(4 Mar 2000) Natural Sound
A new Albanian army has formed INSIDE Serbia.
Men from the mountains around Bujanovc, Medvedja and Presheva have banded together to protect ethnic Albanian villagers.
This latest development comes after NATO-led peacekeepers pledged on Friday to push ahead with resettling ethnic Albanians.
The Serbian village of Dobrasin is almost deserted.
But there is a glimmer of hope for the Albanian villagers still in Dobrasin, who are reluctant to leave their homes.
Taking their inspiration from the KLA, a new army inside Serbia has declared themselves as the region's "new defenders" and is officially known in the region as the Liberty Army Of Preshevo, Medvedja and Bujanovc.
They roam the hills with new guns and new uniforms on a mission to protect the thousands of Albanians still terrified by the threat of a Serb attack.
Albanian families have been fleeing their homes to escape the Serb threat, with thousands of villagers leaving Buja, Medve and Presheva.
Their fear is that what happened in Kosovo will happen to them.
They fear Serb paramilitaries will hunt them down and kill them en-masse.
In the Serbian village of Dobrasin, 80 per cent of Albanians have already left with the aid of the International Rescue Committee.
Many of the families who have escaped from Dobrasin are now based in the Kosovan village of Malishevo, situated 50 kilometres east of Pristina.
Here, entire families squeeze into small rooms with the few belongings they've been able to bring with them.
Although they can be confident the new army is working to protect their welfare, their future still remains uncertain.
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