5 November 2003 Morning Edition

Kosovo News

· Belgrade offers "evidence" of Albanian war crimes in Kosovo (AFP)
· Serbia blames former Albanian rebels for organized crime (dpa)
· UN forms anti-corruption unit in Kosovo (AFP)
· Kosovo Radicals rally without candidate (Beta)
· Del Ponte: Kosovo witnesses too afraid to testify (Beta)

Regional News

· Indicted Serb police chief urged to step down (Reuters)
· UN war crimes prosecutor criticizes Schroeder over Croatia stance (AFP)
· Serbia's Presidential Elections to Help Shape Future (SE Times)

Other News

· UN men step aside over Iraq blast (BBC NEWS)
· Annan panel to adapt UN to looming global threats (Reuters)

Belgrade offers "evidence" of Albanian war crimes in Kosovo

BELGRADE, Nov 4 (AFP) - Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic released a book Tuesday on "Albanian terrorism and organized crime" in Kosovo in the hope that it will lead to war crimes charges against ethnic Albanians.

"With this book, we want to help NATO and the UN in Kosovo to fight terrorism and organized crime," Zivkovic told a press conference.

He said the white book should also "help" the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to "present new indictments against Albanian terrorists."

The book, jointly prepared by the police, the army and the foreign ministry, includes the names of some 156 members of ethnic Albanian extremist groups seen by Belgrade as responsible for war crimes against Serbs in Kosovo.

It also shows the alleged "chain of command" of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), ethnic Albanian guerrillas who fought an independence war against the forces of former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic from 1998-99.

The KLA was officially disbanded after the conflict but many of its fighters now serve in the Kosovo Protection Force, a UN-supervised unit which was established after the world body took control of Kosovo in 1999.

Milosevic has been on trial at the ICTY in The Hague since February last year, facing more than 60 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1990s wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Belgrade accuses the UN tribunal of bias against Serbs and has demanded that war crimes indictments be brought against Kosovo Albanians accused of carrying out atrocities against the Serb minority in the southern province.

So far no ethnic Albanians have been indicted by the UN court, although four were convicted in a Kosovo court in July of war crimes committed against other Kosovo Albanians.

Serbia's white book also fingers the Albanian National army (ANA), a rebel group which has been declared as a "terrorist" organization by the UN mission in Kosovo.

"The ANA presents a factor of instability and (is) linked with organized crime in Kosovo," Zivkovic said.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic said he had informed Harri Holkeri, chief of the UN mission in Kosovo, about a photograph of KLA fighters holding severed heads which was published Monday in a Belgrade daily.

The graphic image shows several men in KLA uniforms, smiling and holding two decapitated heads said to be from Serbian soldiers.

The KLA soldiers in the photo are now members of the Kosovo Protection Corps, according to the Vecernje Novosti daily.

"I have contacted Mr Holkeri and he has assured me that we will get the details of the case," Covic said.

More than 200,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since June 1999, fearing ethnic Albanian reprisal attacks for the brutality of Serbian rule under Milosevic.
Some 1,300 Serbs have been missing since the war.

Serbia blames former Albanian rebels for organized crime

Belgrade (dpa) - The Serbian government on Wednesday released a report - a so-called ``White Book'' - on Albanian terrorism in Kosovo, which high-ranking officials in Belgrade claim shows the ``genesis of terrorism-related problems'' in Serbia's breakaway province.

Speaking at a press conference, Belgrade's chief co-ordinator for Kosovo Nebojsa Covic said ``the information presented in the book show (Albanian terrorism) was nothing more than pure organized crime covered in national flags.''

The 200-page book called ``Albanian terrorism and organized crime in Kosovo'' includes information gathered by the Serbian State Security (BIA) and Army Intelligence over the past several years, said Serbian Premier Zoran Zivkovic.

``This book should provoke stronger action against organized crime in Kosovo, but also in the region and the Europe,'' he said.

However, the Serbian government named 156 former ethnic Albanian rebels, including almost all the prominent commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), blaming them for ``running drug smuggling networks and human trafficking in Balkans''.

The list of names includes both the respective political and military leaders of the former UCK - Hashim Thaqi and Agim Ceku - who were described as organizers of criminal groups controlling more than 20 per cent of Kosovo drug traffic.

Thaqi and Ceku were also blamed for ``orchestrating the campaign of threats and intimidations against Serbs in Kosovo, aimed towards the ethnic cleansing of province''.

Both Thaqi and Ceku were recently detained by the police in Hungary and Slovenia, based on international arrest warrants issued by Belgrade authorities. They were released at the behest of Kosovo's United Nations administration.

UN forms anti-corruption unit in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, Nov 4 (AFP) - The United Nations mission in Kosovo has set up a special unit to fight corruption within its own ranks as well as in the province's institutions, an official said Tuesday.

UN spokesman Neeraj Singh said the Investigation Task Force (ITF) would be functioning by mid-November.

"It will initiate, conduct and coordinate administrative investigations to identify fraud and corruption," Singh said.

The unit, formed by the top UN official in the province, Harri Holkeri, will also investigate publicly-owned enterprises and other entities funded by the province's budget.
"Where necessary and appropriate, cases will be forwarded to law enforcement authorities for criminal investigation and action," Singh said.

Earlier this year German authorities sentenced a UN official to three and a half years in prison for the embezzlement of some 4.5 million euros (5.2 million dollars) of international aid donated to the province's power company.

Albanian-dominated Kosovo has been under UN administration since June 1999.

Kosovo Radicals rally without candidate (Beta)

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Tuesday – The Serbian Radical Party rallied today in Kosovska Mitrovica to support Tomislav Nikolic, the party’s candidate for the Serbian Presidential election this month.

Nikolic was not present, having banned from the province by UNMIK, who say they could not guarantee his safety.

Several thousand Serbs from northern Kosovo attended the rally, which was monitored by UNMIK police.

Del Ponte: Kosovo witnesses too afraid to testify (Beta)

VIENNA -- Tuesday – Witnesses to war crimes in Kosovo are often too afraid to testify, the chief prosecutor at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague warned today.

Carla del Ponte said that the tribunal prosecution had experienced problems collecting evidence against Kosovo Albanians because witnesses are being threatened.

She added that though the tribunal has its own witness protection programme, this often entails moving entire families, which can be very difficult.

The prosecutor said that the trial of a Kosovo Albanian would begin next year, while another three indictments have been prepared and two more investigations are underway.

Indicted Serb police chief urged to step down

BELGRADE, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Serbian police chief Sreten Lukic should step down because of his indictment by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for atrocities in Kosovo in 1999, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Serbia and Montenegro Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic, who heads a government body in charge of cooperation with the court based in The Hague, told B92 radio it was ``unacceptable that persons accused before the tribunal hold high positions.''

It was the first time a government minister publicly said Lukic should resign as head of uniformed police after the indictments against him and three former army or police generals were made public two weeks ago.

Asked whether he had urged Lukic to leave the post, Svilanovic said: ``Of course I told him of that stand. I believe that will also be the stand of the Serbian government because these things are incompatible.''

He said he had assured Lukic that his resignation would not be seen as an admission of guilt.

The U.N. tribunal has accused Lukic, former army chief of staff Nebojsa Pavkovic, former corps commander Vladimir Lazarevic and former police chief Vlastimir Djordjevic of war crimes against Kosovo Albanians during the 1999 conflict.

They served under then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, now standing trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity and genocide during the last decade's Balkan wars.

Lukic, who was promoted after reformers ousted Milosevic in 2000, is the only one still holding a senior position.

Government officials have reacted with alarm to the new indictments, suggesting that handing the men over to The Hague may harm stability in a country struggling to recover from a decade of war and sanctions in which many resent war crimes prosecutions as ``victor's justice.''

They have voiced support for Lukic and said they want any trials to be held in Serbia, a demand which chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has rejected.

A few thousand police officers staged an officially- sanctioned rally late last month to protest at the indictments.

Svilanovic said he expected the authorities to formally ask The Hague to transfer the cases to Serbian courts and warned that protests would only hurt the chances of this happening.

UN war crimes prosecutor criticizes Schroeder over Croatia stance

VIENNA, Nov 4 (AFP) - UN prosecutor Carla Del Ponte criticized on Tuesday German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for suggesting that Croatia's failure to hand over a suspected war criminal not block its bid for EU membership.

While in Zagreb last week, Schroeder asserted that the case of fugitive retired general Ante Gotovina should not hamper the beginning of negotiations on Croatia's EU membership, calling for international understanding.

"Those two issues should be separated," the German chancellor said, in sharp contrast to the EU executive which has said that cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is one of the criteria Croatia must fulfill in order to be considered for membership.

"Of course I do not agree," Del Ponte responded during a news conference before meeting with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the Austrian capital.

"I was very surprised," she said, adding that she planned to get in touch with the chancellor to express her view that putting pressure on Zagreb is the only way to get Gotovina into custody.

According to Del Ponte, Croatia is in a position to extradite the former general to the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which should remain a condition for EU membership.

"It's the only way to get Gotovina," she said.

Gotovina, who went into hiding when his indictment was made public in 2001, is wanted for his alleged role in the massacre of more than 150 ethnic Serbs towards the end of the 1991-95 Serbo-Croatian war.

There are "no doubts that Croatia is cooperating with The Hague tribunal," Schroeder said on October 30. "It is impossible to extradite someone who is not under your jurisdiction."
The chancellor of Germany, a staunch supporter of Croatia's EU membership, echoed Zagreb's claims that Gotovina had probably fled the country.

Serbia's Presidential Elections to Help Shape Future

By Davor Konjikusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade

The presidential elections in Serbia, scheduled for 16 November, are more than an election. They will feature the widest range of political battles, with the results promising to have considerable influence on future developments in Serbian politics, despite the fact that the position of president is more or less one of form and protocol.

The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate will be Dragoljub Micunovic, president of the Democratic Centre Party. Accompanied by several ministers, he submitted his candidacy. "Without elections there is no democracy. Therefore, we will have elections -- elections for president, and then parliamentary elections, and then local elections; this is all a normal procedure in a democratic society. However, order must exist," Micunovic said.

He began his campaign Monday (3 November) in Krusevac, a town in the south of Serbia. Micunovic stressed the need for a successful presidential election this time, following two failed attempts, so Serbia might enter 2004 as "a normal, complete state".
Besides the DOS candidate, the Elections Committee of the Republic of Serbia (RIK) also confirmed the candidacies of Tomislav Nikolic, president of the Radical Party; Marijan Risticevic of the People's Peasant Party; Velimir Ilic of New Serbia and Dragan Tomic of the Socialist People's Party.

At a time when parliament is debating a vote of confidence for Acting President of Serbia Natasa Micic, the government is still surviving with a majority, though critics suggest otherwise. The upcoming presidential election will gauge the level of support enjoyed by the government.

Mirko Jovic, vice president of the People's Radical Party, backs participation in this month;s vote, while a boycott has been announced by the Democratic Party of Serbia, G17 Plus, the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Serbian Renewal Movement and the Serbian Unity Party. All of these parties fielded candidates in the first attempt, in September 2002, an election invalidated by low turnout.

While the government uses this election to continue fighting for reforms, the opposition announced that victory in the presidential elections would prompt them to try to force early parliamentary elections.

Calling the presidential election is a brave move by the current government, a move that carries a certain amount of risk. In case of unsuccessful elections, the government will lose the image of being reform-oriented. The impression remains that the government has not done a great deal to support its candidate or to fend off divisions within the coalition.

UN men step aside over Iraq blast

The head of the UN mission in Iraq and another senior official have been relieved of duties after criticism of safety precautions in the country.

BBC NEWS

Ramiro Lopez da Silva and security chief Tun Myat asked to be relieved while a security review is conducted.
An independent panel blamed officials for security lapses after the August bombing of the UN compound in Iraq.
Mr Lopez da Silva's predecessor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among 23 people killed in the attack.

'Dysfunctional'
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the two men would still provide information to a new team created to investigate who was responsible for lapses in security in the weeks leading up to the bombing.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has reportedly appointed Gerald Walzer, the UN's former deputy high commissioner for refugees, to head the investigation.
The independent report, released in October and compiled by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, condemned the UN for "sloppy" security procedures which left the UN compound in Baghdad vulnerable to attack.
"The security awareness within the country team did not match the hostile environment," it said.
The report also stated that the current UN security management was "dysfunctional" and provided "little guarantee of security" to UN staff based either in Iraq or in other high-risk environments.
More than 100 people were wounded in the 19 August attack on the UN compound in Baghdad, when suicide bombers apparently drove a lorry packed with explosives into the building.
BBC correspondent Greg Barrow at the UN says staff committees have been lobbying for months for senior managers to be held accountable for security lapses they say were apparent right at the start of the UN's return to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Annan panel to adapt UN to looming global threats

By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked 16 world figures on Tuesday to identify looming threats to global peace and security and determine how to adapt the U.N. system to best deal with them.

Annan asked former Thai Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun to head the blue-ribbon panel on U.N. reform, which he dubbed the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.

He said its tasks would be to identify ``the major threats and challenges the world faces in the broad field of peace and security, including economic and social issues insofar as they relate to peace and security, and making recommendations for the elements of a collective response.''

Annan disclosed plans to create the panel in a speech to the General Assembly in September as the United Nations sought to heal deep rifts caused by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched without Security Council approval.

He said at the time that sidestepping the United Nations in waging war against Iraq or elsewhere called into question the entire structure of collective action forged when the world body was created from the ashes of World War Two.

``Excellencies, we have come to a fork in the road,'' Annan said. ``This may be a moment no less decisive than 1945 itself, when the United Nations was founded.''

Among the panel's members are League of Arab States Secretary-General Amr Moussa of Egypt; former U.S. national security adviser Brent Scowcroft; former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov; former Organization of African Unity Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania, and former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.
Others include Inter-American Development Bank President Enrique Iglesias of Uruguay; former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter; former Organization of American States Secretary-General Joao Soares of Brazil; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian prime minister and ex-head of the World Health Organization, and former British U.N. Ambassador David Hannay.

The remaining members are former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata of Japan; former Vice Prime Minister Qian Qichen of China; former U.N. Population Fund head Nafis Sadik of Pakistan; former International Labor Organization Deputy Director-General Mary Chinery-Hesse of Ghana, and Satish Nambiar of India, force commander of the U.N. Protection Force in the former Yugoslavia.