FREED KOSOVAR REFUGEES ARRIVE IN ALBANIA 'EMACIATED'...
Two groups of male Kosovar refugees whom Serbian
authorities recently freed from Smrekonica prison
arrived in Albania over the weekend. According to UNHCR
officials, 523 men arrived in Morina on 22 May and 506
the following day. Aid workers described the men as
being the most haggard and emaciated they had seen,
adding that many of them were traumatized. Some of the
men appeared to be teenagers, Reuters added. The BBC
reported on 24 May that many of the men believed they
were going to be killed until they saw the Albanian flag
over the border crossing. None was wearing Kosova
Liberation Army (UCK) uniform. A UNHCR official said in
Tirana on 23 May that Serbian forces abducted most of
the men in mid-April when the latter were fleeing
Mitrovica with their families. It is unclear why the
Serbs freed the men.

....REPORTING ATROCITIES. The men reported that Serbian
forces had systematically beaten the prisoners' hands,
lower abdomen, and knees. They said that each day they
spent in captivity, between five and 20 fainted or were
seriously injured as a result of the beatings. On the
basis of the numbers on their registration cards, the
men estimated that the prison held between 2,000 and
3,000 inmates. Some said they were forced to fight with
one another using broomsticks, Reuters reported. One man
said that the Serbian forces "treated us like animals.
They beat us. They cut off some men's ears." He added
that the prisoners received no food during the first
four days and were given one piece of bread a day
thereafter. Some 450 were forced to live in a room
measuring some 144 square meters, in which they had
space to sit but not to lie down.

DJUKANOVIC SAYS ARMY CARRYING OUT 'SILENT PUTSCH.'
Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said in Podgorica
on 23 May that "it is evident that in the past 15 days
the Yugoslav army [stationed in Montenegro]...has placed
itself in the service of the Belgrade dictatorship" of
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 17 May 1999). Djukanovic did not elaborate.
He stressed that there will be no peace in the Balkans
as long as Milosevic remains in power. And he argued
that, in the past, the West should have concentrated on
promoting democracy in Serbia rather than on negotiating
with Milosevic. In Cetinje on 21 May, some 5,000 people
staged Montenegro's first rally against the Yugoslav
army since the Kosova conflict began. The next day,
Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic demanded that the army
withdraw from Cetinje, which is the traditional
political stronghold of Montenegrins favoring
independence from Serbia.

CLINTON ARGUES 'MILOSEVIC HAS FAILED.' President Bill
Clinton wrote in the "New York Times" of 23 May that
"the problem [in the Balkans] is not simply ethnic
hatred or even ethnic conflict.... The intolerable
conditions that the region finds itself in today are the
result of a decade-long campaign by Slobodan Milosevic
to build a greater Serbia by singling out whole peoples
for destruction because of their ethnicity and faith....
We cannot respond to such tragedies everywhere, but when
ethnic conflict turns into ethnic cleansing where we can
make a difference, we must try." Clinton stressed that
"Milosevic has failed...[in his] strategy to outlast
[NATO] by dividing the alliance.... Instead of disunity
in Brussels, there are growing signs of disaffection in
Belgrade: Serbian soldiers abandoning their posts,
Serbian civilians protesting [Milosevic's] policies."
Clinton added that he will continue pursuing NATO's
present strategy but does "not rule out other military
options." PM

Tuesday May 25 11:47 AM ET

U.N. Says Has War Crimes File On Kosovo

By Anatoly Verbin

SKOPJE (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians flooded into Macedonia Tuesday and the U.N. refugee agency warned this could be the result of an organized Yugoslav drive to complete ethnic cleansing in the embattled Serbian province.

On the 63rd day of its air campaign against Yugoslavia, NATO targeted electric power installations for the fourth successive day, leaving millions of people in Belgrade and across Serbia with limited water and electricity or with none at all.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott arrived in Moscow to explore prospects for an end to the conflict, and acknowledged the crisis was taking its toll on relations between Russia and the West.

``I am well aware of the strains the NATO air strikes campaign has created for U.S.-Russian relations and for NATO-Russian relations, and also the strains here in Russia itself,'' Talbott told reporters.

He said he would have talks Wednesday with Russia's special Balkan envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and the European Union's chief mediator, Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

The Russian envoy is expected to return to Belgrade for further talks with President Slobodan Milosevic later this week.

In a message aimed at stiffening NATO's resolve, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said the alliance must rule out no military option to prevent dictatorship from triumphing over human rights.

``We agree with the alliance military strategy, fully and wholeheartedly,'' he said. ``The alliance must succeed...if our policy is not successful we believe the policies of totalitarian regimes will be the winner.

``As things stand unfortunately there is no reason, no cause for the Atlantic alliance to change its strategy or have some pause in the bombing,'' the Spanish leader said.

NATO began the bombing campaign on March 24, aiming to force Milosevic to end military repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.

Hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanians have since fled or been expelled to neighboring Albania and Macedonia.

UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) spokesman Ron Redmond told a news conference in the Macedonian capital Skopje the latest influx into the country threatened a new crisis in its refugee camps.

He said 8,500 refugees had entered Macedonia Monday and a similar number was expected Tuesday.

``If the influx continues, if we have 8,000 to 10,000 a day, we will have a crisis and this will put a severe strain on our capacity in camps,'' Redmond said. ``The camps are once again going to be overstretched.''

Asked if the latest flow of refugees looked like an organized attempt by Milosevic to complete ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Redmond said:

``It could very well be because we see buses and trains. People are from a wide area of eastern Kosovo and, as I said, it is very well organized.

``It's all-inclusive, entire neighborhoods, men, women, children, the elderly...everyone is being pushed,'' he said.

In Geneva, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said the agency's top priority was to keep open the border into Macedonia as the exodus continued and refugee camps filled up.

``We have to keep the border open. If that border becomes closed then these desperate people will rot in Kosovo without being able to get out,'' Janowski told a news briefing.

The agency was trying to ensure that all refugee departures from Macedonia to Albania were voluntary, while also accepting that Macedonian authorities had ``legitimate concerns'' about the influx, Janowski added.

Macedonia, its economy overstretched by the refugee crisis, protested to the UNHCR Tuesday for stopping it transferring newly arrived refugees directly to Albania.

But Janovski said: ``We don't want to see people taken against their will. We don't see any major voluntary movement to Albania. It is not going to happen, people are not willing to volunteer.''

To ease the crowding in Macedonia, nine planes were to leave Skopje for eight Western countries including the United States Tuesday. Total capacity was 1,482 passengers, short of the daily goal of 2,000.

As the refugee exodus continued, U.N. investigators said they had gathered from them evidence of massive war crimes by Serb forces in Kosovo.

``Certainly the information that we are receiving is allowing us to continue building the evidence of quite massive crimes that have occurred,'' said Paul Risley, spokesman for U.N. war crimes chief prosecutor Louise Arbour.

``Much of this information includes quite accurate eyewitness accounts of war crimes, crimes against humanity committed... generally since the beginning of the last week of March and right up until recent days,'' Risley told reporters.

In the air war, strategic targets in the Yugoslav capital Belgrade again came under attack overnight. The independent Beta news agency reported that two or three missiles hit the Serbian Interior Ministry building, badly damaged in previous strikes, but failed to explode.

The ministry is responsible for the security forces accused of brutality in what NATO says is the forced expulsion of the ethnic Albanians. Belgrade says they are fleeing NATO attacks.

Powerful explosions were heard in the Batajnica area, site of a military airport which has been a frequent focus of NATO attacks, Beta said.

The state news agency Tanjug said that loud blasts were heard at about 3 a.m. in Uzice, 200 km (125 miles) southeast of Belgrade. Five missiles were launched at a nearby transmitter.

Other powerful explosions were heard in Nis, in southeastern Serbia, and in Sabac, 60 km (40 miles) west of Belgrade.

Tanjug said seven missiles had hit power lines in a forest near Obrenovac and caused blackouts in some parts of Belgrade.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990525/ts/yugoslavia_535.html

Is that why are you in favour of this bombing?
Asked by Daniela.

I think i said it a million times now, but ok.In the beginning i was in favour of the bombing hoping it would bring good.After 2 weeks or so, Don't know the excact date i stated that i was not so much in favour of all this bombing anymore.

You probably missed it, but then again maybe you just read what you want to read.You, only you have the answer to that.

Emina.
Ps not ready to fight, but never ready to let someone walk over me either.

SERBIAN POLICE ARREST ANTI-WAR PROTESTERS. Police in
Cacak arrested at least four members of the self-
proclaimed Citizens' Parliament on 24 May and took them
to police headquarters for an "informative
conversation," which is the official term in Serbia for
an interrogation. The four have been charged with taking
part in an "illegal meeting," Reuters reported. Cacak
Mayor Velimir Ilic has gone into hiding and is being
sought by the police. In Krusevac, where anti-war
protests have also taken place in recent days, tension
remains high, "The Guardian" noted. Police there have
refrained from breaking up demonstrations and arresting
protesters "for fear of igniting a bigger revolt," the
London-based daily added. "The New York Times" quoted
one resident of Aleksandrovac as saying: "This is not a
political protest. It is simply people who are trying to
save their necks."

UN REPORT DETAILS SERBIAN RAPE PRACTICES. French
psychologist Dominique Serrano-Fitamant has completed a
report for the UN Population Fund on the "extensive
rapes" of Kosovar women from at least three villages at
the hands of Serbian forces, Reuters reported from New
York on 24 May. She noted that many of the women were
beaten and that the rapes lasted "even for days." The
Serbs systematically killed many of their victims,
Serrano-Fitamant noted, adding that "any resistance is
met with threats of being burned alive." She said that
some women told her that they could identify their
torturers as followers of "a certain well-known leader."
She did not elaborate. Serrano-Fitamant wrote that some
of the torturers cut off the ears and noses of young
boys before slitting their throats. She also noted: "The
torturers sharpened their knives in front of the women.
They then cut open the stomachs of many pregnant women
and skewed the fetus on their blades."

.S. SENATE PASSES RESOLUTION ON WAR CRIMES. The Senate
on 24 May approved a text calling for the "vigorous
prosecution" of war crimes. Supporters of the resolution
stressed that war criminals must be punished even if
they are high-ranking Serbian officials. The text's
backers added that the international community must not
conclude any agreement with Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic that would grant him immunity from prosecution
for war crimes.

To Daniela.

Before Mummy calls out to you that you have to stop ramming away on your keyboard, I have a couple of questions for you. Or is it past your bedtime yet?

If I understand your postings right, you back up Nick's claim stating there is no genocide committed by Serbian army. Am I right?

Or are you admitting to the genocide, but don't care about it?

If charity makes so much money, why are you not a charity worker, then? I would have a nice job for you as an interviewer for Amnesty International. O, sorry, for you these organisations are all backing up UCK, is it not? Probably the hundreds of thousands of refugees are all UCK fighters, too, right??

Besides, you made a mistake about Bob Geldof. He went bankrupt AFTER Live Aid, because he spent too much money on the project. So, it did not make him rich, it made him poor. Even the title of LORD did not help him much. Earning that title does not include a large sum of money, you know. Or probably you don't. Judging from your postings it's all one giant plot, anyway. Poor girl, sooo young and sooo screwed up already!

Better tell your mummy and daddy about it. They can spend their hard earned money on a clinic, instead of on your on line time.

HIJACK!

Good to know you're back!

Weet je wat het omgekeerde is van LORD! That's all Bob Geldof got for his title!

But the plotsters here, of course will not agree, as they will not agree to anything, just for the sake of arguing.

Zoja

There is no genocide carried out by Serb forces in Kosovo.

Well, now I have seen everything: she quotes Clinton !

It's like Hashim Taci quoting the ETA Boss.

My Spanish sucks ? My,my,my, do I detect a note of jealousy there ? Tell you what, why don't we correspond in Spanish immediately since you can judge , you must be fluent.

I said I was learning Srpski, so you are absolutely correct. The level, I hear it is usually the case when you learn. However I know all the useful stuff, such as "ti si velika kurva", "jebi se, ruzna kravo" and many others too sophisticate to mention...Arabic is also an option, you sound quite good at that. Let us see if you can pull this one.

Altrimenti si puo fara cuattro chiacchiere quando vuoi visto che ci sono delle volte quando non c'io un cavolo da fare, purtroppo si potrebbe dirti delle stronzate per que ci sono sempre risate.

Sinon laisse tomber la vilaine, tu ne comprends rien à rien et les autres le voient trés facilement. Personne n'a gobé ton histoire de réfugiée et c'est fini pour toi.

When this criminal organization, which is proudly called NATO, will stop this stupid warr?
It's enough now! They can't do nothing, just bad things!

Emina, I said only 8 civilians cause more people get killed on the street every week in Slovenia. You can not have a war with 8 civilians dead. I am sorry for all of them. It is not known which side killed them. I know that four of them were foreign truck drivers. In panic, not knowing who is driving the trucks somebody fired. Same thing happened with a car caught in barricades. Anyway...

About protests in Serbia. You also have daily protests againt NATO bombing that thousands attend, but Jamie Shea does not talk about those.
You have daily protests around Europe that thousands attent. Jamie Shea does not talk about those. He only chooses to respond to what suits his side of the story.