BOB ABERNETHY: At a summit conference in the former Yugoslavia this past week, President Clinton and the leaders of 40 nations urged reform in the Balkans so war there, they said, can become unthinkable. Earlier in Kosovo, Secretary of State Albright urged ethnic Albanian Muslims and Serbian Orthodox Christians to stop killing each other.But violence has continued, despite the presence of 35,000 NATO troops. Observers say the urge for revenge still prevents reconciliation. Chris Roberts reports.
CHRIS ROBERTS: For most of the recent Kosovo war, the Albanian Muslims were the victims. Hundreds of thousands fled Serbian ethnic cleansing. But lately, the Serbs are also mourning innocent suffering. On Wednesday, the Serb church presided over the funeral of 14 farmers killed while harvesting hay.Nearly two months ago, after the bombing ended, there was hope that peacekeeping troops could stop the violence and Serbian Christian and Albanian Muslim communities would have the chance to work for reconciliation. But the recent massacres make it easier for extremists and harder for moderates. Now both sides feel defensive, and neither wants to make the first move.
Professor MICHAEL SALLA (American University): They just can't wait. They -- their grief, their rage is so great that it overwhelms them, and so you see them quite readily joining in these attacks on, you know, what may very well be defenseless and innocent Serbian villagers.
Father IRINEJ DOBRIJEVIC (Serbian Orthodox Church): I would beg the issue and ask them, in reciprocal fashion, are they prepared to start admitting all of the atrocities committed back as far as the 1960s, the 1970s, the uprisings when many Serbs were being mercilessly murdered.
ABERNETHY: Since NATO troops began occupying Kosovo on June 12th, a NATO spokesman in Pristina says that the number of persons killed in revenge attacks or criminal activity includes 75 Serbs, 72 Albanians, 5 Gypsies, and 54 whose ethnic identity is unknown.
