09 December 2002, Monday Edition

CONTENTS

Seselj won in Kosovo (Tanjug)

CESID announced today that, based on 96 percent of votes processed, 42.8 percent of the Kosovo and Metohija electorate participated in the Serbian presidential elections. SRS's candidate, Dr.Vojislav Seselj, won the majority of votes, at 63.23 percent. The DSS candidate, Dr. Vojislav Kostunica, won 32.86 percent; while Borislav Pelevic of SSJ garnered only 2.83 percent of the votes cast.

The SRS leader won a landslide victory in all municipalities, except in Zubin Potok where Kostunica took 65.92 percent of the votes.

The President of SNC in northern Kosovo told Kontakt Radio that the 'presidential election flop was very bad', and he added that this said a great deal about the people who opposed these elections.

The Chief of SRS Kosovo Coordination Board Ljubomir Kragovic told the same radio station that the elections had failed due to a 'media blockade' and the 'absence of a unified election list'.

Ignoring a provocation (Zëri)

Zëri carries an editorial by Blerim Shala who objects to the ratification of the Serbia and Montenegro Union Constitutional Charter. He says that the inclusion of Kosovo in the preamble to the charter is a 'provocation', so the EU and Mr. Solana's shouldn't expect it to be ignored.

What was foreseen has happened: Thus, the Serbia and Montenegro Union will have their Constitutional Charter, in which Kosovo is defined in the preamble as an autonomous province of the Serbian State, which is at present under UN administration. The reaction of Javier Solana, who holds the position of EU's head diplomat, was, as foreseen: He strongly supported the Constitutional Charter, distancing himself softly from the problematic formulation, through reconfirmation that Kosovo has UN SC Resolution 1244 as its supreme document.

Thus, only the reactions of Kosovar politicians remain unknown. In fact, weeks ago, it was voiced about that if Serbia and Montenegro approved the provocative preamble, the Kosovo Assembly would proclaim its independence. Of course, our politicians debated this issue and asserted that independence had been proclaimed a long time ago, but it just hadn't been achieved.

Usually in cases like this one, prudence and wisdom are required. However, attempts to find a rationale for Solana's and the EU's actions in this case are destined to fail.

The formulation in the Constitutional Charter preamble is clear and it indicates prejudgment of Kosovo's final status. If it is said that Kosovo is part of Serbia, but the UN temporarily administers it, this means that by the end of UNMIK's mandate, Kosovo will revert to Serbia. And this Belgrade provocation cannot be ignored, as Solana thinks it can.

Oliver Ivanovic: Charter enables Kosovo to be treated as an internal issue
Zëri reports that Kosovo Serbs leaders have welcomed the endorsement of the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro. Oliver Ivanovic, member of the Kosovo Assembly Presidency, says it marks the first step that will create conditions to treat the issue of Kosovo as an internal matter for Serbia and Montenegro.

'This is a step forward, and with stabilization of relations between Serbia and Montenegro, it will create conditions for the issue Kosovo to be treated much more easily as an internal issue of Serbia,' he said, and added that the constitutional charter presents the integration of new processes that will include the territories of present-day Yugoslavia, but also of countries formed after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.

Marko Jaksic, executive chairman of the so-called Serb National Council for northern Kosovo (SNC) was cited as saying, 'This is an important step for a better tomorrow, first of all for Kosovo which in the document is mentioned as a comprising part of Serbia.'

Zëri cites Coalition Povratak chief Rada Trajkovic as saying that the endorsement of the constitutional charter will enable the new state to be more seriously presented to the international community.

In closing, Zëri claims that Serb residents of northern Mitrovica said they were very skeptical of whether or not the document would be respected and they also said they were tired by such documents and charters which they say are never fully respected.

Surroi: Why is there insistence on a dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia?
Koha Ditore carried the following commentary by publisher Veton Surroi on the issue of a possible dialogue between Kosovo and Belgrade.

1. A week ago in Athens, at a meeting of the Balkan Club, the quiet atmosphere was stirred a bit when I said if this club (which is comprised of former presidents, prime ministers and leaders of Balkan countries) holds a meeting in Belgrade, then they should not count on my presence for profound moral reasons. I stressed that Belgrade is the place that hasn't clarified its history regarding the war and crimes in Kosovo; there are still criminals among them and it would be amoral on my part to participate in a meeting held in such a place.

The answer I received from one of the Serb leaders, Dragoljub Micunovic, was that Milosevic isn't in power anymore in Belgrade, that someone is trying to portray that nothing has changed in Serbia, and that, no matter what, Kosovo Albanians and Serbia have to talk.

Several days later, Rada Trajkovic reflected upon this, saying that Albanians are afraid of the idea of starting a dialogue with Belgrade, specifically with Serbia. At the same time in several world capitals, statements came from various individuals and politicians that a dialogue between Kosovo Albanians and Belgrade should start soon.

2. This issue of the dialogue today seems to me to be the same as the dialogue during the decade of the nineties. Everyone was saying then that the Kosovo issue should be resolved with dialogue, while developments took a different path. For Albanians, it was an explanation of their readiness to act without violence (attempting to hide the inability to act differently). For official Serbs, it was an explanation of their readiness to talk with the threat of loaded gun (attempting to hide their unwillingness for any other solution). And for the international community, it was the explanation that dialogue was a principle that it was attempting to remain loyal to (disguising the fact that it hadn't decided to discuss the issue of genocide, as it should have, applying politics backed by the threat of force).

Now, there are noises about starting a dialogue more or less because no one has a clear idea of how to move forward regarding the Kosovo issue. Under the current protectorate, Kosovo has reached the optimum of this kind of governance and in order to move to another level another idea is needed. The shortest path to move to another stage is if we all move toward status and consequently toward the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia.

Nevertheless, this path turns against itself. In what way can the dialogue with Belgrade help the Kosovo Assembly approve more bills, the government to govern, or all the decision-making systems in Kosovo to practice their competencies and call for more? How will the dialogue with Kosovo help Belgrade move toward a pan-European path; or will [Belgrade] decide between the colorful nationalism presented by Kostunica or fascism by Seselj.

3. Nevertheless, dialogue will happen. First, because it has happened during the last three years: Kosovars in different levels have met with Serbs from different levels in meetings in different third countries. Second, there will be such meetings, and they will be accepted as natural without being blown out of context, as was done at the meeting in Luzerne, where the Prishtina and the Kosovo Assembly President had to give unnecessary reasons why they sat at the same table with Covic or Minister Mihajlovic.

Dialogue is the first step toward negotiations. Even now, as it was ten years ago, the main problem isn't if there is a need for dialogue (negotiations) but why it is needed, when it should take place, how it should be prepared and what will be the subject of the dialogue, specifically, under what projected framework in the future should they be held.

Right now, three issues that have to be prepared. First is the whole complexity of the war, from victims to war crimes, all the way to the consequences of economic destruction. Second, the complexity of everyday issues from transport to electricity. And third, the complexity that is based on European integration: how to project the future of Kosovo and Serbia in the next decade where both of the states will, objectively, have different paths but common futures as EU members.

4. European future? This issue seems very distant and very complex for those that are insisting every day that a dialogue should be held between Kosovo and Serbia. However, without planning for the future, talks between Kosovar and Serbian institutions will remain an issue of the past. A past for which Serbia hasn't gone through denazification, for which it is now ready, as it was on 12 June 1999.

Rexhepi 'threatens' Tanjug with 'radical groups'
Epoka e Re carries some of the quotes from PM Bajram Rexhepi's interview given to Tanjug and also published in the daily, Politika. This daily also comments on some of the prime minister's statements made on the interview.

Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi and UNMIK chief administrator Steiner reserved last weekend to answer questions from the Serbian media regarding the start of a dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina, which lately is Belgrade's much preferred and urgent subject. While the same weekend, Kosovo was included in the S and M Charter as part of Serbia in case of dissolution of the union, says Epoka e Re.

'It is early for a Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue, but the dialogue is necessary, first of all on problems that are of joint interest,' said Rexhepi in an interview for the Tanjug news agency and the Belgrade daily, Politika.

In a way, this answer seems to clash with Mr. Steiner's mood, expressed in Vecernje Novosti, where he said that 'the time for direct Prishtina - Belgrade dialogue has come'. But Rexhepi's answer matches that of the British Ambassador in Belgrade before the meeting of Belgrade ambassadors Steiner in Prishtina, according to the paper.

Rexhepi said for Tanjug that it is too early for a political dialogue, and that the heads of Kosovo's temporary institutions don't have the mandate to start talks with Serbian authorities. 'Economic cooperation and the war against organized crime, regional development and exchange of information on missing persons are some of the problems that should be discussed,' said Rexhepi.

According to Rexhepi, the best work for Kosovo and the region would be the definition of Kosovo's final status within next two years. He once again 'threatened' the possibility that radicals in Kosovo would be strengthened. 'It is difficult to understand his words, 'radical groups', since Mr. Rexhepi belongs to a 'radical' past himself, as a member of Kosovo's liberators,' writes Epoka e Re.

'If, by this time, we haven't defined Kosovo's final status, radical groups will gain credibility among the population and the danger of new conflicts would increase. I think that this is not in the interest of the international community nor of the [other] states in the region,' Rexhepi was quoted as saying.

'If there is no perspective on the future for the Kosovo population and the social crisis increases, it would be easy to manipulate the people,' Rexhepi said, and he asked: 'Does the region want to return to the past, marked with conflicts, or do we have the vision of peace for our future?'

Rexhepi said that he agrees that before the solution of Kosovo's final status, a democratic and multiethnic society should be built, but he said that it couldn't be expected for Kosovo to be same as the countries in EU.

'The fulfilling of some standards has already started… here I think about the functioning of institutions. At present Kosovo's major problem is economic development,' he said, and added that the required standards cannot be achieved with Kosovo's local economic potential.
Rexhepi doesn't know what international community requires from KPC
Rexhepi said that he is pessimistic regarding 'the quick return of Serb IDPs' which is one of the eight standards that international community has required of Kosovo, but he added that he doesn't understand what the international community wants from KPC.

'We are for KPC professionalism and multiethnicity. Even though vacancies for Serbs were announced long time ago, only three Serbs from Gjilan agreed to work for KPC,' he said.

'If for instance we talk about economic development, we cannot take out loans. I think that Kosovo and Serbia are creating obstructions for each other at all international institutions. The status should be defined and than it would be easier to cooperate,' Rexhepi was cited as saying.

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Dilemmas, standards or status first? (Kosova Sot)

What should be first: standards or the definition of Kosovo's status? This was the dilemma that UNMIK officials, the government and political analysts tried to resolve at the conference, Standards before status, which was organized by Klubi Republikan [Republican Club] and held yesterday in Prishtina, reports Kosova Sot. At this conference it was said that the idea of 'standards before status' that chief administrator Steiner presented some time ago represent the minimal standards for a society to integrate in EU, but that many of these standards cannot be fulfilled before the definition of Kosovo's final status.

The prime minister's political advisor, Ramadan Avdiu, agrees that all the standards cannot be fulfilled before the definition of final status. Journalist Augustin Palokaj said that EU officials expect that reality will create the status.

Kosova Sot says that many of the standards have started being fulfilled before the status. However, according to UNMIK information chief Simon Haselock, fulfillment of all the standards cannot be done within a time limit. "Their fulfillment depends on the citizens, the government, but us as well. It could be soon but it could also take a long time,' he was quoted as saying.

It was also stated that fulfillment of standards is a precondition for EU integration. One of these standards is dialogue with Belgrade and participants at the conference thought that UNMIK should be more transparent towards the government where this issue is concerned.

The eight standards that have to be fulfilled before the status are: Functioning of democratic institutions, rule of law, freedom of movement, return and reintegration, economic development, property rights, dialogue with Belgrade and restructuring of KPC, reports Kosova Sot.

Serbia gets money/EU membership in exchange for Kosovo's independence
Blic reports that negotiations on the future status of Kosovo will be held in Rejkjavik. The British and French Governments will offer a lot of money and membership in the EU if Belgrade renounces Kosovo. It is said that Serbs and Albanians must not be allowed to negotiate without the international community, as they are showing a tendency to talk about an exchange of territories. These are, in brief, the results of months of research, which was conducted in secret at the end of the last year and at the beginning of this year by the Public International Law and Politics Group (PILPG) from Washington. The research was financed by the USIP, and the project comprised three completely separate simulations of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo.

These simulations were held on September 28, 2001; November 02, 2001 and February 15, 2002 at the American University Faculty of Law in Washington. Participants were placed in three groups - 'Serbs', 'Albanians' and 'The International Community'.

Former and actual State Department, UNMIK and EU officials, former military commanders and CIA agents with Kosovo's experience, members of the US Congress, analysts, representatives of NGOs, journalists and jurists participated in the simulations.

'We did not want to take a stand regarding the future status of Kosovo. We tried to be independent and we enabled the participants to reach solutions themselves,' said the Executive Director of PILPG, James Hooper.

Vladimir Matic, a professor at Clemson University, trained 'The Serbian Delegation'. Matic was the Deputy at the FRY Foreign Ministry in 1993, when he resigned, dissatisfied with the Belgrade authority leadership's policy. Louis Sell, a former US State Department official who had twice served at the US Embassy in Belgrade and used to be a representative of ICG in Kosovo, taught the 'Albanians'. 'The International Community' fell into the hands of Rick Laurents, a former military official who had served in IFOR, and later on worked as a legal advisor at UNMIK.

Rules of the simulations were simple - no rules! The participants were only requested to play their roles as seriously as possible.

Relations within 'The International Community' delegation were very tense, especially between UN and US, as Americans had tried, and most of the time they succeeded in imposing themselves as the only leader. The US part of the delegation got a couple of slaps on the wrist but only when the UN was led by some strong player.

The report said that the Serbian tactics were to undermine the negotiations on the final status. 'Serbs' did not have any motivation to negotiate and skillfully avoided any concrete deals. They avoided talks with 'Albanians' treating them as an integral part of the sovereign FRY, and recognized 'The International Community' as the sole negotiator. On the other hand, 'Albanians' were only interested in negotiations when the issue of Kosovo's independence were on the table, and were disinterested in resolving all other issues.

'Serbs' stopped blocking only during the second simulation, when the British part of the international delegation decided to use a trick. Namely, London explained to Belgrade that after Milosevic's fall, Serbia had shown immense progress in all areas, and that Serbia would take several steps in reverse if the issue of final Kosovo's status were blocked. Instead of this, the British offered 'a carrot' - a promise that Belgrade would join the EU and receive huge financial aid if it would allow Kosovo to become independent. The British idea was immediately backed by the French part of the delegation. In one of the simulations, Brits and Americans had offered Belgrade Serb autonomy in the north of the province, but within an independent Kosovo. However, this was rejected by 'Albanians', who feared that this could lead to secession of the northern part of Kosovo in the future.

It was noticed that whenever 'Serbs' and 'Albanians' were left alone and uncontrolled by the internationals, they gladly started negotiations on the exchange of territories in northern Kosovo and southern Serbia, not thinking about possible consequences this could have in Bosnia and FYROM. Based on this the observers drew the conclusion that they should not be left uncontrolled by 'The International Community'.

Blic says that Washington and other western capitols are looking at simulations like these quite seriously and that their future foreign policy is tailored by them.

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President Rugova won't report to assembly, at least not this year (Koha)

According to the Constitutional Framework, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova is supposed to report at least once a year to the Kosovo Assembly on the overall situation in Kosovo, reports Koha Ditore.

Although the assembly is a year old on 10 December, it appears that Rugova will postpone his report to the assembly until he celebrates one year in office as the president of Kosovo. …One thing is clear that he will not report to the assembly this year on the overall situation in Kosovo. This was confirmed to Koha Ditore by the Rugova's spokesperson, Muhamet Hamiti. 'Ibrahim Rugova was elected president on 4 March and the chances are slim that he will report to the assembly this year. He will do so next year," he said. Rugova was elected president after three months of unsuccessful talks between Kosovar political parties. An accord was finally reached with the mediation of UNMIK chief administrator Michael Steiner; and 'Agreement for Kosovo President and the Government' was signed on 28 February 2002 by the three main Kosovo Albanian political parties and UNMIK chief administrator Michael Steiner.

The Kosovo Assembly was constituted on 10 December 2001 and on 10 December the assembly will be a year old. Article C paragraph 9.2.4 of the Constitutional Framework says, "Kosovo President reports to the assembly at least once a year on the overall situation". Since he was made president, Rugova has not been present at assembly sessions.

Are new Serbian extremist groups forming?
Kosova Sot reports that dozens of Albanian residents who hail from the northern part of Mitrovica went back for the first time since the conflict in Kosovo ended. During the holiday of Bajram, citizens crossed the bridge on foot and by car and visited their relatives on both sides of the Ibër River, but this is still far from institutional unification, according to the paper.

Shaban Miftari, a 52-year-old resident of north Mitrovica told Kosova Sot that everyone in Kosovo should be aware of the reality that the divided city still hadn't been liberated.

Miftari said he heard that people were crossing the bridge but he didn't feel safe to do so himself. 'Those people with snipers can kill you… you don't know them. They have entered our houses several times and they have terrified our children. I don't dare live in the north and put my family at risk,' he added.

'For the time being, no one can say that Mitrovica has been united. This can't be determined only by the fact that five men or women freely cross the Ibër Bridge and now claim that there are no more Bridge Watchers and no more danger,' he said, adding that some organized Serb individuals again want to impede the return of Albanians to the north side of town.

On the other hand, in south Mitrovica, where once 5,000 Serbs lived, there are now only ten. Their front yard is surrounded by barbwire and they only live there 'thanks' to numerous KFOR forces, which protect them around the clock.

Kosova Sot reports that 2,000 Albanians live in the Bosniak, Three Skyscrapers and Miners' Hill neighborhoods of north Mitrovica. Albanians are in the minority in the north and mainly live the same kind of life as Serb residents in the south.

Kosova Sot quotes another Albanian resident of Mitrovica as saying, 'Maybe someone can walked freely over the Ibër Bridge these days but I'm not noticing any changes and I can say that it's not easy to live in the north. We are afraid to go out and purchase the basic necessities for living. They know we are not Serbs; in fact, these days they are irritated after Steiner's political efforts and they cannot wait to go into action.'

The paper cites international sources in Mitrovica as saying that for the time being all organized Serb extremist groups have been dissolved and that the rule of law and prosperity are expected to prevail in northern Mitrovica.

Why did Çeku and Steiner clash?
Epoka e Re carries the first part of an article by Muhamet Mavraj, subheaded 'The ideological-political differentiations between KPC and KPS and the horrifying scandals of UNMIK investigators'.

KPC Commander Agim Çeku together with 19 commanders and department chiefs of the Kosovo Protection Corps met with UNMIK chief Michael Steiner at the end of the week. As we were informed, the clashes were reflected even in the presence of journalists.

Briefly
Asked by Epoka e Re whether the arrests and suspensions of KPC members were politically motivated, Michael Steiner replied 'with the face of someone who didn't like the question'.

Steiner: I think that what you say is wrong. These are individual arrests and they don't damage the institution of KPC.

Epoka e Re: But what do you think, General Çeku?

Çeku: I agree with chief administrator Steiner that the arrests were individual. But, regardless of this, they seriously damage the KPC and they have a negative impact on Kosovo's image in general. I think that all these arrests are a serious blow to the KPC and we hope such arrests don't happen again.

Why did it come to this clash and how serious is it?
Çeku's clash with UNMIK's chief administrator is not the first, but this last one was undoubtedly the most serious. And whenever the issue of plans for arrests is raised with KPC leaders, there can be nothing but clashes.

Dozens of KPC members have been arrested in different processes, for different reasons, but with very serious accusations; and later they were released, or are expected to be released, as innocent. In the meantime, the image of the KPC suffered serious blows and so has the image of Kosovo.
No one believed the defense attorneys of the arrested when they said that the level of evidence that their clients were involved in illegal activities during or after the conflict equaled zero and that everything was a police spectacle with a harsh political background. It will be 40 months soon and we are used to seeing such spectacles with such epilogues. The protests that follow the arrests, those that seem more serious, usually end up with violence incited in a mysterious way (protests after the arrest of military officers in the Llap Zone, February 2002), or were openly incited by UNMIK Police, usually by Slav members, such as in Deçan on 15 August, when the dance was led by the Russian police commander, Koortenko, who initially humiliated an elderly Albanian woman. While the protests in support of Latif Gashi and others ended with the breaking of glass in Prishtina, the number of dignified protests in Deçan has risen to 33.

Why are KPC members arrested, then released as innocent, and then end up being fired from the KPC in a silent manner?

Even the KPS has been cleared of 'nationalists'
This is not the only noise against the KPC and the image of Kosovo. If one looks at the Kosovo Police Service, you would immediately get the same picture, except that everything there is done in the kind of silence that once characterized a dictatorship. Hundreds and hundreds of KPS members were thrown into the streets without any explanation whatsoever, even those who belonged to the first and most enthusiastic generations of the KPS, including here the first female police officers, mainly former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which often proved to be more capable than their male colleagues. Many of them have been humiliated and sent back to street patrolling and, in the end, their uniforms were taken away. Some of them have not resisted the pressures or the possibilities of eventual rigged trials; and instead of being imprisoned without any explanation, they have left Kosovo, together with their families! We have a lot of facts and names. A symbolic number of them have left their uniforms and moved on to other duties, which in the end will be better rewarded. Or, they have tried to 'avenge' themselves by higher education studies, either in Kosovo or in the most renowned universities in the world, and thus left behind suitable police officers or those who used to work in the police force before 1990. The memory of these girls and boys passed all tests. They will soon return to Kosovo with their MDs, if they consider that they are not likely to end up in jail for what they did during the time they were wearing uniforms. It seems that they have seen horrible things and have reacted humanely…

In the municipality of Istog alone, at least six members of the KPS were fired from work. One of them was a professor of Albanian language, Skënder Shatri, the brother of Naser Shatri, who made history with UDB's Babovic in Istog [UDB is the acronym of the Serb Secret Service]. Skender was fired because he was twice in prison: in 1982, on the first anniversary of 1981 protests; and, in 1989, only a few days after Naser's brother became the most wanted Albanian of all time in the former Yugoslavia and the state of Sweden refused to extradite him to Belgrade. All members of Naser Shatri's family suffered from Serb repression until Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo in 1999. This is said to be the fault of this member of the KPS! And what about the five or six other KPS members from Istog?! Facts speak of differentiation. If your 'fate' was a better file in Belgrade, you would remain in the police force and receive higher ranks! Even the KPS is being cleared of 'nationalists'. The remaining nationalists are under pressure. The same fate awaits all of them! Don't waste this opportunity to be happy, but only for the time being, you UDB members!

In conclusion
On Friday, as General Çeku clashed with Steiner over the arrest of KPC officers, dozens of KPS members were being thrown into the streets and something was being done against Kosovo in Belgrade. Emotions were high over the notorious charter of the newest country in the world, Serbia and Montenegro. The two neighboring countries, which are forming the new state, agreed that Kosovo is to remain part of Serbia, and shortly after midnight their state received the sinister blessing. This was euphorically welcomed by Solana, who stated at the same time that Kosovo's fate could not be built on anything except Resolution 1244, which guarantees Kosovo 'substantial autonomy' and a 'high level of self-government' within FRY. In Kosovo this fact is being perceived as something normal! There are no serious worries. Those who should be worried the most are currently dealing with the downgrading of the KPC into firefighting units. They are the people who never visited Adem Jashari's grave for Bajram and those who are creating the 'state' that will be integrated into North Atlantic structures. And it is Solana himself who has met with them and knows which state this is about.

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Simon Haselock's letter of rebuttal in The Spectator

In The Spectator of 30 November 2002, the following letter of rebuttal from UNMIK DPI director Simon Haselock was published under the heading, Peacekeepers of Kosovo:

Sir: Andrew Sutton ('The black hole of Europe', 9 November) accomplishes the seemingly impossible: firing a wild fusillade of criticism at the political equivalent of a barn - the UN mission in Kosovo - without a single one of its missiles hitting its target.

What makes this piece especially absurd is that his scurrilous charges are completely unsupported either by quotes from the three people he managed to speak with in Kosovo or by the horrific landscapes he conjures up.

A brief sample of Sutton v. Reality.

Sutton: UNMIK police act with impunity, including killing people through reckless driving. Reality: One of the nearly 4,500 police from 49 countries currently serving in Kosovo recently hit two pedestrians with his police car. The officer has been indicted on charges of negligent homicide and will be tried in the Pristina district court. This past week another officer whom Kosovo courts had convicted of murder was sentenced to 13 years in prison. There is an international warrant for a third officer who fled from Kosovo after being charged with abusing a suspect in custody.

Sutton: A parking lot full of wrecked UN vehicles exemplifies what he terms 'one of the many dirty secrets created by UNMIK's love of policy that is made for show'. Reality: Far from being a secret, when UNMIK employees apply for a licence to drive UN vehicles, they are taken to gaze on the junkyard as a reminder of the importance of defensive driving.

Sutton: On 31 December 2001, the UN declared Kosovo free of mines. Reality: The UN announced that all marked Yugoslav army minefields had been cleared. Seven emergency ordnance disposal teams under the Kosovo Protection Corps, supported by a team of experts from Handicap International, continue to clear unmarked minefields when found, as well as unexploded cluster bombs dropped by NATO.

Sutton appears to believe that, with enough bile, a reporter can get by without bothering about the facts. We are sorry that The Spectator would reinforce such a delusion by publishing him.

[signed] Simon Haselock, UNMIK Division of Public Information, Kosovo

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