Albania has received reports of atrocities by Serb forces in Kosovo, including a mass rape, the burning alive of 20 people and a round-up of intellectuals, the country's ambassador to NATO said in Brussels on yesterday.
Mr Artur Kuko said Serb forces destroyed a village near Suva Reka on April 6th, segregated the men from their families and took away 70 women and 115 children.
"The women were brought to a place in the village where they have been systematically raped," he said, declining to name the village. The women were also told they would not see their men again.
Mr Kuko said Albanian authorities did not know where the village's 100 men had gone but their clothes were found by survivors. The women and children had now arrived in Albania. Mr Kuko said Serb forces had begun another act of ethnic cleansing on May 26th in Ferizaj, where 400 houses had been set on fire and about 20 people burned alive.
A campaign of ethnic cleansing had started on the same day in Gnjilane, mostly aimed at intellectuals remaining in the city, he said. "We have indications that at least 30 Kosovo intellectuals have been arrested and we know nothing about their whereabouts." NATO spokesman Mr Jamie Shea said the Kosovo guerrilla leader, Mr Hashim Thaqi, visited Brussels yesterday.
In Rome, the UN World Food Programme said immediate action was needed to tackle food shortages in Kosovo. In a statement released after a mission to the province, the WFP called for an agreement to bring food into Kosovo and monitor supplies.
"There are so many thousands of people who have no access to food, cooking fuel or medical supplies," said Mr Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP's head of logistics.
Even a swift political settlement of the conflict would not end the food crisis, the WFP said. Less than half of Kosovo's arable land had been tilled this year.
"Even when the Kosovars return home they will face a harsh future because of the rampant destruction of towns and villages as well as a collapsed economy," he said.
The WFP - the world's largest food aid agency - is already helping to feed more than 800,000 Kosovo refugees. It is seeking to extend into Kosovo the emergency operation launched recently in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro.