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May 20, 1999 12:15 pm
NATO plans for Kosovo force, peace deal elusive
11:24 p.m. May 19, 1999 Eastern
WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - NATO is planning for an international force of up to 50,000 troops to keep peace in Kosovo after the end of the conflict there although U.S. officials cautioned on Wednesday that no deal is close.
In spite of stepped-up diplomatic efforts, American officials did not expect NATO and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to resolve their differences any time soon.
``We're not close to a deal. We're in this for a while,'' said one senior White House aide.
The only areas of possible compromise were over the composition of the international security force and the offer of a bombing pause if NATO's core conditions were met for withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo, U.S. officials said.
Reports from Belgrade that Milosevic told Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin he accepted elements of the Kosovo peace plan but wanted to negotiate details with the United Nations, drew only a reaffirmation of conditions from Washington.
``We're not going to comment on what Milosevic may or may not have agreed to,'' State Department spokesman James Rubin said. ``We expect to receive a report from Mr. Chernomyrdin tomorrow about the results of his meeting with Milosevic.''
``We reaffirm our support for the G-8 principles agreed at Bonn. We also reaffirm that NATO's conditions remain essential,'' he added.
Plans for a peacekeeping mission moved ahead on Wednesday with NATO's Military Committee agreeing that the KFOR, or Kosovo Peace Implementation Force, should probably number
45,000 to 50,000 troops.
The plan, which would involve up to 7,000 American soldiers, was being presented to the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in Brussels, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said.
The overall total, expected to eventually include Russian and other troops as well as alliance forces, would be almost double the 28,000 proposed by NATO last summer before ethnic cleansing and allied air attacks devastated the southern Yugoslav province.
Bacon stressed to reporters that neither the NAC nor President Bill Clinton had made any final decisions. But he noted the original plan called for a U.S. contribution of 4,000 troops and ``I think you could anticipate a proportional increase, which would be in the range of 7,000 or so.''
Bacon spoke as the allies played down reports of a rift between Washington and London over suggestions by British leaders that NATO should be preparing for a forced military strike into Kosovo if continued heavy NATO bombing of Yugoslavia failed to yield results.
At the White House, officials said they did not expect visiting British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to try to persuade the United States to consider more strongly the ground troops option.
``The purpose of his trip is to demonstrate NATO's unity and solidarity,'' White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. ``All 19 countries of NATO believe that the air campaign is working and should be continued and should continue until we've met our military objectives and that'll be his message.''
A senior White House official said Clinton called British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday night to stress that the alliance needed to speak with one voice.
``He said that we need to remain united and to persevere until we prevail,'' the official said.
Lockhart, and other U.S. officials, said there were signs of trouble for Milosevic amid a growing number of reports that he may be looking for a deal.
``You now have demonstrations in three different towns where he's having to divert troops to go and try to quell these internal demonstrations,'' said Lockhart. ``These are the mothers and parents you saw demonstrating in support of Milosevic just weeks ago now having switched sides.''
The State Department raised the stakes in building its case against Milosevic, telling reporters that U.S. analysts had matched a videotape of massacred Kosovo Albanians with aerial imagery of the village where NATO reported mass graves.
The matching, based on trees, fields, buildings and fresh graves, added to evidence that Serb forces had carried out war crimes during a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Rubin said. It also showed that Yugoslav denials of atrocities in Kosovo were not credible, he added.
The videotape, extracts of which CNN broadcast on Friday, shows scores of dead bodies, allegedly at the site of the massacre in Izbica, and their subsequent burial nearby on a site previously identified by NATO as a new burial ground.
The United States has sent the material to the International Criminal Tribunal set up to try war crimes committed in the Balkans.
``It is our lawyers' judgment that the videotape, the overhead imagery and refugee accounts would make a compelling case,'' Rubin said.
May 20, 1999 8:57 pm
Kill Clinton, Blair and Albright and this world would be a better place. And many innocent lives will be saved.
May 21, 1999 8:24 am
TO ALL GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE.
Strange Maja thinks by killing all kind of people the world will be a better place.
How odd...........
From whom does she have these violant tendenses?
Or is this just one of her Personallities speaking......Or do we get to see her true face.If so finally.......
Emina
Topic starter
May 21, 1999 8:59 am
To Guido the Great, Guido NUTZ, Guido, Master of Reality, Guido, and his sympathizers.
MAJA SAYS 'Kill Clinton, Blair and Albright and this world would be a better place. And many innocent lives will be saved.'
And then she dares to call all us good people on this board... what did she say.... WAR MONGERS????
If this girl is so much in favour of killing, why is she crying about all those Serbian casualties? Why is she against bombing in the frist place?
Anyway, her posting goes to show none of us should ever take serious any of her comments, angry postings, nice postings, whatever, because underneath the surface lurks a...
baby killing, eye gouging, children raping, lying, etc etc.....!
OK, at least that's cleared up.
Zoja
PS What do you think guys? Would she be in love with Slob Milo, Arkan, Sergey, or (cli)Nique??? (or was it Clique??)
May 21, 1999 8:48 pm
I am the one who think killing people is a solution? You are advocating people who have the same policy, you idiot!!!
May 22, 1999 9:46 am
'Kill Clinton, Blair and Albright and this world would be a better place. And many innocent lives will be saved.' -Majas quote, May, 20th, 1999
Maja, learn to read.
I told everybody several times already, that I am not glad with NATO tactics. So, who is the war monger here?
So... it means, that at least I took the time to reconsider. We live in a free county with free opinions. And the freedom to reconsider your opinions, too. Such a pity you are so stuck, even when facing defeat. Desertions and protest are going on as we speak, against your beloved leader. I fully support those brave people and hope it will bring a victory for democracy closer.
Maja, better watch out that your beloved leader and the not so brave people still following him, will confiscate your beloved country, Slovenia, where you don't live. (so what are you babbeling about?) You would not be so much in favour of killing, otherwize. Probably lack of sleep really got you delirious. Get a good night's sleep, girl, it will help putting things in the right perspective.
Emina
ps Oh, yes, by the way, go sue America. On the other hand, don't. Your 'kill' posting will cause so much laughter, Clinton will choke on his cigar.
May 22, 1999 6:34 pm
Emina, you said you might have a problem with bombs but you clearly advocate this killings.
I do live in Slovenia, as do a lot of people that would be your brothers if you were not lying. Ever heard of Fuzine? It's called a small Bosna. A neighbourhood in Ljubljana where only Muslims, Croats and Serbs live. Where prices of properties is low and crime rate is up. And thanksfully, this neighbourhood is ten kilometrs away from me. Bosna, big or small, is not a place where I would want to be.
Anymore details only a Slovenian would know? We have a big scandal going on called Holmec, our University center is on Konegresni trg 12, the president of the party called SLS is Marjan Podobnik, LDS Janez Drnovsek ( also prime minister ), ZLSD Borut Pahor, SKD Janez Peterle. There are four MCDonalds in Ljubljana. Three biggest streets in Ljubljana are called Celovska, Dunajska and Slovenska... You can check that info up if you happen to meet any Slovenians online.
May 25, 1999 10:19 pm
No response, oh well.
Topic starter
May 26, 1999 8:25 pm
WEST MAY BE ONLY HOPE FOR POST-MILOSEVIC SERBIA
By Andrej Krickovic
As NATO air strikes devastate Serbia's economy and
infrastructure, the Serbian opposition is beginning to
speak out against Slobodan Milosevic. At the end of
April, former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vuk
Draskovic criticized Milosevic for lying to the Serbian
people and called on him to accept a peaceful solution
to the crisis. He paid for his boldness by losing his
job and being returned to the ranks of the opposition.
Democratic Party President Zoran Djindjic and
Social Democratic Party President Vuk Obradovic have
taken Draskovic's criticism a step further. Both have
called on Milosevic to bow to NATO demands in order to
end the bombing, and both have vowed that Democratic
forces in the country will unseat Milosevic once the
NATO intervention ends.
But Western leaders should not take this as a
signal that they can cut a deal with Milosevic and that
the opposition will take care of him after the bombings.
A compromise deal that is more acceptable to the Serbs
than Rambouillet would mean a victory for Milosevic,
allowing him to continue to play on nationalist
sentiment. Like Sadam Hussein, Milosevic could turn
defeat into victory by claiming he stood up to the full
force of the Western alliance and defended Serbia's
vital national interests. And, like Iraq, Serbia could
become a pariah state that is a constant threat to
regional stability.
While NATO has been winning the air war, Milosevic
has been busy clamping down on the opposition and
silencing independent media. Independent outlets like
Belgrade's Radio B92 have been shut down and reopened
with pro-government staffs. Others are afraid of the
consequences of speaking out and have more or less
voluntarily toed the Milosevic line. Many believe that
the slaying of Slavko Curuvija, the editor-in-chief of
the popular Belgrade daily "Dnevni Telegraf" was
intended as a message to would-be critics of the regime.
Several anti-Milosevic activists and opposition leaders
have fled to Montenegro, including Djindjic. A post-war
opposition movement would have to recover from these
losses and operate in an atmosphere of fear and brutal
repression.
Moreover, it is also doubtful that the opposition
is capable of leading Serbia into a post-Milosevic era.
Draskovic and Djindjic have been proponents of Serbian
nationalism and supported the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Croatia. At the same time, both have blown their
best opportunities. They failed to capitalize on the
street protests of 1996-1997, allowing Milosevic to
emerge stronger than ever. Many observers regard them as
opportunists, at best. Although Obradovic has been a
vocal opponent of Milosevic, his Social Democracy party
has only a small following.
Most Serbs continue to hold the same nationalist
beliefs that have inflicted so much harm on them and
their neighbors during this decade. Even Milosevic's
most consistent opponents have failed to condemn ethnic
cleansing in Kosova, instead focusing their criticism on
"NATO aggression." The most independent-minded media,
such as the weekly "Vreme," have portrayed reports of
massacres in Kosova as NATO propaganda and claimed that
the Western alliance is to blame for the hundreds of
thousands of refuges fleeing Kosova. Belgrade's students
were the backbone of the 1996-1997 protests. Yet they
have failed to show any interest in the suffering of
Kosova Albanians and have instead flocked to government-
sponsored anti-NATO rallies.
The destructive nationalism that Milosevic has
manipulated so successfully in the past is still strong
among the Serbian people. One would be hard pressed to
find a Serb who believes that the Albanians have as much
right as the Serbs to live in Kosova or who admits
Serbian nationalism is responsible for the wars in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosova. Most Serbs
continue to insist that Kosova is sacred Serbian land
and that the Albanians and international community are
the ones committing aggression and ethnic cleansing.
The international community is unlikely to accept
the Serbs "back into the fold" as long as they continue
to view themselves martyrs and/or victims of the
Albanians or of NATO. Several key Western leaders have
suggested that Serbia must purge its media, political
culture, and educational system of nationalism before it
can return to the ranks of European nations.
Such a development will remain impossible while
Milosevic is in power. But the Serbs may never be unable
to rid themselves of Milosevic if the West allows him to
stay in power.
The author is a free-lance journalist based in Zagreb
Topic starter
May 27, 1999 10:35 am
NATO fears Kosovo post-war vacuum - UK diplomats
07:33 p.m May 26, 1999 Eastern
By Clar Ni Chonghaile
LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - NATO is looking ahead to
post-war life in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo and firmly
believes the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) cannot be left in
control, British diplomats say.
Fears that Kosovo will be plunged into anarchy after an eventual
peace deal have been cited by NATO officials as one reason for
beefing up the peace implementation force.
``If there was an interval of any substance between the withdrawal
of Serb forces and NATO going in, (Kosovo's regional capital) Pristina
would be held by the KLA,'' a senior British diplomat said on Wednesday.
``They are a guerrilla force and should not be regarded in a
romantic way,'' said the diplomat, who declined to be identified.
Concern about a power vacuum in Kosovo cropped up several times
during British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's whistle-stop tour of
Italy, Germany and France on Wednesday.
His visit came just one day after NATO decided to increase its
forces in the Balkan region to almost 50,000 but insisted this
was not a step towards a potentially messy ground invasion.
The KLA has been portrayed by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians as war
heroes, hiding in hills and seeking to save a dwindling population
from alleged atrocities by Yugoslav forces.
KLA commanders have passed information to NATO through
diplomatic intermediaries but the relationship with the alliance has
been strained at times, such as when NATO mistakenly attacked a
key KLA barracks in Kosare last week.
Critics accuse the KLA of being little more than a gun-toting mafia.
NATO is reluctant to give the guerrillas any time to secure a
power base after a Serb withdrawal from Kosovo.
``We must not allow the creation of a vacuum. We have to see to it
that troops are able to be deployed quickly on the ground,'' German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told reporters after a meeting with
Cook.
``There will probably be a breakdown in law and order when
the Serb troops withdraw. We want Kosovo returned to a
democratic self-governing province which is not just run by
the men with guns,'' the British diplomat said.
With a stronger force in place, NATO will be ready to move in if
and when a peace deal is signed. But the diplomatic process is
moving slowly and reports of Milosevic's indictment for war
crimes will only complicate it further.
The bottom line for NATO is that it cannot afford to fail.
British diplomats say that if Milosevic succeeds in Kosovo,
Serbia's sister republic Montenegro and the southern
Yugoslav region of Sanjak would be next.
``They would be the next areas to be attacked. We would end up
with a general destabilisation of the region,'' the British diplomat
said.
The diplomat warned of the danger of factional fighting in a
post-war Kosovo as the KLA is prone to splits.
He said KLA leader Hashim Thaqi represented a moderate strand
and that the guerrillas had agreed at the Rambouillet peace talks in
Paris earlier this year to demilitarise within 30 days of a Serb withdrawal.
``Thaqi certainly represents a strand of KLA activity that wants to
form a government,'' the diplomat said.
Topic starter
May 27, 1999 10:59 am
CHERNOMYRDIN REPORTEDLY PROPOSES PARTITION OF KOSOVA...
"Izvestiya" on 27 May quoted unspecified diplomatic sources
as saying that Russian special envoy to Yugoslavia Viktor
Chernomyrdin's peace plan provides for a de facto division of
Kosova. The newspaper also referred to a report in the
previous day's "Guardian" quoting unidentified military
analysts close to the British government as saying that
Russia favors a de facto partition of Kosova, as evidenced by
its suggestion to deploy a Russian peace-keeping contingent
in northern and western Kosova and a NATO contingent in the
central and southern part. The alleged proposal envisages
that Peja, Mitrovica, and Podujeva de facto remain under
Serbian administration and Prishtina is divided into western
and eastern sectors. FS
....WHILE IVANOV DENIES PARTITION PLANS. Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov on 26 May denied that Russia is pursuing
plans for the division of Kosova, "Izvestiya" reported. The
daily, however, pointed out that "until the conclusion of the
negotiations, Ivanov will and must not show all his cards,
[nor will he inform] the public about every step and allow
the journalists into the diplomatic kitchen." Meanwhile in
Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne Gazeau-Secret
stressed that "France and NATO totally rule out partition."
Topic starter
May 28, 1999 6:58 pm
GERMANY HOSTS BALKAN DEVELOPMENT MEETING. Foreign
Minister Joschka Fischer told representatives of more
than 30 countries and 10 non-governmental organizations
in Bonn on 27 May that his proposed "Balkan
stabilization pact" must include realistic prospects for
EU membership for Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia,
Yugoslavia, and Albania, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung" reported. He added, however, that the process
will take years and does not mean that the five
countries will receive easy terms for membership. The
stability pact will also include Bulgaria, Romania, and
Slovenia. Its aim is to promote a regional approach to
political and economic development and to security
issues. The previous day in Brussels, EU Commissioner
Hans van den Broek said that Balkan regional cooperation
is an essential means to prevent future conflicts there.
He stressed that the EU will offer long-term development
assistance to Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, and
Yugoslavia, the "Berliner Zeitung" reported. PM
May 28, 1999 8:07 pm
TO MAJA.
You might have noticed i am not on the board a lot, cause of the workload. So no i was not able to respond.Sorry.
Anyway you keep saying im lying anyway, and to be honest i am not going to waste my time to prove myself, cause there is nothing to prove.I am a Bosnian thats that.
Also at the moment i am helping friends of mine inside Serbia to sue nato(or atleast in finding out if there is a possibility)I hope for them there is.
So as you can see i am not atvocating death on civilians, but i do hope they get Milosevic in court very soon.He's evil not the Serbian population.
Another thing whatever my sister posts or writes is her business not mine. We have free speech and free opinions here.
last but not least i don't have to inquire about the streets in Slovenia.
Emina
June 2, 1999 12:04 am
How to maintain stability after the war?
PROPOSAL REF KOSOVAR-ALBANIANS :
Milosovic is a war criminal
He has also looted his country
and this money is stashed away
in a.o. South Africa and Switzerland.
We should embargoe his assets,
try him in absentia
collect on the money
and use it to rebuild Kosovo.
Isn't it great,
when we use money looted from the abusers
to assist the abused?
June 2, 1999 12:17 am
And now the plan for the SERBS.
Declare their passports invalid in the civilized world.
Let them have their country.
Let them be imprisoned in it along with their leader.
And keep up the embargo.
After all, nobody wants that land,
Who would want to invest in a nation of
indoctrinated state-sponsored killers.
Make them all persona non grata in the world.
Make them understand the degree and consequences
of the crimes committed in their name.
Keep people like this
caged in their country
with their mentality imprisoned
in their thwarted world.
When they finally realize and acknowledge
that all men are created EQUAL,
that concentration camps, deportation and genocide
is wrong, and that liberty and capitalism must RULE,
then we allow them back in the NORMAL world.
It will take approx one century before we see another free Serb.
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