Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Friday, 20 Nov 1992 14:43:32 CST
From: <U15231@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna,soc.culture.europe
Subject: Serbia & Montenegro army mobilizing reservists for Kosovo

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (DEJAN ANASTASIJEVIC)

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 8:53:36 PST

        BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (UPI) -- The army of the rump Yugoslav union of
Serbia and Montenegro is conducting a large-scale mobilization of
reservists for service in the ethnically tense independence-seeking
province of Kosovo, a peace organization said Friday.
        The Yugoslav Army denied the assertion, a spokesman saying that
``only a small number of people'' were being summoned as a part of
``normal activities,'' which he declined to disclose.
        But, a Western diplomat said the call-ups began began more than a
week ago.
        ``For the past 10 days, we have had a daily average of 10 to 20 phone
calls from people who received draft calls,'' said Zorica Trifunovic, a
spokeswoman for the Anti-War Center, a Belgrade peace organization.
        Trifunovic said that the volume of calls signified a huge
mobilization, explaining that ``For everyone who contacts us, there are
hundreds of those who don't.''
        She said that young men who contacted the organization received draft
calls for ``two-month-long maneuvers in Kosovo,'' where tensions have
been simmering over demands for independence by the estimated 2 million-
strong ethnic Albanian majority.
        ``I think this wave is connected with the elections. They are trying
to prevent young people from voting against the regime (of communist
President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia),'' Trifunovic said, referring to
early republic and federal elections called for Dec. 20.
        ``We received information that most of the draftees are members of
opposition parties,'' Trifunovic said.
        The elections are regarded as the climax of the showdown between
Milosevic and federal Prime Minister Milan Panic, who is also the
federal defense minister.
        Panic, asked about the mobilization reports in a television interview
on Monday, declined to confirm or deny it, saying: ``We will not allow
any speculation.''
        The official Yugoslav news agency, Tanjug, quoted unnamed federal
army sources as saying that ``reservists are not to be drafted during
the election campaign, except for a small number of people needed to
ensure regular military functions.''
        ``I have nothing to add to what Tanjug has already said. These are
perfectly regular activities,'' the Yugoslav army spokesman told United
Press International.
        But, the Western diplomat said: ``We were told that it was a regular
call-up, but it seemed to be a little late in the season for that.''
        Two reservists in Belgrade told United Press International that
military authorities came to their homes Thursday night to take them to
their units. Their parents told the soldiers that they were out of town,
the two said.
        ``The people from the local defence council paid me a visit last
night. Luckily, I wasn't home, and my parents told them I am away on
business trip,'' said one young man, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
        ``I know at least two people who also received calls at the same
time. None of them wanted to go,'' he said, adding that he and his
friends had been avoiding military service since the summer of 1991,
when the Serb-dominated army backed rebel Serbs in the conquest of 35
percent of neighboring Croatia.
        ``I am not a pacifist, but I do not approve of this particular war. I
think no one should be forced to take part in a civil war,'' he said.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna