YUGOSLAVIA: FRESH TALKS BEGIN TO PERSUADE ETHNIC ALBANIANS TO LIFT THEIR BLOCKADE AND ACCEPT RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS

Record ID: 565781

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: FRESH TALKS BEGIN TO PERSUADE ETHNIC ALBANIANS TO LIFT THEIR BLOCKADE AND ACCEPT RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS
  • Date: 25th August 1999
  • Summary: ORAHOVAC, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA (AUGUST 25, 1999) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV'S EXTERIORS OF DUTCH MILITARY BASE WHERE NEGOTIATIONS TAKING PLACE (3 SHOTS) 0.16 2. SV (SOUNDBITE)(Russian) ANDREY SEDUKOV, THE DEPUTY COMMANDER OF THE RUSSIAN CONTINGENT SAYING: "Negotiations will continue, I hope there will be a good result. I don't know when. Time will tell." 0.49 3. SV (SOUNDBITE)(German) GENERAL WOLFGANG SAUER, COMMANDER OF KOVOSO'S GERMAN SECTOR, SAYING: "We met with the Albanian and the Serbian delegations and there is not much cause for optimism." 1.18 4. SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT-COLONEL TONY VAN LOON FROM THE NETHERLANDS SAYING: "There is no concrete progress. There is no result today. It is not likely that a result will be achieved quickly. This is something that needs time. Both delegations have agreed to keep talking. Both sides also agree that there has to be a solution and that the situation that we now have is not in anyone's interest." 1.42 5. CUTAWAY'S SOLDIERS (2 SHOTS) 1.51 6. SV (SOUNDBITE)(Albanian) ISMET TARA, A LOCAL KLA COMMANDER WHO TOOK PART IN THE TALKS SAYING: "We can't decide on behalf of the people. They should decide for themselves. They were pushing us to have a compromise, but we don't have the legitimacy to bargain on the people's behalf." 2.11 7. SLV ISMET TARA 2.19 8. CUTAWAY SOLDIER 2.23 9. SV (SOUNDBITE)(Serbian) UNNAMED SERBIAN DELEGATE SAYING: Our position hasn't changed." 2.33 10. VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS (2 SHOTS) 2.52 11. VARIOUS OF BLOCKADE.(POOR QUALITY INITIALLY) (16 SHOTS) 5.09 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 9th September 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ORAHOVAC, KOSOVO, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVAA6TOE2Y61EU1NAUBVFMCOQLCY
  • Story Text: Military chiefs have begun a fresh round of talks
    with ethnic Albanians aimed at persuading them to lift their
    blockade of the Kosovo town of Orahovac and accept Russian
    peacekeepers.

    The Albanians on Wednesday (August 25) spent a third
    day at roadblocks set up at all entry points into Orahovac,
    some 40 km (25 miles) southwest of the provincial capital
    Pristina, to prevent Russians taking over from Dutch troops
    who have patrolled the town since mid-June.

    Kosovo Albanians are deeply suspicious of Russians, as
    traditional allies of the Serbs.

    Albanians in Orahovac say Russian mercenaries fought
    alongside Serbs who massacred members of their community.They
    have also expressed fears Russian troops could let war crimes
    suspects in the town's Serb enclave slip away to safety.

    Local Albanian leaders met General Wolfgang Sauer, the
    commander of Kosovo's German sector which includes Orahovac,
    and the commander of the Russian battalion scheduled to take
    over, for talks at the Dutch base just outside the town.

    "I think compromises are always possible if all sides show
    goodwill," Sauer told reporters as he arrived for the
    discussions together with Colonel Vadim Andreyev.

    Andreyev said he wanted the standoff to be resolved
    peacefully."Negotiations will continue," he said."I hope
    there will be a good result.I don't know when.Time will
    tell."
    Asked about the allegations that Russians fought with
    Serbs in the Orahovac area to crush ethnic Albanians demanding
    an end to rule from Belgrade, he replied: "They were not
    Russian soldiers.They were just criminals."
    Dutch officer Lieutenant-Colonerl Tony Van Loon said there
    would be no easy solution to the Orahovac problem."There is
    no concrete progress," he said."There is no result today.It
    is not likely that a result will be achieved quickly.This is
    something that needs time.Both delegations have agreed to
    keep talking.Both sides also agree that there has to be a
    solution and that the situation that we now have is not in
    anyone's interest."
    Albanians at the biggest roadblock of stationary vehicles,
    snaking for a kilometre along a hillside route between
    Orahovac and Malisevo -- where an advance party of Russians is
    waiting to be deployed -- seemed to have settled into a
    routine.

    Elderly men played chess on a grassy slope above the road
    and stalls selling drinks and snacks have sprung up among the
    line of cars, trucks and tractors scattered across the road.

    Ismet Tara, a local KLA commander who took part in the
    talks accused the military of pushing for a compromise."We
    can't decide on behalf of the people.They should decide for
    themselves.They were pushing us to have a compromise, but we
    don't have the legitimacy to bargain on the people's behalf."
    Serb community leaders arrived at the Dutch base to join
    the talks around half an hour after the Albanians.

    An unnamed Serbian delegate said: "Our position hasn't
    changed."
    Amid the dozens of cars and trucks that are blocking the
    road, a number of tents have sprung up -- a sign that the
    blocade could continue for a long time.

    The ethnic Albanian majority of Orahovac are refusing to
    let the Russian troops in, alleging that Russian soldiers took
    part in ethnic cleansing in the region.

    The negotiations were expected to last most of the day.

    Mediators hoped that they could get Serb and Albanian leaders
    to meet jointly.But the prospects for an early resolution to
    the conflict appeared small.


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