Wednesday, March 21, 2001

By Ron Jensen
Kosovo bureau

PRISTINA, Kosovo — The border between Kosovo and Serbia is not being used to supply Albanian rebels now battling the government in the hills above Tetovo in western Macedonia, a KFOR spokesman said.

Kosovo Force patrols on the border and above it have spotted no movements that could be interpreted as a supply line, said Squadron Leader Richard Heffer in an interview Tuesday.

"We have seen no evidence of large groups crossing the border," the British army officer said. "We’ve seen little or no evidence of illegal activity on our side of the border. We’ve got a lot of assets down there. If they were there, we would see them."

Since troubles began in Macedonia three weeks ago, KFOR, the NATO arm of security in the province, has been criticized for not doing enough to stop people and supplies from moving from Kosovo to the rebels in Macedonia.

But Heffer said there is no such movement. "If such movements did take place, we’d see them," he said.

KFOR moved to reinforce U.S. troops with British and Norwegian troops in the area where Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo meet after trouble began three weeks ago in Tanusevci, Heffer said.

Helicopters are flying additional patrols over the area from Camp Bondsteel, the U.S. headquarters.

"We don’t see evidence of the arms and logistics that would be required to support the extremists operating in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Annemarie Daneker, a spokeswoman for the U.S. contingent.

She said the foot patrols and aerial patrols have reported nothing that can be associated with the ongoing insurgency south of the border.

Also, farther to the west, where the U.S.-controlled area meets that under German control and the area closest to the trouble in Tetovo, the border slices across a snow-covered mountain range nearly 7,000-feet high.

"The only pass I know of is snowed out," Heffer said.

Farther west, where Kosovo meets Albania, KFOR patrols with the German and Italian contingents are reporting the same lack of movement, Heffer said.

"There has been no evidence of anyone trying to cross illegally from Albania into Kosovo," he said.

KFOR moved into Kosovo in the summer of 1999 to provide a secure environment for the province to get back on its feet after a horrific occupation by troops from the government of Slobodan Milosevic was ended by an 11-week air campaign led by NATO.

But since then, the secure environment has erupted from time to time with violent incidents, from shootings of individuals to the recent bombing of a bus carrying Serbs.

But the violence in Macedonia, while concerning to all, has not changed the mission here, except to ensure that Kosovo is not used as a safe haven for the Macedonian rebels.

Heffer expressed some frustration with the continuing call for KFOR to do more to secure the border.

"We have been doing it," he said. "We’ve been doing it for the last three weeks."

On Monday, NATO Secretary General George Robertson asked alliance nations for more troops to send to Kosovo. Great Britain said it would not increase its troop level in Kosovo.

The United States had not given its reaction by Tuesday afternoon, but President Bush has expressed a reluctance for further involvement in peacekeeping missions.

"That’s very much in the planning stages," Heffer said of the new troops. "Any extra troops would be a benefit, but the forces we have there already are sufficient for the task."

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