Serbs Retake Village Peacefully

By Aleksandar Vasovic
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2000; 2:34 p.m. EST

LUCANE, Yugoslavia -- Rebels watched from hillside fortifications but
did not resist as Serbian police backed by two armored vehicles retook a
strategic village Wednesday in an area where a recent offensive by rebel
ethnic Albanians claimed at least five lives.

Armed with automatic weapons, police zigzagged from house to house as
they cautiously entered Lucane, just outside Kosovo. Most of Lucane's
estimated 1,000 ethnic Albanians fled earlier, leaving behind only elderly.

But by nightfall, most had returned after Serb officers assured village
elders they would be safe. Some residents complained that the ethnic
Albanian militants had ransacked their houses before pulling out.

The village is the first recaptured by Serbian forces since a rebel offensive
last week that captured several strategic points in Serbia proper and
raised fears of more bloodshed in the region.

Serb security troops and the ethnic Albanian militants were left just 500
yards apart after the Serb advance.

Rebels could be seen entrenched on the hills near Lucane. Although they
did not respond, they claimed they were given no advance word of the
Serb move and suggested they had not approved it beforehand.

Stevan Nikcevic, a co-interior minister in Serbia, said there were "no
talks, direct or indirect, with these militants."

Rebel spokesman Tahir Dalipi warned the Serbs "not to start any action
that would be rebuffed and thus break the fragile peace," adding:
"Otherwise we cannot predict what will happen."

Lucane is on a main road to Kosovo leading through a 3-mile buffer zone
between Kosovo's border and southern Serbia. Under an agreement
signed last year, Serbian police are allowed only light weapons in the area.

The zone has a large ethnic Albanian population. Militants want to join
Kosovo and are demanding independence from Serbia, Yugoslavia's
largest republic.

A high-ranking Serbian police officer, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said his forces would not enter deeper into the buffer zone. He
said the officers plan to set up a "permanent presence" in the village.

Yugoslavia's new pro-democratic leadership - claiming the militants are
crossing from Kosovo - have demanded that NATO troops stationed in
the province stop the incursions into southern Serbia.

The violence and tensions have raised concern among NATO members,
including the United States.

On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson ruled out any
intervention into Serbia by NATO troops in the wake of the attacks.

In a statement, Robertson said the ethnic Albanian offensives were a
"direct threat" to NATO's mission in Kosovo. However, NATO troops
will not enter Serbia nor did it foresee joint patrols with the Yugoslav
army.

NATO-led peacekeepers moved into Kosovo after the alliance bombed
Yugoslavia last year to force former President Slobodan Milosevic to stop
a crackdown on ethnic Albanians.

In Kosovo, a NATO spokesman, Maj. Peter Cameron, said NATO-led
peacekeepers intercepted a truck inside Kosovo carrying mortar rounds
and other ammunition, antitank weapons, and uniforms with the insignia of
the rebels fighting in the zone outside of, but bordering on, Kosovo.

He said NATO did not know whether the truck was heading into the
buffer zone.

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press