Sir, - As a Kosovar resident in Ireland, I'm very grateful for the way my country's refugees have been welcomed by the Irish Government and people. It is, however, sad for us to witness examples of serious bias in the Irish media regarding the conflict in Kosovo. For example, Vincent Browne writes (Opinion, June 9th) that NATO mounted "a devastating attack on a country that attacked no other country". I feel outraged and insulted by the implication in this statement that Kosovo isn't a separate country from Serbia.
Mr Browne should understand that for over 90 per cent of its population Kosovo is indeed a separate country. Military conquest and international conferences controlled by great empires cannot alter the reality that Kosovo's overwhelming national identity and culture are radically different from Serbia's. Or does Mr Browne believe that Ireland under British conquest and imposed settlement was not a separate country?
Your reporter Elaine Lafferty (A Week in Kosovo, June 3rd) appears to doubt the poisoning by gas of thousands of Kosovar schoolchildren in 1990. She quotes "outraged Serb denials" of this allegation. Does she think that Serb statements deserve to be believed without independent confirmation? Among the Kosovar refugees now in Baltinglass, there is a young woman who was poisoned by this gas in 1990. As a result, she needed extensive medical treatment for many years.
In conclusion, I would like to invite the Irish media to allow Kosovar Albanians to tell their own stories. That would clarify a lot of prejudice and propaganda. - Yours, etc., Riza Sahiti,
Upper Camden Street, Dublin 2.