KOSOVO ALBANIAN OFFICIALS OPPOSE PROPOSAL FOR DIVISION OF PROVINCE

PRISTINA, May 19 (Hina) - Kosovo Albanian political officials on Saturday opposed a proposal by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic that Kosovo be divided into a Serbian and an Albanian entity. Commenting on the proposal for a Kosovo with two entities Covic presented the day before at an international conference in Belgrade, Albanian political leaders said Kosovo's territorial integrity was guaranteed by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244 and warned the Yugoslav authorities should accept the new reality in Kosovo and the region. The U.N. Mission to Kosovo has requested the entire text of Covic's speech warning that the division of Kosovo was impossible and that the U.N. would not allow the establishment of paralel authorities. Aljush Gashi, secretary for the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo, the leading Kosovo Albanian party, said Covic's proposal was aimed at destabilising the region. A senior member of the Alliance for Kosovo's Future, Jonuz Salihaj, told the Kosovo Albanian media today Covic's idea was a continuation of previous projects of the Yugoslav authorities. "Both Mr. Covic and Serbs in Kosovo as well as those living outside Kosovo should realise that there is new situation and a new reality in Kosovo. Such statements are very worrying and Mr. Covic has actually expressed his view on the solution of the Kosovo question," Salihaj said. Kosovo analysts say Covic's proposal contradicts the latest processes in Kosovo, particularly now that preparations for a general election are underway. Today's issue of the Pristina-based Albanian daily "Koha Ditore" reports that Covic's idea is "a sophisticated version of the brutal one Milosevic advocated." (hina) rml