Timeline Serbia 1998-1999
Return to home
1998 Jan 22, In
Pristina ethnic Albanians clashed with Serbian police. There was one
death and 2 were injured.
(SFC, 1/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Feb 28, In Likoshan two
Serbian police officers were killed. Police blamed the Kosovo
Liberation Army. The Serbian SAJ, an anti-terrorist unit, was
immediately called to the scene and rounded up 10 males who were
summarily shot. Another 15 villagers were also killed.
(SFC, 3/11/98, p.A8)
1998 Mar 1, Weekend clashes in
Kosovo left 24 ethnic Albanians and 4 Serb policemen dead. Police
arrested 5 people and seized weapons caches.
(WSJ, 3/2/98, p.A1)(FT, 3/4/98, p.1)
1998 Mar 2, Serb police clashed
with 30,000 protesting Albanians in Kosovo.
(WSJ, 3/3/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 3, A mass funeral of
30,000 was held for 24 ethnic Albanians killed Feb 28.
(SFC, 3/11/98, p.A8)
1998 Mar 5, Serbian police mounted
a counterinsurgency operation and killed 20 ethnic Albanians in the
Drenica region of Kosovo.
(SFC, 3/6/98, p.A13)
1998 Mar 6, Police in Kosovo
reported that they killed Adem Jashari, a leader in the Kosovo
Liberation Army, in Donji Prekaz in the Drenica region. 45 Albanians
and 6 Serb police were reported dead. Of the 46 bodies 11 were women
and 9 children. Six of the men were elderly.
(SFC, 3/7/98, p.A6)(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A8)
1998 Mar 8, In Kosovo 7,000
Albanian women marched against the crackdown on separatist guerrillas.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 9, An arms embargo was
imposed on Yugoslavia by the US, Britain and other powers. It lasted
until Sep 2001.
(SFC, 3/25/98, p.C14)(SFC, 7/2/02, p.A6)
1998 Mar 10, In Kosovo Serbian
police seized the bodies of 51 ethnic Albanians, killed in a sweep of
separatists, and buried them into bulldozed over graves.
(SFC, 3/11/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 12, Serbian leaders
proposed talks for autonomy in Kosovo, but residents dismissed the
offer.
(SFC, 3/13/98, p.A12)
1998 Mar 13, In Kosovo 40,000
ethnic Albanians protested against Serbia.
(SFC, 3/14/98, p.A8)
1998 Mar 19, Pres. Milosevic
agreed to pull back special police in Kosovo under a deadline by world
powers.
(SFC, 3/20/98, p.A12)
1998 Mar 21, Six members of the
SF-based Peace workers group were arrested and sentenced to 10 days in
jail in Kosovo for not reporting their presence to police. 3 were from
the Bay Area. They were released Mar 23.
(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.A1)(SFC, 3/23/98, p.A11)(SFC,
3/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 22, Kosovo Albanians
elected Ibrahim Rugova as president. Serb officials pronounced the
elections meaningless.
(SFC, 3/23/98, p.A9)
1998 Mar 23, Serbian and Albanian
leaders agree to allow ethnic Albanians into the state university
system in Kosovo.
(SFC, 3/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 24, In Kosovo Albanian
separatists ambushed a police patrol and one policeman was killed.
(SFC, 3/25/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 25, Russia promised to
support a comprehensive arms embargo against Yugoslavia, but did not
support new sanctions urged by the US.
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.B2)
1998 Mar 26, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic ordered several hundred additional police to Kosovo. Serbs
protested the killing of a policeman and 2 ethnic Albanians were killed
in a police counterattack.
(SFC, 3/27/98, p.A12)(WSJ, 3/27/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 31, The UN Security
Council imposed a new arms embargo on Yugoslavia to press Milosevic to
grant ethnic Albanians concessions in Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/1/98, p.A8)(AP, Internet, 3/31/99)
1998 Apr 1, The local currency was
devalued 45%. The dinar was devalued by 57.9%.
(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/28/99, p.A18)
1998 Apr 22, Yugoslavian troops
claimed to have killed 23 ethnic Albanian infiltrators in the border
region in Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr 23, The president of
Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, called for full autonomy for the Kosovo
region.
(SFC, 4/24/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr 27, In Kosovo the
Yugoslav army clashed with ethnic Albanians and 3 insurgents were
killed. Albanian reports said up to a dozen were slain and that none of
them were militants.
(SFC, 4/28/98, p.A8)
1998 Apr 29, The US and European
powers decided to impose new sanctions and agreed to freeze the assets
of Yugoslavia. A ban on investments would follow in 10 days if security
police was not withdrawn from Kosova.
(SFC, 4/30/98, p.A8)
1998 Apr, Ilir Konushevci, a KLA
commander, was ambushed and killed outside Tropoja in northern Albania.
He had recently accused Xhavit Haliti, a lieutenant of Hashim Thaci, of
buying grenades for $2 and selling them to the KLA for $7.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A12)
1998 May 1, A police raid in
Drenica left 4 ethnic Albanians dead.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.19A)
1998 May 3, Fighting began in the
Kosovo village of Ponosevac and 10 ethnic Albanians were reported
killed by Serbian police.
(WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A1)
1998 May 6, Fighting in Kosovo
continued. A Serb policeman and an ethnic Albanian separatist were
killed. The bodies of 2 Albanians who backed Serb rule were pulled from
a river and a local politician died in a third attack.
(WSJ, 5/7/98, p.A1)
1998 May 9, The leading Group of
Eight industrialized countries imposed an investment ban on Serbia and
froze and froze the assets abroad of Serbia and Montenegro due to
conditions in Kosovo. The sanctions did not go into effect because
Serbia began talks with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.A13)(WSJ, 5/19/98, p.A1)
1998 May 13, In Kosovo Serbian
police clashed with ethnic Albanians and 2 ethnic Albanians were
reported killed in Pristina. The police had found the site of the
attack to be loaded with weapons.
(SFC, 5/13/98, p.A13)
1998 May 15, Serbian police began
to turn back truckers in a blockade of Kosovo. Shortage of critical
food supplies soon developed.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.C16)
1998 May 18, In Yugoslavia
lawmakers loyal to Pres. Slobodan Milosevic voted to oust Prime
Minister Radoje Kontic, after he refused to clamp down on reformist
leaders in Montenegro.
(SFC, 5/19/98, p.A12)
1998 May 19, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic named Momir Bulatovic as federal prime minister. Montenegro’s
parliament said it did not recognize the ouster of Radoje Kontic and
that it would no recognize any laws of the federal government.
(SFC, 5/20/98, p.A12)
1998 May 22, A joint peacekeeping
force was set up by 7 European nations to maintain peace in Kosovo.
Deputy defense ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece,
Italy, Romania and Turkey signed on after meeting in Tirana. Slovenia
and the US signed on as observers.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A14)
1998 May 29, Pres. Milosevic
imposed large licensing fees on radio and TV stations and denied
permits to dozens of opposition broadcasters. Control of the autonomous
state universities was also undertaken.
(SFC, 5/30/98, p.A3)
1998 May 29, In Kosovo a Serb
policeman was killed and another wounded in the Decani region. A 3-day
Serb offensive began that left over 60 ethnic Albanians dead in Vranoc
and other villages in the area.
(SFC, 5/30/98, p.A11)(SFC, 7/16/98, p.A10)
1998 Jun 1, Refugees from Kosovo
poured into Albania to escape fighting that began last week around
Decani. 39 people were reported dead.
(WSJ, 6/2/98, p.A3)
1998 Jun 3, Special Serbian forces
reported 40 people killed in a 5-day operation in Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/4/98, p.A10)
1998 Jun 4, In Pristina, Serbia,
the Kosovo Albanians withdrew from negotiations with Serbia due to the
new Serbian offensive.
(SFC, 6/5/98, p.D2)
1998 Jun 7, Pres. Milosevic agreed
to allow diplomatic observers to enter and move about in Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/8/98, p.A10)
1998 Jun 14, In Kosovo the
fighting intensified as Serbs launched 500 grenades into villages in
western Kosovo..
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/15/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 15, US F-16 fighter jets
took off as part of a 13-nation, 85 warplane show of force over Albania
and Macedonia. Meanwhile Serb forces attacked 4 Kosovo villages with
grenades and helicopter gunships and began sealing off the border to
Albania.
(SFC, 6/15/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/15/98, p.A1)(SFC,
6/16/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/16/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/20/98, p.B2)
1998 Jun 16, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic agreed to allow monitors into Kosovo and to begin talks with
Kosovo Albanian leaders, but not to withdraw his military forces until
"terrorist activities subside."
(WSJ, 6/17/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 17, Serb troops killed at
least 10 Albanians they said were trying to cross the border into
Kosovo.
(WSJ, 6/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Jun 20, In Kosovo 3 Serbian
police were killed and four were held by the Kosovo separatist army
during fighting in the Decani area.
(SFEC, 6/21/98, p.A25)
1998 Jun 22, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians kidnapped 3 Serbs and took over the mine pit at Belacevac.
(WSJ, 6/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A8)
1998 Jun 29, Serbian troops opened
a series of attacks in Kosovo in the mining town of Belacevac and
Lapushnik.
(SFC, 6/30/98, p.A8)
1998 Jun 30, Serbian forces
recaptured the Kosovo coal mine at Belacevac.
(SFC, 7/1/98, p.A8)
1998 Jul 3, Serbian forces in
Kosovo broke through a stone blockade near Kijevo.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.A8)
1998 Jul 4, Fresh fighting erupted
outside Suva Reka, a region with 60,000 residents.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.A17)
1998 Jul 8, The US and European
countries demanded an immediate cease fire in Kosovo and called for a
crackdown on the flow of funds to ethnic Albanian rebels.
(SFC, 7/9/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 11, Serbian soldiers
killed four Albanian arms smugglers and seized anti-tank mines.
(SFC, 7/11/98, p.A11)
1998 Jul 18, The Yugoslav army
claimed that 30 rebels were killed while infiltrating from Albania. A
4-day battle began at Orahovac and the bodies of 58 ethnic Albanians
were buried. It was later alleged that most were buried in a mass grave
at an alleged garbage dump.
(SFEC, 7/19/98, p.A6)(SFC, 8/6/93, p.A14)
1998 Jul 19, In Kosovo,
Yugoslavia, Albanian separatists claimed to have take the town of
Orahovac with 20,000 residents. Serbs forces denied the claim.
(SFEC, 7/20/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 21, Serbian forces forced
the Kosovo Liberation Army out of Orahovac. The rebels and some 15,000
refugees fled northeast to the city of Malisevo.
(SFC, 7/22/98, p.A10)
1998 Jul 25, Serb forces attacked
rebel positions in Kosovo to clear major roads.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A8)
1998 Jul 26, Serb military action
in the villages of Srednja Klina and Hgornja Klina near Srbica left 3
elderly people shot to death and 2 others wounded.
(SFC, 7/27/98, p.A8)
1998 Jul 31, In Kosovo refugees
fled Serb attacks one day after Serbia declared that the military
offensive was over.
(SFC, 8/1/98, p.A10)
1998 Aug 2, Serbian forces,
shelling rebel position and burning villages, pushed back Albanian
separatists on 3 fronts.
(SFC, 8/3/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 6, NATO set exercises in
Albania for Aug 17-22 to show force against the Serb offensive in
Kosovo.
(WSJ, 8/7/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 8, Slobodan Milijkovic, a
Serb wanted by the Int’l. War Crimes Tribunal, was shot and killed by a
policeman along with 2 others following insults at an outdoor cafe in
Belgrade. Milijkovic, a suspected member of the Chetnicks
ultra-nationalist paramilitary unit, had rejected responsibility and
said politicians were to blame for the war.
(SFEC, 8/9/98, p.A17)
1998 Aug 10, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians reportedly killed 10 police officers. 3 KLA rebels were also
reported killed.
(SFC, 8/11/98, p.A10)
1998 Aug 13, Ibrahim Rugova formed
a delegation to begin talks with Pres. Milosevic.
(SFC, 8/15/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 14, Adem Demaci agreed to
take the leadership of the political wing of the KLA.
(SFC, 8/15/98, p.A16)
1998 Aug 15, Serbian forces seized
the Kosovo rebel town of Junik
(SFC, 8/17/98, p.A8)
1998 Aug 17-22, NATO exercises
began in Albania.
(WSJ, 8/7/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 27, In Kosovo a Serb
shell was said to have killed 11 of 14 members of the Asllani family
fleeing the village of Grape outside of Pristina.
(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.A1)(SFC, 8/28/98, p.D4)
1998 Sep 2, Serb forces in Kosovo
pressed attacks in the town of Prizren.
(WSJ, 9/3/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 8, Serb forces opened an
offensive on Kosovo’s border with Albania and 2 people were reported
killed in Prilep.
(WSJ, 9/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 9, In Kosovo some 25,000
civilians streamed out of the southwest as Serbian forces shelled their
villages.
(SFC, 9/10/98, p.A13)
1998 Sep 9, Pres. Clinton released
$20 million in aid for the refugees in Kosovo.
(SFC, 9/11/98, p.D3)
1998 Sep 16, Serb forces in Kosovo
attacked 12 villages between Mitrovica and Podujevo, 20 miles north of
Pristina.
(SFC, 9/17/98, p.A15)
1998 Sep 21, Ahmet Krasniqi, a
form Yugoslav colonel, was killed. He was the commander of the Armed
Forces of the Kosovo Republic and his murder was reportedly ordered by
KLA commander Hashim Thaci.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A12)
1998 Sep 22, In Kosovo Serbian
troops began an offensive against the last of stronghold of ethnic
Albanian separatists. Many rebels were reported killed.
(SFC, 9/23/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 23, The UN adopted a
resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Kosovo.
(SFC, 9/24/98, p.A12)
1998 Sep 24, NATO instructed its
generals to begin preparing for air strikes on Yugoslavia unless pres.
Milosevic ends his attacks on ethnic Albanians.
(SFC, 9/25/98, p.A12)
1998 Sep 26, In Kosovo the
Yugoslav army and Serbian police shot and killed 15 women, children and
elderly of the Deliaj clan in Gornji Obrinje. Three men were burned to
death and 3 more villagers were killed in nearby Donji Obrinje.
(SFC, 9/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 27, Serbian troops
bombarded and burned villages in southern Kosovo.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep, Stevan Todorovic, a
former police chief in the Bosnian town of Bosanski Samac, was abducted
from his vacation home in Serbia and smuggled to Bosnia where he was
later arrested by Nato troops. Serbia convicted 9 men for the abduction
in 2000.
(SFC, 12/12/00, p.B2)
1998 Oct 1, The UN sent a new
warning to Pres. Milosevic of Serbia over the atrocities in Kosovo.
Seeking to head off threatened NATO attacks, Yugoslavia's Serb
leadership invited foreign experts to investigate massacres in Kosovo.
(SFC, 10/2/98, p.A1)(AP, 10/1/99)
1998 Oct 7, In Serbia Milosevic’s
government began preparing for a NATO attack.
(SFC, 10/8/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 8, In Kosovo, Serbia,
ethnic Albanian rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire.
(SFC, 10/9/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 9, US diplomats met twice
with Yugoslav Pres. Milosevic to resolve the crises in Kosovo and avert
a NATO attack.
(SFC, 10/10/98, p.A8)
1998 Oct 12, Yugoslav Pres.
Milosevic agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo and allow int’l.
verification as NATO authorized air strikes if he does not comply.
(SFC, 10/13/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 13, Serbian authorities
announced that elections will be held in Kosovo under int’l.
supervision next year.
(SFC, 10/14/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 14, In Serbia police shut
down the Danas newspaper, as well as the independent Dvevni Telegraph
in Belgrade. NATO positioned warplanes in Italy for a possible attack.
(SFC, 10/15/98, p.A12)
1998 Oct 16, Serbian Pres.
Milosevic was given an additional 10 days to withdraw forces from
Kosovo and comply with UN demands.
(SFC, 10/17/98, p.A1)
1998 Oct 22, In Kosovo 4 refugees,
that included 3 children, were killed trying to cross the Albanian
border. Pres. Milosevic claimed that he had met NATO demands to pull
Serb forces out of Kosovo.
(WSJ, 10/23/98, p.A1)(SFC, 10/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 23, In Kosovo 4 people
were killed trying to cross into Albania when they stepped on mines.
(SFC, 10/24/98, p.A10)
1998 Oct 25, NATO generals left
Belgrade with more assurances from Pres. Milosevic that enough forces
will be withdrawn by the 27th deadline to avoid air strikes.
(SFC, 10/26/98, p.A6)
1998 Oct 26, In Kosovo Serb forces
appeared to be withdrawing under the threat of NATO air strikes.
(SFC, 10/27/98, p.B1)
1998 Oct 27, Serb forces drew back
from former Kosovo battlefronts, holding off the immediate threat of
NATO airstrikes.
(AP, 10/27/99)
1998 Nov 6, In Kosovo 5 ethnic
Albanians were killed in a shootout with Serbian police after they left
a meeting with US diplomat Chris Hill at Dragobil. Two others were
killed the day before.
(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A13)(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C9)
1998 Nov 10, Serbia took control
of Radio Index, a student-run radio station. Also police raided the
Dnevni Telegraf Daily newspaper and impounded 100,000 copies for
failure to pay a $120,000 fine for breaching a restrictive media law.
(SFC, 11/11/98, p.D4)
1998 Nov 18, Pres. Milan
Milutinovic rejected a US blueprint for the future of Kosovo, saying
that it gave too much power to the ethnic Albanians.
(SFC, 11/19/98, p.A12)
1998 Nov 25, The state Tanjug news
reported that Pres. Milosevic replaced Gen’l. Momcilo Perisic with his
deputy Gen’l. Lt. Dragoljub Ojdanic.
(SFC, 11/26/98, p.B5)
1998 Dec 3, Yugoslav border guards
killed 8 ethnic Albanians as they tried to cross the border into
Kosovo. In Pristina Hizri Talla, a senior guerrilla commander was
killed along with Kosovar journalist Afrim Maliqi and student Ilir
Durmishi.
(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/10/98, p.C9)
1998 Dec 14, In Kosovo Serbian
border guards killed 31 ethnic Albanian guerrillas on the Albanian
border.
(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 12/15/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 14, In Pec masked
Albanian rebels opened fire in the Panda barroom and killed 6 young
Kosovo Serbs.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.C2)(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D4)
1998 Dec 17, Serbian police
attacked a suspected rebel-controlled village in Kosovo. Two ethnic
Albanian fighters were killed and 34 were arrested in Glodjane.
(SFC, 12/18/98, p.D4)
1998 Dec 18, In Kosovo, Serbia,
Zvonko Bojanic, district mayor of Kosovo Polje, was found severely
beaten and shot between the eyes.
(SFC, 12/19/98, p.A6)
1998 Dec 21, In Kosovo, Serbia,
Milic Jovic (52), a Serbian police officer, was shot and killed in
Podujevo.
(SFC, 12/22/98, p.C2)
1998 Dec 22, The government merged
11 small media houses into one unit controlled by the state-run daily
Borba. This ended the publication of Ekonomska Politika, Yugoslavia's
only economic weekly.
(SFC, 12/23/98, p.C2)
1998 Dec 24, In Podujevo,
Yugoslavia, Serb forces used tanks and armored vehicles against
separatist guerrillas breaking a 2-month cease fire.
(SFC, 12/25/98, p.A15)
1998 Dec 25, In Serbia US
diplomats in Kosovo persuaded army officers to pull back some of their
forces.
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A8)
1998 Dec 29, In Kosovo 5 Albanians
died in fighting with Serb police as NATO repeated threats of
airstrikes. A group of US senators proposed to offer Milosevic
sanctuary in a 3rd nation if he would step down.
(WSJ, 12/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Noel Malcolm published
"Kosovo: A Short History," a history of the troubled region and
Albania. Malcolm earlier wrote "Bosnia: A Short History."
(WSJ, 5/5/98, p.A20)(SFEC, 9/6/98, BR p.8)
1998 The Yugoslavia film "The
Wounds" was directed by Srdjan Dragojevic. It was about 2 Belgrade
teenage buddies who represent the chaos of Yugoslavia.
(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.36)
1999 Jan 6, Nebojsa Denic, a
Serbian security guard, was killed by ethnic Albanian rebels during an
attack on a power plant outside of Pristina.
(SFC, 1/8/99, p.A16)
1999 Jan 8, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians killed 3 Serbian police officers in separate ambushes. Ethnic
Albanians also seized 8 Yugoslav soldiers.
(SFC, 1/9/99, p.A9)(SFC, 1/12/99, p.A8)
1999 Jan 11, In Kosovo Enver
Maloku, the head of the Kosovo Information Center, was shot and killed
by 3 assassins in Pristina.
(SFC, 1/12/99, p.A8)
1999 Jan 13, In Kosovo rebels
freed 8 Yugoslav soldiers after getting private incentives from int'l.
officials.
(SFC, 1/14/99, p.A11)
1999 Jan 15, In Kosovo Yugoslav
army units killed 15 Albanian rebels. Later reports indicated that 45
Albanians were massacred at Racak.
(SFC, 1/16/99, p.A10)(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 16, In Kosovo 45 ethnic
Albanians were found massacred at Racak. It was later reported that the
killing was ordered by senior Serbian officials, who attempted to
orchestrate a coverup.
(SFEC, 1/17/99, p.A1)(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A10)(SFC,
1/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 18, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic ordered the expulsion of Ambassador William Walker within 48
hours. Walker had accused Serbian forces in the recent massacre of 45
people in Kosovo.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 19, In Serbia Gen'l.
Wesley Clark and Gen'l. Klaus Naumann met with Pres. Milosevic and
threatened him with NATO airstrikes due to the massacre of ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo.
(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A3)
1999 Jan 20, NATO moved forces
within striking distance of Yugoslavia and warned Belgrade to stop its
repression in Kosovo.
(WSJ, 1/21/99, p.A15)
1999 Jan 21, Yugoslav Pres.
Milosevic postponed the expulsion of US envoy William Walker.
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A10)
1999 Jan 23, The Yugoslav
government released 9 ethnic Albanians, captured Dec 14, while the KLA
released 5 elderly Serbian civilians, captured Jan 21.
(SFEC, 1/24/99, p.A20)
1999 Jan 25, In Rakovina, Kosovo 5
ethnic Albanians, including 2 children, were found riddled with bullets.
(SFC, 1/26/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 27, The Clinton
administration announced a plan to end fighting in Kosovo. It called
for NATO air strikes if autonomy to the region is not accepted by Pres.
Milosevic.
(SFC, 1/28/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 28, NATO allies warned
Pres. Milosevic that they were ready to use immediate force, and
Britain and France said they were prepared to send in ground troops to
enforce a peace settlement in Kosovo.
(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A3)
1999 Jan 29, The US and major
European allies set Feb 19 as a deadline for Serbia to accept a peace
plan in Kosovo or face NATO bombing.
(SFC, 1/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 29, In Kosovo Serbian
police killed 24 ethnic Albanians following the death of one Serbian
officer.
(SFC, 1/30/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 2, In Kosovo members of
the KLA agreed to attend peace talks in France.
(SFC, 2/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Feb 3, In Kosovo members of
the KLA demanded that peace talks include a guaranteed vote for
independence.
(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 5, Serbian authorities
refused to grant re-entry travel documents to Albanian guerrilla
members for the peace conference in Paris. The 13 Serbian negotiators
appointed by Milosevic said they would not sit down with members of the
KLA.
(SFC, 2/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 6, In Paris the 16-member
Albanian delegation sat down with the 13-member Serbian delegation at
Rambouillet. Robin Cook, British foreign secretary, co-chaired the
talks designed to last a maximum of 2 weeks. The Albanians were to be
asked to accept less autonomy in exchange for protection by NATO ground
troops.
(SFEC, 2/7/99, p.A17)(SFC, 2/8/99, p.A10)
1999 Feb 7, Delegates at the
Kosovo peace talks agreed on principles that would keep the province
within Yugoslavia for at least 3 more years.
(WSJ, 2/8/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 7, Serbian police seized
ICN Pharmaceuticals in Belgrade.
(WSJ, 2/8/99, p.A1,19)
1999 Feb 10, In Kosovo Serbian
authorities returned the bodies of 40 civilian Albanians who were
killed at Racak.
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.A14)
1999 Feb 14, In Kosovo a bomb
explosion in Urosevac wounded at least 9 people. Serbian police rounded
up about 40 independence activist Albanians.
(SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8)
1999 Feb 14, In Rambouillet,
France, Madeline Albright brought together the Serb and Albanian sides
in the Kosovo peace talks and the talks were extended one week. The
plan for a 3-year interim settlement included a NATO force of some
25,000 troops, who would collect the weapons of the Albanian rebels. In
the plan the KLA was given 120 days to surrender its arms.
(SFC, 2/15/99, p.A8)(WSJ, 6/16/99, p.A20)
1999 Feb 20, In France the peace
talks between Serbs and ethnic Albanians of Kosovo were extended for 2
days.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 23, In France the Kosovo
Albanians agreed in principle to a peace settlement but asked for 2
more weeks for consultations at home.
(SFC, 2/24/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 24, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians planned a provisional government, but Adem Demaci, a leader
in the rebel army, said that he would not recognize it.
(SFC, 2/25/99, p.A10)
1999 Mar 1, About this time Serb
municipal and police officials provided paramilitaries lists with the
names and assets of wealthy Albanians and lists of people slated for
execution. At least 5 paramilitary groups were in operation and
included Arkan's Tigers led by Zeljko Raznatovic and Frenki's Boys led
by Frenki Simatovic.
(WSJ, 9/1/99, p.A18)
1999 Mar 2, In Kosovo KLA leader
Adem Demaci announced that he would step down but would continue to
oppose the peace plan. Meanwhile Yugoslav tank and mortar fire pounded
rebel positions in the hillsides of the Macedonian border. Demaci was
replaced by Hashim Thaci (29).
(SFC, 3/3/99, p.A8)(SFC, 3/4/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 3, In Kosovo the KLA
reverted to its earlier guerrilla tactics and killed 2 Serbians.
(SFC, 3/5/99, p.D3)
1999 Mar 8, Kosovo KLA leaders
agreed to accept a peace plan but commander Ramush Hajredinaj insisted
that they would not give up their arms.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 9, Serb tanks attacked
ethnic Albanian villages near Macedonia.
(WSJ, 3/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 10, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic met with Richard Holbrooke and stood firm against NATO troops
in his country.
(SFC, 3/11/99, p.A10)
1999 Mar 11, In Kosovo fighting
spread as Yugoslav forces shelled villages near Prizren.
(SFC, 3/12/99, p.A14)
1999 Mar 13, In Kosovo 2 bombs
struck in Podujevo and 1 in Kosovska Mitrovica killing 6 people and
wounding 58. The state TV blamed the Albanians, who in turn blamed the
Serbs.
(SFEC, 3/14/99, p.A17)
1999 Mar 14, In Kosovo heavy
fighting preceded the resumption of peace talks in Paris.
(SFC, 3/15/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 15, In Kosovo the ethnic
Albanians gave a written pledge to sign a peace proposal.
(SFC, 3/16/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 16, In Kosovo Serbia
moved in heavy tanks and thousands more troops as their negotiators
insisted on major changes in the Paris peace talks.
(SFC, 3/17/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 18, In Paris the ethnic
Albanians signed the peace proposal, which the Serbian delegation
rejected.
(SFC, 3/19/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 20, Serb forces in Kosovo
launched a new offensive along a 20-mile arc west and northwest of
Pristina.
(SFEC, 3/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 21, On the 2nd day of
Serb attacks against Kosovo, envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Pres.
Milosevic with serious threats of NATO air strikes.
(SFC, 3/22/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 22, Serb attacks on
ethnic Albanians continued after envoy Richard Holbrooke failed to
convince Pres. Milosevic to stop.
(WSJ, 3/23/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 23, In Pristina the Koha
Ditore, Kosovo's leading Albanian newspaper run by Baton Haxhiu, was
violently closed down and a security guard was killed. Haxhiu fled to
Macedonia and planned to reopen his paper from there.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 24, In Serbia NATO forces
sent a broad wave of air attacks against Yugoslav forces in an attempt
to halt the Serbian offensive in Kosovo. Cruise missiles and planes
targeted military sites near Belgrade and some 40 sites in total.
Initial reports said 10 people were killed and 38 wounded in the
bombing. The airstrikes marked the first time in its 50-year existence
that NATO had ever attacked a sovereign country. NATO’s 78-day bombing
ended on June 10.
(SFC, 3/25/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/25/99, p.A1)(SFC,
3/26/99, p.A6)(AP, 3/24/00)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.51)
1999 Mar 24-1999 May 7, In
Djakovica some 140 ethnic Albanians were killed and buried.
(SFC, 7/1/99, p.A1,16)
1999 Mar 25, NATO forces struck
Serbian air defenses and other sites as Serb forces stepped up their
efforts to crush resistance in Kosovo. The village of Goden was burned
by Serb forces and 174 residents were forced to leave. 20 men were kept
back and presumed killed.
(SFC, 3/26/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A1,8)
1999 Mar 25, Some 70 men were
reported massacred at the village Bellacerk (Bela Crkva) in Kosovo. In
the village of Velika Krusa 14 ethnic Albanians were killed and burned
by Serb police and paramilitaries. Selami Elshani played dead escaped
to tell the story. Investigators in Bela Crkva later found the bodies
of 12 people including 7 children, all shot in the back of the head,
killed during the rampage.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.1,4)
Mar 25, In Nerodimlje 8 male
members of the Berisha family were executed in front of a wall by a
Serb gunman.
(SFC, 6/21/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 25, In Kosovo Serbian
police officers took away Bajram Kelmendi, a human rights lawyer, and
his 2 sons. Their bodies were found the next day.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.A17)
1999 Mar 25-1999 Mar 26, In Celine
11 children aged 2-16 were killed by Serbian forces. Their corpses were
uncovered Jul 13. Graves of 119 people from Celine and Nagafc were
also found.
(SFC, 7/14/99, p.A6)
1999 Mar 26, American-led NATO
forces launched a third night of airstrikes against Yugoslavia and 2
MiG-29 fighters were shot down as Serbian troops continued to sweep
ethnic Albanian villages in Kosovo.
(SFC, 3/27/99, p.A1)(AP, 3/26/00)
1999 Mar 26, Serbian forces
rounded up ethnic Albanian villages in Krushe e Vogel, Kosovo. They
drove the women and children toward Albania and gunned down 102 men and
older boys.
(SSFC, 9/8/02, p.F1)
1999 Mar 27, NATO expanded its air
assault on Yugoslavia in the 4th straight day of attacks. A $42 million
US F-117A stealth fighter was downed over Yugoslavia during continued
NATO airstrikes. The American pilot was rescued by US forces. The
wreckage was later believed to have been sold. In 2005 it was reported
that Col. Zoltan Dani of Serbia was behind the shooting down of the
stealth fighter. Dani said the F-117 was detected and shot down during
a moonless night, just three days into the war, by a Soviet-made SA-3
Goa surface-to-air missile.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.A1,16)(SFC, 9/17/99, p.A10)(AP,
3/27/00)(AP, 10/26/05)
1999 Mar 27, Serbian troops
ordered villagers of Mamusa, Kosovo, to drive refugees to the border. 3
Turks and 4 ethnic Albanians were killed and 30 houses were burned.
(SFC, 3/12/02, p.A10)
1999 Mar 28, An American Stealth
F117 Nighthawk is shot down over northern Yugoslavia during the NATO
air strikes against Serbs attacking Kosovo.
(HN, 3/28/00)
1999 Mar 28, NATO broadened its
attacks on Yugoslavia to target Serb military forces in Kosovo in the
fifth straight night of airstrikes. UN officials reported that some
500,000 ethnic Albanians had fled Kosovo. NATO officials raised the
possibility of using ground troops in Yugoslavia as low-level strikes
against tanks began. It was feared that anger over the war would spill
over to Bosnia.
(SFC, 3/29/99, p.A1,10)(AP, 3/28/00)
1999 Mar 28, The notorious
Scorpions unit stormed the northern Kosovo town of Podujevo. In 2004 a
Belgrade court convicted Sasa Cvjetan, a member of the unit, of killing
14 ethnic Albanian civilians, mostly women and children. The verdict
was overturned but in 2005 a re-trial confirmed his guilt and 20-year
sentence. In 2008 four members of the Scorpions paramilitary group were
tried by a Belgrade court for allegedly gunning down 19 civilians in
Podujevo. On June 18, 2009, they were convicted sentenced to between 15
and 20 years in prison.
(AP, 6/17/05)(AP, 12/11/08)(AP,
6/18/09)(www.hlc-rdc.org/Saopstenja/1712.en.html)
1999 Mar 28, Muhamet Bajrahtar, an
American citizen from Chicago, was shot by Serbian police near
Glokovce, Kosovo. He died 2 days later. He was in Kosovo to help bring
out his family, who used his documents and made it to the US 2 months
later.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, p.A24)
1999 Mar 29, Albania and Macedonia
appealed for help as thousands of refugees fled Kosovo on the 6th day
of bombing. NATO said Serbs were targeting ethnic Albanian leadership
for executions and the US accused Milosevic of "crimes against
humanity."
(WSJ, 3/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 30, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic said in a meeting with Premier Primakov of Russia that he
would resume peace talks if allied bombing stops. The US called the
offer "woefully inadequate." NATO moved to step up the air war and
Serbian forces continued unopposed in Kosovo as refugees streamed out.
(WSJ, 3/31/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 30, Serbian forces in
Qysk yanked Arif Mazrekaj and 70 other men from a column of refugees
leaving Kosovo. Mazrekaj's body was later found at the bottom of a well.
(SFC, 8/28/99, p.A12)
1999 Mar 31, Three peacekeeping US
soldiers were captured by Serb forces near the Yugoslav-Macedonia
border. James Stone, Stevem Gonzales and Andrew Martinez were shown on
Serbian TV. Azen Syla, founder of the KLA, said that his guerrilla
supply lines from Albania were cut off when the bombing began. Yugoslav
soldiers herded ethnic Albanians onto trains bound for the Macedonian
border as NATO bombing continued for the 8th day.
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.A1,12)
1999 Mar 31, NATO bombs destroyed
the Sloboda household utilities plant in Cacak, Serbia. It had employed
some 5,000 people. Allied leaders said they would bomb government
buildings in Belgrade.
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.A14)(WSJ, 4/1/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 31, In the village of
Dzakovo, Kosovo, a witness reported the Serbian paramilitary forces
invade a mosque during morning prayers and killed some 80 people.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)
1999 Mar 31, On Serbian TV Ibrahim
Rugova appealed for an end to NATO bombings. He had recently been
quoted by a German magazine that chaos would result if NATO does not
send in ground troops immediately. Serbs put Rugova under house arrest
and ordered him to appear on TV.
(SFC, 4/2/99, p.A15)(SFC, 4/17/99, p.A9)
1999 Mar, Serbian police rounded
up members of a Kosovo Albanian family in their village of Suva Reka,
killing several men with machine-gun fire before forcing the rest into
a pizza restaurant and throwing hand-grenades at them. In 2009 four
former Serbian policemen were found guilty of the massacre of 48 Kosovo
Albanians. They were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
(AP, 4/23/09)
1999 Mar-Jun, A US State Dept.
report in Dec. estimated that 10,000 Albanians were killed in Kosovo
during this period with 1.5 million expelled from their homes.
(SFC, 12/10/99, p.D6)
1999 Apr 1, Yugoslav Gen'l.
Radoslav Martinovic was recalled by Pres. Milosevic and replaced by
nationalist Gen'l. Milorad Obradovic. A coup was feared to be imminent.
(SFC, 4/2/99, p.A13)
1999 Apr 1, Serbia planned to
start criminal proceedings against the 3 US soldiers captured on the
Macedonian border.
(SFC, 4/2/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 1, Serbian radio and TV
reported that Pres. Milosevic met with Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, leader of
the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, and "came to a joint stand on resolving
problems… through political means."
(SFC, 4/2/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 1, In Ljubenic, Kosovo,
an initial group of 80 people were executed by Serbian paramilitaries.
On Jul 9 peacekeepers said the remains of as many as 350 victims were
found.
(SFC, 7/10/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 2, NATO planners began
preliminary discussions about the possibility of sending ground troops
into Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 2, At least 55 people
were gunned down by Serbian police and militiamen in the Kosovo city of
Djakovica.
(SFC, 4/29/99, p.D2)
1999 Apr 3, Melaim Bellanica, a
villager from Velika Krusa, handed to international media a 5-day-old,
smuggled video clip of Serb atrocities from his home. At least 100 men
from Velika Krusa were executed. It was later reported that Russian
paramilitary were in the front line of the killing.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A12)(SFC, 6/22/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 3, NATO dropped bombs in
downtown Belgrade and struck the Serbian Internal Ministry buildings
near the Sava River.
(SFC, 4/3/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 3, Montenegro announced
that over 31,000 Kosovar Albanians had entered the country since NATO
assaults began and that it was facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 4, NATO dropped more
bombs on downtown Belgrade and said that it would send some 8,000
troops into Albania to help Kosovo refugees. The Freedom Bridge over
the Danube at Novi Sad was destroyed. The US announced that it would
send 24 Apache helicopter gunships to attack Serbian troops and tanks
in Kosovo. Some 30,000 refugees crossed into Albania in the last
24-hour period. Shipping on the Danube was not fully restored until
2002.
(SFEC, 4/4/99, p.A1,12)(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A1,10)(SSFC,
2/3/02, Par p.7)
1999 Apr 4, Bexhet Ahmeti
witnessed Serb militiamen shoot and burn 5 Kosovars.
(SFC, 4/21/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 5, NATO attacks struck
Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad in the most ferocious attacks to date. The
first Kosovo refugees were flown out to Norway and Turkey and the US
said it would take some 20,000 to Guantanamo Ari Base in Cuba. Pres.
Clinton asked for public donations for the relief effort.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1,8)
1999 Apr 5, Serbia said a dozen
civilians were killed by NATO bombs at Aleksinac.
(WSJ, 4/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 6, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic announced a unilateral Easter ceasefire through to Sunday.
NATO rejected the proposal and escalated its aerial bombardment on
Serbian forces and supplies.
(SFC, 4/7/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A7)
1999 Apr 6, A submerged truck in
the Danube at Kladovo was found to contain the dozens of decomposed
corpses that included women, children and old people. Police took the
bodies and blew up the truck. The bodies were found in 2001 in a mass
grave at a police training camp in Batajnica, a Belgrade suburb.
(SFC, 6/1/01, p.D4)(SFC, 6/14/01, p.A14)
1999 Apr 7, Heavy NATO bombing
reportedly killed 10 civilians in Pristina, Kosovo. The Provincial
Executive Council Building, which housed the offices of Zoran
Andjelkovic, Kosovo's top Serbian official, were was hit by bombs.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.AQ10)
1999 Apr 7, Yugoslav forces sealed
the Morini border with Albania and the border at Macedonia and told
refugees to return home.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A7)
1999 Apr 7, The US State Dept.
made public a list of Serb commanders whose names were to be sent to
the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 8, NATO bombing in
Yugoslavia blocked freighter and barge traffic on the Danube.
(SFC, 4/9/99, p.A17)
1999 Apr 8, Serbia said it had
ended its Kosovo offensive and was allowing refugees to return home.
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 8, In Kacanik, Kosovo, a
Serbian firefight with the KLA left 17 people dead.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 9, NATO forces made air
strikes across Yugoslavia on Orthodox Good Friday. Military industrial
plants, fuel depots and communications facilities were hit. Reports of
the rape and murder of 20 ethnic Albanian women at an army training
camp near Djakovica was reported. The car and small arms factory at
Kragujevac was bombed and 100 workers were reported injured. The
Zastava plant in Kragujevac, where the Yugo car was made, was hit by 20
missiles over 2 days and 36,000 workers were put out of work.
(SFC, 4/10/99, p.A1,13)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A7)(SFC,
5/20/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 9, In Kacanik Yugoslav
troops massacred a number of ethnic Albanians. When NATO troops arrive
in June they found new graves with 81 markers.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 10, Serbia allowed some
1,500 refugees from Vragolija to leave Kosovo for Albania. Some 4,000
refugees crossed into Albania.
(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.A14,26)
1999 Apr 10, The US announced that
82 more warplanes were being shipped to join the NATO campaign in
Yugoslavia. It was reported that half Yugoslavia's most modern planes
had been destroyed.
(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 10, KLA fighters ambushed
and killed Vidomir Salipur, a Serb paramilitary head of a local Black
Hand group. Salipur was implicated in numerous brutalities and the
execution of dozens of ordinary citizens.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A6)
1999 Apr 11, In Belgrade, Serbia,
Slavko Curuvija, the owner of a prominent opposition newspaper, Dnevni
Telegraf (Daily Telegraph), was shot and killed by 2 gunmen. The secret
police was suspect in the slaying.
(SFC, 4/12/99, p.A14)(SFC, 11/1/00, p.A20)
1999 Apr 11, NATO restrained
bombing over the Orthodox Easter but struck at least 50 targets in
Kosovo alone. 3 Serbian civilians were reported killed.
(SFC, 4/12/99, p.A13)
1999 Apr 12, NATO allies
considered establishing a protectorate to shield Kosovo from Yugoslav
forces. Senior commander Gen'l. Wesley Clark asked the Pentagon for 300
more warplanes. NATO bombs hit a train car at a railroad bridge over
the Juzna Morava River and 10 were killed and 16 injured.
(SFC, 4/13/99, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/13/99, p.A1)(SFC,
4/14/99, p.A13)(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A7)
1999 Apr 12, Yugoslavia's federal
parliament voted to join a political alliance with Russia and Belarus.
Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister of Russia, endorsed the proposal, but
the alliance existed for the most part only on paper.
(WSJ, 4/13/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 12, NATO bombs destroyed
the October 14 heavy machinery manufacturing plant in the Krusevac
region.
(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.A28)
1999 Apr 13, NATO bombs were
dropped on Pristina. Yugoslav infantry troops crossed into northeastern
Albania for a short time and clashed with Albanian border police.
Refugees in Albania reported gang-rapes and murders by Serbian soldiers.
(SFC, 4/14/99, p.A1,13)
1999 Apr 13, Aleksandar Vukovic, a
Serbian soldier, died from bullet wounds in northern Kosovo. His father
in 1999 rejected a war decoration from the Milosevic government and
blamed Milosevic for the loss of 75 young men over 10 years from
Kraljevo.
(SFC, 12/24/99, p.A17)
1999 Apr 14, NATO warplanes
mistakenly struck refugee vehicles and some 60-75 ethnic Albanians were
reported killed near Djakovica in Kosovo. NATO acknowledged the next
day that a civilian vehicle had been hit and broadcast a taped
interview with the US pilot who carried out the mission. A week later
NATO acknowledged that 2 separate groups of vehicles were hit.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/16/99, p.A1,16)(SFC,
4/20/99, p.A6)
1999 Apr 14, Some 3,000 refugees
reached the border of Macedonia and another 7,000 were expected.
Another 3,000 arrived in Albania. An estimated 18,000 were making their
way to Montenegro. Over the last 3 weeks 305,000 arrived in Albania,
121,000 in Macedonia, and 61,000 in Montenegro.
(SFC, 4/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 14, Serbian police forced
families from Popovic St. in Mitrovica. The men were separated from
their families and 26 were executed and dumped 10 miles away in Zvecan.
4 suspects were later arrested by French peacekeepers.
(SFC, 9/28/99, p.A13)
1999 Apr 15, NATO bombed TV
transmitters, military installations and bridges throughout Yugoslavia.
Military targets in Montenegro were struck as was the city of Subotica,
near the Hungarian border.
(SFC, 4/16/99, p.A19)
1999 Apr 16, Thousands of refugees
poured out of Kosovo as NATO blasted oil refineries, military barracks
and airports around Yugoslavia. At least 5,000 refugees crossed into
Macedonia, and 8,000 into Albania. Some 100,000 were believed to be
enroute to Macedonia.
(SFC, 4/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 16, Serbian
paramilitaries killed 15 people in the Kosovo town of Silovi. 16 people
in the village of Sloviniya were killed by some 80 paramilitary troops.
(SFC, 4/26/99, p.A12)(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 17, NATO forces launched
the 25th night of bombing against Yugoslavia in the strongest attacks
thus far.
(SFEC, 4/18/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 17, Some 50 paramilitary
troops killed 7 people at the village of Gornja Brnjica.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 18, NATO bombers hit
refineries, bridges and other targets in the 25th straight day of
attacks and the heaviest strikes to date. 70% of fuel storage
capability was now destroyed and Yugoslavia no longer had the ability
to refine oil. In Pancevo a refinery, fertilizer plant and
American-built petrochemical complex were destroyed and a dense toxic
cloud was released with potential long term consequences. Pancevo’s
industrial zone was bombed over 20 times within a 2-month period and
created an environmental disaster.
(SFC, 4/19/99, p.A1,8)(SFC, 7/6/99, p.A8)(AP,
4/18/00)(SFC, 8/11/00, p.A14)
1999 Apr 18, Yugoslav troops
crossed into Montenegro and opened fire on a column of ethnic Albanian
refugees near Rozaje. At least 6 people were killed.
(SFC, 4/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 18, In Magura 25 local
Albanians were slaughtered by Serbs who included Slavisa Dukic (38), a
local neighbor.
(SFC, 6/23/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 19, Yugoslav authorities
shut down the Morini border crossing to Albania. NATO bombing continued
and a Serb government headquarters building in Novi Sad was badly
damaged. An estimated 500,000 to 850,000 ethnic Albanians remained were
still inside Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/20/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/20/99, A1)
1999 Apr 19, In Hallac 20 Albanian
men were killed by Serb paramilitaries. 11 were shot in a vacant lot
and 9 were killed in their homes. They were buried in a mass grave and
later reburied individually just before NATO forces moved into Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/14/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 20, NATO bombing
continued in Yugoslavia. The UN refugee agency in Macedonia declared
its camps full beyond capacity and left 2,000 to 3,000 refugees at the
border. Another few thousand crossed the border to the hamlet of
Milana. The border with Albania was again opened but only a few crossed
over.
(SFC, 4/21/99, p.A1,10)
1999 Apr 20, Serbian authorities
arrested Dr. Flora Brovina (50), founder of the League of Albanian
Women, in Pristina. Her league provided food, clothing and medical
supplies to the KLA. In Dec Brovina was convicted and sentenced in Nis
to 12 years in prison for abetting terrorism.
(SFC, 12/10/99, p.D6)
1999 Apr 21, NATO warplanes hit a
Serbian refugee camp near Djakovica. 4 Serbs were reported killed in
the camp where 200-300 Serb refugees from the Krajina region lived. A
NATO spokesman said NATO planes were not operating in that area. NATO
bombs hit transmitters for radio and TV along with other business and
party offices of people close to Milosevic.
(SFC, 4/22/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 21, The EU prepared an
oil embargo against Yugoslavia.
(WSJ, 4/22/99, A1)
1999 Apr 22, An early morning
missile hit the home of Pres. Milosevic at 15 Uzicke St. in Belgrade.
NATO bombs also hit the Serbian TV station in Belgrade and killed 15-16
people. Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin after meeting with Pres.
Milosevic in Belgrade said Milosevic would accept an int'l. presence in
Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/23/99, p.A1,18)(USAT, 4/23/99, p.1A)(SFC,
4/24/00, p.A12)
1999 Apr 23, Yugoslav Foreign
Minister Zivadin Jovanovic ruled out allowing armed foreign soldiers to
enforce a peace agreement in Kosovo.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 23, NATO forces bombed
Nis and a broad swath of Yugoslavia on the 31st day of attacks. 16
civilians were killed and 16 others injured during the attack on the
headquarters and studios of Radio Television Serbia in central
Belgrade. In 2009 Amnesty International demanded that NATO be held
accountable for civilian casualties in the bombing.
(SFC, 4/24/99, p.A11)(AP, 4/23/09)
1999 Apr 24, In Belgrade a Nato
cruise missile struck the building housing Radio-Television Serbia and
16 young employees were killed. The director was charged in 2001 for
allowing the workers to die when he knew the station would be hit.
(SFC, 10/24/01, p.C2)
1999 Apr 24, NATO approved a new
strategic concept in Washington that allowed the use of military force
to prevent the abuse of human rights anywhere in Europe. NATO also
announced plans for an around-the-clock war along with Yugoslavia and
an effort to choke off oil supplies from the Adriatic. Damage to
Yugoslavia was estimated to have reached $100 billion.
(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.A1,21,28)
1999 Apr 25, NATO airstrikes in
Yugoslavia destroyed the last bridge in Novi Sad along with other
targets in northern and central Serbia. The KLA staged a new conference
in Kukes and pleaded anew for a battlefield alliance with NATO.
(SFC, 4/26/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 26, Pres. Milosevic met
with Red Cross Pres. Cornelio Sommuraga and said the Red Cross may
return to Kosovo and "go anywhere." Sommuraga met briefly with the 3
captive Americans and said they were ok.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A1,6)
1999 Apr 27, A NATO bomb missed a
targeted army barracks and killed at 20 people, half of them children,
in a residential area of Surdulica, Serbia.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A10)(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 27, Up to 5,000 ethnic
Albanians entered Macedonia and many more were said to be following.
Another 2,000 entered at the Lojane border post.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 27, Near the
town of Meja Yugoslav troops executed over 100 men from a caravan of
fleeing refugees. A later estimate said 100-300 men were killed.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A14)(SFC, 6/17/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 27, In Korenica a rebel
ambush killed 7 Serbs.
(SFC, 6/16/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 28, Yugoslav Pres.
Milosevic fired Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Draskovic.
(SFC, 4/28/99, p.A14)
1999 Apr 28, In Korenica Serb
forces retaliated for an ambush and executed every man over 16 that
they could find. 155 unarmed men, women and children were killed.
(SFC, 6/16/99, p.A12)
1999 Apr 29, Rev. Jesse Jackson
and a delegation of religious leaders arrived in Belgrade to talk with
Pres. Milosevic concerning the release of 3 captured Americans.
(SFC, 4/30/99, p.A13)
1999 Apr 29, NATO jets struck
Yugoslav army headquarters in Belgrade and the federal interior
ministry. A telecommunications tower was hit and knocked Serbian TV off
the air.
(SFC, 4/30/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 30, In Belgrade a 5.5
earthquake struck. Later in the day Jesse Jackson met with the 3
captured Americans and planned to meet with Pres. Milosevic for their
release. In an interview Pres. Milosevic pronounced that his countrymen
were willing to died to defend their rights.
(SFC, 5/1/99, p.A1,6)
1999 Apr 30, NATO undertook over
600 sorties and strikes in Montenegro and Kosovo reportedly killed 13
people.
(SFC, 5/1/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 30, Serbian forces began
a forced evacuation of Prizren and 10,000 people crossed the border to
Albania.
(SFC, 5/1/99, p.A6)
1999 May 1, Pres. Clinton imposed
a trade embargo on Serbia that excepted only food and medicine.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A3)
1999 May 1, Pres. Milosevic
ordered the release of 3 captive Americans following the appeal of Rev.
Jesse Jackson.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A1)
1999 May 1, A NATO strike on a
bridge in Kosovo, 12 miles north of Pristina, hit a civilian bus and
killed between 34 and 60 people including 15 children.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A17)
1999 May 2, A US F-16 went down
over western Serbia on the 39th night of air strikes. Allied forces
rescued the pilot.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A3)
1999 May 2, Yugoslav authorities
released the 3 captive Americans in Serbia after 32 days in captivity.
(SFEC, 5/2/99, p.A1)
1999 May 2, NATO bombings struck
the Obrenovac power plant in Belgrade and blacked out large areas of
Serbia. A soft bomb (KIT-18) sprayed graphite over the power station
and shorted its circuits. A metalworks factory in Valjevo was hit and
missile hit Mitrovica where one woman was killed and several civilians
wounded.
(SFC, 5/3/99, p.A12)(SFC, 5/4/99, p.D1)
1999 May 2, Serbian police
ambushed a convoy of ethnic Albanians near Studime and 109 people were
killed.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A12)(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A14)
1999 May 3, Pres. Clinton said
that he would support a bombing pause if he was convinced that the
Yugoslav crackdown on Kosovo guerrillas and civilians was ending and
that Serbian forces were being withdrawn.
(SFC, 5/4/99, p.A1)
1999 May 4, Allied forces bombed
fixed and mobile targets and downed a Yugoslav MigG-29. The US
considered freeing 2 prisoners of war and another 5,000 refugees
crossed into Albania.
(SFC, 5/5/99, p.A12)
1999 May 5, Western allies and
Russia outlined an accord for "an international civil and security
presence" in Kosovo under a UN mandate following the withdrawal of
Serbian forces.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A1)
1999 May 5, NATO strategists were
reported to have a plan to send 60,000 ground troops into Kosovo around
July to take the province from retreating Serbs. Their original plan
called for 28,000 soldiers to supervise an interim peace settlement.
(WSJ, 5/5/99, p.A3)(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A12)
1999 May 5, Ibrahim Rugova,
prominent Albanian leader, flew to Rome with the permission of Yugoslav
authorities for talks with Premier Massimo D'Alema and foreign Minister
Lamberto Dini.
(SFC, 5/6/99, p.A13)
1999 May 6, Russia joined NATO to
back a framework for ending the conflict in Kosovo that included an
international security presence to enforce peace.
(SFC, 5/7/99, p.A1)
1999 May 6, Electricity was
restored in Belgrade as NATO air strikes continued in Yugoslavia. A
main railroad bridge was destroyed near the Romanian border and oil
depots in Nis were hit.
(SFC, 5/7/99, p.A15)
1999 May 7, NATO bombs hit a
residential area in Nis and at least 15 people were killed and 60
wounded. NATO bombs hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and 3 people
were killed and 21 injured. An outdated map was blamed for the embassy
bombing. The British Observer later reported that NATO bombed the
Embassy because it was being used to transmit Yugoslav military
communications. British, NATO and US officials denied the story. In
2000 the US CIA fired one officer and reprimanded 6 others for the
bombing.
(SFC, 5/8/99, p.A1,10)(SFC, 5/10/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
10/18/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 4/9/00, p.A1,15)
1999 May 7, In Djakovica a Russian
paramilitary led 8 local Serbs into the home of Dren Lohani. His
father, uncle and a neighbor were then shot and killed.
(SFC, 6/22/99, p.A11)
1999 May 9, NATO struck artillery
and mortar positions along with armored vehicles and Serbian troops in
Kosovo.
(SFC, 5/10/99, p.A8)
1999 May 9, Serbian forces, known
as MUPS, began a 3-day sweep in Djakovica. At the end of NATO bombing
some 700 men of the area were still unaccounted for.
(SFC, 6/24/99, p.A10)
1999 May 9, Rexhep Emerllahu (27),
an ethnic Albanian, was killed in Gnjilane, Kosovo. In 2000 Milos Jokic
(21), a Serb student, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the
killing of Emerllahu and for ordering the killing of another Albanian
and raping an Albanian woman.
(SFC, 9/21/00, p.C4)
1999 May 10, The Yugoslav army
announced that it had completed its operations against the KLA and had
begun a partial withdrawal from Kosovo.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A1)
1999 May 10, NATO announced that
it would begin launching strikes from Turkey and Hungary in addition to
current launch sites in Western Europe, the US and carriers in the
Adriatic.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A10)
1999 May 10, A US State Dept.
report, "Erasing History: Ethnic Cleansing in Kosovo," based on refugee
accounts suggested that Serbian forces had killed over 4,000 Kosovars.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A10)
1999 May 10, In Belgrade the
government claimed that the refugees coming out of Kosovo in the 1st
ten days of the war were 3000-4000 ethnic Albanians paid by the US and
NATO to march in a circle from Macedonia to Albania and Montenegro and
back to Kosovo. Belgrade also opened a legal offensive and asked the
World Court to stop NATO air attacks.
(SFC, 5/11/99, p.A10)
1999 May 11, NATO bombings
continued with strikes against radio and TV towers, oil storage tanks,
bridges and army barracks.
(SFC, 5/12/99, p.A7)
1999 May 12, NATO continued
airstrikes for the 50th day of its campaign against Yugoslavia. 327
strike missions were flown. Pres. Milosevic acknowledged that his
military had suffered casualties.
(SFC, 5/13/99, p.A1,9)
1999 May 13, In Yugoslavia 120
troops were withdrawn from Kosovo in front of cameras and reporters.
(SFC, 5/14/99, p.A14)
1999 May 13, NATO bombs struck a
group of some 500 refugees in Korisa (Kosovo) and at least 79 people
were killed. Some 700 hundreds refugees had been locked up by the Serbs
inside the grounds of a warehouse in Korisa.
(SFC, 5/15/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/31/99, p.A8)
1999 May 14, In Kosovo
paramilitary fighters looted homes and killed 41 ethnic Albanian
civilians in the village of Cuska. In 2002 Fred Abrahams and Eric
Stover authored “A Village Destroyed, May 14, 1999: War Crimes in
Kosovo.” In 2010 9 men, suspected in the killings in Cuska, were
detained and indicted by Serbian police.
(AP,
3/13/10)(www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9685.php)(Reuters, 9/11/10)
1999 May 17, In Yugoslavia Pres.
Milosevic allowed a UN team into Kosovo for the first time. Serb forces
meanwhile blocked ethnic Albanians from fleeing.
(WSJ, 5/18/99, p.A1)
1999 May 18, The US military in
Germany released 2 Serb prisoners.
(SFC, 5/18/99, p.A8)
1999 May 18, Pres. Clinton
declared for the first time that he would consider ground troops in
Kosovo if he becomes convinced that the NATO bombing strategy would not
bring victory.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A10)
1999 May 18, NATO missiles hit at
least 4 cities in Yugoslavia and one woman was reported killed and 12
injured. Some 1000 ethnic Albanians crossed into Macedonia.
(SFC, 5/19/99, p.A14)
1999 May 20, NATO bombs struck a
hospital in Belgrade and 4 people were killed.
(SFC, 5/21/99, p.A12)
1999 May 21, NATO forces bombed
the Dubrava prison near Istok and 19 inmates and guards were killed.
NATO said the facility was used as military barracks. NATO also
mistakenly bombed a KLA base in Kosare that had been seized 6 weeks
earlier and 7 KLA fighters were killed and 25 wounded.
(SFC, 5/22/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 5/23/99, p.A8)
1999 May 22, NATO bombed the
Kolubara power plant 20 miles from Belgrade, which supplied most of the
power to Belgrade and northern Serbia.
(SFEC, 5/23/99, p.A8)
1999 May 23, Some 14,000 ethnic
Albanians crossed the border from Kosovo to Macedonia in the last 2
days.
(SFC, 5/24/99, p.A12)
1999 May 24, In Yugoslavia 2
opposition parties urged Pres. Milosevic to strike a deal over Kosovo.
Russian diplomat Chernomyrdin said the bombing had caused $100 billion
in damage.
(SFC, 5/25/99, p.A1)
1999 May 25, NATO approved plans
for 50,000 ground soldiers to move into Kosovo.
(SFC, 5/26/99, p.A10)
1999 May 25, As many as 150,000
Kosovo refugees were reportedly bound for Macedonia.
(SFC, 5/26/99, p.A10)
1999 May 26, NATO military
commanders won political approval to strike at the civilian telephone
and computer networks of Yugoslavia. Warplanes carried out a record 650
sorties with 284 bombing attacks.
(SFC, 5/27/99, p.C18)
1999 May 26, Eutelsat, a European
satellite consortium, cut off TV broadcasts by RTS, Serbian Radio
Television. The move deprived Western broadcasters of their main source
of video from Serbia.
(WSJ, 5/27/99, p.A21)
1999 May 26, In Kosovo the KLA
launched an offensive to open a 2nd supply corridor on the NW border of
Albania.
(SFC, 5/28/99, p.A16)
1999 May 26, Serbian military
fired over 30 missiles at NATO warplanes which had begun flying at
lower altitudes to strike tanks, artillery and ground troops.
(WSJ, 5/28/99, p.A15)
1999 May 27, The Int'l. War Crimes
Tribunal at the Hague announced an indictment against Pres. Milosevic
and 4 senior aides for atrocities and mass deportations and multiple
counts of crimes against humanity. Also indicted were: Milan
Milutinovic, president of Serbia; Vlajko Stojilkovic, Serbian interior
minister; Nikola Sainovic, deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia; and
Gen'l. Dragoljub Ojdanic, chief of staff of the Yugoslav army. Sainovic
surrendered in 2002.
(SFC, 5/27/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/28/99, p.A1)(SFC,
5/2/02, p.A11)
1999 May 28, In Yugoslavia Viktor
Chernomyrdin declared the Yugoslav president key to a Kosovo peace plan
despite complications caused by his indictment for war crimes. It was
reported that Pres. Milosevic had agreed to the general principles of a
peace settlement following a nine hour long discussion with the Russian
envoy.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, p.A8)(AP, 5/28/00)
1999 May 30, NATO warplanes bombed
a bridge in Varvarin, Serbia, and 9 civilians were reported killed and
28 wounded. A convoy of Western journalists was also hit and a driver
was killed.
(SFC, 5/31/99, p.A1)
1999 May 31, NATO missiles killed
at least 26 people in separate attacks. In Novi Pazar an apartment
block was struck and 10 people were killed. At least 16 people were
killed on the outskirts of Surdulica, when missiles hit a hospital and
retirement complex.
(SFC, 6/1/99, p.A1,7)
1999 cMay, The bodies of up to
1500 ethnic Albanians were burned in a blast furnace at the Trepca lead
smelter just before NATO troops arrived in Kosovo. Men involved in the
clandestine operation made the information public in 2001.
(SFC, 1/26/01, p.A14)(WSJ, 1/26/00, p.A1)
1999 May, Chinese hackers broke in
and vandalized American government websites in retaliation for the May
7 American aircraft bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The
White House website closed for three days.
(Econ, 5/26/07, p.64)
1999 Jun 1, A peace plan for
Kosovo was carried to Pres. Milosevic by Finnish Pres. Martti
Ahtisaari. The plan was negotiated Strobe Talbott (53), US deputy Sec.
of State, Marti Ahtisaari (61), President of Finland, and Viktor
Chernomyrdin, special Russian envoy.
(SFC, 6/2/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A10)
1999 Jun 3, Pres. Milosevic agreed
to end the Kosovo conflict on the 72nd day of bombing. The key elements
included: an end to fighting in Kosovo; a quick and verifiable
withdrawal of Yugoslav and Serb forces; deployment a security force
"with essential NATO participation;" disarmament of the KLA; and the
safe return of ethnic Albanian refugees. Separately it was
reported that over 5,000 members of the Yugoslav security forces had
been killed by NATO air strikes.
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A1,11)
1999 Jun 4, NATO commanders met
with Yugoslav army officers in Macedonia to arrange for the withdrawal
of some 40,000 Serbian troops from Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/5/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 6, NATO officials failed
to reach an agreement with Yugoslav military officers on withdrawal
plans from Kosovo. Bombing continued on Yugoslav army positions near
the Albania-Kosovo border.
(SFC, 6/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 7, NATO dropped cluster
bombs on an estimated 800-1,200 Yugoslav troops near the
Kosovo-Albanian border. An estimated 650 sorties were flown in the last
24 hours.
(SFC, 6/9/99, p.A8)
1999 Jun 8, The G8 agreed to the
context of a UN Security Council resolution to end the conflict in
Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 9, The Pentagon revealed
aerial photographs that indicated the destruction of evidence of Serb
atrocities in Kosovo. Some 143 graves at Izbica where 270 residents
were reported killed, appeared to have been obliterated.
(USAT, 6/10/99, p.10A)(HN, 6/11/99)
1999 Jun 9, Yugoslav and Western
generals signed a military agreement to end the 78-day NATO air war
against Yugoslavia based on a demonstrable withdrawal of Yugoslav
forces from Kosovo and a complete pullout in 11 days.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.A1)(SFC, 10/6/00, p.A19)
1999 Jun 10, NATO suspended its
bombing of Kosovo after Yugoslav troops began withdrawing. Rebuilding
Kosovo was estimated at $5 billion. Rebuilding all of Yugoslavia was
estimated at $20-100 billion.
(SFC, 6/11/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 10, Pres. Milosevic
appeared on Serbian TV and said that 462 soldiers and 114 police
officers had been killed in the NATO bombing.
(SFC, 6/11/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 10, Some 1,860 prisoners
were brought to Serbia from Kosovo.
(SFEC, 7/11/99, p.A20)
1999 Jun 11, Cheering residents of
Prokuplje, Kosovo, throw flowers onto several dozen Yugoslav army
vehicles heading out of the province as NATO troops massed across the
border in Macedonia.
(AP, 6/11/03)
1999 Jun 11, Serb civilians began
leaving Kosovo in fear of the transition period under NATO.
(SFC, 6/12/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 12, NATO troops began
entering Kosovo. They reached Pristina and confronted Russian soldiers
over control of the airport. A Russian armored column entered Pristina
before dawn to a heroes' welcome from Serb residents. 2 Serbs were
killed and a German soldier was wounded as peacekeepers moved into
Kosovo. 2 German journalists were killed near Stimlje by sniper fire.
(SFEC, 6/13/99, p.A1)(SFC, 6/14/99, p.A1)(AP,
6/12/04)
1999 Jun 13, NATO soldiers shot
dead two armed men as peacekeepers tried to contain new violence in
Kosovo; Russian troops, meanwhile, blocked British troops from entering
the airport in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo.
(AP, 6/13/00)
1999 Jun 14, UN Sec. Gen'l. Kofi
Annan unveiled a UN peace-building plan for Kosovo giving European
organizations primary responsibility for reconstruction.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.A12)
1999 Jun 15, In Serbia the
Orthodox Church called for Pres. Milosevic to resign. Serb officials
said 20 Serbs had been killed or kidnapped in Pristina. The exodus of
refugees from Macedonia to Kosovo accelerated.
(SFC, 6/16/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/16/99, p.A20)
1999 Jun 16, US Marines in Kosovo
disarmed 116 members of the KLA.
(WSJ, 6/17/99, p.A21)
1999 Jun 18, NATO peacekeepers
took 25 KLA members into custody after finding 15 Gypsy prisoners they
had mistreated. Serb media reported that KLA fighters had killed 3
Serbs in Novo Selo and kidnapped 18 Serbs near Pristina.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A10)
1999 Jun 18, The US and Russia
agreed on terms for Russian participation in Kosovo peacekeeping.
(SFC, 6/19/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 19, NATO reached a
tentative agreement with leaders of the KLA for the rebel force to
gradually disarm, disband and cease military activities in 30 days.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 20, The last Serbian
officer left Kosovo. Pres. Milosevic urged the Serbs of Kosovo to stay
in Kosovo under NATO protection.
(SFC, 6/21/99, p.A1,7)
1999 Jun 21, In Kosovo 2 soldiers
of the British Nepalese Gurkha force and 2 civilians were killed as
ammunition was being cleared in Negrovce. Refugee Serbs demonstrated
against Milosevic for abandoning them in Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/22/99, p.A1,11)
1999 Jun 21, NATO finalized an
agreement with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to demilitarize.
(SFC, 6/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 22, In Pristina hundreds
of Roma, Kosovo Gypsies, fled the city under intimidation by ethnic
Albanians.
(SFC, 6/23/99, p.A10)
1999 Jun 23, US Marines at a
checkpoint in Zegra killed one Serb and wounded 2 others after being
fired upon.
(SFC, 6/24/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 24, The US offered a $5
million reward for help in the arrest of Pres. Milosevic. US plans to
oust Pres. Milosevic included the encouragement for a coup; financial
support for the opposition; covert action; a freeze on assets;
propaganda; and reconstruction aid for the area excluding Serbia.
(WSJ, 6/25/99, p.A1)(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A17,19)
1999 Jun 25, It was reported that
Hashim Thaci had named a government for Kosovo with himself as prime
minister. Xhavit Haliti was assigned as Thaci's ambassador to Albania.
They were reported to be forming an internal security network with
secret police from Albania to silence dissenters in Kosovo.
(SFC, 6/25/99, p.A10,12)
1999 Jun 25, US Marines killed one
person following an attack southeast of Pristina.
(SFC, 6/26/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 26, NATO reopened the
main airport in Kosovo, 10 miles west of Pristina. The first flight was
a Russian cargo plane.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A20)
1999 Jun 26, In southern Serbia 3
Albanian-American brothers Illy, Mehmet and Agron Bytyqi, strayed
outside of Kosovo's unmarked boundary and were arrested. They spent 15
days in a Serb jail for illegally crossing the border, and upon their
release were taken to eastern Serbia and allegedly summarily executed.
In 2001 their bodies were found bound and blindfolded in a trash-filled
mass grave near the training camp’s fence. They had left their New York
pizza business in 1999 to join Kosovo rebels fighting for secession
from Serbia. In 2009 a Serbian war crimes court acquitted two former
Serb policemen of collaborating in the execution-style slaying.
(AP, 6/11/09)(AP, 9/22/09)
1999 Jun 27, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians burned and looted the village of Belo Polje. KLA men raped
and killed a mentally ill Serbian woman.
(SFC, 6/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Jun 28, In Kosovo KLA rebels
handed over weapons to NATO troops. At the same time hundreds of
Albanians, fired a decade ago by Milosevic, demanded their state jobs
back.
(SFC, 6/29/99, p.A8)
1999 Jul 2, In Serbia 5,000 people
demonstrated against Pres. Milosevic in Novi Sad.
(SFC, 7/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Jul 3, In Kosovo British NATO
troops killed 2 ethnic Albanians and wounded 2 others during a street
celebration marking the 9th anniversary of Kosovo's unrecognized
declaration of independence.
(SFEC, 7/4/99, p.A15)
1999 Jul 5-7, In Leskovac as many
as 10,000 demonstrators called for the resignation of Zivojin
Stefanovic, commissioner of the Jablanica region.
(WSJ, 7/9/99, p.A12)
1999 Jul 6, In Yugoslavia some
10,000 people demonstrated against Pres. Milosevic in Uzice despite
attempts by the police to stop them.
(SFC, 7/7/99, p.A8)
1999 Jul 8, In Yugoslavia some
4,000 protested against Pres. Milosevic in Prokupje.
(SFC, 7/9/99, p.A12)
1999 Jul 9, In Kosovo NATO
peacekeepers identified a site in Ljubenic containing the remains of as
many as 350 victims.
(SFC, 7/10/99, p.A10)
1999 Jul 10, American troops
killed Afrim Gagica and another person in southeastern Kosovo. The
killing was only acknowledged in 2000 after a Serb and his 2 sons faced
trial for the killing.
(SFC, 7/22/00, p.C1)
1999 Jul 12, In Serbia some 7,000
people protested against Pres. Milosevic in Valjevo.
(WSJ, 7/13/99, p.A1)
1999 Jul 15, Ibrahim Rugova
returned to Kosovo following a self imposed exile. He left for Rome
hours later and returned again Jul 30.
(SFC, 7/16/99, p.A10)(SFC, 7/31/99, p.A6)
1999 Jul 16, A NATO memorandum
warned soldiers and workers of a "possible toxic threat" from the use
depleted uranium ordnance used by the US during the air campaign across
Yugoslavia. The "hazard awareness" document was not released and was
not made public until 2001.
(SFC, 1/8/01, p.A9)(SFC, 1/9/01, p.A14)
1999 Jul 23, In Kosovo 14 Serb
farmers were found shot dead near the village of Gracko.
(SFC, 7/24/99, p.A9)
1999 Jul 24, A mass grave of 11
Serbs was found near Gnjilane. 4 other victims were found nearby but
reports of the graves were delayed to Aug.
(SFC, 8/27/99, p.D2)
1999 Jul, Bernard Kouchner arrived
in Kosovo as the UN official in charge. He served as the virtual czar
until Jan 2001 and was succeeded by Hans Haekkerup, a former Danish
defense minister.
(SSFC, 1/14/01, p.D2)
1999 Aug 2, In Belgrade, Serbia,
an independent group of experts laid out "The Stability Pact for
Serbia," a plan for a transitional government. In Valjevo some 8,000
rallied for the resignation of Milosevic.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A8)
1999 Aug 2, In Kosovo thousands of
Albanian students and professors reclaimed Pristina Univ.
(SFC, 8/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Aug 5, Montenegro proposed
changes to its relationship with Serbia that would dissolve Yugoslavia
and replace it with a loose association.
(SFC, 8/6/99, p.A12)
1999 Aug 6, In Serbia Pres.
Milosevic addressed the Diaspora 99 conference in an effort to get
financial support from wealthy Serb émigrés. The economy
was reported to have suffered $30 billion in damages from 11 weeks of
war, but not much in assistance was forthcoming.
(WSJ, 8/9/99, p.A14)
1999 Aug 7, In Kosovo French
troops kept ethnic Albanians away from Serbs on the Ibar River bridge
at the Kosovska Mitrovica mining center. In Vrbas, Serbia, some 2,000
people rallied against Pres. Milosevic.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A21)
1999 Aug 10, In Serbia Gen'l.
Momcilo Perisic (55) declared his leadership in the Movement for
Democratic Serbia.
(WSJ, 8/12/99, p.A12)
1999 Aug 12, Pres. Milosevic
reshuffled his cabinet, sacked 7 ministers and named 12 new ones. His
Socialist Party dominated the 27-member cabinet.
(WSJ, 8/13/99, p.A9)
1999 Aug 14, In Serbia Tomislav
Nikolic, the new vice premier, was quoted in Der Spiegel saying that
Milosevic should resign because he capitulated in Kosovo. Separately
Zoran Zivkovic said demonstrations on Aug 19 in Belgrade would give the
Milosevic regime 10-20 days to resign.
(SFEC, 8/15/99, p.A26)
1999 Aug 16, In Kosovo 2 Serbs
were killed in a mortar attack from an ethnic Albanian village.
(WSJ, 8/18/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 19, In Belgrade some
50-150 thousand people demonstrated against Pres. Slobodan Milosevic.
(SFC, 8/20/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 20, In Serbia leaders of
the Alliance for Change announced that they would give Pres. Milosevic
one month to resign and vowed to shut down the country with
demonstrations if he does not.
(SFC, 8/21/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 25, Police in Yugoslavia
said the bodies of 33 Gypsies fleeing from Kosovo were recovered off of
Montenegro and that as many as 100 may have drowned when their ship
sank last week.
(SFC, 8/26/99, p.A13)
1999 Sep 2, NATO and UN officials
agreed to the formation of a civilian emergency force in Kosovo from
the remnants of the KLA.
(SFC, 9/3/99, p.A9)
1999 Sep 3, In Kosovo the UN
announced that the German mark would be the official currency.
(SFC, 9/4/99, p.A13)
1999 Sep 6, Russian soldiers in
Ranilug killed 3 Serbs who fired on them and refused to stop beating 2
ethnic Albanians.
(SFC, 9/7/99, p.A12)
1999 Sep 8, Mortar rounds in
eastern Kosovo left 2 Serbs dead and 4 wounded.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Sep 9, In Serbia 2 grenades
exploded in a crowd of French troops and demonstrating Serbs at
Kosovska Mitrovica. 37 civilians and 8 French soldiers were injured.
(SFC, 9/11/99, p.A8)
1999 Sep 18, In Kosovo the KLA
rejected a NATO plan to transform it into a small civil defense groups
one day before the deadline for demobilization.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A20)
1999 Sep 20, In Kosovo NATO and
the KLA agreed on a transformation of the KLA into a civil defense
group named the Kosovo Protection Corps.
(SFC, 9/21/99, p.A10)
1999 Sep 21, In Serbia
demonstrations against Pres. Milosevic were led by the Alliance for
Change in Belgrade and 18 other cities with lower than expected turnout.
(SFC, 9/22/99, p.A16)
1999 Sep 22, Serbs quit the
multiethnic council working with the UN to administer Kosovo following
the establishment of the Kosovo Protection Corps out of the KLA.
(SFC, 9/23/99, p.A10)
1999 Sep 23, In Belgrade some 2
thousand high school students demonstrated against a government ban on
school trips abroad.
(SFC, 9/24/99, p.A17)
1999 Sep 24, In Serbia some 30,000
protested in Belgrade against Pres. Milosevic.
(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A14)
1999 Sep 26, In Serbia some 45,000
people marched against Pres. Milosevic in Belgrade.
(SFC, 9/27/99, p.A18)
1999 Sep 28, In Kosovo 2 grenades
exploded in a Serb marketplace in the Pristina suburb of Kosovo Polje
and 2 people were killed and 40 others injured.
(SFC, 9/29/99, p.A11)
1999 Sep 29, In Serbia some 25,000
protestors were dispersed by riot police in Belgrade as the crowd
headed toward the home of Pres. Milosevic.
(SFC, 9/30/99, p.D14)
1999 Sep 30, In Serbia police
clashed with some 40,000 protestors for a 2nd night in Belgrade.
(SFC, 10/1/99, p.D4)
1999 Sep, Experts at the Belgrade
Economic Sciences Institute warned that inflation in Serbia could reach
100% by the end of the year.
(WSJ, 9/21/99, p.A21)
1999 Oct 3, Veselin Boskovic, the
brother-in-law of former deputy PM Vuk Draskovic, was killed when a
truck swerved in front of a convoy of cars 25 miles southeast of
Belgrade. A 2nd car with bodyguards hit the truck and exploded. The
truck driver escaped. Draskovic was not injured and called the accident
an assassination attempt.
(WSJ, 10/7/99, p.A22)
1999 Oct 5, In Kosovo at least one
Serb was killed when ethnic Albanians attacked a Russian-Serb convoy.
The Albanians had gathered for the funeral of 18-28 countrymen found in
a mass grave the previous week.
(SFC, 10/6/99, p.C16)
1999 Oct 11, In Kosovo a UN
employee, Valentin Krumov (38) of Bulgaria, was beaten and shot to
death by a group of ethnic Albanian teenagers in Pristina.
(SFC, 10/13/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 15, In Kosovo Some 100
people were injured as they tried to force their way against NATO
forces across a bridge in Mitrovica to the Serb half of town.
(SFC, 10/16/99, p.A12)
1999 Oct 16, The 1st graduate
class of the Kosovo Police Service School was honored in Pristina.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, p.A21)
1999 Oct 26, A group of 306
Catholic Slavs, descendents of traders who came to Kosovo long ago from
Dubrovnik, left Kosovo for Croatia.
(SFC, 11/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Oct 27, In Pec, Kosovo,
Albanians attacked a convoy of Serbs trying to leave the province and
set vehicles afire. Several Serbs were missing.
(WSJ, 10/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Oct 27, Serb police seized a
large cache of forged dinars and claimed that a US sponsored "monetary
coup" was foiled.
(WSJ, 10/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 5, In Kosovo a rail
bridge was bombed in Kosovska Mitrovica just hours before a Serbian
passenger train was to pass across.
(SFEC, 11/7/99, p.A22)
1999 Nov 10, In Serbia allies of
Pres. Milosevic passed new laws aimed at curbing the authority of local
governments.
(SFC, 11/11/99, p.A18)
1999 Nov 12, In Serbia a World
Food Program flight crashed in northern Kosovo and all 24 aboard were
killed.
(SFC, 11/13/99, p.A10)
1999 Nov 23, Pres. Clinton spoke
in Kosovo and implored ethnic Albanians to abandon acts of revenge
against Serbs.
(SFC, 11/24/99, p.A16)
1999 Nov 29, In Kosovo ethnic
Albanians killed Dragoslav Basic (62) and attacked his wife and
mother-in-law during a night of festivities celebrating Kosovo's first
Flag Day since the ouster of Serbian forces. An ethnic Albanian (27)
was arrested in Dec. for the murder.
(SFC, 11/30/99, p.A14)(SFC, 12/28/99, p.A10)
1999 Dec 7, Serbian customs
officials released 14 tankers of heating fuel destined for the
opposition-controlled towns of Nis and Pirot.
(SFC, 12/8/99, p.A18)
1999 Dec 8, In Montenegro Serbian
troops occupied the main airport for one day. Montenegro had planned to
assume control of the airport Dec 9.
(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A18)(SFC, 12/10/99, p.D8)
1999 Dec 10, China signed a deal
to advance Belgrade some $300 million in cash and credits for
reconstruction.
(SFC, 12/11/99, p.C2)
1999 Dec 18, In Serbia Zoran
Vukicevic (38) was killed and 9 others wounded when gunmen opened fired
on the only Serb café in Orahovac. Vukicevic was at least the
146th Serb killed since NATO peacekeepers entered Kosovo.
(SFEC, 12/19/99, p.A29)
1999 Dec 24, Ignoring NATO
warnings, Serb tanks and troops struck an ethnic Albanian stronghold in
Kosovo.
(AP, 12/24/00)
1999 David Fromkin published
"Kosovo Crossing: American Ideals Meet Reality on the Balkan
Battlefields."
(WSJ, 8/3/99, p.A20)
1999 NATO acknowledged in 2000
that depleted uranium rounds were used during the 1999 Kosovo war
whenever American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged armored vehicles.
(SFC, 3/22/00, p.A14)
1999 In 2008 Carla Del Ponte,
former chief prosecutor at The Hague, alleged in a book that some
100-300 Kosovo Serbs were kidnapped this year and taken to Albania to
have their organs harvested. UN investigators found no substantial
evidence to support claims that ethnic Albanian guerrillas killed
dozens of Serbs in Kosovo and sold their organs.
(WSJ, 4/12/08, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/14/08, p.A13)(AP,
4/16/08)
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