NEW YORK/BELGRADE/PRISTINA, Sept 18 (Hina) - The UN Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday extended full support to a Yugoslav governmental programme for resolving the crisis in the southern Yugoslav province of
Kosovo. The programme was presented at a closed-door session by Nebojsa Covic, the head of a Yugoslav delegation and chairman of a Yugoslav-Serbian Kosovo commission. The delegation held talks with Annan. The session was also attended by the United Nations special envoy to Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup. According to the chairman, French Ambassador Jean David Levitte, the 17 November Kosovo election will be an important step in the implementation of the UN mission to Kosovo that will strengthen democratic processes there. Kosovo Serbs' participation in the election should provide a comprehensive presentation of their views in the political life of the province, he said. The Security Counc
NEW YORK/BELGRADE/PRISTINA, Sept 18 (Hina) - The UN Security
Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday extended full
support to a Yugoslav governmental programme for resolving the
crisis in the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
The programme was presented at a closed-door session by Nebojsa
Covic, the head of a Yugoslav delegation and chairman of a Yugoslav-
Serbian Kosovo commission. The delegation held talks with Annan.
The session was also attended by the United Nations special envoy to
Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup.
According to the chairman, French Ambassador Jean David Levitte,
the 17 November Kosovo election will be an important step in the
implementation of the UN mission to Kosovo that will strengthen
democratic processes there. Kosovo Serbs' participation in the
election should provide a comprehensive presentation of their
views in the political life of the province, he said.
The Security Council welcomed the adoption of legislation against
organised crime, illegal arms possession, and terrorism, as well as
the stepped up efforts of the KFOR peacekeepers in the strict
surveillance of the borders.
The Council called on local Kosovo leaders to renounce violence,
condemn extremism, promote stability, security and interethnic
reconciliation, and give full support to and implement the
Council's Resolution 1244 on Kosovo.
Yugoslavia's Covic said the Security Council session focused on the
return of Kosovo Serbs to the predominantly Albanian province, ways
of ensuring a higher degree of freedom of movement, and missing
persons.
On Tuesday, Albanian leaders dismissed the programme Covic
outlined at the session, saying the residents of the province
should be the ones deciding about its future.
The Kosovo people's will is known and no platform from Belgrade will
be accepted, said Ibrahim Rugova, president of the Kosovo
Democratic Alliance. He added the people of Kosovo wanted
independence.
There are no problems in Kosovo, said the leader of the Alliance for
the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, urging Covic to assure
Serbs from the province to participate in the creation of Kosovo's
civil society and institutions.
A Pristina-based daily in the Albanian language, Zeri, said today
Covic's presentation of the Kosovo programme to the UN Security
Council was an attempt to return the province under Serbia with
international assistance.
According to the daily, it envisages the return to Kosovo of a
certain number of Yugoslav troops, Serbian police and exiled
civilians.
(hina) ha