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KDOM Daily Report
Released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, January 3, 1999 |
Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-4850) from daily reports
of the U.S. element of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer MissionJanuary 2-3, 1999
Again Kosovo has remained calm these days with no reported cease-fire violations. Podujevo remains tense and neither side seems to have withdrawn from its positions. The area between Stimlje and Suva Reka is experiencing increased tensions and it is possible the Serbian police will take action to keep open the strategic Stimlje-Pristina and Suva Reka-Pristina routes. OSCE/KVM has added patrols from their Prizren district to assist U.S. KDOM in monitoring the Stimlje situation. The entire province is experiencing its 10th consecutive day of unusually severe chill.
A senior Kosovo official claims that the departures of Serbs from the Podujevo area have increased in number since mid-December. The KLA seeks, the official says, to isolate Serbs in Kosovo cities and the Pristina-Mitrovica corridor is becoming more tense as the KLA puts more pressure on villagers in that area.
On January 3, the KLA announced the discovery of a mass grave near Stimlje. OSCE/KVM is investigating the claim.
Also on January 3, the KLA announced it has established a news service and will soon begin operation of a radio station.
KDOM/KVM spotted three unauthorized police checkpoints in the Obilic area. Police on the scene acknowledged the positions as unauthorized but claimed they had orders to deploy. This corresponded with the concern expressed by the Kosovo official (see above) as to KLA pressures to isolate Serbs in cities.
Residents of the village of Racak claim that there are police forces stationed in the mental hospital in Stimlje. The residents expressed their fear that the police would kill the institution's inmates and claim the KLA had done so. Villagers offered the OSCE/KVM a nearby house gratis in which to place a verification team.
A KVM patrol met with an Albanian man in Stimlje who reported his son had been shot and killed in front of his house by black-garbed, Serb-speaking men on January 2. Investigation showed blood on the pavement and 13 bullet holes in the house. They also observed the body of the slain man. Local KLA leaders told KVM that the man was killed because he had two distant relatives in the KLA and that the Stimlje chapter of the KLA was founded in the dead man's house.
Podujevo has remained quiet following the "Christmas crisis." Tensions, however, remain high in the region with neither KLA nor Serb police surrendering any positions. KLA fighters remain entrenched in the village of Obrandza west of Podujevo and in bunkers at the key intersection east of Gornja Lapastica. Meanwhile the VJ battle group remains deployed at Dumos. There is a heavy police presence in Podujevo itself.
KDOM/KVM met with officials of the power company to discuss the company's plans to restore power to the area north of Glogovac. The KLA liaison officer pledged to forward the proposal to his superiors and hoped to have a formal reply to the offer in 2 or 3 days.
KDOM operated 11 missions these days, with 23 U.S. personnel.
[End of Document]
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