YUGOSLAVIA: ETHNIC ALBANIAN REBELS SAY THEY CANNOT GUARANTEE SAFETY OF SERBIAN TROOPS IN SPITE OF CEASEFIRE.

Record ID: 566271

  • Title: YUGOSLAVIA: ETHNIC ALBANIAN REBELS SAY THEY CANNOT GUARANTEE SAFETY OF SERBIAN TROOPS IN SPITE OF CEASEFIRE.
  • Date: 14th March 2001
  • Summary: TRNOVAC, SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA (MARCH 14, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: ETHNIC ALBANIAN GUERRILLAS, ARMED WITH KALASHNIKOV ASSAULT RIFLES, WALKING TOWARDS OBSERVATION BUILDING 0.08 2. SIDE: GUERRILLA SETTING UP TO OBSERVE SERBIAN TANKS DUG IN ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED METRES AWAY. THE REBELS SAY THE TANKS SHOULD HAVE BEEN WITHDRAWN AS PART OF THE CEASEFIRE DEAL NEGOTIATED WITH THE SERBS. 0.15 3. LV: VARIOUS OF SERBIAN TANKS AND POSITIONS/ GUERRILLA OBSERVING (5 SHOTS) 0.49 4. GV/MCU: (SOUNDBITE)(Albanian) LOCAL ETHNIC ALBANIAN LIBERATION ARMY FOR PRESEVO, MEDVEDJA AND BUJANOVAC (UCPMB) COMMANDER, 'CAPTAIN LESKI' SAYING: "The army which is being deployed in Zone C is one which carried out genocide. It is also stated that we do not guarantee the security of soldiers in sector C. Bad things could happen. The situation could escalate and fighting could start again." (2 SHOTS) 1.22 5. GV/CU: GENERAL VIEWS OF TRNOVICE WITH PEOPLE WALKING IN STREETS AND CAR DRIVING (4 SHOTS) 1.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TRNOVAC, SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA7KXH8B5M8UJC9F8IUQOXSG0JU
  • Story Text: Ethnic Albanian rebels along the border of Kosovo have
    warned that they would not be able to guarantee the safety of
    Serb troops with whom they have a ceasefire.

    The warning came on the day that Serbs started moving into
    part of the five-kilometre wide Ground Safety Zone that runs
    along the Kosovo boundary.



    Ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serb forces are facing
    each other in Trnovac, a village just over the Kosovo
    boundary inside Serbia.

    The guerrillas, armed with light weapons observe a
    Yugoslav Army tank dug in some 400 metres away.

    One of the senior commanders of the ethnic Albanian
    guerrillas on Wednesday (March 14) demanded the presence of an
    international peacekeeping force in the area.

    Commander Leski said that Serbs and Albanians could
    eventually co-exist peacefully. But he said that would be very
    hard to achieve without the presence and mediation of the
    international community.

    Leski said he opposed the permission given the Serbian
    army to enter a 25-square kilometre area of the Ground Safety
    Zone at the junction of the borders of Kosovo, Serbia and
    Macedonia.

    And in a clear warning to Serbian troops he said that he
    would not guarantee their safety.

    He said the situation could escalate and fighting could
    start.

    So far, the truce between the ethnic Albanian Liberation
    Army for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac (UCPMB) and the
    Serbian forces has held with only very small violations, Leski
    said.

    The deployment of Serb forces in the buffer zone is part
    of a drive to cut any links between ethnic Albanian armed
    rebels who have been operating in Serbia's Presevo Valley for
    more than a year and a similar group which has emerged in
    Macedonia in the past few weeks.

    Commander Leski denied that the entry of the Serbian
    troops into the so-called Zone C would affect his lines of
    communication or operations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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