ALBANIANS SEEK SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO AT PEACEFUL RALLY IN ZAGREB - EXTENDED

ZAGREB, Nov 24 (Hina) - Members of the Albanian national minority in Croatia on Friday staged a protest rally in front of the Croatian government building asking the leaders of EU member-countries attending the Zagreb Summit to solve the Kosovo issue and grant the southern Yugoslav province independence. The rally gathered about 50 Albanians who carried banners and Croatian, Albanian and EU flags. They read out a declaration of the Union of Croatian Albanians, forwarded to the participants in the Zagreb Summit and the president of France, the country chairing the EU by the end of this year. The declaration asks the international community to also call a summit on Kosovo and urges the release of all Albanian prisoners from Serbian camps and the trial of those who instigated and committed war crimes before the Hague war crimes tribunal. The document also requests that Yugoslavia binds itself to pay war reparations, in line with international conventions, and that Kosovo be included in the process of succession to the former Yugoslavia. The protesters were joined by a former Albanian leader, Azem Vllasi, who told reporters the discussion at the Zagreb Summit, which is directed toward the Europeanisation of this region, could result in a failure if a permanent solution was not found for Kosovo as well. "Although it is not directly represented at the meeting, Kosovo should finds its place, as a problem and important issue, in the discussion at the summit and in the initiatives which will follow the Zagreb Summit," Vllasi said. (hina) jn rml