They will even attack their own compatriots
Glas Javnosti - 1 September 2003

Written by: Ljiljana Staletovic

The chairman of the National Front for the Unification of Albanians, Alban Vjosa, recently threatened that the ANA (Albanian National Army) would attack targets that would cause the Serb side the most pain. This threat could mean planting explosives in public places, mainly markets, schools and squares in southern Serbia, Kosovo-Metohija, or parts of central Serbia. Glas's sources in Kosovo warn of the possibility of terrorist attacks being carried out along the lines of the methods of Al-Qa'idah and of a possible scenario of the Sarajevo Markale (market place where an explosion called heavy loss of life during the Bosnian war; the Bosnian authorities and the Bosnian Serbs each blamed the other for the attack). The most suitable target for something like that could be Kosovska Mitrovica, and primarily its northern part, which is not inhabited exclusively by Serbs, as is mistakenly thought, but where Albanians also live.

According to information reaching Glas, the Albanian terrorists are slowly tightening their grip around northern Mitrovica and Zvecan. Uniformed and armed terrorists have been spotted on surrounding peaks above the southern part of the town along the Mitrovica-Leposavic-Raska road from the direction of Stari Trg, near one of their training camps. The area of Salja and Bajgora, June and Ceranjska River is full of terrorists, who are also in the town itself. Our sources say that in the southern part of Mitrovica there are 70 to 120 members of a Wahhabi group, who are preparing for acts of terrorism. They are moving into the northern part of the town, into the so-called zones of trust, and it is assumed that among them are those who carried out bomb attacks on three high-rise buildings in northern Mitrovica. Mujahidin have been seen in Bosnjacka Mahala, and it is assumed that there are also terrorists in Mikro Naselje, which houses a large number of Albanians who were never inhabitants of Mitrovica.

According to our sources, the target of the attacks will be places where large numbers of people gather - schools and university departments, as well as buildings housing the offices of the Coordination Centre and the media. And the terrorists will not hesitate to carry out actions like the Markale attack. The Wahhabi are even prepared to carry out terrorist attacks on mosques in the southern part of Mitrovica, the Muslim cemetery in the northern part of the town, and the water supply system in Sipolje, which is the part of town controlled by the Albanians, in order to bring about a humanitarian catastrophe. Neither will members of the international forces and the premises in which they are housed be spared. Another target could also be the railway bridge linking the two parts of the town, because the railway is the only link that the Serbs from Priluzje, Plemetina, Bresje, Kosovo Polje and Lipljan have with Mitrovica or Zvecan, where the trains stop, and hence with central Serbia.

The aims are clear. The attacks along the lines of Markale in the zones of trust, which would cause heavy casualties among the Albanians, as well as the destruction of mosques and the desecration of Muslim graves would be designed to indicate to the world that they were perpetrated by the Serbs, especially since - with the exception of the mosque - all these targets are in northern Mitrovica. So they would blame the Serbs for these attacks, again turning the international community against them. These actions would sow fear among the Albanians who live unhindered in northern Mitrovica, and this could lead very quickly to interethnic clashes, which in turn and according to the well established scenario could result in the exodus of Albanians from this part of town, with the Albanian movement making heavy propaganda capital out of this. This action, which would be carried out jointly by the ANA and its main financier, the Albanian mafia, would serve as a pretext for whipping up public opinion in Albanian political circles and the international community about the Serbs perpetrating terrorism against the Albanians. At the same time, it would cause panic among the Serbs, who are without any protection. All of this would result in pressure on UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) and Kfor (Kosovo Force) to place the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica under their control, which would prompt an exodus of Serbs. When the real truth comes out it will be too late: the problem of Mitrovica will have been resolved to the benefit of the Albanians, and northern Kosovo will be left without Serbs.

"The Wahhabi embody an element of fanaticism and extremism and have become an independent and inexhaustible source of bloody conflict. Nothing is sacrosanct for them, not even their own holy places, mosques, and graveyards. That is why they are effective in causing serious conflict, including massacres among the Albanian population. Wahhabi fanaticism is therefore also a serious threat to the Islamic community in Kosovo-Metohija," explains Tomislav Kresovic, a political analyst for the BINA agency.

Source: Glas Javnosti, Belgrade, in Serbian 1 Sep 03 p 7

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