Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Lacelle who wrote (13956)	8/7/1999 3:01:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

The entire operation predictably beginning to resemble Somalia...on grand scale...Kosovo Serbs is the only faction that NATO can even trust.. NATO raids Kosovo 'interior minister', seizes arms 02:30 p.m Aug 07, 1999 Eastern By Mark Heinrich PRISTINA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - NATO troops raided a house being used by Kosovo's self-styled public order minister and several aides, seizing weapons in a crackdown on criminal intimidation in the capital Pristina, the KFOR peace force said on Saturday. Friday night's action came two days after ''Minister of Public Order'' Rexhep Selimi was briefly detained for threatening a peacekeeping patrol with a pistol and driving around in a vehicle with a flashing blue light. KFOR is the sole legitimate security force in Kosovo under an interim U.N. administration (UNMIK). But the Kosovo Liberation Army has formed a provisional government that has apparently been used as a cover by shadowy factions with paramilitary muscle to persecute opponents, both ethnic Albanians and Serbs, critics say. A KFOR statement said weapons, radio frequency scanners and documents found in the house raid suggested attempts to create ''illegitimate 'police' organisations'' intended to subvert the authority of UNMIK. It said the raid was ''part of a larger search operation investigating reports of increased criminal activity and intimidation'' in Pristina, the provincial capital which has been plagued by murder, arson, robbery and seizures of property. KFOR troops searching the house found a quantity of weapons and ammunition, including a submachinegun and grenade, around 20 radio frequency scanners and a ''very large quantity'' of German marks in a safe, the statement said. There were also a number of ''Ministry of Public Order'' identity cards which, along with the weapons, ammunition and radio equipment, were confiscated. Neither Selimi nor his colleagues were detained. The identity cards claimed to be issued on the authority of the ''ministry'' and appeared to bear Selimi's signature. ''The reverse of the card claims to give authority for the holder to conduct illegal activities including carrying and using weapons, entering and confiscating property without warning, requisitioning vehicles and detaining people,'' the statement said. It said Selimi had taken part in an August 2 meeting of the military Joint Implementation Committee, grouping KFOR and KLA representatives, ''when he was warned against any attempt to claim police powers or challenge the authority of UNMIK'' . ''Any attempt by any group to usurp this authority is not acceptable to the international community (under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 which established UNMIK) and will not be tolerated,'' the statement said. There has been tension between KLA hardliners and the new U.N. administration and KFOR. KLA militants believe the United Nations usurped the guerrillas' right to rule Kosovo. The KLA launched an uprising that, with decisive help from NATO bombings, drove Serbian security forces out of Albanian-majority Kosovo in June after 10 years of police repression. Western officials are concerned about anti-democratic tendencies in the KLA and say future self-government in Kosovo must be based on free elections which will probably be held under international supervision next year. Copyright 1999 Reuters

To: John Lacelle who wrote (13956)	8/7/1999 3:18:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

Peacekeepers Under Fire By Tom Cohen -- The Associated Press K O S O V S K A M I T R O V I C A, Yugoslavia , Aug. 7 — Heavily armed French peacekeepers today blocked an angry crowd of ethnic Albanians from marching into the Serb part of this tense industrial town in Kosovo. French troops detained at least four protesters after wrestling them to the ground. Stray gunshots rang out today as dozens of French troops tried to defuse the confrontation at a bridge over the Ibar River, which divides the town. About 100 Serbs hurled stones at the ethnic Albanians as the two sides shouted insults and profanities. The incident occurred amid growing concern over the safety of peacekeeping troops. Late Thursday and early Friday, a Russian soldier suffered a thigh wound and one ethnic Albanian was seriously wounded. NATO forces detained a total of 15 suspects. Trouble started here at midmorning, when about 100 ethnic Albanians assembled on their side of the Ibar bridge for what was supposed to have been a protest attended by politicians from the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Democratic League of Kosovo. However, the politicians failed to show up, so the ethnic Albanians decided to cross the bridge, where an equal number of Serbs had assembled to stop them. Escorted Visits Across the Bridge About 10 French military vehicles and nearly 40 troops separated the two groups. Scuffles broke out as French soldiers pushed the Albanians back. Kosovska Mitrovica, about 18 miles northwest of Pristina, has been one of Kosovo's flashpoints because of the presence here of large ethnic Albanian and Serb communities. Serbs live on one side of the Ibar river, Albanians on the other, and French troops separate them. Many on the Albanian side say they were thrown out of their homes on the Serb side during the Kosovo conflict and have been prevented by both Serbs and the French from returning. “It's not just Serbia that won't let them in,” said Halit Barani of the ethnic Albanian Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedom. “It's the French soldiers that won't.” French Lt. Meriadic Raffray said peacekeepers had been conducting escorted visits across the bridge over the past few days. He accused ethnic Albanian extremists of trying “to provoke a reaction like this.” “In all our cases, our way of working is the same,” Raffray said. “The only rule is to respect order. We cannot accept them to work outside the law. How do you want us to find a solution to a problem that began centuries ago? We are here for three years. We must have patience.” Albanians Stage Protests In addition, ethnic Albanians have staged several protest marches against the Russians in the past week. They also accuse Russian mercenaries of fighting alongside Serb forces in their campaign of massacres and expulsions against ethnic Albanians. Since entering the province on June 12 ahead of NATO troops, Russian forces have grown in number to about 3,600. They conduct patrols in the American sector in eastern Kosovo and the German sector in the west. Serbs blame the rest of the NATO force for not adequately protecting them against attacks from revenge-minded ethnic Albanians. More than 160,000 Serbs have fled the province in the past eight weeks and raised questions about the effectiveness of the peacekeeping mission. Only three major incidents were reported late Friday and early today in what NATO spokesman, Maj. Roland Lavoie, described as the “quietest night” since the peacekeeping mission began in June. A Strong International Police Force A girl lost her leg when she stepped on a land mines in the American sector, he said. An old man was killed in a land mine accident in the British zone. A man believed to have been an Albanian died in a shooting in the British sector. No further details were available. Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to establish a strong international police force in Kosovo. Sven Frederickson, the Danish police commissioner heading the force, said there are 270 foreign police officers now working in the province and another 200 going through the five-day induction program. He said he expects 200 additional policemen to arrive every week until the force reaches its target of 3,100. Speaking in Helsinki, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari criticized the UN-controlled international police for having an unclear mandate and said the main responsibility for maintaining order should rest on the troops of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.