Newsroom
OSCE Skopje mission denies media reports
SKOPJE 18 November 2001
SKOPJE, 18 November 2001 (OSCE) - The following statement was issued today by the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje:
"On Saturday night, several local TV and radio stations ran a story referring to an alleged attack against an OSCE team on Friday morning, near the village of Rastak. The story is based on a press release issued by the Macedonian Crisis Management Center. Quoting Macedonian Army sources, the press release says that 'terrorists opened fire on OSCE representatives who were setting up the radio signal installation by Rastanski Rid. At that time the Macedonian Security Forces returned fire and the OSCE team was evacuated on time'.
"The press release - and implicitly, the story based on it - has not correctly stated the facts. To clarify the issue, the OSCE Mission yesterday evening sent a correction to the electronic media.
"In order to avoid further misinformation and misinterpretation, the OSCE Mission reiterates that there was no attack against an OSCE team. Actually, the team referred by in the report was a technical one, composed of two OSCE national staff and a number of workers from villages near Rastak. The members of the team heard shots in the area and, upon consulting with the Operations Department of the OSCE Mission, left the location.
"There is no evidence that the shots were aimed at the team. There is no evidence of terrorist presence in the area. There was no exchange of fire, as neither the Macedonian Army, nor police were present on the site."
"On Saturday night, several local TV and radio stations ran a story referring to an alleged attack against an OSCE team on Friday morning, near the village of Rastak. The story is based on a press release issued by the Macedonian Crisis Management Center. Quoting Macedonian Army sources, the press release says that 'terrorists opened fire on OSCE representatives who were setting up the radio signal installation by Rastanski Rid. At that time the Macedonian Security Forces returned fire and the OSCE team was evacuated on time'.
"The press release - and implicitly, the story based on it - has not correctly stated the facts. To clarify the issue, the OSCE Mission yesterday evening sent a correction to the electronic media.
"In order to avoid further misinformation and misinterpretation, the OSCE Mission reiterates that there was no attack against an OSCE team. Actually, the team referred by in the report was a technical one, composed of two OSCE national staff and a number of workers from villages near Rastak. The members of the team heard shots in the area and, upon consulting with the Operations Department of the OSCE Mission, left the location.
"There is no evidence that the shots were aimed at the team. There is no evidence of terrorist presence in the area. There was no exchange of fire, as neither the Macedonian Army, nor police were present on the site."