AMBASSADOR ANNOUNCES 'CERTAIN AMOUNT' OF AUTONOMY FOR KOSOVO

( Editorial: --> 8845 ) ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - Yugoslav Ambassador to Croatia, Veljko Knezevic, said Wednesday Kosovo would be given a certain amount of autonomy, but not "as it had under the 1974 Constitution". Under that constitution, Kosovo had the status of a member country of the former federal Yugoslavia, as well as the status of a former Yugoslav republic. Serbia cancelled Kosovo's autonomy in 1989, after which Kosovo Albanians were refused most human rights. Knezevic stressed that at Tuesday's session in Belgrade, the Yugoslav government decidedly refused to internationalise the Kosovo issue, because that would mean meddling in the country's internal affairs. Knezevic relayed the stance of Yugoslav authorities that the actions of the Serbian police in Kosovo had been exclusively aimed against Albanian terrorists. Replying to a reporter's question, Knezevic said that Bujar Bukoshi and Adem Demaci were, as he put it, a "separatist leadership" of Albanians in Kosovo, as well as Ibrahim Rugova, who said that the final goal of the conflict of Kosovo Albanians was a separate state. Knezevic said there was no reason for the Kosovo crisis to have negative effects on relations between Croatia and Serbia. (hina) lm jn /mb 111719 MET mar 98