BBC News
Wednesday, 29 November, 2000, 13:03 GMT

Presevo's uneasy peace

K-For has stepped up security checks in the area

By Jacky Rowland in Belgrade

An uneasy calm continues to reign in the
Presevo valley in south-eastern Serbia.

Security forces and Albanian separatists
operating in the border region are respecting
an internationally brokered ceasefire, after
weeks of escalating clashes.

Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica says he
wants to give negotiations a chance to resolve
the crisis, and there are no immediate plans to
deploy the army and police in a demilitarised
zone along the boundary

But Belgrade is
reserving the option to
send in the troops if
the rebels resume their
operations.

And the small town of
Bujanovac is already
swarming with police
and army troops since
the recent upsurge of
violence along the
boundary with Kosovo.

General Nebojsa Pavkovic, the top army
commander has come down to the border to
see the situation for himself.

"We are a factor for stability here and we act
as a deterrent" he said. "We are not preparing
for any kind of clashes."

But in a small farming
village near the front
line, local Serbs do not
feel reassured. The
nearest rebel bases are
only a few kilometres
away and people can
hear the shooting from their houses.

Some families have left the village but one
elderly woman, Miloradka Velickovic, is among
those who have stayed:

"We are all very frightened," she says. "The
shooting is very near. You can see that the
children are afraid."

Back in Bujanovac, Arsim Asani and his friends
play cards in their local cafe. The population of
the town is about half Albanian and half Serb.

Arsim belongs to the Albanian community and
says he hasn't had any problems with his Serb
neighbours:

"I don't think the situation on the border
depends on the people who live here or on the
civilians. Basically, I think it all depends on the
politicians," he said.

'We are occupied from all sides'

Milan Jovanovic, the local leader of the
student resistance movement OTPOR
campaigned long and hard against the
Milosevic regime.

He complains that the
international
community is not being
even-handed in its
treatment of Serbia
and Kosovo:

"We are occupied from
all sides," he said. "I
wait for a bombing
every moment here. I'm
weak now . . . I'm not
aggressor."

The international community does not want an
escalation in the border conflict and above all,
do not want a diplomatic conflict with the new
Serbian leadership.

The authorities in Belgrade seem to share
these sentiments. But senior officials say they
reserve the right to send the troops into the
buffer zone if the Albanian rebels do not
withdraw.