-Caveat Lector- >From NYPostOnLine SLOBBO IMPORTS FOREIGN DEATH SQUADS By NILES LATHEM --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- YUGOSLAV paramilitary leaders are importing freelance killers from neighboring countries to commit some of the worst horrors against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, according to new reports. Mercenaries from Russia, Romania and Bulgaria are terrorizing Kosovars for paychecks, according to chilling accounts from refugees in Albania and NATO intelligence reports. "With all the looting of homes and the stealing of money that is taking place in Kosovo, we believe there are many foreign mercenaries who are making a lot of money with the ethnic cleansing," said Fran Baba, head of the Union of Non-Government Organizations, which is coordinating war-crimes reporting in Tirana, Albania. In addition, hundreds of ethnic Serbs from Austria and Hungary are signing up as "weekend warriors" to join the vicious hit squads in Kosovo, NATO and human-rights organizations said. Many Serbs are said to be going into the Balkan war zone through Serbia, grabbing guns and orders, wreaking havoc for a few days and then returning to their jobs on Mondays. "There is nothing you can do to stop this," a NATO diplomat said. "It goes on in every conflict. Look, you even have foreigners fighting for the Kosovo Liberation Army," the diplomat told The Post. The professional soldiers appeared to be especially active in Gjackova, a Western Kosovo town that was a center of Albanian culture and resistance, witnesses said. Three refugees said the foreign mercenaries appeared to even have their own uniforms to distinguish them from Serbian units. "The Russians wore black masks and light blue hats," said one man from Gjackova, at a central processing center in Tirana. Many mercenaries are helping Serbia for political reasons, sharing the same Slavic culture and anti-NATO attitude. But others are fighting just for the money. The presence of the weekend warriors and the other outsiders in Serbian paramilitary hit squads is especially troublesome to war-crimes investigators - although not a new phenomenon. U.N. War Crimes investigators also discovered their presence in the 1993 ethnic war in Bosnia. Many of the mercenaries were operating under the command of Gen. Radko Mladic and Zeljko Raznatovic, also known as "Arkan" - two paramilitary leaders indicted for war crimes in Bosnia who are now said to be operating again in Kosovo. Their use of outsiders foiled war-crimes prosecutors because many perpetrators and witnesses returned to homes and jobs elsewhere in Europe, eluding investigators. NATO officials admit it's difficult track the movements of these mercenary groups. "Because we don't have people on the ground in Kosovo, we are getting the same reports as you are," said Col. Frank Salinas, a spokesman for NATO's military branch. But because of the scale of the atrocities now taking place in Kosovo, NATO and U.N. officials are vowing special efforts to catch the mass killers of the Albanian Kosovars. "Our mandate is to prosecute anyone - and that means anyone - who commits war crimes on Yugoslavian soil," said Jim Landale, spokesman for the U.N. Wars Crimes Tribunal at the International Court of Justice at the Hague, Netherlands. From telegraph.co.uk (two) ISSUE 1423 Sunday 18 April 1999 France fears aerial onslaught could provoke Moscow into war US blocks release of pilot's video <<link>> SENIOR officials in Paris are claiming that the French government has vetoed plans by the Western allies to intensify the war against President Milosevic with an all-out aerial onslaught. According to the Elysée Palace, President Chirac blocked a move to begin a new offensive that would involve unlimited attacks on Serbian "centres of power" for fear of provoking Russia. In detailed briefings to senior French journalists, the Elysée conceded that opposition to what it calls "Phase Three" of the campaign has effectively isolated France from her allies. While the government remains committed to stepping up pressure on Milosevic - specifically approving the deployment of America's tank-busting helicopters - it remains convinced that it is too risky to confront Moscow with what amounts to "total war". In yesterday's Libération, the respected commentator Serge July said that the French government fears that the increasingly "fragile" Yeltsin administration, already facing hostile public opinion, would be forced to react vigorously. He said the Elysée's view was "things must not be allowed to slip out of control" on the battlefield, "or who is to say that we wouldn't eventually have to go to war with Russia?". In light of the dangers involved, said officials, France was now asking to be consulted in advance - unlike most other governments in the alliance - over the choice of specific targets. The sources stressed: "There will be no escalation without the agreement of France." Mr Chirac's position was said to be that France "prefers fighting with her hands tied behind her back to having both hands free while walking a tightrope above the abyss". Libération also reported that in a lengthy telephone call to President Clinton last week, Mr Chirac insisted that high-level talks with the Russians should be reopened immediately. He also stressed that the allies should go back to the UN Security Council as soon as possible. ISSUE 1423 Sunday 18 April 1999 American heartland is spoiling for a fight By James Langton US blocks release of pilot's video <<link>> THE women on the next table at the Village Party diner are admiring Peggy the waitress's new bubble perm, but Karl, a Korean War veteran, has other things on his mind. "We should have done this three or four years ago," he reflects. "The trouble is, we have a President who ran away from Vietnam." Around the table, the circle of grizzled retired farmers nods in agreement. Kosovo arouses strong feelings in these normally taciturn people. "I ain't telling you my name and I ain't saying anything more than this," says another elder over his morning cup of coffee. "But we've got to get in there and blow them all to hell." Here among the farms and forests of Michigan, it seems that Middle America is spoiling for a fight with President Slobodan Milosevic. There is widespread support for a ground assault against the Yugoslav army, and an understanding that casualties will be part of the price of being the only superpower. The village of Capac has more at stake than most. Last month, one of its sons, Sgt Christopher Stone, was among three American soldiers taken prisoner by the Serbs. Yellow ribbons have blossomed on the lampposts along Main Street and on the oak trees outside the rows of neat brick and clapboard homes in this community of 1,500. They run for miles, past the grey fields and the signs for home-made apple pies, to the nearby villages of Atmont and Armada. The hairdresser has filled her window with yellow balloons, and the high-school noticeboard has spelt out a message of support for Sgt Stone and his two comrades. John McClennan, a Ford mechanic in his early 50s, pushes back his cap embroidered with the words "Vietnam Vet". The breakfast television news has brought disturbing images: the broken bodies of refugees caught in a convoy attacked by allied jets. "Excuse me, but war is war," he says. "It's not nice. I know that. And people get hurt. But what Milosevic is doing is no different from Hitler. He has to be stopped now or there will be worse trouble in the future. We pulled up short in dealing with Saddam. We shouldn't make that mistake again." Sgt Stone's two sisters and his father still live near Capac. He joined the army in 1991 after leaving school, one of the few options in an area that has suffered from plunging farm prices and the contraction of the American motor industry in nearby Detroit. The village is a postcard for the American heartland. Wide streets and flatfronted family stores shaded by wooden arcades. Every other driver is at the wheel of a pickup truck - not a Japanese model in sight - and the children gather on the triangle of grass outside the ice-cream parlour. There are reminders of past sacrifices. The local branch of the American Legion has a neatly-painted board hanging in the window with the names of Capac's war dead. They begin with the Civil War, then three in the Great War, seven in the Second World War and two in Korea. The last is Dewayne Williams, lost in Vietnam. In this conflict, anger at the Serbs is matched with compassion for the ethnic Albanians in refugee camps. Television has played a huge part in shaping public opinion. In Timmy D's, a tough, blue-collar bar where the staples are pool, pizza and a cold Bud, one of the drinkers calls for the volume to be turned up on a television hanging from the ceiling. The evening news is showing footage of a bridge in Yugoslavia. There is a fleeting glimpse of a passenger train, then a flash as an allied bomb explodes. Nobody speaks. In the nearby village of Atmont, collections are being made for humanitarian relief. A local furniture manufacturer is collecting blankets, medicine and toys. Joy Davey, who is organising the effort, says: "There are people over there who have lost their homes, their possessions - they've lost everything. They don't have all that we have here. We have the ability to help them. It makes us feel better." At Port Huron, the nearest big town, the local branch of the Red Cross has already collected more than $6,000 (£3,600). No one seems to think that the Kosovo problem is best left for others to solve. A local Democratic senator, Carl Levin, is one of nine who called on President Clinton last week to drop his objection to sending in ground troops. There is contempt for Russia's opposition to the Nato air strikes. "How can Russia tell us what to do?" asks Mr McClennan. "They're always broke and they're always asking us for money." How long such passions can be sustained is another question. The local Italian restaurant offers unlimited spaghetti for $3.95 on one side of its illuminated sign and "Pray for our soldiers' safe return" on the other. The "S" on "safe" has already slipped sideways. And, after nearly three weeks, the yellow ribbons are beginning to bleach in the spring sunshine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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