Further to the east, in a NATO-administered buffer zone between Kosova and Serbia, soldiers in a guerrilla organization that claims to defend the interests of the Albanian nationality have clashed with Serbian security forces.

Faced with continuing instability all over occupied Yugoslavia, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, U.S. president George Bush has backed off his election campaign pronouncements on the possible withdrawal of U.S. troops. "I have never said upon swearing in, we'll pull out of the Balkans." he said in January. "I've always said we will work in consultation with our European allies to convince them that they need to carry more of the peacekeeping role." Already more than 80 percent of the 72,000 NATO forces stationed in and around Yugoslavia are provided by the armies of the European powers.

The NATO-led "KFOR" occupation of Kosova involves 42,500 troops from more than 30 countries, with another 7,500 backup forces in Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. Each of the five major imperialist powers--France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States--occupies and exercises command over five regions. Mitrovica falls within the zone assigned to Paris. Four days of unrest among Albanian residents of that city were sparked by the death January 29 of a 15-year-old Albanian boy in a Serbian district. The southern end of the main bridge over the Ibar river, which marks the dividing line between Albanian and Serb segments of the city, became a focal point of the protests.

The crowd reportedly directed most of its anger at the French troops, whom they accuse of being "pro-Serb" and whom they blame for the continued prohibition on Albanians returning to their homes north of the bridge.

French troops used tear gas and stun grenades--designed to cause panic by the sheer percussive loudness of their explosion--to try to disperse protesting crowds. The British forces sent to reinforce them drove several tanks through the industrial city, flanked by troops carrying full-length riot shields and firing plastic bullets. Attack dogs have been deployed on some foot patrols.

The count of the injured includes a number of soldiers and civilians.  
 
'Ground Safety Zone'
Farther east a buffer zone extending from Kosova's border three miles into Serbia has become another flash point for the occupation. The area, dubbed the "Ground Safety Zone" by NATO's command, falls within the U.S.-controlled region known as "Multi-National Brigade East."

This has given the "Liberation Army of Presevo, Medveda and Bujanovac," an organization with the declared aim of annexing the Presevo Valley in Serbia to Kosova, a secure base of operations in the mountainous area from which they have been escalating their attacks on Belgrade's military and police units. Belgrade's forces are banned from the area, with the exception of lightly armed police. One Yugoslav soldier was killed and four injured during the last days of January.

In response to this escalation, Serbian president Vojislav Kostunica called on the United Nations Security Council to take action, and demanded access into the zone for its troops. On January 30 the Security Council adopted a resolution drafted by U.S. officials condemning the "attacks by ethnic Albanian extremist groups," as summarized by the Associated Press. The resolution also "welcomed measures taken so far by NATO-led peacekeepers."

NATO forces stationed in the Kosova side of the zone have detained at least 60 people accused of being members or supporters of the insurgent organization, holding them without trial or access to legal redress in the detention center at U.S. Camp Bondsteel. The "G.I.'s in Kosovo are Judges, Jailers, and Much More," read a New York Times headline describing measures taken by the U.S. forces. Such measures notwithstanding, no decline in the number of attacks has been reported.

Several other contingents, including forces from Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, operate alongside the 5,200 U.S. troops in the zone. In this region, too, the British officers reportedly stand out for their aggressive approach, "prid[ing] themselves on their austere military life and willingness to take more risks than their American counterparts," according to the New York Times.  
 
Washington/EU tensions
Bernard Kouchner, the head of the United Nations administration of the province, touched on one area of difference between Washington and the European powers as he stepped down from the post in January.

Previously known as a Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of Doctors without Borders, and described as the "virtual czar of Kosovo" by the New York Times, Kouchner "criticized European countries for wanting to delay general elections...for a province-wide legislature," reported the newspaper.

"The Europeans are...worried about destabilizing Belgrade," he said, referring to the demands for Kosova independence that are likely to be a feature of any election. "But they will lose all their success if they destabilize Kosovo. Quick elections here are the only way to keep violence away," he claimed.  
 
U.S. threat of economic measures
Washington and its major imperialist allies and rivals within the European Union are pressuring the new government in Serbia to hand over former president Slobodan Milosevic and other figures from his regime for trial as "war criminals." Milosevic was unseated by a general strike and mass actions in October of last year.

Zoran Djindjic, who became prime minister following elections in December for the Serbian parliament in which the Democratic Opposition of Serbia won two-thirds of the vote, reported after meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell on February 2 that he had been told that promised aid would be withdrawn if Belgrade did not "cooperate." Similar threats have been reported, but not confirmed, from officials of the European Union.

To date Kostunica and Djindjic have resisted demands for the extradition of Milosevic, who has been placed under 24-hour surveillance at his Belgrade home. Djindjic says that instead he will be tried in Yugoslavia. Opposition remains widespread among working people in Serbia to Washington's arrogant methods, including the demand for the extradition of the hated Milosevic.

Djindjic was one of several top government officials from the Yugoslav territory to visit Washington in early February. Ibrahim Rugova, president of Kosova during Belgrade's assault, received no response from Powell to his pleas for support for Kosova's independence.

Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic fared even worse on a visit to argue for backing of independence for Montenegro, currently a province of Yugoslavia dominated by the Serbian regime. Powell rejected a meeting with him. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said that "Powell supports a democratic Montenegro within a democratic Yugoslavia," in the words of an Associated Press report.  
 
 
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