KOSOVO NEWS WIRE - March 19 2004

Due to the sheer scale of terrorist violence that is being perpetrated by the Albanian terrorist hordes against the non-Albanian civilian population residing in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija, providing a link to each individual news report on the main page of the website would be a huge task. Therefore, we are providing the a collection raw newswire feeds for the day of March 19, 2004 on this one page. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause.

22:11 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - The Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre said on Friday it had been confirmed that the St. Nichola's Church in Pristina, as well as the whole church inventory had been completely destroyed.

A statement issued on the occasion said that church superior Father Miroslav Popadic had visited the remains of the church and seen for himself that everything had been destroyed in the blaze, and that one of the most valuable iconostatsis of Serbian Orthodox churches had turned into ashes.
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21:35 WASHINGTON , March 19 (Tanjug) - Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic told Tanjug that he was satisfied with Friday's meetings at the US State Department, because he had seen that "a more realistic assessment of the situation in Kosovo is gradually beginning to prevail" in the US Administration.

Svilanovic said that a joint assessment made in his talks with US Deputy State Secretary Colin Powell, Richard Armitage and other Administration officials was that nobody who had organised violence could draw neither political nor any other profit from it.
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21:35 LONDON , March 19 (Tanjug) - Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica said on Friday that an orchestrated violence of ethnic Albanians against Serbs and non-Albanians was underway in Kosovo, which represented a proof of the military and political failure of the international community, which had been running the province ever since 1999.

In a late Friday phone conversation with the British SKY TV editor, announced in a prime time news broadcast, Kostunica said that the aim of the latest wave of intelectually organised and orchestrated violence was further ethhnic cleansing aimed against Serbs and other non-Albanians.
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20:57 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - Kfor does not know what to do with over 800 Serbs from the enclaves of Gojbulja, Svinjare and Lipljan from the central part of the province, so that on Friday, it called on northern Kosovo mayors to find accomodation for the victims of the ethnic Albanian cleansing, whom he had failed to protect.

Kfor has only succeeded in evacuating the Serbs into their base, and is now trying to tranfer them to somewhere else, but the Serb mayors said they had even less possibilities than Kfor to take care of the expelled.
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20:44 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - Quoting sources at UNMIK, the Serbian Orthodox Bishop's Diocese of Raska and Prizren said in a statement on Friday that the situation in Gorazdevac was presently calm, but that there were rumours that ethnic Albanians from neighbouring villages were ready to start attacking.

According to the coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija, the population of Gorazdevac has been alarmed by information that an attack at this village will be launched and by KFOR's proposal to evacuate them "because it is unable to protect them."

20:04 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - An opening of registration points at Serbia-Kosovo administrative crossings began on Friday, all in keeping with a possible emigration of the people of Kosovo.

A statement issued by the Informatuon Service of the Kosovo-Metohija coordination centre, pointed to the fact that that had been done following a Thursday meeting of the Serbian government Refugee Commissariat with UNHCR representatives, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Cross of Serbia.
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19:48 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - More than 150 Serbs, including children and pregnant women, have been evacuated from Obilic and neighbouring settlements and Pristina to the KFOR camp near Kosovo Polje, the coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement on Friday.

Each of the IDPs has been given just one blanket, they receive food regularly, but say that the portions are small, the statement said.
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19:26 GRACANICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - According to the municipal Red Cross organisation, about 200 IDPs from Lipljan, Kosovo Polje and Kisnica arrived in Gracanica, central Kosovo-Metohija, at about 2.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday, the coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

Eighty of them were received by their relatives and friends and the other 120 were accommodated by the Red Cross. Preparations are being made for receiving new IDPs.
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19:18 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - The Red Cross Organisation in Kosovo-Metohija on Friday informed the coordination centre that it was unable to deliver the necessary humanitarian aid to enclaves, because KFOR and UNMIK were unable to accompany the shipment, the coordination centre for Kosovo-Metohija said in a statement.

The centre informed the Belgrade offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, UNHCR and UNICEF about this problem, calling for their support in delivering the necessary humanitarian aid to the population of isolated enclaves.
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18:18 PRISTINA , March 19 (Tanjug) - Commander of NATO's southern wing Admiral Gregory Johnson assessed on Friday that the large scale violence in Kosovo and Metohija represented ethnic cleansing.

Johnson said in Pristina after talks with UNMIK chief Harri Holkeri that the kind of violence underway was essentially ethnic cleansing, which must be stopped, and that was the reason why they came to Kosovo.
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18:11 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - UNMIK's regional office is as of Friday in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, because after the violence of Albanians security conditions did not exist for the work of that office in the southern part of town. Tanjug was told in UNMIK's service for the media that the entire staff of UNMIK and of other international organisations was evacuated on Thursday and that they spent the night in a Kfor base in Novo Selo near Vucitrn.

Besides international personnel, shelter in Kfor's base also found number of Ashkaly returnees to the southern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, because Albanians were threating their lives, as well as more than 100 children and women from the village of Svinjare who were evacuated after the Albanians set fire to it.
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16:55 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - Tens of thousand of citizens of Serbia, responding to the call of the Serbian government, sent on Friday during the protest walk in Belgrade a clear meassage to the UN Security Council to etablish peace immediately and ensure the safety of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

A peaceful protest walk, organized because of the armed terror over the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija, was headed by Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica, Assembly President Predrag Markovic and members of the government.
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16:33 PRISTINA , March 19 (Tanjug) - International Kosovo forces (Kfor) said in a statement on Friday that 61 members of Kfor were wounded on Wednesday and on Thursday in clashes in Kosovo and Metohija.

Kfor spokesman Atanasios Zormbas said that three of the soldiers were seriously wounded.
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16:33 ZVECAN , March 19 (Tanjug) - The situation in the southern Serbian province is dramatic, particularly in central Kosovo where Albanians are conducting the ethnic cleansing of Serbs, it was assessed on Friday at a meeting of representatives of Serbian municipalities with the president and vice-president of the Serbian Assembly Council for Kosovo and Metohija.

In a meeting in Zvecan municipal assembly attended by the mayors of Serbian municipalities in Kosovo and Metohija, deputies in the Serbian Assembly and representatives of political parties in the province, concern was voiced over the strengthenign of Albanian terror against the Serbian people.

15:28 PODGROICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - Several hundred Podgorica highschool pupils protested on Friday in the streets of the capital of Montenegro, because of the violence of Albanians over the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija.

The pupils marched along the central street in Podgorica chanting "We will not give up Kosovo" and "Stop to Albanian terror," carrying a banner saying "Kosovo is Serbia."
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15:01 BELGRADE , March 19 (tanjug) - Serbian Assembly Coucnil for Security president Milorad Mircic said on Friday, after a joint session of that and of the Council for Kosovo and Metohija, that Albanian terrorists had already prepared a scenario for southern Serbia.

In southern Serbia a number of Albanain families are preparing to, along with a media campaign, to leave parts of the municipality of that region, so as to score some points by placign the blame on Serbian security bodies, Mircic said at a news conference.
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14:47 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - Danish soldiers within Kfor have killed a sniper shooter in a residential area in the northern part of town, Serbian sources in the town told Tanjug on Friday.

According to the same sources, the killed sniper shooter opened fired from one of the three highrises on the bank of the river Ibar in the northern part of town, inhabited exclusively by Albanians, wounding one Kfor soldier.
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14:33 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - Orthodox monastery Devic from the 14th century, one of the most important Serbian monuments of culture in Kosovo and Metohija has been set on fire after it was abandoned on Thursday agternoon soldiers of Danish Kfor who only one day earlier were sent to protect it, UNMIK confirmed officially on Friday.

In the report of UNMIK's regional bureau in Kosovska Mitrovica, it is said that Devic monastery was now completely undefended and that forces of the Danish batallion had withdrawn with those who were in the monstary to a base in a village house nearby.
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13:50 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - Diaspora Serbs on Friday sent a strong protest to the international community, KFOR, the United Nations (UN), and the United States (US) administration, against the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija, which is under protection of the international community.

The Serbian Unity Congress asked the international community, primarily the US administration and the UN Security Council, urgently to protect the people in Kosovo and Metohija, or, if they are unable to do this, to ask for the assistance of the Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) army and police, as envisaged under UN Security Council Resolution 1244.
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11:38 KOSOVO POLJE , March 19 (Tanjug) - The Health Center in Kosovo Polje has been torn down and burned to the ground, but the medical staff managed to escape before the onslaught of enraged ethnic Albanians, Dr Gradimir Lazic told Tanjug on Friday.

"The day before yesterday, they (Kosovo Albanians) destroyed and burned everything after we managed to flee, escaping with our bare lives. About 200 employees of the Health Center found refuge in the neighboring village of Ugljare, where we are trying to organize some form of medical protection for the people in one of the houses," Dr Lazic said.
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11:32 PRISTINA , March 19 (Tanjug) - At least 31 persons have been killed and over 500 injured in the ethnic violence in Kosovo and Metohija on Wednesday and Thursday, the United Nations mission in Kosovo-Metohija (UNMIK) said in Pristina.

Among the injured, 61 are policemen and 35 NATO troops, UNMIK spokesperson Isabella Karlovitz said for the French news agency AFP on Friday.
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10:45 NEW YORK , March 19 (Tanjug) - French Ambassador on the United Nations (UN) Security Council Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said at a council session in New York on Thursday that the violence in Kosovo and Metohija province "is unacceptable and must stop immediately".

After the close of an emergency session of the Security Council devoted to Kosovo and Metohija, the ambassador read a statement unanimously adopted by representatives of 15 member-states of one of the most important UN bodies.
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10:14 NEW YORK , March 19 (Tanjug) - Serbia and Montenegro (SCG) Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic told the United Nations (UN) Security Council in New York on Thursday that the attacks on Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija present a signal to them that "there is no life for them in the province and that they should leave," and for the international forces in the province that "they have no real authority and power in their area of operation".

In the attack on the province's Serb community, the "Serbian population suffered a purge, the objective of which was its ethnic cleansing from Kosovo and Metohija," Svilanovic said. International forces in Kosovo (KFOR) and the UN mission in the province (UNMIK) "failed so far to stop this action," he said.
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09:50 BELGRADE , March 19 (Tanjug) - UNMIK police spokesman Derek Chappel confirmed for Tanjug that Kosovo Albanians on Thursday night stormed and torched the Christian Orthodox Church of St Nikola in central Pristina.

Chappell also said a member of the UNMIK police force received a bullet wound in clashes of ethnic Albanian protesters with police forces in Pristina.
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09:27 KOSOVSKA MITROVICA , March 19 (Tanjug) - Kosovska Mitrovica Hospital deputy chief Milan Ivanovic confirmed for Tanjug that several shells of different caliber had hit the hospital compound late Thursday.

Moscow -- Friday -- The Russian parliament today unanimously passed a resolution saying the Serbian-Montenegrin military should be allowed to help defend the Kosovo Serbs.

The resolution also condemned the failure of international organisations to stem the ethnic violence between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo.

The lower house of parliament, the Duma, said a new UN resolution on Kosovo should be passed to reaffirm the Belgrade government's sovereignty over Kosovo and that "the military units of Serbia-Montenegro should take part in defence of the Serb population of the region, of Orthodox churches and guarding borders."

"So far all measures taken by KFOR and the UN mission have in fact brought nothing but a temporary freeze of the conflict," the Duma said.

The lawmakers, who passed the resolution by a 397-0 vote, said they were also ready to offer "any necessary assistance on Russia's part, including emergency measures to evacuate Serbs from the conflict zone and humanitarian aid" if Serbs are forced to flee Kosovo.

Russia's Emergency Situations Minster Sergey Shoigu was to travel to the Balkans soon to discuss the situation in Kosovo, said the head of the Duma's international affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachyov, Interfax news agency reported.

Russia has strong cultural ties to the Serbs, sharing the Orthodox religion and Slavic roots.

ROME -- The Italian commander of a brigade of NATO troops in Kosovo accused ethnic Albanians on Friday of deliberately setting off the violence which killed at least 31 people this week.

"The wave of violence set off by the Albanians hasn't shown signs of calming down," General Alberto Primicerj said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily.

Primicerj commands more than 7,000 of the 17,000 troops in the NATO-led force in Kosovo, KFOR.

He said his troops had been working to evacuate Serbs from their homes in several towns for their own safety.

"We have had serious problems in Grabac, where 35 Serbs live. They didn't want to leave the homes they rebuilt after the war. We had to use force and take them away because around 2,000 armed Albanians surrounding their homes had decided to set them ablaze."

The general said troops had also evacuated four elderly nuns from an Orthodox Serb monastery in the town of Diesa.

"A crowd of at least 500 Albanians had begun throwing petrol bombs at the monastery. We had to line up outside and hold them back by firing in the air."

"They returned later with Kalashnikovs and grenades. This time we responded with fire and wounded some of them. Then we took the four nuns away. The Albanians set the monastery on fire."

PRISTINA -- Friday – International police representatives in Kosovo have told the province’s government that the attacks on Serbs enclaves are being coordinated from one centre, SRNA news agency reports.

The officials insisted they are not spontaneous attacks.

BUGOJNO -- Friday – The Serb and Bosniac members of Bosnia’s collective presidency have set out to the town of Bugojno in central Bosnia where a Serbian Orthodox church is reported to have been set on fire.

Local priest Slavisa Djuric has called on Republic of Srpska authorities to assist Serbs in the town who, he says are in a very difficult position.

He described the torching of the church as yet another psychological attack aimed at preventing Serbs from returning to the area.

PRISTINA -- Friday – Some 300 Serbs from Obilic and the Kosovo capital Pristina have been evacuated to the nearby KFOR base, a Serb orthodox priest has told a local radio station.

Father Miroslav Popadic told Kosovska Mitrovica Radio KIM that the St. Nikola Church in Pristina had been burnt down.

He described the conditions for the evacuees: “The conditions are very bad, people are sleeping in tents. There are small children…pregnant women, sick people. The people want to leave for central Serbia. They have nothing to go back to, their houses have been burnt.”

LIPLJAN -- Thursday – International peacekeeping troops are in heavy conflict with Albanian demonstrators in the town of Lipljan tonight.

Latest reports say that Albanians have thrown grenades at Kosovo Police Service stations in the town.

Lipljan municipal official Borivoje Vignjevic told B92 at about 8.00 p.m. that a large group of Albanian had been attempting for hours to set fire to the Vavadenje Monastery in the town’s centre.

“A large number of Finnish troops who were joined by Czech troops and special US army troops from Bosnia are around the church and trying in every possible ways to prevent the Albanians from getting closer to Lipljan.

“Unfortunately, right at the moment I can see thick smoke coming from Lipljan. Many houses have been set on fire, we don’t know the exact number.

“Some of the Serbs are still in various places around the town: we hope that they are alright and that their lives are not in danger.

“I can also tell you that some time ago a large group of Albanians began making their way from the direction of Toplicani towards Staro Gracko, but they turned back when the police and KFOR opened fire on them and then dispersed.

“The locals in Staro Gracko are very concerned, they are being provided with security by a large number of soldiers and police officers.

“A group of about a hundred elderly people, women and children from Lipljan have been given accommodation in the Vila camp; the Finnish troops there accepted them without any problems, they know the situation we are all in,” Vignjevic told B92.

PRISTINA -- Thursday – At least 31 people are dead and more than five hundred injured after the past two days of violence in Kosovo and casualties are expected to continue, according to the United Nations mission in the province.

“We have 31 killed and at least five hundred injured,” said UNMIK representative Izabella Karlowicz, adding that 96 of the injured are police or KFOR troops.

At least sixteen churches and other Orthodox Church premises have been destroyed or burnt in towns across the province.

International peacekeepers have evacuated hundreds of Serbs from parts of Kosovo where they have been targeted by Albanian extremists setting fire to Serb-owned or occupied buildings.

Serbia-Montenegro has threat- ened to take action in Kosovo if Nato troops fail to protect Serbs attacked by ethnic Albanians, potentially plunging the region back into instability and sparking a wider conflict.

Boris Tadic, Serbia's defence minister, said Belgrade reserved the right to change its hands-off approach in Kosovo where mob violence has raged since Wednesday. His statement is the first official admission that Serbia's trust in international peacekeepers has begun to fray.

Seven member states sent reinforcements for Nato's 18,000-strong Kfor force. About 150 British troops landed on Friday, the first of a promised 750 soldiers. Germany said it was sending more than 600 soldiers and France pledged an extra 400.

Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia's prime minister, has called the violence a "pogrom". Few Serbs accept claims from Kosovo Albanian leaders that the sudden surge in violence came about spontaneously. Bajram Rexhepi, the ethnic Albanian prime minister of Kosovo's provisional government, has urged rioters to stop. In a poll of Serbs, a quarter said Serbian military engagement was the only solution, and more than half said that should remain an option if diplomacy failed. Thousands of Serbs marched in Belgrade on Friday demanding an end to the violence.

The fighting, which left at least 31 dead and hundreds more wounded, has proved an overwhelming task for Kfor troops, which have reportedly fled some Serb communities under their protection in the face of heavy mob pressure. European diplomats said France was highly embarrassed about the violence. Under Kfor - established in 1999 after a United Nations Security Council resolution - French troops are responsible for the area around the northern town of Mitrovica, where the violence began. The diplomats said US and German intelligence experts had warned Nato weeks ago of the danger of ethnic unrest.

Concerns that the violence could spill into Macedonia, as it did in 2001, were played down by Macedonia's national security council, which said that no problems were evident. However, the burning of an orthodox church in a Muslim-dominated part of Bosnia on Friday indicated that trouble could spread elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia.

The Diocese of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija has just received word that the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, built 1920-22, has been set on fire. In January Albanians set fire to the church belfry in the courtyard; now the entire building is on fire.

According to UNMIK estimates, this would be 17th Serbian Orthodox Church destroyed in the last two days of Albanian raging in Kosovo and Metohija; there are indications that the number could be at least 20 destroyed churches.

Today was also burned down the church in Pecka Banja, near Pec. In Vucitrn a group of Kosovo Albanians stormed the church of ST. Elias in Vucitrn and burned it down with molotov cocktails.

According to the evidence which arrive to the diocese of Raska and Prizren the number of destroyed churches in the last two days is at least 20 and very probably even larger. Together with 112 churches destroyed since the arrival of peace mission in 1999 the post-war number of destroyed churches is higher than 130 holy sites. The number of Serb victims is not known becaue many Serbs are still missing and there are no Serb humanitarian organizations which may freely move and gather precise information.

At least 31 people were killed, some 500 wounded and thousands evacuated, tens of churches were set ablaze, a United Nations spokeswoman has confirmed

TORONTO, March 18 /CNW/ - Violent attacks across Kosovo began after claims that Albanian boys had been chased into the Ibar river by Serbian boys with a dog. UNMIK spokesman Derek Chappell told media in Pristina today that this was definitely not true according to the account of the surviving boy. Chappell further said that the survivor of yesterday's river drowning has told his parents that he and three friends entered the river alone and were immediately caught up in the heavy current.

"The violence in Kosovo today has obviously been planned in advance", Chappell told Austrian state television ORF. "There has been violence in Kosovo before, but this time it's coordinated action. The violence erupted in a number of places at the same time which shows that it was planned in advance," he said. It is important to note that these attacks can not be described as clashes between Albanians and Serbs - this is a well planned and coordinated operation with the intent of ethnically cleansing the remaining Serb population from the province.

Albanian apologists are trying to find a reason behind these attacks, blaming events from the past for this kind of violence. However, brutal killing of the elderly, women and children is a crime that should not be tolerated and accepted. It is terror in its ugliest form. The Centre for Peace in the Balkans calls for KFOR and the UN mission in Pristina to protect the lives of minorities and their property in Kosovo and demands swift action from the international community in condemning these crimes.

The Centre for Peace in the Balkans is a non-profit, Toronto-based NGO involved in the collection and sharing of information related to the Balkan region.

For further information: Natalia Dzeletovich, The Centre For Peace In The Balkans,

Following the recent violence UNMIK Police are releasing the following confirmed figures:

Civilian casualties number at least 600, 22 of which have injuries of a serious nature.

Exact number of Serbs killed and wounded in Kosovo and Metohija attacks to date still undetermined

Pristina Church of St. Nicholas from 19th century in flames, evening of March 18, 2004 Exact number of Serbs killed and wounded in Kosovo Polje still unknown

Eyewitnesses from Kosovo Polje informed the ERP KIM Info Service this evening that they saw the bodies of two murdered Serbs laying in the street. One was laying in front of the post office, while the other was in front of the Health Center. The second corpse was completely charcoalized. It is assumed that there are more bodies in the burned houses.

From the same sources the ERP KIM Info Service has learned that in the building near the machine part in Kosovo POlje there are still about 80 Serb men who are being guarded by UNMIK police. The exact number of killed and wounded Serbs in Kosovo Polje is still unknown.

Grenade tossed in Crkvena Vodica - Wounded persons in Obilic - Brezovica without power - Serbs in Binac still not evacuated and in danger

At 19:00 in Crkvene Vodice a hand grenade was thrown between the school and the house of Novica Milosevic. It is not known if there were any injuries.

During yesterday's clashes in Obilic, at least ten Serbs were wounded who were transferred to Priluzje. The most seriously injured person is elderly Stojana Dimitrijevic, an 80 year-old woman, who has a fracture of the arm and a broken pelvis. As well, five Stolic families and the entire primary medical care facility have been transferred to Priluzje.

20:35 All of Sirinicka Zupa (Brezovica) has been left without power after the power station was blown up.

21:45 In the village of Binac near Vitina there are still Serbs who have not been evacuated and whose lives are in danger.

The entire Serb quarter in Prizren, Potkaljaja, has been burned. Once again it has been confirmed that the churches of Christ the Savior, St. Nedelja, Sts. Cosmas and Damian, and St. Panteleimon have been burned and destroyed in this part of the city, in addition to the Mother of God of Ljevis, St. George, the old church of St. George (Runjevic church), and the Church of St. Nicholas (Tutic church). According to this information, all (8) Prizren churches have been burned, as well as Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, the Diocese seat and Holy Archangels Monstery outside the city.

Armed Albanians were breaking into Serb houses and abusing and beating up old people. Jelena Gigic says that a member of the Kosovo Police Service threw her on the balcony and stomped on her with his feet.

Leposava Pitovic of Potkaljaje and her neighbors were brutally beaten. Elderly Vojislav Jeftic's arm was broken. Also beaten up were teacher Dobrila Dosavic and her grandson. Like most Serbs, they are presently in the military base of German KFOR.

During the torching of the Seminary Olga Filipovic and her daughter were hurt and they are now in the city hospital in Prizren.

Nothing is known of the fate of Dragan Nedeljkovic, who was in one of the houses set on fire. Today, March 19, the remaining buildings of the Prizren Seminary complex were also set on fire.

According to Albanian television KOHA VISION the carbonized body of a Serb has been pulled from the burned Seminary building but not yet identified. Prior to the burning the Seminary was home to eight Serb refugees who were ejected from their homes by the Albanians in 1999. Among them were two children and a pregnant woman.

List of churches destroyed in Kosovo and Metohija thus far, Mar. 17-19, 2004

Below is a list of churches and church buildings regarding which the Diocese has received information that they were destroyed in the riots occurring between March 17 and March 19, 2004. In process is the intensive verification of all data, especially in the area of Prizren where there are indications that all Orthodox churches have been destroyed. In Urosevac, Athens News Agency advised this morning that members of Greek KFOR have abandoned protection of three church buildings. The only thing that they were able to confirm is that the church of the Holy King Uros in Urosevac has been burned. In any case, it can be officially said that at least 16 churches have been destroyed (according to UNMIK confirmation). It is entirely possible that the number exceeds 20 (on the basis of information arriving in the Diocese of Raska and Prizren). Together with the 112 churches already destroyed or heavily damaged since the beginning of the UNMIK "peace mission" in June 1999, over 130 Orthodox holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija have been destroyed or demolished. Two churches in Lipljan apparently have not yet been destroyed even though initial reports indicated that they were under attack.

This list will be added to or amended as needed as the Diocese receives new information regarding the destruction of Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija:

1. Orthodox Cathedral of the Most Holy Mother of God of Ljevis, 14th century (Prizren)
2. Church of Holy Salvation, 14th century (Prizren)
3. Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Great Martyr George, 20th century (Prizren)
4. Holy Archangels Monastery, 14th century (Prizren)
5. Church of St. George Runovic, 15th century (Prizren, courtyard of the Episcopate)
6. Church of St. John the Fore-runner and Baptist (Pec) with parish home
7. Church of the Entry of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple (Belo Polje near Pec)
8. Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (Djakovica) with parish home
9. Church of the Holy King Uros (Urosevac)
10. Church of St. Nicholas (Kosovo Polje)
11. Church of St. Catharine (Bresje near Kosovo Polje)
12. Church of St. Nicholas (Pristina)
13. Church of St. Nicholas (Gnjilane)
14. Church of St. Sava (Kosovska Mitrovica)
15. Church in Vitina (Vitina near Gnjilane)

16. Devic Monastery, 14th century (Srbica)
17. Church in Donja Slapasnica (Kosovska Kamenica)
18. Church in Brnjak near Bela Crkva (Orahovac)
19. Church of St. John the Fore-runner and Baptist (Pecka Banja)
20. Church of St. Elijah, 19th century (Vucitrn)
21. Church of St. Michael (Stimlje)
22. Church in Obilic (Obilic)

24. Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary building (Prizren)
25. Episcopate - seat of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren (Prizren)

- The Albanians are removing the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Djakovica) blown up in 1999

- Church of St. Nicholas (Tutic church), 14th century (Prizren)
- Church of St. Nedelja, 14th century (Prizren)

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HEADLINE: RUSSIA CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION ON KOSOVO, SENDS ENVOY TO "ASSIST" SERB REFUGEES

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Moscow, 19 March: The international community and the international organizations present in Kosovo - primarily Kfor - "must take urgent action to restore law and order in Kosovo, while Kosovo's Albanian majority must immediately put an end to violence", Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. This was the view he took in today's telephone talks with Serbia-Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica.

Lavrov told the two leaders that a delegation from Russia's Emergencies Ministry will in the next few days visit Serbia-Montenegro on instructions from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Minister Sergey Shoygu will lead the delegation. "Along with bilateral cooperation issues, possible steps will also be discussed to assist Serb refugees," the Russian foreign minister said.

"Russia said that it was greatly alarmed by the sharp escalation of interethnic violence in Kosovo, as a result of which many people have been killed, injured or suffered otherwise. Russia resolutely condemns what has happened, and demands that those behind the disturbances should be found and brought to account," reads a report from the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department.

The Russian foreign minister urged steps to prevent any actions aimed at the creation of a monoethnic environment in Kosovo. "This", in his view, "would negate the international efforts that have been made over the past five years to build a multiethnic and multifaith society and a culture of interethnic tolerance in the province. All work on a Kosovo settlement must be predicated on UN Security Council Resolution 1244."

In turn, Svetozar Marovic and Vojislav Kostunica informed the Russian foreign minister about the latest developments in Kosovo and about the steps that have been taken by Belgrade to normalize the situation. They spoke with appreciation about Russia's continued help and political support, in particular in the UN Security Council, thanked Russia for its position of principle on the process of Kosovo settlement and expressed an interest in the further development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

"Serbia-Montenegro looks forward to Sergey Shoygu's visit to SCG (Serbia-Montenegro) as a specific step towards the achievement of the tasks that were outlined in Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent messages to the president of Serbia-Montenegro and the Serbian prime minister," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department says.

Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 2012 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

JOURNAL-CODE: WBMS

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2004

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 233 words

HEADLINE: US shuts Belgrade embassy amid Kosovo violence

DATELINE: BELGRADE, March 19

BODY:
The United States shut down its embassy in Belgrade on Thursday amid violent demonstrations in the Serbian capital following inter-ethnic fighting in Kosovo that has killed 31 people.

The embassy advised all US citizens to avoid non-essential travel within Serbia and Kosovo, and "strongly advised" them to avoid public places and crowds.

"Tensions resulting from the violence in Kosovo have led to a continuing number of violent incidents in Belgrade and elsewhere in Serbia. The American Embassy and other foreign interests have been among the targets of unruly crowds," the embassy said in a message to US citizens.

It said the embassy has been temporarily closed, and did not say when it was expected to reopen.

In Belgrade on Thursday riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of students who tried to tear down the flag at the Albanian embassy, but allowed a larger, peaceful demonstration by thousands of flag-waving Serbs with banners that read "We will not give up Kosovo".

Violence which broke out on Wednesday between Serbs and the majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has killed 31 people and injured some 500 people.

NATO has announced plans to dispatch an extra 1,000 troops to bolster its 17,000 strong force following the violence, the worst in Serbian province since it was put under UN administration in 1999.

am/rl/aln

Serbia-Kosovo-unrest-US-embassy

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 198 words

HEADLINE: Kosovo violence forces 900 Serbs to flee to NATO camps: source

DATELINE: PRISTINA, Serbia, March 19

BODY:
Around 900 Serbs in Kosovo have taken refuge in NATO camps over the past few days after fleeing violence from groups of Albanians, a source close to the multinational KFOR force in the province said Friday.

"Around 900 Serbs have taken refuge in KFOR camps and seven Serbian villages have been burned," said the source, adding that 25 Serbian Orthodox religious monuments had also been destroyed by fire.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Serbs had been evacuated from the villages of Obilic, Kosovo Polje, Belopolje and also from the town of Prizren.

Twenty-six out of 38 Serb houses had been burned down in Prizren alone, where six churches and monasteries, considered gems of mediaeval architecture, had also been wrecked, the source said.

The violence, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 28 people, was triggered last Tuesday in a northern town by a report that three ethnic Albanian children were pushed into a swift-flowing river by a group of Serbs and drowned.

Admiral Gregory Johnson, the NATO commander for southern Europe, has denounced the violence as "ethnic cleansing."

bme-am/sjw/da

Serbia-Kosovo-unrest-refugees

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2004

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 666 words

HEADLINE: Serbs in Kosovo fear new violence from Albanian majority

BYLINE: ZELJKA BILANDZIJA

DATELINE: OBILIC, Serbia, March 19

BODY:
Smouldering houses and a burnt-out Orthodox church in this small Kosovan town beared witness Friday to an exodus by its Serb residents amid fears of a fresh explosion of violence by the Albanian majority.

Some 200 Serbs from Obilic, near the UN-run province capital of Pristina, were evacuated by NATO peacekeepers, KFOR, Thursday afternoon to a NATO base in Pristina, after Albanian protests turned violent and the crowd started torching houses, according to UN police.

Despite the unrest, a number of Serbs in the area did decide to stay and protect their houses.

"It is our priority now to ensure safety, notably in the nearby villages where in some cases only men stayed after sending women and children away," said Jean Philippe Stephan, chief of UN police in Obilic.

Serb houses were torched Friday and people could be seen looting, he added.

At least 28 people have been killed and 600 injured in the worst inter-ethnic violence since the province came under UN control in 1999. Serbs reported being ordered by Albanians to leave their homes within minutes or be killed in several towns in the province.

Kosovo Polje, near Pristina, the scene of violent clashes following which Serb residents were evacuated late Wednesday, was quiet Friday but dozens of houses, the post office, school and hospital had all been set ablaze.

Altogether 600 Serbs from Pristina, Obilic and Kosovo Polje were evacuated to KFOR bases, KFOR spokesman Peter Appleby told AFP.

Kosovo has an ethnic Albanian population of 1.8 million, compared to just 80,000 ethnic Serbs most of whom live in protected enclaves.

Some 20 Czech KFOR troops blocked the road leading from Obilic to the Serb enclave consisting of several villages where some 1,500 Serbs remained.

In the nearby village of Crkvena Vodica, which has a mixed population, fears of further clashes rose after a grenade was thrown at a Serb house late Thursday.

"It was calm here until last night. Luckily no one was hurt but there is a great fear and uncertainty of what may come next," Serb resident Boban Stankovic told AFP.

"Today we met with representatives of KFOR and we asked them whether they can guarantee our safety here," he said, adding that KFOR patrols were now passing through the village.

Stankovic, who heads the "Human rights protection" NGO in Obilic, said that none of the 300 Serbs in Obilic -- which was home to some 8,000 Serbs before 1999 -- remained in the town.

His brother Goran was among those evacuated to the NATO base in Pristina, but decided Friday to join his wife and children who had fled to Crkvena Vodica.

"First youngsters started throwing stones, then more crowd gathered and threw molotov cocktails at our building trying to break in. We tried in vain to put out the fire, but were soon told by police that our lives were in danger and we should leave," he recounted.

"I had only few minutes to pick up few basic necessities from my apartment."

He spent the night at the NATO base along with 300 other people, including women and children.

He said that many Serbs there asked to be transferred to Serbia as more NATO troops moved into Kosovo.

NATO commander Admiral Gregory Johnson Friday called the bloody clashes "ethnic cleansing."

Johnson, the commander of allied forces in southern Europe, said: "This kind of activity, which essentialy amounts to ethnic cleasing, cannot go on."

Kosovo has been under United Nations administration since July 1999, when NATO forced the Serbian army out in a campaign to end a crackdown on the ethnic Albanian majority.

It is now patrolled by the NATO force and 10,000 UN and local police.

The violence cast a doubt on whether a peaceful multi-ethnic society will ever be possible in Kosovo.

"In our village we wanted to put behind ethnic hatred between Albanians and Serbs but this incidents have now led us right back to 1999, before and after the bombing," Boban Stankovic said.

zbl/lp

Serbia-Kosovo-unrest-scene

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2004

SECTION: International News

LENGTH: 295 words

HEADLINE: Albanians planned violence, says Italian general in Kosovo ATTENTION - INSERTS dropped words in second para

DATELINE: ROME, March 19

BODY:
The Italian commander of a brigade of NATO troops in Kosovo accused ethnic Albanians on Friday of deliberately setting off the violence which killed at least 31 people this week.

"The wave of violence set off by the Albanians hasn't shown signs of calming down. I believe they've been ready for some time to lay waste to Kosovo," General Alberto Primicerj said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily.

Primicerj commands more than 7,000 of the 17,000 troops in the NATO-led force in Kosovo, KFOR.

He said his troops had been working to evacuate Serbs from their homes in several towns for their own safety.

"We have had serious problems in Grabac, where 35 Serbs live. They didn't want to leave the homes they rebuilt after the war. We had to use force and take them away because around 2,000 armed Albanians surrounding their homes had decided to set them ablaze."

The general said troops had also evacuated four elderly nuns from an Orthodox Serb monastery in the town of Diesa.

"A crowd of at least 500 Albanians had begun throwing petrol bombs at the monastery. We had to line up outside and hold them back by firing in the air."

"They returned later with Kalashnikovs and grenades. This time we responded with fire and wounded some of them. Then we took the four nuns away. The Albanians set the monastery on fire."

The Serb Orthodox church reported that 16 of its churches and monasteries throughout Kosovo, many of them built in medieval times, had been vandalised in the two days of clashes. Many of them had been set alight.

Kosovo is home to about 1.8 million ethnic Albanians and 80,000 Serbs. Several border towns in the far south of Serbia also have large Albanian communities.

db/rh

Italy-Kosovo-Serbia-violence

LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2004

March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 295 words

HEADLINE: CIS AFFAIRS EXPERT DOUBTS NATO ABLE TO KEEP LID ON KOSOVO CRISIS

BODY:

(No dateline, as received) The deterioration of the situation in Kosovo proves that the NATO operation carried out in the Balkans in 1999 failed, the chairman of the Duma CIS affairs committee and former secretary of the Russian Security Council, Andrey Kokoshin, has said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

He believes that the present situation "demonstrates that the results of that war, which was launched by the USA and NATO in 1999, has turned out to be precisely as was predicted at the time by Russian diplomacy and by our military experts who said that the situation in Europe could not be stabilized by such methods and that an inter-ethnic conflict could not be resolved that way". "All this prompts sad reflections about how the large-scale operation masterminded and implemented by NATO caused a considerable number of casualties among Yugoslav civilians and soldiers, and has effectively yielded results opposite to what the organizers of the campaign anticipated," Kokoshin noted.

The deterioration of the situation in Kosovo is "not a spontaneous escalation of the crisis but a planned action to force the remaining ethnic Serbs out of Kosovo", Kokoshin said. The fact that the attacks by ethnic Albanians against ethnic Serbs have taken place simultaneously in a number of settlements in Kosovo makes it possible to draw such a conclusion, he said.

"We clearly see a danger of eruption of a completely new acute hotbed of conflict in the Balkans", he said, adding that it was not clear "whether the NATO forces operating there and whether the UN police forces stationed there in their present format and with their present mandate will be able to cope".

Source: Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1149 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

JOURNAL-CODE: WBMS

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 248 words

HEADLINE: RUSSIAN MP SEES LINK BETWEEN KOSOVO CRISIS AND MILITANT ISLAM IN EUROPE

BODY:

Moscow, 19 March: The deterioration of the Kosovo situation is "hardly coincidental" given the increased activity of Islamic militants in Europe, the chairman of the State Duma's committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, told journalists at the Duma today.

In view of official statements that the present unrest amongst the (ethnic) Albanians was clearly planned, "the possible link between these phenomena should be carefully investigated", he observed. "Even if these disturbances can be quelled by force through the intervention" of an additional NATO contingent, "this should not mislead us as to the real nature of the situation in Kosovo", Konstantin Kosachev believes. The international community needs to intervene urgently to draw up realistic ways of ending the "latent civil war".

Konstantin Kosachev recalled that Russia had supported the Serbia-Montenegro government's initiative for the adoption of a special UN resolution on the Kosovo situation. However, it would be desirable to get European organizations - the OSCE and the Council of Europe - urgently involved in tackling this problem. An increase in the police presence in Kosovo will not solve the problem on its own. All interested parties should work together, under the auspices of international organizations, to seek ways of resolving the crisis, the chairman of the committee concluded.

Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1032 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

JOURNAL-CODE: WBMS

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 1356 words

HEADLINE: SERBIA CANNOT PERMIT ITS PEOPLE TO BE "ETHNICALLY CLEANSED" IN KOSOVO - COVIC

BODY:

(Roganovic) Good evening, Mr Covic, and welcome to our show. You have just arrived from Kosovo, so tells us what is going on there.

(Covic) Good evening. (Passage omitted) There were conflicts between Kfor (Kosovo Force) and Albanian terrorist groups in southern Kosovska Mitrovica today. The Kfor forces managed to prevent these groups from advancing. (Passage omitted)

We are facing a time of great challenges, a time of great problems. The funeral of the children who drowned (three Albanian children drowned on 16 March) is planned for 1200 (1100 gmt) tomorrow. That funeral will be another challenge in the sense that they will try to politicize it, to advance through Zupce towards Zubin Potok and cause a great clash in that area. They plan to bring in some 30,000 people. It is very important to remain cool-headed, to be well organized and to set emotions aside. (Passage omitted) "Blatant ethnic cleansing"

What is happening in Kosovo is the most blatant example of ethnic cleansing in the presence of the international community's forces. (Passage omitted) Kfor has locked itself in its bases pretty much; they are primarily thinking about their own safety and not so much about the safety of the Serb national community. (Passage omitted) It is very important that we, as a state, take decisive steps. I believe that diplomatic and political measures have been taken, but those measures (mediator interrupts) -

(Roganovic) - they will be taken at tonight's session of the UN Security Council.

(Covic) - That's right. Further developments depend on that session. It would not be the first time that the Security Council has reached a decision which is not respected on the ground. (Passage omitted) We cannot let our people be ethnically cleansed from Kosovo-Metohija. What I am afraid of is that I will be in the situation one fine day where someone tells me - well, OK, that is how things are now. Sorry, it is not fair, it is not correct, but (that is how its is). (Passage omitted)

The few weapons Serbs had were taken away from them. What now? Are they to wait there unarmed? Or to wait for the twisted reporting by the big world media, like CNN, which was running prejudiced reports about the tragic deaths of those children? But it did not have anything to do with Serbs. That was staged again so that a whole horrendous story is launched, just as they yesterday launched the story about the movements of our army having been registered.

Calls for "very energetic stand"

(Roganovic) Then you said - there are no troop movements, but there could be some.

(Covic) There are no movements of troops, but there could be some. And there have been some. (Passage omitted)

If the international community, in the form of UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo) and Kfor, does not take steps (changes thought) - and it is completely disorganized, completely surprised, cannot confront a large number of Albanians who are simulating a popular uprising. (Passage omitted)

I think we have to take a very energetic stand. Our army and our police are not going on a war mission, we are going on a humanitarian mission, a peacekeeping mission. Citizens are demonstrating a great energy, which I support as a protest, but there are negative parts and negative outpourings of that energy into destruction, setting the (Belgrade) mosque on fire, destroying the plaque commemorating the late Prime Minister Djindjic. (Passage omitted)

I am not satisfied. There was a report today about the UK sending 700 soldiers. Only 700. One hundred US marines will arrive. Another 100 people will come from Bosnia-Hercegovina. Do you know what that is? We have to deal with 10,000 people. A hundred marines against 10,000 people, that is nothing. How does someone think he can play with a nation? I repeat I am not a war monger, but I do not want us to enter a period in which there will be no Serbs left in Kosovo-Metohija. And the scenario is as follows - when you open the map of Kosovo, you can see that the main communication routes are being attacked. Roads and railroads are being attacked. Villages and settlements along roads and railroads are being attacked. Serbs are being evicted from there, and then you have the domino effect - if a village next to a road is empty, then three villages connected with it are abandoned as well. (Passage omitted)

Another thing - if we enter (Kosovo), we have to know exactly what is ours. But that is not to wage a war with Kfor and UNMIK. No. We are on the same side, opposing terrorism and (preventing) a humanitarian catastrophe. UNMIK and Kfor have lost. They have lost. Their peacekeeping mission in Kosovo-Metohija has finished. (Passage omitted)

Another thing - our soldiers are not afraid of getting injured or killed, because they are defending what is theirs. What is the motivation of Kfor members? Only their salaries.

(Roganovic) That initiative of yours and (Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister Boris) Tadic's (that Serbia-Montenegro forces enter the province) has been rejected by NATO.

(Covic) I do not know. And I am not interested in the least. So what? (Passage omitted) The time has come to mark out borders if we do not want our sons to enter such an adventure in 20 years' time. (Passage omitted)

Our side can sleep peacefully. Trust me, we have tried it all. All democratic methods, principled approaches, virtually everything.

(Roganovic) We got bombed over Kosovo.

(Covic) That was one of the phases. And what is this now? Is this not a humanitarian catastrophe? Is this not ethnic cleansing? Is that why NATO came to Kosovo? To prevent one ethnic cleansing in order to support another ethnic cleansing? Trust me, the UN mission and the NATO mission will be unsuccessful unless we join them. I am not saying that we should enter a conflict or wage a war. (Passage omitted) The decisions the Security Council reaches this evening have to be implemented. If they cannot do that, we will. (Passage omitted)

You know what will happen? They will cleanse it all. When you look at the map, you can see that they are following the scenario I have revealed. When they cleanse it all, peace will suddenly reign. And then UNMIK and Kfor enter the picture and say - here, we have secured everything, the situation is stable. When we ask when our people will return, they will say - well, you see, safety needs to be ensured for their return, and so on. At one moment, there will be no Serbs left, and they will ask why we are interested in Kosovo at all.

No more illusions about multiethnic Kosovo

There is no more illusion about a multiethnic Kosovo, dialogue and Standards. We have tried it all and we have been very constructive. (Passage omitted)

(Roganovic) Talking about Kfor troops - they are multinational. They are not equal and the treatment they receive by Albanians is not equal. When the Americans arrived, Albanians (words indistinct). Italians, for example, protect monasteries. I have the impression that no attack has been successful where there were Italian troops. Am I right?

(Covic) Yes and no. They differ. Albanians respect Americans the most, but I think that is disappearing now. The mass has seen a possibility to run everything over, like yellow ants. They run everything over, they conquer everything, everyone is stepping aside. One has to say - you have come this far, but you cannot advance any further. (Passage omitted)

(Roganovic) What if the Security Council does not decide to take any concrete steps?

(Covic) Political measures, diplomatic measures, military measures, or, not to sound militant, safety measures. What are safety measures? Self-defence, no-one can question that, everyone would defend themselves, including NATO members. Secondly, the implementation of our military and police measures in cooperation with UNMIK. We are members of the UN, after all. (Passage omitted)

(Roganovic) Mr Covic thank you very much for being with us despite your busy schedule.

(Covic) Thank you.

Source: Studio B TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1900 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

JOURNAL-CODE: WBMS

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 306 words

HEADLINE: SERBIAN ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ORDERS MOVES AGAINST ALBANIAN "PROPAGANDA WAR"

BODY:

Belgrade, 19 March: Milorad Mircic, chairman of the security committee of the Serbian Assembly, speaking after a joint session of this committee and the Committee for Kosovo- Metohija, said today that Shiptar (Albanian) terrorists had already prepared a scenario for southern Serbia.

In southern Serbia a number of Shiptar families were preparing amid a media campaign to leave some municipalities in the region, which would enable them to score further points in a fresh attack on Serbia's security bodies, Mircic told a news conference. Asked whether there were new movement and redeployment of forces of the terrorist ANA (Albanian National Army - AKSh in Albanian) organization from Kosovo, Mircic said that all movements and redeployments from part of Kosovo-Metohija were being carefully monitored, and that the situation was under the control of units of the Interior Ministry and Serbia-Montenegro Army.

The situation in Kosovo-Metohija is still tense and there is a real danger of fresh attacks, said Mircic, who added that it was necessary to forestall all the aims of the Shiptar extremists and their mentors.

He said it was now realistically expected that the attack would be shifted to the information and propaganda field, and that information and propaganda activity was now being carried out not just in Kosovo-Metohija, but also in some parts of Serbia.

The committee adopted the decision that measures should be taken to counter the information and propaganda war being waged against Serbia, and that in view of the situation in Kosovo-Metohija and the rest of the republic the mass media in Serbia should bring their programming into line with this situation, which is "fairly sensitive", said Mircic.

Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1238 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 181 words

HEADLINE: RUSSIAN DUMA CALLS FOR CESSATION OF VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO

BODY:

Moscow, 19 March: The State Duma today passed a statement "in connection with the exacerbation of the situation in the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija", in which it asks the president and the government of the Russian Federation to take measures to stop the escalation of violence in the Balkans.

According to an Interfax correspondent, 408 deputies voted in favour of the document (at least 226 votes were required to pass the document), one person was against and one abstained. The State Duma statement states "the inability of international structures to provide an efficient settlement to the whole complex of Kosovo problems". The statement says "so far al the measures taken by Kfor and the UN mission have essentially boiled down to perpetuating the conflict".

The document was submitted for discussion by the (State Duma) international affairs committee and representatives of the Motherland faction Dmitriy Rogozin, Sergey Baburin and Konstantin Zatulin.

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1439 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 404 words

HEADLINE: RUSSIAN DUMA CALLS FOR SERBIAN MILITARY ROLE, ETHNIC CANTONIZATION IN KOSOVO

BODY:

Moscow, 19 March: On Friday (19 March) the State Duma adopted a statement "on the deterioration of the situation in the autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija", in which it asks the president and government of the Russian Federation to take steps to stop the escalation of violence in the Balkans.

(Passage omitted: details of the preliminary voting)

"The drafting of a special 'plan for Kosovo', which would take account of all the previous mistakes and ensure a real and long-term settlement in the province, is also necessary," the statement says.

"In view of the obvious inability of the sides to arrive, of their own accord, at a mutually acceptable solution, the State Duma insists on the urgent intervention of international organizations in the events, including the OSCE and the Council of Europe, as well as the drafting of a special Security Council resolution on Kosovo, in which it would be appropriate to reiterate the state sovereignty of Serbia-Montenegro over the autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija, as well as the need for military forces from Serbia-Montenegro to take part in protecting the Serbian population of the province and Orthodox shrines, and for them to serve at border posts, and also to make provision for the possibility of an ethnic demarcation of the province's territory in the light of experience applied by the international community in other Balkan regions," the statement says. "The authorities in Serbia-Montenegro and the refugees can firmly count on all necessary assistance from Russia, including urgent measures to evacuate Serbs from the conflict zone and the provision of humanitarian assistance for the refugees," the document also says.

The chamber turned down a proposal from the leader of the Motherland faction, Rogozin, who had insisted that the statement include the point that the Russian Federation was willing to grant political asylum to the Kosovo Serbs.

After the chairman of the State Duma's committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, had described this as "a trap we're being forced into", and had warned against adopting this point, only 108 deputies supported Rogozin's proposal, against a necessary minimum of 226.

As a result, the State Duma voted unanimously (397 votes in favour) for the text of the document as a whole.

Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1454 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 98 words

HEADLINE: BELGRADE ARMY CHIEF: ARMED MACEDONIAN ALBANIANS CROSSING INTO KOSOVO

BODY:

Belgrade, 18 March: The chief of the General Staff of the Serbia-Montenegro Army, Col-Gen Branko Krga, said this evening that the Serbia-Montenegro Army would return to Kosovo-Metohija once it was ordered to do so.

Krga told Serbian Radio-TV that he had received information from his colleagues in Macedonia that, because of poor border security, Albanians from Macedonia were crossing into Serbia's southern province, that they were armed and were carrying out actions.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 2157 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 97 words

HEADLINE: SERBS EVACUATED FROM KOSOVO VILLAGE

BODY:

Vitina, 18 March: More than 90 per cent of Serbs have been evacuated from the village of Cernica, which is located between Gnjilane and Vitina, to the Serb village of Partes, Serb sources in Vitina told a SRNA correspondent this evening.

According to the same sources, a young Serb man and two boys were beaten up and needed medical treatment.

Women and children were evacuated from the mixed village of Mogila and several people were beaten up in this village.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 2248 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 158 words

HEADLINE: KOSOVO: NATO SEARCHING HOMES IN MITROVICA; SERB AREA UNDER FIRE

BODY:

Kosovska Mitrovica, 19 March: American and French members of Kfor (Kosovo Force) today started to search Albanian flats in the Tri solitera (Three skyscrapers) settlement in the southern sector of Kosovska Mitrovica.

Albanians were opening intensive fire on the Serb sector of the town and have used snipers from this settlement over the past few days. A SRNA correspondent reports that two shells were fired from a hand-held rocket launcher from this part of the town into the northern sector half an hour ago.

One shell exploded in the air and the second hit a Serb house in the Serb settlement of Bosnjacka mahala. No-one was injured.

Thirty well-armed Kfor members, 12 combat vehicles, four on the Albanian side, four on the Serb and four in the middle, are on the main bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica. (Passage omitted)

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1036 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 200 words

HEADLINE: KOSOVO: UN OFFICES "BOOBY-TRAPPED", NATO TAKING UP POSITION IN MITROVICA

BODY:

Pristina, 19 March: Following last night's order by Kfor (Kosovo Force) Command for UN personnel to be evacuated from the southern sector of Kosovska Mitrovica, Kfor members have started to take up positions in private houses and flats in the northern (Serb) sector since 0900 (0800 gmt) this morning.

A minister in the Kosovo government, Goran Bogdanovic, has told SRNA that after the evacuation of the UN personnel from southern Mitrovica, a recommendation has been issued that administrative personnel be evacuated from Pristina. "A large number of UNMIK (UN Mission in Kosovo) employees are moving towards Skopje and the administrative crossing of Merdare (southern Serbia), which leads to the conclusion that Albanians are preparing several attacks," Bogdanovic said.

He added "Albanians working for the peace mission warned their foreign colleagues yesterday that bombs and explosive devices were planted in offices in which they worked together until yesterday".

US Admiral Gregory Johnson, NATO chief in Command Southern Europe, assumed command of Kfor last night.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0945 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 186 words

HEADLINE: SERBIAN ARMY MUST RETURN TO KOSOVO TO HELP PROTECT SERBS, OFFICIAL SAYS

BODY:

Belgrade, 18 March: Nebojsa Covic, chief of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo and Metohija, said tonight that Serbia-Montenegro (S-M) Army must return to Kosovo and help protect Serb population.

Covic told Radio-Television Serbia that the Serbian army and police must take part in the defence of Kosovo Serbs, in cooperation with Kfor (Kosovo Force) and UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo). He said that a failure to do so would mean that Serbs "will be cleansed" from Kosovo. He also said that if this happened, the international community would accept the Serb-free Kosovo as a fact, which is what had happened in the case of former Republic of Serb Krajina.

Covic repeated that only the Serbian army and police could ensure a territorial separation in Kosovo, because members of foreign missions are not motivated to protect Serbs.

He added that this did not mean provoking clashes with Kfor, but involved struggle against terrorism, which the US Army is also combating. (passage omitted)

Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 2119 gmt 18 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 153 words

HEADLINE: RUSSIA SHOULD EVACUATE KOSOVO SERBS, GRANT THEM POLITICAL ASYLUM - MP

BODY:

The Russian State Duma members have said that an appeal to the Russian government on the recent clashes in Kosovo should be drafted, Russian Channel One reported on 19 March.

"The proposal implies an appeal to the Russian government to adopt an urgent decision to evacuate the Kosovo Serbs and to grant them political asylum," Dmitriy Ragozin, the leader of the Motherland faction, said. Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs, took a more cautious approach.

"If Russia wants to take measures in this respect and participate in the settlement of the situation, we should at least have an appropriate appeal on our hands. So far, neither the leadership of Serbia-Montenegro, nor the leadership of the existing political parties, has asked us to do so," Kosachev said.

Source: Channel One TV, Moscow, in Russian 0900 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 108 words

HEADLINE: ALBANIANS PREPARING TO ATTACK SERB PART OF DIVIDED KOSOVO TOWN - AGENCY

BODY:

Pristina, 19 March: A member of the Serb Return Coalition, Stojanka Petkovic, has said that there is reliable information that Albanians from southern Kosovska Mitrovica are planning to attack the northern (Serb) section of the town in order to cut off Zubin Potok.

She told SRNA that Albanians were planning to use the planned funeral of Albanians children who had drowned on 16 March, to cut off Zubin Potok from Kosovska Mitrovica.

The funeral will be held in the village of Cabalj on the Kosovska Mitrovica-Zubin Potok road.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 0942 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

LENGTH: 216 words

HEADLINE: SERBIA: MEDIA APPEALS TO WORLD "STOP THE TERROR AGAINST SERBS"

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At 1100 gmt on 19 March, Belgrade RTS SAT in Serbian, the Serbian state television, carries the following text on a black background:

"Stop the terror against Serbs, three minutes of warning to the world"

The appeal was followed by the regular 1100 gmt newscast.

The Tanjug news agency in Serbian carried a report saying that it is "informing subscribers that, at 1200 (1100 gmt) the Tanjug national news agency will join electronic media, which will interrupt their broadcasting at the invitation of the Serbian Government and thereby voice their protest over the pogrom of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija. Tanjug will interrupt news transmission for three minutes".

At 1123 gmt, the BETA news agency reported that "all Belgrade TV stations responded to the Serbian Government's call and interrupted their broadcasting in sign of protest over the events in Kosovo". BETA further reports that, in addition to the Serbian Government's call on TV and radio stations to interrupt their broadcasting for three minutes, it has also called on the Serbian Orthodox Church to "sound the bells on all of its churches at noon, when a protest rally is to take place outside the Serbian government building" .

Source: RTS TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 0000 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

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HEADLINE: SERB ORTHODOX CHURCH REPORTEDLY SET ON FIRE IN KOSOVO

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Gracanica, 19 March: The Kosovo-Metohija Raska-Prizren Eparchy reported tonight that it has received news that the St Archangel Michael Church in Stimlje, built in 1920-1922, has been set on fire.

(Ethnic) Albanians had set the bell-tower in the churchyard on fire in January (2004), while the whole building has been set on fire now. (Passage omitted)

(SRNA agency, at 2018 gmt, quotes the deputy leader of the Lipljan municipality as saying the church fire was started by Albanian extremists at 1930 gmt)

Source: FoNet news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 2031 gmt 19 Mar 04

) BBC Monitoring

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LOAD-DATE: March 20, 2004

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HEADLINE: Belgrade to "re-examine policy" on Kosovo unless NATO protects Serbs

SOURCE: Radio B92, Belgrade, in Serbian 0800 gmt 19 Mar 04

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Text of report by Belgrade-based Radio B92 on 19 March

Presenter Serbia-Montenegro Defence Minister Boris Tadic has said that he has received assurances from NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer that five new companies of Italian, British and American forces have been sent to Kosovo and that preparations are under way to send a British battalion. On arriving at Belgrade airport from Bratislava, where he had talks with the NATO secretary-general, Tadic said that Scheffer agreed that violence in Kosovo had to stop immediately and that Kfor Kosovo Force had to meet its obligations and protect the Serb population. According to Tadic, the results should be visible in two days.

Tadic I requested that members of professional units of the Serbia-Montenegro Army take part, within Kfor, in protecting our compatriots in this southern province of Serbia. I requested that a solution be found within UNSC Resolution 1244 while respecting the resolution and the military-technical Kumanovo agreement because the situation is more than urgent. I did not receive support for this request. However, I as defence minister, and the Serbia-Montenegro state union are standing by this request.

In case of Kfor failing to meet its obligation to protect Serbs under Resolution 1244 and the Kumanovo military-technical agreement, we, as a state union, retain the right to re-examine our policy towards Kosovo-Metohija.

Reporter Tadic declined to specify what he meant by re-examining Serbia-Montenegro's stance on Kosovo. During his visit to Kosovo, Tadic had talks with British Secretary of Defence Geoffrey Hoon, who said that an exceptionally well-prepared unit of the British Army would be sent to Kosovo. He said he expected other countries to send well-trained troops which were capable of dealing with Albanian terrorists.

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

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HEADLINE: Belgrade protesters destroy plaque for slain Serbian premier

SOURCE: HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 2016 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Text of report in English by Croatian news agency HINA

Belgrade, 18 March: Protesting against the violence against Serbs in Kosovo, a group of people on Thursday 18 March took off and destroyed a plaque in honour of slain Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic placed in downtown Belgrade's Republic Square.

This act of vandalism was slammed by Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic's Civic Alliance of Serbia and the Democratic Party whose president, for many years, was Djindjic. These two parties urged the authorities to prevent "such undemocratic and uncivilised behaviour on the streets of Belgrade" and to punish the perpetrators.

There were no clashes during today's protests in downtown Belgrade in which thousands of people took part. After stones were hurled against the Croatian and German embassies, police prevented about 200 high school students from marching on the Albanian embassy.

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March 19, 2004, Friday

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HEADLINE: Serbian premier: Events prove multi-ethnic Kosovo "utopian"

SOURCE: RTS TV, Belgrade, in Serbian 1925 gmt 18 Mar 04

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Speaking in a live interview on Belgrade RTS SAT on 18 March, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica commented that Serbia's security forces have no access to Kosovo and that the only way they can help the ethnic Serbs in the province is through cooperation with Kosovo Force (Kfor) and the international community. By logging protests and appeals, Kostunica said he hoped that Kfor will be compelled "gradually to do what it should have been doing all these years". He says that the priority is "to prevent an even greater evil, to stop the violence, to save the most endangered settlements, and to save the people and some of the cultural monuments." He added that this must be followed by a political solution. "It has transpired in practice now that the solution put forward by the Serbian government, in my very first address in the Assembly, is the only valid solution. Practice has shown that Serbs and Albanians must be separated to avoid a pogrom, ethnic cleansing," he said, adding that this separation must first be physical, followed by "the political or territorial division of Kosovo."

He compared the idea of a multiethnic Kosovo to the communist ideal of a classless society, concluding that they are both equally "utopian", although he admitted that in some countries, for example, in Bosnia-Hercegovina, "this experiment" has had some success. He again recalled that it was the Council of Europe that first launched the idea of Kosovo's decentralization, adding that autonomy equals decentralization. "I fail to see what is so controversial about this. It does not involve the division of Kosovo; this is not the final solution. It is just autonomy."

Asked whether he expects "a turnaround" at the session of the UN Security Council tonight, Kostunica said he does not expect any rapid political shifts. He said that the session indicates that the international community has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation in Kosovo. He also said that it is significant that international officials have acknowledged that the Albanian violence was planned and orchestrated. He also said that Serbian representatives will use the session to repeat demands for the physical safety of the Serbs. He said that the situation will compel the international community to start thinking about a different political solution and that it has become clear that "the pile of papers about Standards" in Kosovo is "useless to a great extent."

Asked whether these events will compel the international community to admit that Albanians, and not the Serbs, are the factor of instability in Kosovo, Kostunica said that this awareness existed among the international community even before, knowing that Serbs are a minority in Kosovo. If the international community closed its eyes to this, he said, "this would mean endorsing something that would amount to a pogrom at the start of the 21st century," which would not remain without consequences for regional stability.

SCG honouring UNSC Resolution 1244

A caller from Novi Sad inquired why Serbia-Montenegro (SCG) has not sent any security forces to Kosovo. Kostunica recalls that SCG is bound by UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and other documents that prohibit this. He also said that honouring international obligations can at this moment best help strengthen the position of Kosovo's Serbs. He agreed that saving Serb lives is the priority task, but this should be pursued through cooperation with the international community.

Asked about "the critical limit" of the state's endurance over Kosovo, Kostunica said that the situation appears to be calming down. He said that he does not wish to dwell on worst-case scenarios. He also stressed that a direct confrontation with Kfor would be unrealistic and is, as such, out of the question.

Asked whether a multiethnic Kosovo is at all possible, Kostunica said:

"I do not think that a multiethnic Kosovo can be created." He recalled that, historically, Serbs and Albanians have coexisted alongside each other as "two parallel worlds". He said he believed that recreating this model of society "is not only possible, but necessary for many reasons, one of which is that they are both historically tied to this region." He ruled out the prospect of "a melting pot" in Kosovo as "impossible".

Asked about the potential effect of these events on the domestic political situation, Kostunica was quick to assure the viewers that all the state institutions are functioning normally, but that "it would be good if there were more unity". He said he regretted individual cases in which some political parties took advantage of these events to score political points and urged everyone to follow the example of Spain in the recent terrorist attacks.

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HEADLINE: Correspondents report on overnight unrest, Serb evacuation from central Kosovo

SOURCE: Radio Belgrade in Serbian 0900 gmt 19 Mar 04

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Text of report by Serbian radio on 19 March

Studio announcer We have learned from our correspondents in Kosovo and Metohija that the province is calm this morning. Despite the curfew, shooting could be heard in northern Kosovska Mitrovica overnight. This time, the extremists targeted the hospital. Slavic Radulovic has the details:

Reporter Radulovic It was another sleepless night for the majority of northern Kosovska Mitrovica residents. The Albanians fired from the southern part of the town and the Tri Solitera district, using automatic weapons. Just before 2300 2200 gmt , five small-calibre mortar shells were fired at the hospital in Mitrovica. Fortunately, no one was injured, but it unsettled the patients, the medical staff and citizens, Dr Milan Ivanovic, director of the Kosovska Mitrovica Health Centre, has said for our programme.

Shooting was also heard in the Bosnjacka Mahala district, where two bombs went off at 2230. No one was injured. All this took place in areas under curfew and where members of the international peace force and the Kosovo police force are allegedly in control of the situation. Throughout the day, up until the late evening hours, the residents of Mitrovica gathered in large numbers near the bridge on the Ibar River from where they followed developments in the southern part of the town. They watched helplessly as buildings in the church courtyard went up in flames and welcomed women and children who had been evacuated from Suvi Do and Svinjare. During the night, they organized themselves to defend their homes.

Studio announcer Kfor Kosovo Force soldiers evacuated the UNMIK UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo personnel from southern Mitrovica and accommodated them at the French base in the town, a UN representative told Reuters this morning. He declined to specify the reason for the evacuation.

Blic correspondent Nedeljko Zejak has the latest on the situation overnight and this morning in the central part of the province.

Reporter Zejak Following yesterday's and last night's Albanian assaults on the remaining Serbs, the enclave is mostly quiet. Numerous Kfor forces continue to be deployed on the main Pristina-Skopje road and are blocking all access to the Serbian enclave towards Gracanica. The Serbs from the village of Rabovci near Lipljan were evacuated overnight. They were transferred to the village of Dobrotin after which the Albanians set fire to the village.

Lipljan is quiet after last night's clash between several thousand Albanians and Kfor. The Serbs are gathered in the church courtyard and in several houses in the vicinity. A great number of houses have been set on fire, women and children from the Serbian villages of Crkvene Vodice and Janjine Vode have been evacuated and they are all in safe locations. Thirteen children and eight women have been evacuated from the village of Krivovo in Novo Brdo municipality and around 90 per cent of the Serbs from the ethnically mixed villages of Cernica and Mogila in Vitina municipality have also been evacuated. In any case, all Serbs in central Kosovo are waiting for Kfor members to act, but we are receiving worrying information that the peace mission and all its forces, that is, the command of the peace force from southern Mitrovica, has been withdrawn.

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004

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HEADLINE: NATO troops, Albanians clash in Prizren - Kosovo sources

SOURCE: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1319 gmt 19 Mar 04

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Excerpt from report by Serbian news agency Beta

Prizren, 19 March: German Kfor Kosovo Force soldiers and a large group of Albanians clashed near Prizren, sources in Kosovo have told BETA.

"Powerful explosions can be heard," the same source said, adding that the incident was taking place near the village of Novake, to which several dozen displaced Serbs had returned last year.

In the Albanian riots over the past two days, six Serbian Orthodox churches and 26 houses owned by Serbs were torched in Prizren.

Regional police spokesman Fatmir Djurdjiali said that two international police officers and 19 demonstrators - which is how he described the Albanians who had caused the riots - had been injured in the latest unrest in Prizren.

Almost 20 UNMIK UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo cars were set alight outside the UNMIK administration seat in Prizren.

There are 63 Serbs living in Prizren. Several of them were injured in the riots and received medical treatment in Prizren hospital, but there is no information where the others have sought shelter. passage omitted

LOAD-DATE: March 19, 2004