ALBANIAN LEADER CALLS FOR FRUSTRATION OF A SERB OFFENSIVE

( Editorial: --> 9022 ) PRISTINA, September 8 (Hina) - The leader of the Kosovo Albanians Dr. Ibrahim Rugova on Tuesday reiterated his appeal to the international community to force Belgrade to stop its offensive in the region. Speaking with Peter Gacs, head of the consulting team of the Australian Prime Minister, Rugova called on international humanitarian organisations on Tuesday to urgently help the population of Kosovo avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. Rugova asked for the return of Albanian exiles home and for international supervision of areas that have been affected by the conflict. He said that the problem of Kosovo should be resolved by political means and accused Serbia of carrying out large scale ethnic cleansing of Kosovo. In Pristina Mr. Gacs also talked with head of the Pristina district, Veljko Odalovic. (Hina) mr 082043 MET sep 98