"THOSE ALBANIANS WHO DO BETRAY THEIR OWN DESERVE A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH"
e-mail message from UCK supporter to New York Times
Introduction
Context
Comparison of Different Statistics (incomplete)
Summary of Victim's Names and Dates
Detailed Articles of Each UCK Attack:
November attacks
December attacks
January attacks
Rugova incident
February attacks
Urosevac bombing
Please Note:
The following abbreviations have been used for various news organizations:
(AP) Associated Press
(UPI) United Press International
(PMC) Prishtina Media Center
(KIC) Kosova Information Center
Introduction:
"....The UCK kills only spies and traitors...." or"......The Albanians killed by the UCK are known traitors and
collaborators........" is a typical refrain heard from UCK supporters.
Following is a incomplete drawn up list of Albanians who have been killed, shot or kidnaped by the UCK since the
Holbrooke cease fire came into effect on October 12th.
This tally is focused on Albanians victims of the UCK, for I think it is most telling that the UCK has killed many
more Albanians then it has killed Serbs. I recall the number of Yugoslav Gengarmes killed by the UCK from
October 12th until February 26th is 16. The tally below shows 82 plus Albanians killed by the UCK in the same
period.
Why does the UCK has to spend most of its energy killing the very people it proclaims it is liberating ? Why does
the UCK kill 5 times as many Albanians as the UCK kills Serb Gendarmes ?
This collection is made up of FIVE parts: 1) a few news articles setting the context, 2) a summary of names and
dates of Albanian UCK victims, 3) a brief discussion of the different statistics used by parties to the conflict (not
complete as of 1. March) , 4) detailed description of each UCK attack using news articles and commentary, and
finally 5) a list of relevant names which should develop into a who's who of the UCK military leadership and may
form the foundation for murder charges against these figures.
The real tragedy is that many of these deaths are cynically used by the UCK for publicity purposes. The cases of
Dr. Zejnulahu (19 Nov) and Mr. Maloku (10 Jan) are ones that immediately spring to mind.
The vicious revival of Blood Vendetta is evidenced by UCK attacks against the Keljmendi family ( one killed
2.Dec, three killed 25.Jan, and three wounded 15.Feb). The powerful Roman Catholic Keljmendi clan has
prominently fought alongside Serbs since at least the 1690 Ottoman campaigns.
Also note; the list does not include any of the totally untrained Albanians which are sent against fortified Yugoslav
Army positions as a sort of diversionary cannon fodder. The UCK appears to use this technique in arms smuggling.
Send in untrained Albanians first as a decoy, and then smuggle in the real fighters while the JV is busy with the
decoy. Invariably the untrained Albanians get killed. A case can be made that these Albanians are just as much
victims of the UCK as any others. However, to err on the conservative side, these victims of UCK extremism are
not included.
Although this is a tally of victims organized by ethnic categories, please do not use this information to further the
cause of any single Yugoslav ethnic group. Please, do not fall into the trap laid by racists who wish for us to use
race as the sole measure of humanity. .
The UCK publicly paints its campaign to violently seize power as a struggle between 2 groups defined solely by
their race. The information contained within this report shows that the terror of the UCK is manifestly not
ethnically based. The UCK practices multiethnic terror.
The true enemy of the UCK is not one race. Rather, UCK enemies are those voices of moderation and tolerance
which have existed among mixed villagers for centuries. The UCK silences those voices through murder.
Beginning in late January, I began listing Serb civilian victims of the UCK, but did not add them to the tally. Just
listing Albanians and ignoring other groups seemed to reinforce racist divisions.
Please correct and add to this by sending me e-mail, thank you. I welcome your comments and corrections. This is
very much a work in process, which will be revised as more information comes to light.
APV 27. February 1999
29. Oct 1998, Thursday, DON'T PLAY NATION BUILDER IN KOSOVO,: By Dimitri K. Simes. president of
the Nixon Center, is a special correspondent for Newsday.(New York, NY)
.........the Clinton administration has not made any effort to constrain the KLA's attacks on Serbian forces or its
well-documented atrocities against innocent civilians, especially ethnic Albanians perceived as collaborators.
As a result of its military defeat by the Serbian military this summer, the KLA seems to have decided that its best
option is to try to manipulate NATO into military action against Serbia through attacks on Serbian forces intended
to trigger a brutal response from Belgrade. The KLA appears to have begun to pursue this strategy in the wake of
Holbrooke's deal.............
Asking all the political forces of Kosovo and Metohija Albanians not to group themselves around parties "since the
time has come to unite to reach this goal", the self-appointed KLA Headquarters, residing abroad, warns its
compatriots that "it would not allow any individual, nor political subject to climb upon the throne without
sacrifices and losses".
Adem Demaqi, the terrorists' political representative, as quoted in today's KOHA DITORE, asked OSCE to make
an agreement with him personally, since he is the political representative of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army.
People from the Djakovica [note the number of Albanians from Djakovica who get attacked by UCK later on]
municipality have already applied to police for protection. They had turned in the arms received from the KLA
terrorist groups but fearing now, they would revenge, they asked for help. Together with police, they arranged
guarding day and night.
Secretary Vesko Piric told TANJUG that the purpose of the forces, which are being set up also elsewhere in the
province in line with Article 9 of the Milosevic-Holbrook accord of Oct. 13, 1998, is to protect the person and
property of the local populations.
"The duties of the local security forces, i.e., the local police forces, are to provide safety in their territories of
operation, secure infrastructure facilities, and clear up problems in health protection and supplies. In other words,
they take care that the life runs smoothly for all people living and working in their territories," Piric said. The
ethnic structure of the local police forces must reflect the ethnic structure of the population in their areas, Piric
stressed.
[same story but as reported by KIC on 9.Feb]
Yet Another Serb Regime Devilish Scheme
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Serb-run security structures to be formed in Prishtina villages. Why now, when the interim settlement being
negotiated in Ranbouillet provides for the establishment of a Kosovar police force?
PRISHTINA, Feb 9 (KIC) - Serbian regime-installed authorities in Prishtina, capital of Kosova, decided yesterday
to form a new security infrastructure in the Prishtina villages. The Serbian press said "local security structures will
be set up in the coming days in all ethnically-mixed settlements, but also in ethnically pure ones".Members of all
'national communities' will participate in them, the Serb press said The reason why such a new structure is going
to be established is to protect all the citizens and their property, the Serb regime argues. This is yet another devilish
Serb regime ploy to drive a wedge between the Albanian community. Serb occupation authorities launched this
scheme late last year in other parts of Kosova, recruiting so-called 'decent' Albanians, namely Serb collaborators to
harass Albanians and promote fratricide. A conference on Kosova is being held in Rambouillet, France, which
should lead to an interim settlement, part of which is the formation of a Kosovar police force. So what is the need
now for further Serb occupation security structures in Kosova?
8.Feb (US section of the KDOM) Police also report that on February 5 Arben Rahmani of Orahovac was accosted
by three men (one uniformed) in a vineyard at Pashki Dol Teca. After checking his identity papers, one of the men
used his radio to ask whether the man should be killed or released. Before releasing him, the three questioned
Rahmani about his relations with Serbs, how many Serbs were in his village, and what arms the Serbs have. He
was warned not to return to the vineyard on penalty of death.
milisor - 11:54am Feb 15, 1999 EST (#8022 of 8041)
I must say, there are extremists here on both sides. I don't think it helps Serbian image when man has name
"ikillalbanians".
All my life I live with the Serbs, and they are all very good people. I think that none of the Albanians here [in this
chat room] are from Kosova, most of them are from Albania and have never been to Kosova, or hear about Kosva
before the KLA start killing peoples. No one is stupid to say that Kosova does not belong to Serbia, and that there
is no Serbian history in Kosova.
I am from Pec and UCK terrorists killed my first neigbor.
The UCK (KLA) kill many people. They killing Albanians that work in goverment jobs. They killing postal
workers, they killing telephone repar man, they killing Albanians in the police, they killing Albanian goverment
officals, they killing people who don't want to fight in KLA, they killing anyone who even talks with a Serb.
I am proud of my Albanian people, but very ashemed that such fantik and idiots come from my country. These
people shoud stop the killing of innocent people, and police will not tuch them for sure. Just the terrorists killing
people. War was only where terrorists are. There is no war in all of Kosova.
America, please save us from fanatics and terrorists. They will make 2 million Albanian refugees, and what they make for our people then? In my village we don't let KLA come, because they can only bring trouble. I hope that Serbs won't hate all us because of very small number of terrorist killers that kills my neigbor and the people of Kosova. Serbia please forgive
"We are dealing with an almost uncontrollable desire of people to join our ranks," said Dr Pleurat
Sejdiu, a KLA representative based in London. "We even have British and American mercenaries lined up to join
us and we've had to politely reject their offers. This is a national struggle and, frankly, Albanians don't care how
many people we lose. If the question of independence is frozen, it will only be a matter of time before the
Albanians will rise up again." [ Why is it that civilians living far away from the battle zone always loudly proclaim
fighting to the last drop of someone else's blood ?]
and:
Mr Milutinovic said in Paris that he had told the six-member Contact Group of Britain, the United States, Russia,
France, Germany and Italy that Serbia was opposed to a peacekeeping deployment. "We are against any kind of
foreign troops and I explained why," he told a press conference. "If the agreement is so good and so acceptable to
the population of Kosovo, why enforce that, why press the people to accept what they already, in a vast majority,
accept ?" [ because, as everyone knows by now, the vast majority of people living in KosMet do not support the
UCK succesionists]
1 29 Oct - Nazmi Oluri (1973) killed
29 Oct - Muja Dreni severely beaten
3 Nov - Unnamed Albanian #1 'arrested'
3 Nov - Unnamed Albanian #2 'arrested'
3 Nov - Unnamed Albanian #3 'arrested'
3 Nov - Unnamed Albanian #4 'arrested'
4.Nov - Jakup Kastrati 'arrested' later released
4 Nov - Cen Desku 'arrested' later released
14 Nov - Son of Hadjosa wounded
17 Nov - Olivera Simic wounded
19 Nov - Aida Zejnulahu (1980?) wounded
3 Dec?- Unnamed Woman #5 wounded
4 Dec - Semsija Ceri wounded
4 Dec - Dzevat Ceri wounded
4 Dec - Jeton Muljaj wounded
4 Dec - Shuban Beahimaj wounded
17 Dec-Muharem Brahimi (1943) kidnaped (Egyptian)
17 Dec-Naser Brahimi (1964) kidnaped (Egyptian)
17 Dec-Lumni Lumani (1971) kidnaped (Egyptian)
4 Jan - Unnamed Albanian #9 wounded
10 Jan- Sedat Selimi, (20?) wounded
29 Jan -Alma Beljulji (21) wounded
31 Jan - Bin Haljilji (57) wounded
31 Jan- Behrije Duljaku (15) wounded
31 Jan- Bekim Duljaku (12) wounded
5 Feb - Arben Rahmani death threat
6 Feb - Arton Ajeti (1978) killed (likely a UCK fighter not in tally)
7 Feb - Skender Lekaj (23) wounded
8 Feb - Agim Redza grenade attack
9 Feb - female resident of Vucitrn pistol whipped
9 Feb - Muhamet Gani Reka (1962) kidnaped
11 Feb-Mehmet Oluri, (28) kidnaped (then released ?)
11 Feb-Redjep Oluri (40) kidnaped (then released ?)
12 Feb-Zecir Hiseni (50) kidnaped
12 Feb-Shefki Behluli (57) wounded
12 Feb-Agron Imishti (28) wounded
12 Feb-Shefqet Sulejmani (47) wounded
12 Feb-Basri Sejdiu (41) wounded
12 Feb-Agron Mustafa (21) wounded
12 Feb-Ramadan Mjaku (37) wounded
12 Feb-Sadik Hasani wounded
12 Feb-Sami Mehmeti (17) wounded (Roma)
12 Feb-Rafiz Asini (17) wounded (Roma)
15 Feb-Blagota Vukovic beaten (Serb)
15 Feb- Zlata Vukovic (70) beaten (Serb)
15 Feb-Agim T. Kelmendi (12) wounded
15 Feb-Valdet L. Kelmendi (12) wounded
15 Feb-Valdrin L. Kelmendi (6) wounded
19 Feb-Marjan Jovic (42) killed (Serb)
19 Feb-Demir Osmanaj (19) kidnaped, then escaped
19 Feb-Zoran Mihajlovic killed (Serb)
19 Feb-Radovan Mihajlovic killed (Serb)
20 Feb-Milic Garic (aged 55) wounded (Serb)
20 Feb-Dragica Garic(53) wounded (Serb)
21 Feb-Selim Topojani kidnaped
21 Feb-Elez Baljaj unhurt, attacked by RPG's, machine guns
22 Feb-Mirko Milosevic (1966). killed (Serb)
22 Feb-Miljan Milosevic (1970) wounded (Serb)
22 Feb-Milos Prodanovic wounded (Serb)
23 Feb-Srdjan Ilic wounded ( Associated Press photographer)
23 Feb-Sadik Leskoci (25) disappeared
23 Feb-Faton Lipovica attempted kidnaping
23 Feb-Enver Ndrecaj attempted kidnaping
23 Feb-Islam Luma (1957) attempted kidnaping
24 Feb-Milisav Kokeric machine gunned but unharmed
26 Feb-Milorad Milic killed (Serb)
26 Feb-Mikelj Abazi (62) wounded
26 Feb-Marjan Abazi (39) wounded
26 Feb-Mihil Abazi(59) wounded.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/yuembassy/News.htm
This site has some statistics.
These are from the Serbian Ministry of the Interior (www.mup.sr.gov.yu). They have more on their site, this is my selection/summary: STATS FROM JANUARY 1, 1991 TO FEBRUARY 7, 1999
People Killed in Terrorist Attacks in Kosovo
--------------------------------------------
1991-97 1998 1999 TOTAL
Police 13 115 7 135
Albanian Civilians 17 77 30 124
Other Civilians* 9 96 10 115
TOTAL 39 288 47 374
Civilians Injured in Terrorist Attacks in Kosovo
------------------------------------------------
Entire period
(1991-02.07.99)
Gravely 101
Lightly 125
TOTAL 226
Civilians Kidnapped
-------------------
1998-1999
Serbs/Montenegrins 179
Albanians 104
Gypsies 14
Other Nationalities 6
Foreign Citizens 1
TOTAL 304
Of these, 125 have escaped or been released. Remaining number are dead or "destiny unknown." The stats I (SN) had as of October 1, 1998 (from Yugoslav government sources, mainly www.mup.sr.gov.yu) were:
1996 - 1997
-----------
Ethnic Albanians killed 15
1998 (to 10-1)
-------------
Ethnic Albanians 64
Other Kosovo Civilians 105
Policemen 96
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Feb (KIC) - The Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF)[founded and still lead by hard line racist Adam Demaci] said in a report issued today 151 Albanians were killed in Kosova this past January. 25 Albanians were killed in unsolved circumstances, 2 died as a result of war, one was tortured to death, the CDHRF said. January was the month of Serbian massacres in Reçak, Rakovina and Rogova, in which some 80 Albanians were slain in three incidents. The CDHRF said 32 Albanians were shot and wounded in January, 78 were taken hostage or went missing, while 255 Albanians were arbitrarily arrested. Of those killed, wounded or ill-treated 28 were children, 28 women, and 36 elderly people, the major human rights organization in Kosova said. Eleven members of the Serbian community were killed in January, CDHRF said. Some 600 Albanian households were raided by Serbian forces allegedly in connection with arms searches or the tracking down of 'terrorists', the Council reported. Two others buried in Ferizaj today
Articles Detailing Each UCK Attack:
1.Jan 1998 (Serb Info) AP illustrates it with the fact that U.S. and British envoys were shuttling between hotel rooms, explaining conference plans to rival ethnic Albanians who wouldn't even sit together. The American agency quotes that those forces are united in their common goal of independence for Kosovo but are divided by deep personal and philosophical differences, petty rivalries and a desire for power. The animosity is so strong that it sometimes explodes into bloodshed, writes AP. In September, moderate politician Sabri Hamiti was critically wounded in an unsolved ambush after expressing readiness to negotiate only self-rule and not independence of Kosovo. [ Sabri was killed by the UCK prior to the Holbrooke cease fire, therefore he is not in the tally, in addition I don't have any other info on this UCK murder]
The statement, dated Oct. 30, was received today by Koha Ditore. It said 32-year-old Nebojsa Radosevic and
50-year-old Vladimir Dobricic were convicted by a military court of violating the KLA codes of military and
civilian conduct. Radosevic and Dobricic, employees of the official Yugoslav news agency Tanjung, disappeared
two weeks ago near Magura, where two Serb policemen died the night before. The statement said the two will be
imprisoned for 60 days, but it gave no further details on the circumstances of their conviction were given. [ after
significant publicity, these two journalists were released, however, the UCK still refuses to allow any Yugoslav
journalists regardless which view their paper represents, into areas they control]
1 Dec (?) Pristina - Hajif Hoti (56) was kidnaped three days ago in his house in the village of Bradas near
Podujevo. He was taken by a group of Albanians in "KLA" uniforms.... As we learned unofficially, the office of the
IRC Committee contacted Demaci again in regard to the latest kidnapings. Demaci was "busy. [Hoti was guilty of
refusing to join the UCK]
[another version of same incident, I think from Tanjung] In another incident Wednesday, an ethnic Albanian was
killed when a car he was traveling in came under fire in Kosovo's central Klina district, the information center in
Pristina said. It said that according to witnesses, a masked man in the uniform of the rebel KLA opened fire on the
car at Lozica on Wednesday after it failed to stop. The victim was identified as Nedzmedin Bedra. [Poor Bedra was
also likely sick and tired of paying UCK tolls and perhaps tried to run the UCK checkpoint taken over from the
JNA after the Holbrooke cease-fire came into effect. ]
"Kidnapped are Muharem Brahimi (b. 1943) from Magura, municipality of Lipljani, his son Naser Brahimi (b.
1964) and Lumni Lumani (b. 1971) from the same village. They were kidnapped on December 16, 1998 at some
19:00 hours while returning from Lipljane to their village, in a white Ford Transit van vehicle", reads the report
3 Jan 1999 14:45 (PMC) - Enver Gasi (1964) was dead wounded in Stimlje, last night at about 10 PM CET.
Unknown attackers shot at Gasi while he was trying to lock his car in front of his house. [ The night belongs to the
UCK in the countryside, The Gashi clan is Roman Catholic.]
Mr. Maloku, in his mid-forties, father of three, was getting out of his car, when he was shot by unknown assailants,
three or four people on a black car, according to eye-witness accounts which could not be immediately confirmed.
Enver Maloku narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in early July 1998, when an unknown person shot in his
direction at the entrance of his apartment in a block of flats in Kodra e Diellit neighborhood in Prishtina. The
authorities had not investigated the assassination attempt. Maloku has worked with the KIC since its foundation in
1991, and been head of this singular Kosovar news agency since 1993.Since last year, Maloku was a member of the
top executive, the 55-member General Council of the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), the major political
force in Kosova [since Maloku's assassination, the KIC has become pro-UCK in tone, its reports which under
Maloku could be relied on not to make outright misstatements, have now become stridently pro-UCK]
Sejdiu was shot and wounded while on his way to work, in a construction material depot in Ferizaj. Six spent
bullets were found in the scene of the incident, sources said [The KIC confirms in its own circumspect manner that
Sejdii was killed by the UCK for the crime of collaboration,. The UCK includes in its definition of collaboration
crimes worthy of the death penalty: working in any Yugoslav company. Poor Sejdi was killed by the UCK because
he had a job at the Urosevac construction company.]
16. Jan "Blic" Press Info Service; Chronicle; Saturday - Sunday, January 16-17, 1999, Prizren, Stimlje - Yesterday
around 4:30 p.m. in a sporting goods store in the center of Prizren owned by Fatmir Godeni, Bujar Godeni (28)
and his nephew Edmond Godeni (1 8) were killed. According to the results of the investigation they were killed by
gunshots to the head. The Godeni family of Prizren is considered to be among the wealthier families of Prizren and
was loyal to Serbia. [sounds as if the Godeni's refused to pay UCK protection money, as well as didn't allow his
young men to join the UCK]
The OSCE Verification Mission members reported the case to the Djakovica police around noontime. The police
accompanied by the Pec District Court investigation judge Rade Gojkovic and the OSCE Verification Mission
members visited the incident spot. Initial investigation results indicated they had been killed from fire weapon
while having a ride on a tractor. The territory the bodies were found at is controlled by the separatist so called
"KLA".
(KIC)[additional information] The bodies of the killed Albanians were lying in the scene of the crime until 15:20
hrs today (Monday), when police took them to the Gjakova morgue
(SIR-US) [additional information] This week we have more odd events including the death of 5 Albanians who
were gathering corn stalks as fodder for their animals. The KLA immediately tried to pin this on "Serb" police,
but government sources point out that the area is under KLA control and that shell cases around the scene indicate
the people were killed at close range, not from a distant armored car alleged by the creative minds of the Albanian
propaganda mill.
[ more information on same incident ] 27. Jan 1999 "An attempt to stage a new massacre", From The Vecernje
novosti [ I am unaware of the current reputation of this paper ], by M. Vuksanovic
The Siptar propaganda has tried again to plant the terrorist crime on the Serb police forces, aided by the
international verifiers this time.
The Siptar papers "Kosova sot" and "Koha ditore" have considered the massacre worth putting on the front - pages.
The massacre happened three nights earlier and five Siptars were killed in it, at the territory of the Rakovina
village, on the road between Klina and Rakovina. The papers, without any evidence, blamed the Serb forces for the
crime. According to this version Saban Keljmandi accompanied by two underage members of his family and
Husein Kurti together with Sani Kuri, were shot on their tractor, allegedly from hard weapons.
The investigative judge from Pec District Court, Rade Gojkovic, has made these statements absolutely incorrect. He
and the members of his investigation group were convinced by what they saw at the scene of the crime that the five
victims were shot on the head, most probably by a single bullet each. On the other hand, the surrounding area of
the crime scene abounded in cartridges and empty frames for automatic weapons of Chinese production. [ which
indicates weapons were looted in Albanian chaos of 1997 ] We believe, said Gojkovic, that these people had been
killed earlier, but it is beyond my comprehension that the verifiiers informed us about the crime six hours after they
had themselves investigated it! They reached the crime scene on Monday at seven o`clock in the morning, and we
were informed about the incident at 1 pm. Obviously the verifiers took the role of the investigative judge in this
case. When the group of the court investigators arrived at about 2 pm, the verifiers made us to do our job quickly,
with the threats that they would not guarantee out security, unless we left the place at once, emphasized Gojkovic.
The verifiers could not provide the reasons for informing the investigative group about the crime with a few hours`
delay. They could not account for investigating the crime without the presence of this group. They mentioned an
ostensible granating [means shelling in Yugoslav langauage(s)] means , about which they were informed by the
villagers. Their far - fetched story goes as following: " the Serb forces used hard weapons when attacking the
tractor".
The verifiers turned the blind eye on the fact that the crime scene is under the control of the terrorist "OVK". The
police do not have access to the before mentioned territory, and all the victims were hit on the head from a close
position. They have launched a new lie into the world, putting the blame on the Serbs again, as many times before.
Naturally the Siptar propagandists accepted their version of the story, spicing it with their indigenous anti - Serb
hatred. Their prime consumer of this newly "packed truth" is the world public.
He reported the police; a close range automatic weapon fire was made at his car while he was passing the Radonjic
Canal Bridge. The Pec District Court investigation authorities, accompanied by the OSCE KVM, visited the
incident spot and the investigation of the crime is under way.
[as reported by SIRS-US, Associated Press, and Reuters] On Monday evening, in a separate incident an Albanian
was killed and his son wounded by the KLA in Luka, for collaborating with the authorities by turning in a rifle.
The OSCE KVM members in Pristina were also informed of the event [ Alma Beljulji made the tragic mistake of
socializing with others than pure Albanians. The UCK threw a hand grenade to stop Albanians from mixing with
others. As always, the 6 non-Albanians are not listed in my tally of UCK victims, I recall reading she was 21]
[ I doubt anyone will ever uncover what really happened at Rugova, however, here are three detailed articles
which may clear the air. They are attempt to fan the flame of blood vengeance against Belgrade. However, there is
enough information to piece together a semblance of a more complex reality. Buried deep down in the third
article, it turns out that the key figure in this UCK ambush of a police station gone horribly wrong worked as a
part time security guard at a nearby Yugoslav factory, Xhevdet Berisha. Night watchmen seem to be a particular
target of UCK hatred.
I recommend supreme caution reaching any conclusions about what happened at Rugova. The only lesson from
Rugova is that ill trained fanatical guerillas wreck havoc with simple people who wish to remain neutral ]
30. Jan (Daily Telegraph) 'Frightened eyes reveal true horror of Kosovo'; By Philip Smucker in Rogovo:[ Smucker
is a suspected peddler of intelligence agency planted misinformation, his account of Rugova is a racially bigoted
report, but it has enough detail to warrant close examination. ] The terrified eyes of more than a dozen Kosovo
women and children stared down from a bullet-riddled window on the [ 20 positively identified UCK corpses and 4
other corpses laid out below].
Those eyes told you more about the killing than any official assessment. Nazmine Berisha, the wife of the
homeowner, said: "They said wait here or we'll kill you. My husband, Xhevdet, went to work in his red van in the
morning and the van came back within minutes. The [Kosovo] Liberation Army was inside the van when it came
back." [UCK running away from the Gendarmes they just attacked, apparently hijacked Xhevdet's van on highway
and forced Xhevdet to drive them to his home which contained a walled courtyard suitable for defense]
British verifiers with the Kosovo Verification Mission watched as police removed 11 bullet-riddled men from the
red minibus standing in the centre of the farmyard. Brains and blood spilled out of the vehicle into the muddy
courtyard. A British observer with a military background said a grenade had exploded inside the vehicle. [ Did an
ill trained UCK try to throw a grenade from the crowded van at the pursuing Gendarmes, and dropped it on the
floor amidst 11 people crowded into the tiny delivery van ?]
Mrs Berisha's version of how her husband's van was overtaken by ethnic Albanian rebels and brought back into the
walled compound matched, in some respects, the more sanitised police description of the killing .It was not clear,
however, if Mr Berisha had willingly surrendered his van. [to the UCK]
Five of the dead men, most of them between 18 and 40, were in uniform. [ French papers reported that all wore
'military gear', Pro-UCK papers in the US reported that 4 out of 24 were dressed in UCK issued boots and
uniforms. This description in a transparent attempt define combatant as only someone in dressed 100% complete
official battle gear. If you're not wearing military boots and uniform and hat and have military ID and are
gripping a machine gun , you must be a civilian, appears to be the pro-UCK logic.]
A spokesman for the British monitors assessed the scene cautiously, avoiding all talk of possible summary
killings. [ because it was clear to the British, the UCK were killed in a fair fight] Simon Gerry, the spokesman,
said: "Maybe they were just getting ready to leave in the van. We don't want to jump to hasty assessments [a clear
rebuff to those parroting the pro-UCK party line] but we may know more in a few days when we find out who all
these men are."
He tied the Serbian police sweep through Rogovo to an ethnic Albanian rebel attempt to smuggle rockets and other weapons into the Serbian province from neighbouring Albania a day earlier. The ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army has an arms smuggling route over the snow-capped Mount Pastrik.
Mrs Berisha, traumatized and still not having seen her dead husband, said gunfire broke out as soon as the van
arrived back in the courtyard. [did the UCK enter the courtyard guns ablaze? Did they think they had to storm the
Berisha household ?] The survivors asked the British observers to be taken away. [from her village which is in
UCK controlled territory. Mrs. Berisha clearly fears reprisals from the UCK]
Two teenage boys from the family were missing. Mr Berisha's blood was splattered on the walls of a latrine in the
back of the family compound. [ Mr. Xhevdet Berisha killed by the UCK as his car was hijacked as UCK attempted
to escape from a botched attack on Yugoslav Gendarmes. The case of his two teenager boys is less clear, did they
run away from the UCK entering the courtyard ?, so they will not included in the tally until more details become
available. Note in follow up article there is no mention of teenage boys, even though Smucker extensively
interviewed many people, the boys crop up in a third story attached below]
[ This is a follow up report by the same writer, with a markedly different protrayal of the Rugova firefight, I place
Smucker's follow up piece here as an example how selective omission by a biased writer distorts a event all out of
context] The DT, Friday 5 February 1999; "How the masked killers of Rogovo picked their prey"; Philip Smucker
returns to the village that witnessed a massacre........INSIDE the Berisha family courtyard, the pools of blood have
frozen solid, a shocking reminder of the trauma that has left the women and children of Rogovo struggling with
their memories. Yesterday, a small boy stared at the blood and tissue that was still splattered across the inside of
the red van where 11 ethnic Albanian men died last Friday. [when a grenade went off inside the crowded van, , as
described in Smucker's earlier story].
The Rogovo killings of about a dozen armed members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and other unarmed
local men [ Smucker wishes reader to conclude that 'unarmed local men' were killed by Gendarmes, when it is
clear that at least the Berisha men were killed by the UCK] highlight why Western diplomats, familiar with the
Kosovo crisis, are pushing for a no-nonsense Nato ground force to follow any peace accord reached in Rambouillet,
France. [ In this paragraph, Smucker betrays his bigotry openly]
Western diplomats said there had undoubtedly been summary killings in Rogovo. [ This directly contradicts the
OSCE observer quotes Smucker had in his previous story, it is telling that Smucker is unable to use a direct quote
instead he just paraphrases 'western diplomats']
Rogovo residents, who had spent the week piecing together the final movements of some of those who died, gave
graphic accounts of last Friday's events. They said Xhevdet Berisha, accompanied by his nephew, Visar, 20, left
home in his red van at 5.30am for his small village restaurant. Not long after his arrival [to his restaurant], a
group of anxious Albanian men [UCK retreating from their early morning ambush of the Gendarmes] asked
[hijacked] him to return the van to the family compound, which he did immediately. [It is unclear if Visar was also
forced into the van]
There, he was met by a group of strangers, some of them in KLA uniforms, who began loading items into his van.
[ Smucker's 'items' are likely to have been weapons, it appears that the UCK were transferring arms from their
car(s) which were linked to the early morning police ambush to Xhevdet's van which the UCK may have thought
was innocent looking].The commotion awoke Mr Berisha's mother, Shefkije, who challenged the group and
demanded to know what they were doing. [ likely to have been in the form of 'what the heck do you think you are
doing turning my peaceful house into a ammo dump ?]
But her son left the strangers to their task [what choice did he have ?] and began to make his way back to his
restaurant. [ on foot ? He just abandoned his van to the UCK and left the UCK in charge of his sleepy family,
while Grandma was yelling at them ? A more reasonable explanation is that he was kicked out of his own house by
the angry UCK ] He never reached it. He was quickly confronted by 15 members of the Serbian special police in
three cars. The police bound Mr Berisha's hands behind him and forced him back through the front gate of his
family compound.
"There were three policemen in front of Xhevdet and three in the rear" said Shefkije Berisha. "The police shouted,
so you have the KLA headquarters in your van, you terrorist!"
Then the bloodbath began.[ the retreating UCK loading van with weapons shoot wildly at a Gendarmes entering
compound missing Gendarmes but killing Xhevdet, who being elderly may have moved too slowly. Perhaps the
UCK assumed Xhevdet led the Gendarmes to them and shot him first as a traitor] Eleven men, some of them with
arms and uniforms, were killed instantly inside the van. [when a UCK grenade exploded inside the crowded van]
Serbian police officials claim one of their own was killed as well [in a UCK ambush earlier in the morning, why
Smucker seeks to leave the impression that the Gendarme's death occurred in the courtyard is not clear]. A few
hours later, I was to see Serbian "investigators" toss a Kalashnikov across the corpse of Mr Berisha, 60.[ This
significant detail was not included in Smucker's first account, in which the observer's are working side by side
with the Yugoslav investigator from the start, no mention in any observer report of AK-47's being 'tossed' on
bodies]
What happened at a nearby house belonging to the Shala family is the most damning evidence of all.[ to the UCK]
In a meeting house behind the home, there are clear signs of a summary execution, with bullet holes in a wall and
human tissue on the floor. British verifiers have locked the room in the hope that it can be examined by
international experts.
Rabije Shala watched from a latrine as two family members and one "stranger" [clearly UCK, no mention of
Gendarme uniform, no mention of 'speaking Serbian'] were marched into the meeting room. "I heard the sound of
a machine gun firing," she said. "Then they came and took Zuber, my husband. After that, I heard the same thing."
[These three are added to the tally of Albanians killed by UCK, the UCK appears to have concluded they were
betrayed by the Shala family who may have called the police when they heard the commotion next door, what with
Grandma yelling and the UCK transferring munitions to Xhevdet's hijacked van]
As those executions were taking place just before 11am, British monitors, who were first tipped off about shooting
at 7am [ by the Yugoslav Gendarmes who asked them to come ASAP, but OSCE are not allowed to travel during
the dark because the UCK has shot at the OSCE, , so they presumably had to wait until daybreak to leave their
barracks], had reached Rogovo. But their cars were held back at the perimeter of the village. [because a battle was
in progress, the instant the shooting stopped, the OSCE observers moved into the village, the OSCE have not
indicated in any way they were hindered.]
[Smucker also omits any details regarding Xhevdet's 2 teenage boys who are described in the earlier article as
'missing'. This is another telling omission, Smucker knows the 2 boys ran away from the UCK and are in hiding.
The UCK likely thinks of the entire family as traitors for what happened in the courtyard, later on in following
article we learn that the 2 boys are safe]
[More details in this third article ] THE NATIONAL POST Tuesday, February 9, 1999, Unanswered questions
surround killings in Kosovo village, Juliette Terzieff, National Post, with files from The Daily Telegraph [ Juliette
Terzieff further fleshes out Philip Smmucker's story with added details confirming the full extent of the tragedy ]
The women beat their hands on their legs and arms in frustration while the smaller children, crying softly, hug
older siblings. Surviving members of the Berisha, Shala families are struggling with the loss of nine of their men,
killed by Serbian police on Friday, Jan. 29.
Also slain were about a dozen members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, some of them wearing uniforms. [ finally,
admitted the truth, the number of UCK involved keeps growing as time goes on] The families in Rogovo are unable
to understand how the horrific deaths of their unarmed loved ones can be called anything but a massacre.
Albanians claim the police attacked innocent civilians in their searches for KLA. Serbian sources maintain all
those killed died in battle. "They weren't KLA fighters," said one of the Shalas, disputing Serb police claims. "And
this is not a KLA village." [ Exactly, that is why the UCK killed the Shalas ]
Members of the Kosovo Verification Mission, working under the auspices of the OSCE, are reluctant to make
decisive statements about the Rogovo killings. William Walker, the verification mission's head, came under heavy
fire after an emotional declaration at the site of the Racak massacre three weeks ago, igniting international fury
and renewed threats of North Atlantic Treaty Organization airstrikes against Serbia.
"There were several aspects at Rogovo that did not fit either with the police version or normal investigative
procedures," said the official. "It led to some serious discussions on what should or shouldn't be said."
But in the end, KVM officials said little. Spokesmen asked why the bodies were removed from the scene, why
gunfire was heard several hours after the battle took place and why access was initially denied to KVM people on
the scene -- but they admit the answers will probably never be given.
Four days after Serb police launched the attack on what they claimed to be a KLA hideout, the courtyard remained
splattered with blood and body parts.
Local residents, who had spent the week piecing together the final movements of some of those who died, gave
graphic accounts of the events of that fatal Friday. Xhevdet Berisha, accompanied by his nephew, Visar, 20, left
home in his red van at 5.30 a.m. for his small village restaurant.
"A cousin and two friends came in asking to use the van. It was needed by the KLA so uncle Xhevdet got in and
drove away," said 16-year-old Enver Berisha. [ one son is no confirmed alive]
Back home, he was met by a group of strangers, some in KLA uniforms, who began loading items into his van.
The commotion woke Mr. Berisha's mother, Shefkije, who challenged the group and demanded to know what they
were doing.
But her son left the strangers to their task and began to make his way back to his restaurant. He never reached it.
En route, he was confronted by 15 members of the Serbian special police who had arrived in three cars.
"I was out on the steps lacing up my shoes when [my uncle's] van came back in filled with people," said
13-year-old Beshar Berisha,[ second son is also alive] who was preparing to leave home for the restaurant. The
red van, now bullet-ridden and bloody, was full of men, some wearing KLA uniforms.
Within seconds, he saw his uncle enter the courtyard, hands bound, followed by the police who opened fire. "One
KLA fighter jumped out of the back with his rifle," said Beshar, who dived back into the house as quickly as
possible.
Xhevdet Berisha was later discovered dead in the courtyard alongside two neighbours. Serbian sources claimed his
home was a safe-house for KLA operatives, but his family and colleagues, who remember him as a kind man, said
his involvement that Friday could only have been a matter of bad luck. [ neighbors have not been identified as of
yet ]
Pavle Garic, a Serb, worked with Mr. Berisha as a security guard at a nearby factory. He claims their
ethnic differences never caused problems. [need we say more ?]"When I heard he was dead, people told me he was
a terrorist leader," said the 30-year-old Garic, fingering a cross at his throat [ Berisha works with Orthodox
faithful, another betrayal of UCK law]. "He wasn't and never would be a terrorist. You couldn't find a better man."
The whole truth may never be known about Rogovo or Racak, despite autopsies. Forensics experts involved lament
the fact the bodies were moved several times in unsanitary conditions.
"We've got cross-contamination and sites trampled over by literally hundreds of people," said one member of a
Finnish forensics team.[ this as a result of William ' Amigo des Campensinos Salvadores' Walker grandstanding
at the Racak site ] "Like most incidents in Kosovo it is impossible to comprehend why they do what they do,"
complained the OSCE official. "They change things around and orchestrate access, so all we're left with are dead
bodies and propaganda wars between the two sides."
January attacks by the UCK cont'd:
30. Jan (KIC) - Late Friday afternoon, unidentified persons shot and wounded Selman Konjusha (50), a local
writer, in the entrance to his flat in downtown Prishtina, capital of Kosova. Konjusha was shot twice - in the chest
and his kidneys - and was taken to the Prishtina surgery clinic in a critical condition. When operated upon, he had
one of his kidneys removed, a close relative told the KIC. [ I suspect he was shot by the UCK for not toeing a pure
UCK party line. As a writer he may have been too thoughtful for the UCK]
[a second source, also Yugoslav] 31. Jan 1999;Pec, On Sunday, around 7:00 AM in the Village of Glavicica, at the
main road between Pec and Prishtina Emin Bassa (36) from Pec was found dead, shot with one bullet in the head.
The District Court in Pec Investigation Judge Vladan Bojic informed Tanjug that a caliber 7,65 case, of Chinese
manufacturing [ as mentioned before the UCK is armed to a large degree with looted equipment from Albanian
Army magazines],was found near the body. Bassa was a citizen loyal to Serbia and the sixth Albanian,who had
fallen victim to the terrorists since the beginning of this year. All the six Albanians were killed in the Pec District
area in the same way - one bullet through the head.
[ a 3rd source this time from Albanians] Jan 31 (KIC) - Emin F. Basha (36), an Albanian resident of the town of
Peja ('Pec'), was found killed today (Sunday) in the village of Ramun, seven km from Peja, western Kosova. LDK
sources in Peja said Mr. Basha, who was last seen last evening in a bakery half a kilometre away from his home,
had been shot thrice in the head. This past month, seven Albanians have been killed in the Peja municipality in
unsolved circumstances, but in a similar manner. [ Mr. Basha shot in the dark while walking home from his
baker's job]
[ Karaqi's murder as reported in the Times (of London)], The Times, February 2 1999 EUROPE; Anthony Loyd
reports from the village of Ujez on the murder of a schoolteacher in Kosovo's bloody civil war........ THERE is a
story of an innocent man who walked out to work one morning and never came home. It is very simple. He was
37 and an elementary schoolteacher. His name was Gasper Karaqi, although the history of the war in Kosovo will
never recall it. He was born in the village of Ujez, but once I close my notebook that name too will be forgotten.
Last Friday he kissed his wife goodbye just after daybreak. They had been married for 18 years and they had no
children. They were Roman Catholic Albanians [who tend not to support the muslim dominated UCK] and so their
childless state could have been a stigma in the remote rural communities of the south.
But everyone in Ujez remarks only that he and his wife were very close. It is unusual for reticent, enclosed people
to remark on a couple's relationship to foreigners. So I can imagine only that they must indeed have loved one
another.
He left to teach at the school in Bistraznj, another unremarkable hill village near Ujez. I saw him yesterday lying in
an open coffin in the room in which he was born. The village women sat around him, his wife at one end, her
hands on his forehead. He had the lean, ascetic face of an academic.
Above him was a candle flanked by pictures of Christ wearing the crown of thorns, and Mic Sokoli, a legendary
hero. Such is the tradition of death for Catholics here. Unusually, the women did not weep until the coffin was
carried out for burial. They had agreed among themselves that, as a demonstration of love and pride for their
teacher and relation, they should contain their tears, so the atmosphere in that silent room was charged.
Nobody knows who killed him. When he did not return from work that day his wife became frantic with worry. On
Saturday some children on their way to school noticed a trail of blood leading away from the edge of a track.
The villagers followed it up a hillside and found Mr Karaqi there. Someone had shot him in the upper leg. He had
crawled away into the snow and bled to death alone in a field below an Orthodox church. [after being shot, he
crawled towards a Serbian Church]
Serb police officers were mounting a follow-up operation after a gunbattle with KLA guerrillas in the area at the
time, but the teacher could have been shot by either side.
The gravediggers toiled from dawn until midday. It was -15C (5F) yesterday, even before the wind chill, and
beneath the snow the ground was like rock. There were no uniforms among the mourners, no volleys, no guns, no
glory. There was a column of sobbing children, humility and dignity. [ no UCK speeches for a spy and traitor]
"This person who you see dead," he [teacher's nephew] said slowly, "was a peace-loving man who contributed only
to peace and goodness in our village. He was killed. Whatever happens in Paris, he is lost to us and shall not be
returned." [ Albanians who preach messages of peace and tolerance get killed by the UCK, this victim of UCK
violence is added to the tally]
1 Feb (KIC) - An Albanian student was killed, and six other young Albanians were wounded at 22:20 CET on
Sunday when a bomb was hurled by unknown assailants in the "Beqa" grill bar in Vellusha street in downtown
Prishtina, the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said [ the CDHRF is a long
discredited highly politicized organization founded and run by Admen Demaci political head of the UCK. The
CDHRF originated the 2,000 killed in KosMet statistic which is ignored by all but the most stridently pro-UCK
factions, ]. The killed university student has been named as Osman Ibrahim Gashi (23) [Gashis is a Roman
Catholic clan, but Osman is a Muslim name, so it is unclear if Gashi is Catholic], resident of Baran village of Peja
('Pec'), western Kosova. Meanwhile, an eye-witness told the KIC a taxi driver, Fatmir Ramadani, was seriously
wounded, whereas another young man received light injuries. The explosion was very powerful, and a hole was
created inside the grill bar, while furniture was hugely damaged, the eye-witness, a resident in the area who
reached the scene soon, said. Another eye-witness, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a tall man with a
black overcoat was seen leaving the scene and being driven away by a waiting car a few meters away.
Meanwhile, a second blast occurred Sunday evening in the courtyard of the "Gëzimi II" cafe in front of the Radio
Prishtina in the center of the city. Unidentified people hurled the explosive device at 22:00 CET, Rrahman Ismaili,
the proprietor of Gëzimi said, adding that there were no injuries and material damage. [ These two may be tit-for-tat bombings in revenge for the Friday UCK bombing of the Galarjia cafe, in which Alma Beljulji (21) was
wounded, along with 6 others. This reprehensible revenge bombing only served to buttress the UCK strategy of
silencing all moderate voices in KosMet. ]
[ same story as above reported by the Pristina Media Center1 February 1999 08:45 - One person was killed, and
two were wounded in a fast-food restaurant [described as "Beqa" grill in KIC report ] in Veluska Street not far
from Pristina downtown last night at 11 PM, when a bomb thrown into the restaurant exploded. Osman Gasi
(1976) from Pec was killed, and Fatmir Ramadani from Pristina and Selim Selimi from Presevo were wounded.
The wounded ones were later transported to the Pristina Hospital. According to first investigation findings,
unknown persons thrown a hand grenade through the window into the restaurant. The police search after the
persons who committed the crime.
[as reported by PMC] 4 Feb - The body of Imer Redzepi (1955) was found yesterday near Lipa village, Zvecan
municipality, next to Kraljevo Kosovska Mitrovica road. Redzepi was hit twice in head from automatic weapon.
His body was transported to Pathology Institute in Pristina.
[as reported by the KIC] sources from Mitrovica said the body of Ymer Rexhepi (43), resident of Frashër
('Svinjare') village of Mitrovica, was found Wednesday morning at Lipë village of Mitrovica, on the
Rashka-Prishtina highway. Ymer was killed with fire-arms, at close range. His face was blown away, sources said
[another victim of UCK terror]
[as reported by AFP] The Serb center also said that a Serb man [refugee from Albania?]was found dead in his car
Thursday morning in the western Decani area following an attack involving automatic guns and a rocket
[ as reported by PMC] 4 Feb 99 13:00 (PMC) - The bodies of Ali Pajazit (27) from Istinic, Fazli Sejdi Morine (30)
from Grabovac village, Pec municipality and Albert Sejdiu (25) from Ljubisa, Decane municipality were found this
morning between Istinic and Gornja Luka villages, Decani municipality. They were found in one car. According to
the first findings of the investigation, they were killed with automatic weapons. Further investigation is underway.
Police are searching for the attackers, according to the information given by Decane municipality authorities. [
these 3 seem to have been killed at a UCK impromptu roadblock]
[ as reported by AFP via OSCE] Thu, 4 Feb 1999 7:35:37 PST, Yugoslavia, Feb 4 (AFP) - Four men have been
found dead in two areas of the violence-torn Serb province of Kosovo, a spokesman for international truce
monitors said Thursday. Joergen Grunnet, spokesman for the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM), said
three men were found dead in a white car near Decani, while another was found dead on the road between Pec and
Djakovica. [Bozo Kontic ?] He added that the corpses had not yet been identified, although the latter was almost
certainly a Serb. The Serb-run information center in Pristina said the group of three were ethnic Albanians shot by
automatic guns, while the Kosovo Albanian Information Center confirmed the report, adding they were killed late
Wednesday.
[as reported by the KIC] PRISHTINA - Serbian police took today the bodies of four Albanians to the town morgue
in Gjakova. LDK sources said three Albanians were taken from Lluka e Epërme village of Deçan, whereas the
fourth one from Rastavica village. Three Albanians - Ali Pajazitaj (27), Fazli Morina (30), and Albert Sejdiaj (25)
- were killed in their car in yet unsolved circumstances between the villages of Llukë e Epërme and Isniq on
Wednesday evening, LDK sources said. They were fired on with automatic weapons. [ KIC signals this was a UCK
assassination by its words' unsolved circumstances', given their ages, these men are likely to have been shot for
refusing to serve as UCK fighters, the 4th seems to have been Ymer Rexhepi,]
Kosovo-Metohija Information Secretary Ivica Mihajlovic addressed the press at Pristina's Media Center Saturday
evening. Mihajlovic said that the storeowner was loyal to Serbia and that most of his regular customers were
Serbs and Montenegrins. Pristina District Court Magistrate Danica Marinkovic is in charge of the investigation.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Verification Mission to the Yugoslav republic of
Serbia's Kosovo and Metohija province has been informed about the blast. A team of OSCE Verifiers joined the
police at the crime scene. [ as of yet, no OSCE report, but pretty clear cut, middle class older Albanian interacts
too much with Yugoslavs and gets killed along with a 16 year old girl, perhaps he also refused to pay UCK
protection money (aka 'taxes')]
[ as reported by KIC] Feb 7 (KIC) - Last evening, a powerful bomb ripped through a small grocery store in the
center of Prishtina, capital of Kosova, killing three Albanians, including a teenage girl. Several others were injured
in the explosion, sources said. The explosion occurred just before 19:00 CET on Saturday in the "Almir" grocery
store, owned by Enver Shala, situated alongside the main Prishtina street, near the vegetable produce market in
Ulpiana neighborhood. Unidentified persons tossed the powerful explosive device killing Enver Shala (1947), the
store's proprietor, and Vlora Humolli (f, 1981) a passer-bye from Prishtina. Artan Ajeti (20) from Ferizaj, died on
his way to the Prishtina hospital, one mile away from the scene of the carnage. The scene of the crime was
cordoned off by Serbian police today (Sunday) morning, too. The Kosova capital has seen a spade of bombings,
hand grenade attacks, targeting eating and drinking establishments. Saturday's blast appeared to have been caused
by a more powerful device, those who saw the scene claim. "A leg with the shoe still on and other pieces of
mangled bodies were scattered on the city's main road, and a trail of blood ran along the gutter," CNN said in a
report from Prishtina.
OSCE verifiers attended the scene Saturday evening. Ambassador Gabriel Keller, the deputy head of the OSCE
KVM, informed William Walker, the U.S. ambassador who heads the mission and is currently attending talks in
Rambouillet, France, launched Saturday evening at the time the bomb exploded in Prishtina.
The Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), President Ibrahim Rugova's, party, condemned in the strongest terms
"the terrorist act" which killed three Albanians and wounded a number of others in Prishtina last night.
[interestingly, the UCK did not condemn the attack] The attack coincides with the start of the international
conference on Kosova in Rambouillet, France, the party said, adding that "this is further evidence the Serbian
regime is adamant on obstructing a political resolution to the Kosova issue". [Rugova;s extremist self-contradictory statement may be meant to play to the UCK negotiators he is forced to work with in Rambouillet,
how would bombing a tiny cafe silencing a moderate older shopkeeper be Serb obstructionism ? ]
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Serbian occupation authorities in Kosova added to the already grave and tragic
situation by rushing to declare that the shop owner, Enver Shala, "was known to be loyal to the Serbian Republic"
and to maintain good relations with local Serbs, "which made him a target for radically-minded terrorists".
This kind of verbal pyrotechnics has been frequently the pattern of Serbian regime's reaction to killings of
Albanians in Kosova: routinely putting the blame on Albanians by declaring killed Albanians "decent" citizens,
loyal to Serb authorities, which, in the yes [eyes, sic] of Kosovars, means Serb collaborators, who would only be
killed by 'Albanian terrorists', the argument goes. There is no end in sight to Serb criminal regime's outrageous
propaganda ploys in the height of the Kosovar tragedy. [Note though, the KIC does not state the Shala was a
friend of succession, This hysteric reaction to the publicizing of Shala's loyalty may be part of the attempts to
reduce the effects of the Yugoslav negotiating team has. The Yugo team has a majority of non-Serbs, including 3
Albanians, the fact that there are Albanians loyal to Belgrade is something which the successionists wish to
downplay as much as possible]]
[as reported by the BBC]http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/270000/images/_274101_bomb150.jpg
A bomb attack on Saturday killed three people at a food shop in the regional capital, Pristina. The Serbian
authorities said those killed were ethnic Albanians who were loyal to Serbia and had apparently been targeted by
separatists. The attack was condemned by the United States. [ the BBC seems to have concluded that it was a UCK
attack and therefore reports the Yugoslav version of events.]
The body of a man was found north of Djakovica, in a car which was shot through, it said. Another man was
found dead on the road south of Pristina, apparently shot in the back with an automatic weapon, according to the
center. The KVM was aware of those four bodies, but could not give more details, according to Walter
Ebenberger, a spokesman for the diplomatic observer mission.
Yet another man was found dead on Sunday, in a village near Kacanik, in the south, "most likely" shot by an
automatic weapon, the center said. The KVM could not confirm this incident. [ None of these are listed in tally,
but note the name of village, Kacanik which is frequent site of UCK killings ]
[as reported by the AFP] 8.Feb Sabaheta Zeka, 17, and Dzemailj Smaci, 20, were found dead in Djakovica, in
western Kosovo, apparently killed by an automatic weapon, according to the center.
8 Feb 14:10 (PMC) - Bodies of Sabahete Zeka (17) and Dzemailj Smaci (20) were found at the outskirt of
Djakovica this morning at 7 AM. Two of them were killed from fire weapons. According to first investigation
findings, they were shot with a number of bullets, probably fired from the assault rifle. The investigation of the
crime is under way. [ given the times and place, it appears the same UCK group was involved with the murders
described below ]
[as reported in AFP] 8. Feb; an Albanian, Skender Lekaj, 25, was wounded in an automatic weapon attack on
Sunday night and was taken to the Djakovica hospital, according to the Serb Information Center. [curious that
death of Luigj Mataj in same car not noted by AFP]
8 Feb 14:10 (PMC) - Skender Lekaj (1947) from Donje Novo Selo was transported to Djakovica hospital last
night, around midnight. Lekaj was wounded in his head and his arm from fire weapon. According to surgeon on
duty statement, Lekaj was badly wounded and the doctors are fighting to save his life. The police search after the
suspects.
PRISHTINA, Feb 10 (KIC) - The body of Isuf Berisha (63), resident of Polluzha, who went missing from his
work-place in the night of February 4th, has been found dead under the bridge of Ura e Terzisë in Bishtazhin
village of Gjakova. His body has been released today from the Gjakova town morgue, and was to be buried later in
the day in his native Polluzha village of Rahovec ('Orahovac') municipality.
Meanwhile, family members identified today in the city morgue in Prishtina the body of Muhamet Gani Reka
(1966) from Ferizaj. He went missing on 7 February. He is to be buried tomorrow (Thursday) in Ferizaj.
Two other Albanians from Ferizaj, Xhavit Avdiu and Salih Salihu, who were found killed after having gone
missing, were buried today in the town cemetery in Ferizaj.
8 Feb 14:10 (PMC) - A body of a man, some 25 to 30-year-old, was found on the road between Djakovica and
Trakanic village in bullet-riddled car "Lada" DJ-243-16 license plates, this morning at 7:30 AM. The police and
investigation authorities, accompanied by the OSCE KVM members have done the investigation and the
identification process of the victim is under way.
8 Feb 14:10 (PMC) - A body of a man, around 30-year-old, killed from fire weapon, was found by the road
Pristina Urosevac, near Livadje village, Lipljan municipality, last night at 10:30 PM. According to first
investigation findings, the man was killed with two shots in his back. The identification of the killed and the
investigation of the crime are under way.
8 February 1999 14:10 PRISTINA - A body of a man, probably killed from fire weapon, was found yesterday, at
about 5 PM, near the river in Kriva Reka village, Kacanik municipality. The investigation of the crime is under
way.
8 Feb 18:45 (PMC) - Investigation authorities identified this morning the man killed, whose body had been found
last night at about 5 PM, near the river in Kriva Reka village, Kacanik municipality. The killed person was
identified as Avdi Dzaviti (1945) from Urosevac.
According to his family members' statement, Avdi Dzaviti had been reported missing since January 31 this year
when, he had been last seen in front of his house in Urosevac.
6 Feb 21:30 (PMC)- Three persons were killed in a strong destructive force explosion in front of fruit-shop in
Pristina downtown, this evening just before 7 PM. Enver Salja (1947) and Vljora Kumoli (1981), both from
Pri{tina, were killed at the spot, while Arton Ajeti (1978), from Urosevac, died on the way to the Pristina hospital,
the Pristina Police headquarter confirmed Media Centar. The police came at the spot and the investigation is under
way. Investigation magistrate Danica Marinkovic stated at the incident spot that the investigation results will be
announced as soon as it is completed. The OSCE KVM was also informed and visited the incident spot already.
8. Feb (Tanjung) An explosive device was thrown into a Serb-owned café in Pristina, at 8:20 PM Friday evening,
the Pristina Police Department confirmed to Tanjug. There were no casualties, only shattered glass in the bar and
damage to a car parked outside. The investigation is in progress. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Verification Mission to Kosovo and Metohija was informed on the incident.
Pristina, Feb 7 (Tanjug - abridged) - Fourteen people were killed by firing arms, bombs and explosive devices in
Kosovo, only in the first six days of February. Three persons died after a blast of an explosion device in front of a
shop in Pristina. Another one died in a hamburger shop, one died after terrorist attack on a police car and others
were killed with a bullet in a head.
8.Feb (KDOM) Police also report that on February 5 Arben Rahmani of Orahovac was accosted by three men (one
uniformed) in a vineyard at Pashki Dol Teca. After checking his identity papers, one of the men used his radio to
ask whether the man should be killed or released. Before releasing him, the three questioned Rahmani about his
relations with Serbs, how many Serbs were in his village, and what arms the Serbs have. He was warned not to
return to the vineyard on penalty of death.
Yesterday, about 4.30 p.m., two armed persons stopped the loading vehicle [ tow truck ], whose owner is the
Kosmet Put company from Kosovska Mitrovica. The vehicle set off to Vucitrn municipality to pull out a long
vehicle from a ditch near the village of Nedakovic. The terrorists threatened the driver with guns and pushed him
out of the vehicle, then drove off towards the Crnuse village in Saljske Bajgore region. The vehicle is about 200
thousand D-marks worth. [ not in tally ]
11 Feb (Tanjug) has learnt from sources close to the police that Wednesday evening, around 21:00 hours, the Hoti
family from the village of Duskaje, two kilometers north-east of Istok, reported to the police that Haki Hoti (33),
owner of coffee-tea shop Hoti in Istok, was missing. The family said that he went missing after 17:30 while on his
way home. Investigating bodies of Pec District Court and OSCE Verification Mission members are at the site of
events [ included in tally, middle class shop keeper killed by UCK ]
Zecir Hiseni, 50, was abducted "during the funerals in Racak," the center said, citing his family. Hiseni formerly
worked at the Pristina municipal prison, it said. Two other Kosovo Albanians were reported missing after the
funeral. [ these appear to be the Oluri brothers, see below]
The OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) said on Friday it heard reports that an unspecified number of
ethnic Albanians had been abducted after the Racak funerals, but could not confirm the incidents. It said it sent a
team of verifiers to the area.
11 February 1999 19:15 (PMC ?) - Two men, Mehmet Oluri, aged 28, and Redjep Oluri, aged 40, from the village
of Petrovic, near Stimlje, were reported missing this afternoon.
Their family members reported their disappearance. According to their testimonies, the two attended today the
funeral in the village of Racak, after which unknown assailants abducted them in an unknown direction. This
disappearance has been reported to the OSCE verification mission.
12 Feb (AP) [more detail from AP ] Meanwhile, the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army released eight ethnic Albanians
reportedly suspected of working for Serb police. The eight, detained Thursday,were freed late Friday night, said
OSCE spokesman Jorgen Grunnet. [interestingly the US sectionl KVM daily report said 10 Albanians were briefly
detained for questioning and released ]
The detentions reflected the continuing friction between the rebels and other Kosovo Albanians thought to be loyal
to Serb authorities in Kosovo or opposed to the goal of independence.
Serbian state television aired an interview with a man identified as a brother of two of those detained. Hisen Oluri
said his brothers, Mehmet and Rexhep, were arrested because they recognize Kosovo as part of Serbia. He said the
KLA killed his youngest brother four months ago for a similar reason. [ Nazmi Oluri (1973) killed 29 Oct, see
report above ]
He and his brothers, he maintained, have tried to stay neutral. ``Everything I do I do honestly, and I accept this
state where I was born,'' he said. ``Mehmet only looked after his family, which he could barely keep fed.''
A local KLA official "admitted that the KLA had arrested people," but he did not specify how many or give the
reasons behind their arrests, said Walter Ebenberger, a KVM press officer