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KDOM Daily Report Released by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, November 1, 1998

Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-4850) from daily reports
of the U.S. element of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission

November 1, 1998

Calm continues to prevail (as it has since October 27) as an accelerated return of IDPs takes place throughout Kosovo. There were no reports or observations of cease-fire violations today and no known incidents of ethnic-oriented violence. Both sides, however, continue to appear determined to protect their interests. Serbian police patrols continue and, for the first time, KDOM saw Serb civilians manning a checkpoint at Kijevo. A KDOM team also reported a fortified police position with heavy machine guns near Dragobilje.

KLA (UCK) personnel continue to assert their presence in areas deserted by the Serbian withdrawal. KDOM teams were denied access to Serb police positions near Dragobilje, and were denied permission to pass a KLA-manned checkpoint in the Podujevo area. The KLA has detected another booby trap in the Pagarusa Valley -- this one a grenade in a fruit tree.

In response to reports of Kosovar refugees being harassed while returning to Kosovo from Montenegro, KDOM sent a patrol to the Kula area for extensive observation. The team reported the border open but saw no one attempting to cross. Another team, traveling from Kosovo Polje to Sipitula was stopped twice by Serbian police who said there was shooting in the area and they could not guarantee KDOM's safety. In Sipitula the team was told there had been random shooting in the area on October 29. The team observed the village school which had been burned on October 30.

The return of IDPs to their homes is clearly accelerating. The IDP camp at Kisna Reka which housed 3,000-4,000 IDPs a week ago is now empty. NGOs are also reporting increased flows of IDPs from places of refuge to their homes or other accomodations. The IDP population of Qirez, for example, has shrunk from 10,000 to 100 in 3 weeks. Reports suggest that there are relatively few displaced persons not housed indoors at this time.

[End of Document]

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