Vjesnik, April 21, 1999

EVIDENCE OF MILOSEVIC'S PLANS FOR GENOCIDE IN KOSOVO 

BONN, April 20, 1999 - "The name Slobodan Milosevic has been on a secret indictment since the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H)", the latest edition of the German weekly Der Spiegel comments on the Yugoslavian president, dedicating his photograph to the entire front page. Difficulties had arisen in legally proving that the dictatorship in Belgrade was responsible for crimes committed in Bosnia, because at that time it proved to be overshadowed by general Ratko Mladic and Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, claims Der Spiegel. 

Although now with his expulsion of Kosovo Albanians, Milosevic is no longer in the shadows. Der Spiegel cites intelligence sources from western governments which make mention of plans of ethnic cleansing, that is, genocide in Kosovo in Milosevic's closest circles. "Horse shoe" ("Potkova") is the name of the systematic plan of deportation and expulsion of the civilian population from Kosovo, although perpetrated under the guises of a battle against the Kosovo Liberation Army. 

While negotiations were being held in France, Milosevic was involved in an operation which brought military-police forces into Kosovo - a region which he purportedly claimed to be a military training zone - in an attempt to deceive observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as well as NATO intelligence planes which were filming in the area. Towards the end of March all Serbian units were ready for action. 

At the same time these regular units were strengthened in numbers by criminal band members, which are referred to as 'paramilitary units' in NATO jargon. Amongst these units were members from the 'White eagles' as well as from the 'Black hand' organisation who were under the direct command of Zeljko 'Arkan' Raznatovic and Vojislav Seselj, who is now deputy prime minister within the Serbian government. Der Spiegel reminds us of the fact that these very same masked bandits were used in Croatia and in Bosnia. 

The objective of this 'Horse shoe' operation is defined as a strategy to defeat the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK) and to prevent the Albanian civilian population from returning to their homes. Similar action was already put into operation following a short cease-fire back in October of last year. Milosevic has engaged over 40,000 soldiers, 10,000 policemen, with a support battalion of 300 tanks and 700 pieces of artillery in the realisation of this objective. 

Criminal tactics that Milosevic's troops were and are involved in include: surrounding villages with tanks, artillery and snipers. Then comes the massive bombings and mass killings using snipers. 

This is most commonly followed by the police and paramilitary units separating the men from the women, children and elderly. The men are usually killed, while the remainder of the civilians are expelled, following which they go onto towns or villages which are looted and then razed to the ground. These criminal acts were perpetrated during negotiations that were held in France, long before NATO began with its air strikes. 

According to statements released by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the German government have proven to be the most co-operative with the ICTY in The Hague. On Monday the German Minister for Defence Rudolf Scharping, officially handed over to Arbour, Senior Prosecutor at the ICTY, recordings that German planes made while flying over the Kosovo area. This material documents crimes perpetrated in Kosovo by licentious Serbian soldiers. 

Apart from this material, Sharping has also made available to the ICTY, materials collected and correlated by German investigative teams located in the field at refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania. 

The German Minister for Defence especially highlighted that the German intelligence service also has at its disposal "solid indicators" of massive shootings in Kosovo, which Milosevic in the line of command is ultimately and directly responsible for. In answering amongst many other things to questions put to her about the possibility of an indictment being issued against Milosevic while in Bonn last Monday, Prosecutor Arbour said. "I believe that weeks and months are necessary before one indictment can be properly prepared.