ERPKIM

ERPKIM AUGUST REPORTS
with short introduction to every article
(full texts of each newsletter are available on the corresponding links)

If you would like to regularly receive our ERP KIM Newsletters please subscribe
to our newslist(s)

SEPTEMBER 2003

ERPKIMINFO MAIN PAGE

SEPTEMBER 2003

Newsletter 30 September 2003 - Second Edition

BELGRADE LOOKING TO DISCUSS KOSOVO RETURNS
"We are ready to make our contribution to this, but also important is the readiness of Kosovo Albanian leaders to do their part, most of all to guarantee the safety of Serbs and other non-Albanians currently living in the province," Zoran Zivkovic told B92 following talks yesterday evening with the head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Harri Holkeri. "There is no problem with the desire of Serbs to return to Kosovo - they want this. The only question is where they return to, in what numbers and when. This depends on the international community and the Albanian side."

PRISTINA DIALOGUE TO BEGIN ON OCTOBER 14 - VIENNA TALKS BETWEEN STATE AND ITS PROVINCE
The Vienna dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina scheduled to begin on October 14 will be a discussion between a state and its province, not between two states, the head of Belgrade_s Kosovo Coordination Centre said after meeting EU official Stefan Lehne in Belgrade today.

BELGRADE WARNS OF "DRAMATIC"SITUATION IN KOSOVO
In a speech to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, Dragoljub Micunovic, a senior member of Serbia's governing coalition, warned that Kosovo's future could not be built on the results of ethnic cleansing and the criminalisation of society.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE RULES OUT STANCE ON KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
Schwimmer called for the Human Rights Convention, the Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the Convention on the Prevention of Torture to be applied and honoured in Kosovo. He said he expected the technical negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina "to help this process."

LABUS ADVOCATES SERB ENTITY IN KOSOVO
G17 Plus leader Miroljub Labus has called for the creation of separate entities within Kosovo as the only way to protect the Serb minority.

NOVOSTI: KFOR ALSO A TARGET
New terrorist activities against Serbs, KFOR and UNMIK, Serbian police and the Serbia and Montenegro Army as well as other armed provocations in the Ground Safety Zone and even attacks on the Albanian national community in the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica and in Montenegro are being planned by Albanian terrorists on the eve of the announced beginning of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on technical issues. According to the prepared scenario, Albanian terrorists will attempt to blame the victims on alleged Serb terrorism and the Serbia and Montenegro Army with the intent of once again mobilizing public opinion on their side.

KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FLASH NEWS, 27-30 SEPTEMBER

Newsletter 30 September 2003

SERBIAN GRAVES DUG OVER IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
According to recent updates secured by "Novosti" a total of 5,177 grave markers have been destroyed on 211 Serbian Orthodox cemeteries. Almost all of these are beyond repair. In terms of numbers, this means that two thirds of the total number of grave markers in these cemeteries have been destroyed, as well as entire fences and all the chapels.

APPEALS HANDED TO WESTERN REPRESENTATIVES IN BELGRADE
"We appeal to you and the governments of your countries which are the pillars of democracy in the world, whose forefathers wrote the first lines on the rights of man and the citizen, and breathed life into the spirit of all of humanity, with the appeal to grant us the right to life, to find the criminals responsible for the massacre in Gorazdevac and all crimes committed in Kosovo since 1999 to today, and to bring them to justice before the Hague tribunal," reads the appeal which was read and handed to embassy officials.

FIRST BELGRADE-PRISTINA TALKS TO BE SHORT
Speaking to a group of local journalists, Holkeri said the issues to be addressed during the first meeting between the two sides since the end of 1998-99 war "will concentrate on technical issues such as transport, energy, missing persons and the return of displaced people."

WITNESSES IN HIGH-PROFILE TRIALS AFRAID TO COME FORWARD
Independently of the heavily disrupted relations between the two main Albanian political blocs and the two main parties heading these blocs, as well as the permanent mutual conflicts between various structures supporting these political blocs from the background, the attempted murder of Ramiz Muriqi will without a doubt produce grave consequence for the Kosovo judiciary and for one of the biggest problems that it faces -- viz., securing of witnesses.

Newsletter 28 September 2003

40 SERBS FROM 21 DISPLACED FAMILIES RETURNED TO KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
A group of 40 Serbs, representatives of 21 Serbian families including all ten members of the Dubic family arrived to Suvi Lukavac village, near Istok, yesterday late afternoon. They are the first group of displaced Serbs who decided to return to their village destroyed by ethnic Albanian extremists after the war in 1999.

INET - KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FLASH NEWS, SEP 26

Newsletter 27 September 2003

71 - YEAR OLD SERB HEAVILY BEATEN IN CENTRE OF PRIZREN
Two young men of Albanian nationality came out of the building of the sports center not far from the Jankovic house and first began to verbally provoke Janko and Dostana. Then one of the young men lunged at Janko and began to beat him on the head with a stick; when he had finished, the other young Albanian continued the beating. The abuse of the Serb man lasted almost half an hour while his wife Dosta watched in tears. During the beating Jankovic lost consciousness and lost a considerable amount of blood. None of the Albanian passers-by stopped to offer assistance or chastise the attackers; some of the more curious lingered to observe the public lynching.

AFP - KOSOVO TRIAL WITNESS NARROWLY ESCAPES DEATH
Ramiz Muriqi, a prosecution witness in the trial of five former rebels jailed for illegally detaining and murdering four fellow ethnic Albanians in 1999, was targeted in the attack using an explosive device placed in a manhole.

KOSOVO SERBS PROTEST IN BELGRADE
Around 100 Serbs from Kosovo have begun protesting in Belgrade outside the embassies of countries with a military presence in the UN-governed province.

SERB HOUSE IN ORAHOVAC ROBBED AND SET ON FIRE
Serb sources from Orahovac confirmed to the ERP KIM Info Service today that in the night between Thursday and Friday (25/26 September) ethnic Albanians robbed the family home of Novica Filipovic and set the house on fire. At the time of this incidents the Filipovics were not at home. The fire was extinguished a few hours after midnight.

COLIN POWEL MET SCG PRESIDENT MAROVIC IN NEW YORK
Powell said he was satisfied with the latest decisions of the Contact Group referring to the commencement of dialogue on Kosmet. According to Marovic, US influence will prove inevitable in that process.

Newsletter 26 September 2003 - Special Report

STABLE SERBIA-MONTENEGRO A KEY FACTOR IN KEEPING ISLAMISTS UNDER CONTROL, M. DJORDJEVIC (BELGRADE)

Recent developments after the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo have demonstrated that the Islamist cause cannot be easily dismissed, particularly in the present grave economic and political crisis plaguing most of the Balkans, and that it represents a prime breeding ground for extremist Islamist cells.... In this new geostrategic situation, Serbia-Montenegro, with its central position in the Balkans, will naturally become a key ally of the West in preventing the Islamists from carrying out their operations in Europe. The country that only a few years ago was seen as a major security threat in the area may thus be given a new chance to make its contribution to the preservation of the world peace and stability. For this new role, the country would need ample assistance from the West and most of all political support in preserving its sovereignty in Kosovo and Montenegro...

SPECIAL REPORT, STRATFOR INSTITUTE (U.S): BALKAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
Should the Islamist forces in Bosnia, Kosovo or other parts of the region move aggressively, the United States does not have sufficient forces in either place, and the willingness of European governments to act decisively is, at least in our minds, questionable. Their definition of "decisive action" may differ from that of the United States. The only power that has an interest in controlling Islamic actions in the region is, interestingly, Serbia. Different time, different regime, but same national interests. What could happen is that, in the end, the United States must rely on the Serbs to deal with the current war....

Newsletter 26 September 2003

SOLVE THE MURDERS OF SERBIAN CHILDREN
On Wednesday, his holiness Serbian patriarch Pavle, and the high council of the Serbian Orthodox Church, talked with Nebojsa Covic, the president of the coordination Center for Kosovo and Metohija, and Vojislav Milovanovic, on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija, and the latest initiative of the international community for the beginning of the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue.

SERBS RETURN TO KOSOVO VILLAGE
A group of 50 displaced Serbs from Kosovo returned to the village of Osojane this evening, escorted by members of the province's United Nations mission and the UNHCR.

HAGUE TRIBUNAL INVESTIGATES KLA CHIEFS
Serbian Minister of Justice Vladan Batic said in The Hague on Wednesday that the Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte had confirmed that two investigations into Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) chiefs were in progress, adding that one of them is likely to be completed by the end of this year.

SCG WILL DO EVERYTHING TO ENSURE SUCCESS OF KOSOVO TALKS
Serbian-Montenegrin President Svetozar Marovic said in New York late on Wednesday that the state union's authorities will "do everything they can" to ensure the success of the upcoming dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

CSM - UN CULTURE STYMIES THE UN IN KOSOVO
"Some countries have a mafia, but in Kosovo, the mafia has a country," says one American security official in Kosovo, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Especially with the increased activity of Islamic extremists and Al Qaeda groups in and around Kosovo, this situation could pose a real security threat to Europe."

INET - NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Newsletter 25 September 2003 - Second Edition

DIALOGUE YES, BUT NOT BETWEEN TWO EQUAL POLTICAL SUBJECTS
Bishop Artemije said to ERP KIM Info-Service that the Serbian Orthodox Church supports the forthcoming dialogue on Kosovo and Metohija. "However, the Bishop said, the dialogue should not be viewed as negotiation process between two equal political subjects but between the state and the part of its citizens and their local institutions on the sovereign territory of Serbia".

DIALOGUE TO ALLEVIATE PRESSURE FROM EXTREMISTS
"The dialogue will prove that Serbs and Albanians can talk, it will certainly bring about the alleviation of tensions in Kosovo and quell the pressure by extremists, who will lose a lot if the discussions go ahead. I believe extremists will face justice and that the overall situation will calm down and open the door to investment, which has been discouraged thus far”, said Ivanovic.

KOSOVO, SERBIA TO HOLD FIRST MEETING BY MID-OCTOBER
The first meeting between officials from Kosovo and Serbia since the end of the 1998-99 war is expected to be held in less than a month's time, a UN official here said.

SERBS IN CERNICA STILL UNPROTECTED
"We are in a very hopeless situation so we suggested the checkpoint near the church St. Ilija to be removed and set near the school because, even if it sounds like a paradox, the life of our children is more important than the religious objects. However, our demand has not been heard", said Todorovic. He today’s attendees among the UNMIK officials warned that somebody by the name and surname has to take responsibility for the suffering of the Serbs in Cernica.

PARENTS TO KEEP SERB CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL UNTIL CHECKPOINT SET UP
The demand was rejected by Jacques Cady, the head of UNMIK's judicial department; as a result, Serb parents have decided to keep their children out of school for security reasons.

Newsletter 25 September 2003

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ON FORTHCOMING KOSOVO DIALOGUE

Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church supports open and sincere dialogue, but it does not mean that we can close our eyes before cruel reality which is facing our people and all non-Albanian population in Kosovo and Metohija.

Information Service of the Patriarchate
Belgrade September 24, 2003

SOLDIERS AMBUSHED IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
A major in the Serbia-Montenegro army has been shot and wounded in an ambush in southern Serbia, B92 reports.

BELGRADE CONDEMNS "TERRORIST ATTACK"
"It is another attempt to escalate the conflict in the southern municipalities and former Ground Safety Zone. After a period of quiet, Albanian terrorist groups have resumed activities", Boris Tadic, Serbia-Montenegro_s defence minister, said tonight.

CONATCT GROUP BACKS HOLKERI DIALOGUE PLAN
The Contact Group emphasised the need to deal with "standards before status", establishing good government and building trust and reconciliation before addressing the sensitive issue of the final status of the province.

KOSOVO REPATRIATES SEEK HELP FROM SERBIA
"Because of the delay in building a school we have sent our schoolchildren back to Serbia, which means we've postponed mass repatriations for another year.

OSCE WANRS OF POTENTIAL VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO
The head of the Pristina OSCE mission's Democratisation Division, Friedhelm Frischenschlager, said today that new violence could erupt in Kosovo at any time.

BELGRADE-PRISTINA TALKS LOOK ON KOSOVO LOOK SET TO START
The international community has been pushing for talks, and officials now say that -- after a number of false starts -- they are set to open soon. The talks between Serbian and Kosovar representatives are expected to focus on cooperation in the energy and communications fields, as well as on the fate of missing persons and the return of Serbian refugees.

INET - FLASH NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Newsletter 24 September 2003

CHURCH OF ST. NEDELJA NEAR ORAHOVAC VANDALIZED

Unknown assailants broke into the Church of St. Nedelja (gr. St. Kyriake, lat. Domenica) in the village of Brnjaca near Orahovac and desecrated the church's interior. On Thursday, September 18, Fr. Srdjan Milenkovic, the parish priest in Orahovac, accompanied by two other Serbs and escorted by members of CIMIC (the battalion for civil-military cooperation) went to pick up some construction materials left over from the construction of the residence hall prior to the war and at that time he saw for himself that the church had been burglarized. On the same day he informed the UNMIK police of the condition in which he had found the church and asked that they conduct an on the

Newsletter 23 September 2003

CONVOY OF SERB CHILDREN FROM GORAZDEVAC STONED
During the stoning the windows on one of the buses were smashed but there were no injuries among the children.

ALBANIANS SHOOT AROUND GORAZDEVAC - KFOR SEARCHES SERBIAN HOMES
"Instead of looking for the murderers on the Albanian side, they are coming to the village everyday, and are pressuring twenty year old Boshko Bogicevic, who was wounded that same day at the river, into giving a statement regarding the incident," stated Dakic.

POLITIKA: UNMIK IS MANIPULATING NUMBER OF SERB RETURNEES
"Whenever we ask the international representatives for an exact number and names of the returnees which came back to the province, we constantly receive over exaggeration, and often they simply give up on this task. So for example UNHCR and UNMIK were saying that 60 Serbs returned to the village of Klokot in Kosovska Vitina. But when we asked them to give us the names they simply did not want to talk about it. Truth is that only 8 Serbs returned to Klokot," stated Milorad Todorovic, the coordinator for returns

COVIC CALLS FOR DIALOGUE WITHOUT POLITICIZATION
"Those who want this must realize that it is most important that the dialogue begin as soon as possible, that it be constructive, and that we must come together to a resolution of various problems," he said

INET - FLASH NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA, 20-21 SEP

Newsletter 22 September 2003

BISHOP ARTEMIJE SERVES HOLY LITURGY IN OBILIC

Bishop Artemije and the priests and monks of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija served the first holy liturgy in Obilic yesterday since the arrival of KFOR troops to the area in celebration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God (Mala Gospojina).

Serbian journalists threatened in Obilic

Journalists from KIM Radio and The Southern Voice (Glas Juga) told Beta news agency that a man wearing a camouflage uniform in a black VW Golf drew his finger across his throat upon leaving the center of Obilic and repeated the sign repeatedly as he slowed them down on the road to Pristina.

GENERAL MINI'S PILGRIMAGE TO DECANI MONASTERY

The KFOR commander, general Fabio Mini came for retreat to Decani Monastery during this weekend. Near the end of his one-day mandate, general Mini indicated that he wished to spend a few moments of spiritual reinvigoration in the monastery to which he remains especially close.

Newsletter 19 September 2003

THINGS ARE NOT SO WELL AS THEY APPEAR, MR. CLINTON
The reception he got today in Pristina is certainly one Clinton would not have gotten anywhere else. Whenever he has visited Europe, he has been met by masses of demonstrators protesting his retrograde policies which have inflicted damage to the U.S. and Europe alike. The fact that a politician of considerable political and moral disrepute has been greeted by such ovations in Kosovo, overrun during the last four years of international "peace" by lawlessness and crimes against the weak and defenseless, perhaps is only becoming for Clinton at the end of his political career.

KOSOVO STILL LACKING DEMOCRACY, SAYS NEW GOVERNOR
HARRI HOLKERI: "The pain in Kosovo has not disappeared... It is still very much the same as it was four years ago but other big international conflicts and challenges have taken the interest of the media...and also the governments."

CLINTON, ON A VISIT TO KOSOVO, WARNS AGAINST "GETTING EVEN"
CLINTON: "My Bible says that vengeance belongs to God." He added that reconciliation was "the only way you can achieve a secure, stable and prosperous Kosovo."

MACEDONIA EMBRACES FOR INCREAS IN ETHNIC ALBANIAN SEPARATISM
The ANA guerrillas say they want to establish, through war if necessary, a state grouping all ethnic Albanians living in the region: in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro.

INTIMIDATING MESSAGES SPREAD AGAINST UNMIK STAFF (IN KOSOVO)
According to the police information, the return of the corpses of two AKSH members is requested in the messages; on the contrary, attack campaign will begin against crucial UNMIK officials.

GEN. MINI: KOSOVO'S SECURITY IS CRUCIAL FOR STABILITY OF THE REGION
MINI: The so-called organization AKSH has only criminal purposes and not positive projects for a better Kosovo for the Albanians. They have their criminal force, and they have nothing to offer, but they only follow their interests. They aim to destabilize the region and bring back the war. They strive to reach their criminal goals, and they do not care for the people or the country. We are fighting against this, and with the good understanding of Kosovo people, we will triumph.

INET - KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FLASH NEWS, SEP 19, 2003

Newsletter 19 September 2003

WITH WINTER AT HAND 2003 WAS EVERYTHNIG BUT YEAR OF RETURNS

NEGOTIATIONS DESTROYING DREAM OF INDEPENDENT KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
Zoran Zivkovic, the Serbian Prime Minister, evaluated that the Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija, do not want negotiations on the status of the Serbian southern province because "negotiations are destroying the dream of independent Kosovo".

IVANIC - KOSOVO STATUS CAN INFLUENCE BOSNIA
Mladen Ivanic, the Bosnia and Herzegovina chief of diplomacy, stated that the change in the status of Kosovo can have negative impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina, because this would open the question of the status of the Serbians and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

30 SERB FAMILIES POSTPONE RETURN TO KOSOVO DUE TO INTIMIDATION
Some 30 Kosovo Serb families have postponed their return to the province claiming the Albanian-language press has called on ethnic Albanians to demolish their homes.

SEVERAL MORE BODIES OF SERBS KILLED AFTER WAR RETURNED FROM KOSOVO
The families took the bodies of 87-year-old Jovan Lazarevic who was abducted in Djakovica, Petar Djuric who was murdered in his Istok home, Gordana Jovanovic (48), murdered in Prizren together with her husband and another Prizren murder victim, Radivoje Drakulovic (67)

ITALY OFFERS 3.5 MIL. EUROS TO HELP SERB RETURNS TO KOSOVO
Italy has promised a 3.5 million euro (4.2 million dollar) contribution to a UN programme to encourage Serb refugees from Kosovo to return home, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

MACEDONIA: INTERETHNIC TENSIONS MOUNTED IN HIGH SCHOOLS
Ethnic tension left for a while the mountainous volatile northern region of Macedonia, where clashes between police and criminal gangs seriously threatened fragile peace in this tiny Balkan state recently... But, new victim appeared as result of ruined confidence between two largest ethnic communities in Macedonia - education.

AIM: WESLEY CLARK'S TIES TO MUSLIM TERRORISM
The media refer to Clark's impressive military credentials but they fail to note that his main accomplishment under President Clinton was presiding over the establishment of a base for radical Islamic terrorism, including Osama bin Laden, in Kosovo.

INET - FLASH NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

Newsletter 16 September 2003

OSAMA BIN LADEN FOCUSES ON THE BALKANS.., BY YOSEF BODANSKY
In return for the Albanian support of this endeavor, the Islamists assist the local terrorists in preparing for launching spectacular terrorism into the major cities of Serbia and Montenegro, with Belgrade and Nis believed to be the top targets. As well, Islamist cadres, mainly veterans of Bosnia, are providing advance training to thousands of Albanian terrorists in camps in Kosovo-Metohija, near Prizren, on the slopes of Mt. Sara, in the Kosovo Morava River valley, in the Albanian towns of Kukes and Tropoje, and around Tetovo in western Macedonia.

BETA: SERB VILLAGERS DISTURBED BY KFOR AND KPC MANNEUVERS
French KFOR troops and members of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) began exercises today near the Serb villages of Malo Rudare and Veliko Rudare in the Kosovo municipality of Zvecan, causing unrest among local residents.

COVIC TO HEAD BELGRADE DELEGATION IN TALKS ON KOSOVO
Deputy Serbian Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic will lead the Belgrade delegation in upcoming talks with Pristina, Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti reports.

NO PROGRESS WHILE EXTREMISTS ARE PARTNERS TO INT'L COMMUNITY
Momcilo Trajkovic, the leader of the Serbian Resistance Movement political party, and a president of the Serbian parliament committee for Kosovo and Metohija, stated that progress in the resolution of the Kosovo problem is impossible while in the Albanian side the partners of the international community are extremists.

SCHOOLS FOR SERB CHILDREN WORK AGAIN
School has not begun only in the elementary school in Cernica near Gjilan, said Todorovic and added that KFOR and UNMIK need to prepare a concrete plan for securing the school building and taking the children to the school and also taking them back home from the education not later than 15 days from now.

COMMANDER CHAKALA WOUNDED IN MACEDONIA, EVACUATED TO KOSOVO
ANOTHER ALBANIAN TERRORIST LEADER FINDS REFUGE IN KOSOVO
Kosovo Information Centre Saturday reported that one of the leaders of the so-called ANA, Avdilj Jakupi - Chakala has been allegedly wounded in a shootout with the Macedonian security forces and sent to medical treatment outside the country.

INET - NEWS FROM KOSOVO AND METOHIJA, SEP 15

Newsletter 14 September 2003

ST. DEMETRIUS CHURCH FOUNDATION CONSECRATED IN NORTHERN KOSOVSKA MITROVICA

Kosovska Mitrovica to get new Orthodox church dedicated to its patron saint and protector, St. Demetrius

Newsletter 13 September 2003

CONTINUED UN SC SUPPORT FOR KOSOVO "CRUCIAL" - UN OFFICIAL
12 September - Concerned by the mounting tensions and insecurity in Kosovo, a senior United Nations official today descried a number of violent attacks in the province during the past two months, primarily targeting Serbs, and said the continued support of the Security Council would be "crucial" to maintaining the rule of law.

SPECTATOR (UK) - HOW WE TRAINED AL-QAEDA
Indeed, for all the Clinton officials' concern about Islamic extremists in the Balkans, they continued to allow the growth and movement of mujahedin forces in Europe through the 1990s. In the late 1990s, in the run-up to Clinton's and Blair's Kosovo war of 1999, the USA backed the Kosovo Liberation Army against Serbia. According to a report in the Jerusalem Post in 1998, KLA members, like the Bosnian Muslims before them, had been 'provided with financial and military support from Islamic countries', and had been 'bolstered by hundreds of Iranian fighters or mujahedin ...[some of whom] were trained in Osama bin Laden' s terrorist camps in Afghanistan'. It seems that, for all its handwringing, the USA just couldn't break the pact with the devil.

PRISTINA DIALOGUE DECISION ON SEPTEMBER 23
The time and place for the beginning of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina will be set at the next meeting of the Contact Group on September 23, UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri told Kosovo Serb political leaders in Pristina yesterday.

SITUATION COMPLICATED, FIRST RESULTS SOON
The Council for State Security of Serbia evaluated that "the new escalation of terrorism, wounding and killing children, in addition to the threatening and persecution of the remained Serbs from Kosovo, also expresses a sign to the international community that would not be given up from the temporary goals of the Albanian terrorist, which can only lead towards destabilization of the security situation in the Balkan region".

ANALYSIS: US, NATO PLACED THEIR STAKE IN ALBANIAN SEPARATISM
-"The trouble is that the USA and NATO put their stakes in the Balkans on Albanian separatism," says Prof. Vladimir Volkov, a prominent Balkans expert and director of the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences....Besides, NATO is still entertaining hopes of using Albanian separatism for putting pressure on maverick Balkan countries.

INET - KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FLASH NEWS, SEP 11
INET - KOSOVO AND METOHIJA FLASH NEWS, SEP 12

Newsletter 09 September 2003

KOSOVO: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM SURVEY, SEPTEMBER 2003

In its survey analysis of the religious freedom situation in ethnically-divided Kosovo (Kosova in Albanian), Forum 18 News Service reports on the continuing systematic attacks in Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries and graveyards. Although more than 100 have been damaged or destroyed since the international community took control in 1999, Forum 18 has found no evidence that anyone has been prosecuted for these attacks. Protestant leaders have complained that ethnic Albanian church members from Muslim backgrounds at times suffer "persecution", often from family members. The international bodies ruling Kosovo have done little to promote religious freedom.

Newsletter 05 September 2003 - Second Edition

PRESENTATION OF THE MEMORANDUM ON KOSOVO AND METOHIJA OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF BISHOPS OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

"Our holy and martyred KOSOVO AND METOHIJA, our Holy Jerusalem, the soul of our souls, our honor, the root of our being, our fate. Without it, we would cease to be what we are because it is in Kosovo and Metohija that we became a mature and historical people and, in the words of the Holy Great Martyr Lazar of Kosovo, chose once and for all times, the Kingdom of Heaven." - Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro and the Littoral

On the evening of September 3, 2003 before a numerous audience gathered in the lecture hall of the Kolarac Endowment in Belgrade the Memorandum on Kosovo and Metohija of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, in which the Church expresses its deep concern for the fate of Kosovo and Metohija, was presented.

Newsletter 05 September 2003

Editorial

KOSOVO - FRAGILE PEACE IN SHADDOW OF CONTINUAL ETHNIC TERROR
UNWILLINGNESS OF KOSOVO ALBANIAN LEADERS TO CONFRONT EXTREMISTS IN THEIR OWN RANKS MAKES THEM ACCOMPLICES IN ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE PROVINCE

In Kosovo crimes not only continue to occur but for the past four years they have been a silently accepted legitimate means of pursuing the policy of ethnic cleansing which Kosovo Albanian extremists are carrying out against Serbs and non-Albanian minorities. Their goal is to realize what dictators such as Milosevic and Tudjman failed to accomplish: to execute a revision of Balkan borders on an ethnic basis and divide towns and villages that even five centuries of Turkish rule and even Milosevic's regime failed to divide. While in Belgrade, Zagreb, Banja Luka and Sarajevo politicians are painfully and with difficulty but with increasing courage and determination confronting the legacy of the past with the intent of joining the rest of Europe, in Kosovo key figures among the Kosovo Albanians persistently not only deny ethnic terror against Serbs but in the case of the most recent attacks resulting in the deaths of children and helpless old people are once again accusing phantom Serb forces, as if time for them had stopped back in 1999 when Milosevic ruled the fate of Balkan peoples.... MORE

by Fr. Sava Janjic

Newsletter 04 September 2003

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH PRESENTS MEMORANDUM ON KOSOVO
Stressing that he spent 34 years in Kosovo, Serbian Patriarch Pavle said he warned all responsible parties back then that "an ethnically cleansed state" was being created in Europe.

FEDERAL PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO
"The dream of an independent Kosovo is less and less a dream and more and more a nightmare for Albanian extremists who are aware that dream will remain unfulfilled," the Serbian prime minister told a sitting of the federal parliament.

AFP: ALBANIAN REBEL LEADER THREATENS TO LAUNCH WAR IN MACEDONIA
The self-declared commander of the banned Albanian Liberation Army (ANA), Avdil Jakupi, Thursday threatened to launch a separatist war in Macedonia in an interview with Bulgaria's bTV private television.

Newsletter 03 September 2003 - Second Edition

SCHOOL FOR SERB CHILDREN STILL HAS NOT BEGUN - TEACHERS, CHILDREN AND PARENTS ASK FOR BETTER SECURITY

Following yesterday's information regarding resumed escorts for school buses transporting Serbian children, the ERP KIM Info Service received news that the necessary security conditions still do not exist in Kosovsko Pomoravlje and that consequently school for Serb children has not begun according to schedule

APPEAL OF SERB TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO ALL RELEVANT FACTORS IN GNJILANE REGION

WE ARE ALL CERNICA

At the request of parents, a large number of children and all teachers from Kosovska Pomoravlje, Return Coalition (Povratak) MPs, elementary and secondary school principals assessed that the security of children while in school and on their way to school has significantly worsened at this time. We have appealed to KFOR and the UNMIK police to secure the school buildings and provide escorts for school buses. To date no one has responded to our request.

We ask that UNMIK and KFOR provide protection for schools and school buses in order to prevent a future tragedy from occurring.

Parents, teachers and students, members of the Return Coalition

Newsletter 03 September 2003

SERB VICTIM OF BOMB ATTACK BURIED IN CERNICA TODAY
Miomir Savic (35), who died of wounds he received during a hand grenade attack on a group of Serbs gathered in front of the village store on Sunday evening, was buried today in the Orthodox cemetery in Cernica.

SERBS FROM CERNICA DECIDE WHETHER TO STAY IN VILLAGE WITHIN DAYS
At the meeting Cernica Serbs had planned to discuss the security situation in the village and decide whether they wish to remain living there or want to collectively leave their homes. One of the alternative possibilities is also the relocation of some 50 children to safer areas in Kosovo to attend school.

VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF WEAPONS BEGINS
Today is the official beginning of an operation of voluntary surrender of weapons in Kosovo and Metohija supported by UNMIK and KFOR. UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri, Kosovo premier Bajram Rexhepi and KFOR commander-in-chief general Fabio Mini held a press conference in Pristina today and called on all citizens of the Province who are in possession of illegal weapons to surrender it by September 30.

UN RIGHTS CHIEF STRONGLY CONDEMNS RECENT ATTACKS AS HEINEOUS ACTS
"These heinous acts underline the urgency of ridding Kosovo of criminal and destructive influences and of establishing a democratic society fully based on rule of law and respect for human rights," Mr. Ramcharan said in a statement. "The perpetrators of these crimes must not be allowed to undermine the peace process and the efforts to build a multi-ethnic society in Kosovo."

SERB SUSPECT IN UNMIK POLICEMAN MURDER RELEASED
Vladimir Jovanovic (21) from Ibarska Slatina in Leposavic municipality, suspected for the murder of Satish Menon, an UNMIK police member, was released on Tuesday from detention facility in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica.

AFP - ETHNIC ALBANIAN REBELS ISSUE ULTIMATUM TO MACEDONIAN POLICE
The ANA has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in Kosovo, southern Serbia and Macedonia in recent months, and openly declares its intention to create a "Greater Albania" in the region.

Newsletter 01 September 2003 - Third Edition

ONE OF WOUNDED SERBS IN SERIOUS CONDITION
Novica Simjonovic (46) who was wounded in yesterday's bomb attack in front of the local store in the Serb part of Cernica near Gnjilane was transported from Vranje to Belgrade today, Simjonovic family confirmed to BETA.
Milomir Savic, who died this morning around 05.00 from the wounds which he sustained in the blast was a father of two teenage children. His sister Milica was killed in 1999 and in the bomb attack of May 2000 his father Vladimir, mother Stanica and brother Srecko were among the injured.

COVIC: OPEN SEASON FOR HUNTING SERBS IN KOSOVO
"I am assured that the new chief of UN Mission in Kosovo Harri Holkeri is a man who will undertake all which is within his owers that perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice as soon as possible", said Covic making appeal on all politicians and structures in Serbia to "give a chance" to the New Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Kosovo.

DIAZ: SECURITY SITUATION FOR KOSOVO SERBS DETERIORATING
"Security situation is obviously deteriorating on the expense of Serb and Roma population", said the speaker of the Office of UN High Commissioner for human rights Jose-Luis Diaz in his statement for BETA.

Newsletter 01 September 2003 - Second Edition

REUTERS: KOSOVO SERB DIES AFTER SUNDAY BLASTS
Two blasts, believed to be caused by hand grenades, occurred at 8 p.m. on Sunday in the village of Crnica, near Gnjilane, which has a mixed ethnic Albanian and Serb population. Four Serb men were injured.

SHOCKING!
ERPKIM: U.S. SOLDIERS TRIED TO SEARCH HOUSE OF KILLED SERB DESPITE FAMILY IN MOURNING
Serbian Orthodox Church is shocked by inconsiderate and rude behavior of the U.S. KFOR soldiers which looks more as behavior of invaders than that of peacekeepers

MACEDONIA: SECURITY COUNCIL SAYS MULTIETHNIC PATROLS SHOULD ARREST EXTREMISTS
'A few groups of armed extremists are held accountable for the recent attacks against state institutions as well as for other armed incidents in Macedonia. These groups should be arrested by multiethnic police patrols, the National Security Council concluded at its late Sunday's session.

Newsletter 01 September 2003

ONE SERB DIED AND FOUR WOUNDED IN LATEST KOSOVO ATTACK

Yesterday's attack is not the only attack on members of Serb community in Cernica village. Kosovo Albanian extremists have made several attacks in the last four years on their Serb neighbors. On May 28, 2000 Albanian extremists killed three Serbs (among them one child) and wounded five more in Cernica. This was the hardest blow this little Serb community suffered after the deployment of the peacekeeping forces in June 1999.

Serbian population in Kosovsko Pomoravlje (Eastern part of the UN administered Province) and the rest of Kosovo and Metohija are in shock and alarm after the yesterday's attack in Cernica.

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH MOST STRONGLY CONDEMNS ATTACK IN CERNICA

"It is absolutely incomprehensible that after a series of terrorist attacks and crimes against Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija UNMIK and KFOR have not taken more decisive measures to stop Albanian ethnic terror. We continually listen to the fables that the attacks from the previous weeks and months were nothing but isolated "incidents" although it is more than evident that Albanian terrorists have launched a systematic campaign of terror. It is carried out not only in Kosovo and Metohija but also on the territory of South-east Serbia and Macedonia, with the goal of creating ethnically clean Albanian territory."

Larger selection of Kosovo related news you may find on our
KOSOVO DAILY NEWS