7 November 2003 Afternoon Edition

Kosovo News

· Not worth losing Kosovo to join EU, says Belgrade (Reuters)
· Stolic murder suspects arrested (B92)

· Serbien wehrt sich gegen die Täterrolle (NZZ)
· Schily fordert schärfere Abschiebung nach Kosovo (Frankfurt Rundschau)
· Brandstiftung: Fünf Tote bei Feuer-Tragödie (dpa)

Regional News

· Mihajlovic thumbs nose at Hague (Beta)
· Former deputy prime minister denies Hague probe (B92)

World News

· Black hawk down in Iraq, six US dead, as Turkey goes back on troop pledge (AFP)
· Six die in U.S. helicopter crash near Tikrit; (AP)
· Six die in US helicopter crash (BBC NEWS)

BELGRADE, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A Serbian government minister on Friday ruled out independence for the breakaway province of Kosovo even if this meant Belgrade would be barred from joining the European Union.

``Talks on independence for Kosovo are out of the question,'' Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic said in comments quoted by daily newspaper Blic.

``And if the price for joining the European Union is Kosovo independence -- well, thanks, we'll not join the European Union,'' said Covic, who heads a government body on Kosovo.

Kosovo has been run as a de facto U.N. protectorate since NATO's 1999 bombing campaign to end Serb repression of the Albanian majority during a guerrilla insurgency by the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Belgrade insists it must remain part of Serbia while Albanians, who make up well over 90 percent of the two million population, demand outright independence.

Serbian leaders often say independence for the landlocked and impoverished province is not an option, but Covic's comment was believed to be the first time the issue was publicly linked to Belgrade's aim of EU membership.

Serbia's ruling reformers have quickly improved ties with the West since ousting former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000 after a decade of Balkan wars and isolation. The government hopes to join the EU by the end of the decade.

But Western diplomats and analysts say Kosovo's future must be settled before Serbia and Montenegro, the loose union that replaced rump Yugoslavia last February, can enter.
``It is extremely unlikely that Serbia will even be able to start negotiations on membership as long as its borders are unclear and the status of Kosovo is undecided,'' said Gerald Knaus of the European Stability Initiative think-tank.

A senior U.S. official this week said so-called ``final status'' talks on Kosovo could start in mid-2005 provided its ethnic Albanian majority government meets rule of law, democracy and other standards by then.

The U.N. Security Council will at some time in the future take the final decision on the potentially explosive issue.

Stolic murder suspects arrested (B92)

PRISTINA -- Friday -- UNMIK police spokesman Derek Chappell confirmed today that international police have arrested five suspects in the murder of three members of a Serb family in Obilic on June 3. Three have been remanded in custody while two were released after questioning, said Chappell. He declined to name the suspects. Former Kosovo governor Michael Steiner had offered a reward of fifty thousand euros for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the murder of the Stolic family.

Serbien wehrt sich gegen die Täterrolle

Auflistung albanischer Untaten in Kosovo (NZZ)

Serbiens Behörden bemühen sich auf verschiedenen Ebenen gegen den Vorwurf einer alleinigen Täterschaft bei Kriegsverbrechen in Kosovo. Die Regierung befürchtet ein Erstarken der Nationalisten im Falle weiterer Auslieferungen an das Haager Tribunal.

Wok. Zagreb, 5. November
Der serbische Justizminister Batic hat angekündigt, dem Chef der Uno-Verwaltung in Kosovo, Holkeri, detaillierte Unterlagen über Kriegsverbrechen zuzustellen, welche von albanischen Extremisten an Serben in der serbischen Provinz verübt worden seien. Es handle sich dabei, so meldete die Belgrader Tageszeitung «Danas» am Mittwoch, um Tausende von Gerichtsunterlagen und Geheimdienstberichten. Demnach sollen Albanern über 7000 Terroranschläge nachgewiesen werden, die insgesamt über 1200 Todesopfer gefordert hätten. Die Anschuldigungen beziehen sich auf die Zeit bis zum Sommer 1999, als die Belgrader Behörden noch in Kosovo zuständig waren. Batic liess Holkeri weiter wissen, nach Erhalt dieser Unterlagen hätten die Uno-Behörden keinen Grund mehr, namentlich bekannte albanische Terroristen unbehelligt zu lassen.

Angst vor Unruhen
Der Schritt des serbischen Justizministers ist vor zweifachem Hintergrund zu sehen. Vor zwei Wochen ist der ehemalige Kommandant der Kosovo-Rebellenarmee UCK und heutige Chef von deren ziviler Nachfolgeorganisation TMK, Agim Ceku, in Ljubljana aufgrund eines von Interpol übermittelten serbischen Haftbefehls verhaftet worden. Nach Intervention der Uno-Verwaltung, welche jegliche gerichtliche Hoheit Belgrads über Kosovo bestreitet, kam der Verhaftete wieder frei. Die Anklage gegen Ceku lautete auf Völkermord und Terrorismus und war vom Bezirksgericht Pristina erhoben worden; dieses befindet sich seit dem Teilabzug der jugoslawischen Verwaltung in der südserbischen Stadt Nis. Am Mittwoch hat das serbische Justizministerium weiter mitgeteilt; die Ermittlungen gegen andere prominente ehemalige UCK-Rebellen, unter anderen die heutigen Parteiführer Hashim Thaci und Ramush Haradinaj, seien dem serbischen Sonderstaatsanwalt für Kriegsverbrechen, Vukcevic, übertragen worden.

Seit Bekanntgabe der Anklagen des Haager Uno-Tribunals gegen vier ehemalige jugoslawische Generäle wegen Kriegsverbrechen in Kosovo stehen die Belgrader Behörden unter gehörigem öffentlichem Druck. Es wird befürchtet, dass Serbien und die Serben bei der gerichtlichen Aufarbeitung des Kosovokonflikts in die alleinige Täterrolle gedrängt werden. Laut Belgrader Angaben ist das Schicksal von 1300 bis 1500 vor und während des Kosovokriegs verschollenen Serben ungeklärt. Höchst ungelegen kommt der serbischen Regierung, dass einer der vier neuerdings Angeklagten, Sreten Lukic, als Verantwortlicher für die öffentliche Sicherheit des Landes in Amt und Ehren sitzt. Seine Verhaftung und Auslieferung dürfte unweigerlich zu öffentlichen Protesten führen und, dies die Befürchtung der Regierung, den Nationalisten Auftrieb verleihen. Dies will die Regierung aber angesichts bevorstehender Wahlen unbedingt verhindern. Am 16. November findet der dritte Anlauf zur Wahl eines serbischen Präsidenten statt, und die Aussichten auf vorgezogene Parlamentswahlen, womöglich noch in diesem Jahr, werden immer konkreter.

Ein Weissbuch
Zu ihrem Befreiungsschlag gegen das Haager Uno-Tribunal hatte die serbische Regierung bereits am Dienstag ausgeholt und in Belgrad ein sogenanntes Weissbuch über albanische Untaten in Kosovo veröffentlicht. Das Buch, betitelt «Albanischer Terrorismus und organisierte Kriminalität», habe zum Ziel, sowohl die Uno wie auch die Nato in ihrer Terrorbekämpfung in Kosovo zu unterstützen, sagte der serbische Ministerpräsident Zivkovic an einer Pressekonferenz. Auch ausländische Polizeibehörden müssten an den auf 187 Seiten aufgelisteten Details interessiert sein, sagte der Regierungschef laut einem Bericht der Belgrader Tageszeitung «Blic». Es sei sattsam bekannt, wer in London, Berlin oder Brüssel in Drogenhandel und Prostitution verwickelt sei. Das gemeinsam von der serbischen Polizei, der Armee und dem Aussenministerium erarbeitete Buch enthält die Namen von 156 Albanern, denen aus der Sicht Belgrads Verantwortung für Kriegsverbrechen gegen Serben in Kosovo angelastet werden muss. Die Auflistung solle dem Haager Uno-Tribunal helfen, weitere Anklagen gegen Albaner auszuarbeiten, sagte Zivkovic.

Dass das gar nicht so einfach ist, bekannte die Chefanklägerin des Tribunals, Del Ponte, am Dienstag an einer Pressekonferenz in Wien. Ihre Ermittler seien in Kosovo immer wieder mit dem Problem des Schutzes von Zeugen und deren Familien konfrontiert; da entstünden beträchtliche praktische Schwierigkeiten. Sie kündigte die Bekanntgabe von drei Anklagen gegen Kosovo- Albaner an und bestätigte, zwei weitere Untersuchungen seien im Gange.

Schily fordert schärfere Abschiebung nach Kosovo

Frankfurt Rundschau

Frankfurt a. M. · 30.Oktober · gra · Bundesinnenminister Otto Schily (SPD) hat die Innenminister der Länder aufgefordert, die Rückführung von Kosovo-Flüchtlingen voranzutreiben. Das geht aus einem Schreiben hervor, das der FR vorliegt. Nach Absprachen mit der UN-Administration in Kosovo (Unmik) sei zunächst eine Rückführung von 1000 Menschen im ersten Jahr vorgesehen. Bislang seien zwischen Mai und Oktober aus Deutschland aber "lediglich 96 Minderheitenangehörige" nach Kosovo zurückgeführt worden, schreibt Schily. Das sei eine "mehr als unbefriedigende Bilanz", die "steigerungsfähig" sei. Setze sich dieses Rückführungstempo fort, würde Deutschland das vereinbarte Kontingent "nicht einmal ansatzweise erreichen", betont der Minister.

Die deutschen Behörden sollten sich enger mit der Unmik abstimmen, um die Ablehnungsquote bei Rückführungen zu reduzieren. Zurzeit gebe es rund 33 000 "ausreisepflichtige Minderheitenangehörige" aus Kosovo, schreibt Schily. Er weist auf die anstehenden Verhandlungen mit der Unmik hin. Dabei gehe es nicht nur darum, andere Ethnien bei der Rückführung nach Kosovo einzubeziehen, sondern auch "um eine möglichst weitgehende Aufhebung der bisherigen Quotierung". Schily sieht die Verhandlungsposition der Bundesregierung geschwächt, sollte es nicht gelingen, die Rückführungsbilanz deutlich zu verbessern".

Brandstiftung: Fünf Tote bei Feuer-Tragödie

Jülich. (dpa) Nach einer vorsätzlichen Brandstiftung in einem Mehrfamilienhaus in Jülich sind gestern drei Erwachsene und zwei Kinder erstickt.

Bei ihrem Versuch zu fliehen, kamen sie durch den Rauch ums Leben. Der Rauch entstand bei einem Feuer im Keller und zog durch das Treppenhaus nach oben.

Ein zweijähriger Junge, der zunächst wiederbelebt werden konnte, wurde von den Ärzten gestern Abend für hirntot erklärt. Es werde erwogen, die lebenserhaltenden Maschinen abzustellen. Seine beiden 31-jährigen Eltern aus dem Kosovo, seine Geschwister (fünf und drei Jahre alt) sowie eine 82-jährige Deutsche sind tot. Vier Überlebende seien aus ihren Wohnungen befreit worden.

Die Ermittlungsbehörden gehen von einer "vorsätzlicher Brandstiftung" aus". Es wird wegen "des Straftatbestands eines vorsätzlichen Tötungsdelikts" ermittelt.
Unmittelbar nach dem Feuer wies die Kreisverwaltung Düren Kritik an dem angeblich verzögerten Einsatz zurück. Die Retter seien innerhalb von maximal elf Minuten eingetroffen.

Mihajlovic thumbs nose at Hague (Beta)

NIS -- Friday – Serbian Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic said today that he will not demand the resignation of senior police official Sreten Lukic.

Lukic has been indicted by the Hague Tribunal, which is seeking his extradition.

“I won’t seek Lukic’s resignation, nor will I ask him to surrender to The Hague,” Mihajlovic told media in Nis after presenting the accomplishments of his ministry in its first thousand days.

Former deputy prime minister denies Hague probe (B92)

Mostar -- Friday – A former deputy prime minister of Serbia, Momcilo Perisic, today dismissed reports that he is being investigated by the Hague Tribunal as part of the election campaign in Croatia.

“As the news was reported by the Croatian state news agency, it should be seen as an election campaign by certain politicians who want to score a point by commenting on the situation outside their country,” he told media.

Perisic, who served as chief of the Yugoslav Army’s general staff under Slobodan Milosevic, resigned from the cabinet last year after being arrested in a motel outside Belgrade.

He was accused of handing documents linking Milosevic to war crimes to US Embassy first secretary David Neighbour, who was also arrested.

Black hawk down in Iraq, six US dead, as Turkey goes back on troop pledge

BAGHDAD, Nov 7 (AFP) - Six US soldiers were killed Friday when a Blackhawk helicopter was "forced down" in northern Iraq and another died in a separate attack as reports in Ankara said Turkey was going back on its commitment to send troops to help its US ally.

The bloodshed that has become the daily norm here also claimed the life of another US soldier in Mosul and an Iraqi woman northeast of the capital as Washington readied plans to trim its troop strength in the strife-torn country.

The six soldiers, all from the 101st Airborne Division, were killed when the Blackhawk came down outside an American base near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, a hotbed of anti-US sentiment.

The downing came less than a week after a Chinook transport helicopter was shot down by a ground-fired missile near the flashpoint western town of Fallujah, killing 16 soldiers and wounding 26.

"The total number of people on board was six. All six have died," said Major Josselyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) in Tikrit, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad,

"They were all from the 101st Airborne Division. They were in a Blackhawk helicopter transporting personnel from Mosul to Tikrit on a routine flight. The cause is still being investigated."

Aberle said that officials were looking into reports that loud booms were heard just before the Blackhawk went down.

Witnesses were adamant the aircraft had been knocked out of the sky.

"I saw one of the helicopters shot from the side and I saw smoke and a ball of fire. I felt happy and started shouting Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)," said Saqr Ghani, who like many here celebrated the setback for the US-led occupation.

"I then ran to the car and immediately headed to the river bank where I saw the helicopter cut in two pieces."

A farmer, Abu Ahmad, said he had heard a loud blast and saw smoking rising from where the helicopter crashed.

US army Specialist Bryan Speckler suggested the attack was similar to the downing of a Blackhawk by a rocket-propelled grenade on October 25 just outside Tikrit.

"It appears that they were shot in the same manner," said Speckler. "It appears those who shot the helicopter are well-trained individuals because they were good shots from over 400 metres (yards) on moving targets."

Lieutenant Colonel Bill MacDonald, also a 4ID spokesman, said "the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter went down in Tikrit on the east side of the Tigris river near the main palace complex" at 9:40 am (0640 GMT).

Earlier Friday, another US soldier was killed and seven were wounded in an RPG attack on their convoy in Mosul, further north, military spokesman Major Hugh Cate said.

That death brought to 144 the number of US troops killed in combat since May 1, when Washington declared an end to major hostilities.

And in Moqdadiya, 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Baghdad, an Iraqi woman was killed and her husband wounded when a mortar bomb struck their house, the wounded man said Friday.

Yunes Ibrahim Hatem, 39, said it was one of four bombs which apparently targeted an adjacent police station, where there are also US troops. The other three fell in an empty field near his home, he said.

At the Al-Asad Air Base, soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment were still mourning their comrades-in-arms who died in Sunday's Chinook crash.

In a tribute to the fallen soldiers on Thursday night, men prayed and cried as taps rang out in a ceremony, where an American flag fluttered and 15 helmets hung from posts.

In Ankara, the national Anatolia news agency reported that the government had formally dropped plans to send troops to Iraq in response to a request from its US ally.

The news agency, which cited government sources, said the decision had been taken in light of the strong opposition to the deployment expressed by Iraq's US-installed transitional Governing Council, and particularly its Kurdish members.

The announcement was a setback to Washington as it seeks to win troop commitments for an international stabilization force to take up some of the burden of patrolling the badlands of western and north-central Iraq.

Washington announced Thursday that it plans to cut its troop strength in Iraq to around 105,000 next year from some 132,000 troops at present.

Poland, which with 2,500 troops commands a 9,000-strong multinational force patrolling a large swathe of central and southern Iraq, lost its first soldier in an attack on a military convoy Thursday.

The violence in Iraq has not only targeted coalition soldiers but also international aid organisations, which have significantly reduced their presence here.

A spokesman said Thursday that all UN international staff had left Baghdad while the world body reviewed security after a scathing independent report found a litany of failures in its safety procedures.

An August 19 bombing of UN headquarters Baghdad killed 22 people, including top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Six die in U.S. helicopter crash near Tikrit; troops ambushed in Mosul as insurgency spreads northward

By JIM GOMEZ

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) _ An Army helicopter crashed Friday into a riverbank near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing six U.S. soldiers, the military said. It probably was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, some officers said.

Two Americans also were killed in separate attacks Thursday and Friday in the northern city of Mosul, raising concerns that the insurgency was spreading north.

``Six soldiers were on board and all of them were killed,'' said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division based in Tikrit. The dead included a four-member crew from the 101st Airborne Division and ``two passengers'' who were also soldiers, she said.
It was not immediately clear whether the chopper was brought down by hostile fire or a mechanical failure, the spokeswoman said. But several other officers who asked not to be identified said it was probably hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

Aberle said the command was reviewing security measures in and around Tikrit. Those measures were relaxed last month with the advent of the Muslim holy month Ramadan But ``in view of the events this morning, with the helicopter going down, we are going to relook at our security measures and reinstating curfew is one of those options that's being considered.''

If the aircraft was shot down, it would be the fourth helicopter lost to hostile fire since President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat May 1. Insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter Sunday, killing 16 people in the deadliest strike against U.S. forces since the war began March 20.

White smoke could be seen rising from the crash site on the east bank of the Tigris River as three other helicopters circled overhead. More helicopters could be seen hours later flying over a hilltop village on the west bank of the river.

Separately, guerrillas attacked a convoy in the eastern part of Mosul, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad, with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire Friday morning. The military said one U.S. soldier died and six others were wounded in the clash.

Three others were injured later in the day when a roadside bomb exploded near the Mosul Hotel, which is now used as a military barracks, the military said. A military statement released Friday said that a soldier died the day before near Mosul when a homemade bomb exploded.

The latest confirmed U.S. military fatalities bring to at least 31 the number of American troops killed action in the first week of November. Two American civilian contractors working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a Polish officer also died in attacks over the past seven days.

The U.S. military said that the number of daily attacks on coalition forces dropped to 29 last week from a spike of 37 the week before.

The spate of attacks in the past week in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, has raised concerns among U.S. military commanders that the insurgency is spreading into that region from its main stronghold in the so-called Sunni Triangle, to the west and north of Baghdad.

The city is close to the semiautonomous Kurdish areas that lie between it and the Turkish border.

In Baghdad, about 500 people marched Friday to coalition headquarters to protest the arrest of 36 clerics over the past couple of months. Marchers chanted Islamic slogans including ``America's army will be wiped out,'' and ``America is the enemy of God.'' They also carried a large banner reading ``Prisons ... will never terrify us.''

They stopped at the heavily fortified compound and sent a three-member delegation inside to present their demand to coalition officials. After a 45-minute meeting, the three delegates returned, saying they has been promised ``that something good would happen,'' according to one of them, Sheik Awad al-Haradan.

Another delegate said the Americans asked them to work on stopping anti-coalition attacks in Iraq.

``They wanted us to give them guarantees that what they call violence ends. We told them that this will only end when the last American soldier leaves the country,'' said Sheik Abdel-Sattar al-Janabi.

Near Karbala, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Baghdad, the Polish brigade serving as part of the U.S.-led coalition held a memorial service for Maj. Hieronim Kupczyk who was killed in an ambush Thursday.

It was the first combat death for Poland, which has 2,400 soldiers in Iraq and is in charge of a large swath of south-central Iraq where about 9,500 soldiers of several nations help maintain security.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, announced that one of the soldiers wounded in Sunday's downing of an Army Chinook helicopter died Thursday at a medical facility in Germany, raising the death toll to 16. Twenty-six others were injured.

In al-Assad, a desert base 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Baghdad, hundreds of soldiers, some wearing ceremonial spurs and black regimental hats, assembled late Thursday to remember their comrades killed in the shootdown, the deadliest single attack against U.S. forces since the Iraq war began March 20.

Army officials said the helicopter's crew apparently had a last-second warning of an approaching missile and managed to launch flares designed to draw the heat-seeking missile away. The defensive measure did not work and the missile slammed into the right side of the helicopter's rear engine, destroying it and triggering a fire.

Six die in US helicopter crash

An American Black Hawk helicopter has been forced down near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing all six soldiers on board.

BBC NEWS

The US military is investigating whether the chopper was attacked or suffered mechanical problems.

American troops have secured the scene near the Tigris River in north Iraq.

Last weekend, a Chinook helicopter was shot down, killing 16 soldiers in the biggest single strike on US forces since they invaded Iraq.

The Black Hawk went down on a riverbank along the Tigris River about a kilometre from the US base in Saddam Hussein's former palace in Tikrit.

Smoke was seen rising from the wreckage as other helicopters hovered above.
"We don't know if it was a mechanical failure or hostile fire," Major Josslyn Aberle told the Associated Press.

All the soldiers killed were from the 101st Airborne Division.

On 25 October a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down near Tikrit, injuring one crew member.

Tikrit lies in the heart of the "Sunni Triangle" - the region around Baghdad seen as most loyal to the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.

It has been the scene of continued resistance to US-led forces.

In continuing violence elsewhere, a US convoy was ambushed in Mosul early on Friday morning, coming under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, the US military said.

One soldier died and six others were injured in the clash.

This brings the number of US soldiers killed in action since President George W Bush declared major combat over on 1 May to 140.

In a separate attack, a roadside bomb in the city injured three US soldiers.

Mosul, Iraq's third largest city and close to the semi-autonomous Kurdish areas, was quiet until relatively recently.
Correspondents say the spate of attacks there has prompted concern among US commanders that guerrilla attacks are spreading north from the Sunni Triangle.

Chinook warning
The attack came hours after a memorial service was held for the men killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down on Sunday.
POST-WAR HELICOPTER LOSSES
7 Nov: Black Hawk brought down near Tikrit, killing four, injuring two
2 Nov: Chinook shot down near Falluja, killing 16, injuring 20
25 Oct: Black Hawk hit by rocket-propelled grenade near Tikrit, injuring one
"Death was in the cause of freedom. They were serving our country and answering our nation's call to fight terrorists," Colonel David Teeples, commanding officer of the men's unit, said.

Army officials said the Chinook's crew apparently had a warning of an approaching missile seconds before it struck, the Associated Press reports.

The crew managed to launch flares designed to draw the heat-seeking missile away but the defensive measure did not work.