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KDOM Update
Released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, February 2, 1999 |
(Editor's Note: With the progressive changeover of responsibility from KDOM to OSCE/KVM, the KDOM Daily Report has been replaced by this Update, which is published as material becomes available.)Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-5624) from daily reports of the U.S. element
of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observers Mission and other sourcesFebruary 2, 1999
Reports this morning from Pristina and from Belgrade indicate that the past 24 hours in Kosovo have been unusually quiet. Since the grenade attack in Pristina yesterday morning, there have been no reports of fighting or attacks.
Tension remains high in Pristina, however, as spurious rumors of additional grenade attacks echo through the town. In western Kosovo, likewise, tensions remain acute in Pec and Djakovica, although there are no reports of fighting in those areas. There was another ethnic Albanian body discovered yesterday in Pec, the 15th to die under mysterious circumstances there in the past month.
The KLA General Staff met today to discuss the invitation to attend the forthcoming talks in France designed to achieve an interim political settlement for Kosovo. Their decision to participate was announced this afternoon in Pristina.
In Breznica, KDOM met with representatives of the Mother Teresa Society and ethnic Albanian political leaders to discuss the plight of the IDPs who fled their homes in reaction to the fighting over the weekend. Officials said there are approximately 800 IDPs presently stranded in the woods in the Breznica area for whom immediate humanitarian assistance is needed. KDOM also spoke with two refugees from the area who claim that sporadic fighting continues in the region.
On Monday, KDOM investigated reports of sporadic shooting in the Racak-Petrovo areas (south of Stimlje). KLA leaders in the area claim that the Serbian police and VJ maintain positions on the high ground above Racak and Petrovo and that their presence is preventing the return of hundreds of displaced villagers. The villages of Racak and Malopoljce remain virtually deserted, with only a few elderly residents remaining. The KLA told KDOM that 100 of the IDPs who were living in the woods near Petrovo recently moved to the Dramnjac area where they continue to need humanitarian assistance.
The area between Glogovac and Srbica remains quiet and generally calm. KDOM observed unarmed KLA troops in the area and noted no unusual police or military activity. The streets of the villages were crowded yesterday for the weekly market day. Many school children were also in evidence.
Police reported finding the body of a 61-year-old male in the village of Djurakovac (near Istok) on the road to Klina. The man, Begov Lukaxvac, had been shot twice in the head by the KLA, according to the police.
In another report, police claim their personnel were attacked by rifle fire yesterday in the village of Luzane, along the Pristina-Podujevo road. The police did not return fire and no casualties were reported.
Two Serbian couples reportedly kidnaped by the KLA on January 22 from the village of Nevoljane (near Vucitrn) have now returned to their homes after being released by the KLA on January 23, according to the police.
[End of Document]
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