From the International Action Center:

NATO Plans Attack On Yugoslavia

On Aug. 4, the Clinton administration confirmed that NATO had developed detailed plans for an attack on Yugoslavia. Sources told the New York Times that the focus is on "a variety of air‑power options that could punish or intimidate." At the same time, the NATO powers continued to plan maneuvers in Albania and Macedonia as a rehearsal for military intervention.

Threatened air strikes

The threatened air strikes came in the wake of a 10‑day offensive against the terrorist "Kosovo Liberation Army" by Yugoslav forces who, according to Agence France Presse, have retaken almost all of central Kosovo from the rebels.

Kosovo is a region within the Yugoslav republic of Serbia with a large ethnic Albanian majority. A victory by the US/German sponsored secession movement would turn its mineral wealth over to them and continue the destruction of the multinational Yugoslav state.

The U. S. and NATO had apparently hoped for stiffer resistance from the KLA. According to the Kosovan separatist newspaper Koha Ditore, NATO officials complained that "the KLA failed to protect the people the way they aspired to."

US Diplomat Creates Kosovar 'government'

US diplomat Christopher Hill has "put together an all‑party executive that will have responsibilities to include negotiation with the Serbs. "Kosovar sources emphasize that this is more than a negotiating team . " It will be up to the KLA ... to appoint the Minister of Defense and maybe the Minister of Public Order," Koha Ditore reported.

Hill's action deposed Ibrahim Rugova, described in the media as a "moderate" and a "pacifist," from his position of leadership in the secessionist forces.

While Rugova may be retained as a figurehead, diplomatic sources reveal that the "first man" in the new executive body will be Mehmet Hajrizi of the newly formed Albanian Democratic Movement. Hajrizi is close to the KLA.

KLA operates in Albania

Northern Albania, which borders Kosovo, is largely under the control of deposed Albanian President Sali Berisha, who openly supports the KLA. Supplies for the KLA, including new American‑made grenades, Motorola field radios, and modern anti‑tank weapons, pass through unhindered. Berisha has also given the KLA many weapons taken from the Albanian armed forces.

An International Crisis Group report dated July 10 said: "[B]y early July, an ever increasing number of KLA activists, many wearing Swiss military fatigues, have been operating openly in Tropoje town [in Albania] and the surrounding villages. The KLA have also, it seems, established medical posts and ammunition dumps in the town and are setting up new training camps along the border."

Attempts by Yugoslavia to stop this traffic and control the border crossings last week were labeled as "serious provocations" by the Albanian government.

UN Doesn't Enforce Kosovo Arms Embargo

A UN Security Council resolution in March asked the secretary general to recommend how an arms embargo could be monitored so that arms did not reach either the Yugoslav government or the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Despite the embargo, substantial arms have continued to flow to KLA rebels from across the Albanian border. The secretary general told the security council soon after that resolution was passed that the United Nations, already deep in debt to nations that contribute to its peacekeeping forces, could not afford to monitor the embargo.

NATO is now using its old friend Berisha to send arms to the KLA, while maintaining the embargo against the Yugoslav government.

========================================================================================================================

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.*Anatole France

National Peoples Campaign ‑ DC

PO Box 3700

Washington, DC 20037

Phone 202‑588‑1205

email: npcdc@mnsinc.com

Web: www.mnsinc.com/npcdc

=========================================================================================================================

Read this list on the Web at http://www.makelist.com/list/npc‑activists‑list/ To unsubscribe, email to npc‑activists‑list‑unsubscribe@makelist.com
To subscribe? email to npc‑activists‑list‑subscribe~makelist.com