In The News: Two Serbs shot dead in southern Kosovo

This is really sad news. The area around Strpce has seen periodic violence for a long time. A comparatively multi-ethnic town, it’s been the site of a number of killings in the last two years. The municipality in which I live has a large number of Serbs in and around it and there have been few, if any, acts of violence (with the exception of the March ’04 riots).

The foreign powers have outlined eight “Standards” which Kosova must meet if it wants to continue on to final status talks. Right now, the progress in reaching those standards are being carefully reviewed by international inspectors. One of the standards “freedoms of movement.” That is, the freedom of the population to move about freely without undue concern for their safety. These murders are a blow against freedom of movement and will certainly be held up as evidence that Kosova is not ready for additional autonomy.

Please pray for calm and for wisdom on the part of the national and international leaders here.

http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/08/two-serbs-shot-dead-in-southern-kosovo.html

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro (Reuters) - Two Serbs were killed and two wounded on Saturday night when their car was shot at in southern Kosovo, a local political leader and police sources said.

Serbs have been the target of frequent attacks in Kosovo by the ethnic Albanian majority since the end of the 1998-99 war, which led to the withdrawal of Serb forces from the southern Serbian province and the arrival of a U.N. administration.

The four Serb men were fired on from another car shortly after 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) as they drove near the town of Strpce near Kosovo's southern border with Macedonia, town mayor Stanko Rakovljevic told Reuters.

"They were shot at from a Mercedes which had followed them," he said. The Serbs were driving a car with the old "PR licence plates denoting Pristina, rather than the U.N.-imposed "KS" plates used by the ethnic Albanian majority.

A police source confirmed the killings. The condition of the two wounded men was not immediately clear.

The killings are the worst since a Serb teenager was shot dead in June last year in the Serb enclave of Gracanica, for which two ethnic Albanians have been charged.

It comes as a U.N. envoy prepares to submit a report next month on whether Kosovo has made enough progress on democracy and minority rights for negotiations to begin on its "final status".

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In The News: Serbia To Return Bodies Of 84 Ethnic Albanians To Kosovo

We regularly hear from UN friends, “Why can’t they (the Albanians) just get over it and move on?”  They are usually Americans or Europeans, who’s understanding of history is not much deeper than a pizza.  At any rate, this last month the Serbian government is returning 84 more bodies of Albanians killed in the war.  About every six months or so they “discover” a new batch of bodies.  These are then shipped back to Kosovo where the remains are claimed by the family members. 

Usually the are placed in a big tent, rows created from the cardboard boxes which each contain the remnants of a loved one.  Then weeping crowds of people walk through trying to recognize a rotting tennis shoe, a bloody shirt, some bone fragments…anything that might give them a clue as to the fate of their brothers, sisters, fathers or mothers.  So every six months or so, the scab is ripped open again for the nation to see.  At last count there are still over 3,400 Albanians missing.

It’s a little hard to get over.

 

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http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/08/serbia-to-return-bodies-of-84-ethnic.html

PRISTINA (AP)--Serbian authorities Wednesday were returning the bodies of 84 ethnic Albanians killed during the 1998-99 Kosovo war - the largest single return of war dead in the province.

The bodies, which were exhumed from a mass grave on the grounds of a police training center just outside Belgrade, will be handed over to their families and U.N. officials in the border area of Merdare, 25 miles north of the provincial capital, Pristina.

The remains are believed to be those of ethnic Albanian civilians killed by Serb forces during the war and removed from Kosovo in an apparent cover-up attempt by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. NATO launched a bombing campaign in 1999 to halt the crackdown of his troops on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Since then the province has been administered by the United Nations.

Authorities in Serbia said that, out of 836 bodies of Kosovo Albanians found in mass graves in Serbia, 566 had been identified and nearly 500 returned to their families. The remaining 270 bodies were expected to be identified by the end of the year.

The families have repeatedly demanded that all the war dead exhumed be returned immediately. Nearly 3,000 people were still listed as missing.

Hundreds of bodies recovered from mass graves in Kosovo and Serbia were to be identified through the matching of DNA from bone samples with that of the relatives of missing people.

Earlier this year, Serbian and Kosovo officials resumed talks aimed at establishing the fate of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and others who vanished during the war - one of the most sensitive and emotionally charged issues between the two former foes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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Breakfast with the Turks

Late last month we got some new neighbors, a Turkish policeman and his wife. This young couple just arrived to serve a one-year stint with the International Police. Suat serves with the police in a village outside of town and his mother and father were staying for a few days to check out their son’s new digs. On Wednesday they invited us for breakfast, which was a real treat. They sat us down to a table overflowing with eggs, sliced tomatoes, different varieties of olives, sausage, jam, and, of course, tea. They are a fairly traditional Turkish family and Suat’s wife and mother were both dressed traditionally with covered heads. What a sweet family.

It was fascinating to sit and talk about Kosova and all the commonalities between the Kosovo and Turkey. We sat around and drank tea served in the same type of cup, made in the same type of tea pot with the same kind of tea leaves. We ate breakfast at the traditional time in both countries and talked about words common in both languages. I am still amazed by the stamp the Ottoman empire left on this region. I’m still amazed how tightly the Albanians hold on to traditions brought to them by the Turks.

I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast with my new neighbors. I love being reminded of the commonalities of all people. Parents are proud of their children, men and women fall in love and want to start families. Newlyweds think about their children’s future before they are even born. Regardless of our religions, our politics or ethnicity, God has built more similarity into us than dissimilarity. To a Christian, no one is really a foreigner, for they all bear God’s image as a creator, a builder and a protector.

news - Alcatel will extend mobile network in Kosovo

About a year and a half ago the government announced that there would be a second provider of mobile phone service in Kosovo.  They took bids for the contract and companies from the US, Slovenia, Albania and other states all competed.  Someone won the bid, but I never learned what happened.  I was really looking forward to this as the current mobile system (Vala900) is really pretty poor.  Now, it appears, Alcatel, the original implimenter of our system, has been awarded a contract to expand the both the mobile & the landline service.

news - Alcatel will extend mobile network in Kosovo

 Vala900, the mobile operator part of PTK Group, today announced that Alcatel was selected by Vala900 in order to expand its GSM/GPRS network in Kosovo. Vala900 chose Alcatel among other European and Chinese competitors for this Euro 18 million project.

Thanks to the end-to-end solution provided by Alcatel, Vala900 will double the number of its subscribers up to 700.000, equal to more than 30% of the total population, and will be able to start offering value added data services. The solution is future-proof, and is ready for EDGE upgrade.

The things I take for granted...

I was out for a visit to a friends house today.  His wife is pregnant…very pregnant…as in 39 weeks today.  They have been back and forth to hospital for weeks now.  The initial due was the second week of June.  Now it’s the first week of August.  Go figure.  So among their other challenges, their 3-year-old daughter has come down sick.  They took her to the doctor today and he wasn’t sure why she was sick, but though she needed some vitamins.  At any rate, by the time I got there she still had a fever.  I asked if they’d given her any Paracetamol (the local equivalent of Tylenol).

            “No.  We don’t have any,” they said.  

            “Really?” said I.  And then it hit me…again…how much I take for granted.  I probably have 3-4 bottles of Paracetamol in my house, each from various times my kids were sick.  It’s only about two dollars, so I usually buy fresh stuff, having forgotten that I already have it.  Not only that, but I probably have six different variants of children’s Tylenol, Tylenol cold, Tylenol cold & cough, Motrin, etc. in my house.  If I had to guess, I bet you’re in the same boat.  As Americans, we have medications stuffed into every nook and cranny of our bathrooms.

            My friend didn’t have anything.  At any rate, we ran down to the Pharmacy (a twenty minute round trip) and picked up some medicine.  Hopefully my little 3-year-old friend slept better last night :) 

 

Pastor offers forgiveness

I spoke to my American missionary/pastor friend today.  When I first called him he was actually in court, and sent me a text message saying so.  But he called me back later.  It turns out that the protestant church is building a building in the city of Deçan.  This friend of mine has probably been in Kosova longer than anyone else, speaks very, very good Albanian and has a really well-developed missiology.  In short, he’s someone I really look up to.  Within the community of Deçan there as been some resistance to the building of a church.  This isn’t unexpected in a Muslim country.  However, my friend has gone to great lengths to dialogue with those in opposition to create a way through it.

 

Yesterday a man called him up and invited him to coffee.  The man was one of those who had signed a petition against the building and wanted to talk to my friend.  So they met together at a coffee shop.  My friend brought the plans, hoping to clear up doubts and suspicions.  As they talked the man accused my friend of trying to lure away children.  My friend countered, offering to require express parental permission for all children involved.  After about five minutes of discussion, the man jumped up and started beating my friend.

 

Fortunately, there was a table of policeman drinking coffee close by, who managed to pull the attacker off fairly quickly.  None the less, the injuries meant being transferred to the regional hospital for treatment.  Today, twenty-four hours later, he was in court.  When my friend appeared before the judge he said that he didn’t’ want to press charges, and said, “I forgive this man” publicly.

 

At any rate God is big, the Kingdom of God is moving forward here, and I’m proud of my friend.

 

Hooray, someone's working on the phones

This is great…maybe.  Finally someone is going to invest in the telecommunications infrastructure here.  While this deal only mentions the internet peripherally, I’m hoping that it will give us better access to the internet at well.

 

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http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/07/27/ap2159397.html

 

 

Associated Press
Alcatel Signs Deal for Kosovo Network
07.27.2005, 07:03 AM

French telecommunications company Alcatel SA signed a deal Wednesday with Kosovo's Telecom to modernize and expand the fixed-line network infrastructure in the province, an official said.

Under the euro17 million (US$20 million) deal, several dozen outdated systems will be updated with new technology, said Seremb Gjergji, the spokesman for Kosovo's Post and Telecom.

The project also aims to double the number of fixed-line phones, Gjergji said. Currently, there are 115,000 users of fixed telephony.

"The state-of-the-art solution that will be provided is unique in the Balkans and among the most innovative in the world," the Kosovo company said, adding that the agreement will bring province's telecom "the next generation VoIP solution."

Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, technology shifts calls away from wires and switches, instead using computers and broadband connections to convert sounds into data and transmit them over the Internet.

The implementation of the project will start in October, Gjergji said.

A Pastor Beaten in Kosova / U rrah pastor

Just got this in my mailbox.  A missionary friend of mine was beaten yesterday in the city in which he works.  As far as I know, this is the first time that an American missionary has faced any physical threat because of their faith while in Kosova.  Here’s the email…I’ll translate:

 

Greetings in Christ,

 

We notice that during the recent times we have had more attacks towards the churches of the Lord in Kosovo and against Christians.  This does not surprise us, nor should it make us afraid.  Yesterday pastor XXXX who serves in Deçan, was beaten by someone from Juniku, and the whole event happened before the eyes of the police.  The [attacker] was arrested and the pastor was injured in the head and face.  This happened in connection with the beginning of the building of a church in Deçan and several people have not appeared to like it.  This project has raised complaints against the community government of Deçan which gave permission for the building of this church.  Stay in prayer for this event,

 

Femi Cakolli.

 

Pershendetje ne Krishtin,

 

Po verejme koheve te fundit ka me shume sulme ndaj kishes se Zotit ne Kosove dhe ndaj te krishtereve. Kjo nuk na befason e as nuk duhet te na frikesoje.

Dje eshte rrahur pastor XXXXX qe sherben ne Decan, prej nje personi nga Juniku, dhe gjithe ngjarja ka ndidhur ne sy te policise. Personi eshte arrestuar. XXXX ka lendime ne koke dhe fytyre. Eshte ne shtepine e tij me familje ne Decan. Kjo rrahje nderlidhet me fillimin e ndertimit te objektit per kishe ne Decan dhe disa njerez duket se nuk iu pelqen kjo dhe kane gritur ne fakt edhe ankesa dhe padi ndaj Kuvendit Komunal te Decanit qe i ka dhene lejen e ndertimit kesaj kishe.

Qedroni ne lutje per kete rast.

 

Femi Cakolli

In the News: Kosovo Confronts Its Future

Another cross-post, and a bit long, but worth the read.

 

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http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/kosovo-confronts-its-future.html

Jackson Allers - 7/29/2005
KOSOVO. It is a regular sight in the Ferizai/Urosevac municipality of Kosovo - some 50 kilometers north of the Macedonian capital of Skopje - to see U.S. servicemen parking their Humvees in front of small cafes during their regular “security” details. M-16’s strapped across their torsos, the troops snack on kebabs, washing them down with Coca-Cola, and ogle the local Albanian girls.

These GIs are part of an occupying NATO force, known as KFOR, Kosovo Protection Forces, and they are expected to be present in Kosovo for a long time to come.

The so-called Contact Group countries – United States, United Kingdom France, Italy, Russia and Germany * most involved in deciding the future of this southern province of Serbia, tout 2005 as the “year of decision” for the status of Kosovo. Six years after the United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 designated Kosovo a U.N. protectorate the beleaguered U.N. Mission administering the province is looking to exit as quickly as possible despite the fact that the U.N.-appointed envoy to the region, Norwegian Ambassador Kai Eide, says the security and freedom of non-Albanian communities is at risk.

At the forefront of this push to resolve Kosovo’s status are representatives of two U.S. presidential administrations.

During a July trip to Kosovo as the head of the Washington D.C.-based (and CIA funded) National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright commented, “I know Kosovans have a dream and people are entitled to have their dreams fulfilled.”

This sentiment is backed by Venhar Nushi, a spokesperson for the Pristina-based political think-tank, Kosovo Action for Civic Initiatives, KACI, who said, “We all know what the United States actually did for Kosovo. From my point of view, I think the U.S. came here for a task, and that’s to make Kosovo independent. Definitely.”


CLINTON’S LEGACY

But, any claim by the U.S. to "resolve" the situation in Kosovo is hobbled by the legacy of former President Bill Clinton’s decision to lead NATO in a 78-day bombing campaign of Serbia in violation of the U.N. charter. Diplomats and analysts point out that the bombing was illegal by international standards and its repercussions have been felt widely, including its invocation by the Bush administration to justify its own illegal invasion and occupation against Iraq.

What is clear, however, is that the United States has no plans of abandoning Camp Bondsteel, the 955-acre military installation described on the Camp's official homepage as being “located on rolling hills and farmland” in south-eastern Kosovo. The Pentagon has paid Halliburton subsidiary KBR more than $2 billion to construct the camp – an amount, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office, that was one-sixth of the money spent by the Pentagon on Balkan operations from 1995 to 2000.

During a visit to Kosovo in June, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns said, “The U.S. is going to remain centrally involved in Kosovo, leading the diplomatic process [to resolve status],” adding, “we will certainly maintain a military presence here, with KFOR, as a symbol of our commitment for a secure and peaceful Kosovo.”

Few ethnic Albanians question the presence of the U.S. military. The U.S. support of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the same group branded by the U.S. State Department in 1998 as a "terrorist organization," showed clearly to all ethnic groups in the disputed region that the U.S. favors the Albanians.

Political commentator, Dukagjin Gorani, Senior Editor of the Kosovo daily paper, the Express, admits, “Kosovars are not very prompt to understand the geopolitics of conspiracies. To Kosovars the existence of Bondsteel, which is now the biggest U.S. military base in Europe, is and will probably remain a sign of political stability for Albanians. In fact to most of us it is a sign that Kosovo will never again go back under the umbrella of Serbia and Montenegro.”

Gorani also suggests that the average Kosovo Albanian sees "allowing" the U.S. military presence on Kosovo soil as their contribution to the U.S. “war on terror.’…

Screenshots of Windows Vista, the next version of Windows

I found this on Tablet PC Buzz.com today and thought I would pass it on.  Longhorn, which was the code name for “Windows Vista” has been around the geek media for a long time.  Microsoft just released the beta and these are some of the first screenshots that I’ve seen of it.  Why am I posting it here? Well, I just think it’s interesting.  I’m looking forward to seeing if it meets expectations (both of those who expect it to fail AND those who expect it to rock).

 

Since there has been all this Buzz around Windows Vista lately, I thought I would post a few screenshots here that have been publicly released to the press, and also to online community leaders via a new Microsoft web-site called the Hive. The Hive is a site that Microsoft has launched to help solicit more interaction between community leaders and Microsoft. TabletPCBuzz is one of the featured community sponsors of this site, so hopefully you'll hear more cool stuff coming out of that in the future. Anyway, back to the Vista screenshots...^ This first one is a shot of one of the new methods of browsing files in Windows Vista. You will note here that no longer is the word "My" going before the pictures and videos folder names, and you will also notice that the path to this folder mentions "Virtual Folders". This is a good example of how directory structure is no longer the only way to organize your files. With Vista I found it quite easy to sort and browse files the way I wanted to. Here is another shot that shows off virtual folders. The icons in Vista don't have to be this big, you've actually got a slider style interface element that lets you change the size and display to what you want. When the folders are this big though, you can see another really cool effect. The folder icons now show "snapshots" of the files that are within them. So, if you drag a new file into a folder, the icon will refresh showing that file's thumbnail too. It even works if you create a shortcut to a folder or file, something which shows a bit of the attention to detail that is going on here. Here is a shot of using Vista to browse documents. The major thing to point out here is the search feature, which works in a similar fashion to Windows Media Player 10 searching. It filters as you type each letter. It can also do more advanced searching, and they finally include support in Vista for searching by keywords and file properties! One more picture here, this one of the new start menu. You will notice it also has a similar search feature, which actually filters through all the programs in your start menu. Again, you can also see the lack of the word "My" in front of Pictures, Music, Video, etc. (finally!) Anyway, hopefully that shows a little bit of Windows Vista to folks out there who will not have access to the beta. I don't have any pictures of Tablet PC related stuff, which really isn't in beta 1 anyway. Whenever tablet stuff is available for it though, I'll try and get some approved screenshots for you (although that is likely easier said than done).

Test of Ecto

I'm testing Ecto.

Prayer update for 07-25-05

Melissa, the family and I took some much needed vacation this last week. We headed down to Thessaloniki, Greece, about a five hour drive. Each time we go there I’m struck by both how modern the city is, and how ancient it is. I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve driven by the modern highway sign denoting “The Ignatian Way,” that ancient Roman road that the Apostle Paul walked down. We go by the tomb of ancient Macedonian kings on the way to Carrefoure, a European version of Target. All I can say is that it’s a weird life I live! Of course, the girls could care less whether we’re walking in the steps of Paul or buying toilet paper. They just love having different stuff to play on.

When we returned yesterday (Sunday) I found my email inbox brimming with 136 messages. Some of those brought unwelcome news…and another first for Kosovo. I got this email from Pastor Femi about a young, 14-year-old martyr named Herolindi.

Today, this morning, Herolindi Krasniqi passed from this life and went to live forever with the Lord. Herolindi passed from this life as a consequence of a [traffic] accident three days ago. In fact, he has become the first person in the history of the church in Kosova that died while serving the Kingdom of Heaven.

Herolindi was taking part in an evangelism project sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. The project, called PUSHK, is aimed at showing the Jesus Film in every village within a municipality. He died in a car accident as part of that project, and several others were badly injured, including two from BUM, the mother church in Prishtina. Interestingly, his name means, “born hero.” I pray that his name would fan the flames of evangelism throughout Kosova in the years to come. Please pray for his family during this time. Please pray that they would find hope and meaning in the death of their son

This morning I went by the Center to touch base with Naim. While we were on vacation he also took a week of vacation to work on the house he’s building. Before we left, God seemed to be telling me to leave Naim a sum of money. It seemed a waste, the Lord seemed to say, if Naim took a week of vacation but didn’t have any money with which to buy materials. So, on our way out of town we stopped by his house. Naim wasn’t there, so we left the funds with his wife. Today he told me that the week before he had been earnestly praying to the Lord for funds. He knew his week of vacation was coming, but didn’t have any money left to buy materials. The funds we left paid for what was needed for the week almost down to the last euro. He praised God with me for the Lord’s foresight! I want to tell you about it, but you blessed Naim through us. Those are YOUR “work special” monies at work, blessing the people of Kosova. Please pray that God would protect Naim from the attacks of the enemy. When I see this man of God, I see someone with a big target on his back. I’m sure the enemy would love to take him down however he can.

Later today we also had the privilege of picking up Mark & Pattie Brinkman from the airport in Prishtina. They are returning for their second term in Kosova with their four children, Erin, Hallie, Luke & Joshua. They’ll be serving with BUM in Prishtina. Please pray for them as they transition back here again. Please pray that they would find a suitable home and get settled back into life and ministry in a suitable time.

Okay, that’s it. We appreciate your love and support!

In the news: Picture of the Day - Great Britain We Are With You - People of Kosova

I took a picture of this sign in Prishtina a few days ago, but this one is SO much better.  These are similar to the billboards that go up every September, remembering the events of 9/11.  I think I saw a half dozen in various places around the capital.  

http://kosovareport.blogspot.com/2005/07/picture-of-day-great-britain-we-are.html

Picture of the Day - Kosovo
Originally uploaded by kosovareport.

A boy walks in front of a billboard in the Kosovo capital Pristina expressing support for Britain after last week's bomb attacks on London, July 14, 2005. The British capital led the tributes on Thursday as millions of people across Europe joined a two-minute silence to mark the July 7 London bombings that claimed at least 52 victims. REUTERS/Hazir Reka.

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Baptisms in Kosovo

Baptisms in Kosovo are done right in the middle of public places, not unlike the way the early believers did it.  It really doesn’t get any better than this! This is the third baptism service I’ve attended in three years.  But it is the first where I had the opportunity to participate!  I had the privilege of baptising two of our young believers from Gjilan.

At this baptism/picnic people started asking questions as we put on these traditional gowns (they are as much a convenience as anything else).  It is a fantastic opportunity for talking to people about what Christianity really means.  Christianity is about life, and hope and renewal!  Great stuff.

Astroligist: "NASA deformed my horoscope" - sues for millions

Can you believe this?  In a break from the traditional, “I spilled coffee in my lap and I’m suing MacDonalds” school self-promotion we have the all new, “An enormously wealthy government agency has spilled bad karma on my navel and I’m going to counter that by becoming enormously wealthy” school of thought.  This is one to watch.
 

http://www.greghughes.net/rant/AstroligistNASADeformedMyHoroscopeSuesForMillions.aspx  |  Comments

You know that amazing scientific mission to a comet that NASA just succeeded in pulling off? It was called Deep Impact, and the space agency not only got a small spacecraft (about the size of a kitchen table) to slam smack into a comet without a standard orbit, it even got a second spacecraft (about the size of a VW Beetle) to simultaneously do a coordinated wingman-style fly-by, with live video of the event transmitted from both spacecraft throughout the whole process [impact video|fly-by video]. And all of it was available live for every one to see in real-time on the Internet.

Well, get this - It turns out NASA is being sued for the damage they have apparently caused with this mission. From Yahoo! News:

"Marina Bai has sued the U.S. space agency, claiming the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the comet Tempel 1 late Sunday 'ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe,' the newspaper Izvestia reported Tuesday...

"...Bai is seeking damages totaling $300 million — the approximate equivalent of the mission's cost — for her 'moral sufferings,' Izvestia said, citing her lawyer Alexander Molokhov. She earlier told the paper that the experiment would 'deform her horoscope.'"

Wow... You go lady. For my part, I hope it ruins more than just your horoscope...

[via Jake at UtterlyBoring.com]

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greghughes.net weblog - copyright 2005 - licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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Former Albanian rebel commanders killed in Kosovo, Macedonia

Former Albanian rebel commanders killed in Kosovo, Macedonia

The repercussions from the war are ongoing here.  I spent most of yesterday at a Board meeting of AIM, the Association of International Missions in Prishtina.  AIM attempts to facilitate and support missionary activity in Kosovo.  Meanwhile, back home in Gjilan, Muhamed Xhemaili lost his life, killed by persons unknown.  I don't know Xhemaili, his history or his politics.  I just know another Kosovar has lost his life not knowing the difference Jesus Christ can make in their life.

Pristina/Skopje - Two former ethnic Albanian rebel commanders have been murdered in Kosovo and western Macedonia in the past 24 hours, police in Pristina and Skopje confirmed Wednesday. Muhamed Xhemaili, also known by his nom-de-guerre "Rebeli" (The Rebel), was killed in eastern Kosovos town of Gnjilane from a moving vehicle. No other details were immediately available. Xhemaili, a hard-line commander of Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (UCPMB) units during the 1999-2001 insurgency in southern Serbia, was famous among his compatriots for his uncompromising stance against any kind of dialogue with Serbs. In western Macedonian town of Struga, another former UCPMB leader Nuri Mazari, or "Commander Struga" was shot dead during a bar fight. Mazari, who joined Macedonian government junior coalition partner Democratic Integrative Union (BDI) in 2002, was previously involved in Albanian uprisings in Kosovo, southern Serbia and Macedonia. Dozens of former UCK commanders have been killed in past several years because of personal disputes, blood feuds, political differences and a brutal struggle for dominance between local crime gangs.

In the News: Blasts Rock Pristhina

My sister sent me this link this morning about a triple bombing in Prishtina the capital.  It appears as though the UN compound, the OSCE building and the local government building were targeted. So far, there were no reports of injuries.  Thankfully, the attack came Saturday night when it’s likely nobody would have been working.  She asked if we were okay here, and we are.  These things happen from time to time, but usually in the capital of Prishtina.  Our city, Gjilan, is about an hour away and is usually calm and peaceful.

I am always disturbed about these types of bombings, however.  They don’t make me afraid to be here, of course, they make me afraid for the future of our adopted home.  In tomorrows papers there will be the usual accusations between the ethnic groups.  The Albanians will say that the Serbs did it to discredit the local government and derail the final status talks this summer.  The Serbs will accuse the Albanians and say it’s just proof that the local people cannot govern themselves.  

The average guy on the street, however, just wants to find a job (any job), give his children a future and live in an self-governed country.  May their dreams come true.

 

 

 

In the News: New Religion Law

Jan Bear writes a pretty decent article on the new Draft Law on Religion for Kosovo.  It relies a little heavily on an article written by an anonymous catholic KFO chaplain, but otherwise it’s pretty good an illustrates what’s happening on the legislative side of religious freedom here.

News Reporter Assassinated Near Gjilan

At first I didn’t quite believe this report as it was originally reported by B92, a Serbian news organ that is not always real positive on happenings here in Kosovo.  The story is that a local reporter for a national newspaper was killed near Gjilan.  Yesterday while visiting with the landlord of the Community Center I asked him if he had heard the report.  He had.  In fact, the dead man was a friend or acquaintance of his.

It seems that he reporter, Bardhyl Ajeti, had repeatedly written negative things about certain parliament members and other important people.  Most recently, the targets of his articles had been men who had claimed to have fought in the most recent war.  Evidently his paper had twice been fined by the OCSE department responsible for media oversight.  They had been fined for making allegations against public officials that hadn’t been properly researched.  At any rate, Bardhyl Ajeti won’t be writing any more articles about anyone…he’s dead.

When is the last time you can remember and American journalist killed while working in the US?  Or a European working in Europe.  I mean seriously, all bets are off if you report from Iraq, Columbia or Afghanistan.  But western journalists are fairly safe while working in the West.  They’re almost a protected species.  And I’m glad.

I have always been a quiet, vocal critic of the mainstream media, but now I live in a country where the MSM is in danger of losing its voice because of fear of reprisal.  What happens when reporters are too afraid to report the news (which may or may not be the truth)?  I don’t know who killed Bardhyl.  I never knew him…I’m not sure if I have ever read his articles, but I’m sad for his loss.  I think our founding fathers where geniuses when they framed the bill of rights.  Usually we think of “freedom of the press” as freedom from government interference.  We’re right to think of it that way.  But the freedom of the western press is also (largely) a freedom from fear of assassination for pursuing the story…whether the story is about the small or great, rich or poor.  A country where the press is not free cannot be a free country.  My landlord, a reporter for a local television station, agreed whole-heartedly.

House of Worship Goes Wireless

Check this out. Here’s a church with a wi-fi hotspot in the church. To tell you the truth, I installed a AP in the last church that I worked for. Of course, the intent wasn’t that people would “check their mail or surf the web during the sermon. I’m all for connectivity, but I really think that we need to carefully guard the quiet places in our lives. There is so little silence in our world these days. Blackberrys, hotspots, cell phones have all intruded so far into our lives, that we simply cannot imagine the quiet.

Last night I watched the old Gregory Peck version of “Hortatio Hornblower.” I was struck, as they spent seven months without seeing land, just how much quiet and “down-time” there must have been for a ship’s captain in those days. I watched as Hornblower paced the deck and wondered, would any one dare suggest that the man isn’t working? Spending time in one’s cabin thinking, writing or reading must have been pretty significant in the formation of both their personal and professional character.

I’ve contemplated going on a “connectivity fast” in recent month. I might just try a week or a month without internet, email, cell phone, etc. Apart from probably getting fired, I wonder what kind of space that level of de-connectivity might create in my life. Anyone want to try it with me?

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I love this story…

If you ever find yourself in Cardiff, Wales and feel the need to cleanse your soul without having to ditch your mobile device, the St. John’s Church has established a hotspot not too far away from the collection plate. Worshippers can check their e-mail or even surf the Web while Reverend Keith Kimber delivers his sermon.

When I was a kid, I used to read the Sunday comics in church to keep from getting bored. Imagine if I had a smartphone back then!

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