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

To: Yaacov who wrote (6712)	5/4/1999 6:04:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 17770

Get out of hand? Things are out of hand all right... and how about this? US backs down on Sudan factory Remains of the El Shifa plant in Khartoum The United States has unfrozen the assets of the owner of a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory it bombed and totally destroyed last year. A BBC Middle East analyst says the move is an implicit acknowledgement that Washington has no evidence to justify its action last August. The decision to unconditionally release Saudi businessman Salah Idris' assets was taken on Monday - the day the US Government was legally required to respond to a suit he filed in February against the US Treasury. The suit said Washington had refused to release Mr Idris' $24m Bank of America deposits, even though the US could not prove its accusation that the factory in El Shifa, Khartoum, was being used to make chemical weapons. The US Government insisted the plant was linked to the Islamic dissident, Osama bin Laden, whom it accused of bombing two US embassies in Africa last year. Speaking for Mr Idris, lawyer George Salem said: "Fortunately, we live in a country where we have a system of justice that requires that people produce evidence when someone is accused of being a terrorist." Mr Idris now plans to pursue the US for full compensation for destroying the factory. The suit against the treasury and a separate action against Bank of America will now be dropped. The US Justice department said it still believed the businessman might be involved in international terrorism, but that it was not prepared to compromise "sensitive information" for the sake of the case. A statement said: "There are things that Mr Idris has associated himself with that I think that every American would find reprehensible. ... and we will continue to monitor his network for any potential threat to US interests." The factory was flattened on 20 August 1998 by 13 cruise missiles, just weeks after bomb attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania claimed the lives of 301 people. The government of Sudan called the action a "blunder" and said the factory produced everyday goods vital for the Sudanese people. news.bbc.co.uk

To: Yaacov who wrote (6712)	5/4/1999 6:38:00 PM
From: nuke44	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

I don't know that NATO misread the situation other than giving Milosevic too much credit for compassion and for assuming that he would act for the good of his people instead of for himself. He has now proven irrevocably that he will see Yugoslavia and it's people destroyed before he relinquishes his power over them. Milosevic, on the other hand, probably misread NATO's willingness to deal out destruction until he meets their terms. The only thing holding NATO back right now are their efforts to limit civilian casualties. Unfortunately, the longer Milosevic maintains his death grip on power, the more civilian casualties there are going to be. Those of you that are interested should check out www.gov.yu , the official website of the Federal Government of Yugoslavia. It would be almost entertaining if it wasn't so pathetically biased and untruthful. Before now, I never doubted the Serbs claims that they have been the victims of oppression and ethnic violence during several periods over the last 600 years. Now, reading their bullshit claims that they are innocent victims of NATO's brutal aggression and that they have never done anything to deserve it, makes me realize that they could well have been lying about the previous events too. Be sure to check out the one interview of the incompetent Yugoslav air force pilot that survived getting shot down by "better equipped, better paid, fully insured" NATO pilots. He said that the Yugoslav air force has shot down "hundreds" of NATO aircraft and only lost a few, because of their superior "heart". The Yugoslav people aren't really buying this crap are they? If they are, no wonder they let themselves be led into such a shitstorm.

To: Yaacov who wrote (6712)	5/4/1999 9:25:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

Are they aware that Macedonia could go-up in flames? And what are they doing-next to nothing Israel took more than "mouse that roared" Blair UN to begin transferring more refugees to Albania 07:31 a.m. May 04, 1999 Eastern By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday it would begin transferring some Kosovo refugees from Macedonia to Albania in the next days as a ''last resort'' to ease overcrowded camps in Macedonia. But Kris Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said it would only move refugees who volunteered after Macedonia's government guaranteed that they would still be eligible for evacuation to a third country. The Geneva-based agency said 11,600 Kosovo Albanians had arrived on Monday by train and bus in Macedonia -- one of the large single-day influxes. A ''mere 700'' had arrived in Albania amid reports of continuing atrocities in Djakovica and Prizren. The latest figures in the exodus were ''an indication that the main thrust of the Serbian cleansing effort is directed toward Macedonia,'' Janowski told a news briefing in Geneva. ''The situation in Macedonia is critical. Over the next few days, refugees will have to be transferred by buses to Albania where NATO is helping with the construction of new tented camps in Korca in the vicinity of Lake Ochrid,'' he said. ''They may move as early as tomorrow (Wednesday).'' Space for 6,000 refugees in Albania has been identified until facilities can be expanded, according to the spokesman. NATO said on Monday it planned to build camps in Albania for 160,000 refugees, including up to 60,000 from Macedonia, but it was not clear when they would be ready. ''We are still insisting that departure to be voluntary and also insist, and the Macedonian government agrees, that people going to Albania still be eligible for humanitarian evacuation,'' Janowski said. ''The idea of sending people to Albania, where infrastructure is worse than in Macedonia, was always questionable. Now it seems to be the last resort.'' Janowski added: ''Taking people out of Macedonia...is designed to allay fears of the Macedonian government and keep them on board.'' ''The problem is that a political decision of the government to expand and build new camps is not there. The government is saying 'We have taken as many as we can take and we would like you to look after them and take them out of the country'.'' ''They have a very good point. It is a small country and it is destabilising,'' the spokesman added. Macedonia has taken in 204,070 Kosovo refugees, while Albania is ''swamped'' with nearly 400,000, according to UNHCR. In all, the U.N. agency estimates that more than 800,000 Kosovo Albanians and Serbs have fled the conflict over the past year. They include 100,000 asylum-seekers in Europe and 27,524 flown out from Macedonia in an evacuation begun a month ago. Germany (9,974), Turkey (5,827) and France (2,354) have taken the bulk of Kosovo evacuees, according to UNHCR. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said evacuations outside of Europe would begin this week to three countries -- Australia, Canada and the United States. The first flight will be on Tuesday from Skopje to Ontario, Canada, an IOM spokesman told the news briefing. Canada has said it will take in 5,000 Kosovo refugees. A first flight to the United States is to depart from Skopje on Wednesday and bring up to 470 refugees to New Jersey, he added. The United States has agreed to take in 20,000 Kosovars. The first flight to Australia, via Rome, is on Thursday. The government has said it will take up to 4,000 refugees. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.