POLICE CONTROLS STRATEGIC POINTS IN DRENICA AREA

( Editorial: --> 8071 ) PRISTINA, March 8 (Hina) - The Kosovo Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms said Sunday afternoon tension has defused in the Srbica municipality, although strong Serbian forces were still deployed in the area. The Serbian police undertook violent actions against Kosovo Albanians in the Srbica municipality last week. There had been heard random shots in the municipality during the day, and a helicopter had been surveying the area. There is no new information about any new casualties, the same source said. Strong police forces continue to control strategic points in the Drenica area. There have been registered movements of large numbers of Serbian forces from Kosovska Mitrovica and Komoran towards Srbica. The police are checking people for identification in search of, as they put it, Albanian terrorists, the Committee said. Firts representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have arrived in the Srbica municipality Sunday. The Serbian police has on Sunday released about 50 apprehended Albanians from Prekaze and villages of the Srbica municipality. They had been held in the premises of the ammunition factory in Srbica. The Kosovo Committee for the Protection of Human rights also said Sunday that large numbers of Serbian forces have headed towards the border between FR Yugoslavia and Albania. The same source said deserters from the Yugoslav army had been noticed near Djakovica. Soldiers have been seen fleeing and hiding, the Committee said, adding that police patrols had been attempting to retrieve them. (hina) lm 081922 MET mar 98