-Caveat Lector-
"Despite NATO's attempts to bring security to the province and the KLA's
promise to demilitarize, Albanians openly and unapologetically are taking
revenge on Serbs."
Marines Under Attack in Kosovo
By LAURA KING
.c The Associated Press
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - U.S. Marines came under attack in Kosovo on
Friday for a second time this week, killing one person while returning fire.
Frightened Serbs fled as their homes blazed after being ransacked by ethnic
Albanians.
An outpost of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit came under small arms fire
near the center of Gnjilane, according to the U.S. European Command in
Germany,
The Marines called for reinforcements and returned fire, while a quick
reaction force stormed nearby buildings looking for snipers, the statement
said.
``During the process a Marine patrol found the wounded civilian man lying
beside an AK-47 rifle,'' the statement said. He was evacuated to the town
hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An ABC news correspondent reported from Gnjilane that the Marines came under
sniper fire from at least three buildings.
It was unclear whether the gunman was a Serb or an ethnic Albanian. On
Wednesday, Marines killed one Serb and wounded two others after gunmen opened
fire on a Marine patrol in a village south of Gnjilane.
Only half of the NATO peacekeepers have arrived, and those in Kosovo are
struggling to restore order in the troubled province after more than a year
of clashes.
NATO forces reported unrest throughout most of Kosovo's major cities and the
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees described the situation in one northern
city as a ``ticking time bomb.''
In Washington, President Clinton said Thursday he's not surprised that ethnic
Albanians are engaging in revenge attacks on Serbs ``after what they've been
through,'' but he said NATO is doing its best to stop the violence as
refugees return home.
In Pec, important to Serbs as the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church in
medieval times, weeping Serbs abandoned the city Friday, claiming they were
being chased out by ethnic Albanians. Of hundreds who had taken refuge in a
church complex last week, only about 50 remained on Friday.
Despite NATO's attempts to bring security to the province and the ethnic
Albanian rebel Kosovo Liberation Army's promise to demilitarize, Albanians
openly and unapologetically are taking revenge on Serbs for the ethnic
killings this spring and for years of oppression beforehand.
``They burned my house, so I don't care about this one,'' Mohammed Azemi said
as he stood near a blazing house in the village of Belo Polje. ``I'm happy in
some way.''
In Veriq, Ymer Delija looted lumber, hoses and mirrors from a Serb house. He
said his wife and three of his four children had been killed by Serbs last
year.
``This is a kind of revenge. I burned two or three already. That's enough for
today,'' he said.
Even hospitals are not immune to the violence. At the main hospital in the
provincial capital, Pristina, 247 Kalashnikov automatic rifles have been
seized in the past few days, according to U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard in New
York.
A nurse and a guard at the hospital were wounded Thursday when a patient
being treated for a gunshot wound pulled out a gun when he saw his alleged
assailant and opened fire.
A dispute between Serb and Albanian doctors over who should control the
hospital in Pristina deteriorated when negotiations under U.N. and NATO
auspices broke down after reports that the chief Serb physician had been
killed, Eckhard said.
In New York, Human Rights Watch said a one-week investigation indicated
Kosovo Liberation Army members were involved in murders, rape and other
abuses of Serbs and Gypsies. The organization said there was insufficient
evidence to accuse the KLA leadership of orchestrating the attacks but it
urged rebel commanders to discipline its ranks and punish offenders.
The commander of the NATO peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, British Lt. Gen.
Mike Jackson, tried to reassure Serbs gathered in Kosovo Polje that NATO
would protect them from revenge attacks by ethnic Albanians.
``I know that every soldier here understand utterly clearly his duty to
protect all the citizens of Kosovo. ... We are here to help you,'' Jackson
said. ``Have courage.''
Jackson spoke to the crowd outside a small yellow church without
amplification, but his vigorous attempt at assurance brought only light
applause, and much grumbling at the edge of the crowd.
``I'll stay, but not because of him. I was born here. I'll die here if I
must,'' said Goran Petrovic, 27. Kosovo Polje, just west of Pristina, is a
deeply meaningful site to Serbs, the location of 1389 battle against Ottoman
Turks that Serbs see as a defining moment in their history.
Amid the tensions, some 300,000 ethnic Albanians have flooded back into the
province in the past 10 days, said Paula Ghedini, a spokeswoman for the U.N.
refugee agency.
``This is one of the largest spontaneous returns that we have ever seen in
the last 25 years of any operation,'' she said at a briefing in Pristina.
In Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital, Serb officials and representatives of the
Serbian Orthodox Church complained that Kosovo border with Albania is
completely open and that many Albanian citizens are entering Kosovo together
with the returning refugees, media reported Friday.
About 860,000 ethnic Albanians were reported to have fled or been expelled
from Kosovo since shortly before NATO launched a bombing campaign March 24.
The bombing was intended to force Yugoslavia to accept a peace plan for the
province.
U.N. officials have tried in vain to persuade refugees to delay their returns
until mines can be cleared and better arrangements for food and shelter
organized. Many are coming home to little more than burned-out shells of
houses.
The flood complicates NATO's struggle to cope with outbreaks of lawlessness,
especially where Albanians come into contact with Serbs.
``The situation in Kosovo will remain tense in the near future,'' said Maj.
Jan Joosten, a NATO spokesman. ``You have to expect that.''
The UNHCR used stronger terms, describing the city of Kosovska Mitrovica,
where Serbs and Albanians live on opposite sides of the river, as ``a ticking
time bomb.''
Meanwhile, Russia's parliament gave final approval Friday for about 3,600
peacekeepers to join the NATO-led force in Kosovo, with the first group
expected on Saturday. There currently are about 200 Russian soldiers at
Pristina's airport, where they surprised NATO by moving in and taking control
hours before the alliance started moving its troops in on June 12.
Joosten said that by early Friday, about 21,000 of a planned 55,000 NATO
troops had deployed in Kosovo.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
