UNITED KINGDOM: KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY ACCUSES SERBIAN FORCES OF SHELLING ITS SOLDIERS WITH NERVE GAS GRENADES

Record ID: 863312

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY ACCUSES SERBIAN FORCES OF SHELLING ITS SOLDIERS WITH NERVE GAS GRENADES
  • Date: 28th April 1999
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (REUTERS) LV NEWS CONFERENCE WITH KLA AND KOSOVO INTERIM GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE IN BRITAIN PLEURAT SEJDIU, AND ALBANIAN AMBASSADOR AGIM FAGU SV SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PLEURAT SEJDIU: "Probably you have the information that the KLA has created a safe corridor to Junik, and latest reaction of the Serbs was that they start shelling with grenades containing chemical weapons. We'll have more information about that in the next 2-3 days, and evidence". SV JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE SV SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PLEURAT SEJDIU: "It was at least two cases. The first case was in the village of Batusa, near the Kosova-Albanian border, and just on the outskirts of the village of Junik. We have a few casualties, we will try to get them out of Kosova and establish the cause". SCU JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE SV SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PLEURAT SEJDIU: "We have four soldiers who died from these weapons used in Batusa. I don't have any more information than that. Just other than the first shellings. And they don't have any wound from a shotgun, so we have all indications that nerve gas was used. And we have other soldiers who survived this, and they are now being treated inside Albania." LV NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 13th May 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVACIWTH0V55Z1PA32BTTUZMQJ6N
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The Kosovo Liberation Army has accused Serbian forces of shelling its soldiers with nerve gas grenades, saying four soldiers were killed near the Albanian border.
    Kosova Liberation Army spokesman Pleurat Sejdiu, recently named ambassador to Britain by the KLA-appointed interim government in the war-torn province, said on Wednesday (April 28) that Serb forces had used chemical weapons in two incidents, one in the village of Batusa and the second near to Junik.
    Speaking at a London news conference with Albanian ambassador Agim Fagu, Sejdiu said four soldiers had been found dead in Batusa with no apparent wounds."We have all the indications that nerve gas was used", he said.Survivors of the attack had been or were being evacuated to Albania, added Sejdiu, and evidence would be produced within the next few days.
    The incidents followed what Sejdiu said was recent KLA success in opening up a corridor to Junik from the Albanian border.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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