------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 10:46:39 -0700 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS - Daily Telegraph The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 14 October 1998 NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS By Julius Strauss and Juliette Terzieff in Pristina The Kosovo Liberation Army rejected the proposed peace deal yesterday, saying that any solution for the province other than full independence was not acceptable. The KLA spokesman, Bardyhl Mahmuti, said: "We cannot live with Serbia,". The American envoy, Richard Holbrooke, has sidelined the KLA from his peace talks with President Slobodan Milosevic while holding only brief talks with the moderate ethnic Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova. But the KLA did offer a ray of hope for compromise yesterday, suggesting that a form of phased independence might be acceptable. Mr Mahmuti said: "We agree to a three-year transition period that would lead to self-determination. If Milosevic accepts this, that would be satisfactory to the KLA." Yesterday on the streets of the Kosovan capital, Pristina, many ethnic Albanians said history had taught them that Mr Milosevic was not to be trusted. Valon Mehoni, manager of a grocery shop where worried customers continued to crowd in to stock up on food, said: "He's just faking. He's never kept his promises before so there's no reason he should do it now." There was no more flour, oil or sugar, and only two bags of rice. One elderly woman said: "I don't believe a word that man [Milosevic] says. He is a liar. I'm going to keep buying." Mr Rugova, a pacifist and head of the Democratic League of Kosovo, did not comment on the plan yesterday. It was not clear if he had been consulted before Mr Holbrooke and Mr Milosevic announced the deal. Dukagjin Gorani, the assistant editor of the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore, suggested that Mr Rugova's life might be at risk if he signed the peadce deal. He said: "Rugova is Holbrooke's prisoner and he will have to rule through Milosevic. Once he signs the deal he will be at risk, I suspect." A summer of violent Serbian offensives has meant that almost all ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have become more radical and now sympathise with the KLA. Young men have been swelling its ranks, so that, although the KLA has suffered a string of defeats at the hands of the Yugoslav army and Serbian special police, it is not short of manpower. If a Serbian stranglehold on its arms supply routes is lifted it could pose a real threat again. Journalists were surprised this week to see guerrillas immaculately dressed, with new automatic weapons and four-wheel-drive vehicles. Mr Milosevic is opposed to the idea of a phased transition to independence and will probably be looking for Mr Holbrooke to bring the Albanians into line. But diplomats admit that with Albanians outnumbering Serbs in Kosovo by nine to one - and with a higher birth rate - the province will be effectively independent within a decade. Kosovars expect the peace deal to provide only a temporary solution, until new political imperatives force a solution. "I think it's over," said Enver Berisha yesterday as he sat drinking in a cafe. "Milosevic will comply and we'll wait for three years to push for real independence." His cheeriness was echoed by Serb policemen. "I just heard the news on the radio," said one. "None of us wanted to fight Nato. None of us wanted to fight at all."
[PEN-L:7804] (Fwd) NOTHING BUT INDEPENDENCE WILL DO, GUERRILLA ARMY INSISTS
ts99u-1.cc.umanitoba.ca [130.179.154.224] Tue, 8 Jun 1999 00:30:48 -0500