VELIKI TRNOVAC IS A HEROIN GATEWAY TO THE WEST !

["D.R." <danica_razlag@usa.net>]

- For fair use only -

"I am one of those who think the political options for solving the problems of
Albanians are far from exhausted," Galip Beqiri, mayor of the
Albanian-populated town VELIKI TRNOVAC told AFP. The town is in an ethnic
Albanian area of southern Serbia, currently the focus of attacks by rebels,
calling themselves the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac
(UCPMB), seeking to unite the area with UN-run Kosovo.” <end quote>

VELIKI TRNOVAC rings the bell?
http://www.google.com/search?q=Veliki+Trnovac+heroin
http://www.egroups.com/message/sorabia/11030

VELIKI TRNOVAC  IS  A  HEROIN  GATEWAY TO THE WEST !

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/nnicc97.htmsearch: kosovo
http://www.balkanpeace.org/our/our03.shtml
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/99/07/24/timkoskos01001.html?1996766(enter
link manually if broken)
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/kosovo/reports/kos33main.htm search Trnovac

Discrimination  behind rebel attacks?
---------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 1 12:06 AM SGT

Serbia's Albanians warn of discrimination behind rebel attacks

VELIKI TRNOVAC, Yugoslavia, Nov 30 (AFP) -
Moderate Albanians in southern Serbia have called on Belgrade to put an end to
the ethnic discrimination of the Slobodan Milosevic era, or risk facing an
upsurge of armed separatist attacks.
"I am one of those who think the political options for solving the problems of
Albanians are far from exhausted," Galip Beqiri, mayor of the
Albanian-populated town Veliki Trnovac told AFP.
The town is in an ethnic Albanian area of southern Serbia, currently the
focus of attacks by rebels, calling themselves the Liberation Army of
Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB), seeking to unite the area with
UN-run Kosovo.
Beqiri acknowledged that not everyone in his area had the same outlook, and
among 8,000 inhabitants of the town, there was a number who "have joined  the
guerrillas and have taken up arms."
Seeking to bolster influence in the area, much of which is located in a
demilitarised buffer zone, the guerrillas have found they can still count 
on lingering resentment of Milosevic-era nationalism.
And, local leaders say, this will have to change if Yugoslav President
Vojislav Kostunica is to avoid further violence.
"Sixty-two percent of the 50,000 inhabitants of Bujanovac are Albanians, 
but they are under-represented in the public institutions," a local leader
from the Party for Democratic Action (PDD) explained.
Albanians "are non-existent in the police forces, they have no radio station
or newspapers, and the availability of education for the young is limited."
Kostunica, who took office in October, has already shown a will for a
dialogue with the minorities living in Serbia, a move which has raised hopes
here.
But for the Albanians, time is running out, and the complaints of
Milosevic-era discrimination continue to rear their head. Most complaints
have centered on the behaviour of police towards them, and an alleged
increase in humiliation, harassment and, sometimes, beatings.
The Belgrade leadership may be new, local leaders argue, but its make-up 
has yet to change.
"Some of these policemen are criminals who have sullied their names in
Kosovo" during the 1998-99 war, one Veliki Trnovac official said.
"We want to be equally represented in the local police units," he insisted.
But Colonel Novica Zdravkovic, the chief of the Serbian police in the
region, admits that the behaviour of some of his men has not always been 
in accordance with the demands of the service.
"We have recently taken disciplinary measures against five of them," he told
AFP.
Zdravkovic said that the priority was to secure the region and normalise 
the traffic on the road leading to Kosovo, controlled for almost a fortnight 
by the UCPMB guerrillas.
He noted that in recent months, some 90 serious incidents between the
guerrillas and his units were recorded, in which about a dozen people were
killed.
Acts of terrorism, notably bomb attacks, have also multiplied in southern
Serbia, he said.
And moderate Albanians recognise this has not created an atmosphere that 
is conducive to cohabitation. The two communities live almost entirely
separately. Albanians and Serbs have their own areas, meeting places, shops
and schools.
"The guerrillas are causing fear among moderate Albanians, but if our right to
work, movement and a normal life is not respected, the UCPMB might gain on the
ground," one PDD official warned.
But there are some glimmers of hope, albeit few and far between. This week,
one rumour was spread in Bujanovac that the house of the only Serbian resident
in a nearby village was burned down by the Albanians.
But the house of 80-year-old Obrad Ristic was still standing, and, in
absence of its owner, who has fled following increased tensions in the area,
an Albanian neighbour has been feeding the chickens and a dog belonging to the
old Serb.

<end>

Original source:
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/headline
s/001201/world/afp/Serbia_s_Albanians_warn_of_discrimination_behind_rebel_at
tacks.html ( enter manually if broken)

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