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Kosovo Update Released by the Bureau of European Affairs, Office of South Central European Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC, February 23, 1999

(Editor's Note: With the progressive changeover of responsibility from KDOM to OSCE/KVM, the KDOM Daily Report has been replaced by this Update, which is published as material becomes available.)

Compiled by EUR/SCE (202-647-5624) from daily reports of the U.S. element
of the Kosovo Diplomatic Observers Mission and other sources

February 23, 1999

Incidents of serious harassment of OSCE/KVM personnel have taken a dramatic upsurge. On Sunday, two verifiers (one from Lithuania and one from Luxembourg) were stopped in the town of Podujevo by Serbian police. The Serbs pointed their weapons at the OSCE personnel, then pulled the driver from the car and punched him. When the second verifier tried to radio for help he, too, was hit by a Serbian policemen. Neither of the KVM personnel were badly hurt, and they departed the area immediately.

Yesterday in the village of Litljan three armed civilians stopped a KVM convoy and threatened to shoot the personnel if they returned to the village. OSCE/KVM is protesting these and other similar incidents to authorities in both Pristina and Belgrade.

There are reports today of some sporadic fighting near the village of Bukos (west of Vucitrn) but no large-scale Serb offensive is underway according to information collected by KVM patrols.

Some 200 VJ troops, using tanks and mortars, attacked the village of Jezoro Tarabva yesterday. Observers report that five civilians and one KLA soldier died in that fighting.

Also yesterday, the KLA reportedly attacked a Serbian police convoy north of Suva Reka. The KVM met with both sides following the incident and each claimed the other side started the shooting. There were no casualties reported for either side.

The KVM reports that it knows of two instances of VJ units placing demolition charges at strategic points on major highways leading to Kosovo border crossing points.

USAID reports that, notwithstanding the increased tensions in Kosovo, convoys of relief food moved on February 22 and 23. One truckload was reportedly confiscated but all other shipments reached their destinations. Humanitarian relief NGOs report that a larger number of people than usual are on the roads and that a sense of confusion prevails among many Kosovo residents.

The U.S. embassy in Belgrade remains open and manned by a core element of 23 personnel, all of whom are now staying on the embassy premises for security reasons. KVM personnel remain on standby status for possible evacuation depending on developments at the Rambouillet talks. Six inches of new snow fell overnight in Kosovo, creating conditions which would greatly impair any emergency evacuation of verifiers or humanitarian relief personnel.

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