KLA WARNS OF LACK OF SAFETY FOR CIVILIANS, VERIFIERS IN PODUJEVO

PRISTINA, Dec 27 (Hina) - The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) main headquarters on Sunday warned of lack of safety for Albanian citizens and international monitors in Kosovo, following the latest attack of Serbian forces on the Podujevo municipality. After they suffered considerable losses in manpower and weapons in the 24 December attack on Podujevo (western Kosovo), the Serbian forces took retaliatory measures against the Albanian population and threatened international representatives and foreign journalists, the same source said. The situation in the village of Obranqe (two km west of Podujevo), has been peaceful since yesterday afternoon, the same source reported. Serbian forces launched an attack on the village following yesterday's killing of a Serb resident. During his visit to the Podujevo area yesterday, the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Verification Mission, William Walker, requested local KLA commanders to restrain from provoking Serb forces deployed on the roads. Albanian sources reported that the general situation in Podujevo and nearby villages is still tense because of the presence of large Serbian forces in the area. (hina) rml