Gun law takes over as snipers pose
threat to fragile peace
SNIPERS are the latest curse to grip Pristina as British
troops struggle to prevent gun law taking hold in the
capital.
Three people have been shot dead in the past three days
by snipers who are once more emptying streets that had
only just come back to life.
Another man was hit yesterday as he drove through the
busiest thoroughfare in Pristina, prompting military
commanders to fear the start of a sniper war that would
paralyse what progress to peace has been made.
British troops were confiscating weapons from fighters of
the Kosovo Liberation Army last night to stem the
growing exodus of Serb families who complain they are
now victims of gun law.
Paratroopers had to rescue the latest victim, a Serb, who
was targeted by a gunman hiding in a tower block. They
searched apartments amid reports that KLA hit teams are
stalking Serb security forces who they claim have
discarded their uniforms and are still operating in the
capital.
A senior KLA official told The Times last night: "We
know who the Serb secret police are and if Nato won't
deal with them, we will."
Yesterday a 20-mile queue of cars, buses and tractors
snaked out of Urosevac in southern Kosovo as almost all
the 30,000 Serbs there fled the area after reports that
KLA gunmen had kidnapped six Serb youths.
Gripping the wheel of his car, Rade Budic said: "We are
refugees now. We have been ethnically cleansed by Nato
and their allies, the KLA."
The 55-year-old factory owner and the six members of
his family squeezed into his car described how KLA
gunmen told them to leave their homes.
"Only the very old are left. They are kidnapping our boys
and yet we are not given protection as Nato promised."
Behind him in the queue, Slavica Blaziq sat in the front of
her car and wept. "I have lived here all my life. Think what
you like about the Yugoslav Army but why must we suffer
now? No one has sympathy for us," she said.
Personal appeals from the likes of Lieutenant-General Sir
Michael Jackson and most of his senior commanders to
Serb communities have failed to stop an estimated 50,000
leaving since Monday.
If the drain continues at this pace by the time the last Serb
security forces pull out by Sunday's night deadline, Nato's
aim of protecting a multi-ethnic Kosovo could prove futile.
There were scenes of near panic at Pristina's main bus
station as thousands tried to get on the last coach heading
for Belgrade yesterday. Parents could be seen trying to
shove their crying children through the open door of the
already overcrowded bus as it was pulling out.
One man who could not find a space on the bus sank to
his knees saying "the KLA are the law, not Nato". Like
most he refused to give his name, fearing reprisals.
The KLA make no secret of their presence in Pristina.
They have taken one of the largest and most ostentatious
houses in the wealthy suburb of Kolvicere as their
temporary headquarters.
The sight of gun-toting KLA sentries in their lurid uniforms
parading outside the complex of villas they have acquired
does little to assuage Serb fears.
"We want a headquarters right in the heart of Pristina.
That is what we deserve and what the Albanian people
want but we are talking to Nato about it. Nato is the boss
in Kosovo at the moment," one officer said.
The various national contingents in Kfor are not bothering
to wait for any timetable to be signed in Tirana to grab as
many KLA guns as they can.
There is criticism the Germans were too lax in Prizren,
allowing gun-toting KLA men to take over headquarter
buildings left by departing Serbs.
American Marines have spent the past two days
encouraging camera crews to watch them conduct stop
and search operations on suspected KLA gunmen. In one
stand-off on the forecourt of a petrol station the
Americans raised their guns as two KLA men refused to
hand over their weapons.
British commanders want to avoid a shoot-out with the
150 KLA fighters known to be in the outskirts of the
capital so have not stormed their headquarters to seize its
armoury.
One officer said: "For the moment we are trying to
negotiate and the KLA are being largely compliant. But
the time is coming when they have to cough up everything
they have or we will take them".
Scotland's Daily Record said two of its journalists and
their Albanian interpreter were hurt when unidentified
gunmen fired at their car near the southern village of
Stimjle. Simon Houston, 30, a reporter, suffered a grazed
head and an injured arm and Chris Watt, 29, a
photographer, who was driving, was grazed by a bullet in
the incident Wednesday night. Xherdet Shabani, 28, an
interpreter, was shot in the shoulder.
the-times.co.uk
|
