end)

Northern Kosovo will defend itself, Covic

12:59 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - Head of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre Nebojsa Covic said in Kosovska Mitrovica on Thursday that the northern part of Kosovo would defend itself and had to be defended.
Following his visit to the wounded at a local hospital, Covic told the press that if ethnic Albanians continued with their attacks at the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica and northern Kosovo would be "met with great readiness."
(end)

UNMIK, KFOR evacuated Serbs from Pristina

12:56 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - KFOR and UNMIK police have evacuated Serbs from Pristina and its surroundings to a safer location, said on Thursday UN mission in Pristina spokesman Malcolm Ashby, voicing fear that the death toll would rise once the police was able to enter Serbian villages that came under massive Albanian attacks.

UNMIK, KFOR and local police have evacuted to safer locations Serbs and everyone else in need of assistance, Ashby told France Presse news agency.
(end)

22 people killed, about 500 wounded

12:49 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - UN officials stated on Thursday that in the shootout, the unrest and street fighting of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs on Wednesday were killed 22 persons, and that about 500 were wounded.

UN police forces representative Angela Joseph, who gave the latest data, also said that in the conflict had been wounded 61 policemen, including 40 UN special police unit members.
(end)

Father, son murdered

12:43 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - In the village of Drajkovac, not far from Strpce, in the night between Wednesday and Thursday were killed Dobrivoje Stolic and his son, televisoion Most from Kosovska Mitrovica reported on Thursday.

Other details on the murder of the two Serbs are not given, except that Dobrivoje succumbed to his wounds in his house last night, and his son Thursday morning.
(end)

Church, Serbian houses on fire in Obilic

12:33 PRISTINA , March 18 (Tanjug) - The Orthodox church and houses "most probably belonging to Serbs" were set on fire in Obilic on Thursday, said UNMIK police spokesperson Angela Joseph.

The UNMIK representative told France Presse news agency that the church in Obilic was on fire and that the police was trying to place the situation under control.
(end)

Albanians, UNMIK, KFOR clash in southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica

12:25 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 18 (Tanjug) - In the southern part of Kosovska MItrovica on Thursday morning Albanians clashed with UNMIK police and KFOR forces, who used tear gas.

On the northern side of the bridge on the river Ibar, which separates the town, several hundred Serbs are following the development of the situation in the southern part of town.
(end)
 

SCG Army must enter Kosovo, SPO leader

11:30 BELGRADE , March 18 (Tanjug) - Serbian Renewal Movement leader Vuk Draskovic said Wednesday evening that, following the attacks on the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija it would be "normal and logical that our army enters its state territory" and takes control over zones along the adminisrative boundary, which are threatened and under Albanian siege.
It would be logical to expect that the Serbian Army now takes up positions in municipalities and towns along the adminsitrative border, to defend our people, monasteries, churches and other cultural and spiritual values that are in flames," Draskovic told Tanjug.
(end)
 

Date:  Thu Mar 18, 2004  8:18 pm

Subject:  CPB Albanian Islamic Extremists Attack KFOR Troops Protecting Serb Minority Enclaves, Mar. 18

www.balkanpeace.org

THE CENTRE FOR PEACE IN THE BALKANS (CANADA)

Albanian Islamic Extremists Attack KFOR Troops Protecting Serb Minority Enclaves At least 8 Dead, Serbian Villages and Christian Monasteries Burn Across Entire UN Administered Serb Province of Kosovo in Worst Day of Violence Since the End of the Kosovo War.

TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - Current events in Kosovo confirm fears that the U.N. mission in that region has been ineffective in protecting ethnic minorities - attests Canadian-based 'The Centre for Peace in the Balkans'. Albanian-led extremist attacks in Kosovo, that have left several dead and hundreds wounded, can only be described as well planned and systematic ethnic cleansing of Serbs. Churches and houses are on fire and people are being attacked and killed for no other reason than their ethnic background. Reports from Pristina reveal that both political leaders and international police admit that the situation is beyond their control.

Nearly 300 people have been injured, including multi-national peacekeepers from France and Sweden by the Albanian majority population. The evacuation of the Holy Archangel's Monastery, the 14th century Church of the Mother of God of Ljevis which is in flames, and explosions near the Visoki Decani Monastery, are testaments that UNMIK has lost control and the entire province is in a state of chaos and violent anarchy.

More than 2000 non-Albanians have been either killed or kidnapped since the arrival of KFOR troops in 1999. Over 200,000 Serbs have fled the province due to a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing while the few remaining Serbs live in enclaves and ghettos protected by heavily armed internationalpeacekeepers.

In an Analysis ("Kosovo - Four Years Later") the Centre for Peace in the Balkans explores the political and social environment in Kosovo since the deployment of the U.N. mission there in June 1999. For a copy of this Analysis or for any other information related to the current situation in Kosovo please visit www.balkanpeace.org or call The Centre for Peace in the Balkans at 416-305-4435. The Centre for Peace in the Balkans is a non-profit, Toronto-based NGO involved in the collection and sharing of information related to the Balkan region.

For further information: Vesna Vasic: (416) 305-4435; Natalia Dzeletovich: (905) 464-2100, The Centre For Peace In The Balkans, http://www.balkanpeace.org

Large movements of Albanians toward Serb enclaves

SERBIAN PRESS AGENCY SRNA

March 18, 2004

PRISTINA - International police in Kosovo and Metohija advised the Kosovo government this evening that large numbers of Albanians from all parts of the province are moving toward the Serb enclaves, said Kosovo government minister Goran Bogdanovic.

"Representatives of international police informed the Kosovo government that, in the opinion of the international police commissioner, the series of ongoing attacks and violence has been organized in one center, which has issued an order to attack the Serb enclaves," said Bogdanovic.

He said that the Kosovo government had issued an appeal to Kosovo citizens to stop clashes and attacks on Serb churches and enclaves.

Bogdanovic said that representatives of international police have presented very alarming information regarding the situation on the ground; according to them, the situation in Kosovska Mitrovica is fragile as there are about 20,000 Albanians converged in the southern part of the city.

"There are about 1,500 Albanians heading toward Gorazdevac near Pec, 400 heading toward Decani, about 1,200 heading toward Urosevac. There are 500 Albanians from surrounding villages headed toward Vitina and all Serb houses there have been torched," said Bogdanovic.

He emphasized that according to international police there are about 700 Albaninas heading for the Serb returnee villages of Grabac and Bicha in Drenica.

"Representatives of the international police informed the Kosovo government that during the day many people of Albanian nationality employed by the peace missions, especially in the Directorate for property and legal issues /Habitat/, have threated to activate bombs or plant explosive devices," said Bogdanovic.

He emphasized that representatives of the international police informed the Kosovo government that there are ongoing battles in Prizren between representatives of KFOR and international police on one side and about 5,000 Albanian demonstrators on the other.

"Peacekeeping forces are investing maximum efforts and successfully defending the headquarters of the international police in Prizren," said Bogdanovic.

He said that international police in the afternoon hours blocked the road toward Glogovac near Kosovo Polje to head of thousands of Albanians moving in from Metohija.

Pec Patriarchate safe - for now

Bishop Joanikije of Budim who is with the sisterhood of the Pec Patriachate informed the Diocese of Raska and Prizren that the monastery is currently safe and that the danger that existed during afternoon demonstrations by Albanians is no longer present. "For now everything is peaceful and we hope it will stay taht way," Bishop Joanikije told the ERP KIM Info Service.

For now the sisterhoods at the Pec Patriarchate, Budisavci and Gorioc, as well as the brotherhood of Visoki Decani, are safe and under the protection of KFOR forces.

We have received confirmation from Pristina that the old Pristina church of St. Nicholas from the beginning of the 19th century has been set on fire together with the parish home. All Serbs from Pristina have been evacuated to Gracanica.

An ERP KIM Info Service source in the village of Ugljare near Kosovo Polje informed the Diocese that all Serb houses in Kosovo Polje are being systematically torched. No one is putting out the fires as if the whole thing had been planned in advance, say local Serb sources. For now the Serbs in Ugljare are safe.

News from Lipljan:

According to the latest news groups of armed Albanians are rampaging through Lipljan destroying Serb homes. Two Serb churches are in flames:

1. The church of the Presentation of the Virgin, 14th century

2. The church of Florus and Laurus, reconstructed in 1950s Thirty Serb villagers from Slivovo village near Lipljan have been evacuated to Gracanica today.

3. From the southern part of Kosovo Mitrovica the news were confirmed that the church of St. Sava (19 th century) has been burned in the early afternoon hours together with the parish house. The priest and his family has been evacuated to North Mitrovica.

4. The church of St. Lazarus in Piskote village near Djakovica which was damaged in 1999 was finally burned to the ground

At the moment the score of destroyed churches and monasteries is 22

HIS EXCELLENCY KOFI ANNAN

THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL

NEW YORK, NY

March 18, 2004

Mr. Secretary-General,

On behalf of the Serbian-American Congress I appeal on you to take immediate steps to protect the security and basic human rights of all inhabitants of the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Since 1999, almost exactly five years ago, the UN took over the administration of the Kosovo and Metohija province in order to protect human rights and security of the inhabitants of Kosovo, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Since that time a quarter of a million Serbs and other non-Albanians have been ethnically cleansed from Kosovo and over a hundred Christian Orthodox churches destroyed.

The fact that the province remains lawless and insecure for all non-Albanian inhibitants is glaringly evident in the latest attempt by the assorted Albanian extremist groups to use unrest in Mitrovica as a means of ensuring that Kosovo and Metohija is transformed into a monoethnic society through the complete expulsion and extermination of the remaining Serb population. Now, at last, we know the kind of Kosovo that they envisage: the myth of “multiethnicity” and “democracy” is a smokescreen for the new round of ethnic cleansing and, yes, genocide.

We appeal on Your Excellency to undertake all measures to etsablish control and guarantee safety of all inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohiha, as befitting the UN mandate. In particular we appeal on the UN to protect the few Serbs still remaining in Kosovo from the ongoing campaign of violence by armed Albanian extremists to destabilize the Province and expel the remaining non-Albanian population. The vulnerable Serb enclaves and still intact sacral objects - and in particular Gracanica, Decani, Pec, and Prizren - must be vigilantly protected by international police and KFOR, and a decisive action taken by UN forces to control all key areas and communications until the situation is fully under control.

For and on behalf of the Serbian-American Congress,

Yours respectfully,

Slavko Panovic, President

Ethnic cleansing attempted in Kosovo
Statement of the Government of Serbia - March 18, 2004

Belgrade, March 18, 2004 - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today that yesterday's violence against non-Albanian population in Kosovo-Metohija, particularly the local Serb community, is a proof of continuing pogrom of provincial Serbs, adding that the latest developments amounted to an ethnic cleansing attempt which has elements of what has been named a humanitarian catastrophe several years ago.

B92 Hashim Thaci: Serbs are to blame for violence against them!

www.b92.net

B92, Belgrade

March 18, 2004 10:32

Reactions by Albanian officials to clashes in Kosovo

Pristina - The Pristina daily "Zeri" writes on Thursday that an anonymous official of the United Nations told Agence France Presse that UNMIK is thinking about engaging combat units to calm the violence in Kosovo. "If a large group of people wants to enter some village with the intent to kill, then we have a life or death situation and the use of combat units is justified," said the UN official.

"Koha Ditore" publishes the public communiqué of Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo which states that the five year efforts of the Kosovo Albanians for integration of Serbs into a new society are on the edge of ruin because the Serbs are taking advantage of the Albanians. "The Serbs are taking advantage of the goodwill of the Albanians, who want to create a society where everyone is equal. They don't want to integrate into Kosovo society. Even five years after the war, their wish remains the same: they want violence against the Albanians and this can no longer be tolerated," the statement says.

In the statement of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo of Ramush Haradinaj the main reason for the escalation of violence is identified as the existence of Serb parallel structures in northern Kosovo.

The commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, general Agim Cheku, appealed to the common sense of citizens and called on them to stop the violence. "Even though we (sic) are aware that we are overstepping our mandate and authority, in the interest of calming the situation we call on all citizens of Kosovo to demonstrate the necessary degree of maturity in this exceptional situation," says a statement signed by Cheku.

Representatives of Kosovo Albanians in provisional institutions blame the Serbs for the escalation of violence for putting up barricades on the roads around Pristina and for the incident which occurred near Kosovska Mitrovica when three minors of Albanian nationality drowned in the Ibar. They also blamed UNMIK officials for failing to ensure the safety of the citizens of Kosovo.

Riots near Istok - Devic Monastery safe

ERP KIM Info Service
Gracanica, March 18, 2004

Serbs from the village of Lukovac have been evacuated to Osojane, as have returnees to Bicha and Grabac. Their returnee homes are in flames.

The church in Pecka Banja has been blown up. Riots are in progress in Istok and a Molotov cocktail has been lobbed at the UNMIK building.

Eighteen Albanians have escaped from the prison in Dubrava and stolen weapons. Spanish soldiers managed to capture and return 17 prisoners back to the jail. Spanish forces in full battle gear are guarding the monastery of Gorioc near Istok. The sisterhood of the monastery is presently safe.

Serbs from the YU program building in the Ulpijana quarter of Pristina have been evacuated to the UNMIK building and the KFOR military base in Studio City (Filmski grad) and everyone is safe, Serb sources in Pristina reported.

All Serbs from Vitina have been evacuated to the Serb village of Vrbovac and the church in Vitina has already been set on fire.

The situation in Pec and Decani municipalities remains stable and without changes. Italian KFOR forces are guarding the village of Gorazdevac, as well as the monasteries of the Pec Patriarchate and Visoki Decani.

According to the latest news, upon the evacuation of the monastery of Devic one female novice remained in the monastery. When members of French KFOR decided to return to the monastery to evacuate her, they remained in the monastery which is presently under the protection of French soldiers and HAS NOT BEEN SET ON FIRE.

Lipljan police report that evacuation of Serb villages near Lipljan is in progress. According to the latest information from UNMIK, the evacuation of Serb villages near Lipljan in central Kosovo is in progress. It is not possible to determine which villages are included at this time.

Disturbing news is coming from northern Mitrovica of shooting and explosions in the Microsettlement quarter. According to Serbs working for UNMIK, there are indications that all UNMIK civilian representatives in Mitrovica will soon be evacuated.

Torching of two more Serbian Orthodox Churches in Kosovo and Metohija confirmed - Situation in Mitrovica remains critical

According to new information received by the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, the burning of two more churches, in addition of some 20 already destroyed in the past two days, has been confirmed. The torched churches are in

1. Village of Donja Slapasnica near Kamenica

2. In Brnjak near Bela Crkva prior to entering Orahovac

Reports suggest that in most of the province the situation is calm. New KFOR forces arriving that are increasingly consolidating their ranks.

The situation is especially critical in Mitrovica where Albanians fatally shot a Danish KFOR soldier half an hour ago.

The ERP KIM Info Service correspondent in northern Mitrovica reports that several mortar shells have fallen near the hospital; all indications suggest the shells were fired from the ethnically mixed quarter of North Mitrovica known as the Microsettlement (Mikronaselje).

EUROPEAN MP MARIO BORGECIO: WE MUST DEFEND CHRISTIANS AND CHURCHES

ANSA (Italy)

Brussels, March 18, 2004

Recent terrible news regarding the destruction of churches and monasteries and the persecution of Christians launched by the Albanians, the Muslims of Kosovo, impose the need to take urgent and effective action upon the European Union.

This is the opinion of Mario Borgecio (of the Northern League Party). European government cannot merely stand and watch as people are killed solely on the basis of religious hatred, and Muslims loot and torch Christian churches and monasteries. Borgecio the European Council whether it intends to adequately increase its military presence in the region to stop further persecution and massacres, and the destruction of religious shrines.

 

ERP KIM Serbian Unity Congress Statement regarding situation in Kosovo & Metohija

PRESS RELEASE

Serbian Unity Congress 

2311 M Street, Suite 402 

Washington, DC 20037

Contact: Mirjana Samardzija 202-463-8643 

Radmilo Bozinovic, 650-307-2354

STATEMENT REGARDING SITUATION IN KOSOVO & METOHIJA

On the occasion of the rapidly deteriorating situation in the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbian Unity Congress feels obligated to state the following.

The rampant violence and destruction that has engulfed the province is not, as suggested in some quarters, a generic escalation of "interethnic strife" or some spontaneous reaction of an embittered community - rather, it represents racially motivated, organized terrorist activity, plainly aimed at eradicating the physical and cultural presence of the Serbian ethnic community. In the clear words of UNMIK's own officials:

"This is planned, coordinated, one-way violence from the Albanians against the Serbs. It is spreading and has been brewing for the past week [...] Wherever there is a Serbian population there is Albanian action against them". 

The most current events are not a departure from the norm but only an escalation of the violent treatment of the Kosovo Serb as well as its Roma and other Christian Albanian minorities by the Muslim Kosovo Albanian majority population.  Of 200,000 minority Kosovo citizens that were expelled by the Kosovo Albanians after the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, only a few thousand have been allowed to return.  Harassments, killings and other forms of attacks are commonplace and the protection of the international forces mandatory for the simple everyday routines of going to school, work or family visits. Over 100 churches have been bombed, burnt or otherwise destroyed.  Remaining monasteries must have around the clock international military protection with clergy receiving ceaseless threats to their lives.   For its minorities to live in Kosovo has meant to live in a state of terror in spite of the international presence. 

These basic violations of human rights of Kosovo citizens by an emboldened terrorist element of the Kosovo Albanian population have been made possible by the lack of resolve by the international community to enforce protection of human rights of all Kosovo citizens and its failure to hold the Albanian leadership accountable for its role in inciting these violations and/or its failure to exercise its leadership in putting a stop to such violations.   

Kosovo Albanians and their lobby in Washington DC have actively courted Congress to gather support for an independent Kosovo claiming tolerance and progress toward an multiethnic and democratic state.  Today’s events present a reality that is undeniably in direct conflict with this image.   

Furthermore, Kosovo today is the center of Europe’s worst criminal activities – drug, arms and human trafficking with the Kosovo Albanian mafia at the very heart of it.  The United States led the NATO bombing in 1999 to insure the protection of human rights and thousands of our forces remain there in an earlier case of nation building.  What are our tax dollars paying for?

Just a day after the Council of Europe debated the state of human rights in Kosovo, where it heard the alarming testimony of the Kosovo Ombudsman about it being "clearly very far from the minimum of international standards", the situation took a radical turn for the worse.

At the same time that UNMIK administrators and Kosovo Albanian political leaders project a picture of rising multiethnic tolerance, refugee return and respect for law, extremist-led Albanian mobs are systematically destroying, with total impunity, hundreds of returnee homes funded by millions from international agency donations. [in Belo Polje, Lipljan, Caglavica, Kosovo Polje and many other Serb enclaves].

At a time when the world marvels at the wonders of Byzantine art (including many exhibits from Kosovo) at the Metropolitan Musem of Art in New York, other priceless treasures of that same civilization are being systematically razed to the ground, including such cultural gems as the churhes of Our Lady of Ljevis, Saint Archangels and Christ the Saviour in Western Kosovo (Metohija).  While Al Queda targets the Western world with its own religious zeal, the destruction in Kosovo targets the Christian population and Christian edifices.  

All of the above severely violates the core values that Americans stand for and civilized people of the world respect, and threaten to negate all efforts of the international community over the years to restore normalcy in the province.  

The “peace” in Kosovo is unraveling. Policies to date have clearly failed and have emboldened the Kosovo Albanian terrorists to operate with impunity. The currently stationed 17,500 NATO troops are not adequate to stop the violence. The US is sending an additional 150 troops while Britain is sending an additional 500. Kosovo is blowing up while we sleep.  

We therefore call on the United Nations as the administrator of the Province, and the United States government as a key political factor in this context, to do whatever is necessary to achieve the following: 

Stop the bloodshed - take immediate and resolute action to confront, contain and neutralize armed Albanian extremism and implement robust security measures that will afford effective protection to the Serbian and other non-Albanian communities.

Reverse damage - devise a plan to quickly and efficaciously restore destroyed property and reestablish faith in the crucial process of refugee (IDP) return

Impose accountability – hold the Kosovo Albanian leadership accountable for tolerating, excusing  and inciting violation of the human rights of the Serbian and other minorities

Administer justice - aggressively prosecute perpetrators of this outrage, as well as the hundreds of other ethnically motivated crimes during UN administration of the province.

It is time to objectively review the situation in Kosovo.  The situation warrants Congressional hearings on the subject in relevant committees of both the House and the Senate.  We urge the US Congress to convene such proceedings as soon as possible,

Copyright 2004 Newspaper Publishing PLC
The Independent (London)

March 19, 2004, Friday

SECTION: First Edition; TITLE PAGE; Pg. 1,2

LENGTH: 890 words

HEADLINE: BURNING CHURCHES, RUINED HOMES AND ETHNIC HATRED. ARE THE BALKANS SET TO EXPLODE AGAIN?

BYLINE: JETA XHARRA IN OBILIC AND MARCUS TANNER

HIGHLIGHT:
UN vehicles were set ablaze during clashes in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Two days of ethnic rioting in Kosovo have left 20 dead EPA Smoke billows from a Serbian Orthodox church, which was set ablaze by Albanian extremists in Mitrovica AP

BODY:
NATO RUSHED 1,000 extra troops to Kosovo last night - 750 of them British - amid fears that the Balkans were again sliding towards a conflagration that could suck in neighbouring countries.

With more than 20 dead in two days of ethnic rioting that have pitted the two million Albanians against the small Serb minority, and with dozens of churches and houses reduced to smoking ruins, Western efforts to impose peace appeared about to unravel.

Last night Albanians were again fighting their Serb neighbours in Lipljan, in eastern Kosovo, as the worst violence to afflict the province since the Serb pull-out in 1999 seemed set to continue into a third day.

But in a new and more worrying development, Albanian rioters were also targeting Finnish peace-keepers patrolling the small Serbian enclave, hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at the men until recently they descrbed and thought of as their protectors.

The large-scale deployment of international peacekeepers dampened down rioting in the northern town of Mitrovica, scene of the worst violence on Wednesday, when Serbs and Albanians traded gunfire across the river Ibar, claiming at least six lives. But yesterday, fresh arson attacks on other isolated Serb enclaves raised the nightmare scenario of Western peace-keepers being stretched beyond their capacity trying to dampen down brush fires in dozens of areas at once.

Plumes of smoke rising from the small town of Obilic, six miles from Pristina, revealed a glimpse of the problems facing peace-keepers. No road blocks stopped our car - from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting - as we drove towards Obilic and entered the Serb enclave. There we soon encountered a 100-strong gang of sullen, trainer-clad youths, bolstered by ragged gangs of children, all busily stoning homes, lighting fires and looting goods.

Most of the houses were empty, the terrified Serbs having fled hours before in advance of the wave of hatred that was about to break over their small community. But the crowd had surrounded one house that was still occupied. There was an atmosphere of sinister jubilation as the jeering crowd reluctantly parted to allow US peace-keepers to enter and escort a terrified man from the smoke-filled interior to a tank in which he was driven away.

The grim scene in Obilic was a portrait in miniature of the violence that has wracked Kosovo for two days, as Albanians turn simultaneously on several Serb enclaves, in what may have started as a spontaneous protest but which has taken on all the hallmarks of an organised campaign. As the extra S-For

troops were rushed from Bosnia to beef up Kosovo's visibly disorientated 17,000 peace-keepers, there were signs that their arrival might dampen down the fury of the Albanian gangs.

The lawlessness engulfing Kosovo has given an opportunity for shadowy extremists to renew the score-settling that has plagued the territory for centuries. What might have started off as a spontaneous burst of anger in Mitrovica over the still unexplained drowning of two Albanian children now bears all the hallmarks of something more planned. "We have had similar attacks to these in Kosovo before," said a UN spokesman Derek Chappell. "But the fact that these attacks took place at the same time all over Kosovo does make me think they were orchestrated by the same extreme groups."

Lt-Colonel James Moran, a K-For spokesman, was more explicit. "There was a lot more organisation today than we saw yesterday," he said. "People had organised buses to take protesters to different areas. We turned several of them around." Whoever was behind that agenda has certainly succeeded in nullifying the UN's attempts to build bridges between Serbs and Albanians over the past four years.

The scale of the rage shown by the crowds caught local Albanian politicians and commentators off guard as well. They were just as unprepared as the UN. "In 24 hours Kosovo was transferred from normality to a state close to anarchy," said Veton Surroi, a veteran liberal activist and editor of the newspaper Koha Ditore.

But few of the mainstream politicians went much further than issuing vague appeals for calm - which the rioters simply ignored. Even the remonstrations of Albanians in the streets had no effect on the rioters. "Don't worry, we are not going to burn your house," one group of thugs in Obilic shouted at an elderly Albanian man who denounced what they were up to.

The bitterness has built up over months. Increasingly fearful that the international community will force Kosovo to remain in Serbia, the rhetoric of Albanian leaders over eight months has taken on an increasingly strident anti-UN tone.

The question is now what, if anything, can be done to restore even the bare bones of trust on either side. Little can be expected from Serbia, now entering a presidential election in which the ultra-nationalist Radical Party candidate is the odds-on favourite to win. Nor are even the moderate Albanian leaders in Kosovo certain of what will come next. "A policy died yesterday in Kosovo and it took human lives in the most tragic way," said Mr Surroi.

The funerals - both Serb and Albanian - have not even begun, but what is certain is that at numerous gravesides, calls for revenge will again be heard.

UN helpless, page 20

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Agence France Presse

March 18, 2004 Thursday 9:15 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 347 words

HEADLINE: Bosnian Serbs bolster security amid clashes in neighboring Kosovo

DATELINE: BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, March 18

BODY:
The Bosnian Serb entity bolstered security patrols Thursday, sending larger police forces to protect Muslim residents of the mainly Serb region after ethnic violence killed at least 22 in neighboring Kosovo.

"The Republika Srpska (RS, Bosnian Serb entity) interior ministry has increased the security level in RS territory because of possible reactions here over Kosovo violence", ministry spokesman Zoran Glusac told AFP.

The strengthened police forces have been sent to secure Muslims who have returned to their villages in the RS after the country's 1992-1995 war, he said.

Police were also dispatched to protest mosques, buildings which house international institutions and other official sites of the RS government, he added.

At least 22 people have been killed and over 500 others injured this week in Kosovo, in the worst clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs since the southern Serbian province came under UN control.

Meanwhile, RS President Dragan Cavic told journalists that violence in Kosovo "can be seen as an act of ethnic cleansing" of Kosovo's Serbs by the majority Albanians.

He called on Bosnian Serbs to restrain from using violence, warning they would face "serious and immeasurable consequences" from the authorities.

"We (Bosnian Serbs) have no right to let emotions lead us to violence, and we (cannot allow) the escalating crisis in Kosovo to produce consequences in RS", he said, warning that the entity's institutions "must have a sharp answer" to any of such attempt.

Glusac said that no violent incidents had so far been reported in RS territory.

In one incident, he said, some 200 high school students held a peaceful protest in front of a mosque in the northeastern town of Bijeljina Dragomir Peris, chanting "Kosovo is Serbia" and "Kosovo is ours (Serbs')".

Following the 1992-1995 war Bosnia was split into two highly autonomous entities -- the Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation. Ethnic tensions still run high between the different communities here.

ts/cn/mkh

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March 18, 2004 Thursday 7:34 AM Eastern Time

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 344 words

HEADLINE: Russia calls for emergency Security Council session on Kosovo violence

DATELINE: MOSCOW, March 18

BODY:
Russia Thursday called for the UN Security Council to discuss in an emergency session the latest wave of violence sweeping the UN-administered province of Kosovo, which has claimed at least 22 lives.

"Russia supports the initiative by Serbia and Montenegro to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss Kosovo," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The official said Russia, one of five permanent members of the Security Council, was "ready to actively participate in the search for a solution to the Kosovo problem."

Earlier in the day Russia condemned the inter-ethnic violence sweeping Kosovo.

"We strongly condemn the instigators of the riots in Kosovo and demand that they be put to a halt immediately, as they could lead to an explosive situation in the province and region as whole," Yakovenko said in a statement.

"All sides must show a measured approach to resolve the problem," he said.

"Russia is ready to assist through all available mechanisms," Yakovenko said.

At least 22 ethnic Albanians and Serbs were killed and more than 500 injured in the worst clashes between the two communities since the province came under UN control in 1999.

The injured included 11 French soldiers serving in NATO-led peacekeeping forces.

Russia, a historical ally of Serbs which vociferously opposed the 1999 NATO intervention in Kosovo, has remained sceptical about the international community's role in Kosovo.

NATO staged a bombing campaign on Belgrade in July 1999 to force the Serbian army out of the province in a campaign to end a crackdown on the ethnic Albanian majority.

It is now patrolled by 17,000 troops of a multinational force led by NATO, plus 10,000 UN and local police.

UN Resolution 1244 guaranteed the continued status of the majority ethnic Albanian province as part of Serbia, but Moscow has accused NATO of encouraging independence for Kosovo and failing to protect the Serb minority.

hm-yad/jz

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BBC Monitoring International Reports

March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 67 words

HEADLINE: ALL SERBS FROM EASTERN KOSOVO TOWN OF GNJILANE EVACUATED - AGENCY

BODY:

Gnjilane, 18 March: All Serbs from Gnjilane (in eastern Kosovo, near the border with Macedonia) have been evacuated to neighbouring Serb villages, SRNA's correspondent has learnt from Serb sources in Gnjilane.

There is no information so far on the state of Serb properties in Gnjilane.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1533 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
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HEADLINE: SERBIA'S KOSOVO COORDINATION HEAD SAYS KOSOVO BEING ETHNICALLY CLEANSED

BODY:

(Presenter) The head of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo-Metohija, Nebojsa Covic, is with us on the phone. Can you hear me, Mr Covic? (Covic) Yes, I can.

(Presenter) You have gone to Kosovo although UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) could not guarantee you safety. What is happening there?

(Covic) Well, the situation is very difficult. The situation is complex, yet stable, in northern Kosovo, regardless of all the provocation, especially in northern Kosovska Mitrovica and the surrounding villages.

But the situation is very difficult in the rest of Kosovo-Metohija, especially in Lipljan, Caglavica, Novo Brdo. There is a large number of extremist and terrorist groups in Pec. So, all the parts of Kosovo-Metohija where Serbs have lived or live are being ethnically cleansed in a large-scale action, in the presence of Kfor (Kosovo Force) and UNMIK which do not react adequately and are not in a position to react adequately, they maybe do not have enough force or will. I believe that a very dangerous period is ahead of us.

(Phone link interrupted)

Source: BKTV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1506 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
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HEADLINE: KOSOVO SERBS MOVE OUT FROM EASTERN TOWN OF VITINA - AGENCY

Kosovska Vitina, 18 March: Almost all the Serbs from Kosovska Vitina (in eastern Kosovo, near the border with Macedonia) have moved out and only elderly people and the Serbs who decided not to leave their houses remain there.

(Passage omitted)

Not a single one of 200 Serbs who were living in Gnjilane have remained there. Serb families have mainly sought shelter in the Serb village of Silovo, where they are staying in a school.

(Passage omitted)

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1435 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 199 words

HEADLINE: KOSOVO: SERB SCHOOL, HOUSES SET ON FIRE IN KAMENICA, EVACUATION CONTINUES

BODY:




Caglavica, 18 March: Albanian demonstrators in Kosovska Kamenica today set on fire a primary school catering to Serb children and demolished several Serb-owned buildings.

US Kfor (Kosovo Force) troops evacuated Serb population from Vitina to Partes, Jugoslav Stevic, a Serb from this village, has told BETA. Stevic further said the local parish priest had abandoned the church. He also said that several Serb houses around the church had been set on fire.

The situation is also alarming in Obilic and Plemetina. Fifty Serbs were evacuated from Obilic after all Serb houses in Cerska Street had been burnt down as well as the church in the town centre, Radio Kim from Caglavica has reported.

The situation in Strpce is peaceful despite yesterday's attack on the nearby Drajkovac in which Dobrivoje Stolic (45) and his son Borko were killed.

Political representatives of Serbs demanded at a meeting with representatives of Kfor, UN police and UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) that they boost up measures to protect 11,00 Serbs living in Strpce and its surroundings.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1649 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 188 words

HEADLINE: KOSOVO ALBANIAN PROTESTERS BREAK THROUGH KFOR CORDON IN LIPLJAN

BODY:

Lipljan, 18 March: A few thousand Albanian demonstrators at around 1800 (1700 gmt) tonight broke through a blockade of Kfor (Kosovo Force) troops and advanced towards the church in Lipljan, in the courtyard of which a great number of Serbs are present.

Assistant Mayor of Lipljan Borivoje Vignjevic told BETA that demonstrators were throwing bombs and that a few houses were in flames. Vignjevic appealed to Kfor (Kosovo Force) to immediately send reinforcements to protect Serbs.

Vignjevic said that Finnish Kfor troops and US troops, which had arrived as reinforcements from Bosnia-Hercegovina, this afternoon managed to disperse Albanians, but that a little later these again gathered in the centre of Lipljan.

Late this afternoon, a few families and the majority of women and children left Lipljan in panic and sought refuge in safer villages of Suvi Do and Novo Naselje, were a greater number of Serbs are living.

Explosions of bombs thrown by demonstrators can be heard in Lipljan continuously, Vignjevic said.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1749 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 101 words

HEADLINE: SERB CHURCH IN KOSOVO CAPITAL SET ABLAZE

BODY:




Pristina, 18 March: The UNMIK police chief's adviser on the return of refugees, Nenad Radosavljevic, said this evening that the UNMIK main headquarters had learned that the church of St Nicholas in Pristina had been set on fire.

Father Miroslav has gone into hiding in the cellar of the church, while the Kfor (NATO-led Kosovo Force) command has sent a team to evacuate him and another four Serb women who are currently staying in private homes near the church, SRNA's correspondent reported.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1912 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 143 words

HEADLINE: SWEDISH OFFICER WARNS OF KOSOVO BLOODBATH AFTER CLASHES

BODY:

A Swedish officer with NATO's Kosovo mission has warned of a bloodbath in Kosovo unless NATO peacekeepers and UN police manage to keep Serbs and ethnic Albanians apart.

Lt Colonel Hans Haakansson was talking to Swedish public television the day after 22 people were killed and hundreds injured in the clashes. Lt Col. Haakansson, who is deputy head of the Swedish battalion guarding the village of Caglavica, south of Pristina, said in an interview with Swedish public television that the situation there is tense and that the Swedes are preparing for another day of violence in the area.

Thirteen Swedish soldiers were wounded, none of them seriously, in Wednesday's (March 17) clashes. At least one Swedish military vehicle was set on fire.

Source: Radio Sweden text web site, Stockholm, in English 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 135 words

HEADLINE: ALBANIANS "EXECUTING" SERBS IN KOSOVO TOWN - AGENCY
 

BODY:
Decani, 18 March: The situation in Obilic (near Pristina) is alarming - Albanian extremists are executing the remaining Serbs on the doorsteps of their homes, Father Sava Janjic from the Visoki Decani monastery in Kosovo told SRNA today.

"There are dead and injured in Obilic. A church, 15 houses and two apartment blocks are on fire. Serbs are without Kfor (NATO-led Kosovo Force) and UNMIK protection and only a few Serb members of the Kosovo police are with them," Father Sava said, quoting information from Gracanica monastery, which is in telephone contact with Obilic inhabitants.

According to him, the Raska-Prizren eparchy has informed the UNMIK HQ about the events in Obilic.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1057 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 251 words

HEADLINE: ALL SERBS REPORTED TO BE EVACUATED FROM KOSOVO CAPITAL

BODY:

Pristina, 18 March: There are no more any Serbs in (Kosovo's capital) Pristina following the evacuation of Pristina Parish Rector, Father Miroslav Popadic, and a group of remaining Serbs, who were sheltering in the cellar of the parish rectory building, near the burning church of Sveti Nikola (St Nicholas), the Raska-Prizren Eparchy said this evening.

It has been confirmed to SRNA's correspondent by a source in the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) that representatives of the international community have evacuated Pristina Parish Rector, Father Miroslav Popadic, and his wife from Pristina. The same source said that numerous Kfor (NATO-led Stabilization Force) and international police sources have been trying to repel Albanian extremists who are trying to enter the church yard.

The international police has issued an order to double the forces protecting the residence of (UN interim) administrator Harri Holkeri.

The KPS source says that the villagers from Rabovce, near Lipljani (south of Pristina), are ready to be evacuated but are too afraid to make the move with a small number of Kfor soldiers who are securing their evacuation, because of the shooting which could be heard coming from the nearby village of Lugadzije.

They have asked for additional reinforcements in order to evacuate around 250 Serbs, among whom there are several dozen children, from the village.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 2039 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 69 words

HEADLINE: "THOUSANDS" OF KOSOVO ALBANIANS STAGE PROTEST IN PRISTINA

BODY:




Pristina, 18 March: Thousands of Albanians are today demonstrating in Pristina, SRNA correspondent reports.

Albanians are chanting "KLA, KLA" (the Kosovo Liberation Army - UCK in Albanian) and "Mitrovica, Mitrovica" (Kosovo divided town).

The demonstrations started just after 1200 (1100 gmt).

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1139 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
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HEADLINE: KOSOVO ALBANIANS TARGET SERB RETURNEES, NO INJURIES REPORTED

BODY:




Klina, 17 March: Serb returnees in the villages of Grabac and Bica, in the Kosovo municipality of Klina, came under fire on several occasions today, but no one was injured, BETA was told by Serb returnees.

BETA was told that the Serbs in Bica and Grabac were targeted from the neighbouring, Albanian village of Ozrim.

Kfor (Kosovo Force) Italian units were called and they encircled Bica and Grabac.

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1430 gmt 17 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 111 words

HEADLINE: RUSSIA BACKS CALLS FOR URGENT UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON KOSOVO

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Moscow, 18 March: Russia supports Belgrade's proposal that a UN Security Council meeting should be convened urgently on the situation in Kosovo following the sharp upsurge of interethnic violence, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, Aleksandr Yakovenko, said today.

"Russia supports the initiative of Serbia-Montenegro on urgently convening a UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo and is willing actively to participate in a search for a solution to the Kosovo problem," Yakovenko's statement, the text of which Interfax has received today, stresses.

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1216 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 212 words

HEADLINE: "SEVERAL THOUSAND" SERBS PROTEST AT KOSOVO BORDER, STATE OF EMERGENCY RUMOURED

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Merdare, 18 March: Several thousand Serbs displaced from Kosovo blocked around 1200 (1100 gmt) the Nis-Pristina motorway at the border crossing in Merdare.

Gathered Serbs lit candles for the Serbs killed in Kosovo who were victims of the latest riots throughout Kosovo-Metohija. The Serbs, previously exiled from Kosovo, came from Nis, Prokuplje, Kursumlija, as well as from other town from southern Serbia.

Several hundred gathered Serbs retreated (from the border) within an hour, after crossing the administrative border between central Serbia and Kosovo and approaching UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) and Kfor (NATO-led Kosovo Force) checkpoints.

Those gathered are currently at a Serb police checkpoint. According to unofficial information, the Albanian protesters started moving from the direction of Podujevo, also towards the Merdare border crossing.

Twenty-three Serbs evacuated from Obilic arrived in Kursumlija early in the morning. According to statements coming from the Kursumlija municipal assembly, there is a likelihood that a state of emergency will be declared if the stream of refugees from central Kosovo increases.

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1344 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004
LENGTH: 145 words

HEADLINE: KOSOVO ALBANIANS PLANNING NEW ATTACKS ON SERB VILLAGES - MINISTER

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Belgrade, 18 March: Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) Defence Minister Boris Tadic said today the authorities held information that some 6,000 Albanians were ready to attack three Serb villages in Kosovo.

Tadic declined to name the villages in question. He said he had forwarded this information to NATO South Europe Commander Admiral Gregory Johnson with whom he is in permanent contact, as he said.

Following a joint session of the Serbian Assembly committees for defence and security and for Kosovo-Metohija, the SCG defence minister told journalists that Johnson had arrived in Kosovo. He also said Kfor (Kosovo Force) had been boosted, among other things, by transferring one British and one US Sfor (Stabilization Force) company from Bosnia-Hercegovina. (Passage omitted)

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1439 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 103 words

HEADLINE: Kosovo: Eight Serbs beaten up in Obilic, Kfor vehicles set alight

SOURCE: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 2108 gmt 17 Mar 04

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Text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug

Obilic, 17 March: Eight Serbs were beaten up at the railway station in Obilic, northern Kosovo, on Wednesday 17 March , the regional Zvecan Most TV reported late on Wednesday.

Two Serb women and a man were seriously wounded on the occasion, the Most TV said.

Three houses belonging to a Serb family were demolished in Obilic on Wednesday, and outside the municipal assembly building, ethnic Albanians set three Kfor Kosovo Force vehicles on fire.

The situation in Obilic is peaceful at the moment, but there is great tension.



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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 102 words

HEADLINE: Kosovo: Two ethnic Serbs reported killed in village near Strpci

SOURCE: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 0918 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Excerpt from report by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug

Kosovska Mitrovica, 18 March: Dobrivoje Stolic and his son were murdered last night in the village of Drajkovac near Strpci, Television Most of Kosovska Mitrovica reported today.

Other details of the two Serbs' murder were not provided, except that Dobrivoje succumbed to his wounds at his home last night, while his son died this morning.

According to the same sources, several hundred Albanians stoned three buildings in Obilic last night: the local school, a Serb-inhabited apartment house, and the local church. passage omitted



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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 422 words

HEADLINE: Serbian reporter sums up aftermath of overnight clashes throughout Kosovo

SOURCE: Radio Belgrade in Serbian 0900 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Text of report by Serbian radio on 18 March

Announcer The morning the situation in Kosovo-Metohija is calm and tense, but it was not so overnight. Houses, health clinics, schools and religious buildings were all the target of terrorists.

Blic correspondent Nedeljko Zejak reports:

Zejak The situation in the broader area of Kosovo-Metohija has been under the control of Kfor Kosovo Force and the international police since the early morning hours. The US Kfor contingent deserves the most credit for this. At around 2200 2100 gmt several hundred US marines arrives from Bondsteel base near Urosevac and, in spite of a crowd of around 30,000 Albanians, entered Pristina through Caglavica with almost no problems.

Fifteen Albanians were killed and dozens were injured in clashes in so-called street fighting, the Pristina Clinic's crisis headquarters has announced. Serbs from Pristina have been evacuated and, with the assistance of the OSCE and Kfor, transferred to the former British base near Kosovo Polje. As of this morning, Pristina is yet another Kosmet Kosovo-Metohija town where there are no longer any Serbs. Additionally, the building of the Yu Programme, where Serbs were living, was set on fire.

In Lipljan, four Serbs were killed and all Serb houses along the so-called main street were set ablaze. Over 50 Serb houses and the St Sava primary school in Kosovo Polje were also set on fire. Under the onslaught of the Albanians, medical staff and patients left the local clinic in Bresje. The post office was also set on fire, and the same is true of the post office in Orahovac, which only confirms what is being stressed here, namely, that the Albanians deliberately tried to isolate the Serbs and sever all communications.

The attempt to storm the UNMIK UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo headquarters and the Kosovo Television building demonstrates their intention to establish complete control over the area.

All Serbian houses in Kosovska Vitina were set on fire. Serb houses in Gnjilane were also set on fire and a Serb was killed, and the same happened in the village of Vlajkovce in Strpce municipality.

Seminaries and all Serbian churches were set on fire in Prizren and the Sveti Arhangeli monastery. The Visoki Decani monastery was targeted by five shells. Serbs from Belo Polje near Pec were also evacuated and their returnee houses set ablaze. The same is true of the Serb returnees in Bica and Grabac, who were transferred to Osojane overnight.



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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 78 words

HEADLINE: Kosovo airport closed amid ethnic clashes

SOURCE: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1003 gmt 17 Mar 04

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Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Pristina, 18 April: The international airport in Pristina today closed for all outgoing traffic in the wake of the clashes which have killed at least 22 people, spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeepers in Kosovo Kfor , Col Jim Moran, has said.

In the worst clashes since 1999, at least 22 people were killed and around 500 injured, including 61 members of the police and 11 members of Kfor Kosovo Force .



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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 140 words

HEADLINE: Belgrade minister sees Kosovo incidents as "clear evidence" of UN failure

SOURCE: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 0958 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Text of report in English by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug

Belgrade, 18 March: Serbia-Montenegro SCG Minister for Human and Minority Rights Rasim Ljajic told Tanjug Thursday 18 March morning that the developments in Kosovo-Metohija were clear evidence of the failure of the international mission and that as it turned out Kosovo Albanians want not only an independent, but also an ethnically-pure Kosovo.

"Therefore, it is now clear that the Albanians want not only an independent, but also an ethnically-pure Kosovo and that the international community must change its policy and its political goal on the issue of the status of Kosovo," he said.

Ljajic reminded that he had been saying for some time that the mission had failed to meet expectations, and that on Wednesday its role was definitely demystified.



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March 18, 2004, Thursday

LENGTH: 91 words

HEADLINE: Kosovo: Church in southern Mitrovica said to be on fire

SOURCE: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1206 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Text of report by Yugoslav state news agency Tanjug

Kosovska Mitrovica, 18 March: Thick smoke appeared in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica at around 1230 1130 gmt today, which can be seen from the northern part, Tanjug's correspondent has reported.

At this time no-one in northern Mitrovica knows what exactly is burning, but based on the location from which the smoke is billowing it is believed that the Albanians have set fire to the St Sava church that is being secured by members of Kfor's Kosovo Force contingent.



LOAD-DATE: March 18, 2004

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