KLA SHOULD HAND OVER 30 PERCENT OF HEAVY ARMS BY MIDNIGHT

PRISTINA, July 21 (Hina) - The deadline for the first one-month- long phase in the disarmament of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) expires on July 21. By midnight KLA fighters should give 30 percent of heavy weapons to special arms depots. The total disarmament of the KLA should complete by this September. The commander of international peace-keepers in Kosovo (KFOR), British General Mike Jackson on Tuesday toured nine sites where pieces of heavy arms are being collected. During his visit to the village of Irzniqe near Decani, where is the main storehouse for weapons laid down by KLA fighters, Gen. Jackson voiced satisfaction with the course if the implementation of the agreement and the dynamics of disarmament. The agreement also provides for the departure of foreigners who had voluntarily joined the KLA, from Kosovo, and this provision has been complied with, said the KLA headquarters' chief-of-staff, Agim Qeku. A spokesman for KFOR, Louis Garneau, on Tuesday said almost 8,000 pieces of heavy weaponry, 10,000 shells and 150 anti-tank and anti- aircraft rockets had been gathered so far. Garneau added that now it was up to KLA officials to confirm whether it was 30 percent of their total weaponry. With respect to the future of KLA, the KFOR spokesman said it should be transformed in national guard on the model of the U.S. National Guard. The international community, however, should agree on the matter, he added. (hina) ms