Kosovo body to hold final meeting on eve
of election campaign: UN mission
26 SEPTEMBER – The Kosovo Transitional
Council's joint session with the Interim Administrative Council
on 2 October will mark the body's final meeting, the United Nations
mission in the province said today.
According to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
the decision to hold the last Council session on 2 October - a
day before the beginning of the campaign for the 17 November elections
- was made in light of the fact that most Council members would
be contesting the elections, and continuing its meetings would
interfere with political activity. However, the Interim Administrative
Council would continue working until the establishment of the
future self-government, UNMIK said.
UNMIK head Hans Haekkerup told the Interim Administrative
Council that since the election campaign was starting on 3 October,
all its co-heads - most of whom were contesting elections - would
have to take leave. The process of amalgamating the Joint Interim
Administrative Structure into the nine ministries would also commence
by 3 October, Mr. Haekkerup said.
At today's session, the Interim Administrative
Council also endorsed three additional draft regulations - on
Essential Labour Law, on the Rights of Persons Arrested by Law
Enforcement Authorities and on Payment Transactions.
Kosovo's Detention Review Commission supports
detention of bus bombing suspects
21 SEPTEMBER – The Detention Review
Commission in Kosovo has decided that the detention of three suspects
in connection with the Nis bus bombing last February is justified,
the United Nations mission in the province said today.
The Commission was established by the UN Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to review extrajudicial detention by
executive order. Three judges -- from Germany, the United Kingdom
and the United States -- convened yesterday in Pristina. Following
the review of available information, the panel determined that
the detention of three suspects based on executive order was justified,
and extended the period of pre-trial custody of the suspects for
another three months.
The panel stated that there were "reasonable
grounds to suspect that each of the detained persons has committed
a criminal act, and that circumstances exist which suggest the
strong possibility of flight." The decision of the Commission
cannot be appealed.
Eleven people died and 18 were injured in the 16 February attack,
when the first of a convoy of buses carrying Kosovo Serbs crossed
a culvert packed with explosives, which were detonated by a command
wire.
More than 1 million Kosovo residents registered:
UN mission
20 SEPTEMBER – More than 1 million
Kosovo residents have been registered as a result of the process
that began last year, according to the United Nations mission
in the province.
Peter Schumann, co-head of the Department of Public Services,
told the Kosovo Transitional Council yesterday that 1,121,645
"habitual residents" of Kosovo had registered as of
last week, as a result of the various ongoing projects for civil
registration. Most Kosovo residents now possess identity cards
issued by the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
Mr. Schumann said. In addition, more than 50,000 have UNMIK travel
documents, and many have used them to travel outside Kosovo.
Mr. Schumann said special programmes were encouraging
registration of Kosovo Turks and Serbs, who did not participate
in the exercise last year, as well as others who might have returned
from abroad or turned 16. Some 5,600 Kosovo Turks were added to
the civil registry this summer, as well as over 48,000 people
belonging to the Serb and other communities.
According to Mr. Schumann, the identity card
system was totally overhauled thanks to the work of Public Services'
Kosovar staff, who re-entered data for 900,000 residents into
the registrar's computer system after errors plagued last year's
ID project. All but 100,000 identity cards had been picked up
from the Public Services Department, and UNMIK was aiming at delivering
the remaining cards to people who are over 60 years old.
Security Council members welcome increased
Belgrade-UN dialogue in Kosovo
17 SEPTEMBER – Members of the Security
Council today called for intensified dialogue between Yugoslavia
and the United Nations mission in Kosovo, and urged participation
of all communities in the forthcoming Kosovo-wide elections.
The call came in a press statement by the Council President, Ambassador
Jean-David Levitte of France, which was released late Monday after
the Council met in closed-door consultations to hear a briefing
by Nebojsa Covic, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia). The head of the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo
(UNMIK), Hans Haekkerup, was also present at the meeting.
Welcoming Mr. Covic's appointment as head of
the Yugoslavia/Serbian joint coordination centre, as well as the
increased cooperation between Belgrade and UNMIK, Council members
stressed their support for all measures contributing to the implementation
of Security Council resolution 1244 adopted in 1999.
Council members stated that the 17 November
elections in Kosovo should enhance the democratic process and
called for "proper organization and adequate security."
They also welcomed Belgrade's support for the registration of
ethnic-Serbian electors in Kosovo.
"The participation of Kosovo Serbs would
allow the fullest representation of views," the statement
stressed, calling for "all possible measures" to ensure
participation of all communities in the elections, the return
of refugees and displaced persons, and their participation in
elections.
Acknowledging the need to improve security and
law enforcement, Council members welcomed the establishment of
a new "Law and Order" Pillar, the adoption of legislation
to combat organized crime, illegal weapons possession and terrorism,
as well as enhanced efforts by the international security force,
KFOR, to strictly control borders and boundaries.
"Silent rally in Pristina"
Kosovo: head of UN mission, Transitional
Council voice outrage at attacks on US
12 SEPTEMBER – The top United Nations official
in Kosovo and the Kosovo Transitional Council today expressed
outrage over the terrorist acts against the United States yesterday,
while a rally of solidarity with the victims was held in the streets
of Pristina.
"I wish to express my deepest sympathies
to the families of the victims," said Hans Haekkerup, the
head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
He added that the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York
and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., were not only aimed at the
United States "but also at the fundamental values upon which
the US and the UN are built: peace, democracy and human rights."
Meanwhile speakers in the Kosovo Transitional
Council, representing political parties, civil society and ethnic
and religious organizations, voiced their shock at the attacks
and expressed support for the victims.
Many Council members called today a day of mourning
for all of Kosovo, and all endorsed the holding of a silent rally
of solidarity in Pristina, which took place in front of the city's
National Theatre.
UN top official in Kosovo, Serb Deputy
Prime Minister hold talks on Mitrovica
10 SEPTEMBER – The top United Nations
official in Kosovo and the commander of KFOR, the international
security force in the province, met on Friday in Pristina with
the Serb Deputy Prime Minister to discuss the issue of the divided
city of Mitrovica, the UN mission in Kosovo reported.
In the third of a series of such meetings, Mr. Hans Haekkerup,
head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),
the chief of KFOR, Lieutenant-General Thorstein Skiaker and the
head of the Joint Coordinating Committee, Serb Deputy Prime Minister
Nebojsa Covic, met on Mitrovica and northern Kosovo, discussing
security structures and confidence-building measures.
According to UNMIK, there was an agreement to
continue these meetings, with a view to improving living conditions
in Mitrovica and northern Kosovo, as well as in the Serbian enclaves,
on the basis of a united Kosovo under Security Council resolution
1244. In addition, the parties discussed education and in particular
the issue of higher education, UNMIK said.
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