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DE RUEHBW #0713/01 2021633
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 211635Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0087
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000713 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (COFFIN AND HOUGE) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL SR
SUBJECT: SOUTH SERBIA: RHETORIC RISES FOLLOWING ATTACKS BUT SECURITY 
SITUATION CALM 
 
REF: BELGRADE 683; BELGRADE 292 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The situation on the ground in the South Serbian 
municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac was calm following July 9 and 
14 attacks on police targets in the region.  However, local Albanian 
leaders have voiced strong objections to what they describe as 
heavy-handed police actions in the aftermath of the attacks and have 
accused the central government of reverting to the tactics of 
Serbia's repressive past.  The investigation into the attacks has yet 
to produce any hard evidence concerning the perpetrators and their 
motives, and the police have failed to consult with EULEX, despite 
public pronouncements that the international community shares part of 
the burden for the security situation along the Kosovo border. 
Although the government has softened its rhetoric and extended a hand 
to representatives of the South Serbia Albanians, its refusal to 
coordinate with the local governments likely has damaged already 
frayed relations.  End Summary. 
 
Attacks Put Region on Edge, Inflame Passions 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.    (SBU) According to Organization for Security and Cooperation in 
Europe (OSCE) contacts in South Serbia, the security situation in the 
region was calm but strained following July 9 and 14 grenade and 
explosive attacks on police targets in Lucane and Presevo (Ref A). No 
further attacks or incidents have been reported.  As of July 21, 
there did not appear to be an increased police or security presence 
in the Presevo or Bujanovac municipalities. 
 
¶3.    (U) Ethnic Albanian local government officials and Riza Halimi, 
the Albanian MP in the Serbian Parliament, quickly denounced the 
violence and called for efforts to identify the perpetrators.  This 
constructive approach gradually gave way to frustration as the 
central government largely ignored its South Serbia Albanian 
counterparts.  Interior Minister Ivica Dacic made two trips to the 
region but failed to meet with the leadership of Bujanovac and 
Presevo.  President Tadic, who travelled to the Ground Safety Zone 
(GSZ) on July 10 to declare a vigorous response to such acts of 
terrorism, stated that the leaders of Presevo and Bujanovac needed to 
assume partial responsibility for the situation but did not talk with 
them before returning to Belgrade. 
 
¶4.    (SBU) This sense of frustration grew into outrage following 
reports that security forces who searched houses in Presevo and the 
villages of Gerajt, Norca, Miratovac, and Koncul from July 14-16 
engaged in heavy-handed tactics reminiscent of past eras.  Our 
interlocutors and eyewitnesses who spoke with the OSCE alleged that 
the searches were carried out in an intimidating fashion with an 
excessive number of troops and weaponry; for example, the search in 
Koncul reportedly started at 4:15 am on July 15 and involved masked 
special forces, armored vehicles, and a tank.  According to a letter 
to the Embassy from the Mayor and Municipal President of Bujanovac, 
during the search a two-year old boy was separated from his parents 
and put in a room by himself for more than three hours.  In a July 18 
press statement, Minister Dacic denied allegations that the police or 
security forces were engaged in abuses or indiscriminate actions and 
insisted that the only searches conducted were in connection with 
criminal investigations. 
 
Local Governments React 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) In their July 16 letter to the Embassy, the OSCE, and the 
British, French, and German Embassies, Bujanovac Mayor Shaip Kamberi 
and Assembly President Jonuz Musliu harshly criticized the government 
response to the attacks.  The letter accused the central government, 
and specifically Minister Dacic, of creating an atmosphere of fear, 
anxiety, and insecurity for every citizen of the municipality through 
"spectacular actions and untactful statements."  The two leaders also 
alleged that the government was attempting to create a pretext for 
eliminating the GSZ (a product of the 1999 Kumanovo Agreement ending 
the Kosovo conflict) and introducing a state of emergency. The letter 
concluded by stating that if the government continued its policy of 
police repression, the South Serbia Albanians would be forced to 
reconsider their participation in the Coordinating Body for South 
Serbia (Ref B) because they could not cooperate with a government 
that terrorized its own citizens. 
 
¶6.  (U) On July 17, the municipal assembly in Presevo also reacted, 
 
BELGRADE 00000713  002 OF 002 
 
 
adopting a resolution calling for the government to withdraw the 
Gendarmerie from the GSZ (which Minister Dacic dismissed outright 
until security risks abate) and for an investigation into allegations 
of excessive use of force during the aftermath of the attacks.  Mayor 
Ragmi Mustafa, a hard-liner who in the past advocated for the Presevo 
Valley joining Kosovo, further inflamed the situation by stating that 
"the police acted the same way in Kosovo, and we know what happened 
there.  Serbia lost Kosovo.  Is it, in this way, also pushing the 
Presevo Valley towards Kosovo?"  Mustafa also complained that the 
only communication with the central government was through the press. 
 
 
Investigation Ongoing, Dacic Reaches Out 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Interior Ministry Director of Police Milorad Veljovic 
announced on July 19 that the investigation into the attacks in 
Lucane and Presevo continued and that the police had "certain 
information about the possible perpetrators, as well as about the 
existence of terrorist groups in this area."  (Veljovic also claimed 
to have videotapes implicating Kosovo Police Service members in the 
smuggling of materiel used in the attacks; those allegations have not 
yet been substantiated.)  Despite public statements by President 
Tadic and Minister Dacic that EULEX and KFOR should play a role in 
the investigation and in securing the border with Kosovo, our EULEX 
sources in Belgrade continued to indicate that EULEX had not received 
any specific request for assistance or information pertaining to the 
investigation from the Interior Ministry.  On July 21, EULEX 
officials in Belgrade approached the Interior Ministry, asking 
directly about cooperation, but were told that the Ministry could not 
share information at this time because it was with prosecutors. 
EULEX in response stressed its willingness to cooperate. 
 
¶8.  (U) In a welcome development, Interior Minister Dacic reached out 
through the media to Mayors Kamberi and Mustafa on July 20, inviting 
the heads of Bujanovac and Presevo to cooperate in the battle against 
crime and terrorism in South Serbia. Dacic, who also serves as First 
Deputy Prime Minister, added that he was prepared to use his position 
in the government to help establish a political dialogue with the 
Albanian community even on those issues which were not within the 
competence of his ministry.  He also announced that all information 
on two recent attacks would be shared with representatives of the 
municipalities. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Although there have been no further attacks in South Serbia 
in a week, the fallout threatens to have a negative effect on efforts 
to integrate local Albanians into the Serbian state.  There is plenty 
of blame to be apportioned, including to the government for its 
failure to communicate with local authorities and address allegations 
that its response was heavy-handed, and to the local governments for 
their unhelpful and populist rhetoric.  These developments undermine 
already fragile confidence in a region less than ten years removed 
from armed conflict.  As such, there is an urgent need for direct, 
unfiltered contact between representatives of the central government 
and local leaders as the only means to overcome this crisis.  End 
Comment. 
BRUSH