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JOVANOVIC SAYS PEOPLE'S UNITY VITAL FOR COUNTRY'S RECONSTRUCTION
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said Thursday that Yugoslavia had entered a period of great challenges in which the country's reconstruction and preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity was marked by onslaughts by ethnic Albanian terrorism and separatism.
Addressing a meeting of the local board of Yugoslavia's World War II veterans' association held to mark the 55th anniversary since Kragujevac, central Serbia, was liberated from Nazi occupation, Jovanovic said that the unity of the Yugoslav people and their leadership was the most powerful weapon for these challenges.
In this connection, he said that the unity demonstrated during NATO's March 24-June 10 aggression on the country would be the main prop also in the times to come.
"Kragujevac's firmness in the defence is reflected also in the re-activating of production in factories that were severely damaged and in the reconstructed infrastructure in the sphere of education and health care," he said.
The Serbs are relying on their own resources but are not trying to isolate themselves from the world because they have always been open to all countries ready to cooperate with them on the footing of equality, he said.
"Some foreign governments opted for a disastrous policy and aggression but this is not characteristic of the majority of mankind, because only the governments of the NATO member states are against Yugoslavia and not peoples from these countries that oppose the policy of force and blackmail," he said.
Jovanovic referred to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's statement to the effect that Yugoslavia plays a far more important role in international relations than can be concluded by the number of its population and the size of its territory.
"We symbolise major civilisation values - freedom, independence and dignity - and we have friends throughout the world," he said.
Jovanovic said Europe must draw a lesson from a traditional event held at Kragujevac's Sumarice memorial park on October 21 to commemorate the date in 1941 when Germany's Nazi troops executed by firing squads 7,000 town residents and 300 pupils in one day alone.
"They that do not listen to lessons from Sumarice cannot be certain of their own future," he said.
Also attending were Yugoslav Minister Milan Beko, Serbian ministers Jovo Todorovic, Borislav Milacic and Slobodan Tomovic, Petar Gracanin, a retired general and member of the main board of Serbia's Socialist Party (SPS), top Yugoslav army and Serbian police officials, and deputies and businessmen.
SHELLING OF SERB VILLAGE OF MOGILA NEAR VITINA IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
The KFOR press service in Pristina has said that a terrorist attack from automatic weapons and mortars had been carried out on Tuesday on the Serb village of Mogila near Vitina.
After the incident, a checkpoint was returned to the entrance to the village and the U.S. KFOR troops stepped up controls.
According to KFOR spokesman Major Roland Lavoie, unknown attackers are trying to prevent the return of Serbs to this area.
Near Urosevac, the UNMIK police found the body of a Serb woman. An investigation determined that she was shot dead by three ethnic Albanians.
In the region of Djakovica, former KLA members erected illegal checkpoints at which they robbed two trucks during the past 24 hours seizing large quantities of money. An investigation is under way, the Lavoie said.
KLA TERRORISTS BEAT UP THREE ETHNIC ALBANIANS OVER YUGOSLAV PASSPORTS
Three ethnic Albanians were stopped and brutally beaten in a Pristina street on Wednesday morning by members of the terrorist KLA after picking up new Yugoslav passports issued in the Temporary Executive Council building, said the Subcommittee for Administration and Legal Activities of the Yugoslav Committee for Cooperation with the UN Mission in Kosovo and Metohija (UNMIK).
Fadilj Sulja from Pristina, Mehmet Mehmeti from Vlastica near Gnjilane and Emin Muzaci from Bresnica near Vucitrn had just been issued the passport of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a procedure which began a month ago in the building of the Temporary Executive Council.
Their KLA compatriots tried to convince them by force not to take the Yugoslav passport, but were saved by KFOR and the UN police.
The terrorists said, however, that the three would shortly be tried for "the betrayal of their people."
GETTING SERBS BACK TO KOSOVO-METOHIJA IS NATIONAL DUTY - MINISTER
It is the chief national duty to ensure a consistent implementation of the UN Resolution on Kosovo-Metohija, and so ensure Serbs' return to that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia, a Serbian minister said on Wednesday.
Minister of Science and Technology Branislav Ivkovic, member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) Main Board, was speaking for the Belgrade youth Radio B92.
Ivkovic said that last spring, NATO aggressors deliberately destroyed the truth by destroying telecommunications systems in Yugoslavia and so opened scope for their own media to misinform the people of Kosovo-Metohija, triggering a Serb exodus.
Speaking about opposition protests in Belgrade, he said that there are always students among the anti-government protesters, but "there are a hundred times more of them where they belong - in lecture halls and research labs."
Speaking about university conditions, he stressed that the ministry he heads cares for and financially supports post-graduate students and talented secondary-school students, who are winning awards at international competitions.
"About 10,000 students in Belgrade have full room and board for less than 300 dinars (roughly 12 U.S. dollars) a month, and more than 16,000 students are eligible for the education ministry's credits," he said.
He stressed that, despite the difficult situation in the country, a large number of young researchers have remained in Serbia - more than 15,500, as the result of increased budgetary outlays for research.
Earlier in the day, Ivkovic had attended a groundbreaking ceremony for building 750 homes in Belgrade's Novi Beograd district for young Belgrade University researchers and their families.
The construction work is financed by the City of Belgrade's Foundation for housing young scientists and artists.
PAYMENT OF CREDITS, SCHOLARSHIPS TO KOSOVO-METOHIJA STUDENTS RESUMES
The Serbian ministry of education said on Wednesday it had resumed paying out credits and scholarships to students in Serbia's U.N.-secured Kosovo-Metohija province for the first five months of 1999.
The beneficiaries can cash the cheques in the Kosovo-Metohija towns of Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavic, Raska and Zvecan, as well as in other towns in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia - Krusevac, Blace and Vranje.
The ministry said that the payment of credits and scholarships to students in other parts of Serbia was under way for April and May of 1999, and that payments for June, September and October for the academic year 1998/99 would be stepped up.
ANNAN SEES TENSION BETWEEN UN, KOSOVO-METOHIJA ALBANIAN SEPARATISTS
The UN Secretary General has admitted that there is tension between the UN peace mission to Kosovo-Metohija and ethnic Albanian separatists, which may jeopardise the implementation of UN Resolution 1244.
The New York Times writes on Wednesday that the source of the tension lies in the fact that ethnic Albanians want independence for that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia, whereas the UN mission administers the territory as part of Yugoslavia.
Secretary General Kofi Annan does not seem to see an immediate solution to the problem, according to the newspaper.
It quotes Annan as saying that the UN mission has the mandate to administer the territory as part of sovereign Yugoslavia, but can hardly do so in the teeth of independence aspirations.
Annan added that this ambiguity is certain to create problems, as ethnic Albanians could regard the UN administrators as a force of occupation.
As for the true problems - the poor security situation and the reign of terror imposed by the ethnic Albanian terrorists - the newspaper only briefly quotes an unnamed UN mission official as saying that the climate is permitted by continued tension between the 97,000 Serbs remaining in Kosovo-Metohija and the ethnic Albanians, and tensions between various ethnic Albanian factions.
KFOR COMMANDER BLASTS KOSOVO-METOHIJA ALBANIAN ATTACK ON UN TROOPS
The German commander of the international KFOR force in Kosovo-Metohija is quoted in Prague on Wednesday as saying that ethnic Albanians had on Friday launched a fascist attack on KFOR troops in Kosovska Mitrovica.
The biggest ethnic Albanian protests since KFOR's deployment to that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia in mid-June, which turned into a clash with KFOR and the French police, were led by people from the so-called Kosovo Protection Corps.
The Corps has been formed out of the ethnic Albanian terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Five KFOR and French police troops and more than 150 ethnic Albanian protesters were wounded in the clash.
The Czech Pravo newspaper quotes General Klaus Reinhardt as saying he has no information to prove that the clash was provoked by the now defunct KLA, but that it was clearly well organised.
Reinhardt went on to say that a solution was close at hand for the stalemate at the Kosovo-Metohija town of Orahovac, where ethnic Albanians have been refusing to allow the deployment of Russian peacekeepers for two months now.
He said that intensive talks were in progress to solve the problem, adding he was optimistic.
According to Reinhardt, the situation in Kosovo-Metohija is improving and Serb refugees are beginning to return.
He admitted, however, that large quantities of illegal weapons were still circulating in the U.N.-secured province, despite the announced disarmament of the KLA.
The Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper stresses that KFOR is combating ethnic Albanian attacks on Serbs only with difficulty.
It adds that, with crime dramatically on the rise, the international force command has decided to deploy an increased number of troops and materiel in the streets of Kosovo-Metohija's city of Pristina to restore order.
GEORGIEVSKI, SCHARPING URGE RESPECT FOR UN RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO
Visiting German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping said in Skopje on Wednesday that the UN Security Council's Resolution 1244 on Kosovo-Metohija must be respected in full.
Speaking after meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Ljupco Georgievski, Scharping said that no stabilisation in the region could be expected without full implementation of the resolution on that province of the Yugoslav republic of Serbia.
Along with establishing lasting peace in the Balkans, it is necessary to establish economic cooperation among the region's countries and include them in European economic processes, according to Scharping.
Meeting with Scharping, who is scheduled to travel to Bulgaria from Macedonia, Georgievski said that Macedonia regards implementation of Resolution 1244 as very important.
According to Georgievski, the peace force in U.N.-secured Kosovo-Metohija should be required to honour all provisions of the document.
Scharping's host, Macedonian Defence Minister Nikola Kljusev, said that Macedonia's borders with Albania and Kosovo-Metohija are not secure.
KFOR is powerless to prevent large groups of criminals from entering Macedonia from Kosovo-Metohija, whereas the Albanian state has given up securing its side of the common border.
Scharping said that Germany would soon make a present to Macedonia of a large quantity of weaponry and equipment - machine-guns, medium-range cannon and vehicles.
Scharping met also with Macedonia's Foreign Minister Aleksandar Dimitrov with whom he discussed European integration, which should not by-pass the Balkan countries, according to a statement.
RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF REJECTS ACCORD WITH NATO OVER AGGRESSION ON YUGOSLAVIA
Resumption of Russia-NATO relations will be possible only on a fresh basis, not on the basis of the bilateral accord that was rejected at the time of the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian Army Valery Manilov said at a press conference Wednesday in Moscow.
This is Russia's principled stance, Manilov said and noted that although the future of Russia-NATO relations was not bright, the potential for their development was great.
One of the conditions for the resumption of bilateral relations would be Russia's full participation in evaluating the military-strategic situation, including crises necessitating the attention of the international community, Manilov said.
Another condition is Russia's participation on equal basis in taking decisions on how to deal with such crises and in the realisation of such decisions, he said.
Russia will no longer accept to be pushed into the background, Manilov said in an obvious allusion to the preparations for and the execution of the NATO aggression on Yugoslavia.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov had said already at the time of the Rambouillet conference on Serbia's Kosovo-Metohija province that Russia was being excluded from resolving the issue.
Manilov also said that Russia interpreted the US attempts to withdraw from the accord on anti-missile defense as a threat. Noting that this was a question of principle, he said this was fully reflected in Russia's new military doctrine. There can be no compromise in this regard, he said.
BULGARIAN P.M. - DANUBE TO BE SOON AGAIN NAVIGABLE THROUGH YUGOSLAVIA
Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov has urged that the remains of Yugoslavia's Danube bridges destroyed during NATO's bombing be immediately removed from the river's bed, the Sofia daily Trud reported on Thursday.
The paper said that Kostov had proposed that Sofia host a conference of transport ministers of the Danube basin countries on the issue.
The daily said that Kostov, who attended a session of the Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA) in Budapest on Wednesday, had informed its participants that Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria were ready to take steps alone to clear the river's bed from the remains and to make the river navigable through Yugoslavia again.
Kostov did not specify whether he had contacted Yugoslav authorities or how these three countries intended to do this job in Yugoslavia.
The economies and shipping industries of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria have suffered great losses because of the Danube's not being navigable through Yugoslavia.
JAPAN'S KOICHIRO MATSUURA BECOMES NEW UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL
Japan's ambassador to France, Koichiro Matsuura, was elected in Paris on Wednesday new director general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Matsuura will be replacing Spain's Federico Mayor, whose second six-year term expires on Nov. 14.
Matsuura, who holds degrees in law and economics, has been a diplomat since 1959. He has written six books on Japanese diplomacy and on Japan's relations with France and the United States.
RUSSIAN AUTHOR - WORLD POWERS REWRITE HISTORY
Russian writer, philosopher and sociologist Alexander Zinovyev said Wednesday in an interview to Radio Belgrade that the Serb and Russian peoples must find a way out of the crisis caused by the US and western Europe through self-defense.
The masters of the contemporary global society are consistently implementing a strategy of destruction of the Russian people in order to rewrite history and make it seem that there had never been a Russian people, and are attempting to do the same to the Serb people too, Zinovyev said.
He urged Serb and Russian historians to unveil the fabrications by western "experts".
A classical example of rewriting history was The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in which individual facts were correct but the global picture was wrong. The fate of the people in the former Soviet Union was neither better nor worse than in other parts of Europe, Zinovyev said.
Zinovyev noted to this effect that the number of educational institutions and housing units built in the Soviet Union was thousand-fold higher than before the October Revolution.
Russia and Serbia have better scientists and greater intellectual, educational and scientific potentials than the West. This is why the West wants to erase Russia and Serbia from history, Zinovyev said.
Russia's state, economy and culture have been devastated by Washington's manipulations and attempts at colonisation, the Russian people are demoralised and apathetic, alcohol and drug addiction and unemployment are rife in cities, Zinovyev said and added that Washington now wants to colonise Serbia too.
Zinovyev sees self-reliance as the best way of resolving the present situation of Russian and Serb peoples, for which a strong defense force is needed to counter any US or NATO intervention and to ensure Russia's and Serbia's economic independence.
Russian and Serb children must be taught not to seek some Soros scholarships but to study in their homelands, Zinovyev said, and urged historians to present a true picture of what is happening to the Russian and Serb peoples.
Zinovyev met historians Slavenko Terzic, Mihajlo Vojvodic, Milorad Ekmecic and Dragoljub Zivojinovic at the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences.
ITALIAN PAPER SAYS NO MASS GRAVES DISCOVERED IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA
Investigations by international medical and specialised teams clearly show that no mass executions have been conducted in Kosovo and Metohija, the Rome daily L'Unita quoted Thursday a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague as saying.
The paper said that the investigations to date, which it said had been thorough, by medical teams from 15 countries including the United States, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain, had only led to the discovery of 187 bodies in different locations.
The paper said that reports on mass graves in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia's southern province, launched by the international community during NATO's March 24-June 10 aggression on Yugoslavia, were, consequently, totally untrue.
In most of the places claimed to be the sites of mass execution like those at Trepca, Djakovica and Izbica, not a single body has been found, the paper said.
L'Unita also said that seven bodies had been found near Pec, in the west of Kosovo and Metohija, of the 350 bodies claimed to have been buried there, while 96 bodies had been discovered at Klina and 82 at Kravijan.
The international teams' investigations have shown that NATO's claim that it must bomb Yugoslavia to stop genocide in Kosovo and Metohija was nothing but a pretext to do so because there was no genocide in the province in the first place, the daily said.