Račak Massacre
The Račak massacre ( sq, Masakra e Reçakut) or Račak operation ( sr, Акција Рачак/Akcija Račak) was the massacre of 45 Kosovo Albanians that took place in the village of Račak ( sq, Reçak) in central Kosovo in January 1999. The massacre was perpetrated by Serbian security forces in response to Albanian separatist activity in the region. The Serbian government refused to let a war crimes prosecutor visit the site, and maintained that the casualties were all members of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) killed in combat with state security forces. The killings were investigated by two separate forensic teams, the first a joint Yugoslav–Belarusian team and the second an external Finnish team representing the EU. The first team's report, which was commissioned by the Yugoslav government, concluded that those killed, who included a woman and 12-year-old child, were all separatist guerrillas and not civilians. The findings of the second team sharply contradicte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Račak
Račak ( sq, Reçak; sr-Cyrl, Рачак) is a village in the Shtime municipality of Kosovo. It was the site of the January 1999 Račak massacre, in which 45 villagers were killed by Serbian forces. Geography Račak is located about half an kilometer southwest of the town of Shtime Shtime ( sq-definite, Shtimja) or Štimlje ( sr-Cyrl, Штимље), is a town and municipality located in the Ferizaj District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Shtime has 7,225 inhabitants, while the municipality has 27,324 i .... The village lies on the Crnoljeva-mountain range. This mountain range divides the Kosovo field (region), Kosovo field and Metohija. History The village was first mentioned in a Golden bull, chrysobull by the Emperor of the Serbs, Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan in 1343. Noted in an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman defter of 1487, the village was home to a monastery, consecrated in the name of Saints Cosmas and Damian. Climate Population As of the census ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NATO Bombing Of Yugoslavia
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an agreement was reached that led to the withdrawal of Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo, and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, a UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. The official NATO operation code name was Operation Allied Force whereas the United States called it Operation Noble Anvil; in Yugoslavia the operation was incorrectly called Merciful Angel ( sr, Милосрдни анђео / ''Milosrdni anđeo''), possibly as a result of a misunderstanding or mistranslation.RTS"Порекло имена 'Милосрдни анђео'" ("On the origin of the name 'Merciful Angel'"), 26 March 2009 NATO's intervention was prompted by Yugoslavia's bloodshed and ethnic cleansing of Albanians, which dr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jacky Rowland
Jacky Rowland is a former broadcast journalist. She was formerly a foreign correspondent with the BBC and a Senior Correspondent for Al Jazeera English. She has won awards for her reporting for both broadcasters. Career BBC Rowland first joined the BBC as a graduate trainee in 1989, and joined the BBC World Service in 1991 as the North Africa correspondent. Rowland was a foreign correspondent for the BBC, during which time she was one of the first Western journalists to travel to Afghanistan after 9/11. ''The Telegraph'' reported that "The 36-year-old foreign correspondent is rapidly emerging as one of the BBC's biggest stars." She "held a number of high-profile foreign postings", and won the 2001 news event award from the Royal Television Society, for her coverage of the Belgrade revolution. Broadcaster Sue MacGregor said of her reporting in Afghanistan that " Kate Clark, Jacky Rowland, Susannah Price and Catherine Davis from the BBC World Service all distinguished themselves ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Walker (diplomat)
William Graham Walker (born June 1, 1935) is a United States Foreign Service diplomat who served as the US ambassador to El Salvador and as the head of the Kosovo Verification Mission. Political career Walker was born in Kearny, New Jersey. As an undergraduate, he studied Architecture and Political Science at the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He received an M.A. in Latin American Studies from UCLA in 1969. As a Foreign Service officer, he has served mostly in Latin America, notably in Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, Domestically, he has served on the Argentina desk at the US State Department, and with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. He was a Foreign Service Inspector in the Office of the Inspector General from 1978 to 1980 and State Department Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City from 1977 to 1988. From 1985 to 1988, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission
The Kosovo Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM) was a group of independent observers sent to Kosovo during the Kosovo War. In a compromise agreement between Slobodan Milošević and Boris Yeltsin in June 1998, the FR Yugoslavian government agreed to accept an independent observer mission. This was initially a group of approximately fifty diplomats from different countries, who acted as observers in Kosovo and relayed information to the international community. Embassy staff were augmented with additional military and diplomatic personnel. Canada called their involvement Operation Perseverance. The KDOM reported that Yugoslav state forces continued widespread attacks even after Resolution 1199; in particular, KDOM reported on atrocities around Pristina: "KDOM reported that the bodies of several women and children had been found near the village of Gornje Obrinje to the west of Pristina. The victims had been shot in the back of the head at close range as they tried to escape." KDOM s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kosovo Verification Mission
The 1998-1999 Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM) was an OSCE mission to verify that the Serbian and Yugoslav forces were complying with the UN October Agreement to end atrocities in Kosovo, withdraw armed forces from Kosovo, and abide by a ceasefire. Remit The KVM's job was to monitor parties' compliance with the agreement, to report any breaches to the OSCE, and to help affected civilians in Kosovo. Other requirements included: * To report on roadblocks; * To oversee elections; * To ensure that independent and fair police service was set up. Operations United States diplomat William Walker was appointed head of the mission; he was relatively senior, reflecting the importance that NATO put on a peaceful settlement. His deputy was Gabriel Keller. Despite being much larger and more complex than any previous OSCE mission, the KVM was put together relatively quickly; parts of the team arrived in Kosovo a month after the 16 October agreement. The KVM was divided into five regions, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dulje
Dulje ( sr-cyr, Дуље, sq, Duhël/Duhla) is a settlement in the Suva Reka municipality in the disputed region of Kosovo. The village is exclusively ethnic Albanian; in the 1991 census, it had 1399 inhabitants. Geography The village lies in Prizrenski Podgor, about 25 km east of Prizren, on the west side of the Crnoljeva and offset of the Šar Mountains.Glasnik, p. 392 It lies in the region of Podrimlje. From its heights, one can view almost the whole of Metohija. Dulje extends over a lake terrace, nearly 1 km wide, around 750 m high, which in this part represents the border of the Metohija-Prizren region. The rural settlement lies on a cadastral area of 1413 hectares.Stamenković, p. 115 Dulje includes two major physiognomic parts: ''Dulje'', the main part with three ''mahala'' (hamlets); Rafš, Srpska (Mahallae Shkijeve) and Sopska; the second part is Dragačin, an isolated hamlet on the right valley side of the Dragačin river. The Suva Reka-Dulje-Mališevo road g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Staging Area
A staging area (otherwise staging point, staging base, or staging post) is a location in which organisms, people, vehicles, equipment, or material are assembled before use. It may refer to: * In construction, a designated area in which vehicles, supplies, and construction equipment are positioned for access and use to a construction site. * In ecology, the resting and feeding places of migratory birds. * In entertainment, places designated for setting up parades and other elaborate presentations. * In real estate, the use of furniture to stage an area of one's home to prepare it for sale. * In media, designated places for news conferences placed near locations of high media interest. * In space exploration, an area where final assembly is done on space vehicles before they are moved out to their launch pad. * In data management, an intermediate storage area between the sources of information and the data warehouse (DW) or data mart (DM). It is usually of temporary nature, and its ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uroševac
Ferizaj, . or Uroševac, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići ( tr, Firzovik). is the sixth largest city in Kosovo by population and seat of Ferizaj Municipality and Ferizaj District. Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by the Starčevo, Vinča and Baden culture. During the Ottoman period, Ferizaj served as a trading center on the route between Belgrade and Thessaloniki. Ferizaj has always been considered as a city where tolerance and coexistence in terms of religion and culture has been part of the society in the last centuries. During and after the Kosovo War in 1999, the US Army base Camp Bondsteel was established outside of the city, now being used by forces belonging to KFOR. It is the largest and the most expensive foreign military base built by the Americans in South Eastern Europe, since the Vietnam War. Ferizaj is located in the south-eastern part of Kosovo, about halfway between the cities of Pristina and Skopje. It is some 230 kilometres north-ea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Suva Reka
Suhareka (also known as Suharekë and Therandë in Albanian) оr Suva Reka ( sr-Cyrl, Сува Река) is a town and municipality located in the Prizren district of central-southern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town has 10,422 inhabitants, while the municipality has 59,722 inhabitants. Suhareka is located from the city of Prizren, and from Kosovo's capital, Prishtina. Name ''Suva Reka'' means "dry river" in Serbian. The Albanian spellings are ''Suharekë'' or ''Suhareka'' (derived from the Slavic form), while an alternative name was recently created by the Albanological Institute, ''Therandë'', adopted from an unlocated ancient site (possibly in Suhareka or Lubizhda in the Mirusha valley). History Historical background The municipality includes several medieval Serbian sites and old settlements, such as the villages of Banja, Suva Reka, Dulje, Mušutište, Popovljane, Rečane, Suva Reka, and churches of Virgin Hodegetria, St. George, Holy Trinity, St. Nich ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ambush Near Suva Reka
The Ambush near Suva Reka ( Serbian: ''Zaseda kod Suve Reke'') was an incident that occurred during the Kosovo War when members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) ambushed a MUP convoy, killing three Serbian policemen near the village of Dulje, close to Suva Reka. The three Serbian policemen were blown up by a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded on impact with their squad car. Background The result of the ambush was due to Yugoslav troops shelling the village of Slapuzani. Incident On 8 January 1999, the KLA led an ambush of a convoy of Yugoslav troops. In the incident, 4 policemen and 2 civilians were seriously wounded after a fierce firefight. Aftermath The KLA followed up the ambush with another attack on a Serbian police patrol near the village of Slivovo, killing one police officer. The village of Račak served as the staging area for these ambushes, resulting in a significant build up of Yugoslav Army forces and subsequent massacre A massacre is the killing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Organization For Security And Co-operation In Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and free and fair elections. It employs around 3,460 people, mostly in its field operations but also in its secretariat in Vienna, Austria, and its institutions. It has its origins in the mid-1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland. The OSCE is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation. Most of its 57 participating countries are in Europe, but there are a few members present in Asia and North America. The participating states cover much of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere. It was created during the Cold War era as a forum for discussion between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |