Published: August 10, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War - Serbia Increases Patrols in the South - Asks for NATO Support
By Willard Payne
Crossfire War - TIRANA - PRISTINA - TEHRAN WATCH - Southeast Europe Theatre: Tirana - Tehran - Ankara - Sarajevo - Riyadh - Pristina/(Brussels - Vienna - Warsaw)/Presevo Valley - Belgrade - Athens - Skopje - Sofia - Tehran - Moscow; RAPID FIRE NEWS - Serbia Increases Patrols in Presevo Valley Near Kosovo Border After Shootings - Albania Confirms Support for Kosovo Independence - Rocket Propelled Grenades Fired at Macedonian Government Building - National Liberation Army Suspect (Albanian)
Night Watch: PRESEVO VALLEY - AP reports the Serbian government in Belgrade has decided to increase its military and police patrols in the Presevo Valley area near the border of Kosovo province after a series of shootings in the past week. Rasim Ljajic is the Serbian official responsible for the area, 150 miles ( 250 km) southeast of Belgrade. He stated Belgrade need to prevent armed groups, Albanian militia and criminals, from crossing the Kosovo border into South Serbia, which is exactly what happened last Saturday when Serbian police killed one of the masked, black uniformed gunmen robbing passing vehicles. Gunmen had been doing that for years but Serbia has now re-armed and is making a stronger response. Ljajic is calling for joint cooperation between Serbian troops and NATO. "Only joint cooperation and partnership make sense in such a situation. We want to prevent illegal crossings." Ljajic has already had a meeting with Serbian police and army commanders in the region. Three people were also killed this week but that is believed to be related only to criminal action but it has always been known Albanian criminal groups cooperate closely with nationalist militias, they are virtually one and the same. The division of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, at the end of the Cold War, resulted in making the divided states the center of organized crime throughout Europe and with government connections. Narcotics-prostitution-terrorism-weapons trafficking.[
SERBIANNA]
BIRN (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network) has mentioned the President of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu is in Tirana not only on vacation but to receive confirmation of Albania's support for Kosovo independence. On Monday he met Albania President Bamir Topi who reaffirmed, "All Albanian institutions are in the same line with Kosovar institutions when it comes to the status issue." Sejdiu restated his government's position that Belgrade's offer of autonomy was unacceptable, "the independence of Kosovo and its territorial integrity are not negotiable." Negotiations, that began in Vienna more than a year ago, reached a dead end quite some time ago and never had any chance of resolving the issue since the positions of both Serbia/Kosovo were entrenched and non-negotiable. [BIRN]
In preparing to take advantage of the situation Tehran has maintained close military relations with both Tirana/Belgrade knowing the next war will keep NATO and the European Union confined to the Balkans and that the war will be used by Iran to silence Vienna in order to end the United Nations investigation into Iran's nuclear weapons program. The UN agency conducting the investigation, that has gone on for several years now, is based in Vienna. I also suspect Tehran intends to use war in this theatre to prepare the region as Iran's avenue of invasion into Europe.
AP reports at 12:30 am Thursday night - Friday morning two rocket propelled grenades (RPG) were fired at the headquarters of the Macedonian government in downtown Skopje. There were no injuries and the Macedonian government has pledged to prosecute those responsible. Skopje has made no accusations but I can't imagine anyone else except the National Liberation Army (NLA) which represents the 25% minority Albanian community in Macedonia. It was this unit which started the war in Macedonia early 2001 in the name of creating a larger Albanian state. The war lasted for six months and if it had gone on much longer could have spread into Greece-Albania-Bulgaria. That is why it is so misguided of Macedonia to support Kosovo independence since they have problems with their own Albanian community which could easily see Kosovo independence as inspiration for Albanians in Macedonia to declare the same thing. Skopje supports Pristina as a way of Macedonia continuing its undeclared war with Athens since Greece never liked the idea of Macedonia calling itself the same name as Greece's Macedonia's province. The name war will flare up into a real one. [SERBIANNA]
Night Watch Information Service
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