KK-Forum,
så mye om USAs / NATOs vilje til å tette grensen fra Kosovo.
Fra Sunday Times 25. mars 2001
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/frontpage.html?999
Knut Rognes
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March 25 2001
EUROPE
©
Leaking vigil: a British Kfor soldier at Debelde, where American troops say
rebel forces are not being challenged
Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj Gamma
Albanian fighters evade Nato patrols
Tom Walker, Tetovo
Balkans 'could be Britain's Vietnam'
HUNDREDS of ethnic Albanians intent on fighting in Macedonia streamed into
the country from Kosovo last week as Nato failed to take promised measures
to cut off supply lines, despite a dangerous widening of the conflict.
In one of the most notorious areas for border incursions, American soldiers
from Nato's Kosovo force (Kfor) admitted to The Sunday Times that they were
not carrying out patrols at night on the paths and minor roads used by mule
trains to smuggle arms to the rebels.
Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, had rejected Macedonian claims
that the Americans were too passive because they feared the political
repercussions of any casualties. He spoke of a "renewed effort to see that
the patrolling along the border of Macedonia is improved and strengthened".
However, a drive through the rain and mud of a freezing evening around the
Kosovo village of Debelde, which was hit by Macedonian army mortar rounds,
revealed that American soldiers were confined to checkpoints at least five
miles apart by road. It was possible to drive to within three miles of the
Macedonian border, no more than an hour's walk away.
Captain Alayne Cramer, a Kfor spokeswoman at the Americans' Bondsteel base,
insisted that night patrols were taking place. "We're doing an effective
job," she said.
But an American soldier in Debelde explained that he could not drive to the
next checkpoint, four miles away across a rolling, wooded valley, because
"we don't do patrols at night".
Another soldier admitted that, even if he spotted rebels through his night
sights, they would not be challenged. "I'd report down the chain of command
and they'd send an observation team or helicopter," he said.
An Albanian rebel source said hundreds of fighters were boarding buses to
be taken into "border transfer" areas: "Effectively the old Kosovo
Liberation Army has been mobilised."
A Macedonian defence ministry official said the government in Skopje, the
capital, felt "deeply let down" by Nato's failure to halt the flow of men
and arms into the country. "It seems we're the only country in the world
being attacked from an international protectorate," he added.
The Macedonians were further angered on Friday when it emerged that Germany
was withdrawing at least 600 troops from the border town of Tetovo, leaving
only a depleted tank squadron that one officer admitted "could drive out of
here as soon as the fighting got bad".
The Albanian rebels of the National Liberation Army are full of confidence,
however, after a week in which they withstood an almost continuous barrage
of machinegun and artillery fire from the Macedonian security forces.
Well dug into their positions above Tetovo, the rebels broadened their
attacks, killing two plainclothes policemen in Skopje and attacking police
positions to the north of the city.
In Tetovo yesterday a rebel grenade landed in the Ciltuk Macedonian
quarter, injuring four people and provoking another artillery barrage from
the army. Fires spread across the hillside beneath the Kale fortress, in
rebel hands, and angry crowds attacked journalists in the street.
Macedonian forces were reported to have responded last night with a
helicopter gunship attack on rebel positions.
The Macedonian army has poured troop reinforcements into Tetovo, putting
tanks and checkpoints all around the city. Relations between Macedonians
and Albanians have been further strained by the shooting on Thursday of an
Albanian father and son carrying grenades.
The NLA has set up a political wing, and one of its leaders said as he
prepared for a cross-border trek towards Tetovo from Kosovo that time was
running out for the Macedonian government to accept peace talks. If not, he
said, then Tetovo would fall and Skopje would become "the Beirut of the
Balkans".
He advocated an internationally monitored reform of the Macedonian
government and suggested that Sir Paddy Ashdown, who toured Kosovo and
Macedonia last week, would be an ideal mediator.
At the NLA's headquarters in the village of Selce, oil lamps revealed 100
men sipping Russian tea poured from a steaming samovar. A battery-powered
black and white television flickered in one corner, while outside mules
were harnessed for journeys across the mountain paths all around.
On the track leading towards the snowy peaks above Kosovo, a tractor could
be seen grinding its way up towards Vejce, the rebel village from where the
wounded are ferried down to Prizren and the German Kfor zone for treatment.
Commander Sedri Hameti, a rebel spokesman flanked by guards and a calendar
featuring the Manchester United footballer David Beckham, claimed that the
NLA had 7,000 men under arms across the border region, with 2,000 fighters
in the seven villages overlooking Tetovo. "Our aim is to remove Slav forces
from all terrain that is historically ours," he said, refusing to identify
his leader, whom he referred to only as "the general".
The house reverberated as mortar shells lobbed in by the Macedonian army
hit open ground beneath the village. An immaculately dressed senior
commander - some suggested he may have been the general - barked orders at
young NLA recruits who lined up for inspection before dashing for their
positions.
Although Britain has sent 10 officers, including a brigadier, to advise the
Macedonians on what help Nato might offer, the government in Skopje has
deduced that it will probably be fighting the rebels alone.
"The rules of engagement are very complicated, but we're sending in a
reconnaissance team," said Major Fergus Smith, the British Kfor spokesman
in Pristina.
Another British source said: "We simply can't be seen to be in the business
of killing Albanians. And if the Yugoslav army couldn't seal the border,
how can you expect us to do it?"
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