2000-1

Wednesday, January 5, 2000 - An anti-vehicle rocket was fired into an Albanian bar in Pristina. There were no injuries.

Friday, January 7, 2000 - In Prizren, an ethnic Albanian gang killed two Serb women, said Tanjug. Three Serb men were beaten in Lipljan — five miles south of Pristina. A Serb man was shot and killed in Prizren a day earlier, and another Serb man was shot and wounded by a gunman firing from a car with no license plates in the town of Kosovo Polje. So far, the peace keeping forces have not been able to stop ethnic violence against Serbs. Before the air strikes against Yugoslavia, violence was aimed against the ethnic Albanian population.

In central Kosovo, seven grenades were fired in the direction of Serb houses from a nearby road. No one was injured. In another incident near Gorazdevac, two grenades were fired, causing no damage.

Saturday, January 8, 2000 - Yugoslav Army General Nebojsa Pavkovic threatened the Yugoslav Army would return to Kosovo. He said the UN and NATO failed to prevent a genocide against Serbs.

Sunday, January 9, 2000 - A group of ethnic Albanians killed a Serb civilian in front of his home in Gnjilane.

Monday, January 10, 2000 - All major opposition parties in Serbia agreed to join forces in a joint struggle to topple Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. In a joint document, they demanded that Milosevic's government would schedule nationwide elections by the end of April 2000. They pledged to cooperate before, during, and after the elections. They also urged to end a ban on international air traffic and oil trade.

Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - The UN said of the 4,000 international police for Kosovo, less than half that number were serving there. Germany agreed to double its police contingent to more than 400. The United States promised to raise its contribution from 400 to 500.

Wednesday, January 12, 2000 - Three policemen died in a shootout in Aracinovo, near Skopje, Macedonia, when an unidentified assailant opened fire from a passing car.

Thursday, January 13, 2000 - Serb authorities released ten ethnic Albanians who were suspected of attacking police in Kosovo but filed charges against 144 ethnic Albanians — former members of the disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army — jailed in central Serbia.

An explosion was set off near Mitrovica's Eastern Bridge. No one was injured in the incident.

Sunday, January 16, 2000 - The Serb paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic was killed in a Belgrade hotel. Raznatovic — AKA "Arkan" — was secretly indicted by the UN war crimes tribunal in September 1997 for his actions during the Bosnian and Croatian wars. He was also indicted for the massacre of 250 men taken from a hospital in Vukovar in 1991, during the Croatian war.

Opposition members and insiders claimed that he was silenced, because he could tie key figures in President Slobodan Milosevic's government with Balkan war crimes.

A UN war crimes tribunal spokesman said two lawyers claiming to represent Arkan contacted the court separately a week earlier and said they were interested in negotiating a deal, although it was unclear whether they really represented Arkan.

In Vitina, a US Army Staff Sergeant was charged with sexually assaulting and killing an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl. He was transferred to the US confinement facility in Mannheim pending the investigation. The US military feared it could threaten relations between US peacekeepers and the Kosovo civilians. (See KFOR, August 1, 2000.)

Tuesday, January 18, 2000 - In Klina — near Pec — Portugese KFOR troops reported that two rifle grenades had been shot into a café. There were no injuries.

Wednesday, January 19, 2000 - Widespread rumors that the Yugoslav government had a hand in the killing of Serb paramilitary leader Arkan were denied by a Yugoslav government official.

Thursday, January 20, 2000 - Ethnic Albanians driving through the Serb part of Kosovska Mitrovica threw a grenade at a group of Serb teenagers, injuring two.

Teenagers stopped a vehicle and asked the strangers inside what they were doing in the area. When the group realized the people in the car were ethnic Albanians, the car sped off. The ethnic Albanians tossed a grenade. NATO peacekeepers and UN police soon sealed off the street.

Friday, January 21, 2000 - The first 44 members of the Kosovo Protection Corps — including dozens of former rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army — were sworn in by top international civilian and military officials in Kosovo.

Leaders of seven countries bordering Yugoslavia — Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia — met with senior EU and NATO officials to discuss how to help economies and prevent more war in the Balkans.

Saturday, January 22, 2000 - Three men were arrested in the slaying of Serb warlord Arkan. Two of them were said to be former policemen sacked or suspended for links to the underworld.

Tuesday, January 25, 2000 - David Gowan — a British diplomat, appointed UK Kosovo War Crimes Coordinator to provide expert help to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia — revealed that the British team investigated 70 sites, all in the southwest of Kosovo, and recovered 508 bodies. He made it clear that many bodies would never be found "because of natural degradation, lack of information about the whereabouts of graves and deliberate attempts by the Serb forces to hide evidence, for instance by burning bodies or dumping them in rivers."

US peacekeeping troops in Kosovo came under scrutiny, following allegations of improper conduct by US troops.

Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - UNHCR announced plans to register people who fled Kosovo to Serbia after the arrival of NATO forces in 1999. According to UNHCR, most of those displaced wanted to return to Kosovo under conditions of security guarantees and wanted to see the Yugoslav army return to Kosovo.

Macedonian police filed charges against 11 ethnic Albanians in connection with the shootout of January 12 — in which three policemen were killed.

Thursday, January 27, 2000 - A Serb court sentenced three Kosovo Albanians for rape and terrorism but released one because of lack of evidence.

Saturday, January 29, 2000 - Serbia released 22 ethnic Albanians and them over to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who took them to Pristina. It was estimated that some 1,700-1,800 ethnic Albanians were still being held in prisons.

Sunday, January 30, 2000 - The Serbian Renewal Movement warned that increased contacts between Kosovo Albanian leader Hashim Thaci and ethnic Albanian leader Arben Xhaferi seemed to pursue a Greater Albania.

One hundred tons of heating fuel arrived in Pirot as part of European Union aid to opposition-run municipalities. The EU planned to send 25,000 tons of fuel to municipalities controlled by Milosevic's opponents.

Wednesday, February 2, 2000 - A day before, a rocket attack on a UN bus with markings of the — UN High Commissioner for Refugees — carrying 49 Serb civilians left two Serbs dead and three injured.

United States senators expressed growing impatience with the continuing US military role in the Balkans, arguing that the failure of European nations to do more was prolonging the American presence there.

A military court in Belgrade indicted seven people — one army lieutenant and six civilians — for allegedly planning to assassinate president Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslav Army General Nebojsa Pavkovic and opposition leader Vuk Draskovic.

Ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova announced that the shadow government he operated in Kosovo for 10 years was dissolved and would turn over millions of dollars to the UN-supervised administration running the province. Unconfirmed reports put the amount of money at close to $250 million.

Thursday, February 3, 2000 - Two grenade attacks against Serb cafes left at least 20 people wounded and shootings that claimed the lives of three ethnic Albanians.

Friday, February 4, 2000 - Serbian media reported an elderly Serb was shot dead by a masked gunman in the American-controlled town of Gnjilane.

Hundreds of ethnic Albanians pelted French soldiers with stones and bottles in Kosovska Mitrovica, charging that NATO-led peacekeepers failed to prevent the deaths of at least six Kosovo Albanians. The French troops fired tear gas to disperse about 500 rioters.

Saturday, February 5, 2000 - For the second day, French peacekeepers clashed with ethnic Albanians in Kosovska Mitrovica. Forty-one people, including 11 French soldiers, were injured. Two ethnic Albanians died Saturday of gunshot wounds. Some 30 Albanian families — 104 people — were evacuated during the night from the Serb-controlled northern part of the city to the southern, Albanian district.

Later, UNHCR said that over a period of several days an estimated 97 people were attacked by Serbs, 15 Serbs were hand-grenaded in a bar, five Albanians were killed, five NATO peacekeepers injured, seven UN vehicles burnt, and all international agencies withdrawn from the north side of the river.

Another three days of rioting in Mitrovica left another two people dead, another 11 French NATO troops injured, a 15-year-old boy shot by a suspected Serb sniper on Saturday, another hand-grenade attack on a Serb village, Serb paramilitaries openly patrolling the streets of northern Mitrovica, and a huge French NATO contingent that Albanians claim is massively biased in favor of the Serbs.

Monday, February 7, 2000 - The Yugoslav defense minister — Pavle Bulatovic, an ally of president Milosevic — was gunned down in a Belgrade restaurant. He died later in a military hospital. he ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party accused American, French or British intelligence agents of being behind the murder.

Australian aid worker Steve Pratt — one of the CARE workers arrested March 31, 1999, during the first week of the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia — said on Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s Four Corners current affairs show he was threatened with death if he did not sign a trumped up espionage confession while in detention in Yugoslavia. (See KFOR September 1, 1999.)

Wednesday, February 9, 2000 - UN police raided local police buildings in two Bosnian Croat-held towns, finding large caches of illegal weapons and telephone tapping equipment.

The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal sent freed war crimes defendant Zlatko Aleksovski back to jail. The former Bosnian Croat prison commandant, was convicted of war crimes in May 1999, but released immediately because he had served out his 2½-year sentence in pretrial detention, but the prosecution appealed.

The US endorsed a move by the EU to lift a ban on commercial air travel to Yugoslavia.

Thursday, February 10, 2000 - Yugoslavia's most respected newspaper and its chief editor were found guilty and fined $13,000 by a court in Novi Sad of publishing an article in which a professor accused a colleague of organizing a dismissal of teachers disloyal to president Milosevic.

Friday, February 11, 2000 - A report by UNHCR and OSCE said ethnic minorities in the province were still suffering severe discrimination and were often violently attacked. Of an estimated 20,000 Serbs living in the provincial capital Pristina during 1998, only about 700-800 remain, the report said.

Friday, February 12, 2000 - Danish and French KFOR troops raided a Serb bar in Kosovska Mitrovica but no evidence was found to support accusations it was a base for paramilitaries. A crowd of around 150 Serbs gathered outside the bar. KFOR imposed a curfew on the city and reinforced the French — heavily criticized by Albanians — with 140 British troops and about 140 Dutch, Italian, and German troops.

Riots
[Image: Reuters]
February 13, 2000: NATO
soldier in Kosovska Mitrovica

Sunday, February 13, 2000 - French peacekeeping troops on foot and in armored personnel carriers took combat positions on the Serb-dominated north side of Kosovska Mitrovica. Snipers shot and wounded two French soldiers. An ethnic Albanian sniper was shot dead and four were wounded and captured. Seventeen people were arrested in follow-up operations after the violence. Serb sources said the trouble began when several ethnic Albanians from the southern side crossed a bridge over the Ibar River leading to the Serb side and threw several hand grenades.

Tuesday, February 15, 2000 - After an ambulance — on its way to Kosovska Mitrovica — overturned, UN police found 14 anti-tank rocket launchers, more than 180 high-explosive grenades and over 3,000 cartridges for guns.

Wednesday, February 16, 2000 - After nearly a year of tension over the wars in Yugoslavia, Russia and NATO announced that they are restoring their ties.

Thursday, February 17, 2000 - In Kosovska Mitrovica, two rocket attacks were reported. One anti-tank rocket was fired by unknown assailants at a Serb home — no casualties were reported. Another In another attack a rocket landed harmlessly in a field near Suvi Do.

More than 4,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Pristina to protest escalating violence that left at least nine people dead and dozens injured in Kosovska Mitrovica.

NATO's retiring supreme commander in Europe — General Wesley Clark — suggested US peacekeepers may have to stay in Bosnia and Kosovo indefinitely., since Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic was rebuilding his forces. Clark also cited potential flash points in Montenegro. "Until he's taken to trial as a war criminal, we're not going to see a resolution to the problem."

Friday, February 18, 2000 - In an attempt to counter the influence of the pro-independence media in Montenegro, the Yugoslav government expanded the broadcast of its new television outlet.

Sunday, February 20, 2000 - During a massive house-to-house search in Mitrovica for illegal weapons, a crowd of angry Serbs pelted American and German peacekeepers with rocks and bricks. The search was conducted by 2,300 troops, including French, Belgian, Danish, Austrian, American, British, Canadian, Dutch, German, Norwegian and Turkish troops. They found plastic explosives, 15 rifles and handguns, one grenade, one machine gun and loads of ammunition.

Monday, February 21, 2000 - In Kosovska Mitrovica, French and British troops fired tear gas to push back thousands of ethnic Albanians trying to force their way across a bridge into the Serb-controlled side of the city. In New York, the American ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, blamed the Yugoslav government for fomenting trouble in Kosovska Mitrovica.

As many as 50,000 ethnic Albanians marched to Kosovska Mitrovica to demand an end to the city's ethnic bloodshed. Tensions began after a grenade attack on a UN bus on February 2 killed two Serbs. That triggered a round of revenge attacks that left nine people dead and scores injured.

Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - US paratroopers swooped down on the Serb part of Mitrovica, arresting eight people and seizing weapons in a surprise raid three days after Serbs drove them away in a hail of stones. The the Americans seized a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, rifles, grenades and ammunition. KFOR announced plans to start moving ethnic Albanians back to their homes in the Serb-controlled part of Kosovska Mitrovica north of the Ibar. Serb leaders objected to the resettlement plan. KFOR agreed to establish a security zone in the center of the city, in which demonstrations would be banned.

Intelligence reports reinforced NATO's belief that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's government was behind the rising violence in Kosovska Mitrovica. NATO also said it detected radio contacts between police units in Serbia and Serbs in the city. Richard Holbrooke, the American ambassador to the United Nations, and General Wesley Clark, supreme NATO commander in Europe, accused the Yugoslav government of stirring up unrest after peacekeeping troops in Mitrovica began house-to-house searches for weapons.

Associated Press writer Robert H. Reid said "If Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic can hold on to any part of Kosovo, which the United Nations recognizes as sovereign Yugoslav territory, the area around Kosovska Mitrovica is his best shot. It is a prize worth gambling to retain."

The Yugoslav army begun new training, and NATO intelligence observed a great deal of military movement in the Kosovo border area.

Friday, February 25, 2000 - In response to a call from the North Atlantic Council for more reinforcements, Canada sent some 100 additional soldiers to Kosovska Mitrovica. France sent an army battalion (some 600 troops). A US spokesman said a US Marine Expeditionary Unit was on standby for possible movement. The reinforcements were intended to facilitate the return of Albanians to the Serb-controlled northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica. Some nations, including Russia, Finland, Denmark and Portugal, said they were not inclined to widen their participation. All NATO allies expressed willingness to extend participation — Kosovo's future as well as the entire peacekeeping effort were on the line.

Saturday, February 26, 2000 - In Gnjilane, a representative in the Serb National Council — representing the Kosovo Serbs — was shot and killed by unknown assailants as he walked to work through a Serb part of town.

Monday, February 28, 2000 - A bus ran over a land mine near Kosovska Mitrovica. The nearly empty vehicle was damaged, there were no injuries. Local Serbs blamed ethnic Albanians from the nearby Raski Potok village.

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 - Ethnic Albanian guerrillas in Gnjilane formed a rebel group, the Liberation Army of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac — after three predominantly ethnic Albanian towns just outside Kosovo in southern Serbia. The group said it would try to protect villagers in the region from brutal attacks by Serb forces.

According to the US-based International Rescue Committee nearly 1,300 ethnic Albanians streamed from Serbia into Gnjilane — approximately 30 miles southeast of Pristina.

Jacques Klein — Un envoy to Bosnia — warned that Yugoslav president Milosevic was becoming more powerful. Foreign assistance would enable him to rebuild his country after the NATO air campaign. It was said Russia and China were providing assistance. Earlier, Carl Bildt warned that Serbia and Montenegro were "set on a somewhat slow but very steady collision course."

Thursday, March 2, 2000 - The US said it would put up 10,000 wanted posters across Bosnia offering up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic. The latter two were accused by the International Warcrimes Tribunal of genocide during the Bosnia war.

The $5 million offer was up since May 1999, but the US said it probably did not receive enough publicity. The offer is valid for the 27 other people indicted of war crimes and still at large.

Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica drove back 43 ethnic Albanian families trying to return to their homes in the Serb part of the city with a hail of stones. It was the first attempt by NATO and the UN to end the division in the city.

A Russian peacekeeper died of his wounds two days after he was shot by attackers who stole his gun in the largely ethnic Albanian town of Srbica. On March 27, the Associated Press reported the private was shot with his own weapon by a 15-year old. The teenager apparently flashed a peace sign at the private, who approached the teenager. With his own machine gun, the Russian peacekeeper was shot. He was the 27th peacekeeper to die in Kosovo but the first to die from a deliberate attack.

An explosion was reported in Lipljan — 10 miles south of Pristina. All windows were smashed in a building inhabited by Serbs. No injuries were reported.

As part of a crackdown of independent media that criticize the Milosevic regime, the Yugoslav government took over the popular private Vecernje Novosti daily.

Friday, March 3, 2000 - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that the violence in parts of Kosovo could spread and spill over into southern Serbia.

French peacekeepers punched a corridor through a crowd of Serb protesters — firing tear gas and stun grenades — in an attempt to return dozens of ethnic Albanians to their homes. An earlier attempt to use a footbridge built by NATO, failed. In a second punch, Danish armored personnel carriers lumbered across the river, pushing through the crowd to reach the buildings, firing more tear gas and stun grenades.

An AP reporter and a cameraman were fired at by unknown assailants using an explosive device and automatic weapons, while driving out of Kosovska Mitrovica in a car with Belgrade license plates.

Saturday, March 4, 2000 - In a second attempt, Danish armored personnel carriers in Kosovska Mitrovica, carrying 41 ethnic Albanians lumbered across the Ibar River. French peacekeepers abandoned plans to move more ethnic Albanians to the north side of the town.

In an article, warning about a new guerrilla war brewing just across the border between ethnic Albanians and Serbian forces the Los Angeles Times reported about Yugoslavia's Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac Liberation Army (Albanian UCPMB). The name was taken from the three main towns in an area that is mostly populated by ethnic Albanians and located in Serbia proper, just east of Kosovo's provincial border.

Fighting was reported between Serb police and a new ethnic Albanian armed group in a tense area of Serbia just outside eastern Kosovo. KFOR said it had no intention of intervening further into Serbia. Some 175 ethnic Albanian women and children fled from the area near Dobrasi into Gnjilane, Kosovo.

Sunday, March 5, 2000 - NATO peacekeepers arrested two Bosnian Serbs, one of whom was accused of committing war crimes while helping run the notorious Omarska internment camp.

The first troops from Eurocorps — a four-nation European military grouping — arrived in Macedonia en route to Kosovo. The 68 soldiers from France, Germany, Belgium and Spain are part of a 350-strong contingent of troops that Eurocorps will provide to the NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping mission headquarters. NATO designated Eurocorps in January to run the operation in Kosovo for the next six months. It was the first time a non-NATO group was selected to lead a NATO operation.

Monday, March 6, 2000 - NATO peacekeepers tightened border controls, in an attempt to stop the flow of weapons and guerrillas believed to fuel tensions in the region just inside Serbia.

Tuesday, March 7, 2000 - In Kosovska Mitrovica, a street fight escalated into a fiery battle. Two rockets hit a apartment complex, in the Serb-held part of the city, where dozens of ethnic Albanians had been resettled by NATO peacekeepers. One apartment was damaged, but there were no injuries. Hand grenades were thrown and shots were fired. Sixteen French peacekeepers and 24 civilians were wounded.

Bernard Kouchner, UN administrator in Kosovo, said it's time to start talking about what "substantial autonomy" and self-government will mean for Kosovo. He stressed he was not speaking of independence. He referred to the Rambouillet accords, which suggested a model of a state within a state, with its own constitution, laws, courts, president, parliament, the right to conduct foreign affairs with other governments and to chart its own economic course.

Wednesday, March 8, 2000 - NATO peacekeepers imposed an early curfew in Kosovska Mitrovica.

Opposition activist Bogoljub Arsenijevi, serving a 3-year prison term for leading violent protests against President Slobodan Milosevic went missing. Reports from independent media outlets said he had escaped from police custody while recovering from surgery in a hospital. His wife said she doubted that her husband had escaped.

Thursday, March 9, 2000 - Albin Kurti — former spokesman for Kosovo's disbanded rebel organization — went on trial today on charges of terrorism and conspiracy against the state, Yugoslav media reported.

UN police accused French KFOR troops of standing back when assistance was needed during the riots in Kosovska Mitrovica. K-For strongly denied the accusations. During the riots, some ethnic Albanians were killed. Danish troops assisted UN police.

Friday, March 10, 2000 - General Klaus Reinhardt said there were no plans to venture across the border with Serbia. The Presevo Valley falls just outside Kosovo's administrative boundaries. Sporadic clashes were reported between a newly formed rebel group of ethnic Albanian guerrillas and Serb police.

Saturday, March 11, 2000 - French peacekeepers declared that they had returned 93 people — 49 families — across the Ibar River, which divides Kosovska Mitrovica, and settling them back home. Peacekeepers guarded the three buildings with the families, using razor wire, armored vehicles, and tanks.

Sunday, March 12, 2000 - Belgrade police forced Radio Television Pozeg — an opposition-run radio and television station — off the air. It allegedly failed to pay state fees for using its frequency.

Monday, March 13, 2000 - The US urged ethnic Albanians to stop attacks on Serbs and other minorities in Kosovo before the violence would weaken international support.

NATO Supreme Commander Clark said the West would not stay indifferent to attempts by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to ``tighten the noose'' around Montenegro. As part of a number of measures to put pressure on Montenegro not to pull away from Belgrade, Yugoslav troops prevented goods entering Montenegro from Serbia.

Tuesday, March 14, 2000 - Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, expressed Moscow's concern that "the very critical situation" in southern Serbia could ignite a new war. Russia also warned that Kosovo "is drifting toward independence" in violation of UN resolution 1244.

After being ordered by Yugoslav Telecommunication Minister Ivan Makrovic to pay $1 million for use of its frequencies, Studio B paid, to prevent from being closed down. The sum was paid by the opposition municipal government in Belgrade.

Riots
[Image: Reuters]
March 15, 2000: clashes in Kosovska
Mitrovica with angry crowds

Wednesday, March 15, 2000 - NATO peacekeepers clashed with angry Serbs in Kosovska Mitrovica. The Serbs responded with a call for a campaign of civil disobedience against the UN and NATO administration. At least 15 Serbs and an undetermined number of peacekeepers and journalists were injured.

Following a request from General Clark for 2,000 additional troops to reinforce KFOR, France offered 600 to 700 more and Italy said it would provide another 350.

The US sternly warned ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo that US and other NATO peacekeepers were determined to defend the border against crossover attacks on police in Serbia.

Pentagon officials expressed concern about the gathering of ethnic Albanian guerrillas in the rugged no-man's region of the Presevo Valley. Since several weeks, the military tracked six to eight armed groups, ranging in number for a two dozen to 200 each, some of whom have connections to the former Kosovo Liberation Army.

Thursday, March 16, 2000 - Without prior notice, president Milosevic's government shut down the local television station in the opposition-run southeastern town of Pirot and police removed transmission equipment. Serbian opposition parties and media called for action to halt the media crackdown.

In an attempt to ease tension in Kosovska Mitrovica, French commanders agreed to let both Serb guards and international peacekeepers keep watch over a bridge to the ethnic Albanian-controlled part of the city. The change in strategy followed a clash between NATO troops and about 300 Serb civilians.

Saturday, March 18, 2000 - European officials and the premiers of the countries bordering Yugoslavia agreed that Montenegro should stay within the Yugoslav federation but with closer contacts with other nations in the region. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was urged to end his economic blockade of Montenegro.

Sunday, March 19, 2000 - Seven Czech peacekeepers strayed across Kosovo's administrative boundary between the province and the rest of Serbia and were detained for eight hours by Serb authorities. The Czechs were assigned to a reconnaissance unit, traveling in a BMP-2 armored vehicle equipped with satellite navigation and night vision.

France and Italy announced 1,200 peacekeepers would be sent to Kosovska Mitrovica. Britain said it planned to send 170 troops and two helicopters to Kosovo to engage in surveillance and intelligence work.

Monday, March 20, 2000 - Ethnic Albanian leader Hashim Thaci promised to do what he could to stop Serb-Albanian violence in southern Serbia.

Underworld figure Branislav Lainovic was shot and killed in front of his hotel in Belgrade. He was a former commander of the Serb Guard, a paramilitary group organized by opposition Serbian Renewal Movement which fought on the side of the Serb rebels in Croatia at the start of the war there in 1991.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000 - NATO established a "confidence zone" in Kosovska Mitrovica with barbed wire along the bridge over the river that separates ethnic Albanians and Serbs. Signs forbid weapons, demonstrations, and parking.

The Pentagon said it would send a number of Predator and Hunter Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Kosovo, to assist in intelligence gathering.

An explosion destroyed a railway bridge about 7 miles northwest of Kosovska Mitrovica, cutting off rail traffic between northern Kosovo — where most of the remaining Serbs live — and Kosovo Polje, a Serb-dominated village just outside Pristina. No injuries were reported.

Thursday, March 23, 2000 - Ethnic Albanian militants near the Presevo Valley — in southern Serbia — pledged to become a political organization. The move was considered a first step toward easing tensions just across Kosovo's administrative boundary. There was no promise to lay down weapons.

Saturday, March 25, 2000 - The Yugoslav Ministry of Telecommunications returned a transmitter that it had seized from a local Serbian TV station in Kraljevo, 70 miles south of Belgrade. The transmitter was confiscated on March 18, claiming it lacked a frequency license. The move triggered seven days of anti-government demonstrations organized by the opposition-run municipal government. In return for the transmitter, Kraljevo authorities promised to cease the anti-Milosevic protests and pay about $10,000 in frequency license taxes.

In a period of several months, dozens of non-governmental media outlets and independent newspapers have been ordered to shut down or subjected to severe fines under Serbia's repressive Information Law — sponsored by Milosevic's ruling Socialists.

Sunday, March 26, 2000 - Hundreds of ethnic Albanians gathered at three separate spots — along Kosovo's border with Macedonia, in the town of Urosevac and near the town of Kacanik — near the main US Army base in Kosovo in protest of the release of a suspect on murder and weapons smuggling charges.

Tuesday, March 28, 2000 - The Times reported that the CIA uncovered a Serb plot to assassinate NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson and Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Clark. The CIA feared the Serbs were going to use shoulder-launched missiles to attack the helicopter carrying both officials. Their flight plans were re-scheduled.

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 - For the first time, NATO troops entered the no-man's zone just outside Kosovo's boundary following reports of Yugoslav military activity in the 3.5 mile zone. On a fact-finding mission NATO searched for evidence of a tank, sighted March 25. Any presence of Yugoslav military forces would break the agreement that ended NATO's 78 day bombing campaign.

US officials feared Milosevic could crack down on the group of ethnic Albanian guerrillas active in southern Serbia, possibly triggering another armed conflict.

Thursday, March 30, 2000 - The Pentagon announced it would send 125 long-range reconnaissance troops to Kosovo and 14 tanks and six artillery pieces to neighboring Macedonia as a deterrent. Earlier that day, the US House of Representatives narrowly defeated (219-200 vote) an effort to withdraw the 5,900 US peacekeepers from Kosovo unless European nations start paying a larger share.

The reconnaissance troops would monitor the border with southern Serbia, where ethnic Albanian guerrillas were becoming more active, despite an agreement reached earlier.

Friday, March 31, 2000 - In Kosovska Mitrovica, a French lieutenant was shot to death by a fellow French soldier. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was an accident.

Saturday, April 1, 2000 - A nine-page document from the British Department of Defense containing a detailed plan for rules of engagement in Kosovo turned up on the Internet.

Croatia's president Stipe Mesic said another war in the Balkans would be possible, unless the West takes steps to stop Milosevic.

Sunday, April 2, 2000 - Kosovo's Serb National Council said they would end a six-month boycott of the UN interim government but added that their representatives would take part as observers only and that decisions would be reviewed after three months. Serbs from the city of Mitrovica did not support the decision.

Monday, April 3, 2000 - In the past 2 1/2 month, the Yugoslav government closed 10 independent radio stations and threatened or fined 20 others that diverged from the state-approved point of view.

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 - Kosovo Serbs clashed with NATO troops in Sevce — 40 miles south of Pristina. Fourteen Serbs, 11 US soldiers, and one Pole were injured. The clash started after a Serb was arrested for illegal weapons possession. About 150 Serbs surrounded the house and refused to allow the troops to leave. The suspect escaped custody. After roads were blocked by the crowd, NATO used helicopters to bring in reinforcements. Polish troops also set up roadblocks outside Jazince to stop a crowd of some 300 Serbs from joining the demonstration.

Clashes in Shtrpce
[Image: Associated Press]
March 5, 2000: US military police convoy
entering Shtrpce, after Serb civilians
clashed with peacekeepers in Sevce

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 - The Associated Press reported that Albanian guerilla Xhavit Hasani was arrested by the UN and deported to Macedonia to face felony charges a month ago — a move that was criticized by human rights organizations as Amnesty International. On April 2, militants kidnapped four Macedonian soldiers. The soldiers were released after Hasani was allowed out of prison on $100,000 bail.

Top UN representative Bernard Kouchner personally intervened in the case, signing the order that sent Hasani to Macedonia to face charges of shooting at 11 people, including two policemen. Western diplomats described the action as legally questionable – signing Hasani away without giving him any legal forum to argue against it. He was held from January 25 to March 9.

US defense secretary William Cohen said the clash in which 11 US troops were injured showed the need for more police in the region, not more soldiers.

Opposition activist Jan Svetlik was taken from his home in Zrenjanin by three unidentified men. It occurred just before the municipal assembly of the town of Zrenjanin was going to vote to retake control of the town's government and oust a major loyal to president Milosevic.

Thursday, April 6, 2000 - A Serb man was shot in the leg when Swedish peacekeepers fired on protesters armed with pitchforks and axes who were trying to attack the monastery in Gracanica — about five miles southeast of Pristina. The monastery became the unofficial base of the moderate Serbian National Council, led by Bishop Artemije. The crowd protested after moderate Serbs decided to participate in Kosovo's interim government.

Friday, April 7, 2000 - About 100 radical Serbs rallied again outside the monastery in Gracanica. The rally dispersed without incident after Serb representatives met with peacekeepers.

US secretary of state Madeleine Albright met with leaders from eight Serbian cities. She pledged to help the municipal leaders in Serbia to rebuild cities "that fell victim to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's regime".

Ethnic Albanian rebels vowed to step up attacks in southern Serbia, despite an earlier agreement and pressure from the US to stop. Western officials believed the violence could spill over into Kosovo and Macedonia. The Pressevo Valley is in Serbia and is not under control of the UN and NATO.

Saturday, April 8, 2000 - Moderate Serb said they would stick to their decision to participate in the UN interim government.

Sunday, April 9, 2000 - The Serb suspect who escaped April 4, during clashes between the Serb population and US peacekeepers in Sevce turned himself in.

Monday, April 10, 2000 - Television station Studio B — ran by the opposition municipal government in Belgrade — was fined $40,000 in a suit filed by a police officer. The station refused to pay.

Serbia's minister of culture, Zeljko Simic, filed a suit against the independent Vreme weekly for statements published in an interview carried by the paper.

In the city of Nis, more than 10,000 people protested the verdict against the local Narodne Novine newspaper, which was ordered a week earlier to pay $35,000 in a suit filed by the Yugoslav army.

Serbian president Milan Milutinovic underwent heart surgery. Milutinovic was indicted in 1999 by the UN war crimes tribunal in connection with atrocities committed by Serb forces during the conflict in Kosovo.

Tuesday, April 11, 2000 - A Serb observer attended a session of the UN interim government. The move was as a test for the international community's ability to bring both sides together in a multiethnic society. Moderate Serb leaders say they will withdraw from the council if Serb refugees do not begin to return within three months.

Wednesday, April 12, 2000 - An explosion shattered windows of the office of Yugoslav president Milosevic in Belgrade. No injuries were reported. Milosevic's ruling Socialists blamed the opposition.

Thursday, April 13, 2000 - Because of ethnic violence in the French zone and increased activity of Albanian rebels in the Presevo Valley in southern Yugoslavia, some 3,5000 troops were requested by NATO. The roughly 5 battalions were mainly intended to replace battalions scheduled to leave. On March 30, the US said it would send a reconnaissance company to Kosovo.

NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson said that NATO peacekeepers "are willing to take the risks" to arrest war crimes suspects, including wartime Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, political strongman Radovan Karadzic and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Australia's new ambassador to Belgrade presented his credentials to President Slobodan Milosevic. The move was criticized by many Western nations.

Macedonian legal authorities said they would seek assault charges against US soldiers allegedly responsible for injuring a Macedonian policeman and brawling with residents. (Macedonia serves as a staging ground and a supply route for international peacekeepers in Kosovo.)

Saturday, April 14, 2000 - Top UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte said that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic must not be allowed to continue evading international justice; his arrest is a priority. "I deplore the fact that, 10 months after the publication of his indictment, he is still in power, evading international justice," del Ponte said. She also said she will press NATO-led forces in Bosnia to arrest former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, General Ratko Mladic.

In Belgrade, some 10,000 participated in a major anti-Milosevic rally. Live coverage of the rally on the leading nongovernment television station, Studio B, was jammed.

Monday, April 17, 2000 - A former leading member of Serbia's ruling Socialists who had participated in failed peace talks for Kosovo committed suicide. He was considered close to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic but he came under Socialist party scrutiny for criticizing its policies in Kosovo.

Tuesday, April 18, 2000 - A rocket hit an apartment building in Pristina. No injuries were reported.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000 - In one of the largest mass trials ever in Serbia, 145 ethnic Albanians faced terrorism charges for allegedly fighting Serb forces in Kosovo in April 1999. The men said they had been taken away from their homes for identity checks and then detained. When NATO took control of Kosovo in June, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's withdrawing forces transferred more than 2,000 ethnic Albanians charged with terrorism from Kosovo to prisons elsewhere in Serbia.

Thursday, April 20, 2000 - The 15-year old boy suspected of killing a Russian peacekeeper on March 2, 2000 escaped again. He reportedly admitted to his father that he shot the Russian soldier with his own gun after provoking a fight.

A Yugoslav forensic expert testified that he found child and adult remains in the village of Klecka, southwest of Pristina. In a court case against two Kosovo Albanians, Yugoslavia said its crackdown on Kosovo was justified.

Friday, April 21, 2000 - Yugoslavia accused NATO of using depleted uranium rounds on eight sites in Yugoslavia during the 78-day air campaign. Months earlier NATO admitted US A-10 planes fired armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds on some 100 missions.

US senators urged the UN to schedule local elections as soon as possible to enable foreign troops to return home.

Serbian opponents of Milosevic urged the West to lift sanctions against Yugoslavia.

Saturday, April 22, 2000 - Serbian opposition leaders renewed calls Saturday for early elections. They also promised greater coordination to oust Milosevic.

Gunfire erupted along Kosovo's eastern boundary, near the village of Djordjevac, in the Pressevo Valley.

A US-backed plan to start resettling Serbs in Kosovo triggered some scepticism by the UN.

Sunday, April 23, 2000 - Nine explosions were reported near the village of Gorazdevac in the Italian zone. Three craters were found near a KFOR checkpoint, and six other craters were found near a group of Roma houses. No injuries were reported.

Monday, April 24, 2000 - Seven people went on trial on charges of plotting to assassinate president Slobodan Milosevic and his army chief General Nebojsa Pavkovic.

Wednesday, April 26, 2000 - In order to assist the UN international crimes tribunal in The Hague, the OSCE announced it would establish a similar court in Kosovo to address serious ethnic crimes committed during the 1998-99 conflict between Kosovo's separatist majority ethnic Albanians and Serbian security forces.

During a routine press conference, KFOR reported an increase of violence aimed against KFOR troops. Numerous gunshots were fired against guards and tents of a KFOR Russian camp in Brocna; KFOR returned fire. A Molotov cocktail was thrown from a passing vehicle at a KFOR checkpoint in Marina. A KFOR Russian vehicle was stopped and threatened by demonstrators in Pristina. The KFOR soldiers turned the vehicle around and left without further incident. No injuries were reported.

A Russian soldier was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head just north of the town of Glogovac — 25 km west of Pristina. The soldier had been reported missing since April 16. KFOR commander Lieutenant-General Juan Ortuno condemned the killing by saying "An attack against one soldier is an attack against us all".

An ally of Milosevic was gunned down in Belgrade. Petrovic never played a big role in politics, nor was his name ever publicly tied to any of the numerous scandals linked to Milosevic's regime.

Thursday, April 27, 2000 - Ahead of a UN fact-finding mission, the UN ambassadors of pro-Serbian Russia and China met with Yugoslav president Milosevic and his prime minister and foreign minister.

Friday, April 28, 2000 - Six Serbs accused of plotting to kill president Slobodan Milosevic were convicted of conspiracy and terrorism (see April 24).

Saturday, April 29, 2000 - Serb mobs clashed with NATO peacekeepers escorting ethnic Albanians back to homes in Kosovska Mitrovica. KFOR sent in reinforcements by vehicle and helicopter to end the blockade. Witnesses reported serious violence in which Serbs stoned ethnic Albanian houses in the vicinity, shot at a helicopter bringing troops to the scene and clashed with soldiers before being pushed back.

In other parts of the north hundreds of furious Serbs blocked intersections and vandalized at least 15 UN international police cars. Troops and anti-riot police squads were dispatched to disperse the mobs.

Sunday, April 30, 2000 - A UN Security Council delegation vowed to seek more police and administrators for the mission in Kosovo to curb violence and build democracy. After a three-day tour, the delegation concluded there was no need to change or replace resolution 1244 but that its implementation must be improved. The delegation also said UNMIK was still seriously short of administrators and police.

Monday, May 8, 2000 - At a conference on security and stability in southeastern Europe NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson indicated NATO would accept Croatia as a junior partner — pointedly setting up the new democratic government as a role model for the country's former rivals in the Balkan wars.

Thursday, May 11, 2000 - US senators debated on a proposal requiring withdrawal of US troops in Kosovo after July 1, 2001, unless Congress would authorize them to stay. The Clinton administration fiercely opposed the plan to cut off funding for the 5,900 troops. US senators were unhappy about the growing string of military deployments in hot spots like Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti. The Clinton administration feared that Congress sent the wrong message to Milosevic.

About 200-300 stone-throwing Serbs attacked US soldiers of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force in Vrbovac — near the southern town of Vitina. In one of two incidents, a squad of US military police was stoned as the unit responded to an explosion which destroyed an abandoned house. In the second, troops guarding a Serbian Orthodox church were surrounded and attacked.

A Serb reporter who was detained by police for writing about alleged atrocities committed by the Yugoslav army in Kosovo was handed over to a military court and could face espionage charges.

Monday, May 15, 2000 - In the first war crimes trial arising from the Kosovo conflict, a Serb man appeared before ethnic Albanian judges in a district court to face a charge of genocide. Milos Jokic was accused of leading a nine-member paramilitary group which terrorized members of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority during last year's NATO air war.

Tuesday, May 16, 2000 - The US said it was "deeply dismayed" that Russia had allowed Yugoslav Defense Minister Dragoljub Ojdanic — indicted by the UN for alleged war crimes in Kosovo — to visit Moscow. The States Department spokesman said: "Russia — like all UN member states — has the obligation...to arrest war criminals who enter its territory."

Thursday, May 18, 2000 - In the US, the Senate killed a proposal to require the withdrawal of US troops from Kosovo after July 2001 unless Congress authorized them to stay.

Clinton said that since the end of the air campaign European allies supplied 85% of the troops and nearly 85% of the police.

In Belgrade, Serb police used tear gas and batons to break up a rally against the government's seizure of the influential Studio B television station, but the opposition said new demonstrations were planned.

Kosovska Mitrovica
[Image: Associated Press]
May 19, 2000: French soldier watches
as UN police vehicle crosses the eastern
bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica. Beside
small incidents, the situation was calm.

Friday, May 19, 2000 - More than 40,000 people gathered at an opposition rally in Skopje to demand the Macedonian government resign and hold early elections. Macedonia is believed to be dangerously close to bankruptcy. With more than half the workforce unemployed and a foreign debt amounting to $1.45 billion, the impoverished Balkan nation is hoping to boost its economy by bringing in foreign capital.

Monday, May 22, 2000 - A court in Nis convicted 143 Kosovo Albanians of terrorism charges and sentenced them to up to 13 years in prison. It was the biggest mass trial ever in Serbia. The court ruled that the group, all from the southeastern Kosovo town of Djakovica, took part in attacks against Serb police during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 - In Kosovska Mitrovica, hundreds rallied to protest the conviction of 143 Kosovo Albanians on terrorism charges.

Wednesday, May 24, 2000 - Two Russian peacekeepers were wounded in what NATO said were retaliatory attacks for roughing up Ramush Haradinaj — a former regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Haradinaj was briefly detained by Russian and German military police in the town of Lozica, 30 miles from Pristina, because of improper paperwork for two guns found in his car. Haradinaj tried to escape and took the weapon of one of the soldiers.

The US asked Europe to provide more international police for Kosovo.

Masked men beat up a few dozen Belgrade University students, breaking up a sit-in protest against President Slobodan Milosevic's government.

Yugoslavia's justice minister Petar Jojic — a member of the ultranationalist Serb Radical Party — criticized the UN in a 25-page open letter, containing many obscenities. He said of UN chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte "You are running the dungeon which, like the worst whore, you have sold out to the Americans and to which you bring innocent Serbs by force, by kidnapping and murder" and "your acts will be a matter of investigation and the last part of your rotten life you will spend behind bars."

Thursday, May 25, 2000 - Gunmen attacked Russian peacekeepers for a second straight day. Attackers fired some 30 machine gun rounds into the Russian camp at Kijevo, about 20 miles south of Pristina.

Friday, May 26, 2000 - KFOR troops were fired on with an automatic weapon at their checkpoint north of Malisevo. There were no injuries.

Saturday, May 27, 2000 - The Yugoslav army was placed on higher alert against domestic and foreign enemies, according to the Vijesti, a daily in Montenegro.

Sunday, May 28, 2000 - Top Serbian opposition leaders arrived in Moscow to ask Russia to end its support for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Monday, May 29, 2000 - An attacker shot and killed a 4-year-old Serb boy and two men in the village of Cernica — 28 miles southeast of Pristina. The killings provoked widespread Serb protests.

Tuesday, May 30, 2000 - Serb officials freed 23 ethnic Albanians. It was unclear whether the prisoners had been tried and sentenced, or had been awaiting trial. When NATO bombs drove Serb forces to withdraw, Hundreds of Albanians were arrested and transferred to Serbia. In total, 911 prisoners were released, but 1,188 remained imprisoned.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000 - A crowd of Serbs attacked a vehicle belonging to Norwegian peacekeepers investigating a reported shooting near the Kosovo capital Pristina.

An ethnic Albanian from Kosovo was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacks on Serbian police and Yugoslav soldiers.

Thursday, June 1, 2000 - The Yugoslav army chief of staff Pavkovic said Yugoslavia would "not allow the scenario of the former republics of Yugoslavia to be repeated". He was referring to the secession of Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.

Friday, June 2, 2000 - A car filled with Serb civilians drove over a land mine just south of Pristina, killing two men and injuring a woman and two children.

Saturday, June 3, 2000 - A Hunter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle lost power on a mission over southern Kosovo and was forced to make a parachute landing "within two miles of the Kosovo border". Earlier, a British "Phoenix" was forced to make a parachute landing in the ground safety zone, which is the three mile buffer zone along Kosovo's boundary with Serbia proper. Unfortunately for the British, the Phoenix aircraft was recovered by Yugoslav forces.

Monday, June 5, 2000 - In an effort in an effort to curb violence, the UN chief administrator, Bernard Kouchner, announced restraints on Kosovo's ethnic Albanian media.

Tuesday, June 6, 2000 - Troops protecting Britain's military chief in Kosovo, Brigadier Richard Shirreff, opened fire on a crowd of hostile ethnic Serbs. At least one Serb was wounded. It was the most serious clash between peacekeepers and Serbs in Kosovo this year.

A US soldier accused of raping and killing an 1—year old Kosovo girl on January 16, 2000, was facing a court martial in Germany, with the possibility of life imprisonment without parole if convicted.

Wednesday, June 7, 2000 - Serbia's Supreme Court overturned the conviction of ethnic Albanian human rights activist Flora Brovina. She was convicted of terrorism by a court in the southern city of Nis on December 9, 1999, and sentenced to 12 years in prison for alleged links to the former rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

Macedonia increased its military presence on the border with Kosovo because of recent frontier incidents and illegal crossings.

Thursday, June 8, 2000 - In Canada, Svend Robinson — controversial leftist New Democratic Party's spokesman on foreign affairs, representing a Vancouver suburb in parliament — said US Army General Clark should be tried for war crimes for the deaths of civilians. He was especially referring to the attack of Serbian radio/TV headquarters, killing 16 civilians.

KFOR peacekeepers raided a hospital to seize an ethnic Serb who had threatened to kill Britain's top military commander in Kosovo. KFOR said the man was under investigation for attempted murder and was transferred to a medical facility elsewhere in the province. Peacekeepers tried to arrest him on Wednesday but were prevented by several hundred ethnic Serb protesters. KFOR returned to the medical center in the early hours of Thursday.

Five Serb police officers were injured when their four-wheel-drive vehicle hit a land mine in a tense area of southern Serbia near Kosovo.

Friday, June 9, 2000 - Top UN official Bernard Kouchner told the Security Council that the UN administration in Kosovo will have to remain for "a significant number of years", saying it will take years to build a society based on tolerance and democracy.

The UN reported that an increased number of attacks on Serbs in Kosovo appeared to be part of an orchestrated campaign of violence.

Monday, June 12, 2000 - Chinese leader Li Peng and Yugoslavia's President Slobodan Milosevic accused the UN mission in Kosovo of tolerating "genocide" against non-Albanians. They urged the withdrawal of the NATO-led peacekeeping force.

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 - The Dita daily — an ethnic-Albanian newspaper — temporarily banned by Kosovo's chief UN administrator Bernard Kouchner reappeared. It carried the same article that led to the ban — an article the United Nations says contributed to the murder of a Serb employee.

The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague said it found no reason to investigate NATO for criminal activity during its 78-day bombing campaign in Kosovo that nearly killed 500 civilians. The committee was appointed 13 months ago by war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. It reviewed complaints by the Yugoslav government and by international human rights bodies.

Thursday, June 15, 2000 - Gunmen attacked and wounded Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic in Budva, in an Adriatic coastal resort. He accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of responsibility for the shooting. The shooting followed a string of mysterious assassinations of officials and underworld figures in Belgrade. Russia condemned the shooting.

Friday, June 16, 2000 - KFOR troops discovered a massive stockpile of ammunition stored in two large bunkers that were stacked to the ceiling with rifles, heavy machine guns, grenades, grenade launchers, mortars, mines and other ordnance. NATO said it was probably linked to anti-Serb extremists. The bunkers were found just half a mile from the wartime headquarters of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

NATO started a major raid aimed at sezing weapons after two Serbs were killed and another wounded after their vehicle ran over a landmine. The road was almost exclusively used by Serbs to avoid Albanian villages.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that two of its former employees in Pristina were indicted by the UN for alleged embezzlement and fraud. They were charged with colluding to unlawfully obtain 190,000 DM of IOM assets.

Dennis McNamara, the UN head of humanitarian assistance in Kosovo, criticized NATO for its failure to reveal the location of cluster bombs. So far, 94 people were killed and more than 400 injured by land mines and unexploded ordnance.

Two masked men wearing uniforms of the officially disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army shot and killed a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo, a moderate ethnic Albanian politician.

Montenegrin police said they had arrested the gunmen who wounded Vuk Draskovic.

Saturday, June 17, 2000 - Despite a ban, some 100 Kosovo Serbs rallied on in Kraljevo in central Serbia to seek an organized return to their homes a year after leaving Kosovo.

Sunday, June 18, 2000 -
The commander of Kosovo's former ethnic Albanian guerrilla army denied NATO suggestions that a huge weapons cache discovered June 16 was illegally hidden by the guerrillas. Brigadier General Richard Shireff — commander of the British peacekeeping contingent that found the ordnance — said all evidence suggested it was former KLA property. This would be a violation of the peace settlement.

Mass grave site
[Image: Associated Press]
June 21, 2000: Carla del Ponte visited
a mass grave site in Qirez.

Monday, June 19, 2000 - Mass graves at Brestovac were exhumed by the UN. They were believed to hold 34 of more than 50 civilians killed in the village by Serb troops in March 1999 during their crackdown on Kosovo.

The New York Times said the Clinton administration was exploring the possibility of a deal for Milosevic to leave office while guaranteeing his safety and his savings. The UN war crimes tribunal did not agree, but indicated it would not impede diplomatic moves to restore political stability to Yugoslavia. The US State Department denied the report. However, a Greek newspaper reported a month ago that US officials had quietly approached Athens to try to work out an arrangement for his departure from office. Despite the fact that Milosevic is faced with international isolation he managed to remain in power, one year after the NATO air campaign.

Tuesday, June 20, 2000 - Russia and China accused the UN tribunal of playing politics in prosecuting suspected war criminals in the Balkans and called on the Security Council to monitor its operations closely. Canada and the United States strongly defended the court against Russian and Chinese attacks.

Thursday, June 22, 2000 - Yugoslavia accused the United States and international peacekeepers in Kosovo of trying to spread "ethnic Albanian terrorism" to Serbia. The accusation came after a series of bomb blasts. Bombs damaged the town hall in Bujanovac and the municipal courthouse in Presevo and Serbian police said that another bomb "of Albanian origin" was deactivated outside the court later.

Norway's top general, Sigurd Frivold, proposed sweeping cuts in the Norwegian defense budget, "the biggest reorganization of the military since World War II". The report outlined plans for Norway's national defense until 2010 based on current budget levels of $2.94 billion a year. Norway's military spending has declined from 7.1 percent of the national budget in 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed, to a current level of just over 5 percent. The cuts would also affect peacekeeping operations.

Friday, June 23, 2000 - The World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) temporarily suspending work in Mitrovica. They condemned the "unacceptable" level of attacks on their operations there. CARE, Caritas and ADRA also said they were stopping work, leaving only KFOR and armed United Nations police in the north.

During a regular press conference KFOR said is was able to confirm that the weapons found June 16 belonged to the former KLA. KFOR said it had considerable evidence to link the weapons in the bunker to KLA units operating during the war. This evidence contradicted rumours that Serb military forces, prior to leaving Kosovo, stored the weapons and ammunition for later use.

Yugoslavia's army showed its muscle to Montenegro with a massive military exercise in Montenegro along the country's volatile border with Albania.

Saturday, June 24, 2000 - Hundreds of Serbs attacked a UN office in Strpce — 25 miles south of Pristina — breaking windows, burning computers and setting a UN flag ablaze. They also stoned UN vehicles. The villagers were apparently unsatisfied with the response to their request for a search for an elderly villager. His body was found several days later.

Monday, June 26, 2000 - A Serbian court in Nis convicted six Kosovo Albanians of conspiring against the state. They were sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Tuesday, June 27, 2000 - After a population-based study, researchers more accurately calculated that from 1998 to 1999 approximately 12,000 Albanian Kosovars were killed during the Kosovo conflict as a result of war-related trauma. The conclusion was that the figures indicated that 12,000 Kosovar Albanians died from war-related trauma out of a total of 18,800 overall deaths, while another 3,900 people were missing.

Five men that Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic said were mercenaries hired by France to kill him went on trial, charged with espionage and murder. The group was arrested on November 26, 1999. If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in prison.

Source: Associated Press, The Times, Reuters, Washington Post, The Irish Times, Canadian Press, CBC News, Los Angeles Times, BBC.