NATO plays down threat of Kosovo armed group

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 18 (Reuters) - NATO acknowledged on Tuesday the presence of an armed group in western Kosovo stopping and searching cars at night but dismissed reports of a new rebel army in the province.

The U.N. mission in charge of Serbia's disputed province has told staff to avoid travelling at night in U.N.-marked cars in the western Decani region after recent media reports of checkpoints manned by armed, masked men.

But an official from the 17,100-strong NATO-led peace force stationed there said the men were little more than bandits stealing from passing cars.

"These are criminals. They are not organised as far as we know and we don't recognise them as an organisation," he told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"We take it seriously, but as far as we are concerned these are criminals ... who are doing it for their own business."

Calling itself "The Army for the Independence of Kosovo", local newspapers say the group had threatened U.N. officials and was demanding immediate recognition of independence for the majority Albanian province.

U.N. facilities and parked U.N. cars have become the targets of sporadic bomb attacks over the past six months, blamed on extremists trying to warn against delaying talks on Kosovo's future, expected to begin in November.

Illegal checkpoints and ominous communiques were the early hallmarks of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which emerged in 1998 to launch a guerrilla war against Serb forces.

An 11-week NATO bombing campaign in 1999 drove out forces under former Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic, accused of killing 10,000 Albanian civilians as they fought the KLA.

Under U.N. control since, the 90 percent ethnic Albanian majority is impatient for independence, something Serbia says is impossible.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to endorse the start of "final status" talks at a session on Oct. 24. Diplomats say Western powers will steer them towards a form of "conditional independence" under continued international supervision.

What a mess over there in Kosovo!
Thank goodness that Clinton had an exit strategy all prepared for our involvement in which he assured us that all US troops would be out of there by Christmas 1995. Can you imagine the MSM concern if they were still there?
Thank God that the SOB, (Sweet Old Bill)was so far sighted as to ensure that we wouldn't get stuck in that "quagmire".

Carter's Legacy: A radical Islamic terrorist state in Iran
Clinons Legacy: A radical Islamic terrorist state in Europe

“We do not recognize them as organization ergo they are not organized”. It just happens they are traveling in large groups robbing and stealing.
This is OK, cause:

a) robbing and stealing is Albanian trademark
b) NA-TO did that to Serbs.
Shutting down eyes in the sight of the truth is favorite way “international community” deals with uncomfortable facts. After all we are still waiting fro them to admit that muslim planted bomb in Potocari.

“On 5 July 2005, Bosnian Serb police officers discovered two devices containing 77 lb/35 kg of explosives near the Potocari memorial center for the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Tens of thousands of family members, foreign dignitaries and others are scheduled to visit the site on 11 July for a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the massacre. A police official stated that the devices were "ready to detonate" and that they were capable of causing large-scale casualties and damage. It has yet to be determined who planted the devices.”

i will post up pics of that memorial from my excusions the last few years.

6 posted on 10/19/2005 12:41:01 PM PDT by ma bell ("Take me to the Brig. I want to see the "real Marines". Major General Chesty Puller, USMC)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.