500 000 KOSOVO ALBANIANS DISPLACED

( Editorial: --> 2684 ) PRISTINA, Aug 7 (Hina) - About half a million Kosovo Albanians have been displaced since the beginning of the Serbian offensive on 28 February this year, Albanian experts in Pristina have estimated. Most refugees are now in Pec, Djakovica, Mitrovica, Vucitrn, Pristina and Prizren and almost 200,000 refugees live in the open. About 85,000 Kosovo Albanians have fled to Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey. The number of Albanians killed in the clashes with Serbian forces is estimated at 600, while 500 people have been registered missing. More than 90% of the killed are women, children and elderly people. Kosovo expert on migrations Rifat Bljaku estimates that the war damage in Kosovo amounts to three billion and 600 million German marks. In a statement for the Pristina-based "Koha Ditore" newspapers, Bljaku accused the Belgrade regime of trying to turn Kosovo Albanians into nomads, adding they would not succeed. (hina) rml 091607 MET aug 98