DAILY: FIRST WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST KOSOVO ALBANIAN THIS MONTH

PRISTINA, Dec 1 (Hina) - The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague is expected to file new indictments this month, including "at least one against an Albanian from Kosovo," the Pristina-based daily in Albanian, Koha Ditore, said in Sunday's editorial. #L# Unlike other countries in the region, whose governments have been criticised for lack of cooperation, the tribunal's prosecution expects there will be no such problems in Kosovo where the authority is in the hands of the U.N. civil administration (UNMIK) and where the arrests will be carried out by NATO troops, Koha Ditore said. It added, however, that Kosovo posed another problem for the tribunal in The Hague. Chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte will have trouble finding a sufficient number of witnesses required for charges against Kosovo Albanians to be pressed. Most of the "facts" the prosecution gets come from the Serbian government. According to the daily it would be a big mistake to issue an indictment based on such evidence alone. Quoting diplomatic sources, Koha Ditore says Del Ponte has contacted several parties to secure witnesses from Kosovo who would be ready to testify against local Albanians suspected of having committed war crimes against Serbs. Koha Ditore says Kosovo is the only region in the ex-Yugoslav federation where the majority of the population has a positive attitude to the Hague war crimes tribunal, but warns support wanes when Del Ponte wants to charge an Albanian for war crimes against Serbs at all costs. Koha Ditore also states the tribunal has said the mentioning of the names of Albanians who might soon go to The Hague is a manipulation of the public done by the Kosovo media. (hina) ha