MACEDONIA/YUGOSLAVIA: YUGOSLAV SECURITY FORCES TAKE OVER KOSOVO BUFFER ZONE/ CACHE OF GUERRILLA ARMS DISPLAYED.

Record ID: 647920

  • Title: MACEDONIA/YUGOSLAVIA: YUGOSLAV SECURITY FORCES TAKE OVER KOSOVO BUFFER ZONE/ CACHE OF GUERRILLA ARMS DISPLAYED.
  • Date: 31st May 2001
  • Summary: SECTOR B, SUBSECTOR CENTRE, YUGOSLAVIA (MAY 31, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: LINE OF HAMMER VEHICLES CARRYNG MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL ANTI-TERRORIST UNITS WITHIN JOINT SECURITY FORCES) POSITIONED BEFORE ENTERING BUFFER ZONE (3 SHOTS) 0.11 2. MCU: MEMBER OF THE SPECIAL ANTI-TERRORIST UNITS, STANDING ON THE HAMMER VEHICLE, WITH MACHINE GUN 0.15 3. GV: CONVOY OF HAMMER VEHICLES/ CONVOY OF HAMMER VEHICLES DRIVING INTO THE THE LAST CHUNK OF A BUFFER ZONE (3 SHOTS) 0.32 MOUNTAIN TASLAK, SECTOR B, YUGOSLAVIA (MAY 31, 2001) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) 4. CU: ROAD SIGN, SHOWING DIRECTIONS, READING: VELIKI TRNOVAC, DOBROSIN, KONCULJ 0.38 5. GV: VILLAGE VELIKI TRNOVAC SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE HILL 0.44 VELIKI TRNOVAC, SECTOR B, YUGOSLAVIA (MAY 31, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6. GV: SERBIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, NEBOJAS COVIC AND PETER FAITH, NATO SPECIAL ENVOY WALKING THROUGH THE VILLAGE ACCOMPANIED BY EUROPEAN UNION (EU) REPRESENTATIVES 0.49 7. MV/CU: COVIC AND FAITH SHAKING HANDS WITH LOCAL ETHNIC ALBANIANS/ BEADS IN MAN'S HANDS/ COVIC TALKING TO THE LOCAL ALBANIANS (3 SHOTS) 1.00 PALI KAMEN, SECTOR B, YUGOSLAVIA (MAY 31, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. MV/CU: VARIOUS OF YUGOSLAV ARMY SOLDIERS IN POSITIONS (FORMER UCPMB STRONGHOLDS) (2 SHOTS) 1.09 9. GV/MV: VARIOUS OF COVIC WITH THE YUGOSLAV ARMY SOLDIERS WALKING UP HILL/ COVIC TALKING TO SOLDIER IN BUNKER (2 SHOTS) 1.25 10. GV: FORMER UCPMB BUNKER/ VIEW ACROSS COUNTRYSIDE FROM POSITION 1.30 11. MV: COVIC AND FAITH TALKING 1.36 12. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETER FAITH, NATO SPECIAL ENVOY, SAYING: "With the help of NATO there was no armed conflict with the ethnic Albanian fighters and I think that was a great plus. We were working on the basis of this plan and we had the confidence of people. We have seen in Trnovac that people are looking forward to resuming civilian life, the reception was dignified." 2.01 13. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) COVIC SAYING: "In the next few days we will bring all this into the primary position. We will cover trenches, remove bunkers and do everything to bring back normal life." 2.17 14. MV/TRACK: COVIC WALKING TOWARDS HIS CAR/ CARS LEAVING (2 SHOTS) 2.26 SKOPJE, MACEDONIA, (MAY 31, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 15. VARIOUS: ROW OF WEAPONS ON GROUND OUTSIDE POLICE ACADEMY/ POLICE OFFICER OF SPECIAL FORCES UNIT STANDING OVER WEAPONS/ MORTARS/ PHOTOGRAPH OF KOSOVO LEADER IBRAHIM RUGOVA/ RIFLES IN LINE (7 SHOTS) 3.02 16. MCU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) STEVO PENDAROVSKI, INTERIOR MINISTRY SPOKESMAN SAYING, "The weapons behind me clearly show the terrorists have good equipment, good weapons and are a strong enemy for us." 3.12 17. GV/CU: VARIOUS OF MACHINE GUNS WITH BULLETS (2 SHOTS) 3.35 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 15th June 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUFFER ZONE, MOUNTAIN TASLAK, VELIKI TRNOVAC, PALI KAMEN, SECTOR B, SUB SECTOR CENTRE, YUGOSLAVIA/ SKOPJE, MACEDONIA
  • City:
  • Country: Yugoslavia
  • Reuters ID: LVA7EE7I7QC9U8PUJM970S809HVI
  • Story Text: Yugoslav security forces have reoccupied the last chunk
    of a buffer zone around Kosovo, taking back final control from
    ethnic Albanian guerrillas who used it as a base for a
    16-month insurgency.

    In Skopje, Macedonian officials displayed a cache of
    weapons they said belonged to Albanian rebels, confiscated in
    villages reclaimed by Macedonian forces.


    In a NATO-approved operation on Thursday (May 31),
    some 1,200 Yugoslav troops and paramilitary police moved back
    into a 90-square km (35-square mile) slice of southern Serbia,
    completing the return to Belgrade's control of the zone set up
    by NATO after its 1999 bombing campaign.

    Just two hours after entering the last part of Sector B,
    the stronghold of guerrillas who took advantage of the
    security void in the demilitarised zone to attack Serb
    security forces, the Yugoslav forces had reached the Kosovo
    border and were invited for coffee by NATO-led peacekeepers.

    Serbian officials had said they expected little resistance
    after the guerrillas agreed last week to disband by the end of
    the month, though some warned about the possibility of attacks
    by rogue elements.

    The convoys, led by police vehicles flying the Yugoslav
    flag, moved ahead carefully because of land-mines, with
    trained dogs going ahead and off-road to search for them.

    Rebel commander Shefket Musliu said after giving himself
    up last week that more than 450 demobilised guerrillas now in
    Kosovo were expected to become part of a multi-ethnic police
    force which began patrols in southern Serbia this week.

    The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
    (OSCE) aims to train at least 400 Serbian and Albanian
    officers in the new force, regarded as an important cog in
    efforts to restore trust.

    Rebels of the UCPMB group appeared at the beginning of
    last year in the Presevo Valley area of southern Serbia,
    saying they were battling Serbian repression of the large
    ethnic Albanian minority. Belgrade condemned them as
    terrorists bent on uniting the Presevo Valley with Kosovo,
    which has an overwhelming majority of Albanians who seek
    independence.

    In Macedonia, a huge cache of weapons, containing mortars,
    assault rifles, and ammunition, was found in the villages in
    northeastern Macedonia where soldiers are battling Albanian
    rebels.

    The weapons were found mainly from the town of Vakcince,
    which Macedonian forces took back last week from the rebels,
    officials said.

    Steve Pendarovski, Macedonian Interior Ministry spokesman
    said, "The weapons behind me clearly show the terrorists have
    good equipment, good weapons and are a strong enemy for us."
    Macedonian forces continue to push on but are being met by
    resistance in villages such as Matejce, near Lipcovo.

    It is estimated some eight thousands civilians from these
    villages have fled to Lipcovo and are trapped there, afraid to
    leave for safety reasons.

    Macedonian troops have moved into Matejce but have not
    clinched total control as they encounter return fire from
    Albanian rebels at the other end of the town.




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