4 November 2003 Afternoon Edition

Kosovo News

· U.N. establishes task force to fight corruption in Kosovo (AP)
· Kosovo final status talks possible mid-2005-U.S. (Reuters)
· US backs Kosovo status talks in 2005 (Beta)

Regional News

· Svilanovic: Lukic should resign over war crimes indictment (B92)
· U.N. war crimes prosecutor lashes out at lack of cooperation in former (AP)
· Del Ponte says Belgrade obstructing tribunal (Beta)

Other News

· Firebomb explodes at Turkish Embassy in The Hague; no injuries (AP)

U.N. establishes task force to fight corruption in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) _ The United Nations is setting up a task force that will fight corruption both within its own ranks in Kosovo and in the province's local institutions, an official said Tuesday.

The task force, set to begin work by mid-November, will be comprised of U.N. representatives and external auditors, said Neeraj Singh, a U.N. spokesman.

The officials will conduct investigations into suspected cases of fraud and corruption by U.N. staff in Kosovo, and into Kosovo's local institutions, public enterprises and other local bodies.

The findings and recommendations of the force will be reported to the top U.N. official in Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, who holds the ultimate power in this U.N.-run province.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since June 1999, after a NATO air war forced a halt to a crackdown by Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. The province has a president, government and parliament with limited power which govern alongside the United Nations.

Local media have widely reported on alleged corruption within the U.N. mission and public enterprises in Kosovo.

Earlier this year, a U.N. official in charge of Kosovo's power company was sentenced to prison for fraud involving 4.5 million (US$5.2 million) in international aid earmarked for supplying the province with electricity.

Kosovo final status talks possible mid-2005-U.S.

By John Chalmers

BRUSSELS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Talks on Kosovo's final status could start in mid-2005 if the breakaway Serbian province under U.N. administration meets rule-of-law, democracy and other standards by then, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

``The proposition is that if Kosovars can meet these standards there will be a review of where they stand in mid-2005,'' U.S. Deputy Undersecretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

``If they can meet these standards we will all then be prepared to begin the process of discussing final status for Kosovo.''

Speaking ahead of a visit to the Western Balkans, Grossman said if the standards were not met then, the six-nation Contact Group supervising Balkan diplomacy would set a new date.

Kosovo was put under U.N. rule in 1999 after NATO bombing to end Serbian repression of the province's majority ethnic Albanians under then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Serbian and Kosovo Albanian officials had talked recently of a likely date sometime in 2005 for final status talks, but Grossman's statement was the first indication that Western powers saw a similar timetable.

It was also the first time Washington had spoken of a review, which will be seen as a major incentive for the Kosovo Albanians to embrace democratic values, implement minority rights for Serbs and embark on economic reform.

In Belgrade, Serbia's top negotiator on Kosovo, Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic, said Grossman's statement ``represents a sharpening of focus on Kosovo and introduces a timeframe.''

``It is important that we have clearly defined standards which have to be measurable: otherwise how will we be able to say they have been met?'' Covic told reporters.

SPECTRE OF INDEPENDENCE

Belgrade and Pristina held their first direct talks since the Kosovo war last month in Vienna under pressure from the international community to reconcile by tackling practical problems like power supply and missing persons.

The two sides remain bitterly divided, with Serbia insisting Kosovo remains part of its territory and Albanians demanding independence from Belgrade.

Diplomats say the Vienna meeting was a flop. Not only was the encounter frosty, but it was boycotted by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian prime minister. Expert groups which were supposed to continue the reconciliation talks have not met.

Covic raised a spectre haunting big powers: a domino effect if Balkan borders are changed by the creation of an independent Kosovo, drawing a map of enlarged, mono-ethnic states.

``If the international community allows democratic Albanians to separate from democratic Serbia, then it also has to allow democratic Serbs to separate from democratic Bosnia,'' he said, referring to the Republika Srpska part of the Bosnia federation.

``I am not for the policy of changing borders, but the secession of Kosovo would be a change of borders,'' Covic said.

The breakup of Bosnia would leave a barely viable rump state and could tempt Bosnia's Croats to also seek secession and union with a Greater Croatia. Kosovo, the domino theory runs, would join Albania, perhaps taking a third of Macedonia with it.

(Additional reporting by Julijana Mojsilovic in Belgrade).

US backs Kosovo status talks in 2005 (Beta)

BRUSSELS -- Tuesday – The United States indicated today it would back talks on the final status of Kosovo in mid-2005 if the province meets standards of democracy, human rights and minority protection.

“If they can meet these standards we would all then be prepared to begin the process of discussing the final status of Kosovo,” said US Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman in Brussels. He cautioned that a new date would be set if the standards are not met.

Grossman said that he would discuss the plan with regional leaders during a tour of the Balkans beginning today in Belgrade.

The international community has insisted on a policy of “standards before status” in talks between Belgrade and Kosovo’s Albanian leaders.

Grossman revealed he would also be talking to the authorities in Belgrade about the possibility of Serbia-Montenegro joining NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

The Belgrade authorities “still have work to do”, he said, particularly in terms of defence reform and cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Svilanovic: Lukic should resign over war crimes indictment (B92)

BELGRADE -- Tuesday – Serbia-Montenegro’s foreign minister has urged war crimes suspect Sreten Lukic to resign as head of the Serbian police’s Public Security department.

“It is unacceptable for people indicted by the tribunal to occupy high posts”, Goran Svilanovic told Radio B92 this morning.

Lukic was indicted last month by the war crimes tribunal in The Hague alongside his predecessor Vlastimir Djordjevic and former army generals Vladimir Lazarevic and Nebojsa Pavkovic. The four have been charged over their roles in the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.

More than 3,000 police held a rally last week in Belgrade in support of Lukic, who led the regular uniformed police in Kosovo during the conflict.

Svilanovic, who chairs the state union’s National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, said he would meet this week with Pavkovic and Lazarevic, after which he will call a session of the Council.

The foreign minister said he expected the Council to ask the tribunal to allow the four generals to stand trial in Belgrade. Officials at the tribunal have already ruled out this possibility, saying the four must be transferred to the Hague-based court.

U.N. war crimes prosecutor lashes out at lack of cooperation in former Yugoslavs republics

By SUSANNA LOOF

VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ The top prosecutor at the U.N. war crimes tribunal lashed out Tuesday at officials in some former Yugoslav republics, saying their failure to cooperate endangers plans to close the court in coming years.

The court, which is trying former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and others accused of committing genocide and other atrocities during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, is set to end its trials by 2008, according a U.N. resolution. Any appeals are to be handled by 2010. The court hopes to conclude Milosevic's trial in 2005.

``We need the states of former Yugoslavia to cooperate,'' the court's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, told reporters. ``Otherwise, it will not be possible to close the door ... by 2010.''

Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in the early 1990s, when its republics began to secede, provoking a series of wars. After four of them achieved independence, the country formally ceased to exist in February, when its two remaining republics renamed themselves into Serbia and Montenegro.

The court's three top fugitives are Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, his military chief, Gen. Ratko Mladic _ both indicted in 1995 for genocide _ and Croatian Gen. Ante Gotovina, indicted in 2000 for allegedly orchestrating the murder of at least 150 Serb civilians and the expulsion of 150,000 others.

``The (tribunal) will not close until it has Karadzic, Mladic and Gotovina,'' Del Ponte said.

She criticized Belgrade for failing to hand over documents that would help the prosecution support its claims that Milosevic committed genocide during the wars, and for refusing to arrest four recently indicted generals, including Assistant Deputy Interior Minister Sreten Lukic.

``We have today 21 fugitives. That is not acceptable,'' she said. ``Seven of them are for sure in Serbia.''

She dismissed suggestions by Pierre-Richard Prosper, the U.S. State Department's ambassador-at-large for war crimes, that a potential deal could be struck under which the four could be tried at home in return for the arrest and extradition of Mladic.

``Mladic is a priority ... and we are grateful that Ambassador Prosper is pushing for his arrest,'' she said. ``But the second part is unacceptable.''

Del Ponte also criticized the leaders of Bosnia's Serb republic, where she said Karadzic is hiding.

``Republika Srpska is still a safe haven for war criminals,'' she said, using the republic's local name. ``The RS is doing nothing to arrest Karadzic and to allow (the NATO-led peacekeeping force) to arrest Karadzic.''

Del Ponte said she was aware of international pressure to have Karadzic delivered to the court, but added it would be impossible to do so unless ``a special task force'' was created.

She reiterated demands that Croatia arrest and hand over Gotovina. Croatian authorities claim they are powerless because they say the general is no longer in the country.

Del Ponte said she disagreed with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who during a recent visit to Croatia suggested that the European Union ought to drop Gotovina's arrest as a precondition for membership. Croatia hopes to join the union by 2007.

The demand must remain, ``otherwise, we will never have Gotovina. We have some good information that (his arrest) can be achieved,'' Del Ponte said.

The court has difficulties because ``nationalism, sometimes aggressive and often radical, remains powerful,'' in the region, she later told the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

``Fugitives are still considered by large segments of the local population as heroes,'' she said. ``Politicians are hesitant to alienate the nationalist portion of the electorate.''
Del Ponte said the OSCE, which is based in Vienna, would be important as the tribunal transfers cases to local courts.

``I intend to refer 12 cases involving 48 suspects to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a more limited number of cases to Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro,'' she told the OSCE meeting. But, she added, transfers could begin only when several requirements, including the creation of witness protection programs and trial monitoring, had been fulfilled.

Del Ponte says Belgrade obstructing tribunal (Beta)

VIENNA -- Tuesday – The United Nations chief prosecutor had harsh words for the authorities in Belgrade today, which she said were obstructing the work of the war crimes tribunal.

Carla del Ponte, who is in Vienna to address the OSCE Permanent Council, said that Belgrade’s refusal to grant investigators access to archives meant that the Hague-based tribunal would miss its target of 2010 to finish prosecuting all war crimes suspects on its books.

The refusal was particularly damaging for the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, she added, explaining that it would be very difficult to prove the charge of genocide in Bosnia without access to certain documents in Belgrade.

The prosecutor said that cooperation had become “particularly difficult” since the indictment of four top army and police generals for war crimes in Kosovo. She claimed to have information that Belgrade would not respond to demands to arrest the men.

Serbian leaders have complained that the indictments could not have come at a worse time, with a no-confidence debate in the government underway and presidential elections within weeks. But Del Ponte insisted today that it was not the job of the tribunal to take into account the political situation in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, since it would compromise its independence.

Belgrade is expected to ask the tribunal this week to allow the four men to stand trial in Serbia, so as to avoid the politically damaging spectacle of arresting and extraditing three former top generals and the current head of Serbian Public Security. The tribunal has already said this would not be possible.

According to Del Ponte, 21 war crimes suspects remain at large, including seven in Serbia. This, she said, was unacceptable since many of them could already have been arrested.

The prosecutor will address the OSCE’s 55-nation decision-making body today. She told reporters that the OSCE could play a very important role in preparing domestic judiciaries for taking over war crimes cases transferred from The Hague.

Firebomb explodes at Turkish Embassy in The Hague; no injuries

By TOBY STERLING

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) _ A man detonated a firebomb at an entrance to the Turkish Embassy in The Hague Tuesday, causing a small fire but no injuries, Turkey's ambassador said.
The suspect, who apparently pretended to be picking up a visa, fled from the scene and was arrested sometime after the blast went off, around 11:30 a.m. local time (1030 GMT), said Frank van Beers of the Internal Affairs Ministry.
An Embassy employee jumped from a window onto a parked vehicle to escape the building but was not believed to be hurt, officials said.
``I have understood someone has been arrested,'' Van Beers said, without giving further details.
The identity of the suspect was also unknown and city officials in The Hague declined to comment. Explosives experts were investigating what the package contained.
Turkey's Ambassador to The Hague, Tacan Ildem, described the man to private Turkish NTV television.
``A man with dark features and wearing a black jacket entered the embassy. He was not speaking Turkish, he was speaking some Dutch. He exploded the bomb . . . then he managed to escape,'' Ildem said.
``Luckily, no one was injured in the embassy,'' he said. There was no visible damage to the building. ``There was a very small fire and we extinguished it,'' fire department spokesman Marcel Koene said.
Buildings adjacent to the Embassy were evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off. Explosives and anti-terrorism teams were on the scene and police interviewed bystanders on the street.
Edith Lommerse, a spokeswoman for The Hague police, said police were investigating.
The Turkish Embassy is located in downtown The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government, near parliament buildings and several other embassies.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Dutch intelligence agencies have warned that the Netherlands could be the target of a terrorist attack. But they had predicted that the city's international institutes, including the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, were possible targets.
It was not clear why the Turkish Embassy had been targeted. Turkish authorities in other countries have been attacked by Kurdish rebels fighting for an independent Kurdish state.
There is a large Kurdish community in the Netherlands, estimated to number up to 70,000, but incidents are unusual.
In February 1999, about 250 Kurds protesting the arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan occupied the Greek Ambassador's residence in The Hague and took three hostages, including the ambassador 8-year-old son. The hostages were released unharmed after a 24-hour standoff.
Bombings are also extremely rare in the Netherlands. A group calling itself the Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action carried out several attacks in the early 1990s against government buildings, causing substantial material damage, but no injuries.