Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Macedonian rebels retreat to Kosovo Nato forces fear a phoney peace as hundreds of guerrillas take their weapons back across the border Nicholas Wood in Stancic, on the border between Macedonia and Kosovo Sunday September 2, 2001 The Observer Hundreds of ethnic Albanian fighters are moving from Macedonia to Kosovo, many taking their weapons with them and subverting the Nato operation designed to help end six months of guerrilla warfare. British troops began to collect weapons from the gunmen last week. But an investigation by The Observer can reveal that 'Operation Essential Harvest' may not be having its desired effect. Lieutenant Andre Rivier is well placed to see the exodus. He commands a platoon from the US 101 Airborne division, overlooking the Lipkovsko valley. In the past week, US soldiers serving with the Nato-led mission in Kosovo have intercepted up to 150 ethnic Albanian gunmen attempting to pass the border. They travel at night, along a steep path that in daylight is within sight of a Macedonian army post. Once across the frontier they appear more than glad to see their captors. 'We treat them well, give them food, water and warmth and they are happy to talk to us,' said Rivier, sitting on a chair in a makeshift camp at Stancic, the hamlet where the prisoners are first brought. Late on Friday night, the unit stopped six men dressed in civilian clothing. 'One of them pointed to the Bradley [armoured vehicle] up on the hill there and said, "that's American" and then they turned and hugged each other,' the lieutenant said. A total of 260 members of the National Liberation Army (NLA) have been detained by K-for in the past week, far more than the number of places available in detention centres. Some are kept in cells for five days, but many are simply photographed, have their fingerprints taken and are released. Down below Stancic, in the village of Lipkovo, hundreds of guerrillas have been gathering outside the village hall waiting for their demobilisation papers, an A4-size certificate they receive in return for their gun. Outside, bunkers and machine-gun posts that bristled with rebels 10 days ago are now empty. According to Commander Sokol (hawk in Albanian), commanding officer for the Lipkovo region, things have been going exactly to plan - a third of his men left the guerrilla army this week. ' It's been good so far. Two brigades are handing in weapons, around 500 including heavy weapons, but we have a problem. We're not sure if the soldiers will be able to go home. They're afraid of being arrested.' Few of those handing in guns last week had confidence in the idea of an amnesty. 'When Nato leaves Macedonia there's going to be a lot of trouble like before the war, it's not easy to live with that,' said Lulzim, a 30-year-old junior commander, as his soldiers handed in their weapons in Brodec, a village in the hills above Tetovo in western Macedonia. 'I'm going to go to Kosovo and maybe come back after four or five months. I don't feel safe here.' But some of Kosovo's most recent immigrants don't just seem to be taking refuge here. Evidence points to whole units trying to relocate to the UN-administered province, with their arms in tow. In the days running up the signing of the so-called 'framework agreement' on 13 August, and for a week after it, joint patrols of Polish and Ukrainian soldiers arrested 50 men. 'All of them were in civilian clothing but they carried equipment such as mortars and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, some anti-personnel and anti-tank mines,' said Captain Andrej Matuszyk, from the 5th Polish mountain infantry battalion. 'We also seized mobile phones, around 20, as well as 16 sleeping bags in German Red Cross packaging.' Back in Stancic, a firefight between US soldiers and presumed members of the NLA has raised similar fears. Last Tuesday night, K-for said, a man led a group in single file across the border shouting: 'Nato, Nato help.' 'When the platoon sergeant identified himself, the group opened fire on the US soldiers,' said Lt-Col Roy Brown, K-for's spokesman in Pristina. The Americans replied, shooting at least one of the men. An intelligence officer with the 101 Airborne said he believed the attack was launched to move K-for away from Stancic, and open the way for weapons to be brought across the frontier. Former NLA members say complete units are being moved. Xhezair, a veteran of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the UCPMB in southern Serbia and most recently the NLA, says 66 men from the 113th Brigade left Macedonia last Sunday. All were arrested, in separate locations, and kept in the main US base in Kosovo for five days. With hundreds of fighters coming into Kosovo, K-for is worried that instead of being dismantled the NLA has found a temporary home. 'They come over here and unemployment is insanely high. They find whatever job they can and it's not the same. Three months later the NLA is working and they go to join it,' said Lieutenant Rivier. 'Three months on from now I'm worried about another insurgency. 'Maybe not this winter, but by next spring, we'll see a new insurgency somewhere.' __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
