December 21, 1999

BELGRADE, Dec 21 (Tanjug) - Miljkan Karlicic, president of the
Yugoslav government subcommittee for cooperation
with the U.N. civilian mission to Kosovo and Metohija (UNMIK)
and the U.N. peacekeeping force KFOR informed today
domestic and foreign reporters that their visit to the Yugoslav
republic of Serbia's southern province, scheduled for Tuesday,
would be cancelled. Karlicic, head of the committee's press
subcommittee, explained that KFOR had done all it could to
undermine the reporters' great interest in developments in Kosovo
and Metohija and to block all attempts to inform the domestic and
foreign public about the situation in the province.

The Federal subcommittee is trying since November to organize a
trip for journalists to Kosovo and Metohija, but KFOR is doing its
best to prevent them.

Consequently, KFOR had cancelled a visit scheduled for November
25 and then had twice changed a prorgramme for tomorrow's visit,
Karlicic said. "Finally, our authorities have been informed in a letter
by a relevant KFOR officer at the eleventh hour that the force
refuses to take responsibility for the security of reporters and
journalists, introducing at the same time full censorship," he said.

"Of the 11 places planned to be visited, KFOR has allowed visits to
two locations only. KFOR's way of censoring the truth about Kosovo
and Metohija is to offer a visit to only one Serbian Orthodox
church, which has not been demolished, and to a Serb hamlet
where the force has delivered some firewood," he said.

"At the same time, KFOR refuses to allow a visit to the villages of
Suvo Grlo and Poluzje, where Serbs live in permanent danger. They
also don't allow them to see the bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica,
because the foreign journalists could see for themselves that there
are Albanians still living in northern part of the town, while there are
no Serbs in southern part of Mitrovica.

Besides, KFOR wants its spokesman to stick to the reporters during
the visit and to be the one to explain and clear up allegedly real
situation, Karlicic added.

Therefore, the president of the authorized subcommittee, Miljkan
Karlicic informs KFOR that, after the consultations with foreign and
domestic journalists, it is obvious that the reporters are not
satisfied with KFOR's visit proposal, that they are not interested in
KFOR's briefings, but in the truth of life in Kosovo-Metohija, which
KFOR obviously tries to hide.

Belgrade, May 12th (Mininf) - At the entrance to Orahovac, on
Thursday, May 11th, around noon, German soldiers, members
of KFOR, stopped Serbian Broadcasting Corporation crew,
which had proper press cards, given by the same KFOR.

On that occasion, credentials and
three videocassettes were taken away from the team of cameramen and
from the journalist of Serbian Broadcasting Corporation, Bora
Uskokovic. They were ordered to "immediately leave German
responsibility sector and never come back again". German officer and
soldiers refused to identify themselves or to give any explanation for their
action. Italian soldiers, who escorted the convoy, acted correctly.
Representatives of the Yugoslav Committee for Cooperation with the UN
Mission in Kosovo-Metohija and the chief of Prizren district, Branka
Furjanovic, were present during this event.

This is not the first case of irresponsible behaviour of German soldiers,
members of KFOR, of breaking the Resolution 1244, or of limiting the
freedom of movement and reporting of journalists from Serbian media.
This action of German officers and a group of soldiers can only be
explained by the striving to stop the public from finally seeing the picture
of a concentration camp - ghetto Orahovac, which has existed for nine
months in a zone of German responsibility sector. There has been no
water in Orahovac for five days, and for every exit from it one must
submit a request and wait for the answer to that request for six days. In
Orahovac, almost daily a Serb is executed or a Serb house is set on fire
by the terrorists of the so-called KLA, while German soldiers calmly
observe all these events.

We express strong protest to the chiefs of KFOR Mission and UNMIK
and we appeal to and ask the world public whether it can remain silent to
the happenings in Orahovac now, 55 years after the victory over fascism.