VEDRINE & COOK SPEAK TO PRESS AT RAMBOUILLET PEACE CONFERENCE

RAMBOUILLET, France, Feb 6 (Hina) - The vice presidents of a peace conference on the conflict-ridden south Yugoslav province of Kosovo taking place in Rambouillet on Saturday told reporters the Contact Group offered the basic principles of an agreement on Kosovo's autonomy. According to these principles, 25 percent of the agreement's concrete contents would remain to the ethnic Albanian and the Serb sides to negotiate, French and British Foreign Ministers Hubert Vedrine and Robin Cook said. France's Vedrine said the autonomy could be far-reaching and extend to the framework of the internationally recognised borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). Britain's Cook explained Kosovo's autonomy would not interfere with FRY's jurisdiction in foreign policy, defence, customs, and a uniform market. Both officials emphasised the aim of the peace conference in Rambouillet was the reaching of an agreement on a three-year transitional period, as well as an agreement on its implementation. The situation in Kosovo after the termination of the transitional period is another issue awaiting negotiation at the conference. Pointing to the determination of the international community to reach a political solution in Rambouillet, Vedrine and Cook said a firm seven-day deadline had been set for the reaching of the agreements. The negotiators will then submit a report to Contact Group ministers, who will discuss whether achieved progress justifies a further deadline under a week for leading the negotiators to successful conclusions. (hina) ha