3.9.2007 by Lupo.

Convicted terrorist Iseini recaptured after Macedonian prison break

03/09/2007

SKOPJE, Macedonia — Interior Ministry special forces arrested Dzemail Iseini, known as Commander Dzejmi Ssej, on Sunday morning (September 2nd), following his escape from the Idrizovo prison in Skopje about ten days ago. Iseini was arrested at his home in the village of Lojane, where police found a US-made rocket launcher and six grenades. At a news conference Sunday, Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska was asked about threats that Iseini’s friends and relatives have made against Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and a number of other ministers. Jankulovska said all such threats would be investigated. Iseini was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2005 after being convicted of placing bombs at several locations in Macedonia. (Vecer - 03/09/07; A1, MIA - 02/09/07)

Setimes

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3.9.2007 by Lupo.

BiH working to freeze assets of war crimes fugitives

03/09/2007

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — The defence ministry is drafting a measure to freeze the assets of four high profile fugitives still sought by the UN war crimes tribunal, Dnevni Avaz reported on Saturday (September 1st). The law on supporting the mandate of the tribunal would allow the move, as it makes providing assistance to such fugitives a criminal offence and entitles prosecutors to freeze assets in the course of investigations.

The measure will be applied to the assets of Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic, Stojan Zupljanin and Goran Hadzic. Less than a week ago, Principal Deputy High Representative Raffi Gregorian insisted that only by freezing the assets of fugitives would their arrests be possible. (Dnevni Avaz - 02/09/07)

Setimes

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3.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Kosovo: U.N. troops accused of abetting genocide

Global Research, September 1, 2007

American Council for Kosovo documents 8 years of ethnic cleansing against Serbs

WASHINGTON – United Nations forces moved into Kosovo in 1999 to “stop genocide.” But, according to a blistering new report from the American Council for Kosovo, U.N. troops have aided and abetted the deliberate, systematic and nearly complete ethnic cleansing of the mostly Christian Serb population by mostly Muslim ethnic Albanians. “Every facet of the way of life of the Serbs of Kosovo is threatened by the new reality established since June 1999 under KFOR (the NATO Kosovo Force) and the U.N. and therefore the very existence of the Serbs there is threatened,” says the report “Hiding Genocide in Kosovo.”

“All kinds of persecution using all types of methods have been adopted,” the report says.

“Throughout the territory of Kosovo, the Serbs have been persecuted, a persecution that is happening on their own territory, in their own country. They are denied basic human rights and are not equal to their Muslim counterparts under the law. Even though the Serbs were the main targets, they were not the only ones. Consider the situation of the Croats who now number less than 500, or the Roma who have been banished to the edges of the Serb enclaves by persistent terrorization, or the Gorani, Slavic Muslims, who reside in the south west tip of Kosovo in the mountains and whose numbers dwindle every year.”

Using a combination of eyewitness reports, diaries of the dead and interviews with survivors, the report pieces together a harrowing narrative about eight years of mostly low-intensity genocide by the Muslim ethnic Albanians now demanding independence for Kosovo.

A Serb home in Svinjare burns The U.N., in conjunction with Western powers, has been working toward this end, which they term “the final status.” “The biggest lie: the internationals claimed they were coming to stop a genocide,” writes James George Jatras, director of the American Council for Kosovo. “In reality, they are facilitating one. For the Serbs in Kosovo ‘final status’ can only mean a final solution.” Ethnic and religious violence between Albanians and Serbs in the Serbian province of Kosovo was not unusual leading up to 1999 when the Albanian majority drew NATO onto their side in an effort to tip the scales in the balance of terror. Kosovo has been occupied by the U.N. ever since the war ended. But the new report attempts to document the U.N.’s continuing partiality toward the Albanians, who have turned more and more Kosovo Serbs into refugees, virtually emptying out many Serb-dominated villages and burning and defacing churches along the way. Thirteen months of international talks on the future of Kosovo ended in stalemate earlier this year. Now, three diplomats from the U.S., Russia and the European Union are set to start afresh.

While ethnic Albanians see their independence movement on the verge of success, Serbia turned to its Russian ally to veto U.N. adoption of any independence plan. Meanwhile, the report on Kosovo violence looks at 12 municipalities, all of which had sizable Serbian Christian populations as recently as 1999. Today, the tiny Serb remnants are composed mainly of elderly and infirm simply incapable of moving. Still, the carnage continues, right under the noses of U.N. KFOR authorities. In Cernica, 45 Serb homes have been destroyed since the war ended in 1999. Since the middle of 2003, 12 Serbs have been killed, with no one being charged for the crimes. Often, says the report, acts of violence against Serbs result in the arrest or detention of the victims. For instance, on Aug. 5, 2001, a hand grenade was thrown at the house of Vladimir Savic, records the diary of a Cernica Serb who himself was later killed by Albanians. Initially, Savic was reported killed in the blast. The grenade exploded just two meters from the main door and seriously wounded Savic and his wife, Stanica. But when KFOR personnel arrived at the scene, they refused to provide the victims with first aid. Instead, they attempted to arrest their son, Miomor, who had been in the house with his wife and two children at the time of the explosion. “Since the soldiers refused to help the wounded, their son carried them to his car and drove them without escort to the Greek military base in Bartes, where he was refused any help as well,” says the report. “Not knowing what to do, he proceeded to the American base Bondstil.” The base personnel refused initially to admit the civilians. But, given the grave condition of the wounded, they admitted them to the hospital. After three days of medical treatment, they were transferred to Kosovoska Mitrovica.

At the ruins of Holy Archangels Monastery near Prizren, an Albanian mob left their messages: “Death to Serbs” and “Down with UNMIK” – the U.N. police who offered minimal resistance for the attackers. German U.N. forces, meanwhile, watched the monastery destroyed without taking action “Both victims have been mutilated for life and are invalids today,” says the report. “The perpetrator has never been found.” Similar horror stories are recounted in the towns of Novo Brdo, Devet Jugovica, Pristina, Letnica, Urosevac, Kosovo Polje, Vitina and Banjska. U.N. forces are also charged with a kind of ethnic profiling that directly aided the cause of Albanian ethnic cleansing. U.N. authorities overseeing the ethnic and religious balance in towns frequently identified Serbian Christian homes and Albanian Muslim homes. Sometimes yellow crosses were placed on the Christian homes – which helped identify targets for the persecutors, according to the Kosovo genocide report. “On the White House lawn on 7 May 2007, while welcoming British Queen Elizabeth, George W. Bush stated that both their countries were ‘defending liberty against terror Å while resisting those who murder the innocent to advance a hateful ideology,’” concludes the report. “Is it possible in this information age of high technology, where the media daily bombards us with news and information, that these two leaders do not know what has really taken place in Kosovo? Can it be possible that they do not know that their troops were aiding and abetting terrorists in Kosovo and stood by as whole communities were wiped out?”

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6666

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3.9.2007 by admin.

Corruption poses a major obstacle to Serbia’s development. It affects all social levels and is present in many different guises such as bribery, extortion, fraud, trafficking and embezzlement.

According to a 2006 report by the Group of States Against Corruption, a body of the Council of Europe, Serbian authorities consider corruption one of the most serious problems facing the country.

Recent research conducted by the Centre for Democratic Activities (CDA), an anti-corruption partner of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, indicated that more than 65 per cent of people in the south Serbian municipality of Lebane have either given or accepted bribes for various types of services.

To help tackle the growing problem, the Mission supported a CDA proposal to create an Anti-Corruption Centre in Lebane which would assist in establishing and overseeing anti-corruption councils in the south Serbian municipalities of Lebane, Medvedja and Bojnik. The project was launched in March and the Anti-Corruption Centre was established in June. The formation of the local councils is expected to take place in September.

Creating a framework

The Anti-Corruption Centre will establish local anti-corruption councils, co-ordinate their work, conduct independent research on municipal procurement and budget expenditures and make recommendations for enhancing anti-corruption services.

The local anti-corruption councils will act as advisory bodies whose most important aim is to provide support to the municipal government in establishing and implementing anti-corruption policies. Each local council will focus on anti-corruption strategies for its specific municipality.

“The establishment of the Anti-Corruption Centre and the local anti-corruption councils in south Serbia is essential in providing a framework designed to facilitate the engagement of civil society in the fight against corruption,” says Stefano Donati, Economic Transparency Advisor with the OSCE Mission.

In July, the OSCE supported a training session on existing anti-corruption laws and mechanisms for fighting corruption for the 10 staff members of the Anti-Corruption Centre and the members of the local councils. The training, one of a number of activities sponsored by the Mission, was led by representatives from the Serbian Anti-Corruption Council, an advisory body of the Serbian government and a partner of the OSCE.

“Among other things, the training was important for establishing co-operation and facilitating information- and experience-sharing among local, municipal and regional bodies tasked with fighting corruption,” says Donati.

Perceptions of corruption in south Serbia

According to Transparency International, an organization that tracks global perceptions of corruption, on a scale of 0 (most corrupt) to 10 (least corrupt), Serbia as a whole earned a score of just 3.0. Other former Yugoslav republics fared better. Slovenia, for example, scored significantly higher at 6.4.

South Serbia does not have either municipal ombudsmen or any other structure designed to address citizens’ concerns regarding corruption.

Biljana Nikolic, Project Co-ordinator for the CDA, says a 2006 CDA and OSCE survey outlines the scale of the problem: “Out of 450 people polled, not one person could name an existing anti-corruption law.

“It is our hope that through the establishment of local councils there will be a direct improvement in the collaboration between citizens and local self-government in fighting corruption and enhancing the existing anti-corruption mechanism. Public outreach and education programmes will also be an important task of the Centre and of the councils in the fight against corruption.”

Restoring trust

The staff of both the Anti-Corruption Centre and the local councils includes lawyers, economists, architects, local self government officials and minority group representatives.

……..

Written by Jelena Avramovic

3 September 2007

Back

Members of the Centre for Democratic Activities in south Serbia discussing their strategy for establishing local anti-corruption councils. (OSCE)

“The battle against corruption would be fruitless without the support of organizations such as the OSCE, which has established itself as a credible, trustworthy international body in the region.”Biljana Nikolic, Project Co-ordinator for the Centre for Democratic Activities in Serbi

http://www.osce.org/item/26062.html 

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3.9.2007 by admin.

SPIEGEL ONLINE - 03. September 2007, 13:25
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,503541,00.html

BRITEN IN BASRA

Brown verteidigt Rückzug

Die britische Armee zieht sich aus Basra zurück - aber nicht, um vor Aufständischen zu fliehen, sagt jetzt Premierminister Brown. Der Abzug sei “geplant und organisiert” und keineswegs eine Niederlage.

London - Großbritanniens Premierminister Gordon Brown wies heute ausdrücklich darauf hin, dass es sich beim britischen Truppenabzug aus Basra im Südirak um eine geplante Aktion und nicht etwa um eine Niederlage handle. Es sei ein “geplanter und organisierter Umzug” vom Hauptquartier “Basra Palace” zum Luftwaffenstützpunkt Basra, antwortete Brown in der BBC auf die Frage, ob der Abzug als Niederlage zu verstehen sei.

AP

Basra: Ein irakischer Soldat hisst die Flagge auf dem ehemaligen britischen Hauptquartier

Die Briten hielten ihre Verpflichtungen gegenüber den Irakern und der Uno ein, sagte Brown. Es handle sich um einen Wandel von einer “Kampfrolle” in vier Provinzen hin zu einer Überwachungsfunktion. Unter bestimmten Umständen sei die britische Armee in der Lage, sich wieder einzuschalten.Im Südirak sind rund 5500 britische Soldaten stationiert, die meisten von ihnen in und um Basra. Ihre Zahl soll bis zum Jahresende auf rund 5000 gesenkt werden. Die verbleibenden Truppen sollen nach Browns Wunsch weiter über die Stabilität der Provinz wachen und einheimische Sicherheitskräfte ausbilden. Seit dem Einmarsch der multinationalen Truppen im Irak 2003 wurden dort fast 160 britische Soldaten getötet.

Viereinhalb Jahre nach Beginn des Irak-Kriegs ist Basra wieder frei von Besatzungstruppen. Die britischen Streitkräfte räumten bis Mittag ihren letzten Stützpunkt im Zentrum der zweitgrößten irakischen Stadt und übergaben ihn den einheimischen Truppen, sagte der irakische Generalleutnant Mohan al-Firedschi.

Das Verteidigungsministerium in London hatte zunächst erklärt, das Hauptquartier “Basra Palace” werde den irakischen Sicherheitskräften “in den kommenden Tagen” übergeben. Das Hauptquartier war zuletzt fast täglich mit Mörsern oder Raketen angegriffen worden.

Die Kontrolle über das gesamte Gebiet um Basra solle im Herbst übergeben werden, teilte das Ministerium mit. “Die britischen Truppen werden jetzt vom Flughafen aus eingesetzt, sie bleiben für Basra verantwortlich, bis wir an die irakischen Provinzbehörden übergeben, was wir für den Herbst erwarten.”

Kurz vor Bekanntwerden des Abzugs aus dem Hauptquartier hatten hochrangige britische Offiziere die Irak- Politik der USA in ungewohnter Schärfe kritisiert. Der frühere britische Generalstabschef Mike Jackson nannte Washingtons Irak-Politik “intellektuell bankrott”. Generalmajor a.D. Tim Cross sagte, schon bei der Vorbereitung der Invasion hätten viele das Gefühl gehabt, dass die Pläne der Vereinigten Staaten für die Nachkriegszeit “fatale Schwächen” aufwiesen.

Trotz innenpolitischer Kritik am Irak-Einsatz der Briten hält Brown daran fest. Die Soldaten hätten “eine Arbeit zu erledigen”, sagte der Premierminister im August. Auch einen genauen Zeitplan für den Abzug der britischen Truppen will Brown nicht im Voraus erstellen.

Browns Vorgänger Tony Blair hatte schon im Februar die Zahl der britischen Soldaten im Irak von 7000 auf 5500 verringert. Schon damals hieß es, weitere 500 Soldaten könnten abgezogen werden, wenn der Stützpunkt in Basra den Irakern übergeben worden sei.

asc/AFP/AP

© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2007
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Irak: Briten verlassen letzten Stützpunkt in Basra - Generäle rügen US- Strategie (02.09.2007)
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,503401,00.html

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