MACEDONIA: INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS INVESTIGATE A POSSIBLE MASSACRE AFTER NUMBER OF BODIES ARE FOUND
Record ID:
648916
MACEDONIA: INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS INVESTIGATE A POSSIBLE MASSACRE AFTER NUMBER OF BODIES ARE FOUND
- Title: MACEDONIA: INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS INVESTIGATE A POSSIBLE MASSACRE AFTER NUMBER OF BODIES ARE FOUND
- Date: 16th August 2001
- Summary: (W7) LUJBOTEN, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 14, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. GV ZOOM IN LV/SLV LUJBOTEN VILLAGE SEEN FROM HILLS; VILLAGE; HOUSES IN VILLAGE (4 SHOTS) 0.17 2. TRACKING SHOT FROM VEHICLE DRIVING TO OTHER SIDE OF LUJBOTEN 0.24 3. MV TWO POLICE OFFICERS WALKING TO CLOSEST MACEDONIAN CONTROLLED POSITION; MV MACEDONIAN BUNKER; SLV FROM BUNKER, MACHINE GUN; SLV LUJBOTEN SEEN FROM BUNKER (6 SHOTS) 0.58 4. SLV MACEDONIAN INTERIOR MINISTER LJUBE BOSKOVSKI WALKING FROM BUILDING 1.02 5. SOUNDBITE (Macedonian) INTERIOR MINISTER LJUBE BOSKOVSKI SAYING "We reject this speculation. Police have not committed any massacre and the police acted strictly according to the rules of the constitution and law. This is one more case of speculation and is simply one attempt to defame the police and their leaders". 1.23 (W7) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST (W7) SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 14. 2001) (REUTERS) 6. MV BARRY JOHNSON, SPOKESMAN FOR KFOR AND NATO SPEAKING TO REPORTER 1.29 7. SOUNDBITE (English) JOHNSON SAYING "I have heard some reports on it, but don't have any confirmation of any of the facts surrounding it. It sounds like an incident did occur, but - right now - I don't have any further information." 1.40 (W5) MATAJCE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 14, 2001) (REUTERS) 8. SLV ARMS OF MACEDONIAN SECURITY FORCES WATCHING MATAJCE; SCU SOLDIER (2 SHOTS) 1.47 9. LV VILLAGE 1.51 10. SCU MACEDONIAN SOLDIER WATCHING THROUGH BINOCULARS; SLV TANK/ MACEDONIAN SOLDIER WAITING; MV MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS IN ENCAMPMENT; SCU MACEDONIAN SOLDIER LADLES SOUP FROM CAN; SCU MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS EATING FROM MOBILE KITCHEN (5 SHOTS) 2.07 (W5)SKOPJE, MACEDONIA (AUGUST 14, 2001) (REUTERS) 11. SLV HELICOPTER ARRIVING IN FIELD NEXT TO HOSPITAL; SLV HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) 2.14 12. MV INJURED POLICE BEING TAKEN OFF HELICOPTER AND PUT INTO AMBULANCE; LV HELICOPTER (3 SHOTS) 2.26 (W8)UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION NORTH OF TETOVO, MACEDONIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) 13. SLV/MV ARMED NLA GUERRILLAS AT BASE IN THE HILLS (8 SHOTS) 2.59 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 31st August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SKOPJE, LJUBOTEN, MATAJCE AND UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION NORTH OF TETOVO, MACEDONIA
- Country: Macedonia
- Reuters ID: LVA5IZLYX1RBL0KSLJL9CRYY68KZ
- Story Text: A number of bodies have been found in a village outside
the Macedonian capital Skopje that was hit in heavy weekend
fighting between the army and ethnic Albanian guerrillas.
International observers are investigating a possible massacre.
Meanwhile, the rebels have apparently agreed to hand over
their weapons to NATO after being promised an amnesty by the
Macedonian government.
Asked about unconfirmed reports of executions of ethnic
Albanians in the village, a spokesman for the OSCE mission in
Macedonia, Harald Schenker, told Reuters on Tuesday (August
14) further information had to be gathered.
Reliable independent sources who asked not to be
identified said the bodies of five ethnic Albanian men had
been found. A Reuters news team that tried to visit Ljuboten
on Tuesday to check the reports was allowed to view the
village from afar, but was told it was too dangerous to
proceed by Macedonian police.
The deaths on Friday of eight Macedonian soldiers in a
guerrilla landmine explosion on a mountain road outside the
village provoked fierce retaliation by government forces who
bombarded suspected guerrilla positions nearby on Sunday
(August 12).
Macedonia's Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski called the
reports speculation.
"We reject this speculation police have not committed any
massacre and the police acted strictly according to the rules
of the constitution and law, this is one more case of
speculation and is simply one attempt to defame the police and
their leaders" he said.
KFOR Spokesman Barry Johnson also said it was too early to
tell exactly what had taken place.
Despite the signing of a peace accord on Monday (August
13), Macedonian tanks and artillery blasted ethnic Albanian
guerrillas along a northern front and rebels burned buildings
in occupied villages on Tuesday.
The overnight violence underlined how difficult it will be
to establish a durable ceasefire required by NATO to deploy
3,500 troops to collect weapons from the guerrillas as part of
the landmark agreement on minority rights for Albanians.
Government tanks and artillery bombarded the rebel-held
villages of Matejce and Nikustak on Monday night following
guerrilla small-arms fire earlier in the day.
Reports said there were many exchanges of fire through the
evening in the mountainous zone some 20 km (12 miles) north of
the capital Skopje, but that the Macedonian army's use of
tanks and artillery was disproportionate.
In the capital Skopje, several helicopters were seen
transporting wounded Macedonian soldiers to hospitals on
Tuesday morning.
Rebel reluctance to disarm before the sweeping range of
reforms took effect was overcome when they were promised an
amnesty from the Macedonian government and a definite
timetable for minority rights, according to sources within the
guerrilla movement.
Ali Ahmeti, political leader of the so-called National
Liberation Army, accepted the deal only two weeks after
Macedonian government hardliners had said he was on a list of
11 NLA "war crimes" suspects.
Under the deal, President Boris Trajkovski agreed not to
prosecute rebels, one of their key demands in exchange for
disarming. Those liable for prosecution at the U.N. war crimes
tribunal in The Hague will be excluded.
The rebels are to surrender weapons, which include mortars
and heavy machine guns, to 3,500 NATO troops who will deploy
in Macedonia for 30 days once the alliance judges that a
repeatedly broken ceasefire is solid enough.
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