Serbs overstate KosovoÆs æarmyÆU.S. intelligence suggests KLA not a threat to Serbian controlBy Robert Windrem NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENTWASHINGTON, March 10 ù The alleged terrorist group cited by Serbia as the reason for its violent crackdown in the southern province of Kosovo in the past week is regarded no threat at all to Serb rule by Balkan experts in the U.S. intelligence community. Senior U.S. officials say that the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, is well organized but lightly armed and numbers no more than a few thousand men. <Picture> <Picture> <Picture: Special Report>Flash point Kosovo: MSNBC's interactive coverage <Picture: Interactive>Bosnia's history: A fractured land <Picture> <Picture: Internet Sites>Kosovo (Serbia) Albanian protest site <Picture: Internet Sites>Albania Crisis Center - Reports from Kosovo and Albania <Picture: Internet Sites>The Balkan Institute <Picture: Internet Sites>BeoCity - News from Serbia <Picture: Internet Sites>Nasa Borba in English - Serbian daily newspaper <Picture> <Picture: NBC's Robert Windrem>

ACCORDING TO U.S. officials, the KLA is more like a collection of armed gangs operating in compartmentalized small cells than one large rebel movement. U.S. intelligence experts consider KLA units to be professional and possibly even former Yugoslav army soldiers. However, they emphasize the KLA is not a military organization but more of a guerilla operation that does hit-and-run attacks against the Serbian special forces police who are charged with keeping the peace in the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Slavic Serbs 9-to-1. Typically, KLA units fire on Serbian patrols and try to draw them into the woods where they will be ambushed. They are armed at least with AK-47 assault rifles and may possibly have Soviet-designed RPG rocket launchers and mortars stolen from Albanian arsenals during last yearÆs ransacking of military stores in that country. æU.S. officials emphasize there is no intelligence indicating that Albania proper is involved in any way in what is going on across its northern border.Æ

However, U.S. officials emphasize there is no intelligence indicating that Albania proper is involved in any way in what is going on across its northern border. The Albanians, their country wracked by internal ethnic and economic chaos of their own making, are seen as unlikely fomenters of revolutions outside their borders. The U.S. officials, with well-developed sources in the Balkans after three years of the NATO mission in Bosnia, also agree there no way the KLA will be able to defeat the Serbs. Even if the rebels made inroads against the Serbian police, the Serbs always have the option of sending in the army. So far, the Serbian Army has not been directly involved in dealing with the rebels ù only the countryÆs security forces. æThe only acceptable solution for us is an independent KosovoÆ ù IBRAHIM RUGOVA Ethnic Albanian leader ETHNIC ALBANIAN LEADER Ibrahim Rugova in Kosovo on Wednesday demanded outright independence for the Serbian province, disregarding Western pressure for compromise with Belgrade. The Serbian government in Belgrade, in quick response, ruled out any talks on the future of the troubled province with leaders of the ethnic Albanian majority until they abandoned talks of secession. A Serbian announcement issued Tuesday said Belgrade saw recent violence as a purely internal affair. It held out the offer of protection for minority rights but insisted KosovoÆs future lay within Serbia. Western countries have told Albanians they will not support demands for KosovoÆs independence but are urging Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to grant it autonomy. Rugova said he had not officially received BelgradeÆs offer of talks. He said he was ready for dialogue but made clear he saw no room for compromise on KosovoÆs status. ôThe only acceptable solution for us is an independent Kosovo, not some kind of autonomy,ö he said. <Picture: MAP: Yugoslavia> Kosovo, which has a 90 percent Albanian population, was stripped of its autonomy by Belgrade in 1989. Kosovo, whose 90 percent Albanian population is ruled repressively by Serbian authorities, has exploded into violence in the past two weeks. The secessionist Kosovo Liberation ArmyÆs attacks on police prompted a brutal crackdown by Serbian police on villages they said harbored KLA militants. <Picture: Barnes and Noble books>

The turmoil in Kosovo has revived fears of a new Balkan conflict. Ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-1 in Kosovo. Serbia is now the dominant republic of Yugoslavia. CONFLICT OVER BURIAL The Albanians had refused to claim most of the 49 bodies, insisting that international forensics experts examine them to determine the cause of death. They said Serbs were trying to cover atrocities with the quick burial. ôPeople were outraged to hear Serb authorities pressed ahead and buried the victims,ö Rugova said in a news conference Wednesday. ôWe consider this a second violence against those innocents. They were not allowed to have a decent funeral.ö An ethnic Albanian on Tuesday tries to identify the bodies of his relatives killed in the village of Prekaze during fighting between Serbian police and Kosovo`s Albanian Liberation Army in Yugoslavia. <Picture: Image: Kosovo - Bodies Identification> The Red Cross, which had been trying to get access to the areas where the killings took place, said Wednesday it has temporarily pulled its foreign staffers out of Kosovo because of repeated threats. <Picture> Kim Gordon-Bates, a spokesman for International Red Cross, said he didnÆt think it was safe to stay. U.S. OPPOSES INDEPENDENCE BID The United States and other countries say they oppose further splintering of former Yugoslavia and do not want Kosovo to gain independence. U.S. envoy Robert Gelbard, while condemning the SerbsÆ crackdown, emphasized that message on a trip to Kosovo on Tuesday. <Picture> President Bill Clinton said he was concerned about the bloodshed, but believes that the international community actions are appropriate. Public sentiment in Serbia is solidly behind authorities, due in part to state televisionÆs blatantly pro-Milosevic coverage focusing on the ôfight against terrorismö and ignoring Albanian reactions or claims. Even government critics have lined up behind Serb authorities in the wake of the deaths of six policemen who were attacked in Kosovo. <Picture> <Picture>Slide show of the Kosovo conflict<Picture> On Monday, the United States and five other world powers imposed a ban on sales of arms and other equipment to Yugoslavia. The United States and Britain sought U.N. Security Council support on Tuesday for those measures, which are set to take effect if the crisis isnÆt resolved in 10 days. But China stymied any action, calling it an ôinternal matter,ö diplomats said. A storm after the calm in KosovoWhy conflict in the Balkans has returned to a boilBy Zoran Stanojevic MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR PRISTINA, Kosovo, March 8 ùThe eruption of ethnic violence in SerbiaÆs southern province of Kosovo has broken the deceptive calm that descended over the Balkans two years ago, when the Dayton Accord froze the conflict in neighboring Bosnia. <Picture> <Picture> <Picture: Special Report>Flash point Kosovo: MSNBC's interactive coverage <Picture: MSNBC News>West delivers ultimatum to Serbia <Picture: Interactive>Bosnia's history: A fractured land <Picture> Western powers are taking seriously the specter of a conflict that might draw in Bulgaria, Albania, and even NATO members. It's happened before.

LIKE BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA before the bloody war that followed its separation from the old Yugoslavia, Kosovo is a little known corner of Europe in a region criss-crossed by complex and overlapping ethnic rivalries. Yet unlike BosniaÆs, the conflict in Kosovo involves disputes that cross not only centuries but also international borders. The specter of a conflict that might draw Macedonia and Albania, Bulgaria and even NATO members Greece and Turkey, onto opposite sides, is one being taken seriously by the Western powers. Indeed, itÆs happened twice before in just over a century. WEST BANK OF THE BALKANS Serbs came to the Balkans and Kosovo in the 7th century A.D. along with the other South Slavic nations ù Croats, Bulgarians, Slovenians, Macedonians, Montenegrins. Accounts of the Albanian presence vary: Albanian historians state that Albanians are descendants of the native Illiryians who were there long before the Serbs, while Serb sources claim that Albanians came much later, in the 14th century, just before the Turkish invasion. Use the controls on the right to zoom and navigate around the map.

Kosovo administrative division of Yugoslavia

Either way, although both nations have lived on the same territory ever since, they speak different languages, belong to different faiths ù Serbs are Orthodox Christian and Albanians, primarily Muslims ù and to this day, they barely mix together. Of course, such problems exist elsewhere in Europe and around the world. But Kosovo has a historical significance to the Serbs, often likened to that some Israelis feel for the West Bank. The reason: In 1389, a battle between the Serbs and their ancient rivals and colonizers, the Ottoman Turks, took place on Kosovo Field near the provinceÆs modern day capital, Pristina. The Turks defeated a divided Serb army and ruled over the Balkans for five centuries afterwards. The lesson that Serbs are vulnerable when divided has never been lost; in many ways, that Kosovo myth and the modern day Kosovo question is viewed by many as the spark that ultimately destroyed Yugoslavia. A QUESTION OF SELF-RULE After the death of YugoslaviaÆs longtime leader Marshal Josep Tito in 1980, the question of the future of the federation ruled by the communists arose. The federation included six republics ù Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro. Inside Serbia, there were two autonomous regions with a wide range of autonomy, Kosovo and the ethnic Hungarian area of Vojvodina. The 1974 constitution gave republics the right of self-determination (including secession), but didnÆt promise those rights for autonomous regions. Yugoslav authorities came down hard on student protestors, treating their demands for a state as an effort to unite Kosovo with neighboring Albania.

In March, 1981 Albanian students protested for the first time in Kosovo with a demand for changing KosovoÆs status from autonomous region to republic. Yugoslav authorities came down hard on the protestors, treating their demands as an effort to unite Kosovo with neighboring Albania. Nonetheless, tension during the 1980s led many Serbs to move out of Kosovo. The demographic profile changed markedly, leaving ethnic Albanians a 90 percent majority by the beginning of this decade. The remaining Serbs grew increasingly radical in their anti-Albanian rhetoric and their plight ù exaggerated by the still-communist press in Yugoslavia ù drew sympathy from Serbs in general. LIGHTING THE FUSE In April, 1987 Slobodan Milosevic, then the second ranking official in the Serb republic, was sent to Kosovo under the guise of mediation. He was supposed to preside over the meeting in Kosovo Polje, a Serb enclave in Kosovo, but prior to his arrival, local Serbs organized a protest demanding an end to ôethnic cleansingö of the Serbs and the removal of all ethnic Albanian local politicians. Police tried to stop the protest but unexpectedly, Milosevic ordered them to back off. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic <Picture: Image: File Photo Of Serbian President Milosevic> ôNobody is allowed to beat you!ö he yelled dramatically to protesters, a moment caught on camera which gained him instant support from both Serb nationalists and communists. With such backing, he managed his way to the top position in Serbia. In less than a year, he became a President of Serbia with wide authority. MilosevicÆs main goal was ôunification of Serbia,ö i.e. abolishing the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina. Protests of Serbs were organized throughout Serbia, resulting in a serious political confrontation with some members of the federation, namely Slovenia and Croatia. In March, 1989, Serbia proclaimed its new constitution, abolishing autonomous regions. According to Albanian sources, more then 70 ethnic Albanians died in clashes with police during protests in Kosovo on that day. Finally, in June, 1989 more than 500,000 Serbs gathered on Kosovo Field for the 600th anniversary of the Kosovo battle. There, Milosevic gave a speech loaded with chauvinistic references calling for Serb unity. It was a call that would be echoed in the bloody campaigns by the Bosnian Serbs in the years to come. The collapse of Yugoslavia and the violence which followed brought many changes to Kosovo. Ethnic Albanians formed their own political parties. The most powerful, Democratic League of Kosovo, is led by the author Ibrahim Rugova, now engaged in a desperate effort to attract western support for his people. Ethnic Albanians did not wait long after YugoslaviaÆs collapse to proclaim their independence from the rump state that replaced it. Rugova was elected president in a vote not recognized by Serbian authorities. Soon afterwards, ethnic Albanians stopped participating in the institutions of former Yugoslavia and Serbia and organized a parallel society, including their own hospitals, schools, university, and legal institutions. The Yugoslav Army stopped drafting ethnic Albanians for army service, and they were discharged from the police. Despite the fact that they make up 17 percent of the rump stateÆs population ù about 1.7 million out of 10.4 million ù ethnic Albanians have boycotted elections on all levels, keeping as their sole goal the creation of an independent state. During the war in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995, matters came to a head. Serb police made numerous attempts to break the ôparallel state,ö but all in vain. On the contrary, in the 1990s a whole new generation of Albanians grew up educated in their own schools, speaking only Albanian, and having no memories of the relative ôgood timesö in TitoÆs Yugoslavia. A Serbian policeman sits behind a machine gun on top of an armoured personnel carrier March 8 near the village of Prekaz, the scene of recent fighting between Serbian police and members of Kosovo Liberation Army. <Picture: Image: Serbian policeman> More ominously, a more radical movement, the so-called ôLiberation Army of Kosovo,ö or UCK, began recruiting members. After some bombings in 1995, Serb authorities named it a terrorist organization, while Albanian politicians refused to recognize its existence and kept calling for the peaceful solution. In autumn of 1997, the UCK took control over several villages in the area of Drenica and Srbica, forcing Serb police off the streets at night. At the first signs of spring this year, serious clashes between police and UCK began, resulting in deaths among ethnic Albanian civilians, UCK members and Serb policemen. Ethnic Albanian officials, including Rugova, began to distance themselves from the UCK, while Serb authorities called them ôterrorist bandits.ö Serbia has rejected repeated international and European Union efforts to mediate the crisis and has insisted that this ôinternal Serbian issueö can be solved internally, even if that means a new confrontation with the West. Zoran Stanojevic is a Yugoslav journalist and a frequent contributor to MSNBC. <Picture: Michael Moran>

THE CONFLICT IN Kosovo, as everyone who has been to the Balkans will attest, is ancient, bitter and explosive. Nowhere has SerbiaÆs relentless national identity crisis (Are we the victims of the Nazis or have we become them?) taken on the poignancy it has in this southern province. From Kosovo, a land where Muslim Albanians make up 90 percent of the population, Serbia traces its roots. No matter how compelling a demographic argument Albanians can make for independence or unification with neighboring Albania, no patriotic Serb will ever entertain the notion of letting Kosovo go. The U.S. equivalent is giving the Alamo back to the Mexicans. In other words, it ainÆt gonna happen. <Picture: MAP: Yugoslavia> But before you write this off as yet another insoluble Balkan enigma, take a moment to grasp the simpler subtext. Beyond the complex issues of Balkan history, KosovoÆs problems must be viewed against the backdrop of a modern Europe struggling with its own identity. The fact is, Europe itself is in the throes of a racial conflict that makes the one AmericaÆs looney right keeps threatening to start look like a cake walk. Unlike the rantings of AmericaÆs neo-Nazis and Aryan disciples, in Europe, race war isnÆt the stuff of pulp fiction, Internet kooks or radio hate-mongers. This decadeÆs atrocities in Bosnia were a reminder that two world wars and the Cold one that followed did no harm to theories of racial superiority. Real life fascist and far right politicians across the continent today use race openly to whip up hatred ù and votes ù by raising the specter of a Europe overrun by Muslims. PARANOIA, THE DESTROYER Milosevic is not simply the leader of a country with ethnic problems. He is a man who used ethnic problems to become a leader.

Five centuries after the Ottoman Turks were turned back from the gates of Vienna, the same ignorance that led young English and French peasants to join the Crusades survives in the minds of too many Europeans. It is most easily identified in Serbia where it is all but official policy. You wonÆt hear it so clearly, of course, from Milosevic. The Serbian leader speaks in code words, talking of ôSerb unityö knowing full well the implications of that when Serb minorities live outside SerbiaÆs borders. Milosevic is not simply the leader of a country with ethnic problems. He is a man who used ethnic problems to become a leader. His cynical use of the Kosovo question to ôuniteö Serbia behind him is a page from Macchiavelli and will hopefully earn him the hot chapter of Dante in the end. But it would be dangerous to believe the anti-Muslim sentiment that runs through the conflict in Kosovo or in Bosnia is a Balkan malaise. An old Balkan hand and former boss of mine at The New York Times, David Binder, once told me that reporters love the Balkans because they can prove any theory of mayhem, evil or political nonesense they want there ù but itÆs not mayhem that makes the Balkans; itÆs paranoia. The paranoia has spread. <Picture: *>In France, the right-wing National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen trolls for votes in upcoming local elections by raising fears of the countryÆs large population of North African immigrants ù most of them Muslim ù trapped by poverty in a French economy that is stagnating. Le Pen recounts the violence and immorality of the bleak immigrant towns that ring Paris, denoucing what he dubbed ôThe Intifada of the Suburbsö and calling for immigrants to be deported. <Picture: *>Murders and horrible arson attacks against Turkish ôguest workersö in Germany have continued, a problem so pervasive that it has damaged relations between the two countries. An unidentified Turkish woman cries as she stands in front of a house in Moelln, Germany, where five Turkish immigrants ù including two children ù were burned to death by neo-Nazi arsonists in 1993. <Picture: Image: woman> It was thought that these incidents were an unfortunate but soon-to-be-forgotten byproduct of German reunification. But last year, more than 20 Turks were murdered this way. An editorial in the Turkish newspaper Yeni Yuzyil, written during a recent low in relations, suggested that Germany ôshould not forget that Hitler began his mass murder by saying the Jewish race did not belong in Europe.ö <Picture: *>RussiaÆs war in Chechnya, the separatist Muslim region in the Caucasus, left as many as 70,000 people dead. Russian forces were heavily criticized for human rights abuses and arbitrary use of heavy weapons in the conflict. The humiliating loss suffered by Russian troops has had a backlash in the rest of Russia. Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group, says that violent attacks against Muslims in Moscow and other Russian regions have increased and that authorities use Soviet-era ôresidence permitsö to jail dark-skinned people, often Muslims from other former Soviet regions, with impunity. <Picture: *>Greece, which, like Serbia, spent centuries under Ottoman rule, has been criticized for several years running in the U.S. State DepartmentÆs human rights report for mistreatment of its Muslim minority in the Thrace region. The Greeks refuse even to acknowledge the existence of this group and, as the State Department diplomatically puts it, ôhas investigated and arrested members of non-Orthodox religions for proselytism.ö All were Muslims. This is not to suggest that Europe is on the brink of a second Holocaust, as some Muslims in Europe and elsewhere have theorized. By and large, Muslims face discrimination in Europe about equal to that faced by immigrants in the United States and other countries. Many thrive despite disadvantages and in some countries ù Britain, especially ù being Muslim no longer contradicts the idea of being British. But if thereÆs anything this century has taught Europeans, itÆs that history unheeded is doomed to be repeated. As I write these words, the news from Kosovo is of a truck load of bodies driven into one of the villages targeted by the Serb security police and dumped in a central square. The people of the the village, Srbica, were told to claim and bury their dead before Serbia dumped them into a mass grave. An Associated Press television crew was invited to film the spectacle. This could be my old pal BinderÆs notion at work: Serbia, dilluded by paranoia, unabashed in its brutality. The country is isolated geographically, abandoned and now reviled by its former Yugoslav compatriots, unreformed in its miserable dedication to Slavic communism, surrounded by ethnic rivals, thwarted in its territorial ambitions and ù this hurts most of all ù feeling unappreciated for being one of the few Balkan nations (along with the Greeks) to resist the Nazi occupation. Brute force, it may think, at least wins it some fear. Yet there is something especially sinister here. The authorities invited an international television crew to film what might well turn out to be a war crime. For whose benefit? What is the message SerbiaÆs bosses want to send by beaming television pictures like that around the world? And, if theyÆre willing to do that on camera, are they really that impressed by the WestÆs talk of economic sanctions and hints about air strikes? <Picture> IMMEDIATE ACTION <Picture: *> All six nations agreed to support a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose a comprehensive arms embargo against Yugoslavia. <Picture: *>All except Russia agreed to deny visas to senior Yugoslav and Serbian officials responsible for the repression and to impose a moratorium on credit for government-financed exports. LONGER TERM ACTION <Picture: *> All nations except Russia agreed to freeze Yugoslav and Serb government assets abroad unless Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic within 10 days makes a public commitment to begin a dialogue with the Albanian majority on KosovoÆs political status, halts action against civilians, withdraws special police units and allows international representatives into the province. MILITARY MOVES <Picture: *> The nations support the maintenance of an international military presence in Macedonia. DIPLOMATIC MOVES <Picture: *> A U.S. envoy met Monday with Milosevic. The foreign ministers of Russia, Germany and France will also visit Belgrade in the next two weeks. <Picture: *>The group urged international war crimes prosecutors to gather information on the Kosovo violence. <Picture: *>The nations will meet with regional governments to discuss possible spillover.

PRESS RELEASE (98)29 5 March 1998

COUNCIL STATEMENT ON THE SITUATION IN KOSOVO

The North Atlantic Council is profoundly concerned by the violent incidents which took place in Kosovo the last few days, and in particular the Serbian police's brutal suppression of a peaceful demonstration in Pristina on 2nd March 1998. It condemns unreservedly the violent repression of non-violent expression of political views as well as terrorist acts to achieve political goals.

The North Atlantic Council calls on all sides to take immediate steps to reduce the tensions. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in particular has the obligation to undertake early initiatives to avoid a deterioration of the situation. A rapid and full implementation of the Education Agreement would represent an important step forward.

The North Atlantic Council calls on the authorities in Belgrade and leaders of the Kosovar Albanian community to enter without preconditions into a serious dialogue in order to develop a mutually acceptable political solution for Kosovo within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on the basis of the principles outlined by the international community, and most recently the Contact Group on 8th January and 25th February 1998. The North Atlantic Council welcomes international efforts to facilitate this process, including by the OSCE.

NATO and the international community have a legitimate interest in developments in Kosovo, inter alia because of their impact on the stability of the whole region which is of concern to the Alliance.

BALKAN INSTITUTE CALLS FOR U.S. INITIATIVE ON KOSOVO

For Immediate Release: March 5, 1998 Contact: James Hooper or Steve Walker Phone: 202-737-5219 ________________________________________

WASHINGTON - The Executive Committee of the Balkan Institute issued a statement today calling on the Clinton administration to reiterate its warning to Belgrade that massacres in Kosovo will prompt U.S. military intervention. Executive Committee members also urged that a NATO observer mission be deployed to Kosovo, a special presidential envoy be appointed to manage the Kosovo issue, and comprehensive financial sanctions be reimposed on Belgrade.

"The time to act is now, before large-scale violence makes any settlement impossible," said Ambassador Morton Abramowitz, a member of the Balkan Institute's Executive Committee. "We missed our opportunity to prevent the war in Bosnia, and we and the Bosnians have paid the price. Leaving the issue 'to the parties,' as the Pentagon wants, is a formula for violence."

Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations and also a member of the Council's Executive Committee, emphasized, "At some point we need to confront the realities of the Milosevic regime in Serbia and its program of ethnic hatred and violence. In Kosovo, the consequences of Milosevic's persecution of the Kosovar Albanian majority could be devastating if we ignore it. And the longer we wait, the higher the price of our inevitable involvement."

Balkan Institute is dedicated to promoting peace, stability, and democracy in the Balkans. Members of the Institute's Executive Committee signing the statement include Morton Abramowitz, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Jeane Kirkpatrick, and William Howard Taft.

The Balkan Institute Executive Committee statement follows:

Serbia's escalation of violence in Kosovo threatens peace in the region. It is the worst violence in Kosovo since the second world war. This violence must be ended if there is to be any chance of a settlement in Kosovo. This means that the U.S. and NATO must become involved in the crisis.

Following the visit by Ambassador Robert Gelbard to Kosovo and Belgrade last week, Serbian security forces significantly increased the violence against Kosovar Albanian civilians. Using helicopter gunships and armored vehicles, they attacked innocent civilians, including women and children, in several villages over the weekend; forcefully broke up peaceful demonstrations in Pristina, Kosovo's capital, on Monday; damaged the offices of Kosovo's leading newspaper, Koha Ditore; and beat several foreign and local journalists and Koha Ditore's editor, Veton Surroi.

The crisis presents the Clinton administration with a Bosnia-like situation: remain on the sidelines as a party to a violent breakdown and all its destabilizing consequences, or muster the resolve to involve itself in a serious way. If we have learned anything from Bosnia, it is that early intervention is essential to halt Balkan conflict and prevent spillover in the region.

The West has allowed Slobodan Milosevic considerable latitude in his repression in Kosovo. Accustomed to being treated as the indispensable Balkan peacemaker after he fomented war, Milosevic believes the West will sacrifice Kosovo to keep him engaged with Bosnian peace efforts. The West needs to treat him as the source of the problem and rely on serious Western involvement as the foundation for a solution. We call upon the United States to take the lead with the allies in carrying out the following measures:

1. Hold an urgent meeting of NATO foreign ministers to consider the situation in Kosovo. 2. Reiterate the Christmas warning of 1992, conveyed to Milosevic by President Bush and reinforced by former Secretary Christopher, threatening U.S. military intervention to halt provocative violence by Belgrade against the Kosovar Albanians. 3. Introduce a NATO observer mission throughout Kosovo to prevent further violence. 4. Appoint a presidential envoy of recognized political stature to manage the Kosovo issue. 5. Revoke the four concessions to Milosevic announced by Ambassador Gelbard last week in connection with events in Bosnia. 6. Reimpose comprehensive financial sanctions against Serbia (except for democratic assistance). 7. Insist that Milosevic lift the martial law measures imposed on Kosovo in 1989 and withdraw security forces. 8. Announce that a NATO-led international force will remain in Macedonia beyond the scheduled August termination date for UNPREDEP, the U.N. Preventive Deployment force.

09Mar98 YUGOSLAVIA: PROSECUTOR TAKES ACTION AGAINST MEDIA OVER COVERAGE OF CLASHES.

Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, 6 Mar 98

Belgrade, 6th March: The district state prosecutor in Belgrade has taken appropriate steps against certain dailies and TV stations following reports

which encouraged terrorist actions and misrepresented police action against

terrorists in Kosovo. A statement says that "the district state prosecutor in Belgrade has taken appropriate steps, in line with his powers stemming from the Penal Code, against editors in chief of [Belgrade-based independent] dailies `Danas', `Nasa borba', `Blic', `Dnevni telegraf' and ` Demokratija' and certain TV stations because they published articles, editorials and headlines and broadcast programmes which encouraged actions of terrorist gangs in Kosovo and misrepresented measures taken by the Serbian Interior Ministry against terrorists in Kosovo-Metohija". The Interior Ministry's operations targeted exclusively terrorist gangs which and carried out armed attacks on representatives of the Interior Ministry and civilians, in order to safeguard peace and security of all citizens in Kosovo-Metohija, the statement by the district state prosecutor says. (c) BBC Monitoring Summary of World Broadcasts.

12-MAR-98 13:34 NNN KOSOVO: DINI SAYS KOSOVO MUST ALSO BE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE

(ANSA) - Rome, March 12 - Kosovo's ethnic Albanians must also show themselves willing to negotiate with Belgrade if there is to be any hope of the situation in the Serbian province improving, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in an interview in today's edition of the Italian newspaper L'Unita. Speaking to the left-leaning daily about the Kosovo crisis, where demands for independence from Serbia by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians (who make up more than 90% of the province's two million people) have met with violent repression, Dini said that the local population was also ''partly to blame for the crisis.'' While stressing that Belgrade had acted ''violently and brutally'' in Kosovo, the minister warned that ''a solution to the crisis also depends upon a constructive approach by the population of Kosovo, which could see international sympathy rapidly evaporate if they don't do their part.'' He said that the Serbian government was showing signs of willingness to negotiate and that ''we are waiting for the other side to do the same.'' (MORE).

KLN 12-MAR-98 16:50 NNN KOSOVO: DINI SAYS KOSOVO MUST ALSO BE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE (2)

He said it was hoped that the sanctions imposed on Belgrade following the six-nation Contact Group meeting in London on Monday would convince Belgrade to withdraw its security forces from the region and open dialogue with Kosovo. Dini said that he had spoken several times with Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, who ''gave signs of his willingness to comply with these demands,'' and that if he does so, the sanctions would be lifted. His failure to comply would lead to ''more severe measures,'' Dini warned, adding that if Kosovo ''withdraws from dialogue with Belgrade, it will be blamed for the deterioration in the situation.''

Talks between Serbia and Albanians fail

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press

Yugoslav embassy in Tirana under police guard

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (March 12, 1998 10:24 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) -- Anxious to stave off further international sanctions, Serb leaders came to Kosovo province Thursday with hints of autonomy for ethnic Albanians. But residents -- along with the United States -- dismissed the offer as propaganda.

The proposal for talks that ultimately could lead to autonomy is "a farce, worthy only of a criminal and fascist-like regime," said Adem Demaci, leader of the Albanians' Parliamentary Party of Kosovo and an activist who has spent decades in Serb jails.

"They came as lords to their servants, to ask if the servants have any complaints," he added.

In Washington, the State Department called the Serb overture "a propaganda exercise."

"It seems like the Belgrade authorities are proposing things that are designed to fail," spokesman James P. Rubin said.

More than 80 people have died in Kosovo since Feb. 28 in two police offensives against Albanian separatists in the restive southern province of Serbia. Serbia is the larger of Yugoslavia's two remaining republics.

Serb police said they were acting against militants of the Kosovo Liberation Army who are pressing for independence in the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-to-1. But Albanian leaders say the police massacred dozens of civilians, including women and children.

The State Department has accused Serb forces of "ethnic cleansing" of Albanians in Kosovo and insisted that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic could have prevented the slaughter.

Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic arrived in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, with the message that "this is a problem of Serbia, and we are capable of solving it ourselves."

Despite international sympathy for their plight, the Albanians are in a tough spot diplomatically.

The United States and other world powers have signaled their opposition to Kosovo's independence from Serbia -- they fear a change of borders could start a new Balkan war -- and indicated they will not mount any quick military action against the Serbs.

In a sign of the Albanians' growing frustration, the outspoken Demaci is gaining in influence. Residents are increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of results from the more peaceful tactics of Ibrahim Rugova, the leader of the main ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic League of Kosovo.

But the Democratic League also rejected any negotiations with Serb officials.

The visiting Serbian delegation urged the Albanians to change their minds and begin talks Friday. It was the first time since 1992 that Serbia had extended an open offer of talks on Kosovo.

In Belgrade, the capital of both Yugoslavia and Serbia, Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Lilic was quoted by the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug as saying that he was "convinced that there is readiness for talks on the highest level of autonomy according to international standards."

Any agreement reached through negotiations is better than the "catastrophe we are on the verge of," he added.

But Lilic rejected any negotiations on secession, saying, "I am certain that there are no relevant political factors in Serbia who are ready to discuss Kosovo's independence."

Several neighboring nations are bracing for either a flow of refugees from Kosovo or, worse, a spillover of fighting if ethnic Albanians elsewhere take up arms and join the cause.

In neighboring Albania, Prime Minister Fatos Nano urged his "brothers" in Kosovo to resist violence and stressed that his nation supports diplomatic peace efforts.

His message of restraint was applauded by NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, who was in the region seeking support for peace efforts in Kosovo. Solana said it was premature to discuss whether NATO would consider sending peacekeepers to Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanian students have organized a protest in Pristina on Friday outside the American Cultural Center, a site where Serb police have been reluctant to react with their usual force.

Despite some divisions, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia agreed Monday to toughen existing trade sanctions against Yugoslavia with an arms embargo and possibly freeze funds held abroad by Belgrade and the Serbian governments.

Britain and the United States made an unsuccessful bid for U.N. Security Council backing for the measures. Instead, the council issued a statement Wednesday emphasizing Yugoslavian territorial integrity.

China, a permanent council member with veto power like Britain and the United States, had resisted any statement on Kosovo, calling it Yugoslavia's "internal matter."

However, leaders of the European Union and 11 would-be member nations said Thursday that they support the sanctions.

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

MILS NEWS Skopje, 12 March, 1998

TONY LOYD IN MACEDONIA The development of events on Kosovo and the concern of the international community of the possible impact on Macedonia and the region were the main reasons for yesterday's visit of the Secretary of State of the British Foreign Office, Tony Loyd. Talks with President Kiro Gligorov, PM Branko Crvenkovski and Foreign Secretary Blagoj Handzhiski delved into the proposal of the Contact Group on former Yugoslavia to follow up on UNPREDEP with an international mission which would contain a forces component. This would be complemented by the reinforcement of the existing Spillover Monitoring Mission of the OSCE. The President's Cabinet revealed that Gligorov did not only emphasise the importance of continuing the peacekeeping mission, but also pointed out that the border with FR Yugoslavia needed to be demarcated sooner rather than later - as one more element conducive to the fostering of security in the region. The British official said in conclusion that both Albanians and Macedonians in our country entertained moderate views as regards the situation on Kosovo. In the opinion of Loyd the resolving of the Kosovo crisis is to be achieved through an agreement which will be respected by Albanians in this province, but within FR Yugoslavia. Macedonian Foreign Secretary Blagoj Handzhiski expressed the concern of Macedonia with the situation on Kosovo. He also underlined the need to devise a political solution for the problem, since it may otherwise set ablaze the entire region through its escalation. Tony Loyd, who previously visited Tirana, is to continue his tour through the region by visiting Belgrade next.

Kosova Information Center KOSOVA DAILY REPORT # 1370-A Prishtina, 13 March 1998

First Edition: 12:00

Summary from President Rugova's Press Conference

PRISHTINA, March (KIC) - The President of the Republic of Kosova Dr. Ibrahim Rugova told scores of foreign and domestic reporters today (Friday) the situation in the Drenica region continues to be "very grave". Several villages are being kept under Serb siege, such as Llausha, Broja, etc, besides the villages in which the massacre was committed and the Serb police presence is ubiquitous, President Ibrahim Rugova said. As many as 13.000 Albanians have fled from two municipalities (Gllogovc and Skenderaj), and "we are doing all we can to assist them". These are the first signs of the "ethnic cleansing of this region [Drenica] and Kosova", Dr. Ibrahim Rugova stressed. The President hailed the efforts of the international community on Kosova, especially the United States of America, the European Union, but also the UN. "We call for a stepped up and urgent engagement on the part of the international community, first and foremost of the U.S. and EU, so as to help the people of Kosova, and support its legitimate claims for freedom, independence and democracy", President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosova said. Asked by reporters to say whether he thought the situation in Kosova could be resolved peacefully, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova said that was possible, with the unfailing support of the United States, the EU, the UN, and other world organizations. The six-nation Contact Group, which met in London Monday, did not accept independence of Kosova as an option. How do you respond to this? - a reporter asked. "The people of Kosova are committed to their independence bid. We work to see this goal achieved peacefully and, in that vein, we urge for international support. This is the best solution, not only for Kosova, but also for Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, and other countries in the region", President Rugova concluded.

President Rugova Receives Nicholas Hill

PRISHTINA, March 13 (KIC) - The President of the Republic of Kosova Dr. Ibrahim Rugova received today in Prishtina Mr. Nicholas Hill, First Secretary in the United States Embassy in Belgrade. President Rugova and the U.S. diplomat discussed the current situation in Kosova in the wake of the crackdown of Serb police/military forces in the Drenica villages. President Rugova thanked the U.S. administration for its continued support and increasing efforts on Kosova.

Serb Forces Hold 60 Albanian Women and Children Hostage

PRISHTINA, March 13 (KIC) - Around 60 Albanian women and children have been held as hostages by Serb forces at Broja village of Skenderaj ('Srbica'), sources in Mitrovica said. A witness, Bek& Thaqi, told the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) the 60 Albanians are being held as hostage in his own house. He said he was able to make a narrow escape himself. Broja and several other Albanian villages of Skenderaj have been sealed off by Serb forces for a week now. Over 100 women and children were kept for several days in another house in this village until Thursday, when they were let go.

Local Serbs in a Tandem with Police Harass and Threaten Albanians in Gjakova Villages

PRISHTINA, March 13 (KIC) - LDK in Gjakova said the situation in the Dushkaja region of Gjakova (south-west Kosova) has deteriorated over the last week, due to provocation by Serb civilians and Serb forces against Albanian population. There are two Serb families living in Cermjan, said LDK sources, and they have been threatening their Albanian neighbors with fire arms. There was heavy shooting from the Serb houses Wednesday and Thursday. Heavy police forces have been deployed in the village, and particularly in the houses of Babovic and Fatic Serb families. The local Serbs together with he police have beaten severely Sadik Baliu, Dervish Luma, Gazmend Plava, Nexhat Pazhari, Agim F. Hoxha and Palush Kastrati, from the same village. A Serb expedition harassed Wednesday the primary school children. LDK sources said because of the provocations from Serb civilians and Serb forces a number of Albanian families have fled their homes.

Kosova Information Center

Ethnic Albanians urge world to help in Kosovo

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net Copyright © 1998 The Associated Press

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (March 13, 1998 10:42 a.m. EST http://www.nando.net) -- Ethnic Albanian leaders in Serbia's turbulent Kosovo province renewed their charges of Serb terrorism Friday and prodded world leaders to take firm action before it's too late.

In Pristina, Kosovo's capital, tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians gathered for one of the biggest protests yet against Serbia, whose police have killed more than 80 people since Feb. 28 -- including women and children -- in a crackdown against increasingly violent Kosovo separatists.

"Independence, independence!" the crowd chanted -- a growing sentiment among the ethnic Albanians who make up 90 percent of the population in Serb-ruled Kosovo.

Serb police looked on warily but appeared intent on avoiding a confrontation. The student organizers of the gathering billed it as a peaceful demonstration against Serb violence, but it quickly took on the feel of a pro-independence rally.

Gathering outside the American Cultural Center -- where police have been reluctant to use force -- the demonstrators flashed the V-for-victory sign and chanted "We'll give up our lives, we won't give up Kosovo!"

"NATO we need you," one sign read. "Stop Serbian terror," read another.

"There is a saying that blood doesn't dry, and doesn't disappear -- especially when it is shed by the adversary in a most barbarian and inhumane way," student leader Bujar Dujolli told the crowd.

The rally, backed by trade unions, human rights organizations and ordinary citizens, came as the Serbian government hit an impasse in its diplomatic efforts to quiet the crisis.

Bolstered by Washington's denunciation of a Serbian offer for talks as a "diplomatic exercise," ethnic Albanian leaders are refusing to take part in the talks -- which they call a Serb ploy to quiet world criticism.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic issued a sharply critical statement, saying "there are no justified reasons for the representatives of ethnic Albanian national minority not to engage in open dialogue, initiated by the Serbian government."

Serbia is the dominant of two republics remaining in the Yugoslav federation.

After meeting with Leni Fisher, head of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, Milosevic reiterated that Kosovo is Serbia's problem to solve, not the world's.

One influential Albanian, Adem Demaci, said negotiations were not possible with a government guilty of "terrorizing a whole nation in Kosovo."

Rebuffed two days running, Serbian officials said that despite the Albanians' failure to show up for proposed talks, the offer holds.

"The government of Serbia remains open for unconditional talks about all issues in Kosovo, any time, anywhere on state territory," Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic said.

"Every issue can be discussed," he said.

Serb police have defended their crackdown, saying they were acting against militants of the Kosovo Liberation Army who are pressing for independence in the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs 9-to-1. But Albanian leaders say the police massacred dozens of civilians, including women and children.

Ibrahim Rugova, president of the self-declared Republic of Kosovo, said Friday that Serbian police were maintaining a large presence in villages of the Drenica region, where he called the situation "grave."

He reiterated his claim that the Serbs are on a mission to drive ethnic Albanians from the province.

"From two Drenica municipalities, about 13,000 inhbaitants have moved," he said. "These are the first, first forms of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo."

Rugova's claims could not immediately be confirmed, and many of the Albanians sent running by the police offensives already are returning to their homes.

However, the main U.N. refugee agency said Friday in Geneva that while its staffers have been unable to get into Prekaz and Likosani -- the worst-hit villagers -- the nearby towns they did manage to see were virtually empty.

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

Former head of SHIK suspected of connection with terrorism

TIRANE, March 14 (ATA)-The visit of Prime Minister Fatos Nano to Israel also aimed at gathering as much data as possible from his Israeli colleagues, always informed in such cases, about the movements carried out in favour of the Arab world by his forerunners. This is what Gazeta Shqiptare says on Friday in its editorial, which refers to sources close to the government. "'The Gazidede file', widely disputed of connections with the Islamics must have already been completed with data which 'Mossad' has gathered over the last years," the paper says raising the questions:"What where the secret connections of the Albanian services with those of the Islamic countries?", "How did these links affect the situation created in Albania, what is the role of the politics' main protagonists, what were Gazidede's and others' contacts?". The former head of the National Information Service (SHIK), Bashkim Gazidede, before his appointment to this office by ex-president Sali Berisha, had been chairman of the Islamic Intellectuals' Association. Recently, there have been open discussions about Gazidede's connections with the Kosova Liberation Army (UaK), discussions sometimes contested sometimes passed over in silence. UaK has been used as a pretext by Yugoslav President Milosevic to exert terror on the civilian population in Kosova and as an argument about "Albanian terrorism". Belgrade has justified the violence causing more than 80 victims, women, children and old, among the ethnic Albanians, as "police action against terrorist organisation UaK". The Albanian government as well as the Kosova authorities have openly distanced themselves from the UaK and any kind of terrorism. The fact that Nano's visit to the Middle East also had Gazidede on the agenda, provides Albania with another card in its efforts to positively and peacefully resolve the Kosova issue. Albania showed to the International Community, which is seriously engaged in resolving the Kosova issue, that it not only condemns terrorism in principle but combats it through all means. The attitude of the Albanian government and the Kosova authorities has deprived Milosevic of all cards to use "fear of terrorism" to kill the Albanians. This was also confirmed by the Contact Group which openly declared that "fight against terrorism" is not a pretext for Milosevic to kill the Albanians.

U.S. lends a hand in Kosovo probe

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net Copyright © 1998 Reuters News Service

WASHINGTON (March 13, 1998 7:01 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - The United States, which holds Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic politically culpable for the recent bloodshed in Kosovo, moved on Friday to ensure an international war crimes tribunal can determine responsibility for the killings.

The State Department announced a $1 million contribution to help the tribunal do its work in Kosovo as soon as Serbian authorities issue visas to independent forensic experts and investigators.

State Department James Rubin also warned that instability in Kosovo, a Serbian province, could affect U.S. national interests and reiterated that "we're not ruling out any options at this stage," including military action, to deal with it.

Rubin, at a news briefing, refrained from branding Milosevic a war criminal, according to the legal definition of the term.

That would be for the Hague-based tribunal to decide, he told reporters.

"But certainly at a political level, what goes on in that country, we believe he is in a position to shape," he said.

The $1 million contribution, announced in a statement by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, was meant to underscore her remarks in London earlier this week, Rubin said.

At that time, she said "we are not going to stand by and watch the Serbian authorities do in Kosovo what they can no longer get away with doing in Bosnia."

The contribution -- an unusually speedy attempt to help the tribunal get moving in Kosovo -- was also meant to increase pressure on Milosevic to end the violence.

Many blame him for also unleashing the war and ethnic cleansing that tore Bosnia apart until a peace accord was signed in 1995.

"President Milosevic is responsible for -- politically responsible -- for what goes on in his country. And therefore, it's hard for us to believe that these kind of crackdowns could occur over his objections," Rubin said.

At a minimum, the administration hopes the contribution will "be a powerful reminder to those who might be asked to conduct such operations in the future about what they might face," the spokesman said.

Rubin noted that increasing numbers of indicted war criminals from the Bosnia war are in jail and facing prosecution at the Hague.

Serbia, the dominant part of the former Yugoslavia, used police to crack down on a separatist movement by ethnic Albanians in its Kosovo province.

At least 80 people were killed over 10 days, raising international alarm that the conflict could engulf Yugoslavia and spill over into neighboring countries.

U.S. officials have said the bloodshed amounted to "ethnic cleansing" and have laid primary blame on Milosevic.

Serbia in 1989 stripped autonomy from Kosovo, whose population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian. Large Albanian communities also live in neighboring countries.

Major powers led by the United States have threatened Milosevic with intensified economic sanctions if he does not make progress toward a compromise with ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Rubin said there is still no sign Milosevic is moving to meet the major powers' demands. REUTERS

S T A T E M E N T BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA Tanjug, 1998-03-10 At its today's meeting, the Government of the Republic of Serbia reviewed the information of the relevant ministries on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and, in that framework, the information of the Ministry of the Interior on the measures taken against terrorism, submitted by Colonel*General Vlastimir Djordjevi}, Head of the Department for Public Security and Dragi{a Ristivojevi}, Deputy Head of the Department of State Security.

The Government assessed that the recent activities of the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija were carried out exclusively in the function of combatting terrorism, which has escalated in the past few months bringing about the loss of life of a great number of innocent citizens* Serbs, Albanians and members of the Ministry of the Interior.

Consequently, the Government noted that the undertaken measures had a strictly limited scope with a view to defending against ruthless attacks of terrorists and to liquidating the terrorist core, and that they were carried out respecting regulations and security of other citizens and of their property.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia condemns in harshest terms the terrorism of the Albanian separatists in Kosovo and Metohija and confirms the readiness of all authorities in Serbia to ensure in Kosovo and Metohija, as in the rest of Serbia, the rule of law, full equality and life in peace and security of all citizens, regardless of their nationality.

Serbia makes a clear distinction between terrorists and terrorism on one hand, and the members of the Albanian national minority on the other, and calls upon responsible representatives of the Albanian national minority to disassociate themselves from terrorism and join in universal international condemnation of that scourge.

The Ministry of the Interior informed the public of all measures taken against the terrorists. Diplomatic representatives in Belgrade and foreign journalists were given the opportunity to visit the villages in the Drenica area where the activities against the terrorists were carried out and see for themselves that the activities of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia were strictly in the function of capturing terrorist gangs and preventing their activities.

In view of the fact that they were able todirectly establish the actual state of affairs and that the authorities had nothing to hide, the Government considers that for the sake of full truth it would also be useful if an expert group of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Kosovo and Metohija and in cooperation with the Yugoslav Red Cross, verified the rumours circulated in some media, and in that respect, extends an invitation to them do so.

It is the long*standing policy of Serbia not to differentiate among its citizens on the basis of their national, religious on any other background. The Government of Serbia as well as all other authorities in the Republic equally care of all citizens of the Republic of Serbia and shall not allow in the future either any injustice against any of its citizens, including the members of national minorities whose rights are protected in the Republic of Serbia in accordance with the highest international standards.

The Government most resolutely confirms that all questions related to Kosovo and Metohija should be resolved within Serbia by political means and in accordance with international standards in the field of protection of the rights of national minorities. There is a consensus of all political forces and parties of influence in the Republic on that score, as well as the position of the relevant international factors, representing the best guarantee for its successful resolution.

The Government takes this opportunity to reaffirm that it is open to have all questions related to the realization of civil and human rights of all citizens in Kosovo and Metohija as well as of faster economic and cultural development, resolved in dialogue and by political means, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, European and international standards, OSCE principles, Paris Charter and the Charter of the United Nations. The Government particularly points out that it accepts that all rights and principles contained in the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the protection of national minorities be realized in this way.

By its overall policy and concrete measures, the Government shall ensure conditions for a stable political, economic and cultural development, promotion of relations of tolerance and trust among all citizens in Kosovo and Metohija. The Government proves this readiness by the fact that its representatives in the Group 3+3 have in the usual manner already submitted their proposal of operative measures for the implementation of the Agreement on the normalization of the education system in Kosovo and Metohija.

In accordance with the above positions, the Government of the Republic of Serbia invites the responsible representative of the Albanian national minority to embark upon open dialogue in order to resolve all concrete issues, because it is the only way to promote political processes with a view to resolving vital questions of the citizens in this Province of ours.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia once again stresses that the only perspective of Kosovo and Metohija is in peace, development, tolerance, equality and co*existence.

RUMELIOTIS SAID THAT HIS VISIT WAS AIMED AT PROMOTING REGIONAL STABILITY Tanjug, 1998-03-09 European Union's Royaumont initiative for cooperation with southeastern European countries coordinator Panayotis Rumeliotis said after meeting with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic on Monday that his visit to Belgrade was aimed at promoting stability and good neighbourly relations in southeastern Europe within the initiative in which Yugoslavia actively participates.

Rumeliotis told reporters that he had informed Yugoslav officials about preparations for the coming Royaumont initiative meeting in Athens on March 31. This will be a conference of southeastern European journalists and media owners, where steps would be reviewed for promoting media cooperation aimed at an easier flow of people and ideas in the region.

LAVROV: 'CONTACT GROUP' CONDEMNATION OF TERRORISM IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA IS VITAL Tanjug, 1998-03-11 Russia's U.N. Ambassador Sergei Lavrov has described as vital the condemnation of terrorism in Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija by the 'Contact group' at a meeting in London on Monday.

Addressing reporters before consultations at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday afternoon, Lavrov said Russia's stand was that the issue of Kosovo and Metohija must be resolved through a dialogue. He said he hoped that diplomatic efforts in that direction would be stepped up in the days to come.

Asked if the Security Council planned to adopt a resolution on an arms ban, Lavrov said no such resolution was in the offing. He said the London talks exclusively concerned the blocking of arms supplies to ethnic Albanian terrorists and separatists in the province.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL FAILS TO AGREE ON A STATEMENT ON KOSOVO Tanjug, 1998-03-10 After two-hour closed-door consultations about the developments in Kosovo late on Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council failed to agree and adopt a press release, as China opposed any U.N. action at the moment, determined that Kosovo is Yugoslavia's internal issue.

Following a British Ambassador to the United Nations John Weston report on the Tuesday 'Contact group' meeting in London, the U.N. Security Council decided not to make a press release because of different stands on whether it was necessary at all.

After the consultations, Weston told reporters that Great Britain had proposed that a press release be made stressing Security Council's concern about the latest developments in Kosovo and Metohija and that one Security Council member had opposed this proposal.

Chinese representative Rangeng Chen presented a different picture of the atmosphere at the Security Council, saying that many different stands had been expressed at the consultations. The key question that was posed was whether any statement on the British report should be made.

Rangeng said that China considered as the most important the observation of the principle of non-interference in sovereign countries' internal affairs and that it believed that the developments in Kosovo and Metohija were an internal affair of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Rangeng said that China was firmly committed to the observation of this principle and that it did not wish the United Nations to make any precedents in this sphere.

Rangeng said that the question had been posed of what the statement should contain should it be decided that it be released.

Security Council circles said that some non-permanent Security Council members also insisted on the observation of the principle of sovereignty and integrity.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE AREA OF DRENICA Tanjug, 1998-03-10 The energetic action of Serbia's Interior Ministry in which the core of ethnic-Albanian terrorists in Kosovo and Metohija was destroyed was preceded by a series of terrorist attacks on the police and private citizens in the area of Drenica, the Belgrade daily Politika said on Tuesday.

The daily gave a chronology of the recent developments in Serbia's southern province, refuting in an argumented fashion numerous lies and stratagems published by the so-called independent domestic and some foreign media in reports from the provincial capital of Pristina.

The chronology covers only the most recent brutal attacks by terrorists, whose succession of crimes in the more recent years has been the cause of affliction to scores of Serb and ethnic-Albanian families.

On February 28, at 12:30 p.m. local time, ethnic-Albanian terrorists opened fire from automatic weapons at a Serbian police vehicle from an ambush. Several kilometres further from the scene of this ambush, terrorists attacked police reinforcements in a four-wheel-drive Lada Niva, killing two policemen and wounding two.

Soon after, at around 2 p.m. local time, members of the Interior Ministry special unit rescued the wounded policemen and went in pursuit of the terrorists.

Terrorists withdrew after their operation in the direction of the village of Gladno Selo, firing at the security forces.

Three terrorists were killed and three wounded at this point (supporters took away with them two dead and the wounded, living behind the remains of one killed terrorist).

Terrorists put up fierce resistance for several hours while withdrawing in the direction of the villages of Poljanice, Chirez and Gradica, where the fighting continued.

At dusk on the same day, terrorists attacked the security forces, who took prisoner three ethnic Albanians in camouflage fatigues and armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades. Five terrorists were killed in the clash.

A vehicle marked "humanitarian aid," which was used to supply terrorists with arms and ammunition, was found in the village of Vrbovac and terrorists were arrested.

On the night of February 28 - March 1, one policeman was wounded in fierce clashes. He succumbed to the wounds.

Terrorists opened fire at a police helicopter from a portable rocket launcher and automatic weapons, killing one policeman and wounding one.

On March 1, the police broke up a gang of terrorists who fled in the direction of the village of Poljance, sporadically opening fire.

Several days later, at dawn on March 5, terrorists attacked a police patrol in the village of Lausa, wounding two policemen.

The clash spread in the direction of the villages of Donji Prekaz and Gornji Prekaz, from which women, children and the aged were evacuated. Terrorists were forced to break up into smaller groups and they pulled back into the nearby forests, taking with them the dead and wounded.

Two policemen were killed and four wounded that day in the villages of Gornje Prekaze and Donje Prekaze. Twenty terrorists were killed, eight * who were in a well camouflaged bunker * surrendered. Three large bunkers, which had been used as shelters, were discovered. Two were stocked with medical supplies and one, packed with ammunition, weapons and explosives, had served as a command base.

On March 6, terrorist leaders Adem Jasari (43), and Redzep Seljami (29), were killed. Jasari and Seljami had been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison each.

After the operation, some of the terrorists withdrew towards the Klina and Djakovica municipalities along the border towards Albania, the Belgrade daily Politika said.

GELBARD: FUTURE OF KOSOVO AND METOHIJA LIES WITHIN YUGOSLAV BORDERS Tanjug, 1998-03-11 U.S. special envoy for the Balkans said on Tuesday his country's stand was that the future of Serbia's province of Kosovo and Metohija lay within the Yugoslav borders.

Gelbard was speaking at a news conference in Pristina, centre of the province, after meeting with ethnic Albanian leaders Ibrahim Rugova and Mahmut Bakali. Gelbard met also with leaders of ethnic Albanian students and visited the Albanian-language 'Koha Ditore' newspaper.

Commenting on his visit to Pristina, Gelbard said fear was evident in the case of both ethnic Albanians as well as Serbs. He said the fear must be eliminated and people enabled to live in peace and freedom, saying all must make an effort to achieve the goal. He said the United States were ready to help achieve the goal, but said its achievement depended on Yugoslav authorities and ethnic Albanians.

He ruled out the possibility of his country backing Rugova's stand on independence of the province. He said Washington would back all democratic leaders urging democratic ideas and non-violent methods of achieving goals, adding that what his country backed was unconditional dialogue.

He said his country's stand was that the status of Kosovo and Metohija should be improved and that the province should be granted broader autonomy. He said, however, that parties to the dialogue should have a final say in the matter and not the United States.

Yugoslavia must ease tensions in the province and take steps to build confidence in order to find a political solution to the issues through a dialogue, he said.

He said immediate steps must be taken to implement the Education Agreement.

He declined to comment in detail on his meeting with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade late on Monday. He said what was essential was to establish trust in Kosovo and Metohija and create a possibility of solving the issues immediately.

KOSOVO IS HOLY LAND OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE BALKANS Tanjug, 1998-03-10 The French daily Le Monde published on Tuesday historical facts about the province of Kosovo and Metohija and facts about its importance for Serbia in an article entitled "Holy Land of the Orthodox Church in the Balkans."

The author of the article, Henri Tincq, sets out that the first Serbian state was created in Kosovo in the 9th century, and that it was in the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 that Serbia had lost its independence in the Middle Ages.

He quoted Jean-Francois Colossimo of the Saint-Serge Orthodox Institute in Paris as saying that the wound was still open and every Serb thought of the Battle of Kosovo as of a recent event.

Le Monde underlined that many Serbian churches and monasteries were located in Kosovo and Metohija, "the holy Orthodox land in the Balkans," which it said was now predominantly populated by ethnic Albanians.

"Imagine the holy places such as Chartres, Vezelay, Lourdes or Mont-Saint Michel being all in a single district of which 90% is populated by Muslims and you will understand why Kosovo is an ethnic and religious powder-keg," Le Monde set out.

It specified that the old Patriarchate of the Serbian Orthodox Church was in the town of Pec in Kosovo and Metohija and that "ethnic Albanian terrorists torched a monastery of the old Pec Patriarchate on March 16, 1981."

"Kosovo is for Serbia what Jerusalem is for Jews and the Calvary for Christians," Le Monde quoted a Yugoslav author as saying.

The Paris daily stressed that "antagonisms started only in the 15th century, when Albanians, who embraced Islam under the Turks, started moving in large numbers to Serbia, i.e., Kosovo." It specified that Albanians moved in after every Serb migration, in 1688, 1738, and 1766.

Le Monde included the speech of the Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo among the events in the more recent history it covered.

It quoted a Serbian priest as saying in 1982, "The Serbian people has been fighting the Battle of Kosovo since 1389. Kosovo is our memory, our hearth, the flame of our being."

YUGOSLAV STATISTICS BUREAU: TWO-MONTH EXPORTS RISE BY 10% Tanjug, 1998-03-10 Yugoslavia's exports, which reached the value of 346 million dollars in the first two months of this year, increased by 10% in comparison with the same period of 1997 and the country's imports, worth 777 million dollars, rose by 7.3%, Director of the Federal Statistics Bureau Milovan Zivkovic told Tanjug on Monday.

The planned degree of increase of exports has not been registered yet, but Zivkovic said that this was frequent in the first quarter.

The withdrawal of the E.U. trade preferences has some bearing on this since the price of Yugoslavia's key products, such as textile, footwear and agricultural produce, went up by 9-21% on the E.U. market due to the restored tariffs.

The value of Yugoslavia's two-month trade with more than 100 countries amounted to 1.123 billion dollars and the country's foreign trade deficit to 431 million dollars, the statistics said.

Yugoslavia traded the most with industrialised countries (530 million dollars), transition countries (464 million dollars) and developing countries (130 million dollars).

The biggest value of Yugoslav exports was registered in the countries in transition (168 million dollars) and Yugoslavia's biggest purchases in industrialised countries (371 million dollars).

Yugoslavia still trades the most with European countries, primarily Italy, Russia, Germany and Macedonia. According to the value of goods, Yugoslavia imported the most from the Russian Federation (125 million dollars) and exported to the Republika Srpska (79 million dollars).

The Republika Srpska has become one of Yugoslavia's most important trade partners, with the total value of trade in the first two months of this year amounting to 110 million dollars, Zivkovic said.

As for the groups of products, Yugoslavia's most exported products were cereals, medical and pharmaceutical products, non-ferrous metals, steel and iron, cork and wood products, yarn, fabrics and textile.

The country's most imported products were oil and oil derivatives, natural gas, fruit and vegetables, coffee, tea, cocoa and spices, yarn, fabrics and textile products and mineral ores. Raw materials and intermediates accounted for 62.1% of Yugoslavia's imports, which should result in a growth of exports.

In February, Yugoslav companies exported goods worth 1.67 million dollars, which was a 3.5% improvement in comparison with January and 4.4% improvement in comparison with February 1997.

RUSSIA IS OPPOSED TO ANTI-YUGOSLAV SANCTIONS Tanjug, 1998-03-10 Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov told the press on Tuesday, in Moscow, that his country was against the imposition of fresh sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Putting an end to terrorist actions of ethnic Albanians is the basic condition for calming the situation in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija, Primakov said.

Russia is deeply concerned over the arms deliveries to the separatists in Kosovo by some countries, Primakov added. It is no secret that separatists and terrorists in Kosovo are receiving foreign assistance, Primakov said and added that his counterparts and high officials of many countries were aware of this.

In the present situation it would be wrong to punish Belgrade, this would not help stabilize the situation, Primakov said and added that actions should be well-planned and balanced in order to prevent the situation getting out of control.

Primakov appealed for speedy initiation of a dialogue between Serbian authorities and representatives of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

SERBIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY'S PRELIMINARY REPORT ON ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATIONS IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA Tanjug, 1998-03-11 The Serbian Information Ministry has published a Serbian Interior Ministry's preliminary report on its anti-terrorist action in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo-Metohija, which was adopted at the Government session on Tuesday.

The report said:

"Several-month terrorist attacks on the area of Srbica, which have threatened the safety of traffic on many roads and brought about numerous civilian casualties, engendering a feeling of insecurity of citizens of all nationalities, have imposed the need to fully secure safe travel by setting up police outposts.

"In an effort to hinder the implementation of these measures, a terrorist group led by Adem Jasari attacked police patrols on February 28, killing four policemen and injuring another two. Sixteen terrorists were liquidated in the clash.

"At dawn of March 5, a group of terrorists launched another attack on a police patrol near the village of Donje Prekaze. Following a strong police response, the terrorist group retreated to their stronghold on the Jasari family compound in the same village.

"Obeying all rules of procedure, police forces surrounded the terrorist group and invited them to surrender, while urging all other persons to clear the premises. The police gave them two hours to comply. Within the given deadline, dozens of civilians complied with the order and dispersed in safety from the terrorist stronghold.

"After the two-hour deadline expired, Adem Jasari's terrorist group responded with fire to a repeated call for surrender, using heavy weapons - mortars, machine guns, hand grenades, automatic and sniper guns.

"The battle with the terrorists lasted 27 hours. A total of 51 people were killed. Regrettably, it was later found that members of the Jasari family, whom the terrorists prevented from leaving their stronghold, were among those killed.

"The Interior Ministry expresses regret and bitterness that these were the victims of ethnic Albanian terrorists' cruelty and ruthlessness. The police had no way of knowing if there were any civilians left with the terrorists, since dozens of them had earlier vacated the premises surrounded by the police.

"The cruelty of A. Jasari can be also seen in the fact that he had personally killed his nephew in order to prevent him from surrendering himself.

"Two policemen were killed and another seven were seriously injured in the anti-terrorist operation.

"The terrorists had a total of 67 dead in both operations, whereas in the February 28 operation several people were killed and their bodies were removed by the terrorists while the fighting was in progress. "After the operation was completed, competent judicial bodies - the investigative magistrate in Kosovska Mitrovica in the presence of the prosecutor - carried out an investigation, and the full freedom of movement was subsequently restored in the area.

"The competent bodies are investigating allegations that the police had overstepped their authority in the operations and they will publish their findings," said the Interior Ministry's preliminary report.

ETHNIC ALBANIANS TRY TO JUSTIFY REJECTION OF DIALOGUE Tanjug, 1998-03-12 Representatives of ethnic Albanians of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija (Kosmet) on Thursday failed to show up for talks proposed by the Serbian Government on resolving concrete issues concerning Kosmet citizens.

Ethnic Albanians tried to justify this move - which is contrary also to the stand of the international community which had urged them to open dialogue with the Serbian authorities and had condemned terrorism - saying the invitation had been rejected because it was "not serious" as it had been sent through public news media.

Dzemailj Mustafa, the public relations adviser to Democratic Alliance of Kosovo (DSK) President Ibrahim Rugova, read an official statement by the ethnic Albanian side, which he called "the Kosovo leadership," at a press conference.

The statement gave an arbitrary assessment that the official institutions of Serbia "are playing a game of procrastination" and are trying to "prevent serious dialogue, and blame the Albanian side for this" - with invitations for talks sent twice in two days.

The ethnic Albanian side urges the settling of problems peacefully and with political means, but "through serious talks and with effective mediation by a third party," said Mustafa.

Ethnic Albanian leaders did not specify who might represent this third party, nor did they comment in the statement their stand on appeals by the international community to show cooperativity in seeking solutions to Kosmet issues.

The Contact group met in London on Tuesday and appealed to ethnic Albanians to accept dialogue with the Belgrade authorities, making it clear that they did not support Kosmet's secession or terrorism.

The separatism of Kosmet Albanian was also strongly condemned by U.S. special envoy Robert Gelbard who had met with leaders of ethnic Albanian parties in Pristina before the London meeting. He had asked them on that occasion clearly to disassociate themselves from terrorism.

Ethnic Albanians have not replied to these appeals so far, and today's rejection of the Serbian authorities' invitation for talks can be interpreted as proof of their rejection of a political solution for Kosmet as an inseparable part of Serbia.

The statement criticized the Serbian Government for sending out the invitation "without an address" and that it "does not offer a single possibility for resolving any problem."

The invitation by the Serbian Government, formulated as a public invitation to dialogue, without any conditions, was open for all issues of importance to the citizens of Kosmet, proceeding from resolving the status of minorities according to top world standards and in keeping with international acts, to issues of a speedier economic and cultural development of the province.

It is interesting to note that Mustafa read the statement in the Albanian language only, a statement which included formulations about alleged state terror in Kosmet.

GALLOIS ON ANTI-SERB CAMPAIGN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON KOSOVO DEVELOPMENTS 1991." Tanjug, 1998-03-12 One of the most prominent French military experts Pierre-Marie Gallois has said that the "permanent foreign interference" in the internal affairs of the Yugoslav state started in 1991 and "has not stopped since."

Retired general and renowned nuclear strategist Gallois told Tanjug's correspondent in Paris that he saw the continuation of this interference in Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Gallois said that Croatia and Slovenia had been "prematurely recognised under the German pressure" on December 17, 1991 and that this had initiated a chain reaction.

"The Eastern Orthodox population in the Balkans - the Serbs - could be efficiently supported only by Russia, but it (Russia) was completely neutralised at the time. Croatia and Slovenia were supported by Germany, ethnic Albanians called for the support of Turkey for the sake of Islam and the United States supported Bosnia, giving great publicity to the local Muslims, as well as Macedonia and Albania," Gallois illustrated the western interference in the Balkans.

He said that "present developments in Kosovo should be observed within this framework," without ignoring the fact that "ethnic Albanian formations underwent military training in Turkey" and that "as it is widely known, Turkey delivered adequate weapons to Albanians."

The goal was "obviously to reinforce the ethnic Albanians' military position so that they can finally expel Serbs from Kosovo."

"The international community's policy and media campaign against the Serbs have created conditions for the ethnic Albanian rebellion" in Kosovo and Metohija, Gallois said.

"During four or five years, the Serbs were satanised by the western media and all earthly sins were ascribed to them, which helped ethnic Albanians in Kosovo develop the idea of independence from the Serbs, who were viewed badly by the international community," Gallois said.

Kosovo and Metohija is the "cradle of Serbia, a territory full of the historical and art heritage of the Serbian people, which means the same to the Serbs as the Paris region means to the French," the general said.

Asked whether he thinks that the media campaign against the Serbs has started again, Gallois said that this was a "constant campaign" and that he thought that "it has never stopped since

Speaking about the world's double standards in approaching a country's internal problems, he mentioned some countries's attitude towards terrorism in Algeria "where massacres occur daily."

"I have never seen an English or American representative tell Algeria that what is happening there should stop. For them, this is an internal issue, because Algerians do not allow anybody to deal with their affairs," said Gallois, who wrote a book about the wars in Bosnia and Iraq.

Gallois said that the United States "is strengthening its position in the Balkans" and that "Europeans are responsible for this because they have proved to be unable to resolve their own problems."

Commenting on the 'Contact group' London meeting on Kosovo and Metohija, Gallois said that three different stands had been expressed there - the hardline U.S.-German-British stand, France's reconciliatory stand and the stand of Russia, which opposes sanctions against Belgrade.

"But what counts are the American decisions, supported by Great Britain and Germany. France does what it can. Faced with the U.S.-German-British coalition, France cannot do much, because the only supported decisions are those desired by the Americans," Gallois said.

QIAN: KOSOVO IS AN INTERNAL AFFAIR OF YUGOSLAVIA Tanjug, 1998-03-12 Chinese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said on Thursday that "the issue of Kosovo was an internal affair of Yugoslavia," and warned against the danger for the Balkan region if "separatist activities led by extremists are not prevented."

The Chinese Foreign Minister, at a well-attended press conference in Beijing held within the regular annual session of the Chinese Parliament, said that "in essence, the issue of Kosmet lies within Yugoslavia, so it is an internal issue of Yugoslavia."

Responding to Tanjug's correspondent, Qian specified that "Kosovo is part of the territory of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Government and Serbian Government have the authority and responsibility for resolving the issue in an appropriate manner."

Indicating that China expresses concern at the latest developments in Kosovo, he said that the Balkans are a region with very complicated inter-ethnic relations and that, in that respect, the legitimate right and interest of all ethnic groups should be protected.

The Chinese minister, however, also warned that "efforts should be made to deter and prevent separatist activities led by extremists," pointing thus to the real causes of instability in Kosmet.

"If these activities are not handled with caution, they could lead to wider regional unrest and event conflicts," Qian said.

He considered that any measures undertaken by the international community with respect to the situation should be in favour of regional peace and stability. On the other hand, and at the same time, interference in the internal affairs of a country should be avoided and prevented, he said.

Asked how China would react to possible debates in the Security Council "about an arms embargo," Qian said that the United Nations had not discussed the manner. "The United Nations is probably not the appropriate venue for discussions about this issue," Qian specified, adding that the unilateral implementation of the embargo was not a method for the overall solution of the Kosovo problem.

"That is why we should examine more appropriate ways for resolving this problem peacefully, and not by bloodshed," he said.

His assessment that "the region has too many weapons" and that the arms embargo "could be an option", the Chinese minister explained by the fact that "during the recent conflicts and unrest in Albania arms were widely spread in the region, so that every man had a weapon, which is very dangerous."

"Cvetic - butcher of Drenica", claims the movement

Ljubinko Cvetic, head-chief of the Security Center of Mitrovica is "the direct executor of civilians in Drenica", it is stated in a communique issued by the Central Board of the "Vojvoda Vuk" movement

Belgrade, 13 March (ARTA) 1820CET

The direct executor of civilians in Drenica, is the assailant, Ljubinko Cvetic, head-chief of Mitrovica's Security Center, is said in a communique of the Central Council of the "Vojvoda Vuk" movement, as transmitted by Belgrade's news agency BETA.

The communique, which condemns war in the context of finding a solution to the problem of Kosova, claims that "Albanian terrorist attacks should be dealt with according to the law". Whereas, the Central Council "Vojvoda Vuk", regards the police attack on Drenica as inadequate", highlighting that " children and women are not terrorists".

The largest part of the communique is dedicated to the head-chief Cvetic, who, according to the movement's communique "used to terrorize the citizens of Kragujevac, for what he was sent to Kosova as a punishment".

This communique also states that "Cvetic intentionally allowed the Albanians to get armed and attack the police, so he could then use his military education, to attack the civilians of Kosova, according to military rules". On this occasion, according to "Vojvoda Vuk", Cvetic did not use proper methods, like teargas, but he used artillery weapons massacring civilians, which is a war crime and as such deserves a moral and legal punishment.

This Serb movement demands from the Serb state organs to convict Cvetic.

"Vojvoda Vuk" has information that "Cvetic has been treated of alcoholism in a psychiatric clinic".

At the end of the communique which requests the international community not to impose sanctions, it is said: "The international community should isolate criminals such as Cvetic as well as their mentors and must take the power from their hands".

Albanians claim the invitation lacks seriousness

"The invitation is written in cyrillic and we do not understand it... if they had sent the invitation in Albanian we might have answered it".

Prishtinë, 13 March (ARTA) 1600CET

Serbia's government, sent written invitations for "dialogue", to the Albanian political representatives, early morning today.

Among the invited were: Ibrahim Rugova, Mark Krasniqi, Adem Demaçi, Luljeta Pula-Beqiri, Kaçusha Jashari, Mahmut Bakalli, Azem Vllasi, Remzi Kolgeci and Gani Jashari.

And again, same as yesterday, The invited did not show up and did not sit around the, so-called, "table of dialogue". They considered it to be "improvised and lacking seriousness", especially after, as it is said "...the Albanian side has insisted since long ago on a serious dialogue which would review the status of Kosova with the mediation of a third international party, that would guarantee the implementation of the eventual outcome".

Kosova Albanian leader, Ibrahim Rugova, stated his stand yesterday, stressing that "an offer of that kind lacks seriousness and it only represents one of the risky games of Belgrade".

Adem Demaçi, from the Parliamentarian Party of Kosova (PPK), declared to "Koha Ditore": "The invitation is written in cyrillic and we do not understand it... if they had sent the invitation in Albanian we might have answered it".

Luljeta Pula-Beqiri answered the invitation in a short sentence saying that "the address where the invitation should be sent to is the Contact Group in London".

On the other hand, Kaçusha Jashari, leader of the other branch of the Social-Democratic Party of Kosova (SDPK), thanks the Serb Government for giving her the pleasure of saying "NO" to a fraud, of which the international community is aware too.

Ex-communist leader, Azem Vllasi, in his answer directed to those who invited him said that "such an offer is improvised and tendentious for purposes of propaganda" He further stated: "primarily, I should be elected by my people, so I can represent them in a dialogue for the solution of the Kosova problem, not for issues that you have opened".

Mahmut Bakalli, a political sciences expert and ex-politician, does not want to answer the invitation, and says "I consider it shameless and I plan to ignore it completely. I have already stated my stands to the independent Serb medias. The Serb side knows my stand perfectly well and I do not wish to have any further discussions about this".

The others invited, those that are no longer politically active since the time of communism, gave similar answers which are mainly based in their evaluation that the Serbian Government's invitation is "a game and a trap for the Albanians", because "the involved delegation has no competence to carry out a dialogue".

Albania PM talks with U.S. special envoy in ex-Yugoslavia

TIRANA, March 14 (ATA) - "I convey to you the support of Mrs. Albright for the stand of the Albanian government and yours, as well, regarding the tragic events and the crisis in Kosova in general," ambassador Gelbard, the U.S. special envoy in former Yugoslavia told Albania's Prime Minister Fatos Nano on Friday evening. The department of media and information close to the Council of Ministers informs that during a telephone talk with the Albanian Premier, the senior diplomat of USA also reported that the United States of America, in the course of their resolute stand not to allow the repetition of the Bosnia scenario in Kosova, has announced a $1 million contribution to the International Court of Hague regarding crimes in Yugoslavia. This amount will be exclusively used for the investigations and identification of crimes and their perpetrators in Kosova. The U.S. representative expressed the appreciation of his government for the sudden reaction and the constructive contribution of the Albanian government in the framework of all international efforts done and being done to stop bloodshed in Kosova and find an acceptable and durable solution for the Kosova issue. "The U.S. government encourages the principled, peaceful policy that Albania follows in inter-Balkan relations," confirmed Gelbard in this conversation. Talking about the activity of the U.S. government regarding the Kosovar crisis, Gelbard underlined the fact that the United States respects the statement of the Contact Group. "We consider this statement a successful step which can serve as a basis for the beginning of negotiations between Belgrade and Prishtine," he said. Also, the U.S. special envoy in Yugoslavia informed and exchanged thoughts with the Albanian Premier regarding the situation in Kosova, the stand of the Serbian government and the international diplomatic activity about Kosova.

Ordinary Serbs have mixed feelings on Kosovo

Copyright © 1998 Nando.net Copyright © 1998 Reuters News Service

BELGRADE (March 11, 1998 2:24 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Belgrade citizens have mixed feelings about troubled Kosovo province, regarded as the cradle of Serbian culture, but most agree the West should stay out and allow the government to deal with "Albanian terrorism."

And while the government insists Kosovo is too central to Serbian history to contemplate giving up, a newspaper survey showed that fewer than a third of those asked were prepared to fight for it.

Questioned on Wednesday, ordinary people also believe however that the government should have started talks with the province's ethnic Albanian majority long ago, and fear Kosovo Albanian leaders are no longer prepared to compromise.

"Terrorism should be treated in the same way everywhere, but it seems the West uses different methods for dealing with it at home or in someone else's garden," said a 70-year-old retired diplomat.

Many people shared the government view that Albanian leaders in Kosovo must first renounce "terrorism and secession" before sitting down for talks on the province's future.

"Our Kosovo Albanians must find common ground with Belgrade officials and start a dialogue. But they must also distance themselves from their own terrorists. If they do not do that, it means they are all for violent secession, which cannot be accepted," said the former diplomat.

"Not a single country would stay indifferent to terrorist attacks on its police and innocent civilians."

A bloody police crackdown on Albanian separatists in the province last week provoked outrage abroad and calls for dialogue between the two sides.

The U.S. and major European powers except Russia agreed on Monday to punish Belgrade for its action in Kosovo and threatened more sanctions if the government refuses to talk to the Albanians.

Milena Radmanovic, a saleswoman in a city centre store, said the new sanctions would merely provide an excuse for the Serbian authorities to blame the outside world for their troubles.

"But the sanctions will not resolve the Kosovo problem or stop the violence there," she said.

The main Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova said on Wednesday he was ready for a dialogue with Belgrade but rejected any solution short of independence.

Rugova's remarks showed the two sides in the conflict were wide apart despite intensive Western shuttle-diplomacy to try to mediate and press for compromise.

"Albanians must have strong international support or they would not call for secession so openly. They must have been promised something by someone who is much stronger than Milosevic," said unemployed metal-worker Dragan Domanovic.

"Their lobby in the U.S. and other parts of the world is very strong and can keep the situation in Kosovo simmering or bring it to boil whenever it is needed," he said.

Those willing to talk about Kosovo at all said they were deeply concerned over further violence in the province and feared it could be just the beginning of a wider conflict in the region.

But many people showed no enthusiasm to go and fight for Kosovo, where ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of its 1.8 million population.

Branislav Gicic, 41, said if it came to mobilisation he would try to avoid it. "I was sent to fight in Croatia and Bosnia where many of my friends were killed for nothing. I will not sacrifice my life for a piece of land that hardly belongs to Serbs any longer."

Out of 200 Serbians polled by the weekly Nedeljni Telegraf earlier this week 49.2 percent said they would not go to Kosovo to fight if a war broke out there, 22.2 percent were undecided and 28.6 percent expressed their readiness to fight.

Taxi-driver Zoran Todorovic, 35, said he had never been to Kosovo and events there seemed as remote for him as if they were in Africa.

As far as sanctions were concerned, he said: "I just hope the West will not ban our (soccer) team from playing in the World Cup."

By GORDANA KUKIC, Reuters

MAROVIC ACCUSES MILOSEVIC

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO. The Chairman of the Montenegrin 95 Parliament, Svetozar Marovic, on Friday accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of deliberately avoiding any input from Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic over the Kosovo crisis. To this end, said Marovic, the Yugoslav President had postponed a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, knowing that Djukanovic 100 would oppose any military intervention in the province. Marovic said that Milosevic counted on the Kosovo crisis worsening, so that he could then appear out of the blue in his well-worn role of saviour and peacemaker.

B92 Open Serbia, Belgrade Daily News Service

Open Serbia, news by 14:00 CET, March 14, 1998 Issue ID: 0314981e.asc

5 E-mail: mailto:b92eng@opennet.org, mailto:beograd@siicom.com WWW: http://www.siicom.com/odrazb/, http://b92eng.opennet.org/ Books: mailto:new-books-request@mail.opennet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------ All texts are Copyright 1998 Radio B92. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------

C O N T E N T S ==================================================================

DAILY NEWS

International community gets heavy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 15 Albanians protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Serb negotiators wait again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Rugova appeals to the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Fischer in Belgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Marovic accuses Milosevic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

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DAILY NEWS ------------------------------------------------------------------

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY GETS HEAVY

EDINBURGH, UK. The European Union foreign ministers moved on 25 Friday to keep the pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic over Kosovo. British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said that his envoy in Belgrade had reported that Milosevic had been stunned by the speed and seriousness of the international community's reaction. Cook said that with privatisation revenue 30 denied by new sanctions, Milosevic could not balance Serbia's books. However, said Cook, the first tentative steps the Yugoslav President had made were not enough. He said that the European Union would be watching carefully and not letting up the pressure.

Cook was speaking on the first day of a two day meeting of the EU 35 foreign ministers in Edniburgh. He dismissed Belgrade's offer of open dialogue with Kosovo Albanian leaders as nothing new. He added, however, that it was regrettable that it had been so quickly rejected by Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova.

German bureacrats reported that Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel had 40 written to Rugova on Thursday, urging him to accept the Serbian offer of dialogue. Otherwise, said Kinkel, a refusal would make things too easy for the Serbs.

EU officials said there would be no letting up of pressure, but that the focus would be on implementing the sanctions strategy 45 agreed on last week.

ALBANIANS PROTEST

PRISTINA, SERBIA. A protest rally called by Kosovo Albanian student and trade unions drew tens of thousands of Albanians together in the capital Pristina on Friday for the second time in 50 four days. The demonstrators carried placards saying ``Stop the massacres,'' ``Stop ethnic cleansing,'' and ``We are not terrorists.''

There was little police presence at the protest, which was held close to Pristina's US Cultural Centre.

55 The protestors dispersed quietly after about an hour.

SERB NEGOTIATORS WAIT AGAIN

PRISTINA, SERBIA. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ratko Markovic told media in Pristina on Friday that Albanians had failed to respond to Serbian overtures for negotiation. Markovic was 60 speaking after the hastily appointed team of Belgrade negotiators had waited for half an hour at the Serbian Government building in Pristina. Markovic said all political bodies in Serbia agreed that Kosovo was an internal affair of the republic. The government, he said, remained willing and open for talks on Kosovo, which could 65 be held anytime and at any place on the territory of Serbia.

The government on Friday night sent a new round of invitations to Albanian political leaders and parties to discuss the situation in the province. The new date proposed is Monday March 16.

RUGOVA APPEALS TO THE WEST

70 PRISTINA, SERBIA. Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on Friday called on the international community, especially the USA and the EU to support the people of Kosovo as they strove for an independent state. Rugova said that there was continued police repression in a number of villages.

75 FISCHER IN BELGRADE

BELGRADE, SERBIA. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic met the president of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Commission, Leni Fischer on Friday. He reiterated the government's view that Kosovo was an internal affair of Yugoslavia and was not available 80 for internationalisation. He also said that there was no justification for Albanians refusing the Serbian Government's proposal for an open dialogue.

Fischer welcomed Belgrade's invitations to Albanian leaders. She added, however, that she understood the feelings of the Kosovo 85 Albanians after last weeks deaths. Nevertheless, she emphasised that dialogue would be in the best interests of the Albanian community. Fischer added that the independent media in Yugoslavia had played an important role in reporting the true facts from Kosovo. She also called for an independent investigation into the 90 recent armed clashes and casualties. Fischer also travelled yesterday to Pristina, where she spoke to representatives of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

MAROVIC ACCUSES MILOSEVIC

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO. The Chairman of the Montenegrin 95 Parliament, Svetozar Marovic, on Friday accused Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of deliberately avoiding any input from Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic over the Kosovo crisis. To this end, said Marovic, the Yugoslav President had postponed a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, knowing that Djukanovic 100 would oppose any military intervention in the province. Marovic said that Milosevic counted on the Kosovo crisis worsening, so that he could then appear out of the blue in his well-worn role of saviour and peacemaker.

Translated by: Goran Dimitrijevic 105 Edited by: Steve Agnew

Belgrade daily says President Milosevic responsible for Kosovo crisis, sanctions

'Demokratija', Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 12 Mar 98

A Belgrade daily has said that the international community is once more imposing sanctions on Serbia and Yugoslavia because the "regime" led by President Slobodan Milosevic has wasted 10 years without resolving the problems of the province of Kosovo, where 90 per cent of the population is ethnic Albanian. The following is the text of a commentary by Vjekoslav Radovic for the Belgrade newspaper ' Demokratija' on 12th March:

Ivica Dacic [spokesman for the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia] said they were nonsense; [Yugoslav President] Slobodan Milosevic said they were something we could "live with for 1,000 years" ; the international community calls them sanctions; and they are happening to us all over again - "unjustly and uncalled-for" .

If this regime had not wasted 10 years in resolving the problem of Kosovo, burying its head in the sand, then the last part of the previous sentence could have been without quotation marks. As things are, one cannot say precisely that the latest pressure on Belgrade is unwarranted, for no part of the world is an "isolated island" any longer, and everyone who has signed international conventions has relinquished a part of their national sovereignty and legitimized the interference of the international community, which will not allow a local conflict to grow into a large-scale war.

Why the international community today embodies the will of a superpower, which is not exactly fond of the Serbs, is an issue in itself. But here too, we must ask the question: Why and to what extent has the arrogant conduct of this regime contributed to such an attitude?

But, things being the way they are, we have to heed the world's unreasonable demands - which are always like that when one does not give the orders in one's own house. Sure, it is absurd for the world to demand the withdrawal of the special police forces from Kosovo while the well-armed members of the [ethnic Albanian] "Kosovo Liberation Army" are still operating. It is equal to calling for capitulation. On the other hand, no-one sets any deadlines for the terrorists or the leaders of the Kosovo Albanians.

Moreover, we can already discern the international community's final " verdict" - if the international community will be bringing the verdict, and i will. We cannot go against the whole world. No-one is saying any longer that Kosovo should be part of Serbia, but of Yugoslavia. From this, we can conclude that Kosovo's status as a republic has already been decided, and that is only one step away from secession.

All of this could have been averted if this regime had not kept its head in the sand for 10 years.

It is also very symptomatic that, until recently, the world did not want to discuss the Yugoslav crisis with the president of Yugoslavia, but with the president of Serbia - Milosevic [president of Serbia from 1989 until July 1997, when he became president of Yugoslavia]. Now, when the issue is an internal Serbian affair, the world does not talk with the president of Serbia, but the president of Yugoslavia - again Milosevic. At the same time, he is not in a mood for talking. That is unique cynicism and hypocrisy. So, Milosevic turns out to be the most despised and the most "cherished" in the eyes of the world.

Serbia's and Yugoslavia's tragedy is that this man, who ever since he came to power did not find it in his heart to talk to "his own people" , will determine how long and under what kind of sanctions we will be living. So, let us tighten our belts, since we did not have the guts to change something. And - may God help us!

Serb leader criticizes Yugoslav president's handling of crisis

Excerpts from report by the independent Belgrade-based news agency Beta

Kragujevac, 12th March: Momcilo Trajkovic, the chairman of the Serbian Resistance Movement of Kosovo, has said that Slobodan Milosevic's regime cannot solve the Kosovo problem, but can instead only further complicate it.

In an interview with the latest issue of Kragujevac 'Nezavisna svetlost', Trajkovic condemned "all violence not aimed at resolving the problem of terrorism" , adding that "we have gone over the top and are now using the police to solve the problem" .

He said that Milosevic would solve the problem of Kosovo just as he had "solved" the problems on the other side of the Drina River [Serbia's border with Bosnia-Hercegovina].

According to him, Kosovo is being ruled by "the Serbian regime with over 100 Albanian businessmen made rich by the Serbian authorities" . Trajkovic said that Serbia and Kosovo were also not ruled by "those miserable Socialists that you can see on state television every day" ...

Daily Telegraph, 14 March 1998

EU to hold emergency summit on Kosovo Exiled ethnic Albanians protest to Foreign Secretary in Edinburgh Ministers appoint special envoy to mediate with Serbia

By Toby Helm, EU Correspondent, in Edinburgh

THE European Union last night agreed to stage an emergency summit in Paris with all countries of the Balkan region, Russia and the United States in an attempt to prevent an escalation of the Kosovo crisis. The meeting will take place within a few weeks and forms part of strong European Union response agreed unanimously by foreign ministers during three hours of talks on the crisis at an informal meeting in Edinburgh. The 15 ministers also decided to appoint a special EU representative to the area to mediate between the Serbian government and Kosovan leaders. Shortly after the meeting it was announced that the post would be filled by Felipe Gonzalez, the former Spanish prime minister, who is currently in a similar post for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Furthermore, Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, who chaired the meeting, said that the EU presence in the Balkans will be beefed up with the Union renewing its demand to set up its own office in Pristina, the capital of the Kosovo region. "We believe that it is important that the international community is able to monitor what happens in Kosovo, and our ability to observe this is one of the best guarantees that we deter unacceptable behaviour." The measures reflected the determination of the EU to be seen to be giving a firm and united response to the crisis after recent failures to agree a joint line over big foreign policy challenges, including the war in Bosnia in the early Nineties. Mr Cook told a press conference that the summit's purpose was "to explore with them [the Balkan countries] their concerns about the situation with Serbia, and to discuss with them how we can work to meet their concerns and prevent the repression seen in Kosovo becoming a source of instability throughout the region". All 15 member states agreed to give strong support to the agreement reached by the six-nation Contact Group, "in particular", said Mr Cook "the visa restrictions and the refusal of government credit for investment". As a further measure it was agreed to expand the European community's monitoring mission in Albania, improving monitoring on the border with Kosovo. Mr Cook said this was intended as a clear sign of the European Union commitment to the "territorial integrity" of Albania. Mr Cook said the presidency wanted to sent a signal to the Kosovan leadership that it wanted to see progress towards greater autonomy for the Kosovo region which stopped short of independence. "The EU fully supports and endorses the clear and firm statement of the contact group. All the countries present at today's discussion endorsed those conclusions and backed the steps contained in the statement." These included: An arms embargo against Serbia; a ban on the export of equipment which could be used for repression or terrorism; a visa ban for those directly involved in the violence; and a block on credit to the country. Mr Cook said ministers realised that "urgent work" was needed within the EU to put in place the union's contribution to the pressure on Belgrade. Ministers had decided to arrange for a permanent EU base to be set up in the province to improve monitoring of events at ground level. As Mr Cook arrived for lunch at the Council Chamber in the Scottish capital, he was greeted by a 30-strong protest of exiled ethnic Albanians. The protesters were determined to let the EU know that they wanted more than just talking. Carrying banners saying: "EU act now: tomorrow it may be too late" and "Halt Serbian state terrorism", the demonstrators sang patriotic songs and chanted their desire for independence. One protester said that he feared for relatives still living in the province. "This is just a sign to Europe that we are for peace, but if nobody wants to help us we have to fight for our freedom," he added. Another protester called for action beyond the threatened sanctions. "Sanctions do not stop Serbia doing these things," he said.

Financial Times (London)

March 14, 1998, Saturday LONDON EDITION

Enemies in all directions: The pacifist policies of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo are in danger, says Guy Dinmore:

Imagine you are the leader of a self-declared state recognised by no one and occupied by your enemies. For nearly 10 years, you kept your head down, and hopes of independence alive, by patiently constructing a parallel government on the basis of non-confrontation. Now imagine that you are attacked not just by rivals without, but by militants within, who now fear that non-confrontation is not enough. That is the position of Ibrahim Rugova, the political leader of ethnic Albanians living under Serbian rule in Kosovo province.

Mr Rugova could have had the strongest personal motivation for revenge against the Belgrade regime. He was five weeks old when his father and grandfather were executed by Tito's communists in 1945. But Mr Rugova has refused to abandon a heartfelt, but what he also sees as pragmatic, commitment to non-violence.

Two weeks into a ruthless crackdown by Serbian police forces that has claimed about 90 lives in central Kosovo, Mr Rugova's pacifist policies are in danger of being swept away by a flood of ethnic blood-letting. He fears being unable to restrain the thirst for retribution among Albanians who have seen women, children and old men killed, and their homes reduced to rubble in what Belgrade portrays as a clinical operation against "terrorists" of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK).

"The military goal of Serbia is of ethnic cleansing of Kosovo, a kind of blitzkrieg although we make up 90 per cent of the population," Mr Rugova says in an interview in his cramped office in the provincial capital of Pristina.

Acts of revenge, he warns, would merely give Slobodan Milosevic, the president of rump Yugoslavia, a pretext to widen the offensive.

Mr Rugova, president of the self-declared Republic of Kosovo since Albanians held semi-underground elections in 1992, is under threat from many quarters. The US and European governments, while condemning Serbia's repressive policies, oppose his goal of independence. The rebel UCK, funded by Kosovan exiles in Europe, has called for a popular uprising. Even within Mr Rugova's party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and among a new and increasingly radical generation, there are calls for a more confrontational, though still non-violent, opposition to Serbian rule. Simultaneously (though at the moment silently) there are those who are waiting for the likely failure of talks between Mr Rugova and Belgrade to put forward their own plan for something less than full independence.

A soft-spoken man with a doctorate in semiotics and a passion for literature, Mr Rugova peers over his glasses and laughs gently at his predicament. "There is no damage done by being too reasonable. I am the president and people have the right to criticise. I don't take it with bad feelings. To be democratic, as the Albanians say, sometimes you have to eat hot stones."

He defends his policies of building up a parallel government, with its own education, healthcare and taxation systems, while avoiding more overt actions such as mass protests that would invite Serb reprisals. "Our main achievement is that we have avoided open conflict and that Kosovo is still full of Albanians," he insists.

While there is mounting frustration among Kosovans at the Serb attacks, Mr Rugova is still thought of as the nation's founding father. This was illustrated last week at a funeral attended by 50,000 mourners for 24 victims of the crackdown. When Luleta Pula-Beqiri, an opposition politician, took the stage and started to lay part of the blame for the deaths at Mr Rugova's door, the vast crowd began chanting "Rugova, Rugova".

Hydajet Hyseni, an LDK vice-president who spent eight years as a political prisoner, also urges Mr Rugova to make a more direct challenge to Mr Milosevic. "The policy of extreme pacifism has stimulated a radical reaction [among Kosovans]," Mr Hyseni warns. "If Belgrade persists in imposing an unjust solution I'm sure our policies of non-violence will be more discredited and encourage the radicals even further."

How to deal with the UCK militants has also split Mr Rugova's party. While Mr Hyseni and virtually all Albanians see the rebels as defenders of their land, Mr Rugova tries to dodge the issue by saying they do not exist as an organised force. "Frustrated people", he calls them, and says he repeatedly sent messages urging them not to carry out "acts of individual bravery".

For the moment there is no one to challenge Mr Rugova outright. He and his party are assured of victory in elections planned for March 22 (but will not be recognised by Belgrade).

His heroes are Martin Luther King and Gandhi. His policy is for the long, long term. As Serbs steadily migrate from Kosovo, driven by poverty and a sense of insecurity to leave the land that was the cradle of their medieval civilisation, it will become harder for Belgrade to justify its 1989 decision to strip the province of its autonomy.

Autonomy alone would not satisfy Mr Rugova, who is committed to full independence. But waiting in the wings are more pragmatic, less popular politicians who might, with US support, negotiate with Belgrade for autonomy. And in the hills of central Kosovo and the mountains along its borders there are still the men with guns.

Los Angeles Times March 14, 1998, Saturday, Home Edition

NEWS ANALYSIS; RISK OF BLOWUP TRIGGERS QUICK RESPONSE TO KOSOVO; BALKANS: THREATS TO REGION'S STABILITY AND COMMON INTERESTS PROMPT U.S., ALLIES TO ACT SWIFTLY.

TYLER MARSHALL, TIMES STAFF WRITER

In sharp contrast to the long, confused buildup to last month's confrontation with Saddam Hussein, the Clinton administration has moved with great speed to halt the latest crackdown by Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the province of Kosovo.

The swift response came about for several reasons, including the relatively solid common ground shared by the U.S. and its allies on issues related to the troubled region, U.S. and allied officials say. That cohesion is an extended benefit of the thorny and lengthy diplomacy that led to the 1995 Dayton, Ohio, peace accord that ended the ethnic bloodshed in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Unlike the recent crisis with Iraq, the U.S. has continued to make progress with its major partners on problems in the Balkans. All the players now are familiar with the issues and complexities involved, and with the tools they can use to end the violence, the officials say.

As a senior North Atlantic Treaty Organization official put it: "When you've got 31,000 troops on the ground there, it concentrates the mind wonderfully on what's happening in the region."

Another force propelling the fast reaction is the risk that the Kosovo flare-up will spread. Although the ethnic warfare in Bosnia before 1995 did not spill over to large swaths of neighboring regions, NATO countries see more danger from Kosovo, a province in the Yugoslav republic of Serbia where a crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists has taken dozens of lives.

Senior State Department officials believe that the sparsely populated corner of the Balkans has the potential to ignite an ethnic powder keg that could reach across the entire southern Balkans, potentially dragging in NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

It was that nightmarish scenario that led the Bush administration to nurture a broad policy of keeping out of most Balkans intrigues while warning firmly that it was prepared to intervene if violence came to Kosovo.

"We're working on the lesson that we can't afford to get it wrong twice," notes a senior NATO official, referring to the long delay among members of the international community in dealing with the bloody breakup of the Yugoslav federation earlier this decade.

*

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was in Europe as the Kosovo crisis unfolded, managed to cajole allies to back a limited package of measures that she and her staff had cobbled together on their flight across the Atlantic.

With U.S. prodding, other nations in the so-called Contact Group that monitors the shaky peace in the Balkans agreed on a series of measures aimed at enhancing stability in the region.

The group--made up of the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy--agreed to extend a small, little-known United Nations peacekeeping mission in neighboring Macedonia, where more than 350 American soldiers and about 500 troops from European countries patrol the frontier.

The group also expanded a multinational European military mission in Albania and decided to send a special European envoy, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, on a diplomatic trouble-shooting trip to the region.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott is also expected to press for a regional conference on the Kosovo crisis, a move that American officials say will help air concerns and break down suspicions among countries that have little high-level dialogue.

At the same time, NATO is granting Albania immediate emergency consultations, reviewing the tiny nation's security needs and demonstrating concern by sending Secretary-General Javier Solana on a high-profile visit to the Albanian capital.

Even NATO's new Civil Emergency Planning Directorate geared up to deal with a large flow of refugees from the region--a flow that has yet to materialize.

While the swift reaction appears to have defused the immediate crisis, it will take far more time, diplomatic energy and political determination to bring any lasting peace to Europe's latest trouble spot.

"We've managed to move quickly, but that's probably the easy part, and it's certainly no guarantee for a solution," a senior U.S. administration official says. "Now the test is to hold everyone's feet to the fire for the tough choices ahead."

Indeed, this latest international flash point has this lesson for the United States: Even when the response is swift, even when luck is on its side, even when the new machinery of post-Cold War European security seems to work as envisioned, lasting solutions remain complex, difficult and elusive.

"Give them credit for trying to nip this in the bud, but the tragedy is, the result of this quick diplomatic game isn't certain because we don't know where this is all going," says Peter Rodman, a foreign affairs specialist in the Ronald Reagan administration. "Crises ultimately are resolved by substance, not process."

"We absolutely must show resolve and boldness and solidarity in the days and weeks and months to come to get ahead of the vicious cycle underway on the ground in Kosovo," Talbott said before leaving on a diplomatic mission to the troubled region. "The dire emergency there is . . . disastrously related to the peace of Europe."

Finding unanimous support for substantive punitive measures that might move Milosevic, the Yugoslav president, toward political compromise in Kosovo so far has proved impossible. On that point, the allied unity broke down, with Russia balking at all but the most modest steps.

According to participants at the Contact Group meeting in London on Monday, support for strong action came only from Britain, which also backed the tough U.S. stance against Iraq, and from Germany, which fears a new wave of Balkan refugees if unrest continues.

Offering the Serbian leader the kind of incentives that might make him back off would only be seen as rewarding violence, analysts say.

"We need both carrots and sticks, but we're devoid of sticks right now and not ready to consider carrots," Rodman says. "Diplomacy is in a very precarious position right now."

*

Despite administration statements that the U.S. has ruled out no options in the current crisis and some reports that Washington is considering military intervention, Albright has said such a step is not now an option under discussion.

But forcing compromise from Milosevic is merely part of the solution in a crisis where the Serb-instigated violence has left Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian population more sympathetic to calls for independence for the province.

The U.S. supports a return of Kosovo's status as an autonomous province of Serbia, a status it held for about two decades before Milosevic revoked it in 1989. Washington, however, is opposed to independence for the province.

So far, the coordinated international response has achieved only the preliminary goal of diminishing prospects that the violence will spread elsewhere in the Balkans.

The New York Times

March 14, 1998, Saturday, Late Edition - Final Token Sanctions Won't Help Kosovo

By Veton Surroi; Veton Surroi is the publisher and editor in chief of Koha Ditore, an independent Albanian newspaper.

PRISTINA, Kosovo

Those villages in Kosovo, a province of "Yugoslavia," that were attacked recently by the Serbian police and paramilitary troops are still under siege. The Serbs hastily buried the dead, some 80 people, including many women and children, to hide the evidence of the massacre. Those left in these villages have no food, medicine and electricity, and they are vulnerable to new attacks. Every day somebody is struck by police sniper fire.

I suppose we should be grateful that the so-called contact group, the Western powers that monitor Yugoslavia, has managed to make modest progress. In addition to mild diplomatic and economic sanctions, the group agreed to push for a United Nations Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo on Serbia.

These new sanctions represent a small step forward, but they are not the kind of great step that will stop Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader. Mr. Milosevic has made only cosmetic offers of dialogue with the Albanians in Kosovo and has kept the police and paramilitary troops there.

Only the credible threat of military action will force Mr. Milosevic to listen. In the weeks to come, Mr. Milosevic needs to be surrounded by soldiers. NATO troops must be posted along the "Yugoslav" borders with Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria. Naval carriers should be stationed along the Montenegrin coast.

This plan is not far-fetched. A number of countries -- the Czech Republic and Canada, for example -- may be willing to participate. And Russia, the most vocal opponent of harsh measures, is not as intractable as it seems. This week, Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov of Russia stated that Kosovo was not an issue over which his country would confront Western powers. While Russia would probably not approve military maneuvers, it is also unlikely to block them.

Stability in the region depends on swift action from the West. Any escalation of violence could spread to Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. Furthermore, any escalation could reignite Bosnian-Serb aspirations and affect the Dayton peace accords.

Mr. Milosevic can also be confronted on other issues that the West has ignored: the recognition of the newly elected democratic Government in Montenegro, the lack of democratic institutions in Serbia, and his failure to deliver war-crime suspects to the Hague tribunal.

The United States and its allies have given Mr. Milosevic until Thursday to start a significant dialogue with the nonviolent Kosovar Albanian political representatives. To give that deadline some teeth, the United States should tell the Serbian leader that unless he starts those talks immediately, he faces not only sanctions but also troops surrounding his backyard and a long to-do list -- one that would force him to deal with Kosovo and Bosnia, as well as Montenegro and Serbia itself.